katrina37973

[katrina37973]

I use this celebrimbor concept in my gil-galad fic but Celebrimbor isn’t the mc so it’s not expanded upon, but also, I wanna talk about it.

So, as a concept; Celebrimbor makes fake plants.

It’s mostly a crack headcanon because Celebrimbor is an Inventor (*cough* mad scientist *cough*) and Inventors always make practical stuff that looks normal. Like, Celebrimbor opens the inside of a fake plant in front of Galadriel (who didn’t notice the fake plant was so…mechanical), and now Galadriel doesn’t trust any of the fake plants in Eregion. Are they all decorative? Do they all have secret compartments? Who knows! (Celebrimbor refuses to tell her which are decorative-fake and which are hidden-knife-fake)

It escalates to the point where Gil-Galad gets gifted a Fake Plant and after tugging on a rubber leaf (per the instruction manual), the whole pot opens to reveal an ornate set of well-made daggers.

Elrond also gets gifts inside Fake Plants. Narvi, too, who thinks it’s hilarious.

At one point, Celebrimbor discovers a way to make the fake plant leaves sway in the wind without the stiffness of rubber, and a new type of silicone that feels leafy to the touch if prepared properly. Galadriel’s paranoia grows as the Fake Plants get more realistic.

Love the idea of Celebrimbor and the classic “Inventor Makes Hidden Compartment Inside Harmless Things” trope. I think it’s just the right amount of harmless, accidentally threatening, and Mad Scientist to fit Celebrimbor’s character.

#celebrimbor #fake plants #silmarilllion #silm headcanon

[katrina37973]

Gil-Galad's Suspicion of Sauron

So, here’s what we know: In the year 1200 of the Second Age, Sauron (disguised as Annatar) arrived in Eriador and tried to be all friendly with the elvish kingdoms there. Despite his disguise, he wasn’t allowed into Lindon, since “Gil-galad and Elrond doubted him and his fair-seeming, and though they knew not who in truth he was they would not admit him to that land.” However, he was welcomed in Eregion, where Galadriel and Celeborn were living at the time, even ignoring the warnings that Gil-galad sent (in Eregion’s defense, Sauron successfully played off of the long-standing inter-cultural tensions among the elvish population. For more information on that subject, see this post (specifically the section titled “Noldorin Relations in the Later Ages”))

What Galadriel specifically thought of all this we don’t know. In fact, Tolkien says plainly that, while it was clear that Galadriel didn’t like Annatar, “No explanation is offered in this rapid outline of why Galadriel scorned Sauron, unless she saw through his disguise, or of why, if she did perceive his true nature, she permitted him to remain in Eregion.” He goes into more detail on this conundrum, explaining basically that it seems likely that Galadriel knew that “Annatar” was lying about who he was (because of her own first-hand experience with the Valar and Maiar, whom he claimed to represent), but didn’t know exactly who he was - in fact, Tolkien says that nobody knew who “Annatar” truly was until he created the One Ring and revealed his identity as Sauron.

So, while Galadriel was suspicious of “Annatar”, she either wasn’t suspicious enough to keep him out of Eregion, or (more likely, in my opinion) didn’t have enough political clout in Eregion to do so. Soon after Annatar gained popularity in Eregion, and even led a sort of revolt that drove Galadriel from the realm entirely.

No matter what Galadriel was thinking, it’s clear that Gil-galad was very suspicious of “Annatar.” Not only did he refuse to admit the self-declared representative of the Valar into his kingdom, but he was also actively worried about the generally perceived “power of hostility” in Middle Earth. In fact, it was actually before he denied “Annatar” entrance to Lindon that Gil-galad wrote his famous letter to Tar-Meneldur, saying:

A new shadow arises in the East. It is no tyranny of evil Men, as your son believes; but a servant of Morgoth is stirring, and evil things wake again. Each year it gains in strength, for most Men are ripe to its purpose. Not far off is the day, I judge, when it will become too great for the Eldar unaided to withstand.

The purpose of his letter was to ask the Numenoreans for aid in preparing for what he saw as an inevitable clash between this “new shadow” and the elves and men of Numenor. And, of course, it was right - by 1700SA (only 500 years after “Annatar” arrived in Eriador) Gilgalad and the Numenoreans were at war with Sauron.

SOURCES: The Silmarillion, The Unfinished Tales (“The History of Galadriel and Celeborn”)

#gil-galad #galadriel #sauron #second age #the silmarillion #writing reference

[katrina37973]

Absolutely amazing!!! The background, how smooth the actions are, beautiful!!!

But never let me die without a struggle and without acclaim

#animation #art #tagamemnon #the iliad #achilles #hector of troy #greek mythology #andromache #bloody brilliant

[katrina37973]

This is so beautiful!!! I love this so much!

I want to put them all in an enclosure and see what happens.

#fanart #hades fanart #hades 2 #digital art #adorable #patrochilles

[katrina37973]

The Ambarussa (Amrod and Amras)!

I wanted to make more art of Silm characters, and I somehow linked the Ambarussa with playing cards which sent me on a mental spiral into which Silm characters would be what cards.

The idea of Tolkien characters as art for a pack of cards is a concept I'm probably never going to return to again but it is a fun idea!

I have like seven other WIP's so I'm probably never going to actually finish this art but hope still reigns eternal!

I wasn't sure what to include as accessories of sorts, but ended up with swords, quivers of arrows and of course, the Star of Feanor. I'm playing with the idea of making the background/centre mimic Feanor's Heraldic device. I initially wanted bows to show their more hunter-inclined but I thought it would be too much noise and hard to see with what I already have.

I forgot how I ended up choosing the Tengwar (?) letter above but I think it ran something along the lines of it was an 'a' which was kinda funny cause originally I wanted this card to be based on the Jokers but then switched to Ace because you know, it starts with A. (I also headcanon neither of them being romantically inclined so it also matched)

I hope that made sense, anyway, have a nice day or night!

#silmarillion #fanart #ambarussa #art wip

[katrina37973]

Love how tumblr has its own folk stories. Yeah the God of Arepo we’ve all heard the story and we all still cry about it. Yeah that one about the woman locked up for centuries finally getting free. That one about the witch who would marry anyone who could get her house key from her cat and it’s revealed she IS the cat after the narrator befriends the cat.

#good writing #writing #writeblr

[katrina37973]

How to show emotions

Part IV

How to show bitterness

tightness around their eyes

pinched mouth

sour expression on their face

crossed arms

snorting angrily

turning their eyes upward

shaking their head

How to show hysteria

fast breathing

chest heaving

trembling of their hands

weak knees, giving in

tears flowing down their face uncontrollably

laughing while crying

not being able to stand still

How to show awe

tension leaving their body

shoulders dropping

standing still

opening mouth

slack jaw

not being able to speak correctly

slowed down breathing

wide eyes open

softening their gaze

staring unabashingly

How to show shame

vacant stare

looking down

turning their head away

cannot look at another person

putting their head into their hands

shaking their head

How to show being flustered

blushing

looking down

nervous smile

sharp intake of breath

quickening of breath

blinking rapidly

breaking eye contact

trying to busy their hands

playing with their hair

fidgeting with their fingers

opening mouth without speaking

Part I + Part II + Part III

If you like my blog and want to support me, you can buy me a coffee or become a member! And check out my Instagram! 🥰

#how to show emotions #writing prompt #writing advice #writing reference

[katrina37973]

My Celegorm/Tyelkormo designs! I did a front facing head design for all of the Feanorian members, and so the one you see is the design I chose for Celegorm with a few scars and his ‘fair hair’ being blondish. In my eyes, his hair is more silver in moonlight and darkness while with the sun up and about or in rooms with warm light, it looks more blonde, hence the term ‘fair’.

It’s all very rough but I think I like the colour scheme going on, minus the colour of the armour. I have a head cannon that Celegorm prefers walking/travelling barefoot and that he also uses javelins before going upfront and personal, using his sword or bare/armoured fists. He also prefers hard leather armour over metal ones however since it’s impractical and could cost him his life, this preference goes pretty much unnoticed.

I went in with the idea that he has a very asymmetrical design, an off shoulder cape that’s fur lined and camouflages against the terrain, he has many cloaks in different colours such as darker browns and greens, and red for special occasions, such as when making a stand with his family. He, in the first design (that I cleaned up a bit) also has quivers for his javelins and arrows, both worn on the side of the hip and also an extra quiver of arrows on his back so he can easily draw an arrow in matter the situation. He might be hot headed, but you can’t say he’s never prepared (Oromë taught him). On his right side (our left) he has a fighting dagger and his left side (our right) he has a leather pouch containing vials and herbs etc. for poison and healing (healing herbs can become poison in too much doses after all!) Throwing knives are hidden under clothing or in his boots.

When he is making a stand with his family, he switches to a more symmetrical design (second figure), with more armour and more suited for up close or middle ranged combat. He ditches the quivers and takes up a sword and dagger, he leaves the shields for his more cautious or less battle inclined brothers (aka Curufin and Maedhros but since Mae is a leader, he plays into the expectation of no shield; tell me if you want more of my headcannons). In these situation he often wears a Feanorian red cloak that isn’t long, probably waist high at most.

I also headcannon that he ties his hair back in war braids (there was a lovely AO3 fanfic that dove into the changing hairstyles from the first age up to I think the third age. I can’t find it but I’m pretty sure they posted it on Tumblr too).

I think that’s it, if you guys want to see the portraits for the other members, feel free to ask! Or if you want more of my head cannons that too. Also, please answer the poll if you can.

#digital art #silmarillion #fanart #celegorm #tyelkormo #silm headcanons #character design #wip #feanorians #house of feanor

[katrina37973]

queer classics: a speculative reading list

well i said i would so: my rec list for queer classics scholarship! this comes from my own experience with the subfield of queer classics during my time as a graduate student and my current life as an independent researcher.

i'll put it under a cut because it's long and because (gasp!) i capitalized more formally while i was writing it. if you find this resource useful and want to support an underemployed colleague, my ko-fi is here.

This list mixes multiple different kinds of scholarly resources, including academic books and articles, public-facing scholarship, blog posts, and conference recordings. It does not include primary source material (i.e., ancient texts themselves) – in part, because I think far more ancient texts are open to queer readings than those that make up the existing ‘canon,’ and in part because this reading list is more focused on methodology than it is on any one ancient source.

I’ve marked which texts are available for free online (*) and which are available with a JSTOR account or Academia.edu account (**). Most academic books or articles should be variously available in academic library systems. I have PDFs of the majority, so if you’re having trouble finding something, feel free to reach out! 

Foundations of Gender and Sexuality Studies in Classics

These are some foundational works for thinking about gender and sexuality in the Greek and Roman worlds, which I would categorize under a methodological approach akin to LGBTQ+ studies. The primary distinction for me is that these works provide crucial information about systems of sexuality and relevant sources, but are often a) older and b) don’t use queer theory (or use it in a very limited way). This is by no means exhaustive, but it’s just a short selection of things that get cited often in queer Classics.

Sandra Boehringer, Female Homosexuality in Ancient Greece and Rome (2021; originally published as L’Homosexualité dans l’Antiquité grecque et romaine, 2007)

Kenneth J. Dover, Greek Homosexuality (1978)

Judith P. Hallett and Marylin B. Skinner (ed.), Roman Sexualities (1997) **

David M. Halperin, One Hundred Years of Homosexuality and Other Essays on Greek Love (1990)

David M. Halperin, John J. Winkler, and Froma Zeitlin (eds), Before Sexuality: The Construction of Erotic Experience in the Ancient Greek World (1990) **

Craig A. Williams, Roman Homosexuality (2010; 2nd edition)

John J. Winkler, The Constraints of Desire: The Anthropology of Sex and Gender in Ancient Greece (1990)

Queering Classics

As I mentioned above, these are selected primarily because I think they’re extremely valuable examples of queer Classics methodology. The ground that they cover in terms of sources, authors, time periods, etc. is not meant to be universal. My aim is moreso to show what queer Classics can be and what it can do; the methods can be applied to any source you want! 

Kadji Amin, Disturbing Attachments: Genet, Modern Pederasty, and Queer History (2017) ** 

Marcus Bell and Eleanora Colli, “Queer Theory and Classics” (2022) * 

Shane Butler, “Homer’s Deep” in Deep Classics: Rethinking Classical Reception (2016) and “The youth of antiquity: reception, homosexuality, alterity” in Classical Receptions Journal (2019) **

Cyberantiquities, “Sappho’s Yuri of Absence” (2023) *

Kay Gabriel, “Specters of Dying Empire: The Case of Carson’s Bacchae” in Tripwire: a journal of poetics *

Erik Gunderson, Staging Masculinity: The Rhetoric of Performance in the Roman World (2000) **

Ella Haselswerdt, “Sappho’s Body as Archive: Towards a Deep Lez Philology” in Critical Ancient World Studies: The Case for Forgetting Classics (ed. Mathura Umachandran and Marcella Ward; 2023)

Ella Haselswedt, Sara H. Lindheim, and Kirk Ormand (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Classics and Queer Theory (2023)

Tom Hendrickson, “Gender Diversity in Greek and Latin Grammar: Ten Ancient Discussions” *

Maxine Lewis, “Queering Catullus in the Classroom: The Ethics of Teaching Poem 63” in From Abortion to Pederasty: Addressing Difficult Topics in the Classics Classroom (ed. Nancy Sorkin Rabinowitz and Fiona McHardy; 2014) **

Tom Sapsford, Performing the Kinaidos: Unmanly Men in Ancient Mediterranean Cultures (2022)

Sebastian Matzner, “Queer Unhistoricism: Scholars, Metalepsis, and Interventions of the Unruly Past” in Deep Classics: Rethinking Classical Reception (ed. Shane Butler; 2016)

Ky Merkley, “Writing trans histories with an ethics of care, while reading imperial Roman literature” in Gender & History (2023) *

Melissa Mueller, Sappho and Homer: A Reparative Reading (2023)

Kelly Nguyen, “Queering Telemachus: Ocean Vuong, Postmemories and the Vietnam War” in International Journal of the Classical Tradition (2021) **

Walter D. Penrose, Jr., Postcolonial Amazons: Female Masculinity in Ancient Greek and Sanskrit Literature (2016)

Queer and the Classical - Their website hosts video recordings from two conferences (2021 and 2022) and two seminar series (2020 and 2021) that brought together queer researchers and artists in the field, in order to bring about new and radical ways to imagine, think, and feel future engagements with the queer and the classical. Strongly recommended that you take a look at their wide selection of video recordings! *

Vanessa Stovall, “‘Quid Si Comantur?’: Pic(k/t)ing out Entangled Epistemologies of Ex(cess) in (Em)bodied Techne” (2021) *

Allison Surtees and Jennifer Dyer (ed.), Exploring Gender Diversity in the Ancient World (2020) **

Trans in Classics - Trans in Classics is a working group of the Society for Classical Studies that seeks to provide a community and source of advocacy for trans folx within Classics and to promote and produce scholarship that discusses trans-identities, issues, and readings. Currently their site hosts announcements on relevant events and publications. *

J. L. Watson, “Reframing Iphis and Caeneus: Trans Narratives and Socio-Linguistic Gendering in Ovid’s Metamorphoses” in Helios (2021)

Queer Theory Recommendations

These are some authors in the field of queer theory whose work nominally has nothing to do with Classics. I would argue that an important part of queer Classics methodology is exposing oneself to queer scholarship outside of Classics. Here are some great starting points! 

Sara Ahmed, Queer Phenomenology: Orientations, Objects, Others (2006) **

Marquis Bey, Black Trans Feminism (2022) **

Judith Butler, Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (1990) and Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex (1993) - Really, the secret with Butler is that basically whatever you read of theirs first is going to be immensely confusing BUT the more you read, the more you understand what they’re doing. Their work is very referential (both to itself and to its theoretical predecessors), so it takes time and investment to work through. If a whole book seems to daunting, a good starting point might be an early essay like "Imitation and Gender Insubordination" (1990) * or one of their interviews (like this one with Artforum) *, where they tend to be more straightforward. 

Paisley Currah, Sex is as Sex Does: Governing Transgender Identity (2022)

Ann Cvetkovich, An Archive of Feelings: Trauma, Sexuality, and Lesbian Public Cultures (2003) **

Carolyn Dinshaw, Getting Medieval: Sexualities and Communities, Pre- and Postmodern (1999)

Elizabeth Freeman, Time Binds: Queer Temporalities, Queer Histories (2010) **

Jules Gill-Peterson, A Short History of Trans Misogyny (2024)

Jack Halberstam, In a Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives (2005) and The Queer Art of Failure (2011) **

Saidiya V. Hartman, Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Social Upheaval (2019) 

Heather Love, Feeling Backward: Loss and the Politics of Queer History (2007) **

José Esteban Muñoz, Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics (2005) and Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity (2009) **

Paul Preciado, Countersexual Manifesto (2000) **

Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Epistemology of the Closet (1990) and Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire (1993)

Monique Wittig, “One is Not Born a Woman” (1981) *

#queer history #book rec #resources #writing

[katrina37973]

Things I look for in history books:

🟩 Green flags - probably solid 🟩

Has the book been published recently? Old books can still be useful, but it's good to have more current scholarship when you can.

The author is either a historian (usually a professor somewhere), or in a closely related field. Or if not, they clearly state that they are not a historian, and encourage you to check out more scholarly sources as well.

The author cites their sources often. Not just in the bibliography, I mean footnotes/endnotes at least a few times per page, so you can tell where specific ideas came from. (Introductions and conclusions don't need so many citations.)

They include both ancient and recent sources.

They talk about archaeology, coins and other physical items, not just book sources.

They talk about the gaps in our knowledge, and where historians disagree.

They talk about how historians' views have evolved over time. Including biases like sexism, Eurocentrism, biased source materials, and how each generation's current events influenced their views of history.

The author clearly distinguishes between what's in the historical record, versus what the author thinks or speculates. You should be able to tell what's evidence, and what's just their opinion.

(I personally like authors who are opinionated, and self-aware enough to acknowledge when they're being biased, more than those who try to be perfectly objective. The book is usually more fun that way. But that's just my personal taste.)

Extra special green flag if the author talks about scholars who disagree with their perspective and shows the reader where they can read those other viewpoints.

There's a "further reading" section where they recommend books and articles to learn more.

🟨 Yellow flags - be cautious, and check the book against more reliable ones 🟨

No citations or references, or references only listed at the end of a chapter or book.

The author is not a historian, classicist or in a related field, and does not make this clear in the text.

When you look up the book, you don't find any other historians recommending or citing it, and it's not because the book is very new.

Ancient sources like Suetonius are taken at face value, without considering those sources' bias or historical context.

You spot errors the author or editor really should've caught.

🟥 Red flags - beware of propaganda or bullshit 🟥

The author has a politically charged career (e.g. controversial radio host, politician or activist) and historical figures in the book seem to fit the same political paradigm the author uses for current events.

Most historians think the book is crap.

Historical figures portrayed as entirely heroic or villainous.

Historical peoples are portrayed as generally stupid, dirty, or uncaring.

The author romanticizes history or argues there has been a "cultural decline" since then. Author may seem weirdly angry or bitter about modern culture considering that this is supposed to be a history book.

The author treats "moral decline" or "degeneracy" as actual cultural forces that shape history. These and the previous point are often reactionary dogwhistles.

The author attributes complex problems to a single bad group of people. This, too, is often a cover for conspiracy theories, xenophobia, antisemitism, or other reactionary thinking. It can happen with both left-wing and right-wing authors. Real history is the product of many interacting forces, even random chance.

The author attempts to justify awful things like genocide, imperialism, slavery, or rape. Explaining why they happened is fine, but trying to present them as good or "not that bad" is a problem.

Stereotypes for an entire nation or culture's personality and values. While some generalizations may be unavoidable when you have limited space to explain something, groups of people should not be treated as monoliths.

The author seems to project modern politics onto much earlier eras. Sometimes, mentioning a few similarities can help illustrate a point, but the author should also point out the limits of those parallels. Assigning historical figures to modern political ideologies is usually misleading, and at worst, it can be outright propaganda.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. "Big theory" books like Guns, Germs and Steel often resort to cherry-picking and making errors because it's incredibly hard for one author to understand all the relevant evidence. Others, like 1421, may attempt to overturn the historical consensus but end up misusing some very sparse or ambiguous data. Look up historians' reviews to see if there's anything in books like this, or if they've been discredited.

There are severe factual errors like Roman emperors being placed out of order, Cleopatra building the pyramids, or an army winning a battle it actually lost.

When in doubt, my favorite trick is to try to read two books on the same subject, by two authors with different views. By comparing where they agree and disagree, you can more easily overcome their biases, and get a fuller picture.

(Disclaimer - I'm not a historian or literary analyst; these are just my personal rules of thumb. But I figured they might be handy for others trying to evaluate books. Feel free to add points you think I missed or got wrong.)

#critical thinking #historiography #media literacy #useful

[katrina37973]

Very useful!

hot artists don't gatekeep

I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard

Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.

Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.

Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.

Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.

SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.

SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.

Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.

Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of "how to draw" videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can't make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.

Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.

Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.

Height Weight Chart. You ever see an OC listed as having a certain weight but then they look Wildly different than the number suggests? Well here's a site to avoid that! It shows real people at different weights and heights to give you a better idea of what these abstract numbers all look like. Free to use.

#useful #art resources

[katrina37973]

Someone asked me to expand a little on a topic that was buried down in a big chain of reblogs, so I'm doing that here--it's about the use of the archaic "thee", "thou", "thy", etc. in LOTR and what it tells you about characters’ feelings for one another. (I am NOT an expert on this, so it's just what I've picked up over time!)

Like many (most?) modern English speakers, I grew up thinking of those old forms of 2nd person address as being extra formal. I think that's because my main exposure to them was in the Bible ("thou shall not...") and why wouldn't god, speaking as the ultimate authority, be using the most formal, official voice? But it turns out that for a huge chunk of the history of the English language, "thee," "thou," and "thy" were actually the informal/casual alternatives to the formal "you", “your”, “yours”. Like tú v. usted in Spanish!

With that in mind, Tolkien was very intentional about when he peppered in a "thee" or a "thou" in his dialogue. It only happens a handful of times. Most of those are when a jerk is trying to make clear that someone else is beneath them by treating them informally. Denethor "thou"s Gandalf when he’s pissed at him. The Witch King calls Éowyn "thee" to cut her down verbally before he cuts her down physically. And the Mouth of Sauron calls Aragorn and Gandalf "thou" as a way to show them that he has the upper hand. (Big oops by all 3 of these guys!)

The other times are the opposite--it's when someone starts to use the informal/casual form as a way to show their feeling of affection for someone else. Galadriel goes with the formal "you" all through the company's days in Lórien, but by the time they leave she has really taken them to heart. So when she sends them a message via Gandalf early in the Two Towers, she uses "thee" and "thou" in her words to Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli because now they're valued friends and allies. And--this is the big one, folks, that was already alluded to in my previous post--Éowyn starts aggressively "thou"ing Aragorn when she is begging him to take her along as he prepares to ride out of Dunharrow. She is very intentionally trying to communicate her feelings to him in her choice of pronoun--an "I wouldn't be calling you "thee" if I didn't love you" kind of thing. And he is just as intentionally using "you" in every single one of his responses in order to gently establish a boundary with her without having to state outright that he doesn't reciprocate her feelings. It's not until much later when her engagement to Faramir is announced that Aragorn finally busts out "I have wished thee joy ever since I first saw thee". Because now it is safe to acknowledge a relationship of closeness and familiarity with her without the risk that it will be misinterpreted. He absolutely wants to have that close, familiar relationship, but he saved it for when he knew she could accept it on his terms without getting hurt.

So, you know, like all things language-based...Tolkien made very purposeful decisions in his word choices down to a bonkers level of detail. I didn’t know about this pronoun thing until I was a whole ass adult, but that’s the joy of dealing with Tolkien. I still discover new things like this almost every time I re-read.

#the lord of the rings #lotr #language #fun facts #writing advice

[katrina37973]

I don’t spend a ton of time thinking about Gimli and Legolas, but I saw some lovely Gigolas art earlier this week that got me into that line of thought and I must say that the extreme parallelism here really is very satisfying:

Gimli to Legolas (Two Towers, The White Rider):

“You are a Wood-elf, anyway, though elves of any kind are strange folk. Yet you comfort me. Where you go, I will go.”

Legolas to Gimli (Two Towers, Helm’s Deep):

“You are a dwarf, and dwarves are strange folk. I do not like this place, and I shall like it no more by the light of day. But you comfort me, Gimli, and I am glad to have you standing nigh.”

It’s also pretty charming that the formula for light flirting in Middle Earth appears to be, “Hey, you’re a real weirdo, but I feel better when you’re around.”

#lord of the rings #writing #lotr #legolas #gimli

[katrina37973]

Day 1: Maedhros (Maitimo)

This was an old artwork I never finished but I’m still very proud of his hair and circlet! Figured I should join though I am very late.

@feanorianweek

#maedhros #the silmarillion #digital art #maitimo #feanorianweek #tolkien fanart #silm art #silmarillion fanart #silmarillion #feanor

[katrina37973]

Jaskier the Bard (Dandelion) from the Witcher

Had a lot studying the values for this piece! Hope you enjoy it :)

#traditional art #jaskier #witcher fanart #art on tumblr #pencil sketch

[katrina37973]

Beleriand is gone and Tol Himling remains. No one lives there, few dare to venture close. Even years later, the fortress feels like bitter grief and pained endurance.

The remaining Noldor– and there aren't many of them by the Second Age– start sailing there. It's not far from the shore; an easy enough journey, even for someone with little seafaring experience.

One day, someone– no one is sure who– takes one of the broken pieces of Himling's walls, carves Maedhros's name into it, and sets it as a tombstone. After that, more graves appear, slowly at first, then more quickly. Old battle-songs and tributes to the dead are carved and painted into the walls. Soon, the meadow around the old fortress is full of memorials, some made from the ruins, others lovingly crafted and brought from the mainland. For all the Noldor fought amongst themselves in the First Age, now their headstoens stand together. In the cemetery, the House of Finwe is united in death as it never was in life. Graves for Feanor and Fingolfin sit side-by-side in a sorrowful peace neither lived to see.

Himring stood on an icy mountaintop where the snow never melted, but Tol Himling does not. One spring the barren meadow blooms, red poppies and blue forget-me-nots. It flowers every year after, new hues and blossoms appearing annurally until the graves are surrounded by a colorful sea of flowers.

Not many Noldor choose to sail west– most that go back to Valinor go in death– but those that do leave tokens on Himling before they leave, broken weapons and battered armor. Maybe they do it to leave something with the dead who may never return from Mandos. Maybe they do it because like the dead, their fight in Middle-Earth has ended.

Men who sail by the island– always by, never to– are very sure that there are ghosts there. To them, the place seems strange and misted, and every figure there looks like a shade. They speak of a golden-haired warrior who spends hours talking to some of the graves, a king who dutifully cares for the tombstones, wiping away dust and moss, the strange dark-haired figure who comes every year to sow wildflower seeds. But those aren't the spirits of the Noldor dead. Only those who would remember them.

#silmarillion #himring #silm headcanons #noldor #writing

[katrina37973]

Thank you the-haiku-bot?!?! An unexpected surprise, but a glad one! I've been watching the notes climb higher and higher, it's unreal honestly. Still proud of that piece and I'm glad all of you enjoyed it! Hope you all have a wonderful day/night!

Malenia, Blade of Miquella

Dug up an old work of mine, still very proud of those arms and armour!

#fanart #katrina37973 #elden ring #malenia blade of miquella