the-artifice-of-eternity:

favorite thing about them

His patience, cleverness, and ability to pull off remarkably intricate long-term manipulations that get undermined last-minute by the glaring gaps in his understanding of human nature. His almost elegant cruelty. His implacable determination in pursuing his (admittedly, really shitty) goals. 

least favorite thing about them

I could say “he’s killed and tortured thousands of people” but do I really dislike that about him as a character? Um. I feel like he suffers from some villain decay in Lord of the Rings, at least as reflected in his servants and heralds, who are uniformly cowardly and incompetent. 

favorite line

I’ll be basic: “But wherefore should Middle-earth remain forever desolate and dark, whereas the Elves could make it as fair as Eressea, nay even as Valinor? And since you have not returned thither, as you might, I perceive that you love this Middle-earth, as do I. Is it not then our task to labour together for its enrichment, and for the raising of all the Elven-kindreds that wander here untaught to the height of that power and knowledge which those have who are beyond the Sea?”

brOTP

I think @simaethae put it pretty succinctly: “Does he even have friends?”

I do like to think that he and Galadriel got a little over-invested in their deep and enduring mutual animosity. A FoeTP, if you will. He could have tried harder to get rid of her, but after thousands of years the knowledge that she was still out there hating him was weirdly comforting. 

OTP

Sauron/Celebrimbor in the streets, Sauron/Pharazon in the sheets. 

nOTP

Uh. I don’t actively dislike Sauron/Melkor, I just – disagree with almost every popular interpretation of it? 

random headcanon

In his Dark Lord of Mordor form, he reeks of volcanic sulfur. 

unpopular opinion

My divergence from a lot of Sauron interpretations hinges on this passage from HoME: 

“While Morgoth still stood, Sauron did not seek his own supremacy, but worked and schemed for another, desiring the triumph of Melkor, whom in the beginning he adored.” 

This is a fascinating quote, but I’m most interested in the implications of those three words: ‘in the beginning.’ We know that when Sauron first pledged himself to Melkor, he was utterly loyal to him, dedicated to his vision – but we also know that by the time Angband fell, Sauron didn’t hesitate to renounce Melkor and strike off on his own. I know a lot of people read this as a false turn, and think Sauron stayed loyal to Melkor and his goals. But I’m more interested in the implied broken-pedestal story here. Why did a Maia of Aule, a creature of order and efficiency and innovation, pledge himself to the embodiment of destructive chaos? What did it take for him to realize Melkor’s flaws? And if he did realize, what drove him to end up making the exact same mistakes? 

song i associate with them

I Will Never Die by Delta Ray

favorite picture of them

There’s actually a ridiculous amount of great Sauron fanart, but I’m especially fond of this (for the god-king aesthetic) and this (for more down to earth otp nerdiness).