@tolkienocweek Day 2: Diversity - Tindîliel
Yesterday I posted about Tindîliel, my Ranger OC who is a descendant of Tindómiel, the only daughter of Elros. Her whole story is about suddenly becoming disabled, going from being a Dúnedain Ranger and all of the athleticism that comes with that, to being unable to walk and on a very long road to recovery after an orc ambush. She will eventually recover much of her function for daily life; walking, using her dominant arm, and eventually some greater range of motion, but she will be permanently unable to resume her life as a Ranger and has to figure out what comes next. Luckily she has access to some of the best medical care Middle Earth has to offer, and unlike the American healthcare system, it is not a series of shit tornadoes. She also discovers that she has more family than she thought, and that she can find happiness and meaning outside of the path she thought her life would take.
Picrew credit: left, right
She's also queer, aroace to be exact, and as I was writing a conversation relating to that, another OC, Amathorn, popped into existence, and he proceeded to stare at me until I gave him a husband.
Tindîliel is apologetic that a lost branch of Elrond's family has been found in her, only for that line (and as far as they know, all of Tindómiel's line) to end with her as she is definitely not having kids and has no siblings. He tells her that he is just glad to get to know her, and that she should not feel pressured for children for the sole purpose of carrying on a lineage. In fact, one of his duties as herald to Gil-galad was beating off anyone who got any ideas about the fact that the High King had no heirs, and there really were not many other descendants of Finwë left in Middle Earth. He talks about something that takes place before Elrond himself is born, and Gil-galad's Captain of the Guard, Amathorn, shows up (quite protectively) instead. I was surprised that he stuck around and became an actual OC, and became much more of a character in another fic idea I had. He will be getting his own post later today!