#tbffcontent

Tales Untold & Tales Beyond Family Tree & Line of succession: THE HOUSE OF OROPHER “Did you expect a family that kept Sauron off their doorstep for an Age to roll over and surrender to your rule?”

A few days ago I was gushing about this lovely gifset by @palmviolet to my friends on discord and tumblr and moaning that my own rudimentary gifing skills are not nearly on a level to create something as beautiful (also, anyone who also sees the perfection that is Rosamund Pike as Thranduil’s spouse is my fandom friend by default!). A day later, without any prompting, my lovely @rymu-art sat down and asked me for faceclaims and quotes, and here it is, version 2 of my Mirkwood family tree, this time with the images in motion and with the elflings grown up as this is a snapshot from the first few years that Legolas spends in Aman with his family. I have the loveliest friends I could ever hope for, and you all need to give Rymu some love <3. I love this so much, hun <3.

Tolkien OC Week Day 5: Worldbuilding

Gates of Tol Eressëa: Tales out of reach

At the beginning of the Fourth Age, after the last elves willing to leave Middle-earth had arrived in Valinor, Tol Eressëa turned from a place for the new arrivals during their first time in their new home into a small, independent Kingdom under the joint leadership of the last High King of the Noldor on Middle-earth and the Crown Prince of the last Sindar and Silvan realm in the old world. There, everyone not quite yet ready to let go of their old life was welcome to dwell for however long they wished to. On this island, the memory of Middle-earth and all its folks and wonders and beauty was passionately kept alive, in tales, art and in the shape of its heroes.

For some elves who missed their former life especially badly, these efforts did not suffice though. They would restlessly wander the coast and frequently swim out as far as they dared. Often, they spent weeks and months and years, just staring at a horizon they knew they would never be allowed to reach again.

Among those Firstborn with such deep homesickness were Élnen, the young daughter of the former Prince of Eryn Lasgalen, her uncle Tegiend and Tegiend’s husband Haldir, as well Élnen’s mentor Círdan. Thanks to the teachings of the latter, Élnen soon became a gifted sailor. Under the protection and guidance of her uncle and his husband, she sailed the shores of her home as far as the critical, watchful observation of the Valar would allow. Together, the four of them learned about the ways and creatures of the sea and the guidance of the stars of their new home.

In time, other elves joined the group who preferred the solitude of living at the very edge of their home over the hustle on the island and especially the main land. A floating city of ships soon housed hundreds of elves who only rare came back to the beach for visits or supplies. This phenomenon became known as the Gates of Tol Eressëa.

At some point, the four leaders of these elves befriended the maia Ossë, an old acquaintance of Círdan, who delighted in this silent but persistent rebellion against the powers that were and often gave the ships of this fleet a helping hand when a storm sent by the Valar tried to slow their children’s thirst for adventure.

While the Valar were worried about these developments, and sad that there were still elves suffering from their too-deep connection to a realm that would no longer have them, they never tried to put a stop to these activities on the ocean. Not least because they knew that if the prophecy of the end of all things would one day come true and darkness would return to their lands of peace, these eyes on the horizon of their borders would be the first to know that the time for a final stand had come.

For @tolkienocweek

Tolkien OC Week Day 6: Forgotten characters 

Gelmir of Nargothrond: Tales too terrible to tell

With them they brought Gelmir son of Guilin, that lord of Nargothrond whom they had captured in the Bragollach; and they had blinded him. [...] And they hewed off Gelmir's hands and feet, and his head last, within sight of the Elves, and left him. - The Silmarillion

“A matter of utmost importance brings us to you. There's someone wrote several books in Nargothrond back then, containing information from your teachings that another elf desperately needs. Something about the sun and the moon, I think?”

“So? Are they not capable of reading? I'm not a librarian. I believe you'll have to turn to your old herald to find one of those, Your Majesty. You’ll excuse me now. People are a couple of Ages too late to care about what I have to say.”

- Tales Beyond: REGAL CLAIMS (#1)

For @tolkienocweek

Here’s two of my OCs. First, Legolas’ wifey Tarisiilya Vandriniel, a healer from Lórien, here seen, silently judging her sometimes-dumb husband from across the river.

And this is their aroace daughter Élnen, seen here later in Fourth Age Valinor where she’s roaming the seas as Círdan’s ward, spending her time exploring the sky and the seas, living her best pirate life and annoying the Valar.

The lives of the sons of Lord Elrond of Rivendell were burdened with overwhelming choices from the start. Torn between their love for Middle-earth and their longing to see Valinor and be with their people in the west, and undecided if they were suited for the never-ending existence of the Firstborn or should make the choice for a mortal life like their sister had, they were afraid to root to deeply to either world. Therefore, neither of them ever gave in to any desire or attraction they might have felt for any elf or mortal they met, deeming it unfair towards whoever might promise themselves to them, to commit to a life and a place they might leave at some point. By the time the Fourth Age started, Elladan and Elrohir felt more lost than ever, despite the joy about the war ending and Sauron being defeated. They readily took over the responsibility of leading their valley when their father left Middle-earth to be reunited with his wife, and established deep political bonds with the realm of Gondor and Arnor under the leadership of their foster brother Elessar. It was only after Gondor’s last big stand against the remaining threat from the ruins of Mordor that the twins knew, their purpose on Middle-earth was now fulfilled, and so they sailed, albeit with a heavy heart and a melancholy and longing for their old home they would never be able to shed entirely.

for @aspecardaweek DAY THREE: Across the A-Spectrum

Aredhel ó Tol Eressëa is asexual and aromantic.

Queer characters in Tales Beyond aesthetics

pt. 1 |  pt. 2 | pt. 3 | pt. 4 | pt. 5 | pt. 6 | pt. 7 | pt. 8 | pt. 9 | pt. 10 | pt. 11 | pt. 12 | pt. 13

Élnen Legolasiel is asexual and aromantic.

Queer characters in Tales Beyond aesthetics

pt. 1 |  pt. 2 | pt. 3 | pt. 4 | pt. 5 | pt. 6 | pt. 7 | pt. 8 | pt. 9 | pt. 10 | pt. 11 | pt. 12 | pt. 13

Born the last elven baby on Middle-earth, the second child of Prince Legolas of Eryn Lasgalen grew up to see the Fourth Age starting to bloom. Too young to be troubled by the losses and fears that the Drying of the Marshes caused, Élnen was brought up mostly carefree and sheltered, forging deep bonds of affection with the King of the Reunited Kingdom and his family. The timely demise of Elessar taught the young she-elf the first bitter lesson of grief. Although she was being very close to Aragorn’s children, when the time came, she was quickly convinced that her place was with the rest of her kin in the Undying Lands. Yet the journey on the ship taking the last elves of Middle-earth who were willing to leave west, burdened the adolescent she-elf with deep melancholy. Often looking back at the only life she had known so far, the great love that Élnen had had for the water ever since being born became the one and only passion she would feel in life. As Élnen had no skills in the professions that her parents had dedicated themselves to, she was free to explore her talent for swimming, diving and aerial artistry instead, and her keen interest in all life and miracles of the weather, the ocean and the stars. Under the watchful eye of her uncle and his husband Haldir and the guidance of Círdan the Shipwright, she became a gifted sailor, often roaming the sea boarder between her old and new world, much to the displeasure of some. Entirely immersing in this often lonely path, Élnen felt neither need nor longing for romance or physical pleasure and was often heard calling the ocean her only partner.

for @aspecardaweek​ DAY ONE: Asexuality