#the duality of elves

[narriose]

mysolassan

[raedioactive]

chat we have new fandoms now

[the-rogue-mockingjay]

i was gonna do something productive, but then i thought about my alts/OCs in lvl100 outfits and. well!

in order from left to right: Asha Alaqa Sagahl, Aurélien de Sofinoy, Eden Lavellan, Emrys of the Darkened Steel, Félicienne Greystone, Lina Svanasch, Marielle de Dzemael, Mariko Iteya, Merethe de Sofinoy, Myreena, Rian Ashbrooke, Ysera Rowan, Valentin Breliseur, Zelala Zela

[gay-otlc]

11 year old me was out there having galaxy brained takes about keeper while simultaneously being fucking stupid

[camille-lachenille]

I was thinking about how, in fanfictions and in the fandom in general, Elrond is often depicted as a pure Noldorin lord, if not a die hard Fëanorian. And while I do enjoy Fëanorian!Elrond, the more I think about it the more I am convinced Elrond is not the fëanorian one of the twins. Elros is. Elros who adopted seven eight pointed stars as the heraldic device of his whole dynasty, a symbol still used 6000 years after his death. Elros who had Quenya be the official language of Númenor. Elros who decided to leave Arda for an unknown fate after his death; not Everlasting Darkness but not the rebirth in the bliss of Valinor either. He choose to go to a place Elves aren’t supposed to go, just like Fëanor and his sons went back to Beleriand. Elros, the mortal man, who decided to forge his own path in the world.

And I am not saying Elrond didn’t, because Eru knows how much strength, patience and stubbornness Elrond must have to become who he is in LotR. But when I first re-read LotR after reading the Silm, he did not strike me as Fëanorian at all (except for the no oath swearing rule that seems to apply in Rvendell). In fact, Elrond, and all three of his children, are defined by being half-Elven. Elrond is so much at the same time they had to creat a whole new category for him. He is described as kind as summer in The Hobbit, but also old and wise, and his friendly banter with Bilbo in FotR show he is also merry and full of humour. Elrond is both Elf and Man despite his immortality, and this is made quite clear in the text.

But. If I had to link him to an Elven clan, I’d say Elrond is more Sinda than Noldor, and even that is up to debate. Rivendell, this enchanting valley hidden from evil thanks to his power, is like a kinder version of Doriath. Yet, the name of Last Homely House and Elrond’s boundless hospitality make me think of Sirion: Rivendell is a place where lost souls can find s home, where multiple cultures live along each other in friendship and peace.

In FotR, Elrond introduces himself as the son of Eärendil and Elwing, claiming both his lineages instead of giving only his father’s name as is tradition amongst the Elves. It may be a political move, or it may be a genuine wish to claim his duality, his otherness, or even both at the same time. But from what is shown of Elrond in LotR, he seems to lean heavily in the symbols and heritage from the Sindar side of his family, rather than the Noldor one. I already gave the comparison with Doriath, but it seems history repeats itself as Arwen, said to be Lúthien reborn, chooses a mortal life. Yet Elrond doesn’t make the same mistake as Thingol by locking his daughter in a tower and sending her suitor to a deathly quest. Yes, he asks Aragorn to first reclaim the throne of Gondor before marrying Arwen, but this isn’t a whim on his part or an impossible challenge. Aragorn becoming king means that Middle-Earth is free from the shadow if Sauron and Arwen will live in peace and happiness. Which sounds like a reasonable wish for a parent to me.

Anyways, I went on a tangent, what strikes me with Elrond is his multiple identity. Elrond certainly has habits or traits coming from his upbringing amongst the Fëanorians, and he loved Maglor despite everything. The fact he is a skilled Minstrel shows he did learn and cultivate skills taught by a Fëanorion, that he is not rejecting them. There is a passage at the end of RotK, in the Grey Havens chapter, where Elrond is described carrying a silver harp. Is this a last relic from Maglor? Possible.

But while Elros choose the path of mortality and showed clear Noldorin influences in the kingdom he built, Elrond is happy in his undefined zone he lives in. He is an Elf, he is a Man, he is Sinda and Noldo and heir to half a dozen lost cultures and two crowns. He is the warrior and the healer, the only one of his kind in Middle-Earth. And that is why I will never tire of this character and I love so much fanworks depicting him as nuanced and multiple yet always recognisable as Elrond.

[mangapanelsfortheapathetic]

The duality of elves

[britcision]

Hey by the way if anyone tries to deny Kabru is a judgy bitch I’ll send you the panels of him calling everyone worthless

Respect his duality he’s a good boy who genuinely wants the best for everyone but also thinks he has to do everything himself despite being the Least Qualified Ever because no one else lives up to his standards

He doesn’t even want to look at monsters but oh well every single other person is a piece of shit let’s go get my friends killed over and over again

He’s interesting BECAUSE he’s not one dimensional Good Pure Boy all the time, he’s a judgy manipulative little shit who will eat monsters if it gets him towards his goals, which are “nobody should be killed by monsters actually” and “i want to know what the fuck is going on”

He coulda had ONE honest conversation with Laios and known literally everything about him, Laios has never met a filter

But Kabru was raised for a good chunk of his life (6-18) by Milsiril, and for all he believes elves can never understand short lived people… he picked up the whole “I must be secretive and always conceal my own motivations”

He only breaks under literally the most intense high pressure situation he’s likely to see in his life, which along with being the potential goddamn apocalypse is also a rehashing of All Of His Personal Trauma oh and also Every Suspicion He Ever Had About This One Guy

He’s not more honest because he’s an honest person, he’s more honest because he forgot how sentences work when he finally caught Laios and doesn’t have the bandwidth to play the constant 4D chess in his head that underpins his EVERY INTERACTION WITH EVERYONE EVER until Marcille takes the lion

Kabru’s a pretty good person, with extremely good motivations and goals.

He’s a manipulative son of a bitch who will do anything, anywhere, anytime, to meet those goals, and spends a solid chunk of his time and energy on reading people so he can be someone they like… regardless of his own feelings.

He’s the living The Good Of The Many Outweigh The Needs Of The Few, and solidly puts himself in with “the few” by doing shit he hates because he thinks it’ll help.

Isn’t that more interesting than “oh he would never manipulate anyone, he’s so nice and good all the time”?

[kradogsrats]

I am Near, I am Here: Rayla, the Moon, and Love as Presence

I was originally going to add this to @raayllum's post about Rayla's lullaby and Ethari but then the number of screenshots I was taking before I even started to write indicated that it had gotten out of hand.

Rayla's lullaby ties in with a lot of stuff going on in s6, most of them related to her relationship with Callum, which has its last barriers broken down and leaves their bond stronger than ever. Surely so strong that nothing in s7 could possibly challenge it. Most of Rayla's life has been defined by absence—the absence of her parents, her own forced absence from her community, her chosen absence from Callum. The lullaby, however, affirms that even when the moon appears to be absent, it is still there, and has been all along.

This is an interesting facet of the Moon arcanum, which is usually focused on certain dualities—life and death, reality and illusion, presence and absence—but also on the permeable borders between them, on change and cycles between those states.

We also actually have a window into Rayla's own understanding of the Moon arcanum—her first transformation into Moonshadow form in Bloodmoon Huntress. Look, just... bear with me, okay?

It's explicit that not all Moonshadow elves can achieve Moonshadow form, and that for most it takes months or years of meditation and training. I read this as that, while Moonshadow elves are born with an innate connection to the Moon primal, attaining Moonshadow form requires developing a deeper understanding of its arcanum. Runaan describes it as being about the balance of life and death:

Rayla can't reach Runaan's understanding of the Moon arcanum, which is somewhat hilariously about recognizing yourself in your enemy (something Rayla winds up being very good at) and understanding why you have to kill them, anyway (something Rayla winds up being very bad at).

What does work for her to achieve Moonshadow form at a terrifyingly young age is focusing on her wingaling, and a statement from Ethari:

Both are about love as being present—something Rayla is conflicted about in her parents' absence. The wingaling represents a promise that Ethari and Runaan will always come for her when she's in need. Ethari's statement is originally made in the context of explaining that Runaan's devotion to his people may require him to make great sacrifices, but that devotion can also be the smallest act of presence, and both are necessary. Her understanding of the Moon arcanum is about that presence—the moon that is always there, even at times when there is no light.

As Rayla is struggles with why her parents Runaan leaves those he loves to risk his life for others, Ethari explains that he and Runaan both know he may never come back, and that is something Ethari has to accept because Runaan can't be separated from that devotion and duty when it comes to loving him. What's missing from the conversation is acknowledgement of the trust and commitment that underpins that acceptance—Ethari's trust that Runaan will come back, and Runaan's commitment to do so.

The moon is there even when it has waned to invisibility, but it goes unstated that it also always waxes back to full. You can trust that it's there when it can't be seen, and you can trust that its light is coming back. You can trust that it's there when it can't be seen because you can trust that its light is coming back.

I am near, the lullaby says. I will be with you again soon. Until then, remember that my love is always here.

That's an understanding that Rayla crucially doesn't have when she leaves. In Dear Callum, she never once promises or even suggests to Callum that she will come back to him, even if she finds Viren. The closest she gets is the lukewarm:

I wish I could say that we will see each other again, but I don’t know if we will. I hope so.

So not only is she shattering the trust Callum had in her by abandoning him after she told him they would stay together, she won't even offer any real reassurance that she will return. Because she doesn't really think she will. Her only commitment to keep him safe, and as long as being separated accomplishes that, she will stay away. How is he supposed to accept that? What reason could he ever have to believe that she and her love are there, even when out of sight?

And yes, all of this does stem from things she learned from Runaan—Mr. "I do what I must so those I love don't have to"—but the key difference is that when push comes to shove, Runaan understands something else:

The same thing that Tiadrin and Lain did:

And that Amaya does:

That love is ultimately strengthened through presence, and through presence it strengthens us, in turn. When we open ourselves to strengthen those we love and trust them to strengthen us, then our love cannot be diminished by distance or absence.

Somewhere between Bloodmoon Huntress and s1, Rayla loses sight of that, and she doesn't rediscover it until confronted by Amaya over how her leaving harmed Callum—and how it harmed Rayla herself. Amaya isn't the first to tell her how she hurt Callum, but she's the first one to really convey to Rayla that keeping her secrets and burdens from Callum isn't sparing him from their weight and pain, only weakening her. It has always weakened her. Until she turns that around, she is denying both of them their best selves—her as the light that will bring him out of any darkness, him as the anchor that will bring her home from any distance.

The end of s6 beautifully shows the culmination of all Rayla has learned in the slow return of her relationship with Callum, and to top it off, she gets to demonstrate it to Runaan. (Since Callum already knows.)

Trapped in the In-Between, Runaan is consumed by guilt and self-loathing—he fights Rayla's attempts to guide him back to life because he doesn't believe he deserves to go back. He's too ashamed to want to go back. The way Rayla brings him back is twofold:

She reminds him of his promise to Ethari—his promise to return. She made no promise to return to Callum when she left. She probably wanted to, but she believed that the sacrifices that might be demanded of her would be more important. It would at least be out of the question to return before finding Viren, but in the end that's what she does—she returns to Callum, even though she must do it defeated, ashamed, and alone.

She also tells him that she needs him. She needs her father. She's weaker with him not there for her. When she left Callum, she genuinely believed that things would be better that way. He'd be better off safely away from whatever danger her search brought her, and making sacrifices for the people she loves—taking on difficulty and danger alone, so they don't have to—has always been her duty. She's spent three seasons re-learning the strength she has with Callum, now it's time for her to do the same with Runaan.

Rayla is very different now than she was the last time they met, and Runaan—like Callum—is going to finally see the truth of her: that she was never meant to be an assassin, but not because of failure or weakness. She was always meant to be a hero.

[bunabi]

also releasing a preview of the DAV tarot cards this early is nuts

DAV spoilers again let's look at them together yippee

this looks like the lady Lucanis is fighting in the trailer and she lowkey bad I'm jealous she can be an evil milf but my Rook can't

Taash ?? Taash endgame/resolution card maybe

he's going to fucking die Emmrich is going to die or he will become a skeleton man and if this aint confirmation idk what is. I assume the latter option is Morrigan's doing.

blood magic ritual ? again probably related to the milf. nothing to see here but I think it looks hot so I'm including it for reference later.

I could be reaching but TO ME: this looks like Anders

elf with big jugs.....Natalene has competition. they're connected, so there's some duality at play here. probably origin cards for Dalish elves.

same with these! qunari origin cards??

[beautifulterriblequeen]

TDP S6 poster!!!

let's see what we've got in this one! omgomgomg

this won't make a lot of sense, I'm just gushing

First impressions: there is a LOT of magic going on in this poster, and most of it seems to be Moon magic, which Aaravos is casting from his cool book.

There are moon moths everywhere!

Ethari's lotuses are everywhere too!

Some of them are breaking. Some of them have vivid colors coming from them. They could be from the differently colored crystals they all have.

There are also a large number of spirits in the picture!

There's also a red colored spirit, uh oh:

Is this one looking at the white one, do they see each other?

Aaravos has a full moon behind him, and his cube has a blazing moon rune on it. I'm not sure how many other moon themes this poster can hold, are we missing any?

Of interest, there's a thematic similarity to the key art we got of Rayla jumping into the Moon Nexus, where the lower left was dark and creepy with lost spirit arms and the upper right was lighter with the arms of her family reaching for her. In this art, those corners are again the darkest and lightest:

And then there's the man himself. His eyes are glowing bright with magic, he's got his bling on. And it's hard to be certain since we can't see his chest well but it's likely that his star is lit, as it gets when he casts magic.

Okay let's take a quick peek at what is actually happening in this poster. Aaravos is casting magic from the book. It's pouring out of the cool crescent-moon portal thingy there and swirling around.

eta: it's actually connecting the rune cube to the book, but I'm not sure which way the connection is flowing. But he seems to have plugged the cube in, and it is called the Key of Aaravos. Is this book the thing of great power that gets unlocked in Xadia?

And behind him, across the top of the art, you can see something else: a weaving of thick white strands.

What is he actually doing? Is he weaving them, or unweaving them? Is he just releasing three elves from their coins? This looks way more powerful - and destructive - than that. Is he releasing all the spirits ever? Why are there so many spirits in this picture?? Where are they from? Are they also trapped? Were they crossed over? Is he breaking the whole duality of life and death?

Aaravos wouldn't bother casting a measly little spell just to free three elves from coins just because Callum asks him to, not when he could flex stylishly and get something he also wants out of the deal.

Remember when he helped Viren get past Lux Aurea? He didn't have to kill Khessa and poison the Sunforge to help Viren reach Zym. But his method got the caterpillar a burst of primal magic so it could start growing, it stopped the Sunfire forces from retaliating, it gave him some form of payback on Aditi's bloodline, and it stopped the Sunfire elves from being able to use the Sunforge on anyone else corrupted with dark magic. Plus it netted him Pharos and made Viren trust him even more. It was indeed elegant and efficient.

So he's probably doing something on that level again here. Sure, Callum may have given him an opening to help Rayla's family out. But Aaravos will stop when Aaravos decides to stop, and not before. If Callum makes a deal to free three souls that he can't get out of their coins on his own, then Aaravos can definitely work with that.

But he thinks bigger. If Callum wants three souls freed, that's easy enough. But why stop at three? It's so inefficient. Maybe he attacks the Moon Nexus next, and makes it volcano out all the souls it's ever held and looses them on the world in some kind of spirit plague. Job still done, deal met, requirements satisfied. And while the mortals scramble to deal with his mess, he just does whatever he has planned next. All the better that he did something so big that no one can step away from cleaning it up to try to stop him!

Anyway. Art gives me thoughts. Very excited about this poster and its moontastic implications for S6!

[raayllum]

Okay now for an actual somewhere coherent breakdown of the clip:

Rayla and Callum are taking a solo trip (presumably to visit the Sunfire elves) as when you look at their camp, there’s two steeds - a shadowpaw and a horse - and just Stella and Bait. No other people are present. 

Callum has his staff per usual, and Rayla has a quiver of arrows to match with Runaan’s bow, so we may actually get to see her use it at one point!

Callum is seen sketching again (which he didn’t do in S4) and those include a flower and Stella!

As someone who predicted this exact part of the original “written in the stars” skit this is based on would come back in exactly this kind of symbolic way with Rayllum over a year ago, I am feeling very pleased and very hype!

And like listen the sheer amount of foreshadowing and emphasis here, starting the clip off with a shooting/wishing star, Rayla emphasizing “together” (which doing things alone vs together has always been core to their dynamic) and Aaravos equalling stars, and just like. Come on. Come on

Last but not least we can estimate where this scene falls in the season. It has to be early on, so I’m tentatively labelling 5x02, as they’re also clearly close to the Sunfire elves, as they seem be in the forest by the ruins that Janai proposed to Amaya at.

And given Callum’s response to Rayla showing more affection, it’s clear they’ve probably talked a bit and are on Much better terms (especially since he embraced and is able to actually work on forgiving her, now, rather than just holding onto his anger) but we still know later on in the season they’re going to have conflict (which if they haven’t talked about everything, makes perfect sense tbh). 

Then we have the lore drop that like many things, the South Star is defined by duality, as it is also called Leola’s Last Wish. Leola, revealed in the Book One: Novelization (or tales of xadia or both) is the unicorn who gifted humans primal stones and helped teach them draconic. She is likely the unicorn we see on the S4 intro star chart, and unicorns are also one of the few creatures connected to the Star arcanum, which is also associated with wishes. And hmm... what do people in the show wish for??

Harrow: But as a father, I have a selfish wish: for you and Ezran to be free.  Rayla: I wish I could stay. Callum: I wish I could just forgive her but it - it - it’s so hard.

Aaravos “Tests of love” “To fulfil your wishes of course” looking at Rayllum real meaningfully right now, I think. 

[eri-pl]

All the brothers...

I can't grasp it well yet, but I feel like Tolkien really loved writing a dynamins between two (exactly 2) brothers, especially twins, and making them a stark contrast.

Melkor and Manwe, of course. The good Vala and the bad Vala. Both into the same woman. One is the king, the other wants to be the king. Names start with the same letter, we'll see more of it later. Good / purity vs evil.

Do the lamps count? Do the trees count? Sun and moon? Generally: silver light and golden light.

(skipping Feanor, and two other Fs, because there were 3 brothers)

Another M-pair: Maedhros and Maglor. Fire and water. Not only in their final fates, but music is of water too. (and the third Silmaril ends up free in the air)

Curufin and Celegorm, Indoors and outdoors guy, but both pretty awful. (Caranthir doesn't count, he spent less time with them)

Amrod and Amras, and of course, on twin dies, the other lives (for now). Also, again one is tied to fire and fell fate.

Huor and Hurin, extended to their sons: Tuor and Turin. One did great deeds, one was doomed. Destiny at its best and its worst.

Dior's sons, surprisingly they probably both died? But at least they were twins, so maybe I should include them.

Elrond and Elros. Twins theme at its peak. Men and Elves. Immortality and death. Fading into background and short-lived, doomed glory. Also, they tie to M&M. also, Elros's heritage dies in water, which ties him even more to Maglor. And Elrond is, surprisingly, tied to the element of air, because of his Ring.

Elrond has twins again (+Arwen) but we aren't told their fates.

Isildur and Anarion?

I probably forgot some more pairs.

Well, after I wrote it down, it's not a lot, but I still feel like it's a strong theme in the Silm. Dualities. Mostly

silver / gold and Elves/Men, I would say those map on one another and maybe West / East is also similar. Silver-elves-West and gold-Men-East

also, the lines of Numenor kings and Andunie tie to the previous one partially

One lives (at least for some time) and weeps, the other dies quickly.

some subset of Fire/Air/Water

Maybe it's just me. I was always sad as a kid that I was the only one.

Thoughts?

[lucienarcheron]

hi gigi! in honour of the new chapter release today, i was wondering how handsome/pretty do you think canon eris is? i think i’ve only read about his physical traits (i.e. long red hair etc.), and never an actual wow he’s like good-looking you know? if others want to jump in, i’d also love to hear from you 😊

I most definitely think he's very handsome in canon too. Pretty much everyone is in ACOTAR haha. I just think Lucien is the one everyone has to mention as the first hot Vanserra 🤣With Eris, I think he's a "Prince Charming" kind of handsome. He's all elegance and poise and considered classically handsome. Two scenes always stand out when thinking about how handsome he is:

and

The duality of Eris Vanserra if you will 😏😌

When I think of Autumn Court folks, I immediately think of the elves from LOTR and they're that kind of pretty though some may be "gruffer" than others because they're a mix of couritors and warriors. Beron was mentioned to be handsome and LOA is pretty so their boys must be as well.

[bronte-deserves-better]

In honor of pride month, I think I'm gonna do a little ramble about why Bronte/Emery genuinely appeals to me as a ship dynamic, even though I've been in this fandom long enough to remember that it started as a joke. More below the cut because this got longer than planned.

So first off, Bronte and Emery are similar in some ways. To me, their connecting thread is their shared devotion to the Council. Bronte is the longest-serving Councillor, and when the main crew is suspicious of the Council having a leak in Everblaze, Fitz dismisses the idea that Bronte could be that leak outright. Bronte is said to be very dedicated to his job. Similarly, we see Emery make every effort to maintain the Council's reputation and standing over the course of the books. As the Council's spokesperson, he rarely shares his own opinion, and instead acts as the voice of the Council. (Which makes Emery a fascinating character in his own right to me, but that's a different post.)

So Bronte and Emery have some shared values: the Council. They're both believers in the system, generally upholding the established power structures rather than transgressing them like Oralie or Kenric.

But their duality is also fascinating to me. Bronte is strong-willed and opinionated, "infamously struggling" with the edict that Councillors should not speak against the Council's decisions even if they don't agree. He clearly has his own moral framework; even though it often aligns with the Council, when it doesn't, he never hesitates to speak against the rest. Bronte is blunt, harsh, and a rather abrasive character.

By contrast, Emery is smooth-tongued and charming. Unlike Bronte, he almost never speaks his own opinion. Instead, as I said above, he acts as the voice of the Council. I think it must require a certain kind of personality and patience to be a successful spokesperson; even when decisions are made which you personally disagree with, you have to maintain the facade of unity.

I think it's this duality which draws them to each other, in a way. Neither of them could be each other, and consequently they find the other equally fascinating and frustrating. It's easy to imagine that Emery is sometimes frustrated by Bronte's outspoken nature, which he sees as undermining the unity of the Council. Bronte, meanwhile, wouldn't understand how Emery can set aside his principles so easily. It's frustrating, but it's also fascinating. It draws them to be curious about each other.

Another aspect to this is the isolation of the Councillors. We know Councillors are forbidden from having romantic relationships or children canonically; some people have extrapolated from this the idea that Councillors are also encouraged to not maintain contact with their families. But even setting explicit regulations aside, the Councillors are deeply lonely characters. They each live (theoretically alone) in a vast castle, making their decisions about the elven world largely in isolation. How many secrets must the Council know that they are forbidden to share with anyone else? How much does their work keep them from forming connections with other elves, even ones that they aren't technically forbidden from having, like friendships?

As far as I imagine it, the Councillors, by virtue of their positions, are deeply isolated from close relationships with anyone outside the Council, which makes their relationships with each other all the more crucial. The rest of the Council are people that they spend long periods of time in discussion with, must work with to preserve the safety of the elven world, and the only other elves who can truly understand what all of this is like. The Councillors are forbidden from forming 'attachments', but under those conditions, it's not hard to see why some Councillors do form attachments to one another: canonically, Kenric and Oralie, or not so canonically, Bronte and Emery.

In my fic your drama (the touch of your hand) (which is on my AO3 SemperAeternumQue and you should definitely check out-), I imagine Bronte and Emery as having somewhat of a friends/coworkers with benefits relationship. In AUs, I might imagine them in a more traditionally romantic dynamic, but in the canon universe of Keeper, traditional romance just doesn't seem to fit them. Both of them are too dedicated to their work to pursue anything they see as overly romantic or breaking their oaths; they aren't in love the way Oralie and Kenric were, but they find a sort of comfort in one another. They are some of the only people capable of understanding the position that the other is in: their shared dedication to the Council intermingled with the sheer loneliness of being a Councillor.

And that's fascinating to me! I love dynamics that for whatever reason can't be categorized nearly into traditional relationship categories! Bronte and Emery's canon dynamic is absolutely fascinating because of so many things: the unconventional nature of the relationship, the fact that they're both doing something that could be seen as breaking their oaths- oaths that we know they both are canonically quite dedicated to- and the resulting cognitive dissonance, the duality and contrast between their personalities that draws them to one another, the fact that they can never fully understand each other but take comfort in the other nonetheless- I just love everything about what canon!Brontemery would be like.

(Oh yeah, and a final note because I thought of it midway through: I've spent a lot of this ramble contrasting brontemery to koralie, which wasn't intentional at first, but I do think Bronte and Emery's dynamic in canon would provide an interesting contrast/foil to Kenric and Oralie's dynamic. They’re both pairs of Councillors, but one largely upholds the existing system and one acts rebelliously.

At first glance, Kenric and Oralie seems like the most wholesome, if tragic relationship, while Bronte and Emery does not, particularly as they both take an more antagonistic role at different points in the series and are generally not depicted as good people. However, as we’ve seen canonically, Oralie and Kenric’s relationship had some darker aspects, while I imagine that whatever else about them, Bronte and Emery’s relationship with each other is largely good. Bronte and Emery are two characters that rarely act against the system, but break one of their sacred oaths as Councillors to be together. By contrast, Oralie and Kenric pine for each other but refuse to break that specific oath, despite all the other treason they both commit. They're both pairs of Councillors, but couldn't be more different otherwise. (I also have a rant about how Bronte and Oralie's characters contrast one another in interesting ways, but that's again a different post.))

In conclusion, am I normal about kotlc? No.

[justanotherrpmeme]

Mythical Beings & Creatures starters

"I heard they bring luck and beauty wherever they go."

"I've only heard stories, but I'd love to witness their grace and magic firsthand."

"Dragons are said to guard ancient treasures. Imagine the thrill of finding one!"

"Did you know that selkies can transform from seals into humans? It's such a mysterious legend."

"I've always been captivated by their enchanting tales. I wonder if they truly exist."

"The stories about werewolves are both thrilling and terrifying. Can you imagine their primal strength?"

"It's fascinating how they embody the duality of human and beast, trapped between two worlds."

"I've heard tales of sirens luring sailors with their mesmerizing songs. It's both beautiful and dangerous."

"Imagine meeting a centaur, a creature with the body of a horse and the wisdom of a human."

"Elves are known for their grace and wisdom. I wonder if they still roam the hidden corners of the world."

"Mermaids, half-human and half-fish, are said to dwell in the depths of the ocean."

"The ocean holds so many secrets."

"Do you believe in the existence of fairies? They're said to bring luck and mischief to those who encounter them."

"I'd love to stumble upon their magical realm and witness their whimsical ways."

"I wonder if any are still out there."

"Their dual nature symbolizes the connection between humans and animals."

"I can't imagine facing one!"

[stilltrails]

Realizing that the jovial elves in the Hobbit who're 'harassing" the dwarves with song in the Hobbit (movie and book) are also the same elves that were in the Silmarillion, and some of them kinslayers is just wild.

The duality of elves I guess.