Latest Posts by penelopes-poppies - Page 7

Things I do while conversing with my ND friends

Staring at trees or other background objects while explaining stuff

Special interest rants!!!

Stopping to smell candles/flowers/tea/etc.

Brief moments of eye contact (that are somehow less uncomfortably intimate than eye contact with NTs) before looking at other things again

Stretches/hand flapping/other stims

Speaking really quickly because I'm excited about something

Speaking with lots of pauses because I'm having trouble finding the right words

Making the decision to be interested in whatever topics they bring up

Not worrying about boring them because I know that they'll make themselves interested in my topics, too

"What's the history of that word/grammar form?" *everything on pause while we research and discuss*

"Another thing about *topic discussed an hour ago*"

Night falls but we forget that we're sitting in the dark because facial expressions aren't necessary to the conversation

Relating what they say back to myself but not worrying about seeming self-centered because they understand that's how I empathize

Talking for 10 hours straight but not being tired because we don't have to mask

Learning new facts every time I talk to them

Arabesques

I may not have completed most of my responsibilities today, but I did sort through all 1000+ emails in my inbox

My family: your autistic and ADHD traits are annoying. Stop talking about your special interest. I don't want to discuss this random grammar thing or story you just remembered with you. I don't have time for you to stumble around as you try to talk out your feelings

Me: *resolves to only converse on topics I am fairly certain (based on past conversations) the other person wants to talk about* *stops discussing emotions*

My family: you never initiate conversations! I never know how you're feeling or what you're thinking!

ATLA writers, let’s talk about steel ships and what can go wrong with them

So, I live on a steel boat. It’s pretty cushy for the most part because it has a permanent mooring on a canal (so no currents and no tides), but guys, there are things to consider when you write your Zuko’s crew fics.

In no particular order, bearing in mind that I am not an engineer:

Steel + water = rust; steel + salt water = super fast rust.

Boats like mine are traditionally lifted from the water or put in dry dock to be painted with bitumen every 2 years to prevent that.  And that’s with fresh water and only the occasonal bump against another boat to worry about.

Anywhere water pools on the deck can have a rust issue (we don’t see any drainage holes on that deck with its solid walls.  Let’s pretend they exist.)  Anywhere that can get hit with salt spray can have a rust issue

The deepest pitting (rust pockets) will be around the waterline, places that get both water and oxygen. If one of those gets deep enough it can actually rust through and you are in a world of hurt.

Coal smoke is acidic. That’s also not great for steel.

Chimneys are another place that rust through pretty quickly, which can put you in a world of hurt because smoke kills, and so does carbon monoxide.

The second deepest pitting  on a boat is generally found on the steel close to the chimney.

If water (rain or salt spray) can get in your chimney you’ve just accelerated that process.

Talking of coal fires…

Anywhere you’ve got a source of fire you’ve got problems if it isn’t well ventilated.  Where is the boiler room? Does it have windows? Does it have vents in the door? How do they control air flow to the coal (and hence the temperature of the resulting fire)?

Where you have coal you have ash. Leave ash sitting too long and it will choke your fire. Leave hot ash in a confined space and you have another carbon monoxide problem.

They’re probably having to chuck ash into the ocean like, every day.

Historically there have been chemical carbon monoxide detectors, which is one possible way you might stop your entire crew dying of a deadly undetectable gas – if Zuko has access to it.

Let’s also talk propulsion

The engine is typically the heaviest part of your boat or ship. It’s normally positioned closer to the stern, which as a result will sit lower in the water than the prow.

Fire nation ships use propellors, which we know because Hakoda’s stink & sinks targeted them.  Where the prop shaft exits the ship is another point where water can get in.  There’s a thing called a stern gland which prevents this by forcing grease into the  area where the prop shaft comes through the hull. This minimises the amount of water that can get in.

Minimum water is still not no water though! There will be a wall to contain water that gets in like this, and modern boats have a bilge pump next to the prop shaft to get rid of it.

This is another point particuarly at risk from rust! Break out the paint again.

If the bilge pump breaks and doesn’t get fixed you quickly have big problems (a neighbour actually sank because of this).

Dark paint + steel + sunlight = surfaces too hot to touch.

Also, interior temperatures that are way, way too hot for comfort.

However, the temperature drops rapidly below the waterline. I spend six months of the year wearing thick woolly socks and legwarmers and the other six months wanting to lie on the floor all the time. And I only have a 2 foot draft.

Cold water + hot boat interior = condensation, which represents guess what? – another rust risk!

Talking of bitumen paint? That stuff gives off fumes that stink and aren’t great for human health.

More to follow when I think of it and have time. I’d love to hear from actual ocean goers on this one because that’s the side of things I know absolute zip about.

What do you think would happen if Zhao was stopped from killing Tui? Yue would probably stay in the NWT and marry Hahn like you said, but again Sokka would probably try to persuade her to stay with him. He probably wouldn’t be able to convince her enough, but if he did, what do you think would happen?

I'm gonna be real with you: I think it would be very boring and unsatisfying. I think a lot of other people think so too, because every time I see a "Yue leaves the North Pole" concept, unless it's like a conflict-free modern au, Yue's character is altered from how she's shown in canon. They make her more adventurous, or more of a romantic, because as she is, she doesn't add much to the group dynamic. If the show was paced more like Game of Thrones or Harlots, more based in smaller scale machinations, more following characters' introspection, then maybe there would be something to work with. But in something so action-heavy (and I think we sometimes forget just how action heavy it is due to how often lots of action means just okay writing), a character with no interest or skill in combat doesn't mesh well long-term.

From a writer pov, Yue joining the group as it's shown to be in canon is pretty inefficient storytelling. There's nothing she could really bring with her canon personality and back story that isn't already there with Aang's connection to the Spirit World as the Avatar or Toph coming from a wealthy family. Not to mention that with her being the oldest of the group (Sokka is 15 during the events of the series, while Yue is introduced as being 16 years old, making her about a year older than him) any of the "innocence of the world" that people would wanna play with would have her come off as a bit ditzy when actual 12-year-olds in the group are shown to be more streetwise and worldly. Yue isn't a bad or poorly written character, in fact I think she's one of the most interesting minor characters in the entire franchise, but she wasn't written with the intention of being part of Team Avatar so it's no wonder she doesn't fit well among them.

So, yeah, I don't know because I don't care enough about this concept to give it any thought. An AU where Yue is sent to study statecraft or philosophy or similar topics under King Bumi's tutelage or where she has post-war peace talks with Mai representing the Fire Nation or where she goes on her own journey separately from the group with her own entourage, running into familiar faces and keeping a log of her experiences; it would be a lot more contrived, but the quieter, gentler, more introspective atmosphere it would allow would suit her much better than her staying put while the others fight their way through active war zones and bring her along.

My autistic brain: I realize that toast with jam and cereal with yogurt are your go-to meals when you don't have the energy to cook, but have you considered that today is a low viscosity sugar day? Jam and yogurt are off the table

Me: okay, what about substituting honey for jam?

My brain: yeah, that works

So I was doing some thinking on the Huge Spiders that haunt Greenwood and I had some THOUGHTS about how it might affect the ecosystem of the forest. Now, these thoughts are sort of based on two main assumptions. 

One - That the spiders either grew larger and larger over a steady period of time OR 

Two - They didn’t wipe out the original habitat and ecosystems to the point of all other animals dying or being driven out / eaten and allowed time for change and adaptation. 

There are several animals that regularly eat spiders in normal settings and ecosystems including but not limited to: Other Spiders, Wasps, Reptiles, Amphibians, Praying Mantis’, Scorpions, and Birds. 

When a certain part of an ecosystem begins to change dramatically the rest of it is sort of forced to change along with it, or die out. And I think that Greenwood chose to change along with the Spiders. That as the Spiders grew, so did the creatures that hunted them. 

So not only does Greenwood have unnaturally large Spiders, they have huge Wasps flying around through their tree’s. Each wing is nearly the length of a fully grown Silvan, and their stingers the size of a leg. You can hear them buzzing from miles away but they’re almost impossible to see until they're right upon you. Their nests no longer hang from the trees as they are too heavy, but fill entire meadows bigger than a human's house. 

Lizards and other reptiles skitter along the ground or across thick branches. As silent as ever but each one capable of killing or at the very least putting up a damn good fight against a spider. They grow more teeth, or become venoms as a self defense. Snapping turtles lurk in the riverbeds, large enough to snap several elves in half if it so wished. Waiting, lurking, always ready to snap at the next thing to wander by. 

Cunning birds grew in size to accommodate the extra muscle needed to power they're powerful thick beaks, able to peck through a spider's shell with one go. Or snap a leg off with ease. Smaller birds linger around these larger one’s, each one being elected the ‘ruler’ of part of the forest. Gone are the days where songbirds ruled the canopies, and here are the days ruled by lightning fast hunters, each beak thicker than the bark on the three’s or the weight of a door. 

Beetles large enough to ride and pull carts scuttle around too. Their exoskeleton is almost more sturdy than metal and their blood contains anti-venom components that keep them moving even after they’ve been stung or bitten by other animals. Their heads seem to have helmets now, and their tunnels underneath the forest rumble with their movements. 

Other creatures have to get bigger too, or become meaner. Harder to kill. Fish grow in size to become more difficult for birds to find, growing teeth of their own and a taste of any flesh that comes too close to their waters edge or passes too slowly over their waters. 

The wolves get taller, become faster runners with wide jaws and better muscled to clamp them down. Deer horns begin to stay year round, more pointed than seen anywhere else so serve as self defense. 

Greenwood is not a place of huge spiders. Greenwood is a place of huge, terrifying, and weird creatures.  The kind that should only find existence in nightmares, the kind that should never exist. The kind that even Eru would cringe when gazing upon them. 

You're telling me that I can't eat plain marinara sauce for lunch, even if it's my safe food? Who came up with that rule?

I did a thing during quarantine!!!

(Ok, I did a lot of things, but this one was helpful and I’m proud of it so I’m sharing!)

I made a list of foods!

Did I base it on suggestions for parents of picky eaters? Yes. Am I a little salty about how everything that helps is designed for toddlers? Yes. Salty enough that I won’t use it? No.

But let me explain.

My Gentleman Caller has been staying with me during quarantine and he really likes cooking. I don’t. So he does the cooking and I do the dishes, because fairness. Problem is I’m finicky about foods and he’s trying to find stuff that is 1) healthy 2) tasty and 3) that I’ll eat! (He is a lovely and majestic man and I’m so grateful for him omg!)

But what this means is that he kept asking me about a whole bunch of recipes in cookbooks and magazines and internet and was getting frustrated by my continual responses of “eh? I think so? Maybe?”

I would go on to explain any hesitation I had about stuff and how I have a hard time seeing a list of ingredients and knowing what they would taste like together. And how I was basically just glancing at the ingredient list for any NO foods.

Then we realized a list would be helpful for him! (Because we are both apparently stupid sometimes it took us a few conversations to get there!)

So I looked up lists of foods and picky eating and found this!

It is for parents of toddlers and small children, but it had a good idea! I liked the Always/Sometimes/Never divisions, but it wasn’t quite right. So I fired up the Excel and started my own list!

I decided my list worked best in 5 categories: Always, Often, Caution, Never, and Unknown. Always is rather self explanatory. Often is my shorthand for I’ll likely eat it unless I’m just not feeling it that day, but it’s probably fine and go ahead and plan on yes.

Caution is for when I only like things on certain foods or prepared in certain ways. On my spreadsheet, for example, one got olives in this category. I only like them on pizza. Also bananas. I only like bananas in banana shape. Not in smoothie form. So if it’s got one of these, basically just check with me first or prepare for substitutions.

Never is for, well, never. I will not eat that. Sometimes it’s a taste, sometimes a texture, sometimes I just plain don’t like it! Point is, not gonna eat it. Ever.

There are a few things in this category I listed in bold (not on the screen caps) because I have an actual horrendous involuntary reaction to them! (It’s stuff like applesauce, grits, oatmeal, etc. anything that can be classified as “gruel” triggers my gag reflex and I end up nearly vomiting with tears and snot running down my face. It’s ugly. Double hard no!)

Then there’s the Unknown category. I joke that I’ve got the flavor palette of a 5 year old, but really there’s just a lot of stuff I haven’t tried. Or haven’t tried often enough to come to a conclusion about them yet. Hence, unknown! I put this in to explain the thought of he can try this stuff, but I literally have no idea what my reaction to it will be. I could love it, could hate it, could love it in one thing but hate it in another! I don’t know yet!

I also in the second screenshot separated them into categories for ease of finding and shopping. Makes it easier for people who aren’t me to find what they’re looking for.

But the interesting thing for me is that I made the list first and separated into categories later. So I found out things about myself I didn’t know! Like, I just don’t seem to like any fruits and berries consistently! None whatsoever! Never knew that! Also makes sense why I’m not keen on pie!

But I’m very proud of my list and my self-reflections and wanted to share! Hopefully it helps others who are particular about their food to explain their preferences to others!

What I find interesting about Boromir being the first of the fellowship to succumb to the ring is that it wasn't because he was evil or less pure of heart than the others, but because he didn't truly believe the ring was evil or that it answered only to Sauron, he thought he could use it make it answer to him. It was only after he tried to take it from Frodo that he realized he was wrong.

I don't think people without sensory sensitivities understand that what I'm asking of them is no more than I ask of myself.

I practice ways to avoid setting off both my own sensitivities and the sensitivities of others. I've taught myself to chew and swallow as quietly as possible, to scoop ice cream and stir tea without clinking the metal spoon against the side of the ceramic cup, to not smack my lips, to never clear my throat unless there is no other option and then to only do it once or twice. I repress my stim of touching my nose and upper lip when in the presence of one of my siblings because for some reason it bothers them (they don't have sensory sensitivities so I'm not sure why they dislike it, but I'll respect their preference).

I don't choose to have these. I would get rid of them if I could, but no amount of exposure and trying to stay calm has vanquished them. My sensitivities come and go as they please, and some have been with me for as long as I remember.

Yet somehow when I ask others to not set off my sensitivities, I'm told that I am overly sensitive, lazy, and just trying to annoy them.

Okay, you guys were excited about this so here's how I would have written the Water Tribe characters as an Inupiaq

Note: this is entirely for fun and is based on my cultural experiences as well as my personal taste in media. There's no way I actually expect Nickelodean would let any of the darker content fly, nor am I trying to play script doctor or say any of this should have been canon. I have my own writings for that. I'm also not bothering to assign them Inupiaq names for the sake of simplicity and ease of communication.

Sokka

Sokka would be named after Bato's father who was killed in one of the Fire Nation raids. He would have dismissed the idea he was Bato's reincarnated dad whenever it was used to embarass him (usually courtesy of Katara calling him a grumpy old man) but go along with it when it was a positive thing like Bato calling him "little dad" or people saying he was brave like the one he was named after. He would probably use more Inupiat language than Katara, because he was less interested in works of fiction and poetry that were available from the rest of the world. He reads weather conditions, the process of learning that from his father was his first introduction to science, and respects the animals he hunts.

Katara

Named after her mother's uncle, who showed signs of waterbending skill but kept it hidden so he wouldn't be taken away. A bunch of her and Sokka's little cousins call her Grandpa and she later jokes to Aang they should have called him that because he's the one who's technically over 100 years old. More likely to explain cultural things than Sokka, who prefers to let them observe and figure it out, but knows more of the traditional stories. Even Sokka will admit she's a better storyteller than him. Eventually everyone who travels with them asks her for a story and she gives her best every time

Kanna

Still dumped Pakku for his suffocating ideas of a woman's place but also over some family drama he wouldn't let go of. Her grandchildren make a point that she has sworn to never drum, dance, or sing, and won't even be in the same room as it until the War ends

Bato, Kya, and Hakoda

Bato and Hakoda have labrets now. Hakoda is not just a prankster, but also a skilled dancer. Bato and Kya were both known for the beautul masks they made

Yue

I've already said she's the closest to perfect rep the series has, so all I'd add was scenes of her alone with Sokka's carving. She'd try to find ways to explain to him, holding the carving and talking to it as if it was him, that it wouldn't work out between them, as much as she'd want it too. Stuff like "You've had great adventures and that's exciting, but I don't want that for myself" and "You don't understand, I have a life here and I can't go galavanting off and leave it all behind" and ultimately deciding it would just hurt him more.

Arnook

We'd get to see more of his governing, specifically in the form of figuring out what to do with Fire Nation soldiers taken prisoner. When the Fire Nation says that a few foot soldiers aren't worth calling off the seige, Arnook gives them the choice to live among them and try to assimilate, or take their chances on the tundra. Terrified and abandoned in a strange, dangerous land, two of them agree to stay. The other one decides to take the banishment because he will not live under another nation's rule. Later, when Aang says they can't just leave Zuko behind, we see ravens picking at shreds of a Fire Nation soldier's uniform. This underlines the nature of Arnook's decision to give the soldiers options and shows that he hates senselessly throwing away people's lives.

Pakku

Still unwilling to teach Katara and firmly held to the belief that women shouldn't fight, but specifically as a result of his sister dying after defending against an animal that would have killed her and an unconscious friend. Some bitter part of him thinks the (male) friend should have died instead, even though said friend was Kanna's favorite cousin. Less smug and convinced he's always in the right, more sad and prone to anger, still as unpleasant to be around.

Hahn

His mother was a shaman, or something close to it, with a special connection to the spirit world, who asked the moon to breathe life into Yue. The youngest of three brothers, Hahn was the only one not to go missing on a hunt. Rather than believe they're dead like everyone else, he insists that he will find them someday. He's happened upon various animal spirits before and can painlessly finish off large game with his bare hands. Knowing the spirits are on his side as well as the attention his skills as a hunter have gotten him have made him arrogant. He has the dream of Yue sacrificing herself instead of Arnook, but he mistakes it for Yue sacrificing herself for Sokka, starting the animosity between them.

Hama

Taken from the Southern Water Tribe but after being kept prisoner, a man of minor Fire Nation nobility decides to keep her as a maid, mistreating her and eventually forcing her to marry him. They have a son, who ends up being the first person Hama bloodbends into the underground cave. She accuses the woman on a nearby property of bewitching her son and making him disappear, and the next full moon she bloodbends the unwanted husband into that cave. The people are convinced and the woman is driven away. More people disappear, regardless of class but nevertheless people around her. She plays up the grieving just enough that no one could ever suspect it's her. She's assumed to be cursed and lonely, and so when she leaves this house where her family was taken from her, people understand. When she weeps that the curse must have followed her after the first full moon she lived in that town, the people show her pity. A few suspect her, but they are shut down as being cold and heartless.

I think one of Turgon's weakness and greatness is that he loves too deeply. He doesn't have many who he deems "close," but once he accepts someone inside his boundaries, they become "his people," someone who he carves a part of his mind for. And when he loses them, his grief is too great; so much that sometimes it will clouds his reasons. (This also applies for inanimate objects)

When Elenwe dies, Turgon forms a great hate towards the Feanorians (totally understandable) - his love for her hurts so much that he has to channel it into another emotion; and I think his hate was the answer. Likewise, when Aredhel was killed by Eol, Turgon executes Eol, ignoring Aredhel's last plea to show him mercy. Losing a loved one to Turgon leaves him... more violent, I should say.

And I think that Turgon's love and guilt towards Aredhel was passed on to her son Maeglin; it was the partial reason as to why in the later years Turgon came to favor his nephew's council more so than his daughter's. This needless to say did not work so well for Gondolin. (you should always listen to Idril) As for Gondolin, he loved it too greatly. He did not heed Ulmo's counsel till late. Thus his love for it drove its destruction.

Of course this is not 100% negative; if you love someone/something like that, they tend to be loyal back to you - so maybe that's why so many followed him to Gondolin; him, a secondborn son under an already existing great king. Think of Glorfindel and Ecthelion, all the mighty names and remember that they followed him into unknown lands for a secret city. And he was not High King then.

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*

If you allow me to add to your Celebrimbor post... I think something that gets underestimate in just how effective Annatar was as a disguise is the fact that in any other occasion in which we see Sauron being his manipulative lying bastard self, he is up against people who EXPECT him to be just that. Clear example is in Numenor, where he has to start from the position of "dangerous captive enemy". But as Annatar, he starts as a blank slate, only thing going against him is a general mistrust in Demigods Walking Out Of The Woods. So I imagine him just starting by being nice, and observing, and then morphing his all mask in the perfect tool to manipulate Celebrimbor. This isn't a question of being stupid, it's a very experienced manipulator making himself into the perfect disguise (probably even including enough defects not to be TOO perfect). Incidentally, i also headcanon this as the reason why everybody else (Gil-Galad, galadriel...) mistrust him immediately: the disguise is tailor made to bypass all the defences of one specific person, cannot be one size fits all. So, yeah, our Feanorian boy is everything but stupid for not managing to see what is going on, and it's actually impressive he eventually manages to catch up with enough to decide to make the three in secret...

You are totally welcome to add anon!! 

ajfsjfd anon I just love this SO much, I don’t know where to start. Especially the part about Galadriel and Gil-Galad because I think you are so right. Annatar doesn’t need to fool them in the way he has to fool Celebrimbor. They can be suspicious, it won’t ruin his plan. 

And I completely agree. I love that you bring up Númenor because it is an excellent example of Mairon being Mairon since that is who he is supposed to be as you said. 

Anon everything you said here, I agree with so much. Especially the part about Annatar’s beginnings. He has to gain Celebrimbor’s trust so of course he’s going to be tailor-made to be someone who can be friends with Celebrimbor. I also don’t believe there is an exact date for this (please correct me if there is) but I can’t help but wonder if Celebrimbor had recently (recently for an elf) lost Narvi. I see them as being incredibly good friends and I think it would seriously hurt him, leaving him in a state of vulnerability. Annatar fills that void. Not completely, he’s not Narvi, but it’s something that soothes the rough edges and makes him feel less empty inside. 

But yes, Annatar is honestly a tribute to Mairon’s genius. It’s his greatest scheme. However, Celebrimbor, like you said, was still too smart for him in the end. Or smart enough. Either way, Annatar isn’t able to get what he wants and Celebrimbor has one small victory in the end. 

I just love the way you summarize all of this since I think it hits the nail on the head for all of this. Thank you so much for sharing!

Names for Nandor

I don’t like the term Nandor and I’ll explain why after I explain a little about the etymologies of Tolkien’s Elvish. There are three different timelines to know about when talking about it; internal, external and publication history. Internal History is the history of Tolkien’s languages in-verse. So when Paul Strack (and I will be following his example) says “primitive,” “ancient,” “archaic” or “old,” he is describing the languages history in-verse. External is how Tolkien’s languages changed throughout his life. So when Paul Strack describes a language as “early,” “middle,” “late,” “earlier,” and “later,” he is referring to the external development of Tolkien’s Languages. Publication history is self-explanatory in that it’s the order that information about Elvish languages was published to the general public.

Having explained that, my first issue with the term Nandor is that no one in-verse uses it, except for some Noldorin Historians in Aman and knew nothing about what happened to the group after they refused to cross Hithaeglir, and they could only remember that the leader was named Lenwë (WJ). This is like Washington Irving’s “A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus,” where Irving uses sources to write an adventure story framed as a historical biography and now Columbus “discovered North America.” And that’s not even my biggest issue with the word Nandor.

My biggest issue with using Nandor is it’s etymology and internal history. As many people know, the Quenyan word Nandor means, “those who go back.” (SI). This is supposedly referring to how this group refused to cross Hithaeglir. That bits not what I have an issue with… Nandor is derived from the root (n)dan- which describes the reversal of an action or to undo something. The full definition from the War of the Jewels, is “…indicating the reversal of an action, so as to undo or nullify its effect, as in ‘undo, go back (the same way), unsay, give back (the same gift: not another in return).” (n)dan- itself is derived from the primitive form ndando, which means “one who goes back on his word or decision (WJ).” And that last bit is why I hate Nandor. It’s implying that “these are people who will go back on their word, and will flake out at the slightest misfortune.” Words and meanings change, of course, but would a race that has a long memory, loves to give names and plays with language for fun, really not know what they were doing naming their kin that?

Here’s a list of alternative terms;

Danwaith (S.) this was used by the Sindarin lore masters, though sometimes they confused it with Denwaith. This is formed from the words [dan] and [gwaith], which becomes [waith] later in Sindarin. [Gwaith] refers to a group of people and [dan] means “back to,” so the name means “People who go back.” Lenwë (Q.) is the leaders Quenyan name, but his other name is Denweg, hence the confusion. Danwaith, as far as I can tell, is a carryover from when Denweg’s name was Dan, which I’ll get to in a moment (WJ). This term is used to describe those who initially did not cross Hithaeglir.

Dana (Nan.) This is actually from Tolkien’s Middle period (external), and the only Middle period one I’ll go over, so I wouldn’t recommend using it, But I’ll give a quick overview. During this time, the leader of the Dana was named Dan (or Dân) and this is what the Dana called themselves. However, as you might recall, in-verse, (n)dan- come from ndando, so it’s unlikely that they’d refer to themselves as that. It’s other forms are Danas (pl.) and it’s angelized version Danian (LR, WJ, PE). This term is used to describe those who initially did not cross Hithaeglir.

Lindi (Nan.) This is the one I use to refer to the whole of the clan. When the Lindi first came into Beleriand, they called themselves Lindai, which is the old Teleri clan name (Lindâi -> Lindai -> Lindi (Nan) or Lindar (Q.)), but it had become Lindi in their tongue (WJ). Derived from the Sindar or directly from the Lindi, this is also what the Noldorin exiles used. This is derived from the primitive Elvish word lindā meaning “sweet sounding.” The singular is probably Lind (WJ, PE). 

Lindil (S.) After the Sindar recognized the Lindil as kin, they adopted the name Lindi and gave it the form Lindil or Lindedhil (WJ). This is used to describe the Elves who followed Denethor to Beleriand.

Laegel (S.) This term later replaced Lindil among the Sindar. It means “Green-Elf,” which is a familiar term for us all! It’s plural is Laegil and it’s class plural is either Laegrim or Laegel(d)rim (WJ).  This is used to describe the Elves who followed Denethor to Beleriand. Green-Elf is also used to describe them.

Laiquendi (Q.) This is the Quenyan translation of Laegel. It was translated by the Noldor, though it was not used very much (WJ). This is used to describe the Elves who followed Denethor to Beleriand.

Tawarwaith (S.) This term translates to “Forest (tawar) People (gwaith),” and is a term used to describe Silvan Elves. (UT)

Galadrim (Nan.) is a collective plural that means “Tree-People,” and is used to refer to the Elves of Lórien. The Sindarin equivalent is Galadhrim

Silvan (Eng.) Alt. Sylvan. This is used to describe Elves who never made it to Beleriand, but may have stayed in the Vale of Anduin or settled elsewhere. Other non-Elvish words to call these Elves include, Wood-Elves, Woodland Elves and East-Elves.

First draft commentary

Please consider: If Tolkien wasn't a coward Feanor would have been female and it would have been way cooler. a) Gives some real weight to the idea that Feanor was worried the crown would go to one of Finwe's other kids. b) More ladies in Tolkien, always a plus. c) You'd better believe Feanor's the greatest craftsperson of the Noldor- she made 7 of them! (Also the sheer drama of newly single mum Feanor and her 7 boys in Middle Earth) d) Silmarils as kids2.0 e) Blacksmith lady hot

Lady Feanor would indeed be awesome. The historical part of my brain can't help but think that critics of the time would have unfortunately interpreted ambitious kick butt single mom Feanor as a prime example of the "monstrous woman" type, ala Medea or something, who "got what was coming to her" in the end, so in a way I'm glad that the Prof. decided to write Feanor as a man so that we didn't have to deal with that nonsense.

I can't help but wonder if he'd lived at a later date if he might have considered female Feanor, I mean, this is a man who took one look at one is Shakespeare's most famous plays and said, "the answer to the prophesy is a C-section?? Booooo! Macbeth should have been killed by a woman! (And also the trees should have actually come alive)" and "its bogus that Orpheus turned around after all that and Eurydice had to die! Rip to them but if i were trapped in the underworld my wife would be different!"

And then proceeded to write his own genderbent fix it fic of both of those perennial works x)

So yeah, I think if the character had come into his head as female then Tolkien would have 100% been down with it

Thingol had the Silmaril the whole time he fostered Turin, right? Like, it was probably sitting down in his vaults somewhere and maybe sometimes he or Mablung would go have a peep to make sure it was still there.

But like. Turin. Smol baby. Bad luck charm. Walking doom magnet. Imagine if he’d gotten his hands on the shiny shiny jewel. How much chaos he could have started. The Tale of Turin Turambar and the Seven Sons of Feanor.

I'm going to learn to make lactose free, extra spice eggnog. I'm done with the super sweet stuff with just a hint of nutmeg that they sell at my grocery store. A small sack of nutmeg is no longer worth enough to set you up for life!!! Give me more!!!

This is my belated @officialtolkiensecretsanta gift for @arlenianchronicles. Both my laptop and my phone up and died on me (in December... I've got conspiracy theories if anyone wants to hear them), so this was rewritten and posted on a computer loaned to me by a very generous and patient family member. Merry Christmas, y'all!

by Penelope_S

In the midst of a desert, a wanderer comes across a journeyer whose face is hauntingly familiar, though they have never met.

Words: 2320, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen

Characters: Daeron (Tolkien), Aragorn | Estel, OC inhabitants of southeastern Middle Earth

Additional Tags: Daeron’s been mourning Lúthien’s disappearance for ages, I decided that he needs to do something more constructive with his life, Storytelling, deus ex machina-ed culture in an unspecified part of southeastern ME

[ID: a black and white one-panel comic featuring a displeased Lobelia Sackville-Baggins in the foreground washing dishes in Bag End and Lotho Sackville-Baggins in the background moving a box. In the top left corner is written "Bag End, September 24, S. R. 1418" End ID] I love it!!! Thank you!!!

Here’s my @officialtolkiensecretsanta​ 2020 gift for @penelopes-poppies​! She wanted a character-motivation study so I was planning to write a fic but unfortunately I’m having a health problem that’s making it difficult to type comfortably for long stretches; however, she did also mention the idea of Lobelia and Lotho Sackville-Baggins rolling into Bag End after Frodo leaves for Buckland…and finding a ton of disorganization and dirty dishes to do! So here’s a little cartoon of that. (Lobelia is doing the dishes because Lotho is one of those guys who’s semi-deliberately inept at housework so mommy dearest will do it for him–poor Lobelia!)

Merry Christmas, @penelopes-poppies​!

I try not to post about real life serious stuff, but there’s been a lot of… unfortunate essays written about how it is Zuko’s duty to help Azula because Iroh helped him.

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but it is never your ‘duty’ to stick around and help someone through person through their mental illness. That is redoubled when they are abusive or put you in physical danger.

I think most people realize that cartoons do not equal real life and liberties can and SHOULD be taken for fiction, but this trope seems to be gaining traction so I gotta put it out there. When the cabin pressure drops and someone you love is going through a mental breakdown, make sure you put the oxygen mask over your own face first before you help them with theirs. If you know what I mean.

I've got it, I've figured out how to tie in every Gil-galad parentage into one, even the "descendent of Feanor" one.

There's some random hunting trip during the Long Peace where Fingon, Orodreth, Finrod and Maedhros all just happen to be together, find some cute random orphaned ellon, and decided to jointly adopt him and just share custody. How's that for "Scion of Kings"?

To maintain proper focus while writing, I like to make my characters smokin hot.

-JRR Tolkien (probably)

Unseen JRR Tolkien essays on Middle-earth coming in 2021

The Nature of Middle-earth will cover topics including Elvish immortality, the geography of Gondor – and which races could grow beards

‘The new collection, which is authorised by the Tolkien estate, will be called The Nature of Middle-earth, and will be published in June by HarperCollins, which promised it would “transport readers back to the world of The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales and The Lord of the Rings”.’ —

‘The writings will be edited by Carl F Hostetter, a Tolkien expert and head of the Elvish Linguistic Fellowship who has been a computer engineer at Nasa since 1985. Hostetter previously worked with Tolkien’s youngest son Christopher, who curated the author’s posthumous output until his death in January, aged 95.‘

Ok but autistic Tolkien elves.

Elves who get so easily overwhelmed by all they can hear and see and sense.  The Lord Elrond teaches them how to focus themselves on the waterfall of Imladris, and a small number of them go to its base every morning and close their eyes and focus in on just the rushing water.  The Lady Galadriel teaches another approach–to climb the tallest tree in the Golden woods and sit in its high branches and watch wordless Arien or Tilion glide through Varda’s silent realm.

Autistic elves who stim with tree bark, tracing its intricacies and seeing how deep they can sense the textures.  Elves stimming in the rivers and teaching the allistic elves how best to move with the water, and Ulmo blessing their dancing because while the allistic may have a connection to the waters, the autistic elves in their hypersensitivity discover new ways of moving that mimic the musics Ulmo still remembers in the Creation of the World.

Autistic elves finding a special kind of kinship with autistic humans and even dwarves, and wanting to help teach them how to be good and kind to themselves.  Autistic elves whose special interests are language or autism itself writing tomes in human languages for doctors on what they’ve found makes them happiest and healthiest throughout the ages.

Autistic elves with special interests in orc and goblin culture helping travelers learn how to spot the signs that they could be walking into a dangerous area and using their knowledge to help keep travelers safe.  

Autistic elves being a deeply positive part of elven society.

but if i don’t hyperfixate i’ll get depressed and die

You know what the Fire Nation is missing? Lizards. Have you ever gone to a tropical place? There are just: Lizards. You see a wall, there is a lizard. You go walking, you find lizards. Azula is talking? There is a lizard trying to figure out how to get to the other side. Zuko is being dramatic? There is a lizard in the background as public. The escape from the boiling rock? A lizard also tags along. Just lizards, they really know how to set the ambient 

[Frodo] appears at first to have had no sense of guilt (III 224-5) he was restored to sanity and peace. But then he thought that he had given his life in sacrifice: he expected to die very soon. But he did not, and one can observe the disquiet growing in him. Arwen was the first to observe the signs, and gave him her jewel for comfort, and thought of a way of healing him.

[It is not made explicit how she could arrange this. She could not of course just transfer her ticket on the boat like that! For any except those of Elvish race ‘sailing West’ was not permitted, and any exception required ‘authority’, and she was not in direct communication with the Valar, especially not since her choice to become ‘mortal’. What is meant is that it was Arwen who first thought of sending Frodo into the West, and put in a plea for him to Gandalf (direct or through Galadriel, or both), and she used her own renunciation of the right to go West as an argument. Her renunciation and suffering were related to and enmeshed with Frodo’s: both were parts of a plan for the regeneration of the state of Men. Her prayer might therefore be specially effective, and her plan have a certain equity of exchange. No doubt it was Gandalf who was the authority that accepted her plea.] -Letter #246

The entire letter is worth reading re:Frodo, but I love how it’s Arwen who noticed how Frodo was traumatized, Arwen who comes up with a plan to help him, and Arwen who initially argues his case, not Gandalf or Galadriel or Elrond. She was no doubt thinking of her mother, but I also wonder if her choosing to be mortal played into realizing how much the Ring had hurt Frodo, giving her a visceral understanding of how he didn’t have all the ages of Arda to recover but only a limited time. 

(Side note: it’s not explicit, but I firmly believe Arwen made the white jewel that she gives Frodo. Arwen as a weaver and jewelsmith both? Yesssss.)

My BIGGEST pet peeve when it comes to Tolkien is how people will sometimes characterize Melkor’s rebellion as being about him wanting to do his own thing and rebelling against Illuvatar’s oppressive sheet music.

THERE WAS NO SHEET MUSIC!  Illuvatar wasn’t forcing anything.  The Ainulindale was improv.  Illuvatar just gave them the theme, the idea, the feeling, the starting point.  The Ainur were drawing inspiration from the thought of Illuvatar, sure, and so long as they were in harmony the music played precisely as Illuvatar intended because Illuvatar had created them and knew how they worked together.  But the music of the Ainur before Melkor’s dissonance was quintessentially creative, as well as corroborative.  It was spontaneous, perfect harmony of free individuals perfectly in tune with each other, whose improvisations were constantly building upon each other.

Melkor’s rebellion was not about asserting his freedom of expression, because his expression was already free.  Instead it was explicitly about making his own voice louder and more important than anyone else’s, and subjugating the creativity of others to instead convince or force them to follow him exactly in repetitive unison.  And so, when Melkor’s goal became drown everyone else out, instead of make beautiful music together, his music became less creative, less innovative, and less his.

So it kind of annoys me when people talk about Melkor like he’s all for freedom of expression when he’s pretty much the opposite of that.