#This is of course a headcanon since legolas didn’t die but think of the fact that legolas is still lost to Thranduil

[friendlyneighborhoodplebeian]

Remember don’t think about the fact that Thranduil started to mourn Legolas when he found he fell in love with a mortal. Don’t think about the fact that one of the reasons Thranduil was so hesitant to accept Gigolas was because he knew that Gimli would take his son with him when he died. Don’t think about the fact that Legolas died of grief after Gimli died and Thranduil’s worse nightmare came true. Don’t think about the fact that Thranduil lost everyone he loved after Legolas died. Don’t think about the fact that Thranduil is now all alone and the last part of his heart died with Legolas.

[rachelillustrates]

An Exploration of Kiliel

OKAY, fandom thoughts on my art blog because of Story Study.

My Wife and I finally watched The Hobbit movies, so I’ve finally gotten to Kiliel (..... ❤ ) and I have some headcanons/thoughts about Tauriel’s introduction to the story, the flow of their romance, and what’s important.

(So this will be part meta, part headcanon as I sort that out.)

What’s striking me right away - other than the fact that I came into these movies ALREADY shipping them and am damn pleased about it, thanks Tumblr - is that we are given.... well, bupkis on Tauriel’s motivations and backstory. And the person I’m watching these movies with, who I love very much, was quick to point out that her introduction and immediate positioning as a Romantic Female Lead could read very shallow to the casual viewer.

(Which I am not, thank the Gods.)

So, what of Tauriel’s backstory and deeper life goals? Digging into the fandom, I found notes that her parents were killed by Orcs when she was young, and that Legolas took her under his wing afterward (making him her mentor, and thus making the idea of their romance even less attractive to me, since that means he would hold even MORE sway and authority over her and there would be very little equality for her there. Also, Gimli).

But that’s it. And we’re not given that in the main plot of the movie at all.

What we are given is the information that she’s conscious of the dangers to the outside world, and wants to protect her people by stopping those dangers at the source, despite contrary orders from her King.

So what I think the movie intended, with that scene where she talks to the Elvenking about her concerns and how she immediately chooses to go after the Dwarves later - motivated primarily by the thought of saving Kili - is that Tauriel has a deeper drive to help save the whole world from the threats she sees to it. Because of what happened to her parents, because she knows the spiders are coming from outside their borders, etc. The featurette “Tauriel: Daughter of the Forest” says of her “She has a great curiosity of other races, of the world outside - she literally hasn’t been anywhere...” (mentioned in part 2, part 1 is here). So, to me, her motivations for leaving Mirkwood include that - as well as saving this Dwarf she feels an inexplicably deep bond with already.

On that note, I wish they had gone a bit deeper into her and Kili's immediate connection than what we were shown. I do appreciate how she insisted on fending for herself, in their Battle Couple introduction, and how Kili immediately accepted her for who she is - the trousers joke was, admittedly, a little uncomfortable for me due to personal reasons, but I think it could be read as him meeting her aggression in battle with aggressive flirting, and in that light, her positive response to it (in what she said to Legolas, and in returning to check on him of her own volition) makes a lot more sense to me. And while I really enjoyed and understood the Feast of Starlight scene, those less romance-genre minded than myself may not have understood that as deep "enough” (for more of the intentions of the plot in that scene and the take the actors had on it, click here. Includes a hysterical Leoglas moment at the end!). 

Rewatching it, I do see and recognize how deep their connection is and how meaningful what they choose to share of themselves is - especially with the idea of Kili honoring and respecting (nay, being attracted to) her ferocity, and the fact that most of her kin probably don't automatically respect her for such things. The sexism among the Elves is not as bad as it is with humans, but it is still there. Who knows how much Tauriel has had to fight for her place as the Captain of the Guard, being a woman. And again, it probably wasn’t as bad for her as it was for, say, Eowyn - but no matter how much space there is for women to step up and be active agents of the story in the mythology of the world, Tolkien didn’t choose to make women part of the action, actively, most of the time. So the world still reads as a mostly Men-at-War, Women-at-Home place. And that has to have had an impact on Tauriel’s life. And in addition to how charming Kili is, just as himself, the fact that he sees that part of her, respects her and admires her FOR it, must hold a lot of weight.

Another part of what I've seen, in re-immersing myself in the fandom now, has been this idea that both Kili's culture and Tauriel's culture have an idea of soulmates, the One person who, when you meet them, shakes you to your core, and you are never the same again. I really think that's what the writing was going for (see Evangeline Lily’s comments in part 2 of “Tauriel: Daughter of the Forest,” particularly), but it wasn't given the space and depth that it needed to be apparent on surface level of casual viewing. 

So, from my fangirling perspective, I imagine that they both felt that right away, but were so surprised by it - because of the unexpectedness of their circumstances, and the animosity between their peoples- that they didn't know how to handle it, and fell into awkward humor, and slightly clumsy attempts to get to know each other as they tried to sort it out.

I imagine that Tauriel's outright denial of any connection to Legolas, and immediate acceptance of his father's racism toward her in that context, was also swayed by her newfound feelings. They (Tauriel and Kili) probably did talk more, as well, about their families and their deepest dreams after the Feast of Starlight scene cut off. We just aren’t given that information.

(Anyone else for a romantic adventure Kiliel-centric mini series?)

Then of course, we are given the healing scene. What I got from this, beyond their romance, was that Tauriel always looks to be helpful. When she takes the athelas from Bofur, she looks like she’s had a revelation. She realizes she can help, she can heal Kili, and that gives her an outlet of action for all the confusing feelings she’s having. She goes right into business mode about that - and Kili, all pained and fevered, barely realizes it’s her. But when he does, he looks at her in wonder (with a fever-dream angelic view of the magic around her, even! Sidenote - I LOVE how messy her hair was. Both beauty and realistic adventure life). And she looks back at him with such serious kindness, telling him to trust her, without words. Of course, he does....only to then believe that she wasn’t there at all, and spill his heart out to this apparition of the person he already knows he loves.

And in that, he is so sure that she’s beyond his reach, even though he knows he loves her already. Even though as he talks about how she’s on another level of existence than his, his action is still to reach for her hand, still reaching for her, despite the words he’s saying. He still wants to believe it is possible - that they are possible - even as he’s trying to accept that they can never be.

Which, of course, leads into the beach scene. After the whirlwind of surviving Smaug’s attack, too (extra shoutout to the writing there, regarding Tauriel and Bard’s children - she’s aware enough to realize that Bard’s son is the only one of the three of them that might have had any sliver of training for situations like this, because human misogyny, so she uses that to protect all of them - “Your sisters will die if we stay here,” etc. - but as soon as he runs off to help his father, she still makes the girls her priority, as well as the Dwarves. Headcanoning that if Kili had survived, and they married and moved into Erebor, she would have damn well taught those girls how to fight).

Anyway, back to the beach. I think my favorite part of that moment, other than the Heart Wrenching Perfection of what Kili says to her (and how it’s acted!), is that he has realized that she wasn’t a fever dream after all - that he did, in fact, say all those potentially embarrassing romantic feely-feels things right to her actual face - and instead of being embarrassed, he just GOES for it. He is that sure. Sure enough, that even when she can’t let herself reciprocate his feelings (even though she clearly does - and she doesn't say no, btw, she is interrupted by Legolas' arrival and thusly the reminder of her duty and her 'place') he then gives her the token from his mother, to let her know she’ll always be in his heart, no matter what she decides. And he almost doesn't, he almost leaves, but turns back in the last moment, in that desperate, loving attempt to try again. No matter how impossible it seems.

MY freaking heart.

Also, when Tauriel then learns of her banishment, she looks shaken at first - but quickly, almost relieved. See here, at about 39 seconds in. She has clearly been fighting against her own heart each moment since Kili came into her life - even though, as I mentioned before, he provides a grand excuse for her to go help other people beyond Mirkwood’s borders. And now, released from the obligations she has to her people, to her King, who doesn’t fully respect her anyway, she is free to do what she could not just moments ago. She is free to choose her own path - to follow her heart, and her ambitions to help the world.

Of course, she follows Legolas first - the path of least resistance being to follow her mentor and Prince. And I get from that that she’s shut herself off from her own emotions for so long - likely due to her parent’s death, early in her life - that she really doesn’t know what to do with herself, in that freedom, and in love. So, following her nearest authority figure, giving herself a moment to breathe and decide later, seems natural.

But, luckily, that path leads right back Erebor.

And unluckily, right into the tragic ending.

But first, she confronts the Elvenking (who has banished her, and therefore freed her, though that was not his intention) about his refusal to stay and help. His concern for his own people, again, will lead to them not being there to save the lives of others suffering in the world around them. And she’s not having that - in general, even if a large part of it is her love for Kili. The script focuses only on that love - with Thranduil refusing to accept that she really loves Kili, comparing what he imagines she feels to what he felt for his late wife, it seems - but there is so much in her whole narrative that has already pointed to her desire to help the whole world, even before she lets herself start feeling for Kili. And this moment plays right into that deeper motivation.

Of course, her story being a romance, finding and protecting Kili is her first priority. And sadly, that goes, as we know, badly.

It bothers me a LOT that she “had” to be damseled in the Big Fight. BUT. We at least get the strength of their connection before she gets trampled by Bolg (and the surety of her voice when she calls for him, and the focus that hearing her, and his calling back out to her, gives him - yes. It’s subtle, but its very strong and very there). And at least they get to see each other one last time - Kili knows, no matter what happens, she chose to come after him after all.

And all the emotion, in her watching him die, and him realizing what they’ve lost even though she did choose him.....ugh. My heart, again. They are both just so clearly broken - Tauriel so confused, not able to accept that its come to this, after she chose to find him, after everything. Kili so brokenhearted that after all his hoping - after she chose him back - they still can’t be together (not to mention the fact that he’s just lost his brother, too, the only other person we see him love as intensely as her). And then, in the last moments of (this part of) the fight, when Kili is gone and Tauriel is alone again, her pain is so great, her anger so clear, her love so deep, she is willing to use her own momentum and throw herself off the tower’s edge with Bolg, just to try and make for damn sure that he pays for what he’s done.

(I will forever maintain that the fact that that didn’t kill him - that SHE didn’t get to kill him - is a travesty. Especially with his murder of Kili, but also for the gross tongue thing. Very uncomfortable with what that implied.)

I’m gonna skip over the intervention of Legolas to save her life, cause that’s not important here, suffice to say that once again I am Pissed as Hell that they felt the need to damsel her so much. Sigh. I must assume, from a writing standpoint, that they chose to nerf her in this battle because she’s never been involved in war like this - fights to protect Mirkwood, yes, but not War Battle. HOWEVER, there are ways for them to have written through that and not made her look so weak. Especially considering that she is a seasoned warrior - AND had fought Orcs before, as we saw in “The Desolation of Smaug” - and between her and Kili, who one of Thorin’s strongest warriors, they should have at least been able to do better together. Crudmuffins! That, of course, would have messed with the outcome of the source material, but who of us would really be complaining? Hmm? (Sorry Tolkien.)

Their canon story ends, of course, with Tauriel having to come to terms with her feelings and Kili’s death all at once. As as much as I spent most of the movies harshing on Thranduil (except to honor how fabulous he is, stylistically and attitude-wise, and make as many Party Elk jokes as I could), i am glad they brought him back for this scene - not only that he gave Legolas a direction away from mooning over Tauriel, but that he got to help Tauriel accept what had happened (in his own blunt way). The way he watches her here, and looks at her, I feel like he’s really seeing her and accepting her as a person and not below him for the first time. I’m also headcanoning, since we know that Tauriel was orphaned and bonded with Legolas soon after (as her mentor - and honestly, I read their relationship as more of a broship/sibling situation), I feel like she was taken under the wing of his household - not because he approved, but because it was the Right Thing and probably looked good to his people, even if he couldn’t fully accept her due to her heritage. I also feel like the fact that she asks him to take the love away from her, since it hurts so much, also points to a more parental role than he would admit. If your heart was broken, who else would you ask to take those feelings from you - at that first heartbreak - than a parent?

But of course, he can’t - all he can do is finally admit, despite his earlier insistence otherwise, that her love for Kili IS real (I feel like he might have gone through something absolutely similar with his wife’s passing - finding her falling in battle, mourning over her body). And that smashes any hope she had that she could keep denying how she feels - it passes over her face, visibly and physically, that shock that he’s admitting it, then frustrated realization that if it’s real, she can’t deny her feelings anymore and can’t close her heart to it, and then just pure pain again as she realizes what she had and the full measure of what she’s lost.

And then she kisses him, as if she’s sealing that love and acceptance - the only time, super duper heart-stabbingly tragically, that she’ll ever get to you know, according to this version of the story.

I can only hope that afterward, Tauriel chose to honor herself and Kili’s memory by continuing to help the world at large, in her exile. And that she surprise and “oh shit”-ness of Thranduil’s expression upon realizing that an Elf could truly love a Dwarf means that he will be kinder to Legolas when he brings Gimli home.

Now, as far as the runestone goes, I initially wanted to believe that Tauriel would take it back after she gave it back to Kili in death, maybe to return it to his mother on a well-intentioned trip to meet her, to give them both closure. However, upon learning about what’s specifically written ON the stone, I have a different thought - Middle Earth News points out here that the runes on it translate to “Return to me.” Obviously, at its creation and initial giving, that was about Kili’s mother bidding her reckless son to come home safe. But when Kili gave the stone to Tauriel on the beach, he made it theirs as well. He bid Tauriel to return to him by giving it to her. And so now, in returning it to him upon his death, Tauriel bids Kili in turn to return to her, death be damned.

So while at first glance, that returning of the runestone may look like Tauriel denying her feelings again, its really a further, even more solid gesture of that acceptance. And honestly, to me, an expression of hope.

And I feel like hope is what really strikes me, about this ship. They have SO much potential, not only in how little we’ve been given of them in canon, but the potential they see in each other in those brief moments where they obviously imagine what their lives could be like, if they could be. One of my favorite shows says, early in its story, “Believing in even the possibility of a happy ending is a powerful thing.” And that is exactly what I see in them, and why they strike me as so wonderful. They are hope, and the belief in love despite all odds against them, despite all the darkness around them.

And no matter how shakily that might appear to be set up, that is gorgeous, at its heart and root.

And if you got this far in all my scattered ramblings, thank you!

(The art above is my own, btw. For more of my own star-crossed inter-fantasy-racial height-difference queer fae, click here 💕 )

~~~

Patreon ~ Etsy ~ Ko-fi

[hopelesstvaddict]

A Case for Boromir

There is never enough praise for Boromir so here are some thoughts :

First and foremost, he’s not a villain. He was never portrayed as much. His character served as a living example of the destructive power of the Ring.

He was a good man, good-natured with plenty of qualities.

He was a skilled warrior with good experience in leadership. Among the members of the Fellowhip, he was probably the one who was the most versed in the art of commanding men, strategy and battle planning, having done it for most of his life. He would have been a formidable asset during the Battle at Helm’s Deep or at the Pelennor Fields.

He is most probably familiar with Gandalf already since Faramir says he took lessons with him when he was younger.

Boromir starts off as a very skeptical man, hesitant to trust other races for his own fate and the fate of Gondor. That’s because he was always alone in defending both Osgiliath and Minas Tirith against Mordor; they never got any help from anyone and they were left to fend for themselves essentially. That certainly takes a toll on the mind. Plus, Mordor was literally their neighbour so the Gondorians must feel a little pressured. That probably hardened him to the point of second-guessing everything and being just a tad cynical.

As a result, Boromir has learned that he can only rely on himself in life BUT at the same time, his role as a commander implies that he bears responsibility for the men he leads. See the contradiction here ? And Boromir must have lost countless men.

That’s how he knows how Frodo must feel after Gandalf’s death and why he tries to tell him not to blame himself. He has been there before. Countless times. Not to say that the others haven’t - Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli probably have lost friends too - but Boromir probably was the one who had the most experience in death and mourning because he was a leader of dozens of men. That’s also why he begs Aragorn to let the Hobbits rest and mourn right after they exit Moria. He has been there before.

His military background also makes him practical and quick thinking. After Gandalf falls, he is fast in retrieving the Hobbits and forcing them to move on - while Aragorn is still in shock - because he knows that seeing men die does not mean those who still live are safe. He only thinks of mourning once they're out of Moria when he thinks they're safe - which Aragorn points out is not the case.

Speaking of the Hobbits, he loves them so much. Merry and Pippin especially. Perhaps because he feels they’re the ones that need protecting most. And that speaks about Boromir’s character so much. He takes it upon himself to teach them basic swordfights - meaning he’s a patient man. He probably has done this before.

He would have been good with children.

He loves too much in general but he has had to learn not to show it.

And like mentioned beforehand, he was a skeptical man at first but he gradually has to change his mind and learn to respect, value and rely on the others as they are all forced to do. His mind opens gradually and he accepts that he can count on others in life.

This is perhaps Boromir's first real adventure that's completely different from the military campaigns and battles that he is familiar with. As he goes through this journey and is forced to rely on this group of strangers, he can't help but appreciate them more and more and admire them for skills and resilience he didn't think they could necessarily have.

He is an honorable man. He doesn’t like to lie and tries to speak the truth whenever possible. When Denethor sent him to the Council, he was not willing to go and it was Denethor who put the idea of using the Ring for good in his mind and to bring it to Minas Tirith. So he went to the Council and joined the Fellowship with kind of a double purpose - because if we’re being honest, he was all about protecting the city so his joining a quest he doesn’t really believe in and leaving the defense of his beloved city to ... ? “Ah baby brother will take care of it, Father will be so happy about it” - anyway, a double purpose, but he was never really ok with it. Thus why he kept suggesting going to Minas Tirith so that maybe the others would agree and then he’d feel better about it. Not the best way to cope with secrets and lies, but hey, he was only human. Headcanon that the more he travelled with the Fellowship, the more he became against the idea. Basically he struggled with this internal conflict during the whole time he traveled with them.

But the pressure from his father was too much so that’s why he could never go against his wishes. I’m not going to dwell very long on the relationship between Denethor and his sons because he loved them for sure, but the pressure he put on both was detrimental to their mental states.

He loved his brother to bits. Above anything else. Always defended him against his father and called his father out when he judged he was being too harsh.

Though his father was the prominent parental figure, Boromir didn’t take after him and grew into his own person and had the sense of loving both his father and brother even though his family was completely dysfunctional.

They lost their mother when they were very young. They had to grow up very fast and the hard way. They had no choice but becoming men before their time, no choice other than becoming strong, brave and valiant.

His whole relationship with Aragorn. He never disliked the man. At first, his initial reaction is totally understandable - I mean, when you think about it, you’ve been fighting your whole life for your city on your own, you’ve probably learned when you were younger that your role as Steward was to wait for the King to return ONE DAY but that said King has never appeared in what? Centuries? And then, a stranger is suddenly revealed to be that King ? Are you really going to say ‘Well, here are the keys to the kingdom” ? No. Of course you’d be wary of the whole situation. He needs to judge and feel the man before making a decision. His very nature called for that reaction.

But he doesn’t stick to that view. Like I said, he is not close-minded. His journey with Aragorn shows him that yes, the man is capable, a good man, a skilled warrior and a potentially great leader of men. That’s why he comes to bond with him - or at least tries to - about Gondor and the strength of men. Because he thinks that Aragorn would do well with his role. He sees this, and Aragorn, though he respects Boromir, doesn’t want/isn’t ready to assume the role he is meant to have and that frustrates Boromir because he knows what Aragorn can be. He doesn’t realize that Aragorn has been raised by Elves who are a little more on the downside when it comes to what the race of Men can still do and bring to the world. So he is honest with him and tells him in his face - “I know you’re more than up to the task but you refuse to see it yourself, wake up man”.

I think what’s potentially even more frustrating to him is that in Aragorn, Boromir probably saw a kindred spirit with whom he could share the burden of taking responsibilities in wartime. Headcanon that though Boromir was the most skilled warrior between him and Faramir, he sometimes was just like his brother and dreamed of peacetime and retiring quietly to sit back and enjoy life. Headcanon that he sometimes suffered little bouts of semi-depression when the pressure of war and the pressure from his father became too much and headcanon that with Aragorn, he thought “maybe this is someone who can understand what I’m going through and who can help me, share the pain with me and maybe ease it". Split the leadership if you will. And when Aragorn refused he felt rejected and that he was alone after all.

He feels alone - yes he has his brother - but he has lost too many men and too many friends and he has had to learn to harden himself but he feels alone.

He is blunt and a bit tactless. Not at all like his brother who handles wording a bit better than him.

He has hope for Men because as a leader of men and a captain, if you don’t have hope, that’s just not going to work so he just HAS TO cling on hope; otherwise what’s the point ? And then, of all people, the potential King throws it back in his face that no, he personally doesn’t hold any hope for the race of Men. Like OK...

And even with that, when the Fellowship breaks apart, he has already decided that Aragorn would be his captain and King. That’s not just some redeeming words uttered just for the sake of peace of mind. He really meant them and he’d probably come to that conclusion at some point before Parth Galen. Headcanon that had he lived, he would have become that annoying voice that whispered to an increasingly amused Aragorn “King”. OK maybe not.

He was burdened all of his life by having to protect his people. Because that’s what he wanted to do first and foremost, to fulfill what he felt was his duty. And because his father put immense pressure on him. All his actions stemmed from this desire to protect.

The Ring took advantage of these deep insecure feelings, the pain and the fear of having to defend Gondor alone, the pressure from his father and turned it all against him.

He still realized right after, when his madness spell was over, that he had made a grave folly and he tried to redeem himself by fighting hard for Merry and Pippin.

The man was strong as hell. Two arrows in and he still had the strength to get back up and fight some more. That’s how powerful a warrior he was. His prowess on the battlefield was a known fact among Gondorians and that extended to the Rohirrim as well, with Eomer praising him highly. Can you imagine if they had met?

[jimmypeakes]

ADAM DIMARCO? No, that’s actually JIMMY PEAKES from the GOLDEN TRIO ERA. You know, the child of BRANWEN PEAKES (NÉE GOYLE) and JEREMIAH PEAKES? Only 19 years old, this GRYFFINDOR alumni works as an AUROR IN TRAINING and is sided with THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX. HE identifies as CIS-MAN and is a HALF-BLOOD who is known to be IMPULSIVE, CARELESS, and IMPATIENT but also COURAGEOUS, ENTHUSIASTIC, and LOYAL. — &&. ( SAM, EST, THEY/THEM, 24. ) 

character parallels: gordon tracy ( thunderbirds ) + lorelai gilmore ( gilmore girls ) + sam wilson ( marvel comics ) + ron weasley ( harry potter ) + betty cooper ( archie comics ) + mike wheeler ( stranger things ) + anna ( frozen ) + legolas greenleaf ( the lord of the rings ) + donna noble ( doctor who ) + peter pevensie ( the chronicles of narnia ) !!

THREE HEADCANONS

— ❝ 01. Branwen Goyle was never a big fan of her family, and was out of the Goyle sphere of existence as soon as she finished Hogwarts. She ended up marrying a muggle man, Jeremiah Peakes, when she was around 25 years old, and had her first child two years later. She and Jeremiah ended up having a total of five children, all boys, and Jimmy is the second youngest out of them. He’s always kind of been the trouble-maker of the family, and though all of his brothers were over-achievers, he never felt any less proud of himself or that he had to compete with them. In fact, he’s a pretty easy-going person, and tends not to worry all that much. He’s fun to be around, and absolutely despises tension. He’s always trying to make light of difficult situations, and maybe sometimes cracks a joke when it’s not the exact right time. He’s been working on that, though, and can take things seriously. It’s like… He just needs a little something to help him grow up a bit more.

— ❝ 02. Jimmy Peakes does not have any problems finding people to date whatsoever. He’s very flirty, and quite agreeable to be around, and therefore, it’s quite easy for him to attract others. He’s pansexual and panromantic, and has never counted gender in the equation when it comes to romance or who he’s attracted to. He never really questioned his sexuality either. He always knew that he didn’t only like girls, and that whether they were girls or not didn’t matter to him. He first told his brothers he didn’t only like girls when he was seven years old. Like, just… Stood on the couch on Christmas day and announced he wasn’t straight. Which was a word he had learned thanks to the fact that Branwen and Jeremiah Peakes taught their children things about the world and had always made it clear to them that no prejudices would be tolerated. And as Jimmy tended to be a bit dramatic, of course he had to make a big announcement out of it.

— ❝ 03. Jimmy was a very active child, and still, to this day, constantly needs to be doing something. He’s a huge fan of flying and Quidditch, and that’s why he tried out for the Gryffindor team in his third (?) year. However, he always knew he didn’t want to take it to the professional level. Not only did he not have the patience to train as much as was necessary to become a professional, but he also didn’t think he’d be able to stand being only challenged physically, as he does love an intellectual challenge too. Sure, there are plenty of Quidditch players who are much smarter than him, but for him, personally, given the way he functions as a person, it wouldn’t work. He likes things that are more varied, which is why he ended up settling on becoming an auror. Not only was one of his heroes one, but also he couldn’t think of a better thing to do with himself than stop bad guys and save innocents. Plus, it presented a variety of challenges, both physical and intellectual, and therefore truly motivated Jimmy.

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Has three older brothers and one younger brother, who I’ll definitely beg y’all to play hehe.

Yes, his family was inspired by the Tracy family from the Thunderbirds TV show(s) (and movie, though we don’t talk about that. I mean, I do love it, but I acknowledge the fact that it’s... Not the best.)

Definitely inspired by Gordon Tracy. Like, I’m not even trying to be subtle about it. For reference, though, my favourite is John. But Gordon is a close second. But actually, it changes a lot.

I do realize this turned into me just talking about Thunderbirds, but it’s my one (1) niche interest, and I will never ever shut up about it. I do apologize about that, though.

Loves classical music! Like, isn’t that into music in general, but he does really appreciate classical music. And like, he does enjoy music, it’s just not a passion of his.

Is going to be so into the year 2029 like how much things have changed? Amazing. And since his dad’s a muggle, he’s quite connected to the muggle world, so to see how things have evolved over there? WOW.

Probably was the kid who kept on trying to make muggle devices work at Hogwarts by tinkering with them, but then mocked/teased (I’m never sure what the difference between those words is; I should Google it probably) his younger brother when he brought a walkman (or whatever the equivalent of that was at the time) to Hogwarts.

Loves all things water related. Used to hang out a lot by the lake, and went swimming whenever he got the chance. He’s a very strong swimmer.

Kind of? Bad at dealing with emotions? Jake Peralta could also be a character parallel for him, honestly.

Has literally never interacted with his mother’s family, as they consider him and his brothers huge mistakes and stains on their reputation. Would fight a Goyle, 100%.

Would die for his family (his brothers, siblings-in-law and parents - maybe even niblings if someone who plays one of his brothers want said brother to have a child or children), no doubt about it.

His dad’s actually rich, so even though Branwen (Jimmy’s mother) got disowned, they never lacked of anything. Especially the newest technology and vehicles, as that was the field his dad was in. Please don’t @ me for all these stolen Thunderbirds ideas I am but a small, idealess Sam.

Plays Dungeons & Dragons with friends and (maybe - depending on the people who potentially play them) some of his brothers and plays a wonderfully chaotic neutral forest gnome rogue named Alvyn. No family name for Alvyn, because he’s just too cool for that.

( FOOD TW ) Is actually a somewhat decent cook.

Will most likely marathon a shit ton of old (but new for him) superhero movies in 2029. Because, yeah. He loves superhero movies. He prefers Marvel movies, but DC comics. Which is not at all inspired by my own taste. Not. At all.

+ ABOUT PAGE !! + PINTEREST BOARD !! ( coming soon ) + CONNECTIONS PAGE !! ( coming soon )

[themerrymutants]

Long ass “what if Aragorn and crew were hipsters” modern au headcanons

@loyalservants​ - since you’d asked to see :)

Under a cut because there’s.. a lot. Also there’s a bit of canon breaking here but what’s a good au without a bit of canon breaking?

Elrond works as head doctor at the local trauma clinic. Having been alive as long as he has he's amassed quite a fortune which he uses to cover the cost of medical care for those who can't afford it himself.

He returned to Middle Earth when word reached him that Aragorn had passed on but his daughter hadn’t. It killed him to leave his wife a second time but, not knowing the fate of his sons, he couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her alone so he pleaded to be allowed to go back and join her and was eventually granted permission on the condition that if he or any others who inevitably follow suit do they will never be able to return. 

Celebrían eventually rejoins her husband and children on December 24th 2008 (modern calendar). In March of 2009 she contacted her parents, with a bit of help from her children, via text pretending to be Arwen. She wasn’t even able to get a simple “hello” out before she was pulled into a tear filled bear hug

Galadriel is a self defense course instructor at the Y and a very active environmental activist and human rights activist because for the love of Eru she’s way too old for your shenanigans humanity and someone has to fix it. humans are cute but by the valar are they dumb. Galadriel is still very much someone nobody wants to f*ck with and those stupid enough to still try anyway end up regretting it dearly. Rule #1 of telepaths: don’t piss off a telepath.

Her husband is a historian and has long since worked with his colleagues to help preserve Elven heritage sites.

Legolas looks wise looks like what would happen if you shoved him and Skrillex in a blender and put it on “puree” and already has a degree as a veterinarian (specializing in exotics) and is a biology and environmental studies dual major.

 Aragorn is a history major and is starting to get the memories of his past life back though he keeps this quiet because he rather enjoys his classes.

Gimli is dual majoring engineering and economics, Pippin and Merry are general studies majors and honestly have no idea what they’re doing half the time but hey at least they’re having fun doing it!

Arwyn, as she spells it in modern day to try and stay lower key, works at a tattoo parlor and has a total Kat Von D look going on which drives her dad up the wall.

Sam and Frodo are ex marines that were on the same squad (only survivors after an IED went off) they are roomies they were honorably discharged and earned a purple heart. Sam is blind in his left eye and Frodo was paralyzed from the waist down both suffer from PTSD. They've got two labs named Samson and Delilah who think they are lap dogs. Samson is a service dog washout (he was supposed to be Sam's dog but he just didn't have the right drive for it) and Delilah is Frodo's service dog. Currently Sam is looking for new candidates. In this AU Frodo died at mount doom so I can have him reincarnate with Sam since there was no way in hell Frodo would come back to middle earth after the sh*t he went through.

Legolas has a blind albino reticulated python named Lucy who was a rescue from a mass breeder. She's a bit off in more ways than one but is as sweet a noodle as possible Legolas often takes in special needs herps that his rescue can't home for various reasons 

Gandalf is the history professor and has become resigned to the fact that humans are dumb af and kind of need perpetual babysitting (races and magic and shit have remained unchanged just because it's more fun that way)

Thranduil is tough as nails and gives 0 fucks. if something needs done to keep those in his territory safe he will do it regardless of legality Cops don't bother coming because it's a cesspool and they've got less taxing things to do He's kind of a mob boss archetype but good and does good well except when he kicks some faces in but they always deserve it. He’s kind of the head of his own lil section of an as of yet unnamed city. He's not like crime or mob boss so much as "police don't do sh*t so we keep the peace instead". Police are happy to do so because the area is basically Gotham crime wise and nobody wants to touch it with a 40 ft pole I love the idea that Thranduil ended up blinded after his run in with Smaug he ended up staying in middle earth the entire time god bless his poor soul. In modern era he ran into a gangster with a fondness for flame throwers and got toasty again. Received extensive burns but survived because 1 Thranduil, and 2 like hell he was gonna die now when sh!t still needs to be kept in order.

Elves did sail to the west but it was less going back home and more "FUCK THIS SHIT I'M OUT" Eventually they come back and first land in ireland becoming the basis of the Tuatha Dé Danann Because I will die on the hill that elves are somehow involved with celtic mythology in the universe of LOTR and yes I know it's not earth but come on The geography actually kind of matches ...no I did not have an embarassing phase where I was way too obsessed with LOTR and calculated this stuff for funsies

I'm also super fond for immortals watching throughout history and just going "why did I do this again?" Also Elrond getting even more done with humanity gives me life

Merry is addicted to idle games and half the storage space on his phone is filled with them. 

Pippin has won a few Pokemon tournaments and even got a scholarship from one of them. He enjoys building teams from "useless" Pokemon and wiping the floor with them. His favorite pokemon to use is Pachirisu because no one expects to have their ass handed to them by a pika clone.

In this AU Aragorn is reincarnated over and over and over again and Arwen somehow manages to find him each time. Sometimes they’re lovers other times they’re just friends and every once in a while she’ll only manage to briefly brush past him before he’s gone again. Her father tried to convince her to go be with her mother but she found that even the short amount of time she got to spend with her love each time was worth the sorrow of losing him again, and again, and again.

Elrond and Celebrían renewed their vows in 2015 after learning of the practice and finding it fitting. Their first dance was to Like I’m Gonna Lose You

[lionwithouthonour-blog]

Meta prompt -- what exactly was going through Jaime's mind during the Loot Train Battle?

Okay, I have to admit I almost had to look up which was the Loot Train Battle because I’ve got so used to everyone just calling it the Field of Fire 2.0...

That aside, this is going to get really long (like really long; I can write an essay on this), and there’s almost definitely gonna be some stuff that could potentially be seen as ‘anti-Dany’ so...I’m just warning you so you can’t get mad and say I didn’t.

I think one thing that’s important to remember about this particular battle (and ironically one thing practically everyone tends to forget) is that it’s one that Jaime never saw coming. As far as he was concerned - hell, as far as any of them were concerned - all the fighting was done once they’d taken Highgarden. Just before the battle seems set to begin, he’s told that the gold has safely entered King’s Landing, which if anyone was going to attack them, surely the gold would be the target and not a few wagons of food. All Jaime’s got to worry about now is getting said wagons of food and the last of the Lannister/Tarly forces back into the city and they’re home and dry. And also it’s probably important to note his attitude towards the soldiers as demonstrated early in the scene: Lord Tarly says that flogging them will make them move into the city faster, Jaime tells him not to. Why is this detail important? Because it shows that on some level, Jaime cares about these men. Lord Tarly demonstrates the attitude of caring about them as a commander to an army, Jaime demonstrates the attitude of caring about them as people. People who have probably already spent a long amount of time marching at a forced pace and who probably haven’t had much time for resting or eating or anything else - again, they want to just get everything back to the city. And that’s another important detail to remember.

Now, when the Dothraki appear, they’re forced to fight a battle that nobody was expecting to come, on a terrain that’s the worst possible kind for facing that particular enemy, and against an enemy that probably none of them have ever faced the likes of before. And that’s even before the dragon shows up. Generally speaking, the tail end of a train of soldiers would not be so heavily armed or defensible - all the best soldiers would have been with the gold up ahead and now safely in King’s Landing. Realistically speaking, at least one of the main four (Jaime, Bronn, Lord Tarly and Dickon), probably two at minimum, would have been somewhere up at the front of the train, but dramatic license blahdeblah moving on. Now, they find themselves essentially cornered on an open field (and just FYI, I’m getting tired of people using Robert’s line of “only a fool would face the Dothraki on an open field” to mock Jaime in this moment; like what the fuck else was he supposed to do..?), and about to do battle when they’re clearly outnumbered and probably quite sapped for strength anyway. Still, Jaime refuses to leave them even when Bronn practically orders him to. His “we can hold them off” is, in my opinion at least, a direct response to what Bronn is saying which basically amounts to “everyone here is gonna die in a sec and if you stay then you’ll die too”. They’re both right by the line of Lannister soldiers when Bronn says that and in battle, that kind of attitude is one of the worst that you can have. It’s like in LotR at Helm’s Deep when Legolas starts going off on one about how hopeless the odds are (though granted he does it in Elvish, at least) - it’s just something you shouldn’t say even if you totally believe it and especially not where others can probably hear you. Even if Drogon wasn’t the master of Ironic Dramatic Timing, the argument would probably have ended there. It was less about the words being said than just trying to get Bronn to shut up.

And then the dragon appears...and this is where the potential anti-Dany stuff is gonna start showing so...heads up. First, I would just like to casually remind everyone that no one on the Lannister side has ever seen a dragon before. Oh sure, Jaime’s seen the skulls and maybe even Bronn has too, but this is something totally different. It would be the same as if you suddenly came face-to-face with a living breathing and intent on killing you T-Rex. And while they’re somewhat prepared for it with the Scorpion, again, huge difference between dead skull and living dragon. And that gets shown in all its logic-bomb glory. Second, this isn’t like when Tyrion first saw them, or Jon first saw them. Jaime is facing Drogon knowing full well that he’s going to be used as a weapon against them. This isn’t just a probability like it was for the other two, this is a certainty. And using a dragon in a swords-and-arrows battle like this would pretty much be the equivalent of using modern-day bombing techniques in a swords-and-arrows battle. While they stood little chance of success against the Dothraki, against Drogon alone they stand no chance and against Drogon and the Dothraki, Jaime knows they are going to be obliterated.

Now, from a technical side of things, I would like to point out that the battle is filmed almost utterly entirely from the Lannister army’s point of view, particularly  focusing on Jaime and Bronn. This is the first time we’ve seen a full-scale dragon attack from anyone else’s point of view other than Daenerys’. You know how a lot of people felt more uncomfortable watching this battle in particular than they normally did during dragon attacks? This is the reason why. Instead of the destruction being shown as a wonderful thing and utterly 100% deserved, this showed the destruction as the destruction it really is: men screaming and turning to ash, throwing themselves in the water to drown to try and put out the flames (seriously, the original final shot of the episode was meant to be Jaime seeing his men drowning), sheer and utter terror and chaos everywhere. Also, that scene with the Lannister soldiers and Arya in the woods that everyone just dismissed as a cameo for Ed Sheeren? Well, I’m not gonna argue about that, but I would argue that that scene was a direct prelude to this one. Whether you realised it or not at the time, it humanised the Lannister army, it made it clear that these were not necessarily men who agreed with Cersei or even completely wanted to be there. These were men like any other, who had lives and families and for whom being a soldier was just a job. To everyone who argues that the soldiers were fine to be killed simply by virtue of being a soldier, I repeat: these people had no knowledge on how to fight a fucking dragon! They didn’t sign up to fight a fucking dragon! Most of them probably didn’t even sign up, they were likely conscripted. The logic of that would basically be the same as saying “Oh, you took martial arts courses? You must know how to defuse a bomb!” Also, again I repeat, the best soldiers would have been with the gold up at the front of the train. Jaime, Bronn and (to a lesser extent) Tyrion are the POV characters in this battle and none of them feel good about what’s happening. We as an audience are not meant to be feeling good about what’s happening. Of course, purely choosing a POV won’t control how every single person watching feels because obviously if you like Dany more than you like any of the three POV characters, you’re gonna think this is the best thing since sliced bread no matter how it’s presented. But from a meta side of things, from the set-up, to the acting, to the directing, to just how the thing is filmed, there is a very deliberate attempt to make the audience uncomfortable at the very least with this whole situation.

Going specifically back to Jaime, the next key moment I wanna talk about is the moment he sends Bronn off to the Scorpion rather than going himself. Now, I’ve made jokes about this too, that Jaime is just using his hand as an excuse to get Bronn to do something for him (see pretty much the entire journey to find Myrcella in Dorne). Do I actually think this is his intention in this moment? No. He’s being 100% serious. By this point, chaos has taken over the battle. Drogon is burning stuff left right and centre, the Dothraki have broken through the Lannister lines, their men are being absolutely slaughtered. Jaime’s always demonstrated the desire for ending battles and wars quickly and with minimum damage. Drogon needs to be brought down and fast if they’re going to stand even the slightest chance of getting through this. Jaime is stating an absolute fact that he can’t operate the Scorpion with one hand and certainly not with the degree of skill needed to bring Drogon down. Bronn is literally the only realistic option in that moment.

Finally, because I know this is getting ridiculously long (and I want to congratulate you if you’ve read this far), I’m gonna talk about that last little bit. When Jaime’s looking around at all the men dead and dying and on fire and screaming, I am 100% certain that he’s connecting what he’s seeing in that moment to all the times he had to watch people burning with wildfire in the Mad King’s court. There’s a gifset on here that I’ve reblogged that has this scene with his confession to Brienne (’”Burn them all” he kept saying. “Burn them all”’). I personally have a headcanon (that may or may not be confirmed, honestly I haven’t done enough bts research to know) that Jaime suffers from some sort of repressed trauma from everything he saw and experienced in his time as a Kingsguard to Aerys, and if he does then the sight/sound of people being burned alive would almost certainly be a trigger to it (in the true sense of the term). And it really does look like he’s having some kind of traumatic episode in that moment. Then he sees Dany with the now-downed Drogon, and I honestly think he means what he says to Bronn in the next episode - when he sees her and sees that spear, he thinks he’s found a way to stop the war and more importantly, stop more instances of this. He would have been told the stories of the original Field of Fire, and he has his own experience with the Mad King to draw on. In that moment, Daenerys isn’t the “breaker of chains” or anything good, at least not to Jaime; she’s just exactly what Cersei’s always described her to be - a foreign conqueror who is willing to destroy Westeros if it only means she can rule it (which is one of the reasons pretty much everyone advised her against this action in the first place). And more importantly, she is the Mad King’s daughter, with all the implications of that. He killed Aerys to stop thousands of people burning - and for over 20 years his life has been defined by that act whether for good or not; why would he do anything different here if he has the chance? Jaime literally has nothing else to draw on to decide what kind of person she is besides what he’s seen in this battle, and he sees her at her absolute worst. And it’s a well-established part of his character that he tends to act before he thinks and this is a highly stressful situation where thinking isn’t really much of an option anyway. Of course he’s going to take the chance to try and kill her and, by proxy, stop all the damage that he’s seeing in that moment she’s capable of causing.

So I have a lot of feelings on this scene (and the aftermath in the next episode as well). To everyone/anyone that actually read this whole thing, feel free to agree or disagree as you wish and well done for actually reading the whole thing in the first place (told you I could write an essay on this).