#eowyn research

[ooops-i-arted]

Collecting my research here for easy access. As I did when I was a young hobbit spending hours on dial-up for any scrap of LotR costume info, I heavily relied on Alleycatscratch and Costumers' Guide. I will be using the names they use to refer to the costumes.

This outfit was cut from TTT (it originally appeared when Eowyn was fighting orcs in Helm's Deep to allow her people to escape) but was made using components of others: the blue gown is from the Refugee outfit she wears after leaving Edoras onward (sometimes covered by the brown riding coat) and the corset is the same as the white/brown Shieldmaiden dress she wears in RotK and in many of promo images. I am planning to make the Shieldmaiden dress for War of the Rohirrim so I may as well kill two orcs with one stone!

I was doubting if the skirt was split because of the looks in the first and last images, but on my desktop I can see the split more clearly on the gif and you can also see it much clearer here:

Of course given that the split appears to be two different lengths in the images above, there could be two versions of the dress. We know the LotR costumers made multiple versions of everything for sizing reasonings so it's not out of the realm of possibility (afaik Eowyn never had a size double, but perhaps there was one for her scenes with Gimli). It could also just be the corset affecting the way the dress falls, which seems more likely.

For a bit I debated if I wanted the skirt split for looks, but since it's clearly there I'm going to make it split for accuracy, even though I am not going for 100% accuracy in this costume. I am also not going to be accurate with the seams for the collar/neck piece as seen in the dress-only pic above, though I am going to draft my own pattern for the dress because none of the ones I have suit what I want. I am going to do princess seams to make it a bit more fitted (kind of like the Cara top I drafted) but want the skirt to be fuller with only front/back/side seams. I should have a skirt or two I can use as reference for how full I want to make it. The actual fabric is also threaded with gold throughout but I will settle for a blue-grey and not worry about that. The bodice on the pattern I finally found previously (Simplicity 4940, which I bought originally for my Arwen cosplay) looks good for except for some minor tweaks like the neckline and probably lengthening it, but I want to make the dress mockup first so I can fit it over. The real bodice is actually two pieces (bodice and corset) but since this costume is "due" by the end of March I'm going to make the bodice first, hopefully with trim and quilting details to look like the full piece, and add the corset if I had time or in the future when I make my Shieldmaiden costume. (War of the Rohirrim release date is December 2024 rn so I should have time along with the Eowyn as Dernhelm costume I promised my sister.)

The plan thus far:

Create dress pattern and mockup

Create bodice mockup

Make dress

Make bodice

Purchase brown leggings for underneath, possibly wear boots already owned

If time - make corset

If time - boot covers so I can wear tennis shoes with supports because the boots I am eyeing pinch my feet

[essenceofarda]

slowly chipping away at some Farawyn Star Wars Au doodles 👀

[hopeless-eccentric]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Éowyn/Faramir (Son of Denethor II), Boromir (Son of Denethor II) & Faramir (Son of Denethor II) Characters: Éowyn (Tolkien), Faramir (Son of Denethor II), Boromir (Son of Denethor II) Additional Tags: Fluff, Post-War of the Ring, Engagement, Transgender Faramir (Son of Denethor II), Transgender Eowyn (Tolkien), theyre t4t your honor, i have citations, slight miscommunication for comedic purposes, Brotherly Love, in a normal way, Flashbacks, basically reminiscing boromir giving him his first guy haircut, with a sword, Fluff and Humor, a LOT of waxing poetic about how baller eowyn is, Trans Male Character, Trans Female Character, Trans Characters By Trans Author, Coming Out Summary:

Below, Minas Tirith bustled, with the last of the artisans heading home and a score of mirthful tavern-goers preparing to celebrate their wedding with a headache. Dozens of torches burned like stars below, descended just to try and catch a strain or two of the many merry melodies lilting out of open windows.

Even hundreds of feet above, it was a captivating scene to behold. Faramir watched its reflection in Éowyn’s eyes.

 the night before their wedding, Faramir and Éowyn have a long-procrastinated discussion

[popjunkie42]

I’m A Court of Thorns and Roses fanfiction writer, mostly Feysand-focused and all my works are available on AO3. I also have some short poetry pieces and a few art commissions! All works complete unless otherwise noted.

✨Feysand✨

Hate Me Instead 🌶️ - Rhysand and Feyre both struggle with her first visit to the Night Court in this alternative version to early events in ACOMAF. What if Rhysand had stuck around for more for lessons and both of them were making rather poor decisions? From Rhys's POV. Read on AO3.

Eureka - A one-off where Rhysand finds something exciting in one of his dusty old books, and goes on a late-night research tear, much to Feyre's amusement. Nerdy Rhys wears glasses. Read on AO3

Present - Written for Feysand Week 2023. Feyre and Rhys have fallen into a comfortable pattern of training, bantering, and living life on the precipice of war and uncertainty. Rhys tries to enjoy their newfound domesticity while moving between the past, present and future. Read on AO3

One for My Baby, One for the Road - Five nights Feyre lost to the faerie wine Under the Mountain.

Enchanted, Enthralled 🌶️ - Vampire!Feyre is unleashed upon an unsuspecting Rhysand

Blossoming in Winter - A first Hybern war AU inspired by the story of Faramir and Eowyn in Lord of the Rings. Written for the ACOTAR 2023 Gift Exchange for @witchlingsandwyverns. Check out the Playlist.

The Thief and the Rake 🌶️ - (ongoing) A Feysand Regency AU. Forgotten by all good society, the Archerons receive a surprise invitation from a distant relative that gives the sisters a chance for one single season in London.

Painted Blind 🌶️ - (ongoing) What Feyre Archeron wants is simple: enough food, gold and safety to take care of her family. But when a terrifying fae beast crosses the wall and enters the human lands, she finds that simple, safe life slipping out of reach. Part one of an ACOTAR re-telling inspired by the Greek myth of Psyche and Eros.

Chains 🌶️ - (Ongoing) Lucien steals Feyre away from the safety of the Night Court as she and Rhys train in the Illyrian Steppes. Winnowing her to the Spring Court and Tamlin, Feyre must contend with the consequences of leaving while held against her will. An ACOMAF Chapter 47 divergence.

Night Falling - After the murder of his mother and sister by the Spring Court, Rhysand confronts his father, longing for punishment and absolution. Instead, the High Lord has a lesson for his youthful son. Written for Rhysand Week 2024.

Upcoming Project: time won’t fly (it’s like I’m paralyzed by it) aka Timeloop!

🩶Nesta and Feyre🖤

sirens in the beat of your heart - Nesta discovers Feyre on the roof and enlists all her training to try and build bridges between the sisters. For Nesta Archeron Week 2024.

Books and Wings - A very fluffy one-off where Feyre goes to the library in the House of Wind to ask Nesta for a book recommendation. Post ACOSF, the sisters work to build their healing relationship.

✒️Poetry📜

Under The Mountain

Thorns

Huntress I

Calanmai

Knight Errant

🎨Art Commissions🖌️

Glasses Rhys by @b-astora (pairs well with Eureka!)

Feysand Dirty Dancing by @lilitherie

Psyche-Eros Feysand by @witchlingsandwyverns (for Painted Blind)

Art Nouveau Psyche-Eros Feysand by June Page (for Painted Blind)

Elucien Armageddon AU for @wilde-knight by the_megabee33

🎵Playlists🎶

Feysand of the 70’s for Feysand Week 2023

Blossoming in Winter playlist for ACOTAR Gift Exchange 2023

Painted Blind Part One playlist

Thanks for reading and sharing your comments! ❤️

[thunderbirdarts]

Hi! I saw your art and edits of Eowyn and Eomer as Plains Native and I really enjoyed it! Seeing as I’m not native I was wondering how to go about doing research and making respectful art to expand on this headcanon? I love Eowyn and I really want to respect her and your native culture. Please don’t feel obligated to respond to this if I have made you uncomfortable, I thought it would be better to ask than assume:)

Hii!! Thank you so much, I'm glad you like it <333

My main inspirations for Plainsndn! Rohirrim is a mixture of different tribes, namely Kiowa, Blackfoot, Cree, and Lakota. So if you want to use the same references I do, you could try that?

For clothing references, you COULD potentially use some 1800s (or early 1900s) photographs for inspiration, but just be aware that some of these photographs are staged, and the people are wearing outfits that they were told to wear by the photographer (so it may not have been theirs or culturally accurate to their tribe). That, or even if their outfits ARE accurate & really belonged to them, note that some of what they're wearing may not be what would have been everyday or casual wear, sometimes the people being photographed would deck themselves out in their best regalia or clothing specifically for the photographs (so if they seem to be VERY jeweled in a lot of beadwork, quillwork, metal, accessories, etc, that could be an indicator of this. Wearing things like heavily beaded clothing or elk tooth dresses or detailed ribbonshirts would also indicate this). Thus if you're going for a more casual look in a drawing or writing something, they probably wouldn't have all that. For any war paint, I suggest looking up photos of pow wow War (like traditional bustle) dancers.

I recommend taking inspiration & notes from antiques/artifacts on the Smithsonian online website. If you search up a tribe name & an item, usually something should come up. Like you could type "(tribe)(item)", such as "Cree dress" for instance, & it'll tell you what year it should appropriately be as well as some other info. But I don't recommend directly copying exact designs from pow wow regalia (because this counts as art theft, and many beadwork shops make people pay fines for taking photos because of this, that's how serious we take it) or even some of the antiques (because some of them might contain sacred designs, & each tribe has rules, protocols, and specific contexts for who was allowed to wear what and when) if you're drawing it or describing it, and instead come up with your own. Depending on the tribe, the aesthetics might be different, but geometric shapes are very common throughout Turtle Island. This also goes for tipis, I recommend NOT drawing/describing any designs on tipis if you're trying to portray that.

And honestly I suggest not trying to go TOO deep into research just for a headcanon, because i feel like it's not necessary, and to protect any potential intracommunity information or to avoid breaking cultural/spiritual protocol just for the sake of a headcanon. Like maybe a few site searches, a browse of wikipedia, and an encyclopedia entry, or looking at a tribal website run by the Native tribe themselves could do it. Like don't overdo it by trying to find information on ceremonies or things like that. A headcanon isn't worth invading the privacy or potentially butchering the culture of a whole tribe.

You could also take some elements of the Plains Native cultures & try to seamlessly blend them in with the pre-existing LOTR Rohirrim canon, which is a bit of what I do. That way you can try find an angle that makes it clear you're taking inspiration from Plains Native tribes, but you're also not doing too much about it & it's clear they're still a fantasy culture & Rohirrim. Like maybe they still live in wooden houses, but the carbings are inspired by Native beadwork & youve made them semi nomadic. Maybe they wear beadwork made out of metal, golden/brass/etc beads (thus keeping the golden aesthetics of the film Rohirrim, & now makss things like Plains beaded vests into armor). Maybe they have most of the aesthetics & clothing/hair of Plains Natives, but a lot of the fictional culture is still Tolkien's Rohirrim, stuff like that. Maybe you could also sprinkle in your own headcanons that don't come from Plains Native cultures OR existing Rohirrim canon, but just something you've invented yourself.

So yeah, that's what I'd recommend! I hope this is somewhat helpful dhcjg

[emmanuellececchi]

*facepalm*

So... As I said recently, I cannot really do my research without writing, seems my brain goes in sad mood. So I decided to work on various WIP I had.

I just finished a FF16 fanfiction that I written as a : "spicy, funny, ridiculous" Joshua x OC.... It was supposed to be a short, one shot, silly bit.

Erm... It is already 13k long and I am still editiing. It is less silly than I thought... Well, damn.

(the two other WIPs are a Gimli and Galadriel and a Eowyn vs Denethor... yes LOTR is back in my writing schedule).

[iknowimdespicableme]

Whatever the opposite of a writer’s block is, I have it and now I want to write like nobody’s business. So! Those who come across this, feel free to throw me a request!

Key -

Type of writing

Oneshot 🌻, Word Vomit 🌿, Poem 🍂, Analysis 🥀

How the character is related to the work

Perspective character 🌕, Main Character 🌖, Central Side Character 🌗, Peripheral Side Character 🌘, Mentioned Character 🌑

I will write prompts including:

Rings of Power

- Young Galadriel

- Young Sauron

- Young Elrond

- Durin

- Disa

- Young Gandalf

- Nori Brandyfoot

- Arondir

- Bronwyn

The Hobbit

- Thorin Oakenshield

Voice like a drum, love like a melody 🌻🌖

- Bilbo Baggins

Voice like a drum, love like a melody🌻🌕

- Gandalf the Grey

- Any members of the company, just may need to do some extra research and it will be delayed a tad

-Thranduil

-Bard the Bowman

Lord of the Rings

-Gandalf the White

- Aragorn

- Legolas Greenleaf

- Gimli

- Frodo Baggins

- Samwise Gamgee

- Pippin Took

- Merry Brandybuck

- Boromir

- Faramir

- Eowyn

- Eomer

- Theoden

Dream SMP

- C!Tommy

A Lighthouse and a Void 🥀🌑

- C!Tubbo

A Lighthouse and a Void 🥀🌖

- C!Philza

A Lighthouse and a Void 🥀🌑

- C!Karl

Flame🍂🌑

- C!Ranboo

A Lighthouse and a Void🥀🌖

- C!Technoblade

- C!Quackity

Flame🍂🌖

- C!Charlie

Flame🍂🌗

-C!Fundy

In and Out (Of Sync)🌿🌕

-C!Wilbur (I will not write about him again, but I am proud of the work I have done with him)

Life Before You🌿🌕

Flame🍂🌗

In and Out (Of Sync)🌿🌑

If asked, I can also talk about my oc’s:

Searing, Scorching, Blistering

Modern Fantasy

Wherein two brothers attempting to lay low from their oppressive colonizers get swept into a underground society consisting of heists, blackmailing, and corruption. As they navigate their relationship with each other and themselves, could they learn to trust again?

- Wiljem

An Introduction to my Searing, Scorching, Blistering original characters 🥀🌖

- Taher

An Introduction to my Searing, Scorching, Blistering original characters 🥀🌖

- Liizesk

An Introduction to my Searing, Scorching, Blistering original characters 🥀🌖

- Rahn

An Introduction to my Searing, Scorching, Blistering original characters 🥀🌖

- Aire

An Introduction to my Searing, Scorching, Blistering original characters 🥀🌖

- Jeb

An Introduction to my Searing, Scorching, Blistering original characters 🥀🌖

- Tirakem

An Introduction to my Searing, Scorching, Blistering original characters 🥀🌖

Apprentices!

Semi-Satire Fantasy

In a world long after the dark lord evil thing gets destroyed, it is a rite of passage to go on a journey to mark the end of their apprenticeship, mirroring the tales of old. But, is there any real quests left? 5 apprentices and their resident exhausted chaperone expect nothing when they set out on a simple transportation mission. However, there is something deeper brewing within their adventure.

- Aminah

- Ikal

- Ruaridh

- Xhemal

- Dumi

- Aglaia

- Linh

- Yati

- Iustus

- Folayan

- Ailean

- Ix Kaknab

- Phiesak

[mihrsuri]

20 questions for fic writers

Tagged by @emilykaldwen - love you friend.

01. how many works do you have on ao3? 236 (though this is over a lot of years - admittedly I’ve deleted some I just didn’t like anymore but also there is a lot of short fic)

02. what's your total ao3 word count? 366, 416

03. what fandoms do you write for? Currently: Tudors, Grishaverse (book and show), Tortall, West Wing, Hunger Games. But I have written for a lot of fandoms (some main past ones include Criminal Minds and Band of Brothers).

04. top five fics by kudos? I’ll add in if they are co-written or not after the fic because the ranking changes depending on if you count co-written or not.

Undertow (co-written) - Criminal Minds

It’s Not Because Of You (It’s Because Of Me) - Ted Lasso

Five Times Out Of Many David Rossi Realised He Was Happily Doomed - Criminal Minds

To Dwell In Enchantment - Criminal Minds

If I Could Go Back (co-written) - Criminal Minds

Four Times Penelope Hotchner Knew Her Fathers Loved Her - Criminal Minds (if you don’t count the co-written one(s))

What About Now - Criminal Minds (also if you don’t count cowritten)

05. do you respond to comments? I do my absolute best - I treasure every single kind comment I just…unfortunately spoons mean I’ve missed some sometimes but I’m getting better.

06. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? It’s either the Criminal Minds one in which I basically killed Everyone or the Toby Ziegler/Jason Gideon apocalypse fic or the Spooks apocalypse fic. I actually think all three of them do have hope - though just, not for the POV characters in the second and third ones. So probably the second.

07. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

08. do you get hate on fic? I have yes.

09. do you write smut? I do. It’s complicated but like, I do.

10. craziest cross over? Listen I once crossed over Band of Brothers, Generation Kill, Doctor Who, The West Wing, Good Omens and I think like Sherlock Holmes. I have written Tudors-West Wing-Law and Order UK-Pundits multiverse. I will absolutely write a ridiculous crossover.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen? Not as far as I know.

12. have you ever had a fic translated? Also not as far as a I know (I have this memory that one of them might have been but that could well be wrong).

13. have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes several times. Delightful people and experiences.

14. all time favorite ship? Okay I don’t actually read fic for them as such but in terms of canon it’s Faramir/Eowyn and Beren/Luthien. FORMATIVE. All the Grishaverse canon ships. Jon/Thayet.

15. what's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Into The Fire or The Tudors + Scarlet Pimpernel verse. Because I know how it goes and it goes Fucking Dark before the end and honestly not everyone is making it out and I do not want to be in the head of the character I’d have to be in to write it as it should be (for that length of time and for that amount of torture).

16. what are your writing strengths? I think world building. I don’t know, I really struggle with articulating my strengths but maybe that.

17. what are your writing weaknesses? DIALOGUE. Actual confidence.

18. thoughts on dialogue in another language? I’d want to be more fluent before I did but maybe one day I will have a fic with some Hebrew/Farsi.

19. first fandom you wrote in? The Bill (long running English police procedural) in terms of posted fic. In terms of the first fandom I could be said to have written in I think I may have written a bunch of Scarlet Pimpernel fic in my head.

20. favorite fic you've written? Okay Jewish Anne Boleyn in terms of finished work. I was so so scared to post it. That I wasn’t Jewish/Mizrahi/Biracial enough. That I hadn’t researched enough that I hadn’t written it right but I posted it. I feel a lot of that with the OT3 verse right now.

Tagging (if you want): @claudiajcregg @onekisstotakewithme @herawell @elysabeththequeene

[fictionadventurer]

Okay two things

Would you ever write a fairytale retelling that was set in Regency times? Incorporating the cultural expectations etc of Austen’s universe?

and also

Have you ever read The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey? I thought of you bc it’s a Russian fairytale retelling and is set in 1900s Alaska. It was fascinating but there’s some adult-ish content (mostly implied). I’d be so curious to hear your thoughts on it.

I'd probably do a retelling in a fantasy universe heavily inspired by the Regency period, but historical fiction intimidates me so much that I'm not sure I'd have the courage to try to write something historically accurate. Maybe one day research won't intimidate me, and my perfectionism would ease up enough to lower my standards for accuracy, but I don't see it happening soon.

I have seen The Snow Child a lot on retelling lists, and it has seemed intriguing (especially in winter), but I've so far avoided it out of a vague suspicion of that adult content. So unfortunately, I have no commentary to give.

[pinedemon]

I've seen many posts about people missing how common asks used to be so I have been trying to send about an ask a week. Now I send this ask first anytime I follow someone as I really don't want to bother anyone, so I'd love to know if you enjoy receiving asks and if so what kind of asks. Not having energy for asks or being comfortable with them is perfectly okay.

The categories I have in my ask notebook that I file under are in colour. Please feel free to make your response as long as you want or private (the asker cannot directly respond to private responses).

Self, Job/Work: please let me know what you are comfortable with from eh idk just ask it to nothing personal at all.

Baggishield/Tolkien, Dragon Age, Johnlock/Sherlock, ineffable spouses, other fandom: Please let me know what fandoms. I think my main fandoms and ships are Bagginshield/The Hobbit, Sherlock/Johnlock, Dragon Age Inquisition, {Pippin/Faramir Merry/Eowyn}/The Lord of the Rings and I dip my toes in a few that I currently can't remember but ships I don't engage with the canon of at all are: Good Omens but only for Crowley/Azirapheal, Stranger Things but only for Steve/Eddie , The Witcher but only for Geralt/Jaskier, and Ladybug and Cat Noir but only for Adrinette .

OC's, art/drawing, their writing, blog specific only

Story snippets ideas and prompts: Do you like receiving them?

Pets: I'd love to know all about them

Garden and Hobbies: What type of gardening and/or hobbies?

Like being tagged in things: If so what kinds of things?

*Asks are sent for fun, no pressure to answer.

hey! i remember being on tumblr in the old days (old-ish, like 2014-2017) and asks were sooo common and so fun to just get to know people. i'm glad you're doing this, and i love to get asks!

about me and my job: i'm a researcher currently employed in a government lab where i work with common viruses like HSV and influenza in order to understand how they affect people with specific genetic diseases. microbiology (and biology in general) is one of my greatest passions and i LOVE geeking out about it. seriously don't get me started lol or please do actually. let's talk about it

fandoms: i'm kind of all over the place here. i love so much media but my biggest fandoms as you can tell from my blog are probably lotr/the hobbit, wwdits, btvs, hunter x hunter, the x files, and merlin. i also LOVE severance; it's such a great show but i'm not sure if there's even a fandom for it?? and i'm no hardcore shipper, but i like bagginshield, samfro, methur, nandermo (frankly any ship on the show), destiel because i'm still living in 2016, aziraphale/crowley, and mulder/scully. tbh there are probably so many more

writing/blog: i do love to write, yet i've never published any fics online before. BUT i've got a few fics in the works which i want to try to post soon -- my ao3 is the same as my tumblr although there's nothing on there yet except my treasured bookmarks lol. i'd like to get prompts or story snippet ideas, but sometimes i can be such a slow writer that i might struggle to respond to them. but who knows! maybe it'll bring out some inspiration in me.

pets/hobbies: i don't have any pets right now, and my hobbies usually involve playing and listening to music, writing, reading, making and collecting jewelry, and cooking.

as for being tagged in things, i'm happy to be tagged in anything! this blog is still very new, and i'm excited to make new mutuals here :)

thanks for the ask!

[emyn-arnens]

Heya! From the writing ask game:

3. What’s the fic you’re most proud of?

9. Wildest fic you’ve ever written?

12. Favorite pairings to write for? (platonic or romantic!)

Thank you! 😊

Thanks for the ask @cuarthol! 💕

3. What's the fic you're most proud of?

My answer to this changes regularly, but I am quite proud of Over Seas of Starlight (Frodo & Gandalf, G). Out of all of the fics I've written for this fandom, it took the most research (about a month's worth before I even started writing). It's the most canon-dense fic I've written and was a challenge to pull together, but I'm really quite happy with how it turned out.

9. Wildest fic you've ever written?

I think I've mentioned this one before, but it's in the hills of dorthonion (Aegnor/Andreth, G), my first and last (pinch hit) exchange fic I've written. It was a wild ride of writer's block, last-minute inspiration, and trying to post before the deadline during a major storm that kept taking the power down.

12. Favorite pairings to write for? (platonic or romantic)

I'm mostly a gen fic writer in this fandom, so I could talk your ear off all day long about my favorite platonic pairings to write for. :D I love exploring family relationships (Arafinweans in every iteration, Celebrian & her children, Sam & Elanor, and all of the LOTR sibs) and unlikely friendships (hobbit and elf friendships are my absolute favorite). I also adore Frodo & Merry's and Eowyn & Merry's canon friendships.

And I think you can probably guess my favorite ship to write for! I'm a bit of a one-trick pony with my Athrabeth fics.

[21 Questions for Fanfic Writers]

[essenceofarda]

question:

i'm hankering to start (!!!) a Post-War-of-the-Ring fancomic that can basically be summed up as: Faramir and Eowyn are newlyweds and Eowyn has gotten to know her new husband's favorite cousin and is convinced said cousin (Lothiriel) would make the perfect bride for her brother (Eomer). Matchmaking shenanigans ensue haha 😆😏

Is that something y'all would read??

Note: i am Not a historian and while I might try to do my research re: anglo saxon stuff or making things look legitimately anglo saxon/viking-ish and/or convincingly Gondorian I'm not,,, the best at at this kind of thing so this comic probably wouldn't be for die-hardened canon/history-stickler readers... but more for farawyn and eothiriel shippers who just want a fun read 😳😬

But anyway... I'm also kinda slow with making fancomics but now that I've kinda given up trying to make art as a career i do have a bit more time to devote to fandom stuff,,

so... yeah. Let me know if that's something that might have potential readers bc i'm kinda digging the idea of turning this "fic" idea into a fancomic 😅

[hopeless-eccentric]

re: Éowyn, I think the OTHER problem is that patriarchy is inconsistent in Tolkien’s universe.

Númenor seems to have developed it as an institutional force independently (LaCE’s whole section about Noldorin gender roles indicates that even if the author is a bit sexist the elves don’t seem to be, even down to an absence of a requirement that marriage be heterosexual*, and Haleth and Andreth respond to some gendered pressures but they don’t seem to be systemic) but challenges it through the legalization of absolute primogeniture. Despite this, Gondor and Rohan have their own versions of patriarchal norms, in contrast to Harad and potentially to Umbar. The Shire is written as a land of benevolent sexism, and yet Merry never questions Éowyn’s capacity to murder things with a sword when he realizes he’s been riding with a woman. So we’re left with this nebulous thing that obviously exists and impacts the life of one of the most significant female characters in the text, but that also clearly exists in a way that’s different from our own modern conceptions of patriarchy as all-encompassing and global even as the author isn’t thinking too hard. I wonder if a more feminist LotR written with, say, input from Joy Davidman, would have featured the non-Gondorian Aragorn calling out the patriarchy, but that’s simply because Tolkien tends to do those sorts of things in response to criticism (see Gimli).

* LaCE-compliant elvish marriage being queer-friendly is sort of my personal soapbox, I apologize

ok, so ill admit we're starting to edge out of my area of (if you can call it that) expertise since ive done the most research on the real-world mythological/literary connections within the Men (celts and anglo-saxons specifically, lord above ive read so many eye-splitting middle english poems in the last few months), but i would love to hear more about the stuff with gimli, which i havent heard about before!

also for the sake of transparency im about 2/3 of the way through the silmarillion until my local library's hold comes in so im a bit new here

so something ive done a lot of reading/writing on myself is that patriarchy in rohan/gondor is very closely tied to war and "warrior culture," i.e. this concept that glory via violence should be celebrated above all else and the association of this idea with masculinity. this is more prevalent in rohan than gondor, but tolkien writes that that the presence of a budding warrior culture in gondor is some sort of "fall" from a more peaceful (and implicitly wiser) culture of the past, which very well could be a reference to a more Elvish, numenorean culture (if im reading your ask correctly in assuming that numenor's culture isnt quite as patriarchal as we see in later ages)

so the thing that gets complicated is that these ideals of peace, wisdom, the arts, intellectualism, etc over war are strongly gendered. in The Feminine Principle in Tolkien, Menalie Rawls (who also saved my ass on that paper god bless her) suggests that a lot of the aforementioned traits associated with this "better" (i.e. aligning more with tolkien's internal moral compass for the book) numenorean-refugee culture are strongly in the feminine category, while the warrior culture stuff sits in the masculine category

so that leads to a bit of a weird point. i think a lot of patriarchy as we see it in lotr is related to this idea of the descendants of numenor falling away from their roots and becoming more hypermasculine (the thesis of Rawls's paper is essentially that tolkien's heroes are either expected to have an internal balance of gendered traits or an external one where they balance their gender expression with strong opposing forces to become their most heroic self, i.e. legolas and gimli, eowyn and faramir, varda and manwe, beren and luthien, etc) as opposed to their more balanced, and therefore, in the eyes of the book, "better" past. essentially, like the warrior-worship, patriarchy seems to be an adverse effect that centuries of war can have on a culture

the weird part of it is that i dont know if the whole fall from a golden age thing was supposed to include patriarchy as a symptom of societal decline or just had it coincidentally because tolkien personally associated femininity with peace. it feels like a bit of a chicken or the egg situation honestly

but, like most of tolkien scholarship, this all completely falls to pieces when you try to apply it to the hobbits. i would hazard a guess that the hobbits do a lot of weird shit that doesnt click with the rest of the world (i.e. golf, wristwatches, a mailman) because they're supposed to be the closest thing tolkien has to a normal english human reader in his worlds, so they probably dont have any views/cultural norms outside what someone in the rural england of his childhood would have. best i've got is a reason, but not an explanation

in certain pockets of the world, i think the culture of patriarchy is pretty well justified. however, i agree that there are some major inconsistencies. the hobbits, as per usual, break any theory you try to apply universally across the text. the crowning of aragorn, which is meant to represent gondor's rebuilding to its former glory, has very little to do with how women are treated (which does make me lean more towards the "patriarchy just came along with tolkien liking peace and not warrior culture while also gendering those two concepts" theory now that i think of it). if anything, femininity is treated better after aragorn's crowning (i.e. focus on healing, very gender-balanced king, rewarding small heroes, marrying an Elf, rewarding faramir, tree blooming again, so much celtic symbolism stuff i dont have time to get into but they were considered effeminate as well, etc). but that's how the concept of femininity is treated which is. yknow. different than actual living breathing women

so point is, 1) there's some insight onto why gender concepts look different among different cultures, especially with Men 2) hobbits confuse me

[laurelindebear]

I was tagged by @belphegor1982 - thank you!!

3 Ships: Laurel Cousland/Alistair Theirin (Dragon Age Origins), Sara/Ava (Legends of Tomorrow), Rick/Evy (The Mummy).

First Ship: I guess Eowyn/Faramir, if you don't count all the Disney couples.

Last Song:

Last Movie: Elemental.

Currently Reading: Random research on objects for the next exhibit we're installing at work.

Currently Watching: Strange New Worlds

Currently Consuming: Nothing, but I'm waiting for my pizza to arrive!

Currently Craving: A holiday!

Tagging: @picklebrinedgoblinmind, @accidentallylita, @nnobodoodles, @tishinada, and @hellcatofthenorth76 (and anyone else who fancies it!)

[emmanuellececchi]

Writing... I need to write.

I finished my novel a few days ago. I worked on the timeline and then get swept by my idea about the ringed planet. The thing is, because I wanted to have all completed before editing, I did not write since then.

And I miss it. I realized it as I began to put a few words in my Eowyn vs Denethor story, and then I ended a silly/funny FFXVI fanfic, and then I am now writing a Gimli and Galadriel story. And it feels soooooooo good.

Once again I realize that, I need writing to balance the rest of my life. Even when creating something, I need to write... So, I am doing just that, doing my research while writing here and there.

So maybe, you'll have something to read...

[tapedsleeves]

17 and 21!

17. What’s something you’ve learned about while doing research for a fic?

I could be silly and just say "hockey"

But the god's honest truth is uh... probably the insane way that the LOTR calendar works (and how my friend proposed to change it lol). At the time we were plotting an Eowyn / Faramir fic and... somehow it just came up.

Also the intricacies of the versions of excel and why someone would prefer an older one over a new one.

21. Have you ever deleted an entire scene after spending hours laboring over it? If so, why?

Oh for sure! Normally if I'm spending hours trying to make it work, something about it isn't working and starting from scratch is my best bet. I think the most recent example (and partially why I haven't published the last chap of sand inside that hourglass is because I tried too hard to make the last chapter from Sheldon's POV and now I'm struggling to write it from Kyle's POV. I've got it started but I just can't. Make the words go onto the screen. I've got some of them written on paper.

ask meme