Which Ainu is your favourite? Used to be Tulkas but became Manwe after I started learning everything about him

Who are you siding with in the cosmic conflict of good and evil (the Valar, Melkor, neutral, other)? Good

Sorry if this gets rambling, I know I’ve been utterly obsessing about this scene on my own blog (the question of how far would Manwë have let Melkor go has been haunting me so much, autocorrect finished the sentence for me after I wrote how far). I’m just so fixated…

Anyways this is an amazing analysis and I love the extrapolations you made and the image of them possibly trying to comfort Tulkas when they chain him up and the comments about how much trust Tulkas must have had; Tolkien made a point to mention his anger or protests several times throughout but there’s no mention of him protesting being chained up and purportedly thrown to the (notably nonexistent) mercy of Melko

Just ahhh it’s such a great post and I know it’s from awhile back but I just had to say something

Best wishes from , @outofangband

Pff. I just about went over to @first-son-of-finwe‘s very response to copy&paste it here because my answer is no different down to the letter. Because I legit don’t understand why you’re saying this. Yeah, I love the Valar, something else I’ll shout from the rooftops. But guess what? I have never said they weren’t flawed themselves. The mistakes they made are often the thing I love to talk about. Valar, I have a essay about the very mistakes they made in the making. And while they may be portrayed as “perfect” in the abridged Silmarillion, anyone who has read the HoMEs knows they are anything but.

Again: I’m not going to apologize for liking a flawed character. 

That includes the Valar.

That includes Thingol. 

That includes Feanor.

That includes Haleth.

That includes Finrod.

Heck, in retrospect, Galad.riel may possibly be the only flawed character that I don’t like.

You’re an awesome person. Having been a lurker myself (for various reasons), I really do understand where you’re coming from and likewise understand how it is to make that cross into leaving reviews. And being also a recipient of reviews, I can testify that even the simple one-liners mean the whole world to fic writers. 

So, in conclusion, you are awesome. :) I really respect that. Please! Don’t be self-conscious about anything you write. I know how that is, because that was one of my problems when I started giving reviews. But when I started receiving them myself, my whole perspective on giving them changed precisely because I learned intimately what the writer feels when getting them. (I’ve also received reviews from people whose first language wasn’t English and I was so appreciative of their courtesy to fight through that the occasional mistake didn’t matter in the slightest.)

:D I might be the only one but I see myself as part of the Tolkien fandom (if it doesn’t excist that is super sad XD)

Man we are going with the punches with these aren't we lol but then the prompt did promise violence (keeping these to the tolkien fandom again)

1. the character everyone gets wrong

I'm still saying Thingol

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

I'm going to probably tick a lot of people off and go with what seems to be the universal opinion that Everyone despised Feanor for not giving Yavanna the Silmarils. That opinion is wrong and I will not elaborate (here anyway)

9. worst part of canon

I'm giving 2 answers bc I honestly can't decide between them. I'm interpreting "worst" as in "this shouldn't be canon at all" and not "this is so tragic and awful"

The first is with the Dagor Dagorath, and I know nothing written about the End is necessarily concrete, but it's the part where Turin comes back to fight the Enemy and is a badass and all that. I hate hate HATE the suggestion so much it's one of the 3 "canons" I call bs on and refuse to acknowledge as canon. I know I really don't like Turin but there's more to it. whatever. Next!

The second one I refuse to acknowledge as canon takes place in the story of Beren and Luthien. (people who love their story, please don't read this. i'm not looking to start a fight) Granted, I've never cared for their story, but I really backed off on my dislike of it when I learned that it was more or less a reflection of Tolkien's love for his wife Edith. I tempered my dislike a lot after learning that, became much softer. That said, there's still one part that infuriated me when I first read it and still does to this day: the fact that Luthien and Beren came back receiving their "fate" as they did bc Luthien was a good crier. Really. That's what Namo gets moved by? (maybe that's a myth that started as a result. Sing to the Vala a woeful song and you'll be resurrected to get a chance with your sweetheart again!) Namo dealt with ALL of the Elves that died but no, bc luthien sang a gorgeous song conveying her grief SHE GETS WHAT SHE WANTS? What about all those other Elves who are just as (if not more) grieved over the loss of loved ones? Who were dealt far worse fates? Did they not cry enough, cry prettily, sing a song about it? Why her? what's so stinkin special about her brief relationship with Beren that she gets a second chance with him and NO ONE ELSE DOES?

I need to stop. The salt's real with this, if you couldn't tell. Reading that genuinely disgusted me. I despise that romantic love is held up so much higher than any other love, and I know that majorly contributes to my disgust in this canon, in which it's exemplified. I know it led down to the choice of Elrond and Elros blah blah blah it was important, yes. but I think that part of the story, the WAY that outcome happened is such bullshit.

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

this was kinda hard to answer. Picking just one, Caranthir/Haleth? I just i don't get it

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

Cirdan! He's honestly one of the most amazing Elves in ALL of the legendarium and I blame Tolkien for burying all his gold nuggets. That's the only explanation for how he's so overlooked and dismissed. Has to be. Even C. Tolkien expressed amazement with Cirdan. Wisest of all Elves, greatest foresight of all Elves, saw the Star of Earendil 10,000 years before it happened, has one of the palantiri, Ring-bearer, could've wielded the One Ring itself...i need to just finally make a list of why I love him so much

ok this is a two-part answer bc I realize the prompt probably means a character that is actively disliked. For that, Thingol. I'm honestly appalled at the (general) fandom reception of him. He doesn't deserve it (don't have time to get to the why)

13. worst blorbofication

Nobody hit me, but my answer is Melkor. I love Melkor, like a lot. He's so darkly fascinating, so interesting and addictive to explore, and so often he's stripped of everything that makes him fascinating all for the sake of making him a little less villainous, a little more right, a little whatever (i'm generalizing here, and this isn't about shipping. I don't read melkor/ships so i have no comment on it) He's so complex and so often he's made so shallow instead. Sauron comes in a close second for the same reason.

14. that one thing you see in fics all the time

One-sided characterization? (idk what to call it) I'm not crapping on anyone who does it and I know I was guilty of it myself at one point but it's that thing where ONE aspect of the character (good or bad, usually bad) is then blown up to be their whole character. And in the Tolkien fandom this happens a lot with Feanor, his sons, Eol, Saeros, Finarfin (of all people!), Galadriel, Finwe, Thranduil, Thingol, etc (honestly the fandom's way with thingol pisses me off probably more than any other character, at least right now)

18. it's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on...

The balrogs!!!! After Glorfindel and Ecthelion killed two of them! How groundbreaking and shocking it had to have been. Not just to the people of Gondolin who made it out alive but to EVERYONE in Beleriand. From the Feanorians to the Sindar to Dwarves to all Men EVERONE.

You know what, here's the link, I hunted it down: https://www.tumblr.com/chiliadicorum/159569845327/balrog-slayer-a-new-word?source=share

Read that for more info bc I'll start fangirling and won't shut up here. I'm commented on this before^^ and someone graciously wrote a beautiful fic exploring it as a result (can't remember who they were I'm sorry!), but except for that one fic I've yet to find one single fic entailing this! (plz point them out to me if they're there bc admittedly i haven't searched for fics the way I'd like to in a loooong time)

Bc yeah, really how has fandom been sleeping on this?! especially a "hopeful" thing to write about in the First Age lol

Also Word of Honor answer bc I'm craving it: (spoiler warning) After the events of ep36 or during the time of ep37, where are all the fics exploring the reactions of people to the "two immortals on the mountain"? bc come on, immortals don't exist. Right? It's been explored some (and those fics are GOLD) but UGH its so entertaining to think about! Especially when they become legendary and of course the true story gets exaggerated and rumors start and fly and get ridiculous and what's true what's false nobody knows! "I dare you to go up the mountain, see if the tales are true" "no way! you go if you're so desperate" "what are you chicken?" "shut up a-hole i just have no desire to climb a mountain" hahahaha Endless entertainment potential with this!!