#eisoj5

This week's rec is a fic I felt the desire to re-read (again)

i guess i’ll know when i get there

How the OT might have gone had the Rogue One crew survived the mission. Wonderfully plotty while still focused on the characters and their relationships.

@eisoj5 I am DELIGHTED that you asked about this one because YES that is part 2 of the big post-Hobbit films Tauriel-centric fic 'verse called out of storms where I did post the first chapter on AO3 after having sat on it for years.

I still have thoughts about this one and want to get back to it eventually-- second fic features Tauriel traveling to Lothlórien, learning a fair amount about her parents iirc (her father Telvolas was from Lothlórien, so her parents met there before moving to Eryn Galen and becoming a polycule with Thranduil and his wife, Nindaras), processing some of her grief in a safe place, and getting the opportunity to look into a certain mirror!!!

She also befriends Haldir (who is genderfluid because I do what I want) and Arwen (who lives in Lothlórien full time at this point and has probably heard about young Estel through letters, but hasn't been home in Rivendell for a very long time!) who are important to the overall fic series because they also fall in love with mortals. I remember feeling really drawn to the idea of this little elvish friend group, including Legolas, all having mortal loves, so pairings are Tauriel/Kíli, Legolas/Gimli (eventually), Aragorn/Arwen (eventually), and Haldir/Halbarad. For the last pairing, which is very much a rarepair, Haldir spends some years as a courier between Lothlórien and Rivendell and also travels to see Tauriel when she moves to the Angle in Arnor and lives with the Dúnedain. Also I've always had a really soft spot for him and for Halbarad, Aragorn's kinsman and assumed second in command / leader of the Grey Company.

Part of this fic series is absolutely my immediate reaction to the end of the third Hobbit film when I thought it didn't make a damn bit of sense for Legolas to leave Mirkwood and to travel westward to Arnor/Eriador-- but Tauriel? Needing change while she shoulders her grief? Yeah.

It's... been a long time for this fic. Part one was written and posted in 2015, yikes. But I do have every intention of coming back to it eventually and exploring those ideas.

There is one question he needs to ask, the one he has been avoiding all this time, though it has lingered in the shadows of the room like a specter. It feels as if it takes all the tattered remnants of his strength to ask it. “Is my father dead?” Senua turns and looks at him, stricken, but it is Ástríðr who answers with a snarl of contempt: “He’s alive. He’s an exile.”

XD *runs away*

Josie, that is diabolical, lol

Okay, this is the section in chapter 1 that has the most "and"s in it!!!!

The Goði beats him bloody, throws him down into the dirt. Thórgestr shudders and cries—crawls back to his father’s feet, his guts spilling out and steaming on the ground. His father reaches down to him from a towering height, and for a breathless moment, Thórgestr thinks he will pull him to his feet and turn a loving hand upon him. But the giant holds him fast, tears into his flesh and digs until he finds his heart, crushing it in his fist. Thórgestr’s vision twists and writhes like an animal in death-throes, and then the world glows red. He rises from death and wields sword and axe like tooth and claw, become now a revenant, a draugr of legend. He makes himself kinslayer to match Áleifr.

Josie!!! Very pleased to have the chance to yell a little about now I'm tracin' all my steps to you, even though picking ONE THING is very difficult. The entire concept of Depatar and their permits / paperwork for everything plus the hilarious things that Luke and Bodhi have to sign for is honestly endless amounts of hilarity and I salute you for bringing this fic to us. Here's the section I'm picking, though if you throw more ♥️s at me, I could come up with more!

They buy kebabs from a cart on a street corner between shops, braised brualki with spicy red peppers wedged onto skewers that Luke’s eager to get his hands on. But when Bodhi attempts to order Menkooro the owner of the food stand, a diminutive Ardennian, glowers and points two of her six hands directly at Luke. “How old is he?”

“What? Oh, he’s—” Bodhi throws a startled look over his shoulder. “Wait, how old are you?”

Luke gapes at him in dismay—how old does Bodhi think he is? “I’m twenty-five!”

“Are you sure?” The Ardennian narrows her eyes. “I don’t have a permit to sell to anyone younger than twenty-three.”

Luke beckons Ayy over a little frantically to show the identification tied to his ‘costume’ and therefore the permits. “I’ve been old enough to drink on my homeworld since I was a lot younger than twenty-three,” he mutters.

“Those rules don’t apply here,” Ayy reminds him, as the Ardennian looks over the datapad in question and, apparently mollified, sets a couple of tumblers and a bottle of Menkooro on her cart counter while Bodhi sorts through his credits to pay. “Although there’s at least one tapcafe on the other side of town that allows the consumption of mind-altering substances at an age you might find more amenable to your specific life experiences, so long as a minor’s designated guardian has—”

“Signed a permit, I got it,” Luke says. He eyes the tumblers. “Do we need one to be able to walk around with open drinks?”

Ayy beams at him and holds out the datapad. “Wonderful! You’re catching on!”

SO FUNNY!!! I also really love the commentary about how young Luke looks. Bodhi having no idea how old Luke is is very funny and also... #relatable.

For my 🗨️ with fell in love with the fire long ago, sorry I know I'm Mairon obsessed right now, but I'm overdue for talking about how much I enjoyed writing cat!Mairon making air biscuits and slow-blinking at Artanis:

“Don’t,” a voice drawls when she strides over and rests a hand on the top book.

It’s Mairon’s voice, soft and amused, coming from the direction of the window, the chair—the cat.

Artanis looks back and finds two golden eyes staring at her now. Mairon stretches one paw upward, flexing tiny claws.

“It’s not ready yet,” he says. “Besides, I left all my materials back at the Forge. It will be better when it isn’t on paper.”

Artanis has many things she wants to say, but what comes out of her mouth instead is, “Why are you a cat right now?”

Mairon rolls over and blinks at her very slowly, twice.

I heard Charlie Vickers's voice (how fondly amused he sounded when he said "don't start" in ROP to Galadriel!) and then... you know, I just think it's funny that Mairon feels free to say affectionate things in cat body language when he absolutely cannot say them with words just yet. (It's the slow blinks for me, folks!!!!)

Tagged by @eisoj5, thank you so much!

3 ships: My three biggest right now are probably Haoti/Valira, Elyn/Brennu, and Binx/Andhera, because of who I am as a person.

1st ever ship: First romance I got wildly excited about in fiction was probably Beauty. First romance I shipped that was non-canon was Dorothy/Ozma. First ship I read significant fic for was Bella/Edward (more as original romance novels, though I was a fan of the books). First ship I wrote for was, obviously, Arthur/Merlin!

last song: Tongue-tied by Emily Portman

last movie: Falling for Christmas on Netflix, I think

currently reading: The Far West by Patricia C. Wrede

currently watching: Leverage: Redemption, Abbott Elementary, various bad Netflix cooking shows, a few Dropout things

currently consuming: Just finished some Thai noodle salad.

currently craving: A visit to the ocean!!! So much.