#celegorm being celegorm lol

[curufiin]

between celegorm and curufin, who do you think was mostly the leader and who was mostly the follower?

anon I assume you understand you have basically asked me to shoot myself because this is a hotly contested topic. good thing all of my opinions are 100% accurate and correct (jk)

so, I have two answers, a short & cut to the chase one and a longer one that basically summarizes as "it depends".

the short one is: I think, outwardly, Celegorm is the leader and Curufin is the follower.

the long one, as I said, depends. Part of the issue is that C+C are so rarely discussed in published Silm that it's hard to actually have a concrete answer, and what is in the Silm may not actually reflect accurately on the situation.

Let's start with what we do know about them:

Celegorm is known for his hot temper, and for his study under Orome. He also likes to wander, and is a skilled warrior.

Curufin is known to be the most similar to Feanor in "mood and face". He is generally a Not Great Guy.

For all intents and purposes, I think (from a glance at least), Celegorm is the "face" of the pair. First of all, he is usually the one shown talking (or at least talking first) in SIlm:

"Then Celegorm arose amid the throng, and drawing his sword he cried: ‘Be he friend or foe...""

"For thither now returned many Elves that had been prisoners in the isle of Sauron; and a clamour arose that no words of Celegorm could still"

"Many other words he spoke, as potent as were long before in Tirion the words of his father that first inflamed the Noldor to rebellion."

Every time Celegorm is mentioned with Curufin, especially in scenes with talking, Celegorm is usually talking first, or it is explicitly Celegorm who is mentioned doing the talking. And then followed by Curufin: "And after Celegorm Curufin spoke, more softly but with no less power". Also, when Orodreth banishes them from Nargothrond, only Celegorm actually says something: "‘Let it be so!’ said Celegorm, and there was a light of menace in his eyes; but Curufin smiled."

From this alone, Celegorm is shown to be the outwardly dominant of the pair. Add this with the fact Celegorm is mentioned to have flanked the Orcs when they first landed in Beleriand ("For Celegorm, Fëanor’s son, having news of them, waylaid them with a part of the Elven-host, and coming down upon them out of the hills near Eithel Sirion drove them into the Fen of Serech"), and the fact that he is the one who caused the second Kinslaying ("But Dior returned no answer to the sons of Fëanor; and Celegorm stirred up his brothers to prepare an assault upon Doriath."), it's definitely understandable why some people point to Celegorm as the dominant brother. Not to mention, when Finrod and the gang still disguised as orcs are being questioned by Sauron, Sauron says names Celegorm and not Curufin as the one who sits on Nargothrond's throne, since he doesn't know about Orodreth yet.

However, the issue with this (as with basically everything), is Curufin.

Curufin's epithet of "the Crafty" definitely doesn't come without good cause, and it's much more visibly shown when you read HoME. I have not read every book in the series, so maybe there is more evidence to support or counter my claim, but here's what I have found:

In the Lay of Leithian, Curufin is the one who suggests that they go out to hunt ("Curufin spake...", from a part of the Lay that is literally titled "The treacherous counsel of Curufin the Crafty" which I think really speaks for itself lol), with the secret purpose of finding out whether Finrod is alive or dead (he also calls Orodreth dumb which is amusing). He directly tells Celegorm what to say when he's questioned, and it almost implies that he actually wants Celegorm to do most of the talking for him.

""I go to hunt" then thou wilt say, and men will think that Narog's good ever thou heedest."

That section of Curufin's dialogue also shows that he is the one who seeks a throne, and to plant Celegorm on it: "I need declare no more in words; but one by right is thine (and ours), the jewel of light; another may be won- a throne. The eldest blood our house doth own."

This was Celegorm's response: "“Celegorm listened. Nought he said, but forth a mighty host he led;...”"

So, Nargothrond deniers and Curufin apologists, he plots. And plot he shall, because when Huan captures Luthien, it is Curufin who falls in love with and desires her. However, once again we still see that Celegorm is the one talking to her, and he does a damn good job convincing Luthien that they have no ulterior motives with "his smiling face".

And then comes these lines:

"To Celegorm said Curufin apart and low: 'Now news we win of Felagund, and now we know why Sauron’s creatures prowling go', and other whispered counsels spake, and showed him what answer he should make", after which Celegorm is the one talking to Luthien again.

Of course, we also can't forget the line in the Lays of Beleriand, quoted here from Curufin's character essay on SWG because trying to find a pdf of that thing is evil: ""[i]t is Curufin who put evil into Celegorm's heart," and he is explicitly portrayed as the more ambitious and scheming of the brothers".

So, really, who leads and who follows comes down to the situation. I think they both play to each other's strengths, which is why there are so many instances where it seems like Celegorm is leading, but then in another instance you can see that Curufin actually has a lot more power and hold over people than he lets on. And I think that's part of the important thing about these two. They are both extremely cunning, and sometimes Celegorm's brashness and persuasive abilities is needed over Curufin's quieter observant nature, and vice versa. However, in most cases it benefits them both to have Celegorm as their "face", and have Curufin in the background subtly manipulating the situation as he sees fit to benefit them.

#the silmarillion #curufin #celegorm #meta #silmarillion #ask #mysterious anons #after all... it is c AND c. not c or c

[i-did-not-mean-to]

Kinktober 2023

Ladies and Gents, here is the Masterlist for the Kinktober Challenge, brought to you by @cilil

Body worship & virginity - Caranthir x Finrod

Roleplay/role reversal/CNC & bondage - Thorin x OC/reader

Intercrural sex & wings - Day 1 - Gothmog x Eönwë

Bath/shower & incubi/succubi - Manwë x Ulmo

Cam & temperature play - Daeron x Maglor

Knotting & frottage - Finrod x Wolf-Sauron (dark)

Dirty talk & lingerie - Angbang

Voyeurism & dub-con/non-con - Gríma

(Pseudo) Incest & torture Fëanor x Fingolfin

Orgy & Predator/prey - Day 4 - Celegorm x Oromë x Aredhel

Size difference & friends/enemies with benefits - Glorestor

Breath play & humiliation/degradation - Maglor x Glorfindel for @maglor-my-beloved

Masturbation & massages - Ori x OC

Authority kink & oral - Russingon (for anon)

Somnophilia & impact play - Day 7 - Nerdanel x Anairë

Fingering & aphrodisiacs - Bagginshield

Blood play & wet dreams/dream sex - Nightmare!Irmo x Curufin

ABO & praise kink - Day 3 - Melkor/Maedhros for anon

Telepathy & sex worker/stripper - Gondolin ot3 (for @jaz-the-bard)

Crossdressing & pegging - Day 2 - Námo x Vairë (for @cilil)

Clothed sex & blindfolds- Finwë/Thingol

Electrostimulation & pet play - Finrod/Celegorm/Curufin for MoonLord

Knife/Sword/Gun play & cock warming - Fíli x OC/reader

Hand kink/gloves & toys - Celebrimbor x Narvi for anon

Daddy/Mommy & edging/OD - Théoden x OC/reader

Hate fucking & Emotional/therapy sex - Day 5 - Manwë x Melkor

Glory Hole & breeding kink/creampie - Maeglin x Gondolin (lol) for anon

Boots/feet & intoxication - Beleg x Mablung

Public & Biting/Marking - Day 6 - Curumo x Aiwendil

Tentacles & nipple play - Silvergifting

Extra: Monsterfucking, claustrophilia, mirror play, hypnosis/mind control, dumbification, oviposition, dacryphilia, voice kink, mistaken identity

ʙᴏɴᴜꜱ: Voyeurism, Virginity, and Sex Pollen - Gothmog x Eönwë, Thuri x Ilmarë, Russingon

I will try to write short ficlets for all of these ("try" being the keyword).

Please give it up for @cilil who has compiled this lovely list -> ✨post!✨

The original graphic is under the "read more" <3

And, as if this was not suicidal enough, I'll integrate the 7 days of @silmsmutweek into the roster (in green).

#og post #IDNMT writes #fanfiction #writing #tolkien writing #jrrt #Masterlist #Kinktober 2023 #cilil #Minors DNI

[swanmaids]

🐅, 💛, 🕊 and ✨️ for Celegorm? (<- this is me trying to hold back lol); also ✨️ for Starwing if you're generous?

Love love love you for this one.

Celegorm

🐅 - Characterization: character habits, personality, etc.

Positives - proactive, charismatic, quickwitted, intelligent (& has a lot of esoteric knowledge), ambitious, loyal*

* - to a point.

Negatives - impulsive, quick tempered, callous, spoiled, self centred, self destructive, misogynistic, domineering, frequently careless, jealous.

Likes - the smell and taste of the forest air, the freedom to roam, feeling important and adored, boar hunts, horse meat, fermented mare’s milk, proving himself to be cleverer or more competent than others, the bonfire smell, rough and hard sex (on either side), very cold or very hot baths, battlefield adrenaline, the mixture of exhaustion and elation after a long day of hard activity.

Dislikes - boredom, the feeling of wearing metal armour, the taste of most fish, embarrassment, feeling trapped, indecisive people, cold rain, walled cities, introspection.

💛 - Familial relationships

As a young child, was closer to his nanny/wet nurse than either elder sibling. He slept in her bed and went to her first when his parents were not available and he needed comfort. When Celegorm was a young child his older brothers were already late adolescents/young adults and building their own lives, and had little interest in the new baby. Plus, Maedhros and Maglor’s relationship was too close for the addition of anyone else.

🕊️ - Platonic relationships (friends, enemies, etc).

I do enjoy the draft idea of Celegorm and Curufin being close friends with Aegnor and Angrod in YT era and even wanting to take them onto the swan ships. I think when Nolofinwe’s people reached Beleriand, Celegorm had some hope that the friendship would pick up again, but A&A couldn’t forgive C&C, so it didn’t.

During his time with Oromë’s hunt, Celegorm was friendly with some of the other hunters, but his closeness with Oromë meant that they always kept him at arms length to some degree, either out of jealousy or confusion over the relationship.

✨ - Worldbuilding or background story elements.

Was never quite able to give up the hunting rituals that he learned from Oromë while in Beleriand, and even taught several of them to a young Celebrimbor - while entreating him not to tell Curufin. And in turn, Celebrimbor found himself carrying the rituals with him long after he wanted nothing more to do with his uncle, and passed them on to his friends and students as well.

~

Earendil/Elwing

✨ - Worldbuilding or background story elements.

When they got married, the public exchanging of vows (I.e. the version without sex lmao) took place on the deck of Earamme in front of a small group of their closest family and friends shortly before Idril, Tuor, and Voronwe left. The after party was at Sirion’s town hall and basically everyone in the town showed the fuck up for THE biggest party in Sirion’s history. Tales of that night were spoken of long into the third age….

But Earendil and Elwing didn’t feature in many of those stories, because they left the party early to get married in the Elvish way.

#ask game

[viola-ophelia]

20 questions for fic writers

tagged by @curufiin <3 thank you!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

36! that sounds like a lot, but they're almost all oneshots and twoshots lol

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

145,180

3. What fandoms do you write for?

my three main fandoms are turn: washington's spies/amrev/18th century history, tolkien (silm, lotr, and the hobbit), and pirates of the caribbean, but i've written for a handful of other fandoms too. i've pretty much retired from marvel fic, but i've written a bit of that, and i've also written one (1) bridgerton and one (1) avatar: the last airbender fic lol.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

grieving for the living (273)

life is beautiful, but you don't have a clue (210)

lightning strikes (maybe once, maybe twice) (119)

never seen a love as pure (95)

be earnest and repent (88)

but these numbers don't reflect that the majority of my fics only have around 10-20 kudos! that's just the nature of writing for small fandoms like turn lol :3

5. Do you respond to comments?

i try to respond to every single comment, including on fics from years ago! i haven't been perfect at it this year since i've been so busy, but know that i read and deeply appreciate every single comment.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

oh gosh, this is a hard question because i'm an angst writer at heart. i do tend to prefer writing angst with a happy ending, but i've definitely written a few fics with purposefully devastating endings lol. i think i'd probably say the crown hangs heavy on either side - a turn AU that explores the idea of john andre and ben tallmadge switching places in the narrative - has the angstiest ending, since it actually has two alternative endings, and they're BOTH sad af lol.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

either the second chapter of sweet nothing (where i attempted to write a happy ending for jpeg) or never seen a love as pure, which is a very silly celegorm/aredhel fic where i imagined them both surviving the first age and ending up becoming tom bombadil and goldberry (i know it's a crazy concept but trust me, it kinda works lol).

8. Do you get hate on fics?

i've never gotten any legitimate hate comments, luckily! the closest thing i've gotten to hate is that i have gotten a handful of comments nitpicking canon/historical accuracy, which used to annoy me (because when i deviate from canon/history, whether in a big or a small way, it's almost always intentional and for the sake of the story rather than me just being a dumbass who didn't realize haha) but now i just ignore them. but i will say, the funniest/most memorable one of these i've ever gotten has to be the time someone commented on my a:tla fic (bury it and rise above) to inform me that "jeggings don't exist in the avatar universe" HAHA.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

i do sometimes write smut, but i almost never publish it because i generally prefer my published work to be PG-13 lol. (i think only maybe 2-3 of my published fics have some hints of fairly tame smut in them?) when i do write smut, it's usually M/F with a focus on reversing/subverting traditional gender roles.

10. Do you write crossovers?

i'm not the biggest fan of crossovers (i find that they're generally a bit unwieldy since merging two universes and two casts of characters into one is A Lot, and they're also pretty hard to do in a realistic and serious way - they tend to read as/verge toward crackfic territory for me) so i've never written one personally.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

*knocks on wood* no lol

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

no!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

not really, but i have co-brainstormed fics before - particularly the two silm AUs in this series, where @areyoutrueorfalse was instrumental in shaping the plots lol. (and of course the legendary harpson & caroline turn verse, which has yet to see the light of day but is one of my favorite things i've ever written!) @curufiin has also helped me craft some great fic ideas, especially with figuring out simcoe and andre's dynamic in power and control.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

either jpeg (john andre/peggy shippen) or celegorm/aredhel for canon ships, but for oc/canon, anne/beckett, aka anntler (iykyk @ chaos clan lol)

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

ugh... the john andre turns au ;-; idk if that thing is ever resurrecting at this point but i wish i could magically complete it lol

16. What are your writing strengths?

characterization!! i really take pride in getting my characterization just right, and i think it's definitely the aspect of my writing that i've gotten the most positive comments about. i also famously write a LOT of character studies (i'm pretty sure it's my most-used tag on ao3 lol).

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

i'm not very good at coming up with creative original plots, which is why i tend to write canon-compliant or slightly canon-divergent stories rather than full-on, innovative AUs (unless i have someone to brainstorm with <3).

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

i'm generally not a fan because i feel like it makes fics less accessible and more clunky to read. however, i also don't personally speak any other languages (except for some really rusty french) so i don't think it's something i'd ever do anyway lol. when i write a character who speaks another language (or tolkien elves, since they all technically speak various forms of elvish lmfao) i prefer to use dialogue tags, like

"'[english sentence],' he said in spanish."

"he said something in spanish that [MC who doesn't speak spanish] couldn't understand."

19. First fandom you wrote for?

in terms of published fic, it was lotr, but in terms of (thankfully) unpublished fic, i believe it was hamilton HAHA

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

it's like 3 years old at this point, but i will always be so proud of grieving for the living :)

i'm tagging @deathicus-sling @tallmadgeandtea @musicboxmemories and anyone else who wants to do this! sorry if you've already been tagged haha

#tag game #writing

[starsuncounted]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thanks for tagging me @bywayofmemory!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 82.

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 128,198.

3. What fandoms do you write for? Currently, LOTR, Silmarillion, Narnia, and Timeless. I'd like to get back to writing Turn fics, though. I have a couple ideas for oneshots that have been rattling around in my brain.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

winter-touched, frost-bitten (Spinning Silver, T, Miryem/the Staryk Lord, 1.1k): A missing scene in which Miryem strikes a new bargain with the Staryk Lord.

As the Hare Flees Before the Wolf (Silmarillion, T, Eöl & Celegorm, 1.8k): Curufin is not the only son of Fëanor Eöl meets upon the plains of Himlad. Or, Eöl meets Celegorm while pursuing Aredhel and Maeglin, and things go very badly for him.

Here at Journey's End (LOTR, G, Frodo & Legolas, 1.6k): They stay for those they love.

West, West Away (LOTR, G, Sam & Thranduil, 3.6k): Sam meets an unlikely kindred spirit on the journey West.

and I will love with urgency, but not with haste (Silmarillion, T, Andreth/Aegnor, 3.1k): A summer evening spent in a glade near the shores of the Aeluin.

5. Do you respond to comments? Yep! It may take me a while, but I always do. The only exceptions are for cryptic comments that I don't understand and have no idea what to reply with.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Lol. Lmao, even. At least half of my fics are nothing but angst. So...*spins wheel* Let's go with darkness lies on the foaming waves between us (LOTR, G, Arwen & Celebrían & Elwing, 1k), in which Arwen shares the news of her choice with her mother.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I do actually have a couple fics that would qualify for this (shocking, I know), but I have a special place in my heart for And There Make a Garden (LOTR, G, Éowyn, <1k). Éowyn finally being happy and content is everything to me.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not since I returned to fandom in 2020 and started posting on AO3 (unless some of those aforementioned cryptic comments are badly worded hate). But I did get the occasional hateful comment back when I posted on FFN.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Occasionally and it's very vanilla.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? Never written one.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? I hope not!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Nope.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Nope.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? I must be loyal to my thirteen-year-old self and say Faramir/Éowyn, my forever OTP.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I really would like to finish And Every Winter Turn to Spring (Turn, Anna/Hewlett), but I don't think I can rekindle the same enthusiasm I had for it during the height of my Turn fixation in 2020/2021. That, and I'm sure that if I were to pick it up again, I'd want to tear it apart and fix it up because it was one of the first fics I started writing after a years-long break from fic writing, and I'm certain I'd be embarrassed by parts of it now. And doing heavy editing like that feels overwhelming right now.

16. What are your writing strengths? Usually characterization and description, but I've been having trouble with my descriptions lately, and in a very strange twist, dialogue has—for the first time ever—been easier for me.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Plots. You will be getting no 100k+ longfics from me. Sorry. Oneshots or bust.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I only use other languages when writing Tolkien fic and do so sparingly and always with translations in the author notes. All phrases are yoinked from RealElvish.net because I can't be assed to put Elvish sentences together myself. Sorry JRRT.

19. First fandom you wrote for? LOTR. A couple of ancient fics that have never and will never see the light of day.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? It changes by the day, but I am very fond of On These Hither Shores (LOTR, G, Frodo & Boromir, 3.2k). It took a while to come together, but I'm so happy with how it turned out and that I finally achieved my goal of writing Frodo and Boromir getting to know each other before everything went to hell in a handbasket.

Tagging @tortoisesshells @boltlightning @aloveforjaneausten @dreamingthroughthenoise if you'd like to do this!

#tag games

[doodle-pops]

Idk if I asked this before, if I did then fuck oops you didn't see this. But how would the elves react to reader popping out their tiddies to win the argument? (Only if you're comfy ofc) Thanky and I love reading all your thoughts and thots

The tiddies are being appreciated I see. My thoughts and thots. You enjoy seeing me be thirsty anon lol (✿◡‿◡) shucks. Thirsting is fun though.

Voice faulters and eyes widen as they trail from your face to your tiddies. They could feel their mouth watering at the sight of them and were forcing themselves to not break character and return to the conversation, but they can't even remember what they were arguing about. All they're thinking is 'Fuck, fuck, fuck!!! Your titties look so good. I just wanna...don't lose focus...' They wouldn't say anything, but you already know they lost the argument, so you just raise and finger and beckon them over for a treat to shut them up.

- CELEGORM, CARANTHIR, FINGON, EGALMOTH, ARGON, TURGON, ELLADAN, ECTHELION

Their voices do fall short but they are quick to call you out. "Just what do you think you are doing? We're in the middle of an argument...p-put your breast away...please." They attempt to cough to cover up the truth that they are in fact turned on but you're smarter than they perceive you to be. Instead of covering up your chest, you beckon them over with a smartass response, "If you want me to cover up, come over here and do it yourself." You'd take your hands and give your breast a little lift to increase the pressure of the request, watching as they grew silent and tapping their feet on the ground to decide if to. They give in.

- FEANOR, Maedhros, MAGLOR, Curufin, Celebrimbor, FINGOLFIN, Finarfin, FINROD, GLORFINDEL, Galdor, ROG, Elrohir

Bonus (bc I couldn't help myself):

Y/N: Why don't you just be quiet?

Elf: Why don't you make me since you're so desper–

Y/N showing their tiddies: Come, shut up...

#reactions #silm smut #egalmoth x reader #finrod x reader #fingon x reader #glorfindel x reader #elladan x reader #celegorm x reader #argon x reader #feanor x reader #maglor x reader #maedhros x reader #caranthir x reader #rog x reader #elrohir x reader #silmarillion imagine #doodlepops responds

[nailsinmywall]

That comic of Maeglin and Aredhel in Gondolin just grabbed me by the heart for so many reasons!

The art is gorgeous and the style is really not jumbled as you see it (maybe you've been just staring at it too long lol).

THANK YOU for the Ecthelion cameo, my die-hard hc is that Thel and Aredhel have been friends since childhood. In the version where he is one of her escorts who loses her in Nan Dungortheb KILLS me! So he would be ecstatic to see her again, alive and well and with a new son!

Also, that meeting between Curufin and Eol, god, it's just a powerful and underrated canon moment. I think it really contributes to Eol's behavior when he meets Turgon. Because Curufin going "By the laws of the Eldar I may not slay you at this time" and 5 minutes later Turgon telling him "This choice only is given to you: to abide here, or to die here; and so also for your son." It makes me shiver.

Anyway, beautiful art, thank you for sharing!

OMG! Sorry i'm just now replying to your kind ask, i've been super busy and didn't check my inbox😭

I never draw gondolin folks so the comic was super outside of my comfort zone ahhh i'm so thankful for your message, it really reassured me!

The meeting between Eol and curufin is constantly on my mind...... eol being put into place by an in universe character (and curufin out of all people) is so so FUN and satisfying but at the same time: bittersweet and heartbreaking knowing that he could have prevented aredhel's death (especially when you hc celegorm, aredhel and curufin to have been close friends in their youth💔)

Thanks so much for this ask!

#nails replies

[shrikeseams]

Welp, @nailsinmywall and @skyeventide were chatting on twitter and woobiefied!Celegorm came up. And I’ve realized that I have two semi-elaborate Celegorm headcanon/interpretations spawned from attempts to make Celegorm less fucking tedious to me. I don’t think they quite make the cut for woobiefication, but they ARE marching in that direction. I think this at least qualified for meow-meowification.

Like all good headcanons, one revolves around Orome and one around Aredhel LOL. Honestly it’s all about motivation. Because bitches love to coddle a blorbo who does shitty things for “good” reasons.

Hokay, so. Celegorm and Orome. I realize that this is an unpopular opinion, but Celegorm/Orome is Not For Me, and I prefer to skew the relationship to focus on what Orome’s job represents to Celegorm, rather than a romantic relationship.

Because Orome’s role isn’t just hunting for funsies. His calling is to guard. “He is a hunter of monsters and fell beasts[.]” It’s not the same thing as hunting for food or trophies. It’s about being a first line of defense. It’s a very sincere and solemn duty, and one that would have been obviously important to someone who a) spent stretches of time in the more dangerous parts of Araman and b) intended to leave the safety of Aman with the rest of his family, like Celegorm. Depending on when you think Feanor started talking about leaving Aman, it’s very reasonable for Celegorm to pursue an apprenticeship etc in Orome’s hunt specifically to support the end goal of leaving Aman.  

So Celegorm has accepted this intense, important duty and obligation to Orome and the community at large, in a time and place where there is relatively little need for it. And then suddenly, Morgoth tips his hand and reveals himself to be unreformed! There is more need for Orome than ever!!! And Orome…

Stays home.

Celegorm arrives in Beleriand and fights orcs and wolves and ect etc and sees that Orome’s dedication to everything he taught Celegorm is conditional. Celegorm is in Beleriand, doing the work, whether for selfish or altruistic reasons, and Orome just… isn’t.

Now, there are different ways to interpret the emotional fallout here. But I’m included to say that Celegorm was… if no longer devoted to Orome once the family withdraws to Formenos, then at least still sympathetic and drawn to Orome’s ethos. If nothing else, Huan’s ongoing presence suggests that Celegorm still shares Orome’s calling, even if he’s no longer a member of Orome’s cult.

But I think once he arrived in Beleriand and seen the effects of Orome’s abandonment… he becomes increasingly bitter about his former god. Bitter in a way that I think is unique among the Feanorians, because Orome specifically has abandoned his professed calling in favor of obedience to Manwe. It’s not just the Exiles who have been abandoned, it’s everyone East of the Sea! It doesn’t matter if they aren’t Doomed and never thought of kinslaying, because they have been summarily judged and punished for actions they’re literally separated from by multiple generations and thousands of years. Celegorm has made this protective/defensive role his life’s calling, under Orome’s tutelage, and Orome has made it clear through his actions that the work he made central to Celegorm’s life was something Orome could just walk away from.

But throughout this all Celegorm is still doing the work. Orome walked away, but Celegorm didn’t, and I can’t imagine he’d be anything but bitterly proud about that. I don’t think it took long for him to be doing the work in spite of Orome, rather than in Orome’s honor or even far-distant partnership.

It's a bitter disillusionment and stripping of faith that I tend to think of as a hallmark of the religious lives of the Exiles. But Celegorm’s explicit textual relationship with Orome, and Huan, and (presumed) defensive work in Himlad makes it a good case study. The Valar’s collective failure to live up to their own PR would have made the Eastern forces at least feel justified in their actions.

 So now I have hopefully established that Celegorm’s (bloody, dangerous, violent) work on the front lines of Eastern Beleriand is part of the borderline religious cultural role that Celegorm has chosen for himself. He is perhaps glad to be applying his chosen craft, but scornful that he’s doing it with no greater help from Orome than Huan. He is very probably angry that Thingol doesn’t give two shits about these defensive obligations. Hypocritical, since Celegorm’s mostly there because of the Oath, but it’s mostly a constant low-grate irritation. Nothing too serious.

And then everything falls out with Aredhel!

Because the thing is: years before Celegorm ever laid eyes on Luthien, one of Elu Thingol’s kinsmen seduced and eloped with the daughter of the high king of the Noldor, AT BEST. The most charitable version of that relationship is an illicit seduction, an elopement without so much as notifying Aredhel’s father, and then pursuing her like an animal when she decided she was done with the relationship. And even if that’s the reality and not just the most charitable explanation, I cannot buy that Celegorm felt remotely charitable about the situation.

So from Celegorm’s perspective, what happened is that one of the people he was pouring blood, sweat, and tears into defending had abducted, seduced, definitely abused, and very possibly sexually assaulted one of his favorite cousins. And then they both disappeared into the ether with no justice done that Celegorm would have heard of, and certainly no apology from Eol, let alone Thingol.

Who wouldn’t be in a blind rage at Doriath, in his shoes?

And then the Silmaril quest is Thingol very literally adding insult to injury. The silmaril quest is a very neat and tidy insult to both Beren (who Thingol obviously wants dead) and the Feanorian East. After all, the Feanorian East was just recently devastated in the Bragollach, and Himlad not the least. The silmaril quest is Thingol’s way of saying “You’re not a player on the field anymore. I’m top dog again, and I’ll treat you however I want.” Which is, even with the kinslaying, a pretty shitty move! And it’s one that, quite frankly, the Feanorians have to answer in some way, or they’re basically acknowledging that Thingol is correct. Letting it pass wouldn’t just make it more difficult for them to claim one silmaril, it would make it harder to get people to help them deal with Morgoth and the last two silmarils! It’s kinda dumb, but that’s politics bay-bee.

So when Luthien wanders on by… Hey! A hostage! Luthien offers a great opportunity to pay Thingol back tit-for-tat for both Eol’s treatment of Aredhel and Thingol’s deliberate insult to his former allies. His attraction to her is just gravy.

Essentially, I’ve decided to interpret Celegorm as someone who chose to devote himself, body, heart, and soul, to a god/personal calling to defend his family/community/species, and then had to find a way forward in life when the very same god abandoned that calling, and then some of the people he was defending stabbed his family in the back. Like, damn. I don’t think I would react any better. If I had spent centuries of my life dedicated to the bloody, violent defense of a frontier (a defense that had been abandoned by the powers-that-be that I had been raised to expect to help), only to find out that someone from another cultural group that I was defending had trapped one of my best friends in an abusive relationship? And then like, a century later the leader of the same political group (who never apologized for what happened to my BFF!) very explicitly made a major political challenge to me and my family? And then I get the chance to reprise the crime that he never apologized for on his daughter? I would be fucking tempted. And the threat alone, without intent to follow through, would be enough to pry apologies out of Thingol and stabilize the Feanorian power base.

#Tolkien #I think I’ve said almost all of this before in other posts #but it doesn’t hurt to have the whole vision of how I’m tentatively approaching celegorm in one place #not really sure how the kinslaying plays into all of this #increasingly feeling like I’m writing an essay for class but I’ve gone off-topic oh well #when celegorm heard what turgon did to eol he thought it was the only worthwhile thing turgon did during his whole time in beleriand #as always: any research done was half-assed at most #this also hinges in my assumption that Aredhel’s marriage was kept very hush until she ran #and that gondolin never told anybody shit about shit #this got out of hand

[memoriapraeteritorumbonorum]

Oialëa - Caranthir x human!reader

Word count: 3.9k

Summary: Driven to acquire a Silmaril as a token of love, Carnistir's lover had disappeared without a trace, or so he thought.

Tags: Angst, fluff. Happy ending because Cara deserves the world and more

Author's note: Oialëa (Quenya), meaning eternal or forever. Beren and Lúthien are shaking. This doesn't align chronologically with the events of The Silmarillion, I just wrote away lol

-

Forever. 

That was what they had promised each other. 

He remembered that day so vividly. 

The second he had locked eyes with her, he had known. Every doubt he had harbored in his heart about Men had vanished as quickly as that beautiful smile had appeared on her face upon seeing him. 

Carnistir had always been aware of his family’s disapproval when he had decided to court her. He could even understand it to some degree. After all, she was a mortal woman. 

He had always been aware of the hurt that would eventually find its way into his life, slowly eating away at his heart to constantly remind him of the painful truth that she would pass on and leave him. That he would fade when that moment came, wishing nothing more than to just perish so that his broken heart would stop bleeding for her. Hoping that he could meet her on the other side, even though all odds were against it. Not even Mandos himself knew where the souls of Men vanished after they passed. Never would he have thought that moment would come so soon. 

It had been a rather cold morning when Fëanor had called his sons to join him in the conference hall. It was rare for them to be together in one place like this, since everyone would always tend to their own affairs in their own realms. However, they had decided to stay in Thargelion for a few days after a hunting trip before returning to their homes. This morning, after a chaotic breakfast that had been filled with laughter and bickering, Carnistir found himself zoning out at the round table. 

Today marked one year. One year since her sudden disappearance. 

Nobody seemed to know. To care. Maybe they just didn’t want to. 

Why would they? It had never affected them in the first place. They had never cared about her. 

He watched absentmindedly as Celegorm and Curufin engaged in a lively discussion with their father, feeling himself becoming angrier with every second. How could they just sit there and talk about finances and trade when they all knew he was fading? 

Not one of his brothers had touched on the subject of Carnistir’s state. Only Makalaurë had sought him out to comfort him, although it had been rather unsuccessful. When it would usually be Maedhros who would reach out to him whenever something was troubling him, the copper haired ellon seemed too engrossed in his own mind. Ever since his return from Angband, his brother had become nothing but a shell of who he once was, which scared Carnistir to his very core, because deep down, it was dawning on him that he too would end up like this, if not worse. Maedhros possessed a fierce spirit and an almost unmatched determination, Carnistir was sure of that. And it was because of his fierce spirit that he believed Maedhros would come back a stronger warrior than ever. He did not know how long it would take his brother to find himself again, but it had rather be soon. 

Right now, Makalaurë seemed to be the only one keeping a watchful eye on him. Carnistir could feel his gaze as Celegorm continued to poke fun at the local merchants and their ways of trading. Slowly turning his head away, he looked out of the window to somewhat control the anger that was boiling up inside of him. 

He hadn’t felt a great deal of emotion since that day. His chest was heavy. It was hard for him to breathe. The pain had become unbearable over this past year. It was like he could feel his heart being torn apart more and more with each passing second. 

While on the outside, he appeared as the quiet, dark and scary prince of the House of Fëanor, his family knew how emotional he actually was. It was the same with his horrible temper. 

However, since that day, he had ceased to feel anything. 

He remembered how he had lashed out at everyone for driving her away from him. How he had attacked his father and how it had taken all six of his brothers to restrain him. With that, his eyes found themselves focusing on Fëanor. The head of the house. The ellon he had once admired like no one else. 

Now, all he could feel was betrayal. Broken trust. Indifference. 

Was it not a father’s role to be a guiding light for his son? To help him grow and give advice when needed? How was it that every one of his brothers seemed to have such a strong bond with him except for Carnistir? 

Ever since he had announced his engagement to her, Fëanor’s behavior towards him had changed. It had always been a fact that Fëanor had no positive opinions on the race of Men. Only the Ñoldor seemed to have his respect, or at least parts of it. It had been no surprise that he would openly disapprove of their courtship and even hatefully comment on it, calling her all sorts of atrocious slurs that Carnistir would not dare repeat out of fear that his anger would take over and make him do unspeakable things. 

He had been lucky to live in Thargelion with her, hidden away from his father’s disapproval. In order to protect her, his precious flower, he had deliberately distanced himself from his family, only allowing his mother and some of his brothers to come visit them in their home. He did not regret his decision. In fact, the distance had opened his eyes in a way he would have never expected. He had found himself discovering the world from her perspective and finding love in all the places he would have never cared to look before. 

Before her, his life had been grey, full of routine and work. He remembered feeling like something was missing. Like he was searching for something unattainable. Longing for the unknown.

The moment she had walked into his life, he had felt like a garden about to bloom, full of sensation. The colors around him had suddenly become so very vibrant, he had noticed people’s smiles and had found himself feeling content whenever he had gazed upon the blue sky. He had become impatient to learn more, to feel more, almost like when he had been an elfling growing up in Tirion. 

She had taught him how to look at life in a beautiful, romantic way. Through the eyes of a mortal being. To cherish the time he was given in this world, even though that concept was rather unfamiliar to him because of his immortal existence. Time had never been relevant in his life. He had always been efficient and quick when it came to his work. Never once had he struggled with having too little or too much time on his hands. In fact, his endless lifespan had always seemed to serve as a great excuse to throw himself into work and trade deals. Until he had met her, that is. He had learned how quickly the days were flying by. Seeing her plan ahead whatever it was that she was doing in order for her to be able to indulge in other projects and travels before her time would eventually run out had always left him curious. Only when he had started courting her had he found the true meaning behind her planning and eagerness to explore and learn about his culture. Only when she had looked up at him with tears in her beautiful e/c eyes had he realized how precious time was. When she had told him about her fear of death. Her fear of the unknown. Her fear of being swallowed by nothingness and never being able to feel again. 

He remembered it like it was yesterday. Her small hands clutching onto his significantly larger ones, chest rising and falling irregularly because of the countless sobs that were wrecking her body, and her usually clear, cheerful voice being nothing but a shaky whisper when she had told him how terrified she was of the thought of leaving this world and most importantly, leaving him behind to fade. 

And Carnistir had known he would never be the same after her. He still found himself utterly, unapologetically, painfully in love with her. 

It was because of the way she made him feel, the way she had turned his life around and changed it for the better, the way his heart would swell with love and pride whenever he thought of her, that he had chosen to abandon his family’s principles and gaze upon Men with a different mindset. It was because of his immediate, undeniable connection to her spirit that he had decided she was his One.

His fëa felt incomplete without her by his side. It was like a part of him had been stolen away. The part that he had been searching for so long before he had met her.

The souls of Men and Elves belonged in different realms. That was what he had been taught his entire life. While he knew that he would be brought into the Halls of Mandos to be judged and returned to Valinor, his fate did not grant him any satisfaction without her by his side.

And yet, their spirits were connected, deeper than he could have ever imagined. Never before could he have fathomed that Men and Elves were able to form a spiritual bond as powerful as theirs. It was only when he had experienced it himself that he had realized how powerful the union of two souls could be, no matter which background they possessed. There would be no other, no matter how many centuries would pass. He was hers and she was his. Forever. 

His brothers’ laughter brought him back to reality. It was no longer Celegorm who was making fun of the merchants and their customs, but the Ambarussar mimicking his storytelling. Carnistir didn’t understand how they could always be this energetic. How they could all sit together and act like a big, happy family, skillfully ignoring all the atrocities they had committed because of those Silmarils — eventually driving his love away from him. As the sun rose higher, his eyes began to wander, no longer feeling the desire to watch his brothers’ buffoonery. Instead, he stared outside the large rounded window, right through Celegorm. 

The air seemed moist. He could still see remains of morning dew on the grass and leaves around and could only imagine how fresh it must smell. How he wished he could just vanish. Leave this place to go to wherever she had gone. It could be the deepest depths of the abyss and he would still follow her without looking back once. The Oath be damned. 

He still remembered that fateful day, when he had found out about her disappearance. About the reason behind it. Everyone had given her a horrible time. She had been tormented and harrassed from the moment their courtship was made public. Carnistir remembered how much he had admired her stubborn and confident nature, how she had laughed in everyone’s faces when they had told her she would ruin him and his reputation. She had always been very sure of herself. Perhaps her entire existence as a mortal woman had required her to grow a thick skin in order to survive in Beleriand. It had always been her competitiveness and need to prove herself that had him worried. It was because of those late nights spent in front of his fireplace when she would pour her heart out to him — tell him how badly she wanted to show everyone she was indeed worthy of his love, how badly she wanted them to just shut up and stop pestering her — that he cursed himself for allowing her to get close to him. Carnistir had known that she had meant his father and Curufin, most of all. He had thought her temper, which could get almost as bad as his at times, would help her withstand his father’s disapproval. But in the end, it had gone to her head and when that point had been reached, instead of telling him, they had let her leave. Only after beating Curufin to a pulp had Carnistir found out about it. About how after a disasterous run-in with his father, Y/N had declared to fulfill Fëanor’s impossible quest — to acquire a Silmaril to prove herself once and for all.

Carnistir closed his eyes at the thought. He knew the Oath would catch up to him, but never could he have fathomed that it would take a turn like this. He had searched for her in every place and corner, crossed hills and valleys, questioned every single creature of Arda. He would have faced Eru Illúvatar himself to find her. 

But after months of unsuccessful searching, his hope began to fade and he had realized that he would soon follow. Life had felt numb and surreal after that. It was as if he was just waiting for Mandos to greet him, for Nienna had drained him of every single one of his tears. There was no beauty in grief, Carnistir had decided. He would rather be engulfed in complete darkness than stay in this realm any longer. It would make no difference. He would never reunite with her again, ever. And yet, instead of being granted the sweet release of death, he was bound to this realm, this oath. 

He watched the wind blow through the high grass on the fields outside, growing more and more tired by the minute. How long would it take for his heart to finally stop beating, he wondered. He thought back to his fiercer days. When he had drive and determination. In a way, he felt like he was letting her down by not holding on. After all, this was her greatest fear coming true. 

As he sat there, drowning in hushed up misery, his eyes fell upon a small black dot on the horizon. It seemed to move closer. Carnistir welcomed any distraction at this point. He found himself completely focussing on the dot, trying to make out its shape as it got closer. 

It seemed to be a deer, by the way it was moving towards him. But the longer he looked, the more suspicious he got. This could’t be a deer — the silhouette was too sturdy. He was surprised to make out what seemed to be a rider on a horse on these dewy fields across from him. What was a rider doing so close to his estate? 

"Brother." 

Makalaurë’s voice rang in his ears. Turning his head to the side, Carnistir was met with concerned blue eyes. "Whatever is it you are staring at?" 

Carnistir silently gestured in direction of the field, where the rider’s silhouette was becoming clearer for everyone to see. And right when everyone turned their heads to see what he was pointing at — that was when he felt it. 

A long forgotten sensation, so familiar.

No. It couldn’t be. 

The screeching of his chair being pushed back was hardly as loud as his heartbeat. He felt it pulsing in his ears, heavier and more alive than ever. 

It could not be.

He could feel it flowing through his veins, sending burning energy through his entire body like he hadn’t felt in ages. The rider. 

The round table was dead silent. He felt his brothers’ eyes on him, even his father seemed confused. But Carnistir couldn’t care less. His feet seemed to move on their own and soon, he found himself stumbling outside, his steps growing quicker and quicker until he came to a halt on the edge of the fields, tensely staring at the horse, which was beginning to slow down. 

The rider was hooded, clothed in a ragged black cloak that seemed too big for them. 

Carnistir’s breaths became shallow as they rose their arms to lift the hood off their head. He felt dizzy. Heat rose to his cheeks, the drumming in his ears became unbearable. His fëa would not lie to him, would it? But it could not be, she-

E/c eyes. Staring right into his. 

His breath hitched in his throat. H/c locks spilled out of the hood, onto her shoulders. Her face — thinner and rougher than he remembered, and her mouth agape. 

He ran. He ran, faster than he had ever run before. And when she slid off the horse, steadying herself by its side, weak and meager, he knew it was his fëa keeping her from passing out right then and there. He stretched out his arm, desperately trying to get closer to her, as his feet carried him across the field. 

They collided with a force greater than lightning itself. His hands were blindly grasping at her, frantically trying to get a hold of her as if his life depended on it, because it did. Her fingers dug into his shirt, clutching onto him, and his ears were met with whimpers, quiet and weak. 

"Cara-" 

The cry he let out was raw, almost animalistic. He felt his face twist itself into a terrible expression, full of despair, as he buried his nose in her messy hair and inhaled her scent. The scent that had become more and more faint over time, until it had almost completely vanished from his chambers. 

Not even the clothes she had left in their closet had held onto it. And now it was all around him.

They sank to their knees, her small form falling into his chest, her hands coming up to caress his neck and jaw, chapped lips placing uncoordinated kisses on his burning skin. It was at that exact moment that he felt their souls melting together in a much too long awaited embrace. 

Her nose brushed up against his cheek as her kisses travelled higher until he shakily took her face into his large hands and kissed her fervently. The fire in his soul had been ignited once again, and he could feel her fingers twisting and pulling his hair, her body pressing itself as close to his as possible, teeth clashing in the process. Carnistir was trying his hardest to navigate through this suddenly unfamiliar display of affection, the desire and agony of a long lost lover that had just come back to him. This was the strongest he had felt since the day of her disappearance. When they broke apart, gasping for air, faces wet with tears and eyes glistening and gleaming with passion, unable to grasp that they were indeed reunited again, that this was no longer a dream, he finally mustered up the courage to say out loud the name that had been haunting him day and night.

"Y/N." 

It was soft, hoarse, overwhelmed. He almost didn't recognise himself, for he was known for his rich and determined voice, a voice that never wavered. And yet, when the sound fell on her ears, her face lit up so beautifully Carnistir feared he would perish right then and there. Her smile, though small and weak, was enough to have him see stars. Their foreheads came to rest against each other as their heartbeats slowed down gradually, getting used to each other's presence again. 

How he loved her. 

How his soul burned for her. 

How he would never again be separated from her. 

Just as he thought the shock was wearing down, his guard shot right back up when he heard footsteps approaching from behind. 

He took his time, gently winding his arms around her frail form and steadying her against himself before rising to his feet to face his brothers and father, all of whom seemed to be in complete and utter disbelief. A new fire was raging inside of him, no longer warm and welcoming, as he stared straight into Fëanor’s eyes. The message was clear and every one of his brothers took a hesitant step back, not wanting to trigger Carnistir. He had always been highly protective of her, this they knew. The entire kingdom knew. No one would dare lay a finger on his One, if they valued their life. But right now, even the tiniest sound could send him into complete madness. 

Nobody said a word. The silence laid heavy on Carnistir’s shoulders. But right before he could make any remark, voice dripping with deadly venom, sworn to obliterate anyone that came too close to his lover even in the slightest, he felt her straightening her posture and taking a step forward, holding onto his upper arm for support. 

Her e/c eyes were cold and calculating, almost hollow as they locked in a stare with his father. He held his breath when she reached inside her cloak and revealed a piece of cloth, wrapped around something. Her hand shakily placed the lump inside Carnistir’s and she proceeded to pull at the cloth, unveiling the object hidden underneath. 

The light was blinding. 

His brothers erupted in gasps and shocked whispers along the lines of "Impossible!" and "It cannot be!"

There in his hand, it laid. 

A Silmaril, cold and hard. 

Carnistir could not believe his eyes. Y/N’s stare was fierce, unrelenting. She said not one word, and yet, he felt the power radiating from inside of her — menacing — aimed right at his father. 

He could not imagine the things she had seen and endured, to get her hands on this Silmaril. How she had managed to locate and bring it to Thargelion all by herself was almost frightening to him. 

Her stance faltered a bit, and he could feel her exhaustion washing over him as a result of their reconnected fëa. She would not be able to stand here any longer. Their stand-off had to be postponed until morn, at least. Her health was of utmost importance, his father be damned.

Taking a deep breath, Carnistir placed the Silmaril on the ground before carefully picking her up, bringing her head to rest against his chest. Not today. Not after she achieved the impossible, all by herself.

His brothers’ deafening silence — Fëanor’s deafening silence — was triumphant enough. They knew. 

They had left her to go and die and she had returned. 

His stride was headed towards the healing quarters, away from his brothers, away from his father. He could not care less about their disapproval. Thinking of themselves as superior to everyone and everything and finally getting what they deserved. A taste of their own medicine.

The determination of a mortal woman. 

It was when he laid in bed with her that same night, her head resting on his chest, arms wrapped around his torso so tightly he believed he would have had trouble breathing if he weren’t immortal, Carnistir felt at peace. Her chest was rising and falling in a steady rythm and for the first time in what felt like a neverending eternity, his bed felt warm again. She would have the whole kingdom in a frenzy by tomorrow. The word had probably spread already. He could not imagine the humiliation his father must have felt in that moment, let alone the fact that he'd have to spend the rest of his life knowing that a mortal woman managed to fulfill the quest he himself failed. Pride crept into his heart at that — his father, humbled by none other than the human he had sworn to never accept as his son's One. Carnistir knew Y/N's temper made her do things she regretted rather often, which had been another reason for their undeniable connection. They were similar in that sense. But he also knew that even though she had acquired a Silmaril and thus proven for everyone to see, that she was indeed worthy of him, he had to talk sense into her the next morning. What she did had been impulsive and reckless, so very inconsiderate and dangerous and yet, his chest swelled with love. He was angry with her, so very angry that she would leave him without a word, travel into the deepest depths of the abyss to retrieve this jewel, just to prove a point. How very mortal of her. A small smile appeared on his face at that thought. And there, in the comfort of his lover’s embrace, in the sound of her soft breaths, in the serenity of this quiet night, a lone tear rolled down his cheek.

How he loved her.

The souls of Men and Elves belonged in different realms. That was what he had been taught his entire life. And yet, her soul had found its way back to him. Carnistir was certain, he would never be separated from her again. Ever. She was his One. There would be no other, no matter how many centuries would pass. He was hers and she was his. 

Forever. 

#caranthir x reader #caranthir imagine #fanfic #fanfiction #oneshot #angst #fluff #carnistir #morifinwë

[lady-byleth]

As we all know, I am a bit of an obsessive nerd. Not quite Silmaril hunting levels of obsessive but getting there

Today I shall use this power to draw up a few fun parallels between the most famous love story in Arda and Beren and Luthien (lol, I couldn't stop myself).

This is not going to be in chronological order because the parallels of the two stories don't happen at the same points and it might be a bit jumbled because I'm wicked sick with covid so bear with me

Let's start with the setup for both.

Broken down to its essentials, Beren and Maedhros are sent to retrieve a/the Silmaril/s from Melkor by a great elven King who happens to hate one part of the pairing.

Feanor is no fan of Fingolfin's line in general, Fingon being his half-brother's heir would not have been the most beloved person to Feanor. Thingol is also not particularly fond of Beren.

The difference is that Thingol is giving Beren this task because he deems it impossible and hopes Beren will either give up or straight up die while Feanor's sons swear the Oath so they can't stop unless they die.

In any case, the setup is quite similar at its core.

Of course they do not set off alone. Maedhros is accompanied by his family and the host of Feanor, sharing the Oath with his brothers. Beren meanwhile cashes in on his own family's good relationship with Finrod Felagund (himself a relative of Maedhros and Fingon) and gets his own company for his quest. Now we have an Oath of some sort on both sides and Finrod to connect them further.

Next we have Luthien and Fingon, who out of devotion themselves set off on a journey to follow their partner. Now, I don't quite remember where this comes up but Fingon, if memory serves, goes for two reasons: 1, cuz he too wishes to build something new in Middle-earth, a call to adventure if you will, and 2, because Maedhros is going. Luthien follows Beren when she senses he is in danger, so like Fingon there's a deep bond there that motivates her.

Maedhros and Beren both end up captured by the enemy (Maedhros after losing a significant portion of his company and Beren loses them while captured) and against the better judgment of just about any sentient being Luthien and Fingon both make the solitary treck to some of the most dangerous places on the planet to save them. Thangorodrim are three mountains/volcanos atop Melkor's stronghold Angband, teeming with evil creatures and magic. Dol-in-Gaurhoth belongs to Sauron at this point, where his werewolves make their lair. Incidentally, Beren and Luthien also head for Angband later on.

At this point, Luthien does manage to save Beren from Dol-in-Gaurhoth with the help of non other than Huan, a hound of the Valar gifted to Maedhros' brother Celegorm, again drawing a connection between the two tales that is not quite a parallel but interesting. We won't get into the logistics of how Luthien and Huan came to be a team but like her, Fingon also receives the help of a beast close to a Valar - Thorondor, King of the Eagles

How does Thorondor know to help? Well, Fingon manages to track Maedhros down by doing what every elf does when they are distraught: he sings. And Maedhros, by a small miracle, hears his song and answers, the same way Luthien found Beren in Angband because when all else fails, sing. Well, he sings. Actually they both do, at different points.

Anyway, Maedhros is weakened and in agony, and begs Fingon to kill him. And Fingon, because he sees no other way, raises his bow and prays to Manwe that his arrow might fly swift and true. And Manwe, despite all the bad blood between him and especially the Feanorians, despite the Doom of Mandos promising that everything the Kinslayers do ends in failure, and despite everything that went down between the Noldor and the Valar...sends Thorondor instead. Thorondor, who also appears to help Luthien bring a dying Beren back to Doriath, much like he carries Fingon and Maedhros back to Lake Mithrim.

Beren is currently dying because Carcaroth bit off his hand and poisoned him that way. His right hand, to be precise. Maedhros is in horrific shape because he was tortured for decades and then had his hand cut off.

So if I had a nickle for every time Thorondor carried someone on the quest for some shiny stones back home after they lose their right hand, I'd have two nickles.

Luckily both Maedhros and Beren survive their ordeals...until they both die with a Silmaril in their hands later on. But that's neither here nor there.

Luthien, in her grief, sings her sorrow to Namo, who consults with Manwe on her behalf. And Manwe hears her plea and does what he can do help her, like he heard Fingon's plea and helped him.

So, to summarize, dudes taller than most of their families set off (together with their respective companies, which include Finrod at some point) to retrieve Feanor's shiny stones because an elven King said so and end up captured by the bad guys. Pretty dark haired people follow them, against all odds find them (one of them even twice) and beg the Valar for help, who answer in unexpected ways. Tall dudes lose their right hands, Thorondor is there to play Great Eagle Airlines. Someone is found through singing. Both Maedhros and Beren end up dying very soon after reclaiming one Silmaril.

I hope this is halfway coherent because again, covid. It's probably jumbled all to hell but I think I made my point

Thank you for coming to my tedtalk

#beren and luthien #russingon #luthien tinuviel #beren erchamion #Fingon #Maedhros

[eunoiaastralwings]

Hello the rejected request was me! Don’t worry about, it’s good lol. Ummm... how about Celebrimbor or Celegorm x reader where it’s a heat wave and they decide to take an afternoon swim? As spicy or unspicy as you’d like. Maybe splashing each other and racing in the water? Readers elf disappears under the water and grabs the them from below, kiss then either holds them or swims away? Just a thought! Also, please don’t feel obliged to do this! Happy for you to ignore and take a rest day!!!! 💙

characters celebrimbor x reader

fandom tolkien- the silmarillion

a/n oh hun- am so sorry sorry taking so long — am aware there are more requests in waiting — trying to do them asap. still in thailand btw

warnings smut 18+, fingering, marriage and oath talk, semi-public (river) sex, unedited — late kinktober contribution

You had removed your heavy dress - and jumped into the water.

It was so refreshing - the coolness of the water against the strong heat.

You felt free - like you could breathe again.

You wore only your thin negligee - nothing else coming to your mind.

Besides - it would only be Celebrimbor and yourself here.

You swam around as you waited for him - sighing softly to yourself.

Celebrimbor arrived - he was about to speak but the sight of your bare exposed skin - made his throat dry.

When you noticed him - you had giggled and splashed some of the water towards him.

“Are you coming in?”

You teased.

It had been a decade or more – this both of you had started courting.

You had to coax him into swimming with this afternoon.

The heat wave was making him miserable and being inside the forges most of the time – only made things worse for Celebrimbor.

“Are you sure?”

He suddenly asked – Celebrimbor wanted to make sure you were comfortable with him joining you – especially since you were almost bare to him.

You smiled and swam closer to where he stood on land.

With a soft smile, you pulled your hand out – the sounds of the water was so peaceful – and held it out for him to take.

With a nervous smile Celebrimbor – kneed on the ground and took your hand – his thumb brushing over your knuckles, then lifted to his lips and kissed it.

He nodded and began to disrobe – suddenly feeling shy, you quietly swam about – playing with the water – listening to the sound against the wind and birds in the forest.

You knew Celebrimbor joined when a large body of the still water was disturbed – you turned, stunned by the sleek darkened fair skin. It looked hard and soft – the water coating the muscles of his body.

You suddenly bit your lip was your eyes travelled down – the water hiding everything below his waist.

“This is nice. . . “

Your lover said – you looked up, Celebrimbor had his eyes closed, enjoying the refreshing feel of the water.

You watched as his breathing relaxed – face soft and stress free

You rolled your eyes – realizing he had fallen asleep.

Quickly you splashed as much as water on his face as you could – you laughed when he almost jolted awake.

“Tyelpe, stop sleeping – I had you wanted to have fun!”

He rolled his eyes when you tried to splash him again – as tired as he was, he knew you wanted to let lose and spend the evening with you.

Celebrimbor would be lying to himself — if he said he didn't find that relaxing — you had the energy to make anything and everything around you so lively.

It's one of the things he loves and adores about you.

He smiled – happily letting you splash him as much as you wanted – because afterwards the both of you knew when he begins, nothing can stop him.

He was larger and stronger than you by a lot – it was impossible to escape from his arms.

Before you knew it – your lover dashed across the water to grab you.

You laughed and screamed – trying to escape – splashing him as much as you could.

He paid no heed to your antics and simply nuzzled his head into your neck – feeling you close to him.

It took everything in him to not let his hands wander from your back.

Your scent was intoxicating – and your almost bare body was driving him insane.

But you were comfortable in his arms in this manner – he felt relief at that.

The last thing Celebrimbor wanted to do was scare you away – you were the only light in this life currently.

 “This is cheating! – You’re too strong!”

You giggled – you were trying to peel yourself away from him.

But anything you did was in vain – you could barely move anyways – not that you wanted to. But there was no harm in pulling a little tease on him – was there?

He chuckled at your attempts – but later he losened his grip and let you escape.

 Your elf let you swim away – before he thought it was enough distance and chase after in the water.

Celebrimbor had to admit – it was fun swimming around and chasing you like this.

He didn’t have to have a care in the world – you were free and alone.

There was no danger and no oath to handle – it was just the two of you alone – that’s all he needed.

It wasn’t long until Celebrimbor noticed the depth the water increased – and he realized it was hard for your feet to touch the bed of the lake.

The water would be above your neck right now.

“Y/N!”

Celebrimbor panicked – he turned harshly, furiously splashing the water around his body.

His breath fastened – and his eyes widened when he couldn’t find you.

He had only took his attention away for a second – and he already couldn’t find you.

Celebrimbor should have listened to his father’s words and never pull away from the outside world.

He let himself immerse in the goodness – something his father always scolded his mother for.

Now – seeing that you were nowhere to be found – Celebrimbor now understood his father’s reasonings.

“Y/N! Please. . .”

It was his silent plea and he tried to rush over the water to find you.

There wasn’t anything in his life without – you were this light, his strength, his world.

In his panicked and worried state – something small was suddenly able to pull the bulky elf down below the surface of the water.

He almost yelled ready to fight – until familiar lips kissed him tenderly under the water.

Small delicate and familiar hands cupped his face – and caressed his cheeks tenderly.

Celebrimbor let out a sigh of relief into your lips and grabbed you – crushing you to his body.

This time he didn’t care where his hands went – the thought of almost losing you had killed him inside.

He needed to know you were here – that you were real.

His large hand buried in your hair – and tilted your head to kiss you more passionately.

The other hand possessively wrapped around your waist.

A low moan vibrated from your throat – you felt your nipples suddenly hardening against the roughness of his chest – after all only a very small thin layer of clothing separated your naked figure from him.

Celebrimbor suddenly lifted the pair of you out.

You broke out for breath for a second – but quickly he held you against the bank of the river and crashed his lips to your lips for another fully passionate kiss.

Your legs easily wrapped around him – and your hands tangled in his hair – desperate for more.

Your lover hand on your waist lifted and slowly pulled down the strap of your wet thin dress.

He broke the kiss for a moment – and chuckled at the small whine from your pouting lips.

Your elf looked at you seriously – searching your eyes carefully and cautiously.

You nodded – with that answering the unasked question in his eyes.

Were you truly ready for this? – He wanted to know – because once the both of you did this – there was no going back.

You would become one – you would be husband and wife.

He wanted to make sure you wanted this and much as he did – and he wanted to know if the both of you were true about this – Celebrimbor deeply didn’t want you to end up like his parents – nor his grandparents.

He wanted to give a guarantee.

“Y/N. . . I can’t promise you everything. . .”

He sounded broken – afraid of rejection – but acceptance too – what would come of you being his wife?

You delicately cupped the face of your lover.

“Then just promise me this – let me take your burdens, share them with me and let me love you fully, Celebrimbor. . .”

You looked tearfully into his eyes – cupping him face tenderly.

“Promise?”

You asked.

He nodded.

“I promise.”

Then – you quickly kissed him again – and fully pulled down the strap for him.

Your lover quickly discarded the other – bunched it around your waist as you quickly tried to untie his trousers that were underneath the water – but there was a clear view.

Celebrimbor ran his lips towards your cheeks, over your jaw – nipping it softly – then down your neck – nipping every so often or biting – taking a little piece of your skin in between his teeth.

Celebrimbor hands had wandered your chest – kneading and playing with your breasts with his large hands – you tried to keep your lips shout – biting your bottom lip down but everything Celebrimbor did it you, it was becoming impossible to do so.

One of his hands quickly lifted your thin negligee – exposing your thighs.

He gave the wet flesh a tight squeeze – before he ran his hand into your inner thighs and to in between your legs.

He groaned at the feel of your velvet flesh – fully bare and desperate for him to claim.

There was a shuddering breath from you when he ran a longer finger your vagina.

He had taken a nipple into his mouth before he began to play at your opening – giving you enough courage to pull down his trousers and wrap your lithe hand around his cock.

There was a pleasurable sigh from the both of you – feeing the touch of each other to ease the burning desire.

It was becoming almost unbearable until his finger gently stroked you – while softly pumped your hand up and down his length of hard flesh.

Celebrimbor took a nipple in between his teeth – and you threw your head back and wrapped your hand tighter around him.

There was a moan from him – and it vibrated down your nipple and it drove you insane.

“Please. . .”

You whispered – Celebrimbor didn’t need to be told twice; he quickly pushed a finger in – already stretched you quite a bit.

It slightly worried you on how you were going to take the whole of him – from the feel of him you knew he had an incredible amount of grith and long too.

When your lover had started to pump his fingers in and out — you wrapped your arm tighter around his shoulder and your hand desperately trying to keep its pace over him.

Your small whimpers and moans were enough to set Celebrimbor into a confident pace — and not too long after your wall clenched around his finger.

"Melda. . . "

He whispered — Celebrimbor kissed your hair and you felt yourself close your eyes in a bliss when you came on his strong finger.

He came too — at the same time.

"My sweet love. . ."

There were so many praises he spoke — each one leaving you with a pleasurable sigh.

You felt a soft caress on your cheek — then you opened your eyes.

Soft blue eyes — dark and beautiful looking at you with love and care.

They were the eyes of your husband-to-be — so you knew no matter what came in the future you were making the right decision — you were so sure you could hear your soul singing for joy.

"Tyelpe, make me your wife. . .tennoio" (forever).

"Acairisnya. . ." (My bride).

He kissed your forehead and slowly pushed himself in — stretching you to the fullest — claiming your walls.

"Endernya. . ." (My groom).

It was enough — to seal you together — promising each other to each other.

Celebrimbor, your becoming husband did not waste anymore time and quickly penerated the rest of you.

He moved his hips slowly first — easing himself into your walls and pulling out.

You whimpered and scrunched your face — the initial tight ironing pain was almost unbearable.

You had wrapped both your arms tightly around Celebrimbor's strong shoulders and back.

once the initial pain subsided — you were met with something new and blissfully overwhelming.

Celebrimbor had started to thrust himself in and out of you at this point — his forehead against your forehead.

His thrusts were deep into you and then pulled out again, only thrust back in faster— picking up the pace—  keeping his eyes locked with your eyes.

The new and blissfully overwhelming feeling was turning strong and powerful — it started to blaze inside you— inside your chest.

It was a deepened heat— something caressed and fluttered you as you were held by him against the banks of the river and consumed by each of his thrusts. Whatever was inside your chest started to grow.

Then— you let out a small sob realizing it was bonding of your souls— of your Feas.

Celebrimbor felt it too— you knew from the mesmerized look in his eyes — they were mirroring the look in your eyes.

For a moment, he rested his head on your forehead and continued thrusting into you until the both of you finished— abliss in the moment of pleasure and peace.

Celebrimbor suddenly pulled your closer — he wrapped his arms around you— crushing you into his large chest and kissed you with passion.

This was new — free and full of love — he wasn't holding back or tensed — he kissed you fully and held you close to his heart — there was some possessiveness there too.

"I love you. . . — I love you so much!"

He said — breathlessly in between his kisses.

"I love you too, Vero. . . I love you too. . ." (Husband).

form for taglist

Fic taglist: @heilith

tara's taglist: @mslizziesblog @wandererindreams @spidergirla5

silm taglist: @doodle-pops

#celebrimbor #celebrimbor x reader #the silmarillion x reader #the silmarillion #the silm #silmarillion #celebrimbor x reader smut #the silm smut #silmarillion smut #tarawrites #answered #tolkien #tolkien elves

[actual-bill-potts]

For the Director's Cut game! I'd love to hear your commentary about the latest chapter of And All His Towers Cast Down, especially the questioning scene in Tol-in-Gaurhoth. That was brilliantly terrifying and this part in particular just lives rent-free in my head: “Finrod can feel the moment when Sauron realizes what he has done [...] he feels his face re-form, his bones knitting together - no - no, please - ‘I will un-make and re-make you, as many times as it takes’ “

thank you so much! and many apologies for my late response to these, afjdklsafd ive been sick and am now catching up on work and yes, Finrod and co ARE sitting in a corner staring at me as I determinedly ignore all my WIPs lmao but anyway. ok. going to talk about the entire chapter. under a cut as it's going to be a bit long lol.

So, chapter 13 was not initially planned at all. In fact (and you may be horrified to hear this), pretty much the entire first half of this fic has been mostly unplanned, because when I started working on towers I did not intend to include Finrod as more than a side character! You can kind of see it in this post which was what towers came out of - I wanted to write a story about Lúthien and Maglor, partly because they are a fascinating character combo and partly because I was really interested in the political implications of such a team-up for both the Noldor and the Sindar.

Like, with Finrod alive, Lúthien (presumably) feeling very positively towards at least one son of Fëanor, and Morgoth having been dealt a crushing blow by the combined might of the Noldor and the Sindar, does Thingol back down? Do Celegorm and Curufin? Would Lúthien and Beren feel the need to retire from the world if they had met more people who wholeheartedly supported their love, rather than being attacked at every turn? And (because this is a theme I remain fascinated by in the Silm) does any of it make any difference at all? After all, the Noldor are at war not just with Morgoth but also with the rest of the Valar, so how would being under the Doom play out during a Nirn that included the support of all the Elven kingdoms? These were the questions that I was really excited about answering when I started this fic.

When I began to write it, I was going to have the rescue play out in a chapter or two, max, and then have Finrod and maybe even Maedhros join the Silmaril squad. It was going to be so epic - but as I was writing, characters started to push back on what I was saying, lol. For instance, it took some convincing for the pragmatic Maedhros to want to even try to find out what happened to Finrod (never mind rescuing him!). No way, no how was he going to go to Angband. And after watching ten of Finrod's closest friends die for him, Beren would knock Finrod over the head with a chair and run away before he'd let Finrod follow him on any more of the quest. So that was right out.

And then the more I thought about the rescue, the more fascinated I became by Tol-in-Gaurhoth in general; it really represents a turning point in Leithian for a lot of characters. Lúthien and Huan come into their power and start taking control of the narrative; Finrod dies; Beren loses most of his agency (I find it fascinating that pre-Tol-in-Gaurhoth, Beren drives most of the plot - he becomes an outlaw, he makes it into Doriath, he decides to go on the Silmaril Quest, he goes to Nargothrond, etc - and afterwards he turns into something of a McGuffin for Lúthien, which is to say that most of what he does is either run away from Lúthien or follow her around); and Sauron and Morgoth go from having the upper hand to being caught by surprise over and over again. The difficulty in writing an AU about a key moment in the story - Finrod's death - being interrupted by new characters and events is that you still have to deal with the ramifications of that key moment, and now there are more people around, lol.

So anyway, after spending a lot of time thinking about this, I ended up wanting to tell two main stories with towers. The first is the story I originally meant to tell, that of Maglor and Lúthien wrecking Morgoth: but with the added twist that Maglor, particularly after watching how haunted Maedhros was in Tol-in-Gaurhoth, is motivated at least as much by guilt as he is by a desire to stick it to Morgoth and fulfill the Oath. He feels guilty that he didn't rescue Maedhros, and he feels guilty that he is going to Angband now and not then, and the sight of Finrod immediately post-Sauron's-hospitality is bringing a lot of painful memories back for him, so he is...not thinking very clearly. He is going to have to face a lot of that in Angband, both facing the stark reality of where Maedhros was for (REDACTED amount of time), and eventually accepting how fucking insane it was that Fingon's rescue actually worked.

The second story I want to tell is that of Finrod's reckoning with his own trauma and his own failure. Somebody else sent an ask about Finrod's character in this, so I won't go too much into all that here, but to summarize: Tol-in-Gaurhoth in many ways represents the failure and destruction of nearly everything Finrod worked on and valued in Middle-earth. Characters in the Silm tend to deal with failure by. well. murdering people. but our boi is pretty unique. How would he deal with being so thoroughly hurt in a universe in which he survives?

Both of these stories are about to actually kick off in the next few chapters (ahhh, chapter 14...where the original iteration of this story started...), but as I was working on chapter 14 onwards, I felt that towers as a whole needed a little space to breathe between the conclusion of what is essentially the World's Longest Prologue and the start of the "meat" of the story. Hence Maglor's conversation with Maedhros, which sets out the main (internal) conflicts their characters will be facing. For Maglor, it is:

Maglor drew a deep breath. "I only - the truth is that I should have done this - this quest - when you were captured. Thou art as precious as a Silmaril to me," he added, slipping into Quenya in the privacy of their chambers, "and I wish that I had had the courage to do as Lúthien did. That I am going now, and not then: it damns me. Did I care so little for our father's jewels - did I care so little for thy life - that I was content to sit behind walls until the daughter of Thingol reached out her hand and did what we could not?"

Maglor is intensely driven by guilt and a sense of competition with Lúthien, which will drive him to do. some Things.

For Maedhros, it is this:

Maglor laid his head on Maedhros' shoulder carefully. Maedhros felt his tears wetting his tunic; but he did not mind. "It is all right, Makalaurë," he said. "It is all well. Do thy great deed; and in fulfilling the Oath perhaps we will find a way to unmesh ourselves from Doom. I would like that," he added, very quietly, "for our younger brothers."

Maedhros, hearing about C&C's actions in Nargothrond, and watching Maglor be so torn apart by the Oath, is fully realizing here the impact the Oath is having on his brothers. A large part of his arc will revolve around dealing with the political and personal disaster that is Nargothrond; and he is counting on Maglor and Lúthien, maybe more than he himself realizes, to repeat Fingon's great deed.

And then we get to the Tol-in-Gaurhoth flashback! Finrod's arc in the coming chapters will be all about recovery and coming to terms with what happened to him - so it ought to be clear in the reader's mind what actually did happen to him. I tried to use my understanding of the characters of Sauron and Morgoth, as well as the canonical events of Tol-in-Gaurhoth, to work out what the experience most likely entailed (apart from the obvious, uh. getting eaten by wolves thing). We know that post-Silmaril-burning, Morgoth is incapable of assuming a fair form. From this we can extrapolate that likely those who serve him have something of a grudge against beautiful things - and Finrod is canonically very beautiful. So I think he would be a very tempting target for Sauron to smash into a pulp, alas.

Also, as several authors here on tumblr have pointed out, it's somewhat ludicrous that Sauron looked at the incredibly powerful golden-haired Elvenking in the company of a mortal and didn't recognize Finrod - unless Finrod managed to keep up some sort of enchantment that prevented Sauron from recognizing him. There's a lot of different ways this could go, but I essentially interpreted it as Finrod keeping up a spell of misdirection - Sauron knows there's something about him, it's on the tip of his tongue, but Finrod is preventing him from fully realizing their importance. So Sauron is essentially playing with his food here - I'm of the opinion that if Sauron knew what to look for with regards to Nargothrond, Finrod would stand no chance. Finrod certainly thinks so, anyway, and so he's using everything he can to keep Sauron from looking at him as anything more than a plaything. Unfortunately Finrod is a) very pretty and b) very much beloved, which gives Sauron lots of room for entertainment.

Unfortunately, and I do hate to admit this, the "unmaking and remaking" thing was almost a complete accident - I was almost done with the scene, and then I thought, "wait! I never mentioned facial injuries! fuck!" so. sauron got to be extra creepy to cover up for my lack of planning. xD

#asked and answered #thanks for your patience!! #sorry abt the wait ahhhhh #and all his towers cast down #finrod #maedhros #maglor #my writing

[thelordofgifs]

I was looking through older chapters of tfs and your character beats for Maedhros (and also fingon) are so consistent from early on up to chapter 30!!

"How very like Maedhros, to love people, and doom them for it" chapter 11

"A lot of his general worldview is predicated on Fingon being a good person" chapter 8

"You and him?” Curufin demands.

Right. Maedhros was worried about that secret getting out.

Oh well." chapter 8

"“My father doesn’t want to keep you chained,” she tells him. “Everyone in Beleriand knows what you’ve suffered! He’s only afraid you’ll do something terrible to get this.” She raises the Silmaril again. “And you would, wouldn’t you? Even though you’re afraid to touch it.” “I don’t know,” Maedhros whispers, features crumpling in misery." chapter 3!! he still doesn't know what he would do!!!

I'm going insane your character beats are so good.

Thank you!! A lot of these specific moments had actually slipped my mind lol (maybe I should reread my own fic…). But I have tried to keep characterisation details and character arcs consistent throughout, so this is a rather pleasant surprise.

I DO like the idea that Maedhros cannot see the people he loves with any degree of objectivity, that he completely shies away from the knowledge that Fingon and Maglor are both Kinslayers, and that he does on some level buy into Fingon’s legend, the image of him as the heroic prince and Eagle-rider and dragon-fighter, and forgets the darker parts of him. Which is part of why he’s in such free-fall in part 30: between the kiss (which genuinely hurt him, even if he DOES overreact a bit too) and Turgon’s hard truths, he is being forced to confront the idea that Fingon is capable of doing bad things, which terrifies him.

As for Russingon and secrecy: it’s my general headcanon that they WERE very secretive about their relationship. There was never a time when it was politically convenient, after all. So in the third arc, when I wanted to shake that dynamic up a bit, and make it something more complicated than a symbol of hope and light and steadiness to Maedhros, the secrecy thing felt like the easiest thing to go for.

The whole Maedhros-is-scared-of-touching-the-Silmaril thing was a big motif in the very first few parts of the fic, but then he finally holds it when Celegorm dies and is able to touch it which... almost felt like an anticlimax, for a while. But then I managed to work in the idea that he thinks it should burn him, just like he thinks Maglor shouldn't forgive him (these are basically the same concept to him because he is so so so normal about his brother), which drove a lot of his thinking in the third arc and was a pretty fun thread to play with! There is... rather a lot that Maedhros needs to work out about the Oath and also his understanding of himself. Unfortunately I do not think he'll be getting much free therapy atm.

#asks #and-the-times-we-had #the fairest stars

[swanmaids]

fic writer questions - thanks for the tags, @grey-gazania @curufiin and @thelordofgifs! Sorry that it took so long.

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 51, though one is a compilation of unrelated short pieces.

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 89,680

3. What fandoms do you write for? At present just Silm and Lotr, but I'm hoping to participate in Yuletide this year and thinking about The Handmaiden, Hustlers, Swan Lake, and The Wolf Den as potential fandoms to offer

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

spirited away (outsider pov legolas/gimli)

post mortem (clinical/epistolary post-second kinslaying)

it takes a village (5+1 SoF and celebrimbor)

the straight road (epistolary legolas/gimli)

the stones wept (orpheus and eurydice au legolas/gimli)

It seems like my most popular pieces are L/G or sons of Feanor. And they ARE fun to write about, so I'm not complaining!

5. Do you respond to comments? Yes. But sometimes it takes an embarrasingly long time. Because I suck.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? haven (everyone dies) sister sister (everyone dies) if our deed faileth (everyone dies) woe unto worlds end (everyone dies)

Sensing a theme.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? coastin' (Elwing gets her pussy ate by her sexy husband and has an orgasm)

8. Do you get hate on fics? Lol I'm not relevant enough for that.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yes lol. I'm not sure what's meant by "what kind", but I've done F/F, M/M, F/M, F/M/M, M/F/F/F/F and a fairly big variety of kinks so like... most kinds?

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? No, and I'm not a huge reader of them, although I long for a Silm/Succ crossover

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes! The lovely @camille-lachenille translated see it fall, child of war into French. You can read it here.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? No. I write very slowly and erratically, which I don't think would be fair to any potential cowriter.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? Legolas/Gimli is a long term otp and one couple where I really can't see either side with anyone else (if they want to invite Aragorn or Eomer to join for a night I'm not opposed). Elwing and Earendil is another couple that I feel the same about (and I'm also defensive of them as a couple and genuinely see them as an example of some of Tolkien's most romantic writing). I also really like Celegorm/Orome for being basically perfect for my id.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Eeeh. I'm really trying not to officially throw in the towel on any of my wips. It's just taking me a long time...

16. What are your writing strengths? Can I say smut? I think I'm quite good at setting, food, and clothing descriptions too.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Any plot that's more complicated than "emotion in space" or "dick in hole". Also actually DOING the writing.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I used to do it much more than I currently do. Now I feel like it breaks the flow of the story.

19. First fandom you wrote for? LOTR.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? I've said it before but I was really pleased with how one of your girls came out and have reread it a couple of times since publishing. Actually I think I got some writers block after publishing it because I feel like I can't surpass it lol.

This was fun to do! I'm very late to the party so I think most people have been tagged, but if anyone else wants to do it then please go ahead and say I tagged you.

#tag game

[i-did-not-mean-to]

October 27th

Haunted House

OOoooftiiii, this is a rather long and sad one...I am sorry...

Inspired by @cochart's beautiful art and the many people truly invested in this gen pairing...

@mismaeve a story about the husband you left lol I blame you for this one turning out so sad instead of fluffy LOL

Words: 872

Warnings: sadness, mention of canon-death

Humming to himself, Elrond Peredhel knelt by the river and closed his eyes; their enemy was getting ever stronger, and the fate of the whole world such as they knew it hung in the balance.

Hence why he had drawn the ghosts that haunted his house to the water to converse with them as best he could; here, in the shadow of the trees, he allowed himself to discard the heavy robes that symbolised his station and to tie up his hair in the simple braid he had worn in his childhood.

He tilted his face upwards to bathe in the light of the celestial luminary that had once been his father and his hands plunged into the cold waters of the stream; summoning memories he kept buried in his heart most of the time for fear of being incapacitated by his grief, he let them wash over him like showers of stars and flames now, welcoming the pain rushing through his system.

“Grant me strength and patience,” he whispered slowly and opened his senses to the world around him as much as to the dimensions beyond his reach. “Sky who has taken my father, sea who has swallowed my mother, fire who has engulfed Maedhros, and earth who has claimed my beloved brother, hear me in my hour of need and give back a fraction of what you’ve robbed me of.”

A dry sob tore itself from his spasming throat. 

“If only this blessed Middle-Earth for which we are risking more than we can bear losing could rise in defiance to strengthen the arms and lighten the hearts of those devoted to it.”

He felt old now, worn and heavy like the coat that fearsome Fëanorian had wrapped around him and Elros when he had carried them away to safety, brittle and cracking like the strings of Maglor’s old harp that had fallen prey to roughhousing one fateful summer evening.

Celebrían had often chuckled that they lived in a haunted house but that it was besieged by loving memories; now, she was one of the spectres walking the empty halls alongside the parents Elrond still missed with all the intensity of a frightened orphan in the middle of an autumn storm.

Upon building his own home, he had insisted on open spaces even though it had been deemed unwise and unsound in the face of the lingering evil in the world; he had refused to explain in so many words that he could never forget how Maedhros had struggled with doors and what joy the young half-elven wards had felt whenever they saw that tall frame push through gauzy curtains instead – a platter of treats in his lone hand – crooked shoulder first, followed by the lopsided grin and the pain-bent frame of one who had been born with great purpose and who had seen all his glory burn to ashes.

How could Elrond have made anyone fully comprehend why – despite everything that had happened – he yearned to see the starlight fill the rooms and to hear the soft sighing of white wings on swift winds? 

Galadriel understood, of course, for – in her youth, in another realm – she had been lulled to sleep by Maglor’s melodious voice, teasing his brothers mercilessly or singing a song that had just come to him, echoing through open halls and down doorless corridors.

“Harken,” he begged again fervently, “for I truly am in need of some solace tonight.”

A long-forgotten recollection stirred like cold smoke within his soul, and his fingers clawed themselves into the silty ground at the bottom of the river frantically. 

Maedhros who was as tall as a tree

Maglor whose voice moved friend and foe

Celegorm who was wild and free

Caranthir and his tale of woe

Curufin his father’s shadow 

Ambarussa precious twins of yore

They all shall reap what doom they sow

And hence shall be seen nevermore.

It was but a silly nursery rhyme made up by their captors – by their protectors, by their providers, by their fathers – in a rare moment of humour, but Elrond now hissed the words like a desperate prayer into the still night air.

“Blood of my blood, love of my heart,” he groaned, “bring back what I have lost and inhale into this aching body the strength and the faith of those who have gone before me.”

His parents had taught him that desperate times called for desperate measures, his foster fathers had shown him that loyalty and kindness were possible even at the bleakest of times, and his beloved wife had let him understand that physical absence was not a testament to lack of love. 

“Let me be haunted then,” Elrond declared, straightening slowly and steeling his nerves, “let the deaths and departures that are etched into my skin harden into impenetrable armour. Let them come!”

Behind a thicket, an old creature with luminous eyes blinked; Maglor had not expected his little star to remember the empty words of regret and love he had offered the child like a veiled treasure.

“To war once more, you old wreck of a cursed Fëanorian,” he whispered to himself, clenching and unclenching an aching hand, “and then home. Ai, I shall finally be homewards bound.”

@fellowshipofthefics and we're going for the final sprint here...

Force and courage to all of you & of course, lots of love...

-> Masterlist

#fanfiction #writing #IDNMT writes #fotfics October challenge #fotfics fictober #ficlet run #1 scene per day #a different pairing every day #the silm #the silmarillion #Elrond #Maglor #Maedhros #Elros #Elwing #Eärendil #family #grief #haunting #sadness #kidnap fam #loneliness

[arinele]

Silmarillion Modern Business/CEO AU

Inspired by @doodle-pops own CEO AU

Finwe is CEO of TIRION, a very successful tech company. Finwe founded and owned TIRION for many years, but was mysteriously murdered in his home by an unknown assailant. His company then dissolved into chaos as his son and step son fought over control. Both sides had large followings, and as a result, the company was split in two. A legal battle ensued, and Judge Namo declared that Feanor, as Finwe’s only blood relation, would be allowed to keep the name TIRION, but would be forced to give up half of the profits to his step brother Fingolfin and his new company Hithlum Enterprises.

Fingolfin is the CEO of Hithlum Enterprises. Fingon is his #2, and eventually takes over after Fingolfin dies.

Melkor is the CEO of Angband, and is the main rival of the Finwians.

Feanor is the CEO of TIRION. When things started to heat up at work between him and Fingolfin (while Finwe was still alive) he eventually decided leave TIRION and founded his own company, Formenos. Though he later went back to TIRION after Finwe’s death and gave ownership of Formenos to Curufin. Curufin passes Formenos to Celebrimbor, who renames it RING.

Maedhros is CEO of TIRION after Feanor dies.

Nerdanel is famous sculpter obviously.

Finarfin is a doctor or something and Earwen is a marine biologist. They don’t involve themselves in their family’s bs.

Anairë owns a law firm. Turgon takes over after Finwe dies and she retires. Idril takes over after him.

Finrod is a social media influencer who owns a fashion line.

Galadriel moves to an entirely different state and was the assistant to Melian, a governor. Or maybe a senator? Eventually becomes the president or something lol.

Maglor is a musician of some kind. He’s a starving artist until his family’s drama gets him attention. Eventually adopts two kids.

Celegorm works for the National Parks or something. Maybe a vet?

Caranthir got tired of his family’s bs and made his own company way before Finwe died. He’s incredibly successful. The King of Business. Everyone in his family calls him if they have a problem with their businesses. Has made billions off of his investments alone. Probably found a loophole to get out of paying his taxes. Will help you find it too because fuck the government. Is somehow the richest person in his entire extended family.

Aegnor tried out for the swim team because a girl he was interested in said she thought Michael Phelps was hot. Ends up being insanely good at it and competes at an Olympic level. Fucks Michael Phelps.

Aredhel is a world champion Olympic archer. She likes to volunteer at Celegorm’s work every once in a while. Was in an abusive relationship as a teenager and had Maeglin when she was pretty young.

Argon is a famous basketball player. (He’s TALL)

Amrod was killed in a house fire by one of Melkor’s men in retaliation for something that Feanor did. Amras was left horribly burnt, but survived. He worked odd jobs throughout his life, but never stayed at one for too long. He never truly recovered from his brother’s loss.

Gil-Galad is Maedhros and Fingon’s son. He ends up inheriting both of his father’s companies and as a result, the companies merge back together after many long years apart.

#silmarillion #tolkien #maedhros #maglor #caranthir #feanor #celegorm #feanorians #curufin #finarfin #the silmarillion #fingon #ambarussa #fingolfin #amrod #amras #Galadriel #nerdanel #argon #Aegnor #angrod #gil galad #Aredhel #Maeglin #Turgon #Finrod #melkor #house of finwe #my writing #the silm