notanightlight:

justatouchofgoldsickness:

sketchbeam:

dwarf zodiac part one

ori as pisces (imaginative, selfless, unworldly, escapist)
nori as scorpio (loyal, resourceful, suspicious, secretive)
dori as virgo (reliable, perfectionist, fussy, worrier)
bifur as aquarius (inventive, honest, unpredictable, detached)
bombur as cancer (responsive, caring, cautious, emotional)
bofur as sagittarius (optimistic, jovial, tactless, straightforward)

DORI IS MY STAR SIGN. HOT DAMN.

Bofur is my star sign! Very appropriate!

I’m Ori!

If dwarves are born with their dark names embedded in them, specially given to them by Mahal, is it therefore possible for nobody else to ever know the kherumel of a dwarf (for whatever reason maybe they had no one they wanted to tell it to)? I.e., unless and until a dwarf tells others, nobody knows? are parents/family able to force a kid to reveal it?

In my little headspace, it would be the grossest abuse to force a child to give you their dark-name. The most appalling, the most horrible abuse of trust. To do so makes you everything a Dwarf should not be. An un-Dwarf, basically. Exile would be the kindest thing to happen to you.

(sorta-kinda-maybe related: the Petty-Dwarves, a smaller variant of Dwarven people, were said to use their secret names openly (Silmarillion). The Petty-Dwarves were suggested to be normal Dwarves who were exiled from Dwarf society, possibly for some nameless crime. We don’t know. They all died out in the First Age. We do know that the Elves hunted the Petty-Dwarves for sport until they finally realised that they were sentient, though jeez seriously Elves ‘wisest beings’ yeah right wtf)

In Sansukh’s universe, it’s very common for a parent or parents to be the first one/s to hear their child’s Dark-Name. It’s about trust and openness and vulnerability. Their child feels safe and loved. And so, in a moment of sheer tender magic, the child tells their parents what is written into their bones, what words surge in their blood. It’s a moment that new parents long for and dream about: the highest and most sacred loving honour they can receive.

However, that’s not true of all Dwarves. There are (thankfully very rare) crappy Dwarven parents whose children cannot ever feel that perfect safety and trust needed. They would never want to give their parent such a huge part of them. These Dwarves would keep their Kherumel to themselves. 

I also think that some of the higher beings can see what is written into each Dwarf with such love in Mahal’s handwriting. So: Gandalf, Sauron, Saruman. Gandalf has better manners than to blurt it out, though. Saruman would probably use it to manipulate.

Sauron uses it to attack. It is obscene that he attacks each Dwarf (through the Ring) using that special, sacred name, the very heart of them. That is the most disgusting and profane and horrible thing he could possibly do. 

About the half-elven, I think it was just the descendants of Earendil that got to choose between the elven or Mannish lives? The Valar gave him the option of a choice so he could stay in Valinor with his wife and then they extended that choice to their kids, grandkids, and so on. I don’t remember a mention of any other half-elf descendants getting to choose. I don’t have my Silmarillion on hand to check, but that’s what I remember. I may be mistaken. :D

AHHHH, cool! I can’t remember right at this moment, but that’s ringing a bell (faintly!) somewhere in my head… yeah, so – anon from previous ask! Some info for you! 

(also, this means I have even less of a clue as to where a half-elf, half-dwarf would go after death…!)

Dumpling Soup

The Dumpling Soup recipe you got sounds rad (a big appreciative thank you to whiteteawithhoney), but I have a supposition. The dumpling soup recipe probably isn’t one soup recipe – it’s probably many, many recipes, based on what’s available to cook with and a person’s/family’s preferences. So here’s an alternate version of dumpling soup, based on beef rather than lamb. (Note that this is originally one of my grandma’s recipes, and she taught it to me the old-fashioned way – by Eyeing Things rather than actually measuring. So any amounts are more guesswork than hard numbers).
Ingredients:
stewing beef
potatoes (chopped)
carrots (chopped)
bay leaf
cumin
cardamom
diced garlic
red wine vinegar OR cheap red wine OR raspberry cider vinegar
onion (chopped)
peppercorns
a little cilantro. 

Other veggies can be added as desired. Common include: 

cabbage
kale
corn
turnip
parsnip
chard
tomato
lots of types of beans/nuts depending on what you like
leeks
shallots
radish
water chestnuts
dulse if you can get it 

I think each family of Broadbeam heritage would have their own secret, special little additions and modifications also 🙂 This is great, thank you kailthia!

Never Again

fae-of-the-rose:

Small ficlet inspired by determamfidd ‘s Narvi and Celebrimbor headcanon posts and therefore also inspired by “Sansukh”. You don’t need to read the fic to understand this, just know that Narvi is female here.

Warning: mentions of torture. Nothing too descriptive, but it is mentioned.

Read More

Oh.

Oh that hurts so good.

Thank you so much, Fae, it is beautiful and thoroughly devastating. I love it!