A Small Bird in a Big Place

I've always wondered what the latter generation Finweans thought of the Doom of the Noldor. Most of them lived through the horrors of the First Age, suffered alongside their parents, uncles, etc even though none of them were involved with the kinslaying– hell, most of them probably weren't even alive. How do you come to terms with the fact that you are paying for the crimes of your relatives? That you were, before you were even born, doomed to suffering and death?

Did Celebrimbor think his father deserved to be slain for what he'd done during the kinslayings? Did he think he deserved it for being a kinslayer's son?

What did Galadriel think when she was cast out, even though she'd fought in defense of the Teleri? Did she ever resent the Valar for refusing to let her back for so long? Did she feel like her actions were justified, right until the end?

How about Idril? Did she think her mother's death was fair pennance for the Noldor's disobidience and the actions of her uncle Fingon? Did she ever wonder why it had to be Elenwe who suffered, when neither her nor Turgon had any part in the murder?

Earendil? He was no kinslayer, and neither was his mother or his grandfather, but the Doom came for him and Gondolin anyways. Did he resent the Valar for that? Did he resent them for leaving Middle-Earth to suffer?

Elrond? No doubt he saw, far more viscerally, exactly what unnumbered tears looked like when he stayed with the Feanorians. Did he think it was a fair punishment? Did he think his own pain was acceptable collateral damage? Did he think all of Middle-Earth was acceptable collapteral damage?

When Gil-Galad turned Annatar away from Lindon, did he do it because he suspected Annatar wasn't a true emmisary of the Valar? Or did he just not want to speak to a representative of those who had damned his people for something many of them never did?

The *real* problem, Celebrimbor decides, is just that they're too similar. Really, it was inevitable. Two powerful, ambitious, mysterious Ainuric beings? They were bound to come into conflict. It's not any deeper than that– not some great conflict between good and evil, not something with any real stakes. Just some silly rivalry that he's found himself in the middle of.

At least. That's what he tells himself. Because that's the explanation that lets him dismiss Elrond's increasingly dire warnings about Annatar. Because that's the explanation that lets him ignore the way Annatar looks at Elrond– with something like fear, or even worse, something like hunger.

But also because if he imagines that Elrond and Annatar are not so different from each other, he can make sense of both of them. Because Annatar's late night conversations about the "perfection" of Middle-Earth always make his spine shiver, but Elrond has spoken of similar things before, and Celebrimbor has never had reason to fear him. Because Elrond is often strange, often just beyond Celebrimbor's grasp, and it makes him feel better when Annatar promises that it's only posturing, only Elrond trying to seem more Ainuric than he really is. Wouldn't you do the same, with blood like that? Annatar says with a twisting grin.

He wants, badly, to believe they're the same. He wants, badly, to believe they're both harmless.

To be fair, on the last point, he only ends up being half-wrong.

How Silm characters would react to meeting their Rings of Power counterparts:

Gil-Galad:

Elrond:

Galadriel:

Celebrimbor:

Sauron:

I absolutely love the idea that Elrond took one look at Annatar and immediately disliked him. He just instantly failed the vibe check. And the best part is about that is that there are so, so many reasons Elrond might've immediately mistrusted Annatar, ranging from drama to comedy. I've compiled a few of my favorites below:

Alright part 2 of the summary for my Faustian Bargain AU– where Elrond willingly becomes Sauron's prisoner so he'll release Gil-Galad and Celebrimbor.

Elrond's plan is fairly simple. Earendil patrols the Void to ensure Morgoth doesn't escape, Sauron doesn't know about this, therefore, if Elrond times it right, Earendil will realize Sauron is in the Void trying to free Morgoth, get the Valar, and detain him.

There's a few possible hitches with this plan. First, Elrond needs to make sure Sauron doesn't enter the Void until the right time. He also needs to keep the information about Earendil away from Sauron– which is somewhat difficult considering Sauron's habit of picking through other people's thoughts.

Also, this should go without saying, but if Sauron manages to free Morgoth before he can be captured, they're all basically dead anyway.

But there's another problem. See, Sauron was quick to agree that he wouldn't torture Elrond while Elrond was in captivity. Elrond assumed that Sauron agreed because he was desperate. The truth is, Sauron never really wanted to torture Elrond.

He just wanted to run a few tests, what with Elrond being an unprecedented mix of three different species. Specifically, he wanted to know if there was any way to fully bring out Elrond's Maiarin power– and maybe get rid of some of his more human aspects (the need to sleep, susceptibility to disease, all that).

Technically, performing unethical magical experiments on someone isn't torture. Elrond is still not having a great time.

Especially when it looks like some of Sauron's tests might actually be working, and Elrond has to confront the fact that when– or if– he gets out, he might not be the same half-elf he was before.

Alright, this is a prompt from my Unwritten Fic ask game! If you'd like more details on this story, or any of the others there, my inbox is open. This also got pretty long, so I'll post this today and put up a part two for this ask in a couple days.

So the Faustian Bargain AU starts with slight canon divergence– Gil-Galad is in Eregion when it falls, and gets captured along with Celebrimbor. Elrond, who is in Lindon, is suddenly the de-facto High King of the Noldor, while dealing with the fact that two of the people he cares about most in the world are currently in Sauron's clutches.

(And Elrond grew up with Maedhros and the former thralls who followed him. He knows what Sauron is capable of.)

Now, Elrond knows it would be a fool's errand to try and rescue them. No one even knows where Sauron is keeping them. So, instead, he uses a captured orc general to send a message to Sauron. Elrond Peredhel wishes to make a deal.

The terms are simple: Sauron will let Gil-Galad and Celebrimbor free without further harm, and in return, Elrond will become his prisoner. Sauron is not allowed to torture Elrond. Any attempt to rescue Elrond or escape attempts will result in his execution– to prevent Elrond from backing down from his end of the deal. And– and this is the reason Sauron agrees to hand two high-ranking prisoners over for someone he can't even torture– Elrond will help Sauron with his real goal, breaking into the void to free Morgoth. Elrond, who's well acquainted with the scholarship of magic and (in this AU) has been to the void with Earendil before, is maybe the only person in Middle-Earth who can help Sauron do this. And Sauron is desperate enough to take that deal.

So, Elrond and Sauron forge their contract– it's not quite an oath, but an agreement between Maia is still very serious business– Gil and Brim are let go, and Elrond begins his stay as Sauron's prisoner/research partner. Gil-Galad and Celebrimbor, notably, are not told about the "no-torturing" clause of the deal. It is not a great time for them.

Sauron is delighted, but of course, Elrond has his own plans. He knows that Morgoth rising again will be the end of Middle-Earth, and he doesn't intend to let that happen.

Sauron has complexes about exactly two (2) beings. Feanor and Luthien. Feanor, the mere elf whose work bested his and drew the eyes of his Maiarin peers (and even his master Morgoth). The elf who, whether he knew it or not, had challenged the mighty Sauron's forging skill and had, whether Sauron could admit it or not, won. Luthien had also challenged him, and left him defeated and humiliated, and had done it all with a kind of disgusted scorn that Sauron could never stop thinking about. She, a half-bred girl, had dared to look at him, most admirable and powerful of Maia, like he'd been a nasty stain on one of her cloaks.

And he's an obsessive perfectionist with an unparalleled ability to hold grudges, so of course he can't let either of those slights go. One of his greatest frustrations is the fact that Luthien has moved beyond the world, out of his grasp– if rumors are to be believed, so has Feanor, sent to the Everlasting darkness. Sauron hates them all the more for being gone, all the more for being out of reach of his anger and vengeance. And that hatred only festers in the long, lonely years of the Second Age, as Sauron bides his time and starts planning his comeback.

And then he walks into Eregion, and what is the first thing he sees? Luthien and Feanor.

He's introduced to Lord Celebrimbor and his cousin, Lord Elrond. He knows who they are of course, but he'd never been told they were such perfect copies of their ancestors. He's told more about them, but he doesn't listen. All he can think is that he finally has a chance to get his revenge.

Luthien and Feanor are back, and this time, Sauron promises himself, he will claim his victory over them.

The second chapter is up! This one is more bittersweet than sad. Also featuring guest appearances from Estel and Annatar.