#also how Elrond is chill about the first one

[red-dead-sakharine]

Elves reacting to dwarves throwing food

I can't be the first one to gif this, right? But I couldn't find it on a quick search. So have some elves reacting to dwarves being dwarves...

[thesummerestsolstice]

The voyage west at the end of Return of the King is extremely funny to me, because just look at who's on board. You've got:

Frodo Baggins, hero of the Shire, in need of healing but also excited to see Valinor and meet the legendary elves who live there, a gentle soul

Elrond Halfelven, as kind as a summer, looking forward to peace west of the sea, probably wants to go chill out in a cottage with his wife for the next thousand years

Which seems fine. And then we get to everyone else.

Gandalf, cheeky bastard who's gotten so used to being a weird old wizard in Middle-Earth that's he's forgotten what Maia are supposed to act like, will immediately cause problems

Bilbo Baggins, noted storyteller, definitely planning to break into Aule's halls to see his dwarf friends, will ask all the elves weird questions and then sing about their lives and deaths in front of them, will immediately cause problems

Galadriel, who came to Aman half for Celebrian and Elrond's sake and half to taunt all her cousins about being the only one of them to survive the First Age, enjoys causing problems, will immediately cause many problems

(Also, to be clear, these are not three isolated problem-causers, they absolutely spent the entire trip to Valinor actively planning to give Amanyar society and the Valar an aneurysm.)

I just love the idea of Elrond, now reunited with Celebrian, and Frodo happily having tea with Elwing and Earendil, with nothing to interrupt them but the gentle sounds of the tides.

Meanwhile Galariel, Bilbo, and Gandalf are collectively bullying Mandos into releasing Maglor Feanorian from the halls because:

Bilbo wants to read him his translation of the Noldolante, which is written as a cheery Hobbit drinking song

Elrond always complained about how Gandalf and Maglor were both insufferably vague about advice and Gandalf needs to make sure he's more infuriating than Maglor as a matter of his wizardly pride

He still owes Galadriel money

[live-laugh-legolas]

Hiiiiii omg your head canons for the fellowship are so cuttteeee I love it. Do you think you could write how the members of the fellowship would be around a character who has a dragon companion? I’m sorry I know that is soooo weird but I literally love dragons so much and Lotr so y’know. Preferably a f reader or just Gn. Sorry if that’s weird and no pressure!!!!🫶🫶

What a fun prompt! I’ve literally thought about this before. I’m picturing you show up at Rivendell just casually with your dragon. Totally breathes fire because that’s cool as shit.

How the Fellowship reacts to a dragon companion

Aragorn:

-Has to do a double take

-wtf

-He’s a chill dude, but this feels unhinged

-He will introduce himself with you only once you’re not with your fire friend

-Once you introduce the two he’s back to his chill self and act like this is totally normal

Legolas:

-Fascinated, and immediately introduces himself to you and your dragon

-Elves have a way with nature and animals so I don’t think he would be scared

-Wary, maybe, but he just wants to pet it

-He sees is as a big puppy

-Will tell you a billion dragon facts

Gimli:

-Listen, dwarves have a bad record with dragons

-Doesn’t trust you, and certainly can’t believe the “beast” could be friendly

-Keeps his distance and is definitely a bit cold to you like he is to Legolas, at first

-He eventually warms up to you but still doesn’t like your companion

-The dragon wouldn’t hurt him, but he doesn’t know that, and the dragon totally takes advantage of that and will scare him

-“I don’t like the way it looks at me”

-Big “it don’t bite, yes it do!” energy

Boromir:

-I just feel like he would not care

-He would be casual about it like the cave troll

-Totally sees the advantage of having a literal fucking dragon on their team

-Talks to it like a person

Frodo:

-You thought his eyes were big before? Well guess what? They are literal saucers

-Mostly knows only of Smaug so he doesn’t have a particularly positive view on the species

-But he’s also nothing if not curious

-Asks you so many questions

-This I think applies to all the hobbits except maybe Sam, but it would be so cute if they cuddled up with the dragon at night to keep warm

Sam:

-Big nope

-He’s heard Bilbo’s stories

-His main priority is keeping Frodo safe

-Probably wouldn’t warm up until he saw Frodo petting it with a big smile

-Would ask if it wants a bowl of stew when you all settle for the night

-Worried it might eat him if he doesn’t keep it fed

Merry:

-Guess what?! You now have a new biggest fan! Congrats!

-No fear in this hobbit

-Maybe that’s not a good thing, but he’s a confident boy

-“Hypothetically how would one go about acquiring such a creature?” “You can’t have a dragon Merry” “…I was asking for a friend”

-Will brag about knowing you and that he’s friends with a dragon when they eventually get back to the shire

Pippin:

-?????

-So confused

-He must have smoked too much and is now hallucinating

-Once he gets over that shock, he’s probably the type to watch from afar, but weary to ask to pet it

-“Do you think we could roast marshmallows with its breath?”

-It’s a genuine question. And yes, the answer is yes

-That is if you like your marshmallows burnt and basically disintegrated

Gandalf:

-He probably invited you to the council

-Wary because he knows what dragons are capable of, but trusts you so therefore he trusts your judgment

-He’s got his eagles, you’ve got your dragon, unstoppable duo

*Bonus Elrond:

-“Um…whatcha got there?” “A smoothie”

-Wouldn’t let you in until Gandalf convinced him

-Then he just decides he’s seen so much shit that he shouldn’t even be surprised anymore by anything

I definitely don’t love all of these answers, some feel ooc, so as always I may edit when I get a different idea. It’s like how my mind will be blank when doing an assignment but the second I submit it I have so many better answers

[annoyinglandmagazine]

‘more dangerous and less wise’ I’m sorry WHAT!? Is Tolkien seriously trying to tell us that the freaking Sindar are the feral ones out of all the Elven races? After the entire First Age? As for more dangerous, Galadriel is still here. You know, Feanor 2.0 the only one that actually survived. Using the Elven metric for being batshit insane yes, Mirkwood is weird, but not swearing blood oaths, setting everything on fire, murdering everyone in sight, telling the gods to go fuck themselves, challenging gods to one on one combat insane.

The line of Oropher isn’t even Thingol levels of mental. They’ve never even touched a silmaril or a ring of power! They’re downright sensible by first age standards! They’re arrogant sure, they have low self preservation instincts and seem pretty xenophobic (dwarf stuff). Also depending on your point of view there might be colonist undertones. All of which is just toned down versions of the First Age Sindar. They probably have developed weird customs from living in the murder forest so long and being pretty isolated but there’s nothing to indicate they’re all that bad. I mean they’re still alive and they’re holding on to their kings at a relatively steady rate.

I absolutely agree with takes going around that this is some sort of deliberate protection technique they have to ward off trespassers and that Thranduil is sitting there in his cave coming up with rumours to spread about all the messed up things they do to people. Because in the book they seem kind of chill? And this becomes a million times more funny to me if he bases the rumours off stuff he heard about from Elrond.

As in ‘Yeah we totally eat giant spider meat, that’s definitely a thing we do,’ and everyone’s reacting as horrified and scared or not falling for it while Elrond’s believing every word and just looks sympathetic, ‘Aww you guys have food shortages? I hear you, supplies were pretty shit during all that destruction of an entire continent in the War of Wrath. You know if you wanted more options I wouldn’t recommend raw orc meat before you build up a tolerance but I can defo show you how to butcher them properly!’ Thranduil just staring back at him like ‘Fuck you. I was trying to make up some story to scare children at night with, you guys actually did this shit? How hard is it to come up with something you fucking Noldor haven’t done already?!’

And also: Thranduil proceeds to take out a notepad, ‘Ok so tell me again about what the kinslayers did to interrogate those prisoners?’ And Elrond replies, ‘Oh, that wasn’t Maglor and Maedhros, that was a story about Gil Galad’s army in the War of Wrath.’ Thranduil ‘I’m sorry WHAT the actual fuck.’ Elrond nodding understandingly ‘Too much for the Third Age?’ Thranduil rapidly taking notes ‘No it’s perfect keep it coming.’

[erendur]

Crack Silm relationships I'd like to read about

It would completely ruin the story and Jirt’s intents, structure, motifs and characters, but at least I could read the Silm without going “No, not the ruin of Beleriand again ! Ah, no, please, not the third Kinslaying, I can’t !”.

Maedhros and Lúthien.

He has trauma, looks much the worse for wear after his captivity, and would definitely piss off her dad as a choice of boyfriend (rebel teenage Lúthien energy). She is the most beautiful (self-explanatory), a unique type of Elf-Maia being (Noldor like novelty and are curious), spends a lot of time singing which I guess would foster a sense of comforting familiarity in one wounded not just in body but also in mind ?

Anyway, they could have a great Wounded Beast who Swore a Stupid Oath and Committed Some Crimes and Eldricht Beauty I Can Fix Him dynamic.

They both hang out in forests enough that they could easily meet. She would take him of a stealth mission to steal the Silmarils. He would borrow his brother’s knives (one knife per Silmaril), and they would be successful. Huan could give a hand out of family solidarity. Morgoth would be to stunned/ashamed/doesn’t really like to move his ass from his throne anyway so nothing much would happen immediately. They would still be at war and Morgoth would make more monsters and bid his time.

Lúthien could wear the three Silmarils on a crown. Maedhros would be very happy and proud. She is canonically the prettiest Elf ever and he is “well formed” so they could have the prettiest babies. And actually, and I’m very aware that is not at all how genetics work, but they would have Lúthien’s canonical descendants as their babies. That’s 7 of them, which sounds like an adequate number of sprogs for a Fëanorian (no need to change the family sigil !).

Eärendil and Elwing would be the elder, a twin brother and sister. At some point in their teens (Elvish teens, they’re in their thirties), they decide to take a Silmaril from their mother’s jewellery box and to go on their own little stealth mission to save the world, after having spend too much time with their Uncle Fingon. Since Elwing is very eldrichty and can change into birds, and Eärendil can (check note) make boats, the missions is of course a total success. Guided by the light of the Silmaril, they eventually land on the shores of Valinor where they immediately start singing a moving song about the plight of Middle Earth. Eärendil accompanies the song by playing Fingon’s harp (he knows how stealth missions work and of course took Fingon’s silver great harp along with his mother’s jewellery), Elwing leads a chorus of seabirds at key moments.

The Valar are of course moved (have we mentioned how pretty they both look ???), they send an army to Middle-Earth, Eärendil and Elwing are given the right to spend their life travelling between Middle-Earth and Valinor by the Valar as a reward. Eärendil choses to do the trips in the sky on his boat (because he can), his mum’s Silmaril on his forehead, the shadow of Fingon's harp clearly visible against the light of the Silmaril. The Fëanorians are totally cool with it, since he is himself a Fëanorian.

Elwing eventually settles in Tol Eressëa where she becomes Queen of the returned Elves, and therefore beats her Aunt Galadriel to the post by about an age at being the first reigning female ruler among the Elves.

Dior would be kept well away from making any sort of political decision. Given his clearly incredible fighting talents though, he would either end up being Celegorms’ favourite nephew and heir, or, my favourite version, he would take over the cavalry and the Gap from Maglor, who would be able to finally go chill somewhere and write some music.

Elured and Elurin would eventually inherit Doriath, just because. Or they would go and live a wild life of hunting and hanging out in the forest with their uncles Ambarussa. They’re still twins.

Elros and Elrond are obviously still twins as well. They are born very shortly after Elured and Elurin, and since that’s a lot of eldricht peredhil twins to have under just one roof (just the weather is wild, people are begging Mae to do something about it), they are given to foster to another family member as per Victorian family traditions. This family member is, of course, Maglor, who doesn’t really get to chill for very long after all. Since he’s no longer in charge of the cavalry or a super-hard-to-defend position, he raises the twins.

Elros of course is now an Elf-Maia peredhel, and doesn’t have to die. He still founds Númenor and becomes their king, because someone with the gift of prescience finally used it for something useful and figured out that these guys could really do with a wise, immortal ruler, who wouldn’t, you know, suddenly decide to go and invade Valinor once he finds the burden of mortality too hard to bear. Elendil is his son. Isildur his grandson. He is kept well away from rings.

Elrond is pretty much the same, but with less people around him having died/disappeared/been killed. But he’s too awesome to be different. He’s still the same “kind as summer” dude. He becomes his father’s heir, because he’s just too awesome. Everybody thinks it’s a great choice, because he is too awesome. He’s bestie with his cousin Gil-Galad, the High King. 

That turned out to be a longer post than intended so I’ll post the rest later.

Crack Silm Relationships I'd like to read about II

Crack Silm Relationships I'd like to read about III

Crack Silm Relationships I'd like to read about IV

[thelordofgifs]

Friday Fic Recs: Long WIP edition

I’ve been thinking a little bit about the (very arduous) process of writing longfic, and how much of a difference support and cheerleading can make on that particular journey; so, although it’s been a while since I’ve made a Friday rec list, I thought I’d put one together celebrating all the incredible in-progress longfics in the Tolkien fandom I’m keeping up with at the moment!

Atandil series by @eilinelsghost. Such a gorgeous graceful moving exploration of Finrod and his relationship with Men, and the slowest and most sensual of slow burns in his romance with Bëor. The amount this series has made me THINK – about love, and hope, and memory, and Taliska grammar – is off the charts, and to top it off it’s written in the loveliest most Tolkienesque prose.

we will make this place our home by @leucisticpuffin. Ohh this AU is just like a warm gentle hug after a long day. The “kidnap fam but make it a classic children’s novel” concept is so so inspired, all the characterisations are so nuanced and moving (Maglor my beloved!!) and the OCs will steal your heart.

And Love Grew by @polutrope. On the other end of the kidnap fam spectrum, this complex and careful examination of the time after the Third Kinslaying is SO brilliant. Incredible characterisations of all the key players, some truly fascinating OCs (Dornil!!) and of course beautiful graceful prose.

tongues of the sky series by @welcomingdisaster. The first fic in this series, seabird, was written for me and I can be SO obnoxious about this :) but also it’s a wonderful moving ultimately hopeful fix-it AU with note-perfect russingon and m&m dynamics. The sequel, sparrowhawk, is currently in progress and soooo good.

ashes, ashes, dust to dust — the devil’s after both of us by @that-angry-noldo. This is SUCH an original and fascinating take on an AU where Maedhros and Maglor take Finarfin captive to bargain for the Silmarils, featuring incredible character dynamics and a terrifyingly eldritch Eönwë.

and all his towers cast down by @actual-bill-potts. What if Finrod survived the events of the Leithian? Well, angst and trauma, to start off with. And also beautiful beautiful writing, impeccable characterisation and a Maglor-Lúthien teamup!! I adore this AU.

All That Glitters Gold Rush AU series by @allthatglittersisnotgoldrush. This one is LONG LONG LONG, but also SO worth it. Ever wanted to see the entire Silmarillion retold as a western, complete with a terribly tragic and complicated Maedhros, Morgoth the terrifying slave-owner, and a beautifully multicultural Doriath? The authors have you covered.

And the Stars Shine the Same series by @runawaymun. OC-centric fic is such a rare delight and this series set in early Third Age Rivendell is just wonderful, tender and complicated and with a truly incredible Elrond.

Retelling the Hobbit comic by @retellingthehobbit. Something a little different, but I binged all of this comic retelling of The Hobbit on a plane recently and GOD it’s so so beautiful. A truly gorgeous art style, and slowly converting me from a Bilbo/Thorin sceptic into an enjoyer!

In Heart by @tanoraqui. An AU where Fëanor takes the Doom of the Noldor as a what-not-to-do manual and ends up making better choices! Featuring incredible worldbuilding and fantastic characterisation.

Please add on the longfics you love in the reblogs! Let’s get some love going for these difficult beasts!

(Couple of incest recs under the cut.)

naught green upon the oak series by @welcomingdisaster. A CoH-inspired Maedhros/Maglor AU in which Maglor winds up with amnesia after his encounter with Glaurung. I’m SO insane about this series that I can’t be coherent but it is fantastic and chilling and devastating with the most beautiful prose aahhh.

Strange Currencies by @jouissants. Maedhros is re-embodied at last only to learn that he is married to Maglor: a touching and painful post-canon fic interleaved with incredible flashbacks to the First Age.

[rings-of-power-realm]

RopWeek2023

Favourite Original Character

Arondir

When I saw the first proper trailer and got a glimpse of him with his bow, I suddenly felt overwhelmed because somehow I knew from that moment that the show would be phenomenal. Ismael had such a presence in that trailer that quelled any doubt in me (since I was worried beforehand about this show that it would not honour the Middle Earth I love) but it did.

He can do it all, from action to soft romantic scenes, to inspiring scenes of hope and the way he got Theo to trust and confide in him was beautiful.

Arondir represents all the things I admire about Tolkien characters. His strength and grace, his fierceness, his loyalty, his love his unwavering belief, the sadness that simmers below and his absolute selflessness and courage to do what is right.

I adore him and am loving watching his journey. It particulalrly means a lot since Ismael always wanted to play an elf and finally, his dream happened and he has knocked it outta the park.

Special mentions: I truly adore all the characters so wanna say how much I also love the Harfoots, their determination and fact they stick together is truly touching plus I love the friendship between Nori and Poppy and it broke me when they parted.

Bronwyn. Her strength and love is an inspiration.

Disa (my beloved Disa!) As soon as that gorgeous scottish accent rolled out and she beamed I fell in love with her she's incredible <3 Her relationship with Durin and Elrond is one of the highlights of the show and in her own right she is a wickedly entertaining and sunny presence who can also protray the sadder moments. You just feel her warmth in every scene.

The Stranger. What can I say but what a ride it was with him, even in the finale I was still like no don't be Sauron! His power coming through and when he realised he was good was so beautiful and the fact Nori never wavered in supporting him even when we were in doubt to his true nature. His eyes gave so much emotion. What an impactful beautiful character he is and I enjoyed his scenes immensely.

Halbrand. Charlie what an amazing actor. That charm and quick wit but with those chilling undercurrents and moments where you saw that darkness were really powerful. He got under Galadriel's skin, the manipulation was sublime and real. Don't they say that the devil would disguise himself as a handsome man? Truly incredible and when it was unravelling towards the end and his anger came to the forefront (though we had glimpsed it terrifyingly before) I was blown away by the change and the delivery, when you knew for certain who he was, its absolutely chilling.

[beck-a-leck]

I can't sleep, so I'm gonna ramble for a bit about an AU that's been entertaining me recently.

Lord of the Rings Summer Camp AU

Basically the War for the Ring is just one Extremely Intense game of capture the flag (ring) that happens every summer between two rival summer camps that share a lake or something.

Like, basic rules: Each camp designates one camper to be the Ring Bearer. They must keep the ring on them at all times. They cannot pass the ring off to another camper, except under special circumstances, or to a councilor. Their job is to find a way to get the ring to the other camp and put it in the designated place without getting caught or losing the ring. If they succeed by the end of camp, they win! If the other camp steals the ring and gets it to their rival's designated spot then they win. Rival camp councelors are allowed to take the ring if they can get it away from the bearer, but it must be given to their own team's Ring Bearer. Secrecy is often the key to success in this matter.

And now the cast:

Frodo, Sam, Merey, and Pippin: four new campers this year. They all grew up on stories of from Uncle Bilbo about his fun times at camp, and now they're old enough to go and super ready for their first time at camp! Frodo gets designated Ring Bearer (definitely not a rigged choice)

Gandalf: Nobody's quite sure if he owns the camp or he's like the Head Councilor. Sometimes he's actively engaged in camp activities, other times he's off doing Old Man Shit. Very frequently can be found chilling with Bilbo as they watch the game unfold

Aragorn: he's one of the camp legacy kids. Been coming every summer since he was little (his sorta-dad works there) and now that he's old enough he's become one of the Junior Councilors. Aka the almost-adult they trust to run the kids around and supervise them in the woods and during Ring Shenanigans

Boromir and Faramir: their first summer at camp. Boromir's Aragorn's age and also a Junior Councilor. For whatever reason he's got beef with Aragorn and totally deals woth it in a healthy way. Faramir's just under the age cut off for Camper vs Councilor. (He didn't even want to come but their dad said he had to) and he spends most of his time chilling with the other guys around his age and also at the stables.

Legolas: sent here because his dad thought a summer away from home would be good for him and also he should see his cousin (arwen) more and his paperwork was half-done (a d daddy's off to europe for a month byeeeee) so nobody's quite sure how old he is, so sometimes they think he's a camper and other times he's a junior councilor and he just kind of rolls with it off the vibes of the day. (So he's definitely not telling his birth date)

Gimli: an older camper, but his first time at camp. For some reason he immediately imprints on the four teenies (the hobbits) and decides he's just gonna tag along with their group during camp. Couldn't possibly be because Aragorn and Boromir are their councilors and Legolas tags along after Aragorn.

(The chaos in this camp drives Elrond Bananas, but Gandalf just kinda shrugs and always counters with 'the kids are having fun. There's no harm in it')

Arwen and Eowyn: its not a co-ed camp, but their dads are both staff members so guess where they're spending their summers. As the only two girls, they became friends out of necessity. Elrond maybe actually owns the camp? He's at keast the guy keeping things organized and moving. Eowyn's uncle owns/runs the stables, so she's most often found working there. Her brother and cousin do most of the riding lessons for the campers and she's often left out. (The adults tend to turn a blind eye when Goold Old Dernhelm, who's definitely been a camper since day one, shows up to activities)

Other folks from the story probably have various filler rolls. Generally vibing with the idea that leaders/kings/queens are the Adults TM and actual Camp Councilors and Staff.

Galadriel is probably camp nurse. Her office is the one air conditioned building in camp, and yeah getting hurt or severely dehydrated sucks, but spending a time in the Lothlorien Cabin is just So Rejuvenating.

Meanwhile in the other camp... Camp Mordor:

Sauron: there's no ambiguity here he owns the camp, he runs the camp, he's in charge. Though he's not above using underlings to get most of the work done

Saruman: he thinks he's second in commant, and generally Sauron lets him be, because he can't be arsed to micromanage every camp group's activities. There's some feud between him and Gandalf that's honestly funny to watch. Takes the Ring Games almost as seriously as Sauron.

The orcs: generally they're the campers in Camp Mordor. Some of the older ones might be in the role of Junior Councilors, but they're all the kids who are going to do most of the work during the Ring Games.

The Nazgul: theyre the adult camp councilors. Easily identified by their uniform shirts, which are black (and honestly the worst choice for a summer where it can often reach 90 in the shade). They take their ditues very seriously. Most of them are legacy campers who eventually aged into councilors as they got older.

Oh my god i nearly forgot Gollum/Smeagol!

Genuinely nobody is sure where this poor kid came from. He might just be some wild kid living in the woods. Nobody claims his as a camper. But also, they're not gonna let some (possibly homeless) dirty child starve, and Bilbo ends up feeling really bad for the poor thing whenever he wanders into camp. So they feed him and let him join in on camp activities when he's around. He's extremely shy of the adults and often doesn't let them see or catch him (they barely got his name from him and nobody's sure if Gollum is a self-appointed nickname or not). Nobody is convinced that he's not really a secret agent for the Other Side. He seems to have an unhealthy obsession with the ring and has been known to steal it from the ring bearers in both sides and run off into the woods to hide with it (Aragorn's usually the one who tracks him to his hidey hole)

Also, Bilbo's just like a financier or something. Not camp staff, but friends with Gandalf and he just spends his summer also watching the Ring Games (rumor is he started the first ever Ring Game when he was a boy at camp). Often found enjoying the comforts of Not Being a Camper and doing Old Man Shit with Gandalf.

[gwaedhannen]

au ideas? 👀

AU ideas! (Also thanks to the anon who asked)

Oh Eru this got long.

One of my first goals when I got into silm fic was a series of works depicting different ways in which canon events could have happened, ranging from different variations of canon compliance to off-the-wall AUs. And of course I decided two of the most controversial parts of canon would be the best places to start: Aredhel and Eöl, and Elwing's leap. I doubt I'll get to these fics any time soon, but I've got some ideas for the variations sketched out:

Ways in which a body strikes the ocean at terminal velocity

Elwing sends Elrond and Elros to hide, and runs the other way to pull the Feanoreans away. Cornered at the cliff, yells at them, jumps.

As before, but Elrond and Elros are captured and dragged before her.

She hands it over, and it burns. The holder walks off the cliff himself (and the other brother follows?)

She throws it away, and either gets stabbed and tossed off the cliff for that, or a brother walks off in despair.

Eärendil is also there. His cousins have made him a kinslayer. He's not happy about that.

Elurín and Eluréd are the leaders of Sirion instead. They leap together. Ulmo can only save one.

Ambarussa are the surviving Fëanorians instead of Maedhros and Maglor.

Ways in which the White Lady of the Noldor was lost in the darkness of Nan Elmoth

Generally canon compliant but give Aredhel a bit more agency (she was content at first, and Eöl's assholery doesn't become as much of an issue until after Maeglin is born, at which point she's unwilling to leave him behind if she flees).

As above, except Eöl has a crisis of conscious and admits his enchantment and manipulation while Aredhel is pregnant. She ditches him for Himlad.

Going off the NoME version where Eöl is an Amanyar Noldor and part of Fëanor's host, and he and Aredhel were followers of Melkor. In which Aredhel takes part in the kinslaying but Eöl doesn't, but Eöl somehow is on the boats when Fëanor and co. slip away. He's not happy about that, fucks off from Mithrim ASAP, and wanders into Nan Elmoth to chill out. Aradhel incidentally walks in 300 years later and shit's awkward.

Galadriel wanders into Nan Elmoth instead. Dunno exactly how this one goes but there's probably explosions involved and at least one of them dead (likely Eöl) within a year.

Nan Elmoth is hungry, and Eöl is trapped there as much as Aredhel is.

Other ideas:

Unwritten AKA "Dior DGAF"

In which Dior noclips out of the Halls of Mandos immediately upon arrival and goes right back into his body. He picks up his sons and walks out of the narrative layer.

The Dusk, the Dawn, the Earth/Dear Shadow Alive and Well/And I am Left

AKA the Beren/Lúthien/Thuringwethil OT3 series. In which Thuringwethil, irrevocably altered by Lúthien taking her bat-fell and partially re-singing her, knocks on their door demanding Lúthien undo whatever change made her start feeling things like "guilt" and "love". Lúthien, horrified by what she did (effectively partially rewriting her personality) agrees to help make a new fell. Beren's along for the ride.

For the fur, she joins Camlost on the hunt. Under his quiet direction she crafts traps for rabbits, whispering her thanks to Yavanna’s bounty as her teeth pierce their necks. She stalks foxes until she is near enough to dive upon them with her claws, Nessa’s most ancient name on her lips for sure steps and bursting speed. She fashions a bow from a young yew sapling, crafts arrows from reeds fletched with Tinúviel’s gifted feathers, strings it with her own hair, and praises Aulë’s ingenuity in searching chirps as the replies guide her aim to a grazing deer. And finally, she calls Tulkas to witness as she hefts Camlost’s spear towards the growls of a desperate wandering wolf bereft of its master. As each prize is skinned, she asks Oromë if she has taken too much from the wild, and trusts in the silence of his answer. The rabbits she consumes entire. The foxes she drains, and leaves the remains for the vultures. The deer she carries back for Tinúviel to prepare venison and jerky. The wolf they burn.

Also featuring the inherent trauma of watching your spouses die and giving your son the cursed jewelry you can tell will one day destroy him.

Children of Dior roleswap

In which Elurín and Eluréd escape with the Silmaril, and Elwing is captured (and not thrown into the woods for whatever reason) and raised by the Fëanorians and not told the details of the Kinslaying. She's thoroughly unhappy when she finds out.

She wants to scream until the entire hill crumbles into dust and ghosts. Murderers, murderers! Maedhros with his dead eyes and nightmares only she can sing away, Maglor and his endless laments for his own failures, Amrod with his maddened silence and vivisecting gaze, Amras desperate for salvation and haunted by guilt—not haunted enough! How long did they mean to continue the lie? Now she knows why Maedhros refuses to train her beyond basic self-defense. Why Maglor only teaches her Songs of healing and succor. Why Amras never brings her more than a mile from the citadel to practice woodcraft. Why Amrod gives her nothing at all. She is a hostage without need for chains and locks, with no way to survive the wilds and roaming orcs should she run. If she looks east and a little south, can she pretend she sees the shoreline kingdom where her brothers reign? She doesn’t even know their names.

Yet another Gil-Galad origin theory

In which Gil-Galad gets adopted by no fewer than three Finweans and yet is blood related to none of them.

Still-untitled "Fëanor takes the Helcaraxë" AU

Second problem: how exactly is he going to get his people to Endórë? Tol Eressëa is anchored, and regardless Ulmo would not move it again for them. The Noldor have little skill in boatcraft, and even if they did, the sheer number required would take decades to build. But there are already fine ships in Aman, are there not? Well maybe he should've thought of that two hundred leagues ago.

Túrin and Nienor live

Unfortunately they're still cursed.

[babybat98]

I wish you would write a fic where... Thranduil and your Legolas sibling characters all come to Minas Tirith for Aragorn and Arwen's wedding, and Legolas and the whole Fellowship now have to deal with the whole Mirkwood family being there. Especially poor Gimli.

I just love everything you've told me about these elves, and I want to see them Causing Shenanigans.

Refering to this post

Oh but there'd be so much shenanigans though!

Like just Thranduil alone would be enough to turn everyone's hair grey. Or at least he will be after he stops clinging to Legolas like a particularly stuborn koala. Gondor comes very close to loosing their favourite wizard becasue the moment Thranduil hears the word 'balrog' he's off after Gandalf, sword in hand. And then he goes after Elrond. And probably Aragorn to, once he learns of the Path of the Dead... In the end Legolas just straight up hides his dads sword and puts a bottle of wine there instead.

Ok to be fair Gandalf and Elrond are gonna have the entire damn forest after them when they learn of the balrog and sending their baby prince to Mordor business, so instead of mentioning that for every character just imagine Gandalf and Elrond doing a very nervous powerwalk away from an angry forest mob.

Now for my OCs we got Thondaer(he/him), the oldest of Thranduil's kids. For being a wood elf from Mirkwood, he is strangely chill. For being the child of Thranduil and Lannien(Thranduil's wife) he is alarmingly chill. He got his dad's regal aura but not as much of his temper. He's probably also more subdued than usual due to being injured in the war up northtotaly don't have a fic about that coming up oups. And that pissed Legolas off because why is he not being babied when he was the one who had an actual near death experience curtecy of a poisoned arrow???

Thranduil: Oh don't worry, you are both grounded the second we get back home<3

But at the end of the day Thondaer is still a Tranduilion, and his siblings tend to bring out the worst in him, so it's not long until he and Legolas pick up their long standing competition of 'The Most Stupid Trick Archery You Ever Did See'. At one point an arrow flies in through a window to catch a single leaf of Thranduil's crown, who just sips his wine and goes 'boys will be boys' as the nobility of Gondor freaks out.

Yes it was Legolas showing of his new shiny bow, what else did you expect?

Second child Lagoreth(she/her) on the other hand... She cares a lot less about being proper than her older brother. She would actualy punch Gandalf and Elrond for sending her brother of into danger like that. But her anger is both explosive and short lived, and once she thinks there's been enough broken noses(and Legolas talks her down a bit) she mostly stops being angry. She'd probably get along pretty well with Elladan and Elrohir tbh. She's more into swordfighting than archery, and I can see them exchanging tecniques. Those 3 becoming friends is the forst time anyone's ever seen Thranduil truly nervous.

Ok so I know you technically only said Thranduil and the siblings, but you also did that 'the whole Mirkwood family' and that was your mistake. Because there's just a few more pointy-eared nusiances running around and I'm dying to go off about them. This is gonna get long so enjoy the read more lol.

First we got Doro(they/them). They're Thondaer's spouce, and I'm a bit on the fence on if they'd come along or stay back home to keep doing their job as a healer, but I'm gonna say they're coming this time just for fun. They'd probably not cause to much mischief, but there's a little surprice in store for Thondaer for sure. How do you think he'll take being a father?

That leaves Legolas's closest friends, the young elves of Mirkwood, and part of the last generation to be born as the shadow fell over their home. Forget turning all the humans hair grey, then these guys will have everyone, human dwarf and elf, go white as Gandalf before the end of the week.

Tinnu(he/they) is a sarcastic little shit<3 If you thought Legolas was bad with his off to find the sun then you have not heard the snark on this elf. I think growing up so close to Thranduil gave them a weird view on authority and how you treat nobility. But because he's part of Legolas's friends, and Thranduil pretty much sees the gang as his own children, he can get away with waaaayyyy more than he should. He's also visualy impared and uses a cane to navigate, and is not above exploiting the fact that Men tend to underestimate him for that. Like, if they forget that his ears still work just as good as any other elf? Then that's on them. Also their puppy dog eyes are dangerous.

Dûrwen(she/they) is kinda what happens when you take the impulse control of a Took, puts it in an elf, and teaches them to fight. They're loud, obnoxious, and the fastest way to get her to do something is to begin with 'I dare you to-'. She's the one who says "hey, let's get every single bird in a 3 mile radious to congregate in the royal meeting room" or "let's see who can break into the kings bedchamber and steal the most shoe laces". But she is also loyal to a fault, and is the first to get along with Gimli. Even if he did wonder a lot about the giant toad in his boot.

Nagor(he/him) is in general the most layed back of them, but also curious and stuborn. He'll drive everyone, but most of all Gandalf and Elrond, completely bonkers with questions. Like you know when a child gets started on the 'why' train? That, but dialed up to 11 and them compresed into a tiny ass elf. At the end of their stay Gandalf insists he'd rather just have gotten punched again. Nagor would make friends with Merry and Pippin so fast and the kitchens are never safe again. And for a change of pace Legolas will for sure be clinging to him, because Thondaer was not the only one injured in the war up north.

Thilion(they/them) is the mom friend, and probably the only reason Minas Tirith is still standing. I mean they're not opposed to hiding under the meeting table and tieing everyones shoelaces together, but they are the one who manages to figure out a plan so they don't get caught doing it. Can't have your friends end up in trouble now can you, so best make sure no one can ever prove it was them :) Probably gets along realy well with Aragorn.

Crithril(she/her) and this barbieelf has ADHD. She has a habit of stiming by braiding peoples hair, and there's a big missunderstanding between her and Gimli for a while before Legolas and Thilion manages to sort things out. Eventualy Gimli manages to either aquire or make some dwarven stimtoys that successfully divert her from his hair and beard without hurting any feelings. Crithril also has a favourite position to be in, which happends to be upside-down, and many a Gondor noble has been shocked by her just casually hanging from the cieling like it's completely normalit is. But no one dares say anything, because there's 5 other elves there and they all have knives and oh hello Thranduil your highness, no I was just... admiring your peoples acrobatic skill and deffinintely not judgeing your sons friend haha please don't kill me.

I think that's it for now, phew :D

[sweetearthandnorthernsky]

and i'm forced to deal with what i feel (forgive, morinel ft maglor)

morinel has. a lot of feelings about this actually (10 pages worth, actually). this whole situation is a goddamn mess help. also, your honor that is morinel's emotional support mithril thread spool and one day i will write a fic about how she Aquires it and Why it's her emotional support mithril thread spool.

Mithlond is somehow even emptier than Morinel remembers it being nearly a year ago, silent save for the song of the waves crashing against the shore.

She returns to the palace, standing in the deserted foyer, though she is too lost in thought to really realize who Elrond is talking to, tucked away in a corner.

She pays them no mind and goes to pass them so she can return to her room and start packing–

The hooded figure looks up – looks at her – and there is a moment of terrible realization that makes Morinel feel sick with conflicting feelings.

“Maglor.”  There’s ice in her voice, and she clenches her hands at her side so tightly that her fingernails dig crescents into her palm. 

Her uncle’s– Maglor’s eyes are foggy like sea-glass and there’s barely any Treelight left in them.  

“Isfin–”

“Don’t call me that,” Morinel snaps, sharp like iron, sharp like the crackle of lightning in her runes, or the sharp burn of her fire, sharper than she means. 

Elrond’s brows crinkle and she exhales, trying to calm herself – at least a little. 

“I haven’t gone by that name since…” Since before the War of Wrath, since before the breaking of Beleriand, since before everything changed, since before– 

“It doesn’t matter,” she says stiffly.

Morinel cannot help but glance to the stairway that leads to the hallway that leads to her room. For a few tantalizing seconds, she wonders if she could extricate herself from the conversation and make it up the stairs but–

“What ought I call you then?” There’s that faint bite of not-quite-sarcasm that she remembers all too well from Amon Ereb and Belegost and Taur-im-Duinath. 

“Morinel.”

Maglor says nothing at first but his brow quirks upward for a half-second, which she knows all too well for surprise (she'd disliked that name when she was little, after all) before it smoothly crosses into approval.

“It suits you.”

“Thank you.” 

(She nearly laughs at how bizarre this is – the two of them exchanging polite pleasantries as if they met by chance in the marketplace.)

The wind rustles outside, and raindrops splatter against the roof, and in the distance, lightning flashes. He pushes his hood away from his face and for a half-second, she sees his hand, burnt and blistered, and she wonders what could've made such a mark–

The Silmaril. 

So it did burn him.

(She remembers that night, after the Host of the West had wrested the Silmarilli from Morgoth’s crown, when they stole through the camp and cut down the guards, eyes burning like wild animals, not Eldar, blood on their sword even to the last–)

“I had thought you drowned in the wreck of Beleriand.” It’s with concentrated effort that she keeps her voice level and disinterested. “Were you here this whole time?”  

He nods and something twists within her like a coil that’s been wound far too tightly. 

She closes her eyes and bites her tongue and tries, for Elrond’s sake, to ground herself and keep from lashing out.   “Where?” 

Morinel’s pendant feels heavier than the entire weight of Arda at the moment and her cloak – meant to keep out the chill – feels like it’s made of lead. 

She hopes, desperately, that the answer isn't what she thinks it is.

He shrugs, palms upward, and the light catches on the angry-looking burn. “Here. East of Himring – mostly – as I always have been.” 

As if to emphasize his words, lightning strikes the sky and she can see the lonely island out in the distance.

Arinya flickers and shines in the candlelight and suddenly all she can see is hands dipped in silver and crowns of holly and she can only taste the burning char of stone that sticks in her throat and – 

“This whole time?”

His face twists with pain and his eyes are shadowed when he answers as lightning cracks in the distance. There is sorrow in his voice when he speaks. 

“If this is about Ty–”

Thunder rumbles. 

“Of course this is about Celebrimbor!”

Heat scalds her throat, as if she'd used one of her runes, and she takes a breath before she continues, focusing on the texture of the soft mithril thread between her fingers.  

“Do you know what Sauron did to him?” Her voice is dangerously low, and she knows that this is unfair, but she can’t be bothered caring. “He cast his hands in liquid silver, and made him into a banner, beaten and bloody and barely recognizable.”

Maglor winces and Elrond’s face twists into disapproval. 

She cannot stop now but, by all the Valar, she wants to, she does not want to have this outburst here, in front of Elrond, she does not want to have it at all, she does not want to be emotional when she is already stressed from travel, she does not want to be vulnerable. 

But it would be easier to stop the sun from shining, or to stop the ebbing of the tides, because the words are already bubbling up into her throat, and pouring from her mouth the way the Gelion flowed into the Helevorn.

“Where were you? Hiding on the coast when you could have helped.” Lightning cracks again, bright and throws the room into sharp relief. The words feel like they burn her, and Morinel exhales, and the ill-made pendant rises with her breathing. “We needed you too, you know, but you ran, like you always do.” 

She regrets the words the minute she says them.

Uneasy silence lies between them all, and she stops to listen – the rain has slowed, and the thunder stopped.

She takes advantage of the moment to flee, taking the stairs nearly two at a time, and shutting her door behind her.

Morinel tosses her sketchbook none too gently onto her well-worn chest of drawers, and locks the door behind her. 

She takes a seat at her desk and pushes The Coming Into Eldamar away, and pulls out her letterbox again, carefully paging through each one – half-heartedly, she knows she doesn’t have the heart to throw any of them away. 

When she’s done, she places it on her bed, and turns to her bookshelf.

Her thoughts spiral and twist as she works, mostly to the tune of that was uncalled for, even if you were angry or how are you going to fix that or dark hair isn’t the only thing you inherited from your father –

An hour goes by, and the anger has passed — or, more accurately: turned to a dull simmering — when someone knocks, softly, at her door when she is nearly through organizing her books.

Morinel freezes, then unfreezes to pick the last book off the shelf. More likely than not, it’s probably Elrond and she sighs.

She is not looking forward to her talking to, but it must be gotten over with sooner or later, mustn't it?

Morinel unlocks the door but waits until she’s back to the books before she calls over her shoulder: “It’s unlocked.”

The door creaks on its hinges. 

“May I?”

Blood drains from her face.

Not Elrond. 

“If you wish.” Morinel’s voice is icily polite. 

(She hides the strain very well, if she must say so herself.)

Contrary to his request, Maglor stays on the threshold and she spreads the books out on her bed and begins to sort them into piles: keep, unsure, and give away. 

Ainulindale: A Translation – illustrated by Lorindol of Gondolin – is placed into the Keep Forever pile, while A Treatise On Stone by Arelleth is placed in the Give Away pile – after all, why would she need a book to help with the planning of cities and great buildings when they must be a mirian a dozen in Aman?

Moments tick past.

Morinel cannot stand silence.

(She never has, and she never will be able to. Maglor knows this, and she knows Maglor knows this, and Maglor knows she knows he knows this.)

She exhales.

“Are you going to stand there or come in?” She still is not facing him as she sorts through her books, though in truth, she is barely even really looking at them. “This room gets cold, and I would like the door shut before I freeze, either way.”

There is the shuffle of fabric and the door creaks again. Then the floorboards creak too, as footsteps come closer – though they stop a few feet away from her.

Maglor is still not just yet in her peripheral.

“You were never so affected by the cold before,” Maglor’s voice holds a hint of something… she doesn’t quite know what it is. “That sounds like something that would affect those who crossed the Ice.” 

Morinel feels she’s allowed to be a little petty about the whole thing.

“Yes,” she says succinctly, stacking the books with a little more force than necessary, “But being in a coma due to the dark arts of Sauron for three thousand and twenty-five years causes many changes in one’s hröa, most of which I am still coming to terms with.” 

Her shoulder throbs as if agreeing with her as she watches her words land with a sort of sickening pleasure, and she hates herself for taking satisfaction in the way discomfort flickers across Maglor's face.

“I suppose so. I might've known."

Morinel laughs, but there is no humor in it, only bitterness. “How could you? You weren't here.”

She glances up then, to see how his lips purse into a thin line, like how it did in Belegost or Amon Ereb before telling her and the twins something he knew they wouldn’t like. 

Her eyes narrow, and her hands still.

“That is–” Maglor pauses, taking a step toward her. When he seems convinced that she isn’t going to commit violence to preserve her personal space, he continues, “– not entirely true.”

Morinel goes very, very still.

“What do you mean?” Her voice is low, and her hands have stilled, clutching the spine of one of her older books. 

“I was not as good at hiding as I thought,” he says, with a rueful shrug, and her fingernails dig crescents into her palm. “Elrond found me, not long after Tyelperinquar…”

His voice fades into a soft silence, and the sound of the waves shushing through the windows fills the room. 

At this moment, Morinel doesn't know whether she is more angry at Elrond, for keeping Maglor’s existence a secret from her — of all people! — or at Maglor, for staying away so long. 

But Maglor is not finished speaking. 

“After that… I was in Imladris,” he says, softly, so softly she almost can’t hear him, but she can, if only just barely, and that’s almost worse.  “Occasionally. And I was there when…” He pauses, no doubt trying to figure out how to phrase his next words diplomatically. “...you came back.”

Morinel blinks very slowly. 

The knot of emotions in her chest gets tangled even more, like when she was first learning embroidery and left herself too much thread.  Suddenly, she remembers first waking from the coma, the harp song in the background when she mumbled to Harthalín and—

“That was you, wasn’t it?” The words are accusing, even if the tone isn’t. 

He blinks.

“When I woke up,” she says, frowning. “You were the one at the harp, weren’t you?”

He bows his head – whether from shame or acknowledgement, she cannot tell.

“So–” Heat scalds at her throat again. “So…” She hates this, she hates stammering, she hates not being able to articulate her point. “Why? Why did it take you two ages?”

“The Silmarils burned us,” Maglor says, as if that were the only explanation needed. 

“Do you think that matters to me?” She snaps, finally able to look Maglor in the eyes, to see pain reflected there. “Maybe that line worked on… on the Morinel in your head– but–”  

She takes a deep breath and rises from her bed to pluck half-heartedly at her loom – carefully avoiding Maglor's eyes as she fidgets with her shuttle. 

“Oh, Morinel,” Maglor says, his voice soft and tired and despairing. “You didn’t want me around, not really. You say that now but you don’t understand.”

“Do not tell me how I felt then,” she says, more fiercely than she meant to. The spool of mithril thread grounds her as she reminds herself to breathe.

“I didn’t want people whispering about you,” Maglor says quietly, “Or Celebrimbor. I know they would have, if you had received visits from your kinslaying-uncle.”

She laughs despairingly, turning to face him again. 

“They already did whisper about us! A Fëanorian who works with thread –” and she lifts the basket full of spools as if to demonstrate her point, “– in weaving and embroidery both…” 

Morinel smiles bitterly then, tucking a braid out of her face. 

“You can imagine, I’m sure, the rumors that started and Celebrimbor always had it worse – as a smith, as the eldest of the two of us, for his resemblance to his father and to Grandfather.”

She takes a breath.

“We looked. I looked.” 

The words come out like she is carving them into marble, torturously slow but the tangle of knots in her chest unravels the tiniest bit. He makes a sound of surprise, and she smiles, though it comes out like a grimace. 

“Those first decades after the war were hard,” she says. “I had questions, and I’m sure he did too.”

She feels very young again, a child amidst the days of the War of Wrath. 

“I– We– thought you were dead.”  Then, so quiet, she’s not sure if he even hears: “And we thought that if you were not dead that you must have been angry with us.”

Silence again. 

Maglor isn’t looking at her this time, and she tightens her grip on the mithril spool in her hand for reassurance.

“I was—I was trying to protect you both.” 

The words sound as difficult to say as Morinel’s own admission. “I know how difficult it was to love Feanorians in those days.”

“Not as difficult as it was to be one.”  

(This time her response is easy, because it is true.)

They stand in an impasse, in silence. 

Finally, she manages to say what she’d been wondering (and fearing) the response to. “Why… Why did you show yourself to Elrond, and not us, then?”

A pause, and she watches the tossing waves in the harbor. 

“There was very little choice in the matter.”

Maglor’s lips quirk.

“It happened by chance. He saw the smoke of my campfire.” The words sting a little, and she knows that they should not. “And I think, part of it, is I was scared of your reactions.” He shrugs. “I was running.”

She winces as she takes a seat at her loom, and gestures for Maglor to sit at her desk. 

“I am sorry,” she says, after a long, long moment of anxiously passing her shuttle from hand to hand. “About what I said.”

Maglor gives her a crooked half-smile. 

“I deserved most of it, if it makes you feel better.”

She shakes her head and rises – almost as soon as she sits down, because she had never been one for sitting still – to start taking down the tapestry she’d finished on her last visit to Mithlond. 

“It doesn’t,” she says, digging through her basket before finding her favorite tapestry needle. 

With deft and skilled movement – she’s done this often enough it’s almost second nature – she weaves the loose threads at the top back into the weave.

“I hold myself to higher standards than that, and what I said was…” she pauses, frowning as she paused, looking for words. “Not kind. I am very sorry.”

She bends to do the same for the lower part of the frame before deciding to just sit cross-legged on the floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees that Maglor looks like he is going to say something, but decides otherwise at the last moment. 

She looks up to meet his eyes, halfway through the bottom half of the tapestry. “If you have something to say, I would prefer you say it, you know. I have been a little too honest, and it is only fair that you are offered the same.”

Another crooked smile. 

“I was only going to say that thinking before you spoke has never been your strong suit, but I was not sure if that would be too familiar of a thing to say after… everything.”

To Morinel’s surprise, she actually laughs as she goes back to weaving her loose ends back into the tapestry. 

“You aren’t wrong,” she says, shaking her head. “Though, I like to imagine that over the years as a councilor that I learned to be a little diplomatic. Clearly, I was too hopeful.”

She cuts through the looped warp threads holding the tapestry at the bottom and she stands to cut the loops at the top. 

The tapestry comes loose once she pulls it free, and she’d forgotten how heavy they could get as she staggers backward before she regains her balance, and drops it onto her bed. 

Morinel comes back to the loom and with the tapestry gone it looks forlornly empty – throughout the years she has always been working on something, though she could go months or years taking breaks from her current project. 

The only time she can truly remember it being empty was in the first few weeks after she’d commissioned it – those weeks were her trying to bring herself to actually use without feeling like she was tempting fate. 

This loom has been her companion throughout the ages and she knows its quirks and oddities better than any other she’d practiced on, and Cirdan had said, when she asked, that she could bring it with her if she wished. 

She’d been uncertain before, but her mind is made up now.

“Would you like some help, or would you prefer to handle it yourself?”

The request is made casually, making Morinel free to accept or decline, and she appreciates the choice.

“I think help would be nice,” she says softly, and her uncle rises to come stand by the loom.

Things may not be entirely mended between them yet, but they were getting there. 

[runawaymun]

Erestor for the ask game???

1: sexuality headcanon

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

2: otp

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

3: brotp

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

4: notp

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

5: first headcanon that pops into my head

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

6: favorite line from this character

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

7: one way in which I relate to this character

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

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

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

9: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

Neither. Rat bastard.

[batsyforyou]

Hi! For the WIP folder ask game, would you share more about... (I know it's a lot but all perk up myne ears ^^)

Lunch with Glorfindel would include . . . 

Taking the elves to therapy would be like . . . 

Taking Feanor to therapy would be like . . . (Family therapy gone horribly wrong) 

Crawling into the tunic and shirts of the elves would include . . . (could also work as being overwhelmed) 

Eonwe the bird (as a bird) undercover work working as a human 

Distracting Caranthir 

Sorry for the late reply! I kept trying to answer and my brain was like "WrItE iT AlL" but I don't got time for that lmao so it took a minute.

Lunch with Glorfindel is my headcanons for how having a platonic lunch with Glorfindel would be like, 1st meeting lunch with Glorfindel and Elrond, all the way to romantic lunch with Glorfindel and yourself.

For taking the elves to theraphy I was mostly thinking about pairing certian elves together and what they might discuss, in a mini headcanon kind of way, to add as many elves as possible into one post and I was gonna expand on it in more detail later.

Taking Feanor to therpahy would be something simalir to the previously stated one but in a Feanor talking to Finwe about his mom, like "Why wasn't I enough?" maybe a little bit of dailogue with his brothers and then later his wife and how she might of felt about him leaving and then his childern and him talking about things I personally think would bother the sons of Feanor.

For crawling into the shirts of the elves I have some written already like Elrond for example. I wanted the relationships to be romantic because I can't imagine crawling into shirts would be very plantonic lol but idk. I wanted to do reactions of the elves some being like "WhO HuRt YoU" vibes and others like "aw baby" lol

I thought the Eonwe bird thing could be a fun set of headcanons for Eonwe doing a little bit of scouting in the human villages when he and the others first arrive in Middle Earth. Basicilly he was just chilling and as a bird got sniped by someone (not naming names lol) and the reader being a lady finding him because of his distressed cries of his "ARE YOU KIDDING ME RN!?!?!?" And how his day to day life of living with this lady is like while his wing mends and then later he comes back to the human village as an elf and/or human to see what she is up to and make sure she is safe because he has feelings of attachment to her though he isn't sure what kind. And him overthinking to a point of like "I shouldn't visit this village often. If the enemy hears of my visits here then these people would be put in danger" but really he is concerned about his girl. And I thought about writing a bigger piece of this in a mini series from him meeting her as a bird and him living there to visiting and then meeting her and then a while later possibly (maybe) burning building and her maybe dying in his arms and him still being nice enough guy to tell Sauron to go home.

POSSIBLE SUGGESTIVE CONTENT only because I haven't decided if I'm comfortable with writing that but its mostly how I imagine the reader would distract Cara (and me mentally poking this elf's ears lmao)

And thats it really! Thank you for being interested!!! <3

[annoyinglandmagazine]

Elrond and Celebrian’s wedding thoughts

I’ve had this really weird idea about how the brutality of the first and second age in which so many elves have lived could influence certain traditions, especially the Noldor exiles because I think they did a very sharp u turn from ‘all I’ve known is bliss’ to ‘the world is composed of fire and corpses’ and went well off the deep end a lot quicker than the Sindar did. Because the Sindar adjusted to the darkness a lot less violently and suddenly than the Noldor did and are just generally more stable seeming, less entirely batshit insane (because of course all the Noldor exiles present in First Age Beleriand are the batshit insane ones who either burnt the ships or crossed the Helcaraxe).

So the Noldor are so focused on war that it inserts itself into every aspect of their lives including ceremonies because how is anything meant to be binding without blood spilled? Bonds are forged by saving each other in battle, avenging a lost friend with a bloodthirsty rampage, how are words meant to hold weight or impact over the life and death situations that define them? So I think that in certain factions, at certain points, it becomes tradition for there always to be some form of blood involved in a wedding ceremony.

How varies, probably it originated from people just straight up getting married on the battlefield one time too many, seems like a very Noldor thing to do (no I’m not talking about the LACE kind of wedding before anyone’s mind goes there). Then it evolves to different things, scrapes along hands before linking them, cuts on knuckles before bringing them to lips, slicing a finger and leaving a bloody mark over the partners heart or on their forehead, or (my personal favourite) cutting the lips before kissing so the blood mingles.

This brings me to the main point of this ramble which is that Elrond and Celebrian by the start of the Third Age are some of the only people who still value this tradition. Despite their extremely different upbringings fundamentally, and this of course is up to personal interpretation as we know very little about Celebrian sadly, I’d say they were both born into the world at the point of apocalypse, desensitised to violence. Very used to the sense of impending doom and willing to take any hope or joy when they can. They are fundamentally children of the first age and it shows.

Mirkwood obviously doesn’t do this because they obviously aren’t Noldor and don’t have those kind of traditions (because they aren’t that mental) and Lothlorien probably wouldn’t because it’s predominantly Sindar (and also more chill) and since a good proportion of the First Age elves are either dead or in Valinor by the end of the second age suffice it to say everyone who is at their wedding thinks it’s concerning when they pull out their ‘good daggers’ and prick their lips before embracing, gazing lovingly into each other’s eyes and grinning wildly all the time as if there’s nothing messed up at all about the fact they brought daggers to their wedding.

Thranduil expected there to be at least one disturbing Noldor feature of the day, his father gave him enough vague warnings, not that he ever thought he’d end up at a Noldo’s wedding, and he’d certainly no hopes of Celebrian being a tempering influence on Elrond’s blatant Feanorian sympathies with how much she loved to wreak havoc but nothing could have prepared him for the sight of little droplets of blood smearing on their mouths as they pressed their lips together, otherwise perfectly romantically. He does not attend any more weddings in Rivendell after that.

Galadriel and Celeborn probably married in a Sindarin way but they find the gesture touching anyway, not unusual in the slightest but more quaint, a true symbolic end to the previous ages in the joining of the last descendants of Finwë in the wartime fashion before an age of peace.

Is there a possibility Arwen and Aragorn did it too? Absolutely and Legolas has thoughts on it which he will be bemoaning to Gimli the entire ceremony.

[frodo-with-glasses]

Love this idea! Don't know if you've done them already, but Elrond and Gandalf, any or all of 1, 2, 4, 5, 12, 13, and 15?

Bold of you to assume I know how to stop being a perfectionist long enough to NOT answer every question I’m asked in a list 🤣🤣 Let’s go!

1. “When I think they became friends”

I answered this one here! TL;DR: I’m not sure when exactly, but I think it happened when Elrond noticed that Gandalf had Cirdan’s ring and went, “ooh, mutual friend”.

2. “My favorite scene of them”

It’s a tough race between a) the part where they worked together to make a magical river flood to protect Frodo and pwn some Ringwraiths and b) the part where Gandalf proudly declares in the middle of Elrond’s Very Serious Council how well he roasted Saruman’s wardrobe choice.

4. “My favorite thing about their friendship”

Powerful old dudes being powerful old dudes and loving the heck out of hobbits. They’d be cool enough if they were just one of the most powerful beings in Middle Earth and one of the oldest beings in Middle Earth hanging out and being bros, but the icing on the cake is how much they both adore these furry-footed little mortal smols. Elrond and Gandalf are basically walking around with the fate of the world on their shoulders, but they will absolutely take time out of their respective days to argue with old Bilbo Baggins for fun because it makes them happy and I think that’s beautiful.

5. “A scene I wish we had of them”

I already mentioned a couple of fun hypothetical scenes here, but I’d also like to see the conversation when Gandalf briefed Elrond on what was about to go down.

Gandalf: “The world is in danger. I’m sending you a hobbit.”

Elrond: *eyebrow raise* “Another one?”

Gandalf: “Yes. Related to the one you already have, actually.”

Elrond: “I see.”

Elrond, internally: :-D

Gandalf: “Also he brought friends, so actually you’ll be getting four more hobbits.”

Elrond: “Understood. Accommodations will be made.”

Elrond, internally: 8-D 8-D 8-D

12. “A word to describe them”

Venerable, adj: accorded a great deal of respect, especially because of age, wisdom, or character.

13. “What I think would have happened if they had never met”

Oh dang. Uh. The world explodes??

I mean, it’s 2 AM and I’m too lazy to check the Appendices right now, but weren’t Elrond and Gandalf part of some kind of Council or something to help deal with Sauron’s reemergence early on in the Third Age?? If one or both of them were missing from that Council, the results could be catastrophic. (Especially if Gandalf were the one missing, if the wiki is anything to go by.) We might not even know the full extent of what people like Gandalf and Elrond were doing behind the scenes to resist Sauron; maybe their cooperation goes deeper than we know.

On a more practical level, if Elrond and Gandalf are never allowed to meet in the story, then Gandalf never sets foot in Rivendell. That means, first of all, that Frodo may or may not have died at the Ford, but just as catastrophically, we don’t get Gandalf’s side of the story during the Council of Elrond. That’s a huge chunk of information about the Ring and Sauron’s movements, gone. The Council is crippled and having to act on incomplete information. Also, assuming the Fellowship is formed anyway, Gandalf never joins it (unless he hops on board after they leave Rivendell, for some reason). But if Gandalf doesn’t join the party—yeah, nobody gets past Moria. They either freeze to death on the mountain, get eaten by wolves, become goblin shish-kabobs or a Balrog snack, or simply get throttled by the Watcher ‘cause no one else figured out how to get the door open.

If Elrond and Gandalf had never met, Middle Earth explodes. Easily.

15. “If I would want to be friends with them”

Sure, why not? They’re really cool! And if they’re chill with ridiculous little mortals like hobbits, they’ll probably be chill with me too. ;-P

FRIENDSHIP ASK GAME!

[tanoraqui]

I don't remember if it's in the Silmarillion or in another book, but Tolkien wrote that we don't hear about Gandalf before the end of the third age because he's just hanging around anonymously, giving advice and being a good dude. Where do you think he was? My favourite idea is he was chilling in Gondolin, because Idril and Tuor make some really good decisions

Headcanon and let headcanon but I’m concerned that you’re working off some misapprehensions: the Istari, aka the wizards, pretty definitely arrived in Middle Earth in 1000ish Third Age, per The Silmarillion. They just didn’t make a big deal about it until the War of the Ring, wherein Saruman went rogue and Gandalf stepped the fuck up. They certainly weren’t around 6000 years earlier in First Age Gondolin, when the Valar were actively ignoring the exiled Noldor.

However! There’s indications somewhere in the Histories of Middle Earth, idk where, that while Gandalf, Saruman and Radagast arrived in 1000 TA, the famously elusive Blue Wizards actually came much earlier, circa 1600 Second Age—ie, circa the Forging of the One Ring and reveal of “Annatar’s” treachery, and circa Glorfindel’s return. So I like to think the sequence of events went:

Sauron forges the One, revealing himself in his attempt to seize control of the Nine, the Seven, and the Three he only just realized existed when he did this

Celebrimbor & the smiths of Eregion are immediately aware

(The Valar, across the sea: shit, didn’t realize he was going to do that. Okay, this time, we’re going to intervene immediately…and discreetly. No more continent-sinking. We got this. We’re just gonna send 2 guys.)

Celebrimbor sends frantic letters to every other kingdom, elven, man, and dwarf, along the lines of, “HEADS UP: I FUCKED UP. SAURON LEVELS OF FUCKED UP. Remember those very fine magical rings we were starting to send around as symbols of friendship? Do not touch them.”

The Blue Wizards, Alatar and Pallandro, arrive in Lindon to introduce themselves to the local High King of Elves before heading off southeast to save the Men there from Sauron’s sway. “Greetings, we are emissaries of the Valar, come to Middle Earth to offer aid and advice!”

Having Heard This Before, Gil-galad draws a sword on them and orders them out—out of his court, his city, and all the lands he defends.

(For extra drama and angst, say they arrived more like 1700 SA, in the immediate wake of the Numenorean armada lifting Sauron’s siege on Lindon and forcing him back east and south—in the immediate wake of the sack of Eregion, Celebrimbor’s torture and death, the corpse banner incident. I like this but I haven’t settled on it bc I also like the Valar having actually learned a little about proactive hand-lending, you know?)

Elrond, always the diplomat, puts a hand one Gil-galad’s arm and says, “My king, is it wise to cast them out to wander freely? I suggest we lock them in our dungeons under careful guard while we find a way to prove their claim.” He stares at the would-be wizards with a stare that reminds them that (almost) every every single person in his lineage going back 5 generations has been ready and able to personally fight a god. “I’m sure that if they speak truly, they will not prove themselves false by resisting.”

Blue Wizards: …Alright, yeah, we see how we went wrong here. Sorry to be very triggering right off the bat. We’ll wait.

(The Valar across the sea: Alright yeah we also see how that went wrong. Okay, if there’s anything we’ve learned about elves in general and Noldor specifically in the last couple thousand years, it’s that they’re much more likely to listen to each other than to...really any of us. So we need a Noldo who is personally familiar to many left in Middle Earth, known for honesty and incorruptibility, willing to go back and to earnestly vouch for us, and preferably who isn’t too rebellious in general…)

Glorfindel, rowing up to Lindon’s main harbor a week or so later: Hi everyone, I’m back!!! I get to stay and help! Also you should let those Maiar out of the dungeon, yeah, I know, it’s weird but I swear they’re legit.

Epilogue, circa 1000 TA: The Valar just send one of Círdan’s old friends, returned from Mandos, to accompany the 3 new wizards. We never hear about her because she stays in the Grey Havens.