#thornith of greenwood

[acornsandoaktrees]

theyre like if lesbians were f/m

poses from @gaminegay 's art meme

[acornsandoaktrees]

THIS WENT TO THE WRONG BLOG AND WASN'T TAGGED AND THE IMAGES FORMATTED WRONG AND THE READ MORE DIDNT TAKE EFFECT. I HATE IT HERE (tumblr)

i think i mostly draw Ríros crying. and honestly? good

the similarities between Thornith and Tauriel torture both Ríros and i. going beyond inherited traits to pure coincidence is extra fun

@meluiloth hope you don't mind the tag - you were interested in these guys and this is the only recent thing i have to show for them 🤲

bonus below courtesy of the Tolkien OC discord server

[acornsandoaktrees]

remaking this post bc its bugging me that tumblr obliterated it so horrifically. i know how to use this site i swear

i think i mostly draw Ríros crying. and honestly? good

the similarities between Thornith and Tauriel torture both Ríros and i. going beyond inherited traits to pure coincidence is extra fun

bonus below courtesy of the Tolkien OC discord server

[acornsandoaktrees]

Squirrels in Caves

Squirrels Arc

word count: 1.7K

summary: Tauriel and Alphes meet for the first time as children, with a healthy side of angst.

glossary:

nana = mum pin breth = little acorn pin qa = little duck gwamellon = my crude mashing of existing sindarin to create something approximate to 'bonded friend'. essentially means guardian, or godparent; someone who becomes responsible for a child if their parents are no longer viable options for caretakers

>---|-

"Hello, Tauriel."

Tauriel's breath hitched. She fell into warm arms; Liatan sighed in her ear and clutched her tight. After a long minute, he pulled her away gently.

"Tauriel..." he searched for words, "you know your mother is gone."

Tauriel fixed her jaw and nodded.

"You know you can't stay here by yourself?"

Objection swelled in her chest, bruising fear fighting for space alongside it. "I can--"

"Tauriel."

Biting down on her protest, she pressed her lips into a thin line. Liatan sighed again and hung his head.

"Tauriel, I'm your gwamellon. It -- it falls to me to take care of you. But I can't leave Felegoth."

She knew where this was going. She closed her eyes; that would make him disappear. Alas, his voice broached her safe darkness.

"Please come with me, Tauriel. It will be easier on the both of us. Soured memories, you know?"

Tauriel pulled in a long steadying breath. "This is the only home I've known."

"I know," he said softly.

Her lower lip quivered. "Please, don't make me leave."

"...I'm sorry."

Tasting blood, Tauriel bit her lip hard, then opened her eyes.

>---|-

Their first order of business took place before entering the caverns of Felegoth -- something Tauriel was grateful for, far from warming to the screaming darkness within the gates. Liatan was arranging the retrieval of her belongings from the village.

The last thing she wanted to think of was a house she could not return to, not even guarded by the patrol, so she looked for a distraction, and found it.

The tree was a proud, ancient oak, massive limbs splayed out in a reaching bushed crown. It murmured in a low deep voice, something Tauriel couldn't understand, but she preferred to hear an unknown whisper than words of pity, so she listened to the hum through its roots.

Tauriel tugged on Liatan's long tassled shawl. He broke off his conversation to look down at her.

"I'm going to go over there," she said, pointing at the tree.

He nodded and resumed his conversation without further fuss. Browned leaves crunching underfoot, Tauriel moved in swift steps until the press of the roaring river on her ears had eased.

Trusting her limbs to find secure holds in cracked bark and nooks of twisted branches, she climbed. Further up, up, up, the leaves thickened from sparse twigs to folds of amber, caressing her face with a gentleness only yesterday found in her mother's hands.

Verdant moss coarse under her fingers, Tauriel sought higher, up to the edge of the leaves where the sun awaited her. So close, so close, her foot skipped off a smooth patch where bark had torn. The sun fell away.

Instead, the ground welcomed her with a vindictive fury. Tauriel laid there a little while, closed eyelids rosy under sun glare. Everything ached.

Footsteps approached; a shadow fell over her; she opened her eyes again to blinding light.

"Are you alright?"

Tauriel blinked rapidly to bring the girl into focus: soft face framed by alabaster hair, shining like a white-hot halo in a beam of sunlight.

Dazed, Tauriel mumbled, "Are you a star?"

The girl giggled. Bells singing. "No. Not yet, at least."

She extended a hand, blurry shape solidifying close. Amazed her hand-eye coordination was intact enough to do so, Tauriel intercepted it, and the girl pulled her upright. Her skin was cold, pale starlight.

Tauriel dusted herself off and worked the ache out of her limbs. She discovered herself to be a good bit taller than the other girl, able to peer over the top of her head past the curious circlet of white feathers that crowned her sloped ears.

"I'm--" The girl paused for half a second before making up her mind, "I'm Alphes. Who are you?"

"Um, Tauriel."

"It's nice to meet you, Tauriel," Alphes grinned, toothy. "Do you want to help me bury acorns?"

"Why are you burying acorns?"

"So the squirrels can find more in winter," she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Tauriel glanced back at Liatan. Having noticed and watched, he threw up an encouraging gesture. "I guess I could do that..."

Wasting no time, Alphes grabbed her wrist and set off at a lively pace, pulling Tauriel along behind her.

By the time they found another oak tree, ground carpeted in dropped acorns, they had left behind Felegoth for the embrace of the forest. Finally releasing Tauriel's hand to crouch amongst the bushes, Alphes got to work without comment. Tauriel followed her lead. The quality they were searching for did not have to be spoken.

"My nana called me pîn breth," Tauriel forced out after a minute, running her fingers across the bumps of an acorn's hat over and again.

Curious gaze instantly on her, Alphes sat back on her heels. "Why'd she do that?"

Tauriel squirmed under the other girl's undivided attention, eyes on the ground. "I don't know."

Alphes returned to sifting through acorns. Tauriel cursed the shaking of her hands.

"My parents call me pîn qá," Alphes offered a second later, thrusting a thumb at herself and grinning, "because my name means swan!"

"That's pretty," Tauriel managed. The swan girl hummed in cheery agreement.

They worked quietly for a bit, Alphes sticking out her tongue as she focused. Eventually, she returned to herself, instead rambling on about all manner of things, voice floating within their little patch of forest amongst the chitter of birds in the oak tree's boughs and the rustling of its leaves in the wind. Despite every screaming insinct in her body, Tauriel found herself relaxing.

Some time later -- sun a little lower through the leaves -- the ashen-haired elleth urged Tauriel to bring over her handful. She held out her tunic at her waist, fabric sagging under the weight of her own acorns to create a shallow bowl.

"Go on," she insisted, leading Tauriel's gaze down.

Dusting off her hands afterwards, Tauriel did as requested. Knees and arms crusted with a layer of soft earth where she had knelt, she lagged behind a little, doing her best to brush it off as Alphes forged ahead.

Ever the forest's litterbugs, squirrels never filled in their old holes. Incidentally (or by design, however one wished to view their behaviour; they spoke too fast to be understood) this made next year's work easier.

Planting acorns as they went, the two elflings tracked a wide arc, headed vaguely eastwards away from the sun then curving back southwest. The forest was quiet; the onset of cold winds had chased most birds south. Even familiar falcons' cries were missing. Mushrooms unfurled in fallen husks of trees, and elk bugled distantly, shrill cries echoed amidst the far mountain valleys.

Burning leaves spun around them, piling up over the game path they followed and landing on their hair. Alphes glanced back and giggled, saying they made a golden crown on Tauriel's head. Tauriel brushed them away.

Eventually, they came to the edge of a clearing. A thundering drone swelled in the air ahead, but they couldn't see any further past a wall of bushes clinging to old trees. Instead of submitting to finding another way around, Alphes lunged in.

Unfazed, the elleth let brambles tear through the fine embroidery of her dress and tug at her hair, pushing branches away with uncovered arms. Horribly disturbed by the catch of thorns on her tunic, Tauriel yelped and writhed, red berries shocks of blood on the edges of her vision. Retreat or continue, the distance was equal and brambles swarming, so she followed the light shifting shape that was Alphes' hair.

"Whoa!" Alphes breathed ahead of her.

Finally, Tauriel broke free of the brambles. When she turned, an identical exclamation left her lips.

Water tumbled in white foam from the crest of a moss-slick cliffside. It was too far south to be any stage of the Forest River; it had to be a tributary carving its way through the foothills from the mountains to join the course. Steps of smooth rock eased its descent, brave ferns clinging to damp borders, and a long-fallen tree bridging a shallower section of the falls had been stripped of the bark on its underside where water raced beneath it.

Stepping up to the water's edge, Alphes dumped the last handful of acorns into the bowl of the torn stump and tested the security of the tree with her weight. It rocked a little under her before settling into a new angle and offered no further activity.

A strange thrill shot through Tauriel's chest when she looked back and grinned, canines flashing again. ''Are you coming?''

It wasn't right to follow. They didn't know it was safe. Tauriel stepped up anyway. Alphes was magnetic. Bark moaned under her foot--

''Tauriel! Stars, get down!''

''Tarien!''

First Tauriel saw Alphes toss her head back and roll her eyes. Then she turned and saw Liatan standing beside an elf in golden armour on the far side of the clearing, free of brambles. She stepped down from the tree, scrambled down the cascade of glassy boulders. Pebbles scattered behind her; Alphes was following.

Crossing the stream in a simple hop, Liatan met her at the grass, holding her by the arms in case she was of a mind to disappear again. "What are you doing so far out here? Never mind that -- come now, the King wishes to meet you. Why are you all scratched up?"

Plucking at her torn tunic, Liatan steered her away. Vexed to be disturbed, Tauriel waved over her shoulder at Alphes. She waved back, forlorn, suddenly so small and alone in the glade. The elf in gold guided her away with a firm hand at her back.

>---|-

The King of the forest was noble, and pale as starlight, and thoughtful as the careful onset of Autumn.

"I must apologise for my daughter. She has a habit of straying too far into Eryn Galen unguarded. And of leading any who might follow along with her."

"I did not mind, my lord," Tauriel mumbled, unsure what he wanted her to say. It was the truth, anyway.

Thranduil hummed, slight curve of his brow betraying his intrigue. "Is that so? Perhaps, then, you could keep her company. Perhaps it would do you both some good."

Tauriel glanced to Liatan. He looked about as taken aback as she was, but nonetheless met her gaze and nodded slightly, encouraging her to accept.

"I would like that," she said, head tucked low. Liatan nudged her. "Thank you for your kindness."

The Elvenking dipped his head, sprigs of golden leaves swaying on crowning stems. "I will arrange it."

[acornsandoaktrees]

pride month is finally upon us! time to celebrate with a semi-definitive list of...

queer characters in A&OT!

now, i need to start off by saying that for the most part -- as this AU primarily involves elves, and i have my own headcanons regarding how they deal with these matters -- that the characters wouldn't necessarily define themselves this way, if at all.

these are just my personal thoughts on my ocs + heavily expanded-upon interpretations of canon characters, and as always, are open to evolution.

Alphes

• lesbian

Laerion

• ftm trans

• pan

Candathar

• aroace

Tauriel

• bi

Legolas

• gay

Amrúhil

• demi

• non-binary

Ríros, Thornith, Liatan

• poly

Bronadui

• aroace

• agender

Sigrid

• lesbian

[acornsandoaktrees]

Andríros for your consideration

[acornsandoaktrees]

whiteboard halloween edition but i forget for multiple days

[acornsandoaktrees]

OC Profile: Thornith

Race: Sylvan elf

Pronouns: she/her

Place of birth: Laspen (Greenwood village)

Occupation: falconer

Name meaning: eagle sister

Status: deceased

Tauriel's mother! she preserves various shed feathers from previous birds as keepsakes; her scars are the result of wayward raptors. in spite of conquering the heartbreak of Ríros' "death" and continuing to raise their daughter as a single parent, she dies when Tauriel is a teenager in a spider attack.

[acornsandoaktrees]

mae govannen, and welcome to Acorns and Oak Trees, the official blog of my greenwood kids AU!

AaOT will be, as of now, segmented into 4 separate arcs:

Pîn Breth Arc

Squirrels Arc

Ring Arc

Elvenqueen Arc

in summary, AaOT follows the lives of the Greenwood royal family, Tauriel, and her parents through Middle Earth's past and its future. AaOT heavily features my ocs.

you might've seen my art around before; i'm now refining those concepts into a finer overarching storyline, hence the existence of this blog to keep everything as organised as i can hope to be.

i have a multitude of fic ideas in the works as well as my art, which once complete will be included via the appropriate arc masterlists.

OC Profiles:

Thalanes

Laerion

Alphes

Ríros

Thornith

Liatan

Amrúhil

Bronadui

Candathar

Fancasts:

Eryn Galen Parriarchs (Oropher, Thalanes, Alphes)

Oropher's Family (Ethuilas, Amathring, Anorloth)

Family Tree

[acornsandoaktrees]

OC QUESTIONNAIRE 📝

tysm for the tag @merilles! it took me a while to decide but i landed on answering for Ríros.

♧

1. How does your OC present themselves to the world (i.e. their persona) and does it differ from what they are actually like? If so, who do they feel comfortable taking the “mask” off around and why did that “mask” develop in the first place?

hm... the only environment he would need a mask would probably be his time serving the Mirkwood Guard. as Lieutenant, he is in a commanding role, and must present himself appropriately: confident and unwavering. In reality he questions himself plenty. his Captain, Thalanes, is a close friend and the only person in that environment he can be open with, as she is his superior.

♧

2. What is one thing they could change either about themselves or the past? Why would they make that change? How would that change affect who they are and the world around them in their current timeline?

this is an interesting question, because given full hindsight Ríros would choose to unravel much of the chain of his life that led ultimately to tradegy: he would never leave Lothlórien for Greenwood. being progenitor of a strong influence on Greenwood's future in the Fourth Age, he influences the timeline plenty -- by staying in Lothlórien he avoids meeting Thornith and having Tauriel, nor does he return later to advise Alphes. instead, he never starts a family, commits himself to a military career without an outside purpose, and probably dies in a skirmish with orcs unfulfilled.

♧

3. Drawing from the language of flowers, what flower(s) would best symbolize them and why?

i believe i once connected him to asters - love, patience, wisdom etc - but that was based on a whole bunch of different factors. for Ríros specifically, i'd choose aloe, for both affection and grief. he loves deeply and mourns deeply. either that or forget-me-nots, for obvious reasons.

i imagine most people i know are already tagged in this some way or another, so i'll leave these questions to anyone who feels like answering:

1. Does your OC have any nicknames? Who gave them? Who is/is not allowed to use them? Why?

2. Does your OC have a 'home base' of sorts? Somewhere they can always return to, somewhere they might one day settle? If not, does it frighten or free them?

Did your OC have any role models growing up? How did they influence them, what beliefs or skills did they pass along? If not, how did your OC develop the traits that define them now?