#do arwen and aragorn have a ship name???

[sapphoismymuse]

music as a part of elven courting rituals except it’s Legolas singing Did I Mention from Disney’s Descendants with a group of confused elven backup dancers to an equally confused Gimli, all choreographed by yours truly, the enthusiastically supportive Queen Arwen Undómiel

[twicearoundthebend]

you guys I’ve had ‘into the west’ on loop too long and-

Thinking about Arwen saying her goodbyes to Aragorn, and Estel meaning hope, and how it’s goodbye but not farewell, and even though the last of the ships are sailing she won’t get on them because she’s made her choice and she holds onto hope even as he fades in her arms

[tathrin]

13 (Favourite fic from another author) and 14 (favourite side pairings to put in) for the Cool Asks for Fic Writers <3

[from this ask meme]

13. Favourite fic from another author:

Okay I know that I answer this one pretty much any time somebody asks me anything about somebody else's work right now, but I can't help it I am just inappropriately obsessed with this story it lives in my brain gnawing on my thoughts daily like a hungry little goblin: The Harrowing by @chthonion

Also I am very very excited to finally be home properly for a full day so that I can sit down and re-re-re-read the latest chapter and finally respond to it and by "respond" I mean "go feral" ahhhhhh.

14. Favorite side pairings to put in:

Hmm I'm not sure I really have go-tos there? It depends entirely on the story. (I suppose I could say gimleaf, because I would absolutely work them into e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g except that 99% of the fics I write these days are gimleaf-centric, so that. doesn't work.)

Possibly Éowyn/Faramir because they're lovely and also live in Ithilien (and I really enjoy Éowyn getting to fuck with people shh) which puts them in a geographically convenient position to be referenced; also Aragorn/Arwen because the compare/contrast of their elf-loves-mortal relationship is very rich ground for a Legolas/Gimli shipper to poke at. I've also quite unintentionally become a Maedhros/Fingon shipper due to reading far too many lovely things lately and...

Oh, and I'm stupid. Obviously my favorite side-pairings to slide into a fic are Celebrimbor/Annatar and Celebrimbor/Narvi and, best of all, Celebrimbor/Narvi/Annatar. Duh. I'm sorry, I'm really stupid about shipping and my brain doesn't always work XD

Thank you for asking! And giving me a chance to A: shriek about Your Shadow Rising to Meet You again and B: making me think about stuff I don't usually think about!

Also I'm sorry for being a double dumbass, turns out I just put it in my queue out of habit instead of posting sigh.

[velvet4510]

I guess I’m one of those autistic people who so deeply feels the essence of an instrumental leitmotif from a film score associated with a particular character or couple, that I start associating said leitmotifs in my head with ANOTHER character from an entirely different film/book/series. And I’ve built up a whole library of leitmotifs for LOTR characters even though I ADORE Howard Shore’s original score for the trilogy. I consider these leitmotifs to be add-ons, NOT replacements.

Nor do I intend to completely disassociate all of these themes from their intended films/characters; some of them are perfect fits for the films they were written for. It’s just my mind going wild like usual. (But I admit, in some cases, the pieces are from films I dislike, and thus I would rather see these great songs associated with something of LOTR quality rather than what they were actually stuck with, especially when the lack of lyrics gives you the freedom to let the melody take you wherever it takes you, personally.)

In the case of Silmarillion characters and relationships, well, it’s a different story - it really is my attempt to cobble together what could be a hypothetical score, if it were brought to the screen. Obviously it’d never be this exactly, but I would hope a composer for a potential screen adaptation of The Silmarillion might be inspired by themes like these.

In some cases, the characters these themes were originally written for don’t resemble the corresponding LOTR characters very much, or at all. Also some of them have titles that by themselves could not be more different from and unfitting for Tolkien’s world. It’s just the melodies on their own, without context or even name, performed by these gorgeous orchestras, that have come to remind me of particular Tolkien figure(s).

I also have found lots of “love themes”, both romantic and platonic, for character relationships, as you’ll see. I’ve included romantic themes for canonical couples, as well as for pairings that I personally ship. I know Shore already gave Aragorn and Arwen a theme, but as I said, these are all extra additions and not replacements.

And yes I have a lot of Star Wars stuff in here, because I love Star Wars…but I love Tolkien more.

For the heck of it I’ll share some of these, with links to each song on YT. It’s hard to explain why I made these choices/associations, but maybe you’ll get it if you listen to some of them.

CHARACTER THEMES

The Valar = “Guardians of the Whills Suite” by Michael Giacchino

Lúthien Tinúviel = “Once Upon a Time in the West” by Ennio Morricone

Túrin Turambar = “Anakin’s Theme” by John Williams

Nienor Níniel = “Helena’s Theme” by John Williams

Frodo Baggins = “Romeo” by Nino Rota

Sam Gamgee = “Rey’s Theme” by John Williams

Aragorn = “The John Dunbar Theme” by John Barry

Gandalf = “Yoda’s Theme” by John Williams

Legolas = “Rose Tico” by John Williams

Éowyn = “Marion’s Theme” by John Williams

THEMES FOR LANDS/LOCATIONS

The Undying Lands = “Out of Africa” by John Barry

ROMANTIC LOVE THEMES

Frodo x Sam = “Love Theme from Ben-Hur” by Miklos Rozsa

Beren x Lúthien = “Love Theme from The Godfather” by Nino Rota

Faramir x Éowyn = “Han Solo and the Princess” by John Williams

Aragorn x Arwen = “Love Theme from Cinema Paradiso” by Ennio Morricone

Sam x Rosie = “Love Theme from Dances with Wolves” by John Barry

Bilbo x Thorin = “Andante Cantabile” by Bernard Herrmann

Thingol x Melian = “Indecent Proposal” by John Barry

Fingon x Maedhros = “Wuthering Heights” by Alfred Newman

Galadriel x Celeborn = “Central Park” by James Newton Howard

Finrod x Bëor = “Somewhere in Time” by John Barry

Aegnor x Andreth = “Love Theme from The Scarlet Letter” by John Barry

Finduilas x Gwindor = “Deborah’s Theme” by Ennio Morricone

Túrin x Beleg = “Midnight Cowboy” by John Barry

Mablung x Nienor = “Wanda and Vision” by Christophe Beck

Tuor x Idril = “Conversation Piece” by Bernard Herrmann

Eärendil x Elwing = “Tennessee” by Hans Zimmer

Elrond x Celebrían = “And Then I Kissed Him” by Hans Zimmer

Pippin x Diamond = “Love Theme from East of Eden” by Leonard Rosenman

Merry x Estella = “Love Theme from Rebel Without a Cause” by Leonard Rosenman

Elanor x Fastred = “Theme from A Summer Place” by Max Steiner (arranged by Percy Faith)

PLATONIC RELATIONSHIP THEMES

Elrond & Elros = “Brothers” by Hans Zimmer

Merry & Pippin = “Flying” by John Williams

Legolas & Gimli = “Rain Man” by Hans Zimmer

Boromir & Faramir = “Luke and Leia” by John Williams

Bilbo & Frodo* = “The Mother’s Love” by Miklos Rozsa

Sam & Elanor = “The Ludlows” by James Horner

I may add to this as I think of more, or even replace certain songs entirely if I come across a better match. Always return to the pinned post here to see the most recently updated list.

* Bilbo & Frodo’s melody is heard in the first minute of the linked track, 0:00–1:01, and again at 1:48. Also, the love theme I associate with Frodo & Sam starts playing at 1:03, making this whole thing fit all the hobbits even better.

[galstelperion]

i think we need to acknowledge that charlie describes haladriel as something greater than any other dynamic could be. he describes what is going on between them as one would describe a romantic dynamic, but i think he just thinks that we can not give sauron and galadriel's feelings any name because these characters are not human. this means that his take is simply an interpretation as well, because in the end, he plays their dynamic as a "sexually-charged cosmic connection", just doesn't give it the same name we give it (or the director, for that matter) and that's fine.

and he is also simply not familiar with online/shipping-culture unlike miv who engages with it more freely.

anyways, thanks for answering to my previous ask. i just think this whole thing got a bit overblown. hope our fandom spends more time defending female creatives instead.

There’s a lot of misunderstanding involved when the dynamic you’re invested in isn’t ending up together, or they’re enemies and its not some cookie cutter arwen/aragorn kind of pairing. I think thats where his confusion around it might stem from. Charlie is inclined to view everything Sauron does as purely manipulative because he doesn’t see Sauron as capable of being anything other than self serving….

Which, I would agree to an extent. Just because Sauron is who he is, doesn’t mean he can’t feel lustful feelings for other beings. I’ve made mention before about Morgoth’s first encounter with Luthien, where Tolkien describes his feelings as a dark lust….

With Galadriel, I would love for some interviewer to bring up maybe what I said above and also Morgoth’s obsession with the silmarils and how he sought to bind their light to his crown, in the same way Sauron seeks to bind Galadriel to him. Made the whole post on this here but the finale didn’t really fully lean into this direction as much as I’d hoped. But who knows what they’ll do with Galadriel’s new unhealed wound. Will it stay unhealed? Idk. It could just mean nothing.

Either way, we should focus less on whatever they have to say in regards to shipping in interviews and more on constructing our own analysis through fics and art and community discussion. I don’t think obsessing over what they say in interviews is particularly conducive to a good fandom space and I don’t think its going to leave a lot of people that satisfied in the end.

[sillylotrpolls]

Result post tags

I'm still working on this list and updating the tags on past results posts (currently up to October 2023 January 2024!). But with tumblr announcing the new search options today, it seemed like a good time to get a proper list published, even if incomplete. Hope you enjoy browsing some past silly polls. :)

Note: not all results posts have all applicable tags, as I am only human. Original poll posts may have some of these tags, but usually the tags are only on the results post to avoid duplication.

To combine tags, see the new tumblr search options.

Type of results (not mutually exclusive) #mixed results #even results #clear winner #rare 0% option #exact tie

Number of results #<100 votes #<500 votes #<1000 votes #1000+ votes #5000+ votes #10000+ votes

Poll genres #choose a favorite #how does ME work? #quiz time #what if? #what would you do? #which of these is the most/least...? Specific poll types #follow up poll #has a follow-up poll #one-day wonder #one on one #extended edition poll

Poll topics #adaptation #demographics #fanfiction #merchandise #linguistics #musical #not funny #sex #shipping #the silmarillion #too many names Analysis #author gets creative in results #author is judgy in the results #long results post #poll craft explained #free fanfic inspiration #read the comments #link to more reading in results #text excerpt #video

Source of poll idea #based on a meme #based on a song #it came from tumblr

Pairings #bagginshield #galrog #gimleaf

Races #dwarves #eagles #elves #ents #hobbits #men #orcs

Characters Note: characters are usually tagged only if there was something particular about that character in the results or if they were the poll's primary focus.

If you don't see a character here, you can still try using this URL to see if they're tagged anywhere: https://www.tumblr.com/sillylotrpolls/tagged/[NAME HERE] #aragorn #bill the pony #boromir #gandalf #gimli #frodo #legolas #merry #pippin #sam #the fellowship

#arwen #elrond #feanor #galadriel #thranduil

#bilbo #eowyn #faramir #thorin #tom bombadil

#gollum #sauron

[neyafromfrance95]

Sorry just to further add but also Galadriel being reunited with C*leborn and having a family isn’t the happy ending some people think it is and how they always love to use it against Haladriel.

It’s actually kind of depressing since her daughter ends up leaving Middle Earth due to being traumatised,she will also never see her granddaughter again(maybe even all her grandkids since we don’t know what happened with Arwen’s brothers)and she left C*leborn behind with no concrete date of when he sailed for Valinor.💀

Again no dig at C*leborn fans like/ship what you want but when you compare how Aragorn and Arwen are written where Arwen basically becomes depressed and leaves everything after Aragorn dies it’s hard to take Galadriel supposedly leaving the husband she loves so much behind and Tolkien doesn’t even bother writing wether that’s affected her meanwhile he writes C*leborn as a bitter divorcee(the only defining thing about his character other than being racist toward dwarves💀)

Not to make fun of Ce!edrie!(is that their ship name lol)fans but threads like these prove how you shouldn’t really trust what is said in interviews:

https://x.com/rukiasbankaii/status/1853087603752411471?s=46

It’s nice to have validation that you’re analysing the story correctly but ultimately it’s meant to be fun and like in Celeb0rn’s case what is being said in interviews contradicts what the show’s doing.

And no offence but after everything Galadriel’s been through she’ll never be the same person she was when she met Celeb0rn. Realistically their marriage would be rocky to the least considering how long they’ve been separated and how Galadriel’s been fundamentally changed by meeting Sauron. That’s why the best thing would be to introduce Celeb0rn back at the end of the show otherwise they’re opening up a whole can of worms I’m not sure they even know how to deal with.

yeah, tbh, ppl can interpret galadriel's relationship with teleporno as "happy ending" if they want to, but it's easy to see their relationship as shaky.

it's easy to see teleporno as cold and bitter, and galadriel as detached and too fixated on her own mission (which is, beside ruling lothlorien, opposing sauron).

and the thing is, for me, that's more interesting. just like it's more interesting to interpret her tone after rejecting the one ring as sadness. bc she wants what the ring offers her, but she is resolved to do the right thing.

i prefer these interpretations bc they allow more complexity and ambiguity for galadriel, which is rare when it comes to the female characters.

but yeah, tbh, whatever their relationship is, i just don't care for it. especially when it comes to the show. it would definitely get in the way of haladriel, the dynamic that established itself as the core of the show. and i would just be both too frustrated and too bored to stay for that.

[buffyfan145]

Had some more thoughts about the new LOTR movie "The Hunt for Gollum" and which characters are likely in it besides him. Putting this behind a cut for spoilers, though if you read the books and/or watched the fan film of the same name on YT you'll know a few. That being said I do think they'll expand this with more plots and add more characters both from the movies and the books, also since this is just the first of at least 2 new movies coming. I've also included a fancast here for 2 roles I hope are finally cast for this and weren't in the movies.

First is Aragorn. He's a major part of this and likely will be one of the main characters that carries over into the 2nd of these new films. Highly doubt it'd be a de-aged Viggo so we're likely going to get a younger British actor here. It's hard to fancast since we don't know the age range they'll be looking for, but something tells me it'll be a 30something actor especially with how many of these movies they're planning. Did see a fan suggest that Viggo can play older Aragorn telling this story to his children, so we'd get 2 Aragorns connecting it which I like.

Arwen is next. She wasn't in the story, but we know her and Aragorn's relationship began around the same time. There's been rumors these movies were going to feature younger versions of the characters last year, so this fits too. Plus, they need a female lead and their romance is one of the popular ships. Like above I think they'll cast a younger actress that resembles Liv, but like the fan suggested Liv could also play older Arwen.

If it sticks to the story Gandalf will be in this too as he tasks Aragon with finding Gollum. Now I can see Ian agreeing to having himself de-aged for this but not sure if they need that as I don't think he looks that different. The story is more about Gollum and Aragorn, so he'd be in a few scenes.

Next is Legolas. He's in the story too and would show more about his and Aragorn's friendship. Would be interesting if Orlando would come back too as I think he'd be ok with getting de-aged too but only slightly for him as he just looks a bit older.

Then this could be where we finally get Arwen's twin brothers Elladan and Elrohir!!! 😀 A lot of us always wanted them in the movies and it is strange they were cut out (though some think they are in the background of a few scenes). They're close friends of Aragorn too and easily could assist him in this. This is where my fancast comes in as both Harris Dickinson and George Mackay popped in my head to play them. Both are talented rising British actors, have dark hair and blue eyes, are tall, and I think look like Liv's Arwen, as well as the movies' Elrond, Galadriel, and Celeborn to look related to them. Also, Harris and George get confused for each other a lot (and played the same character as Harris couldn't be in the feature film version of "Femme", which he did the short film, and the recast him with George) and some thought they were brothers. They could just get one of them to play both if they want identical, but some fans think they're fraternal but do still resemble each other so two actors who look alike work too.

Then if Elrond, Galadriel (I'm certain Cate could still play her), Celeborn, or anyone else from the original LOTR movies are in this, or other characters from the books they could also add that weren't like Glorfindel for one.

Finally Sauron. There's a part of this story where Gollum is taken and Sauron himself tortures him to find out where the ring is. Gollum even explains he saw Sauron in full form and that he was missing a finger and spoke to him. So will they get Benedict Cumberbatch back to voice Sauron and/or actually play him in live-action as so far only "Rings of Power" have had an actor playing where you can see his face.

[howling-medic]

you were begging for 1. so...

Write a scene from [insert fic] in another character’s POV

could I have either? Impertinence from another POV, or some of Sair from another POV.

I'm also curious about :

10. Is there a character or ship you'd love to write for, but haven't yet?

26. Do you ever "prep" your fics with outlines or warmups before you start writing, or do you dive right in?

29. How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

I am so sorry this took so long. I've had a horrible case of writer's block lately, but here you go my friend!

Write a scene from, either Impertinence or Sairiniel's fic (as of yet unnamed), in another character’s POV?

I struggled massively with this over the last few days, and I wanted very much to rewrite something from Sair's fic for you. Sadly, I couldn't make anything work. However, I did rewrite the bonus scene from Impertinence from Pippin's perspective. Here is that with the original scene for context.

Aragorn never experienced the Sea Longing of the elves, but he knew when it was time to lay himself down for his final rest. His body did not move as it once did, and he was weary. This world no longer held him like it once did. When the time came, he said his goodbyes and felt no regrets. Arwen asked one last time for him to say, but Middle Earth was no longer his home. Aragorn had given every piece of himself to it. To saving it. Rebuilding it. Nurturing it. Growing it. His time had come to an end. When Aragorn shut his eyes for the last time, rest took him quickly, and at last he was at peace.

He tried to roll over and shield himself from the light to sleep a few more minutes, but then his mind caught up to what he had just done. Aragorn’s eyes snapped open, and he was forced to blink against the brightness until his eyes adjusted to light around him. It seemed to have no clear source. He was laying in an unfamiliar bed. The room was nondescript and unadorned with no windows. Aragorn sat on the edge of the bed, assessing the situation. An open door faced him with an even brighter hallway beyond it. With no other clear option, he slid on the boots beside him. The feel of the old leather brought a smile to his face. Then he grabbed the familiar green leather jacket laying on the end of the bed, and walked out into the hallway.

One end of the hall was a dead end and the other was the source of all the light. It was a blindingly bright glow that obscured any terminus. Aragorn faced it and concluded that was the only way he was supposed to go. With a sigh, he set out. As he neared the light, it resolved into a large, open corridor with many hallways branching off of it. Aragorn looked from one direction to the other and froze. Just as he was about to choose a direction at random, the sound of small, bare, running feet came echoing down the hall on his left. Aragorn froze. He refused to feel hopeful. Refused to look. “Strider!” a familiar voice cried from his left. Aragorn’s breath caught in his throat. Fifty three years he had waited to hear Pippin say the name that had hung in the air since after he died. “Strider!” he called again, and Aragorn turned to see Pippin barreling towards him at a pace the hobbit had not been able to run for many years. He looked just as he had that first night in Bree down to his jacket and scarf.

“Pippin,” Aragorn sobbed and fell to his knees just in time to catch Pippin in his arms. “My dear, dear hobbit. How I have missed hearing you call that name.”

“Did you manage to stay firmly on the ground, or did those wings you wore fly you away? I hoped I reminded you who you are enough times before I left you, but I have fretted a few times that I didn’t quite do enough.”

Aragorn shuffled back from Pippin enough to take a good look at him and shook his head in disbelief. “You did plenty enough to remind me who I am, but I hope I never have to go without hearing you call my name - whichever you want at any time and in any place - ever again.”

“Well, you are in luck, Strider. As it turns out, we hobbits go the same place men do, and everyone is waiting for you.”

Rewrite exercise, Pippin’s POV:

Pippin couldn’t sit still. This wasn’t a particularly abnormal phenomenon. In death, as in life, Pippin found himself constantly starting new projects and in some form of trouble because of his efforts to avoid what he considered the worst possible affliction: boredom. Today was different, however. He couldn’t even sit down to eat breakfast, which was most unusual. If there was one thing Peregrin Took could always do, it was eat.

Today, however, he could not. Not because he wasn’t hungry. He was. But because it felt like there was somewhere he needed to be. Or something he needed to do. The problem: he didn’t have the faintest clue where or what. Any time he sat still for any length of time the bottoms of his feet itched, so he took to wandering the Halls of Mandos. And searching for answers.

There was no accounting for the turns he took. He was fairly certain the Halls were endless. When Pippin asked one time, Mandos just shrugged, which seemed as close to a ‘yes’ as he was ever going to get. There was somewhere in the never-ending halls Pippin needed to reach, he was sure. The longer he walked, the more sure he became. By the time he was certain he should be sitting down to elevensies, based on the volume of his stomach growling, there was something pulling Pippin deeper into the maze.

A shiver ran down Pippin’s spine when he made a final right hand turn. He knew this part of the corridors. It had been more than fifty years since he last walked across these stones. Time was a distant concept in the afterlife, in death, but Pippin made a point of at least vaguely having an idea of the time that had passed. It seemed proper to know - even if it was only to know how long it had been since he last saw people he loved.

There was a fork in the hallway. Pippin paused. There was that pull once more. His heart thundered in his chest. Did he even still have a heartbeat? Apparently, yes. He followed the pull to the right and rounded a corner to find a blindingly bright light. He blinked against it and froze. Fifty three years. Fifty three long years. “Strider!” The name echoed off the stone walls, and then Pippin was sprinting. Aragorn froze, and Pippin called again. “Strider!”

And then Aragorn turned to face him, and there was the face of his old friend. Cleaner than the first night he met him in the Prancing Pony, but otherwise unchanged barring greater wisdom in his eyes. Eyes that were filling with tears. The dark green leather jacket, the well loved and travel battered boots. The dark hair returned and the wrinkles on his forehead and around his eyes faded. He had known Aragorn would look as he once had when he joined them in this land, but to see him in his youth once more was another matter wholly.

Pippin ran harder only to be caught in the strong arms of Aragorn. “Pippin.” And then he understood why Aragorn froze when he first heard his name called. If Pippin hadn’t already been wrapped in Aragorn’s arms the shock of hearing a nearly forgotten voice once again - loath as he was to admit he had almost forgotten Aragorn’s voice - would have frozen him midstride too. “My dear, dear hobbit. How I have missed hearing you call that name.”

Pippin clung to Aragorn at this. Often he wondered how his friends and family fared since his death. To know his absence had been felt over the years made the ache of the long years all the more painful. “Did you manage to stay firmly on the ground, or did those wings you wore fly you away? I hoped I reminded you who you are enough times before I left you, but I have fretted a few times that I didn’t quite do enough.” He could only hope his jest would say what he truly felt because to speak his pain sincerely would guarantee his own tears would fall, and that was not something he was ready to face. This was a time to celebrate a reunion. There would be time to face the pain of years of separation later. And he knew Aragorn knew well the way of hobbits. More times than he could count had humor spoken true feelings in their friendship.

Aragorn shuffled back from Pippin, his eyes raking over every inch of him. The sight of him returned to his youthful form must be as much a shock as it had been when he himself first arrived in the Halls of Mandos. It gave Pippin another chance to revel in the sight of Aragorn crouching before him. There was a peace to him that had been missing in the final years before Pippin passed. The weight of the crown was missing. “You did plenty enough to remind me who I am, but I hope I never have to go without hearing you call my name - whichever you want at any time and in any place - ever again.”

Pipping grinned, and Aragorn matched it. The years of separation fell away. He had caused enough mischief to fill fifty three years of absence, which was all he could have hoped to do with his life. “Well, you are in luck, Strider. As it turns out, we hobbits go the same place men do, and everyone is waiting for you.”

10. Is there a character or ship you'd love to write for, but haven't yet?

I'm not sure I can thin this down to one! I want to write an endless number of characters, and it seems like the list only ever grows. I want to write some Gigolas fics because I adore those two. Currently I've only ever had brief mentions of either of them in any of my work. Thankfully, they will far more central roles in Sair's story as it centers around the War of the Ring. I also want to write Galadriel. I may wind up writing in Gandalf return to Lothlórien into that to have a chance to write her. There are so many, though. OCs and canon characters alike!

26. Do you ever "prep" your fics with outlines or warmups before you start writing, or do you dive right in?

I don't usually do any prep work! Typically speaking, I'll have an idea, usually at the worst possible time, and I sit down and jam it out whenever I can. Sairiniel's fic (I really need to come up with a title for it) is the first piece I'm doing any kind of prep work and outlining for simply because it is so long and covers such a long period of time. And it truly does. Currently I'm sitting at nearly 200 years, but the end date is tbd at this point. It's too much to keep in my head, and if I don't give myself some structure I will wind up writing something that will rival the trilogy in length.

29. How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

Goodness. So many, and that number seems to grow with each piece I post. It helps tremendously when you give my work a once over for exactly that reason. I lack confidence in my writing, and I want everything to be perfect before I let anyone see it. Even before I send anything to you I go over it several times. Usually it's to iron out things I can't decide if I like enough to keep in or find the phrasing clunky or just uninspired, but I also have a propensity to leave out words or change course mid sentence and need to clean that up. But yeah. A lot, and sometimes I proof things so much that they just never get posted because I decide they aren't good enough. I've got at least 3 WIPs that I've spent endless hours proofing and have never finished even though I do actually really love them. It's a horrid habit I just can't seem to break, and I would treasure any advice anyone has 😭

[scyllas-revenge]

🍓 🕯️ 🍄 🍬 🔪 for the writers truth or dare meme!

Thanks so much for the ask!

🍓 ⇢ how did you get into writing fanfiction? 

Back in the dark ages, when I was in middle school, my friends and I would read the Warrior Cats books and create our own characters and clans, and I wound up writing some stories about mine. Which I then printed out and handed in to my English teacher for extra credit, a choice so horrifically embarrassing it still keeps me up at night sometimes

🕯️ ⇢ on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? why is that?

I love editing other people's work- that's a huge part of my job, although at work I mostly read over boring government documents that don't mention Lord of the Rings even once 🤮. Still, it's nice to be able to clear up a messy document, indulge in my inner grammar nitpicker, and help a document find exactly what it's trying to say.

For my own writing, it's a lot muddier. I'm not happy with my writing most of the time, so a round of editing ends up with me rewriting half of it from scratch.

🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings

Hmmm I like to imagine that Faramir and Eowyn spar sometimes, just for fun, and half the time they'll make bets on the outcome, like the winner gets to pick the dinner menu for the next week, or the loser has to meet with that boring foreign dignitary making a visit to Ithilien

🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

I don't have a ton of unpopular character opinions, but let's see...I find Arwen really boring. Even in the movies, where they at least tried to give her more screen time and relevance to the plot. But there just isn't much to her, and everything that *could* be interesting is mostly just headcanons and fandom ideas that go completely unexplored in the text. She could've been so much more interesting, but it's pretty clear to me that Tolkien wasn't interested in Arwen as a character, just a figure for Aragorn to marry at the end.

I could go on and on, but smarter people than me have already dissected her character enough. I just get a bit bitter when fans credit Tolkien with creating a really fascinating female character here, when he very much didn't.

🔪 ⇢ what's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

I fell down some weird rabbit holes for Burn Like Cold Iron- the weirdest probably being different kinds of medieval string instruments, because I initially wasn't sure if Middle Earth would have the equivalent of a modern violin for Bee to play. I got deep into viols and vielles and lire da braccio and rebecs and a million other proto-violins, and what they might be called in Middle Earth if I wanted to avoid names that were too Italian or French-inspired, and how easily a modern violinist might be able to transfer their skills, and then there was the sheer confusion of the use of the word "fiddle" as a catch-all for all kinds of vaguely violinish string instruments, contrasted by my vehement opinion that fiddles didn’t sound like something any self respecting Tolkien elf would play….eventually I scrapped it all and just gave Middle Earth violins, but I'll never get all that time back XD

[nihilizzzm]

lotr (aragorn x boromir) modern au moment, bc u cannot stop me

Sooo… I rly like all modern AUs but my sister rewoke my love for band au recently and I want to share my thoughts.

There is a bar involved. With a scene on which anyone who wants can play. Name of the bar is Lady of Lórien (I have no other idea, I’m still not sure) and it’s owned by Gandalf.

Three hunters is a band. We all know who plays there. We have Gimli on drums, Legolas as singer and piano, and Aragorn electric guitar and singer.

Hobbits also have their little music group but I rly have no good idea for them, and I don’t want to write some shit only to include them, so I BEG U, if you have any ideas i’d love to hear them!!!

Arwen is a solo singer (dating Éowyn in my mind, i need sapphic ship). Her gf is her biggest supporter and she is a great music producer and dj.

So now. I am a sucker recently for Arwen & Boromir as best friends. How? Idk rly, I just need them to get along somehow. And hear me out, Boromir is a drummer, like very good, but he has nobody to play with besides his brother. He writes tho, and some songs he writes he gives to Arwen bc even if his voice is good it’s not like crazy amazing and he doesn’t want people to know he is doing things.

Faramir is playing the violin. It suits him.

And Aragorn also writes his own songs duh. And somehow because of Arwen they meet one day at the bar and they have the crazy experience of getting to know one another.

AND NOW, because that is the final thought bc of which I started to write this post at the beginning. Aragorn can play a lot of instruments, generally he’s a very talented guy. He thinks Boromir only plays drums and writes. But at some point he hears him PLAYING THE PIANO. And he’s totally like “o shit he’s hot when he’s emotional”. And he joins him and they play together and it’s so cute and it’s just teeth rotting fluff.

No thoughts, just them being gay

[marietheran-archived]

LotR reread - book 2, chapter 8 - Farewell to Lórien

Oh, you can see Tolkien fought in a war and now makes sure his heroes need not eat army crackers...

Galadriel's song...

The geography of Aman seems a bit weirdly squeezed together if I was to analyze it though? "by the strand of Ilmarin there grew a golden Tree"... strand is shore, Ilmarin is the palace of Manwë and Varda, the golden Tree can only be one thing, and then it is said to shine "beside the walls of elven Tirion"... And Galadriel knows how all of it fits together. Hmm, I suppose it's best ignored. But the poem is beautiful.

"But if of ships I now should sing, what ship should come to me/ What shop would ever bear me back across so wide a Sea."

"Hythe" - new word. Apparently means "small port, landing place"

"Drink, Lord of the Galadhrim! And let not your heart be sad, though night must follow noon, and already our evening draweth nigh."

Aragorn/Arwen Allusions Counter at 3.875

All this talk of ending and fading is :(

This is really interesting, but, while it is properly the domain of elves, it seems that dwarves also care for the stars -- as much as Men, I suppose. Or Gimli at least.

"Then I say to you, Gimli son of Gloin, that your hands shall flow with gold and yet over you gold shall have no dominion."

"Ai! laurië lantar lassi súrinen, yéni únòtimë ve rámar aldaron!" is the part that I can both recite from memory and understand. Or at least, I understand almost every single word on itself, not bothering about grammar, and know how they fit together.

Quenya is pretty...

"Varda is the name of that Lady whom the elves in these lands of exile name Elbereth" <- here, and only here, upon my first reread of LotR after the Silm did I finally realise that Elbereth = Varda.

"I do not wish to drown my grief in cold water."

----------

If you look at the timeline in the appendices, the irony of it all is that Gandalf (now, Gandalf the White) arrives in Lothlorien exactly one day after the Fellowship leaves...

[find-the-path]

joining this after @a-lonely-dunedain!

three ships: For right now? Evariste/Angelique from Fairy Tale Enchantress, Faramir/Eowyn from LOTR, and.... uh, Tony/Pepper from Marvel, because I recently watched the Iron Man movies and they're really funny. Wait. Is their ship name Pepperony. That's hilarious.

first ship: I'm really not sure, but probably Aragorn/Arwen after reading their Appendix story.

last song: Footloose! I just learned the dance recently and it is SO MUCH FUN.

last movie: Iron Man II, which I was watching on and off and finished last night.

currently watching: Just started Thor! After interacting with the Marvel fandoms for a long while it occured to me I should actually. Watch the movies. Which I've started doing.

currently eating: just finished dinner, which was grilled chicken and rice.

currently craving: coffee. I shouldn't have it right now but still!!

tagging... @sailforvalinor if she wants to join. Or anyone else! :D

[velvet4510]

Is it just me, or do y’all also sorta wish that Jackson had filmed Appendix B as the actual ending of ROTK? Clearly, as you’ll see, I have relatively normal feelings about this.

I understand and appreciate the movie having the same ending as the actual book. But the STORY itself doesn’t end with the last chapter; it ends with Appendix B.

Imagine a 2-minute montage, fading in after Sam comes home from the Grey Havens:

An unfamiliar female voice narrates over these images:

Sam & Rosie raising their children at Bag End; Sam reading the Red Book aloud to the children.

Sam making a speech as Mayor.

Sam sitting in Bag End’s study, reading a letter signed ‘Frodo,’ which Frodo clearly left for him.

Pippin & Diamond’s wedding.

Merry & Estella’s wedding.

Aragorn & Arwen with their children in Minas Tirith.

Aragorn dedicating and unveiling a tall statue of Frodo & Sam in Minas Tirith.

Legolas restoring the destroyed forests.

Gimli bringing the dwarves to Helm’s Deep.

Faramir & Éowyn with their children in Ithilien.

Teenage Elanor reading the Red Book by herself and reading a letter or poem that Frodo wrote for her before he sailed away (because, come on, he was a 2nd dad to her. he literally named her. he adored her, so of course he left something for her since she was too young to actually remember him).

Aragorn & Arwen visiting Sam, Merry, Pippin and their wives & children at the Brandywine Bridge.

The Gardner, Took & Brandybuck families all celebrating Yule together.

Time passing … the Travellers aging … the children growing up.

Teenage Elanor introducing Fastred to her parents.

Faramir Took and Goldilocks Gardner dancing at a party, transitioning to a dance at their wedding.

Sam and his son Frodo teaching Frodo’s own young son how to work in the garden.

The seasons in the Shire changing as more years go by…

Elderly Sam and his now-adult children gathered around elderly Rosie’s deathbed.

Elderly Sam sitting alone in Bag End’s beautiful, flourishing garden with a faraway look on his face, pulling Frodo’s now-wrinkled letter out of his pocket and reading it again.

Elderly Sam, Merry & Pippin sharing one last drink at the Green Dragon, followed by a tearful group embrace.

(I know the following messes up the book’s timeline, but for dramatic effect, I think this order of events would work better as a close for the film):

Elderly Merry & elderly Pippin hugging their adult sons goodbye and riding out of the Shire together.

Merry & Pippin shaking hands with elderly Éomer in Rohan.

Merry & Pippin’s gravestones in Gondor, with a statue of them standing above their tomb.

Aragorn’s tomb now beside theirs, years later.

Arwen hugging Eldarion goodbye in his throne room, with Eldarion now wearing the king’s crown.

Arwen entering Lothlórien alone.

Legolas hopping into a small sailboat and helping an aged Gimli onboard before they drift off into the sunset.

Sam placing the Red Book in adult Elanor’s hands and embracing her tightly.

A ship pulling away from the Grey Havens.

Elanor standing on the quayside and tearfully waving as the ship disappears into the horizon. She composes herself and her narration says “And that day, my dear Sam-dad passed over the Sea … the last of the Ring-bearers.”

Her words lead into the very last shot, fading from her face into a flash of white, and then fade-in to a distant view of an island, with greenery on one side and a sparkling beach on the other. Two hobbits, their backs to us, are strolling along the coastline, hand-in-hand.

THE END.

[anneangel]

I have something to say about that too! 1) when the argument is: It's not Canon! Answer: not being Canon in relation to the book doesn't make it any less, the characters we see fall in love with different races are all of important standing. The books are clearly written from the perspective of noble people and their stories, which leads me to imagine that perhaps there were other romantic relationships between the races, but that they were not mentioned and did not enter the "records" just because those involved weren't important enough, to the person who made such records. Which leads me to… The entire Hobbit is told from Bilbo's perspective. There are thirteen dwarves, and less than half of them get real development in the book. Even Thranduil doesn't have a name, he's just called the Elvenking. Dul Guldur also happened, but in the book we do not follow Gandalf's journey to the White Council or to Dol Guldur. These are important events for that world/Arda, but not for the construction of Bilbo's story. The book The Hobbit is about Bilbo's journey, he wasn't willing to talk about romance or important events in that world, it was about him, not about others. I can more than accept the adaptations as different versions of the same "legend/tale". And they expand and give greater development to characters that, in the book, were not explored much.

2) when the argument is: She only serves as a love interest. Answer: Many female characters in Tolkien have their stories permeated by the love interest plot. See Arwen! I personally prefer her in the movies than in the book, I remember being really uncomfortable with her participation in the book. Yes, her ancestors have a history of falling in love with people of other races (Thingol and Melian, Beren and Lúthien, Dior and Nimloth, Eärendil and Elwing, etc…). It was no different with her, and she was kind of "destined to fall in love with her very distant cousin (as Aragorn is of the same stock as Elros, Elrond's brother), and who was raised briefly by her father for a time with the name Estel". But, hey, if you take her romance with Aragorn out of the plot, there's not much left to fill in about her as individual character development. What is her individual development? There is not. So, why don't I see people complaining that she is only there in the book as a love interest so that in the end the king, who has just recovered his kingdom, can marry a beautiful girl and have a "happy ending" like in fairy tales??? She chose mortality, she will stay with him, she will go where he goes after death. End. And there is Éowyn and Faramir. I also think they fall in love very quickly in the book, yes, they spend some long time together while recovering from their respective injuries, and yes, people who go through tense and dangerous situations together can develop a strong bond. But, see, it was still too fast. So what's the problem with love at first sight? Wasn't Melian and Thingol also love at first sight?

Don't get me wrong, I ship Aragorn/Arwen and also Faramir/Éowyn. What I'm trying to say is that there's no problem with falling in love at first sight, no problem with falling in love quickly in Tolkien Canon lore.

And see; The books, one is from the perspective of Bilbo (The Hobbit), another is more focused on the war of the ring (Lord of the Rings), and another is a compendium mostly written from the perspective of the elves (The Silmarillion), and this is possibly the Bilbo's text about the elves, his Translations of Elvish.

There is much that can be imagined beyond these accounts, there are many gaps in them, there is much room to consider other possibilities and believe that the story narrated in the books is just a version of all these "legends". Real legends have more than one version, depending on who tells them. For people who say they like fantasy, some fans have a very limited imagination.

When I read these fantasy books, I leave my imagination even freer for things that are not said, or could be different depending on the point of view of whoever narrates, who is telling the story. That's why I like FanFictions so much, and that's why I don't care if the adaptations are different. It's just different ways of telling a legend.

In the end I discovered that I like stories, canonical or not.

So, see:

Tauriel is a wonderful warrior, she has a strong sense of purpose, she is able to do what she thinks is right instead of what she was told to do, she can be fierce and determined when making a decision, she has skills She has interesting healing skills, she is not driven by racial prejudices, and she can be sweet and kind to people regardless of who they are, and that's because I didn't even mention her beauty. These are quite captivating characteristics.

It's nice to me❤️

The Hobbit really did Tauriel dirty, for more reasons than one.

I like the fact that they added a pivotal female character into an otherwise male dominated movie. But as per usual, her purpose was of little more than to be a love interest for two attractive men, as much as the writers tried to pretend that wasn’t the case. After interacting with Kili a staggering number of three times, she’s head over heels in love and ready to turn her back on her own people - as well as kill her king - to save him. Despite the two of them being raised together, and Orlando Bloom himself saying that he sees their relationship as a sibling bond, the movie was recut to have Legolas crushing on her like an angsty teen, ready to throw everything away just to please her. Doesn’t even bat an eyelid when she’s ready to murder his own dad.

They could have easily included a strong female character without reducing Tauriel to a love interest. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that women can’t fall in love and be strong characters at the same time, but given that most movies seem incapable of doing it right, I think it’s sometimes best to just not do it at all - especially for a book like The Hobbit, where romance is neither present nor necessary.

As is always with this trilogy, there was so much wasted potential.

[scary-crow]

‘Have you often been to Rivendell?’ said Frodo.

‘I have,’ said Strider. ‘I dwelt there once, and still I return when I may. There my heart is; but it is not my fate to sit in peace, even in the fair house of Elrond.’

—J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book One, Chapter XII