#shrikeseams

[nighttimepatrons]

Because this is your fault: Imagine Feanor picking through Finwe's bloody remains to claim enough stands of hair to make a single piece of mourning jewelry.

Okay but this is actually perfect because to me, Finwe dies from a head wound (as in his head is either: crushed in Morgoth's fist, smashed into the wall/floor, or exploded) so it would be extra gorey and terrible for Feanor to pick through what remains!!!! AAAAAAAAA

Skrikeseams you are so real for bringing this up I hadn't even considered!!!!!

and then he has to wash the hair too ohhh~

[tanoraqui]

Trick or treat!

Radagast the Brown doesn’t get enough respect. Just because he’s not seen in the main story, and is known for interacting with animals more than Elves or Hobbits or other such species! But remember in the early part of the Fellowship’s journey, on their way through Eregion, when they’re spied on by crows and stalked by wolves? But then that never happens again? Have you considered if maybe that’s because Radagast the Brown was traveling Middle Earth talking to every animal he could, convincing them to ignore the enticements or threats of Sauron and Sauruman? Like Gandalf was running around from Rivendell to Rohan to Gondor, but for creatures! #JusticeforRadagast #AllCreaturesGreatandSmall

[lesbiansforboromir]

Boromir questions: Favorite food? General theme of his favorite childhood lullaby? Exactly how many times did he seriously consider shoving Gandalf and/or Aragorn over a convenient cliff or balcony railing?

Boromir often cannot answer questions about his favourite anything, he has not given it enough thought and his actual wants change before he can satisfy most of them so his sample size is small but he does really like trying new syrup cordials similar to Sherbet, and also he likes pilaf.

As said above 'favourite' is hard for him but his mother made up a song for him that she sung before his birth that started;

beren sui giliath; sui i duin, rain adaer; miren, anoren, ithilen; lornen im ered i belegaer (bold as the stars; as the river, great/wild and free; my jewel, my sun, my moon; my harbor between the mountains and the sea)

- song and lyrics made by Dess who I actually do not think has a tumblr any longer but they remain a genius :)

And the answer is he never considered pushing Aragorn off any cliff or balcony... he would have liked to have gagged him at Parth Galen when Aragorn was waxing lyrical about Gondor as if he cared at all about it and he had to get up and leave partly to dissuade the impulse.

As for Gandalf, too many times to count, there are so many cliffs in Minas Tirith and Gandalf's shoveability peaked in Boromir's childhood and never came back down.

[eleneressea]

@shrikeseams replied to your post “consider: a clump of Finwëans are all due to...”:

Aredhel and Celegorm swap but like. They're chill with it. No rush! (A caranthir-finrod swap is funniest, but also alas not very easy to contrive. Turgon-maedhros would also be funny, if only for fingon's unmitigated horror.)

​I want someone not particularly tall to wind up in either Turgon's or Maedhros's bodies, so please consider: Fingon is in Turgon's body, Turgon is in Maedhros's body, and Maedhros is in Fingon's body. Everyone is very bothered by this.

[lendmyboyfriendahand]

"#when Maedhros loses his hand he also loses the guilt and doom of Alqualonde" OK but imagine the Noldor slowly bleeding the Doom away as the war goes on. Those who needed frostbite amputations on the Ice being considered particularly lucky (if they survive to see the sun rise) because they stepped onto Beleriand morally untarnished. Just a whole society leaving their guilt and culpability and the literal curse of their gods behind drop by drop, to soak into Beleriand's soil. (Now THERE'S a reason the Valar had to sink it. The soil soaked up the Doom like an old gas station soaked up lead. Morgoth wasn't that strong, but Namo in a snit with all the valar behind him might be.)

That's brilliant!

I wonder how much blood is enough. Losing the hand that dealt pain and death to others seems straightforwardly like it would excise the guilt if anything could, but I don't think the Noldor are going to do do deliberate amputations of healthy limbs. So it will just be dripping out slowly, with every injury taken defending Sindarin villages.

Do you think they can feel it, when the last bit of guilt and Doom leaves? Know that at last their suffering is sufficient to buy forgiveness?

I also wonder if different injuries would loosen the Doom differently. Those who lose an eye now make better plans, with their clear vision of the world no longer blocked by their guilt. Lose a foot, and your steps are more assured rather than less.

(And Beleriand soaking up the Doom is so crunchy. Th Noldor spent nearly six centuries fighting, believing that in addition to vengeance they were also saving their new homeland - but actually every injury in glorious battle was making their lands more and more cursed.)

[skyeventide]

🔥fashion and/or clothes?

not sure that this is unpopular here on tumblr per se, but nonetheless: people need to buy less clothing. in general. and when they do buy clothes, it should ideally be second-hand, handmade, thrifted, or vintage. there's so much second-hand that is still comprised of garments made very recently, and so stuff that is still "trendy" and can be styled without going for a "vintage" aesthetic. if more people had a sense of style and an ability to put it in practice not dependant on seasonal trends, things would be so so much easier. we could still buy those things that simply can't be found second-hand, like underwear, socks, etc. without so many ethical issues to accompany it.

just buy less. literally just buy less.

[iridescentoracle]

Hello! I am here to ask about your Dior headcanons re: the political cohesion of Doriath. 👀

Oh man, I didn't expect anyone to actually take me up on that!

(Okay so I got partway into writing this and then realized I should probably note up front that I tend to stick to the Silm (& LOTR/the Hobbit where applicable, but they... aren't, here) as the most authoritative version of canon, and I can get into why and where the nuances/exceptions are there (I do say tend to stick, it's not hard and fast!), but that's mostly a side note here: the point is simply that I don't really factor other drafts or the poetic Leithian into my take on Doriath, Thingol, Dior, etc, just what we're told in the actual Silm. I also read the Silm as an in-universe history text compiled by in-universe scholars, who, being people, are going to have their own biases and blind spots, even when they're doing their best to be accurate!)

So, this is a two-part thing: #1, there's the political cohesion of Doriath before & at the time of Thingol's death, which i talked about in the tags of the post that prompted this ask but is kind of necessary as context for the Dior part to make sense, and #2, there's the actual Dior headcanons. Both of these parts are very long because I've never really seen anyone else suggest any of this stuff and I want to explain where I'm coming from thoroughly enough that it actually makes sense to people who aren't me, but the TL;DRs:

TL;DR 1: I think Doriath was probably a hot mess politically after Thingol died, with tensions between various groups of Sindar and Laiquendi in the leadup to Thingol's death & Melian's departure, and more political tensions afterwards between those who wanted Beren & Lúthien to come be the new rulers, and those who thought they should stay gone, with someone still in Doriath taking over.

TL;DR 2: I think Dior became Eluchil, potentially at the request of some portion of the Iathrim, hoping to help prevent Doriath from devolving into civil war, and saw dealing with the Silmaril-Fëanorioni situation as a lower priority than stabilizing Doriath's internal political situation until it was too late.

1. The political cohesion (or rather, lack thereof) in Doriath prior to Thingol's death

So, okay, the thing about Doriath is that we don't actually have any real idea of like... how much the Iathrim liked being the Iathrim? We're never told about any intra-Iathrim conflict, but a) the Silm was probably compiled mostly by surviving Gondolindrim or their descendants, so they wouldn't know about anything liike that unless surviving Iathrim told them, and after the Second Kinslaying I don't imagine many Iathrim would've been eager to talk about how things had actually been tense/messy/etc when they could remember everything as having been perfect until it was ruined by the Fëanorionrim, and doubly so after the Third Kinslaying, so why would anything like that make it into the Silm?

and b) what we do know about Doriath is that it wasn't really Doriath as we know it until Morgoth came back to Middle-earth, and everything went to hell.

At the start of the first age, you suddenly get Doriath (the fenced land!) being the one protected area of a continent that used to be totally free and open. How many Sindar actually didn't particularly care for Thingol's style of leadership, or simply preferred to live nomadic lives, going basically wherever they pleased, until suddenly that wasn't safe anymore, and you were only guaranteed survival if you were close enough to Menegroth to be within the Girdle when it went up? ditto how many Laiquendi had no interest in swearing loyalty to Thingol right after their own king had just been killed, but again, made it to safety and stayed there over taking their chances on their own in the outside world?

I think it's entirely possible that there were always potential political tensions under the surface in Doriath that just... never got written about, because they never boiled over into actual political conflict, and so it was never the sort of tension that had any bearing on the historical record.

Except then Beren & Lúthien happen to the world, and a few years later the Narn, and in the blink of an eye suddenly the only king Doriath has ever had is dead, and the only queen Doriath has ever had is gone and the Girdle with her—and more than that, the only rulers the Sindar had ever had for three thousand years before Doriath existed.

And where a few years earlier I think the Iathrim would probably have turned pretty universally to Lúthien, now she's abandoned them for her human husband—and while she's my favorite character in the entire legendarium hands-down and I don't blame her, I think that's another place there might have actually been some very mixed feelings among the Iathrim that nobody wanted to admit to later because how could anyone have been upset with Lúthien—and on top of her abandoning them for him, I think it's extremely probable most of Doriath did not actually get over their xenophobia about humans in general or Beren in specific when Thingol did (we know for sure at least some of Doriath didn't, cf. Saeros insulting Túrin's mother & sister to his face), but again, who's going to admit to having had a grudge against the holy couple of Middle-earth after the fact, you know?

Conversely, there could've been a sizeable faction of Sindar who had been totally loyal to Thingol until everything happened with Beren & Lúthien, but who found his actions towards them and/or Finrod to be where they drew the line, and while (unlike B&L themselves) that faction stayed in Doriath, there could've been a new, additional tension on that front.

Finally, for all we know there were multiple factions within the Laiquendi of Doriath, with political tensions stretching back to before their king died, rooted in who-even-knows!

2. Dior

All of that, of course, sets up a very, very messy political situation for Dior to walk into.

The Doriath stuff is arguably more speculation than actual headcanon, but here's where the unambiguous headcanons come in: I don't think "Dior Eluchil set himself to raise anew the glory of the kingdom of Doriath." Obviously that's how it got written down, but bluntly, I can't see Beren and Lúthien having a kid that stupid or, like, power-hungry and arrogant?

What I can see is a situation where the messenger that brought word of Thingol's death and Melian's departure asked Beren & Lúthien to come take over as the new king and queen, we promise we're not mad about you leaving and we won't be xenophobic to your husband anymore we swear it's fine now pretty please, Beren & Lúthien said no, and the messenger either asked Dior as a second choice, or said "okay fine none of that was actually true but Doriath is falling apart and we need a leader ASAP and there's about eight different contenders* (mostly kinsmen of Thingol or Laiquendi) being backed by various factions and it's going to devolve into civil war any minute so if you care at all—" and Dior said "would I do?"

(* Ask me about my Galadriel headcanon)

I don't think Dior necessarily wanted to be king of Doriath, and I don't think he saw the throne as his birthright or anything like that; I don't think anyone involved, from Thingol to Lúthien to Dior himself, ever considered the possibility of Thingol dying and needing an heir! I think it's possible he was asked, or at most that he offered, and either way, I think he saw becoming king as taking on a responsibility for the sake of others.

(Which, like, "well here's a potentially impossible task that I'm going to take up even though probably no one thinks I'm actually capable of it, but it's my duty to help others as best I can" sure does sound to me like an attitude one might develop when raised by Lúthien "I kicked Sauron's ass cast a sleep spell on Morgoth and persuaded the Valar to find a loophole in the fabric of reality" Tinuviel and Beren "I stayed by my father's side as an outlaw to give my mother time to lead the rest of our people away hopefully to safety knowing I would never see her or any of them again (and then spent several years being a giant thorn in Morgoth's side for good measure)" Barahirion, where "apparently my grandpa I may or may not have ever met died, guess that makes me the king of a place i may or may not have ever been" does... not.)

I also think he either took on the epithet Eluchil, or was given it by whichever factions of the Iathrim accepted him as king, when he actually became king. Obviously he's going to be referred to as Dior Eluchil even before that in retrospect because that's how he's thought of later, but that doesn't mean it was actually a name he always had, you know?

The final thing is, I think if Dior essentially walked into a political situation five seconds from devolving into civil war, it makes his inaction regarding the Silmaril prior to the Second Kinslaying make more sense: the Fëanorioni have been sitting around doing nothing about the Silmaril in Doriath / with Beren & Lúthien this whole time, the letter saying "hey that's our Silmaril give it back now" is probably just a formality, and Dior's only been ruling for a couple years, there's still plenty of people dubious about whether he should be king at all, he might well be subject to at least some of whatever xenophobia remains about humans in Doriath, and in general all the work he's done on stabilizing the kingdom will absolutely come undone again if he screws up; he's trying to keep a kingdom from falling apart, the Silmaril thing can wait.

Of course, it wasn't a formality, and it couldn't wait, but why would Dior have known that?

[bioluminescent-fungus]

@shrikeseams replied to your post “it is october which means it is time for Medicinal...”:

...please elaborate.

​sometimes it turns out that the best cure for the seasonal brain weasels is a medieval remedy for reducing the melancholy humor

and sometimes that medieval remedy takes the form of a cookie

here is Recipe:

Beat together 12Tbsp of melted butter, 3/4c of brown sugar, 1/3c honey, and 4 egg yolks. Mix in 2 1/2c of spelt flour (or all-purpose works if you can't find spelt), 1tsp salt, 1tsp cloves, 1Tbsp nutmeg, 1Tbsp cinnamon. Chill one hour. Roll out dough and cut into shapes. Bake at 375F for 10 minutes. Consume When Sad.

do not mix with cold drinks or the humors will cancel each other out. drink tea or coffee with them.

[dialux]

🔥 fashion/clothing

I will echo @skyeventide and say buy less but ALSO I will add the complaints abt fashion today have literally never made sense to me ever. I have fifteen year old jeans I bought from Walmart that are yet to rip or fray or even fade, and shirts that I've had for even longer and bought from cheaper places. Ross has so much shit under ten dollars that's such good quality and you're telling me your complaints abt clothes aren't a skill issue? Unless you're literally doing hard labor in this stuff, WHERE is it ripping?? How is it fraying??? Complaints abt gold in the same timeframe make so much more sense to me than clothes lmao

[hamletphase]

in light of the orchid mantis you just reblogged, I need to share this from one of my favorite artists (unfortunately it's no longer in her prints catalogue, thus the instagram link): instagram [.] com/p/CpsJGXQuDJl/

LOOOOOOOOVE I LOVE IT

[tanoraqui]

So it looks like somebody is working on what could be a Celechwes Simulator game: store.steampowered[.]com/app/2697000/Windstorm_The_Legend_of_Khiimori/ (Or at least that was my first thought when I saw it)

You're right, it's my girl!

13th century Mongolia is the home of history’s best horse riders. The land is beautiful and vast, full of wonders and intriguing tales to uncover. Be prepared for harsh climates, steep cliffs, and amazing landscapes. Keep yourself and your nomad camp safe from danger by strategically planning your delivery routes across the wide steppes, over snowy peaks or through the scorching desert. Expertly navigate the wilderness to reduce risk of diseases, injuries, and threats to your camp.

This is perhaps when I should admit that I 100% did stat Celechwes out for D&D 5e. I have yet to try playing her, but she's lv2 Ranger/lv12 Rogue and her base speed is 60ft. I homebrewed a little to trade 1/3 of her rightful Sneak Attack damage for her horses being able to dodge and dash better.

[lesbiansforboromir]

So like, is there a little heap of discarded, bloodstained hats and robes piled up outside your den?

How dare you. Of course I put their pelts and furs to good use, or leave them outside in the wilderness where I originally mercilessly ambushed and slew them, my den is immaculate. It does not even smell of wizard in here.

[eleneressea]

@shrikeseams replied to your post “the ghosts of some of the First Age elves hanging...”:

Aredhel and Fingon playing ghostly honor guard for Eowyn.

​Fingon: we can't interact with the living world, you know that

Aredhel: if I concentrate hard enough maybe I can make Wormtongue's head explode

[edennill]

tags by @shrikeseams

Finrod’s highly successful lecture series in Valinor concerning the Edain. Originally planned as “Um. Mom, Dad. Aegnor has. um. not a crush, it’s more that. um. He will definitely be marrying a mortal the second it’s metaphysically allowed. You might want to learn a little bit about the Edain?” but it’s later expanded and polished up to be delivered to assorted elves who are interested in exciting news about Beleriand. By the end of it there are Valar bringing notebooks to take notes. Ulmo is helping Finrod design pop quizzes. Uinen is top of her class.

[bioluminescent-fungus]

@shrikeseams replied to your post “why are there no fics with my specific favorite...”:

Because we live in a marred world. 😔

​proof of Arda Marred: my specific fucked-up kinks are not fandom standards

[melestasflight]

9 people you want to know better

Thanks for the tag @cuarthol 🥰

----

Three ships: Russingon (now and always!) Turleg (I have a thing for angst, is it obvious?) Celrond (they fill all the emptiness left behind by the angst of the aforementioned ships)

First ship: Caranthir/Haleth

Last song: Beautiful Crime - Tamer

Last movie: And Then We Danced (a gorgeous movie from Georgia)

Currently reading: He Who Drowned the World

Currently watching: Cidade Invisível (a Brazilian show to brush up on my Portuguese)

Currently eating: Quinoa cakes and rooibos tea

Currently craving: A holiday, a very long holiday. I'll take a croissant in the meantime

If you'd like to share, summoning @shrikeseams @meredithshayne @grey-gazania @dreamingthroughthenoise @meluiloth @camille-lachenille @latithehinthial @lakehelevorn @creativity-of-death