#Sauron is a villain sorry guys

[lunamond]

The whole "Is Sauron redeemable?" discussion is also quite often missing the most important factor, which is the question "Is Sauron making any effort to redeem himself?"

The answer to this is clearly no.

(Making sad puppy dog eyes at Galadriel under in the guise of Halbrand, or talking with Eonwe just to run away at the slightest sense of adversity don't count, btw)

Saying he wants to heal ME doesn't count when he is simultaneously actively destroying parts of ME. His idea of fixing his past wrongs is to try to install himself as the Godking of all ME, which is quite literally the opposite of redemption for him.

So, while discussing if Sauron is redeemable on a purely hypothetical level is fine (the answer is obvs yes this Tolkien after all). In the actual canon of either the legendarium or Rop Sauron is absolutely an irredeemable villain. Not because he is fundamentally evil but because he willfully and consciously chooses to continue doing evil shit.

Also, whoever is bringing up the last Ringbearer in this argument is absolutely hilarious. Since when are we using fanfic to analyse the morality of a character in the canon story.

Starting to see something more and more in other fandoms but it’s also brewing within Sauron fandom which is I don’t get villianfuckers who are deluded or in denial about the fact their fav is a villain.

Then woobify them to the gods until they resemble very closely of the “good” ML they hate lowkey which is funny.

Your fav did some pretty heinous fucking shit and should be either dead or punished severely for it and that’s what I advocate for in my villain favs cause I ain’t a PUSSY

Sauron is a villain. The reason we like him is because he’s a villain. He chooses villainy when he’s given many chances not to. I genuinely don’t get the urge of wanting to redeem him. Yes he’s complex with a lot of feelings and nuance but he doesn’t want to be redeemed. He’s not an ambiguous anti villain by the time we are in Second Age/Third Age. He’s not Adar

The serious woobification (not the semi-joking kind) needs to stop and frankly it’s lowkey insulting.

[dinsbeskar]

And In The Darkness Bind Them (Sauron/F!Reader)

A series of vignettes (smutty and angsty) chronicling S2 Rings of Power

Sequel to Homecoming // AO3 Link

Soundtrack: Beautiful Things by Benson Boone, Replay by Lady Gaga, Hands of Gold by Peter Hollens (kudos to @missjadesfics for this one)

Warnings: 18+ only!! Little bit of fluff, mostly smut and angst! Sometimes together!! P in V sex, oral (female receiving), fingering, possessiveness/toxic relationship, overstimulation, public sex/exhibitionism, dom!Sauron (I know smh, what am I doing??), carry-fucking (y'all I am cooking here, like he is basically a god so no matter how light or heavy you are, he can definitely pick you up and fuck you stupid okay), cumplay (idk how to describe it any other way), praise/condescending/degradation (it's a wild ride lmao), so much angst, very (!!) dubious consent towards the end (sorry, Sauron really leaning into his villain era now)

A/N: Reader is mad in love with our boy in this one but uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh well good luck guys idk

rather than a bunch of actual chapters, I've written a few vignettes for S2 Rings of Power (maybe I'll go back and expand on them later), starting near the start where Sauron is more Annatar, finishing at the end where he is ... very much himself. Some of the smut gets very dark, please take note of the tags!!

Word Count: 7.8k!! Wildly out of hand

The morning after Annatar climbs into your bed, you are momentarily confused to see long golden hair on the pillow next to you. Then you remember that Halbrand is no more.

“Good morning, love.” He props himself up on one arm, disentangling himself from your embrace.

You cannot help but stare at him a moment; this ethereal creature in front of you cannot be yours.

“Is it really you?” You ask him, eyes sparkling and fingers trailing over his high cheekbones, his broad firm chest, his sculpted lips.

“Always, darling.” He pulls you close, kissing your forehead.

He always smells the same, like salt and iron, smoke and musk. If your souls were to no longer recognise each other, you swear you could follow your nose to find him.

“You left so suddenly, I didn’t get to say goodbye.” You murmur into his chest, fingers entwined in his golden hair.

“I’m sorry, love, circumstances arose, I had matters to take care of, but I’m here now.”

He had set his plans in motion in Mordor, and waited for Galadriel to leave Eregion. He had a feeling that she would have told no-one there who he really was, her ego bruised and pride bleeding. He only had to wait for you to let him in. And with a little pleading, you had managed to convince Celebrimbor to open his gates.

“We should talk, properly, about what happened, the last time we saw each other. At Forodwaith.” You stutter and trip over your words, nervous to bring up the subject, but it has weighed heavily on your mind.

He sighs, running his fingers up and down your arm, unhurried and unphased.

Of course you had been angry with him when you’d found out about his plans to become Morgoth’s successor, and you stood by that anger. But knowing you had left him to die, to mourn the loss of your husband for centuries, your mind screamed at you to make it right, whatever you had to say.

“Some of the things I said were…unkind-”

“Cruel.” He interjects with a smirk; you purse your lips playfully and continue.

“But so were your deeds, and I have forgiven you. Mostly. So perhaps you should do me the same courtesy,” you twirl a strand of his hair around your finger as you prop yourself up to search his gaze, “since we are… what are we again? Oh yes…”

You lean in and whisper in his ear, “Bound in flesh and soul.”

His smile this time is dangerous, threatening, promising.

“And to think, if I were not so ravenous in my lust for you-” he grasps your wrists, pins them to the headboard with one hand and wraps his other arm around you, nose in your hair as he breathes in deeply.

“-I might have spared myself this torment.” He grins into your neck as you try to catch his lips with yours. “Not that I would have it any other way.”

He bends his neck and kisses you softly, releasing you just enough to throw your arms around his neck, through his silky golden hair, pulling him closer.

The dread that had dogged you for centuries is gone. There is no such thing as chance, and he is sure that you were supposed to leave him, whatever the reason, to save you from the same evil fate he suffered. After a millennium as primordial ooze, he can’t bring himself to care, only grateful to have you in his arms again.

~

Celebrimbor had been rather taken aback when Annatar had walked into his forge with you on his arm. You had been a close friend for many years, having visited his city many times, even reinforced the defences with the ancient magic you’d learned from your lost kin. He knew you were married but had never met your lord husband; no one could have guessed he was an emissary of the Valar.

Indeed you were surprised by his cover story too, but dismissed it as your husband wanting to make the best impression as you introduced him to the world.

“Do they really need to know?” He had asked you one night, holding you close as the rest of the world slept.

“What do you mean, love? Oh, that you’re mine? Yes, absolutely, they must. If I don’t stake my claim now, all of Eregion’s eligible maidens will be vying for your hand, and I cannot possibly entertain a rival for your affections.” Your tone is light, your words spoken in jest, but he sees in you the same dark possessive streak that runs so deeply within him, and his heart can’t help but reach out for yours, dark tendrils of his power wrapping around you.

“How could I look at another soul the way I look at you? You are the other half of me, the reason my heart still beats. No one compares to my wife, and I would reduce anyone who argued otherwise to dust.”

You laugh a little, burying your face in his side, but he needs you to know just how serious he is, cupping and lifting your chin to hold your gaze.

“My love, if the sun were too bright or the moon offensive to your eyes or the stars were to outshine your radiance, I would tear it all down for you. Everything I do is for the love of you.” He means it, in his own way, and you know it, a thrill shooting through you, ending in butterflies in the pit of your stomach.

It amazes you that even after the eons you’ve loved each other, you still feel the same flutters of excitement you did when you first set eyes on him in that golden glade, millenia ago.

The trials you have endured only sweeten the moments of contentment, making you all the more grateful to hold each other.

~

He has a job to do, a forge to supervise, and rings to create. But with you in his arms and a gentle breeze cooling you both in the burgeoning warmth of spring, he could be persuaded to stay abed a little longer.

“Stay with me today.” You murmur into his chest, unwilling to let him go.

It’s as if you could hear his thoughts as he could hear yours.

He chuckles fondly, stroking your hair, considering the vaguest possibility of letting Celebrimbor work unattended for today. Surely one day couldn’t hurt?

“I have to oversee the rings, my love, their progress is precious in every sense of the word,” he says as he traces your arm, rubbing slow circles into your skin with his thumb.

You grumble with indignation, nestling closer to his side as if to keep him there with the sheer magnetism of your presence. He squeezes your arm softly before resting his chin on the top of your head.

“One day with my husband. Is that too much to ask?” Your tone is still a little petulant, but he can’t help but smile fondly at your yearning for him; after all, it is returned a hundredfold.

“Your husband is an emissary of the Valar, he has… important duties, what are you doing?”

You give him a mischievous smile, running your foot up and down his leg, hand reaching between his thighs.

“I am simply showing my husband what he is missing when he attends to these important duties, more important than keeping his wife satisfied, apparently.” Your smile grows wider as his eyes grow dark, pupils blowing wide as your hand finds its prize, his cock already half hard simply from lying next to you all morning, breathing you in.

“Are you implying I do not keep you satisfied, my lady? Oh, that simply will not do…” he growls, rolling you over and caging you beneath his iron frame.

You look up at him through your lashes, your breath hitching as arousal pools in your core and drips down your thighs.

The dark glint in his eye only intensifies as he catches the scent of you, needy for his touch, as he dips his fingers between your thighs, delicately tracing your entrance as you shiver beneath him.

His hard length juts against your hip as he greedily swallows your moans, not sated until he has wrung every note of pleasure from you. His tongue doesn’t need to fight for dominance in your mouth; he already has it, and you let him take whatever he needs from you.

His thrusts are lazy, languid, now that his plans for the day no longer involve leaving your bed, meaning to take his sweet time with you.

His index and middle fingers circle your entrance, dipping in and out, thrusting deeper each time until he is knuckle-deep inside you. He hooks his fingers in a come hither motion, watching your face soften through hooded eyes as he strokes the sweetest spot inside you. Your body shakes under his ministrations as you clench around his fingers, seemingly unwilling to let him part from you in any way, shape, or form.

He kisses the tip of your nose before drawing back to take you in, spread out underneath him, hair across the pillow, lips parted and panting, eyes glassy with pleasure. He’d never tire of this sight.

When he first saw you, Sauron never thought he would end up here, with you so willingly his. His to hold close and torment with his loving words, torture with his lingering touch, to soothe with the lies that drip so easily from his tongue.

He covets you even when he has you pressed to him skin to skin, craves you even when he can’t breathe for his tongue inside you, wants to wrap himself around you when he can feel your soul entwined with his.

You are his, and today of all days, it is overwhelming him completely.

“So good for me, opening under my touch, I know what you need, darling, I have you, just let go.” He murmurs in your ear, aching for your release as much as his own; after all, they are the same thing.

He lowers himself to press his body against yours, needing to feel every inch of you against him, cunt clenching around his fingers as you give him your pleasure. You whine and pant against his neck as he refuses to give you a moment’s respite, stroking your inner walls, grinding his palm against your clit.

You shake through your orgasm, riding out your high on his fingers which relentlessly wring out every drop of pleasure from your body, until you’re breathless, pleasantly warm and tingly all over, and totally exhausted.

“So beautiful, my darling wife, wrung out and ruined for me. Is there a single thought in that pretty mind?” He can’t help but gaze at you fondly, slicked with sweat and writhing under his fingers.

Until this moment, he has had no thought of his own pleasure. Now he feels his cock ache to be inside you, and he rolls his hips against yours, sliding his cock between your thighs and rutting against your soft skin, his precum and your wetness soaking your thighs, easing his way. With every roll of his hips his cock grinds against your clit, rubbing against your lips, making you want him inside you where he belongs.

He throws his head back with a gasp, his golden hair falling over his shoulder, as the morning sun illuminates him from behind. You wonder, how could this ethereal being be yours? Giving into his carnal desires and binding himself to a mortal form for the love of you. It is too much to ponder, and you pull him down to your lips, desperate to taste him once more.

As you pull him down, he adjusts himself, teasing you with the promise of filling you up. He chuckles in your ear when you moan at the feeling of him thrusting deep inside you, his bare skin sliding against yours, as he makes himself at home between your thighs.

He slides his hand between you, his index and middle fingers parted to frame your clit as he rubs your cunt, occasionally tracing the swollen nub that begs for his attention. The whimpers that escape your lips only urge him to tease you further, forcing you to arch into his touch, chasing any semblance of release.

Your hips ache as you thrust to meet his hand, fighting the rolling of his hips as he takes what he wants from you. His cock driving into your wet heat, his hand between you teasing and caressing your clit, his forehead against yours as he holds himself over you with his free hand.

Before long, he feels his orgasm approach, too soon, but perhaps not for you, as you beg him to let you come, and how could he deny you when you plead so sweetly?

Not that he could ever deny any request made from your lips.

He pulls you close, torso to torso, and kisses you hard, a hungry clash of lips and tongues and teeth that leaves you both breathless, greedily swallowing your moans as if they were all he needed to survive.

It feels like a revelation every time, and this occasion is no different. When you both finally come down from the pleasurable peak he'd dragged you to, you still feel like you're floating, clinging to him just to stay grounded.

As you both lie there in your cozy bed, panting and nestling close, his large frame fitting around you so completely, he smoothes back flyaway tendrils of your hair from your face and regards you with a strange look, something akin to fondness but more hungry, more desperate, more obsessive.

As your breathing slows and you return to the mortal plain, you look up at him and smile.

“So. About today. I could show you the city? You haven’t seen beyond the forge, my love, and while it is no Gondolin, it has its charms, we’ve built something beautiful here. I want you to see it.” Your eyes sparkle at the idea of showing Sauron around your city, and he cannot help but give in, even as he wants to stay here with you as long as possible.

“Then I must let our friend know he shall have to do the work of the Valar himself today.” He chuckles, brushing his nose against yours.

~

Hand in hand with your husband, you cannot help but feel at peace as you stroll through the streets of Eregion.

Musicians fill the air with song, lively market stalls line the streets, and children run and play amongst the revellers.

Your fellow Elves are still a little in awe of him, the crowds parting as you make your way through the city.

“Do you never tire of this?” You ask, a blush creeping up your neck, gesturing at the people nodding and bowing and staring as he walks past with you.

His derisive snort should tell you everything you need to know as he smirks, casting a glance at you, squeezing your hand to soothe your discomfort. You were so used to serving the people of Eregion, that this sudden change in treatment was unsettling. You appreciated thanks for your work, but anything beyond that was too much; this nigh-worship was almost unbearable.

Sauron, however, was flourishing.

“It is what we deserve, my love, to be revered. We are more than them, after all.” He has always enjoyed your attentions, your worship, but he cannot deny that this satisfies his need to rule in a way that your love alone cannot touch.

“You might be, love, but I am merely one of them. So it feels strange…” You trail off as you regard him closely, noticing just how at ease he seems to be.

“Let’s go back.” You fight the growing dread in the pit of your stomach, wishing that you had just stayed in bed with him instead.

“Are you quite alright, love?” He turns to you, searching your gaze, only now noticing your concern.

“Yes, fine, darling, I just,” you search for an excuse, any excuse, “I’m just tired. Perhaps a lie down will do the trick, if you would join me?”

A flicker of irritation crosses his face; he might as well have gone to the forge today, if you were going to cut short your trip into the city.

“I might see how Lord Celebrimbor is coming along with the rings, and let you rest.” He gives you a smile but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes, and your stomach flips.

“Of course, love, I’ll see you later then.”

He presses a kiss to your knuckles before disappearing into the crowd, a strange sense of trepidation filling you as he leaves.

You know him well enough, unfortunately, that you can immediately sense when he is up to something; an itching in the back of your mind and a dull ache in your heart. Nefarious or not, you have to know what it is.

~

You peer through the door, ajar enough to see your husband in his leather apron sitting at Celebrimbor’s work bench, the forge otherwise empty. He is hard at work, his back to the door, and you can't tell what is consuming all of his attention. Most of his attention.

"Love, why do you linger at the door?" He asks, raising his head and smirking, before turning and leaning with an arm over the back of the chair, beckoning you to him.

You smile hesitantly, fingers fidgeting with the sleeve of your dress as you open the door and cross the room.

He pats his thigh, taking your hand and guiding you to sit in his lap as you wrap your arms around his neck. Leaning forward to nuzzle his nose in your neck, he soaks you up, breathing in your scent and relishing the feeling of you so close. Your anxiety melts, the knots in your stomach untying themselves.

"Are you feeling better, love?" He murmurs, breaking the comfortable silence.

"Yes, much." It is not a lie; simply being with him in his natural habitat soothes your nerves.

He hums in acknowledgement, nose still at your throat, the deep vibration rippling through you.

"I hate to worry about you, darling," he remarks as he brushes his fingers through your hair.

"You'll never have to." You reply softly, drawing back to meet his gaze, so intense, so focused on taking you in.

He smiles wide, his eyes creasing just how you love, a genuine expression that has become more and more rare as his stay in Eregion has gone on. It warms your heart and makes you reach for him once more, planting your lips on his, Sauron making an undignified "hmph" in surprised response.

He could stay there forever in your arms, kissing you softly and languidly, letting himself melt into you. But the reason for his visit to the forge today sits on the bench behind you both, and he cannot forget it.

"I have a gift for you." He pulls away to reach for something on the bench behind you.

“A gift, my love? You are gift enough, I need nothing from you.” You laugh, heat flushing your cheeks as your husband takes your hand.

“How can I call myself the Lord of Gifts if I cannot even gift my wife a small trinket for her devotion?” He teases you fondly, his broad smile reaching his eyes, making them crinkle at the corners in the way that makes you want to kiss every crease and wrinkle from his face just to make them multiply a hundredfold.

“Close your eyes, love,” he tells you, still holding your hand with his other hand behind his back.

You do so with a dramatic sigh, grinning and rolling your eyes.

You feel him slip something cool and smooth onto your finger, and you feel a rush of his power through you that you have not felt in such a long time. You can feel it course through your veins, the towering inferno that is your husband’s will, his might and determination in one tiny object.

“Open.” He commands you, his excitement unmistakable.

A slim golden band graces your finger, radiating your husband’s power. There is something about it, something that makes you never want to take it off.

“Do you like it? Say something,” he laughs nervously, eager to hear your thoughts.

“It is… quite something, my love. Beautiful.” You can’t stop staring at it, the plain golden ring catching the light and throwing off an inner radiance that captivates you.

His face lights up, a wide smile brightening his handsome features as he takes your hand in his once more.

“I wanted to forge us something worthy of our bond. Something to strengthen us, to fortify what we have. To bind us together.” He looks into your eyes hopefully, yearning for the eternal life together that you’ve been denied thus far.

“It is… precious, my love. And if it works, you shall never be rid of me.” You clasp his hand in yours, resting your forehead on his, breathing him in.

“I shall forge one of my own, but yours was more pressing. They shall be a pair when I am done.”

You cannot help but smile fondly at him; thinking of you before himself.

“Thank you, love, I shall never take it off.”

You raise your hand to admire his handiwork, always in such awe of his talents, and notice him eyeing you hungrily.

"Are you quite alright, darling?" You tease him, as he leans over you, a large hand tracing your neck, pushing your hair back over your shoulder.

“I need you,” he murmurs, kissing your neck as he presses you against Celebrimbor’s workbench.

“Not here, love, let’s go home,” you try to push him off, laughing but the thought of being discovered like this in the forge, where anyone could find you, sends a shiver down your spine and your stomach unexpectedly flutters.

“No. Right here.” He runs his hands over your curves, ravenous for what only you can provide him. “Right now. I have to have you.”

He rucks up your skirts, lifting you by your hips onto the bench behind you, baring you to his lustful gaze, and to anyone else who could walk in.

“Is the door locked at least?” You ask him, your stomach still tying itself in knots.

“Of course, love, do you think I want anyone bearing witness to the mere sight of you like this? You are mine, and mine alone.” He growls, deep in his chest, as he grips your thighs, digging into the soft flesh with his fingernails, leaving red crescent marks to mark you as his.

He can’t resist the sight of your wet cunt, has to taste you, flexing his tongue to delve into your entrance as he plays with your swollen clit. He pulls you closer, throwing your legs over his shoulders, gripping your ass to keep your cunt against his face.

You can’t help but roll your hips, begging him for more, riding his face, taking full advantage of the fact that with his regained strength, Sauron doesn’t actually need to breathe.

His iron grip keeps you pinned against him as you arch your back and moan breathily for anyone who might be passing to hear.

He senses your orgasm approaching, and thrusts two long deft fingers inside your cunt, stroking your walls as he laps at your clit. Your body quakes as you give yourself to him, your peak crashing over you with no respite, Sauron drawing every ounce of pleasure he can from your aching cunt with a delicious gleam in his eye.

Finally he gives you some kind of reprieve, drawing back to admire his handiwork.

He wipes his chin with the back of his hand, smirking as he pulls himself up to meet your lips. You can taste yourself on him as he kisses you hard, teeth dragging on your bottom lip, hands kneading greedily at your thighs.

"Are you ready for me, love? Always ready for me, aren't you, always so good..." he gasps in your ear as he slams his cock inside you in one solid thrust, rolling his hips and relishing in the feeling of you, tight and hot around him.

He thinks he hears footsteps on the stairs. He slows his pace just a fraction to listen, not that you seem to notice.

The door swings open a little, but whoever it is does not immediately enter, startled by the noises coming from inside the forge.

Thankfully your back is to the door, and one glare from Sauron sends the smith at the door running back down the stairs, leaving the door ajar. He rolls his eyes and smirks against your lips, crashing his lips into yours with renewed vigour, bucking his hips and slamming his cock deep inside you.

The thought of the world having borne witness to the love you share, it sends him wild and obliterates any sane thought from his mind, the only notion in his head to ravage you senseless.

"So good for me, such a good girl," he murmurs as he takes you in your exhausted glory, your limbs shaking and your cunt quivering.

He leans down to take your nipple in his mouth, mouthing at your tender flesh before nipping with his sharp teeth, a loud moan escaping your throat.

Working his way up to your neck, he lavishes your bare skin with his tongue, sucking hard on the sensitive skin of your throat, making sure to leave a bruise no one will miss.

You whimper as he slips his cock from inside you, marvelling at the state of you, dripping with his cum.

"Always so appreciative, aren't you darling? Always so giving, so grateful to receive whatever I give you. And you've given me everything-"

He picks you up, your arms clinging to his neck as you instinctively wrap your legs around his hips.

"-but you can give me so much more."

He slams his cock inside you again, letting gravity do its work as you're stretched to your limit, moaning as he angles his hips just right so you see stars on every thrust.

"Oh, darling, is that too much?" He mocks you fondly before swallowing your whines, stealing the breath from your lungs in his need, no, greed for you.

With you balanced in his large hands, his muscles flexing with every thrust, he bounces you on his cock like you weigh nothing, as if you were merely a plaything for him to use and spoil and defile. His, and his alone.

He can't get enough of you, of the sight of you ruined and writhing at his touch, desperate for more even as he wrings another orgasm from your overstimulated cunt.

His own peak crashes into him like a wave on the shore, pulsing inside you as your walls clench around him.

"I love you, I love you, love you, love you..." he gasps over and over into your neck, shuddering against you as he leans you back against Celebrimbor’s work bench.

You can do nothing but kiss him, words beyond you, your tongue capable of nothing but kissing your husband.

"So good for me, beautiful girl, so good..." he murmurs softly into your neck as his cock twitches inside you, his seed dripping down your inner thighs.

When your legs stop shaking, he lets you stand, still leaning on him. He combs through your hair with his fingers, tucking it behind your ears. Then he glances down at the mess he's left between your legs and smirks.

"Leave it."

You raise an eyebrow at him, already reaching to clean yourself up before you leave the forge.

"I'll be home soon. I'll do it myself."

You finally realise what he's saying and squirm at the idea of trying to walk home in the state you're in. Defiled in all the ways that count. But the glint in his eye warns you not to argue.

True to his word, he arrives home not long after you, so you don't wait too long for his tongue to clean up the mess he made.

~

There are warning signs. You missed most, if not all of them. Or wilfully ignored them.

But when the siege horns blare, in your heart of hearts, you know it is Sauron’s doing.

The first place you think to find him is the forge, but instead you find Celebrimbor hunched over his bench, painstakingly at work.

"My lord? Do you not hear the horns? We need to leave!" You try to take his arm to hoist him to his feet, but he shudders and throws you off.

He catches you off balance and you stumble, throwing an arm out to steady yourself.

To your surprise, a large warm hand takes yours and keeps you upright.

"I told you not to come here, love." Sauron remarks, his tone eerily neutral, as if you haven't just stumbled into a nightmare.

"I was... I was looking for you." You mutter, still watching Celebrimbor, concerned for his state of mind as he rambles about mice and candles.

"I told you to stay at home where you'd be safe. Was that simple instruction so beyond you?"

Your head snaps toward him as the sharp knife of his words pierces you between the ribs.

A flurry of questions and indignant remarks fills your head but you merely stare at him, mouth agape, as he disregards you, stepping to the bench to inspect his precious rings.

"How much longer?" His impatience has always been dangerous, but it is in this moment you realise just how so.

"Soon... just the final touches, they are nearly complete." Celebrimbor flinches as Sauron places the ring back on the bench and takes his shoulder in hand.

"Do you hear that? I kept the storm at bay but you chose to peel back the curtain. Your city is falling, but the sooner you deliver the rings, the more of your city you save. Do not fail them."

He takes your hand and leads you out of sight, pushing you up against a wall. His large hand wraps around your neck with such ease, it startles you, and you can do nothing but whimper against him.

"I told you not to come here." He whispers in your ear, hot breath tickling your neck.

"I'm sorry-" you gasp as his thumb constricts a little around your throat, "Needed to know you were safe."

He loosens his grip and smiles fondly at you, though not quite letting it reach his eyes, as your hearts pound in unison.

"Oh darling. Aren't you just perfect?" Then he kisses you hard, before turning you around, pressing your face against the cold hard stone.

Your stomach drops as you realise what he's planning. Surely not, not as the city crumbles around you and the Lord of Eregion sits mere feet away?

"Love, no, not now-"

He enters you with a practised touch, knowing exactly how he has to please you to ease his way in. Your body betrays you as he fucks you without mercy, taking his pleasure from your needy moans and wanton gasps as you succumb to the feeling of him drilling into you from behind.

This is new, as usually he delights in studying your face for every microexpression, taking you in as he ravages you. Now it is solely about what he can take from you, the only thought in his head to come as quickly as inhumanly possible.

It leaves you breathless and panting, and when he peaks, you find yourself grinding into him to try and find some kind of release too.

He chuckles in your ear, thrusting his hand between your thighs.

"What's that, love? Weren't you saying no? Do you want me to let you come? Oh you do? You're lucky that your pleasure is mine, or I might not be so giving..."

His words fade to nothing as your ears ring with siege horns and explosions and the mind-bending sensation of orgasming around Sauron’s cock, even as you know what his plans have wrought.

~

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,” you murmur over and over, holding the Lord of Eregion in your lap, trying to heal his wounds well enough that he can finish his work.

The wounds inflicted by the man you call husband in a moment of cruel impatience.

“Amarië, I need him to work, the rings-”

“-will be finished when he can stand. A moment’s peace, for pity’s sake.” You interrupt your husband, turning to look at him to find no pity in his eyes, only jealous rage.

“Let me work, so he can work. This is your doing after all, you should know it will take time.”

Your tone wounds him, the acid in your words corroding his black heart, but he cannot let himself pause in the pursuit of his goal, not when the rings for Men are within such tantalisingly close reach.

The melody you sing over Celebrimbor to knit his flesh eventually soothes his pain and stems the bleeding enough that soon he is sat at his workbench, still wincing, but for your sake, presses on with finishing the rings.

“Watch him, I’ll be back shortly.” Never has Sauron spoken so abruptly with you, and after everything you’ve witnessed today, you’re loath to let him leave with no rebuke.

“After everything He did to you, you would inflict the same torture on someone who has only shown you kindness?”

He glares down at you, only the tiniest furrow of his brow giving anything away about his current train of thought.

"It is… necessary. If he had done what I’d asked, I wouldn’t have been forced to-"

"Absolutely not. Do not do this. Do not blame him for what you have done. That is exactly what Morgoth did to you, what I nursed you through, so don’t try that with me." You’ve never been stern with him before so you’re not sure how he will take it, and frankly neither is he.

“This is not you!”

“But it is me.” He leans in to whisper in your ear. “You just haven’t been paying attention.”

Your stomach drops as he smirks, stalking down the stairs. He looks back up at you a moment.

“Do not let him leave.” His tone cuts you like a knife, and when the door swings closed, you crumble to the floor, head in your arms.

~

"How long have you known?" Galadriel can barely look at you as your tears blind you.

It takes you a long time to answer.

"Too long. I thought he had changed! At first I thought him dead, then he came back so different, I wanted-"

"You wanted your husband." She looks you in the eye, and once again, you feel a wave of nausea overwhelm you.

“It is a twisted, evil fate, that I would take back in a heartbeat, but there is no earthly force that can break us apart. Believe me, I’ve tried.” Your voice breaks and Galadriel cannot help but embrace you; she knows how heavy the bond between couples is, and knows that to try to undo it is a fool’s errand.

“I just want to come home.” You sob into her shoulder, heart breaking for her that she must be the one to comfort you, after all your husband has done to hurt her and her family, and what he has done to your city.

"Are you with me?" She asks, hands on your shoulders as you pull away.

You don't even have to think. Your broken heart speaks for you.

"Whatever it takes."

~

You find him on a cliff's edge, surrounded by orcs that bow and simper as you pass.

"I knew you'd come." He greets you, though he doesn't turn from looking down over the cliff, as if his eye is trained on something no mortal being could see.

"Predictable as always." You quip, but your anger bleeds through and the edge in your voice finally makes him face you.

"You're upset-"

"Oh, really?" You interrupt him with a snort.

"I tried to save Eregion, but Adar-"

"Oh no, don't do that, we both know that was your plan all along. You have always played the long game, don't doubt your abilities now, dear husband."

He smirks, stepping closer, taking your hands in his.

“Tell me the truth, please, just for once.” Your anger and your grief battle for dominance, and even now he feels a tiny pang of guilt.

“You have always known my purpose, my love-”

You interrupt him with your fists, so angry with him now that words fail you. He holds your wrists calmly, impassively, speaking over your outburst as if it had not happened, as if you were merely taking tea on your balcony.

“You have always known that Middle Earth is sick, that it needs healing, and who better than I to do so? I alone have the power and the will to remake this land, and you, my Queen, you will help me fix this broken world.” He is so sincere, smiling down at you as if it is already decided.

You try to pull away, shaking your head and fighting his every movement to keep you in his arms.

“I will not. I cannot, Mairon, I won’t.” You catch yourself and gasp. “Even now, even now I call you by the name you do not deserve.”

The tic in his jaw is back, and he inclines his head slightly, daring you to continue, warning you not to.

“Do you want to hear me say it? The name my kin gave you eons ago? The name you swore was dead and buried, along with your designs to rule the world?”

“You make it sound so inelegant, ‘rule the world’, is it my fault that the peoples of Middle Earth need uniting under a strong leader, one who will bring them the order and balance they so desire?” He is still using that calm, condescending tone that drives you mad, that once soothed you but now feels like fingernails under your skin.

“Is it balance if it is by force? You cannot trick them into acceptance, Mairon.” You know that to reason with him is folly, but you have to try, against all odds, to make him see reason in his madness.

“You want to be worshipped as a god.” You whisper, unable to believe this is the man you married, that you loved. Love. Love, still, as you rail against the feeling, hopeless to break it.

“And you, my goddess. It is as it should be, the right way of things, the people need order, and we can give it to them. You and I.” He traces your face softly, making you shiver. “Only us.”

You fight to break free of his embrace, hands on his chest, but you’re damned if he will let you go, his grip like the iron crown he wishes to place on your head.

"There is no 'us’. Not anymore. There can be no "us", for as long as you are unrepentant, I cannot bear to look upon you." The words taste acrid in your mouth, betraying every feeling still plaguing you deep in your soul.

His face twists, biting back every poisonous word he wishes to fling at you.

"You want to heal Middle Earth? How can one so broken know anything of healing?"

Despite your venom, and the wrenching in your souls, he tenderly holds your chin, upturning your face to him; even now you know exactly who he is, his radiance blinds you. Every heartbeat, every slow exhale, it all seems to stop, as you study his face for what you hope is the last time.

“What makes it worse, what really hurts,” your voice is unsteady, betraying the maelstrom in your heart, “is that in another life, another time, we could have been really happy.” The dam breaks and you cannot help but let a hot tear fall, willing the rest to remain unshed until you are alone.

“Weren’t we?” He seems genuinely confused, crushed even, voice thick with all the things he wants to say, all the things he knows would break you.

The hard expression you’ve worked so hard to maintain cracks; yes, you were, you were so blissfully happy, in those golden days where it was just the two of you, no war, no suffering, just two lovers meeting.

“Do not make me say it,” you choke out, tears now falling freely; gods, you had been so happy, and you wish with all your might to be taken back to those days in your lover’s arms, all tender kisses and warm embraces.

Even in your absolute sorrow, he cannot help but claim you one last time, pressing his lips to yours like you are his last meal on this mortal plain. Unwilling in spirit, but your body melts into him, desperate to forget for just a second before you turn your back on him forever. You can feel the ebb and flow of your souls crackling and churning around you, becoming palpable in the very air you breathe.

You break away first, hesitant to allow this moment to end. But it must.

“Do not go where I cannot follow.” He murmurs into the hollow of your throat, as he grips your hair and pulls your head back. With a heavy sigh you press your lips to his forehead, and back away, his fingers trailing yours as you part.

“You can follow, any time you wish.” Your voice breaks, as does your heart, clean in two, as you turn your back and leave him on that accursed precipice.

The golden ring on your finger seems almost to pulsate with heat; indeed you had quite forgotten it was there. You raise your hand to inspect it, tiny engraved letters filling the band that you had never seen before.

You could feel Sauron’s power in the ring, its binding magic pulling your heart back to the comfort of his embrace.

“Read it.” His voice behind you is hard but pleading, wrenching your heart.

The script on the ring burns red like coals on the fire as you hold it up, trying to make out what he engraved there.

Two Rings to bind what Evil tried to rend,

Two Rings for a King and Queen, their bond none can transcend,

Two Rings to rule them all, a power with no end

A tiny part of you is touched that he poured so much of himself into a ring meant to soften Morgoth’s curse upon the pair of you. The rest of you is incensed that he would use your love to satisfy his craving for power.

“You simply cannot resist, can you?” Your voice shakes with anger as you turn back to face him, his face falling as he realises that perhaps you would not be so easily won.

“I don’t know what you mean,” he shakes his head as if he hasn’t an inkling what might have upset you.

“You know very well. A ring to bind me to you? Very well, you told me what it was when you gave it to me. But a ring to bring you the power you crave? To bind all the other rings of power to you, to dominate the free peoples of Middle Earth with a trinket? I cannot be a part of it!”

You stop for a moment, pausing in the realisation that your husband has not yet, to your knowledge, forged his own ring. Perhaps there is hope.

“I cannot be a part of it. But I will take it with me.” You say, holding up your hand. “For safekeeping.”

He does not argue. Instead he smirks and tells you, “I’d have it no other way.”

Perhaps you should be concerned, but surely it would do more harm in his hands than yours.

“You don’t want this.” For the first time in millennia, his voice shakes as he calls after you.

You turn on your heel and search his face for any sign at all that he might still come with you.

“You don’t know my heart.” It tastes a lie as it leaves your lips, but it’s the only retort you have.

With a soft smile, knowing and terrible, he replies, “Darling, I am your heart.”

The space where your heart used to be twists and shatters, leaving you breathless.

“Then you know how much this hurts. Please, don’t make it worse.” With that, you take your leave, refusing to turn around without him at your back, abandoning him to his chosen fate.

“Amarië,” you hear him softly behind you, as you refuse to look back.

“Amarië, do not foresake me!” It is an interesting choice of words, considering Morgoth’s curse that dooms you both to the other’s absence, and the irony is not lost on you.

“Do not let Him take you from me again!”

You stop in your tracks, turning on your heel.

“This is not His doing, my love.” You hold fast as he stalks towards you, trembling slightly as you take in your husband in all his fury.

He towers above you, taking your face in his hands.

“It is yours.” You whisper, your strength waning as he lowers himself to claim you in a crushing kiss, hands wrapping tightly around your neck and waist.

You can’t breathe, can’t think, can’t do anything but kiss him back with abandon, feel his hands digging into your sides, the pain in your heart-

“Give up this madness. Come with me. Please, you said once you’d do anything for the love of me. So come with me.” You plead with him, grasping his hands tightly as if it were possible to change his mind simply by imbuing his flesh with your will.

After what feels like the longest pause of your life, Sauron gazing into your eyes with an inscrutable expression, he rests his forehead to yours.

“I must heal Middle Earth. And I will do it with or without you.” His voice breaks, like your heart.

You pull away and nod, refusing to look at him.

“Then know this is not your master’s doing, it is entirely your own.”

You turn and start walking, in desperate hope your people will forgive you, will take you in now you have nowhere else to turn.

He screams your name until he is hoarse, but he does not follow. He can always find you; time and space are no obstacles to the likes of your bond.

But that does not fill the hole in his arms where the world used to be, the space meant for you.

[dadattebayo]

Things I Would Love to See in Future Seasons of The Rings of Power

First of all, I am desperate to see Morgoth in one of Sauron’s flashbacks. Just a couple of seconds would be enough for me! They could have included it during Sauron’s speech to Celebrimbor about how Morgoth had treated him—that would have been perfect! But they didn’t. What a wasted opportunity. So far, we have no official image of Tolkien’s greatest villain in the entire legendarium. Thanks to The Rings of Power, we at least have a proper Sauron now and not just the Eye.

But i am not sure about the actor. Let's speculate, who would you love to see as Melkor himself?

Of course, I’d love to see flashbacks of Morgoth alongside First Age, red-haired Sauron as well. But if they go that route, I’d much rather see Charlie (Vickers) in the role than Jack Lowden because I didn't like his performance sorry, but that's just my personal preference.

Also, I need more of Sauron speaking Black Speech. I know he already did in 2x01, but I need more. It’s kinda sexy :) And while we’re at it—can we please see him interacting with wolves and wargs? He was their boss back in the First Age! That would be amazing to watch.

I am desperate to see any references to the Flaming Eye from the Peter Jackson movies—just because!

I know we got something, but that’s not exactly what I mean.

The One ring obviously, but i am more interested in seeing him actually forging it himself, if you know what i mean girlss

and of course bring Halbrand's face and hair back! Annatar was fine and cool, but come on ... what i need is Annatar's expression on Halbrand's sweet face. Do we all remember that evil smirk?

i was not even gonna mention haladriel interaction, cause this is way too obvious., but okay. I NEED THEM IN THEIR MIND PALACE ALL ALONE TOGETHER please! haha

If you guys have any ideas about what you’d like to see in the next seasons, share them! :)

And yes, I’m aware of the rights issues and that not everything can be filmed, so this was just my wish lis that can probably never come true. That's okay :)

[melkor-did-nothing-wrong]

Interesting that for over a month this entire tag was overrun by people who insisted that angbang MUST be abusive based on a TV show and nobody asked them for sources or tried to lecture them but the second one (1) person says "angbang isn't abusive" all hell breaks loose. Funny how that works.

Honestly, I need to say this, because after reading multiple comments that Melkor abused Mairon, I've had quite enough. Especially by the Ring of Powers' writers who say they know canon when truly, all they know is jackshit.

MELKOR DIDN'T ABUSE MAIRON!!!!

Let's take it back to Almaren when Melkor first encounters Mairon and seduces him, shall we? We obviously know Melkor desired light and desired creation above all else, having said to rival the creator, Himself, Eru Ilúvatar. He sought after Varda, but after she saw his true nature, the darkness within, she rejected him. Morgoth already had numerous enemies amongst the Valar. Having quarrels and hard feelings against Tulka, Aulë, a few others, and now Varda. All he desired was to hold a glimpse of light and possess it alike that of Eru with the Flame Imperishable, said to be the source of all light, which he previously wanted as well. He wanted a lot of things and was despised and repulsed by the majority already. In that time, he must have been very lonely, even without given a Maia like all of the Valar had. He wanted something to feel not only powerful, but to feel seen, a source of beauty and light. He found all of that in Aulë's most talented apprentice, Mairon.

One thing I've noticed over the past years of reading Tolkien's works is the lack of thought or reason the Maiar have in serving their designated Vala. Mairon didn't. He had a reason in going with Melkor which was accounted numerous times. Not once did it say why the other Maiar follow the Valar. Most likely the reason in being that "it was the right thing to do" as in most other fictional stories is also the same reasoning.

Mairon wanted more than what he had currently as Aulë's apprentice. He wanted power and Melkor knew that. Undoubtedly, Mairon had caught his eye the moment Melkor laid eyes on him. I mean, how could he not? The description Tolkien gives about Mairon excudes nothing but beauty, power, and talent. Melkor was attracted to that immediately but he felt something else. Desire for power which he knows exactly how that feels because he too, felt it at a point in time. He took his chances and seduced him. Never once did it say that Mairon was "forced" into becoming his Maia. He gave him his own free will of choice, promised him power, and more. Something the Valar wouldn't do, but Melkor could.

The two of them eventually fell in love after their attraction to one another. How else can you explain "he adored Morgoth", and no doubt Morgoth adored Sauron? And how do we not think that they could have spent time together in Almaren at private times, alone? The little fiery Maia displayed his devotion time and time again, never once did he abandon Melkor which the Vala took to heart. NEVER ONCE did he ever go behind his back. The Dark Lord saw that and for once felt seen, felt heard, felt wanted.... and loved. And in return, he reciprocated that. He came to believe that Mairon was the most beautiful and perfect creation Eru has brought to life. Mairon fell first, but Melkor fell much harder.

Proceeding down the line to the War of Wrath, Mairon practically begs Melkor to hide because they both knew what was to come. He begged by saying "Go, my lord. There are places down below..." If Melkor abused Mairon, Mairon would have never begged his master to flee and hide. Melkor saying "I release thee, go" could translate as "go now, save and hide yourself away" which must have put Mairon in a position of hesitance and reluctance to leave the man he loves behind. Even in the audiobook, Mairon's voice quivers saying those very words, emphasizing the emotion he felt in that moment. Mairon wanted his master to disappear — to escape the Valar. An abused victim would never have done that.

Going forward, it is evidently clear that Sauron's complete intent was to build an army to go save Melkor. After many years, the man still worships the Vala by doing acts in his name. Building a church of worship and sacrifice in his name, taking on personas that reflected previous personas or titles Melkor had taken up. A notable one is Annatar, Lord of Gifts which was based on Melkor's title as "Giver of Freedom". Freedom and gifts go hand in hand.

Last but not least is the constant little hints Tolkien gives throughout the books that only bears evidence that Melkor, his Vala husband was always on his mind. Those little hints is in naming things he's created after things within the past, such as Grond, Melkor's hammer that he named the battering ram after, which was used in Lord of the Rings.

There is much more points that could be said about Angbang and their relationship but the thing is, is that Melkor and Mairon loved each other. It was never based on abuse or gain. It was based on mutual feelings that were never forced against either will.

If y'all like abusive ships then go for ships like Maidar or Silvergifting, even Haladriel. Those are technically abusive. To say Angbang is while there is no context that says such.... that's your preference and opinion. Not trying to attack ships, I'm merely putting source material Angbang into perspective and saying why it isn't abusive by giving the factual reasons from the books. If you take this harsh, that is on you. Go out and ship whatever you desire, even if it is abusive Angbang.

Addition to this for those who may say ROP didn't make this ship abusive :

Which is all good! Go ship whatever your heart desires! Again, I'm not trying to attack ships, I'm just basing this on what the original source material says!

[clarekirener]

It's hilarious to me to mock Sauron fans' headcanons if they're too romanticized when you can't even spare a moment to analyze judgy Nice Guy TM behavior from your fav that happened in canon. I'm tired of this disingenuous fandom.

What's the real issue that's not being verbalized?

Yeah some so-called villainfuckers don't actually want a villain and yes it IS annoying, but it's just headcanon. That doesn't actually hurt anyone so why does it need to stop. Not even the romanticizers want Sauron to exile Galadriel, become a Nice Guy and judge Galadriel if she doesn't live up to moral standards, call her out with sexual language over her dynamic with another man, or demote her sorry 🤷🏾‍♀️

Y'all are too much lmao. Calling people pussies for romanticized villain headcanons that exist only in fandom, meanwhile there's a fandom cone of silence around criticizing how good guys behave in canon, how they actually treated the female lead, how it affects her arc, and how it will look if it continues. This is what is truly insulting to me.

It will not age well. It never did with the Dawson's, the Xander Harris's, the Ted Mosby's et al.

Aight bet. We shouldn't let up on any man and allow him to be overly romanticized if that's not how things really are, not just villains.

[malkaleh]

Caught up on Rings Of Power. My many many (delighted) feels

Charlie Vickers is so terrifyingly good - Sauron is alluring awful! You can absolutely understand how incredibly horribly competent Sauron is as a villain - how much he does get into everyone’s head.

Absolutely believe he’s too terrified to say Luthien’s name fyi because listen, if Luthien returned the war would be over in five seconds at MOST. Sauron just running away begging to be locked in the void, just don’t let HER NEAR HIM SHE MIGHT SING SEND HELP.

I need him to meet Elrond and just be like TERROR.

Celebrimbor is going to break my heart because you can see Sauron manipulating how much he wants to genuinely do good, to create something good, to have the Feanorian Craftsmanship stand for good again and OH SHIT FUCK (me at Sauron STAY AWAY FROM HIM YOU FUCKER).

I’m wondering if we might have actually met Celebrian there (also me at Sauron: GET A JOB STAY AWAY FROM HER).

Tom BOMBADIL. SHIRE ORIGINS. Almost certainly A Gandalf.

Tar-Miriel you are THE BEST and anyway you and Elendil GET MARRIED AND HAVE A LONG LIFE TOGETHER AND EVERYONE IS FINE. (Ar-Pharazon needs to stay away from them both).

You know I hate Ar-Pharazon don’t get me wrong but his fuckass son is The Worst I hope he gets sacrificed first. And I do go between feeling deeply sorry for Elendil’s daughter and also being like You Self Righteous AAAAGH.

Valandil :(((((.

Arondir is the dad who stepped up.

Isildur <333333. I am so attached to him and obviously his BESTEST HORSIE. (Aragorn coming by his horse girl genes honestly).

MY SWEET BABY BIRACIAL ELROND (listen one day I will have my canonically biracial Elrond played by a biracial actor but Robert I love your Elrond). I am so glad we are getting kind as summer and also obviously trauma but tbh I hate the Jackson Elrond depiction I’m so sorry I just, Elrond is not haughty/rude.

BRONWYN IS FINE SHE AND ARONDIR ARE FOUNDING DOL AMROTH cc @nocompromise-noregrets

BEREN MENTION BEREN MENTION BEREN MENTION.

Sauron just being a dog guy is Something. He’s really just like ‘who’s my best abomination of darkness? Who’s my sweet devourer of light? IT’S YOU! You are the bestest boy!’

DURIN :DDDDDDDDD

Elendil is The Most Tired DILF.

Sauron (about Galadriel): soon as she unblocks me the wedding is back on (no but seriously, there is a desire there - I mean obviously it’s not like, caring about her, about Celebrimbor but it’s not unattached either. It’s like…possession).

G-d there is so so much gorgeous lore in this show I love it so much and also it’s going to hurt so so much.

(I can’t recall whether it was Isildur or Elendil who nabs the White Tree sapling before Numenor is sunk I cannot believe we will be seeing that on screen).

(Ar-Pharazon and Elendil as ex boyfriends or something when)

[dolfinsatdawn]

Questions 6, 20 and 30 for the RoP Ask Game. :-)

Omg thank you for the ask!!

6. Where would you most like to live in RoP and why?

I am going to say Eregion because I can't help myself and I know that means I'm doomed but at least I'd get to see Celebrimbor for several hundred years. (And I’m not quite as doomed as if I said Numenor.) Eregion would be such a beautiful place to live. Imagine going riding along the river, imagine seeing all the beautiful artists work in the city, walking to Khazad Dûm when you're bored. Also I desperately want to see what the statue of Fëanor looks like from the front. Celebrimbor is obviously the main reason I picked Eregion, but let me pine okay. It helps.

20. Name three of your favourite scenes (or lines, or scenes and lines).

The pure Shakespearean quality of the scene where Celebrimbor is talking to the metals. I wish I had a direct quote of it but, the level of feeling is insane. I shushed my family in my second watch through just to hear his delivery. Charles Edwards is a fantastic actor. (in the same vein "I go to the shores of morning ere long..." I cried)

The balrog scene had me kicking and screaming. The balrog was so COOL and they were so careful to honor the original design. I love the way they blended special effects with practical effects in RoP. I just rewatched the Hobbit and I was a bit saddened by how much of those films were vfx (vfx are cool!! But I like a certain balance) and I feel like you could really feel the way the showrunners at RoP understood balance. The scene with Balrog and the king is one of the most cinematic shots in the entire show. I want that as a painting.

“Captivating.”

Annatar’s facial expressions overall were a highlight of the season. (Again the ACTING in this show is insane). But this scene specifically where you can see The Sauron Agenda is being delayed by this Elf who Is Supposed To Be Working. And instead is pointing out Sauron’s mistakes to his FACe. I’ve never seen so much unbridled rage in one little word. You can see his eyes go a little insane. Vickers is extremely talented and I love him as a villain.

40. Choose three characters (not necessarily your favourite ones). Say three positive things about each of them.

Celebrimbor:

1. The brightest smile I’ve seen in ages. I would trust this elf with my life. Let me learn metal smithing from him he’d be such a gentle teacher.

2. So much good was done by this guy. He made an entire city, made a trade route with dwarves, made a specific choice to denounce his own father for the sake of morality (Silm content but listen he’s such a good guy and I love him in both RoP and the Silm). I know he blames himself for Annatar’s deception but he needs to be remembered for all the good he did (I think Elrond will do this, Elrond will defend Celebrimbor’s memory)

3. Stronger than he looks. Listen, no one (not even Sauron) expected Celebrimbor to throw the lying Maia bastard (affectionate) against a pillar. He's a Smith. He's got upper body strength for days. I for one appreciate that.

Durin:

1. The most mentally stable guy. He has it together man. He stands up for himself, defends his wife, says sorry when he needs to, expresses healthy feelings to Elrond when he's mad (after a little bit), mistrusts the magic bastard blonde baby girl (affectionate) hanging around Narvi's best buddy. He is a mental health king.

2. Best Tolkien Wife Guy. Listen we know that Tolkien writes tons of wife guys. Okay. But Durin is the winner of RoP. Elendil would be a close second (and we all know about Tom Bombadil) but we don't get to see him with his original wife and we don't have QUITE enough scenes of him and Miriel. Durin is 100% wife guy.

3. Not above pranking the elves. I mean seriously he finagled a new table out of the HIGH KING. Valar-tier move. He can be serious when it counts but we have to appreciate a man who is down for a shenanigan or two.

Arondir:

1. Feral king. Look at him. All the other elves we see are these controlled dressed up with fancy armor..and here he is running around the woods like a feral cat. I love him. I don't remember if the show explicitly states that he's Sinarin, but he perfectly encapsulates the Sindar vibe and putting him in battles with Galadriel and soldiers of Eregion just perfectly shows the difference between the Noldo stuffiness and Sindar wild woods energy (and they respect each other!!!!) He has the same feral energy that I love about Legolas. (I secretly hope if they add Celeborn that he and Arondir have a good vibe together and have similar energy!)

2. The movement quality of this man is insane. I've known a lot of dancers and let me just tell you when someone knows how to control their body they can make walking or even just turning their head seem ethereal. Arondir has this. Every movement is purposeful. Everything is fluid. He has the grace we wish we had even when stabbing an orc in the throat.

3. Another wife guy TM. And also ready to be a Dad guy. It hurt my heart to watch him lose his little human family so quickly. He is so devoted. He yearns. He YEARNS.

[captain-lovelace]

People are bribing others to vote for Glenn so in the spirit of fairness, send me proof of having voted Lovelace and I will send you a picture of my guppies and/or my cat!

Sexiest Podcast Character — Scripted Champion vs Unscripted Champion

[eri-pl]

Silm reread 15: Sudden Flame

The 15 is a good number for it, as Melkor was 15-th Vala (before Feanor's curse kicked him out from being a Vala, somehow) so I hc this as an unlucky number.

So, Fingolfin has a lot of army and plans a war. And with the language of it, I'd bet that if he managed to convince everyone and attack Morgoth, the result would be exactly the same (he would lose terribly).

Why? First: "he saw how numerous the Noldor were and how strong his allies were" makes my Bible-sense ring with "oh, he will lose this so hard" (the whole "betting on your power" vs "betting on God" thing. sorry, I forgot the proper word, so "betting" it is today). Second: "the plan seemed wise". seemed. Which very much feels like "but was not".

Oh wait, it's even explicitely said later that the war was hopeless.

Anyway we don't get to see it, because most Noldor disagree with Fingolfin anyway, they think the siege works perfectly well and why would we go to a battle, which is inconvenient and somebody may even die.

Especially the sons of Feanor don't like this idea. Sorry, what? The "we swore vegnence on Morgoth" guys? the "we must reclaim our Silmarils" guys? they don't want to fight? I don't get it at all.

Only Angrod and Aegnor agree with Nolo, which, of course, has the added irony of "Aegnor will die on this battlefield" (I don't remeber what happens to Angrod, probably dies too.)

Morgoth gathered army and grew even more evil, somehow. And kind of dumb, because he was too inpatient and that's why any Eldar survived that battle. Yea, he's the worst, but anyway.

Iron Mountains "spew fire in various poisonous colors" is such a cool description. I imagine itt as Disney-villain-green + magenta, mostly.

Glaurung debuts as an adult + volcano + Balrogs, generally it is bad and many die.

the Noldor get split and lose communication, Thingol grows in power. dfw is sad ;)

Yep, Angrod the angry dies too. But Finrod does not die and we have the Barahir situation. C&C go to Nargothrond, the narration comments on this.

Maedhros is ultra cool and the orcs fear his face and generally he is awesome. The Feanorians generally have to regroup (run away).

Fingolfin decides that this is the end of the Noldor and gets so upset that he goes to get killed by Morgoth. I don't think it's an overstatement.

"Nobody listened to me, so now we are destroyed. I'll get killed and they'll understand that they should have listened to me. Then we would surely win the war!" — that's how I imagine his decision-making process here.

But he is cool nonetheless, looks like Orome, is so angry, disses Morgoth enough to get him out of his castle. Morgoth is still the most powerful being (says the book) but regardless the only reason he agrees to fight Nolo is that otherwise he would lose face in front of all his minions. This is so… he's so cowardly that it's cringe.

Also, Nolo has a gem-incrusted shield. Peak Noldorin style.

He hits Morgoth 7 times, and each time Morgoth screams like a baby and his soldiers are so scared that they fall down. And the foot is the eight hit. Wow.

Everyone is sad. Maybe Turgon is a bit less sad because he gets to build his dad a grave.

Especially Morgoth, who has permanent pain in all those places + Thorondor messes up his face.

Another scary forest is made.

Beren's mom is really cool!!!! Her name is Emeldir and she is brave and fights with the reast of her family, only later she leaves with the other women (many plot-relevant ones)

Sauron makes the Werewolf Island, also gets a description. He is the mightiest and scariest of all Morgoth's servants. And warps everything he touches (that sounds interesting!). Also his skill at torture is explicitely mentioned.

Also, he starts by cursing the island. Which, I guess, makes it more habitable for evil forces?

Doriath is surrounded. Many elves are captured and enslaved and investigated and sometimes send back as sleeper agents.

Also, an explicite mention of Morgoth's spies who shapeshifted and lied and manipulated Elves and Men this way. Spies. Plural. So sauron was maybe like, a chief of the "shapeshifting spies" division, but by far not the only one. (I imagine him making courses on "how to lie more subtly" — especially for that one guy from that one scene. Yes, I will keep making fun of that.)

Morgoth is apparently not as dumb as it seemed, because he pretends to pity Men and tells them it's all because they listen to the evil, disobedient Elves, and they should listen to him instead. Unless it is just Sauron doing the PR… Morgoth canonically stayed in Angband. No, wait, it mentions the Men not buying that even when tortured in angband, so he did say that. Maybe Sauron wrote his speeches. Or maybe Morgoth was less dumb at this point than I assume.

Easterlings appear. Excuse me, professor, but this part is pretty racist. Even if you tell me that "not all" of them served Morgoth, you clearly show the three tribes as superior. Anyway, let's move on.

We get Bór!!! My favorite Easterling.

We get many family trees, also edain seem to have a thing with "two sisters amrry two brothers", ok, why not if both pairs are ok with marrying. It was a thing in some cultures, iirc.

Sirion is a very Ulmo-infused river.

And, speaking od Ulmo, he does sent Turgon a lot of messages, telling him that things are getting worse and to treat Hadorians well. Micromanagement continues.

Also, the relationship between Turgon and Ulmo confuses me. Ulmo giveshim detailed manuals for some things (historically relevant, mostly) but no advice about "maybe don't kill all the trespassers?" (unless there were really no legit trespassers there before Eol). Turgon listens to him (mostly), but doesn't go "My lord Ulmo, please protect my siter / can you tell me where my sister is / generally anything about that stuff". And no "My lord Ulmo, I am really angry at this Dark Elf who killed my sister, any advice what to do with him?"

Anyway, Hurin and Huor visit Gondolin, because Eagles. Turgon likes them, but Maeglin does not. Maeglin doesn't like Men in general (Why? Too loud?).

Also Maeglin gets passive-aggressive at Turgon for, idk, forcing him to stay in Gondolin? But he seems to like to be there? OK, I think he gets passive-aggressive at Turgon for putting Eol in a position that resulted in him killing Aredhel, but tbh it's unfair. Turgon wasn't the one who killed Aredhel.

Also, Turgon sends people in secret to try to sail to Valinor and ask for help. And, as with most cases of "secretely", it doesn't help. Also, Turgon, my guy, Ulmo talks to you, coulnd't you at least check this with him??? (Iirc, Voronwe was one of those guys. So don't blame the Valar for his death. Blame Turgon's strange mental process.)

He's starting to get into the "tall as a birch, stupid as a goat" mode. Which we'll see more of later.

At least Morgoth is afraid of him.

Also, Hurin becomes the ruler of Hadorians, and he is short. Yay, finally a short heroic character! (He will end badly but anyway)

[verecunda]

8, 9, 10!

Thanks! :D Sorry for the delay - weekend turned out busier than I expected.

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

I will die and decompose on the hill that Thingol doesn't deserve nearly the level of hate he gets in fandom. No, he is absolutely not a blameless cinnamon roll who did nothing wrong in his life, and like most of the characters who come to sticky ends, his downfall is partly spurred on by his own actions... but the hate seems disproportionate, especially when you consider that most of the fandom faves are routine mass-murderers. Yeah, I know, I know, "the war crimes are imaginary but my annoyance is real", but give the guy a break. He does actually try to learn from his mistakes, his relationship with Túrin is genuinely lovely, and he makes Dad jokes to put Nellas at her ease during the trial. He has lots of good qualities, too! And however insulting he was to the Dwarves, that's not exactly a great reason for them to turn round and straight-up murder him.

He's not even one of my top-tier faves, but geez, I see some takes on him that just have me sitting there like "um. what??"

9. worst part of canon

Of all the fandoms I consider myself in (or at least, hanging out on the fringes of), I will never, never forgive the writers of Hornblower for "Duty". What a horrible episode. Bleak, joyless, mean-spirited towards Bracegirdle and Styles in particular... ugh, I despise it.

10. worst part of fanon

ohohoho where to start? 😅 But tonight I'm going to say the blorbofication of Melkor. Forget the Ainulindalë, this is my villain origin story. Tolkien gives us this amazing villain, the personification of primordial evil, a fallen god full of arrogance and wrath and envy, who sows discord among the Elves so masterfully that they don't even know where it's originating - so masterfully even Fëanor, who hates him, still internalises his lies - who metes out the most horrific, calculated vengeance on Húrin, who even at the height of his evil is spiralling towards his downfall.

ALL THAT... and fandom goes "awww big dumb himbo king, totally useless, can't tell a lie to save himself, can't even tie his own shoelaces without Mairon there to help him" (often with an extra scoop of "Eru was sooo mean to him unu"). OH MY GOD I WANT TO BITE THINGS. I love Melkor, I love laughing at his Wile E. Coyote moments, I love that he genuinely trusts Sauron, there's so much going on with him, so why, dear God why, is he always reduced to this toothless, brainless chump?

...as you can see, I am completely normal and rational about this. 😅

🔥 choose violence ask game 🔥

[honorarycassowary]

for the bingo: sauron and melkor

Sauron

Every so often I think about that tumblr post that went something like, "If you don't want people to ship your villains, you need to leave them unseen. Nobody writes slash fic about SAURON." (The rest of this post is Sauron slash fic justification.)

The #1 thing I think about re: Sauron is his basically entirely offscreen character arc. There are so many moments when he could chosen to do things differently! And the fact that so much of it is just stated to happen and has to be viewed through inference is actually a bonus for me, since it allows so many contradicting headcanons and fanfic to develop.

He was one of Aule's most powerful and trusted Maiar - how did his departure affect the other Maiar? Did any of them choose to follow Melkor because of him?

What were those early years with Melkor like? Tolkien wrote about Melkor gradually becoming more twisted into hate and cruelty and weakening as he poured his power into distorting Arda. I imagine the early years as Sauron and Melkor pushing the boundaries of what God intended, doing forbidden mad science, etc.

Then Melkor is captured and goes to naughty angel jail and Sauron singlehandedly maintains all his evil operations waiting for him to return. He didn't know Melkor would come back! Was he experimenting and developing the desire to rule the world in his name? Keeping everything in perfect stasis for his master? (This is also a character dynamic seen over in my Transformers ships with Megatron/Shockwave, which also abbreviates to M/S. COINCIDENCE??? Most certainly.)

His change of heart after the War of Wrath. It's FASCINATING to me that he spent millennia doing horrible sadistic magic science and then stopped! Was this purely out of fear of the Valar I think he genuinely intended for this to be a new leaf, but "I want to do good things now. No I don't want to think about any of the bad things I've done or help fix them or unpack any of that. Let's just act like this didn't happen." is an inherently untenable framework for a redemption. That said, I do wonder who he helped and when he went back to his old ways. The first time he ran into humans who weren't overawed by his divinity and questioned him? thearrogantemu's These Gifts That You Have Given Me proposes that he made it all the way to Ost-in-Edhil with good intentions which is so compelling to me.

Celebrimbor. Sorry dude you would not like to be OTPed with the guy who murdered you but them's the breaks. I love all permutations of their relationship. Sauron scheming to murder him all along? Give me all the dramatic irony. Sauron coming in with evil intentions but deciding Celebrimbor is so fascinating they should be bound together in a parody of love? Sure thing. Sauron actually loved him, flipped out when Celebrimbor was less enthused about loving a guy who enabled the murder of at minimum hundreds of people he knew? Delicious.

It is fucking hilarious to me that the Valar couldn't capture Sauron after the War of Wrath and Numenor - a kingdom of more-or-less regular old humans - kicked his ass so hard he had to go live with them as a prisoner. Comedy about an angel as old as the universe forced to hang out with Iron Age courtiers when.

That said, there is so much horror in you know ... capturing the head of a foreign kingdom and they're not human, they look human but they're wrong, and their very soul is permeating the land you live in and changing it.

Also I'm interested in the whole Melkor-worship thing he had set up. This certainly was a way to destroy and humiliate Numenorean culture, but I wonder if he thought/hoped that sufficient worship could be used to free Melkor.

There's some really good meta out there about Sauron forging the ring fundamentally preventing him from ever growing or changing any more. This is made physical when his 'death' after Numenor prevents him from shapeshifting but fundamentally it was there before; when he made the Ring to concentrate his power, he concentrated his soul as it was at the time - bent towards conquering, towards deception, towards Melkor and his domains - and made it static. After this, he can't redeem himself, even in the halfway, eyes-averted way he did after the First Age. Jewelry: not even once.

There's not a good place to put this, but I love the Finrod vs. Sauron song battle in the Lay of Leithian. Hands down my favorite part.

Melkor

I'm first and foremost a Sauron fan and therefore pretty much all my Melkor thoughts are already written up above. If I was invested in the other Valar, maybe this would be different - I need multiple characters to bounce around together like upsetting pinballs for real fannish thought to happen, and unfortunately for Melkor Sauron is better at interacting with other people.

[demonscantgothere]

Okay, some thoughts about Saurondriel in that finale:

The pure literary drama of Sauron and Galadriel. It’s Shakespearean tragedy to the extreme. Halbrand has tried to win Galadriel over as friend and an ally since the beginning of them meeting each other; and it’s obvious it was very important to him that Galadriel was an ally—he had constantly given her unsolicited political advice, and it was all very politically savvy manipulation on how they should make more allies. Hold on for a minute, Galadriel, it is impertinent that Númenor is our friend. Hold on, Galadriel, it’s important that we go behind Queen Míriel’s back in order to exploit her fear and give her a means of mastering it so that we may master her. Hold on, Galadriel, I keep telling you I don’t want to go back to the Southlands, but I know you won’t give up this search for revenge in order to kill me. You will not let me go gently into that good night. You will hunt me down until the end of time. So, I’m going to discourage you from putting a crown on my head, so you keep believing I’m just one of the good guys, and then I’m going to cave in to the idea and Do The Right Thing and save these Southlanders and be their king, to further put the idea into your head that I’m a good person. Then, I’m going to use your bolstering of me in order to build up an army, so that I can use that army against you in the future just in case I need it. Galadriel has twice promised Halbrand an army.

This sounds like a manipulative villain, doesn’t it? Especially to those of you who hadn’t previously explored the dark potential behind Halbrand’s actions yet? Maybe I’m just naturally suspicious at this point in my life, but this guy has given off major red flags since Day One.

And now that it has come out and Galadriel has discovered exactly why he did all of these things—because of his hidden identity as Sauron—everything is going to explode between Halbrand, the Elves, the Dwarves, the Men, and the Orcs. If they all discover who he really is, they are going to try to either (1) murder him, like permanently-destroy-his-spirit murder him or (2) imprison him for all of time because he is literally a war criminal. Sauron is a war criminal who never faced justice, but he’s not just any war criminal. He’s a powerful being, a fallen angel of sorts that is a reflection of Lucifer per Tolkien’s Catholic upbringing. Sauron is our Lucifer Morningstar, guys. That’s literally what he is. He is the Devil. Let me paint a picture for you: Sauron is the dude who will whisper sweet nothings in your ear as he slowly slips the knife into your back and the blood pours down his fingers as he kisses the shell of your ear. I bet he licks his fingers off afterwards, too. That’s literally who this guy is.

Canonically, he had kidnapped people’s lovers and requested surrenders when he had already killed their lovers, and after they showed up to rescue their loved one and attempt a truce, Sauron would say, “Oop, sorry, I shapeshifted into a werewolf and devoured the Love of Your Life,” and then turned around and ate them, too. And I’m not making that up. That’s canon. Let that sink in. Really give that a moment to sink in. That’s Tolkien canon.

That got intense now, didn’t it?

. . . Would you forgive this dude?

. . . And do you really think this guy is going to let anyone imprison him or kill him of all things?

And when they turn on him, he is going to turn on all of them.

We are 100% going to see the moment when Sauron decides to split his soul into two pieces and make a horcrux long before Voldemort made it cool. It’s harder to kill an enemy who has not one, but two souls, isn’t it?

But from Galadriel’s perspective, we are going to see a deeply wounded individual who is in pain over the loss of her family. Over the loss of her brother. In war. She is processing trauma, and Halbrand seemed to be a very good friend. Someone who rescued her when he didn’t have to. Someone who looked out for her. Someone who showed her respect by retrieving the dagger of a brother whom she is still grieving over and returning it to her—an emotional memento to Galadriel that cannot be ever replaced should it be lost, and he got it back for her. Someone who gave her advice that is correct and works. Someone who helped her navigate the need to protect herself by helping her complete her mission, so that she feels safe and happy again. She wants revenge for her brother’s death. Halbrand appeared as though he was helping her to achieve that peace.

Galadriel is not stupid. She is hopeful. She is good. She is grieving war trauma. She is in pain. There is nothing about any of that which is stupid, and it’s insulting and sexist to insinuate it just because Galadriel is a woman. Women are allowed to be clouded by pain, too. You wouldn’t say that if this was male character. And if you would, you think you’re some genius who would see through Sauron’s designs even though all of these other powerful beings couldn’t. “The greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world that he did not exist.” Please, spare me the I’m smarter than that speech.

Now that she has learned his identity, this is the truth: no matter his intentions, he lied about who he was to her. This is a person who can no longer be trusted now that his true self is revealed. What else may he have lied about? And how could she ever really trust him again? She wouldn’t, and she shouldn’t. She will turn on him because not only is he is her sworn enemy—he pretended to be something he wasn’t.

Because he lied about one thing for sure, it brings all of the other stuff into question too. Now we can never really know the truth. We don’t know how much of what he said was lies.

She will turn on him. The next step? These two are literally going to go to war against each other. These two are literally going to go to war against each other. And it won’t stop until one of them is dead. An Elvish commander and Dark Lord on opposing sides.

They were always going to come to blows because he is the villain; he has to pay and Galadriel will make sure he pays. Poetic justice will be achieved. Triple the points since it has been implied multiple times that Finrod’s death was directly linked to servants of Sauron, so by proxy he is the reason her brother is dead.

You can tell this same story with two men, but we’ve gotten that story a million times before. We don’t need another Obi-Wan versus Anakin Skywalker moment, do we? And I’m not saying those two stories are the same because they are not—but the effect is still two friends becoming enemies, and they don’t have to both be of the same sex for that story to matter any more or any less. Their sex or gender has absolutely nothing to do with this. Let’s not be discriminatory here. You wouldn’t whine if Sauron tricked a male. You are saying a woman has more responsibility to not let herself be tricked by a man than another male does, and that’s Victim Blaming 101. That’s the equivalent of asking, “What was she wearing?” It doesn’t matter what she was wearing, he took advantage of her and that’s on him, not her, so sit down and shut the fuck up and listen.

Sauron’s deception and betrayal ran deep during this time. He lied about who he was with every new powerful friend he made, from the Elf lords to the Dwarf lords and beyond. And a lot of people, including a lot of Elves, fell for it. That’s canon. Why are people mad that . . . this is what’s being written for the story in the show? That’s literally what Tolkien wrote. And why not have Galadriel as our protagonist, so we don’t have all male heroes which was a huge complaint about the original The Lord of the Rings? Galadriel gets to be our betrayed hero who avenges her family instead of Elrond. Galadriel canonically lost family in that war in ways Elrond did not. Giving her the anger and the revenge to play the task of our hero makes more sense as the War with Morgoth affected her more deeply. Did you really wanna give the main hero position to, what, an original character? That would have been horrific. Please, Galadriel is right here, and she’s a wonderful protagonist.

It’s literally canon that Sauron was a masterful liar and deceiver. Hello, Lucifer Morningstar. Oh my God, Charlie Vickers delivered. I really want to see his audition tape, tbh. He delivered all and more.

I mean, he lied because he’s literally Satan and a war criminal on top of that—a war criminal in survival mode on the run and Galadriel has already admitted to him that she is going to hunt him down until the end of time to make him pay for that, so why not be her friend/lover and betray her first before she can betray him? You’re talking about two immortal beings here. This will never end until one of them kills the other.

Triple points if he accidentally falls in love with her in the process, but that’s just me pointing out the popularity of the whole enemies to friends to lovers back to enemies thing.

It’s a great overall dynamic. Sauron worships Galadriel while she wants to kill him. She isn’t going to change him; she’s going to try and kill him. Oh yes, please. Give me that. I want her trying to slit his throat while he makes moon eyes AT HER. The base dynamic is pretty riveting storytelling when you start looking ahead at what’s to come with the upcoming war.

Honestly, it’s a great story that’s going to unfold and I can’t wait to see what direction they take this.

[wildwren]

Is Theo stamped for evil?? 

So, I got a reply on one of my Theo posts, and I figured I'd write a new post to compose my thoughts on this, as I've been meaning to write some Theo meta and put it in the tag! I don't mean this as a targeted reply, but just a general response to the very predominant fandom theory that says Theo is destined to be a Nazgul, or even the Witch King Himself. While I'm not inherently opposed to this theory -- I love tragic arcs and it certainly could work for me if executed well -- I'm simply not in agreement with the overwhelming fandom consensus that Theo is Definitely Stamped For Evil. I just don't see it!! 

So, let's discuss!

Here’s a list of pretty much everything Theo does sequentially in Season 1: 

Complains about having to help his mom when he didn’t get any sleep 

Expresses some grumpiness about his mom having a boyfriend 

Steals something from a very mean, objectively evil old man 

Has a bitchy dynamic with his best friend, also an (older?) teenaged boy 

Gets triggered by the annoying “mice” and smashes the floorboards with a poker (I’m sorry but this is the most relatable thing he’s ever done) 

Puts himself in harm's way to help his mom fight off an orc, including jumping off of a loft to try to strangle the orc in a noose 

Goes with his mom to the tower and helps her support the refugees there 

Offers to go into town to get more food so that his people don’t starve 

Goes back for more food at risk to himself 

Tries to lie to aforementioned objectively evil old man about stolen sword, fails because he’s a terrible liar

Resists recruitment by evil old man, stays with his mom even when others are choosing “evil”

Tells Arondir (a person he doesn’t fully trust and who he has very conflicted feelings for) about the sword (something he has a visceral attachment to). He literally gives Arondir the hilt. He literally did that. 

Spies on Arondir when he’s hiding the hilt 

Helps defend and protect the helpless amongst his people during the orc battle, takes his job very seriously 

Helps save his mother’s life during emergency surgery

Surrenders the hilt to Adar in the hopes that it will save his mother’s life (the person he almost just watched die) and the rest of the people in that room

Looks up to and idolizes Galadriel, a powerful figure of “light” (who is of course also conflicted)

Admits his own guilt and weakness to Arondir 

Feels deep grief for the loss of his homeland, wants to kill orcs in revenge

Feels deep guilt and personal responsibility for the loss of his homeland, admits his guilt to Galadriel

Accept’s Galadriel’s sword, cherishes Galadriel’s sword

Worries and grieves deeply for his mother, Arondir, his friends, his people 

Refuses to bow to or chant for Halbrand when he is named King (you know, the guy who’s literally Sauron). 

In his last shot of Season 1, we see Theo holding Galadriel’s sword high and chanting “Strength to the Southlands!” 

I apologize for this ridiculous and pedantic list, but I think it's helpful to see all of his actions. What this list demonstrates for me most of all is that Theo is complex! He makes some bad choices throughout the season and occasionally behaves petulantly, but he also does many brave and selfless things and demonstrates some real strength of character. I simply do not see this characterization as definitively signaling a future villain, especially when our primary protagonist and Confirmed Force for Good Galadriel also displays similar flaws, complexities, and failures of judgement. That's just good character writing, it's not necessarily villain-signaling. 

I also think it's impossible to assess Theo's behavior without examining the effect the sword hilt might have had on it. We know from Theo's own words that the hilt made him feel powerful and important, and if the hilt has any of the qualities of one of Sauron's future experiments, then it's safe to say it could have a will of its own! It might, for instance, have a desire to be found! We know it was hiding in Waldreg's barn for who knows how many years, which seems like a good place for it to be, given that Waldreg was 100% willing to give it over to Sauron or even just someone who kind of reminded him of Sauron at literally the first opportunity. So it's pretty clear that even if Theo wasn't involved, the hilt would have found its way to Mount Doom.

Once Theo does have it, however, it's possible the hilt was prodding him into certain actions and behaviors -- for instance, going down into the village where the orcs were hunting for it and staying behind to look for more food, even though it was somewhat reckless of him. After he surrenders the hilt to Arondir, the influence still lingers -- he spies on Arondir when he's hiding the hilt, allowing him to later reveal it to Adar. I think there's a case to be made that Bronwyn is also affected by the hilt. As soon as she comes in contact with it, she makes a complete 180 on her original stance and decides the only way to survive is to surrender the hilt to the enemy. Of course, Arondir talks her off this ledge (and also takes the sword hilt back from her -- yes I have analyzed this blocking), after which they come up with a better option. All in all though, some very sketchy behavior from the hilt. 

What is particularly notable about all of this is that Theo, despite the ring-like influence this sword might be having on him, does willingly, of his own volition, from the depths of his own conscience, surrender the hilt to Arondir! He makes the decision to do that and has the strength of will to follow through on it, even though Arondir is not (!!) his favorite person at that point! Like! What's not clicking! That's some heroic-ass behavior!! 

There's certainly a case to be made that Theo is tempestuous and moody (as are all teenagers), but I also disagree with the assessment that his mother is the only thing holding him to the side of good, and that the show will kill her off to trigger his descent into evil. Sure, the season spent some time on the relationship between Bronwyn and Theo, but I would argue it spent *more* time on the relationship between Theo and other powerful characters, specifically Arondir and Galadriel, both of whom have had a very positive influence on him and could be anchors for him even if his mother was not around. It also demonstrated the care he has for his people, that the Southlands as an idea or an identity remains important to him and something he is willing to fight for.

To be clear, I am not saying he won't become a Nazgul - literally anything is possible! I'm also not trying to defend him because he's one of my faves and I don't want him to be evil (I enjoy villains so this is a non-issue for me!!). I simply do not think the character choices are clearly pointing to this arc for him. The showrunners have said that he could go in many different directions, and if he is going to be a future canon character, my money is currently on the King of the Dead. This would still be a tragic arc, of course, but in my opinion, it aligns more clearly with what we've seen of Theo. I could imagine him finally creating a home and a kingdom for his people (with the help of Bronwyn and Arondir of course), only to be unwilling to surrender this safety when the time came, at the expense of his honor. (See italicized bit above about Theo refusing to bow to Halbrand -- interesting character detail for sure!) The people who became the Army of the Dead were also guilty of worshipping Sauron, but given that this is already part of the Southlander's arc in the Ring of Power, it feels like a good fit in hitting the broad strokes of that canon story.

I also simply think this would be a more humanistic and empathetic story, which -- at the risk of sounding overly optimistic or polyanna-ish -- does seem to me to be the lens through which the writers are approaching these characters. In general, the character writing in the show feels much more interested in slow development, rather than shocking twists that force dramatic character arcs. They would have to start making some very different choices for me to be convinced that a horrific death for Bronwyn as a means of motivating Theo's villainry was territory they were interested in treading.

Finally, I just want to address the Nazgul guessing game in general, because I'm not sure I'm on the same page as the rest of the fandom with some of these assumptions. While it's certainly fun to imagine who might be a Nazgul, I think it's pretty silly to assume we will intimately know every single one of the Nazgul as POV characters, or that all such characters have already been introduced. That would be some exceptionally redundant storytelling! Even just showing one or two characters take that journey would be enough to effectively suggest the rest. The idea that half the Numenoreans and most of the prominent Southlanders are already destined to be Nazgul just seems very unlikely to me. 

Okay, I'm gonna shut up now. I hope you enjoyed this post and I'd love to hear your Theo thoughts!! But please do note, boring-ass Theo slander will be unpolitefully ignored :) :) :)

[anneangel]

This week I heard that: "Tolkien's Fantasy is not based on 'good and evil' as they say, the morality in Tolkien's universe is rather complex."

Sorry, but I completely disagree. There is no complexity: Tolkien clearly tells us who are the heroes (and who is good) and who the villains are (who does the evil). Yes, there is still free will: Soon you, as a fan, can list for me several characters that have corrupted themselves, or who could redeem themselves.

But that only means they are ambiguous characters. The point is that the whole universe created by Tolkien itself already makes it clear what it is "right" and what is "wrong". It is a universe whose doctrine is based on "good" and "bad/evil".

At no point we need to question whether the "good guys" are really the good guys. And if anyone "corrupts" we know how to list why he is "corrupted".

In a universe that is not focused on "good/evil" the term "corrupted" is completely questionable, because it is enough we changes from perspective and the "corruption" becomes palpable and justifiable under other morals parameters. But in Tolkien's universe it's not like that ...

At no point Tolkien really implied that Melkor/Morgoth and Sauron are actually the good guys who are fighting against the oppressive power of an absolutist creator and his "terrible" allies, this creator (Eru) who only cares about his own schedule and interests, of course, just the reader changes from perspective and the "villains" become just good guys with other moral parameters.

No! Tolkien did not create this plot twist. Lmao !!

His work surrounds very well what is "benign" and what is the "evil". There is no game of "perspectives" in this fantasy construction, so Tolkien characters are just free to choose to serve "light" or "darkness". But the Status Quo of "light and darkness" is never questioned.

There is no complexity when there is only "the good and undoubtedly right side" and the "wrong and inherently evil side". What exists is a choice!

It's as if evil is an undoubted darkness or evil entity that puts the characters' moral choices to the test. So characters "full of light" can be corrupted to evil, whether humans, elves, or anyone else, where individual needs, pride, greed, anger, hatred, desire for revenge, obsession with objects, need for power and knowledge, among others, are feelings that, depending on their intensity, can become harmful and corrupt them for the “evil”. I have a feeling that Tolkien’s characters are “good light”, if dont corrupted by selfishness. But see: there is only light or darkness morals.

If BOTH sides had good and bad/evil qualities and motivations at the same time, oh yes, then choosing one side would bring complexity and deep thinking. In that case it would be painful to choose, as there would be no "right choice" and you could identify with aspects of both sides, well as hating aspects of both: This is where the complexity of choice lives!

[akatsuki-shin]

Review: 天官赐福 Tiān Guān Cì Fú (Heaven Official's Blessing)

Notes:

(Very) long post ahead

Contains spoiler

This is my personal review and does not represent the entire audience, you are free to agree or not agree with what I’ve written here

Feel free to reply/send me a message if there are things you want to discuss

Summary:

The most beloved Crown Prince, pride of the Kingdom of Xianle with abundance of talents and achievements, Xie Lian, ascended to Heaven and became a martial god at the young age of 17 on the path to fulfill his dream "to save the common people".

Three years after his ascension, he saw his kingdom beginning to decline and in order to save his beloved country, Xie Lian defied the rules of Heaven and descended back to the mortal realm. Nevertheless, instead of saving them, his interference ended up accelerating the fall of Xianle, annihilating the once prosperous nation under the war of rebellion and a mysterious, horrifying plague.

The people who once praised and worshipped him day and night now condemned him, his devotees left him, they burnt his temples and divine statues, and Xie Lian himself was ultimately banished from the Heaven.

He ascended for the second time a short while later, but was banished once more very soon after. Since then, he lived among the mortals - surviving by collecting junks as he was now branded as the "God of Misfortune", the "Scrap Collecting Immortal".

800 years later, Xie Lian ascended again for the third time. Though having neither temples nor devotees, he accepted his responsibility as a martial god and carried on with his duties until one day, there came a certain, incidental encounter with a mysterious youth clad in red.

STORY: 7/10

TGCF overall is an (almost) complete, satisfying read with well-written twists and development.

Unlike the two previous MXTX's novels, the main pairing here (HuaLian) did not have to go through complicated misunderstandings and is a beautiful representation of love and devotion. Of course, this means there is a lack of conflict between them, but considering all the trials and tribulations the characters have gone through, this lack of conflict feels like a relieving fresh spring amidst the painful and exhausting journey throughout the entire five books.

The best and my most favorite plot twist is the Earth Master Ming Yi having been dead for a while, and the "Ming Yi" we know turns out to be the Black Water Submerging Boats, He Xuan. I'm the kind of person who always suspects characters, but even my furthest suspicion was "only" him being the Reverend of Empty Words, not He Xuan.

Truthfully, prior to reading this novel, I've seen Shi Qingxuan's "MING-XIONG, I'M SORRY x9999" post before without context, and I thought Ming Yi was going to die a tragic death because of Shi Qingxuan. Turns out it's kind of the opposite, huh? Nice one, really.

I also like how each character's "end" feels satisfying. Especially for the villains, they didn't necessarily have to die some tragic, vengeful death, but was provided with an ending that perfectly fits their background story and deeds. For example, in most stories, a character like Xuan Ji would be most likely be given some well-deserved punishment as her death, given everything she's done. But no, in the end she was given a reality check and was finally able to let go of her hundreds of years grudge. And then Qi Rong - I will talk more about him later on in the "Character" section.

One part I really love is the Extra Chapter about the Cave of Ten Thousand Gods. The chapter itself overall is mostly nonsensical and chaotic, but it was just so touching when HuaLian created a "Little Hua Cheng" statue to accompany Xie Lian's "Crown Prince who Pleased the Gods" statue, especially when this Little Hua Cheng statue gave Crown Prince Xie Lian statue a flower, and then Crown Prince Xie Lian received it, lifted him up and carried him in his arms. This one was maybe a bit biased because as much as I love the current HuaLian, I have a special soft spot for the young Xie Lian carrying, cradling the little Hua Cheng back then in the past. ;v;

Though, with all due respect, I must say that TGCF is actually below my expectation.

The biggest issue I have with TGCF is... What is Xie Lian's motivation? What drives him to move forward in the story? What is even the whole story's purpose?

I'm not quite sure how to word this properly, but let me give some examples.

When you read Harry Potter, you know immediately that Voldemort is the bad guy and he must be defeated.

When you read the Lord of the Rings, you know immediately that the One Ring must be destroyed to prevent Sauron from regaining his power.

Or, in MXTX previous works...

In SVSSS, it was clear since the beginning that Shen Yuan's mission is to fix the "Proud Immortal Demon Way" if he wants to survive.

In MDZS, it was clear that Wei Wuxian, together with Lan Wangji's, needs to unravel the mystery behind that fierce left arm. All of their past stories and WangXian getting together in the end are just something they discovered along the way, not the initial "motivation" that drives the character to move forward.

What about TGCF? The Xie Lian who ascended for the third time actually looks like he just wants to go along with the flow, carrying out his duties day by day with responsibility. When Bai Wuxiang later, later, later on appeared to haunt him again, it didn't seem like Xie Lian has any ambition to hunt him down or exact a revenge, just that he wanted to forget about Bai Wuxiang and never recall anything about him ever again. The main character looks like he's not being driven by anything, just...carrying on where the plot takes him? It's just missions after missions and whatever huge things happening in between is just something they accidentally passed by along the way.

At this point, the only purpose of the story I can think of is bringing Hua Cheng and Xie Lian together. The romance is great, I have no complain. But if it's just that, no need to jammed-pack 250+ chapters just to make two people getting together?

Speaking of which, I also think that the way new characters keep being introduced all the way to almost the final showdown of the story feels info dump-ish, because the background story needs to be dropped there along with the characters, but then most of these characters fade away immediately after.

For example, the previous Civil God before Ling Wen, who looks like he’s going to pose some real trouble, but then was easily defeated and was never mentioned again afterwards. And this is especially true for He Xuan; after such a huge arc where he committed such extreme things, after that he was barely mentioned again, even having his “strong impression” leveled down by the joke about him being the poorest Calamity and owing lots of debts to Hua Cheng.

Basically what makes TGCF a long story is because there are too many stories about the side characters in addition to the main characters that are dumped out of the blue instead of slowly being revealed along the way.

Though, I love how the story gradually unravels the "Four Famous Tales" because initially, I thought it wasn't something crucial, and I wished they could've done this for other characters, too.

There is a little bit of plot holes here and there, as in who actually cut open Jian Lan/Lan Chang's baby and made it a ghost, and for what? Even if it turned out that she just met a bad guy or nobody important, at least provide an explanation in one paragraph? Especially because important side characters like Feng Xin and Mu Qing are involved here, so I'm pretty sure us readers need some explanation.

And more importantly, how can Jun Wu become the Emperor martial god? There's no mention about him ascending, only that he annihilated a dynasty of gods before sitting on the throne of the Great Martial Hall. But how can he, like, emitted god-like aura and not some evil aura? Is it because he used to be a god? But he's a ghost? Explanation where???

The gags and comedies are pretty fun, but honestly, the more I read, the more they ruin the atmosphere and suspense, added with the uncalled PDA between Hua Cheng and Xie Lian even during the most important moments. Honestly, I was bored the fuck out of my life from the moment they start fighting Jun Wu with those divine gundams, and only start gaining interest again much later on when Hua Cheng dissipated into butterflies.

Not saying the story's bad. Just... It's not up to my expectation... Characters being inserted here and there with a bunch of background story, gags and a show of PDA being flaunted during crucial moments. And when Mei Nianqing started telling the truth about the Kingdom of Wuyong, that's just plain info dump right there, seriously...

CHARACTERS: 7/10

Interesting characters, but only a few bore a lasting impression on me. Other than the main characters, which are Xie Lian and Hua Cheng, the only side characters (minus Bai Wuxiang as the main villain) who left quite some impression on me were probably just Feng Xin and Mu Qing.

Pei Ming is okay, at least he is still memorable until the end, and his character improved, too.

He Xuan, after having been introduced with such extreme, after his arc is over, was easily forgotten just like that.

Mei Nianqing, is borderline Deus Ex-Machina with a huge chunk of info dump that could solve everything, then he stopped being useful for the rest of the story.

Shi Qingxuan... Honestly, he's almost annoying, too noisy. I don’t hate him (and I kind of like him initially), but the way his character was being handled and presented post-Black Water arc feels disappointingly lazy and he was just there to make the party more merry.

Xie Lian himself, as the protagonist, how do I say this... This is maybe due to the translator's writing style (not MXTX’s fault), but whenever he screams in all capslock, it feels too extreme and borderline OOC? Of course, the original novel written in hanzi couldn't have included capslock.

What's great about him, though, is that despite all he'd gone through, he can still retain a pure heart and could not be swayed to be evil, just as he himself said "Body in the abyss, heart in paradise".

Now Hua Cheng, he is overall a super interesting character and I personally love this type of male characters. But he seriously is way too OP, almost like the original Luo Binghe (Bing-ge) a.k.a. too ideal, too perfect, no flaws, always capable of easily finding a way out in every single peril. I only forgive him for being like this because he dissipated into butterflies at the end of the battle with Jun Wu, making me think "oh, finally he's actually not invincible".

Still, his devotion to Xie Lian is very well written, very well presented, and his "I am forever your most devoted believer" is just downright the most powerful line in the whole story.

Now I promised to talk about Qi Rong, yeah? I haven't the slightest idea why it is even necessary to have Qi Rong as the Night-touring Green Lantern. I mean, yes he is there to make up the number of the Four Great Calamities, but that was for the characters who live in that world. As the novel's reader, I don't see any particularly important roles there for Qi Rong other than being an annoying meme fodder despite his actually pretty-cool first foreshadowing and appearance? Even his issue with Lang Qianqiu does not seem to give that much impact on the overall story, it could've just passed simply being explained in several pages.

Though I'd say he's got the best character development compared to others. Instead of dying as some hateful villain, the way he ended up deciding to protect Guzi at the cost of his own life can already be expected from miles away, but still bittersweet and touching nonetheless - how this crazed, mental person could still love when being presented with such pure, innocent feelings to the point that he acknowledged Guzi as a his own son.

By the way, E Ming and Ruoye are cute, I take no criticism.

TECHNICAL ASPECTS: 8/10

I can't really describe this with words, but MXTX's overall writing technique has greatly improved since MDZS.

It feels more "solid" to read instead of scattered here and there.

The info distribution has improved (fewer info dump compared to before), the story's no longer switching between past and present all of a sudden.

Description of characters and environment are sufficient, the plot is progressing steadily.

Several issues I have with this aspect though, the Prologue being ten pages is just way too long, I don't think I need that much information being stuffed right to my face right from the beginning.

There are excessive use of "Turns out..." every single time an explanation is going to come.

"Xie Lian didn't know whether he should cry or laugh" is honestly has been used probably more than 50 times just in the last two books. Although I'm reading a translation, I'm pretty sure the original Chinese version is being repetitive with this phrase, as well, because the translators couldn't just whip up any other phrase from thin air and put it in someone else's novel.

Almost half of scene transition is always caused by some sudden, external disturbance like "All of a sudden they heard someone's coming", "All of a sudden X visits their room", etc.

OVERALL SCORE: 7.3/10

Worth to read, satisfying overall. The main pairing's love story is just so well written and sweet. As long as you can withstand the violence and gore, though. 😂

TGCF highlights perhaps one of the ugliest natures of mankind: Being nice to someone as long as they're beneficial, and immediately throwing them away once the benefit was no more.

Once that person does not seem to be beneficial anymore, everyone would leave them instantly, even turning on them and start spitting on them without even trying to understand the reason why said person "stopped being beneficial".

Both as a Crown Prince and a martial god, Xie Lian and the Crown Prince of Wuyong were praised, revered, worshipped by the citizens of Xianle and Wuyong respectively. Because they were always helping, always fulfilling the people's wishes. But how easily it was for those very same people to turn on Xie Lian and the Crown Prince of Wuyong when they encountered misfortunes, completely turning a blind eye to the laborious effort both characters have been putting to save them from annihilation, even if it was visible in broad daylight.

It is also worth to note another trait of mankind that this story underlines: To always find a scapegoat or blame others for one's own misfortune and failure - be it another human being, another group of people, the government, even the gods - after having taking their generosity for granted.

Which is why I think the true villain of the story is not Bai Wuxiang, but those citizens of the ancient Wuyong who were now nothing more than resentful spirits eternally burning within the lava of Tonglu Mountain - a well deserved punishment after what they did to their Crown Prince.

[saurons-pr-department]

Something that kind of annoys me, is the thing on TV Tropes that says Sauron's a coward. I always come across that, and go "uhhh, you might mean Morgoth?" But it just, yeah, I don't know maybe that's been edited since the last time I've seen it, but it bothers me. Also I'm kind of nervous about Amazon treating him as a simple villain in their series, and uh yeah. As an actual coward I love it when people kind of call him that, because they don't know what that word means. Sorry for the vent-rant

Basically, I'm just waiting for Amazon to go, yup this guys epic levels of tenacity, who told the Numenoreans to bring it is a dirty coward. Yes. That guy. I have no faith in Amazon's ability to give us a good story. And that TV Tropes thing makes it worse lmao

Hey, anon,

Vent rants are always welcome in my inbox. Sometimes they're just needed!

I can't say I ever really thought of Sauron as a coward... Not in the way that I would think of Morgoth being a coward. Morgoth is afraid of sooo many things. As for Sauron... he doesn't quite come across as one for actual, physical, hand-to-hand fighting. It's not his strong point and we do see him run away when beaten by Huan and Lúthien and threatened with his Master's wrath...but I think coward is a bit much. Some of his plans and schemes are far too ballsy for a coward. There isn't really anything cowardly in knowing his own strengths and weaknesses (eg magical fights vs fist fights). Not that I'd go calling him brave or anything. It's just "coward" is not really a word I would associate with him very much. I'd apply it to Morgoth much faster!

I definitely get the fears over Amazon. (If I'm honest, my biggest fear is an influx of 'antis' into the fandom... You know the people who think you're evil for liking the villain? They would seriously ruin all my fun!!) Anyway, back your fear! Yeah... as much as I love the general trope of "See! The big bad guy is actually a scardy cat when you stand up to him!", it's not one I'd like to see applied to Sauron. I don't want a pathetic, whimpering mess. I want to see him laugh his head off as he stands on top of the temple roof in the middle of a lightning storm, thinking he's invincible! I want him to be completely unhinged.

In all honesty though, I haven't been keeping up with the news for the Amazon show. I'm not really certain what's going on with it, so I can't really pass comment. I'll be interested to see what they do with it, but I'm not going to pretend that I haven't prepped myself for disappointment XD