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anghraine · 3 years

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Consolidating (...at considerable length) some of the ideas from the Denethor+Faramir vs most Silm Elves discussion:

A. The basic issue is this: Tolkien depicts or references Denethor’s and Faramir’s special Númenórean abilities (non-exhaustively listed here and discussed here) virtually every time either one of them appears. And some of these abilities seem like they would have been awfully useful to the Elves of the Silmarillion, but for some reason, weren’t actually used by them.

The most notable has to do with lies and deception. Gandalf says it is difficult to deceive Denethor and “dangerous” to try—a statement backed up by Faramir’s interactions with Gollum in TTT, when Gollum squealed in pain when he tried to lie to Faramir, and was unable to wholly prevent Faramir from seeing information “in his mind.” It is clear in the Silm, however, that a good number of Elves can be deceived without setting off similar abilities, with a few exceptions like Galadriel.

So I’ve been wondering why that is, based mostly on LOTR.

B. There is, of course, the potential meta-reason that some of these specific abilities would probably break the plot of the Silmarillion, which is packed full of Elves, while nearly full-throttle Númenóreans like Faramir and Denethor are quite rare in LOTR, only show up infrequently apart from Aragorn, and are thus much less disruptive to the narrative as a whole. But that doesn’t explain anything in-story.

Various ideas came up in the general discussion, but I think they can be roughly divided into two types:

1. Most Elves don’t use these abilities because they choose not to, or

2. Most Elves don’t use these abilities because they don’t have them.

Under #1, it’s possible that Elves prefer not to use these kinds of powers for their own Elvish reasons. It may be that many of them simply don’t care for intrusive telepathy and similar abilities. It may be that there are taboos and protocols around it that fade by the Third Age, especially the later Third Age, but are very much in effect earlier on.

But the underlying assumption here is that they could have used the same abilities if they had chosen to do so, but are not (by and large). One of the questions that arises here is if all abilities of this kind have to be deliberately ‘activated’ to work, or if they naturally just happen and will only stop if controlled or repressed. If it’s the latter case and there are actual methods of control, it may be that Denethor and Faramir never fully turn off their abilities because they don’t know how. Who was going to tell them?

The Faramir-Gollum scenes might support this. Faramir is certainly trying to extract information from Gollum, but it doesn’t seem at all probable that he would deliberately inflict pain on him. It’s possible that some of this is just part of his being as far as he knows.

Meanwhile, there are also several possibilities involving #2. I think this one is, on the face of it, more difficult to accept (not-quite-full Númenóreans with greater powers than many Elves? bzuh?). But there are probably some ways it could work.

The first is relatively simple. It’s clear that Elves (like Númenóreans!) have different ranges and clusters of ability. An Elf being very powerful doesn’t mean they can do ALL THE THINGS. It means they’re very powerful at the things that they do (which might be many!). And there are some abilities that are very widespread, and some that seem to be less so. It may be that deception detection in particular is something that’s fairly uncommon among Elves as a strong ability. It’s not 100% assured that any given Elf has all the abilities of any given Númenórean.

The second possibility is a little more complicated. LOTR and Middle-earth generally (but esp LOTR) don’t operate on a hard magic system with clearly-defined rules. Galadriel points this out, and that the hobbits aren’t really distinguishing Elvish “magic” from Sauron’s “magic,” but they are in reality very different things. Elvish abilities are byproducts of their inner selves. Even outside of LOTR, Fëanor’s abilities (for instance) are inextricably tied up with his fiery spirit. The link between spirit or will or disposition and outwards ability is much stronger with Elves than with the other peoples of Middle-earth.

So it would still be the case that Elves aren’t doing some of these because they can’t—but it wouldn’t be a matter of power or arbitrary talent, but because of their underlying characteristics. It may be that things like what we see Denethor and Faramir doing require a temperament that most Elves don’t have (but Galadriel does, lol).

In that case, I would then wonder if Denethor’s and Faramir’s abilities are outgrowths of their dispositions. Their abilities seem to revolve around gathering information and commanding others; they’re described as “commanding” and they love information, so it makes sense that that’s how their abilities would manifest. Then again, it may be that Númenórean powers, though similar to some Elvish ones in outcome, operate differently.

Tolkien comes up with several ideas for where Númenórean specialness comes from in general. In some places, it was Númenor itself that changed them, and their decay in Middle-earth comes mainly from the loss of Númenor. In some places, their gifts have to do with their mode of living and thinking. In some places, it seems to be entirely hereditary; things run in particular families (like the kingly healing of Elendil’s heirs) and are reinforced by ~pure blood (um). And sometimes it seems like their gifts are, at least in part, literal gifts from the Valar which are gradually being withdrawn by the end of the Third Age. Or some combination thereof.

Regardless, the ancestors of the Dúnedain did not come by their abilities naturally. Either directly or indirectly, their size, their lifespans, their craftsmanship, their mental abilities, and more were given to them by other powers. Perhaps Elvish powers were the template for Númenórean powers, but it doesn’t work the same because Númenórean powers are ultimately coming from a divine source. That might even be why Denethor and Faramir are associated with wizards (i.e. Maiar) much more than Elves, which is pretty astonishing on the face of it. I mean:

“Ah well, sir,” said Sam, “you [Faramir] said my master had an elvish air; and that was good and true. But I can say this: you have an air too, sir, that reminds me of, of—well, Gandalf, of wizards.”

He [Denethor] turned his dark eyes on Gandalf, and now Pippin saw a likeness between the two, and he felt the strain between them, almost as if he saw a line of smouldering fire drawn from eye to eye.

???????????????????????????

The first quote is particularly interesting because it contrasts Faramir’s wizardliness with Frodo’s elvishness, as if those things are not quite the same, though Faramir is also briefly associated with Elves later on.

There’s also the issue of Elros; it seems extremely probable that most Númenóreans are descended from Elros at this point (in fact, multiple times over). The Stewards are explicitly so in multiple drafts of the Appendices. While it’s so remote that it wouldn’t make a difference in most cases, maybe part of what goes on with Númenóreans is that some of them inherit a fraction of Elros’s abilities, which ultimately derive from Elves, Edain, and a Maia. Maybe all these Númenórean-??wizardly??? types cropping up in time to fight Sauron is a sort of last hurrah for Melian’s blood among the Dúnedain, and what we see in Denethor and Faramir is the share they got.

Or not!

Anyway, this is a lot, and it’s not like the possibilities are even mutually exclusive, so maybe two or more are all operating at once, to make things even more complicated. Or maybe something altogether different is. But I think this is everything that’s come up so far wrt the (inverted?) disparity between Númenóreans and most Elves.

#there's also the aragorn stuff but that's slightly tangential to this #and it's enough of a monster post already #denethor #faramir #anghraine babbles #...a lot #legendarium blogging #húrinionath #jewel of the seashore #galadriel #gandalf #hmm ... i think it merits my catch-all númenórean stuff tag #team dúnedain #anghraine's meta #not sure it merits that lol but i'll add it #long post

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kitkatopinions · 3 years

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There's no comparing RWBY 'weapons are part of our souls' to LOTR 'I love not the sword for its sharpness, the arrow for its swiftness or the warrior for his glory, I love only that which they defend'. Ruby fetishizes weaponry so much it's practically a meta gag, while Faramir and Sam long to set their swords aside for gardening trowels. Rwby simps can eternally BTFO making comparisons between them

If RWBY was still back in season three, I'd say comparing it to something like LOTR just isn't fair, that just because there was a lot more big, significant moments in season three didn't mean it was suddenly meant to be taken that seriously. It'd feel like comparing Steven Universe and Phineas and Ferb, because Steven Universe is meant to be an emotional, story-based show with a lot of depth despite it's comedy and goofiness, and Phineas and Ferb is meant to be an episodic show based on comedy and goofiness that still manages to have moments that lean towards being more emotional. Incomparable, really. Steven Universe obviously beats out Phineas and Ferb in terms of character development, emotional beats, story beats, plot consistency, etc, but it's because Phineas and Ferb was never in that ballpark, they were playing in the ballpark in the mall across town with Spongebob and Hey Arnold.

RWBY back in volumes 1-3 had it's incredibly messy things that screwed up the flow and narrative (like for instance the White Fang arc, which was horrible for a number of reasons and always a major blight on the show.) But it was still essentially a school-based, anime inspired, funny web cartoon with great designs and combat choreography that was the highlight of the show, while the plot was there to hold it up. But volume three heralded in a big change in the show (which don't get me, isn't inherently bad, just badly handled imo.) All of a sudden, RWBY as a show was asking to be taken really seriously in volume four. All of our main characters were traumatized, separated, suffering, in over their heads in a world they no longer understood and dealing with deeply personal problems like abusive home lives, PTSD, and self-hatred causing them to push away loved ones. It reminds me in a way of the Harry Potter books changing from 'fun and whimsical adventures in a magic school with writing and style choices a bit reminiscent of Roald Dahl that also has some darker background tones' into 'Harry is fucking traumatized and keeps getting more traumatized, everyone keeps dying around him, the person he once was at eleven now felt like a little brother that had died long ago, his pet owl has been murdered.'

But while they introduced darker themes, it's like they had no idea how to handle them. They started out okay with it, but instead of giving these important topics any depth and world building and moral messages and the focus they deserved, they either sloppily tied up 'resolutions' that were unsatisfying or have just piled on more and more stuff they don't seem to want to deal with. A good example of this is Penny. Her death was hugely significant in volume three, and yet Ruby's grief took a backseat for the majority of season four. After a mentioning in season five, Ruby doesn't mention her again. Then when Penny returns, Ruby doesn't give much reaction, there's no emotional depth, it feels like she barely even cares that Penny's back from the dead. She then decides for Penny that she's going to get a flesh body (I don't wanna hear anyone say that isn't what happened,) while acting totally confident and unaffected by it. She watches Penny's robotic body die while looking like it's reaching out for help while that Penny's eyes do the exact same thing her original body did before the Fall of Beacon, and Ruby doesn't react to that and just goes about her business. (Those scenes are literally triggering for people and I myself don't fully know why, but it's hard for me to even type about it, and the show treated it like just another Tuesday.) Then, Penny chooses to die and frames it like the only choice she's ever made (ignoring all previous content,) and is murdered by a character she's barely spoken to 'for the Greater Good,' while Ruby has no freaking clue about any of it because she already had been removed from the story.

I could talk more about this, but it's running on in length and I want to get to the next point.

Which is that RWBY's attempts at featuring war, loss, trauma, etc while under the banner of hopepunk and presenting itself as serious invites comparison to stories that are more serious like Lord of the Rings. And if not that, than at the very least it invites comparisons to other hopeful but serious story based cartoons like Steven Universe and Avatar the Last Airbender. But the problem is that when comparing them, RWBY does not hold up! Like, at all!

That's what drives me nuts with seeing people compare RWBY to Avatar and Lord of the freaking Rings, because they clearly missed something important when they say that RWBY holds a candle to these things that are both held up as great examples of good writing and world building, two areas that RWBY really falls short in. It's so out of left field, so outrageous. RWBY has always operated under writers that flew by the seat of their pants, brushed off sloppiness, retconned at will, dropped plots, added in things last minute, struggled to make their characters interact in meaningful ways... To compare that to well thought out and beautiful stories like Lord of the Rings, Avatar, or even Steven Universe (the last season rushed against Rebecca Sugar's wishes,) and say that RWBY is in the same league is so weird.

Which like, if people like RWBY just as much as these other shows, that's great for them! If they love RWBY even more, that's also great for them! There's plenty of things I will love and treasure that just aren't as good as other things in the same category. I'm not trying to crap on people who just love RWBY, just... Commenting on the whole 'compare RWBY to Lord of the Rings' thing. One of these stories was prepared to portray serious, real world topics like trauma and the effects of war, and another story... Should have stayed in the lane it was willing to explore. Those are my thoughts on it, at least.

#rwde #anti rwby #rwby hate #rwby bashing #rwby criticism #anti mkek #anti rooster teeth

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lesbiansforboromir · 4 years

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Impossible LotR Quiz Answer sheet with explanations!

As an addendum, since people have been doing the quiz I’ve seen a few mistypes and awkwardnesses that are my own fault so I’ve corrected them. This means some people got a higher score than was shown, know that when I looked over your answers I saw your actually right answers and fully appreciated them! It’s good to not that the ‘fill in the blanks’ questions will not take two words in one space, so I’ve had to get creative with how I apply two named folk like Mardil Voronwe, or people who have numbers like Hurin I.

I would also like to say, to everyone talking about how they’ve never read the Silmarillion, this quiz is very purposefully almost entirely based outside of the Silmarillion. This is Appendices stuff! Indeed there is only 1 question even tangentally related to elves in here, this is by design.

@magaramach, @brynnmclean and @apojiiislands asked to be tagged in this! Answers under the cut.

Q2. Who was Dora Baggins in relation to Bilbo Baggins? - Second cousin on his father's side Dora Baggins is a very elderly woman who was the daughter of Bilbo’s father’s brother. She likes writing people a lot of unsolicited advice! THIS WAS WRONG AND SAID FIRST COUSIN FOR SO LONG AND I AM DEEPLY SORRY FOR IT.

Q3. How many pairs of biological twins are mentioned in the whole of Arda's timeline and what races do they belong too? - 2 for men, 1 for elves and 3 for half-elves Fastred and Folcred, Haleth and Haldar (men) Amrod and Amras (elves) Elured and Elurin, Elrond and Elros, Elladan and Elrohir (half-elves) Now, admittedly Elladan and Elrohir are never actually described as twins. However they appear completely identical and have the same birth date, so it is assumed.

Q4. Baldor is who the skeleton scratching at the door used to be. When Aragorn and co pass through the paths of the dead they find a skeleton clawing at a door to the mountain. It is finely dressed and described as mighty and was later essentially confirmed to be Baldor, the eldest son of King Brego of Rohan, also called Baldor the hapless, who foolishly wandered into the paths of the dead on, apparently, a dare. (the answer to this was originally Brego because of a foolish typo from me, many apologies!)

Q5. When was the Ondonóre Nómesseron Minaþurie written? - During Meneldil's reign. “Enquiry into the Place-names of Gondor” was a text written by settled numenoreans about their new kingdom during Meneldil’s reign, who was the first sole King of Gondor after both Anarion (his father) and Isildur had perished.

Q6. Farmer Maggot's particular friend was Tom Bombadil It is stated that Farmer Maggot sometimes peacefully passes through the Old Forest to go and meet Tom Bombadil, who very much enjoys his company. However! Those who answered Merry or Pippin still deserve excellent recognition, Farmer Maggot was indeed fond of Pippin and respected Merry greatly.

Q7. What was the office of the Steward originally created to do? - Keep the Tradition of Isildur When Romendacil I went to war in the east, he realised that if he died then the secret of the Tradition of Isildur would die with him. Hence he wrote it down in a sealed scoll and gave it to a trusted confidante, to be given to his heir if he should perish. This tradition was maintained by further kings and those trusted confidantes became the Stewards of Gondor. This, admittedly, is a more suggested progression than explicit, but it’s a Impossible evil quiz so :) Q8. What was the 'Tradition of Isildur'? - Remember where Elendil was buried. Elendil had been secretly entombed in Calenardhon, supposedly the midpoint between Gondor and Arnor. This was a hallowed space for only Kings at first, but in later years when the Stewards came to rule Gondor they also were permitted the secret. Cirion had the remains moved when Calenardhon was gifted to the Eotheod to eventually become a part of the Kingdom of Rohan.

Q9. At the time of Pelargir's founding, is the world flat or round? - Flat. Pelargir was founded as a ‘Faithful Numenorean’ haven on the river Anduin. Therefore it was built before Numenor’s destruction in the Akallabeth, the reason for which being that Eru turned the world from flat to round.

Q10. Which of these monarchs were indolent and had no interest in ruling? - King Atanatar I - King Narmacil I - Tar-Vanimelde King Atanatar I ruled during Gondor’s richest generation and seemed to believe that meant he didn’t need to put any work in. Narmacil I, his son, didn’t want to put any work in, but he at least assigned his nephew, Minalcar, as ‘Karma-Kundo’ or regent during his reign. So he at least did something to keep the country going. Tar-Vanimelde had no interest in ruling and allowed her husband to do most of the governence. This backfired when she died and he organised a coup against his son to hold power.

Q11. When looking back on the Ship-Kings of Gondor, King Tarannon Falastur began the invasion of Harad and expanded Gondor's borders, King Earnil-I finally took Umbar but died at sea shortly afterwards, King Ciryandil spent most of his reign trying to defend Umbar and died in it's seige and King Hyarmendacil defended Umbar against seiges for 35 years before making war upon all Harad and claiming Harondor as a province of Gondor, ending the line of the Ship Kings.

Q12. What happened during the reign of King Romendacil II? - I don't know! Nothing? Yes I know this is particularly evil of me but Romendacil II was originally called Minalcar, yes the same Minalcar who became REGENT of Gondor due to Narmacil’s indolent nature. Minalcar indeed did everything else listed as answers to this question, but none of them happened during his reign as king. Indeed, his reign was said to be peaceful and we have no real information on it, so technically saying we don’t know, and suggesting nothing happened, is actually the most correct answer :)

Q13. Who succeeded Tar-Telperien of Numenor? - Her nephew, Minastir Tar-Telperien was a lesbian Queen of Numenor who never married and never wanted too and did an excellent job and I love her. Her nephew built a tower to mope in about how much he wanted to be an elf. They are not the same. Absolutely terrified about what Amazon could do to her.

Q14. Whilst his brethren, the nazgul, were attacking the Prancing Pony, The Witch-King was waiting in the Barrow Downs and probably had a really nice time. Not much to this! Witch King was chilling with the Barrow Wights.

Q15. Which of these characters are described as 'beautiful' at least once in the Lord of the Rings? - Galadriel, Denethor, Eowyn, Frodo, Elanor, Celeborn, Boromir Yes, Arwen is never described as beautiful, but Denethor is :)

Q16. We all love Boromir II, select the similarities he and Boromir I did NOT share. - Renowned relationship with the Rohirrim. - Destroyed the Bridge of Osgiliath - Feared by the Witch King - Retook Ithilien. - Had a brother. In case you’re wondering, yes, I love both Boromirs. But this question is a fun highlight of how many similarities Boromir II has with his namesake. These are the only things they didn’t both do. Although! Boromir I’s son was Cirion who allied with the Eotheod and created Rohan in the first place, the Uruk-Hai destroyed the Bridge of Osgiliath in Boromir I’s lifetime, Boromir II was PROBABLY feared by the witch-king we just don’t know, Boromir II held Ithilien and Boromir I had two elder sisters like Denethor II did.

Q17. Hey, did you know that, from Boromir I's war with the Uruk-Hai of the Morgul Vale, Gondor didn't know peace until Sauron's death on the 25th of March, 3019? Hah hah! How gut wrenching is that? About how long do you think it has been since Gondor knew peace then? Hey wait does that mean Boromir I's valiant victory that came at a personal sacrifice was the beginning of Gondor's wars and then Boromir II's valiant sacrifice was the end- oh god... oh fuck - 550 years To everyone who answered the crossed out answer,,, you’re correct in my heart. You get bonus points. Also hey! What the fuck :)

Q18. Who was Borondir? - The rider sent to find Eorl who made it to him after starving himself for two days but who then rode to the Celebrant with Eorl anyway and died in that battle. Literally couldn’t love this fellow more. Big Hirgon energy. A hero of Gondor for time immemorial.

Q19. The Ruling Stewards, from first to last (with their numbers typed as so Turin-I Hurin-II etc), were as follows; Mardil ; Eradan ; Herion ; Belegorn ; Hurin-I ; Turin-I ; Hador ; Barahir ; Dior ; Denethor-I ; Boromir-I ; Cirion ; Hallas ; Hurin-II ; Belecthor-I ; Orodreth ; Ecthelion-I ; Egalmoth ; Beren ; Beregond ; Belecthor-II ; Thorondir ; Turin-II ; Turgon ; Ecthelion-II ; Denethor-II ; and for like two seconds ; Faramir ; Alrighty, we had a bit of a fight in my discord about this but eventually I did relent in agreement that Faramir IS... very briefly... legally considered a RULING Steward. Ruling Stewards being Stewards that ruled a Kingless Gondor. But! With Aragorn RIGHT THERE is just seemed very redundant. Still! I’ll allow the pedant to win out, ten minutes is still a Ruling Steward. ALSO! I decided that having an extra box for the ‘voronwe’ part of mardil voronwe was just mean as it set everyone’s answers off kilter, so I removed that. ALSO for all of those calling me a bastard for adding this question, @illegalstargender was the one who requested it! I wasn’t going too!

Q20. The Stewards, despite ruling through very tumultuous and violent periods, were often known for boring things (because they simply ruled better than the Kings did, I said what I said) But what boring thing was Steward Turin I remembered for? - Being the only monarch of Gondor that married twice This skeezy bastard really did marry a second time during his OLD age just to father a son. I can only imagine what a dreadful cultural and social effect this had on this prude country. It’s so unnecessary! He had daughters, many of them! One of them certainly had a son before he did. He was just being a controlling arse, down with Turin I!!!!

#my quiz

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theartofbeinganeldar · 5 years

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The Art of Being an Eldar: Legolas x Reader Prologue

Summary: You're a fantasy-loving, LARPing human from this world, who's the black sheep of society because of your obsession for the unreal and alienation of what's real. When you're in the middle of a LARP battle with some pretty phony boars, you fall out of a tree and bust your head. You wake up, alone, and are suddenly attacked by some very pissed-off, very real wargs. Without any idea of how you got there, you got dropped into Middle-Earth, with only bits and pieces of memories of Tolkien's masterpiece, though your recollection of everything else is perfectly clear. And of all places in Middle-Earth, you got dropped into Mirkwood, with some suspicious, potentially hostile, Woodland Elves...

Chapter No.: Prologue

Key: [Y/N]=Your Name [F/N]= Friend's Name [B/N]= Bro's Name [S/N]= Sis's Name [M/N]= Mom's Name [e/c]= eye color [h/c]= hair color [s/c]= skin color

Notes: So, this is my first fanfiction on tumblr, and I'd thought I'd try it since I have very little time for DeviantArt's chaos. It's much different from my Legolas x Reader on there. I added a small loving family to make the emotions relatable-- even if you don't have siblings, or have more than what I added, it's just fanfiction! Also, I tried to make my pronouns for said reader gender-nuetral so that everybody can enjoy it! The reason your character is so wild is for the sake of not fitting in to this world, yet you're used to it, so that later points in the plot can become more... Well, you'll see. And yes, I made Elves pansexual because I don't think they'd care much about gender or age at that point. LARPing plays a big role in the prologue, because your character is really into it for personal reasons. If this isn't your cup of tea, don't drink it. I hope you like it! Feedback, likes, and reblogs are greatly appreciated!

Warnings: Fluff, angst, graphic depictions of gore and violence (Cuz of orc battles y'know?), more angst, slow burn, some light depression in the first few chapters, some amnesia about Middle-Earth because the Valar say you're not supposed to have foresight, hard-core language, feels, lots and lots of feels, mentions of NSFW content, maybe some eventual NSFW content, LGTBQ+ characters, Thranduil being a jackass at first because he's fabulous, Legolas being a hot edgy prince that nobody can handle, Kili being an innocent bean, Hobbits being smol innocent beans, except for Bilbo 'cause he's been through some tough shit, Bard being dad of the year, Thorin being one dumbass boi, awesome dragons, awesome Nazgul, awesome scenery, awesome stuff in general, Elrond isn't listened to by anybody, confused Aragorn is confused, Denethor's a bitch as always, brace yourself for creepy as fuck Cream of Wormtongue Grima Wormtongue, Boromir lives, Gandalf. (yes these are all legit warnings don't judge me.)

Pairings/Ships: Legolas x Reader, Legolas x you, Aragorn x Arwen, Faramir x Eowyn, Thranduil x Elvenqueen, Galadriel x Celery Celeborn, Boromir x OC, Thorin x OC, Fili x OC, etc. general LoTR standard shippings plus some of my own cuz I can't stand my boys being lonely

Word Count: I try to keep my chapters short, under 2000 words.

Rating: Teen (14+) for now

You'd never been considered normal by anyone. You enjoyed LARP instead of reality. Your "job" was just staying at home and captioning videos all day every day you weren't LARPing instead of interacting with society at a normal job. Your home? A tiny studio apartment that only cost $450 a month without bills, and you did without cell phone, car, and electric for the sake of being your weird self. You hadn't been to college yet, despite the fact that everyone told you to go once your gap year was over, and it almost was. What would you even study? Acting was all that got you close to who you were, so, ok, guess that's fine, but nobody else thought of that as a career. Maybe you could write fiction-- you were good at that much.

You weren't always like this. There was a time when you were just a normal kid, living a normal life. But somewhere around ten, you started to change, and by sixteen you'd become who you were today. If the Old You could see the New You, you weren't sure if they'd think you were weird too, or if they'd stare up at you in awe.

Hopefully it was the latter, which made you feel good.

I mean, come on, were you born in the wrong timeframe or what?! That's what you thought, anyway. There's no way that this world was for you. The fact that nearly all people were heartless jackasses that enjoyed destroying the planet, the fact that everybody had to be the same or were considered freaks, prejudice and injustice were key factors of life and the rich got handed everything on a silver platter while the poor had to scavenge... Just, everything of this reality made you hate it. If only you'd been born five hundred years earlier, or, y'know, in Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings...

You'd really liked to have been born in Middle-Earth. You had so many books about it, you knew practically everything there was to know, even the confusing shit about Faramir being in the Fall of Gondolin. You'd practically memorized Elvish, and dwarvish, and you knew the whole six movies by heart, every line. And of course, like most Lord of the Rings fans, you had a massive crush on a certain Elvish princeling who was too pretty for his own good. In fact, Legolas was who inspired you to learn archery; maybe one day you'd be as good as he was.

Despite your wishes, you were stuck in reality, however much you hated it

. Even amongst your LARP groups, you were considered outlandish.

Everybody else had normal lives outside of their games, whereas you pretended this was your life. You didn't have any job aside from the small caption jobs you did when you weren't LARPing, no social life, nothing. The only people you had was your mother, brother, sister, and your only friend, [F/N]. They accepted you and your strange fantasies, even if they thought you'd one day regret acting in a way when you could've been beginning a normal life and being productive.

So excuse you if you decided to invite them to a LARP event and let them borrow some of your costumes. It wasn't the end of the world. But your LARP group apparently didn't get that memo.

"You invited your mom?!" A royal asshole sneered, yet you took satisfaction in the fact that his knight costume looked like it was made of cardboard painted silver, whereas your sci-fi Elf getup was actual leather and cloth. His name was Jacob Brent; you'd never really liked him. He'd always had it out for you because your costumes were so much more fabulous than his. Plus you may or may not have actually known swordplay and archery and dagger throwing and martial arts... Kinda. You were still in the process of learning kickboxing.

You cocked a sky blue-- yes, sky blue-- eyebrow to your equally bright blue hairline, spiked up in a short faux hawk. This was your first sci-fi Elf, and you'd wanted to go all out. A cocky grin split its way across your face. "Yeah, so? It doesn't effect you on any level, Tin Can."

He sniggered with his cronies. "I can't believe you don't have anyone else to come with you." He mimicked rubbing his eyes like he was four. "'Oh Mommy, I need somebody to come with me!'" His whole group burst into laughter.

You surprised them by joining in, actually appluading. "Oh, wow! Wonderful, just wonderful! Hey, should I tell Mindy that I seen you feeling up Roxie behind your fort last week?" He paled, and almost everybody in his group of crappy cosplay got 'o' faces. You put your hands on your hips. "Guess what, asshole, just 'cause I'm close with my family and you're not with yours doesn't make it a crime to hang out with them. It's my life, my decision, and I enjoy spending time with them." You hefted up a disappointingly fake spear, turning to walk away. "Oh, and by the way, your paint's chippin' off."

Reason for Hating Reality Number 6, 965: Immaturity levels are almost incomprehensibly high.

Your mom glared daggers at Jacob's Immaturity Harem. She'd always been a tough gal, always sticking up for you when you got bullied when you were younger, but now that you were an adult, she had to let you kick ass yourself; you were pretty good at it. "I don't like him." She stated casually, and you chuckled.

"'Course you don't. He looks like a cheesy robot costume you'd get from Wal-Mart with a too-big crotch protector that's not impressing anyone but himself, and he has the face of a roasting pig. Too tanned, too grubby, and always with something in his mouth."

She smiled slightly. "Has he always been giving you trouble?"

You swung your gear pack off of your shoulder, letting it yank itself down to earth. "Since the day he tried kissing my ass 'cause he didn't know me." [F/N] must've overheard that last sentence, because he burst into laughter when he approached with your brother, [B/N], and your sister, [S/N]. "You talking about Jacob?"

"Sure as hell."

You'd first met [F/N] a year ago, when you'd joined extra-curricular activites for your last year of high school. He thought your personality was incredibly brave, especially in this modern world, but even still... He was just a friend, not a best friend. You'd never had that luxury outside of your tiny family. You just didn't trust him after the life you'd had.

Unfortunately, it seems they didn't like the getups. "Do I have to wear this?" [B/N] asked dramatically, slumping over. He didn't look right in the pauldrons and leather breastplate.

"It's too heavy!" [S/N] complained.

You sighed theatrically. "My piteous children, deal with thy armor, for it must be worn despite thou complaints."

[B/N] pressed his palms together and bowed down. "Screweth thou, false companion."

You mimicked his bow. "Off to hell with thee."

"Hey! You guys! It's starting!" [F/N] cried, and ran off, his pack of weapons and magic bags trembling dangerously on his back. The rest of you followed more slowly, as you explained to your family how exactly LARPing worked. Battles weren't actually bloody, magic was just colored powder, you get points for a hit, and so on and so forth. [B/N] and [S/N] got it immediately, but your poor mom, who hadn't even ever played Skyrim, had no idea how the point system and leveling up worked. You had to explain it six times over before you'd reached the massive gathering of LARPing cosplayers. [F/N] returned to you as you reached it, carrying a map. "We were in Larsgyushter Prairie last, right?"

"Duh," You shrugged, at the same time [S/N] asked with a grimace, "Luckyestire Prairie?"

[F/N] inclined his head. "Well, I made some arrangements because your family joined us. We made for Glewnburg, where we picked up their characters, and then headed into the Elder Woods."

You took the map. "Sounds fair enough."

[S/N] frowned. "What exactly were you guys doing last time?"

[F/N] blushed; he must've liked her, which made you feel proud and like pummeling him all at once. "A quest to defeat a horde of wildebors in order to get a good amount of gold."

"How much?"

"Four hundred."

Your mom seemed confused. "Is that a lot?"

"For the land of Sisgremor," You retorted, "Not much. But it's enough for us. We hunt for food, and sleep in the woods. It's summertime, so we don't have much need for shelter unless it storms, and we know where to find caves. The coin is for some new bits of armor, and some weapon upgrades and a couple of magic books for [F/N]."

"Oh," Your mom said, and you took the lead, getting into your Elven character with a huge grin on your face.

"Come, my children! We must meet the bors by midday!" You ran off, but you didn't miss the looks over half of the LARP community gave you.

~le time skip~

The one thing you didn't like about LARPing was the enemies. They weren't believable and were crappily dressed, at least in your community. They were crappy actors and their dying acts were unrealistic. Unless they were orcs that had good makeup skills and good cosplay, they weren't worth fighting, but you had an imagination to kick them up a notch.

As always, the wildebors were just some guys in black outfits decorated with needles, and wearing pig masks with an underbite bearing tusks. Your imagination knocked them to eight-feet long beasts with bloodstained tusks, wild red eyes, and porcupine-like needles that shot out of their near-impenetrable hides if provoked.

You'd only fought these beasts once. They had three separate healthbars, each a different strength: eight hundred, four hundred, and one hundred. Your spear-- the only weapon you could afford after your bow snapped (Poor prop craftsmanship.), had a damage rate of ten health per hit, thirty if you could make a three-combo move (The highest combo move allowed.). [F/N]'s magic bombs, bolts of energy, and other magic stuff only varied from ten to fifty health damage per hit, except for his Fyrering, which was a once-a-day power that was ninety health damage, plus a three minute window of burning which took ten damage every thirty seconds.

The boars were also viscious; one hit from them took around fifty health, and at level nine, you and [F/N]'s health bars were only at two hundred and fifty, plus your armor rating of fifty and his of twenty. Your family, however, were only at level one, with a one hundred strength health bar each and armor ratings varying between ten and fifteen.

In short: that meant a hell of a lot of hits, very little openings, and there were always numbers to consider. There were six of them, and five of you. If you had your bow, this would be easy. You'd climb a tree, avoid their needles, and fire your twenty-five damage arrows relentlessly (With the thirty plus bonus from your actual bow.) while [F/N] pelted them with magic. You could take down two, maybe three that way before retreating, waiting for your strength to regenerate and your undamaged arrows to "respawn" before coming back for more battling (The arrows don't actually exist, for safety reasons. You had to wait for ten minutes before an approximated number of arrows, determined previously by the quest-giver, "reappeared" in your "inventory.").

But you had to think of a new plan. A brand new plan. You had three level one novices, two level nine intermediates, and six angry-as-hell wildebors that were level twenty. This was an impossible quest. You should never have accepted it knowing your family was coming.

You were hiding behind a huge oak, and glanced around it; for a split moment, you saw the crappy actors, but your mind quickly fixed that. Above and to your immediate right, [F/N] hid behind a mound of boulders up on a hill, and you'd positioned your family similarly. You just couldn't see them. [F/N]'s hand waving caught your attention. Frantically, he pointed above you. You whipped your head up, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. You gave him a look like WTF dude, and he rolled his eyes. He picked up a rock as an example and pointed back up into the branches, but still, you didn't see anything. He gestured again, almost forcefully, and this time, you seen it: brightnuts, a specialized kind of walnut bred specifically to explode into a bright white light on impact, with dangerous shrapnel and poisonous fumes that had one hundred and fifty health damage.

Of course, in reality, they were just blue and white beanbags hanging in nets rigged all over the branches, but you pretended they weren't.

But still, perfect.

You'd start calling out orders as soon as you started throwing them. [F/N] knew how to improvise to a plan already, but your family didn't. You propped your spear up on the tree, and started climbing, wincing when the bark scraped your palms; you were wearing what'd used to be white bridal gloves, but you'd tinkered with them to match your costume, sewing sky blue patterns into the gloves.

You personally didn't make a sound, but a couple of leaf-covered branches fell; luckily, wildebors were mostly deaf and blind, so you should make it to the top of the tree without any consequences.

You flashed [F/N] a triumphant smile when you reached the topmost branches, snatching a bag of brightnuts and holding them high above your head. He shot you a double thumbs-up, then made a wheel-like gesture to get you to move on. You stuck your tongue out at him, then readjusted yourself on the branch to get a good aim.

A few seconds of struggling against the knot, and you'd gotten the net open. With barely a minute of hesitation, you drew your arm back, and fired. Your aim was almost perfect. You hit one of the wildebors in the side, and you seen the actor as he started the most over-acted reaction you'd seen yet: a violent jump, then what sounded like a deranged "Guuuugh!" You rolled your eyes. So dramatic.

Either way, [F/N] whooped behind you. "Hit! A hit!"

Before you could give any orders whatsoever, [B/N] charged down the hill with his realistic-looking wooden battleaxe bellowing a war cry. You slumped over. "Aw, shit."

In the blink of an eye, [B/N] was officially dead but still pummeling the poor actors, your mom didn't know what to do, [F/N] didn't realize what was happening from behind his rock, and [S/N] was dodging air like a boss. You waited on the branch until the coach of the actors stood, took off his mask, and blew his whistle.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You with the axe! You died already! Come on everybody, regroup, come on..." Your mom and [S/N] were laughing it off with a couple of the actors, but [B/N] was having a heated argument with the rest of them, and they were starting to shove each other around; he'd always been a sore loser. The coach separated them, and [F/N] called to you from below. "Guess we failed this quest, huh?"

You shrugged. "It's all good. There are other, less dangerous quests."

He perked up. "Yeah, so hurry up and get down here! We've gotta get back to Glewnburg!"

You tossed the beanbag you'd had in your hand back into the net. "Comin'." Unfortunately for you, you were a bit of a show-off. You stood, stretching your arms out for balance, walking quickly and carefully across the bough. A loud snap that echoed through the forest silenced everyone: your sudden movements had weakened the branch down the middle, where a split was slowly cracking open.

"Oh shit." Did I have to choose the top branch?

Everything seemed to be in slow motion as you fell. Your ribs exploded with pain as you slammed into a slightly lower branch full-force. Your ankle snapped. Your arms were whipped and bruised. Your head cracked painfully across the thick, unmoveable base of one branch, and white and yellow dots burst in your vision. Your sight started to fade, as did the pain, until you met the ground with a dull thud.

I should've went to college.

~time skip~

When you woke up, the first thing you realized was, Hey, I woke up! I'm alive! which was immediately followed by, Holy fucking shit what the fucking hell did I break, then a much more painful thought of Why the fuck am I still in the goddamn forest?

And you were. You were laying on your side, in a couple of very small but still immensely terrifying pools of drying blood, one of which came from the corner of your mouth. Your entire body throbbed painfully. Every breath you took caused sharp, white-hot pains to spiderweb across your entire torso. Your ankle was burning up, and you couldn't move it or your left arm. Your head felt like you'd been hit by a truck. A truck made of solid wood...

Why were you still in the forest? You knew your mother well enough to know that she've panicked. She'd've screamed your name and ran to you and called 911 immediately. [F/N] would've done the same. In fact, there was no reason why they wouldn't have called for a medic. You fell from the equivalent of a three-story building with poles sticking out of it.

By all accounts, you should be near death.

So why were you still in the forest, exactly where you'd fell?

With immense effort, you rolled onto your back, panting heavily and wincing against the pain. Your vision swam, and things were blurry. The trees were different; the tree where you'd fallen from was tall and branchless for most of the way up, and definitely not an oak. To boot, there weren't any nets full of beanbags, and your spear was gone. Behind you was a cliff with an outcropping of rock that looked similar-- but not the same-- to the one [F/N] had been behind. There were roots and underbrush and bushes and walls of thorny branches surrounding you, and in between the ground was filled of orange and gold fallen leaves; up in the canopy, which hadn't been as thick before, the leaves were all dressed for Fall. You stared at it in confusion. "What the hell?" Shit. Even that hurt.

Where were you? Why weren't you in an ambulance with the sirens blaring? You were pretty positive you'd broken quite a few bones, and from that fall, you couldn't not have internal bleeding. So where were you?

You waited, but no one came. When the sky started to darken and the pain began to worsen, you were forced to move, slowly getting up, inch by inch, until you'd managed to be in a sitting position. It felt like all the blood rushed from your head and torso, making you cold in the evening chill. You hugged your right arm to your chest, really wishing you'd've worn arm cuffs or something; your short, high-collared, sleeveless, sky-blue leather jacket over a thin white crop top and a black corset-style belt really weren't meant for chilly weather.

"Hello?" You called out. Your voice carried on, but you got no return call. Blood trickled down your chin from where your lips had rebusted; you were lucky you hadn't bit your tongue off or shattered teeth. "Hey! Help!" Still, nothing. "Hey!"

After a twenty-minute bout of screaming for help, you gave up. You were confused-- so, so, confused. Where were you and why were you here? Where was your family? Where was [F/N]? Where was the coach, and those shitty actors? Hell, where was the rest of the LARP group? You'd even be relieved if Jacob appeared out of nowhere.

The moon had risen by the time you’d made it to your feet. Your ankle wasn't as bad as it was earlier; you could put some weight on it now, even if it wasn't a lot. You must've only sprained it. You tried calling for help a few more times, but only the crickets replied.

Then, they went silent.

You frowned. In books and movies, that was usually a bad sign. What'd caused them to shut up so abruptly? Not aliens, you hoped, like in Signs.

A low growl from behind you-- behind you, dammit-- made your skin crawl. A chill ran down your spine. You turned, slowly, hoping you wouldn't aggravate the wolf or coywolf or whatever it was; it wasn't either of those.

It stood on top of the small cliff, and it was at least the size of a horse. A boar-like coat, dull brown, covered its entire body, spotted in places. Its head was broad and massive, bearing an underbite of fangs and small beady eyes. Drool fell from its jaws as it snarled at you. You were half tempted to try the "Nice doggie" before you seen the rider.

Damn, it was ugly as hell. Small, malformed, with dark green skin and a crooked nose. Greasy, thin hair hung from its wrinkled scalp. Nasty claws protruded from its wart-covered fingers and dug into the horn of some kind of saddle. It sneered with an evil grin, and a mouthful of sharp teeth.

You didn't know what else to do; you took off running at full speed, ignoring the pains shooting up your leg from your sprained ankle. Branches and weeds whipped your skin, trailing blood. You glanced back once. The monster-- which you knew was an orc-- and the giant dog that you couldn't place the name of watched you for a couple of moments more before the orc gave a sharp order in a language you didn't understand, but it felt familiar. Two more of the giant dogs burst from the bushes on either side of the first, and they did give chase. Shit, were they what'd happened to your family? Some whackjob dressed as an orc riding a pitbull on steroids mauled everybody?!

You pushed yourself to run faster. Your heart pounded in your ears. Adrenaline rushed through your veins. Each step jarred your aching body, but you couldn't stop. The dogs were enjoying the chase, keeping their strides slow enough to still be on your heels, but not close enough to get you yet. A new sound-- a river, maybe-- gave you hope, and you tried to move even faster, your lungs burning from the strain.

It was a river you'd heard, but it was down a steep hill filled of arching roots and thorny bushes. You didn't have time to stop; you barreled forward, tripped, and rolled the rest of the way, hurting your body even further. By the time you reached the pebbly shore (With all of the sharp edges of the rocks jabbing into you unnecessarily.), the dogs were halfway down, the orcs riding them laughing like hyenas.

You couldn't swim, but you'd rather take your chances with the river than with the giant pitbulls. You waded in, and were immediately swept off your feet by the strong current. It dragged you under, and you were bashed into some boulders, getting cut up badly. One slammed into your hip, nearly causing you to suck in. Another rammed into your already-broken ribs, and this time, you did scream, getting a huge gulp of water. A crimson cloud engulfed you as something long and sharp burst through your calf. You were pushed up against another boulder, and you grabbed on, hauling yourself out of the water and hanging on for dear life, hacking and coughing out the water that'd filled your lungs.

The dogs had chased you up the shoreline, and the orcs carried shortbows with arrows of dark wood. A glance down and, sure as fuck, they'd hit you with one in the calf, dammit. You looked ahead of you: rapids, a slow and drawn-out death. Ahead of you, probably a very painful death, but hopefully it'd go faster than drowning while being battered to a lifeless corpse.

I should've gone to college.

You squeezed your eyes shut tight and braced yourself for the next arrow, but you were pretty much forced to open them again when you heard the sound of dogs yelping and orcs wailing. One of the dogs was dead, neck slashed open and pouring blood onto the rocks. It had landed on its rider, who struggled beneath its weight. The other dog had taken off, but its rider had an arrow jutting out of its face.

A troop of warriors, clad in forest-colored tunics of dark browns, greens, and grays had appeared in the second you'd closed your eyes. Every one of them had long, straight hair, braided away from their faces. Most had a quiver of arrows and a longbow, but some, like the one who'd killed the dog, had a curved longsword. Others still had long knives. Compared to the dark orcs, these people seemed to almost be made of light...

Oh shit.

Elves. These were Elves.You could see it clearly now, in the way they carried themselves: regal, majestic, every move perfectly balanced and smooth. Their ears were pointed, but not drastically like the ones from Zelda, and they were taller than most average men. You were in awe.

These were some damn good actors.

No, they couldn't be actors. That clicked, finally. Especially when you were able to see the one that'd killed the dog slice off the struggling orc's head cleanly and deftly before kicking it into the river. Thankfully, it didn't come near you.

Shit. These were real orcs, real giant bloodthirsty dogs, real Elves... This was all real. But how...?

You heard the sound of a bowstring being pulled taut, much closer to you. You couldn't exactly whip around in your current state, but you still moved as fast as you could. Another Elf, standing on the flat rocks halfway across the river, no less than thirty feet away. How the hell did he get there?!

After the initial shock passed, you realized there was an arrow nocked in the bow. You'd already felt one once in the last ten minutes, you didn't need to feel it again, so you stayed still. He watched you with eyes so blue you could see them from where you were. He was illuminated from the side by the moon, giving him an almost ethereal appearance. His hair was somewhere between platinum and very light blonde, and a quiver of orange-feathered arrows hung over two identical sheaths for ivory-handled long knives. His bow was almost as gorgeous as he was: dark wood engraved with golden leaf designs. His tunic was dark green, and you admired his fancy Elven belts and buckles and bracers for a second before your eyes were drawn back to his face, the profile of which was almost... Dished, in a way, like an Arabian horse's. Your eyes locked, and you felt as if you'd seen him somewhere before...

An Elf on the shoreline spoke, breaking the trance. You couldn't understand what exactly he said; you could've swore you knew some Elvish...

The Elf staring you down watched you for a minute longer, then jerked his bow toward you in gesture, shouting an order to one of his comrades. His voice sounded so familiar... It was on the tip of your brain... It was deep and soft and gentle and commanding all at once. You couldn't explain it. Two Elves followed his order, nimbly leaping from tiny rock to tiny rock to get to where he was, then past him, coming to you. Their weapons were sheathed, so you hoped they were going to help you instead of kicking you into the water or something.

Carefully, noticing how banged up you were, they grabbed you underneath of the arms and lifted you onto the flat rocks the blue-eyed Elf stood on, still ready to fire, and stepped back as you coughed up some water in a delayed reaction to nearly drowning.

When you finished, your eyes felt like they wanted to close on their own. You felt too tired, too weak, too pained... Despite that, you sat up, shivering in the chilly evening air. "Th-thank you..." With a start, you realized they might not even understand English.

"Who are you?" The blue-eyed Elf demanded. "Answer me quickly; do not think we cannot throw you back to the river."

Shit. Pressure. Suddenly you forgot your name for a split second. "I-I'm [Y/N]."

"What are you doing in these lands?"

"I was chased," You looked pointedly at the dog and orc.

The Elf watched you for a minute, judging you... He signaled. "Throw them back into the river." Suddenly, you were being dragged.

Aw, fuck. You struggled against the Elf's strong grips. "W-wait! I don't even know where I am! The last thing I knew I was playing a game with my family and I fell out of a tree! All of a sudden I'm being chased by giant dogs and being manhandled by a couple of Elvish pri--!" You were cut off by a bought of coughing that wracked your body so hard that you doubled in on yourself, pulling the Elves down with you. Your eyes widened when blood trickled out of your mouth, leaving crimson droplets on the rocks. Shit.

The blue-eyed Elf ordered something in their tongue, and the two dragging you halted on a dime. He finally decided to lower his bow a little, inspecting you. "Are there more of you?"

You shook your head; you were getting dizzy, and your vision was blacking out. "I-I don't know... I was alone when I woke up."

The Elves conversed in their own language for a few minutes, and the blue-eyed Elf finally came to the conclusion that you weren't much of a threat in your current state. He looked to the Elves on the shoreline, and gestured at one of the ones holding you, who then scooped you up bridal style, but like you were the ugliest bride he'd ever seen. "Und win'doheim!" Shouted the blue-eyed Elf, obviously the one in charge, and lead the progression back to the forest.

I should never have gotten out of bed today...

Despite the crazy situation, you managed to doze off a few times on the Elf that carried you, until a coughing fit or pain would wake you up. A fever spiked up as you crossed a bridge, and you were half out of it as you entered some kind of woody building surrounded by trees and rivers that you couldn't comprehend very well in your feverish state. You were panting and wheezing, and couldn't see straight. It all seemed so surreal, like you were viewing this from somebody else's perspective. This had to be a dream... A very vivid, very painful dream...

The last thing you remembered was Elvish chanting, golden and white lights surrounding you, and the silhouettes of the Elves. Your pain faded, and you fell into a forced sleep.

When you woke up, a breath of relief whooshed out of your lungs. It was a dream! It was all a dream! It was night, and your nighlight had gone out, but your hall light was still on. You turned over to see what time it was, but your nightstand was gone. So was your window, and shelves and desk and computer and all of your things. Your bed was different. Your relief dissipated to terror.

Fuck. It wasn't a dream.

You were in a small room. An orange-hued light came through the low doorway, and the dark walls were ridged, as if carved from the earth itself. You felt the remains of your injuries from earlier-- or days ago, you couldn't tell how much time had passed-- as throbbing remains. Your clothes were still ripped and bloodstained, and as you stood up, it felt like you were just coming off of the flu.

Wobbly, you staggered over to the doorway, hoping to find somebody that definitely wasn't an orc or Elf.

You slammed face-first into elaborately crafted iron bars.

Outside of them, fully-armored Elves patrolled on small ledges beside the spiraling rows upon rows of cells like yours. This was a dungeon.

...Well shit.

Tag List: @tesserphantom @thedragonghostofmordor @taurlel @hauntedsiriel

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hannah-deserved-better · 5 years

Text

My fandoms and my favorite characters and ships

I’m going to talk about all my fandoms and my top one or two characters from each fandom, and my top OTP from each one, if I have any. I’m going in order from when they entered my life.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

I watched TNG when it first aired in 1987. It was my first fandom and my most time honored fandom. I literally grew up watching it as a child, until it ended in about 1994, when I was about 10. I didn’t know about ships or OTPs or anything back then (no internet cuz you know... it was the 80′s and I was a child). But I did have my favorites:

Favorite Characters

Captain Picard: Seriously Picard is awesome. He was my first role model. He always had an important lesson to teach and he always did the right thing. I had tons of different Captain Picard action figures.

Dr. Crusher: She was probably my very first girl crush. I seriously loved Dr. Crusher. I thought she was tough and smart. In the 80s, when women were beginning to be able to go to college and stuff, she was especially important because she was the Chief Medical officer. She had an important role on the ship.

OTP: It shouldn’t come as a surprise that my OTP for TNG is Picard and Crusher. I wanted them to get together so bad!! My favorite episode was “attached” an episode in season seven where the two of them were stranded on a deserted planet and could hear each other’s thoughts. They learned about their intimate dreams and their feelings for each other.

Star Trek Deep Space Nine:

Deep Space Nine is near and dear to me because it was MY show. I watched it as a young teenager. It was there for me when I was dealing with some dark times in my life, and dealing with the challenges of being a teenager. it was the first fandom that I wrote fan fiction for. Of course, there was no internet then either, so it was just on notebooks and those notebooks have been lost in time. But even now, Deep Space Nine is my default when I can’t decide what to watch. Its my comfort zone, it’s where I feel safe. It was also one of the first times I felt moved by a show ending. I mourned TNG but I was too young. DS9 left just a void and there was no netflix to take comfort in, so no reruns.

Kira Nerys

I loved Kira so much! She was so bad ass. I seriously wanted to be her back in the day. She had a quick temper and she could be stubborn but she had a very tough past. She was a terrorist. She fought for her people’s freedom and she cared deeply for her planet. She dealt with some serious trauma and PTSD because she had been fighting as a resistance fighter since she was a child. It’s all she knew. Living in caves, starving, surviving. She taught me how to be resourceful, my favorite quote is when she said if you need a hammer, use a wrench.

Constable Odo

Odo was the sheriff in town. He cared about justice and getting at the truth and he tended to be very hardline about it. He took his work very seriously. I loved his banter with Quark. Odo was the observer, he was on no one’s side but he didn’t hesitate to give his opinion and he wasn’t a fan of authority. He did things his way.

OTP: Kira and Odo! I shipped them so hardback in the day! I knew they had something from the very beginning. In season one I shipped them. I was waiting through the whole show to see them be canon, only to be crushed when Odo left in the series finale! That kiss on the promenade was probably the best thing that ever happened to me!

Star Trek Voyager

I admit I didn’t get into Voyager right away. I was mourning for DS9 and couldn’t handle any more Star Trek spin-offs at the time. So I didn’t get into it until it had already been syndicated. But when I did, it definitely hit me hard. I was going through my early community college years, making friends, I met my husband around this time. I moved away from my parents. There were a lot of changes in my life so VOY came into my life at an important time.

Captain Janeway

Of course, I love her! She’s the captain! She’s smart, she’s tough, and she doesn’t take crap from anyone. She was another huge role model in my life. She was a scientist and a leader. Her crew mattered the most to her and it was through her that I learned about sacrifice and bravery.

Commander Chakotay

I liked Chakotay. I liked his spiritual side. I happen to be part Native American so that’s something I related to him with. He was a strong sensitive type. The warrior.

OTP: Janeway and Chakotay of course! I wanted them to get together so bad! It kills me when they had so many close chances that never happened. I mean it was so clear that they loved each other and that Chakotay/Seven thing at the end was a total slap in the face to us Janeway/Chakotay fans! I still hate the writers for that! it totally ruined the series finale for me.

X-files: So begins the era of stuff that husband introduced me to, starting with X-files. I had never watched it back when it was on because I only had eyes for Star Trek, but my husband, who was my boyfriend at the time, introduced me to pretty much every fandom from here on out. X-files was his show, its what he grew up on.

Scully: I’m a total Scully girl. I love her! She’s a scientist and she wears a gun. Total badass! And I love that even though her scientific mind, she was also spiritual which, as a pagan, I can relate. She knows that she is in a male-dominated occupation but she doesn’t let it bother her and isn't afraid to give people a piece of her mind.

Mulder

You can’t have Scully without Mulder! I love how dedicated to the cause he was. And my husband and I have this on going joke that whenever you see a top secret secured area you have to wonder if Mulder has broken into it yet. Cuz he always manages to get to places where he isn’t exactly supposed to be.

OTP: Mulder and Scully of course! Mulder may be a goof ball but he has said some of the most romantic, amazing things. “You were my constant” that whole speech right there was amazing.

Lord of the Rings

My husband introduced me to Lord of the Rings. I never read the books until I met him and even then, I’ve only read the Fellowship, but I loved the movies. They are my ultimate sick day splurge. I plan a LOTR/hobbit marathon when I get sick.

Aragorn: I think we are seeing a pattern. I like the leader types. The warriors. Which is why I love Aragorn! Also, I’ve always had a thing for guys with long hair so there’s that. But yeah, Aragorn is the sensitive, courageous warrior but he also has this self-doubt. He worries that he won't live up to what everyone knows he must become.

Faramir

The younger brother to Boromir. I hate how Faramir’s father treated him and I think it’s sad how he still looked up to him and to his brother. He was brave but he had a kind heart and he deserved better than Denethor.

OTP: To be honest, I didn’t really ship anyone from Lord of the Rings.

Rurouni Kenshin

I’ve never really been into anime but this is the one exception. And of course, my husband introduced me. He’s been a fan of the anime and the manga. I like this anime for it’s historical content. I am a history major and I love fandoms that make the setting a big part of the show. Like the setting itself is a character too, and this was certainly true in Kenshin. Meiji Japan was a character in the show in many ways. I really loved how it tied history into everything, describing Japan’s beginning of imperialism and its rise that would eventually put it on the world stage.

Kenshin

Kenshin is my favorite character! The wandering Samurai who just wants to protect people. He’s the warrior type just like all my other favorites.

OTP: I didn’t really ship anyone, although I did have a soft spot for Kenshin/Kauru and Sanosuke/Megumi.

The Legends of Drizzt

My favorite book series of all time! I got so obsessed with the Drow through reading these books. My favorites were the first books about Drizzt and his homeland. This is also the first fandom my friend and I got really into and started RPGs with. WE had done RPGs with Voyager and X-files crossovers but this was probably the longes RPG series we did.

Drizzt Do’Urdon: Drizzt and Kenshin have a lot of similarities. Drizzt is another warrior type. He was abused by his female-dominated society until he finally had the courage to do what few drow ever did- leave. He faced hatred and discrimination on the surface because everyone feared the Drow.

OTP: I didn’t really ship anyone. I liked Drizzt/Cattie-brie and I thought it would have been nice if he got to reconcile with Ellifain and maybe they could have been together, but that’s all.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer

I wouldn’t say I am a hardcore Buffy fangirl, but I love the show. My sisters were really obsessed with it back in the day and they both know every single episode by heart. My husband is a huge fan so he finally got me to watch it.

Willow Rosenburg

Willow’s my favorite! She’s nerdy, geeky, and witchy. She’s been Buffy’s number one and she’s no side kick, she can handle her own. I was a nerd in school, and still am so I get her.

OTP: I liked Buffy and Angel and Willow and Tara. I also thought maybe Xander and Spike would have been cool, or maybe Xander and Andrew.

The Hobbit

I loved the Hobbit movies despite the criticism. They were my first attempt at publishing fiction online. I have a bunch of my old Hobbit fics on Fan Fiction.net still. I also have saved some of my all time favorite Hobbit fics. I love the brotherly love between Fili and Kili and fan fic writers did such a good job of capturing it!

Fili

I am on the ‘justice for Fili’ team for sure. I seriously feel like Fili deserved way more than what he got in the movies. The third movie irritated me because Fili hardly got a part. It’s like he wasn’t even there. Fili was Thorin’s heir and I just think fan fiction does a way better job of giving him the love he deserved.

Kili

I loved Kili. He’s the younger brother so he feels he has to prove to Thorin- his hero- that he can do what needs to get done. I think it hurt him to be left behind.

OTP: No OTPS here, I don’t really ship anyone. I wasn’t a fan of the Kili/Tauriel thing at all. When I write Hobbit fics, I have these OCs I have been using for years that I ship with Fili and Kili but that’s all.

Supernatural

Last but not least! Supernatural is my last fandom. I’ve been a part of it for about three or four years. It’s my most current, the one I’m into the most at the moment. After it ends, that will be it! No more fandoms for me, all my fandoms will be things of the past. But my husband introduced me to it. He and I both have an interest in theology so that’s why we got into it, for all the angel and religious aspect. I like the mystic stuff, and I like how angels and demons are these different species with their own rules and such. That is the thing I’ve always loved about science fiction and fantasy- I love learning about non human cultures. I like learning how their society is.

Hannah

Hannah is my current crush these days. I love her. I pretty much think she is a goddess. I have so many reasons. I love that she is a soldier and she’s tough, I love that she has flaws but that she’s brave. Her inner conflict was the best part of her character, how she struggled with her sense of law and justice and with her emotions. She seemed to struggle a lot with trying to process the things she felt. I can honestly say that she is the closest I’ve ever seen to a female person with autism in any of my fandoms. That’s why I love her so much, I relate to her on such a personal level, being autistic myself. She inspires my writing and my art so much. She’s probably my favorite character out of all my fandoms right now. I’ve never related to a character more than I do to her. She is the character I love to play the most because she feels comfortable to me.

Castiel

When it comes to team free will, I am a Cas-girl all the way! Who doesn’t love that adorable little angel? I feel like Castiel’s whole time on the show has been so sad. He rebelled for his friends and ever since then, it’s been one disaster after another with him and even now when season 15 is about to come out, I don’t think he’s ever found true happiness, and that hurts. He misses being an angel and it hurts that they don’t accept him for who he is. I’ve tried to touch upon Castiel’s emotional health a lot in my writing because I don’t think the show does a good job of addressing it. He has done so much for the Winchesters but I don’t think he’s happy with how his life is now, especially after the end of the last season.

OTP: Castiel and Hannah! My ultimate hardcore forever OTP. I truly believe Castiel loved Hannah and its clear that she loved him. She is one of the few people in Castiel’s life who seemed to truly, honestly want to address his needs. She literally begged him multiple times to take care of himself, and in true Winchester fashion, was willing to let Metatron out and this sacrifice the world, just to save Cas. She’s one of the few angels who cared about Castiel, even knowing what he’s done, none of that bothered her. In the beginning when they first met, when all the other angels wanted to kill him, she didn’t care what he had done and only left when she thought he had betrayed them and was quick to come back to him when she found out the truth. I love Castiel and Hannah, pretty much all my fics focus on them.

NOTE: Before you start getting all upset about the fact that all my OTP ships are m/f, I want to point some things out to you. First off, I am bi. Second of all, m/f doesn’t always equal straight and m/m or f/f doesn’t always equal gay. STOP IT WITH THE BI ERASURE!!! I have plenty of other ships but these are my top ships and yes I mostly ship m/f. Just because they all just happen to be my favorites. Maybe because all the above characters tend to have certain characteristics and certain traits and it's their personalities that I ship not their gender. Also, I have huge crushes on the above female AND male characters so again, it’s probably why I ship them. Also, I am demisexual so sex doesn’t really play a huge role in who I ship. A lot of these characters also have similarities to me and my husband, so I tend to ship what I see in real life. I actually ship plenty of other ships other than what’s listed, yes most are still m/f, but some are f/f and some are poly. I don’t ship a lot of m/m because, well, I just don’t. I haven’t found any m/m ships that I really ship. I am all about chemistry first and if I don’t feel it I don’t feel it. Since sex doesn’t play a factor in my ships much, I need them to connect mentally and emotionally much more than physically. I also value equality in relationships. I am not into the whole ‘opposites attract’ thing. Characters have to be compatible.

And one other thing. Chemistry is in the eye of the beholder. What one person sees as chemistry someone else might not agree and that’s okay. It’s okay to disagree it's not okay to be a hater.

#ships #supernatural #star trek #castiel/hannah #fandom

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midnightinkdreams · 6 years

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Illuminate

Pairing: Faramir x fem!Reader

Time: Pre-LoTR

A/N: I started this fic like 3 years ago and I’ve been adding to it slowly- can’t believe I’ve finally finished it. It’s one of my longest fanfics and I’m quite happy with how it turned out.

The title is for the song by Wildes.

Summary/Preview:

“My Lord,” you address your stranger with a slight bow of your head, causing him to jerk out his reverie, the blood rising to his cheeks as he grows suddenly embarrassed.

“My Lady,” he replies, reaching out to take your free hand and when he bows to press a kiss to your knuckles, you find that you are blushing. You know this behaviour is far too bold, for you have not even been introduced but you are enchanted and-

“Have you two already met?” Lothiriel asks, her voice disrupting your thoughts. Your stranger drops your hand, steps away, and the spell is broken.

It is late, and come morning when you’ll have to join the patrol to Edhellond, you know you will regret your decision to spend so much time searching for the accursed book. But, as is always the case when you set foot in the Library of Saphadzir, the minutes turn to hours and you barely notice.

By the time you find the book you are looking for– a rare history of the Dunedain– it’s nearly midnight, and as a testament to your terrible luck today, you find that your usual reading nook is already occupied.

Normally, you would turn away and find a different alcove, but it has been a long day and the thought of doing so is not pleasant at all, so you move forward with the intention of asking the current occupant if he would mind sharing.

He looks up at you as you approach the table, and for a few breathless seconds, you feel as if time has frozen.

Oh blessed Eru, but he is handsome!

You open your mouth to make your request, find that the words will not come out– in fact, what was your question?– and shut it again, your cheeks rapidly heating with embarrassment at your uncharacteristic awkwardness.

Luckily for you, this strange man seems equally flustered, and after he pushes back his chair and stands, he remains silent too, simply looking at you.

“I..I’m sorry,” you begin finally, “I did not mean to interrupt your studies, my Lord.”

You don’t finish what you’d been meaning to say– that you’d leave him to read in peace– but you’re proud that you’ve at least managed to apologize and utter a complete sentence.

And it seems to be enough, for he picks up the thread of this awkward conversation and makes it into anything but.

“Please, my Lady, there’s no need to apologize, you did not disturb me and you’re more than welcome to join me- there’s room enough for the both of us.”

He smiles at you as he says this, a gentle smile that lights up his eyes, and your heart stops beating for a second, so taken are you by that smile.

But somehow you manage a smile of your own and murmur your gratitude as you take a seat opposite him.

The conversation is sparing throughout the rest of night, both of you becoming rapidly engrossed by your books, but when you leave him a few hours before dawn, you do so with a strange sense of contentment. And it is only as you arrive at your rooms, still unable to erase a faint smile from your face, that your peaceful reverie is shattered.

For you realize that you had not learned your handsome stranger’s name and so you have no way to seek him out. And as you realize that you might never see him again, your heart sinks, and you are gripped by a depth of despair that seems entirely unreasonable.

As it turns out, you needn’t have worried at all.

It is evening and you are just returning to the Keep, your patrol having been entirely uneventful, when you find yourself face to face with the very man who has been occupying your thoughts, in company with Lothiriel.

“Cousin,” you greet Lothiriel but cannot help directing your smile at your stranger, “this is a surprise- should you not be in the Hall, attending court for your father’s audiences of the day?”

“I’m happy to see you too, cousin,” she replies, her smile turning mischievous as she notices that her companion’s gaze does not stray from you for even a second.

“My Lord,” you address your stranger with a slight bow of your head, causing him to jerk out his reverie, the blood rising to his cheeks as he grows suddenly embarrassed.

“Have you two already met?” Lothiriel asks, her voice disrupting your thoughts. Your stranger drops your hand, steps away, and the spell is broken.

“Yes, cousin, we have. Though I am ashamed to admit that I still have not thought to ask for the lady’s name. Forgive me, my lady, but I was dazzled by both your wit and your beauty and seem to have lost all semblance of courtesy.”

There is a hint of a grin on his face as he addresses this last to you, obviously expecting an introduction, and yet you are too caught up in the fact that he too has called Lothiriel cousin for that must mean he is the steward’s son, newly arrived from Minas Tirith.

“Faramir, this is ___, daughter of my mother’s sister, she has been my father’s ward for nearly seven years now,” Lothiriel says, taking it upon herself to speak when you remain silent, “___, Faramir is Aunt Findulais’s son.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Lord Faramir,” you tell him with a smile and the slightest dip of your head for you are loath to drop his gaze.

“The pleasure is all mine, my Lady ___,” he moves a little closer to you again as he speaks and you find yourself blushing.

“Well,” Lothiriel begins, stepping away from the pair of you, “___, I’m certain you would not mind showing Faramir around the rest of the city.”

It is not a question and before you can think of some way to make her stay while also taking your leave, she is gone, leaving you alone with Faramir. And suddenly your heart is beating far too fast and you have to make a conscious effort not to breathe too hard.

Your only saving grace is that when you tear your gaze from Lothiriel’s now-distant form and return it to your companion, you find that his cheeks are tinged red and he seems just as out of sorts as you yourself.

“I do apologize for Lothiriel’s abrupt departure, my Lord,” you have to practically force the words out but you know you have to start somewhere and you suppose you could have chosen something worse to say. Luckily for you, he doesn’t remark on your noticeable awkwardness, choosing instead to continue as if this were a situation as normal as any other.

“Faramir,” he tells you, lips curving into a smile again, “just Faramir will do, ___.”

And there is that blush again, he seems equally as surprised as you at how forward he has just been. Had you been one of the ladies at court, practiced in charm and coquetry, you might have teased him for it. Instead, all you can do is softly repeat his name with a smile and a blush of your own.

III

The days-- weeks-- that follow pass in something of a haze. You feel as if you spend almost every waking moment with Faramir, every moment when you are not with him is spent on thoughts of him, and every moment when you sleep is spent on dreams filled with him.

More often than not, he joins you in the morning, on patrol or for drills. You fight well, as well as the best knights in the city, and you have been told this many times but when Faramir looks at you fight and his eyes fill with equal parts awe and respect, you feel both relieved and proud.

It is a blessing, you think, that this lord from the capital is in awe of your skill, for do they not have many better warriors there? A blessing also that he can feel this way about your choice of occupation as you have heard that women are not allowed to fight in Minas Tirith. Even here, in Dol Amroth, you can count the number of women in the ranks of the Swan Knights on the fingers of one hand.

Initially, you wonder why it pleases you so that Faramir appreciates your skill with a sword the same way he would any man’s.

But as the days pass, you stop wondering and begin to know.

In the afternoons, Faramir accompanies you as you browse through trinkets at the markets. He tells you stories of Minas Tirith and his brother, and you reciprocate with stories of your own- tales of scrapes you and Lothiriel had gotten into as children. And it is one of those that draws the first true laugh you’ve heard from him.

He laughs with his whole heart, shoulders shaking, face lighting up, eyes dancing, and your heart skips a beat at the sight of him like that.

On one moon-drenched night, two weeks to the day you’ve met him, you take him on a walk around the city walls, to show him the views of the city and the bay as you love them best. And that is the start of a new tradition for you begin to spend your evenings with him, walking the city with your hand tucked through his elbow, your head resting on his shoulder, feeling almost cocooned in his warmth.

On some nights you go to hear the musicians play in one of the many courtyards; on others, you end up at the library, reading together in that very alcove where you had first met.

And so, you come to realize that you no longer remember how to pass an entire day without him, that you’ve forgotten the feeling of a heart that doesn’t have him in it. That you are falling in love with him.

Not surprisingly, it is Lothiriel who first brings up the topic of marriage, and as she mentions that she will miss you terribly when you marry Faramir and leave for Minas Tirith her voice is light, just a little teasing, and she doesn’t seem to realize the effect her words have on you.

And it is quite the effect- you feel as if the breath has been sucked out of you and suddenly you are overwhelmed as a series of images flash through your head, images of a life lived far away from your home and your family, of giving up your duty as a Swan Knight, a duty that you have trained for all your life.

Because you have heard the stories, oh you have heard so many of them. Of Lady Findulais who went to Minas Tirith for love of a man, and faded away for love of the city she left behind- beautiful Dol Amroth. Of Lord Denethor, her husband, whose coldness after her passing is spoken of as common knowledge.

In Faramir you see an ending for yourself that is equally painful, and so, in fear, you start to distance yourself.

You, in your innocence, hope that he will forget about you if you do not see him as often.

But of course, you cannot avoid him entirely, for he is present at every dinner you share with your adoptive family in the Court of the Prince, for they are his family too. And on several nights, you catch a glimpse of his burnished bronze hair in a corner of the library, and flee immediately, hoping that he has not seen you.

Hoping that this thing between you two will fade away over time.

Needless to say, your hopes are in vain.

He confronts you late one night when the moon is high in the sky and you are walking along the walls of the city, trying your utmost to enjoy the view that had once brought a smile to your lips in seconds but now fails despite the passage of almost an hour.

You turn away as soon as you see him, intent on making your way off the walls before he can catch up to you, and then what, you don’t know, you suppose you could retreat to your rooms, he cannot follow you there.

But it’s too late, and he is beside you before you know it, and you find yourself quite unable to escape his presence. So you steel yourself and turn to face him, but not without first putting a few paces between you, for you cannot bear to be too close to him. [It would be far too easy to just reach for him, reach for him and lay a hand on his arm as you had been wont to do when the two of you were still happy and together and just falling in love, and you don’t trust yourself to resist the temptation.]

You don’t greet him, too scared of what you might say if you start talking, and after a long moment spent staring at each other in silence, he gives in with a sigh and eyes filled with regret.

“Have I done something to anger you?” he asks, hands clenched at his side, and you wonder if he is facing the same struggle as you, if he wants to reach out to you just as badly.

You have to fight to remind yourself that it does not matter, that there are far more important things than this...tangled web between you two.

“It was but a dream, Faramir,” you tell him finally, voice as gentle as possible, even as your heart crumbles, “and you know as well as I that nothing can come of it.”

“You cannot mean that,” he protests immediately, the heartbreak you are trying so hard to hide showing plain on his face, “I will not give you up, ___.”

“My lord, you must,” you revert to formalities in an attempt to distance yourself from him, the same reason you refuse to meet his gaze, looking instead at the moonlight shimmering on the waves. Trying to use it to strengthen your resolve- the beauty of this city you have chosen over him.

“Do you not love me then, my lady?” he asks, voice suddenly broken, speaking with the desperation of a man who knows he is about to lose that which is most precious to him, yet does not understand how it has come to that, “will you not even look at me?”

“I cannot,” you whisper the answer to both his questions, words barely audible to your own ears, and yet you know that he has heard you, for he does not say any more.

But he stands beside you in silence for several long minutes, and suddenly you realize that he still hopes you will take it all back.

So you press your lips into a firm line, keep your gaze fixed forward, and only when he leaves– almost ten minutes later– and his footsteps fade into the distance do you allow yourself to cry.

“I had thought you were leaving,” you begin, a hint of a question to your tone, a hint of something broken, “I had thought you would be halfway to Minas Tirith by now.”

“I was supposed to leave, yes, but I could not bring myself to it.”

“Oh” is all you can manage, so shaken are you by his unexpected appearance, by his words, and you drop his gaze, fully intending to walk away, when he reaches out and catches hold of your wrist, and you freeze, half turned away from him.

“___, please,” he says, “if you would only hear me out.”

And he sounds so pained that you cannot deny him, cannot bring yourself to do anything other than turn to him and look into his eyes and address him by name.

“What is it, Faramir?”

“I am in love with you, ___, you know this,” he pauses, waits for you to nod and gulp back tears, does the same himself before continuing, “and I would like to stay, here, in Dol Amroth, and live out the rest of my days with you, if you will have me.”

You let out a strangled noise-- half-gasp half-sob-- before you can stop yourself, and then you stare at him, one hand clapped over your mouth, the other fastening into a fist around a handful of your cloak in some meager attempt to ground yourself.

In your mind his words repeat themselves, over and over again, and you feel entirely adrift, unable to focus on anything but those words, and the impossible offer the man you will always love has just made.

“Faramir, I,” you begin when you finally feel able to speak, “I don’t… you do not know what you’re saying. You cannot mean that. Your place is in your city, with your brother.”

He reaches out, his hands gentle as he coaxes your fingers from their death grip on your cloak, and slowly he draws your hand up to his lips, and the kiss he places on it is oh so warm.

“I do mean it, because my place is here, by your side. I have known this to be true since I met you, and I think you know it too,” his eyes don’t drift from yours even once and he moves closer to you as he speaks until he is standing right in front of you and his breath flutters over your lips, “So tell me, my Lady, will you accept? Will you marry me?”

Your heart twists, hurts, and you shut your eyes for a long moment, convinced that when you open them, you will find that it is all a dream, that Faramir is not in front of you, offering you happiness, offering you his love, offering to give up his place in Minas Tirith, for you.

But when you steel yourself and open your eyes, you find that he is still right there in front of you with a smile on his lips and hope in his eyes- so you let yourself smile too, let yourself laugh, let your heart soar.

“Yes,” you tell him, the only word you can manage to speak, but it is spoken with absolute conviction and it seems to be all he needs.

For he sweeps you into his arms, seemingly uncaring of the people milling about the square around you, and when he bends to fit his lips to yours, you find that you don’t much care about anything other than his kiss either.

#faramir x reader #faramir #reader insert #fanfiction #oneshot #reader x faramir

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taurielsilvan · 7 years

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my lovely friend @sansarya tagged me in this - thank you buddy ♥ also the wonderful @aredhels and @goodqueenalys tagged me in things too so there’s even more under the cut! thank you all for thinking of me i really appreciate you acknowledging my existence and i adore all of you tbh

aaand I will just put this at the beginning - I’m tagging @wondcrwomans, @dracomalfoys, @akrhamknight, @angelicahamlton, @princemaedhros, @sansarya, @captainaragorn and @scinnlaece (feel free to choose 1 of these or do all three or maybe just ignore this!!)

5 things you’d find in my bag

keys

phone

a book

lip balm

ticket

5 things you’d find in my bedroom

all my stuff tbh

books

Funko Figures

clothes everywhere

a mess on the floor

5 things i’ve always wanted to do

travel to new zealand with my sister to see all the lotr filming locations

catch up with about a trillion tv shows

read every book i own (before buying new ones hahah..)

wear more nice dresses

win the lottery

5 things that make me happy

middle-earth

when people write nice things in the tags of my edits

when my hair smells good

autumn

sleeping

5 things i’m currently into

six of crows!!!

middle-earth always and forever

got + stark family reunions

reading crime

f.r.i.e.n.d.s

5 things on my to-do list

pff idk i’m just sleeping, working and eating.. nothing more.. let’s see

make more edits??

i really don’t know i guess all the stuff from “5 things i always wanted to do”?.. what a crappy way to end this askgame sorry

okok so here’s the next: @goodqueenalys tagged me - thank you so much, i absolutely adore you and your blog!

Get To Know Me

rules: answer the 20 questions and tag 20 bloggers you’d like to get to know better!

name: katharina / nicknames: kat on the internet and kathi in real life haha / zodiac sign: leo / height: 1,69m / orientation: hetero / nationality: basic white bitch (i’m just gonna copy your answer here because i’m just a smol german) / favorite fruit: bananas / favorite season: autumn!! / favorite book: the lord of the rings and six of crows / favorite flower *shrug emoji* i love all of them?? / favorite scent: fresh coffee in the morning / favorite colour: red / favorite animal: koalas and penguins / coffee | tea | hot cocoa: yes to all and in that exact order / average sleep hours: hmm 7 / cat or dog person: both!!! / favorite fictional character: aragorn / number of blankets you sleep with: 1 or 2 / dream trip: hobbiton ♥ / blog created: may 2011... oh my god / number of followers: a bit over 7000 / random fact: one of my best friends married this weekend i i got to be one of the bridesmaids and i had the best time

aaaaand last but not least @aredhels was kind enough to tag me in this thingy here and I’m really flattered because it says ‘Tag some friends’ so let me just say ily friend

Rules: Choose any 3 fandoms (in random order) and answer the questions. Then tag some friends.

I choose: Tolkien Game of Thrones Six of Crows

The first character you loved: Legolas all the Starks tbh Kaz Brekker

The character you never expected to love so much: Frodo Cersei hmm maybe Jesper

The character you relate to most: Pippin and Faramir uhm... maybe some traits of Sansa and Arya?? irdk they all are way cooler than me but.. maybe Wylan

The character you’d slap: the potato head orc Theon (the moment he betrayed Robb) Jan Van Eck

3 favorite characters (these are in order of preference): Aragorn, Tauriel, Pippin Sansa, Cersei, Jaime Kaz, Inej, Nina

A character you liked at first but not so much anymore: Legolas hahaha he was my childhood crush.. i still like him tho Daenerys none i love my children

A character you did not like at first, but they’ve grown on you: Boromir when I watched the extended movies like wtf i love him so much hmm Margaery i had no feelings for Inej in the beginning and now I love her??

3 OTPs: Arwen x Aragorn, Frodo x happiness, Eowyn x Faramir Ned x Catelyn, Cersei x Jaime, Sansa x a true knight in shining armor who adores her for who she is and treats her well Kaz x Inej, Kaz x 30 million kruge, Jesper x Wylan

#ask game #personal #ok this took some time #but it was fun

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caithyra · 8 years

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Rewriting Tauriel... And other Elves

Soooo... Tauriel was a good idea: Increase the number of female characters, and perhaps add a bit of story since we’re making three films from a book and extra material that only warrant two films at the most.

Then it went... yeah. It went wrong (or at least clumsily executed). When it could have gone right so easily that it’s frustrating.

Now, I’m not claiming that my way is right, but eh, it’s my attempt at an idea that doesn’t make Thranduil racist against his people and give Tauriel a greater grounding in the Legendarium (while discarding parts of the love triangle, Kili can still crush on her and say cringe-y stuff, but it’s funnier if Tauriel has no interest whatsoever in him IMO).

Okay, so the Silm is off-limits but clearly allusions to it aren’t (Hallo thar glittering gems of light in a dispute between Dwarves and a Sindarin king). So yeah, here we have a red-haired elf living among Nandorin-descended elves while being disliked by their Sindarin king (who loves Silvan elves and their culture, like his father, to the point of assimilation) when his son started to pay a bit more attention to her than is proper of platonic friends.

I repeat: A red-haired elf among Silvan elves disliked by a Sindarin king when she might end up marrying into the family.

Once upon a time, the Nandor weren’t ruled by Sindarin kings or Noldorin ladies. They had their own king, Lenwë (or Dan, as he was known to them), who had a son, Denethor (who is probably the namesake of Steward Denethor I of Gondor, and subsequently Denethor II, father of Boromir and Faramir, because Elven Denethor was an up-standing and loyal person, which a steward would need to be).

Anyway, the Nandor (valley elves) were named such because they refused to go to the West because they wouldn’t cross mountains. But in the First Age (LotR and Hobbit takes place in the Third Age), Denethor took a bunch of Nandor over the mountains to settle in the lands of Ossiriand, the Easternmost part of the Westernmost land (Beleriand) of Middle-earth.

So, the Nandor, who were the precursors to the Silvan Elves, are in Ossiriand.

Then a bunch of mass-murdering Elves came from the West and integrated themselves in the greatest Elven realm on Middle-earth, Doriath (which was ruled from a cave palace in a forest, sounds familiar?), the Sindarin kingdom of King Thingol (remember? Also there are theories that Thranduil might have been a kinsman of Thingol, since they are both Sindarin nobility). Of course, they kept mum on the whole mass-murdering Thingol’s brother’s kingdom on their way until Thingol found out on his own, so yeah.

Anyway, they were lead by Fëanor and his sons (and the mass-murder was to get one of Fëanor’s shiny jewels back). And while much have been written (the Silmarillion, for example), of him and most his sons. His youngest sons, a pair of twins, was very little written of.

We do know, however, that while in Middle-earth, the Ambarussa (High Elven for “redhead” which was a name they shared) twins lived in East Beleriand.

Yeah. They were neighbours with Ossiriand and the Nandorin elves.

And then the sons of Fëanor committed mass-murder a few more times, including completely destroying Doriath, for a couple of shiny jewels (though the death of Thingol was at Dwarven hands <-Reason why Thranduil and Celeborn [Thingol’s great-nephew] hold grudges towards dwarves and probably why Gimli was to be blind-folded in Lothlórien).

And Thranduil’s family subsumed themselves in the culture of the Silvan Elves, finding it more “natural” than the ways of the Western Elves.

So...

What if Tauriel was descended from an Ambarussa twin (alluded to, at least) and a Nandorin lady? What if instead of “lowly Silvan elf” it is “you are allowed to dwell among us for your late mother’s sake, but I will not tolerate the daughter of my family’s mass-murderers to marry into my family (playing up on the Thranduil being Thingol’s kinsman fan-theories and separating it a bit from the Silm)!”.

What if Tauriel beseeches Thranduil to aid the dwarves in taking back Erebor, and alludes to them being generous in gratitude? And Thranduil alludes to thinking that she believes the Arkenstone being a Silmaril (which he explicitly says is not what she thinks it is), and how Thingol died for it and how his kingdom was destroyed, while refusing because he does not want the same fate for his own people and kingdom.

What if Thranduil saves the White Council at Dol Guldur (it is, after all, the former capital of his kingdom)? And we learn of some tension (also, he doesn’t need magical rings, thankyouverymuch, it’s not like it helped Isildur y’know, also Galadriel is a creepy af colonialist who may one day betray them if she gets her hands on a greater power *winkwink* because she is related to the same family as Tauriel), and he and Gandalf argues about the dwarves, and Elrond steps in defense of his mother-in-law (Galadriel, for those who didn’t know), and tells Thranduil that he will destroy everything he loves if he keeps holding onto past pains like this (and Thranduil allows this only because it is hinted that Elrond helped him with his grief over his wife, which is non-canon, but eh, Elrond is a famous healer and Thranduil can’t die while his people needs him, and we need to keep this from being too accurate to the Silm because no film rights, so yeah). Also, while Thranduil is away, the Dwarves having their daring barrel escape.

What if Thranduil, as much as it pains him, Exiles Tauriel and Legolas when they leave? Alluding to the Exile of the Noldor, in order to protect his kingdom against jewel-lust (btw, it is more clear that this whole backstory is why he locked up the dwarves, and he and Thorin had their own allusions about that, a bit clearer than earlier shown).

What if Tauriel was never in love with anyone? What if her whole story is to prove that a child cannot pay for the sins of her father? That she has good intentions and acts on them? What if she nearly dies proving it? But in return she convinces Thranduil that some battles are worth fighting? What if Thranduil and Legolas have a chat about how Thranduil nearly died from grief (as elves do) when Legolas’ mother died (thus alluding to the problem with Aragorn/Arwen)? And how he cannot ask his people to go through that when it wont tangibly benefit them.

What if Tauriel was shown as a liked and respected captain among the Silvans? And that a soldier overhears Thranduil saying that to Legolas, and that soldier in turn is shown going to speak with other soldiers? What if Thranduil is convinced of Tauriel’s convictions, but still wont ask his soldiers to sacrifice, and then Tauriel’s friends step in and volunteers?

What if Tauriel dies instead of nearly dying? (Yes, killing one of the few female characters is iffy, but at least she would die for her convictions and to save the world instead of for romance, heck, have her do something ridiculously heroic while at it) And instead of sending Legolas to Aragorn, Thranduil sends Legolas to Elrond Half-elven to learn of mortality and grief? In a desperate attempt to save Legolas’ life as Legolas is in pain and almost starts fading? What if Thranduil’s soldiers (who will have had scenes showing that they like and respect their captain, dammit!) overhears the “this is why I don’t want to go to war, it is not just one soldier that dies when one dies on the battlefield”-talk, and then go “with all due respect, lord and sire, but Tauriel was fucking right and even if you are our king, that question should be answered by your individual subjects and not by you, if we didn’t think it worth the fight, we wouldn’t have taken up arms to begin with”, and then Thranduil meets Bilbo who will fight even when scared and likely to die, who hands him the Arkenstone in the hopes of saving the dwarves, and Thranduil is completely convinced.

Gandalf doesn’t notice at first, however (still being stuck with the argument at Dol Guldur, that’s what you get for disappearing to secret council meetings all the time!), and they have a bit of a spat in miscommunication, but beside that, the elves eventually ends up having a Big Damn Heroes Entrance moment in the Battle of the Five Armies.

If Tauriel survives, she gently explains to Legolas that she does not feel the same but that she will always loyally serve his family. This causes Legolas to be uncomfortable and want to leave, and Thranduil wishes him well and advises him to learn the ways of mortals, for the Ages of Elves are ending and if they are to survive in the Age of Men, the future King of Mirkwood needs to know them. Legolas decides to learn from Elrond Half-elven and the Dúnedain and leaves (and thus wont see his father’s new friendship with the dwarves, setting up his rivalry with Gimli as they both act as their fathers used to do before they shook hands).

The denouement of this side-plot would be Thranduil striking up a sort of friendship with Dáin and Balin (and Balin mentioning that with Erebor freed, Moria would be next *winkwink* and asking if Thranduil will attempt to stop that from happening like with Erebor, and Thranduil instead sincerely wishing them luck, but warns, with scenes of Dol Guldur, still overrun by spiders, that the Shadow is moving again and it is not so easy to reclaim what was once lost. Also, Glóin should be especially prominent in this scene, possibly standing beside Gandalf and Bilbo, in an outfit reminiscent of the one he wore in Rivendell in LotR), as well as agreeing to a military alliance with Dale and Erebor.

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