dorotheian

[dorotheian]

My Fireforse 2011, 2012, 2016

[dorotheian]

People often say LOTR is a story about hope. (I'm reminded of it because someone said it in the notes of my Faramir post.) And that's true, but it's not the whole picture: LOTR is in large part a story about having to go on in the absence of hope.

Frodo has lost hope, as well as the ability to access any positive emotion, by Return. He is already losing it in Towers: he keeps going through duty and determination and of course Sam's constant help.

For most of the story, Sam is fueled by hope, which is why it's such a huge moment when he finally lets go of the hope of surviving and returning home, and focuses on making it to the Mountain. To speed their way and lighten the load, he throws his beloved pots and pans into a pit, accepting that he will never cook, or eat, again.

When Eowyn kills the Witch King, she's beyond hope and seeking for a glorious death in battle. It's possible that in addition to her love and loyalty for Théoden, she's strengthened by her hopelessness, the fear of the Nazgúl cannot touch someone who's already past despair.

Faramir is his father's son, he doesn't have any more hope of Gondor's victory or survival than Denethor does, he says as much to Frodo. What hope have we? It is long since we had any hope. ... We are a failing people, a springless autumn. He knows he's fighting a losing war and it's killing him. When he rejects the ring, he doesn't do it in the hope that his people can survive without it, he has good reason to believe they cannot. He acts correctly in the absence of hope.

Of course LOTR has a (mostly) happy ending, all the unlikely hopes come true, the characters who have lost hope gain what they didn't even hope for, and everyone is rewarded for their bravery and goodness, so on some level the message is that hope was justified. But the book never chastises characters who lost hope, it was completely reasonable of them to do so. Despair pushed Théoden and Denethor into inaction, pushed Saruman into collaboration, but the characters who despaired and held up under the weight of despair are Tolkien's real heroes.

(In an early draft of Return, Frodo and Sam receive honorary titles in Noldorin: Endurance beyond Hope and Hope Unquenchable, respectively. Then he cut it, probably because it was stating the themes of the entire book way too obviously, because this is what Tolkien cared about, really: enduring beyond hope. Without hope.)

Also, people who know more than me about the concept of estel, feel free to @ me.

[dorotheian]

Because, that’s what they are made for!

[dorotheian]

We own it

This site is great for people who have opinions so esoteric as to be functionally useless

[dorotheian]

it's a beautiful day at the roman senate and you are a horrible goose

[dorotheian]

i really wonder what Julius Caesar would think of a bunch of neurodivergent rats huddled in a circle chanting ides of march ides of march ides of march and then cheering loudly on the 2067th anniversary of his assassination?

like would he cry?

[dorotheian]

Favorite fictional female day 13

Cordelia Chase

The narrative may hate you but I never will.

Queen C. She is a Bitch (/positive) and knows it.

What is confidence? Whatever it is I've learned some of it from her. And in addition to being that she is still a great person.

She's a reminder that you don't have to be some monk to be a good person. You can still want things and like stuff and hate things but have a good impact on the world.

She reminds me that you can grow and change. To make yourself better and happier. To help other people and also still stay true to yourself.

Rarely do you see a character make a transfer to a spin off so well. Like there was no longer a spot for Buffy, but for the early part of her run on Angel she got some of the best stories in either series.

Her character assassination and the real life events surrounding it are some of my most hated aspects of TV. And I also low-key hate that you're welcome is one of the show's best episodes because of course they had to kill her at that point.

On a happy note:

Cangel is my #2 Buffyverse ship (tillow supremacy) and while I respect other ships I will die on the cangel Hill.

[dorotheian]

Bernard Vié. Chat descendant l’escalier, 2009. Bronze patiné. 61 x 36 x 13 cm

[dorotheian]

Every day is a reason to celebrate 🥂🥳

[dorotheian]

The Court Jester (1955)

Danny Kaye’s daughter, Dena Kaye, said for the rest of his life, when people recognized Danny in a restaurant, they would walk up and spout the entire “brew that is true” speech.

[dorotheian]

reverse gaslighting where i pretend to know exactly what you are talking about

[dorotheian]

This opening completely altered my brain chemistry as a kid and I've never been the same since.

[dorotheian]

Wouldn’t two horses as viewed from the side look like they had eight legs?

Sleipnir doesn’t make sense

One thing I never really understood was Sleipnir (meaning “slippery one” fyi) in depictions of Norse mythology. Sleipnir is an eight-legged horse, the steed of Odin and the son of Loki, and he is commonly depicted like this:

(image not mine)

But why would you depict an eight-legged horse like this? Horses gallop the same way most other mammals run, with all feet leaving the ground at one point, so having extra feet here doesn’t seem like it could make the horse any faster. I’m also not sure it would give it any more stable footing, since it doesn’t have a wider base.

If you want a stable eight-legged form that can reach great speeds for its size, wouldn’t you want to start with what nature has already provided? Wouldn’t you want something more like… this?

(my drawing)

“But wait!” you might say, “Sleipnir was conceived when Loki, in horse-form, seduced another horse! That’s why it looks all horsey, just with extra bits!”

Well, that’s a good point, but consider that Loki as a deity was originally based off the spider, and his name even derives from the old Swedish word for spider (source). Therefore, it’s not too hard to believe Sleipnir inherited his horse half from his mother and the more spidery half from his father. In conclusion:

Spider-Horse, Spider-Horse, He does spider-things of course! Weaves a web, Makes you gawk, Riding round ‘til Ragnarok! Look out! Here comes the Spider-Horse.

[dorotheian]

This is how I celebrated the Ides of March last year. I don't know how to commit to the bit any more this year, but I'll take suggestions.

[dorotheian]

[dorotheian]

One of those situations where, 'you're turning into your father' is the furthest thing from a insult possible.

[dorotheian]

包丁！ para mi? por quien es?