#elu series

[riceandcurry3]

All good gay media has an amazing party scene

[sol-flo]

um ok i actually went into ao3 to see if i was maybe not the only person this specific kind of insane on the internet and. well i might be because there were zero hits but there's actually an unexpected [1] amount of agatha christie fics?? 1-2 for specific books. as for specific detectives: 2 for parker pyne. 10 for tommy and tuppence. 14 for mr quin. 159 for miss marple. 341 for poirot. slay.

[1] maybe it shouldn't be given she's a powerhouse best-seller

[did-sm1-say-catfish]

i have my theories, and its mainly because we're already so attached to the characters. obviously the writer doesnt have to make them oh-so-canonically accurate, but we still know who they are. we already know the subtle references that the author makes; we already know the nicknames and terms of endearment that they call each other; we already know their various quirks and sillies; we already know their family, and friends, and loved ones, or lack of loved ones! we dont have to go through 25 chapters of get-to-know-you before we can squeal. we dont have to wait 1000 years for the next book in the series to be published just to find out that the gay people dont kiss. reading books is like being dumped into a fantasy world, naked and afraid. you dont know whats going on, and you just have to figure it out. oh, also, youre a newborn and you have to relive life again just to be able to get to the part where shit happens.

No but why is reading fanfiction way easier than starting a new book

[godlyheathens]

tô meio distraída hoje pensando #nele

[ladysternchen]

All of Arda Is Autistic- Elu Thingol

“And what exactly are you doing here?”

Elu jumped so much at the sound of her voice that he almost dropped the neatly wrapped parcel in his hand. Melian’s grey eyes sparkled in the dark, and though her expression was unfathomable, Elu could sense her faint amusement.

“Um…”

Being caught red-handed, so to say, made him feel like a little child that had been discovered in some mischief-making, and however much he tried to convince himself that he was not, that he was an Elvenking and Lord of Beleriand to boot, he could not shake the feeling off.   

“You have not, of course, tried to sneak some way-bread from under my nose, did you, my dear? Or are you still to tell me of travel-plans I do not know about yet?”

He drew himself up to his full height, looking back at his wife defensively.

“You know full well I wouldn’t go anywhere without telling you!”

She raised an eyebrow, her arms folded before her chest.

“Well then, lord, you might want to tell me what you just stole that lembas for!”

“I didn’t steal… can’t a king even take what supplies he needs within his own kingdom?”

“No. Because the lembas belongs to our wardens, and to the healers who may give it to the wounded if need be. It is certainly not meant for any elf who is just too lazy to eat, not even if that elf happens to be you!”

Elu sighed deeply, and put the parcel back, wondering vaguely if he had indeed been able to fool Melian for that past centuries or if she had -for reasons best known to herself- only now decided that this was one time too many. She didn’t speak as she stepped closer to him and wrapped him in her embrace, and he pressed his nose into her black curls, inhaling that familiar scent deeply.

“I love you…” he murmured, which made Melian laugh.

“I love you, too, but you’re evading my question: what were you doing with that lembas?”

He raised his eyebrows at her. As if she didn’t know the answer herself.

“Well, what do you think I was going to do with it? Live off it for a while.”

Again, Melian sighed deeply. 

“It doesn’t work like that, Elu. Lembas is no substitute for real food, not on long term. Oh, come on, who’s the Maia here who needed to learn about those things?”

She was still talking as if in jest, though he could make out the concern behind her serene tone.

“We lived off little else on the journey. Had Oromë not given it to us, none of us would ever have made it to Beleriand.”

“Yes, beloved…” she answered in a tone that would have been well fit for an elfling who refused to believe that water indeed was wet “… that’s what it was made for, thus it is called way-bread. But we’re not on a journey. We’re home, so stay away from my lembas!”

Elu could not help but scowl at her.

“Fine. Then I’ll have to learn to bake it myself!”

Predictably, Melian went into a fit of laughter at this, and Elu had to admit that the idea was indeed funny- as he knew full well that the art of making lembas was taught to only a few handpicked ellith, and needed to be blessed by Melian, and that he had no way ever to succeed in that task. 

“Ah, it’s almost worth wasting the corn to see you try.” she said, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. “That would give all of Beleriand something to laugh for a while!”

“It would also be worth it just to make my point.”

Melian laid her head on his shoulder again.

“A battle of wills, then? Something you think you can but win, because you know I would never let you starve? Really, Elu? Why can’t you just come with me and join the others in our evening meal? You know you’ll get whatever you want!”

“It’s…” 

Suddenly, he was at a loss of what to say. He had never found eating easy, not even in his earliest memories. He had become quite skilled in slipping Olwë (and much later again Elmo) his share of the food without their parents noticing, trusting that even if his baby-brother didn’t eat it, he would still love to play around with it. He shuddered even now when he remembered his brother examining with glee the different textures of the various foods. Later, when they had left Cuiviénen for good, and Oromë had gifted them with the first lembas, he had rejoiced even more than everyone else, as this truly was the perfect solution as far as he was concerned. And then, of course, when he had stood unmoving with Melian in Nan Elmoth, he had not needed to eat, and had never truly relearned it since. 

“I just don’t like eating. Especially not with everyone else around.”

He was starting to feel more and more nettled, and he knew he needed to get out of this conversation quickly, before he said something he would later regret. Melian, clearly sensing his emotions, stepped away from him, giving him the space he needed. They stood in silence for a while, then she spoke again, though softly this time.

“I did not mean to upset you, beloved, I am worried about you… here’s a deal: you accept that I am the one to give away the lembas, and no one else. And you try your best to eat normal food, but if you really can’t manage sometimes, you come to me, and I shall give you some? Does that sound like an agreement?”

Swallowing his pride, he nodded, for however much he searched for an argument against her proposal, he couldn’t find one. Then, when it truly sank in what she had just offered, he pulled her back into his arms.

“Thanks!” he mumbled.

[razzmicjay]

Winn's pronouns: Part II

(followup-ish to this post)

Ok, so I checked all the available dubs on Netflix Belgium to see how other languages refer to nonbinary people and... they handle it pretty good!

I don't have the answer for all languages tbh, I'm not familiar enough with japanese or korean and their language structure to tell how they translated the series, but almost all other languages either give no pronouns (the language works that way) or use they/them (or some similar neutral pronoun).

Hebrew and Mandarin use 'masculine' they/them, which is a pronoun that naturally exists in both languages though using it to refer to a single individual is pretty new. Great languages for demigender people to learn!

Romance languages (think Portuguese, French, Spanish, ect.) use neopronouns. It's fun to see that, though it was recently created, all romance neopronouns look and sound similar (ile, iel, elu, ...)!

Three languages, however, directly went the "he/him" way:

Castellano (Spaniard Spanish), which is weird cause you can choose not to use pronouns;

Romanian, which sucks but considering most romanian rp servers ban you if you play as the "wrong" gender... I get it;

Norwegian, which came as a surprise.

Like IDK if it's just my European perception of the Nordics, but I always see them as super open-minded. Not sure what happened here...

All that to say, I'm happily surprised to see that China is shown as more open to nonbinary people in kids media than some European countries. Way to go, guys!

[livefromthedas]

(Full Chapter Here on AO3)

“We… are going to run out of chess pieces,” Rook mused.

“I swear I saw another set in Emmrich’s study,” Harding stood, leaning to leave her teacup on the table, “I’ll go ask him.”

“Thanks, Lace,” Evka smiled.

It had become a very long, very full day. By late evening, the Lighthouse had fielded a visit from a trio of Mourn Watchers (Another haunting reported in Antiva), while Neve and Taash had left for Docktown, chasing a lead about Venatori movements from the Threads. Rook had nearly gone with them, in fact, when a bottleneck at the Vi’Revas had resulted in Davrin, Antoine and Evka arriving just as Neve had been ready to depart. With word that the blight ruptures were, despite all efforts, only worsening in the Hossberg Wetlands, Rook made the call to stay behind and help problem-solve.

Now, well past a dinner of leftover stew, with Bellara’s big brain energy for added assistance, Rook and her fellow Veil Jumper, Davrin, Antoine and Evka huddled at the center of the Library, upon chairs pulled close to the table between them. That table was strewn with coffee, tea, and more importantly, a series of exhaustively detailed, interconnected maps. Details had been scrawled by hand on parchments and maps alike, and after hours of comparing notes on successfully eradicated blight boils in the area, the group had created an intricate pattern of chess pieces across the mapped landscape, tracking its spread.

It was not unusual for the Lighthouse to play host to the Grey Wardens, particularly in recent weeks. The Hossberg Wetlands were, physically speaking, cold, wet, and miserably blighted. And, Rook had reasoned, there was nothing about planning their next move there that couldn’t be done far more comfortably from “home.”

As such, it had become commonplace to host Antoine and Evka as guests over hot drinks, warm food, and a massive pile of Grey Warden missives. Evka had noted to Rook in confidence, since, that she’d come to look forward to those visits. The time away from the eerie chatter from the Blight that her husband was especially sensitive to had been doing Antoine quite a bit of good.

“Oh, oh no,” Bellara said, shuffling through papers, “There’s three more. We missed the well near the east gate, and look, just like we said when we found it,” she moved a book aside that had found use as a paperweight, and traced a finger down the course of their maps to the west, “That eruption from the north river is still infecting the farm to the south, even though we helped clear out the source.”

Rook sighed, suddenly fumbling with a few of the various pockets in her vest - she had to have something she could use.

“Ah!” She grinned, “Here.”

Slim hands freed various weird looking nuts and bolts of old Elven tech she’d picked up as a Veil Jumper and simply never discarded in the off chance they’d find some use. She placed three on the spots Bellara had noted.

“And as I suspected,” Antoine grinned with that thick Orlesian accent of his, “The blight may be chaotic at a glance, but it is still organic. And anything organic,” he stood, tall and lanky, rounding the table amid his study of the map, “Works in patterns.”

“If that’s the case, we’re clearly missing some pieces to the puzzle,” Davrin leaned forward, “Here, here, and two more to the south. Likely in caves we just haven’t managed to scout yet, this far into the foothills.”

“And maybe a well or basement we haven’t managed to pinpoint yet in the fields,” Rook agreed.

“Well, that certainly narrows our search,” Evka grinned.

Davrin agreed, looking relieved, sparing a chin-scratch to the Griffon napping at his feet, “By a lot, actually.”

“We can have wardens scout these areas by morning,” Said Evka.

Antoine grinned, “We may get ahead of this yet, my love.”

“Oooh.”

Rook glanced up suddenly at Bellara’s conspiratorial whisper and nudge. After hours of problem solving and concessions with houses Cantori and De Riva, Lucanis had come jogging up the stairs from the Eluvian room below.

“I say we got this, right?” Bel grinned, gathering the missives from Rook’s lap.

“Right,” Rook laughed. She was quick to apologize to their guests, but happy to at least leave them with more answers than questions, “Excuse me, everyone.”

“That went long - did you at least eat?”

Lucanis chuckled at the immediate fussing, fully lifting the elf from her feet in a hug, and already pacing for the door before he’d set her down again, “Well, in fact. Viago insisted on Atardecer Roja.”

Rook was familiar with the bistro, at least in passing. She’d heard Teia insist the place was the “only decent Antivan food in Minrathos” more than once.

“Something is stirring at Villa Dellamorte, though we are not yet sure what for,” Lucanis said as they made their way across the courtyard, “Valentin arrived around dinner, mentioned much of the help getting roped into preparations. And Illario has requested security assistance from Viago and Teia both, on standby.”

“Illario moves fast,” Rook said.

“When he can be bothered.”

Lucanis was clearly ready to pack it in after such a long day. He had himself free of a number of belts and daggers, an elegant burgundy half-cape and gloves by the time they strode into the Dining Hall.

“Mierda, the quiet,” he muttered gratefully to the otherwise unoccupied space. He then glanced back over his shoulder bemusedly - Rook was already pulling at the ties of the corset beneath his coat.

While the man’s rigorous daily fitness routine assured there was nothing for the corset to keep contained in a traditional sense… It was fantastic for posture. Or, so he had explained.

“There,” she gave him an affectionate pat as lacings came loose, “Go, get comfortable. I’ll put on a kettle.”

It was always funny to Rook, Lucanis’s idea of “Comfortable.” It usually just meant “Less Knives.”

Within five minutes the assassin came wading back out of the pantry looking immaculately dressed as ever, expensive looking vest, shirt and slacks tailored perfectly and worn even better, and adorned with intricate silver crow skulls for buttons.

Ever the busy-body, Rook already had beans ground and coffee cups at the ready, and was fishing around shelves for Lucanis’s stash of chocolate.

“It is late,” he mused, pausing to watch her work with a lazy, endeared smile, “Have you considered maybe taking it easy?”

“Hey, you know taking it easy would be better with chocolate,” Rook joked amongst her search.

She heard him sigh, but ignored it. Rook only paused when Lucanis strode up behind her and reached over her shoulder to pull the right tin from its place. She nearly went to take it from him, too, but he set it on the counter instead, wrapping both arms around her middle in a warm, protective hug, his beard tickling a bit of bare shoulder as he pressed a lingering kiss there. Rook grinned, eyelids growing heavy on comfort - this was new. This was nice.

The kettle began to whistle. Lucanis broke to fetch it before she could.

“I knew a Veil Jumper for a while,” she said, breaking into the tin, “Who absolutely insisted that the best cup of coffee he ever had came mixed with a bit of chocolate and cream. And since Bellara and I were able to swing by the market on the way home this morning— What?”

Lucanis guided her to face him, his dark eyes full of mischief. She realized the kettle had been left beside the stove.

“In a bit,” he purred quietly, and something about his tone made the butterflies wake in her belly, “I think I have an even better idea.”

Rook laughed daftly, “Better than coffee and chocolate?”

“Rumor has it.”

She squint at him slyly as he ushered her off toward the pantry, teasing, “Ok, fella - who are you, and what have you done with Lucanis Dellam—“

She had barely turned to greet him past the pantry’s threshold when a gasp was stolen from her lips. Without a breath’s thought, Lucanis had stepped into her space, hands rising reverently to her jaw, guiding her into a kiss.

A tiny, genuinely startled murmur escaped her with the heated blush that swept her face to the tips of her ears. Rook forgot how to breathe.

Tender. Warm. Incredibly gentle. Rook melted into that kiss, in defiance of a swimming head and a quickening pulse, reveling in the taste and feel of him, and the endearing way his thumbs brushed lovingly at her cheeks. Only once he pulled back, ever slightly, to look at her did she manage a breath. Her glassy gaze caught his, and she found herself searching dark eyes that were both adoring and heated at once.

“Hey,” she barely managed, voice cracking. Her eyes had already wandered back to his lips, which teased a smile from the assassin.

“Hey,” he chuckled back.

Her heart rate did not slow, and their composure did not last. Rook pulled him right back in for the kiss she had been craving for months. The rumble of a groan he breathed into that contact - headier than she expected - only egged them on further.

Lucanis deepened that kiss deliciously. Her lips parted to greet him as he tasted her, one hand lacing possessively into her hair, the other to her hip, pulling her into him, holding her close.

Coffee and whatever expensive wine he’d shared over his talks with the Talons stole Rook’s senses, mingling exquisitely with cologne and a scent that was deeply, intrinsically him. In little time at all, Rook was flustered beyond reason. But Maker, she craved him in whatever fashion he’d allow.

“Rook…”

Minutes later, with his hair in disarray from the gorgeous elf’s wandering hands and with a gaze that had dipped from warm brown to black, Lucanis pulled back, shuttering to catch his breath. He’s become so warm to the touch, Rook mused, every sinew in the man tensed in a manner that felt barely restrained. His hands caressed warmly down the length of her back.

His brow had furrowed, and he pressed his forehead to her own. Lucanis’s eyes searched hers, trying to read her, and she suspected, trying to find the right words.

“You don’t have to stop, vehnan,” she whispered between them, heartbeat a ruckus in her ears. A mischievous smile teased her lips, only to broaden at the breath that escaped him as she baited, “I’d actually rather you didn’t.”

For a brief moment, Lucanis wavered between a curious, wicked flirt, and thoughts that struck him both painfully and enticingly at once.

Grief. Confusion. Anguish. Fear. He had walled up so many barriers against her for so many months, only to have them rendered refuse at their feet, a paltry ash, again and again.

Time and time again Rook had proven - She was safe. She was safety.

She was his.

Realization refused to be denied further - it was safe to believe her. To cave into the want - the need of her. Fuck, did he need her. And now, best of all; he had permission.

Lucanis pulled her to him once again, more heated than ever.

(Read the Rest on AO3)

[thelonelybrilliance]

thelonelybrilliance/TolkienGirl: My Year in Fanfic

In addition to posting a nice even number of unique fics for AO3 scrolling purposes (60), I also launched some ambitious projects, finally wrote a few one-shots for my favorite small fandoms, and completed some megafics. The Silmarillion Gold Rush AU (cc: @abadpoetwithdreams and @wearetakingthehobbitstogallifrey) is steadily progressing. @mapleymood and I are bringing The Summer I Turned Pretty into the realm of literature 😉. And my endless analysis of Friday Night Lights with @itspileofgoodthings has produced yet more fictional musings.

Without further ado:

COMPLETED MULTI-CHAPS:

Pharmakós - An epic, entirely original saga that took several years to complete (started in 2021). In our Gold Rush retelling of The Silmarillion, the Finwean cousins (Maedhros, Fingon, Finrod) lead a diplomatic delegation to Doriath, only to encounter unexpected friends and foes under Elu Thingol's roof

The Figurehead - My take on Stranger Things Season 5, with Steve/Nancy as the heart and soul. Picks up right where Season 4 left off (started in 2022)

with unbroken rhythm - Estrela waits in Mithrim. But Mithrim itself is not unchanging, and unlikely news has a way of finding its mark (Gold Rush AU)

here is my hand, my heart, my throat, my wrist - Maedhros, finding his voice (Gold Rush AU)

WIP MULTI-CHAPS:

crooked love (in a straight line down) - Broken promises, distant memories... Taylor Jewel and Jeremiah Fisher should have nothing in common but mutual resentment. Why do they share a growing understanding instead? (The Summer I Turned Pretty crack-treated-seriously sequel, with @mapleymood)

nativity scenes - An ongoing look at the first memories around each Finwean grandchild's birth (with @abadpoetwithdreams and @wearetakingthehobbitstogallifrey, Gold Rush AU)

To the Young Who Want to Die - Sequel to Pharmakós; a not-entirely-triumphant return to Mithrim (Gold Rush AU)

Penetralium - A different sequel to Pharmakós; Melkor Bauglir moves house, licks his wounds, and regroups (Gold Rush AU)

ONE-SHOTS (by fandom):

The Silmarillion

Gold Rush AU 2024 Installments

Red Rising

born to raise the sons of earth - She’s proven Eo right. And it wasn’t because of me. It wasn’t because of love. It was because it was the right thing to do, and because mighty Kavax was more a father to her than her own ever was. (Mustang, pre-series & Morning Star)

Lights that do mislead the Morn - If she didn’t love him, why learn him? (Mustang/Cassius, Morning Star)

Swan Song - It’s only now, loitering at the threshold of the med-bay, that Mustang can admit she’s been avoiding this moment. She’s afraid of her brother. She’s afraid of losing Darrow—and the future she’s trying to safeguard for them both. For Pax, her deepest thoughts whisper, half-haunted that even the voices in her head can be heard by listening ears intent on betrayal. She’s afraid of the war turning inward, ally against ally. She shouldn’t be afraid of the man in the bed. (Mustang/Cassius, Morning Star)

looking for an easier world - How I miss them—the friends whose lives have marched on without me. (Cassius, Dark Age)

worth no less than a brother - Today, instead of Aurae’s ministrations and musical voice, I have a bloodydamn Bellona with coffee-breath aiming hits at every part of my body that hasn’t already sustained major trauma. (Darrow & Cassius, Light Bringer)

Wasteland - He is not a man on a journey. He is not a man who can afford to fail. (Diomedes, Dark Age)

Imperative - “I wonder how he shall bear death,” Roque muses. He selects a grape to pluck. How he can eat them after Fitchner—“Even after everything, I wonder that.” (Cassius & Roque, Morning Star)

we can still hear the sound of the surf (though we shall land no more) - Kalindora told me to trust this man, who holds a wicked, serrated blade over my chest and purses his lips as if deep in thought. (Lysander & Atlas (& Cassius), Light Bringer)

A Deep-Sworn Vow - “You think I’m a man?” “I think you’re a pissant little boy possessed by a demon.” (Victra/Sevro, Morning Star)

forgetting is a kind of mercy - Even with her heart carefully armored by layers of fierce temper and her tongue as sharp as one of her blades, it is her turn to be compassionate, because it is my mother who is dead. (Pax & Electra, Dark Age)

the dead do not suffer the living to pass  - Three lives, three passages. (Julian, Pax, Cassius, Red Rising)

Friday Night Lights

Clear Eyes - Season 2 Codas (ongoing - 11/15 completed)

in what distant deeps or skies - Smash and Tim go on an adventure (s1)

I lie to myself all the time (but I never believe me) - Like a bruise, is hope. You have to come around to its existence, its tenderness. (Tim, Jackie, Bo, s1)

you know it might be worth it for once - Come into my life, she was saying, like he’d never left it. (Tim/Tyra, s5)

The Queen's Thief

had chosen thus to fling his soul - “This will be the last journey, I promise,” she murmured, after a moment. “Another mark beside my name,” he said lightly. (Gen & Helen, pre-Queen of Attolia)

we insist on love (when all we want is mercy) - Every power that Eugenides knew—and some, maybe, that he didn’t—had brought him here, alone at the foot of a secret stairwell, waiting for a queen who wasn’t his. (Gen/Irene, Queen of Attolia)

a swing in prime - The truth of his loneliness was the only thing he could never tell her. Honesty stopped short when checked by love. (Gen/Irene, King of Attolia)

neutral islands - Helen did not know whether she ought to take note of her own enjoyment of Sophos’ company… yet enjoy it she did. (Helen/Sophos, A Conspiracy of Kings)

a kind of contentment - Eugenides, Kamet, and promises kept. (Gen & Kamet, flashback connected to Thick as Thieves)

A Shop for Killers

Dragonfly - Amidst all her learning—their learning—about how to be people who shared a roof and pretended not to share a history, Jian was the only witness to the slow development of her uncle’s real self. (Jeong Jinman & Jeong Jian)

Gethsemane - One does not walk into hell and expect a favorable outcome. (Jeong Jinman & Jeong Jian)

Pride and Prejudice

just as they used to be then - “I have commissioned a Mr. Plimer to come and take your portraits while you are at home,” Mr. Darcy said, seeming satisfied with the explanation he had received. “He is an accomplished miniaturist, and I believe the small table in my room will be amply improved by the addition of your three faces, if you will oblige me.” It was a compliment that could not but bear a sting. (Darcy & Wickham, pre-canon)

Mara, Daughter of the Nile

behold thou my heart (which grieveth for thee) - Sheftu had plucked hope like a flower, even while he should have heeded its thorn. (Mara/Sheftu, missing scene post-canon)

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

like rain carrying the memory of lightning - Confound the girl, but she’s in every sky and storm, in every wave and calm. (Kit/Nat, Nat POV missing scene)

White Collar

Patchwork Man - Back in the world, new anklet and old digs—it doesn’t have to be perfect to be too good to be true. Because that’s the heart of the matter, isn’t it? When you slip the noose, the world doesn’t become a kinder place, and it certainly doesn’t stop turning. (Neal & Peter, s2)

Once Upon a Time

parallels - It’s a bad day to be Emma Swan, sure. But it’s also a bad day to be an overly self-assured, literally underhanded pirate. (Captain Swan, s2)

The Office/Friday Night Lights

the drop-dead dream (the chosen one) - In which Michael Scott does not mourn his stepdad (unless he does), and has his life changed at a Dillon Panthers game (unless he doesn't).

[mis-on-au]

Books by Gerda Kordemets based on Klass (2007) and its sequel series Klass: Elu pärast (2010)

Gerda Kordemets is an Estonian theatre and film director, playwright, theatre critic, and culture journalist. She was involved in creation of the movie as an executive director and prodused its sequel series.

Years later Gerda Kordemets began working on novels based on the above-mentioned projects. According to the source, a total of three books were planned, two of which were successfully published in 2013.

KLASS ILMAR RAAGI FILMI "KLASS" AINETEL

illustrations by Kärt Koosapoeg

ANNOTATION:

❝ The reason for publishing a book based on Ilmar Raag's movie is the sad fact that its theme still hasn't lost its relevance. The text of the book written by Gerda Kordemets reaches the reader with the same power as the language of the film.

The subject of the story is injustice. To what extent does human dignity allow one to tolerate injustice? And at what point does resistance to this turn into violence? ❞

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

KLASS: ELU PÄRAST ERR-i SARJA PÕHJAL

illustrations by Kärt Koosapoeg

ANNOTATION :

❝ The novel based on the popular and award-winning TV series picks up where Klass left off. Now it's trying to solve the unsolvable: how to keep on living with such a burden? The internal monologues of the characters give a psychologically accurate representation of different types of people, their suffering, self-accusations and justifications, but also tells us about honor, responsibility and justice. Well-written vivid characters make the reader wonder: what could I . . . ? ❞

It's worth mentioning that this novel only tells about the events of the first three episodes of the series of the same name. The last of the planned books was supposed to be based on the remaining four episodes, but unfortunately it was never published.

[allthatglittersisnotgoldrush]

The Road So Far: A Brief Summary of the Gold Rush AU (Part I, by TolkienGirl)

Recently a reader brought to our attention the need for a succinct narrative summary of the events of the AU. In addition to compiling that (please see Part I, covering the "pre-series" timeline through Maedhros' capture), we refer you to our Wordpress, which includes a timeline and an organization of our first four "Series"... that is, the order of chapter fics and one-shots, vignettes and flashbacks etc., into plot arcs that could roughly provide the basis for "All That Glitters," the prestige TV show.

EVENTS OCCURING PRE-1851

 [Stories detailing these events are sprinkled throughout the chronological timeline]

The pre-canon timeline begins in the late 1700s/early 1800s when Finwe, a talented metalworker, emigrates from Ireland, settles in Philadelphia to work in the steel-business, and marries Miriel (whose mental and physical health are precarious). Feanor is born in 1807, when Miriel dies in childbirth. Finwe, a Catholic, marries Indis, an Anglican woman (whose family disapproves of the match) in 1808. Thereafter, Fingolfin (1809) and Finarfin (1810) are born.

When Feanor is going on eighteen, Finwe relocates to New York, where Manwe Sulimo is a rising politician. Finwe is interested in locally representing Irish interests. Feanor is apprenticed in Boston to Aule, a blacksmith, and meets Nerdanel (b. 1809), then a lonely girl in finishing school.

They are married in 1827, despite the disapproval of Nerdanel’s Scottish father (Mahtan), settle in the Hudson Valley on Formenos farm, and have seven sons: Maedhros (b. 1828), Maglor (b. 1829), Celegorm (b. 1832), Caranthir (b. 1835), Curufin (b. 1836), and twins Amrod and Amras (b. 1837).

Meanwhile, Finarfin elopes with Earwen in Ulmo’s Bridge (Missouri) in 1828, temporarily earning Finwe’s disapproval. Finrod is born in 1829, Angrod in 1833, Aegnor in 1834, and Galadriel in 1836.

Fingolfin marries Anaire (of French descent) in NYC in 1830. Fingon is born in 1831, Turgon in 1833, Aredhel in 1834, and Argon in 1837.

In 1832, Manwe’s older brother Melkor Bauglir (who inherited the family plantation in the antebellum South) visits New York, taking an interest in influencing politics. At a dinner hosted by Manwe, Finwe and Feanor encounter Melkor, and Feanor (being an abolitionist, naturally) helps Melkor’s slave Rumil, an accomplished mapmaker, escape.

Following his encounter with Melkor, Feanor’s paranoia increases, which leads him to be stricter with his children (especially Maedhros) and to secretly abuse Maedhros as a way of trying to teach him to endure pain. When Nerdanel discovers this, she puts a stop to it, but Maedhros develops an early understanding that he is to serve as a protector of his family, including his father, if need be.

In 1835, Finwe is elected to City Council in New York. In 1837, Feanor buys an additional home in the City to keep tabs on his half-family. In 1841, Rumil, who has relocated to California, has met a land-holder and cattle-rancher, Elu Thingol (a Spaniard, married to a Chinese woman, Melian). Rumil and Thingol have negotiated for Rumil to take over a property called Mithrim, which contains a diamond mine that Rumil thinks Feanor would be best able to help access and harvest. Feanor conducts a secret mission to California, reconnecting with Rumil, building the Mithrim bridge, and finding a large diamond. Suspicious of Feanor’s activity, Melkor visits Formenos in April (shortly after Feanor’s departure) and takes an interest in 13-year-old Maedhros. Without Feanor to manage the farm or provide for the family, Nerdanel and the boys endure a hard winter. Maedhros begins to develop a tendency towards disturbing premonitions.

Feanor returns in 1842, gifting the diamond to Finwe. Melkor, intrigued by the happenings out west, visits Doriath but is turned away after showing lecherous attentions to 13-year-old Luthien. He begins to explore the continental U.S. more broadly, and, in doing business with a former nautical mapmaker, takes an interest in his 18-year-old daughter Estrela (Arien). After Estrela refuses his proposal of marriage, Melkor has his protégé Mairon capture and torture her. Renamed “Belle,” she is then enslaved as part of a workforce that Melkor uses to advance his westward projects, supervised by a former plantation overseer of his, Cosomoco Gothmog.

In 1843, Morgoth’s steel manufacturing enterprise (one of his eastern ventures) is found to be corrupt and rife with worker abuse. He is recalled from his western travels and sanctioned. He is confined to house arrest rather than being imprisoned. Meanwhile, Feanor sends Maedhros and Maglor to be educated in the city, though he chooses not to send any of the younger boys, which negatively contributes to Celegorm’s self-perception. For the next several years, Maedhros struggles against the temptations of high society while Maglor begins a promising musical education/career. There is increasing unrest between Feanor and his half-family, but Fingon and Maedhros form a very strong mutual friendship.

In 1847, Finwe retires from City Council (with a ceili/party at Formenos). Maedhros meets Finrod’s friend Esther Landau, a young Jewish woman. Feanor and Finwe intend to have Maedhros fill Finwe’s seat on City Council, while Maedhros is more interested in proposing to Esther. In the end, neither event comes to pass: at the end of 1848, Maedhros rejects his grandfather and father’s plans, quarrels with Feanor, and privately breaks off his relationship with Esther without ever introducing her to his family. Just before this, Finrod departs on a solo western adventure.

Meanwhile, Melkor has been quietly released from his imprisonment. In addition to his frontier developments, which he has been remotely managing, he now advises Manwe and other council members. Feanor is aware enough of this to wish for Maedhros to help him investigate Melkor’s doings.  By 1849, Maedhros has sunk into a debauched lifestyle, which Fingon (studying to be a doctor under Olorin the physician) is largely unaware of but which Fingolfin notices and is dismayed by. Increasingly paranoid, Feanor threatens Fingolfin’s life after a tense spring and growing conflicts. This creates a rift between Fingon and Maedhros for a time.

In 1850, Melkor has Finwe murdered on the front steps of his home and steals the diamond. Feanor is convinced that Melkor had a hand in the murder, but is unable to completely convince Fingolfin. Maedhros and Fingon reconcile to an increased degree, although both still feel uncertain.

EVENTS OCCURRING 1851 – mid-1852 (“SERIES ONE”)

The timeline for the story officially begins in 1851, in New York. Finrod has recently returned from his western exploration, during which he befriended Beren, whose (now-extinct) tribe is indigenous to the Pacific Northwest, and who, some years before, met and fell in love with Luthien in Doriath. Still unable to seek justice for Finwe’s death, Feanor now wishes to move out west and join Rumil at Fort Mithrim. Feanor and Maedhros gain information from Finrod about the gold prospects in California.

Manwe selects Melkor as the spearhead of the western railroad expansion. Disgusted by this assignment of power, Fingolfin agrees to join Feanor in relocating. Finrod intends to go as well. Finarfin and the rest of his family stays behind, but Galadriel (Artanis) secretly stows away with Fingolfin’s train. Feanor, who is leaving first, has been entrusted with the money to procure wagons at Ulmo’s Bridge in Missouri, where Finarfin’s father-in-law Olwe lives. Nerdanel initially opposes the plan to go west, but is persuaded by the inevitable.

On the road, Feanor and his family encounter Gothmog, who taunts them with Melkor’s rising power and the diamond taken from Finwe’s body. Gothmog injures Nerdanel, which increases Feanor’s resolve to move quickly and trust nobody. In early July 1851, Feanor double-crosses Fingolfin and the townspeople at Ulmo’s Bridge, stealing enough wagons for himself and destroying the res, then killing a number of the town’s militia. He then escapes by burning the titular bridge behind them, knocking Maedhros unconscious when he (Maedhros) refuses to cooperate. Nerdanel, having refused to join in this plan, remains behind.

Now wanted, Feanor, Maedhros, and the other boys continue west, collecting new allies along the way, largely through Maedhros’ recruiting efforts. Celegorm engages in a skirmish that ends with a man being killed and a new manhunt being launched. Maedhros also barters sex for information with a string of barmaids and prostitutes along the way, including Melkor’s spy Thuringwethil, who assaults and scars him by way of claiming a “trophy” for Bauglir.

Rumil tries and fails to communicate to Feanor that increased hostility in the vicinity of Mithrim means it is no longer a safe place for them to join forces. Mairon has insinuated himself as a spy within Mithrim, for a time, and then massacred several of Rumil’s best men. An increased number of militia-men of unknown allegiance are also patrolling the countryside and harassing Mithrim’s inhabitants (who include natives tribespeople and former slaves).

Meanwhile, Fingolfin and his family arrive at Ulmo’s Bridge to find themselves betrayed. After seeing Nerdanel, who intends to return east to Indis, Fingolfin chooses to advance his course with a northward river-crossing. Turgon’s wife Elenwe gives birth to their daughter Idril on the trail, which causes the family as a whole to stop for a time (as autumn closes in). After leaving Elenwe and Idril with a settler family, Fingolfin’s company continues onward. They encounter a posse seeking to revenge Celegorm’s kill, which results in Argon’s death. Fingolfin’s company flees farther north and is caught in a Nebraska blizzard which takes Anaire’s life. While the rest starve, snowbound, they are rescued by Haleth (a native leader who works cooperatively with Thingol, and, unbeknownst to Thingol, with Beren) and her company, which includes Beren and Wachiwi, another native woman who forms a close relationship with Fingon.

Shortly before arriving in Mithrim (between Christmas and New Year’s 1852), Feanor and company encounter Mairon spying on them. After being taunted and questioned by Maedhros, he escapes.

At Mithrim, Rumil is somewhat reluctant to assimilate Feanor’s company. It is revealed that Feanor’s interventions in Mithrim’s development a decade past led to a falling out with Thingol of Doriath, specifically with respect to the diamond mine and the diamond that Feanor gave Finwe. Feanor returns to mining, and also begins to launch attacks on the railroad. Maedhros and Celegorm, on an exploratory mission, discover that the nearby Mount Diablo is being excavated.

Amid growing tensions within Mithrim in the late spring of 1852, Amrod decides to write to Nerdanel. Rumil attempts to mail the letter for him, but returns seriously injured/poisoned. Amrod then rides out himself. Urged by Maedhros and Amras, Feanor and his sons go to find him, but end up embroiled in a standoff with Gothmog at the Utumno headquarters of the railroad project. Feanor is mortally wounded by Gothmog. Maedhros leads the return to Mithrim, but after Feanor dies, rides out without his brothers to attempt to track Amrod down. Mairon and then Gothmog surround and capture Maedhros. Gothmog reveals that Amrod’s horse slipped down a riverbank, and he is presumed dead.

Maedhros is delivered to Melkor in “Angband,” the fortress built within “Thangorodrim” (Mount Diablo).

[languageroom]

Kalamaja blues Manna (Grete Alavere), Olli (Annabel Tanila) ja tema sõber Moonika (Maria Valk) ärkavad hommikul pärast raju pidu. Selgub, et Olli on ära unustanud, et tal on sel päeval figuurjoonistamise järeleksam. Samuti on Manna oma uue mobiili ära kaotanud – kolmik peab hakkama kiirelt tegutsema.

Elu võimalikkusest maal Peeter Paul ja Madli otsustavad asjade käiku kiirendada ning mõisas uue äriprojektiga algust teha. Nad jagavad ülesanded, et kumbki saaks oma tugevustele keskenduda, ent mõlemat ootab ees takistuste rada.

Miks mitte Anna on gümnaasiumi viimases klassis ja peaks agaralt õppima ning ülikooli peale mõtlema. Tema aga unistab hoopis räppariks saamisest! Pöörane mõte – seda enam, et ta on sünnipärane kokutaja. Takkapihta ei ole ta üldse klassikalise räppari moodi – Anna on nohik ja tuupur. Aga see kevad muudab tema elu täielikult! Ja mitte ainult Anna elu ei muutu – kogu ta pere kistakse peadpööritavasse keerisesse.

Eesti (täielik ja kontrollitud) ajalugu Kes olid esimesed inimesed Eestimaal? Kust ja millal nad siia tulid, mida siin tegid, uskusid, sõid ja jõid? Algab Andrus Vaariku retk läbi Eesti ajaloo. Sarja stsenarist on Tauno Vahter, režissöör Raivo Maripuu, toimetaja Kai Väärtnõu ning kunstnik Siiri Taimla-Rannala.

[a-fox-studies]

Tag game!

Thankyou @iwillsurvivecollege for the tag!

Last song: Is It Over Now? by Taylor Swift

Latest show: rewatched modern family season 1 with @studaxy

Currently reading: nothing right now, but planning on starting Wings of Fire series after my exams :3

Currently Watching: ----

Current obsessions: folkore (Taylor Swift's 8th album)

Favourite colour: Blue!

Relationship status: single

Last thing you googled: "mad woman lyrics"

Song stuck in your head: Forever Winter by Taylor Swift

Dream Trip: I really want to go to Egypt :D

Anything you want right now: a good pain day and a productive day

Tagging @asheskies @waynesadie @electrolumen @sapphicacademic @studaxy @rkiveofstudies @elu-xx @thetimelordofcamelot @xiabablog @leaveblackkbrosalone @tenaciousdeveloper @xtekker @variablecemetery

[fauzahocan-arts62]

I missed what happened to tpc here

Disclaimer: speak with my own country language

Fr, tpc bakal cancel selamanya?

Gak habis pikir, dulu masalah quadragonx yang ngambil hak Brittany yang bikin canon cerita Brittany cuma sampe episode 5 dan dia yang lanjutin cerita tpc hingga dia menghilang dan malah gak lanjut(lu kalo gak bisa gak usah claim bngst), breabear yang malah bikin video animasi tpc nge seg gak jelas, ditambah report dan suspend akun fans tpc yang bikin dub, translate sama memes, hingga tahun ini pula Brittany gak jadi lanjut lagi cuma gegara tag doang

Lu masalah sama tag? Cuma ditambahin jsab di belakang doang kok marah, coba lu misal bikin cerita fanfic sendiri dari suatu game/anime/film/series trus pake hastag, di hastag ternyata nama cerita nya ada yg sama dan udah kepake, trus solusinya apa? Y TaMbAhIn nama game/series/film/anime di belakang, auto cuma ada cerita kamu kan di situ dan orang tau itu ada cerita buatan elu dari game/anime/film/series, ngerti kan guna nya apa

Dongo banget 👉🤓👈

Yaudah gw bingung mau bicara apa lagi, pokoknya gw menghilang lagi, mohon maaf baru tau beberapa hari yang lalu, saya undur diri, byee

[kaoarika]

The thing of getting into a new thing (and loving it entirely with my bones) and it's a VERY popular thing is me wanting to post stuff (including spoilers), and kinda wanting to explore its tag... but I'm also a very tired woman in her early 30s that has her grieves about fandom activity as a whole (because i've been in fandom online spaces since a teenager, so) and ppl cannot be nice and I really don't want to interact with too much (esp. shipping?) discourse, despite wanting to see interesting points about all the spoilers and the like.

GOSH.

...I just want to look at (and reblog) nice art of the monster-lover blond man (and his party), that's all.

Note:

I wish I can say the similar thing about und*elu , but I went full into this series in preparation before the anime hit, and luckily? it wasn't AS popular as this one (before the anime*). And even so, I limit my "interaction" with the fandom by posts of another fan.

*(I dunno if I feel blessed that the anime got really screwed up by it being a d*sney/hul*u/sta*r+ worldwide exclusive :/c)

[sincerelyveronica]

Iyanu: Child of Wonder Review

I discovered this graphic novel on the Libby App and was immediately taken away by the cover. One of my goals this year in reading, is to consume more comics and graphic novels. I was not disappointed with Iyanu Child of Wonder!

This comic book series starts with the introduction of Iyanu. A young girl living on the outskirts of a city named Elu. This city is protected by walls to keep the Corrupted out. A darkness that consumes animals and makes them violent towards humans. The Corrputed are spreading and the society within the walls of Elu are crumbling. Something must change and it seems like Iyanu is the answer. But, Iyanu is no ordinary girl. She kept away for a specific reason. No one must know of her special abilities. These abilities that legends says, comes from the Ancient Ones. If she is to be discovered, it could change the state of things.

5/5 Stars

I really enjoyed this comic series! I love finding comics that are different from our normal superhero ones. It's refreshing to change it up a bit. Iyanu was a great start for me to get back into comics again! Firstly, the vibrant colors reeled me in. The colors made me feel like I stepped into this world. I learned a lot interesting facts and notes about Yoruba culture and traditions. The author takes the time to explain the culture and share details about Yoruba traditions, and which parts of Africa they originated from. It was fascinating cause I knew nothing about Yoruba culture. My only takeaway was that the drawing did fall a little flat for me. But, it wasn't anything specific that took me away from the story. I really got invested towards the end. I couldn't put it down and was eager to know more once I finished. I think this a fun series, especially a series that you can introduce to your kids to. It's vivid, imaginative, compelling and fun! I'm looking forward to reading vol. 2!

What's everyone reading this month? Let me know! I curious to know what you like and I also love adding books to my list. It's never ending. Doesn't anyone have this problem or is it just me? Lol!

XOXO

Sincerely,

Veronica

[ladysternchen]

From the Book of Lost Tales to the Silmarillion and further- the rounding off of a character

I'm sweetly going to ignore my half-finished character headcanon/character study-series and write this character study of Elu Thingol and associated character here anew.

And no, I'm not only picking Elu here because he's my favourite and I need to push his defence-agenda, I pick him because he is quite a beautiful example of character development and how characters tend to not do what their creators want them to do (and yes, speaking as a fanfiction-author who borrows him regularly, Elu is a VERY talkative character). Also, he is quite an old character within the Legendarium, and one whose influence is woven throughout Tolkien's works- in other words, Elu Thingol never truly left Tolkien.

I would need a little more time (thanks, kids!) to do some proper research here, to really look up where the concept of him appears first, whether it is in the Book of Lost Tales I as "Linwë Tinto, King of the pipers" who stumbled across the "lonely twilight spirit Wendelin" and danced with her forever beneath the beeches, with only their children Tinúviel and Tinfang Warble later returning amongst the Eldar, or really as Tinwelint in the earliest versions of the 'Tale of Tinúviel", or when these two characters became one in Tolkien's mind.

In both cases, he was a trope. The prince who stumbles across the fairy queen in the woods and is lost (a tale as old as storytelling itself and present in many many cultures- the tale of Tam Lin is just one of them), the king who opposes the marriage of his only daughter (a trope even older than the lost prince, and appearing just about every fairy tale). Not much explaining needed with the latter, the former, however, is more interesting. Because Tolkien, apparently sick and tired with the Fairy Queen always being evil and snatching the prince away from the world, created a Fairy that is good, and a relationship that is not toxic, but one of true and honest love. (Yes, I know there are other interpretations out there, but sorry, this is openly contradicting canon).

Now, there is not much development in the relationship between Elu Thingol and Melian, despite the fact that they do return among the Elves in all but this earliest version, so that part of his character did not really need developing (Elu Thingol the mosterfucker, established. No no, I never said that). Other parts did.

One of the most irksome experiences a writer can make are characters that crawl out of your manuscripts (they all do that, sooner or later. Writers only don't talk about it because everyone thinks them crazy if they do) and side-eye what you've written about them.

"No, that is not me, re-write that!"

Sigh. Some solid advice, if you can, do what they tell you. You need them more than they need you. But with tropes, especially tropes you want and need, that gets difficult. So what does a writer do then? Exactly, they apologise. Telling how much the character is loved by everyone, how they are 'the greatest amongst the Eldar safe for Fëanor alone'. In Elu Thingol's case, this creates this weird situation where the story tells us one thing, while it shows us another. We are told that he was a great king, but what we see of him is... something different. That's unsatisfying, for everyone involved. And that is when characters stay on your mind forever.

There is, of course, a much more scientific explanation for the way Tolkien wrote Elu Thingol than talkative characters- and that is one that is rather obvious to me, but I've truly never seen it expressed anywhere else. You see, a marriage being prevented by an overprotective father is a trope, but it is also a very real experience Tolkien himself made- only that it was his legal guardian rather than Edith's who opposed their relationship. Now, there is no evidence for what I write next, but it is very hard to believe that Tolkien would not write some of his resentment over Father Francis' refusal to allow their relationship into the Tale of Tinúviel- especially since we know that it was Edith herself who was his inspiration for Lúthien. Only the resentment didn't last. Eventually, John Ronald and Edith were wed, with the blessings (although not with the whole-hearted approval) of Francis Morgan, and Father Francis would later even baptise the Tolkiens' first son, who was respectively named after him.

I think it would be going too far to call Father Francis Morgan the inspiration for Elu Thingol as Edith was for Lúthien, but I think Tolkien's own relationship with his legal guardian and only father-figure he had ever known did influence the forming of that character, and certainly not least the respect that Beren almost always shows Elu Thingol- insisting on fulfilling his quest, wanting to return Lúthien to Doriath rather than living with her in the wild, even calming a very angry Lúthien down when she snaps at her father upon their return to Menegroth. Beren later even goes on to not only save his father-in-law's life (WHY, Beren? You blithering idiot!) at the expense of his own, he also goes to war one last time to revenge his murder.

Another really interesting thing is the way Tolkien wrote Elu Thingol in "The Children of Húrin". It almost seems a little out-of-character in contrast to the rest of the Silmarillion, but I really don't think so. I think this is the real King Thingol, the one who was so loved by his people and his family. Why? Well, Tolkien did get much more mellow in his writings as he grew older. The 'Book of Lost Tales' is still written in a very lyrical and archaic style, with the characters being much more self-centred and pompous than in his later works. That accounts for many characters becoming much more likeable, and Elu Thingol is no exception to that. Tinwelint is a much more difficult character than Elu Thingol is. But the 'Children of Húrin' are an old tale, a very old one. And that is at least worthy of notice.

That leaves us with the two last bits that have to come together to complete the character that we today know as Elu Thingol - and that is his death, and his youth.

It is very telling in my opinion that Tolkien himself never found a satisfactory ending to this character. He knew he had to die undefeated by Morgoth (and that truly is an honour shown), and also that he had to die at the hands of the Dwarves without the Dwarves being altogether in the wrong, sparking the conflict that was essential in both the 'Hobbit' and the 'Lord of the Rings'.

Tolkien did write one version that can be read in the 'Book of Lost Tales II', one which he later disregarded and openly disliked (thank God. It took me months and months to get over the beheading 🤮). In that version, both the Dwarves and Elu play VERY dirty indeed, and are driven by nothing more than greed. It's quite disgusting.

Christopher Tolkien and Guy Kay later had to piece together and write anew the 'Ruin of Doriath', and all in all, they did a remarkable job, creating a chapter in which no-one really loses their honour altogether, at least not before their respective people. But there are nonetheless issues. For one, trying to incorporate as much of the original texts as possible, they put the infamous 'uncouth race' in there, a quote that stems from earlier writings (in which language like that was normal) and of which I heartily wish that it hadn't found its way into the published Silmarillion. Not because I want my fave to be better than he is, but because it paves the way to a discussion that I really feels has no room within this very story. No, I still believe that Elu Thingol was never meant to be racist. Why? Because even if you want to see the different species of humanoids in Middle-Earth as an allegory for different human peoples, the fact remains that apart from that last insult, he did not act the racist at all. He greeted and had dealings with the Dwarves for a millennium before that fateful day. He let Haleth and her people life as a free people on his lands. They did never call him their lord, but had his protection when needed. Yes, it was Finrod who persuaded him to do that, but it was still Elu Thingol who granted them Brethil. And I want to stress the point here that the people of Haleth were the only tribe of Men who lived as free people, not as the liegemen of an Elf-lord. Yes, he was very suspicious at first towards Men, but I hate to say it, history proved him very very right. Both within the Legendarium and real life. And he came around. He took Beren as his son-in-law and honoured him, he took in Túrin and loved him like his son, he treated Morwen and Níenor with nothing but the highest respect. No, sorry, that are not the actions of someone who believes himself and his kind worth more than others. Were it not for that accursed insult at the very end.

The other thing I really would have loved to have in the published version of the 'Ruin of Doriath' is the reactions and relationships all around. You get but a little of the grief and despair of Melian in the published version. And I personally am so sad that the relationship between Mablung and Elu got cut so short. I love that they die side by side as friends in the original text. But yeah, that's just me. I have a thing with those two.

That now leaves us with the final changes Tolkien made to the character- making him also Elwë, the ambassador, the best friend of Finwë (and Finwë's voice of reason). I love how Finwë, fiery as he is (*cough* ADHD is heritable *cough*), listens to the lies of Morgoth, while Elwë, ever the cautious one, does not. And I also love how Tolkien puts the same words in Elwë's mouth that he will let Aragorn say an eternity later "I can but choose for myself, and all my people shall do likewise".

And that is pretty solid advice, actually.

@silmarillionwritersguild