There are fewer than 20 chapters left of The Flowers of Ithilien š and I already have around 10 epilogues planned, because there are still quite a few things from the story that I want to answer and properly bring to a close.
After EVERYTHING Emma has been through, yes: sheās getting her happy ending š
Iām getting so nostalgic though :( I donāt want to finish ittttt. But I also really need that little break, and that Boromir Lives AU isnāt going to write itself lol.
And since Iām feeling nostalgic, Iām sharing Chapter 1 again, back when Emmaās biggest problem was winning an argument with Legolas š
Also, thank you so much to everyone who reads this fic. I genuinely never thought people could get attached to or be moved by an OC I finished creating during one sad, sleepless night. The fact that so many of you care about Emma now still feels a little unreal to meš
Faramir....my love... please don't tell me you're going to break his heart at the end š
Please know Iām suffering with you š I adore Faramir too. I canāt spoil anything, but I care deeply about him and about everything he and Emma have shared. Whatever happens, Iām not treating his heart lightly š
P.S. Heās literally my favorite character in the entire book š
Iām taking the opportunity to do the census again.
I think heās incredibly sensitive, much more than he lets people see. I imagine him as deeply melancholic and nostalgic too. The kind of person who remembers places, people, conversations, even particular seasons with almost painful clarity.
I think he writes poetry, and if psychoanalysis existed in Middle-earth, he would have absolutely loved it. He feels like the kind of person who would keep a private journal where he writes about the war, his fear, grief, and the guilt he sometimes feels after killing other men, even when he knows why he had to do it.
I also think he absolutely adores Gandalf. Every time he reads something interesting, his first instinct is probably to want to tell him about it or ask what he thinks.
He still brings flowers to his motherās grave.
He can cook surprisingly well, he knows how to dance, and thereās something almost Elvish about the way he moves when he does (very graceful, restrained, and precise).
He has far too much patience.
I also imagine him as an amazing father. Very attentive, very gentle, the kind of father who notices when something is wrong before his children say anything. I think he would take their feelings seriously, talk to them instead of dismissing them, read to them constantly, and probably worry more than he admits.
And I love the idea that he keeps a small gift Boromir once gave him hidden inside his armor. No one else knows itās there, and he never talks about it.
Faramir....my love... please don't tell me you're going to break his heart at the end š
Please know Iām suffering with you š I adore Faramir too. I canāt spoil anything, but I care deeply about him and about everything he and Emma have shared. Whatever happens, Iām not treating his heart lightly š
P.S. Heās literally my favorite character in the entire book š
Iām taking the opportunity to do the census again.
How long have you been writing fanfics and is it just for lotr or do you write for others as well? I didn't see any other works on your blog or ao3 but I'm very excited for the other works you've talked about writing after!
I'm a Legolas (and Eowyn) girl through and through, but there's a place in my heart for every character in lotr and I am fully prepared to fall in love with whoever else you write next ššæ
I've actually been writing fanfic for a really long time, just always in Spanish, since that's my first language š I only got much more comfortable with English last year, and I started working with a translator to help me with the English version, especially with nuance and making sure the meaning carries over properly.
That's also why I posted chapters 1ā27 of this fic so ridiculously fast, sometimes three or four times a week lol. Most of it was already written! Now I'm slower because I've finally caught up with myself and actually have to keep writing as I go š
So whenever I mention the Ćomer fic, the Boromir Lives AU, or even the Ćowyn one, I can say it with some confidence because those drafts have actually existed for a LONG time. I have way too many half-written things sitting around š
There are some things I've written out there, but they're all in Spanish and none of them are LOTR-related.
And there's another reason I stayed away from posting fanfic for a long time. At least where I'm from, there's still a bit of a stigma around fandom and fanfiction. I studied writing at university, and I once had a professor say something genuinely awful about fanficāthat it was basically for people who weren't brave enough to create something of their own.
I completely disagree with that now. So many of us put an enormous amount of ourselves into these stories, and I think there's something really beautiful about loving a world enough to want to explore it from another angle and add your own perspective to it.
But I was 19 when he said that, so... yeah. I absolutely chickened out for a while lol.
Thank you SO much for this ask, though šš And I'm already really excited to read your Legolas x OC!!
___
Sorry I always answer everything with a whole essay hahaha, I just get REALLY passionate about it š
Faramir....my love... please don't tell me you're going to break his heart at the end š
Please know Iām suffering with you š I adore Faramir too. I canāt spoil anything, but I care deeply about him and about everything he and Emma have shared. Whatever happens, Iām not treating his heart lightly š
P.S. Heās literally my favorite character in the entire book š
Iām taking the opportunity to do the census again.
I think I already know who Emma is going to end up with (Iāve had a strong suspicion since chapter 31), so I NEED you to write an AU of The Flowers of Ithilien where she ends up with the other guy in the love triangle PLEASE š Even if itās just a one-shot.
The love triangle isnāt over yet, but I totally understand why chapter 31 made you think that š
And yes!! Once I finish the fic, Iām going to take a little break to write a short Boromir Lives AU, and then Iāll probably post that AU sometime in November. I still have no idea what form I want it to take, though š
I would literally pay you to write an AU where Emma falls in love with Ćomer, I donāt even know why.
Because heās just so fucking gorgeous! I honestly donāt know if Emma, as Iāve written her, could ever fall for Ćomer, or if heād fall for her, but Iāve definitely had the urge to write an Ćomer/OC fic at some point lol
(I also think itās unethical to accept money for writing something based on copyrighted material)
I love them so much š it was so sweet in the last chapter to see Emma and Legolas bantering (at least that's how I interpreted their āThat was cruel/you began it" interaction). It had the feel of two people who have known each other for so many years ššæ
I just wanna hug them both š
Aww, thank you so much! In the first version, she was a lot angrier, but my heart just couldnāt let me keep going in that direction hahaha.
I hope itās not too obvious that I got tired of making Legolas suffer so much (for now).
Thank you sooooo much for reading! I hope you enjoy Chapter 40!
Emma's conversation with Aragorn about whether Faramir or Legolas is the cutest šš
I like your dialogues and I think the fic has improved a lot over the last few months (I've been reading since March)
Ahh, thank you so much! I actually have quite a bit of experience with short stories and poetry, so dialogue was never something Iād really gotten much practice with. Then I started taking a writing workshop in April and it has been absolutely BLOWING MY MIND. Itās helped me so much with things like not making my dialogue way too explanatory lol.
The funniest part is that in five months Iāll probably reread what I posted yesterday and find something completely different to complain about, but honestly, I think thatās the best part of continuing to learn and grow as a writer :)
Please, can you spare some headcanons of the Fellowship and mate?
Sure! I would love to :)
This is going to get long, because i have a lot of ideas about this, but here i go:
First of all, i'm going to share the possible place i'm imagining for yerba mate in the cultures of Middle Earth
In real life, the plant was discovered by south american indigenous people ( in particular, the guarani tribe). Traditions about mate can variate from country to country, so for this i'm using what i know about mine.
From the start of colonial times the drink was associated with rural life. Iconografical traditions link it to gauchos, errant people of the time. Gauchos were social outcasts in the colonial system, often suspected, and their habits seen as barbaric. Often compared to american cowboys, they had a similar bad reputation attributing them a fame of being bandits.
In Middle Earth, Rangers are their closest equivalent. When we see Aragorn as Strider in The Prancing Poney, the negative reactions to his presence in Bree show his fame falling under a similar stereotype. The critics to the errant habits of rangers resemble the opinions on gauchos in colonial times. For so, i like to imagine mate exists as a drink associated with rangers.
How they adopted its consumption is another issue. I have two possible theories about that:
1- They just happen to know of the plant's existence and usefull propieties, as it happens with many other plants some of them know and other populations of men don't ( for example, aragorn knowing of athelas)
2 - They get it on the borders of some distant lands on their areas of patrolling.
I like second one better because that allows me to imagine a fictional indigenous population living somewhere in Middle Earth, inspired on the original discoverers of the plant.
About its name, " yerba mate" is a post colonization spanish term. Guaranies call the herb " CaĆ " and the bebreage " CaĆ -mate". The word mate comes from quechua (mati) and it is the name of the container filled with herbs and water to consumption. Instead of imagining a translation to an existent Tolkien language ( i have no idea of how to translate it), i would like to keep the Indigenous name.
So, the herb would be called CaĆ . Since most of the time only rangers are seen drinking the infusion from its leaves, in the other populations of Middle Earth it could be called" Herb of the Rangers" ( a good, equivalent translation to the spanish "yerba mate", since yerba means herb on spanish)
Now i can finally get into the topic of the Fellowship and Mate:
Following my contextual explanation, it's most likely Aragorn introduces everyone else to it. Prior to the journey of the Fellowship Legolas and Gandalf surely have drank it with him as well.
I can imagine Legolas not only enjoying it, but experimenting with it. He would do the middle earth version of what we call " mate con yuyos", that pretty much consists in creating herbal mixes with a base of the original herb. Given that he comes from a woodland realm, i bet he would come up with unique mixes using elvish herbs.
Gandalf got used to it in the same way he adopted the uses of many other populations he has interacted with. Unlike the pipeweed smoking, he wouldn't seek to also do it alone. Mostly drinks if Aragorn is drinking it.
This drink is an excelent appetite supresor, specially for when you crave food but you shouldn't be eating.
I think that, in the context of the travel with the fellowship, Aragorn would offer it to the hobbits for the first time in a desperate attempt to help them control their constant food cravings.
He got enough of how annoying a hungry Pippin can be during the travel from Bree to Rivendel. At the first chance to make a fire he heated some water and started a round, knowing the hobbits would get curious and approach.
Expert drinkers know that the first sips don't taste as good, ( the taste gets balanced after a few) but not them. Aragorn told them this and then Merry tried to challenge Pippin into taking the first sip.
I imagine the drink would get good acceptance on the hobbits.
Frodo would prefer it when water is warmer, Merry would be the brave one wanting to try the strange mixes of Legolas. Pippin would prefer it sweetened and Sam has the " it may not be tea, but is not that bad" opinion. He was the most hesitant of the hobbits about trying it, but ended up asking Aragorn tons of details about the curious plant.
When offered to him for the first time, Gimli felt as if he was holding wet grass in a pot. Knowing the elf of the group likes that drink didn't inspired him much trust either, but he was greatly surprised. He loved it, prefers it strong and bitter when the leaves have an intense flavor.
Boromir has a neutral opinion. He may have heard of the drink before because Faramir has tried it from the pouring of one of his men in one of his ranger patrolling trips. However, his little brother would never drink it on Minas Tirith fearing Denethor may consider it a wild habit.
What he does enjoy peraphs a bit more than the drink itself is the ambient that the sharing on rounds creates, the social aspect. Talking about anything, sharing stories and stuff. The drinking environment cheers the spirits.
The best pourers in the Fellowship are Aragorn ( of course, lol) and Gandalf. One does it most of the time, the other agrees ocassionally
I like to imagine that whenever Gandalf pours the water, the drink tastes to each one of them according to their favorite preferences.
He is not wasting magic in that, of course, it's just that he is Gandalf. Everything he does turns out cooler.
Drinking paces are also an aspect of the sharing situation.
There is always someone who gets teased for talking too much and taking too long between sips while the water gets cold and the other drinkers are waiting. In each drinking group, it always happens. ( and most of the time i tend to be this person lol)
In the Fellowship, i guess this one would be Pippin. I think they have this hilariously contradictory situation where Pip sometimes gets teased for it, but when it happens to other for other reason ( like, for example, Frodo gets caught too focused on his thoughts with the thing half filled) no one says anything and he looks at everyone like " hey! Now someone else is taking too long"
In long travels where resourses are scarce the best option for them would be drying the wet leaves after finishing and save it for a new use. Usually Sam is the one who remembers to do this.
When the leaves are no longer usefull they can't just throw those because it could be a lead for enemies.
It occured to the hobbits that they could start burying the evidence. Merry and Pippin did it first, but Sam and Frodo found it a good idea.
I like to imagine that, somewhere in the way ( specially the warmer places) maybe a few plants grew with time to remember the Fellowship was there.
I should probably finish my short story collection (which has nothing to do with Middle-earth) before starting another fic, so I can submit it to the publisher before the end of the year.
