Bibo Caffeiam Ergo Sum

… I have no excuses, it’s been a whiiile

a) garden gnomes are actually real (and they are personal friends with at least 2)

b) they had passed through the “cursed forest,” and the “monsters” there are actually so cool that one guy is about to physically fight you for disrespecting slender man

c) two of your good family friends have died tragically

d) one guy pulls out the actual nemean lion skin and declares himself to be the descendant of hercules, with indisputable proof right there in front of you

Nina and Matthias 💔

Finished it,ngl this is one of my favorite drawings of him (old desing though but still)

I wonder if we tend to get a mental picture of Miriel as the poor, frail mother who was so exhausted after making a son that she had to flit off to the Halls of Mandos, or just sit around passively forever. But in all honesty, that's kind of inaccurate.

Somewhere in the legendarium, it's said that Fëanor resembled Finwë in appearance, but in temperament he was more like Miriel. And what do we know about Miriel's temperament? She was stubborn. The more they bugged her about coming back to life, the more obstinately she refused, just because they kept bothering her about it.

Fëanor possibly idolizes his dead mother, but he also possibly romanticizes the concept of her because she's dead. But in a world where she had come back, they would've been an explosion duo. Either Miriel would've made Fëanor worse, or they would've butted heads so hard the whole world would've spontaneously combusted.

Or maybe some of both. Maybe Miriel would have nurtured and encouraged some of Fëanor's traits early on, feeding his stubbornness while it was still largely a good thing. The whole time, she was helping create this immovable force. But then, when Fëanor started making certain decisions, and if Miriel didn't agree with the direction he was taking, then they'd find themselves on opposite sides of the Oath, and hoo boy! There'd be more than just ships burning!

Or! Or! Alternatively, consider a world where Miriel took sides with Morgoth. A world where Morgoth has Miriel as an ally. A world where Fëanor yells, "Get thee gone from my gates!" And Miriel says, "Haha, just try to get me gone from your gates! The more you yell, the longer I'll stay!" But of course, Fëanor can never bring himself to kill or harm her, because she's his mother.

But I mean, what would a Miriel vampire be like? Or a Miriel werewolf? A Miriel orc? Terrifying.

This is a crack territory but consider:

she was incredible with textile arts, almost magic-levels of it

she died but did she go to the Halls? Nobody knows unless we include "Morgoth's Ring"

It may sound woo woo but it’s an important skill capitalism and hyper individualism have robbed us of as human beings.

Learn to process your emotions. It will improve your mental health and quality of life. Emotions serve a biological purpose, they aren’t just things that happen for no reason.

1. Pause and notice you’re having a big feeling or reaching for a distraction to maybe avoid a feeling. Notice what triggered the feeling or need for a distraction without judgement. Just note that it’s there. Don’t label it as good or bad.

2. Find it in your body. Where do you feel it? Your chest? Your head? Your stomach? Does it feel like a weight everywhere? Does it feel like you’re vibrating? Does it feel like you’re numb all over?

3. Name the feeling. Look up an emotion chart if you need to. Find the feeling that resonates the most with what you’re feeling. Is it disappointment? Heartbreak? Anxiety? Anger? Humiliation?

4. Validate the feeling. Sometimes feelings misfire or are disproportionately big, but they’re still valid. You don’t have to justify what you’re feeling, it’s just valid. Tell yourself “yeah it makes sense that you feel that right now.” Or something as simple as “I hear you.” For example: If I get really big feelings of humiliation when I lose at a game of chess, the feeling may not be necessary, but it is valid and makes sense if I grew up with parents who berated me every time I did something wrong. So I could say “Yeah I understand why we are feeling that way given how we were treated growing up. That’s valid.”

5. Do something with your body that’s not a mental distraction from the feeling. Something where you can still think. Go on a walk. Do something with your hands like art or crochet or baking. Journal. Clean a room. Figure out what works best for you.

“Farewell!” he said to Gandalf. “I go to find the Sun.” Then swift as a runner over firm sand he shot away, and quickly overtaking the toiling men, with a wave of his hand he passed them, and sped into the distance, and vanished round the rocky turn.