#dol is.. trying to become better friends

[doldoldolcetto]

starter for @atherissquamigera

Dol leaned on the bar, fidgeting with the edge of his keikogi due to boredom. It had to be at least another hour before the Nest opened, leaving him with ample time to waste.

He glanced under the bar, quickly flicking him eyes back up. Yep, still there. Underneath the bar sat two apples in a bag, fresh and bright red. Dol had bought them the day before when he was on a grocery run, unable to stop himself from buying them. They were on sale and he knew someone in the Nest would like them.

And speaking of the person who would like them...

"Aya!" Dol called out, catching a glimpse of her in the doorway to the bar's main room. "I got somethin for you."

[acowardinmordor]

I needed to warm up, so I did not plan, just wrote this, and I'm about to hit post without editing or rereading. This is Steve&Eddie more than its a slash

----------

It was a week after the rumors made the rounds about Harrington and Hargrove getting into a fight. Eddie would normally assume it was nothing but posting jock bullshit, and ignore it the same way he ignored what he overheard about cheerleaders hooking up with other cheerleader's boyfriends. Except a couple days after the rumors hit a peak, Harrington showed up at school looking like someone beat his face in with a plate.

That made a pretty strong argument for the rumors being true.

The guy avoided his old crowd, and despite his ex and her new boyfriend - if that rumor is true, there was some overlap - trying to include him, he kept away from everyone for the first two days.

Eddie put him out of mind, one less asshole to cause trouble, one less shithead to dodge. Not his problem. Until he found Harrington sitting at his table in the woods the next week. It made sense, sort of. The guy was obviously having a shit time, and like most of the locals that kept Eddie's business afloat, he was looking for a distraction.

Eddie was right, and Harrington bought some weed before asking about getting anything stronger.

"I don't know man, I just wanna like, not be in my body for a while."

"Fair enough, but I don't keep that on me.

Harrington showed up when told to, and bought enough shit that Eddie hesitated before handing it over. He gave the guy a whole speech about not overdosing and ruining Eddie's upstanding reputation. Whether he listened or not wasn't something he could control.

So, the next Monday, when Harrington chased him down, and, as best as Eddie could tell, tried to become his friend, Eddie's first thought was that it was a ploy to get his next massive purchase of drugs on discount.

But Harrington didn't buy again except for a bit of weed. He did stick around. Outright said he wanted to be Eddie's friend. Kept at it through January until Eddie, confused as shit, admitted that yeah, they were friends. Mostly friends at least. There was stuff that Steve wouldn't talk about; his headaches, his nightmares, his tendency to freak the fuck out if the electricity got weird. Maybe it was better to say that Steve was his study partner who he sometimes hung out with. Cause that was the thing, Steve was pushy about Eddie studying.

"You really want to come back for a third run at graduating, man? Fuck that. 85 is gonna be your year, even if I have to bribe the teachers to pull it off"

"Why do you even care Steve? Maybe I want to become a legend of terrible scholarship in this crap town."

Steve never gave a real answer about it, just kept pushing him, hounding him about his homework, and showing up at his trailer every morning to drag Eddie out of bed if he had to. Wayne thought the whole thing was incredible and gave the guy a spare key. Traitor.

They got closer. Eddie finally met the kids Steve babysat. They immediately decided that Eddie was much cooler than Steve, and ragged on him constantly about it. They were close. They were. Fell asleep at each other's places. Spent half their time together.

Close, but not close enough for Eddie to get answers about why the fuck Steve had bruises and burns and scrapes sometimes. Bad ones. No matter how many times he said it, Steve didn't get those because he got distracted while cooking. It drove Eddie crazy sometimes. That was a lie. It drove him crazy all the time. Steve would tell him about how shit his parents were, but wouldn't admit why the fuck he needed stitches at the top of May.

"You did it."

"I think you'll find that you're the one that did it, Steve, I was an unwilling kidnapping victim in your quest to get us both across that stage."

It wasn't graceful, literally or figuratively, but Eddie got his diploma in 1985. Steve gave him what he said was a small part of his grad present from his parents. A thousand dollars. A thousand goddamn dollars. It was enough that Eddie didn't put the dots together right away. A small part, plus Steve's crappy job at the newly opened mall.

It was weird. But Eddie let it go, because Steve was his friend, maybe could have been best friends if the guy would stop pulling back whenever they got too close. He let it go, and he let Steve push him towards the goal of getting the fuck out of that town, and he promised he'd call when he got to Chicago.

It didn't really click for Eddie until he heard about the mall burning down from Wayne, that Steve never promised that he'd call too. The guy was there, and when Eddie called and demanded to know if he was okay, got another partial answer, another dodge, another thing for the list of shit his friend wouldn't talk about.

They fought about it. Loud enough as Eddie shouted into the phone that his neighbor banged on the wall. Maybe Eddie crossed a line. Maybe he crossed it a long while back. He didn't know. Eddie kept calling until September, but on the rare times that Steve answered, it was awkward and curt and terrible. He stopped trying when Wayne told him that Steve never stopped by, or even waved when they crossed paths.

Steve wanted it over, and it was so fucking weird. The guy slammed into Eddie's life out of nowhere, shifted it, changed the course, cause there was no way in hell Eddie would have graduated if it wasn't for Steve forcing him to try. The guy did all that, and nine months later, was gone again. Out of his life.

It was a week after new rumors reached him in February of 86 that a package arrived. His uncle called outside their normal plans, and said it wasn't sure yet, that there wasn't any proof, but Steve was missing, and some of those kids of his said he'd saved their lives. Said that he wasn't going to come back. Wayne didn't really understand what it meant, but passed on a message from those kids that they'd answer when he called.

Eddie got a box a week after finding out that Steve was gone, full of letters. Long, detailed, apologetic letters. The first was dated in December of 84, written after Steve spent a weekend 'out of his body' just like he wanted to be. The promises at the start didn't make sense. Steve said he'd save him. Steve said he'd make sure he got out. The apologies got more complex. Something about keeping Eddie away from friends he'd never make. About being selfish. About keeping secrets and lying when all he really wanted was to tell Eddie everything.

It was so fucking weird.

The last one was dated a couple days before things went bad in Hawkins, longer than all of the others. Monsters and nightmares and death and chance to make it right. Apologies for not doing it better, doing it sooner. For not wanting to risk it, for pushing Eddie away. Promises that Steve would call him as soon as it was over, that he was only writing this just in case. That it wouldn't ever be sent, and he'd burn the whole box after they won. Then he'd drive up and apologize in person, explain it in person, fix it, because Eddie meant more to him that Steve had ever let show, and he wanted to make it right.

At the bottom was a post script.

"Eds, If it doesn't work out, call this number, and ask for Robin. She knows the whole thing. She'll help. So will the kids. I hope you never read this. So I'm sorry if you are."

[elithilanor]

hi hi, i love your blog and really appreciate that you're trying to write for readers that often aren't written for❤ this has very quickly become a comfort blog hehe. um, if requests are open, may i request some headcanons (or whatever you're comfortable writing honestly) about how tauriel would react to a gender-neutral fellow guard crushing on her? in a kind of sudden way, like they were just friends for a while, but then guard reader trips and falls flat into the realization that they really melt when she smiles or gets excited about things in a way that's not platonic. if you can't do the request, no worries; thanks for being awesome✨

Oh hello! 🥺 Thank you so much; this really means a lot to me!!

I kind of put posting this off for a while because I have A Problem with Tauriel and that's what the studios did to her character so this is the AU of maybe Kiliel didn't happen or timeline-wise, we aren't there yet:

Tauriel x GN Reader

I think while Tauriel doesn't care about gender, she is kind of into the hair (re: Kíli) so the more hair (thickness, length, braiding patterns, etc.), the better. 

She is viciously protective of her partner. Like, feral overprotective. In the words of @sanisse's blog: KNIFE WIFE KNIFE WIFE KNIFE WIFE

I don't really hc that Tauriel understands romantic love or has had it before. I don't think she's young per se - I hc her in the same age range as Legolas, whichever that may be - but maybe sheltered in a militant way unintentionally. She's spent most of her life fighting Sauron's encroaching forces in her forest and her family is gone leaving her as a ward of the King. I see her as very single-focused on freeing her home and has a hard time relaxing and letting go for events like celebrations. In the movies, this leads to her interest re: sudden infatuation in Kíli. And while I do love them as a couple and think they're actually super sweet together, I don't think it allowed time for Tauriel to find love. And I think this is a big part of her personality. 

Much like the reader, Tauriel didn't realize she was in love because she was so focused on protecting the borders and the reader, that she dismissed any concern over their well-being during a fight as being normal and typical for them. I think only after they confess does Tauriel realize that there is another option for the type of relationship that they have. That maybe the sheer terror she has when her more than friend? gets cornered by spiders is different than the worry, but manageable stress she has when Legolas or Ferdan does. 

I know you meant it colloquially, but I think for their friendship, it would really make more sense for GN to legitimately fall while doing drills in the courtyard and feel that shift when Tauriel throws her head back and laughs at their misfortune and teases them over their battle prowess. It's odd, because this has happened a thousand times, but something about the way the autumn light reflects the exact shade of her hair in the setting sun or the way she smells like the leaves strewn about the forest floor. Maybe it was because for one of the first times since they joined the Guard, they were separated from each other while Tauriel was sent on a scouting mission to Dol Guldur and the thought that she might not come back, that she might be in combat without them was excruciating. Sure, the other Guardmembers are capable of protecting her, but are they the reader? No. It was a realization after a long time of having those feelings. 

And Tauriel is perceptive even if she's not experienced in relationships so she notices that the way you treat her has changed. She's also impulsive so after several months of you being more hesitant or focused on her, she confronts you and demands you tell her what's wrong. Of course, you don't expect Tauriel to reciprocate, which is good because I think she genuinely doesn't at first! Or rather, she's not sure what to do about the potentiality of a bonded relationship when she devotes herself to the Guard. I think it takes her a while before she realizes that her love for you is so instinctual that it makes more sense for you two to be together than not. I think it's a very gradual relationship, a true elven courtship over many years, as you change your typical ways of fitting together in a way that's more intimate. Also, as the years go on and forest grows darker, there is unfortunately less time spent in direct contact as you're both on patrol quite often. However, your ósanwë bond gets quite good over that time! 

In the elvish way of marriage, I think it's likely to happen either on the eve of a big battle or post a brutal battle in which you're both reminded of your mortality in violence and decide that you don't wish to be parted from each other that way again.

[tiffcore]

tw: typical dol grossness. kylar is braindead

Angel has ... Interesting relationships with people in his school.

He's sure there's like, an actual demon in his fifth period class. Winged and horned and tailed and fanged and most definitely sacrilegious. Not sure what has to happen for someone to become a demon but, okay little succu-girl, you do you.

They don't talk and he's not affiliated with her in any form, but it's not like she's pulling up to class anyway - he's almost absolutely certain she has more pressing matters to attend to.

His loyalties lie elsewhere. Like with Robin, Willow and Ivory from chem, that cute Sydney boy that goes to temple and reads the holy scripture. Nice, pleasant folk. The type to ask about his day and help dab the cum of some dick head off his school trousers because he thought it was a good idea to take the bus today.

Whitney is naturally the bane of anyone's existence, but apparently likes to make it his personal perogative to make Angel feel put on the spot no matter where he goes. If he's not calling the man a trap, he's groping at his pussy and asking "if his balls dropped yet", bares his flat chest to the whole school, steals his clothes after swim class and forces him to walk around with a towel because he has too much pride to beg Whitney for them. He knows when Angel is running low on money though, because he'll stiffen his upper lip and grovel proper. But it's also the worst mistake he could have ever made - to assume that Whitney is placated by the one time. If he knows Angels willing to do it once, he's going to do it again. If not, his lackies have no problem helping Angel come to a compromise.

Angel's defiance against Whitney is a fickle thing. Sometimes he doesn't struggle. Other times Whitney is risking life and limb trying to fuck with him. I feel like it would eventually taper out into a begrudging respect, because I can imagine Angel hanging out with Whitney (maybe against his will, maybe not.)

Kylar and Angel used to be good friends. Over the summer they totally grew apart though - Angel was going through his own stuff - and going from almost inseparable to no contact was too much for Kylar to bare. He tried to stiffen his upper lip - tries to come back in small ways. Like feeding Angel's ants whenever he neglected them, putting little gifts under his pillow, keeping an eye on him and making sure he was being safe,

and being able to watch him slowly change over that seemingly insignificant stretch of time did something to him man.

Angel was so perfect. A nice girl who used to watch him draw in art class, and didn't say much herself, opting to observe as opposed to talk. She was so pretty ...

Not so much so outgoing, but very attentive and on point. Wouldn't let him trample the flowers in the park, and when it was just the two of them at the lake, didn't mind him seeing her topless. Maybe it was a little ambitious of him to think of Angel being the perfect mom.

Her tits would grow in and she'd fill out enough that the boys would stop making fun of her, girls would stop pitying her, and Kylar's parents make enough money that it wouldn't be hard to give their kid a nice life! A white picket fence and two loving grandparents. He always liked the idea of being a young dad, with a quiet wife, watch their son (or daughter) grow up, be able to spend more time with them...

But his little fantasy is just that. Nothing more. When he learns that this is in fact no phase, Angel really does use he/him and is a boy, well, forgive him for being a little unwell about it!

He knows Angel still ought to have his pussy, that it still might work, so Kylar inquires extensively, and at first Angel feels like he's taking the time to get to know him better, but the discussions begin to delve too close into intimacy - asking about his genitals, wanting to check them,

Angel isn't one to get up in arms or violent, but Kylar ended up forcing his hands.

One of theie last interaction was Angel shoving him up against a locker, saying something along the lines of:

"Say some shit like that again, and I'll bash your fucking brains in."

After Kylar inquired if he'd be okay with their kids calling Angel Mommy - because of course they can't have two dads.

Kylar still sits next to him in English class, much to Angel's chagrin.

[quoththe-ravenn]

.

[teenagedirtbag21]

DoL Lis losing their virginity to you

Yes, I know that some actually are still virgins in game, but there's no special event for them to lose their virginity so y'know, have this. And im really writing this because the thought of Whitney or Eden being a virgin when you first have intercourse is so funny to me.

Some of these are gonna seem out of character, but thats because its obviously before they become complete sex crazed lunatics.

----------------------------

Robin

Robin never really thought about sex until you had began spending more time with him. You were his friend, his absolutely perfect gorgeous friend who had no business being in his mind as he stroked his hard cock. He felt guilty thinking about you in such a way, but he couldn't help it. You were just so good to him, treated him so well and made him feel better about himself. Its not his fault you had decided to wear such a low cut shirt today, causing him to get hard and forcing him to cover it until you left for bed.

He doesn't even realize you coming into his room, much to busy with moaning your name with his eyes screwed shut. You couldn't help but crawl onto the bed beside him, startling him. He covers himself up, trying to do anything to make it go away but dammit, you're still wearing that shirt and you liked your lips so perfectly.

Hes a whining, moaning mess underneath you, his eyes locked with yours as you rode his dick slowly. He's frantically moaning praises to you, on the edge of cumming the entire time as his fingers dig into your thighs. He finally released deep inside you when you lean down and press soft kisses to his neck, whining loudly and rutting up into you.

Kylar

You had come home after a short shift, walking into your room to the sight of Kylar stood by your dirty laundry basket, a pair of your worn panties wrapped around his cock. He was thoroughly embarrassed, he began apologizing profusely. You came home early! It wasn't his fault, really. Stressed and in need of some relaxation, you lock your door and strip to your underwear.

Kylar eyed you hungrily, face red but cock hard in lust. He practically ripped your panties off your body after you okayed it. During the act your panties never left his hand, the warmth and intoxicating scent made him cum ten times harder. He finishes deep inside you, panties pressed to his face, babbling about the 'freshness' of them.

Sydney

Sweet Sydney. It would happen like in the movies. Hes talked about it with Sirris before hand, making arrangements for him to be conveniently gone that night and getting extra tips on how to make you feel good. He wants tonight to be perfect. Invites you to his place, cooks a beautiful romantic dinner, buys you flowers and showers you with love.

Going almost feral over your naked form, his hands never leave your body. He so sweet and passionate, his thrusts were soft and slow as to not hurt you. It lasts a long time, he enjoyed watching you cum multiple times on his cock. I guess it really pays off to have a dad who teaches sex ed.

Whitney

Poor Whitney's watched so much porn and craves sex so bad, but doesn't know how to go about finding someone to fuck. He doesn't care about having a 'special' first time, he just wants to make sure it's his partners first time too, to ensure he's good and can't be told how bad he is or, God forbid, they find out he was a virgin.

Thats when he finds you. He knows the demeanors of a virgin, and you most definitely are one. Hes cocky and confident around you, making you assume he's a player. Then you're in the bedroom together, both of you completely naked and he wears the same lost look as you.

His rough hands trail down your body, face red as he examines each of your curves. He grips your hips as he finally sinks into you, nails digging in as he attempts to stifle the moan in his throat. It felt so damn good, so tight and perfect. His thrusts are hard and fast, as hes seen in videos, and he ends up finishing inside of you when he looks down to the sight of you being split open on his cock.

Eden

Eden never cared for sex, never had anyone he wanted to be that close with. Read about it in steamy romance novels, jerked off and went on his way. That is until you had stopped at his cabin, soaked from the rain, scared, insisting something was following you and begging for a place to stay for the night.

Eden was confused why someone as dainty as you would be in the forest this late at night, in this weather. But he didn't question it when you were visibly shaking, your wet clothes clung to your body in such a way is made his heart skip a beat. He offered to warm you up, he wants to be a good host and calm your nerves. Can't do that while your wearing such cold clothes, here, take this blanket and go sit by the fireplace.

Hes leant over top of you, pressing soft kisses to your exposed neck. You never slept with complete strangers, but something about him was different. He was sweet, when you finally agreed that is. He slides into you so softly, moaning in your ear about how good feel around his cock. Once finished he's going to try to keep you there, suggesting you stay another day to ensure the threat is gone, he'll escort you out himself in just a few days, its raining now! Every night after the first he uses you, multiple times if he can, getting rougher and more cruel each round.

Avery

Avery could had had sex anytime in high-school, his wealth alone was enough to make women swoon for him, throw in his pristine look and charm and he's done for. But no matter how many women came onto him, none were very up to his very high standards. He has a reputation to keep up, if anyone found out he was fooling around with such slots, he'd be ruined.

Then one day he had a conversation with the sweetest thing, you. You didn't swoon for him like the others, didn't talk about his wealthy parents or even acknowledge his high up social status. He was conflicted, why didn't you know how important he was? And why did he love it?

After a particularly extravagant date, he takes you back to his house, a place you'd consider to be a mansion. He's holding your hand the entire time, whimpering in your ear about how good you are to him, how you deserve the whole world.

Alex

Alex didn't really have much time to think about sex. He'd just rub one out each morning to rid himself of frustration, but thats about it. He's much too stressed looking after his younger siblings, worrying about his parents opinions and taking care of his farm. There really wasn't any time for girls, not that he knew any anyway.

Then you stopped by, asking for work. You didn't look like you'd be fit to work on a farm, but you had a sense of determination and he wasn't really in much of a place to deny help. He grew to enjoy your presence, he found himself staying up at night wondering if you'd be coming back the next day, thinking about your beautiful smile, about the way your clothes hugged your body and the way your hips moved when walking.

It starts pouring when you're both working in the fields, completely soaking your clothes. He places a hand on your waist, face red as he examined your chest through your soaked shirt. Its sloppy and wet, loud moans echoing around the empty field as he pounded into you. He's groaning soft praises, telling you how long he's been thinking about this. Once finished he asks you to move in with him, will go another round if you say yes.

Bonus;

Wren

Wren never really cared for sex, instead he focused on gambling, committing crimes and generally being a menace to society. It wasn't until his partners and associates started patronizing him for not being with a woman and never joining them during the dirty parties they host.

"Its like you're a virgin!" His coworkers words played through his mind as he stood at the docks, gun in hand. He was upset. Was it wrong that he never had much desire to fuck a woman? His thoughts are pulled as he sees a figure sneaking into the docks. A smirk is splayed on his face at the sight of you, so precious and innocent looking. His cock twitched when you cursed at him, told him to get the gun out of your face. And he loved it.

He let you go after that, but started to make it much easier for you to get back in afterwards. He pulled some strings and made sure it was only him there one night. He sits with you by the water as usual, but his kisses were much more lustful and demanding. He was so sweet, ensuring you were okay with every small action he did and fingering you slowly until you convulsed on his fingers. He slides into you so softly and slowly, relishing in the pleasured faces you pulled and small whines you made. He cums hard when you reach up to cup his face lovingly, muttering the sweetest things to him. He mumbles and 'I love you' against your skin afterwards.

Bailey

Genuinely never cared about sex. Even goes as far to say its stupid and pointless. Being so intimate and vulnerable with someone? No thank you. Its not like he finds girls unappealing, he's found many women hot and 'fuckable' as his friends say it, but he doesn't see the point in when he has his hand and doesn't have to put up with all the sappy shit.

That is, until one day he's so frustrated, upset about the current caretaker demanding he start bringing more money. He barely knew you, just knew you were the cute girl who had a crush on him and conveniently stayed in the room beside his. He could hear your soft moans through his wall sometimes as you pleasured yourself, sometimes he'd even stroke himself to the sounds and came when you did.

Now he needed you, needed someone to take this frustration out on. Bending you over the bed, he doesn't wait for your okay as he rakes your pants down. He knows you want this, if your moans at night and 'subtle' stares were any indication. Hes so rough, nails digging into your hips as he slams you back against him. He doesn't care about you, doesn't care when you're begging him to slow down because it hurts, he needs to cum and you just happened to be the best thing. He finishes with a loud moan, his body shuddering as he fills your insides. Mutters a soft 'thank you' before pulling out, adjusting himself and leaving with a red face.

[angrelysimpping]

I remember seeing a comment on Vrelnir's blog about how an Angel!PC could, as a potential threat from showing their divinity in public, be kidnapped by members of the temple and have a potential cult start around them, having lewd things done to them as acts of "worship". I was wondering how the LIs (who live in the town) would react to their (Angel) S/O having this happen to them. Would they join in on the "worship" or try to bust them out? Sorry if this is too specific! :) Thank you for all your writings, by the way. I get really excited whenever you update! It's nice to see more depth being given to these characters, even if it's just fan-writings.

(DoL relationships, a little nsft stuff but not explicit)

Avery

Confused.

Where did their sweet sugar baby go? You're not hiding from Avery, are you?

They might ask around town to see where you went, but they're not overly concerned.

You'll show back up eventually, they're sure.

Your continued absence does put them on edge, though.

Avery might be able to use their connections to find out what happened to you. It's iffy on if Avery will pull any strings to get you free from the cult. They like you, sure, but do they like you enough to risk their reputation in freeing you? Unlikely. They would have to have become extremely attached to you.

Not very religious so they wouldn't join in the "worship."

Eden

(I know Eden doesn't really live in town but)

Eden goes looking for you in town and absolutely loses it when they can't find you.

They look everywhere.

Might even contact Bailey because they know you live at the orphanage.

If the cult is keeping you in the temple, Eden knows how to get in. They're well aware of how you can sneak into the temple garden from the forest.

If the cult is keeping you out-of-town, in the forest, that’s better for Eden. Eden knows the forest like the back of their hand. There’s nowhere the cult can keep you in the forest that Eden doesn’t know about.

Livid when they find out what the cult considers "worship." They're lucky Eden is more concerned with getting you back to the cabin than getting revenge.

Kylar

Freaking out!

Yes, you are an angel and deserve to be worshiped, but only Kylar can worship you like that!

Kylar is good at sneaking around and getting into places where they shouldn't. It would be easy for them to break in but would find it harder to sneak back out with you.

They are coming equipped with so many tranq darts and pepper spray charges. It's amazing they're able to carry so many with how small they are.

Does fairly well in getting close to you without anyone noticing. They only have to tranq a few cultists on their way in. If they find you during an act of 'worship' they're losing it. Kylar has been teetering on the edge of hysteria since the moment they lost you. Seeing people performing lewd acts on you just pushes them over the edge.

Blacks out. Kylar comes back to themself when at the orphanage, sitting on your bed with your head in their lap.

Bonus "Kylar's Parents are High Ranking Temple Officials" HCs

They'll try to use their parents' connections to free you.

If that fails they'll use their parents' status to get close to you. It will make it easier to free you if they don't have to sneak in.

While Kylar is good at tactics and planning things out, they're also on the edge of a fit of hysteria. They're not thinking very logically.

Like, they could probably infiltrate the cult and break you out but they're not. The closest they'll get to 'infiltration' would be going in to get you. Once they see you, all hell will break loose.

Robin

Panicking!

Robin has the least amount of power out of all the LI's. They're not strong or have a lot of connections or even have a lot of friends to back them up.

Does everything they can to try to get you back. Tries rallying the orphans. Even if Robin succeeded in leading a charge against the cult, the cult isn't likely to back down. The orphans are 18 and under, but they do outnumber the cultists.

Flustered to hell if they walk in during "worship" but they refuse to back down. They got this far and they're not stopping until you're free.

They’ll manage to get you back eventually.

Robin’s last resort is to get Bailey involved and it works. Bailey's pissed that someone's taken one of their brats. Even if you were dodging payments, that's still a potential income source they're missing out on.

Whitney

...where did their slut go?

Like, they didn't care when you missed a few days of school but it's been a week. Are you sick? Are you dying? Do they need to look for a replacement?

They do actually care that you've disappeared, but they'll act like they don't.

It's when they find out that you've been abducted that they do anything.

Whitney doesn't care for the temple. They certainly don't like the fact that some temple freaks have taken their slut!

Whitney does not plan ahead. Rallies up their friends and tries to get you back. Their friends like causing chaos and destruction. Getting Whitney’s favorite playing back is just a bonus for them.

So pissed off when they realize what this cult considers "worship." Whitney is the one who dictates what happens to you, not some shitty cult.

Split on if they want to have you go down on them in front of the cult or wait until they get you to themself. Somewhere safe, with their friends. Leaning towards claiming you in front of the cult. If they like you enough, you can talk Whitney into taking you somewhere safe first.

[incomingalbatross]

Constantly and always thinking about Gandalf's friendships with the hobbits and especially the Tooks.

Gandalf happening on the hobbits during the Long Winter and the famine that followed, lending a hand in their suffering, and being touched by their courage and their compassion for each other in the midst of said suffering.

Gandalf maybe especially making friends with Fortinbras Took, the Thain's heir at the time trying to take care of his people, and then welcoming his young son Gerontius into the world a handful of years later.

Gerontius and Gandalf becoming friends as the boy grows up and remaining close for well over a century; Gerontius probably going on adventures with Gandalf until he settled down, and even after that keeping a spare bedroom for him, inviting him to all his parties, etc.

Gandalf maybe finding the Shire as a whole less welcoming as the decades passed, as memory of his help in the Days of Dearth faded and the Shire-folk continued to grow more entrenched in their little world; but smiling indulgently, and not begrudging the Shire its peace, or interfering with it (very much).

Gandalf knowing and being close to Gerontius Took's children--especially the handful that we know went on adventures in their youth--telling them stories and showing them tricks when he visited, traveling with them and looking after them, as much as he could, when they ventured outside of the Shire, and entertaining their children when they'd grown up and started families of their own.

Gandalf perhaps visiting the Shire less often, as it grew more insulated and Sauron's threat in Dol Guldur more pressing; but staying in touch, and making sure to visit every so often, until the day Gerontius "the Old" Took passed on--leaving behind children and grandchildren, but taking Gandalf's strongest tie to the Shire with him.

Gandalf coming back twenty years later, to people who are changed or grown or gone, but finding Bilbo Baggins--Gerontius's grandson, the only son of Belladonna, who Gandalf learned had passed on just a few years ago--and acquiring in him, unexpectedly, a friend whose cheerful and irreverent affection was every bit a Took's, while still being very much his own unique hobbit-self in other ways.

Gandalf making a point of visiting Bilbo for the next sixty years, getting to know Bilbo's younger cousins and friends as well; Frodo and Merry and Fatty and Sam and others, mostly the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of hobbits Gandalf knew before, but each their own unique self.

Gandalf helping Bilbo set off on a final journey, promising to look out for Frodo as often as he can, and continuing to keep an eye on the Shire, even as the Darkness gathers.

Gandalf spending two months at Bag End with Frodo as Frodo prepares to leave home, walking the Shire with him and Sam and Merry and Pippin and getting to know this latest generation a little better. (Frodo is introspective and thoughtful, as he already knew, and Sam has a keen poetic streak under his good hobbit-sense. Merry is a good lad responsible and enterprising at once, and young Pippin is... somehow a concentrated bundle of pure Tookishness.)

Gandalf taking these four on the most dangerous journey a hobbit has ever undertaken; doing his best to protect them, losing and finding and relying on them as their own small lights amid the Darkness.

Gandalf dwelling with them in Minas Tirith for a while, and traveling back North with them; but not returning to the Shire.

Gandalf going to the Gray Havens with Bilbo and Elrond's household, but also sending messages to Merry and Pippin so that they could say their farewells, and be with Sam for the return journey to the Shire.

Gandalf taking passage back to the West, leaving Middle-Earth behind, but journeying with Bilbo and Frodo.

Gandalf dwelling in the West with Bilbo and Frodo, and Sam when he came, for as long as they remained living in Arda.

Gandalf, perhaps, bringing each of their spirits on their last journey in Arda, to Mandos's halls, when the time came for the final parting.

(Gandalf, perhaps, taking brief and incorporeal visits to Middle-Earth before this, to fulfill the same office for Merry and for Pippin when they died? They were in his care, after all, and he was their guard and guide on other journeys once.

Gandalf, perhaps, generations later, still hearing occasional hobbit-voices--the voices of Tooks and Brandybucks, Gardners and Fairbairns, those who had learned their tales at their great-grandfathers' knees--lifted up for aid, calling on the name Men gave him so long ago. Hobbits making pleas, in their own fashion, such as the Elves made to Elbereth; but to one less lofty and untouchable, one their forefathers knew as a friend, and addressed by them still as one familiar, near and trusted.

Gandalf's ties to Middle-Earth living on, maybe, in these prayers, answered in such hope and light and courage as it is in his power to send his small folk of the Shire.)

[nct-lian]

nct 127’s relation to lian

TAEIL + LIAN: IL-LI

taeil used to wake her up for school when she was still a teenager :((

such a soft but overlooked duo

will appreciate each other forever and ever

lian teaches him roasts in english that he can say to johnny

remain each other’s hype man and woman

taeil was the first to suggest he and the other nct members react to the trailers of her dramas on video so they can boost them in popularity

promotes the HELL out of lian’s solo career over twitter

lian loves coming up behind him and just giving him hugs because he’s soft (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞

they watch movies together a lot! but taeil has to come down to the fifth floor because lian hates it up on the tenth one

he was once able to grab her hand in an airport and they held hands the entire time :(( a few pictures went a little viral

they share hoodies NSHDHSHCJA

lian keeps bugging him to get an instagram

taeil will ALWAYS take her side in silly arguments she and the other members have sometimes

he makes fun of her height because she’s shorter than him-

he also used to help her with her homework :(

cried when lian went on her first date

“my child is growing up (´∩｀。)”

had to do a background check on the guy before he even allowed him to come in contact with her again, though

JOHNNY + LIAN: JOANN

johnny is her dad, period

no questions asked he is her father

will give her piggyback rides all the time

he was once woken up by her jumping on his bed and asking if they could go shopping

at 6:00 am

he actually got up, got ready and took her shopping but since it was so early, the stores were all closed

he took her out for japanese fluffy pancakes, though!

whenever lian is sick, johnny makes her his mom’s homemade chicken noodle soup recipe :((

speaking of johnny’s mom, she loves lian to death and always asks johnny if he’s taking good care of her

if they’re not being asked any questions or having to translate anything during interviews, they always whisper jokes in each other’s ears to try and make the other one laugh

because of how lian dies during the trailer of her new drama, johnny cried in front of twenty-two other men while they reacted to it

he was NOT embarrassed

“how are you guys not crying? this is so sad. what a cruel world we live in ໒( ˵ •̀ □ •́ ˵ )७”

kept screaming at lian’s “dream of you” performance video

“WHY ARE YOU ON THE GROUND DANCING LIKE THAT?!” “JISUNG COVER YOUR EYES-“

he once effortlessly picked up lian and moved her somewhere else because she wasn’t standing where she was supposed to be

everyone says that their ship name is something a white, suburban mom would be named. now nctzens pronounce joann like “joanne” ･x･

it was said on the zach sang show that johnny used to measure her height every month to see if she grows or not, and that’s the only reason why he has her height memorized

TAEYONG + LIAN: LIYONG

has lost lian in so many airports it’s not even funny

“hyung, what happened to lian?” “oh, you have GOT to be kidding me-“

whenever he doesn’t see her he goes into panic mode and starts asking if anyone has seen his little sister

“about this tall with really shiny hair? her cheekbones are insane, i swear. OH OH OH SHE WAS WEARING JOHNNY’S HOODIE- you don’t know what johnny’s hoodie looks like.. okay, well thank you for your help.”

one of the first members that she was comfortable with

lian said that he was her role model :’(

as the leader, he’s always taking care of her and will not sleep until he knows for sure she’s eaten

because of how lian never participated in any of nct’s first bit of promotions due to being too uncomfortable around them, she was allowed to skip out on the viewings of their relay video letters

but she was still required to make one for somebody and that somebody was taeyong ˵ ຈ ︿ ຈ ˵

she said that she was glad he was her leader and that she hoped to become closer one day

he cried

declares that he will take care of lian till the day he dies

taeyong had yelled at lian’s former manager until he voluntarily quit working for her- he had found out that lian was being overworked to the point where she collapsed during their dance practice and he wasn’t okay with it

always cheering her on backstage when she performs solo

he always tries to include her in guiding the members for their dances because he knows how happy it makes her

instead of having her carry her glasses around with her, he does it instead :D

“nana, do you have to wear your glasses now?”

taeyong tucks her into bed every night he can ᕕ( ཀ ʖ̯ ཀ)ᕗ

YUTA + LIAN: YUN

totally doesn’t have feeling for her, yeah

yuta is obsessed and when i tell you he’s obsessed, he’s obsessed

did i mention obsessed?

he’s jealous of everyone :(

yun stans insist that the only reason yuta is so touchy with winwin and mark is because he’s trying to cover up his feelings for lian

bye if that’s true-

hyuck wanted to give her a hug (a rare occurrence) and yuta straight up just said,

“mine. go away”

i have proof guys :// johnny recorded it and literally posted it on instagram

lian died internally when yuta cut his long hair because she couldn’t put it into ponytails anymore :((

but his hair is growing back now so she’s able to do it again :)

yuta teaches her japanese every tuesday and thursday!

we don’t bring this up because it’s pretty embarrassing but,, when nct 127 were backstage before performing kick it, yuta asked doyoung (who was in a direction where he could get a clear view of lian’s face) if lian was staring at him

how do we know this, you may ask?

it was caught on camera and everyone made fun of him for a solid week straight

he’s caught staring at her from afar way too often for comfort

lian says that he’s very pretty

much like the other memebers that have instagram, he makes story countdowns that he posts about a week before lian plans to release her solo music

DOYOUNG + LIAN: LIDO

another member of the lian protection squad

doyoung was the first to start calling her cupcake

it all started when doyoung was sick and lian made him cupcakes to make him feel better

will slap anyone who makes a flirty remark towards lian

was embarrassed for yuta when he asked if she was staring at him

said “no” and walked away

lian is the only one who ever shows him any mercy :’)

they have very similar taste in decor so they often go shopping together for things to put around the dorm

doyoung said that he spends the most time in lian’s room because it smells like vanilla all the time

he spoils her SO MUCH

like so much

half the plushies she owns at the moment were gifts from doyoung

has a tendency to watch over her and make sure she’s content at all times

“cupcake, are you hungry? i can make you some food if you’d like” “oppa, it’s 3:00am-“ “and?”

they take such pretty instagram pictures :((

at one point in time, doyoung was jealous of his older brother because lian used to crush on him a tiny bit :0

not because doyoung likes her or anything, she just couldn’t stop talking about how nice he looked in revolutionary love

disapproves of the staff giving lian such short clothing sometimes

“um, excuse me, she can’t wear that. are you crazy? go get her a new outfit, please”

JAEHYUN + LIAN: JAELI

not many people bring this up because we know it’s honestly a sensitive topic :|

but he lowkey has deep feelings for her (he makes it so obvious sometimes it’s kinda disappointing to see how oblivious lian really is to it)

jaeli + yun love triangle anyways

jokes aside, though, jaehyun loves lian so so much

once cried to johnny about how he doesn’t know what to do and that he didn’t want to make anything awkward by confessing to her

makes sure to be near her as often as possible

once scared away a whole kim taehyung from talking to her during isac ╰[ ⁰﹏⁰ ]╯ (let’s pretend bts were there for 2019 pls)

“jungkook, keep your friend away, please :D”

didn’t work, though, because they ended up having a conversation later in the day either way

*in the 97’ liner groupchat* “HYUNG IM SORRY HE RAN AWAY I DIDNT KNOW WHAT TO DOl

it was uncalled for but what can you do amirite ┐(´～｀)┌

lian pokes his dimples a lot and squishes his cheeks

just randomly hugs him but he’s not complaining

johnny isn’t picking sides but he became team jaeli after jaehyun broke into tears in front of him for the first time since they were trainees about how much he loves lian

sad,, i know

lian judges jaehyun for not sleeping with sheets

continues to believe he is not a human being, but a robot created in a lab

jaehyun smiles at her for no reason

JUNGWOO + LIAN: LIWOO

an instant bond formed between them when they first met!

jungwoo learned a lot about her and has developed so many ways to deal with her anxiety :(

gave the staff a guide on how to keep her calm when he went on hiatus because he couldn’t be there with her

buys her colouring books because he knows that they calm her down well!

liwoo went viral and become a popular ship when lian accidentally changed the nct 127 instagram profile picture to a jungwoo icon

she got scolded but it was iconic orange haired jungwoo with a chain-

an untouchable duo when they do double aegyo

nctzens think jungwoo is her favourite member

maybe because lian said he was

“ “who’s your favourite member?” hmm i’ll have to say woo-oppa!”

*cue jungwoo laughing at yuta’s face because he was that shocked*

they share secrets with each other so now they probably know the other like the palm of their hand

even though he’s off his hiatus, he still has to guide the staff members through lian’s little moments because sm staff suck at their job sometimes

they’re the two members who go grocery shopping together

more like jungwoo dragging lian to the grocery store with him but okay

jungwoo loves kissing her cheeks (〃▽〃)

their vocals mixed together are confirmed to be noises from heaven

lian misses his blonde bowl cut :/

MARK + LIAN: LIMARK

leader of lian’s natural length hair committee

like when i tell you mark hates her extensions-

mark was the first friend lian was able to make in nct!

they bonded over canada and it was very rare to see them speaking in korean

mark goes into straight panic when he’s with her sometimes

has to remind himself they’re like siblings

lian ans mark covered “your eyes” by hoody and jay park during a vlive!

it was adorable :((

lian had him saved in her phone as “android user” but now she doesn’t know what to change it to

they had a fight in 2019

mark let’s her call him the weirdest freaking nicknames ヽ ( ꒪д꒪ )ﾉ

mars bar, markie, mork, marko

AND IN RETURN HE CALLS HER MARIJUANA-

he says it’s because czennies consider her to be addicting and since marijuana is addicting as well he thought it’d be a good fit

someone on twitter absolutely ENDED HIM though and wouldn’t stop making fun of him (；⌣̀_⌣́)

they can read each other’s mind just by looking at each other

“dude i hate this shit why does she keep asking us who we wanna collab with?” *cue lian laughing hysterically*

“what’s so funny (゜-゜)” — interviewer

HAECHAN + LIAN: LIHYUCK

haechan makes fun of her kissing scenes in dramas

calls her short all the time

“lian give me a high five- oh haha nevermind it’s too bad you’re so short”

they’ve actually been so close to fighting each other and i’m not even joking

they’re the two members who fight the most out of all of them

but despite this, they love each other very much

hyuck says he’s the only one who’s allowed to make her mad

and if anyone else makes her mad he’d kill them

limark 2019 fight flashbacks where haechan kept threatening mark

there are actually moments when they’re clingy with each other-

haechan loves her hugs :((

like ??????? one minute they’re at each other’s throats and the next, they’re all lovey dovey hugging each other make it make sense ?????

lian could be speaking english and he’d say, “korean, please. i can’t understand canadian”

“shut up <3”

hello haechan cried and wouldn’t let go of her during her and mark’s graduation ceremony in 2018

she makes fun of him for it but never takes it too far

he goes to her for dance advice

during their nct 2018 weekly idol appearance when they were doing the random kpop dance thing, they beat everyone أ‿أ

[themoonlily]

Hi! I found your stories on a ficrec list for Eomer/Lothiriel and WOW!!! MUCH LOVE!!!!! I can't wait to read more wonderful stories from you! Can I ask what got you into this pairing, and what draws you to them? Also: any headcannons about them? (Physical/personality/hobbies/etc.)

Hi there! I am so glad to hear you like my stories. :)

I would say that I got to Éothiriel thanks to Éomer. I can't say I fell in love with him straightaway - I was your typical Aragorn fangirl back in the day (mind you, he’s still one of my favourite characters in the legendarium). I had always enjoyed the bits with Rohan in particular, and the more I watched the films, the more I liked Éomer, and once I had read the books a couple of times, I realised there was so much more to this guy. I loved his integrity, his unashamed passion, his loyalty and devotion to his family and friends, and how he strives to do better and learn. 

His arc in the books is such a fascinating one. He starts out as a scion of one of the leading families of Rohan (and is a son of a princess, no less), but is orphaned along with his sister at an early age, and then raised by the King himself. What kind of a trauma did that loss leave him with, and how did it affect his relationship with his sister? Were his teenage years very difficult thanks to this? At the time of the events of LOTR, he’s a fairly young man - among the youngest of the entire cast - and yet he has this hugely important duty as the Third Marshal of the Mark. He’s passionate but also ready to put himself and his own needs aside in order to do what’s right. The whole House of Eorl dynamics are just so fascinating, even though a lot of it happens outside the actual narrative of LOTR. What are his relationships with his uncle, his cousin, and his sister? How does this partnership with Théodred grow (to the point of Saruman seeing these two as the chief obstacle of the easy conquest of Rohan)? What does it feel like to watch his beloved uncle fall under the influence of ill-intended counsels (not to mention the threat of Wormtongue against Éowyn)? Éomer is portrayed as a fairly temperamental guy, so I can only imagine the fury he must feel at the situation. 

But then Théodred dies, the noose tightens around everybody’s throats, and one may just imagine the desperation and dread he must feel at this point. He’s still figthing and trying to do the right thing, even if that may now mean treason. But he’s still friendly to Aragorn and co. when they meet, recognising them as an opportunity to help Rohan almost immediately. 

He’s so loyal to his family that even after he’s been disgraced and humiliated by Wormtongue by the proxy of Théoden, he still knows where the true malice is coming from, and is ready to fight again for his uncle the moment he’s released. And he slips straight back to being the King’s lieutenant without even blinking his eyes. 

There’s also how Éomer becomes king. I’m fascinated with what it would feel like to him. I mean, he’s been second in line to the throne his whole life, so he probably always realised there’s a chance he’ll be king one day. But the circumstances he comes to the throne - the near ruin of his country, the tragic and violent death of his cousin he might have been able to prevent if not for Wormtongue, the brief time he has with his restored uncle, and then the whole mess of the War of the Ring... all that must feel pretty surreal for him. And, of course, the Battle of Pelennor’s fields, and his scenes in it... wow. Him nearly losing his mind over thinking his sister (and whole family) is dead, charging like a madman over the field, composing some pretty amazing poetry in the spur of the moment, and then just laughing in sheer defiance against what seems like imminent death. What a dude. 

And then there are so many other interesting aspects: how he must have felt over those long years (was he unhappy? was he lonely?), what he expected his life to be versus what it turned out to be, and what it did to him to watch his family leave one by one. I could go on, but then we would be here whole day. 

So, enter Lothíriel. Of course I was eager to know what happens to Éomer after the war is over, and fortunately, Tolkien had an answer ready - although he could really have told us more about them! Not that in canon there is anything to imply it was a love marriage, but personally, I don’t think that a man with a disposition like Éomer would submit to a loveless or faithless marriage (or that he’d risk his relationship with Imrahil by being faithless). I just can’t see it happening. Also I just want him to be happy, and find someone who brightens up his days, someone who won’t leave him. It’s nice to imagine him having a new start with her.  

Sadly, of her personality I can’t say anything that would be indicated by canon, but if we imagine her being anything like her father, then she might be a proud, strong and brave woman. Well, she would probably have to be courageous to leave her homeland for marriage (another reason I think it was a love union, because I want her to be happy, too)! I like to imagine her finding some unexpected, unimagined freedom in Rohan, perhaps even fulfilment of ambition in her role as a queen. Also, maybe with her background and if she had access to some kind of education, she’d be uniquely qualified to helping Éomer to rule and counseling him. Perhaps she even feels some personal pride over the fact that together, they are starting a new dynasty (or a new line) to rule in Rohan. Also, having a fairly big family, I think she would be well equipped to show him the love he has missed most of his life.  

I recall at some point reading the appendix about the House of Eorl, and that Éomer married Imrahil’s daughter, Lothíriel, and thinking yes, this makes sense. It’s just the sense I gleaned from the interactions and circumstances of the story. Of course Éomer would have strong feelings for Imrahil, since he was the one who saw that Éowyn was still alive and hastened her delivery to safety. Being a man of strong emotions, I think Éomer would hold Imrahil and his entire family in high regard thanks to this. Maybe it’s even a ground from which some attachment did grow between him and Lothíriel. Also, Rohirrim are a culture based on horses, and apparently the Princes of Dol Amroth also maintain a cavalry (the Swan Knights who, with Imrahil, took part in the Battle of Pelennor fields). So I see there definitely being a lot of points of connection! 

Of course, it also fits the socio-political frame we are left with at the end of the story: the new unity among the Free Peoples, the task of rebuilding after the war, and this new blooming of the friendship between Rohan and Gondor. On a purely logical level, it is reasonable that he’d marry the daughter of a powerful house like Imrahil’s. But for my purely headcanonish “aesthetic” (if that’s even the right word) reasons I do like the contrast these two make: their different cultures (and all that they entail from songs and poetry to foods and habits), their union as the union of earth and sea, his gold to her silver, the warrior and the lady... also this is purely headcanon/tropes but I definitely think of them as tol/smol and embodying the pair where A is the reason B began to smile again. (Tol/smol is at least half canon because Éomer is apparently as tall as Aragorn, like 6 feet 6 if I recall right. Since he’s also a professional warrior, he’s probably built like it too.)

So, yeah - I guess that’s already a lot of reasons for why I love this pair! There’s just so much potential there, so many avenues to pursue, and so much food for imagination. If you’re interested in more of my headcanons, you could try searching the tag “Éothiriel” in my blog - I’ve got plenty of posts about them! 

Thanks for the ask, and sorry for this answer being so long! I rather got carried away and Éomer deserves every bit of the love he gets, and so does Lothíriel. 

[artemisdesari-blog]

Why I Find Tauriel Problematic; An Essay On My Thoughts, Feelings, And Why Ambivalence Has Turned Into Frustration and Distaste

Although I have only been back on the fanfiction horse for about two years, and what a wonderful two years those have been, my brief stint writing fanfiction for The Hobbit has shown me a great deal about the fandom, and one of those things is that Tauriel is something like Marmite. For those unfamiliar with Marmite, it is a British salty yeast extract spread that is either utterly delicious or utterly vile depending on the tastes of the one eating it. The marketing slogan for it is “You either love it or hate it”, so even the manufacturers are aware that enjoyment of their product is a very subjective thing. Tauriel seems to polarise the fandom almost as much as said yeast extract, although there is a little more mid range ambivalence towards her as well. For me, personally, I prefer to pretend that she never existed in the movies at all, something that I will get into at a later date. That ambivalence has, sadly, shifted to distaste.

It is no secret that in popular literature and culture there is a very glaring absence of strong female characters. To the extent that when your Captain Janeways, Samantha Carters, Natasha Romanovs and so on pop up they become worth commenting on. Tolkien, of course, is no saint where this is concerned. It is glaringly obvious that for every Lúthien, Galadriel, Arwen and Eowyn there are dozens of male characters who play far greater roles in the saving of the world. In fact, The Hobbit is without strong female characters entirely, being a novel completely dominated by the male Company of Thorin Oakenshield, including the title character. Considering who Tolkien is supposed to have originally written the tale for, the source myths that he referenced and prevailing attitudes of the time, it is unsurprising. In fact, that characters like Eowyn and Galadriel pop up at all, not discounting Lúthien whose romance with Beren was said to have some inspiration from Tolkien’s own marriage, is impressive all things considered. 

With that in mind, let us consider the matter of Tauriel. She was not in the book, and while I can see why the studio wanted her added to the film they later made decisions about her which sat, and still do sit, very poorly with me. Generally speaking, as a writer, I prefer to try ignoring the fact that she exists in the movies, even if I reference the movie appearances of the dwarves to avoid writing about too many bearded males with white or blue or blond hair. If I do reference her it is usually in passing and with no intention to do anything further with her other than acknowledge that she was added to the cast. Frequently, however, I get asked the questions “Will Kíli and Tauriel be forming an attachment?”. “How do you plan to handle the romance between Kíli and Tauriel given the relationship you’ve been building with X character?”, “Why do you dislike her so much?”. I’ve even been accused of disliking her from the misogynistic view point of “the evil female who corrupts the helpless males,” which is frankly offensive and not at all the case.

To the first two questions: she is not book canon, I do not need to address the so-called romance because there is nothing in Tolkien’s canon to support her existence and thus the romance. To the last question… well, that one is a little more complicated and requires an in depth examination of her introduction, actions and interactions with Kíli, as well as his personality as established over the course of the films since we have precious little to go on in the books.

First, let us look at Kíli. He is a flirt. We know that, we see him flirting with various elves during dinner in Rivendell. Beyond that, however, we see very little of his tastes or preferences, although it is probably fair to assume that he is probably something of a romantic as well. As much as he is a main character, he is still more of a background character compared to Bilbo and Thorin. It is, after all, about the hobbit of the piece. He is young, either just about to turn 77 or not long having done so and that makes him young enough that we get the impression that he and Fíli both are still of an age where it is perfectly natural to idolise their uncle and be desperate for his approval. We see that the few times he is dressed down he feels it very keenly. We also see that he is playful and open, perhaps the most playful and open of all of them except, maybe, Bofur. He is curious, perfectly capable of giving his all when it comes to a fight and Gandalf refers to him as one of Thorin’s best alongside his brother and Dwalin. 

We also see him flip from open and loving, though perhaps infatuated is a better word, to cold and murderous in a moment, so we can probably include passionate in all things in that as well.

Now, let us look at Tauriel. Unlike Kíli, we have no set age for her. We know that she is young for an elf, but the ages given range from somewhere around 600 to 1,400. There is one quote placing her at 1,347 but it is in a sea of conflicting information. Regardless, she is young, she is idealistic and curious. She has never left Mirkwood and has dedicated much of the last few decades to attempting to curb the influx of giant spiders which are spreading from Dol Guldur while arguing with Thranduil; who wants his borders kept clear but refuses to deal with the source of the threat. An attitude not unfamiliar to many of us, sadly. She has the friendship of a prince of Mirkwood but is declared not good enough for him. Also, not an uncommon attitude in those who could be thought of as nobility.

She, like any being that has literally had hundreds of years to practice, is incredibly good with her weapons and pings and flips around like the others of her kind. Given her youth and position we can conclude that she is considered unusually skilled for her age but she still has the advantage of living forever, unless she tires of life or is killed, to keep improving her skills.

Finally, let us look at the history between elves and dwarves. It is not a pretty one. They come together for the sake of occasional trade, or to face the threat of Morgoth, and later Sauron, and their armies, but otherwise they keep to themselves. The dislike is clear on both sides and occurs well before the day Smaug arrived in Erebor, during the First Age in fact. So it will be difficult for this young pair to overcome millennia of bad feeling between their people, some of whom actually remember the events that set the dislike in stone. Legolas and Gimli are later understood to be among only a very, very, few who become close enough to be considered great friends. Much of fandom would probably cheerfully have them be a great deal more given Legolas snuck his dwarf into Valinor after Aragorn’s death.

To the shoe-horned in romance, and I do mean that in the literal sense. Evangeline Lily has been heard in interviews to say that she was wary about the fan reception of Tauriel from the start and that she signed on under the explicit understanding that there would be no romance or love triangle. And at the end of the initial shoot there was not. When they came back for studio shoots and reshoots, however, she was presented with a list of scenes that had been added and some that needed to be reshot to accommodate, you guessed it, a love triangle. She was signed in, she had taken the money, done the work and was boxed into a corner. The love triangle went in and it became the part of the films that polarises the fans the most. Besides, if we want to ship something, we do not need to have it spoon fed to us. Bagginshield is the most popular ship in the fandom and we only get the odd hint towards it here and there. Then look at the multitude of other ships. We did not need to be given something we can make up for ourselves.

That out of the way, let us look at their meeting:

The Company is beset by giant spiders, destined to be dinner, confused and disorientated and more than a little desperate, weakened due to lack of food and the weird miasma of Mirkwood which has been playing havoc with their minds. None of them are in good shape but, as they do, they fight on anyway. They need to survive and reach the mountain so that they can take back their home. Enter the elves, arrows whistling, blades crunching into thick spider exoskeletons, performing all manner of acrobatic leaps and twists to avoid getting bitten or killed. It is impressive, eye-catching even to the older dwarves, and would likely be even more so to a pair of young dwarves like Fíli and Kíli. We do not see Fíli’s reaction, he is too busy frantically looking for his missing brother who has been cornered by a spider. 

Enter Tauriel, who refuses to give him a knife to defend himself with and help her deal with the stragglers because she believes he may well be an enemy. She is, in fact, somewhat derogatory towards him. I would not say that Kíli is charmed, although he is certainly impressed, because were he charmed I do not believe he would have such a massively discontent expression on his face as she takes him back to the others. I suspect that, much like in Rivendell, he would have put more effort into turning on the charm. 

As the dwarves are led away, we get the first indication that Tauriel has noticed him; she comments that he is not entirely unattractive for a dwarf due to his lack of beard and the fact that he is tall for one of their kind. Legolas is unimpressed, but we expect that.

Once they reach the cells we see the dwarves desperately attempting to avoid being locked up. Most of them are attempting to force their way free, Fíli appears to be in the process of having yet more knives removed from his person while he huffs and sulks, and Kíli is watching as he is taken to a cell of his own. A solitary one at that. Fíli and Kíli, it could be argued, are a little bit co-dependant. Not horrendously, but they have been watching out for one another over all the rest from the start, they are brothers after all, and in the life of a dwarf five years is not all that much of an age gap. So we can assume that Kíli does not really want to be locked up on his own, he is a social person regardless it would seem and I suspect that being alone would be a special kind of torture for him. He tries stalling. 

“Aren’t you going to check me? I could have anything down my trousers.”

I’ll give Tauriel this, she is quick witted and this is possibly one of my favourite exchanges of the films. Her reply; “Or nothing” is cool, a little bit cutting and gives no indication of any sort of interest at all. If anything, she seems a little exasperated with all the fuss the lot of them are creating and she simply wants to be done with it. Away Kíli goes and off she goes to report to her king.

Who proceeds to compliment her on her good handling of things so far, order her to make it better faster, reject her proposal for exterminating the source rather than simply dealing with the fallout and then tell her that no matter what else she has done, she is not good enough for his son. Oof. She hesitates before replying, stumbles her way through a response and seems genuinely upset about it. Regardless of whether her feelings for Legolas are of friendship or if she had been hoping for a little more as well, being told something like that had to hurt.

We next see Tauriel patrolling the cells. Some of the dwarves are making noise, most seem pretty resigned, Kíli is fiddling with his promise stone. Which he promptly drops and loses through the bars, only for it to be stopped by Tauriel who demands to know what it is. As you do. Kíli, as you do, replies that it is a curse stone and any who is not a dwarf who looks upon it will suffer greatly. I forget the exact quote, I could look it up but I’m not feeling quite that dedicated to making my point here. Tauriel hesitates. I will not say that she is alarmed, she seems to take his words with a pinch of salt, but she is definitely wary and we have to remember that she is a very young elf who has spent all of her life in Mirkwood. She has not interacted with dwarves, has no reason to have done so and so she has no idea if what he is saying is true or not. And we have no idea how many of the old stories about elves and dwarves she has heard, although we know it is enough for her to have a generally low opinion of them. Her hesitation is enough to cause Kíli to come clean, perhaps fearing that she will take this precious memento of his mother from him. You can see the moment that Tauriel decides to return it, the flicker of surprise that a dwarf would mention a parent with such apparent fondness and it makes me wonder what stories she has been told about dwarves and their emotions. Regardless, she gives it back and the two begin a conversation which starts with Kíli’s opinion on starlight and moves on to become centred around Kíli’s travels. 

It is a good, safe, sensible conversation which would ring no alarm bells. In fact, the only thing that hints towards the idea that we should be looking for a romantic angle is the shot of Legolas looking down upon them with a disgusted sneer. 

This is where I began to feel uneasy with the direction the story was taking. Legolas is clearly jealous, Tauriel has clearly been hurt by the callous words of Thranduil and there was, perhaps, a little bit of flirting going on between the bars. This is Kíli after all. One thing we forget, however, is that she is his jailor. She is in a position of significant power over him. Let us flip the genders. The one behind bars is female, the one who holds the keys and is showing a marked interest in her is male. This is a familiar trope, and one which many of us shudder back from due to the power divide and the vulnerability of the female character, no matter how kind the male one seems. Why, then, do so many of us ignore the reverse scenario? Why is it alright for a woman, or elleth, in a position of power over a male, and especially a young one who might well be looking for a way out and a way to keep his friends and family safe, to pay such marked attention to a male captive?

The answer, of course, is that it is very much not alright, but we let it slide because it is not the reverse and society seems to have this thing for women in power seducing helpless males.

So, they have got their flirt on, spent an unspecified length of time languishing in the cells and now it is time to escape. The book would have us believe that they spent a month or so in the cells and rode their barrels out with relative ease. No gates, orcs, arrows or chases through the rapids. I can understand the movies needing something a little more dramatic. It would have been a dull escape otherwise, but we can already see the shift in Tauriel when the dwarves escape, even though she has known them at most a month, and the film makes it seem like they have only been in there a day or two which is what makes her actions later make even less sense than they would had she known Kíli a month. She hesitates. Her prisoners have escaped, her king is going to be very displeased, and still she hesitates.

I refuse to get into the thing with the morgul arrow, I find it very hard to believe that Sauron would have allowed the use of those and thus tipped others who were not Gandalf, Saruman, Galadriel and Elrond off to the fact that he was on the move. I am not even entirely sure they were a thing in book canon which is neither here nor there. It is believable that Kíli would have been hurt, that is a risk in every combat situation, and I will leave it at that.

The dwarves escape and head to Lake Town with Kíli in increasingly poor shape, Tauriel and Legolas take an orc to Thranduil for questioning which results in the elf king ordering the gates sealed. He wants nothing to do with whatever quarrel is between the orcs and dwarves. I hardly blame him. Legolas and Tauriel both object at different times and get shut down, and Legolas goes to obey his father’s orders, only to realise that Tauriel has already run off after this bloke she hardly knows.

I love Kíli, I do, but at this point he holds about as much of a permanent place in her life as the bloke I started to play Dungeons and Dragons with three months ago does in mine. And she probably knows him about as well as I do that guy.

She is idealistic, young, desperate to see the world. I get that. It is as good a reason as any to want to go out there and save it given that she is, to borrow from Guardians of the Galaxy, one of the idiots who lives in it. But saving the world, or that corner of it, was not what set her off in Thranduil’s throne room. Being told that Kíli was going to die slowly and painfully was. As much as the scene argues that she is going out there to save the world because she believes that they have a responsibility to do so, she has also already shown that Kíli is one of her primary reasons.

Four years ago, my then four year old, looked at this whole mess and said “But Elsa says you can’t marry a man you just met”. Where she got the idea Tauriel wanted to marry Kíli, I do not know, but that observation stuck with me. 

Anyway, because this is getting rambling, stuff happens, the dwarves have a feast, Kíli gets left in Lake Town with Fíli while the rest go on to Erebor and Tauriel fights her way into Bard’s in time to get some athelas to heal Kíli, although not without a little bit of dithering about before hand as she tries to work out what, if anything, she can do to help him. It is not the first time we see the calm, collected and confident character we were introduced to take a backseat before she pulls herself together but it is quite prominent. Kíli, while being healed, spouts off some romantic gibberish about him and Tauriel being worlds apart from one another and wondering if she could have loved him. 

It is very sweet. It is also delirious ramblings. I have said some things while feverish and sick that have had my Significant Other raising his eyebrows at me. It is not meant to be taken really seriously. For all we know, five minutes before he might have proposed marriage to Óin or been hallucinating a fight with Smaug. It is sweet and romantic, as we might believe Kíli to be, but can it be considered a true declaration?

Incidentally, this part is one of the changes that makes me really quite angry. Fíli and Kíli were always supposed to be at Thorin’s side when they entered Erebor. He leaves Kíli, and therefore Fíli, behind with barely a twitch, and callously does so after making him struggle his way to the dock and the waiting boat in front of the population of Lake Town who are waiting to see them off. It raises questions about whether the gold obsession that plagues the line of Durin had already started to set in, but I think it was a decision made to give a greater sense of peril to the scenes in Lake Town when Smaug is razing the place. 

Either way, I do not like it. 

The morning after the night before dawns, Kíli seems none the worse for wear after his near brush with death, though we know that Frodo was heavily weakened after his own such encounter in sixty/eighty years, depending on if you book or film timeline it. He is saying goodbye to Tauriel and effectively tells her he loves her by calling her “amrâlimê” which most of us here know means something to the effect of “my love”. Watch Fíli behind him, rolling his eyes and shaking his head as though this is not the first time he has seen his brother act like this. Fíli is the Darcy to Kíli’s Bingley, except maybe this time it really is not love at all and Fíli is right to be wary and frustrated. It is also the time we see Kíli go from adoring puppy to murder hound in about 0.6 seconds with the arrival of Legolas. This time he is clearly infatuated, but I would still hesitate to say “in love” for a couple of reasons. The first is that they really hardly know each other, and while love at first sight is a wonderful idea it is not necessarily the strongest foundation for a relationship. Especially one with such incredibly strong Romeo and Juliet vibes. The second is that she has saved his life twice at this point. It is a known phenomenon that when someone does such a thing gratitude can be mistaken for powerful love.

In fact, Aidan and Evangeline have both reported to have said that had Kíli survived the pair of them would have very rapidly recognised that this is not love at all. It is gratitude and infatuation and not something which could withstand the judgement of both of their peoples.

Here, they separate, and neither mentions the other at all. Tauriel is cast out of Mirkwood, Legolas vows he will not return without her which is a whole other host of problems on its own, and they go forth to Gundabad to see what the orcs are up to. 

It is bad news, but then these things usually are.

Things go horribly wrong in Erebor, words and Arkenstones are exchanged, hobbits are nearly flung from very high places and battle commences while Dwalin attempts to knock some sense into a gold consumed Thorin. You can see why Kíli will not have had time to think about Tauriel at all.

With the battle joined, it is fight or die. Kíli is unaware that Tauriel is anywhere on the field, or that there is a trap waiting for him in that bloody tower and Tauriel… well she panics. Seeing that Thranduil is intending on withdrawing for the good of his people she stands before him and pulls a weapon on her king demanding that he stay and fight and help the dwarves. If not for the fact that Legolas comes and takes her toward Ravenhill I think Thranduil probably would have crossed a line into kinslaying right there and then. There is only so much disobedience and, frankly, treason one can endure from a subject before something more permanent needs to be done about them.

They get to the tower, Fíli is already dead and Kíli is desperately trying to hold his own against an ambush so that he can avenge his brother. And Tauriel, for some unfathomable reason, races through a tower full of orcs screaming his name. That… that is not how you do these things. At all. By doing that you draw the attention of every creature that is currently free to track you down and kill you. 

Moving on.

Watch them fight against Bolg together. They do not do it well. Kíli is fabulous next to Fíli, and probably Thorin and Dwalin and any other dwarf for that matter. He probably would not do too badly with one of the Men beside him but the elvish style of combat and the dwarf style are very different and it does not mesh well for these two who barely really know each other. Legolas and Gimli fight in many of the same battles, but rarely side by side and they are certainly more in tune with one another than these two are. In this case, Tauriel is definitely panicking and I wonder if she would have done the same if it had been Legolas she was fighting with. 

Somehow I doubt it.

Anyway, eventually they are overwhelmed, longing looks are exchanged and Kíli is killed. Tauriel breaks down to Thranduil who declares that it was clearly real love.

I just, there is so much wrong with this I hardly know where to start. 

A lot of time is dedicated to this addition. It drives a wedge between Thranduil and Legolas that we had no reason to suspect existed, it deprives him of one of his loyal guards and it does absolutely nothing at all to affect the outcome of the quest for Erebor in a positive way. It adds nothing to Kili’s death, it does not make it any more of a tragedy than it is in the book. In fact, if anything I think it takes away from it a little bit. For those not in the know, in the book Thorin is felled on the field, fatally wounded by Bolg who is then crushed to death by Beorn. Fíli and Kíli, who do not wish to see their uncle’s body taken and desecrated, and likely hoping that there was some small chance he could be saved, fight over him as guards until they are overwhelmed and die side by side before help can come. It is, ultimately, a terrible waste of their lives. Thorin lives long enough to apologise to Bilbo in one of the healing tents, much as he does on the side of the mountain in the film, and then he dies. 

So Tauriel has made no positive impact upon the outcome, it could be argued that her moment of hesitating to threaten Thranduil could have been the moments where she and Legolas might have reached the tower fast enough to save possibly Kíli, perhaps even Fíli, we will never know. What we do know is that the addition of the love triangle added extra time which could have been given to any of the rest of the Company, most of whom were given very little at all to do other than carry on in the background. We could have spent more time with Bilbo, who got shunted aside for the Legend of Legolas parts and, of course, the love triangle additions. We did not even get the funeral in the theatrical release!

It seemed to primarily be, well, filler. And the studio’s bizarre opinion that they were not going to get female viewers if they did not stick some form of romance in there. It seemed to almost be an attempt to mirror the Arwen, Aragorn, Eowyn triangle from the Lord of the Rings, except they missed the mark there spectacularly. Arwen knew very well what she was giving up in marrying Aragorn, and she ultimately made the same choice that her uncle had made thousands of years before as had her very nearly ultimate grandmother (bar Melian) before that. Tauriel could have had no concept at all of what she might have been tying herself to. And that does not even get into the political ramifications of it had Kíli survived, or if he and any one or both of Fíli and Thorin survived. 

This next is, of course, speculation, because we have no real way of knowing. 

Tauriel has sacrificed everything, her home and position for some dwarf she hardly knew. They think it is love, but in the coming weeks with Kíli dedicated to the mountain, whether alone as king or with his uncle and/or brother, distance begins to grow. Tauriel is an elf, she may have fought in the battle but she is still not completely trusted. Rumours from those who might have seen her interaction with Thranduil during the battle start to surface. Kíli might overlook them for himself, but could Thorin or Fíli? If they were to send Kíli to do something that Tauriel would not like, could they trust her not to do the same to them as she did to Thranduil? She owes them even less loyalty than she did him and she threw it all to one side in a heartbeat. If Kíli is the only one of the younger two who survived, where does that leave the succession? If he and Tauriel cannot have children together the throne is not secure, even if they could with all the millennia of bad blood between elf and dwarf will the general populace really accept a half elf on the throne? Especially one who might live forever. The answer there is very likely to be no, which will cause more problems further on and puts Dáin and later Thorin III Stonehelm on the throne again. So there was no point saving Kíli if the original timeline would come to pass anyway, if with a few more hurdles and a heap more unrest thrown in. In other words, it would cause a lot more contention than it would solve.

If they did grow apart, as the actors have stated they would, I think Tauriel would have come to resent Kíli for his role in her decisions, even though she was a grown elleth and perfectly capable of reasoning out possible consequences for herself. Evangeline says that Tauriel went back to Mirkwood after the battle and I suspect Thranduil forgave her out of pity and because he knew she had learnt a terrible lesson. I doubt, though, that she ever regained his trust, and I very much doubt she ever rose to any real position within the kingdom again. If Kíli had not died, I suspect her reception would have been less forgiving and more in the nature of “well if it isn’t the consequences of your actions” before being thrown from her home in disgrace.

Either ending is unhappy for her.

This whole diatribe actually makes it sound like I quite like the character, and there are some small parts of her that I do like. The film needed a strong female character, and this is perhaps one of the reasons that one of the more popular genderbends in the fandom is female Bilbo. Because either way, the story still works. And all the initial stuff with Tauriel worked. Her early interactions with Kíli, that snappy comeback which is actually a favourite because as a response to someone intending on unsettling her it is perfect, even that little bit of wanderlust that she lets seep out. Where it falls apart, and where my dislike stems, is the introduction of the love triangle, the huge power imbalance between them when it begins in the dungeons of Mirkwood, the fact that gratitude and love are allowed to blur over the line with no one questioning it. Except, perhaps, Fíli, who is the long suffering older sibling accustomed to his brother becoming infatuated with this or that pretty face or great warrior.

Had it been left at the wanderlust and the whole bit with the delirious confession been done away with, she could have still been great. Had she kept her head a bit better upon seeing Kíli fighting Bolg or even had a material effect on things for good I could possibly, possibly have overlooked how it all began. But that moment in the cells set my squick metre off and coloured my opinion of it from there. And even repeat watching has not helped me to see it in a positive light. It was filler, time wasting, and I find it hard to like a character who was introduced as someone that girls could look up to, and who became, instead, every cliché female love interest that I feared she would. They set her up, let her and us down, and as a result I prefer to pretend she never existed, or gloss over her entirely. 

And because people are always asking me what my problem with her is I’ve grown to despise her. 

Kíli is a grown dwarf, he is perfectly capable of making his own decisions and thinking for himself. Tauriel does not manipulate him into having feelings for her, she seems to be made uncomfortable by the confession in fact, but just as he is capable of thinking for himself, so is she. And I question every decision she made from the moment she locked him behind those bars, because that is where the Tauriel that Kíli met in the spider’s nest begins to vanish. 

She could have been a great character and she did not need a love interest, or to become one, for that to happen. The studio handled her poorly, and that is why I would prefer to ignore the fact that she, and that stupid love triangle, ever existed.

[gayregis]

the concept that geralt dislikes dandelion’s company, or EVER disliked dandelion’s company, is such utter nonsense. it’s nowhere to be found in the original source material.

in the voice of reason, the short story that occurs immediately after the striga fight in vizima (ep. 3), dandelion visits geralt as he is recuperating and he’s very happy to see him! he offers to travel with him and keep him company, and geralt takes him up on this offer as soon as he is better and medically able to leave the temple where he was healing! 

dandelion’s first mentions in the book (in the narration and in geralt’s own words) are as “geralt’s friend” and “my friend.” 

dandelion recalls that upon their first meeting, geralt “almost jumped out of his pants with joy to have a companion [because] until then he only had his horse for company,” and geralt does not deny this, he only responds with “i remember.”

in the edge of the world (ep. 2) (their first adventure together in dol blathanna, when they had just very recently met for the first time), geralt talks a lot to dandelion, joking with him using sarcasm and speaking seriously about his philosophical takes on human nature. he defends his life, he listens to him sing near a dying campfire, he even suggests a title for the ballad.

in the last wish (ep. 5) (after they’ve known each other for some time) they began the story by fishing together, again conversing and ribbing on one another. because they were travelling together, they got hungry, they wanted fish for breakfast. they found the amphora with the djinn on accident (or rather, dandelion did) and it attacks dandelion because he angered it. geralt’s first wish is actually to defend dandelion (NOT wish for him to shut up!) because he wishes that the djiin “go away and fuck itself” (in a curse that he doesn’t know the meaning of, but had heard used before by some priestesses and thought could work). he then rides from day to night with dandelion on his horse, and becomes very tense and upset about dandelion’s condition. his first meeting with yennefer is not as seductive as netflix would have it (she zaps him with lightning, or at least tries to) and geralt calls dandelion his friend when he is asking her to heal him. then, when he realizes her plan to capture the djinn, he begins refusing only on account that he doesn’t want dandelion involved in it — “do what you want, draw in ten demons if you like. but without dandelion. if you put him at risk, this will no longer be an honest trade (...) i won’t allow—”

geralt WANTS to be with him. he ENJOYS his company. he likes talking with him, he protects him from danger, he cares about his safety and wellbeing. because they are FRIENDS. i should not have to explain the concept of friendship to lauren s. hissrich... friends is when you have... someone you like and care about... that you would do anything for... that you want to be around. that’s geralt and dandelion. they’re friends. why is this even an argument. why did netflix try to change this. there’s nothing gained from changing it.

[dalleyan]

Resilience (LoTR story, ch 17 posted, 7-28-21)

An unexpected event and a chance encounter bring Lothiriel of Dol Amroth and the King of Rohan together. Now, neither of their lives will ever be the same as they were.  [Complete in 24 chapters]

 Chapter 17    (July 21)

The next day, a servant arrived at Eomer’s room early to deliver a message from the King, inviting him to a private breakfast.  Eomer had been up at first light.  It was not hard to rise early if you never really managed a sound sleep through the course of the night.

The morning fog outside his window was as heavy as his spirits.  How had everything managed to get out of hand yesterday?  He had certainly not been himself in how he acted. Could he blame that solely on grief? Somehow, he did not honestly believe he could.  His conversation with Eothain kept returning, and that single word repeated in his mind – embarrassed.  Had he destroyed his friendship with Lothiriel because of his pride?  He had always considered himself a rational man, so how to explain to anyone, himself most of all, his behavior.

Well, Aragorn was waiting. He had no doubt where the conversation would lead over their meal together.  Perhaps his friend would offer counsel he could use to regain his balance and resolve this great upheaval.

Aragorn himself answered the knock on the door to his study, drawing Eomer into the room.  Once the door was shut and they were alone, he got straight to his purpose.

“My friend, I am very sorry for the unfortunate turn of events yesterday.  You do know that Lady Lothiriel only had your best interests at heart.  In her youth and inexperience, she allowed her zeal to take precedence, and did not think the matter through before she came to us.  Had Faramir not been her cousin, she might have been more daunted at approaching the King.  Can you not forgive her, my friend?  I do not like to see unpleasantness between our houses.  And Lothiriel did not ask for anything we were not full willing to give. We waited only to learn what supplies would best help your people.  Whatever else, the lady does have an eye for detail.  She was quite specific about numbers and need, whether you discussed it with her or she simply observed what was lacking.  However, I would feel better if you verified what she told us. For all her good intent, I think you know far more about the Mark’s needs than does she.”

The food was already set out on the table, and Aragorn gestured to Eomer to sit. 

Eomer scrubbed at his face, then eyed his friend ruefully.  “What a mess!  Certainly I had not expected to find myself at odds with the lady upon our return to Minas Tirith.  She has been most agreeable until now.”

Aragorn laughed.  “She is still agreeable, friend.  You simply cannot see it at the moment, though I think perhaps Eothain has been trying to nudge you to reconsider.”

Eomer rolled his eyes. “Eothain!  Those two have become thick as thieves.  I do not think there is a woman alive he cannot ingratiate himself with.  It was useful, early on.  I had other concerns and no time or inclination to be sociable with our ‘guest’.”

“Perhaps, but Eothain also has a good heart.  And, notwithstanding his very poor counsel regarding me and two friends several months ago in Rohan, he usually offers good advice!”

Eomer chuckled, recognizing Aragorn’s reference.  “Yes, usually.”  He became pensive as he reached for a platter of ham.  “But I do not believe he adequately understands how different my life is, now that I am King.  I often wish I were merely Third Marshal again, especially if it meant Theoden and Theodred lived.”

“You did not choose your current situation, but now that it has happened you must use all that you possess to see it through.  Gandalf told Frodo that on our journey, but I think it truly applies to you also.  Hard as it may be, I have confidence in your abilities.”

Eomer smiled, feeling a portion of the tension ease out of him.  “Thank you, my friend.  I am honored your opinion of me is that great.”

While Aragorn was sure his council would not be happy about it, he drew details from Eomer in conversation over their meal to substantiate or correct what Lothiriel had already told them.  His friend had enough to cope with just now, and did not need the burden of facing his sometimes quarrelsome council.  Eomer did not look relaxed when they parted, but many of the lines of worry on his face had softened.  That was encouraging.

 continue reading on AO3:

              https://archiveofourown.org/works/31701830/chapters/81611755

[jaskierswolf]

You Set My Heart Ablaze (19/25)

Previous ________________________

Yennefer pulled up to the school gates in her car. It was two weeks into the summer term at Dol Blathanna and three weeks since she’d last seen Ciri. She rolled her eyes at her own sentimentality. She’d always adored Duny and Pavetta’s daughter. She’d been dating Geralt when Pavetta had announced her pregnancy. It had been a strange moment for Yennefer. She’d never thought of herself as particularly maternal and children had never been something she’d craved in life, but when Pavetta had shown them all the photos of the tiny baby growing inside her womb, something had changed irrevocably.

She wanted that.

She’d always thought her career and financial security would be everything for her, but how could it be everything when she was missing a family.

She scoffed. She’d been naive at the time. She’d thought that her relationship with Geralt would last that time, that it would be the time when they didn’t crash and burn. She’d even considered asking him to marry her. She had loved him and they’d been on and off for years already at that point. Geralt and Yennefer, the romantic saga that would put fairytales to shame. Duny and Pavetta had even asked them both to be godparents.

A month later Geralt and Yennefer had split up… again.

But now, seven year old Ciri was bringing back all those old wants and aches. She’d spent a week with the girl in Cidaris before handing her back to Geralt in Posada, just in time for the girl’s birthday. Yennefer had stuck around long enough to help Geralt wrangle Ciri’s classmates for her party and then she’d made her way back home.

Only it didn’t feel like home anymore.

She hated that she was always the one to leave her family behind. She hated that she had almost become an outsider to the most important people in her life. She was terrified that they would move on without her. Triss seemed to rather taken with Eskel, and Yennefer felt a twinge of regret for not introducing her own friends to the family sooner. Geralt’s family had become her own, but Yennefer had never quite managed to allow Geralt into her own life. The only person he had met had been Istredd, and that was because Is had confronted Geralt just after she’d started dating him at University.

She didn’t want to miss out anymore.

She’d already started looking for flats halfway between Cidaris and Posada, she’d even thought about moving her gallery to Vengerberg. Her family had originated from there generations ago and she’d always thought it would be a little on the nose to move there but there was something poetic about it that intrigued her, that was after all why she had chosen Aedirn out of all the galleries offered to her at a young age. A Vengerberg canvas in Aedirn Gallery. The irony had been too good to resist.

Vengerberg was also much closer to Posada and to Ciri.

For now she had to be contented with ferrying back and forth across the Continent whenever she wanted to see Ciri, the girl she had come to love as a daughter.

She groaned when she noticed Jaskier standing amongst the children. Of course it was his turn on after school duty. Nevertheless she stood tall and glided towards the gaggle of children. She’d texted Coën from the petrol station on the way to Posada to let him know that he didn’t need to pick Ciri up from school tonight. Vesemir would be over after work to look after Ciri this evening. Yennefer and Geralt would have the delight of summer parents’ evening. Yennefer was rather looking forward to being on the other side of it for the first time. Poor Buttercup didn’t stand a chance.

Ciri screamed excitably when she saw Yennefer approach and Yennefer soon had her arms full of her daughter as she knelt down to hug Ciri.

“Auntie Yen!” Ciri laughed. “But I only just saw you!”

“I know, Princess,” Yennefer hugged the girl tightly “but I couldn’t stay away.”

“Are you staying this time?” Ciri asked, looking up at her with wide emerald eyes.

Yennefer sighed with a heavy heart. “Not this time, Ciri, but I’m working on it, alright?”

Ciri pouted and scrunched her nose up. “But…”

Yennefer bopped her nose. “Patience, Ciri.”

“Yennefer, what a delight.” Jaskier drawled sarcastically.

Yennefer looked up at the teacher with a smirk. Oh the things she would say if they weren’t in front of the children.

“Buttercup, pleasure as always.” Yennefer returned his sarcasm.

It wasn’t that she hated the teacher, quite the opposite in fact, she actually admired him in some ways but at this point the scathing remarks and barely concealed loathing was just a part of their routine.

“Mr Rivia didn’t mention that you would be picking up Ciri this evening.” Jaskier tilted his head, tossing his fringe away from his eyes. “It really is common courtesy to let the school know.”

“Geralt doesn’t know, Buttercup. It’s called a surprise which requires subtlety and discretion, neither of which you possess.” Yennefer smiled at the teacher.

He glowered at her with blue fire dancing in his eyes.

“Oh I can be very discreet, I’m more discreet than, than a Redanian spy!” Jaskier huffed with his hands on his hips. “Oh no.” His jaw dropped at some unspoken realisation. “No no. No!” He pointed at her accusingly.

“What’s wrong Mr Jaskier?” Ciri asked.

Jaskier blushed and stammered. “Oh, nothing. Nothing’s wrong, little Buttercup.”

“Mr Jaskier!” Ciri gasped. “Are you lying to me?”

Jaskier froze and Yennefer cackled. “Yes, Jaskier, Are you lying to her?”

He stammered unintelligibly before clearing his throat. “Right. Yes, Sorry Ciri. I meant that there is nothing wrong that you need to worry about, I just remembered something.”

Ciri put her hands on her hips, looking a little too much like Jaskier’s mini-me for Yennefer’s liking. “About Auntie Yen?”

Yennefer smirked. She could see the litany of curses Jaskier was saying in his head. He smiled brightly down at Ciri, though Yennefer could see the anger still dancing in his eyes when he glanced back at her. “I had just forgotten it was parents’ evening tonight. Yennefer reminded me, that’s all Ciri, I promise.”

Ciri scowled up at her teacher, scrutinising his words and then broke into her own dazzling smile. “Ok!”

Jaskier visibly relaxed. “So, Yennefer, will you be looking after Ciri tonight?”

Yennefer shook her head. “Not this time, Buttercup. I will be joining Geralt for parents’ evening.”

Jaskier raised an eyebrow at her. “Oh?”

Ciri squealed. “Are you and dad getting back together?”

Jaskier’s face lost all colour. “An… unexpected development.” His voice cracked.

Yennefer sighed. She didn’t want to get Ciri’s hopes up. She had no intention on getting back together with Geralt, she’d just been trying to get a rise out of the teacher, which had absolutely worked. “We can discuss this in the car, Cirilla. Come now.”

It took a while but Yennefer eventually managed to convince Ciri that she was, in fact, not dating Geralt again. The young girl seemed a little disappointed by this.

“He just gets lonely.” She sniffed. “He tries to hide it but I see it, when he doesn’t realise I’m looking.”

“I know, Princess, but Geralt and I,” Yennefer sighed “We weren’t a good match.”

Ciri scrunched her nose up. “I just thought, if Geralt’s my dad and you were dating then… that would make you my mum.”

Yennefer almost crashed the car. As it was she had to pull over, her hands were shaking too much on the steering wheel.

“Auntie Yen?” Ciri asked quietly.

“I wouldn’t mind if you called me mum’” Yennefer took Ciri’s little hand in hers and squeezed tightly. “I can be that, with or without Geralt.”

Ciri grinned and unbuckled her seatbelt before clambering into Yennefer’s lap.

“Ok, Mum.” Ciri mumbled as she hugged Yennefer tightly. Yennefer felt like she couldn’t breathe, like a single breath would shatter the moment and she’d wake up back in Cidaris and this would have all been a dream.

She settled for holding the girl in her arms in blessed silence, holding onto the feeling for as long as she possibly could and praying to the gods that the moment would last forever.

___________________________________

Yennefer had just about managed to find something edible enough to feed Ciri for dinner. She’d been disgusted at the amount of tins in the cupboards compared to the fresh vegetables in the fridge. Luckily, Geralt seemed to have a better stock of frozen vegetables to make up for the lack of fresh produce. Ciri had grumbled about it and said that Coën and Geralt usually let her have pizza and chips.

Yennefer challenged this proclamation with a stare and eventually Ciri mumbled something about pizza and chips being a Friday or weekend treat.

Ciri was now scowling at the plate of chicken and vegetables in front of her. Yennefer rolled her eyes.

“Ciri, you have got to eat something.” She sighed. “You’ve even got chips.”

“I don’t like spinach.” Ciri pouted.

“You ate it in Cidaris.” Yennefer stated cooly. “What’s changed, Princess?”

Ciri scrunched up her nose. “Slimy, tastes funny.”

Yennefer narrowed her eyes at the greenery on Ciri’s plate. “Let me try.”

Ciri pushed the plate towards her and Yennefer took a forkful, it tasted exactly the same as when she’d made it for Ciri back at her flat in Cidaris. She pursed her lips together and told Ciri to close her eyes.

“Why?” Ciri asked.

“The magic only works if you have your eyes shut, Princess.” Yennefer said calmly, allowing herself a small smile when she noticed Ciri trying to peek from behind her hands. “Eyes shut, Ciri.”

“Fine!” The young girl huffed.

Yennefer moved the spinach around on her plate and whispered a low fake incantation under her breath, just loud enough so the girl could hear. Ciri giggled and wiggled excitably in her seat.

“Now, Ciri. You must understand that Geralt can’t do this and it takes a lot of power so I can’t do it every meal time, alright?” Yennefer stated firmly, her hand hovering over Ciri’s plate.

“Yes, Mum.” Ciri drawled and Yennefer knew if the girl’s eyes were open she’d be rolling them.

“Good, now open your eyes and eat your dinner.” Yennefer said, pulling her hand away just as Ciri opened her eyes.

Ciri wolfed down her dinner without another word and Yennefer let out a small sigh of relief. After dinner, Yennefer plopped Ciri down in front of the TV to watch that pony show that she was so fond of, Geralt’s influence no doubt.

She sat down beside Ciri, scrolling through her social media on her phone. She shared a few posts from upcoming artists that she wanted to promote and tapped out a few biting remarks on replies that were from sensitive assholes who didn’t like that a woman was successful in their industry. She vaguely tried to follow the plot of the episode that Ciri was watching but she’d never understood the talking ponies.

She looked up when she heard keys in the door.

“Dad!” Ciri jumped up and ran to the front door. “Uncle Vesemir!”

Geralt picked Ciri up as she jumped at him. “Hi Princess, good day at school?” He asked before noticing Yennefer lounging on the sofa. “Yen?”

“Geralt.” She smiled and made her way across the room. “Vesemir.”

“Hello Yennefer.” The older man nodded.

Geralt shifted Ciri into one arm and pulled Yennefer in for a hug.

“I didn’t know you were visiting?” He asked gently.

She kissed his cheek and the pulled away to ruffle Ciri’s hair. “I was hoping to join you for parents’ evening. She’s my goddaughter too. I want to be a bigger part of her life, Geralt.”

Geralt scowled and glanced at Vesemir. “Yen.” He sighed with a sad smile. “I don’t think—”

“Not like that.” She swatted his arm. “I’m doing this for Ciri, Geralt. Not for you.”

Geralt visibly relaxed. “Right.”

“Mum can do magic!” Ciri shouted, a little too loudly judging by the way Geralt winced.

He raised an eyebrow at Yennefer. “Mum?”

“Obviously, Dad you never told me Mum was magic!” Ciri pouted.

Geralt hummed and put Ciri down on the floor, kneeling next to her. “Well she never told me, cub.”

Ciri covered her mouth with her hands, her emerald eyes went wide. “Was it meant to be a secret?” She mumbled behind her hands.

Yennefer shook her head. “Not at all, your father just never noticed.”

Geralt grumbled.

“Only the wisest of people realised, little sparrow.” Vesemir chuckled and moved further into the living room. “Ciri, are you going to show me what you’ve learnt on that instrument of yours? Geralt says Priscilla has been very impressed with how quickly you’ve picked it up.”

Ciri grinned and ran to the corner of the room the pick up the small ukulele case. “Mr Jaskier helps me during lunch sometimes! He says that practice makes perfect and even Mr Jaskier needs to keep practicing to learn new things all the time!”

“Does he now?” Yennefer smirked at Geralt who had suddenly gone very still.

“Yup!” Ciri grinned and pulled out a small plastic whistle. “This helps to make sure the strings sound right.” She explained and then started to blow on the whistle, and plucking at the strings of the small instrument.

“That’s very clever, little sparrow. Show me, how do I hold it?” Vesemir asked warmly.

And just like that the old man had Ciri’s full focus.

Geralt leant against the wall with his arms cross. His hair was pulled into a messy bun at the back of his head today, not his usual look but one that was rather handsome. Yennefer felt a pang of regret and yearning at the loss of their relationship but it passed quickly. They’d both moved on for a good reason, and things were going well with Istredd, slowly but well.

“Why are you here, Yen?” Geralt asked quietly.

Yennefer rolled her eyes. “I already told you that, Geralt.”

He shook his head. “Nothing is ever so simple with you.”

“Can’t you just trust me for once?” Yennefer asked, bristling a little at his accusation.

He was right, of course, she did have an ulterior motive for being here. She wanted to watch his interactions with the teacher, perhaps plant a few seeds of jealousy so they’d have to act on their feelings. This was her first plan. Jaskier knew that Yennefer was Geralt’s ex so he would no doubt be envious to see them co-parenting Ciri. She just needed to make sure she didn’t overdo it and put the teacher off.

If this failed then she had another idea. She wondered whether Jaskier knew that Geralt was attracted to men. Geralt didn’t exactly radiate queer vibes and passed very well as a straight man when it suited him. Therefore she’d been in contact with another one of Geralt’s exes, an older man that he’d dated briefly when they’d been broken up. Regis and Geralt’s relationship hadn’t ended badly and the two were still friends. They didn’t see each other very often due to work commitments but they had the kind of friendship that lasted regardless of time and distance. Regis had been delighted to hear about Geralt’s little infatuation with Jaskier and had agreed to help out should it be required.

But that was Plan B. Plan A was tonight.

He narrowed his eyes and then nodded with a low hum.

“We have about an hour before we need to leave. I have the last slot with Jaskier. Vesemir will be here to put Ciri to bed.” Geralt explained.

Yennefer nodded and pulled her friend over to the living room where Ciri was patiently trying to teach Vesemir how to play a nursery rhyme on her ukulele. “Come on, White Wolf, what have I missed?”

______________________

“You don’t have to do this, Yen.” Geralt grumbled as they strode into reception together.

Yennefer rolled her eyes. Geralt had said the same thing at least a dozen times on the drive to the school. At least he’d had the common sense to let her drive instead of going in that disgusting truck. “I want to do this, Geralt, and your whining is not going to change my mind so shut up and try not to look like I’m leading you to the gallows.”

“Feels like it.” He muttered.

At this rate her eyes would be stuck in the back of her head. She linked her arm with his as they entered the foyer. Triss greeted them with a wave.

“Yen!” She called happily. “Geralt.”

“Hi Triss.” Yennefer smiled at her friend, a little envious of her easy going nature. There wasn’t a single person that didn’t adore Triss, she just had this way about her that made you want to be her friend, made you want to be better. Yennefer was not immune to this. It was one of the reasons they had remained friends for so many years.

“Do we need to sign in?” Geralt asked, straight to the point as always.

Triss passed him the register. “Just like before.”

Geralt hummed thoughtfully. “Hopefully not.” He gave Triss a sheepish smile.

“No.” She agreed with a laugh. “I would really prefer it if we didn’t have to call the police.”

Yennefer frowned as she looked between her ex and her best friend. “The police?” She asked haughtily.

“A misunderstanding.” Geralt grumbled. “If you’re staying the night I’ll tell you later.”

“Staying the night?” Triss asked, taking back the register with a raised eyebrow.

“School hall?” Geralt asked, ignoring Triss’s look of surprise.

“Umm. Yes. That’s right.” Triss was still eyeballing them.

“I’ll text you later.” Yennefer murmured and followed Geralt towards the main hall.

There were tables stationed all around the room, just like she remembered from her time as a teachers. Fuck she hated Parents’ Evening. It had been hell on earth. She caught Istredd’s eyes across the room and gave him a small smile. She was grateful that Geralt had book the last slot of the evening, it meant that there was a chance she could see Istredd when he was done. Luckily it was a Friday which meant that even if she didn’t get to see him tonight, there was always the weekend.

“Ah, Geralt!” Jaskier waved them over with a smile as another couple stood up to leave. “Yennefer.” He added more cooly.

Yennefer frowned. Triss and Eskel hadn’t been lying when they’d said that both Geralt and Jaskier had stopped moping around, but she hadn’t been expecting Jaskier to act so friendly towards Geralt, especially after weeks of supposedly avoiding him.

What the fuck was going on?

She glanced over at Geralt to see his reaction.

The man was fucking blushing.

“Mr Pankratz.” He shook Jaskier’s hand, smiling far too fondly for Yennefer’s liking.

Now, many people said that Geralt Rivia was hard to read. He had a habit of not saying much, especially when he was feeling overwhelmed, but Yennefer had always found him to be an open book. His face didn’t hide much and she had learnt to read even the smallest twitch of a smile dancing on his lips. So the way he smiled so openly at Jaskier told Yennefer everything she needed to know.

“Geralt,” She whispered in his ear, gripping his arm tightly. “Tell me, exactly how long have you two been fucking?”

Geralt growled and pulled away from her. “What the fuck, Yen?”

Jaskier laughed nervously. “Geralt? What’s going on?”

Geralt’s face was like thunder. “Nothing. Right Yen?” He asked pointedly, glancing over at Tissaia’s table.

Ah yes. Tissaia was currently headmistress, she’d heard all about that from Triss and Is.

“Oh no one is supposed to know!” She said a little too loudly.

“Shut up, Yen.” Geralt grumbled.

“Know what?” Jaskier asked. Geralt’s eyes flashed to Jaskier dangerously. “Oooh. That. Right. Yes.”

Yennefer smiled sweetly at the two idiots in front of her. “So, how long?”

“How long have I been teaching Ciri?” Jaskier asked pointedly.

Yennefer smirked but decided to it go. They were here to discuss her daughter after all. “Ciri, right yes of course. Since September I assume.”

“That’s right.” Jaskier said firmly. “The whole class has made excellent progress with learning sign language, one of my Buttercups is deaf,” He explained “but young Ciri is leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of them. She has the amazing ability to absorb new information and a wonderful dedication to her class work and friends.”

Yennefer smiled, genuinely for the first time since they’d entered the hall. She knew Ciri was special but hearing Jaskier confirm it warmed her usually icy heart.

“I am concerned that she’s throwing herself into her work instead of learning to process the trauma in her life.” Jaskier added. “Did you think anymore about what I said, Geralt?”

Geralt nodded. “I’ve been looking. I just…” He paused and frowned as he tried to gather his words. “I don’t know how to talk to Ciri about it.” He admitted.

“About what?” Yennefer asked. “Maybe I can help?”

Jaskier looked at Geralt with a tilt of his head. Geralt gave a small nod.

Yennefer scoffed, apparently they were communicating non-verbally now as well. What a fucking delight!

“I suggested that Ciri might benefit from some therapy.” Jaskier said quietly. “She’s been through, gods, she’s been through so much.”

“But she’s fine.” Yennefer interjected.

“On the surface” Jaskier agreed “but we don’t know, we can’t know, how much she’s bottling up underneath.”

“It’s a good idea, Yen.” Geralt said softly.

Yennefer sighed. She hated it but they were right. She remembered her own therapist from her childhood, they weren’t happy memories and the thought of Ciri having to go through the same thing made her want to scream, but in the end it had helped her. It was just a difficult process with no clear step by step journey, some days it felt like the therapy just made it worse before it got better again.

“Yen?” Geralt took her hand and squeezed gently.

“I’ll talk to her” She agreed “but the decision is hers.”

“That’s all we can ask.” Jaskier smiled sadly and then immediately brightened up. “Pris tells me her ukulele lessons are going wonderfully! She might even want to consider getting a guitar soon, it will be a little difficult for her to hold an adult guitar but there are smaller sizes that she can look at, it will be more challenging than the ukulele. There are six strings rather the four on the ukulele. My lute has thirteen so we don’t recommend that one for a while.”

“Not everyone wants to learn every stringed instrument in existence, Buttercup.” Yennefer said dryly.

“Which is a tragedy!” Jaskier laughed. “And I’ll have you know, I bought a flute the other day. I’m branching out.”

Yennefer smirked. “Practicing your blowing skills?”

Jaskier raised an eyebrow at her with a playful smile. “Oh, darling, I don’t need any practice with that.”

Geralt cleared his throat and blushed vividly. “Let’s stay on topic shall we?”

Jaskier and Yennefer, surprisingly, laughed in unison at Geralt’s discomfort.

Well wasn’t that an unexpected development?

Perhaps Jaskier wasn’t as bad as she thought. They shared a smile before Jaskier delved deeper into Ciri’s progress and work at school. _____________________

Next

[dolcetters]

vanilla sunday .

no one asked, i just heckin’ felt like it m’dude. under readmore for length. i’ll try to keep my answers relatively to-the-point, too, since this’ll be a longer post but feel free to inquire on things or ... whatever u-u/ aye. i go sleep now.

is your muse a romantic? do they dream of love and marriage?

short answer: no.

as a teenager, dol didn’t have much interest in pursuing a romantic relationship with any of his peers around yuflam--or at all, really. by the time he got to academy things were either too busy or starting to get too tense for him to consider the idea. and shortly after that he went over a decade thinking he’d never even see sunlight again.

at this point, he just... --it’s just another thing he might want but doesn’t recognize it as something he wants. because he’s earnestly so bad at listening to his own desires and is more than willing to cast them aside if it means aiding someone he cares about achieve their own.

is your muse a deviant? are they overly flirtatious or forward?

no. there’s no real expansion on this, just no. <xD he tends to be much more bashful and sheepish, partially because of aforementioned inability to recognize he might want a relationship with someone. and even if he DOES realize this, he’s... extremely self aware. we’ll leave it at that.

is your muse good at kissing? are they experienced?

NOPE. and no. he’s never kissed anyone.

does your muse initiate a lot of physical contact?

nooooo no no no. he has an anxiety disorder (haphephobia) revolving around physical contact and even something as “small” as shaking hands or a shoulder bump can make him very nervous, uncomfortable and alert. the reaction is almost doubled if it comes with the sensation or energy of being grabbed.

it’s going to take a lot of time, patience, and trust for him to be comfortable initiating physical contact with you.

is your muse comfortable with public displays of affection?

no, for both the above reason as well as the paranoia that comes with being a fugitive/legally dead. the less attention that’s drawn to him, the better. at most, he’d hold your hand... but refer to the previous question for that.

does your muse steal clothing from their partner?

less “steal” and more borrow. due to having limited resources after escaping the labs and very few belongings he can truly call his own, dol wouldn’t/doesn’t just take or use things that belong to friends, family or potential partners (part of this spurs from his OWN resource guarding). he’d be more likely to approach you while you were brushing your teeth and be like “hey, s’it cool if i wear your hoodie today” and then respond based on that answer.

and he’s going to ask you every time. he doesn’t assume.

is your muse the big spoon or the little spoon?

varies! but most likely, when they’re facing each other, he little-spoons because pressing his face into the curve of the neck just above the collar is not only secure and comforting somehow, but he can hear your heartbeat.

when one of them is facing away, he tends to big spoon. --and obviously this is all assuming he’s at that level of comfort when it comes to physical touch + the partner.

is your muse comfortable with, or proud of their body? are they insecure?

complicated?

he’s very comfortable and proud of his body when it comes to his physical build, strength, fitness, etc. his strength and speed is something he values and keeping himself healthy and capable is very important to him. he knows he’s done a good job (those arms don’t lie) and he takes pride in that.

~however~, being a chimera... --he’s optimistic, yes. he’s just happy to be alive, of course. it’s not so bad. ...but he is fully, deeply, and painfully aware of how someone might react to witnessing some of his “quirks” when it comes to his splice or the idea of being with someone who isn’t entirely human. and the fact that he often became a target of light jabbing and jokes with the nesties, because dog behavior is much more well-known and commonly familiar than croc or snake or bull behavior, has only added to this awareness.

then, of course, there’s the added detail that he’s not even a perfected chimera. he’s just a successful one. a C- on some government biology test; barely passing.

so yeah. there’s some surface level pride, but... a lot of shame underneath.

is your muse attracted to any features in particular?

physical? no.

he has a soft spot and respect for people who refuse to give into their pain, though. where he experienced trauma and fear and let it make him hardened in a lot of ways, there are other people who have only become brighter, warmer, and do whatever they can to keep someone else from experiencing what they have.

to say he admires that trait in a person is an understatement.

have their crushes been mostly male, mostly female, or evenly split?

he’s only really had two, and they’ve both been gals, so i guess that makes it mostly female. i’ve mentioned before that he might have been uselessly in love with martel in the time before the raid (whether she felt the same is unknown) and he in default verse is lowkey sweet on rose.

have their partners been mostly male, mostly female, or evenly split?

he hasn’t had a partner.

is your muse easily flustered? do they blush, swear, etc.?

yes, yes, yes. him being flustered is usually a combo-result of: (1) not being used to that kind of attention from someone he actually likes,  (2) having no idea how to respond, (3) internalized shame over what he is, and (4) he’s a fucking idiot.

where is your muse most sensitive?

his head, mostly, especially on his hair line and around the ears.

and i can 10000% promise to you that if he ever lets you comb your fingers in his hair or rub around his temples and you make some kind of dog-related-comment, you’re actually going to cause a shit-ton of psychic damage i’m gonna need you to roll like 10d6 for me.

please, please please please don’t ever refer to him as--or make jokes connecting him to--a dog in moments that are supposed to be vulnerable and/or intimate, i can’t... express this enough, it will hurt him.

is your muse more submissive or dominant in a relationship?

idk, i guess submissive but again: idk

would your muse ever tempt their partner, e.g. flirting, wearing tight/sexy clothing?

nah. not really his thing.

if he does “tempt” them it’s going to be sincerely accidental. like... yeah you walked in on me doing pull-ups i guess. would you hand me my water bottle? i’m parched.

does your muse initiate heated/sexual contact, or do they wait for their partner?

i feel like this question deserves it’s own post because i have a LOT of thoughts regarding rosecetto, specifically, on this topic.

outside of that ship, however, the answer is likely no. he’s not the initiator primarily for touch-anxiety reasons and also chimera-related-shame reasons, even if the partner has assured him there’s nothing wrong with him in the past.

does your muse leave hickies? do they ask for them?

eeehhhhh???? ... i guess accidentally sometimes?? and no.

does your muse like to be pinned down, or to pin their partner?

that’s a big NO. if you pin him down, even if he’s reached a point of security with you that he allows you to touch him, you’re going to flare up any of that anxiety that had previously subsided. he’s been physically restrained and held down far too long and all for bad/painful reasons, and he can’t associate it with anything other than “they’re going to hurt me and i need to get away, no matter what i have to do”.

as for pinning his partner, it’s likely also a no because he’d just... be too aware of his own trauma to even try doing it and he’d probably be uncomfortable being asked to do it.

has your muse reached first/second/third base? home run?

honey, he’s done nothing, he hasn’t even swung--

would your muse be interested in engaging with multiple partners?

no. he doesn’t see anything wrong with it when it comes to other people but this is definitely not for him or something he could be comfortable with.

would your muse ever send a sexual text message? would they send pictures?

n/a, but even in modern verses the answer would be no

does your muse read smut, own magazines, or watch p-rn?

nah

is your muse the type to discuss their sex life or sexual prowess with others?

abso. fucking lutely. not. no no no.

at absolute. MOST? he might open up to sakura (yinseal) about it. maybe greed (avadite). and it’d only be if he felt like he was doing something wrong or felt overwhelmed and self-conscious. but otherwise this is his and his partner’s business.

is your muse a top, a bottom, or a switch? do they have a lean?

defaults to bottom but will top if asked or in some circumstances.

crystal has confirmed that rose (forsakenflora) tops, so jfdlfjklsjkldhsd

how interested is your muse in sex and sexual activity?

he’s not.

it’s not a priority of his, and he definitely doesn’t want to hear about yours.

do they have sex frequently, occasionally, or rarely?

not at all right now jf kljdklhshf lhfklsdg

[somanylivestochoose]

Healing Loss

Chapter 2: Midnight Greetings

Eomer 

My head spun, my heart was heavy, my neck ached from the stitch that healer put in and my shoulder’s felt as if the weight of the new age was upon them.

Well I suppose Rohan actually is on my shoulders.

What I have to focus on is that we had won. Somehow despite the odds, we had rallied and won.

Any time I felt the pain of my countrymen I needed to remember we have beaten Sauron and now we are free from his torment. Free to live without fear, to live with hope, to have a life back. But still I felt none of that. The battle had taken many lives of my countrymen and of my uncle, the king of Rohan. Before that Theodred, my cousin who was like a brother to me.  

And now I am king.

“Éomer!” A man shouted making turn seeing Erchirion, one of the Princes of Dol Amroth. “My friend, what are you doing here?”

Clasping his forearm, I smile at him. “Seeing my sister.”

A sad smile crossed his face. “How is she?”

Letting go of his arm I sighed. “Better, she seems to be safe in the land of the living and away from despair. I can’t stay and chat I must get down to the field encampment, afraid I might fall asleep on my feet.”

He shook his head wrapping his arm around my shoulder leading us away from the house. “Come you shall stay with my family.”

Shaking my head, I sighed and broke from his grasp. “I appreciate the offer but my camp outside Gondor is fine.”

Erchirion rolled his eyes. “It will save you a lot of time coming to and from, we have extra space. My sister is never around so you can have her bedroom.”

“I don’t want to impose.” I started but the thought of having a real bed was tempting, my body ached from the battles and it may fall from exhaustion.

He put his hand on my shoulder. Since meeting Erchirion and his family from Dol Amroth I have already considered them great friends. “It is not, my friend. Come, you deserve some peace and sleep.”

Too tired to disagree I nodded and followed my new friend out of the House of Healing, heading to his family’s quarters.

Arriving, we found another Dol Amroth prince called Amrothos at a table eating half asleep. You would think that after a major battle and victory against our long time enemy that we would all be celebrating. But right now, we were too tired to stay awake.

“Éomer! What do we owe this honor?” Amrothos said getting up, our forearms clasping in greeting.

Erchirion grabbed a plate of food and passed me one. “Gave him Lothíriel’s room so he didn’t have to go back down to the field camp; she won’t be back for some time.”

Amrothos nodded. “Smart.”

“I don’t want to put her out.” I said barely awake now. “I can make it back down, I’m sure my men will be wondering where I am.”

They both waved their hand, Erchirion clasped my shoulder. “You won’t, she’s healer at the house and has been there non-stop. I spoke to her before I saw you and she doubted when she would have time to come back. Stop fighting me my friend and go to bed.”

Amrothos nodded along. “We can send a message down to the camp, let them know you will be here for the night.”

Sighing I relented, a bed now would be a great thing. “Then I accept your hospitalities as long as you’re sure your sister will not be back.”

The brothers looked to each other and chuckled, Amrothos sat back down and took a sip of his drink. “Lothí is a head surgeon at the house and is serious with her duty. If she says she won’t be back, she won’t be back.”

I nodded, my eyes fighting to stay open. “I will be sure to thank her for her duty and her bed when I see her.”

“Come, let me show you to her room before you fall asleep standing.” Erichion motioned his head and I followed his to an empty room that must belong to the Princess. “Help yourself and let us know if you need anything.”

“Thank you, friend.” With that he left and I started eating from the plate while also taking off my armor. I was covered in dirt and dried blood but a bath would have to wait till tomorrow.

The second I hit the bed I let out a sigh of relief, my body relaxing for slumber. But even though my body wanted to sleep my mind was wide awake.

King.

I will be king.

When Theodred died I knew that would be my fate, but I never thought Théoden would die before I could be ready. I could hear the tutors I ignored telling me the ‘I told you, you should have stayed in study’.

I am not ready but I don’t have time to be anything but ready for kingship.

I’m the warrior, Theodred was the one ready for being king. And even when I become crowned king I won’t have time to stay at Ederas all the time, there are still orcs and wildmen running across the westfold.

Eowyn has told me about Faramir who seems like a good man so that leaves out her staying and help ruling the country. I know if I asked she would stay, but I won’t deny her happiness.

It seemed I don’t have the time to grieve, I have to keep moving, to keep fighting to ensure the future of Rohan.

And that means one thing.

I need a wife.

I groaned at the necessary thought.

But I couldn’t take anyone as my wife, there is work to be done right away in Rohan so I need a woman who is ready for that responsibility. I know the counsel is going to be have that be their main topic of discussion. Who in Rohan is the perfect soon to be queen?

All of a sudden, the door opened, my body too tired to sit up to ask ‘what is it’.

Bang. The sound made my eyes snap open and  look to see who entered.

“By the valor.” Someone cussed when their foot came in contact with a trunk.

They had a candle giving them light as they walked to other side of the room placing it on the window. Turning my head slowly, I blinked my eyes awake allowing me to look the newcomer over.

The silhouette and dress told me that the sister who is supposed to be at the House of Healing has come home.  

Forcing myself to sit up I thought that I will be needing to go down to the fields tonight after all. “You must be the Princess of Dol Amroth.”

She let out of scream, her hand taking out a dagger from her belt. “Make one move, and you’ll be missing a part of you.”

The door flung open showing Erchirion who had a sword in his hand. “What’s going on? Lothí, what are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here?” She asked in a short tone to her brother. “You do know this is my room therefore the question should be to the random Rohirrim in my bedroom?”

The dagger spun around in her hand then slid back into her belt.

Erchirion took in a tired breath. “Sister I thought you said you wouldn’t be here so I gave your bed away.”

“Thanks.” The woman sighed and rolled her neck.

“Well, you said you weren’t coming back and he needed a bed.” He muttered walking over to her.

She tilted her head and looked between us. “And he didn’t want to go stay with the other Rohirrim?”

Erchirion sighed. “Well it would be cruel to make our new friend walk all the way out of the city to their encampment.”

The Princess chuckled. “Or he could stay at the east wing, where his king and other men have been given quarters.”

Erchirion and I looked at each other than back to her. “What?”

She bent down grabbing something and placed it in a bag. “King Elessar gave the Rohan king and his men chambers in the east wing. He doesn’t have to go down to the encampment, only the east wing of the Citadel.”

Erchirion looked to me. “How did you not know that?”

I gave a tired shrug. “I vaguely remember someone coming up to tell me about sleeping chambers but I tuned them out when I was trying to get to my sister. I will leave you to your room and head over there. ”

The Prince turned back to his sister. “How do you know that and I didn’t?”

The Princess chuckled, even in the candle lit room I could see a small smirk on her face. “Brother mine, I am the Princess of Dol Amroth. I have lived here for years, I know everything that goes on even when I am elbow deep in surgery at the House of Healing.”

The Princess put her hand up stopping my movements. “And don’t even considered it. Your already comfortable, there would be no point sending you to the Citadel at this time of night.”

“What are you doing back anyway? Everything okay at the House?” The Prince responded wiping some blood of her cheek.

“Oh, Gylious kicked me out.” The princess responded with a small shrug. “Something about my stiches being crooked and that means I need sleep.”

Erchirion chuckled. “Good but I am sorry I gave away your room. Oh, forgive me I completely forgot, Lothíriel this is my friend-.”

Her hand went up cutting him off, the other hand rubbing her forehead with a groan. “Honestly I am too tired to care. My apologies Rohirrim, I shall just grab a few things and leave you to your sleep.”

She picked up a bag as I forced myself to stand up, my body protesting with its tired and sore muscles. “My lady you may have your bed, I won’t kick you out.”

“No need my lord, there’s a couch I can fit on downstairs, it has been a while since I have fresh air so I won’t mind at all. Sleep well Rohirrim.” With that she disappeared leaving Erchirion grimacing.

Erchirion lightly chuckled and turned to me. “Of course, the one night I plan on her not being here she is, which in my defense she said she wasn’t coming back tonight. Sorry my friend, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I shook my head. “If it’s anyone’s fault its mine, I should have known I had chambers at the Citadel.”

The Prince of Dol Amroth shrugged. “We are all exhausted. That’s a tomorrow idea. Night my friend.”

Waving him off I gave a small chuckle. “Night.”

With his departure and closure of the room’s door, I dropped back on the bed. With my back on the mattress I stared up into the dark ceiling. I willed for sleep to come, needed it for my body and to have a moment of peace.

The list of jobs I need to do began to fill through my mind. A never-ending list, one that started a simple note in the head now turned into a town crier screaming of farming, rebuilding homes, mating horses and so on.

All of those screams of things to do stopped all of a sudden when I remembered the Princess who was here earlier. If I had had any sleep this week I would remember where I know her from. There was something about her voice that pulls at my memory.

The image of the healer who stitched up my neck came to mind. The one who decided she wouldn’t let me walk past with a bloody rag around my neck and pushed me onto the bench. Erchirion said his sister works at the House of Healing, could that really have been the Princess of Dol Amroth? The Swan of Dol Amroth, someone whose beauty, diplomacy and charm is spoken about even in Rohan. Could she really be bossy, ordering men about and stich men up in hallways?

Well, she did wave off an introduction with me. I suppose tomorrow I’ll get my answer when I see her for breakfast tomorrow, if she is still around.

With that thought, I finally drifted off to sleep.