#like sure it pisses Curufin off and they have to deal with him as a roommate but that's way better than getting punished

[fuckingfinwions]

in the king!maedhros au you said that after hes of age maedhros will rape celebrimbor at least once. would he get to be comforted by all three of the other concubines after that? would they be able to put aside their differences and make him feel better about it?

I think they're able to mostly put aside their differences, or at least hide them for a few hours. It's been years by that point of the four of them being stuck together. Curufin is aware that Fingon and Nolo have some coping skills that he does not, even if he thinks they're pathetic for needing them. Fingon recognizes that Celebrimbor actually finds Curufin comforting, for some strange reason. Nolo knows how terrible it is to sit and wait while your children are being raped and there's nothing you can do to stop it.

The one thing they all agree on is that Celebrimbor doesn't deserve this. (Curufin thinks Fingon deserves it for being a pervert and Nolo deserves it for disrespecting Feanor. Fingon thinks Curufin deserves it in retaliation. Nolo questions the concept of anyone deserving to be raped for decades- though he might have trouble living up to that if Feanor somehow came under his control.)

This still doesn't add up to all three of the other concubines being able to be in the same room without extreme tension, though. I think they delegate responsibilities.

Nolo has the most practice at staying calm and dealing with the aftermath of rape dispassionately, so he helps Celebrimbor wash up and brush his teeth to get rid of the taste, and makes sure he drinks something, so he doesn't have a headache. He asks about specific acts and injuries, that Celebrimbor might find too awkward to tell his father. (Tyelpe will have to get past that eventually, but it doesn't have to be tonight.) Then Nolo gives a summary to Curufin, and goes out to play bait. Maedhros might want another round, or Maglor might be interested, and sometimes they'll just go for whoever they can find.

Curufin does actually love his son, and Celebrimbor loves him. He sits with Celebrimbor and comforts him as long as it takes. He hugs him carefully without trapping him, and uses all his skill at spotting people's psychological weak points to actually avoid Celebrimbor's triggers. He promises Celebrimbor that Curufin still loves him, still respects him, nothing Maedhros makes him due will ever make Curufin treasure his son any less.

Fingon would guard the door so no one can get in, if any of them thought it would help. But they all know that the most he can hope to accomplish is a ten minute delay of getting dragged of by the soldiers, and pissing off whoever requested Celebrimbor. It's just as likely that Maedhros would decide to take them both, if Fingon is so insistent, and threesomes are almost always more work than one-on-one. He goes to bed as soon as Celebrimbor is taken to Maedhros's room, and in the morning collects both of their lists of chores. Celebrimbor will be sore, and might flinch at things involving beds or crawling on his hands and knees. Fingon does most of Celebrimbor's list before even stating on his own, so at least Celebrimbor won't also be beaten for neglecting his duties. (He doesn't do the same for Curufin, who got just as little sleep worrying about Celebrimbor. Compromise only goes so far.)

[ambarto]

Headcanons for Maglor’s and Curufinwe’s wives

Don’t you guys just love how so many of “canon” female characters in the Silm end up being basically your own OCs? Anyways, pretty much what it says on the tin, my Feanorian wives OCs. A little bit of these headcanons are in my fic Much, more, less, nothing already, but I’m gonna expand on pretty much whatever my thoughts are. Very long post under the cut (and I sure hope the cut is working because if it isn’t this is gonna be long to scroll through).

Maglor’s wife - Vílerë

- The name for this girl is my own probably kinda sloppy work. I found in some Quenya dictionaries the word “vílë” which means “gentle breeze”, and it fit perfectly within my vision of her. The ending -rë is feminine and can denote an agental meaning, making the name mean “[girl] who makes a gentle breeze”, or something along those lines. I want to point out I have never studied Quenya at all and so this goes off entirely on various dictionaries I’ve been through.

- Vílerë is the girl’s mother-name, and it refers to two things. The first, is that she was born with very weak vocal chords, meaning her voice always sounds barely louder than a whisper. The second, is that she is also a very skilled flute player.

- Her parents are Noldor, but her grandmother is Teleri. Vílerë’s eyes are dark brown, which comes from her Teleri grandmother. Her hair is black, and she wears it long and plainly braided. Her skin is a light brown color. She’s not considered exceptionally beautiful, but not ugly, either. By Noldor standards, she’s cute, but in a little plain way, and a little on the shorter side.

- She’s a quiet girl, she doesn’t speak much. Partially it’s because of her voice, but it’s mostly just her personality. She doesn’t like drawing attention to herself, and she prefers being alone or with a few good friends rather than in the middle of a crowd. Because of this, she also doesn’t play her flute a lot in public, although she is known for being one of the best players and her music is loved by anyone who hears it. With those who know her, she’s kind and sweet, full of smiles and with a sharp wit you would not guess at first.

- While quiet and introverted, she’s got a strong will, and she will let people clearly if there is something that displeases her. She picks her words carefully, and if angry she’s good at getting her point across in the most cutting ways.

- She and Maglor met through music, and spent a great deal of time playing and composing together. She understood his more introspective moments better than most others, and she was drawn to his more caring side. She was good at getting him out of any bad mood and at humoring him when he got involved in some kind of musical competition with others; and he in turn helped her get out of her shell a little, but never tried to force her to come out on the spotlights with him. She took a liking to him from the start, although she sometimes rolled her eyes when his Feanorian pride showed through a bit too much.

- While still deeply in love, she did not follow him in exile. She did not agree with the Kinslaying, especially being part Teleri herself, and thought that it was absurd to do all of this just because of some rocks, no matter how beautiful they were. She didn’t want to leave her husband, and was also quite curious to see what was on the other side of the sea, but in the end she stayed in Valinor with her family.

- Other than music, she also enjoyed poetry and theatre. She had an appreciation for painting, but she never really learnt how to do it, and was more content with just looking at art rather than creating it. She also knew a bit about woodworking, because it was her parents’ profession, but she never really liked it. She enjoyed traveling too, and seeing new landscapes, and after marrying Maglor took her around to see all the cool places he had been to with his father and brothers.

- Some people had to say about her and Maglor marrying, because Vílerë lived in a village outside of Tirion and her family was one of the common folk. Some particularly vicious ones also complained that she didn’t look beautiful enough, but they had all learnt very well to not badmouth the beauty of the wife of someone of Feanor’s line. She was honestly more annoyed by receiving all that attention than by the negative comments in themselves, because she hated the positive attention too.

- She has one younger sister, who married before her and had two children. Vílerë herself married late in life compared to the average, although she was still a couple centuries younger than her husband. Out of her in-laws, the people she got along with better were Maedhros and Nerdanel, and she also was on friendly terms with Fingon and Finrod. While she did not have any quarrels with Feanor or with Maglor’s more outgoing brothers, she did find them exhausting in the long run, and better dealt with in small doses.

- While she grew to resent the Valar, although not as strongly as her husband’s family, when she was younger she liked to spend time in Lorien, and the quiet presence of Irmo and Este.

Curufin’s wife - Vanien

- Her name I took from RealElvish.net because I got lazy, although for some reason it’s not listed there anymore? For some reason? The closest it lists are Vanie and Vaniel, idk why they got rid of the specific one I used. Just my luck. Anyways, Vanien comes from “vane”, which means “fair or beautiful”.

- Her name says all about how she looks. She is the picture of Noldor standards of beauty. She has black hair and strikingly blue eyes, her skin is pale, and her facial features look like they could be put on a statue. She’s the kind of woman who could compete in Tirion Next Top Model, if they had it.

- Her family is entirely Noldor, going back all the way to Cuivienen, and fairly respected. They’re not nobles, but her parents are very good healers, which in Valinor mostly meant they were spectacular surgeons who could fix any idiot who had gotten attacked by a wild boar or something of the sorts. She was herself a healer, and very skilled.

- She and Curufin met though work as well. She had been developing a theory that perhaps one could enchant jewelry to give it properties that would make healing and recovery faster, and she had decided to go look for a good smith who could help her with it. It turned out making that kind of magical jewelry was extremely difficult, but she did get a husband out of the deal.

- She’s a city girl and at ease in the middle of the hustle of Tirion. She’s got a charming smile and she’s an excellent conversationalist. She’s a good girl, but she’s also got a rather competitive and petty streak, and if someone pisses her off she will get herself a nice revenge. Nothing truly bad, of course, but she’s not above turning her husband’s hair green if he acts too annoying. She’s more mischievous than harmful, however.

- Her main flaw is probably that she is a bit vain. She’s very aware of her beauty, and will do her best to flaunt it. She has excellent taste in fashion and hairstyles, and a husband who can craft her some of the most amazing jewelry one could think of. If she goes to a party, one can bet she’ll make sure to be the most breath stoppingly beautiful person in the room.

- She’s more outgoing than her husband, but she doesn’t mind that he sometimes ends up working on a project for days on end, although it does annoy her, as a wife and a healer, how he sometimes ends up forgetting to eat and rest. He often looks for her input when coming up with a design for something. Bitching about people who annoyed them is a bonding activity for them, but of course not their only topic of conversation. They like to go out on rides together, either along or with Curufin’s family. They are both ridiculously proud spouses, Vanien is extremely proud of her handsome, clever, and talented husband, and Curufin is extremely proud of his beautiful, smart, and talented wife. They’re also a good match when it comes to being stubborn.

- Celebrimbor is the only son they had, because Vanien struggled to get pregnant and carry the child to term. Sadly ironical, for a healer, and she was very protective of her son once he was born. She was a caring mother, and the kind who likes to cheer her brooding son by tickling him until he’s out of whatever tantrum he was throwing.

- Officially, it’s said Curufin’s wife stayed in Valinor, but I like to think that she came to Beleriand with him and Celebrimbor. She was a headstrong woman, who had her husband’s resentment towards the Valar and almost enough pride to match him. She did not directly participate in the Kinslaying, but cured the Noldor who had been wounded in it, and got on the ships with her family. Unfortunately, she ended up being killed in the Dagor-nuin-Giliath, and because of her rebellion she was held in Mandos until after the end of the First Age.

- She gets along well with most of Curufin’s family, especially Celegorm and the Ambarussa, and bonded with Feanor by answering all his questions about the body as well as she could. She became good friends with Aredhel, too.

[admirable-mairon]

My thoughts on Fëanor-

-and false claims that piss me off

See, I have been wanting to just sit down and write things about Fëanor for so long now but I’ve never gotten around to actually doing it. What is the purpose of this? Well mainly as entertainment for my followers, but also to clear up some things that I keep seeing repeated over and over again, and oh how many posts I would reblog on here if only they didn’t take a cheap, unfunny jab at Fëanor - The character I love more than any other in any form of media ever.

I will unfortunately be unable to share actual quotes in this piece. I let my friend borrow my english copy of the Silmarillion and so I only have the swedish version here, which is admittedly HILARIOUS occassionally, but it means that if I have a quote - I will have to translate it for you, so it won’t be exact word for word.

I won’t be talking about the different texts and exact words, but rather misconceptions I’ve seen prodding around about him, and direct arguments I’ve seen come from different parts of the fandom. I see the majority of the Tolkien fandom as the gosh darn best people I’ve ever had the joy of stumbling upon - endless amounts of fan-pieces, whether it’s art, music or writing that never seem to go away. They just get better and better and I love you.

But like I said there are SEVERAL things that are always brought up falsely about Fëanor that I just can’t stand for, sort of like the criticism against Thranduil that ‘OH HE’S JUST A RACIST SHITHEAD AND HE’S WRONG’, when in truth he’s the only actually rational and sane character in the movies.

THAT is the type of things I will bring up here. Read on further if you think it might me amusing. If you decide not to I wish you a pleasant evening/morning/day :D

There are many things one might dislike about Fëanor - Hell one might simply not be interested in him? I have several characters that I couldn’t care less about for no better reason than ‘Meh I guess I just don’t?’.

One might dislike his arrogance - he’s the very definition of ‘Holier-than-thou’ in many ways, and his passion can be off-putting for many. Maybe the whole concept of ‘GREATEST OF THE ELDAR WAS HE’ pisses you off on a sheer principle? That’s all well and good - I dislike Galadriel for the same reason (though I would argue there is no basis to claiming that she’s the GREATEST in any way as she hasn’t really done anything worthy of mentioning, but I digress - that is not what I’m here for, and the malcontent I have with her is mainly because of petty arguments on tumblr). 

HOWEVER. 

When people lie about Fëanor to support their own dislike of him - I get downright pissed off. 

To be more direct - Here are the things I will be discussing in this piece:

He was a bad Father / He ruined his children / He forced his children to swear the oath with him

He left His people to the Helcaraxë 

He was to blame for all the kinslayings

There was nothing but fire and greed inside him

All of these are so-called critisisms I’ve seen directed towards him during my years on here. I have not seen many of them on here lately, but it is likely that that’s because I’ve made a point to unfollow and potentially block those who spew nonsense like this. 

BUT LET’S ADRESS ALL OF THIS SHALL WE? STRAP IN Y’ALL AND GRAB A SNACK - I’M GOING IN DEEP

He was a bad Father / He ruined his children / He forced his children to swear the oath with him

Mostly inspired by things I keep hearing as well as an anonymous ask I recieved this morning 

I love feanor too but he sort of brought tragedy on his children

*the heaviest sigh*

Okay. Just. Gimme a moment. 

Okay no. 

Here’s the thing: The Silmarillion is filled with questionable forms of parenting. There’s Finwë not understanding what had to be done to deal with Fëanor as a child, there’s Indis also lacking in that understanding, there’s parents that seem to give no shits about their children, hell I love Curufin and I do think he adored Celebrimbor more than anything, but he was a little too damaged to know how to handle him, not to mention the fact that a pair of Kinslayers were better parents than Elwing and Eärendil ever were. 

But Fëanor wasn’t one of them. How do I know?

His sons would not have done everything they did unless they loved their father with every fibre of their being. They were not copies of him (aside from Curufin) and to me it seems clear that they were encouraged to follow their heart’s desires rather than strictly follow in his footsteps. 

When Nerdanel left - or however that went over - ALL SEVEN OF THEM CHOSE THEIR FATHER. ALL OF THEM. ALL SEVEN. 

When Fëanor was distraught and coing crazy with agony over losing his father and the Silmarilli - When he swore that oath - his sons wasted NO TIME in getting up to stand there with him. 

They stuck with him through thick and thin, they didn’t hesitate to stand there with him and support him fully. They were a family - a close-knitted one at that - and they adored him. That much is clear. 

Just because someone is a biological parent doesn’t earn them any form of respect as a parent, nor any love from their children if they haven’t deserved it. Fëanor was loved by his sons and he loved them dearly - He is one of the few parents in these damn series that deserve the title of ‘Actually great and supportive dad’. 

Fëanor did not bring tragedy on his children - let’s all be very clear on that. If anything - tragedy was brought unprovoked onto him and his children, who - by the by - were grown men by the time they left Valinor and swore the Oath

Eru was completely alright with all of this. The Valar were cruel, whether they meant to be or not, and Fëanor was used by Melkor. The fëanorions wanted what was rightfully theirs - what their father and grandfather died for - and the whole world suddenly decided to say ‘Hah fuck no finders keepers shitheads!’.

It can naturally be argued that his death fucked them up, and that he shouldn’t have barged forward to take on Balrogs on his own, but TBH if it fucked over them that bad it only further supports the argument that he was an amazing father that they loved so dearly that they would do literally ANYTHING to get back and honor. Furthermore one could naturally point out that burning ships was a Rude AF thing to do, but to be fair every single one of his sons was in on it aside from Maedhros who suffered the loss of Fingon, but perhaps Fingon would still at least be safe and out of harm’s way in Valinor. Burning the ships was arguably and admittedly very ‘rude’, but it was not an ill action directed towards his people or most importantly his son.

Which brings us beautifully to the second subject....:

He left his people to the Helcaraxë

Except he really didn’t. 

He left FINGOLFIN’S people - not his own. Seems minor and pointless perhaps, but I assure you it’s of great importance. 

After the kinslaying at Alqualondë it was only natural that tensions would grow unbearable. When people break - when people do terrible things - they often regret them afterwards, become angry and need to find someone to blame it on. Given how Fëanor was their king and that he was the one who encouraged them to leave the cage the Valar had put them in, it would be natural to blame Fëanor for the horrendous act they’d all just committed.  Because let me remind you - The Nolofinwëans ALSO took part in the first kinslaying.

Fingolfin’s people had long been - for a lack of a better word - talked shit about Fëanor and his people. Ever since Finwë died and they left the safety of their cage, there had been constant nagging about how Fëanor shouldn’t be their king, how he didn’t deserve it, why did they have to do this, it was too far away, this was going too far by now, Fingolfin should lead instead.  And Fëanor - Never having been one for taking anyone’s shit - basically said ‘Oh okay then you can WALK BACK HOME YOU PIECES OF SHIT WE’RE GOING TO MIDDLE-EARTH AND YOU CAN STAY BACK COMFORTABLY HERE’. 

FINGOLFIN was the one to insist they cross the Helcaraxë, along with his people. There was the option of returning back to Valinor, which I assume Fëanor would assume that they would do, because after all that’s what they had been complaining about for weeks, wasn’t it?  Believe me - I love Fingolfin - and it was an asshole move to burn the ships.  But Fëanor didn’t leave his own people to the Helcaraxë - He left Fingolfin and his people to do whatever they wished (as long as it didn’t involved the ships they’d killed for), and they chose to walk along the Helcaraxë. 

Did they have much of a choice? Could they return or was it more of a 50-shades kind of situation of ‘OH BUT SHE COULD LEAVE WHENEVER SHE WANTED but really she couldn’t’? Finarfin returned just fine, but then again he hadn’t killed any teleri. 

That whole part can certainly be discussed and argued about, but the fact remains that Fëanor did NOT leave his own people to the Helcaraxë - He left Fingolfin’s. The dramatic noldor flare version of ‘IF YOU DON’T STOP COMPLAINING I’LL TURN THIS THING AROUND AND YOU ALL CAN WALK HOME’

He was to blame for all the kinslayings

This is - as we all can see - A clear and obvious fucking lie. 

Fëanor died before the sun was created. Fëanor died at the very beginning of the First Age. 

He was literally not alive long enough to be blamed for any of the other kinslayings. 

He created the silmarillis - he and his sons had the only right to them. 

The kinslayings post Alqualondë happened because of incompetent leadership, corruption and betrayals within the good ol’ people of Middle-Earth. Need I mention that the only Fëanorion killed by Melkor’s forces was Fëanor himself? The rest were killed by other elves. Not only that but the fëanorions were known to be diplomats - the strongest war-forces out there to be sure, and warlords for the legends - but the Union of Maedhros wasn’t their fault. The fact that Thingol fucked up and told a human to fetch a Silmaril because this human couldn’t understand a simple metaphor for ‘I will never let you marry my daughter’. Sort of ‘I will let you marry my daughter when Hell freezes over’, and he’d take that seriously? Not that I doubt it - Beren seems like the kind of fella who would barge into Hell with buckets of ice because ‘I WILL BE ALLOWED TO SHAG THE FEMALE ELF IF I DO THIS’.

Wars and conflicts such as the ones that raged through the First Age are NEVER black and white. Never. There is no good guy and there is no bad guy (aside from Melkor, but he wasn’t the ONLY bad guy). There were the Fëanorions and their property, and people who thought that they had the right to them. 

Overall bad leadership and simple stupidity as well as over-dramatic elves and kings and humans were to blame for the Kinslayings: Not Fëanor. 

That would be like blaming the one who made my phone in case it’d get stolen. “OH IF ONLY YOU HADN’T MADE THIS PHONE THIS WOULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED”

There was nothing but fire and greed inside him

I saw this written in that one post about why Galadriel giving Gimli three strands of her hair was an amazing scene (which it was because that move was SAVAGE). 

This is the only place in which I will quote something word for word in this:

“Even when she was young, Galadriel’s ability to see into other’s hearts was very strong, and she knew that Fëanor was filled with nothing but fire and greed”

*muffled shrieking*

ALRIGHT SO LET’S HAVE A LOOK SHALL WE

To be fair - Galadriel is a child of Indis. That is not to say that Indis herself was bad (even though I literally hold no love for her whatsoever, aside from the fact that she gave us great characters through that womb of hers - good job), but rather that Finwë’s family was very heavily divided and separated by an understandable conflict.

Fëanor - understandably - hates that side of the family.  Because of that, because they’ve never been given a chance because they aren’t worth his time - it’s natural that they dislike him in turn. 

Galadriel is Finarfin’s child, but acts more like a Noldo than he does. It would be LOGICAL for her to be biased against him. Because of that it wouldn’t be surprising if she saw the passion in him and interpreted it as Fire and Greed because of bias - whether she was aware of it or not. 

Fëanor was indeed the greatest elf that has ever existed and ever will exist - greatest in both beauty, mind and strength. He did ask for her hair three times because he wanted to capture it's beauty in gems, but that they inspired the silmarilli? Really? Nah. It might have driven him to create them out of spite, but we have a pretty clear case of stroking Galadriel's ego to deal with here if we are to assume that the SILMARILLI - the very gems that caused most of the tragedy during the First Age - were crafted in her image.

But more than that the phrase "she saw that in his heart there was only fire and greed" pisses me off.

No. There was not. There was passion in his heart. Fëanor lived to create - especially things of beauty. Everything - literally everything about this cocky little shit was about passion and creation. He cared for his people - he wanted to share wonders with the world freely and out of the rule of the Valar/Gods. He wanted freedom and he wanted to create, he has three times too much energy in his soul.

If that is what they mean by "only fire and greed", then yes.

All in all this has been amusing and interesting to write and I hope I’ve made at least some lick of sense to you - the reader.

This was really just a long and complicated way of saying that it is OKAY to dislike a character. Not every character appeals to everyone. There is legit nothing wrong with that. 

But I lose respect for people - grownups - who can’t even admit that their reason for disliking someone or something is petty. I cannot respect people who go far enough that they end up lying and making things up just to make themselves seem more sensible and mature, when in all seriousness all it tells me is that someone lacks the self-confidence to admit that ‘Yeah. I like this thing but not that. There’s no reason really, I just thing this thing is neat and that one isn’t because I’m a petty asshat’. 

No character - Especially not in a masterpiece like The Silmarillion has perfect characters, only ones with different grey areas in what’s okay and what isn’t.  There is nothing wrong in liking some and disliking some.  But OWN that. if the reason is petty OWN it.  Try to have at least some semblence of confidence and insight to know when you’re being petty and when you aren’t. 

We’re a great fandom - I truly and utterly believe that.

I love you

( @first-son-of-finwe )

[fuckingfinwions]

I see what you mean! Also the image of Curufin specifically being humiliate/paraded is very evocative! I guess I want 2 know if there are ever times when maedhros tells nolo/fingon+curufin to do something and curufin tries to refuse/slack off bc *he* feels humiliated by it and fingon/nolo are just like 'shut up and go along with it, itll be over faster/don't get me in trouble too'? i imagine they were much gentler towards their own family ofc but fingon seems to (rightfully) hate curufin. is nol

*nolo ever like 'curufin you literally used to do this all the time--don't you remember how much all of you relished in punishing 'disobedience''? it just seems like a fascinating power dynamic where ostensibly curufin, nolo, and fingon (and tyelpe later) are on the same 'level' but they dont actually all like or trust or work together and maedhros does treat them differently (he seems more affectionate with fingon?). so them interacting alone or while with mae is so interesting bc they are cons

*constantly scheming to try and make things better for themselves or at least Not Worse but totally could fuck it up for each other. i also wonder if nolo/fingon are gentler with celebrimbor once he finally comes of age and joins them? do they like...tell him what to expect when he's afraid of it happening in the future, or give him any adivce, or comfort him when it does happen? does curufin do that either or does he just refuse to think abt it? i cant iamgine nolo/finno being mean to tyelpe

wondering eg--maedhros has to go deal with something urgent & to save time tells curufin/fingon to prep each other. does curufin actually do it well? does he do a good job? does fingon? obviously neither want to touch each other, but if its nolo+fingon they have an incentive to cooperate just to make it easier on each other. do curufin & fingon actually work towards this? does fingon do a decent job bc he knows there will be consequences? what would punishment actually be if there would be any?

also i have to say its darkly ironic that being so 'low' spares fingon & nolo some very poignant humiliation that maedhros inflicts on curufin. do they still get ordered to do things to each other at parties or was that just something the feanorions did as teenagers & maedhros has 'grown out of'? (also do nolo/fingon ever get to write letters to turgon&aredhel? would they get a chance to see them if they visited? do t&a ever try to rescue them? would they rescue curufin/tyelpe too?)

There are definitely times when Curufin refuses to do things, but Nolo and Fingon would rather get it over with. Maedhros doesn’t call them all to his chamber that often, but when he does it’s for something elaborate. Also, Maglor has permission/access to them as well, and once he gets over it being weird to fuck his (former) brother, he’s going to want full on erotic plays. Curufin has been “broken in” enough that he no longer tries to run or attack, but he still has his pride. He mostly realizes that he has to obey orders for outright sex acts, but if he feels like he’s the butt of a joke, he’ll just stand there. Or sometimes if a chore is particularly humiliating, he’ll also refuse to do it, even if it’s moving something heavy that really needs multiple people.

When Curufin’s being uncooperative, Nolo will try to reason with him. “There’s only two ways this is going to end. You do it now; or you stubbornly refuse to until they punish you and then you do it. I know it’s unpleasant, but there’s no way around it.”

Fingon, by contrast, doesn’t expect reasoning with Curufin to work. If Curufin’s the only one who will get punished, Fingon leaves him to it. If not, Fingon will try to physically force him to go along. Maglor’s script calls for Curufin to crawl on his knees; Fingon trips him. Maedhros wants them all to leave their robes in their room and come to him naked on the balcony, so there’s nothing to worry about getting blown away; Fingon grabs Curufin’s hand after his bath and starts walking. It turns into a physical fight once or twice, until Maedhros makes it clear he’s far too busy to deal with them fighting, and next time anyone is punched, both of them (or perhaps even all four) will be whipped. After that, they’re both careful to keep it to plausibly deniable “bumping into each other”.

When Curufin actually disobeys in front of Maedhros, there’s really nothing Nolo or Fingon can do.

Fun fact: Since Curufin is locked up in Maedhros’s bedroom for a week straight, it falls to Nolo and Fingon to look after Celebrimbor. He’s a terrified thirteen year old who just had his entire life upended, so they both have a lot of sympathy for him. (And he never hurt them, as that was a sexual privilege reserved for adults.) They teach him how to do the tedious chores, and where lunch is served for all the servants, and where extra cleaning supplies are kept if you run out of rags halfway through polishing the mirrors. They also explain how he’ll be expected to behave, and make sure to quickly greet any nobles they see in their work so that Celebrimbor can echo their response.

They don’t really know how to comfort Celebrimbor - him “losing” all his uncles, who he actually liked, is different than it was for Fingon - but they try. Nolo reassures Celebrimbor that Curufin will be back soon, after a few days he’ll be trusted enough to be out Maedhros’s direct sight, and Curufin was not seriously injured last time Nolo saw him. Fingon assures Celebrimbor that your father being trained to be a sex slave doesn’t actually mean he’ll stop loving you or wanting to hang out with you, though of course Curufin and Celebrimbor will have far less free time than they did before.

When Curufin here’s about this he’s furious. (This scene takes place with Curufin chained to a wall in the Servant Nolofinweans’ quarters, because that’s where  Maedhros put him for the night.)

Curufin: “Get away from my son! I won’t have you perverts corrupting him.”

Nolo: “What have we done that’s so perverse? All I’ve taught Celebrimbor is some useful cleaning tips.”

Curufin: “You’ve fucked your own brother, and your children! Fingon rode his brother’s cock in front of half the court, and your daughter spends most of her time in the palace naked and covered in seed.”

Nolo is not going to punch someone who is tied up and unable to punch back. At least, not unless directly ordered to. “You were often the one who ordered such, and yet you think yourself above us?”

Curufin: “I’ve ordered mules to carry things, and I’m above them too.”

Nolo: “You’re one to talk, with how you were gagging for Maedhros an hour ago.”

Curufin: “That’s different! He forced me to do it, you walked in there on your own two feet.”

Nolo: “I walked in because I knew I’d be dragged otherwise. I desire it less than you do.”

So yeah, they’re not exactly friends. Also, Fingon locked Celebrimbor in Aredhel’s old bedroom (with himself outside the door) when the argument started, to shield him from Curufin’s anger and humiliation. Hell get to talk to Curufin once Curufin is no longer talking about sex though.

eg--maedhros has to go deal with something urgent & to  save time tells curufin/fingon to prep each other.

First off: Curufin is still definitely attracted to Fingon and Nolo. He resents being told what to do, but if ordered to fuck or touch one of them he will take the excuse to get his hands all over them. He probably still won’t do a useful job though - more of playing with Fingon’s nipples or cock with one hand, while one finger of the other is in Fingon’s ass so Fingon can’t pull away. Fingon considers prer to be defined as stretching and lubing Curufin enough that Maedhros will enjoy sticking his cock in, with Curufin in little enough pain that he can come if Maedhros tries for that. So Fingon just goes with three fingers from the start, and uses Curufin’s moment of surprise to reach back and prep himself a bit better. Sure, Curufin would be punished for doing a bad job, but Fingon would be stuck with inadequate prep.

Fingon doesn’t push Curufin away because Maedhros could be back at any moment, and he ordered them to prep each other rather than themselves. (Maedhros finds the thought of his sex slaves “playing with” each other very arousing, even though he knows it’s just a show for him.)

Maedhros goes for the thematic/ironic punishments. The next night, Maedhros orders Fingon to prep Curufin as badly as he was prepped, and then puts a giant dildo in Curufin. He can take it out when he comes, and he’s not allowed to touch his cock.

That’s assuming that Curufin’s bad prep “just” caused pain or injury to Fingon. If Curufin actually did such a bad job prepping Fingon that Maedhros had to wait, or felt pain, that would be terrible. Maedhros would beat him with a crop, and then chain Curufin’s hands behind his back - if he’s not going to use them as ordered, he doesn’t need them. If Curufin apologized very, very well the next night, Maedhros might unchain his hands before putting the dildo in.

(Fingon’s prep of Curufin is judged as adequate, especially if he touches Curufin’s cock enough to get it hard before Maedhros gets back. Fingon knows what his “audience” wants.)

Getting ordered to do things to each other at parties is mostly something Maedhros “grew out of”. He’s king now, and has a whole lot more power than just making “low” people fuck on his command. Possibly Maglor still orders it though. And Maedhros does like private shows, he just doesn’t need a big audience for his sex salves fucking each other.

I don’t think Maedhros would allow Nolo and Fingon to write letters back and forth with Turgon and Aredhel - too easy to plan an escape, even if Maedhros reads the letters too. He’d probably allow one way communication though.  Tugon and Aredhel can write letters to their family that will be read by a guard, but will reach their destination. Maedhros will occasionally have Nolo or Fingon attend him at court (clothed) so that everyone can see their subservience, and Turgon and Aredhel can know they’re still alive.

They would be standing beside Maedhros’ throne, fetching notes he left in his room, or a drink of water, or his lunch; wiping up any spills immediately, whether on the throne or the floor or Maedhros’s robes. Occasionally holding a book or similar where Maedhros can see it, without wrinkling his robe by setting it in his lap. After a year or so, Maedhros has Curufin attend him as well - in a beautiful gag the first couple times, just in case.