#valar aesthetic

[aesthetic--mood]

Sauron Aesthetic

[massivewonderlandtragedy]

Not quite formed an opinion on this, so Silmarillion fandom thoughts please? 😁

Atsushi Sakurai as Namo's aesthetic or as Namo himself?

[theyoondiary]

THE VALAR | AESTHETIC MOODBOARDS

like or reblog if you save ♡

YAVANNA The Queen of Earth, The Giver of Fruits, The Protector of Plants

Sources

Faceclaim: Sunmi (Heartburn MV)

Font: Silk Flower & Corbel

[nuisancehelicopter]

morgoth committed to the bit

but in Angband Morgoth forged for himself a great crown of iron, and he called himself King of the World. In token of this he set the Silmarils in his crown. His hands were burned black by the touch of those hallowed jewels, and black they remained ever after; nor was he ever free from the pain of the burning, and the anger of the pain. That crown he never took from his head, though its weight became a deadly weariness.

.

.

slay.

[unheartbreakable]

Obliviate

[quiet-flower-wonderlings]

I love you @sorisooyaa

[wardingprotector]

the tweet that goes "you can't truly call yourself peaceful unless you are capable of great violence. if you're not capable of great violence, then you are not peaceful, you're harmless."

and when victoria erickson said “just because you are soft doesn’t mean you are not a force. Honey and wildfire are both the color gold.”

and when the brother's bright wrote "i will burn your kingdom down, if you try to conquer me and mine"

that's valar. that's the very core of his being.

[xaneamiartblog]

Melkor - Manwë

I've always wondered what kind of outfits Manwë and Melkor would chosen if they were humans. I think this would be their aesthetic for sure

[apoloadonisandnarcissus]

I love being a wild card in this fandom.  

What I love about Sauron/Mairon x Galadriel is that their dynamic isn’t some basic Light vs. Dark nonsense. Because this is Tolkien, not some Hollywood digested cr*p, as the professor says himself:

Some reviewers have called the whole thing simple-minded, just a plain fight between Good and Evil, with all the good just good, and the bad just bad. Pardonable, perhaps (though at least Boromir has been overlooked) in people in a hurry, and with only a fragment to read, and, of course, without the earlier written but unpublished Elvish histories. But the Elves are not wholly good or in the right. Not so much because they had flirted with Sauron; as because with or without his assistance they were 'embalmers'. They wanted to have their cake and eat it: to live in the mortal historical Middle-earth because they had become fond of it (and perhaps because they there had the advantages of a superior caste), and so tried to stop its change and history, stop its growth, keep it as a pleasaunce, even largely a desert, where they could be 'artists' – and they were overburdened with sadness and nostalgic regret. Tolkien, Letter 154

This is what I've been telling you guys. The Elves are not hopeless victims of Sauron, nor are they the "heroes" of the story. Tolkien lore is complex, it's not "pure Good vs. pure Evil" like the "lorebros" or the Peter Jackson fanboys claim. Stop believing their nonsense, they don't know what they are talking about. The battle of “good vs. evil”, in Tolkien legendarium, ultimately, happens within each character.

When they first met, Mairon and Galadriel both turned their backs on literal heaven (Valinor) because of their pride: Galadriel wanted the glory of seeking and destroying Sauron for herself; Mairon couldn’t bring himself to face judgement from the Valar. Mairon was the repentant sinner, while Galadriel was on her way to become one.

Galadriel is a literal ticking bomb, ready to explode and turn Dark at any moment, in "Rings of Power". Mairon was drawn to the darkness within her, and not to her “light” (this is another way he self-deceives himself). Her “light” (= Two Trees of Valinor) is merely aesthetic. She doesn’t have that light, and that’s why she’ll use Nenya, and her Mirror and her Phial to harvest purest Light, and become the “Lady of Light”.

In “Rings of Power” there is a clue that Mairon might be blood bound to Morgoth, and, so, he’s always unconsciously seeking his former master, and that’s why he wanted to serve Galadriel. Because he's a Maia, he was created to be a servant to a Vala. The deal, wasn't her becoming his servant, but the other way around.

And we are talking about Sauron, here: his whole character arc is not one of redemption, so he the interest he believes he has on "Light" is not real, it's one of his self-deceptions. And for Sauron to never stop grouping Galadriel’s mind, thousands of years into the future, when he’s already officially the “shadow of Morgoth” it’s because he recognizes her potential for darkness, not her light.  

This doesn’t mean that he’s unredeemable, mind you. Tolkien’s work is infused with Christian doctrine (mainly Catholicism), and in this religion one can always find redemption and forgiveness if one actually repents for their sins, and makes amends for them (which will be Galadriel's case). And this is also present in Tolkien lore: no character is unredeemable on his world. But in the legendarium, after refusing to stand trial before the Valar, Sauron never truly repents, and becomes the "a reincarnation of Evil" aka Morgoth come again.

And there is Sauron. In the Silmarillion and Tales of the First Age Sauron was a being of Valinor perverted to the service of the Enemy and becoming his chief captain and servant. He repents in fear when the First Enemy is utterly defeated, but in the end does not do as was commanded, return to the judgement of the gods. He lingers in Middle-earth [Halbrand]. Very slowly, beginning with fair motives: the reorganising and rehabilitation of the ruin of Middle-earth, neglected by the gods', he becomes a reincarnation of Evil, and a thing lusting for Complete Power – and so consumed ever more fiercely with hate (especially of gods and Elves). All through the twilight of the Second Age the Shadow is growing in the East of Middle-earth, spreading its sway more and more over Men – who multiply as the Elves begin to fade. Tolkien Letter 131

Sauron was of course not 'evil' in origin. He was a 'spirit' corrupted by the Prime Dark Lord (the Prime sub-creative Rebel) Morgoth. He was given an opportunity of repentance, when Morgoth was overcome, but could not face the humiliation of recantation, and suing for pardon; and so his temporary turn to good and 'benevolence' ended in a greater relapse, until he became the main representative of Evil of later ages. But at the beginning of the Second Age he was still beautiful to look at, or could still assume a beautiful visible shape – and was not indeed wholly evil, not unless all 'reformers' who want to hurry up with 'reconstruction' and 'reorganization' are wholly evil, even before pride and the lust to exert their will eat them up. The particular branch of the High-Elves concerned, the Noldor or Loremasters, were always on the side of 'science and technology', as we should call it: they wanted to have the knowledge that Sauron genuinely had, and those of Eregion refused the warnings of Gil-galad and Elrond. Tolkien Letter 153

Halbrand was repentant Mairon. Annatar is Mairon falling back into evil.

Galadriel is not yet the “repentant sinner” Tolkien described her to be, in his legendarium, either. In Season 2, she doesn’t own up to her actions, and is still making excuses for them: “I was deceived”; “Sauron used me”; “Under his harp I was played to a melody not of my choosing”, bla bla bla.

She’s still in self-denial about her actions in Season 1: she’s the one who tempted Mairon with promises of power and, pretty much directly, caused him to choose deception over redemption, and condemned Middle-earth to Sauron’s tyranny (this is also somewhat compatible to what Tolkien wrote, because in the lore the Elves are also to blame).

And I’m almost certain she’ll have to f*ck up even harder in order to have a “eye opening” moment. Because one can’t really be a “penitent” (using Tolkien’s words) unless one takes ownership of one's actions, and makes the conscious decision to atone for them. 

[edennill]

Namo headcanons since we seem to be doing an interrompu Namo week round here:

While the Ainur can obviously look like they want to so it's not a given, the chosen appearance of the Fëanturi (Nienna included) makes them easily recognisable as siblings. This is in part because there are certain patterns that a spirit might naturally gravitate to and none of them feel the need to make a conscious choice to diverge from that (i.e. it's also a mirror to some similarity on the primary level) and in part because they like it that way.

He doesn't have a scary "aura" or anything; most elves might feel certain unease around him because of his office (the disembodied are another matter yet because the soul perceives other beings differently), but at most he has a deep and serious one.

He can be scary if he goes all into a "wrath of the Valar" mode, and coincidentally he's also the Ainu that the largest number of Eldar have seen that way.

He does have a sense of humour; he doesn't really laugh often.

In so far as he does represent a "Dark Is Not Evil" vibe, it's not that his aesthetic is entirely black either. Clothing is something slightly different to the Ainur than to the Children, but in any case he always wears grey robes that look the same, with an alternative slightly fancier design of dark blue on the great feasts.

It's not that he doesn't understand wearing a fana, but he's pretty austere about it. He doesn't find any of it unpleasant or uncomfortable, but he will never eat or drink outside of a few drops of wine on the feasts, and rarely uses physical senses; he just doesn't feel the need to. It may have something to do with spending more time around the disincarnate Children than the living

Outside of the Fëanturi and Vairë, his closest relationship among the Valar is probably with Manwë. On his part, the other trusts him completely, enough to ask him to pronounce a judgement all will abide by without yet knowing what he thinks (this part is canon, cf. the statute).

Manwë being the only other person in the world to know where the souls of Men go has also become something that ties them together. They discuss from time to time.

...I have no idea how a certain Maia's certain... detour near the end of the Third Age (meaning there now are three such people, although their knowledge might be in different degrees of fullness) might impact this balance; Namo is certainly going to have thoughts about it.

It is my self-indulgent headcanon to imagine that however bothersome a bored philosopher king with copious theories on the one subject you're not allowed to discuss with him might be in the Halls, Finrod does still regularly talk philosophy with him after he is reembodied. In any case, those who have passed through the Halls tend to be less jumpy about the whole "Lord of the Dead" aspect as a general rule.

That post I reblogged recently has gotten me thinking: to be honest his "Judge" and "Prophet" personas are two facets of the same coin — he is the one who proclaims what shall without doubt be.

[silmarillaure]

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.

[eri-pl]

Not getting into the whole discourse about burning, because I don't think I have any coherent and logical opinion on it that would be actually based on what the book says.

But as for Feanor allowing or not: he was less paranoid when the Silmarils were new, he wore them and what not.

I imagine he may have been showing them to the Valar (or just to Aule, and Varda was there for some reason idk social life?) and he shown them to her and she was like "This is so beautiful" and just hallowed them without realizing he may not like the idea.

Just like how some kids pet other people's dogs without asking. Or touch people's hair.

Yes, the comparison of Valar's people-and-elf skills to children, and not to bad-mannered adults is intentional.

And then it was like:

Feanor: What did you just do, you made a metaphysical edit on my property, I will not let any of you touch them again! Aule: We're sorry,--- Feanor: Hmpf! Varda: *bluescreen face, because she dosn't get what the problem is. also, cannot undo it because it would be against her nature. also, generally doesn't speak much. So she just stares at Feanor. It does not help.*

“And Varda Hallowed the Silmarils, so that thereafter no mortal flesh, nor hands unclean, nor anything of evil will might touch them.”

*This can be interpreted broadly. Here I include deaths of justice and of self defense (e.g. Maglor’s slaying of Uldor).

[iamnotshazam]

i saw the LotR films before ever reading the books and i love both. i turn now more to the books than the movies for enjoyment.

but i also feel like the three movies just. fucken. cracked it out of the park with some important things and i had NO idea how good i had it as a little nerd delving into the extended edition dvd extras. if i were a fan in the gritty-obsessed 90's hearing rumors of these movies, i would have expected at best stuff like: B-list acting that occasionally broke through with honest emotions. some skilled costuming and weaponry popping up in important scenes but mostly just knock-off viking opera aesthetic. homebrew DND imagery that made it painfully obvious by contrast which scenes they actually spent money on the set design and dressing.

and WETA and New Line and everyone on this!!! they did NOT accept lower standards cause it was fantasy! everyone else would have. This was genre filmmaking, this would have been perceived at the time as more like How the Grinch Stole Christmas than a Cecil B Demille-level epic movie. And the costuming department, composer, propsmaster and set designer all said "NO" and put their whole pussies behind it!

Jesus Christ the quality in those movies! Ian McKellan has undershirts like Gandalf the White might have! Bernard Hill has realistic quilted padding underlayers all made in the style a Rohirrim tailor and armorer would have made! Minas Tirith has a rat catcher because someone took a doodle and decided that would make sense in the lived reality of a massive city! Movie makers do not usually do this. It is NEVER about what isnt seen or necessary for the shot. You are judged professionally not by if you can cut corners in order to help production and still seem good, but by HOW MUCH.

I cannot blame anyone who worked on the Amazon series in the hands-on creative roles because the results are what they have been trained to do. Blame executives. Blame executives! Of course chainmail is going to be, i dunno, plastic or sewn into the edges of costumes if you dont have the money or time for real chain mail! And because it cannot be overstated how unusual the LotR trilogy filmmaking process must have been. It's like being given an average lower middle class family grocery budget and told to make a fancy Christmas dinner for 20 all by yourself with no help versus having a trained staff, a blank check, and Martha Stewart on retainer. That's not an exaggeration. That's the rhetorical gulf that someone (Valar BLESS them) in the bureaucracy had to wade across to convince execs to buy into the details. The Lord of the Rings movies are WEIRD.

And it shows. Bookfans bitch about the story changes, the balrog wings, the characterization differences. (Denethor was a reasonable person and even outsider Pippin could see he was very admirable to the people of Gondor, which made it sooooo much creepier when he suddenly snapped but i digress) but NEVER about the music. the filming locations. the set designs. the costumes. the props. the things that i really think count the most to help invest people in a different world!

No one ever complains about taking out the scene where Rohan is summoned to Gondor's aid with the Red Arrow, because yeah they could have made it work, they made the importance of other props like Andúril and, oh yeah, the One Ring very clear, but they had a better idea.

The beacons.

The beacons were not in the book.

Not in the same way, really, because while incredible to think about the narrative style was close third person, and you cannot follow beacons to rhapsodize about them when you're a tired hobbit getting saddle sore crossing national borders with a grumpy old wizard. Pippin sees the Beacons of Gondor at a distance when he's falling asleep and Gandalf tells him they're a mustering signal within Gondor. Which makes sense, really, they require some upkeep and would be awkward for two nations to negotiate how to handle - nevermind. That's it. That's all the beacons are in the text.

Someone adapting the script saw a moment that was ho-hum in the book but realized ! 💡⚡️That would look really great on camera! And it is now routinely listed as one of the most important cinematic moments of anything, ever.

There are so many things I still want to ask Peter Jackson, "Why???" but the original trilogy movies overall? Work. They work and they do more than work, they helped elevate an entire artform that I don't honestly know that much about and oh god i usually dont ramble about them like this im embarassed is this already acknowledged in tumblr tolkien circles? or are we just split into different little fandoms in order to keep the peace?

[cilil]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬… 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞﹖﹖

We know Mairon as the dark lord in spiky black armor, witchy black robes and all the nice evil-looking stuff, but I believe he's also made excellent use of the color white, especially as Annatar in Eregion and Zigûr on Númenor.

White is seen as a balance between all colors and has thus been associated with both simplicity and perfection. It often symbolizes cleanliness, purity, innocence, elegance, grace, divinity, beauty, clarity, possibility, hope and goodness; on the other hand, it can also be associated with sterility, coldness or distance (source) and YouTube apology videos. Overall, it tends to be seen in a more positive than negative light (pun intended).

Another interesting tidbit to note is that the banners of the Host of the Valar were also white:

But the host of the Valar prepared for battle; and beneath their white banners marched the Vanyar, the people of Ingwë, and those also of the Noldor who never departed from Valinor, whose leader was Finarfin the son of Finwë. (Silmarillion)

I believe this detail is particularly important for Mairon's Annatar persona, since he was posing as an emissary of the Valar. A lot of art depicts him in white and golden robes which I like a lot; it basically screams "I am a divine being coming to your aid" and creates a false sense of security due to him wearing the colors of his enemies and their allies, trying to appear as one of the "safe" Ainur. He also doesn't hide his Maiarin nature and instead deliberately uses it to legitimize his supposed mission, present himself as an authority and pretend that only he knows best.

Perhaps part of the reason why some wise Elves were wary of Annatar was precisely because he appeared too bright, too pure, too perfect; some of them have met other Maiar before, both in Valinor and Middle-earth, and due to their vastly different personalities and natures it's likely that not all of them would have leaned this hard into the "We are the Holy Ones" (for those who don't know, "Ainur" means "Holy Ones") aesthetic.

I believe Mairon made use of the color white again on Númenor for his Tar-Mairon/Zigûr persona for similar reasons. The Númenóreans were also aware of his Maiarin nature and humans are famously more impressionable than Elves, so the image of this beautiful, elegant, graceful, wise, holy angel man works even better against them. What may have aided him additionally was that Eönwë had appeared on Númenor before, as a benevolent guiding figure and representative of the Elder King, and due to the color of the banners and his position, it's likely that he wore a lot of white (alongside Manwë's blue) and that this detail then made its way into depictions of him.

Mairon knew of course that, generally speaking, he had more to gain as a "bright lord" than as a "dark lord". People are more likely to listen and follow when they believe you have good intentions. Thus he had to overcome his little "image problem" of very much being known as a dark lord, an evil spirit, a fallen Maia; and by once again adopting the divine aesthetic of Valinor he created a mental dissonance between what the people of Númenor heard in tales about him and what they saw with their own eyes and gradually replaced their old image of him with a new, carefully curated one. I like to think that he once again opted for lots of white and gold and also took a good look at Númenórean Eönwë fanart depictions of Eönwë to copy a few details.

Additionally, Mairon could have used white to symbolize the enlightenment brought about by his religious revelations (aka lying to Ar-Pharazôn by saying that Eru isn't real and was made up by the Valar to scam people while Melkor is the real God and will totally make them immortal). It also seems deliciously cruel to use the color of hope for a cult whose purpose it is to destroy the hopes and dreams of Númenor forever and bring death and destruction upon the land and its people.

And aside from symbolism, I also think Mairon enjoys the sight of fresh red blood splatters on pure white fabric. It's just... very pretty and aesthetic, you know? And such a shame it was so often nearly invisible on his black robes...

@sauron-kraut look I finally wrote it all out xd

Thanks for reading! ♡

taglist: @asianbutnotjapanese @a-world-of-whimsy-5 @blauerregen @bluezenzennie @destinyeternity1

@edensrose @elanna-elrondiel @i-did-not-mean-to @just-little-human @melkors-big-tits

@melkors-defense-attorney @numenhore @urwendii @wandererindreams

[foedhrass]

Irmo the younger [Feantur] is the master of visions and dreams. In Lórien are his gardens in the land of the Valar, and they are the fairest of all places in the world, filled with many spirits.

I chose to cosplay Irmo when Silverlynxcosplay decided to take on Mandos. I never really connected to the first part of the Silmarillion, the Ainulindale and Valaquenta, and still don’t really care for the Valar, but I really like this cosplay for aesthetic reasons. It was one of the hardest one to pin down though: without a connection to the character I struggled to find a design (for the body) that I liked. I scrapped the first version immediately after making it, wore the second for about an hour at an Elfia a couple of years and disliked every photo I got back. So now, with our shooting week planned for nature and also the Elfia around the corner I made a third version which felt right very early on, even though I switched colors when I had already applied them (it was golden and silver at first but that didn’t fit to the rest of the cosplay and my vision for Irmo, so I brought back the crème tone from the second version). And I’m super happy about how this cosplay turned out.

Cosplay & edit: me

Photo: goldiepond

[mask131]

If Middle-earth is Earth in the past, is there any possibility for the magic to return? The magical creatures are probably all dead, but I assume the more spiritual beings like the Maiar and the Valar should still be around, right?

Asked this to a couple of friends that are Tolkien fans and they couldn't answer me.

Now I am NOT at all a Tolkien expert. I will try my best to answer you but I can't recommend you enough to go check actual lore-wise people for Tolkien... I know there are a handful of Youtube channels dedicated to explaining little tidbits of lore and answering specific questions about Tolkien's works. "In Deep Geek" or "Nerd of the Rings" are good starting places for casual Youtube videos about Tolkien lore, to listen in some spare time or just as background.

Now it depends what you mean by "magic" but, taking into account the whole "Middle-Earth is just prehistoric Earth/England's mythology" angle, in this sense, yes you are right about the point.

Most of the fabulous and fantastical creatures of legends and myth are dead or gone, and it is the whole point of Tolkien's work. The Lord of the Ring is literaly the tale of how an entire Age ended. It is something that begins quite early in The Hobbit, with the death of what was the last great dragon, but one doesn't get the full scope until we reach The Lord of the Rings, and by the end of it we are hit with everything. The Elves are fading away, the Wizards have all broken off in various ways, Sauron and his underlings are no more, the rings of power have no power anymore, the Ents are doomed to extinction, even some of the last descendants of the eldritch horrors like the Balrog or Shelob are dead. The great wonders of Middle-Earth are gone, beautiful or horrible, and it is sad and an end - but also a new beginning for a new age. And in this sense, yes, magic is technically gone or going away by the end of the Lord of the Rings.

But, as you pointed out, it doesn't mean "magic" is still disappeared forever, because in the Tolkien universe, magic IS the world. As you said, indeed, the Valar/Maiar are still around, and will always be there until the end of time. They are just out of reach and out of sight: this is one of the big themes of the Silmarillion, since it is the book where we go from "The gods walk the same earth we walk today" to "The gods are nowhere to be seen and work in mysterious ways". The whole point is that the Valar slowly retracted themselves from the universe, isolating themselves in the West, acting less and less in mortals affairs, imposing indirect means of interacting with fate and events rather than direct action... And it is part of the entire aesthetic of Tolkien's Legendarium: the regression of magic is constant, and while the world described in The Lord of the Rings seems like the "magical world" we today lost, when one reads the Silmarillion you realize LotR's Middle-Earth was actually a pretty drab and mundane world compared to the earlier Ages of the World. It is just that the very passing of Ages means that less and less magic and wonders happen - it is the Tolkien's way.

But they are not gone. There is still of this "magic" left around, it is just out of reach, hard to spot, not usually seen - and you have to know what you are looking for. Just like the Valar, who will always be there, but mortals cannot reach them, nobody remembers them, and they don't interact with us anymore. I think it was in The Hobbit that Tolkien literaly began by saying that some Hobbits still lived around England, though they hide away from humans and thus one would need tough chance to ever find them. It was just a "child's story" narrative device, but it still set the tone for the idea that there are remnants of LotR's Middle-Earth in our day and age (well more like in the 19th/early 20th century England), the same way Middle-Earth had by the time of LotR remnants of the first ages of the world (Shelob reminding of the distant threat of Ungoliant, or Galadriel's vial containing a last piece of primordial light).

Plus, you have to remember Tom Bombadil. The guy is definitively still around. And that's his role. When did he get there, we will never know, because he was never born - but he was there at some point, and he was there long before everybody else, and he will be there long after everybody else, and he'll still be around probably until the end of the world. As I said in my previous post, many people dismiss Tom Bombadil in LotR because yes, he provides nothing to the plot - but they miss his importance, that he is here as a symbolic and almost metaphysical character, as a tool not just to worldbuild but also to show the whole idea of this world. Yes the elves and dwarves and orcs are gone, and there are no more great wizards or terrible dark lords... but there will always be somewhere this weird singing guy who is definitively not human and nobody knows where he comes from, with his nature-spirit of a wife, and his grumpy murderous neighbor Old Willow. And I think it is quite important to understand Tolkien's whole approach to the "fading of magic". Tolkien's world is one of constant "degradation" (to the point he even stopped writing his story about a Fourth Age because he realized it would be much too bleak and dark even for him), but it is also one that is tied to his production for children and an interest in fairytale and children stories, and as such it also teaches to go search the real magic today not in immense dragons, or powerful elf-queens, or cursed antique jewels, but rather in a few Hobbits living their life hidden in some shire, or in an excentric Tom Bombadil deep within beautiful old woods.