Aaaaaaaaaaaa!  A lost short story by Rosemary Sutcliff has been found! No canon knowledge needed.  Under 3000 words.  

If you make things and are discontented with them and wonder why you bother, READ THIS.  

“Turn your face from the green world, and look where all seems barren and cold!” said Gandalf.

Aragorn finds the sapling of the white tree.

Help I’ve hit Rohan and it’s like watching Fullmetal Alchemist in English… this is our military dictator, firstname King… everyone else is named after a WWII fighter jet but don’t worry about it… only this experience is packed in alongside some of the most beautiful, lifechanging prose you’ve ever seen in your life. Again not unlike. Fullmetal Alchemist.

Apparently in my absence this post had its 1000-notes-iversary.

This time we get to see the culprit responsible for ruining our heroes' lives as well.

I've really missed you guys, by the way. I know I've said that already, but I'm serious. Once or twice this year I've been right on the brink of coming back but schedule stuff always keeps me from letting myself commit to that again, and that in turn has kept me from posting anything at all. But I've been in an unexpected drawing mood lately and so if I can get enough stuff to set up a queue we might pretend I'm back for a month or so sometime this year. Maybe. Hopefully. We'll see. No promises though. That's why I'm hiding this paragraph under the cut.

Transcription:

[Beren:] "Uhhh...barkeep...I think he's had enough now..." [Tolkien:] "No, I don't think he has...!"

Bôr

东来者玻尔，太少人画了遂忍不了了

For the purposes of this poll please just stick to birth names! I'd like to do another poll for names people chose themselves later in life.

My brain: You have so many tight deadlines. So many things on your weekly schedule. So many important jobs. You have to get important work done!!!

My hands:

Bonus internet points will be awarded to anyone who actually tries this exercise before voting.

Assume you need to get the spelling at least somewhat close, and if a character has multiple names, only one counts. Also, if a character doesn't have a canonical name, I'm sorry, but "that guy's wife" doesn't count.

For reference, if you can name the 9 members of the Fellowship, the eponymous Hobbit and his 13 dwarf buddies, 3 prominent women, and the guy who runs the Rivendell B&B, that's 27 characters right there. And you probably also know the name of a dragon.

For further reference, Tolkien Gateway has 637 (!!) pages dedicated to Third Age characters. (Don't click that link until you've voted, of course)

Finduilas Orodrethiel on Tol Sirion

No Gentler Pain

Part 16 of the Atandil Series Rating: T Relationships: Finrod/Bëor, Bëor & Finduilas, Finrod & Finduilas Characters: Finrod, Bëor, Finduilas, Orodreth, Original Characters Word Count: 12,792

Gravel struck the rock beside him and he turned sharply as a rain of dirt followed, then a quick scrabbling, a flash of gold, a tumble of limbs. The tiny figure righted itself at once and stood poised at the far end of the ledge—startled, but looking over him in cool evaluation. Balan returned the stare in kind, his own surprise more pronounced as he took in the apparition before him: an elf-child, standing no higher than his ribs, a cloth bundle clutched in one hand and a pastry held between her teeth. An incongruous sight. She wore a formal robe from the afternoon’s ceremonies but the skirt had been bound up about her waist, uncovering a pair of hose, and the front of both hose and robe were now clouded with limestone dust. Her free hand retrieved the pastry and she drew herself up, chin lifted in command. It was Nóm’s chin, as were the cheekbones, the line of the mouth—almost an uncanny resemblance, Balan thought, and then recognition dawned on him. Her hair had been woven in patterned braids when he saw her last, the intricate strands reaching nearly to her hips and laced through with silver and gems. Now it was a shock of gold, cropped sometime in the last hour to hover unevenly about her jaws. “My lady,” he said, dipping his head in deference. The defensiveness in Finduilas’ bearing eased and she studied him curiously. “You are the Secondborn who follows my uncle.” “So I am.” He barely held back a snort at her description and his features crinkled into a grin. “I am called Bëor.” “Yes, I know.” She took a step or two closer and glanced up at the crest of the bluff, then back at the man before her. “Why are you here?” “On the cliff-side where you’ve tumbled?” Balan chuckled, but found the jest slipped away from him as he met the solemn eyes. “Finding an hour to grieve,” he answered instead, and flinched at the blunt honesty. “What of yourself?” “You’ve wept,” the child’s tone was matter-of-fact as she took in his reddened eyes and moved to sit beside him against the rock face. “Sometimes I come here for such. The tower has no view of it, you see, so father cannot worry—and the river’s music is a kind comforter.” “Is it?” He tried to keep his voice light and free of the cynicism that flooded over him, but her quick glance was shrewd. “You do not find it so?” “I find the water holds many melodies.” Balan chose his words slowly and tried not to think of Ivrin’s chorus. “I am glad it sings to you of kindness.”

[Keep reading on AO3]

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.

In Taberna - Yo m'enamori d'un aire

What's everyone's favourite flowers that aren't like. The normal ones. Like everyone's a fan of roses and sunflowers what's a more niche one. One you don't get in gift sets. Mine's sweet peas

A raw concept of Telerian elves, I tried to capture their culture and nature. The elves that had superior craftsmanship in both ship-building and songs. They were quite tall compared to their kin.

The tale of Dáin Ironfoot, told loosely in the style of a saga of Iceland (in English translation).

Jarakrisafis posted a prompt to LOTR Secret Santa 2023 that said "I remember as a teenager reading the Silmarillion for the first time and wishing there was more about Dàin Ironfoot than was in the book and the appendices" specifying book rather than movie canon.

I read that and thought, ah, what an absolutely fascinating idea! I'm sure I could write that in a few hours! Also, what if I wrote it roughly in the style of an english translation of a saga from thirteenth century Iceland? Several months later... it's 12,000+ words. Whoops. It will be posted in chapters rather than the whole thing at once.

Thank you very much to Aprilertuile for beta reading this oddity.

@feanorianweek #3 Celegorm - waves

Having Aredhel was like having a sister throughout their childhood.

+

@feanorianweek #3 Celegorm - olas

Tener a Aredhel era como tener una hermana durante toda su infancia.

I like the expression new-fangled. I don't know what it means for something to be fangled, but I sure as hell know it was recent