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echo-bleu · 4 months

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End of the Year Fic Recs

thank you @thescrapwitch and @sallysavestheday for tagging me!

This is a wonderful game, I love reccing fics and I should do it more. I'll keep it all Silmarillion for the recs, since that's the bulk of what I've read this year. I haven't had the spoon to leave proper comments on some of these, so hopefully reccing them can count too?

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).

- The Harrowing by @chthonion. I am forever in awe of this whole series and of Chthonion's writing. Somehow every single sentence is relatable and at least half of them are a punch in the gut, but in a healing way. A delightful Frodo, Celebrimbor and Finrod working through their trauma and Annatar, remade as an elf, learning how to be a good person (and a person at all, really).

- we will make this place our home by @leucisticpuffin. Truly delightful 70s AU as narrated by 8 year old Elrond, who just makes my heart melt in every chapter. Maedhros and Maglor as traumatized foster parents doing their best, the twins with their antics and their fears and joys, it's such a breath of fresh air and I can't get enough of it.

- Hanged Man by @tethysresort. Second age fic about the fall of Eregion and the start of Imladris with so much interesting worldbuilding and plot, and characterization of Elrond and Glorfindel especially that I really loved.

- Everlasting Song by @amethysttribble. This is perhaps a little more niche, a crossover with A Song of Ice and Fire, but I'm not an ASOIAF fan at all and I have like two whole memories of the books and I'm still finding absolutely delightful. Top-notch characterization of the Fëanorians, and it really keeps you on your toes.

- Aurë entuluva by @theheirofashandfire. Just very recently caught up with it and I love it to bits! The time loop is all kinds of angsty and breathtaking, and I really love the world that is being constructed afterwards. Wonderful Russingon, and I'm also, especially, in love with her Curufin and Celegorm.

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

- Wayward Son by @thescrapwitch. Angst exactly like I like it. Fëanor and Maglor, and it will make you cry. @thescrapwitch writes Maglor just wonderfully and I really love this Fëanor that will do absolutely anything for his son.

- On the difference between hostages and sons by leodesic (and the rest of the series as well). Absolutely delightful Elrond and Elros, as seen by Gil-galad when they first come to his court. I love Elrond defying expectation, and this was such a wonderful read.

- the world to come by arriviste. Arda Remade, told through the shadows and the gaps of what's missing. It's eerie, and I love a well-written eerie fic that leaves you feeling a little off-balance. Wonderful reflection on the price of perfection.

- Sea-Bells and Sunlight by @actual-bill-potts. Finrod, Lúthien and Beren in Mandos. This broke my heart in the best way.

- in the breaking by @thelordofgifs. Short but terribly impactful study of Maedhros and Maglor before the end, one of the best I've read of them.

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

- A Farewell to Arms by MorwenSteelsheen (LOTR, Farawyn). Such a wonderful characterization and development of Faramir and Éowyn's relationship in a slight canon divergence where Éowyn arrives in Gondor two years before the end of the war of the Ring.

- The Splintered Light by @thearrogantemu. The whole series. These Gifts That You Have Given Me (Silvergifting) is well-known in the fandom, I think, and I absolutely loved it, but the other fics set in the Fourth Age were among the first I read in this fandom that I just fell straight in love with.

- The Host of the West by @mynameisjessejk. Various fics of the Otter Mayhem and Otterless Mayhem series could have gone into every category here because I love them all, but this is the one I chose because I reread it yesterday for the fourth (fifth?) time and it still had me bawling my eyes out. Probably my favourite Finrod, and definitely an inspiration for my own writing. The whole series is about healing and redemption and elf therapy and all of it is delightful.

- The Peril (and Potential) of Unleashing Lightning in a Fishbowl by @dawnfelagund. This one took everything I thought I knew about Caranthir, threw it out the window and gave me a truly brilliant characterization I didn't know I needed in my life. The worldbuilding is also delightful, and so is Amarië.

- Aranya by SpaceWall. I read this recently and it's really staying with me. Some people in my asks have expressed interest in fics that take the Valar to account for their mistakes, and this is a wonderful one. With a bonus revolution. I really love the non-linear storytelling as well, a hard-to-use tool that is done wonderfully here. Plus the title is inspired.

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

- your veins are empty of dust. Character study of Nerdanel as feels her family die across the sea, and she sculpts. This is also the fic for which I made the art I'm probably the proudest of to date.

- your smile tells me I'm safe. Modern AU with aro Maedhros and a Russingon QPR.

- silver. Míriel, Celegorm and Celebrimbor, and living with chronic illness.

- the light that you keep burning there. Part of a much larger AU where the second and third kinslayings don't happen, but this one is about Maedhros, Maglor and Fingon in the later years, as the world crumbles, trying to remember what (who) they're fighting for.

- if I am to braid my mystic crown. The Silmarillion retold through worldbuilding headcanons about braids.

Tagging @unforth @foodsies4me @wren-of-the-woods @camille-lachenille (I don't know who has already done it, so feel free to send me a link if you have!)

#fic recs #echo's fanfiction #silmarillion #tolkien

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searchingforserendipity25 · 8 months

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Self Fic Rec

Thank you so much to @sallysavestheday, @swanmaids, @thelordofgifs, @melestasflight for tagging me, and for sharing their lists - lots of excelling fics to read and reread <33

I am taking this opportunity to share some recent fics I've written for exchanges and events on ao3 and haven't posted on tumblr yet!

If All Kings Be As Kin, for the wonderful @thalion71, with @melestasflight wonderful betaing

It might have all been more tolerable, the newness of the flesh and the estrangement of the spirit, if Gil-Galad were in love with the world around him; but Gil-Galad was not in love with Valinor.

Fin-Galad comes back to life, dances a great deal, and faces one of his predecessors. Fingon, for his part, has questions of his own.

After Ruin, a Hurt/Comfort Exchange treat for @jaz-the-bard.

Mandos was kin to Morgoth: well knew Maeglin that no escape would avail him. But it was not escape that he sought.

Maeglin attempts self-destruction in the Halls of Mandos; Turgon seeks a confrontation. The ghost of fallen Gondolin is there, too.

Formal Noldorin Poetic Formats And Unusual Adaptations

Correspondence on collaboration for an unpublished draft of an instrumental song cycle, developed between two princes of the House of Finwë.

Maglor and Finrod exchanging letters, teasing and avant-garde musical theory in the Years of the Trees. For Tolkien Ekphrasis Week.

Glasshouses

It had been - an understanding, an understood thing, in Gondolin.

A study on Turgon/Glorfindel not-quite unrequited love over the centuries. I am quite proud of the writing on this one. For the Spring Into Arda event.

Battlefields

It was not meet for a king to be weak, even before his healers and lieutenants. But it had been a long time since Gil-Galad had had a cousin bold and true enough to cut a swathe through the enemy and come, kneeling, back unguarded, to press his hands against his injury.

Gil-Galad is wounded in battle. Elrond and Elros have opinions on the care and keeping of kings. A small fic about trust, also for @thalion71.

I'm not sure who's received this tag before, so tagging all mentioned and @mayfriend, @welcomingdisaster, @jouissants, @thescrapwitch, @eilinelsghost, @slightnettles, @actual-bill-potts, @emyn-arnens, @theworldisquietheretooquiet, @vidumavi, @that-angry-noldo, @meadowlarkx, @polutrope and @ettelene.

#self fic recs #fic recs #tolkien fanfiction #my fics #silm fic

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runawaymun · 9 months

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Aww poor,glorfindel, no cuddles from erestor?

Thoughts on peredhel and shaving/beards?

he gets some cuddles from Erestor for sure, it's just that Erestor isn't generally a cuddly person. And that's ok because Glorfindel has lots of friends he can be affectionate with (Elrond, especially) who don't mind!

Peredhil and beards is such an interesting topic because in theory iirc Elros never grew a beard, and the men descended from his line (including Aragorn) don't grow beards. However Elrond is described as having one in the Fellowship (which THREW me when I was rereading it recently), so Tolkien himself seems to be kind of divided on this. I wonder if they just have a dramatically slowed-down rate of developing beard hair, the way elves do. So perhaps Elros and members of his line simply never lived long enough to even reach the age that they might develop beards.

But in any case I headcannon Peredhil as being beardless 🤷 one of the genetic traits they get from the elvish side.

#elrond #erestor #peredhil

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disorganisedautodidact · 1 year

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Was sorely tempted to join in on the Elwing discourse / kidnap fam discourse that’s been going around, but honestly my main complaint to a lot of the discoursers boils down to „ffs stop complaining about the way other people enjoy their favourite characters and just make a post about how you interpret them instead, and let people have their fun“, so I’m following my own advice and making my own post about my current Elwing headcanons (subject to me changing my mind in a week or two because I had / saw another idea I liked). Where I mention other takes I’ve seen, I’m doing so to clarify my point via what I don’t mean, not to criticize anyone.

- Elwing’s early life was pretty much shaped by the experience of her home being destroyed and her family slaughtered when she was only a toddler, and then they lived a probably pretty precarious life in a refugee settlement and as a very young adult many things happening to that settlement became her respondibility. Her mental health probably wasn’t great, and I don’t think anyone in first age Beleriand had access to therapy except for Maedhros’ former thrall self-help group in Himring. This doesn’t mean her life was a complete horror show all of the time – I like to think she found some joy in her friendship and later romance with Eärendil, in learning and discovering her talents, in helping people … – but I think any serious portrayal of Elwing should take her trauma into account (maybe she was drinking a lot? maybe she was sometimes aggressive without a reason that others could see? maybe she just had terrible nightmares or couldn’t stand certain foods because they were what she ate on her last night in Doriath…. (also give me Elwing and Eärendil learning each other’s trauma responses and helping each other deal, btw)), and I think it probably affected her decision-making and her relationships with others, to a degree.

- it’s important for me to take into account how young Elwing was, although of course we can’t quite tell exactly how young she was – half-elven aging is notoriously weird, but honestly even humans are pretty young, at twenty-something, to take on a leadership role in a situation like that, and be in need of more guidance than Elwing had at the time. And I do think Elwing was „younger“ than a human would have been at that age. Elven children develop faster than human children cognitively, but slower physically and emotionally, so there’s alredy a lot of potential messiness with even „simple“ half-elves like Eärendil. And Elwing was more than half elven, with a decent chunk of Maia thrown in. We have no idea how she might have aged, but it’s entirely possible that she and Eärendil were at pretty different developmental stages at the same age, and also that no-one, including themselves, quite understood exactly how mature either of them were at any particular point. Young people tend not to have a good grasp on their own maturity levels (source: I’ve been a young person) and no-one around them had much experience with half-elves (ok, some of the Doriathrim might have known Dior well enough to be relevant for this, but Dior also had a different mix of elf, maia and human genetics and might well have aged at a different pace than his children). That has both fun comedic potential for childhood friends Eärendil and Elwing, and potential for dark, messy takes on their relationship if that’s your thing.

- I like to think Elrond and Elros inherited their healing talents from Elwing – maybe the whole „the hands of the king are the hands of a healer“ thing started not with Elros, but with Elwing! It was probably a very useful talent to have in late first age Beleriand, and perhaps one of the things that made the Gondolindrim in her settlement look to her as a leader rather than just their leader’s wife (the Doriathrim would have already accepted her as Thingol’s heir)

- speaking of which. ruling over a settlement of the remnants of two recently uprooted cultures as someone who has no roots in (in fact, may have inherited active opposition to) one of the cultures and lost the stable home of the other as a young child cannot have been easy, and Elwing was really young (see above). I simply can’t imagine she didn’t make plenty of mistakes and wasn’t a controversial figure (beloved, too, perhaps, but the two aren’t mutually exclusive). It’s possible she did very good work as a ruler and a healer! But that doesn’t mean she was in any way flawless. And she lived in a time when there were so many mistakes to be made and not a lot of good choices.

- Elwing was dealing with her own, probably significant, emotional issues, AND trying to hold together a settlement of refugees from at least two different cultures, AND parenting young twins by herself with Eärendil mostly off at sea. I headcanon that she loved the twins a great deal and raised them as best she could, but I also think she probably struggled to give Elrond and Elros enough of the kind of close, emotionally attuned attention that kids need, and the lack of which can seriously fuck a kid up. Being raised by a traumatised parent can be rough even if everyone involved is doing their best.

- which isn’t to say she wasn’t a loving parent. I do think she tried to spend as much time with them as she could, and that she made every decision with them in mind (not all of those decisions worked out well, but I do think she was trying). But she was alone in very different circumstances, and it’s not unreasonable to assume that she was often (physically or emotionally) absent or lost her temper and yelled sometimes.

- it’s also not to say that Elrond and Elros weren’t devastated to lose her.

- this post isn’t about my interpretation of the Oath of Fëanor, so I won’t go into it a lot, but basically I’m the „the Oath is a metaphysical compulsion that takes away free will to an extent, and while the silmaril was at Sirion, the Fëanorians were going to attack it sooner or later whether they wanted to or not“ camp. And I do think Maedhros told Elwing that and begged her to believe him.

- I also think Elwing had absolutely no reason to believe a single word he said.

- I think that she thought, wrongly but understandably, that the sons of Fëanor valued a shiny rock more than the lives of innocents, and acted accordingly

- possibly she could have prepared for the attack better, like sending her kids away to Balar or something, but to be fair, sending your children away, even for their own safety, is a heartbreaking decision to make and Elwing not doing so is understandable

- nor do I think it’s fair to say she abandoned her children – she was probably realising by now that she and the silmaril were what was putting them in danger, and figured she’d take that out of the equation

- but I do think the twins FELT abandoned, because when you’re six, you don’t understand that kind of reasoning

- as a teenager you might understand, but intellectually knowing your parents loved you and acted to keep you safe, and FEELING loved by them are two different things

- this isn’t the time to get into my kidnap fam headcanons, of which I have many, but in brief: I also think that it took Elrond and Elros a long time to feel safe with Maglor and Maedhros or feel affection for them, but I also think that, while it was their fault that Elrond and Elros were alone in the ruins of a destroyed settlement (yes the Oath forced them into the kinslaying, yes it’s still their fault for swearing it in the first place), once it got to that point taking the children with them was probably the best option. Gil-galad’s forces were still a ways away, and the survivors of Sirion were fleeing. What were they supposed to do, leave them sitting around among damaged buildings by themselves in a land swarming with orcs and other monsters? And once they were with them, I’m completely convinced that Maglor and Maedhros did the best they could to raise them, teach them, and not do further harm. Result: E&E were raised and loved by the least malicious of the monsters out there, and that’s messy and fucked up and fascinating.

- I don’t think adult Elrond would have been all „fuck Elwing, Maglor and Maedhros are my real parents“ (though sometimes fics like that can be cathartic for reasons that have nothing to do with the characters and everything to do with sometimes you just need to project some stuff on your blorbo), but I do think teenage Elrond might have thought it sometimes

- please join me in imagining adult Elrond, already working as a healer in the war of wrath, getting to Gil-galad’s camp and meeting people who knew his mother, who tell him about her work as a healer, and the complicated emotional journey he goes through from having that connection with her, a connection I think he grew to cherish

- also I think Elwing went through a lot of healing and growth in Valinor because 6000 years is a long fucking time – if 30 year old Elwing is old enough to have kids and be a leader, then imagine what she’s like at 6500 years.

- Elrond and Elwing and Eärendil reconnected in Valinor, but it likely took all of them some time to get to know each other again – but by then I think they were all in a place to want to try despite everything

- and by everything I do mean, among other things, Elrond’s genuine familial love for Maglor and Maedhros and his care for their followers who remained loyal to him after the war of wrath (the details of THAT would need another post that wouldn’t have all that much to do with Elwing, so I won’t go into it much more in a post about her). I think that Elwing and Eärendil would have found that hard to forgive, but I’m also convinced that after 6500 years they cared more about their son than about their (completely justified!) resentment.

- there would have been a different, but equally complicated journey for adult Elros – yeah, Eärendil and Elwing can’t go back to Middle Earth, but can they go to Númenor? who knows, but they could certainly send messages! (unlike Elrond, actually – I know fandom tends to ignore this because it’s Sad, but the appendices tell us that there was no contact between Númenor and Middle Earth until after Elros’ death – the twins might or might not have communicated through ósanwë, but there were no visits or letters)

-anyway this has been a loose collection of my Elwing headcanons as they are right now. I’ll probably make other posts about my ideas about kidnap fam and about the oath and the kinslayings, because I have a lot of thoughts on those topics, but I wanted this post to be mostly about Elwing

#let elwing be complicated #i love her #but i need her to be allowed to be a mess actually

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fidelishaereticus · 4 years

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@mywoesaregranular ah, you DO you?? hmm well lately i have been taking a break from Cardhouse and playing with some other characters who are involved in no big LIFE GOAL projects but who are very dear to me, i described them briefly before. today i’ve been thinking about: Dustin (original, witch AU), Alexander, Francis (original, witch AU), and Farid (a newer one!! my personal take on the Persian from the original Phantom of the Opera novel…apparently very different from fanon, but then, i am not much in contact with fanon)

idk i am always all too excited to blather about MY CREATIONS if u have any questions about them x)

#...it feels like i have more characters #but i think thats cuz i've done like 3 different things with dustin #ah #and then also there was my pitch #and i was developing an elros recently #and another rhime #and a sultana #hm u know what tho i should make EVEN MORE #i still don't have nearly enough!!!#seeing how short this list is #it makes me want to make more!#oh yes i was forgetting also Marvin!#marvin is very good also 8)

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morgulscribe · 2 years

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The Nine Nazgul

Conceptional art for the Nine Nazgul from The Circles by Angmar and Elfhild, as created through Artbreeder. I’m not 100% certain of how each Nazgul should look, as almost twenty years have passed since Angmar and I first started writing. So this will probably be a work in progress.

1. The Morgul Lord - It was an intimidating task to make a portrait of the Lord of the Nazgul! Angmar originally described him as having a beard, and resembling a younger version of the king from the "Nine for Mortal Men Doomed to Die" sequence from the 2001 movie. However, when another Tolkien scholar theorized that the Morgul Lord was beardless due to his Numenorean heritage, Angmar was uncertain what course to follow. Texts from the recently published "Nature of Middle-earth" confirm that the descendants of Elros were unable to grow beards. So, in keeping with Tolkien, the Morgul Lord is shown here without a beard. I tried to give him a determined expression to show his confidence and strength of will. Aragorn greatly resembles his ancestor, so this means that Circles!Aragorn looks a lot like this. After the Battle of Pelennor Fields, the Morgul Lord has a long, ugly scar that runs along his right temple. The upper portion of his ear might be missing as well. He tries to hide these wounds with his hair. (Angmar never stated exactly how much damage Eowyn’s sword did to the Witch-king’s face.)

2. Khamul - To be honest, I’m not 100% sure of Khamul’s appearance. I know Angmar described him as being middle aged and having tawny skin. I think he mentioned in passing that Khamul’s eyes have epicanthal folds, so I tried to depict this. He is a warlord from an eastern region where Rhun and Khand meet. In Angmar’s original RPG, Khamul resented the fact that he was Number Two instead of Number One, and frequently obsessed over why Sauron hadn’t chosen him to be Lord of the Nazgul. Khamul follows Sauron out of worshipful devotion, while the Morgul Lord follows him because he has no other choice.

3. Gothmog - Angmar and I adopted the theory that Gothmog, the Lieutenant of Minas Morgul, is a Nazgul. He is of both Near and Far Haradric descent.

4. Zagbolg - I imagine him as being the Nazgul with the oldest appearance. He is a king of Khand. He is also close friends with Khamul.

5. Krakfakhtal - He is a barbarian lord of the Hill-men. His appearance is often jokingly compared to Tulkas.

6. Rutfimurz and Udukhaturz are first cousins from Numenor. They are also related to the Morgul Lord as well, although not as closely. He and his cousin Udu spend a lot of time enjoying women, wine, and song. Most of the time, actually.

7. Udukhaturz enjoys singing a good Numenorean sea shanty, especially when he is drunk. Which is a frequent occurrence.

8. Skri - It was a challenge for me to depict Skri! He is often described as being clean-shaven, but I thought it was best to depict him here with a beard, to distinguish him from the three Numenoreans. I tried to give him a morbid smirk to portray his gleefully melancholy personality.

9. Krithkrovurz - Krith's character was never really developed in the original RPG or the Circles, but I'm trying to flesh him out a bit more. He and Skri hate each other, because they were rival warlords in Rhun. He often calls himself “The Forgotten,” because he is the least powerful of an ancient order of sorcerers, necromancers, and alchemists.

#nazgul #witch-king #khamul #thecirclesofpower

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arofili · 3 years

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the line of elros ◈ chieftains of the dúnedain ◈ headcanon disclaimer

Arahad was the son of Araglas, and the seventh Chieftain of the Dúnedain. During his rule, the Watchful Peace came to an end when Sauron returned to his fortress of Dol Guldur and spurred his orcs to multiply. Arahad was wearied by these struggles and leaned on his wife, the wise-woman Silivreneth, for support. The son of Arahad and Silivreneth was Aragost, who was firmer of will than his father and more active in fighting against the rising turmoil in the North. Though Sauron focused his efforts on Gondor and Rhovanion, not Eriador, he was ever vigilant in his defense of his lands. His wife Alphalas was dear friends with Lord Elrond’s wife Lady Celebrían, bonding with her over their shared love for swans, for which Alphalas was named and Celebrían honored as a symbol of her mother’s Telerin heritage. Alas, Arahad’s wisdom and Aragost’s guarded watch upon the Misty Mountains were, though valiant, imperfect, and Celebrían was waylaid by orcs upon her return from a visit to her parents in Lothlórien. All her companions were slain, including Alphalas, who had been eager to meet the great Lord and Lady of the Golden Wood. Celebrían’s twin sons Elladan and Elrohir found and recovered her, but she was deeply affected by her time in bondage to the orcs and not even Elrond’s medical abilities could save her. The next year, she departed for the West in search of deeper healing. Alphalas’ young son Aravorn was only twelve years old at the time of her death, and before she sailed, Celebrían made sure to pass along his mother’s love to the child. He was the last Heir of Isildur to know the Lady of Imladris. He carried this sorrow all his life, marrying an equally solemn woman, Sírdhem, whose own parents had been slain by orcs. The son of Aravorn and Sírdhem was Arahad II, named for his great-grandfather. Despite his parents’ melancholy attitudes, Arahad was a boisterous man of great cheer. He frequently traveled westward to the borders of the Shire, and though he never trespassed upon the land of the periannath he took great heart and comfort from watching their flourishing community, knowing his and his fathers’ efforts to fight against evil were doing good in the world. It was on one such journey that Arahad met Ellother, a hunter from a small community of Men in the Hills of Evendim. They became fast friends, and soon Ellother asked to be Arahad’s spouse. Though Ellother had a lesser lifespan than their Dúnadan husband, their love was great and from it came an heir, Arassuil. In the first part of his rule as Chieftain, Arassuil established trade with the hobbits of Bree, delighted by their recent development of pipe-weed. But soon troubles increased in the North, with the orcs of the Misty Mountains growing bold enough to raid Eriador. Arassuil and his rangers fought tirelessly to hold them back, but one party managed to reach the Shire where they were fought off by a brave band of hobbits. Upon hearing tale of their leader, Bandobras “Bullroarer” Took, Arassuil was greatly impressed and traveled to honor him in person, though Bullroarer had only a vague idea of who this strange Man was. However, this friendship was fortunate, for soon the Long Winter arrived. Many lives were lost throughout Eriador, and with the aid of the wizard Mithrandir, Arassuil and the Rangers of the North brought supplies from Rivendell to the Shire to aid the hobbits. As he aged, Arassuil grew weary from his wounds, and was forced to spend more and more time in Imladris where his grandson Argonui was growing into a young man. Though he cherished this time with his family, Arassuil worried that he was not doing enough as Chieftain. His wife Glórineth, a few decades younger than him, bravely took up the task of leading the Rangers in their journeys alongside their son Arathorn I. Glórineth and Arathorn continued to aid the hobbits of the Shire and also to the dwarves of the recently-sacked Erebor as they made their long pilgrimage westward to the Blue Mountains.

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chaos-of-the-abyss · 3 years

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Anon: Got any headcanons or things about Celebrían? Just got into lotr recently, saw the movies ages ago but just never looked into it more

Hello, anon! Thank you for this ask, because yes, I have quite a few about her:

I mentioned this in my answer to the ask meme for Celebrían here, but I’ll say it again - she and Elrond were friends for a long time, and one day, he confessed to her. Celebrían was astonished, but she turned him down almost immediately, not feeling the same way. It was awkward between them at first, but they managed to settle back into their previous casual, comfortable relationship. Because Elrond never mentioned it again, and in time he was behaving around her just like he always did, Celebrían assumed, gladly, that he had gotten over her. It wasn’t until several centuries later that it dawned on her that she was now developing feelings for him. Since she was a straightforward person, she told him right away, admitting to the irony of the situation - but then Elrond explained how he’d never really gotten over her, he had just accepted that his feelings were unrequited and let it go since he didn’t want to ruin their friendship. After that, they began courting. (And Galadriel and Celeborn were very happy.)

Personality-wise, she is, like I mentioned, straightforward. Similar to her mother, she’s also a very good speaker and very witty. There’s a kind of charisma in the way she carries herself - she’s the kind of person you can’t help but pay attention to

She’s a glutton for knowledge, like a Renaissance woman, you could say. She’s interested in a wide variety of things, including history, mathematics, art, music, linguistics, and politics. Her parents were both endeared at their daughter’s thirst to learn and suffered through intense headaches when she woke them at the dead of night asking about some historical event that they were alive during, or when they found her knocked out at her desk with piles of books and scrolls scattered all over it. Arwen inherited this from her.

Her feelings for the Fëanorians were far from positive throughout the entirety of her growing up; although her parents’ experiences with them did have something to do with it (Celeborn being Nimloth’s uncle, meaning presumably he had kin in Doriath when it was sacked by the Fëanorians, Galadriel having known them since the Years of the Trees), Celebrían formed her own opinions from what she was taught. She despised the fact that they were willing to go so far for what, to her, amounted to some pretty trinkets, and in particular was appalled by the Second and Third Kinslayings. If she ever met Celegorm and Curufin especially, she would have looked down her nose at them. Because of her dislike (to put it mildly) for them, she sometimes wondered about how Elrond felt during his time with Maedhros and Maglor, but she didn’t ask him much about it - she could tell it was a sensitive topic that had a lot of complicated emotions from his part.

Speaking of the Fëanorians, she did meet them in Valinor at least once, and made no secret of her lack of good things to say, though she didn’t make an effort to be overly insulting. Suffice to say they had déjà vu from how similar she was to her mother in that moment.

Very down-to-earth! She didn’t care much for her image as a princess, and would often go out in a tunic, trousers, and boots. She also preferred to keep her hair tied back, often messily, and away from her face. A few times, she outright cut it to the chin, but she couldn’t be bothered to trim so it would just grow back again.

I mentioned she’s a history nerd, right? Her favorite historical figures (well, historical figures from her perspective) are Idril Celebrindal, Nerdanel, Anairë, Eärwen (despite Eärwen also being her grandmother), and Lúthien.

When she arrived in Valinor, she was introduced to her mother’s family. Finarfin was reminded so much of his daughter that he cried. His granddaughter quickly became the apple of his eye, and he absolutely dotes on her.

Oh, and later, Celebrían fangirled, because she got the chance to meet Idril, Eärwen, Anairë, and Nerdanel.

I want to credit @undercat-overdog‘s fic for giving me this headcanon - in Valinor, she met Elwing. Celebrían already had a high opinion of her mother-in-law from when she and Elrond were speaking about their parents, and was delighted at the opportunity to get to know Elwing better. Celebrían would tell her about how Elrond was doing, about how he’d grown, the kind of person he was, and she’d also tell Elwing about her grandchildren, Elladan, Elrohir, and Arwen. Elwing, in turn, would give Celebrían stories about Elrond and Elros when they were children. By the time Elrond actually got to Valinor, he arrived to find that his mother and wife had become very close. The three of them are all a happy family together with Elladan and Elrohir and Eärendil, when he comes back from sailing his ship through the sky. Fight me on this, they all deserve happiness.

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celebrimbor-of-eregion · 5 years

Text

A dandelion, two bloody kinslayers, and some soup

(A fic commission for @finwe-the-disappointed featuring Maedhros, Maglor, Elrond, and Elros)

“Are you out of your damn mind?!” Maedhros yelled after learning what he had done.

Maglor never reacted to his brother’s question. Weren’t all sons of Fëanor out of their mind? Most of the things they had done on this side of the Sea were caused by insanity; he was trying to do at least one sensible thing.

Maedhros was terrified the first time he saw them: two little shadows, dark hair, terrified eyes. He broke into tears, begging for their their forgiveness, trying to explain that he could not find them, he searched the entire forest, he did, but they were nowhere to be found, it’s not his fault, not his fault… He had to be escorted out, leaving Maglor to deal with the twins. These were not Elured and Elurin; they were a curious mix of many peoples of Arda, and Maglor’s distant relations, too. What was he to do, leave them be among piles of dead bodies? Soon, the two little things were securely strapped to the back of Maglor’s horse, wrapped into the Fëanorian’s cloak for comfort.

* * *

Not that the sons of Eärendil and Elwing would see much comfort in being adopted by two Fëanorians.

Elros was blatantly uncooperative. No, he would not go to bed; no, he does not want to go outside; no, he won’t come back in - unless you drag him, that is. Maedhros was never the most patient, and he was having none of that.

“You do what I say!” he would lose his patience - too many times.

“Why would I listen?!” Elros would question. “You’re a bloody kinslayer!”

Eru alone could tell where he picked up that word; the boy knew it in both Sindarin and Quenya.

Getting mad at Maedhros was Elros’s way to let the tension out; getting mad at Elros was Maedhros’s way to avoid thinking about what he had done. He would feel bad afterwards, yet there was no way to amend it. Maedhros was not sure if he had to apologize to the kid. Would it undermine his authority? Would Elros even understand his apology? Maedhros could not quite figure out Peredhil’s physique and development: how old were these kids anyway and could they even understand what they were being told?

Elrond seemed to behave much better than his brother. He would not act out, or break things, or argue. He would ask politely for the things he needed, he would go to bed when told so, he would follow if told to follow, he would stay if told to stay. And yet there was no comfort in that either. Elrond would not talk unless absolutely necessary, unless he would starve or hurt himself if he would not ask for help. Otherwise, he would sit in a corner, staring into the wall, holding a random item and tracing it with his fingertips, trying to keep his brother within sight, getting concerned and anxious when the ever-active Elros would hide from his view. Asking him how he felt or what he would like to do was pointless. Elrond’s thinking, at least regarding Maedhros and Maglor, was within the categories of “mandatory,” “allowed,” and “not allowed.” Meals - mandatory; changing his clothes to warmer or lighter - allowed; going out without supervision - not allowed. Requests or questions that did not fit into these categories presented a challenge to Elrond. He would look into their eyes, blinking, his face reflecting a struggle to figure out what was the “right” answer. He did not want to anger those kinslayers. Pressing him for answers would only make him shake with anxiety, and even then, he would try to be quiet. Elrond was much more vocal in his sleep, crying and begging as he moved his feet, as if trying to escape from his fate. It would always upset Maglor that waking him up from the nightmare only seemed to transfer him into another nightmare, the one that was now his reality.

Maedhros did not know what to do. He was annoyed at the twins so often, more often than he would admit, and yet… Maglor was right, the little ones weren’t in the wrong here. They were scared, they were confused, and it was the Fëanorians who deprived them of family. Maedhros thought of the other two boys, the ones who perished in the forest, and of the little Tyelpë who would not speak to his family for months after Alqualondë. Had he known... Had he known he would have to hurt children over that oath, he would have never sworn it.

“‘Tis no use to regret, dear brother,” Maglor told him one day. “Do what you can. You did what you needed to fulfill the oath, but the oath does not govern the rest of your life. These little ones are under my care, and I love them. Nothing can make me feel otherwise.”

It was hard for Maedhros to love them, and he was surprised by how easy it came to Maglor. Maglor loved both of them, even Elros who would cover his ears and make a face whenever the Fëanorian would play his harp. That was blasphemy, Maglor’s music was flawless, even Elrond admitted it. Or, well, maybe he pretended to like it to earn their approval? Maedhros joked (grimly) that Maglor’s harp was the reason the twins once ran away - though, of course, they were looking for Elwing and Eärendil, and Eru knows who told Elros that jumping off a cliff was going to let him follow his mother. There was no way out of this situation, no family to send the boys to, and all four of them were trapped with each other - that was what Maedhros thought.

* * *

That morning, things seemed the same as usual. Maedhros exercised with his sword outside, washed himself, ate a breakfast alone because Maglor was nowhere to be found, and sat into a chair. He was full of pleasant anticipation as he opened the natural history book he had recently received. The book was full of pictures of trees, leaves, flowers, and some animals, finely drawn and most appealing...

Two minutes into staring at a picture of a niphredil, Maedhros realized something was amiss.

Right.

It was way too quiet.

Where was Elros? He was not arguing about his breakfast, not knocking things over, not jumping on his bed to annoy Maglor… and where was Maglor anyway?

Alarmed, he ran to the kids’ room. Elrond was lying on the floor, curled into a ball, quiet as usual.

“Elrond?” Maedhros called, doing his best to keep calm, to make his voice sound gentle. He sat on the floor, next to the boy. “What happened? Where is your brother?”

Elrond removed his hands from his face, looking right into Maedhros’s eyes. In his face was fear; not the usual, everyday fear of the Fëanorians, but a deeper, more disturbing one. The boy was terrified. “Elros gone,” he whispered, desperately trying not to cry.

Maedhros took a deep breath. “Where did he go?”

“I don’t know.” Elrond put his weight on his trembling hands and sat up.

“Is Maglor searching for him?”

Elrond nodded and hugged himself as if he was cold. “My fault.”

Maedhros did not know whether he had to run searching for Elros as well or stay here and watch Elrond, lest something happens to him as well. “Why your fault, darling?”

Elrond gave him a slightly surprised glance. This was the first time Maedhros used any pet name to address him. “I… I told him to behave.” The boy sighed. “I told him that... that… that you’ll hurt us if we don’t behave. Like you hurt the others.”

Maedhros gasped, his eyebrows rising in a dramatic bend. Was that what he’d been thinking all this time, that he would be murdered for not eating his soup? Oh. Of course he had. What else could he think after seeing what he saw?

“Elrond. No one’s going to hurt you. You are children, for Eru’s sake!”

“But… but…” Elros pointed at his belt with a shaking finger.

Maedhros followed his gaze and discovered his own dagger. He had been carrying it around for ages, everywhere, even to his bath - for self-defense, of course. “No, darling, that’s for orcs,” he contradicted gently. “Sometimes they attack unexpectedly. I want to be always prepared.”

Orcs looked like a legitimate threat to Elrond, so he nodded and put his hand down. “What about Elros?..” he asked in a soft, confused voice. “He doesn’t know.”

Maedhros sprang to his feet and offered a hand to Elrond. “We’re going to look for him. Together.”

Elrond nodded again.

* * *

Elros did not get very far before he fell asleep, curling up against a large tree stump. He was sniffing peacefully, as if it wasn’t him who terrified two Fëanorians with his disappearance and put a whole squad of soldiers to work searching him.

Maedhros rolled his eyes at the sight. In a moment of rare mischief, Elrond picked up a dandelion and approached his brother, giggling happily, to tickle his nose with the plant’s fluffy top.

Maglor showed up right when Elros sneezed, waking up and sending small white florets flying into Elrond’s face. “Aren’t they lovely?” he asked, smiling with relief, pointing at the two boys.

Maedhros sighed, shaking his head. “I have no idea how mother dealt with seven of us.”

At least, there was no argument about the soup that day.

#maedhros #maglor #elrond peredhel #elros #angst #my fic #fic

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