#wait who the fuck is George Raymond Richard Martin

[gwaedhannen]

Preamble: the state of Beleriand after the First Battle

Ah fuck guess I'm writing this now. Bullet-point style because all the best AUs use it (yes I'm talking about @thelordofgifs's The Fairest Stars) and definitely not because I'm lazy.

Quick synopsis of the First Battle in Y.T. 1497:

Morgoth upon his return sends two orc-hosts through the northern passes, the west-host down Sirion and Narog and the east down Celon and Gelion.

The east-host is beaten by Thingol and the Laiquendi, but the Laiquendi take heavy losses, and their king Denethor and his kin are all slain on Amon Ereb before Thingol can reinforce them.

The dwarves of Mount Dolmed deal with the surviving orcs.

The west-host cuts Thingol off from Círdan, and the Falathrim are driven back to Eglarest and Brithombar and besieged.

The aftermath:

Thingol pulls his people into Neldoreth and Region, and Melian raises the Girdle. Doriath is founded.

The surviving Laiquendi either scatter into Ossiriand or join with Thingol's people.

Orcs have the run of West Beleriand.

Eglarest and Brithombar are besieged until Fëanáro's host arrives and the siege is called off to go deal with them (and they're destroyed by Tyelkormo's forces).

...But in this universe, Fëanáro and the rest of the Noldor are still on the Helcaraxë for another 25 solar years.

Now we're getting into conjecture:

In canon, Eglarest and Brithombar are besieged and destroyed a year after the Nírnaeth, thanks to Morgoth's siege engineers. This is despite the elves of Nargothrond helping to rebuild the cities during the Long Peace, and the Falathrim's reinforcement by survivors of the battle and the fall of Hithlum. Only a few survivors escape with Círdan to Balar and the mouths of Sirion. Three fleeing ships also sail far further south and found Edhellond near where Dol Amroth will eventually be. The rest of the Havens' inhabitants are killed or captured.

It's still Y.T. 1497. Morgoth hasn't had centuries to innovate his siege technology, but Círdan's cities also haven't been rebuilt with Noldor walls.

The Grey Annals says Fëanáro's host arrives some seven solar years after Melian raises the Girdle.

(Yes if we go by the usual "1 tree year = 9.582 solar years" then it could've been upwards of 25 solar years since the Darkening in 1495 before the landing at Losgar.)

(I hate Tolkien's timelines sometimes.)

Círdan holds out for over a decade. The orcs can't completely starve them thanks to the ocean, but repeated assaults on the walls wear down the defenders, and there's only so much fish and seaweed.

Meanwhile, the Northern Sindar of Mithrim and Nevrast are constantly harassed by the rest of Morgoth's west-host. Círdan sends ships north to evacuate those he can, but he only has so many ships and men.

The orcs have them cut off from Doriath, but they're not living this far away from Menegroth because they like Thingol's rule. They theoretically acknowledge him as king but realistically mostly ignore him.

(Any claims that Thingol hates them due to closeness to Angband and rumors they sometimes serve as Morgoth's spies are unfounded exaggerations.)

And while normally he'd ignore them in turn, they're still his people in some form or another.

Thingol sends what sorties he can to harry the west-host, but Doriath's forces are still exhausted from the First Battle and much of the kingdom's resources are tied up in getting the many refugees settled.

It also doesn't help that Melian warns him that should he die, her grief will not allow her to stay on the continent and maintain the Girdle.

One of his chief vassals is dead, and the other is besieged. His lands are being ravaged. But he can't leave his borders, because he isn't willing to risk himself (and therefore the Girdle) falling and exposing the main part of his people to attack.

So he throws himself into making sure his people are as happy as can be and entrusts the war to his captains.

So that's the state of things for the next 15 solar years. Orcs gradually hunt down the remaining wandering Sindar who don't find shelter in Doriath or some hidden refuge. Mithrim and Nevrast slowly depopulate from the Falathrim's evacuation missions, orcs, and what few refugees can sneak by Morgoth's forces to Doriath. Thingol holds lavish banquets and listens to Beleg and Mablung's reports while everyone else sleeps off the wine. He doesn't permit himself time to cry.

Midway through Y.T. 1498, Brithombar falls.

(to be continued eventually)

[bofursunboundbraids]

85 Statements

I was tagged by @catthefearless Thank you!!

rules: answer these 85 statements about yourself, then tag 20 people

LAST

1. drink - Sparkling water.

2. phone call - Ummm...probably ordering dinner to go from Giovanni’s last week.

3. text message - My mama asking if I want to check out a new coffee place when she gets off work. (Answer: Fuck yeah!)

4. song you listened to - “Wrong Crowd” by my beautiful child Tom Odell

5. time you cried - Uh...last week after my employment counselor appointment. Cuz insecurity is a mutha!

EVER

6. dated someone twice? - Yes, because young and stupid/insecure (see a pattern forming?)

7. kissed someone and regretted it - There are a couple I side-eye, but regret? No.

8. been cheated on - Yes, but I’ve also cheated.

9. lost someone special - Yes.

10. been depressed - I experience bouts of frustration and disappointment, with and in life in general.

11. gotten drunk and thrown up - A number of times. I can no longer drink rum.

FAV COLORS

12. Midnight blue

13. Emerald green.

14. Lavender.

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU…

15. made new friends - Yes! Thank you tumblr!

16. fallen out of love - No.

17. laughed until you cried - Maybe?

18. found out someone was talking about you - No.

19. met someone who changed you - No.

20. found out who your friends are - Yes.

21. kissed someone on your Facebook friends list - No.

GENERAL

22. how many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life? - Most of them, I think. I’m still waiting for the day the website, along with Mark Zuckerberg, gets shot into the sun.

23. do you have any pets - My genday conure Butchie my Buddy bird.

24. do you want to change your name - I dumped my last name last fall for my maternal grandfather’s birth name. My first name is 500% me.

25. what did you do for your last birthday - Got the slip-on checker board vans I’ve wanted since junior high and had dinner with my mom and nephew at Cracker Barrel cuz that shit is my JAM!

26. what time did you wake up today - 8am

27. what were you doing at midnight last night - Reading “Kidnapped by the Pirate” by Keira Andrews, a most excellent mlm historical romance.

28. what is something you can’t wait for - To be employed, earning decent money, so I can FINALLY GO TO NEW ZEALAND FFS!

30. what are you listening to right now - I’m watching “It Came from Outer Space” (1953)

31. have you ever talked to a person named Tom - This is funny, because I was recently trying to remember when the last time I knew someone named Tom was. Junior High maybe?

32. something that’s getting on your nerves - I haven’t been to New Zealand yet, which is really starting to piss me off.

33. most visited website - Tumblr, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube.

34. hair color - Currently John Frieda’s Brilliant Brunette (3N) which is a wonderful deep chocolate brown, what I call Arwen/Frodo brown. It’s dark without making me look washed out. Perfect.

35. long or short hair - It’s a toss up between a Louise Brooks bob and mid-neck length. Anything longer, on me, is pointless.

36. do you have a crush on someone - I’m kinda torn between Martin Freeman, Jack White, and NY attorney general Eric Schneiderman.

37. what do you like about yourself- I can’t give up and I will never settle.

38. want any piercings? - No.

39. blood type - O negative. I’m UNIVERSAL BABY!

40. nicknames - Steesh, Bobeesh

41. relationship status - happily single.

42. zodiac - Pisces

43. pronouns - she/her

44. fave TV shows - Hawaii 5-0 (original), Wild Wild West, Route 66, Perry Mason, X-Files, Twin Peaks, Hannibal, Streets of San Francisco, WKRP in Cincinnati, Unsolved Mysteries...

45. tattoos - No, but I have a list of the ones I want.

46. right or left handed - right

47. ever had surgery - I had an emergency appendectomy right before my 13th birday.

48. piercings - 2

49. sport - my ex was an Aikido instructor, so I have a brown belt, but I gaven’t trained in a really long time.

50. vacation - About a year and half ago, Mum and I went to Boise, Idaho to check it out as a possible place to move to. It was nice, but we’ve scratched it off the list. Now we’re looking at Virginia.

51. trainers - since Nike bought Converse (fuck you very much), I am now a 500% Vans girl.

MORE GENERAL

52. eating - The last thing I ate was chicken shawarma with basmati rice and hummus. So freaking good.

53. drinking - I’m a coffee girl and I love a good lavender mocha.

54. I’m about to watch - it’s bed time. Gotta do my Italian (Duolingo) then reading.

55. waiting for - me to be at a point where I can start being paid for building freaking websites so I can go to freaking New Zealand!

56. want - To be paid.

57. get married - I’ve never believed in the institution.

58. career - I wanna make pretty, responsive web sites that achieve high seo rankings - AND GET PAID!

59. hugs or kisses - I like them both, as long as it’s someone I want to be doing it with. I would kind of like to kiss a boy whose name I don’t know and then never see him again.

60. lips or eyes - For me it’s the holy trinity; eyes, nose, lower lip.

61. shorter or taller - At 5’7” I feel taller than most other women. If we’re talking guys...I’ve had both, but prefer taller.

62. older or younger - Age is irrelevant, unless they’re really young. I abide by the equation (half your age plus 7)

63. nice arms or stomach - How about hands?

64. hookup or relationship - I’ve never experienced a hookup, but I never say never.

65. troublemaker or hesitant - I’m game as long as no one is getting hurt and no laws are being broken and no assholery is being committed.

HAVE YOU EVER

66. kissed a stranger - once, a long time ago.

67. drank hard liquor - Yup.

68. lost glasses - Sunnies? Yes. Readers? Between Mum and I, there are like twenty pairs floating around the house, so that’s a big no. Have broken quite a few, however.

70. sex on the first date - Ewww, no! Unless...

71. broken someone’s heart - Yes. My one big regret.

72. had your heart broke - Yes, but no.

73. been arrested - No

74. cried when someone died - No

75. fallen for a friend - Yes

DO YOU BELIEVE IN

76. yourself - Fuck yeah!

77. miracles - No.

78. love at first sight - I believe in the chemical reaction that happens in the brain when physical attraction occurs.

79. santa claus - Fuck yeah Santa RULES!

80. kiss on a first date - Yes.

81. angels - No.

OTHER

82. best friend’s name - Her name’s Shannon and she’s my mom.

83. eye color - Green.

84. fave movie - The Three Musketeers (1973), The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit (Jackson), Casablanca, Jaws, Dracula (1931), The Big Sleep, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. I’d also like to give a big shout out to the entire genre of 40s/50s Film Noir as well as 1950s SciFi and teen exploitation films, that shit gives me life!

85. fave actor - Humphrey Bogart, Raymond Burr, Jack Lord, Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe, Katherine Hepburn, Cate Blanchett, Mads Mikkelsen, Peter Lorre, Bela Lugosi, Jack Lemmon, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Laird Creager (btw...if you don’t know who that is, Google him! He was a queer actor who died way too young, right before his career was on the verge of really taking off. Some say his would’ve been not unlike that of Vincent Price, another one of my most very favorites. Check out “The Lodger” from 1944. It’s a take on Jack the Ripper and he is BRILLIANT! It also stars George Sanders and Merle Oberon.)

I’m not tagging anyone specifically, therefore I tag EVERYONE! Let us know who you are, and please tag me if you do!😍