darkwing-ramblings

[darkwing-ramblings]

I voted Finwe (he has no combat feats to his name unlike everyone else and the only combat he was involved in he died- unlike Fingolfin there's no mention of maiming inflicted before death took him either) and Finrod (wrestling a werewolf is impressive given he killed some but he very much died to werewolves which are lesser dark lord minions).

I almost voted Galadriel on the other poll though instead of Finrod, because no one at the first kinslaying went into that fully lethal and prepared and she then avoided combat for about two ages and also when we see her appears a powerful leader and good with magic sure but no particular signs of competence in hand to hand combat. In The Lord of The Rings I'm pretty sure it was Celeborn described as leading the Lothlorien army proper?

Death by Turin is hardly reflection of incompetence on Beleg's part given how utterly cursed Turin was I'd say.

Mightiest Elf Fight Club Side A

Vote on Side B HERE

These elves are competing in a tournament! I don't like brackets, so below, select the elf in this group that you think would come in LAST, I repeat, vote for the elf in LAST PLACE. The elf you vote for will be ELIMINATED from fight club

The sister poll with more options is located HERE

Find PROPAGANDA and MIGHTY DEEDS below the cut

Feanor: You love him! You hate him! It's Feanor, one of the biggest driving forces behind the entire Silmarillion! Feanor invented weapons before anyone else in Aman had done it. He called Actually demigod-Satan a bitch to his face, and then slammed a door in it. Feanor left Elf-Heaven, took the ships of the Teleri by force, and fought against the armies of Morgoth before the sun and moon even existed, falling only to a large group of Balrogs! Weaknesses: Silmarils, oaths

Finarfin: A High King of the Noldor, Finarfin was smart enough to stay in elf-heaven, but brave enough to venture into middle earth to fight in the War of Wrath at the end of the first age, leading the noldor from Valinor, helping to put an end to Morgoth's time in Middle Earth for good. Weaknesses: common sense kept him out of most of the Silmarillion

Finwe: The First King of the Noldor, and among the first of the elves to heed the call from the Valar and arrive in Valinor. When Melkor attacked, Finwe was the only one brave enough to stand his ground and fight one on one against Melkor. Weaknesses: Prophecies

Luthien: Luthien, fairest to have ever lived, used her powers to free herself from her father, gain the help of Huan the Hound. She passed through the gates of Angband, past the great wolf Carcharoth, and then used her powers and a dance to put Morgoth himself, and everyone there, in to a deep, enchanted. She then rescued her boyfriend, stole Morgoth's crown, and fled Angband with her love. Weaknesses: Beren

Thingol: When Morgoth returned to Middle Earth after centuries in Valinor, he attempted to attack the people of Middle Earth, but Thingol's kingdom repelled the attack, not allowing a single orc to enter Doriath. After all the time spent with his hot Maia wife, Thingol was left changed, and was the tallest of the Children of Iluvatar. Weaknesses: Dwarves

Mablung: One of the greatest captains of the Sindar, Mablung helped hunt down the wolf Carcharoth to retrieve the Silmaril the wolf had swallowed; Mablung was the one who cut the jewel - and Beren's hand - from the werewolf's stomach. Weaknesses: Heavy hands

Ecthelion: Ecthelion fought in, and survived, the Nirnaeth Arnoediad. Not only was he one of the few named characters to slay a Balrog, he was the one who slayed Gothmog, the Lord of the Balrogs. Weaknesses: Being too sexy to live, wearing armor in water

Fingon: He walked into Morgoth's domain, rescued Maedhros, and then flew right back out with an injured Maedhros, leaving Morgoth wondering what the hell happened to the elf had chained to a rock for thirty years. Fingon fought in many battles against the forces of Morgoth. When Morgoth sent Orcs to attack Hithlum, Fingon beat the tar out of them so thoroughly that Morgoth invented dragons. Weaknesses: Gothmog

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"He has ordered Sauron and the Orcs to capture her. A battle is fought and Thingol is victorious. The Orcs are driven into Taur-na-Fuin or slain. Thingol himself slays Boldog. Mablung Heavyhand was Thingol's chief warrior and fought at his side; Beleg Strongbow was the chief of his scouts."

mad asf that i don't get to hear more about thingol leading his troops into battle against orcs and killing boldog himself. MAD ASF that i don't get detailed information about the iathrim -- including mablung and beleg -- fighting an orc horde, wiping them out and driving the rest all the way back to taur-na-fuin (seriously, that's a pretty good distance). this is theft against me personally

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The Feanorian heresy

Ok, now that I have your attention: There's a take I've seen that's not wholly unfounded in Tolkien's writings, but also is not true in the Silm version and also I don't like it (sorry!) so I thought "Hey, what if people in-world believed that? Wouldn't that be interesting?"

The take I mean is something a bit nebulous in the area of "Feanor was/became an Ainu (almost)" ( @insidethehalloftheflame-eyedking I'm exaggerating what you said, but it was the inspiration. I get what you said and it made sense, but it is the inspiration anyway) and "the Silmarils contained/were the Flame Imperishable" (my most beloathed thing in the Czech musicals, but also Tolkien's "round planet from the start" version at least suggested a strong connection here, so as I said, not wholly unfounded).

After the exile of the Noldor, they are upset at the Valar, Feanor dies in a weird way, and I wonder, maybe in time, among the most radical Feanorians, there would be gossip that he ascended in some way? Even if not, many would assume that his spirit lingers (considering Feanor's resentment at the Valar and forgetting his longing for his mother). And he was so powerful, maybe his spirit still has some way to influence the world? I can very much see some of them praying to Feanor. After all, the difference between a Maia and a powerful housless fëa isn't so big, is it?

And then it gets even more complex: we meet the Men. And some of them do serve the Feanorians (Bór!!! But I'm sure there were many others, even if not as warriors). And Men know very little about the world. And are awed by the Elves already. And based on how I see it, Men worshipping a random dude (ok, Féfe wasn't random. But you get the point.) are more of a problem than Elves doing it - I'm not sure what would happen, what are the symptoms of it being a problem, but it feels like a problem.

Also Men adapt quickly and their cultures change. There would be so many takes on this. Oh, and also the "Silmarils are the fire that created the world" thing. It would spread too.

I really want this in a fic, I want those Men being insanely loyal to the sons of Feanor because of it, even if (some of) the sons of Feanor say it's all not true. I want those Men in the after war situation, when the host of the Valar recovers the two Silmarils.

I want some of those Men not allowed (due to their weird beliefs or to plain racism or whatever) or not willing to go to Númenor, I want them staying in ME, telling legends about the Spirit of Fire who will one day return and (idk, probably give them light and blood and happiness), and yes, you guessed right, I want Sauron hijacking this cult into his own.

I want remnants of those beliefs in tales, in folklore, staying in early Númenorean culture even despite the education they got from Eonwe, and yes, they don't pray to Féfe, they're monotheists, but they do have some folklore. Some weird beliefs about Gil-Estel in particular, and many people later would conflate it with Feanor and/or see it as something at least as divine as Meneltarma.

Unrelated to Feanor, but there's also that early concept of Túrin and Nienor becoming Ainur after Turin kills Morgoth. It would be a folklore thing in mid to late Númenor, but Túrin is probably mixed with Earendil somehow. Hmmm, I can see Pharazôn using Túrin (and his assumed apotheosis, even if the Valar are now controversial, Túrin is not) as an argument to convince Miriel that marrying a cousin is fine if you're special and cool, and he is special and cool. It sounds stupid, but if you warp the story enough...

I love when people in the setting have some misconceptions about the setting. Or makes it feel more real.

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@eri-pl do you know if Ingwe has one to honour his friendship with Manwe given in the texts?

you know the concept of an elf-friend? i wonder if the elves (esp during the years of the trees) had a similar concept of a vala-friend or maia-friend (ainu-friend?)

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*tired* I will be the non-radfem to say that you don’t have to wear makeup. The minimum amount of makeup required to be acceptable in polite society is 0. I am nearly 40 years old and I have been wearing 0 makeup for almost all of those years and they still let me run the streets unsupervised. Some of you who don’t believe this need a divorce/to stop talking to your mother so much.

HOWEVER

Makeup is also very fun to put on, it’s a traditional female art form, and if someone *voluntarily decides* they want 22 separate products on their face it’s their goddamn right and calling them brainwashed by the patriarchy is childish at best. Like almost all gendered things it’s a fun hobby and a poor requirement for entry.

Thank you for coming to my rant now get off my lawn

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I've always wondered what the latter generation Finweans thought of the Doom of the Noldor. Most of them lived through the horrors of the First Age, suffered alongside their parents, uncles, etc even though none of them were involved with the kinslaying– hell, most of them probably weren't even alive. How do you come to terms with the fact that you are paying for the crimes of your relatives? That you were, before you were even born, doomed to suffering and death?

Did Celebrimbor think his father deserved to be slain for what he'd done during the kinslayings? Did he think he deserved it for being a kinslayer's son?

What did Galadriel think when she was cast out, even though she'd fought in defense of the Teleri? Did she ever resent the Valar for refusing to let her back for so long? Did she feel like her actions were justified, right until the end?

How about Idril? Did she think her mother's death was fair pennance for the Noldor's disobidience and the actions of her uncle Fingon? Did she ever wonder why it had to be Elenwe who suffered, when neither her nor Turgon had any part in the murder?

Earendil? He was no kinslayer, and neither was his mother or his grandfather, but the Doom came for him and Gondolin anyways. Did he resent the Valar for that? Did he resent them for leaving Middle-Earth to suffer?

Elrond? No doubt he saw, far more viscerally, exactly what unnumbered tears looked like when he stayed with the Feanorians. Did he think it was a fair punishment? Did he think his own pain was acceptable collateral damage? Did he think all of Middle-Earth was acceptable collapteral damage?

When Gil-Galad turned Annatar away from Lindon, did he do it because he suspected Annatar wasn't a true emmisary of the Valar? Or did he just not want to speak to a representative of those who had damned his people for something many of them never did?

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I'm obsessed with characters we only hear about second or third hand, especially when those accounts are conflicting. No, you don't get to see them, but here's a warped mirror of what other people thought they were. Enjoy your contemplation of how being known is an act of translation and communicates only aspects of the self.

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We're the jedi conscripted, or did they join the war by choice

Short answer:

They were conscripted, but they didn't resist the conscription by choice.

You can read more on the subject here (with quotes by George Lucas supporting this), here re: the Jedi's relationship with the clones and here (explaining that while the Jedi were flawed, they weren't at fault).

Longer answer:

The droid armies were attacking all planets in the Republic's territory, be they neutral or otherwise.

The clones were facing weapons that targeted biological matter, as well as Force-users and cyborgs.

The people of the Republic - for the most part - were too weak or fearful or defenseless to fight back.

The Jedi are super-powered beings who've been drafted into a war, against their express desires.

If they so wished, they could start a putch, take control of the Senate rotunda, make everyone back off the Order.

Or just go on strike, say "nope, we don't stand for this, we're not warriors, see ya, good luck" and leave Coruscant.

Or they could sabotage droid factories here and there.

Will any of these options stop the war? We - the audience - know the answer to that is "no."

Because the truth is, this war is designed to be fought by the Jedi, so as to thin their numbers and ultimately destroy them completely.

Hence why,

the enemy is so blatantly evil (corporations mustering an army of lifeless killing machines) and

the victims are so clearly denfeseless (see the Lurmen pacifists or the Twi'lek or the Shili) and

the Republic's army is so hapless (the clones are well-trained, but they're just human, they are out of their depth and considered to be nothing more than expendable cannon fodder by both their creators and their owners).

If you're a Jedi, and your duty is to preserve life and end conflict... there really is only one answer that does the least damage.

And that's joining the conflict to help the people of the Republic, and to lead the clones so as to end the war.

Thus, the Jedi were both legally and morally compromised... and misled. Because there never was any "ending" to this war.

The war was a sham.

It was engineered by two Sith Lords to cause chaos from which the Empire could rise from after the destruction of the Jedi Order. That chaos can take ANY form, as long as both those boxes are ticked.

Like, suppose the Jedi hadn't joined... Palpatine, master politician that he is, could just as easily spin this as "the callous dispassionate Jedi would rather let people die than forego their dogmatic values of peace above all," still turn the public on them, and then have both the clones and the Separatists kill them on sight.

Because again: there was no war. BOTH those armies belonged to the Sith, they were shooting at each other so that the Jedi would step in-between them and get shot.

The only way to win this game was to either

fight it on the appropriate battlefield (the political arena, which the Jedi have no experience with),

acknowledge what's happening is beyond their understanding and try to play catch-up until they can do more,

and/or, when the time comes, have the Chosen One fulfill the prophecy and destroy the Sith.

They undertook the middle option, even grazed victory with it...

... and then Anakin - in a masterclass of fucking up - renders that middle option viable by reversing the third one - tailor-made for him and only him - and siding with the Sith, thus leaving the Force in darkness and the galaxy in chaos.

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Funny thing about the silm is they set you up to think feanor is life decisions georg, and then Tolkien pulls Turin out of a dumpster serveral chapters later and says look what I found :) he’s worse :))

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Okay but can we talk about Aragorn's 'punishment' of Beregond? Because it's so perfect and shows exactly how good of a ruler he is.

Because there are laws more ancient than Aragorn that Beregond has broken. As King, Aragorn could simply declare the laws obsolete or even pardon Beregond, but he doesn't do that. Instead, he punishes Beregond in a way that would seem fit according to the ancient laws, but in and of itself is a reward for Beregond and his faithfulness.

He showed mercy while also following the laws of his people, and if that's not the perfect way to begin his Kingship I don't know what is.

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[ID: text from the lord of the rings: return of the king, reading:

I know him as well as any but a few. Aragorn was the only one of our Company, I think, who really knew him.’

‘Aragorn?’ said Beregond. ‘Who is he?’

‘Oh,’ stammered Pippin, ‘he was a man who went about with us. I think he is in Rohan now.’

/end ID]

who’s aragorn? oh you know, some guy who followed us around. just some random dude. definitely nothing to worry about hahaha

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Obscure Tolkien Blorbo: Quarterfinals results and analysis

It feels a bit silly to do this for just four polls, but here we are. The full quarterfinals results are here, and statistics under the cut.

Who got the most votes?

Pleased to announce that that was our queen Tar-Ancalimë, with 214 votes!

Who got the fewest votes?

Narmeleth, who has done very impressively so far, bows out with just 58 votes. Sorry, LoTRO people! You have my utmost respect anyway.

Which poll got the most votes?

Beregond vs Tar-Ancalimë had a healthy 399 votes.

Which poll got the fewest votes?

The quarterfinal from the most obscure quarter of the bracket, Narmeleth vs the tra-la-la-lally elf, garnered 196 votes - still a lot more than the low vote totals in the previous rounds! Things are definitely heating up now.

What was the tightest race?

I didn't think we could possibly beat the insanity of the fox vs Eldacar poll last round, but astonishingly Nerdanel beat Haleth by 0.4% or one vote. What can I say we love them both.

What was the biggest sweep?

The tra-la-la-lally elf did rather crush poor Narmeleth with a margin of 40.8%! Which makes me rather scared for the semifinals ngl.

I hope everyone enjoyed the quarterfinals :)

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A lot of younger people have no idea what aging actually looks and feels like, and the reasons behind it. That ignorance is so dangerous. If you don’t want to “be old,” you aren’t talking about a number of years. I have patients in their late 80s who could still handily beat me in a race—one couple still runs marathons together, in their late 80s—and I lost someone who was in her early 60s to COPD last year. What you want is not youth, it is health.

If you want to still be able to enjoy doing things in your 60s and 70s and 80s and even 90s, what you want to do, right now, is quit smoking, get some activity on a regular basis (a couple of walks a week is WAY better for you than nothing; increasing from 1 hour a day of cardio to 1.5 will buy you very little), and eat some plants. That’s it. No magic to it. No secret weird tricks. Don’t poison yourself, move around so your body doesn’t forget how, and eat plants.

If you have trouble moving around now because of mobility limitations, bad news: you still need to move around, not because it’s immoral not to, but because that’s still the best advice we have. I highly recommend looking up the Sit and Be Fit series; it is freely available and has exercises that can be done in a chair, which are suitable for people with limited mobility or poor balance. POTS sufferers, I’m looking at you.

If you have trouble eating plants because of dietary issues (they cause gas, etc.) or just because they’re bitter (super taster with texture issues here!), bad news. You still want to find a way to get some plants into your body on a regular basis. I know. It sucks. The only way I can do it is restaurants—they can make salads taste like food. I can also tolerate some bagged salads. On bad weeks, the OCD with contamination focus gets so bad I just can’t. However, canned beans always seem “safe,” and they taste a bit like candy, so they’re a good fallback.

If you smoke and you have tried quitting a million times and you’re just not ready to, bad news. You still need to quit. Your body needs you to try and keep trying. Your brain needs it, too. Damaging small blood vessels racks up cumulative damage over time that your body can start trying to reverse as soon as you quit. I know it’s insanely, absurdly addictive. You still need to.

You cannot rules lawyer your way past your body’s basic needs. It needs food, sleep, activity, and the absence of poison. Those are both small things and big asks. You cannot sustain a routine based on punishment, so don’t punish your body. Find ways to include these things that are enjoyable and rewarding instead. Experiment. There is no reason not to experiment—you don’t have to know instantly what’s going to work for you and what won’t, you just need to be willing to try things and make changes when things aren’t working for you.

You will still age. Your body will stop making collagen and elastin. Tissues you can see and tissues you can’t see will both sag. Cushioning tissues under your skin will get thinner. You’ll bruise more easily. Skin will tear more easily. Accumulated sun damage will start to show more and more. Joints will begin to show arthritis. Tendons and ligaments will get weaker and get injured more easily, as will muscles. Bones will lose mass and get easier to break. You’ll get tired more easily.

But you know what makes the difference between being dead, or as good as, in your 60s vs your 90s? Activity, plants, and quitting smoking. And don’t do meth. Saw a 58-year-old guy this week who is going to have a heart attack if he doesn’t quit whatever stimulant he’s on. I pretended to believe it was just the cigarettes, and maybe it is, but meth and cocaine will kill you quicker. Stop poisoning yourself.

Baby steps; take it one step at a time; you don’t need to have everything figured out right now. But you do need to be working on figuring things out.

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@onewigglyworm a poll!

I have noticed that there are a lot of asexuals in my Tolkien fandom circles (which is AMAZING, as a fellow ace Tolkien nerd, I ADORE THIS)

but I do just have to wonder, just how big is this venn diagram? so: a poll. please reblog for larger audience

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I find it particularly striking given that he won't stop going on about ancient traditions and restoring what was lost- which the sun seed being a living energy source in their lands under the control of the monarchy is. Janai very much was honouring their traditions and restoring what Viren corrupted and took from them they lost: then Karim uses it up entirely in the span of one day. Despite her racism I really don't feel that Khessa would have sided with Karim here.

@raayllum I feel like the thread matches with your own view of Karim neatly, so figured I'd tag you in case you've not already seen it, hopefully it's not overstepping.

Karim using the sun seed to heal Sol Regem is such a great metaphor for how trying to restore the past squanders the possibility of a future

The sun seed could’ve become a great relic. It could’ve brought light and life to the sunfire elves. All it needed was love, nurturing, and time.

But Karim wasn’t satisfied with that. He wanted the sunfire elves to revert back to a ‘simpler’ time, one of discrimination and animosity. He took the sun seed, a rare, powerful item, to heal Sol Regem. All to restore his civilization to a time long past.

He robbed his people of a future.

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@erendur @edennill I thought you two might find this an amusing thought too

I love the idea that Maglor was a famous singer in the years of the trees like imagine you go to war and get killed by Beyoncé

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Eru bless Legolas because if I was Boromir and Aragorn trying to bore through thick snow as tall as me on a mountain in a snowstorm. And this dude kept walking on top of the snow right next to me and joking about it and telling me, you can do it! Without doing anything to actually help. My teeth are rattling and that fucker doesn't even get goosebombs. Actually, I would murder him. Aragorn and Boromir are stronger men than I. Can you tell that I am cold? I am so fucking cold