#aragorn is crying in the background

[balee-art]

i miss lotr :´)  

[anghraine]

I'm not sure what brought it to mind, but while I was going to sleep, I ended up thinking blearily about how canon Aragorn/Arwen doesn't quite work for me. It's not a NOTP, and there are aspects that are interesting enough, but it feels tacked-on to me even by Tolkien standards of romance, and I don't really buy the Beren and Lúthien parallels or the explanations of why it's actually super important and thematically integrated into the text.

Part of the difficulty for me is that Aragorn is so glorified through so much of LOTR as written—Númenóreans in general, but the heirs of Isildur most of all, and Aragorn is presented as the greatest of them all and is also highly Elvish in upbringing and perspective. Narratively, Aragorn/Arwen feels less to me like a desperate love across kindreds and more like the only really suitable match for him, imposed by authorial fiat.

I feel like the bittersweet aspect to Arwen is kind of attributed to her being Elrond's daughter and tightly connected to the Elves, yet her brothers and father are much more distinctly peredhil where she's sort of locked into this Elf-bride role. She's most interesting to me when this is personal—Arwen not as Lúthien lite, not as the Elf princess figure in a star-crossed match, not as Aragorn's reward and the only woman good enough for the great king of the reunited Númenóreans, but as a very specific person in a specific situation. When we see her as an individual, it's interesting (I think it's really intriguing that she's a reverse Eärendil!), but we see so little outside of the roles she keeps getting slotted into that it's frustrating.

I think this is part of the reason that the one scenario where Aragorn/Arwen does seriously appeal to me is one in which Aragorn doesn't become king of Gondor but the forces of good still win, and his next task is rebuilding Arnor. He'd get aid from Gondor for sure, but that's a far cry from ruling Gondor as an absolute monarch. Aragorn would still be super special and Elvish, but that's a much scrappier situation for him in which he could legitimately feel like he doesn't have that much to offer Arwen in a concrete sense, even with Sauron gone. And Arwen giving up everything to join him and be part of the restoration (Elrond or no Elrond) would have a lot of weight.

It's not that I think LOTR would be better this way per se (Aragorn/Arwen is a very, very small part of LOTR, after all), but I, personally, would like Aragorn/Arwen specifically a lot more against the background of working to restore and rebuild Arnor together.

[powderpinkprincess]

Underground [Legolas x human!reader]

Oh well, didn't I get lost a little... Here's another one, not my best but it's honest work 😏

Description: Your journey leads you straight into a mountain that you do not like. Thank Eru you have an Elf by your side whose vision is much better than yours.

(he's so pretty ⬇️)

You felt like you could break down and cry at any minute, really.

You watched as Aragorn stopped once again and brushed the mud with his fingertips. Then he stood and gazed around while Legolas approached him. They whispered to each other in Elvish, and Legolas furrowed his brows.

Gimli wasn’t even there with the group anymore mentally, he sat on a comfortable-looking rock and- Silently dissociated, or something like that. A sigh left your lips as you followed his actions. You choose a spot close to him and tried your best to find another inner world where your legs didn’t ache so terribly much and you were well rested, smelling like fresh flowers.

Like Legolas. Somehow, he always smelled nice and never looked exhausted. You allowed your eyes to rest on him for a short moment, hoping he wouldn’t notice. As disturbing as it sounded, you loved watching the Elf. You found a strange kind of comfort in him. It could have happened because his hearing and eyesight were significantly better than anyone else’s in the group. Or that he was thousands of years old, therefore he was the most experienced fighter among you all. Or simply just that he was an Elf. The first one you have ever met.

“We have to go down through the tunnel,” Aragorn’s sudden loud voice ripped you out of your thoughts, and you glanced away as quickly as you could, not knowing for how long you had been staring. Your cheeks turned red, and you prayed to Eru that no one noticed.

Then you realized the meaning of Aragorn’s words.

“Is that absolutely necessary?” you asked, your voice a pitch higher than it usually sounded.

“Yes, unless you want to be slaughtered by Orcs in the moonlight,” the man replied as he looked at you.

“I do not wish that,” you mumbled. Now you had a bigger issue than your aching legs. You hated the dark caves more than anything. Your human eyes could not handle them, and when you were down there you always lost the track of time, feeling as if you spent hours there instead of a couple of minutes. The last time you visited a mountain on the inside was about five years ago.

You stood uncomfortably.

“Well, if we must… But then I will go with Legolas,” you stated. You heard Gimli snickering in the background, and you turned to send him a questioning look.

“I do not think your Elf feels more at home down there than you do,” the Dwarf explained, seemingly amused.

“He is not mine,” you retorted immediately, your cheeks reddening once again. Gimli just hummed.

You all walked inside, and it didn’t take long until the fear started taking up on you.

“Can you see anything?” you whispered to Legolas, hoping that he was still by your side. Aragorn led the way with a small torch, but it did not give enough light for you in the back.

“Two separate tunnels, though it seems like the left one can not be used,” the Elf replied, his voice coming from further away than you hoped.

“What are you doing?! Come back to me,” you whined, entirely giving up on your good presentation. You faintly saw Legolas’s silhouette stopping and turning towards you as he waited.

“What if the torch gives out?” you questioned as soon as you were close to Legolas again. Small rocks rolled under your feet and you tripped, mentally preparing to fall on Eru knows what in this darkness, but a pair of firm hands caught your arm, holding you up.

“Do not think of such things,” Legolas answered. He waited until you gained your balance back before releasing his hold. “We are almost out.”

“How do you know?”

“The air smells fresher.”

“Of course,” you mumbled. You felt absolutely no difference, though that was no surprise, none of your senses were as fine as the Elf’s. You also had the opportunity to learn that the concept of ‘almost’ did not mean the same to a mortal Human and an immortal Elf, so you did not fully trust Legolas in this one.

You nervously fidgeted with your ring, which was also a mistake, because when you tried to fix it, you accidentally dropped the small jewellery. You stopped in your tracks.

“What did you drop?” Legolas asked without hesitation.

“My ring.” Tears pooled in your eyes. This was the last straw for you. You were never going to find it here in this dark, tight hell. You wished to get out of here so badly! Your throat felt tight as a silent tear rolled down your cheek.

“Hey, don’t cry.” Of course, he noticed it. Legolas noticed everything.

Aragorn turned back, so the light of the torch gave you a better view of the Elf. He scrutinized the ground for a minute before crouching down to pick up the ring you thought you had lost forever. He placed it on your palm with a soft smile.

“Are we okay?” Aragorn asked.

“Are you still crying, lass?” Gimli chimed in.

“I am good now, thank you,” you sniffled, and you wiped your eyes. “Let’s get the hell out of here, please!”

Aragorn nodded and turned back to lead the way. Gimli hurried his short steps to catch up with him. And Legolas- Legolas took your hand in his palm to guide you.

You wondered if it meant something to him at all because to you, it kind of meant the whole world.

[notwhelmedyet]

typesetting 'A Fire Shall Be Woken'

So I've been nibbling away at this project in secret for a month but I finally reached out to the author Ealcynn (who I don't believe has a tumblr?) and got the go-ahead to post updates so! here we go!!

Over the past year I have fallen absolutely in love with a LoTR AU fic series called A Fire Shall Be Woken, which is essentially a "for want of a nail" AU where Legolas was exiled from Mirkwood and has never met Aragorn. It is very well written and intricately detailed and it makes me cry every time I read it & after reread #3 I decided I should probably bind a copy.

Around that same time I discovered Cloches de Noël et de Pâques, a french book from 1900 illustrated by Alphonse Mucha. There's a wonderful quality scan available online and each page has a gorgeous floral frame & I said to myself: well. I'm never going to find a fic that's a better fit for these illustrations than this series.

So, step one, I went through the book and picked up some of my favorite frames that has winter/autumnal vibes, since both fics take place from October-December. There are about 80 pages of frames, but less than 40 illustrations because they are repeated with varying color schemes. I needed 19 illustrations to have one per chapter. I recruited some friends in the Renegade Publishing server to vote on the order, though I ignored a lot of their sensible advice to put my favorites at the front and back of each volume.

Then I had to do basic image editing to clean up the covers. The scans were good quality but were very grey. Each page had a dark and light side due to the curvature of the pages during scanning. So for each image I:

Cropped to size & auto-adjusted the white balance to brighten the background to white

Selected the transparent frame between sections and filled it with white

Used a layer mask on a duplicate of the image to lighten the dark side of the page, using an opacity gradient to make the transition seamless.

Covered the text frame and top illustration with smooth-sized white frames of matching sizes. I tried just filling these with white but at the reduced size I'll be printing the imperfections of the original linework were jagged and distracting.

[actuallyitsstar]

aaaaaaa so tumblr is not a functional website and it ate my next two drafted asks so prepare to get tagged in textposts but @brambleberrycottage sent Lord of The Rings (which will be v interesting bc im quite new to this franchise so pls dont crucify me i know nothing im baby lol) for the fandom ask game:

✨ send me a fandom and i'll answer with the following!

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)

↣ VERY IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE but i think i have no choice but to go with aragorn. idk i dont know enough yet about all the lore of the universe to unpack this but. idk. something about that specific Flavor of generational trauma and the concept of corrupted legacy/rejecting his bloodline and coming back to it and learning to accept it and himself and what that means for middle earth in the grand scheme of things and h ow he has to 'forgive' himself/his kind to help everyone else. idk idk. It Compels Me. ive only seen the movies 3 times and i have not yet read the books so im sorry if im saying anything stupid aldjfkfhf 😭

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

↣ SAM!!! SAMWISE GAMGEE !!! SAMWISE THE BRAVE! he is so so friend shaped i just love him so much so many of his scenes make me ugly cry. he was my big toss up for blorbo in this ranking. but i want to squish him. you know ???????

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)

↣ NO idea who is underrated in this fandom but i have a Soft Spot for boromir. hes that type. the type we've discovered i always love. the traumatized man with emotional problems who is overconfident. akdjfkfjfkgfj and i KNOW he obviously has his faults but he redeems himself and he reminds us of his true character and he does right by those halflings in the end by god 😭😭 still sad abt it

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

↣ again not that obscure probably idk enough of the more background ppl yet and idk who is popular but i have a soft spot for king theoden. his speech on the hill about burying his son always rly gets to me and he seems very noble and level-headed and fair, if not a little bit prideful at times. so interested in the concept of legacy and the way he talks about it and then how aragorn talks about it too and i always wonder if there is meant to be contrast/reference between them.

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)

↣ LISTEN..... DO NOT COME FOR ME BUT ITS KIND OF SORT OF SMEAGOL......hear me out. if faramir hadnt caused frodo and same to betray him i think he might still have been good and might still have been free of the ring at last. and idk if that lines up w the lore at all i may be talking out of my ass. im just saying i feel so so terrible about that twist happening to him bc he seemed so happy and free before the ring and then its just IMMEDIATE awfulness and crimes forever. he must be suffering. he died suffering. for the stupid ring. id like to think in another universe he gets something better.

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

↣ im sorry this is literally frodo i think 😭 canonically and also fandom-wise. frodo ily i am sorry this burden ruined your life it PHYSICALLY pains me, literally, yet i cannot stop reading about it and thinking abt your struggles.

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

↣ OBVIOUSLY SAURON OR SARUMAN.....NEXT QUESTION

[hwestalas]

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr., here is a drawing I did two years ago on MLKJ Day: Littlefoot and the friends he won by being kind and loyal even when they didn't deserve it.

(The foreground is after he and Cera get in a fight over which way to go. After she defeats him and convinces the others to follow her [she has no idea where she's going, just bossy], Littlefoot gets up, crying, and leaves them to their foolish choice. As soon as they find themselves in trouble and call for help, he runs back to rescue them, [see the left-hand background scenes], including Cera, as if they hadn't abandoned him. I thought his actions were beautiful, but I'm not sure I drew him very clearly.)

Martin Luther King Jr.'s courage to meet danger with gentleness - to drive out hate with love, as he put it - awes and inspires me. Ever since I finally saw the first Land Before Time movie as a teenager, I've thought that Littlefoot reflects that. I have always been completely obsessed with him, even when I'd only seen the next few movies; but that one confirmed that he was really, seriously admirable, regardless of being an animated talking Apatosaurus. (Which I love, but I know it sounds childish.)

Littlefoot was my favorite fictional character from around age 5-20, and would be still if not for Aragorn, and possibly Beleg... and maybe even Faramir. (The latter two also impress me with their forgiveness or gentleness in the face of danger, which is one big reason I like them so much. All of them. They're wonderful.)

Anyway, all that to say, let's be like Littlefoot, who was like Martin Luther King Jr., who was like Jesus! (Which is a very scary prospect... they had a lot of courage!)

[kitkatt0430-recommends]

The next wave of my favorite of my FFnet bookmarks as I dig through old links. Some have been migrated to Ao3, so I'll provide those links where I can. Though it seems this batch is mostly FFnet links. As always, the story summaries are in my words instead of the author's to convey my own feelings about the fics.

The Weekly Hyrule News by BatNeko - A modern day Legend of Zelda AU. Zelda feels like she can only be herself when she's Sheik, Link's having a bisexual crisis, and Dark Link is too busy enjoying his new day job to care about what Ganondorf wants.

I love the genderqueer take with Zelda and Link getting hit over the head with the fact that he's bi because he's attracted to Zelda whether she's Zelda or Sheik, every moment with Dark, and just… it's a really fun fic that I've read several times and will continue to love forever. The ship is Zelda/Link and the rating is T. Sadly I could not find it on Ao3, so the link points to FFnet.

New Blood in A New Hope by Michael Weyer - First of a four part series. After a spell goes wrong, Buffy, Willow, and Xander find themselves scattered across a galaxy far, far away. And the Empire looms large over them all…

I don't think this series was finished the last time I read it so I'm excited to see the final fic Return of the New Blood is complete. The series does a great job of combining the Buffy characters with the Star Wars universe and it's a lot of fun to have them hanging out with Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewie. It's rated T and is found only on FFNet (that I could find, anyway). The ships wind up being Buffy/Luke, Leia/Han, Willow/Kasan Moor, and Xander/Mara Jade, though the first fic of the series is gen.

The Scruff Factor by JastaElf - In which Aragorn's scruffiness becomes an excuse for some highly entertaining elven hijinks of the ridiculous kind.

It's a silly K+ rated fic over on FFnet that is mostly the movie-verse except where it's heavily influenced by the books. An extremely silly fic for having a fun time reading.

Slayers of the Old Republic by Michael Weyer - When Buffy fails to escape the collapsing Hellmouth, she lands in a starship in a galaxy far, far away… just in time to witness Revan's defeat.

Another series by Michael Weyer, though this series is unfinished as it only makes it to the events on the Leviathan (two planets and the Star Forge left to go to complete the KotOR plotline). I still recommend it because it's a really interesting concept that I remember enjoying a lot. It follows the plot of the Knights of the Old Republic pretty closely, but still has a distinctly Buffy stamp on things and it turns out Buffy's not the only one who found her way to other worlds. Rated T and found over on FFnet.

Cry for Hyrule by Seldavia - There are more secrets beneath the seas than the former King of Hyrule wants Link to learn. But Ganondorf intends for Link to learn them anyway.

I particularly like this Wind Waker re-imagining because of how it plays with the idea of good and evil and the importance of knowing one's history. Ganondorf is still the King of Evil from the Ocarina of Time the same way he was in the Wind Waker game, but his character is given a lot more depth here.

The Darkest Gate by Lauhau - When an ancient magical gate opens, it transports Sarah far away to the world between the Underground and the Upper Lands. There an ancient evil seeks to invade both and the only two who stand between their worlds and destruction are Sarah and the strange Goblin King, Jareth.

I actually read this before I saw Labyrinth for the first time - honestly, you don't need to have seen the movie to enjoy it. But knowing the movie makes me smile now on re-read to see the way parts of it have been woven into the plot and background. It's not on Ao3, so the link is to FFnet. The rating is T and the ship is Jareth/Sarah.

Welcome to Stalag 13 by L J Groundwater - Colonel Robert Hogan arrives at Stalag 13 and immediately starts thinking of escape; but when he gets his chance, it seems fate has other plans for him as he's faced with the choice of going home or risking it all to go back and bring the final radio part needed at camp with him.

This is probably one of my favorite takes on how the setup from Hogan's Heroes came about. L J Groundwater wrote a lot of Hogan's Heroes fanfics and, honestly? I recommend every single one. If you're a fan of the show, then Groundwater's fics definitely feel like a series of love letters to what made the show so great. This one is rated T and found on FFnet.

One (Last) Chance by Kirsh - When Time Compression returns Squall to the day of his SeeD exam, he has to admit the reason why. He wants to save Seifer.

I've got a real fondness for FF8 time travel fics - after all the game's premise lends itself to the concept so well. This fic is a good take on it, with Squall trying to keep the timeline on the right path to defeat Ultimecia while trying at the same time to keep Seifer safe and feeling guilty that while he can change things to protect Seifer he's having to make choices that he knows will put others in harms way. I do wish it deviated a bit more from canon, but Squall's struggle with keeping to the timeline is pretty interesting too. It's a Seifer/Squall story on FFnet, rated M.

The Summoner's Knight by Ms_Starlight - Quistis is a Summoner without a Guardian and Seifer intends to change that, whether Quistis likes it or not.

A Seifer/Quistis (FF8 characters) fic set in the FFX universe, with the events of FFX taking place in the background. I do enjoy a good belligerent UST couple; Seifer and Quistis are definitely that in spades. The FFX fusion is well done - you can tell that Ms_Starlight really enjoyed both games a lot. Ms_Starlight's fics look to have all been cross posted to Ao3, which was nice to find. This one is rated T.

This Final Heaven by Ms_Starlight - An excavation into Ancient Centran ruins may be very well bringing about the restoration of Hyne. In order to find the truth, Quistis is going to need the help of former Sorceress Knight, Seifer Almasy. Who isn't exactly all that interested in getting tangled up in SeeD problems again.

This is another Seifer/Quistis fic and drifts into horror a bit in places, particularly with what happens to Squall and Rinoa, since Rinoa's Sorceress powers stem directly from Hyne here. And Hyne is, uh… very much not good. This fic is rated M (because there's sex, not for the mild horror) and is also cross posted to Ao3.

[ao3feed-tolkien]

Our Last Battle

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/GNEnj12

by brbbestiehavingACrisis

Aragorn and Gimli mourning Legolas after he dies in battle.

Can be read either romantically or platonically.

Words: 847, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings (Movies)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Major Character Death

Categories: Multi, Other

Characters: Legolas Greenleaf, Aragorn | Estel, Gimli (Son of Glóin), Arwen Undómiel

Relationships: Aragorn | Estel & Gimli (Son of Glóin) & Legolas Greenleaf, Gimli (Son of Glóin)/Legolas Greenleaf, Gimli (Son of Glóin) & Legolas Greenleaf, Aragorn | Estel & Gimli (Son of Glóin), Aragorn | Estel & Legolas Greenleaf, Aragorn | Estel/Arwen Undómiel

Additional Tags: it's Legolas who is dead, He doesn't die in the fic but he is already dead, can be read either romantically or platonically, Aragorn/Arwen is quite background, Character Death, Grief/Mourning, tree symbolism, Flower Symbolism, Crying, like a lot of it

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/GNEnj12

[weezlbot]

What your favorite LOTR character says about you

Some of these are only from the books, sorry about that. 

Update 6/5/22: Added Theoden and Eomer. 

Frodo: You’re depressed, homosexual, traumatized, highly empathetic, or some combination of the above. 

Sam: Loyalty, friendship, generosity, and love all give you feels. You love a man who can cook. Himbos are your favorite genre of male.

Merry: You’re an older sibling yourself. You might also like swimming or boating (remember, he lived on the river in the books). 

Pippin: You like adventure, tomfoolery, and shenanigans. You probably use humor as a coping mechanism. 

Fredegar Bolger: You’ve probably been through some shit yourself. You’re a major critic of the Peter Jackson adaptations. You like food and think Saruman was a more effective villain than Sauron. 

Bilbo: You’re gay. Or you’re smack in the middle of your yaoi phase. Or you only ever liked those YA books with a “sassy” male protagonist.

Aragorn: You have a crush on him. Either that, or your favorite scenes in books/shows/movies were the fight scenes. Or you like roleplaying as a mighty warrior. 

Arwen: You want Elrond to parent you, or you have a crush on Aragorn, one of the two. Or you’re a lesbian with a crush on her.

Legolas: You have an elf kink. You also like fight scenes. You like long blond hair, himbos, and/or twunks. You have a mixed opinion of the Peter Jackson adaptations. You’re either a straight female or a homosexual male.

Gimli: You loved the Hobbit, and were overjoyed to see Gloin come back in LOTR. Chivalry brings you joy. Dwarves are your favorite race in ME. You probably collect jewelry, or crystals, or dice, or something else shiny. 

Boromir: You like people who can put their people above themselves. You’re probably a little too into activism. Selflessness is very appealing to you. You might also be an older sibling. 

Gandalf: You like smart guys. Younger you made edits highlighting the “sassiness” of your favorite character. Maybe you still do it now. You probably have granddaddy issues. 

Eowyn: You either want women to sit on your face (straight male), you’re an insufferable feminist (female) or both (lesbian). Either that, or you’ve struggled with suicidal thoughts yourself and empathize.

Faramir: Gentleness gets you going. You want a lover who’s as troubled as you are. You may have daddy/mommy issues yourself. You don’t like the PJ adaptations much. 

Eomer: You’re a horsegirl yourself. If not in reality, then in spirit. Protectiveness makes you weak. You might have a crush on Arwen, too.

Elrond: You don’t get enough hugs. You just want someone to hold you tight and not let go. 

Elladan and Elrohir: You like Shenanigans. You wish Elrond was your dad. You like making headcanons for background characters. 

Galadriel: You prefer the Silmarillion to LOTR. You also might be a lesbian. Either way, you crave being mothered. Similar to the Elrond lovers, if someone gave you a hug, you’d start ugly crying. 

Tom Bombadil: You don’t like the PJ movies. You really like cottagecore. Your life goal is to own a little farm and grow all your own food. You probably made friends with trees as a kid. You enjoy singing and dancing, but you were never classically trained in either. You also like to party. 

Radagast: You’re an animal lover through and through. You love dirt. You don’t mind stink as long as it’s a natural stink. You may be a vegetarian or a vegan. 

Haldir: You have a love/hate relationship with the PJ movies. You probably think he’s attractive. You might be an older sibling yourself, or you wish you had one. 

Rumil or Orophin: Same as Haldir, basically. You love your siblings.

Theoden: You want to be fathered. Bad. You also loved the Silmarillion, for its tragedy. The idea of rebirth is something you love. 

Lobelia Sackville-Baggins: You like to make mountains out of molehills. You love a redemption arc. You wish the fandom would just stop bullying her. 

Saruman: You love a bastardization arc. Powerful men get you going. 

Grima Wormtongue: You love pathetic, problematic little men. You probably unironically listen to Weezer. 

Sauron: If you’ve read the Silm, you’re probably either gay or just love an evil twink. If you haven’t read the Silm, I fear you on a deep, personal level. 

[frodo-with-glasses]

Audiobook Review: “The Breaking of the Fellowship”

(I didn’t have much to say about “Farewell to Lorien” or “The Great River”, save maybe some background things: like Frodo delightedly calling out “Haldir!” when they’re reunited with him, or Boromir’s voice getting completely drowned out by the noise of the rapids.)

(But I DO have something to say about the end of this chapter because I am PredictableTM and hobbits own my heart LOL)

First of all, let me just say that Aragorn’s “Wait a moment! We must divide up into pairs, and arrange—here, hold on! Wait!” while you can hear the hobbits yelling for Frodo in the background is (unintentionally??) Very FunnyTM

Secondly, Sam’s spiel to himself (that is, the “use your head” bit). I got a very clear idea in my head of what emotions I thought Sam was portraying in this section—which you can see in this comic—but in Mr. Dragash’s recording, he sounds close to tears the entire time, which is a fascinating take.

“Not without his Sam?!” He sounds so panicked and alarmed, oh my word.

Ohh, the way the music swells on “that’s hard, cruel hard”, right as Sam starts to get very upset. My heart.

“Back to the boats, Sam, [strained with effort to accelerate] like ligHTNING—” HAHAHA I LOVE HIM SO MUCH 🤣🤣

“He feel and cut his knees.” [Sam’s distant cry of “Oh no! Umph—”] “Up he got and ran on.” [Panting, and then the running noises resume, and “Frodo!”]

AAAAAAHHHHH THE WISTFUL PART OF THE SHIRE/FELLOWSHIP THEME, STOPPP

Very good sound design for the water!

What, no “exclamation of dismay” from Frodo?? 🥺 I mean at least in my comic I had him yell “SAM”.

“Save me, Mister Frod—” [Sam’s voice cuts off suddenly, and there’s a loud swirl of water, and then another rising splash, and Sam’s gasp and gagging and wet coughing.] “I’m drowned! I can’t see your hand!”

THE WAY HE SAYS “I won’t let you go” LIKE THAT’S SO SOFT AND HEARTFELT SHUT UP 😭😭😭

[Much more of Sam’s coughing on the background]

Okay this is hilarious to me because in my comic Frodo is actually a little bit p*ssed with Sam when he tells him off here, but in this audiobook he just sounds wistful and melancholy the whole time

It’s very Movie Frodo, but not very Book Frodo, in my opinion. Book Frodo lives in a constant pendulum between incredible affection and gratitude for Sam, and incredible annoyance with him, and that’s just a huge Older Sibling Mood.

THE FLUUUUUTES. THE FLUTES, I CAAAAN’T

“It would be the death of you to come with me, Sam.” [Sam’s deep breath, and more coughing.] “And I could not have borne that.”

THE MUSIC SWELLS ON “I’m coming with you” STOP IT AAAAHHHHH

“Frodo actually laughed.” [Soft cough and sniff in the background from Frodo.]

Evidently he laughs very quietly. Then again I can imagine him trying to stifle this one, caught between the sadness his burden and also not trying to look like he’s letting Sam off easy, so that tracks.

“Leave one. We’ll need it.” THE EMPHASIS ON WE’LL. HOW SOFTLY HE SAYS IT. AAAAHHHH

“Oh! Just hold on a moment! I’ll get my stuff :-D”

“It’s *chuckle* it’s no good trying to escape you.”

THE QUIET VOCALS IN THE FELLOWSHIP THEME. THE WAY THE MUSIC LINGERS AFTER THE NARRATION IS DONE. THE NOSTALGIAAAAA. Hello yes I will have chills in my lower back for the next half an hour thank you very MUCH—

[ladyespera]

First Lines

Request: List the first ten lines of the last ten stories you published. Look to see any patterns you notice yourself, and see if anyone else notices any. Then tag some friends.

Nobody tagged me in this but I saw @sakasakiii doing it and wanted to pass it on to my frens. and well uhhhhh after looking at this i can certainly say that boy i just love dropping people right into present action with ZERO context and also i love to be general and abstract!!!!!! who needs concrete background 😌😌😌 weird mix of generic essay openings vibes and surrealism my beloved?????? also I've just realized that people just stand and stare and overthink and PanicTM a lot in my fics ehehe I wonder where they get thAT-

perchance

Commodore Karyn Faro stands on the bridge of the Chimaera, hands neatly cinched behind her back, her eyes looking out past the viewport at the swirling vortex of hyperspace. The atmosphere is silent, almost calm; despite the urgency of their dispatch back to Lothal and the fiasco of the gralloc mission, for now, nothing can be done to either speed or slow their journey. Her eyes focus back on her faint, pale reflection in the viewport. “This is a dream,” she whispers to her other self.

bright star (cheated on this one by 1 line 🤫)

There is a moment, in the middle of the chaos, when Maedhros suddenly senses the faint scream of danger. He cannot place it, cannot discern why, and yet... He dodges a shower of stones as the entire mountain trembles, the roar of the sack of Angband nearly too great for mortal ears. The Silmarils. If the Valar are too occupied with Morgoth, he must get to them first—he must be getting close to the entrance. A cry close by, past a pile of bodies, and in amongst the shadow of the mountain, he glimpses a flash of white hair emerging, wavering—and then a familiar dark-headed figure, running to help, extending a hand—

than never to have loved

So many say he has the gift of foresight. But it is not always a gift. Some days, it is a curse, a smog of uncertainty that clouds his thoughts and shadows his soul with horrible possibility. When Elrond throws everything he has into working towards good, into protecting the best in people, into saving what he can of Middle-Earth, it is also because he has seen the worst. So when he dedicates his heart and soul to this one cause, this one Hope, he also knows what his payment might be.

to have loved and lost

“Do you have a father?” Elrond looks up from his parchment stiffly, startled. The child is fixing him with a piercing gaze of curiosity that reminds him briefly of a younger self; stamping down the brief spark of pain at the thought, he smiles graciously instead. Today is the anniversary of their coming to Rivendell, of what Aragorn probably associates with Arathorn’s death; of course he might have thoughts. “Yes, Estel, I have a father.” “But is he still in Middle Earth?”

the tides of the heart

“Sometimes people don’t want to be saved. Sometimes it’s time to die. ” . The summer air is warm when Grace Holloway steps out the door on her way to work, but humid too, with a hint of fog, like the grey sea air is already planning to roll in before the day is out. Grace doesn’t mind the fog—she likes it, even, the mystery of it—but she hates the humidity. It makes her hair frizzy.

greatest privilege

Commodore Karyn Faro had just had the longest 96 hours of her entire life, and she hadn’t slept for any of them. From escape pod to emergency evacuation craft to med bay to debriefings to more debriefings to waiting in hallways to finally being released into this bland Navy office. On Coruscant. Where she’d intended to be anyway - just not quite this hectically. Now she was sitting, her eyes fixed on the empty space in front of her as her mind buzzed lazily. Not even recollecting anymore. Or regretting. Just...empty. “Commodore Faro?” a voice called from behind the desk.

just a phone call away

The Doctor stands in the train station and stares at the ringing phone. He isn’t going to answer it. Of course he isn’t. His mind has already done the mental calculations a thousand times this day, the hypotheticals, the guesswork, comparing his lists of goodbyes to his lists of losses, finding that section of the Venn diagram within which fall the people who have left him and whom he never said goodbye to and-- He can’t not. His fingers tremble slightly as he pushes the little accept call button.

forget me not

Every morning, he wakes up and wonders whether it’s going to be a good day. Of course, that all depends on a few key metrics. First things first. He opens his eyes. Does he ache? Sometimes there is nothing at all. Sometimes sitting up immediately reminds him that ouch, he had better be careful today. Sometimes it’s just something odd, like the aftertaste of bile on his tongue or a weird lingering sensation in his blood, as if his antibodies are trying to yell at his brain like “ Hey! Red flag, idiot! Stop doing what you’re doing !”

breathing space

Liv had said that all the emotion before must have drained him dry now, left him with only a hopeful energy. After all, there’s not much lower to go emotionally than weeping on a street, too pained to even crawl. Here, there’s no ravenous monsters or maniac Timelords. No end of the world to worry about. It’s only up from here. Only up. The rain flecks his face. Only up…

uhhhhh tagging @fortes-fortuna-iogurtum @as-dreamers-do @swinging-stars-from-satellites @lilac-vode but really anyone plz feel free to have at it! :)

[guardianofrivendell]

PERFECT SECRETS - CHAPTER 3

Legolas x OC

Requested: Nope

Summary:  Mira. A short and unusual name for a short and unusual Elf. After an audience with Galadriel goes sideways, she leaves her birthplace Lóthlorien and the Elves for good.  That is until a certain Gandalf asks for a favor. Come along on her journey, as she reluctantly agrees to accompany Gandalf on the quest to destroy the One Ring.  She befriends every Fellowship member, except one. Legolas and Mira are water and fire from the very first moment they laid eyes on each other. Will this be an obstacle during the quest or is it going to make everything just a little more interesting?

Warnings: None, just men being men. 

Masterlist Perfect Secrets

THE COUNCIL OF ELROND

While Gandalf and Mira climbed the stairs, she asked him why he had summoned her. Gandalf wouldn’t say, only telling her to be patient and that everything would be cleared up at the ‘Council of Elrond’. 

When the pair reached the top of the stairs, they were welcomed by Lord Elrond.

The Council hadn’t begun yet, and Mira was a bit surprised to see more people than she expected to be at a secret meeting. A delegation of Elves, Dwarves, Men and one small Hobbit were seated in a circle, around a rock with a flattened surface. 

They were looking towards her and Gandalf. She could hear them mutter amongst themselves asking who the hooded lady was. She smirked confidently. Let them guess, she thought. They’ll never know. 

Elrond gestured to take a seat in the two remaining empty chairs, one next to the Hobbit and one between Legolas and the other Elves. Did Elrond suspect something?

Mira looked back at him, but he had already turned around to take a stand at the head of the circle. Gandalf took the seat next to the Halfling, whispering a few words into his ear. She hesitated for a few seconds, before walking around the outside of the circle to the wall of the building, feeling the eyes of everyone piercing her back. She turned around and leaned with her back against the wall, arms crossed, one foot over the other. 

It was her way to say she didn’t belong to the Elves nor Men, keeping the mystery alive. Plus she preferred to be in the background anyways. Gandalf nodded at Elrond, signaling that the Council could begin.

“Strangers from distant lands, friends and old. You have been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor. Middle-Earth stands upon the brink of destruction. None can escape it, you will unite or you will fall. Each race is bound to its fate; this one doom. Bring forth the ring, Frodo,” Elrond asked the small Hobbit. Frodo stood up and carefully placed a small golden ring on the centered rock. 

“So it’s true,” one of the Men gasped, his eyes fixed on the ring. “In a dream, I saw the Eastern sky grow dark. But in the West a pale light lingered. A voice was crying: your doom is near at hand. Isildur’s Bane is found.” He was on his feet now, and got dangerously close to the ring. 

“Boromir!” Elrond warned him. He sat down at once. 

“Frodo, will you tell us how this ring came to you and the troubles you have faced already?” Gandalf asked the Hobbit. Everyone listened to his story, how he inherited the ring from Bilbo, that he had encountered Black Riders, fought against them and got stabbed by a Morgul Blade in the process. 

Mira had listened to him intently. It was remarkable how such a small being had endured so much in so little time, there was no doubt this was the One Ring. Hobbits never cease to amaze her.

The sky turned dark and ominous. Gandalf’s voice became deeper, there was a strange echo when he spoke. The moment he spoke the first words, Mira got a splitting headache. 

“Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul” (One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them)

Mira shook her head, trying to get rid of the headache. She didn’t want anyone to notice something was wrong, but she recognized the pained expressions from the other Elves. She was not the only one who felt it. 

As soon as Gandalf finished, the sky cleared and so did the headache.

Lord Elrond gasped, definitely not happy with Gandalf’s actions.

“Never before has any voice uttered the words of that tongue here in Imladris!”

“I do not ask your pardon, Master Elrond, for the Black Speech of Mordor may yet be heard in every corner of the West! The Ring is altogether evil!”

Well, he does have a point there, Mira thought to herself. Gandalf had been right, they were on the verge of war. If they had the One Ring, Sauron would do anything to get it back. 

“It is a gift. A gift from the foes of Mordor. Why not use this ring? Long has my father, the Steward of Gondor, kept the forces of Mordor at bay. By the blood of my people are your lands kept safe! Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy. Let us use it against him!” Boromir demanded. 

“You cannot wield it! None of us can. The One Ring answers to Sauron alone. It has no other master,” the ranger answered him. 

“And what would a ranger know of this matter?” Boromir sneered back. 

At this point, Legolas stood up from his chair. 

“This is no mere ranger. He is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. You owe him your allegiance.”

“This is Isildur’s heir?” Boromir asked, just as Mira thought the exact same thing.

“And heir to the throne of Gondor,” Legolas countered confidently. 

Mira would say it was more arrogant than confident but maybe she was a bit biased. 

“Havo dad, Legolas,” Aragorn said to him, trying to calm him down. (Sit down) Legolas obeyed, but kept a stern look on Boromir. Mira could tell the tension was building. It wouldn’t take much before they’d start killing each other. She hadn’t missed the angry glances between the Elves and Dwarves. 

“Gondor has no king. Gondor needs no king,” Boromir muttered angrily before taking a seat again. His attitude was starting to get on Mira’s nerves. What was it with men and their pride, always wanting to have the last word?

“Aragorn is right. We cannot use it,” Elrond intervened, trying to clear the tension. “You have only one choice. The Ring must be destroyed.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” One of the Dwarves jumped out of his seat and tried to destroy the Ring, shattering his axe in the process. 

Mira chuckled, noticing the stunned expression of the Dwarf upon seeing his ruined axe. She liked this one, he was straightforward and didn’t hesitate. 

“The Ring cannot be destroyed, Gimli, son of Gloín, by any craft that we here possess,” Elrond said to him. “The Ring was made in the fires of Mount Doom. Only there can it be unmade. It must be taken deep into Mordor and cast back into the fiery chasm of whence it came. One of you must do this.”

He looked around the circle, but there was no reaction. 

Boromir sighed heavily. “One does not simply walk into Mordor.” 

He continued warning everyone about the dangers Mordor held for anyone who dared to cross the Black Gates. Legolas interrupted him, clearly fed up with the man of Gondor. 

“Have you heard nothing of what Lord Elrond has said? The Ring must be destroyed!”

“Well yes, Elf Boy, we all heard that,” Mira muttered silently, rolling her eyes. She knew he would be the only one to hear it. Legolas’ head snapped in her direction, his eyes shooting daggers at her. Before he could say something, Gimli interrupted.

“And I suppose you think you’re the one to do it?” he shouted angrily at Legolas. “I will be dead before I see the ring in the hands of an Elf!”

Mira had to admit that was taking it a bit too far. She might be hiding the fact that she was an Elf, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t proud of being one. The others took this as their cue to start arguing. Even Gandalf and Elrond took part in the fight, which surprised her. She had taken a few steps away from the wall, so she was ready to intervene if necessary. 

The only one who wasn’t participating was Frodo, he was still in his chair seemingly deep in thought. Mira also stayed out of the argument, and kept an eye on everyone in the room. 

All of a sudden Frodo’s eyes focused again and he said, “I will take it!”

Nobody except Gandalf and Mira had heard him. Gandalf closed his eyes in defeat, clearly not happy with the Hobbit’s suggestion.

“I will take the Ring to Mordor,” Frodo repeated, finally getting everyone’s attention. His expression changed once he noticed everyone staring at him, almost looking shy. “Though I do not know the way.”

Gandalf kneeled in front of him, placing his hand on his shoulder. 

“I will help you bear this burden, Frodo Baggins, as long as it is yours to bear.”

Frodo looked very grateful. He should be, Mira thought, it was a very dangerous task and he should accept all the help he could get. She did think it was very brave of him to volunteer. Stupid too. But brave nonetheless. 

In the next few minutes, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Boromir had offered their help as well. Mira couldn’t help but notice Legolas’ smirk when he looked at her. Was he challenging her? 

“Oi! Mister Frodo is not going anywhere without me!” Another Hobbit was coming out of the bushes, rushing towards the group. 

Elrond looked sternly at him, but Mira could see a hint of a smile. 

“No indeed, it is hardly possible to separate you even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not.”

Mira crossed her arms again, and leaned back against the wall behind her. The group standing before Elrond was a sight to behold. Wizards, Men, Elves, Dwarves and Hobbits, every race was represented. Who would have thought this to be possible?

“Seven companions-”, Elrond started but was interrupted by yet another pair of Hobbits who came running from behind the pillars in the back. 

“Wait! We are coming too!” They rushed to Frodo’s side. Mira smiled, she was certain these Hobbits would give Gandalf a hard, but interesting time during their quest. 

“You’d have to send us home tied up in a sack to stop us!” one of them said proudly, crossing his arms.

The blond Hobbit wanted to say something smart too, and added, “Anyway, you need people of intelligence on this sort of mission, quest… thing.”

“Well, that rules you out, Pip,” his friend was quick to answer. Mira snorted. 

Elrond opened his arms. “Nine companions-”

“Lord Elrond, if you please,” Gandalf interrupted him. Mira half expected Elrond to drop his arms at his side and just give up speaking altogether, but his expression didn’t even falter. Impressive.

“I do believe there is someone else who would be wise to join us,” Gandalf spoke, looking directly at Mira. 

Mira’s eyes widened. No, he wouldn’t, would he? She even looked behind her, forgetting she was leaning against a wall, to check if there was a chance he didn’t mean her. 

“Mira, my dear. Don’t keep us waiting,” he said warmly. 

She froze, frantically trying to think of an excuse, any excuse not to join them. 

“A woman?” Boromir laughed. “You can’t be serious! Does she even know how to fight?”

That comment made something stir within her. Wasn’t it enough that Legolas had been acting like he did towards her, and now another man had to doubt her skills?

In less than a split second she had drawn her two knives from her boots and threw them towards Boromir, effectively pinning his cape to the railing of the balcony behind him, without even scratching Legolas and the Hobbits, who were all standing in very close proximity. It did not only show her skills with a knife, but her strength as well since the railing was made out of stone. 

“I can assure you, Boromir, that Mira knows exactly how to defend herself. Best not to get on her bad side,” Gandalf chuckled. Mira stepped towards Boromir and pulled her knives out of the railing, keeping her eyes fixed on Legolas’ the whole time, as if to say “Did you see that?”.

Elrond cleared his throat, opening his arms for the third time. Before he started, he looked at Gandalf, who nodded at him. 

“Ten companions… so be it! You shall be known as the Fellowship of the Ring!”

A/N: I have a taglist now! Send me an ask if you want to be added!

Taglist Perfect Secrets: @ayo-cowbelly​

[saurons-pr-department]

Having just watched the Lord of the Rings films I thought I’d give a nice little list of some random things I enjoy and maybe a few that I don’t (This is not a book vs film analysis. This is just me being silly).

This one sparks joy

Sam and Frodo are shown stumbling home after having a good aul’ knees up at the local pub just before Gandalf arrives to tell Frodo that, in his house, there is an item that could very well bring about the end of the world as they know it. Oh and he needs to leave right now because the single most evil being in Middle Earth has Frodo’s name and address. Like, the two lads are drunk when this happens! Love it XD

Sean Astin’s all over the place accent

Hobbit dad Boromir <3<3<3

Gimli going on and on about Dwarvish hospitality, somehow completely missing the major ominous vibe that the entrance into Moria gives off. And the corpses. He got so excited that, for a minute, he lived in a world where he wasn’t surrounded by corpses

Sean Bean’s delivery of the “They have a cave troll” line is just perfection

Orlando Bloom’s faces in the background

Aragorn telling Sam to go find Athelas. Nothing to do with the scene itself. It just always makes me think of Donkey looking for the blue flower with red thorns XD

Aragorn is very much turned on by Arwen putting a sword to his throat

One of the Goblins (?) makes a great face when the first Uruk-Hai is born(??). He’s like what the fuck what the fuck

Saruman gives this newly born(??) Uruk his orders in the main room of his tower while said Uruk is still stark naked and absolutely filthy... It’s so odd I can’t help but love it. At least give him a second XD

I think it means we also get to see an Uruk bum? 

Saruman has lovely nails. I need to know where he gets them done

The Uruk-Hai don’t wear pants/leggings. Sky’s out, thighs out, boys! (Don’t blame them. They each seem to have my entire body weight worth of muscle on each leg. I’d show ‘em off too)

The main Uruk has a high pony tail. Fashion icon.

Sam delivers a speech so touching that even Gollum looks like he’s about to start crying

We get a close up of that moth Gandalf speaks to. Just a few moments of nothing but one of these fuzzy little friends. Best scene

The rawest line ever spoken has to be when Sam is asked if he’s Frodo’s bodyguard and he responds with “His Gardener”. 

The delivery of every one of Sam’s speeches 

Just Sam in general T_T

The score! It’s just...perfect (however you feel about a live action Silm adaptation, surely you must agree that we do need a Silm score? I need a score for it!)

The fact that the ending is so perfectly bitter sweet that I my chest genuinely feels tight after having watched it T_T

This one does not spark joy

Why does nobody clean their nails???? Like, never mind Sauron, ye’re all going to die of preventable infectious diseases at this rate!!

The lack of Legolas going to fetch the sun :(

Actually, just the lack of book!Legolas’ nonsense in general

Liv Tyler whispers all her lines. She just...she whispers everything...and speaks so slowly... why???? please stop!

The giant, mud-covered amniotic sack thing that the Uruk-Hai are dug out of. What...what even is that?? I’m no expert, but I’m pretty certain that the orcs just fuck like the rest of us, no?

Denethor eating...I just did not need to see that. It was unnecessary. 

[ihavetogogh]

alright, I wasn’t technically tagged in this, but @the-chesapeake-shipper did a vague-tag to all mutuals yesterday, and 🥺 I’m bored. thank u for ur generosity

rules: tag people you want to get to know better!

your name and then what you would have named yourself: well... coincidentally, i did choose my name a few years back. i’m darcy (yes, after mr. darcy. no, i do not regret it). HOWEVER there are times when i wish i had chosen a name that paid homage to my Japanese heritage. i recently learned that my mom had planned to name me kimiko hunaya and there are lots of days where i consider it because i know my great grandmother approved of it

astrological sign (sun/moon/rising if you know): will someone at a higher level of gay please teach me how to do this stuff???? i’m a capricorn, but i don’t know if that’s sun, moon, or rising

when did you join tumblr and why?: oh god.... way too young? i think i made my first blog in eighth grade. so 2011. mostly because i wanted to be an edgy tween reblogging quotes

top five fandoms: i have to narrow it down? this list is in a constant flux but at this exact moment: nbc hannibal, star trek, tolkien (i cant bring myself to say lotr while the silmarillion still holds most of my heart), the man from uncle, and x-men (but exclusively for erik’s turtlenecks)

top five favorite films: the normal heart, princess mononoke, star trek: the voyage home, the phantom thread, and the pride and prejudice 5 part mini-series that we’re all going to pretend is a movie because i never watch movies...

go to song when you want to Feel something: depends on what i need to feel, but if we’re talking about Yearning(TM), lover please stay by nothing but thieves

what’s your religion or faith if you have one?: i was raised mostly with catholic influences and some shintoism/buddhism. i vacillate between total nihilism and the concept of divinity in nature and the infinite cyclicality of energy and life??

a song that makes you feel seen: anything keaton henson has ever written? beekeeper is a very enduring song from when i was younger that still hits me right in the gut even if i dont feel the same way as i did back then. a more currently relevant song would be garden song by phoebe bridgers

if you could have any career: if i could be the person i want to be rather than the person that i am, i would be a university english professor, preferably at some old university where everything is a little drafty and the campus library has high ceilings and ghosts that stretch back to time immemorial. sharing a love for literature and storytelling has always appealed to me, and if i could, i would spend the rest of my life in academia

do you have a type: men who are too old for me and women who intimidate me 😔

what does your heart/soul yearn for?: faust. all i want right now is to sit down in my library with goethe, tchaikovsky playing in the background. where’s mephistopheles to give me a special witches brew so i have all the time in the world to glut on the passions of humanity?

if you had to describe yourself in 5 words to someone who doesn’t know you: book hoarding bisexual literature student???

favorite subject in school: english, but i also love history (especially art history)

where does your soul feel most at home?: sitting on the end of my grandparent’s crumbling dock, feet dangling in a lake that made it’s home in some scooped out part of the north cascade mountains. everything is still except the whisper of the air through the pine needles and the slap of water against the shore. my grandma and i had wine and charcuterie for lunch and now my grandpa’s talking about his painting—something that straddles the line between the familiar and the surreal. it’s a very comforting memory

top 5 fictional characters: aragorn, son of arathorn, king of gondor; hannibal lecter; jim kirk; thomasina from tom stoppard’s arcadia; lyra belaqua from his dark materials

top 3 moments in a show that made you ugly cry: did you mean when boromir dies in fellowship???? he’s such a tragic character, and sean bean was the perfect casting decision. uuuhmmmmm hannibal tenderly and erotically gutting will in his kitchen. it’s one hell of a sex scene, that. aaaand the ending of your lie in april. i have nothing else to say on the matter

the earth, the sun, the moon, or the stars: has to be the stars (moon, please forgive me....)

favorite kind of weather: when everything is poised on the edge of a storm. the air is perfectly still, and you can smell the rain and the lightning. the sun low enough that there’s nothing but a glow of light at the bottom of the cloud bank

top 3 characters you kin with: elizabeth bennett.... clearly; will graham.... less clearly; and leonard mccoy, ultimate mom friend

favorite medium of art: subtractive sculpture mediums, especially marble, and oil painting. give me all that classic art

introvert/extrovert/ambivert: i’m a big, dumb introvert

a favorite literary quote: i could... spend hours answering this. since i’m thinking of stoppard and his horribly underappreciated plays, we’ll go with my favorite quote from arcadia: “We shed as we pick up, like travellers who must carry everything in their arms, and what we let fall will be picked up by those behind. The procession is very long and life is very short. We die on the march. But there is nothing outside the march so nothing can be lost to it. The missing plays of Sophocles will turn up piece by piece, or be written again in another language. Ancient cures for diseases will reveal themselves once more. Mathematical discoveries glimpsed and lost to view will have their time again. You do not suppose, my lady, that if all of Archimedes had been hiding in the great library of Alexandria, we would be at a loss for a corkscrew?”

some of your favorite books: the hobbit (tolkien), cloud atlas (david mitchell), the goldfinch (donna tartt), broken monsters (lauren beukes), the amber spyglass (phillip pullman), the paper menagerie (ken liu), the vintner’s luck (elizabeth knox), wuthering heights (emily bronte), pride and prejudice (jane austen), lolita (vladimir nabokov), crimson petal in the white (michel faber), sharp objects (gillian flynn), life after life (kate atkinson), the picture of dorian gray (oscar wilde), arcadia (tom stoppard), faust (goethe)

if you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?: a townhouse in edinburgh scotland, someplace just big enough for all of my books and a dog and cat. or that town int he netherlands where there’s no cars and everyone gets around by boat. i don’t drive, so that sounds like such a dream??????

if you could live in any time in history, when would it be?: i don’t think i’d like living in any other time, honestly... as a nonbinary person... but i would love to pop into the victorian era for a visit. i want to sit in on a victorian salon, listen to poets read their work and look at art and just generally enjoy the beauty of it. but i wouldn’t like to live then for long

if you could play any instrument masterfully, which would it be?: the cello please and thank you

if you have one, what mythological god or goddess do you feel a connection to?: i vibe pretty hard with persephone...

oh my god, this is so long, but LASTLY, favorite recent selfie in your camera roll: two because why not?

[dashesofink]

To Stay Behind

Drabble: “Oh shit okay imma let you pick: first kiss with Frodo, or reader dies and Frodo didn't tell them he loved them (I'm feeling cruel tonight)” @alisoncdariel

Pairing: Frodo Baggins x Reader

Word Count: 971

Warnings: Mentions of character death, angst, mentions of blood

His throat was sore, his head ached, and yet worst of all his heart thundered with a pain he had never thought he would feel. He knew better than to lag behind, to watch as you and Boromir fought side-by-side in an attempt to fend off the Orcs and Uruk-Hai. But he did. At first he felt relief, seeing your feet dance lightly against the leaf covered floor while your sword clashed with the offending teams weapons. Sweat glistened against your forward, your hair sticking to your face as you let out a fierce battle cry before driving your sword into the gut of an Orc.

“Boromir!” Your voice carried through the forest easily, the man in questions ears picking up his name as he glanced to you. “The horn!” Frodo felt his stomach lerch into his throat when he saw an Orc take advantage of your sudden distraction, but it didn’t take long for him to let out a sigh as you blocked the attack, your foot coming into contact with the Orc’s gut before you sliced its head clean off. “We can’t hold them off ourselves! We need the others!”

Frodo knew better than to stay behind, he knew that he should’ve headed for the lake again as soon as Aragorn had told him to go, but he didn’t. He stayed to watch as you bravely fought the vile creatures that had been hunting them. He stayed to watch as the one he had grown to love dearly defended him and his friends as best as they could. But that also meant, much to Frodo’s dismay, that he watched as the Uruk-Hai tore through his love and his friend as if it were nothing.

Frodo felt himself blanch as he took notice of the Uruk-Hai with a bow, his eyes widening in fear when he realized you had yet to notice the menacing creature. Something in him told him to run, to turn his back and to leave before any harm could befall on him, yet he still stayed. He stayed to watch as you sliced through yet another pair of Orcs, their dark blood staining your blade and your tunic as you panted for air. He watched as your gaze fell upon Boromir, who seemed to be as exhausted as you were, and yet you both continued to fight with all that was in you.

You still hadn’t noticed the Uruk-Hai looming in the background, his bow loaded with a deadly arrow that was aimed straight for your chest. Frodo felt frozen, his feet heavy against the ground as he stayed hidden behind the tree. He felt the world come to a stop as the Uruk-Hai let out a low growl, his teeth baring before he finally let the arrow fly. Time stopped, as did you as you turned to see what the sudden noise was, and within a mere second the arrow had hit its mark, a wave of pain flooding your body as it was being pushed back by something heavy before pinning you against a nearby tree.

Frodo’s cries were muffled by the intense fighting that continued around your pierced body, and his eyes stung with tears as he watched you gasped for breath, the arrowing having pierced your lung. Your sword fell from your grip and landed with a deafening clang, and your eyes grew wide as you tried your hardest to breath, but you couldn’t. The pain in your ribs was becoming too much, and the sound of clashing swords and horrid growls filled your ears as you struggled to bring yourself up. A warm, metallic taste filled your throat, and with a horrid cough you watched as your own blood pooled on to the forest floor beneath your boots. Your were dying, that much you knew. You didn’t know how much longer you had, but still you fought.

Frodo watched in agony as you pulled out a hidden dagger, and with as much strength as you could muster, you threw the small blade into the head of an oncoming Orc. That was the last of your strength, Frodo saw you realize, and another jagged breath came from you as you slumped against the arrow that was holding your body to a tree. Another cry came from Frodo as he saw your chest heave, another gasp of breath falling past your lips before you spewed up another round of blood.

Somehow, for some reason unbeknownst to him, your gaze slowly traveled to the tree that Frodo was hiding behind, and you caught his gaze. A pained smile formed on your lips at the sight of the ring-bearing Hobbit, your hands tightening to fists at your side as you showed him your blood-stained teeth. Frodo choked back another sob as he watched the light fade from your eyes, his gaze lowering to your lips as you muttered one last word before your body fell completely limp again the tree, a smile still on your face as you faded away from him. “Run.”

And he did. Frodo turned his back on your now dead body and he ran as fast as he feet could carry him. Tears streamed down his red cheeks as he weaved his way through the trees, everything slowly blurring together as his heart pounded. His head felt heavy, and his lungs burned for air as he ran, but he continued on. His conscience told him to turn back, to run back to you in hopes that maybe you had just fallen unconscious and that you would wake up.

But he knew better than that. He knew that arrow was meant to kill, and it did. It killed the love of his life and yet, he never had the heart to tell you how much he truly felt. And now he never would.

[theliterateape]

What Your Preferred Presidential Candidate Says About You

by Peter Kremidas

Hi. Well are horoscopes bullshit or what?

You know what isn’t? This 100 percent accurate assessment of your personality based on what presidential candidate you prefer. No I did not include all of them, I’m not a psychopath.

What Your Preferred Presidential Candidate Says About You

Joe Biden - You are incapable of seeing that the film “The Boy In The Striped Pajamas” is just a cynical setup for a meaningless grand tragic moment that uses the holocaust as a prop. When you imagine a Nazi holding hands with “a black” (your words), it makes you cry. Or you’re Jim Carey in awe of what this man can do with his face. If none of this describes you, then you are a moth drawn in by his teeth.

Amy Klobachar - You ask kids what they want to be when they grow up and then roll your eyes at their answers.

Bernie Sanders - That one part in Return of The King when Aragorn, the first king of men in ages after the long reign of Denethor The Steward of Gondor, says, “My friends, (Pause, “huh? what?” say the faces of Merriodoc, Pippen, Samwise, and Frodo) you bow to noone,” and then they all bow to the hobbits? It breaks you every time. You’ve got a good heart and also you think that inspiring young voters while scaring the ever loving shit out of old voters is a sound political strategy. You shop ethically.

Michael Bennet - When you first saw the character Mr. Makey on South Park and heard him say “M,kay?”, you thought to yourself, “I would follow that man into hell.”

Elizabeth Warren - You were basically Hermione when you were a kid. Fuck you. Also, so we’ve all had the experience of knowing that somebody didn’t understand what we just said because, upon finishing, there’s just a stare, a pause, and then they start nodding before saying “Yeah!” followed by something not related to what was just said but totally related to what they had previously said. You know that thing? It happens to you often. But to be fair you talk like Ira Glass and they were trying to mentally place where they’ve heard that voice before and that’s probably why they couldn’t focus on your words. Fuck you.

Andrew Yang - You have a real dope idea for an app, bro.

Pete Buttigieg - You just can’t fucking wait to talk about Shakespeare, can you? You can’t sleep without an NPR podcast playing in the background. You have a cabinet full of United States Vice President Bobbleheads. You’re especially proud of your rare mint condition Spiro Agnew because it actually reminds you of something something progressivism something accountability something Trump sigh. You want to see Donald Trump lose a debate. Badly.

Kamala Harris - There was this one time where you said, “Come on, guys. Not all cops are bad.” And then there was this weird pause and one of your friends said “Well, sure, Dayna, but I’m talking about systems, not individuals.” And then someone said, “Yeah, Dayna.” And then you got this look on your face and you said, “Oh.” And you looked like such an idiot and you really drank too much that night. Stuff like this actually happens to you often. But other than that you’re real chill. You want to see Donald Trump lose a debate so bad that he cries, shits his pants, and then starts a physical fight which he also loses.

John Hickenlooper - You’re a republican who accidentally read a real news.

Corey Booker - You consider yourself the office rebel because when they started charging for coffee you started bringing in starbucks every morning for everyone. Eventually the office stopped offering any coffee at all and now it’s all on you to pay for all the coffee everyday, soldier. You did it. People have been asking you to stop. You did it. Despite all the crazy predicaments you constantly get yourself into, you always have good advice and book recommendations.

Beto O’Rourke - When some starts speaking Spanish to you, you smile and nod your head and actually get this look on your face like you’re actually listening. You let them get through the whole fucking thing, smiling and nodding the whole time and then when they’re done you hold your palms to the sky like a balanced scale to heaven and say “Hey, sorry, compadre! No Hablo Spanish!” And then you smile like you’re such a cool person for knowing “hablo” you fucking phony. You don’t know a good senator when you see one. You want to see Donald Trump win a debate, apparently.

Marianne Williamson - You really hated The Hobbit prequels and you need your message to go to the very top. Your dildo is made of crystal. You also have a crystal made of dildo. Because, when you think about it, isn’t everything made of dildo, as it is of this Earth?

Bill DeBlasio - You’re the rare New Yorker who both hates Amazon and doesn’t smoke weed.

Julian Castro - You’re the first among your friends to discover new good music. You have good taste in it, too. And movies too, where do you hear about this stuff? I cannot overstress your eye for good media content. You should really be a writer. Have you ever thought about that? You’re a C-Span junkie who has been saying “I fucking told you so” for the past week and a half and seriously people get it, calm down. And/or you’re his parents.

*Eric Swallwell - Your children’s hands are permanently disfigured from playing catch with lit torches.

Kirsten Gillibrand - You’ve asked to speak to the manager when we go out to restaurants and stuff a lot since we’ve met and for real I’m starting to think it’s you. You think Reece Witherspoon is the hero in “Election”. At one point in your life you let it be known to an authority figure that you have something to say, and you thought they were being, honestly, like really super unfair at the time. But whatever. If they wanted to be immature, that was their prerogative, and no you were not done speaking, and you do not give neither a care nor a fuck on Earth.

Jay Inslee - Yes, it’s organic.

Tulsi Gabbard - “No kidding?” you said, “I love Hawaii. And yeah, to your point, I definitely don’t love war, if you get what I’m saying...which is, um...yes, that. That is what I’m saying...I mean, yeah.” You gulped down a slug of cold brew, anxious to get out of this conversation with your boss. “Fuck it, yeah, I support Tulsi Gabbard.” You concluded, “Why the fuck not, right?”

Trump - Your motto, “Hey, if you want to make an omelette, you gotta pay off a hooker, encourage a dictator to cheat for you, and torture a few kids.”

*I don’t know how to put this into the context of this bit, I just have to tell this story. In a post-debate interview on msnbc, he once again appealed to giving the reigns to power to a younger generation, and not people like Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, who have been in power for, and this is really what he said, “dozens of decades”. Plural. Like, more than a mere one dozen decades.