Anyway, Post-canon/resurrected/reborn/survival AU/Halls Of Mandos Fëanor Is Much More Interesting To

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.

Nerdanel: What are these?!

Fëanor: Dwarf costumes.

Nerdanel: Why? Have you lost your mind?!

Fëanor: How many dwarves in Snow-White?

Nerdanel: Seven.

Fëanor: How many sons do we have?

Nerdanel: ...seven.

Fëanor: Et voilà.

@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.

@feanorianweek day ii; maglor the minstrel

And when this new star was seen at evening, Maedhros spoke to Maglor his brother, and he said: ‘Surely that is a Silmaril that shines now in the West?’ And Maglor answered: ‘If it be truly the Silmaril which we saw cast into the sea that rises again by the power of the Valar, then let us be glad for its glory is seen now by many, and is yet secure from all evil.’ Then the Elves looked up, and despaired no longer.

- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion, “Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath”

[ ID: A 12-picture edit for Maglor from the Tolkien legendarium. The prevalent colours are a green-ish gold and purple. Here’s what the images show:

black text on white background, reading “sole survivor”

The model Noh Seoung Hwa, an east asian man, facing front. He’s wearing a blazer and multiple rings

a detail from a baroque painting, showing a bushy sleeve with gold decor

white text on purple background reading “kanafinwe makalaure” and “maglor”

a bay by night with a reddish moon above

a yellow gem

a golden baroque-style harp

cut-open fig fruits

white text on purple background reading “greatest minstrel of the noldor”

golden glitter on the clavicle of a light-skinned person

Noh Seoung Hwa wearing a crown. His face is only visible from the eyes upwards

A crowd of people with swords shrouded in purple mist

End ID ]

Y’all should check out Four Seasons Landscaping’s facebook. They keep posting memes and it’s hilarious

jedi hopscotch. jedi padawans drawing hopscotch squares on floors, using jedi knights’ shoulders to chalk hopscotch onto the walls, having their masters force lift them to put them on the ceilings. every single jedi who sets foot on a square, intentionally or not, must stop what they are doing and complete the sequence. your ridiculously billowing sleeve brushed one of the squares on the wall? hope you have good control of the force bc every padawan in the hallway will start chanting at you until you wall-run through the hopscotch. sometimes there’s just a big chalk circle at the end where everyone has to do a cool flip if they step inside. eventually there’s an official hopscotch lane in every hallway in the temple. jedi hopscotch.

“But you always have to watch Tolkien with water. He never uses it unmeaningfully. Pools and lakes mirror stars, and hold hidden things. The Anduin has contrastin banks and, moreover, reeks of history. In a way, it is history, and the Fellowship is going with the current, to break up in confusion at the falls of Rauros. It is worth pointing out that when Aragorn later uses the same river, he comes up it, against the current, changing a course of events that seems inevitable. The other water is of course the Sea. This has been sounding dimly in our ears throughout the book, but in Lothlorien it begins to thunder. Does it suggest loss, departure and death? Certainly. But since water is always life to Tolkien, it must also be eternity.”

— Diana Wynne Jones, ‘The Shape of the Narrative in The Lord of the Rings.’

[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.)

*Advisor to high king Elessar voice* You can go play with your friends after you finish your politics

silm fandom what's your wisdom?