myrsinemezzo

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Arctic and Antarctic Murals by MacDonald Gill 1884 -1947. Mapmaker, Graphic Designer, Letterer & Architect

The Polar Museum: Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge

credits: x x x x

[myrsinemezzo]

for today.

for various reasons.

keep being, darlings. keep being.

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These tags from @nocaptainonthisship sum it up way better than I ever could. (I’m on a bus so I’ll try to add the right alt text since I can’t do the regular quoting…)

You’re not a real Tolkien fan if you—

Ok, I’m gonna stop you right there (theoretical person I’m talking to). Because that is just a ridiculous take. I’ve seen a lot of posts in the past several months and especially lately about published and unpublished lore that are all about tearing each other down for supposedly not understanding Tolkien or TROP or just not doing fandom correctly because you don’t “know” enough, and that’s really just…sad.

Recognizing LOTR canon and Legendarium stuff makes for a rich (not a richer, necessarily) experience when watching Rings of Power since it informs what choices were made to be seen and heard onscreen. I know I had only read the trilogy and the Silmarillion way back in high school and a bit in undergrad and loved a lot of what ended up in the Peter Jackson movies before sighing, giving in, and watching TROP.

And yeah, I shrieked in delight when Halbrand said “call it…a gift” and when Isildur and Elendil showed up onscreen in season 1 to the point that my partner probably thought I was having some kind of attack, but that was it for me when it came to recognizing a lot of things. And I still managed to enjoy the show on its own terms and have things to contribute in fandom here and elsewhere if I wanted to.

I relied on people who became my friends here and on twitter who posted explanatory things of “see this detail from the various books? Cool, right?” and getting to say, “That is cool!” in return only made me enjoy the show even more in rewatches like they were easter egg offerings to the fandom.

The concept of you’re “only” a fan of the show or not a “real” Tolkien fan framed in such a negative way over the past several months creates a real barrier for participation and enjoyment of community from people either new to the fandom or those who don’t have the sheer time or the inclination to read 20 books and memorize every detail or even use the search function on ebooks they might or might not have to weigh in on things they like or dislike or get excited about or hope to see.

Instead we get debates that are less “Cool, right?” anymore and more “I’m right and you are lesser”. If I wanted that, I would go hang out on Reddit where that is what conversations revolve around and people shit on each other over the texts.

This is getting long (sorry) but where I do live for scholarship on Tolkien, it is not the be all end all. It does allow for a deeper understanding of content and the context of the content depending on the specialty of a given scholar, but you don’t have to read it to prove to some faceless person on the internet that you’re a Tolkien fan. I also love JRR and Christopher Tolkien and the trop showrunners and Peter Jackson as primary sources, but they are also not the be all end all of what constitutes a correct way to experience these works. That way lies stagnation and more of an idea that there is somehow only one true way to interpret texts and films and our beloved television adaptation through the lens of only what the creator possibly intended.

This is certainly not intended to be a callout post, I’m just waxing sad on my blog about fandom today. But hey! We can always change that narrative! So be well and welcome or mae govannen fellow fans and trop fam in the broadest of terms possible.

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The way his mouth opens a little bit as he looks forward again like GIRL. I am TRYING to get these people to like us and possibly manipulate them a little (or a lot, I haven’t decided). Can you TRY to rein it in??!

“My friends!” while thinking oh shit oh god oh shit oh god let this work…

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What is my sacrifice? I'm condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them. I burn my decency for someone else's future. I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I'll never see. And the ego that started this fight will never have a mirror or an audience or the light of gratitude. So what do I sacrifice? Everything.

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“Warrior Galadriel” has never been a problem until now. We defended “Warrior Galadriel” against the lorebros. Galadriel has been a warrior and a military commander since the end of the First age. We are told this in S1 prologue. She married Celeborn in Valinor, before he went to war against Morgoth in Middle-earth. This is what she tells Theo in 1x07. I don’t know why the fandom is arguing against show canon."

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I love how Galadriel will always be a step ahead of him, no matter how hard he tries.

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Harmony in the Light of the Moon by Sarah S. Stilwell Weber

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Unironically love logging onto Tumblr dot com to see a beloved mutual has discovered a new batch of sad old men to sink their teeth into and shake vigorously like a dog that caught a squirrel and following the dash backwards to the post that made them pick up the scent. Truly unparalleled social media experience.

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Explaing Tolkien lore to the unaware be like:

"... and then the continent of Beleriand was destroyed and sank beneath the waves."

"Oh so like Atlantis?"

"No, Atlantis comes later."

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“Queen of swords, mistress of grief, lady of tears.”

Engravings: Torn from Insomnia: “To Destroy the Enemy” by Olga Orozco

[myrsinemezzo]

You’re not a real Tolkien fan if you—

Ok, I’m gonna stop you right there (theoretical person I’m talking to). Because that is just a ridiculous take. I’ve seen a lot of posts in the past several months and especially lately about published and unpublished lore that are all about tearing each other down for supposedly not understanding Tolkien or TROP or just not doing fandom correctly because you don’t “know” enough, and that’s really just…sad.

Recognizing LOTR canon and Legendarium stuff makes for a rich (not a richer, necessarily) experience when watching Rings of Power since it informs what choices were made to be seen and heard onscreen. I know I had only read the trilogy and the Silmarillion way back in high school and a bit in undergrad and loved a lot of what ended up in the Peter Jackson movies before sighing, giving in, and watching TROP.

And yeah, I shrieked in delight when Halbrand said “call it…a gift” and when Isildur and Elendil showed up onscreen in season 1 to the point that my partner probably thought I was having some kind of attack, but that was it for me when it came to recognizing a lot of things. And I still managed to enjoy the show on its own terms and have things to contribute in fandom here and elsewhere if I wanted to.

I relied on people who became my friends here and on twitter who posted explanatory things of “see this detail from the various books? Cool, right?” and getting to say, “That is cool!” in return only made me enjoy the show even more in rewatches like they were easter egg offerings to the fandom.

The concept of you’re “only” a fan of the show or not a “real” Tolkien fan framed in such a negative way over the past several months creates a real barrier for participation and enjoyment of community from people either new to the fandom or those who don’t have the sheer time or the inclination to read 20 books and memorize every detail or even use the search function on ebooks they might or might not have to weigh in on things they like or dislike or get excited about or hope to see.

Instead we get debates that are less “Cool, right?” anymore and more “I’m right and you are lesser”. If I wanted that, I would go hang out on Reddit where that is what conversations revolve around and people shit on each other over the texts.

This is getting long (sorry) but where I do live for scholarship on Tolkien, it is not the be all end all. It does allow for a deeper understanding of content and the context of the content depending on the specialty of a given scholar, but you don’t have to read it to prove to some faceless person on the internet that you’re a Tolkien fan. I also love JRR and Christopher Tolkien and the trop showrunners and Peter Jackson as primary sources, but they are also not the be all end all of what constitutes a correct way to experience these works. That way lies stagnation and more of an idea that there is somehow only one true way to interpret texts and films and our beloved television adaptation through the lens of only what the creator possibly intended.

This is certainly not intended to be a callout post, I’m just waxing sad on my blog about fandom today. But hey! We can always change that narrative! So be well and welcome or mae govannen fellow fans and trop fam in the broadest of terms possible.

[myrsinemezzo]

"Sometimes, the pain almost became a reward."

"Became a game. A contest, to see whose will was the mightier."

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He is not proud. I was wrong, I was entirely wrong about him. You don't know him, Papa. If I told you what he's really like, what he's done.

PRIDE & PREJUDICE 2005, dir. Joe Wright

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McKay: It was hard to keep them apart for an entire season, but the sort of joy of that was knowing at the end of the rainbow – the dark, twisted rainbow – they would be reunited.

(requested by anon)

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It’s Haladriel Fluff Week, and I managed to get my butt in gear and finish this in the nick of time! A continuation of The Harder I Swim, the Faster I Sink with drifter Halbrand’s marriage proposal and a wedding on the cheap to small town Galadriel. (Plus the dreaded “ew gross kissing” from Celebrían.) I made myself laugh and cry with this one dedicated to the wonderful @femininefearless, so that’s hopefully a good sign :)

Haladriel fic

M, 3k, 1/1

https://archiveofourown.org/works/64578667

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Sticks of Power idea: Annatar grumbling while an orc does his hair into a little dainty bow

Sticks of Power: Fanfic Edition?

For you @shady-swan-jones! He’s not grumbling, because I accidentally made Annatar a pretty pampered princess. But the orc is internally screaming and regretting his decisions that led him to such a place. You can see it in his eyes (possibly) lol. If someone hasn’t made a fic of this scenario, please consider this a prompt, and if you have written it, please drop the link 🥺😂