yoccu:

The single most toxic thing I was brought up believing is that being Adult and Responsible and Good starts with doing everything completely alone and without help

What it’s really about is learning where and when you need help, how much help you need, and knowing when to reach out and ask for the help you need to function at your ideal level

People were never meant to live alone

figure-skating-confessions:

“Instead of judging who’s better than whom, I love seeing distinct styles in skating. Yuna and Hanyu’s cleanness, speed, and artistry. Dai’s fantastic dancing. Javi is emotionally rich, and Shoma’s immersion is so powerful. It doesn’t have to be a bickerfest among fans on who is better and who deserves what score. I’d leave it to the judges and try to appreciate how everyone brings their own unique strengths to the ice. I’m sure they’d appreciate that too.“

2 and 7 for the Tolkien Meta Meme, if you’ve got the time? :)

Thank you so much for asking me!! I love to talk about my characters and plot!

2. Who are Gil-galad’s parents, and what was his upbringing like? 

Believe it or not I have partially written this and the next one as well. 

Fingon is his father. The concept that Fingon needs an heir is encouraged by Fingolfin and Maedhros—not as co-conspirators, but as individuals with the same idea. My initial writing in relation to the question of Gil-galad’s parentage begins (although the reader does not realize it yet) in the first chapter of my novel A New Day, written in early 2007. His mother is Tadiel a Sindarin healer, originally from Doriath, who comes to the north with Thingol’s troops in the First Battle of Beleriand and for personal reasons never returns. There she meets Fingon and Maedhros when Fingon rescues Maedhros and she is placed in the situation of assisting in his recovery. She also appears in my WIP novel Mereth Aderthad, in several chapters. In that story, she is approached by Fingon and Maedhros first in the chapter “In Need of a Wife” which becomes a major subplot in that novel. She has her own reasons for being willing to get involved with the two of them.

I more or less follow The Silmarillion version that Gil-galad is sent to Cirdan for his own safety and protection. His mother does not accompany him, because she is needed where she is. But Gil-galad, despite the trauma of his separation from his parents, has a happy childhood. Cirdan takes the role of fostering Fingon’s heir seriously. Gil-galad inherits many of the personal characteristics of my Fingon—warm, open, courageous, outgoing, optimistic, and a strong and valiant leader. I stay close to my conception of him as Fingon’s son throughout my personal Silmarillion story-verse. For example, when writing of Gil-galad and Elrond, I have them share their memories of Maedhros while Elrond questions Gil-galad about what Fingon was like. Gil-galad was raised to assume the role of High King and his upbringing prepares him to be a leader of both the Noldor and the Sindar. Too long already. I’ve written a lot of this material, but have a lot more plotted in my head.

7. What happened during the first meeting of the host of Feanor and the host of Fingolfin after the latter arrived in Beleriand? Who was present and how did they handle it?

I have written this also and refer you to my published work! This is essentially the entirety of the plot of my novel A New Day. ( A New Day by Oshun  on AO3.)