SO

[ID: a digital painting of Finduilas, princess of Nargothrond. She is facing towards the viewer, standing by a floor to ceiling window through which golden light is flowing into the room. Finduilas's head is tilted down and to her left, as she looks away from the window at something below her eye level in the interior of the room. Her left hand rests below her jaw and her right at her waist; her expression is pensive. She is dressed in a floor-length, light yellow dress with light blue embroidery at the neckline, bottom hem, and ends of the short sleeves. The dress is belted about her waist with a thin, tassled ribbon of the same light blue. She also wears a purple shawl draped over her right shoulder and arm, a golden or bronze bracelet on her left wrist, and white gemstone earrings. Her golden hair is pulled back from her face but left loose and curling down past her waist. End ID.]

Finduilas for moynal ⭐

Have you ever wished there was a comprehensive, easy access resource of Every Tolkien Character Ever? Look no further! Now presenting:

The Tolkien Legendarium Characters Masterdoc!

compiled by @arofili, @ambrorussa aka @welcometolotr, @jaz-the-bard, and @fingons-rad-harp, this spreadsheet contains - to the best of our ability - ALL 1100+ characters that Tolkien incorporated into (or considered for) his Legendarium! this resource is open to the public for perusal and use in your fan projects of all kinds, though its creators are fanfiction writers and we organized the doc with our craft in mind.

we have organized this database by character race/species and Age. each character has attached information on their name(s), cultural/familial affiliation(s), life dates (when known), associated places, textual source, Ages/timeframe of activity, gender, relative canonicity, and brief pertinent information - as well as a link to their page on Tolkien Gateway (our main source) where you can continue your research on any character you choose.

characters of ALL levels of canonicity are represented in this sheet. that includes the wacky, wild stuff from the Book of Lost Tales, as well as Frodo himself! our designations of “how canon” a character is are inherently subjective, and you are free to disagree with our rankings; with this categorization we hoped to give people an idea of what to expect upon exploring the characters yourselves. please consult our Key for information on how we made these decisions. this document is a jumping-off point for your own research!

if there’s something you’d like to sort for that we didn’t provide, you are free to make a copy and reorganize the spreadsheet however you would like. (however, we do ask that you only redistribute the original sheet.)

this sheet includes characters from every text written by Tolkien that we could find information about on Tolkien Gateway. we are only human, and are thus likely to have made some mistakes or missed some characters - if you think that’s the case, please let us know so we can update the document!

if you think there is a character missing, or you would like something added/redacted/altered, contact the sheet owner @arofili on tumblr or annaquenta#6263 on discord and we will consider your request.

in addition to Tolkien’s own characters, we have included some characters who only appeared in Peter Jackson’s film trilogy adaptations. we are open to including characters from other adaptations, but we weren’t familiar enough with those to add them to the document. if you desperately want to see an adaptation-only character in the document, let us know!

we hope this resource is helpful for Tolkien fans of all kinds in learning more about his characters both weird and wonderful! happy headcanoning!

LINK TO THE DOCUMENT: tinyurl.com/TolkMasterDoc

Hey bitch!!! I’m back and I still love you and your writing!! Any way, I was wondering if you had any ideas of which elves can tell Elladan and Elrohir apart and which can’t? You’re still amazing byeeeee!!! -🏳️‍🌈

Yaaasss hello again my good bitch!! 🎩🎩

Thanks I love and apprecate you so much!! Let me know if I forgot anyone byeeeeeee

People that can

Elrond -- Even when they were 1 hour old Elrond could tell them apart. 

Celebrian -- By the time they could talk, there was no fooling her  (Heartbreaking sidenote headcanon: After she was rescued from the Orcs she couldn't tell them apart anymore. So they each began wearing a different color. Nothing drastic. Elrohir tended to use grey tone while Elladan uses lighter blue tones so that she wouldn't have to guess and get it wrong because they knew how bad it made her feel.)

Glorfindel -- Can always, always, always, tell them apart. 

Arwen -- Same with Arwen. 

Legolas -- If they stay completely silent, then sometimes he can't tell. But as soon as they talk its game over. 

Erestor -- Can almost always tell them apart but sometimes he pretends he cant. 

Galadrial -- Mind powers, enough said. 

Celeborn -- Usually, but the twins are very aware that their grandfather has been tricked before on several occasions, and therefore can be tricked again. 

Aragorn -- They've never really tested it with him, but this far he's never mixed them up that they've noticed.  

Merry & Pippin -- For some reason the two hobbits have proven to be unflappable by any scheme to confuse them. 

Galion -- You can hide nothing from him. Nothing.

People That Can’t 

Tbh, most people 

Gimli -- No idea. None at all. Never has, not once. People can tell him but as soon as they start moving around again he's lost it. 

Gandalf -- Sometimes he can but more often than not he can't tell unless he's told who is who. 

Thranduil -- Doesn't know and honestly doesn't really care. 

Frodo -- Has a 50/50 chance of getting it right. 

Sam -- Refuses to guess in case he offends anyone.  

Music by treelight, at the House of Finwë.

Foreground: Turgon playing a flute, Galadriel annoyed by Fëanor, Finrod and Maglor singing a duet, Aredhel playing a tambourine. (Aredhel and Galadriel are the same age, and maybe the elven equivalent of 13-14 years old here.)

Background: Eärwen and Finarfin dancing, Celegorm objecting to Huan's singing, Fingolfin with baby Argon and Anairë, Fingon and Maedhros more interested in each other's company than in music.

This is legitimately good advice and works for almost everyone, but I do want to add that when an author believes that reworking a piece is worth it, we end up with such treasures as The Code by @adurowrites

As someone who reads favorite fanfics over and over again, it's always a treat when an author posts a new and improved version, especially when they give the reader insight into their rewriting and editing process

You don't owe it to anyone to redo your old work simply because it isn't as skillfully written as your newer stuff, but if you yourself want to engage in the endeavor and you think that it'll be good for you, go for it! And let me know afterwards because I want to read it

I know you said at one point that towards the sun was a multi year project (or at least I’m p sure u did? ig if I’m wrong just ignore this ask fjigjgjg), and I wondered something. What if by the time you get to the end, you’ve improved your writing so much that you’re not satisfied with the beginning anymore?

That is actually a normal part of writing! If you can see places to improve your old work, then you have improved since you wrote it. So like. It's a good thing when that happens.

Little edits like typos, or things like the Towards the Sun edit to remove icky blind stereotypes, are almost always worth fixing. The former is quick and easy (and bugs me on a visceral level), the latter is basic decency.

Big edits, like large plot or character arc changes, are almost never worth doing. Especially in fanfiction, where most readers aren't going to see those edits because they read the chapter months ago and ain't coming back.

AKA: I'll be leaving older stuff alone. Everyone can see the post date, if it's not as good as my newer stuff there's a pretty self-explanatory reason.

For Feanorian week, Miriel Serinde, in whose arms began the burning history of Noldor.

Why are medieval movies always serious war dramas? I just want a medieval rom com. No listen - it could be so good:

The film opens with the wedding - William de something or other is a young nobleman who expected to spend the rest of his life in a monastery illuminating books when his older brother suddenly dies, leaving him with a title and a huge estate to run. He needs a wife and heir to legitimize his claim, and Eleanor is the young daughter of the lord in the neighboring estate. She is eager to get out of her fathers house and become a wife, and the marriage will be a strategic alliance between the two families. Everything is perfect.

However, it instantly becomes clear that the newlyweds can’t stand each other. He thinks she is a shallow teenager, she thinks he’s a pretentious asshole. As soon as they are alone on their wedding night, they make a plan. Instead of consummating their marriage, they will write to the pope with some excuse (that I need to actually research) and request an annulment. The letter will take several months to reach the Vatican and back, and in the mean time they decide to keep it a secret and play the role of a happy couple.

Shenanigans ensue. Running an estate is hard, and both of them are terrible at it. Eleanor starts off on the wrong foot with the seneschal and the servants, the money isn’t adding up, and William has to deal with his serfs coming to him with increasingly hilarious and convoluted complaints. He snores, she hogs the blankets. The members of the household spy and gossip, the animals are underfoot, and someone is always playing the bagpipes at the worst time. The newlyweds bicker and argue and can’t wait for the letter to arrive so they can finally drop the charade and part ways.

After a while though, Eleanor starts getting the hang of being a lady. It turns out she has a brilliant head for math and logistics, and when she figures out that William’s seneschal has been cheating him and fixes the budget to get them through the winter, he starts to trust and rely on her to run the estate. It turns out that William’s abrasivness was hiding a pious and sensitive interior, and once he realised she won’t judge him for it he teaches Eleanor to appreciate art and philosophy (and also how to sword fight because this is my movie and I want a hot fencing lesson scene). Eleanor helps William come to terms with his bisexuality, he learns to respect her struggle as a woman in a patriarchal society (using language that make sense for the period). They realize that unfortunately they also find each other very attractive.

(Someone needs to come up with an actual plot, I’m not good at that.)

The letter from the pope finally arrives granting the annulment, but they take one look at it, toss it in the fire, and go consummate the marriage.

The costumes will all be accurate to the 14th century and thus used to comedic effect whenever possible. The church, the feudal system, and other institutions of Medieval society will be treated as flawed yet nuanced parts of everyday life, people will be reasonably religious for the time period, and there will be lots of dirty jokes (and a hot fencing lesson scene).

Hollywood give me money!!!

@helimir brought up such a great point in her tags on this post

The topic of the glory of failure in Tolkien's work is a very interesting one.

In fact, most endeavors end up in failure.

Whether it's Frodo failing to complete his mission, Smeagol failing to free himself of the ring & Gollum, Boromir failing to save the hobbits (or Gondor), the Noldor failing to defeat Melkor, Fëanor & the Fëanorians failing to take their revenge and (for most of them) their Silmarils, Maedhros failing to escape his doom, Fingolfin failing to defeat Melkor, the whole Nirnaeth, etc...

They all fail. But the failure is so epic. So spectacular, there is such a grandeur, such valor & prowess, such tragic beauty, such tales, dare I say, such grace to their failure that could never be found in victory.

They're all still hailed as heroes. (Or at worst, tragic fallen heroes or anti-heroes.)

Whether it's Frodo managing to keep his soul if not his peace & happiness & old life for the mercy & pity & kindness he once showed, whether it's Smeagol unintentionally destroying what destroyed him & saving Frodo's soul, Boromir regaining his honor, Fingolfin leaving a lasting scar on Melkor, Maedhros' true nature finally showing itself after so long in his last moment & expressing such deep shame & regret by killing himself when the Silmarils judged him evil, Maglor's good nature shining through even in his worst moments when he decided to raise the half-elven twins & passed down the best of himself still remained to him to them & them growing up to become such great people, & eventually his good nature showing shame & regret by condemning himself to be forever separated from people & singing songs of regret...as @helimir beautifully expressed, if it's not outright a redemption arc, it at least feels like it. Their struggles mattered, but even more than that, their struggles were what mattered.

Even in things like Nirnaeth that were nothing but catastrophes, they're such beautiful, epic, spectacular catastrophes.

Really, how many endeavors truly result in success?

They made an effort, & therefore, they left an impact. & for that, they went down in history. If not as heroes then at least as tragic figures.

They dreamed, they hoped, they willed, they fought, they tried, they were here.

& that mattered.

reading romance as an aroace

*opens book*

"Let's get to the good stuff"

*flips past first meeting, kissing, smut*

*gets to a mature, understanding conversation between the couple in which they each apologize, explain their experience, work out the problem between them, and formulate a specific plan to make sure things will be better in the future*

"Now THIS is what I'm here for!" *happy stimming*

You ever get like five different ideas from angst but none of them is long enough to stand on its own and so you just make Frankenangst? Yeah

Warnings: character death, description of injuries

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