#i am in no way trying to discourage anyone from indulging in their hcs. i have neither the desire nor the right to police anyone

[yes-no-maybe-soo]

Ngl it hurts my soul to see how often Sylus is written by fans as a player or worse a cheater :( To my mind the words "Sylus" and "Cheater" do not belong in the same sentence. They are incompatible. My brain literally does not compute.

The man is the the embodiment of loyalty and devotion, the definition of the word "loverboy". His soul literally smells like flowers. He made a whole field of daturas bloom just for his beloved. He exchanged half of his soul with them. He gave his life so that they wouldn't lose theirs.

With his wealth, his power, and his looks he could have basically any person he wants. But that's the thing. He doesn't want anyone that isn't MC/You. For the entirety of his long life, he has only ever had eyes for one person alone, only ever loved and desired a single individual. He has remained steadfastly loyal even during the — likely vast number — of years that he couldn't be with MC/You.

Just look at how he looks at MC/You. You can literally see his heart in his eyes.

That's the gaze of a man looking at his most precious treasure 💖

And of course , there is also this:

Which I believe is a 100% intentional declaration on his part as to his complete devotion to his beloved.

So yeah. I am firmly in camp "Sylus would rather impale himself on a sword than be unfaithful, either physically or emotionally"

He is a lover and a yearner.

And he is locked tf in 🫶🏻

"Our souls are bound. We will never betray each other. Even if doomsday arrives outside this Sanctuary. Even if the world crumbles."

🐉❤️ 🐦‍⬛

[from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras]

What do you make of Éomer’s whole “War is the province of men” speech in the movie? Some think it’s very sexist, while others believe he said that to dissuade his sister from going to war (because he knew her and knew she’d do something like that). Curious to see what you think of that 😊 Also, if Théodred were alive at Dunharrow, would he be okay with Éowyn going to battle, or would he also try to dissuade her? Thank you!

I have to be honest and say that I always want to shove Éomer into that little campfire he’s sitting around at that moment in the movie! 😂 It is the opposite of his finest hour — literally his worst moment. He’s condescending, patronizing, and mean spirited, both to Éowyn and to Merry since the conversation is ostensibly about Merry’s desire to fight, too. Even if he suspects she’s going to do something rash and so his motive is to discourage her — and I personally don’t hear it that way because it seems like he wouldn’t have said anything at all if he hadn’t seen her encouraging Merry — this was NOT how to go about it, buddy boy!

This is why I prefer Book Éomer (though I do still picture him as Karl Urban, of course!). Yes, he’s part of a culture and a family that have held Éowyn back. So he’s not blameless. But he never once says “you can’t fight because you’re a girl” or, once she has fought, “you shouldn’t have come here because you don’t belong.” His sins are more passive, in that he fails to stand up for her and champion her, but he never actively denigrates her. And then, we get to see him have a little proto-feminist awakening when Gandalf explains the idea of patriarchy to him in the Houses of Healing and he gets a whole new perspective on his sister’s life and struggles. So he LEARNS in a way that Peter Jackson never showed us with his Éomer. We saw only Movie Éomer’s grief and concern, not his change in understanding.

As for how Théodred would have reacted…hmm. He absolutely loved Éowyn and wouldn’t have wanted any harm to ever come to her. But he loved Éomer, as well, and he would never have tried to hold Éomer out of a battle just for that reason. And in my HC, Théodred recognized early that Éowyn was inclined to warriorhood and gave her the training she needed. So he was supportive of her desires, even if it wasn’t within his power to grant them all. That means I think, ultimately, he would have argued on her behalf with Théoden. If he failed to win the argument, I don’t think he’d have openly defies his father’s wishes and proactively helped her sneak into the host. But I can definitely see him pulling an Elfhelm and just looking the other way if/when he saw her there!

Is that indulgent of me to make him an extra good guy here? Maybe! But a) I like my guy to be a good guy! And b) I think there is textual evidence that he was not a traditionalist, and that’s what has informed my HC of him as someone who was more open-minded about challenging longstanding practices and beliefs than his father was.

Thanks for asking!! ♥️♥️♥️ And if anyone feels strongly that I have slandered Movie Éomer’s good name, I am open to all takes!