#post-thangorodrim

[leucisticpuffin]

breakdown/mending

“I cannot do this,” says Makalaurë, breaking his own stilted attempt at a formal greeting, and crumples like a cloth doll at my bedside. 

It is the first time he has come alone. He slipped into the tent early this morning, hollow-eyed in the grey light; now he screams into my blankets, and the medicine-bottles tremble upon the low table. 

(Of all my brothers, Makalaurë was ever the quickest to tears. He wept for lost toys and stories, for quarrels between brothers and grievances not his own, for beautiful songs and unexpected gifts – but not like this. Not over me.)

“Káno, Káno,” I say, the nickname strange and rough in my mouth. “Why come here, if the sight of me upsets thee so?” 

It is meant as a joke, but I know at once it is wrong: it is too near the truth. Angamando, I am told, has warped my sense of humour.

 “I am sorry,” Makalaurë sobs, straining for control of his voice. “This is not – I did not come to thee for this–”

His hands twist in the tangle of his hair, pulling at his scalp as he used to when he was very small and upset. “Stop, Káno, you will hurt yourself,” I tell him – but I am too harsh, and he flinches.

I knew how to calm him, once. Remembering is like looking through poorly-made glass, smoke-tainted and full of imperfections; but I know there was once a bright-haired, handsome child who held his little brother tight and stroked his hair while he cried. 

That child, I think, would know what to do. 

Even slow and halting movement jars my shoulder painfully. Still I reach for Makalaurë, thinking to take his hand – but I cannot do it. Touch is hateful to me now, the healers’ ministrations all my fragile skin can bear. A glancing touch, and against my will my hand draws back – my fingers shake, bone-white and too thin – I dare not try again. 

It would not do any good. My scars are the cause of my brother’s distress: he looks at me as if he had cut every mark himself. How, then, could I be a comfort to him?

This is how I know myself changed: Makalaurë weeps before me, and I cannot console him. 

@maedhrosmaglorweek, Day Two: Trust/Distrust

#this one got away from me a bit #maedhrosmaglorweek #maedhros #maglor #post-thangorodrim #silm art #silm fic #silmarillion art #tolkien art #silmarillion fanfiction

[thegreenleavesofspring]

*siiiiiigh* I forgot to actually, y'know, post this here the other day... so a day late and a dollar short it is...

Findekáno – or Fingon, he said he was called now – opened the tent flap and peeked in. “Good morning, Maedhros,” he said with a small, bright smile. “You have visitors, do you feel up to them?”

Russan- Maedhros eyed his cousin warily. He could guess well enough what his uncle’s people thought of him, but Finde- Fingon wouldn’t permit angry Elves demanding restitution or satisfaction in here now while he was recovering. And Fingon was smiling.

“I suppose,” he answered cautiously.

Fingon grinned and stepped back, speaking to someone outside. “Remember to be gentle, he’s still recovering.” A moment later, half a dozen very familiar Elves piled in through the flap, then stopped and stood hesitantly right inside the doorway, shifting eyes darting across his wounds or the bed or his face, but never quite meeting his eyes. He stared at them in silence, brows knit – he was hideous now, he knew, and he didn’t blame his brothers for not wanting to look at him, but something deep inside curled up and wailed in devastation anyway.

Laurë – Fingon said he was called Maglor now – was the first to break, stepping forward to drop to his knees beside the bed with a gasp. “Nelyo, Nelyo, I’m so sorry.” He bent his head, pressing his forehead to the blankets as Maedhros blinked in stunned astonishment. “I should have come for you, I shouldn’t have left you to languish, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry-”

“Laurë.” Maedhros cut across his younger brother’s babbling, wincing internally at the rasp his voice had become. “Laurë, listen to me. I am glad you did not. Moringotto would only have captured and tortured you as well. Fingon has told me about your regency. You have done well, brother.”

A tremor shook Maglor, and he looked up, finally meeting his elder brother’s eyes. “I’m still sorry,” he murmured wetly, then reached out and gently took the stump of Maedhros’ right arm and kissed it, right above the wrist. “Oh, Nelyo, it’s so good to have you back.”

Maedhros blinked away burning tears of his own, keeping his face still. “I am not the Nelyo you remember, Laurë. My mind and body both are very different.”

“We know.” Tyelkormo finally spoke up, taking a step forward towards the bed. “But you’re still alive, you’re still here. And… that’s more than we ever dared hope for.”

Maedhros looked over towards his brothers rather blankly. Most of them were still huddled right in front of the door flap, too frightened to look at him or disgusted, and suddenly he felt very, very tired. “Yes,” he murmured wearily. “I am still here.”

Maglor surged up from the side of the bed to fling his arms around Maedhros. “I love you, Nelyo, no matter what, we will always love you,” Maglor declared fiercely.

Maedhros wrapped shaking arms around his brother. “I… I love you too, Laurë,” he murmured.

There was a sudden rush of movement, and he froze, stunned, blinking at the linen walls. All five of his other brothers had moved forward as one to smother him in affection, perching on the bed or leaning over it or shoving each other out of the way to try and get to him. Curufinwë attempted, unsuccessfully, to peel Maglor off, and ended up elbowing Ambarussa aside instead.

“We love you, Nelyo, we love you so much.” “We’ll always love you.” “We’re so glad you’re back.” “We missed you so much.” “We’ll take care of you, now, don’t worry.” “Just heal and get better.” “We love you.” “We love you.” “We love you.”

Swallowing down tears, Maedhros reached out as far as he could, and wrapped as many of his brothers as he could into a tight hug, holding them close.

#comfortember #comfortember 2022 #comfortember2022 #the silmarillion #gen silmarillion #fingon #maedhros #post-thangorodrim

[and-the-times-we-had]

I think the silmarillion fandom is overlooking the potential quality angst of all the sons of feanor being injured and trying to survive in the wilds post nirnaeth

that time period in the book is so fucking sparse you guys. we should play with it more

#less post thangorodrim angst and more post nirnaeth angst pls #the silmarillion #maedhros #maglor #celegorm #caranthir #curufin #amrod #amras #silm post

[lotrhobbitsilmincorrectquotes]

Maedhros: (blending red bull, five hour energy, nos, rockstar, and monster drinks together) Fingon: That's gonna kill you. Maedhros: That's the goal. Fingon:

(Inspired by this post.)

#maedhros post-thangorodrim is severely messed up #(Though to be fair he was messed up before) #maedhros #fingon #silmarillion #silm #incorrect silmarillion quotes #silm incorrect quotes #incorrect tolkien quotes #incorrect quotes

[xiphoid-processing]

The Sacking of Sirion -- The Third Kinslaying

I didn't really know what else to do with this so im posting it lmao, also you might wanna turn un brightness a bit

#i feel like its extremely obvious i dont know how to draw young children lmao #also it took me like 30 minutes to figure out how to get the fucking oath text on the back #if i wasnt already technically unsavvy lmao #also changed maglors design a bit once more #also my like 2nd time drawing a post-thangorodrim maedhros #i stared at the water for far too long before deciding fuck it and calling it done #anyways tags #tolkien #the silmarillion #silmarillion #silmart #maedhros #maglor #elwing #elrond #elros #elrond peredhel #elros tar minyatur #xiphoids art #do i count ulmo bc the hands are his??? #nah

[waitingforsecretsouls]

Speaking of Maedhros and pride: I think (general torment aside) the impersonal treatment he received from Morgoth would have gnawed at it for the sheer dismissal of it. Instead of a personalized torture regime he got slapped on a cliff and left to dangle and I honestly think Maedhros would have preferred the former. Not by any measure of pain involved or lessened but for the queer sign of respect it would have been to be at least considered worthy of the time and effort required for it.

#silm #maedhros #thangorodrim #kind of fitting regarding the last post I reblogged about Morgoth's more personally tailored approach to retribution #I do think the “punishment” was neatly tailored to what would insult Maedhros temperament the most #obviously he was always going to fight back as hard as possible but it's still telling how he immediately makes himself impossible to ignor #once freed

[thelordofgifs]

trick or treat!

(ask box trick-or-treat)

A single scrap line that lives rent-free in my head:

"And you, dearest? Would you kill me if I asked you to?"

#asks #jouissants #ask game #from the post-thangorodrim longfic I will write some day

[stilltrails]

On a happier note I’ve always headcanon a small Gil-Galad bonding with Maedhros after he was rescued from Thangorodrim  There’s not much Maedhros can do, and there’s not much Gil Galad can do either, being a toddler. So he busies himself with Maedhros, the only grown-up who’s not always running around and excluding him. 

He can hide under Maedhros’s bed when his father comes to look for him, and can tell Maedhros that he doesn’t think his father really likes him, and he can make Maedhros laugh and ask him all sorts of questions about his missing hand. 

He also gets to hear Maedhros scold Fingon about “having a child but not raising him is ridiculous” amongst other things. 

#gil galad #russingon #fingon #maedhros #post-thangorodrim maedhros being the unwilling babysitter is my favorite headcanon #tolkien

[last-capy-hupping]

After a hiatus of almost three months, I’m happy to announce that I’ve finally published the newest installment of my canon-compliant Russingon series. (My trans Fëanorian series will go AU, and I hope to get the next installment or two up once I’m done with my TRSB fic.)

So, here’s chapter one of my Thangorodrim rescue fic, Running Up That Hill:

Also, Anywhere With You, the modern AU that I’ve been updating pretty regularly, is now 63 chapters long! 🫢 That will be a series too, and I’m hoping to have the first installment wrapped up in two or three months.

#silmarillion #fan fic stuff #ao3 author #new fic #mad season #anywhere with you #maedhros #fingon #russingon #thangorodrim #post-thangorodrim rescue

[light-of-the-two-trees]

You know you've reached the point of no return of silmarillion brainrot when you hear thunder and your first though is 'Look it's the noise coming from the pits of Angband which you can hear as you stare up at Thangorodrim'

#weather has been stormy here and I've referenced thangorodrim twice already #other stuff tag #and it was not void #<- going to tag original posts with that now

[the-quiet-fire-of-defiance]

Any Maedhros headcanons?

So many that I wasn't sure where to even begin!

In general my headcanons tend to be very flexible. I like exploring different possibilities, so nothing's really fixed in my head. But I do tend to be relatively constant with things like characterisation, and there's certainly some headcanons that are more set than others.

I've written before about Maedhros's feelings on his amputation and prosthetics. I also believe in some of the common headcanons/fanons out there, like the idea that the Oath was a real tangible curse or the idea that Maedhros really believed and hoped that he was going to the Everlasting Dark at the end.

I have two other Maedhros headcanons that I’m particularly fond of, but I’ll put the second one under the cut for length.

.

1. Elrond and Maedhros were very close; closer than Elrond and Maglor or Elros and Maedhros.

My headcanon here is influenced by three things.

First, given the complicated circumstances, I think their relationship is utterly fascinating. So is the relationship between the twins and Maglor of course, but there's something even more compelling about the relationship with Maedhros because of his role as the leader of the Sons of Feanor.

Secondly, it's definitely influenced by this quote from the first draft of the Quenta Noldorinwa;

But Maidros took pity upon her child Elrond, and took him with him, and harboured and nurtured him, for his heart was sick and weary with the burden of the dreadful oath.

At this stage in Tolkien's construction of the First Age, Elros doesn't exist. It's only in the final draft that Elros comes into being and Maglor switches roles with Maedhros here. But I love the idea of Elrond and Maedhros having a special bond. I love the idea that Elrond's first introduction to scholarship was being learning all the knowledge of Feanor and history of the Noldor at Maedhros's knee.

Thirdly, they're my two favourite characters in the whole legendarium and I just want them to care about each other, dammit.

.

2. Maedhros's emotional support cat

During Maedhros's recovery, young Celebrimbor comes thudding into the tent one day like, dad!!! look!!! look what i found!!! and carrying a hideous, filthy, huge mass of fur. It’s one of the ugliest and grumpiest creatures you’ve ever seen. The healers want it out immediately because it's a massive infection risk. Curufin wants it out immediately because he thinks it's a demonic entity.

The cat hisses at Maedhros. Maedhros hisses right back. And thus a fast friendship is formed, to literally everyone’s dismay.

Maedhros is the ONLY person the cat will tolerate. The healers hate it until they realise that it actually calms Maedhros down, and they can even undo Maedhros's bandages without him fighting them if he has the cat there to calm him. (He still shakes the entire time and his fingers are white where they're gripping the cat's fur, but it’s progress.)

Maedhros also a) craves touch more than anything, he's so touch starved, please b) absolutely cannot stand to be touched. Every touch makes his skin crawl. Everything takes him back there.

But the cat is... fine.

It’s the one thing that is untainted by memories of Angband. It doesn’t give him flashbacks, it has no hidden ulterior motives. He knows it's not Sauron in disguise because, frankly, Sauron would never craft a form this ugly.

Being able to simply touch another being again is a godsend. It’s a huge step, and it starts him on the long slow road back to recovery.

The cat is also a great aid for the nightmares. Does it cuddle him? No. It sleeps on his chest, and if he starts making noises/ twitching in his sleep it gets annoyed and whacks him across the face until he wakes up. Also, it hates everyone except Maedhros, so if someone walks into the tent it hisses (or yowls, depending on whether it recognises the person) and digs its claws into Maedhros's chest. This may seem like an inconvenience, but it's actually the best thing that Maedhros could have ever asked for because he's terrified of someone coming in while he's asleep.

It stays with Maedhros as he gets better and recovers. Somebody eventually manages to establish that the cat is a she, and Maedhros names her Uvanime. Uvanime is the feminine version of the Quenya Uvanimo, meaning monster, a corrupt or hideous creature. Uvane means ugly.

She goes to Himring with him. She's a shoulder cat and likes to lie around Maedhros's neck like a scarf. People think that he's wearing a fur collar until the collar looks up and hisses at them.

When she dies, Maedhros cremates her and scatters her ashes from the highest tower in Himring. The wind is a southerly. It blows the ashes towards Angband.

Maedhros has a few other cats in his life, but none are personally his, and he's never as emotionally involved as he was with Uvane.

#maedhros #elrond #silmarillion #headcanons #quiet rambles #maedhros's emotional support cat #post thangorodrim

[grey-gazania-fic]

[SWG link here]

Fingon, Caranthir, and the aftermath of Maedhros' capture by Morgoth. Heavy focus on Russingon and Maedhros & Caranthir. Rated T.

Chapter 16 is now posted!

#maedhros #fingon #caranthir #fingolfin #maedhros/fingon #fingon/maedhros #russingon #thangorodrim rescue fic #post-angband fic #trauma #slash #the silmarillion #silmarillion fanfiction #silm fic #silmarillion writers' guild #silmfic #tolkien fanfic #tolkien #silmarillion

[shrikeseams]

Have a headcanon that tangented off something @skyeventide said on Twitter:

If you go for the Super Long Hair angle for elves? Especially if you think some or all of them habitually wear it loose?? They must have Unfortunate Long Hair Incidents. How many times do you think tiny Nerdanel stuck her Irreparably Sticky Hands in Mahtan's beard and he had to shave it off? If Feanor taught his kids forge work, then at least one of them accidentally singe a foot or more of his hair off. Maedhros' brothers have gotten a fatal amount of gum/candy/tree sap/experimental adhesive in his hair an untold number of times, only mostly by accident.

Tiny Celebrian learning to brain Celeborn's hair with her hands just covered in tree sap. Nonzero chance that Galadriel did the same with to Finarfin, but with beach tar. (Wait, beach tar wouldn't be a thing. Uh. Tar from boat-making or something, idk.)

#Tolkien #Not every unfortunate hair incident can be as dramatic as Glorfindel's #Anyways. Elf hair can be cyclical. #And the prime mover of that cycle should be clumsiness and/or small children #It doesn't have be an objectively common occurrence to really add up over thousands of years of living #Like. Realistically it's braided or tired back somehow 75%+ of the time #But that last 25% can really fuck you up #...is maedhros with short hair post-thangorodrim *worse* if he associates short hair with sibling disasters? #San shoots the breeze

[spiritofwhitefire]

I do think it’s strange that Maedhros of all people is a character that gets woobified so hard because the MOST compelling thing about him isn’t his heroism, it’s the fact that he was heroic and the BECAME A VILLAIN. I’m not even going to say became an anti hero because I don’t think that’s accurate, I mean he became a straight up villain. Destroying what was basically a refugee camp, attacking the army fighting against morgoth when half of his identity post thangorodrim was once based around fighting Morgoth. I’m not the first person to mention the irony of the fact that maedhros is the only person to ever escape Angband without being in thrall to Morgoth, and then years later his actions are absolutely aiding morgoths cause rather than the cause of the remaining Noldor.

And that is what sets this character apart. His downfall. Part of that downfall is his earlier heroism but what makes this character so well written in the first place is that the seeds of that downfall start early at Alqualonde. It’s tragic but it isn’t surprising.

I changing this character around so that somehow his later actions are excusable or against his will or that deep down he has actually been a hero this whole time is very strange because if that’s the case then how is he any different than fingon or turgon or thingol? In fact if that’s the case then he’s more boring than these characters because he’s not nearly as outwardly noble.

He becomes a villain and as the shadows of that villainy were apparent early on, the shadow of his heroism is still apparent later on as well and that’s the tragedy. He could have turned around at any point, he could have still saved himself. But he doesn’t and it’s horribly tragic and as a story, it’s absolutely brilliant character work.

#the silmarillion #maedhros #silmarillion meta #maedhros meta #character analysis #these are just my takes! please don’t think I’m putting down anyone else’s #all take are valid!! #this is just my opinion

[thesummerestsolstice]

I'm about to post a fic that's sort of about this but I've always had the headcanon that the name "Maitimo" was a prophetic name in more ways than one.

Maitimo in Valinor is beautiful, in a very classical sculpture way. He's conventionally attractive for Valinorean society, and everyone knows it.

But Maedhros? After his tormet on Thangorodrim? Maedhros is awe-inspiring. His presence burns. The light of his soul shines through his eyes, sometimes even his scars glow white. He stands tall and proud– because of a metal back brace he wears to support his spine– and he's gone from a gentle prince to a hardened warrior with an indomitable will. He has forged himself into something new, something of his own design. And Maedhros is a work of great craftsmanship.

#silmarillion #silm headcanons #maedhros #maitimo

[havenotwillnotreadthebooks]

No, but you know what’s a stab in the heart? All those Skin Condition-Having Caranthir Headcanons existed at the same time as Maedhros’ recovery from Thangorodrim.

Like, Caranthir has had to deal with the Looks from these elves since birth. He is well aware of the difference in how he is treated compared to his ruggedly handsome or sharply beautiful brothers. He knows.

Maedhros does not know. None of his cousins really know.

Except, now Maedhros does.

He is scarred and disfigured, abominable by all beauty standards. Maedhros is no longer “normal-looking” and so now he gets the Looks. He is noticing this.

Fingon is also noticing this. He is angry and betrayed about it. Fingon is fucking seething.

All the finweans notice at some point during Maedhros’ recovery but they all think the elves will get used to it, and that it’ll get better with time.

And here comes Caranthir, in his long-sleeved outfit, and he says “I’m sorry. It doesn’t get better.”

Cue several realizations, Fingon and Celegorm each breaking a chair, and Maedhros feeling Emotions because That’s His Baby Brother Damn It.

They get it now, as much as anyone not Caranthir or Maedhros can get it.

Anyway, I saw a post by @mascula-sappho about Maedhros and ableism connecting to his reputation as a monster and had Thoughts, Angst Thoughts.

#also if any of yall have a skin condition then you know what i mean by Looks #as someone who had a skin thing since birth i’m saying that you dont talk about the Looks unless with someone else Like You #or maybe thats just me and my trauma #but still #if you know you know #caranthir #maedhros #fingon #skin condition #caranthir headcanon #silm headcanons #tag.words #thangorodrim #sons of feanor