#son of lalwen is probably my second favorite? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

who-needs-words · 1 year

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The more I try and actually write a long piece for Lalwen the more frustrated I get about how little I have to go off.

We know her name (father name is Írimë, mother name Lalwendë), what her name means (Írimë probably = desirable/ lovely. Lalwendë = laughing maiden). We know she goes by ‘Lalwen’ a shortened form of her mother-name. We know her birth order (third child and second daughter). We know one decision she made (going into exile) and who her favorite relative is (Fingolfin). THATS IT.

Like. This is so much more than we have for some other female characters (including her own older sister). But! So! Little!

We can make some conjectures; for example Aredhel was probably named after her. (Írissë meaning ‘Desirable Lady’ v Írimë meaning ‘desirable/ lovely’). She might have gone into exile because she loved Fingolfin a lot. She laughed a lot (her name). She preferred that name- why? Is it because it came from her mother instead of her father? She is the only one of her siblings to go by her mother name over her father name except for Fëanor. She’s also the only one without a reference to either parent in either of her names. What does this say about her relationship to them? She’s also the only to not Sindarinize her name (because it already fit Sindarin) even when she could have gone by the direct translation- Glaðwen or Gladhwen. Speaking of; ð and þ are very similar sounds- ( ‘th’ is used for both but þ is voiceless while ð is voiced)- so what does not using a name that could have a ‘th’ sound say about her relationship to Fëanor?

Those are just questions about her life in Valinor! We straight up do not know what happened to her. She could still be chilling in middle earth when lotr and the hobbit happens! She obviously doesn’t get mentioned in either but then again neither do the blue wizards (just an example of characters who could be important and have important counterparts just vanishing into the depths of middle earth). We just don’t know. What where her hobbies? Did she marry? Have kids? (I personally adore headcanoning Gil-Galad as her son).

We can make a few wide assumptions based solely on the fact that she’s a Finwean- lines like “… [Aredhel] was fearless and hardy of heart, as were all the children of Finwë.” Can be used as evidence that Finwëans are widely a crazy bunch so why would Lalwen be any different? Finwean women from Galadriel to Idril to Aredhel to Arwen are deeply driven people. Broadly speaking Finwean women make their own choices, even if they’re bad ones. They’re fearless, courageous, clever, wise. Similar characteristics can be broadly shared to other Finwëan women- like Lalwen and Findis. (Side note: if anyone has other quotes relating to the Finwean family as a whole please share).

We can continue using these few facts to ask questions - did Fingolfin just name is daughter Írissë because he loved his sister broadly or because they were actively similar? Or are names broadly meaning ‘desirable women’ common for Finweans? (See the use of Írien meaning ‘lovely’ as a previous name for Lalwen).

All of this hypothesizing brings me back to my first point; We. Don’t. Know. We just don’t! Functionally nothing to go on!

This means that what little we do have gets interpreted differently and used as a basis for wildly different characterization (I myself have created wildly different Lalwens while using the same base logic). Questions like why was she named laughing maiden? Did this mean she was charming? Loud? Funny? Each of those comes with different characters interpretations- if we think it’s a reference to her sense of humor maybe she played family peacemaker, or made jokes as a coping mechanism for her disastrous family. Or maybe she was a very loud child, possibly chaotic, couldn’t sit still, always moving. And so on and so forth. If she was charming maybe she was a good politician or diplomat?

There is just so much possibility in her character and it’s all based on these few facts. Who was she? What did she do? Why did she do the things she did? (We don’t know even know why she made her one cannon decision!)

This is all two say; 1) if you have a Lalwen interpretation please share I’m curious 2)once I settle on a Lalwen you bet I’ll be writing something rather long.

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sweetteaanddragons · 3 years

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Here am I again bc apparently the Silmarillion™️ now lives in my head rent free and I like ur interpretation of the characters (some of ur fics also live in my head rent free) ... Do u think things would improve or go more horribly wrong if Feanor was the youngest Finwean? Like if Miriel was the second wife? Idk if everything is less or more of a disaster bc in one hand I think Fingolfin is a tiny bit more well adjusted than Feanor at least when his mother is the one living (Unless he like Feanor would feel a lil bit threatened by his lil brother genius? Is he being replaced here?) and there’s also the fact that I hope that Feanor would be a little less of a disaster If his mother lived (Unless he convinced himself that he has to be better than everyone if he wants her to stay or something like that) but on the other hand that family is a powder keg waiting to explode no matter what u change

Ps: Is Feanor still Finwe favorite child or does this change bc he’s not the only living reminder of the wife he loved and lost? Bc if he’s still the favorite I don’t think that would help with the feelings of “is dad replacing us?” That could possibly arise in his other children.

If Feanor is still the favorite I suppose there’s a little more protectiveness now that he’s the youngest...

Ps 2: Does Feanor being younger affect the age of his children by much 🤔

Thank you! This one took some thought.

Okay, so the initial change is easy enough. Finwe marries Indis, Indis dies in childbirth . . .

And that brings up the first question.

Which child?

Fingolfin? It’s certainly a possibility, but then we have to consider what’s going to happen without Finrod and Galadriel. (And his other sons, but they’re less impactful.)

Findis or Lalwen? Do they even exist in this AU?

Or Finarfin?

If it’s the last, then we also have to consider what the age gap between all these kids is in this AU and how their feelings about little baby Arafinwe are complicated by this.

We also have to consider how the political situation gets even trickier.

Because Indis wasn’t just the Queen of the Noldor.

She was also a princess of the Vanyar.

Which means that while the Vanyar may not get a direct say in what goes down with a potential remarriage, they are definitely going to have an Opinion on it.

I feel like there is probably at least one frosty offer to foster the children that Finwe immediately turns down.

For the sake of argument, let’s say that Findis is on the cusp of adulthood. She is politely present at the marriage ceremony and stays a very precise, very respectable length of time afterward before going to visit her relatives indefinitely.

Nolofinwe, as the crown prince, stays. He has a lot of feelings about the collapse of his once happy feeling, but he’s well into his adolescence and used to hiding things at court. He mostly reacts by emotionally shutting down and very politely refusing to talk to his father about it. He daydreams about storming the gates of Mandos and demanding his mother back.

Lalwen is just on the verge of adolescence and would prefer to spend as much time in the trees in the gardens as possible. She is torn between wanting to play with her baby brother and wanting to avoid him.

Arafinwe is old enough that he is aware that Miriel is not his mother but young enough that most of what’s going on is flying over his head. He warms up to Miriel almost immediately and then spends a few weeks avoiding her out of a vague idea that if he’s around her too much, she’ll die.

That eventually gets more or less cleared up.

So then Miriel has Feanaro! And Miriel - what?

Is fine?

Dies? (Finwe is pretty sure he’s cursed. Arafinwe figures baby Feanaro is like him and they should stick together. The gossips are going wild.)

Survives but is unwell?

Let’s go with that one.

So the thing is, Feanaro is not Feanaro if he does not have something to throw himself against. In canon, it’s his determination to not be replaced in his father’s affections. Here, it’s his determination that he be considered worth it. Worth all the gossip about marred marriages and what comes of them; worth all the trouble with the Vanyar; worth the fractures between his half-siblings and his father; worth his mother’s illness and pain.

What he has going for him, though, is that his mother is still alive and supporting him. He still loves language and still has Opinions on the language shift, but he’s not as ride-or-die about it as in canon; his mother is still alive, queen, and perfectly capable of insisting on whatever pronunciation of her name that she likes, even weakened.

The thing about his relationship with his siblings is that in this AU, they get to set the tone. They’re the ones establishing that tone when he’s still too young to have an opinion on it.

He has almost no relationship with Findis. She sends very polite notes and very respectable gifts on all appropriate occasions; his mother reciprocates on his behalf until he’s old enough to do it, at which point the gifts get a little half-hearted or pointed, depending on the year.

Nolofinwe is . . . fine, but distant. Feanaro doesn’t understand him at all and doesn’t really care to try.

Nolofinwe is also established as the crown prince, and it doesn’t occur to Feanaro to try to take it from him. Politics are boring, court is infuriating, and his projects are much more interesting. Sure, Feanaro is convinced he’s the smartest person in the room, and he wants to be listened to, but in his father’s court, he mostly is already. He’ll poke at Nolo, sometimes, but he has no interest in trying to usurp him. Of course, if something ever does happen to Atar and Nolo does become king, then the distance between “not willing to fight you for the throne” and “actually willing to treat you as an authority figure I should obey” is going to become apparent very quickly.

As long as Nolo doesn’t tell him to do anything he wasn’t going to do anyway, they’ll be just fine.

Lalwen is fun, but, due to the age gap, is more of an impromptu babysitter than a playmate. As they get older, they’re genuinely affectionate, but it’s complicated by the family mess and made more so by the political one; Lalwen always takes Nolo’s side, and Feanaro has no patience for it.

Arafinwe . . . Arafinwe is a different story.

Arafinwe is a lonely little kid who latches onto his new little half-brother and takes him everywhere and shows him everything in the early days when everyone is still really unsure whether or not Miriel is actually going to die. This closeness remains even after those concerns mostly pass.

What happens from there is . . . I have no idea. Probably not worse of a disaster, but maybe not notably better either.

#long post #headcanon #silmarillion #au

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dialux · 4 years

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Saw the fic title meme done by @misshoneywheeler- list your last 20 fic titles and answer the questions- because I thought it was very fun to run through my AO3 listing! I’m doing the same thing that she did: including where the title came from for each one. Tagging anyone who wants to play, as usual; this really is very fun!

one burning candle, one wind-whipped flame: The Old Guard fic, a character study of Joe and then Joe and Nicky’s relationship. Title comes from the song “Fires of War” from the video-game Middle Earth: Shadows of War.

here’s to the strongest fighter, here’s to the last survivor: Silmarillion, Earwen, Nerdanel and Anaire go to Middle-Earth to save their children. Title comes from “It’s got my name on it,” by Sarah Reeves.

and i will be nimble and i will be quick; i will overcome all of this: Silmarillion, character study of Lalwen, second daughter of Finwe. Title comes from “I’m not Afraid,” by Tommee Profitt.

oh, how far you are from home: GOT/LOTR Crossover, where Sansa wakes up after her father’s head is cut off to meet Boromir. Title comes from “May it Be,” by Enya.

i imagined a dark world where the stars clamor to be inside us: Silmarillion, character study of Findis, eldest daughter of Finwe. Title comes from the poem by Richard Jackson.

dawn is coming, open your eyes: A study of Percy Weasley after the war. Title comes from Jose Gonzalez’s song, “Stay Alive.”

courage is the passport when your old world disappears: Good Omens modern, human, Leap Year AU. Title comes from the Celtic Woman song, “Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears.”

wait, wait, wait for me: Fleabag fic of the Priest and Fleabag meeting again after they grow old. Title comes from Of Monsters and Men’s song “Little Talks.”

made weak by time and fate, but strong in will: James and Lily Potter survive. Title comes from the poem “Ulysses” by Tennyson.

you are the universe in ecstatic motion: Mehrunisa character study, from Padmaavat. Title comes from Rumi’s poem.

sons of life’s longing for itself: Good Omens story of a Warlock with magical powers. Title comes from the Kahlil Gibran poem, “On Children.”

they say we’re out of control and some say we’re sinners: Aziraphale character study from Good Omens. Title comes from the Sam Smith, “Fire on Fire.”

i’ve been working my hands down to the bones: Ocean’s 8 AU of ASOIAF. Title comes from “Money Run Low.”

a tempest, a cyclone, a goddamned hurricane: Sansa can see ghosts. Title comes from the Natalie Merchant song, “Ophelia.”

fear not for the future; weep not for the past: In which Catelyn tells Jon who his mother is. Title comes from Percy Shelley.

to the overwhelming light surrounding us: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword fic, of Catia (the daughter of Vortigern) who’s brought back to life and falls in love with Arthur. Title comes from the Saturn song, “Sleeping at last.”

and we can see the future and the dreams it’s made of: Jodhaa Akbar AU of ASOIAF, with everyone racebent to be desi, JonxSansa. Title comes from the Mikky Ekko song, “Place for us.”

this is the map of my heart, the landscape after cruelty: Fusion of East of the Sun and West of the Moon and Tam Lin, JonxSansa. Title comes from Richard Siken.

dry your eyes, there’s no cause to weep; the weather is fine and the road isn’t steep: Post-canon fic of Sansa and Jon getting together, from Sansa’s POV. Title comes from Heather Dale’s song, “Each Step.”

i laugh at the concept of life as a simple result of the sun: Sansa tells Jon that he’s an incest baby, modern AU. Title comes from Heather Dale’s song “Hunter.”

1. How many are you happy with?

Most of them! Probably sixteen.

2. How many are… not great?

Four.

3. How many did you scramble for at the last minute?

...all of them.

4. How many did you know before you started writing/creating, or near the beginning?

Absolutely none.

5. How many are quotes from songs or poems?

19!!!

6. How many are other quotes?

One, which... might well be part of a poem. Idk if the Percy Shelley quote’s a poem or not, but if it is then they’re all quotes.

7. Which best reflects the plot of the story/content of the fanwork?

I feel like most of them do, but the one that I keep getting comments about is “a tempest, a cyclone, a goddamned hurricane,” which feels right? I think? Sansa’s very much a storm in human skin in the fic XDD

8. Which best reflects the theme of the story/fanwork?

“Oh, how far you are from home,” feels like a beautiful ode to Sansa in this story.

9. Which best reflects the character voice of the story/POV of the fanwork?

Again, I feel like most of them do, but the one I’m... happiest about... is the “dawn is coming, open your eyes” title. The entire song really feels so hopeful and so fierce and so desiring- and that’s the mentality that I really want Percy to have throughout/at the end of the story.

10. Which is your favorite?

The Mother Three fic (”here’s to the strongest fighter, here’s to the last survivor”) holds a very special place in my heart right now for the themes of familial love, duty, and sheer courage involved in it.

#my writing #it's been a very long time since i went through my catalog #and i'm not surprised how many of these titles are from poetry or songs

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