raeland

[raeland]

went to the bears in trees concert and now feel sick with longing for a past self that no longer exists does anyone have any advice

[raeland]

lotr but nobody knows anything about the other races

Pippin thinks Legolas is a woman

Boromir is convinced that the hobbits are all 15 max

Everyone thinks that Merry and Pippin are twins, except for Legolas, who is convinced the hobbits are quadruplets

Sam thinks that Aragorn, Boromir and Legolas don't have to eat to survive

Legolas doesn't mention things he sees or hears because he thinks the others have noticed them too and just assumes they have a plan

Pippin complains that he is hungry and Legolas just gives him a handful of grass. Pippin is so confused that he just takes it, and now Legolas tries to figure out what hobbits can eat by just giving them random shit, like

Things the hobbits have accepted and likely eaten later (a list by legolas)

-Grass - Leaves

-Stones - a hair tie

-A feather - one of Gimli's shoes

The hobbits and Gimli just assume that this is what elves eat

[raeland]

my teeth hurt

[raeland]

i made a sticker

[raeland]

[raeland]

One of the funny things about LotR is that almost every people in it professes to disbelieve in the supernatural, but because they live in a fantasy world their baseline for "natural" is so jacked up. The Rohirrim are like, yeah, there's a wizard in this tower and ancient tradition that we have no reason to doubt says this mountain is full of ghosts, but walking trees? Short people? I don't think so. Galadriel is like, "Listen I heard you describe what I do as magic and look I just gotta clear some things up, okay." Gondorians are like, yeah, of course the Enemy has spectres of men who lived long ago and never died and can now fly above us and incapacitate us with just their voices. This is just a fact of life, okay? But shut up about this magic weed that makes comatose people better. That's an old wives' tale. Royalty? Press X to doubt.

The people group in Tolkien's work who seem most receptive to magic and least restricted by their own notions of what it can do actually seem to be the hobbits. And they use it to avoid meeting people they don't want to talk to

[raeland]

you are so pretty

thank you for being so pretty

[raeland]

i think the fact that pink is a color is so nice like we really get to enjoy that in life

[raeland]

"pasta only fills you up with empty calories" have you considered that it also fills me with love

[raeland]

I do love that in Rohan culture, it seems that it's the custom for men to go out and fight and die heroically, and for women to honour their sacrifice by crying over their bodies or at their funerals. The men are to be brave, the woman to be loving. The men are to do great things. The women are to remember.

But in the film, whereas Eowyn's most iconic moment is her slaying of the Witch King, a great, heroic deed that cements her place in history, Eomer's most iconic moment is (arguably) his guttural scream when he sees Eowyn dead on the ground, dropping to his knees and cradling her to his chest.

Not only is Eowyn's most iconic moment a scene in which she takes on, by her culture's definition, the man's role, the most important role of a man, to die heroically, Eomer's most iconic moment is when he takes on the "woman's" role, to grieve.

I do love his "Death!" charge in the books so much, but because of this parallel between the siblings, I also love the film version where there is no battle for him to fight, no justice for him to wreak, there's nothing for him to do but cradle Eowyn to his chest and rock her back and forth.

[raeland]

Them needing time alone does not mean they don’t care about you. A lot of people need time to recharge without interacting with others. Sometimes people just want downtime on their own, and that’s okay! It’s normal.

[raeland]

I do love that you can see the influence of Tolkien meaning for Eowyn to die throughout her arc. That girl just screams "doomed by the narrative". She's set up for this grand yet tragic death, and wants for nothing else than a grand exit and a glorious end to all things.

But having her live is so much more interesting. And having her live to find happiness especially. She seems like a tragic character. She thinks herself a tragic character. She is overwhelmed by a sense of doom and helplessness. Her narrative is overwhelmed by a sense of doom and helplessness.

But she isn't doomed.

Turns out, decent healthcare, clued in and concerned family members, and a decent support base, go a long towards towards un-dooming her narrative.

[raeland]

Absolutely insane lines to just drop in the middle of an academic text btw. Feeling so normal about this.

[ A Critical History of English Literature, Vol. 1, Prof. David Daiches, first published in 1960 ]

[raeland]

[raeland]

@/imperfectidealist on TikTok

[raeland]

intro post

hi! my name is rae and I am a lover of all things period dramas, vintage, and literature. this blog is a personal blog first but I will occasionally have ed content on my blog. if that makes you uncomfortable, please block me. i will NOT tolerate pro ana content of any kind on my blog, and along those lines, please do not reblog my posts with ed tags. if you do this I WILL block you. 

With that out of the way:

Likes:

philosophy

literature (dostoyevsky and hugo are my favorites) 

vintage fashion

period dramas

math and science

history (specifically the french and russian revolutions)

pop and alternative music (some favorites: the cure, gracie abrams, the smiths, taylor swift, clairo, fall out boy, my chemical romance, bears in trees, idkhow, waterparks, paramore, tøp)

embroidery and other textile arts

pretty scenery

i love getting asks and I check my inbox often!