#welcomingdisaster

[adwendoodles]

in memoriam + aegnor & andreth?

in memoriam with aegnor and andreth, as requested~ is he dead? is he asleep? is it just a wish or a memory... who knows? :D

[thelordofgifs]

1 16 17!

(russingon ask game) hi lena beloved <3

What made you start shipping Russingon?

ok so! unlike most people, I did not actually ship russingon as soon as I read the silm - I am not generally very shippy, and on first beginning to browse silmfic on AO3 I will confess my immediate reponse to seeing what the most popular ship was was "lol the AO3 girlies at it again huh", and I filtered it out for a couple of weeks of fic reading. The fic that made me change my mind was Open Wounds by theventualwinner, which is not technically a russingon fic, but had such a lovely and tender depiction of the ship in the background that I was immediately converted anyway. And the rest is history :)

16. Share a happy headcanon.

Essential to my vision that they're both warlords and find this very hot in the other! Himring rarely rings with as much laughter as when the Crown Prince is visiting, and he and its lord go down to the practice-yard for a bout or two or ten. They like the exercise and the thrill and any orc-blood from an actual skirmish is a bonus too.

17. Share a sad headcanon.

More and more these days I am beginning to think that... they never could have made it, in a way. The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves. They loved each other so so deeply! And yet it wasn't enough, they each did not trust the other enough, Maedhros would always put his father and his Oath first, and Fingon was too proud and reckless and independent, and the Nirnaeth, perhaps, happened as it did because of that, because of the flaws within them, not just bad luck.

[undercat-overdog]

⏩

⏩ Which section of the Silm did you read through the fastest? (Couldn't put it down!)

I don't remember! I think I might have been eleven or twelve when I first read it (if I had to guess it was the summer before 6th grade, so 11; I'd definitely read it by 6th grade). It made a huge impression on me (obviously: still here twenty-something years later), but it's too long ago to remember what parts I couldn't put down. I did put it down after Fingon's death to go cry.

I've been considering trying to put together a group reread of the Silm. Feel free to message if you, reader of this, might be interested!

Thank you for the ask!

[polutrope]

weird and controversial ships hmmmm.... elwing/maglor, feanolo, indis/nerdanel?

[ship bingo]

Elwing/Maglor

Yes. They're both hot (to me), she hates him, he would do anything (anything) to redeem himself in her eyes. He won't but she'll still fuck him. Dynamic is Maglor guilt-fucking, Elwing like, "Yeah, I deserve this. Please me, kinslayer -- also don't talk." They are both surprised to find they have amazing chemistry and it gets pretty kinky. Earendil backs it, sometimes watches, rarely partakes. Elrond and Elros think it's funny as hell.

I need them to kill each other = I need her to kill him. With hotness.

That's my take, but for another great (and darker) one, may I recommend: Elwing/f!Maglor by simaetha.

Feanor/Fingolfin

@ettelene is gonna be mad at me for not saying Soulmates but I'm still in my toxic sibcest era lol. UST more than hatefuck though. I do think kissing could fix them though, and I like a Feanor Lives AU where they fuck-to-fix-it.

Some Fave Feanolos:

The Revolutionary and the Usurper by Encairion (imo a masterpiece of Feanor characterisation, complicated relationships, and super hot smut scenes)

All of them by Ettelene but A Clash of swords is so much fun and showcases her talent for group dynamics as well as smut.

hell is empty and we are here by @crownlessliestheking. More pre-slash but their dynamic here is so perfectly spiky.

Indis/Nerdanel

100% sold on this by you. Prefer it to Mindis. Everyone, may I highly recommend stone toys by welcomingdisaster.

[cowboyhorsegirl]

jaaanet

Janet!!!! My darling, my love!!! IMO she is not put in ENOUGH situations!! She has literally done nothing wrong (is NOT a war criminal)!! Somehow manages to be complex & well-written while also simultaneously never getting written abt :/// I’m gently holding her in my cupped hands 🥹🥰

[zealouswerewolfcollector]

3, 6, 12

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

When I stumble upon a terrible take (which happens from time to time), I argue with that person in my head for a while and then usually forget about it. So I don't remember seeing anything as crazy as blaming Celebrimbor for his torture (seriously, what? I think that might be THE worst take I've seen), but I have come across your usual Elwing abandoned her children, Indis is a homewrecker, the Feanorians were justified in attacking Doriath and Sirion and (rarer but still terrible) the Teleri are to blame for the first kinslaying. And then of course, there is rewriting the entire book to make Morgoth and Sauron misunderstood woobies and everyone else evil and uncaring.

I've also seen a few terrible takes in fics like Elrond slapping Elwing (immediately noped out) or two characters being in a relationship that is incredibly unhealthy but is presented as normal.

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

Russingon? Haha. At the very least by virtue of it being the most popular ship. If I didn't ship it, I might have been annoyed too by how pervasive it is, but I do ship it, so sorry for being annoying ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Maybe it's because I haven't gone looking for it, but I haven't noticed big ship wars in this fandom, which is a major cause of a ship and its fans becoming annoying.

I also get annoyed by most Finrod ships, but that's just a question of a personal preference and not the fans being annoying.

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

Thingol. Yes, he is an asshole. Yes, he did some questionable things. But so did almost all of the characters in the Silmarillion, yet Thingol doesn't get the same grace and understanding that others are allowed. Maybe it's because I read CoH before the Silm, but I've always liked Thingol.

He accepted Turin, raised him and loved him. I know some people have found issues even with his treatment of Turin, but I believe that he genuinely loved Turin and wanted the best for him. After Turin left, he also accepted Morwen and Nienor. He had a great redemption arc after the quest for the Silmaril and people always ignore it. I honestly don't think he seriously meant for Beren to bring him the Silmaril. It's a common fairy tale trope when the King sends his daughter's suitor after an impossible thing, believing that he won't do it. Thingol never intended to get the Silmaril. He just said something he thought was impossible to get rid of Beren. It is an assholish thing to do, but it isn't overly malicious.

He admitted his mistake and accepted Beren when he and Luthien came back. He grieved for him when he died. I think this also gets forgotten when people talk about Thingol.

He is also one of the few characters in the Silmarillion that makes a joke. It's such a humanizing moment. His joke isn't even at someone's expense. It makes Nellas feel at ease and she's able to speak to him.

Thanks for the ask <3

ask game here

[southfarthing]

turgon!

one aspect about them i love

he still has so much kindness and warmth despite having every reason to be cold 🥹🥹🥹 the way he takes maeglin in...the way he treats hurin and huor.... and later tuor........this guy has seen most of his family die horrible deaths but he's still .... he's so 🥹 he can have a little pride as a treat

one aspect i wish more people understood about them

I feel like we're not talking about his charismatic leadership as much as we should

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have about this character

he's so girldad 😭😭😭😭 also of his siblings, he's the most similar to fingolfin

one character i love seeing them interact with

fingon and finrod!! and idril + aredhel!! and maeglin 😭

one character i wish they would interact with/interact with more

... fingon. all his siblings tbh. and elenwë and idril!!! and the sons of fëanor actually - I feel like that would be juicy

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have that involve them and one other character

his relationship with fingon became rocky during the exile/helcaraxë/first few years of the sun, but after fingolfin's body was brought to him and it hit turgon how small their family had become, he decided he would try to fix things. fingon never asked him to join the union of maedhros, not knowing where he was (and perhaps, not willing to ask and then be disappointed and humiliated), but turgon prepared his forces anyway and went to him

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

Hey Frank! What do you think about Feanor?

He is a pretty fascinating character. Like, he can see the world ending and he chooses to make it worse. That's great. But he is also really stubborn and really prideful, and so he chooses to destroy his own work rather than accept it being used by someone else. (That's why he hates the Fëanorians so much; it's all the work that was his pride and joy, and he couldn't even let them have it.) This makes him even more interesting, because now we can see him wrestling with the idea that "this is my life's work, and I made it out of my own heart" and "the world has already been ruined so I should destroy what I've made instead of working hard to preserve it."

That said, he is the sort of character who would be really frustrating if he was in real life. There's no way you could have Feanor as the "main character" of a story -- it's much more fun to watch him as the villain, because then he has all the freedom to be frustrating. But in the world he's created, in which everyone he encounters is at least as big a dick as he is, he's also a completely irredeemable monster.

(This is really complicated because on the one hand he has this very powerful, and very interesting creation and on the other hand his whole world is collapsing around his ears and he can't let go of his pride. And even when his pride gets him killed, it doesn't seem like he learns that what he was doing was bad at all, because he just starts over from scratch, and everything is exactly the same from the beginning.)

[searchingforserendipity25]

“Tune” and “stone” for the WIP game!!

Thank you @welcomingdisaster! <33

Tune

Seren write shorter sentences challenge, oh my god, how is this so long. This is from a Daemags through Maedhros' PoV ficlet that grew unexpectedly and needs to be nurtered.

He passed the bowls over the fire, and hummed the tunes to keep it burning high and bold enough to brighter wolves and worse beasts; he filled Maedhros’ gourds in the river, and then only his own, and brushed down the horses, and wove a dozen intricate knotted braids from purple wildgrass to string through their manes, and did not say a word. 

Stone

This one is for a TRSB piece focused on Yavanna and Aulë. I'm cautiously pleased with the scene this belongs to.

“Stone-still and stone-deaf and stone-cruel I name you, Aulë.

[thelordofgifs]

director's cut on dearest..................

(director’s cut ask game)

fhshfhshdh ok FINE. (For context, I hinted at/threatened a ramble on the use of the word “dearest” in the fairest stars in this post.)

Maedhros has called Maglor “dearest” six times so far in tfs:

Part 3: He stands up, and then stoops to kiss Maglor's brow. “I don't want to leave you, dearest,” he whispers. “That's how I know I have to.”

Part 15: He puts his hand against Maglor's clammy cheek. "Thank you, dearest," he says softly. "I'll be back soon."

Part 16: “Should I send you away, dearest?” he asks.

Part 20: "I am sorry," he says again. "But I am asking now. Will you stay, dearest? For me?" (sooo fine and normal about this one in particular)

Part 28: Maedhros looks at him as though trying to memorise him. He rises, and then stoops to press a kiss to Maglor’s brow, bathing them both for a moment in the gentle hopeful light of the Silmaril. “I’ll come back to you, dearest.”

Part 30: Some of Maedhros’ thoughts must be showing on his face. He rearranges it into a smile, and says, “Shall I sing you to sleep, dearest?”

… just realised the phrasing on the part 3 and part 28 lines is almost identical, which was not actually intentional and is now giving me a crisis about being repetitive. IT’S FINE IT’S FINE just pretend I am a genius writer who was doing Parallels on purpose ok.

Anyway! For some reason this whole thing has become a minor brand of mine and shows up in most of my m&m fics. I do not know why, but I’m attached to it now. I do think “dearest” is an excellent affectionate nickname for Maedhros to give Maglor: it’s Tolkien-esque – that man did love his words with proto-Germanic roots rather more than he did the Romantic ones – and also, more importantly, it speaks to a very specific dynamic between the two of them. Maglor likes to be reassured that he is Maedhros’ favourite brother, and that Maedhros loves him best, I think: in Valinor he was rather jealous of Maedhros’ affections, and after Thangorodrim it has become rather more of a Guilt thing and a reminder that Maedhros still loves him after what he did. In tfs, Maedhros never uses the word when he is seeking reassurance from Maglor (it’s notably absent in parts 22 and 25, for example, as those both contain m&m scenes where Maedhros is feeling guilty and tormented and desperate for absolution from Maglor); calling Maglor “dearest” is one of his ways of casting himself explicitly in the role of affectionate elder brother, of making himself Maglor’s protector. In reality, their relationship is much more complicated than that – unfortunately for him.

But another thing the word has ended up signifying in tfs is how frightened Maedhros and Maglor are of leaving each other: and Maedhros almost always uses it specifically when he is saying goodbye to Maglor, whether because he is heading out to battle or because Maglor is minutes away from dying in his arms or because he is about to do the stupidest thing he has ever done in his life. For this reason I was Cackling Evilly when I dropped it into part 30, because it was very much directly foreshadowing Maedhros’ imminent departure, and intended to dramatically raise the blood pressure of any reader who had picked up on this.

[aredhels]

oooo lonely eyes?

so idk if you have ever gone to the magnus archives but i just think it would be neat if elias (the voyeristic eyeball man) got peter (the dude who's into isolation and loneliness) off in front of a mirror because brrrrrr

[grey-gazania]

ooo for the WIP game i'll ask for... red, finwë, bitter, & sweet!

Red, from a piece about Caranthir and his soon-to-wife that I'm currently trying to polish up for Tolkien OC Week:

When Atto straightened up, there was something in his hands -- a folded piece of fabric, richly embroidered in shades of red. I knew immediately whose work it was.

Couldn't find Finwë on his own, but I did find it as half of Nolofinwë, from a future chapter of Half Past Ten in the Rose Garden:

Nolofinwë chokes on his wine as Atto guffaws.

Bitter turns up in my rough draft of a future Woman King AU piece about Gil-galad and her mother reacting to Maedhros' death.

“Well, he's not here to see it,” Gil-galad said, and Ianneth could hear the bitterness in her daughter's voice. “He's not here because Maedhros got him killed. So I say good riddance to that murderer and his bloody hands. Hand,” she corrected herself.

Sweet appears in my as-yet-unpublished outsider POV ficlet about Elrond & Elros' early days with Maedhros and Maglor:

As I leaned closer, I caught a whiff of the sweet scent of the healing herbs that Melloth must have used to cleanse his wound.

work in progress guessing game || @welcomingdisaster

[polutrope]

7, 8, 14!

Thank you for the ask!

If you write non-smutty fic as well, how does it interrelate with your smut fic?

Answered here.

What is your favorite comment you have received on a smut piece?

Anything from MoonLord, smut fic commenting legend! My favourite has got to be their comment on Everlasting Darkness though, which I think was the first one I was honoured with. Honourable mention to @i-am-a-lonely-visitor for being unabashed and always making me laugh in smutfic comments.

What are your favorite smut tropes?

Answered here.

[cowboyhorsegirl]

which book was it omg

i'll recc you a book tell me what you're looking for

fjksdfjksf okay in the book's defense it's an anthology and i haven't finished it yet so we can still hold out hope that at least something in there is gonna be outstanding

but it's called Trans Love: An Anthology of Transgender and Nonbinary Voices, edited by Freiya Benson & i will update you all if i find anything i like but so far all of the writing has just kind of fallen flat for me

& i'd be so excited to read anything you rec, but I particularly love graphic novels and books about queer history <3

[edennill]

...'kay but this reminds me of the summer camp au where all the finwëan cousins annually go to youth camp by lake Mithrim.

Maedhros gets lost in the mountains and Fingon goes to look for him without telling anyone, Aredhel is convinced the resident bad boy is future husband material, and Galadriel wins every survival game.

thinking about an au of the silm where everyone is an early high school high achiever and the drama is, like, “did you hear turgon and finrod snuck out of ap human geography and took the bus to costco to get cookies using turgon’s mom’s membership card”

[arofili]

no idea how old that post is I’m sorry if you’ve already done so but I’d love to see your 3rd age rebirth headcanons

It's a pretty recent post, dw :) Thanks for the interest!! I'll definitely pull that post together soon, then!!