#OMG???? #This Killed Me

Maglor, even tempered and with a voice like molten gold. Maglor who kills at Alqualonde and burns the ships and does not speak against his father. Maglor who runs around Beleriand with Maedhros for their hunts and diplomatic feasts. Maglor who takes the Gap and holds the front with his elder brother, keeping the other five behind their lines. Maglor whose voice is strong and commanding on the battlefield but persuading and compelling in meetings and honeyed and cristal clear when raised in song. Maglor who follows Maedhros and protects him from treachery during the Nirnaeth. Maglor who kills and kills in Doriath, in Sirion, who buries his younger brothers. Maglor who takes pity on little children and raises them, growing fond of them, as little might be thought. Maglor who is sick and weary, who has seen his land lost, his people turn their back on him and Maedhros, Maglor who prefers to surrender than to commit another atrocity, who still hopes beyond reason that there can be forgiveness even for them, that the oath can sleep if the Silmarils are safe, even if they do not have them, who hopes the Powers can render their oath void, and if not, better the Everlasting Darkness than killing again. Maglor, who caves, who kills again, who betrays one last time, who listens and follows his elder brother one last time as they stand back to back against Eldar, Men and Maiar. Maglor, who, despite everything, casts the Silmaril away. Maglor who might have faded, might be alive, alone at last.

Maglor, whose voice and words are the only thing of him left behind, telling of the sorrows of the Noldor.

you are a god's best friend. the world is young still, and you are yet younger. he rides with you and hunts with you, and teaches you how to speak to birds and beasts. you are a god's student. you ride in his train and care for a hound that he gifted to you. gods have taught others before. gods have been kindly to others before. your god is your best friend. he gifts you something of his self, a hound of his own hunt.

you are your father's son. your grandfather is dead. no one has ever called you wise, and you are, above all else, your father's son. he swears a terrible oath. you swear a terrible oath. you don't know if you really mean it, but your mother named you well- you are hasty to rise, hasty to run into things. the hunt teaches you patience but you cannot outrun yourself. you are your father's son.

you are a god's best friend and you have sworn a terrible oath, but it is an oath that you hope that your friend can understand. to hunt the murderer of your grandfather, is something that the god of the hunt can understand.

you are your father's son. the blood of elves on your hands does not feel different than the blood of a deer, except in the tight feeling of your throat. except in the thunderous beating of your heart. you tell your brother, who is trying not to throw up, that you need to think of them like deer. he looks at you like he's never seen you before. you are forever doomed.

you are a god's best friend. he does not say goodbye, but your dog comes with you. surely you can fix this, then, surely you are still a god's friend.

you are your father's son. he dies. he dies but before he does, he tells you to burn the boats. you do. you are your father's son. your father dies and, he tells you to swear that oath once more. it is a terrible oath. you have sworn it once. you swore to your best friend once. surely it will not tip the scales to swear once more, if in your mind, you dedicate this hunt to him.

you were a god's best friend, and it is not enough. you are your father's son, and you speak your father's oath. it proceeds to eat you alive.

At some point in the third age

Galadriel: I am the last member of the house of finwë on these shores. My brothers, my cousins, my uncles; everyone who came here with me is long gone. I am my family's last survivor.

Meanwhile Maglor on the shore:

Galadriel: Sometimes I can still here their voices

Tolkien writing kingdoms' moral decay and eventual decline: they exploited nature, destroyed forests and cut down trees

Tolkien writing male characters' moral decay and eventual decline: he stopped listening to his wife

Maedhros still bloody from the first kinslaying when he sees Maglor already composing the first draft for the Noldolantë

Morwen and Hurin

The Feanorians like to scare each other just for the hell of it but not one of them dares to try and scare Maglor. Maedhros warned them all the one (1) time he did, Maglor screamed so loud and powerfully that every piece of glass in the house within fifty feet shattered

Anyone else: the hands that cradled your face and tilted it upwards to kiss your forehead are soaked in unfathomable quantities of blood.

Elros and Elrond: But they cradled me, yes?

(Credits to @queen-of-hobgobblers )

Fruit harvest festival

Nerdanel & Feanaro

Lúthien is such an interesting character. She could’ve easily been written as just a pretty princess sitting in a tower, waiting for her beloved to come back with the treasure he stole from "a dragon". But instead, we get her rescuing him from one villain, then heading straight to the main bad guy and doing all the work herself AGAIN.

And it doesn't mean Beren didn’t deserve her or anything—it just proves they were equals in that journey. They both wanted to be together, and that’s why she was so eager to help and save him. It was her fate on the line too, and she wasn’t about to take a passive role, just sitting around hoping Beren would succeed or accepting failure if he didn't.

And I adore how cruel she could be when she wanted. Remember the words and threats she threw at Sauron—he totally deserved it because, well, he’s Sauron—but still! Seeing her as not just the quiet, lovely maiden all the time, but actually being allowed to express anger and be intimidating? That’s so fucking cool. I wish more people in the fandom focused on that "bloodthirsty" part of her personality, by the way. I want to see more fanarts of her being furious and scary.

I know it doesn’t seem that extraordinary today because we have plenty of badass heroines now, but Tolkien started writing this story over 100 years ago. Sure, he refined it over time, but still. He gets criticized for how he portrayed most of his female characters—rightfully—but I think it’s really impressive that someone who could’ve just been a stereotypical princess actually got the chance to take a large part in the action, even a bigger role than the hero and her lover. (Of course, that’s not the sole reason why she’s interesting and well-written—there’s way more nuance to her personality than just being able to kick ass and cast magic)