#Maedhros was a very chill kid to me

[rputthebottledown]

Look it‘s Nerdanel & Fëanor with cute little toddler Nelyo. Sometimes I just need some fluff in my life

[starsofarda]

Christmas with the Feanorians

I would like to thank @erendur for giving me enough rope for my shenanigans.

Tolkien, ILU but sometimes I need to take everything less seriously.

Of course TIS THE SEASON and I am in my transformation in a Christmas Elf, whilst my SO is becoming the Grinch.

Anyway, possible modern AU, the Feanorians and Christmas, stemming directly from this post.

So, we know how Feanor could be ©Extra™, but what would he be like during the Christmas holidays in a modern AU? Well, LOOK NO FURTHER.

I am basically copypasting my brainstorming session and expanding on it.

Unfortunately Feanor is a "go big or go home" guy when it comes to decorating for Xmas, figure the outside plastered in luminous deers, trees, elves, santas and all the works. You can spot his house from at least two miles afar. He will dress up as Santa*, show up with like all sorts of trinkets, hand-write "Santa's response letters" to his children. The inside of his house is cobered in holly decorations, Yule logs, xmas trees, xmas music all over the place. the guy is extra.

*or Father Christmas, your choice, regardless of who he dresses like he's gonna look like Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas, he is very tall, very lanky and he's not gonna be a fat old man delivering gifts.

this also prompts several arguments over the xmas dinner with Fingolfin, cue Finarfin trying to be the peacemaker, all the "not in front of the kids", the "language" and all. In the meantime every single one of the kids, regardless of who's the father, is a different flavour of terror. Nerdanel is with her SILs and nieces, at a certain point Aredhel just starts a treasure hunt with Celegorm and his dog Huan. It's chaos. Maedhros is with Fingon and maybe Maglor, if Maglor and Finrod are not playing Guitar Hero. And so on. Also did someone mention "ugly sweaters"? Yep. All of them lovingly crafted by grandma Miriel (in this AU she is alive, just very divorced from Finwe, but alive). Grandma Indis supplies the wreaths. Grandpa Finwe is sitting by the porch and enjoying some eggnog.

All is good. Feanor and Fingolfin will keep arguing till the end of time. As it was pointed out, this definitely looks like National Lampoon's Christmas holiday.

Now, some clarifications.

THE ELVES They are indeed Feanor's apprentices dressed as Father Christmas's elves. They take turns. They are low key enjoying the attention. Speaking of. I rectify myself, it's not Santa, but Father Christmas and his assistant polar bear - reference to Tolkien's "Letters from Father Christmas". I know Tolkien would have hated it, but this is a modern au. Whatever floats my boat. As for the ugly jumpers: Ofc Feanor has the Silmarils surrounded by snowflakes, deers and red robins. His jumper is red. Maedhros has got a green one with winter gnomes and a "happy yuletide" in elegant lettering. Fingon has a blue one with an icy mountain and penguins with silver scarves and hats.

So. The apprentices don't really mind being hired as Christmas Elves, Feanor pays well and it's all fun and games. They basically get to be up to any shenanigans they can conjure up, because in Feanor's forge not only he is Extra, but his apprentices are the Least Chill on Arda. They will cause problems on purpose, only rule is "be nice to the children" and "don't damage property in a significant way", but everything else is game. They get to dress in fun outfits as a plus.

Miriel and Indis are both there, mostly ignoring Finwe and doting on their daughters in law.

As for the jumpers.

Grandma Miriel lovingly embroidered and knitted them all. Any bad look has been met by Feanor's death glare of "accept my beloved mother's gift or die painfully" and every year they are a must have, especially if the party is at Feanor's house.

So far this is what I have.

Ofc Feanor has the Silmarils surrounded by snowflakes, deers and red robins. His jumper is red. Maedhros has got a green one with winter gnomes and a "happy yuletide" in elegant lettering. Fingon has a blue one with an icy mountain and penguins with silver scarves and hats. Also if Mae has a green one with gnomes, then I envision Fingon with the same but in yellow/golden, but do feel free to envision whatever :p Celegorm has one with like a poodle with a christmas hat and scarf, the poodle looking very much like Huan. Maglor has one with like hollys and singing red robins. Caranthir has one with xmas trees all over. A&A have matching ones, both with snowmen wearing sunglasses and like a cheeky line. Curufin has one designed to show the jacket of a xmas elf and celebrimbor has one with the design of the ribbon of a xmas present.

There will be more as soon as I think of something else.

[luthnethril]

📓

Put "📓" or some other version of a book emojii into my inbox and i'll explain the plot of a fanfiction that I haven't written but I daydream about

one that's recurring and lives rent-free in my head even though it has barely any plot is a setting where the elves go to Valinor, but the Valar do not wage war on Melkor and imprison him into the Void, so he's just kind of. free out there because he ran off to hide and create Angband. Which is worse for the elves who remain in Beleriand and the Girdle of Melian is probably put up earlier. Anyway.

The main part of this fic idea is that we have Fëanor in Valinor with Nerdanel and his (so far) three kids with another one on the way living in the equivalent of an one-family caravan moving around every so often to explore more of Valinor's lands. They don't check in too often with Finwë and the palace due to a lack of a postal service in the middle of nowhere and anyway at some point in the early noontide of Valinor baby Maedhros is like. 40 years old, baby Maglor is like 20 while Celegorm is the equivalent of a very excited toddler and Caranthir is still an idea in the womb.

They've settled just outside this forest up North and one day Maedhros and Maglor are out playing/exploring the forest (bc, yk, this was the land where they were all going to be perfectly safe forever) when Maedhros picks up that there's something Wrong™; like perhaps a chill, or some more darkness than is usual in the North so far away from the Two Trees.

Now, at this point they do live in a Melkor-free Valinor, but because Melkor hasn't been imprisoned there are more thoughts spared for the elves who remained in Beleriand (and thought to be all dead) and Fëanor as well as Maedhros and Maglor have grown up with stories of the Dark Rider and the Journey West from Cuiviénen, so Maedhros feels the air shift and thinks. I've heard of this happening before.

So, he makes Maglor hide inside a tree trunk and tells him they're going to 'play a game' where he has to stay hidden in the tree humming the "don't notice me" song enchantment he's perfected for hiding from Nerdanel when she wants to make them do chores and make no sound at all or get out no matter what until Maedhros tells him it's okay to come out.

(Maglor has not picked up that anything's wrong with the forest, but he's picked up that his brother is worried and he's getting more scared every time Maedhros refuses to tell him what's going on).

Anyway, point is, Maglor does as he's told and hides and Maedhros goes as far away from the tree as he can trying to make sense of what's going on and then. Melkor shows up. He appears as an extension of the darkness, more solid and bottomless eating up the forest that existed behind him before he showed up, with sharp, visible teeth and glowing red eyes. No body, just solid clouds of light-blocking darkness surrounding small Maedhros.

Small Maedhros, with all the bravery that knowing Maglor is hiding behind him gives him, looks up at Melkor and lies. He plays dumb, he asks to know who he is, why he's here and lets Melkor underestimate him to make sure the Vala never suspects Maglor is also there and as vulnerable as Maedhros himself is. He tells Melkor that he has to get back to his father because he promised his brother he's take him out to play in the forest. That he's alone here and he needs to get back.

Melkor finds baby Maedhros very entertaining and does not suspect that he's being lied to by a child of Valinor and tries to trick/convince Maedhros to go with him, that he'll take him back to his family when 'we'll play a game' does not work. Maedhros insists that he knows the way back and doesn't need any help, thank you. Eventually Melkor runs out of patience and when Maedhros runs away from him reaches out with more darkness and shrouds Maedhros with it, taking him away.

The darkness goes away and the forest returns to normal. Fëanor, pregnant Nerdanel and baby Celegorm go out to find Maedhros and Maglor; they only find Maglor inside the tree when he passes out and stops singing the enchantment. They don't find Maedhros.

They pack up everything and ride back to Valinor to tell Finwë what's going on. Maglor wakes up on the way but he's in no state to say anything; his eyes are wide and he's shaking and he starts crying silently and humming the enchantment again and it takes Nerdanel hours to convince him he's safe now, at which point Maglor slumps against her, catatonic, and does not say anything else.

(Needless to say that Fëanor, scared shitless, is having an absolutely horrible time).

Finwë sends an army of search parties out North with Fëanor, but they never find a trace of Maedhros except the little copper eight-pointed star brooch with the red ruby in the middle Fëanor made for Maedhros when he was born and Maedhros dropped on the ground on purpose. They send people to Mahanaxar to ask the Valar for help. Maglor, scared and not talking, barely moving, tells Celegorm enough about the 'darkness' that took Maedhros that when Celegorm relays it to his parents and Finwë and Indis, everyone knows what exactly it was that took Maedhros.

They never find him. The Valar are all very sorry, but they can't do anything about it. Melkor shouldn't have been able to come into Valinor, just don't go up so far from the Trees again. It should be fine. It will never happen again.

Not really much plot after that actually. I've been thinking a lot about Fëanor's sons and their cousins growing up and Maglor being the only one who remembers Maedhros because he was the only one old enough to, Celegorm remembers him vaguely. None of their cousins have met Maedhros; Caranthir and the rest of the brothers are born and grow up with the knowledge that they have a brother Maedhros who's gone which their parents don't talk about (Nerdanel starts crying even as she tries to tell them about Maedhros so they'll know and Fëanor's face goes terrifyingly blank and the air sizzles around him so they never dare to ask). Maglor is always sad and melancholy and prone to shouting when people choose to forget Maedhros ever existed and his brothers minus Celegorm don't really connect with him because Maglor is making minimal effort to communicate in turn.

Eventually Maglor puts up a play/musical that's just what happened that day when Maedhros disappeared and that's the first time anyone really finds out how that went down and why Maglor feels so guilty and responsible about it in a way everyone thought up to then that made no sense/was just the trauma of meeting the Dark Rider. Maglor makes sure the costume for Melkor does justice to the terrifying embodiment of darkness with teeth and glowing eyes he saw as a child, which disturbs everyone greatly.

It makes the Valar very uncomfortable.

I had an idea of Fëanor obsessing over the idea of saving his son, never letting go or admitting that Maedhros is probably dead like Míriel and holding on to his grief and anger like it's the only thing keeping him from fading. Perhaps even going to Angband in secret to rescue Maedhros.

Another idea involves Maedhros being Melkor's personal favourite prisoner and being kept alive, meeting some of Mahtan's of Finwë's relatives in Angband, perhaps even escaping by himself when Melkor and Sauron are not there? Like I said, there's not much concrete plot besides the main idea here.

[runawaymun]

Erestor for the ask game???

1: sexuality headcanon

Very very gay, but somewhere on the ace spectrum. I just strikes me as the kind of guy who's happy to have sex but doesn't seek it out.

2: otp

Glorestor. :) Peak "someone will die." "~of fun!!~" energy and it's so much fun.

3: brotp

Celebrian & Erestor! Like I'm currently very partial to Elrond & Erestor and Erestor & Celebrimbor, but Cel and Erestor (and Lindir) are comrades-at-arms in the running of Imladris and in making sure that Elrond sticks to a reasonable sleep schedule. Especially in the early days of marriage, Cel had a LOT of questions for him regarding her husband bc Elrond hates seeming Weird(tm) but Erestor has exactly zero tolerance for bullshit. Yes Elrond, you have to wear a coat when it's cold. No Celebrian, don't listen to him he is currently ill.

4: notp

Elrond x Erestor is just.... I can't. I literally cannot. I hate it so much. And generally any female character, OC or not. He's so homosexual to me. I even have trouble really envisioning him for insert requests if the reader is AFAB.

5: first headcanon that pops into my head

Actually really loves kids and is super good with them! He's prickly with adults but he's super amicable and nice around smaller people :)

6: favorite line from this character

'Thus we return once more to the destroying of the Ring,' said Erestor, 'and yet we come no nearer. What strength have we for the finding of the Fire in which it was made? That is the path of despair. Of folly I would say, if the long wisdom of Elrond did not forbid me.' this reads as so incredibly salty to me lmao. Erestor is tired of this conversation and has no fucks to give, not even for Elrond, and while he will concede that yes, Elrond is incredibly wise, also he's going to make it abundantly clear that he thinks the Maedhros method of destroying the ring is stupid.

7: one way in which I relate to this character

in terms of fanon Erestor I deeply relate with how chronically done he is.

8: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

Bruh idk?? Erestor's pretty chill on that front.

9: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

Neither. Rat bastard.

[iminye]

Silm Modern AU Headcanons

I wrote these down in 2017/18 and never revisited them. This is all about the Finweans. I have some stuff about the Doriath elves but that would have been too much.

Everything under the cut.

Finwë founded a very successful law firm, in which all of his children except for Finarfin are employed

Finarfin decided to nope out and became a doctor instead

Findis and Fingolfin are twins for some reason

Findis, Fingolfin and Lalwen are Indis children from another marriage but I never elaborated more on that

I guess that makes Finarfin Indis and Finwë's only biological child together?

Except for Maedhros and Turgon nobody from the grandchildren studies law

Caranthir is a therapist and anger manager (I mean he has the experience I guess...)

Celegorm lives on the road, picks up stray animals and finds them a new home... I don't think he ever graduated

Argon has some sort of chronic disease I never exactly specified but this is why he spends most of his childhood and teens in the hospital

Aredhel has had some troublesome relationships in the past, resulting in her becoming a teenage mom at sixteen and decide that love isn't something she needs

Maeglin is totally doted on by his grandparents

Aegnor and Angrod are also twins for some reason and I seemed to have totally forgotten about Orodreth's existence

Finrod lives the hippie lifestyle

Maglor is a music teacher at an elementary school and happily married

Elrond and Elros are kids in one of his classes, who often have to stay at school longer because their parents are working late

I don't think Miriel is dead? I have her age written down as 70, which must mean she's still alive

Did she and Finwë get a divorce? Past me I want answers... Did Fëanor grow up with mom? Are things more chill?

Also some random stuff about my OCs nobody is probably interested in

But Curufin's wife is a marine biologist and I think this is great, he is a politics student

Fingon is a pilot? Also his plane is called Thorondor. I like this.

Also Maedhros apparently is afraid of flying and heights, I guess it's Thangorodrim related

Tyelpë is the oldest great-grandchild, Idril second oldest, Maeglin third oldest all of them only a few months apart

Anaire is an author, Nerdanel works in an art Museum, Earwen is a midwife

I have nothing about Galadriel aside from the fact that she went to Doriath Boarding School (I gues she met Celeborn there?)

Elenwë is a figure skater - yo past me not a good idea but it also fits her aesthetic not gonna lie

Amrod and Amras are actors and they're like probably the most famous out of their siblings because of that

Huan is a St Bernard

[dialux]

I’ve been going on a reading binge of all your Tolkien Women fics, and I cannot stop thinking about Indis. As a consequence I’ve created a headcanon that hurts my heart and I am going to inflict it upon you because this is clearly your fault.

Indis is one of those people just meant to be a parent, it fits her so well everyone knew it was just a matter of time before she became one. And once she gets married she tries so hard to be there for Feanor despite her own grief, but he won’t let her in. She has her kids and everyone congratulates her on having four (four!!) wonderful children, but in her heart she has five. Because Feanor might not have let her into his heart, but she certainly let him into hers, and she will always think of him as her eldest son.

It will haunt her to the end of all days and beyond, that he was always her son but she could never truly be his mother, and on her bad days she thinks that every catastrophe and death of the first age can be laid at her feet for not succeeding in the one thing everyone said was her speciality.

Okay, so a) fuck you, b) fuck you, c) fuck you. This story is basically just saying that, only in more euphemistic terms, anon.

...

Once, there were three: a woman with fair hair, a man with fair eyes, a woman with fair skin. 

...

The woman with fair skin is captured and taken by the Dark One to his fortress, where she languishes for long weeks in grief and agony. She is not turned, even as those captured alongside her become evil beings, twisted and gruesome and cruel. Melkor wonders why this woman- this limpid-eyed, weeping girl- can withstand what no other has managed.

He does not get the chance to find out.

The woman with fair hair storms Utumno. She drags her sister out alongside whoever is left of their people. But the fair-skinned woman collapses only a few days’ from the chill of Utumno, and she shows her sister the secret she expended all her fea upon: a child, a fair-haired, fair-eyed, fair-skinned girl.

Intyale the Fair-Haired buries her sister Indis in a cave of glittering light. Then she takes the child down to her people, and she bids her brother, fair-eyed Ingwe, to watch their niece. Indis he names her, for the mother she will never know, and he raises her as his own daughter, this girl who bears the brightest things of all his family.

...

She is the daughter of all three of them. Of Indis the Slain, and Intyale the Bright-Speared, and Ingwe the Grand. Indis bears one woman’s name and another woman’s steadiness and a man’s strength. She is the princess of the Vanyar. She will always be that.

She will always remember how desperately her mother fought to keep her alive. Hidden in Utumno, chanting song after song of hiding and cleaving and darkness, straining for one more moment- one more moment- to keep the little babe at her breast alive- defying Melkor himself- 

The Vanyar suffer the greatest of the losses to the Dark One before ever Orome comes to them. They- none of them, not from the eldest down to the youngest child- will ever trust Melkor ever again.

She was born in grief. 

The Doom that Namo places- it is shocking, it is pitiless, it is cruel. But then Alqualonde still rings with the laments of the Teleri. But then, Finwe is dead. Melkor has taken not just one from Indis’ life. 

She was born in grief, and, as one by one her children too learn that taste, she wonders: Perhaps the doom is my own.

...

When she is very young, she asks Intyale: What did I get from my mother?

And Intyale- this, Indis remembers very, very well- had paused, and considered, and then said, Her silence.

...

From Indis her mother, she receives silence. From Ingwe, she receives the knowledge of ruling and leadership. From Intyale- 

-from Intyale, she receives the strength of will to remain unbowed.

...

Indis loves Miriel with the kind of love of a calf for its mother: overwhelmingly, adoringly, all-consumingly. She spends hours with Miriel, learning to weave those tapestries, hands tangled in thread of silk and cotton and wool, eyes affixed to the wall just as often as she watches the silver spirals of Miriel’s hair.

The Noldor tend to craft to show their passion for the world, but Indis has nothing of that: she is a fair dancer, a well-versed scholar, a singer of surpassing talent. None of them call to her more than the rest.

She aids Miriel often, now that the building of Tirion is almost complete. Indis enjoys sitting with her and with Finwe, sipping a salty-hot tea as the light changes from gold to silver; she often falls asleep there, slumped over in her chair, and returns only at the second Mingling to Ingwe’s abode.

...

This is what they all forget about Miriel’s death: it was slow.

Slow and lingering and painless. She had dignity unto the end. Finwe clutched her hand until it could not be held. Little Feanaro is the only person in all of Aman, they say, who has lost his mother.

Indis bites her tongue until it bleeds, and does not speak.

...

Intyale dies upon the hills of the Ered Luin. Indis is still young in those days, not quite an adult and not quite a child. Three children are gamboling near the water, and there is- something. Not quite something, but not quite nothing either. Intyale realizes before anyone else, and flings herself forwards, bare-handed.

Bare-chested.

The water boar is driven backwards into the river. Indis grabs the children. Two maiar run, grasp the situation, calm the boar down with songs. Intyale emerges from the river dripping.

She collapses upon the sand, and Indis is there in heartbeats: Intyale is the only mother she remembers, distant and proud though she may be. When she dares to let her eyes drift to Intyale’s chest, everything tightens up inside of her. Her mother is rent open, from breast to belly. 

“No,” says Intyale, and reaches up, and grips Indis’ chin tighter than she ought to be able to, so close to death’s door. “Look at me, little one. We are more than our flesh.”

“You are dying,” whispers Indis, trembling.

“Yes,” says Intyale bluntly. “Call for Ingwe.”

Not for the maiar, who might save her. And not for the Valar either. Intyale has given up: Indis doesn’t realize this until later, but her mother- her aunt- would not have called for Ingwe had she not been determined to join the sister she watched fall.

Intyale forces Ingwe to swear to care for Indis as he would his own daughters. Then she asks for her spear, and to be burned until even her bones show no ash. She tells everyone who her sparse belongings must go to. And then, fingers clutching the bone-spear, she dies.

...

(Feanor, too, burns. Half her family burns to death, Feanor and Fingolfin and Fingon and Turgon and Maedhros and- and- and-

That fire is not of Finwe alone. Fire can be taught to catch, and Feanor never burned quite so brightly to anyone else as he did for Indis and her usurpation of his sainted mother. No: the fire is Indis’ inheritance, and Indis’ gift.)

...

Intyale does not tell anyone who her bone-spear should be given to. Indis finds herself holding onto it, and somehow never lets go.

...

This is what they forget: Miriel was the first to die in the peace of Valinor. 

The second is Finwe.

...

Feanaro has lost his mother, but Indis will become that mother if he will allow it. She would wish for nothing more. Of course she wishes for nothing more. 

But he does not.

Indis watches him when he does not realize. She can see it- the grief, the loneliness. He is a little boy, and Finwe is not half the father he would wish to be, and there are impossible things in this world that Indis wants- her mother, her Miriel, her peace- but most of all she just wants little Feanaro to be happy, to know happiness and joy and trust in it instead of fearing the joy will turn cold and dead in his arms.

...

Miriel had been- quickly angered.

So had Finwe. So do most of the Noldor. Indis is patient enough not to pay much attention to it. 

Well. She is patient.

...

Miriel had been easily provoked into greatness. A few insults, a carefree comment- Miriel would sit at her loom and weave, something ever-greater and ever-better. Even now, the finest gown in Indis’ keep is one that she received from Miriel the day after she spent hours insulting Miriel’s taste in fabric.

Indis would have done that to her in those awful weeks after Feanaro’s death. She would’ve gone in and insulted Miriel to within an inch of her life, made her so breathless with rage that Miriel would have levitated out of her bed to strike Indis about the face. 

But Este’s healers- called in when the labor lasted for more than two days- refused to hear of it, and Indis could only watch as Finwe’s face went whiter by the hour and all they heard from the sickroom were little Feanaro’s wails and the healers’ murmurs. She obeys the Valar: she watches Miriel fade into Lorien, and never return.

Little Feanaro is all that’s left of Miriel. 

She is certain that he’s very much like her, too.

...

Feanaro thinks that his dislike of Indis comes from her marriage to his father. Perhaps the dislike deepened into hatred then; Indis does not know. What she does know- for she’s ensured it- is that Feanaro hated her well before her marriage.

...

(“I expected better of you,” says Indis, once.

Feanaro is three years old. His eyes are Miriel’s in shape and size and beauty. Indis, determinedly, does not flinch. 

“I’m just doing with Rumil taught me!” he exclaims.

“In Valmar,” says Indis, “children learn their letters by the time they turn a year old.”

Feanaro flushes red. “I don’t like these letters. They don’t make sense.”

“Then make your own,” says Indis, careful not to let sympathy seep into her voice.

She does not smile when the news percolates through Valinor of Feanor’s Tengwar. She does not smile, but oh, oh: how she wants to!)

...

This is what they do not see: Feanaro is young, and while fire is forever dangerous, while fire is forever alluring, it is too easy, far too easy, to stamp it out. Especially when it is young. Especially when it is small.

Indis would have been the shelter to that little flame if he would have allowed it. But he will not, so all she can do is throw fuel onto the fire. Chaff and dross and dried straw: insults and backhanded compliments and petty slights. If Feanaro will not let her protect him, then she will build him so high that none will ever be able to strike him down.

(Letting him die was never an option.)

...

Finwe dies, and they leave, and then Feanaro dies, and then Findis disappears, and then Nolofinwe dies, and then Arafinwe comes to her, for the first time since his father’s body burned in Tirion’s courtyard.

“We have been given leave to go to Beleriand,” says Arafinwe quietly, solemnly. “Morgoth shall be defeated and thrown into the Void. The Vanyar shall all come, by King Ingwe’s decree.”

“Is there something you wish to ask me, then?” asks Indis gently.

Arafinwe swallows, one reflexive jump of his throat. “Will you join me?”

Indis rises. Steps away. Goes to her bedroom and plucks it from the wall, and returns in time to see her darling son’s shoulder slump with frustration. 

“I will not,” she says. Arafinwe jumps, startled. Indis steps closer to him and presses the bone-spear into his palms. “I will not return, Arafinwe, to that land. Already it has taken much from me. I will not offer it more.”

“But-”

“Take this,” says Indis. “It is your grandmother’s.”

Surprise glitters in his pale eyes. “I have a sword.”

“This has already held off Morgoth once,” says Indis. “There are tales that will never be told, of the courage of the elves that never saw the Blessed Isles. Intyale Bright-Speared was your grandmother named, and well-named was she! This spear held Morgoth back long enough to release prisoners in the depths of Utumno before ever Orome saw us, long enough to let Intyale’s sister flee. Long enough for Intyale’s sister to hand the child in her arms over to Intyale.

“The sister’s name is Indis,” says Indis. “I was that child. I was named for her.”

Arafinwe stares at her. “You speak so rarely of them.”

“I’ve no desire to relive tragedy for the rest of my life,” says Indis flatly. “Now come. You’ll need to learn how to use that, if you wish to hold Morgoth hostage!”

...

Perhaps she began this, when she chose this path.

Perhaps she could have averted this.

But Indis is the daughter of Intyale, and it will be her bone-spear held to Morgoth’s throat at the end of this awful, deathful road, and if nothing else- if nothing else- she has the will to remain unbowed, this girl born in the shadow of Utumno, this woman who watched all those around her fall as wheat before a scythe, this mother who would rather her children loathe her than die, this daughter who has lost both mothers and knows, bitterly, the whole of that unfathomable loss.

...

That is what she tells Feanor, finally, when he returns to life.

There is something thoughtful in his gaze. He nods, and returns, a week later, and when she blithely tells him that his sons have inherited his monotonous fashion sense, Feanor flushes, and then pauses, and then says, carefully, “I’d rather it be monotonous than Finarfin’s gaudiness,” and Indis drinks her tea- salty-hot, just as she likes it- and she says, smiling, “I am glad you can be taught.”

[youareunbearable]

Your piece about Maedhros and death is absolutely gorgeous and chilling. I have a thing about how Maedhros was one who had returned from the dead literally and afterwards his relationship with mortality is umm off

I love your writing

-@outofangband

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! I adore when Maedhros is in fun kinda awful kinda interesting situation! Like I'm probably half of your hits on Markers cause WOW I just LOVE the idea of mae being tainted in some way that only he can see?? That no matter what he does Melkor or Sauron could find him? And no one believes him, which is like Boom Bam why he desides to throw himself at the front lines of the war like a Big Red Target! (literally picks the tallest mountain to do this on too, like a very much a "look at me only at me" and that is not Great Mental Health especially since he was captured by melkor?? why would he want his attention on him???) like *chefs kiss* there is just something Nice about Mae being forced to Go Through It. Also if you wanna toss me a link to that idea id love to read it!!! Mea with an "uhh" relationship with mortality sounds GREAT

(one of my fav concepts i read somewhere, was that Mae would only be reborn at the end of the world and would do battle with Melkor or something and GOD that was an idea like how fun what a relationship with satan like you THOUGHT you were gonna face off with the guys father cause youve been grooming him and building up a relationship with him and do something so awful that he literally is willing to kill his own kin to get to you and then BAM his son just pops out of the woodworks and becomes the biggest thorn in your side (except for that damn elfgirl with her man and stolen dog))

((also side note i adore how you write Nolofinwe, "uncle not prepared to be the only adult in the room and all the kids have Problems" is my favourite flavour of Nolo))

ALSO It kinda bothered me while i was reading about how fast and well Mae healed, or didn't die in the first place from Melkor's torture. like sure, we can claim that he was Young and Healthy and Had Fire Burning Within Him or whatever, but also he had a Necromancer right there who was probs trying to get information or something out of him and more than willing to do whatever to get what he wants, which like... isnt a great combo.... who knows what would have happened

Mae and death i think go hand in hand like its such a good foil to have a character always being described as Full of Fire of Life or whatever be like one of the few characters to kill himself and in such a starkly different way than how Tolkien normally talks about Elven suicide. "The fade, they gracefully decide to leave their bodies, blah blah blah" like Mae is the only one we really see that so willing and violently destory himself, both in spirit and in body and its facinating cause again, hes described as so full of life normally.

[theoppositeofprofound]

Some more thoughts on estel and how it presents very differently in humans than in elves. 

This is unfiltered amateur fantasy philosophy hour, kids. 

So I think first we have to establish that elves, for the most part, don’t think of humans as having estel. The hope/faith/endurance that elves really value involves a public show of trust in a higher power. You are stepping back and saying, “I trust that this will turn out all right”

The height of elven pseudo-religion is basically “Eru Iluvatar take the wheel,” and you can quote me on that. 

Humans do not let Eru Iluvatar take the wheel often. A lot of this is probably a result of simple chronological limitations. Humans can’t chill out for a few centuries and see if their creator is going to get back to them. They have deadlines in their lives that force them into more rash action. Humans might want to step back and have faith, but for them maintaining estel across a 200 years requires the cooperation of multiple generations. Thus their sieges are quicker, their plots fall apart more quickly, and their “devotions” as defined by elven aesthetics seem less real.  

Another part of it is probably general cultural awareness of Tolkien’s thinly veiled Catholic pastiche himself. Most elves are only a dozen or so generations removed from spontaneously being generated by their creator. A lot of them are on first name terms with at least one lesser god. They have zero doubts that Eru exists. It’s just a matter of trusting that he’s going to come help them. Meanwhile humans, especially in later ages, are very far removed from divine intervention. To trust in Eru’s plan, they first have to establish that he exists- a hurdle elves don’t have to deal with. 

(I’ve spoken before about how the Noldor and certain other elves also fail to live up to the platonic ideal of estel, by jumping to action instead of waiting to a higher power to move first, by being flighty and demanding of their gods. For the next few paragraphs just mentally position the Noldor between the humans and the Vanyar in this spectrum of Letting Eru Do His Thing.)

First, let’s look at acts by humans that do fit the mold of classic-estel, or, as we’ll be calling it Chill Estel. The first is obviously the preservation of the Dunedain and the fostering of Aragorn. Boy was literally named Estel. His upbringing, however, was the result of generations of secret keeping and significant elven intervention. Without Elrond helping the family keep together and maintain the spirit to persevere, it’s unclear if they would have been able to hide the Heir of Isildur for so long. 

The second demonstration of Chill Estel is probably the preservation of the Faith of Numenor by the Faithful. This is a similar process of quiet resistance and preservation. The Faithful rarely sought outright conflict, but instead retreated, hid, kept their old ways, and ultimately managed to save themselves through the slow collapse of their civilization. Once more, there is an association with elvendom- both as friends and as ancestors, since many of the Faithful were some small fraction elf. Once more we see this long con approach to surviving Arda associated with elves. 

But, a scholar will note that quiet and studious retreat and rebuilding weren’t all the Faithful did. There was one incident that I think really epitomizes an alternate, more immediate way of exhibiting faith. Let’s talk about the Heist of Isildur. 

Isildur, being a dumb young man and knowing a beautiful marker of his culture was about to be destroyed, went out to steal a fruit from the White Tree. He had no certainty of success, or of survival. He did, in fact, nearly die. But he did it anyway, alone and fearless, without a word. This, is, I think, a perfect example of No Chill Estel. A dumb stunt pulled because it feels right, trusting only in some higher power/the fundamental goodness of the universe to pull you out a horrible situation. 

Fingon going to get Maedhros was No Chill Estel. Aragorn leading Gondor and it’s allies in an assault on Mordor to maybe give Frodo time to destroy the Ring was No Chill Estel. Every single thing Beren and Luthien did for most of their lives was No Chill Estel. 

No Chill Estel is differentiated from Chill Estel through action. Whereas Chill Estel kind of prides itself on stepping back and waiting for someone else to make the first move, No Chill Estel makes a move and hopes someone else will make a better one. 

It’s easy to see how the elves could mistake No Chill Estel as a lack of faith, coming from their background of patience and caution. However the leap of faith is, as it were, the ultimate act of trust. It’s saying, “Hey, I know this universe is pretty broken and full of some evil things, but I think that just this once, against all odds, it can be good. And that’s why I’m going to ride my bike off this bridge #YOLO”

The leap of faith as an act is especially potent given how little time humans have relative to elves. As mentioned previously, they can’t afford to wait. They don’t know what’s happening or what’s going to happen when they die. All they know is that right now things need to be better and the first step in that is for someone to do something. 

I think perhaps the most poignant example of Chill Estel and No Chill Estel teaming up is Elwing and Earendil’s plea to the Valar. Because the Valar have been waiting. They’ve been practicing their estel, abiding and surviving and building their forces, hoping someone gives them the tools to fix this big mess.  Meanwhile Elwing and Earendil- who are at that point mortal- are being placed under these huge pressures. Their world is terrible and cracking. There’s nowhere for them to go. So they take a leap of faith- in Elwing’s case, literally. They leave their homes and family to cross the sea even though there’s a big curse on anyone who does that. They take action. And ultimately that action is what the Valar need to take action, and so both party’s wishes are fulfilled. Good triumphs, and so forth. 

And it happens because Elwing and Earendil were willing to make that first step- break the faith by having faith and say, “no more waiting around for the Valar, let’s go get them ourselves”. 

Look, ultimately humans and elves are in very different metaphysical places in Tolkien’s work. But they both exhibit this huge faith in the innate goodness of the world (and by extension Eru, I guess, thanks for tricking me into religion, John Ronald). They do have estel, despite Finrod and Andreth’s claims to the contrary. The difference is that elves are metaphorically locked in a dark closet whereas humans are backed up against a cliff. For elves faith means waiting around for someone to let them out. For humans it means jumping down and hoping someone is waiting at the bottom with a trampoline. 

[daywillcomeagain]

25, 42, 48 for the fic ask?

25) Have you ever cried whilst writing a story?nope!

42) Song fic - What made you decide to use the song xxx for xxx.this one’s tough, because i use poetry for a lot of my fic--i could talk for ages about how ridiculously proud i am of ‘melt, thaw, resolve’ or ‘in the indigos of darkness’ as titles--but, at the cost of revealing my INCREDIBLY BASIC taste in music, i’m going to talk about goddamn right you should be scared, which is from control by halsey.it’s a fic about maedhros’ relationship with elrond & elros, and the chorus of the song it’s from is “and all the kids cry out ‘please stop, you’re scaring me’/i can’t help this awful energy/goddamn right you should be scared of me/who is in control?” which i think is--really awful and vivid and cuts to the heart of this fic. maedhros is scaring the kids and he is going “i massacred your city due to my oath, being scared of me is correct and logical actually” but with like 5000x more depressing crazy than that, which is--very fitting for what the song is about (halsey wrote it about being bipolar).

48) What’s your favourite trope to write?angst angst ANGST. i love whump and hurt-no-comfort and just--chilling, awful, miserable, tragic endings.

[lordnelson100]

Pick Three Fandoms Questions

Tagged by @lord-of-aglarond

Heh, I ike all your choices LOA, I will have to think about how to differentiate.

Pick three fandoms and answer the questions:

Okay, so for fandoms I will choose Tolkienverse, Harry Potter and Marvel Universe (the whole shebang: comics, films & TV)

The first character you loved:

Boromir, oddly enough

Hermione

The Beast/Hank McCoy (I know, another weird one: but he was bookish and witty and a big blue monster)

The character you never expected to love so much:

Gimli 

Post-war Draco, entirely a fan-invention

Logan

The character you relate to the most:

Thorin Oakenshild. No seriously. He tried so hard to make the best of a bad hand. Had he not tried, everything would have gone to shit. But he screwed up along the way, and is remembered by some more for that than for the huge good things he set off, which he didn't live to see. Wait, I have to go cry now.

Dumbledore, maybe? Again, some people hate him for the last volume revelations. I think they made sense of so much: why he takes the position he does about Snape and Draco: he, too, made a horrible choice to involve himself with a hateful ideology when young. He sees that you have to keep compassion for people who've done bad things and even ally with them, if you want to prevent the worst from winning.

Luke Cage. He's got such a brilliant, compassionate chill and empathy. He uses his strength on others’ behalf when he needs to, protectively, but with none of that soliatry bullshit Punisher/Batman "I alone" rhetoric. He's a vigilante for his community, not against it.

The character you’d slap:

Denethor (it would be Saruman but @lord-of-aglarond has it covered)

Young Tom Riddle: that's for Hagrid, you POS

I think I'm sort of a sap, I don't want to slap any of the Avengers or the Defenders, even the annoying ones like Danny Rand (come on, he's a privileged rich kid but his collective crush on his more saavy peers is adorable, and he feeds them good food). And the X-Men have enough troubles. And Magneto and Loki are somewhat sympathetic, and many of the other villains have too little character to resent . . . Oh, I know! Scott Summers/Cyclops. In any incarnation.

Three favorite characters (not in order of preference because I can’t pick a favorite kid character):

Gimli, Legolas, Aragorn, Elrond, Thranduil, Maedhros, Nerdanel oh wait I can’t stop

Harry Potter, Hermione, Draco, Snape, Dumbledore (preference is a really weird thing for me in HP fandom. It doesn't mean "support" or "excuse," it means I’m interested)

Logan/Wolverine, Steve Rogers/Captain America, Luke Cage

A character you liked at first but don’t anymore:

Turin. Actually I didn't really like him in early readings, but I was neutral. As time goes on, no amount of sexy Beleg/Turin fanart can rescue him since you know, he ruined everybody's life

James Potter. Sirius I end up forgiving for his attempt to keep it together after unbearable suffering, but I have a peculiar dislike for campus hero who loved his own wife and child but was an unrepentant bully to others and not very nice to his own friends (seriously, setting Lupin up to maul a classmate?)

Magneto: cool motive, still murder, as the saying goes. Fighting racism/genocide by advocating same?

A character you did not like at first but now do:

Unpopular opinion: I had to grow to love Sam Gamgee. As a kid myself, I found him too--subservient? All that "Coming, Mr. Frodo, sir!" irked me. It took a lifetime to appreciate his particular sort of devotion and ego-less strength.

Severus Snape: agreeing to be the one that people will blame and hate; doing something good without anyone knowing about it, with the consciousness that it may not work . . .

Tony Stark/Iron Man. As a kid comic book reader, he didn't interest me; none of the billionaire inventor CEO type characters did. But damn if RDJ hasn't made me like him, even when he's punching my beloved Cap.

Three otps:

Gimli/Legolas (although I love Aragorn/Arwen and Faramir/Eowyn, too)

Post-war Harry/Draco

Cap/Bucky

Three nonromantic relationships per fandom:

Aragorn and Gandalf, Merry and King Theoden, Boromir and Faramir (moi aussi)

Harry and Sirius, Harry and Hermione, Neville and self-confidence

Logan and Laura Kinney/X-23, Steve Rogers/Captain America and Sam Wilson/Falcon, Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes and Mariah Dillard and Shades (it's a threeway)

That was fun! Did it set your thoughts going! @ tag, you’re it!

[vardasvapors]

meme replies

actualmermaid replied to your post:                gurguliare replied to your post:                 ...                

   3rd age thuringwethil just chilling in mirkwood, eating spiders and minding her own business    

“Why is everyone making so much damn noise over there. Who’s singing that horrible song anyway. What’s an Attercop. Ugghhh.”

hirilelfwraith replied to your post:                thoughts on thuringwethil?? ik you didn't list "a...                

   I’m imagining sauron lying with his head in her lap getting drunk and going on long weepy monologues while she absently pets his hair and ignores him 

“But I don’t know, I really like the world you know...? I don’t wanna destroy the world, but idk I‘m right, right? it would be worse for the world if I got locked up for ages, right? But that’s what the Boss said and I can’t believe he totally just fucked everything up like that I still feel so betrayed, how could this happen to me, I made my mistakes--”

“Mm hm, Mm hm”

yavieriel replied to your post:               crocordile replied to your post:                ...                

   Edgy Teleri teenagers writing Maedhros/Maglor incest as like, a ~statement~.  They scoff at how shallow and naive all the Tuor/Idril and Luthien/Beren shippers are and how cliche and boring het romance is.   There are arguments over whether Turin/Nienor or Turin/Beleg is more transgressive (= better).  (Now I have to invent Telerin Goth fashion don’t I.  It probably involves, like, shark teeth and fishnets.)    

LITERAL FISHNETS YES

crocordile replied to your post:                  crocordile replied to your post:              ...                

   Just headcanon tbh, since these children are mixed noldor and teleri and we have Finrod be very Noldor, and Galadriel have her identity issues, I like the idea of one of the kids feeling more connected to the other side :) A friend suggested that might also be why Angrod gets sent as an emissary to Thingol in the first place when a diplomatic beast like Finrod would prolly be better hahahaha maybe he just had the Teleri face and Teleri vibe?    

Yeah that makes a lot of sense! And I definitely really like variety among mixed siblings <3

valaraukars replied to your post:                   thoughts on thuringwethil?? ik you didn't list "a...                

   This is an excellent post btw 10/10   

   Why was I not tagged in this post, am I not being obnoxious enough with my thuringwethil stanning    

I will keep this in mind next time!! :D

thelioninmybed replied to your post:                    thoughts on thuringwethil?? ik you didn't list "a...                

      "retires from being actively evil without redeeming herself or learning anything" <3 <3 <3              

Lol prob one of those things Sauron absolutely cannot fathom. “But

simaethae replied to your post:                    thoughts on thuringwethil?? ik you didn't list "a...                

   i love this so much omg <3333                

I’M GLAD YOU APPROVE

Sauron & Thuringwethil’s really stupid non-excellent adventure, new fic

valaraukars replied to your post:              gurguliare replied to your post:                 ...                

   I love all the comments on these posts too    

YOU GUYS ARE GREAT

[armenelols]

How about Maglor?

Thank you! ❤

OTP for them: I don't think I have one? He is canonically married tho and I can imagine some interesting dynamics with him and his wife. But in all honestly, Daeron/Maglor is probably my favorite ship with him

BROTP for them: Maedhros (for obvious reasons) and Finrod (seriously, dude's everyone's favorite person. Also, possible music rivalry). The three of them often went hunting together, so why not :D

Other ships: none, I generally don't tend think about him in romantic terms

What kind of fic I'd write about them: younger Maglor who is a snob. Like, a really big snob. Mostly about his musical abilities. And then a time jump to much older Maglor, either in the 21st century or chilling back in Valinor, who is looking back at the old times and longing for the innocent youth? Idk. He would still kick ass with his voice, even more so than before, and he would be confident in his abilities, but he wouldn't be such a snob about it anymore and see music very differently than he did when he was younger.

A favorite canon moment: the very end of his story, with the silmaril and Maedhros's death and him wandering the shores forever since. It's so tragic and poetic, I love it

Color that reminds me of them: cold dark colours, with a bit of red

Song that reminds me of them: Sweet Home Alabama. No kidding. I have this idea of Finrod and Maglor just vibing to it while everyone around thinks they are crazy and weird.

A headcanon about them: as I am mentioned above, young Maglor was a snob. Also, I have a vivid image of him battling with songs during Nirnaeth Arnoediad, with fury radiating from him wildly in all directions.

A random AU I think up on the spot for them: modern Maglor sneaks into some school to mess up with teachers. The History teacher had been corrected about a thousand times, the music teacher resigned after Maglor played Fat Lady from HP and broke a window with his voice during a lesson...

A daily remember I am bad at AUs

Anything else: we stan our beloved sad beach cryptid