#elves and features

[doodle-pops]

Alright, hear me out, guys: elves and tattoos. I keep returning to this thought and while for a lot of people tattoos seem to be a very modern thing (or considered absolutely scandalous in certain religions lol), we as humans have literally been tattooing ourselves forever (the earliest finds of a human with tattoos are like ~5000 years old i think) and i like to think the elves are similiar - though i might be biased cuz i have tattoos myself 🤣 Of course the designs are widely different throughout time periods (i have a tattoo of a kawaii cat sushi roll, these obvs weren‘t a thing in the past)

Like, imagine, elves who are very devoted to a certain valar getting tattoos of something that represents said valar; different forest animals for orome, floral designs for yavanna, sea creatures for ulmo etc. Or simply bodypaint for certain rituals/festivals.

Tattoos that are imbued with magic - maybe to strengthen healing abilities or something of the kind.

Symbolic tattoos after swearing an oath, underlining the gravity/seriousness as it is literally marked on your skin as a reminder - maybe the feanorians get the star of feanor tattooed somewhere on their bodies after coming to beleriand, maybe finrod gets a tattoo after swearing his oath (in addition to giving his ring)

Idk. I just think these things would be neat and i wish tattoos were more common in fantasy settings (or really just any media in general) cuz they‘ve been present in human culture for so long. Thanks for coming to my tedtalk i guess 🤣

This was an excellent take on tattoos. While I'm not someone big on it, I really liked the significance behind them and how you associated each with a representation for the Valar as a form of respect or their doom. But mostly, I loved the part with their tattoos being a form of magic. They can channel spells and incantations through their tattoos or even summon animals (for those who has animal tattoos).

There are many elves I can see having tattoos after great feats, their doom or worship of the Valar. Most of the House of Finwe would have.

I really don't have anything else to add to this because I loved your headcanon and the link between tattoos and their significance for the elves. This was a great tedtalk 👍 thank you!

[silmalope]

a true story

(with much love to the exceedingly patient @a-cat-of-many-colors, @nobelinstupidity, @thecorruptedquietone, and @mywombatcheesecake)

[venduri]

fëanáro curufinwë

[certifiedbundleofsticks]

the apostate experience

[demi-pixellated]

Elves of Nalur

[bluetiefling]

"Her time with Halbrand was a time where she was very much herself in some ways because she was an Elf alone. She wasn't following the rules of her people at that point. So, he knows a part of her that other people, other beings, don't, and there's a tragedy to losing that, and through losing him, she's also lost that part of herself. " --Morfydd Clark

I thought we were done with LA press day bounties and the latest drop brought the most devastating line yet. 😭 I could go on and on about this aspect of Galadriel's characterization and in particular what being around Halbrand/Sauron brings out of her compared to how she acts when she's back in the 'nest' as it were. I don't know if it's intentional or not but something about the way they've written Galadriel reintegrating back into her community just felt subtly stifling and like that'd be one thing if the writers were self-aware about it but I got the impression it's meant to be this 100% good/wholesome thing about maturation and growth. I think this is the first time someone from the show has spoken of it differently, because there is a Loss there too. A pretty profound one.

Yes she had reasons to feel guilty and that would mean a humbled Galadriel in season 2, but I couldn't help but also notice the way she holds herself, bites her tongue, struggles to contain her anger and pain, are all pretty similar to how she acted around the elves in season 1 before she was exiled. And we subsequently saw her really sparking and expressing everything she felt after jumping off that ship, meeting Halbrand, causing a ruckus on Numenor, etc etc. (With Habrand especially, I think the way I described it once when watching s1, the reason the dynamic really grabbed me and what I saw as Galadriel coming alive, is that he spoke to her like she was just a woman, the real flesh and blood person in between the black sheep of the elves or the untouchable Lady of Light. It's no wonder he got her to bare her soul in that forge.) I reject the idea that all of that was just this flawed part of her she needs to erase from her character to become the true Galadriel. Character growth should temper her more impulsive and reckless traits but not figuratively lobotomize her.

[rotisseries]

been listening to nettles a lot

[transmairon]

One of my favourite changes in the Oblivion Remaster is that they made all the Bosmer more brown/bronze skinned and a lot of the Imperials look darker and more Mediterranean. Also, Bosmer and Altmer no longer have human coloured eyes and the Dunmer finally have black and red eyes instead of just looking like they have been hitting the bong.

[thebanneredmareinn]

i know tes lore says that biracial children are the race of their mother, but i think that's dumb. i mean i get why a human or elf couldn't have a child with a khajiit or argonian, genetically speaking. that's not just interracial, but interspecies. however, those scientists that accidentally made a new fish could be onto something... i'm getting off topic.

Anyways. i know human/mer or mer/mer couples could have biological children that wouldn't just be "race of the mother". so does anyone have biracial characters (player character or not) and would you be willing to tell me about them and which features they received from which parent?

[doodle-pops]

Hi Mina,

Hope you're doing well :)

Sending you this ask: since elves value their hair very much (especially the Noldor) and it has such a cultural importance, do you think elves deal with hair loss like we/humans/edain do when we're stressed? I find that when I get stressed more hair falls out - do you think they have ways of dealing with this if it happens to them?

Thanks!

I wish I was doing better, I broke my nail (it actually got torn out and started bleeding 🙃) so I spent all day yesterday believing that I was about to die from the pain.

As for your question, I have never heard of elves suffering hair loss, even throughout their distressing moments. All that occurs is the hair turning white/grey, a sign of their fëa cracking under the stress and strain. Elves tend to feel emotions on an entire different wavelength from us, so the slightest mishap makes them want to curl up and perish.

The possibilities of hair loss can be an entirely new area to experiment with since tremendous levels of stress already turns them grey and makes them aged (Gwindor for example).

Because they value hair so much, seeing it change colour under stress would adds to the stress, and make it change rapidly. And who knows, the more they panic and increase their stress, hair loss can eventually occur (food for thought). I also believe elves have super strong hair strands/roots, so it's gonna take a lot to remove one strand 😂. Imagine how much stress they have to be under to make one strand fall out compared to all.

But as far as I'm aware, with Gwindor for instance, the stress he was under made his entire hair white instead of falling out (and he was torture in Angband, yet no hair loss; what a tough cookie). Interesting enough, it was never mentioned that Maedhros' hair turned white or streaks of white. Surely he was stressed out af hanging from the cliffs of Angamando (more food for thought; time to depict Mae with streaks of white).

Come to think of it, this should be a interesting idea; all the elves who entered Angband should leave with white hair. So you have Maedhros, Gwindor and Maeglin with streaks of white or completely white.

[sesamenom]

here's a new one :)

Build-an-Elf 1 Build-an-Elf 2

[silvantransthranduiltrash]

On average, silvans will dress more simple than other elven races (bar some of the avari). They’ve never felt much of the need to wear elaborate clothing, they preferred simple clothes they can throw on with no issues and that will last a while.

And, to be truthfull, the difference isn’t that large between a silvan elf and a commoner noldo/sinda/etc. But! It because very apparent when a silvan is next to a noble elf. It’s like introducing your public school friend to your billionar parents. The silvan isn’t necessarily badly dressed, but you can definitely tell that it’s not the same extravagance.

And silvans can dress up elaborately when the situation comes for it, in fact, the few times that they do dress up, their clothes are spectacular. Filled with colors and patterns. But other than that? Nope.

It should be noted that the silvans don’t have nobility. At least not in the way we understand it. There are elves and families that have more sway or money, but they do not have nobility or regency the way noldo/sinda/etc elves have. And even then, the preferred style remains to be simple clothing, though maybe of higher quality.

In other words, legolas either looks like a slouch or the best dressed elf there whenever he’s with the peredhel.

[poet-to-none]

Magnus | The Vampire Chronicles | Charcoal (Doodle) Sources say a Midsummer Night's Dream might've first been performed for a wedding, and who's to say Magnus didn't mind gift onto the guest list, was he not visiting the country to enjoy his passions?

[queen-scribbles]

So, I popped into LOTRO to see how the Elf update hit my kids, didn't make any further than Hal. (original -> update)

look how they massacred my boy.jpg

that's... I'm gonna need a good bit of time to fix that. I'm scared to look at Cele, Iri, and Hira now. xD

[peasant-player]

After all this years we finally got a buff elve as a companion and I pray that someone draw him in ancient elven armor.

for science of course.

With boob window.

[puffpastrycrimewatch]

Random doodles

Mostly Phoebe and some frostbite elves (my race I made up)