#pro tip: Indiana Jones movies are not good background noise for headcanoneering

[the-disaster-that-is-melkor]

Dark Lord Fashion HCs

Don't get me wrong, I'm as much a sucker for the spiky black armor aesthetic as the next Melkor apologist, but hear me out:

Melkor's attire is a wonderland of color and pattern.  Being a Vala of chaos, the creator of dragons and the lord of volcanoes, he loves clothing that keeps the eyes entertained.  His incarnate form is one that is enhanced by heavily textured fabrics with complex weaves, and his robes are the deep tones of sapphire and ruby and amber, with entire stories written across his shoulders and sleeves in the sort of embroidery that takes years to complete.  He walks the halls of his city clad in crushed velvet, in dragonscale, in engraved leather.  The polished stones he adorns himself with glimmer and reflect light in a thousand deep colors, like embers burning in a wildfire.  The weight of the fabrics he chooses to clothe himself in lends power and substance to his presence in a room; when he embraces Mairon, Mairon loses himself within their depths.

And the lieutenant himself?  He wears things that make him shimmer.  Other than the occasional ceremonial robe, he's surprisingly minimalist in his attire.  His wardrobe consists of pale satins, spider silk, and silk chiffons, things that will drape and ripple, things that will heighten him, things that will slim him.  Mairon needs no ornate embroidery, no heavy layers, no bright patterns, no bold designs to distract from his beauty.  He is the flame atop the candle, his face the only centerpiece his outfit needs, his hair the brightest color in the room against a backdrop of silver and ivory and gold.  Everything he wears is designed for elegance and simplicity, designed not to make the eye linger but to point to his own natural features.  Anything more textured would simply overwhelm.

One would think, given their differences, the lord and his lieutenant would clash terribly.  But it is this very contrast that makes them such an entrancing sight: Mairon pale and smooth as marble, Melkor as tumultuous as a storm.  They each make up for what the other lacks, both visually and in every other way, and when they're together, no work of art could be more beautiful to behold.

@cerulean-shark