#outofangband

[arlenianchronicles]

Here’s my @officialtolkiensecretsanta for @outofangband! Húrin and Morwen sharing a tender moment during the sunset :D It’s been snowing quite a bit where I am, so I went with a warm palette for this painting! I can’t wait for a bit of warmth weather loll

In the meantime, I wish y’all a wonderful holiday and happy new year!! <333

#finally drew some more edain loll #i haven't drawn morwen for a while! #art #my art #tolkien #silmarillion #fanart #tss2022 #children of hurin #hurin thalion #morwen #tolkien secret santa #edain #house of hador #house of beor #outofangband #sunset

[runawaymun]

Trick or treat!! I love your art so much and you are very nice

-@outofangband

🥺🥺🥺🥺 thank you!!!

here's your treat: a lil watercolor doodle of Aerin bc thanks to you she's now a blorbo of mine. Happy halloween!!

#outofangband #aerin #Children of Hurin #thank you!!!! #my art #doodles

[welcomingdisaster]

If you are still taking pallet requests I did finally flip a coin to decide between Morwen or Aerin, could I request pre Nírnaeth Aerin in Fortuna? Totally ok if not and as always I love your art

-@outofangband

here's an experimental lil aerin for you! this palette is so pretty :)

#my art #aerin #outofangband

[tanoraqui]

I love your world building! Your name ideas are awesome. Love the idea of Indis being a true prophetic mother name

-@outofangband

Belated thank you! Also, sharing my thought process on that one because it's a very classic Silmarillion headcanon origin: it bothers me that Indis's name means "bride." I hate how it reduces her to a feminine trope - at "best", only here to have a troubled marriage; if you're a staunch Fëanorian, a femme fatale homewrecker. I immensely dislike how this is, in fact, an fairly accurate description of her role in the story...

Which is deliberate on Tolkien's part! The "canonically correct" way to ameliorate this misogyny (though neither erase nor excuse it) is to remember that this whole text is a mixture of history, legend and myth passed through multiple storytellers over thousands of years, translated and re-translated and interpreted through the eyes of elves and men and hobbits and men again, until even if this person ever actually existed in the history of Middle Earth - IF! - "Indis" probably wasn't even her epessë, much less her commonly used name. Probably her name got ink blotted on it at some point, or mixed up with someone else's name, and the next Númenorean scholar to rewrite the text followed the Archetypal School of historical interpretation and decided to name her "Indis" because of her role in the story...

But this, too, bothers me. Because I love the framing device of these various books, I love the historian-given dubious canonicity of literally every detail of The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, and especially of The Silmarillion. But! We need some solid canon upon which to hang all our headcanons, so it's imperative to retain a delicate mental balance of knowing everything could be made up (more than it already is by being fiction!) while also adhering to as much as possible as something that Really Did Happen - and names are pretty solidly in the latter category. I mean, everyone has multiple and for those who don't, we tend to make more up, but a belief in the basic premise of the text is necessary in order to function in any fandom, and "names of characters" is pretty "basic premise."

So it's impossible to ignore that her name is Indis; and it's impossible to ignore that the name "Indis" is closely connected to her place in the narrative, more than most characters, and that said place is uncomfortably non-feminist - you can round out her character all you like, but you have to admit that her role in the story is to be the Second Wife and Mother whose acts of being a wife and mother cause trouble! That's a fact! And it's not great! And the name "Indis" isn't helping because if she was named anything but her literal narrative role, that would be characterization! She could be noble like Artanis, she could be of the sea like Eärwen, but she's not! She's just "bride"!

...so, I redeem this by making this definition of her life deliberate within the text - and not just by a future Númenorean scholar, but by Indis's mother. (Female! O! Cs!) Furthermore, names of prophecy are implicitly grand (even if they're not necessarily either good or bad). It makes being a bride itself feel more active - and why not! Do Indis's acts of love and marriage not change the fate of the world just as much as Lúthien's? Consider that Indis's act of marriage is so important that it echoes back through the Great Music to be known by her mother as she held the future bride as a babe in arms. Consider a mother holding her child under stars beside a lake and going, "damn, this kid is gonna have ripple effects. I should add a bragging warning label."

Also, if you accept the headcanons that

a) most Elvish languages treat "sex" (physical) and "marriage" (soul-bonding) as basically synonymous; and

b) Indis spends thousands of years in the Second/Third ages patiently and stubbornly figuring out how to Make It Work between herself, Finwë and Miriel, such that all three of them can marry with genuine all-around mutual love unto the end of days, for peace among the still-troubled Noldor but mostly for happiness for herself and those she loves most (also an act of bride-ship worthy of prophecy, note) -

then you can with a straight face imagine Indis saying, "I fucked my way into this mess and I'm going to fuck my way out of it."

Feminist critique + consideration of canonical historicity + elaborate headcanon web = sex joke! Now that's good fandom!

#indis #outofangband #the silmarillion #analysis #vanyar #feanor and feanor's kin #(WHETHER HE LIKES IT OR NOT)

[forestials]

I absolutely love your designs for all my favorites! I was wondering if you would ever want to draw Aerin? No pressure if not!

-@outofangband

Absolutely! I’ve fallen down a rabbit hole of feelings about Aerin due to your writings on her, she’s such a brave, strong character - thank you for asking!

#aerin #the silmarillion #the children of húrin #you can request literally anything any fave of yours bc you and your work in the fandom are fantastic #<3 #the silmarillion art #ask #outofangband #my art #forestials art #house of hador

[gwaedhannen]

13 or 15 for Maedhros and/or Elwing?

I always love your ideas

-@outofangband

(Sensory headcanons ask game)

13. Their ideal climate and weather

Maedhros: most anything really, due to all the youthful wandering around Aman with his parents. He actually very much does not like cold and wind after Thangorodrim, and putting himself on the coldest and windiest hill south of Angband was a very deliberate "I will face what you did to me, and thrive" choice. This is a totally healthy coping mechanism.

Elwing: on the night of her wedding, there was a light breeze coming off the ocean, and the air was cool but not cool enough to be uncomfortable in her dress and shawl, and she danced with Eärendil on the beach and the sand was warm between their toes from the late-summer sun, and the stars seemed to be dancing with them, and nothing in life could be more perfect.

15. A sound they can't stand

Maedhros: there's a certain squelching sound that flesh makes when Melkor decides you've blocked his access to the treasury of Formenos for long enough.

Elwing: absolute silence. Sirion was never silent, between the populace and the ocean. Menegroth was never silent, between singing elves and singing birds. Vingilot was never silent, between Eärendil's humming and his snoring. But Doriath, that day her childhood ended? Nothing. She almost would have preferred to hear the screams.

#silmarillion #tolkien #maedhros #elwing #ask game #outofangband #stormthinken

[sauroff]

Your Silmarillion art is so cute. I love it

-@outofangband

Thank you so so much ♥ I just noticed that I have two messages that Tumblr never notified me of, so I'm sorry if I took to long to answer. And thank you, as always, for your kind words. I will use this message as an excuse to post and old meme that I made to go with that meme compilation that I made, but I left out because I realized too late that it sounded shippy when I didn't meant to.

#I kinda need to work on turgon so he doesn't look like tyelpe #turgon #finrod #finrod felagund #meme #outofangband #ara answers #my doodles

[nyarnamaitar]

✨

-@outofangband

Thanks for the ask, @outofangband! <3

Mmm, worldbuilding/background story elements, let's see... I've been thinking a lot about the War of Wrath recently, specifically about the Valar's involvement. We know that none of the Valar participated in the war directly, most likely out of fear that Arda would suffer even more destruction if they did. So they sent their Maiar instead, with Eönwë as their leader. That being said, I HC that the Valar, although physically absent, were involved, albeit on a more abstract level, endowing their Maiar with part of their power, protecting them from afar. (Valar-Maiar relationships are one of my favourite things to ruminate on.) This manifested itself in different ways. When Eönwë spoke, commanding the army, his voice carried the echo of his lord's. When Eönwë charged into battle, the wind was like a living being wrapped around him, making him even deadlier than usual. Ilmarë blinded their enemies with a single glance, her light-filled eyes scorching through Balrog shadow and Orc armour. Ossë drowned the Angband forces in rivers and brooks and creeks, singing songs of the deep, dark seas that his master rules over. And so on.

I also HC that specific Maiar were designated to accompany/protect specific parts of the Elven forces. Eönwë, for example, generally fought alongside Ingwion and Finarfin. Ilmarë paired up with Anairë, Findis, and Lalwen. (I don't think Nerdanel and Eärwen fought in the war, but that's another conversation.)

#outofangband #war of wrath #valar #maiar #eönwë #ilmarë #ossë #tolkien

[anghraine]

Love your Silmarillion posts

-@outofangband

Thank you very much!

I don't make a whole lot of them these days, partly because I'm genuinely more into the Third Age/Gondor, and partly because I really do not click with the priorities/interests/general approach of mainstream Silm fandom on Tumblr. But it's nice to know someone enjoys them!

#i almost chose violence in the last post and rambled about why i think maglor doesn't go west with elrond but went with the safer option #because tumblr silm fandom is ... what it is #outofangband #respuestas #nice things people say to me #legendarium blogging #legendarium fanwank

[maironsbigboobs]

Morwen, Aerin and Húrin for the character bingo

-@outofangband

Morwen. Oh Morwen mother of my life. I adore her.

Aerin <3 I care her...

And lastly mr Hurin himself. He's so wild. Awesome goth wife. Bestest Children. Cursed by Satan. Berserker rage. Who is doing it like him tbh

#answered #Anonymous #outofangband

[nyenyerle]

Absolutely love love your post about CoH and water and what you said about Morwen and memory is so poignant. Thinking about how much memory of the people of Bëor and later of the Hadorians during the occupation she holds onto, even after Niënor loses that.

-@outofangband

@outofangband 🥹thank you so much aaaaaah i wear it as a badge of honour when you, with your great knowledge and deep insight, interact with my semi-coherent semi-annual CoH posts!

i sometimes think that maybe they are both supposed to be witnesses, húrin and morwën. maybe her maternal grief is the clearest and truest record of this story about perspectives warped in every way by fall and mortality?

^ i hope you don’t mind if i answer this here too!! Yeah this is… a very philosophical point of the book, i think. Andreth in the Athrabeth also cites this. This is the sentiment that eventually leads Men to the Akallabêth. The very same sentiment (though from the other end) led Feanor to the Noldolantë. In these fall-stories, maybe the sea is just a road to the final defeat. It’s the other, parallel story, it’s Tuor’s blessed child who can kill the dragon and live, not Turin. But being heroic in the face of dyscatastrophe is still admirable! Which is why we have this beautiful book

#long post again folks #CoH #ask #outofangband #thank you sm aaaaagh you always bring up the greatest points

[imakemywings]

Your epistolary pieces are so so creative and awesome! It’s so clear how much thought is put into both the format and content

-@outofangband

Aww thanks Nelyo I'm glad you like them :) They're honestly so much fun to write but I wasn't sure anyone else would be interested in them, so that's good to hear XD

#outofangband

[thelordofgifs]

I’m really sorry the homophobes are mad at you :/ you’re not a jerk and preventing people who espouse bigotry or make others unsafe is not being a jerk. 🩵🩵

-outofangband

Thank you for the kind message ❤️❤️ tbh if homophobes are angry with me I think I must have done something right! I mostly find the whole thing very amusing. “OP would block Tolkien himself” still the funniest thing anyone could ever have said in that situation.

#asks #outofangband #also the implication that this random af fanartist is somehow one step below tolkien in terms of having interesting things to say #makes me giggle

[welcomingdisaster]

I’m so sorry you’re sick! May I request a kiss in secrecy for Mindis or a ship of your choice! You’re such an amazing writer and I hope you feel better soon

-@outofangband

Thank you that's so incredibly sweet!! <3 Here's a little scene between them.

Míriel sleeps on her side, one hand tucked under head, the other thrown over her face to keep out the light. One knee is pulled up nearly to her chin. The other foot kicks out, tangled in the silk sheets. Her face is obscured by her hair, a little silver cloud of curls. Indis knows she is asleep because she snores, none too quiet. A loose curl floats and falls with each breath.  It is strange, how little she resembles herself. There was a painting of her hanging at their old house in Tirion, painted when she had laid down in the gardens. In it her hands are folded on her chest, her hair is neatly braided, her hair is neatly braided, her eyes shut. She is a picture of peace and tranquility. She does not snore; she looks indeed incapable of it. 

Indis wonders if Finwë had felt the wrongness of it then, as she feels the wrongness of it now; if he had he did not voice it, for all the hours he lingered by the painting. But he had spoken little of Míriel to her, then, afraid she might think— 

What? 

That she had been the second choice, as was true? That his heart still held some manner of affection for his first wife, as was obvious? That Míriel had been very little like the memory she left behind, as Indis has learned only now? 

Míriel hears no cloud of her thoughts, only snores. She has sprawled out to take most of Indis’s bed; certainly the sheets and both of the pillows are a lost cause. 

Indis feels a swell of inexplicable fondness for her, and bends down, pressing her lips to her hairline. Sneaks another kiss on her shoulder, far too saccharine for waking hours. 

This image she shall keep; no painting nor tapestry will see it. This is hers, now, and hers alone. 

#sapphictolkien #miriel/indis #my fic #outofangband #mindis

[tanoraqui]

I absolutely love your AUs! Your world building is terrific

-@outofangband

I love and appreciate that this message is, I can only assume, prompted by my most recent post about the Silmarillion Superhero AU, which is objectively crack in general and that particular post was especially so, what with declaring Maglor to be basically the Music Meister (B:TBatB).

HERE'S MORE FREE WORLDBUILDING FOR THAT WORLD:

(kinda retcon to previous statements) the Great Music and Songs of Power work the same way they do in Arda proper, or maybe a little more practically than that (though I suspect First Age Elves regularly got up to much more overt acts of power than we see in LotR). This occupies the same...worldbuilding environmental niche? as "magic" in a Marvel/DC superhero world. Like, "Song" and "spell" are used synonymously.

Correspondingly, like Scarlet Witch is technically a mutant with the mutation "is really good at magic", Maglor and Finrod both got the Light-empowered ability to be really good at Music

They don't have the exact same power. Though the most notable distinction might be more a matter of personality: Finrod is more innately talented at manipulating minds and emotions, and Maglor is more innately talented at manipulating the physical environment. However, when the House of Fëanor officially turned to Villainy, Maglor started leaning more into the manipulating hearts and minds, because that's more sinister, and Finrod was like, "cool, I see what you're doing there" and started practicing more with the sort of Songs that produce effects similar to telekinesis (or healing! Finrod's a good healer)

So, you know shit is getting Really Real if they switch back

They also both have the potential to affect the course Great Music on a level localized to currently-happening or about-to-happen events, because that's my favorite theory as to what was really going on in the Battle of Finrod and Sauron – fighting over not the minds or actions of individuals but how this story was going to go, loyalty, strength and joy or betrayal and tragedy! But that's, well, battling-a-Maiar-for-your-life-and-your-team's level of effort. Fall-unconscious-for-at-least-a-day-afterward effort.

In another recent train of thought:

People with elaborate spreadsheets on “how to kill and/or disable all my family members if necessary”: Maedhros, Fingolfin, Curufin, Finarfin (less elaborate, but he does have a spreadsheet, because he loves them but doesn't trust most of them anymore)

Has thought about it systematically but not written anything down, and the thoughts were more “how could I personally take each person down, dead or alive”: Celegorm

Has thought about it systematically but not written anything down, and the thoughts were exclusively non-lethal, “what could I Sing to quickly pacify (calm, knock out, and/or otherwise harmlessly disable) each person”: Finrod

In charge of the UN office that keeps an entire database of this sort of information for every known superhuman on the planet, but doesn't personally track it: Círdan

Maedhros is basically personally engaged in an escalating quiet war with...the US government, basically. Wherein sometimes they reasonably need to summon him to testify before Congress about his many legally dubious business and other practices, or more often he comes personally to schmooze, lobby, and offer campaign contributions...all of which he's very good at, what with the superhuman charisma. And they're perfectly aware of that danger!

So there's an entire R&D lab in the Department of Defense dedicated to trying to create security measures to counter the powers of...well, superpowered people overall, of course, very much including the House of Finwë. But also: Maedhros specifically.

Maedhros would take this as a personal challenge anyway, not to mention a thing to be evaded for entirely practical reasons. But it's emotionally heavier than that because the entire House of Finwë has trauma about being powerless, because when Ungoliant came in her cloud of Darkness, they were all utterly, painfully powerless. Like all the energy had been stolen from their limbs and all the breath from their lungs, along with (temporarily) the Light. And we all know how that went.

So Maedhros is like, "we are playing a fun little one-upmanship game :)" and then every time they spring something new on him, he does his best to steal it immediately and send it to Curufin or whoever else is necessary to reverse engineer it and devise a countermeasure

One time the DoD got their hands on a live Void Spider, a true Ungoliant spawn, and somehow caged it and started getting usable Darkness from it. Some general, and the scientists working for him, was very please when Maedhros condescendingly tried on the new required-security power-blocking cuff and visibly paled, and made a quick excuse for backing out of the White House meeting he was about to attend. They would've been less please if they'd known that the instant he was back in his car and driving away, he called Fingolfin - directly to his cell phone, not even pussyfooting around by calling Fingon instead - and said, "We have a problem."

They were even less pleased when (predictably tbh) the Spider broke out of containment and a mixed band of heroes and villains had to save Washington DC from being consumed by nothingness, but obviously the US government brought that on themselves.

#the silmarillion #my fic #outofangband #maglor #finrod #maedhros #feanor and feanor's kin #superheroes #silm super au

[swanmaids]

woe unto world’s end

written for @outofangband ‘s october prompt list, for the prompt “torture”. also inspired by @matrose ‘s gorgeous piece here . 

tw: torture (obviously), implied mcd

The threads danced and the shuttle ran and somewhere, his only son was being flayed alive.

In Mandos, it was hard to count the time. Centuries might pass in the time one spent on one’s knees weeping at Nienna’s feet, if they were so repentant, or wandering the Halls in search of answers to questions unknown, if they were less so. But Curufin knew enough to know that Celebrimbor had been in the clutches of the Sauron the Deceiver for a long time.

It would not be much longer now.

There was only so much pain a body could take, after all.

At first, Celebrimbor had said nothing at all- his resilient son! The monstrous creature that tormented him was foolish as well as cruel. Of course Celebrimbor would not reveal his Three. Nobody who knew him could ever doubt it. Then, he had begun to babble constantly. Nothing that would be of use to the enemy- he was too far gone for that. Instead, he had cried for his mother and father. Curufin could not go to him, could offer him nothing but this silent and unknown vigil, and no matter what Mandos thought, he would always consider that his greatest crime. By his side, his wife Melya sometimes whispered Mummy’s here. He didn’t think she knew she was saying it. He didn’t try to stop her, either.

Finally, Celebrimbor had stopped talking all together. At first, he was simply too exhausted. Then, Sauron had cut out his tongue.

Obviously, he had given up hope of ever finding his rings.

It would not be much longer now.

The monster dropped the whip and left the miserable room, leaving Celebrimbor hanging in his chains to wait. It was something he liked to do, on occasion. Curufin had soon realised it was not actually respite for his son, just another of Sauron’s favourite tricks- like the drowning, the branding, and the severing of fingers and toes- to leave him hanging by his wrists alone, with no notion of when his tormentor would return to hurt him again.

Curufin’s son was frightened and hurt and hungry and thirsty and cold and alone but for the rats and evil creatures that had made their home in the shadows. He could offer him no relief. He could offer him nothing but this silent, useless vigil.

Time passed. Celebrimbor hung in his chains.

Curufin’s wife reached out to gently stroke the weaves depicting their child. Her fingertips stained the tapestry- kinslayers’ hands stained everything in Mandos - but she paid it no heed. He took her other hand in his. At least they had each other.

Their vigil was not actually part of their punishment. They could leave, if they wished- the Halls were endless, they could walk them forever to find another room. Or they might call for a Maia to change their view of the tapestry- show us something else, anything else! A Mannish wedding ceremony in Ithilien. A scouting expedition in the Greenwood. The fish chasing one another through drowned Beleriand. But of course, they could not do such. They were his parents. Instead, silent Maiar of Nienna stood over the two as they knelt before the tapestry, and wept, their tears washing their bloody hands clean, over and over.

The door reopened and the Deceiver swept back in, followed by twoscore orc archers. Celebrimbor closed his eyes, but did not otherwise react. Melya gripped Curufin’s hand tighter. Somebody screamed.

Vairë and her handmaidens wove on.

#my post #my fic #silm fic #userlyndeth #tuserosie #outofangband #curufin #celebrimbor #the silm