#i don't really care about length overall but for the sake of pacing i don't like making chapters too different in length

[fortyfive-forty]

now here's a question do i do a super short chapter quicker or a super long chapter slower

[anghraine]

For the shipping ask game: Faramir and Eowyn

I don't mono-ship it like Elizabeth/Darcy, but I do ship it a lot!

1- What made you ship it?

It is about 70% the beautiful writing of their romance in the book to 30% my love for them individually and being delighted at the concept of putting them together and letting them find happiness that way after lives of such grinding hopelessness.

2- What are your favorite things about this ship?

I really like that, as contracted as their romantic narrative is (and I do wish there was more of it, pacing be damned), Tolkien takes care to establish that they're friends. They like each other as people!

I don't think Éowyn really saw Aragorn as her friend in that way—he was too glamorous in her eyes for that. She didn't truly know him. But though the overall course of her relationship with Faramir is so fast, I think she does know and care about him for his own sake and not only for what he brings to her.

Even when she thinks she doesn't return his feelings, she's quite gentle about it in a way that's pretty unusual for her. And though Faramir always has a strain of gentleness in his character, I think a lot of his sternness (though not strength) falls away with her as they become close.

I also think there's something very adorable and characteristic about their physical impressions of each other, lol. Faramir is like ... wow, she's prettier than flowers, and the women of my own people, and I'm sorry she's sad like me. Maybe we could spend some time together. And Éowyn is like, damn, he is tall, and could kick the ass of almost everyone I know. He's nice about it, but what if I seem silly and immature to him?

<3

3- Is there an unpopular opinion you have on this ship?

I think they're happy, but it's complicated by political necessity—not in the sense of them being at odds politically, but of them being in separate places for substantial lengths of time. I think this would especially be the case in the earlier years, when Aragorn is often at war; Tolkien described one of Faramir's responsibilities as hereditary Steward as "representative of the king during his absence abroad" and another as "chief counsellor" of Aragorn's council.

Ithilien, meanwhile, is in a vulnerable position with a lot of work needed to keep it safe and functional, and my headcanon is that while they do work together, there are plenty of times when it's Éowyn doing a lot of the day-to-day work of holding things together in Ithilien while Faramir is first and foremost the Steward of Gondor. Arguably, she's more Prince of Ithilien than he is.

And much later, of course, they're separated for a pretty long while by her death. :( I don't think she gets Éomer's lifespan and Faramir would still outlive her considerably if she did.

Oh, also, I like their arcs overall, but I do agree with some of the critiques of Éowyn's part in the treatment of war. It's not that she should have stayed a warrior because she's a badass blahblah (this makes zero sense in the context of LOTR), but that the totality of her rejection of her previous way of life is not fully prepared for structurally, and Tolkien's ideology of peace > war etc seems far more integral to her character's resolution than any human man's, including Faramir's.

Théoden and Éomer are glorified as warriors, and Faramir's prowess is emphasized even though he doesn't like it (and Tolkien seems to have imagined he'd continue to act as a military leader and be the one clearing out Ithilien). But abandonment of fighting is built into Éowyn's arc beyond any character's but Frodo's (and he was never a warrior anyway). Her interest in the specific future she chooses with Faramir is not much prepared for in terms of writing. And this whole part of her arc is compressed into one small part of one chapter. So, yeah, the defenses of how this aspect of their romance is executed do ring a bit hollow to me.

[earl-grey-love]

🌻 - @nonesenseships

new ask game send me a 🌻 and ill just tell you whatever the fuck i want

Hi, Red! Thank you for the ask 💕 I know its late but I've been busy. I hope thats okay!

I'm gonna talk abt one of books I just read. They're in a series and they are about queer men in 1870s london. The books take turns focusing on individuals from a group of friends who frequent a safe social club for lgbtq+ people at the time, their love lives and a mystery that surrounds them. They're written by KJ Charles.

The first book is "An Unseen Attraction", which sounds way hornier than it was. The book focused around the romance between Clem, a boarding house keeper, and Rowley, a taxidermist who lives in the boarding house. They've been friends for several months, with both men being on the quiet, nonconfrontational side. Naturally they harbour a crush on each other which they don't express because well, its victorian times! It's a classic friends to lovers tale. And I loved it!

(Minor Spoilers) Both characters were understandable and endearing. The more I learnt about them, the better I liked them. Clem was well-written as a neurodivergent character. While no specific condition was attributed to him, he is clearly described as ND. He has sensory issues, difficulty understanding social cues and a tendency to take things literally. This helps him to unravel the overarching mystery down the line. While he tends to be a bit naïve when it comes to trusting people, he doesn't fall into any nasty infantalizing tropes. He is a mature and capable man like any other. He just struggles with things. Also, he's half Indian, so the book does touch on period typical racism.

All around I love Clem. He's an amazing character and I enjoyed reading from his perspective the most. The gentle sweetness to him is absolutely golden. His character development and his side of the romance was beautiful too.

Rowley was written with equal care. He was a contrast to Clem with his more grounded personality. He's reserved but more socially equipped than Clem, which makes them an excellent partnership. They balance each other out. Despite being more equipped, he's got far fewer friends and trusts less. This is due to his backstory, which I won't spoil, and gives his character some interesting depth. His profession is beautifully written too. I find taxidermy super gross but the way it was covered in the book was enjoyable.

(NSFW) So ofc the book does include spicy scenes. The way it builds up tension was amazing. It had me excited for the upcoming scenes right away with the teasing way it was hinted at early on. However, these scenes are not the focus and there are few of them. They are tasteful when they happen though and include plenty of character development. They aren't sex for sex sake. The dynamic between the two in bed was surprising too, and worked incredibly well. There were relatively mild (imo) sub/dom themes that were a pleasure to read (NSFW ends)

The mystery plot was a surprise. But a welcome one. We all know I love a good mystery. Unfortunately, it was predictable for me, and I was about two steps ahead of the characters for most of the way. I pen this down to me really loving mystery solving and my understanding of law/crime tho. It was still satisfying and fun to read! The suspenseful scenes really did instill anxiety. I was afraid all the way up to the conclusion!

Overall, I rate it 10/10. I can't fault it for anything. It was the perfect pace, length and execution. The only downside is the mystery wasn't fully concluded at the end, but this is because the book is part of a series. The plot continues on from other characters' perspectives. This gives it interesting depth!

The one thing I didn't like is more of a gripe with the audiobook than the book itself. There's a transgender woman who for some reason is given a notably deeper, more masculine voice than any male character. Which is 🤨 a choice. She is written respectfully in the text though.