#tolkien verse is the best verse

[demonscantgothere]

@n0eocil Bathe that bitch Galadriel

Did you just . . . suggest bath!fic of Galadriel and Halbrand? I . . .

Well, they did meet on the open waters with her in nothing but her shift . . .

I’m going to hell for writing this, and Tolkien will send me there from his grave, but at least I’ll get the chance to thank him for his contribution to humanity before succumbing to the fiery abyss.

[thelien-art]

Rína

Ar i lúmë, sérinqua lairë, hye rianna bime i nostale, ana i tuluvanye -o a sinya randa, isse san n- mal a hwesta man onlime voro westa astar cilmë me i nostale lairë

Lillies: Purity, love, and grief

Lavender: Serenity, grace, and calmness

Forget me not: Respekt, royalty, and hope

Crowned

And on that moment, a peaceful summer, he was crowned by the kind, to the coming of a new age, where he would be but a breeze who only ever knelt willingly for the kind summer

[steal-an-ashtray-solve-a-crime]

To my ex best friend-

Regrets are what make us human I think.

Of all the regrets I have accumulated over the last decade, there is one that haunts and cuts me deeper every year that passes.

If I could be 17 again and tell you, would it ease the pain? If I had said you were my sunshine, my blue summer sky, would it have made a difference?

10 years is a long time to think, and I still don't know.

If I had learned about comp-het sooner, would that have changed anything?

If I apologized again would you hear it?

I didnt wake you when you fell asleep on my shoulder when we were 18, because it was the happiest I'd ever felt. I chased that feeling in relationships with men for a decade.

You never realized, because I never said.

The lines of friendship and romance are so daunting at such a young age, add in fears of your own sexuality and... there really wasn't any hope for us was there?

Im 29 now, still thinking of us 10 years ago every time I get drunk. I cannot remove you from my heart because you were my first. Maybe my only.

How do I tell you, that I've lost family members in these 10 years, but I've mourned you longer and harder than all of them combined? If I tried to, would you hear me?

I became distant, I shut you out on purpose when I was 22. Because I knew. I knew then how much I had always loved you. But it was too late.

Kids, marriage... they fill the void of you.

Until I drink.

The alcohol rushes in and washes everything else away like sand, except for you.

When I am old and dying, you will be my last thought.

And how much I regret not saying to you-

"I loved you. I loved your blue eyes. I loved your hair no matter what color it was. I loved driving blasting music with you. God, I loved your shy laughs, I loved your silliness. I loved you every minute since the moment I met you. I saw you in that pink fleece, your blonde hair, and I knew. I'm so sorry I kept searching for love in these men because I was afraid. I'm sorry I shut you out because it hurt too much. I knew I couldn't go back and set things right, I don't even know if you wanted me to, and I never will. But I loved you, and I always will. You were my best friend and so much more, and i never had the courage."

If I had said I loved you, would I regret that too?

[lanthanum12]

Thinking about how this text from Hammond and Scull's reader's companion (This book has so much juicy Nazgul information it's unreal) talking about what the Nazgul are doing when hunting about will later apply to the Nazgul after the Witch King's death. It has particular impact in my Niennandil-verse AU

They will forever be down one member and incomplete. To me I can't see the Nazgul as anything but a close knit group of friends (and a married couple in the case of Khamul and Witch King) and it's heart breaking. They've been together for millennia and now they won't be. While the Witch King was just reduced to impotence and maybe could return(???) as far as they would know, for now he's gone. (Of course that can't happen because the Ring will be destroyed)

It would hit hardest for Khamul because that's his husband and he's the one who will inevitability take over. He's supposed to lead them all while also grieving his lover.

...

On a happier note, Izawil (one of my Nazgul ocs) is totally prowling about in Dunland, the land of her birth! (She's writing a very long essay about why the libraries there have seriously declined since the second age)

[thelordofrevenge]

*runs in and hugs his great uncle Rev*

Hi! I’m Ñolyafinwë! Nice to meet you finally!

*blinks then hugs Nolya* Hello to you as well, little Nolya. It is good to meet more of my little brother's family.

[gffa]

Over the last week, I decided to go ahead with bookmarking all the fics I've recommended over the years on AO3 since I abide by tumblr poll results always (and man pour one out for all the fic that never made it to AO3 or has since been deleted, sooooo many gems lost to time!) and it was a bit more than the ~3,000 I was expecting:

Hopefully, this will be easier than browsing the hundreds of recs posts I've made, since you can filter for any of the author's tags now! These are mostly focused on Star Wars and DC fandom, but I did my time in the anime mines and occasional tours through some TV fandoms or movies. You can dig into everything unfiltered and start your own filtering, or the bigger fandoms you'll find:

MAJOR FANDOMS: Each of these should have 100+ at minimum and, in the case of Star Wars, literally almost half of them are in that fandom. Look, Star Wars fandom might be a trash fire in a lot of ways, but it is ON FIRE with some good fic. (Older bookmarks not guaranteed to match my current sentiments, especially re: the Jedi, but they did catch my fancy at that point in time!)

STAR WARS: - All Star Wars -OR- All Star Wars minus the Obi-Wan/Anakin ship - OR- Nothing BUT Obi-Wan/Anakin

BATMAN/DC: - DC can sometimes be tricky, but you can do a Batman* search and get most of them (though, sometimes Nightwing* or Young Justice* or Superman* will catch some of the others). Honestly, though, you might want to just do a search for what character or dynamic you like and have fun from there, because otherwise you're getting a face full of my Dick Grayson Is The Center Of The Universe And I'm Making That Everyone Else's Problem agenda. ;)

MARVEL/MCU: - Marvel* will probably get most of the various properties, though you may want to filter for Defenders* or Guardians of the Galaxy* if you're interested -OR- Marvel* without the Thor/Loki - These focus a lot on the Thor* fandom if you want to witness the results of like 8 years of constant voracious reading in that fandom (Minus the ship), because, seriously, I read a LOT of Odinson family fic. - Bonus, just do a search for Maximoff* to find some really good X-Men: First Class-verse because, listen, I have been ALL ABOUT the Maximoff twins since long before the movies or MCU brought them over and I will DIE ON THE HILL of "Marvel, make Magneto their bio-dad again or I'm never reading another comic of yours ever".

TOLKIEN/LORD OF THE RINGS/SILMARILLION/HOBBIT: - Tolkien* -OR- Hobbit* -OR- Lord of the Rings* searches will turn up most of my Elf-hunting, I primarily focus on the Sindar Elves, but look I can't resist my problematic Feanorian faves or that I will die on the hill that Fingolfin is the best ever. (You have NO IDEA how sad I am that so much fic on Stories of Arda or FFNET is not easily bookmarked on AO3, sob. I externally bookmarked a few of the bigger ones, but sooo many shorter faves are missing from my recs tag.)

CLAMP: - X/Tokyo Babylon legitimately bums me out because it's not a huge fandom and yet so much of what was written was pre-AO3 and lost when CLAMPesque went down or was never brought over from Livejournal, yet this fandom (well, the Seishirou/Subaru pairing) still burns brightly in my heart.

MINOR FANDOMS: Ones that probably only have under 100 bookmarks (often around the 20-30 bookmarks range), but will at least give you a place to start! ANIME/MANGA: Bleach | Cardcaptor Sakura | Dragonball | Finder no Hyouteki/Viewfinder | Katekyou Hitman Reborn! | Kuroko no Basuke | One Piece | Sailor Moon | Madoka Magica | Naruto | Princess Tutu | Trigun | Weiss Kreuz | Yuri!!! on Ice

BOOKS: Chrestomanci | Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint

DRAMAS: Nirvana in Fire | The Untamed -OR- Modao Zu Shi

TV SHOWS/MOVIES: Community | Game of Thrones -OR- ASOIAF | Good Omens | Hannibal | Highlander | The Old Guard | Our Flag Means Death | Stranger Things

VIDEO GAMES: Dragon Age: Inquisition | Final Fantasy 8 | Genshin Impact | Okami

BANDS: Arashi

All right, whew, that was actually a fun project, despite how much work it was to hunt down a lot of older faves to see if they were on AO3, hopefully you'll find this useful!

[onlycosmere]

Lacrosse Demon: Hoid’s fixing of Charlie’s cryptic event, “curse” to “versed,” makes Aons seem more syllabic rather than logographic. Is that just a casualty of Hoid’s fairytale narrative? Will we see a more in-depth look at the concept of Aonic curses and curse-breaking?

Brandon Sanderson: Good question. It is really hard, number one, to convey that in the original text, that pun would have been a different pun. It would have worked differently. And, in fact, you can have a logographic pun. And I imagine that it probably was. I imagine that what’s going on with Wit is, like, adding a stroke, which then changes the entire meaning of what’s going on.

Though, do remember that the way Aons work, they kind of work like a programming language, so you could kind of add in actual, like, “this next text is a verse.” Imagine putting it in quotation marks, and things like that. We are extrapolating on that with meaning, rather than sounds. I think it works, but probably different than the actual text of Tress manifest to us, but that’s the best way the translator (myself being the person that translated it into English) was able to indicate it.

For those who don’t know, I use Tolkien’s explanation for all of these things. I think it was brilliant. He said, “All the texts were written in a foreign language that you couldn’t read. And they have been translated into English, and some accommodations have been made in order to make things like puns still puns, even though they wouldn’t have rhymed in the original.

[justpostsyeet]

You know according to tolkien's legend, the accounts of middle earth came to the author via Hobbits and the manuscripts left behind.

In the eyes of Hobbits elves were is super kind dudes who gave them food and shelter but in context it was only because Bilbo was with Gandalf on a fucking journey to reclaim Erebor and the rest of hobbits were in the main plan to kill literal Satan.

And about the manuscript thing, the relics only survive when they're kept in best condition. Elves were the superior species of middle earth with advance technology so,their version of history could be best preserved.

I'm not saying that all elves where bad or something, What I'm saying is what if the middle earth history has an authorship bias. There are so many instances in which flawed deeds of elves are hidden in flowery language such as Eöl took (unwilling)Aredhel as his wife. How at many instance which you read about Galadriel, in subtext she seems like a power hungry absolutist but her causes are always shown as one of a noble lady fighting for a great cause. Only flawed elves are shown in Silmarillion.

So, what if elves were flawed like the second born and other creatures of Middle earth but they always appeared noble and great due to authorship bias.

And by authorship bias,I don't mean authorship bias by tolkien but if we go according to the myth of middle earth by tolkien,then it's the authorship bias of whoever write the said history of middle earth which tolkien later found and translated. So, it's not Tolkien fault because he's translating what he's given but the fault lies in the hands of whoever wrote the original verses.

Why I'm rambling all these? It's because we were studying about authorship bias and bending of actual events while writing the history. It made of think about the history of middle earth.

[cornerful]

Feb 16

'What are these?' asked Sam, handling one that lay upon the greensward.

'Ropes indeed!' answered an Elf from the boats. 'Never travel far without a rope! And one that is long and strong and light. Such are these. They may be a help in many needs.'

Is it just me or is this Elf almost speaking in verse. Reading that out loud it lilts in a very pleasant way

The boats were moved and steered with short-handled paddles that had broad leaf-shaped blades. When all was ready Aragorn led them on a trial up the Silverlode. 

This has me longing for canoeing...when you have a boat partner who matches your energy it is 🤌🤌 the best thing ever Quinna I'm thinking of u wherever you are

Frodo ate and drank little, heeding only the beauty of the Lady and her voice. She seemed no longer perilous or terrible, nor filled with hidden power. Already she seemed to him, as by men of later days Elves still at times are seen: present and yet remote, a living vision of that which has already been left far behind by the flowing streams of Time.

This makes my heart ache. A prehistory with fairies indeed :(

'A long and wearisome journey. Four hundred leagues I reckoned it, and it took me many months; for I lost my horse at Tharbad, at the fording of the Greyflood'

Hi I'm upset about Boromir's horse?? This comes out of nowhere and is not addressed. Ow, man

she lifted from her lap a great stone of a clear green, set in a silver brooch that was wrought in the likeness of an eagle with outspread wings; and as she held it up the gem flashed like the sun shining through the leaves of spring. 'This stone I gave to Celebrían my daughter, and she to hers; and now it comes to you as a token of hope.'

Celebrían mention!!! 💚💚💚💚💚 also the Elessar of course

'Then you may remember Galadriel, and catch a glimpse far off of Lórien, that you have seen only in our winter.'

Sam's little box of earth is one of my favorite gifts recieved by anyone in Tolkien, and on top of that the way she explains it to him is so sweet.

Suddenly the River swept round a bend, and the banks rose upon either side, and the light of Lórien was hidden. To that fair land Frodo never came again.

First Aragorn now this? 😭

[writerscafehub]

𝙸𝙽𝚃𝚁𝙾𝙳𝚄𝙲𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙾𝚄𝚁 𝙱𝙰𝚁𝙸𝚂𝚃𝙰 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙳𝙰𝚈: @the-iceni-bitch

ೀ ㅤ۫ ㅤ۪ㅤ۫ ㅤ ♡ ㅤ . 𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐄:

From one to five stars, how would you rate your writing? (No downplaying yourself!)

Oh god, a 3.5? I will admit that it’s very hard for me not to downplay myself, it’s what I’m best at. I will say that I have gotten much better as a writer since I took it back up.

2. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

I think probably my dialogue. I find myself able to sink into relationship dynamics quite easily and am able to show a character’s personality through their conversation with other characters rather than just describing it.

3. Are there any writers that inspire you?

Well, I have to give credit where credit is due as @stargazingfangirl18 is the whole reason I started writing fanfic. Other fanfic authors I find myself drawing inspired from would be @angrythingstarlight, @boxofbonesfic, @slothspaghettiwrites, @onsunnyside, and @howdoyousleep3. For my non-fanfic writing I draw a lot of inspiration for Ursula LeGuin, George R.R. Martin, Robert Jordan, and Tolkien of course.

4. What’s the fic you’re most proud of?

Definitely In the Pines. It’s so different from anything else I’ve ever written and I honestly love it. It’s so haunting and I’m very proud of the prose.

5. Which character(s) do you find easiest to write and which do you find most difficult to write?

Easiest is absolutely the quadrouple - my Ransom/reader/Ari/Jake kinda polycule that’s part of my No Love Like Your Love AU. I also find it really easy to write for Natasha and her peach from that same AU. Most difficult? Oof, off the top of my head Mike Weiss, he’s just kinda depressing.

6. Who or what do you find yourself writing about most?

Again, the quadrouple. They’re my comfort characters for a reason. I also just love writing about people in relationships, about them being in love and working through tough times but coming out better for it. I love when two (or more) people are just completely open and honest with each other and do their best to make each other better.

7. Tell us about a WIP you’re excited about!

Fic wise all the upcoming stuff for the NLLYL verse, and there’s a lot. But I am most excited about my novel! It has so many characters that I love so much. It delves into stuff I’ve never written before but that I found surprisingly intriguing. And of course, there’s a ton of bangable characters. Blorbos for everyone.

8. First fandom you ever wrote for?

The Chris Evans fandom. I can’t help it, I want to fuck so many of that man’s characters. 

9. Any guilty pleasure trope(s)?

Omegaverse for sure. Specifically knotting and scent. I just want a giant, masculine smelling animal of a man to fuck me and then have his cock locked inside me for an hour. And the snuggly vibes of nesting and just having a bunch of soft and comforting things around you that smell like someone you love feeds the marshmallow romantic inside me.

10. A trope you’ll never, ever write for.

Look, every time I say I’m never going to write for something I end up writing it. But I can hopefully say that scat will never happen.

11. Wildest fic you’ve ever written?

Probably the one where Deadpool is stuck in a self-insert fanfic. It breaks the fourth wall and it’s short but it’s weird as fuck.

12. Favorite pairing to write for? (platonic or romantic!)

Ari and Jake. They’re so soft and sweet and perfect and I am never going to let anything bad happen to them ever.

13. Do you listen to anything while you write?

With my ADHD I have to. It’s usually just the tv though. I’ll put some sitcom I’ve watched a million times on in the background.

14. One-shots or multi-chaptered works?

This is kinda tough! I love creating AUs but I feel like those are more a bunch of one shots that just happen to be for the same couples in the same setting. But I also really love the actual series I’ve done. So I’m going to say multi-chapter.

15. Have you ever daydreamed about side adventures/spin-offs from your fic? Tell us about them!

Constantly! I mean, if I daydream about it I typically add it to my WIPs which is why I have so many. It’s usually just about my characters being happy and living their best lives in some way.

16. Is there anything you’ve wanted to write, but you’ve been too scared to try?

Not yet! I will say I’m a little bit intimidated still about writing for a male reader but after my first foray into it I feel much more comfortable.

17. What’s the nicest comment you’ve ever received?

I can’t think of a specific one but I’ve gotten a few from people who have told me my fics provide a little bright spot for them and I always enjoy hearing that! There was also an ask I got where someone told me they recommend and discuss my writing more than they do real authors and that felt pretty good.

18. Have you ever gone outside of your comfort zone for a fic? How did it turn out?

This goes back to what I mentioned before but definitely writing for a male reader. The reason I wanted to do it was part curiosity to see if I could do it and part desire to write for an audience I hadn’t had a chance to connect with. It turned out really well and aside from some cliche accusations of fetishization I had a lot of positive engagement.

19. Tooth-rotting fluff or merciless angst?

Fluff, always fluff. If I do the angst I end up living in it for days and I hate it. (I say this while hosting a giant angst ask a thon on my blog)

20. Do you have any OCs? Tell us about them!

For my fics, aside from my reader characters who in spite of being inserts are basically OCs, there’s the second generation of my NLLYL core group. All the kids are so cute and when they grow up there’s a lot of fun to be had, new romances and I could just go on and on about them. For my novel, oh my god you guys. There’s the Viking pirate sealord, the feminist icon, the super hot himbo best friend, the tiny and fiery lady of the lakes, the sexy villain, the spoiled but handsome prince. And that’s not even all of them.

21. If you could enter the universe of any one of your fics, which would it be and why?

Would it surprise anyone if I said the NLLYL verse? Because that’s the one. It’s like my security blanket.

22. Is there anything you wish your audience knew about your writing or writing process?

Just that I have zero control over where my muse goes. If you’re craving the next installment in a series or an AU I am also craving it, but I’m also not going to force my muse to go somewhere and put something out that isn’t up to my standards.

23. Copy and paste an excerpt you’re particularly fond of.

“The cold wind whipped through your nightgown and tangled it around your limbs as you stared at the sky in rapture, bathed in the silvery light of the moon like some kind of goddess.” - In The Pines

24. Ramble about any fic-related thing you want!

I just love the community I’ve been able to cultivate in the fic writing community. Not just the members of this server but so many readers who leave thoughtful and sweet comments that always make my day. 

[bitterseaproduction]

An Indispensable Silver Lining | The Hobbit Ref Dump

So, I can’t (see: don’t want to) go on with An Indispensable Silver-Lining until I can sit down and rewatch some Desolation of Smaug to pin down some character locations, and I really wanna decide if I’m going full movie-verse or embracing a specific fanedit or book+movie mix and what timeline I want to hold myself to for Thorin—

Can you believe I started this fic thinking ‘I’m not going to get bogged down by canon or details this time. I just wanna write for the fun’? 😂 That went well.

Point is, just because I want to gather some canon facts? It hasn’t stopped me from writing up 1500 words of a chapter 2+ plan, or over 6 THOUSAND WORDS of long-term storyboarding in less than THREE DAYS covering Smaug and the men/dwarves/elves factions and the orcs and some of the bagginshield progression and the ‘act 1’ climax and like three ways ‘act 2’ could break bad, and— well, you can tell it’s a true passion project when I keep stepping away, think of another thing, and scramble back to my phone to jot down a few hundred more words in whatever moments I can steal. And, more pertinent to this post, I can’t stop devouring a ton of resources and inspiration.

So, with that in mind, I thought I’d just share something of those sources! For fun, for later reference for myself as I write, for practical use if you’d like it yourself, or maybe you just want something else to read and these are great fics/lore bits to choose!

Updated May 15th, 2024. Additions marked with a *

The Hobbit Trilogy Fan Edit Sources

A Comprehensive Guide to Fan Edits of the Hobbit Trilogy An older list, but viable for what it covers

Help on choosing Hobbit fan edit? Which is the best? A second reddit list, a bit more modern.

FanEdit.org: Lord of the Rings franchise A comprehensive list of options for The Hobbit + other LotR works

* Specific Fan Edits

I still need to watch all of the edits I've found properly from beginning to end, but after skimming through a number of options, looking for specific wants and do-not-wants in each and reading/watching a few things on how each version was created, I think I have narrowed my interest down to these three fan edits:

Chris Hartwell's Hobbit Trilogy A very comprehensive cut that keeps pretty much all of the movie beats intact, just trims down the trilogy's more clunky spots to create a more polished film experience. (i.e. a reduced Radagast, Alfrid, older Bilbo, some of the action scenes, etc.) Generally prioritizes Bilbo as the MC and his dynamic with Thorin as the through-line of the story and includes some of the extended scenes that highlight both, which I really appreciate.

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again An edit that more fully cuts some of the less loved factors of the movies like the Tauriel romance, but not nearly as cut-heavy as a lot of the more well-known fan edits.

The Compromise Cut Very similar to 'or There and Back Again' but more ambitious in rearranging footage to create new beats to cover cuts vs 'or There and Back Again' being more of a clean 'straight from the source' cut.

~

For my purposes, Hartwell's will probably be my go-to for full lore and plot inclusion & the most 'bang for my buck' while being a cleaner watch than the OG, while There and Back Again or The Compromise Cut are what I would share with friends who despise some of the film-only content, but are willing to give the trilogy another try.

I know there are a number of other great edits of there, M4 and MapleFilms being especially loved, ~but~ I set a rule for myself that any edit that cut the carrock hug was instantly out, so these were the three I landed on.

Resource Websites

The Encyclopedia of Arda Tolkien Gateway LotR Online

Specific Details

TEoA: A Viewer’s Companion (AUJ) TEoA: A Viewer’s Companion (DoS) TEoA: A Viewer’s Companion (TBoFA) TEoA: Longbeards + The Other Clans

TG: Quest Motivations Generally good overview of the point of the quest and what happened.

TG: Smaug Role / Gandalf motivation "Following the sack of Erebor, Gandalf felt that Sauron would take advantage of Middle-earth's weakened state and attack Rivendell and Lothlórien or try regain Angmar; he also feared that Sauron "might use" Smaug "with terrible effect". [...The White Council] attacked Dol Guldur in TA 2941, while Sauron and Smaug could not "help one another". [...] his adversaries were able to drive him from the fortress with relative ease. [...] Sauron abandoned Dol Guldur willingly, and returned secretly to Mordor, where he would openly declare himself in TA 2951, and began preparations for his final war to dominate Middle-earth."

TG: The Arkenstone Arkenstone info from book and adaptations

* Khuzdul Words for Fanfiction Writers A resource for Khuzdul words for - as the name says - fanfic writers!

Durin's Line Tapestry from DoS Shows the family connections with original book birth dates for all. Even though it was presumably made pre-sacking in 2770, and 3 of the company depicted were born after Erebor fell. That... is curious.

The Line of Dwarves A more thorough (and intriguing) look at the dwarf lines and relevant dates, all book-based.

Comprehensive Genealogy Chart of all the Hobbits from J.R.R. Tolkien's Legendarium My gosh is this expansive... and hard to load up on a screen, but if you don't want to miss something, check this!

HOBBIT FAMILY TREE: How are Bilbo, Frodo, Pippin, Merry, and Sam related? The less brain-breaking hobbit tree that focuses on the main 5 from the books.

Lord of the Rings Hobbit Family Tree More of a middle-ground on the 2 above options.

* Prominent Hobbit Families and Individuals A lovely breakdown of the hobbit families as a group, what they are like and who are the crucial members of those families.

Bag-End PJ Hobbit Map Crucial for Bilbo background & any Shire scenes if they come!

* Untangling Middle-Earth's many routes to evil A map of where all of the characters traveled in The Hobbit and The Lord of the RIngs! I found this handy when I was trying to track Gandalf in particular.

A chronology of The Hobbit A day-by-day breakdown of the journey in The Hobbit, great for what-ifs and assessing likely travel times!

Suggested Alternative Timeline For The Hobbit by @avelera A very nice older post on a potential timeline alternative for The Hobbit films. As said above, the films do use the original dates in places, but as this post says, they don't always make sense about it. This is a nice option to consider instead.

Major Inspiration Fics

Backs To The Wall by @conkers-thecosy My current top TH/LotR read, a great active WIP, definitely a direct inspiration to me with the failure to get into Erebor leading things off course! And I'll likely have a parallel Laketown focus for a bit, though nothing as detailed and lived-in as Conkers' fic. And, aside from great writing and general motivation to write TH/Bagginshield, I love the portrayals of the characters (BILBO, Thorin, Gandalf, Dwalin, Nori, Bard and the Bardlings--) and pairings. Definitely tempting me towards Dwalin/Nori here!

And I'm Your Lionheart by Lee_Whimsy There always seems to be a fic in every fandom of mine that draws me in very early, becomes and instant fave, and then hangs there unfinished but perpetually on my mind. The 'one that got away' fic. This is it, and I shall forever love it, and you can just bet it will bleed into my takes somewhere, especially with Gandalf and Legolas and Bard and Fíli, if I recall correctly. I should totally reread this, or at least sections of it. Reading to the 'end' is... painful.

The Most Precious of Treasures by @sapphireshelle91 Another long untouched WIP, but a VERY different one, as it is a) post-TBoFA, and b) features a female Bilbo and parentshield with dwobbit!Frodo. I include this one because a) I love a number of the characterizations, b) if 'And I'm Your Lionheart' gives me the infrastructure and maintenance inspiration for Erebor, THIS fic delivers on the politics and intrigue, and c) I am a HUGE sucker for parentshield, be it biological or adoptive, so naturally I'm contemplating it for my own fic. Still iffy on which way I'll take it, but I've fallen down some intriguing rabbit holes in regards to Shire culture and Bilbo's background while considering the biological option, and I'd be loathe to abandon those ideas now. But either way, this fic deserves a definite nod for motivating me to come up with ideas.

Home Behind and Home Ahead by Etharei Love the characterizations in this one, and anything that gives me a tap into Bilbo's character is appreciated. And I don't know if I'll draw much on it for this fic in particular, but I love all forms of parentshield and this is a lovely dynamic between the three characters, so I'd happily draw from it in the abstract.

* Planting a Hobbit by @northerntrash I adore the vibe of this! A sweet 'Bilbo in Erebor' AU focused on the dwarves (Thorin especially) being so silly and endearing in their efforts to make Bilbo happy, and featuring some nice world and dynamic building in the process.

* Bad Blood by @conkers-thecosy Yo~ give me a nice what-if any day, and having it feature a protective!Bilbo + ardent!Thorin + gremlin!elvenking in the process, with a side of dwarven culture and royal politics? For it.

* [explicit!] Safe and Distant by Lindzzz I ADORE a Bilbo like this. A Bilbo who isn't oblivious about his feelings or denying them, but whose self-image/image of Thorin makes him unable to Comprehend anything not one-sided could come of those feelings. Who celebrates Thorin's good regard with joy and accepts it as 'enough' and 'more than he could ask for'. Who would probably just combust at the idea Thorin might want more, might want something beyond what their adventure can provide, just as Bilbo does... or just as Bilbo would, if he would allow himself to even accept that as a possibility. A Bilbo who finds the idea of Thorin wanting him back terrifying, because to hope for that and be wrong? It would shatter him. ...Yeah, I am very, very for this Bilbo. (And that doesn't even touch on the Thorin or the last chapter, omg-)

* [explicit] Canoodling by @avelera This fic is sweet. This fic is funny. This fic touches on differences between the Tolkien cultures and misunderstandings and the unique ways that could affect intimacy with a couple, and you know that bagginshield is a gold mine opportunity for all of that. I love any explicit work that plays with experience levels and expectations and lets the couple mess up and then swing it back around to lovely afterwards, because that's realistic and relatable and thus, when done right, all the more attractive a read! And this one does it well, a good foundation read.

[sparksandspears]

So I don't normally do this, but since my latest Lord of the Rings rewatch I've had this bouncing around my head, and finally am getting it out. So, poetry! This one is for Théodred, and I did my best to get the skaldic alliteration of Tolkien's Rohirric verse.

Simbelmynë

Forever they grow there, the fathers' graves watching; white flowers covering, warding the dead. Théodred lofty, Thengel's fair grandson, alas they await him at his road's end. Master of horses, the Mark's second Marshal, prince of the people, proudly he stood. At Isen's fords, with iron he fought there with Saruman's forces, and slain there he fell. Last of his line, Lord Théoden's only, Dead in the river. So death we dealt then, avenging the fallen, answering insult. War we woke, the Westfold arising; at Helm's Gate we harried the foe to the end. The White Hand we withered, the wizard defying; by spear and by sword we slew the dark host. Still Simbelmynë, silent and silver, his tomb it protects now til years have an end. With Fréa he lies, Folca and Fréalaf; In the ranks of his fathers he rests evermore.

[sotwk]

Nana! I need your guidance!

But how are you btw? 🤭💙

I need your headcanon, where Thranduil and Elrond is a bestie, but Thranduil is to arrogant to admit that he is cared for Elrond. And one day Elrond got abducted by some random dude.

What he would do?!

Love you btw! 💙

Hello, my dear @thranduilswifesblog!

I hope you're enjoying your little "period break"! We've missed you, so it's nice to see you back on here for a while. I was sick with a very nasty cold virus through most of your absence, so you haven't missed much from my blog at least!

Now regarding your headcanon request regarding our favorite "odd couple" besties, Thranduil and Elrond:

What would Thranduil do if Elrond were abducted or in danger?

I share your headcanon of Thranduil being fonder of Elrond than of any Noldor in all of Middle-earth history--with the exception of his wife (Queen Maereth). Proud and stubborn Thranduil never admits his affection outright, but it shows subtly in his actions around the Lord of Imladris, and the fact that he seems to enjoy spending time around him.

In SotWK-verse, Thranduil first met Elrond in the kingdom of Lindon, very early in the Second Age and not long after the War of Wrath. However, they barely interacted with each other because of the lingering hostility between the Noldor and the Sindar. Oropher and his people were not big fans of High King Gil-galad, despite being residents of his realm.

Thranduil and Elrond finally got to know each other better towards the middle of the Second Age. Their early bond was encouraged by Lady Maereth, who shares family history with Elrond and became a close friend of his while she lived in Eregion.

Before fighting side-by-side in the War of the Last Alliance, Thranduil and Elrond fought together for the first time during the War of the Elves and Sauron (SA 1693), which initiated their status as lifelong allies.

I have many more HCs about the friendship between these two elf-lords, but I'm going to skip all that to actually answer your question!

It would take an incredibly powerful foe to abduct Lord Elrond, so it would obviously be a serious crisis that will force Rivendell to summon every available ally for aid.

The King of Mirkwood and his family would be considered Elrond's most loyal and strongest Elven ally military-wise, and I would gladly debate anyone on this opinion.

Thranduil would drop everything to answer the call, initiating emergency protocols normally reserved only for members of his own immediate family.

Assuming this event occurs at a time when his family is still intact, Thranduil will rally all five of his sons to come with him and lead their army to Elrond's rescue.

I cannot stress enough how sending ALL FIVE Thranduilion princes along with the King into battle is a huge deal, and actually unnecessary. These Elven warriors are so skilled and powerful, it is overkill to have them on the same battlefield all at once. It has never happened in the entire history of their family. (You know how Legolas can kick serious orc-ass? Well, he's the "rookie" of this team. Imagine his older brothers and their Ada unleashed.)

In normal cases, only three princes at most are sent to battle at the same time. If Thranduil chooses to muster his entire lineup of sons, then he just wants to prove a simple, angry point: you've fucked with the wrong guy and now I will make you pay to the greatest possible extent.

Elrond in danger is definitely not considered a "normal case", so yes: Thranduil would deploy all his sons for the Lord of Imladris. There is no greater sign of love and friendship from the Elvenking than this.

Unless Elrond gives him a very good reason not to, Thranduil will insist on having the head (literally) of whoever dared to abduct or harm his (not-so-secret) best friend.

Thranduil will still never tell Elrond how much he cares for him. But the message will be received and seen loud and clear by everyone.

Tolkien Headcanon tag list: @quickslvxr @laneynoir @auttumnsayshi @achromaticerebus @tamryniel @friendofthefellowshipsnerdblog @blueberryrock @aduialel @glassgulls @ladyweaslette @asianbutnotjapanese @ratsys @conversacomsmaug @lemonivall @lathalea

For more Tolkien/Thranduil headcanons: SotWK Headcanon Masterlist

[lokittystuckinatree]

The False God and the Devil They Know: Wishful Overthinking about Religious Overtones in Post-Timeless-Child-Arc Thoschei

Disclaimer: my knowledge on anything other than all 13 + seasons of New Who is limited, but not overly lacking, and I wasn’t raised religious but do have enough of an Italian Catholic background to notice good old fashioned Christian parallels

The Doctor

The Doctor as the unwitting “creator god” of the time lords

Abrahamic religions starting out polytheistic, the Doctor as a god amongst other more powerful gods

The Doctor as a wrathful God; God technically committed genocide against humanity, leaving Noah to make his arc with two of every species

Objectively a coincidence but guess which two idiots survived the time war

The Doctor as a god who chooses a life of service to mortals and “rejecting” godhood aka power. Very Jesus of them.

The real possibility that the timeless child is not a chosen one but a victim of circumstance, a typical example of their kind from the other universe

The Doctor is just like us. (If you are autistic and have ADHD and abandonment issues lol)

The Doctor and unconditional love and forgiveness at the cost of their moral stability, especially for the Master, their original sin and greatest exception

The Master

The Master as the fallen angel, golden child of god who desired power/attention for themself who turned to evil

Missy, the Lumiat, and returning to “the light”

Rogue child of god who didn’t fit the mold, questioned the authority of the one true god

Satan and the Master as a figure of lesser power and status rising in prominence to rival the influence of the God that created them

Power corrupting someone who just wanted to be important

A seductive figure that tricks and tempts the Good Guys and engages their dark side

The Master, Cyber Time Lords, and “Satan cannot create as God does, only warp their creations” (Tolkien has entered the chat)

Best Enemies, Worst Soulmates

We all know the Jesus/Judas thing, but what about Jesus/Antichrist, or God/Satan

The Antichrist as a foil for Jesus and Satan as a foil for God

The deal with Death and how the Doctor could have become the Master and vice verse, even should have been before he intervened in their fates

Theta’s first sins, murder and deception and betrayal, revolved around Koschei

Anti soulmate trope: Linked by fate, destined to battle forever, could have been happy together under different circumstances, soulmates are made not found

Regeneration and the inherent holiness of transformation and being trans (not relevant but trans rights!)

They are THE narrative foils and power couple above everyone else in the Whoniverse come onnnn

In a tragically ironic sense, they’re the only ones who can fully relate to and comprehend each other, even after how much their paths have diverged.

The Doctor humbles the Master, the Master keeps the Doctor grounded to their Gallifreyan roots.

Good Always Wins, love is redeeming. The Doctor helps the Master see beauty and love in the world through their unconditional love for them.

I hope, in the distant future, the show ends with a more morally secure Doctor and a redeemed Master happily in love, running away to the stars together, never to be seen again.

They’re totally endgame guys trust me (I’m delusional.)

Feel free to add! I’d love to hear what other parallels people find. And what glaringly obvious things I missed…

[aragornsrockcollection]

Why didn’t Durin’s Bane seemingly have any ambition of his own, like his fellow Maiar in Sauron or Saruman? Obviously Gandalf, Radagast and the Blue Wizards all had their own thing going on as well, but the Balrog was seemingly content to chill in Moria for thousands of years, for some reason? In theory, would the Balrog have been cognisant enough to seek rehabilitation in Valinor, as Sauron was offered during the First Age?

Omg another question about Maiar! I could speculate on this stuff all day. Also, I am a Tolkien textwall waiting to happen I’m so sorry.

So I’m not sure Durin’s bane would have been offered the same deal as Sauron, and hiding was probably their best bet for not being thrown into the void.

First, Sauron had to pretend to repent to get offered that deal, and there is no reason to believe the Maia later known as Durin’s Bane would have been willing to do that, or that he would be able to pull it off- Sauron being absolutely unmatched when it comes to persuasion is a plot point multiple times, thus ‘Sauron the Deciever.’

Second, even after obtaining mercy Sauron just uses seemingly coming quietly as a smoke screen to escape and do basically the same thing as the Balrog for a while- lay low and lick his wounds.

I do think the Balrog from Moria has more agency than we might think. They’re definitely not a brainless monster, it’s just we only see them for like, a page, and Durin’s Bane was a mystery prior to the Fellowship encountering them.

But I don’t think it’s unfair to say Melkor’s original Maia might be more intrinsically tied to his will than Sauron, who was originally Mairon, Maia of Aule, and defected in the years of the lamps. At the very least, despite how loyal Sauron was (and he was pretty loyal, he gets Numenor to worship Melkor, not him) he did have thousands of years of existence outside of Melkor’s service, which makes him probably more versed in making his own decisions and plans.

Whereas Melkor’s Balrogs were the Ainur who sang along to his theme of discord in the original music, so they are more directly tied to him, never existed as something not his servant, and I doubt had much hope of not being thrown into the void to join their master, even if they went to Valinor to be judged.

SPEAKING OF THE VOID

I do have a theory with no real textual support about what the Balrog was doing down there, and it was not just chilling.

I have mentioned this tinfoil hat theory in another post about the “Nameless things” that “gnaw at the world” under Moria that Gandalf mentions only to be like “but I am not gonna talk about that.”

So the theory is based on the fact that in the second age, the world is flat. So if you were trying to create a pathway back into the world from the void, down is a legitimate direction to go.

The idea that barriers of the world are thin beneath Moria is really backed up by those nameless things gnawing at existence like parasites down there- if this is a weak spot in the walls of the world, either because of those nameless things or perhaps the nameless things are there because it is a weak spot, then I think it’s very suggestive that the last Balrog, one of Morgoth’s original servants, is there.

Trying to make a path back from the void for their master perhaps? And it seems like they might even be making progress if those creatures that are OLDER THAN THE AINUR (Gandalf says they are older than Sauron, and this means they must have dwelt in the void before existence) are slipping through the cracks into Arda.

But then at the end of the second age, the world is made round by Eru Iluvitar. Ostensibly so Valinor cannot be invaded like Numenor is attempting, but why can’t it serve numerous purposes? If a servant of Morgoth is close to creating a means for his return at the bottom of the world, folding existence around that point so that now instead of being at the edge of the world they are at the heart of it, with nowhere to go? That solves that problem. And some void creatures, nameless things, get trapped there too.

After all, the sinking of Numenor does feel pretty harsh. If you can sink a continent you can sink a fleet just as easily, and that spares the innocent. Hell, the Valar barred the shores of Valinor on their own in the first age pretty easily, and Numenor didn’t have a Silmaril to cheat with like Earendil.

But if there were multiple reasons for the rounding of the world and the sectioning off of Valinor, then Numenor could be a victim of just being too close to the point where the world doubled over itself. Two seas become one with a tidal wave that conveniently drowns Sauron.

Note: I do not think Tolkien intended it to be seen as an overreaction, this sort of thing happens in the Bible Old Testament all the time, and he has a very “talk shit get hit” attitude to going against divine power. But it doesn’t sit well with me personally if you want me to see Eru and the Valar as compassionate, which he clearly does intend, so I’m tacking on the idea that the world needed to be round for more than one reason and Numenor was in part collateral damage to preventing the possible return of Morgoth for my own enjoyment of the story. This theory doesn’t need this detail to float, but I like it, this entire thing has no proof anyways, and you can’t stop me.

It would also make sense that we weren’t aware of this, because we are reading about the rounding of the world in the histories of the elves, and this plot to burrow out of the world would have taken place in the dark, with none save Eru the wiser.

So that’s my completely unsubstantiated take on what the Balrog of Moria was up to. They were digging Morgoth an escape tunnel, were foiled, took their frustration out on the dwarves who discovered their operation, then slept with no better options available than to bide their time. They probably had no knowledge of Sauron’s shenanigans, but perhaps awakening to the greater part of Morgoth’s old lieutenant’s power being carried under their nose was enough to stir interest in what was going on in the world.

Certainly if they’d gotten hands on the Ring middle earth would have been screwed, so moral of the story is:

Glorfindel would have been very useful at this point and it’s hilarious that Gandalf shoots down his inclusion in the fellowship and pats the price by having to fight the Balrog himself.

[yletylyf]

Fic Writer Wrapped- 2023 Edition

I did this in 2022 and 2021, and am revving it back up for my own personal interest in tracking these things. Tagging anyone reading this if you want to participate!

Like in previous years, this is about fic published on ao3 in 2023 (not amount of words written in 2023, which I don't keep track of).

How many stories did you complete?

I completed one longfic (more than 100k words), eight medium fics (between 15k and 100k), and forty-two short fics (under 15k). Just like last year, I continue to have considerable lag between writing and publishing. The longfic and some of the medium fics were mostly written in 2022, but published and finished this year.

What is your total word count for the year?

547,416 words

What fandoms did you write in this year?

I really committed to the multi-fandom bit. I also discovered an addiction to cdramas. I wrote in Harry Potter, Tolkien, The Grisha Trilogy, Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen, Emma - Jane Austen, Twilight, the Locked Tomb, House of the Dragon, 陈情令 The Untamed, 山河令 Word of Honor, 苍兰诀 Love Between Fairy and Devil, 莲花楼 Mysterious Lotus Casebook, 无量 Wúliàng, and 长月烬明 Till the End of the Moon.

Did you write more, less, or roughly about what you expected?

This year's published word count borrows from many projects that were written in 2022, probably about 150k words' worth. Even subtracting that, I wrote a lot more than I expected. Because I didn't write a long fic this year (123k of Rainbow of Chaos's total of 130k words was written in 2022), I felt like I was unproductive compared to previous years. But I actually I wrote a lot!

What’s your favorite story of the year?

To catch a fox (Grisha verse, the Darkling/Nikolai). I had a blast writing this, it felt like it wrote itself, and I think the fic is so much fun, I still enjoy re-reading it, and I'm really happy about how many other people liked it as well!

What is your most underappreciated story of the year?

This question gets harder and harder to answer every year, because the more deliberately niche I write the happier I am when I get a single comment and feel that is more than sufficient appreciation. I guess if I had to pick one, it's my Aredhel/Celegorm fic, because imo this ship deserves to be more popular than it is!

Biggest fanfic-related disappointment of 2023?

I was riding the high of discovering the Darkling/Nikolai ship after watching the TV show Shadow and Bone in March. A good friend left a prompt that I loved, in an event called Fandom Orienteer, which had a several-month-long writing period and then a posting window in August. I bit off more than I could chew when I started writing Palace in the Dark, found my ideas too plotty, and did not finish in time to post a completed story in August. By the time I actually finished over Thanksgiving, not only did I miss being part of the event, I had lost almost all my WIP readers (except my friends from the darkolai server, shout out to you, you are the best!). It's fine, the fic is finished and complete on my profile, and readers will slowly find it. But I was disappointed in not being able to finish in July for the event and when the momentum from the show was hotter.

Biggest fanfic-related surprise of 2023?

I'm surprised by how many multi-fandom exchanges I did. I was only dipping my toe into them in 2022 and was not sure the whole thing really suited me. I wrote almost forty exchange fics this year, and got some amazing gift fics in exchange, and it's been really fun.

Something you look forward to working on in 2024?

I think I'll work on more villain-centric fic for MDZS, and also hopefully write more new-to-me fandoms for exchanges.