#and frodo never being the same after the ring

[sapphoismymuse]

don’t think about Bilbo never having a picture to remember Thorin, Kíli, and Fíli by

don’t think about Bilbo realizing, one day, decades later, that he can’t remember what they look like

don’t think about Bilbo writing down the story of The Company of Thorin Oakenshield in a last attempt to remember their voices and preserve their stories

don’t think about Bilbo getting stuck on memories he’s forgotten and writing to the rest of the company to ask them to fill in the blanks

don’t think about the dwarves realizing that they, too, are slowly forgetting the look of their smiles and the sound of their laughter

don’t think about Bilbo wiping his tears away as he describes Fíli and Kíli’s deaths

don’t think about Bilbo improvising dialogue he no longer remembers, and adding words that he wished he could’ve said if they had more time

don’t think about Frodo, confused why his uncle Bilbo spends day after day writing in his study, but won’t share the story yet

don’t think about Bilbo sharing the story with the company after his retirement, of them laughing and fond memories and holding each other through the sad ones

don’t think about Frodo living alone in Bag End, realizing why his uncle seemed so changed after he came home from his adventure

don’t think about Frodo coming home to the finished story after his own adventure, realizing why this story was so important to his uncle

don’t think about Frodo finally understanding how much Thorin had meant to Bilbo through his story

don’t think about Frodo spending months writing the story of his own adventure to cope with his own losses

don’t think about two hobbits, forever unchanged, leaving Middle Earth behind to remember them through their stories

[princessofgondor]

the lord of the rings characters + cuddling with them 🩷

Characters Included: Boromir, Faramir, Aragorn, Arwen, Éowyn, Éomer, Legolas, Frodo, Sam, Pippin, Merry

I decided I wanted to try doing some LOTR preferences! This is my first time writing for all of these characters besides Boromir so I’m still getting a handle on them. If anyone has any requests for preference posts they’d like to see, please send them my way and I’ll see what I can do!!

Author has only seen the movies, so please forgive any mistakes/inaccuracies!

Boromir is definitely pretty touch-starved, and after cuddling with you for the first time he’s very surprised how much he loves it. It becomes a common occurrence for the two of you, something he looks forward to — especially after a long day of training with his soldiers. He loves being the big spoon, and burying his face in your hair or your neck.

Faramir is a big cuddler for sure. You don’t even need to ask — as soon as you rest your head on his shoulder (when you’re sitting together) or on his chest (when you’re laying down together), he’s got his arms wrapped around you, holding you close. He gives you a lot of forehead kisses when you’re cuddling together.

Aragorn loves the moments where the two of you can just relax together, especially when things are getting stressful. He’s happy for the two of you to simply lay there in silence, holding each other, but if you need to talk about anything he’s always ready to listen.

Arwen has an incredibly calming presence, and cuddling with her can improve your mood no matter how bad you were feeling beforehand. She holds you close, whispering comforting words in your ear and pressing gentle kisses to your face and lips every so often.

Éowyn isn’t used to cuddling, but like Boromir she comes to really enjoy it. You make her feel peaceful and happy in a way that she’s never experienced before, and so she loves to be close to you as often as possible. She has a tendency to play with your hair, and she likes it when you do the same to her.

At first, Éomer tries to look tough and doesn’t admit how much he likes cuddling with you. But each time, it becomes increasingly obvious how much he loves it. Similar to Éowyn, he likes it when you play with his hair.

Legolas finds it adorable how much you love to cuddle with him, especially when you get cold. As an Elf he can’t feel the cold, but he can always tell that the temperature is dropping when you cuddle up to him. He’s perfectly happy to stay bundled up with you for as long as you need him there.

Frodo loves when the two of you cuddle up while reading a book together, though sometimes he gets distracted from the words on the page because he’s looking at you. If this is after the main events of LOTR, I could see your presence/touch being able to help Frodo heal from his traumatic experiences, at least somewhat.

Sam is incredibly affectionate, so he definitely loves cuddling. He’s a bit shy about it at first, getting a bit embarrassed and not knowing what he should be doing — like where should his arms/hands be? He doesn’t want to upset you or make you uncomfortable — but once he’s used to it, it’s his favourite thing in the world.

Pippin absolutely loves cuddling with you and he doesn’t care who knows it. Honestly, if he could spend his entire life cuddled up with you and some snacks then he’d be the happiest Hobbit who ever lived. It doesn’t matter where you are, if you’re near each other he’ll want to either have his arms around you or be resting against you.

I think that like Pippin, Merry loves cuddling, but he’s a little less likely to do it publicly. When it’s just the two of you however he loves nothing more than being close to you. He probably makes little jokes and lightly teases you for being so eager to cuddle with him, but it’s all very light-hearted and you know that he loves it too.

[metamorphesque]

I love dissecting Frodo's ("Lord of the Rings") personality and character arc through a Jungian lens, even if only as an amateur.

The One Ring, as an external object, represents the hidden darkness within all beings. It does not simply impose evil from the outside; rather, it reveals what already exists within, amplifying the ring bearer's deepest, often unconscious, desires for power, control, or survival. I see the Ring as both the Collective and the Personal Shadow in Jungian terms — a manifestation of the darkness that resides not only in individuals, but in all of Middle-earth.

By carrying the Ring, Frodo is in constant confrontation with his own Shadow — the hidden, darker aspects of the self, which Jung defines as "the thing a person has no wish to be". His journey, to me, is the psychological equivalent of undergoing Shadow work: he is forced to look into the abyss of his own nature, to confront his potential for greed, corruption, and even cruelty.

Unlike (my dear) Boromir, who denies his own susceptibility and is thus consumed by it, Frodo is well aware of his vulnerability. He knows what the Ring could turn him into, which is why he resists the temptation to use it. He has glimpsed the depths of his Shadow and understands its power. Because of this, he refuses to arm it. He knows that once he hands his Shadow a weapon, it may never let go. Thus, both in the books and in the movies, Frodo has not killed anyone. Professor Tolkien makes sure to remind us of it in "The Scouring of Shire".

Yet true individuation does not come from merely resisting the Shadow but from integrating it — acknowledging its presence without being ruled by it. This is the essence of Frodo’s transformation.

At the beginning of his journey, his understanding of morality is simplistic: good vs evil, deserving vs undeserving. He believes justice is about giving people what they “deserve". We can see this in "The Shadow of the Past" of "The Fellowship of the Ring".

'What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature, when he had a chance!'

But as he carries the Ring (undergoes the shadow work), he realizes that the line between good and evil is not external — it runs through his own soul (subconscious).

By the time he returns to the Shire, he has changed in ways that make it impossible for him to reintegrate.

His final refusal to kill the ruffians and Saruman (in "The Scouring of Shire"), even after Saruman tries to stab him, shows the full "glory" of his transformation. He could act in anger, but he knows that doing so would only feed the very Shadow he has spent so long confronting. He has seen the full potential of The Shadow (both collective and his own), and thus, he does not wish to "entertain" it but arming it.

‘All the same,’ said Frodo to all those who stood near, ‘I wish for no killing; not even of the ruffians, unless it must be done, to prevent them from hurting hobbits.’

But even as Saruman passed close to Frodo a knife flashed in his hand, and he stabbed swiftly. The blade turned on the hidden mail-coat and snapped. A dozen hobbits, led by Sam, leaped forward with a cry and flung the villain to the ground. Sam drew his sword. ‘No, Sam!’ said Frodo. ‘Do not kill him even now. For he has not hurt me. And in any case I do not wish him to be slain in this evil mood. He was great once, of a noble kind that we should not dare to raise our hands against. He is fallen, and his cure is beyond us; but I would still spare him, in the hope that he may find it.’ Saruman rose to his feet, and stared at Frodo. There was a strange look in his eyes of mingled wonder and respect and hatred. ‘You have grown, Halfling,’ he said. ‘Yes, you have grown very much. You are wise, and cruel. You have robbed my revenge of sweetness, and now I must go hence in bitterness, in debt to your mercy. I hate it and you! Well, I go and I will trouble you no more. But do not expect me to wish you health and long life. You will have neither. But that is not my doing. I merely foretell.’ "The Scouring of the Shire", "The Return of the King"

Frodo has ventured deeper into himself than most ever will, and though he has integrated his Shadow, the wounds remain. This is why he cannot stay — his journey has taken him beyond what the Shire represents.

Jungian individuation is the process of becoming a whole, integrated self — embracing both the conscious and unconscious aspects of one’s being. Frodo reaches this stage, but at a cost: wholeness does not mean happiness. His burden has re-shaped and changed him irrevocably, and though he has gained wisdom and knowledge of his "full" self, he has lost the ability to live as he once did.

[bikananjarrus]

thinking about how frodo probably had an idea of his fate (or at least that he might be forever changed by this experience, if he didn’t already think about how he might not be coming back) from the moment he said “what must i do” back in the shire after gandalf explains about the ring.

when he and sam see the elves in the forest, making their way to the docks to sail west, “never to return,” sam says “i don’t know why…it makes me sad.” And frodo doesn’t say anything. he’s the one telling sam that the elves will never return, and he just watches them silently.

and then in rivendell, sam is packing to go home, and frodo teases him saying that he thought sam wanted to see the elves more than anything else. which sam insists he does, he did. But now he’s ready to go. and frodo agrees: “i am ready to go home.” but his tone isn’t very convincing. and this is after teasing sam about wanting to cut their adventure short, about wanting to go home already. already i think frodo knows that even if/when they go home, he won’t be the same (physically, already, he’s changed because of the stab wound from the morgul blade).

and then the penultimate moment, seeing everyone fighting at the council over who will take the ring to mordor, and he knows. he knows he must be the one to take this burden on, even though, looking around at the other members of the council, he must surely be thinking he’s not the best person for the job. he’s not a warrior. he’s not a wizard. he’s not the most cunning or experienced person there. nevermind him being a small hobbit in a very large world against even larger foes.

he doesn’t even know how to start this journey. but he asked at the beginning of it all, what must i do. he accepted the responsibility with barely a second thought for himself. what must i do shifts to a i will do what i must. (“i know what I must do. it’s just that…i’m afraid to do it.”) i will do what i was tasked to do, what I volunteered to do, though i know i will not be the same by the end of it.

and so he says, “i will take the ring to mordor. though…i do not know the way.”

[maenefa]

This kind of Denethor discourse is so frustrating to me that I am literally pacing back and forth like a panther in a zoo enclosure. Ugggggggghhhhh

A lot of people will tell you that the moral of The Lord of the Rings is “never lose hope,” and that Denethor is bad because he loses hope.

Please read THIS and THIS and especially THIS, which is one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking meditations on LotR you’ll ever read. Tolkien’s ideas about hope are so much more radical than “hope good despair bad.”

Denethor—Tolkien’s Denethor, not Peter Jackson’s Denethor—is unsettling because he tries to hope, but his hope isn’t strong enough to save him. Here are his thoughts on hope, just a few days before his death:

The time will not be long. In what is left, let all who fight the Enemy in their fashion be at one, and keep hope while they may, and after hope still the hardihood to die free.

Denethor has a more “realist” worldview than Gandalf or Faramir, but he’s not a nihilist. He’s still hanging onto hope even though he’s grieving Boromir and he’s positive that Frodo is going to be captured by Sauron. He only breaks when Faramir is mortally wounded and he sees the black ships in the palantir. And I don’t mean he gives up, I mean his mind snaps:

And as [Pippin] watched, it seemed to him that Denethor grew old before his eyes, as if something had snapped in his proud will, and his stern mind was overthrown.

Tolkien repeatedly uses language like “madness,” “madman,” “he is not himself” and “his mind was overthrown.” It’s not subtle!

Denethor is having a psychotic episode. His culpability is reduced, either partially or totally; we can’t know for certain. But I don’t think that everything he says and does in his last moments is “the real Denethor.”

We can do our best and try to have hope, but sometimes life crushes us. How are we supposed to live with the knowledge that this can happen?

Tolkien was haunted by the idea of heroes who fail, heroes who are crushed by their burdens:

Frodo indeed 'failed' as a hero, as conceived by simple minds: he did not endure to the end; he gave in, ratted. (Letter 246)

….I think it can be observed in history and experience that some individuals seem to be placed in 'sacrificial' positions: situations or tasks that for perfection of solution demand powers beyond their utmost limits, even beyond all possible limits for an incarnate creature in a physical world – in which a body may be destroyed, or so maimed that it affects the mind and will. Judgement upon any such case should then depend on the motives and disposition with which he started out, and should weigh his actions against the utmost possibility of his powers, all along the road to whatever proved the breaking-point. (Letter 246)

Tolkien himself tended to judge Denethor harshly, but the character fits very well into the same template as Frodo: a “sacrificial” person who is pushed beyond his limits. The palantir aged him and weakened his mental health, but what truly pushed him over the edge was the wounding of Faramir: Tolkien says that Denethor “maintained the integrity of his personality until the final blow of the (apparently) mortal wound of his only surviving son.”

It’s easy to judge Denethor for using the palantir (although Tolkien said that he had the right to use it and Gandalf admitted that the palantir’s knowledge had often proved useful!) but what should Denethor have done differently regarding sending Faramir into battle? We know that the defense of Osgiliath was necessary because Tolkien had the Rohirrim arrive at the exact moment the Witch King is about to ride through the gate of Minas Tirith. If Faramir hadn’t delayed Mordor’s army, the Rohirrim would have showed up to a conquered city.

Denethor believed that it was necessary to send Faramir to Osgiliath… and he was right! But the pain of being responsible for Faramir’s death was too great for him to bear. You can say that his craving for information killed him, but it’s just as accurate to say that his love for Faramir killed him.

Gandalf tells Denethor’s servants that they were “caught in a net of warring duties,” and this is also true of Denethor. His duty as a father conflicts with his duty as the leader of Gondor, and the strain destroys him.

It may be true that Denethor’s need for control is a character flaw, but I wonder about his final use of the palantir. His son appears to be dying: why does he leave his side to go look in the palantir? I actually think this was a hopeful act: Denethor was hoping to see the Rohirrim, or some kind of good news about the war, some indication that Faramir’s death would not be in vain. But the palantir shows him that he sent his son to die for nothing.

It’s the tragedy of Denethor lamenting “I sent my son forth, unthanked, unblessed, out into needless peril” and dying before he can learn that the battle wasn’t needless… you can’t reduce this tragedy to a morality play!

Okay, I can’t deny that the palantir is a very topical analogy for the internet/smartphones/the tyranny of “data” in general.

But Denethor is so much more than a blackpilled internet doomer, and I will defend him forever.

[warrioreowynofrohan]

A bit of a theory that I’ve struck on while rereading the start of FOTR. I think there’s something guarding Rivendell besides the Bruinen. I think Elrond has taken a leaf out of Melian’s book.

There are some hints that the distance to Rivendell varies depending on who you are. Frodo starts approaching the Ford in late afternoon; he is in desperate need of healing, and is brought to Rivendell midway into that same night.

In The Hobbit, in contrast, the dwarves and Bilbo cross the Ford of Bruinen in the morning, and the sun is down by the time they reach Rivendell. There’s lot of references to the journey being longer than Bilbo would expect:

They came on unexpected valleys, narrow with steep sides, that opened suddenly at their feet, and then looked down surprised to see trees below them and running water at the bottom. There were gullies that they could almost leap over, but very deep with waterfalls in them. There were dark ravines that one could neither jump over or climb into. There were bogs, some of them green pleasant places to look at, with flowers growing bright and tall; but a pony that walked there with a pack on its back would never have come out again. It was indeed a mich wider land from the ford to the mountains than you would ever have guessed. Bilbo was astonished.

Then there’s Aragorn’s line when Merry asks him how far it is to Rivendell:

“I don’t know if the Road has ever been measured in miles beyond The Forsaken Inn, a day’s journey east of Bree. Some say it is far, and others say otherwise. It is a strange road, and folk are glad to meet their journey’s end, whether the time is long or short. But I know how long it would take me on my own feet, with fair weather and no ill fortune: twelve days from here to the Ford of Bruinen.”

(By the way, it always amazes me, now I’ve noticed it, that the hobbits manage this journey - which Aragorn says would take him 12 days on the Road, with “fair weather and no ill fortune,” in only 14 days with Frodo severely injured, travelling mainly off the Road, and with some bad weather and wrong directions. Some of that’s due to the extremely fast pace Glorfindel sets for the last twoand a half days, but it’s incredibly impressive.)

If anyone should know the distance from Bree to Rivendell, it should be Aragorn, a Ranger of the North fostered in Rivendell, who has probably covered that journey dozens to hundreds of times. And the Road is fairly straight; it shouldn’t be hard for travellers to keep track of the general distance. And also, Aragorn only gives the distance to the Ford, not to Rivendell itself. What if the distance and difficulty of the Road from the Ford to Rivendell varies, based on how well a guest is known. Frodo is the Ring-bearer, in desperate need; he makes it there fast. Thorin & Company are vouched for by Gandalf, but are largely an unknown quantity; it takes them the better part of a day. Someone with hostile intentions might never find Rivendell at all, even after days of wanderings.

[erulasse23]

Frodo & PTSD: Healing

At the end of Frodo’s journey, he is left feeling isolated, alone, and without joy. It says in “The Grey Havens” that he withdrew from Shire life. When he becomes “ill” on the anniversary of being stabbed (by the Nazgul and Shelob), he hides it from Sam and says nothing. We know that his self-concept has been irreversibly changed. He set out from the Shire as a kind gentle-hobbit, with the idea of adventure being exciting and fun, only to be confronted with suffering, the reality of evil, and his own perceived failures. 

In the end, he cannot conceive of a life outside of his trauma and how he has been changed by his journey. He decides to sail to Valinor. Now what is interesting is that while the fandom (at least recently) has interpreted this as Frodo going to find healing in Valinor since he could not in Middle Earth, Tolkien never says that he is going for the purpose of healing. Rather, you get the impression that he has given up on healing. That his wounds are too deep and his joy too far lost. Sailing does indeed mark an end to his suffering, but not necessarily because he has healed. 

I want to interject a bit of historical context here. While Tolkien was writing the Lord of the Rings, post World War II, research on mental health was lightyears behind where it is today. The diagnosis of PTSD would not be added to the DSM until 1980, after wide study in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. In Tolkien’s time, it was called “battle fatigue” or “combat stress reaction”. Treatments ranged from electroshock therapy, to sedatives, to psychotherapy. The field of psychotherapy was a bit chaotic then, with the emergence of several new styles such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), still widely practiced today. 

The problem with these treatments, including CBT, is that they do not address the actual cause of PTSD. As previously discussed, PTSD occurs when the body’s stress response is overwhelmed and becomes “stuck”. CBT aims to change our rational thoughts and ideas, which then change the resultant emotions. This is a “top-down” approach. People who have experienced trauma do not necessarily respond to this because symptoms don’t come from a thought or belief from our rational brain, they come from our subconscious brain being stuck in crisis mode. Therefore, a “bottom-up” approach works much better.

Currently, some of the most-recommended treatments for PTSD include DBT (dialectical behavior therapy), EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing), and neurofeedback therapy, all aiming to create a sense of physical sensation of safety, allow for traumatic memories to be processed appropriately, and to “unstick” our brains. A sense of community and mindfulness, fully inhabiting our bodies but not being alone in them, is essential to recovery. 

So let’s compare Frodo to Eowyn. Eowyn also suffers a grievous blow from the Witch-King himself and is left afterwards with the same symptoms: despair, dark dreams, and she is cold and pale. The difference between the two, however, is that, “Her malady begins far back before this day,” as Aragon says. Eowyn, for a variety of reasons (that’s a whole other post if we’re going to discuss her trauma), rode out with the feeling that her only purpose was to die in battle. She says that she does not want healing, she only wishes to return to the battle and die. Her injury and the Black Shadow of the Nazgul are not a new experience for her, they do not change her self-conception. They only make her more determined. 

Healing for Eowyn begins when Faramir takes the time to listen to her and validate her feelings. He does not tell her she is wrong, or attempt to change her belief. He sits with her, and eventually, he explains that he loves her for herself, fully separate from her trauma or depression and regardless of what emotions she is feeling. He enables her to see that she is more than her grief. He shows her a life where she is not alone and where she may feel happy again, and she allows herself feel that happiness rather than clinging to death. Her character evolution is almost an inverse of Frodo's in this way.

Now this is not at all a criticism of Sam (I love that hobbit to death!!) but Sam does not provide this same sense of community to Frodo. Sam loves Frodo, but his attention is divided between Frodo and Rosie (and the regular Shire goings-on). Sam struggles to understand why Frodo cannot enjoy the Shire as he once did, and he isn’t able to offer the same sort of validation. But I think Sam is the reason that Frodo stayed as long as he did, and the reason that Frodo was able to complete his quest. And I like to think that once Sam arrived in Valinor, he was reunited with a Frodo who, while not the hobbit he was before the Fellowship, has regained a sense of joy and togetherness. 

If you want more information about any of the topics that I briefly touched on here, let me know! I’m always happy to yap about my interests :)

Part One | Part Two

[jewishrat420]

Eddie realizes he's a boy when he's thirteen.

And it's not magical, nor is it mundane, nor is it anything else that the pamphlet he found in the back of the record shop told him it might be.

It just kind of... happens. A few times.

First, he's in the shower.

He's scrubbing himself down with the loofah Wayne bought him, and it tickles and itches and rubs him in all the wrong ways, but he uses it because Wayne spent money on it.

It feels the worst when he scrubs over his chest, but it also kind of feels good.

Feels like he's washing a part of himself away that's unclean. Scrubbing and scrubbing until the skin is raw and red, hoping and praying that it too will come off with the water, drip down the drain with all the other dirty parts of himself.

It doesn't, and so he forgets.

Until his twelfth birthday.

Because there are pink candles on the cake.

There are pink candles on the cake.

And he doesn't know why, and he won't know why until another year after this, but he cries.

He cries until his throat burns and his skin sings with defiance at the feeling of traitorous tears turning his cheeks flushed and blotchy. He cries because it hurts.

He cries because the candles on the cake are pink, and the last birthday party he went to (back in third grade, before his class realized he was a parentless freak) boasted blue candles. Blue for a boy.

He doesn't know why, but he finds himself nauseous at the sight of his own.

Pink. For a girl.

And he doesn't get it, doesn't put two and two together, but he can't stand the sight of them.

He throws the cake to the ground and storms to his room.

And somehow, even though he should be, Wayne isn't mad at him.

He just lets Eddie be for a few hours, and then he returns with a can of soda (even though Eddie's rarely allowed to have any) and a new copy of Lord of the Rings, and he sits at the edge of the bed and says nothing.

Eddie sniffles. Wipes his nose with his sleeve. Apologizes for ruining the cake.

Wayne brushes him off. "I'll do it right next year."

Eddie doesn't know what he means.

(The following year, when Wayne comes out with blue candles on a blue cake, he understands.)

Either way, the realization is neither magical nor mundane. It's not special and it's not not special. It just is.

It goes like this:

He's reading that same copy of Lord of the Rings, sitting in the same bed, wearing the same clothes, and he thinks that he'd like to be like Frodo.

Or Sam.

Or Aragorn.

And he doesn't quite know why, and it doesn't quite matter. He just sits there, and sips at his soda (that he grabbed from the cabinet himself, because Wayne let him), and thinks that he'd like to cut his hair.

(Later, he'll realize that he prefers it long.)

He starts wearing his t-shirts baggier, and his shorts longer. Throws away all the skirts and dresses that never fit him quite right, then later finds some that do.

It's not mundane, and it's not magical. It just kind of is.

Eddie realizes that he's a boy the same way that he realizes he's been breathing his entire life. Constantly, and without effort.

And so he continues on, being a boy and breathing, in that very same way.

He sips his soda, and reads his books, and feels a little sick when he sees the color pink.

Feels better, though, knowing that he belongs to blue.

-

original thread

[henry-fox-biggest-stan]

Lotr and stranger things: Masterpost

I also mention dnd when it’s relevant to the lotr parallels.

(You can read this with absolutely no knowledge on lotr or dnd don’t worry)

@somewiseoutthere @itwasaseven7 @beomgyubestie @thy-lovelylionheart @itachisnipplesharingan <3

The thing is that stranger things isn’t a lotr retelling, so there are many parallels to several characters. It isn’t “oh, this character parallels ONLY this lotr character”, no, many characters have several parallels with several lotr characters. Let’s get to it.

Mike, the insecure hero.

Mike “it was the best thing I’ve ever done” Wheeler and Sam “it was the bravest thing he ever did” Gamgee. Many people also see Sam as a paladin (those with joy and whimsy and gayness in their hearts) (no but srs I’ve seen several people call him a paladin), even if he’s commonly known as a cleric. And guess who’s character is a paladin. And guess who is a cleric?

(Let’s focus on mike’s sheet rn).

From Worlds Turned Upside Down, official book. It has all the party’s dnd sheets, not their dnd character’s dnd sheets, but THEIR dnd sheet, as if they were dnd characters. This is not Mike’s character, but Mike Wheeler (you can see it, played by Finn, is a DM, etc). And would you look at that, he is a cleric.

In the Hawkins Middle School Yearbook there’s the boys’ characters’ dnd sheets. Take them with a grain of salt since idk if they’re canon, but it says that mike’s race is a halfling. Yeah ok.

Sam is also not the most confident person out there, always selling himself short and calling himself names, even tho he makes very good poetry and he literally fought against shelob and won. Sure he used frodo’s (bilbo’s) sword which is a cool, sharp sword, but like, shelob is a primordial being. That’s like Mike (with his 12 year old height) having a very cool sword and using it to fight all alone a grown size demogorgon (with absolutely no fighting experience, let alone sword wielding experience) who is inmortal and has existed since the beginning of time, and then winning.

Also the Frodo “dying” scene is kinda similar to s1? Like, Sam is trying to protect Frodo even tho Shelob already has poisoned him (Mike looking for Will even tho he’s already in the upside down) and when he was done with shelob he saw Frodo “dead”, and cried and decided to go and take the ring to mount doom, and then come back for Frodo (Mike seeing Will’s “body” at the quarry, going away crying in his bike and stopping the search, also smth smth mike jumping into the quarry, same place wills “body” was found, while Sam wanted to go back to Frodo’s body after destroying the ring and then not leave him, aka dying [This is an unpopular opinion, but I always thought that this scene: “It would not be worth while to leave his master for that [vengeance]. It would not bring him back. Nothing would. They had better both be dead together. And that too would be a lonely journey. He looked on the bright point of the sword” and “Good-bye, master, my dear!’ he murmured. ‘Forgive your Sam. He’ll come back to this spot when the job’s done – if he manages it. And then he’ll not leave you again.” obviously references Sam thinking about suicide (although he dismisses the idea quickly), since it’s not like we don’t see suicide in lotr (denethor), but not everyone seems to agree with this interpretation]), but then Sam overheard the orcs mention Frodo was alive, so he went back for him (El showing Mike that Will is still alive, and Mike beginning to look for him again).

Mike telling Will “I don’t know, maybe I feel like I lost you or something” vs Sam telling Frodo “I thought I’d lost you” in the fellowship of the ring movie.

Remember that scene of Mike waking up next to Will's bed in s2? And that scene of Mike sleeping next to Will's hospital bed also in s2? Sam was described as never leaving frodo's bedside when he was in rivendell, after having been stabbed by a morgul blade (and morgul blades have parallels with the mf/vecna...)

You could also argue that Mike trying (and failing) to carry Will at the hospital during s2 is a Sam parallel (Sam carrying Frodo to mount doom)

About byler and Sam and Frodo, there’s also a class difference in both relationships.

Dart parallels gollum (explained more below, where I talk about Dustin) and Mike’s behavior and opinion regarding dart is so similar to Sam’s over gollum.

Also Frodo? Mike’s parallels with Max, who ALSO parallels Frodo. Shelob wrapped frodo on her web. Mike has web imagery (amazing find by @mikesbasementbeets) (as does max and other characters that are in danger, trapped, etc. Smth smth henry and spiders, smth smth Max and Mike web imagery, smth smth falling into Henry's web, getting trapped, getting vecnad (Mike is so getting vecna’d idk what to tell you the evidence is just ABUNDANT). Shelob is female which also adds to all of mothergate, but whatever). Frodo “died”. This theory of mike temporarily dying in s5.

If we get a scene with mike getting vecnad choosing whether he should stay or he should go (s4 Dustin's voice: "get it?") and he's metaphorically dangling from the edge and the people outside vecna’s vision (specially will) are calling his name panicked and he has to chose whether to die (remember mike's horrible mental health and him stepping off the cliff in s1) or live and go forward, I'll go insane. Cause I'll be an obvious parallel to frodo literally dangling off the edge of a cliff in the return of the king movie with, on top of the cliff, Sam, offering his hand and a escape, a life. On the other, the ring, and flames, death. And he chooses life. Also the cliff scene in s1 mentioned before, also paralleled to this frodo scene, with Dustin/Sam telling him to "don't do it" (aka, "don't you let go"). But he does. He's saved, but he does. I guess it puts el (who saves him) in Sam's position aswell (it is Sam who pulls frodo forward so he doesn't fall). Having a scene like the one described before in s5 could be an awesome parallel, in s1 mike chooses death (for Dustin, but he also has some other personal reasons). In s5, mike chooses life. In s1, mike was willing to die for his friends (and cause he wants to). In s5 mike is willing to live for his friends (and because he wants to).

[poetic cinema]

Also Mike having his hero moment, probably with a sword since 1- his character is a paladin and 2- Sam hurts shelob with Frodo’s sword. @aemiron-main has lots of posts on this whole concept. Also smth smth Henry/Shelob parallels, and Sam hurts Shelob…

Also his post on mike/arwen parallels

Mike himself being a cleric makes me insane. Bro wants to be a knight so bad but he’s a healer. And this isn’t something bad. In fact clerics are pretty important because of their healing abilities (“you’re the heart!”). You can perfectly play without one, but it’s encouraged to have one just in case. Clerics also fight, they’re not just healers btw.

I think it may be a way to show than the person who mike actually is vs the person who mike wants to be are two completely different people. Smth smth insecurity and wrapped perception of self, smth smth thinks low of himself because he’s comparing himself to people that don’t make sense for him to compare himself to (fictional characters, El who literally has superpowers and has been raised as a weapon, Nancy who is older than him and had more practice with guns out of necessity, and also more years spent writing than him [he’s not “an ace reporter” like Louis lane, however who is an ace reporter? Nancy], anyway “you can’t judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree”), smth smth internalized homophobia, smth smth wants to be this cool, mature, adult guy (s3) but in order to be that he has to change himself. Whatever.

(Adding to this, Mike wants to be Lucas so bad, actually. Lucas is the opposite of Mike, he’s how heterosexuality is actually performed (genuinely and naturally), he’s the older sibling, Mike was very “we don’t wanna be popular” in s4, but it definitely bothered him that Lucas COULD be popular while knowing that if he tried he would fail, they even have that scene fighting over the same character in s2 (both wanna be venkman).

To prove this further, during the scene where Will destroys castle byers, we can see that the photo of the whole party that he stares at is inside a frame. A frame made out of ice cream sticks, so handmade. And in each stick, there's written the name of a member of the party. Will The Wise on top, on the left, Lucas the Knight, down, Dustin the Bard, and on the right, Mike the DM.

Lucas is a knight… aka a paladin…

Mike is not even a character but the DM… Why is Mike titled as a DM instead of his dnd class? Does he not play too? (Except he does because his character is a paladin. Unless he doesn't, and when he called himself a paladin in s2 while naming everyone's classes he was just naming what he thought his role in the party was - remember that one post? I can't find it but it basically said that Mike called himself a paladin and Will a cleric cause that's how he sees both of them. their relationship and role in the party)

It also makes us ask ourselves other questions like, why isn't Will "Will the Wizard" or "Will the Cleric" (since everyone else is named as their dnd role, not their characters name)? Or, why is Lucas a knight?

(Regina George's voice: so you agree, Mike is the DM and most important character and everyone else are just players? (manifestation theory). So you agree, Will is not titled with his dnd class because he DOES have powers irl? So you agree, Mike wants to be a paladin but it is Lucas who is the knight, aka, Mike wants to be Lucas?)

Anyway.

Will (with his own weight to carry).

Will is Frodo and the mind flayer is the one ring.

Frodo suffering the effects of the ring causing personality changes, thoughts that weren’t his own etc, and the same thing happening to Will while he was possessed. The movie scene where Frodo holds a sword against Sam’s throat, and Will choking Joyce. “As Will's connection with the Mind Flayer grew deeper, he started becoming more demoralized and scared” same with Frodo as the quest went on. Also if Frodo put on the ring, sauron would feel it, just like how Will was the spy. The mind flayer getting out of Will’s body thanks to heat, and the ring only being destroyed by casting it into the fires of Mordor. “I felt this evil like it was looking at me”, the eye of Sauron. Frodo getting attacked by shelob (huge immortal spider) (Sam thought he was dead), and Will getting possessed by the mind flayer (spider-shaped) (he almost died). Frodo was willing to sacrifice himself (he didn’t think he would make it to mount doom alive, and that if he did, that he wouldn’t come back. He expected to die during the quest and yet he continued), Will was willing to sacrifice himself (Morse code tapping: close gate. It’s not explained in canon, but I believe he knew it would kill him. Also, he was gonna sacrifice himself to close the gate, and the scene of El closing the gate in s2 is already paralleled to Frodo in mount doom (more below, where I talk about el), so Will (Frodo) was gonna sacrifice himself to close the gate (destroy the ring). Basically what happened in the books then). Also if the shed scene is a parallel to frodo at mount doom, well, frodo loses a finger there, a permanent injury, a constant reminder. When Nancy burns will with a hot iron rod (also, rod imagery) that definitely left a scar cmon now. Constant reminder of his possession. And we established that possession from the mind flayer = the ring and its effects, sooo

Frodo is also an almost Christ-like figure (specially considering Tolkien’s Catholicism). Christ who died for our sins (Frodo sacrificing everything and himself to save middle earth), who carried the cross in which he would be hung (Frodo carrying the ring, a great weight, and that destroyed him), unmarried, Jesus and his disciples (Frodo and the fellowship), mercy and forgiveness, etc etc. Where am I going with this? Will’s Jesus-coding.

Frodo is also a very tragic character, however he has a hopeful ending.

We technically meet him as a teenager (the day before his 33th birthday, which for hobbits is basically their 18th birthday), and then he is thrust unwillingly into a dangerous quest and becomes irrevocably changed. There is a big contrast with the Frodo from before (happy, normal hobbit) and the Frodo from after (very traumatized, cannot go back). Kinda resembles someone’s character story… And frodo also knew tragedy before everything (the death of his parents) just like Will also knew tragedy before the upside down (his fathers abuse, bullying). Hell, they even share a birthday (on different months). Both were born on the 22th.

Frodo endured so much and sacrificed so many parts of himself to save everyone, and yet he’s called weak and boring (by the fandom) for not engaging in many physical combats, and crying. Will endured so much and sacrificed so many parts of himself to save everyone, and yet he’s called weak and boring (by the fandom) for not engaging in many physical combats (and having his fight or flight response be freeze), and crying. I find both Frodo and Will some of the most compelling and interest characters from both lotr and stranger things. Also frodo lost a finger (physical representation of how much the quest changed him and how he won’t be going back to normal ever). This theory of Will losing a hand in s5 by @pinkeoni… Beren and Maedhros (characters from the silmarillion) also lost a hand. Beren is paralleled to Frodo (and Aragorn), who’s paralleled to Will. Lúthien (Beren’s wife) is paralleled to both Arwen and Sam, who are paralleled to Mike… Maedhros killed himself, Beren died but came back… This theory of Will dying but coming back… Also Frodo got stabbed by a morgul blade, and “though the knife's blade dissolved soon afterwards, a fragment remained within Frodo's wound, working its way toward his heart and threatening to turn Frodo into a wraith. Elrond was able to remove the shard and heal the wound, but each year on the anniversary of receiving the wound Frodo became seriously ill” vs Will feeling whatever he feels on his neck ever since the possession. (Also each year on the anniversary Frodo becomes ill vs “The anniversary of an event brings back traumatic memories” vs the attention brought to birthdays in lotr (specifically Frodo’s) vs birthdaygate…)

Will lost his memories as s2 went on, as the possession from the mind flayer went on. As the quest goes on, Frodo keeps on losing memories. He loses himself and his mind to the ring, and “as I lay in prison, Sam, I tried to remember the Brandywine, and Woody End, and The Water running through the mill at Hobbiton. But I can't see them now” / “Do you remember that bit of rabbit, Mr. Frodo?” he said, “And our place under the warm bank in Captain Faramir's country, the day I saw an oliphaunt?” “No, I am afraid not, Sam,” said Frodo. “At least, I know that such things happened, but I cannot see them. No taste of food, no feel of water, no sound of wind, no memory of tree or grass or flower, no image of moon or star are left to me”. Also smth smth memorygate (x, x). It is memories that help against Vecna, not having them makes you more vulnerable, a perfect victim. One of the reasons Frodo was so depressed during the quest is because he was slowly losing the memories of his life before, only seeing the ring and Mordor and fire.

Frodo got attacked by a morgul blade. Morgul blades are also a little paralleled to the mind flayer/vecna because of its effects. The wound caused Frodo to be super cold. He likes it cold. It also left a part of the blade inside him, which he had to get removed. Just like will beginning to feel whatever he feels on his neck after being possessed.

Also, talking about Frodo, you ever wondered what Frodo’s name means?

For a little linguistic context, Tolkien was even more crazy about languages than I am (if that’s even possible), and we know that he simply translated lotr which was written by Frodo and Sam in Adûni (Westron). Frodo’s real name is Maura, which in Westron means “wise”. Tolkien translated this name into Frodo, a proto-Germanic name, which is a real name people used, and that also means “wise”. Will the Wise.

Regarding dnd, Will’s character is a wizard and/or cleric (going back to that post of Mike calling Will a cleric cause that’s how he sees Will and his role in the party). Will himself (see character sheets above) is a magic-user. This is crazy to me tbh it just confirms the Will has powers theories (talking about Will with powers, Frodo might have also used magic, even if unknowingly…).

Looking at you, s5 episode 4 called Sorcerer that contains the baby byler flashback.

Talking about sorcerers, Gandalf (although described repeatedly as a wizard in lotr), by dnd standards, is a sorcerer. Same with Saruman and with Radagast (Will is paralleled to all three of them). Sorcerers are born with their magic, wizards learn it.

Clerics focus on healing although they also fight (and have magic powers), wizards and sorcerers have yknow magic powers. A magic-user is an umbrella term for anyone who uses magic, let it be a wizard, a cleric, a mage, a warlock (if we’re assigning classes to lotr characters, Frodo is commonly associated with warlocks. Warlocks are those who “strike a deal (sometimes unwillingly) with greater powers known as 'patrons' who grant them magical abilities” like Frodo getting the power of being invisible thanks to ring. Those patrons are usually evil. Depends on how you think will got his powers, if he had them since birth or got them thanks to the lab/the upside down, etc).

Will is either a wizard or sorcerer, or a light domain cleric, since he can use fireball. Will found a way to communicate with the lights in s1… However the party are level 3 (in all the character sheets I found) and (light domain) clerics can only use fireball from level 5 and up? So it makes more sense for him to be a wizard (or a sorcerer), who can use fireball since level 3.

I also find it funny that despite Will’s character being “Will the wise” he has the lowest wisdom points out of the whole party. Will’s armor class is also 7. It was a seven.

Will The Wise.

The duffers cannot keep getting away with this.

Who is labeled as The Wise in lotr? Saruman, and Will has saruman parallels (we’ll get there) but hold your horses, cause that’s not all of it. Gandalf is also called Gandalf the Wise, at least once (“For nearly thirty years he laboured in the cause against Sauron; and he became a friend of Gandalf the Wise, from whom he gained much wisdom”, the appendix about Aragorn and Arwen’s romance). And Gandalf died and came back, like Will, but he came back changed, no longer Gandalf the grey but Gandalf the white (having adapted the title of one of the spies of sauron). Kinda like how Will died but then came back changed (and kept having visions of the mind flayer…). Coming back to this theory of Will sacrificing himself to save everyone in s5 but then coming back to life…

Radagast, password to castle byers (so it has something to do with Will), and also one of the five maias sent to middle earth to defeat sauron. “Radagast lives at Rhosgobel on the western eaves of Mirkwood”. Mirkwood reference (we’ll get there there’s SO MUCH surrounding Mirkwood). Who lives near Mirkwood? (Mirkwood as in the road in st) Will, his house is like next to it.

“Radagast was unwittingly used by Saruman to lure Gandalf to his tower of Orthanc, where Gandalf was captured. Fortuitously, Radagast also helped rescue him by sending Gwaihir the eagle to Orthanc with news of the movements of Sauron's forces.” vs “Hopper becomes trapped in the tunnels and passes out. […] Will has a vision of Hopper, leading Joyce to recruit Bob's help to determine its meaning. Bob identifies Will's drawings as a map of Hawkins and the pumpkin field as the place Hopper was going. […] Joyce, Bob, Will, and Mike rescue Hopper,” so the same thing then. Will/Radagast saving Hopper/Gandalf.

“Radagast is "the friend of all birds and beasts,” Will *couldn’t bring himself to shot at a literal monster* *kindness personified* Byers.

Later, he get possessed, becoming the spy.

The spy. Saruman.

Saruman became a spy of Sauron. He used a palantir, a sphere used for communication, to communicate with Sauron (although the palantir does not transmit sound, only images and thoughts). Not unlike Will being able to “communicate” with the mind flayer, having vision of what it was doing and thoughts of what it was thinking.

“The master stones of north and south were able to 'eavesdrop' on such external conversations”, unlike Saruman who was a willing spy, Will wasn’t, the mind flayer was just spying back. “Eavesdropping” you could say, but it also saw what Will saw.

Saruman also called himself “Saruman of Many Colours” at one point. Saruman of Many Colours vs Will’s rainbow spaceship, in which he used all the colours he had.

All of these are wizards/sorcerers/whatever. We get it, duffers, Will has powers.

+ By the way, what about Rosie? Sam’s wife? Who is she? Well, certainly not El. Rosie is Sam’s childhood friend, a string of normalcy after all his adventures. Rosie represents home, and safety, and comfort, and the life he left behind (remember that for Tolkien adventures weren’t something to strive for, after all he lived during wwi, Frodo is irrevocably changed by his adventures, “I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend”). Rosie fell in love with him before knowing that he helped save middle-earth, aka, she fell in love with him when he was “nobody”, without knowing he was a hero. Reminds me of someone who doesn’t feel like a hero and is very insecure. Reminds me of their childhood best friend who is a string of normalcy, of the life they had before, who loved him before he was a hero and before he fought monsters, and fell in love with him, just him. I don’t know who, tho. Mike asking Will to be his friend was “the best thing I ever did”. Sam asking Rosie to be his wife was “the bravest thing he ever did”. Huh. Reminds me of “mike wants to be a hero like el / will wants to be a love interest like el”.

Also, this really caught my eye. “and it is not a dissimilar notion to hold Rosie and Frodo up as the anima and animus aspects of the same character”. I’ve read a theory about el as an anima of Will so when I saw this I was like no way. Do I believe that theory? Tbh no, just like I don’t believe Tolkien wrote Rosie and Frodo as the same character, but the fact that both characters can be interpreted in the same way, in different fandoms as a pure coincidence is so curious.

But despite all the character he parallels, he’s Frodo. He’s so frodo it hurts. If I had to assign a single lotr character to each st character, Will would be frodo.

El, the “mage”.

I see El as Gandalf. Sure they’re very different, but they’re also very similar. Gandalf, while helping the fellowship (and thorin’s company in the hobbit) in everything, also has his own adventures, goes away for a while to do something and then comes back. That’s something El does constantly. El is also described as a “mage” by Mike (who then describes Will as a cleric even tho his dnd character is a wizard but his class is magic user. But well). Gandalf is also the one who comes to get them out of trouble, for example, Gandalf kinda sacrifices himself (but then comes back) to defeat the Balrog, Gandalf is also who the hobbits and tbh everyone relies on to solve problems, Gandalf seems to always have the answer even if not always. Kinda like how El is the one doing the physical job (aka, closing the gate, fighting the monsters) and saving everyone, being a superhero. You can specially see this in s1 and s2, where in s1 El appears in the woods to help them find Will, then she leaves, and then comes back just in time to rescue Mike (who jumped of a cliff) and break troy’s arm (also how El never uses her powers against anyone who doesn’t deserve it but is able to use them for harm, while Gandalf never uses his powers against anyone who doesn’t deserve it but does threaten people with turning them into animals), and where in s2 she’s off doing her own thing, until she comes back just in time to close the gate. Same thing in s3 and s4, her off with max, and then her off in NINA.

Gandalf "died" while fighting the balrog to protect the fellowship. El also "died" while fighting the demogorgon to protect the party. They both came back, after everyone had already mourned them.

Gandalf is also of unsure origins. Very old, older that time itself, doesn’t really know where he came from etc. idk what you want me to say but Jane is NOT El those are two completely different girls (even Terry says so, “no”), so where exactly does El come from? There are many theories about that, but let’s leave it aside. Also, when Gandalf appears you know the characters are gonna get involved on an adventure (whether they want to or not), just like el’s appearance made the party get involved with the supernatural.

Gandalf ended up going to the grey havens after the destruction of sauron since he was only sent to middle earth to protect it from him. Many many theories regarding el’s potential ending… (some here, here, here and here)

Now to the silmarillion (i actually haven’t read it😔 I have a physical copy and I’ve started it but I can’t get into it😔)

Someone named Annatar arrived to a place called Eregion. In Eregion lives Celebrimbor, among other elves. Annatar seemed like an elf, and claimed to have been sent by the Valar (gods, basically) to share his wisdom and skill, specially on ring craft and jewelry. Not suspicious at all. Celebrimbor says “cool” and him and the smiths of Eregion followed Annatar’s guidance and instructions, and they created the rings of powers (which were like, a massive deal). Turns out that, surprise, Annatar was Sauron in disguise, who then went home and created the one ring to control all of middle earth. Yay.

Kinda like Henry tricking El, not telling her he was 001, being evil, and all that.

“Later Sauron reassumed his role as the Dark Lord and placed the One Ring on his finger, claiming dominion over all the Rings of Power and their bearers. Before this, Celebrimbor believed Sauron to be what he had claimed to be, but realising the truth he and the Elves of Eregion defied Sauron by withholding the other rings from him.”

When El notices the Henry is, well, evil and murdering everyone, vanishes him off to dimension x.

Celebrimbor died. He was killed by Sauron with many arrows. Ouch.

“far from joining Fëanor's rebellion, she opposed him in nearly everything.” Fëanor is a rebel, Galadriel opposed him in nearly everything. Fëanor and Henry parallels…

“And that she wished to leave Valinor and go to the vast world of Middle-earth, to give free rein there to her talents. She went for a time to live with her mother's relatives in Alqualondë.” El escaping the lab, going to visit her “mom” and Kali in s2. (You could even say her living with Mike on s1. Lukeandleiagate…)

Cool similarity I’ve seen, even if it wasn’t intentional. Éowyn, strong, badass, and complex female character, was supposed to die but Tolkien changed his mind. El, strong, badass, and complex female character, was supposed to die but the duffers changed their minds.

In the og script for ep1, El, instead of stealing fries from Benny’s, she sees the fries frying in the oil, the oil sputters, she is a bit scared and leave and finds a freezer. Opens it, it’s packed with fish (it wasn’t Benny’s burgers originally, but Benny’s fish ‘n fry). “She snatches up a DEEPWATER COD. So big that she can hardly hold it in her tiny hands. She turns it over onto its side, studies it, smells it. Has she never seen fish before? She bites its fat glistening belly and freezes again. Listening.” She hears someone coming, so she grabs as many fish as she can and runs.

Reminds me of gollum, and his affinity for fishes (and how he eats fishes just like el, by biting directly)

You have frodo getting stabbed by a morgul blade, and this leaving a shard of the blade inside his shoulder, which he needs to have removed. El being attacked by the flesh mind flayer in s3 and it leaving a piece of it inside her, which she needs to remove. El seeing hopper at the end of s4 is also a visual parallel to Frodo seeing Gandalf at the end of rotk.

Also, “In order to provide a distraction so Eleven and Hopper could safely reach the Gate, Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Max, and Steve went into the tunnels to burn them” (s2) reminds me of Aragorn and everyone distracting Sauron so that Frodo and Sam could destroy the ring.

Max (and life).

I can definitely see (s4) Max as Éowyn. Éowyn who was depressed and suicidal at the start of the story and takes part (willingly) in a war, wants to die in battle, killed the witch king, and then she collapsed for some time. Éomer finds her and thinks she’s dead but after she’s been brought to the houses of healing and is unconscious for some time, she wakes. She also chooses life, she becomes a healer rather than a warrior. “I will be a shieldmaiden no longer, nor vie with the great Riders, nor take joy only in the songs of slaying. I will be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren." Max wanting to die until she’s face to face with death, and suddenly she doesn’t want to anymore, she’s not ready. Max holding on to happy memories. Éowyn disguises herself as a man, Owens thinks that Max is a boy.

Éowyn was believed to be dead but then she wasn’t. Max died until El brought her back. Her brother Éomer has a scene in the movies hugging her body and crying and screaming cause he thinks she’s dead. So does Lucas.

Also reminds me a bit of sam and frodo, since the pose is the same (seriously, look at the position of Lucas’s arms vs Sam’s arms. Literally same pose). Talking about Sam and Frodo,

“Death” scene parallels. Except Frodo wasn’t dead, just completely paralyzed to the point that in the book it says Sam couldn’t even feel a heartbeat, but he was alive and woke up hours later. And then there’s Max who died but El brought her back (made her have a heartbeat again). Lucas thought she was dead during this, Sam thought Frodo was dead during this. Frodo in return of the king eventually woke up and they have a lovely reunion. Max in s5…

Max also has web imagery, just like frodo got wrapped in a web (smth smth henry and spiders, the mind flayer being spider-shaped, shelob, etc). And, during the fellowship of the ring, when they are at Weathertop, Frodo gets stabbed by a Morgul blade, causing temporal blindness.

As I mentioned before with Mike, the scene of her getting vecna’d (at the cemetery) and seeing a escape (a kind of metaphorical portal, her seeing her friends) and then having choose between death or life, and choosing life, feels so much like Frodo dangling from the cliff at mount doom in the movies, having to choose between let Sam pull him up (life) or follow the ring (death). It shows he’s not 100% corrupted by the ring, and that he still has people who care about him (that unlike gollum, he’s not too far gone), and that he cares about (just like Max’s memories are about her love for others, not the love others have for her. Frodo offers Sam his hand not because Sam wants him to live, but because he wants to live, and he loves Sam more than he loves the ring).

Also during the Frodo “death” scene, in the book, Sam is there and tries to save him but he’s too late, just like Lucas not saving Max in time because of Jason.

We also see that memories help against Vecna. Like Max’s running up that hill montage, it’s her memories of her love for others and good times that saved her. Without these memories, she would have died. Similar thing happens to Sam, in Mordor, he remembered old memories. “and now as once more the night of Mordor closed over them, through all his thoughts there came the memory of water; and every brook or stream or fount that he had ever seen, under green willow-shades or twinkling in the sun, danced and rippled for his torment behind the blindness of his eyes. He felt the cool mud about his toes as he paddled in the Pool at Bywater with Jolly Cotton and Tom and Nibs, and their sister Rosie”.

“Oh but she’s paralleled to Frodo, not Sam. And Frodo loses his memories” yeah and so might max in s5… However Frodo loses them because he’s so affected by the ring. The moment the ring is destroyed, he can see clearly again. I think same will happen to Max (and Will). If Vecna has their memories, when Vecna is defeated where will they go? Back to their rightful owners.

Théoden dies, and so does Billy, and we have a scene with both Éowyn and Max crying for them. This parallel I’m not so sure about, but worth mentioning.

Also a bit of Thorin? I mention later the Bilbo/Lucas parallels, and this makes Max Thorin. Thorin dies (actually dies), unlike max who is not really dead, but thorin starts The Hobbit not really knowing Bilbo and not being particularly close with him (like max at the beginning of s2 with Lucas), but over time they become friends and get closer (s2/s3 lumax), until thorin gets upset about Bilbo giving up the arkenstone because he was dealing with gold sickness and this makes them drift apart (max breaking up with Lucas because of her own mental health and them drifting apart in between s3-s4 and beginnings of s4), except that before Thorin dies, they make up, but it’s too late (lumax making up and Max beginning to let Lucas in again, except that before they can make their movie date happen, Vecna gets her).

Lucas, (the ranger)

I see a bit of Bilbo in Lucas. Not really any explanation for this one just vibes. Like, a character living a life away from adventure and danger and freaking out when this life is disturbed (the dwarfs arriving to bilbos house, them finding El in the woods), who is also very realistic and has common sense (telling mike to tell his mom about el and rightfully freaking out), has good strategy, and is very sarcastic. Also maybe Lucas’ s5 personal arc? Like, Bilbo was all nice and respectable before the adventure and fit in with the other hobbits (s4 Lucas “conformity” Sinclair), then during his adventure he saw horrors and someone he loved die (Thorin, whether you see it as romantic or platonic), and then when he came back he was just like who cares and was as a strange as he wanted to be, didn’t care about criticism and proudly called himself odd.

Lucas’ character is also a ranger. Rangers are inspired by Aragorn, who is literally referred to as “ranger” in the books several times. Aragorn is a man who loves his friends and those he cares about and kisses them on the forehead and has been in love with the same woman all his life and isn’t like aggressive or feels the need to be the leader/hero (despite being the one leading the group once Gandalf is gone). This does not mean he doesn’t know how to get his hands dirty, he knows, but he knows when to do it and when not to. Plus it’s not like he relies on violence every time, violence is like the last option, but he can defend himself and those he cares about perfectly well. Lucas is pretty much exactly like this, and he’s also the most traditionally masculine out of the party.

Idc if it’s not on the books, Arwen fighting at helm’s deep in the movie’s deleted scene is real in my heart, so you also have Aragorn as this typically masculine guy, strong and capable, with a wife who will absolutely kick your ass and his ego does not feel threatened by this in the slightest.

Elrond (Arwen’s dad) didn’t want his daughter to be with Aragorn because he was a mortal (not out of any prejudice against mortals, but because mortals, well, died, and elves didn’t, so Aragorn’s death would cause Arwen a lot of pain, and Arwen might also make the choice to turn mortal to be with him, which she did, and Elrond didn’t want this cause it would mean he would lose his daughter someday), but Aragorn married Arwen anyway. Billy (Max’s step-brother) didn’t want Max to date Lucas because he was black (out of racism). Aragorn and Arwen’s relationship was a bit complicated at first, cause of difference in species (?), and Lumax’s relationship was a bit complicated at first, cause of racism.

The samfrodo parallels I talked about just now? There’s another one. Lucas telling Max “I thought we lost you” in s4 is a parallel to Sam’s “I thought I’d lost you” to Frodo in the fellowship of the ring movie. And Lucas thought max was about to die on the running up that hill sequence (where he said the “I thought we lost you” line), to which max reassures him "I'm still here". Similar to Sam saving frodo from the tower of ungol, when minutes ago he thought frodo was dead, that he lost him. After saving him, frodo reassures him that he (Sam) found him now. And they took a moment to rest, in each other's arms, in "endless happiness". Same with lumax, they spend some seconds in each other's arms, resting.

Dustin, (never change)

I also see a bit of Bilbo in Dustin, a character who’s actually very smart and gets everyone out of trouble / figures stuff out, seriously very good plans (idc what you say the thing with the arkenstone was genius he almost stopped a war), very good talker (talking to Smaug, talking to gollum) (remember Dustin’s character is a bard), knows niche stuff?? Like Dustin being really into science and maths, probably knowing obscure dnd rules by heart, and then Bilbo knowing several languages and elvish poetry and all these things.

Also Dustin is a thief (see character sheets above). Not his character (who is a bard), but him. Bilbo is the designated burglar of the group. Also Bilbo is very himself yknow. After coming back from his adventure he’s just as strange as he pleases and doesn’t care what the rest of the shire thinks. Similar to Dustin who doesn’t conform to the rest of the world and is unapologetically himself. Bilbo has been called “queer” (meaning strange), “cracked”, etc for being himself without hiding. Just like Dustin is bullied.

Dustin acts as Sam every once in a while. With Mike on the cliff scene (mentioned before) and with his relationship with Eddie (mentioned below, where I talk about Eddie). But character-wise I don’t think he parallels Sam.

He also parallels Éowyn a bit. He’s Éowyn while Eddie is Théoden during Eddie’s death (see image below where I talk about Eddie), and you could also say that Éowyn having a little crush / admiration on Aragorn (who ended up married to Arwen) that didn’t go anywhere and they remained friends and then she married someone else (faramir) is similar to the whole Dustin/Lucas/max thing in s2. Dustin as Éowyn, Lucas as Arwen, and Max as Aragorn (+ éowyn developed a crush on aragorn after seeing him from the first time at rohan's castle. This is a man she hasn't seen before —so immediate attraction and curiosity, like s2 Dustin and Lucas towards max— and who is from the outside world and a fighter, just like how max is from California).

Dustin also lacks a romance plot. “He’s dating suzie” correct, but their relationship is entirely off-screen. They got together off-screen, and the only moments with them are the never ending story scene and Dustin calling Suzie at the start of s4, both of these long-distance. They mention each other, but they hardly have scenes together. Dustin’s plots are unrelated to romance, unlike the rest of the party’s. Mike’s almost constant romance plot (either with el or with will), Will’s s3 and s4 romance plot, lucas’ s2, s3, and s4 romance plot. With romance plot I mean than it’s important and related to their characters. They have other things going on, of course, but the romance takes plot time, it’s there, you can’t exactly take it away. With Mike, if you take away ALL romance there’s many scenes with him that disappear and lots of things about him we no longer know. Same with Will, and same with Lucas (but to a smaller degree). With Dustin, this doesn’t happen. Reminds me of Bilbo “confirmed bachelor” Baggins. And also Frodo (despite the fact that Frodo is gay asf). Good post about Dustin and romance here.

Bilbo and Frodo are extremely paralleled which makes Dustin have things in common with Frodo aswell (lack of a romance plot, takes pride in being odd, feeling pity for gollum).

Frodo barely has friends his own age. In the book, Sam is younger than him, and so are pippin and merry and fatty. He’s also friends with Gandalf, much older. He doesn’t have any friends his own age. Dustin has the party, but he’s also friends with Erica (younger) or Steve and Eddie (older).

Frodo doesn’t have a father (or mother) since his parents died. Dustin is the son of a single mom. Bilbo and Gandalf fill the role of Frodo’s paternal figure. Dustin being friends with so many older guys + the relationship the party (where everyone has absent dads except Lucas) had with mr Clarke might show a lack of father figure, and searching for one.

But if this doesn’t prove the Dustin/Frodo parallels (makes sense, these are a bit of a stretch), I realized they might be there with dart.

Dart

Dart is gollum. Only difference, dart saves Dustin & co and gollum betrays Frodo and Sam. But that’s because Dart had Dustin (took care of him) while gollum had Frodo (took care of him) + Sam (wanted to kill him). I’m not blaming Sam, but there’s a scene in the book where, after coming back from talking to shelob, gollum is super close to repenting and not betraying them, until Sam insults him after hurriedly waking up and unknowingly makes gollum go on with his plan. Smth smth kindness is rewarded. And we know stranger things is a show about friendship and kindness and nerds.

Let’s look at all the dart / lotr parallels.

Dustin grabbing dart while having no idea what dart is or where he came from. Bilbo grabbing a random ring he found while having no idea what it truly was. Dart being a demogorgon. That ring being the one ring. One difference though, Dart ends up saving them, and the one ring needs to be destroyed.

Dustin finds dart and decides to not kill him or throw him out, but take him in and take care of him, despite having no idea what he is. Bilbo finds gollum and, although he has the chance to kill him, decides to spare his life and run away. Will realizes dart looks like the slug he threw up but doesn’t tell anyone at first (“Why didn't you tell us before?” “I wasn't sure”). Frodo realizes gollum is following them but doesn’t tell anyone at first. When Mike finds out dart is from the upside down (which has hurt Will in the past, which has hurt them in the past) he wants to kill dart. When Sam finds out gollum is after the ring and wants to kill them, he’s 100% on board with killing him.

Frodo offers gollum his protection, and gollum begins trusting Frodo and being good and nice. Sam still doesn’t buy it and doesn’t understand the relationship Frodo has with gollum. Look at this exchange between Dustin and Mike in s2.

M: “Maybe he [dart] should be dead”

D: “how can you say that?”

M: “how can you not? He’s from the upside down!”

D: “Maybe, but even if he is, it doesn’t automatically mean that he’s bad”

M: “That’s like saying just because someone’s from the Death Star doesn’t make them bad”

D: “We have a bond”

M: “A bond? Just because he likes nougats?”

D: “No, because he trusts me!”

L: “He trusts you?”

D: “Yes! I promised I would take care of him”

Don’t tell me it’s not exactly what I explained above. Dustin is so extremely Frodo-coded in this scene. Also Dustin telling Mike to not hurt Dart, like the many times Frodo told Sam to be nice and not hurt Gollum. Mike’s “where'd you go, you little bastard?” while looking for Dart is so Sam aswell.

When Will finds Dart in the bathroom, he is gentle and tries to reassure him (but it doesn’t work out). Frodo keeps on talking with gollum and protecting him.

The scene in the tunnels where Dustin goes to talk to Dart is also similar to the scene in the books where the men find gollum and Frodo convinces them to not kill him, and to let him go talk to him, since he’ll listen to Frodo.

Dart allowes them to escape and basically saves their life. Gollum ends up being crucial to the destruction of the ring and basically saves Frodo. You see it. When they closed the gate, dart died. After the ring was destroyed, gollum died.

Nancy, who grew up too fast

(Look at this cute fanart of Nancy as Frodo and Robin as Sam)

Superficially, Nancy can be seen as Éowyn. Strong female characters who handles a weapon (sword / gun), and who are remembered by their scenes using said weapon, but who are actually much more complex that people give them credit for. Éowyn is depressed, and she feels stuck. She doesn’t want to be stuck in her life, doesn’t want to die without fighting, stuck in a castle, she wants to make her choice, and have autonomy. She doesn’t want to be like the women that came before her (which is not to say she doesn’t want to be a woman, she just wants to have the same freedom as a man). Nancy is also depressed, and she doesn’t want to be stuck in a loveless picket fence marriage, like her mother. Éowyn suffers from misogyny, so does Nancy. Éowyn ends up with mr nice guy Faramir. Nancy ends up with mr nice guy Jonathan.

Nancy is also similar to Frodo, but in a different way that will or max are. Theirs are more obvious parallels, while Nancy’s are a little more abstract. Frodo decided to take the ring to Mordor, was willing to face the challenge to do the right thing. That’s something Nancy would definitely do.

Nancy goes from normal carefree teenage girl to a traumatized woman with the burden of saving the world, a survivors guilt bigger than herself and the need to save everyone, no longer the same girl she was before. Same with Frodo!! He goes from a normal carefree hobbit to a traumatized hobbit with the burden of saving the world and guilt over claiming the ring at the last minute, no longer the hobbit he was before.

Nancy is also the leader, taking care of the kids, making the plans, shooting with her guns. Frodo is not the leader, but yknow what he is? Scared, normal, average, and also vital. Nancy is the same. Scared, normal, average, and very important. Nancy doesn’t have superpowers nor any kind of experience in battle or fights (like for example Hopper who is a war vet). And yet everyone turns to her. Just like how everyone counts on Frodo to destroy the ring so they can succeed in saving middle earth, everyone is always counting on Nancy, although neither Frodo nor Nancy have any kind of special ability or experience that makes them different to the others.

Nancy is also paralleled to Sam, believe it or not, specially since mike is Frodo. “What are you talking about? Their relationship is nothing like Sam and Frodo’s, the wheeler siblings are famously dysfunctional!” 100% agree, the wheeler siblings have everything but a perfect relationship, however there do is one singular scene (one. Seriously just one) that sets this parallel.

Vecna showing Nancy the future. What does that remind you of? Because I know what it reminds me of, and that is Galadriel showing Sam and Frodo the future through her mirror. Vecna showed Nancy glimpses, not the full picture, not the full scene, just tiny moments without context. Same thing Galadriel did to Sam and Frodo.

“Oh but why Sam? Nancy is already paralleled to Frodo” true again, except what did Frodo see in the mirror? The sea. That was his future, no one else’s, and it was a good future. He didn’t understand it yet, but Galadriel’s mirror showed him finding peace in the future (Frodo goes to Valinor at the end of rotk to find peace and healing).

What did the mirror show SAM, though? The scourning of the shire (Hawkins after Vecna won), his father being forced to leave the shire (whatever he saw happening to Karen and Holly), Frodo “dead” after being attacked by shelob (Mike — except Frodo wasn’t dead, and Sam didn’t interpret this vision correctly at first since he had no context. He thought Frodo was sleeping, and then when Frodo got attacked though “this is what the vision meant! He’s dead not asleep!” but both times he was wrong. I think the same will happen to Nancy, she might have seen mike “dead” but it will be something else), and him running to save Frodo (didn’t understand this one at first aswell). All the visions become true though, although they were different to what the characters guessed. Interested on the “creature with a gaping mouth”, will it be another incorrectly guessed vision, or will it be truly a creature with a gaping mouth?

When it comes to Nancy, saying “oh she’s similar to this character” is complicated, at least to me. Because Nancy is such a “her” character, she’s so herself, she’s one of her best female characters I’ve seen in media, super complex and interesting, despite the fandoms obsession with reducing her to a boring love triangle. The duffers said that they got inspired by the breakfast club for the creation of Nancy’s, Jonathan’s, and Steve’s characters, so it’s not like her lotr parallels are huge. In fact, maybe the duffers weren’t thinking about any of this and I’m overthinking. But anyway I just love Nancy.

Robin, “I cracked the code”

Robin gives me so so so many merry vibes. They are both even misinterpreted in the same way! People think merry is just haha dumb comedic relief, same with robin, but they are both super interesting characters!

Merry is so smart, like, genuinely, he knew about the ring (which Bilbo kept a secret to everyone but Frodo and Gandalf for YEARS AND YEARS) before anyone else, just by observing him. He’s the mastermind behind it all, he grabs pippin, Sam, and fatty and gets them to gather information about Frodo (who HE noticed was acting strange and might be about to leave the shire). He does all the planning to let them leave the shire as quickly and silently as they could. Merry focuses on the “speak friend and enter” part written above the doors of Moira. It is Gandalf who figures it out, but from the first second it’s merry who notices it above the rest of the text, and finds it weird. It’s thanks to merry pointing it out, that Gandalf begins thinking about it. Merry is super observant!! Just like Robin being the one to figure out music helps against Vecna, or cracking the Russian code or almost always being right.

Merry doesn’t want to be left behind in Rohan while his friends are fighting the war (steve and nancy going to the mothergate and leaving robin and Eddie alone on the boat) so he just sneaks with éowyn to the war even tho he’s super scared (robin diving right after nancy).

Strategy. Organized genius.

Rambling about the same topic for paragraphs. It’s literally canon that all that could be discovered about pipe-weed in antiquity was put together by him. Same with robin rambling. Both into “weird” things (like, robin knows several languages and is very into old films and old books and merry is into maps and boats, which hobbits aren’t usually interested in). Also both can be seen as neurodivergent (by those with eyes to see it). (Same with Frodo and Bilbo)

They have funny scenes, of course, but they have much more to them!

Erica, child soldier

I think erica might be similar pippin. “Erica would absolutely destroy pippin wdym” I mean yeah but think about it. This character who originally doesn’t really have much of a role and is just the family of one of our main characters (s2 Erica, pippin at the beginning of the fellowship) and who you could say is just there for laughs cause they’re funny, but who slowly gets a bigger role and becomes a member of the team and an important member too, helping to save the world. Also pippin is the youngest out of the fellowship, he’s not even an adult yet. Erica can amuse the viewer like pippin does (but in completely different ways, pippin by being “dumb” (again, he’s a literal teenager thrown into horrors he literally couldn’t imagine), erica by her amazing comebacks) but she’s also an important member of the team, just like pippin.

She’s not aware of the real danger until s4. I mean, in s3 she basically risked her life and her only condition was “free ice cream forever”. While stuck in the elevator, she says her mom will be mad at Steve and Robin for endangering her and making her miss her uncle’s birthday. It’s steve who brings her to reality, telling her that if they are killed in a Russian elevator, her mom wouldn’t find them anyway. Erica is taken aback by this, and for the first time, she’s beginning to see the actual danger.

She also has “dumb” funny moments that sound like something pippin could perfectly well say (like when she said they should drink the weird green liquid they found. Like obviously not erica wtf. Reminds me of movie!Pippin eating three lembas breads without even knowing what they were before eating them). But we also see later in the season her calculating maths in her head super fast and well, and Dustin lovingly calls her a nerd. We see that’s she’s smart! Pippin is also smart, people just don’t acknowledge it. Good pippin post.

Eddie, the hero

(Cute fanart of Eddie and Dustin as lotr characters)

Now, I’m not really into Eddie’s character, so if there are any more similarities that I’ve missed and a diehard fan noticed, please let me know. Eddie’s lotr parallels are so easy to see. Movie!Aragorn saying “for Frodo” and Eddie saying “this is for you, Chrissy” (which then puts Chrissy on Frodo’s position, Chrissy who got vecna’d. Mike/Chrissy parallels here, here, and here. Also Will/Chrissy parallels here).

Also the fact that all the characters paralleled to Frodo in one way or another (Chrissy, Max, Nancy, El) got vecna’d (about El, does mike’s monologue scene count as getting vecna’d? Even if not, she has scenes talking to him and such so I would add her aswell) makes me scared and excited for the other characters paralleled to Frodo (Will, Mike, and Dustin. Mike is so getting vecna’d, Will might already be in a trance by the end of s4, and Dustin is so getting vecna’d aswell).

Eddie saying “I say you’re asking me to follow you into Mordor, which, if I’m totally straight with you, I think is a really bad idea… but the shire, the shire is burning. So Mordor it is” vs Aragorn saying “I would have guided Frodo to Mordor and gone with him to the end” (or the movie version, “I would have gone with you to the end, into the very fires of Mordor”).

Eddie is also boromir. Boromir who died a hero, protecting pippin and merry (“the little ones”. While merry was an adult, pippin was a teenager, and they were technically more little (stature) than Boromir. Just like Dustin, max, Lucas etc being younger than Eddie, and him dying to save them [and all of Hawkins]). Also the scene with Dustin and Eddie playing/training in a field, parallel to the movie scenes with boromir playing/training with merry and pippin in a field. Which puts Dustin in their roles. I can see Dustin as merry, great plans, smart, scared, funny, definitely neurodivergent, etc. This is also tied to this other parallel. Théoden’s death scene.

(In the book, it is merry the one hearing Théoden’s last words and last seeing him alive, in the movie it’s changed to Éowyn. But not to worry, cause Dustin fits both of these roles).

Just noticed some Eddie/Frodo parallels??

I mean, Eddie is older that everyone else he’s friends with (Dustin, Mike, Lucas, the rest of hellfire) just like how Frodo is older than Sam, merry, and pippin.

Eddie is hiding, cause Jason’s gang are looking for him since they think he killed Chrissy. Frodo is hiding cause the black riders are after the ring. Dustin, Lucas, Max, Robin, Erica, Steve, Nancy help him, just like the fellowship helped Frodo.

Eddie doesn’t start s4 being friends with Dustin. In fact, they had a huge power imbalance. Eddie was the dm, and a very controlling one, to the point Dustin and Mike were a bit scared to tell him about Lucas not going to the game, outright refusing to postpone (I get that maybe finding a day where everyone could play might have been complicated, but if he really wanted all of hellfire there he could have postponed. Lucas’ match couldn’t be postponed, cause there were more people playing, there was another team, they already had permission to play at the school, there would be a crowd, etc) and telling them to find a sub, to which mike and Dustin obey instantly. They have to do what Eddie does, or he gets mad. He’s the leader, they’re followers (there’s also much to say about the hypocrisy of Eddie and hellfire but well). Eddie was someone Dustin (and Mike) thought was cool and interesting and who they respected.

Frodo and Sam started similarly. Frodo was Sam’s employer, and someone Sam admired. He thought Frodo was wise and strong and he respected him. However unlike Dustin (and Mike), he was never scared of him, sure, he respected him and was scared of offending him and going over his social class, but not really of him. In fact, Frodo had always been very nice and kind to him.

As s4 goes on, and Eddie is hiding and discovering all the supernatural, dustin and him grow closer.

As lotr goes on, and Frodo is hiding and discovering the outside world and dealing with the ring, Sam and him grow closer.

Eddie and Dustin become best friends, leaving aside the power dynamics they started the season with, they’re now equals.

Frodo and Sam become best friends, leaving aside the power dynamics they started the books with, they’re now equals.

Eddie’s death scene also has some visual parallels with Frodo’s “death” scene. See above.

I guess this fucks up my “all characters paralleled to Frodo get vecna’d” theory but like, he died, so more or less…

On The Two Towers movie, there’s a scene with king Théoden crying because his son died. At the end of s4, when Dustin confirms to Wayne that Eddie died, he cries in a scene that is shot more or less the same way.

Théodred (Théoden’s son) died in battle, and lived only long enough to say his last words. Eddie died n battle, and lived only long enough to say his last words.

“I go to my fathers. And even in their mighty company I shall not now be ashamed.” (Théoden) vs “Boromir, you fought bravely. You have kept your honor.” (Aragorn @ Boromir) vs “I didn’t run away this time, right?” (Eddie)

Henry (001)

Also not necessarily into Henry’s character. I mean, the creels murders are super interesting (there’s def more that meets the eye) and so are the things we learn about him through NINA (which Brenner definitely manipulated. You cannot tell me Brenner is not making Henry look extra bad there. Which is not to say I defend him, but like c’mon Brenner would obviously do that), but I don’t know much about him aside from the obvious.

(When he found the mind flayer) “I found the most extraordinary thing of all. Something that would change everything. I saw a means to realize my potential.”

Remember this line, it’s important. Like, seriously.

Henry is gollum but he’s also sauron. The mind flayer is the one ring but it’s also Melkor (Morgoth).

Henry/Sauron created the one ring but Henry/Gollum is also consumed by it. The mind flayer/melkor is stronger that Henry/sauron, and existed before Henry/sauron, but the mind flayer/one ring was also created by Henry/sauron.

Woah, what a headache. Let’s go slowly.

Henry’s sauron-coding

Sauron’s original name was Mairon. Vecna’s original name was Henry.

“Mairon saw in Melkor the will and power that would help him achieve his personal ends quicker than if he pursued them alone.” So Henry finding the mind flayer?

Melkor is an Ainur, basically a god, an “eternal spirit”. Not the highest god (that’s Ilúvatar) but one of his “children” (listen the silmarillion is complicated ok). He turns evil unlike his siblings, destroys what they create, etc. And he has other beings that work for him and support his evil deeds, one of them being Sauron/Mairon.

I don’t think it is Henry who works for the mind flayer, I think he controls the mind flayer. However in the last shadow (correct me if wrong, I haven’t seen the play, just read summaries) it says that Henry was possessed with the mind flayer as a kid and that’s how he developed his powers (more on that later). So you could say Henry begins by “working” for the mind flayer (who, for example, made him kill animals) but then after arriving at dimension x as an adult, decided he could use the mind flayer for his own gain.

Sauron began by working for Melkor, and then time later, created the one ring. Henry begins possessed by the mind flayer, but years laters decides to mold him into something useful for him, a mean to realize “his potential”.

The mindflayer is the ring but also Melkor apparently. Duffers explain yourselves.

About sauron, he is also described as a sorcerer once (remember s5 ep4 “Sorcerer”) in the fellowship, and the number one is repeatedly mentioned regarding him. He created the one ring, he has been called the “black one”, the “one enemy”, the “nameless one”. Also “the shadow” (the first shadow)

Sauron also used to be blonde.

“Sauron's physical manifestation was destroyed in the ruin of Númenor. As a Maia, his spirit returned to Middle-earth, though he was no longer able to take the fair form he had once had.”

I also heard people say sauron was queercoded, and so is Henry. There’s a sort of “gay on gay crime” going on then (frodo and sauron, will and henry).

Henry’s gollum-coding

“One of Brenner's fellow scientists defected and stole key technology and transported it to a Nevadan cave. At this time, a very young Henry and the Creels lived nearby, in Rachel, Nevada. While exploring the Nevadan caves and playing with a spyglass, Henry stumbled across the stolen technology when it unexpectedly activated, transporting him and the defecting scientist to Dimension X.”

“In Dimension X, Henry was exposed to the influence of the shadowy entity. Though Henry returned home after 12 hours, he now possessed a unique blood type and had a changed personality. Brenner was later able to track Henry down thanks to Henry dropping his spyglass in the caves.”

Henry got possessed in a cave. Gollum lived on a cave, and Bilbo finds the ring (and steals it from gollum) on a cave. Technically bilbo-coding, for a tiny second.

“Henry stumbled across pieces of scientific equipment stolen from the Nevada Experiment. The equipment unexpectedly activated; Henry and the scientist who stole the equipment were temporarily transported to Dimension X, killing the scientist in the process.” Henry and someone else being there while the equipment activated, Gollum (Sméagol) and Déagol stumbling across the ring. Déagol stealing the ring, the scientist having been to one to steal the equipment. Déagol got almost inmediately murdered by Sméagol (for the ring). The equipment killed the scientist in the process. Sméagol ended up with the ring, Henry ended up possessed.

“I found the most extraordinary thing of all. Something that would change everything. I saw a means to realize my potential” is SO like if he just found the one ring. The ring tempts you, tells you that if you use it you will be powerful and will accomplish your desires, no matter if they are to save the world or destroy it. It says that it’ll give you the power to manage it, corrupts you, but it’s all a lie.

Henry has been fully corrupted, even his physical body changing (I mean, because of the burns but like, still a similarity) and cannot be saved. He’s gollum but he’s the ring (since the mind flayer is the ring, and he controls the mind flayer) at the same time, makes me a bit crazy.

The ring gave gollum, Bilbo, and Frodo the power to turn invisible. The mind flayer’s possession made Henry have powers, all the Will has powers theories…

Henry being 001 and the ring being the one ring is just so (x)

Also the many parallels between Will and Henry, how they’re so similar. Because Frodo and Gollum are extremely paralleled and similar!! Except Frodo fears becoming Gollum just like how Will fears becoming the abuser, the predator. But also Frodo having sympathy for Gollum cause he understands, + my theory of Will having a tiny bit of sympathy for Vecna in s5, cause he can literally feel what he feels, and he’ll probably get a Vecna vision like “oh Will we’re alike you and I join me blah blah blah make them pay and let’s get our vengeance blah blah blah”. Will won’t listen to him obviously that’s the difference between Gollum (who had no one) falling fully corrupted to the ring vs Frodo (who had Sam) only falling corrupted at the very end. Smth smth Will has a support system and doesn’t choose violence and all that.

Also

“Fëanor was possessed of exceptional oratory skill, and could persuade virtually anyone through speechcraft. He also was known to have been restless, exploring as much of Aman as he could and constantly crafting new works. One of these works was believed to have been the palantíri.”

“Fëanor quickly became the most prominent of the rebellious Ñoldor” (a group of elves)

“Despite Melkor having been the true root of the Ñoldor's unrest, Fëanor's crime had been of his own making, and for this the Valar exiled him for twelve years time from Tirion.”

Reminds me a bit of everything going on with Henry…

“Melkor stole away to Avathar in the south of Aman. There he discovered the evil spider-like creature Ungoliant and secured her as an ally, promising to sate her unrelenting hunger in return for her aid.”

Some things happened and they fought, and Ungoliant tried to strangle him. She didn’t get to, and after Balrogs came, had to run away. Some say she died from starvation. Maybe the mind flayer turning against Vecna in s5?

Thorin? I mean, Thorin sets to destroy Smaug, but ends up turning just like him because he’s affected by gold-sickness. Kinda like how Henry is super mad at Brenner and everyone and plans to “reshape” the world so that the “mindless play” stops (I think? I never really got his intentions), so like, technically in his head he probably thinks he’s doing good (??) but like, obviously he isn’t, he’s murdering teenagers and kids for no reason. Substitutes one villain for another.

Henry/Aragorn?? But we can see the contrast between both characters. I mean, Aragorn was on some kind of self-imposed exile, Henry was exiled from earth (El vanished him into dimension x), Aragorn became king (ruler) of Gondor, Henry became some kind of ruler of the upside down. Aragorn is good and noble and rightful heir, Henry is, well, evil.

I feel like Henry stans are gonna come yell at me I’m terrified

Hopper, who died and came back

Hopper is also a lot like Gandalf. Adult (male) who while technically is not a parent to any of the characters but he do is a paternal figure (him adopting el, him dating Joyce so becoming a kind of paternal figure to Jonathan and Will). I wouldn’t necessarily call Gandalf a paternal figure, but he do is this older “man” that the characters go to for help and who always helps the characters, and who has known Bilbo and Frodo since they were young (very basic description of Gandalf, I know). Also yknow Gandalf died but then came back, turns out he didn’t actually die. Hopper did the same. Gandalf “died” while saving the fellowship. Hopper “died” while saving everyone.

The scene of him meeting with el again in s4 is similar to Gandalf meeting with Frodo again in return of the king.

Hopper is also Sam-coded in two occasions. First when he’s there with el while she closes the gate (since she parallels Frodo in that scene, and Sam was with him), and second when he told Joyce “I thought you were dead. Thought I lost you” in s4. Parallel to Sam’s “I thought I’d lost you” in the fellowship of the ring movie. You could also argue that hopper carrying Will in the hospital during s2 is a Sam parallel (Sam carrying Frodo).

Bob Newby, superhero

Bob is played by Sean Astin, who played Sam in the lotr movies.

Bob Newby, superhero vs Samwise the stouthearted (or Samwise the brave in the movies)

I see him as Radagast tbh

“Radagast has a strong affinity for—and relationship with—wild animals.” You know what my first thought was? Lonnie (“he made me kill a rabbit”). Who’s basically Lonnie’s opposite? Bob. (Sure, Joyce could also be, having been the parent who stuck around and who loves her kids deeply and actually cares and isn’t abusive, but when talking about dads, it’s Bob. Could also be hopper, but I think radagast is Bob). I’ll explain.

“His role in Tolkien's writings is so slight that it has been described as a plot device.” Bob, I mean, he appears in just one season to kinda further the plot and then dies. He was also supposed to die in the third episode of s2, originally.

“Radagast was unwittingly used by Saruman to lure Gandalf to his tower of Orthanc, where Gandalf was captured”. Bob telling Will to fight the mind flayer and that causing Will to get possessed. “Fortuitously, Radagast also helped rescue him by sending Gwaihir the eagle to Orthanc with news of the movements of Sauron's forces.” Bob eventually saving Will and everyone.

“Radagast is "the friend of all birds and beasts,” Bob basically being the perfect stepdad, being super nice and caring. “He innocently helps Saruman to assemble "a great host of spies”, again, unknowingly and unwillingly causing Will to get possessed, which made Will the spy.

Mirkwood, (where Cornwallis and Kerley meet)

Oh boy talk to me about Mirkwood in stranger things.

Mirkwood is a real road, named by the party as “Mirkwood”. Mirkwood is a forest that appears in the hobbit, and from where Legolas (member of the fellowship of the ring in lotr) comes from (he’s the prince of Mirkwood). What’s interesting about Mirkwood regarding stranger things, you might ask. I ask a better question. What is not interesting about Mirkwood regarding stranger things.

That road is the road where Will was on when he was going home in s1, where he saw whatever it is that took him. “It is in close proximity to both the Byers house and the Harrington house, with only the forest separating them”, oh ok, not suspicious at all. Will got taken at his house (which is close to Mirkwood) and Barb got taken at Steve’s house (which is close to Mirkwood). Nothing to see here, just a normal ass road. Mirkwood is also where they found El, where Nancy found her tree gate (I think, not super sure on this one), where the police found Will’s bike, and also, oh right, it’s next to the lab. Can’t add a map here (curse tumblr’s image limit) but look it up. I think you can see it in ep1, right? Like when will is on his bike and passes a sign that says smth about the lab.

Next to Mirkwood are the woods, where castle byers is, and where lots of things happened over the series in general. The woods are pretty connected to the upside down, the gates are either in the woods or on places next to the woods, lots of characters spend time in the woods since they live next to them, for some reason, etc.

Before beginning to talk about Mirkwood (lotr), what do we know about the upside down (st)?

Well, we know it wasn’t always supposed to look like that, rather it’s original design was very green and even with light. Eventually the duffers decided for the upside down we know now. We also know that before it was the upside down, it was dimension x, a place WIDLY different to the upside down we know now. We know the upside down isn’t necessarily evil (as seen by dart, a creature from it who shows the difference between nature and nurture), that it’s just a neutral dimension, simply controlled by an evil man (but it hasn’t been like this always). Ok, now that that’s clear, what about Mirkwood (lotr)?

“The area had been called Greenwood the Great until around the year TA 1050, when the shadow of the Dark Lord Sauron fell upon it, and Men began to call it Mirkwood, or Taur-nu-Fuin and Taur-e. Ndaedelos in the Sindarin tongue. From then on, The southern part of Mirkwood became a haunted place inhabited by many dark and savage things. Sauron, or the 'Necromancer' as he disguised himself. established himself at the hill-fortress of Dol Guldur, an old Elven fortress in the forest's southern region, and drove Thranduil and his people ever northward.”

Oh okay, so the upside down is Mirkwood fr. Alright. There’s also the fact that Mirkwood is the home of the children of Ungoliant (aka, huge spiders that tried to eat thorin’s company) and we know everything going on with spiders and Vecna and the mind flayer etc.

Also this s5 theory, probably my favorite theory ever.

Suspicious Minds, (Terry and Andrew)

Suspicious Minds is a half-canon book (some say it’s canon, others that it isn’t), focusing on Terry (Jane’s mom) and her time at the lab. Andrew Rich is her boyfriend at the time, and father of Jane.

I really need to reread Suspicious Minds if I’m gonna talk about it cause I read it back in 2019 during summer holidays and barely remember anything. However you know what I found out? The many lotr references in the book. It was like a wonderful lake appeared in front of my while I was at the desert. Couldn’t believe my eyes. Oh duffers why me.

Andrew was a big lotr fan and, like any nerd, forced Terry into reading the books. Let’s get to it. Some of the lotr references in the book:

“Andrew had fallen in love with The Lord of the Rings on the van ride to New York and back, and then presented her with his battered copy of the first book when he returned. The cover featured a wizard in flowing yellow robes with a long white beard on a mountaintop”. A wizard with yellow robes. William Byers what are you doing here??

-

"It would've been a lot easier for the hobbits to stay in the Shire," she told him when he opened the door. "But they don't, do they? Frodo ends up with the ring and they leave with it."

"I knew you'd like it," he said, beaming at her and dropping a kiss on her cheek. "Let me know when you're ready for the next one. Where are you?"

"Still early. The hobbits may be the ones without magic, but I can feel how it's going.”

"You can skip the Tom Bombadil/Goldberry section if you want. It's a little much.”

"Now there's no way I'm skipping it." She paused. "But did you just admit this book isn't perfect in every way?"

And what’s funnier and insane is that they are Sam and Frodo shippers. They constantly compare themselves to Sam and Frodo. They are dating. They are a heterosexual couple who saw 2 gay hobbits and went: “they’re just like us fr”. Honestly, stan.

“Terry had bare feet with brown fur glued on, and wore rolled-up trousers and an old shirt. Her hair was arranged in tight curls, pulled aside to reveal pointy wax ears.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Alice asked, puzzled.

Andrew slid up to Terry's side, good looks muted only slightly by his own ridiculous curls and similar costume. He had fur glued to the top of his hand.

"She's Frodo, and I'm Samwise Gamgee. From my favorite books. I let Terry pick, and she made me the sidekick. But I don't mind being her sidekick.”

Terry shrugged. "I like Sam."

"And I like Frodo. Let me get you a drink."

-

"Don't do that," Andrew said, sitting up against the headboard. "Sometimes even Frodo and Sam have to have tough conversations.”

-

“I want you to live your life while I'm gone—think of me sometimes. I'll be dreaming of you and settling down in the Shire. No Grey Havens for us.”

UGHHH

Specially the last paragraph. It’s from a postcard Andrew sent Terry.

I cannot tell you ANYTHING about their relationship, again, desperately need to reread.

However Sam and Frodo are depicted as a romantic relationship. They are compared to a canon romantic relationship. Literally. Not by parallels like lumax, no, genuinely, literally, explicitly compared.

While there are characters who are compared to Sam and Frodo during some moments (Dustin and mike over dart, Nancy seeing the future vision of mike) and who’s relationship is definitely not romantic, it’s interesting to see how two canon couples have been compared to them. And then we have byler, who while not canon yet parallel both their relationship and the characters separately more than any other characters do…

That last paragraph? The postcard? When I read it I didn’t understand if he was saying “I’ll be dreaming of you while I settle down in the shire” or “I’ll be dreaming of you and of settling down in the shire (with you)” so I went to my copy, which is the spanish translation, and it’s the second one. Sam and Frodo settling down in the shire together… no mention of Rosie… No grey havens for us… All that combined with the duffers love for trope subversion and making things not be how they seem and so on, they are basically saying that Sam and Frodo have a happy ending together in the shire in stranger things (which basically tells us lumax endgame and byler endgame).

+ (some extra stuff)

“The transformation of the Shire from rural idyll to industrial wasteland heavily parallels Tolkien's own views of the destruction of the English countryside by the steady creep of industrialisation” + Smaug (the dragon they are set to kill in the hobbit) has lots and lots of money for the sake of having money. Doesn’t spend it, just hoards it because he’s greedy + Thorin dealing with gold-sickness, aka, wanting hoard as all the gold he took from Smaug, and not spend it or share it (just like Smaug did, so he sets to destroy Smaug just to turn just like him) (Smth smth, the mind flayer as capitalism)

-

Quoting Eddie, the shire is burning. The upside down arrived at Hawkins. At first, the upside down and the supernatural was located in the lab and in the upside down. It didn’t touch Hawkins. Except now it did, and things get dirty, the scourning of the shire, the shire is burning. So Mordor it is. Also, birthdaygate. March 22, Will’s birthday. Yknow what else is March 22? The day Sam and Frodo left the road and headed towards mount doom.

-

Also Nell Fisher who will play Holly in s5 acted alongside Elijah Wood (Frodo’s actor) in a movie (bookworm). (This is a complete coincidence, I know, but wanted to mention it)

-

Frodo’s birthday (and Bilbo’s) is also the 22th. 22th of September, not March, but the 22th. Also there’s 7 months between March and September (March - April - May - June - July - August - September) and (September- October- November - December- January - February- March). It was a seven.

-

Soteria is paralleled to the one ring, which is strange because soteria inhibits powers, while the ring gives you powers (hobbits turns invisible, extended lifespan, etc). Henry also said that soteria tracks your movements, and if he was right about that, it’s a similarity with the one ring, which when put on, allowed sauron to know someone had it.

-

The one ring was a physical object, you could put it on, touch it, destroy it. The mind flayer is not a physical object, and Vecna is a person (?). Not so easy to destroy. You could destroy the one ring by throwing it into the fire of Mordor, and you could take the mind flayer out of Will with heat (he likes it cold). So, can you kill the mind flayer by burning it? Following this thought pattern, yes.

At the end of s4 Nancy and robin burned Vecna and it probably hurt but he’s not dead. So either it doesn’t work or they need a much bigger fire. Well, not all fire worked with the one ring, it had to be the fire of Mordor. Now the question is, what is Mordor in stranger things? Because the upside down is Mirkwood. Maybe vecna’s weird red dimension (like where max was during the running up that hill sequence). Is that the upside down too or is it different? It looks different, cause it’s mental. The upside down is somewhere you can physically enter and leave, vecna’s red dimension is mental. Maybe Vecna/the mind flayer whatever can only be burned there. Or maybe the upside down is both Mirkwood and Mordor.

Idk it’s all so confusing. All I know is that a certain someone who has already cast fireball twice on dnd might be “the cure”…

-

-

If you made it here you deserve an applause cause DAMN this got long.

-

Conclusion:

The duffers are sam/frodo shippers. They’re also insane and I desperately need to hear them infodump

[apoloadonisandnarcissus]

Let’s talk 1x08 and 2x08 epilogues and how they set up next season

Allow me to explore this idea: what clues can 2x08 epilogue give us on what to expect for Season 3, taking 1x08 epilogue as an example? In TV shows, the epilogues of season finales are meant to set up the events and the tone for the next season.

Let’s start with Season 1 finale, and how it translated in Season 2:

1) Setting up the feud between Elrond and Galadriel in Season 2:

2) Setting up Celebrimbor’s pride as the reason for him to fall prey of Sauron’s deception:

3) Setting up Eregion (mainly the forge) as the one of the major locations of Season 2:

4) Setting up Sauron’s connection to the Three rings of power:

5) Setting up the forging of the rings of power plot in Season 2:

6) The red herring:

Now, let's take a look at Season 2 finale epilogue, and what clues it might give us for Season 3:

Sauron and Fëanor Hammer:

To me, this scene is quite straightforward: it’s foreshadowing for Sauron forging the One ring in Season 3. Because the show can’t postpone that to Season 4 (Fall of Númenor), really. We know this from Tolkien lore. 

"A sanctuary. Protected... by the Elven Rings":

This location will definitely be Imladris (more known as Rivendell), and, if Season 1 finale is anything to do by, it will be one of the major locations in Season 3. With Elrond building it, and becoming an Elf-lord of his own right.

Gil-galad: Sauron's armies are roving across Eriador. All Middle-earth is within his reach now. Even Lindon. We must decide whether to attack and bring the fight to him... or to fall back, to prepare our defenses. Galadriel: The sword or the shield. Elrond: Many of Eregion's bravest fell. The few who survived are all but broken. In body or spirit. They have little strength left with which to fight. They barely had strength to flee. Arondir: What course would you advise, Commander Galadriel? Galadriel: I would remember the counsel of our dear friend, Celebrimbor, Greatest of Elven-smiths. And remind our people... that it is not strength that overcomes darkness, but light. And the sun yet shines.

From Tolkien legendarium we know several things: Sauron will attack Lindon, and lay siege to Rivendell (“First Siege of Imladris”). The Elves will also fight back, and this will culminate in the Battle of the Gwanthló (probably Season 3 finale), where Sauron allows himself to get captured by Ar-Pharazôn and brought to Númenor as prisoner, kicking off Season 4.

Will there be consequences to Morgoth’s crown wound?

What consequences will this wound have on Galadriel?

In “Fellowship of the Ring”, Frodo is injured by the Witch King of Angmar, using a Morgul blade. In spite, of being healed by Elrond, this wound never fully heals, even after the One Ring is destroyed and Sauron is defeated. On the anniversary of receiving the wound, Frodo becomes seriously ill, and he's unable to lead a normal life (like Sam, for instance). This leads him to go to Valinor, at the end of the story.

“Alas! there are some wounds that cannot be wholly cured," said Gandalf. "I fear it may be so with mine," said Frodo. "There is no real going back. Though I may come to the Shire, it will not seem the same; for I shall not be the same. I am wounded with knife, sting, and tooth, and a long burden. Where shall I find rest?” The Return of the King

Frodo: It's been four years to the day since Weathertop, Sam. It's never really healed. The Return of the King (2003)

This wound forever changes Frodo, and it’s only a blade forged by Sauron, what consequences will Morgoth’s very own crown, a object filled with dark magic, have on Galadriel? And can 2x08 already have provided us with some foreshadowing on this?

These shots can imply blood binding theory is correct, and Sauron might have transferred some of his powers to Galadriel. This is not mere “camera work”: in the first screenshot it’s Sauron looking down at Galadriel, and the second is Galadriel waking up. The effect on both is the same; hinting a sharing power between them.

In Tolkien lore, Galadriel is a powerful elf-witch, an Elven queen of great magic and power, however in "Rings of Power" we haven't seen her either dealing nor displaying any kind of magical abilities. Yet. Having her blood bound with Sauron can be the show’s explanation for her source of magical power, as well as to why she never faces him directly, working against him from afar, and why Sauron couldn’t conquer Lothlórien unless he went there, himself; as well, as to Sauron’s grouping of her mind for thousands of years into the future, and how Galadriel is able to see into his mind, too.

The Three Elven rings of power: 

Season 2 finale epilogue also focused on the Three Elven rings of power, and this is not random, because Sauron will try to get them during the “War of the Elves and Sauron”. If blood binding is correct, Sauron might take advantage of this to have Galadriel handing the rings to him.

This scene is meant to symbolize the end of Galadriel and Elrond feud over the rings, but also to showcase that Elrond trusts these rings, now.

I’m not sure if this is also foreshadowing for Elrond getting Vilya next season because it seems a bit premature, so in on the fence with that one.

Gil-galad worried expression:

This expression recalled me of Elrond’s on Season 1 finale, which makes me wonder what it can mean. Is this look connected to the rings of power or with these characters?

Gil-galad is the current ring-bearer of Vilya, and, from that perspective, it doesn’t seem to make sense for him to worry about the rings. Especially since he used its power (+ Nenya) to heal Galadriel, earlier. So, it can be related to the characters, yes. And from his angle, it can point to one in particular: Galadriel.

Where is Gandalf headed next?

Woman: Goodbye, Grand-Elf. Gandalf: Grandelf? Nori: They've never seen an Elf before. Never even left home before. [...] And what to leave. If I had my druthers, we... We'd walk the wastes of this world. Eatin' snails and beetles till the sun run out of days, but it's high time. I walked my path, and you walked yours. Gandalf: We are very different creatures, Nori. When all is said and done. Nori: Not so different at all, if you ask me. Nori and Gandalf part ways, 2x08

Can this dialogue be foreshadowing or set up for Gandalf meeting the Elves in Season 3?

Is there a red herring like in Season 1 finale?

Yes, I believe so. And it’s Galadriel appearing all victorious and light after her fight with Sauron. This can parallel Sauron Season 1 finale red herring; where he arrives at Mordor, also looking victorious and ready to take over the place (we all know how that turned out).

If this is, indeed, a red herring what can it mean? That Galadriel will find herself struggling harder than ever with the darkness in Season 3, as a consequence of Morgoth’s crown wound.

[darklinaforever]

Me when I see people saying that if Sauron (even with the context of The Rings of Power), seeks to enter the mind of Galadriel in the original trilogy, well it is only for a question of power :

Are these people aware that the show is supposed to give another context to Sauron's incessant attempts to enter Galadriel's mind than a simple greed for power ? That if he does that, in the context of the show, it's because their share a story ? Because of their cosmic connection ? A cosmic connection that, according to the creators of the show, is also romantic ? But whether you see her as romantic or not ultimately doesn't matter. All that matters is that with The Ring of Power as additional context, Sauron is not just trying to enter Galadriel's mind out of a desire for power, but out of a form of affection / love (romantic or not) caused by their cosmic connection which has not let them go since they finally met. Especially since the Maiar, like the elves, have their memories that never dim. And that among these beings (Maiar or Elves) love is much deeper and lasting than among humans, and that, even if yes, they can love more than once romantically speaking, and so / or also stop loving that way someone (if you agree to see Haladriel / Saurondriel that way) it's still quite rare. So it's highly unlikely that Sauron stopped loving Galadriel, even after all this time fight each other. Especially since these two are in constant parallel in the show, long before they met. Mirrors of each other constantly. So, if Galadriel therefore still loves Halbrand / Sauron after all this time (the fact that she literally repeats several of his words to Frodo does indeed seem to indicate that her affection / love is still there), well it makes sense that that would be the same thing for Sauron for his part. Once again, in terms of writing, with the addition of the show, this is what makes sense. So no, sorry, if you take into account The Ring of Power, and the vision of the writers (so the romantic aspect), well no, you can't say that Sauron is only trying to enter Galadriel's mind in the original trilogy for a simple question of power. Even without the romantic aspect, you can't say it's just about power. The affection is always there, in all cases, for one as for the other. No one is saying that the question of power is not present at all on Sauron's side. She probably is, in fact. But again, it's not just that. The Rings of Power is, once again, supposed to add layers of reading on this subject. Not to mention it's just as much about power on Galadriel's side too, even if the affection / love endures in her for him. Because I remind you that with the context of the show, Sauron is what binds Galadriel to power. And so Galadriel who wants power in the main trilogy, actually also wants Sauron as a result, because one does not exist without the other. Sauron = power and power = Sauron for Galadriel character in this story. They relationship are complex. It's not all about power, or all about affection / love for them. It's a whole.

[ink-stains-and-constellations]

I usually write and post Undertale fanfiction on a different account, but I kept seeing those time-travel The Hobbit fics and I really liked the premise, so I wrote a small bit of one. I have no idea what else to do with it, soooooo here have the random fic I wrote at like 1 AM.

(Quick disclaimer, I'm not actually super well-versed in Middle-Earth lore. I've read and loved The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, but I haven't gotten around to reading The Silmarillion or anything yet. I probably got some stuff wrong in terms of lore, so sorry about that. This was written for fun and I'm not planning on making it into a longer fic, but I thought I'd share it because why not.)

Bilbo was dead.

He knew he was dead. He had died in the Undying Lands, finally succumbing to the age of his body, surrounded by Frodo and Gandalf and the elves as he drifted off into his very last adventure. He had lived a long life. A good life. One with regrets, of course, but also one with much joy and love.

Hobbit-lore had never said much about their afterlife - not like the lore of elves, dwarves, or even men - but Bilbo had always supposed it would be something like this, the comfort of home. For he had found himself back in his hobbit-hole, back in Bag-End, seated at his table with a lovely-looking tea spread out before him.

His aches, his weariness, were gone. His joints and back moved easily, without any pain to speak of. His eyesight was perfectly clear. Even his bald patches had vanished, his head and feet covered once again in thick bushes of curly hair.

"Why, I don't feel a day over fifty," he marvelled under his breath, grinning a little.

Leaving his food on the table, he explored his home, running his fingers along the backs of chairs and rifling through drawers. Most things were exactly as he remembered it - better, even for he had not seen his silver spoons for decades, yet there they were, sitting neatly with the rest of his cutlery. The only objects unaccounted for were the things from his adventure; Sting, the coat of mithril, the chests of gold and silver, and the ring (he caught himself a moment before thinking 'his ring'). But he had given Sting and the coat to Frodo anyway, the ring had been destroyed, and he didn't suppose he would need gold or silver in the afterlife, so he paid it no mind.

He had just sat back down to his tea when the doorbell rang. He was not expecting visitors, of course, as he had only just gotten to this hobbitish afterlife, but he was not nearly as fussy about that sort of thing as he had once been, so he got to his feet and went to greet his guest.

He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but it hadn't been a dwarf, and it most certainly hadn't been a very familiar dwarf with a long beard and a dark green hood, worn and stained from travel, his bright eyes glittering from beneath its hem.

The dwarf hopped inside as soon as the door was open, hanging his hooded cloak on one of the pegs, then sweeping into a low bow. "Dwalin at your service!"

Bilbo was frozen, one hand still on the polished brass doorknob, staring at his old friend, who now looked decades younger and was wearing the same clothes he had been the first time they had met.

"Dwalin?" he asked. "What are you doing here?" Even if the dwarf was dead too, he surely wouldn't be here, wherever here was.

Dwalin frowned slightly. "I am here for the meeting, of course."

"Meeting?" he echoed, mystified.

"Yes, the meeting." Dwalin gave him an odd look, as if he should have already known. "And, er, whose service do I have the pleasure of being at?"

Bilbo blinked. "What?"

"Your name," Dwalin elaborated.

After a moment of mutually puzzled silence, Bilbo took a closer look at Dwalin. The clothes. The appearance. The expression, politely confused. Asking for his name.

I don't feel a day over fifty.

He swallowed. "I - Bilbo." Slowly, he bowed. "Mister Bilbo Baggins, at your service." He straightened, gesturing to the hall behind him. "I, uh - I just set out tea. Please, help yourself."

Dwalin nodded, bustling off down the hall. Bilbo did not follow him, but sat down on the ornamental chair by all the hooks and put his head in his hands. This... wasn't possible, was it? He couldn't be back then. He had died, for goodness' sake.

Before he could get very far with his thoughts, the bell rang again. He sprang up, nearly wrenching the door open to reveal an old, red-hooded dwarf, who immediately hopped inside.

"I see they have begun to arrive already," he noted as he hung his hood next to Dwalin's. He then bowed, giving Bilbo an entirely unnecessary introduction.

"Balin, at your service!"

"Bilbo Baggins at yours," Bilbo replied, bowing in return. "Dwalin is inside - please, go join him, I'll bring out more tea. Unless you would prefer a little beer?" he added, remembering his old friend's preferences.

Balin smiled. "Yes, and some seed-cake, if you have any."

"Yes, lots."

Balin set off down the hall to join his brother, and Bilbo went to the pantry to collect the beer and seed-cakes.

Well, that settles it, he thought, a tad grimly. I am back at the very beginning of it all. He wasn't entirely enthusiastic about the prospect, given that he knew what lay ahead, but he resolved to do his very best with this second chance. To make their journey better with his knowledge. Maybe he could even save...

He shook his head and quickly delivered Balin's food and drink, right before the bell rang a third time and he had to rush back to the door.

It was Fili and Kili this time, and Bilbo's heart started aching when he saw them, young and whole and alive, their yellow beards clean of blood and grime, their eyes sparkling and clear.

"Kili at your service!"

"And Fili!"

He took their hoods and bags, setting them carefully to the side, and bowed back, fighting the urge to pull them both into a hug. Somehow, he managed to speak past the lump in his throat. "Bilbo Baggins, at yours and your family's."

"Dwalin and Balin here already, I see," said Kili cheerfully. "Let us join the throng!"

Bilbo nodded and stepped aside to let them pass. He very firmly set aside his grief, his questions, his racing thoughts, and fixed his mind on the task at hand - namely, preparing enough food, drink, and chairs to host a company of fifteen.

While the four dwarves settled in and got to talking, he hurriedly set out more places at the table, then started raiding his pantry, bringing out everything from the wine to the cheese wheels. Halfway through, the bell rang again, and he practically sprinted to the door - in fact, he got there fast enough that Gloin had only just come puffing up to the doorstep.

Introductions were short, and the five newcomers soon joined the others at the table while Bilbo went back to emptying his pantries before they could do it themselves.

He had almost finished when a loud rapping echoed down the hall, the knock of wood against wood. Bilbo sighed heavily, thinking mournfully of the dent in his nice green door that he had never quite gotten around to fixing, and, whisking one last plate of food onto the table, set off to let his guests inside for the fifth and final time that night.

He made sure to open the door very slowly and carefully, so as not to repeat his mistake from all those years ago and end up with a pile of dwarves on his doormat. This time, all four of them hopped inside without incident, and Gandalf ducked through the doorway a moment later.

"Hello, Bilbo," he greeted with a smile. "I hope you do not mind terribly that I brought guests to our tea."

Bilbo sighed again, casting a glance in the direction of his depleted pantries. "Not at all, Gandalf."

"Excellent!" The wizard clapped his hands. "Now, allow me to introduce you to Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, and especially Thorin!"

There were the usual bows and "At your service"s from Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur, and none at all from Thorin, not that Bilbo had expected any. He gave all four of them a deep bow in return.

"Bilbo Baggins." He glanced up, meeting Thorin's proud gaze and ignoring the pang of grief, an old, old pain that had never really gone away. "At your service."

Thorin merely turned to toss his sky-blue, silver-tasselled hood onto a hook beside the others.

"Now we are all here!" declared Gandalf, hanging his hat at the end of the row of hoods. "Quite a merry gathering. I hope there is something left for the latecomers to eat and drink!"

"Yes, there's plenty," replied Bilbo, gesturing for the group to follow him down the hall.

Gandalf fell into step beside him, peering curiously down at him. He opened his mouth to ask something, but Bilbo quickly interrupted.

"Be careful of the -"

Thunk.

"Rafters," Bilbo finished with yet another sigh, watching Gandalf rub his head.

"A little low, these ceilings," the wizard commented, grimacing.

"Or maybe you're just a little tall!" called a grinning Fili from the dining room. "We seem to be managing just fine."

"Impertinent dwarf," Gandalf grumbled, hunched over to keep from hitting his head again.

Bilbo darted ahead to pull out a chair for Thorin, the grandest chair he could find in his little hobbit-hole. Thorin paused for a moment, then slowly sank into it, nodding his thanks. Bilbo gave him a quick smile and took his own place at the table, which he had made sure to include this time, as he didn't want to miss out on all the food again.

He wasn't much for conversation, as he didn't want to slip up and reveal all the things he knew, but he didn't bother asking if they would stay for supper after the meal was finished. Already knowing the answer, he just made to collect the plates, and didn't protest when the dwarves sprang up to clear them away instead.

The dishes were soon cleaned and put away, and the dwarves came back to find Bilbo watching Thorin and Gandalf blow smoke-rings around the room.

"Now for some music!" Thorin declared as his company filed into the room, snuffing out his pipe and setting it aside. "Bring out the instruments!"

There was a rush for instruments just as Bilbo remembered, and he sat back in his chair to listen to the dwarves' music. It was enthralling as it had been the first time, and he felt as though he was indeed fifty all over again and feeling a great desire for adventure. He found himself humming quietly along to the familiar tune.

It eventually stopped, of course, once dark had fallen, and Thorin stood to begin his speech.

"Gandalf, dwarves, and Mister Baggins! We are met together in the house of our friend and fellow conspirator, this most excellent and audacious hobbit - may the hair on his toes never fall out! All praise to his wine and ale!"

The ache in Bilbo's heart increased upon hearing his friend's typically long-winded beginning, and he barely managed to reply, "You are very kind." His voice came out with a funny choked quality to it, as if he was about to cry. Which was, of course, absurd, he thought as he blinked furiously against his burning eyes.

Thorin stopped, staring at Bilbo, his brow furrowed. "Is something the matter, Mister Baggins?"

Bilbo quickly shook his head, scrubbing away the tears that were leaking down his cheeks. "Nothing at all, Thorin," he whispered, unable to help the familiarity that slipped out with his friend's first name. "And, uh -" He cleared his throat, speaking a little louder. "Please, call me Bilbo, all of you. It seems appropriate if we're to - uh, work together."

Slowly, Thorin nodded, although he did not continue with his speech. He just... stared at Bilbo, a puzzled divot between his heavy brows, until Bilbo shifted uncomfortably, worried that he had made a mistake.

"Tell me, Mister Baggi - Bilbo," said Thorin suddenly. "Do you have much experience in the matter of burglary?"

Bilbo felt his lips twist into a humourless smile as images flashed in his mind. A golden cup. A large gemstone that could be called white, if you ascribed the same colour to the stars themselves. Before that, a set of keys, countless morsels of food, even the very dwarves who now sat in his dining room. All done while invisible, of course, but perhaps this time he could be a burglar before he found the ring as well as afterwards. (He was a little reluctant to take possession of the ring again now that he knew what it was, but he also knew that it had been an invaluable asset on their journey, and besides if he hadn't found it, it wouldn't have been destroyed, so he resolved to pick it up again as he had before.)

"Yes. Quite a bit, in fact."

A murmur of surprise went around the room. Even Gandalf's bushy eyebrows raised, although he stayed silent, still puffing on his pipe.

"How about travel?" Thorin asked, evidently set on grilling him now. "Fighting? Sword or axe, what's your weapon of choice?"

Bilbo sighed yet again. "I'm rather skilled at darts, if you must know, and I quite enjoy a good hike now and then," he answered, voice dripping with sarcasm that he never would have dared back at the beginning, but he was rather used to being treated with the indulgence afforded to eccentric elderly folk, so he didn't think much of it at all until Thorin snorted and he realised that the dwarf had taken his words seriously.

Another outbreak of muttering spread throughout the room, and amidst all the questions about his sincerity, he caught the fated words, murmured by Gloin to Oin.

"He looks more like a grocer than a burglar."

Bilbo's teeth gritted, and he addressed Thorin again, discarding the sarcasm this time. "In all seriousness, I favour a sword, although seeing how I am not currently in possession of one, the question seems moot."

Thorin looked him up and down, as if trying and failing to imagine him using a sword. "I see."

Electing to ignore the dwarves' doubt, Bilbo stood, heading towards the hallway. "If you'll excuse me for a moment, I am going to -" His toes snagged on something, perhaps a hole in the carpet, and he stumbled, a hand darting out to steady himself upon Gandalf, who happened to be the nearest solid object.

"Oh, terribly sorry, Gandalf," apologised Bilbo, looking quite a bit less flustered than one might expect. "As I was saying, I am going to fetch a light. I will return in a moment."

"Excellent idea," replied Gandalf, peering down at Bilbo. The dwarves may not have found his stumble suspicious, but the wizard was well aware of the surefootedness of hobbits and suspected Bilbo to be up to something, which, of course, he was.

At fifty, Bilbo Baggins had been polite to a fault and wholly inexperienced in theft. However, having lived over a hundred and thirty years before his death, he now considered himself a fairly seasoned burglar and quite disliked being doubted or mocked. So when he saw the opportunity to prove himself, he took it, and by the time he returned with a lamp, Gandalf was rifling through his pockets in search of a map he was certain he had had on his person.

Bilbo placed the lamp on the table and tilted his head curiously at the wizard, struggling to conceal a grin. "Is there something wrong, Gandalf?"

Gandalf's shrewd eyes snapped to him, and he gazed intently for a moment or two before explaining, "I seem to have lost a rather important map. You wouldn't happen to have any idea of its whereabouts, would you?"

"Not the foggiest clue," Bilbo replied, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Oh - wait, what is this?" With a - perhaps unnecessary - theatrical flourish, he withdrew the map from his waistcoat, holding it up. "Well, it appears it's right here in my pocket. How odd." He dropped it onto the table in front of Gandalf, his grin breaking through his attempted poker face.

Gandalf stared at the map for a few seconds, then chuckled loudly and suddenly, patting Bilbo on the back. "Very impressive, my friend."

Bilbo laughed and went to sit back down, not noticing the suspicious look Gandalf shot him behind his back.

"Now, then," the wizard began, spreading the map out on the table. "This was made by Thror, your grandfather, Thorin. It is a plan of the Mountain."

Thorin glanced at it, then shook his head, disappointed. "I don't see how this will help us much. I remember the Mountain well enough, and the lands about it. And I know where Mirkwood is, and the Withered Heath where the great dragons bred."

"There is a dragon marked in red on the Mountain," put in Balin. "But it will be easy enough to find him without that, if ever we arrive there."

"Unfortunately so," Bilbo murmured to himself, his shoulders curling a little inwards.

"There is one thing you haven't noticed, and that is the secret entrance," pointed out Gandalf. "You see that rune on the west side, and the hand pointing to it from the other runes? That marks a hidden passage to the Lower Halls."

"It may have been secret once," Thorin countered, "but how do we know it remains so? Old Smaug has lived there long enough now to find out anything there is to know about those caves."

"He may, but he can't have ever used it. It is far too small for him - 'five feet high the door and three may walk abreast' say the runes, and Smaug couldn't have crept into a hole that size even when he was a young dragon, let alone now, after devouring so many of the dwarves and the men of Dale. In any case, the door should be closed and hidden, made to look exactly like the side of the mountain, and therefore kept secret from the rest of the world, if not from Smaug."

Bilbo leant closer to get a proper look at the map, which he had not seen for decades. The Mountain drawn in dark ink on the paper seemed a lot smaller than the Mountain of his memories.

"Also," Gandalf went on, "I forgot to mention that with the map came a key, a small and curious key. Here it is!" He presented it to Thorin, a key with a long barrel and intricate wards, flashing silver in the lamplight. "Keep it safe!"

"Indeed I will," replied Thorin, taking the key and fastening it upon the fine gold chain that hung around his neck. "Now things begin to look more hopeful. This news alters them much for the better. So far we have had no clear idea of what to do. We thought of going east, as quiet and careful as we could, as far as the Long Lake -"

Bilbo had heard Thorin's ramblings before, of course, and if this was an ordinary meeting with friends, he would have tuned him out. However, he was acutely aware of just how precious his time here was - every second with Thorin and Fili and Kili alive, every second with the others smiling and in good cheer, every second unburdened by deep, heavy grief - so he listened quietly to the voice he'd spent so many years missing.

"- but we none of us liked the idea of the Front Gate. The river runs right out of it through the great cliff at the south of the Mountain, and out of it comes the dragon too - far too often, unless he has changed his habits."

"That would be no good," added Gandalf. "Not without a mighty warrior, even a hero. I tried to find one, but warriors are busy fighting one another in distant lands, and in this neighbourhood, heroes are scarce, or simply not to be found. Swords in these parts are mostly blunt, axes are used for trees, and shields as cradles or dish-covers; dragons are comfortably far-off, and therefore legendary. That is why I settled on burglary - especially when I remembered the existence of a side-door. And here is our little Bilbo Baggins, the burglar, the chosen and selected burglar. So now let's get on and make some plans."

"Very well, then," agreed Thorin. "Supposing the burglar gives us some ideas or suggestions." He turned to Bilbo with mock politeness, although it was a bit less mocking than it had been the first time around.

Bilbo drew himself up, meeting Thorin's gaze with a determined look. He was the only one there who knew what was in store, and over the course of the night, he had come to the decision that he meant to bring them all through the journey and out the other side alive and more or less intact, if at all possible. "Certainly, Thorin," he answered briskly. "I should think that we ought to focus on actually getting there and finding the side-door before we worry about dealing with much else. I take it there is quite a lot of treasure?" he added, although he already knew.

Thorin nodded. "Yes, halls upon halls of it."

"It will be impossible for me to move it all by myself. I will be able to perhaps steal one or two pieces before the dragon notices us, so I would suggest you give some thought as to which pieces you should like." A large white gem glimmered in his mind again before he pushed the image away and forged on, ignoring the echoes of dread. "I would also suggest -" His voice trembled, and he cleared his throat, trying to keep his words steady. "I would also suggest that we take a moment to consider the possibility of things such as dragon-sickness, and how it may be overcome once the Mountain is in our possession."

"Sage advice," said Gandalf approvingly, filing away his suspicion to deal with later and patting Bilbo on the shoulder.

Bilbo threw him a quick smile, though he was unable to hide the hint of tiredness to it. He found that he didn't particularly want to speak of their journey anymore, not with the knowledge of what was to come weighing on him, heavy as a sack of dragon-guarded gold.

"And, well, don't you know, I think we have talked long enough for one night, if you see what I mean. What about bed, and an early start, and all that? I would appreciate some help with breakfast tomorrow, if anyone would be so kind."

"You're the host, are you not?" replied Thorin, raising a dark, heavy brow. "But I agree about bed and breakfast. I like six eggs with my ham when starting on a journey - fried, not poached, and mind you don't break 'em."

Bilbo crossed his arms, staring at the dwarf expectantly, until Thorin reluctantly added, "Please."

Bilbo nodded and grabbed a small notebook that had been laying on the mantlepiece, quickly jotting down Thorin's preferred breakfast. "Anyone else?"

The dwarves and Gandalf all ordered their breakfasts, and Bilbo managed to get a 'please' from every one of them. Afterwards, he had to find places for all of them to sleep, which was thankfully a much shorter affair than last time, as he had his previous experiences to go by. He did have to dig extra blankets out of the linen cupboard, and set several dwarves and Gandalf (who was much too tall for his spare beds) up on couches and chairs, but he eventually got them all stowed away and retired to his own little bed. The shock of finding himself back in the past, along with having to host thirteen dwarves and a wizard, had left him rather exhausted, despite the renewed strength of his younger body. Before he collapsed into bed, he remembered to leave a sliver of his curtains unclosed, so that he would be awoken by the rays of dawn.

He fell asleep to the sound of Thorin's humming from the bedroom next to his, and this time, it was comforting.

The Hobbit was created by J.R.R. Tolkien.

[librivore42]

Patchwork Hearts

It was about dang time I wrote a Lord of the Rings fic. It's a shortie but it's a start. Inspired by this post by @idontknowhowtoplayguitar

Ao3 link below, and the entire thing is ever more below!

Patchwork hearts (556 words) by Librivore42

Chapters: 1/1

Fandom: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Hobbit - All Media Types

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Characters: Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf (Tolkien)

Additional Tags: i love them your honour, they're the kind of friends who snipe at each other one day, and sit and smoke on the porch the next

Summary:

Bilbo, ever the adventurer, has had a life full of living and of love. A short rumination on adventure, life, and the memories we keep of our friends.

~~~~~~~

The patches were a distinctly hobbitish thing, homely and warm with that communal sense of hail-fellow-well-met that was prevalent in the nicer parts of the Shire. Which was to say, parts that did not contain the Sackville-Bagginses. Bilbo had collected many on his long adventures, politely requested from amused elves, dwarves and every stripe of man in his most official and businesslike manner, as one would request a personal and most valued favour.

The old clothes were left behind as the patches migrated from suit to suit, and he wondered if someday he might have a suit that was all patches. Wouldn’t that be such a fine thing! A tribute to a life long and broad and most well-lived. A map of all his adventures.

And Frodo’s. He’d been most honoured to request a further patch from him before he left Rivendell, and one after. The suit had, by now, been set aside most carefully so that it would not wear, taken out only for the most special of occasions. By now he had as many patches, nearly, as he had stories, yet not nearly as many as he had room for fondness in his heart.

He had never yet asked one of Gandalf. A strange embarrassment came over him at the very thought of it. Perhaps the wizard would give him one when he wished.

At Bag End Gandalf and Bilbo had parted… not coldly, never that, but the shadow of the Ring had passed a chill over them that had sent both shivering even as Bilbo had stepped out the door. Gandalf had known, then, that he would see him again. But as they went to part again at the Last Homely House in Rivendell, he was no longer entirely sure.

And so as Gandalf set off at the head of the Fellowship, determined to lead them for as far as he was able, it being his turn to leave the other standing on the doorstep, as it were, he left Bilbo with a small scrap from one of his more worn travel cloaks.

On their final journey together, as the old Hobbit was helped into the boat with much the same grumbling as he’d done when he’d been forced out of his comfortable hole at the beginning of all his adventures, Gandalf’s impressive eyebrows rose at the much-beloved, much-patched suit.

He was not surprised. The careful storage had kept the clothing in very good order, and patches, especially sentimental ones that were not holding together the already well-trodden paths of an old suit, would of course last. So he was not, indeed, surprised. Gratified was the word, to see the fabric of his cloak on Bilbo’s shoulder, a shoulder he had often grasped to give solace, to guide, and perhaps give many an unwelcome push.

A special occasion this was indeed. He did not smile as he sat across from Bilbo, but his eyes had a deep warmth behind their usual sharp fire, and the old Hobbit gave him a beam that creased his entire face into a map of a life most well-lived.

“Well Gandalf?”

“The road goes ever on and on, doesn’t it?”

The solemn casting off of the boat was shot through with warm, hobbitish laughter that rang out over the water.

“It does indeed, old friend. It does indeed.”

[e-louise-bates]

Recently I've been mulling over the way Faramir and Boromir are presented in the LOTR movies, and why I find even their brotherly relationship unconvincing (I'm sorry, Boromir fans, but I do). I feel that everything about Faramir in the movies is presented in narrative as though he is a lesser version of Boromir, and the big issue for him is that he's always trying to live up to his brother's ideal, and his father is always criticizing him and Boromir is always trying to build Faramir up. It isn't just that Denethor thinks of Faramir as a lesser Boromir, it's that he genuinely is, and he needs to come to terms with who he is (and I guess he sorta does that when he rejects the ring? but then fails when his father tells him to go retake Osgiliath? and then there's never really a satisfactory conclusion to his arc because he just gets healed and falls in love with Eowyn and decides there's hope for the future after all and everything's ok?).

Whereas in the books Tolkien tells us outright--Boromir is a lesser version of Aragorn, but Faramir is a lesser version of Gandalf. Faramir has the wisdom that his brother and father lack, and Denethor resents him for it, but Boromir respects him for it. Tolkien tells us that Faramir is certain that in all of Gondor there is no one like Boromir, and Boromir thinks the same (which I am pretty sure Tolkien means as Boromir thinks Faramir is the best of the best, but could also be interpreted as Boromir agreeing with Faramir that he, Boromir, is the best, which is kinda hilarious to imagine). Boromir is not always trying to build up his little brother, who is desperately trying to win their father's approval. Boromir recognizes the ways in which Faramir is superior to himself, the same way that Faramir recognizes Boromir's strengths.

Faramir in the books is a strong and capable leader of men (all of whom love him and are wholly loyal to him) as well as a mighty warrior, but his true strength lies in his wisdom. When he obeys his father's order to go attempt to retake Osgiliath, it is not a desperate attempt to win approval, but an acknowledgement that Denethor is still in command and he, Faramir, is bound by oath and virtue to obey his orders, even when they wrong. The quiet plea for his father to think better of him when he returns is a glimpse into the pain he feels at his father's constant rejection, but that pain does not control him, nor is it his driving motivation. Faramir's goal, in all things, is to be a man of virtue, even as Boromir's goal is to be a man of honor. Boromir finds that under the ring's temptation, honor breaks, and though he is redeemed it takes his death. When Faramir is confronted with the same temptation--a stronger one, even, as he has not spent weeks and months with Frodo as a companion and therefore has not built a relationship of trust and loyalty, and he has not heard with his own ears the strong warnings against using the ring!--virtue holds fast. Boromir redeems his own honor by his death, but by his life Faramir redeems the line of the stewards of Gondor, which is why he is able to receive the task of redeeming Ithilien once Aragorn is crowned king (and why he is actually a better husband for Eowyn than Aragorn would have been, but that's a whole other post).

All of this was lost in presenting Boromir as the superior-in-every-way elder brother, with Faramir as his shadow-self, who failed the same test with the ring but in a weaker way (and then passed at the last minute because ... Sam gave a moving speech about good in the world being worth fighting for and not giving up, and he decided that was a good reason to let them go destroy the ring after all?), and whose entire character was defined by desperately striving for his father's approval and never getting it, and then somehow just being ok at the end.

[suzannahnatters]

I blazed through the first 25% of my FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING audiobook reread in 3 days whoops

nb this is like the 9th or possibly 10th time lets go wheeee

FOREWORD

it's SO iconic of JRRT to come out swinging with "some people are wrong about my book and I have chosen to make it everyone's problem"

PROLOGUE - CONCERNING HOBBITS

"after the book is over Celeborn is going to go and live at Rivendell, and Sam is going to preserve Bilbo's and Frodo's literary legacy, and Merry Brandybuck is going to become a loremaster in herbology and history and linguistics, and Pippin Took - well, Pippin doesn't do diddleysquat"

CH 1 - A LONG EXPECTED PARTY

Gandalf is the personal emissary of the gods wielding a ring of power crafted thousands of years ago by the legendary elven-smith Celebrimbor under the tutelage of Sauron, Dark Enemy of the World. he uses this artefact, among other things, to create fireworks for children.

CH 2 - THE SHADOW OF THE PAST

this is THE chapter to me. I cracked open LOTR for the first time when I was 10 and noped out somewhere around chapter 3 because it was SO SCARY HELP but chapter 2 had got me, I HAD to find out whether Frodo ever found the Cracks of Doom

instead of One Chosen Hero who Saves the World JRRT gives us the One Dreaded Artefact which Must Be Destroyed, doesn't matter by whom though ideally it'll be a complete nobody - nobody is doing it like him. this might possibly explain why I've always wanted to read fantasy books about the one person in the world with NO magical abilities at all

the way that Gollum gets so humanised in this chapter drives home how this book plays with notions of heroism/protagonism. Aragorn is the classic fantasy hero, the promised king whose main function is to run distraction while the hobbits get the job done. Frodo is the protagonist through whose eyes we see the story but in the end he fails his job. Sam is the true protagonist because in the end he is the one with agency. Gollum is the tragic hero whose fall becomes a vehicle of grace in bringing about the Ring's destruction. and right from the start he's honoured that way by the book bringing us into his perspective.

it's always DELIGHTED me that on a re-read you can track more or less when Sam starts listening in by the fact that his shears stop snicking in the background

our boy Frodo is so relatable for how he reacts to the news that the dark lord of Mordor has probably heard his name and knows where he lives, it's like he's become twitter's main character for the day...but I think the main reason this chapter terrified me so much as a child is because of how strongly as a child you identify with Frodo, being so aware that one is only a small hobbit in the grand scheme of things. it's something I think that as a kid you identify with.

huge drama going down in the sitting room as Gandalf recoils halfway to Gondor at the thought of being asked to take care of the Ring himself. smash cut to Sam outside pretending to be bustling around the garden whistling to disguise the fact that he's been eavesdropping on the whole thing.

love the way that Gandalf is coded as wise and prophetic in this chapter. he takes on a sort of old testament prophetic role, not in terms of being able to look into the future but in terms of being able to look at the present with heightened vision to perceive the workings of divine providence

"THEY'RE MIGHT SUS DOWN IN BUCKLAND" says Gaffer Gamgee to a several thousand year old incorporeal nightmare fuel phantom

CH 3 - THREE IS COMPANY

it will never not be utterly delightful to me that given the strength and terror they later achieve the ringwraiths come into the story getting sassed by hobbits and later, falling off things

never not losing it when Frodo, on leaving the shire, suddenly recites the same poem Bilbo spoke when returning to it. cept that when Bilbo spoke of "wandering" feet Frodo speaks of "weary" feet 😭😭😭 MY BOY

"cannot imagine what information could be more terrifying than your hints and warnings" MOOD, I think that Gildor's vague alarms are part of the reason I DNF'd the book age 10, I simply could not handle that

a bit difference between the SILMARILLION versus HOBBIT and LOTR is that in the latter we get a look at the elves from an outsider perspective and it's so fun, the Mirkwood Sindar come across as tricksy folklore elves but Gildor's Noldor are coded quite differently, as fair back-of-the-north-wind elves

CH 4 - A SHORT CUT TO MUSHROOMS

we're getting so much character development for the hobbits already - Frodo already isolated by his burden emotionally in a way that foreshadows the severe physical isolation he'll undergo later; Sam manifesting prophetic wisdom and foresight under the Elves' influence; Pippin just being a happy-go-lucky boyy and we even get a strong sense of Merry as the practical, capable one handling logistics in the background (am I still sore at the movies for making them both comic relief? yea verily)

"short cuts make long delays but inns make longer ones" spoken like a man who tried to go on multiple walking tours with CS Lewis

the vibe of these chapters is impeccable, it's like cosycosycosy SPINE MELTING PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR cosycosycosy

but it's also actually super reminiscent of Stevenson and Buchan - this whole sense of being hunted relentlessly through an otherwise beautiful peaceful landscape.

[re-bee-key]

To me, I hold the One Piece Live Action with the same reverence as I do Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings.

It is a beautiful dramatization that, while it will never be able to cover the scope and complexity of the original, is able to embody the spirit of what made the story so beloved.

I feel also confident to compare One Piece to The Lord of the Rings.

Both are stories about a band of heroes who travel far across a wild, ruined world for a piece of treasure whose fate will change everything and free everyone.

Set in fantastical worlds that not so subtly mirror our own.

The Lord of the Rings is one of the best stories ever written. It was written to feel like a mythology lost to time. Something ancient and forgotten and unreal but hiding bits of truth.

And I truly believe One Piece is similar. I think its one of the greatest stories ever written.

One that has been spread all over the world. The comic circulating in 43 countries and now the live action show available in 84.

Can you imagine that scope? Can you imagine your story being read by so many people from all over the world? Can you imagine how long that legacy could be?

One Piece is the highest sold manga in the world, almost the highest selling comic in the world, and soon will surpass Harry Potter in general printed book sales. It has a theme park, restaurants, movies, shows, video games, toys.

How will all of this translate to a lasting legacy?

Will Luffy be as long-lasting as Frodo? As Hamlet? As Hercules? As Gilgamesh?

What will happen in the years after he finds the One Piece?

I, for one, think Luffy will go down in history as the most famous pirate in fiction. Truly becoming, King of the Pirates.

(Anyways, ive been over thinking again. And, i just love One Piece so much. What are y'alls thoughts?)