#or maybe silm fans will take over let's see

[mistergandalf]

ULTIMATE TOLKIEN BLORBO: ROUND TWO

MAGLOR vs. FRODO BAGGINS

See the ULTIMATE TOLKIEN BLORBO MASTERPOST for details and follow #ultimate tolkien blorbo to cast your vote for the blorbiest blorbo of all!

Maglor art by SaMo-art

[imakemywings]

A bit controversial, hope you're not angry about me bringing it up. It's just, not to be an asshole, but the fandom's (some) outcry over sexism in Tolkien's work makes me laugh as a woman myself. I understand where they are going, but like for them to point fingers at the author for being sexist, not realizing some of their opinions are straight-up borderline sexist is too funny for me. The amount of vitriol that Tolkien's female characters receive, the way they are victims of circumstances who have to make decisions but are shamed for it ten times over while the male characters are given so so much sympathy is why I laugh at popular posts/fics whining about that. They take these female characters for granted, they ask for more but can't handle the ones who are freaking nice but had to make big decisions. What do you think about it?

Honestly, the discussion of sexism in Tolkien's work is ever ongoing, but your point is very valid and it's something I've discussed with other fans.

Setting aside a discussion of any sexism of Tolkien himself (which is present, to what degree people may debate over), often we really see the fandom just recreating a slightly different flavor of sexism?

Where's that post that's like "you all ask for more evil female characters but you can't even handle a female character being impolite 1 time"? Obviously the "Tolkien fandom" is not really the monolith the name implies, but there is a level of comedy in seeing people complain that there aren't enough plot-relevant female characters (true--Curufin's wife birthed Feanor's only grandchild, and we don't even know her name? None of the Noldor wives go to Middle-earth except Elenwe who dies on the way? [And Edhellos but that's not in Silm proper iirc]) but then ALSO go and like, call Idril racist because she didn't want to fuck her creepy cousin (overlooking that Idril herself is of mixed Elven heritage; mom was a Vanya).

I think there are a LOT of instances where female characters are attacked and shamed and subject to headcanons about their selfishness and incompetence because they were put in a very difficult situation where there was no "safe" option, and that a male character in that position would have been given a LOT more grace by the fandom (look how people will bend over backwards to argue the Feanorians are not guilty of mass murder several times over).

But this isn't unique to the Tolkien fandom by ANY means--female characters get brushed aside to focus on their male peers, villainized to suit a male character's needs, and generally looked own on across fandoms. It's just particularly ironic here because of the discussion on the sexism in Tolkien's writing--which the fandom then goes ahead and recreates, sometimes worse than it is in the books. But it is something I've seen in virtually every fandom where I've spent time (Look at the way Mel Medarda is treated by the Arcane fandom; look at the way Bianca Davri is treated by the Dragon Age fandom; look at the way Skylar White was treated by the Breaking Bad fans, etc.)

However, I do think this has actually gotten better since I was younger and involved in fandom? Obviously it varies by online space and it's still an issue, but it feels like the vitriol was far more widespread when I was a young teenager. It feels like there's been a greater movement in the last several years to cut back on this kind of behavior and encourage a more positive environment for female characters...or maybe I'm just in more curated spaces now so I don't stumble upon nearly as much of it as I used to.

Anyway, anon, if you need some Tolkien blogs to follow who give female characters their due, just let me know! Happy to give some recs.

[iminye]

I'd love to hear your thoughts on finwe for the character ask! Or iminye, since she's your url?

I'll do both! This gives me a good reason to rant about two of my faves and I won't let it go to waste!

How I feel about this character

I might be very controversial when I say that I absolutely love Finwë as a character. He's not perfect but let's be honest who in the Silm actually is without ANY flaws? Out of the First generation High Kings he's also probably my favourite, although it's a very close match with Ingwë on that one. I just really like this guy ok?

Iminyë is also very dear to me just like all the other Cuivienen elves. She is probably my favourite of the first three women but I cannot really pinpoint exactly why. She just is.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Finwë. Miriel and Indis are obvious answers and I think that he genuinely loved both of them very much and in their own way. Miriel was his first love and for that she will always have a special place in his heart, while his love for Indis grew over the span of his recovery from grief. She was his anchor and safe haven and he could trust her with anything. Aside from them I'm not wholly against Finwë/Ingwë or Finwë/Elwë actually, both ships or even a ship consisting of all three of them, seems like a nice concept to explore for the Cuivienen days.

For Iminyë it's definitely Imin and only him. She has loved him since the very moment she opened her eyes and saw him leaning over her and she would love him until the end.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Finwë and Mahtan. Both of them bonding over grandfather things. They just give off massive grandpa energy on their own, once they're in the same room together the grandpa energy just multiplies. Between them their grandchildren can't escape. Others would be: Elwë, Ingwë, Rumil of Tirion and Irmo.

Iminyë and Ingwë. Ok hear me out, I like to think that Ingwë got along so well with her because they're very similar in the way they love and care about others. Ingwë sees himself as a servant of his people much like Iminyë did and everything he learned about leadership came from her. Others would be: Tatië and Enelyë, Indis and Oromë.

My unpopular opinion about this character

I am so not a fan of the "Finwë was a horrible father who only cared about Fëanor and completely neglected his other children" take. I'm not sure how popular that is anymore but I never liked it. Finwë wasn't the best father one could ask for but his children CLEARLY loved him and they would've done anything for him, all of them no question asked here. Heck three out of five went to Middle Earth to avenge his death (and get some shinies back). He wasn't perfect but he tried his best, his very best and he definitely made sure to spend time with every single one of his children, to engage and understand their interests, to try and solve their problems. When they grew up and got married he was filled with pride and joy for all of them in the same way and he supported all of their decisions, the good and the bad. He tried! And even though he went with Fëanor in the end it's not like he didn't care about his other children.

For Iminyë there aren't sadly enough any hot takes around? I don't like the idea of her and the others as just fairy tales that the Eldar tell their children but that's just because I'm already too invested into them lol

One thing I wish would happen / had happened to this character in canon

Probably that Finwë didn't die and thus prevented a lot of chaos and murder from happening? Or that he maybe tried a little harder to solve the issues between Fëanor and Fingolfin? I mean communication probably is a good thing that he would've needed more of.

For Iminyë I just wished that there actually was more about her in canon. Sadly there isn't and I have to fill these gaps myself.

Thank you for the ask!

[gffa]

I was talking with @himboskywalker​ about Tolkien and fandom and fic, because I’m always curious where people’s “area” of the wider Legendarium are at, whether they’re a fan of the Dwarves or the Humans or the Elves or the Valar or what!  (As a surprise to absolutely no one, the Elves are where my heart is at, where I very much love the Noldor, but if you give me a choice I’m going to run over to that Sindar-centric fic every time.) Which got us onto the topic of fic recs, where, yes, I’ve done a LOT of Tolkien fic recs but I tend to read something of a wide variety and this is a list specifically aimed at those who are familiar with the wider Tolkien world, but haven’t really read much fic and want to know where to start! Other Recs First: - If you haven’t gotten further into Tolkien’s work (like say beyond the movies), I’ve done something of a primer here, which includes fic recs and brief explanations and links to videos that help explain some things.  It’s not as hard as it seems to get involved, honest! - Some other fic recs here, as an addition to the above. - My Tolkien blog (which I haven’t been on in awhile, though, I haven’t let it go in my heart yet) has, I’m not kidding, A LOT of fic recs, I did recs regularly for about three years, so it’s almost as massive as my collection of SW recs. If I Could Only Pick Three To Start You With: ✦ And What Happened After by thearrogantemu - This is the fic that took me from enjoying the Silm characters to diving face-first into really loving them, because it wove such an engaging story about the characters sailing to Aman at the end of LOTR, where various characters you wouldn’t think interacting would be as meaningful as they are, but the fic absolutely sells them on it.  Frodo and Feanor having a conversation about language?  Sam and Maglor sharing a boat to the West?  These things are amazing, as this is a fic about healing and what it means to sail into the Undying Lands.  Also, it has a Feanor and Fingolfin reunion that literally put tears in my eyes. ✦ Interrupted Journeys by ellisk - I’m generally not someone who does a lot of rereading of fic just because I have so many new ones to get to, but I’ve read my favorites in this series (parts 3 to 5 are my sweet spot especially) probably four times through now because “Elfling Legolas growing up in Greenwod with a whole cast of characters around him, as the Shadow so very, very slowly creeps towards them” may sound somewhat simple, but the worldbuilding here is off the scale.  The weaving in of how much the First Age and various Elven politics influenced Thranduil’s ruling of a Silvan people is a major theme, but it’s also good parents raising that precious Elfling right and he and his cousins+friends getting into all sorts of mischief, so it’s balanced between humor and drama in the exact amounts I want.  You can skip the first two fics and jump into the third if you like, which is when Legolas is introduced, but I enjoy the whole thing. ✦ Return to Aman OR Quenta Narquelion by bunn - I can’t pick between these two, they’re both incredible.  Return to Aman is basically “Elrond grabs Maglor and drags him to Aman with them” and it breaths such incredible lift into all the characters of Aman, it doesn’t negate the terrible things the Feanorians did, but neither does it negate Elrond’s love for them and his biological family, too.  It’s another fic that’s about healing and forgiveness and it made me glow to read it.  Quenta Narquelion is basically “Feanor refused the call of Mandos after he died and everything started to snowball from there” and it’s an absolutely heartbreaking look at all our Problematic Fave Feanorians and how they were once good people trying to do the best they could, but bit by bit they slipped into the dark.  It’s especially amazing for capturing the complexities of Feanor, as he hovers over his children as a spirit and it really brought me around on his character. The Silmarillion and other First Age Batshit Faves: ✦ The Starlit Sky by Cirth is the fic that really made me get the potential of reading about Maedhros and Maglor raising Elrond and Elros, where it does such a fantastic job of showing that there was genuine affection there, even the midst of all the angst and trauma and pain.  You really get why Elrond could never give up on them, after reading this fic. ✦ In Courts of Living Stone by ncfan - “What if Maeglin never left Nan Elmoth and instead, several decades later, found himself on an errand to Menegroth and developed a relationship with Finduilas instead?” isn’t a fic I expected to capture my heart, but boy did it ever.  Beautiful characterization and beautiful writing, it really captured my imagination, but also gave me ALLLLLL the Maeglin feelings, as well as made me pine that this Finduilas couldn’t have been more common in fandom. ✦ naught but the shores and the sea by ncfan is more of Elrond and Maglor, where it’s an AU that has Elrond finding Maglor after the disastrous attempt to recover the Silmarils and I loved it a lot. ✦ The Crane Wife by Trebia is one that takes an underused character from Tolkien (Lalwen, in this case) and breathes this incredible life into her, gives her personality and joy and sorrow and meaning and, look, any fic that can convince me that Thranduil would marry a Noldo and utterly believe it, you know it’s well-written! The Second Age Is Kind of Quiet in Fandom But I Love It Regardless: ✦ The Art of Long-Distance Grandparenting by Kazaera is a lovely and bittersweet (but mostly lighter in tone) fic about the separation of the Sea between family members and does a wonderful job with Idril’s character, as she tries to stay connected to her grandchildren while being so distant from them and unable to see them, unless they choose to come to Aman.  There’s joy to be found here and it’s a lovely read. ✦ Relativity by French Pony is a lovely look at the final meeting between Elrond and Elros and strikes the right amount of bittersweetness, where it’s awkward and difficult and heartbreaking, but also feels natural and like this was how it was meant to be.  I had many, many Elven Twin feelings during the whole thing.  (I like all their fic, they’re worth checking out their other stuff for, too!) ✦ A Thing or Two About Elrond by Crookneck is a series of fics about Elrond and the various relationships he has--with Celebrian, with his children, with Gil-Galad, etc.--and I remember being really charmed by all of them and how much shit Elrond has seen over the course of his life. The Third Age, Lord of the Rings Version: ✦ Boromir's Return by Osheen Nevoy - This one is sort hard to summarize, but it’s basically “Boromir lives, makes a friend, and slowly changes everything about the LOTR plot”, but it’s so much more than that, where the worldbuilding is phenomenal, the pacing is incredible, it made me fall in love with Boromir as a character all over again, it contains probably the best portrayal of Denethor I’ve ever read in fandom, and I really loved the OC and so on.  It’s utterly engrossing and honestly I cannot recommend it highly enough, even if you’re not usually into this sort of thing. ✦ The River by Indigo Bunting is a fic where Legolas and Sam get separated from the others for a brief time and I love fics that take two characters who don’t interact much, throw them into an intense situation, and sees what happens.  It’s not precisely a light-hearted fic, it’s very intense, but it’ll make you fall in love with the sheer good in both characters and the friendship they develop.  It’s brilliantly written and I cannot recommend it enough. ✦ A Bit of Rope by Aiwendiel is a fic where Gandalf doesn’t fall at Moria and it changes everything--not necessarily for the better.  The slow, creeping sense of things changing, things going just a little bit worse here and there, until you realize how much darker the Fellowship’s journey could have been, was brilliantly done, and one I thought did justice to the idea, it’s not grimdark, there’s still light and hope here, but it makes you feel like, oh, maybe things happened as they did for a reason, even as hard as that seemed sometimes.  Gorgeously plotted and utterly engrossing. The Third Age, Mirkwood Version: ✦ daw the minstrel has an entire series of fics about Legolas growing up in Mirkwood and there’s absolutely a reason why she was one of the most well-known authors in that corner of fandom.  Her ability to create new characters (including two brothers for Legolas) was incredible, I cared so much about the family dynamics and got swept up in the drama (which was in a very loving family, but Legolas was definitely a mischief-seeker) and they’re fantastic.  If you find yourself in something of a stretch with too many OCs and your attention wavers, you can always skip around, they don’t have to be read in order and a lot of the non-canon characters can be skimmed over, imo. ✦ In a Field of Blood and Stone by ScribeofArda is so much better than what The Hobbit movies gave us of the Battle of Five Armies, it does such beautiful justice to the complicated character of Thranduil and Legolas, not sacrificing the warmth there for how difficult these times are and the war they find themselves in the middle of.  This Bard is also really engaging and fun to read--I read pretty much the entire novel’s worth in, like, a day or two because I could not put this one down. ✦ Swordplay and Swimming by cliodna_bright has an incredible meeting where Thranduil comes to visit Rivendell, runs into Elladan and Elrohir, who are young enough that they speak without thinking, and it’s not precisely a humor fic, but I was screaming the entire time because it’s so sharply written and so absolutely delightful, I LOVE IT. ✦ Deep and Crisp and Even by rivlee made me fall in love with how Elves and humans may look very similar, but there’s this sense of otherworldliness to the Elves, as shown through Bard’s eyes when he has a meeting with Thranduil.  Beautifully written and just the right amount of atmospheric. The Fourth Age Where Everything Actually Does Mostly Work Out: ✦ Far Horizons by Bodkin is the Fourth Age fic of my heart, where the various Elves that we came to know in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are all in Aman and decide to build their own realm there.  Which is difficult because Elven Politics even just amongst themselves, much less clashing with all the established politics of the other Elven realms in Aman!  But it’s a light-hearted fic (for the most part) that’s about healing and moving forward, balancing their ties to their history versus that Middle-Earth changed them, and I love it for soothing my soul.  (Thranduil sailed, you can’t tell me otherwise!!!)(Bonus moments of Glorfindel being pretty hilarious.)  I like all of bodkin’s work, but this one has a special place with me. ✦ Age of Healing by trollmela is one where Maedhros and Legolas have a conversation in Aman and it’s about the bittersweetness of healing and how difficult it is, taking two characters who would never have met in canon and weaving something entirely engaging and poignant out of it. Collections That Span The Ages: ✦ This Taste of Shadow by Mira_Jade - This is a collection of dozens of various shorter stories (or sometimes 10k “ficlets”) that you can largely skip around in if you have specific characters you like or you can just start at the beginning and read through.  It contains looks at pretty much everyone, from Maedhros to Galadriel to Thranduil to Elrond to Caranthir to Glorfindel to the Valar, etc.  I’ve enjoyed pretty much everything I’ve read in this collection! ✦ Fiondil's Tapestry and Tales from Vairë's Loom by Fiondil are in the same vein and I have really enjoyed everything I’ve read from both of them!  I especially remember that there was one chapter that had a scene between Thranduil and Cirdan and thinking, ahhhh, why has no one ever written that before!? as an example of the neat things it does.  But also lots about Elrond and Glorfindel and the Valar and so on! This probably doesn’t feel like a super extensive list, but those collection series will give you an excellent spanning of Elves, Humans, Dwarves, Hobbits, etc., not just the same central characters, but giving time to a lot of lesser focused ones as well.  Like, I feel I’ve read a fair chunk of Elwing fic, but I couldn’t point you to a specific one in my list of recs, which means I’m pretty sure it was in the collections ones or else she got some good scenes in one of the Aman-based fics, so I swear the above is at least a solid place to start for dipping one’s toe into Tolkien fic. AS ALWAYS, OTHER PEOPLE’S RECS ARE WELCOME, god knows I haven’t read anything in the last two years (and will have missed a lot even before that) and so I always need more recs, too!

[amethysttribble]

End of the Year Positivity Art Look Back Thing

Thank you so, so much @zealouswerewolfcollector and @houndsofvalinor-art for the tag!

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

1) The Middle Earth Country/Western Album: This one sparks joy. I wrote it for me and my dad pretty much, and its, ah... I don’t think it’s very good from an objective perspective! I had fun writing each of those song parodies, though. I think they’re cute and fun, and the Pancho and Lefty one is a low-key great Turleg fic, I will not apologize, lol. I’m just still rather pleased with it and I hope to keep adding to it!

2) The Best Timeline: I’m sorry Best Timeline I’ll update you soon!!! I swear I will! Okay, holy shit, this one is... popular. First fic I’ve written for a reasonably big fandom and it gets so much traction, it’s crazy. Beyond that, it’s basically my dumping ground for hcs and I’ve enjoyed exploring the three House Leaders. It’s not quite hit its stride yet, but I hope that this year I’ll be able to get to the juicy plot.

3) Gifts of a Ghost: Summer Reverse Bang project! I love it, I love it, I love it, I think it turned out really well, and I still like how its written (I’m sure a few more months will stop that, but for now we’re good!) and I just think it’s good! It’s quite literally the third story I’ve written of Bby!Celegorm confronting death in Valinor, why is this my fav thing to write, lol? I think it’s really cute and heart-wrenching at the same time, and I’m proud. 

4) A Lesser Prayer, Answered: My newest work! It was my Secret Santa project this year, and I bent over backwards figuring out how to make it work, and for all the grief I think it’s quite good. I loved writing Earendil and figuring out Argon, and I love how the quiet despair carries through it but ends on hope for growth and happiness. I just think it’s lovely!

5) Arwen Sees Ghosts: I saved this one for last for a reason, I’m about to get a bit more... serious. So. I wrote this fic during Feanorion Week this year back in March. I wrote it at home, one chapter a day, usually the day of posting, after having, a few days before, quite literally fled the country I was living in at the time (for university) to come to the US because of the pandemic. I was scared and stressed and trying really, really hard to be both positive and creative and it wasn’t easy. 

And it got a really great reception! In fact, so much so that I’m getting a sneaking suspicion that it might be the most popular thing I’ve done, that it’s starting to overshadow a lot of my other work. I’m really glad people liked it! But I was quite distracted while writing it, so much so that I feel rather... disconnected from it. I got a comment today about how I handled mortality in it, and I can’t help but think about how and where and what environment I was writing in, even though it wan’t consciously on my mind at the time. I don’t know. 

I don’t know how I feel about Arwen Sees Ghosts besides the fact that it has a lot of typos and it’s ramblings and also... it might be one of the best things I’ve ever written (it made my /Mom/ cry and she knows nothing about LotR let alone the Silm). I guess there’s something really worthwhile there, even though I’m not sure what it is yet. Maybe in time! 

In the meantime, I remember it as something that kept me busy and happy during a really hard week. I’m glad it gave other people happiness during that week too. And thereafter, because creators move on but art never fades. 

WHOO, okay, moving on from that!

*) I don’t really want to have From North to Uttermost South on here, because I started it in 2018, but it does take up the majority of my time and effort like constantly and especially this year, and I’m really pleased with where we’re at right now, so honorary mention!

So sorry if I’ve tagged someone whose already been tagged! Please feel free to ignore at your leisure, @fortuitousraven, @vault76, @katarrinskey, and @itariilles!