Of Weighted Hand, the Lady-Captain of Doriath

[RP blog for a gender-bent Mablung from Tolkien's "The Silmarillion" and "Children of Húrin".]

[theladycaptainofdoriath]

-ROLLS UP SLEEVES- Alright, so getting back to theme-tweaking. Though the one I found for lady is actually... actually pretty good to start with. So now I need to do a proper portrait of her to shove in the sidebar. >3> 

And need to do this for canon!Mablung, too.

[theladycaptainofdoriath]

In all likelihood, she should have known. Or at least, she should have been able to sooner fathom the response to this sort of touch, more drawn out than any shared previous. She should have caught the little things, the very shift in the air, but she had thought it naught but unfamiliarity with such gestures as these. But as it was, it was only when he drew so tense that she became aware that there was some issue taken with her handling.

Her hands stilled, ceasing their wandering, and she lifted her eyes to risk a glance at his face. Gingerly, carefully, she twisted at the waist to better view him, and at once her expression drew together in confused apology--not without some thread of embarrassment. Of course. That had been far more excessive than it had any need to be, hadn't it? She'd noticed the flinch; she should have drawn her hands back, then.

Or at least thought to do other than simply continue. She'd thought at first it had been merely one place more sensitive than others, but if he'd found her actions to overstep their boundaries... She who held no great love for touch ought to have caught on, if nothing else. She should have looked up sooner.

Her gaze flicked down and away, her chest strangely tight, and an uncertain hand pulled back to tuck errant hair behind her ear--something to excuse the gesture, to grant him some kind of relief from her insistent toying. If she drew faintly away from him, it was beneath her awareness and as party to her embarrassment.

"I--" Was there anything she could say? Though Mablung kept herself firm in usual circumstances, was known for it, she here could neither find her words nor steady her thoughts. She should apologise. She should! She would if but for this sudden inability to speak.

It might have been silly--all of this might have been, but if it sat so poorly with Beleg, he should have spoken so. Mablung should have turned her attention properly to him, should have seen before there was any need to give voice. The last thing she wanted was for him to experience discomfort by her doing.

[theladycaptainofdoriath]

Mablung is now just face in hands. 

[theladycaptainofdoriath]

...I scrolled down the page.

I found the "weeping" sentence.

NOPE.

[theladycaptainofdoriath]

Her hands slid over the backs of his, cupping them so as to turn his palms up, the pads of her thumbs resting lightly against the curve where his own met his index. As she settled back against his chest, she hummed lowly to herself, a rare sort of content passing over her that had grown since their reuniting in Valinor.

"There is something remarkable about your hands." Idle, absent; airy in her wondering aloud. "I wonder if it is perhaps because you are so skilled with bow and arrow." Mablung's palms slid back to his wrists, thumbs running along the underside of the joints as she tipped her head back to rest against Beleg's shoulder. Even as she did so, her gaze remained on his hands as she toyed with them. With her right hand, she changed hold again, reaching for Beleg's left. Her focus drifted over his skin, where it's smooth and where it's callused, and fingertips followed in feather-light trace. "More skilled an archer I have never known." Nothing that hadn't been said before in their lifetimes, but she had seen him--truly seen his skill in most perilous circumstances. She could say with certainty the extent of his skill. Her palm pressed to his then, her own calluses sliding over his as she interwove their fingers. Though there existed little difference between the builds of male and female, still there were differences in the smaller shapes of their hands, their fingers, and it was these that held her attention, now, seeking out all that she could find for her own curiosity.

[theladycaptainofdoriath]

...My brain is saying "draw more elf-family" and "draw captain hugs". 

...

And then it decided that "Captain Hugs" would be Beleg's superhero!dad nickname if he were in the modern world where that kind of thing was in fact a thing.

[theladycaptainofdoriath]

She felt the weight of an intelligent gaze upon her back, turned to face it only once her previous distraction was ended. To see him there was unsurprising, keeping with what seemed to be their routine, but it was only after doing so that she rested the end of her spear against the earth. He would not perch so easily with threat nearby, and she doubted him not in his abilities much as she did not doubt herself. And so it was with an arched brow that she regarded him at length, weight bringing her to lean slightly towards her weapon.

"Is there something here so fascinating that you creep upon it without warning to watch?" she asked dryly, a brow lifted in skeptical arch. "Or are you simply bored?" Though she spoke thus, amusement lay beneath the words along with a strange sort of uncertainty that only he could draw forth in her. One she dutifully ignored, as always. It didn't help to know how long he'd been there.

[theladycaptainofdoriath]

...I'm writing goofy things how did this happen--

Long she wept upon her knees at that place he was laid ere she returned to Doriath.

[theladycaptainofdoriath]

This really was all... very unnecessary. Or such had been the captain's silent estimation while the seamstress continued her work, chattering and singing sweetly as she went about the assorted tasks. Such continued to be her estimation now that the work was done and she was soon meant to actually wear the garment crafted for her. She'd lived long in the garb of a soldier, clad in thick fabric and thicker leather. Though she found nothing wrong about the shift in her attire here, it was simply... unusual almost to the point of out of place.

Out of place enough that it resulted in quite a bit of frustration when it came to what she was to don. Simpler garments currently draped across her frame, but "it" lay neatly along the length of her bed. Had it eyes, she would stare it down and into submission, but as yet it possessed none. Mablung turned away, arms folded beneath her chest, and pressed her lips into a fine line; it was an attractive thing, but a dress was not something she'd much found reason for. The closest she came were the skirts of leather and chain, to protect her from the wicked things that lurked beyond the girdle.

...The worst part, she supposed, was that there was little she could do to escape it.

Truly, it was only a dress. But she was known as the heavy hand through deed and demeanour, stern and strict as could any ever be; the dress was... far from that, or so she thought. It was not the delicate weight of it nor the fair design, for all Elves were of similar nature and dressing to present these features in some manner or other was the norm. But this...

"Is it so inappropriate to attend these things dressed in armour?" Not that she meant it in the least, if the dryness of her tone said nothing of her humour. Drawing her hands from where they rest, she toyed absently with a lock of hair; though it hung loose, falling in waves past her hips, she soon gathered her hair to instead braid simply. "Seeing as how that is my role."

[theladycaptainofdoriath]

...yeah so I've given up? She's... sticking around. Uh.

Armour-type WIP. I'm actually nnnnot sold on about half of it, and I can't figure out what I'm doing with her boots. The belt-thing needs some modifications but I haven't made them yet (though I know generally what they are). 

...and no, I don't know why there's chainmail over her skirt. I'll figure out what I'm on with that later. Again, the 50% thing. Aim is more chain+scale to stop her from being cut into, but chain+leather to allow for mobility. She's predominantly a lancer/spear-user, but does know her way around a sword. She's honestly probably more than fair with bow and arrow, but it's not her preference. She'll leave that to Beleg. 

Apologising for shaky lines but I am shivering really badly AHAHAHA

[theladycaptainofdoriath]

help help help i want to use her sjdkf /runs away to draw rasui instead

[theladycaptainofdoriath]

…she has an icon.

halp .-.

[viridfelicity]

Tenny, I cannot help you when I’m busy reading ‘bits and bobs’ as ‘bits and boobs’.

[theladycaptainofdoriath]

...no shh stop that though i guess it might be appropriate

[theladycaptainofdoriath]

...she has an icon.

halp .-.

[theladycaptainofdoriath]

Bits and bobs

Gh.

So I caved and made this thing. Which might or might not have been inevitable? It probably won't see a lot of attention, mainly art if anything since I don't expect to be RPing on here unless ridiculous indulgent things (but that's not up to me), but.

Differences.

-Age: Still one of the Awoken.

-Height: It isn't an extreme difference, she's just about average female Sinda rather than being at or just above average for a male.

-Build: She's slim all the way through and fairly athletic, but. Elf. Elf who uses spears. This... should be fairly obvious. Comparatively, her hips are a tiny bit wider and her waist a tiny bit narrower, but this should be expected with the change between sexes.

-Hair: It's styled a little differently and is a bit longer (also wavy when down)? Not a whole lot of difference, there. Her part might actually be in the middle rather than to one side. She wears it down with sections braided back and knotted behind her head in Valinor.

-Weapon of choice: She really does favour the spear and other pole arms that would be prevalent in that region rather than axe, sword, or bow. She'd have carried a short sword and spear to the battlefield, possibly.

-Relationships: Platonic ones remain roughly the same, probably closer to Melian after Thingol's death than otherwise, and she likely behaved with some additional maternal element towards Túrin. She'd probably have befriended Morwen, I think. No bonding with anyone until Valinor, if at all, because obvious reasons of her role and the climate outside of Doriath.

-Attitude towards contact: ...no touchy. B| Related, but being courted would also just. Wat do. She'd make confused faces and just quietly go back to what she's doing while possibly trying to gently dissuade the person.

I think she'd be a bit harder to crack open, though? Like it's all practised and firm because while male and female were no doubt capable of the same tasks fairly equally, she'd have had to put a lot into it to come out where she did. Mablung in general is a stricter personality, for me, and I'm fairly sure this would persist in a female version. There are some marked differences in how she'd react and some thought processes, but... that's kind of hard to describe in "Ten is rambling" short blurb things.

Thinking about it, she and Tauriel could have some interesting conversations, ahaha. oh god why am i even entertaining anything serious with her au no

[theladycaptainofdoriath]

What am I doing with my life?

I am drawing stupid things, that's what.