#aipilosse

[undercat-overdog]

🔥and 🔮 for sure!

🔥 Give us your hottest Silm hot take.

You know all my hot takes!

Doing fandom not canon, I'm going to go with how I think fandom in general (broad generalization) overemphasizes both the importance of the sons of Feanor and the Noldor as a whole, in-universe and out-of-universe, and not just buys into the already-in-canon Noldor-are-the-best but magnifies it.

Hottest canon Silm take is that Feanor isn't the Greatest, not because he's not great but because there can never be one The Greatest.

It's not Silm, but my hottest Tolkien take is that Faramir is a bore.

🔮You can reach into the Beyond and ask the Professor to settle one (1) debate for you. He won't even waffle on the answer, honest. What do you ask him?

If his answer ends up being published? "Is russingon canon?" 😈

[meadowlarkx]

Finrod/Sauron and 28 (as a lie) for the kiss meme?

Finrod woke in the darkness and found Edrahil near him. His eyes were accustomed to the gloom of the pit now, and he surveyed their surroundings as he tested, with his spirit, the strength of his remaining enchantments. There seemed no imminent danger, no wolf-like growling and snuffling. The dim shapes of his companions were still, but their breathing was steady. So Finrod turned his attention on Edrahil and let himself take his hand.

His friend looked barely hurt. He glowed against the ceaseless night of the pit. An indescribable emotion surged in Finrod's chest like the tide. What regret, to have led such a friend here to die. What joy, to find him a faithful friend, nonetheless, and wonderful.

"I can only thank you," he said softly. "I have no heart yet to say sorry."

Edrahil nodded, and looked on him seriously. "Our errand…" 

His voice was more musical than Finrod expected to hear it. Perhaps after days of Orc-speech and wolf-growls the familiar grew sweeter.

Finrod raised his hand and kissed the knuckles, dragging both of their shackles with the motion. "Speak not of it."

“As you command, my lord.” 

Was that pause—assessing?

Finrod sighed, frustrated. His mind was playing tricks on him, making him distrustful of an Elf-captain he knew like his own soul. Edrahil would not give them up to Gorthaur’s listening ears; he was more pragmatic and tactically-minded than Finrod himself. “I should command far less, I think.”

“You may command me always,” said his friend’s sweet voice. “Long have I loved you.” He kissed Finrod with the ephemeral caress of a flickering flame.

[maironsbigboobs]

Orange moot! 🎃🎃🎃

(ask game)

Yes it sounds fun!! But my terrible secret is I do not like peanut butter 😔

[gwaedhannen]

🔮

🔮You can reach into the Beyond and ask the Professor to settle one (1) debate for you. He won't even waffle on the answer, honest. What do you ask him?

Tempted to throw a grenade into the fandom and ask if Fingon and Maedhros were lovers.

But really what I want to know is: What happened to Lalwen? Did she survive the First Age? If she died, when? Did you even plan her fate and didn't just throw up a name with zero other ideas because you didn't want Finwë to have only sons?

[herenortherenearnorfar]

For @aipilosse late but much labored over. Family Pulled From a Flood was one of the best fics I got to read this year (Elwing! Reproductive health! Community!) and I had to do a little tribute to it.

For her children, she weaves.

It is not her greatest skill—not this kind of weaving, standing up at a loom tall as she is, with a wingspan to match a gull’s. Linen thread is too fine and slippery, she does far better with reed plaits or hemp canvas. Fishing nets require diligence, but they hold no grudge if the knot is tied twice or a thousand times.

Table fabric, clothing fabric, must be smooth, dense, light. Every snapped thread must be replaced and every gap in the pattern accounted for. She will not give her children much but she will give them this.

She lays the warp threads out, ten for every length of her thumb. All told there over a hundred of them, divided into pairs and tied to loom weights. Still, the elven ladies will sigh and tell her of how high thread counts could climb in Menegroth, where Melian showed her weavers to make mist-thin cotton, silver as the stars.

It would seem like a fairy tale if not for the little nightdress she was carried away in, which sits in a special drawer separate from her mundane clothes. A muslin shift, deceptively simple until you look at it sideways and see the waterfalls and willow leaves embroidered into the very weave. From one angle, nightingales dance around the collar, and from another there are leaping hounds. Whenever she holds it—a rare occurrence for it makes her teary—it feels like air in her hands.

There is only one of it, and she is having twins. Besides, some heirlooms should stay buried.

They will have new clothes, her children, fresh linens for a fresh world. The first two years they won’t need much. Lady Arien, friend to Men, swoops lower and lower each year, trying to spook the Enemy away. To cope with the sweltering heat, most of the Bëorian children go naked except a waist cloth and some simple charms. She won’t deprive them of playmates—both she and Eärendil are aware of how difficult it is to make friends with a title in the way. Duty will have its say eventually though, and they’ll need formal clothes.

She rests her hands on her belly and thinks—swaddling clothes for the younger years. A shirt for the ages of two to five. A vest and trousers will be suitable after that, but she’ll wait until they’re of a consultable age to start work on those.

This early in the pregnancy, there have been no kicks or flutters. The constant nausea, making her feel like a disgruntled owl, is so far the only physical manifestation of her condition.

Yet she can feel them. They flicker on the very edge of her consciousness, two potentials not yet filled. It is like the awareness of two great cups on her periphery. Every time she looks back there is another drop of water inside, and still so much more to go! They will be expansive.

“What do you think?” she asks them, “Shall I stop dawdling?”

They give no answer.

The weft thread is even finer than the warp, like gossamer. A single strand of it disappears in her fingers, cobweb until light hits it. The whole skein must be a hundred yards of hair thin silver.

It’s not her spinning. She hasn’t announced her pregnancy officially yet, as Men are prone to early losses. Silence sometimes speaks louder than words, and tributes have been piling up at her door; hand-me-down teething rings of thick elk bone, waist-bands of carved wooden leaves, shell bracelets, tiny stud earrings, restorative tonics, and thread— so much thread.

The Eldar, who spin the finest, expect her to be a weaver. It is a princess’s right—weave the cloth, bake the bread. She’ll have to teach her children, regardless of gender, so that they can teach their daughters. She and Eärendil have always assumed they are mortal; better to be pleasantly surprised than disappointed.

Openwork every two hands of the baby wraps, she decides, to keep it light. A simple, geometric gauze of knotted weft. It’s a Gondolindrim technique, used especially with contrasting threads to create a dizzying multicolored sheer, but it can be adapted to the whitework of Sirion. Idril wouldn’t mind. Besides, she has the thread for it, right twisted crepe from one of the Gnomish townspeople.

She counts her threads, does the calculations, and begins to weave.

The first few inches are a simple linen weave, in and out, in and out, then swap for the next row. The greatest challenge is keeping the warp straight. No wonder Gwînd has a thousand eyes, she must watch so many little threads. It would go faster if she had someone to beat the weft for her, instead of having to pause every few rows to tighten the work. On the whole, however, she enjoys the solitude. Outside her window, two stories below, she can hear the town bustling, the hills calling. Further still sounds the sea.

Soon the light will be gone and she’ll put it away her shuttle. First, she’d like to finish a band of openwork.

She picks her place carefully, hits the weft above it a few times for good measure, and begins. It’s to be diamonds, not quite the shape of the Jewel that has brought them safety but not far off either. Where each point begins, she twists the warp threads together, two twining on two, and secures each foursome with a knot in the weft. It’s like making a fishing net, the repetitive twists, loops, and ties.

When you weave, you have to know your position in the design. Elwing has never struggled with belonging. Sometimes she thinks could suffocate in it, like a flailing man in tidal flat quicksand, but that sort of melancholy is short-lived. She’d rather her children grow up here, where they are loved by people who have loved their like before, than in the West or Balar or any other haven on the face of the earth.

“I cannot promise your house will be safe,” she tells them, setting down her shuttle and examining her work. Seven diamonds, in a staggered semi-circle. They’ll become stars when she goes over it with embroidery thread, a facsimile of the holy Belaicritha. “It’s a good place though. A kind place; there are too few of those left.”

Still so much left to do! Babies are a trial to raise right.

Elwing finishes her weaving one month after her feet start to ache. The last few yards require an extra set of hands and she’s far too tired to do anything fancy. That must be saved for post-production.

Once she’s off her feet, the next stages can begin. Her panel of experienced human midwives have advised her to limit her activity, as twins are a challenge for human women and practically unheard of for elves (her mother had older twin sisters, but her most of her maternal family is dead). They’re worried the neck of her womb is too short, worried her pulse beats too hard, worried she hasn’t gained enough weight. Her children burn bright in the back of her mind, stars slowly turning into suns, but Elwing worries too.

Elven children are precious gems, shepherded and protected, and rarely lost. Out of the five half-elven children Elwing knows of, two have met horrible fates before the age of eight and two have been only children.

She wishes she’d asked Idril more about her history of miscarriage. She wishes her mother were here.

While Elwing takes meetings in the cobblestone courtyard that doubles as a laundry, she makes her children clothes. The baby wraps are tied off with tassels and over-embroidered, the gauzy spaces reinforced against curious little fingers. She knits warmer blankets of their rare wool, gathered from the semi-wild sheep who consent to be sheared once a year. These she makes durable, dyed the light blue the wood elves call elu.

With four yards of her best linen, she stitches together their shirts, carefully aligning the lay of the cloth so the drawn-thread embroidery will be even. The sleeves and collars are wide, with adjustable buttons, so they can grow into them as they age.

She stitches the outline of birds, sailing ships (just two triangles perpendicular), sprays of water creasting up, rosettes. With the tiny silver scissors that were part of her dower, a scrap of a city long toppled, she cuts away the weft inside.

With the leftovers she makes ribbons, handfuls of cutwork lace to tie back their hair or tie up their skirts.

“You do not have to do it alone,” she is cautioned, by many fronts.

“I know. But I want to. I want them to be wrapped up in my love.”

Her mother was a great weaver, despite her youth. Sometimes, when Elwing looks at her little nightdress, all that remains of a childhood she barely remembers, she wonders if Nimloth made it, pouring herself into every shimmering thread.

Elrond has little of his childhood, and less that has survived the years. His first sword was lost in a petty battle, his brother left of his own will. But there’s a scarf he keeps folded in a cedar chest…

It was Elros’ originally, he remembers that much. Elros screamed until they let him bring it. Maglor stripped their little linen shirts away a few months later, “they’re too small for big boys, he said, and it’s too cold here in the badlands”. What he did with them Elrond does not know. But Elros kept the scarf and since they slept together it served as comfort for the both of them. On such small children it could be a shawl, even a blanket.

The linen did not hold warmth well, especially not woven so full of holes. And it always smelled faintly of smoke, a scent that could bring them to tears on a bad day. It should not have been so reassuring, to come home and dig their fists into the burnished weave.

“It holds the talisman of the starsetter,” he’d tell his brother, “So it can chase monsters away.”

He said it so authoritatively, like it was a fact he’d always known.

When Elros went to Númenor he left it in Elrond’s care. “You are to be the one who remembers,” he said, “This is worth recording.”

“There are many ways of putting down a history,” Elrond protested, “Keep it for your children.”

“They might learn the story,” Elros insisted, “But they will never know the loneliness, not while I still breath. They will not understand, and I will not have it any other way.

When he attended on the King’s deathbed, he brought the scarf, yellowed with age.

Now it sits in a box.

He shows it to his children, because he wants them to understand fear, even if he hates the idea of them experiencing it. They nod solemnly but they don’t really know, and for that he’s glad.

One day, acting on an urge he cannot name, he shows it to Glorfindel. It’s become a habit to introduce him to all antiquities, on the off chance that he recognizes them, but Elrond doubts he’d know the provenance of a linen wrap.

“Ah, that’s Gondolin weaving!” he says brightly, “Though—hmm, I’m no expert in textiles, but the overwork seems Iathrim. And the linen is very grey; we preferred an eggshell if we couldn’t get marble white. Someone must have made this after I died.”

“Yes, it’s from Sirion.” At times, neutrality is the best one can strive for.

Glorfindel inspects it with renewed fervor, never touching the surface of the fabric (which still, after all these centuries, holds a slight sheen).

“It isn’t Princess Idril’s work,” he declares finally.

When he’s gone, Elrond does something he hasn’t since childhood, and buries his face in it.

Strange, maybe it’s the long years, or all the places it’s travelled. Maybe it’s how he’s grown. The smell of smoke has obviously faded from the linen in the past several millennia, but lingering behind it is the subtle scent of the sea.

Notes: I tried to mirror some of the Sindarin in Family Pulled From a Flood; Gwînd for Vairë, the Belaicritha for the Valacirca. The weaving and embroidery described is a combination of Peruvian gauze techniques adapted to an Attic loom and Hardanger embroidery.

[zealouswerewolfcollector]

for the choose violence ask game 🔪 18. it's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on... and/or 25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

18. it's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on…

Arafinwion and Nolofinwion dynamics pre and post first kinslaying, especially Fingon with Angrod and Aegnor.

The exodus of the elves to Valinor and the journey over the Helxaraxe. So many things might have happened on the road. The parallels of Finwe leading his people to paradise and his son Fingolfin leading them back through hell.

Finarfin's children and how they felt about their father turning back.

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

Varda shouldn't have/didn't have a right to bless the Silmaril. I didn't think it was so common, but I've been seeing this a lot lately.

First of all, I don't think anyone back then thought it was a big deal. I don't think even Feanor objected to it. I don't think Varda did it with malicious intent. The Silmaril were a magical thing that amazed everyone. The Valar are quasi-deities, so blessing something is just a thing they do. And if it isn't mentioned that she didn't ask Feanor before doing it, it doesn't mean that she didn't.

Also, why is it such a contentious subject? My guess is that it's because Varda blessing the Silmaril indirectly led to them burning Maedhros and Maglor's hands. A lot of people don't like it. But it was supposed to happen. It makes narrative sense. The thing they wanted most of all in the world, the thing they did so many terrible things for rejecting them was the only ending that makes sense. I think the Silmarils would have rejected them even if Varda hadn't blessed them. If they didn't, this would have been a very different book.

Thanks for the ask <3

ask game here

[imakemywings]

Wishing you peace and joy on this day, the day I noticed a post I saw of yours with like 6 notes yesterday now has over 31k as of this moment

I appreciate the peace and joy, can always use more of those.

If this is about that "indifference to personal grudge" ship post...I deleted both the original and my reblog with the comment so blessedly I no longer receive notifications about that one. It is now by far my most-reblogged post. And I still have a bit of a laugh going through the notes and seeing people rant about what sound like nonsense words to me.

[polutrope]

Ambarussa Appreciation

I have said before that I think Amrod and Amras have much untapped imaginative potential. But that's not to say there are no intrepid creators who have done marvellous work with the sixth and seventh sons of Fëanor. Here are some of them! Feel free to reblog this with additions of your own.

Fics

A Kind of Mercy by @aipilosse (T, 0.8k). Amras & Amrod. A haunting character study.

truth in a mirror by athenakarthagonensis (E, 4.4k). Amrod/OMC. Stunning prose and a dangerous lightly-toasted Amrod. The unique Green-elf POV is excellent.

The White Tower by Anna_Wing (not rated, 11.2k). Post-canon Elwing-focused fic (fascinating worldbuilding and musings on the nature of the Oath), but interesting and refreshing to see her interacting with the 'forgotten' Kinslayers.

Who By Fire by me (M, 4.9k). Amrod/Fingolfin. Two grief-raw souls connect at Mithrim. Lightly-toasted Amrod. cw: past attempted suicide, mental instability, injury, animal death.

The Same Blood by me (T, 1k). Amras and Amrod's relationship feels the strain of what they have been through. Follow-up to the previous fic.

as a mist of light, chapter 12 by @swanmaids (T, ficlet). Amras finds a way to cope after the fire. Crispy Amrod. cw: self harm.

We Shared Everything by @cuarthol (M, 2.2k). Amras and Amrod shared everything, until they didn't. Crispy Amrod. Fantastic use of first person (plural and singular).

Dénouement by @sallysavestheday (G, 0.9k). Amrod/Aredhel, post-canon. Two people who were killed by people they love find understanding in each other. Crispy Amrod.

A Name by @skyeventide (G, 1k). Beautiful and impactful musings on identity, pulling from the convoluted and complex names associated with these two. Lightly-toasted Amrod.

The Seven Trials of Fingon the Valiant, chapter 6 by me and @melestasflight (T, ~2k). Something lighter! The twins seduce Fingon.

Art

There is actually a pretty rich array of fanart of Amrod and Amras. Here are just a few of my favourites.

Amras and Amrod by @wisesnail

Amras and Amrod by @welcomingdisaster

Amrod threatens Elrond and Elros by @runawaymun, a chilling commission for my fic And Love Grew

Amrod by @myceliumelium

Amras and Maedhros by @redbootsindoriath

Amrod by @tabukomi

Ambarussa by @thelien-art

Ambarussa by @spvce-oddity

Maedhros, Celegorm, Amrod, Amras by @albuum

Any finally some HoMe quotes about the twins, who get so little in the published Silm.

325 [525] Torment fell upon Maidros and his brethren, because of their unfulfilled oath. Damrod and Díriel resolved to win the Silmaril, if Eärendel would not give it up willingly. […] 329 [529] Here Damrod and Díriel ravaged Sirion, and were slain. Maidros and Maglor were there, but they were sick at heart.  From 'The Later Annals of Beleriand' in The Lost Road

"The two twins were both red-haired. Nerdanel gave them both the name Ambarussa - for they were much alike and remained so while they lived. When Fëanor begged that their names should at least be different Nerdanel looked strange, and after a while said: 'Then let one be called [Ambarto >] Umbarto, but which, time will decide."

"The twins called each other Ambarussa. The name Ambarto/Umbarto was used by [?no one]. The twins remained alike, but the elder grew darker in hair, and was more dear to his father. After childhood they [?were not to be] confused…" From 'The Shibboleth of Fëanor' in The Peoples of Middle-earth

[undercat-overdog]

Once upon a time, the brilliant @aipilosse and I realized that Annatar's name could be abbreviated as "Atar". We subsequently dub-conned each other into writing daddy kink. The result of this was the series (ann)Atar. Some fics in the series are also tagged with RoP, since they were inspired by show leaks (but written before it aired).

Previously in the anon collection, now unanon.

Atar - Like us, Celebrimbor realizes how Annatar's name can be shortened. Rough sex, a headhopping pov, and many "Oh, Atar"s ensue.

Atar Knows Best - teasing leads to rough blow jobs. We researched citrus horticulture for this.

Adar - genuinely one of my favorite fics that either Aipi or I have ever written and I'm proud of it. Inspired by learning that the show would have a character named Adar. Exactly 16969 words of smutty brilliance with... well, with lots of kinks. Sauron gets fucked in this one. He also disturbs dust motes to give himself a halo.

Gil-adar - inspired by another summer show leak, in which Gil-galad's actor said the character sees himself as something of a father for Middle-earth. Gil-daddy comes to Eregion to take control of two naughty boys, impact play in the first (and so-far only) chapter ensues. Solo written by myself.

Grown-up Conversations - Tyelpe gets himself into trouble, yet again. This one anticipated Haladriel. Omorashi and snotty, snobby Celebrimbor. Also jokes about threesomes with Turin. Solo written.

[starspray]

Was tagged by @grundyscribbling to share a WIP snippet--I don't think there are any other rules, so here's a bit:

Thingol frowned, taken aback. “Does Celegorm Fëanorion often visit your halls, Dior Eluchíl?” “Often enough,” Dior said, straightening and meeting Thingol’s gaze calmly. “The Kinslayings are not forgotten, but have been long forgiven.” So Ingwë had said; Thingol had not paid much heed at the time. He had not expected to hear it again from Dior. “Would Finwë not wish that his children and yours would be friends?” “If his children had not murdered mine,” said Thingol.

Idk who else has been tagged already so, gonna tag @dangerously-human @aipilosse @cuarthol and anyone else who'd like to!

[myslashyvalentine]

❤ MSV 2024 Collection is Open!❤

Happy Valentine’s day!

Congratulations to our new writers who completed their first swap! Thanks as well to all our veteran writers who continue to participate and make this swap a vibrant part of the Tolkien community. 

My Slashy Valentine 2024: The Master List!

AdmirableMonster wrote A Light Beneath Frozen Water for JazTheBard

Aglarien wrote Rosemary for Remembrance for Tethys_resort

Aipilosse wrote Star-kissed for undercat

Ally/steadfastalysanne2022 wrote Always Waiting For You Just to Cut to the Bone for AdmirableMonster

Argleena wrote Coming Back to You for Aglarien

Bird/ingenious_spark wrote Knit Together for raiyana

BloodwingBlackbird wrote Winter glowed on her leaves for HewerOfCaves

bluehair wrote Tell Me No for Aipilosse

Branka/LadywithaQuill wrote New Beginnings for senalishia

ChrissyStriped wrote Sharing Everything for Jade/Elladansgirl

cílil wrote Herald, Hero, Muse for Maironite

Cirilla/FakeCirilla9 wrote Falling star for Ally/steadfastalysanne2022

Cissy/Lost_inMiddleearth wrote If I Could Make Days Last Forever for phyncke

Elentarial/BaccaratBlack wrote The Forlorn for bluehair

elfscribe wrote And With Him Was Elrond for tabru

Elio/eliogardens wrote Uprooting for Kay/seregons

Ettelenë/firstamazon wrote Under Unclouded Stars for mangacrack

Fey/ThatFeanorian write With Song Meant Only For You and I for Torpi

forelevenses wrote to be alone with you for Luciann/Lucigoo89

Frances/Melusine6619 wrote Anniversary Celebration for RaisingCaiin

Gilithlin wrote Crescendo for elfscribe

Heather/indestructibleplum wrote Phantom Pains for Nuredhel

Heather/ohboromir wrote Hope for yletylyf

Helholden wrote Under the Stars, Above the Sun for Katrina/lemurious

HewerOfCaves wrote White Daffodil for IDNMT/I_did_not_mean_to

IDNMT/I_did_not_mean_to wrote Mix & Match for Zhie

IgnobleBard wrote Friendship Like The Holly Tree for Marchwriter

Jade/Elladansgirl wrote One Night With A King for Branka/LadywithaQuill

JazTheBard wrote Five Meetings for Ruinel

Katrina/lemurious wrote Fair They Wrought Us for Helholden

Kay/seregons wrote I Pledge My Heart to Thy Doom for sallysavestheday

Kefi/EclecticKefi wrote Our Gentle Sin for Kit/kitkatkaylie

Kit/kitkatkaylie wrote Youthful regrets for Lilithsea

Kristen/Harp_of_Gold wrote day will come for Chrissystriped

likethenight wrote the distraction or the force for Argleena

Lillithsea wrote The King of the Greenwood for Elentarial/BaccaratBlackLithgaeril wrote What to Make of This for Kefi/EclecticKefi

Luciann/Lucigoo89 wrote Two Lives Will Be Spared This Day for octopus_fool

lynndyre wrote There and Back Again for Ignoblebard

maglor-my-beloved wrote Of Farewells for Ettelenë/firstamazon

Maironite wrote Ready To Fall for Cilil

mangacrack wrote the home where I belong the most for reindeer_pizza

Marchwriter wrote All That Is Gold for likethenight

Mawgy wrote To the Victor Goes the Spoils for Gilithlin

NiennaWept wrote peaches we devour, dusty skin and all for thurinngwethil

Nuredhel wrote The flower and the flute for Whimsy/a_world_of_whimsy

octopus_fool wrote Thrush and Stag for lynndyre

phyncke wrote The King's Cabin for Frances/Melusine6619

RaisingCaiin wrote to warm my bed for Mawgy

reindeer_pizza wrote The King's Treasure for Skaelds

Ruiniel wrote Ára for Verecunda

sallysavestheday wrote Let Not My Love Be Called Idolatry for skywardstruck/tomefaired

❤sallysavestheday wrote Op. 1: Serenade for Bow and Axe for red_lasbelin

Senalishia wrote Cut Straight to the Heart for starlightwalking

Skaelds wrote you better not kill the groove for Elio/eliogardens

skywardstruck/tomefaired wrote show me the limits of your deceit for Tathrin

starlightwalking wrote Lazy Day for forelevenses

Tabru wrote Elrond and the King for visitor/lonelyvisitor

❤Talullah Red wrote Snowflight for BloodwingBlackbird

Tathrin wrote A Testing of Wills for Kristen/Harp_of_Gold

Tethys_resort wrote Two in Shadows for NiennaWept

thuringwethil wrote between my fingers, she leaves, then she lingers for  Cissy/Lost_inMiddleearth

Torpi wrote Ripe Fruit for Fey/ThatFeanorian

undercat wrote Comfort from a Heavy Hand for Heather/ohboromir

Verecunda wrote All the Luck in the World for Heather/Indestructibleplum

visitor/lonelyvistor wrote one whole with my other for Lithgaeril

Whimsy/a_world_of_whimsy wrote In the beginning for Cirilla/FakeCirilla9

yletylyf wrote Another Way for Bird/ingenious_spark

Zhie wrote Minuet for Basalt_Serpent

❤Zhie wrote His Father's Son for maglor_beloved

❤ Zhie wrote Very Welcome Visitor for Indestructibleplum

—————

❤ denotes a pinch hit or a treat. Thank you to our pinch hitters, Talullah Red and Zhie; they made sure everyone got a Valentine's Day story (or two). Sallysavestheday also wrote a treat for me!!!

If you need a link to the entire collection, it is right here: 2024 My Slashy Valentine

[meadowlarkx]

Some March fic recs!

For Tolkien Fanfic Reading Month! Limiting myself to stories I read in March (but posted anytime). (header by Anna Zakharova on Unsplash)

picnic by @swanmaids - A bored and reckless Aredhel goes to Vána's orchards seeking adventure and has an experience. This lush and sexy fic feels like a warm summer afternoon. I love how seductive and eerie Vána is here!

Kiss and Marry by @thecoolblackwaves - Have you ever looked at Celegorm and Curufin and thought, "They should be the stars of a romcom"? No? This fic is here to reveal that wonder to you.

弄假成真 by Divano_Messiah - Maglor has been telling people at school that he has a boyfriend. Maedhros is jealous until he learns who it is. (I admit I read this via google translate, you can too...)

Envy by @polutrope - In Tirion, Maglor and Elemmírë struggle to handle each other's reputations with equanimity. The people around them try to respond. This fic is so funny and sweet--I love this take on Elemmírë and Fëanor's guest appearance is hilariously him.

Youthful Regrets by kitkatkaylie - Turgon and Maglor fall in love in Valinor before Turgon's engagement to Elenwë. I really like the personality contrasts of this ship, with Turgon opening up to Maglor, and how this story sketches out their relationship through the whole arc of Silm to its bitter separation.

I risk my life to make my name by @maironsbigboobs - The brave knight Galadriel goes on a journey to meet the Green Woman Melian and her fate, ft. adventures along the way. I love how Tolkien is blended with Arthurian conventions here--it works so well and brings out the myth vibes of Silm that I love so much!

Strange Currencies chapter 12 by @jouissants - This is such a beautifully-crafted tale in every regard, but I want to especially mention this flashback chapter I read in March, covering Maedhros' and Maglor's voyage on the swan ships up to just before Fëanor's death. The horror of the Fëanorian Noldor arriving in the dark with their distrust, inflated ego, and total lack of knowledge of Middle-earth comes through here so, so vividly--this part can be read by itself, go check it out!!

Oubliette by Stramonium - Horrifying and so vividly written scene of Maedhros in Angband, isolation, and monstrosity. Poetic and awful, I can't do it justice in summarizing it.

arrangement for flute and harp by @jouissants - Maedhros is determined to work late, so Maglor and Fingon decide to entertain each other. The Himring atmosphere and incredible character dynamics make this also really sexy smut such a wonderful story.

whatever you would crave by @eight-pointed-star - Sooo sexy ficlet in which Fingon and Maedhros attend to Maglor's Needs. Short but immensely powerful.

scherzo for ink and parchment by @dovewifes - Charming and comedic missives exchanged between Maedhros and Maglor during the Long Peace, ft. romantic endearments and the invention of emojis. Maedhros' so-apparent love for Maglor is something I especially cherish about this fun fic.

Star-kissed by @aipilosse - Celeborn of Doriath rescues recently-of-Gondolin (and silver-haired!) Celebrimbor from a predicament in Nan Dungortheb. Incredibly clever, funny, and hot!

Purification by @zealouswerewolfcollector - Thingol is curious about Maedhros: throne sex ensues. A favorite ship of mine in a flavor I'd never considered. Incredibly intense and super well-written.

Comfort from a Heavy Hand by @undercat-overdog - After the Bragollach, Mablung tends to an injured Beleg, and they seek comfort together. The wreckage and destruction of the battle feels so vivid in this one, and the dynamic of Beleg/Mablung as past teacher and student (and current battle companions) is wonderful.

Thou knowest to-night, and wilt know to-morrow by @welcomingdisaster - A brilliant installment in an ongoing Children of Húrin AU series that has the most beautiful, unsettling, and dreamlike atmosphere. In this fic Maedhros teaches "Cáno" about pleasure in preparation for their marriage bed. Catnip to me personally!!

Proxy by @aipilosse - Celebrimbor comes to reproach Celegorm in Nargothrond after Finrod's departure. They fuck. Gender, tension, messy and complicated emotional dynamics all around. The dirty talk is so so good.

Star of the Nevrast Shore by joanofarcstan - Silmarillion filk of one of my favorite folk songs! What more is there to say!! A sweet tale of Gondolin told from Voronwë's point of view, recounting the love between him, Tuor (the star of the Nevrast shore), Idril, and Maeglin.

A Light Burns in the Forest by fictional_hr_department - Thranduil and Oropher escape Menegroth with child Elwing. The title and art by @lycheesodas give me chills and the atmosphere of the fic as they make their disorienting journey to Sirion really brings to life the terrible aftermath of the second kinslaying.

By Your Side by HiyoriTomioka - fem!Eärendil and Elwing support each other in this ficlet... such a good vision of this ship, and the way Eärendil thinks about Tuor and Idril here with longing uncertainty makes me think of a trans!Eärendil even though that is not explicit.

Something Sleepless in Mirkwood by @imakemywings - Thranduil sickens as the Greenwood does. Elrond tries to heal him, but can't understand at first what's happening. Brilliant and canon-compliant (To Me) wry, proud, and eerie woodland king Thranduil--go give this a read!

A boat, my boat, out upon the River by Tethys_resort - Sméagol is trying to craft his own boat to take fishing. His family keeps getting in the way. This sweet fic paints such an idyllic picture of proto-Hobbit life and made me really feel the tragedy of Gollum.

The Fortress by TheLegendCreator - Brief and haunting fic in which a Dwarf visits the ruins of Himring and they have a conversation. I love the view this offers of Maedhros and the fierce loyalty Himring and its folk had for him.

one whole with my other by @i-am-a-lonely-visitor - Indis' marriage to Finwë is transferred to bind her instead to reembodied Míriel. This turns out to be a good thing. An incredibly touching, beautifully wrought and worldbuilt story. I just love it so much.

The Number One Exercise for Relieving Work-Related Stress (Click to Find Out!) by @imakemywings - Date night in Mirkwood. Maglor (Noldorin princess, ex-kinslayer) adorns herself for the benefit of Thranduil (the Elvenqueen)--or that's her plan, anyway. This story is so sexy, so funny, and honestly so touching. I just adore this ship as a happy ending for Maglor and their relationship is gorgeously fleshed out here.

Cousin, Sister, Lover, Queen by broken_pencils - Lesbian Éowyn discovers desire... through Éomer's betrothed Lothíriel. Lothíriel is a stealth fav for me from the Éomer fics I used to read as a kid and I really enjoyed her here, and the lush atmosphere of this story.

His Return by @danmeiljie - Beautiful, tender scene of Maedhros and Maglor reuniting as per @tari-cua's art. Such lovely descriptions in this one and so cozy.

[ardafanonarch]

So, do we know who’s really the tallest, Thingol, Turgon or Maedhros? Or someone else?

@aipilosse did a great summary of the evidence on this recently.

tl;dr: It's between Thingol, Turgon, and the pseudo-canonical fourth child of Fingolfin, Argon.

The only other contender, whom some fans include in the running for tallest, comes from the very early Lost Tales: a lord of Gondolin named Penlod is described as "tallest of the Gnomes" (The History of Middle-earth Vol. 2: The Book of Lost Tales II, 'The Fall of Gondolin').

Maedhros is just regular tall.

[thuringwedhil]

Danse Macabre (dɑːns məˈkɑːb(rə))

the Dance of Death

Hello hello, @aipilosse !! as your @officialtolkiensecretsanta of this year i wish you a merry christmas and hope you have an amazing day !! (as always, please do click on the pictures to view them at full quality)

[gwaedhannen]

End of Year Fic Recs

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

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

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

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

Open tag courtesy of @grey-gazania. No-pressure tagging everyone here and anyone else who wants to participate.

All Tolkien stuff. Mind the tags on AO3. Nothing Explicit but some Mature.

5 series/multichapter fics:

1. sir, take it easy by @exercise-of-trust (Maglor, Finrod, Celegorm, Maglor/Maglor's Wife)

“I thought you were adamant that no music was bad. And what would do you suggest, that we go back to Ráincë’s parallels in fifth, or Ambalincë’s discant exercises in fourth? Those were old before either of us were born, and you know it.” “I am not saying it is bad. I am saying that to me it sounds like all the fiends of Morgoth, but worse, because the fiends of Morgoth were not taking a clausula I wrote for my parents’ anniversary and mangling it. However, as its inclusion in this anthology shows, there are other people who like it, and while I do not understand it, I am not about to give up my Neldor or my Palecéva because the wind of scholarly opinion has blown against them from time to time.”

2. Spun by Grace by SpaceWall (Galadriel, Lúthien, Maeglin)

“Did you see them? The kinslayers who took your Nana? Who tried to take you?” “Ada says I did, but I don’t remember them. I don’t remember anything, except Nana screaming.” “Did your Ada say anything after? Aside from telling you to hide and stay safe.” The child nodded, bravely, and said in as clear a voice as he could manage. “He said they took Nana because she was bad. He said she was a kinslayer like them, and I had kinslayer blood in me, and they’d take me too if I wasn’t good.”

3. An Oral History of Dying in the Dagor Bragollach by Beleriand Death Trip (too many characters to list)

Please note that all participants were recently rehoused, but not extremely recently (this is regarded as unethical in our field). They have all had the opportunity to reflect on historical events after their death, both during their stay in the Halls and after being rehoused. We do not regard this as “contamination” of their recollection for our purposes, but rather as part of the normal process of narrative formation.

4. Foresight by @aotearoa20 (Fëanor and sons)

“He’s so small,” he said, not softly, “Such a beautiful baby.” “I know. He’s mine.” Fëanáro glared, he dared not do anything else. “You should appreciate it while it lasts,” when he smiled and the scar on his lip twisted strangely, “He’ll not be either for long.”

5. The Hazards of Love by @aipilosse (Finrod/Amarië, Anairë, Findis, Elwing)

Excerpt from The Empty House by Vatharwë Lelyindë held herself straight and tall, undaunted by Helluinon’s greater height. “You, my Lord, are free to live as you would, but others bear chains you cannot see. You speak of oaths and bonds, and yet you must see that when an oath comes in conflict, it is yours that is always the greater, and the other party must always acquiesce. So it is with me, so was it with your mother, your younger brother, and even your dearest friend!

5 single-chapter fics/one-shots:

Raised by Wolves by @warrioreowynofrohan (Elrond, Elros, Gil-Galad, Maglor, Maedhros)

“I hate him, and I do not hate him. Or, I do not hate him for cruelties. I hate him for kindnesses.”

2. The Hope of Love: Eärendil and Elwing as Symbols of Romance in Popular Culture by @imakemywings (Elwing/Eärendil)

Capping off these mesmerizing performances is Elwing’s final speech to the Teleri of Aman, a moment so fascinating that it has become the basis of many other dramatic confrontations throughout popular media. Almost anyone will recognize the line “I plead my hope,” or even its more extended version “Oh ye of foreign shores, I plead my hope. Let my home not be crushed ‘neath the boot of Bauglir,” even with no familiarity with the film. The passion of Torthoriel’s performance here has brought many a moviegoer to tears and captures a moment few had before bothered with—Elwing’s part in gaining the aid of Aman.

3. the bones of small contention by @quixoticanarchy (Celegorm, Oromë)

“You see, evil haunts a hungry man. If he eats his fill, he is called immoral; if he refuses, he will starve honorably. But free is the man who realizes that there is no satiety to be had, and equally there is no reward waiting in starvation. If my end shall be evil regardless, then my deeds matter not. I may eat as I please, and in that transgression, I find some shadow of liberation. A kind of laughter, almost - a light and wild feeling, like the moment after releasing an arrow, or the moment after the plunge off a cliff. You would not understand.”

4. all the daughters of my father's house (and all the brothers too) by Chestnut_pod (Fin-Galad)

These are the things ladies are, in the songs that are told of Finduilas and Niënor, her mirror: Love. Beauty. Laughter. Inconstance. Haunting. Sorrow. Screaming. Silence. In fact, the tales are not told of them. They are merely there. Many songs are written of Gil-Galad. Centuries after his death, Hobbit-children learn to sing of him.

5. Fire From The Ashes by @herenortherenearnorfar (Nienna, a Balrog)

“There is a terrible pain to conciousness,” Nienna acknowledges. She has not yet let go. “I just want to be an instrument.” Coals glow bright for a moment in the wind and then fade. “I was made to remake worlds, not feel this guilt.”

5 oldies but goodies (fair warning these are all liable to make you cry):

1. The legacy of a failure by from_the_wood (Frodo, Merry's Granddaughter, Merry, Pippin, Sam)

That's the thing with despair: it wants to erase everything, all of you, all that had been, or could have been - kind word, memory, hope for the future - but it cannot do so. It cannot. It should not.

2. An Oral History of the End of Innocence by @ceescedasticity (House of Olwë, Galadriel)

I think Hawser Road probably had the highest proportion of… Noldor swung their swords at a moving group and hit Noldor. Lindar shot arrows into crowds and hit Lindar. Noldor tried to ride down Lindar and also rode down Noldor. Lindar trying to get away trampled Lindar. Torches everywhere — I have never been so grateful the city is mostly stone, but wagons set on fire, sheds and stalls and barrels set on fire, there were some wooden additions… Panicked horses. Panicked cows, of all things, who brings cows when you're fleeing the gods to fight another god. There was so much screaming.

3. The One With All The Birds by @clothonono (Elwing/Eärendil, Elrond, Nerdanel, Sons of Fëanor)

What was her desire? "I desire my father, given back to me again," she said. "And my mother, and my brothers too. And my people, and my home, and all the years of my children's lives. Can the Lords of the West grant me this?" No one answered. Everyone knew the answer. "Equally I might desire that my enemy be punished. Let him go to the Halls of Mandos, whence none escape. Let me know that he is prisoned, so that I may gladly walk free." Is this your desire? "No," said Elwing. "I already told you my desire. Let justice be done. There is no vengeance that will satisfy me; there is no redress that can restore to me my father, my mother, my brothers, my home, and my children. There is nothing I want that he or you can give to me."

4. To Love What Is Mortal by @astridbecks (Lúthien/Thuringwethil)

Splintering pain as she was torn apart, yet as she parted beneath the hands of Lúthien there was a curious want mingled with the agony – strip me of this darkness, lay bare my soul, remake me – break me – and she had known pain before, had always known pain, but this was new and different and somehow right. (hurt me, because I deserve it. break me and make me as clean as you.)

5. woman into bird by @arrivisting (Elwing/Eärendil, Idril, Tuor, Elrond, Elros)

This is the best gift parents doomed to die can give their half-elven children, after all: to spare them the sight of their ends.

5 of mine from 2023:

1. Kill the Flame (Galadriel, the whole 3rd Finwean generation)

For Angrod, laughing at everything and everyone. You were an ass but you were our ass. You taught me patience, however little you meant to! For Aegnor, firebrand of our family. You saved me when the cold of the Ice tore into my heart. From you, I learned when to burn, and when to smoulder. For Finrod, dearest brother. What can I say? What words would suffice? Your ring’s bearer is worthy of his ancestors. I miss you. I miss you I miss you I miss you I miss you I miss you.

2. The Myth Hanging Heavy Over You (Elrond & Elwing)

He sends radiant wings, dark hair streaked with silver, a queen’s pride, laughter among the waves, lembas, handkerchiefs. He receives home, with such ardentness that he weeps for a week.

3. Sorrow Beyond Words, Collected Testimony of the War of Wrath (Finarfin, Lalwen)

The Valar said that he could no longer twist elves into orcs even by the time of his first imprisonment, but from the conditions there, from the bodies we pulled out…I don’t think he cared. Every torture, every debasement, every abomination against the Eruchîn that could be imagined. For each we thought might survive if we got them to the surface, there were five who wouldn’t, and ten corpses.

4. Shall we look at the moon, my little loon? (Aerin, Aerin's mother)

Aerin stands in her mother’s dress before the looking glass, eyes unseeing. Hitheth adorns her with the jewelry which will be her dowry, the only riches of her house, the last gift of the elves who vanished into the mists as if they never were.

5. Still-untitled "What if Fëanor took the Helcaraxë" AU (Círdan, Thingol (for now))

It's still Y.T. 1497. Morgoth hasn't had centuries to innovate his siege technology, but Círdan's cities also haven't been rebuilt with Noldor walls. The Grey Annals says Fëanáro's host arrives some seven solar years after Melian raises the Girdle. (Yes if we go by the usual "1 tree year = 9.582 solar years" then it could've been upwards of 25 solar years since the Darkening in 1495 before the landing at Losgar.) (I hate Tolkien's timelines sometimes.)

[imakemywings]

I THOUGHT YOU WERE JOKING ABOUT THE 'ELROND CALLING ELWING A CUNT' thing. But here I am, a newbie just going through fics one after the other of Elwing being called so many names and being humiliated, while the kidnap fam is uplifted. WHAT IS GOING ON. I could smell misogynistic from a mile away holy moly. But I have read your fics (I FUCKING LOVE IT) and I want more. May I also ask for some ELWING FIC RECS.

Oh no, that was a very literal example. My heart goes out to you in this difficult time of unfortunate realizations, anon.

But I am delighted to share some quality Elwing fic! ╰(*°▽°*)╯ (And thank you, I'm glad you liked mine!)

And by their blazing signify that a great princess falls, but doth not die by TheLionInMyBed is an absolutely phenomenal look at Elwing's last moments in Sirion.

The One with All the Birds by clothono and yes I know this one comes up every time I'm asked for Elwing recs, but it really is so delightful, and all the other characters who appear in it are so well-characterized and engaging. The bizarre connection that Elwing and Nerdanel share, both waiting for their children to return, is so interesting!

Elwing's Strategy by lifeisyetfair is another examination of why Elwing chose as she did in Sirion. Both Elwing and Maedhros are characterized so well, it's delicious.

The Carriage Held but Just Ourselves by StarSpray is an exploration of the line of Melian and Thingol's relationship with death. The whole fic is fantastic, but chapter 3 specifically deals with Elwing.

Elvenkings by am_fae is such a beautiful and sad look at the Doriathrim after the fall of the kingdom. It focuses on several characters, but Elwing is one of them and it handles her so well!

A Fish Hook, an Open Eye by simaetha is a tasty, dark Elwing/f!Maglor where things don't go quite according to plan when Maglor comes to negotiate with Elwing in Sirion.

Après Moi, le Déluge by HerenorThereNearnorFar is such a heartbreaking and tender look at Elwing's relationship with her children.

The Longed For That Cometh Beyond Hope by am_fae does an excellent job capturing the energy of the moments just after Earendil and Elwing secure the Valar's aid against Morgoth.

Was Dancing There by StarSpray is a quick, sweet look at Elrond's childhood with Elwing in Sirion and what remains of the heritage of the Doriathrim.

A Fiend in Feline Shape by Aipilosse deals with the house of Dior and Nimloth generally; Elwing is not the focus, but she is in it, and it's a delightful fic.

Less Flesh than Stone by crackinthecup is the confrontation in Aman that Elwing deserves with Maedhros.

Ebb and Flow by swanmaiden. Elwing is feeling the strain of her pregnancy and Earendil is so gallant as to help her out how he can. I really love how this fic shows the support these two had from their community in Sirion.

Joy is a Bird, a Fragile Thing by estuarie is a deeply touching reunion between Elwing and Elrond in Valinor TT_TT

Friendship and Stern Demand by polutropos is a fantastic look at the correspondence between Elwing and Maedhros prior to the Third Kinslaying.

From the Ones Who Came Before by Kirta is a great look at Elwing and Earendil's life growing up in the Havens. I am always a fan of childhood friends-to-lovers Starwing.

How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful by swanmaids is a great series of scenes of Earendil and Elwing and their life in Sirion, and dealing with the trauma of their childhood.

A Light Burns in the Forest by tinnurin is about how Elwing escaped Menegroth during the Second Kinslaying with Oropher and Thranduil. Really captures how terrifying and chaotic the assault on Doriath would have been.

We Build Castles with Our Fears and Sleep in Them Like Kings and Queens by TheLionInMyBed is more about Idril, but it does also take a look at Idril's relationship with Elwing.

So Summer Comes by potatoesanddreams does a beautiful job of exploring how Elwing's trauma and grief sometimes make it hard for her to be present for her kids while remaining sympathetic.

A Loss of Something I Ever Felt by Arriviste is a fic about Finarfin, but section 4 has his meeting Elwing and Earendil, and it is overall such a beautiful and well-written fic.

At the Water's Edge by crackinthecup takes a look at Elwing's relationship with Idril and what they share in terms of traumatic experiences.

Coastin' by swanmaiden. Heather handles these characters with such love and it really shows! Earendil is always looking to please his wife ;D

Beacon by polutropos has that yummy Starwing reunion smut after Earendil returns to port. A really fun married couple dynamic here!

For Elwing positivity in general I have to @swanmaids because she is the #1 Elwing stan that I know of, so if you want a blog to follow which is 100% pro-Elwing, there she is!