Innumerable Stars 2025
Aug. 17th, 2025 08:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aguntoaknifefightHello, and thank you for considering writing something for me! I'm happy with fics of any rating. Treats in any medium are welcome. I'm aguntoaknifefight (swirlingvoid) on ao3. Fandoms and pairings are organized alphabetically. Worldbuilding tags are largely arranged by theme.
Aside from Celebrimbor/Sauron and Indis/Miriel, I’m fine with any requested / ship being an open relationship. (Finwe can be assumed to be involved in the Indis/Miriel relationship in the past/future if you’d prefer.)
DNW: setting change AUs*, character bashing**, on-page sex with a character under 16 (or species equivalent; mentions of solo or paired sexual exploration prior to this age are fine), Rings of Power (TV)-specific elements, unrequested trans headcanons or genderbends, requested trans men having receptive vaginal sex for non-reproductive purposes on-page***, specific real-world Anglophone labels for queerness within the text (labels are very much okay to include in tags or other metadata), divorce or miscarriage (permanent separation and abortion welcome!)
*defined here as changing the location and/or time period of canon; pre-canon, future fic, or adding tropes to the setting are all fine!
**characters disliking each other is fine, as is in-character animosity/fear/hatred from the narrating character and canonical atrocities; I mainly don’t want characters as “evil because they’re evil and that's all there is to them” from an authorial perspective. I like when characters have reasons for doing what they're doing that make sense to them (even if not anyone else)
***this includes fingering, but on-page receptive anal or oral sex, any non-penetrative sex, and receptive vaginal sex for reproductive purposes are fine
Stylistically, I particularly enjoy:
General themes I particularly like:
Table of Contents
The Book of Lost Tales
Finrod Rock Operas
The Silmarillion
The Book of Lost Tales
These are largely characters I have way fewer pre-existing thoughts on. I just think they’re neat and I’d love to see what you do with them!
Meássë, Meássë & Melko, Makar+Meássë, Makar & Meássë
I’m fascinated by the way she and her brother are sympathetic to Melko’s cause but don’t side with him, and also that they are explicitly war gods in a way that even Tulkas in the Silmarillion is not. (I’m fine with the Measse & Melko relationship being antagonistic or a no longer extant friendship.)
Nienna
She’s such a different figure here, even though somewhat adjacent to what she’ll become. Why does she send Men to Melko (and why is Melko given authority over some of the dead, even seemingly afterwards breaking from the rest of the Valar)? Does she ever leave her Halls?
Worldbuilding: Early Concepts of the Orcs, Gorgumoth as Therapy Dog for the Dead, Nienna's Hall Roofed with Bat Wings, Reconciling Different Versions of the Legendarium
Regarding the reconciliation of different versions of the legendarium, one thing I’m fascinated by that is not necessarily reflected by character tags is how the Maiar we do see in BoLT are conceived of as the actual literal children of the Valar. Does Nienna have children? Do Measse or Makar? I’m also intrigued by how the requested characters shift — is there a place for Measse and her brother in the world of the Silmarillion? Are they demoted to Maiar (perhaps of Tulkas or Orome?) or Melkor’s servants? Are they absorbed into other Vala we know? When did Nienna start losing her more menacing aspects and focus largely on grief? Is that an actual character arc she went through?
Finrod Rock Operas
I’d like to state up front that I have read the Silmarillion and it likely influences how I'm talking about the characters here, but I really would love to receive a fic from someone who has only seen one of the versions. (I’m most familiar with the 2014 and 2022 ones; an English translation for them both is here on ao3, but the promo post goes into the couple other shows that count for this fandom as well.)
Trans headcanons I've opted into: trans woman Luthien, trans men Finrod and Curufin, and any gender category for Celegorm. Sauron and Melian being any flavor of nonbinary or their canonical gender On Purpose is also welcome, though YMMV on if the latter is understood (narratively or on a character level) as transness. (Also, she’s not a character I’ve requested, but if Galadriel is present, I’m very open to her being written as any gender of trans person.)
Beren/Finrod
Particularly in this show, they have such a devoted dynamic and touch each other a lot and I love it. (I’m fine with either polyamory, infidelity, and/or simply not drawing narrative attention to Luthien, but I would prefer that Beren and Luthien’s relationship is still a driving force of the broader narrative, even platonically or as a QPR.)
Beren/Finrod/Lúthien
I’d love to see Luthien and Finrod interact, particularly in a post-canon AU where Finrod doesn’t die! He’s abdicated — admittedly while believing he wasn’t coming back — so where does he go from there?
Beren/Lúthien
We see them get together, but what happens after the show? (Particularly since there is no further enemy to defeat or die while fighting)
Celegorm & Curufin
I am going to be honest with you, I cannot tell which actor is meant to be which throughout performances, so I will leave that up to you for art. I’m particularly interested in these two for the unshakable conviction that future bloodshed is inevitable that’s expressed in “Quarrel of the Sons of Fëanor,” their first song. Do they actually believe they’ll manage to successfully rule either Nargothrond or Doriath (particularly when they pretty much immediately give up on the attempt to kidnap Luthien)? (I am also fine with this having elements of romantic or sexual tension between them.)
Finrod
I find his faith and his knowledge that this is a suicide mission and going anyway very interesting.
Finrod/Curufin/Celegorm
I’m fine with this being an “all love between them has died” ship along the Finrod axis. I’m really interested in how they triangulate; Curufin and Celegorm are the obvious “couple” here, but what are the dynamics between Curufin & Finrod and Celegorm & Finrod like? Does it ever feel like things could have fractured differently? What is their history prior to coming to Nargothrond?
Finrod/Sauron
I am really fascinated by the choice in the 2022 production to have (dead?) Finrod go to where Sauron is collapsed on the floor, take his arm, and lead him into the rest of the actors for the curtain call (you can see this at 1:17:38 in the 2022 production I’ve linked). I’m not sure how diegetic this is, but I’d really love to see their dynamic in that context as well.
Lúthien
I just like her! I love how she’s largely cheerful and upbeat, and has the immense power to reshape reality to fight against despair.
Lúthien & Sauron
I’m fine with this one in an antagonistic sense. I just love how incredibly unshakable Luthien is, and how Sauron doesn’t really know how to deal with that. In a post-canon redemption AU, do they consider themselves family?
Melian & Lúthien
I don’t think they ever interact, but I’d love to know what they’re like when they do! What was Luthien’s childhood like?
Sauron
I’m particularly intrigued by this version of him! All my thoughts for the / and & pairings with Sauron apply here as well as well as the worldbuilding questions.
Worldbuilding
The questions around worldbuilding are even more optional than the rest of these, but I’ve included them in case they’re helpful, grouped by which versions of the show they’re most applicable to.
Politics in Nargothrond: I love politics! Particularly when they are extensions of family dynamics, trashfire or otherwise.
The Other Aspects of Melkor Sauron Has Taken On: This is applicable to all shows! Sauron is identified by name as such, but he has the crown of Silmarils and often Melkor’s burned hands. What else?
Where Is Melkor?: Closely related to the “other aspects” WB freeform. Does Melkor exist in the universe of the show? Did he have an earlier redemption arc, and it's just Sauron and the Umaiar and orcs sticking it out in Middle Earth, while the Valar are completely uninvolved?
Caranthir in Nargothrond: (Caranthir is only present in the 2001 version of the show.) How does Caranthir being there shift the dynamic of the city? Does the dynamic between Curufin and Celegorm change? Does the one between the sons of Feanor and Finrod?
What Happened to the Other Sons of Fëanor?: In the 2014 and 2022 shows, there’s a few lines that imply that Curufin and Celegorm might be the only sons of Feanor currently alive, despite being the first to die in the Silmarillion. What happened to the rest of them?
Orc Recovery: This is probably most applicable to the 2022 show, where it happens during the closing song. What does recovery actually entail? Are all orcs mind-controlled elves in this version or a different species? What does it feel like on the receiving end? Where do they go afterwards?
Sauron’s Rehabilitation Post-Defeat: This also happens during the closing song of the 2022 show. Since Finrod is the one who reaches out to him, are they both dead? Both alive? Some type of ghost situation? I’m just very intrigued by this impulse towards help which is not rebuffed, especially because the defeat feels much more final here than in the Silmarillion, like Beren and Luthien have just actually ended the war singlehandedly.
The Silmarillion
Trans headcanons I've opted into: trans man Curufin, transfem Maeglin (binary or nonbinary), any gender for Celegorm. Sauron and Oromë being either any gender of nonbinary or men On Purpose is also welcome, though YMMV on if the latter is (narratively or on a character level) transness or not. I am fine with Curufin being the parent who gave birth to Celebrimbor. (Also, they aren’t requested characters, but trans man Feanor and trans Galadriel (of any gender) are also extremely welcome.)
Aredhel/Celegorm & Maeglin
(I am fine with Eol being written as abusive; that does not violate the bashing DNW.) I am really intrigued by Aredhel and Celegorm’s relationship. I love Aredhel as a woman who is simultaneously morally compromised (kinslaying) and sympathetic (everything else); I feel like she and Celegorm get each other on a level that other people don’t. The most obvious option here feels like a fic set either post-fleeing Eol (perhaps someone recognizes this is a situation that is going to get dangerous and decides Eol doesn’t get marital rights, actually?) or in fourth-age Valinor post-reembodiment. How does Celegorm view Maeglin? How does the incest impact Maeglin, if he’s aware of it? What are Aredhel and Celegorm like with each other?
Celebrimbor/Sauron
This is my ultimate “The love was there. It didn't change anything. It didn't save anyone. But the love was there” pairing because the love being there makes things feel so much worse. I love interpretations where the relationship is (wildly unexpectedly for Sauron, who thinks feelings are for other people) genuine and affectionate, and then Sauron still goes through with choosing power anyway! I would love to see any era for them: pre-relationship, early relationship, very comfortable in the relationship, torture/death, or re-embodiment/post-death. I’m fine with this one being in the past only, particularly if they’re not interacting with each other in the present (either because one of them is dead or because they’re permanently separated), as well as Celebrimbor’s love towards Sauron being very, very complicated and involving some level of hatred post-identity reveal. (And honestly, I'm fine with the same from Sauron as well! Was he expecting Celebrimbor to be on his side even just a little bit? Was he prepared for feelings of betrayal?) I like when Sauron-as-Annatar is flawed in ways that come across very differently without the context the reader has about who he is and where this is headed.
Please give me your headcanons for worldbuilding where necessary! I’m very open to anything regarding Celebrimbor in terms of where and when he was born, who his mother/other biological parent is, his level of complicity in the first kinslaying, and how much he knows or suspects about Sauron (though I'd prefer if he didn't suspect everything correctly in a canon-compliant fic). I would also be really, really interested in how LaCE and/or homophobia gets navigated for this pairing and how the relationship is publicly presented. (Are there Thingol and Melian comparisons? How much does Sauron resent them?)
Celegorm/Curufin
I am intrigued by how they function as a tight-knit unit from essentially the beginning; we consistently hear them described together and as living on each other’s lands. At what point did that start? They also both seem willing to own up to what they’re willing to do for the Oath much sooner than their other siblings (even the ones who will go on to commit the third one after C&C are dead). Is that loyalty ever tested? I’m interested in really any era for them (Years of the Trees, early First Age, Nargothrond, post-Nargothrond pre-Doriath, post-death Valinor) and any tone that feels appropriate.
I’d also be really intrigued by an incestuous but (at least originally) nonsexual kink relationship. What’s their journey towards kink discovery?
Celegorm/Curufin/Dior
I am so intrigued by them! They’re all well-matched enough to kill each other (and there’s so much history and pre-existing sexual obsession between them and Dior’s parents, which I imagine Dior certainly feels heavily). I'd love something where sex is an extension of politics and the tension between the Noldor and the Sindar (and am therefore fine with this involving a significant degree of hatred between C&C and Dior, though I’d prefer that wasn’t the totality of the emotions). For this, I’d prefer Dior to be over the age of majority (though I’m fine with his relative youth/inexperience being played up), but I really don’t have a preference towards consensual sex or dubcon. If it is consensual, my big question is: How? How did they get here? Did someone have the bright idea to attempt an arranged marriage to stabilize the political situation prior to the second kinslaying (which...worked, somehow)? Have they all been re-embodied in Valinor and are now working out their issues in a way the Valar probably didn't predict? Are they roleplaying their deaths? (Does this turn into a different kind of roleplay?) Are Celegorm and Curufin already together, or is Dior an acceptable proxy for desire?
Celegorm/Oromë
I’m fine with this one being in the past only, if it’s Celegorm or Oromë looking back on things post-Exile! Celegorm strikes me as someone who was very intensely religious early in life, and I would love to see how that faith shifts throughout his involvement with Oromë and afterwards. How old was he when he started participating? What gifts did Oromë give him besides Huan and the ability to understand all animal speech? How does it impact you to be in love with/have sex with the god(/divine figure) that you worship?
Curufin & Celebrimbor
I am intrigued by them! Celebrimbor’s repudiation of his family does not seem related to his personal feelings towards his father so much as the betrayal of Finrod being a moral event horizon. Why was this the line for him? Was Curufin an involved father growing up? What age was he when they fled to Nargothrond, and how did being there impact their relationship?
Indis/Míriel Þerindë
I’m particularly interested in this post-Miriel’s death, whether it’s one-sided from Indis or after Miriel eventually decides she does want to be re-embodied. (I feel like the Valar would allow this, so long as Finwe is dead? They’ve just sort of swapped places, so no one alive is married to two people at once.) What do they like about each other? How do they deal with both of them living in the shadow of a Miriel who no longer exists? What do their children and grandchildren (etc.) think?
Míriel
I am fascinated by Miriel as someone who is literally writing the history of her family, but who is largely voiceless within it. What is life like for her in Vaire’s service? Does she ever decide that she wants to be alive again? Does she have any siblings? How did she revolutionize the various textile fields she works in? How does she feel about missing out on Feanor’s life?
Worldbuilding
Cross-species pregnancy & Nature and fate of cross-species children: These two are fairly closely related to each other. I’m interested in both canonical and non-canonical children. AFAIK, all of the cross-species children we see are the result of a “more powerful” woman and “less powerful” man. Why? Is this a gap in the record or a biological rule? How does that translate to other species? I'm interested in both the biological process of pregnancy and cultural traditions surrounding it, as well as what life is like for the children afterwards.
Disability in Elvish societies: While Elves highly value beauty and symmetry, they are hardy, long-lived, and involved in quite a few conflicts across the Ages. Presumably a high number of Elves are going to survive injuries that would kill a human. Where, then, are the disabled Elves? (I'm interested in both congenital and acquired disabilities, as well as both physical and mental disabilities.)
Elven Funerary Customs: What do they do with the bodies? (Cremation, burial, something else?) How does this change in Cuivienen/Valinor/Beleriand? What gets carried forward through the Ages and what doesn't? What do mourning traditions look like? How does this differ for the various groups of Elves?
Re-embodiment: What is this like, psychologically? Temporally, it must feel at least a little like time travel to the future, even if spirits have some knowledge of what’s been going on in the world while they’ve been dead. Are there specific customs for welcoming people back?
Tapestries Produced By Vairë and Her Maiar: I’d really love to see the creation of some of these tapestries, as well as how any characters who would have a reason to be in the Halls of Mandos interact with them after they’re created. How accurate are they, particularly for scenes or people they don’t have a first-hand witness for? Is there a specific type of stylization they use?
Oromë's Hunt: This one is most relevant to the Celegorm/Oromë request. What does being part of the Hunt actually involve? How does it change those who participate in it?
Laws and Customs Among the Eldar: (If you’re unfamiliar with what specifically this is referring to, it’s a couple pages in “Morgoth’s Ring,” the tenth volume of HoME, which refer specifically to Elvish marriage.) Is this a biological mechanism or a cultural belief? What are ways people try to undermine it or get around it? What precisely counts as sex? Does gay sex count? Non-penetrative sex? Any form of too-intimate touch? What about someone who’s already married having sex with someone who isn’t their spouse? (Does it matter if that person is single or also married?) How does the inability to get divorced affect people? (Seriously I am so horrified by the fact they can’t get divorced.) How does the purpose of marriage being children affect childless couples, whether in times of war or outside of them? What about sex after you’ve had all the children you want? Does sexual desire actually evaporate at that point? Technically it’s not part of LaCE, but how does the prohibition against marriages between first cousins/siblings/direct ancestors play into this? How does this differ between Elvish cultures (particularly if LaCE isn’t a biological mechanism), especially during the period of Sindarization?
Heteronormativity and Queerness in Elvish Societies: I am really, really interested in this. What cultural stories/methods of being exist for various queer people? How does that shape queer identities, particularly the boundaries or lack thereof between ones we might consider completely different? Having children is such a big part of marriage that it feels implausible to me that same-sex marriage would exist, but is there a lot of homosociality that may or may not shade into romance and sex, even if it’s not understood as that? (Also, for Elves who are in relationships with Maiar, is there a belief that Maiar reflect the gender of their Vala/r? Is this true?) How does the belief that the body reflects the soul and not the other way around impact trans people? Will their bodies start to spontaneously transition? Is medical or magical transition seen as an affront to Eru’s work? If so, is social transition acceptable? How does this impact nonbinary people? How does transness impact people’s ability to inherit (since women don’t seem to be in the running for kingship)? Can they marry only if they’ll be able to produce children with their spouse? Do any specific nonbinary identities exist?
Implications of Surviving Rape in a Society Which Believes It's Impossible: I feel like this one really speaks for itself. How do Elvish rapists conceptualize what they’re doing? (I’m particularly interested in this for marital rape, whether after marriage or as a way to force it.) I would prefer rape did not occur between nomiated pairings except for Celegorm/Curufin/Dior (I’m fine with either Dior or C&C as aggressors), Celegorm/Orome (preferably Orome as aggressor), or Celebrimbor/Sauron post-identity reveal (not while he’s posing as Annatar, except as deception) with Sauron as the aggressor.
Aspec identity and experiences: Are Elves by default demisexual, or do they just act like they are? How does that shift a baseline understanding of asexuality or allosexuality? What about aroallo characters? Aroace characters? Does a specific asexual(-esque) identity arise in response to other cultures? Is there an association with religion? Immaturity? What about sex-repulsed characters? How does the belief that sexual desire will naturally arise once engaged/married impact characters? Nominated characters I headcanon as aspec include Dior (aromantic allosexual), Sauron (greysexual, “sex is primarily a manipulation tactic, right?”), Aredhel (aromantic), and Curufin (kinky ace). You very much do not have to use these headcanons in your own work. I am open to any characters within nominated pairings written as any form of aspec.
Aside from Celebrimbor/Sauron and Indis/Miriel, I’m fine with any requested / ship being an open relationship. (Finwe can be assumed to be involved in the Indis/Miriel relationship in the past/future if you’d prefer.)
DNW: setting change AUs*, character bashing**, on-page sex with a character under 16 (or species equivalent; mentions of solo or paired sexual exploration prior to this age are fine), Rings of Power (TV)-specific elements, unrequested trans headcanons or genderbends, requested trans men having receptive vaginal sex for non-reproductive purposes on-page***, specific real-world Anglophone labels for queerness within the text (labels are very much okay to include in tags or other metadata), divorce or miscarriage (permanent separation and abortion welcome!)
*defined here as changing the location and/or time period of canon; pre-canon, future fic, or adding tropes to the setting are all fine!
**characters disliking each other is fine, as is in-character animosity/fear/hatred from the narrating character and canonical atrocities; I mainly don’t want characters as “evil because they’re evil and that's all there is to them” from an authorial perspective. I like when characters have reasons for doing what they're doing that make sense to them (even if not anyone else)
***this includes fingering, but on-page receptive anal or oral sex, any non-penetrative sex, and receptive vaginal sex for reproductive purposes are fine
General likes
Stylistically, I particularly enjoy:
- Outsider POV
- Second and third person POV
- Pre- & post-canon fics
- 5 + 1 things
- Character studies
- Unreliable narrators
- In-universe documents of any kind
- Happy endings, ambiguous endings, & bittersweet endings, as well as endings that the narrator/character thinks are happy but the reader doesn’t
- Symbolism
- Art nouveau
- Art styles that mimic canon or in-universe forms of art (including ones like textiles)
- Moments that parallel each other through time
- Color contrasts
- The color teal
- Art which is monochrome except for one specific detail in (a different) color
- Characters (of any gender) being put into Very Pretty Dresses
- Situations where a character is forced to reckon with perceptions of themselves or their relationships, including but certainly not limited to:
- time travel
- time loops
- amnesia
- dimension travel
- truth serum
- de-aging (both physical-only and physical-and-mental)
- bodyswaps
- Feelings realization
- Getting together
- Complicated relationships & complicated emotions
- Hard conversations
- Dramatic irony & the calm before the storm
- Identity porn
- Forced proximity
- Hurt/comfort
- Crack treated seriously
- When applicable to canon, queerphobia existing as a social structure, even if it doesn't come up interpersonally
- Period-typical and/or internalized homophobia
- Asexual and/or aromantic characters of any kind
- For trans characters, attention to how gender functions and is conceptualized in their society, what types of transition is or isn't available, how transition impacts ability to inherit (in relevant canons)
- I also like when nonbinary characters have a specific gender beyond "nonbinary," even when the label isn't mentioned in text
- Disabled characters (whether canonically or as a result of injuries/trauma that were fine in canon)
- Non-sexual kink, if it fits the canonical relationship dynamic
- Romance as horror & horror as romance
- Characters who are trying to hold it together but fraying at the edges
- Cracking a stoic character open like a clam (emotionally, though it can certainly be done through physical means)
- Emotionally significant names and titles (and thee/thou as a marker for intimacy where canon-appropriate)
- Relationships that are hard to classify or ping other characters as weird
- Characters who are torn between loyalty to an individual and their ideals
- Unresolvable moral conflicts between two characters/groups the reader is meant to find sympathetic
- Characters doing their best in tough situations, especially when "their best" is quite bad
- In-universe politics (for non-real world settings)
- Characters being betrayed by their bodies
- Coughing up blood
- Passing out dramatically in another character's arms
- Hiding (and failing to hide) medical issues
Smut likes
General themes I particularly like:
- Un(der)negotiated kink & kink discovery (as long as it’s not DNW’d, it doesn’t matter which specific kink it is)
- Porn as character study
- Top or Dom POV
- Bottom or sub POV
- Unresolved emotional tension & pining while fucking
- Repression & attempts to control the uncontrollable
- “Oh god why do I find this hot”-flavored sex of any consent level
- Kinking on shame (whether external or internal) and/or violating cultural taboos
- Kinking on inexperience (or pretended inexperience)
- Psychological aspects of kink
- Characters or worlds which believe penetration = dominance = masculinity and all the ways that can be subverted
- Sub tops with dom bottoms and/or submissive sadists with dominant masochists
- Same-generation incest
- Dubcon (defined here as "consent is ambiguous or not given, but everyone enjoys themselves")
- Characters who have (and like their) nullified genitals (whether natal/surgical/magical)
- Xeno genitals of any kind
- Characters justifying why the sex* they’re actively having doesn’t count as sex* & other intricate rituals-type things
- *or kink or incestuous relationship
- Sex that does not read as sex to characters outside the relationship
- Words used for genitalia that feel appropriate to the POV character (including archaic, vague, and clinical language)
- Voyeurism of any type
- Watersports
- Particularly pissing inside someone anally or vaginally, submissive wetting (including in non-omegaverse settings), and kinking on the sensation of pissing or watching someone else do so
- Proxy sex (examples for requested pairing A/B, where C is either a canonical character or an OC):
- A has sex with C while thinking about B
- an A/B/C threesome has C in the middle as an excuse to legitimize the sex A/B are(n’t) having
- A or C is monitoring and/or directing the couple having sex, including physically maneuvering them
- Non-penetrative sex & penetrative sex
- Mutual masturbation & guided masturbation
- Condescending praise
- Manhandling
- Thigh grinding
- Intercrural sex
- Oral sex
- Somnophilia
- Consensual non-consent
- Coming in pants & clothed sex
- (Non-literal) dollification
- Honor bondage
- Manhandling
- Sounding
- Latex or cloth gloves
- Public sex
- One character sitting in another's lap during (any form of) sex
- Collars
- Feminization, including for female characters
- Characters being told how wet they are, regardless of genitals/gender
- Corsets
- Monsterfucking & shapeshifting
- Biting & blood-drinking (especially in a supernatural context)
- Slapping the inside of a character's thigh to make them open their legs
- Involuntary or uncontrollable orgasms (with or without trigger words)
- Telepathic sex
- Eggpreg, particularly with a large number of small eggs (I enjoy both impregnation & expulsion, as well as caviar stripping)
Opt-ins
- Some requested characters in a pairing present in thought only (including because they are dead, if they also died in canon)
- Suicidal thoughts and attempts
- Abortion
- Period sex
- Sex with sapient animals, or with a shapeshifter in animal form
- Vomiting (sexual or non-sexual)
- Infidelity (not between nominated pairing)
- Mentions or discussions of past canonical relationships
Tolkien-specific likes
- Ominous foreshadowing in otherwise light-hearted fics
- Politics, particularly relationships (sexual, romantic, queerplatonic, or platonic) as extensions of politics
- Messy and complicated family dynamics (incestuous or otherwise)
- The insane amount of time Elves are alive for and how that affects history for them and everyone else
- Grief and inevitability and memory
- Alien Maiar and Valar
- Setting-appropriate/plausible prejudice or baggage around gender, sexuality, disability, and race
- Post-Years of the Trees Valinor and the complexities of being re-embodied
- Religion and cultural traditions
Table of Contents
The Book of Lost Tales
Finrod Rock Operas
The Silmarillion
The Book of Lost Tales
These are largely characters I have way fewer pre-existing thoughts on. I just think they’re neat and I’d love to see what you do with them!
Meássë, Meássë & Melko, Makar+Meássë, Makar & Meássë
I’m fascinated by the way she and her brother are sympathetic to Melko’s cause but don’t side with him, and also that they are explicitly war gods in a way that even Tulkas in the Silmarillion is not. (I’m fine with the Measse & Melko relationship being antagonistic or a no longer extant friendship.)
Nienna
She’s such a different figure here, even though somewhat adjacent to what she’ll become. Why does she send Men to Melko (and why is Melko given authority over some of the dead, even seemingly afterwards breaking from the rest of the Valar)? Does she ever leave her Halls?
Worldbuilding: Early Concepts of the Orcs, Gorgumoth as Therapy Dog for the Dead, Nienna's Hall Roofed with Bat Wings, Reconciling Different Versions of the Legendarium
Regarding the reconciliation of different versions of the legendarium, one thing I’m fascinated by that is not necessarily reflected by character tags is how the Maiar we do see in BoLT are conceived of as the actual literal children of the Valar. Does Nienna have children? Do Measse or Makar? I’m also intrigued by how the requested characters shift — is there a place for Measse and her brother in the world of the Silmarillion? Are they demoted to Maiar (perhaps of Tulkas or Orome?) or Melkor’s servants? Are they absorbed into other Vala we know? When did Nienna start losing her more menacing aspects and focus largely on grief? Is that an actual character arc she went through?
Finrod Rock Operas
I’d like to state up front that I have read the Silmarillion and it likely influences how I'm talking about the characters here, but I really would love to receive a fic from someone who has only seen one of the versions. (I’m most familiar with the 2014 and 2022 ones; an English translation for them both is here on ao3, but the promo post goes into the couple other shows that count for this fandom as well.)
Trans headcanons I've opted into: trans woman Luthien, trans men Finrod and Curufin, and any gender category for Celegorm. Sauron and Melian being any flavor of nonbinary or their canonical gender On Purpose is also welcome, though YMMV on if the latter is understood (narratively or on a character level) as transness. (Also, she’s not a character I’ve requested, but if Galadriel is present, I’m very open to her being written as any gender of trans person.)
Beren/Finrod
Particularly in this show, they have such a devoted dynamic and touch each other a lot and I love it. (I’m fine with either polyamory, infidelity, and/or simply not drawing narrative attention to Luthien, but I would prefer that Beren and Luthien’s relationship is still a driving force of the broader narrative, even platonically or as a QPR.)
Beren/Finrod/Lúthien
I’d love to see Luthien and Finrod interact, particularly in a post-canon AU where Finrod doesn’t die! He’s abdicated — admittedly while believing he wasn’t coming back — so where does he go from there?
Beren/Lúthien
We see them get together, but what happens after the show? (Particularly since there is no further enemy to defeat or die while fighting)
Celegorm & Curufin
I am going to be honest with you, I cannot tell which actor is meant to be which throughout performances, so I will leave that up to you for art. I’m particularly interested in these two for the unshakable conviction that future bloodshed is inevitable that’s expressed in “Quarrel of the Sons of Fëanor,” their first song. Do they actually believe they’ll manage to successfully rule either Nargothrond or Doriath (particularly when they pretty much immediately give up on the attempt to kidnap Luthien)? (I am also fine with this having elements of romantic or sexual tension between them.)
Finrod
I find his faith and his knowledge that this is a suicide mission and going anyway very interesting.
Finrod/Curufin/Celegorm
I’m fine with this being an “all love between them has died” ship along the Finrod axis. I’m really interested in how they triangulate; Curufin and Celegorm are the obvious “couple” here, but what are the dynamics between Curufin & Finrod and Celegorm & Finrod like? Does it ever feel like things could have fractured differently? What is their history prior to coming to Nargothrond?
Finrod/Sauron
I am really fascinated by the choice in the 2022 production to have (dead?) Finrod go to where Sauron is collapsed on the floor, take his arm, and lead him into the rest of the actors for the curtain call (you can see this at 1:17:38 in the 2022 production I’ve linked). I’m not sure how diegetic this is, but I’d really love to see their dynamic in that context as well.
Lúthien
I just like her! I love how she’s largely cheerful and upbeat, and has the immense power to reshape reality to fight against despair.
Lúthien & Sauron
I’m fine with this one in an antagonistic sense. I just love how incredibly unshakable Luthien is, and how Sauron doesn’t really know how to deal with that. In a post-canon redemption AU, do they consider themselves family?
Melian & Lúthien
I don’t think they ever interact, but I’d love to know what they’re like when they do! What was Luthien’s childhood like?
Sauron
I’m particularly intrigued by this version of him! All my thoughts for the / and & pairings with Sauron apply here as well as well as the worldbuilding questions.
Worldbuilding
The questions around worldbuilding are even more optional than the rest of these, but I’ve included them in case they’re helpful, grouped by which versions of the show they’re most applicable to.
Politics in Nargothrond: I love politics! Particularly when they are extensions of family dynamics, trashfire or otherwise.
The Other Aspects of Melkor Sauron Has Taken On: This is applicable to all shows! Sauron is identified by name as such, but he has the crown of Silmarils and often Melkor’s burned hands. What else?
Where Is Melkor?: Closely related to the “other aspects” WB freeform. Does Melkor exist in the universe of the show? Did he have an earlier redemption arc, and it's just Sauron and the Umaiar and orcs sticking it out in Middle Earth, while the Valar are completely uninvolved?
Caranthir in Nargothrond: (Caranthir is only present in the 2001 version of the show.) How does Caranthir being there shift the dynamic of the city? Does the dynamic between Curufin and Celegorm change? Does the one between the sons of Feanor and Finrod?
What Happened to the Other Sons of Fëanor?: In the 2014 and 2022 shows, there’s a few lines that imply that Curufin and Celegorm might be the only sons of Feanor currently alive, despite being the first to die in the Silmarillion. What happened to the rest of them?
Orc Recovery: This is probably most applicable to the 2022 show, where it happens during the closing song. What does recovery actually entail? Are all orcs mind-controlled elves in this version or a different species? What does it feel like on the receiving end? Where do they go afterwards?
Sauron’s Rehabilitation Post-Defeat: This also happens during the closing song of the 2022 show. Since Finrod is the one who reaches out to him, are they both dead? Both alive? Some type of ghost situation? I’m just very intrigued by this impulse towards help which is not rebuffed, especially because the defeat feels much more final here than in the Silmarillion, like Beren and Luthien have just actually ended the war singlehandedly.
The Silmarillion
Trans headcanons I've opted into: trans man Curufin, transfem Maeglin (binary or nonbinary), any gender for Celegorm. Sauron and Oromë being either any gender of nonbinary or men On Purpose is also welcome, though YMMV on if the latter is (narratively or on a character level) transness or not. I am fine with Curufin being the parent who gave birth to Celebrimbor. (Also, they aren’t requested characters, but trans man Feanor and trans Galadriel (of any gender) are also extremely welcome.)
Aredhel/Celegorm & Maeglin
(I am fine with Eol being written as abusive; that does not violate the bashing DNW.) I am really intrigued by Aredhel and Celegorm’s relationship. I love Aredhel as a woman who is simultaneously morally compromised (kinslaying) and sympathetic (everything else); I feel like she and Celegorm get each other on a level that other people don’t. The most obvious option here feels like a fic set either post-fleeing Eol (perhaps someone recognizes this is a situation that is going to get dangerous and decides Eol doesn’t get marital rights, actually?) or in fourth-age Valinor post-reembodiment. How does Celegorm view Maeglin? How does the incest impact Maeglin, if he’s aware of it? What are Aredhel and Celegorm like with each other?
Celebrimbor/Sauron
This is my ultimate “The love was there. It didn't change anything. It didn't save anyone. But the love was there” pairing because the love being there makes things feel so much worse. I love interpretations where the relationship is (wildly unexpectedly for Sauron, who thinks feelings are for other people) genuine and affectionate, and then Sauron still goes through with choosing power anyway! I would love to see any era for them: pre-relationship, early relationship, very comfortable in the relationship, torture/death, or re-embodiment/post-death. I’m fine with this one being in the past only, particularly if they’re not interacting with each other in the present (either because one of them is dead or because they’re permanently separated), as well as Celebrimbor’s love towards Sauron being very, very complicated and involving some level of hatred post-identity reveal. (And honestly, I'm fine with the same from Sauron as well! Was he expecting Celebrimbor to be on his side even just a little bit? Was he prepared for feelings of betrayal?) I like when Sauron-as-Annatar is flawed in ways that come across very differently without the context the reader has about who he is and where this is headed.
Please give me your headcanons for worldbuilding where necessary! I’m very open to anything regarding Celebrimbor in terms of where and when he was born, who his mother/other biological parent is, his level of complicity in the first kinslaying, and how much he knows or suspects about Sauron (though I'd prefer if he didn't suspect everything correctly in a canon-compliant fic). I would also be really, really interested in how LaCE and/or homophobia gets navigated for this pairing and how the relationship is publicly presented. (Are there Thingol and Melian comparisons? How much does Sauron resent them?)
Celegorm/Curufin
I am intrigued by how they function as a tight-knit unit from essentially the beginning; we consistently hear them described together and as living on each other’s lands. At what point did that start? They also both seem willing to own up to what they’re willing to do for the Oath much sooner than their other siblings (even the ones who will go on to commit the third one after C&C are dead). Is that loyalty ever tested? I’m interested in really any era for them (Years of the Trees, early First Age, Nargothrond, post-Nargothrond pre-Doriath, post-death Valinor) and any tone that feels appropriate.
I’d also be really intrigued by an incestuous but (at least originally) nonsexual kink relationship. What’s their journey towards kink discovery?
Celegorm/Curufin/Dior
I am so intrigued by them! They’re all well-matched enough to kill each other (and there’s so much history and pre-existing sexual obsession between them and Dior’s parents, which I imagine Dior certainly feels heavily). I'd love something where sex is an extension of politics and the tension between the Noldor and the Sindar (and am therefore fine with this involving a significant degree of hatred between C&C and Dior, though I’d prefer that wasn’t the totality of the emotions). For this, I’d prefer Dior to be over the age of majority (though I’m fine with his relative youth/inexperience being played up), but I really don’t have a preference towards consensual sex or dubcon. If it is consensual, my big question is: How? How did they get here? Did someone have the bright idea to attempt an arranged marriage to stabilize the political situation prior to the second kinslaying (which...worked, somehow)? Have they all been re-embodied in Valinor and are now working out their issues in a way the Valar probably didn't predict? Are they roleplaying their deaths? (Does this turn into a different kind of roleplay?) Are Celegorm and Curufin already together, or is Dior an acceptable proxy for desire?
Celegorm/Oromë
I’m fine with this one being in the past only, if it’s Celegorm or Oromë looking back on things post-Exile! Celegorm strikes me as someone who was very intensely religious early in life, and I would love to see how that faith shifts throughout his involvement with Oromë and afterwards. How old was he when he started participating? What gifts did Oromë give him besides Huan and the ability to understand all animal speech? How does it impact you to be in love with/have sex with the god(/divine figure) that you worship?
Curufin & Celebrimbor
I am intrigued by them! Celebrimbor’s repudiation of his family does not seem related to his personal feelings towards his father so much as the betrayal of Finrod being a moral event horizon. Why was this the line for him? Was Curufin an involved father growing up? What age was he when they fled to Nargothrond, and how did being there impact their relationship?
Indis/Míriel Þerindë
I’m particularly interested in this post-Miriel’s death, whether it’s one-sided from Indis or after Miriel eventually decides she does want to be re-embodied. (I feel like the Valar would allow this, so long as Finwe is dead? They’ve just sort of swapped places, so no one alive is married to two people at once.) What do they like about each other? How do they deal with both of them living in the shadow of a Miriel who no longer exists? What do their children and grandchildren (etc.) think?
Míriel
I am fascinated by Miriel as someone who is literally writing the history of her family, but who is largely voiceless within it. What is life like for her in Vaire’s service? Does she ever decide that she wants to be alive again? Does she have any siblings? How did she revolutionize the various textile fields she works in? How does she feel about missing out on Feanor’s life?
Worldbuilding
Cross-species pregnancy & Nature and fate of cross-species children: These two are fairly closely related to each other. I’m interested in both canonical and non-canonical children. AFAIK, all of the cross-species children we see are the result of a “more powerful” woman and “less powerful” man. Why? Is this a gap in the record or a biological rule? How does that translate to other species? I'm interested in both the biological process of pregnancy and cultural traditions surrounding it, as well as what life is like for the children afterwards.
Disability in Elvish societies: While Elves highly value beauty and symmetry, they are hardy, long-lived, and involved in quite a few conflicts across the Ages. Presumably a high number of Elves are going to survive injuries that would kill a human. Where, then, are the disabled Elves? (I'm interested in both congenital and acquired disabilities, as well as both physical and mental disabilities.)
Elven Funerary Customs: What do they do with the bodies? (Cremation, burial, something else?) How does this change in Cuivienen/Valinor/Beleriand? What gets carried forward through the Ages and what doesn't? What do mourning traditions look like? How does this differ for the various groups of Elves?
Re-embodiment: What is this like, psychologically? Temporally, it must feel at least a little like time travel to the future, even if spirits have some knowledge of what’s been going on in the world while they’ve been dead. Are there specific customs for welcoming people back?
Tapestries Produced By Vairë and Her Maiar: I’d really love to see the creation of some of these tapestries, as well as how any characters who would have a reason to be in the Halls of Mandos interact with them after they’re created. How accurate are they, particularly for scenes or people they don’t have a first-hand witness for? Is there a specific type of stylization they use?
Oromë's Hunt: This one is most relevant to the Celegorm/Oromë request. What does being part of the Hunt actually involve? How does it change those who participate in it?
Laws and Customs Among the Eldar: (If you’re unfamiliar with what specifically this is referring to, it’s a couple pages in “Morgoth’s Ring,” the tenth volume of HoME, which refer specifically to Elvish marriage.) Is this a biological mechanism or a cultural belief? What are ways people try to undermine it or get around it? What precisely counts as sex? Does gay sex count? Non-penetrative sex? Any form of too-intimate touch? What about someone who’s already married having sex with someone who isn’t their spouse? (Does it matter if that person is single or also married?) How does the inability to get divorced affect people? (Seriously I am so horrified by the fact they can’t get divorced.) How does the purpose of marriage being children affect childless couples, whether in times of war or outside of them? What about sex after you’ve had all the children you want? Does sexual desire actually evaporate at that point? Technically it’s not part of LaCE, but how does the prohibition against marriages between first cousins/siblings/direct ancestors play into this? How does this differ between Elvish cultures (particularly if LaCE isn’t a biological mechanism), especially during the period of Sindarization?
Heteronormativity and Queerness in Elvish Societies: I am really, really interested in this. What cultural stories/methods of being exist for various queer people? How does that shape queer identities, particularly the boundaries or lack thereof between ones we might consider completely different? Having children is such a big part of marriage that it feels implausible to me that same-sex marriage would exist, but is there a lot of homosociality that may or may not shade into romance and sex, even if it’s not understood as that? (Also, for Elves who are in relationships with Maiar, is there a belief that Maiar reflect the gender of their Vala/r? Is this true?) How does the belief that the body reflects the soul and not the other way around impact trans people? Will their bodies start to spontaneously transition? Is medical or magical transition seen as an affront to Eru’s work? If so, is social transition acceptable? How does this impact nonbinary people? How does transness impact people’s ability to inherit (since women don’t seem to be in the running for kingship)? Can they marry only if they’ll be able to produce children with their spouse? Do any specific nonbinary identities exist?
Implications of Surviving Rape in a Society Which Believes It's Impossible: I feel like this one really speaks for itself. How do Elvish rapists conceptualize what they’re doing? (I’m particularly interested in this for marital rape, whether after marriage or as a way to force it.) I would prefer rape did not occur between nomiated pairings except for Celegorm/Curufin/Dior (I’m fine with either Dior or C&C as aggressors), Celegorm/Orome (preferably Orome as aggressor), or Celebrimbor/Sauron post-identity reveal (not while he’s posing as Annatar, except as deception) with Sauron as the aggressor.
Aspec identity and experiences: Are Elves by default demisexual, or do they just act like they are? How does that shift a baseline understanding of asexuality or allosexuality? What about aroallo characters? Aroace characters? Does a specific asexual(-esque) identity arise in response to other cultures? Is there an association with religion? Immaturity? What about sex-repulsed characters? How does the belief that sexual desire will naturally arise once engaged/married impact characters? Nominated characters I headcanon as aspec include Dior (aromantic allosexual), Sauron (greysexual, “sex is primarily a manipulation tactic, right?”), Aredhel (aromantic), and Curufin (kinky ace). You very much do not have to use these headcanons in your own work. I am open to any characters within nominated pairings written as any form of aspec.
