Tag: legolas

sibling relationships are so important to me and laerophen supporting them was absolutely everything for me oh my god. but seriously the fact that both brothers developed a reformed opinion of dwarves totally independently of each other is just so MUCH? and then like. it occurs to me that gimizh probably doesn’t know about the elves sailing? he’s literally gonna be so upset about laerophen leaving forever don’t touch me. your ocs are amazing and so are you

YES YES *punches the air* YESSSSS

all three brothers do, in their own ways, come around. Each way is very different. Each is a valid way of self-examining and overcoming internalised prejudice. I am! SO! Happy that you liked that!!! SO HAPPY!

NOPE GIMIZH DOESN’T KNOW – but then, most of the Mirkwood Elves don’t sail at all 😉

(also YOU are amazing!!!)

giggle-fit:

Inks done on pic for Sansukh. Not pleased with Thorin; he’s a difficult one to draw.

*SCREAMS IN AMAZEMENT AND JOY*

OH MY GOD THAT IS AMAZING LOOK AT THEM LOOK AT ALL THOSE BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL CHARACTERS, THOSE SWEET PERFECT HOBBITS AND OHGOD LEGOLAS AND BRAAAAAAID AND HOT DAMN BILBO AND THORIN YAAAAS AND SWEET LORD HAVE MERCY DAT GIMLI

I DIE OF DELIGHT RN, YOU ARE A GEM AND A GIFT AND I AM ASTONISHED BY YOUR WORK, EVERY TIME, HOLY GOOD GRAVY

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH!

What were Legolas, Laerophen, and Laindawar’s relationship w their mom like?

Hi there, Nonnie!

Ooooh, this may be a convoluted answer. Here we go!

Here’s my Aelir tag, so you can get a handle on who she was. I’ll separate this answer out into each of the princes, so you can get the gist of their relationships.

Laindawar
When he was born, Aelir often bundled her eldest child onto her back as she raced through her beloved woods. Laindawar grew to toddlerhood sitting under green eaves beside his mother, or strapped to her as she clambered and danced and leaped through the trees. 

Aelir was an odd sort of duck. She was tall, dishevelled, nearly squirrelish in her manner, not very talkative at all. Her eyes spoke more than she did. She was more at home with her trees than in the company of other elves, and Laindawar most definitely absorbed this tendency. He too is a loner more content under the branches. This is not only due to his own natural tendencies, but to those early formative years spent with his mother, alone but for the wind in the leaves and the soft puff of their breath.

As he grew, Laindawar was brought forward into the world of his father: the court, the business of being a crown prince and a political figure. He would retreat to his mother as an escape, for the peace and rest her presence brought. 

(Thranduil did likewise, funnily enough. Aelir was a calm, wild haven for them both.)

As Aelir sickened, Laindawar’s resolve to kill all the evil in the forests hardened into something diamond-plated and implacable. He has never given up.

Laerophen
Our awkward giraffe was born several years after his brother, and he was at one glance obviously Thranduil’s child. He had the hair, the eyes, the height! Yet he was in spirit a retiring soul, and preferred the quiet and his own company. 

Also, it appeared that he was made mostly of elbows and knees.

It was for Laerophen’s sake that Aelir began to stay longer and more frequently in the palace. It was Thranduil who taught him to read, but it was Aelir who sat with him and listened as he devoured all the books around him and told her about what he had learned in excited piping tones. 

She often brought him out of his rooms, just the two of them (three, if Laindawar were willing to take time away from his hunting). Unlike Laindawar and Legolas, Laerophen would walk through the trees by his mother’s side. He would not leap from bough to bough. She would hold his hand. 

She taught him the bow, though he did not show any especial gift for it. But he loved the time with his mother, and so he worked diligently at it. 

When she left, Laerophen’s world contracted to his rooms once again. The only one who could coax him out was Legolas.

Legolas
Their little green leaf was such a shock. SUCH A SHOCK. Aelir had been sickening for centuries – how was she to know that this was any different? But there it was, she was due another child. Weakened as she was due to the poisoning of the forests, she worried. God, did she worry.

She needn’t have worried, not for him. Legolas was walking before he was crawling, desperate to stand and do everything right now!! NOW!!! He wanted to see everything, know everything, touch everything. He was, unlike her quiet eldest children, noisy. He cried loudly, sang loudly, laughed loudly.

He was effusively affectionate.

Everything in him bubbled over with curiosity and joy. 

Aelir brought him into her forests as much as she was able, and strapped him to her back as she had for Laindawar. Unlike his brother, Legolas did not enjoy being confined to such safety. As soon as he was able, he wriggled free to dangle and clamber and run just as his mother did. “Look Naneth! Look at me! Look what I can do!”

He made her laugh helplessly and happily, even as the shadows under her eyes deepened. 

She tried to stay for him. She truly did.

So I was telling a friend of mine about your royal family of elves and trying to give her a brief summary of the brothers ended up like this; There’s the awkward warrrior with zero chill, the awkward scholar beanpole, and Legolas who is basically curiosity wrapped in an elf.

PRETTY MUCH. :DDD

Though – Laindawar isn’t awkward, heh – he is a small, graceful, deadly little package. He won’t get blurty or clumsy when he is wrong-footed. He’s more like ‘stares at you like a falcon stares at a mouse.’

After the other anon’s questions about the boys’ relationship to Thranduil, I have to ask: How do Laerophen and Laindawar (really hope I spelled those right!) interact with each other, and with their little bro? I know in Midwinter we see a bit of Laerophen/Legolas interaction, and Legolas’ hero-worship of Laindawar at that age, but it kind of seemed like Laerophen is jealous of his older brother?

Ooooh, I’ve answered this before, but in a really higgedly-piggedly fashion. Check out my Laerophen or my Laindawar tags!

Summarised: Laindawar and Laerophen get on very well with each other. They are both loners, and neither feels the need to press the other for attention or amusement or whatever. Also, they were quite close in age. 

We see that Laerophen tried to be as martial and physically adept as Laindawar – not gonna happen, sad tall baby. He still holds a small amount of resignation towards this. He can’t really see that the things he can do are just as impactful. He doesn’t need to be as amazing a warrior as Legolas and Laindawar to do great things. Case in point: Erebor. 

(something to note here: I am a middle child. I feel this In My Bones.)

Both Laerophen and Laindawar are incredibly protective of Legolas – and he confuses them a bit. He was an unexpected gift, born centuries after both his brothers. He is just so unlike them in temperament. 

Dunno if you’ve been a part of or been intertwined with a family in which there is a massive age gap between siblings, but again, I myself am. There’s a big distance in comradery between the sibs with the age-gap – you can love each other dearly, know all there is to know about each other, but there’s an unavoidable remoteness there. You’re never quite on the same page, even when you’ve reached adulthood. You never quite lose that gap.

Laerophen is astonished and delighted by Legolas, constantly. His younger brother pulls him out of his layers and solitude, makes him a part of a tiny community of two. We see that in Midwinter. Laerophen would be alone more often than not if it weren’t for Legolas. Yet Laerophen cannot be as social as Legolas can, he must retreat at times. He can’t keep up with Legolas’ pace for too long before burning out.

Legolas is also one of the few people who know that Laerophen can be funny. 

Laindawar is proud as FUCK of Legolas. His muindor and he share the same spirit of adventure, and also a love of weaponry and combat. Laindawar was probably happier than Legolas was upon the day his younger brother out-shot him at the Autumn revels. He is known to boast of Legolas’ archery in a way he won’t ever speak of his own swordsmanship. But he can’t be as affectionate as Legolas, he cannot be as open with himself. It’s just not his nature. 

When Legolas was small, his brothers took it upon themselves to teach him different aspects of the world. Laindawar taught him weaponscraft and woodsmanship, and Laerophen taught him histories and stories. 

There we go! Hope that’s interesting!

the question about laerophen and thranduil’s relationship got me wondering about laindawar’s relationship w thranduil too. if you have time, could you go more in depth about that too? you make all your characters so interesting, i love learning everything possible about them

Hi Nonnie! Sure thing  – also alskdhgflajhsdgflsajh aaaaah I am so stoked you want to know more, that is just THE LOVELIEST, you are the LOVELIEST <333

OKAY! Laindawar! And Thranduil! Here we go!

So, Laindawar is the oldest. He was close to his grandfather Oropher and grandmother Haedirn (”remote watcher”). He was a young prince when the Greenwood was at the height of its beauty and strength. 

He was a slight and short child who fought grown elves with his fists and teeth when he heard even the slightest hint of criticism towards his family. He became a slight and short adult – and the best swordsman in the whole of the Greenwood, a relentless tracker and a stupendous hunter. He was happy, and proud.   

Then Dagorlad. 

Away marched Oropher,

Haedirn and Thranduil and Laindawar, leaving Laerophen as regent in the Greenwood. 

Only Thranduil and Laindawar returned. 

Laindawar watched his father go through hell on that terrible day. It is Laindawar, better than either of his brothers, who understands what Thranduil has sacrificed and endured to keep their people safe. He understands why his father chooses the methods and policies he chooses. 

He is also eternally, quiveringly, desperately chasing his father’s approval. He has it, of course. But Laindawar chases it regardless: he will be a better warrior, he will keep the forest safe, for that will please his father, he will kill thousands upon thousands of spiders, and perhaps his father will smile. 

He doesn’t chase Thranduil’s approval necessarily for the sake of his own ego – Laindawar’s ego is plenty healthy, though it’s always nice to get a boost – but he does chase it for the positive reaction from Thranduil. He wants his father to be less sad and wounded, he wants him to be happy. 

What does Laindawar do when faced with a problem? 

image

Thranduil, for his part, has always seen Oropher so clearly in Laindawar’s face. It is a good thing that Laindawar is taciturn and stern of expression, because if he were more animated in his features the resemblance would be agonising. He is absurdly proud of him, loves him to death and beyond. Thranduil TRUSTS Laindawar. He trusts him to know his mind, and to support him. This is no small thing: Thranduil has walls that are MILES HIGH. He is so, soooo guarded. SO GUARDED. 

He tries to tell his son this, over and over. He hopes it will cause Laindawar to understand that he loves him regardless, that he is proud of him regardless. That he can relent once in a while, that he can rest.

Laindawar sees these positive signs/reactions as confirmation that what he does can make his sad, bitter, angry father happier, and so redoubles his efforts.

As I’ve said before: LAINDAWAR HAS -3000 CHILL. 

Is it okay to ask a question? I’m not sure if you’ve covered this before, but what is Laerophen’s relationship with Thranduil like? In the latest chapter & sneak peek, he seems to respect and love his son, but was he ever confused about how to best take care of him, since elves in general aren’t awkward & Laerophen is. And is he a bit grateful to the dwarves, even if he wouldn’t admit it, for helping his second son come into his own a bit? Because Laerophen seems more confident now than before.

Hey Nonnie! Yes, it is always okay to ask a question 🙂 I am so sorry I am a slacker when it comes to answering promptly. Nggh. Sorry.

Oooh, okay – that’s a new one! Yes, Thranduil finds relating to Laindawar and Legolas much easier than he does to Laerophen. Laindawar is similar to him in spirit, if not quite so wounded in soul. Legolas is open and giving and merry, and is content in the company of others.

Thranduil absolutely loves Laerophen, absolutely is proud of him and respects him, but they’re very different creatures at heart.

Thranduil is reserved by nature and habit, but he is not an introvert like Laerophen. It would have seemed to him that there was two sides to the child: the one that was at ease, the one that was engrossed and excited when he was living in his books and in his own head, and then the one that was stilted and awkward and clumsy around others, the gawky prince in the public eye, the one that blurted things or stood like a scarecrow when he didn’t quite know how to react.

He would have tried to make Laerophen more at ease, bringing him out of the outward business of royalty as much as possible, giving him small opportunities to practice… but children always and forevermore learn best by example. And so Laerophen took on as many of his father’s mannerisms as he could, as a defence mechanism. We see that best when we first meet Laerophen: how stilted and stiff he is, how poor he is at dealing with so many people. He is unnaturally cool at first, and – every so often – he blurts something a little ridiculous. He gets into stupid arguments with Bomfris, he allows Dain to take the lead, to act as though he is older that Laerophen is. He is NOT COMFORTABLE. But he’s trying desperately to put on a veneer of ease and calm and elegance. (it doesn’t work)

Even so, Laerophen is still better at relating to others than Laindawar is. Laindawar retreated to his forest trails and his swordscraft, where Laerophen loved his books and following the path of his inner thoughts. Laerophen has learned to relax a little and be himself more naturally with others, possibly through the unquestioning approval of a scamp of a Dwarf child. He even gathers the courage to speak out against his family on one memorable issue :)))

yes, Laerophen is more confident now! He’s taken his own measure, both as a friend and a defender, and discovered that there is more in him than he realised. It is a good feeling!

Thranduil isn’t grateful to the Dwarves of Erebor yet – not even for standing between his forests and the Orcs of Gundabad and the Northern Wastes. He’s a little preoccupied by the whole ‘LEGOLAS AND WHATTHEWHATTHEWHAT’ situation at this point.

But he is most definitely noticing that his awkward giraffe of a second son is more comfortable in his skin amongst the Dwarves of Erebor than anywhere in his own kingdom. (the scene in the recent sneak-peek confirmed and drove this point home!)