Monsters of Horn & Ivory

An OOC sideblog for beruthielthequeen. Here there be cats. And tea. And flailing about Tolkien. And other assorted randomness.

[maxkirin]

Neil Gaiman’s 8 Rules of Writing, a remake of this post. Source.

Want more writerly content? Make sure to follow maxkirin.tumblr.com for your daily dose of writer positivity, advice, and prompts!

[louiecyphre]

[valiantfindekano-archived-blog]

I’ve considered something like this for my canon-character whims, because on any given day I’ll want to RP an unclaimed muse but not enough to make an actual account for them. I don’t know, it seems like a pretty awesome idea to me. I’d be willing to pioneer something of the sort I too shouldn’t be considering it given the state of my drafts Dx

[tenstrangecats]

*leaps in* MurzyMun and I talked about something like this, like, way over a year ago, before we had a good Sauron but really wanted one. Basically a shared side-blog for a character. Like, in that example, I would have written Sauron for her, and she would have written Sauron for me, but it would be the same blog. Basically.

[findekanoastaldo-blog]

I’d suggested that to Gaia when I didn’t have a Maedhros, but the consensus was that sharing one character would be too hard. But if it was a bunch of characters—didn’t you and healerofimladris have a shared blog for a set of characters? It could be something like that. Or a few things like that. Maybe a blog for each ME Race, so one for elves, one for dwarves, one for Men… 

[tenstrangecats]

I think it would be complicated either way, tbh. It would take a bit of organization, hehe. The idea is worth thinking about though!

[valiantfindekano-archived-blog]

watching Birdsong and it’s reminding me that I have the strongest need for Fingon to have OC friends and servants and soldiers whose deaths he can cry over so if anyone’s looking to pick up an OC or an AU verse—

[misbehavingmaiar]

THIS GAVE ME A REALLY COOL IDEA THOUGH??:  A disposable/rotating Middle Earth OC/NPC account, where the character in question is determined by the needs of the partner.  8D I’m like the last person on earth who should be considering this given my drafts folder BUT I REALLY WANT TO TRY IT.

It’s not something I’ve ever seen before but I think it would be a fun experiment (if this already exists I’d like to check it out).

[valiantfindekano-archived-blog]

I’ve considered something like this for my canon-character whims, because on any given day I’ll want to RP an unclaimed muse but not enough to make an actual account for them. I don’t know, it seems like a pretty awesome idea to me. I’d be willing to pioneer something of the sort I too shouldn’t be considering it given the state of my drafts Dx

[tenstrangecats]

*leaps in* MurzyMun and I talked about something like this, like, way over a year ago, before we had a good Sauron but really wanted one. Basically a shared side-blog for a character. Like, in that example, I would have written Sauron for her, and she would have written Sauron for me, but it would be the same blog. Basically.

[sithaari]

[tenstrangecats]

Religions are, by definition, metaphors, after all: God is a dream, a hope, a woman, an ironist, a father, a city, a house of many rooms, a watchmaker who left his prize chronometer in the desert, someone who loves you - even, perhaps, against all evidence, a celestial being whose only interest is to make sure your football team, army, business, or marriage thrives, prospers, and triumphs over all opposition. Religions are places to stand and look and act, vantage points from which to view the world.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

[softchubbypuppy]

[tenstrangecats]

theyoungtraitor

[yourcoffeeguru]

[shanemaxwell-blog-deactivated20]

I found this copy of Thoreau’s Walden buried in the park.  I opened it and saw these roots growing between the pages. I don’t know whether to frame it or put it back in the ground.

[tenstrangecats]

I think part of what I miss is that feeling like I'm part of a tight group dynamic and a real priority and that people are excited to see me posting or responding to a thread, or something like that.

Basically I'm whining because I don't feel like a special snowflake anymore, huh?

Gods less fortunate, I am just terrible.

[findekanoastaldo-blog]

Did they never see Men? See, I don’t even know my Mortals of ME canon that well xD I’m … out of my depth. Though there are the Rohirrim who have some concept of Oromë—that must’ve been a cultural memory passed down for a really long time picked up from… maybe even Finrod? I feel like I should know this, since Rohan is the only human culture of ME that I can claim any serious knowledge of. >.> 

It sounds like something that actual Real World people believe, though, except I’m not sure if I’m just saying that because it seems logical? I suppose I could go research it, but I’m only… what, 4 pages into Valaquenta, which was my reading project for today, so that’s the first step. :P 

[tenstrangecats]

To Hildórien there came no Vala to guide Men, or to summon them to dwell in Valinor; and Men have feared the Valar, rather than loved them, and have not understood the purposes of the Powers, being at variance with them, and at strife with the world.

So, yeah, no, the Valar didn't go to Men the way they did for Elves. 

And yes, there are Rohirrim with ideas about Oromë, and the Kine of Araw, native to the region around Rhún, are named for him also. Araw = Oromë, basically. But those are more in the nature of legends than direct experiences in the same way the Elves were granted, it seems like. 

[findekanoastaldo-blog]

beruthielthequeen replied to your post: beruthielthequeen replied to your post…

Maybe that’s part of it, indeed! I also see it as a basis of a lot of spirituality in those groups, though? Water is important, oases have spirits/voices in them, those who encounter those spirits become revered…? Idk, I have Haradcanons, man.

Just one of your Haradcanons will be more thought than I’ve given them as a whole in the duration of my time as a Tolkien fan, I’m sure. Heh. I don’t know, my thought’s there to offer a solution for why they turned to Mordor other than “they are black and black people are bad” so I’ll stick to it in terms of what is there in canon. But headcanon-wise, I do like the idea of oases-Maiar. ^^ 

… This sounds really defensive, I realise, haha, but I can’t seem to fix it and make it sound more natural. Ah well. I tried. 

[tenstrangecats]

No, no, not defensive. Because yeah, it IS canon that none of the Valar ever went to visit Men directly -- except Melkor. And Tolkien clearly had a strong bias about water. Throughout the books, hating or fearing the sea is used as a sort of shorthand for "evil." So it fits with the canon.

I've probably just been too influenced by Dune, honestly. Water in the desert is so important, I cannot help but think that desert-dwellers would actually value it far more highly than those who are surrounded by it all the time, ha! 

[vegaofthelyre]

C A T A C L Y S M an instrumental mix for the downfall of númenor

númenor went down into the sea, with all its children and its wives and its maidens and its ladies proud; and all its gardens and its halls and its towers, its tombs and its riches, and its jewels and its webs and its things painted and carven, and its laughter and its mirth and its music, its wisdom and its lore: they vanished for ever.

here at 8tracks.

[the-lion-machine]

This is soooo good.

[heckofabecca]

bold what you prefer

ainulindale or valaquenta or quenta silmarillion or akallabêth

two lamps or two trees or sun and moon

valinor or middle-earth

elves or men or dwarves

sindar or teleri or noldor or vanyar

fëanor or fingolfin or finarfin

gondolin or doriath or nargothrond

haladin or bëorians or hadorians

orcs or balrogs or dragons

thuringwethil or melian or sauron

andreth/aegnor or beren/lúthien or tuor/idril

túrin or niënor or beleg or finduilas

lúthien or dior or elwing

maedhros or fingon or finrod felagund

[kadrey-deactivated20181203]

SANDMAN SLIM AUDIOBOOKS ON SALE

If you buy any of the Sandman Slim ebooks on sale for $1.99 on Kindle, you can go to Audible.com and get the audiobook for $1!

[tenstrangecats]

Oh my fuck, I'm reading the first volume of Rat Queens and like whoa, where has this been all my life?!

[joehillsthrills-deactivated2019]

Revealed today via IGN, the U.S. theatrical poster.

[tenstrangecats]

an-animal-imagined-by-poe replied to your post: an-animal-imagined-by-poe replied to ...

Louis McMaster Bujold, definitely, if you haven’t already read her books. The Temeraire books by Naomi Novik, which are the napoleonic war with dragons. Lord of Light. The Chronicles of Prydain skew sort of young, but I enjoyed them.

Ah, yes, I'll look at Bujold. She's one I haven't gotten to. I've heard good things about Temeraire, and will add it to a list. Right now I'm more in the mood for an entirely fictional world, rather than alternate history, I think?  Lord of Light I tried, and couldn't quite get into somehow? And I read Prydain about twenty years ago, lol, at least a dozen times! They are old favorites, indeed.