#and sauron and all that

[likesdoodling]

This is when Sauron is in Numenor, doing his thing, persuading people to do terrible stuff, being sleazy and charming and all that, laughing at thunderstorms, you know, normal totally NOT suspicious things to do.

Basically. I wanted to do something more 'serious' than usual, or rather put more effort in. And I've got LOTR on the brain. Specifically the Silmarillion and the Appendices (I think that's how you spell it) and all that. I wanted to do dramatic lighting. So I did.

(even if it took a lot longer than anticipated and it is now 1am...)

Twas worth it!

Cause it looks cool

:D

[gandalf-the-fool]

[morphym37]

Utumno style?!!

ok so this is kinda rough but hear me out what if utumno style was really bombastic and baroque-esque in an archaic way because they have all the riches they can ever get and theres literally no one can rival them in middle earth? and the theatricality? Kind of like the golden age??

it can be over the top can be messy and ugly because the form language may be going everywhere but they arent supposed to be so artistically refined anyway??? (its nice you can always justify any vulgary and ugliness and bad taste here if any of it shows up)

(and then it goes downhill and militarized and becomes more practical in angband style)

(this is actually insp from a chat with AD yesterday who went for an hour long rant on how GoT and Dune didnt do dothraki & fremen designs justice lol their styles shouldve been much more colorful per his opinion) (And I actually sent him Jack Lowden's FA sauron asking what does he think that they made it very Roman.. He said Roman's were the enemies!! (in perspective, haha)) (and they are both an empire that last for a millenium/millenia.. makes sense ya)

side note: the crown looks so crude? what if melkor made it lmao (so sweet). or maybe this is some type of naturalistic aesthetics. Mairon def has skills to finess it more, so its either not made by him or its deliberate (smiling face)

anyway thanks for reading my word vomit

[xueyangsleftpinky]

“Nu nam nîn natha tognir in ainn i’warth, dangarnen. Nin gostathar gwaith bán a gellathar.”

Introducing Celebrimbor, Lord of Eregion, the Ring Maker 💍

Translation: “Beneath my hammer, the Bringer of Gifts, the Betrayer shall be unmade. All shall fear me and rejoice.”

[aamuusva]

[venduri]

Only you could accomplish such art, Celebrimbor

Assad Zaman as Celebrimbor from JRR Tolkien's The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales

[keferon]

“Mistakes on mistakes until” ch 69 spoilers below!

Ahahahahahahah here I go again

Mistakes on mistakes until until I can draw Jazz with my eyes closed

I woke up, checked my phone, woke up for real and decided that whatever plans I had for this day yeah no they can wait a little bit kfkgnfk

Also. Consider listening this while reading. Or don't who am I to tell you what to do~

[arianwen44]

I loved this little doodle so much... I totally didn't make it into a sticker... nope, not me...

[mai-komagata]

so here is my melkor hot take of the day. i dont think melkor is more evil than sauron.

like yes, tolkien said sauron is less evil than melkor bc he is devoted and obedient to him, i.e. catholic theological legalese, since love and obedience are the catholic virtue things that dont originate from evil. cool. ASIDE FROM THAT.

and like, melkor is totally MORE POWERFUL than sauron by like orders of magnitude. sure. melkor is the evil soup that suffuses the world like original sin and the fall do in catholic theology.

but like if in looking at intent and what they do, i dont think you can say that for sauron's relative power, i hesitate to say he is more evil, but he is evil in a more insidious and dangerous way common to our age.

like i see melkor very much representing the evil of the natural world (and to some degree part of the universal plan of eru iluvatar). he is volcanoes. he is the blight of winter. he is disease and pestilence and decay. he is the coming of darkness, the destruction of creation. the entropy of the universe. he desires the spark or life but can only subdivide endlessly like bacteria.

but that is part of the fallen world in theological terms even if it shouldn't be part of a healed world of immortal quasi spiritual (or actually spiritual) beings. it is imperfection if the goal is deathlessness. but it is part of the world.

and to a degree i see valar as having this sort of impersonal force of nature quality about them. not just melkor. they all do. tolkien describes them like heavenly bureaucrats. they arent tied to the world and dont understand the world in a tangible personal way that even the maiar do.

sauron is different and i think there is a reason sauron is the villain in the books in the second and third age and specifically in the main book he published. he is the evil of our modern world.

because most mythologies dont have two dark lords. one representing chaos and destruction and one representing order and coercion and industry.

it represents a fundamental swing in how cultures started to conceptualize evil. we mastered science and thus a lot of the things that were a curse from the gods were being solved. and yet. the world wasn't becoming less evil. we still want to control each other, to subjugate others. we want to tame nature so much it kills her and makes her barren. we covet power because we are afraid of the lack of it.

so yeah. sauron and melkor are both evil. but sauron was subject to melkor (or natural evils) until we subdued and chained him. and then sauron's evils were dominant.

(is this character analysis or fictional theology? idk.)

i love these characters because they are symbolic of how we conceptualize evil in the world, as well as being stand-ins for a certain character archetype. i dont have to write them just as them being evil. but they are great for writing about difficult subjects because of their symbolic nature.

(and maybe like sauron i too love volcanoes and snow and mushrooms and thus am a bit enchanted with the force of nature that is melkor. i used to study a LOT of catholic theology, and now as an outsider looking in im like, maybe i can play with these myths and tropes. at the same time, the ultimate plan of eru iluvatar is meant to be a mystery.)

[my-deer-legolas]

Sauron: I made a Ring.

Morgoth: Neat.

Sauron: But it’s EVIL.

Morgoth: …Okay?

Sauron: And if someone wears it, I CONTROL THEM.

Morgoth: Sounds cool, man.

Sauron: Also, I put a little poem on it.

Morgoth: …What?

Sauron: A little ✨ spooky ✨ poem. For the vibes.

[5ummit]

Sauron + Tears

[jeonwonwoo]

SAURON & CELEBRIMBOR The Rings of Power — 2.08

[morphym37]

ok this is just for funsies i saw the cat eye post awhile ago??? and i know that expanded irises can be super creepy in a way so i had to try it out lmao. creepy or maybe creepy cute??

[nervouspearl]

"Sauron was become now a sorcerer of dreadful power, master of shadows and of phantoms, foul in wisdom, cruel in strength, misshaping what he touched, twisting what he ruled, lord of werewolves; his dominion was torment."

[likesdoodling]

I have finished The Angst Version™~ (of chapter 50 of The Harrowing by @chthonion >:D) The bonus chapter added some stuff/re-inspired me, which is all to the good imo~ gotta get that Maximum Angst Factor AMMIRIGHT?? >:D (also. Mostly paraphrasing stuff just so you're aware~)

Then we got some of the conversation~ (without dialogue, 'cause a picture tells a thousand words~ >:D)

Then a sketch that was completely inspired by the bonus chapter-

It's not as 'polished' as the other ones, I just had thoughts about that tidbit and decided I absolutely had to mention it- so it got a drawing to match. :D

And finally, because I don't want to end this on too depressing a note-

:')

I'm not crying, you are.

My personal favourites include Extra Angry Maedhros + hands over the face Annatar, - then- actually. y'know what? I can't pick favourites. I like them all too much to do that. But that was the 'segment' that I experimented on - to try and convey the emotions through how chaotic/forceful the lines were, and it worked exactly how I wanted it to. Which is very satisfying.

>:D

(also, I don't think Maedhros was quite that visibly angry in the actual chapter, but it's supposed to be a mix of that plus Annatar's perception of him/what made Annatar panic. Make of that what you will. Eheh. Eheh. Eheh. >:D)

[thelien-art]

Annatar; Lord of Gifts

I tried a new design for him, but I think I like my other better but now I have tried this too for him :)

Actually this looks a lot more like my Numenor design for him, but with a Noldor second age clothing style instead