#finwe is white

[cosmic-walkers]

I really love your art and the varying skin tones you use! This may sound like a strange question but what cultures/real life races do you take inspiration from? I hope that's okay to ask!

Hey anon that is beyond okay to ask! And honestly, all the characters who are poc I draw are black (unless I state otherwise). Like i just use varying skintones but I just take from black cultures (because there are tons) and use varying black skin tones/features.

like unless i state otherwise all of my characters i draw with tan/brown skin are just black. i do hc other characters to be white and i'll draw them as such, but most of my diverse characters are black just because that's what i know and am comfortable drawing. i don't want to be disrespectful and portray another culture in a harmful way. that's just me though!

[g-m-kaye]

"Aredhel the White was younger in the years of the Eldar than her brothers; and when she was grown to full stature and beauty she was tall and strong, and loved to ride and hunt in the forests. There she was often in the company of the sons of Feanor, her kin; but to none was her heart's love given. Ar-Feiniel she was called, the White Lady of the Noldor, for she was pale, though her hair was dark, and she was never arrayed but in silver and white."

—The Silmarillion, Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalie

I actually made two palette versions and can’t decide which I like better: above is “sunset” (more dramatic), and below is “twilight” (softer).

After doing a few quite illustrative, stylised paintings recently I think I may move back towards doing some realism for a bit

I’ve never really enjoyed sticking with one style of painting for too long - it’s more fun to switch around between stylised, realism and painterly imho :)

[superloves4]

While I slog through a fic I actually really want to tell (the joys of writing!) I decided to talk about that Feanor as Melkor's son AU I mentioned in my tags

So far I have three possibilities, from least realized to most:

Feanor as Melkor and Mairon bio baby, so far I don't really have much for this one, the Valar find baby Feanor after Melkor's imprisonment (haven't decided why Mairon wouldn't have escaped with the baby) and give him to Finwe to raise (I hadn't realized it doesn't makes sense for Miriel to die in this one until now, so either she doesn't and it's full throwing away canon or in this one she doesn't exist and Finwe just didn't want to tell Feanor who his real parents were, it's both sad and funny)

Baby Feanor kidnap adopted by Melkor, the timeline is bothering me here, maybe Feanor is born before Melkor's imprisonment? Or he leaves imprisonment way before the original? I mostly wanted this to be funny about Melkor and Mairon getting so attached and wanting so bad to be good parents to feral child Feanor that they actually get redeemed (although dark!Feanor x Nerdanel is very intriguing)

And the one I (unfortunately) have the most on (as of right now) is Feanor as Melkor... and Miriel's son, I jokingly thought about this one but alas it got bigger than I expected, so: Melkor decides to go mess with the elves only to find Miriel collecting bugs (they're silk worms, weird bug girl Miriel for the win!) and he gets actually quite impressed with her desire to not settle with the world and wanting to make it prettier with fabrics, they fall in love (or as much in love Melkor can be, so far he is more like canon evil Melkor than the softer one of the other two ideas) but when she finds out who he is, she runs away and falls for Finwe instead.

Finwe is then totally cool with raising Miriel's child because he loves her so much but Miriel keeps feeling she's awful for her previous love for Melkor, combined with the power required to sustain a half-ainur child, and ends up dying.

Finwe of course, absolutely adores little Feanor despite not being his bio dad, and thus names him Finwion (later Curufinwe), but raising a half-ainur child is not easy, especially when you can't actually ask anyone for help without revealing the truth, so Finwe just has to deal with eldritch child Feanor, alone.

(like, one time there's a teacher Feanor hates because he heard the teacher say that Feanor killed Miriel, so Feanor gives the teacher a bracelet he doesn't even understand how he made cursed, the teacher then complains to Finwe, who is just trying to understand how to explain to his son that he can't do that, also he fires the teacher)

Then it's basically the same as canon up until Melkor return, because instead of trying to create discord he arrives and realizes Feanor's his son and tries to pull a Darth Vader and convince Feanor to join him.

Feanor is, of course, against the idea but Melkor is convinced that if he reveals Feanor's true parentage in the upcoming festival then the uproar and hate will cause Feanor to be more willing.

Only, right before he can make his announcement Feanor shows up wearing the silmarils (Melkor decides to rename him Lightbringer but I haven't figured out what that is in Quenya) and instead of going along with Melkor, Feanor

Bows. to. MANWE!!!!!

And does a whole speech about Melkor trying to deceive him by claiming he isn't Finwe's son (Feanor already realized the truth, he's just rejecting it) and doing a whole spectacle of proof

The Finwe family isn't stupid and to Feanor's surprise, the first person to join his show is INDIS!!! Joined then (in order) by Nolo, Nerdanel, and Maglor (if it was political it would be Maedhros but it's a performance remember)

Manwe isn't stupid and understands what they are doing so when Melkor tries to say that it's all Finwe's lie he just tells Melkor that it was clear that Feanor was Finwe's son

Melkor storms out (he still plans to destroy the trees but his objective is Feanor instead of just the silmarils) and the Finweans leave too

Feanor has a cathartic talk and cry with his dad while the rest of the family discuss what this means for them all, Feanor is now more open to his half-family and his relation to the other Valas is totally different, and how that could end up having happier ending to the story.

And that's how much I have of this one, it compels me but it's the only one that I have no idea of how to add Melkor x Mairon and the original idea was about THEM as parents whereas this one is about the original Finweans in a different situation so I'm conflicted

[knights-of-beleriand]

𝘈𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘩𝘦𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦

𝘌𝘰𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘻𝘻𝘭𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯

𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨

𝘐𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦

𝘛𝘺𝘦𝘭𝘬𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘧𝘺 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘦-𝘸𝘰𝘭𝘧

𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘬 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴

𝘈𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘪 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥

𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙄 𝘼𝙈 𝙎𝙏𝙄𝙇𝙇 𝙃𝙐𝙉𝙂𝙍𝙔

A new shot of my Aredhel / Irisse bridal cosplay

This one was taken by my dear friend @alyssinclamp during AthensCon ❤️

Merry Christmas to everyone, i hope you're having wonderful time ❤️

My costume is entirely self made by me, if you're interested in costuming commissions you can always message me ❤️

[thelien-art]

Fëanáro, Nerdanel & Telperinquar

Latest portraits

Sons of Fëanáro

Now to the house of Fingolfin!

HC:

Feanor: Feanor dresses in pale colors like Miriel. I like to think Miriel dresses in light colors, not necessarily white. I don´t think he adorns himself with a lot of jewelry, just enough for him to be stylish, but not more, as he cares more about making things for those he cares for than himself, and if it is for himself, he would rather focus on something more practical, like lamps and machines.

Nerdanel: I have a surprising lot of thoughts about Nerdanel, one of them being that she´s a very loud Feanorian stan, although there´s a lot she thinks is plainly stupid she still supports her husband(ex??) and most of his ideals fierily. I think she dresses much more plainly than other Noldor, but will not necessarily turn down the option to adorn herself in jewelry. While I think she eagerly awaited her crowning, I don´t think it ever came, and she therefore never really had the possibility to wear a crown (not circlet she could still wear circles) as Finarfin was crowned when his brothers left. I don´t think that married in, in the Noldor royal house, could wear crowns before they themself was crowned kings/queen, even if it was just over a smaller piece of land. This left her to never wear a circlet as she was waiting to be crowned queen which never happened, meaning she never wore something on her head. She still wore royal braids and such, as that was accepted. All this leads her to be called Ríantaú by those who are against Feanor**. * She ends up going to Formenos and taking in all the Feanorian loyalties over the ages, becoming a queen at the end although never crowned, and known as a bitter woman because of her sons' departure.

Celebrimbor: I don´t read Celebrimbor as a naive person, rather I read him as someone who bears a lot of guilt, and in some cases let it control him, even if he was not the one at fault, this makes it easier for him to welcome everyone when the second age begins, after all evil was destroyed right? That was what the Valar said, and it does harm to everyone to throw someone out in the wilderness. I do believe he was aware that Annatar was a Maia of Morgoth, I also believe that while he didn´t think Annatar was all good, he believed in himself that he could make Annatar a better person. When Celebrimbor is reborn he ends up seeking out Nerdnal, who welcomes him in her city with open arms where he stays most of his time. On jewelry, I was helped by a lot of people (@lulukeskywalker pointed out that Eregion was named after the hollie trees it´s said to have) with the holly HC some might have heard about him, and it comes from that Eregion had a lot of hollie trees, which is a very sweet note professor, thank you for that, so I, of course, had to give him some holly themed jewelry. On a last note of jewelry, I tried to give him something between art nouveau and brutalism, to give him his own style. - note Celebrimbor follows second age fashion, therefor having his braids at the back instead of both at the front and back. - note Celebrimbor´s circlet is very intentionally inspired by Maglor´s.

Other HC:

I like to think that both Thingol and Finwe ruled their land as Empires, meaning that there were smaller kings and queens under their rule, while the rest, like Owlë and Ingwë ruled as only kings. I think it makes most sense with Thingol but I also like it with Finwe as his family was so big so it would make sense. - examples would be the roman empire and Scandinavia around year 0 to year 500 where the really where no kingdoms as we see them today but many small kings and later one king over the small kings. *

**Ríanta = To crown/Coronate: Quenya - Ú = Without/Destitute of: Quenya - Ríantaú = Without crown/Crownless: Quenya

Grey, mostly a pale grey close to white, is the mourning color for the Eldar´s as it´s associated with Nienna.

[thesummerestsolstice]

Hair Headcanons for the rest of the Finweans:

Celebrimbor: Dark, raven-wing colored iridescent hair. Exactly like Feanor. Just like the rest of Celebrimbor. I'm sure he doesn't have any feelings about that.

Idril: Blonde hair with darker streaks near the roots. 10/10 for shimmer, looks like actual gold. Even Glorfindel is vaguely jealous. She particularly enjoys how sapphires look in it and often wears it in locs, like her father.

Maeglin: Dark hair, like Aredhel's; often seems to have streaks of a dark purple color. He usually wears his hair loose, which would be a safety hazard in the forge if not for the Finwean Hair Magic™️. He does very little in the way of hair care, but his hair still always looks perfect because of course it does.

Earendil: Originally had blonde hair similar to Idril's, but that's changed since he became a living star. Now, his hair looks almost like golden fire, flickering strangely even without wind, tapering off to white near the end, though his glowing hair has nothing on the radiance in his eyes, which is said to burn the unworthy– just like the Silmaril he wears as a crown.

Celebrian: Her hair is actually very similar to her mother's– the "silver" in her name refers to how it looks under the moon, but under the sun, it has a distinctly more golden hue. Is often seen with fireflies floating around her hair like a crown. (This may or may not be Elrond's doing)

Gil-Galad: No one can agree on what Gil's hair looks like. Some say it's as silver as mithril, flowing long and straight down his back. Others insist his hair was just like Fingon's– though maybe a bit darker. Other say he had Finrod's golden curls, or even Maedhros's red tresses. What they can all agree on is that Gil clearly had Finwean Hair Magic™️, and was therefore clearly a Finwean... even if they weren't sure exactly where he came from.

Elrond: Exists at the fascinating intersection of Finwean Hair Magic™️ and Melian's Maiarin magic. Normally, his hair actually looks a lot like Finwe's; dark with many colors of sparkly iridescence. But sometimes, on nights when the moon is full, or when thunder rumbles in the valley, it seems to have a mind of its own; more living shadow than hair. Many people have asked about this. Elrond has not provided anything resembling a proper explanation.

[welcomingdisaster]

how well various silm ships would do with the "my partner provides the voiceover for my makeup routine" tiktok trend

finwë/miriel: perfect. 11/10. finwe is doing his eyeshadow and miriel is rattling off in her quick breathy voice the EXACT hue and maker of each new powder. you reverse who's doing what and they do exactly as well. do NOT play with them.

tuor and idril: 6/10 tuor was instructed in gondolin court makeup after becoming one of its lords, and can more or less identify most of the elements, though he certainly does not know the proper terms for each of the 8,000 possible hue combinations. if idril is doing the voiceover she will be correct, but will include concerning flashes of foresight. "lipstain... red as blood staining white walls. now we are moving on to blue-setting power, all the all consuming sea..."

feanel: 9/10. technically correct but deeply in the "creative criticism as foreplay" category.

russingon: 6/10. maedhros more or less knows every paint and brush fingon is using on his face but he is making fun of it the whole time. includes lines like "better make sure no one suspects there's skin here" and "absolutely no one will ever accuse me of knowing what a neutral color is." eventually fingon gets sick of him and flips the camera around to zoom on maedhros' face and chant "i am going to put NOTHING on my face and i'm gonna look BAD"

finrod/beor: 2/10. the absolute awe in beor's voice slightly makes up the fact that he cannot tell apart blush and lipstain. refers to everything finrod does as "art."

curufin/curufin's wife: 1/10. they are technically correct but the speed and intensity with which it devolves into personal insults is genuinely uncomfortable to be around.

thingol/melian: 7/10. melian is obsessively correct about everything thingol has put on his face and slightly concerning with her offers to make it permanent. seems to work for them though

daemags: 3/10. neither of them wear make up regularly and only maglor knows how to. the fact that daeron has used 8 adjectives to describe everything maglor is doing does not well disguise that he can identify absolutely none of it

indis/miriel: 10/10. once again miriel is not losing at this game

beren/luthien: trick question neither of them does makeup. beren however CAN name every flower incantation that is a part of luthien's morning routine.

[sweetteaanddragons]

Happy Thanksgiving! In celebration, have an awkward family dinner scene from my current WIP.

“You know,” Earwen said, taking a careful sip of her wine, “you could petition the Valar.”

This was not a new concept. It had not been tried recently, but Nerdanel still had to pause in her meal for a moment to poke at just why Earwen was presenting it so cautiously.

“On what grounds?” She had certainly tried everything she could think of.

“Precedence, mainly. It is not so different from the case of Finwe and Miriel.”

Arafinwe sat with his fork half frozen between his plate and his mouth. Nerdanel felt half frozen herself, trying to understand. How could the statute of Finwe and Miriel possibly be similar to her own case?

“I know you might not have anyone in mind now,” Earwen continued, “but it might help to already have your right established.”

Her right. Her right to -

To do what everyone had been so insistent she do.

Get up. 

Smile.

Move on.

She could get up. She could smile. She could - move.

But to move on? To take someone else in his place?

She was furious with him. Incandescently so. She wanted to claw out those clever, unsatisfied eyes. She wanted to bite out his beautiful, poisonous tongue. She wanted to pour molten rock over him and let it settle around him until he could never move from its confines again.

But to move on? To take someone else?

She imagined someone coming to Feanaro after his vaults had been torn open and telling him it was alright, really, that the Silmarils were gone; look, they had all these pieces of lovely shattered glass, and he was welcome to take his pick between them.

“I could remarry, you mean,” she said, and Feanaro would have known that just because her voice was still, it did not mean she said it calmly. “Have children again, even.”

“If you liked,” Earwen said, though her own voice was careful now.

Nerdanel sipped her wine. “I do not know why you do not take your own advice. You would not even have to appeal to the Valar for it; no one would have the slightest right to object to you and Arafinwe having another child. Then it wouldn’t matter that Aegnor is never going to come out of the Halls.”

Earwen’s face went white.

“Excuse me,” Nerdanel said and left.

. . .

She was already packed by the time Arafinwe came to her room. She had steadied by then, though not calmed.

“She meant well, and I did not,” she conceded without looking up from securing the last of her things. “I won’t trouble you till I’ve thought up a proper apology.”

Everyone remembered that she had fought with Feanaro. No one ever seemed to remember that if it had just been Feanaro raging, it would not have been a fight.

“Please don’t leave,” Arafinwe said wearily, leaning against the door. “We’ve had quite enough of that.”

“It’s what I do,” she said shortly. Hear something horrible. Say something horrible. Leave.

Not come back until it was too late, and he had already sworn that stupid Oath.

He scrubbed a hand across his face. “As your apology to me,” he clarified, “please at least wait until morning.”

She paused.

He looked so very tired.

“Alright,” she conceded. She sank down on top of her bags. “Do you think I should move on?”

It was poking at a bruise for no good reason. Her answer wouldn’t change for him. 

But she wanted to know just how long she should take to come up with an apology.

“I have no right to tell you how to handle your personal affairs,” he said, and for a moment, he sounded like her king, gracefully holding himself to the limits of his power.

She scowled at him.

“No right,” he repeated. “And if you want to - to never make another statue of him and run off to join the choir in Alqualonde, I will be the last to tell you otherwise.”

“But?”

“But if you came back and told me you wished to remarry, I think I would offer you the crown of the Noldor not to,” he admitted. “As much as he would laugh to hear one of my mother’s children speak against it. Right now it is only the verdict of the Valar that he may never return, and the Valar have changed their minds before. If we should lock that door forever . . . “

It was probably immaterial anyway. The Valar had needed Miriel’s permission to allow Finwe’s remarriage; Feanaro, surely, would not give it.

Surely. Surely she still meant more to him than that.

She did not wish to bare that corner of her soul tonight, not even to Arafinwe. Instead, she confessed to an easier thing.

“When I was pregnant with the twins,” she said, staring at the ceiling, “it was - difficult. More difficult than any of the other births had been. I had half lost myself by the end.”

“I remember,” he said softly.

That surprised her; she did not remember him from then at all, but she supposed that only supported her point. “I was convinced I was going to die, and I was in no state to think clearly about it. I swore to him over and over that I would come back, that the very moment Namo allowed it I would come back, that he would not need to be patient long.”

Some irrational part of her had been terrified that they would lie to him; that they would say she had refused the call of life while she was desperately pounding on Mandos’s walls.

When she had been saner, she had known the fearful fancies for what they were. But in the midst of them . . . 

“He kept promising that I wasn’t going to die, of course.” And he had been right about that, though it was the only one of their arguments that she would concede now. “But when that didn’t settle me, he told me that he believed me, and that if it took me a hundred thousand years to return, he would believe me still and wait.”

She had never doubted that promise. Even when they had burned everything else between them, she had believed that promise. In their worst moments, it had been because she was sure he would never concede any ground whatsoever to Indis’s marriage, but she had still believed it.

She hadn’t returned the promise. She hadn’t thought she would need to.

But now here she was, still standing, and the Valar promising that he would never, ever return.

It was not yet a hundred thousand years.

And when it had been, she would keep his promise in his stead and still wait.

[feanoryen]

Finweans ranked by Aura

Feanor - So powerful he sucked the life force out of his mother, invented a ton of cool shit, had more children with his wife than any of the other Eldar, died in battle while his body combusted into flames because he was just that hot, & the King of the Valar who he hated cried over him.

Earendil - Cool as hell, has a wife who's cool as hell. Predestined to be a hero even though he comes from a basic vanilla bloodline (besides his great grandpa Fingolfin). Even though most of his ancestors were nobodies or flops, most of his descendants that came after him were cool as hell.

Maedhros - Might have been higher than his father & cousin if he didn't khs, Lowkey an Aura loss moment but he makes up for a lot with his gorgeous red hair, height, surviving Morgoth's torture, & sorta fulfilling his dad's dumb oath.

Fingolfin - The only good thing his bland vanilla mother did was give birth to him. He was a total badass I've got to admit even as a Feanorian stan. Him crossing the helcaraxë & his death were top Aura moments.

Elrond/Elros - They're twins so they can share a spot too. Both badass as hell.

Fingon - Called "the Valient", braids gold into his hair, saved his sexy redheaded cousin, & became King of the Noldor. Everything about him screams Aura.

Galadriel - Despite the fact she's a Feanor anti (Booooo!!!), she admittedly has a ton of Aura. She's smarter than possibly everyone else here given she survived when the rest of her generation either got themselves killed or spends all their time being a sad beach cryptid.

Gil-Galad - Cool as hell, managed to make an alliance Maedhros could only dream of.

Maglor - Has a couple Aura loss moments but in the end he LIVED which is an Aura gain. Also gets Aura points for having the best voice in Arda.

Celebrimbor - Pretty rad dude, love how he's more like Feanor than his father Curufinwe Jr is, unfortunately he died.

Finrod - His death is cool as fuck. Looses points for cockblocking his little brother & dying for that basic joe Beren though.

Caranthir - Goth Icon. Love how despite his raging anger issues he's also an awesome guy you'd want to be friends with.

Finwe - A massive flop in a ton of ways but definitely still has Aura. Looses Aura points for failing Feanor & choosing to marry an unsexy Vanya when he could've waited for his sexy talented silver haired Noldo wife to come back to life. Only good thing about him besides his awesome hair is that he's Feanor & Fingolfin's father.

Aredhel - Cool as hell but has terrible taste in men. Her whole white aesthetic & her wild personality gain her Aura points though.

Turgon - The only cool thing about him is that he built Gondolin which wins him some Aura points. Looses Aura points for getting played by his nephew & dying pathetically though.

Idril - She's cool I guess, the only thing of note that she did was give birth to the chad Earendil. Tuor is such a basic guy though, he's not the worst but she could do better.

Aegnor - Cool hair. Pulled a baddie. Fumbled the baddie.

Angrod - Not the most stand out Finwean but he seems to be a mama's boy & he didn't do anything wrong so I'll put him above the family flops.

Finduilas - She's a sweetie but she looses Aura points for falling out of love with a great guy like Gwindor & falling in love with Turin the walking L.

Celegorm - Stupid as hell for trying to use a powerful half-Angel as a political weapon against her father. Looses more Aura points for getting abandoned by his dog & dying at the hands of said half-Angel's 30 y/o mortal son while he's over 1000 y/o. Gains some Aura points for being able to talk to animals, his hair, & his hot bastard energy.

Curufin - Feanor with 99% less Aura. His only achievement is having Celebrimbor yet he still couldn't even succeed at being Feanor 2.0 and having 7 kids to continue the family line. Had the chance to kill Eol but didn't which led to his favorite cousin dying (that's a huge L).

Finarfin - Takes after his mother in the sense he's vanilla af. The tiny percent of Aura he has is from his Noldo side obviously and he used that to pull a baddie like Earwen. All his kids get their Aura from their mother's side.

Orodreth - I like the guy, but he's definitely a dumbass with no Aura. He inherited a kingdom but isn't particularly good at anything. His only accomplishment is possibly fathering Gil-Galad.

Maeglin - Orodreth might have no Aura but this guy has negative Aura. His childhood sucked but he's such a walking L that's he's somehow more of a loser than both Celegorm & Eol combined.

[darkwing-ramblings]

What makes a happy silmaril?

For context we must consider that the silmarils are written as living is not intelligent beings in a way and that they were derived of trees and so are a probable never-before-seen-gem-plant-hybrid-creature-with-opinions-just-no-mobility. Also I am @darkwinganimus by another name, to be clear, and this moves a previous discussion @eri-pl and I were having in the replies of one of their posts over to a format with no restrictively frustrating word limitation.

As @eri-pl puts in their Silmarillion reread part 6: "They loked like diamonds, so canonically white-ish. their fire is made of mixed Treelight, so I would assume warm white is canon.

They shone like stars of Varda but had real life inside — I really need this in English! OK, I googled it.

OH. Something else but: "he pondered how the light of the Trees, the glory of the Blessed Realm, might be preserved imperishable" — It may be me jumping on things + Tolkien's poetical wording, but this seems like a strong suggestion of "Fefe wanted to jump higher than his head" (he was not the first one) and sheds a light (pun intended) on his sttitude towards the Silmarils later.

Anyway back to that part about life: "and yet, as were they indeed living things, they rejoiced in light" So they are living things, not just "like" living things. Silmarills = baby Trees is canon! (OK, somewhat canon? but they *are* alive, and by logic they must be bred not made-in-the-strict-sense by Feanor)

So they glow by themselves with warm white, but also they are iridescent like diamonds. Beautiful indeed."

(Opinions such as disliking Morgoth then Carcaroth enough to burn him when the former wore them in his underground torture fortress Angband and the latter rudely ate them).

Anyway, the discussion points I actually want to raise are below, now that the nature of the silmarils are established as probably-living- beyond the possibility of poetic and figurative language along those veins merely sounding cool- is explained:

@eri-pl Hmm, okay, so per your reply attached to this post "Melkor (to be precise this was his name at that point :D ) wanted to kill Feanor anyway. He thought Feanor would be home too, iirc from the book. And still, Fefe could have worn them to a well-guarded situations, at least. But he was too paranoid." let's imagine Feanor takes the measure of no vault and just wears the silmarils everywhere, because he's pretty sure no one else distrusts Melkor enough to be sufficiently on guard. Melkor now has no reason to attack Formenos during the party so I don't know waits to ambush Feanor travelling on the road back from it, directing Ungoliant at the trees for a distraction etc and stealing the silmarils+killing Feanor as planned. Good for Melkor he achieves all his goals.

I humbly ask how this then might end up in your opinion better for the silmarils in question, aside from more time outside out and about Aman in sun years per your "Feanor wearing them might have ended up better for them anyway. At least he could have worn them to well-defended occasions (like That One Party), but he didn't because he was paranoid about the normal Valar too.". Because without Feanor and with Finwe alive there a question of if the flight of the noldor even happens afterwards- which they were agitating let's assume so and skip the how-that-happens/goes for now- and about the oath.

Now the oath is terrible for most beings involved, yes, but is it terrible for the silmarils themselves? It's a force of dedicated warriors specifically trying to retrieve them from Melkor their evil abductor- a force of dedicated warriors who make their retrieval from Morgoth so fraught a topic Thingol invokes it in an arguably rash and spur of the moment to Beren arguably meaning "I-would-see-you-dead-before-I-give-permission-for-you-to-marry-my-beloved-daughter-go-die-to-Morgoth-and/or-the-feanorians-over-a-silmaril".

It sees one of them get out of Angband in the hands of Beren and Luthien and enjoy free-range-ish years in the open then ultimately make it to Earendil upon Vingilot's prow. Earendil and Elwing's arrival with said stolen silmaril also helps petition aid from the valar in the war of wrath successfully leading to one ending up in the ocean (not terrible for pseudo-plant-gem-creatures as an environment) and a random volcano that maybe also got swallowed by the sea (at least there's no Melkor and it has possible gem-friends in its volcano). If there is no oath all of the latter is in question and whilst things could end better for the silmarils probably (and definitely those who died because of the oath on both sides, but that's not the focus here) they could also end up worse.

Now, Feanor's son's swear the oath of their own initiative when he begins to but on their own with him dead it's not exactly assured say Kanafinwe is going to see to it a very similar one is made.

I understand entirely that it is a lot of words however so won't be offended if you'd rather call it a day/don't actually read this all. Either way putting it together in one place has pleased me greatly whether any response, staggered yay or nay, results.

[zealouswerewolfcollector]

Writing Patterns: Final Lines

Thanks for tagging me in this @polutrope <3

Here are ten final lines from my latest ten fics.

None moves.

A Tale That Wasn't Right (2408 words, M, Finwe, Maedhros/Fingon)

2. But for now, he stays.

Purification (1160 words, E, Maedhros/Thingol)

3. Caranthir closed his eyes and took Finrod’s hand, and he did it gently.

White Daffodil (3993 words, T, Caranthir/Finrod)

4. “All is well,” he repeats.

To Evil End (2883 words, T, Maedhros/Fingon + other Feanorians)

5. Swaddled in the blaze of Maedhros's arms, buried under the firestorm of his body, encased in the molten metal of his fëa as Maedhros moves within him, Fingon is warm, Fingon is safe, Fingon is loved.

Kaleidoscope (1436 words, E, Fingon/Sons of Feanor)

6. Fingon sat by his side, his hand hovering over the dagger but never touching it.

Fingolfin and Maedhros speak to Fingon (1812 words, T, Fingolfin & Fingon, Maedhros & Fingon)

7. But if you wish to know me as I am now and for me to know you as you are, on the first day of each month, look for me at the grove at what was once the hour of Mingling.

Now a Quill, Now a Sword (11817 words, T, Maedhros/Fingon)

8. Maglor closed her eyes, and for the first time in what felt like forever, decided against escaping.

Lady Makalaurë Fëanáriel Dying of Poison, Late Second Age, Artist Unknown (8671 words, T, fem!Maglor/Wife)

9. Maedhros snorted and tossed the last bit of the apple into his mouth.

Cheerful Cannibalism Ficlet (247 words, Maedhros & Fingon)

10. Maitimo smirked at him, closed his eyes and kissed Káno.

Proxy (5912 wrods, E, Maedhros/Fingon, Maedhros/Maglor)

What do we observe? Well, first of all, I'm incredibly slow because I wrote only ten fics in almost two years. As for endings, I do like to end the fic abruptly, leaving some things undecided or uncertain. Especially in shorter fics. I do try to wrap up longer fics in a more definite way.

Anyway, tagging @melestasflight, @thescrapwitch, @ermingarden, @welcomingdisaster, @that-angry-noldo

[imfromthemiddlekingdom]

When I engage with the Silmarilion fandom it’s always very educational and enlightening no matter what side they’re on regarding Finwe and his sons. But whenever I interact with the HoTD fandom it’s always “you’re condoning XYZ and therefore you’re a horrible person!!!” Or doing mental gymnastics to try to justify whichever atrocities their side committed.

Thematically both stories are quite similar. We can find parallels with Rhaenyra and Feanor but even at his worst (Pulling a sword on Fingolfin, First kinslaying, burning of the ships etc.) Feanor had never put a bounty on a toddler (Rhaenyra stating that Maelor should be bought to her dead or alive causing him to be ripped apart. Like hello??!??? How is that ever a justifiable thing to do???). I can find parallels between Feanor and Rhaenyra, sure. But if I’m honest the parallels stop with them being the only child of a kings first wife who’s father then went on to face four more kids with another women. Finwe is ten times the father Viserys was. And literally none of the kids (Feanor included) would ever take their anger out on their siblings child like we see the so called Maegor come again do.

But I digress, I was talking of the fandom. I may get heated talking about whether Feanor was right in his anger at Indis or whether Fingolfin should’ve absolutely demanded more reparations from the sons of Feanor when he crossed the ice. But I’ve never seen anyone in the Silm fandom saying that someone should die because they had an opinion.

But I’ve seen many instances of HoTD fans threatening rape and death on people who think Alicent is not the monster they portray her as, or that Rhaenyra isn’t as ‘girl boss queen slay!!!’ As people say she is. Maybe it’s because HoTD is a TV show and many of the fans haven’t read the books and therefore don’t understand nuance since the TV show focuses so much on Rhaenyra’s manifest destiny arc that team green gets painted as the ‘ultimate’ villain for our girl boss queen Rhaenyra to ascend to the throne since it’s her ‘birth right’.

Not to mention how the whole made up show canon prophecy to justify colonialism means that team black stans are really showing their true colors on what they think is right. Because guess what? The Silm also has what could be said to be as a colonizing story line with the Noldor coming to Beleriand and settling but most fans agree that the cutting up of Beleriand was very much a colonizing behavior no matter what they think of Thingol.

Point is, most HoTD fans can’t hold and intellectually simulating debate over their characters without feeling like said debater is personally attacking them since their entire personality is so deeply entwined with their fav that a critique on them would automatically equate to a critique on themselves. Therefore making it entirely impossible to have a decent conversation on the thematically very important foils that Rhaenyra and Alicent pose to each other (since they still think a good story must have a black and white view of the protagonist and the antagonist lmao).

Media illiteracy in these fandoms truly is a cancer that spreads to even the most level headed and literate individuals. Pick up a book! Understand themes and how foils are supposed to be written without internalizing criticism of your fav as a criticism of yourself! I don’t get mad when people criticize Feanor, nor do I get mad when people say I’m wrong when it comes to my own interpretation of the statue of Finwe and Miriel. It’s called having a discussion and you can only do that when you’re not on the front lines dying for a fictional character who wouldn’t spit on you if you were on fire in front of them!!!

[searchingforserendipity25]

Finwean Ladies Week @finweanladiesweek | Aredhel & Galadriel

It was not that the only daughters of the sons of Finwe misliked each other. 

It was difficult to mislike Artanis - with her it was either adoration or loathing, and few dared to loathe her. She had many friends, many partisans and followers among the noble maidens and young apprentices of the Noldor.

Always there was a new matter of study that held her in utmost passion, always she held herself apart, high-minded and bright-eyed. Neither of them were easy to tame , though from the beginning Nerwen was alive to the importance of light, refraction, reflections and symbols - went about it in clear sight of their people, with her mind always to the eyes on her, the words spoken, the wills to be mastered and hearts to be guided. 

In the impetuous days of her youth, when all things left her impatient, and there were not enough moments between Minglings for all her projects and studies, the fire of her spirit burned fiercely from its own kindling. She preferred none so well as her brothers, and among them Finderáto, who was in her eyes as an older and gentler and paler shade to her power and foresight.

And as for Írissë - No creature was as strange to Artanis as her girl-cousin, born and raised in tandem with herself and so unlike herself.

Fierce and deliberate and in love with the most esoteric mysteries of the hunt and the wandering trances, Írissë perfected the art of walking through cities and forests undetected to avoid being perceivable, and kept to the wild places as much as she could; she had no wish to be known.

She made no displays, cared little for competitions. That which she sought was a less defined mastery. Her studies was no lesser, but stranger and altogether indifferent to laboratories and pulpits.

Artanis was keen of eye, even then, eager to see where others would not. She knew when her almost-sister grew so wise to the arts of patient stillness and encompassing existence, that time itself seems to bend a little to her. The reality of things lost its edge, had its sharpness bent just enough that she might move through them undetected

Most often, Írissë found freedom in the woods and high cliffs, riding wildly deep in Aman or walking the deep forests where few Eldar have dared to tread. The White Lady, her cousins called her, for her great skill in hiding from the world, making herself indistinguishable from even in the darkest groves and caves, wearing the brightest of clothes as a dare, and a boast: no one would see her that she did not wish to be seen, no prey could escape her relentless hunt.

Artanis alone ran as swiftly as she did, and guessed at the mysteries of her wanderings; Artanis alone could find her, when she did not wish to be found. In days to come, long after their youth, she would think on that - she might have found Aredhel, perhaps, where none could.

They spoke little to each other; but long after Aredhel was bones under stone, and the stone sank into the salted sea, Galadriel walked in her hidden domain through the long nights and felt the keen-edge of longing for a great darkness, a more perfect concealment, the hunter’s challenge of a flash of white amidst the silver and gold. 

[brighter-arda]

Day 6 @tolkienofcolourweek Galadriel

[image description

1: Aaron philips (a black antiguan-american model) (they/she) in a wheelchair covered in flowers

2: gold spots, white rectangle, text = Galadriel most beautiful of all the house of finwe

3: gold spots, white rectangle, text = her hair was lit with gold as though it had caught in a mesh the radiance of Laurelin

4: same person but wearing purple dress.]

[tar-maitime]

joy, or relaxation, or simple pleasure

Rating: G Characters: Maedhros | Maitimo, Fingon | Findekano Additional: modern AU, first meeting, meet-cute WC: .75k

For @russingonweek Day 1 - Light Prompt - Family

“Hey - you’re Maedhros, right?”

Maedhros turned from where she was trying to sort through a makeshift lost-and-found, to see a man roughtly her age whom she thought she recognized as Fingolfin’s oldest son. “Yes, that’s me. What did you need?” 

Inwardly, she dearly hoped it didn’t have to do with some familial crisis - but given that they hadn’t even been at this “family getaway” to celebrate Grandpa Finwe’s eightieth birthday for two whole days yet and her father had already said some regrettable things, she wasn’t terribly optimistic.

“Oh, nothing really. Just to say hi - I don’t think we’ve really met. Fingon Vanyaran, nice to meet you.” He held out his hand and Maedhros reflexively shook it, noting that he didn’t seem fazed by her using her left hand. “And to ask if you needed any help; it seems like you’ve been run off your feet since we all got here.”

Maedhros blinked in surprise. She hadn’t realized anyone had noticed. “Well, I’ve been sorting out the things I know belong to my brothers, and there’s a pile over there of stuff I couldn’t figure out.” She gestured. “If you want to look through for anything that’s yours or your siblings’, you’re more than welcome.”

Fingon smiled agreeably and started sorting; the pile he created had mostly blue paraphernalia, but a few random white items as well. “So how are you liking the vacation so far?” he asked at length. “I’d hope you haven’t spent all of it cleaning up after people.”

“Not literally, no,” Maedhros agreed. Once her brothers hit a certain age, she and her mother had formed a united front and refused to be their maid; her current task was more for stress relief than anything else. “Figuratively, well...”

She trailed off, searching for the proper words, and Fingon diplomatically supplied, “Your father is...interesting.”

Maedhros huffed slightly. “You can come right out and say that he took it too far earlier. With the bit about your side of the family not being real family because your dad and Finarfin are his stepbrothers.”

“Well...”

“The only explanation I can offer,” Maedhros added, “is that he hadn’t had coffee yet. We usually try to keep him away from volatile topics until the caffeine kicks in and gives him a filter.”

“That wasn’t really what I meant,” Fingon cut in. “I was talking about how he took apart the toaster and the garbage disposal and made a trash-eating robot. To be honest, I didn’t really mind that he said we weren’t family. I was hoping you’d agree with him.”

Maedhros let Tyelpe’s baby toy slip from her suddenly slack grasp. It bounced against the tabletop and began to emit an irritating, off-key tune before she automatically swatted it silent. “What?”

“Well, because...so that I could ask you out,” Fingon said, all in a rush, and then looked as though he wished he hadn’t.

That expression was the only reason Maedhros wasn’t convinced she’d heard him incorrectly. “What?” she repeated, just in case.

But instead of saying something that would make much more sense, Fingon squared his shoulders and assumed a determined expression. “I was thinking about asking you out,” he reiterated. “On a date. If you were interested.”

Ah. That brought them to the next question, then. “Why?” Maedhros was aware that, presented properly, she was a catch: pretty, professional, and put-together, and very good at making people forget about the missing hand. But she hadn’t exactly been bringing any of that to bear on this trip; she hadn’t been thinking of impressing anyone that way.

Fingon shrugged. “I wanted to.”

“You wanted to ask out the girl from the large, unruly, frequently rude family headed up by your step-uncle,” Maedhros said disbelievingly. “The girl currently picking through her relatives’ stray belongings - literally single-handedly - because this is her idea of taking a break from wrangling the aforementioned insane family?”

Fingon gave her a grin that somehow managed to be a bit reproachful. “I want to ask out the frankly gorgeous girl with truly stunning levels of competence who’s probably the main reason no one’s maimed anyone else yet on this trip. That’s you, by the way.”

“I...”

From somewhere in the distance, a crash resounded, followed by yelling. “Let’s get through this birthday reunion nonsense first. If everyone’s still alive and not in the hospital at the end of it, I’ll think about it.”

She took off towards the commotion, Fingon at her side. “If I help you make sure nobody dies or gets injured, will that make a stronger case for a yes?” he inquired. 

“It couldn’t hurt.” Maedhros tilted her head, listening. “Sounds like one of mine and one of yours. Come on.”

[thesummerestsolstice]

Hair Headcanons for the Feanorians:

Maedhros: Got Nerdanel's red hair, but filtered through Finwean Hair Magic™️, so instead of looking like normal red hair it looks like flickering flames, with deeper red tones and golden orange highlights, especially under Laurelin. After Angband, the gray streaks in his hair add the illusion of smoke. On the battlefield of Beleriand, he wears his fiery hair long and loose, almost an invitation to try and grab it. Taking that invitation is usually the last mistake his enemies ever make.

Maglor: Has dark, wavy hair with iridescent blue tones inherited from Feanor. Sometimes he puts some blue sparkle in it to really enhance the effect. It's always perfectly wavy and bouncy, and often tied into complicated up-dos for his appearances in Valinorean theaters and concert halls. His hair remains suspiciously luscious and styled even after thousands of years of being a beach hermit. His clothes are tattered, his skin is dirty, his eyes are bloodshot, but somehow, even the driftwood in his hair looks fresh and artistic.

Celegorm: He inherited his albinism from Miriel, and like her, has very light blonde/white hair. But because of the Finwean Hair Magic™️ his light hair actually has opalescent tones– light blues, greens, pinks, and oranges can all be seen in it from different angles. This is part of why he's called "the fair," his hair is light, but it's also as fair and beautiful as a polished opal.

Caranthir: Dark, relatively straight hair, with iridescent purple tones inherited from Feanor. A tangle has never been spotted in it, and he often keeps it up to avoid even the slightest chance of it getting dirty. He particularly appreciates the purple undertones in Beleriand, where purple dye is associated with luxury– it makes him look even richer than he already is. (tax fraud pays very, very well)

Curufin: Has hair very much like Feanor's, but his undertones are mostly on the green/teal side. Like Feanor, his hair doesn't really burn, even when it ends up in the forge fires, and as a result, he actually invents a kind of prototype curling iron and uses it to style his hair, since the heat doesn't damage it. He eventually abandons the curling iron, only for a young Celebrimbor to find it a few centuries later.

Amras: He's the darker haired one of the twins, and his hair is more reddish-brown than properly red. It's very shiny, and curly, and has very deep, rich colors. After Losgar, the ends of it always look dark and scorched.

Amrod: He's the lighter haired one of the twins, with hair that's more orange. It's bushy, shiny, and only Finwean Hair Magic™️ keeps it from being an absolute nightmare to brush. After he almost burns at Losgar, it becomes significantly darker, and loses some of its shine. Amrod always wore his hair long in Valinor, but typically wears it pretty short in Beleriand.

The headcanons for Maglor, Caranthir, and Curufin here are largely based on Sesamenom's wonderful art.

See headcanons for Finwe and his kids here.