"Thuringwethil I am, who cast
a shadow o'er the face aghast
of the sallow moon in the doomed land
of shivering Beleriand."
Lúthien encounters Thuringwethil, the shape-changing vampire, but things go a little differently than expected...! 💕
maddymat_cos and I got to do our dream toxic yuri duo for Otakon 2025 and I'm so excited to share this photo with you!
How do you interpret their relationship? I imagine Lúthien tries desperately to lead Thuringwethil to the light and offer forgiveness, while Thuringwethil subtly brings out the darkness in Lúthien... it's the perfect "I can fix her"/"I can make her worse" ship. ❤️
AN: For the LúThuri enjoyers - I'm dedicating this one to my good friend @saintstars. Enjoy!
┊ ┊ ┊ ⋆★ Prompt: Teeth | Biting* | Lúthien x Thuringwethil
┊ ┊ ★⋆ Synopsis: The princess wants her share.
┊ ◦★ Warnings: Blood, biting
★⋆ Drabble | AO3
Red eyes gleam in the darkness when the princess pushes her away, leaving Thuringwethil hungry and longing.
"Come on, sweet thing," she lilts and licks fresh blood off her lips. "Let me have another bite. I will make it worth your time, I promise."
Her bloody grin is met with twilight grey eyes twinkling with determination. Lúthien takes one step closer, raising her chin in defiance and baring her teeth in return.
"No. My turn."
Thuringwethil wants to laugh; the notion of a pretty Elven princess biting her back amuses her.
Until Lúthien's teeth break the skin of her neck.
*Prompts are taken from @tolkienpinupcalendar's Silm September.
It's key to Luthuri for me that Thuringwethil is, ultimately, a loser. I know the powerful dark vampire badass thing has appeal and maybe she manages the veneer of that at times, but it's key for me that she is at heart a loser who would love for Luthien to tell her what to do
she wins their fight, she wins the skin, she does not know it yet but soon she will win against the dark enemy himself.
(she has still not quite come to recognise her own power, but it will not be much longer now before she does.)
the woman-thing before her, by contrast, is in poor shape. more woman than thing without her batskin, thuringwethil lies curled upon the flagstone like a child. naked, damp and bloody, she might have just emerged from some monstrous mother's womb. only the ragged gasp of her breathing tells lúthien that she still lives.
lúthien wraps the skin about herself, and stops for just a moment to feel; the still-hot blood slicking her own skin, the heat and weight of fur and leather, the strange sensation of having wings. beren has told her of a saying among his people - that you cannot really know a man unless you have walked a mile in his shoes. how closely will lúthien know this woman of hidden shadow, she wonders, after she has walked a mile in her skin?
she turns to leave.
"wait," the shadow-woman says, her voice a hideous rasp. naked spine uncurling, she pulls herself to her feet. "you won my skin. but i will have something from you in return."
thuringwethil presses her bloodied lips against the top of lúthien's breast, left exposed by the untied cloak. a small vulnerability. for just a moment, her mouth is a searing brand.
then she pulls back, and smiles. "thank you, tinúviel," says the vampire, as she sinks back to her knees, and dies.
the rest of the story you know. lúthien tinúviel; bane of morgoth, conqueror of immortality, lives on forever in story and song.
here is what you do not know: on her new mortal body, lúthien will find a small imperfection. there will be a single blood-red mark on her left breast, which could almost be a winestain, except that it does not wash out. beren, ever-loving, will tell her that it does not matter, and she is no less beautiful for it, and life on the isle of the living dead will go peacefully on. if lúthien sometimes wakes from dark dreams with dirt on her soles and the taste of blood in her throat, it does not matter, for what are dreams to a woman who has thrown down towers and bested gods?
lúthien will not think of the shadow-woman again, until after two nights of labour when her mortal son is born; red and wet and tearful, smooth-skinned and the spit of his father, but for the strange red brand like a kiss pressed just above his heart.
Ok, ok, how about 6. things you said under the stars and in the grass for Luthien/[your choice]? Beren, Galadriel, Thuri, etc.
You’re spoiling me :000 I’ll go with Luthien/Thuri.
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“You could come with me, you know,” she says. Her smile flashes all her teeth. The jagged edge of her canines glints dangerous in the moonlight. The wind stirs the grass around them softly, in this clearing just outside the Girdle, in this place that no one but Luthien knows is here.
No one but her and Thuringwethil.
“I couldn’t,” Luthien tells her. The stars shine bright tonight; she has already murmured her prayers, and their cold light is as a kiss.
“You could,” Thuringwethil counters. She prowls closer, the mists of Angband clinging to her form and covering nothing. Luthien looks, as she always does: Hungrily. Princesses like her do not get to be hungry like this.
No one but Thuringwethil sees it in her; no one but Thuringwethil reflects it back to her.
“Very well, then. I could, but I won’t,” Luthien concedes. “I could go, yes, but at what cost? If I’m to be in a cage, I may as well be in one with those who love me.”
“Princess.” The word is a curse. Luthien does not need to look to see the other flinch at her words. But her composure returns immediately, her eyes narrow to night-dark slits, and darkness trails up to arc in the form of great wings, thin flesh knitting together over the bones that extend. Luthien has whispered kisses and sweet nothings against them in turn, she has smoothed her fingers against them and felt their softness. Their warmth.
“I would, if it were different,” Luthien finally tells her. She reaches out, her hand silver-pale in the moonlight, and for a second she thinks Thuringwethil will not take it. She is a proud thing, for all that she is a servant of Darkness. Proud and prickly, and Luthien is still navigating her thorns, even when she says things the both of them already know to be true.
But the moment passes, and dark fingers twine through hers. And then the shadows melt away, replaced by not-quite-human warmth, and if you looked only at their hands, with Thuringwethil’s claws hidden and Luthien’s scarred palms covered, they could be any two Eldar lovers.
for femslash february and inspired by @imakemywings, here’s some of my favourite f/f silmarillion fics. a range of ratings and pairings. i’m an adult who likes adult and dark content and some of these are on the dark side, so read individual warnings <3
it’s just a consequence of pain by roquen - g, 914 words, indis/miriel therinde
indis visits the house of vaire.
Scene by Candle-Light
by Elleth, m, 1761 words,
aerin/morwen
Sometimes Aerin comes to Morwen for comfort.
The Sorceress’ Apprentice by LiveOakWithMoss, g, galadriel/melian
From her mother, Galadriel had learned grace, composure, and how to veil the teeth of diplomacy in silk and soft words. From her grandmother, she learned when to bare those teeth. From her cousin she learned the value of will and the power of independence.
Her ambition was her own, and carefully stoked.
(And from Melian she learned nothing at all.)
Waking Night by anthean, t, 895 words, luthien/thuringwethil
Give me back my skin, elf.
A Weird and Wonderful Fruit by @imakemywings, e, galadriel/haleth/melian
Haleth was told to stay out of the woods of Doriath. Haleth decided not to listen. Haleth finds herself in strange positions in the darkness of the woods...
Not by the Hand of Man by Sath, e, 6911 words, tar-miriel/ofc
After his chief priestess is assassinated, Sauron summons his most powerful servant, a woman of Far Harad, to Númenor.
(but two wives can have each other) by ambrorussa, m, 1082 words, erendis/uinen
Erendis seeks to destroy her heart, so the Sea swallows her whole.
we bear no fruits by Ias, m, 3397 words, haleth/thuringwethil
A dark journey needs a dark guide. Haleth strikes a deal.
our bones only ache while the flesh is on them by Ias, t, 874 words, galadriel/melian
There is a reason that Galadriel no longer eats meat.
down in a shallow grave by Solanaceae, t, 652, aredhel/goldberry
Their first mistake is that they bury you by the river.
in your very own symphony by kimaracretak, m, 1487, aredhel/thuringwethil
be careful what you hunt. or don’t.
Excerpt from Untold Tales of the Maiar by Mithen, t, 542 words, luthien/thuringwethil
Thuringwethil offered to give Luthien her form freely--for a small price.
certain dark things by northerntrash, t, 9487 words, luthien/thuringwethil
In which Lúthien seeks a monster, but finds something else.
Kiss My Mouth Through Thorns by Elleth, m, 500 words, galadriel/melian
Melian finds herself besotted with her student.
Webs and Weavings by Lorinand_Lost, e, 5153 words, vaire/ungoliant/varda/miriel therinde
"What do you intend to hold in that basket?" the voice is quiet, coming from somewhere in the shadows.
Vairë pauses in her work, tufts of dry rushes clutches in her brown, sun-spotted hands. She bends her mind forward, and the presence against which she brushes is unknown to her - she, who ought to recognize and name every creature and thing and its history.
"I intend it to hold all things, for I see all things," Vairë replies. "What do you intend to do there in the shadows, one who I cannot see?"
A House of Nettles by Ias, e, 6494 words, eowyn/tar-miriel
Éowyn is not healed. Inside of her, something hungry lives on.
Chapters: 1/?
Fandom: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Lúthien Tinúviel/Thuringwethil
Characters: Lúthien Tinúviel, Huan (Tolkien), Thuringwethil (Tolkien)
Additional Tags: beren dies thuringwethil lives, Canon Divergence, slow burn luthuri, luthien dark queen of angband vers, no beta we ball
Summary:
When Beren falls to Curufin's arrow, Lúthien is set on a course of vengeance to throw down Morgoth and take his place. Thuringwethil, in her envy and awe, joins her campaign, a new Luitenant for a new Dark Lord.
i. Breathe No More Evanescence ii. Sick Like Me In This Moment iii. Fresh Blood Eels iv. I Come with Knives IAMX v. I Will Possess Your Heart Death Cab for Cutie vi. All Around Me Flyleaf vii. Flesh Simon Curtis viii. Bedroom Hymns Florence + The Machine ix. Teardrop Massive Attack x. The Sacrament HIM xi. Eyes on Fire Blue Foundation