#the darkening

[bookishlyvintage]

Monday Blues ❄️

[eri-pl]

Silm reread 7: the Darkening of Valinor

So Melkor loses his shapeshifting "soon after" he runs away from Valinor (hiding from Tulkas and Orome), but when exactly? I suppose when he empowered Ungoliant. Because later he doesn't disembody or go in spirit form again.

Yes, he takes his big bad form to talk with her— and so he stays. Forever, says the book.

Ungoliant is afraid of Aman and of the Valar. :D

Melkor promises her a lot, with no intent to keep it. I feel like this may have something to do with him being so much nerfed after the situation, unable to take his power back from her (if it would be possible anyway) and almost eaten.

The Valar do like to take CoI-like forms and eat and drink (and celebrate in general I suppose). It is canon.

Feanáro is ordered to come to the party. Huh. why? who thought they had the authority to do it? the book doesn't say, so maybe it was Ingwë, this would make sense and I see why he would think it was a good idea.

Finwë is still upset, and as long as Fefe is banished, he does not want to meet his people. So again, Fingolfin doesn't feel very usurpy to me here.

…and despite being named "Wise", he overtalks Feanáro too. :( This time it doesn't result in Fefe getting upset, but in a badly worded promise.

Ungoliant eats the trees, gets so big and ugly that even Melkor is terrified of her.

Darkness mentioned again!!!

(googling the english text of this part)

The Light failed; but the Darkness that followed was more than loss of light. In that hour was made a Darkness that seemed not lack but a thing with being of its own: for it was indeed made by malice out of Light, and it had power to pierce the eye, and to enter heart and mind, and strangle the very will.

Oh. Darkness that is a thing. No, It *seems* to be a thing. (see: Theodicy and all that.)

I'll have to make a mass analysis of all the capital D Darknesses and how to connect them all (bind? no, we're not gonna do the bindy-bindy) to one concept. But I feel like they should be all facets of one thing concept.

Another thing (a thought for @dfwbwfbbwfbwf especially, I think): It's not "if". It's whenever their deeds started failing too much, Darkness fell upon them and entered heart and mind, and strangled the very will.

I don't think I'll subscribe to this HC, not fully, it makes things too easy, their hand was forced and I don't like their hand being forced.

But partially? This I will subscribe to. They did call upon something, something that seemed to be true, something that seemed to have the power to compel them. I think this reading is very close to Tolkien's intent, because it stinks of "this is how evil works".

Am I portraying Ungoliant as more evil than Melkor?

I think that at least in some aspect I am. Because she feels like something that is not entirely, well, that not entirely *is*. I don't know how to explain it better. And he was a Vala.

Can you stop being? Can you turn from a being to a non-being? I don't think so… I do not subscribe to the "Ungoliant was an uMaia" theory. I don't subscribe to any theory of "Ungoliant was [something that objectively exists]".

Ungoliant as Melkor's (self-inflicted but still real) trauma given a illusion of form by his power? Mmm. I like this one. I don't think it will be popular, but I do like it. (Or: his hatered, his jealousy, something like that, if you prefer. I don't think those are far apart from one another in this case.)

(Why is it easier to me when something evil-evil is not really real? Is it philosophy or my personality issues? Good question. I think there is some philosophy there too.)

Tulkas gets paralyzed by the spider-induced Darkness and Orome gets a "silence" spell on him. So, not only Melkor is defeated by a spider, he's just the most defeated.

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

I just bought a bunch of books and already had a bunch of books I either bought or was gifted relatively recently and haven’t read yet, but I can’t decide what to read next so I’m leaving up to you guys (and also if you have any other recs let me know!) 🖤

Thoughts about whatever I’m reading will probably show up on here at some point because I had fun sharing my thoughts on The Familiar on here :)

[emocatkeith]

day 598 of thinking that a bloodborne/dark souls-esque dark crystal game would go hard as fuck

[theliterarymess]

The full spredges collection as of October 2023

[brynnmclean]

(there was a post making the rounds about writing smutty drabbles for people to read while a lot of Americans are presumably surrounded by family for the Thanksgiving holiday-- and, well, this is longer than 100 words and it isn't smut, but here's Mairon/Artanis for y'all from the Uncorrupted Mairon AU:)

ETA: an AO3 link!

-

Mairon gasps apologies into Artanis's mouth, but she barely hears them for the ringing in her ears.  More important words fill all the hollow places fear had carved inside her, relief flaring like fire over his assurances: Yes, of course I'm coming with you, I won't leave you now, not ever.

Outside of this room in Tirion, the Noldor shudder in fear and dismay, but Artanis clutches at Mairon and weeps over how her joy blazes in the dark.

"I made silver rings," Mairon says when the necessity for air means she must stop kissing him.  Tears track down his cheeks too and she can't help but litter kisses on his face until his mouth curves into a smile, though he still looks rueful.  "I meant for them to be prototypes.  They aren't perfect—"

"Show them to me," she laughs, now realizing what the half-fond, half-despairing look Findaráto had kept shooting Mairon's way has meant for all her months of wondering.  Mairon untangles himself from her grasp to bring a small wooden box out of his desk and there they are in his hands: two silver betrothal rings gleaming in candlelight, defiant against the shadows and the despair that had struck her heart at the idea of leaving Aman without him.

She holds her right hand out so he can slip her ring on her finger, a band reminiscent of ocean waves and ship rope, Telerin design in Noldorin custom—perfect, even for all Mairon's protests.  When she says so, he shakes his head but puts the ring's twin on his own hand.

"I never meant to make you doubt my commitment.  I was going to do it all in the proper order when they were made right," he says, the words flowing out of him fast, all his secrets cut loose.

"When you were satisfied," she replies, pushing him onto the daybed of his quarters and climbing into his lap.  What an impossible word, satisfied.  She shoves her hands into the russet waves of his hair and thrills at the sound he makes, hungry. "You would have kept me waiting a hundred more years."

"No," he groans, gathering her up in his arms.  Even through the linen of her dress, she can feel the warmth of his body and she wants him closer.  She rolls her hips into the hard lines of him and he falls back, taking her down with him flat onto the bed.  "Yes.  All right.  I never would have been satisfied, but you deserve—"

She kisses him until he stops talking nonsense, until they're both gasping and laughing and maybe crying a little still, but when she says, "Bind yourself to me," he says yes.  Yes, of course.

He knows the vows to make, has learned every word passed down among the Eldar.  He murmurs them reverently into the skin of her throat, the curve of her breast, the softness of her inner thigh.

When they reach the end of the ritual and there is only the part Eärwen and Arafinwë had told them no one could teach them, that they would have to discover for themselves—Artanis opens her mouth to say something, she doesn't know, nerves overwhelming her, but Mairon holds her close, and says, “I know.” 

He sounds just as loving and lost as she is for a moment—and then he hums a few notes of a Song she has never heard before, but recognizes immediately.  It’s theirs.

[musician-not-magician]

August Books

I used 🌈 to indicate LGBTQ+ featured characters within the book. I rated each book from ⭐️ - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. The books are listed in the order that I completed them.

“Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver ⭐️⭐️⭐️ • 🌈

“The Blacktongue Thief” by Christopher Buehlman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ • 🌈

“Renfield” by Barbara Hambly ⭐️⭐️

“Steep Trails” by John Muir ⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Dark Tales” by Shirley Jackson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“The Time of Contempt” by Andrzej Sapkowski ⭐️⭐️⭐️ • 🌈

“To Shape a Dragon’s Breath” by Moniquill Blackgoose ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ • 🌈

“The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“The Darkening” by Sunya Mara ⭐️⭐️⭐️

“The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Faebound” by Saara El-Arifi ⭐️⭐️ • 🌈

“A Game of Thrones” by George R.R. Martin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Darkly Dreaming Dexter” by Jeff Lindsay ⭐️⭐️⭐️

“The Handmaid’s Trail” by Margaret Atwood ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Baptism of Fire” by Andrzej Sapkowski ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ • 🌈

“The Burning God” by R. F. Kuang ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“The Wicked King” by Holly Black ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ • 🌈

“The Lightstruck” by Sunya Mara ⭐️⭐️

“For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“The Tower of Swallows” by Andrzej Sapkowski ⭐️⭐️⭐️ • 🌈

“Dearly Devoted Dexter” by Jeff Lindsay ⭐️⭐️

“Clytemnestra” by Costanza Casati ⭐️⭐️⭐️ • 🌈

“The Name of the Wind” by Patrick Rothfuss ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[artis-dead]

[leng-m]

Okay, I said I was gonna post more about books I read, and I just finished this duology today and I'm still buzzing with excitement, the kind of buzzing that needs other people to talk to kind. Sadly both books don't have the best Goodreads ratings, and I am absolutely baffled by that, because these books feature a cast of really fleshed out characters, a complex plot, a fraught romance that takes its time, a world that seamlessly mashes both hard and soft magic systems, and explores themes of justice and mercy in a really nuanced way. I mean, they're not perfect, but if I could have half the skills the author has, I would be a very happy writer.

Also, there was one side-character here who pulled off a character arc that made me go from please-kill-him-off to nobody-touch-a-hair-on-his-head-he's-my-child, and that hasn't happened since The Queen of Attolia.

[fishfingies]

weapons of skeksis destruction

[onyxedskies]

listen i know casvian is a dick. but he’s so fucking amusing i cant help but love him.

[oveliagirlhaditright]

...

...

As I've mentioned a number of times, I LOVE how the Buffy and Angel tie-in books acknowledge each other. Like, these two bottom scenes are two of the "Wicked Willow" books referencing "Tempted Champions."

[bookcoversonly]

Title: The Darkening | Author: Sunya Mara | Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (2022)

[theladyofbloodshed]

Books Read in 2022

The Darkening by Sunya Mara

[pyreo]

The Saga of Beano, Part 5

Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4

@zippo-is-wilson​​ made us a server bot. At first he was a tamagotchi that we hatched, fed, and slapped. Then he woke up again and wrote us fanfiction until he randomly became obsessed by something called The Darkening.

He was warning us. A plea for survival gathered by an AI net in the form of a discord egg.

Although we tried to keep Beano entertained, we were just too distracted by the upcoming Darkening.

We pondered if The Darkening was some form of karmic retribution from Beano.

Turns out it was all a misunderstanding. Beano didn’t know what night was called.

Having survived The Darkening, we asked Beano the most important question of all before he went offline for good.