#and I STILL got fucking MAGLOR

[lokittystuckinatree]

Me, taking a “which Feanorian are you” quiz, knowing I’m probably going to get Maglor: tehehe lololol

Me, actually getting Maglor: still laughing, but now on the verge of tears

[pollkien]

CELEBRIMBOR PROPAGANDA:

CELEBRIMBOR PROPAGANDA:

Curufin’s special little son!

Have you seen his Shadow of Mordor elven model. He’s SO cute.

Dwarf friend like his dad <3 I’m sure he and Narvi were getting it on…

He made the three rings. I mean. Even Sauron thought he was hot let’s be honest. So hot he got Celebrimbannered. Unfortunate

His story is literally such a tragedy and if you think that’s hot he is The guy ever

Tyelpërinquar is such a cute name also

Disowned his dad. He doesn’t deal with toxicity. Fuck yeah Brimbor

A craftsman so great he was second only to Fëanor himself. Sorry Curufin.

Established Eregion.

Got tortured to death. Very hot.

He had so many different backstories there was one where he was from Gondolin. Also another one where he was a Teler I think? Or a Sinda, I don't remember. And then Tolkien wanted him to be related to Fëanor so he had no choice but to make Celebrimbor Curufin's son

Arm thick from smithing...

He is just so sad and wet and filled with immense trauma. Did I mention he disowned his dad. Actually Celebrimbor could've very well met Curufin again in Doriath, because the survivors of Nargothrond went to Doriath, so maybe Celebrimbor as also permitted to enter... and then the kinslaying >:)

Not racist <3

MAEDHROS PROPAGANDA:

Feen’s first son. Probably very hot given how hot his dad was

Actually tried to be a decent guy in Beleriand unlike most of his brothers

Tall and ginger

Named Fingon the valiant and did not forget his friendship even when the ships were burned :’( and he “alone stood to the side”!!

Unfortunately got gotted by Morgoth. Hung from his wrist for like 20 years.

“for the fire of life was hot within him, and his strength was of the ancient world, such as those possessed who were nurtured in Valinor. His body recovered from his torment and became hale, but the shadow of his pain was in his heart; and he lived to wield his sword with left hand more deadly than his right had been.” Cute

Tragic! So tragic!

nvented Active Elf Suicide by jumping into a volcano. Yay.

“Maedhros did deeds of surpassing valour, and the Orcs fled before his face; for since his torment upon Thangorodrim his spirit burned like a white fire within, and he was as one that returns from the dead” slaydhros!

Moved his bros out of Hithlum so they wouldn’t bitch

March of Maedhros, Union of Maedhros, all named after him

He just seems like a big purring cat :)

Himring alone stood among the Dagor Bragollach! In fact Tol Himring is still around in the third age!

Searched for Eluréd and Elurín after the second kinslaying :(

Stole the two remaining Silmarils with Maglor

“But Maedhros and Maglor would not hearken, and they prepared, though now with weariness and loathing, to attempt in despair the fulfilment of their oath; for they would have given battle for the Silmarils, were they withheld, even against the victorious host of Valinor, even though they stood alone against all the world.” This is so hot

I guess he also is hot because he died in a fiery chasm.

Was noted for his bodily comeliness and was named Maitimo for it ;)

Shared Beren’s epesse

[havenotwillnotreadthebooks]

Hello! Back at it with a kidnap fam headcanon, except this ones about Earendil.

Consider; Maglor is so awkward around Earendil in Valinor. Earendil is good-natured about Stuff™️ but also awkward.

Anyway, at one point Earendil comes to Elrond’s home straight from his ship and Maglor accidentally brushes against him, only to find out Earendil’s skin is ice-fucking-cold.

Maglor instantly enters some sort of trauma response from the E&E twins’ childhood and starts lecturing Earendil on dressing properly for the weather and doesn’t he know Peredhel get cold more easily than elves? What if he got sick?

Maglor emerges from his parent haze to find Earendil has been wrapped in a sweater, two blankets, and one of Maglor’s outer robes.

Earendil is kinda just chilling. Like, he hasn’t been smothered like this in literal Ages of the world and its sorta nice to be cared about since he doesn’t get a lotta social time (touch-starved Earendil headcanon insert)

Anyway, the awkwardness has broken because Maglor is a bard, you best bet he is gonna commit to this bit. He puts a beanie hat on Earendil the same way he did for Elrond and Elros. Earendil is real quiet and just basking in the attention.

Elrond thinks this whole thing is fantastic. Slightly weird, but fantastic.

The meme format for this goes;

Earendil, fresh from the sky: heyo *COLD TO THE BONE*

Maglor, feeling Every Peredhel-Parent Instinct Reactivate: Where is your coat.

Yes this is inspired by RaisingCaiin & Jaz-The-Bard’s fics about cozy peredhel. No, I am not ashamed of anything.

Maedhros, if he’s around, is worse about it. Because Mae is used to getting the “baby is cold” instinct around grown adults (e.i his brothers) so that, combined with his Peredhel Is Cold instincts is just a recipe for disaster.

Maedhros has the thought peredhel is shivering, and next thing anyone knows there’s a blanket on Earendil. They both blink owlishly at each other for a moment, but Maedhros grew up with Feanor and he will Not Back Down.

Earendil gets another blanket.

Elwing, when she learns of the Cold Peredhel Instinct is…temped, to see what happens if she shivers near them. Because she is an awful seagull elf with an awful sense of humor. But there’s still too much tension between her and them for the joke to be funny yet. So she waits until she can look at them without flinching, and they can look at her without stiffening.

Then, and only then, does Elwing shiver around Mae&Mags and subsequently get blanket bombed.

[chthonion]

👀 The version of things where Annatar does use the Benign Necromancy Thing to help Maglor when he runs away?

Answering asks waaaay out of order because this one is easy: I might as well just go ahead and drop the outtake under a cut.

You can see that the intensity wasn't yet where I needed it to be, and also that...as soon as I raised the intensity a bit, it was clear that no one was ever going to allow this. But it was a pretty neat thought.

---

Maedhros puts his arms around his brother and stands there, his face grim and alone and far away, his chin resting on Maglor's head.

"It's all right," he says again, as if he's said it a thousand times. "It's all right. You can come back."

Annatar cannot see Maglor's face, from this angle, but he can see Maedhros's, and--he doesn't like it. He doesn't like the helplessness, the loneliness, the hurt.

Annatar looks at Maedhros, only at Maedhros, and says, "Do you remember what I did when Curufinwë hit you, in Mandos?"

Pause.

"Wait," Maedhros says. "Can you still do that?"

"You never actually explained that," Ambarussa says warily.

"Try it," Maedhros says. "If you hurt him, I'll kill you."

"Trust me, I'm aware," Annatar says dryly. He comes up closer to the creek, so that he's near enough that he won't have to exert himself, and closes his eyes so that he can find the edges of himself.

His spirit is here; the world is there--

He reaches those edges out, as he has long been in the habit of doing when he didn't have a body to get in the way--

Finds Maedhros's spirit, steady and hurting, and discards it; finds Maglor's, all diffuse and blurry at the edges--

He narrows in on Maglor's spirit and clamps down, slow but inexorable, pressing the diffuse and disintegrating edges back together again.

Maglor jerks in Maedhros's arms, gasping for breath, struggling suddenly against the embrace. Annatar steps back, holding his hands up, as Elrond takes a threatening step forward.

"Shhhh," Maedhros says. "Shhh, Mags, it's all right, I'm here. Everyone's safe."

"What the fuck," Maglor says in Westron, and then, when Annatar starts to let the pressure up, "No, don't stop."

Annatar reasserts the pressure.

"The fuck," Maglor says again, in Westron, and then, in Sindarin, "Let go, I need to breathe." And, when Annatar starts to let up, "Not you, don't you dare make me do this by myself."

Annatar clamps down again.

"Me?" Maedhros says.

"Yes, you," Maglor says, and, when released, falls promptly to his knees on the ground and presses his hands to his temples.

"Hmm," Maedhros says, and crouches down so that he can keep an eye on his brother's face.

"It's fine, it's fine," Maglor says. "Who in Music's name is doing--that?"

"Me," Annatar says. "Should I stop?"

"No," Maglor says.

"Tell me when you're done with it, then," Annatar says.

"Why on earth," Maglor says, slipping back into Westron, "is this a thing you know how to do?"

"It's useful for other things too," Annatar says, in the same language.

"Quenya?" Maedhros says. "Sindarin? Any language we all speak, please?"

"Sorry," Maglor says in Quenya. "Sorry, it's fine, I think I've got it now." He looks up at Annatar. "Let go?"

Annatar lets go. Maglor sways for a moment, disoriented, and then shakes his head and steadies himself.

Then he blinks at the river, and blinks at the trees, and says, "Wait. Where are we?"

[balrogballs]

Hi Balls, I love your writing and I just read your Maglor/Glorfindel story after your latest fic about Feanor. Can I just ask why your Maglor is sometimes, like in that story, kind of rude and sarcastic? Your style keeps me reading, but I’m used to Maglor being more wholesome, or regretful, and I wanted to ask your justification for him being like, kind of mean in his responses. Is it an anti fanon thing or what, because he’s supposed to be the most pentitent brother so it’s interesting to see

continueing here. See him being sarkie about Elrond, or cocky about his looks, when he’s characterized as being repentent and not so confident, because of his trauma? I love your prose and it makes it interesting to read, but maybe explain your justification? Is it that his trauma doesn’t xist in the story,? Has he got over it ooor is he using it as a shield? All 3 sound possible

Hello hello!

So I assume you mean this fic? It was a last minute pinch hit fill for the Slashy Valentine event, more of a short vignette than anything. This question skipped to the top of my queue just so I could make this joke: if I had a nickel for every time someone asked me to justify a fanfic decision in the last week, I’d have two nickels… (just joking, not @-ing you at all!). Sorry about how long this is, I am very insufferable and like to ramble, but yes enjoy some thoughts about my conception of Maglor (and a little bit of Maedhros as well towards the end) across most of my fics.

So two things: firstly, some of the wording in the setup of that Valentine fic is directly drawn from an old fic I had up, in which Maglor was a bird-guy living in a forest near Lindon running a bird conservation project, which I took down after a couple of months and repurposed for other writing ventures.

And in that one, Maglor absolutely is judgy, sarcastic and “lmao memes” about most things, will not hesitate a second to call Elrond out when he’s acting like a dweeb, and some of the most fun I had writing anything was when I was writing the dialogues between him and 4 y/o Baby Arwen (who if you’ve read my earlier LotR stories, you’ll know is extremely spoilt and very much daddy’s little princess).

Reason I mention that fic is because that was the first proper or substantial Maglor-centric bit of writing I’d ever attempted and so that characterisation carries over to other fics of mine to various degrees as well, depending on setting and the role Maglor plays in the fics…

It really isn’t some sort of “anti-fanon” move, whatever that is supposed to mean… I don’t exactly make it a habit to rail against fanon as a rule, the only fic I’d say fulfills that criteria to some extent is that Mae/Elw fic, but even that is just 80% me wanting them to fuck and finding it very hot.

I just like to interpret Maglor in the way I characterise him, as you describe, snarky, judgemental and droll. There are still fanon elements to it: he’s very parental, grandparental as well, he was a very involved parent regardless of what form it takes or effect it has, whether positive or negative. Maglor in my AU also follows along those lines, just in a different context… and his very close relationship with Arwen was a pretty solid thread in some of my older works, iirc The Great Impossible showcases that best… and yes, there too he’s very laid back and honestly can be a bit of a dick, especially with his “naming 3000 generations of cats after Thingol” and “finding a very ugly cat and calling it Teleporno, only to change its name after Teleporno was nice to him”.

I don’t think it’s a beyond-the-pale characterisation, or one that seems incompatible with canon. The guy spent his life in Valinor lauded as the world’s greatest singer and what not, was a professional mummy’s boy and was a prince for most of his life. Him having a stick up his ass wouldn’t really be out of the ordinary: imagine if Beyoncé and Prince Harry were combined into one person. You’d be sitting at court bitching about people’s outfits too if you were Maglor. And then you’re commanding forces in a war, so you still have a level of authority: the Fëanorians in Beleriand weren’t exactly destitute and begging on the street getting whipped by Thingol or whatever, they absolutely had power and wealth.

Maglor was weary of his Oath and heartsick by the end, but he was still a Fëanorian, he was still part of their wider project in Middle-Earth, not only took part in the slayings but composed music about it, etc. I used to have a little joke that Maglor was the Rudyard Kipling of the Noldor and that the Noldolantë was the pointy-eared equivalent to the White Man’s Burden poem but I stopped making it when someone tried to bite my head off for it… 😭 anyway, yes, I did not and don’t write him as someone who was opposed to it from Day One, but someone in whom regret and self-disgust grew as the Noldor-in-ME project continued.

So him not being a perfectly polite and “choose kindness always” uwu bean does track with his character in my view… it’s all just different interpretations, not exactly some act of rebellion against fanon or whatever.

Re: trauma and characterisation, I fielded this same question about Maedhros when writing Cast in Stone, but in that case it was “why is he literally deranged, like person-needing-a-straitjacket deranged instead of having a classic presentation of PTSD and depression?”

I think one thing it’s important to mention when it comes to fandom/fanwork, not just in this fandom but in general, is that trauma presents in many ways, and they’re not all going to be a) relatable b) easily mappable into Anglo DSMV terminology c) palatable. As a general rule, for both personal and literary reasons, I am always keen on exploring “madness” in fantasy. I wasn’t interested in writing Maedhros as a “guy who did big violence and then felt bad about it” neat binary, wanted to show a fractured psyche which, in my writing, presents as outright mental instability.

And yeah it’s clear in Prayers what’s going on in his head, but because Cast in Stone was set in canonverse I had a few questions in about why I did that, to which my answer was: while the story was as a whole an exploration of historiography/who-writes-history-and-how, the emotional climax of it was when Elrond admits to Estel that the reason for all that historical cherrypicking and statue-building was not due to his own personal opinion about either the Fëanorians or his parents or anything like that which you’d expect, but rather the result of a residual, misplaced anger towards Maedhros for taking his own life. And that perspective is absolutely a thing with the immortal Eldar (see: Elwing being put into a fucking tower and having to live apart from the rest of the Eldar??? 😭) but it’s also a prevalent attitude in the real world, the language of blame and accusations of “selfishness”.

And what the fic was doing was also trying to explain Maedhros’ psyche, his own outlook towards his pre-reembodiment actions, even outright telling Elrond that he’d have done it again if he was in that spot with those stakes again. Not a palatable response nor a “mentally well” one, but re-embodiment/immortality =/= cure-all, and Maedhros still being a freak on his second round in ME was just more interesting to me. And personally again, I don’t want to write Maedhros grovelling to Elrond apologising for his suicidality: in CiS he straight up says he won’t apologise, and that’s just my preference and outlook when it comes to something like that. In fact, the only explicit apology I’ve ever written for him across all my fics has been a direct one to Elwing as an individual, which takes various forms in various works, and that is not even for the violence or kinslaying or any of that (because it’s not exactly something you can “apologise” for) but rather for the specific action of driving her to attempt exactly what he later also did.

And it’s a similar sort of view I hold with Maglor, just much less intense: where the child-rearing is genuine, he grows to love them swiftly and he’s good to them, but there’s definitely a sense of atonement to it at the start, a la Kite Runner (🙄 reference, i know sorry). And someone who I write to take that approach and views things through a self-fashioned morality code (which has both good and kind elements but also elements inherited from Fëanor/general Noldor worldviews), I don’t think—again I’m talking about how I write him, not how anyone should, or even talking in canon terms—he necessarily needs to explicitly beg everyone he meets for forgiveness on *their* terms if that makes sense?

I kind of regret pulling that bird-story now because it makes stuff a bit clearer re: what I’m trying to explain here, but yeah that was his and Elrond’s first meeting since the First Age, and it very much operated on a “yeah this happened and it was shit, and you know I regret it and that I’m sorry, but okay let’s solve the problem you have now” basis. And that’s just the approach I took, I have enjoyed reading stuff where there’s an explicit forgiveness narrative especially when it’s not tropey or woobified, but as a writer I chose this other option, that’s all.

Essentially, I don’t think he needs to perform his insecurities and be outwardly self-disgusted until someone tells him he shouldn’t. Insecurity and self-hatred, if present, can manifest in ways other than weeping at Elrond’s feet, I think? Again, there’s works that do that very well and unpick it nicely, it’s just that I didn’t go that route. Especially because I don’t write Elrond as a paragon of virtue whose primary trait is unequivocally-good-despite-trauma, that trait is present yes but I still write him to have flaws, ie historical blindness (interesting in the context of him being a living archive) as well as his own biases that come from his experiences, some inherited and others from serving under Gil-galad in the Second Age… so achieving Elrond’s forgiveness, specifically, isn’t the crux of any of the kidnap-fam related stories I’ve written?

Finally, I also don’t think being someone who is sorrowful/lonely/abject needs to be someone who spends all their time crying (Maedhros in Prayers is a good example of that opinion of mine lol!) and carrying over some personality traits from your Beyonce x Prince Harry era I think is not exactly either a rebellion from fanon or canon, nor a particularly impossible characteristic to have in his circumstances.

So yeah, just my interpretation, which I’ve explained above… I love reading other takes on him and think other readings work well too of course, this was just what I chose.

Hope this all makes sense and sorry for the essay, but hey, you asked! 🤪 I was in the middle of writing some meta re: Prayers (because I’m still very irritated about that one condescending read) when this turned up and distracted me…

[starsofarda]

Hi, hello, so because of this post I have gotten attached to my random Elven maid who has to sew all of the banners.

So, because I have also been rotating her in my mind like a rotisserie chicken, have some fun facts about her.

Her name is Molinde (Mudriel in Sinda)

She's obviously a Noldo and by Elvish standard she's average. Pretty, but average. She grew up sewing and embroidering, she adores it.

She also follows Feanor and sons out of Valinor when they get exiled, she has not counted on actually starving, so she gets crafty with sewing the sails of the ships.

She eventually gets hired among the others as embroiderer for the Feanorian war banners (bc let's face it, it's Feanor and sons mainly doing that, we will have to wait until the end of the Helcaraxe hike to see more).

She's young and bushy tailed and her faith in the world is still intact. This all will pass by the tenth banner she has to sew, but she's fueled not by law, not by love, not by league of hell, BUT BY SHEER SPITE. A very Noldorian thing to do.

She has had to embroider and sew SO MANY banners one more complex than the others, and she has seen them destroyed, set on fire, torn apart, thrown in the marshes, seized by Morgoth's army. She's fed up.

"Ugh, can't these Elf lords have simpler designs?"

She says, beefing up to the Elf that comes up with these designs.

"One less star is not gonna be noticed!"

"One less star is going to be too close to the Nolofinweans' banners!"

"So WHAT, they are COUSINS!"

And so on. She absolutely knows how to use a battle axe. She has to get revenge on the orcs that set on fire her workshop.

And that's when she says, at the nth request for banners: "Yes, my Lord, I will sew these stars all over, but IF I AM NOT GETTING MY WEIGHT IN GOLD and *Insert Elvish king/prince* as my SPOUSE you are gonna go into battle with barely threaded banners and Morgoth will LAUGH at you all".

She has tried to get married to an unmarried Son of Feanor like that many times, unsuccessfully. She has gotten the gold tho, a meager consolation.

By the Second Age she's in Eregion, basically mothering Celebrimbor and still sewing. It's not war banners (yet), but by then she is known for being That Bitch in her restricted circle of embroiderers.

"Oh no, Lord Annatar, it's fine. By the way, you do look somewhat similar to someone I saw in the First Age, any relation?"

And Eregion gets destroyed and her workshop is once again destroyed. More fuel to her spite. And also she embroiders a huge "FUCK YOU, I TOLD YOU THAT ANNATAR GUY WAS FAMILIAR!"

She does end up in Elrond's Homely House and teaches embroidery to Arwen.

She KNOWS that ""Lindir"" is Maglor. At least one of them survived, that's enough for her.

She sails back to Valinor dragging Lindir/Maglor with her. I reckon that by the Fourth Age all the sons of Feanor are re-embodied. Will she finally get to marry one of them, after all she went through? That's for y'all to decide.

NOTES:

She has had generations of cats. The first one was given to her after the fifth unsuccessful try at marrying a Son of Feanor as a "haha you are going to be alone forever lol" kind of move, but she got attached to the little beast and becamea catlady.

She has embroidered a lot of cat-themed stuff.

Thoughts so far?

[anittmyer]

Fuck it no one can stop me!

Here i give you Daeron and Maglor's magic babies! (Don't ask how they got here THEY JUST ARE!) In this AU Daeron is the son of Melian and Thingol and I place his appearance with silver hair and brown eyes.

Daemags first born is Winyàrissë, her name means Fresh Dawn and Maglor named her this hoping she'd be his new fresh start. She has Maglor's black hair and Daeron's deep brown eyes, she also has a small beauty mark under her left eye. She loves to ride horses with Maglor and and is skilled with a sword and bow. She is a protective older sister and isn't that close with Thingol on account of how he treats Maglor. Her own horse, Alcarin came from Maglor's own mare and Maglor helped her raise the horse.

Their second child is Harmië, meaning "treasure". Daeron named her for her sweet disposition and the uncertainty that a second child was possible. She has silver hair and blue eyes, her eyes shine brightly that some believe the tree light in Maglor's eyes passed on. She is sweet and soft spoken, she loves clothing and jewelry, but loves to dance despite actually being a clumsy dancer, Daeron and Maglor's music is her favorite to dance to. She is a little naive and doesn't tend to sense the tension between her parents and grandparents.

Their youngest child is Luhtano, name meaning "To enchant". He is the only son of Maglor and Daeron and was actually named by Melian. He has dark brown hair with a singular silver streak and has brown eyes. He is Maglor's shadow and doesn't tend to stray far from him or his sisters, at this point in their lives Daeron has been constantly fighting with Thingol and wasn't seen often. Luhtano inherited the musical talent of both his parents and had a wonderful and powerful singing voice yet he was far too shy to sing in front of others, his cheeks and ears going bright red and his eyes would fill with tears at the suggestion of performing. Thingol accused Maglor of babying and spoiling Luhtano and tried to have him removed from Maglor's care though Melian argued against separating the two.

And that's the three wee babs! I'm still working the actual story though! Let me know what you think!

[ceescedasticity]

Unforsaken, 15h

(All sections on tumblr)

(AO3, lagging behind but more polished)

(The Changing of the World changed a lot, is the thing.

To start with Eärendil sailed by night among the stars, and very occasionally got permission to go lower — the War of Wrath, leading the Edain to Númenor, a few other occasions. He was forbidden from going among elves or Men in Middle-earth. This was monitored and would be fairly obvious anyway.

(The strictness of the rules was somewhat exaggerated when messengers of the Valar were trying to convince Númenórean kings they couldn't do an Eärendil.)

After the Changing of the World the stars over Middle-earth were a lot farther away than the stars over Aman, and much less sail-able. Vingilot had to navigate through a very thin layer which was not quite obeying the rules of Arda before the Changing and not quite obeying the rules after, something in-between, and much closer to the perils of the Void than Middle-earth or its stars.

And descending from this layer to Middle-earth wouldn't really work, so there was no need to monitor for that.

Eagles of Manwë (and other such birds) sometimes take the trip, but it's tricky. Risky. You have to slip out of the layer into the atmosphere of Middle-earth which somehow requires getting even closer to the Void �� it's not a trip taken lightly. And Vingilot would have the additional problem that the airs of Middle-earth are a lot less hospitable to a flying ship than they once were.

Bu-ut…

Peredhil are resourceful in general.

The Houses of Finwë, Elu, Bëor, and even Hador are all better-known for bravery and/or stubbornness than prudence (wisdom, sometimes, but not prudence).

Eärendil and Elwing personally have had some luck with 'ignore explicit lack of permission, seek forgiveness later'.

The Noldor in Aman developed dirigibles early-to-mid Second Age and promptly got their use restricted to unpopulated areas, among other regulations written in — if not blood — high blood pressure. Making Vingilot able to fly in mortal skies is well within their abilities by the Third Age.

On a cloudy summer day when no one in the region is on high alert, with a cloak over the Silmaril and humming a song of concealment…

They did it very very very rarely and they never landed, just threw down an anchor line for a bit.

But. Yeah.

…Though considering that the Valar are likely to also be closely following events at the Crucible they may be getting themselves busted showing up like this.)

Nimloth looks up, though she can't really see that far. That's Elwing?

"…Apparently!" Celeborn says.

Celegorm scowls up at the star. Then he looks around for Maglor, and can't see him. "Where the fuck did Maglor go?"

"I think he got tired of you not listening to him," Risyind says.

Okay fine but when the Silmaril showed up flying low he could've come back.

It takes a while for Elenronyo the Goose to, presumably, talk to Elwing and/or Eärendil.

Khitwê and Risyind gawk at the unusually low star. "Actually that's our… second cousin, isn't it?"

Glorfindel realizes he has to be on Celegorm-sitting duty now.

Celegorm makes some rude gestures skyward. Eluréd and Elurín glare a bit, but being rude in Elwing's general direction is evidently more acceptable than being rude to Nimloth.

Legolas and Gimli show up to gawk at the unusually low star — Legolas waves enthusiastically.

In Gondor, Arwen is starting to feel the strain of maintaining a palantír connection for so long, but she keeps it up anyway. It looks like she's never going to get a chance to meet Eluréd and Elurín in person, and she wants to see as much as she can.

Zuste and Dyn show up to gawk at the unusually low star. (Zuste is actually not much inclined to talk to Leafblight now that she knows Leafblight was — is? — an elf. She's grateful for the aid, but it's just too awkward.)

Maglor still does not come back.

(Or Whiterot, but that's not at all surprising.)

(Out of earshot, Maglor has paused his discussion with Whiterot to close his eyes, pull his coat over his face, cover his eyes with his hands, and start humming loudly.)

The messenger-Goose returns. "As the young one said — if our swan-twins can fly high enough, the boat can take them West."

Caraxitári nods. "And would that be acceptable to you?"

"Better than going by sea," Elurín concedes.

"Is that safe for them?" Celeborn asks.

"Not as safe as the Straight Road, but much safer than flying with us. The boat provides protection."

"We'll go with 'Wing," Eluréd says, after the twins exchange private ósanwë. "We'll meet you there, Naneth."

Celeborn, Caraxitári, Nimloth, and Elladan and Elrohir all decide not to mention that it may not be quite that straightforward. That can be a problem for later.

Then there's an awkward interlude where Eluréd and Elurín don't want to fly up until Nimloth is safely with Caraxitári, but Nimloth wants to be assured they can actually make it to Vingilot.

It's decided one of the twins will go up first, then Nimloth will go to Caraxitári, then the other twin. The twins start to have an argument about who has to go first.

Celeborn manages to get them to draw straws. (Possibly they're a little more susceptible to parenting with both Nimloth and Caraxitári present.)

Elurín gets the short straw. He looks over the group. "It was good to meet you, great-uncle, great-nephews. Thank you for your instruction, Lord Glorfindel." He pauses, searching for something else to say. "Everyone… fought… well? Thank you for fighting with us to free our mother."

Before anyone can reply, he shifts into a swan and takes off.

He has to do a lot of circling. Caraxitári doesn't seem concerned.

Most of the onlookers keep their eyes glued to the ascending swan.

Celegorm however is still making rude gestures at Elwing and/or Eärendil and/or the Silmaril itself.

Eluréd spends almost the whole time whispering to Nimloth.

—Celeborn, who is closest, hears enough to think he might be describing a close encounter with… a lion, maybe? Where were they that they encountered lions?

The full elves are able to make out Elwing-as-a-bird escorting swan-Elurín the last yards to Vingilot, and hands reaching over the rail to help him aboard.

(They can also see that Vingilot is… hanging from… giant sky-colored balloons???)

"He made it safely," Glorfindel says.

All right, says Nimloth. Thank you for looking after them, Uncle.

Celeborn hardly feels he deserves these thanks for a month or so out of over two Ages, but now isn't the time to argue. "Rest well, Nimloth, and I will see you in Valinor."

She turns back to Eluréd. I am so proud of both of you. It's easy to speak to Eluréd and Elurín collectively even when only one of them is in front of you. You will look after Elwing? And your father?

"We promise, Naneth."

After a last lingering touch, Nimloth reaches out to Caraxitári, and another feather glows.

Eluréd doesn't bother with any more goodbyes, but leaps straight into the air.

Everyone watches him climb.

(Celegorm starts muttering imprecations out loud.)

Arwen, via palantír: "I'm having difficulty picturing Elwing letting them play big brother at this point."

Elrohir, to Arwen and Elladan: "I bet she allows it without arguing until they've crossed into Aman's air and the twins can't run away so easily."

Elladan, to Arwen and Elrohir: "No bet. That will definitely be an interesting relationship to work out, though."

And then all of them go quiet, because two of them might hear that story eventually and one of them definitely won't.

After Eluréd is on board, Elwing circles a few more times — swooping a little lower in salute to Celeborn, Elladan, and Elrohir — and returns to Vingilot.

Vingilot ascends, until even the elves can see only a star.

—A star visible in the daytime directly overhead. Eärendil is still watching, after all.

[mamawasatesttube]

Top 5 Silmarillion moments

OOOHHHH GOOD ONE. let's see!!!

maglor & elrond & elros becoming an odd and tragic little family amidst the horrors. it compels me so much!! like... elrond and elros must have been so scared and resentful and horrified at first. but maglor was so tired of being The Fucking Worst by that point and the idea that he and maedhros drove these two kids' mother to leap off a cliff and leave her sons behind... (NOT elwing hate btw she had her reasons 😭) it's just such a messy and bittersweet situation and the "love grew between them" line gets me. so much stated with just a few words...

technically a histories moment and not a silm moment, buuut.... fëanor burning amrod to death at losgar. horrifying! incredibly poignant! the metaphors! good fucking lord!

the reunion of húrin and morwen... at the gravestone of their two children... it's so painful. it gets me. morwen at least finding some comfort in his presence at the end just. ough. augh. aagh

beren and lúthien baybee!!!!!! like, all of it, but if i have to pick a specific favorite bit i think it's beren being locked up in sauron's basement and lúthien coming in to rescue him. he's literally her pretty princess.

maglor's epic YEET. rip to ur hands king sorry but this compels me greatly. also i sometimes ponder the ethics of the silmaril burning him (and maedhros) because, like, yes, they did do objectively awful things, but also the silmarils were made by their father and did varda, like, actually get anyone's permission before "hallowing" them...? because they were such a great work they sort of got relegated to Cultural Icon status even while their creator was still alive, it's like... what rights to his work does fëanor retain, or his family after his passing? how much are they owed to society when they have the potential to be a great help (rekindling the trees)? ...what would have happened if the valar had broken them? etc. i dont know it's just a lot to chew on!

[celevrian]

You can answer or ignore these as you like.

Have you ever developed a ship based on writing with a certain other character / mun? Have you ever started to ship a rare-pair? What are rare-pairs that you’re passionate about? Do you ship someone’s muses on your dash? What people make you happy when you see them on the dash? What are things you wish people would tag so you can block it?

MUNDAY QUESTIONS

ignore these? Never.

Have you ever developed a ship based on writing with a certain other character / mun?

Yes. All the time. Specifically I'd say @sorrowssinger 's Maglor, who spoiled me very early on by doing me the honor of falling in love with Aredhel ( and still is in love with her as of the other night.) Since then we've developed so many dang ships. we had an armada at one point. Crossovers, canon characters--i think we only have like two canon ships which are turgon/elenwe & hades/persephone ... right, Andy? 👀👀👀

Have you ever started to ship a rare-pair?

babes i got news for you. ALL I SHIP ARE RAREPAIRS. LITERALLY. ALL I SHIP. I AM NOT A FAN OF POPULAR SHIPS FOR ABOUT 99 REASONS. *breathes* okay okay I'm okay. Always and forever though. Rarepairs are my bread and butter. I love them. I hate that no one ships it but me tho.

What are rare-pairs that you’re passionate about?

... buckle up, bitches, you're about to go for a ride.

first and foremost is thranduil/aredhel that i shipped a very very long time ago with @elvxnkingthranduil ... who is sadly no longer in the fandom ( and i mourn their absence regularly ). I can't say they were the first trigger to my shipping it because I shipped it before they came along, hence why they're here instead of up above. But this pairing in my mind is absolute gold. There's a meeting of spirits and minds i cannot ever get over. The forest lord Aredhel should've actually met in the first age. You will pry this ship from my cold, dead hands. Thranduil is literally her dream guy I'm not even kidding. Why? I think it's the... wildness, the danger without harm, the staying power, the fact he's so 'you're all idiots' it makes her want to bite him , and hug him, and steal his clothes and braid his hair. It's very hard to describe in a blurb but fucking hell am I on my knees for it, and miss the dynamic. It was literal perfection.

Another one is Celebrían/Gil-Galad which I found while looking for Celrond fics ( and being so terribly disappointed ), the dynamic I already knew was fantastic but there's this one author that ships it and there's like 3 fics and they're just simply sublime. Literally didn't know I needed it until that set of reading, it's lovely, like if I had to pick another elf for Celebrían that wasn't Elrond, it would be Gil-Galad, that's how awesome these fics were. Though even unromanced version, they're such great friends, in my mind, and the dynamic is still utterly superb. The balance of dutiful king and in the shadows lady is just *chefs kiss* love it.

Third I found randomly one day while looking for Finduilas fics was Finduilas/Maeglin. That one was out of left field but honestly I dig it. You've got sun/night going on. She's golden af he's shadows. You have the angst of the fact that she's the Idril of her own story but she was also Maeglin in her own story. Involved but pining after someone she couldn't have. I think they could both learn a lot about each other and work very well together, that she'd notice more about him than everyone else. As a result actually, I've internally shipped them with my muses for when Maeglin is referring to a wife in later verses with characters like Elrond ( because my Maeglins main ship is @sungsilver so given he and Elrond cannot both be with Celebrían, Finduilas has filled in ).

Fourth rarepair I'd say is Aredhel/happiness. "Wait what?" You say. I SAY AREDHEL/HAPPINESS BECAUSE FUCKING HELL DO YOU REALIZE HOW SAD SHE IS??? I'll be a little more normal and say AREDHEL/GONDOLINDRIM. Why? Because SOMEHOW SHE'S NEVER SHIPPED WITH ONE OF THE 9 DUDES WHO ARE AROUND HER THE MOST. ( I'm excluding Maeglin, salgant & tuor for obvious reasons). Like I don't understand that, how are her only ships in this fandom Eöl, Elenwë & Celegorm? We could have Aredhel/Glorfindel, Aredhel/Ecthelion, Aredhel/Egalmoth, Aredhel/Rog--- ARE YOU CATCHING MY DRIFT??? SOMEHOW IT DOESN'T EXIST and that's a tragedy in my opinion. Seriously. Not one. NOT ONE. How? Fandom you've failed her honestly. You can only ship her with her abusive husband, her sister in law, or the guy who burned the boats, abandoned her, and never went looking for her when he found out she visited and didn't come back. Y'all are nuts. I'm disappointed in you.

Another one: Luthien/Maedhros. Another one you'll pry from my cold dead hands. Not only is he totally her type, but you could fix half the silmarillion with this pairing. Luthien helps him steal the silmarils from angband through subterfuge. Solved. No more silm problems. Mae and luthien having the most adorable babies known to elvendom aaand the most terrifying. They got together to end sindarin/noldor conflict. Thingol didn't like it but she married him anyway. He never jumps because why would he. She never dies because he's not mortal. Another variation with Maedhros is Maedhros/Aredhel ( less power couple more comfort ) and if you want a write up on that I'll dm you.

last one: Finrod/Amarië. "But that's canon!' You say. Bitch do you realize how RARE CANON PAIRINGS ARE????? Good luck getting a guy to love and fuck his canon lover in this economy. Finrod is mostly paired with Curufin, Turgon, Bëor etc BUT AMARIE IS LITERALLY RIGHT THERE ( @ofthevanyar *smooches* ) AAAND Y'ALL JUST SLEEPING ON IT. you know who else? FINDUILAS/GWINDOR. ELROND/CELEBRÍAN. GALADRIEL/CELEBORN. ETC ETC ETC. this fandom would do anything other than ship the actual couples. Heaven forfend! How dare we?? And oh by the way, oc versions of wives are also abhorred for some reason. Y'all be hamlet with ophelia and the "get thee to a nunnery" shit. Absolutely killing me. 😳😳😳 a'ight I'll shut up now.

Do you ship someone’s muses on your dash?

... no... actually. It sounds awful but I just don't ship anybody, I'm happy y'all are having fun tho.

What people make you happy when you see them on the dash?

Ohhhhhh boy here we go. LET THE TAGS BEGIN. @tidalhaired ( darliiing ❤❤❤ ) @saltuary ( kissing you on the cheeks ) @sungsilver ( again babes I'm tagging you forevaaah😘 ), @scion-of-kings ( on my knees. On MY FUCKING KNEES ) @putrefacerem ( *waggly brows* ) @worthyheir ( we have really gotta work on a verse hon ) @gatheringrust ( and gwindor of course ) @pxnxply ( what did you think I forgot you? ) @lvscinvs ( *goes to my inbox to write up those memes ) @dcviline ( we really need to find some characters who click, this is intolerable ) @springsdawn ( moth vc: wifeeeeeeeeee ) @heirtoharrenhal (who I've never said hi to but still like seeing on my dash they're like a staple) @quentafeanorians (darliiiinggg *mwah mwah mwah*) @sorrowssinger ( who isn't around as much so it's like seeing a rare bird ) @fallensmith ( i have GOT to start poking toby again ) @ofthevanyar ( finrod says 'WIFEEEY' even louder ) @ienemy ( *on my knees* dolllllll come baackkk 😭😭😭 ) & @realmsdelite ( again i don't interact much but love seeing them. I really need to get a got verse gosh )

whew

What are things you wish people would tag so you can block it?

Nothing. I'm good. I just wish tumblr would LET ME FUCKING NOT SEE THE SHIT THAT *IS* BLOCKED LIKE PLS TUMBLR I'M BEGGING. I DON'T WANNA SEE CERTAIN THINGS LET ME NOT.

[let-the-sunset-rise]

House of feanor pet headcanons

Maedhros: Dogs, preferably golden retrievers and labradors. Therapy-, family- and service dogs in general (family dogs in Valinor, he needed a service- and a therapy dog post Angband). He had a owl in middle earth too. She brought his brothers and Fingon letters, but then she died in the Nirnaeth (together with Fingon. Funny, how you always seem to lose anyone too close to you. Do you think Maglor will one day vanish as well?Maybe you truly are a terrible older brother. You can't even take care of your own pets! Pathetic...) After the Nirnaeth he had a falcon, who later Elros inherited (She died together with him).

Maglor: Songbirds, but only in Valinor (Later in middle-earth he understood the feeling of being trapped as best as he could because of his big brother and set them free, if they were still able to survive outside. The birds who were too domesticated for that he kept). Canaries, cockatiels, budgerigars, etc. Celegorm and Curufin made jokes about the nightingales because Tinuviel *cough*.

Celegorm: Dogs. From. Orome. Do I have to say more? He had at least ten dogs alone for prey hunting. And Huan of course. HUAN.

Caranthir: Not a pet person or animal person. Had sea monkeys and a hamster as a kid, but somehow they died after two weeks. Well, the sea monkeys died after two weeks, the hamster lived three months. Feanor and Nerdanel didn't let him keep any other pets after that. In middle earth, he got fond of cats because they could be kept as pets underground because they have night vision (keyword dwarves). The cats he especially liked were the naked (egyptian?) ones, I don't know their names; they didn't shed and he is allergic to animal fur.

Curufin: Cats. Cat person. 100% cats. Cats are just made for him. They're like him. They're clever, cunning, daring, will do whatever you tell them not to do, territorial, THEY HISS, I mean how amazing is that and they're just so fucking bitchy and picky. Also, in the Tevildo Canon cats were considered evil by elves (Yavanna: I made these guys and they are perfectly fine and you're all just bigoted) and dogs hated them so I think it's kind of fitting for Curufin to like cats so much because they're so misunderstood and wronged by elven society. He had three cats in Valinor who he later took with him to middle earth (all of them made it, luckily). He had a black shorthair, a white longhair and a calico (all female and girls) and they all had cool badass Quenya names that I will not elaborate on due to personal reasons (*innocent cough*)

Amras: He had a tarantula in Valinor who was later left behind during the flight of the Noldoli. This was quite unusual due to spiders being disliked in elven society and being seen as unholy and disgusting (like Curufin and his cats). He loved her dearly and cried alot when he couldn't take her with him. Nerdanel promised him to take care of her while he was gone. When he got reembodied, his tarantula greeted him home. He was so grateful that Nerdanel took care of her the whole time (which was, to be fair, a long time) and thanked her alot. Their whole relationship got better because of this. Also, in middle earth he didn't keep any pets due to him still griefing his tarantula and him not wanting to replace her. He sometimes took care of his brother Celegorm's dogs, but only for a while and he held no love for them.

Amrod: reptiles. Lizards, snakes and amphibians. In Valinor, he had a chameleon, a bearded dragon and a iguana. He only got to get the chameleon in time, the others were left behind and Nerdanel took care of them. However, the chameleon got burned to death together with him at Losgar. Later, the chameleon got reembodied together with him.

Bonus Celebrimbor:

He liked to play with his uncle's dog (Huan) and he loved his father's cats. Curufin wanted to buy him a cat, but little Celebrimbor refused because he loved his father's calico cat so much that she was basically his pet as well and buying him a new cat would feel like replacing her. Later on, Finrod asked him again if he wants any pets and Celebrimbor refused again because he was happy with the calico cat. When Finrod left and he de-fathered Curufin (I am no longer your child etc. I forgot the verb for it. Listen im german okay i sometimes forget words), Curufin and Celegorm left together with Curufin's cats (including the calico cat) and Huan, Celebrimbor grieved the calico cat more than he grieved his father because it was easier to grieve somebody who hadn't hurt him. Finrod, his friend, as the absolute sunshine he is, left him a small poodle puppy behind knowing Curufin will take the cat with him. The poodle grew to be one of his closest companions in his life.

[polutrope]

For the holiday prompts:

26. Accidental drunkenness with Celegorm, Caranthir, and Curufin! Thank you, love your writing 🤍

Amazing prompt Anon, and thank you! This is also for @melestasflight who requested Caranthir with the same prompt and @grey-gazania who requested Caranthir + Ugly sweaters. 1.5k words, Rated T for a lot of swearing and drunkenness. These guys are awful. Posting these to AO3, here. Prompt list (prompts closed). Little context: Curufin owns a craft brewery and Celegorm works for him. Maglor's referenced boyfriend is Daeron. See Beleria Cast of Characters for the full scoop!

Curufin cleared their empty glasses and wiped a wet cloth over the bar. He didn’t usually like to drink at work, even after closing, but they’d tapped a keg of the new Red River Winter Ale to sample.

Curufin had been wound tight all month worrying that it wouldn’t be ready for bottling in time for Yule gifting — and it barely was. But it had turned out perfect: not too heavy, with a warm spice. He’d use the late release to his advantage, slapping plain handwritten labels on the bottles and marketing them to panicked shoppers as a limited release last-minute gift. They could sell the rest of the batch under a new label in the New Year.

That weight off his shoulders, combined with the loosening effect of the alcohol, had put Curufin in a light mood. But not so light that he fell for Celegorm’s suggestion to have another pint. It was a Tuesday, and while that might make no difference to Celegorm, he had to get Celebrimbor to school in the morning.

“How did you get here?” he asked Celegorm, who was mopping the floors.

“I rode the bike. Why? You need a ride?”

Curufin shrugged. He’d hoped his brother would say he’d taken the bus. He wouldn’t have minded the company on his commute tonight. A ride would be nice, in theory, but Curufin hated being crammed on the back of Celegorm’s motorcycle.; he hated being forced to cling to his brother like a limpet as Celegorm careened around the corners… but it was a cold, and late…

“I can take transit,” he said.

“Yeah, I know you can. But you just asked me how I got here, sooo.” Celegorm dropped the mop in the bucket and crossed the floor. “You’re obviously looking for a ride. I can drop you off, bro-nut, no worries.” His hand came down hard on Curufin’s shoulder and he jolted forward.

“I’m still your boss until your shift’s over, Tyelko,” Curufin grumbled. “So you can’t hit me.”

“Oh? I assumed my shift was over when we poured the brewskies.”

“It wasn’t,” said Curufin. He sighed, considering the pros and cons of accepting a ride—

—when the front door banged open.

Curufin shot daggers at Celegorm. “What the fuck, you didn’t lock the—! We’re closed!” he shouted at the intruder.

He was cut short by the entrance of a tall, black-haired man with an unmistakable red mark on his left cheek, currently dimpled by a broad grin. Caranthir gave a throaty laugh at the look of shock on his brother’s faces.

“Moryo!” Celegorm bounded across the room and smothered him in a hug. Curufin twitched sympathetically. “When the fuck did you get into town? Didn’t think you’d be here until the twenty-fourth. How you been? ”

Celegorm might as well have been Huan, yapping and bouncing around his brother as if they hadn’t just seen him two weeks ago.

“Never mind that,” said Curufin, “what the fuck are you wearing?”

He sneered, indicating the heinous sweater his brother had on: a chunky red knit that looked like someone’s first disastrous venture into a new hobby. Too short in the sleeves and too wide in the torso, with an awful depiction of a light-garlanded cat (orange, clashing terribly), snarling in what might have been intended as a smile but which looked like an oddly anthropomorphic grimace.

“Oh yeah,” Caranthir said, spreading his arms to display the garment. “It’s hideous isn’t it? It was free, though. Don’t get rich saying no to free shit, Curvo.”

Curufin rolled his eyes. “You’re absurd. So why are you here?”

“Got some freight I can’t take to the port until the morning so I’m here for the night. Then it’s back east and time to replenish my social arsenal before I hunker down in the trenches for the battle of Yuletide.”

By which he meant spending three full days with their family. Many (Fëanor chief among them) were baffled as to why Caranthir, who had been offered scholarships to pursue a PhD fully-funded by some of the best economics programs in Endor, had instead taken up a career as a long-haul trucker. Curufin wasn’t. It wasn’t about the job, which he hardly needed with his investments. It was about the solitude. Curufin could relate. Curufin resented him for it.

“Do Mom and Dad know you’re here?” Curufin asked.

“Hell no, and don’t you dare tell them. ’All’s they know I’m not here until the twenty-fourth like I said. Anyway stop being such a dick, Curvo — you should be honoured that I chose to spend this precious evening off with you.”

He, too, slammed his hand down on Curufin’s shoulder. Curufin withdrew behind the bar to shield himself from any further assaults.

“As if.” Curufin snorted. “You’re only here because Cáno wouldn’t let you stay with him. Tell me I’m wrong.”

“You’re not wrong.” Caranthir perched on a bar stool and grunted. “But fuck Cáno. He has a whole spare room now that he’s fucking his roommate, but do you think he lets anyone use it? Nope! He’s ashamed of us, you know. Doesn’t want his environmentally-challenged boyfriend knowing his brothers are capitalists.”

“I’m not a capitalist,” said Celegorm.

Curufin and Caranthir both looked at him incredulously, then silently agreed not to respond.

Caranthir slapped the bar counter. “What’s on tap, brewmaster!”

“Nothing, we’ve closed up. Tyelko and I were just about to leave. I have to get home, it’s late, and—”

“Nope,” said Caranthir.

“Nope what?”

“Nope, you’re not leaving.”

“Nope!” Celegorm seconded, and jumped onto a stool beside Caranthir. “Come on, Curvy Scurvy, pull out some glasses, just one more round.”

Curufin frowned. He worked hard not to let on, but he felt as much the baby around any of his older brothers as he had since he was— well, an actual baby. He’d been seven when Amrod and Amras were born: it was too late to rewire the psychological violence inflicted growing up with four (gifted, brash, adored) older siblings. And now Celegorm and Caranthir leered at him from across the bar with those taunting smiles, and his resolve buckled under the desire to please them.

“Yeah, okay, sure,” he said, pulling out two glasses.

“Nah nah nah nah.” Celegorm wagged a finger. “You’re having one, too.”

“No, I’m not,” said Curufin. “I have to wake up early to take Tyelpë—”

“Oh boo-hoo-da-loo,” said Caranthir. “I have to be at the port at six a.m. Drink, Curvo. It’ll be no fun if you’re just sitting there watching us.”

Curufin ground his teeth. “Fine. A small glass. And then I’m kicking you out of here.”

*

“… and then she says: ‘Yeah okay, thanks dude. You can leave now. I know how to replace a tire.’”

“What a bitch,” Celegorm slurred.

“What?” Caranthir said. “No, man, that’s hot as fuck.” He tipped back the last of his beer then reached across the bar and refilled it directly from the tap, sloshing more of it on the floor than into his glass.

“Yo, careful!” said Curufin, then laughed. He looked into his own glass, which was disappointingly still empty. Had he had a third? He didn’t think he’d had a third. No, he’d only had two. Or it might have been three. Well, he’d just have half to be safe. He dumped half of Caranthir’s pint into his.

“Hey!” Caranthir grabbed for the glass, but Curufin had already chugged most of it down.

“Sorry, gone,” he said, then gripped the edge of the bar as he felt himself swaying backwards.

“You know what’s funny,” Celegorm said, staring at the wall. “I have no idea why Aredhel is with me.”

“Oh god, please don’t be a sad drunk,” Curufin begged. He dropped down and rested his head on the bar. “I’m so tired,” he mumbled, closing his eyes. “So fucking tired…”

“No, but really, you guys. I’m such a loser. Why would she be with me? You know, I almost told her I love her the other day. I mean, I’ve told her that when we were together before, but I haven’t said it again since we got back together and what not and— damn it fuck, you guys, I do love her.”

“So tell her,” Caranthir said, then barked a laugh. “Or at least don’t tell me— I don’t give a shit.”

“You think?” Celegorm asked earnestly. Curufin groaned. “Yeah, I should tell her. Why hide?”

Curufin’s eyes squinted open just long enough to catch Celegorm picking up his phone. He flung his arm across Caranthir to smack it from his hand. It crashed to the floor.

“Hey!” Celegorm yelled.

“Don’t tell her now you dumb bag of dick rockets!” Curufin shouted, and sputtered over his lacklustre name-calling efforts.

As he stumbled to retrieve his phone, Celegorm said, “Fuck you, you broke the screen.”

“It was already broken,” Curufin lied. He snuggled against the crook of his elbow and closed his eyes. “Guys,” he muttered, “how we gon’ get home? I’m so sleepy…”

“Agh, hold up.” Caranthir bumped Curufin’s shoulder as he reached for something. “I’ll call Nelyo to come get us.”

“Good idea…” Curufin said, "Nelyo'll fix it..." and fell asleep.

[pollkien]

SAURON PROPAGANDA:

Honestly what isn’t there to say about him

Canonically hot as fuck for 80% of his existence. Only became ugly later on (RIP)

Has several very sexy names like Mairon and Tar-Mairon and Morgoth’s Fuckass Bitch

“In his beginning he was of the Maiar of Aulë, and he remained mighty in the lore of that people.” Hawt. Daddy Aulë still crying over him like he lost a child

Shapeshifter. Like blondes? Sorted. Prefer brunettes? No problem. Want him bald? He could do it.

Loves to give presents. He’s totally friendly! Take his rings. And he gives such good advice! Just look at Númenor! Don’t you want Númenor?

Was the one running things in Angband for quite a long time. Also spied on the activities in Almaren and Valinor for Morgoth

Big dog guy. Turned into a dog. Isle of Werewolves.

Bites :)

Morgoth’s fav

Enjoys order, planning, and coordination. Dislikes chaos and confusion. One must wonder why he joined Morgoth then

Standing on the top of the temple with lightning around him laughing as Numenor sinks - hot

‘he rose like a shadow of Morgoth and a ghost of his malice’

Extremely dedicated. seriously this guy did not know when to quit. Extremely committed to every bit he partakes in

I mean have you SEEN how hot Annatar was

Celebrimbannered Celebrimbor :)

Nearly conquered the whole of Middle-earth

“Sauron was become now a sorcerer of dreadful power, master of shadows and of phantoms, foul in wisdom, cruel in strength, misshaping what he touched, twisting what he ruled, lord of werewolves; his dominion was torment” slay

Won the rap battle against Finrod

Unfortunately did NOT win the battle against Lúthien

He found the elves first before Oromë did. Cute

Very good at hiding

MAEDHROS PROPAGANDA:

Feen’s first son. Probably very hot given how hot his dad was

Actually tried to be a decent guy in Beleriand unlike most of his brothers

Tall and ginger

Named Fingon the valiant and did not forget his friendship even when the ships were burned :’( and he “alone stood to the side”!!

Unfortunately got gotted by Morgoth. Hung from his wrist for like 20 years.

“for the fire of life was hot within him, and his strength was of the ancient world, such as those possessed who were nurtured in Valinor. His body recovered from his torment and became hale, but the shadow of his pain was in his heart; and he lived to wield his sword with left hand more deadly than his right had been.” Cute

Tragic! So tragic!

Invented Active Elf Suicide by jumping into a volcano. Yay.

“Maedhros did deeds of surpassing valour, and the Orcs fled before his face; for since his torment upon Thangorodrim his spirit burned like a white fire within, and he was as one that returns from the dead” slaydhros!

Moved his bros out of Hithlum so they wouldn’t bitch

March of Maedhros, Union of Maedhros, all named after him

He just seems like a big purring cat :)

Himring alone stood among the Dagor Bragollach! In fact Tol Himring is still around in the third age!

Searched for Eluréd and Elurín after the second kinslaying :(

Stole the two remaining Silmarils with Maglor

“But Maedhros and Maglor would not hearken, and they prepared, though now with weariness and loathing, to attempt in despair the fulfilment of their oath; for they would have given battle for the Silmarils, were they withheld, even against the victorious host of Valinor, even though they stood alone against all the world.” This is so hot

I guess he also is hot because he died in a fiery chasm.

Was noted for his bodily comeliness and was named Maitimo for it ;)

Shared Beren’s epesse

[starsofarda]

hey it's musical and theater in valinor anon

While 4 th age have a lot of potential and indeed elrond and his ppl are buildt different (tm)

I imagined an au where men awaken before the flight of the noldor and got elf treatment of being led to valinor through the grinding ice

( unfortunately Henri 8 somehow still happen ?! Dont ask me how )

They arrivé in valinor get welcomed by the elven kings

They decided to have parties and revels

Cut to finwe and indis and feanor and all the half siblings standing akwardly watching the Catherine of aragon to anne boelyn , arguably the situation is different , but its just close enough to be week-end

Cue to mary and elisabeth getting along , and fingolfin being like heh feanor they got along

Anyways everyone hate it ( though maglor love it because musicalsss)

Thanks for indulging my brain rot

Also feanor and galadriel are both elizabeth fans for opposite reasons ( mommy issues vs queen )

Feanor is slso a mary tudor fan and ybr bro is latching into every single irphan representation ever , tbr men and their short lifes and experiences of grief , somehow fux him( they understand my pain !!!! Finally someone who knows!?!!

YES!

This is glorious.

This is absolutely glorious-

And here we are talking about the Brits only.

I imagine many Men belonging to many cultures and I am thinking: whatever the fuck was going on in stories about Italian monarchies (tw. Incest, tw: pope Innocent III orgy, tw: orlando furioso, tw: DANTE, etc.) (pls talk to me about literature, I have a degree and I have NOT been able to use it at all)

Let the Elves discover the concepts of the Dolce Stil Novo and the Donna Angelicata.

*Elves in a lot more confusion*

Suddenly the Valar get bombarded with several questions.

[tanoraqui]

Oh, Old Kingdom Feanorians is very fun I love it! Thoughts that occurred to me 1) lore of Melkor can be split between Oranis and Mogget; Oranis for destruction and deaths, Mogget for lies; in fact, I can see Mogget feanor relationship being something like in book Clariel; Mogget using him but two of them growing fond of each other, if only due to similar desire for freedom 2) Astarael already is Nienna in a way, no? Itd be fun too see yfeanor or Maglor down the well

That's exactly what I was thinking, re: Morgoth, Orannis and Mogget! Mogget saw the division in the Abhorsen's family, notably Fëanor's jealousy, paranoia and pride (and fear of abandonment and loss), as well as his genuinely non-malicious curiosity and love of exploration, and egged him on in his feud with Fingolfin and his experiments with not just the Charter but Free Magic as well. He egged on FIngolfin as well, though less so - it was always harder to act directly against even the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, and anyway, he barely needed to. Fëanor provoked Fingolfin enough all on his own.

I don't know how exactly Orannis starts to wake - I don't think Fëanor unburies him, though maybe he unburies him a little, gets hideously bad vibes, and stops...and it's too late; he's broken some preliminary seal that he fails to properly repair? Or maybe he's just revealed the location to Sauron, who will overall be playing the part of Chlorr of the Mask in this au... At any rate, Orannis wakes some notable amount, but as he does Finwë brings battle to him, which kills Finwë but buys the whole Kingdom many decades, maybe centuries, as Orannis slowly regains his full power.

(I still like the idea that those of the Shiners' blood live longer than normal people in this au, like, Númenoreans long - several centuries on average. Unless killed, of course, as many of them are.)

Mogget was likely with Finwë, briefly uncollared. Finwë orders him to deliver bells and sword to Fingolfin, who is at the extremely awkward festival the royal family (Vanyar) are throwing in an attempt to get him and Fëanor to reconcile...

(Hm, did some Great Charter Stones get broken in Orannis's emergence, a la the death of the Trees? They're reparable, though... I'd need to think about this au more to figure out exactly how bloodlines and frankly geography and range of rule, work. The Old Kingdom doesn't really have anywhere to exile people to, but that's such an important part of The Silmarillion...)

From Mogget's pov, what comes next is roughtly:

Fuck yeah, dead Abhorsen, and his kids more likely than not to go to war over his title, even though it's patently obvious who should have it! Lol! (Okay, Orannis is an unwelcome surprise buuut he's delayed, so, like, I can still work with this.) Time to drop of some objects then get righteously vengefully slaughtering...

Ugh, new Abhorsen is quick with a collar. And the boys are...getting along, in the wake of Finwë's death. That is, Fëanor is too distracted by vengeance to make trouble about not being Abhorsen, and Fingolfin is too distracted by vengeance to make trouble about Fëanor blatantly using Free Magic. Well, at least they're going to stop Orannis before he causes--

Aaand Fëanor in his paranoia and fury took all the ships to sail [south to Edge? north of above the Glacier?] to attack Orannis, then blindly charged ahead and got himself torn to pieces by Greater Dead- oh, no, actually he self-immolated at the very end. Yeah that tracks. I may have encouraged that path of thought. Okay. Damn, and Maedhros captured? RIP, except of course he won't. I kinda liked that kid, too.

Fingon did wh-- fucking Seven, that's a construct of Astarael they're flying back on.

Alright, business as usual, Abhorsen alternately bossy and ignoring me while his kid runs around fighting Free Magic dragons and flirting with Wallmaker scions (who rae definitely still using Free Magic over there; maybe I'll just take a nap in these saddlebags and someone will accidentally bring me to visit...) Only difference is it's a semi-active war front because no one can figure out how to re-bind Orannis so all they can really do it wait--

Ugh, I HATE fire. The soot gets EVERYWHERE and I have to lick it out. This is undignified.

Good showing on Abhorsen Fingolfin's part. Stupid, but good. Death-seeking despair is in their blood, there's really not much you can do about it. Serious issue that Orannis kept the bells, though - Fingon's always been better with the sword, but that won't be nearly eno--

The remnant of Ranna had a DAUGHTER with a HUMAN? What the fuck?

This plan is doomed but as usual the Abhorsen won't listen to me. /shrug emoji

Yyyep he's dead. Ooh, no new Abhorsen anywhere nearby, and he's just a baby anyway... Look, one of Turgon's last people is even picking up the sword; I'm sure it'll get to the new kid somehow... Clearly the most appropriate and helpful thing for me to do is to find the nearest heirs of the blood and help them stand against Orannis. Hey, Fëanorioni, long time no see! You know, I'd be able to help much more if you just take off this pesky little collar...

(Fëanorians spend the next several decades letting Mogget lose to kill things and people then wrestling a collar back onto him, which gets increasingly difficult as there are fewer of them to do it. Moggets stays with them because a) killing is fun, b) eventually they're fail to re-restrain him and he'll be more or less free, and c) he kinda likes them shut up. They're so fucked up and still trying so hard; it's...intriguing.)

(Mogget refuses to identify whether Elros or Elrond is the true Abhorsen-in-Waiting literally until they figure it out themselves (it's Elros. Elrond, once Orannis has been re-bound with the help of assorted relatives, takes up the mantle of being Ranna-than-remains, and builds himself a welcoming manor near the woods that were once Doriath.))

[deadqueernoldor]

End of Year Fic Recs!

I got tagged by @camille-lachenille for this, and boy I havent had time to read fic in a hot minute but this was literally the perfect opportunity to go through my ao3 and tumblr bookmarks again! Also I feel really bad that I couldnt get 5 for the first 3 categories, so pls dont take it personal if I forgot. My tagging system is a mess and idk if it works but if you want more tumblr writing recs go into the "writing that has me foaming out the mouth like a rabid dog" tag I have at the top of my account.! There's so many good drabbles and ficlets i couldnt possibly name them all! Also i likely could have tagged other author's tumblr accs but i didn't feel like looking bc I'm exhausted. I love these all sm

Also I cheated with the self rec bc one is from 2022 but I didnt want to rec only my OC lol

Recommend up to 5 series or multi-chapter fics from 2023 that everyone should read (multi-year WIPs count, if the last update was in 2023).

Beneath a Boundless Sky by @runawaymun — ongoing — Rating (M)

Summary: Elrond’s two new wards both struggle to feel at home in Rivendell. The wounds from their slavery in King Frumgar’s court are still fresh, and the scars are deep -- and they’re not the only ones. Maglor is home at last, but each day he lives he is haunted by guilt and grief. Elrond is nothing if not patient, and he is certain that given enough time in Rivendell, all three will heal.

I am always frothing at the mouth at OCs and world building and this work *and the prev work/part 1 of the series* is SO good

dare you see a soul at the white heat? by millyfaraway — ongoing — Rating (M)

Summary: Lómion is reembodied, but struggles to cope. His uncles try to help.

BABY BOY GETS FAMILY THERAPY ABBY BOY SLOWLY GETS CONFIDENCE AND PUPPY LOVE SOBBIG ITS WHAT HE DESERVES anyway go read

The Last Heir of Fëanor - Part Two by Astrance — 87k — Rating (T)

Summary: This is the second part of the tale of the surviving child of Celebrimbor of Eregion and how she fared through the Ages of the world. From the Fall of Ost-in-Edhil to Imladris and the vastness of Second Age Eriador, the fight against Sauron seems never ending. Plans have been set in motion across the Misty Mountains, but, in Lindon, many tasks await.

Have I mentioned how much I love OCs? This is literally one of the best OCs I've read, flaws and all, and the way the whole thing is written is chefs kiss. Cant decide if I'm sweating from the amount of sobbing I've done with this work *and the previous/first part* or because of the delicious angst.

and rain will make the flowers grow by @swanmaids — 800 — Rating (G)

Summary: Glorfindel and Idril; on the Helcaraxë, in Nevrast, in Gondolin.

THEM. THEM. THEM. That's all I have to say. bUT THEM!

Recommend up to 5 single chapter fics/one-shots (long or short) from 2023 that everyone should read.

your veins are empty of dust by @echo-bleu — 1.7k — Rating (G)

Summary: Anairë finds her late one day in her workshop, surrounded by slabs of stone larger than her. Nerdanel is hammering forcefully at one of them, the barest hints of an elven shape already taking form in the marble. Bitter, stinging tears run down her cheeks and into her collar, and her arms ache with exhaustion.

The body is only barely sketched, but the face is already chiselled, smooth curves and angular cheekbones.

Fëanáro emerges out of the marble, looking like he’s about to take life.

(Across the sea, her sons lead a funeral.)

Frothing. Gnawing. I love the writing. The angst. Fucking mourning. Gimme all and then hurt me some more.

Babysitting #01 by @lordgrimwing — more chaps likely, atm oneshot

Excerpt: "She brought her children."

"Who did?”

"That Elwing woman, the pro bono case Celegorm talked me into."

Modern!scenario fix with Exhausted!lawyer!maedhros. He's tired and that's very sexy of him. Maglor is secy. They all are. Idiots. But very sexy. Elrond and Elros best boys. No argument.

Dreams of Doom by @camille-lachenille — 3.8k — Rating (M)

Summary: “She runs in the dark, alone. Where her feet carry her, she knows not, and her heart is heavy with dread. Someone - something - is watching her.”

Niënor from the moment she arrives in Brethil to her death.

THE ANGST THE LOVE THE TENDERNES THE FORESHADOWING I AM BITING THIS BC I CANT FIND GLASS TO CHEW.

Recommend up to 5 fics NOT from 2023 that everyone should read (oldies but goodies.)

Those Peaceful Hours by SpaceWall — 3.9k — Rating (T)

Summary: At the end of the Third Age, faced with her impending return to the home she left before the sun, Galadriel seeks out the one person who will understand her fears and grief.

It's so well written and the premise as a whole is so great!. Compelling and Galadriel characterisation is just so very sexy to me.

Their oath will drive them, and yet betray them by musing_and_writing — 2.2k — Rating (G)

Summary: Elrond had hours to spare, and if Maglor wished to spend the short time they had together reminiscing, he would not blame him for it. As Maglor began singing, Elrond settled himself across the clearing in his own bed of autumn flowers. Maglor’s voice resounded in the clearing, clear and powerful, just as it had upon his fortress’s ramparts as he pushed back Morgoth’s forces with a Song, just as Elrond assumed it must have echoed before the poisoning of the Trees in his family’s halls as Feanor crafted his cursed jewels.

Hehehehehe cryptid mf with a heart I love it the angst the tenderness it's just so *holds gently* while also *bodychecks maglor*

Double The Baggins, Twice The Took by fogisbeautiful — 138.5k — Rating (T)

Summary: The Baggins twins, Briallen and Bilbo, have spent their whole lives taking care of each other. So when the world outside makes an (uninvited) appearance, only one thing is certain. Not for wizard or king or mountain or dragon will the two of them part. Not if they have one word to say about it.

And besides, as Gandalf points out: It never hurts to have a spare burglar on hand.

I'm a sucker for Thorin x hobbit, and you give me a fic with bilbo's sister who's so lovely characterized? I'll kiss you sloppy style

The One With All The Birds by clothonono — 46.5k — Rating (G)

Summary: Would it never end? Would there always be one more mother standing on the shore, looking out to sea, full of a grief made more terrible by hope?

Elwing and Nerdanel in Valinor in the Fourth Age; a story about children coming home.

I think swanmaids recc'd this to me once upon the time when it hadn't been finished and I want to kiss their forehead for it. It's so good! Go read bc I lick my screen every time I re-read it.

Recommend up to 5 of your own fics (completed or WIP) from 2023 that everyone should read.

Bitter end — 6.4k — Rating (T)

Summary: Maglor has one brother left.

Both have one more fight in them.

The ghost you dress up as (knows how to haunt) — ongoing — Rating (M)

Summary: Maedhros was not the first Finwëan to be captured and taken to Angband, nor did he remain there the longest. Ranyatinwë, twin of Caranthir, was the first.

She escapes.

(Series) Old Maggie Took — 7 works — 402k — all Rating (G)

Summary: The headcanon about Maglor, second son of Fëanor, lives hidden in the Shire? Yes.