#also reading hobbit and lotr too because books are great (movies are great on a technical level)

[buttercupshands]

never say never I guess

had a sudden "I want to draw them"

Lyrics from "The Last Goodbye" by Billy Boyd

also a warm up that led to this, wanted to try drawing them again and somehow got inspired a bit

[call-me-b-please-and-thank-you]

Just watched all three of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit films.

It's been years since I've seen them. It's also been years since I read the book.

But I've got opinions. And most of them...

Are positive!

No, it's not how the book goes. It absolutely is not. There are Orcs and Saurons and Radagasts and Legolases and a whole lot of this movie is just not, at all, how the book goes.

But Radagast is cool and silly and perhaps the kindest and most gentle person Middle-Earth has to offer. I absolutely love him and I wish him nothing but the best. (And I hope he and Tom Bombadil are friends, they'd either get along great or always be on each other's last nerve)

Legolas is an elf from Mirkwood (which I still feel annoyed about not knowing from the LotR movies, but I am now mostly just confused because I've seen The Hobbit films before so how the heck did I miss all of that). Of course he'd be doing things here and, especially considering what I know of his reputation in the movies, of course he'd be going out to be part of all of the action. And there's no way you can hate on Tauriel's story because, well, love!

And the Orcs are cool. I like them. I do feel like they could have not been servants of Sauron, and I also feel (although I am probably wrong) like Gandalf AND Elrond AND Galadriel AND Saruman (well maybe not actually him) all already knowing that Sauron is back has to create some canon inconsistency of some sort, somewhere. But they're cool! I liked Thorin's Orc Nemesis, and his hero's death. They have a lot of good scenes and cool emotional beats.

AND! I like that the dwarves get a chance to fight Smaug themselves in this movie! I like that when he was killed with a single arrow, that arrow was a Black Arrow and actually cool, and fired after we get to know and care about Bard, the guy who made the shot! The absence of both of these things really bothered me in the book, and both have been fixed in the movie, and I still like that a lot! And also watching all the politicking surrounding The Battle of Five Armies, watching Thorin go a wee bit insane and giving Bilbo an actual reason to withhold the Arkenstone from him are really good touches too!

So in conclusion, Hobbit Movies Good.

But I will also continue to complain about things in the Lord of the Rings books that didn't make the movies because the fact that I thought I knew this story and I absolutely did not is still baffling to me.

Nearly done reading Fellowship. The movie comes tomorrow.

[yeesandhaws]

guess who just finished TROP s2 and has a lot to say about it (specifically the last episode)?

that's right, yours truly. (these are just thoughts in the order i remember them in tbh this lacks organization it is PURELY a rant). also, i'm NOT a tolkien purist by any stretch. i just started reading the silmarilion (literally today) and i'm not super picky about media so whether or not this story is at all accurate to what he's written, i enjoyed it nonetheless and don't want to hear about "oh but it's not accurate to-" it's a loose adaptation. obviously it's not gonna be accurate to the book. i'm sure the book is great. that doesn't mean this show wasn't good too. get over it. anyways, with that out of the way, here are my actual thoughts. also warning for spoilers (duh) but also this came out a good bit ago so like... i'm the one behind the curve here.

first off, i somehow managed to not cry when celebrimbor died! not at all out of lack of sorrow, i almost vomited 4 times over the course of the scene. most likely my lack of tears was because i knew it was going to happen - in a way i'm happy they did not spare us the details of celebrimbor's death and made it just as cruel and horrific as it ought to have been (and no offense, but to anyone who actually still finds sauron hot after this season and in particular s2ep8, what in the actual hell?) but also like... HE SAID IT!!! (and by it i mean "lord of the rings"). celebrimbor died an honorable death, despite the suffering he endured, and that i respect so greatly. i may cry myself to sleep over him, who knows? his suffering hurts me on a deep, deep level. do i have a new comfort character? perchance.

secondly, the burning of the texts of celebrimbor actually sickened me to my core yet again! lots of things in this episode that sickened me to my core, lots and lots. the sheer scale of destruction was actually portrayed so well, watching this city i grew to admire and love so dearly get completely razed was so so agonizing! but that one scene in the battle with that one elf who was super cool until he got shot down like 5 seconds later? excellent cinematography there (at least to the eye of a layperson such as myself)

and speaking of fighting and whatnot, ELROND IS SO FINE!!! i did not think i'd find TROP elrond pretty or hot or anything ever! and yet, upon seeing the man fight (and god knows getting a man all bloodied and bruised does wonders to my heart - also his CURLSSS LIKE AUGH--) and absolutely COOK in the battlefield, my opinion has been swayed, let's just say. and I’ve always loved elrond as a character despite his flaws (like i know it was pretty lame of him to just let isildur walk away with the ring, and by pretty lame i mean REALLY lame. but i support elrond rights and wrongs, and hopefully they give reason for this in the show? maybe there was already reason in the books and i just forgot? it’s been a hot minute since i read LOTR). i think he is just such a bright soul and not just pretty but also smart and very helpful, i feel like he compensates for his mistakes by actively mending bridges and being cool and understanding and wise - also, upon seeing his misery over the destruction of celebrimbor’s work, i feel even more endeared towards him and his bookishness and just vast knowledge he possesses, like it makes so much sense why he seems to thirst for knowledge so, after seeing it so cruelly destroyed in front of his eyes? maybe I’m over analyzing but i like my take on things. anyways, i could go on and on about him in both LOTR and the hobbit (books and movies) and why i think he’s awesome sauce but ok that's enough fangirling over elrond. back to my rant.

third off, ADAR??? like i knew he died because spoilers or whatever but my god. ohhh my god. his entire character has me agonizing over what-ifs of peace and harmony and i never thought i'd catch myself dead feeling bad for this guy because yk evil but NO! NOT EVIL! and his death was so tragic! his babies killed him! i was really starting to feel for the uruk but NAHHHH. it struck a very similar chord to boromir's death in the movies when he's like, "the little ones--" LIKE THE SAME SORT OF JUST DREADFUL SORROW FLOODED THROUGH ME! to think that there truly could have been peace, to think that it all could have been so vastly different. i don't want to think about it, it'll enrage me and make me sad. the light of power calls to those with weak minds and burns those who try to resist it or something, idk what i’m on. but adar’s death is representative of a lot of things. real world things, specifically. so of course i'm thinking about it because what's life without a lil doozy to cry yourself to sleep to?

what DID make me tear up, corny as one may consider it, was the whole poppy speech at the end of the episode, and what made me properly cry was the gandalf and tom bombadil (my darling) singing. cathartic as hell. i'm a sucker for corny cheesy stuff. but also like it is LITERALLY halflings, gandalf, and tom-mfing-bombadil, the most whimsical beings in middle-earth. they have the right to be cheesy, and we all have the right to enjoy it. tolkien songs always make me cry, though. always. i’ve got personal lore with them. and on the note of the ending, i kinda wish it had just ended with the singing scene, because while i understand the end serves its heroic elvish cliffhanger purpose, there was a certain LOTR-ness to the song that was honestly more hopeful than the actual ending scene. i love sappy endings. that much is obvious.

to be quite honest, neither the arondir and isildur subplot nor the numenor subplot were very good or entertaining to me. i dunno, i found myself bored. but, maybe upon the father-son reunion of elendil and isildur some stuff will happen? like obviously stuff will happen because of the plot but it was just frustrating watching all of the numenor drama and the weird romances in the arondir and isildur realm - not to be a hater but i was SO disinterested. also so very infuriating watching numenor fall into the hands of pharazon. i’m sure that frustration was the goal but at the same time it’s just ANNOYING also given the fact that we know elendil dies and isildur messes up, it’s just annoying watching them being all noble and whatnot only to know that elendil just dies and isildur for all his nobility in the show, succumbs to this desire (and i understand, i do, but it’s just dreadful and sad).

either way, berek is my favorite TROP horse and i love his roman nose. and speaking of horses, moment of silence for elrond's horse. he was SO justified for raging upon the horse’s death. he is a horse girl, and that is something i can relate to deeply.

aaaand i still have more to say. rest is for the weak. one thing that kinda annoyed me was the whole durin thing. i LOVED the corruption with the ring, i loved watching the fallout of that. but i think the thing this show struggles with is keeping the sort of… for lack of better explanation, corniness, at bay. there is a time and place for everything. gandalf and tom have the license for it in my mind, as a bit of silliness is part of their charm. but the whole, “i never let you win the arm wrestles” thing before the balrog swallowed up durin the second (i think he’s the second??) was just SO contrived. but i also am a bit of a hater sometimes, so maybe that’s just me. also let’s be so for real idk how mountains work but i feel like with the amount of thrashing about that balrog did, there’d be some more damage to khazad-dûm as a whole. but again, idk how mountains work in that much detail, and i am MORE than willing to partake in some suspension of disbelief to keep the plot chugging along. that being said, i adore prince durin and disa (MY QUEEEEEN AHHH), and i also adore durin and elrond. i adore elrond generally but also like durin and elrond are so sweet and lovely i adore their bromance. it was frustrating to watch them show up at the tail end of battle and do kind of nothing but also i get it :(

and now i get to talk about sauron. god, i’ve always hated him and luckily never even found the appeal of halbrand, but now? i’ve unlocked new levels of hatred never seen before. listen, listen, i knowww people like their sexy villain, but sexy is as sexy does, and sauron does not do sexy things. i know it’s a deliberate choice to make sauron an ‘attractive’ character, and that is conveyed really well in the show! but as an audience like GUYS HE IS NOT FIXABLE. YOU CANNOT FIX HIM. HE IS PURE EVIL. please, let’s not try to give him an inkling of redemption. he doesn’t deserve it. i didn’t really jive with the whole galadriel/sauron thing that was going on, but i think the show did a good job of portraying it in a way that wasn’t actually hot and rather disturbing! like they did SUCH a good job of exposing what a conniving, manipulative (pardon my french) bastard sauron is - like the dialogue was something straight out of those PSAs i had to watch in my health class talking about abusive relationships. it was perfectly infuriating, watching sauron gaslight these brilliant minds and genuinely good-intentioned people into mere tools for his will.

and speaking of those mere tools, CELEBRIMBOR AND SAURON. they may in fact take over my entire being. silvergifting genuinely sickens me (in a good way) to my very core because here we have two characters who matched each other’s freak PERFECTLY while still being so damn awful for each other. like i’ve said in previous posts, the genuine anguish i felt watching celebrimbor’s light and genius and genuine enthusiasm for both halbrand and his work turn into something like obsession, turning him into a mere lapdog for this “lord of gifts,” and ultimately watching his suffering to escape this mental (and physical) bonds placed upon him only for his life’s work. in a sense, to be completely obliterated along with him was something that actually shook me to my core. obviously he lives on through legend and memory, but the contrast between the elf he was and the elf he became by the end of it all was just so so so so so sad. again, celebrimbor being my newfound favorite in a sense only further fuels my hatred for sauron. he tarnished a mind so bright as the stars and a heart so pure as them too, using celebrimbor’s want for a magnum opus against himself, convincing him that the blame was his — to me, this was a genuinely enragingly good portrayal of the abuse sauron subjects his victims to, treading the line of seduction and cruelty. and yet, one thing that celebrimbor said in his dying breaths really stood out to me. “shadow of morogth.” now i do not know a lot about the lore yet, but to me it is just so very powerful that sauron is considered but a shadow of a much more powerful evil. i don’t think the tears he shed after killing celebrimbor were out of guilt, per se, but rather because he knows that in the eyes of those who he wants to instill fear into, he will always be second place. he will never be the most feared, for even his name cannot be spoken without mention of his master. a much deserved curse, if you ask me. also, little silvergifting-minded of me, but I’d like to think that if sauron really was crying tears of guilt, it was because he lost the mind that understood the same thirst for perfection that he wanted. celebrimbor and sauron, both masters of their craft and striving for perfection, for a legacy. if i had watched arcane I’d say they’re slightly jayvik coded (at least with sauron as halbrand) but more toxic, but I haven’t seen arcane so i don’t know if that is a correct comparison at all.

holy mother of god, get me a PHD in yapology with the amount of stuff i’ve managed to say. anyways, overall, i really liked this show. despite its certain flaws and lackluster plots, i found it super enjoyable. feel free to leave your takes in the comments or whatever, i have so much to say

[justamessedupdisneyprincess]

🗡️ 💙ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BARLEY LIGHTFOOT💙🗡️

These are just my personal HCs. This is just a huge list or rather my personal wiki ALL about Barley. This list will have four different categories, the basics (birthday/sexuality etc), preferences (what he likes/dislikes), facts (random short facts about him), relationships (facts about his relationships with his friends and family) and history (facts about his childhood and high school years).

💙BASICS💙

He was born on the 3rd of August 2001

He is pansexual 🩷💛💙

He is neurodivergent

He is an extrovert

Dream job

His dream job would to become like a mercenary and go on many quests. Since that isn’t likely though he may become a mechanic.

Hobbies

His hobbies include: playing Quests of Yore, playing RPG video games, drawing (he is a traditional artist), writing (mostly poetry and songs but he has written some adventurous stories as well), playing guitar and writing his own songs, exploring and travelling in Guinevere, cosplay, LARPing, making and painting QOY figurines and miniatures to add to his games, fixing up broken things.

Talents

He is very good at drawing and painting traditionally but is hopeless with digital art, he can be a great actor as well, he is a surprisingly good cook as he did used to cook sometimes when Laurel was super busy or tired, he is a master of improvising and can work well with nothing but scrap.

Fears

He doesn’t fear much but he is afraid of the hospital, gelatinous cubes, and losing loved ones.

🥰Preferences😒

Loved food and drinks

He is a huge fan of junk food especially and he does also enjoy a lot of dairy. He loves a nice hearty meal. Some of his favourites meals are pizza (especially BBQ and ones with plenty of meaty toppings), burgers, burritos, nachos, pretty much anything with lots of cheese, roast meats and pies.

He enjoys some sweets too! He is nuts about chocolate and anything that is very chocolatey. He is also a big fan of doughnuts and pastries. He likes to drink soda and energy drinks. Overall his preferred diet may not look the healthiest.

His ultimate favourites are pizza, chocolate cake, fries covered in cheese, any sort of cheesy crisps like cheese puffs, any sort of cheesy snacks in general, fried griffin wings, roast ham, mountain doom drinks, Coca Cola and chocolate milkshakes.

Disliked/hated food and drinks

He is not a fan of anything that tastes bitter. He loved pretty much all chips and crisps but he isn’t a big fan of the ones that are vinegar flavoured. He dislikes most vegetables.

He especially hates meals that are nothing but vegetables, a warrior needs his protein he says! As for drinks he isn’t a huge fan of tea. He dislikes the taste of green tea.

Music

Barley LOVES rock and heavy metal! Electric guitar solos are his favourite. His loves a good rock opera as well.

Barley isn’t a fan of most pop songs. Occasionally he might find one he doesn’t mind though. He hates a song that is slow and quiet though. He NEEDS something he can bang his head to or play air guitar to.

Movies/shows

Barley of course loves ANY sort of adventure movie or series that has to do with olden days. He would be way into LOTR/Hobbit for example. He enjoys a lot of action but he does also secretly enjoy some romance because he is a softie (he won’t admit it though.).

He isn’t too fussy with genres but he isn’t a fan of anything that feels too sad. Because of that he may not be into post apocalyptic series (although he does enjoy the concepts of post apocalyptic) because he feels too bad for any of the characters that die. He can actually get shockingly emotional. He also doesn’t like ones that feel too slow, if not much is happening for a long while he gets bored easily, “where is the action?” He would say.

Books

Any classic old fairy tale or legend that was written back in the olden days. He likes stories about adventure but he doesn’t read much as he tends to be too busy with his other hobbies. He reads literally every QOY book or comic he can get his hands on though and always finds a way to make time for them! He also enjoys books that talk about history.

As for disliked books he doesn’t really have any so to say, he only focuses on the genres above and hasn’t tried any other. He thinks about trying out some more comics and even some manga someday though.

Style/clothes/furnishings

Barley obviously loves to rock an outfit that says “metal”. If a shirt has a print of a weapon or skull there is a high chance Barley will wear it. He isn’t too sure of wearing anything that might look a bit too cutesy though. He wants to look cool! The clothes he wears also has to be comfortable, he will never wear anything that isn’t.

He loves clothing and furniture with either a rocker’s vibe to it or something that looks old fashioned and mystical. He is not too fussed about colours but he does prefer darker colours over pastels, such as a dark blue, deep red or black. He loves to collect any old amour or weapons! He has grown quite the collection.

Barley is not a fan of a modern look or anything that is minimalist. One reason he dislikes a modern architecture is because it makes him feel like the world is drifting further and further away from its humble beginnings and as for minimalist he just finds it boring.

Activities

Barley loves all of his hobbies mentioned above but as for things he does not like to do, that would have to be a lot of chores. While he does love to draw and work on things to add to his game he actually isn’t into a lot of craft related activities. He enjoys colouring or things that are on paper but he doesn’t have the patience to sit still and knit or cross stitch. He is usually the type who is down for anything but he doesn’t do well in things that feel a bit too quiet, like yoga and meditation for example. He loves video games but he actually isn’t really into most cozy games as he personally gets bored from time to time, he loves the thrill of an adventure both in real life and in games! He isn’t a huge sports fan but he does enjoy playing some sport games from time to time, however he HATES fishing because he gets very impatient and bored.

📚Facts📚

Barley is a heavy sleeper, he can sleep through a hurricane! He also tends to be a night owl and can sleep in late at times. It is hard to wake him up!

As mentioned he loves to collect old amour and weapons, he has a huge collection now and he constantly wonders what adventures these old relics went on. He admires each and every one of them, even if some of them may be very rusty. He even gives them names just like he did with Guinevere!

He has an iron stomach, in both the sense he can handle gore and gross stuff shockingly well and he can eat slightly spoiled food or eat extreme amounts and be perfectly fine. Although he did have a few moments where he over did it. (It was mentioned in one of the Disney apps where he ate five buckets of fries and it didn’t end well). Regarding handling gross things or gore he can watch the most insane stuff, he can watch someone during an operation while snacking on cheese puffs just fine.

He actually secretly has a huge soft spot for animals, kids and cute things.

Barley doesn’t do a lot to take care of himself, he may avoid a shower every once in a while so he can focus on questing. On an average he showers once a day but it is not uncommon for him to miss just one day. This was implied in the movie as well.

Barley can sleep in his clothes just fine, he has even done that a few times if it’s been a long day.

Barley is a huge hugger and he gives the best hugs as well!

He may seem silly most of the time but he can be mature in other ways. While he seems impatient when it comes to what he is doing as of now he is very patient when it comes to others. Because of this he makes a great and understanding friend! He also tends to be very understanding and he never judges.

He has no fear of bugs, he just casually picks them up and lets them outside if they’re in the house. He has even held some huge spiders which always freaks out his family.

He isn’t the athletic type but he likes to go on walks, he takes his time and enjoys the scenery though, it’s not for exercise personally. He loves to explore new areas! He is very curious of the world around him and is thrilled to discover something new.

He actually knows how to play a lot of instruments and has studied music. He can read music notes as well.

When visiting a theme park he enjoys the extreme rides like roller coasters.

He is a huge fan of puns!

He loves riddles as well and likes to solve them and ask them. Although sometimes if you get it wrong multiple times he may drop a hint or two…usually in the form of ANOTHER riddle.

He is not only passionate about the past and preserving historical structures and relics, he often collects any litter he finds to help keep the streets clean enough. This is tied to his passion about the past as well, to keep the old kingdom clean of modern garbage. Sometimes he may find ways to repurpose the things he finds and has made some…bizarre things.

It’s not uncommon for Barley to help himself to a midnight snack. Depending on his mood sometimes he will snack on left overs from dinner or he might even make himself an ice cream sandwich.

He also has weird food habits. Some joke that he eats like a pregnant person at times! He gets cravings of things and they form into some bizarre combinations! He once made himself some toast and smothered it with ice cream for one example.

Barley is a big stress eater. He doesn’t normally get stressed though. (It was kind of implied in the movie when he tore through a bag of cheese puffs and went to get another snack when he got angry at Ian).

Barley is usually calm and cool but when he gets super angry he might punch at a few walls or posts. He has bruised his knuckles a few times when things got really rough.

Barley is the worst at lying, doesn’t matter what lie it is, what the circumstances are or who he may be lying too, he is just awful at it. (Was kind of implied in the movie as well at the beginning with Colt LOL)

Barley sometimes sings in the shower.

He has lots and lots of journals that are filled with his art, ideas and literature. He has so many scattered around him room and he probably has enough to make his own library. Sometimes he might just sit and doodle completely random things.

He is great at most mechanics related stuff but he struggles to understand a lot of computer related stuff.

Barley talks to himself when he gets nervous or impatient. So much so it can be like he has a conversation with himself at some stages.

He usually says whatever pops into his head. So sometimes he can be a little blunt and say things at a bad time. He rarely says things that are offensive though because he has a genuine and kind heart. The worst he may say is if someone is boring or a total buzzkill. (Usually towards Colt).

Barley will go out of his way to help a stranger in need. Like helping old people cross the road for example. If he sees a baby or kid crying he would usually try to make funny faces to make them laugh or cheer them up.

Barley has a FREAKISHLY good memory.

Barley may seem confident most of the time but if he gets a crush on someone he can actually be pretty shy about it to begin with. Basically he is all like: 😳🥺👉👈

🫂Relationships🫂

Ian

He obviously loves Ian a whole lot! They were very close when they were younger but when Ian went through puberty he sort of drifted from him for a moment before their big adventure took place. When his father died Barley was grieving heavily and Ian’s arrival helped him a whole lot! He is grateful to have him in his life and it’s all just one of the many reasons he loves him.

He feels a strong need to protect him no matter what! During school he would often go and check on Ian to make sure he was alright. When Barley graduated he has tried to sneak back into school just to make sure Ian was alright. This was also because Barley did have to deal with a few Aholes so he wanted to make sure Ian was ok. This of course embarrassed Ian greatly and a small argument did break out where Ian told him not to baby him anymore.

When Ian got his first facial hair Barley almost cried because his baby brother was growing up. He truely is like a brother AND father figure to him. It used to embarrass Ian as well because he made a huge deal out of it! “Did ya hear that? His little voice is breaking” “ugh….”

Barley has tried to play a few pranks on Ian before, usually by hiding behind a door and jumping out to scare him! It works every time. Although his main intention is to train him to be more alert and to have fun while doing it. It’s part of him lightly shaping him into being a warrior. He has gotten into trouble when Ian complained to Laurel though when his pranks went a bit too far, (not harmful at all! Just annoying and startling.).

When they were kids they played a lot! We have seen them go swimming, bike riding and play pillow fights! They often used to make their own pillow forts and watch tv together while snuggled up inside. Barley tried to play swords with Ian using sticks but Laurel quickly banned them from playing that game in fear of them accidentally hurting one another.

Barley actually used to get lots of nightmares about losing his dad when he was little and sometimes he has nightmares about his mother and Ian getting sick the same way Wilden was. He always goes into Ian’s room and watches him sleep for a while to make sure he is ok.

Laurel

Laurel loves Barley but is often frustrated with his recklessness, habits and the immature side of him. She can be strict with him but it is ultimately out of love, like “Look for a job!”, “Clean your room!”, etc.

Even though Barley is an adult she will still ground him sometimes. She says she has that power for as long as he lives under her roof. There have been a few times where poor Barley had his Quests of Yore campaign closed down earlier and she hides the box away somewhere for a while. A lot of Barley’s Quests of Yore friends think she is pretty scary.

It was hard losing her husband but it was also hard being a single mother. Because she had to work so hard it wasn’t uncommon for her to get home late from work. When Barley got a little older he used to help cook dinner when she got very tired of busy. Although he did used to make a huge mess of the kitchen, still Laurel couldn’t complain if it meant she didn’t have to worry about dinner so much. Barley is weirdly mature in some ways and immature in other ways.

Barley wasn’t able to spend lots and lots of time with his mother during childhood since she had to work twice as hard as a single parent. It is also part of why Barley was extra close with Ian because he was always there to play with.

When Laurel got stressed Barley used to try and cheer her up by telling jokes or making funny faces to try to make her laugh. It worked almost every time!

Colt

They aren’t exactly on the best of terms. Colt does care for Barley though since he is his stepson but Barley still cannot see him as his dad. For a while he felt angry because he saw him as a cheap replacement and had trouble understanding why Laurel suddenly wanted to start seeing someone else after so long. That feeling faded over time but he still isn’t fond of Colt.

Laurel and Colt met when Barley got arrested for one of his protests. He was completely baffled when his mother and the police officer started dating! After all he was like an enemy to him!

Colt tends to scold Barley a fair bit but he does still try to make an effort. Usually they still don’t see eye to eye though.

Barley was worried about Laurel getting her heart broken so he broke into Colt’s office at one stage to snoop through all of his stuff to find any sort of evidence. He found nothing that could prove he had any ill intentions though.

Sometimes Colt will start talking about something and it would be hard to make him stop. He hits Barley with a whole lot of “When I was your age” stories that tend to be very boring and they are often tied to some even more boring lecture as well.

Colt wants to be a good enough stepfather but has no idea how. He once asked Barley if he was interested in anyone and needed advice about that sort of stuff or if he had any questions. It was the hardest Barley has ever cringed in his WHOLE life!

Barley will sometimes stick his tongue at Colt when he or Laurel are not looking.

Manticore (Corey)

Barley is a HUGE fan of her and looks up to her a whole lot. He tends to be a big fanboy when it comes to her.

He sees her the way many others see celebrities and was actually a bit nervous when first getting to know his idol. He is always respectful around her but the first few months…perhaps even years…he has been a bit over the top. He would kneel before her constantly and always talk so formally even though they are technically friends now. Corey feels like she should tell him to just act natural but has no idea how too.

Barley frequently asks her to share some of her stories, as politely as possible of course. When she speaks he always watches her with a sparkle in his eyes, like an excited kid.

Barley usually says how she is like the coolest person in the world. Ian being in close second (which Ian always denies).

Barley did actually go to her tavern when he was only five years old. Laurel had an important meeting and lunch was being held there but she couldn’t find any babysitters at the time so she took her kids along. She had to do this more than once. Ian has no memory of being there but Barley absorbed every moment of it! The tavern was actually different back then, it looked more like how it did by the end of the movie but empty and worn down. Barley ended up wondering off for a moment and examined some of her old weapons and treasures. The manticore finds him and tells him a few stories about her adventures as he looked through her stuff. She seemed sad as no one else seemed interested anymore but was thrilled to see Barley showing interest and had to share her tales. Barley asked many questions about her old stuff and she was overjoyed to tell him everything! This is where his love for history and adventure began to grow. Laurel panicked when she realised Barley wondered off and Corey happily led him back to his mother who scolded him for wondering. The memory is a bit hazy now but Barley still holds onto that. Since it has been many years though Corey didn’t remember Laurel at all and she was just another customer at the time, since Barley grew up it was hard to recognise him. At some stage when Barley got a bit more comfortable around his hero he did tell her about it and asked if she remembered, this jogged her memory and her, Laurel and Barley had a good laugh over it whilst Ian stood there clueless as he was far too young to remember much about that day.

He felt sick when he saw the dramatic changes to her tavern halfway into the movie, with the gift shop and games and such. He felt as if his childhood was ruined in some ways! He hid it pretty well though. In the end he actually helped her come up with the idea of sharing her stories with her customers as an attraction like how we see in the end of the movie.

Shrub Rosehammer (a friend of his that was briefly mentioned in the movie and some books)

Shrub is a troll friend of his who is briefly mentioned. They both love quests of yore and play it together.

They met in kindergarten and had been good friends since. Barley was alone after just recently losing his dad. Most of the other kids ignored him as he sat alone but Shrub was concerned and asked if he wanted to play. Barley was a bit taken aback at first as he was still grieving but he was also surprised how someone at his school actually said something to him. Because of that he took the offer and they played during lunch break and their friendship grew from there.

Barley is like the wild card of the duo. Wild Shrub can get into mischief on rare occasions but he still isn’t nearly as chaotic as Barley and does try to avoid breaking some rules. He was what Barley would call a lawful good.

When Barley got himself into trouble Shrub would just chuckle a little, not in a mean spirited way but because he knew what was coming. Barley is so unpredictable that he has become predictable.

Barley is a lot more passionate and will go on rants about how old facilities of their ancient past are being torn down. Shrub just listens and lets him blow off steam. He would say “I agree that it sucks, but there’s nothing we could do.”. He didn’t really help Barley with that stuff in the sense of joining in on the protest. BUT he was somewhat supportive in the sense he would be like “Yeah that’s sucks. Hey man, did you wanna grab something to eat? I’m sure a doughnut or something will make you feel better.”

🏫History🏫

Childhood

Barley has an old teddy bear his father gave him before he died. It’s his most treasured possession and he still sleeps with it to this very day.

Barley would have had a lonely childhood if it wasn’t for Ian and a few friends he did have in school. He would sometimes feel upset about his father and felt robbed of his parents but just having Ian helped a whole lot.

He had to be independent pretty quickly. Laurel would often call for babysitters when needed but there have been a few times when they couldn’t get one and Barley had to take charge. Laurel was very stern about the rules of safety and repeated them to Barley literally thousands of times each and every time she goes out. She wanted to imprint them into his brain. Ironically though they were put into Ian’s head and he was often the one who reminded Barley not to do certain things.

Barley used to injure himself CONSTANTLY as a kid. He still does to this day but not nearly as much.

Barley was a super hyper kid who just wanted to play ALL the time, Laurel used to wonder how he never seems to get tired. Usually he would be bouncing around and then all of a sudden he will crash and fall into a deep sleep. There were no in between moments back then, his energy levels were just like a switch!

When Barley was little he wanted to be a knight but got his dreams crushed quickly by a teacher who told him there are no knights anymore.

High school years

Barley actually used to get bad pimples around the age of 13 to 16.

He had been picked on a little bit in school but it was nothing ever TOO extreme, mostly some name calling here and there. Although he still did get his feelings hurt from time to time. He used to do what he can to stand up for others who were being picked on. On rare occasions he did end up in a few fist fights against bullies.

Barley is incredibly intelligent! Although he struggles in subjects he has little to no interest in. His best subject was obviously history!

He used to struggle with chemistry, which he had insisted was just updated potion brewing…he used to get quite experimental with that sort of stuff and it usually would not go too well. He would also often complain about the “unnecessary modern equipment” that just felt like it made things far more complicated than need be.

Barley used to try and explore every single inch of the school to try to find any hidden secrets, it did used to be an ancient castle after all. He would make note of anything he felt was interesting or perhaps even a potential key to a hidden chamber.

Barley would sneak lots and lots of snacks into school. He always had lots of gum and it used to drive some of the teachers crazy!

💙thanks so much for reading! I plan to do other characters in the future as well! At some stage. This took so long to make.💙

[ithilienns]

Thank you @mithrandirl for tagging me!!! 🥹❤️

How old were you when you were first introduced to LOTR?

I think I got The Hobbit for my fifth birthday? It was read to me at first, but I wanted it to be reread over and over so at a certain point I just read it myself. I then read LOTR when I was seven after seeing the movies for the first time. And then I kept rereading forever and ever.

Favorite LOTR character?

My all time favourite is Faramir, but Aragorn is a close second. It does have to be said I love every woman Tolkien ever wrote too. And now in my old age (my 20s) I find I love Théoden more and more. 

Books or movies?

Books. The movies will always have a piece of my heart and I continue to view them as truly superb adaptations for all their changes. BUT, you can’t beat the source material. Visual media can’t capture the sheer beauty of Tolkien’s prose. 

Which location in Middle Earth would you want to visit?

Rivendell and Lothlórien primarily, but also the Old Forest and the Eriador region generally.

Favorite movie?

FOTR for now! Every couple of years I rethink my favourite though. It was TTT before, and then ROTK before that!!! At the moment I just keep getting caught up thinking about what watching FOTR for the first time would have felt like.

Favorite scene?

My favourite scene from the books is really hard to pick, but if I had to I would say Faramir and Éowyn scenes from The Steward and the King. My favourite film scene at the moment is probably the entire Breaking of the Fellowship sequence. 

Favorite quote?

"Don’t adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Someone else always has to carry on the story."

Bilbo says that to Frodo in Rivendell before he chants the song of Eärendil. I like it so much in part because it gets to the heart of what LOTR is in terms of its relation to The Silmarillion and directly relates to the scene in at Cirith Ungol when Sam thinks of Beren and Lúthien and remembers that they have the light of Eärendil with them: "Why, to think of it, we’re in the same tale still! It’s going on. Don’t the great tales never end?".

What Middle Earth race would you want to be?

I love the elves but immortality sounds like too much. Tbh a hobbit would suit me best so long as I got to go on adventures to see mountains (“mountains, gandalf!”) and the sea every now and then.

Favorite LOTR ship?

I will always love Faramir and Éowyn, obviously. I have a lot of Éothiriel heritage (need to rewrite some fics I posted on FFN years and years ago). The first fic I ever wrote was an extended Elrond and Celebrían Second Age fic when I was 12 (I am tempted to rewrite that too lol). Not strictly LOTR, but Indis x Míriel crack ship lives in my head rent free. Also Galadriel and Celeborn in the First Age. Silvergifting is very compelling and obviously Angbang supremacy. 

I am tagging 🤔 ... @thorinsbeard @oakashthorin @tilions and @sonofarathorns ! No pressure though ❤️

[batsyheere]

Hello..If you don't mind me asking, can I ask, what are your top 7 (or top 10) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series/etc) and your top 10 favorite (fictional) characters from any media? Why do you love them all? Sorry if you've answered this questions before......

Oh, that's a fun question because it's constantly in flux. I get a hyperfixation binge and usually bounce around whatever I like because otherwise I get bored. But there are quite a few I go back to, and I always have a favorite character whether I like the media or not. So.

Top ten media? This is definitely not in order and I might ramble-

Danny Phantom

I come back to this one a little too often because of how the fandom has managed to make it so much more than the show- I love lore and worldbuilding and the way people have built off this show is fascinating to observe.

The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation // The Untamed

This is another I return to a lot. It's a story of how everything goes wrong, and while there is a villain at the end, ultimately the blame is on the collective characters. It's also neat to see so many adaptations of the original material. I also like to remember that I had no idea this was a novel about guys pining after each other because I was just looking for something interesting to read and it got recommended by a friend. Who said nothing. And then mentioned I was equally as dense as some characters.

Homestuck

This one will always have a place in my heart for being incredibly weird and weirdly influential. Despite the fact I haven't read it again in years, I recall so much about it and enjoy engaging with my fellows- I volunteered at a con once and saw the most gorgeous Karkat cosplayer, we had a nice conversation while I tried to get the system to read their ticket. The community of this fandom is a nice thing, especially since at least once or twice a year we can see who is still in the world.

Percy Jackson

Where most people get into mythology thanks to Rick Riordan, Greek mythology got me into Percy Jackson. Modern day interpretations of myths are so intriguing, even if some interpretations could be argued with. It's also funny that I got my first Percy Jackson book at a summer camp. (It is not a surprise that I now have an EPIC the Musical fixation.)

Lord of the Rings // The Hobbit

I'm a huge classic fantasy nerd and this was a way I bonded with my grandfather over the years before he passed. It's influenced a lot of how I interpret other takes on fantasy and sets such a high bar. I also like that it's an encouragement of hope and faith in the little things of life that make it worth the fight. I wrote a lot of high-school papers on Tolkien.

Batman / DC Comics

While I do love comics, I do have a returning fancy in the Gotham Knights and their allies. Especially since in a world filled with corruption, an unjust system and too many broken pasts, it shows a person can make something of themselves to help others rather than just hurt. And that it is never too late to turn onto a better path. Also, just like LOTR, I wrote a couple of papers on Batman in college.

Star Wars

I grew up on Star Wars. Even with this weird output to the franchise Disney is trying to put out, I feel there are parts of it that are great to come back to. If I had to pick specifics I would mention the Mandalorian, but I favor the era around the prequel trilogy- both before and after.

Critical Role / Dimension 20 / TAZ

If I could just say DND I would but I had to list the top three for me. As I mentioned before I'm a hug fan of worldbuilding and lore. I also really like complex characters who are neither good nor evil, just trying to go about their lives. Found family is also one of my favorite tropes, and these three pull that off effortlessly.

Howl's Moving Castle

Both the book and movie are fantastic, I enjoyed both forms of this story in a way that I only ever enjoyed the vast differences between the How To Train Your Dragon movies and books. I like how it's a good example of adapting a book without being entirely off-putting.

Arcane

Just barely making this list because the second season just came out. But honestly? Arcane is so good. It takes such an artistic approach to its animation and gives vibrancy to its characters you don't typically see outside video games or movies. The story writing and dialogue are excellent- I could rant all day about it.

And now, Top Ten Characters from media...

Shang Qinghua from SVSSS

So many reasons. Top three? Such an unreliable narrator, understandably a sell out and holds a better romance than the technically main character of the novel.

Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars

He's on the sidelines of a lot of the main story as a mentor, brother, friend- despite being one of the most tragic characters in the entire timeline.

Stiles Stilinski from Teen Wolf

My friend dragged me into watching the show because she didn't want to watch alone and he was the most redeeming quality of it. The sarcasm, the wit, the untapped potential.

Dick Grayson // Nightwing from DC Comics

A complex character with an even more complex series of issues in his life that never let him have a moment to breath half the time. He has so much repressed rage it's funny he's considered the happy one.

Kim Dokja from Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint

This one is basically me being way to empathetic with a character and another reason for therapy. He needs a hug.

Aizawa Shouta from My Hero Academia

As weird and "way too much" the fandom can be, Aizawa is worth it. Crazy and a mentor figure.

Taako from The Adventure Zone

Again, love complex characters. I also like convoluted pasts and people with intimacy issues who are also huge flirts.

Fai Fluorite from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles

This poor guy was my first "wow what a character" for way too many reasons to list. Probably the crippled sense of self worth.

Ruby Rose from RWBY

She has such a good character set up and had such a strong sense of self. That plot did NOT help, but she's coming out stronger for it.

Yor Forger from Spy X Family

This one is purely because I love pure of heart dumbasses with too much badass and not enough sense.

As much as I like certain pieces of media a lot it's not a guarantee that I like the characters, and vice versa. Anyway, thanks for letting me ramble! This is what is currently on my mind when it comes to immediate favorites, though I definitely love far too many pieces of media- a lot of anime, and a lot of fantasy.

[save-the-villainous-cat]

*deep breath, dee* I’m not here to fight…as an avid Tolkien reader, what are your reasons for hating the Hobbit movies? How, pray tell, are they so “terrible”? I’m just curious. That’s all.

Is it the cinematography? The actors? Missing scenes? Give me something here. So many people hate on the movies but never give reasons. It starts to feel like it’s because it’s simply not LOTR- and the fact that there’s an age gap. The Hobbit is baby. LOTR is everyone’s great grandmother who makes you warm cookies every time you visit.

Oh boy, here we go.

Lucky for you, I am an unhinged movie nerd and I have lots of food for you on here…

When we talk about the Hobbit, we also have to talk about Lord of the Rings. The Hobbit got published in 1937 and is a fantasy novel for children. Tolkien wrote this book for his kids, so it was a silly story with a simple moral. An episodic narrative with a message about greed and trust, adding lots of adventure and fun. It’s one of the best-selling books ever written. It’s a classic.

Fellowship of the Ring got published in 1954 and is not intended for children. Simply, Allen & Unwin (Tolkien’s publisher) wanted a sequel to the Hobbit and Tolkien provided with a story that is more mature. Because his kids grew up. And those kids who had read the Hobbit had also grown up. Which made Fellowship a perfect story for those grown-ups/teenagers.

And that’s the thing. Fellowship works as a sequel. The Hobbit does not work as a prequel.

We have two completely different stories here on our hands: a story about a ring a bunch of people would like to have and a story about dwarves fighting over their home and…a bunch of treasure. The central conflicts have nothing to do with each other. The Hobbit doesn’t set up the worldbuilding of middle earth, doesn’t tell the story about Sauron nor the rings. And that is because it is not a prequel. It is its own story with its own central conflict.

This made this book a bit difficult to adapt. We either have the chance to turn this childlike story into a movie or turn it into a trilogy that works as prequels to Lord of the Rings (which they desperately tried to do here). I’m not saying there wasn’t any other way — I think they should’ve let Guillermo del Toro do his two movies (as originally intended) that included the overall spirit of the books and could be their own movies without having to reference Lord of the Rings all of the time but we ended up with three movies that can’t be their own thing because trilogies and because money.

The Hobbit is a relatively short book. Roughly around 95,000 words. Fellowship, just Fellowship is around 187,000 words. And it makes sense to make a movie trilogy out of a book trilogy, especially because those books follow a much more Hollywood structure.

But get this. We take the Hobbit with roughly 95,000 words. And we turn this book into a trilogy which leaves us with nine acts in total. Nine acts which leads to adding a bunch of stuff to fill all the plot points. A bunch of mini climaxes that go nowhere, character movements that come too early or too late, adding characters and subplots that absolutely no one asked for (at least of all the story).

For example, the scene at the end of the first movie where Thorin respects Bilbo is way too early. Their relationship doesn’t evolve at all in the second movie. Sure, they fight or whatever in the third movie but wouldn’t it have made sense to show Thorin’s respect for Bilbo when Bilbo frees the dwarves in the barrel plot point? It was originally set to be there but now that it’s not, the barrel plot point is super weak and doesn’t work for character/relationship development at all. It is there because the plot needs it to be there. Bilbo doesn’t have to prove anything, he just does it because the plot needs him to.

And why is that? Because we needed this little climax at the end of movie one (because storytelling and story structure) where Bilbo, a character who is known for his intelligence, who is — unlike the dwarves — not a fighter, fucking knocks over an orc. Don’t tell me this was character development. If this was character development, then he would’ve started killing orcs in movie two and three. Bilbo is not a fighter. He is characterised by his wits. But because the plot needed him to, he had to do this. Weirdly, he doesn’t really do it again, does he?

Originally, the first movie was supposed to end with the dwarves arriving at Erebor/Laketown with movie two starting with getting into Erebor. Smaug’s death would’ve been the midpoint of movie two. Not the most anticlimactic thing to have ever happened in movie three.

Seriously? You kill the main antagonist before the opening title? What were these guys thinking? The death of the Cumberbatch lizard was supposed to be the thing and they just killed him off in the most anticlimactic way ever, thanks to the structure of turning a little book into three movies.

Which makes us watch a bunch of stupid shit: dwarves are — according to the Desolation of Smaug — fire-resistent, we get scary CGI, we get the White Council because, guys, have you heard of lotr, we get a horrible love triangle, a horrible Tauriel who has no character whatsoever, we get Legolas, because guys, remember this trilogy you liked when you were younger, do you remember lotr, we get a river fight scene that is unnecessary, we get Galadriel x Gandalf for whatever reason, a Beorn chase scene, a random trip to Angmar that leads nowhere, Elijah Wood because, hey guys, do you remember LOTR? We get Radagast with poop on his head because we need to tell the people the forest is dying and something bad is coming because lotr, remember? We need Sauron in here because…wait a minute these movies try to be prequels to Lord of the Rings??

It doesn’t work like this. The Hobbit is episodic and not related to Lord of the Rings plotwise. Yes, Bilbo finds the ring but that is that. Help, the ring is actually evil is the only thing that connects these two stories. Nothing more.

But now, we have these three movies full of stuff that doesn’t make any sense, full of characters that stand for nothing, full of contradictions, full of — sorry — bullshit because we needed three movies and as much lotr in it as possible.

Why is Tauriel there? Why is Legolas here? The Necromancer was a plot device to separate Gandalf from the dwarves (which was important for dwarf/Bilbo bonding time) but now the Necromancer is Sauron? Why? Why?

There is more wrong with this trilogy (and don’t get me started on all the stuff regarding the production/New Zealand) and if you’re interested in that, you should watch Lindsay Ellis’ videos on YouTube. She’s an amazing writer and movie critic — a great inspiration— and sums up my thoughts on it pretty well.

But I hope this is somewhat understandable? As someone who grew up with the Lord of the Rings, I am very passionate about these movies and the nostalgia they give me. It is very sad that we ended up with something like this and not Guillermo’s version. Like…c’mon if I recall correctly, these movies came out in December which makes them perfect Academy material and the Academy loves Guillermo…win win for everybody, but no…

[noweakergirl]

I'm watching the second one and WHAT IS GOING ON 😭😭😭. Plus the pathetic jokes they aren't even funny (Kili's trouser joke/flirting? Wth is even that). Also they made the master of the lake town and the guy who works for him what like a greedy and stupid version of theoden + grima???

And who is this tauriel? Why does she seem to have an extra brain? Why are the elves so harsh and rude? Why did Thranduil not help even though he knew what Thorin was going for? He did not recognize him in the book and had him imprisoned cause he refused to tell him what he was doing in mirkwood! How are the orcs entering Thranduil's place?

And WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO MY BOY LEGOLAS 😭😭😭 WHY IS HE SOO ANGRY AND RUDE!! WHAT IS GOING ON 😭😭😭😭😭😭

And Thorin just seems to be getting worse and worse and worse. Also I feel as if I've been watching this movie for 5 hours even though it's only half done!

I also don't understand one thing. They are showing that Gandalf is going to the witch king's grave and that he was buried. Wasn't the Witch king still there though? He was responsible for killing two gondor kings? And rn during the events of hobbit gondor should have the rule of stewards right? Was the witch king buried ? Was he not still there? I don't understand?

Ok that's too big of a rant 😭 (but ngl I'm in hater mode rn only and only cause of this movie 🤣)

Also how are you doing bestie? 🤗💗

Legolas is sooooooo annoying in those movies, why did they make him so angry and jealous? :////// He is such a gentle and sweet soul in LOTR but noooo, let's create an imaginary love triangle and destroy Legolas!

"And who is this tauriel?" girl I wish I could tell 😭

I giggled at you questioning everything because ain't that a mood. I don't understand anything either 😬 although perhaps I should've re-watched those movies after I read LOTR for the first time because MAYBE some things would have made more sense to me? But seeing your reaction, apparently that's not the case and the movies are actually *that* strange.

I lowkey warned you the things are just starting to get interesting hddjdkkd the first movie is kinda the only sane one in that trilogy now that I think of it 😭 If I could cut the first few minutes of the first movie and the last few minutes of the third movie and smash them together, that'd be great.

"I feel as if I've been watching this movie for 5 hours even though it's only half done!" I KNOOOOOOOOOW 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 bestie, make sure to take breaks between the scenes for your own sanity 🤣

(I am okay, thanks for asking, working on my thesis all day long + it's soooo hot right now, I can't wait for cooler weather. How are you <3)

[weep-for-the-night]

My Thoughts on Episode 1 of The Rings of Power

Okay, so I told myself I would never watch Rings of Power because I knew it would give me a headache but Amazon gave me a free Prime membership and I said, alright imma see if this is as good as some people I know say.

Mind you, I have read both The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion, which the latter half of the show covers.

After watching the episode I just have to say—what. The. Heck.

First, Galadriel as a character: Ignoring the fact that Galadriel came to Beleriand (not Middle Earth mind you) during the great rebellion of Feanor and his sons, traveled to Middle Earth, and settled down with her hubby and said screw y’all, didn’t get involved in the petty wars of men, oh, and was the apprentice of Melian the Maia and that was where she learned her ‘witchcraft’, and the fact that she had FOUR brothers instead of just one, her journey for revenge is…okay, I guess. I can see they put work into her character and everything. But it felt kind of like they were trying to make Eowyn an elf. I don’t know, she just gave Eowyn vibes. So at times it felt like they were trying too hard.

Elrond: I can’t say I like Elrond’s character all that much since he feels like he was just put in there to be Galadriel’s opposition. Also it weirds me out a little that they’re besties because Elrond should be much younger than he is portrayed, Galadriel should be married by this point to Celeborn (justice for my man Celeborn, he keeps getting swept under the rug) and Elrond later marries GALADRIEL’S DAUGHTER. It makes it almost seem like a Jacob/Renesme kinda situation. I don’t like it. At all.

Gil-galad: he’s okay. I appreciate that they kind of turned things around and instead of him being super shallow and saying yeah no, the evil is passed we’re good, he acknowledges that it is in fact still active and he just wants his homeboys to stay out of it. But gosh, his costume is ugly. It kinda looks like a cheap toga someone wanted to try and make fantasy for a friend’s fairy-themed birthday party. I don’t know I just feel like they did him dirty with that.

The hobbits: I didn’t think I’d like them, but they turned out to be pretty much the only ones I like, representation wise. The almost being one with nature is pretty cool since it gives them a sort of sophisticated tribal feel, since in The Hobbit onward they live underground and are still a tight-knit community who are wary of outsiders. I don’t think I recall them being large of feet though which is kinda their trademark but okay. I think the hobbits are easiest to play with since they’re not as important to the history of Middle Earth until TH and LotR.

Sauron’s mark: I feel like with this they were kind of trying too hard. It made the show feel like it was veering out of Tolkien’s world and into something more…video game ish. And speaking of video games, some of the visuals throw me off because they’re relying too heavily on CGI instead of more organic ways like they did in the LotR movies, so at times the visuals feel like they belong in a video game. I wasn’t a huge fan. But other shots were pretty cool.

Valinor: or more specifically, Galadriel’s return to Valinor. This for me was the weirdest part. In the books, Galadriel gives the impression of someone who is slow to anger, quick to listen, and hardly ever heeds the words of someone else. When she was in Middle Earth/Beleriand, she was sort of a queen of her own right. No one could tell her what to do but she wasn’t bull-headed about it, which is what made her such an imposing presence within the stories. But this moment, it didn’t feel like a beautiful, peaceful return to the undying lands, it felt like flying face first into a cult’s front gates. Like, Valinor is a land of beauty and rest, and y’all are presenting it as the home of weirdos. Also the ceremony of stripping them of their armor and garments felt…uncomfy. It was a bit of a fever dream and kind of sullied the image I had of what going to Valinor was like for Frodo and everyone. It could have been done better. A lot better.

The Southrons: the whole Southlands side plot kind of confused me. Also the fact that they’re saying they defeated Sauron and now he’s coming back? Expect Sauron wasn’t even a big bad until Margot’s was defeated by the Valar and dragged back to Valinor. Then Sauron came up with the idea of the rings and presented himself as Annatar the gift giver and duped all the elves except Gil-Galad and company into following him. If someone else remembers better than me, please explain this. I have the confusion.

Overall the hobbit are really the only characters I like. The rest of it feels like they’ve muddied the timelines and had to make Galadriel a warrior because they believe that being a witch/wise woman ruling over her own plot of land and not getting involved in the nonsense that is the stupid wars of elves and men isn’t good enough.

Feel free to argue my points. I’ll keep watching, but I doubt I’ll like it any better.

[dejjablu]

Hi! I’m a-random-nerd, you can call me Star if you want. Saw you reblogged that post about wanting more asks so that’s what this is :)

I followed you for lotr stuff, and I was wondering what you think about the differences between the book and movie versions of the Hobbit?

I personally have only read the book (multiple times) and I’m planning on watching the movies, but from what I’ve seen (in posts) they added in a fair bit of characterization of their own for the dwarves and especially Thorin. Does that line up with your experience or do you think the movies stay pretty true to the book character-wise?

I’m free to talk about lotr and especially the Hobbit anytime if that’s soemthing you would also like :) hope you’re having a good day!

hii Star!! im so happy you decided to send an ask, it brings me so much joy!

and oh gosh.. i could talk about this topic for HOURS. if i honestly had the talent to formulate my thoughts into a whole video essay i would... but i shall do my best!

so i have seen both the movies and read the book (am rereading and reading in my native language) and i think i truly love them equally! they have a special place in my heart now ever since i randomly decided to rewatch the movies a couple of years ago now.

there is of course a lot of controversy surrounding the hobbit trilogy which i think is not quite fair compaired to the lotr trilogy. again am no expert in storytelling or filmmaking for that matter but as a simple fan and viewer i too can judge of what i like about the adaptations. and you are correct! they put a lot of characterization for the dwarves to make them into more like their own individuals and have personality. they are all so lovable and they did a really great job with them.. and especially getting thorin's story and presence across very well. from hearing the stories and thoughts from the cast of the dwarves especially, you can feel how dedicated they were to the job of bringing their characters and this story to life.

now the big controversy and difference of these films being the changes in the story, adding in characters that were not there originally and pre-production being a bit of a mess with warner bros. some major differences in desolation of smaug the most i think... that legolas is there, theres a love story between tauriel and kíli, some differences with bilbo's encounter with smaug, also the more emphasis of the arkenstone. now i know its also controversal of all the cgi in the film compared to the lotr trilogy but honestly, it was in an era when cgi was the big thing to have in movies in the 2010's i believe. it does not excuse from being a bit too much cgi when there could of been some practial stuff instead maybe.

but the films for what they are i think are really fun and entertaining and i wont pretend they are...to me they are really good in their own way as a tolkien book adaptation. so my biggest problem with the controversy being people who claim all the problems with the hobbit dont hold the same towards the lotr trilogy, that i mean with story changes that would deem it "not a faithful adaptaion", to me lotr trilogy is not really a faithful adaptation if you look at it literally, its really good because its made well in its own way the best they thought they could make it... but does not mean its perfect. the hobbit isnt perfect either, but again, its really good for what they managed to make from interpreting the original book. there as also another thing of that the hobbit didnt need to be a trilogy but honestly, being the massive nerd i am, i want that.. give me more.

now i could talk about thorin FOR DAYS even but to summarise for those who have to read all of this. i love how they made thorin in the movies.. a little different maybe how he is in he book, the thing about making him about middle-aged instead hasnt bothered me. the actor, richard armitage who has quickly become a favourite of mine, put a lot of dedication to his role as thorin from having a personal connection to the book and it just warms my heart seeing that love and care for it, from the whole main cast really.. i love them dearly. i saw the movies when they came out in theatre when i was a pre-teen and i was blown away from seeing it.. and years later when i found my way back again and reading the book as well, can't do anyhing but love it. it is not a faithful book-to-film adaptation but i think its really great, its linear and as the original plot points.. if you just want a fun watch i believe the movies are great, if you ever want to discuss if you end up seeing the movies, dont hesitate to come around again!

im sorry if i strayed too much from main question and ive tried to summarise the best i can.. i shall add on if i remember more things i could bring up! hope this was something to read at least! <33

[novelmonger]

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 of the Tolkien 20 questions.

If you could be the Middle Earth race you would like to be, which would it be?

There's always been something about Numenor that I've really liked - in its glory days, not its decline. And yes, I consider that a different race than what I already am, because they were much more long-lived and robust than we are today.

2. If you were the Middle Earth race that your personality most matches, which would it be?

Hobbit. I like to stay at home, stick to my routines, and eat good food. No adventures, please. Makes you late for dinner.

3. When did you first come into contact with Tolkien's work? Who or what introduced you?

My dad is entirely to blame XD One time when I was six and my brother was eight, we'd just been on a long trip and were severely jetlagged to the point that we were getting up at 3 a.m. and such. So my dad, in a desperate attempt to bore us and get us to fall asleep, started reading The Hobbit to us. I'm sure he thought the language would be so far above our heads we wouldn't understand it, but his plan backfired, and we kept begging for him to read more, poor guy.

(Secretly, it did go way over my head, but I still liked it - and would rather listen to a book being read to me than lying in bed in the darkness. I walked away with no real understanding of what had happened - all I remembered were a bunch of dwarves that I imagined like the ones in Snow White, a spooky forest with black squirrels, and the impression that Hobbits were little anthropomorphic hedgehog things with waistcoats.)

Fast-forward a few years, and in 2001 my dad decided we were old enough for him to try reading LotR to us. I'm not sure if the impetus for that was that he'd heard they were making movies of it and he wanted us to read the book first, but the timing was impeccable. At the age of 10, I was much more able to grasp the language and the story (though I labored under the mistaken impression that Merry was a girl for an embarrassingly long time), and I liked it a lot.

But then we went to see the movie...and in those three hours, my life completely and irrevocably changed. I remember staggering out of the theatre, dazzled by the normal, everyday December sunlight, and wondering how everybody could just...carry on with their lives when such ineffable beauty existed in the world. As soon as we got home, I grabbed the copy of TTT we were reading together and ran off to my room to read it myself, because I could read so much faster. My life has never been the same since ^_^

4. What passage in Tolkien's books or in any of the films/shows/media speaks to you the most?

There are so many great passages, but the one that has always stood out clear and beautiful, like the star peeking out from the clouds over Mordor, is this passage from TTT:

Sam looked at him. The early daylight was only just creeping down into the shadows under the trees, but he saw his master's face very clearly, and his hands, too, lying at rest on the ground beside him. He was reminded suddenly of Frodo as he had lain, asleep in the house of Elrond, after his deadly wound. Then as he had kept watch Sam had noticed that at times a light seemed to be shining faintly within; but now the light was even clearer and stronger. Frodo's face was peaceful, the marks of fear and care had left it; but it looked old, old and beautiful, as if the chiselling of the shaping years was now revealed in many fine lines that had before been hidden, though the identity of the face had not changed. Not that Sam Gamgee put it that way to himself. He shook his head, as if finding words useless, and murmured: 'I love him. He's like that, and sometimes it shines through, somehow. But I love him, whether or no.'

5. Ruthlessly rank the main projects of the Tolkien universe (the Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Rings of Power, the Silmarillion). You can break Lord of the Rings into three books for additional chaos, if you like.

Oh, I'll do you one better and also rank all the adaptations I've seen too ;) Please understand that, though I'm splitting up the three installments of LotR, I only like one marginally more or less than the others. They're all amazing, and best taken as a whole.

The Two Towers (book)

The Return of the King (book)

The Fellowship of the Ring (book)

The Fellowship of the Ring (movie)

The Return of the King (movie)

The Two Towers (movie)

The Silmarillion

The Hobbit (book)

The Lord of the Rings (BBC radio drama)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

The Hobbit (animated movie)

The Lord of the Rings (animated movie)

Rings of Power does not belong on this list because it has nothing to do with Tolkien except what it has plundered and then trampled underfoot. Also I haven't technically seen it, just extensive reviews that expose every last flaw for the world to see.

Tolkien Twenty Questions

[wanderdreamer]

tagged by @johnbly !! eeee thank you!!

Favorite Color: can i be annoying? i’m gonna be annoying. uk that color of water in like the caribbean or hawaii or other tropical places like that? where it’s kinda like turquoise but the farther out you actually go on the water the richer it gets with layers and layers of deep blue and light blue and blue-green all combining? yeah that’s my favorite color.

Last Song: oh boy okay well the song i listen to like every day is “Didn’t I Do Well” by James Newton Howard so yes it is a movie score and yes i suppose it is the last song i listened to yet again i am not ashamed

Last Movie: currently in the middle of my lotr/hobbit autumnal rewatch but i did take a mini break and watched “Smilla’s Sense of Snow” when i was with my mother recently because she had been talking about how she wanted to see it again

Currently Watching: . . . look i mainly watch movies ok i’m not a big tv show person but like every six months or so my brain goes “feed me some episodic mindless viewing” and i end up watching some criminal procedure show. so yeah anyway we’re right in the thick of it now and i’m actively binging law & order (mike cutter i adore you)

Other Stuff I Watched This Year: like i said, not really a big tv person so if i do end up watching something it’s typically because of or with another person. so with that noted i watched a ton of those new paramount+ shows when i was with my father (1923, tulsa king, special ops: lioness, etc.) i caught up on ted lasso season 3 with my mother and my sister, caught up on shadow and bone season 2, i did rewatch all of flashpoint again (hello episodic viewing necessity), oh and the last of us!! so good!!

Shows I Dropped This Year: umm literally anything that ever came out on disney+. i started off watching some of them a couple years ago when they came out but there have just been *so many* and i just don’t have an interest in their stories so this year has been cold turkey on em all.

Currently Reading: i finished Persuasion and Price of Freedom not too long ago, so firstly that can help show my interest in varying genres, but now i’m kinda in between books and i need to find something good . . .

wow this turned into a great opportunity to just talk about myself eek. but i encourage all to do the same! anyone feel free to do this and in the meantime i’ll also tag @esta-elavaris @mostlikelytobeagainstcapitalism and @hollandorks if any of you are at all inclined:)

[bonniebird]

I'm going book shopping, do you have any recommendations? Could be old books or new I don't mind 📚🍂

Sure :D

The Inheritance Cycle (There's a new ne coming out in Nov v excited for it) The books are good. The movie is... ok for a dragon movie of it's time and the audio book is enjoyable as long as you overlook the weird girly voices for the female characters and that all the dragons are doing Batman impressions for some bizarre reason.

The first four TVD books (The other vampire diaries books are ghost written and there are also a bunch written to go with the show that don't fit with the OG books. They're all pretty good but the first fur are my fav)

The Hobbit and LOTR (obvs lol)

Dracula

Frankenstein

The complete wizard of OZ collection (I just finished this and it's SO long. It look like over 90 hours to finish.)

The game of thrones books are good

The Adrian Mole collection is good but it's a bit weird if you're not British it's a lot of British humour?

War of the worlds, The first men on the moon, The time machine, the invisible man, the island of dr moreau all by HG Wells. They're all good.

Homer Illiad & Odyssey are god if you're into mythology

Lovecraft's monsters (Specifically the one put together by Neil Gaiman (Or features him? I'm not 100% clear on that but is SO SO good. It's my go to audiobook. 100% recommend if you're into spooky horror/syfy) I can't find a picture that Tumblr will let me load in of the cover but there's a link to it on amazon here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lovecrafts-Monsters-Neil-Gaiman/dp/161696121X

The once and future king is ok but the modern version of it has had science and historical events added into it which is majorly jarring

The Sandman by Neil Gaiman

Sherlock Holmes, any of the books (the collection is like a billion pounds tho)

Anne of Green Gables. I just finished this and it was really great I heard there was more books after it which i'm going to look into so I would recommend the first one for sure.

Good Omens was a good read. (I say read but I listened to the audiobook on a trek across my town to get to the dr office lol. Kept me distracted.)

Neil Gaiman's Norse mythology collection was good too I liked the way that they were compiled the book was very easy to read.

The Narnia books are good. I like the one about the chair, to be honest I did find them a bit boring last time I read them but the chair one was good. The one about the nephew was really confusing as far as I remember.

Grimm brother Fairytale collections. there are a few different ones But the ones that say they're by the brother's have loads of different versions of the tales which is so fascinating to me and some of the copies of the book break down and explain the differences which I like because I'm a fairytale nerd.

The Jeeves collection is pretty enjoyable though I would recommend the Stephen Fry audiobook more than the book because he makes it a lot less boring.

the Witcher is good (Do not get the audio book of amazon the man does accents for all the characters and by the end of the book they all have the exact same accent and you can't tell whose who.)

There are for sure more I could recommend but I've started packing to move house and also for some reason I've forgotten all the other books i've ever read.

[ent-maiden]

Explore my bookshelf!

I was inspired by @warrioreowynofrohan

An estimate of how many physical books I own: By my guess, 150. I have some fiction but most of them are either field guides, poultry books or just old American Poultry Association and old American Bantam Association Yearbooks. And I have a few bibles and devotionals and stuff.

Favourite author: Tolkien! My favorite standalone book is The Hobbit and my favorite trilogy is LOTR (yes I am counting it as a trilogy because then I don't have to pick between them.) I never enjoyed the Silmarillon I'm afraid, there are no hobbits. I only read half of it. And equally, Cressida Cowell which is why I have a second HTTYD blog called common-or-garden-blog. The How To Train Your Dragon books are definitely my favorite series. I never got into the Wizards of Once. I'm sure the characters were great but I was already invested in the HTTYD trio so it was weird when I saw two characters that looked just like Hiccup and Camicazi but with their personalities swapped and the cognitive dissonance was just too much for me to get invested. I think I just struggle to not compare new media with the old.

A popular book I've never read and never intend to read: Twilight. *shrugs*

A popular book I thought was just meh: "Eragon." I read the whole 1st book of the series and more of the second and I still don't know why my uncle recommended it to me. I just thought it was bad writing.

Longest book I own: The Holy Bible. I am a proud Christian. It did take me a year but I have read all of it (okay I will be honest I did skim a lot of Leviticus though.)

Longest series I own all the books to: How To Train Your Dragon. Actually, that's the only series I own all the books to.

Prettiest book I own: I had a beautiful light blue leatherbound Bible with a flower on it but it got so worn out it can hardly be called the prettiest. Okay maybe it still can. The prettiest book I don't own is the anniversary edition The Hobbit that I got for my brother just so I could gaze at Tolkien's drawings.

A book or series I wish more people knew about: Apart from HTTYD which is something totally different from the movies and very underappreciated, I wish more people knew about The Great Turkey Walk by Kathlene Karr. It is an antebellum era historical fiction story with some characters you will love and root for disguised as a brisk, rollicking cattle turkey drive. I actually made fan art for it once and was super disappointed that there was literally no content for it on Tumblr at all like not even a mention. I'd say I'm biased because turkeys are my fav animal but 1. when I found out it existed I checked it out because it had turkeys only to discover it was a book that I had enjoyed in elementary school, I just totally forgot the turkeys were in it (even though they drove the plot.) I only remembered the other parts of the plot! 2. I gave it to my history teacher while we studied the antebellum in APUSH and she loved it.

For non-fiction, some recs are:

The Holy Bible seriously it's nonfiction fite me

Character Sketches Volume 1

Why Did The Chicken Cross the World sadly this is not a book that I own but I have read it twice. It's a fascinating examination of the history of chickens and how they spread all over the planet. (There are more chickens than humans, did you know that?

everything else is very specific to my little chicken and genetics obsession or a field guide, lol

Book I'm reading now: I've been trying to read Wheel of Time because a friend gave it to me. But it is chapter 11 or 12. At that point in The Fellowship we would be past Rivendale. In book 1 of this series (I don't even remember what it is called) we are traveling and have had 1 (one) event of interest happen so far. Also, I only tolerate the characters. Also this book is one of the biggest I've ever read and there are 12 more in the series. If I am ever to leave the stagnation and start reading again I need to give up.

Book that's been on my TBR list for a while but I still haven't got around to it: *looks at goodreads* ew those are the books I was interested in reading? No wonder I haven't read any they all look like they suck (except Catcher in the Rye, I actually read it and it was a real banger.) I guess Dealing With Dragons is a book on there that actually still looks appealing.

Do you have any books in a language other than English: I.. I've written a book short story in English and then translated and illustrated it into Spanish in a tiny sketchbook (and left the rest of the pages blank) does that count? (I would share the video but I don't want people to mock my Spanish I'm trying okay?)

Paperback, hardcover, or ebook? Hardback and softcover. I prefer hardcover since the ones that are softcover are looking a little worse for the wear. BUT to combat my worn out LOTR I bought a single edition hardcover because it was cheaper than 3 separate books but it turns out it is really hard and intimidating to read because it is so big and heavy so that was a fail.

[blindrapture]

okay I finished The Hobbit, finally

yeah there's a ton of charm in that book

takes a while to get going, and my favourite part is when Thorin is in the Mountain and changing to a cold king, that is a compelling bit of drama

the elves are also neat, but they're only neat to me now that I've read the Silmarillion and know their history; when I tried to read these books before reading that one, I was at a loss when trying to imagine, like, why I should give a shit, why I should believe the narrative's very overt "oh yeah the Elves are the Cool Guys, everyone agrees they are Cool." but now I agree they are cool! and compelling. the dwarves too.

cute book! neat adventure! Bilbo is better in the books than in the movies! I was pleasantly surprised, because I already liked him in the movies.

now that I have read the book and seen the movies, I can say, in my reasoned opinion, that I think the movies are darn good. they aren't so much an adaptation as they are a retelling, shifting the balance of focus from Book elements onto Movie elements, but I'm glad at the decisions the movies made! because, like, with the books, LotR is a sequel to the Hobbit! but with the movies, the Hobbit is a prequel to LotR! there is a difference there! the Hobbit movies are more about the LotR films than the Hobbit book is about the LotR book. the movies are more like Wagner's Ring opera in execution, a lot more, than the books. the movies are an operatic experience, it is entirely valid to view the movies as vehicles for the scores, with flashy theatrical imagery and concepts that are timed to the music. and the movies are perhaps best experienced a day at a time, much like the Ring saga!

..........I think the third Hobbit movie is the best one! first one is second place. second one is great the first time you watch it, tedious to rewatch. (I know all this because I recently got blu-rays of all three Extended Editions, and I watched Unexpected Journey on Day 1, then I watched Unexpected Journey again on Day 2, then Desolation of Smaug on Day 3, Desolation of Smaug again on Day 4, and Battle of Five Armies similarly got Days 5 and 6. I had already seen the non-extended versions before. Journey was kinda tedious on Day 1 but a riveting good time on Day 2. Smaug was tedious on both days. Five Armies, I was gripped both times.) this tier list also informs my big ol' reasoned opinion up there, as the third movie is very much the one that deviates most from the book, but instead it ends up as a freaking great End-Of-Trilogy movie.

what about the book? do I have detailed reasoned thoughts about the book? not really! it's a book for kids. what it did for the fantasy genre, I can never forgive. I have learned not to hold it against Tolkien, but dammit I will always be aware of it in the back of my mind. and I can enjoy his clear skill at writing pulp adventure prose, as his linguistic background allows him to weave it into a lovely little mythological England-AU-fanfic. but he was wrong about allegory. he probably went to the grave still wrong about it, and he has led generations of readers to follow him, all wrong about allegory. maybe the "allegory" he hated was a very specific kind that he had to put up with a lot in his time, but he didn't call it "a very specific kind of allegory," he just called it "allegory." and he was wrong to do that. because he was a brilliant writer of allegory, of the broadest not-specifically-retelling-Real-History-but-telling-of-Ideas-forming-a-Nation kind.

and I enjoy his books for that.

[spaceorphan18]

I really want to know who your favourite LOTR characters are! I saw an ask about Silmarillion that said you've already answered this before but I tried searching your blog and couldn't find it

Oh hello! Usually my tag is LOTR for this stuff, but I may have forgotten to tag things.

Anyway... my favorite LOTR Characters!

Bilbo Baggins

This is probably more due to the Hobbit, which I did read before LOTR. But I've always thought of him as my fictional kindred spirit. He's grumpy and tired and really wants to be left alone so he can write his book. And the only way you'll get him to do anything is show up with 13 dwarves and a wizard to kick him out the door.

Btw - Martin Freeman was a perfect casting for this role. I'm sad the Hobbit films weren't better ones, because Freeman embodies him perfectly.

Gandalf

Look, I love Wizards. Love. Them. Maybe it's the aesthetic? Maybe it's the idea of some old, frail looking dude being able to kick your butt with ancient magic? Maybe it's the fact that they're the ones who always know the mythology? I don't know. But one of the reasons I love LOTR is for the wizards, and Gandalf is one of the greatest. Plus, he's grumpy and too old for this shit and really would rather just sit back and enjoy the Hobbit nonsense if he could.

Also - another perfect casting choice here with Ian McKellen.

Pippin

I really love the Hobbits in general, but Pippin is my favorite. I think in both the book and the movies he gets some really great material - he's not as comical in the book, but he does bring levity to the story in both. Plus, his story arc showcases how someone so small can be beneficial to the overall story and he gets to hang out with Gandalf a ton.

Aragorn

I mean, look at this sexy dude. ;) I think this is one of those instances where the movies gave a lot more complexity to a character who was more of an archetype in the book. But I think I just kind of love the gruff, gritty guy who is actually an heir to royalty but really isn't in it for that trope.

Legolas

I'm really fond of the Elves in general - and their mythology is one of the hearts of the book. But in the movies, let's be real, it's mostly aesthetic. ;) Also - the fact that there are so many great memes. Lol

Frodo & Sam

Okay, I originally just had Sam on here - Sam is the literal heart of the whole story, and has one of the best arcs in the whole book. It's really his story, and I absolutely adore him.

I'm including Frodo here, though because in the movies, he and Sam have one of my favorite dynamics. In the books, Frodo and Sam have a very strictly master-companion relationship, it grows into a very strong bond, but there is that level of class that always stays between them. To make it more modern (and I'd say more American - but this is a New Zealand film) they eased up on the class stuff and made it a really strong friendship. I'd even go as far to say that this is perhaps the best 'romance' of the movies. (I don't even mean that in a sexual way - but that their love and connection is very deep and isn't played up for laughs in the same way as Merry and Pippin or Legolas and Gimli.)

Faramir

Honestly, I think he's a character I enjoy a lot in the movies, and maybe less so in the books. He doesn't have much of a personality in the books - and I'm okay with the movies trying to give him a better character arc. But idk, I've always liked him - maybe because he gets to pal around with Pippin while they're both stuck in Minas Tirith.

Eowyn

It's really sad that I only have one woman on this list but at least she gets to be badass and gets to do cool things.

****

In case you're wondering about some characters not on this list...

Merry - Poor Merry gets the shaft. But he is the weakest developed of the four main hobbits. His friendship with Pippin is great though.

Gimli - Okay, people don't hate me, I've never been all that into the Dwarven cultures. :/

Gollum - Look, I realize he's, like, the favorite of everyone, the most morally complex, and Andy Serkis should have gotten a damn Oscar for that role, but I just don't like him. Sorry.

Saruman - I really don't think he gets to do all that much in either book or movie. He has some interesting backstory stuff going on, but he's a little generic in the main story.

Boromir - Tolkien doesn't have a lot of morally gray characters in his books, so it's great when we get to see him. But for me, I'm meh on him even if I recognize that he is a good character.

Elrond and Galadriel - Both of whom have better stories elsewhere in Tolkien's mythology.

Arwen - Ug, she's not a character in the books, and barely a character in the films.

Sauron - You know, he's a great character in pre-third age related things. But he's used only as a dark menace here, so I feel, despite being the main antagonist, you don't get a full sense of him and he's not much of a character in LotR.

Okay, did I miss anyone? Despite there being a million characters in these books -- there really aren't that many characters that play an active role.