QUALIFYING ROUND: 89th Tilt

Renly Baratheon, Game of Thrones (2011-2019) VS. Fíli, The Hobbit Trilogy (2012-2014)

Propaganda

Renly Baratheon, Game of Thrones (2011-2019) Portrayed by: Gethin Anthony

“Renly Baratheon was sassy, well-liked, and hot as fuck. Such a good boyfriend that after his death in the books his partner Loras says of taking another lover that, "After the sun has set, no candle can replace it."”

Fíli, The Hobbit Trilogy (2012-2014) Portrayed by: Dean O'Gorman

“Gorgeous lion haired prince. So brave and loyal. I love him.”

Additional Propaganda Under the Cut

Thank you for the ask! 🙂 I haven't written a fake dating/pretend relationship yet, but I could definitely write it and I have actually thought of two OCs that would be perfect to write into this scenario. Let me introduce you to them (I actually love these two).

Tulisa

She's originally from the Blackroot Vale. Her mother was a prominent highborn and one of the most beautiful ladies in the fief. She was originally supposed to marry its lord, but she was accused of practicing witchcraft and participating in rituals reminiscent of those of the old days of Númenor (when Sauron corrupted Ar-Phârazon and everybody started adoring Morgoth and sacrificing people). As a result, her betrothal was called off and the lord of the Blackroot Vale married someone from the Ringló Vale. (I headcanon that the two Vales have somewhat of a rivalry going on and the fact that her intended married someone from the opposing side caused a major scandal and was a major blow to both her reputation and her family's.) She of course never participated in any weird ritual; she was just more knowledgeable than others in medicine and had read books that were usually meant for those working in the Houses of Healing. She was basically interested in science and people made up horrible lies so that the marriage wouldn't take place.

As the news of her rejection on the lord’s part spread rapidly through Gondor—news of this kind travels fast and Gondorians would never miss an opportunity to gossip about others, demean them and be happy about someone's downfall—she was forced to settle for a minor noble who did not love her and whose family did not approve of her. She quickly got pregnant, but the birth was traumatic and she suffered injuries who left her unable to have any more children in the years that followed. Therefore, Tulisa is her only daughter and the apple of her eye. On the other hand, her father never really cared for her because “she's not a son” (usual Gondorian stuff). He completely neglects and essentially doesn't care whether she's alive or dead. She's completely useless to him and he makes it known at any chance he gets. It is Tulisa’s mother who takes care of her, which is highly unusual. Though her father isn't massively influential in the grand scheme of things, he IS a noble and nobles almost always have a whole array of servants doing things for them. That is most certainly not the case with Tulisa and her mother. The latter took an active role in her daughter’s education and taught her everything she knows. As such, Tulisa is an extremely well-mannered person, kind and very shy. She doesn't talk much, both because she is looked down upon wherever she goes (because of what happened to her both) and because she has a secret that no one knows about. She's aro/ace. I don't think it will be explicitly mentioned in the story but she definitely is. While all of her fellow ladies always had crushes on people, she never experienced them and, for a long time, she thought she had never fallen in love because she simply had not met the right person. That was before she ultimately realized she seemed unable to understand romance (she was puzzled by the concept) and downright disgusted by sexual things to the point of throwing up. She mentioned this to her mother—luckily her absentee, crappy father died early—and, after a lengthy discussion with her, her mother (I still have to think of a name for her, but she's too cool to remain unnamed and too cool not to have her own faceclaim) reaches out to her childhood friend Finduilas (Lady of Lamedon and Ithilien).

Finduilas, who is far more open-minded than most Gondorians, knows the truth about Tulisa and thinks nothing of it, and it is through her that the most suitable candidate for marriage is found, although it is basically just a lucky coincidence. Since marrying Faramir, Finduilas has grown quite close with Imrahil and his family. I headcanon Imrahil and Angbor are/were close friends and Imrahil is very happy at the idea that Faramir married a “proper woman” (he didn't dislike Éowyn altogether, but thought she was not fit for his nephew. His whole attitude was “look, nephew, I don't hate your wife but you could have done SO MUCH better.” Which is kind of ironic since he's the one who saves her at the Pelennor Fields. He admired her a whole lot…before she married into the family).

Anyway, Finduilas is particularly close to Imrahil’s boys and, since she trusts them, she tells them about Tulisa and they unanimously agree that they have the right person for her. And that's where Daron comes in.

Daron

He's originally from Dor-en-Ernil, which is under the jurisdiction of Dol Amroth, so basically…he's from Dol Amroth. He's close friends with Elphir, Erchirion and Amrothos, the four of them grew up together. He's son of one of the Swan Knights; a knight of whom Imrahil was so fond Aragorn created him a lord upon his request (he probably saved Imrahil and a bunch of other people in battle). Daron is well-liked by Imrahil and was raised alongside his children. The four of them were inseparable and went on many adventures together, all kinds of adventures. This is when Imrahil's boys started realizing he didn't like girls…that way. Naturally, they assumed he would like boys. Not really. At one of point ( I think after getting drunk because he would not have mustered enough courage to admit it while sober) he tells them that he thinks there might be something wrong with him. He says that he does like girls, he has crushes on them but cannot bring himself to actually have sex with them.

It's like the initial attraction he feels suddenly fizzles out once he's confronted with the idea of getting down to business (he's ace). Imrahil's boys initially worry about him (they think he has an illness/disease of some kind and then they even suggest he might be mentally unwell due to some kind of trauma he has not shared with them. Once they get over the news, they actually find the whole thing kind of funny and switch to friendly teasing, which Daron finds super annoying).

Daron and Tulisa first meet at Emyn Arnen since Tulisa is one of Enna’s students at her “finishing school” (yes, I know it's not a concept that exists in Middle-earth but it's basically a charity project she comes up with that aims to help both girls who cannot afford an education and established ladies who may want to further their social connections. As Tulisa is extremely shy, her mother and Finduilas hope that she may meet some friends and so they “enroll” her there a few years prior to her wedding (the wedding of course wasn't planned yet since it was a last minute thing). Enna is intrigued by her but respects her boundaries so their conversations are sporadic (when they talk though, they do talk about very interesting things and Enna appreciates her politeness and fine manners. She has her stamp of approval, basically.)

Enna of course asks her if she intends to marry and Tulisa very diplomatically answers that she hasn't thought about it and Enna immediately starts looking around for potential suitors. As she finds no one Tulisa is interested in, she asks her stepmom for help and, upon learning that Finduilas may have found the right person, she sets up a meeting after consulting with Elphir, Erchirion and Amrothos. Daron is floored by her (although he doesn't want her sexually, he thinks she's the most beautiful woman he's ever seen) and they're soon married after getting to know one another a bit and learning they have many things in common.

Their relationship is great. They're besties, they read together, discuss politics and current events together. Daron is sort of an astronomer and they stargaze together and take on their respective hobbies. If they have children, they'll probably adopt a little girl or boy and they'll live as a happy family splitting their time between Ithilien and Dol Amroth.

That's it about these two! You could say theirs is pretty much a pretend relationship in the beginning and technically it is no marriage since I headcanon that a couple must produce legitimate children for the wedding to be accepted and legalized, but they're much happier than all of the Gondorians put together!

I would definitely consider writing them into the story (I definitely will) and I hope readers love them as much as I do!

Faceclaims:

Saadet Aksoy as Tulisa (Sadika hatun from Magnificent Century)

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Gethin Anthony as Daron (Renly Baratheon from Game of Thrones)