Have Courage & Be Kind Little Dove

Lil. 30s. Jewish (Mizrahi) queer biracial fairy princess

[malkaleh]

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[natalierso]

But my heart is strong 'cause now I know where I belong It's you and I against the world And we are free

NATALIERSO'S FOLLOWERS CELEBRATION

@lehdenlaulu asked: rebelcaptain + aftermath by muse (in/sp)

[rubysunnday]

BRIDGERTON (2020 -) Violet Bridgerton's Queen Titania Costume

[sourcengine-moved]

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

OP's daughter: " thank you puppy, no, i can get up on my own puppy, thank you, give me a hug." (cr: 海棠妈)

art by 麦太的手绘小屋 and 童小乐

[lacetulle]

Hass Idriss | Les Cauchemars

[malkaleh]

@kenobiwaned

[polartss]

wild geraniums🌸 the last one of the pieces I made for Illumicrate’s special edition of the Six of Crows duology!!

[moonminho]

𝕾𝖍𝖆𝖉𝖔𝖜 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕭𝖔𝖓𝖊 ꜱᴇᴀꜱᴏɴ 1 ʀᴇᴡᴀᴛᴄʜ #145 ↳𝟷.𝟶𝟼: 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠

[only-cat-memes]

[malkaleh]

Gold Cages Lost Flame & Flowers: Part XI

Warnings: rape/non con, slavery, sex slavery, sacrifices, violence, torture, abuse, victim blaming and in universe racism including antisemitism, eugenics.

Ships: mairon/celeborn/galadriel, isildur x oc, elendil/miriel/gil-galad, celebrian/elrond, sauron/galadriel/elrond/celeborn/celebrimbor/finrod (noncon/one sided), adar/cirdan, arondir/brownyn and background finrod/luthien/beren.

Summary: In this universe Mairon, Maia of Aule is not seduced by Morgoth but Morgoth is still very much in love with him. So in love that he is taken by him but there is still a Sauron, once named Curumo by the elves. Thousands of years later in Rhûn a silver haired elf and his infant daughter find Mairon and in their slavery, a new family is found amongst horror and loss

Elsewhere, Curumo finds a new form in the wreckage of the War of Wrath and finds himself in love with more than one. He will stop at nothing to keep them safe. No matter what.

Note: this is particularly for @kenobiwaned whose amazing work and being such a cool friend who lives in my phone is really the reason that this exists at all. But also to @themalhambird @plotdesigner @seagull-energy and @nocompromise-noregrets for being amazing friends and collaborators.

Tag list: @eowyn7023 @blind-dandelion @agoodflyting @a-ramblinrose @erulasse23 @conundrumoftime @broadwaybaggins if you would like to be tagged in updates then reply or like this post)

Master Post | Previous Part

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"You should have my stupid dresses Shutha. I can't even wear them properly and you can."

Freyja had considered this over breakfast (Mama always said she shouldn't talk with her mouth full so Freyja talks inside her head mostly which doesn't count) and she knew this was the best way. Shutha was a princess so she should have princess dresses and then Freyja could wear what she liked and Shutha could wear what she wanted. 

"I don't think I can. Lord Curumo wouldn't like it and then the grown ups would be sad."

"He's stupid though!"

"Freyja you can't say that. You know you can't say that."

"I suppose. But he is stupid Shutha - he thinks you aren't real and he pats my hair and I have to wear stupid dresses all the time."

Shutha looked at her friend sadly. Freyja was her best friend but Freyja could say things scary things like that sometimes - everyone knew you don't talk about the Lords like that, but then Freyja didn't really because Freyja didn't know all the childrens stories about how you had to be quiet. Maybe it's because Freyja didn't have older sisters. 

Shutha puts that thought away for another time and takes Freyja's hand - she wants to play Spiders and Goblins today and Freyja is the best at it because most of the time Freyja doesn't even wear her dresses anyway - she likes to wear breeches and tunics all the time. 

"What about we play Spiders and Goblins later but now we read more about the Golden Elf?" 

Shutha likes the stories about Lady Idril best but she likes the Golden Elf as well! He fought a whole Balrog and saved his people and Shutha thinks Freyja could fight two Balrogs. Freyja says Shutha could help people like Lady Idril did though and Shutha likes that idea. 

(Her new Uncle Celebrimbor was even there in the Golden Elf and Lady Idrils city and he tells the best stories about them - some of them are for when she and Freyja are older he says but a lot of them aren't and she thinks the Golden City must have been the best place in the whole of the world).

They look over the stories together while the grown ups are doing grown up things all the time - though it was funny that the adults kept laughing about gardening the last time. Shutha isn't sure what's funny about flowers but maybe that is something you learn when you get really old like Agralash is. 

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Mairon thinks that his love for Celeborn is a constant in the backgroud of his being - some days it aches horribly but it is always there in the way that Mairon breathes now. His love for Galadriel is a sudden onset, a flare of light that takes him apart in its fierceness. You are so beautiful, he thinks looking at her - shining hair and sword in hand and he loves them both.

It is not…once Mairon had loved the game of seduction, of the joy of finding out what a lover might want and giving it to them, of creating beauty and pleasure. He had delighted in it, in the being he had once been. Did you bed him, my brothers herald, Morgoth had whispered in his ear, smoke and the weight of mountains - did you love him, my jewel? I do not think you did, did you - I will pluck every feather from his wings before the end and Mairon had not whimpered (you learn to not whimper, to not flinch for it made it worse) and had said no, not him. Not in the way that you mean Lord. And it is true - it was not as Morgoth meant it. 

So he keeps matters quiet between them. He had had practice in Rhun - for he had not wanted to speak of his own desires, not when they were in such a place. Not when Celeborn had had far too many unwanted and unwished for suitors but sometimes, sometimes when they had laid in their cot together he had felt the ache in himself, looking at the elf who he had come to love. It is better, he thinks that I do not speak of it, Celeborn has lost so much choice and he has lost his wife. I will not push myself upon him. 

you know, there were times when I thought the same - that I should not burden you with my desires. Celeborn traces patterns across his chest, smiles somewhat sadly as Galadriel snorts. But I can assure you, I wanted you Mairon. I wanted you so much sometimes I was ashamed of myself - I felt like the Masters, imposing my desires on you. You could never, Mairon says. Never. Either of you.

I have never known myself to be unable to give voice to my wishes, Galadriel says, lips against his ear and it is beautiful to be between them, cradled safe safe he has never known this before. But you rendered me entirely speechless.

He is very good at that, Celeborn says and then there is no more talking for a while.

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"What, exactly do you think they could be 'getting up to' - because I can assure you that Elrond can hardly move at all without falling into unconsciousness - tell me how that might equal 'they are clearly fucking' to you?" 

Sedril snorts at the way the elf's face reddens at the profanity rather than anything else. 

"It is the implications rather than the reality Healer - surely you must understand that. With the fact that none of them will be separated from each other and whatever it is that they have….surely you must understand why there is concern?"

"No, no I do not understand why my severely and deeply traumatised patients holding on to each other for comfort is concerning and Estë give me patience to understand why anyone would be for I cannot. Now if you do not have any actual need for healing? Get out of my halls." 

The slammed door behind him is music to Sedrils ears. She's already had far too many conversations (and one near violent confrontation) about 'what to do about this 'problem'' and one too many of them had begun with 'put them out of their miseries' which she will not have here. There have been too many disasters across the ages, of doing Morgoths work for him and she refuses to do so. Not when there is another way. One day Sedril will sail for Aman and if Elu Thingol has come out of Mandos she will strangle him herself when she first sees him. 

(There is a part of her that wants to be fair but truth be told it is not a very large part of her - Elrond thankfully has not inherited that from his forefather but then, Elrond is far too sensible to ever indulge in such things).

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The knowledge that his beloved little bird was her line had come later but Curumo has never seen any of that abomination in his nightingale - perhaps because Elrond is so clearly and entirely kind to him. He makes Curumo feel at peace and embraced and has from the first moment that they encountered each other in Eregion when Elrond had thought him a mortal named Hrodgar, only the long lost King of ash and dust and yet, Elrond had treated him with respect. 

So he had not known that he was of her line and then, then he had only seen Melian in those gentle starlit eyes, olive skin and black curls. It was Melians steady wisdom (not withstanding that she had been ensnared by that cursed Thingol) that embraced Curumo and so he never thinks of her when looking upon his little bird. 

And now, now the disgusting filth that is Numenor seek to take his nightingale, his lovely delicate solace away from him. Curumo will never allow it. There is something in the blood of much of this kingdom that is abhorrent - perhaps that is where her lineage tells, though not in Elendil and Miriel and their children - that is where he sees his little bird. 

Come, he says gently as Elrond regains his strength. I will have you away from this isle as soon as I might but first, first my love I want them to see how much I love you, how they did not succeed in taking you from me. He dresses in Elrond in the darkest red velvet that he loves upon him - it drapes perfectly and the gold chains in his dark hair glitter and carries him to the assembly in the throne room where his other loves await him. 

perfect Curumo thinks. It is perfect. He watches the scum around them who toast to their own destruction and the triumph is sweeter for his darlings, his sweet treasures in his hands and soon, soon he will have to send them away but he will return home to them and this island will be gone. 

Instead he has returned to triumph that has turned to ash. His cursed, abhorrent kin have taken his darlings from him because they fear his powers, fear his supremacy over them and the vengenance he shall take. They think to cower him by this but he shall not be - instead he is resolved all the more. He will bring perfection to Middle Earth and he will make sure his jewels are safe again in his keeping. 

But first to deal with the mortal filth that has allowed this to happen. His so called priest and his whore. 

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Neidragh - Curumo says it, hand beneath his creations tunic. My love, if you go near that whore again I will flay his skin from his bones in front of your eyes. It burns Curumo to keep the whore alive for his master but he must. It does not mean he has to tolerate Mairon hooking his tendrils into that which belongs to Curumo. That which Curumo had crafted for his very own - Neidragh belonged entirely to him and had from the first moment he had seen him by that lake and desired to have the elf that had been for his. Neidragh was not that elf of course for Curumo had ripped that away and made something utterly exquisitely new from the remains but it had always been destined to be his. 

It is why he had soon realised that Neidragh could not have betrayed him. Of course he could not - the orc scum were imperfect flawed experiments that had clearly played on Neidraghs soft heart and sentimentality and had enchanted him. Curumo had never believed it, not even when the crown had turned into a blade as Neidragh knelt before Curumo to bestow it upon him. The idea of betrayal had been a ridiculous one, one that Curumo blames on the unfortunate disruption to his plans that had ensued after the disaster of the War of Wrath and the time it had taken him to rebuild matters. 

Now of course he will bed Neidragh as he desires. And now, now in the aftermath of his second loss he finds that someone else has touched that which belongs to him. He will give Neidragh a lesson in who it is he belongs to for it seems he might have thrown it away. 

when Curumo had had him with his treasures there had been times Curumo had wondered how they might look together - it was a pretty picture that the Moriandor made with Curumos loves. Perhaps one day, Curumo had thought back then at least with my smith - they would make such a pretty picture together pleasing Curumo

But of course, of course the Shipwright had plucked Neidragh - Curumo hates it, the idea that his gift should find pleasure in another as it seems he has. A marriage! As though Neidragh was a being to bestow himself upon another rather than Curumos - it sickens him, especially as he suspects that Cirdan has been the one to impede many of Curumos plans and now, now he takes again. 

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I will use you. But first, we must purify your whores blood. Zigur is an Avalôi and thus you cannot judge him to the sanity of other beings but Tôdaphêl thinks for all that Zigur has not lost any of his cunning nor his intellect he is not entirely sane now - particularly in his fury towards his fellow. She wonders, distantly if the Avalôi can be killed and decides that he cannot (and Zigur will not, that she knows well enough now - he had made promises to his own master and Zigur and Tôdaphêl both keep to their promises) and it would be of no use to her regardless. 

The being is tied to the altar - the bonds are tight she thinks and the knife that Zigur holds is different. Crueller. 

It turns out that this Avalôi at least will bleed red. For a moment it is as though the very skies and sea are weeping. Stilled. But no, Tôdaphêl knows very well that those powers cannot find this one and clearly they care as little for him as they have for any in Middle Earth or Arda for they have not come for him. 

Still, better that she and her family shall be far from this isle at it's end. Far better to be trusted with transporting Zigurs precious ones and then to begin anew in Angmar - she will uphold her family legacy well and that is all that matters. They will survive, she and her house hold all and they will prosper. 

(Tôdaphêl makes a note to ensure the stock of winter clothing and supplies for the servants is reinforced and that the heating system in her families new home is operative before they come to dwell there as the Avalôi finally whimpers). 

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"Can you bring me tidings of any of them?" 

Gil-galad does not say 'forgive me' because he thinks he is past that now but he is sorry for his tone - it sounds almost dispassionate to his own ears but oddly, Queen Miriel and her Sea Captain seems to understand what is underneath it and somehow that does not feel discomforting to Erenion at all. 

"I can tell you they live, at least when I saw them onto the ship that Sauron had commanded convey them back to Middle Earth before he sent us away ourselves." 

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"How many, my love - how many have been in your bed before?"

It depends, Celebrimbor wants to retort, on if you count the walls. Or does that moment in Gondolin in one of the private fountains make it a bed? Though we did make it to bed eventually. He bites it back and tries (tries) to look abashed. 

"No one for a very long time. And I have never lost my heart to any other as I did to you."

This is a painful, aching truth. Celebrimbor had lost himself to Annatar in ways he had never expected, for all that they had never shared even a kiss. He had dreamed of it, before everything and now ironically there is nothing he wishes for less even as a part of his body still yearns for that touch. 

"I cannot truly blame you my darling - after all your whore of a grandfather hardly gave you a good example in such matters and you were abandoned by so many of your so called family - of course others took advantage."

Sauron grips him by the hair then. "But if any of them still live I will flay the flesh from their bones and force their spirit into rotting flesh. You need not be ashamed though, my dearest of what was forced - I understand very well that you did not wish it."

of course his little bird, his own nightingale is untouched by any hand. Poor Tyelpe had been so confused before but those who had touched him had not truly tainted him - of that Curumo is sure (the bedding had been nothing but a pleasure, a new thing for his smith - Curumo knows that for sure, that the hands on his darlings skin were new and Tyelpe was pure) but Elrond, Elrond has never known what it is to be bedded by another and Curumo savours that he will be his darlings first and only

Curumo knew that Celebrian was his child and he knew it anew when Galadriel answered him as to her meeting with Curumos sweet silver prince. He and his Queen of Light had met in a flower glade - of course his sweet little queen of a daughter was meant for soft flowers and perfection. 

Of course his darlings had made her there for their husband. Curumo twirls Galadriel in his arms in delight, her hair shining about him and scented with roses. 

I am not angry at you my darling one, Curumo says to Finrod - how could I be when we have felt the same knife at our throats. I know you never wanted what they wished of you, my lovely.

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Curumo is a loyal servant and a useful one and Melkor is not unappreciative of his work and Melkor does not mistrust him. But he is tedious in his jealousies - but then Curumo could never be what his jewels are to him, Melkor thinks as he strokes dark hair and red brown (this form of Mairons is lovely enough) - but his jewels would never do what Curumo does. Unfortunate - they would make such exquisite right and left hands but in truth Melkor likes them better as they are - precious jewels in his arms. 

When the end comes it is quick - he had never thought his useless soft hearted brother would do such things and he thinks for a moment of whether he could still find a way to flee them - at least they wil not get their hands upon Mairon, for all the incompetence in the loss of him - perhaps he should have given the umaia who had managed to lose Melkors little flame a quicker death after all, but perhaps not. Melkors grip tightens on his dark jewel flame - he does not want to let go of him, to give him up. 

There is a bargain there, Melkor thinks as they come and his brothers herald leads them and it had to be him Melkor snarls to himself, mountains and smoke and his work falling around him and it was him who had touched his little flame so tenderly. 

"You will never find him - I have made sure of that" he spits as they hew his feet from this form. At least there is that. That and he knows he has broken his dark jewel flame from that red haired bitch - she will never be able to touch him again. 

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Note: @kenobiwaned wrote some gorgeous meta about Curumo!Sauron and his relationship with Adar and this happened. Because I absolutely agreed - Curumo!Sauron does not think that Adar is an independent person (look the bar is in the sub floors of hell and it's still abusive as fuck but Mairon!Sauron and Adar have a certain amount of…there was like, mutual affection (to be clear - still abuse)/trust. And then of course Morgoths feelings about Curumo!Sauron - for me I think Morgoth respects him and doesn't mistrust him (which for Morgoth is actually significant - he doesn't trust him because Morgoth does not do that particularly post imprisonment but he doesn't mistrust him) but he will never love him (like with Mairon!Sauron Morgoth genuinely loves him and even trusts him (except obviously also is brutally abusive AT THE SAME TIME and that increases as time goes on)) and that is what Curumo!Sauron really wants. Also I thought for five seconds about not deciding to incorporate the Feanor Got Grabbed Variant into this and then went '…it is my self indulgent AU and I am permitted to be self indulgent' so I did it. 

[kenobiwaned]

SQUEE!

There was so much that I loved about this installment. I literally re-read it like four times today.

Shutha and Freyja! Sauron looking at teeny-tiny Uruks like Shutha and having his immediate thoughts be of hatred is just so indicitave of why he is the worst. I'm pretty sure that he doesn't interact with the "vulgar herd" very often and does his communication via a chosen few, but it's still awful.  

Shutha just knowing that there are some things that can't be done or said in a way that Freyja has been protected from having to understand. It's so sad that Shutha has to keep those things in mind when she's this young. 

Ahh! I love how you put in the detail about both of them liking the stories about Gondolin for different reasons. It tracks that Freyja's going to like Glorfindel and that Shutha would immediately latch onto Idril. I'm not saying that she's going to grow up to make an Uruk version of Gondolin, but also I'm not not saying that. 

I actually lol'ed when I read the bit where Shutha thinks of Agralash as being "old". 

Ohh yes! Mairon just slow burning for Celeborn and being an actual house-on-fire about Galadriel. Also how Celeborn was also slow-burning for Mairon and Galadriel is just like "Good thing I came along or you two wouldn't have even touched pinkies before the breaking of Arda." 

I'm just imagining a conversation between Eonwe and Mairon wayyyy in the 4th age. And Eonwe going, "Let me get this straight. You were living with him? You shared a bed? You shared a CHILD...and you still thought he might turn you down?" 

Mairon not being able to express himself physically the way that he once would have when it comes to romantic interest. But also coming to the realizaion that just because he can't go back doesn't mean that he can't go on!  

Sedril being like, "Listen, nothing is happening. But even if it were, it's really none of your business. Now get off my lawn." 

Just poetry. I feel like she and Cirdan need to get together and have bitch sessions about Elven lords who think they know what's what when they weren't even around for The Sinking. 

Ew. Sauron's thoughts about Elrond being kind to him when he was in his "Hrodgar" is similar to the way gross men will assume that women are "encouraging them" because they happen to smile in their direction on occasion. 

The way he blatantly ignores all the aspects of Elrond's heritage that he dislikes to create this perfect concept of what he wants. He's so concerned about the "disgusting filth" of Numenor corrupting Elrond. Meanwhile, those are literally his great-great-whatever nieces and nephews. 

UGH. Yes, that is exactly how I picture interactions between Adar and Curumo. It's a very creepy mix of a possessive lover and one of those parents who thinks that because they have a child, the child is their property. *barfs* The whole "this is mine to do what I please, when I please" mentality.

I can just imagine Curumo creeping on an unsuspecting Adar at Cuivienen. He's angry and hurt that Melkor's just not as into him as he wishes, and then there is this Elf who is so kind and nurturing (and maybe too shy to seek a spouse), and Sauron just decides that he's going to build someone who will love him the way that he wants to be wanted.

Omg! The switch of Adar kneeling and presenting the crown to Curumo is PERFECT. It reminds me of that moment in French History when Napoleon took the crown from the Pope's hands and crowned himself at his own coronation. That sort of arrogance is completely in line with Curumo's personality. Joke's on him, he gets sent to the equivalent of Elba via being turned into goo for the better part of an age.

It also completely tracks that Curumo would hate Cirdan for "stealing" Adar. I think this revelation, out of all the matchups that happen post-escape, is the one that really comes out of left field for Sauron. He's so primed to think that Mairon is out to seduce everyone that he'd be angry about Celeborn/Galadriel/Mairon, but I don't necessarily think that he would be surprised. He can explain away Elrond/Celebrian as Celebrian trying to protect Elrond (and probably that they're trying to give Curumo children in some convoluted way that only makes sense to him). But Adar having a lover has got to really upend Sauron. He "made" Adar to love him. He thought he had made Adar to be loved by no one but himself. I think Adar/Cirdan genuinely shocks him to the core.

The witnesses to the bloodletting at the temple are just side-eyeing each other. Wondering exactly how many branches Sauron hit as he fell out of the crazy tree. In some ways, this sacrifice feels similar to the one that happened on the show. There's such a sense of blasphemy about the act, even if Mairon didn't actually die.

Poor Celebrimbor! Being raked over the coals about his previous partners. There's something interesting (and sad) about this exchange. We're told that he never really loved anyone the way that he loved Annatar. The worst part is that, to a certain degree, you can see a tiny glimmer of truth amid all of Curumo's bullshit. Not that people took advantage of him, or any of that other nonsense. But the notion that Celebrimbor must have been incredibly lonely (especially in the First Age). He broke with his family, but there were probably heaps of Noldor and Sindar who still considered him a monster by association. Naturally, Curumo picks up on that and uses it to manipulate Celebrimbor.

Curumo is very much telling on himself with his paranoia over his loves/children becoming "tainted". I feel like there is some subconscious transference of his fears going on.

Oof. Curumo wants every detail of Celeborn's and Galadriel's romance. He's trying so hard to inject himself into the situation. I bet that getting/giving those details was harrowing. You can see Sauron wanting to know, but also becoming enraged and going off on unsuspecting thralls as he hears it.

I wonder if Melkor deliberately set out to encourage Curumo to love him. It seems like something that he would do. Making sure that someone stays loyal via love. Always offering just enough to keep Curumo coming back for more, but never enough to make him happy. On the other hand, Curumo is pretty delusional all on his own. He could have just as easily made a whole bunch of assumptions about what their relationship was going to be like, and Melkor just took advantage of an opportunity to secure a loyal and useful servant.

I loved reading this! Thank you so much for writing it!

[malkaleh]

@kenobiwaned oh my gosh I am so so touched you liked it so much my heart.

With Shutha and Freyja (I think they are between four-six here) I really wanted to get that little kid sense of They Are So So Old (like TWELVE) And Big there *g* Also yep (I think Curumo!Sauron regards the Uruk as somewhere between ‘nameless scum’ and ‘okay FINE useful tool’ and he’s really not good at hiding his revulsion and nor does he want to have any contact with most of them (which THAT IS A BABY. AN ADORABLE BABY (re Shutha)) and that’s something that Shutha has to know which is so enraging/sad that she has to know it so young.

And Freyja doesn’t because Freyja has been sheltered and also I will be honest Freyja in any other universe dies because she is chronically unable to Shut Up Judiciously when she sees an unjust and her culture hates hates outspoken little girls (in any other universe she and Bjorn and Sven and Gunhild and Astrid and her family die)

(But it was so lovely to write these two little besties (I picture them sitting together in a niche somewhere eating pastries and swinging their legs) and also who they will grow into eventually).

Re Celeborn/Galadriel/Mairon: THEY REALLY WOULD NOT HAVE (I kind of picture Celebrian being like ‘I do not want to know about it but dads you need to do something about how you are both in love with each other because I CANNOT TAKE IT’ at some point if Galadriel had not been there). Like just the most mutual pining to ever mutual pine and neither of them actually realises it.

Also Morgoth absolutely at least encouraged Curumo!Sauron in his…delusions in that regard (Morgoth is and isn’t subtle but he is actually very very good at this one and very smart about it - not promising but implying he promises) - if not outright giving him enough crumbs to hope. (It’s also very ‘I rely on you like no other Curumo’ about it all and Curumo just kind of…inferring from there).

I spent so much time going back and forth on Celebrimbors past sex/relationship experience pre Annatar and YES on the loneliness - I think he’d told himself that he could devote himself to crafting (and to be clear he had a daughter (Mirdania) and friends and a lot of joys but also he was lonely lonely for a long time because he’d lost his family and he does not regret his choice but also he does) and then he thought he’d found this connection and UGH POOR CELEBRIMBOR.

(Of all of them I think he might struggle the most with being able to be with someone ever again if at all. Like I tried to think about but he fell in love for the very first time and uh, That Happened which is awful. So I don’t know if he comes back).

Okay now I’m thinking about Curumo and the reaction to Celeborn/Mairon/Galadriel and how it’s ‘that whore STOLE them from me’ levels of rage anyway I will be writing something about this in more detail but the way I think he reacts to that is…somewhere between ‘I have to remind them who they belong to - my poor loves’ and ‘he stole SOMETHING ELSE’

But yes he absolutely cannot conceive of Adar being a person who would choose something or someone and also that someone would even…it’s not that he doesn’t think Adar is desirable (he clearly does - he wanted to create his ideal who would never leave him and always love him) but he can’t conceive of someone *asking him to marry* if that makes any sense? Because you don’t ask a possession UGH.

Honestly that whole conversation was *awful* (all of them were but the Celeborn and Galadriel one in particular because in some ways they had to make it about Curumo to make sure Celebrian was safe and UGH UGH UGH).

(Part of the story Galadriel and Celeborn aren’t telling = lots. Like how the first time Celeborn saw her she was just like :i have walked across The Fucking Ice for years, I am doing some Uncanny Shit and have a SWORD and possibly I am covered in blood: and he was like WIFE and Galadriel won’t say that she really fell for Celeborn that time he told Daeron to for the love Eru shut up).

(I had some feelings about Curumo!Saurons view of Elrond and how it’s somewhat different for me than Mairon!Sauron - for Mairon!Sauron it’s kindness to Halbrand that kind of rewrites the AAAAGH AAAGH IT’S HER of it all (I think also on the surface Elrond does not really seem like he would pull a Luthien) and it’s part of him putting the threat to rest that he can hold Elrond and love him, that Elrond is kind and seems to being not treated well* But for Curumo!Sauron it’s that…like the way that some men will see a woman (specifically in this case a biracial woman with all that implies) and go ‘oh look my beautiful emotional support angel just for me’ because they were generally kind)

(Which I think they all struggle with a lot of guilt re that and some external blame re ‘encouraging the attention’ but ultimately as you have Adar say in A Company Of Wolves (which I totally read again) it was not wrong to be kind. It was wrong what he did).

[malkaleh]

Gold Cages Lost Flame & Flowers: Part X

Warnings: rape/non con, slavery, sex slavery, sacrifices, violence, torture, abuse, victim blaming and in universe racism including antisemitism, eugenics.

Ships: mairon/celeborn/galadriel, isildur x oc, elendil/miriel/gil-galad, celebrian/elrond, sauron/galadriel/elrond/celeborn/celebrimbor/finrod (noncon/one sided), adar/cirdan, arondir/brownyn and background finrod/luthien/beren.

Summary: In this universe Mairon, Maia of Aule is not seduced by Morgoth but Morgoth is still very much in love with him. So in love that he is taken by him but there is still a Sauron, once named Curumo by the elves. Thousands of years later in Rhûn a silver haired elf and his infant daughter find Mairon and in their slavery, a new family is found amongst horror and loss

Elsewhere, Curumo finds a new form in the wreckage of the War of Wrath and finds himself in love with more than one. He will stop at nothing to keep them safe. No matter what.

Note: this is particularly for @kenobiwaned whose amazing work and being such a cool friend who lives in my phone is really the reason that this exists at all. But also to @themalhambird @plotdesigner @seagull-energy and @nocompromise-noregrets for being amazing friends and collaborators.

Tag list: @eowyn7023 @blind-dandelion @agoodflyting @a-ramblinrose @erulasse23 @conundrumoftime @broadwaybaggins if you would like to be tagged in updates then reply or like this post)

Master Post | Previous Part

He will survive this for he must, though they can feel the shaking of the Eyes coming wrath even now - they have all heard tales of what happened when the Eye's Flame Gift had been pulled away from him in the far far past and now, now they must face it themselves. 

go. It had gone down to the Uruk that still remained in Forodwaith and they too had gone, slipping away unnoticed into the night with those of the mortal servants who had some fellowship with them. Not all of them would go, of course and the Uruk do not look back for they cannot afford to and the humans are no concern of theirs. 

(If all the children have streamed to safety then it too is hardly noticed)

Erik will survive. He is efficient with the servants - making sure to not damage them beyond the point of repair so they cannot perform their duties (for The Eye may have need of them yet) but frustratingly, none of them appear to have admitted to anything and it burns him because surely, surely it is none of Erik's doing that he cannot find who has so brazenly denied Lord Morgoth. Surely. 

And then, then he realises. Of course. It had been so very obvious when he thought upon it. It must have been the guards. None of the women nor the dull witted servants could have done it so it must have been the guards who had given in to temptation and promises. 

Erik informs Chieftain Harald with a sense of relief. Now The Eye's wrath shall fall upon the appropriate places. Of course it may well be that they can retrieve Lord Saurons treasures before he returns but if that so then The Eye will still be rightfully angry at the danger they had been in. 

Of course, Gudrun says evenly, I would never seek to undermine the authority of Lord Melkors Voices except that in this case, there have been a great deal of missteps of late. Send a messenger to Lord Melkors Eye of what has transpired and allow him to make his own determination in the matter.

Somewhere in the midst of his terror and grief Curumo thinks with a grateful heart upon the Chieftain and his wife - they at least are not to blame - indeed if they had been heeded then he would not be berefit of his loves and his children - they and their people should be rewarded.

Somewhere in his wrath, he thinks of it. But they are still gone, his darlings - his precious peace and solace and they are gone from me and left to the mercy of the cruelty of those who dare to claim them. I will rend those who do to pieces and still that will not be enough. None of it will be enough and he vents his wrath upon the blighted ice scape that Fodorwaith was, sinks much of it into flame and heat and nothing is solace. Nothing. Curumo cannot find his peace for they have been ripped from him, solace and joy and light gone and he will bring it back in his victory. He will find them. 

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

Their child is conceived between ocean and stars - between the last of Numenor and of Aman glimpsed by the mortal world and the beginning of Gondor. But she comes to be in freedom, in the peace of a respite from the horror of the ending of one world and Miriel will always always treasure that her daughter shall be born into such. Amongst friends. 

They are relearning how to be again, Miriel thinks - in between Lindon and the city they are now beginning to build - she is learning to exist with choices, without Pharazons hands and greed and want and blood. They are learning to love another, she thinks to herself of Erenion with a smile (they will bring him around in the end) and they are learning what it is to go on and even to find joy after all of it. Even if her scars still ache. Even if she still feels Pharazon in her skin. 

She thinks of Galadriel then. I hope for you, she thinks but I do not pity you - they had curled together when even those who they loved were too male to be borne. They had raged together, cried together and even laughed and she hopes, she hopes one day she might see her again. All of them. 

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

The parcel is supposed to come to Minas Tirith but it ends in Lindon, in Gil-galads hands. A delicate thing - beautiful. A promise in lovely horror he thinks with revulsion. Gifts for a coming child - a gift from an emissary made in love - for are you not also mine Miriel and Elendil - and this child too - it is so lovely, the delicate crown and earrings and necklace. Fit for a princess. 

Gil-galad thinks if you were before me abhorred I would see you slain though it killed me. 

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

It took me a long time to want to have children. Not because I did not want them - I yearned for them for as long as I can remember - but because I did not want to bring a child into my world if I could help it. I saw how children were extra chains, I knew how it felt to be born into slavery and I would never, ever if I could have the choice, want to see my own pain repeated. 

When I carried our first son I was terrified as much as delighted even now in what was safety - for it was safety in Minas Tirith with a husband and family who adored me and then…then the linens arrived. They were beautiful - soft, delicate and embroidered perfectly. But I knew and for once I was not furious. I was quaking.He would come I thought. He would come and take us away and our child would grow up in the horror of a gilded prison and I could not speak because He had come to us in the midst of Minas Tirith. He had come to us. 

Promise me, I remember saying to Isildur. Promise me we will kill ourselves if he comes for us again. Promise me. I do not know that he did, in truth but I kept repeating it. Kept wanting to scream it. I could not go back there, not having tasted and known freedom. And such freedom. I could not do it - I would paint that place in blood and rage I said but I also knew that I…I could not. Sauron would say, it was the fault of those who call you their Queen and he would hurt them and I would know who it was had spilled their blood for my own selfish reasons. And I could not. I had made my own promises there too. 

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

Curumo looked down upon the pathetic trash that was the latest of the faithful and sniffed. Truthfully he disliked being present at these moments but it was unfortunately a necessity so he might keep control of this kingdom in his own hands and to do so he needed to ensure Pharazon retained his hold. 

This one had lasted long. Many of them did, annoyingly. Curumo wrinkles his nose at the smell of blood and other fluids that leak around interrogations and the mortal looks up at him. 

"You will not get it."

"Of course I will. So many think they will stand fast until it comes to a point where they can no longer."

"No, Zigur you misunderstand me. I do not say I am brave nor special for I fear torment and death as any would. I say to you that you shall never gain what your heart desires. They will never love you. Especially he who gave his life for the foremother and father of my race - for did not Finrod Felagund die for Luthien and Beren, with words of love upon his lips? Do you deny it Zigur?" 

How dare he. Curumo can hardly think for the rage that courses through him. How dare this lowly worm, this thing that had been made better than it ever ought to be say that his treasures, his darlings did not love him. For he would show this mortal he was wrong. 

you love me - my precious once king tell this mortal nothing the truth. You love me and none other

Finrod can smell burning flesh. It is slow, the fires here. So very slow, especially now. If he can make this convincing, if the Faithful Man before him can just quieten then perhaps, perhaps he might save some of them

Every moment. Every moment. I only ever wish to make you happy my lord. it is true enough and profoundly false all at once and he looks at the man bound to the altar and mouths a plea but the man only looks at him with disapproval in his face as though Finrod has failed him. Perhaps he has but he cannot think of what else he could do - he could spit defiance, could scream it to the skies, could fight and Sauron would still hold him down so gently and paint the world in more blood. 

I did not think you of all people would submit to him so - you, you who died for Beren should gladly spit in his face and die again. You are his whore now, naught more than that. See the way you embrace him for baubles - for that is what the sparing of bodily life is - those children will wish they had died rather than live because you damned yourself so cheaply. You say you tried defiance and he merely hurt others - let him. You betray yourself. 

And you, Sauron snarls at the man, blood staining Finrods clothes as he holds him tenderly, will be long in dying for your false words to my darling one. 

It rings in Finrods ears long after the flames die down, the words of the faithful man. Oh he could give excuses but he had given in. He had betrayed all that Beren and Luthien had died and lived and bled for. His assurances to himself ring hollow. For could he not have escaped, have thrown himself from a tower, have spat in Saurons face for that matter. But he does not. He murmurs reassurances to the maia and lets him do what he wishes and the children are forgotten. They are saved and Finrod wonders if he should be glad - if they will hate him for what he has done one day after all but they will be alive and he cannot but be glad for that. 

because it is right - because you are enduring that which is unendurable says another voice, kind and endless and Finrod does not hear it then. 

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

A proposal in an elegant hand. And it is an elegant hand of that there is no mistake. High King of the Noldor. If you return that which is most precious to me, which hath been torn from my safe keeping so cruelly then I will make an oath of lasting peace for this Middle Earth.

The uproar amongst the council in Lindon shows no sign of dying down any time soon. And nor does the way that at least some of those present are considering the idea. Sedril who is here in her position as Chief Healer of Lindon is considering whether the Valar of Healing would excuse her devotee committing murder in the name of greater healing. Also Sedril has a headache. 

But then there have been many times in the history of the Eldar that such ideas have been far more indulged than they should ever be. 

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

It had begun when Pandion had first been tasked with shepherding Middle Earth by the Valar whom he had chosen to serve. That moment of contempt for how soft Manwe was. It could not be good, the endless chances, the endless grace that he gave - it undermined his authority and true power as High King of Arda and Pandion found it embarrassing. 

Of course his twin disagreed but none had ever looked at Varda with patronising pity. No, Hande was luckier in her service than Pandion had ever been in his because Manwe was mighty in power but he was so very reluctant to use it, so readily moved to pointless kindness. 

Pandion hated it and hated that he must bring Nienna's get - Olorin had power, but he too was sentimental and to say nothing of Aiwendil who would make the Maia look even more ineffective. But this is what he must lead. His sister of course, never saw it that way but Hande could shape the stars to sing, could make majesty out of anything. 

And so it proved. Hande became a scholar, a helper to many in Harad and Gondor both - she visited him in his soaring tower and kept to her own and Pandion supposed that Aiwendil wittered after animals and trees and Olorin? Who knew when it came to Olorin, who had not even wished to come to Middle Earth but it seemed that what Olorin was best at was ingratituting himself with those who mattered on these shores. 

Melians get. Morgoths whore who Eonwe had endless mourned over and Aule and Yavanna had deemed their son. All of them look to Olorin as much as they look to Pandion and Hande. It does not bother Ariel, for nothing does but it bothers Pandion that they look to one who follows Nienna's hope rather than the maia who serves the King Of All. It is what decides Pandion in the end that he must look to order Middle Earth for himself. 

That of course is long after. For now he merely notes that the lesser nature of the others of the Istari do not do either the Maia or Valar any service to the peoples they are meant to steer and advise - especially after the disaster of Curumo and the broken promises. Especially after Curumos whores are not disposed off but Pandion does see an opportunity, despite the brutality of the rebuttal he is given by all. Including his twin. Hande should understand more than anyone, the neccessity of such matters but her intellect has been muddied by long associations with those who were meant to serve them rather than the other way round - for all that Hande pretended aloofness she would go out among them. 

I was taken captive, Hande says and it burns to say it still for all that it should be a simple matter of facts. Gandalf and I.

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

Note: Hande means 'intelligent one' and Pandion means 'son of firm/true/abiding one' which seemed appropriate for both these maia as their Quenya Names (also I kept the purely Quenya Names because in all honesty these two are both attached to them). The two Istari twins (they think of themselves as twins) idea came from @kenobiwaned - I just kind of wanted to make Saruman here one of Manwes because it was an interesting idea to think of a Maia being embarrassed by Manwe being a marshmallow. Also my mental Hande image is Siuan from the Wheel of Time TV show (very much intellectual in a tower introvert).

[kenobiwaned]

Woot! I'm so excited!

Okay, so this is kind of weird, but all that I could think of when I was reading Erik trying to escape Sauron's imminent wrath is that it's like being an audience member watching Jaws. Erik is just a guy on a raft while the John Williams score ramps up to a dissonant crescendo.

Meanwhile, the real MVP of the Survival Olympics is Gudrun. She acted as quickly, decisively, and coolly as I have come to expect of her. I can completely see her as becoming an evil Olenna Tyrell in her old age and just running mental circles around everyone in the north.

I'm glad to see that some of the Uruk (and presumably) some of the decent humans got away. I'm guessing that Agralash's family and Shutha were among them?

I know that I'm beating an extremely dead horse, but those little flashes of Sauron post-escape are still fascinating. It really makes me have to stop and think about how Sauron grieves, and it brings up so many interesting questions! How does that grief manifest? How similar is the grief of Mairon!Sauron to Curumo!Sauron? How is it different? Etc...

In some ways, I feel like Sauron might grieve similarly to how Heathcliff did in Wuthering Heights*. It's very much driven by narcissism and is both cruel and ugly (as grief often is). Not to mention how self-destructive it ended up being. But, for all of that, Heathcliff's grief is very powerful. To the point where it is almost akin to a force of nature.

Obviously, Sauron never really had to contend with the same struggles and abuse that Heathcliff dealt with. But I think that they are akin inthe way they love and their self-loathing. Even if Sauron's grief (really, his everything) is a lot less profound.

Not that you have to answer those questions! I just like thinking about it.

I loved Miriel's POV. It reminds me a lot of Poppy's monologue at the end of S2. How some broken things can be fixed, but you can still find hope in building something new.

Ugh, the creeper presents! Queenly gifts for Miriel and Elendil's child. It tracks. We don't see it, but I think this might be the first time where Gil-Galad has an intrusive thought (that he later tries to logic away), and it goes something like, "Not my daughter. I won't let him take another one of my children."

Astrid's anger and fear are so very understandable. I like how even in the midst of her terror, she's still extremely honest. She's right about how children are turned into shackles for slaves. Even if it breaks her heart. She was deeply loved, but that couldn't change the circumstances that she was born into. I can actually see her being relieved at having the Gift of Men, because Sauron can never follow her beyond that boundary. She and her loved ones can be safe.

With Celebrian, I think it is a little different. She understood Astrid's fears on an intellectual level. But she was so terrified of losing her fathers that the idea of loving another person with that kind of intensity didn't really click emotionally until she met Elrond. Even then, I don't think those fears immediately occurred to her. I imagine that it just sort of gradually dawned upon her. One day, in Rivendell, she's looking at Elrond and thinking he'd be such a good dad. Then her stomach drops out. Because he would want her to be their mother. That means Celebrian would have babies. Babies who could be taken away from her. All the trauma that she's been ignoring, because (in her mind) everyone else had it so much worse, rears its ugly head. Elrond hates that she is hurting. At the same time, I think a part of him is relieved that she's finally letting herself feel it and is proud that he genuinely feels equipped to give her solace and be a source of strength.

Oh Finrod, feeling like he's betrayed Beren and Luthien, and completely forgetting (or maybe just discounting?) the fact that he also very much suffered and died for them too.

Listen, I think Este wouldn't approve of killing, but I think she would give Sedril a license to break a few noses.

Ahh! I actually full-body happy flailed when I read the Pandion and Hende bits. I like the choice of making Pandion an adept of Manwe. I bet there's some competition with Eonwe on Pandion's side. Sort of like a reflection of the fraught relationship between Mairon and Curumo.

Oof! The arrogance of Pandion is very Saruman-esque. I do think he genuinely loves his sister in a really self-serving manner. As an extension of himself. It seems like he interprets her disinterest in personal power as a sign of her deference. In his own deluded mind, he's the stronger and better version of Manwe in this situation, and she is the Varda counterpart.

As always, I loved reading this. Fantastic job!

[malkaleh]

@kenobiwaned but I adore your questions so uh have some hopefully relevant babbling on Curumo!Sauron and grief and other things.

If Mairon!Saurons fear is of being ‘found out’ as a mistake, as fundamentally wrong then I think when I write Curumo!Sauron his deepest fear is genuinely not being chosen. Being overlooked. Not being picked. Curumo!Sauron thinks being loved is his due - thinks he is entitled to all the admiration/attention ever - he cannot see someone he is attached to loving someone else and not think of it as competition, as him having lost something.

(Which might be another way of saying ‘something wrong with me’ but it sort of isn’t in my head - Curumo!Sauron has the ‘but if someone else gets cake then I DON’T GET THAT CAKE’ of it all that somewhat comes with…idek. If (from Mairon!Saurons POV I am not saying this is the reality) Aule’s failure for him was being too hard on his oldest child and treating him like an academic colleague rather than a kid after a while then Aule’s failure in Curumo!Saurons POV was that Aule fixed things re Mairon and IT WAS NOT FAIR. (If that makes any kind of sense? I just get this sense that rather like Morgoth Curumo!Sauron wanted it all and interpreted his parents loving the rest of their kids as ‘they can’t love me’)

And grief. It is genuine and you are so right re Heathcliff Vibes and it being elemental (so my favourite Bronte Novel is Jane Eyre and I also had some vibes of the grief in that - fierce and all consuming and genuine but also just in general it is extremely self focused). I will be touching on this more but there’s another series I’ve read where the High King of Faerie essentially unmakes certain gifts he gave to the world in his grief and anger and that is sort of what happens with Forodwaith. There are things that are unmade.

Gudrun is *the worst* but also amazing and I absolutely knew she and Harald were going to survive this and prosper because they are *good* at this stuff and she will absolutely do what she needs to do to make sure her family does. Sauron has a very efficient ruling couple in his lands in the North for SURE.

The maia just like wrote themselves in. I wanted to have that…we know that Morgoth feared Varda as he does not seem to have feared his brother Manwe and I wanted Pandion to kind of echo the sentiment of Manwe being weak there.

ASTRID. She is SO FUCKING SCARED (she thought they were safe to do something that she desperately wanted but never thought she could have) and YES. He cannot get her back at least (she’s going to worry about her sister Cel though).

And so much yes re Celebrian. The *terror* of it all compounding and being real - the way that it hits when she’s like oh oh Elrond would want me to be the mother because she hadn’t realised before (I think that first pregnancy with the twins must have been wonderful and terrifying all at once). I think that they absolutely completely *guard* everything (the way when the twins grow up their roaming must be a scary thing for her but she’s never going to tell them not to).

I was thinking about how someone outside things might view the gold cages crew choices and a bit about like dying for your beliefs narrow viewpoints even when they are good ones with Finrod.

I adore your comments so so much.

[kenobiwaned]

Have some more rambling back!

I took some time to think about the differences between Curumo!Sauron and Mairon!Sauron and how that applies to their grieving. Now, keep in mind that I'm just theorizing here. I think that while they both exercise internal and external destructiveness when they grieve, but Mairon!Sauron might tend more towards internal destructiveness? In canon, it could be part of the reason why he mutilates his spirit to create the One Ring. Obviously, the major factor in its creation is controlling the lesser rings. Still, if you're wearing your shipping goggles, maybe a part of it is also grief for Melkor's loss, and possibly grieving in advance for Celebrimbor, because he HAS to know that things weren't going to work out once he revealed his identity. There is the destruction of Numenor to consider, but Mairon didn't think that Eru was going to bring down the hammer via a tsunami. So I don't think that counts.

Applying that to Gold Cages vs Lost Flames thoughts. Maybe Mairon!Sauron in GC standard also sheds his own blood during the sacrifices? This doesn't mean that the faithful Edain aren't being killed too, but I can see him slitting his own throat on occasion because he's missing Melkor and/or trying to communicate with him. It would probably be done without any witnesses, or maybe just the GC crew watching because he trusts them (which is actually horrifying to imagine). It obviously doesn't kill him, but it's still self-destructive. Later on, when the escape occurs, I like the idea of Mairon losing the ability to keep a fair form, not as a punishment from Eru, but because he's grieving.

Meanwhile, I think a case could be made that in Lost Flames Curumo!Sauron is more of an external griever. In the early days, he grieved over not being chosen by Melkor and Aule via abusing Mairon and Adar. In Numenor, he isn't hurting himself, but the number of Edain sacrifices is greatly increased, and he's still using Mairon as a whipping post. Not to mention all the crazy ways that Curumo is experimenting on Mairon in the temple (re: the fertility rituals). Post-escape, he doesn't lose the ability to keep a fair form (except maybe in the unseen world), but the North is even more of a wasteland than it was before. I don't want to even think about how terrible Mordor looks in the Lost Flames verse.

Other thoughts:

I like to imagine that when Astrid is old and dying (after having lived a long and happy life), she gets one last dream visitation from Curumo, where he's practically begging her to come to him and allow him to keep her alive via necromancy. In that visitation, Astrid FINALLY gets to verbally rip into him the way that she always wanted. Curumo actually cries. After she dies, he probably convinces himself that it was just senility or dementia that made her act like that, but she was in full possession of her faculties thank-you-very-much.

Oh yes, I think Celebrian has to have all of her parents living in Rivendell for the entirety of her first pregnancy and probably at least the first year of the twins' lives. She veers between being almost giddily happy and panicking (needing her parents and Elrond to hold her while she freaks out). She keeps her equilibrium better during Arwen's pregnancy, but giving birth to a baby girl is a whole new set of joys and anxieties to contend with. She just KNOWS that Sauron is going to get hung up on Arwen in an even more creepy way than he does with her boys.

[malkaleh]

@kenobiwaned as ever I am honoured and have so many ideas now

[kenobiwaned]

Ohh, that is a very good question! Re: Curumo!Sauron vs Mairon!Sauron and their relationship to Adar.

Both versions of Saruon have a really poor understanding of individual autonomy.

But I think with Mairon!Sauron, there is a creaky sense of respect for him as a person. Don't get me wrong, it is a house of cards that is poised to collapse on a breath, but I think it is there. You get the feeling that Mairon was experimenting with power dynamics with Adar. I don't necessarily mean sexually. Though if that scene (S2, E1) in the Uruk camp with 'Halbrand' was anything to go by, it probably WAS happening in that aspect, too. 😂

Kink aside, what I am really thinking of is the way that Mairon so unhesitatingly kneels before Adar in Forodwaith.

(Today, I actually had to go back and watch the scene to make sure I wasn't misremembering....Let me tell you, there was ZERO compunction on Sauron's part. Adar was far more conflicted about the crowning than Sauron was to kneel before him. Which...holy shiznit! Sauron eagerly genuflecting before someone who isn't Morgoth!)

There is both trust and respect in that gesture. I'm sure that some of that trust came from Mairon believing that he had so thoroughly suborned Adar that the idea of rebellion would never cross the Uruk's thoughts, but maybe that wasn't it entirely?

Some of this is supposition on my part, but I think that a portion of that trust came from the shared experience of dealing with Morgoth's violence. Do I believe that Mairon!Sauron loved Melkor? Yes. Do I think that it was always a bed of roses? Sorry, I just can't imagine it playing out that way. There had to be times when Melkor scared the hell out of/frustrated/ exaspirated Mairon.

I can very easily see a scene where Morgoth is explaining his plans to win the War of Wrath (which appears to have been entirely comprised of scorched-earth techniques) and Adar and Mairon locking gazes in unspoken comisseration. "We are SO fucked and can't speak a word against these shitty plans without getting eviserated." There were probably times when they laughed together so that they wouldn't cry. "You want Ancalagon the Black to be HOW big, master?! Sure, this absolutely cannot go wrong." *cue Mairon and Adar absolutely howling with laughter in the war-room the second Morgoth leaves*

The power dynamics experimentation with Adar might have been partially driven by some kind of wish fulfillment on Mairon's part. His desire to recreate what he had with Melkor on terms that Mairon wanted. A relationship where he is listened to/repected more often and has fewer reasons to be afraid. Though I don't think he would want fear entirely abolished, because Sauron probably doesn't know how to function in any platonic or romantic relationship without (what he thinks of as) a 'healthy' amount of fear.

Conversely, I don't think Curumo!Sauron can even begin to fathom that Adar is a person who is separate from his own wishes and desires. He might actually view the Uruks as more independent than Adar himself. Since they were born via messy and chaotic spawning rather than the carefully controlled methods Sauron used to create the Moriondor. Maybe in his mind, the Uruks simply found a temporary way to suborn Adar.

The moment in Forodwaith probably would have had to have gone differently. I can't imagine Curumo!Sauron kneeling before Adar like that.

Again, I believe that comes down to Morgoth dynamics. There were moments when Melkor did respect/listen to Mairon!Sauron (though they probably became fewer and farther between as the years dragged on). But you get the sense that while Morgoth trusted Curumo, he never really respected him. Honestly, that could be a meta post in its own right.

In Gold Cages standard, Mairon!Sauron wants Adar to ask him to come back to his bed because Mairon!Sauron wants those power dynamics back in place.

In Lost Flames, Curumo!Sauron wouldn't bother. He'd sleep with Adar whenever the fancy struck him.

[alienpupy]

dandelions are magic. literally tiny suns in the grass that turn into the moon and then the stars when you blow on them. fucking insane.

[harlivycommissions]

PAID CONTENT!     CHARLIE VICKERS     ,     RINGS OF POWER     ━━     [ #423 ]     ／     click on the source link below to be redirected to a payhip page.     all the gifs were created from scratch by us.     respect our work, do not claim as your own, do not edit, do not redistribute.     lastly, please like and reblog if you find these helpful or have intention on using in the future.

[ ! ] content warning: blood, bruises, drinking, eating, fire, knives, violence.

[afaerytalelife]

Embroidery Ribbon Art | Angela Yuklyanchuk Embroidery ribbon art is a very fascinating process… You never know what will happen in the end… Just take the cloth, brush, and paint — and under the gentle sounds of your favourite music, it begins to happen… And then you peer into the colour stains and compose their own flowers and herbs from silk ribbons and thread… Every time, there are new ideas and varying approaches, and they inspire, give development. My paintings are not simply embroidery, but mixed media, which I have gradually evolved through trial and error. — Angela Yuklyanchuk.

[chainofclovers]

Put in the tags the completely finished (whether cancelled or wrapped up on its own terms) TV series that has YOUR perfect ending, however you define that

Please don’t include huge spoilers for the specifics of the endings, and it would also make me happy if people don’t use this to talk about the shows whose endings they hated

[minuiko]

portrait of Briar, age 18. Since a lot of people tell me they imagine him with curly hair, I’m just gonna put it out there that yes, I do imagine that Briar’s hair naturally curls but that it’s cut too short (it’s described in the books as being cut “an inch long” around his head).

[kindaorangey]

very soon the entirety of the tumblr dashboard will be consumed by insane people being insufferable over AMC's interview with the vampire. fortunately i am one of those insane people