Hush, child, the darkness will rise from the deep
And carry you down into sleep,
Child, the darkness will rise from the deep
And carry you down into sleep.
(Loyalty loyalty loyalty loyalty
Loyalty loyalty loyalty only to me.)
-- Mordred's Lullaby
Personal preferred interpretation of *gestures to everything* under the cut! Warning for blatant and shameless conflation of multiple versions of the text with pure, self-indulgent headcanons.
I've gone back and forth on this a lot, but I think I've finally settled on preferring Eol to be both a Dark Elf (i.e. never went to Aman) and a "darkened elf" (i.e. former thrall of Angband/corrupted by Melkor). I know Tolkien changed his mind on both of these later, but I don't find it repetitive at all to have Maeglin also suffer the same fate; I think the cycle is meaningful and adds another layer of complexity to these characters. Also, it would give Eol's "ill at ease" within Melian's girdle and seeking to stay away additional meaning, making it a physical consequence of his circumstances and not only a predilection of his personality. Idk, the more layers and reasons something has behind it, the more enjoyment I draw from it :)
I do like Eol being Sindar and Thingol's kin, but also more alike in spirit and behavior to the Avari than anything else. Witch of the Wilds aesthetic, and more in tune with nature and the land than the Sindar in Doriath. He and Maeglin have always given me a Morgana and Mordred vibe. (fun fact: the mirror is supposed to be obsidian, which is used for scrying.)
He truly loved his son, and his relationship with Maeglin was no more and no less positive/negative than your average father-son relationship -- some minor disagreements as any parent and child are bound to have -- until Maeglin started expressing a desire to see the Noldor; and it was all downhill from there. He still loved his son, however, despite everything, and his attempt to choose death over Gondolin for him was done out of love as well. Perhaps not a healthy love, but a genuine one all the same.
Eol being a darkened elf + Maeglin being born in Beleriand + the "Melkor ingredient" present in all matter outside of the Blessed Realm = a compounded (x3) tendency towards Melkor within Maeglin's spirit that was there since he was conceived. If everyone who has a body that is nourished by Arda (outside of Aman) has an inclination towards Melkor that they can't be free of in their incarnate forms, how much stronger might that be if one of your parents is a former thrall who -- going off of his behavior and tendencies -- still bears the marks of that bond? I like to think that the way Melkor affects his thralls can carry down genetically, even for elves that remain elves and weren't turned into orcs.
I personally prefer Maeglin to not be under an enchantment as a way to explain why he betrayed Gondolin -- I like him being responsible for his own actions! Even if he also never had a chance and was doomed from before he was born. I like the interplay of those two concepts and generally don't find them mutually exclusive -- but I do love the idea of compulsion. Of his pre-existing link to Melkor through Eol and through Arda being used (I prefer this to be Mairon's work, but it certainly can be done by Melkor instead) to sway him. Like, not Mairon actually spelling him and making him not be in control of his body or not being able to warn people in Gondolin because his speech is bound, etc., but like. Mairon slipping certain elements into the fabric of his voice -- he is Ainur; underscoring his speech with Music is no big deal -- to manipulate that Melkor ingredient within Maeglin and make him be more receptive. Compliant. Add to that some carefully crafted understanding as one talented smith who knows what it is like to feel ill-suited to his surroundings to another, a little bribery, and, of course, the ever-present and very real threat of torture -- in delicately balanced respective quantities -- and done.
This is totally entirely self-indulgent headcanon territory here, especially since Mairon is never actually present for Maeglin's imprisonment in any version of the text (to my knowledge) BUT: I like to think that, just as with Maedhros in my headcanons, Mairon formed a kind of reluctant attachment to Maeglin. But whereas with Maedhros it was more of an equal footing type of thing, a grudging acknowledgement of a worthy opponent being cut from the same cloth, with Maeglin it's more of a foster situation. Like: "Here is this very valuable prisoner who we can work with, who -- with a only a small amount of effort -- is amenable to working together and he's the son of a former thrall so there's already a connection there and, oh, he's also a smith? Oh, he's actually pretty good. Wait, he's only 189 years old, idk because I've never cared much for elves but isn't that ridiculously young wtf, he's clearly ambitious and reeling for approval and acknowledgement and will easily take to a guiding hand. Well, there's no one else around but me, I guess I'll take one for the team and the war effort and all that" *accidentally transfers all the instructing instincts he possesses that had previously gone to his wolves now all long dead, he doesn't keep wolves anymore since losing Tol-in-Guarhoth, it's too painful to this strange elf* Again, not healthy, but complicated and messy and invested.
... I did not mean to make it all about Mairon again lmao I am so sorry XD
I'm sure I'll have additional thoughts as I keep re-reading the Silmarillion, or my opinions/preferences may somewhat alter (I still have to sit down and read HoME and Nature of Middle Earth properly, I've only read snippets), but. an overwhelming number of you voted that you enjoyed reading stuff like this so. There you go. This is where I'm currently at lol.
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Ask game where izuku time travel and somehows saves hawks which leads for massive hero worship of him
1- izuku is yeeted backwards through time and crashes outside the shanty Tomie and Keigo lived in. Tomie hides and, curious, Keigo peaks outside to see a darkly costumed hero in a torn cape and cowl sparking lightning and spasming bits of darkness. he thinks that is very cool but also probably dangerous, ready to fly off.
Izuku, who looks around and has no idea where he is, sees the shack and heads closer to try and see if anyone is there and can tell him where he is
2- Tomie freaks and grabs Keigo to run, but Izuku is able to pretty easily catch up and pull out his hero license, apologizing for the scare and getting halfway through asking where he is when he stops because either Hawks has a secret lovechild that Shoto and Fumikage are going to go crazy about, or, this kid is just Hawks. which means he's time traveled. And he knows exactly what's going to go down, how the commission botches the war arc, leading him directly to the runnaway arc he was in the middle of- not to mention Keigo is like, six years old right now and looks just like all the other small kids Izuku's helped before.
3- Izuku is like "Hey, actually, can i like, buy you some food? or we can go to a safehouse? from your villain husband/father that i know about?" and that spooks Tomie enough that she tells Keigo to fly away as fast as he can, but he comes back in under a minute to help her, only to see Izuku letting her go back inside the house, and muttering to himself about how to help them.
He could try to hunt down All Might, but he doesn't know if his number is the same this far back, or the ramifications of dealing with time, or if Gran Torino will believe him, or if his teacher has even started at UA at this point, and Keigo lands and says he sounds like he knows a lot of heroes.
Danger Sense didn't warn Izuku and he's startled, but nods, saying the problem is a lot of them don't know him yet.
4- Izuku thinks about it for a while with the vestiges as he takes Keigo into town and brings food back to the home for dinner, figuring out what he should do because none of them know what to do about time travel. Eventually, he decides to take Third's advice- he doesn't know any heroes that will believe him or can risk causing a paradox with, but he does know a hero he can blackmail whose life choices he probably can't make any worse.
To say that Endeavor is surprised when some stranger waving a hero license in the air and carrying two civilians with his quirk lands in his front yard is an understatement.
5- Izuku gets Enji to talk with him in his office while he shoves Tomie and Keigo at Rei and the three todokids, telling him everything- that he's from the future, that he can prove it with a lot of information that he really shouldn't have and a very legit license from the future, and that if Izuku is about right about when he time traveled, Rei is very recently pregnant with Shoto so Enji better get it together before Touya tries to kill the infant threatening to replace him as central piece in the mini eugenics experiment he decided to run. He tells him off for caring about the ranking system more than the reason heroes exist, warns him that he should probably see if he can stop the commission from training the kid they currently are training to be their super illegal and immoral assassin before she snaps and kills the president, and then decides 'oh what the hell, predictions of death have been great motivators in mine and All Might's experience!' and tells Enji that unless he wants to be killed by a quirk affected Shoto minutes after killing Touya, he'll prevent that future by changing things right now.
Izuku leaves the office with a stunned Enji and announces that Endeavor oh so kindly offered to make sure that Tomie and Keigo have safe housing and food. He ruffles Keigo's hair, tells him that he should be proud of working so hard to improve his quirk so quickly that he's practically faster than Izuku, who was so bad with his quirk originally that it was out of control and broke his own bones, recommends Touya look into Sheild Industries for support tech, waves at a shy Fuyumi, and then slips the kids a phone number for absolute emergencies with the passcode 'one for all' written on it. Then he leaves.
Keigo watches him go and announces that he must be the greatest hero ever, and Keigo is going to be just like him one day.
Touya takes offense since obviously Endeavor is the greatest hero and then Touya will be. Keigo looks at the still stunned Enji, then back at the very cool multi quirk silhouette, and decides that Touya's tastes cannot be trusted.
+1- Several years later, Endeavor watches the sports festival and pulls out his phone, calling Touya and only saying "no" because he knows that Touya is also watching and seeing the bone breaking kid who looks just like the hero from ages ago. Touya protests that he didn't want the kid for internships anyway, just thought he must be that old heroe's son. Enji goes 'nah, it's him, before he time traveled' and does not elaborate even as Touya asks if he's joking. Keigo is already filing the paperwork for the internship, and says he already knew that, because Izuku muttered a lot- but he's not going to let him vanish without a word this time! not to mention, his agency is going to be the one to make the first official merch that Keigo has been dying to collect for over a decade now. Touya questions Keigo's tastes, and Izuku ends up picking another agency.
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thinking about how astarion would seek affection from tav post-act 2 confession. because dear god does he need it but there's also no way he'd know how to get it. the only tools in his arsenal, the only intimate things he's got experience with, are sexual, but he obviously doesn't process that as affectionate at that point. that's like the whole point.
drinking tav's blood would be the only non-sexual (or, well. semi. it's obviously metaphorically sex, but) intimate act he'd know. so he'd probably work outwards from that. lingering a little longer than he needs to. not really knowing why.
and compliments! the only words of affirmation he's heard in two centuries have been related to his appearance, so of course that's what he asks for, it's what he knows, but it's got to bring up so many mixed feelings. it's both his main/only source of self-esteen and the site of and reason for his trauma. a situation i personally know sucks just so bad.
(the drow twins four-/fivesome post-cazador is so !! for this reason. the twins and halsin shower his appearance in praise and they mean nothing ill by it, but it's no wonder he gets triggered as hell!)
tav needs to teach him about hugs. and forehead kisses. and compliment his skill with a lockpick and his embroidery and his sense of humour. you know. things he chose and can control.
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