Mantis gods and Spider gods
Oct. 26th, 2019 02:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
adepslanaeIt's really hard for me to write about Fëanorians even like this these days, but I do think about them constantly, still...
So, a few days ago I caught a glimpse of a TV documentary about African wild dogs and they're just...extremely Fëanorian:
a) very close bonds within the pack (more social than wolves, even with a less hierarchical structure)
b) there are more males than females in packs (3:1)
c) it's the females that leave to find a new pack for themselves
d) look at their colours! Black-and-red in dusty patches with some white thrown in
e) there's this legend about the South African creator god IKaggen "taking revenge on the other gods by sending a group of men transformed into African wild dogs to attack them, though who won the battle is never revealed", which is just perfect
Turns out Eru is a mantis and decides to just get rid of the Valar at some point.
Or you could come up with an OC god, of course, or make Méassë & Makar mantis gods with a revenge to take on the other Valar who have exiled them for being too warmongering.
I also really like the change of perspective, you know - how mantises and spiders are usually associated with 'female' in our culture, whereas you also have the great West African god Anansi(e) who is a spider himself.
Which in turn sort of influenced including Wirilómë as Ungoliant's male counterpart in Poacher. Also that comment I got about the Míriel - Natsume Reiko parallel made me want to write something vaguely Natsume-y (I mean, the whole idea behind Poacher actually stemmed from the thing with the Matoba clan chief sacrificing one eye to a spirit in exchange for power).
So basically the news that Therindë's kin is back in Middle Earth spreads far and wide (thanks to Thu, mainly). Wirilómë thinks that Míriel herself is back and sends someone to kidnap her. Caranthir shares enough physical traits with his grandmother and is a therindo, too, to be mistaken for her by spider-spirits (just like Takashi is mistaken for Reiko by the ayakashi, despite being a boy).
So Caranthir is kidnapped and taken to the Greenwood (the spiders actually always lived there, and it was stupid Sindar from the West + Sauron messing things up that gave rise to the story about evil spiders taking over the forest).
Bad times follow - Wirilómë is pretty much intent on making sure he doesn't lose his Míriel again, which means Caranthir has to go through some unpleasant stuff.
Sáya steps in at this point and helps Caranthir clear up the misunderstanding and also reminds Wirilómë that Míriel was never his alone. (Sáya looks like a maned wolf, except her top half is silver fire rather than red fur, and her paws end in pointy spikes that can start a fire whenever.)
Wirilómë relents and appears to Caranthir in more human form - he looks like Mergo's Wet Nurse, so a cloaked figure with three pairs of arms and covered in bling, which also gives Míriel's name a completely new meaning. I mean, jewel-daughter and needle-maker? Where even did the Tatyar get jewels from in Cuiviénen? (As a spider, Wirilómë looks a lot like Armor Spider, so a 'normal' orb-weaver type spider ('cause hairy spiders freak me out too much), but with eight more building-sized legs overhead (if he wants to, he can totally look like a small mountain).)
Caranthir is of course changed by the whole experience. Particularly, he can now clearly see the spiderweb(s) spread out across the sky (sort of like Latria's sky).
When Caranthir returns and Maedhros (who nearly lost it after Caranthir went missing) is informed of what has been going on, both with Curufin - Tevildo and with Caranthir - Wirilómë + Sáya he is angry at them. With his memories of Angband, he can't come to terms with the fact that his brothers are so closely associated with possibly untrustworthy but very powerful creatures.
Maglor sides with him, not so much because he shares Maedhros's fears, but because Maedhros needs the support.
Caranthir in turn is angry - he never asked for any of this.
Curufin is hurt, but realises that he should have expected Maedhros to react like that.
Celegorm feels a little guilty, and tries to mediate.
The twins too mediate - they have been dabbling in whatever scraps of black magic the Tatyar brought to Valinor ever since they were kids, and their knowledge of what goes on beyond the Valar-surface of the world has only deepened after they got to Beleriand.
So, a few days ago I caught a glimpse of a TV documentary about African wild dogs and they're just...extremely Fëanorian:
a) very close bonds within the pack (more social than wolves, even with a less hierarchical structure)
b) there are more males than females in packs (3:1)
c) it's the females that leave to find a new pack for themselves
d) look at their colours! Black-and-red in dusty patches with some white thrown in
e) there's this legend about the South African creator god IKaggen "taking revenge on the other gods by sending a group of men transformed into African wild dogs to attack them, though who won the battle is never revealed", which is just perfect
Turns out Eru is a mantis and decides to just get rid of the Valar at some point.
Or you could come up with an OC god, of course, or make Méassë & Makar mantis gods with a revenge to take on the other Valar who have exiled them for being too warmongering.
I also really like the change of perspective, you know - how mantises and spiders are usually associated with 'female' in our culture, whereas you also have the great West African god Anansi(e) who is a spider himself.
Which in turn sort of influenced including Wirilómë as Ungoliant's male counterpart in Poacher. Also that comment I got about the Míriel - Natsume Reiko parallel made me want to write something vaguely Natsume-y (I mean, the whole idea behind Poacher actually stemmed from the thing with the Matoba clan chief sacrificing one eye to a spirit in exchange for power).
So basically the news that Therindë's kin is back in Middle Earth spreads far and wide (thanks to Thu, mainly). Wirilómë thinks that Míriel herself is back and sends someone to kidnap her. Caranthir shares enough physical traits with his grandmother and is a therindo, too, to be mistaken for her by spider-spirits (just like Takashi is mistaken for Reiko by the ayakashi, despite being a boy).
So Caranthir is kidnapped and taken to the Greenwood (the spiders actually always lived there, and it was stupid Sindar from the West + Sauron messing things up that gave rise to the story about evil spiders taking over the forest).
Bad times follow - Wirilómë is pretty much intent on making sure he doesn't lose his Míriel again, which means Caranthir has to go through some unpleasant stuff.
Sáya steps in at this point and helps Caranthir clear up the misunderstanding and also reminds Wirilómë that Míriel was never his alone. (Sáya looks like a maned wolf, except her top half is silver fire rather than red fur, and her paws end in pointy spikes that can start a fire whenever.)
Wirilómë relents and appears to Caranthir in more human form - he looks like Mergo's Wet Nurse, so a cloaked figure with three pairs of arms and covered in bling, which also gives Míriel's name a completely new meaning. I mean, jewel-daughter and needle-maker? Where even did the Tatyar get jewels from in Cuiviénen? (As a spider, Wirilómë looks a lot like Armor Spider, so a 'normal' orb-weaver type spider ('cause hairy spiders freak me out too much), but with eight more building-sized legs overhead (if he wants to, he can totally look like a small mountain).)
Caranthir is of course changed by the whole experience. Particularly, he can now clearly see the spiderweb(s) spread out across the sky (sort of like Latria's sky).
When Caranthir returns and Maedhros (who nearly lost it after Caranthir went missing) is informed of what has been going on, both with Curufin - Tevildo and with Caranthir - Wirilómë + Sáya he is angry at them. With his memories of Angband, he can't come to terms with the fact that his brothers are so closely associated with possibly untrustworthy but very powerful creatures.
Maglor sides with him, not so much because he shares Maedhros's fears, but because Maedhros needs the support.
Caranthir in turn is angry - he never asked for any of this.
Curufin is hurt, but realises that he should have expected Maedhros to react like that.
Celegorm feels a little guilty, and tries to mediate.
The twins too mediate - they have been dabbling in whatever scraps of black magic the Tatyar brought to Valinor ever since they were kids, and their knowledge of what goes on beyond the Valar-surface of the world has only deepened after they got to Beleriand.