mortaltempless

[mortaltempless]

🍬 ⋆ 🍧 🎀 𝐿𝑒𝓉'𝓈 𝒷𝑒 𝓅𝒶𝓁𝓈 🎀 🍧 ⋆ 🍬

[mortaltempless]

Misogyny disguised as an appeal to canonicity

I've seen many excuses in my life for excluding women from narratives. The latest? "Canonicity". This is how some fans — in their eagerness to appear cultured, demanding, or simply "protectors of the work" — hide a latent and ancient misogyny, painted in the colours of textual purism. The Rings of Power series, which dared to make Galadriel a warrior, complex, fierce and, above all, a protagonist, has become the target of the revisionist movement that calls for fidelity to the books only when it comes to men.

It's symptomatic. When we talk about bringing Celeborn into the series, we're talking about "fixing" Galadriel, it's not about deepening a relationship or enriching the world. It's about control. This cursed verb appears in whispers and between the lines of posts and videos: "Galadriel needs to be controlled", "she needs balance", "Celeborn will bring sobriety". And when they talk about balance, what they mean is: she needs to be pruned. Because an angry woman, wounded by pain, brave enough to defy Sauron himself, seems to bother more than the Dark Lord himself.

These criticisms are not innocent. They are symptomatic of a culture that only tolerates women when they are silent, when they are supporting actors, when they love and die for men — never for themselves. And that, for me, is at the heart of this disguised misogyny.

You want "canonicity" so much, but you forget the women who are part of the canon and are solemnly ignored.

Let's talk about Inzilbêth. She is the mother of Pharazôn, the man who defines the last and most tragic days of Númenor. But she's not just any mother. She is a descendant of the Faithful — of those who resist corruption. In a world where Pharazôn represents the pride and arrogance of the Númenorians, Inzilbêth could be a character of dramatic depth: a mother torn between love for her son and horror at the path he is following. She could be the voice of the past, of the ancient faith, of the warning against worshipping the Valar and Sauron himself. But she isn't even mentioned in the debates.

Erendis, Tar-Aldarion's wife, is another powerful figure who lies forgotten in the corners of the Unfinished Tales. She is an abandoned woman, scorned by a man whose nautical ambition speaks louder than any affection. Her story is a cruel mirror of what happens to many women in the stories of men: they are loved while they serve their plot, discarded when they claim their own space. And even though Erendis' timeline predates the events of The Rings of Power, she could be mentioned — as a symbol of the price Númenor has already exacted from its women. A legend told in the courts. A warning whispered on the island's street corners.

And if they really want to keep their feet in the "canon", why don't they talk about Lúthien? The woman who faced Morgoth himself. Who, together with Huan, the dog of Valinor, defeated Sauron. It's not fanfic: it's in the Silmarillion. But female figures are only remembered in fanart or in niche discussions, never clamoured for with the same force as Gil-Galad, Elendil, Isildur, Glorfindel, Anárion, Celebrimbor or even Celeborn. The logic is simple: when the past is male, it's glory. When it's female, it's forgotten myth.

And I'm not saying that the series is immune to criticism. It's far from it. It has problems with pace, the construction of certain arcs, and dialogue that sometimes sounds forced. But it's curious — or rather, revealing — that the most virulent criticism is directed at Galadriel. Not at Sauron, with his still nebulous motivations. Not the aesthetic choice of Númenor or the lack of exploration of certain cultures. Galadriel has become the scapegoat for a wounded masculinity.

The misogyny that hangs over these reviews is not just about what they say, but about what they choose not to say. I never see posts calling for more women in the series. Tolkien's world has incredible and fascinating women. They exist, they have always existed. The problem is that many of you never look at them with the same fervour as you do the warriors.

So, enough. No more pretending that this is about being faithful to the books. If it were, many of you would be asking for Inzilbêth, Erendis, Lúthien, Aredhel, Nienor, Berúthiel, Nimloth, Idril Celebrindal, Andreth, Thuringwethil. But no. You're asking Celeborn to silence Galadriel. You're asking for silence disguised as tradition. And that, my dear, is not Tolkien. That's misogyny.

It's not wrong to want to be faithful to the original material. But it's cowardly to use this as an excuse to erase female voices that were already there — in tales, appendices, half-forgotten stories. The series has a chance to do what many books, series and films have failed to do: give space to women as agents of their own history, and not just as a silent chorus for the tragedies of men.

I want female characters. May they come, with armour or without. With wisdom, pain, fury, tenderness or glory. But let them come.

I want to see Lúthien. I want to see Inzilbêth. I want to see Berúthiel. I want to see the women that Tolkien wrote about and that fandom insists on forgetting and erasing. Because, honestly, there's nothing more "canonical" than the pain, strength and light of these women.

It's time to put aside this lazy and selective reading of Tolkien. Middle-earth is too vast a world to fit only the mould of heroes in armour and beards. It has also been shaped by women — wise, brave, charming and tragic. They have names. They have a voice. They have history. And they deserve to be told and seen.

If The Rings of Power really wants to honour Middle-earth, it shouldn't bend the knee to misogynistic clamour disguised as purism. It should dig deeper, listen to the echoes of those women who are repeatedly forgotten — and let them shine through at last. Because fidelity to Tolkien's work doesn't lie in preserving the fragile masculinity of the fans. It's in recognising the complexity of what Tolkien built — including, above all, the female characters that many insist on ignoring.

And if that bothers you, perhaps the problem was never with the series.

@spatortlove @ffaleruv

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pondering this ask from this morning and thinking about how readily lavellan runs away from the entire world (“if i could leave it all behind and just have him”) and like yeah. of course she does. he is the only person in the inquisition saw her as just a person thrust into the mantle of a savior. he is the only one who had been in this same position. he is the only one who understands what it’s like to have who you were stripped away for the good of the cause. two little sacrificial lambs who gave up everything they were on the altar of saving the world. even dorian and varric admit to the inquisitor that they believe she was sent by the maker. he’s literally the only one who gets it. and even if the world rebuilds after the blight she can never shed being the herald of andraste just like he can never escape being the dread wolf. there is only one way to escape it and she takes the chance as soon as she sees it

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I'm finding I can't be as sad about Varric as you'd expect, and I think it's because he won.

He saves the world he knows and loves, through Rook. More than that, depending on player choice, he wins that quiet, unstated argument between Solas and himself. The man on the island didn't give up, and somehow, incredibly, he won. Varric loved the world as it is, and the people in it, in all their deep and messy flaws, and despite their many failings. He loved them fiercely, with a loyalty bordering on the irrational. If he hadn't wanted to save his friend, his friend, Solas, god of lies and trickery (and who is Varric to judge someone for lies and trickery? He never would.), Rook would not have tried to do the same. Maybe, Rook would not have succeeded, without Varric's words ringing in Solas' ears.

It didn't matter to Varric whether Solas saw him as a friend, I don't think. I don't think that would've changed anything for Varric. But I do think that Solas saw him as a friend, too, though a complicated one. A man who challenged and frustrated him at every step, who loved what Solas hated, but who cared so deeply. In a different chain of events, there would certainly have been a demon in the Fade with the name of Varric's death.

But in the end, Varric's simple, dogged, unconditional love for things as they are won out over a god's millennia of pain and striving. He would've thought that was a damn fine way to go.

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*coughs wetly* ......... ALICE WAKE SAVE ME

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haunted the narrative so hard she accidentally became the narrative

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a question of competence

Fandom: Critical Role/Legend of Vox Machina Ship: Percy/Vex'ahlia Rating: T (for language)

It had long been clear to Percival de Rolo that, one day, he would have to murder his father-in-law.   *** Syldor is, against all odds, trying. Not that Percy feels inclined to appreciate that, under the circumstances.

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Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - DEAD RECKONING dir. Christopher McQuarrie

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immensely funny that Emmrich just has Johanna's skull hanging around his place in the Lighthouse after you defeat her lol

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I've been running a heavily-homebrewed version of the Curse of Strahd for some pals recently and being very very self-indulgent in my encyclopedic knowledge of the Gothic is super fun.

Big fan of Strahd's bitch of a lost wife in my version 🥰💖✨️

It's also been a lovely reminder that I enjoy writing and telling stories. And getting to tell a story to my friends is particularly wonderful.

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sauron's whole thing is 'i am nothing without galadriel, and i will destroy all of middle-earth to prove it.' and i am supposed to just not ship that? because of course i ship that.

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ok ok listen. mythal and solas's fucked up relationship puts everything about solavellan into context. how hyper-aware he was of the unequal power dynamic in their relationship, his guilt over his own desire for her and how he pulls away every time, the overwhelming feeling of falling in love with a god(dess), he tells mythal "i would follow you anywhere" and if lavellan begs him in trespasser to let her follow he refuses her. "i would not have you see what i become" and "there is only death on this journey". he will not drag her into his mess the way mythal dragged him into hers. he will not pollute her from her purpose the way mythal polluted him. he will not allow her the guilt and blood on her hands because he was her. he has been in her exact position, yearning for a god's affections and willing to follow them anywhere. and he loves her too much to treat her the way he was treated. of course he cannot be with her. of course he has to leave her. and he can only allow her to join him when he is freed of his burden and his path changes to one of atonement. of course she can join him in his atonement, even if it is ugly. because it will not sully her hands with blood. he can only accept her love and support when he knows it will not come at the cost of her morality and the good person she is. everything he does to her, even the betrayal, is to avoid subjecting her to the exact same thing mythal subjected him to.

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Alan Wake 2 + Screenshots of Despair: Part 4

(Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)

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There's a reason I've been pressing you about this...

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this is hilarious and also so upsetting

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Dr. Elizabeth Shaw & David 8 | PROMETHEUS (2012)

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I’ve been alone this whole time? You’re wrong. Death can’t tear us apart. We’ll always be connected. We will always be with you, no matter what. You will never, ever be alone.  DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH Arrives June 16, 2025 for Playstation