#also i personally believe that thranduil’s wife died but since that isn’t canon i didn’t include it in this but yeah i think that has a lot

[galadrielspeaks]

just thinking about thranduil and how he categorises his life and how the events of his life affects the way he rules his kingdom…. how so much of his development was defined by huge cataclysmic tragedies… thinking about how his youth is defined as before Doriath and his adulthood is defined as After Doriath… how when he became a prince he probably held on to his more idealistic beliefs only to be sternly reminded of the fickleness of life during war….. how the entire kingdom of the woodland realm probably has a Before Dagorlad and an After. how could you not after losing your king and the majority of your people? it is incredibly telling how these events of Thranduil’s past has affected his rule and everything about him down to his parenting. he understands he’s alone. that’s tragic. but he also understands his kingdom is alone. he’s a lonely king. there's no one higher than him, no one to seek advice from. he understands he is the final defender of a kingdom and he is fighting an inherited war, he has first hand witnessed the tragedies of this war and has been directly critically affected by it, he is just as much a victim of Sauron as his people. his nobility offers him zero protection, at any point he could lose everything, and yet he remains empathetic. he remains kind. he remains generous. he obviously sees the worth in fighting, he refuses to give up fully. he is (reasonably!) incredibly cautious which some call him an isolationist or consider him fickle for, during events like his refusal of gandalf’s invitation to the White Council but it becomes incredibly clear why he is like this when it’s put into context of his past. he has trusted allies before, he has seen what has happened. to join an organisation full of ring bearer’s as the sole leader of a nation with no ring to protect his people is almost an insult. they would not and do not understand what it takes to lead in that situation. Thranduil and all of his people are living in the after of the war of the last alliance. why would they join another? Thranduil has put his people first. He recognises that they themselves are the only ones who understand just how at risk they are. and yet with all of this in mind it should noted that he allies himself with men (who historically have experienced and understand the dangerous climate of their respective nations) and creates trade routes with them to provide for his people and also provides aid to them. and it is noted in the text that Legolas has been raised incredibly happily, and he is well-adjusted. throughout fighting a seemingly losing war thranduil found it implicitly important to raise his son with joy and hope. i like to believe he understands the importance of childhood whimsy and enchantment and worked to instill and maintain his child’s innocence. he raised his son as trauma-free as he could (saying this bc we do not know if his mother is dead or sailed or not but either way to be without the mother is traumatic but besides that Legolas appears to be generally mentally healthy). despite knowing first hand just how cruel and painful life is he did not feel the need to raise his child to be prepared and worried about very real threats. rather he raised his child happily, and simply worked to give his son the skills he needed to survive and to defend himself. usually military father's who have expreienced a great deal of trauma and haven't processed it correctly tend to succumb to the urge to raise their children to understand the cruelty of the world, and loathe their children for their innocence. i think that in thranduil not doing this with legolas, we can infer that he has taken time to healthily process his experiences. I believe that Thranduil is an incredibly important figure in the Lord of the Rings because he is truly an incredible example of someone who learns from their mistakes, learns from tradegy, who learns from life. i think that Thranduil never wanted to be a King, it is a responsibility that fell into his lap unwillingly and that is why he is a successful and well-loved ruler.

[mrsmarymorstan]

Middle Earth Modern AU Recs

My full Fic Rec Post was getting kind of crowded, so I thought I’d make a special one for all those Modern AUs I do so love ^___^

Sports

Try a Little Teamwork by MagicMarker Explicit 6188

Olympics AU    Fíli/Sigrid

Being an Olympic athlete is no walk in the park. All the cameras and crowds can be overwhelming, and no one ever mentions the excruciating amount of just sitting there waiting.Here for his second Olympic appearance, Fíli just won the gold in Synchronized Platform Diving with his brother Kíli. However despite his experience he finds it difficult to focus on the singles event he has coming up later that week. Sigrid makes her Olympic debut competing in Kayaking and is yet to have her first race. So what are two people to do when it all starts to be a bit too much? Well, they try a little teamwork.

High School

Two Peas in Pod by Vera (Vera_DragonMuse) Teen and Up 2307

(Part 1: Durin’s Autobody)

Kíli/Tauriel, Legolas/Gimli, High School AU

Answer to tumblr prompt from emmazapdos: Kili/Tauriel with an extremely self-conscious Kili who cannot believe that Tauriel could actually be attracted to him so he keeps ignoring her attempts to court him (or whatever she does). Of course, eventually Tauriel straight up asks him what his problem is and it all comes out.

College/University 

Games We Didn’t Play by Vera (Vera_DragonMuse) Mature 4420

(Part 4: Durin’s Autobody)

Gimli/Legolas, Kíli/Tauriel

After breaking up with Gimli and heading off to College, it takes Legolas 4 years to get back to where he was and getting his life back on tracks, thanks to his best friend in all the world and (partly) her evil goblin of a fiancé.

Run In by Gingehfish General Audiences 1515

Éowyn/Faramir, 

Biker!Éowyn, Nerd!Faramir

Faramir gets into some trouble on the way to class.

A Moveable Feast by Cortue Explicit 4995 F/F

Kíli/Tauriel, Fem!Kíli, 

The music is loud enough it could almost push Tauriel outside of her body between one pounding heartbeat and the next if it weren’t for the hand tangled in the hair at the back of her neck, anchoring her here.

Small Business 

A Sensible Romance by Vera (Vera_DragonMuse) Mature 4707

(Part 2: Durin’s Autobody)

Fíli/Sigrid, Past Fíli/Ori, Kíli/Tauriel

Fíli first meets Sigrid when her family’s car breaks down and he offers to repair it for them there and then. As a thank you, she gives him a meal on the house at the café she works at and things go from there.

Featuring infuriating Brothers and their surprisingly awesome wives.  

A Cabal of Scones and Wine by Vera (Vera_DragonMuse) Mature 4262

(Part 5: Durin’s Autobody)

Fíli/Sigrid, Kíli/Tauriel, Ori/Thorin 

The partners of the Durin Boys have their own bond of sibling-hood, as anyone would need to be able to cope with two codependent brothers and their mess of a family. Featuring Wine, Discussion of Sex Lives, Scones, Babies and a whole lot of love and fluff.

Light Through the Shadows by arwens_light Teen and Up 6317

Fíli/Sigrid   Kíli/Tauriel  Bilbo/Thorin  

The Title is also inspired from two Tolkien quotes:

"You can only come to the morning through the shadows"

&

“No half-heartedness and no worldly fear must turn us aside from following the light unflinchingly"

I've been talking with a couple of you about writing a Modern AU for Fili/Sigrid... and this is what I came up with. I truly hope that you enjoy.

Musicians 

You’re Beautiful by Mont_Girl_of_Lumatere General Audiences 1646

Fíli/Sigrid

After the The Durin Brothers suffer a technical mishap at a gig followed by Lead Singer Kíli loosing his voice, it’s time for Fíli to take center stage and play them out with an acoustic cover of everyone’s favourite James Blunt song.

Gratuitous

Unrealistic Fluff.

Duet by Lindoreda, Teen and Up, 7543

Bilbo/Thorin

Composing classical music has always been Bilbo's dream, but it's never worked out the way he intended. Now, middle-aged and desperate, he's beginning to wonder if he'll ever make his mark on the music world. Enter Gandalf, with a grumpy harpist in tow, and the task of writing a piece for him. It might just be what he needs to get through his writer's block... if he doesn't kill Thorin first.

Mafia 

Paper Stars by Follius Mature 54192

Fíli/Sigrid (Minor Kíli/Ori)

He may be from a family of drug-dealing, gang-banging criminals with the biggest piece of turf between the Iron Hills and the Sea of Rhûn, but Fili is a good person. He's clean. He's gone straight. He works hard. He hasn't even seen or spoken to the family in years, and, god willing, he never will.

But then, his brother goes missing and nobody knows where he is. Back home for the first time in years, Fili has to piece together the story of Kili's disappearance and dive right back into the criminal underbelly of a town in ruins in order to find his brother. And, after years of silence, he has to confront a 'Family' more terrifying and dangerous than any gun-toting gang of bikers and crooks - his own.

Contains Graphic Depictions of Violence, Mentions of Miscarriage, Mentions of Drug Use and more angst than you can shake a stick at.

The world building is beautiful and amazing, as it is simply set in Modern Day Middle Earth, where all the races are the same just with Smart Phones. I cannot recommend this fic enough.  

Modern Royalty 

You Have a Raven by flandersmare Teen and Up 10743

Being 22 and starting to shoulder some of the responsibilities of a Crown Princess of Dale and Lake Town, Her Royal Highness, Princess Sigrid, has a way of coping. And another name - LadyoftheLake.

Or.

I'd like to think international representatives didn't do this sort of thing at summits, but to be honest I wouldn't put it past them.

With Hearts More Proof Than Shields by Flandersmare Teen and Up 23024

Modern Royalty  Fíli/Sigrid, Kíli/Tauriel, Bilbo/Thorin

Fili ran. He wasn’t exactly sure where he was heading, but he’d grown up in these halls. He’d lived his whole life within these walls. But he was in flight mode and he’d been gone a fair few years. Things had changed and moved and he was still relearning. And they had CCTV and blueprints.

Or

Someone's going to get fired, providing Dwalin doesn't kill them with his bare hands first.

Nothing Gold Can Stay by perkynurples Teen and Up 296361 (26 Chapters) 

Bilbo/Thorin

Bilbo Baggins led a rather peaceful life, thank you very much, until an old acquaintance decided to turn it upside down, and he found himself agreeing to take a job that’s… let’s say not exactly up his alley, and might eventually cost him a little more than his treasured cozy lifestyle. Who would have thought tutoring a slightly menacing monarch’s more than slightly overbearing nephew could prove to be such an… adventure?

Single Parent 

Alone is a word not meant for you by authoressjean General Audiences 5046

Bilbo/Thorin

The holidays are fast approaching, and Thorin's been dreading them, now that it's just him and his nephews. Harder still given that Fili still barely speaks and hasn't really since Dis died.

So when Kili drags them into the bookstore to look for children's literature author Mr. Baggins' new book, and they find the author himself reading his latest, Thorin isn't expecting anything beyond maybe making his nephews a little happier.

He certainly isn't expecting to find something for himself but he may have done just that.

Artist AU 

Love Rekindled by magicalmagic General Audiences 5280

Bard/Thranduil, Fíli/Sigrid

Even though there were several groups talking around his paintings, there was one man that stood out from everyone else. The man was planted in front of ‘Love Ablaze,’ the crowd parted around him like the sun surrounded by stars. He was wearing a sharp suit, his long blond hair tucked into a low ponytail. His back was ramrod straight, his hands clenched into fists. Bard stepped next to the man, keeping his eyes on the painting the other was studying so intensely.

‘Love Ablaze’ was Bard’s saddest painting. He painted it after Sophia’s death, the grief threatening to drown him as he poured his emotions onto canvas. Despair was etched into every line, and he could almost pinpoint the places where he had to smooth over tear tracks with a fresh layer of paint. It always brought back the bone deep anguish of that time, that at this point was more muted pangs of sadness when he smelled her perfume, or waking up to empty sheets next to him. That was why it was one of the few paintings Bard was actually eager to let go.

Festive Fic 

Home for the Holidays by Khazadqueen General Audiences 2623

Fíli/Ori, Kíli/Tauriel, Dwalin/Thorin, Dís/Canonical Wife, Glón/Canonical Wife

Ori and Fili host their combined family for a very hectic Hanukkah celebration.

Ok, so Tolkien apparently based a lot of Dwarrow culture on Jewish Culture, including their language, so this just had be flailing because, yeah, vaguely obscure canon reference.  

Generic 

Please stand clear of the closing doors by iscatterthemintimeandspace General Audiences 940

Prompt: AU prompt: Person A is thinking sexually graphic or generally odd thoughts and suddenly panics and thinks “If you’re a mind reader, cough right now.”

Person B coughs.

"Hey, gorgeous woman I’d love to do all sorts of naughty things to, cough right now if you can read my mind! "

She coughed.

We were lovers in a Past Life (I can see it in your green eyes) by Plinys General Audiences 4194

Kíli/Tauriel

Eager to get out of his university office, Kili accepts an invitation from an old friend that brings him to the Amazon Rainforest where he very nearly gets himself killed because he "lacks a sense of self-preservation," according to the woman who keeps having to rescue him.

You Raise Me Up by flappergirlsfolly General Audiences 2522

Fíli/Sigrid

A Story about Sigrid’s Blood Pressure

Or

Five times the Durins scared Sigrid and the only time she scared one of them.

Take From Me My Lace by Littleblackdog, Explicit, 130,650 (35/?) F/M

Bilbo/Thorin, Fem!Bilbo, Modern AU

Uncompleted plot but the romance is all neat and tidy IMO.

Bilba Baggins, popular model for a premier lingerie company, isn't always entirely convinced that the perks of the job are worth the hassle. Can't she even go to the shops without being recognized?

But Thorin Oakenshield doesn't seem to recognize her at all, even with her nearly-naked breasts forever plastered across half of London.

That's... a very refreshing change.

Here There Be Dragonairs by thepizzasitter, Teen and Up, 5516

Bard/Thranduil   Background Gimli/Legolas, Fíli/Sigrid and Kíli/Tauriel 

"She focused, her hands balling into little fists. She had less than six minutes, and she was going to win. Ash Ketchum had nothing on her." In which Pokemon Go! brings people together, Thranduil wants Gimli to keep his hands to himself, and Bard likes to train a type of Pokemon that will shock absolutely no one.