Latest Posts by erdesse - Page 2
Desert Twilight - Submitted by @peribytes
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The Elves were so traumatized by Fëanor’s mad scientist swag that after he died they said no more and decided to get stuck on the same level of technological development forever.
Well lads, I decided to make a fourth water ranking list! Some of these were suggested or requested, in which case I’ll @ them, and others were just some that I’ve read about since my last post and wanted to talk about! Enjoy.
Zambezi River, Africa, @marshmallowmachinegun
This river is making the list primarily because of the massive, terrifying rapids that you can apparently surf on. I don’t care for that shit at all. It earns the first spot on this list for being super freaky, 1/10.
Lake Toplitz, Austria, @darthlenaplant
This is, strangely, a lake with two bottoms. Around 52 feet down is a bunch of sunken logs, essentially creating a false bottom that divers can’t get through. Below this level, there is no oxygen in the lake and life becomes very scarce. But the lake has a maximum depth of 328 feet, and allegedly contains boxes of Nazi gold somewhere in the deeps. This draws in treasure-hunters, but I definitely won’t be heading down into this false-bottomed lake anytime soon. Since this lake doesn’t have any visible drop-offs or looks particularly scary, it gets a 2/10.
Dean’s blue hole, Bahamas
Until the discovery of the Dragon Hole in China, Dean’s blue hole was considered the deepest “blue hole” in the world, reaching a maximum depth of 663 feet. One of the reasons this underwater cave is so unsettling to me is it’s proximity to land. Like, can you imagine walking along a beach and looking out at the ocean and seeing that just a few hundred feet away?? For being such a visually dramatic hole in the ground, it earns a 3/10.
Cetina River, Croatia, @imalwayssirius
Often referred to as the “natural Eye of Sauron” (or, as I saw one of my mutuals post, the earth’s vagina) this bizarre feature is the source of the Cetina River. The spring bubbles up from a cave that reaches depths of over 300 feet and drains into a river 63 miles long. Although this spring is definitely beautiful, I don’t know that I would want to raft over it. 4/10.
Red lake, Croatia
The Red Lake sits in a deep sinkhole, with cliffs soaring over 800 feet above the water. Below the surface, the sinkhole continues for another 942 feet. The depth was unknown until 2017, when a diver finally descended far enough to see the bottom. The incredible depth of this lake makes it one of the largest sinkholes in the world, and earns it a 5/10 on this list.
Lake Peigneur, Louisiana, @amzrigh
I don’t know where to start with this one. I guess we have to go back to 1980, when this was a 10-foot deep freshwater lake. Underneath the lake was a massive salt mine, and on the surface was an oil drill. Basically, a miscalculation occurred and the drill broke down into the mines and this lake began to drain into them. Unfortunately, this lake wasn’t closed off, and used to empty into a nearby bay. As the lake drained down into the mines, the water flow reversed and sucked water in from the bay, briefly creating a 100+ foot waterfall and then the largest man made whirlpool in history. Although multiple ships from the bay were sucked down and the mines were completely flooded, amazingly no one was killed in this horrifying accident. So, what was once a 10-foot deep freshwater lake is now a 200-foot deep saltwater lake. The bizarre story and extreme depth of this lake gets a solid 6/10.
Kern River, California, anon
There are signs around this river which state “Kern River, 271 lives lost since 1968”. That would be enough to scare me off, but apparently not everyone feels the same. This river is so deadly because in many places, it appears calm and inviting, drawing in swimmers, and then sucking them under with a fast undertow. In fact, you are required to wear a life jacket if you’re even walking around the river with no intentions to swim (although it doesn’t appear that the person in this picture heeded those warnings). For sheer danger, I have to award this a 7/10.
Barracuda lake, Philippines, @pineowlple
Don’t worry, the lady in the picture is fine, she was just posing for a creepy photo. And this lake is fascinating for reasons other than its sheer drop and weird rock formations! Barracuda Lake has one of the most bizarre thermoclines and haloclines in the world, drawing in divers from far and wide who want a unique experience. The surface of the lake is freshwater and roughly 82 degrees F, but as you descend to about 50 feet down, the temperature in the lake suddenly rises to 100 F (only slightly cooler than an average hot tub)! This is because the lake contains both fresh and saltwater, separated by a hazy boundary. If you continue heading down to the bottom, the water will become cool again. Divers often describe swimming in this lake as a strange sensory experience, with some people claiming you feel weightless and liken it to being on another planet. Even stranger, the sandy lake bottom is described as being “jelly-like”. Definitely an 8/10 for how downright strange this lake is.
Enchanted river, Philippines
This river is a popular tourist destination for its beautiful blue waters and fascinating history. Some local legends report seeing fish down in the depths that cannot be caught by any line or net, and claim that the river’s color came from fairies. The mysteries of this river continue in modern day, as no one has been able to find the source of it. Exploration of the enchanted river started in 1999, and a hidden cave was soon discovered 98 feet down. During the sixth exploration of the cave, a diver died after reaching 130 feet deep. So far, divers have descended 269 feet into the cave, and mapping efforts are underway, but the bottom has yet to be found. 9/10 for the strange legends and seemingly being bottomless.
La Fosse Dione, France
This beautiful karst spring has a name which literally translates to “Divine Pit”. The spring has been used for water since Roman Times, but despite its long history it is shrouded in mystery. The strangest part of this pit is that no one knows where the water comes from. Roughly 82 gallons of water enters this spring every second, but the source is unknown. Several divers have descended into the depths of this pit, and none have been able to locate the bottom. In 1974, two divers went down and never resurfaced. In 1996, another diver attempted to find the source and died as well. In 2019, yet another diver went down and reached 1,213 feet before having to resurface. He did not find the bottom either. 10/10 to this lovely, French bottomless pit.
More scary waters, by popular demand!
Since my last post ranking bodies of water really, really blew up, I decided to make a second. Some of these were suggested by people (in which case I’ll credit them), and some were just ones that didn’t quite make the cut for the first list.
I’ll also be doing a third list ranking the most toxic bodies of water in the world, so stay tuned for that.
Also, keep in mind that these aren’t ranked by how dangerous they are. They’re ranked by how scary I, personally, find them. So if the rating seems off, it’s due to which ones inspire a visceral reaction in me and which ones don’t.
Silfra Rift, Iceland
This one is something that I actually find very beautiful rather than scary, but it still seems like something that others might be freaked out by. The Silfra Rift is the point where the Eurasian and North American continental plates are pulling apart, creating a crack in the earth that filled with water. The water here is incredibly clear, and you can see all the way down to the bottom even in the deepest spots (which are almost 200 feet down, by the way). It’s the only place in the world where you can put your hands on two different continents at the same time! I’ve had the privilege of snorkeling here, and although it’s definitely deep, I wasn’t terribly scared due to the fact that the rift is just so beautiful. The only danger to swimmers is the temperature; it stays between 35-39 F year-round, meaning anyone getting into the water needs a full drysuit to avoid getting hypothermia or worse. I give the Silfra Rift a 1/10 fear rating because I thought I would be much more freaked out by it than I was.
Dragon Hole, China
While not as visually striking as the Great Blue Hole in Belize, this sinkhole in China is the deepest “blue hole” in the world. This pit descends 987 feet down. This earns a 2/10 purely because this is just a goddamn hole in the ocean that’s almost 1,000 ft deep and I don’t care for that.
Lake Tanganyika, multiple countries (suggested by @iguessiamhere)
This lake didn’t quite make the cut for the first list because it comes in second to Lake Baikal. It’s the second-oldest, second-deepest, and second-largest (by volume) lake in the world. But someday, Lake Tanganyika may be number 1, because just like Baikal, it’s a Rift Valley. It’s getting bigger every day, and in a few million years when Baikal is an ocean, Tanganyika might be the largest lake by default. Its 4,820 ft depth earns it a 3/10.
Lake Superior, US/Canada (suggested by multiple people)
This is the largest of the Great Lakes, and the third-largest lake in the world. It reaches depths of over 1,000 feet and has a surface area of over 31,700 square miles. Lake Superior is the site of over 350 shipwrecks and contains roughly 10,000 dead bodies. The reason these bodies are never recovered is because the lake is very cold, and very deep. The lake bottom is essentially a sterile environment, where bodies are preserved for eternity instead of floating up as a normal body would. This lake holds onto her dead. 4/10 for sheer danger and alarming amount of dead bodies.
Cenote Angelita, Mexico ( @olive-k wanted a cenote, and this list has two!)
This is a cenote with an underwater river running through it. No, I’m not kidding. Underwater rivers are actually quite common, but they rarely exist in places that humans can see them. Usually they’re caused by a current moving in a different direction than the majority of the water, or a boundary between water with different density (as is the case here). The “river” appearance in Angelita is enhanced by dead trees, giving the appearance of a bank. For the first 100 feet, this cave has regular freshwater. But a little deeper lies a layer of hazy hydrogen sulfate, and beneath that is 100 feet of salt water. This ranks 5/10 because can you imagine descending towards a hazy patch of water and branches that you assume is the bottom, only to pass right through it and see a gaping black expanse beneath? No thanks.
Devil’s Hole, Nevada
As a biologist, this is somewhere that I actually want to visit. This tiny waterhole in the desert is the only place that the endangered Devil’s Hole Pupfish lives. But we’re not here to learn about cute fish, we’re here to read about unsettling waterways. And hooo boy, this one is pretty weird. Because despite its appearance, this isn’t a little rainwater pool. It’s the opening to a huge cave system, which reaches depths of at least 500 feet. We’re not totally sure, though, because the bottom has never been mapped, and several people have died trying to attempt it. 6/10, since it’s very deep, hasn’t been fully mapped, and is apparently haunted.
Eagle’s Nest Sinkhole, Florida
There is literally a sign in front of this sinkhole that reads “STOP. Prevent your death. There is nothing in this cave worth dying for” accompanied by a picture of the Grim Reaper. Need I say more? Probably not, but I will anyway. This sinkhole is the only surface opening to a cave system that stretches several miles and plunges to over 300 feet deep. Miles of twisting, confusing, narrow passages with only one exit make for an extremely dangerous cave system. For some fucking reason, it’s a very popular dive site. At least 11 people have died here since the 80’s, and is referred to as the “Underwater Mt Everest” because of how dangerous it is. 7/10.
Zacatón, Mexico
This cenote was literally considered “bottomless” for a long time, because no one could find the bottom. Multiple expeditions were attempted, including one where a man died after reaching 925 feet without finding the end. It took a multi-million dollar operation funded by NASA to find the bottom of this hole. I’m not kidding. Turns out, it’s 1,099 feet deep, making it the deepest cenote in the world. It disturbs me that it took NASA and a robot designed to map alien moons to locate where this hole ended, so it earns an 8/10.
Saltstraunen, Norway (suggested by anon)
This narrow strait is home to the strongest tidal currents on the planet. Roughly 110 billion gallons of seawater move in and out of this corridor every six hours, creating violent currents. These tidal movements are so strong they create a phenomenon very similar to the whirlpool in Scotland—the Saltstaunen Maelstrom. This vortex is 33 feet across and forms four times a day as the tides go in and out. Although this whirlpool is only 16 feet deep (very shallow compared to Scotland’s) the currents alone would probably destroy you if you ever fell into this strait. 9/10 because damn.
Blue Lake, Russia
Despite having the least creative name of all time, the Blue Lake is anything but boring. Like the Zacatón, this lake had a reputation for being bottomless for a long time. A diver died after descending to 394 feet, and another barely survived after going down to 685 feet. Neither found the bottom. Eventually, the bottom was discovered and it came as a surprise. The lake itself is only 770 ft by 426 ft, but it is 846 ft deep. This lake is deeper than it is long. It is also a constant 48 degrees F, making hypothermia a risk for any swimmers. If that’s not bad enough, it’s also full of hydrogen sulfide, which makes the air around the lake potentially dangerous. However, people do still dive here on occasion (mostly for research purposes) and the lake is surprisingly beautiful beneath the surface. Still, that doesn’t make it any less deep, cold, and poisonous, so this is a 10/10 for me.
Honorable mention: The Mariana’s Trench, because although it’s not really a specific body of water it’s the deepest point in the ocean, at 7 miles below the surface!
Here it is folks:
My definitive ranking of my least favorite bodies of water! These are ranked from least to most scary (1/10 is okay, 10/10 gives me nightmares). I’m sorry this post is long, I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about this.
The Great Blue Hole, Belize
I’ve been here! I have snorkeled over this thing! It is terrifying! The water around the hole is so shallow you can’t even swim over the coral without bumping it, and then there’s a little slope down, and then it just fucking drops off into the abyss! When you’re over the hole the water temperature drops like 10 degrees and it’s midnight blue even when you’re right by the surface. Anyway. The Great Blue Hole is a massive underwater cave, and its roughly 410 feet deep. Overall, it’s a relatively safe area to swim. It’s a popular tourist attraction and recreational divers can even go down and explore some of the caves. People do die at the Blue Hole, but it is generally from a lack of diving experience rather than anything sinister going on down in the depths. My rating for this one is 1/10 because I’ve been here and although it’s kinda freaky it’s really not that bad.
Lake Baikal, Russia
When I want to give myself a scare I look at the depth diagram of this lake. It’s so deep because it’s not a regular lake, it’s a Rift Valley, A massive crack in the earth’s crust where the continental plates are pulling apart. It’s over 5,000 feet deep and contains one-fifth of all freshwater on Earth. Luckily, its not any more deadly than a normal lake. It just happens to be very, very, freakishly deep. My rating for this lake is a 2/10 because I really hate looking at the depth charts but just looking at the lake itself isn’t that scary.
Jacob’s Well, Texas
This “well” is actually the opening to an underwater cave system. It’s roughly 120 feet deep, surrounded by very shallow water. This area is safe to swim in, but diving into the well can be deadly. The cave system below has false exits and narrow passages, resulting in multiple divers getting trapped and dying. My rating is a 3/10, because although I hate seeing that drop into the abyss it’s a pretty safe place to swim as long as you don’t go down into the cave (which I sure as shit won’t).
The Devil’s Kettle, Minnesota
This is an area in the Brule River where half the river just disappears. It literally falls into a hole and is never seen again. Scientists have dropped in dye, ping pong balls, and other things to try and figure out where it goes, and the things they drop in never resurface. Rating is 4/10 because Sometimes I worry I’m going to fall into it.
Flathead Lake, Montana
Everyone has probably seen this picture accompanied by a description about how this lake is actually hundreds of feet deep but just looks shallow because the water is so clear. If that were the case, this would definitely rank higher, but that claim is mostly bull. Look at the shadow of the raft. If it were hundreds of feet deep, the shadow would look like a tiny speck. Flathead lake does get very deep, but the spot the picture was taken in is fairly shallow. You can’t see the bottom in the deep parts. However, having freakishly clear water means you can see exactly where the sandy bottom drops off into blackness, so this still ranks a 5/10.
The Lower Congo River, multiple countries
Most of the Congo is a pretty normal, if large, River. In the lower section of it, however, lurks a disturbing surprise: massive underwater canyons that plunge down to 720 feet. The fish that live down there resemble cave fish, having no color, no eyes, and special sensory organs to find their way in the dark. These canyons are so sheer that they create massive rapids, wild currents and vortexes that can very easily kill you if you fall in. A solid 6/10, would not go there.
Little Crater Lake, Oregon
On first glance this lake doesn’t look too scary. It ranks this high because I really don’t like the sheer drop off and how clear it is (because it shows you exactly how deep it goes). This lake is about 100 feet across and 45 feet deep, and I strongly feel that this is too deep for such a small lake. Also, the water is freezing, and if you fall into the lake your muscles will seize up and you’ll sink and drown. I don’t like that either. 7/10.
Grand Turk 7,000 ft drop off
No. 8/10. I hate it.
Gulf of Corryvreckan, Scotland
Due to a quirk in the sea floor, there is a permanent whirlpool here. This isn’t one of those things that looks scary but actually won’t hurt you, either. It absolutely will suck you down if you get too close. Scientists threw a mannequin with a depth gauge into it and when it was recovered the gauge showed it went down to over 600 feet. If you fall into this whirlpool you will die. 9/10 because this seems like something that should only be in movies.
The Bolton Strid, England
This looks like an adorable little creek in the English countryside but it’s not. Its really not. Statistically speaking, this is the most deadly body of water in the world. It has a 100% mortality rate. There is no recorded case of anyone falling into this river and coming out alive. This is because, a little ways upstream, this isn’t a cute little creek. It’s the River Wharfe, a river approximately 30 feet wide. This river is forced through a tiny crack in the earth, essentially turning it on its side. Now, instead of being 30 feet wide and 6 feet deep, it’s 6 feet wide and 30 feet deep (estimated, because no one actually knows how deep the Strid is). The currents are deadly fast. The banks are extremely undercut and the river has created caves, tunnels and holes for things (like bodies) to get trapped in. The innocent appearance of the Strid makes this place a death trap, because people assume it’s only knee-deep and step in to never be seen again. I hate this river. I have nightmares about it. I will never go to England just because I don’t want to be in the same country as this people-swallowing stream. 10/10, I live in constant fear of this place.
Honorable mention: The Quarry, Pennsylvania
I don’t know if that’s it’s actual name. This lake gets an honorable mention not because it’s particularly deep or dangerous, but it’s where I almost drowned during a scuba diving accident.
last doodles for tonight: tiny Olorin helping Varda to put the stars in place, and tiny Mairon bringing some fire to the forges of Aulë
Tolkien Playlists Masterpost
I made a lot of Tolkien related playlists on spotify during the last year to organise my music library, if anyone is interested here they are:
The Legendarium
From the Ainulindalë to the War of Wrath, with an extra mention of the Dagor Dagorath at the end to close the narrative (events in chronological order, mostly metal with some acoustic and ambient pieces)
Second and Third Age, from Numenor to the events of The Hobbit to the full lotr storyline (events in chronological order, mostly metal with some acoustic and ambient pieces)
From the Ainulindalë to the end of the Third Age (events in chronological order, instrumental classical and acoustic music only, including the movies soundtrack)
One Playlist To Rule Them All: a selection of my favourite Tolkien astists on spotify (mostly metal, tracks sorted by artist)
Chill Roadtrip AU: small selection of Tolkien themed chillhop and downtempo
Characters
Eärendil: mostly ambient metal and some acoustic tracks to journey through the stars
Thingol and Melian: Doriath ambient playlist, with some medieval and acoustic tracks, enchanted forest and fae court vibes
Aragorn: acoustic and metal songs for reclaimed kingdoms and long distance love stories
Tar-Miriel: slow and haunted vibes for the Downfall of Numenor, water and drowning themes
Legolas: soft acoustic and folk tracks, relaxing and nature themed with some sea longing vibes
Maglor: metal and acoustic songs for the poorest little meow meow
Fëanor: power metal only for the Spirit of Fire himself
Sauron: mainly black metal, playlist for evil necromancers only
Vibes only
Not strictly Tolkien related lyrics but if you need more vibes I can offer you these playlists:
Cuiviénen: ambient metal to wander under the starry skies
Dreamless Sleep: lullabies for the enchanted forest
Lugbúrz Lo-Fi: dungeon synth ambience for your tower dwellings
Mordor Metalfest: black metal for your evil festival needs
The Party goes on a Roadtrip: epic metal for your epic quest
Sword and Sorcery: ultra epic metal for your ultra epic quest
Songs of Enchantment: soft acoustic folk and fantasy songs to sing in a field
the best lord of the rings thing ive seen is the headcanon that gimli is like Prince Tier of beauty for dwarves and is absolutely stunning and legolas is like, for an elf, absolute butt ugly like relatively and everyones always like gimli how could you marry such a shit tier ugly ass elf and gimli is like ach.. nae…i love him
wip death of fëanor
some colourblocking with no obvious light source but now we can tell them apart and see hints of thangorodrim in the background
Galadriel hunting with her brothers !
here's Finrod, Galadriel, Aegnor, and Angrod! Orodreth is either resting at home, or this drawing takes place in the universe where he isn't a son of Finarfin, haha. but anyways I hope you enjoy!
Look sometimes I just so much want to write fairytale story involving faded Maglor haunting little remote villages in the East
Like, mortal men at the East seashores had this tale of beautiful sad singing voice near the sea
But this voice was not the evil voices that lured you into danger
This voice guided you to safety
If you swim too far away in the sea and got swiped away by the waves sometimes this voice came to you and suddenly the waves released you and allowed you to go back to the shore
There were fishermen and sailors swore that they only found their way home alive in some heavy storms due to a strange singing voice
Orphans and children left alone at home sometimes heard lullaby on the nights they could not sleep
Occasionally when someone got really sick beyond help people took them to some places near the ocean and sometimes they got better like a miracle. Even in the case they still die they died peacefully with little suffer. They said there was a voice there singing illness and pain away.
There were tales about people being chased by orcs near the ocean, then they heard songs and somehow the orcs could not see them anymore and ran directly into the sea and drowned
There was this village got attacked at night (sometimes armies of orcs took whole villages of people away and nobody knew where they went), and a voice warned people in their dreams, and those who followed the voice was lead away from the orcs, which was supposed to be impossible, they were surrounded from all directions
Sometimes when you walked along the shoreline you could hear songs of a beautiful language you could not recognize. It was so sad and but it was also extremely beautiful. In this East land there was little hope but those who heard the hopeless song somehow had a little bit of hope again. If something so beautiful like this existed, then the dark king of the world might not be all powerful. There were things beyond their reach.
There were people who tried to talk to the voice. “Who are you? Why are you here? What are you singing about? Do you have a home? Why are you so sad?”
But the voice never replied.
Along the ocean people prayed. Yes in many areas they were required to pray to the King of the World, but how can you sincerely worship the Lord of All that sent monsters to take away your children and turn their into monsters? If there were other gods who were good and kind, how could these gods allow their life to be this way? If there were gods they were enslaved by one and abandoned by the others.
But people still pray to things, to the ocean to the land to the sky to the stars above, like a child in dark night cry for a mother even when their mother was dead or taken away.
Some people prayed to the voice too.
Some people prayed for the voice.
—————
(I love the idea of Maglor being dragged back home but I also love the idea of Maglor gradually finding peace in his self-exile and helping people he did not know and somehow kept being adopted by local mortal kids even when he no longer had a body)
(There is just so much peak aesthetic in “beautiful regretful voice lingering by the sea”)
i feel like for a show that has so many different characters that speak wildly different languages, they use way too few hand gestures to communicate. this is why they should’ve had an italian on board.
Important chart btw
Okay. This is what happened. This is canon, there have been unreliable narrators before and no one can prove me wrong. Tolkien estate can eat my entire ass.
Legolas and Gimli are living life in middle earth until Gimil is ready to pass on and Legolas starts building a boat.
This is the first time the redneck backwoods prince has ever had to fabricate something. He's never crafted a functional object in his entire life and Gimli, from an entire race of fanatical craftsman, watches his elf get into a leaky bathtub and nearly drown in 3 feet of water. In a pond.
Gimli goes, yeah, okay, I guess I can take up another hobby and becomes the first, last, and only dwarven shipwright ever. The boat he makes is the world's first, last, and only Ironside, and it looks like a seige engine. Legolas helps and stands around looking pretty and does a lot of explaining when they show up in Valinor to dock with all the pretty elven sloops in the Khazad-dûm II.
Have I ever shown you guys these weird late 80s Soviet Lord Of The Rings illustrations?
They were made by Sergei Iukhimov, who’s virtually unknown otherwise.
Ponder at your own risk.
No Faramir for once, although he’s not of the pondering type I think 🤔
Tolkien in the 30s: the elves have beautiful long hair regardless of gender even tho a man having long hair in the 30s would be seen as an egregious sign of gender noncomformity at best
Amazon rn: boy elves have short hair girl elves have long hair because this adaptation is about girlboss galadriel
On that note, I'm delighting myself translating the word "friend" in Tolkien as bestie. Lots of fun sentences but none beats the alliteration of "Beren became the bestie of birds and beasts"
"At that moment there was a knock on the door, and Sam came in. He ran to Frodo and took his left hand, awkwardly and shyly. He stroked it gently and then he blushed and turned hastily away."
Maedhros!
This was an entry to mossgroove's dtiys on Instagram
God I missed drawing Maedhros so much, I'm so glad to finally have the occasion to draw my favorite angsty elf again!
I really enjoyed making this drawing, it was so fun to make!
Hope you'll like it as well!
I just spend 45 minutes on Microsoft Excel charting and colour coordinating Elrond’s family line. All this was to mathematically prove that he is not halfelven. Elrond is, in fact, 56.25% Elven. Here is my chart.
