Instadrabbling Sessions for April, May, and June
The first Saturday of each month, we will be hosting instadrabbling on our Discord server.
Dawn spoke with polutropos about her upcoming presentation for Mereth Aderthad, “'Kidnap Fam' and the Living Legendarium," including the appeal of kidnap fam, the appeal of Maglor's character, and how The Silmarillion as an incomplete, complex word makes it ripe for both fanworks and scholarship.
Maglor, having little will to live left in sinking Beleriand, is saved by tiny things.
Maedhros, eldest son of Feanor, is captured by Morgoth and chained to the cliffs of Thargorodrim by his order. There is no hope of rescue until his dearest friend appears. (one-shot)
They passed out of Lhûn and the wider coastline of Middle-earth opened up before his eyes. He had wandered those shores for centuries, and even now he felt the pull of that same wanderlust, and knew he would miss them for the rest of his life. Their wildness, the untamed waves, the rocky shores and the cliffs and the sandy beaches. The gulls, and the dunes, and the tide pools with their ever-changing denizens. Someone began to sing a song of farewell, and other voices took it up. He did not join them.
Maglor keeps a promise, and comes to Valinor, only to find the ghosts he thought he'd left behind are alive and waiting for him.
A oneshot on the complex relationship of Maglor, Maedhros, and giving.
For Maedhros & Maglor Week 2025.
It was well-established knowledge amongst all their brothers that if they did something that made Makalaurë suitably upset, he would retaliate by playing his pipes very early outside the offending brother’s window.
However, while Maitimo was certain that he had done something to earn this assault on his ears, he could not for the life of him figure out what it was.
(In which Maitimo is the latest victim of Makalaurë’s early morning bagpipe playing.)
Five tents, he counts. Two dead guards. The fire within him burns so white, he wonders if it will leave anything of himself behind. Wonders if he can bring himself to care. Wonders, too, if this is what his father had felt like when he found the innards of their grandfather’s head spilt over his well-wrought front steps.
If so, perhaps Maedhros finally understands.
Maglor is taken. Maedhros handles it as well as can be expected, which is not at all.
“Forswear the oath, then!” Elrond raises his voice.
“The oath was sworn in the name of Ilúvatar,” Maedhros explains. “It cannot be broken, lest we be doomed to everlasting darkness.”
“Seems to me you're both f****d either way,” Elros says. “So what's the harm in asking?”
"Elros, I will not tolerate that language in my halls. For someone of your stature, it's unbecoming." Maedhros conveniently ignores the question.
The War of Wrath has started, and the kidnap family is coming to an end.
This is how the conversation went.
They speak as if they have not been sending messengers to keep each other informed of what was necessary. As if this—war, strategy, cold facts—is not all they have exchanged ever since Maedhros had removed them East.
He wonders if Maglor has forgiven him yet—for giving away the crown, for not asking him first, for coming back someone other than himself. He wonders if he has forgiven Maglor yet—for leaving him to Morgoth, for looking at him returned only with horror and guilt. For not forgiving him yet.
They have not spoken in twenty years. Maedhros doubts that this is the kind of reuniting that their uncle had in mind.
He used to be able to read his brother better than his own mind. He used to think that he would do anything, would bear anything, to have him back.
Maglor’s worst crime to date, he thinks, is that in this, too, he has proven himself a liar.
Maedhros abdicates the throne. Maglor copes, more or less (it's definitely less).
Maglor, Fingon and Finrod go for a picnic, and Maglor is in a bad mood. Written for the Dark Matter challenge prompt: 'the letter E'.
A collection of flashfic, drabbles, and snippets.
Following Maglor as he suffers through captivity in Dol Guldur, and his journey to healing afterward.
“They left everything behind? All of their families?” Elrond asks.
“Yes.”
“All for a magic stone?” he asks.
“Yes. A very special, very magical stone,” Maglor says, unsure why he should have to justify his deeds to a child.
~~~
Maglor tells Elrond and Elros a story. Maedhros listens.
Drabbles created (and now polished) from February 15, 2025 Maedhros & Maglor week-themed Instadrabbling session)
Troubled by dark dreams, Nerdanel picks up a palantír to seek for Maglor. She finds him.
After, Maedhros has returned to life and also seeks for his brother--and also finds him.
Maglor prepares for the Winter Solstice celebration, but Elrond and Elros disagree with his choice of clothing.
Or: in which the Noldor invented waistcoats
She sits alone in her room and pulls the silmaril out. Stares at it in the dark until the light makes her cry. Weighs the blood of her kin staining the Fëanorians hands against the yet unspilled blood of the people she’s been told are her responsibility. Holds the question she’s never been able to answer in her hands and makes herself think — what makes a monster? She knows what her advisors say. She knows what her people whisper. She knows their blood will run red regardless of which set of monsters end up finally coming for them.
or: Elwing is sixteen when she finally comprehends the brutality of the war ravaging Beleriand, when she realizes what it means to be told the people of Sirion are hers to protect. She is sixteen and helplessly in love and her advisor tells her that she is safe in Sirion and she cannot believe him. She comes up with a plan to fix it.
Tyelkormo was currently outside the house, hiding from his mother.
It was nearly winter and every winter was peak matchmaking activity time in Tirion’s palace. So Nerdanel focused more on her sons at this period since she wanted them to make a good impression so they could find a good wife as was proper for young adult elves.
Alas, Tyelkormo didn’t want that.
Works for the Sitcom Bingo : We need a distraction, Failure is the Only Option, and getting volunteered (poor Makalaurë's dramatic so he enjoys being volunteered, worry not, no minstrel was harmed in the writing of this fic).
A selection of brief writings (mostly conforming to drabbles but some veer into dribble territory) from the SWG events on January 18-19, 2025.
Maglor performs the Noldolantë and the room reacts.
Short interaction between Maedhros and Caranthir, written during an instadrabbling session.
Finrod answers a tutor's question before Caranthir can