#basically elrond is giving me a Lot of trouble here

[sesamenom]

@general-illyrin @tar-thelien @who-needs-words I think you all mentioned being interested in the reverse gondolin au - is anyone interested in helping with wrangling the timelines, especially the second age stuff? Here's the current outline:

(Edit: anyone feel free to help out if you're interested!)

YT 14365 - Birth of Lomion

YT 14373/FA 1 - Death of Argon

FA

2 - Aredhel adopts Lomion

300 - Birth of Idril

316 - Turgon & Idril kidnapped by Eol

400 - Turgon & Idril rescued. Death of Eol

465 - Finrod more-peacefully passes throne to orodreth while on Quest. Everyone except beren still dies

472 - Nirnaeth. Turgon named High King of the Noldor.

476 - Turgon abdicates official title. Aredhel named High King of the Noldor.

496 - Tuor comes to Gondolin

502 - Wedding of Idril and Tuor

503 - Births of Earendil and Elwing. Idril begins to have foresight dreams about the Fall.

506 - Second Kinslaying. C^3 dead, celebrimbor stays in gondolin. Aredhel denounces the oath/kinslaying and disowns C^3

Elwing survives & is found by Oropher & Thranduil // Galadriel & Celeborn. oropher, thranduil, oropher's wife, and thranduil's then-gf // galadriel & celeborn take Elwing to Gondolin as refugees. The Silmaril is left hidden in the woods of melian's domain.

507 - Elwing comes to Gondolin.

509 - Idril captured by Morgoth. Idril reveals the location of Gondolin in exchange for an Oath to not harm her family (Turgon, Tuor, and Earendil). Idril rescued.

510 - Gondolin prepares for war with Morgoth.

513-522 - Siege of Gondolin. Deaths of Duilin and Rog. Gothmog slain by Aredhel the Huntress. First use of the Three Rings by Lomion and Celebrimbor in defense of Gondolin. House of the Hammer of Wrath destroyed.

523 - Maedhros believes a Silmaril is with Elwing at Gondolin.

525 - Earendil weds Elwing. Lomion weds ???. Adoption of Gil-Galad

532 - Births of Elrond and Elros.

538 - Third Kinslaying at Gondolin. Death of Amras. Elrond and Elros kidnapped by Maglor. Deaths of Elwing and Turgon. Second use of the Three Rings by Lomion and Celebrimbor. Deaths of Maedhros and Aredhel. Lomion named King of Gondolin and High King of the Noldor. Deaths of Salgant, Penlod, and Tuor. Earendil named Lord of the House of the Wing.

540-549 - War declared between Gondolin and the Feanorians of Himring over the Third Kinslaying and kidnapping of Princes Elrond and Elros.

549 - Elrond and Elros recovered. Feanorians and Gondolin severely weakened. Celebrimbor // Gil-Galad declared heir to the High Kingship.

552-554 - Second Siege & Fall of Gondolin. Third use of the Three Rings by Lomion and Celebrimbor. Deaths of Ecthelion, Glorfindel, Egalmoth, and Turgon. Idril and Celebrimbor lead survivors through the Secret Way.

555 - Gondolithlim refugees arrive at Sirion.

556 - Idril departs for Valinor.

558 - Earendil searches for Valinor.

560 - Havens of Sirion destroyed by Morgoth. Gondolithlim/Doriathrim survivors scattered. Elrond and Elros rescued (as adults) by Maglor.

572 - Morgoth controls Beleriand. Earendil and reembodied Elwing come to Valinor and rally the Host.

575-617 - War of Wrath

618 - Maglor claims the Silmaril from Eonwe's camp and casts himself into the Sea. Death of Maglor.

620 - End of the First Age.

SA

1 - Founding of the Grey Havens and Lindon under High King Lomion

2 - Elros becomes the first King of Numenor

c. 500 - Sauron returns to Middle-Earth in the East.

650 - Eregion is founded

1000 - Galadriel is given Vilya; Lomion wields Nenya

1170 - Annatar comes to Lindon and Lomion turns him away. Lomion warns Celebrimbor of Eregion of his suspicions.

1200 - Annatar comes to Eregion. Celebrimbor takes him in to monitor.

1250 - Celebrimbor creates the Seven; Lomion creates the Nine.

1410 - Annatar is kicked out of Eregion.

1600 - The One Ring is forged. Sauron remains in hiding.

1610 - Sauron begins to gather and prepare armies in the East.

1673 - War of the Elves and Sauron begins.

1675 - Sauron invades Eriador.

1677 - Fall of Ost-in-Edhil. Celebrimbor and Lomion remain at the House of the Mirdain. Death of Celebrimbor in battle // Fourth use of the Three in battle. Sauron does not learn of the Seven. Founding of Imladris.

1678 - Sauron defeated by the Numenoreans and the Elves of Lindon.

1679 - Sauron flees to Mordor. First White Council held.

3147 - Civil war in Numenor.

3225 - Ar-Pharazon seizes the Sceptre.

3228 - Elrond claims the Sceptre. Ar-Pharazon disowned. Tar-Miriel named Ruling Queen.

3232 - Sauron taken to Numenor as a prisoner.

3274 - Elrond kicks Sauron out of Numenor and outlaws the morgoth cult.

3310 - Morgoth cult publicly reappears.

3319 - Downfall of Numenor. Tar-Miriel leads a greater force of the Faithful away.

(green // blue means two main options, red means i need to think about it more)

The main details I'm figuring out right now are

does Celebrimbor still die at Eregion - I don't think he's getting captured/tortured, but he could still die in the battle. On the other hand, he could probably survive by using Narya & Lomion using Nenya, but that would definitely have repercussions further down the line

how does Idril's deal work - I'm currently thinking of Idril exchanging the location of Gondolin for her family's guaranteed safety, because it seems in character for Reverse Idril? But on the other hand, even if I limit it to immediate family at the time of the oath (tuor, turgon, earendil) then idk where turgon dies? Maybe Maglor can kill him but that seems kind of random

where and how does Turgon die

how does Prince Elrond's character even work

how does Numenor still fall when factoring in Prince Elrond - I'm thinking that the morgoth death cult gained enough traction during the time sauron was there that even after Elrond kicks him out, the cult still sticks around and reemerges later? The Fall still happens, but they never go to attack valinor and there's a good deal more Faithful (maybe 40-60%?)

[gffa]

SO, HEY, YOU WANT A PRIMER FOR WHERE TO START WITH LORD OF THE RINGS/THE HOBBIT/SILMARILLION FIC TO READ? The other night @belldreams asked me if the fic I was currently reading (as I mentioned that I’d been enthralled by it) was accessible to a layperson and, sadly, I don’t think it is.  But then my eyes lit up with an unholy glee because I do know a bunch of fics that are great for a layperson to read! I assume that a person will at least have seen the movies and are thus reasonably aware of how Tolkien’s world is set up, but you don’t have to know the history of the world to start reading these!  This is a list that is aimed at gently easing a person into the wider fandom or just providing a starting place, if that’s what you want! LET’S INTRODUCE YOU TO SOME FUCKIN’ ELVES: ➡ I have a series of posts about The Silmarillion which are told in a Very Broad Strokes kind of way and not always in chronological order (so maybe you should start with the first fic rec instead? idk!) and they’re still in progress, but I had a great time with Let Me Tell You About The Silmarillion:  Part One, part two, part three, part four, part five.  (The rest are written, I just need to post them!)  They’re cute, ridiculous yelling about my Elf Feelings and won’t take a person that long to read.  (And it’s a lot of names to throw at a person, but, hey, you can always come talk to me spoonfeed you another overview, if you like!  ♥) ➡ Or you can listen to the audiobook here!  I warn, even with having the audio on in the background, it’s still a very dry and dense prose.  I love it!  But it’s definitely not going to be for everyone. ➡ But if the whole thing is too much and you just want an overview, I also really liked this series of Lord of the Rings Mythology (part 1, 2) that will take you less than ten minutes to listen to and they set up the basic structure of Powers in this world. ➡ A good quick overview (only 10 minutes of talking) on Feanor and the creation and then theft of the Silmarils.  It’s definitely more on the side of asshole!Feanor, but, well, they’re not wrong!  There’s a whole series of videos to tell about the history of Arda, all of which are generally under 10 minutes each and are good overviews!  Caveat:  Don’t trust the pronunciations here, they’re off sometimes.  But, then, that’s a thing all over--they’re hard! ➡ I also laughed at The Silmarillion in under three minutes, which acknowledges how much it skips/gives only the very broadest of strokes on (so you may be tempted to assume things, but there’s very often deeper reasons) but did indeed get the story in in under three minutes! OH BUT YOU WANT SOME FIC TO READ: The Silmarillion Rewrite by Jenavira - A fic that lovingly “translates” the Silmarillion from the admittedly very dry style Tolkien has and this is a great fic to start with if you want to get an idea of the shape of the Silmarillion.  It’s hilariously funny and does a great job of familiarizing you with the characters!  My only caveat is that you can’t take it as gospel, it’s not the same as reading the book yourself, because some things are open to interpretation--for example, in reading the fic, it sounds like the Dwarves gained sentience on their own, while in the book I think the takeaway is that Iluvatar granted them sentience, as he’s the only one able to give true life in that way.  I say this not to argue, but to remind potential readers that Tolkien fans have been debating this stuff for decades for a reason!  (And also I’m a Thingol stan for life, but I admit not everyone shares that bias with me.  XD) But absolutely read this fic, it’s hilarious and does a stellar job at being just a fun read and getting you to know who the hell Maedhros and Maglor and Finrod and all of those people are, the history of the Great War with Melkor and Sauron, how all of this is important to the history of Middle-Earth and the rest of the world. The Starlit Sky by Makalaure - You probably need a little context for this one, but it’s not hard to pick up!  Basically:  Once upon a time, a brilliant asshole made some shiny rocks that everyone wanted, Fantasy Satan stole them, he and his seven sons swore an Oath to get them back, a lot of really bad shit happened because they were bound to that Oath, and eventually two of the sons attacked the havens of Elrond and his twin brother Elros’ parents place and killed a bunch of them and then wound up with two Elflings on their hands.  There, now you can read the backstory of Elrond and Elros growing up in the care of Maedhros and Maglor and cry about feelings with me.  Because, yeah, by the end of this one I definitely had tears in my eyes for understanding how Elrond could love these Elves, even after all the terrible, terrible things they had done. WHAT ELSE YOU WILL FIND HERE: -  OR INSTEAD EXPAND ON THE CHARACTERS YOU ALREADY KNOW -  OR READ SOME FELLOWSHIP-CENTRIC STUFF, JUST ‘CAUSE THEY’RE GOOD -  NOW THAT YOU’RE MORE FAMILIAR, HERE’S MORE COMPLICATED FIC

OR INSTEAD EXPAND ON THE CHARACTERS YOU ALREADY KNOW: In a Field of Blood and Stone by ScribeofArda - The Battle of the Five Armies, this time told from the point of view of the Elves.  One of my biggest criticisms of the movies (especially The Hobbit movies) is that they did the Elves so wrong and this fic can be read without having ever picked up any of the books, but I think it does a lovely job of showing what the Elves should be like, especially Thranduil.  There’s some great stuff with him and Legolas, as well as Bard and Bilbo have great roles.  Also, it’s just a incredibly engaging fic that adds such rich detail to that battle! Interrupted Journeys by ellisk - This series is legitimately my favorite in the entire fandom because you can read it without knowing anything beyond the movies (though, they’re not really movie!characterization and instead truer to how Elves really are) but you can also pick up so much on Sindarin politics, if you’re familiar with them.  The first time I read this series, I didn’t really know that much about who Thingol was, other than some Sindarin king, but I followed the context of the scenes referencing him just fine.  Later, once I was more familiar with the Silmarillion, I gained a ton of admiration for the thought that went into this fic, the history of the world, why most Silvan Elves loved Thranduil, but some did not and why a Sinda ruling Silvan Elves was still a thing even thousands of years later. But it’s also just an incredible series of stories about worldbuilding for Greenwood the Great, it builds up characters for important relationships with Legolas and Thranduil, ones that I deeply care about, and it has an incredible plot, that spans over a million words and never, ever stops being enthralling.  And yet my favorite moments are probably the quieter ones, the little Elflings getting into trouble in various ways, how their parents talk to them, as Elves do, and the absolutely stellar characterization of Thranduil especially.  My only caveat is to start with Part 3, because that’s when Legolas is born and I think it’s easier to get hooked from there! daw the minstrel’s fic - I love pretty much everything of daw’s, the Legolas’ childhood and stories about growing up in Mirkwood are wonderful.  There’s a fair amount of OCs (whom I have grown to love!) that you can skip over the scenes when they’re not interacting with a canon character (Thranduil or Legolas) if you like, but are ones I’ve found myself rereading several times because they just do so much good at plot and worldbuilding!  They’re all wonderful, but the ones I started with where All Those Who Wander, Good Neighbors, Legolas’s Begetting Day, and Growing Under Shadow.  They’re all set in the same universe at different points in his life and all fantastic! Ich Dien - To Serve the KingdomMissFaust - This was written before the third Hobbit movie came out but I love it and it’s one of those that I think a layperson could read just fine!  It’s been completely Jossed by BOTFA but I think it’s still readable and it does a much more gorgeous job of taking the movie versions (at least in the first two movies) and writing them with more care and staying true to their spirits.  Also, it’s just really cool worldbuilding! OR READ SOME FELLOWSHIP-CENTRIC STUFF, JUST ‘CAUSE THEY’RE GOOD: A Bit of Rope by Aiwendiel - “What if Gandalf had survived at Moria?” is the question this fic poses and it’s not especially a nice answer.  Things do ultimately work out but it kind of leaves you with the impression of the canon version of events, as difficult as they were, were what was necessary for the best outcome.  This one is something of an exhausting read, but in the way it’s meant to be, in how you absolutely feel Frodo’s journey with him.  It’s gorgeously told and I was absolutely engrossed by it and I think it keeps the spirit of the canon incredibly well.  And it’s basically like five novels worth and yet I tore through them at a speed because OMG SO GOOD. The River by Indigo Bunting - Another gorgeous Fellowship-era fic, where Legolas and Sam accidentally get separated from the main group and you think that it’d be such a random pairing and yet it works brilliantly well.  It adds such depth to both characters, it does beautifully at writing both of them and this world they’re in, and just slides right on by as you read it.  It doesn’t sound terribly exciting when I put it that way, but it really is! Far Horizons by Bodkin - While there are other post-canon fics that I love, I think this one has my heart in a way that others don’t, because it’s my favorite one for Thranduil and Legolas in the Fourth Age.  There might be some characters you’re not familiar with (like Elladan and Elrohir) but I don’t think there’s anything you can’t pick up from context.  Basically, Thranduil, Elrond/Celebrian, and Celeborn/Galadriel are all finally in Aman and they want to establish their own realm--this is the story of the difficulties of that.  It’s such a sharp and clever story, there are so many genuinely charming and hilarious moments, there’s a great polish to the way the story is told, and it really builds a community for these Elves in a way that is both pleasing to my id and to my nerdy worldbuilding/character-loving side!  And there’s even plot!  I couldn’t ask for more. NOW THAT YOU’RE MORE FAMILIAR, HERE’S MORE COMPLICATED FIC: And What Happened Afterarrogantemu - As much as I would deeply and truly love to shove this fic at everyone who’s ever flitted by the Tolkien movies at any point, it’s one where you need to know who these people are and their histories before you can read it.  You need to know who Feanor is, you need to know who Celebrimbor is, you need to know who the Valar are, etc.  Once you do, though?  Oh, this is quite possibly the grandest post-canon fic I could have asked for.  It’s everything I never knew I needed--Feanor and Fingolfin’s reunion brought me to tears, Frodo and Celebrimbor’s conversation made me physically ache for how perfect it was--and it’s written in such a gorgeously cathartic, beautiful way.  I felt the lushness of the world in all the little details and conversations written here.  I felt peace at what was put forth here.  I fell in love with Silm fandom all over again because this one sparked such love in me again. Return to Aman by bunn - This is the first fic of the author’s I read and I just sunk right into it and didn’t want to come up for air whenever I could read on it.  It’s the story of Elrond grabbing Maglor before sailing off to Aman at the end of Lord of the Rings and what happens from there.  It’s a gorgeous look at what happens when the main story is done, at Elven politics and characterization, and the Feanorians trying to heal.  It doesn’t negate what Maglor was a part of or what the Oath meant, what others suffered because of his deeds, but also it’s such a kind fic and so it’s incredibly Elven.  I fell in love with this and it breathes such life into all the characters (god, every single scene with Finrod makes me fall in love with him more, how is that possible, how am I not already at maximum Finrod love!? and yet LOVE HIM MORE I DO), it’s so sharp and clever, that I really loved it. Quenta Narquelion by bunn - This is the fic I was reading when bell asked me if it was accessible to a layperson and, for all that it’s a retelling of the events of The Silmarillion, I think it draws on too much context from before they got to Middle-Earth (it starts in the immediate aftermath of Feanor’s death) for that.  But once you know the shape, it’s a gorgeous story for breathing life into the characters and the events that took place--not shying away from the horribleness of what they’re doing, but also showing that they are still Elves, that they’re not just evil, because they weren’t.  There’s such charm and charisma in this writing, there’s such a strong sense of the world and how all the pieces were moving, and how it makes everything so interesting that I love it.  I especially recommend it for the Maedhros & Maglor & Elros & Elrond feelings because BOY DID I HAVE THOSE. Oak and Willow by Potboy - Marnie writes absolutely beautiful fic and this one is no exception!  This is another “gap filler” fic and I think it might not be wholly readable by laypeople just yet, but if you have a vague understanding of the Silmarillion, it’s GORGEOUS.  One of the things about Tolkien’s world is that it’s told from the point of view of the Noldor, so OF COURSE the other Elves all look like jerks.  What this fic does is then tell the story from the Sindar’s point of view and suddenly there’s a whoooole lot more context going on here!  It’s gorgeously done and, oh, if you like Galadriel or want Celeborn to have more depth, to understand why Galadriel loved him in this author’s hands, it’s a brilliant read for that.  Gap-filler or just really great characterization/worldbuilding, this fic covers both. This Taste of Shadow by Mira_Jade - This is a collection of various Tolkien prompts and there are so many incredible gems here.  It spans from the Silmarillion to The Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings, it spans from the Elves to the Men to the Dwarves, they’re all here, at some point.  Sure, primarily it’s about Elves, but the Elves are the ones we know the most about, and I think you need to know The Silmarillion to read this, but once you have the shape of it, this is some fantastic filling-in-the-spaces pieces with a boggling amount of variety of characters!  You can skip around to your faves if you like, if a chapter depends on reading another one first, it’ll tell you, and so pick your beloved character and there’s probably a gorgeous fic in here about them!

[oraclesoftime]

Futures Known But Unspoken

CHAPTER 16 Bookmark It was the following morning and Belle was not even surprised by the bruises that covered her body. She yet again poked them, truly amazed at how many bruises one could gain from sparring. Her fingers had been raw from practicing with the bow and over night they had harden into hard blisters. Her fingers throbbed a little, but she figured that would numb over time. Belle sat up, the night before she had asked the she-elf who was looking after Lane if they could bring more linen. The she-elf was surprised when Belle took the linen and began making a makeshift nest of a bed on the floor next to Lane’s bed. “My lady we could have a bed made for you…” The elven maiden had insisted. “I do appreciate the thought, but I would rather stay close by,” Belle responded in kind. She was not leaving Lane’s side until she felt it was okay to be away from her friend. Belle yawned loudly, glanced at Lane’s sleeping form and rose from her bed. She sat in the chair, holding Lane’s hand and sighed, “I have training again today...you know Fili and Kili are far more gentle when it comes to training someone? I mean Glorfindel is great, and I’m learning a lot...no pain no gain, but I just… Maybe it would be more fun if you were watching me...I need someone to poke the bear.” No response came from Lane and Belle sighed heavily, when would Lane wake up? Would they both be able to continue this journey? Belle rested her head by Lane’s arm and wondered why they were even here, especially since it seemed they weren’t safe from danger. If they could be harmed here, they could die, and that very thought had Belle squeezing Lane’s hand just a little to see if the taller woman would respond at all. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, Belle looked up and noticed the same elven maiden from the night before entering. She bowed slightly and said, “Good morning my lady...I’ve come to check on your friend.” Belle smiled softly, “Thank you, you’ve been very helpful.” “My lady,” the she-elf said, “I also have a message from Lord Glorfindel…” “Oh?” Belle replied sitting up more, “Is everything alright?” “Lord Glorfindel apologizes, but he will not be able to continue training today. He has a meeting outside of Rivendell and will not be returning until later in the day,” she answered gently, “He offers to make up for his absent that training begin at sunrise tomorrow.” Belle rubbed at her eyes before responding, “That sounds perfect...although how will he know I agreed to his offer?” “I will inform Lord Glorfindel upon his return, my Lady.” Belle smiled at the she-elf and nodded, “Alright, thank you very much.” That’s when it hit Belle, what the hell was she going to do with her day with Glorfindel gone. She made a face before it hit her, she’d bugged the poor elven maiden to teach her how to make salves and such, but perhaps there was someone else. Belle cleared her throat a little, “Uh...Is there anyone I could ask to further teach me about salves and other healing techniques?” The elven maiden blinked for a moment as she looked up from looking at Lane’s wound. She then looked thoughtful for a moment before answering Belle, “Lord Elrond may be available...would my Lady like me to inquire?” Belle brighten up a little, but tried not to sound too excited as she replied, “If it’s not too much trouble… I would hate to be bothering Lord Elrond.” The she-elf nodded and once she was done tending to Lane’s wound, left the room with her things and disappeared. Belle wondered if Elrond would teach her or if he even had time to spare for her. He was the Lord of Rivendell, he was busy as hell, and she didn’t want to add to his long list of these needed. She began to wonder if she had asked for too much when there was a knock on the door. Belle lifted her head as she called out, “Yes?” Elrond entered the room giving Belle a look, the smaller woman standing and bowing towards Elrond, “My lord.” Elrond cleared his throat a little, “I have been informed of your interest in healing. Is learning the bow too much, my Lady?” “Not at all!” Belle stated lifting her head to look at Elrond, “It’s the one of the most amazing things I have had the honour to learn...I received word Lord Glorfindel is away and I thought instead of being lazy I should expand my learning…” “And you choose healing?” Lord Elrond asked, one of his eyebrows lifting slightly, “Why?” “My Lord, you and I both know this quest will only get more dangerous the further we go,” Belle pointed out, “If Lane isn’t the perfect example of why I should learn the basics of healing, I don’t know what is… Oin can heal and is a master, but one cannot ignore that everyone does things differently. What works for one person might not work for another, I think that it would be good to know many different techniques and concepts in order to protect those I travel with...don’t you?” Elrond studied Belle for a few moments and she began to wonder if the Lord of Rivendell would say no to her. She could always bug Oin, but the elves did some things differently compared to the dwarves. The silence was beginning to make her nervous when Elrond finally nodded, “Your ideas are wise for someone so...young.” “Not all my ideas,” Belle admitted, “But I feel like this one is...you have my gratitude Lord Elrond.” When Bilbo arrived to sit with Lane thinking Belle was seeing Glorfindel, Belle explained that she was actually going to be training with Elrond instead. She had spent a good portion of her late morning and early afternoon with Elrond. He explained how to make salves, the different plants she could use for healings, ways of mending and even certain herbs that could be used as teas. Belle was excited at realizing her study of teas was becoming useful after all, Lane would be so annoyed by it. Lord Elrond then explained how to get the oil from certain plants, making Belle extra excited, because this meant she could make essential oils, like from back home. These oils could be used for various things, including just like at home, baths. When Lane woke up, Belle would insist on a herbal bath, with both a mixture of petals and oils. About an hour or two after lunch, Elrond got called away and called the lesson to a halt. He promised to teach her more later if she would like, also adding that she was free to look at most of his books. Belle thanked him for his time, heading back towards Lane’s room. As Belle lost herself in one of the books she borrowed from Elrond, Belle realized too late that she had arrived at the sparring grounds. Dwalin, Bifur, Ori and Nori were in the opened little field sparring each other, while the others were off to the side spectating. A quick once over of the group had Belle noticing that all three of the Durins were missing, and Bombur oddly enough, was also absent. Belle walked over slowly and stood next to Balin who was leaning against his sword slightly. Balin greeted Belle, “My Lady, how are you?” “I’m good, what are you all doing Balin?” Belle curiously asked. “We are getting out some frustrations,” Balin replied, “Some of us are feeling frustrated as the hours go by waiting for Lane to wake up.” “Frustrated?!” Belle sounded concerned and Balin cut in, “Frustrated because they could not protect the lass,” he added. Belle sighed, “It was no ones fault...apart from my own.” Balin shook his head, “You shouldn’t blame yourself, lass; could have happened to anyone.” Belle shook her head, “Balin, would you have turned around when you knew there was danger just to retrieve something precious to someone?” “Am I to understand that is what she did?” Balin said as Belle nodded sadly, “Then, I understand why you blame yourself, but you are not to blame. The lass took the risk because she cares for you Lady Isabella.” Belle sighed, “I know, but her getting hurt doesn’t make it any easier.” Belle watched Bifur try to attack Dwalin and Dwalin dodged, making his own attack as he did. She watched Ori and Nori do their own form of sparring and found it yet again very interesting how each dwarf had their own way of fighting. Belle was watching so intently, that she didn’t realize she moved forward a little until Balin pulled her back. “Best not get in the way Lady Isabella,” Balin recommended, “Ye don’t want to get hurt.” “Actually, I was thinking I didn’t get to spar today and wouldn’t mind joining…” The fighting stopped and everyone turned to look at Belle like she was crazy. She gave an embarrassed smile before saying, “What?” “Ye want to join Lassie?” Dwalin asked with a raised eyebrow, “Should ye not stick to books?” “I’ll have you know I have a Lord of Rivendell teaching me…” Belle responded, “So, I think that’s a little rude, just because I don’t look it, doesn’t mean I can’t fight.” Dwalin chuckled, “Someone get the lady a sword…” Bofur walked up to Belle with a sword in hand, “Ye’ sure you don’t want to rethink this? Ye’ get hurt an Champion will hurt us.” “What are you afraid of Bofur?” Belle grinned, “Lane actually acting upon the many profane promises of beating you up?” Bofur shook his head as the others chuckled. Ori piping up, “Lady Isabella, who would you like to spar with?” Belle looked thoughtful, only for Bofur to comment with, “Perhaps Ori or Nori, they should not be too hard on ye lass.” Belle rolled her eyes, “Perhaps I want to spar with Dwalin?” The others chuckled as Bofur gaped wide at Belle’s words, about to argue with her Dwalin piped up, “Alright lass, let us get started.” Belle grinned that Dwalin didn’t even think to argue, he just accepted that Belle wanted to go up against him. Belle placed the book on the ground, walked into the sparring ring and got into a stance. Dwalin studied her position, scoffed a little and said, “You stand like an elf.” “So?” Belle said prepared for the worst, “I’m being taught by an Elf… Soon I’ll fight like both an elf and dwarf.” “That’ll be the day!” Gloin scoffed. Belle rolled her eyes as Dwalin got into position and then they began to fight. At first Belle, was doing okay, but then Dwalin seemed to change his tactics. When he did that, Belle landed on her butt more than once, each time getting more and more annoyed that she was “dead”. Belle rose each time, refusing to yield, and each time Dwalin knocked her down. Belle was enjoying herself, although she didn’t feel she was doing well, she liked that Dwalin wasn’t going easy on her. “Lassie you should just take a break,” Dwalin stated, “I think you have proven your point.” Belle gave Dwalin a strange look, “What are you talking about?” Dwalin grabbed Belle as she rushed at him, making her drop her sword and causing her to kneel a little. She stopped moving, Dwalin forcing her to look at her hands, arms, “You are all bruised Lass, not to mention your hands are beginning to bleed.” Belle looked at her blistered hands, realizing Dwalin was right. The blisters on her hands had begun to open and now that she was focusing on them, they burned. She made a face and sighed heavily, “Perhaps… it is time to call it a night,” Balin voiced, “You must be hungry my Lady.” Belle nodded, “And I think it would be good to go see Lane…” “I could bring you food,” Ori offered, “If you wanted to see Champion.” Belle smiled gently, “That’s very sweet of you Ori, I would appreciate that a lot.” Ori looked shy for a moment as Dori took the sword from Belle and Dwalin finally let go of her. Dwalin made a noise before patting Belle lightly on the shoulder, “You did well Lass, I am impressed at your drive.” Belle grinned at Dwalin and was grateful for the encouragement. She then headed back to the room where Lane slept, Bilbo greeting her only to gasp at the sight of Belle’s clothes and her hands. “Lady Isabella...What happened?” “Just some sparring.” “Do you need anything?” Bilbo asked still in surprise, “Your hands…” “Just need to apply some salve and bandages…” Bilbo without asking, set to work on grabbing salve and bandages. He sat Belle in the chair by Lane, took one of her hands gently and began to go to work. Bilbo tsked loudly at the look of Belle’s hands, “Your poor hands Lady Isabella…” “This is nothing, I broke a finger once when I was a kid,” Belle stated, remembering how painful that was, “I would have preferred spraining my ankle over breaking my finger any day.” “What ...how did you break a finger?!” Bilbo asked concerned. “I was playing a game of catch,” Belle answered, “With something called a football, it’s a ball shaped like an egg. It was horrid, hurt terrible and took weeks to heal. Lane laughed so hard about the fact that I couldn’t catch and that I was a clutz.” Bilbo shook his head, “I do not understand the place you two come from sometimes. You must of been in so much pain, why play with something so dangerous.” Belle chuckled, “Seemed harmless until it wasn’t, broke a bone, but learned that I am not into football.” “It sounds dangerous,” Bilbo noted. Belle laughed, “For me, yes, for anyone else maybe not.” Bilbo nodded like he understood, but his furrowed brows as he wrapped Belle’s fingers said a different story. She smiled, it was nice that Bilbo had grown used to Lane and her, because Belle would have felt very alone if he wasn’t here with her. She had been praying for a while that Lane would wake up, but she would have slipped into a dark haze if she didn’t have Bilbo and the others to keep her from falling. Although, she would never admit it, the distraction even if it was a little, was a welcome to the darkness slowly trying to eat at her.  She’d failed Lane, she was weak and useless while her unconscious friend was brave and bold. “Lady Isabella?” Bilbo’s voice broke through her thoughts, “Are you alright?” “I’m just wondering if this is where the journey ends for Lane and I,” Belle mumbled, “We didn’t factor in… getting hurt. I just wonder if she’ll ever wake up, if she’ll be okay.” Bilbo looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, “You didn’t foresee…” “Well we knew there was danger,” Belle cut in realizing not knowing Lane would be hurt seemed odd compared to all their other predictions, “But, there are always several paths… I was positive I knew the path we walked, Lane wasn’t supposed to get hurt.” “I mean… Lane and I have only seen anything happening to others...Not us,” Belle explained pushing hair back, “We have never seen anything about dealing with ourselves, I suppose it’s because we are oracles. But that’s something we’ve never really thought about.” Bilbo nodded, “You are worried that more unforeseen things could happen to you both?” Belle nodded, “Perhaps we are meant to just watch and not be active in this journey…” Looking thoughtful, the hobbit patted Belle’s shoulder, “Lady Isabella, I believe that we were meant to meet. I believe Lane and you have a greater purpose that you both have yet to find. I also think that Lane will be just fine, she has proven to be a very tough individual.” Belle gave Bilbo a gentle smile, “Bilbo, thank you.” Bilbo rose from his seat, “Now I think you should sleep, Lady Isabella.” Belle yawned wide, “I think you’re right, I have an early rising tomorrow.” Bilbo left Belle be and the small woman began to make her nest for the night. She sat onto the pile of blankets, glancing at Lane’s sleeping figure, she smiled sadly, “Good night Lane...Please wake up soon, I miss you.” Belle placed her head down on the pillow, wrapping herself in the blankets and sighing deeply as she closed her eyes. She tried to relax herself, trying to clear her mind so she could fall asleep. Everything seemed to be engulfed in darkness, Belle couldn’t tell where it began or where it stopped. Belle tried to feel around, but it felt like nothing was there like she was standing in a void of nothing. Belle blinked and found herself flung into a battlefield. Creatures of all sorts surrounded, Belle but she couldn’t hear a noise. She could pick out orcs, giant trolls, strange wolf like things, but the thing that caught her attention was the dwarves...AND elves along with men.

Belle blinked, seeing Lane in the distance fighting alongside Fili, an orc fell and Belle spotted what looked like Bard. What the hell? Belle tried calling out, tried getting someone’s attention, anyone’s, but it seemed no one could hear her. The smaller woman tried to rush towards, but seemed glued on the spot. Belle could see Lane, fighting and dodging. She was amazed at just how wonderful a warrior Lane seemed to be in that moment, she was truly proud to see her taller friend holding her own. Lane’s hair was still shaved, a scar could be seen, but Lane seemed to be fine, seemed to be herself. Then Belle heard something, it sounded like crackling fire, and then something hot seemed to grace her back. Belle turned as much as she could in her spot and saw that the world behind her was completely on fire. Trees engulfed, people screaming, nothing was safe. Belle’s eyes widen, at what looked like the shape of a beast, perhaps a dragon, in the fire. It moved towards her, she tried to move, fearful that she was about to be caught amongst the flames. The fire beast moved closer, it’s “maw” opening wide towards her. Belle threw her arms up to try and protect herself, feeling the fire begin to burn her skin. Belle screamed, although she knew no one could hear her, the pain was unbearable, she closed her eyes wishing it would stop. Then she felt nothing once more, just emptiness, Belle opened her eyes to utter darkness once more. In the far distance, she saw something, three figures. Belle tried moving forward and this time she was allowed, she moved closer, only for an invisible wall to stop her about ten feet away.  Laying there before her were three bodies. Belle couldn’t tell who they were, but something felt wrong. Just then, Smaug’s face appeared, his eyes focusing on her. He opened his mouth wide and came at her… Belle awoke with a start, she was sweating and began to try to catch her breath. She was shaking. What the hell was that? That dream made no sense at all, was she so scared of what was in store that she just mixed the movies up? Was her mind being overactive? As Belle tried to settle her racing heart, there was an urgent and loud knocking coming from the door. Belle looked up just as Bilbo, Dwalin, Bofur and Bifur entered the room. The dwarves looked ready to fight, while Bilbo looked rather alarmed. Belle looked at them confused as they returned the same sort of look, Bilbo rushed to Belle’s side. “Lady Isabella what happened?” Bilbo asked looking around. “What?” Belle blinked confused. “We could hear you screaming Lass,” Dwalin grumbled, “Thought you were being attacked.” “Thought Champion and ye were in danger,” Bofur added, “We happened to be near and rushed over…” Belle looked around, her breathing beginning to ease, and her mind clearing. She couldn’t believe she’d been screaming in her sleep, “I had an awful nightmare. Made no sense, but I guess I was super scared.” “What type of nightmare could make one scream so loud?” Bofur asked looking concerned, “Was it a vision Lass?” Belle looked between the three dwarves and Bilbo. She knew it wasn’t a vision, but would they believe her? After all, Lane and her were supposed to be Oracles, they were supposed to know all. Belle shook her head though, “No, just a really terrible nightmare,” Belle explained, “I think I was reliving the accident with Lane. I am sorry for waking you all.” Dwalin huffed, Bofur nodded, while Bifur just watched quietly. Bilbo took Belle’s hands, “Would you like someone to stay with you?” He offered. Belle thought about it for a moment and nodded, “That would be nice.” Bilbo nodded, sitting next to her, “I will stay until you fall asleep, Lady Isabella.” Belle nodded and curled up by Bilbo, the dwarves ducking out once she seemed settled enough and knew that they could step away. 

As promised, here is Chapter 16! We will try our best to keep up with our weekly updates! Hope to see you guys at Chapter 17!

-MamaB

[lawyernovelist]

Reluctant Heroes

I think I have enough tags.

This is a slightly tricky thing to pin down because it's something that can be done well or badly and the difference between them ends up being purely in execution. Nonetheless, when it's done badly it can be done really badly.

Spoilers for the Hobbit movies, The Hobbit, the Hunger Games trilogy, The Force Awakens, Owlflight, and Lord of the Rings.

One of the things that makes this topic difficult is the Refusal of the Call, which is a term I've stolen from Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey. Honestly, I have a lot of trouble following the actual quotes from Campbell (I was exposed to this through Volger's The Writer's Journey, which is way more user-friendly), but the basic idea is that when the protagonist is first asked to go on the quest, she expresses reluctance to go. And this is actually a good thing because it sets up the quest as something that's risky and not undertaken lightly. That's why it does need to be there in some form.

I express scepticism about pretty much every prescriptive structure presented to me, but I am something of a believer in this one, probably in part because it's not that prescriptive. So if I'm so keen on the Hero's Journey and it requires Refusal of the Call then 1) Where does that leave proactive protagonists like Bilbo, Frodo, and Katniss, and 2) What's even the point of this post?

OK, first one first: Refusal of the Call doesn't actually have to mean that the protagonist makes a big performance of not wanting to go through with the quest. To quote The Writer's Journey, "Refusal may be a subtle moment, perhaps just a word or two of hesitation between receiving and accepting a Call". For example, Bilbo initially hesitates to sign on as Burglar, and up until the Council of Elrond Frodo is very clear that he will not be the one taking the Ring to Mordor, especially at one point explicitly offering the Ring to Gandalf. These are both Refusals of the Call, even though both Frodo and Bilbo accept their quests without having to be dragged into them kicking and screaming.

Similarly with Katniss: she willingly volunteers to go to the Hunger Games to save Prim, but she's only volunteering because failing to do so was an untenable position; if Prim's name hadn't come out of the ball, Katiss would never have volunteered. That fact, and her reflections on how dangerous this is, serve as her Refusal of the Call.

I'll also note that Volger does talk about Willing Heroes who do not Refuse the Call. The plot role of the Refusal is then performed by other characters who give warnings about the riskiness of the quest. Personally, I like this solution much less because I can't play it in my head without some hesitation on the part of the protagonist unless she's supposed to be just wandering into danger without even considering the warnings she's being given.

As for the second: protagonists who have to be dragged kicking and screaming into their own plot or who when it's presented to them ignore it piss me off.

I'm sure you've all guessed at at least some of what prompted this post just from my spoiler list. If not, welcome to my blog, always nice to meet new readers. However, the ultimate inspiration wasn't actually the Hobbit moves, it was the Lord of the Rings movies. Specifically, it was Aragorn.

Don't you worry, Bard, Thorin, and Gandalf; your time will come. And it's going to involve favourably comparing Tauriel to every single one of you, so you know you screwed up.

Anyway, the main impetus for this post was actually Aragorn, especially his attitude towards becoming king. In the book, that's his life dream and his aim throughout the story. He has to prioritise other things above it, but it's always made clear that his aim is Gondor. That's where he wants to get, and what he wants to do when he gets there is fight in its wars and become its king. That was even his plan in going with the Fellowship at all: when Boromir peeled off to return to Minas Tirith, Aragorn intended to go with him until they lost Gandalf and Aragorn had to take over as leader of the Fellowship.

In the movie... Not so much. We get scene after scene in Fellowship of the Ring of him insisting that he does not want to become king. He does not want to fulfil his destiny, and that's a known fact: Elrond tells Gandalf that Aragorn has chosen exile and will not act to unite his race and reclaim the throne. That then continues through him never bringing up his identity to anyone in The Two Towers, the fact that Elrond has to tell him that Arwen's dying in order to make him pull himself together, and right down to the fact that when he's crowned he heaves a huge, regretful-looking sigh before standing to face his people.

Even apart from the adaptation thing, this introduces big problems, which I'll go into once I've talked some more about the other case studies I'm going to talk about.

Next up is Katniss. I already talked about her a bit, and the thing with her is that I consider her to be a reluctant heroine done right because she is also active: she doesn't want any of the things she ends up doing, but she's still the ones making the choices. For example, becoming the Mockingjay: she didn't want either the title or the role. After all she's been through, she mostly just wants to hide and come to terms with her own trauma. Nonetheless, she looks at her options and makes the decision to do this thing she doesn't want to do in order to gain things she does want.

Next, Rey. She's not active in the same way Katniss is because she is still being forced into the situations in which she finds herself: the biggest example is when Maz offers her Luke's lightsaber and she refuses and flees, only to run into Kylo Ren and be dragged back into the plot willy-nilly. She doesn't truly accept the call until the climax of the first movie.

Of course, if we're talking about The Force Awakens we have to talk about Finn, whose motivation throughout most of the movie is exactly to escape. He doesn't want to be involved in the fight against the First Order; he never wants to have anything to do with the First Order ever again. Nonetheless, he does decide not to run when it comes down to it.

And, finally, dear Frodo "Here am I, send me" Baggins. He's like Katniss: not wanting to go on this quest, but accepting it anyway. In his case, though, the motivation is different because it's less personal. He also has a staged acceptance, which I think is worth looking at:

He finds out about the Ring and attempts to offer it to Gandalf, but accepts that that's not an option.

He volunteers to take the Ring... but only as far as Rivendell.

He volunteers to carry the Ring to Mordor.

He wants to divert to Minas Tirith and struggles with the decision, but decides to go on alone.

In some ways similarly to Rey, it's not until well into the story - the end of the first instalment of the trilogy - that Frodo truly accepts his quest.

Of course, those aren't the only characters I'm going to be talking about, but they're the main ones.

For me, reluctant heroes start to become annoying when it seems that they're having to be dragged through the story, especially by other characters. Honestly, I don't much enjoy following a protagonist who makes it that clear that he doesn't want to be here. That's one of the big problems with Gandalf in the White Council subplot of the Hobbit movies; because Gandalf so clearly doesn't want to be there, and so clearly isn't actually interested in working to defeat Sauron even though that's ostensibly the point of the subplot and he's the best candidate for protagonist, the subplot is basically dead on arrival. If the characters don't care, why should I?

The problem just becomes worse when the stakes are high and affect people other than those in the protagonist's personal sphere. For example, as far as Rey knows her refusal to get involved in the events around her wouldn't have too much of an effect. In fact, at the time she's running away from Maz, she really has no impetus to get involved at all except that people want her to. It makes total sense that she refuses.

For Katniss, the stakes are higher: her sister's life. But at the same time, if she hadn't stepped in to save Prim, the world would just go on as normal. The effects will still remain confined to Katniss' personal circle. Of course, the stakes do become wider when it comes to the question of her becoming the Mockingjay, but her hesitation isn't actually causing immediate problems.

Contrast Frodo, the most willing of the three positive case studies. As soon as he understands the stakes, he's hesitant and frightened but he does agree to start out on the quest. Had he still refused, I would have been much less impressed with him.

That's kind of why Aragorn being so reluctant annoys me, even separate from the adaptation thing, and Aragorn did not fare well in adaptation. The implication from the scene in Return of the King in which Elrond brings him Anduril and the news that Arwen's dying is that Aragorn didn't just need to be persuaded to become king, he needed to be persuaded to save Middle-earth. That's the implication of the claim that if Aragorn doesn't "put aside the ranger, become who [he was] born to be" Arwen will fade and die as Sauron gains power.

Are you telling me that this guy needs such a kick to get his ass in gear that he would have sat on his hands and let the world be destroyed if it weren't for the fact that if he does that his girlfriend will be among the dead?

That's the big problem with having a highly reluctant hero who has to be dragged through the story when the stakes are high. It ends up giving the impression that the hero is willing to let horrible consequences play out so that he doesn't have to do anything.

Hel-lo Richard Cypher. I didn't make it all the way through Wizard's First Rule, so I'm not going to use you as a case study, but you suck and this is a contributing factor.

Now, again, I don't mind some hesitation. Many characters that I like are technically reluctant heroes. But there comes a point where they do need to make a choice, otherwise I'm just plain not interested any more.

Another example: I just finished a book called Owlflight. It has a very irritating teenage boy protagonist who for three quarters of the book I considered an annoying growth on what otherwise might have been some interesting concepts. He caught my attention and liking instantly, though, when he discovered that the people of his village had been enslaved by invading barbarian hordes and he immediately decided that he needed to do something to help and started using the knowledge and skills he had to come up with a plan. It really was that simple: as soon as this character started doing something about the situation in which he found himself, I was interested.

This is the difference between movie!Aragorn and Rey and Finn: Rey also doesn't pick up her quest until she has to. She doesn't start a rivalry with Kylo Ren until he has actually kidnapped her, threatened her friends, and violated her mental and bodily autonomy. Finn, meanwhile, just wants to escape the situation in which he finds himself. He only seriously gets involved when Rey's in danger. Both of these characters are forced into the plot by their circumstances when they themselves want to escape. However, they are both making the choices that drive their actions. Neither is a passive player. When they pick themselves up to fight, they're doing so when they do still have tenable choices. Not choices that would make them particularly heroic, but tenable. What's more, their reluctance was motivated. They didn't just not want to be involved in the plot, they actively wanted to be doing something else: return to Jakku, escape the reach of the First Order.

Movie!Aragorn, meanwhile, does not seem to be making his own choices. He states that he doesn't want to be king, but he never really has another plan except status quo. Everything is heading in that direction, but he never even seems to think about his choices. Finally, he only sacks up and accepts his destiny when there's no other realistic choice: he's been handed his ancestral sword and told that his girlfriend's dying now and he has to take on the mantle of kingship now in order to have any hope of defeating Sauron. So, with a sigh, he does.

Rey's and Finn's actions were not forced by other people. Aragorn's were.

As I've suggested with Rey and Finn, when reluctance to get involved is prolonged - in Aragorn's case throughout the movie trilogy - there needs to be some real reason the character is reluctant. This was a big problem with him: he didn't seem to have any particular reason to not want to be king. I get not wanting to be involved with the Ring - heck, I wouldn't want to get anywhere near that thing - and that is actually explained: he has a complex about the fact that his ancestor fell into temptation and is afraid that that runs in the family. However, that was actually the unwillingness he seemed able to get over. He never got over not wanting to be king, even once the crown was on his head.

I genuinely don't know what the problem was. Was he unwilling to take on such responsibility? Too much in love with being his own boss and setting his own schedule? Afraid of change? Any one of those would actually be sympathetic, but I don't recall any explanation for what the problem was. And unlike the Hobbit movies, I have seen the extended editions for the Lord of the Rings movies.

Compare Katniss. We know why she doesn't want to get involved in the Hunger Games: very rational fear for her own life and those she would leave behind. We then also get why she doesn't want to take on being the Mockingjay: trauma and resentment at being used as a piece in other people's games, especially given that she has reason to believe that other people's games are now getting Peeta tortured. It makes sense that she's reluctant, so it's not annoying. Her choices are motivated. Same with Rey and Finn, as I discussed before: it's not just that they don't want to get involved in fighting the First Order, it's that they actively want to do something else. As such, their choices are motivated. Frodo is hesitant because he believes he's incapable of fulfilling the quest at first, and also because he's afraid. His initial reluctance to get involved is motivated. This is even where Hobbit-movie!Gandalf gets off the hook: he's unwilling to get involved in opposing Sauron because he actually wants to be with Thorin. I may not agree with his priorities, but his choice is still motivated. Aragorn has no motivation.

And unmotivated reluctance just becomes all the more irritating when the actions the character is reluctant to take would actually serve her goals.

Hi, Bard and Thorin. Your time has come.

Now, I may not be being fair about Bard because I honestly don't know what his motivations were. He wasn't really a very well-developed character, and it didn't help that he, like many others, suffered badly from character derailment between Desolation of Smaug and Battle of the Five Armies.

In fact, that character derailment is rather at the heart of why I call Bard a badly-done reluctant hero. As I've commented many times before, in Desolation of Smaug the movies seemed to be setting him up as champion of the common people and political rival to the Master, and then when he's actually offered power, with no opposition, he seems unable or unwilling to exercise it.

I kind of get an Aragorn 2.0 smell off Bard, actually, but that might just be the fact that they look kind of similar: they both have that grubby, tangled-shoulder-length-brown-hair, manly-stubble thing going on. It is the case, though, that both of them seem to be really unwilling to take on kingship with no real reason for that.

By the way, don't get me wrong: there are plenty of reasons not to want to be a king and I would be quite interested to read about one of these long-lost fantasy kings who was being pushed by destiny into being king when he does not want it, but that would be a different story and would require some actual development.

Anyway, the very little development Bard got was 1) Father, 2) Well-known critic of the Master, 3) Champion of the Common Folk. By the time the second and third are combined, we have a motivation to pick up and rule the people himself, doing better than the Master did. So when the Master's dead and Bard is proclaimed king, he... rejects the title and visibly does as little as possible to take responsibility.

That's why we have a problem.

Why doesn't Bard want that position that will allow him to put his ideas into action? Is it just that he can criticise from the sidelines, but can't act? Because if so I could go for that - that's realistic - but you need to give me something, movie! As it is, it just comes across as that this is a perfect opportunity for Bard, which he's not going to take because... we did it with Aragorn, so we have to do it here, and all heroes have to be dragged into their plots for some reason.

Thorin is a somewhat different problem, and a very weird manifestation of this. Because the thing with Thorin - and, again, I've pointed out many times that this is a major problem with his character - is that he's apparently very driven and very determined and wants nothing more than to reclaim his homeland, but he seems utterly unmotivated to turn his words into actions.

Maybe he's more like Bard than I thought.

Thorin, though, is actually the hero of the story, and he does get a lot of development, which makes it weird that he seems so unwilling to take initiative. He seems to need pushing in some way into everything, and when he's on a course he seems to be unable to handle deviations and interruptions to the point where he gives up upon encountering a serious roadblock. He actually kind of comes across as not being very bright as a result of that mental inflexibility and lack of creativity, but at the end of the day it's basically reluctance to take the initiative. This is a major case where I have no idea what the point was.

Consider Tauriel. And yes, this is the part where I actually compare her favourably to someone. Whatever I may think of her motivations and goals, she does not mess around. She wants her some dwarf, and she's going to go get her some dwarf. As soon as she hears about Kili being wounded and possibly being dead, she hits the road. There's none of this shilly-shallying, none of this refusing to take steps towards her own goals for no reason, she goes.

Frankly, that makes her a lot more compelling, even though I disagree with her and everything she represents. At least she's not having to be dragged into her own plot.

This was also the problem with Gandalf: even though his reluctance was at least motivated, it really let the wind out of the White Council subplot that its protagonist kept trying to escape into another plot. That also shows the dangerous flip-side of motivated reluctance: it's difficult to get momentum into a plot whose main character has every reason not to be involved.

I will say that a main character being dragged into the plot against their will can work well, and this is where I can point to Rey. I'm planning a full post on Protagonist status in which I look at Rey and Finn as a case study, but whether or not she has protagonist status, Rey is one of the main and most important characters. And she does not want to be involved in this quest.

Nor, for that matter, does Finn. He takes actual steps towards leaving before being pulled back in. But I don't have a problem with either of those characters:

Finn didn't have to come back. He made that decision for himself, and picked out a quest that wasn't the main one (defeat the First Order), but which was related and meant a lot to him (save Rey).

Despite being quite literally forced to remain in the plot because she was kidnapped, Rey is still making decisions for herself in terms of whether and how to resist Kylo Ren.

Rey also gains a motivation to go up against the First Order, and promptly takes steps in that direction: as soon as she comes face to face with Ren, and even more so after the murder of her father figure, she stops trying to run away.

The key thing is that when the balance of motivation swings towards involvement, they do both make the decision to become involved. Finn could have shrugged and headed for the Outer Rim. Rey could have told Ren everything he wanted to know about the map to Luke. They both could have headed for the Millenium Falcon after Han was killed. Those weren't forced decisions.

Now, I am fair. Aragorn could have handed Anduril back to Elrond and refused once again to claim his throne. The thing is that for Finn and Rey, the risks inherent in refusing to get involved were much lower. Nobody would have known if Finn hadn't returned; he'd already made it very clear he was leaving, had defended his decision, and had accepted the reactions of his companions. Aragorn, however, was eye-to-eye with someone who has spent years trying to persuade him to be king and is now telling him the very real consequences of his personal refusal. Aragorn would have had to look Elrond in the eye and tell him "I'd rather let Arwen die than be king.". He doesn't have a real choice.

And now I return to Frodo. See, there's a real claim that Frodo doesn't have a real choice either; while the members of the Council of Elrond would probably have been fine with him not volunteering to take the Ring, he himself had already experienced the fact that it would be very hard for him to hand the Ring over to someone else. However, that's not made the basis of his decision in the book, certainly not his decision to take the Ring to begin with - that was to protect the Shire, not because he couldn't give it to anyone else. But to me the most important thing was that nobody was telling him he had to do it. Elrond acknowledges that he seems to be destined to carry the Ring, but he says it after Frodo volunteered.

That's really the difference for me, and when a hero being reluctant to do the thing goes from being annoying to being fine: why it is that they eventually do the thing. Frodo, Katniss, Rey, and Finn make their own decisions to get involved despite their initial reluctance. Movie!Aragorn and HobbitMovie!Gandalf don't; they gets pushed into it by other characters. Movie!Bard doesn't; in fact, from what we see in the theatrical edition, I wouldn't be prepared to say that he ever does do the thing, regardless of why.

I mentioned Joseph Campbell's Refusal of the Call at the beginning. Well, after Refusal comes Acceptance. A hero can be reluctant, but whether in stages like Frodo, in order to avert worse evils or to gain something else she wants like Katniss, or just because when cornered she comes out fighting like Rey, she needs to accept the call.

PS: A bit of recommended reading: Limyaael's Rant on Reluctant Heroes. She talks a lot more generally about the narrative problems of this trope.

[gamesmasternotes]

WRITING A GAME – The Steve Method pt 1

In 2015, my local gaming group ran its second “GM Bootcamp”, an opportunity for people who were interested in Gamesmastering but had never given it a go to write and run short games. The ideas was that a group would form, which I would shepherd, and each member of the group would run a short two session adventure in the game system of their choice.

To help the group plan their games, I wrote a collection of essays about how I personally like to approach writing and running games. This is the first part of those essays, with a few revisions, focusing on short game planning.

With a small game – a simple dungeon-dive or a short one or two session quest - the place I like to start is with one small element. This may be a scene, encounter, setting, theme, or something like that, and build from there. I like to start with one awesome aspect I think will be the good central aspect of the game, or a central "most-fun-point" I can build around. It’s the best place I think to start any story.

Once you have one tiny element, you can build on it. Its very existence already raises questions. What is this thing? How did it come to be? Why is it important? Etc.

For the GM Bootcamp 2015, I ran a D&D 5th game in the first two weeks of the Bootcamp to get things moving and provide a good example for the others. So the central core element obviously needs to be fantasy based of course.

What I did was start with a general theme - this being a rite of passage. We’re dealing with Level 1 characters, who have yet to make a mark on the world, so it’s a good way to get them involved in the adventuring theme of D&D.

That made a good starting point, as it gave me an opening. Think about what questions it raises, and as you answer them you'll develop your game. What is the rite of passage for? Who is making it happen?

In this case we're dealing with a small game, so to keep it simple I decided on membership of the Adventurers Guild. It’s a rite - a quest - necessary before membership is approved. From there you get more questions which help build everything else, but now that you have a reason for a quest, you can move onto "what is the quest".

There are two schools of thought when writing a game - a straight forward narrative and the sandbox. Some people like to write a narrative, and make it a path for the player characters to follow. One event follows another which follows another, each twist being ore-scripted. Its directly analogous with a classic platform style video game – one path the player can walk down, with no opportunity for exploration. With small games this can sometimes work better as it keeps things tighter and in the timescale you have available, and it can allow for the kind of GM who has a specific story they want to tell. My preferred method however is the sandbox, which essentially makes the players part of the storytelling. I like to make a small world in which the players can roam, explore and find interesting things to do. In this small world, there is usually one particular interesting thing to do, but I like to make sure that players can move through the world and reach that objective by any means they wish.

The first thing is to set the objective. In a larger game, this can be something massive and epic like destroying the One Ring or defeating The Dark One. These are simple enough, but entail a lot of build up. In a smaller game, you can go for a smaller, simpler objective. You can go for epic of course, but make it streamlined so you don't need the build up and complicated stuff. Your main villain doesn’t need armies, or beefy lieutenants, or vast, elaborate trap-mazes to defend them. In a small game, you don’t have time to go into those details once you actually get to the playing table. So cut it back. To try to make things simpler, destroying the One Ring needs a lot of preamble. It requires finding the bloody thing, getting to Rivendell, getting to Mordor without being caught, etc, all the mountain and mine stuff, the forest, Shelob, the plains of Gorgoroth, and then Mt Boom. Not to mention Ringwraiths. There's a lot of stuff. With a bigger game, having your epic quest usually means a series of smaller objectives along the road, or elements the players can pick up in whatever order they want, but once assembled open up the endgame. In a smaller game, it best to keep to just one objective though, and keep any preamble to a minimum.

As a brief analogy to explain the simplification concept – a few years back, I entered a short story competition on a gaming forum I frequent. The competition set a theme, a simple word (“Thirst”) and a limit on only 400 words. And I won, with a story stripped of everything that was unnecessary. I told the story of a king in a sci-fi setting, who poison detector found poison in literally everything. Being paranoid, he ends up not eating or drinking, and eventually died. A young usurper then takes the throne, and laughs at having reprogrammed the scanner.

But I didn’t ever give either character a name. Their names weren’t important or necessary for the story. I didn’t go into detail on the surroundings, because I assumed that was something that the readers could fill in for themselves. I stuck only to the absolute essentials, and that story won the competition by a reader vote.

 For the D&D game, the players would be engaged in a rite of passage - a quest on behalf of the Adventurers Guild. For this sort of thing, as I've said a few times, simple is best. For D&D that usually means, "go find this thing" or "go kill this thing". “Oh no, our thing is lost. Go find". “Oh no, we've got trouble with this thing. Go KILL it".

There’s a common theme here. Quite often whole concepts add other assumptions which add into your plan, so don’t be afraid of obvious themes. Stereotypes, clichés and common tropes are not to be feared, especially when they might be what has attracted someone to a genre of game!

The idea of a rite of passage though means it needs to be something repeatable - other people need to be able to complete the rite from time to time, so it couldn't be a one-off deal. The best and most obvious route then was "go find/retrieve with a common but not to common item. So. A flower. A special flower that only grows in one place. That place needs to be interesting, so interesting terrain is called for. A mountain then - a flower that only grows near the top of a particular nearby mountain. This gives us a quest, a place to travel to, a journey which can be dangerous, and the assumption of a starting point.

So we've got a core element and a central objective. From here I'll tend to draw up a simple map of the area, which will be the arena my players will find themselves in. Its entirely up to you how much effort you put into this part, whether it be extremely simple sketch with key points indicated by simple crosses, or a  highly detailed topographical map printed on leather with every building of every town painstakingly drawn in by hand.

Now we can populate the area. In my style, there are three areas of population that need to happen.

First, we need a cast of NPCs from the home base. These include the primary quest givers and holders of vital information/supplies. This is the standard level its good to have available to your players in their starting location - or available through some form of communication as player specific contacts. Most of these can and should come quite naturally. They're the either the basic things you would expect to have in any place, or the contacts players specifically want to come with. For information givers, I find it can be better to let the players come up with their own contacts as part of character creation and letting them just use the information their characters naturally have access to in their endeavours.

In this game, I added basic grocers, a blacksmith and an alchemist for supplies, as well as the Adventurers Guild leader to give the main quest.

Examples in popular culture would include the entire population of say, the Shire. But in here you have important NPCs who can be helpful. If we resort to the books, Fatty Bolger is a great example of a starting NPC character to help get the players on the road. Elrond later turns up as a primary quest giver. During character creation, a player who comes to me with a Ranger (who we’ve agreed secretly has a “lost king” thing going on) would like a Elven ally as a contact. We discuss and turn it into a romance with an Elven maid to mirror some of the backstory we’ve worked out in the game world. Screw it we say, lets make this a useful NPC who can both aid you and give you vital information and supplies. Lets make her Elrond’s daughter, and call her Arwen.

The second level of population is the main hazard. The thing you've got to battle through. This usually can spin right out of the main objective and setting. If you've got a primary antagonist as part of your objective, there is one part straight away. The rest of the hazard will be his followers, minions or employees. His private security forces, or his summoned monsters, or the tribe/gang he leads. It’s nice if there's some variation, but keep to the theme. If you have a horde of Goblins, have a generic minion but add the odd special guy. The ranged support, of the magic buffer, or whatever.

In our game, we’re going to populate the mountain with a race of Birdmen. There will be generic warriors, plus a ranged archer group, and a leader who lives higher on the mountain. To mix things up and account for magic users in the party, this leader will be a magic wielding shaman. We’ll also plan for some kind of monster at the peak, close to the final objective as a final boss level encounter.

We can also make the journey a bit more hazardous, and say that between town and the mountain is a forest. And there are Wolves in the forest.

To use a Lord Of The Ring game as our example again, we can populate Moria with Goblins, and give them the special bonus of a cave troll. Towards the end, we add a bigger monster – the Balrog.

That’s the level where you more or less have your world in general terms. You can go into a lot more detail, but this is the starting level I feel you can easily start a game with, and build the rest as you go along, ideally with input from the players or with elements derived from character creation. If one character decides to be a herbalist, I can add in areas of the landscape where certain special herbs might be found. If one player has decided that their character is a drug addict, I can also easily write in a few local drug dealers - maybe the odd undercover police stings waiting for him to fall into their trap...

In the game I ran in 2015, one player asked for a contact within the adventurers Guild. He designed a character who was joining because their uncle was a member. Instead o adding the uncle as a new character though, I transplanted the concept straight into the primary quest giver, and made HIM the characters uncle.

There is a third level of population I'll throw in once I have the general setting though, and this is side quests. This isn't something necessary for the game at all, but I find it helps develop the world and get the players more involved with events. What I'll do is take the map or the list of NPCs and just add into them a couple of special missions. Maybe someone needs something else found, or asks for something to be killed or collected whilst the players are out on their quest. Maybe something is found whilst out, and it leads into a mystery the solution of which yields an interesting reward.

“Oh, while you’re out there……”

In smaller games, I say only one side quest is best. Any more can make things too complicated or maybe push the time limits on the game a bit too far. If you want to add one into yours, I do say they are a good idea, but if you do make sure to reward it. A good idea on a smaller one-off game is to make the reward directly related but not essential to the main quest. When fighting a Vampire for example, rewarding an optional side quest with damaging Holy Water might be very suitable.

I decided that instead of having a random person standing around town desperate to find an Adventurer to take on a side-quest, along their journey the players would find something which points to an interesting mystery. It would be optional of course, but in the search for the flower the reward at the end of it will be directly useful.

The players would come across a cart which had been attacked at the base of the mountain. A survivor would say that his associate (or a brother perhaps) fled from the Birdmen up the mountain. Along the path then, the party would find tracks and could follow them to where the fleeing man was being attacked, and could rescue him. If they did, he could tell them important information – that giant lizards (a T-Rex) lived on the very top of the mountain, and was attracted to the flower the party was after. This warning could be extremely useful to them later, and they could maybe take precautions.

I do find that it helps player immersion if side-quests are also driven by their own personal character traits or background. Perhaps offer a clue to a mystery one of them is researching, or put someone they care about in danger. Maybe a magic item one of them would find particularly interesting is nearby, or maybe a foe a righteous character particularly wants to smite.

From my perspective, that’s the level you need for a game to be able to start. That really is all you need on a starting level for a small game. Anything else you need to add is a little bit of flavour here and there, character quirks, that sort of thing.