#undercat-overdog

[gwaedhannen]

✨ - Worldbuilding or background story elements. (dealer's choice of topic!)

(Unusual headcanon ask game)

Rivendell has always had a decent sized human population, ever since the valley's first days as a hidden shelter, when Eleryn's scouts started returning with survivors of the villages near Eregion that Sauron's armies were pillaging out of boredom.

The population grows over the Second Age. More survivors, residents of Minhiriath and Enedwaith displaced by Númenórean logging and settlements, residents of future-Gondor displaced by Númenórean settlements, escaped slaves from Númenórean colonies (sensing a pattern here?). Valandil's wife (descendant of a noble Númenórean house that lost favor with the King and was exiled to Middle-earth centuries prior) was from that people.

Refugees from the collapses of Rhudaur and Cardolan, as well as those fleeing the various invasions and wars in Rhovanion and Gondor join the population in the Third Age. Though most of the surviving Dúnedain of Arthedain settled in the Angle, some go to Rivendell where their chieftains are raised. Elrond makes sure that his foster-sons play nice with everyone, Dúnedain or not.

Over the main gate of Rivendell, Elrond himself carved a great relief of the coming of Doriath's refugees to the Mouths of Sirion, toddling Elwing at their head, welcomed by the escapees of Dor-lómin and Brethil. He has sought to repay that welcome ever since.

"Wait what about Lindir's line about it being hard to tell the difference between a Man and a Hobbit because all mortals are the same to elves" he's just racist.

[edennill-archived]

I am delighted to learn Sauron having deserted is somewhat canon.

So does Tolkien ever actually explain why Sauron is so strange? Lots of Maiar decided to follow Melkor, but Mairon is the only one to go and do things on his own after Morgoth’s fall and become a Dark Lord himself. Is it because any other more independently minded ones were kinda killed/ taken prisoner during the War of Wrath (WW)? The only thing I could find about Sauron and the WW is that at some point he turned and fled the fighting (the Lost Road p.333). So he technically betrayed 2 Valar, not just Aule. Whereas the Balrogs that survived/escaped still wait in hiding for their master. Why is Sauron so unmaiar-like?

Hey anon, I am so sorry for the delay in this! There were life events and then catching up on work after life events and angst events and this is super rambly and I’m not sure answers your questions well.

Also, I had no idea about S and the War of Wrath in BoLT! Thank you!!! (My BoLT knowledge is worse than terrible.)

Tolkien writes a surprising among on Sauron and spends some time discussing Sauron's motives in the Notes on Motives in the Silmarillion essay (which I love dearly, it's great). But before I get into S in particular, I do want to note that I think that most of the named Maiar we see on page are unusual, in that they enter Elven history and interact with incarnates; most Maiar don't (Annals of Aman even mentions that the number of Maiar is unknown and that few have names). Even Gandalf, in his Olorin days, would sometimes hang out among Elves without a fana, going among them invisibly (creeper). The Maiar we see tend either to be the most powerful ones and/or the ones who actively live among and interact with incarnates. Sauron is both.

(I think the power thing does make a difference in Sauron's career goals, in that he's able to pursue them. He doesn't just desire to make himself a Dark Lord but has the ability to. Pre-Morgoth, he was "chief of Aule's people" and then the chief of Morgoth's, his steward when Morgoth was imprisoned, S ruling on his own if not in his own right. Sauron is also able to concentrate his power into the Ring. (On Motives begins with Sauron was 'greater', effectively, in the Second Age than Morgoth at the end of the First.) So S had the ability as well as the will.)

As for the Maiar more generally, I don't think they have an ontological need or desire or drive to serve. A few are associated with many Valar (Melian's at various points with Vana, Este, and Yavanna; Gandalf interns with everyone; Osse, Ulmo's supposed vassal, is said by Ulmo in UT to "obey the will of Mandos, being a servant of the Doom", which imo is just fascinating and also gives us an Osse who has connections to four Valar - including Aule in this, since it was he who sent Uinen to bring Osse back from Morgoth). We also see a lot of the named ones go off and do their own thing, either actively going against the wishes of the Valar or forgetting about them (Saruman and Radagast, respectively) or just chilling on their own (Melian, who's into her husband "the tall" 😏). The Maiar are "of the same order as the Great [=Valar] but of less might and majesty," being "spirits of the same kind [...] but having less might and authority." It's a difference in degree - and the difference in power is a very great difference - but Valar and Maiar aren't fundamentally different on a metaphysical level; they’re the same species, if we can use species to describe their kind. The order of authority (Valar > Maiar > Elves > etc) is decreed, cultural, an order but one that individuals are able to go against. I don't think Sauron's going against his nature in wanting to be a Dark Lord in his own right, he himself the King of the Earth, he himself the object of cults. (Tolkien addresses the Cult of Melkor that Sauron sets up in Numenor in On Motives too, basically coming to the conclusion that it was the most expedient method for S. I'm sure our boy appreciated the drama of it too; he likes his terrible fun.)

I do think that Maiar differ in level of... individuality? personhood? personality? In that some are closer than others in their way of thinking and viewing the world to incarnates than others are, and that Sauron is at the far end of that scale. He's a character with a personality, if that makes sense? We also know that there are incarnates whose psychology he understands very well and thus can tempt them, often successfully. Gandalf says he doesn’t understand minds who don’t work like his, but Sauron clearly understands plenty of incarnate minds, and his own must work in a similar way. Sauron also has his individual quirks, such as his sense of humor, which he maintains even at the end (finding Ungoliant amusing). He’s a creator too, and a master one, even sharing Tolkien's own hobby of conlanging.

As for why S wants to rule the world: it's an outcrop of his original desire to make the world a better place by putting it in order and reforming it. Tolkien puts it better than I do in On Motives, when he's describing Sauron at the end of the Third Age:

Sauron had never reached this stage of nihilistic madness [that Morgoth did]. He did not object to the existence of the world, so long as he could do what he liked with it. He still had the relics of positive purposes, that descended from the good of the nature in which he began: it had been his virtue (and therefore also the cause of his fall, and of his relapse) that he loved order and co-ordination, and disliked all confusion and wasteful friction. (It was the apparent will and power of Melkor to effect his designs quickly and masterfully that had first attracted Sauron to him.) Sauron had, in fact, been very like Saruman, and so still understood him quickly and could guess what he would be likely to think and do, even without the aid of palantiri or of spies; whereas Gandalf eluded and puzzled him. But like all minds of this cast, Sauron's love (originally) or (later) mere understanding of other individual intelligences was correspondingly weaker; and though the only real good in, or rational motive for, all this ordering and planning and organization was the good of all inhabitants of Arda (even admitting Sauron's right to be their supreme lord), his 'plans', the idea coming from his own isolated mind, became the sole object of his will, and an end, the End, in itself.*

*[footnote to the text] But his capability of corrupting other minds, and even engaging their service, was a residue from the fact that his original desire for 'order' had really envisaged the good estate (especially physical well-being) of his 'subjects'.)

(Though I will note that Sauron absolutely lets his various foibles such as his nasty sense of humor or his aesthetic (only the black horses, pls) or cowardice or cackling villain drama occasionally override that need for order and efficiency.)

Thank you again for the ask, and I hope it explained some of my thoughts on Sauron’s peculiarities <33

[outofangband]

Part of a series on the domains of the Valar and beginnings of more Valinor world building! I’m planning on rewriting this soon!

I’m also going to redo my posts on the physical domains so please feel free to send requests or prompts about that!

Also I must recommend undercat-overdog ‘s post on the domains! It’s one of my absolute favorite posts on the Ainur and categorizes them in such a philosophical and interesting way that literally makes me happy stim

I think a lot about the group of the Valar that is Oromë, Nessa, Tulkas and Vána and among other things I think Melkor is by absolutely terrified of them

Tulkas is obvious. He’s struck Melkor and he’s laughed at him and he’s not scared of him, just angry. Melkor only appreciates righteous anger if it can be twisted for his own use or at least amusement (like with poor Húrin)

His domain is less obvious. He doesn’t have an elemental domain or one regarding processes and cycles of life, death, consciousness or rejuvenation.

I think Tulkas is like Melkor in one fundamental way, his domain is pulled from the domains of others but in such a way that strengthens both rather than corrupts or degrades one. Primarily he takes justice and compassion from Manwë and Varda and revelry, freedom and balance from Oromë and Nessa.

It’s interesting to note that in earlier versions of the Legendarium, Tulkas was a sun god before Tolkien decided he wanted the sun to take a female form and decided upon Arien.

I do talk about this earlier version here a bit

Oromë, Nessa and Vána are deities of balance and cycles. They maintain ecosystems and nurture the violent and wild aspects of nature alongside the gentle ones.

Oromë and Nessa are masters of the hunt and the chase, of predator and prey and everything in between. They represent a lot of the instinct to fight, flee or hide but also to play, tussle and protect.

It is again fairly obvious why Melkor is frightened of them.

For all he loves chaos, he loves it when it suits him. The domains of Nessa and Oromë are already wild places.

Oromë and Nessa can turn the very forests against you.

Vána’s cycles are of life and death, rebirth and decay.

Vána loves songbirds in their bright livelihood but she also represents the end when they inevitably fall to predators or age and return to nurture the earth and its creatures.

She is a mercurial being, one of change and growth and the fear and joy it brings.

She could do tremendous evil on the side of Melkor.

I talk about the potential for decay in Valinor here!

As always please feel free to ask more!

[swanmaids]

cw domestic abuse. thank @undercat-overdog for the term "great year".

What Aredhel thought she missed the most, in dark Nan Elmoth, was the Sun. 

Perhaps it was a strange thing to think. The Sun was young – it had existed for just over three Great Years when she rode past the gates of her brother’s kingdom. The Eldar had scarcely known it. Aredhel remembered the divine maiden who was now the Sun as she had been in Aman, tending to Laurelin with a lover’s devotion. What was the Sun, to one who had seen the Trees? 

Besides, Aredhel had other things to miss. The brothers and friends that she supposed she would never see again;  though Eöl said that they needed nobody else, so long as they had one another. The feeling of shaping her tongue into the language of her faraway mother; though Eöl said that it grated on his ears to hear, and that if she truly loved him then she would not wish to cause him pain. 

Where was she? Oh yes. Her thoughts had drifted off track, as they were wont to do these days. Perhaps it was strange to miss the Sun more than anything else, when it was only a fruit of the Trees of her youth, and there were other parts of her former life that she missed, which others might have accounted more important. But Aredhel was a strange woman – all her life she had been told as such, and now Eöl said much the same. 

At first he had said it with great compliments. There was nobody else like her in the world. Now, more and more, it was in anger – why could she not simply behave as a proper wife ought? He would not become so wroth with her, if she would just act right. 

But she had become distracted again. She had been trying to think of the Sun. What was it that she missed about it? Oh, everything. The gentle warmth of the rays against her naked skin that told her when spring had finally come. The splintered light filtering through the trees and alighting the forest on a morning’s ride. Each day in Vinyamar and Gondolin, she had taken a walk in the early hours to witness the break of dawn — and each time the sight reminded her, just as the first ever sunrise in Beleriand had, that there was still beauty to be found even in this forsaken world. 

It was an unkind thing to think of one’s husband, but sometimes she could not help but find Eöl’s determination to keep her in darkness to be unspeakably cruel. 

Sometimes too she wondered: what would happen to her, if she were to walk out of Nan Elmoth, beneath the sunlight again? Perhaps she would become like one of the creeping things that made their homes in the corners of Eöl’s house, wincing and skittering away from the brightness, dull eyes streaming. But it was an unnecessary thought. She was not going to leave; she would never find out. 

[meadowlarkx]

Some March fic recs!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[elronds-library]

Shall these Bones Live [WIP]

by undercat (@undercat-overdog)

Part 1 of we who are disassembled

After the destruction of the Ring, Sauron makes one last, desperate attempt at survival and Celebrimbor comes across something familiar in the land of Avathar. What was broken might be remade.

Mature, No Archive Warnings

Words: 105,769

[theoppositeofprofound]

Jumping off @undercat-overdog sprawling insights: what if we gave Annatar a mustache. Just a slender, villainous mustache. Maybe a goatee. It’s clearly evil facial hair, but elves, who have limited experience with beards, just think it looks very dashing and wise. It’s a well-known fact that Aulë bestows such gifts upon his favored!

[batshape]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love ❤

thank you @samarqqand for the tag!! i spent the last two years finishing my masters, writing papers and proposals and a thesis etc, so i’ve been largely ficced out for a long time. but these five are my most darling works, and i will inevitably write more lesbian feanor/nerdanel, because i am addicted to dyke drama and they do it so well.

unfortunately, my two year break from writing fic also coincided with a very long sabbatical from reading fic, and i am desperate to catch up on the everybody’s greatest hits. tagging @i-am-a-lonely-visitor, @undercat-overdog, @crackinthecup, @aipilosse, and @potatoobsessed999 (but if you’ve already done it, feel free to do it again or to ignore)

now in no particular order (at least that i’ll admit), my top fic self-recs:

1. affectation: celebrimbor/annatar, t, 5k words, content warning for inevitable gore and torture mentions

Annatar knew the irritation in his own expression, could taste the disdain in his mouth. He said, rather plainly, “Celebrimbor of Eregion. I am going to eat you.”

i was taking a seminar on archive theory when i wrote this, and the idea of sauron curating an archive of things he took from celebrimbor’s rooms and personal library after his ruin of ost-in-edhil got its teeth into me. the archive building ended up mostly off-screen; instead annatar begrudgingly advises grad students, discovers archive anthrax, and is overall too familiar with his most tolerable colleague.

2. little tenderness: feanor/nerdanel, e, 4k

“Is it not exhausting to imagine abandonment around every darkened corner, wife of mine?”

feanor and nerdanel have t4t lesbian divorce sex following feanor’s exile to formenos. nothing is resolved, and arguably they both get worse. feanor’s missed character potential as a genderfucked lesbian with the same extremely large chips on her shoulder regarding primogeniture, her sons, and high kingship still regularly turns my own brain to soup.

3. letter 97: fingon/maedhros but also gen, t, 9k

“Still the question remains,” Maedhros continued tranquilly, “whether you were offended on my behalf or on yours, when you were accused of keeping a monster leashed for your own amusement.”

the elfschatology one! featuring my own wretched and reprehensible darling, an orc angband escapee doing a little bit of an anthropological study abroad. fingon visits maedhros in himring, wrestles with both his own and maedhros’ wartime uncertainties on what makes an elf, what makes an orc, and what an end to a war would even mean if they made if there. ‘so you want to understand your monstrous boyfriend’s lukewarm concern for his immortal soul,’ a generally unhelpful how-to

4. on gold, and the wearing of red: caranthir & maedhros, g, 4k

“My messengers wear gold in their mouths,” he said curtly, and his brother flashed him a brief smile. The gold of Maedhros’ own teeth shone in firelight.

caranthir’s pre-nirnaeth relationship with his eldest brother as demonstrated through the fashion trends he disapproves of, the ones he adopts himself, and the ones he actively enables. maedhros is more than a little monstrous and simultaneously very beloved by his men and his little brother both. in other words, the sharp teeth fic.

5. to my father’s house: caranthir & finrod, t, 17.5k (4 chapters), content warning for major character death and gore

“It is not a very long dream. There is a servant atop the stairs with a carafe, and one of your brothers is giving a toast, though in the middle of it the servant drops the carafe and—” He gestures vaguely. “—wine, all down the stairs.”

caranthir and his damnably likeable arafinwean cousin, until both their deaths. in which caranthir is also cursed with perhaps the most useless gift of foresight in first age history, and dreams since childhood of the various ways in which he could, would, and ultimately does die. relatedly, there is something so special to me about a man who does fiber arts and is also unfalteringly miserable.

you can find the rest of my fic at ao3 under batshape.

[child-of-hurin]

Fic author interview meme - tagged by @anghraine!

Apologies if you've already done this and I missed it, but tagging @squirrelwrangler @undercat-overdog @chthonic-cassandra @hoeratius @outofangband @seagodofmagic and everyone else who sees this and feels like doing it :)

1- How many works do you have on AO3?

58, more than I thought

2- What's your total AO3 word count?

146,888

3- What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. Surrender, 615 words, The Mirror Visitor, 149 kudos 2. Locked, forgotten, 1,6k words, ASOIAF , 91 kudos 3. With imperious hand, Fate turns the wheel,  8,8k words, Queen’s Thief, 85 kudos 4. Simple fix, 2,8k words, Supernatural, 77 kudos 5. Tied: Cupid and Psyche, 742 words, Queen’s Thief, 66 kudos A flower trampled underfoot, 1,9k words, Silmarillion, 66 kudos

I have a couple of anonymous/orphaned works that I can recall that have way more than any of this: one Azula/Zuko that has over 350 kudos and a Wincest fic that’s currently on 289! They’re both pure E-rated kink, so I think it figures hahaah.

4- Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to, but sometimes I get a little stumped between a desire to respond in depth vs the conscience that ao3 comments are not really the place for fandom conversation…

5- What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

IMO, either my most recent Vinland Saga fic “Ordeal,” or my first posted fic ever, “Barren”, about Míriel and Pharazôn.

6- What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

I’m thinking it’s probably “Washed Ashore”, a short fic that ends with Gil-Galad telling Círdan that Ëarendil is alive and returned with an army in tow.

7- Do you write crossovers?

no

8- Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I know I did but it was in an orphaned work and I can’t recall which, or what fandom it was for? But I think that’s why I switched to just publishing anonymously instead of orphaning it altogether, so I can still delete comments and stuff. Haven't had to, though.

9- Do you write smut?

Occasionally :) 

10- Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No

11- Have you ever had a fic translated?

I THINK so, because I remember someone asking me about it, but I can’t recall which fic or what language…

12- Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I wanna do that with Kate!!! Maybe one day

13- What's your all-time favorite ship?

The ship I’ve written the most for on ao3 is Irene/Gen from Queen’s Thief, and it’s definitely one of my top favorites!

14- What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

I don’t usually post fics unless they’re finished or very close to. So the answer is something in my fic folder tentatively called "A Mirror, Cracking", which is an AU of Niënor in Brethil, if she remembered who she was! I'm suuuper fond of it and likely never finishing it, I plan to post it unfinished at some point, amnesty-style.

15- What are your writing strengths?

I think I’m good at creating a dramatic scene! Or let’s put it this way: it’s what I enjoy the most when I write

16- What are your writing weaknesses?

I’d like to write longer, more committed stuff sometimes, but I find it very hard! I also think my prose is very commonplace, but it doesn't actually bother me.

17- What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I avoid doing that at all costs. I either put a descriptive indicating they’re speaking another language, or I say the POV character can’t make it out. I don’t think it’s tacky and I don’t judge it in writing, I just don’t like doing it myself.

18- What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Tolkien <3

19- What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

My dream is to write a Mediana/Ophélie fic for The Mirror Visitor, simply I think this ship is insanely hot and there was just one meager 155 word ficlet for it last time I checked! I have some notes for a fic but lost steam; maybe reading the English translation of those books will do the trick.

20- What's your favorite fic you've written?

I’m super fond of “A haunting”, one of my fics with the least amount of kudos... which I understand, because it really is one of those “I wrote this for myself but you can read it if you want to” cases—in terms of themes, characterization, style and format, corny quote at the beginning, etc, super indulgent. I really just had a lot of fun with it and it still touches me whenever I reread it, and I think the language and characterization are pretty solid! I like it a lot and I'm super proud of it :)

[gwaedhannen]

Throwback Thursday

Not sure how much of a throwback it can be when I've only been writing for four months? But ok. Tagged by @thelordofgifs and @polutrope to rec a fic of mine that's at least a week old!

I kinda cringe a bit looking back at my 2023 writing, but I still have a fair bit of fondness for Kill the flame, as my first published work. It's got family angst! Gut punches! The blurry line between forgiveness and loneliness! Vague headcanons and hints of characterization that I've yet to do anything with! Shortness! Quintessential stormfallen.

For Turgon, steadfast always. Your descendants still build in the echo of Gondolin’s unforgotten glory. For Amras, quiet on the woodland trails. They say you went mad in the trees. Or did you simply find a truth no one else could accept? For Amrod, betrayed and yet unbowed. You were pulled from the fire, and walked back to it with eyes open and torch held high. She had not wept, to see her father again. She had not wept, as the Herald laid down his sentence. She had not wept, as the white ships sailed away.

No-pressure tagging @ceescedasticity, @undercat-overdog, @that-angry-noldo, @between-thepages, @thescrapwitch, and anyone else who wants in!

[polutrope]

Do you know of any fanfics with Elrond interacting with Turgon? This is such an underrated and rare relationship in fnadom! Just like Nolofinwe with Elrond. It bothers me that sometimes there seems to be more fanfics with Elrond with Nerdanel than with the Nolofinwes members of his family, that I have the impression he would be much closer to them

Hi anon! I think that would be a fascinating relationship to explore, as would Elrond & Fingolfin.

I asked around when I got your ask and @undercat-overdog found this ficlet by LadyBrooke (who is great for rare relationships): Beyond All Reason. Short but powerful.

Anyone who knows of others please feel free to reblog with additions!

[yavieriel]

@undercat-overdog tagged me uh, a month ago, for Tidbit Tuesday. I'm trying to get better about posting my writing, so here's a bit of something that will probably never be finished, from the same universe as Bind, i.e. my fic where Eonwe was captured by Morgoth and held prisoner.

“You know, perhaps I’ve been going about this the wrong way,” Sauron muses as he stands over you, watching you cradle the lifeless body of the elf-child.

He leaves you there in the darkness, mourning for yet another innocent that you could not save. Orcs come soon with a warm bath, clean clothes, and all that is necessary to cleanse this body you wear, and you climb into the tub wearily. There is nothing to be gained in refusing it, and to be clean again is a pleasure, yet you despise even this as another concession to your captor. 

The orcs return eventually and escort you away from the lightless cell you have been kept in for long enough that you are no longer certain of the passage of time. You climb stairs and tread mazelike halls, and around you they grow cleaner and more refined, even adorned in places. The door you are eventually brought to is worked in intricate relief and inlay of many kinds of metal, a work of both power and beauty. After a long wait, it swings open before you, and you are pushed through the door by your escort before it slams shut behind you, leaving you alone with the master of these halls. 

No, not alone.

Sauron is in the fair elven-shaped form that he sometimes wears, dressed richly in velvet and jewels, but this is not unexpected. The beautiful elf that kneels obediently at his feet though, wearing nothing but intricate piercings dripping jewels and cobweb fine chains, that you did not expect. Hair in a shade of crimson you have never seen before cascades around the elf to pool on the floor, and Sauron strokes it with frightening gentleness as the elf rubs its cheek adoringly against Sauron’s thigh. 

“I thought perhaps you would be more cooperative if you saw what pleasure might be gained from obeying me, and how well I treat those who serve me. Look how happy my little prince here is. I have given him everything he wants and more.”

[swanmaids]

End of Year Fic Recs

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

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

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

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

I've cheated a little and done 4 multichaps and 6 oneshots, soweee, I hope you can all forgive me. Also yes all my self recs are E-rated, not soweee

5 Series/Multichapter Fics

Shall these bones live by @undercat-overdog; m, cntw, 100k+, in progress, celebrimbor/sauron {got me onto the silvergifting train. gorgeous worldbuilding and dialogue.}

Swanmaiden by @wonderwafles ; g, nawa, 3k+, in progress, elwing/earendil {not just recommending for the title! perfect baby peredhil feelings.}

What the water gave me by @imakemywings; m, cntw, 27k, finduilas/nienor {canon. to meeeee. tender and healing.}

Ungoliant’s Bane by @polutrope ;g, nawa, 3k, earendil & eltwins, maglor & eltwins {great integration of early canon, great peredhil family}

5 One-Shots

Compass by @slightnettles; m, rape/noncon, 4k, morwen/aerin {incredible tribute to this underrated character.}

Ice Glossary by @sallysavestheday; g, nawa, 2k, fingon/maedhros, turgon/elenwe, fingon & turgon {excellent original concept and carried off perfectly.}

Less Wise by @meadowlarkx; e, nawa, 6k, f!maglor/f!thranduil {hot and angsty and gorgeous}

prick a finger, cut your hand by @welcomingdisaster, e, nawa, 3k, indis/miriel {impeccable sexy dyke drama}

submersible by @jouissants; t, nawa, >1k, maglor/uinen {unhinged, sexy, atmospheric horror in under 1000 words.}

A Thing That Sustains by @searchingforserendipity25; g, nawa, 2k, idril & anaire, idril & turgon & elenwe {perfect idril portrayal, every line hits.}

5 Oldies but Goodies

all they had to lend by gogollescent; g, cntw, 2k, elwing/earendil {beautiful bittersweet war of wrath fic}

Si la mar fuera de leche by chestnut_pod, t, nawa, 23k, elwing & elros, elros/wife {numenor worldbuilding and peredhil feels}

A Life's Work by @elwing; g, nawa, 2k, dirhavel {great understated portrayal of an underrated tragic character}

Sins of the Father by @zealouswerewolfcollector; t, nawa, 4k, turgon & nolofinweans {wonderful painful nolofinwean angst}

Finrod/Sauron One Thousand and One Nights AU by meadowlarkx; e, cntw, 27k+, in progress, finrod/sauron {lovely prose, hot, amazing characterisation}

5 Self Recs

one of your girls; e, nawa, 5k, celegorm/orome {celegorm, orome, and a dress. lowkey think it's my best fic}

the salt in the wound; e, cntw, 4k, luthien/curufin's wife {evil girl scissoring, also known as that fic with the knife handle}

we may rehearse most obscenely; e, nawa, 3k, celegorm/orome/vana {what if puck got spitroasted by oberon and titania... also known as celegorm, orome, and vana spend some time together.}

devoted to the sea; e, nawa, 3k, earendil/elwing, earendil/mermaids {attempting to apply bolt canon to silm canon for sexy purposes}

ebb and flow; e, nawa, 4k, earendil/elwing {my first e-rate, earendil is a very attentive husband to his pregnant wife :)}

I'll tag everyone who's been mentioned in this!

[meadowlarkx]

tagged by @welcomingdisaster to share the first lines of my last ten posted fics and see if there is a pattern! Thank you I love this meme 💖💖

I've now posted a few more stories since I last did this, so let's go...

strike another match: Maglor, like his brothers, had packed little when they left Aman’s shores forever.

amendation: Maglor had imagined he’d lost the capacity for hope.

Singer Doomed: Fëanáro, Elemmírë recalled, had a sweet voice.

cautionary tale (The Burning Kingdoms): “Why do you still come to me wearing her face?"

wild-wandering by wood and glen: Peace settled on the new realm of Doriath as though it had never left.

Less Wise: There are streams in Mirkwood that travelers cannot drink from.

bite thy wings and let thee crawl: “Remove your helm."

Mapmaking: “Yet your position is vulnerable.”

Scripts and Tongues: Stiff parchment crackled under weathered fingers as another page turned.

elvenkings: Afterwards, they went back.

I think I tend to want the first line to either sort of dump readers into the middle of the scene or not quite "reveal" entirely what's going on... with simpler/clearer language than the later writing somewhat, too? Or something.

I tag @imakemywings @i-am-a-lonely-visitor @aipilosse @undercat-overdog @thecoolblackwaves @dovewifes @searchingforserendipity25 if you'd like to do it!

[elronds-library]

A Long-Expected Climax

by undercat (@undercat-overdog)

Part 2 of we who are disassembled

“I should let you get back to work,” said Annatar cheerfully. “Though gem-cutting might be a bit delicate for you now: your pulse is racing and it appears that your adrenaline production spiked. Maybe pounding something in the forge would release some frustration? It is, I suspect, the only release you’ll find for some time to come.” Celebrimbor stared at him in horror. Annatar makes an intriguing proposal, Celebrimbor agrees, and frustration soon follows.

Explicit, No Archive Warnings

Words: 14,113

[herenortherenearnorfar]

prompts... the watcher in the water (maybe interacting with gollum), or galadriel & durin (any durin)?

The Watcher in the Water! Love an eldritch primordial being.

Rest. Rest. Rest.

When there is sound there is silence. When there is darkness there is light. They need each other for definition— but in some cases one is more reliant on the other. Something must come before a word is spoken or it’s not speech, just a continuation of noise. A rhythm needs pauses to shape its course.

The thing curled in the deep pool next to Moria’s gate cannot argue these points in favor of its existence. It has no inclination to learn speech, no interest in becoming a part of this place of this place even if only to consume it. It was here before the stars blinked on, before the seas condensed and the hot new earth cooled. Back when the world was not a world at all, just a soothing void, this was its place. It will outlast these interlopers.

They test him though. First the deep river caves where it dwelt away from the sun were drained by the machinations of some little surfaces creatures. It had crawled through cracks and crevices, even venturing into land on a moonless night, till it found a new home, a deep pool of alkali water replete with hidden niches. Then that home repeatedly violated by foul things which dumped their waste in his waters and are only dissuaded by great violence.

Tiring.

Before there were stars there was no need for such feats. There was only the darkness and the things that rested there, peacefully eating each other, growing fat and birthing new terrors in the pillowed silence.

The sea is said to be close to that freedom of old, the interloper who dwells there gives asylum to creatures great and small. But it’s too far too travel. The Watcher is a restful sort of rest; or perhaps simply a very wise one. After all, the ambitious ones of its kind, the ones who have learned language and swallowed what they shouldn’t have, inevitably went mad with it.

They forget, the light hungers too. It spreads in waves. Sound elicits more sound, propagates, goes on for miles. All the quiet has is patience, the long fading of entropy.

Another thing is coming, a noise thing, a light thing, though one of the cringing half tolerable ones. It paces behind the door, muttering to itself, every reverberation echoing though the bedrock and driving spikes through the Watcher’s jelly of unbeing.

“Said it isn’t safe, said it isn’t safe. It isn’t safe in here. Orcses and trolls in here.” Incomprehensible.

What matters is when the door begins to slide open and a grey little head, softly furred, peeks out.

“Hello? It’s just Gollum. Nice Gollum, gentle Gollum. Not good for eating, Gollum. The spider said so.”

These little goblins bring trash sometimes, they disrupt the unmoving surface of the lake. They have to be eaten, it’s the only way they stop. The Watcher surfaces just enough to reveal one eye, the one still healing from a previous attack (the little ones with the most hair were quick with their arrows).

“Nice snaily,” Gollum reasons, and the Watcher understands neither words nor tone. It understands that the little thing is edging closer though, one arm behind its back, and it reaches out a tentacle to grab the intruder.

Quick the world had changed, the creature drops its burden and darts back to the door, hiding behind the heavy stone bulk. The round parcel rolls twice and comes to a stop at the edge of the water.

The lake remains untouched, so the Watcher lets the little monster go. It squeaks, “Nice snaily, have the treat, Gollum will come back with more?” as it shuts the door.

The gift is the sawn off head of another one of the small loud things, jaw slack, neck unevenly severed. In death they are so much quieter, so blessedly still.

The Watcher observes it, admires the new placidity. Then, nothing that lives in the dark turns up food, it curls one tentacle around the prize and retreats back down to its deep dark home, to feast, to rest.