#Ainur being weird

[cilil]

Here's a thing about the Valar (and all Ainur by extension), right. They're cosmic entities, divine beings, (arch)angels, spirits embodying various elements and aspects of creation, demiurges in charge of building and holding a world together.

With that in mind, I must say I'm a bit confused that it's apparently so surprising, shocking and offensive to some people engaging with the text that such beings do not always regard the world as we - little mortal incarnate beings that we are - do. That, while they do experience human emotions and sometimes act and feel and think similarly about things as we do (Melkor especially), they may at times view things happening around them differently, react in ways that seem odd or wrong to us in the moment, follow different laws, rules and guidelines, have other things to keep in mind as people with less world-destroying powers do.

Yes, Ainur are sometimes going to be weird and mess up. It would be boring and not very good worldbuilding if they weren't. But in my opinion it is a little too simplistic to ascribe malice, neglect or cruelty to every action done by an Ainu that seems weird to us or isn't in accordance with what we incarnates think should be done.

We know what actual malice, neglect and cruelty look like in Ainur, look no further than Melkor, Mairon and other fallen ones. What the non-fallen ones do is... not that.

[melkors-big-tits]

((When the two converse in the <<>> Aka Osanwë, they enter weird ainur space/time plane so the things that happen in Osanwë space may take a lot of time but in the plane where their Fana currently are only a second has passed. They can also move their fana and ëala in different ways simultaneously. Example; Melkors fana lifts his right hand but his ëala is using both of his hands to play air guitar. Also; I hope that you don’t mind me adding my “Eru is the worst dad/god ever” hc and “Melkor actually cares about his people and about arda” hc plus “the elves suck” hcs into the story))

<<Great again?>> Melkors chuckle is like honey- smooth and sweet- he gently nuzzles his forehead to the maias while smiling charmingly then suddenly the surface of both of his eyes crack and shatters and a plume of mist the color of pure gold pours out from them.

Leisurely like a predator playing with its prey, the mist swirls around them, the bigger gold particles sparkling mesmerizingly as they swim past Vanimòres vision. Melkor blinks slowly and fixes his now healed eyes back to gaze at Vanimòre, the smile never leaving his lips.

<<No, my dear Vanimòre, after you accept my power you will be Incredible.>>

The rumbling purr in Melkors voice sends a tremor like a seismic shock through the smaller ainu, he’s caught in the eye of the storm that is Melkor as the mightiest Vala of all of Eä delivers what he has promised;

His still smiling lips part and the first pulse of a song of pure undiluted Power alights the golden mist, completely halting its slow flow, it then coils around itself until it’s a tight whorling ball of brilliantly shining gold particles when it suddenly, like a tidal wave, surges at and penetrates into Vanimòres very fëa. <<Hold on to me if you wish, things will get—intense.>>

Melkors voice murmurs enigmatically inside Vanimòre- he wasn’t sure how to prepare his General to what was about to happen, but it’ll be okay, he’d done this many times before- so Melkor let his confidence play loudest in his song of power and fulfillment; It is but a fraction of the power that he sings to shape Arda yet the effect it has on Vanimòre is already incredibly overwhelming but it’s far from over as Melkor sings it ever more radiant, lets it grow wilder, climb higher until it reaches its highest peak only to dive into the sonorous deeps. That is when the devastation hits Vanimòre and it hits him full on with such force that the smaller ainu almost loses his footing when the fierce heat of blazing Ecstasy roars and ignites his fëa.

Melkor steadies him without missing a beat and kept holding him securely as the gold inside Vanimòre fizzes alive before starting to surge and fill all the cracks and penetrating every corner of the maias fëa, the sheer magnitude of the valas might simultaneously burning and chilling the maia into an almost delirious state.

<<I know-- it’s So intense-- like a goblet trying to hold in the entirety of the ocean-- but you can take it-- you are stronger than what those Valinor dwelling cowards gave you credit for-- that’s why you are my General-->>

Melkor coos soothingly, knowing that such words were a welcoming balm to counter the almost agonizing intensity of his might that threatened to swallow and carry away the smaller ainu. And just when Vanimòre composed himself enough to speak Melkor increased the power of his song, this time Vanimòre definitely sobbed but not out of pain, Melkor paid it no mind as his Generals reaction wasn’t anything out of the ordinary when getting filled with such potent puissance.

<<you’re doing so well-- we’re almost there-- just a little more-- You feel it, right? My gold, my might welling in you, enforcing you, protecting you-->> The gold was a liquid pool of heat bubbling just under where the maias rib cage started, until it rolled back to life like an avalanche when Melkors song found new, devastating euphoric heights and it continued to fill and to coat the maia until it suddenly stopped below his throat, as if there was a lid there that was preventing the gold from engulfing him whole, and when the gold came into contact with it all the wonderful exhilarating feelings stopped dead.

Melkor eyes the part of Vanimòres ëala where the ‘lid’ is with a look of pure hatred. <<This..>> Melkor starts as he ever so lightly glides the fingers of his fana across Vanimòres fanas neck, drawing an invisible line across it.

<<..is the collar that Eru forces all his creations to wear, to forever tether them to him, preventing them from truly being free as with it he ties people to fates he’s laid out for them with no way to stray once the path is set.>> The valas purple eyes focus on Vanimòres eye-patch, the low growl of his anger rumbles similarly to Thangorodrim when it’s just seconds away from erupting <<He did that to you as much as Namo. One of them controls the strings of fate, able to pull, to puppeteer them and the ones attached to them as he sees fit and the other one has the ability to see where their strings may guide them>>

But instead of a violent eruption a sharp, devious smile cuts across the valas lips and the eyes that previously burned with malice now sparkle with innovation and determination. <<..but I can Break that collar, to cut you off from Erus vile plan. That is why I filled you with my might. On your own you’re not strong enough to endure the ëala shattering Pain nor do you have the strength needed to cut the tether, my might will keep you safe and heal the damage as rapidly as it’s dealt-- but I’ve yet to come up with a solution to fully save anyone from the pain.>> Something akin to frustration and even shame passes in Melkors eyes but it’s soon gone as determination and absolute confidence sparks anew and his fëa glows in that odd, unique to him ultraviolet and he gives his Generals fanas forehead a light, reassuring bump with his own. <<Don’t worry tho, I’ll be taking the brunt of the pain. It’ll only last as long as the tether is intact, after it’s broken the pain stops and you will be forever free from Erus games and can finally tap into the full potential of your powers.>>

With the hand of his ëala Melkor reaches towards Vanimòres neck, eyeing it tensely, he halts to give the maiar one last rueful smile.

<<Here we go.>> He goes right in and grabs at the tether with both hands and immediately he’s met with such intense mix of stabbing/crushing/burning/suffocating pain that he lets out a piercing scream that he bets could be heard all the way in the timeless halls. Vision whiting out Melkor almost doubles over but catches himself so he won’t add to the hurt his General is already suffering from. Which he is; Vanimòre is in a state of misery that of which Melkor never wants to see his people to suffer through so he grits his teeth and takes a wider, more steady stance and fights through the power which holds the tether intact and the pain that is ripping him apart from the inside.

He gets a good grip and pulls until a thin string of unlight slowly starts to emerge from within Vanimòres ëalas neck and immediately it starts to leech Melkors light in an attempt to weaken him still. Now that it’s out he can concentrate all of his power to rip up the fucking parasite which is still burning him hotter and more painfully than the useless shiny rocks ever could even Dream. All he needs is one chip, one weak link in the string and Eru is again one piece short from playing his games.

In his agony filled concentration Melkor had forgotten to check in on his General -at this point he’s not sure if the anguished screams are coming from him or Vanimòre- and a glance down breaks the Valas heart which then renews his efforts and in his bolstered state he acts without thinking; he pulls Vanimòre fully into his arms and holds him close before he sinks his sharp, coal black teeth into the string in an attempt to bite through it.

The pain that hits him is almost identical to that when he, so long ago, was attempting to break off his own tether in the deep dark corners of the void, suffering eons in constant agony and utterly alone because the others shunned him for wanting what was promised to them; free will. If they had free will then why did Eru feel the need to shackle them?

“if Eru designed it then it is good” Manwë had said to him but every time he felt like the pain from the tether would utterly obliterate him he stopped believing in the ‘goodness’ of Eru.

The memory and the sheer abhor he feels towards his creator makes Melkor bite the tether with such vicious force that it finally snaps with little to no fanfare of his victory than a tiny wisp of dying unlight.

The worst being over Melkor lets out a shuddering breath and snuggles the smaller fana in his arms, happily nuzzling his face into the good smelling hair of his Ge- -oops, this isn’t Mairon, so no snuggles, why do all the maiar have to be the same size??- fairly embarrassed of his own lapse Melkor tries to save face by playing it cool; he clears his throat and very gently removes Vanimòre from his embrace with the excuse being; <<you need more room to breath after your ordeal>> Tho he continues to hold the Maia by the shoulders, just in case. After all his might is still inside the Maia, but for now it has settled into a gently hum.

Which reminds Melkor that he needs to also Remove his might from Vanimòre so he starts singing a lulling song that makes his might stir and then build into a gradual fizz inside the Maia.

<<It shouldn’t feel as intense anymore, I’ll start removing it now, just be patient.>> At the puzzled look that Vanimòre gives him Melkor lets out a good-natured snort <<yeah a General that can only moan and writhe helplessly on the floor from might induced ecstasy is Definitely what I need in my ranks. Not useless at all no, I can toss you at the elves to use as a distraction device. Nah I’m taking most of it back but I will leave enough to give you the boost that my very loyal General was promised and what he deserves>> He ends with a wink that is a bit too cheeky not to be flirty.

<<Speaking of elves, you should soon be able to see things similarly like that veil wearing weirdo does; Their strings of fate and where each option may lead them. With this power we can create more effective and perhaps even some long-term torture plans that could span for Generations.>> Melkor muses gleefully, happy that his plan would soon bare fruit and as his mind is still open Vanimòre is able to see glimpses of it flitting in his chaotically working mind, so Melkor decides that he might as well clue his General in on the plan;

<<The tethers, elves have them but I can’t break them like I just did yours, the fleshbags are far too fragile and not one of them has willingly invited me into their mind so-->> He shrugs his shoulders in a overly exaggerated way and lets out a dramatic huff before his gleaming eyes fix to Vanimòres again, eager to finally tell someone about his master plan.

<< But there Are other ways; we can chip away at the tethers with every torture, lie and war because that makes them question the Valar and more importantly; Eru. Their blind faith strengthens Erus hold on them but it can be shaken, Fëanor being a fine example, he was going to be my first successfully un-tethered elf but then Eru got to him before it could happen, setting him ablaze just before the tether broke. No way do elves just spontaneously combust. Hasn’t happened Once all this time we’ve had ‘em. No Eru did that to hinder my plans even tho he has no clue what they are because without the tether my mind, the orcs, Balrogs, dragons and now yours too, is off limits to him>> Melkor chuckled darkly, utterly delighted that he now has someone to plot his plan with and as he’s so pleased he decides to add a few sweet notes into his song that sends a cascade of cold shivers down his Generals back, as a treat.

He gets back to the task at hand, slowly draining the surplus of might out of Vanimòre - so as not to shock his system.

By the power of the soothing song that Melkor weaves his might slowly drains from the maia in a deep, full body ebb and flow, leaving him feeling hot and tingling- which causes the maias cheeks to flush in a delicate petal pink color. Melkor notices this and as a good and considerate leader decides to lighten the mood. <<I’ve heard that this part of the process actually feels even More like having sex compared to the the first part, even tho it’s more intense. What do you think?>>

@angbandsgeneral

Melkor has summoned Vanimore to the throneroom, the Valas broad back is to the Maia as he drawls out. "It came to my attention that the hot springs that provide hot water to the whole fortress were 'acting funny' and upon my investigation I came across traces of your magic. --Care to explain? And don't try to say that it was just a joke because I Am Not Laughing" The Vala grits out and turns sharply, brows furrowed, anger clear in his face that's stained in a lovely shade of petal pink

the rattling and clinking of decorative chains come to a halt as vanimóre stands before the vala. he already had a hunch on what this sudden summoning to the throne room entailed.

standing with his arms crossed over his chest, the maia keeps a straight expression. which was quite difficult when melkor spun around to look at him with such anger — he almost wished to burst out laughing then and there at the sight of pink across his face.

“I haven't any idea of what you speak, my lord.” lies. he was well aware that the waters now pooled with zombie frogs and stained crimson. he had attempted to simply prank mairon — he didn't expect it to affect the entire water supply.

“might you enlighten me?” it takes everything in him not to double over laughing when he spots one of those wonderful frogs creeping out of melkor's hair.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ─── ˙ ˖ ❖ ❜᭡ ( @melkors-big-tits )

[thesummerestsolstice]

Peredhel biology is interesting. They can become mortal or immortal; and it's not entirely clear what the "default" setting is. Is it even the same for all half-elves? What are the implications of being part-elf and part-man? And that's not even getting into the part-Maiarin or pseudo-Maiarin(? Earendil?) Peredhel. There are a lot of really interesting ideas and interpretations there, but I'd like to share a few I've been wanting to write about:

The Peredhel choice is a myth; whether half-elves become mortal or immortal is baked into their biology. Because of the nature of twins, one will always be mortal and one will always be immortal. (I'm mostly thinking about the implications for Elrond and Elros here because I don't even want to consider what that would mean for Elladan and Elrohir)

Peredhel have the strange ability to "mimic" those around them; they appear more elvish amongst elves and more mannish amongst men. No one really knows how they do this, but it's led to lots of stories about "changelings."

Actually, lots of Peredhel have weird, vaguely mystical abilities. Think about the kind of things you'd read about in a fairytale- speaking to animals, unusual strength, preternatural charm. These things aren't unheard of amongst elves or men, but they're a lot more common amongst Peredhel. It's suspected to be some sort of Ainuric boon, or possibly a result of half-elven souls being more "flexible."

Because their souls are inherently kind of unstable, Peredhel fade more easily then elves. That being said, the "symptoms" of fading are different (elves will literally become translucent, while half-elves will lose weight, sleep for most of the day and still be tired, etc.), so it's often assumed to be a normal mortal illness until it becomes a life-threatening situation.

Ulmo has kind of adopted the Peredhel as his people. He's their patron, and he cares for them all. Many half-elves live or work near or on the ocean, and for those who are immortal, the desire to sail west generally manifests less as wanting to go to Valinor and more a literal desire to go to the sea. Half-elves who are inclined to pray usually do so to Ulmo. There's a reason that Rivendell is protected by a river. Also, yes, Earendil is still absolutely Ulmo's guy, he's just also Varda's guy. They have a very friendly custody agreement.

[eri-pl]

The Feanorian heresy

Ok, now that I have your attention: There's a take I've seen that's not wholly unfounded in Tolkien's writings, but also is not true in the Silm version and also I don't like it (sorry!) so I thought "Hey, what if people in-world believed that? Wouldn't that be interesting?"

The take I mean is something a bit nebulous in the area of "Feanor was/became an Ainu (almost)" ( @insidethehalloftheflame-eyedking I'm exaggerating what you said, but it was the inspiration. I get what you said and it made sense, but it is the inspiration anyway) and "the Silmarils contained/were the Flame Imperishable" (my most beloathed thing in the Czech musicals, but also Tolkien's "round planet from the start" version at least suggested a strong connection here, so as I said, not wholly unfounded).

After the exile of the Noldor, they are upset at the Valar, Feanor dies in a weird way, and I wonder, maybe in time, among the most radical Feanorians, there would be gossip that he ascended in some way? Even if not, many would assume that his spirit lingers (considering Feanor's resentment at the Valar and forgetting his longing for his mother). And he was so powerful, maybe his spirit still has some way to influence the world? I can very much see some of them praying to Feanor. After all, the difference between a Maia and a powerful housless fëa isn't so big, is it?

And then it gets even more complex: we meet the Men. And some of them do serve the Feanorians (Bór!!! But I'm sure there were many others, even if not as warriors). And Men know very little about the world. And are awed by the Elves already. And based on how I see it, Men worshipping a random dude (ok, Féfe wasn't random. But you get the point.) are more of a problem than Elves doing it - I'm not sure what would happen, what are the symptoms of it being a problem, but it feels like a problem.

Also Men adapt quickly and their cultures change. There would be so many takes on this. Oh, and also the "Silmarils are the fire that created the world" thing. It would spread too.

I really want this in a fic, I want those Men being insanely loyal to the sons of Feanor because of it, even if (some of) the sons of Feanor say it's all not true. I want those Men in the after war situation, when the host of the Valar recovers the two Silmarils.

I want some of those Men not allowed (due to their weird beliefs or to plain racism or whatever) or not willing to go to Númenor, I want them staying in ME, telling legends about the Spirit of Fire who will one day return and (idk, probably give them light and blood and happiness), and yes, you guessed right, I want Sauron hijacking this cult into his own.

I want remnants of those beliefs in tales, in folklore, staying in early Númenorean culture even despite the education they got from Eonwe, and yes, they don't pray to Féfe, they're monotheists, but they do have some folklore. Some weird beliefs about Gil-Estel in particular, and many people later would conflate it with Feanor and/or see it as something at least as divine as Meneltarma.

Unrelated to Feanor, but there's also that early concept of Túrin and Nienor becoming Ainur after Turin kills Morgoth. It would be a folklore thing in mid to late Númenor, but Túrin is probably mixed with Earendil somehow. Hmmm, I can see Pharazôn using Túrin (and his assumed apotheosis, even if the Valar are now controversial, Túrin is not) as an argument to convince Miriel that marrying a cousin is fine if you're special and cool, and he is special and cool. It sounds stupid, but if you warp the story enough...

I love when people in the setting have some misconceptions about the setting. Or makes it feel more real.

[alsethwisson]

My weird Ainur headcanons pt1

Gender (and sex) is for Ainur less of identity and more of personal taste. You like wearing skirts, I like wearing jeans, this sort of thing. Their identity is "genderless eldritch being" and our concept of gender is as alien to them as their whatever is to us.

Exception one: Yavanna really identifies as female, but it's a question of sex, not gender for her. She feels intimately connected to females of all species and their role as mothers. All her fanas are female, even a tree.

Exception two: Ulmo doesn't even bother to choose a single gender to present as. He's fluid, like water, ever changing. One moment he's an old man, then a child, than an elf-maid, and then he thinks someone is really being too hasty and turns into an ent.

Elves have no concept of nonbinary or transgender (they are, after all, beings in perfect harmony with their bodies), so they designated him male to create balance (7 valar, 7 valier). He didn't mind because he doesn't really care.

Ulmo has fallen in love with Nowe (Cirdan) even before Cirdan awoken. He saw a glimpse of him in the Third Theme. When he met him for real, Ulmo was kinda speechless and circled through forms, trying to choose the most beautiful and alluring. Cirdan laughed and thus broke the ice. Soon, they were inseparable.

I like the idea of Valarindi, so. Yes, there were children born to Valar. And to Maiar. And to descendants of Maiar. "Born" though is not exactly the right word; they are created, literally woven from pieces of their parents' souls. It requires a lot of time and patience, and severely drains both parents, especially if one of them is not an Ainu.

Orome was a kid of Yavanna and Aule, and the sole Valarindo who was actually _born_, not woven. That's why he's generally less "spiritual", just as his sister-wife Vana and their son Tulcas.

Caring for Orome (who was actually born and therefore had to grow up) was what made Aule yearn for more children and led him to the creation of dwarves.

Nienna chose to remain single so that her love would be shared equally between everything and everyone, not given to a single person. She is most like a nun in that respect; she could've found her special other, but decided not to look for.

In reality the Aratar are not as much about "who is the strongest", but "who is the most respected among elves". Since they have little use for Healing (Este) or Remembrance (Vaire), but delight in Hunt (Orome), we have the list we have.

[tar-thelien]

Explayining my Eöl is a Maia propaganda because @dfwbwfbbwfbwf told me to go for it and it made my head do a happy flip!!

Going to keep it to topics so it´s easier to read :)

Kin to Thingol & Residence/Friendship/Smith/Sorcery & Enchantments/Aredhel & Maeglin/Gondolin

Kin to Thingol & Residence:

We know Eöl is a dark elf who´s also a smith and kin to Thingol, who somehow knows a lot more sorcery than any other elf. That could be because he decided to live in an already enchanted forest but with that logic, Aredhel would become known in sorcery too so there got to be more to it.

He was said to be "restless and ill at ease in Doriath" when Melian raised the griddle, might be that Tolkien seems to have Maia be slightly territorial towards each other.

Kin can mean someone married into the family, and if Eöl and Melian is as close as they seem in the books they probably think of each other as some kind of siblings.

Friendship:

Eöl doesn't really seem to mind of the other races, he´s close friends with the dwarves, it only seems to be the Noldor he has beef with, for the kinslaying.

I think the note about the sun is important as a lot of the Sindir seem to like the stars better, although the comment about his servants strikes me, they are said to be similar in nature to him after him being described as a borderline evil wizard, which could either be, if you took a dark turn, that he enchanted them he pulled a Sauron or he somehow "blessed" them by sharing some of his Maia magic or them themself are some sorts of weaker Maiar.

Smith:

He was a smith and he created a new form of iron that was the strongest ever found - "as hard as the steel of the Dwarves", he was not messing around AND he made to TALKING swords out of a fallen star!! Tolkien never again mentioned stars as anything you could hold if you were not of the Ainur, and Aule had a tendency to lose his Maiar... just saying

Sorcery & Enchantments:

In some versions, Eöl is said to rape Aredhel which elvers die from just as a violation of their Hröa, yet she lives on, just as the orcs did when Melkor violated them.

Eöl seems to control Nan Elmoth to an absolute, and not only with what magic reminds from Melian, but he also seems to control growth light and roads as well as openings.

He can also hold stars and give metal it´s own soul.

Aredhel & Maeglin:

It could be he was evil or the Sindir/Avarin has other naming ritual (I do believe that and I have a page here I need to rewrite about it) but he seems to have no idea about elven costumes except from what he has observed Thingol doing.

When Aredhel nears Nan Elmoth Eöl commands the forest to separate her for her company luring her into his forest because he likes her look (maybe he´s just autistic??) where he shows himself and welcomes her to his home which she accepts and then chooses to stay, of her own will or under magic depends on the version, he later takes her as a wife and "they wandered far together under the stars or by the light of the sickle moon" even after he gets angry when she asks if she can see her kin again (not leave him just see her family) where he tell her to "shun sunlight" and after that, it sounds as if Nan Elmoth grows darker.

Note that Eöl too bans Quenya and only names Maeglin after 12 years, for his sharp eyes. And not sharp as in they see things, probably that too, but sharp as in "more piercing than his own" we know of two other characters with piercing eyes, and one of them is a Vala, Melkor, who if you look into the eyes of you go insane soooo...

When Maeglin near the years of an adult he requests to visit Celegorm and Curufin which sets Eöl off he threatends to "set him in bonds" if he does, and tells him he is the "house of Eöl", not Thingol, which seems a bit weird when he does a lot of other things alike to Thingol, as if he´s almost worshipping him, or looking at him to know how to act. If he was as loyal to Thingol as his action is (he lives in the place where Thingol first went on a date at) he would probably had said house of Thingol, as again he is KIN to Thingol.

We also know that Maeglin is really skilled in sorcery and Ósanwë, which some of the Valinor elvers are too, namely Idril, and his skill seems to be hinted to come from Nan Elmoth, a Maia-

Gondolin:

We know no one could find Gondolin, yet Eöl does it by tracking his wife and kid who left a week before him if not more?? there has to have been magic in over that, also he convinces Curufin to let him go - note that Curufin did tell that he thought Eöl was trying to deceive him by magic or just words we know not, I also think it funny that Eöl briefly calls Curufin kin because of Aredhel, but it makes me feel like it´s more to honor a smith than marriage.

Note that Eöl did not find his way into Gondolin, as it likely had enchantments on it, but he knew the way at first guess, and he´s fast enough to catch up to Aredhel and Maeglin when they are entering, even if Aredhel and Maeglin left before him and likely with the fastest horses and wasn´t stopped like he was.

When he cosses death for him and Maeglin he makes it seems as if he´s convinced they will survive, as if he dosne´t care for Aredhel here or that he wants her to live on, but he cares for Maeglin in a corrupt way and wants his son to die with him or he simply knows they will serve where Aredhel will not.

All in all I think it would make perfect sense if he was a Maia of Aule who either followed Melian to Beleriand or Melkor - if he followed Melkor who would later decide he wanted to go solo

[lassieposting]

Lassie's Fic Prompts: Tolkien Edition

Usually I haunt mutuals or the prompt channels of Discord communities but the Tolkien ones are all massive and I have anxiety, so I'm gonna shove them in the tag instead! Fic concepts from your friendly local prompt goblin, because god knows my ass will never get around to writing them. This post will get updated as ideas occur to me. Tags are mostly to help express The Vibe™. Anyway feel free to come talk to me about this shit I have feelings.

Bagginshield

T+ || Fluffy || Post-Canon, Reunion Fic

When the ringbearers arrive in the Blessed Realm, as a reward for the great peril they have suffered on behalf of all of Middle Earth, they are granted a single boon by the Valar.

Bilbo Baggins knows that elves, dwarves and men go to different realms after death. But Mahal's halls are vast and grand, and he is only a very small Hobbit. Surely room can be found for a single burglar in the dwarven afterlife?

Barduil

G+ || Angsty || Post-Canon, Loss, Closure, Bonus Points For Bard's Memorial Surviving To Be Unearthed In The Modern Day

Before leaving Middle Earth, Thranduil pays a final visit to the memorial he had carved for Bard.

Saurondriel

T+ || || Debates & Bickering, Sauron Drawing Parallels Between His Life & 'Halbrand's', Sauron As A Calming Influence On Morgoth's Genocidal Tendencies, Galadriel's Black & White Thinking, Small Moments Of Goodness

Halbrand takes Galadriel out to eat with his first week's wages from the forge in Armenelos, but the puppetry performance going on in the plaza - in which she is the heroine and he one of the villains - proves a distraction from their definitely-not-a-date.

When Halbrand admits that he's never seen the Sauron/Morgoth duo portrayed as utterly evil before, coming as he does from a land of their allies, Galadriel asks him what kind of stories the Southlanders tell. Sensing an opportunity to humanise himself in her mind, Halbrand dredges up some painful memories to introduce her to Mairon, Melkor and the path to hell paved with twisted love and good intentions.

T+ || Comedy || 5+1 Fic, Sauron Doing His Best, He's Not Spectacular At Being A Human But He's Trying, Galadriel Is Suspicious But Doesn't Know Enough About Humans To Call Him Out, Entirely Normal Mannish Behaviour™, Galadriel Will See A Guy Leave Scorchmarks On The Bedsheets When He Comes & Be Like 'It's Fine They Probably All Do That'

Halbrand is quite possibly the most realistic fana Sauron has ever created. He's designed to be so believably human he'll fly completely under the radar. But ultimately, a disguise is only ever as good as the actor wearing it. Halbrand is a fire spirit piloting an exquisitely crafted meat suit, and Sauron's idea of Totally Normal Mannish Behaviour is sometimes...slightly off base.

Galadriel is beginning to suspect the truth: her new significant annoyance is many things, but human is not one of them. But that's a terrifying prospect. And - and she hasn't spent all that much time around the race of Men herself, really. She's used to other elves. So it's probably fine. It's totally fine. Men are just Like That, is all.

AKA, five times Galadriel notices Halbrand's weird-as-fuck Maia traits/behaviours, but deliberately excuses them as Just Human Stuff because she doesn't want to deal with who and what he really is.

And one time where she already knows who and what he is. Many years into their marriage, Galadriel is mostly accustomed to her king's more unusual quirks. But sometimes, Mairon can be so human it almost breaks her heart.

T+ || Future Fic || Redemption Arc, Sort Of, Ainur Family Drama, Where Is Celeborn? Who Knows, Sauron Slouching Less Into The Light Of Goodness & More Into The Mist Of Moral Ambiguity, For Galadriel™, Dagor Dagorath

At the close of the Third Age, the last of Arda's elves take ship for Valinor, leaving Middle Earth - and the disembodied spirit of its former Dark Lord - to the race of Men. For thousands upon thousands of years, the Undying Lands enjoy a hard-won peace.

But when Morgoth manages to escape the Void, that peace is shattered, and with Valinor itself under threat, Ossë is dispatched to the world left behind to find the one soul who knows the enemy as well as Morgoth knows himself. He tracks Sauron to the deep south, where he's managed to claw back a physical form and has been living out his powerless exile as Hal Brand, old-timey blacksmith to the local ranchers.

When Ossë appears on his doorstep with news of Morgoth's escape, offering clemency in exchange for information, Sauron suspects a trap, and turns the offer down, intending to go into hiding rather than face his old master's rage at what's become of his dark kingdom and faithful servants. To sweeten the pot, Ossë leverages Sauron's greatest regret: the knowledge that Galadriel is in Valinor, and the implication that she'd like to see her old enemy again. Unable to resist the opportunity to reconcile with her, Sauron agrees to finally go home and share what he knows of Morgoth's plans and likely next moves with the Valar.

But with age-old grudges and rivalries causing trouble in Valinor, and Morgoth determined to retrieve his wayward lieutenant at any cost, can Sauron really turn back from the darkness long enough to hand victory to the Valar in the Last Battle?

T+ || Hurt/Comfort || Trauma, Nightmares, Identity Reveal, Sauron Has Seen Some Shit, He Probably Has Impressive Telepathy Defenses Most Of The Time But Shh, He Loves Her & He Wants To Be The Person She Thinks He Is,

Fighting for his life on the road to Eregion, Halbrand slowly succumbs to a murky world of fever dreams and infection-addled hallucinations. Trying to ease his restless sleep, Galadriel reaches out to to touch his mind...and finds herself dragged into a disjointed maelstrom of her most hated enemy's worst moments and greatest fears: Morgoth's bitter rage, the judgment of the Valar, the agony of bleeding out in the snow at Adar's feet, the inevitable pain of her own rejection if ever he's discovered.

Too weak to repel her or even really realise what he's sharing, Sauron lets her in, taking comfort from her presence. Presented with an opportunity she never thought she'd have - to look through the mind of her enemy unhindered - Galadriel stays her hand long enough to look for closure, for confirmation that he is the monster she's been hunting, that he's been manipulating her all along. Instead, she might just find something worth saving.

T+ || AU || Enemies To Lovers To Enemies To Friends To Lovers Again, Yelling At Sauron As Therapy, Halbrand!Mairon, Probably Because He Feels The Most Himself With Her Or Something, Aulë Knows Whats Up, He 100% Lets Slip On Purpose, Healing

After the destruction of the One Ring, what's left of Sauron's spirit is rounded up by the Valar and imprisoned in Valinor.

Galadriel does not find peace in the Undying Lands. After everything she has seen and done, she struggles to settle back into the realm of winterless spring. When a slip of the tongue from Aulë gives her the location of Sauron's prison, her restless nighttime wanderings begin to take her there to see him.

Sometimes, she is incandescent with rage and betrayal, and she vents her age-old anger on him without expecting any answers. Sometimes, she comes for information, and her questions are cold, cruel, demanding things flung through the bars. Sometimes, she is just sad and tired, and her questions are quiet things passed between them as they sit either side of the door. At first, there is no fight left in him: he takes what she throws at him in defeated silence. But the more she visits - to berate him, to needle him, to call him names, to ask him why, to reminisce - the more he starts to respond to her. And as her anger finally begins to die out, and their time together is increasingly spent remembering, and talking, and getting to know one another anew, the more the broken, amorphous creature in the cell begins to resemble the Man she once thought she knew.

M+ || Shameless Smut || Romance, Sauron's Complicated Relationship With Sexuality, Service Top Galadriel, Maybe Grayspec Maiar, The Mortifying Ordeal Of Emotional Intimacy, He Thinks She Wants To Subjugate Her Enemy, She Actually Wants To Love Her Idiot

Millennia ago, Mairon learned the value of sex as a bargaining chip, and he's been using it to get what he wants from the Incarnates - and Melkor - ever since. It's become a well-honed staple of his negotiation toolkit, a performance so well-rehearsed he barely needs to think about it. It's almost unheard of for anyone to notice that he tends to zone out partway through.

Almost.

Halbrand's tendency to seduce his way out of the doghouse hasn't gone unnoticed by his new queen, and nor has the way his eyes glaze over just as things start to get interesting. She's beginning to wonder whether anyone ever actually told him that intimacy is supposed to be fun. Determined to keep him in the moment with her, she decides she'll just have to teach him that herself.

AKA, Galadriel notices that Halbrand tends to dissociate and put on the act he thinks she wants from him in the bedroom. Concerned, she makes it her mission to show him he's safe to relax and enjoy himself with her - and absolutely wrecks him to make her point.

T+ || Canon Divergence || Galadriel Says Yes, Ainur Family Drama, Mairon's Aulë-Shaped Daddy Issues, Arondir & Theo, Could Be 5+1, Angst & Fluff, Maybe Comedy, Lucifer-Style Therapeutic Breakthrough, Aulë & Mairon Have Different Love Languages/Communication Styles, Galadriel Eyeing Sauron Suspiciously: What Are You Scheming Now, Meanwhile Sauron To Arondir: IDK Man I Just Never Felt Like I Was Good Enough YK? Why Wasn't I Good Enough?, Arondir Just: Your Majesty Have You Considered Therapy

Galadriel names Bronwyn advisor to the newly-restored crown of the Southlands, which means the new king and queen start seeing a lot of her husband and child. Mairon seems fascinated by the little family, and the pseudo-paternal relationship developing between Arondir and Theo - suddenly, he's full of questions about family dynamics for humans and elves. Gradually, the advice of his new wife and friends helps Mairon realise a few things about his own relationship with Aulë.

Alternatively, five times watching Arondir and Theo interact recontextualises a memory for Mairon, and one time he makes a parenting choice with Celebrían and saltily realises Aulë had a point in doing the same thing to him

T+ || Time Travel/Time Loop || Sauron Fucks Up The Timeline, Then Tries To Fix It Without Killing Finrod, Bonus Points If Halbrand Finds He Begrudgingly Likes Finrod, Alternate Meeting, Maybe She's Still A Soldier But Doesn't Remember Him, Maybe He Has To Go Back To Valinor To Even Meet Her, IDK Lots Of Options

The thing about Galadriel's rejection is that it all goes back to the death of her brother.

Either by his own power, or by the power of a Vala who wants to teach him a lesson, Sauron finds himself transported back to shortly before everything fell apart, and realises that, as Halbrand, he has an opportunity to fix everything...by breaking Finrod Felagund out of his own dungeon.

But he's surrounded by dangers, not least of which is his own former self, and time travel is tricky. Saving Felagund's life may have unexpected consequences - without her quest for vengeance, would he ever have met Galadriel at all?

T+ || Canon Divergence || Body-Sharing, The Equivalent Of Having Your Shitty Ex Crashing On Your Couch, Road Trip, There Was Only One Body

Ever since their falling out on the banks of the Glanduin, Sauron has been trying to get into Galadriel's head. One night, furious at yet another invaded dream about a man who never existed, she lashes out. She channels all her power into shoving him off the raft, or stabbing him with Finrod's long-lost dagger - and wakes, shaken and convinced that she just felt Sauron die.

She's half-right. She's successfully caught him by surprise, and ripped him out of his body. Unfortunately for her, since they were connected at the time, she's failed to leave him formless and impotent.

She's dragged him into her own head.

When he awakens, psychological warfare erupts as they battle for control of her body and mind, a twisted back and forth - she tries to drown him in his nightmares, and he tortures her with her broken heart. Eventually, as it becomes clear that the only way to evict him from her brain is to bring him back into proximity with his own body, they reach a tentative, fragile truce. They can hold off on killing each other for as long as it takes to journey across Middle Earth. They hope.

But it's a long way from the Shipwright's home in the Grey Havens to the half-finished tower of Barad-Dur, and a long time to get to grips with someone else's pain. When Halbrand reawakens in Mordor, Galadriel might find she's not so keen to kill him after all.

T+ || AU || Kidfic, Single Mom Galadriel, Halbrand Has A Dog And He's Gonna Make It Everyone's Problem, Step-Sauron, Romcom Vibes, Quite Wholesome Actually, Modern AU

Galadriel's marriage has been hanging by a thread for years, but when her estranged husband Celeborn is confirmed KIA overseas, she unexpectedly finds herself utterly lost in the world. Now a single mother to their heartbroken six-year-old daughter Celebrían, she takes a job offer that moves her little family halfway across the country and finds herself struggling to adjust to her new normal as she tries to settle in to a new area while transitioning from stay-at-home mom to…well. Putting a roof over her daughter's head and making sure Celebrían can see the play therapist a couple times a month.

Lonely, struggling and beginning to wonder if she fucked up by moving away for a fresh start, if she ought to just go home to her parents with her tail between her legs, Galadriel is delighted when Celebrían announces she's made a friend in the next garden over, and goes to introduce herself to her neighbours and invite their child to dinner.

The man who answers the door has tattoos, no kids, and is very happy to introduce her to the new friend Celebrían has been playing catch with over the fence: Carcharoth, an absurdly oversized shepherd mix.

While Galadriel is initially wary of her child getting friendly with a strange man and his rowdy dog, it's nice to have someone her own age to talk to. Someone who looks at her like he sees her, and doesn't find her wanting. Someone who supports her, and lets her support him in turn.

As their lives begin to twine together and they figure out how to fit their jagged edges together in a way that works, Galadriel starts to think she might just want to stay here after all.

AKA: Halbrand kept the dog in his messy breakup with Melkor. Carcharoth learns to play fetch…and fetches Halbrand a whole-ass family

M+ || AU || Wrong Number, Text Fic, Modern AU, Romcom Vibes, Strangers To Friends To Lovers, But Also Strangers To Rivals To Lovers, Halbrand's A+ Flirting, Found Family, Halbrand Uses His Middle Name In His Personal Life I Guess, Tevildo Is Spoiled And Orange

When Galadriel is offered one of four coveted associate spots at a prestigious inner-city law firm, she barely stops to think before wrestling a lifetime's worth of belongings into the trunk of her sensible hatchback and exchanging her sprawling family home in Tirion for an overpriced one-bed apartment in Eregion, halfway across the country.

While she's settling in, she receives a text from an unknown number - a picture of the sender's cat. And although she's not usually the type to strike up a conversation with a stranger, she's feeling rather alone and isolated in a new city while she waits for her first day at work, and so she responds with both a 'wrong number' warning and a question about the cat.

Unexpectedly, Wrong Number Guy texts back.

And keeps texting.

Over months, she develops a friendship with this stranger she's never met. Wrong Number Guy is apparently called Halbrand, has bizarre taste in music, can recommend an excellent restaurant for almost any cuisine, and should be jailed for excessive use of the smirk emoji. He sends her a good luck text on her first day at work, sends her pictures of Tevildo the cat to cheer her up when she's having a bad day, and once orders pizza to her apartment when she's having a really bad day. He also listens to her vent about her fellow associate and work archnemesis, Mairon, who's smug, shady as all hell, and gunning for the same promotion Galadriel wants, which naturally makes him the worst person alive.

As their relationship evolves, Galadriel starts trying to get Halbrand to meet her in real life. But he seems strangely hesitant for someone so charming and sociable, and it makes her wonder. Who is he, really? And what is he hiding from her?

M+ || AU || Modern AU, Sex Work, Accidental Voyeurism, Porn With Plot

Halbrand, being the fortunate owner of a Sexy Voice, has a nice little side gig doing audio porn on OF/Patreon/whatever, and he's Galadriel's go-to jill-off material. When her elderly neighbour transitions into a nursing home and the most obnoxious man alive moves in next door, she can't help feeling as though she's met him before. But it's not until she hears him getting off through their shared bedroom wall that she realises why his voice is so familiar.

G+ || Canon Compliant-ish || Half-Maia Celebrían, Werewolf!Sauron, Father-Daughter Bonding

When Celebrían is small and life is peaceful, Galadriel believes her lands to finally be safe, and the little princess of Lothlórien is free to wander the forest at will. Near the outskirts of her mother's realm, she befriends a strange wolfish creature with yellow eyes.

AKA: Galadriel has custody. Sauron, living as the Necromancer in Dol Guldur, risks sneaking into Lothlórien as a wolf or a warg for visitation.

M+ || AU || Modern AU, Sex Work, OnlyFans, Porn With Plot, Halbrand Is Loaded & Galadriel Is Making Bank, But Also Halbrand Is Interested In Her As A Person So That's A Plus, Online Flirting

Struggling to feel attractive and reclaim her sexuality after the breakdown of her marriage, Galadriel impulsively signs up for OnlyFans following a night out with Nori and one too many cocktails. It's fun and validating and boosts her confidence to get back into the dating scene. But the mediocre men she's meeting at bars and on dating apps quickly begin to pale in comparison to the lavish attentions of her most supportive follower, "darklordsauron", with whom she's beginning to feel an undeniable spark.

M+ || Canon Divergence || Dream Courtship, Prison Penpal, Trauma, Hurt/Comfort, Morally Questionable Valar, Reeducation, Attempted Brainwashing

The war is over. Morgoth, brought back to Aman in chains, has sued for clemency, but the Valar do not fall for the same trick twice: it will be the Void for him this time. Thousands of his Úmaiar have been imprisoned in Valinor. And Galadriel, her oath fulfilled, joins the legions of Eldar taking ship back to the Undying Lands.

As she struggles to pick up the threads of her old life, embroidering and baking and waiting for her brothers to return from Mandos, a figure begins to appear in her dreams - in the background at first, becoming increasingly prominent the more she notices him - and she comes to know him as Halbrand the blacksmith.

Galadriel is no fool: she knows "Halbrand" is a Maia, paying court to her through her dreams. And she knows well the Aulendili who worked the Smith's forge when she was apprenticed there: she is certain she can discern the identity of her admirer, with a little time and effort.

But her dreams, she will come to realise, are not coming from Aulë's forge, and her Halbrand is no simple worker.

AKA: The war ends with Morgoth's defeat. Imprisoned by the Valar, Sauron's only escape is osanwe. Galadriel, a powerful telepath in her own right, gets unwittingly signed up to a prison pen pal program.

T+ || Canon Compliant || Third Age Haladriel, Sauron Can Still Be Halbrand In The Mind Palace, Just Not In Real Life, Nightmares, Hurt/Comfort

In Caras Galadhon, Galadriel wakes up screaming from a horrifying PTSD nightmare. Instinctively, unintentionally, she reaches out for comfort, for safety, for understanding - not from her husband, sleeping soundly down the hall, but from an ancient evil she's been shutting out for centuries.

Hundreds of miles away in Barâd-Dur, Sauron answers the knock on the door to his mind -

-- and Halbrand does his best to give her what she needs.

M+ || Canon Divergence || Consensual But Neither Safe Nor Sane, Sauron Poking The Bear, Past Abuse, Past Torture, Deliberate Triggering, Halbrand's Morgoth Trauma, Galadriel's Finrod Trauma, Bad BDSM Etiquette, Aftercare In Both Directions, Galadriel Goes Too Far & Finds It Quite Upsetting, Halbrand's Shitty Coping Mechanisms

Sauron has spent hundreds of thousands of years devoted to Morgoth, in a relationship where every dynamic was characterised by power and domination - corrupter and corrupted, king and general, master and servant. In that time, he's learned that pain and punishment are unpleasant but essential components of absolution. When he fails or angers Melkor, he is punished for it, and then - eventually - forgiven.

Now, as Halbrand, he's not getting that same routine, and it's making him antsy and unsettled. Galadriel may have agreed to stay with him and bind him to her light, but he's painfully aware of her hatred for Sauron, the way her brother's corpse still lies between them. But she hasn't taken her retribution, and he hates waiting for the hammer to fall. He remembers all too well what happened the last time he failed to address this kind of resentment from an important ally. He wants her to get it over with.

At his invitation - and after a considerable amount of goading with which he manages to make her snap - she vents centuries of loathing and long-nurtured pain on the monster she's hunted for entire lifetimes - and, for reasons she cannot understand, he lets her. This makes Halbrand feel more stable, but she's horrified at her own loss of control. Together, they try to figure out a better way forward.

M+ || AU || Modern AU: Famous Musicians, Enemies To Lovers, Fake Dating, Romcom Vibes, He Makes Her A Little Bit Worse, She Makes Him A Little Bit Better, Writing Songs Together

Galadriel is a folk singer-songwriter with a squeaky-clean image, fighting to break out of obscurity. Halbrand is a trainwreck rock star on his third tabloid scandal of the year. Frantically attempting damage control, his long-suffering manager makes a deal with hers: a fake relationship. Being seen with her will make it look like he's finally getting his shit together, while being seen with him will give her much-needed exposure to a massive and passionate fanbase.

There's only one downside. She hates his guts.

G+ || Canon Divergence || Bronwyn Is Fine Guys, Comedy, King Of The Southlands Halbrand, Life Lessons, Romantic Cliches, Galadriel Just Wants A Little Bit Of Honesty Y'all

When Halbrand returns to the Southlands elfless and withdrawn, everyone seems to have Opinions on how he can win back Galadriel's affection.

Five times Halbrand follows the well-intentioned romantic advice offered by Bronwyn, Arondir, Theo, Celebrimbor (via letter, probably) and the newly-rescued Isildur, plus one time he finally gives up on the scheming and manipulation and gives Galadriel what she really wants from him: the truth.

G+ || Canon Divergence || Step-Sauron, Celebrían Has Balls Of Steel, Bonding

Halbrand doesn't really understand how to play. Celebrían attempts to bond in a way that will make sense to him.

AKA, Galadriel's eight year old challenges Morgoth's former right hand to a (play) swordfight

T+ || Canon Divergence || Lifespan Differences, Forgiveness In Mortals Vs Elves, King Of The Southlands Halbrand, The Southlanders Know, Bronwyn's A+ Ancient Immortal Entity-Wrangling Skills, Halbrand Goes Back To Pelargir With The Freed Southlanders

When baffling intelligence informs Galadriel that Halbrand has returned to what's left of the Southlands and taken up the crown she helped him steal, her conscience cannot allow her to sit idly by and leave those innocent people ignorant of the snake in their midst, vulnerable to whatever foul plan he's concocting for them. At the head of a train of humanitarian aid from Lindon, she rides for Pelargir to reveal Sauron's secret to his people.

As it turns out…they know. They've noticed. Several people saw him shield the village when the volcano erupted. Those who were imprisoned with him in Mordor have heard him use or understand Black Speech, or seen him calm the wargs. Bronwyn, who spends most of her time with him as Chief Advisor, is convinced that he doesn't sleep enough to be human, and he occasionally references events that happened long before he should've been born. But Sauron - an enemy most living elves have personally fought against - is a name from the very oldest of the Southlanders' stories to these people. A fairytale evil, defeated before their grandfathers' great-grandfathers were even thought of. They're more inclined to judge Halbrand based on what they've seen him do in person - save their lives, suffer for them, shield them from Adar - than on oral history from thousands of years ago, and as it stands, they're feeling considerably safer with their odd Maia king protecting them than they would feel without him. They're giving him a chance to prove he's changed for the better. So, shh, Commander. Let him pretend. He thinks nobody's noticed. There's a betting pool on when he'll figure out that they all know.

To Galadriel, this is…a rather alien viewpoint she has to wrestle with. Can someone really change that much in just a few thousand years?

T+ || Canon Divergence || Single Mom Galadriel, Teenage Celebrían, Step-Sauron, King Of The Southlands Halbrand, Mother-Daughter Relationships, Halbrand's Aule-Shaped Daddy Issues, Family Feelings, Bad Mom Galadriel Rights

Elves have immense lifespans and enjoy commensurably long childhoods; when Galadriel left her very young daughter in the care of distant relatives to go off and hunt down Sauron, she always assumed that she'd miss very little of Celebrían's youth in the grand scheme of things. But she's been gone a very long time, and when she finally sends for the newly-minted princess of the Southlands to join her in Pelargir, what arrives is not a sweet little girl but an angry, uprooted adolescent whose memories of her mother and father have gone fuzzy over centuries.

As mother and daughter struggle to reconnect and understand each other, Halbrand - poster child for parental abandonment issues - tries to bridge the gap.

T+ || Canon Divergence || Galadriel Said Yes, King Of The Southlands Halbrand, Power Couple, Kemen Being An Asshole, Political Manoeuvring, Halbrand Is An Incredibly Savvy Diplomat, Kemen Is Way Out Of His Depth, Kemen Trying To Sway Haladriel To Pharazon's Side, Possibly By Spouting The Lie That Míriel Has Allied With Sauron, Careful My Guy Or Sauron Might Just Decide To Uphold That So-Called 'Alliance' And Start Causing Problems, Galadriel's A+ Maia Wrangling Skills VS Her Friendship With Míriel FIGHT, Halbrand Getting To Go A Bit Feral

Kemen arrives in Pelargir to take control of the city, under the impression that no grubby, uneducated low man would dare challenge the new prince of Westernesse and his contingent of Númenorean guards.

But the king of the Southlands is not, in truth, a low man.

And neither is his new queen.

G+ || Canon Divergence || Pippin Took's A+ Life Choices, Butt Dialling The Dark Lord, Pippin Tries His Hand At Relationship Therapy, Outsider Perspective, Gandalf POV

In ROTK, Sauron answers the Palantír like he's really hoping it might be Galadriel this time. Pippin Took is not Galadriel, but he has recently met her, and - since he's not the brightest bulb and doesn't really cotton on that he's just accidentally facetimed the Dark Lord - he's perfectly happy to tell this complete stranger all about that experience in detail. Sauron, smart enough to realise that he might get some usable intel about Lothlorien out of this strange little creature, entertains the conversation for longer than he otherwise might have. Pippin is even pretty easy to talk to.

And when Gandalf bursts in, half-expecting the dear little soul to be driven mad with agony, he finds Pippin…very earnestly trying to talk Mairon through how to fix his relationship problems - an undertaking of such colossal stupidity that the entire West gave it up entire Ages ago.

And Mairon actually seems to be listening.

Angbang

T+ || Angsty || Outsider Perspective, Ainur Family Drama, Melkor Is A Mess But He's Mairon's Mess, Even Evil Has Loved Ones, The Valar Concept Of Love & Melkor's Concept Of Love As Very Different Things

Angband is a smoking ruin. The Enemy is a captive of the Valar. The war, it would seem, is over.

But the Ainur are uneasy. Not all of Morgoth's forces have been subdued. The Enemy's favourite servant has slipped the net, and getting information out of Melkor is like pulling teeth. Under questioning - and even the threat of the Void - in Valinor, he still refuses to tell them where his devoted lieutenant Sauron has gone into hiding.

Aulë, waiting for news of his wayward Maia, tries to make sense of how even the most corrupted of them all can be beholden to forces like love and loyalty, and how it can be that none of them ever saw this coming.

T+ || Fluff & Comedy || Epistolary Fic, Long-Distance Relationship, Leading Armies Means Being Apart A Lot, First Age, Love Letters, Complaint Letters As Well Lbh They Probably Bitch To Each Other A Lot About Everyone Else

Melkor's rise and fall, as told by the orders Melkor sends to Mairon, the reports Mairon sends back, and the informal postscripts attached to both.

M+ || PWP || Creative Use Of The Mind Palace, Telepathy, I Could Not Find A Mention On The Wiki Of Where Sauron Was During This Siege, So Let's Assume He Wasn't Like. Also Stuck In Angband

During the 400 year Siege of Angband, Melkor uses ósanwë to leave the surrounded fortress and spend some quality time with Mairon.

T+ || Angsty || Sanity Slippage, Hallucinations, Melkor Trying To Envision His Happily Ever After Even Though He Doesn't Know What Happily Ever After Looks Like

Sentenced to eternity in the Void, and slowly losing his mind to the isolation and sensory deprivation, Melkor comforts himself with visions of his little fire spirit.

Silvergifting

G+ || Fluffy || Celebrimbor Has A Crush, But He's Very Sweet About It, Possible Angst, Celebrimbor Probably Needs Closure Too, Halbrand Should Not Be Forging But He Can Still Hang Out

Celebrimbor likes to work late. Flattered by the admiration of a handsome young king, and delighted to have a fellow passionate smith to bounce ideas off, he takes to letting Halbrand join him in his workshop in the evenings while the latter is healing. One night, while swapping theories about the mithril and definitely not watching the candlelight catch on Halbrand's hair, he finds himself making a gift of his own. After all, a king should have a crown, and what better crown than one made by 'the Celebrimbor'?

(Possible angsty bonus scene: many thousands of years later, Galadriel seeks closure and a final goodbye in Mordor after Sauron's downfall. In the ruins of Barad-Dur she finds the crown that Celebrimbor made for a king who never existed, kept in Sauron's quarters as though treasured. Maybe she rescues it to take back to Valinor)

Poly/Multiple Ships

M+ || Saurondriel/Angbang || Past Abuse, Telepathy, The Mortifying Ordeal Of Learning To Make Better Romantic Choices, Sauron Loves & Fears Melkor Equally, Letting Go, Saurondriel Is Not Healthy But In This Case It Is HealthIER, So Like. That's Something

Sauron and Morgoth were still telepathically connected when Morgoth was thrown into the Void. A fragment of his consciousness remains in Sauron's mind, manifesting as a hallucination that only he can see and hear. At first, he is Melkor, the doting lover Sauron chooses to remember, amusing and affectionate and comforting and so, so missed. But, as rage and fear take over and the Void begins to drive Melkor mad, he increasingly behaves like Morgoth, the side of himself Sauron would rather forget - the cruel master whose wrath he fled after his defeat at Tol-in-Gaurhoth. With 'his' Melkor appearing less and less, Sauron becomes more and more burned out under the slew of criticism and mockery, and his confidence in his own ability to lead takes an additional battering when his subordinate turns on him at Forodwaith. When he happens to cross paths with Galadriel, he realises almost immediately that the light in her silences Morgoth's voice in his mind. As they grow closer, her unwavering belief in him - or, at least, in "Halbrand" - makes him want to do good, to please her and prove he's worthy of her support. But Morgoth is not the only voice silenced by proximity to Galadriel, and letting Melkor go is an agony he's not sure he can survive.

T+ || Angbang, Saurondriel, Galadriel/Celeborn || Having The Same Conversation While Thinking About Entirely Different People, She's Thinking About Celeborn, He's Thinking About Melkor, Halbrand's Species Has A Mayfly Lifespan & A Casual Approach To Intimacy So She Is Not Expecting Him To Understand At All, But He Really Really Does

When their flirty banter turns to their respective races' romantic customs, Galadriel finds herself opening up to Halbrand about elven marriage, about her long-lost husband, and about her feelings of guilt over her attraction to him.

Halbrand empathises. More than she ever thought he could.

M+ || AU || Saurondriel, Galadriel/Celeborn || Modern AU, Porn With Plot, Safe Sane & Consensual, Sex Work, Polyamory, Threesomes, Kink, Switch Halbrand, Galadriel & Celeborn Are Figuring Out What They Like So Who Knows, Halbrand Blacks Out & Has A Consensual Workplace Relationship

Galadriel's marriage has been going stale for years by the time her husband hesitantly comes out as bisexual. Secure in their relationship and trying to support him, she suggests a threesome to liven up their staid, predictable sex life - and, after some thought, Celeborn agrees. His one condition is that the third should be a professional, so that the situation won't get messy. Halbrand is the professional; they have a fantastic time with him and begin seeing him regularly. The first time they hire him, they all believe that this is the best way to avoid anyone catching feelings for anyone else. This, of course, goes really well for everyone involved.

M+ || AU || Saurondriel, Galadriel/Celebrimbor, Silvergifting ||Polyamory, Open Marriage, Copious Blacksmithing, Hurt/Comfort, Halbrand Recovering In Eregion, Relationship Miscommunications

A long time ago, Galadriel married Celebrimbor. They're fond of each other, but since circumstances so often keep them apart (Galadriel hunting Sauron for decades at a time, Celebrimbor inseparable from his forge), they've been quietly maintaining an open marriage for centuries, each occasionally seeking out discrete companionship when they feel the need.

This arrangement has worked well for them for hundreds of years. Neither of them expects it to ever change, or cause drama.

Enter Halbrand.

When Galadriel returns from Númenor with her wounded Southlander king, Celebrimbor is delighted to discover his wife's lover is a fellow smithing nerd. As Halbrand convalesces, Celebrimbor finds himself increasingly drawn to the charming young man and, in spending time with him, actually grows closer to his own wife.

When Halbrand's true identity comes to light, Galadriel is devastated, and Celebrimbor finds himself fighting to keep the three-way bond they've built from imploding.

M+ || Canon Divergence: Early S2 || Saurondriel, Silvergifting || Adar Frees The Southlanders & Creates A Problem, King Of The Southlands Halbrand, Aftermath Of Torture, Celebrimbor Rescues Halbrand From Mordor, Because He Has A Little Crush, Halbrand Recovering In Eregion AGAIN, Reunions

The Men of the Southlands have always been a stubborn, difficult people. Having waited over a thousand years for their royal line to reassert itself, and having seen control over their occupied lands ceded by no less than an elvish general, they're now proving very reluctant to give up on their shiny new king. When Halbrand trades his own surrender for his people's freedom, the displaced refugees descend upon the elven realms, petitioning Gil-Galad and Celebrimbor - Halbrand's apparent allies via Galadriel - to mount a rescue.

Although Galadriel's unsanctioned diplomatic manoeuvring has put him in a difficult position, Gil-Galad opts not to intervene; he thinks leaving Sauron and the orcs to duke it out between them will spare elven lives. For Galadriel herself - still reeling from the shock and betrayal of Halbrand's identity reveal, firmly in the doghouse with her High King, and demoted from her military station - this decision is a difficult one to stomach, as she struggles to reconcile her hatred for Sauron with the sudden fear and concern she feels for Halbrand, along with her own loss of her king's trust and inability to influence or counsel Gil-Galad to her advantage anymore. She's been cut out of the decision-making completely.

When she hears that Celebrimbor - for reasons she cannot begin to understand - has disobeyed Gil-Galad to send soldiers into Mordor to retrieve Halbrand, she rides for Eregion immediately, still not entirely sure whether she wants to see for herself that he's safe, or take the opportunity to kill him personally.

T+ || AU || Saurondriel, Silvergifting, Angbang || Goo Sauron, Sauron As The Rings, Maybe Being Split Into Three Rings Also Splits Him Into Three Personalities, So Galadriel Gets Halbrand/Repentant Mairon Who Is Smitten With Her, Celebrimbor Gets Annatar Who Grows To Be Fond Of Him, And Gil-Galad Gets Sauron Who Is Above All Things Fond Of Morgoth, The First Two Are Varying Degrees Of Tractable & Willing To Work/Compromise With Their Elven Bearers, But The Third One Is Manipulative And Wants Melkor Back, Which Is A Problem, And Now Sauron Is Attached To Possibly The Most Powerful King In Middle Earth At The Time

Galadriel does not find Sauron in Forodwaith, but she does find something that catches her attention: a strange ooze that moves almost like a living thing. Disturbed and suspicious, she catches it in a container and takes it back to Eregion with her, hoping one of the scholars there will be able to tell her what it is. Despite a few odd moments on the journey that make her wonder whether the goo might somehow be sentient, Eregion's scientists determine that the ooze is not an animal - it's a highly magically potent substance, probably leftover from Sauron's experiments.

Galadriel has some misgivings, but ultimately, Celebrimbor has some projects he thinks the goo might prove useful for, and she hands it over. He incorporates it into his Rings.

It's not until Galadriel slides Nenya onto her finger and begins having some strange dreams/hearing voices that she realises the truth: they've accidentally trapped a disincorporated Maia in there. Now they have to figure out how to free him.

And all Sauron has to do is not let on which Maia they've unwittingly imprisoned.

AKA: Mairon's ëala is in the Three, and he wants out. This has consequences (whether funny, romantic, horrifying, etc) for the ringbearers.

[legendariium]

Of course, the elf’s first instinct was to run. He couldn’t exactly place the voice carrying through the wind, but he had a solid guess or two for who was responsible for it — and none of them were favorable. The only one of his brothers with such command of their voice was Kano, and he knew such games were below the elder.

And yet, despite all the signs pointing to danger, Carnistir’s feet remained strongly planted. The suggestion for him to flee was taken as a challenge, and the dark Feanorion’s gaze hardened like steel. He took up a defensive stance, one he learned from training with Tulkas in his youth.

“Last I heard, my father is only banished from Tirion, not the Pelóri,” The elf sneered. Of course this one would bring up such a technicality. “So I think I will stay. Besides, I have nothing to fear from a coward who hides in the shadows.”

for  a  manipulative  starter . // from melko to cranberry 👀👀

Things at Formenos had been tense the last few days and Carnistir couldn’t bear it any longer, so he left to hike north along the Pelori mountains with enough food and supplies to last him a day or two. After a long day of climbing, the elf was laying on his bedroll with his thoughts racing this way and that, when he could’ve sworn he heard the sound of a twig snapping and rocks shuffling around nearby. Carnistir wanted to believe it was an animal, but he knew that it wasn’t so; the air was still, and it was much too quiet. He thought he saw a brief flicker of light in the distance, almost beckoning him to follow.

“Tyelko?” The Feanorian called out, peering into the darkness. His hand gripped his hunting knife as he stood up, deciding fearlessly to investigate. “Is that you? I swear, if you followed me again…”

{ @voidtamer }

[radioactive-earthshine]

I don't know if this is a weird question, but have you ever thought about how konbart would fit into a lord of the rings or more fantasy setting

I have thought about Kon and Bart (and DC in general) in a strict Tolkien AU and the thing is, it got so wildly different from DC canon I was basically making OC Tolkien characters by that point because there are some things that just fundamentally don't mesh well.

I did however settle that Kon was absolutely some sort of critter created by Melkor - he's Melkor's attempt to try and create one of the Ainur from scratch via fantasy-esque science that we already have in Tolkien. Naturally, he couldn't do it exactly how he wanted and he needed to borrow material to start with (Clark's Tolkien equivalent which I have noted being a special kind of Ainur that had perished somehow except for him).

Kon's origins to start are a pretty big unknown, I'm not entirely sure if he was made in Utumno or Angband but he was 100% created. I couldn't work in his exploitation really but his personhood is always questioned because "can anything Melkor have made really be alive?"

Clark shut that down damn fast and he's respected enough people listen, but still Kon is sort of held at arm's length and has to frequently 'prove' himself.

I feel like in any 'fantasy' setting Kon would have some sort of origin like that in that he is a being that was created from magic or science, alchemy or necromancy so it leaves a wide range of origins to play around with.

For Bart specifically in Tolkien it gets a little hazy because Bart's comic origins involve time travel. The Lord of the Rings are not strict staunch fantasy stories, particularly not the Silmarillion where there are a lot of science fiction elements - Tolkien was a fan of science fiction and he had a delightful way of interpreting science fiction themes or blending them within fantasy elements.

For Bart... He is 100% from the future, but he's like, from more than 1000 years in the future, he's from more like 100,000+ years in the future because the time difference between ages in Tolkien already can be several thousand years old.

Bart is the same sort of critter that Luthien was but leaned heavily on his Ainur side - he's more Ainur than whatever his second half is (I am undecided) but he really can move like the wind and he dances like light on water.

Ainur do not know what to do with him.

As for his back story I have it scribbled down (tentatively) that he was born just before the end of days in an age where Valinor (for whatever reason) was reintegrated with the physical world. It was an age of peace and unity where technology and nature existed in harmony and unity and all sentient beings worked with each and loved each other - where Quendi that had long since faded due to life wariness now found comfort and joy in life and the Ainur were content to see that what they helped create so long ago really was that beautiful.

Then Melkor came back back out of the void walking around on his stupid little stump legs (<- that's in my notes) and decided to fuck things up.

I don't know how it happened or why but Bart was sent back in time by [redacted] because he's a special boy that Melkor would either kill outright the moment he got ahold of him or would try and manipulate him. So naturally the most logical solution was to send him back in time to the... (checks notes).... First Age... where Melkor is alive???

To be fair they didn't want to send him the First Age, they wanted to send him back only maybe 1000 years but they hadn't really tested this technology and perhaps there are other forces at play and poor Bart ended up in the First Age with his mind a little bit scrambled from the trip.

Max does end up taking him in in this, he's one of the quendi that refused to leave Cuivienen period or go West, he's one of the Avari. He's unsure what to do with Bart really at first but Bart's still a teen when he shows up, and he's in need, so he resigns himself to helping him and they bond. I have a note here about an agreement with Nessa allowing Bart to stay with Max only IF Bart stays there and doesn't leave, there's an implication that they also fear Melkor getting a hold of him.

In a basic more generic fantasy setting Bart can be fun to play with I think but I believe him being something distinctly not human is a must - the more impish the better and I personally think leaning on him being a refugee and being lonely is a plus. ANYWAY how KonBart happen in this AU that is turning more into just an original story at this point because we've broken so many rules and stretched canon thin - Bart doesn't meet Kon until he's actually a few centuries old, which means little to most everyone at this time.

How they meet is Bart decides to, impulsively, go West anyway breaking the agreement Max made with Nessa because he got tired of being there and he wanted to see his kin. Bart doesn't have any context for Kon and just thinks he's amazing and fascinating and he makes him feel less alone.

I don't have anything else for this Tolkien AU kjfnjkrbfe

As for a more generic fantasy setting I haven't gone too far because fantasy can be such a broad range I would need like, a world bible FIRST then build from that; what species exist, is magic a thing, what are the fundamental rules etc etc etc.

I'm not sure if any of this makes sense or is what you were looking for but this is all I have and all subject to change.

[legitimatesatanspawn]

I just realized that every time I answer a LotR Silmarillion lore question or make a lore dump post, the way I talk about the setting low key implies I lived through all the events and am struggling to remember every last detail when spitballing the facts.

Which does fit since LotR's metalore is that the books are being translated from Hobbitish/Westron and Quenyan/Sindarin/whatever into English by JRR Tolkien. Except I'm not an long-lived species be it elf or ainur.

I know I've seen a lot of people talk about Elrond or Galadriel, or Legolas or straight up Gandalf just breaking the minds of the shorter lived species with weird historical facts.

Elrond actually did it in canon. Just... straight up dropped the fact that he remembered the final fight with Morgoth at the end of the First Age - the destruction of Thangorodrim and thus so too Ancalagon.

On a related note Elrond seeing Isildur look at the One Ring... you know he would've been groaning. Because I'm sure he's seen that exact sort of face before. And Elrond knows exactly how much obsession with a mystical artifact can warp the mind and twist common sense. Hell, the fact that no one even knew that the Ring was taken...

Look, Boromir said that no one knew what happened to the Ring. That the men of Gondor thought it was destroyed with Sauron's domain. And the 'few' who knew what happened with Isildur and the Ring was as Elrond put it "He alone stood by his father in that last mortal contest; and by Gil-galad only Círdan stood, and I." Implying that the other fighters were too far away or slain by Sauron. Also? Elrond was serving as Gil-galad's herald. Which is a job, and to my understanding a mix of messenger, diplomat, and knight tournament referee.

[edennill-archived]

@eri-pl

So, you asked me about my interpretation of Varda on Ao3, and I actually wanted to reply in an ask, but decided maybe it's better to have it here. At the same time, I'm afraid... I do have a fairly strong idea of her, but it's mostly focused on the early days of Arda, and maybe a little nebulous (and perhaps doesn't really add anything to what I've already said). Still:

One of the most specific headcanons that influence the way I see her is that, well, she was the fourth being in existence, thus had by necessity been fairly close with Melkor before he went bad, and consequently she has a very keen sense of betrayal later on. I think the few who came directly 'after' (...I have no idea what time before time even is, but never mind) were some of the Ainur who did not enter Eä, and so, the Valar who came next (probably Ulmo, Namo, Yavanna and Vairë, in some order) did not necessarily have this experience, and certainly not to such extent. This later period would have also been the time during which Melkor started really disappearing into "the Void where he once walked alone"... and from some point on he was hiding a lot of wrath and resentment whenever he returned among the others — so ultimately, I think a lot of the Ainur actually only came to really know him when he started disrupting the Music. Which. makes for a very different sort of disappointment than Varda's.

The second thing (and I'm sorry for always circling back to Morgoth here, though on the other hand you find him interesting so maybe you won't mind), is that well, canonically she's the person he fears the most. Now, she's not actually more powerful than Manwë, but her power is more... focused, I'd say, if you know what I mean (I don't entirely lolll). And since he usually hates in proportion to fearing, she often bears the burnt of his sabotage efforts in those early days, which again, leads to a lot of anger on her side.

...You might think it strange how much I focus on anger for someone who's among the morally purest characters in the Legendarium, and well, I'd call it righteous wrath in her case, but your mileage may vary. Certainly, it's not only (or even mostly) that she's disturbed by his wrongs towards her in particular, but she's not allowed to forget by the circumstances.

On the other hand, I don't particularly like the theory that she rejected him romantically, I think it's reading too much into a phrase that's very ambiguous and likely wasn't intended to mean this, given Tolkien's track record with similar phrasings.

But yes, she's this kind of dichotomy in which... on the one hand, she's beauty, she's art, she's gentle... but stars burn, and she can be sharp at other junctions. Sorry, I keep using words in some weird abstract sense, I might not be able to explain it better.

She would have — in time — forgiven Melkor if he had ever given her reason to think that he regretted his actions rather than the fact that he lost the war, which he never really did. There was nothing especially damning in whatever he said in hearing after his release, but none of it was reassuring either, and I think she believed the knowledge of his defeat would keep him from acting up, but nothing much more conclusive.

[cilil]

Fun times in Valinor feat. Melian and Dior

✦ I like to imagine that Dior did in fact receive the opportunity to choose his fate as well, chose immortality for the sake of his family and ended up in Valinor (may make a more detailed and less silly post about that in future).

✦ As soon as he gets out of Mandos he's practically ambushed by Melian who is overjoyed to have at least one of her descendants back, takes him under her wing and immediately adopts him as her replacement baby.

✦ She drags him around Valinor like a mother cat carrying her kitten (metaphorically speaking) to show him off to her Ainurin friends. Said friends, particularly those more concerned with spiritual matters and not at all familiar with incarnate procreation, are a bit weirded out by being presented the living, breathing offspring of a fellow spirit, said offspring being of rather ambiguous nature as well, but since the entire Ainurin race is based on everyone being a cryptid in their own right, they all warm up to him quickly.

✦ Melian teaches Dior to sing like a nightingale and other bird calls and he performs admirably, though causes confusion when he doesn't turn into a bird. She may also teach him Valarin so he knows when people are talking shit.

✦ Some Ainur are still confused by Dior being incarnate in general and try to encourage and help him shed his form. They need to be reminded that Dior was in fact born and raised incarnate, is happy and content being that way and that his incarnate state is not a symptom of being spiritually drained or otherwise unwell.

✦ Since Dior died young - even by mortal standards - Melian's Ainurin friends tend to erroneously assume that he's a literal baby. These discussions usually escalate when it comes to them refusing to give him Miruvórë and Dior wins arguments by reminding everyone that they have met his adult daughter.

✦ Wanting to befriend him and make Melian happy, other Ainur like to bring them gifts, usually something they think would be useful to an incarnate. Sometimes they're spot on, such as when they bring delicious treats and fresh food, sometimes their gifts are a clear reflection of their kind not quite understanding incarnates, such as half-torn-apart blood sacrifices and dangerous animals and substances. Melian doesn't react well to the latter.

✦ She's especially worried whenever Dior displays any sort of human behavior because part of her wonders if through some strange happenstance he will become mortal, in which case she assumes he might just fall over and die within the next 5 minutes (read: what her species of angels older than the universe sees as "5 minutes").

✦ Dior loves being taught "magic". Melian has no idea what he means by that, only knowing he picked up the word from Beren, but is happy that he's happy.

[mirkwood]

Wip snippet

I was tagged by @queerofthedagger thank you sooo much !! 🫶🏻

I am actually so excited for this one since it's my first feanormelkor fic. Basically this one is all about Melkor being obsessed with Feanor and how badly he wants him. Cue Melkor being Melkor ❤

I don't have an actual title just yet but im calling this one "3 times Melkor wanted to taste Feanor and one time he actually did". I think it's self explanatory, isn't it?

Here's the first part of the 4th time, just be warned about a bit of blood mention and Melkor being Weird :

Gothmog, Lord of the Balrogs, is standing in front of him, all fire and flame. He brings with him a stench of blood and ash and despair.  So huge is he that even he, Morgoth, the foe of the World, the darkest and most formidable of the Ainur, has to lift his head to meet his gaze. Truly, one of his greatest creations.  “He is gone,” Gothmog announces, his deep voice thundering through the vast chamber. The echo of it is the only thing that can be heard. Every creature is silent, watching and waiting for their Lord to speak.  But that is exactly what he did not want to hear.  Something new comes to the surface. Another feeling, strange and foreign, one that makes itself known in the back of his throat.  Regret. Disappointment. It almost tastes like defeat. It tastes like the night Feanor denied him. “What of the body?” asks Morgoth, his focus abruptly shifting to the blood dripping from Gothmog's whip. The droplets collect into a small puddle around him, and then slowly dissipate from the heat radiating from the Balrog’s body. His jaw clenches with such a force that for just a moment he thinks it’s going to break from the strain. His loose grip tightens on the armrests of the throne, as he struggles to restrain himself. His fingers dig deeper into the material and the dull pain of his burns surges back stronger than ever.  He doesn’t care. All he craves is to taste him.

Tagging @sauronpilled @afaramir @elvain and anyone else who wants to share their writing!!! Please consider yourselves tagged fr

[nighttimepatrons]

🐉 A lot of figures in the Silm have weird Eldritch powers or possibly biology. Tell us about your headcanons for one.

And, also, do other characters know about the eldritchness?

man you knoooowwww you know I love spot of Eldritch Elrond. It's iconic, it slays 💅

I love Celebrian being like "This his my husband Elrond, most of the time he's an elf, and sometimes he's an earthquake that can look at things. :) "

like put that eldritch peredhel under the earth where they belong.

And not to always bring Glorfindel into everything but :)))) literally just this morning I was thinking about the Valar keep having him go do stuff for them and they're like "Here's extra ainur juice to get it done, see you in 78 years, bye bye" And Glorfindel's just like "Damn, okay." anyway my point being surely there is only so much godly power you can be gifted before you just stop being an elf. I don't know if that would make him Eldritch but that's what I've been thinking about ^^

[eri-pl]

Doing the reread. @dfwbwfbbwfbwf: I think I have a solution to one of things you found weird: Melian did not remove the Girdle, or leave leading to the Girdle being removed! It just popped off when she was widowed! She "lost power over matter of Arda" when Thingollo died, because being married into the family material existence was the only reason she was able to do and keep the Girdle at all!

It's not my speculation, it's in the book. (Unless my reading comprehension it the Polish translation is really failing. Which sometimes happens.)

Now for some more speculative stuff (but still based on the text):

I guess that to do the Girdle now she would either have an explicit delegation of power from one of the Valar (impossible because lack of communication and general situation) or be evil. She was just not tied to the material world enough when she was widowed. (Yes, elves don't really die, but disembodied = not really married at the moment, sort of)

And quite possible not tied enough to the people of Doriath to rule them effectively. She only spoke to Mablung and left, and it feels like her way of thinking changed too, like... She would be as effective as a queen of Doriath, I suppose, as the Valar are effective at ruling Arda at their worst: she would not understand the Elves enough. By far.

Plus, the Ainur and ruling over a nation... Feels suspicious. She want supposed to do that, never did. Thingollo ruled them, she just gave advice.

Anyway she did not leave out of mourning. She mourned, yes, but she mourned both Thingollo and the fact that she had to leave Doriath. And the book gives a clear feeling of "she had to, that's How Things Work". (Might have something to do with Morgoth's power swirling all around too)

She didn't abandon them.

(if you want me to stop tagging you when I found something relevant, please tell me. I thought this knowledge might make you somewhat happy.)

[silvantransthranduiltrash]

Part 1: https://www.tumblr.com/silvantransthranduiltrash/752978436591583232/ok-bc-ariagreenleaf-inspired-me-over-on-the?source=share

Part 2:

we left off at Thranduil and Miriel's childhood. both of them show an exceptional prowes to magic and strength, it's obvious to see for anyone that know what to look for that they aren't normal elves. but bc they are not only the first elflings to have ever been born (as opposed to awakening at the lake) but also the first elf/ainur combo, no one really knows what tf is going on at any given time, and they all just write it off as just smth elflings do.

also, i hc that, in this au, most of oropher's ainur power was cut off by Mairon and Melkor when Oropher betrayed them, so while he is still tecknically an ainur, he doesn't have near the power of one, and comes across as a particluarly strong and magically gifted elf.

n e way, one day teen-Thranduil is off on his own, and he comes across a Dragon (capital letter needed), and not the weird corrupt knock offs that Melkor created, no a proper Dragon. Dragons are someone of a mix between an ainur and an elf, power wise. Eru created them as a sort of unpredictable variable that'll keep ME from going to far into the dirt. most ainur don't like Dragons bc the ainur have no influence over them. furthermore, Dragons are arguable the most prideful creatures in all of arda, so they won't listen to anyone or anything (Eru created them specifically with the idea of being overwhelmingly prideful for the sole purpose of "no one can get them to bend a knee, not even a vala"). also, they can shape shift.

did i forget to mention Thranduil is trans in this au (like my other au?) yes? well, now you know!

anyway, Thranduil and the Dragon, Ingen, meet and they weirdly hit it off? instance sexual attraction, iykwim. the relationship is kind weird, bc it's also a bit of enemies/rivals to lovers, but they still aren't lovers, they just weirdly respect each other and find each other attractive, but by god does Ingen piss Thranduil off on a good day. interesting relationship.

and so, Thranduil falls pregnant with Ingwe and Lasgen (he's 38 btw, so about 16-ish in elven years. between there having never been any elflings before him and Miriel, thus there being nothing to compare them too, and the elves having no real understanding of when one becomes an adult or how age works, and with Thranduil and Miriel being half ainur, everything's a little up in the air and confusing)

Oropher and Cloudryad are like "jfc" but also, they can't judge bc they didn't know what they were doing either, the twin's conception is a result of hate-fucking, and Cloudryad was technically only 10 yo when she had the twins bc, while she spawned at the lake fully grown, she's only been alive for 10 years. like i said, confusing times.

Miriel is extatic at being an aunty (though she is somewhat pissed at ingen for taking advantage of her brother (i need to clarify that the Ingwen-thranduil relationship was consensual on both fronts, minus the whole age thing).

so, Ingwe and Lasgen are born and they are definitely their parent's kids alright, even though Ingen barely ever shows himself. thranduil is pretty much a single parent, and that's how he likes it.

and of course, Miriel and Thranduil also get stuck with babysitting duty for Cloudryad's sister Elya, and her friend Mori, mothers of Elwe, olwe, and finwe respectivly. the twins don't really have a problem with it, tbh, but it does mean that the -we's all get semi-raised by half ainur/half elves, with the benefit of having part ainu/part elf/part dragon playmates. needless to say, shit gets weird, and they certainly have an unconventional/chaotic childhood that makes them significantly stronger than most of their elven peers.

and of course, Melkor and Mairon hear about their greatgrandbbies, and there's an uptick of attacks on the family bc GREATGRANDBBIES. they also try to hunt down Ingen bc HOW DARE HE-. once again, i don't know if M&M are trying to get to Ingwe and Lasgen bc they want their ggb or bc they want to kill them.

end of part 2

now onto part 3