#maltathar

!!!! I’m so glad you asked. I’ll do Aica and Malta here and Rue in a different post.

2-4 songs that are probably on their iPod

Aicanasse: has a very complicated relationship with music, specifically that she is supposed to enjoy it and be good at it and, while reasonably talented, is pretty neutral about the things she’s supposed to like - high-class Andúnië stuff. I guess what I’m saying is she’d never ever ever admit to listening to Joan Jett. She actually does enjoy baroque pop and shoegaze, kind of? 

Maltathar: Recordings of himself playing the harp. 

the one place they sometimes end up falling asleep — where they’re not supposed to

Aicanassë: ladylike at all times.

Maltathar: Other people’s concerts, when their uncle talks about business. 

the game they’d destroy everyone else at

Aicanassë: Poker. 

Maltathar: The boy is average at everything. 

the emoticon they’d use most often

Aicanassë: :) in enigmatic/probably sarcastic but you’re not sure contexts.

Maltathar: ;)

what they act like when they haven’t had enough sleep

Aicanassë: condescending and irritable.

Maltathar: self-aggrandizing and irritable. 

their preferred hot beverage on really cold nights. or mornings. or whenever.

Aicanassë: Tea.

Maltathar: Hot chocolate, but don’t tell anyone. 

how they like to comfort/care for themselves when they’re in a slump

Aicanassë: What slump? She’s doing fine, thank you very much. 

Maltathar: *sad stringed instrument noises* 

what they wanted to be when they grew up

Aicanassë: Queen, or sister to the King. 

Maltathar: Universally acclaimed concert harpist King, King of Numenor, what else would he want? Did Aica tell you to ask him that? 

their favorite kind of weather

Sunny, they love the beach. 

thoughts on their singing voice (decent? terrible? soprano? alto?)

Aicanassë: Very good, but it’s a source of insecurity for her. She’s a soprano. 

Maltathar: Very lovely and accomplished tenor. Not quite as good as he thinks he is. 

how/what they like to draw or doodle

Aicanassë: wave patterns, tiny flowers.

Duende - Unusual power to attract or charm.

Bright colors are in fashion this year. For this, and for the spinning, whirling silks crowding his field of vision, Azûlzir silently curses the Arminalêth tastemakers, and whichever royal cousin felt it absolutely necessary to have a palace wedding. There is music emanating from the upper gallery, presumably one of the modern composers favored by his mother. It’s difficult to tell, over the weight of a hundred conversations, but he tries to focus on the melody, the order there. The air is very heavy with scent. One thing at a time. The tiles on the floor. The embroidery on his sleeves. Focus, focus. He is dimly aware of someone - Lôminzil? - grabbing his hand. 

Azûlzir digs his hands into the balcony railing and gasps. The air is cooler here. When he turns around again, his rescuer has closed the glass doors separating them from the revelers inside. Suddenly, his throat is very dry. 

"Cousin?" 

"None other." Maltathar bows. "You were starting to look a bit lost in there."

Azûlzir is suddenly extremely aware of the vacancy of his expression. He tugs his sleeves, sharply, and steeples his fingers before responding. “I was perfectly capable of handling the situation, before your - intervention.” 

"You’ll forgive me for saying so, little prince -  but you didn’t. I meant no insult, only - " He steps towards him, and closes his hands around Azûlzir’s. Azûlzir starts, but does not pull away. "It has been some time since we were last alone together." 

Azûlzir nods. Don’t make eye-contact. Maltathar’s smile, he is sure, will be warm, inviting. And his gaze - it has been some time, yes, but how clearly he remembers - draws one in, as if you were the only thing he cared for. It has been one of Azûlzir’s latest and most hard-won lessons that expressions lie. 

"Are your shoes so fascinating?" One of Maltathar’s hands leaves his, tracing the line of his cheek. "My dear, I thought I was self-centered.” 

Aicanassë

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

significant emotional relationships: Maltathar, always, first and foremost. Same goals, same fears, curled up together in the same sea-cave only the two of them know about when they’re kids and don’t understand why their father is dead. Yeah, they’re sleeping together, even though she’s otherwise pretty much a Kinsey 6. And of course I ship her with Lôminzil because antagonistic yet mutually fascinated (and on Lômi’s part, slightly intimidated even though she’ll never admit it) aro ladies. I like thinking about her relationship with Calairë, even though it’s not a good one. 

general opinions: I want to hug her a lot. She’s a terrible person who holds to a philosophy I strongly disagree with and wants to kill the people i love and I just want to hug her a lot. Not that she’d let me get anywhere near her. 

blog rate: 7/10

Artistic pictures of the ocean and Andúnië scenery, fashion, and selfies. Lots of selfies. Has a ton of followers and makes just the right amount of terse, snarky text posts but doesn’t put any of her own personality into it. Sometimes gets into fights with Lômi about politics. 

(Azûlzir and Maltathar under the cut) 

Let’s do Maltathar, because he’s the least developed of what I consider the core cast. This would be Aicanasse’s twin and  Azûlzir’s cousin, the son of Ardamin’s older brother and the daughter of the lord of Andúnië.

3. Name one or more of their bad habits.

He’s really, really manipulative, even when the situation doesn’t call for it. It’s just the way he is with people he doesn’t trust, by default. Also he plays the harp at all hours and drives his sister to distraction. 

9. Name some of their major physical shortcomings.

He gets sick very easily, especially as a child, which doesn’t help Calairë’s tendency to be overprotective. This leads to a reputation for fastidiousness later in life, because he’s always very careful about not catching things, an ordinary head cold might have him in bed for a week. 

16. Do they have any behaviors and/or beliefs that cannot be adequately justified?

Please, as if I need an excuse to ramble on about my OCs forever <3

Aicanassë: 

Who I pair them with:Lôminzil and Ailin. Aica/Lomi runs pretty much entirely on foe yay, and Aica/Ailin because she has so few genuine positive happy relationships in her life, it’s really more of a romantic friendship. Oh, and Maltathar, because this family absolutely needs codependant incestuous twins. 

Who I hate them with: Her mother tried to set up an arraigned marriage at one point. The engagement lasted for six hours, and that’s all I’ll say.

Why I like/hate them:She’s only a couple minutes older than her brother, but she has always taken it on herself to look after him. She figured out why her father died (and that it wasn’t an accident) much earlier than he did, and even in Andúnië, she has never in her life felt safe. She’s always torn between feeling stifled by her mother and her mother’s family and their cloying overprotectiveness, and her own desire to be the perfect Andustalië maiden because that’s the only role she’s ever felt comfortable inhabiting, and because she draws strength from tradition. And because, at the same time, she will do anything to place her and her brother in power and stay there, because in her mind it’s the only way they can survive. Babies. 

Favourite physical feature:Her hair, very long and very dark and worn in braids slightly too elaborate for Andúnië. 

Least favourite quality in the character:She’s ruthless and power-hungry and emotionally manipulative and has a definite cruel streak, but I love her for it. 

3 Headcanons: 

She’s an excellent swimmer. Being immersed in the water always calms her down and makes her feel as relaxed as she ever gets. 

She gets along better with Telemnë and Ancalimon’s daughters than with her actual cousins-by-blood. She doesn’t approve of their father, of course, but the girls have a lot in common. 

She has a phase of modeling her behavior and appearance very distinctly on Silmarien, as an example of someone who behaved in a very acceptable feminine way and still maintained actual political control. 

My OTP for said character: Aicanassë/Maltathar

Maltathar: 

Who I pair them with: Aicanassë and Eldasilquë, of course. And Azûlzir! Cracky, I know. Short version: Maltathar, unlike his cousin, is very surface-charming and charismatic in small groups, and one of his coping mechanisms is not seducing people, exactly, but drawing them to him. He operates on a much more personal level, and he loves the idea of having his lovely cousin wrapped around his finger. Azûlzir, for his part, understands that it’s all power games and isn’t taken in for a second, but he really did idolize him as a little kid, and he’s been pushed away by the rest of the court for long enough that the idea of someone like that wanting him is enough to make him pretend to give in. And then it happens a second time. And a third. 

Who I hate them with: Nobody that I can think of. There may have been talk of arraigning a marriage with Lomi or Nilu, which would have been intensely weird. 

Why I like/hate them: I think I may have given you the impression that he’s somehow slimy, and that’s really not the case. Well, maybe only a tiny bit. He’s charismatic, like I said, and underneath that he’s this gaping pit of emotional need. I think it’s very much tied in to Calairë and how she raised them, he sees any affection he gets as dependent on his efforts to gain power and status, but at the same time he’s much less focused and driven and sharp than his sister. So, yes, he tends to be controlling, and he can go from controlling to needy very quickly. 

These are all reasons why I like him, by the way. 

Favorite physical feature: Cheekbones! And his eyes, very like Aicanassë’s but slightly more blue than silver. 

Least favorite quality in the character: His sense of entitlement. 

3 Headcanons: 

He plays the harp. Quite well, as it happens. He often performs for his family, and his wife sometimes accompanies him on the flute. 

He wants to be King more than anything else in the world, but he can’t imagine living anywhere other than Andúnië. He loves the smell of the ocean, and the flowers that grow in every season, and the mallorn trees he was named after. 

He was also an excellent tree-climber as a kid, and used to crawl around on the palace roof and frighten his mother.