much quicker éowyn sketch, as a treat, and also as a compulsory exercise in actually properly saturated colors

the elvenking thranduil🌲

Some pencil sketches of a young Thranduil

Just spend a minute on paying attention to the Dark Lord's hella waist

I've been saying this for years. Even in armor he's rocking that figure man

curufin

Anon and @aotearoa20 asked for Eärendil, @imakemywings for Elwing, hope it's okay, that I drew them together. They're one of my favourites. <3

I’ve been thinking about Alqualondë.

The First Kinslaying is often thought if as a battle between two armies, but it really isn’t. The Teleri are all civilians. In the many thousands of years since they came to Valinor, they’ve had no thought of all of war, of combat, or defence, of any kind of violence at all. The reason the Noldor are armed, armoured, and have trained in combat is because Melkor incited them to make and train with weapons of war when he was setting them against each other. The Teleri were completely outside of that. Their bows would be hunting bows, for rabbit or deer (one can’t eat fish all the time), not in any way suited to fighting armoured warriors.

So what we have is really an army (one that hasn’t actually seen combat, but judging from Dagor-nuin-Giliath is nonetheless very proficient) attacking a larger group of scarcely-armed civilians who have had no experience of violence for many thousands of years. The Teleri are fighting a last-ditch effort to preserve the central artistic work of their entire culture, but combat is completely foreign to them, and they lose badly, and the Noldor kill a large part (a third? a quarter?) of their people.

This is another thing I think that is often overlooked. The Darkening of Valinor stands out as one of the most tragic moments in the history of Middle-earth, the destruction of a light that will never be restored, but in the course of the Darkening, Morgoth kills one person. (Three people, if you’re Yavanna.) The Noldor kill thousands. The Kinslaying and the destruction of their ships, not the Darkening, is the most traumatic and devastating thing the Teleri have ever experienced; they suffer far more from Fëanor and his following, and from Fingon’s forces, than they do from Morgoth.

And the ships stand out because they are not, like Silmarils, the artistic creation of one person who passionately values them, but the artistic creation of an entire people, an entire culture. And they aren’t locked away in a hoard in Formenos; they are a daily and continual part of all the people’s lives, building and repairing and mending, sailing, fishing, exploring; for work and for pleasure. A lot of the Noldor have probably rarely or never even seen the Silmarils, or only glimpsed them at a distance. The Teleri’s swan-ships are a focal point of all of their lives, and something that many of them have taken part in making.

For the Teleri - and probably for most of the people in Valinor - the Kinslaying hits harder and leaves a deeper mark, is more destructive to their lives and homes and daily experiences, than the Darkening is, and all the more so because it’s at the hands of people whom they are used to regarding as their friends.

Tags via @masteroftheseas

@child-of-hurin

Elu Thingol has flaws, but I was impressed by how restrained, composed and dignified he was in his response when he learned of the Kinslaying of Alqualondë.

I’ve been thinking about Alqualondë.

The First Kinslaying is often thought if as a battle between two armies, but it really isn’t. The Teleri are all civilians. In the many thousands of years since they came to Valinor, they’ve had no thought of all of war, of combat, or defence, of any kind of violence at all. The reason the Noldor are armed, armoured, and have trained in combat is because Melkor incited them to make and train with weapons of war when he was setting them against each other. The Teleri were completely outside of that. Their bows would be hunting bows, for rabbit or deer (one can’t eat fish all the time), not in any way suited to fighting armoured warriors.

So what we have is really an army (one that hasn’t actually seen combat, but judging from Dagor-nuin-Giliath is nonetheless very proficient) attacking a larger group of scarcely-armed civilians who have had no experience of violence for many thousands of years. The Teleri are fighting a last-ditch effort to preserve the central artistic work of their entire culture, but combat is completely foreign to them, and they lose badly, and the Noldor kill a large part (a third? a quarter?) of their people.

This is another thing I think that is often overlooked. The Darkening of Valinor stands out as one of the most tragic moments in the history of Middle-earth, the destruction of a light that will never be restored, but in the course of the Darkening, Morgoth kills one person. (Three people, if you’re Yavanna.) The Noldor kill thousands. The Kinslaying and the destruction of their ships, not the Darkening, is the most traumatic and devastating thing the Teleri have ever experienced; they suffer far more from Fëanor and his following, and from Fingon’s forces, than they do from Morgoth.

And the ships stand out because they are not, like Silmarils, the artistic creation of one person who passionately values them, but the artistic creation of an entire people, an entire culture. And they aren’t locked away in a hoard in Formenos; they are a daily and continual part of all the people’s lives, building and repairing and mending, sailing, fishing, exploring; for work and for pleasure. A lot of the Noldor have probably rarely or never even seen the Silmarils, or only glimpsed them at a distance. The Teleri’s swan-ships are a focal point of all of their lives, and something that many of them have taken part in making.

For the Teleri - and probably for most of the people in Valinor - the Kinslaying hits harder and leaves a deeper mark, is more destructive to their lives and homes and daily experiences, than the Darkening is, and all the more so because it’s at the hands of people whom they are used to regarding as their friends.

Tags via @masteroftheseas

Tengwar

AN: For @mirkwood - I've wanted to revisit this pairing for a while now thanks to you - and for @eccentricmya who shared a really cool idea regarding Melkor's eyes that inspired me to write this🖤

Many things Fëanáro had expected to see in the eyes of the Dark One. Shards of ice, deadly flames, poisonous green of twisted truth or darkness everlasting. 

Yet when the Vala sought him out at last and he fearlessly met his gaze, the only thing he could see... was Fëanáro himself. 

"What fell magic is this?!" he demanded, irate. 

Melkor did not even do him the favour of blinking. 

"What did you expect to see?" he asked mockingly, a grin splitting his face. "Something strange, monstrous or wicked? Nay, Fëanáro, all evil there is to glimpse lives within you already." 

Thanks for reading! ♡ Felt this pairing was fitting because if anyone doesn't like this trick of Melkor's it's probably Mr. Feener haha

taglist: @angbangbaby @a-world-of-whimsy-5 @blauerregen @bluezenzennie @destinyeternity1 @edensrose @elanna-elrondiel @eunoiaastralwings @i-did-not-mean-to @just-little-human @saintstars @stormchaser819 @urwendii @wandererindreams

AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! BEAUTIFUL!!!!

But they were all of them deceived…

Learn more about heeled boots archery both I guess on my Patreon!

"why can't they just be friends" not in the homophobic way but in the "their platonic relationship in the source material is far more dynamic and complex than the sanitized personalities they gain as a result of shipping" way

"why can't they just be friends" not in the homophobic way but in the "this is a valuable exploration of intimacy and vulnerability that we’re conditioned to recognize only in romantic relationships but that can exist platonically as well" way

“And he took her in his arms and kissed her under the sunlit sky, and he cared not that they stood high upon the walls in the sight of many.”

Raw sketch of Glorfindel. The helmet totally inspired by Alan Lee's illustration. The armor piece was inspired by flower petals, I think it looks ugly. But however this is just the beginning, I'm still trying to invent a more believable-looking armor. More updates soon

Art by Ami Thompson