Tag: *__*

nonillions:

Thank you! Let me see if I can go more in-depth on the space!Ainur for you:

As far as civilizations go, the Ainur rank just a little bit above a Type II on the Kardashev scale–they’ve harnessed the energy of their parent star(s), and they do currently receive energy from a few other neighboring areas, but it’s only supplementary. In a lot of ways, they’re still quite young on the galactic scale by the time the events of the Quenta Silmarillion.

Their personal belief system about their species’ role in the Music of Creation is clearly related to their own biology. In general, they have heightened sensitivity to vibrations; nuance in speech sometimes results in additional simultaneous pitches added to the words, which is why Earth-native species finds their native language abrasive.

The political body ruling their species are the Valar. Their lifespans are incredibly long, increasingly so as their technology improves, and by the time they become interstellar they have stabilized into a set population continuously replacing or rejuvenating their forms. Thus, if Manwe is referred to at any point, it is the same Manwe referred to at all points. 

The term Maiar is used to refer to bodied Ainur not on the ruling council. In addition, there are a great number of un-bodied Ainur still acting and present in society through robotic forms (not necessarily humanoid) running what is essentially a stored imprint of their intelligence. 

Melkor is most certainly in lock-down inside one of these forms “in the void” (i.e. in an undisclosed location in space), unable to be killed due to the Valarin moral code but unable to remain bodied for the safety of others. Due to the sinking of Numenor, Sauron is also bound to a robotic form, and the One Ring is his last life-line to regain control of the commandeered technologies his forces once had.

The Ainur the sentient species of Earth are not the only acting groups in this galaxy. There’s a lot going on out there that even they don’t understand.

As for the black birbs, they are my personal concepts and not from Tolkien’s canon. They’re vampiric, parasitic shapeshifters known as the Ahluum, but they are affectionately called sludge birds. Usually I only bring them up in the distant future scenarios, because they’re behind the Ainur in technologic development and also there can only be one group of shape-shifting puppeteers in this neck of the galaxy.

Everything is developing all the time; some thoughts have definitely changed since I discussed them with people back in… 2014? 2015? And that includes with @misbehavingmaiar, there are new and altered details that we’ve never discussed. 

(If people want to hear more about my sludge birds, I will gladly and with immense pleasure make a separate post about them. I just really love them a lot, you know?)