#fallen banners

[winds-of-zephyr416]

a collection of doodles :3

[mhevarujta]

I'm back to thinking about Fallen Banners (Celebrimbor and Maeglin) and the potential of these two if Tolkien had stuck with the version in which Tyelpe had been "one of the survivors of Gondolin, who had been among Turgon's greatest artificers."

There's such interesting overlap between the two characters. The parallels and juxtaposition are fascinating.

-Celebrimbor was a great smith and Maeglin too was a craftsman, as well as a miner and a warrior. They had common interests and would find each other's knowledge fascinating.

-They both lost their mothers in different ways and had complicated relationships with their fathers. Celebrimbor denounced Curufin and Maeglin tried to escape Eol. Nevertheless they carry the shadow of the male members of their family in different ways. Maeglin is forever affected by the way his father brought him up. Celebrimbor's choices are affected by his admiration of Feanor.

-Maeglin had feelings for Idril, while in one version Celebrimbor had feelings for Galadriel. The objects of their admiration were blondes who chose another man/elf over them. But their choices diverge. Maeglin tries to possess Idril. He wants the death of her husband and actively tries to kill her son. Celebrimbor messes up too in a way. Nevertheless he remains uncorrupted 'of heart or faith'. In the version in which Celebrimbor loves Galadriel, he makes for her the Elessar to heal and make everything fair and later he sends Nenya to Galadriel. Where Maeglin tries to destroy the one he desires, Celebrimbor tries to aid.

-They both come in contact with a Dark Lord. Maeglin, despite not being a weakling, caves in at the idea of the torture he'd have to endure at the hands of Morgoth. In one version in the Lost Tales he does not escape pain completely, because Melkor puts on him a spell of dread and Maeglin does not feel happiness thereafter. Celebrimbor was stronger. After he understands who Annatar is and even as he's being tortured and can understand what will happen to him, he doesn't break.

I don't know... these two just compel me so much. They would understand each other in a way that no one else could. They would admire each other, be constanty fascinated by one another, they could discuss their familial situations and find solace. They might even be attached to each other enough to move leave their unrequited feelings behind.

[likely-an-idiot]

The first thing that came to my mind when I saw f!Alear's skills for the fallen banner

[mag-lore]

Celebrimbor and Maeglin are such a good pairing, whether romantic or platonic. They're both nerds, smiths, and like to be underground. They're both black sheep of their families, Tyelpë for rejecting them and Maeglin for being half dark elf. They both have issues living in their fathers' shadow, and trying to choose what to honor and what to disavow. They've both been hurt terribly by the Dark Lords, one broke under this torment, and one resisted until the end. One is the traitor, one was betrayed.

They have so much potential together, so much angst, yes, but also the comfort they can find in their own shared experiences. They can understand each other in ways many other people cannot. They both need a shoulder to lean on and one to cry on, and I think they would fill that role perfectly for each other.

[softie-draws]

First sketch out of Valentine’s Requests – Fallen Banners!

This one is for a very special mutual @mag-lore, who actually got me into the ship and also happens to have a cosplay that is my headcanon for how Maeglin looks like!

The requests are still ongoing there btw, if anyone’s interested.

You can view this one as either platonic or romantic. That’s why I have the versions with or without blush, actually🤣 it’s a bit of a grumpy x sunshine situation, or more like Celebrimbor being like “come on, let’s go outside, it’s gonna be fuuuuuuun!” and Maeglin being almost convinced, but not entirely😅 I hope I managed to show it in this quick sketch.

Next up (in no particular order) – Maglor and Daeron, Beleg and Mablung and Kidnap fam!

Which version of the sketch is your favourite? (Just curious)

Brown with no blush

Brown with blush

Coloured with no blush

Coloured with blush

Voting ended onFeb 15

[daggerfall]

spot the difference

[kisses-in-the-void]

What about one-sided fallen banners, but at first it should be Celebrimbor having feelings for Maeglin while the latter either doesn’t notice or ignores it because of Idril (which doesn’t mean they couldn’t also hook up from time to time, though).

And then they meet again, either in the halls of Mandos or after re-embodiment, and now Maeglin starting to rethink his life choices and look at his old friend with new eyes. But Celebrimbor isn’t exactly willing to just accept and forgive a guy who did so many horrible things, especially if we assume that he was among the survivors of Gondolin and therefore knows very well that Maeglin was a traitor and what he tried to do to Idril and Earendil.

[silencedog23]

Young Noriwen and little Alcunar

zaan and thurvokun

gift to another