a great chasm like bed and bier

I am so, so sorry for the long wait. Thanks for being so patient and understanding while I scrambled to get things together after the problems with the snowstorm <3

@officialtolkiensecretsanta

As the year draws to a close, I’d like to take a moment to give a massive shoutout to @officialtolkiensecretsanta for everything you do for the fandom every winter! I don’t have nearly as much time for art as I wish I did, but thanks to you I kick my ass into shape once a year and really get into it, and receive a lovely gift in return. And this year I even did it twice! I know organising an event like this is a huge challenge on top of everything else during the holidays, so it’s really appreciated. Happy new year to you!

Thank you so much for this shoutout. We won't deny that it's a lot on top of everything else (work, holidays, family, uni, whatever it is for the individual mod), but TSS has become an institution over the years and we absolutely love to run this winter-themed event.

All the gifts, the tags, the secret messages we see throughout the exchange period is absolutely worth the additional challenge :) Many thanks to everyone who participated to make this event the thing it has become.

A Happy New Year to you, too, and... see you next time, when "It's this time of the year again."

Mod Fea.

Title: rockrose & thistle

Pairing: Eärwen/Nerdanel

Rating: T

Word Count: 1k

Summary/Tags: Nerdanel & Eärwen have tea, talk, and find tentative peace in each other's company.

My @officialtolkiensecretsanta gift for @tol-himling

[Read on Ao3]

fave war criminal: maglor

my secret santa gift for @catsgambit <3 hope you had wonderful holidays and wishing u all the best for the new year! @officialtolkiensecretsanta .

A slightly belated ho ho ho to @elwenn-dreaming (christmas has 12 days so I hope you've saved some of your cheer)! I'm your @officialtolkiensecretsanta this year!

I snooped around your blog a little and saw that you've been enjoying Les Mis, and I've always thought there were some parallels between Valjean, Marius & Cosette and Elrond, Aragorn & Arwen, with the fathers being a little concerned but ultimately supportive, wanting to whisk their daughters away to safety, and love prevailing in the bittersweet end.

A very happy new year to you and yours!

Hi @eveningalchemist I am your pinch-hitter for @officialtolkiensecretsanta !! I was very excited to see Thuringwethil on your list because there's so little art of her! I hope you like it, and happy holidays!

My Tolkien Secret Santa gift for @forelevenses

You listed Eowyn/Merry as one of you ships, and now I can't stop thinking about it. Hope you like it! Happy Holidays!

@officialtolkiensecretsanta

(sorry it's so late, the file was too big and Tumblr made me jump through every hoop imaginable to get it to upload)

So excited to be able to finally post my piece for @officialtolkiensecretsanta !!

I haven’t drawn either of them in so long, it was a wonderful excuse to. we’ll see who this is for on the 24th! <3

hello @drawing-elves i hope you have a fantastic day and a merry christmas! and i hope you like this gift 💗

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Erestor/Glorfindel (Tolkien) Characters: Erestor (Tolkien), Glorfindel (Tolkien), Elrond Peredhel, Ereinion Gil-galad, Elros Tar-Minyatur Additional Tags: Getting Together, Slow Burn, Memory Loss, Erestor is tired of this, Canonical Character Death, golden retriever!glorfindel, time skip fic, Hair Braiding, Flashbacks, that one where Erestor’s the oldest elf in Middle-earth Summary:

Forgetting Glorfindel is unthinkable. If, to avoid forgetting him, Erestor must not think of him, that is exactly what he will do.

Or the one where Erestor, the oldest elf in Middle-earth, finds that even an immortal mind cannot bear the strain of thousands of years alone.

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For @officialtolkiensecretsanta! Giftee will be revealed on 12/24! 

It’s officially the 24th in my time zone, so – happy holidays to @nocompromise-noregrets! Your prompt gave me the chance to get to know two new characters, and I hope I did it justice!

Waiting for him All the best and happy holidays to @azaisya! As is at this point a tradition for me, I took part in the @tolkiensecretsanta exchange!

This year the prompts given to me inspired me to grab my watercolour pencils and create this art of Celebrian and Gil-galad sharing a quiet moment of yearning and contemplation. While I absolutely do think they are both in love with Elrond and have bonded over missing their shared husband, I’m always curious to hear other takes on this as well.

in the hope of open hands

my @officialtolkiensecretsanta gift for @art-of-firefly. sorry it’s a bit delayed, it’s been a very hectic few weeks for me! i hope you enjoy!

read on ao3

By the time the two of them were left sitting on the dewy grass outside of the Halls of Mandos, they had already said everything there was to say. Every permutation of every argument, every accusation, every misstep they had ever taken had been battled over in the silvery silence of the unlife they had left behind, and now they sat silent before the rising sun. This was the first sunrise of Fëanor’s life, and the strangeness of his brother squinting curiously into the light struck an odd chord with Fingolfin. He was not used to being the one who knew more of the matters of the world.

It was the ruling that Fingolfin knew better, diplomacy and debate, the maintenance of a world at war. The careful wording of letters, the management of patrols, the upkeep of morale beyond that first bloom of rage, that was where Fingolfin’s excellence lay, and Fëanor had long since conceded it.

None of that mattered anymore. Beleriand was long lost beneath the sea, and the Beleriand he had ruled lost longer still. Here, in the crystallised splendour of Valinor, there was no need for his kind of ruling. They were, both of them, out of reach of their own abilities. But the anonymity of the dawn, and the silence that stretched between them, provided cover from that kind of introspection, at least for a time. Instead they sat side by side, shoulders brushing with each intake and exhale of breath, and they revelled in being alive again.

It was Finarfin that they saw riding out of the sunlight first, his head unadorned but for his golden hair, for all that he was king. On either side of him came their sisters. Lalwen and Findis were dressed as simply as their younger brother. It seemed that this was a mission of some secrecy, that they had deemed it too delicate a matter to let the news run wild in Tirion. Instead they had come as if for a morning ride, light on supplies, even lacking extra horses, to keep the peace a while longer.

Fingolfin rose to his feet as they approached and raised his hand in greeting.

“Brother! Sisters! How glad I am to see you so soon,” he called out to them, and Lalwen threw her head back and laughed, and the joy of hearing her brought laughter bubbling up in him too. Finarfin spurred his horse forwards, and Fingolfin nearly dragged him off its back as they slowed and pressed their foreheads together. And then there were Lalwen’s arms around his waist, and Findis stroking his hair, and he was struck suddenly with how badly he had missed them all that he nearly broke then and there.

“Ai Nolo don’t cry. We’re here now. We’re so proud of you. You did so well. We’re all so proud,” whispered Findis and a keening noise came up from the back of his throat and Lalwen tightened her grip on him.

Behind Finarfin, he could see Fëanor. Their eldest brother had always been something of a stranger to them and yet he had never seemed truly lonely to Fingolfin until now. Fëanor had held himself apart from them in every instance, but they had agreed before their release that there must be room for change. There must be a way out of this endless fighting and factionalism. They caught each other’s gaze, and Fingolfin knew that Fëanor was just as clueless as to how they were to achieve it as he was. No matter. If they could not do it themselves, they had three siblings who all viewed the world in different ways. They had wives and children and grandchildren, and surely between the lot of them, they would be able to make peace.

Finarfin turned to regard Fëanor for one very long moment, before he smiled brightly and snatched Fëanor’s wrist to pull him into an embrace.

“It is so good to see both my much-missed brothers,” he murmured, and over his shoulder Fingolfin could see Fëanor begin to smile.