Ratbag: “A baby mûmak! Can we keep it?” Talion: “Let me tame this drake first!”
Earlier this month, I was peeking over @sinick’s shoulder at the Skyrim replay - a couple of mods made it possible to have Talion as a main character with an orc companion. So, essentially this turned it into a Shadow of War/Skyrim AU run inspired by @sinick’s epic ongoing Ratbag/Talion 250k+ adventure: No War Should Be Fought Alone.
Thus, this painting was born.
At first, I imagined Ratbag eager to get to harvesting and hoarding all the shiny dragon bone and mammoth tusks for the armor upgrades. (Knowing Sinick’s gaming style, Talion is perpetually over-encumbered and has a mod allowing infinite storage.) But, The Author In Charge (thankfully <3) offered a different scene interpretation - as per subtitles above.
Happy belated birthday, @sinick! (Even if it’s closer to my birthday than yours, I did start painting it right before the date!)
I am an extremely lucky Sinick! @humblenug has very kindly painted a portrait of Talion and Ratbag for me, though Tolkien isn’t even one of his fandoms!
(My photo is very belated because I’ve been trying for ages without success to get lighting that’s bright and even enough to pick up the fine strokes of metallic gold paint, and that doesn’t include my or my phone’s shadow. In the end I set up two lights flanking the painting, in front of me so there’s no shadow.)
I like to imagine this as the sort of portrait that would be part of official recognition of their relationship in my fic.
“Ratbag felt captured in Talion’s gaze, dizzied by it, elated: like a drake soaring in a thermal, circling ever higher and higher into a clear blue sky.” - Chapter 11, Under the Skin.
The part I enjoyed most about drawing this is the unlikely protagonist’s innermost self shining through, in a style and setting that we’ll never see him in if captured by the eyes and reactions of others. Here’s to your Ratbag and to the open skies ahead!
