#what can i say. angbang.

[daily-smol-silm]

If you still take request, good old Angbang?

Day #116 - Dark lords on a dark throne

Well I certainly can't say no to angbang, can I?

[honore-art]

[melkor-did-nothing-wrong]

Every so often someone begins an angbang post with a disclaimer along the lines of "whether you think their relationship is wholesome or abusive, and there is canon evidence for both", and just moves on without elaborating. Actually, no, don't go on, please stop right there and elaborate. Where IS this written down, book canon evidence that Melkor and Mairon's relationship was abusive? I'd genuinely love to see it, actually, considering half the people on this ship tag just treat it as an "as you know" given, agree to it, and say "yeah! there's canon evidence!" and yet never once put up direct quotes about it to support their statements. If it is real and canon and exists, I want the source so I can look at it myself, please. If it's not too much trouble, I'd love it if someone puts the full quote/s, alongside the books and the chapters the quotes are from in the replies. Please don't bother with things like how you understood the quotes, just the quotes themselves. (actual page number up to your own judgement, considering books like the Silmarillion have tons of different printed versions where the page may vary, but Morgoth's Ring is pretty much only 2 different printings so I do have a good chance of landing right on the correct page if you provide it).

[melkor-did-nothing-wrong]

Oof uhh wow this is awkward you kinda tagged most people who Ik for sure do tolerate me so I can't tag them myself but oh well. Here's a bit of nonsense from Melkor's thoughts.

Manwë intended it as a kindness, Melkor could tell. An attempt to ease the burden on his heart and mind. An attempt to make Melkor calm down again, under the assumption that everything will be taken care of. But on some level, it was a dismissal. His brother saw this as some thoughtful, generous compromise, no doubt. To have all responsibility taken away from the both of them and redirected elsewhere. And what would it matter at all, he supposed, if they'll never see each other again? Melkor couldn't help but see the hypocrisy in it, though. Manwë, who had the gall to lecture him time and again about the importance of family, was putting distance between them again, in an attempt to keep their relationship cordial, before its inevitable severing. What right did he have to speak of family ties and connections, while trying his hardest to cut them himself?

Tagging @koprulu and @vamirs-angband-hell alongside my sincerest apologies that you had to see this.

WIP Wednesday

🥰 Reviving the ancient and time-honored tradition of "WIP Wednesday" tonight!

✨Tagging @saintstars @gracefallingart @gauntletgirlie @melkor-did-nothing-wrong @sauron-kraut @althanair @privatebooth @just-an-elf-with-the-socks @trash-ainu @winds-of-zephyr416 @barbex @midnightprelude @aidanthecryptid @spaaacecarrots @teine-mallaichte @pinkfadespirit @spicywarl0ck @kaerwrites and @glowing-blue-feathermage ✨

...and everyone else who wants to play! ✨

💜As always, NO pressure and, since it's quite late already, NO need to play today, just play tomorrow or next Wednesday!

❤️ Tonight, I'm sharing a little Angbang WIP ❤️

It was not what I had intended for him when I called him to my side. I say I called him, and it amuses him greatly, you see. Like the master hunter calling the bird of prey to return upon his outflung arm. In truth, I did call him for him. What came to me was not he but an answering cry, like birds in high-arching flight screeching and hunting for and finding one another.

[mai-komagata]

sauron's corruption

i feel there is some sort of misconception that morgoth like, had sauron in a dungeon until he became evil, sorta like he did to elves and other creatures. that abuse made him evil somehow.

this is categorically not canon -- even to RoP. look, im not saying two evil people working for each other for Millenia never did bad shit to each other. selfish people can hurt even those they are close to, so it isn't unlikely - although never stated. we can debate wholesome vs toxic angbang dynamics separately, it's not relevant.

but like, sauron wasn't tortured into spying on aüle and betraying the valar in Almaren. He admired Melkor for being more powerful and more efficient and joined and spied on them on his behalf. "for even then he had secret friends and spies among the Maiar whom he had converted to his cause, and of these the chief, as after became known, was Sauron, a great craftsman of the household of Aule." "While Morgoth still stood, Sauron did not seek his own supremacy, but worked and schemed for another, desiring the triumph of Melkor, whom in the beginning he had adored. He thus was often able to achieve things, first conceived by Melkor, which his master did not or could not complete in the furious haste of his malice."

and he had a part in all the evil things melkor did from that point onward. he wasn't some unwilling participant. his only redeeming characteristic according to Tolkien was his capacity to be servile (which tolkien said he lost by the Second Age -- the temple of Melkor was not built b/c Sauron felt the need to pay worship, but because he thought that was a good tool to destroy Numenor).

dunno... i do like sauron redemption headcanons for the end of the world, but anything that implies that he blames morgoth or curses him for who he is as if he has some claim on extracting revenge on morgoth rings empty to me. He's never expressed this sentiment.

Sauron didn't become evil because he was punished into being evil. morgoth isn't to blame, only insofar as he was there for them to be evil together. he isn't among those who needs to extract revenge from morgoth to achieve justice. also -- even when he had good intentions* he reverted to evil again in the second age, and this was AFTER morgoth was in the void. he doesn't need morgoth around to do evil. *which is questionable: "So - as soon as [Melkor] has mentally rejected repentance - he (just like Sauron afterwards on this model) makes a mockery of self-abasement and repentance."

the most compelling dagor dagorath headcanons to me is for them *both* to be restored, because what is the difference, at that point? are we gonna argue 99% evil can be reformed but 99.9% should not be? (also arguably sauron was evil for a lot longer than morgoth, even if he was slightly less evil for being his servant and a much less powerful being...) The real issue is what is the nature of Sauron's destruction, can be be remade? Melkor was never destroyed, his presence is suffused throughout Arda. In some sense, you need to "fix" this discrepancy to heal Arda. Anyway, i end with this quote which I can't quite decipher but echoes my thoughts above:

"[Arda Healed --] Arda without Melkor, or rather without the effects of his becoming evil; but is the source from which all ideas of order and perfection are derived. 'Arda Healed' is thus both the completion of the 'Tale of Arda' which has taken up all the deeds of Melkor, but must according to the promise of Iluvatar be seen to be good; and also a state of redress and bliss beyond the 'circles of the world'.)" dunno even fake theology is hard.

All quotes from Morgoth's ring.

[verecunda]

I personally see that "torture" conversation again as gaslighting from Annatars side, to be honest. Because (I double checked again to make sure i am not mistaken) "Never in Tolkien's lore does Morgoth torture Sauron. Some moments could imply such an act, such as in The Silmarillion where it is mentioned that Morgoth would have, if victorious, destroyed even the beings that followed him" - So to me it has that even ... Crueler twist of Annatar just trying to gaslight Celebrimbor again. Maybe that is just me though! And maybe in the series Morgoth really did unimaginable to Mairon. WHO KNOWS

Hi, Anon! This got long-winded, so bear with me here. XD

That is certainly a viable reading of the scene, and I definitely think we should never take Sauron at his word because, well, he’s Sauron. But honestly, I think it’s much more interesting, much more horrifying, if he is being honest here.

First, to get the lore stuff out of the way: agreed, nowhere in the books are we told Morgoth ever tortured him. But at the same time, we’re never told he didn’t. Sauron was obviously his most valuable and trusted servant, but he still was that - a servant, an underling, subject to his master’s caprices. And we don’t have any scenes of them interacting directly that allow us to gauge their relationship; we just have a handful of references that can be extrapolated in multiple ways. (For full disclosure: I’m an enthusiastic Angbang shipper, and I tend to view their relationship as more or less positive, one of the only good things they have going for them, but I try to keep an open mind on what canon does/doesn’t tell me.)

Most notably, take the scene where Sauron is defeated by Lúthien and Huan. She tells him she’ll send his spirit back to Angband : “There everlastingly thy naked self shall endure the torment of his scorn, pierced by his eyes.” Whereupon Sauron flees, and we hear nothing more of him till after the War of Wrath. We don’t know anything that he does in the meantime; we don’t even know if he returns to Morgoth’s service (the Lay of Leithian does suggest it, but the published Silmarillion gives us nothing either way). Whether or not Morgoth would actually punish him for his failure is probably beside the point: the point is that Sauron clearly believes punishment is a likely outcome. There are other ways you could parse this bit (and I do have Feelings about it!!) but the most obvious reading is that it’s terror of his master’s likely response that sends Sauron into hiding. So overall, it’s an ambiguous scenario, but there is certainly room to interpret a darker take on their relationship, and even allowing for deliberate ambiguity, it does seem to me that the show creators have chosen to explore that darker take.

To return to this particular scene, I don’t think he’s trying to deceive Celebrimbor any more - now that his true identity is revealed, outright deception is no longer going to work, because why would Celebrimbor believe anything else he says? Better to reel him back in with the truth. In that scene, I think Sauron is actually trying to make him understand his grand vision for the “healing” of Middle-earth. We already know he believes that's what he's doing. I don’t think he views Celebrimbor as an equal, no way, but I think he does consider that Celebrimbor’s ambitions chime with his own.

But crucially, his failure here is that in baring his soul and talking about the genuine suffering he’s gone through, he inadvertently reveals just how warped and ultimately irredeemable his own mindset has become. We actually saw this first with Galadriel at the end of s1: Sauron reveals his relief at Morgoth’s defeat, his feeling that a “great, clenched fist” had been released from about his neck - yet just a couple of minutes after that, he repels her because he admits that he sees saving Middle-earth and ruling it as the same thing.

It’s the same in the tower scene. Revealing his torture by Morgoth does engage Celebrimbor’s sympathy, but he loses it almost at once when he starts talking about his pain being a triumph of his own willpower, then especially when he breaks out all the textbook abuser lines about how Celebrimbor has “forced” him to hurt and deceive him. I don't think he would have said all that if he was just lying. All that self-justification strikes me as the response of someone who has suffered, but has never found a healthy way to process any of it, and who has ultimately gone on to continue the cycle of abuse. And when Celebrimbor demolishes all these self-justifications - “You can deceive even yourself” - I think Sauron's expression there speaks volumes. That’s the look of a Maia who has just been hit where it hurts, because rather than being taken in, Celebrimbor has just confronted him with exactly how damaged and fucked up he really is.

[princessfantaghiro]

My thoughts about ANGBANG...

Tbh I have very mixed feelings about Melkor × Mairon... And i can't decide once and for all how I see the ship. 😉

One day it's seems to be SO GOOD in my eyes, the other days...A little less.😅

But personally enjoy that major headcanon of Angbang!Fans...And all the wonderful fanarts or fanfics.

I am not immune to the idea of ​​the eternal love of Mairon and Melkor, the two Ainur... A love older than the world. Stronger than time and space. One that makes all other Stories of Love pale in comparison...

It's extremely tempting. The vision of Melkor × Mairon, as forbidden relationship...Cursed by the God and Lower gods, but still Existing, live and burning as Flame, no matter what. Even without Blessing of the One...

I try to combine the book!material with ROP.

And I believe Melkor didn't force Mairon to admire/love him. I think it was honest and true from the both sides. Especially at the beginning...

I can see them like the great, epic romance.

They started like, for example Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen from ASOIAF.

It was mad, true love. Robert Baratheon lied to everyone that Rhaegar Targaryen kidnapped and raped Lyanna. Baratheon even started his [un]famous bloody Rebellion, based of this Lie... But it wasn't true. Lyanna and Rhaegar really loved each other.

I think Angbang was like them. Mairon Admirable, the most beautiful being at Arda [like Lyanna Stark in ASOIAF], and Melkor, the mightiest of the Valar and the First Rebel.[like Rhaegar Targaryen, the Rebel]. The men were madly in love, obsessed about each other. They cared very deeply about themselves. Mairon saw the best in Melkor, and Melkor saw the best in Mairon.

Later? [I mean...after tens of thousands of years] I see their relationship as some kind of the Duel. There was great love, and there was hate between them. No place for any less feelings than to the extreme.

And as Halbrand/Annatar has his own complaints and grievances...

He said to Galadriel about "living under Morgoth's Fist." He said Celebrimbor about "the cruel Game" with Morgoth...And that it's pains him to treat Tyelpë like his former Master did...I believe he was very honest to Galadriel & Celebrimbor in those moments. That Sauron didn't lie. [But in the same time, he didn't say the whole truth].

Melkor was stronger and older than him. I can imagine that Mairon saw Melko as his personal idol. And of course, he fell in love with the mightest Valar. It was easy to Melkor to seduce Aulë's Apprentice.

Showing him uncredible things Mairon never saw before...

And took him on his side.

And even if I can say that Melkor kidnapped Mairon [maybe] from Heaven, from Aulë's House...I am sure that Mairon ummm...wanted that?

Because Mairon didn't feel loved by a rest of the Family? He didn't feel understood by them? Melkor was First [and the Only One from the Family] who really loved him, and wanted him, and "saw" him the way Mairon really is?

That he is different? And that he doesn't belong in place he lived? That Mairon, like Melkor; is unable to be the perfect Puppet of Eru? They both are too independent? Too open'-minded? Too "wild"? They both don't fit to the Angel!Society?

They are not like the other Valars and Maiars:

"Yes Father, Eru Ilúvatar. We do everything as you wish! Yes, Father. Everything you said. Your wish is our order."

And of course, Mairon wanted to be worshiped by Melkor, the Second after the Highest God? He craved for Melko's love and attention, like thirsting man on the hot desert craves cold water...

But later things propably get worse. After many thousands of years of their existence and relationship...When Melkor started to fall into darkness more and more, and he transformed slowly into Morgoth...

I suppose Melkor could be both: generous in love, even sweet and worshiping to younger maia when he was in really good mood; but very brutal to Mairon when he was angry or dissapointed?

I think Morgoth sometimes couldn't stand Sauron's weakness for other beings...Like Adar. He was madly jealous and Mairon tears from sorrow annoyed him. Just like his failures...He loved to punish him sometimes, saying that "It's all Sauron's fault. That he deserved the pain. "Because he is a monster." And Mairon believed him...

And believed that he must be/get "stronger and taughter". But Sauron never reached Morgoth's expectations in this matters, no matter how hard he tried. He always end broken somehow.

Even if Morgoth sincerely regretted punishing Sauron. He sincerely apologized, after everything, he tenderly kissed Maia's wounds, which physically disappeared...Even if he said and really meant he didn't want to hurt him...However, traces remained in Mairon's psyche.

I can see Angbang! as a relationship in which Melkor would like to possess Mairon completely. And Mairon was terrified and fascinated by this kind of love at the same time. And that he would be able to respond with exactly the same strength of feeling to Melkor. Mairon who craves love, has always been deprived of it... Because unlike the rest of the Ainur, he saw imperfections in the actions of God, or even in Eru!Himself. The Admirable refused unconditional obedience to the One!God. Refused to be a puppet in the hands of the Great Puppeteer. But he liked the idea of ​​serving the Second after God, Melkor. The One who First showed him love, even if it broke over time...

PS. ☺️Personally I have really strong urge to ship Sau with SO many characters it hurts!,[cause this twisted deviling is so extremely shipable i swear to God😭]

How we started:

How we ended:

[kisses-in-the-void]

I feel perfectly normal when I suddenly remember that Melkor is probably the only character for whom we know for sure Mairon felt real, genuine, and positive emotions.

Don't get me wrong — I’m not saying he never felt anything like that for anyone else at all. Even for such a hopeless angbang trash like me, that’d be too extreme. But when it comes to other characters he interacted with, we have to think, guess, and headcanon.

Whom among the other Ainur did he respect or feel friendly toward? Was it Aulë — did he have fondness for him, was he neutral, or was there some underlying displeasure with his master from the start? What about Yavanna — did he admire her? Did he respect Manwë and Varda? And what about the other Maiar — Curumo, Eönwë, etc?

It’s a blank space you can fill with whatever scenarios you like.

However, Tolkien could have easily mentioned one of these names to illustrate that Mairon wasn’t always evil, that there was a time when in him existed "a shadow of good: the ability once at least to admire or admit the superiority of a being other than himself" (c) "Morgoth's Ring".

But none of those "good and worthy" characters were chosen, and the only one explicitly mentioned was Melkor. His master is that character we don’t have to speculate about. That’s already set in stone.

It amazes me because Tolkien didn't have to write that Mairon "admired and adored" Melkor, and without that detail, it would be easy to assume that he only served Melkor for power, that he was purely pragmatic about it, or even that he never liked him at all, which would have been the expected route. Because it’s Melkor, the horrible, cruel Melkor. Who in their right mind could even like him? Everyone, even his own allies, was supposed to fear and despise him. But no. The canon says otherwise, and that fact brings me so much happiness.

Of course, I’m writing all of this as angbang shipper, I’m very biased, and not even trying to hide it.

[ghostinthetumbchine]

Ainur are "children of Eru's thought". Arguably, they are then parts of him and his nature and intention. Same as noble Manwe was a legitimate particle of his Godly father, so was Melkor with his dominating nature that strayed and eventually got high on power once he had a taste of it.

"I have seen the end, i have seen it from the moment i awoke" can be interpreted as several things and several conclusions can be drawn from it (particularly from sudden lowered cohesiveness of his speech, the switch from "the" to "his" and "mine" in next sentence, the argument of what is objective truth vs perceived by the character) but the most interesting to me is the choice of the creators to introduce Mairons/Saurons constant, and growing, fixation with "perfect order" this way into tRoP viewers conciousness.

See, they currently do not have the rights to describe the nature of the Ainur openly, let alone identify Sauron as one explicitly. They cannot say "he is a child of Eru's thought".

But what they could say, and indeed did, is: he was born this way, baby! He came up with Eru's image of the Perfect World tm already imprinted in his head.

It's a fascinating way to portray the implication of your existance being a result of a relatively isolated ('they understood only the part of erus thought they were created from', paraphrasing) idea, notion, wish? in an impossibly complex being. Other than not being a "whole" self sufficient being on your own (ill get to that at some point), can you imagine that even?

Existing from the very first second with that in your head as your primary drive, and not having power, way, authority to get to it, not understanding or being told what to do about it, not having anyone around you that can empathise and help you handle it?

I am a perfectionist but still a human and the objects of this perfectionism are relatively small. Still, my perfectionism is a result of conditioning, abuse and anxiety. I have other innate sources of joy that are more natural to me. I cannot even imagine what would it be like for this to be the very core of my nature, in a world where so many drives, so many more agents exist. In a world where the primary, most powerful agent has facillitated constant chaos, destruction, decline.

And in comparison, you're of smaller stature, its implied you have no understanding or support from your superiors.. except for the one causing this decay? (yeah, i have a meta also how thematically it is impossible to me to see angbang as anything positive and not poisonous building of this)

There was some great meta i read in the past here, unfortunately i do not remember by whom, that Morgoth has fully fallen because he betrayed his role in Erus plan in favour of succumbing to his nature (power and drive towards domination). I have a prevailing thought about how, if we take a look at it from this perspective, Sauron has remained faithful to his purpose and role but his perception and nature was corrupted and any other, balancing traits were never fostered in the first place

Yes, he rebels againts Eru and acts against his plan, but does he even fully realise it? In his head, he might be doing everything he was always supposed to do and not understanding why others are so resistant to it, why hes being punished for it. Charlie, in tRoP has this tendency to play him as almost a confused child in key moments that i think is genius when you take into account that ainur need each other, need to learn from each other to understand notions other than that of their own nature, Charlie mentioning Sauron never knew genuine healthy love (i know we have our headcanons re his relationship with other ainur esp Aule but there is a lot of space for "maybe aule cared but still saw and treated him as a coworker and subordinate not a loved one" all the way into "they had a distant, rather dry/cold relationship") and all the tough "life lessons" he probably got from being with and around Morgoth. He might as well be a confused child in those matters despite being so ancient.

All he knows is he needs to make that vision he was born of come true. And everything the first person that offered him means to (not really, but he believed that) and supported it (ditto) told him.

[ann-atar]

A few more observations from ep. 7:

!!!spoilers!!!

Angbang folks we're living well. I'll be chanting for a flashback to the days of "pain became a game" at some point next season.

Celebrimbor's horror when he realized the "mithril ore" was Sauron's pitch black blood. "What is this?" What is this stuff, Annatar, that's all over every surface, on my hands, and in my hair? I put mithril ore in my coffee this morning, did I drink your blood? (This is great insight into the wraith phenomena and the rings' effects on Men but fuuuccck.)

The pattern, the cycle. Sauron's illusion can only mimic life, and he's trapped in the cycle of abuser and abused. Does he get it? He's choking on it but doesn't quite understand what's caught in his throat, so to speak.

Mirdania's horrifying, tragic end. Another thing I didn't see coming! I love it when shows surprise me. Once disembodied she'll be back in Mandos' Halls, and she'll eventually be reunited with Celebrimbor in Aman.

Gil-galad looks fabulous in armor. Now he needs a floppy asymmetrical haircut like Elrond's. Benjamin Walker is such a good-looking man, let's style him up! (Yes I'm shallow.)

Galadriel is drawing strength from three people in this ep: Elrond, Celebrimbor(!!!), and Adar. She's beginning to see Adar as a reflection of what could be if she ever gives in to what I'm calling the Sauron-effect: Adar is ruined and corrupted, so obsessed it might kill him and enslave the Uruk again; Celebrimbor is the other side to that, someone who broke free but is still broken, he turned back toward the light and now he has turned around to face the consequences.

Or maybe four people: that scene with Arondir got me good.

I wrote this post about Adar and the possible implications of using Nenya yesterday, @baddybaddyadardaddy wrote this amazing post about the idea that final confrontation this season might be a three-person fight, and when I watched the ep again the way they frame Adar as being caught between darkness and light was so apparent. Crossing my fingers for this because damn, that would be some fine storytelling.

Poor Durin. And Elrond waiting for him on the battlefield was just so awful. I really hope Durin can resist the call of the rings but this confrontation with this father will make him emotionally vulnerable. BUT if he is tempted to put on his father's ring I firmly believe that Disa will chop off his hand. They better not do ANYTHING to Disa; I'm really enjoying Rings but if they use Disa's life to make Durin susceptible to Sauron's influence I might drop it like a hot rock, just saying.

[mistergandalf]

ULTIMATE TOLKIEN BLORBO MASTERPOST

Who is THE blorbo of the Tolkien fandom here on tumblr dot com? Let's find out!

What are the criteria for voting?

What is a blorbo to you? As Aragorn would say: What does your heart tell you? Therein lies your answer. For me, it's who I'd like the whump the most. Maybe for you it's who is the most shippable. Maybe it's the one that means the most to you for what they represent. Maybe it's your poor little meow meow (looking at you, Angbang lovers). Let your feelings guide you.

Is this only supposed to be about the books, or is it based on any Tolkien-based media?

This is about blorbos. Wherever you found your blorbo, that's fine. If you want to be a book purist about it, you're valid. If you love Thorin Oakenshield simply because Richard Armitage is hot, you are also valid.

***PLEASE ALSO NOTE that my blog is a Rings of Power positive blog! If you don’t like it that’s fine, but if you post negative comments or reblogs on my posts, I will block you! I don’t want negativity in my activity feed, thank you!***

When will polls be posted?

Polls will be posted daily at 12pm EDT (GMT -4), staggered by 5-10 minutes on each poll. There will be a day between final votes as the data will be needed for the next poll!

Schedule is as follows: (Updated because I’m dumb and didn’t realize how many rounds the second chance bracket has)

4/23 - Round One 4/25 - Round Two (Primary Bracket) 4/26 - Round Two (Second Chance Bracket) 4/27 - Round Three (Primary Bracket) 4/28 - Round Three (Second Chance Bracket) 4/30 - Round Four (Second Chance Bracket) 5/2 - Round Five (Second Chance Bracket) 5/4 - Round Six (Second Chance Bracket) 5/5 - Round Four (Primary Bracket) 5/7 - Round Seven (Second Chance Bracket) 5/9 - Round Eight (Second Chance Bracket) 5/10 - Round Five (Primary Bracket) - decides the finalist 5/12 - Round Nine (Second Chance Bracket) - decides the finalist 5/14 - FINAL ROUND - THE ULTIMATE TOLKIEN BLORBO

Check the tag #ultimate tolkien blorbo to see new posts! Feel free to share your thoughts in the tag as well!

I have more questions!

Okay, click the readmore then!

Hey! Why did you pair this character with that character?

Because I spent a whole evening googling how tournament brackets work (I am not a sports person) and then I did a lot of math and sorting.

Okay, but I really want to know!

WELL first I thought: "How can I quantify and rank blorbos?" The answer: AO3. I went into the Tolkien fandom general tag and ranked the first 32 characters by the number of fanfics in which they appear.*

Then I split them by story. I roughly kept Hobbit characters with Hobbit characters, LotR with LotR, and Silmarillion with Silmarillion to keep it as fair as possible and give all corners of the fandom a chance to see their blorbo win. Some characters are in multiple sources, like Elrond or Gandalf, so I tried to keep those characters with someone who is probably just as well-known.**

Then I followed the rules the internet told me about how tournaments work. The highest-ranked character goes with the lowest-ranked character, the second-highest with the second-lowest, etc.

And that's how I did it! It was a fantastic way to waste an afternoon.

*I may have eliminated and/or played with a couple options. Some of these characters had fewer fics than the character "OC," which makes sense. I took off Erestor because literally only Glorfindel stans would choose him, and Glorfindel is on here. I also lumped together Elladan and Elrohir because if you can tell them apart, it's because they're both your blorbos. Tolkien did NOT give them distinct personalities. Also if I didn’t lump them together, I wouldn’t be able to fit Celebrimbor, and that would be a shame.

**Characters who appear in multiple stories had their rankings weighted to account for that fact. I got a C in statistics in college, though, so I frankly have no idea if the way I weighted them is correct, nor do I care, because I'm satisfied with how the rankings turned out.

I don’t like how you did this!

Okay, don’t vote then. Nobody’s making you.

FORTH EORLINGAS! Have fun voting! As Gimli would say... May the best Dwarf win! ;)

Round One [results & analysis]

Thorin vs. Bard | Bilbo vs. Dwalin | Kili vs. Gandalf | Fili vs. Thranduil | Legolas vs. Eomer | Aragorn vs. Eowyn | Elrond vs. Elladan & Elrohir | Frodo vs. Merry | Gimli vs. Pippin | Samwise vs. Boromir | Faramir vs. Galadriel | Maedhros vs. Celebrimbor | Maedhros vs. Celebrimbor (RoP free version bc some of you are whiny babies) | Maglor vs. Finrod | Glorfindel vs. Morgoth | Sauron vs. Celegorm | Fingon vs. Feanor

Round Two [results & analysis]

Thorin vs. Bilbo | Legolas vs. Thranduil | Pippin vs. Éowyn | Maglor vs. Frodo | Gandalf vs. Samwise | Elrond vs. Maedhros | Faramir vs. Glorfindel | Sauron vs. Fëanor

Round Two (Second Chance Bracket) [results & analysis]

Aragorn vs. Elladan & Elrohir | Gimli vs. Morgoth | Merry vs. Bard | Finrod vs. Celegorm | Boromir vs. Kíli | Fíli vs. Celebrimbor | Éomer vs. Galadriel | Fingon vs. Arwen

Round Three [results & analysis]

Bilbo vs. Legolas |  Éowyn vs. Frodo | Samwise vs. Elrond | Faramir vs. Fëanor

Round Three (Second Chance Bracket) [results & analysis]

Aragorn vs. Gandalf | Gimli vs. Maedhros | Merry vs. Glorfindel | Finrod vs. Sauron | Boromir vs. Thorin | Celebrimbor vs. Thranduil | Éomer vs. Pippin | Arwen vs. Maglor

Round Four (Second Chance Bracket) [results & analysis]

Aragorn vs. Gimli | Merry vs. Finrod | Boromir vs. Celebrimbor | Pippin vs. Arwen

Round Five (Second Chance Bracket) [results & analysis]

Aragorn vs. Bilbo | Éowyn vs. Merry | Boromir vs. Elrond | Pippin vs. Fëanor

Round Six (Second Chance Bracket) [results & analysis]

Aragorn vs. Éowyn | Boromir vs. Pippin

Round Four [results & analysis]

Legolas vs. Frodo | Samwise vs. Faramir

Round Seven (Second Chance Bracket) [results & analysis]

Éowyn vs. Faramir | Pippin vs. Legolas

Round Eight (Second Chance Bracket) [results & analysis]

Éowyn vs. Pippin

Round Five [results & analysis]

Frodo vs. Samwise

Round Nine (Second Chance Bracket) [results & analysis]

Éowyn vs. Frodo

FINAL ROUND

Samwise vs. Frodo

[winds-of-zephyr416]

Okay, I have to inquire about "exsitential. eldritch. they're still gay tho" from that WIP game, because! Existenial, eldritch, and gay happen to be my favourite categories for anything basically :D

Oooohh, this is one of my favorites!!

"exsitential. eldritch. they're still gay tho" is a pre-Arda meet-cute where Mairon follows Melkor around on one of his many wanderings into the outer Void. I wanted to try writing something with very little description and a lot of dialogue, so I figured a setting where they don't necessarily have bodies would be a good place to start :P

This fic is fun because I have to figure out how to refer to space without naming stars, and a progression of events without too much time. It's a challenge, but I kind of like it. It makes everything feel very open and primordial, very much so the vibe it's supposed to be! It isn't as space-oriented as the other WIP right next to it, but it's a vast setting all the same.

Melkor is a bit of a loner type here, but he flirts in his own way <33 (He's the first line)

(Mairon calls Melkor “Majesty” in this. It’s very gay and cute)

[melkor-did-nothing-wrong]

hi!! i read your tags on your latest rb (the one about the angbang child) and idk if you posted about it in the past but i would love to hear more!! i also have my own hcs and im always interested in hearing other peoples ideas <3

(from what i read in your tags, if you dont feel comfortable talking about this, i understand, or if youd prefer, my dms are always open if you dont wanna reply publicly to this)

Ok I am going to start by apologizing for taking a long time to answer, as well as thanking you for sending the ask in the first place. I still don't know if I should answer this publicly, but after years of either being told off for it being "boring" or "not canon" or "ooc" or even seeing people leaving the conversations on read every time I mention angbang with a baby of their own, I really really do want to yap while having the opportunity of saying: "well, as you can see, someone asked, so I'm just answering! clearly that's for the asker!". So thanks for the opportunity and the encouragement. I'm going to put these events/developments in a numbered list, so you'll have an easier time asking me to elaborate on anything specific later on if you so choose. They're not perfectly coherent but it is what it is, you know?

(Also: People who think the whole concept is bad or cringe, don't interact with this post. I've been hearing this for years but if y'all are allowed to make your own fankids for literally every other ship ever, then so am I!)

First of all, I'm gonna be using terms like "having a baby" but I want to clarify it's actually weirder (and arguably sillier, depending on who you ask) than that. I am not talking about developing another person's body to birth here. I am talking about developing another spirit or soul, which will only get a body when the whole process is done. I am just using terms that will be familiar to us as people even if the process isn't identical (the same way people would sometimes talk about birds or reptiles being "born" even when everyone collectively knows they just hatch from an egg).

So obviously at the end of the WoW, the army of valinor comes over to arrest Melkor and drag him through the doors of night

Melkor immediately throws his hands up like "Nope, you guys really shouldn't kill me. I'm going to have a baby and it'd be incredibly rude of you to kill me given the circumstance"

Exhausted collective sighs. Obviously that's typical Melkor BS so we're not gonna believe that, but I suppose disproving it publicly back at home and putting an end to the bs will not be a huge amount of time wasted. whatever.

Yeah sure ok Melkor whatever you say. we can drag you back west to officially call the bluff and get rid of you there.

Drag Melkor back. Whatever. just end this farce please.

Wait. Wait what the fuck. What the fuck do you mean there actually IS a baby??? HUH???????? How come???? WHY?????

Ok fine whatever UGH you are SO annoying. Fine. you can stay in jail until you have it and we'll kill you AFTER. Whatever.

Manwe is just. Trying to ask Melkor wtf is going on. Melkor, who is having a very very bad time in prison, predictably tells his brother to flock off.

Meanwhile, Mairon, who has just learned of that development, sighs and makes an effort to get to Valinor to drag his annoying (but beloved) hubby out of there.

Shortly after Melkor has the baby and manages to configure a physical form for him, Mairon commits a few acts of terrorism around as a distraction, then shows up in front of Melkor in dragon form like "Get on, we're leaving".

They make it east, and have to start living on the run from place to place out of fear of being pursued, as well as trying to find any remaining allies.

Eventually when they realize there are most likely no immediate plans of attack or attempts to retrieve them, Melkor and Mairon decide to temporarily settle near a settlement of humans who were on Melkor's side in the war, partially because they won't be kicked out by allies and partially in hopes of discouraging Manwe from ordering any attacks due to the fear of human casualties.

What follows is a lot of trial and error in raising what is essentially an immortal Ainu who is both completely new to this world but is simultaneously technically an ancient spirit who has partial knowledge of all things but can't make sense of them.

Another part of the life they build raising a kid is Melkor having to deal with the personal trauma of basically everything and everyone else being gone- it's a significant struggle for him to go from doing whatever he wanted pretty much consequence free, while having the support of his entire court, to just sitting here with Mairon and the baby, just the three of them. He genuinely thought it would happen sooner, that their son would grow up a prince, safe as can be, surrounded by friends and be as adored by all as he himself was. Unfortunately that was not the case, and now he has to raise him very differently while knowing he'll never meet any of the people Melkor had called friends or had any sort of fondness for. You know. Because they're all dead and it's mostly his own fault.

Mairon on the other hand is less affected by it all that much. He always liked being alone just fine, he isn't exactly a huge fan of big crowds. It's difficult for him too, starting over somewhere new and knowing all the people he knew are dead, and also having to keep in mind that he might have to hop around every so often to evade his weird immortal ex-employers, but if there's anything that mf can do is dodge taxes. You're never gonna Al-Capone him. Ever. Can't put him in jail if you can't find him etc. And he's very good at not being found. He's also mostly okay with not being bothered as much. He has his own thoughts on the matter but he doesn't have the time to be an angstlord because now he's got to watch out for double the troublemaking chaotic Ainur and has to make an effort to prevent them from getting into too much trouble. Honestly it's not that different from runing a fortress, in terms of how busy he gets, if you ask him. Anyway he is very fascinated by the baby because unlike Valar (Melkor and Manwe, Yavanna and Vana, Nienna Namo and Irmo, Nessa and Orome…) Maiar are not created in sets of siblings, so Mairon is familiar in theory, but not familiar in practice, with the idea of a family unit. He doesn't entirely understand what it's like to have a connection with someone that runs this deep but he's absolutely fascinated by this little family of his.

Considering how Melkor is "No longer counted among the Valar" specifically, and considering the original plan was 15 Valar, I like to think of the kid as the Vala who will eventually gain the role of replacing Melkor. To that end, I needed an aspect for him to embody that is at least slightly similar to how I view Melkor (as an aspect of change and transformation), as something that can be associated with the creative process like Mairon, and as a bonus, something that Tolkien himself would consider at least a little bit negative. In the end I have decided to settle on that thing being Technology. It can be used creatively to innovate and streamline tedious or difficult processes, but can also be used for evil/selfish ends (especially these days…)

Last but not least, because I can't stress this enough - just because I prefer Melkor and Mairon to be loving partners to eachother and loving parents to their son, that does NOT mean they're suddenly "good" or "kind" or "redeemed" or any of the thousand other words used to describe either post first age Mairon or post fourth/whichever age Melkor. I am not opposed to the idea in general, in fact not only do I get the appeal, I even love it because I love reading about these evil little feral creatures being happy together. but to me personally just because they love their own boy and are cordial to allies who were dying for their cause during the recent war in this specific AU, it doesn't mean they're suddenly going to be good and nice and friendly towards any and every person they come across in the rest of it. In other AUs, sure, in other projects written by other people, absolutely, in other nonsense written by me, even, yeah absolutely I'll allow them to be nice. But here specifically they're still annoying evil disaster creatures who might kill any mortal for the heck of it just to see what happens. They just do it less often because they don't have a thousand Umaiar, ten thousand Orcs and a hundred dragons to back them up this time. So if they do the killing they'll have to face consequences this time, and they really wouldn't like that, so they play nice for the sake of, you know, not being murdered in their outnumbered, outmatched current state lmao.

[perlen-gold]

Cult Founding 101

Melkor: Lieutenant, I must say, I am pleased with all these new worshippers and zealous servants you have gathered in my halls. Where did you find them?

Sauron/Mairon: The internet.

Melkor: What is that?

Sauron/Mairon: A thourough explanation would take quite some time, my lord.

Melkor: Spare me, lieutenant. Tell me, what did you say to them this time to bind them to our evil cause? I do love your wiles.

Sauron/Mairon: Oh, a bit of this, a bit of that...

~ Three Days Earlier: ~

Sauron/Mairon: This is Melkor, your dark lord, deliverer of wills and freedom.

Internet:

Sauron/Mairon: Also, you may imagine him banging me mercilessly and doing all sorts of unspeakable, depraved, lewd things to me while I forge lovely rings and react in the most indecent and lecherous way you can fathom. You may also write about it and draw and paint whatever unholy idea steals into your mind and, after looking up the newest fortress I've designed, call this "angbang" if you so wish.

Internet: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gandalf: ...

Gandalf: They should have named you 'Master of Lies' in place of your dark master.

Sauron/Mairon: What lies, Olórin?

[mai-komagata]

when fandom doesn't resonate

So like, i know a lot of people are Rings of Power fans and don't know anything about book canon. That is fine, we accept all folks, and its awesome to see perspectives of new fans. But like, I loved haladriel in season 1, and I realized in season 2 the majority of the fans saw the ship COMPLETELY differently than I did. Like they were expecting more from the dynamic than we got. And I see them all being disappointed in how it turned out when this is like the best it was ever gonna be and exceeded what I expected. Galadriel isn't getting with a devil who lied and manipulated her. The most they will have is a metaphorical stabbing scene.

Like is this just not understanding who Sauron is, or projecting a different romance trope I'm unaware of onto this ship? Like i love a lot of dark enemy relationship tropes but this was never gonna be enemies to lovers. Because its *Sauron*. Like even if you never read the books he is an evil eye that is the representation of the devil in the movies. Surely that amount of cultural knowledge permeated popular culture?

Sauron ships are about how close you can get to evil without being corrupted. (well, except for angbang, that is the opposite of that) The sexiness is the evil and the violence, the gaslighting, the delusion and the what might be but won't be. It's the promise of getting everything you could ever want and getting absolutely none of it. That is the promise of the Ring and ultimately of Sauron, because that is who he is. To me, Haladriel is attractive because it is a tangible look into what it is to be tempted by the ring. Because the vague "you can conquer middle earth" "you can save your friends" "you can become king" don't mean anything. But I can relate to being mansplained and passed over despite my merit, and have someone be a perfect coworker/mentor/partner that will help you achieve everything you want. Someone that is a shortcut for that respect. Someone who lets you say *i told you so* to everyone. Someone who lets you get revenge and be bad without *being bad*. That is sexy but it's a lie.

But that part is also sexy. The being picked by someone supremely evil and powerful, of being special. And if you are masochistic, the pain and the powerplay is also sexy. The metaphors of fighting and penetration and whatnot, that is interesting. Not to mention the sheer hubris he displays, and self-delusion. But like, I knew Halbrand was Sauron like from the second scene we saw him. It was like "oh yep, that is what is going on". There was never any illusion to me that Galadriel can make him good. Or that he'd want to fix himself for her . He can definitely *see himself* in her or or *see things he wants of her*, and that is a thrill, but he is never gonna want that sweet life he is promising to her. That is so transparently a lie but it is amusing to see him have the absolute NERVE to be that shameless. Dunno, do dark ships need to be "enemies to *lovers*" or have promise of redemption to be attractive? Sometimes it's just dark sexy manipulation and violence. Also, Galadriel is still *good*. She is tempted because temptation is a theme of Tolkien. But the whole point is she resisted the darkness. She isn't gonna overpower Sauron's either, and keep him on a leash. That is literally what Morgoth did. (Sauron would be into that, though, but he'd be a brat about it). Anyway. Is it just because I knew who Sauron was all along? If you want a ship where you get to keep Sauron as a pet, maybe Angbang is for you? Maybe that is why I'm so glad for silvergifting in Season 2, we all seemed to be in the same page as to what is going on. This was gonna be so tragic and kinky we were all here for it. I just seem to keep getting burned by straight ship fandoms having a wildly different vibe than I expect from them.

[trash-ainu]

Since the WIP game says ask about titles, maaaay I inquire about Coda?

💖💖💖Indeed you may! :D

So you might have noticed that I have a bit of a running gag of naming all my fics after music-related terms XD

A coda is a passage in music that brings a piece to an end, and this fic will... kinda do the same! It will be the last in the series, wrapping the whole thing up :3 And it's also gonna be a very induldgent angbang fix-it fic, because I would be physically ill, if I did not give Mai and Mel a happy ending.

I won't spoil what the main story hook will be about, but the whole thing will begin with Melkor and Mairon breaking out of the Void ;D

And for a dialogue idea from it that I can share -- have Melkor, throwing shade at his darling little brother Manwë :DD