#not to mention moria why did we tell us what moria did also how the fuck did moria find luke in particular

[twilightarcade]

anyway do you ever think about how his token character trait was being mysterious constantly being hinted at being a member of the eye, never formally confirmed. But he comes around at the end of the book like hey I'm mayday but he's leading her towards either death or salvation and she can resist and if it's salvation then she will have lost it and if it's death then the hope will be gone because you Know so there's nothing that she can do besides go along with it because the alternative is terrible, knowing your fate and by the end so many characters fates are up in the air only to be left up for interpretation by hypothetical 2040 scholars but even they can't be sure but then the fucking series comes along and is like hey fuck that everyone is still fine they're all alive Luke is alive Moria broke out June has a name for some reason and whatever there's still the Horrors but we go beyond the book which was so neatly wrapped up isn't that terrible you were left to speculate and now they spell it out for you they weren't supposed to do that and nick is the most generic hot guy I've ever seen I know they described him as handsome but the bar is literally in the ground I would kill to have a Normal Guy do you think they even have time to spend on that frivolous stuff he literally doesn't have a nice bedroom

[chromatic-lamina]

Oda packing the punches: Chapter 1086 spoilers

Okay, I'm not doing a long one like last week, but heaps to take in, and I adore the idea of all of the notorious, prestigious and sought after stowaways on the ships leaving the Marie Geoise shores.

The ones from the new world must do so with World Government (Marine) assistances, right?

And Tajine Kingdom (Bonney stowed away on their ship) and St. Aegis kingdom (Walpol and Vivi stowed away on theirs) were World Government member nations, and both rebelled. I wonder why.

My main reason for being here, though is:

this!!!!!! 👆

Look at our bow-legged bird, even in seraphim form. Crocodile's beauty is as glassy-eyed (sad-eyed, dead-eyed?) as Boa Hancock's and Mihawk's, and Moria's looking pretty good too.

So, the seraphim are being employed to basically destroy their makers (the original Hancock, Mihawk, etc.—not that we've seen a Mihawk/S-Mihawk fight yet). There has to be a Trafalgar Law one. Oda wouldn't pass up the opportunity, I think. Although, if it will convolute the story, that one might be left to us fan-fiction writers.

Lots of other stuff. Massive catch up, lore drops. The destruction of Lulusia seems to parallel Marshall Island Atoll nuclear tests or Maralinga in the centre of Australia, or so many others, and more linearly (time-wise) the U.S. government's nuclear testing in New Mexico before the ultimate bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Robin has apparently told the revs:

that the ancient weapons exist (as Ivankov lets us know above).

And more parallels here with the Einstein / Vegapunk thing, and what their research can be harnessed for, or what they might directly contribute to without and possibly with knowing the consequences.

Iva suspects that the attack has nothing to do with Vegapunk (although maybe I misread the panel—it seemed that Imu thought it was Vegapunk's work, but Imu might've been referring to the seraphim).

Iva suspects that Imu is

Imu of House Nerona (one of the original founders of the Celestial Dragons / Word Government / Mary Geoise), so, from the void century and granted eternal youth through the ope ope no mi, although the fruit is not mentioned by name. Whether the revs' don't know it's granted from a fruit, or whether they're playing coy, is not apparent. It seems the former.

As a founder, they (Imu) could possibly have knowledge of the ancient weapons.

So, as an aside, considering the original granter of the eternal fruit would have died as per their fruit's power (Lili?) then there must be more people around with eternal youth too, right?, because others would have consumed the fruit, and 800 years is a long time.

Anyway, briefly onto Lili; if she had the ope ope no mi, she could've shambled the poneglyphs the world over as a very awakened form of the fruit, and maybe granting Imu eternal youth is what caused her death. I don't think that's my idea. I probably read it somewhere, but I can't recall where.

For the above, I love that Robin's dropping massive intel into the Revolutionary Army's lap.

Seems that Sabo will be a D. too, from this statement below 👇 . I'd prefer he wasn't, but, whatever!

Sabo is definitely surrounded by them! And that 'checkered fate' line is used a lot. I know there are a few translations on it.

Lastly, and it's not only the last (like, for instance, Walpol won't tell Vivi about her Father, CPO are running around with pictures of Vivi and Sabo to folks in Mary Geoise, Sterry (Sabo's brother) doing a Sanji when sighting Vivi's picture, and Big News Morgans filling the reader in on how he managed to pick up Walpol and Vivi (we suppose)): BUT possibly one of the biggest pieces of news is:

that Saint Donquixote Mosgard will be executed due to protecting Shirahoshi 👆 , thereby running parallels with Homing, except that Mosgard was effective with his compassion, but will also pay with his life, as did Donquixote Rosinante (and his father). And

The person tasked with the execution is the former king of God Valley, and I know there's a lot of Rocks D. Xebec info about God Valley that's basically all over my head at present (will read up on it later, or read someone else's meta).

But as importantly, or maybe more importantly, is this guy's name: Saint Figarland Garling. Shanks, was stated by the Gorosei in Film Red (although I missed this section, or forgot it) as coming from the Figarland family (he was discovered in a box that the Roger Pirates stole during the God Valley Incident).

Ahahahah. I love all the influences though: Good Donquixotes, and then Donquixote Doflamingo. Entitled Figarlands, and then good Shanks, or maybe not... (I believe he's good, but Oda always turns the tables on me, and everything's grey, even when characters have positive aspects).

So, yeah—there's a ton of stuff. Go have a read or wait for the official, but the scans gave the elders their names, so I'll just drop that too, and a translators' note that was interesting:

Read below for their processes in naming:

Okay as said, I didn't cover everything, but ALSO, look at this gorgeous cover (Oda can't be ignorant that it's pride month)

I love the little frog. It's a reader's request: Chopper and a kitty crossing the reflection of a rainbow they see in a puddle. Cute! The reflections look great too.

Also, don't forget this guy:

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Rereading The Fellowship of the Ring for the First Time in Fifteen Years

Ok, so I apparently internalized almost nothing when I read this book in high school. And although I have learned a lot about what you can and cannot get away with in both written and cinematic media in 11 years of higher education...SOMEHOW THIS MAN LITERALLY GOT AWAY WITH "And then the Mirkwood Elves walked Gollum on sunny days" AND NOBODY MENTIONS IT BECAUSE THAT IS TOO RIDICULOUS FOR WORDS!!! So I guess let's talk chapter 2, "The Council of Elrond," because otherwise I'm going to keep yelling about how we just casually skated over Legolas walking the Gollum.

Ok, so this is a long-ass chapter that is mostly everybody putting together narrative puzzle pieces in real time. It's practically a TTRPG. So we're just going to make this easy and chunk this reaction out by narrative, because after Gandalf puts the kibosh on Frodo going on a leisurely hike around Rivendell, we end up in this council for almost 50 pages. Although apparently even TOLKIEN knew that he had to keep this shit moving--such as it does, at a snail's pace--because he explicitly says right at the too of the chapter that "Not all that was spoken and debated in the Council need now be told." So basically, this is the Sparknotes version of the meeting, and it STILL feels long.

But I guess we're starting with Gloin, whose tale was apparently new to Frodo. I knew about the mission to Moria and how Balin, Ori, and Oin have been missing for THIRTY GODDAMN YEARS because we covered that at the party in the last chapter, or at least enough of it to get by. What was SUPER NEW was that apparently Sauron has weirdly good information about the dwarves and what Thorin and Co. were doing in The Hobbit, because a YEAR ago, a messenger from Mordor rocked up to Dain's mountain going, "Hey, Sauron wants to be BFFS, and also what do you know about these things called hobbits?" Why is Sauron asking the dwarves? Because, says the messenger, "Sauron knows [...] that one of these was known to you on a time."

First of all, I appreciate that we aren't going to get every single little piece of info here, but...HOW THE TITMONKEYS DID SAURON RANDOMNLY KNOW THAT DAIN KNEW A HOBBIT but absolutely nothing else about either Bilbo in particular or hobbits in general? This seems like a weirdly realistic information hole to have, but given the depth of the rest of the information we're about to get in this chapter, it feels a smidge hand-wavy. Anyway, the TLDR for Gloin is that they want to warn Bilbo, ask Elrond WTAF is this ring Sauron is being coy about, and get some help ASAP because King Brand is about to fold like a house of cards. Which honestly? I gotta give the dwarves props for understanding their own internal politics that clearly and being willing to cop to weak points. Although then Elrond throws one hell of a wet towel on things:

"You have done well to come," said Elrond. "You will hear today all that you need in order to understand the purposes of the Enemy. There is naught that you can do, other than to resist, with hope or without it."

Cheery, Elrond, thanks for that. And even if he DOES follow it up with "But you do not stand alone," I'm not entirely sure that this is the moment to be brutally honest about there not being anything to do but hold the line.

This is followed up by a Middle Earth history lesson from Elrond that even TOLKIEN glosses over, since it spans the history of Sauron and the Rings of Power, Sauron's betrayal, the history of the One Ring, the entire history of Numenor, Elendil and his coming, the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, and the prologue of the Fellowship film. We get a little more detail about Isildur taking up the ring--as a weregild, apparently--but otherwise the TLDR here is that the victory was...y'know, ok, but not permanent or all-encompassing.

And then Elrond KEEPS GOING to tell us about how Gondor endured, rose to something that echoed Numenor's greatness (the SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAADE of the word choice there is just savage though; like way to damn Gondor with faint praise), and then declined as Sauron re-powered; he also recounts the loss of Minas Ithil and the pseudo-loss of Osgiliath.

Which is about when Boromir pops up because Elrond insufficiently praised Gondor, and also he needs to impress on everyone how close Gondor is to ACTUALLY falling. We're going to yaddah yaddah over this first little bit, because the key piece that brought Boromir to the council was a dream that both he and Faramir had that encompassed the following wee bit of a poem:

Seek for the Sword that was broken; In Imladris it dwells; There shall be counsels taken Stronger than Morgul-spells. There shall be show a token That Doom is near at hand, For Isildur's Bane shall waken, and the Halfling forth shall stand.

I don't know who controls dream visions in Middle Earth, but thank you to whoever it is for being this blunt, because humans are kinda dumb sometimes, but even they should be able to do the basics of interpretation and interpolation required in the context of the Council to go "Oh cool, we gotta send a Hobbit."

Especially since the next words out of Elrond and Gandalf are "Show them the Ring, Frodo the halfling." Unfortunately for whoever is doing dream visions in Middle Earth, Boromir is both tense, stressed, and Gondor-centric AF, because his immediate reaction is "Is then the doom of Minas Tirith come at last?" Which...HONEY...

"The words were not the doom of Minas Tirith," said Aragorn.

Literally, someone needs to get a necromancer up in here because I want to know which students (or possibly fellow faculty members) Tolkien was channeling for this exchange. Literally anyone who has ever been in a university classroom has watched this exchange play out, and I'm now having Vietnam flashbacks to the time I asked a class of students how to identify German Expressionism in a film and one kid piped up, "The actor's names are German."

Reader, that is not the answer.

But back to Middle Earth, because Aragorn has just been a sassypants at Boromir, and Boromir returns the favor by questioning Aragorn's lineage, at which point BILBO pops up and I read the next poem in Arwen's voice because Peter Jackson gave it to her in the third movie:

All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, a light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken: The crownless again shall be king.

So we don't really need the most famous bit of verse from LOTR repeated here, except that I think it's pretty and also in context it's fucking HILARIOUS. Boromir was like, "Sure, we'd take help from the line of Elendil...IF WE HAD ONE" and Bilbo pops up with a SELF-WRITEN POEM and everyone--including Elrond--is just like, "Yeah, seems legit."

That is the equivalent of a lawyer showing up in court, reciting Rudyard Kipling, and everyone just...accepting that as a rational argument that supports the defendant's position. This is so absolutely ludicrous as to verge on farcical and I honestly kind of love it. BOROMIR doesn't even question it, we just kind of accept Aragorn's bona fides and move on...to Aragorn basically going "we Rangers do ten times the work that Gondor does for a tenth of the respect and recognition you get, and we wouldn't have it any other way, so SIT THE FUCK DOWN."

Boromir very reasonably drops his beef with Aragorn here and switches to "How the fuck do we know that this is the ring? Where are the receipts?" And the receipts are...basically Bilbo retelling the "Riddles in the Dark" chapter from The Hobbit and Frodo recounting his life with the Ring, which get glossed over because WE HAVE ALL BEEN READING THE BOOK UP TO THIS POINT.

This is where we get a new and quite interesting question though:

Galdor of the Havens, who sat nearby, overheard him. "You speak for me also," he cried, and turning to Elrond he said: "The Wise may have good reason to believe that the halfling's trove is indeed The Great Ring of long debate, unlikely though that may seem to those who know less. But may we not hear the proofs? And I would ask this also. What of Saruman? He is learned in the lore of the Rings, yet he is not among us. What is his counsel - if he knows the things that we have heard?"

A damn reasonable couple of questions here. I'd also want more proof than two hobbits, and I'd also be SUPER wondering where the Ring expert was, since the Ring is the main subject of this whole meeting. So this is where we finally hear what Gandalf was up to for the majority of the first half of the book, while Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin were hauling ass out of the Shire.

So, I am deeply used to and familiar with Christopher Lee's Saruman, but one of the few things I internalized from reading this book in high school was that Saruman was super not chill when Gandalf called him "the White" and was from this point on self-referentially called "of Many Colors." I also remember him being a freaking drama-llama. What I did NOT remember was that he confidently said, "Into Anduin the Great it fell; and long ago, while Sauron slept, it was rolled down the River to the Sea."

WHICH EXPLAINS WHY NOBODY THOUGHT THE ONE RING WAS IN PLAY FOR SO MANY YEARS!!! Because while everyone knew that the Ring betrayed Isildur and bailed in the river, only those of us who had read The Hobbit or the early chapters of this book knew that it hadn't actually made it to the fucking sea! There was a (sport metaphor of choice about interception or interference or whatever here) from Deagol and Smeagol! Which makes it kind of hilarious that the Ring has been in hobbity hands all this time, and Sauron just...didn't know hobbits even existed. Because life is often stranger than fiction.

Then we get a rehash of Gandalf's research trips and field work to try to track down information about the ring, and a lot of this we got in earlier chapters when Gandalf was giving Frodo the cliffnotes version in the Shire. Had I been the editor on this book, I would have strongly recommended we do a little less retreading of this ground, but apparently Tolkien was anti-editor, so I'm just going to skip to end when Gandalf and Aragorn are like, "So we handed Gollum over to the Mirkwood Elves, and he's still imprisoned there to this day."

At which point Legolas immediately pops up with "Um, so actually, we fucked up. We were walking the Gollum dog and he escaped. Our bad." Which all and Sundry generally agree is a bad thing, except for Gloin, who has a REALLY DAMN GOOD POINT when he says, "'You were less tender to me,' said Gloin, with a flash of his eyes, as old memories were stirred of his imprisonment in the deep places of the Elven-king's halls." Thorin and Co. did not get their daily walkies, and that's a valid point. Gandalf full-on silences Gloin here, and that is wildly uncool of him, because again, Elf-Dwarf racism is real and he probably shouldn't invalidate Gloin's experience.

Reading this book again is REALLY damaging my love of Gandalf, I have got to say...

So skipping over the well-known attempted turning of Gandalf by Saruman and the eagles thing (I am not talking about the eagles. Find another corner of the internet to yell about that in), we get a first look at Rohan! Gandalf needed a horse to get back to Frodo, and Rohan is apparently Middle Earth's Horses R Us. Unfortunately, they're besieged by the forces of the enemy, they're paying tithes to Mordor in horses, and Theoden is probably starting to fall under the sway of Wormtongue at this point. So Gandalf gets the wonderful Shadowfax from Rohan, who is APPARENTLY A CAMOFLAUGE HORSE:

And there is one among them that might have been foaled in the morning of the world. The horses of the Nine cannot vie with him; tireless, swift as the flowing wind. Shadowfax they called him. By day his coat glistens like silver; and by night it is like a shade and he passes unseen.

I am not a horse girl (horse smell is gross), but even I can appreciate a color-changing horse that lets you haul ass across the world unseen at night. Good horse. *Pats him awkwardly on the head.*

And then we get MORE expansion of information we already largely know or could extrapolate from the available data--seriously, did NO ONE have the balls to tell Tolkien he could get repetitive?--before we come to the vital question: We have the Ring; what the hell do we do with it?

I will say that I appreciate that Gandalf knows Tom Bombadil well enough to know that he would be THE WORST possible guard for the Ring and shoots that idea down fast.

I also found it really interesting that Glorfindel was super ride-or-die for the idea of actually yeeting the Ring into the ocean, as if putting it back on the course it started when it betrayed Isildur would somehow put everything right. As if the intercept by hobbits was the problem, and not that the Ring itself is the receptacle of all evil in Middle Earth. Like, points for trying, my dude, but I'm pretty sure that magic trumps the crushing pressure of the depths of the sea floor and Sauron could summon that shit back if he really put his mind to it.

Elrond is correct that we have to yeet the Ring into the volcano, and he is equally correct that the task is appointed to Frodo. It just takes everyone a hot minute to get there because everyone keeps trying to avoid volunteering or handing the Ring off to someone who would be DANGEROUSLY powerful with it.

Bilbo's attempt to volunteer was super heartwarming and cute, but I'm with literally everyone else in the room that he's too old and the Ring wouldn't have it anyway. So Frodo volunteers, and Sam absolutely pops up, because he'll be DAMNED if he's leaving Master Frodo <3 <3 <3

HOO BOY, that was a long one, and there was a lot of graduate-level contextualizing, adding of detail, and citing of sources, because apparently Tolkien can't get away from his academic roots even when he's writing about nine dudes on a quest to melt down some jewelry. I don't mind thorough, but I'd be lying if I said that chunks of this didn't feel like unnecessary repetition. At the very least though, we have made it through this chapter, and that's about where I'm going to leave it this time. It looks like next time we'll be picking up to really get this quest moving though, and I'm looking forward to setting out with our fellowship!

[arrantsnowdrop]

Informalities - Éomer x reader

Request:  “Eomer x reader fic where the reader is from our world and Eomer listens to the stories the reader says of our world and he thinks that it is a grand place and so when they are finally getting together, Eomer feels kind of insecure cuz he feels he'll never live up to the reader's "standards" and the reader says that they are insecure because he is a prince and she has nothing"

Tags: @thewhiteladyofrohan

Warnings: mention of battles and death, about 2,200 words

A/N: Hoppy Easter lads and lasses, we are back from a many month writing hiatus. Hope y’all enjoy, I’m glad to be here :)

You genuinely had no idea how you’d ended up in Middle Earth.

It was one of those fever dream situations - one moment you were falling asleep in your own bed, and the next you were waking up at the bottom of a tree, surrounded by many bearded and concerned looking men.

Of course you’d been startled and so, so confused, but it had only taken you a few moments to recognize the characters from one of your favorite stories, and then you’d fully accepted your new reality.

By the time you first encountered the fellowship, they had already lost Gandalf at Moria and passed through the realm of Lothlorien. They were traveling in their fancy elvish boats when they’d spotted you from the river. You were extremely grateful for that - who knows what would’ve happened if the Uruk-hai tracking them had found you first.

Boromir and Gimli were quite intimidated by your presence, having been brought up in traditions that designated men for warrior roles. Aragorn and Legolas were much more accepting (female elves were just as badass as any male elf or man, and both of them knew that). The hobbits had all taken an immediate liking to you, and you’d been devastated to lose them during the Uruk ambush. Of course, this only gave you a stronger drive to track them into Rohan with Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli.

It was there that you met Éomer for the first time, after his riders surrounded your small group of assumed invaders.

He was handsome, there was no denying that, and you found his decision to protect Rohan even in exile extremely brave. He’d been startled by your presence (a group including a dwarf, an elf, AND a woman must’ve been an oddity for him), and thus had talked primarily with Aragorn, but you could not shake the way his eyes locked with yours as he offered you his condolences about Merry and Pippin.

You figured you’d never see the handsome blonde again, glumly complaining to Gimli about it several times throughout Rohan.

Thus, you’d been overjoyed when he arrived at the Battle of Helm’s Deep - half because he was saving your asses from almost certain death, and half because you’d get to see his face and hear his voice again.

You followed Aragorn after the battle, searching for Gandalf in the celebrating crowd. It did not take long, with his bright white robes being quite easy to pick out.

“Gandalf!” you screamed gleefully, weaving between the people around you to get to the smiling wizard.

“It is good to see you, (Y/n),” he said as you embraced him.

“Oh, it’s even better to see you,” you said.

“I have to agree with (Y/n),” Aragorn said from behind you. You pulled back, allowing Gandalf time to greet your friend, and quickly caught sight of a familiar face.

He had been laughing with some other men when his gaze fell on you, eyes locking with yours for the second time. You smiled a bit and offered an awkward wave, face flushing as he flashed you a smile.

“Ah, (Y/n), this is Lord Éomer, current heir to the throne of Rohan,” Gandalf said, noticing the two of you staring at each other.

“We’ve met before,” he said, walking towards you

“Indeed we have,” you replied as he stopped just in front of you. “It is a pleasure to meet you, oh-future-king,” you said, bowing a bit.

You could hear Aragorn slap his forehead from behind you and grinned.

“She’s not from around here, so do forgive her manners,” Aragorn said.

“Or lack thereof,” you added, straightening yourself once more and looking at Éomer’s amused face.

“I appreciate the informality,” Éomer grinned. You spun around and pointed at Aragorn.

“See? Someone appreciates me,” you accused.

You were extremely happy to meet Éomer. It’s not that you didn’t adore Aragorn and Legolas and Gimli, but they were also the only people you’d been around for quite a while. It was exciting to make a new friend, especially one so handsome and charismatic.

The two of you spent the entire ride to Isengard delving into each other’s lives, from childhoods to secret fears to favorite foods. Obviously, the two of you had led quite different lives, and he was fascinated by the world you had come from.

“These cars you speak of, are they like horses?” he asked.

“No, they’re much faster,” you replied. “They’re more like a carriage, since they have space for several people inside.”

“But it moves without a horse?”

“Yup!”

“Who steers in then?”

You were grinning ear to ear at the look of bewilderment on his face.

“One of the people inside,” you answered. “There’s a wheel to control which direction you go and pedals on the floor to control the speed.”

“That sounds terribly complicated,” Éomer said, brows furrowing.

“It’s not too bad,” you said, “I was even pretty good at it.”

Éomer shot you an alarmed look.

“You used to steer these...these things?” he asked incredulously. You laughed and nodded. “You have to be taught how to do it,” you explained. “It’s not like they throw you into it without any preparation.”

“It still sounds extremely dangerous,” he decided.

“I did break my arm in a crash once,” you said thoughtfully. He gasped.

“You can crash them?”

Éomer had quickly become one of your favorite people, which only made the continuous battles over the fate of Middle Earth even more stressful. You were terrified he would ride into a fight and never return, and even more terrified of what that meant.

You’d searched for him for hours after the Battle for Minas Tirith, heart growing more and more heavy as you continued. Every person you asked had no idea where he was, and by the time you returned to the White City, your hands were shaking with anxiety. Finding him outside of the makeshift infirmary that had been set up was the most relieving moment of your entire life.

You had gasped the moment you caught sight of his all too familiar golden hair, letting out a desperate sob as his eyes met yours, him rushing over to you and wrapping you in his arms. Your embrace was filled with all the emotions both of you were too terrified to say aloud.

“I thought you were dead,” you murmured into his chest, eyes wet and lips trembling.

“It will take far more than a few Oliphaunts to kill me,” he whispered, pressing his lips to the top of your head.

You wanted nothing more than to tell him in that moment how much you loved him, but decided against it. You knew the fighting was not over, the last thing you needed was for him to be distracted by you during battle and find himself impaled with some pointy object. If you both lived to the end of this, you would tell him then.

But then you were too scared to do it.

Of course you had won - the ring had been destroyed, Aragorn had led the crusade against the forces of Mordor, and Gondor was preparing to crown its long lost king. Everyone was staying in Minas Tirith until the coronation, but then everyone was leaving. All your friends would be heading home, but you did not have one of those here in Middle Earth.

Aragorn had already offered you a place in Gondor’s leadership, and thus a permanent residence with him, and the hobbits were more than happy to escort you back to the Shire with them, but you knew both of these options would separate you from the one person you wanted to be with.

All you wanted was to follow Éomer back to Edoras, but you were unsure if that would be best for him. He was about to be crowned king of Rohan, and probably had many ladies of Rohan’s nobility lined up to rule with him. It was selfish for you to think you had any right to his heart, especially when his duties and responsibilities were so much more important than an outspoken, title-less woman.

So you distanced yourself from him. You avoided him whenever possible, taking the longest routes you could to dinners and meetings. You tried not to be affected by his desperate gaze, or the way he called for you as you rushed out of a room. It hurt you more than anything, but you knew it would be better for him in the long run. You succeeded with your plan until the night before Aragorn’s coronation.

You’d been walking home from dinner (a huge, pre-celebration feast that qualified as a celebration itself) through an old, twisty corridor. You opened the door to your room only to see Eomer sitting on your bed, a worried look on his face.

You jumped slightly, startled by his presence.

“What are you doing in here?” you said breathlessly. “This is totally an invasion of my privacy and absolutely uncalled for at such a late hour, you almost gave me a heart attack-”

“Forgive me,” he interrupted, standing up from the bed, eyes fixated on you. You both stood there in silence for some time, the closest you’d been to each other for the first time in days.

“I missed you,” he murmured finally. “You’ve been avoiding me.”

You looked down at your feet and nodded. You did not want to see the look of betrayal that he was undoubtedly wearing.

“Why?” he whispered. You winced at the sound of hurt in his voice.

“You would not understand Éomer, but I promise it was in your best interest,” you replied.

“You are my best friend, (Y/n), how could ignoring me benefit me?” he asked incredulously. You looked up at him, trying to ignore the tears beginning to form in your eyes.

“Éomer-”

“Please,” he cut you off desperately, slowly walking towards you. “I have missed you more than you could possibly imagine.” “That is the issue,” you whispered, closing your eyes to avoid looking at him.

“How is that an issue?” he begged.

“Because you are about to be a king,” you shouted, eyes still closed. “And you will leave after tomorrow with everyone else, back to Edoras, where new responsibilities will be awaiting you and demanding your attention.”

“How does that have anything to do with you?” he asked, voice sounding a lot closer than before. You gulped, sensing him right in front of you.

“I would be a distraction,” you replied meekly. Éomer did not reply, but instead reached to grab your hands with his own, you gasping as he pulled you into his chest.

“(Y/n), you are not a distraction, how could you-”

“I do not want you to leave me here,” you interrupted, resting your forehead against him. “I am so scared I’ll never see you again, but your life is about to be so much more important than me.”

“I do not want to leave you here,” he said, wrapping his arms around your back. “I want you to come with me. You’re my best friend, how could I abandon you?”

“That’s exactly the problem,” you whispered, “even if I were physically with you, that would not stop me from...from…”

You stopped and bit your lip, terrified of the confession about to pour out of you. Éomer moved his hand below your chin, tilting your head up to face him.

“Stop you from what?” he whispered intensely, eyes searching your face desperately. You exhaled breathily.

“I love you, Éomer,” you said softly, watching as his expression softened. “So, so much.”

He blinked once, twice, registering what you had just said, and smiled, leaning down to rest his forehead against yours.

“I love you more than anyone, (Y/n),” he murmured.

“But, surely there are women back in Rohan who are far more suitable for-”

“(Y/n),” Éomer said seriously, pulling away to look you in the eyes once more. “I have the power to be with whomever I choose.”

“But why would you choose me?” you asked meekly. Éomer chuckled, brushing a stray bit of hair out of your face and tucking it behind your ear tenderly. You leaned into his hand slightly, relishing in the way he cupped your face.

“I was more nervous that you wouldn’t choose me,” he admitted. You look at him in confusion.

“How could I not choose you?” you asked.

“You’re much more interesting than I am,” he shrugged. “You come from a world that is so much more exciting than mine, and the last thing I want is for you to settle for me.”

“Éomer, you stab people with swords and ride horses all day. And live in a castle. That is insanely cool,” you grinned, wrapping your arms around his midsection. “Of course I choose you.”

“And I choose you,” he murmured, pulling you closer to him. “Please come home with me.”

“Yes,” you whispered, nodding fervently. “Yes, please.”

Éomer grinned, tilting your face up to his once more and leaning down to kiss you. Your heart leaped, hand reaching up to grab the back of his head to intensify the kiss. He moaned softly, bending down to pick you up and twirling you around. You giggled and pressed your nose against his.

“I’m thinking we make my coronation far less formal than Aragorn’s,” Éomer said, “as much as I’ve been loving these dinners, I don’t think I could stand hosting them.”

“You know I’m fantastic at informalities,” you replied.

[skyeventide]

my trsb fic has so many notes to the text that they didn’t fit within the ao3 notes’ section character limit lmao, so here is the lengthier version of it. you can consider it a teaser I guess? but either way, I need some place to store these and link them back in the fic.

contents here, cut for length

on the matter of the mother of Gil-Galad

Celebrimbor’s names

shibbolething all over Thauron’s name

actual quotes and canon

On the matter of the mother of Gil-Galad

Meril-i-Turinqi is a Book of Lost Tales character, lady of Tol Eressea, kin of In(g)we but also similar to the Solosimpi, which is to say the Teleri.

The character of "Meril" on the other hand, is a proto-Amarie, Finrod's love interest. In the early draft of Meril's appearance, Finrod is married and is father of Gil-Galad: this draft is obviously discarded and Finrod becomes childless, while Meril transforms into Amarie, who does not join the exile. Gil-Galad is instead transferred to Orodreth, which iirc is Tolkien's last word on the matter (I don't count the Fingon thing as even canon-adjacent, ChrisT was quite clear in admitting the mistake). Now I recall Orodreth is said to be married to a Sinda; why did I discard that? Cause I initally forgot it. Rip to me and Orodreth.

However, what I had was: a proto-Amarie, who is a Vanya, and a BoLT character who is of the family of Ingwe (so a Vanya), but also like the Teleri (so of the third clan, even though not a Sinda). And so Meril-proto-Amarie became Meril-i-Turinqi, wife of Orodreth.

The full headcanon on Meril here would have her as daughter of a Vanya who is kin of Ingwe and of Telerin nobility (or royalty? they're all big on intermarrying between royal families), which fulfills both sides of the coin and also stays true to the statement that Elenwe is the sole full-Vanya to join the exile (I'm gonna assume this excludes any non-royalty followers). Now regarding the parentage of Orodreth, he is here son of Angrod, as I feel that is a better option in almost all respects. This poses some issues with regard to age, as I recall Orodreth-son-of-Angrod and Idril as being named the only two non-adults to do the journey to ME (again... this surely excludes any non-royalty youngsters, but nonetheless). Obviously these issues grow even further if one also includes the matter of Celebrimbor being Aman-born to a wife who doesn't follow Curufin (and therefore the matter of his age at the time of exile), but reconciling these versions is borderline impossible with how the origins of Celebrimbor keep changing throughout the conception of the legendarium.

Long story short, I up the age of Orodreth to be at least old enough to speak softly with Finarfin (here his grandfather) during the flight of the Noldor, but I have him already married though childless. Finduilas is born early into the exile and Gil-Galad is her younger brother.

Meril returns to Aman at the end of the First Age and rules Tol Eressea for the exiles who are stuck there until the Ban is fully lifted.

Celebrimbor's names

FN = father-name, MN = mother-name

I do not claim to have come up with "Tyelperinquar is an epesse", that headcanon, which nonetheless I'm sure happened separately for other people, is one I first read in a fic by Tyelperintal on AO3. That of course means that I could no longer go with the FN Curufinwe MN Tyelperinquar option, and needed another mother-name, which I also borrowed from the same story, and went for Ilvanon, "the perfect". It's pretty, and also speaks of a mix of high expectations and love.

What in this story made me accept the epesse headcanon is the matter of the origin of "T(y)elperinquar" as a name. Vinyar Tengwar (and most recently also NoME) explains how "silver fist" is a name common among the Teleri, famous for their ability to smith silver even among the Noldor, and it is also mentioned how other similar names, such as Tegilbor "calligrapher", are given to people based on their skill. This, however, directly contradicts the fact that elves don't give the same name to more than one person. That statement is problematic in itself (impossible that all elves across all time are aware of all names that ever have been used -- and also of course there's the usual royalty exceptions, that however may well be exceptions because they are royalty), but if it is a common name among the Teleri and we are to keep the duplicate names lore in mind... my only solution is that it's a coveted epesse, given to the very skilled.

Celebrimbor picks it as his chosen and preferred name over FN, already shared by two people and preferred as chosen name by his father, and the potential arrogance of picking his MN with its meaning.

This still led me to problems of both spelling and language choices.

As far as spelling goes, there's several variations. I'm marking with * the one that is not canonically attested, but can be inferred.

Pure Telerin: Telperimpar

Quenya-Telerin compound that maintains the Telerin spelling of silver: Telperinquar

As above, but shortened: Telpinquar

Pure Quenya: *Tyelperinquar

Pure Quenya, shortened: Tyelpinquar

I use all these except the last one at various stages: I decided (though I go back and forth on this) that his household might have used pure Quenya, and his mother sticks to it; the person in Tirion panicks and uses the shortened version Telpinquar, which together with Telperinquar (Telerin spelling maintained) was more common among the Noldor. The Tirion passage exemplifies the uses and applications of these names, how they were given and altered.

This leads me to problems of language and POV, Celebrimbor vs Tyelperinquar. His mother, in her POV, always uses the latter, but Celebrimbor himself uses the former. The true problem here was adapting my feeling that Celebrimbor would be far more used to thinking of himself as Celebrimbor (as opposed to the Quenya name) vs Tolkien's statement that elves do not use names in another language when speaking in X language. This doesn't stay wholly true through the legendarium and the texts, so it's something I've decided to partially ignore when it comes to POV, though I tend to stick to it in first person dialogue. Something that again I try to tackle in the text itself -- when Galadriel tells Celebrimbor which language to speak and which name to use for her.

I am not entirely satisfied with all my choices here and I might revisit them in the future, but for the moment, here we go.

Shibbolething all over Thauron's name

Another language and spelling headache. As I encountered the problem of Sauron, I encountered that of the spelling of his name: the eternal TH/S issue. Were I to have Celebrimbor's mother, and Celebrimbor himself, stick to the Shibboleth? I initially attempted to circumvent this by using Gorthaur, but the issue described just above, about mixing languages, yet again bit me in the ass.

Of course it comes down to characterisation: would Mrs Curufin stick to the Shibboleth, and would Celebrimbor? The matter with Celebrimbor was that I don't believe he spoke Quenya with any real frequency after the Nargothrond business, not as a choice but rather due to circumstances and preferences of those around him. With Ercasse, the conflict is part of the character, and that sadly meant that the TH/S choice became less of a personal choice and more of a political one, as usual.

That got me thinking about the circumstances around her and something interesting came to me: Finarfin spoke Quenya with the Shibboleth, because of the Teleri. And in the Darkening he becomes king in Tirion, and also has to adjust things with the Teleri -- not an easy task, imo, when he turns back only after the pronunciation of the Doom, and not just after the kinslaying occurred. Additionally, the Vanyar spoke preserving TH. Additionally x2, by the Fourth Age, Exilic Quenya (which uses S) is associated with those who rebelled and returned to Aman -- meanwhile any Sindar preserved TH naturally, as it's a sound that never went out of use in Sindarin.

So I chose to take these things and make something of it. If Finarfin maintains TH to keep the Telerin influence; if the Noldor who remain in Aman decide to step closer to the Vanyar in an anti-rebellion reactionary manner and to conform to the speech of the king; if Exilic Quenya gains the lower status of language of the exiles; and considering the canon fact that in later ages the elves are more likely to preserve language rather than change it -- what are our chances that Shibbolething gains opposite connotations as time passes? My conclusion was high chances. So I decided to implement it.

And so Ercasse doesn't have to think about her personal allegiances anymore and has a path built in for herself in these social changes. And Sauron is Thauron. (Unless Galadriel is talking: she doesn't Shibboleth, and uses “Sauron” and “Sindarin”.)

Quotes and canon

Many things I wrote are based on canon snippets. Here I tried to collect them.

On Celebrimbor and the mention of the bath of flames in his speech. It isn't, in fact, a corny lineage reference, but rather a metaphysical or pseudo-physical concept of purification from the Lost Tales:

Yet now the prayers of [their parents] came even to Manwe [the highest Valar], and the Gods had mercy on their unhappy fate, so that those twain Turin and Nienori entered into ... the bath of flame... and so were all their sorrows and stains washed away, and they dwelt as shining Valar among the blessed ones, and now the love of that brother and sister is very fair;

On the naming of Mithril (appears in the upcoming Nature of Middle Earth, as well as already published in Vinyar Tengwar):

[Celebrimbor] was a great silver-smith, and went to Eregion attracted by the rumours of the marvellous metal found in Moria, Moria-silver, to which he gave the name mithril.

On Celebrimbor's ambition and assorted choices, from Letter 131: 

In the first we see a sort of second fall or at least ‘error’ of the Elves. There was nothing wrong essentially in their lingering against counsel, still sadly with the mortal lands of their old heroic deeds. But they wanted to have their cake without eating it. They wanted the peace and bliss and perfect memory of ‘The West’, and yet to remain on the ordinary earth where their prestige as the highest people, above wild Elves, dwarves, and Men, was greater than at the bottom of the hierarchy of Valinor. They thus became obsessed with 'fading’, the mode in which the changes of time (the law of the world under the sun) was perceived by them. They became sad, and their art (shall we say) antiquarian, and their efforts all really a kind of embalming – even though they also retained the old motive of their kind, the adornment of earth, and the healing of its hurts. […] But many of me Elves listened to Sauron. He was still fair in that early time, and his motives and those of the Elves seemed to go partly together: the healing of the desolate lands. Sauron found their weak point in suggesting that, helping one another, they could make Western Middle-earth as beautiful as Valinor. It was really a veiled attack on the gods, an incitement to try and make a separate independent paradise.

Legolas and Aragorn and my choice to use the word love:

"[...]Yet whatever is still to do, I hope to have a part in it, for the honour of the folk of the Lonely Mountain." "And I for the folk of the Great Wood," said Legolas, "and for the love of the Lord of the White Tree [Aragorn]."

Celebrimbor and the Elessar. It must be noted that this Celebrimbor is not Celebrimbor son of Curufin, but I still liked the tidbit of lore. From there my choice to have three different Elessar stones, one made by Feanor, one by Enerdhil of Gondolin, one by Celebrimbor (in the fic redressed to Celebrimbor son of Curufin, and without the romantic love for Galadriel):

But he did not say to Galadriel that he himself was of Gondolin long ago. Therefore he took thought, and began a long delicate labour, and so for Galadriel he made the greatest of his works (save the Three Rings only).And it is said that more subtle and clear was the green gem that he made than that of Enerdhil, but yet its light had less power. For whereas that of Enerdhil was lit by the Sun in its youth, already many years had passed ere Celebrimbor began his work, and nowhere in Middle-earth was the light as clear as it had been, for though Morgoth had been thrust out into the Void and could not enter again, his far shadow lay upon it.Radiant nonetheless was the Elessar of Celebrimbor; and he set it within a great brooch of silver in the likeness of an eagle rising upon outspread wings.

On the vale and the stream where Formenos is located, I utilised this passage from Lost Tales:

[...] here the entire people of the Noldoli are ordered to leave Kor for the rugged dale northwards where the stream Híri plunged underground, and the command to do so seems to have been less a punishment meted out to them by Manwe than a pre-caution and a safeguard. In connection with the place of the banishment of the Noldoli, here called Sirnúmen ('Western Stream') [...]

Relevant LotR quotes about the Eregion passages, used for soil description extrapolations and other elements:

Suddenly Gimli, who had pressed on ahead, called back to them. He was standing on a knoll and pointing to the right. Hurrying up they saw below them a deep and narrow channel. It was empty and silent, and hardly a trickle of water flowed among the brown and redstained stones of its bed; but on the near side there was a path, much broken and decayed, that wound its way among the ruined walls and paving-stones of an ancient highroad. ‘Ah! Here it is at last!’ said Gandalf. ‘This is where the stream ran: Sirannon, the Gate-stream, they used to call it. But what has happened to the water, I cannot guess; it used to be swift and noisy. Come! We must hurry on. We are late.’ [...] "...there is a wholesome air about Hollin. Much evil must befall a country before it wholly forgets the elves, if once they dwelt there." "That is true", said Legolas. "But the Elves of this land were of a race strange to us of the silvan folk, and the trees and the grass do not now remember them: Only I hear the stones lament them: deep they delved us, fair they wrought us, high they builded us; but they are gone. They are gone. They sought the Havens long ago."

More TBA if anything comes to mind.

[maaaddiexo]

The Within Series | Legolas Greenleaf

Book 1: The Devil Within - Part 1.9

Mainlist | Serieslist

Nyx of Tyndall does not know love or kindness. Cursed at a young age by a jealous witch, Nyx has lived a life of solitude and death.

Until Gandalf the Grey requests her presence and uncontrollable skill in assisting a young Hobbit across Middle-Earth with nine others to destroy a ring so powerful all fall victim to its evil.

Not only must Nyx face Orcs, demons, and creatures she’s never seen before, but also the devil inside. Controlling the devil is the key to finding freedom in a spell that can’t be broken. But it will not be so easy for Nyx when every obstacle she faces pushes her to an edge she cannot return from.

Chapter Nine

Nyx slept soundlessly that night, which surprised her. She’d been dwelling on her decision to join the Fellowship the moment she’d agreed. She was tired. She didn’t want to go any further. And yet, looking into Frodo’s eyes and feeling no judgement from Aragorn, how could she possibly say no?

An elf woke Nyx up in the early hours of dawn, helping her into a warm tub and rubbing the stress away with a sponge. Nyx did her best to fight the anger at not being allowed to sleep in but she was aware of the water heating up a few degrees when it should have been cooling. Her anger was stronger than before. Harder to control.

Afterwards, the elf helped Nyx into dark pants – she couldn’t tell if they were brown or black – and a dark blue turtleneck tunic. Overtop, she was given a thick woollen cloak, black as night. Her hair was braided into two inverted braids which were then secured in a bun at the nape of her neck.

“Low maintenance,” the elf explained, standing up. “Will you be joining the others for breakfast?”

Nyx inhaled. Since her arrival she’d avoided eating in the dining hall. Being around so many people made her uncomfortable, which made it easier for the evil within to take control win. But she would be traveling with these people now for who knew how long. She would have to get used to it. But, perhaps, not yet. “Oh, um, no. I need to finish packing.”

The elf nodded and left. Nyx moved to the end of her bed, where Elrond’s gifts from the day before lay.

“You will need weapons, my dear. And not just this old…thing,” he looked at the scythe with disdain. The blade was chipped and dull, and the wooden handle was thinning where she often gripped it. The wood was also stained with blood, but it often was and Nyx had grown tired of washing the wood when she didn’t even see anyone.

“I don’t have any other weapons, Lord Elrond. I’m sure I will be fine.”

“Nonsense. Since your arrival, I have had my people working on some new weapons for you. Including a new scythe. Gandalf tells me you are quite attached.”

“It’s the only way I’m connected to them.” Gandalf had told Nyx that her parents had lived on farm before they had her. And though she didn’t have any memories of them, this made her feel close to them.

Elrond nodded and placed Nyx’s old scythe against the wall. “Then it will be waiting right here for you when you return. But you cannot take that into war. It will splinter on the first strike. Here,” Elrond lifted his arm and two Elves came in. One carried a thick bundle wrapped in cloth while the other carried a scythe made fully of metal, with strips of black wood running with the long handle from top to bottom.

Nyx ran her hand along it in awe. “It’s beautiful.”

“It is strong. It will serve you well. And here.” The second Elf unraveled the bundle of cloth, revealing two daggers with birch hilts and a knife with a red wood hilt. “For extra protection.”

Nyx smiled at Elrond. “Thank you. You owe me nothing and yet you always offer so much.”

Elrond smiled. “You are worth so much more than you think, Nyx of Tyndall. Soon you will see.”

Nyx smiled. “I really am sorry about your gazebo. And your Council Room floor.”

Elrond laughed. “Already forgiven. But don’t expect me to forget anytime soon.”

Nyx sheathed her weapons in the leather holster the Elf had dressed her in underneath her cloak. There were slots for her two daggers and the knife, plus an additional holster that she wore over her cloak. One strap went around her chest while the across her chest like a sash. The holster was on the back. She’d had a similar one before, but it seemed Elrond had replaced that as well.

Nyx knew breakfast would be over by nine, so she was in the courtyard at nine-oh-five, patiently waiting for the rest to arrive. Ever the punctual Elf, Legolas was the first to arrive.

“Good morning, Lady Nyx.”

Nyx grimaced. “Please, just Nyx.”

Legolas inclined his head, hands behind his back. He carried a bow and arrow, the bow made from a material unlike anything Nyx had ever seen. The holster for his quiver was similar to Nyx’s. His hair was braided the same as the day before: a small one going around each ear and a larger one for the hair on the crown of his head. He was dressed differently than when he had first arrived. He wore tall brown boots and grey pants. Arm guards over a grey shirt and a green elven tunic. He touched Nyx’s scythe, which she had in her hand at the moment. His fingers ran over a small inscription in elvish near the hilt of the blade.

“Dilthen lúg. Little Dragon,” Legolas read. “What does that mean?”

Nyx furrowed her brow. “It is what Gandalf used to call me…when I was a little girl. I almost forgot he used to call me that.”

“Why did he call you that?”

Nyx closed her eyes, but the memory was a good one. Those were rare for her. “I had the short temper of a dragon. Plus, my bad habit of catching fire made the nickname an easy choice for Gandalf. I used to find it endearing. Now, people say my name with malice and fear in their voices.”

“Why? You do not look so dangerous. Except, of course, for the large weapon in your hands.”

Nyx looked at the scythe as someone else joined the two of them and spoke. Aragorn. “Do not doubt her, Legolas. She has more fire in her than you think.”

Nyx looked away and took a few steps back, under an old stone arch. The two conversed and she ran her thumb over the inscription Legolas had pointed out. She hadn’t even noticed it until he’d mentioned it. She looked over at the Elf. He was laughing with Aragorn freely and she wondered how two people who’d seen battle and taken so many lives could still be so happy.

She looked at Aragorn. Though she knew he meant nothing ill, his words bothered her still, and she felt the anger inside her swell.

Take control of it.

Nyx leaned her head against the stone wall, closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths. They didn’t work. It seemed she had less control over the evil inside her since she carried the Ring.

“Nyx!”

Gandalf was standing in front her, waving his hand back and forth in front of her face. The rest of the Fellowship had arrived but, thankfully, no one was paying attention to the two.

“Sorry, Gandalf.”

“What is troubling you, my dear?”

“It’s the Ring. It did something to me. I feel…angrier. The littlest things are making me angry. This morning, I nearly cut off the Elf’s head when she woke me up. And just now, Aragorn.” Nyx shook her head. “Maybe it is best if I do not journey with you.”

“Nonsense, my dear. You are one of us. There is more good in you than you think. Come.”

“The Ring Bearer is setting out on the Quest of Mount Doom,” Elrond announced. “On you who travel with him, no oath or bond is laid to go further than you will. Farewell. Hold to your purpose. May the blessings of Elves and Men and all free folk go with you.”

“The Fellowship awaits the Ring Bearer.”

Frodo turned nervously, taking the time to look at all the people who had chosen to accompany him on quest they may not return from. He walked through the group, leading the way.

The moment they crossed over Rivendell’s border, the air of magic dissipated, and Nyx suddenly felt it hard to breathe. She was at the back of the group with Aragorn who noticed instantly.

“Sacred Elven places suppress other forms of magic that is not their own for the sake of protection,” he explained. “Now outside of Rivendell, you once again feel the full force of the curse.”

“It wasn’t this bad before,” Nyx whispered, mainly to herself. “The Ring did something to me. To the curse.”

“Perhaps when we destroy it, you will go back to normal.”

Nyx didn’t know what normal was. “Do you really think we will destroy it?”

Aragorn was silent.

That afternoon they stopped for lunch and a longer break than usual. While Boromir helped Pippin and Merry work on their swordsmanship and Sam handed out plates of food to everyone, Nyx sat silently beside Gandalf as he smoked his trusty pipe.

Gimli, who was slightly behind Nyx and Gandalf, spoke surely, “If anyone was to ask of my opinion, which I note they are not, I’d say we are taking the long way ‘round. Gandalf, we could pass through the mines of Moria. My cousin, Balin, would give us a royal welcome.”

A sour taste filled Nyx’s mouth at the name of Moria, but she wasn’t quite sure why.

“No, Gimli,” Gandalf replied softly. “I would not take the road through Moria unless I had no other choice.”

“Why?” Nyx asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Evil lurks close there in the shadows,” Gandalf replied. “And since we are already walking straight into the fire, it would be best to avoid it when possible.”

Legolas, who had been watching the north, suddenly moved to the other side of the rocky outcropping to watch the south. He stared intently.

“What is it? What do you see?”

Legolas glanced at Nyx, who was squinting to try and see what he saw.

“Nothing, it’s just a whiff of cloud,” Gimli insisted.

“It’s moving fast,” Boromir stood. “Against the wind.”

“Crebain from Dunland!” Legolas shouted.

“Hide!” Aragorn shouted.

Nyx grabbed for Legolas, who remained where he was, quickly searching for the perfect place to hide. She found it nearly instantly, five paces from where they stood now. She dragged him along, tugging him under the curved boulder. Together, they tried to quiet their breathing and still their movements. Nyx heard everybody else scatter, their feet thumping against the ground as they ran for cover. She could feel Legolas’ chest against her shoulder and tried to match his steady breathing. It was hard but she managed to slow her breathing and calm the fire dwelling in the pit of her stomach.

The sky darkened with the birds’ arrival, caws piercing the air. Nyx saw their shadows on the ground in front of her as they flew by, circling the area before leaving in the same way they came. Slowly everybody emerged and watched the birds leave. Legolas looked back at their hiding place. From where he stood, he could barely see where they’d hidden.

“That is an excellent hiding spot,” Legolas admired.

Nyx shrugged and walked away. She was good at hiding. “What are they?”

“Spies of Saruman! The passage South is being watched. We must take the Pass of Caradhras.”

Nyx looked up at the snowy mountain, its peak hidden above the clouds. She grabbed her pack and tightened the laces on her boots. They set out immediately, climbing the steep incline of the mountain range. Nearly to the top, there was a grunt from behind Nyx and she turned to see Frodo tumbling down the hill.

“Frodo!” Gandalf called, unable to do anything but watch him roll down the slope of the mountain. Thankfully, Aragorn stopped him before he could roll too far and immediately Frodo reached for his chest. The Ring was gone. He spotted it just as Boromir did, lifting it up by the chain and holding it closely to his face.

“Boromir,” Aragorn said softly. The man either did not listen to him or did not hear him.

“It is a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt over so small a thing… Such a little thing.” He reached up to touch it. Aragorn called his name again, this time firmer. The man heard him this time.

“Give the Ring to Frodo.”

Nyx watched from beside Gandalf as he reluctantly returned the Ring to Frodo and ruffled his hair. She turned to the wizard.  “I do not like the way he looks at the Ring. And I especially don’t like the way he looks at Frodo.”

Gandalf clenched his jaw, shifting his weight. “Neither do I, my dear. Neither do I.”

Part 1.10 ➺

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Lord of the Rings Character Thoughts - Gimli

Taking a closer look at Gimli’s characterization and character arc between Rivendell and Lothlórien, what stands out is how strongly it is defined by defensiveness. Gimli’s aware that elves - certainly the wood-elves, who live nearest to Erebor - mistrust dwarves. He is completely unwilling for his people to be seen as less trustworthy, moral, admirable, or knowledgeable than elves are. This comes up in all his arguements with elves, but there are signs of it even before his early exchanges of Legolas. Gimli, notably, is the one who debates with Elrond over oaths when the Company are setting off, whereas many people would be shy of openly arguing with an elven-lord who’s specifically renowned for his knowledge and wisdom.

Their first disagreement between Gimli and Legolas starts up when Gandalf mentions that in Eregion there was friendship between dwarves and elves.

“It was not the fault of the Dwarves that the friendship waned,” said Gimli.

“I have not heard it was the fault of the Elves,” said Legolas.

“I have heard both,” said Gandalf, “and I will not give judgement now. But I beg you two, Legolas and Gimli, at least to be friends and to help me. I need you both.”

(I find this first exchange quite ridiculous - as does Gandalf, clearly. They’re arguing about why their people aren’t friends! If you both recognize that’s an undesirable state of affairs, then just be friends! Which is basically what Gandalf says.)

The second exchange, outside Lothlórien, is similar in its dynamic, when Legolas is telling the story of Nimrodel:

“[The song of Nimrodel] is long and sad, for it tells how sorrow came upon Lothlórien, Lórien of the Blossom, when the Dwarves awakened evil in the mountains.”

“But the Dwarves did not make the evil,” said Gimli.

“I said not so; yet evil came,” answered Legolas sadly.

Both of these interactions are characterized by Gimli’s defensiveness - any time there’s something like even an implicit criticism of dwarven actions, he jumps in. This defensiveness shows up much more strongly in Lothlórien, when the elves insist he be blindfolded: “I will go forward free, or I will go back and seek my own land, where I am known to be true of word, though I perish alone in the wilderness.”

(Legolas, for his part, seems to be actively endeavouring to avoid an argument in both cases. In the first exchange, he says “I have not heard it was the fault of the Elves,” presenting it as a description of his own limited knowledge rather than a statement of fact. In the second one, he avoids arguing and switches to a neutral, non-dwarf-related statement when Gimli objects. I also noticed that it’s Legolas who drags Gimli away from Balin’s tomb in Moria, after the battle. He seems to be trying to heed Gandalf’s urging that the two of them be friends. This makes me think that Legolas does not have any personal animus against dwarves, or dislike of Gimli; what he does have are unthinking biases from growing up in a culture that’s hostile to them, and that’s what comes out under stress during the argument over blindfolds in Lothlórien. I do love the way Aragorn calls him on his racial generalizations, btw.)

Gimli’s defensiveness is the reason why Galadriel’s words are so transformative to both his attitude and to his friendship with Legolas. In the throne room of Caras Galadhon, Gimli is for the first time in a situation that is too overwhelming and intimidating for him to stand up for dwarves, even when he is offended:

“Alas!” said Celeborn. “We have long feared under Caradhras a terror slept. But had I known that the Dwarves had stirred up this evil in Moria again, I would have forbidden you to pass the nirthern borders, you and all that went with you. And if it were possible, one would say that Gandalf fell from wisdom into folly, going needlessly into the net of Moria.”

“He would be rash indeed that said that thing,” said Galadriel gravely. “Needless were none of the deeds of Gandalf in life. Those that followed him knew not his mind and cannot report his full purpose. But however it may be with the guide, the followers are blameness. Do not repent of ypur welcome to the Dwarf. If our folk had been exiled long and far from Lothlórien, who of the Galadhrim, even Celeborn the Wise, would pass nigh and would not wish to look upon their ancient home, though it had become an abode of dragons?

“Dark is the water of Kheled-zâram, and cold are the springs of Kibil-nâla, and fair were the many-pillared halls of Khazad-dûm in Elder Days before the fall of mighty kings beneath the stone.” She looked upon Gimli, who sat glowering and sad, and she smiled. And the Dwarf, hearing the names given in his own ancient tongue, looked up and met her eyes; and it seemed to him that he looked suddenly into the heart of an enemy and saw there love and understanding. Wonder came i to his face, and then he smiled in answer.

He rose clumsily and bowed in dwarf-fashion, saying: “Yet more fair is the living land of Lórien, and the Lady Galadriel is above all the jewels that lie beneath the earth!”

There are several things that stand out here. First, Gimli does not respond to Celeborn’s remark about the dwarves stirring up evil - the first time he hasn’t responded to a comment of that sort about dwarves. Both the surroundings and the company are overwhelming, and on top of that, Gandalf is dead as a result of the balrog being awakened and he may feel unable - emotionally or factual - to dispute Celeborn’s casting of blame for that on the dwarves of Moria. He’s “glowering and sad”, but he can’t manage to muster a defense.

Galadriel’s words are important because they offer both empathy and respect: she expresses that elves would do the same as dwarves in the same circumstances, countering the idea that the dwarves and somehow uniquely wrongheaded in wanting to return to Moria, and she recognizes the beauty and worth of Khazad-dûm and its surroundings (and implicitly, of the dwarven language). She’s defending Gimli at the very moment when he’s run out of words to do so himself.

And it’s that recognition and defense from Galadriel - that dwarves are both morally and culturally the equals of elves - that frees Gimli from his defensiveness and open him up to also appreciate and praise the beauty of Lothlórien. And Lothlórien is the point where he and Legolas first become friends, because he’s now in a frame of mind where he no longer needs the same kind of knee-jerk defensiveness, because he’s recieved recognition and respect and validation. (It may also be a similar turning point for Legolas, in terms of modelling that respect and admiration for dwarven creations and culture is not a fundamentally un-Elvish sentiment, which is the kind of idea one could easily internalize growing up in Mirkwood.)

This is very important to me, because often Gimli’s regard for Galadriel is placed in terms of admiration for her beauty, but it’s not physical beauty that makes him admire her, it’s her love and recognition and respect for his culture and people, and her empathy for them. (I’ve got another post to work on about the use/meaning of beauty in Tolkien’s works.)

[strangeradventuresofp]

second thoughts (legolas x reader)

The Fellowship of the Ring - Part 2

masterlist 

warnings: mention of skeletons

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5

a/n : part 2 finally lol !! thank you to everyone who has given chapter 1 a read, thank you for all the support you have all given me i appreciate it so much. so im super happy to present part 2<3 lmk if anyone wants to be added to the taglist or any taglist, send me an ask. thank you for reading, i hope you enjoy and i hope you have a wonderful day<333

It had hardly seemed to be long before the moon began to fall in the sky, and the sun peered itself through the low clouds. Aragorn had set off to collect firewood. He had no issue leaving you to protect the others on your own for he had seen you fight before. When you heard a little moan, you turned to look at the members of the Fellowship. Sam was sleeping soundly, his cheek squished up against his arm. Merry and Pippin were both drooling with mouths wide open. Boromir had his back to you. Gimli was clutching his axe – and snoring intensely. Legolas’ hair still looked perfect and tiny little snores escaped him every so often. Gandalf’s eyes were wide open, and he muttered in his sleep. Frodo was sat up. His eyes were wide, and his hand was clutching the fabric over his chest. He swallowed thickly.

“Frodo,” you whispered. “Are you alright?”

“Just a nightmare.” He admitted and you frowned, inviting him to sit beside you.

“What was it about? I heard if you tell your nightmares, they do not come back.”

“This one comes back.” Frodo looked at you, his eyes full of worry. “I dream that the Ring will take me. Or that it will take all of you, and I will be forced to continue the journey myself. But I fail.”

You sighed. “There is not much advice I can give to you, Master Baggins. Only to take every day as it comes. Do not fret about what the future could hold, Frodo. Focus on the present, as much as you can.” A silence fell over you for a while. Frodo turned to face you.

“Y/N?” You looked at him. “Why did you not want me to take the Ring?”

“It is a huge burden to bear. I feared it would be too much for you. But you have proved me very wrong thus far, Frodo Baggins. I hope you continue to prove me wrong.” The two of you shared a smile before you decided to wake up the others. Frodo woke the hobbits whilst you knelt beside Legolas. You placed a gentle hand on his shoulder before you called out his name. His eyelids slowly began to flicker open and you softly smiled at him.

“Good morning, Legolas. Wake Gimli, would you?” A smirk tugged at your lips as you turned to move towards Boromir.

“Wouldn’t you rather do it?” Legolas protested. “I am sure you’re a sight he would rather see the moment he wakes up.”

“Why do you say that?”

He gave you a knowing look. “He sleeps holding his axe.”

You laughed. “The Mirkwood Prince is afraid of a dwarf. I never would have guessed that.” Legolas scoffed and you grinned at him. “I will wake him. Help Aragorn with the fire when he comes back.” He flashed you a smile and you giggled, shaking your head. You turned to Boromir.

“It is time to wake, Boromir. If you could hurry, we want to travel in daylight.” He chuckled tiredly at your words.

Aragorn had come back with the firewood and the Fellowship quickly breakfasted. Sam was very happy to see that you had eaten on your own accord. Then, you set off.

~~~

The next predicted stop was a few days journey away. It did not seem to take as long as you thought that it would. But Pippin began to get restless, constantly mumbling something of his hunger. Eventually, Gandalf – who had had enough of Pippin’s “whining” – decided that the Fellowship should stop to regain health and stamina. The stop was well timed, you thought, before we continue on the passage south, a quick camp might just be what we need.

Boromir decided to train Merry and Pippin in some defensive skills whilst Aragorn watched, shouting instructions to them. Frodo and Sam perched themselves on a rock, food in their hands. Legolas was scouting the area, presumably searching for any danger with his elf eyes. You had sat yourself beside the wizard, for you much needed to speak with him about Frodo. You were growing worried for the hobbit. He awakens frequently in the night, you had noticed, perhaps due to the nightmares that he had told you about, but you had yet to confide with anyone else about them.

“If anyone were to ask for my opinion, which I note they are not, I would say we were taking the long way round. Gandalf, we could pass through the Mines of Moria. My cousin, Balin, would give us a royal welcome.” The wizard’s face dropped at the mention of the mines and he shook his head at the dwarf.

“No, Gimli. I would not take the road through Moria unless I had no other choice.” Gandalf declared, a nervous look in his eyes. You frowned.

“What is it that you fear, Gandalf?”

“It is troubling… I cannot say.”

“Gandalf, I—I am worried about Frodo. I fear he is struggling to rest. He told me of nightmares that he endures. I do not know how to help.” You confessed. Gandalf sighed.

“I fear that also. However, Frodo seems to be doing fine as of now. We will keep an eye on him, hm?”

“Four eyes.” You nodded and shared a smile with the wizard. Your eyes wandered, watching Legolas as he stepped to a different rock. Standing, you moved towards him, catching sight of something beyond the clouds.

“Do you see that?”

“What is it?” Sam asked.

Gimli scoffed. “Nothing, just a wisp of cloud.”

“It’s moving fast. Against the wind.” Boromir added, holding tight to Merry and Pippin. Legolas’ face faltered.

“Crebain from Dunland.” He affirmed and your eyes widened in shock.

“Hide!” Aragorn cried. He grabbed Frodo, running to Sam who made the brilliant decision to put the fire out. Boromir ran with the other two hobbits, finding a hiding place that would suffice for the three of them. Legolas took your hand instinctively, pulling you under the cover of a nearby bush. It was large enough to shield the both of you from sight, but he protectively held you close anyway. You could feel his breath on your face. His hand was still clamped in yours. You swore you could hear his heartbeat, or perhaps that was your own, thumping vigorously from the adrenaline.

The caws of the birds insisted on your attention, your eyes watching them each time that they circled the area before they flew back off in the direction that they had come from. You and Legolas resurfaced. You looked around to check everyone was alright while Legolas’ gaze held on the birds.

“Spies of Saruman.” Gandalf grimaced. “The passage south is being watched.”

“Where will we go?” You asked anxiously.

“We must take the pass of Caradhras.” Gandalf said, already beginning to lead the way. You let out a breath, walking alongside Legolas.

It was light again when you made your way up the mountain. The ground was a blanket of white velvet, creasing only when footsteps trudged muddily through it. The path Gandalf took you on was winding, moving left to right and up and down. Eventually, the Fellowship came to a slowly ascending hill. It allowed you all to finally pick up pace, so you began fast approaching on the pass of Caradhras.

The change in pace was not great for some, however. As Frodo’s feet were dragging through the thick snow, he clearly began to get overwhelmed by the vast amount. The snow reached his knees, perhaps even further up his leg. His feet failed him, and his body crashed into the snow, tumbling a little way down the hill. His body managed to flatten out at Aragorn’s feet, and he helped him up. As soon as he was upright, Frodo’s hand plunged into his shirt, his hand groping at his chest to find the Ring. Only it was not there.

Boromir crouched down, plucking something from the snow with his fingers. The chain twinkled against the Ring as it was brought to his eye level, gently swinging from left to right before his face. Frodo’s brows knit together, and Aragorn watched Boromir curiously, his hand moving to the hilt of his sword. You frowned.

“Boromir.” Aragorn called, but he seemed unbothered.

“It is a strange fate that we must suffer so much fear and doubt over so small a thing.” Boromir said, though not particularly to anyone. “Such a little thing.”

“Boromir!” He looked at Aragorn, clutching the Ring tighter. “Give the Ring to Frodo.” Aragorn commanded and Boromir stayed still for a few moments before stepping towards the hobbit. He hesitantly held the Ring out to him. Frodo took no time at all to snatch it from his grasp.

“As you wish. I care not.” He chuckled, ruffling Frodo’s hair. Aragorn’s dark eyes never left him as he continued walking. When Frodo was way ahead of Aragorn, you held back to speak with him.

“What was that?” He looked puzzled. “Your hand on the hilt of your sword. Tell me you had no intention of harming him.” He sighed at your words, not exactly knowing how to respond.

“Tell me!” You urged.

“It was just to be safe, Y/N. What if he were to have taken it, what then?”

“He wouldn’t.”

“How do you know?” He asked. You scoffed, hurt that he would even question it. “You said it yourself, the Ring can’t be trusted in the hands of Men.”

You frowned. “I know Boromir. He wouldn’t take it.” Walking ahead, you caught up to Merry and Sam. Aragorn’s words took a toll on you, and you glanced back to Boromir, offering him a smile. He returned it for a second before it fell from his face and he avoided your gaze. You trusted him even if no one else did.

~~~

Quite soon a blizzard began to attack the path. The others trudged through the snow, Gandalf leading the way by attempting to clear the snow with his staff. You and Legolas stayed behind. For some reason you were able to almost hover on the snow, like you weighed nothing. Your feet left barely an imprint in the thick. The falling snow seemed to glue to every part of the others, but when it fell onto your figure, it seemed to melt away almost instantly. You wished that the journey would be easier for the hobbits. If you could trade your position for theirs, you would do it in a heartbeat. You hated how it was so troublesome for them but not for you.

Suddenly Legolas drew forward before everyone else and you joined him, looking out from the mountain. Small murmurs of wind came rushing past.

“There is a foul voice on the air.” He said.

“It’s Saruman!” Gandalf cried. A huge crash came from above. As you looked up, Legolas gently grabbed you, pulling you back so your back was flush with the mountain, his body shielding yours. You looked over his shoulder, watching as many rocks were forced down from the top, plummeting past all of you.

“He’s trying to bring down the mountain! Gandalf, we must turn back!” Aragorn yelled, his face troubled, grasping Sam and Frodo tightly. He held them tight to his body.

“No!” The wizard began chanting to counter Saruman’s, but to no avail. An echoing clap of thunder startled you, and the mountain shook in pain, shedding more rocks and snow. It came crashing down, smothering you in an instant.

You resurfaced with a gasp, looking around. Legolas was the only one you could see. Your hands fondled through the snow, searching for any of the others. A hand grasped yours tightly and you heaved them out of the snow. Wiping their face to remove any excess snow, you saw a shivering Sam, one who’s cheeks were bright red from the biting cold. You quickly undid your cloak from around your neck, wrapping it around his small frame and he breathed, snuggling into it for a tad of extra warmth. The others came up out of the snow quickly after.

“We must get off the mountain!” Boromir suggested. You nodded in response, holding Sam close to you. “Make for the Gap of Rohan or take the west road to my city.”

“The Gap of Rohan takes us too close to Isengard.”

“If we cannot pass over the mountain, let us go under it. Let us go through the Mines of Moria.” Gimli advised. Gandalf’s eyes faltered in fear.

He gulped. “Let the Ring-Bearer decide.”

“Frodo?” You asked after a while of silence whilst Frodo pondered the options.

“We will go through the mines.” He affirmed. You breathed in relief.

“So be it.”

~~~

The journey to Moria did not take long. Though to you, it seemed as if you would never get there. The entire time you could feel someone watching you. You did not entirely know why, and you were unsure of whether to ask why an eye was being kept on you.

Eventually, the Fellowship made way down the mountain. All of the snow had disappeared from everyone’s clothes. Gimli’s eyes widened in awe at the sight that appeared before you.

“The Walls of Moria.” He pointed. Your lips parted in trepidation. It was incredible. Not beautiful like Rivendell, or even Gondor. It was simply a wonderous sight. You had never seen anything like it. You quickly made your way around to where the door was supposed to be. But after a while of looking, you could not seem to find it. Gandalf stumbled over to a flat part of the wall.

“Ithildin.” He muttered. “It mirrors only starlight and moonlight.” He turned to face the moon, tutting when it seemed to be covered by a cloud. Then, almost as if Gandalf had moved it himself, the cloud shifted, and the moonlight shone on the stone. It lit up, showing an archway with elvish markings. You tilted your head in confusion.

“Why is it written in Elvish? I thought Moria was inhabited by dwarves.” You asked, looking to Legolas. He smiled at the question.

“The gate was primarily used by elves, despite being made by dwarves. The spell was cast upon it by the elves, so that they could pass to the nearby elven lands.” He answered and you nodded.

“It reads, ‘The Doors of Durin – Lord of Moria. Speak, friend and enter.” Gandalf pointed to each word as he translated it.

“What d’you suppose that means?” Merry questioned, his neck straining as he looked up at the archway.

“Oh, it’s quite simple, If you are a friend, you speak the password, and the doors will open.” He replied. Then he spoke the password, only it did not work. He shifted, attempting to move the doors with force, his shoulder colliding with the stone. You moved away after an uncountable number of unsuccessful attempts. Sam was looking particularly miserable, and so you made your way towards him, kneeling beside him.

“The mines are no place for a pony, even one so brave as this.” Aragorn said.

“Bye-bye, Bill.” Sam sighed as Aragorn shifted the pony away.

“Don’t worry, Sam. He knows the way home.”

“He’ll be safe there.” You reassured and he gave you a small smile. Gently, you rubbed his arm before your eyes widened at the sound of crashing water. You spun around, grabbing Merry’s hand. He and Pippin had been throwing stones into the water. Aragorn leant into Pip’s ear, speaking in a whisper.

“Do not disturb the water.” You gave Aragorn a worried look, swallowing thickly. His eyes scanned back over the water for a moment before he looked back to you. You took the two hobbits from the water, moving away from it cautiously. Legolas moved towards Aragorn. He eyed you curiously.

“I have been wondering, Aragorn, about Y/N. I had heard you speaking with her a few nights ago.”

“What makes you so curious, Legolas?”

“She mentioned a decision that she must make. I have been watching her and yet she does not seem particularly troubled.” Legolas recalled. Aragorn smiled, clapping him on the shoulder gently.

“It is something that she must reveal to you herself, Legolas. I will not be the one to tell her secrets.” Legolas nodded appreciatively at his words.

Suddenly Gandalf threw down his staff, slumping down on a rock beside Frodo. “Oh, it’s useless…” Frodo stood, his eyes scanning the door.

You heard the water crash against the shore and turned with wide eyes. Boromir stood beside you, looking out into the dark. His brows furrowed and he moved in front of you protectively, and to get a better look. You moved further back, holding the hobbits close to you.

“It’s a riddle. Speak friend and enter. What’s the elvish word for friend?”

“Mellon.” Gandalf spoke with raised brows. The door began to creak. It slowly shifted open, spare dust and little stones falling into the cavity where the rock once stood firm. Your eyes could not seem to shift away from the rippling water, an anxiety growing in the pit of your stomach. Boromir turned you away from the water, moving you into the mines with the others.

“Soon, Master Elf, you will enjoy the fabled hospitality of the dwarves. Roaring fires, malt beer, ripe meat off the bone. This, my friend, is the home of my cousin Balin. And they call it a mine. A mine!” Gimli boomed. You chuckled, patting your stomach gently at the thought. You tripped but Boromir caught you, steadying you before he looked to see what you had fell over. You gasped at the sight.

“This is no mine. It’s a tomb.” At Boromir’s words, all of the blackened skeletons that were sprawled out on the stone floor seemed perfectly visible. One or two of the hobbits let out a whimper whilst Gimli cried out, kneeling beside a decayed body. Legolas pulled an arrow out of a skeleton, inspecting the end quickly before throwing it down, drawing his bow.

“Goblins.” He declared. You unsheathed your knives, one in each hand, fingers whitening as they tightened around the hilts. Aragorn and Boromir did the same with their longswords. You looked at Boromir.

“We make for the Gap of Rohan.” He said. “We should never have come here, now get out of here. Get out!” You turned, just as a giant tentacle slithered from the water and wrapped itself around Frodo’s leg.

“Frodo!” You cried, reaching out your hand for him to grab it but were too late. It dragged his body across the floor. The hobbits helped you grab him hastily while he screamed in fear.

“Strider!” Sam called as you managed to slice the tentacle off of Frodo’s foot with his help.

“Aragorn!” You yelled, panting as you checked Frodo for other wounds while keeping a close eye on the water.

Ten or more tentacles abruptly thrust out of the water, fiercely striking everyone in their stomachs. Some noise of shock tore from your throat, your eyes widening in horror as it took a hold of Frodo once more. Pushing yourself to your feet, you kicked restlessly through the water, cutting through the flesh of the creature with a roar.

“Strider!” The shrill that left Frodo’s lips went straight through you. As you stabbed relentlessly at the beast the others joined you. Boromir cut down one arm that moved towards you. The creature revealed itself, surfacing from the water. The Watcher, you thought. It opened its mouth, holding Frodo’s flailing body above it. You tore through two tentacles at once, feeling satisfied when they fell lifelessly into the once stagnant lake. Aragorn swiftly moved to the arm wrapped around the hobbit and heaved his sword right through it. In a split second it submerged into the water and Frodo was in his arms. He lugged his legs through water as fast as he could. You were too busy ensuring that Frodo was now safe that you had not noticed the tentacle that squeezed around your arm. It pulled you back as you desperately tried to join the others, stabbing at it mindlessly with your knife.

“Legolas!” You cried, noticing how his arm was drew back. Digging your knife into the tentacle and drawing it across it, you waited for Legolas to hit his shot. When he did, it hit the monster straight through its eye. The tentacle loosened and you speedily weaved your way through the waves, grabbing Legolas’ outstretched hand and sprinting into the mines with him. You looked back at the monster once you were all safely inside the mines in utter dismay. It crushed the stone. Rocks tumbled down in replacement of the entrance – and exit – and you let out a sigh. The elf squeezed your hand gently before letting go. You sheathed your weapons, which you had shifted into one hand once the tentacle had let you go.

Gandalf summoned a light through his staff. “We now have but one choice. We must face the long dark of Moria. Be on your guard, there are older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world.” He led the way hesitatingly.

“Quietly, now. It is a four-day journey to the other side. And let us hope that our presence may go unnoticed.”

Once you had begun walking, Sam bumbled up to you, gently tugging on your sleeve to get your attention. “Are you alright, Sam?”

“Oh, I’m fine, me. Actually, I wanted to ask if you were doin’ alright. That big tentacle wrapped around your arm couldn’t ‘ave been very comfortable.” He said sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. You smiled.

“Thank you, Sam. I’m fine, it hardly hurts at all.” You gently clapped his shoulder and he smiled.

You had hardly gotten very far when everyone took a break. It was thought best to get some rest before the rest of the journey through Moria. You had offered to take the night watch, and Aragorn suggested that Legolas do too, since he is an elf, he does not tire half as much as the rest of the Fellowship. He agreed and soon enough the Fellowship were getting ready to sleep. Only you and Legolas remained awake. You sat with your back against the stone, blowing hot air into your hands and rubbing them together. He watched curiously.

“Are you cold?” He asked and you nodded at him. You watched curiously as he searched through a bag that someone had been carrying. He pulled out a cloak, and gently placed it around your small frame. You gave him a thankful smile and he returned it. “I do not understand. You do not tire. You did not feel the cold at Caradhras, yet you feel the cold now.”

“It seems to differ; I do not know why. In the most extreme conditions, I do not feel anything. When there is little to feel, I feel it.” You shrugged.

“Why?”

“Why do I feel differently? I do not know.” A lie. When he didn’t respond, you let out a silent breath of relief. You knew you could trust Legolas, but you were unsure whether you wanted to tell him. You were already having second thoughts on your entire life plan; another’s input was sure to take a toll on how you felt.

“I noticed you already knew Aragorn.” He said. You nodded at him, not knowing if it was a simple statement or if he was asking you how you knew him.

“Yes. We are old friends.”

“How did you meet?”

You took a breath. “When my parents died, I had nowhere to go. So, I ran. I don’t know where and I don’t know for how long. All I remember was that I was starving and sore. Some creature attacked me, and he heard my screams. He saved me.” A smile fell over your face as you recalled the events.

“He saved me and brought me to Rivendell, where Lord Elrond agreed for me to be taken to the White City, to live as a Gondorian. That is where I met Boromir. He has fathered me ever since.

I owe Aragorn everything. We used to meet up as much as we could. I swore to him that I would follow him, however I could.”

“Forgive me, I did not realise how long I had been talking.”

“No, it is nice listening to you talk. Your voice is soothing.” He gave you a small smile which you returned. He noticed the way that your eyes smiled when you spoke about Aragorn. You crossed your legs, sitting up properly and facing him.

“Tell me about you.” He gave you a puzzled look. “Tell me how you know Aragorn. Tell me about your life.” He smiled, and he did. He told you everything. From a huge battle at Erebor to his father – who seemingly was not very nice to him – telling him to meet Aragorn. Then, he went silent and turned his gaze away from you. It was clear he had remembered something bad.

“What is it, Legolas?”

“It’s nothing.” The two of you sat in silence for a while and you sighed, feeling awful that you made him remember something that he clearly did not want to. Looking around, you caught sight of something where stone met stone. Your brows furrowed together curiously, and you leaned forward to touch it. A smile ghosted over your features when you plucked it, sitting back down normally.

“How beautiful.” You smiled at the flower that perched between your fingers.

“She was.” Legolas mumbled and you looked at him.

“Hm?”

“Oh, nothing.” Legolas said. You frowned, noticing how disoriented he seemed. You cleared your throat.

“Legolas?” He looked at you as you felt your hand out to him, the flower in the centre. “A symbol of our newly found friendship.”

He smiled gratefully, taking it from you. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, mellon nin.” He snapped his head quickly to look at you and you flinched slightly. “What is it?”

“You speak elvish.”

“Oh, yes. Aragorn taught me.” Legolas nodded slowly at your words. You traced the patterns on your knife sheath whilst he kept his eyes fixed on you. He could tell you weren’t telling the truth, but he did not know what the truth was.

Eventually, he sat down beside you. He jumped slightly at the sensation of something on his shoulder, but when he looked and saw that it was only your head, he smiled. You did not understand why, but you began to feel very tired and swore to only shut your eyes for a moment. Legolas chuckled slightly when he heard soft snores escaping your parted lips. He looked over at you asleep on his shoulder and could not help but think you looked simply ethereal. He felt himself drawn to you, like a protectiveness had fallen over him and he wanted to keep you safe and warm. Gently, he swiped his finger across your face to remove the hair that had fell in the way. Your plump lips were parted, and he could feel your soft breaths on his skin. He opened his hand, looking at the flower that you had handed him merely minutes ago.

“Goodnight, mellon nin.”

taglist: @entishramblings @falcor-thee-luck-dragon @beakami​

(once again send me an ask if you want to be added to my taglist)

[idjitlili]

Hey,I’m date mike

legolas x reader

a request for loteriel_greenleaf thank youuuu my dudeeee i really didnt know what to write,even though i just finished an imagine ,i felt like another was due. also been trying to make lembas bread god.

summary:imagine sparring with legolas,and being apart of the fellowship.

warnings:uh straddling/potential language i dont know yet./sexual themes no smut though. word count:1602

You had grown up mostly in Rivendell ,yes you are an elf,yet an orphan. Elrond had found you when he was was travelling for a meeting with Gandalf,Lady Galadriel,and saruman he had no choice but bring you with. He did not know what happened to your parents, however it was assumed you were abandon,probably due to being born out of wedlock or an affair(that was common but there was still a chance). You didnt know either being just a babe.

Anyways Elrond brought you to this meeting and in the end Gandalf ended up with you. Soon enough you knew him as your only Ada,and yes you were trained by the elves to defend yourself,when Gandalf was out of town.All the talk,and books about adventures,made you hungry for your own. You wanted to see hobbits,dwarves,anything. You wantd to know if elves in other realms were stuck up like Thranduil,well that is what gandalf told you about him.It only took a century or two for your ada to let you come on an adventure with him. That being taking you to elronds secret council,about destorying the ring.

You may of stared at the hobbit and the dwarves a little too long in awe,when they noticed you had looked away red in embarrassment. However you didnt notice a certain blond elf ,staring at you. He was curious of who you were,he had never seen you before,surely he wouldve remembered such beauty..you were so zoned out you missed all the arguing only to hear.

"I will take it!I'll take the ring to mordor!" the hobbit had shouted making everyone go silent. "though I do not know the way."

You ada had lent to put a hand on the hobbits ,before speaking confidently to the small fellow."I will help you bare this burden ,frodo baggins." the hobbit had smiled to your father. "I am coming too, Ada." you had walk next to him,wrapping your arm around his. Legolas now knew who you were ,but Gandalf was definity not your really father,maybe you were gold digger,joking he just wondered how he never knew that Gandalf had a daughter. Anyways you know what happpened after that,you have my sword ,bow axe, we're coming too.

You had kept yourself to yourself ,not talking overly,but if you did it was to your ada. Other than him you would talk to mostly the hobbits about what life was like in the shire. You felt intimidated by the men  ,legolas , and gimli they did scare you just a bit.  So you avoided them until you couldnt no more.

Well you stopped avoiding legolas,after Moria,he had to carry you out as you screamed out for you ada. You had witnessed Gandalf sacrifice his life to save the fellowship. You had yours around legolas ' neck,head in his shoulder whilst you sobbed drenching his tunic. He had held you on his hip,like you would with a toddler,running with you in his arms. Once you had gotten outside ,your sobs had gotten loud,legolas had tried to put you down but you just held tighter.  He had held you until you had reached near the Nimrodel in the eaves of the forest ,in which he had let go but you had your legs and arms wrapped round him so tight he didnt need to hold you,while he held his bow up in defence.

Turns out it was just elves that surrounded you ,and Aragorn knew one of them,a blond guy,pretty sexy if you were honest. In which he began leading you to lady galadriel,who you had not seen in many years, same with her husband celeborn who stood beside her walking down the stairs like jesus walking on water. You miss part of the coversation only to begin listening at the mention of your fathers name. "tell me where is gandalf as I much desire to speak to him." celeborn's voice as smooth as ice . "he has fallen into shadow." the look on Gimli's face when she says that hes like whoa shes good."y/n.." she calls out gently ,you had jumped out of legolas arms ,running towards her ,only for her to wrap her arms around you into a bear hug.

"not all is lost,as he remains in spirit." she had spoken to you ,in your mind ,as her hands rubbed your back comfortingly,before you pulled away. Her  eyes land on legolas ,back on smirking at you. "you and the prince." she had 'spoken' to you only shook your head ,with a small blush on your face,legolas watched confused as why lady galadriel had looked at him ,only to see you blushing. Lady galadriel had found a way to distract you from mourning in tears.

Not long after she had led you all to place you could rest for the night. In that legolas had settled next to you and after a while he had broken the silence between you both. "when my nana died,it was like my ada died with her,after her death he became cold and cut off. He treated me like another soldier ,nothing more,I had no one to comfort me. I wish to be here for you ,so you always have someone." he spoken barely above a whisper,you had never heard legolas speak so much ,let alone with so much feeling. "thank you,i never thought I would make friends with a prince ,let alone be carried for hours by one." you had spoken with a small smile,he had sent one in return before wrapping an arm around your shoulders.

"I couldve done it for three days,with my elven strength." he had flexed his spare arm ,making you giggle. OKay this was very out of character for legolas."sure ,prince." and with that you were lent against his shoulder,in which you soon enough you fell asleep ,in his hold.

The next day you just pretend the events from yesterday never happened and your ada was still alive ,he was just gonna pop out and scold you for getting so friendly with the elven prince.

Turns out not even three days later ,you find your father alive and well ,you almost stab him like a kebab then and there. " Yeah just let me mourn your death and then your like boom ,guess what bitches I was alive the whole time." in which from that he just scolds you for using language before pulling you into a tight embrace ,apogising for the hurt he had caused,so bruh you werent as sad as before,so thats a plus. Only thing is if you got your freaky on with the princes he's always about.

The next interaction you had with legolas was the eves eve of the battle of the pelennor fields.In which he asks you to sparr with him,as he wants to know which one of you were the better fighter. Obviously it was you but his excellence ass wasnt going to agree with you. That leads you now on the green grass ,a distance away from the tent,sweaty,with clanging metal. So hot that you are just in your vest and pants,legolas was just in in his long sleeve tunic and pants ,pretty normal. Gandalf had left to go to Minas Tirith because of a certain took being a little bit stupid,no offence he's young and cutie pie ,dont be mean.

So basically you have no adult supervision ,even though you are an adult but I guess you would call it parental supervision then. You and legolas had been going at it for at least an hour neither of you giving up or losing;uh thats what she said.  Well that was until you knocked the blade out of legolas' hand but while doing so you had tripped on your own feet dropping your blade on to make legolas fall flat backwards,with you on top. Thats what she said. However legolas was quick to flip himself on top of you ,legs either side of you hips ,his other blade to your throat. "I should have won that,I just tripped, plus if you wanted to take me on a ride you should have just asked." you had smirked at the elf who's cheeks were now red,he smiled shyly removing the blade.

You used this to flip him off you ,you now straddling the elf,just a little lower. You had grabbed his wrists pinning them above his head ,making it so your faces were barely inches away. "what do you say to that ,hm? son of the elf with a huge dildo gaggins sized cock up his butt." you had whispered ,okay so that wasnt very seductive."I say you better kiss me then take me into the tent,now." his voice stern ,you simple smirk pressing your lips to his quickly.

Before you lead him to the tent. "dont you dare tell ada about what we about to do?"

"what eat some potatoes?"

"shut up,i would like that."

[stattic-writes]

Baby Daddy: Intro

https://statticscribbles.tumblr.com/post/639099629845233664/masterlist

Support My Writing?

[husbandograveyard]

Hewwo Hazel uwu 🔫😀👾😭😜😳⏰😏🎆💓?

Hewwo Bas! The UwU is strong today  o(>ω<)o Thank you for your questions! 

🔫 - Fave canon arc? 

Thriller Bark. It made me laugh SO HARD. One piece is one of the few anime that genuinely makes me laugh out loud, usually im more of a “hmpft” blowing air out of my nose laught kinda gal, but one piece gave me a lot of joy and laughter, and mostly during thriller bark. Besides that, the fights and the general plot thickening and things coming together, and Zoro’s sacrifice all made this one of my top favorite archs! The pacing was very good as well, compared to, for example, Dressrosa. 

😀 - Most favorite Straw Hat?

aaaaaa don’t make me choose  This is very hard! The initial thought was Zoro because well it’s Zoro and most of his lines never fail to make me laugh. Robin is the one I admire most cause it’s the kind of lady idk if I wanna be her or be with her yknow? And Chopper also popped up because well.. he’s the absolute most adorable bean and I love him and his cuteness. 

I’m gonna conclude a tie between Zoro and Robin, and Chopper can be on their shoulders being adorable?   (´･ᴗ･ ` )

👾 - Fave villain?

Perona as far as she was an actual villain, her negative spooks are the best attack ever and no one can tell me otherwise. 

In terms of bigger antagonists, probably the Charlotte family? I’m counting them as one, just for now, since they are all super interesting and I like seeing them on screen more than ceasar or moria or doffy and 100000x more than friggin Blackbeard (Imagine me using the ‘dinkleberg voice’ whenever I say blackbeard).  Doffy is a good villain. But he makes me too mad so he only gets a flaminglemention and not the top spot ha. 

😭 - Saddest scene?

Just like one piece is the series that made me laugh he most, it’s also the one that made me cry the most. Almost embarrassingly much. I ugly sobbed for a few hours straight around Ace’s death. I was spoiled, I knew it was gonna happen, but I did not know how exactly, so ehm from impel down on, every scene they showed him I teared up at least. (oops).  BUT there was one other scene that made me cry a lot that I have to mention because I did not expect to cry for that moment. I knew about the time skip, I knew about the training, I knew they were gonna take some time off to get stronger. BUT I did not know how and when and the circumstances. The moment Kuma separated them, the agony and the helplessness. My heart. I could not take it. That was too sad. 

Honorable mentions for the Bellemere scene very early on and saying goodbye to merry. Just too many heartbreaking moments but I feel that’s what makes the series so nice, you need to get hurt sometimes in order to get more attached to characters. 

😜 - Funniest character?

Ehm. In terms of delivering hilarious one-liners and making me laugh while not actually being funny on purpose: Zoro. The dumb is too much and is hilarious. He says funny things while not being funny and there’s just too many peak comedy moments in him getting lost or ‘wanting to get made into a wax statue in this pose”. 

Luffy gets a mention in situational humor too because that dumbassery is hilarious as well. 

Other than that. Probably a tie between Usopp and Franky. It’s just so stupid, but the sheer simpleness of most of the humor makes it so easy to digest and look at! 

😳 - Any crushes?

Any? Many! ehm, to not make this answer a couple thousand words long, quickfire! Ace, he has the charisma, the feralness, the politeness and the freckles.  Shanks, he’s just the sweetest, sexiest mystery man who knows what his priorities are.  Sabo, all the feralness, less of the politeness, all of the cuteness. His smile can revive puppies.  Zoro: the Dumbassery, the muscles, the brutal honesty and that soff soff mossy hair.  Kid: again, the dumbassery, the rudeness while still caring for his bunch of misfits. I love me a good tulip.  Robin: The beauty, the grace, the humor, the fashion, the intellect. Again, dk if i want to be her or be with her.  Vivi: The courage, the love, the sweetness amongst the badassery, step on me princess.  Honorable mentions for Killer, A bunch of people showing up in Wano that I’ve only seen spoilers pop up for. And writing some character has had me reconsidering all the crushes all together. In conclusion: WHY IS EVERYONE IN ONE PIECE SO ATTRACTIVE??? safe for you Blackbeard honey, you could fall off a cliff and I’d applaud. 

⏰ - How long have you been into One Piece? 

Not that long at all. When I was 14? ish I started my anime journey. I watched 15-20? episodes of One Piece and hated it. Around that time one piece was somewhere in between 500-600 eps and I could not imagine ever catching up to that, especially since my strict parents limited my computer use to 3h a week. 

Then a friend really got into it I think about 5? years ago and kept talking about it and how it was actually good. I was starting to do an effort to watch all the ‘big’ and ‘must-see’ anime and promised myself I’d watch One Piece, eventually. 

Then this year at the end of October 2019 I actually started watching it. I had grown up a lot, and could now appreciate the anime way more for what it was? I fell in love and binged the entire thing in more or less six months with some small breaks in between for work, school, books, and other anime. Highly considering re-downloading so I can rewatch my favorite parts soon. My biggest problem is that once I love something, I go ALL IN and I will love everything about it and obsess. And thus this Tumblr was created as the hiatus started and I wanted something One Piece to keep me distracted. I eventually want to collect the manga but I now don’t have the space for it in my tiny room. 

😏 - Favorite scene? 

Sabo and Luffy reuniting! The reveal, the tears, the hug, and the ridiculousness of Luffy with the beard and all, just made it perfect. Absolutely loved it.

OH and Luffy punching the celestial dragon. The absolute energy in that scene made me grin like an idiot yet gave me goosebumps. Punch those slave-owning bitches luffy, thank you! 

🎆 - Something you can’t wait for??!! 

ALL of what is to come in Wano. I’ve been catching spoilers here and there and i just cannot wait! There’s gonna be so much reveals and new characters and comebacks and all the things I did not know I need in my life. 

And I would like some more reveals on Shanks and his crew since we literally know next to nothing about them, besides the fact that even the admirals seemed to be at least wary of their powers and I just really need to know. (or not, since mystery adds to the charm). 

I can’t wait for the abolishment of the government and the death/defeat of blackbeard (assuming that will happen at some point, a girl can dream). 

💓 - Which character do you relate to the most?

SO HARD. Hardest question. Ehm... Ace and Usopp I think? I struggle with family a lot, but I have a chosen family that I wouldn’t trade for the world. I am hella insecure, but I try my best most of the time and I am extremely loyal, even though I have no particular talents, I try and help here and there and hopefully can make some people happy that way! 

If you read all the way through here, thank you for coming to my Ted talk! It was so long  („• ֊ •„) but it was also so much fun  (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ

[thewarriorandtheking]

Catching Up

The Warrior Queen: The Warrior and The KIng - Book II

Chapter 10. Catching Up

***************************************

Kaylea awoke lying in her bed. She must have dozed off. She felt Thorin against her back, his arm around her waist. The walls were set to a grove of trees on Dorsai, the sky was just turning pink above the mountains on the far wall. She could feel Thorin was awake and put her hand over his, snuggling against him.

“What time is it?” Thorin asked. It had taken him a moment to remember where he was. He was sleeping in the most comfortable bed he had ever been in, but he was also in a grove of trees. Then he remembered, he was on a spaceship with the woman he loved and a giant orange cat who could read minds.

“The projection shows the time outside,” Kaylea replied. “It is an hour before dawn.”

Thorin sighed, he was so comfortable he did not want to move but he knew Kaylea never stayed still for long. This time she did not move immediately, just leaned back against him watching the dawn light grow stronger. Thorin looked around the room, there was not much personal about it. He had seen last night the walls opened up into all kinds of storage spaces: weapons, clothing, tools. There was a narrow desk along one wall and a table beside the bed, both without any kind of object or decoration on them. As he was looking at the desk a rectangular frame appeared on the wall, a blue light blinking in the corner.

A soft, melodious voice said something in a strange language. Thorin started, what was that? Kaylea answered in the same language. The blinking light stopped, the frame on the wall remained.

“Who was that?” He asked.

“That was the Ship,” Kaylea said. “This starship is run by a kind of machine that thinks, it can also talk.” Thorin knew what she was talking about, the ship’s computer. Pilot must have put that one in his head.

“But what was that, on the wall?”  

“Message from someone I do not feel like talking to today.”

Thorin shifted to look at her face. “You can do that? Talk to people across the stars?”

“Yes,” she turned her head to look at him. “I know, I put this off too long.”

Thorin lay back down, hugging her. “All these years, we could have been talking to each other,” he sighed. “I hope you are giving me something so I can send you messages when you leave.”

Kaylea arched her back against him. “That, and a few other things,” she said.

“Are you giving me a rifle, my love?” He whispered in her ear, now he knew what they were called. “I will make it worth your while.” He moved his hand down between her legs.

Kaylea laughed, taking hold of his hand and bringing it back up to her chest. “No. If I give you one of those you will start building them and all Blackwolf’s work to protect this place will be undone. Not to mention he will have my head on a plate.”

Thorin sighed, tightening his arm around her. It got him thinking about the projectiles. Most of the weapon he understood, the barrel would be very hard to make but not impossible. What stumped him was the projectiles. How to move them down the barrel?

“Is this really how you live? I think your quarters in Erebor have more decoration than these,” Thorin told her.

Kaylea chuckled. “You do realize this whole ship moves? You cannot leave loose things lying around,” she reached over and touched the wall next to the bed. A drawer slid out, she reached into it and stood up a photo of Thorin she had taken in Erebor. “You are right here, my king.”

Thorin smiled. “So, you sleep with my portrait beside your bed, as I sleep with yours,” he said. “Do you also dream of the day I wake up beside you every morning?”

“I try not to dwell on things that may never come to pass,” she replied. When Thorin started to reply she put a finger on his lips. “You promised to think about all I have shown you. Do not speak until you do.” Kaylea rubbed his arm. “I suppose we should get up, we have a long ride today. Let me show you what I really miss when I am in Middle Earth.”

She took him to the bathroom and showed him the shower. After explaining the control panel and how the dispensers worked, she turned it on. Thorin grinned widely, feeling the warm water, now that was a great idea. He stepped into the spray and pulled Kaylea in with him. When they were clean, which took a bit longer than it might have, Kaylea hit the dryer switch and held her head under the fast dryer, then moved so Thorin could do the same. All she needed to do was add some oil to her braids and she could go a few days without having to redo them. When Thorin stepped out he looked back at the shower, as if fixing the idea in his mind.

“I am definitely building one of those,” he said with a grin. “Clean and dry in less time than it takes to draw a bath.”

Kaylea had put on her leggings and tunic, when Thorin was dressed they went out to the kitchen where there was already coffee waiting. Kaylea poured them each a cup and took them to the bridge to watch the sunrise. It would be some time before the sun hit the valley the ship was parked in. Kaylea touched the console and a small screen appeared filled with some kind of writing. She scanned it briefly before turning to Thorin with a smile. He was sitting in the chair where Pilot had been yesterday, being careful not to touch anything.

“We still need to do some catching up,” Kaylea said. “If it is not too painful to tell, I would like to know what happened to your wife.”

Thorin took a deep breath, remembering. “As I said, it is an old grief now. She traveled to visit her family every couple of years, she loved to ride ponies and was always jealous of that horse from Rohan that I had. One year a trader came up from the south with some small horses, I bought one for myself and she persuaded me to buy one for her. She rode him to visit her parents that year and used to ride him often around the Lonely Mountain. One day she was out riding. Durin was with her, he said her horse spooked at something on a narrow trail and reared up, fell over backward right on top of her and they both rolled a hundred feet down the mountain. I believe she was killed instantly. As I said, there was nothing anyone could have done.”

Kaylea shook her head. “Durin being there explains his dislike for me. He was there when his mother died and now he thinks you dishonor her memory by trying to replace her.”

Thorin looked down into his cup, shaking his head. “I am not trying to replace her, how can he not see that? And he knew she had a lover, the same as me.”

Kaylea sighed. “One does not often have control over one’s feelings. Your other son has a tremendous crush on me, and Freya likes me, so that makes it two out of three.” She looked out the viewscreen at the dawn breaking over the hills. “You know this war I have been talking about is very close now, it may start any day.”

Thorin nodded. He told her about a messenger that had come to Erebor from the Dark Lord promising the return of three of the Dwarven rings in exchange for information about a Halfling named Baggins and a ring he carried. Kaylea listened intently, then told him the story of how Bilbo came by the ring in the caverns under the Misty Mountains.

“I cannot believe Bilbo Baggins of all people is in possession of the One Ring!” Thorin said, shaking his head. “Turns out he was quite the burglar after all. Is this why you are here now? Is there a plan to keep it safe?”

She nodded. “Yes, that is Gandalf’s part. It does change things if Sauron is now looking for a Halfling, he must know something of the story of how it was found. I am here to investigate other rumors, it may be that some we looked to as allies in this fight have changed their allegiances.”

Thorin looked out the viewscreen thoughtfully. “We could use more allies, not less.” He looked at her. “Do you think your Pilot can tell if my people still survive in Khazad-dum? It has been more than 30 years since we had any word from Balin.”

“You know I doubt any of his party are left alive,” Kaylea replied. “To attempt to retake Moria without a plan to deal with Durin’s Bane was absolute folly, as I told him. But we can ask Pilot. Where is he?”

“Pilot is outside the ship, sir,” came the reply in that melodious voice, speaking Khuzdul this time. Thorin started involuntarily, that voice from nowhere took some getting used to, as would most things in Kaylea’s world. Kayea said they could talk to him when he came back.

“Can you tell me more about is this Lord Blackwolf you serve?” Thorin asked. “You seem to know him well. Are you so certain he would not allow you to travel to Middle Earth when you want to? Even if you told him it was to see the man you loved?”

Kaylea looked sharply at Thorin. “He does not know about you,” she turned to face him. “If he knew I had another reason for coming to Middle Earth beyond the fact I love this planet and wish to defend it, he would probably ban me forever.”  

Thorin gave her a puzzled look. “Because I am a Dwarf?”

“Because everything Blackwolf does is about power. Knowing there is someone here I love is a weapon he could hold over me forever.”

Thorin looked at her gravely. “I assume there is some binding reason you serve this lord. He does not sound just or reasonable.”

“The Empire is a very different place than Middle Earth. To keep a hold on power there he must use every advantage, and he is very good at that,” Kaylea looked out at the mountains around them. “There is a lot of history between me and Blackwolf. Out there I command an elite fighting force, we are said to be the Emperor’s personal guard but we actually work for Blackwolf. He is the true power behind the throne. I trained long and hard to get where I am, dealing with Blackwolf is the price I pay to do what I was born to do.”

“Wait a moment,” Thorin frowned. “You said he was originally from Middle Earth, how did he get to the stars? Did he build himself a spaceship?”

Kaylea smiled. “There are other ways to travel to the stars. I do not believe he is the only Elven lord who knows how, just one of the few who has actually done it.”  

As they were talking Pilot came in and took a seat along the wall. He looked over at Thorin. “You seem to be adjusting well to all this, your majesty.”

Thorin smiled ruefully. “Thanks partly to you.”

Kaylea asked the Kzin what he could see in Moria. Pilot called up a map of Middle Earth on the screen and Thorin pointed out where Khazad-dum lay, astonished to see the land laid out from above in its natural formations. Both Mirkwood and Lothlorien were clearly visible, which helped him get his bearings. The Kzin studied the map for a time with a faraway look in his eyes.

“Goblins, more goblins, orcs, cave trolls,” Pilot closed his eyes. “Something nasty in the water at the western door. There is something…” His voice trailed off, he looked at Thorin. “I do not know, there is some kind of presence there I have not felt before, but it is faint. Sleeping perhaps, or waiting for something. I read no Dwarves.”

“I am sorry,” Kaylea said. “It is as I feared.” Thorin bowed his head. It was also what he had expected, but Balin had been one of his closest friends and advisors, and many of his people had gone with him. Kaylea and Pilot sat in silence with him for a time, to honor the fallen. When Kaylea moved again, she called up a window on the console and made some entries then got up and went to the far wall, taking something out of a slot. Thorin watched her curiously as she brought it over to him. It was a slim metal rectangle that fit easily into his hand, one side had a beautiful brushed finish the other looked like glass. “When you are ready, Pilot will take you through it,” she said, resting her hand on his shoulder. “I am so sorry, my king.” She picked up his coffee cup and went to refill it and make some breakfast.

Thorin was saddened to hear about his people in Khazad-dum, but in a way he had already done his mourning for Balin, he had known when he let him go to Moria that he likely would never return. He turned the thing Kaylea had given him over in his hands. “What is this?” He asked the Kzin. Pilot gave him a closed-lipped smile.

By the time Kaylea came back Thorin was already making a call to her. Her handheld which she had left on the console was chiming. She smiled and hit the receive key. Kaylea could not believe how fast Thorin picked things up, having a telepath there to seamlessly insert instructions in his head was part of it, but it was also his natural affinity for understanding how things worked. She had enabled only a few functions on the handheld she gave him, not wanting to return to Erebor to find electric lights and steam engines.

The two of them set out for Erebor later that morning. Kaylea had given Thorin two sets of the woven armor she used, much lighter and more comfortable than mail and no weapon of Middle Earth could pierce it. She also had let him choose a couple of axes from her armory. They were light, beautifully balanced and sharp as razors. Thorin would rather have had a rifle, but the ax was one of his favorite weapons. Dearest to his heart was the device she had given him, now he would be able to speak with her and see her when she was away from Middle Earth. He carried it in a pocket inside his tunic, he was already thinking about the case he would make for it.

On the way back they talked about what Kaylea’s life was like out among the stars. She told him that she was always working and unless he wanted to play the faithful husband waiting at home he would need to do the same training as her soldiers. The Sardaukar were organized into three-man teams, so if Thorin could pass the training he would become part of her team. She warned him the training was far from easy. Thorin just laughed.

“After all these years you still think threatening me with a challenge is going to stop me?”

“The Sardaukar are the toughest warriors in the galaxy. Training typically lasts three years and less than ten out of a hundred make it,” Kaylea replied gravely. “Some of them die.”

Thorin tightened his arms around her, bringing his lips close to her ear. “And I will graduate at the top of my class. All this time and you still do not know me.”

“I am only letting you know what you are getting into before you decide if you want to continue down this path with me. A few more things for you to think about, before you make your decision.”

As if that decision was not already made, Thorin thought to himself, tightening his arms around her. He would not let her go. He had known that since the first time he saw her in the sunset on the way to Rivendell all those years ago.

Read the complete adventures of The Warrior and The King on AO3 & FanFiction, author is akdogdriver. All three books now also on Wattpad. 

[lesbiansforboromir]

Ok I’ve been thinking about “Boromir Lives Succession Crisis” fic all day and I would love your Opinion on how best to achieve the first half of that clause. I feel like there’s basically 3 options 1) Faramir goes on the quest instead 2) Frodo successfully slips off unnoticed and Boromir doesn’t confront him and the party isn’t split when the orcs attack 3) Everything happens as in the book but Boromir isn’t shot (1/2)

(2/2) I’m kind of leaning towards either 1 or 3. 1 because I think it would strengthen Boromir’s claim and pretty much eliminate any bond he developed with Aragorn over the quest, making him more likely to contest the claim, and it has the possibility for good Fari drama. 3 is probably more straightforward but gets real hairy in sorting out the specifics, as well deciding at what point Boromir’s opinion on Aragorn would change etc. Curious how you would handle it!

👀👀👀 I stan you specifically for letting me talk about this- OK SO. 

I have played out each one of these possibilities with @emynarnens so many times that this is the only thing I’m qualified to do now. So to start off!

I don’t think I would recommend #1. Boromir’s effect on Aragorn is a pretty vital piece of Character development for him. Viggo Mortensen actually mentions it but we can see it in the Books too, Aragorn goes from considering the men of Rohan corruptible and weak willed to agreeing with Boromir that he does not believe they gave in too Sauron’s bribery. Essentially Boromir challenges Aragorn to rethink his attitude to humanity, both in others and within himself. Faramir is far too enamoured with the idea of Aragorn’s nobility and royalty and I don’t think he would challenge him in the same way, or at all really. 

#2 and 3 do create issues in terms of the general plot of merry and pippin needing to be with the ents, but if Boromir doesn’t feel he betrayed the fellowship and committed a grievous crime he would perhaps feel a stronger sense of self worth and therefore is certainly shot but doesn’t quite die. Too wounded to stop the Hobbits from being taken, but not dead. Although I would also say that Boromir’s momentary madness and loss of control and the guilt he feels afterwards is also an important piece of character development for him, even if he dies immediately afterwards. He realises he sacrificed too much of his own integrity and lost too much hope in his single minded drive to defend Gondor. His sacrifice for two hobbits, who are just his friends, brings back some of that care and concern the Ring’s influence had worn away. 

But have no fear! I wouldn’t call it necessary to take away any of what happened there. Remember in the books Boromir was not just pierced by three arrows, he was pierced by VERY many, and Pippin tells us Boromir was still up and fighting when he lost consciousness. Indeed, just before Pippin blacked out, he saw Boromir pluck a shaft from his side and continue with the battle, so reasonably the change simply could be ‘he wasn’t shot as much’. Obviously adhrenaline can keep you going and all that but these books are anything if medically sound and Boromir is just Like That. Wounded but not dead is a valid sacrifice and keeps the beats of the narrative intact. 

I would also recommend this because there needs to be some reason Denethor believes his eldest son dead. It is a vital contribution to the darkness that eventually drives him to suicide and means you don’t have to work around Denethor also being alive when you’re talking about the whole issue with the coronation. Denethor can have witnessed a glimpse of Boromir’s fate through the Palantir, and then Faramir perhaps does find Boromir’s horn cloven in the river and Denethor takes this as proof of death in his darker state of mind. 

With this in mind it’s also kind of necessary to have the hunters actually leave a wounded Boromir where he is and believe he will not survive. (I’d recommend this also just for the jab you can have Boromir give along the lines of, “What are you all waiting for? Will you compose a song for my funeral? The hobbits are getting further from you at every moment, go!” Because good god you three it’s enough to question how much you really care about your hobbit friends) 

AND another thing is that this still allows Aragorn his indecision, whether to go with Frodo or rescue the Hobbits, which is also characterful and important. AND it reinforces Boromir’s love of the hobbits, demanding the three hunters leave him there to die in order to save them as he was unable too. There’s still a repentant sacrifice there. 

But anyway the point is if Boromir is alive and perhaps found ‘dying but still with a chance’ by a company of Eored, then I would suggest he is forced to recover somewhere secluded throughout the events of Helms Deep. This is to make sure Pippin and Gandalf still think he is dead by the time they leave for Minas Tirith. It’s a shame because that would be cool for him to be involved, but if Pippin knows Boromir is alive then it’s unlikely that he wouldn’t tell Denethor that and, as I’ve said, Denethor’s grief is important. 

If you really wanted Boromir at the battle at Helm’s Deep, you could go along the route of Denethor not believing Pippin, but that’s a stretch. I suppose you could also consider that the shock of it has already taken it’s toll on Denethor and even if he hears Boromir is alive, it’s done it’s job by the time Denethor believes Faramir will die and the City will be taken. 

(Unless you do wanna contend with Denethor being alive which I also like but that does take away from the narrative simplicity of it just being about Boromir and Aragorn’s conflict and the complex emotions surrounding it. Denethor does not believe Aragorn should be king and it’s unreasonable to think Boromir would go against his father in this case so it detracts from the indecision somewhat. But I would say Denethor being dead is the better option just for this specific idea.)

As far as worrying about whether Boromir would contest Aragorn’s claim goes, I wouldn’t worry about that. Boromir never once accepts the idea of Aragorn as his King. Certainly they are friends, they work well together, he likes him, but his responsibility to his people and the laws of Gondor and his Father’s wisdom and wishes (especially now he’s dead) would supersede any personal connection they have. And really the best case Aragorn has for being worthy of the throne is ‘It was in a Prophecy and also people like me’ so Boromir has plenty of reason to be like… suspicious about Aragorn’s aptitude. 

I think having them as friends adds some interesting emotional elements to it actually, the balance of friendship vs responsibility. You mentioned Boromir’s opinion of Aragorn changing, but the truth is it never does. Boromir essentially ignores the fact that Aragorn is asking for the Throne for the entire book and just accepts him as a man who’s willing to give aide to Gondor. Which is all Boromir really cares about at the time, not really expecting any of them to live long enough for this to be a problem. The conflict between him and Aragorn about the kingship is manufactured by the film entirely. 

In the end the probability is that Aragorn would become king, Aragorn did a good job at becoming heroic and he does seem to have burst out of nowhere and saved everyone. Even the Lords are for it, it appears. I think the eventual crux of it would be the kinds of requests, clauses and checks Boromir would demand Aragorn agree too. How they should change the nature of a King’s rule to fit in with this more egalitarian society Gondor’s grown into. Boromir would also ensure Aragorn went through the proper channels, that a council of Lords was held and his Kingship debated and voted on, make the whole thing something everyone participates in and understands. 

You mentioned Faramir drama too but we’ll get that in SPADES when he’s fighting with his brother over his treatment of Aragorn. Faramir really is thoroughly taken in by Aragorn’s mystique and his reaction to him is to cast off any and all tradition and agree to his coronation on the spot. This could also be because Aragorn saves his and Eowyn’s life, but still he and Boromir will have some serious issues, perhaps for the first time in their relationship so that’d be super fun to explore.

IN CONCLUSION!

I’d suggest absolutely nothing changes except for the severity of Boromir’s wounds. Aragorn still finds him, he still begs Aragorn to save Minas Tirith. The only difference is he verbally tells Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas to leave him and save Merry and Pippin and he is alive when they go though they do not expect him to recover. 

He is found by some Eored and taken to a nearby Rohir settlement (In LOTRO it’s a small town called Walstow and the Thane is a little plagued by the Uruks running around so it could also be a kind of mini adventure for Boromir with helping them repel attacks and eventually being able to evacuate to Dunharrow?) But whatever happens, he doesn’t rejoin his friends until after Pippin and Gandalf leave for Minas Tirith. 

addendum…………………. 

ON THE OTHER HAND… 

I know everything I just said but like… forget it for a moment because I have a second suggestion that absolutely flounces every one of the points I just made but I like it because I’m a sap. 

Gandalf slips up and tells them all on Caradhras that he doesn’t know the password into Moria. 

Aragorn: “What?! Then why are we even discussing it? Boromir’s right, we should risk the Gap of Rohan, at least we will not be so enclosed.”

Gandalf: “I can figure the password out when we get there!”

Aragorn: “Tosh! We could be discovered, pursued or killed long before you rattle through every possible way inside. Nope! The Gap of Rohan it is!”

And then they make their way down south and oh wow! Here’s the Prince of Rohan and he has an entire camp of loyal soldiers who could defend this little party. 

And Theodred exclaims ‘here is Boromir! My (love, partner, boy) friend! I, of course, trust him and his fellows. Let me just finish this skirmish- whoops! That was a close one thanks Boromir, who I love, for being here to save me from that Orc or I would have been dead! Wouldn’t that be terrible? Anyway we are still losing here so let me and Erkenbrand and Grimbold all escort you to safety.’ 

‘Oh? Your two young Hobbit friends left in the night did they? How strange, I hope they come to no harm but I suppose we shall all have to focus on defending Helms Deep for now. I’m very glad I’m here with you Boromir, to be a friendly face who knows when you are acting strangely and remind you of your humanity and softer side, you didn’t seem to be doing very well in the midst of these very strange and not particularly empathetic friends of yours!’

… Your choice of course ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[neverwatchedonepiece]

617: "Caesar's Defeat! The Powerful Grizzly Magnum!"

Basically Caesar: “REEEEEEEEEEEEE, SCIENCE!!!”

Only had time for one episode today but caught a snippet of the preview and it seems like posting for one episode here will fit in terms of the story arc. 

Caesar is down and out, Law has done what he came to do, and Luffy has executed step one of his plan to kick ass and kidnap! Now all he needs is the fantastically badass Usopp to come through with the cuffs and step two will be on the cards!

It’s all a matter of escaping Punk Hazard with Caesar in tow, plus Law, the Strawhats, a bunch of kids and maybe some surviving Minions and the G5 and Smoker and Tashigi and Foxfire and Momonosuke and Brownbeard.

Yeah, I hope Franky has some extra bed rolls hidden away in storage because that is a lot of extra bodies on Sunny.

Sanji will be fine. He worked at Baratie. He’s used to mass catering.

Law Tries Out His Stand Up Material On Vergo

In other news, Vergo is still alive. I kind of hoped Law might have taken him out but this is One Piece and you guys have always said that Oda sees a future for most of his characters. (Even Wapol. Yes, I am still salty about Wapol.) Smoker was on the ground, breathing hard. Getting fresh air for once, instead of dat tasty tobacco.

Vergo is also still shit-talking. “You broke the gear? There’s no turning back? That’s hysterical.” 

Brave for a guy who was (at that point) in two pieces with a building crumbling rapidly around him. Not to mention the noxious clouds of gas.

Then he used his hands to spring from the ground and attack Law. He was Roomed and doomed in two seconds, chopped into fractions and hung on the railings. (Approaching Nightmare Fuel territory if you think too much about it.)

Vergo totally reminds me of the Black Knight from Monty Python’s Life of Brian. If you’ve never heard of it, he’s basically this dude who keeps getting up and shit-talking his opponents even after the removal of all his limbs. It’s funny. Vergo even made a joke about it. “How will I eat breakfast tomorrow?” Yeah, he almost went full Black Knight there.

Except for the little serious turn when he threatened Law with Doflamingo’s past.

“How dare you, Law? This is an upset. But I know you’re going to regret it. Keep that in mind. You don’t know Joker’s past and that will cost you your life. Upstarts like you can’t hope to take over the world. It’s filled with those who are much stronger. Tell him, Smoker!”

First of all, why was he appealing to Smoker to back him up like a kid in a playground? The brazen cheek of it. As if. I’m glad Smoker blanked him and sparked up a fat Cuban cigar.

Secondly, what is all this about Doflamingo’s past? Why would that matter to Law? I’m trying to think what could possibly affect Law as much as Vergo says and I’m drawing a blank.The only thing that might be a bit meh is if Doflamingo was once a Marine. We already had that twist with Vergo.

At any rate, Law had had enough with Vergo running his mouth, and chopped his head into two pieces.

“Don’t worry about me. Just worry about yourself. This room will explode soon. Goodbye, Vergo the pirate.”

I ain’t bothered about Vergo. That guy is too arrogant for his own good and Law gave him a well-deserved taste of defeat. I just hope Law took Smoker with him.(It’d be hilarious if Law carried Smoker over his shoulder and they ran into Zoro carrying Tashigi over his shoulder. xD)

Speaking of Well-Deserved Tastes of Defeat...

This guy...

I love a charismatic, melodramatic, total piece of crap villain, but Oda did a great job of making me loathe Caesar here. I think Luffy lamping him square on the chops unhinged him a little. Law destroying the SAD factory and the labs as a result probably finished Caesar off. His arrogance and cruelty was off the charts! I thought Spandam was bad. Caesar makes Spanda look like a playground bully.

I loved how when he realised Law had unleashed merry hell, Caesar’s reaction was, “Damn! Who caused that? I bet it was Law. What is Vergo doing? You Strawhats RUINED MY PARADISE!”

His paradise. Wow, that sure does give you a little peek into this dude’s mind. 

And it gets better. 

Caesar had a last-ditch plan to defeat Luffy. He called his Minions in the Secret Room. “R-Building, can you hear me? Secret Room, come in! Open the air vents now! Let Shinokuni flow into this room.”

The Minions, understandably, were reticent to do this because they are the kind of people who, like the Strawhats, look after their own. They asked, “but wouldn’t it kill our guys?”

Caesar was like, “Well, I’m a gas man. I’m not gonna die. You’re just guinea pigs. No one would care if hundreds of you died. You are just the dregs of society! What are you doing? Hurry up. I can find replacements for you fools so easily.”

Uh oh. 

The mask came off. Caesar must have been so riled that he didn’t care if everyone saw his true nature. The poor, deluded Minions still clung to their vision of Caesar as their benevolent Master, their saviour.

“Oh, the Master is trying to fool the enemies. He must have a plan to do with the gas. It would hurt him to know we suspected him.”

Hurt him? Mate, Caesar has no feelings to be hurt. He has an ego the size of Laboon. That’s not the same thing.

So, of course the Minions pulled the lever. Shinokuni flowed into the room. And I had a facepalm moment at those poor, brainwashed Minions.

Caesar Does A Moria

“Yes! About time,” Caesar shouted. “Dregs shouldn’t think. Now, become my power, Shinokuni. Look, Strawhat! Look at his amazing appearance. This is my scientific power. Through this experiment, two countries have already expressed interest in the weapon. They are both quite peaceful but when humans get serious about defending themselves, they’ll look for any way possible to kill their enemies. Everybody needs me! I’ll spread weapons all over the world and become King of the Land of Death.”

There are a couple of things to unpack here.

First of all, Caesar is completely demented. I mean, that was always obvious. But that ambition of his is twisted and terrifying. Worse, that Doflamingo gave him the traction to actually make it happen.

Secondly, he’s insane but he’s not stupid. Caesar has an eye for business and is, weirdly, able to charm people into believing his bullshit. He also knows the darker side of human nature and how to exploit it, like he has done with those peaceful islands. He is also smug in the knowledge that big shots in governments everywhere will always want him in their corner, so there will always be a place for someone like him. That was a definite Art Mirroring Life moment right there. Harsh but true, I guess. The guy who first split the atom and invented the atomic bomb was a hot commodity, right?

Third, Caesar basically did a Gekko Moria. Caesar took it a step further because he actually gleefully killed all his Minions. Moria just took the shadows back from already dead bodies. This was the logical conclusion of Caesar seeing other people as objects or commodities to be manipulated, used or destroyed as he sees fit. The way he happily killed them all was just nasty.  “It’s amazing, if I do say so myself. Look at how fast it acts on their nerves. It’s almost an art!” And when they begged him to stop, “I am your saviour and I can make efficient use of you good-for-nothings. You are just crumbs. You should not stand against your Master. Die like dogs!”

Crumbs. Dogs. Guinea pigs. Caesar always uses dehumanising language on his poor Minions. And everyone else for that matter. He really is a psychotic, nasty piece of work. If this guy is working for Doflamingo, I cannot wait to see what a horrible bastard Doflamingo turns out to be. xD

Caesar’s Off The Deep End Behaviour and his treatment of his own people caused Luffy to have the veiniest, super frown I have seen on his face so far. Luffy does not like people who betray and used their own crew/soldiers/comrades. 

Luffy said to Momo, “Look after Brownbeard.” Then ran in the opposite direction. Of course, I knew Luffy was just looking to gain some distance. Caesar, of course, mistook it for Luffy chickening out all of a sudden.

There was one person who knew with absolute certainty that this was not the case.

Usopp Was Awesome Here

Can I just talk for a moment about how awesome Usopp was here?

All through this arc, he’s been ridiculously brave. He volunteered to split up with Brook and Foxfire so he could work on his own to find the Sea Prism Stone cuffs for Luffy. He was creeping round the labs on his own and when he found the Secret Room, he did not run upon being confronted with a full squad of Minions. He simply used his smarts to evade capture. Because he knew there was something in there of value and Luffy needed his help. 

When the Minions saw Caesar’s true nature over the DDM feed and were finally like, “OMG this guy is awful.” Usopp just walked up to them and said, “I know you’re all broken hearted here but could I sit in that control seat for a second? I wanna save my friends from the gas.”

See that? Usopp’s loyalty to his friends trumps all sense of fear. 

When the Minions tried to shake Usopp by saying, “Yeah, you’ll never escape because your Captain just cut and run. He left you guys behind.“ Usopp was Not Having One Bit Of It. 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa... Are you dissing our captain right in front of me? If he were the kind of person who’d betray us, this whole thing would’ve been much easier for me. I would’ve just run away with my tail between my legs. But he never, ever stops believing in us. So we have no choice but to support him. We pledged to live up to his expectations as long as we can breathe!”

There you have it. Right from the horse’s mouth. Luffy’s faith in his crew inspires them to greater heights. And in Usopp, this is bravery. Absolutely beautiful. 

And when the Minions said, “But what can we do? We can’t beat such a powerful man?” (Referring to Caesar) Usopp replied, “Yes, you can. You guys should just believe in our Captain. Caesar is the type of person that Luffy hates the most. Luffy won’t forgive Caesar.”

Usopp knows Luffy pretty well.

That Grizzly Magnum was really something else. I was expecting it to take out Caesar straight awayt but I liked that it didn’t. Caesar is the kind of villain who needs to have his pride thoroughly broken and to taste bitter, bitter defeat. If not, he’ll just tank the hit, pick himself up again and it’s back to his same old tricks.

The best portrayal of that was when Caesar was wrestling with Luffy, the Shinokuni slowly turning his hands to white powder, and he screamed, “Kneel before my power!”

Luffy will never kneel to anyone. Now, I’m not sure what those pulses of power were that drove Caesar back (Conqueror’s Haki?) but Luffy’s hit finally landed and, in a perfect moment of symbolism, Caesar’s self-made crown shattered.

He is no longer the tyrannical ruler of Punk Hazard. Caesar’s reign has come to an end.

And I can’t wait to see what happens next, because Doflamingo sent one of his lackeys to help him out. 

The plot chickens.

Well, you’re gonna kidnap him, so that might be a tough one to get round.

[berjhawn]

Elastic Heart - Part 9 - Spiders

Warnings: Fighting, mentions of abuse, mentions of death, ETC

Pairings: Hobbit X OFC; Thranduil X OFC; Fili X OFC; LOTR X OFC

A/N: Since Tumblr is Broke you’ll have to go to my master-list to find all the other parts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning I awake and suddenly feel that I am not alone in my blankets. I look up to see that I had in fact once again fallen asleep on Fili’s shoulder, only this time my head had rolled into his lap. I smile up at his sleeping form and as I sit up I make sure not to wake him. Then I gently lay him down so he is more comfortable before I walk over to Thorin who is wide awake. 

“Is this seat taken?” I say as I reach him. He gently shakes his head and as I sit down beside him I say, “I owe you an apology. You’re not a selfish Dwarf. Well you are a dwarf but a good one.” He chuckles lightly as he says, “How did you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Go on after your father died.”

My heart clenches and I sigh as I say, “I haven’t really moved on. I don’t believe I ever will. After my mother passed he was all I had and when he-” I pause for a moment as I fight tears that threaten to fall before I continue, “When he died and all the other stuff happened to me, I lost my mind. I have been roaming the west hills for centuries avoiding the people who reminded me the most of him. I am a perfect example of what not to do.”

“I do not believe that. You mourned the only way you thought possible to ease your pain.” He says as his blue eyes find mine.

“I must be truthful, when I saw you lying unconscious on the group I saw my father and I couldn’t move. All I could do was stare at you; and when you got up I felt a feeling of relief that I have never felt before. Is that strange?”

He chuckles as he says, “Perhaps a little but it must mean that you see me as a father figure or that I remind you of him.”

I glance back out over our companions and suddenly realize that I had in fact did see many similarities between the two of them. “You’re right, my father had raven hair and blue eyes just like you do. He was also very prideful. In fact his pride ended up being his downfall.” I feel his hand gently squeeze mine before he stands and walking over to his company starts waking them up. “I hope it’s not yours.” I say so only I can hear.

When everyone is awake and sitting around the kitchen table I sit myself between Dwalin and Bofur. After a few minutes Bilbo joins us where our host Beorn pours milk from a pitcher into Fili’s cup. He is much taller than any human, even taller than Gandalf. “So you are the one they call Oakenshield. Tell me, why is Azog the Defiler hunting you?” Beorn says as he slowly walks behind the sitting dwarves.

“You know of Azog? How?” Thorin asks his curiosity peaked.

“My people were the first to live in the mountains, before the Orcs came down from the north. The Defiler killed most of my family, but some he enslaved. Not for work, you understand, but for sport. Caging skin-changers and torturing them seemed to amuse him.”

“There are others like you?” I hear Bilbo ask and my heart clenches.

“Once, there were many.”

“And now?”

“Now, there is only one.” The dwarves, Bilbo, and Gandalf look on in silence. I fight the urge to go to his side and comfort him. “You need to reach the mountain before the last days of autumn?"

“Before Durin’s Day falls, yes.” Gandalf says as he nods his head.

“You are running out of time.”

“Which is why we must go through Mirkwood.” As Gandalf says its name my heart plummits. I had completely forgotten about going there.

“A darkness lies upon that forest. Fell things creep beneath those trees. There is an alliance between the Orcs of Moria and the Necromancer in Dol Guldur. I would not venture there except in great need.”

“We will take the Elven Road. That path is still safe.”

“Safe? The Wood-Elves of Mirkwood are not like Randír or her kin. They’re less wise and more dangerous. But it matters not.”

“What do you mean?”

“These lands are crawling with Orcs. Their numbers are growing, and you are on foot. You will never reach the forest alive.” Thorin looks shocked. Beorn stands up from the table and faces Thorin. “I don’t like dwarves. They’re greedy and blind, blind to the lives of those they deem lesser than their own.” Beorn picks up a mouse that had been scampering on the table and holds it, all the while approaching Thorin, who is now standing with his arms crossed. “But Orcs I hate more. What do you need?”

The dwarves and Gandalf climb up onto the backs of Beorn’s ponies and I stare at them for a moment before climbing onto my own. As we ride away, Beorn, who is staying at his house, looks around for danger. “Go now, while you have the light. The hunters are not far behind.”

We ride rapidly across the land, slowing to a stop as we approach a looming, gloomy-looking forest. Gandalf dismounts and walks into the edge of the forest through an ancient archway. I stare at the forest and contemplate turning and running. 

“The Elven Gate.” Gandalf says causing my throat to clench tight. “Here lies our path through Mirkwood.” Gandalf says as he turns to us. 

“No sign of the Orcs. We have luck on our side.” Dwalin says as he dismounts. I follow Gandalf’s stare as he looks behind us. I see something in the distance; it is Beorn, in his bear-form, watching them from a distant ridge.

“Set the ponies loose. Let them return to their master.” Gandalf says and I find that I cannot release the reins. The dwarves and Bilbo dismount and begin taking their supplies off the ponies. Bilbo approaches the forest on foot and says, “This forest feels...sick, as if a disease lies upon it. Is there no way around?”

“Not unless we go two hundred miles north, or twice that distance south.” Gandalf replies and I find myself on the verge of a panic attack. Gandalf follows a path a few feet further into the shadows and approaches a plant-covered statue. The unladen ponies trot away; Nori is just about to finish unsaddling Gandalf’s horse when Gandalf emerges from the forest and says, “Not my horse! I need it.”

 As Gandalf strides forward, the Company looks up and murmurs in surprise. “You’re not leaving us?” Bilbo exclaims worriedly. 

“I would not do this unless I had to.” Gandalf says as he looks at Thorin before he turns and looks at a dejected Bilbo. “You’ve changed, Bilbo Baggins. You’re not the same Hobbit as the one who left the Shire.”

“I was going to tell you; I...found something in the Goblin tunnels.”

“Found what?” Gandalf leans forward curiously and suspiciously. “What did you find?”

Bilbo stays silent for several more seconds, then finally responds. “My courage.”

“Good. Well, that’s good. You’ll need it.” Gandalf says as he turns and begins walking toward his horse; he speaks as he passes Thorin. “I’ll be waiting for you at the overlook, before the slopes of Erebor. Keep the map and key safe. Do not enter that mountain without me. This is not the Greenwood of old. The very air of the forest is heavy with illusion. It will seek to enter your mind and lead you astray.”

Bilbo, turns to Dwalin as he says, “Lead us astray? What does that mean?” Gandalf gets on his horse. It begins raining lightly, even though the sun is out. “You must stay on the path; do not leave it. If you do, you will never find it again.”

“Gandalf wait!” I cry as I ride over to him and fighting my fear I say, “I can’t go in there.” 

He stares at me for a moment before he says, “You must stop letting your fear control you.” I start to argue but instead close my mouth and sigh. “Take charge of your destiny, conquer your fears and let your past finally be just that; your past.” I take a deep breath before climbing off of my pony and giving him a quickly pat on the neck let him go.

“Good,” Gandalf says as he wheels his horse and rides away. “No matter what may come, stay on the path!” He exclaims as he rides away causing us all to turn toward the forest. 

“Come on. We must reach the mountain before the sun sets on Durin’s Day.” Thorin says and I take a deep breath as I follow after him while Dwalin says, “Durin’s Day. Let’s go!”  

“This is our one chance to find the hidden door.” Thorin says as we enter Mirkwood. We are following the paved path that started at the Elven Gate. Thorin leads. At one point, the path turns a corner.

“The path goes this way.” Thorin says, and as we keep following the path through the forest, it twists and turns over all sorts of terrain such as bare ground, high ledges, fallen tree trunks, and more. The color palette used is very blue/gray, and gloomy. Dwalin thumps the handle of his hammer on the ground to find the paving stones of the trail.  “This way.” He says and we continue walking.

“Air. I need air.” Bofur says and I instantly feel the thickness press down upon me. This place used to be so beautiful but now all I wanted to do was run far, far, far away.  “My head, it’s spinning.” Oin says and I shake my head trying to clear the grogginess from it. We all suddenly run into each other as Nori, in front, stops abruptly. “What’s happening?” Oin says and Thorin quickly replies, “Keep moving. Nori, why have we stopped?”

“The path...it’s disappeared!” He exclaims and my heart drops. Gandalf gave us one rule and we broke it. 

Suddenly I feel a wave of sleepiness come over me and I yawn. I hear Thorin cry for us to find the path but I just shake my head as I fight the sleep that threatened to take me. We wander through the forest. The forest is beginning to affect us mentally, and we stagger about. The dwarves are all muttering and rambling as they wander about. I glance over to see Bilbo absentmindedly pluck a spider web; it vibrates, and the vibrations continue through the various linked spider webs and far off into the forest. 

Bilbo plucks the web again. We continue walking; suddenly my vision begins shifting and tilting. Suddenly the dwarves are bickering over a tobacco pouch and I hear Bilbo say, “The sun. We have to find the sun. Up there. We need to-”

I follow closely behind him as he climbs up one of the nearby trees. Our heads break through the tree-tops and into the air; suddenly, it is as if a spell has been broken, my head instantly clears. Closing my eyes I let out a sigh and when I open them again I see blue butterflies flying all around us; the setting sun reflecting of their fluttering wings. I smile brightly as I look around at all the beauty around us. Bilbo smiles as he turns to me and we both laugh.

We turn and suddenly see the Lonely Mountain just on the other side of the forest. “I- I can see a lake! And a river. And the Lonely Mountain. We’re almost there!” He yells out down to the dwarves but there is no reply. He glances up at me and I shake my head in confusion. “Can you hear me? I know which way to go! Hello?” Bilbo looks down, trying to see the dwarves. Suddenly I hear a thumping noise in the distance and look over toward where it is coming from.

In the distance, trees move haphazardly under the weight of something approaching. The movement is coming straight toward us and the dwarves. Worriedly, we climb down a bit and peer around. Bilbo steps forward, only to trip over a spider-web and fall several feet, bouncing painfully off branches, and yelling in pain and shock the entire time. 

“Bilbo!” I cry out as I reach out for him. He catches himself on a branch, then watches in horror as a web parts to reveal a massive spider. As the spider opens its fangs and hisses at him, Bilbo yells and falls again, landing on his back in an even bigger spider-web. He is stuck to it and is thus unable to resist as the spider wraps him up tightly.

I jump down and am suddenly numb stricken by the forest enchantment. I slip on a branch slipping down hitting branch after branch as I fall down. I hit the ground with a hard thump knocking the air from my lungs making me an easy target for a nearby spider who wraps me up in his web. All of the dwarves have also been captured by giant spiders; the spiders have hung them upside down from tree branches.

The spiders surround one wrapped dwarf; the dwarf kicks, but can’t do much when wrapped up so tightly. It’s Bombur. I try hard to reach for Ithildin when suddenly all but one disappears down the tree-side. One spider stays behind and prepares to eat a wrapped and squirming Bombur. The spider drops Bombur to the tree trunk and prepares to eat him. Suddenly the spider spins around and hisses, Bilbo appears and as he thrusts his sword directly into the spiders head says, “Here!”

Bilbo pulls out his sword and the spider, dead, crashes to the ground. Bilbo looks at his sword. “Sting. That’s a good name.” Bilbo looks toward where the dwarves and I are still wrapped and tied up. “Sting.” Bilbo uses Sting to cut down all the dwarves and myself. We land on the forest floor and proceed to rip off our wrappings, the dwarves curse and yell the entire time. 

“Where’s Bilbo?” Bofur calls out and we all look around as we call out his name.

“I’m up here!” He cries from a branch above use and then, a spider jumps at Bilbo from underneath the branch he was standing on, and it pins him underneath it. However, he manages to put his sword in front of him just in time, stabbing the spider through the belly. As the spider falls off the branch, Bilbo, entangled in its legs, falls with it.

By now we have freed ourselves and as we are trying to escape we become suddenly surrounded by the returning spiders. We fight against the spiders with our various weapons. Bombur is knocked to the floor by a spider, and it stands over him ready to bite. 

“Grab a leg!” One of the dwarves cries out and we each grab one of the spider’s legs. 

“Pull!” We pull at the spider’s legs, and we manage to pull its legs right off its body. The dismembered body of the spider lands on Bombur.

“Sorry Bombur,” I say as I hold my hand out to him. After I help Bombur to his feet we continue to fight the spider when suddenly one manages to grab Kili. 

“Kili!” Fili cries out and I instantly bring Ithildin down stabbing the spider in the head.

We defeat our spiders, and as we run through the forest, more spiders jump down on threads of silk in front of us and hiss. I raise Ithildin in preparation to fight, but suddenly feel something else coming. 

I turn toward the direction I had sensed something coming from to see a blonde Elf run through the treetops, then swing down a spider’s silk in order to land on it and kill it. He slides on the forest floor under the spider facing Thorin, slicing it in half, and comes up kneeling with an arrow cocked in his bow pointed at Thorin. Several other Mirkwood elves appear, drawing arrows and pointing them at the dwarves and myself.

Will Continue - 

[diannaphantomfiction]

Karivarry LifeSwap AU Writing Prompts. Prompt 9/15: These Are My Partners

THERE IS NOW A LIST OF CHARACTERS: HERE

Prompt requested by an anonymous @mewwitch. Here’s the Prompt:

If you are still taking prompts for the lifeswapAU, how about their first meetings with each other? Or maybe the first time they introduced each other as romantic partners?

Barry hopped off the couch with a skip in his step. Lazy nights in were a rare occurrence and lazy night in with both his partners were even rarer. Had they had to call the Chinese place again because Kara had severely underestimate how much food Oliver would eat today? Yes. Did they scare the poor family that runs the restaurant by just how much they ordered? Probably. But they were cuddled up together on their couch, eating, and watching Star Trek (made hilarious by Oliver whispering ‘gay’ whenever Spock and Kirk were on screen together) with their phones turned off.

So, when Barry opened the door, he was expecting food.

“Diana?”

Diana Prince, better known as Wonder Woman was standing at his door, looking as frazzled as she got. She easily towered over Barry at 6’5”, and her muscles made it clear that she was nearly as strong as Clark. She was wearing a pair of leggings, a plain t-shirt, and her long black hair was wrangled into a bun instead of it’s usual low ponytail. Diana was leaning against a suitcase and holding a large purse.

She smiled at him. “Hello, Bar-El. I hope I’m not intruding, but you didn’t pick up your phone.”

“Of course not,” Barry stepped forward and gave her a quick hug. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes. My flight to Gotham was late so I missed my layover and I’m stuck until tomorrow and I was hoping you’d let me borrow your couch?”

Barry smiles. “Of course! But, I’m not alone tonight…”

Diana’s smile widened. “Your famous partners?”

Barry blushed. “Yeah. Would you like to meet them?”

“I would love to.”

Barry stepped aside to let her in and walked with her to the living area. “Guys, this is Diana, she’s an old family friend. Diana, this is my boyfriend, Oliver, and my girlfriend, Kara.”

Diana shook both their hands. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both. I’ve heard a lot about you from Barry.”

“Good things I hope,” Kara said with a smile.

Diana gave Barry a very familiar, very smug, and very calculating. “Oh, it’s rarely anything but.”

Barry blinked. Well, he did not like the look of this. At all.

Kara was on edge, Oliver was sure that if he wasn’t holding her hand, she would have attacked someone and jumped out a window by now. She didn’t like locks. Or bars. Or pat downs. Or people that had a largely group us vs them mentality. Basically, prisons in general. They made her twitchy and when Kara got twitchy, she got violent. Barry was doing better at least, even if he kept looking at the guards nervously. Barry, who was bulletproof.

“You guys really don’t have to be nervous.” Oliver smiled and squeezed Kara’s hand. “Everyone here knows me. As long as you don’t do anything stupid no one is going to say or do anything.”

“I don’t like it here,” Kara mumbled, looking very seriously at the window of the waiting room.

“Kara…” Oliver said with clear warning in his voice.

“Queen, West, Danvers-Grant!”

Oliver tugged Kara up and they went through the regular pat down procedure before being led to the women’s visiting room. It was...easier to deal with then the men’s where you had to speak to the person you were visiting through glass and a recording phone. There was no touching. On the women’s side, the visiting room was as dull and drab as you could imagine, with metal tables and benches bolted to the floor. Oliver could hug her when at the beginning and end of the visit, but quickly and if a guard didn’t like the look of something, he could end the visit early.

Getting Barry and Kara on his mother’s visiting list was an experience. Oh, Barry was easy enough. He was a good kid, stellar record, adopted out of foster care, successful in therapy, no criminal record, he’d easily passed all the checks. Kara was more difficult. She’d never actually been convicted or sent to trial over anything, but it was pretty well known that she had “fits of instability,” a term that Oliver hated. Kara was perfectly stable, but the rule had changed for her. Everything “unstable” about Kara made perfect sense if you understood her. For instance, she was currently stressed out because she’d been chained and caged in makeshift prisons before where guards had abused her to the extreme. They almost denied her entry, until Oliver promised he’d take responsibility for anything that happened. He hadn’t told Kara that bit.  

“You’re doing great, Kara.” He whispered as they sat down. She was currently glaring at the guard that had yelled something about ‘Little Ollie getting a girl’ and ignoring both him and Barry.

Then, the door opened and the prisoners started to file in. Oliver watched as the women’s faces lit up as they saw their families and walked over to tables as fast as they could without getting yelled at. His mother entered about halfway through the group and Oliver immediately let go of Kara’s hand and rose to his feet.  He took a few steps forward to meet her halfway and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

“Hey Mom.”

Moria smiled and cling back just as tightly. “Hello Oliver.”

Oliver pulled back, going to sit between Barry and Kara as Moria sat down across from them. “Mom, this is Barry and Kara, my romantic partners.”

Moria rose her eyebrows sky high, “When you said you wanted to introduce me to your partners, I figured it would have more to do with...your work.”

“Oh! That’s how we met.” Barry spoke up, “Through work.”

Realization dawned on her face. “Well. I apparently owe Brianna a Snickers bar.”

Kara leaned forward and for the first time, didn’t look nervous by the very nature of the building they were in. “Ms. Queen. I understand this relationship seems abnormal, even strange perhaps, but Barry and I love Oliver very much. We would give anything to see him happy and what we’ve discovered is that the three of us are happiest together.”

Moria stared down Kara for a couple seconds before her face softened. “Well, what sort of mother would I be if I denied my son that sort of happiness? Now, why don’t you two tell me about yourselves?”

Kara patted Mike on the shoulder as she headed off the mat. “That’s enough for today. You’re doing really well, Mike. Ted would be proud.”

Mike smiled. “Thanks.”

Kara nodded and started her her cool down stretches. Mike really was doing well, he still had a long way until he was even on the same level as Lena, but he was getting along with the team (mostly) and learning his limits and how to push them safely. Who knows? soon, she may let him go out on real missions.

She turned back to Mike, who was getting water, “Don’t forget to stretch. And don’t spend to much time lifting weights. Remember…”

“I know, I know.” Mike rolled his eyes. “Balance.”

“Good man.” Kara smiled and headed out to the main area. Winn, loud as ever, was talking to someone, though Kara couldn’t see who yet. Lena was leaning up against one o the desks, laughing happily along with Winn and…

“Barry! Oliver! What are you doing here? Is everything alright?” Kara’s mind was reeling, thinking up everything that could go wrong in her brain. The list wasn’t exactly short either. There were speedsters and various aliens, not to mention all the other trouble these two got into.

“We just had some free time and wanted to surprise you.” Oliver said, moving to her side to kiss her cheek.

Barry waved from his cross-legged perch on one of the desks. “We brought pie!”

“How many pieces did you eat?”

“...We brought three pies!”

Kara let a smile tug at the corners of her lips. “That sounds more realistic.”

Winn spoke around a mouthful of pie. “It is awesome pie!”

Barry sits up a little straighter. “It’s Ma Kent’s recipe! She taught me how to make it when I first came to Earth. I already make a pie for Team Flash once a month, I can make one for you guys too.”

“That is the greatest gift you could ever give us.”

Lena rolled her eyes. “No it’s not. Don’t listen to him.”

Winn nodded furiously as soon as Lena turned in another direction, causing Barry and Oliver to stifle laughs and Kara to smirk.

“Sure, Winn. I’ll make you guys a pie.”

“YES!”

“Did you guys forget to introduce me to team members?”

Everyone turned to see Mike walking up, a towel wrapped around his neck and a water bottle in his hand. Kara had forgotten about Mike. She had been trying not to overwhelm him, Barry and Oliver were overwhelming. Their lives were overwhelming. Their villains were overwhelming. Kara loved them, but sometimes one of them would say something and she would just stare because it was that unbelievable.

“Uh no. Barry and Oliver have their own teams. Barry, Oliver, this is Mike, he’s the new Wildcat. In training.”

Barry smiled and waved from his perch as Mike looked them over.

“Uh, wait… Superboy… and the Flash? We knew Superboy and the Flash?”

Barry and Winn start to snicker and Oliver smiled.

Lena covered her mouth to hold back a laugh. “Oh, Mike… we more more than know them…”

“...What?”

Kara sighed and ran a hand down down her face. “They’re my boyfriends. I am dating Oliver and Barry. Yes, both of them. Yes, they are also dating each other. No, it is not confusing. We loved each other very much and I know about seventy ways to kill you without weapons.”

Mike blinked. “...What?”

Everyone burst out laughing. Oliver took Kara’s hand and kissed her knuckles. “Great mentee you’ve got their.”

“He’s not usually this speechless.”