Howell Jenkins in disguise

Fast forward a few centuries and turns out all that work wasn’t entirely useless. And Sauron knows exactly what to do with the features he was able to recreate. Weaving them into his new face, the line of Maitimo’s smile, the set of his eyebrows, the crease of his eyes, he puts just enough to be familiar, but not enough to set off any alarms.

Celebrimbor doesn’t know *why* he trusts Annatar so easily, just that he’s got a good feeling about him. The Maia reminds him of someone he can’t quite put a finger on, but it’s a good association and he doesn’t think on it too deeply. Grows to call him a brother in all but blood.

Of course we all know how that ends. And the last thing Celebrimbor sees is his eldest Uncle’s smile, a mockery of the warmth it should hold as Sauron finally ends his torture.

He sings beautifully, with a voice that sounds like no elf or man, and it reminds many of the Sindar of Luthien. It reminds some of the Noldor of someone else, another singer with raven-dark hair and starry gray eyes.

The braids he does his hair in– and he always keeps it braided at first, because letting it run loose is another thing that makes people whisper of Luthien– are in the traditional Noldor style. The survivors of Gondolin love that; Turgon always wore his hair in classical styles too. The other part of the House of Finwe that clung to traditional braids goes unmentioned. But everyone knows.

And he was clearly taught about court manners; taught to be gracious and charming, and a very good listener. The elf who could have taught Elrond those things is usually skipped over entirely, in favor of those reminiscing about Idril's graceful poise or Melian's endless patience.

He looks very much like Luthien, but there is a particular Finwean sharpness in his facial structure; something that makes him look a lot like Fingolfin, as well. Fingolfin looked very much like his father. And his older brother.

His smile is just like Earendil's (whose smile is just like Tuor's), and his strange, birdlike laugh is from Elwing. He fights and writes with his left hand– but then, so did Earendil, because while all elves are right-handed, not all humans or half-elves are. He eats no meat– just like Beren, they say, but the way Elrond tells it the choice had nothing to do with that history. There is ainuric power in him and something very human in the set of his shoulders. The flowers grow around any place he stays long enough. He gets sick in a way no elf, and certainly no maia, ever would. His accent is odd, and archaic, and changes noticeably when he's too tired to obscure it. His mannerisms are a mixture of about twelve people, almost all of whom are dead, and several of whom are not spoken of by the time he shows up in Gil-Galad's camp.

And the reflections of Elrond unsettle a lot of people; because one moment they see a fallen hero or loved one, and the next they see the person that took them. Or perhaps someone else, that they never knew at all. There is reverence and fear and uncertainty. It's messy.

NOTE: I want to add that, just because you don't agree with one or both of their decisions, that doesn't necessarily make it greedy. Just like agreeing with the decisions doesn't necessarily make it not greedy. If that makes sense.

Like for Fëanáro, it actually depends on which line of his characterisation you follow. It could be an extremely greedy act because he was rendered fey by Morgoth’s marring and the jewel’s corruption. And that would work perfectly well. OR one could argue that the jewels contained part of his fëa, therefore making it impossible for him to just trust the Valar (the Valar!! those same beings that just stood there and did nothing while he tried to make them all understand the treachery of Morgoth before it was too late) to handle them correctly.

It is obvious that in that moment he is not only remembering how they turned a blind eye to Morgoth’s actions until it was too late but also what happened with his mother. He does not trust them and therefore he will never let them handle the jewels that contain his fëa. One of the very few things that his mother has left in the world of the living. Nu-uh.

To be honest I like this flavour of Fëanáro better that the fey, mad elf that is horrible all around and just does things because he is evil. Makes it all more tragic. Though I’d argue that even if the jewels did not have anything of him he still would have vehemently denied their breaking by the hands of the Valar. Because he does not trust them with the work of his hands. And that, I think, would be reason enough. (Of course, you can spice this up with a bit of Morgoth’s marring becoming all out paranoia for him: does he even really know why they want them? Is that really to help them? Even after they do not want them to leave? After they want to keep them imprisoned? Are they really looking out for them?)

So yeah, for Fëanáro I’d say it’s more of a question of pride in any of those alternatives, sometimes coupled with a pinch of madness, sometimes with genuine fear for his life and a healthy dose of paranoia. I’d absolutely say that greediness is in there somewhere but I’d not say that was his whole reason for refusing to give away the gems.

Most content I see of Finwe seems to characterize him as this sweet loving guy who's oblivious to everything going on in his family, but let's remember that this is the same guy who's the reason everything is the way it is.

Maybe older Finwe near the end of his life can be a little sweeter and more mature and a better father to Feanor as a treat since he did die for his son's jewels and then gave up his chance at re-embodiment for Miriel.

But younger Finwe: He's the King of the Noldor. How do you think he ended up that way, must have been at least a little power hungry right?

He's also the same bitch who moved on from his severely depressed wife in like 10 years max when he's immortal and has eternity. Couldn't hurt to wait at least 100 or even 50 years right?

And sure, he loves Feanor. But does he have Feanor's best interests at heart? No, if he wanted to put Feanor first, he would've at the very least waited until Feanor was an adult who accepted his mother won't come back before moving on.

Here's a guy who wants to have his cake and eat it too. His selfishness is the reason Feanor is as mentally unstable as he is, yet his other children who's existence is the reason for Feanor's insecurity, depression, & over all poor mental health, weren't good enough for him to treat them equal to Feanor.

This is a guy who clearly put himself first his whole life until he has a change of heart close to last minute and does something for someone else & not himself.

This was the moment when I suddenly remembered that Elrond is the great-great grandson of both Fingolfin and Melian, that he commanded armies against Sauron in the Second Age, and that it was probably Maedhros and Maglor who taught him to fight like that

(Elrond is both proud and sad with how much he misses his adoptive dad and wished he would be there to see him now, to meet his grandchildren and be there to help teach them to fight)

Maglor teaching them to dance so that they will have the advantage of precise, energy conserving movements in a long swordfight

Maedhros cracking jokes about being “disarmed” when Elrond finally manages to best him in a fight

Someone mentioning, disparagingly, to Elrond that “you fight like a bloody Fëanorian”, and Elrond glowing with pride for a week afterwards

One time Elrond is out riding with Maedhros in the woods, when they run into a party of orcs. It is Elrond’s first kill, and he is horrified and thrilled in equal amounts. Locked in a dance of death with his enemy, a word’s edge away from death, he feels alive like never before. This feeling terrifies him, until he turns to Maedhros, meets his gaze and catches a glimpse of that same joyful insanity