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annabawritersdream · 28 days ago

Note

For the Fandom OC Ask Game

Nárael & Ëaris Which canon character does your OC respect the most? Who would your OC say is their best friend?

Nûlbahar Is there someone your OC didn't like at first, but then got along with later? Is there anyone who your OC would die for?

The Ace Babies! (Tulisa & Daron) (and yes I will forever affectionately call them The Ace Babies) Which canon character annoys your OC? What is the worst thing your OC does in their story?

Nárael & Ëaris

Which canon character does your OC respect the most?

As far as Nárael goes, I think it is definitely Aulë. She is definitely one of his Maiar—one of the few Maiarin women to work in the forges—and reveres and looks up to him. Aulë is like a father figure to her and taught her everything she knows and definitely has a soft spot for her due to her inquisitive nature and her strong will. Nárael can be a bit of an airhead and perhaps is not the most cultured Maia out there (she's not stupid, but she generally tends not to show any interest for things that are not connected to her daily life/job in the forges. Also, she probably doesn't really have time to read many books and study since she works in the forges pretty much all day and later in the evening she's simply too tired to do anything other than taking a bath and going to bed. In my headcanons, Aulë’s Maiar are generally perceived to be a bit aloof (primarily because their life revolves solely around the forges), but Nárael is definitely not that way. She's spunky and bubbly and wants to learn more. She's perhaps a bit shy around some people (of non-Maiar, Aragorn is the first that comes to mind), but if she feels comfortable and is fond of someone (like Enna, for instance) she will most certainly muster up a bit of courage and ask questions. She's also likely to forget about rules and make unsolicited remarks or comments, but she doesn't do it to be mean or inconsiderate. She's just a bubbly girl who genuinely wants to understand, know more about the world and make people feel happy. One thing that I remember from my Tolkien OC week one-shot for day 1 for instance, is how Nárael compliments Enna on her hair. I think it's the opening line. Her attempt to cheer her lady up is immediately shut down by Handalimë who reminds her of the rules—no one is allowed to speak to Enna unless she addresses them first. There is a whole protocol thing people should be mindful of since Enna, following her marriage to Eönwë is given Varda's ring and that means she has the Queen of the Vale's full authority and power. Eönwë is given Manwë’s ring and, consequently, all of his master's powers are transferred to him. It's basically a wedding gift (there's actually a more specific reason as why this is done, but I won't talk about it here, since it's not relevant to the ask itself).

Speaking of Eönwë, Nárael grows to respect him a lot as well. She has never had much to do with him when she was in Valinor and they never really interacted. It's actually my headcanon not many Maiar interacted with him because they were somewhat afraid of him (for literally no reason!? He's the kindest, sweetest boy) and Nárael was one of those people. She found him intimidating and, the few times that their paths crossed, she just turned around and ran away. Little bit of trivia: Nárael is Arien’s little sister and, according to earlier versions of the Silmarillion, Eönwë was in love with her and killed Morgoth to avenge her death. I don't think Arien will show up in the story, but Eönwë was indeed in love with her within the LOI timeline. She didn't give him the time of day, but he loved her. Arien often talked about him to Nárael so that's mainly how she knew him. To her, he was merely the powerful herald who liked her sister, but she did not know him personally at all. Had Arien maybe accepted his courtship, maybe she would have gotten to know him a fair bit, but, then again, since she was not interested…it simply didn't happen. She only gets the chance to develop some sort of an acquaintance with him once she enters Enna's service and realizes that there's no reason to fear him. She admires how devoted he is to Enna and to his children and is particularly touched by how loving he is to Anárion. Though she's initially still very much intimidated by him, she learns to be comfortable around him and is eventually able to have a conversation with him without stuttering, constantly looking at floor and blushing. She also learns to tell him what she thinks and he'll appreciate her bluntness. She is among the people who cry the most at his funeral.

I must say I don't have much going for Ëaris at the moment but, since she's from Rivendell, I would assume she respects Elladan and Elrohir, but, as I don't think she would have had reason to get to know them on a personal level—she wasn't of noble birth and lived a relatively quiet and unassuming life before she moved to Gondor—I think she just respected them because they were her lords and she was expected to respect them. I think does respect Eönwë and Olórin because they've both been kind to her and Arwen as well as she becomes her principal lady-in-waiting once Munthiel, Arwen's main lady, is banished due to her affair with Daerion. This is a whole subplot I'm still developing, but the time Daerion shows up (as early as LOI’s next chapter or the one after that; I am still rearranging and editing stuff), he's already sleeping with her and she thinks they're basically already married. Of course to Daerion she is just a plaything he can discard on a whim, but she is genuinely in love with him. I don't know exactly how their story will develop yet—I had thought about her getting pregnant and being exiled because of it, but there is no denying that would overcomplicate/oversaturate Gilraen’s character arc and I don't know if I want to do that. All I know is that, one way or another, Munthiel is banished from court and Ëaris becomes Arwen's principal lady-in-waiting/lady of the chamber. I think she and Nárael meet when Arwen visits her daughters at Enna’s “finishing school” (I really need to find an appropriate name for it, as finishing schools weren't really a thing in medieval times) and it's love at first sight for them both. They try not to act on their feelings—they don't know how their respective ladies would take it and they think it's sinful and that they should repent and all that. I think Nárael will feel especially guilty about it since she's a Maia and will probably just assume it’s some Melkorean influence lingering on her or whatever. Ëaris, although doubtful, is a lot less concerned about what ifs and the possible implications of their love story—I think they do start a secret affair that goes on for a while—and just wants to be with her. She starts learning Valarin and attempts to write a love note/little poem titled Benim ateşli, alev alev yanan kızıl saçlı kadınım (=My fiery, flaming redheaded woman). It's almost certainly not perfect and her grammar leaves a lot to be desired, but Nárael finds it absolutely lovely and has it framed. I think that once their relationship is uncovered, Enna will take it a lot better than Arwen does (I somehow picture Arwen to be quite conservative, especially Book! Arwen) and the Queen even considers banishing her because fears for her reputation and that of her household. Enna prevents it and, after scolding Arwen and telling her how disappointed she is in her, she takes Ëaris into her service so that she and Nárael can be together on the condition that they don't make out/act like a couple when they're working. Once they're dismissed they can do whatever they want, but during their “serving hours” they're expected to be professional and act appropriately according to protocol.

Who would your OC say is their best friend?

Nárael doesn't really have a best friend as she generally gets along with most people (as long as they don't threatens those she cares about), but she's especially close with Elenya (Enna’s blonde Maiarin lady-in-waiting). Elenya is shy and doesn't talk much but she somehow manages to relax whenever Nárael’s around (she really doesn't have much in common with Aranwen and Handalimë is far too stern and strict). Elenya is also indifferent to her quirks and I daresay she actually enjoys them.

All in all, I can say Ëaris’ best friend is Nárael. They're probably each other's best friends, to be honest. Nárael loves Elenya deeply, but Ëaris is her girlfriend so it's only natural that their bond is deeper. I��d be worried if it wasn’t. They talk, they go on walks, they practice their needlework together (Ëaris is much more competent; Nárael has blacksmith hands and is not really suited for this kind of things) and Nárael tries to teach her the basics of metallurgy (she's a very skilled worker, but its safe to say she's a terrible teacher as she is not very good at explaining why some things must be done a certain way. Ëaris even has a small notebook she uses to take notes, but she can't even hold a hammer correctly so I'd probably say both sides are “at fault” here. I guess some people are simply not suited for metallurgy and Ëaris is one of them. It matters not though, she's great at other stuff.

Nûlbahar

Is there someone your OC didn't like at first, but then got along with later?

This question fits Nûlbahar so well, actually. There's a specific person she loathed, a person who later became her best friend. That person is…drum roll Enna!

At first I thought the character of Nûlbahar would be extremely minor in regards to the LOI plot. I literally thought she would be a random Haradrim noblewoman Enna met in her thirties or so during some outing. Had I gone with that plotline option, they would have exchanged a few letters but she would have never made a proper appearance within the story. Her face is of course Nur Fettahoğlu (Mahidevran Sultan in Magnificent Century). Now, I since I learned that MC has some flashback episodes with Young Suleiman, Ibrahim, Hatice, Hafsa and Mahidevran, I decided to take the opportunity to include a young Nûlbahar in the story and to feature her character a lot more than I had originally planned. Enna and Nûl (I call her Nûl because I really like her and I usually give nicknames to characters I really like) meet when they're teenagers. She goes to Minas Tirith to represent her Royal Family at Faramir and Finduilas' wedding. (I say her Royal Family because, in my headcanon, the country of Harad is divided in several large provinces and each province has its own King/Sultan. You can only imagine the civil wars and internal strife, which is obviously something Sauron used to his own advantage to corrupt and subdue them). Technically, the task of representing the Sultan at any official event abroad falls upon the Crown Prince/Şehzade, but since Orhan is three years old and the Sultan has no living brothers…it falls upon her. He could've sent some person in his Council or some other trusted nobleman, but he somehow opted for his only daughter (at the time) and I commend him for it. He's more open-minded than Aragorn (for now).

So, Nûlbahar goes to Minas Tirith with all her servants and attendants and whatnot. It's clear to everyone—even to those that know nothing about Haradrim culture—that she is someone important. She is received by Aragorn and Eldarion is also present at the meeting. Of course maids are spying on them (they shouldn't be allowed, but even guards and sentries enjoy their fair share of gossip) and rumors starts spreading. Since the maids cannot hear every single thing that's being said, they start making up stuff which is distorted until the final rumor is something along the lines of “Prince Eldarion is to be wed to some Haradrim rich girl.” All the noblewomen of the court learn the rumor and Enna does too. She is outraged and rightly so: after all, she is the Prince's betrothed and feels that Aragorn betrayed her. For the first time in her life, she's angry at him. Instead of asking for an explanation and confronting him though, she has one of her maids (probably Maira) try and find out information about the “Haradrim rich girl”: what she looks like, what she dresses like etc. Maira spies on her for a while and whenever Enna deems that she has gathered enough information about her she goes to the chambers assigned to Nûlbahar and confronts her and basically tries to hurt her. She doesn't want to kill her, but she just wants her to suffer the way she suffered.

She hides scissors up the sleeve of her dress and goes to her chambers at night with the intention to scar her face—it’s something she has gone through at the hands of fellow ladies who were jealous because of her future Queen status so she feels that it's only right that Nûlbahar experiences the same. She hopes that, by making her ugly, Eldarion will be disgusted and discard her. Enna's mindset is that if she can't have the Prince, then no one will. (This is VERY out of character for her, but she sees her marriage to Eldarion as her only way to survive and she is determined to make it happen). So, she goes to Nûlbahar's room and attacks her while she's sleeping and the two girls fight. They cut each other, they try to smother one another with pillows and they need to be forcefully separated before one of them actually kills the other. From that day forward, Enna constantly belittles her and annoys her and refuses to listen to what Nûlbahar has to say. Since Nûlbahar is not one to stay silent and take it in, she talks back to her and the two of them basically cause a major scene every single time. Then again, this VERY out-of-character for Enna, but she just cannot accept that an “inferior woman” and a traitor would even think of marrying her Prince. Enna cannot really sleep well and is in pain because of nightmare and poor health. Ioreth gave her some ‘medicine’ to start her period—being of Dúnedain descent and being technically blessed with a longer life also means that you physically develop much later compared to “regular” humans—and suffers a lot going through cramps, weakness and other period-related symptoms. Dúnedain women are supposed to be much stronger and tolerant to pain because of their “pure” blood, but Enna, who's already sick, is not really strong. At all. That's when she gets addicted to opium and other painkillers/tranquilizers/stuff that, if not taken responsibly, messes up with your emotions and your brain in general. She cannot really control her emotions and acts a lot more erratically than she normally would—she never would, actually—and is involved in some disputes and things that cause her to lose popularity and support.

Other ladies and her rivals are delighted by it and they all get together to finally get rid of her as they are convinced no one would care about her. He's apparently lost the King's favor so that justifies their actions in their mind. They corner her and they're about to stab her when Nûlbahar and Mereida (= the young Haradrim maid who had been entrusted to Enna as part of Aragorn's “social program” of assimilating the people of Harad into Gondorian society) step in and save her. That's a pivotal moment for Enna as it then that she starts to realize that even the Haradrim can be good people (she just doesn't admit it…yet). She thanks Nûlbahar and she allows her to speak and learns that Aragorn was, in fact, only being polite. He had just asked tons of questions in the hopes of understanding how to improve his aforementioned “welfare program”, which Eldarion was expected to lead (good luck with that). Enna feels horrible and apologizes again and the two girls steer clear from one another until Enna gets married to Eldarion. The day after the wedding, Nûlbahar visits her again to inform her that she's due to leave to go back to Harad, but suddenly stops as she notices that Enna's face is covered in bruises, she has a split lip and that her nose seems to be bleeding (she's holding a handkerchief over it). Nûlbahar sees Enna is desperately trying to act normal, but she's shaking and looks on the verge of a breakdown. Although she cannot really say she likes Enna at this point in time, she is horrified—abusers of any kind in Harad are either stripped of their titles and forever banished or executed if the case merits it, no matter who they are—and tries to gently confort her. Enna has a major breakdown, but it takes her a while to start talking about the things that went down following the wedding ceremony: Eldarion got drunk, got mad at her for simply opening her mouth and saying something, beat her up, the wedding night itself was painful and absolutely horrible—she didn't want to do anything as she was scared of him being drunk but he acted like they had to and basically forced her to say yes by guilt-tripping her— and then left her alone because he “wasn't satisfied”. Nûl sees Enna is scared and helpless and offers to tell Aragorn about if she doesn't feel up to it. Enna protests her and tells her to keep quiet, but kind of clings to her. Nûl decides to postpone her trip home and sends her father a letter. She helps her take a bath and change into a clean dress and stays until Enna appears to be better. In the meantime, she and her father send each other letters and Nûl tells him what's she's been learning about Gondorian customs. Her dad thinks she's on a diplomatic mission and compliments her, telling her that she can stay in Minas Tirith as long as she wishes. She only returns to Harad when Orhan catches a fever, but she stays in Minas Tirith for about three months (Enna gets pregnant in the meantime and Nûl recommends her herbal teas that are supposed to help with nausea and sickness). The two of them correspond as often as they can and Nûl offers her condolences when Enna tells her she lost the baby. They correspond for years. As you know, Enna gets married to Elphirion and Nûl also gets married, but as her every pregnancy ends up in a miscarriage, it becomes clear that she cannot have children.

Her father is very disappointed in her and his general demeanor toward her is completely changed. She tries several more times to have a baby, but she can't and her father has her divorce her husband. Orhan and her little sisters are the only comfort and she sends letters to Enna whenever she can, but she's pretty sad when she hears that Anárion is born. I mean, she's happy for Enna, but she is sad as well because she, too, would love a little boy. She attends the Elenwë wedding and basically spends almost of her personal money in gifts for each of Enna's babies. She's kind of an aunt to them and they love her very much. She'll eventually marry Abrazân Pasha (Ibrahim from MC) with Enna's full support and they will both attend Enna's funeral when she dies. They'll both be devastated to the core.

Is there anyone who your OC would die for?

I daresay she would die for Enna and her little siblings. She's especially close to Orhan as she helped his mother raise him—Nûlbahar and her siblings have different mothers. Nûl’s mom was a random concubine while Orhan and his full sisters’ was the Sultan’s Haseki and legal wife. In my headcanon, only the son born of a Haseki and legal wife can become Sultan. Haseki means “main consort” and it's generally the title that is given to the concubine that the ruler intends to marry (I took the inspo from the Ottoman Empire but I tweaked things a bit. Many Sultans had a Haseki, the “Main Consort” but only two actually married their Haseki. In my version of Harad, if a Sultan bestows the title of Haseki upon a concubine he basically has to marry her. It's the prelude to a legal ceremony).

She helps Orhan with his studies and spends most of her spare time with him and the sisters. She's basically a second mom to them. She's not that much older than them, but she's very mature and the children find her presence reassuring. She's also instrumental in arranging Fae and Orhan’s wedding. It will take her years and years, but Enna will eventually change her mind, although it's not because of Nûl. By the time she consents to Fae and Orhan’s marriage in late FoA 42, Enna already knows she will probably die—she’s diagnosed with an incurable disease her physicians don't know how to treat—and wants her sister to be happy in spite of the chance of Orhan taking multiple concubines (that's what actually held her back. She didn't want Fae to hurt).

The Ace Babies! (Tulisa & Daron) (and yes I will forever affectionately call them The Ace Babies) Which canon character annoys your OC?

This is a very difficult question for me to answer as I picture the Ace Babies to be chill and unproblematic. I can't think of anyone at the moment, really. Maybe…Eldarion? Everybody finds him annoying so it might be him. That applies to them both, by the way. They're pretty similar in personality.

What is the worst thing your OC does in their story?

Daron probably got in a bar fight with someone because someone called Erchirion homophobic slurs and Daron is very loyal towards his Dol Amroth uncles. They essentially raised him so he sees them as dads/uncles. He's especially close to Erchirion because he's uncle who's not straight and Daron is also not straight so…they understand one another on an even deeper level.

Darion might have even partaken in gambling a couple times (maybe even more than a couple times. Let's say a few times, just to be sure). Apparently, gambling was an accepted form of entertainment in the Middle Ages and I admit I'm not sure whether it was illegal. Some sources that it was, but then again, some sources say it was accepted, so it was so common that it automatically became legal? I have a feeling though, that JRRT would strongly disapprove of such practices, and I assume Aragorn would probably make gambling illegal. Daron was taught how to play cards and dice games by his Dol Amroth uncles and I'm sure there was some money going around, especially in taverns. I think he lost more than a couple bets, but he might have also won some of them. And now I need to do massive research on gambling in the Middle Ages.

Tulisa probably stole a horse that was being mistreated. I don't have the details figured out yet, but I can see her taking a lonely walk and seeing someone—maybe a farmer— whipping a horse and waiting for them to get into their house and simply taking the horse with her. It's a good deed indeed, but…it's still theft, I am afraid. Aragorn may even try her before he drops the case because she really didn't do anything wrong. Faramir would of course strongly support this and so would everyone with a bit of a brain, I think?

Also, I think she was pretty wild during her childhood years and chopped off the hair of a lady who had maligned her mother (remember that her mom had been accused of witchcraft just because she was into plants, medicine and science? I don't think Tulisa took it all too well and when some of the ladies who'd had a hand in spreading false rumors showed up to her doorstep to apologize, she plotted her revenge. She was a child, so she resorted to childish pranks such a chopping off hair while they were asleep in the guest bedroom. She may have even taken a few dresses out of their trunks and burned them/made them disappear. Her mother never knew though. Better yet, if she suspected, she never told on her and probably thanked her).

That's all! Thank you again for the ask!