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Day 4 | What Could Have Been | Elia with the Mountain’s Head

he just didn’t involve Indis for this one.

Of course Fëanor felt threatened by his baby brother being named that way… there’s a note on him worrying about his position as heir because Finwë initially named all three of his sons Finwion (later adding Curu- Nolo- Ara-), which especially makes sense when you know that “Finwë” basically functioned as a title for “King” later on (which is why Fingolfin adds a ‘fin’ when he claims Kingship). 

But pasting together a name that is made up out of the elements of his own name + title Noldoran (which actually means king of all Noldor) in much the same way as Findis is Finwe Indis…. Nolofinwë.

 What exactly was Finwë thinking because it might not have been the intent at all but…how else was Fëanor supposed to take it? The Noldor make fairly subtle changes in pronunciation into a political issue, naming your son from your new, improved, Valar-blessed marriage for what sounds like your own name (which often functions as a title) + the word for wisdom which just so happens to sound like the start of your official title… 

It does, it really really does.

Men are rendered as big and sexually animalistic and obviously subhumanly ‘backwards’, culturally, but like in a hot way(rooted in western anxieties around white masculinity and the need to ‘protect’ white women, it is intended to frame the subjects as sexual threats, jut now reinterpreted for a fetishistic western audience.) and the women are pretty, servile, sexually available and would do anything for a buck(reflective of the history of sex tourism, trafficking and exploitation that followed imperialist intervention and economic hardship in their region)

It’s not always clear-cut and binary though, one thing we can infer from things like the “his eyes have a sadness you only see in Eastern European gay porn” jokes and the theming of certain gay porn websites where the kayfabe is primarily a fantasy of financial sexual coercion of passively unwilling young former-Soviet men and how that parallels the real, historical sexual exploitation of young men(and women) by western pornographers after the illegal dissolution of the USSR(more on that), and the way muscular or otherwise gender-nonconforming women are talked about especially in primarily queer western spaces, it’s very clear that the sexually dominant/violent brute archetype and the sexually submissive/servile sexworker archetype aren’t gender-locked, especially not when you stray from the heterosexual context.

So yes, it does very much make sense. And also at least prior to WWII, East Asian men were also hypersexualised as dangerous, sexually-menacing civilisational threats(Yellow peril) before desexualized emasculation became the primary role they occupied in the western imagination, and Arab women are also often reduced to a very similar stereotype to East Asian and Russian women, so at certain points in history, it was all even more similar across the board.

Baelor physically was taller and broader than Maekar until Maekar hit puberty. But to everyone’s amusement Maekar represents as an omega while Baelor, as expected from the King’s favorite heir, represents as an alpha.

Though he is an omega, Maekar is a skilled combatant and a very confident warrior in his own prowess, more than Baelor himself. Maekar keeps beating his ass off during sparring much to their mother’s disapproval.

Myriah is visibly shameful of her youngest (because high born omegas are meant to be graceful and gentle and not the opposite) and tries everything to marry Maekar off to any lords.

So to appease his mother, Maekar requests his father to hold a tourney where any man who can defeat him in combat, may have his hand in marriage. Baelor, who is betrothed to Lady Jena of Dondarrion at that time, is opposed to this yet say nothing to Maekar since no one else can have his brother unless they have his permission.

Until the next day, Baelor appears among the other possible contenders (and suitors) in his famous Targaryen armor.

Notably, Sirion is the explicit destination of:

The refugees of Gondolin, an extremely isolationist polity which did not contribute to the Siege of Angband; did not respond to the Dagor Bragollach, despite their proximity to Tol Sirion; did not admit refugees; and only barely joined the Union of Maedhros. I don't give Turgon much credit for this, because as narratively dramatic as an unannounced relief force is, Turgon denied Fingon and Maedhros the opportunity to plan the battle with the addition of his forces. The western front may not have been the best place for them to be!

The refugees of Doriath, a polity which spent nearly the entire span of Morgoth's residence in Beleriand isolated behind the Girdle, and benefited immensely from the safety brought by the Siege of Angband without contributing anything to it. I am inclined to believe that, considering Thingol's stated distrust of the Northern Sindar, his ban on the Noldor entering Doriath, and the explicit notation that the refugees of Nargothrond were allowed to come to Doriath, that he was not opening his borders to anyone except them.

It is also the likeliest destination for many of the refugees of Nargothrond, who fled to Doriath after Glaurung's attack -- and after Orodreth's ascension to the throne, Nargothrond was increasingly secretive and isolationist and did not join the Union of Maedhros even at Fingon's command. After the Nirnaeth they "did not suffer" other elves to cross their lands, and Annael (Tuor's Mithrim foster-father) ends up in Balar so they were likely turning away all refugees -- and this despite Orodreth's wife canonically being Northern Sindar.

Balar, on the other hand, was the explicit destination of:

(tags via @slashmarks )

wait... this post combined with these tags are making me wonder if gil-galad and/or círdan had some sort of under the table (or perhaps brushed under the rug in the new age) alliance or at least understanding with maedhros

like, elrond and elros are sent from maglor to gil-galad, celegorm saved círdan and the falathrim during dagor-nuin-giliath, like op mentioned all the noldor/northern sindar/edain not necessarily sworn to but with close ties to the fëanorians are on balar, not to mention wherever the fuck celebrimbor is at this point (probably not in sirion with the doriathrim tbh!), so there's probably diplomatic ties floating around somewhere in here!

thank you, hon! it’s nice to be back 😌

Like, I feel like the Huan side of this is... self-evident. Celegorm has thoroughly and comprehensively betrayed the shared values that presmably brought them together as a team. Celegorm has ceased to be the person that Huan thought he was, and no amount of repentance and groveling can resolve that.

From Celegorm's side... his best friend made a very deliberate choice to aid and abet the people trying to take possession of the work of his father's soul. The work that Celegorm, and his father, and all of his brothers, have functionally staked their own souls against the ability to retrieve. And Huan decided to help a pair of fucking strangers take that work into the impenetrable territory of people who 1) hate Celegorm & brothers and 2) are complicit in Aredhel's presumed captivity. Like, damn. I agree that luthien deserved aid escaping Celegorm, but I don't know that my best friend could do something bad enough for me to aid someone in a way that would damn them to eternal darkness, even if it was ultimately the consequences of their own choices. From celegorm's perspective Huan's choice is an absolute cold-blooded betrayal that helps to fuck over not just Celegorm, but every one of his brothers and his father as well.

Everything you said can be correct AND ALSO Huan's actions still reflect on Huan. That depth of disloyalty in a dog makes for a dog that, quite frankly, I would be leery of letting around children. There's Huan-as-character and there's Huan-as-epitome-of-Dog, and fandom on the whole leans really fucking hard on that second aspect without ever reckoning with the fact that, in every sense but the literal, Huan turned around and viciously bit his boy/co-worker/partner.

Part of what we, as a culture/society/humans, want and value in a dog is loyalty. Your parents may neglect you and your spouse may cheat on you and your friends may abandon you but you can trust your dog.

And the plain fact is that you can't say that about Huan. And part of that is the domino effect of the oath, and part of it is Celegorm being a piece of shit! But that doesn't mean that Huan-as-character or Huan-as-dog is excused from the bare fact of his betrayal.

And only his death prevents anyone from actually confronting that.