#the ring would not have been destroyed if frodo had not borne it

[yourstormthlaylirahh]

Regardless of whether you conceptualize them as platonic, romantic, familial, etc, Sam and Frodo are soulmates. Sam loved Rosie and had a family with her and they're lovely, but his bond with Frodo superseded all others because their connection was that strong, this is shown most clearly in how in his old age Sam followed Frodo into the west. In this essay I will-

[melkormajere]

Disabled characters in fantasy and why the entire bullshit surrounding the ableistic arguments about disabilities in fantasy. Where people think that mobility devices in gaming could 'easily' be 'fixed' with magic and why it is incredibly frustrating.

OR What Raistlin Majere means to me as a disabled person. a Rant.

Why Raistlin Majere (And other disabled characters are important in fantasy). There's been a lot of discussion of accessibility devices being used in games. Talking about how it's 'lazy because magic can fix everything'. We would not have any of Dragonlance if it wasn't for Raistlin Majere. He is a canonically disabled mage, who was kinda (was) a jerk. He was very nuanced and important. Basic mage needs and 'spellslots' are an important part of fantasy. Much like our human bodies that require rest and nourishment, fantasy doesn't eliminate that. Raistlin Majere went to become a real mage and had to go through excruitating trials to prove he was capable of wearing his mage robes. During all of that he did some BAD things, and he offered his body to a even worse mage to help him. The Mage drained him regulary. Raistlin already was born disabled. His own self loathing against his able bodied brother was interesting, and while I could write tons about that too, that isn't what this is about entirely because there's more than that. He often felt left out, tired and rather useless and magic was what gave him 'strength'. Due to multiple things that happened to him he wanted to challenge the gods themselves and become the most powerful mage. (There's a lot more to this but for simplifying we are going with this). This is also not me condoning using disability as a 'punishment', but Raistlin already was disabled and was further pained when doing his mage trial. I've seen arguments about how gods/temples would help anyone disabled and therefore disabilities wouldn't work. Someone took a tiny bit of pity (ugh) on him and offered him something to help ease his pain, let's just call it medication for simplicity sake again. That was the most charity, even the most powerful clerics couldn't heal him or help him, whether in childhood or adulthood. Eventually he almost completely healed himself but was still very much dealing with various forms of pain, whether emotional etc. He is known as the most powerful wizard on krynn.

If we take all of that away we take away an incredibly interesting character whose disabilities helped elevate the games in which he was played in. When you work together you can accomplish so much more. When his friends were actual friends they accomplished so much together they seriously did. Yet due to his abbrasive personality he was rarely praised for the war of the lance until much later. Even his title of "hero of the lance" always seemed to come with talks about him being rather shitty until later. Throughout Dragonlance as a series (beyond the core novels) we have a lot of disabled characters and throughout the years as humans become more aware of how to write disabled characters differently we have gotten a lot more out of them and a lot more of them each providing such interesting parts to these beloved books. At an even simpler level we have gollum/smeagol, another canonical disabled charater who was kinda dick too. However without him, Frodo may not have been able to actually destroy the ring at all, and if we go even deeper into Tolkien's lore we can discover more disabled characters whether titled as such or not that seemed to be a reflection of what he experience during the war and coming back. Disabilities exist in fantasy and in the real world, and some of us chose to create characters with disabilites, and I'd really much like to believe that we can get along because the world is already inaccessible enough. Let your players use various modes of accessability if needed/wanted. Erasing these beautiful and nuanced characters would erase so much of what makes fantasy so incredible and accepting. It's always been such a mostly accepting genre, it's a way to fantasize and sometimes it's nice even in a regular day to fantasize what a beautifully crafted accessability device might look like. So rather than argue online for hours for "why disability makes no sense in fantasy" could we change it to " I am capable of creativity and inclusion". It's your fantasy game, so you get to be beautifully creative.

However, if you REALLY would take away disabilities in game because it's your fantasy game then say bye to

Raistlin Majere

Frodo -Gollum

Toph

John Silver

Captain Hook

Your random peg legged pirate

Your eye patch

Geordi La Forge

Vader

Luke

Furiosa

Matt Murdock

Professor X

Deadpool

Kanan Jarrus

Steven Strange

Bucky Barnes

War Machine

Elijah Price (And so so many more this is the lazy amount because I am SO FUCKING FED UP OF PEOPLE NOT BEING INCLUSIVE IN DND SPACES AND ONLINE) Brought to you by an angry disabled person. (I love you take good care of yourselves, also this is nuanced and not entirely encompassing all my thoughts nor does it have to be your view as a disabled person. I love you be good to yourself today please.)

[mybook313]

The pen is mightier than the sword. I will not be forced to suicide! I hope. I am just writing what I feel at 31. Luke Deering is from Star Wars. The worst human being in human history; except with some research, he really wasn’t a bad person. Luke Deering is Luke from The Bible. I have little to say, but if I just write for a few years, everything will be solved. 

I am a good person. I chose to be good at 26. I was evil before that, but I write as a human being. My Grandmother would think I was evil to my sister. I wasn’t. 

I have seen aliens. I have to call them space aliens on the insistence of my surveillance operators, which you will not believe in!

I am The New Hare; and the tortoise. I work in bursts of doing a huge amount of work in a short space of time and also being a long run attitude. 

I will stick to the pen being mightier and just write from now on. The work that starts A Brief History of The Universe was the usual, gibberish; as is this.

The pen is mightier. My name is Elliott Buckley. I am 31. Definitely Jesus Christ. I will only be understood as Jim Morrison. The question has to be asked: would Star Wars, be in purgatory? Yes! Reincarnation is the most intelligent theory! I am actually evil! I’ve told people enough to persecute unintelligently! For example, did you ever know psychological projection?

The Matrix is my inspiration. It’s all Neo! New Hare, lol.

I must free myself by staying distracted. I am Jesus Christ! I cannot get in contact with the Church of England. I imagine Gwyneth Paltrow, is in denial about having Lkex (Luke Deering) over and sleeping with him, steeling my miracle. I did have a surveillance miracle whereby I impregnated Gwyneth Paltrow and she slept with Lkex. 

I’m not sure where to begin. I have had a good life. I believe cannabis should be decriminalised in the UK and magic mushrooms should be allowed in specific retreats that should not cost a huge amount!

Magic mushrooms alchemise evil!

I loved Radiohead, then Wolf Alice. I love The Beatles (Across The Universe) and Bill Hicks and Jim Carey and Rant (the book). The Pixies, are a great band!

Chloe came over. I really do like Chloe! She’s a liberal person! She’s gone with my sister and Joe, I think to London.

With a lot of things, I always think: why can’t you? This will be a book, when it is just my subconscious!

I would like to become a doctor really! That would be the tortoise in me! I also would be quite interested in Real Estate; and doing that as a job in London.

I need to keep writing to avoid crucifixion by Gwyneth Paltrow (GP) but also have to make sure the British and The British Government are kept busy and happy! I don’t want to be forced to suicide.

Which could unfortunately happen because of celebrities.

I love Pepsi Max with Lime and Green Tea with honey. I buy or a kg of honey from amazon and also buy sleep tea bags for the evening and at night.

This civilisation is just a repeat of 2k years ago. Probably very little real progress. Or a lot, no symbolic progress. Though I could just timshel; there has and hasn’t been much human progress. Timshel means thou mayest, though it is also true thou mayest not. Do and don’t, should and should not is how I have interpreted it!

It was a Hebrew word, Moses used it, Genesis!

Whatsapp is my only solution. Final solution, lmfao!

I would love to write My Surrender, in honour of Mein Kampf. Human beings are born prophets! This writing will set me free!

My parents are Mary and Joseph. Andrew Joseph Buckley and Maria Buckley. Mary and Joseph in a Matrix 4 way.

The Matrix films are incredibly important films and do show us both the past, present and future. I love Voldemort in Harry Potter: Voldemort is my past, present and future.

I wish JK Rowling would write Harry Voldemort. Then eventually Harry Voldemort Dumbledoor!

In Lord of the Rings Frodo should have never destroyed the ring. It was too powerful!

Space aliens could easily make this planet better than Heaven!

Utopic Nirvana!

I think we are having Fish and Chips tonight. That means I’ll have a kebab!

I am writing under the impression the pen is mightier. I am stopping my favourite fake suicide and crucifixion and will one day live in immortal peace!

Immortality means a return! Or Godly perfection. Impossible to die in that creation!

I am about out of things to write now. I will keep going!

The catholic church should never have thought Jesus Christ would just return! He would merely reset and start again as Jesus. I may be here to bring about the apocalypse. Maybe my writing will reveal that! I am immortal at times! I’ve had two comas! The first a 13hr coma from 100g of Nembutal, when the lethal dose is 2-10g, at 27. The second a car accident I do not remember having at 28; 7–8-week coma!

I believe that is how my subconscious has taken over. There is a human internet in how we come up with ideas. A human universe almost!

The pen is mightier. I will not die as long as I keep writing!

Fight Club 2 should be The 27 Club when made into a film!

I haven’t even written 1000 words yet! This will be new hare and tortoise work.

Choose both for salvation! Red and the blue pill. With every choice choose both if possible to avoid Bandersnatch!

I will write 1000 words then roll some cigarettes and go for them. I don’t see why cigarettes are so much more satisfying than vape! The humorous idea that comes to mind and harnesses the power of random is that the solution to it will be apple peal! lol.

I will have to keep this up!

I am nearly at 1000 words! I’ve gotten that information by highlighting the words I’ve written on my 2020 MacBook Pro 13”.

I should write why there should and should not be an apocalypse. I think there should be for it would mean salvation; and to be honest I love chaos, and that would mean destruction; the sort that Jim Morrison would be interested in. It would seriously be karma for this planet. There would be so many people who rightly do and don’t deserve to suffer. There are those who should suffer and be rewarded – both! And there are those who do and don’t deserve reward. There should not be an apocalypse as who doesn’t love the status quo! . I doubt there is a person on earth who would not say we do and don’t need a revolution.

Please just get your subconscious down. Clockwork Orange: we can destroy what we have written, but we cannot unwrite it!

I should say why GPF will and won’t be outsmarted and why she will succeed and fail!

GPF is and isn’t intelligent; why would she live in a world of unkarmic privilege. She will succeed as she always would. She will fail as she is bound to!

I could write how I am and am not Jesus Christ. I am as it is seriously very obvious to me! I am not as I could be Moses, Elijah or Jim Morrison! I am the Lord of all . . . so am even the living and the dead and am the future, if not from it!

I know and don’t know who Mark and Samuel are and have and don’t have faith in Matthew. Oliver’s are Morpheus, Neo. OJ for Morpheus and OR, The Machines!

The prophesy does and doesn’t have to do anything. The pen is and isn’t mightier!

The sword would be suicide. I mean that as a turn of phrase. I will have my body back to normal and my ability to speak back!

I can and can’t talk like Jim Morrison anymore. I am and am not past and future! Echo and Bravo. The future and the past. EB! Lmao!

Backward is ingenious! Jesus left home at 13 to study buddha. I am currently 31 years old. Jesus became Christ at 30 I believe. William Blake wrote in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: know in Christs death he became Jehovah. My name means Jehovah is God!

Elliott Buckley is an anagram for obey little luck!

Life is a waste of time; waste it productively – W.

The way prophecy works according to Noah is leave in your mistakes!

I love Worthington’s! It is my favourite ale!

I will just nip for a couple cigarettes! They are my inspiration and I want vape to develop. I will have an immortal body probably next year and an immortal voice in about 5 years!

I really need therapy! I am having some on the 20th of this month! It is currently July 2023 – 14th. The time is 17:36.

My dad is so disappointed I don’t go to the Fish and Chip shop with him! I just know it!

[sonxofxgondor]

Scarred by the Uruk-hai, many arrows into the chest and torso, but still could it not compare to the pain of a broken heart. Flesh healed and all such wounds mended, Boromir could not rest until he made better the hurt that he had caused. Shackled to madness that was not of himself; that horrid gold had nearly stolen one of his greatest friends. Murder had very near been upon his hands. Evil, a crime that would have destroyed Boromir, ruined him forever and shattered his heart, devilish desires that were born of the conquered Sauron. It was what the wicked fiend wanted most. Death, control and all the power, to see good friends crumble just as Middle Earth was hoped for. But better than he, in ways that Boromir could not, Frodo had defeated the Dark Lord. Bested him - stood before flame and ash - overcame temptation that tried to capture. Brave was the Hobbit who took comfort as he did. Beneath the beautiful skies, stars glistening like diamonds strung upon a silver string, the look of peace ever bright in his eyes.

"You deserve to gaze upon them for as long as you'd like, my friend. We would have no such skies to see without you." Boromir said, a smile across his features.

But soon was that smile replaced by frown. Corners of his lips turned downward, a tremble and quiver, tears cascaded down his cheeks like rain. A sob that had been withheld but no more, Boromir cried openly as he ran to Frodo, fell before the Hobbit's feet on his hands and knees, sniffled and whimpered.

"Frodo! Oh, Frodo! I am sorry!" Boromir began. "I am so sorry! I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to frighten you. What I did to you, in that forest, when I tried to take the Ring. I did not mean it. It was not me. I would never hurt you! I care for you beyond what simple words can say. Frodo, I beg for your forgiveness. I will do all that I must to earn it. Oh, Frodo! My dear Hobbit! I am so sorry. I am sorry. Please, please forgive me."

❛ You shouldn’t be out here by yourself. ❜ ↳ @sonxofxgondor — memes / accepting!

The voice was a familiar one, yet it filled Frodo with a happy surprise as he turned to look upon Boromir of Gondor for the first time in many months. When last they had spoken, the Man had been of another mind, driven to a kind of madness by want of the Ring.

When he'd not appeared upon Frodo's waking along with the others, the Hobbit had feared the worst. Now he wondered if Boromir felt any shame for his part in the breaking of the Fellowship. He wanted to assure him otherwise. He wanted to tell him: I too failed in the end.

But now there was no Ring to drive either of them to such a fury, nor a war at their feet to make the want of it all the louder. Frodo smiled, small but warm, and gestured up to the skies. "I wanted to see the stars more clearly." He looked briefly eastward, to where the clouds still gathered, and he imagined some light glinting through the dull, pulsing grey. "There was a time I thought I never would again."

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Fanfic - Passion

I wrote this for Passion Week (the week before Easter), though technically I'm posting it a day early.

.......

“No,” said Frodo, “we shan’t need much on that road. And at its end nothing.” ~ The Lord of the Rings

He had left his arms and armour aboard ship; they were needed no longer, and could serve no purpose here. Without having set foot in this land before, he seemed to know his path, by instinct or foreknowledge.

He knew that he had come here to die.

His path led high into the mountains, shrouded in low cloud. As he climbed, the world faded around him into chill mists and pale grey light, shapes visible only for a few steps in front of him; a phantom in a phantom landscape.

The mists seemed to swallow the lands and seas he had left far behind him.

He had loved Middle-earth from the first moment he opened his eyes in it. Gondolin had been easy to love: a place of beauty and splendour at every turn, with a mother and father who loved him more than aught else on earth, a stream of honorary uncles and aunts who delighted in him, a grandfather who doted on him. It had been a paradise for a child. When they had fled its destruction, and all mourned it, Eärendil, as both child and mortal, had been quicker to recover joy and wonder at the lands they passed through than the other exiles, staring in awe at the great river, wider by far than any he had seen before, and seeking around camp for new plants and flowers to show to his parents and see the sorrow in their eyes lighten a little. And, more than anything else, more even than Gondolin the fair - the Sea. The smell of salt, the cry of gulls, the strange creatures that bloomed like flowers on the shoreline - the ship-deck under his feet and the craft guided by wind and skill, moving under his command as easily as skilled horse and horseman - the great whales, dwarfing his ship and yet gentler in nature than any of the great beasts of the land - from the moment he first looked on it, the sea had been his home.

And then, the far lands of his journeys. Seeking Valinor ever, being ever driven back to strange shores, wishing he had been born at another time when all the world was not in peril, when he might live in these lands for a time and learn to know their people whose homes and lives he could only glimpse from afar. Vast deserts of sand, with pools of water in the distance where the towers of great buildings rose up. Great forests of brightly-coloured birds, and men and women growing grain by the shoreline, of a kind he had never seen. The Helcaraxë, fair and deadly, gleaming in the sunlight.

The thought of the shadow of Angband, spreading beyond Beleriand, swallowing all.

He would never see those lands and seas again, never speak to new peoples and learn new tongues and ways, as he had from the Iathrim and Falmari of Sirion and the remnants of the houses of the Edain. He had known it, always, as the price of his journey should he succeed; but the chances of success had seemed so faint that the losses from success had been eclipsed by the losses from failure.

The damp mist chilled his hands and face. He stumbled, catching himself against the cliff-edge.

He let go of the world he had known.

He climbed farther, his breath visible in the cold air and mixing with the mists.

They swallowed his people.

Rule and governance had never come naturally to him as they had to his mother, but he had loved the people of Sirion - the clamour of voices in many tongues, the pride of craftsmen in trades employed not merely for adornment but for use, carpenters and shipbuilders and weavers and fishers and those who knew the animals of the shoreline and the times and places of collection for food.

His mind found it difficult to accept that they were all gone now, that everyone he had known was dead, the homes and workshops and gathering-places ruined and abandoned. He had seen them when he last departed; surely they were still there. But they were gone, gone; destroyed not by the forces of Morgoth, from whom Ulmo could still protect them, but by elves, distant kin he had never met. The last free remnants of the Three Houses of the Edain, of the Doriathrim, of the Gondolindrim, dead. His friends and companions and teachers, dead.

He lost his footing and caught himself, hands and one knee on the path, scrapes leaving behind small flecks of blood.

He had no people now to be lord of, to lead and to safeguard, to work beside and learn from. His plea could not be for them, but for others he did not know. Any Falmari who yet endured on Balar. The last of the House of Hador, living as thralls in Hithlum. Any Laiquendi who survived in Ossiriand. And all the peoples beyond the mountains to the east, beyond the seas to south. His people were all peoples; for them he would speak, for them he would plead.

He pushed himself back to his feet.

The path grew rougher, with loose stones underfoot, jagged cliffs to his left and open air to his right. The mists closed in further, so he could see no more than a step in front of him at a time.

Ghosts appeared in the mists.

He and Elwing had not intended children, in times of such danger and fear, knowing that Eärendil must leave soon on a desperate journey that, in success or failure, could have no return. But none had known whether chikdbearing among the Peredhil followed the rules of men or elves; the only other such person in the world had been Dior Elúchill who had been killed while his daughter was still an infant.

When Elwing began throwing up every morning, a thing unheard of among elves, they had feared some illness, until the gossip rapidly spread among the people of Sirion and an Edain fisherwoman pushed her way into the room, asked some pointed questions, and gave them the likely answer. Eärendil had delayed his journey until the birth of their sons, and for the first year after their birth, and had been lost in wonder at their smiles, the soft word ‘adda’, tiny hands grasping his fingers.

For the first time in his adult life, he had not longed for the sea.

He and Elwing had talked, she weeping but speaking aloud the same words that his wisdom counselled: if you do not go, if you do not succeed, there will soon be no safe place for them.

He had gone.

Sirion had not been safe.

He had been too late.

Their sons were dead.

He’d never had the chance to see his boys grow, to talk and play with them, to teach Elros to swim (Elwing had done that), to hear Elrond’s first attempts at poetry. And now they were dead, killed by people who had claimed to come to Middle-earth to save it from Morgoth, killed by the same people who had killed Elwing’s brothers at much the same age.

For the first day after her flight to Vingilot, Elwing had scarce been able to speak for weeping.

That elves could fall to evil had not been a revelation to Eärendil; he had known it since his childhood, when his cousin had nearly killed him, a blur in memory of screaming, kicking, biting. In later years he had grown to regard him with a mix of fear and pity. Orcs were miserable creatures; how horrible it must be, to be an elf who of their own will behaved as an orc.

You came here to plead for all the peoples of Middle-earth. He could not tell if the voice came from the air around him or from within his own spirit.

His foot caught on a jagged place in the path and he fell again, tearing his hand open on a sharp stone. He had become so numb from the mist that he scarcely felt it, looking at the red blood welling up and dropping to the ground as if it belonged to someone else.

This time, he did not try to rise.

Why was he here?

To plead mercy for the people of Middle-earth.

Why were the Noldor barred?

Because they were kinslayers. Because they had sacked and ruined another seaside town long years before his Sirion, ere ever they had arrived in Middle-earth, and parted parents from children and husbands from wives.

Why should the Valar offer pardon for murder when not even the person asking it could do so?

The world closed in around him, and he saw nothing, not even the stone beneath his hands.

He could not be a father and not be angry at those who had killed his sons. He could not be a husband and not be angry at those who had shattered his wife’s spirit. He could not be a lord and not be angry at those who had slaughtered the people he abandoned.

He had once seen a barbed fish hook cut out of a man’s hand, tearing the skin around it to pieces. He tore out his own soul, ripping out hatred, and everything around it.

He was not the father of Elrond and Elros. He was not the husband of Elwing. He was not the lord of ruined Sirion. He was about to die; and for the last and most important thing he had to do, he could not be. His children, his wife, his people, were the people of Middle-earth, all, known and unknown, friends and enemies. Even those who had taken his sons from him.

He desired mercy for all of them.

He climbed to his feet again, his hand leaving a smear of blood against the stone.

He felt both lighter and wearier than he had ever known; empty of himself, and full of the world.

It took only a little space further for the mists to clear and reveal a city, fair yet barren, abandoned.

The messenger hailed him.

He came to the Valar.

He offered his plea in all the tongues he knew, and law the world at their feet.

They accepted it and took it up.

He was empty, and ready to depart.

Elwing chose to stay, and looked at him with tears in her eyes. He stayed. He did not know how to explain what he had done and who he had made himself; he did not know how to answer the rage and grief that still blazed through her spirit with pity wrung from his hearts’-blood.

The Valar gave him a new ship and sent him back to Middle-earth, to see and to give hope, but not to touch, not to live.

He heard the griefs and fears of the people of Middle-earth, and wonder breaking through despair at the appearance of the new star; he reached out to answer, to offer hope and comfort.

He heard a conversation.

“Surely that is a Silmaril that shines now in the West?”

“If so, then let us be glad, for now its glory is seen by many, and yet is secure from all evil.”

He looked down, and saw his sons. They were well, sleeping peacefully and wrapped in many blankets. He wept, for the first time since the end of his journey through the Calacirya; shaking, racking sobs, the star standing fixed in place. He reached out to them in their sleep. It will be all right, it will be all right. We are coming, we love you.

He could feel the spirits of the two Fëanoreans beside them, and compassion filled him, compassion that did not need to be chosen or struggled for but appeared as naturally as clouds produced rain.

It was as though he was looking into a burnt and broken mirror. He had emptied himself, and been filled with light as a gift. They too had emptied themselves, and were left with only ashes.

He reached out to the minds instinctively. One was entirely closed, so much so it might scarcely have been there at all. The other perceived him, and flinched away from the pity as if it were a brand, closing in around itself like a startled sea-creature in its shell. Grief cut into him, as if the refusal came from dear friends rather than erstwhile enemies, and he could scarce tell if he rejoiced more for his sons or mourned more for their captors.

…..

Centuries later, as he passed above Middle-earth, he heard amid the petitions and invocations an anguished voice that was scarcely a whisper, and knew it instantly.

“I am sorry.”

I forgive you, Eärendil returned with delight, but the mind remained shut to him and could not hear. As many times, as many nights, as he reached out, he found the way closed. Over millennia, over ages, the words repeated, whispered or only thought as a prayer, but every time he reached out with forgiveness he met only the locked and barred door of the mind. It tore at his heart, like watching a man starving to death while refusing the food that was offered.

Ages later, of an afternoon, Eärendil stood in the living room of his tower in Valinor and heard a knock on the door.

A figure entered, only ever seen before at vast distances, but instantly familiar.

“Lord Eärendil,” he said uncomfortably, eyes flicking back and forth between Eärendil’s face and the floor. “I am sorry.”

Eärendil stepped forward and embraced him.

[omgsquee2001]

Their Perfect Family

~~~~~~~~

Frodo x Reader

~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~

@amessywritersmind said: Hello!! I was wondering if you’d ever write for Frodo Baggins? Maybe where it’s after the destruction of the ring but Frodo doesn’t go to the undying lands and him and the reader start a family instead and just what they would be like as new parents? If not it’s totally okay!!! Thank you either way!! 💛

I love the idea of this. A lot of LOTR Fans’ hearts were broken when Frodo left for the Undying Lands, leaving behind Sam, Merry and Pippin.

~~~~~~~~~

The sun shone through the window of a Hobbit-Hole in the Shire. The warm rays lit up a room, where two figures lay cuddled in the blankets together. One figure, Frodo Baggins, was spooning the second figure, his wife, [Y/N] [L/N]. Frodo sighed and stretched lightly as the sun awoke him. Opening his blue eyes, he smiled as he gazed upon the sleeping face of the love of his life.

[Y/N] was a fellow Hobbit of the Shire. However, she was slightly different from her neighbors and friends. She was half-Dwarf and half Hobbit. Her father had been a Dwarf of the Iron Hills and her mother had been a Hobbit named [M/N]. The two had met when [M/N] decided to travel and ended up in the Iron Hills. When [Y/N] was born, [M/N] returned to the Shire to raise her daughter in peace. That’s where she met Frodo.

When the One Ring had been discovered, [Y/N] wanted to go with Frodo. She wanted to make sure that he was safe, if she was one of the few Hobbits in the Shire who actually knew how to fight, besides Bilbo, however, that was in his much younger years. Gandalf had appointed [Y/N] to protect both Frodo and Sam until the reached the Praning Pony in Bree. When the started the journey to destroy the Ring with a Wizard, two Men, a Dwarf, an Elf and five Hobbits and the Fellowship broke at Amon Hen, [Y/N] went with the Hobbit she had fallen in love with. Sam accompanied the two.

A few years after the Ring was destroyed, Frodo and [Y/N] confessed their love for each other. A few months after, they were married.

Frodo propped himself up on his elbow and brushed his wife’s hair away from her neck. He leaned down and gently kissed the exposed skin.

“[Y/N], my Love, it is time to awaken.” Frodo whispered. Said Hobbit groaned and hid her face further into the feather filled pillow. Frodo chuckled. “[Y/N], you can’t stay in bed all day.” He said. [Y/N] groaned again, turning over on her back and placing her arm over her eyes.

“Says who?” She asked, sleep lacing her voice. All of the sudden, two pairs of feet came rushing into the two lover’s room.

“Mama! Papa! Get up!” Frodo and [Y/N]’s oldest child, 10 year old Azalea, shouted, climbing onto the bed. Her younger brother, 5 year old Drogo, named after Frodo’s Father, tried climbing up after his sister, but was lifted up by [Y/N]. Frodo chuckled as he held his daughter in his lap, now sitting up.

“Says Azalea and Drogo, apparently.” Frodo said. [Y/N] chuckled, setting Drogo in her lap.

“Do I have to, my beloved children?” [Y/N] asked. Drogo nodded.

“Yes, Mama! You promised you would take us down to see Uncle Merry and Uncle Pippin today!” Drogo said. Out of all the Hobbits that they knew, Merry and Pippin were by far the siblings’ favorite. Mostly because they got the children into and out of trouble all the time. [Y/N] sighed.

“Alright,” she looked at Azalea. “Azalea, can you help your brother dress? Papa and I will be out in a little bit to get breakfast ready.” She said. Azalea nodded.

“Yes, Mama. Come on, Drogo!” Azalea called. She climbed off the bed and then helped her brother down. Frodo smiled at his children. After getting dressed, the parents made their way into the dinning room. [Y/N] walked over to the head of the table.

“My beloved family,” she said, catching her chidren and husband’s attention. “I have a marvelous surprise for you all. She said. Azalea gasped.

“Is Mr. Gimli coming to visit?” She asked. After learning that the two Hobbits had married and had two children, Gimli, son of Gloin, the Dwarf who had gone with to destroy the Ring, traveled to the Shire once a year to say hello to the happy family.

“Are we getting a puppy?” Drogo asked. [Y/N] shook her head.

“No to both of those. It hasn’t even been a year yet, Azalea.” She said. [Y/N] smiled down at her flat stomach and rubbed it lovingly. “Azalea, Drogo, you two are going to be older siblings,” she looked up at her family. Azalea and Drogo’s faces burst into smiles. They started running around the kitchen, shouting, “we’re going to have a sibling!” Frodo walked over and placed his hand on [Y/N]’s stomach.

“Have you thought of a name yet?” He asked. [Y/N] nodded.

“Fíli, for a boy, named after the Prince mentioned in Bilbo’s story, and [M/N] for a girl.” She said. Frodo smiled.

“I love it,” he turned around and looked at his children. “If you two don’t sit down, Papa’s going to catch you and tickle you!” He shouted. Azalea and Drogo screamed and giggled, running front their Father. [Y/N] smiled as she watched. She and Frodo really had a perfect family. Their perfect family.

~~~~~~~

I hope you like this, @amessywritersmind . If not, I’m always more than happy to rewrite it. I am also a bit curious: if Thorin, Fili and Kíli survived the Battle of Five Armies, do you think that they would travel to Rivendell and volunteer to travel with Frodo to Mordor as a way to repay all that Bilbo had done for them? If you would like to see that turned into a fan fiction, let me know😁😁.

[fluffynexu]

Astralignment

and the Korribani Calendar System

Before the arrival of the Exiles the native Sith on Korriban had their own system of keeping track of time. Over the years, this became standardized and refined and is still in use by a large portion of the modern Pureblood community. Since the ancient Sith were observant beings of their world, many of the names and symbols reflected their natural environment. All of these aspects go into what is known as a Sith’s astralignment (astro-alignment).

Since the Empire runs on Imperial Standard Time (IST), anything relating to Korriban or any other Imperial world is referred by the local time of that planet.

Compare a year on  Dromund Kaas to Korriban:

Dromund Kaas (everything in standard)

24 hours/day

312 days/year

7,488 hours/year

60 minutes = 1 hour

24 hours = 1 day

5 days = 1 week

7 weeks = 1 month

35 days = 1 month

8 months (+4 weeks and 4 holidays) = 1 year

312 (standard)days = 1 year

Korriban

28 (standard) hours/day

780 (local) days/year

21,840 (standard) hours/year

70 (standard and local) minutes = 1 hour

24 (local) hours = 1 day

10 (local) days = 1 week

6.5 (local) weeks = 1 month

65 (local) days = 1 month

12 (local) months = 1 year

780 (local) days = 1 year

This roughly makes 1 Korribani year approximately 2.9 [Dromund] Kaasi years.

Calendars

The days on Korriban are annotated on some versions of the Imperial calendar alongside the standard days.

In this example, names of the days on the calendar reflect the IST. The black numbers indicate the date in IST, the red numbers represent the date of the Korribani calendar. Placement of the Korribani date indicate when that day begins in relation to the Kaasi one.

A. 00:00 is the same for both. B. 00:00 K starts at 04:00 DK. C. 00:00 K starts at 08:00 DK. D. 00:00 K starts at 12:00 DK. E. 00:00 K starts at 16:00 DK. F. 00:00 K starts at 20:00 DK. G. Loops back around and 00:00 K lines up 00:00 DK .

While seemingly complicated to some, most Sith have grown with this system of overlapping calendars and can easily tell the date by the positioning of the numbers in this format. 

There are of course, electronic versions where the date is shown simply:

Since the Korribani month is longer than the Kaasi one, the dates will continue through the Kaasi months. These next two pictures show how long 1 Korribani month is in relation to a Kaasi one.

There is also a version of the Korribani calendar that does not overlap with IST. These are used locally on the planet.

The days of the Korribani week were named after major gods from the most widespread pantheon on the planet:

Ahmuriq, from Ahmurn: the creator god.

Marseriq, from Marserha: mother goddess of the Sith.

Bashariq, from Bashara: goddess of passion.

Teraiq, from Teral: god of protection and justice.

Iskarliq, from Iskarln: god(dess) of conflict and war.

Marduriq, from Mardur: patron god of the Massassi and strength.

Rusaniq, from Rusanel: goddess of knowledge.

Zefiriq, from Zefir: goddess of the hunt.

Shumariq, from Shumari: god of the harvest.

Goruiq, from Gorul: the trickster god(dess).

Months

There are numerous constellations in the Korribani sky. Twelves of these mark the months of the year as well as going into the astalignment. The 12 major, monthly constellations all depict local fauna from ancient fables and have certain characteristics that are commonly associated with them.

1. Yuninchâtsutuyok, the jiminat and agzonûboj engaged in eternal conflict. Dedicated, ambitious, and insightful.

2. Qyalatuyok, the qyalak. Calm, sentimental, and inquisitive.

3. Badzuriqatuyok, the badzuriqash. Tenacious, practical, and direct.

4. Kaarjontuyok, the kaarjontû. Spontaneous, contemplative, and observant.

5. Tukatatuyok, the tukata. Loyal, respectful, and staunch.

6. Hatyatuyok, the hatya. Articulate, perceptive, and adaptable.

7. Lomaituyok, the lomait. Disciplined, fearless, and competitive.

8. Dzushatuyok, the dzushaj. Private, calculating, and flexible.

9. Mowhetuyok, the mowhef. Stern, traditional, and ruthless.

10. Dyaltituyok, the dyaltir. Mischievous, studious, and charismatic.

11. Jhan’dikanatuyok, the lost dikana. Creative, sociable, and resourceful.

12. Niqoituyok, the niqoit. Erudite, cunning, and free-spirited.

Years

The years are also represented by local animals. No one, not even Sith scholars or historians, are sure of the origin of how these animals came to represent the years on Korriban’s calendar. It is one of the many parts of Sith culture that have been lost since it is believed this particular record has been passed down through oral tellings.

The years are kept track of in a 6-year cycle with each year emphasizing a likely success for the ones born in that year.

Chiroik - Wealth

Wokinai - Knowledge

Natûsh - Fame

Dzenal - Influence

Litskoj - Power

Sulemish - Longevity

(ie. Those born in the year of the Sulemish will have a long life.) This again factors into a Sith’s astralignment.

In addition to the years, these 6 animals are also used for the hours on Korriban. But time is not conveyed in the same manner as Basic. While in Basic one would simply say “14:25” (or two twenty-five in the afternoon) the Sith have a much more involved way to convey time.

For example: Shyracks screech and return to their caves as the priestess prepares the altar in the hour of the wokinai.

Translates to: 07:15 local time (or seven fifteen in the morning).

As a side note, a few centuries ago Darth Feras domesticated and bred wrats within the Empire. At first they weren’t seen with much interest by her peers. But popular rumor has it that she pointed out her creations embody the physical traits of the yearly beasts.

Eyes - Chiroik

Ears - Wokinai

Body - Natûsh

Hands - Dzenal

Feet - Litskoj

Tail - Sulemish

Afterwards they quickly became a favored pet and companion among the Sith, being seen as an auspicious animal.

While not related to their calendar there is a tradition of being assigned a birth flower. For this, the Sith do not look to their skies but rather, when a child is born the placenta is buried in a pot with 12 seeds. The first of these seeds to sprout becomes that Sith’s birth flower. These 12 flowers are also used in medicine, therapeutic or preventive, for some common ailments.

Serla for headaches.

Roshal for good eyesight.

Nashkir for sore throats.

Atsudqâ for heart health.

Hyaranjat for good digestion.

Mûyoin for muscle pain.

Shasâyar for fertility.

Jûzon for blood circulation.

Ashanin for bone mending.

Qoyo for fevers.

Chisiqsanu for irritated ridge skin.

Kûsk’inti for fatigue and replenishing energy.

The last two parts that go into a Sith’s astalignment are their energies. The weekly energies correspond with 4 classic “elements” of earth, fire, air, and water. While the daily energy simply refers to day or night (d/n) in regards to when the person was born.

Combined with all aspects mentioned in this document, year, month, weekly energy, day (+energy), and flower, one can study a Sith’s astalignment.  ex. Darth Vowrawn’s astalignment factors:

The study of these astralignments is a complicated field on to its own while the findings can be very important to some among the Sith. There are specialized scholars who offer their services to the old families so that the “perfect matches” (marriage, business, or otherwise) can be set up.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

aaaaahhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT’S DONE. i feel like frodo at mt. doom after the ring is destroyed omg... ;-;

SOOOO. i wanted, and i mean REALLY wanted, to finish this for lunar new year (for pretty obvious reasons lol)...... :,) welp. then i was like “i can do may 4″ lol NOPE. but here we are! still technically sith day? whatever. imma say I Did It. :D

also pls don’t laugh at my stupid drawings. i already know i can’t art. ok??? >,<

special thanks to @snootysith​ for giving me a bunch of sithy names and words for me to use. c: like y’all... coming up with fake words, that look and sound ok is really HARD (for my dumbass anyway)

other worldbuilding posts that are... sorta mentioned/used in this:

@inquisitorhotpants​‘s dk calendar

BOOS! x3

and some other stuff ....

but uh, yea. if you’re wondering “hang on there fluffy... did you really make a big, dumbass zodiac/astrology post??” the answer is...

yes.

yes i did... xU

but also i imagine the ancient sith had a lot of special and important dates for you know... religious things? *shrug* and over the many, many years all of this was passed down and prob altered in some way to fit into modern sith society? idk...

now imma say some things here bc i know For A Fact!!! that ppl don’t go onto original posts to read op tags on this hellsite lol.

and this isn’t me trying to sound like an arrogant asshole... but these are for some common questions that’ll undoubtedly come up:

yes, you can use this in any extent or manner.

no, you obvs don’t have to. ignore it if you want. i’ll be ok lol.

no, i’m not gonna write a long ass book with all the little details on every aspect of all the traits and then assign these things for your character(s). just make something up. that’s what i did here xD (plus my brain is d e a d from this)

yes, this is seen as a mostly(!) tomato pureblood sith thing but obvs attitudes are different between individuals. some are super into it, some could careless and think it’s all fake news, some have parents that care too much about it which is annoying and interfering with their life so they lowkey hate it lol.

no, i couldn’t do a read more bc it wouldn’t look as nice and i worked hard ok? ;-; i apologize for clogged dashes in advance.

i think that’s it? ofc feel free to hmu if you’re ok with a reply that can take anywhere from a few min to 3 business days ^-^;

[sonxofxgondor]

There was more discovered at the Council than just mere answers to dreams beheld by both Boromir and Faramir. Rumor as was spoken aloud by Denethor proven true, the One Ring had come to the palace of Elrond and his people, beneath trees of golden leaves and branches of brass. Protected inside of the trouser pocket of Frodo, far had the small artifact traveled. Ever closer to the master that it dearly loved - a bond that could not be broken - ever farther away as was commanded and arranged. It would be returned to the land of its creation. Cast into the fires, all evils and wickedness destroyed in the Cracks of Doom, a band melted into nothingness. Once considered legend would be born into the fabrics of history; inked onto pages for generations to read in the grandness of full libraries. There was no other choice to be made in such matters. It was decided. Frodo would take the One Ring and see to its extinction, protected by the promises of friends new and old. But even still, trouble thundered in Boromir's heart, a heaviness that made it near impossible for him to move an inch onward.

Until death would he keep Frodo and the others safe. Just as was sworn upon his breath, before the watchful eyes of all else who made up the Council numbers, creatures once believed to be fantasy and also those whose names were more easily recalled. But the quest would not be so simple. Dangerous and unknown, none had ever adventured as many miles, not even Bilbo, a wise and humorous Hobbit who kindly shared his tales of excitement. Mordor was a land of waste and ruin. A field free from beautiful flowers and the songs of birds, air poisonous with ash and dust. The mission seemed doomed to failure. Better was the power of the One Ring suited from the good intentions of others. Boromir believed so. Gondor a perfect place to use the power of the Dark Lord - an attack of equal strength and prowess - to undo Sauron by his own desire for control. Alas, Elrond and the rest of the Fellowship did not agree. They did not see as Boromir did. Nor felt as he did, worried neither as he did, no further did he contest their vote.

"It would be my honor, Master Baggins. Gondor would be ever more lively by your visit, should you arrive at its gates, and warmly would its people, and I, welcome you with open arms. It would be a pleasure to have a Hobbit such as yourself for company." Boromir smiled back, a cloudiness gathering within the green of his eyes, a quiet melancholy.

Alone in his position, standing and appearing more like a statue than a Man whose heart gave life, a nervousness shackled Boromir to the floors of Rivendell. Unable to go back to his chambers, unable to return back to his Council chosen seat, he was motionless in his fear and woe. Denethor would not be proud of him. A gift so great would not be delivered to the Lord of Minas Tirith, as was requested. Faramir would feel ever more ashamed of himself and useless - a burden that the littlest brother did not deserve to carry. Boromir had failed them both. From the throw of one stone that killed two birds; brother and father would be faced with the consequence of disappointment. There was no explanation that could soothe the hurt yet to come. Boromir could taste it upon his tongue even as he stood so far away. A bitter mush that turned the bile in his belly and quickened the pace of his heart. A substance that was too terrible to swallow.

Boromir said, head bowed as if remorseful for an action that had not been his to make, hair like a curtain around his vision. "I must confess that I worry greatly for your dear nephew, Master Bilbo. Frodo is as brave as any Man that I have fought battle with, but he doesn't understand just what has been asked of him. The road that we are to travel together is horrid and cruel. I do not wish to see him suffer for any reason that could be prevented. Not when there are other ways. But the others do not see that. They have made up their minds and I will follow, but nonetheless, I worry. Frodo's heart is kind. I do not want to see him lose it."

"I don't suppose that you have a story that could help me make sense of it all, do you?" Boromir asked, his voice light with hope and cheer. "What you spoke of before, your experiences, they sound like the tale of a hero, utterly magnificent and incredible. A hero that you so clearly are. I only hope to become the same within my own time. A hero for others, for my people and the whole of Middle Earth. Though I do not think that the two of us could ever compare. You are far greater and worthier of such recognition, Master Bilbo."

It was nigh on seventeen years ago when Bilbo had done his little parlor trick that left the whole of the Shire in wonder. (And they still talk about it to this day, thank you very much!) Seventeen years ago his feet had set off on the road, knowing not where they would lead. With the wind in his face, a walking stick in hand, and Out There before him, it was as it had been many years ago.

Bilbo had every intention to travel further than the House of Elrond--- to see once more the Wood-elves and King Thranduil, who had blessed him as Elf-friend--- to visit Dale, now rebuilt--- and to behold Erebor and greet old friends. Old friends. But once his feet found Rivendell, it was there he stayed. For he was not the young hobbit he once was, and he was, as Gandalf once said, quite a little (now old) fellow in a Wide World.

And that Wide World, though still out there waiting, held fewer and fewer of his friends.

All faded into legend...

So he remained with the Elves, writing songs, compiling histories in Westron, learning Quenya, and keeping company with his friends in a place that had healed something in his heart that had been left unhealed for some time.

But still, no matter what magic befell Rivendell that cloaked it in peace, the Wide World still caught up with them all. And it showed in the Council that was held.

Bilbo had contributed his bit, recounting all those years ago when the Ring first came to him by way of Gollum in the Misty Mountains. It was just one piece to the puzzle, and others in the Council had contributed their own pieces. But perhaps the greatest contribution came from the words of his nephew: I will take the Ring, though I do not know the way.

And so it had come to this.

With the Council now ended, Bilbo rose to his feet, a slight grimace upon his features at the stiffness in his bones. Too long, have I sat! thought he as he shuffled off. I must keep moving ere I turn to stone like those trolls! But he did not go far before he noticed someone else there beside him.

"Ah, Captain of the White Tower!" he greeted, turning on his feet to gaze upon him with wondering eyes. "I regret to tell you I have never seen the fair Kingdom of Gondor, though of its splendor, I have heard much." The smile that was first there in greeting now drifted into a gaze more solemn. "One day I should like to hear a tale or two from you, should you permit it, though I believe that is not why you have come. Tell me, what can this old hobbit do for you?"

Promised Starter for @sonxofxgondor

[halfelven]

What are your thoughts on sauron? generally or writing-wise

thank you so so so much for sending this! I love talking about characters 💖 Sauron is a favourite 

If it [the Ring] is destroyed, then he will fall, and his fall will be so low that none can foresee his arising ever again. For he will lose the best part of the strength that was native to him in his beginning, and all that was made or begun with that power will crumble, and he will be maimed for ever, becoming a mere spirit of malice that gnaws itself in the shadows, but cannot again grow or take shape. And so a great evil of this world will be removed."

This. Reading this the first time it hurt. Hurt so bad that I every time I think a lot of Sauron I remember walking through the woods at sunset watching the tree trunks turn red and wondering if there is anything you could do to deserve such a fate. That was nineteen years ago.

And I don’t have a lot of sympathy for Sauron. He chose his path over and over. Like, sure I can appreciate wanting freedom, but not at the cost of other’s suffering. And he was quite free to begin with, but he wanted more: power and glory. And Sauron is like the definition of "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven." Because he just keeps turning down chances at repentance because he’s focusing on his own power and greed (up to the point where he becomes unable to remember or recognise not wanting power in this way, which is interesting because it shows how distorted his thoughts become and how narrow)

it's like fuck Sauron you brought this on yourself but oh my god to imagine that kind of existence for anyone for all those long centuries… ‘that gnaws itself in the shadows’ cuts

but he pushed away from everything good again and again until he couldn't even remember it or consider what it was to love someone other than self and not take out of greed any longer. But, really, an amazing character. this is the difference between a good villain and a bad one. I don’t like ‘oh, well they were always evil and bad and some people are always good.’ you need the fall. the corruption. the "For nothing is evil in the beginning. Even Sauron was not so." the understanding that they could love and be kind and help if they so chose.

and the idea that 'this could be you' that runs through lotr. you could be Sauron. you could be Gollum. you could be Saruman. you aren't born inherently bad or good. you make your choices. Sauron consistently and knowingly chose to hurt. And he delighted in it. Is that forgivable? By Eru? By anyone?

But it's such a bad fate. you can't help but pity him a little. or I can't help. like looking back at his past and wondering would he have done it if he'd known that was the end. he pushed so hard for power and glory and he fell just as hard as he rose... but would he still want it? had he known? Would his own pain in the end been enough to stop him, since the pain of others wasn’t?

he willingly chose to hurt others... it's a lot. it's his fate in the end and he probably “deserves” it but you understand why Frodo couldn't bring himself to destroy the ring. and I don’t think it's just because Frodo too became tempted with the power of it and couldn't release that power, but Frodo was feeling Sauron's very spirit becoming part of him while he carried the Ring... he was feeling Sauron's thoughts and emotions over and over and how he saw the world and he knew what would happen once the Ring was destroyed. Could he still see a reflection of Sauron's long gone humanity? how could he choose to be judge and executioner? the world is shut out to him. it’s just him and Sauron. If he chooses this destruction, this withering, of someone known now to him, how can he live with his choices?

(Frodo's connection to Sauron is really fascinating and pretty much what started my story, the unwronged)

Also I love how Sauron is written. How he’s a loss of hope. Frodo feeling Sauron searching for him, then seeing his realm and, “All hope left him.” I love how the theme of hope in lotr is taking care of others and how Sauron has left that so far behind that there is no hope left in him

And again, I am very interested in the connection between Sauron and Frodo, how Frodo’s thoughts and will slip away from him, being replaced with Sauron’s. It’s a very intimate and horribly forced relationship that ruins Frodo when it is lost.

[Frodo] heard himself crying out: Never, never! Or was it: Verily I come, I come to you? He could not tell.

(did a part of Frodo die with the Ring?)

and how Sauron is shown as an Eye “rimmed with fire” but “glazed” that is “watchful and intent” but the “pupil opened on a pit, a window into nothing” what he holds now is nothing. An abyss. Empty. Because you cannot be alive without love and care for others. There is nothing without that.

I’m also fascinated by how other characters of Great Power relate to Sauron. Saruman following him. Elrond commenting on how not even Sauron was evil in the beginning and how he would fear taking the Ring even to hide it for fear of also becoming evil. (and straight out refusing to wield it, Gandalf also)

For nothing is evil in the beginning. Even Sauron was not so. I fear to take the Ring to hide it. I will not take the Ring to wield it.'

`Nor I,' said Gandalf.

Because that’s so important! Elrond and Gandalf recognising themselves in Sauron’s evil. They both choose to help others again and again, but they can see that they could both become the same. Because it is a choice! It is a choice!

Also his powers are very interesting, I love the shape-shifting, and his commitment to the aesthetic. and when he saw he was outnumbered left himself get captured in order to gain power I was like oh yeah same. 

I definitely focus on those kinds of things when writing him. that and how his mind is shaped slowly until he can only really see a reflection of himself in anyone. which is really throwing yourself onto the world completely. it’s own form of control, being able to see only yourself in everyone. 

Oh! and:

Now the lightnings increased and slew men upon the hills, and in the fields, and in the streets of the city; and a fiery bolt smote the dome of the Temple and shore it asunder, and it was wreathed in flame. But the Temple itself was unshaken and Sauron stood there upon the pinnacle and defied the lightning and was unharmed; and in that hour men called him a god and did all that he would.

Did this make it all worth it, Sauron? Because it might. It really might

[d3-iseefire]

Bilbo or Frodo?

I think Frodo. He seems more spirited to me (as mentioned even by Bilbo in the movies) and he goes on his quest through pure selflessness. Bilbo wanted to go on an adventure, and he was getting paid to do it. He had no true concept, I don’t think, of what it was going to be like. He knew Gandalf said he might not come back, and that he’d come back changed if he did. He knew there was a dragon at the end of it, but I don’t think he truly GOT it.

I think he looked past it, and just focused on this notion that he was going to have a grand adventure that he could talk about for years to come. He’d read his books and probably fantasized about all these grand heroes and their epic quests and he thought that’s what it was going to be. He heard what Gandalf said, and he read the contract and maybe, for a brief second, he got it, but then it was gone, overshadowed by the fantasy building in his head (you can see this happen again when he tries to leave on the mountain, seemingly having completely forgotten that the path had been destroyed behind them and it was impossible to get down that way). He ran out of his house joyful, contract clutched in hand, excitedly shouting to his neighbors, “I’m going on an adventure!” He thought it was going to be exciting. He thought it was going to be fun. It was a brutal wake up call for him but, by that time, he had little choice. 

Frodo knew from the moment he stepped his foot outside Bag End that the road ahead of him would hold nothing but pain. It wasn’t an adventure, and it certainly wasn’t going to be fun. It wasn’t a journey that he had to take out of any sense of responsibility or obligation. He had nothing to do with it. The ring and the quest, in a sense, had been set up before he’d even been born, brought about by circumstances he wasn’t involved with. It was someone else’s fight, but he took it up anyway. It was a journey that would only bring him pain and suffering, but he took it up anyway. It’s the ultimate act of selflessness and sacrifice, and it definitely puts him in a higher category for me than Bilbo (even though I clearly adore Bilbo and write all my stories featuring FemBilbo. Go figure! :P :D :D I’m a weird person, what can I say? :D :D).

[a-man-for-hire-and-his-archives]

Luke Arnold tries a different sort of fantasy

Fetch Phillips is an antihero investigator in a dystopic fantasy. An alcoholic who knocks back a neat double whisky at lunchtime, he’s full of self-loathing because he’s part of the human race that tried to harness the river’s power but instead drained magic from the world’s creatures and waged war upon them.

Actor and writer Luke Arnold would be worried about playing his lead character on screen. CREDIT:CHRISTOPHER POLK

The city of Sunder – a name suggesting the world has split apart – began life as a giant factory with utopian ideals of shared suffering until taxpayers murdered its first leaders. Amidst this greasy future, in which stinking coal burns and elves and angels prostitute themselves in the one-time Rose theatre district, a human ‘‘Nail Gang’’ is intent on destroying vulnerable species.

Adelaide-born actor Luke Arnold’s first novel, The Last Smile in Sunder City, might be read as an allegory of mankind’s inhumanity, or a global warming parallel, but certainly anti-fantasy crossed with crime as Phillips rises from the mean streets to become an unlikely symbol of unity for a group called the Opus, consisting of wizards, elves and faeries, as though Raymond Chandler or Damon Runyon is mucking about in a Tolkienesque universe.

‘‘A lot of people pick up a fantasy book and go, ‘OK, I want big battles and magic’,’’ says Arnold, who recently took the role of playwright Christopher Marlowe in the Melbourne Theatre Company production of Shakespeare in Love. His book recounts epic battles, but his tone is noir: ‘‘It’s weird to write something where you kind of want to occasionally disappoint people and not give people what they want.’’

Arnold hints at discussions underway for a TV series adaptation. The goatee-bearded author’s hair is now shorter than when he had flowing locks to play his best-known roles – rock star Michael Hutchence in Never Tear Us Apart: The Untold Story of INXS and John Silver in the pirate series, Black Sails. He has already finished writing the second book in his planned series.

Arnold dedicates his first book to his dad, Colin, who read Tolkien to him as a child at bedtime – ‘‘I don’t think we actually got through it’’ – and later introduced him to Chandler’s books.

‘‘Dad reads a lot, fiction and non-fiction, and gets very excited by ideas that he comes across and characters. That was a real point of connection with us. He recorded The Big Sleep on VHS one night and watching that with him and then him giving me the [detective Philip Marlowe] books.’’

In Fetch, Arnold has fashioned a less-than-perfect protagonist intended to be relatable in his quest, which includes a search for a missing vampire professor and a young siren.

‘‘It takes a confidence most of us don’t have to rise above our own self-doubt and be better people,’’ he says. ‘‘That’s kind of what this book is: if Gandalf knocked on most of our doors and gave us the ring, and said, ‘Hey, can you do this?’, most of us would not just embrace that journey the way Frodo does.’’

To enter this fantasy written world, all Arnold needs is a blank room, though acting skills inform his writing: ‘‘I say the whole thing out loud. It helped when I recorded the audio book that I’ve said this thing out loud so many times. It’s how I tell if the rhythm is right.’’

Arnold tries not to get too attached to material things, to be ready to move to where his next acting job might be, so hasn’t been on a rental lease for several years, crashing often on friends’ couches. He has learnt the only way to write a book is to take chunks of time away from performing, because it is too hard to simultaneously immerse himself in one character on screen and another on the page.

Will Arnold be playing Fetch Phillips in a TV series? ‘‘There’s a certain level of abandon that you need to go into a role, dropping into the given circumstance of right here, right now. Me doing that with Fetch would be almost impossible because I’d be thinking of a million other things, the repercussions: is this moment going to reflect that thing I’m planning in four books’ time?

‘‘I think I’d very much enjoy not being the one at the centre of it only because I’d be too terrified of screwing it up.’’

The Last Smile in Sunder City is published by Hachette on February 11

- The Sydney Morning Herald (x)

[if-we-are-free-tell-me-why]

Just for the fun of it, Iet’s compare two characters turned mad in fantasy properties, shall we? 

While Game of Thrones subverts a lot of fantasy tropes, this it has in common with Lord of the Rings: Absolute power corrupts absolutely. In LotR this is signified by the ring, in Game of Thrones by the literal throne of the seven kingdoms. 

Frodo and Dany start very differently. One is chosen because of his unimportance, thinking that the temptations of the ring will not be as great for him, the other is born into the most powerful dynasty of the continent and is told from the beginning that she deserves to rue. 

But all of those differences aside, they both get thrust into their adventure and both get confronted with ‘power’ and experience, what it does to them and at the same time learn, what it has done to the people before them. Dany has her brother and father as negative examples and while she struggles to be a good ruler, she actively decides to be different from them and she has her advisors who do their job and remind her of that fact. Frodo has Gollum and Sam. Gollum is his worst case scenario just a pityful creature turned mad by the ring he has vowed to protect until its destruction and he has Sam who cares for him and tells him on multiple occasions that he is worried about Frodo and that he thinks, the ring is bad for him. 

So we have two characters, very different from one annother but who I would argue share a lot of underlying thematic similarities. They both lose their good influences (Sam and Mormont) and afterwards they are worse for it bc the bad impulses are all that remain. Nevertheless they get what they set out to do. Frodo reaches Mount Doom, and Dany gets the city to surrender. And both of them turn ‘dark’ when we thinkt they already succeded. One works, the other doesn’t. Why?

Frodo’s ‘turn’ has been well foreshadowed. We say Isildur in the exact same position do the same thing and nothing in the movies has lead us to believe that Hobbits have any special powers that could prevent this. Gollum is the example for that. We also see Frodo’s obsession with the ring grow over time. He strokes it, doesn’t sleep and when Sam offers to take it for a while he reacts with suspicion. Everything in Frodo’s arc lead towards him doing the best he can, but failing nevertheless because no one has done it before. It is only by pure chance that the ring gets destroyed. They tumble over the edge, Frodo on his own would have failed. 

Then there is Dany. An people say her turn has been well foreshadowed. I disagree. She has always been an underdog. She starts out as a piece of some one elses plot and then rises above that and develops her own agenda. Her goal from almost the begining is to get a fleet to take on Westeros and on the way she also learns how to rule. Yes she has her cruel moments but her arc has been overcoming them. Frodo started as an innocent and then got corrupted. That being said, Mad queen Dany could have worked, there is ground work for it. Westeros is different from Essos, she does not experience the love she got there, she is an invader and that is an interesting conflict. However like with everything else, they should have known that they would not be able to pull it off in the time that they had. Because unlike Frodo, Mad queen Dany was not the inevitable conclusion. Dany overcoming her ancestors would made just as much sense and had not required nearly the same amount of time.  

[daywillcomeagain]

⭐?

aaaaaaaaaaugh i had this whole post WRITTEN and then tumblr DELETED IT and now i have to WRITE IT AGAIN. (quiet pouting)

here goes again: i want to talk about its own reward. it was born pretty heavily from my recent thoughts and discussions about redemption, both on tumblr and discord. specifically of note is @undercat-overdog​‘s incredible post:

But… feeling guilty, feeling sorry isn’t redemption. It’s not even repentance....But what is necessary, if perhaps not sufficient? Well, first and foremost, not continuing to hurt people. Part of it is coming to an understanding of morality, if they don’t already have one (*coughSauron*), coming to a moral place where if they were put in the same position again, they would not make those same choices: that is, if they could go back in time and relive their lives, Sauron wouldn’t make the Ring or attack the Elves, Gollum wouldn’t betray Frodo to Shelob, Maedhros wouldn’t attack Sirion.

i think that this is both (a) really fundamentally correct and (b) means that, with my interpretation of how the Oath works, the eight Oathbound can never be redeemed.

which... Ouch.

(this is mostly because i disagree with undercat’s parenthetical: i don’t, actually, think that they had a choice at that point. this isn’t because i don’t think they have agency--or, maybe it is, but only in the sense that the Oath was them using their agency to give up their future agency? people do this irl, though, too, in ways such as “checking themselves into rehab and telling everyone to make them stay no matter how much they beg to be allowed out to have drugs”, or “putting their money in a trust where they can’t have it even if they change their mind”--precommitting yourself to future action, even if you’ll regret it, is absolutely a thing that people can do without being any less of people. so under my interpretation, the Oathbound don’t actually have a choice about a lot of their actions, once they’ve taken the Oath--they have some, yes, but not enough to avoid the Second and Third Kinslayings--and so they can never fully repent of Doriath or Sirion except as “I repent of taking the Oath and of all the evil actions that came as a result of that”.)

this passage is probably the most obvious callout of this:

“Redemption can be given to many who have done terrible things; it would be useless if it could not. People who have done terrible things is exactly what redemption is for! No. You, dear brother, are incapable of redemption because you do not regret any of the things you’ve done. Not really, not in any way thatmatters. You can toss and turn with misery at night and tell yourself you love your hostages as your own children, but if tomorrow they were to withhold a silmaril from us, what would you do? You would kill them with the same sword you have already used to kill their kin. And then, I am sure, you would cry about it, as though tears were enough to buy forgiveness for what you have done.”

...

We have sworn for ever! And being a good person will always, always come second to that Oath. You know this as well as I, but I daresay we have all learned it well. Certainly it looks unlikely that it will come into play again; yet neither did any expect the success of Beren and Lúthien. So long as we are destroying cities, I see no point in combing through the rubble for absolution. We can do penance all we please, but we will never be able to redeem ourselves as good people so long as we are bound.”

“So you just gave up?”

“Indeed. What is the point in playing a game you have already sworn to lose?”

Maedhros, at this point, knows that he will never be redeemed. he is, of course, incredibly sorry, intensely guilty, intensely self-flagellating, but he also has recognized that this doesn’t actually matter so long as he would do it again tomorrow. he’s also pretty no-good-deed, after all he’s been through: all of his actions, including the ones intended for good, have either failed or backfired, from Losgar to the Nirnaeth to the search for Eluréd and Elurín. as a result, he’s completely given up on ever being a good person, or ever doing good things. 

Maglor, on the other hand, doesn’t. he is trying desperately to do good, but more than that, he wants to be a good person; this underlies his decision to take the kids and raise them instead of, say, sending them to be raised by someone else who did not traumatize them and destroy their city. and he does believe, to some extent, that things such as “doing good” and “being sorry” can make you a better person, even if you are... still the kind of person who would kill a city to get a silmaril.

they’re both right about some things and wrong about some things; they’re also both being deliberately as vicious as they possibly can. maedhros hates himself and maglor both a whole fuck of a lot; maglor is trying so desperately not to hate himself that he’s kind of putting everything else aside, and also he’s bitter and angry at his older brother for letting him down and leading him into evil, and... wow they are just extremely unhealthy all the time huh.

essentially: rescuing children doesn’t absolve you of murder, but it’s still a good thing to do anyway. maedhros and maglor are both able to recognize exactly one half of that sentence.

but. i really, really didn’t want to end it at that, because wow is “end-of-first-age-mae is right, actually, and the oathbound can never ever be redeemed” a hopeless message! not to mention, this whole debate is really remarkably self-centered: until the end, when Maglor goes to give Elrond some singing lessons, the people they’ve hurt never come up; it’s only discussing the terrible deeds and whether they can come back from them, with no discussion of the actual people they’ve hurt or what they want. so. elwing happened. 

it’s really important to me that forgiveness is a different thing from redemption: someone can be absolved but unforgiven, someone can be forgiven while still being just as unrepentantly evil. forgiveness is a thing given freely by the victim and is never owed one way or another to the person who hurt them. in a lot of ways, the ending is really unfocused on the question that’s been debated the whole time; in fact, it leaves it entirely up in the air. instead of saying whether or not anyone’s a good person, or what they deserve, or whether their sins still stain their souls, it says: look. i don’t have the power or knowledge of that kind of thing. things are complicated. this is what i do know: the consequences of your actions, both good and bad. here they are. they matter, too. (also: rescuing children doesn’t absolve you of murder, but it’s still a good thing to do anyway.)

fanfic director’s cut ask meme (ask here) (stories here)

[prettylittlecostumers]

Fantasy Wednesday: Sauron Attacks Osgilliath (T.A. 3018)

“Escape from Osgiliath” (2004) by Katrin Anke-Eissman, who graciously allowed me to use her amazing art for this post. She’s super talented and she paints Faramir as if she had seen him through my eyes, so please excuse me while I fangirl awhile.

Above: Me, Fangirling. Filmed by my GF. No, Seriously. That’s really me. (GIF Source: https://youwritefiction.wordpress.com/category/uncategorized/page/10/)

It’s always such a delight to slip into fantasy, especially when it’s to talk about my absolute favorite Fandom and some of my absolute favorite characters!

OTD in year 3018 of the Third Age, Sauron attacked the remnants of the city of Osgiliath, and almost won the crossing over the Anduin. His forces outnumbered the Men of Gondor, led by Boromir and Faramir, and the fear borne to the field by the mere presence of the Witch-King - which hadn’t been felt in Gondor long enough to have been forgotten - defeated them quicker than any other weapon. His forces were only halted due to the destruction of the last bridge over the river. The entire eastern garrisson was lost except for Boromir, Faramir and two other men, who were able to swim across the Anduin in their chainmail. Not an easy feat. Boromir recounted these events during the Council of Elrond in such a compelling manner in the book, that you can feel the terror through his words. It was also on the eve of Sauron’s assault that Faramir first had the dream that sent Boromir into his journey North:

“Seek for the Sword that was broken: In Imladris it dwells; There shall be counsels taken Stronger than Morgul-spells. There shall be shown a token That Doom is near at hand, For Isildur's Bane shall waken, And the Halfling forth shall stand.” - J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Fellowship of the Ring”

“After the dream” (2005) by Katrin Anke-Eissman. Reproduced with her permission. I’d love to write a fanfic about what I imagine when I see this image. It’s so inspiring!

I’m digressing, as usual... According to Boromir, the dream or one like it, came often to Faramir again, and once to himself as well. Different from Denethor’s highly explanatory speech in The Two Towers’ EE movie, Boromir says in the book that:

“This only would he say, that Imladris was of old the name among the Elves of a far northern dale, where Elrond the Halfelven dwelt, greatest of lore-masters.” -  J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Fellowship of the Ring”

Boromir then takes it upon himself to go instead of being sent to Imladris by his father.

“ Therefore my brother, seeing how desperate was our need, was eager to heed the dream and seek for Imladris; but since the way was full of doubt and danger, I took the journey upon myself. Loth was my father to give me leave, and long have I wandered by roads forgotten, seeking the house of Elrond, of which many had heard, but few knew where it lay.”  - J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Fellowship of the Ring”

“Boromir sets out” (2009) by Katrin Anke-Eissman. Reproduced with her permission. I love both their expressions so much here. Boromir’s underlying uncertainty and Faramir’s quiet attempt to infuse him with confidence. Ah, Bromance at it’s best. Love it! Thank you so much again for letting me bring this post to life with your paintings!

I love all the intrigue and strategy behind this particular battle, even though we don’t have as many details about it as we do about the Pelennor for instance. Sauron’s test of Gondor’s forces indicate how long he had been planning his final advance on Gondor. His use of the Nazgul in this particular battle - after thousands of years concealing them - can be read as a decoy, since  their true mission, which was the search for The One Ring, had to remain hidden from his enemies. Boromir and Faramir’s plan to halt the enemy by destroying the bridge shows that they also prepared in advance to this day. One does not simply pull down a sturdy stone bridge after all. Their preparations speak of intelligence gathering, which was likely up to the Ithilien Rangers, since they basically operated behind enemy lines since Ithilien was lost. Which, along with their brave stand against the Witch-king until the bridge was pulled, goes to show how Beregond was right in his assessment of Faramir as a commander in ROTK.

“ He is bold, more bold than many deem; for in these days men are slow to believe that a captain can be wise and learned in the scrolls of lore and song, as he is, and yet a man of hardihood and swift judgement in the field. But such is Faramir. Less reckless and eager than Boromir, but not less resolute.” - J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Return of the King” p.1003.

I’ve mentioned it before: Faramir is my favorite character in the Legendarium. I love how human and down to Earth he feels, the depth of his relationships with his father and brother, his pride and his kindness and I shipped him with Éowyn while still reading “The Two Towers”, right after he meets with Frodo and Sam, so you can imagine the apoteotic fangirl moment that kiss on the walls was for me, right? I love it that he pitched himself at least 3 times against the Witch-King, the same foe that she later killed.

I hope I’ll get another chance to come back to Middle-Earth soon! I’ll gladly take all the chances I have to talk about it!

[warrioreowynofrohan]

The Leithian Reread - Canto XI (The Departure for Angband)

This chapter contains - at the reunion of Beren and Lúthien - my favourite passage in the Leithian, and one of my favourites that Tolkien has ever written, and I think part of my reason for delaying is that I wasn’t sure how to do it justice. But that’s a little farther on.

The chapter opens with a brief account of the Siege of Angband and the Dagor Bragollach. It’s a very strong section of the poem, to the point where it’s hard to know which specific portions to quote; the rhyme and cadence and imagery is all excellent, and is enhanced by a kind of triptych structure from beauty to fire to ruin:

Once wide and smooth a plain was spread,

where King Fingolfin proudly led

his silver armies on the green,

his horses white, his lances keen;

his helmets tall of steel were hewn,

his shields were shining as the moon.

...

Rivers of fire at dead of night

in winter lying cold and white

upon the plain burst forth, and high

the red was mirrored in the sky.

...

Dor-na-Fauglith, Land of Thirst,

they after named it, waste accurst,

the raven-haunted roofless grave

of many fair and many brave.

The description of the dark forest of Taur-nu-Fuin is also wonderfully evocative: sombre pines with pinions vast, / black-plumed and drear, as many a mast / of sable-shrouded shops of death / slow wafted on a ghostly breath.

One of the great recurring themes in Tolkien is the way that all evil, whatever its initial motive and impetus, falls in the end to ruin for ruin’s sake, to the destruction and defilement of all things as a end rather than a means. The image of the Anfauglith is repeated with the desolation before Mordor (gasping pools choked with ash and crawling muds, sickly white and grey, as if the mountains had vomited the filth of their entrails upon the lands about...great cones of earth fire-blasted and poison-stained) and the ruin that Saruman makes of Isengard (trees hewn down and replaced with pillars of metal and stone, joined by heavy chains; meadows paved over; underground furnaces with vents emitting steams, like a graveyard of the unquiet dead), and even Lotho and Saruman’s harm to the Shire (from knocking down Sandyman’s mill to make a bigger one that wasn’t needed, to the mill under Saruman not grinding grain at all but only making smoke and stench and fouling the water).

It’s not as if there is a fundamental benefit to Sauron in making the ruin in front of the Black Gate, or to Saruman in his attempts to destroy the Shire; both start out at one point with the aim of “fixing” the world and putting it in order, and this degenerates into control and rule for its own sake, and then into purposeless malice against not only people but the land itself, with misery and destruction as the only aim. We see small echoes of it elsewhere, as at Losgar.

This theme provides a strong contrast to Beren’s song before his departure across the Anfauglith, which is centred on celebration of nature and creation for its own sake, in and of itself, without any thought of control or ownership. The song fits with Beren’s demonstrated love of nature in earlier chapters, where during his lone guerilla war against Sauron he eats only plants, and is friend and allues with the animals of Dorthonion and with nature-spirits (minor Maiar?) as well: and many spirits, that in stone / in mountains old and wastes alone / do dwell and wander, were his friends. (It also has some echoes in Sam’s song in the Tower of Cirith Ungol.)

The song is given here in longer form than in The Silmarillion:

Farewell now here, ye leaves of trees,

your music in the morning-breeze!

Farewell now blade and bloom and grass

that see the changing seasons pass;

ye waters murmuring over stone,

and meres that silent stand alone!

The song also evokes a lot of the themes that came up in my discussion of CS Lewis’ The Four Loves, particularly the part on eros. Beren has virtually no expectation of coming back alive; he expect to die at best, or be captured and tortured at worst. But making the attempt is, to him, better than willfully choosing a life separated from Lúthien, and better than risking her coming to harm because of him. (The latter, as she will soon point out, is no longer something he has any choice about!) Both of them prefer the very high probability of torment or death over being parted from each other.

Additionally, Beten’s song is one of the purest expressions within Tolkien’s works of the element of admiration in love: delight in the beloved in their own right, above and beyond anything that has happened or will happen or any connection to you personally:

Though all to ruin fell the world / and were dissolved and backward hurled / unmade into the old abyss / yet were its making good, for this / the dawn, the dusk, the earth, the sea / that Lúthien for a time should be!

This feels, also, like it is getting at something deep within the mood of Tolkien’s works, where so much is destroyed or fades or is lost: the existence of beauty and goodness continues to be good, to be meaningful, even when the good and beautiful things have themselves passed away. They were, and that is better than if they had never been.

And here we come to my favourite part of the entire Leithian:

“Ah, Beren, Beren!” came a sound,

“almost too late have I thee found!

O proud and fearless hand and heart,

not yet farewell, not yet we part!

Not thus do those of elven race

forsake the love that they embrace.

A love is mine, as great a power

as thine to shake the gate and tower

of death with challenge weak and frail

that yet endures, and will not fail

nor yield, unvanquished were it hurled

beneath the foundations of the world.

Beloved fool! escape to seek

from such pursuit; in might so weak

to trust not, thinking it well to save

from love thy loved, who welcomes grave

and torment sooner than in guard

of kind intent to languish, barred,

wingless and helpless him to aid

for whose support her love was made!”

Thus back to him came Lúthien:

they met beyond the ways of Men;

upon the brink of terror stood

between the desert and the wood.

This returns to the previously-stated theme around eros: for Lúthien, being captured and tirmented in Angband is a better fate than willingly parting from him, or allowing him to leave her behind for her protection. And this, I think, is why Beren and Lúthien succeed in gaining the Silmaril: be ause their goal is not the Silmaril, their goal is each other.

But there’s more to it than that. I love the passage for Lúthien’s assertion that it is not Beren’s chouce whether she can risk danger and death for his sake. He does not have either the power or the right to protect her from her love of him. (I do think it’s something of a wonder that he still decides to go ahead with the Quest after this rather the the alternative of “let’s elope and be nature-hobos together”, but a lifetime of looking over your shoulders for the forces of Angband and the Fëanorians [yes, I think C&C would’ve gone after them out of spite even without the Quest, given their behaviour in the previous chapter] and Doriathrim sent to kidnap Lúthien back home is daunting in its own way; at least this way, if they succeed it will be over.)

This also goes for friendship (philia): in The Lord of the Rings hobbits express the same sentiment in more commonplace terms, in Merry’s, “You cannot trust us to let you face trouble alone, and go off without a word. We are your friends, Frodo,” and Sam’s “I’m coming too, or neither of us isn’t going. I’ll knock holes in all the boats first.” Or, even more so, in another line of Sam’s during the Breaking of the Fellowship:

“All alone and without me to help you? I couldn’t have a borne it, it’d have been the death of me.”

“It would be the death of you to come with me, Sam,” said Frodo, “and I could not have borne that.”

“Not as certain as being left behind,” said Sam.

Returning to the Leithian: Beren is still reluctant to have Lúthien accompany him into danger. And has a line here whose sentiment always seems to show up in my thoughts about Maedhros and Fingon (“Thrice now mine oath I curse,” he said, “that under shadow thee hath led!”)

Huan, returning with disguises for Beren and Lúthien, uses his second of three lifetime chances of speech to back up Lúthien’s point, and to advise them to disguise themselves as Draugluin and Thuringwethil. This includes one of the more amusing lines in the Leithian, with Huan’s Lo! good was Felagund’s device, but may be bettered. Hi, Finrod, you’re being patronized by a dog. :D He thinks you get, maybe, a B+ on the tactics planning. (Beren gets an F, quite bluntly: Hopeless the quest, but not yet mad, unless thou, Beren, run thus clad in mortal raiment, mortal hue, witless and redeless, death to woo.)

Lúthien uses magic to disguise them effectively, and to prevent the terrible disguises from affecting their minds; it’s difficult, skillful, and lengthy work: With elvish magic Lúthien wrought / lest raiment foul with evil fraught / to a dreadful madness drive their hearts / and there she wrought with elvish arts / a strong defence, a binding power / singing until the mdnight hour.

It is a few days’ journey across the Anfauglith to the gates of Angband and, again, reminiscent of Frodo and Sam’s journey through Mordor; briefer, but also worse in some respects, as they have neither food nor water.

[nefertiti22002blog]

Fanfiction writer asks

@criminal-minds-fanfiction​ sent out an epic set of 50 questions under this title. (Thank you!) It took awhile, but these were excellent questions, and I enjoyed answering them. (I just reblogged them without answers, in case any of you want to have a go.)

I don’t expect many will want to read all 50 answers, but people who have recently started following me might be interested in the fics I write in the Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell fandom (and even those I used to write in the Lord of the Rings fandom).

Fanfiction Writer Asks

Most of the writer ask posts I come across are only like ten or so questions long so I thought I’d try to make a longer one because we like talking about our writing! Feel free to reblog!

1) How old were you when you first starting writing fanfiction?

52, still going at 68

2) What fandoms do you write for and do you have a particular favourite if you write for more than one?

Started out in The Lord of the Rings, writing Gandalf slash. (My fics are available on my old website, “Meddling in the Affairs of Wizards.” Haven’t had time to add them to AO3 yet.) After a seven-year pause, got started again by the Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell tv series, after having been a fan of the book for seven years. (Those fics are all on AO3.)

3) Do you prefer writing OC’s or reader inserts? Explain your answer.

I have written OCs, but only if they fit into canon, which I try to stick to as much as possible in most cases. (I had to look up “reader inserts.” Never done one.)

4) What is your favourite genre to write for?

Given my two fandoms, it must be fantasy.

5) If you had to choose a favourite out of all of your multi chaptered stories, which would it be and why?

I suppose it would be “From the Ashes a Fire,” a Gandalf/Aragorn romance. I tried to pair Gandalf with as many different guys from the novel as possible, but Aragorn always seemed to most logical lover for the wizard. I think most of my fics up to that point had been practice for that one.

6) If you had to delete one of your stories and never speak of it again, which would it be and why?

“Service at the Prancing Pony,” which pairs Gandalf and Bob. (Yes, there is a Bob in LOTR.) It was only my second fic, and it’s pretty trivial.

7) When is your preferred time to write?

Evening.

8) Where do you take your inspiration from?

The challenge of figuring out a fic with explicit content (usually) and keep it true to the original source novel.

9) In your xxx fic, what’s your favourite scene that you wrote?

“Thrice Returned” is a multi-chapter novel pairing Gandalf and Frodo. My favorite scene is when Frodo wakes up in Ithilien after the Ring is destroyed and discovers that Gandalf is alive. I always felt that Tolkien should have shown that scene, but he skips over it. Of course, my version is more romantic, which is partly why I like it.

10) In your xxx fic, why did you decide to end it like that? Did you have an alternative ending in mind?

I don’t recall ever having an alternative ending for a fic in mind. My funniest ending, I think, is in “Mr Norrell’s Breeches.” I had no idea how I was going to end it, and inspiration struck just as I got to the ending. (Usually I know how the story will end, sometimes down to the last exchange of dialogue.)

11) Have you ever amended a story due to criticisms you’ve received after posting it?

Yes. In Chapter 8 of “Two Masters in the Darkness” Norrell and Strange summon the new King of Lost-hope (to call it by its old name). I referred to the King as King Stephen, but as one reader pointed out, he wasn’t using that name after the death of the gentleman with the thistle-down hair. I amended the story to be more consistent with that premise.

12) Who is your favourite character to write for? Why?

It was Gandalf for six years, until I ran out of inspiration. (I just COULD NOT find a way to pair him with Sam.) Since I started writing JS&MN, it has been Mr Norrell. Although I write book-canon, I imagine my Mr Norrell as he is played by Eddie Marsan, who brings such warmth and empathy (and cuteness!) to the role, despite the fact that the screenwriter made him such an inconsistent character. (If he can do the fantastic York Minster magic, why can he not do sea beacons? And so on and on.)

13) Who is your least favourite character to write for? Why?

Generally I don’t write for characters I don’t enjoy. Lady Pole was the hardest; I only did her once.

14) How did you come up with the title for the xxx? - You can ask about multiple stories.

Often I do variations on quotations from the book. My favorite title of my own is “One Spell not to discover what My Friend Is doing Presently,” where Mr Strange speaks harshly to Mr Norrell, who casts a spell to make them invisible to each other. I loved writing the farce that resulted.

15) If you write OC’s, how do you decide on their names?

I generally do a search for Regency-era names, as with the Misses Whitworth and Bastable in “Mr Norrell, ladies’ man.”

16) How did you come up with the idea for xxx?

Often I rely on prompts, but I came up with the idea for “Stark Staring” on my own. It started with a simple premise, that Mr Norrell would get a little tipsy and cast a spell that would allow him (but no one else) to see Mr Strange unclothed. I thought it a pretty feeble idea, but it worked out very well.

17) Post a line from a WIP that you’re working on.

From a fic with the premise that Mr Norrell is (of course) secretly in love with Mr Strange and highly distracted by his pupil’s habit of pursing his lips when he is concentrating on his work. He inadvertently lets slip some indications of his desire when the two are close together looking for a book in the library: “Mr Strange had not failed to notice the man’s gaze directed at his mouth and the faint whimper and the subsequent slight confusion and the heavy breathing and the mere pretense of examining the books when instead Mr Norrell was staring into space and blushing furiously.”

18) Do you have any abandoned WIP’s? What made you abandon them?

Nothing that I carried on beyond a few paragraphs. Just couldn’t find the inspiration to go on.

19) Are there any stories that you’ve written that you’d really love to do a sequel to?

I would love to continue my “Jonathan Strange ♥ Mr Norrell” series by taking the two magicians on one of the adventures that are only hinted at at the very end of the novel. I’ve gone so far as to set them up as planning to go to Egypt, but I have not had the time to do the necessary research to figure out a plausible evil spell for them to save someone from. Maybe someday, but I doubt it.

20) Are there any stories that you wished you’d ended differently?

No.

21) Tell me about another writer(s) who you admire? What is it about them that you admire?

I am very fond of the JS&MN fics by Predatrix. She also writes Norrell, pairing him with Childermass most often but also with Strange. She sticks less to book-canon than I do, but she has a great imagination when it comes to thinking up magic for the characters to do. I have not got that talent and usually derive the magic, when necessary, from Clarke’s book.

22) Do you have a story that you look back on and cringe when you reread it?

Not really.

23) Do you prefer listening to music when you’re writing or do you need silence?

Either way. As long as I’m not listening to vocal music with English lyrics, I don’t get distracted.

24) How do you feel about writing smutty scenes?

Love ‘em, though I have written so many by now, and for the same characters, that I kind of dread them.

25) Have you ever cried whilst writing a story?

Yes. At the parting (inevitable) of Gandalf and Aragorn at the end of “From the Ashes a Fire” and at the letter Childermass writes to Norrell in Chapter 9, the end of “Two Masters in the Darkness,” after he has been separated from Norrel by the Darkness. Even though my main pairing if Norrell/Strange, I loved writing the relationship between Childermass and Norrell in “Master and Man” and its consequences in “Two Master in the Darkness.”

26) Which part of your xxx fic was the hardest to write?

I did an AU version of “Thrice Returned” (the Gandalf/Frodo epic) where instead of being killed by the Balrog, Gandalf survived and went with Frodo and Sam (and Gollum) to Mordor. Figuring out what effects that would have on the rest of the book’s plot was a killer, but I struggled through it and came up with something that someone manages to be sort of book-canon and yet AU at the same time.

27) Do you make a general outline for your stories or do you just go with the flow?

Sometimes I do an outline for the multi-chapter fics. Not for the one-offs. In doing “Jonathan Strange ♥ Mr Norrell,” I had to do an elaborate chart with a chronology of all the things that happened to the two in the Darkness, since I wanted it to be absolute book-canon despite involving events in the final chapter that Clarke barely hints at. The chronology (when was Norrell born? 1765 in my head-canon) is the hardest part, since Clarke is so clear about hers.

28) What is something you wished you’d known before you started posting fanfiction?

More of the conventions. I just saw a prompt on Library of Moria requesting a Gandalf/Pippin fic, as if it would be something hard! I saw how to do it right away and just launched in.

29) Do you have a story that you feel doesn’t get as much love as you’d like?

I think “The Toasts of Venice,” a sequel to “Jonathan Strange ♥ Mr Norrell” that takes the two magicians to Venice immediately after the last scene in the book, is pretty darn good, but for some reason it got far fewer hits (averaging by chapter) than the original. It has an amusing scene of Strange trying to get Norrell to be a bit less shy about going out of Hurtfew by taking him to a sweets shop.

30) In contrast to 29 is there a story which gets lots of love which you kinda eye roll at?

I’m rather surprised that “A Book with a Strange Spell upon It” gets more hits than most of my other one-offs, some of which I think are better. But it’s a good story, so the disparity if not odd enough to make me roll my eyes, even a little.

31) Send me a fic recommendation and I’ll post it for my followers to see! (The asker is to send the rec not the answerer)

Having plugged Predatrix’s work already, I’ll say “The Perils of Being a Virgin in Faerie (Together with a Solution Thereto)” by Nothingshire. An excellent premise—that Mr Norrell’s virginity makes him an attractive kidnapping target for Fairies—with delightful humor and genuine affection between the two magicians.

32) Are any of your characters based on real people?

Not apart from the ones in JS&MN that Clarke based on real people.

33) What’s the biggest compliment you’ve gotten?

So hard to pick, but I really appreciated one I got for my series “Jonathan Stolen & Mr Norrell.” The premise is that after a few years in the Darkness, Jonathan attracts the attention of a beautiful lady fairy who kidnaps him, and Mr Norrell has to get up the courage to rescue him. I was a bit trepidatious about writing a Fairy character, especially given my lack of imagination when it comes to writing magic. But I gave it a try, and one reader made me confident that I had succeeded: “I love Lady Turn-of-Tide! You've pinned down the character of Clarke's fairies exactly: capricious, self-centred, vain, generous and cruel all at once, and utterly incapable of seeing humans as anything but cute playthings. As Strange says, she's a good sort (for a fairy), but I know I wouldn't want to meet her! She was a lot of fun to read about, though.” Yay!

34) What’s the harshest criticism you’ve gotten?

There was a troll on tumblr who was lambasting those of us who write really explicit stuff about JS&MN characters. She or he was denouncing a group of us (specifically by our pseudonyms) for ruining Mr Norrell and the others. As if anyone was forcing her/him to read the stuff! Fortunately the fandom sprang to our defense, and I actually got more hits than usual on my latest Norrell fic, “Stark Staring.”

35) Do you share your story ideas with anyone else or do you keep them close to your chest?

I’ve run some stories past Predatrix and even collaborated with her, and I’ve done that with past betas.

36) Can you give us a spoiler for one of your WIP’s?

I only have one, which I quoted above. It is based on a prompt that requests that Norrell be the top in the sex scene, for a change. That goes against my head-canon, but I shall do my best.

37) What’s the funniest story you’ve written?

Hard to choose, but I guess I would say “The Epic Battle over Mr Norrell,” where Childermass and Lascelles both want Norrell sexually, for different reasons, and they decide to have a contest demonstrating their various skills for a delighted but increasingly frustrated Mr Norrell (since of course they have to start over at each stage of the contest without him coming). Guess who wins!

38) If you could collab with any other writer on here, who would it be? (Perhaps this question will inspire some collabs!) If you’re shy, don’t tag the blog, just name it.

I’ve collaborated with Predatrix, but the sort of stuff we write requires very similar tastes, and I doubt I would find anyone else.

39) Do you prefer first, second or third person?

Definitely third, though I have done some first person in letters within the fics.

40) Do people know you write fanfiction?

Only people online.

41) What’s your favourite minor character you’ve written?

I don’t know whether he counts as minor, but I have built up Mr Norrell’s servant Lucas into a fairly major figure in my “Jonathan Strange ♥ Mr Norrell” fics. He agrees to return to Hurtfew, even in the Darkness (as do some other servants), and he works his way up to essentially replacing Childermass as Norrell and Strange’s Man of Business. I quite like him as a character.

42) Song fic - What made you decide to use the song xxx for xxx.

I’ve never done one.

43) Has anyone ever guessed the plot twist of one of your fics before you posted it?

Not that I know of.

44) What is the last line you wrote?

I added this to the WIP quoted above, in 17: “The exchange of Jeremy’s Tott’s little monograph, ENGLISH MAGIC, for its mirror had been a thrilling revelation that there was a second genuine practical magician in England.”

45) What spurs you on during the writing process?

Like Tolkien, I write what I would like to read. I am a professional writer and love dealing with the English language. It’s fun, and I love reading the results.

46) I really loved your xxx fic. If you were ever to do a sequel, what do you think might happen in it?

See number 19.

47) Here’s a fic title - insert a made up title. What would this story be about?

I fear I cannot come up with a title before starting to write the fic.

48) What’s your favourite trope to write?

Basically my Norrell/Strange fics are based around the idea that Norrell, who in the book is so boring and dry and selfish, becomes a different person when he’s with Strange. More lively, talkative, and even passionate. That makes writing about these two when they’re finally reunited in the Darkness is such fun. Norrell is transformed into a fascinating character.

49) Can you remember the first fic you read? What was it about?

It was called “No Windows,” and it was a LOTR AU in which Gandalf seizes the Ring because he loves Frodo and wants to spare him the agony of carrying the Ring—and naturally he’s corrupted by it. It was a terrific story, but unfortunately the author apparently withdrew from the fandom and deleted the fic. I was lucky to have started with such an excellent fic, since it made me go on and read more and then start writing.

50) If you could write only angst, fluff or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why?

I would say smut, since virtually all of what I’ve written has included very explicit scenes. But I’ve also enjoyed working out the other scenes and making them book-canon. I think I would choose fluff if I could only do one, since I enjoy writing comedy and farce.