#especially in a movie about rohan

[rohirric-hunter]

I've gone and exposed myself to losers online who are incredibly mad about War of the Rohirrim for stupid reasons and I'm not gonna obsess over it, honestly, but I do want to point out that it's a supremely faithful adaptation of the single page of the appendices it was based on. There were two notable deviations from the extremely bare-bones story that we're given in the appendices. One, Hera killing Wulf at Helm's Deep instead of Frealaf killing him in Meduseld, simply had to be done because of the medium. Imagine a movie about the events that gave Helm's Deep its name, but the climax of the movie happened at Edoras. That would be so lame. I suppose Frealaf could still technically have killed him, but this ties into that other thing I was talking about, about great deeds that aren't remembered in song and Eowyn's complex about that. (There are no witnesses to Hera's challenge to Wulf except for some Dunlendings, Olwyn, and Frealaf at the very end.) The other deviation is Hama's death. I'm supremely ambivalent towards this in a movie where Hama is only a supporting character. His role in the movie was to motivate and develop Hera and Wulf.

[punkstatikparanoia]

₊ ⊹

[imperatorbaronius]

So I'm a little too obsessed now and ordered this and the art book (which comes out in February) and it's got some very interesting information about ages and relationships that'll be very useful going forward so I'll drop the ages below and anything else interesting I found

Helm: 55 years old, king for 5 years at this point in time, spent almost his entire life fighting the hill tribes and Dunlendings. This is what makes him a king who dislikes to be challenged ok his authority and decisions

Héra: 19 years old, deep love for nature and especially the more fantastical kind, her horse is Ashere. The rest, I'm sure you remember from the movie itself

Lief: 16 years old, main roles are protecting the old maps and scrolls that keep the laws and customs recorded

Haleth: 30 years old, first in line to the throne, not expected to rule for another 20 years based on Helm's own life. A brawler by nature, he's very intimidating to those who threaten his family and he's known as one of their best warriors skilled in sword, spear and axe

Háma: 22 years old, more of a gentler spirit than his father and brother, more passionate about the songs and legends. He likes to think of himself as a warrior poet and is always carrying his carved lyre. A skilled swordsman but an expert with bow and arrow

Fréaláf: 28 years old, lord of harrowdale and first marshal of the Riddermark, the highest military rank and is charged with protecting Edoras and the surrounding lands. His horse is named éored. He was raised alongside his cousins and so has a deep bond with them all but is not above teasing them frequently. He's also very ready to stand up to Helm if he believes a decision unwise

Olwyn: 45 years old, lady's maid to Héra but more become a mentor than a simple maid or servant. Thought in many battles over the years and has known great loss but finds ways to move forward and doesn't suffer fools. She sees herself in Héra as only she and a few others know Olwyn's past as a shield maiden

Freca: 40 years old, lord of the west-march. He claims to be descended from the fifth king of Rohan, Fréawine but his hair and beard instead cast doubt and suggest the Dunlendish blood runs through his veins instead. Has very little love for the kings of Rohan. Spends a lot of time dwelling on what he doesn't have and pays little heed to the king refusing summons to attend the witan

Wulf: 20 years old. Only son of Freca. His mother has also passed like with Héra. Quiet and intense most of the time, dressing in sombre colours. His belief that Héra loves him is very fragile. Expert in swords and bows. Has very little personal ambition at the start, growing up under his father's shadow and subject to his father's whims, despite this he loves his father and should anything happen he'll repay it tenfold. Should his youthful affection be spurned, that love will turn into a pathologically hatred for Helm, Héra and all the people of Rohan

General Targg: born and raised in Dunland, he has become a trusted advisor to Freca and will likely be key to Wulf's own reign. He is wise and calm but in the heat of battle will fight fiercely yet he retains a deep sense of honour as a warrior

[dioslesbianwife]

Can I please request the Jojo's with a partner who adopted stitch a blu alien and them reacting to her "strange looking dog "

Imagine them hearing stich talk for the first time it whoud be interesting how they all act.

https://youtu.be/5vBY9-8tcgs?si=ymtRJsZG0RjfG52H

I was thinking stich is wild is destructive because he was cream that way but how whoud they react to seeing stich be so protective of their partner after growing a bond with them

Imagine stich saying Ohana means family and family means no one get's left behind or forgotten

Whoud they bond with stich I think mostly yes

Jonathan whoud love stich(like a les evil dio)

Joseph whoud love the chaos he brings and

jotaro whoud be grumpy about having a alien as a pet but his mom and Larne love stich.

josuke whoud have to keep rohan from stealing his buddy stich when he hangs around his partner or okutasu

Giorno whoud be intrested in stich his partner being able to tame a alien and learning it the value of family and love instead of distruction is something he would love.

Jolien whoud love him so much I think.

Jonny whoud have to keep gyro from hugging stich and is shocked his partner has a whole alien as a pet.

ooh sure, lilo and stitch was one of my fave movies growing up lol- i hope you enjoy and thank you for requesting! :333

Jonathan Joestar

At first, he’s very concerned.

“My dear, are you sure that’s… a dog?”

Stitch snarls at him, baring teeth, and Jonathan instinctively puts his arms up like he's about to defend you.

But the moment Stitch senses Jonathan’s kind heart, he latches onto him with a gurgling purr.

Jonathan is so touched by Stitch’s loyalty and protectiveness, especially once he hears “Ohana means family…”

He pats Stitch gently on the head:

“You’re quite the strange little creature… but your heart is in the right place.”

Treats him like a small knight guarding you at all times.

Joseph Joestar

“WHAAAAA?! What the hell is THAT thing?!”

Throws a shoe at Stitch. Stitch eats it.

Absolute chaos duo. Joseph and Stitch get into trouble together. Like, Stitch jumps on people and Joseph tries to blame it on someone else.

“Come on, buddy, we’re sneaking into that secret base again!”

Laughs hysterically the first time Stitch speaks. He teaches him swears in English and regrets it instantly.

Will fist-bump Stitch every time he hears him say “Ohana means family.”

“Hell yeah! No one gets left behind!”

Jotaro Kujo

“That’s not a dog.”

“That’s not even from Earth.”

“Yare yare daze…”

Pretends not to care. Stitch bites his hat once. Jotaro didn’t even flinch, just slowly put it back on.

Tries to ignore him… until Stitch curls up against your lap protectively and stares at him like, “She’s mine too now.”

Eventually bonds over the fact that they’re both quiet bodyguards with anger issues. Stitch rides on his shoulder sometimes.

Loves seeing how gentle Stitch is with you despite being built for destruction. He won’t say it out loud, but he respects it.

Josuke Higashikata

“AWWWWWW, look at the little guy! Wait- ”

“DID HE JUST EAT A WHOLE SCOOTER?!”

Thinks Stitch is so freaking cool.

Tries to train him like a puppy until Stitch starts copying Josuke’s hair routine and flipping people off.

Has to fight Rohan at least once a week because Rohan insists Stitch would make the perfect manga reference.

“I SWEAR TO GOD, IF YOU DRAW HIM IN THAT MANGA- ”

Okuyasu loves Stitch too. They become a gremlin trio.

Also Mikitaka and Stitch alien duo.

Giorno Giovanna

Doesn’t flinch when he sees Stitch. Just tilts his head.

“...You are not of this world.”

Immediately intrigued. You’ve tamed an alien? One born for destruction who now speaks of family? He respects the hell out of that.

Tries to study Stitch’s anatomy with Gold Experience. Stitch screams and bites the Stand’s hand.

Eventually gives Stitch a golden flower that he grew from a rock, and Stitch keeps it in his ear for days.

The first time Stitch defends you during a dangerous moment, Giorno places a hand on his tiny head:

“Good. You understand what matters.”

Jolyne Cujoh

“OMGGGGG HE’S SO UGLY BUT HE’S SO CUTE??”

She holds him like a cat and he wriggles violently, then bites her sleeve and refuses to let go.

They wrestle for like twenty minutes before crashing into the couch, laughing.

Jolyne gives Stitch a matching butterfly clip and Stitch gives her a mutated sock.

Whenever you’re in danger, they both turn into attack dogs. Stitch copies Jolyne’s “tough girl” walk and it’s terrifying.

If anyone calls Stitch ugly in public, she throws hands.

Johnny Joestar

“...Is that a blue goblin?”

Confused. Baffled. Cautiously suspicious.

Stitch jumps on his lap. Johnny screams and pulls out Tusk.

Stitch curls up against him anyway, softly saying “Friend.”

Johnny lets out a sigh and pets him like a cat. They don’t speak about it.

Constantly has to stop Gyro from trying to dress Stitch up or teach him weird tricks.

“No, Gyro, he doesn’t want to wear a sombrero, stop- ”

Secretly really touched when Stitch protects you during a shootout.

“He’s ugly, but he’s got guts.”

Josuke Higashikata (Gappy)

Sees Stitch, nods slowly.

“Is he... a Rock Animal?”

Very chill about the whole thing. Even when Stitch eats part of a tree.

Stitch is wary of Soft & Wet, but eventually realizes Gappy is just as weird as him and accepts him as a fellow Odd Guy.

Whenever Yasuho tries to baby Stitch, Stitch hides behind Gappy.

The first time he hears “Ohana means family,” Gappy looks at you and Stitch for a while, then softly says:

“Family... yeah. I get it now.”

Gives Stitch bubble earplugs so he doesn’t hear too many haters.

[tossawary]

The last time that I rewatched "The Fellowship of the Ring" (extended edition, of course), my favorite new detail that I noticed is that the characters, once they set out on their journey, are pretty much always traveling from screen-left to screen-right.

It had been a few years since I'd seen the films and I'd learned more about filmmaking in that time. I'm completely biased regarding the LOTR films; they're not perfect, but I grew up on them, I love them. I was trying to take notes on all of the little details that made the world of the films seem so rich and so enchanting to me. The camerawork, character staging, and editing is one of the many things that just happened to jump out at me at this time.

When Frodo and Sam are leaving the Shire, the camera is set up in such a way that they start on the left side of the screen (<- that side) and travel across it to the right side of the screen (-> that side).

This way to go the farthest you've ever been from home. ->

As the hobbits travel from Bree to Rivendell, as the Fellowship travels from Rivendell to the Misty Mountains, all of those gorgeous scenic shots of the Nine Walkers show them moving from screen-left to screen-right. I haven't rewatched the entire trilogy lately, but in "The Fellowship of the Ring", it is so beautifully consistent.

There are a handful of reasons why this is done. In staging and editing, consistency regarding where the characters are placed on the screen is a storytelling tool. For example: the "180 degrees rule" says to generally keep the camera on one side of the characters within a scene, so that the audience can mentally keep track of the characters within the environment and focus on the action/dialogue. If we're watching two characters talking in a diner, even in the close-ups, one character will usually be kept on screen-left and be shown facing screen-right, and the other will be kept on screen-right and be shown facing screen-left. It feels stable. (People will sometimes choose to break the "180 degrees rule". It can be a tool to create a sense of disorientation and/or instability in the audience.)

In "The Fellowship of the Ring", the maps that the audience is shown of Middle Earth tell us that the Shire is located in the West (left side of the map) and everything else of relevance (Rivendell, Moria, Rohan, Gondor, Mordor) is East (right side of the map). As the characters consistently travel screen-right, the audience builds up a firmer mental map of Middle Earth and can better keep track of the characters' progress on their long journey. With every step that Frodo takes towards screen-right (->), we know that he is traveling East, taking another step towards Mordor.

Left to right may also instinctively feel like the way forward in a culture that writes and reads from left to right. Regardless of which way you write: if your film establishes extremely consistently that one direction is forward, then this visual language can be used to tell the audience that something is wrong if the characters start traveling from right to left. They might be lost! It builds suspense in the visual depiction of the characters going backwards and undoing progress! This all suits the lengthy hero's journey of LOTR very well, in my opinion.

There's an old joke that knowing how anything is made ruins the magic, and another old joke that knowing anything about filmmaking makes you insufferable to watch movies with, but I've never felt that way, especially not here. How does that quote go? It's still magic even if you know how it's done. (GNU Terry Pratchett.)

I find it enchanting, honestly, that so many people can work so hard for an effect that can seem so simple. Actors, directors, camera operators, editors, storyboarders, and so many others on the crew of the films consistently placed characters, sets, and props just so! So that the audience could more easily keep track of where everyone was and lose themselves a little more deeply in the story.

It's such a simple rule! And it works so well! Left -> Right. West -> East. Shire -> Mordor. Home -> Adventure. Known -> Unknown.

I personally recommend trying to keep track of character movement across the screen in films, especially if you have any interest in visual storytelling (films or illustration or something else). It's fun! It's impossible for me to unsee, watching "The Fellowship of the Ring" now, and I think it's a wonderful piece of movie magic.

[demon-of-the-ancient-world]

Occasionally I see the same (annoying) discourse around both Eowyn and Katniss and I need to talk about it.

Let's talk about Eowyn first. What a lot of people don't realize especially if they've only seen the movies is...in the books Eowyn is essentially suicidal. She doesn't want to fight in the war just because she's Not Like Other Girls and wants to use a sword, she wants to fight because 1) in her eyes that's the only path to glory that is actually valued by her society (this is another thing about Eowyn: she's proud. And not without reason! But it is a trait of her character that tends to go unnoticed).

2)Rohan is in a pretty shit situation when we're introduced to it, and has been for some time. She's been forced to watch her father die, then her mother, then witness the slow degradation of her uncle the king, the banishment of her brother. The state of her country shames her, because of how much she loves what it was and could be. She doesn't see any hope. She's depressed and lonely and angry and is watching the slow, sad death of her country and family. In her mind, death is the only way out, and death in battle is the only honourable way out. In ROTK Aragorn (or was it Gandalf?) says "she looked for death in battle" -- a sentiment reiterated re: Eowyn a couple times in the trilogy. She goes to war because she's hoping she'll die a hero's death, which is the only greatness she can see herself -- or any of her people -- achieving at this point.

And then...she doesn't die. She survives, injured, grieving, traumatized, and for the first time in a long time witnesses healing instead of sickening. And decides her time as a warrior is done, because there's no place for it. She's gained hope by the end of ROTK, and in absence of despair there's no place for a longing for battle.

So. There's my take on Eowyn. But the take I've seen -- luckily only once or twice in her case -- is that her ending weakens her. That by turning her back on war, by marrying Faramir especially, and choosing healing and the tending of growing things she's diminished.

And I hate that perspective. Because the point of Eowyn's ending isn't "strong badass woman settles down with a man and decides to tend gardens instead"; it's "a woman who never allowed herself to have more ambition than 'die in battle' because the world she lived in provided nothing else for her survives into a world that is healed and with any luck holds no place for war and warriors, so she chooses to heal with it." And it should be noted that Tolkien's message on the whole was "we would all be better off in a world where war wasn't necessary, courage is good and building a better world requires it, but once that world is built ideally no one would be going to war at all." And the male characters exemplify this too. Eowyn doesn't "settle down and become a tradwife" or whatever, she settles into a society where everybody is learning to heal, and tend growing things.

Now we move over to Katniss. By this point you can probably guess where I'm going with her too, and it's unfortunately a bit more of an unpopular opinion. But I'll say it: I wholeheartedly disagree with people who think her ultimately having kids with Peeta is a disservice to her character.

Katniss does say a number of times that she doesn't want kids, yes. But it's pretty clear from the very first time she says it that the reason for this is the fucked up society she lives in. She's from the poorest district where raising a healthy child into adulthood is hard enough on its own, and then having to send them to the reaping every year on top of that? Of course she doesn't want kids.

Which...honestly makes the fact that she eventually has them more poignant to me. And I mean eventually -- the epilogue says "it took me five, ten, fifteen years to agree" -- if she's roughly 18 at the end of Mockingjay she'd be in her early 30s by the time the first one is born. A traumatized and seriously impoverished 16 year old living in The Dystopia Of Dystopias and a 30something woman who's living in a world where many of those old problems no longer exist will have very different mindsets.

And yeah I know Tumblr is super intense about taking young people seriously when they say they don't want to be parents, and I agree when it comes to real people whose opinions really matter, but Katniss isn't a real person. Katniss' changing opinions on being a mother aren't really about her - like Eowyn choosing gardening and healing over fighting, they're about her world.

Last year I reread all of the Hunger Games trilogy for the first time since middle school. And was struck by how much the last few pages of Mockingjay really are about healing. The survivors of District 12 come together to plant a meadow over a mass grave of their people. Katniss goes to therapy (!! literally). Peeta spends his days baking bread. And it's hard, the book doesn't shy away from that either. But they do it as a community. And over the years it gets easier.

One of the first things we learn about Katniss, in the very first chapter, is that she never wants kids in the world she lives in. That the last chapter in the final book shows her finally raising children of her own is a show of how healed her world is. We as readers get to see that, from the eyes of a highly cynical protagonist no less, she now considers her world safe enough that another generation can thrive.

[buffyfan145]

As promised here's my comparison post about how similar the Haladriel (Sauron/Galadriel) and Hèra/Wulf ships are from the LOTR projects "The Rings of Power" and "The War of the Rohirrim". 😀 I loved the movie and totally rec it and am a fan of ROP, and now ship both of these ships. I figured they would be alike, but it was even more than I thought. Putting most of this behind a cut for spoilers for both and length but will say again like I did in my review post that Hèra & Wulf both by themselves and their relationship felt like how we've written a lot of 1st Age fics about Galadriel & Sauron back when they were Artanis & Mairon and during The War of Wrath.

To start with the characters themselves, Hèra is very similar to how Galadriel was in the 1st Age and the beginning of ROP as she was a princess named Artanis and the only daughter of one of the Nolder elves.

Also with their costumes she wears mostly green, white, and gold, while he wears dark colors. They also look somewhat like the actors on ROP, especially Wulf with Sauron's Halbrand form.

Like Galadriel, she also has 2 older brothers: Haleth, the heir to the throne and a warrior like their father, and Hama, a musician. Galadriel's oldest brother Finrod was actually similar to both of Hèra's brothers.

Hèra's father Helm Hammerhand is the King of Rohan, similar to how Galadriel's father is one of the elvish kings in Valinor. Helm also notices how his daughter is very head strong and more like her brothers, and grows to respect that. One of Galadriel's older names Nerwen means "man maiden" and she was described as being the same, athletic (both projects have them climbing icy mountains), and excellent with horses.

The people of Rohan are descended from the Númenóreans which this movie seems to suggest they've inherited things from Elros, Elrond's twin brother who were part man, elf, and Maiar. Helm and Haleth seem to have superstrength, Hama is not only a skilled musician but archer, and Hèra's own character, warrior like nature, and personality came across more elvish to me too and she ends up being able to get help from the eagles.

Now with Wulf he's from the wild men that lived on Middle Earth before the Númenóreans came, or the Southlanders as they called them in ROP. He, as well as Haleth and a few other characters have the same accent Halbrand has, or Northern English.

Because of this Wulf and his people are made to feel less than, which is why Wulf's father Freca partly wanted to marry Wulf and Hèra to unite their peoples (but Freca also wanted to take over).

This difference is also pointed out because Helm was going to marry off Hèra to a prince from Gondor, which not only angered Wulf and his father, but Hèra herself as she had no idea of it. Reminded me of how Galadriel's husband Celeborn is a prince from Doraith.

Wulf's also influenced first by his father and then General Targ to seek vengeance, which twists him similar to Sauron when he was Mairon and turning his back on the Valar to follow Morgoth.

Unlike Sauron though Wulf actually tells Hèra that he loves her multiple times. He's been in love with her since they were kids, so it started from a natural and good place but sadly it turns toxic as he gets eviler.

Like the elves too Hèra comes across as being asexual, likely demisexual, which a lot of the elves, Maiar, and Valar seem to fit that. They usually only fall in love once or twice, and some even decide to never marry. I feel Hèra fits into this as I feel she did care for Wulf, especially how he used to be and with her trying to find him when he disappeared. I do feel if what happened between their fathers never happened, which started Wulf's downward spiral and the war, that their childhood friendship would've turned into love. He already loves her, and I feel with time she would've realized she loves him too. Sadly, it just never happened.

At one point Wulf kidnaps Hèra and proposes to her a 2nd time, similar to how we thought a scene with Haladriel was going to happen. She pretends to accept at first (similar to Galadriel in the season 2 finale with Nenya) but then Wulf realizes she's lying and cuts her on the face with his sword. She actually accidentally cut him on the face when they were kids and he claimed it marked him for her, so he left a mark on her too. This also happened with the crown wound in the season 2 finale with Haladriel.

After the cut and fight Hèra jumps out of the building similar to Galadriel jumping off the cliff. Wulf lets her go for now knowing they'll battle again soon.

Sadly, like Galadriel both of her brothers are killed by Wulf and his men. Galadriel's brothers all died during The War of Wrath by Sauron and his forces. Unlike Wulf, Sauron actually apologized for it in season 1.

Then the final fight at the renamed Helm's deep Hèra saves the people of Rohan by going out to face Wulf alone knowing he'll only be focused on her. Galadriel also helped the people of Eregion escape before facing Sauron in the s2 finale.

During this fight (which is pictured above) she wears an old wedding dress which angers Wulf as he mentions it was supposed to be them marrying instead of fighting. Reminded me of how in the show ROP we see Nenya as being the engagement ring Sauron (with Celebrimbor's help) made for Galadriel and she keeps it. Wulf is also wearing her father's crown, like how Sauron had Morgoth's crown in the show.

Then the line she says when Wulf asks her who she's marrying then if it's not him and she replies "Death". LOL Obviously Galadriel still ends up with Celeborn but that line was fantastic as I could see her saying it too to Sauron.

There's a moment in the fight too where it looks like Wulf is going to surrender and become prisoner. You can tell this is the ending Hèra wants as she still cares for him and hopes he can repent and redeem himself. Sadly, he tricks her and it's clear he's gotten rid of his goodness and only death can stop him.

After he dies you can see her sadness at losing him too along with almost all her family. Now for Sauron we know there was a chance he could still be redeemed after everything with him and Galadriel being immortal and that Tolkien was going to write Morgoth coming back in Dagor Dagorwrath. They all were supposed to unite to defeat Morgoth for the final time. So, there's always a hope that Sauron will be redeemed and that there's still a chance there for him and Galadriel, unlike here where both characters will die human deaths with unknown afterlife fates.

The ending too had a slight similarity as Gandalf contacts Hèra, now a shieldmaiden in her cousin's kingdom, to help assist him as she saw two orcs looking for rings for Sauron. So, it was a nice connection there and I love that Hèra is involved in the War of the Ring somewhat, which leaves it open a bit that she could be included in future projects for either anime or the live-action movies, and what we're seeing the show play out too.

[arenagrandchampion]

♡ s/i ref sheet ♡ s/i lore ♡ selfship summer surprise event info

INTRO!!

Hey guys uhh my name's August!! This is gonna be a blog where I post my self/yumeships and other stuff. I'm not very familiar with Tumblr and I'm new to the selfship community. I've kinda already been shipping myself with Rohan for years before I found out what selfshipping is though?? Anyways, I hope to make friends/mutuals here and make art for each other!! :)

I'm autistic and my special interest is JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, so I post a lot of it! It has been my favorite thing for almost 6 years. I love all parts, but part 4 is very special to me. I also like the spinoffs, ESPECIALLY Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan (duh) and Purple Haze Feedback. If you're also a JJBA fan and/or selfshipper be my friend IMMEDIATELY!!

I'll pretty much follow everyone back and interact with your stuff. All ages are OK. Non-selfshippers are welcome here too, as long as you aren't judgemental!!

PLEASE send asks (if you want) and feel free to message me too!!

Anyways here's some basic info:

☆ Age: 17

☆ Gender: Male

☆ Pronouns: He/Him

☆ Orientation: Gay, asexual

☆ Likes: videogames, classic literature, d&d, para para, fashion, writing, drawing, playing guitar, musical theater, being cringe, brainrot, all types of music

☆ Fandoms: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, The Elder Scrolls (mostly Oblivion and Morrowind), GTA, Sonic, Nanbaka, Saint's Row, Xavier Renegade Angel, IHNMAIMS, Trolls, A Clockwork Orange, Castlevania (games only), Ouran, A3!, HSR, Genshin, Total Drama, Danganronpa, Stardew Valley, Warrior Cats, SVSSS, Deltarune, K-pop, vkei, Street Fighter (all games, anime, and some of the movies)

☆ Social media: Most of my social media is for close friends (not like I use it much anyways) but here's my pinterest that you can follow. Also my ao3, I might start writing Aughan fics there soon.

☆ Other: IRL I'm a gyaruo! I am a bit new to the community, but I'm developing my style around manba. I also really like amekaji. I'm a former scene kid, but it still lingers a bit in my style. I am also a crossdresser and like to dress that way because it makes me happy.

TAGS:

#aughan (anything about my ship with Rohan)

#🦤✒️ (same as aughan)

#🦤 (anything with just August and/or Closer)

#✒️rohan <3 (anything with just Rohan)

#awesome mutuals selfships yeah yeah (name is self explanatory)

#awesome mutuals (mutual stuff in general)

#august yapfests (yapping about literally anything)

IF YOU NEED ME TO MAKE A TAG FOR YOU TO BLOCK WHATEVER, THEN LET ME KNOW!!! :)

BYI:

I won't directly interact with anyone with the same F/O as any of my nonsharing mutuals. No hard feelings, I just don't want anyone to be upset since I DO regularly reblog my mutuals' ships!

Speaking of...I love love love reblogging my mutuals' posts and I may tag you in things if you are one, so just be aware! Feel free to tag me in stuff too! If you are my mutual then that basically means you're my friend so yeah!!

DNI:

Pro/dark/comshippers, racists, homophobes, ableists, classists, hateful people in general, loli/shota/whatevercons, people who romanticize mental illness, NSFW blogs

( If you post NSFW sometimes then I'm fine with being mutuals, but I won't interact with that content. Also I don't hate you NSFW bloggers I'm just a minor and not really interested in that. Everyone else on my DNI list though I NEED you to get help and stay 100 feet away from me.)

F/O's:

Here's my strawpage with my list!

Most of my F/O's are platonic, and I'm fine with sharing all of them! If you have them as a romantic F/O, I'd love to make art! I also have some family F/O's, which I am also fine with sharing.

My only romantic F/O is Rohan Kishibe from JJBA, so a lot of this blog will include a LOT of him. We have been together since early 2020 (idk the exact date bc I was too stupid to remember) Idk if I'm comfortable with sharing him or not, but feel free to interact anyways if you do! I'd love to talk about him!!! I am okay with him being shipped with canon characters (as long as it's not some shit like Josuke x Rohan. Get help.)

Anyways that's pretty much it. Bai!!

Stamps by me, userboxes from this post

[autumnhobbit]

sometimes i like to think about the fact that tolkien wrote the definitive ending for each of his characters. if you’ve only watched the movies you probably haven’t heard of or read the appendices to lotr, which contains some details that didn’t really have a spot in the books’ narrative official, like aragorn & arwen’s love story and courtship, and the eventual fates of all the main players.

a lot of stories are self-contained and focus on a certain part of the character’s lives. their childhood, their teenage years, their 20’s 30’s 40’s, until their happily-ever-after and all else is left to the imagination. for some stories, that’s what they need and it works and you can rest easy knowing the characters made it and they’re alright now and they will be alright when we say farewell to them and go our separate ways.

and tolkien made the interesting choice to tell when and how each of his characters died. and it’s not like some stories where an unnecessarily sad death comes unnecessarily into a story for shock value or extra drama. the whole of lotr is seeped on death and decay and especially on passing away. the elves are leaving never to return and one day the world will forget they ever existed. their beautiful homes and joyful songs and eons under the trees forgotten and nothing more than a ruin and a memory that no one who saw them will even be alive to remember. the men of numenor come back from near extinction but even as their descendants go on there are still only a few who will remember the ones who were really there. so it’s perhaps understandable that tolkien chose to write the happy ending. the real happy ending.

the happy ending that was exactly what each character needed and what you would want for each character. they each live full lives with the ones they love, all their greatest dreams and hopes realized. aragorn and arwen marry, eomer becomes king of rohan, the hobbits return home and sam builds the family he wanted with rosie. and yet gandalf leaves, and frodo goes with him, and though there is joy there is parting, and it breaks your heart. and it feels very adult because isn’t that the truth of adulthood? you meet people you love and you live and you see each other whenever you can, and time passes and you go your own ways and though you remember them and love then you live your life and then one day it’s over.

and so tolkien wrote the ending and it’s exactly what you think each character would do and how it would go. and i think about sometimes the wisdom and the life experience needed to write the whole life of each character, how and where they died and who was with them.

[veilder]

War of the Rohirrim: My Thoughts

So, I just got back from seeing this movie and I thought I'd write up a little review, I'll give a brief overview first and put spoilers under the cut.

First off, let me get this out of the way: I really, really enjoyed it! Which isn't to say that the movie didn't have problems, just that I was thoroughly entertained throughout and also got way more invested in it than I thought I would! It was a nice, self-contained little story that did service to Tolkien's Legendarium while still allowing for creative changes and I thought it all worked really well the way it was told. The animation was absolutely stunning in a lot of scenes (notably the fight scenes!), though I did have some issues with it in others. Notably with the compositing of the 2D and 3D art together, some of those just did not look right, but they were few and far enough between that they didn't detract overmuch for me.

The cast of characters were vibrant and well-crafted, especially the supporting cast for me, and the voice acting for everyone was on point. I also really liked the general design and portrayal of the whole cast, I thought they all looked very good. Notable standout character for me would be: the princes, Háma and Haleth, the King's nephew, Fréaláf, and the shieldmaiden, Olwyn. And honorable mention to the Dunlanding general, Turgg, too. I can't tell if it was just the nostalgic Howard Shore score returning in some parts or if I just generally liked the whole soundtrack (notably not composed by Shore this time), but I felt like the music was very good as well. Very suitable to the world and Rohan specifically.

And, last but certainly not least, I thought the vibe of the film was just incredible. Even moreso than with the Hobbit movies, The War of the Rohirrim felt like Middle-Earth. The vibes of the movie were impeccable and it actually seemed like a genuine story set in the original trilogy's Rohan. The styles and dialogue and whole atmosphere of the film seemed very in line with Peter Jackson's original trilogy and I think that's what elevated the whole thing for me, enough to overlook its flaws, which I will get into more detail in below the cut.

Overall, I personally would rank this a solid 6.5/10. It certainly didn't match the original trilogy and likely wasn't even as good as my favorite of the Hobbit movies, either. (Which is the first one, of course. 😌) A very solid addition to the Middle-Earth series and enjoyable enough that I'll definitely be watching it again, but nothing particularly groundbreaking. If you are a LotR fan, I feel like you'll like it. If you're an anime fan, you might get a good story and some pretty characters out of it. If you're a more casual movie watcher, it might be a tad hit or miss. But overall, I consider it a very solid movie.

Now, on to spoilers.

So, first off, let's talk about Héra. I've seen a lot of entertainment outlets and reviewers criticizing her character (or lack thereof) and calling her a "Mary Sue" which is, in my opinion, just a very lazy critique of her. The movie sets her up as this free spirit, a warrior king's daughter who grew up learning to fight and ride and adventure alongside her brothers. She is a beloved princess of the realm who the people greet by name, who is kind and compassionate, clever and competent, who dreams of one day being free of her royal duties and be able to travel where she pleases. Oh, and she has an overprotective father who wants to marry her off to try and keep her safe. A textbook Mary Sue, right?

Well, no, I'd very much beg to differ.

Héra is a flawed character. Time and again, her youth and inexperience lead her into situations she can't handle and she is a liability just as often as she's shown to be a hero. And time and again her compassion is taken advantage of, to the detriment of herself and others. The fact that she is clever and headstrong and grows into a deadly warrior by the end does not make her a Mary Sue. But that's also not to say that I found her to be the most compelling, either.

Don't get me wrong, she definitely had some amazing moments (her conversation with Wulf in Orthanc, her wisdom in evacuating Edoras and her traps laid out before its siege, her amazing "I'm no man's bride." "Who are you promised to?" "Death!" line read?) but she was rather generic to me all things told. However, she's shored up by an excellent supporting cast and a great plot, so I didn't feel I really needed a super interesting protagonist to follow. She is excellent in her role as the POV character for the events happening around her and she becomes anchored enough in the main plot by the role her family plays and the obsession the main antagonist has with her.

Which, speaking of...

Another character I really want to call out is Wulf. Because he... was a missed opportunity imo. I get what they were going for with him I guess? Hm, a sort of Maeglin approach to him almost, for those familiar with the Silmarillion, where becomes obsessed with the object of his desire to the point of madness and villainy. However, I personally feel as if his character could've been so much better if they'd taken him in a different direction? These are all my own thought and you don't have to agree, but hear me out: I think they should've tried to humanize Wulf more. We are told early on that he and Héra are childhood friends, but we're only ever given the barest glimpse of a flashback between them to set that up? We have one short conversation between them at the very beginning after his proposal to her and after that he takes a sheer dive into villainy that he double and triples down on as the story goes. But if the movie truly wanted us to feel as if there was a connection between them at all, I feel like they should've emphasized that relationship a lot more. Show more of their time together as children. Give more scenes to Wulf of him experiencing discrimination because of his Dunlanding blood. Give him moments of hesitation and remorse when he's forced into conflict with Héra. Like, I genuinely believed that's where the movie was going at the end? I really thought that, after their big fight where Héra has him on the ground and shows him mercy, I thought he was leaping up at her to die. I thought he intentionally missed her with his blade because he wanted her to kill him after everything he's done and that was the only way he could accept it happening. I thought the movie might come full circle again to showing that, despite everything, there was something genuine to his affections? That he wasn't wholly evil or deranged and that his declaration of love had been true once upon a time, even if he'd since forswore it after his father was killed. I really thought they would give him some glimpse of humanity. But no, he was genuinely just trying to kill her again and she beat his ass and that's that. Honestly much less impactful to me. Like, don't get me wrong, I absolutely did not want him to be redeemed. (Especially not after the absolutely abhorrent way he killed Háma right in front of Héra and Helm, oof.) But just any show of him not just being some black and white villain would've been welcome. Just the tiniest bit of complexity to a truly vile villain makes them stand out all the more for me and I think Wulf would've been truly memorable if he'd had that.

Now, my issues with the two leads out of the way, I just wanna bring it back around to the positives again and say how delightful I found the rest of the supporting cast? For all that they were barely in it, I was just instantly captivated by Haleth and Háma, not even joking. As soon as Héra rode in to Háma singing his little song for her, I knew I had a favorite. Oh, what's this? He's a poet and a bard and a handsome warrior prince?! Well, I'll be. It seems he was specially crafted to be my new blorbo, lol! And then Haleth showed up and my mind just instantly associated the two of them with my two absolute favorite Tolkien character and I knew I was a goner. (Please tell me I'm not the only one to instantly get Maedhros and Maglor vibes from them, eh? Which, in retrospect, Haleth is much more how I picture Celegorm, lol, but still. That initial projection really stuck in my mind. XD)

Héra's servant, Olwyn, was also such a pleasant surprise? I didn't expect much of her at the start, but she really grew on me as the film went on. I love that you just have to piece together her backstory as a shieldmaiden of Rohan and then you can start using that to theorize about Héra and how she idolizes them and it all just clicks together so well? And it's always nice to see an awesome older woman kicking ass!

And then Fréaláf showed up and he was just like the coolest guy ever?! Yooooooo, I loved him so much, even though he got so sidelined in the movie. 😭 But his appearance at the end wearing Helm's armor and blowing that horn was just awesome. I don't even care if his whole arc was a bit derivative of Éomer's from the films, I still just dug his whole vibe and personality. And it's terrible how Haleth and Háma had to die (like oof, both their deaths were just... so brutal 😭😭😭), but it's obvious that Fréaláf will make a fantastic king for Rohan.

Helm Hammerhand was, of course, amazingly badass, they really kept that part intact. And though I wouldn't say he was particularly likeable as a character, he certainly was compelling to watch. And his death scene, of course, just went so hard.

And yes, shoutout again to Turgg, the Dunlander, for being cool and levelheaded throughout the whole movie. Honestly, if that guy became the Dunlanding leader instead of Wulf, things would've gone like 2000x better for everyone. And I do love that he finally just outright refuses to do Wulf's bidding at the end. It is certainly an instance of too little, too late by that point, but still. I appreciate that he at least had some sort of line he wouldn't cross, even if it was purely because he finally saw how mad Wulf had become. Cool character, I liked him a lot.

I already spoke a bit about the music and the animation up top, so I won't rehash all that, but I just want to highlight a few outlying thoughts I had.

What the heck was up with that Watcher in the Water just chilling in the woods there? That seemed so random. And also, it ate that entire mumik like it was nothing, wot?

In general, the scale of things was kind a crazy? It seemed to vary a lot scene by scene and it was hard sometimes to really tell the perspective of anything.

I absolutely loved Miranda Otto coming back to act as the narrator for this film? Not only was it wonderful to hear Éowyn again in a new project, but I loved how they used it as a sort of framing device, like it was Éowyn telling us a story of her people. (And I love the thought of her being inspired by this legend of Héra as a little girl and dreaming of being a shieldmaiden, too.)

I love that Olwyn didn't die?! I was just waiting for it to happen the whole movie, she had so many death flags it was unreal. But then it just... didn't happen! Yes!

What on Middle-Earth was that dang siege tower Wulf built? Omg, that thing was ridiculous. When they were raising it up and it just kept going higher and higher and higher?! It was like a skyscraper there for a minute, what? And then it just crashed down and didn't break? XD I'm pretty sure I audibly said "Yo, wtf?" in the theater when I saw that part, lol. (It's okay, I was literally the only person there. >_>)

I didn't realize Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd were the voices of those two orcs until I saw the credits? That was a neat cameo!

Why oh why is there no WotR AO3 tag up yet? 😭 How am I supposed to find fix-it fics about mah boi Háma now? 😭😭😭

That one eagle sure was helpful in this movie, omg. And lol, I like that they established that the eagles and wizards can talk to each other? Lol, Maia to Maia communication. XD

But yeah, those are my initial thoughts. Overall, a very enjoyable experience! I was really glad to be back in Middle-Earth again, especially since my interest in all things Tolkien has been massively reinvigorated lately by my newfound fascination with The Silmarillion. This movie hit at a perfect time for me and I enjoyed it greatly. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk movie review. XD

[cupkakie]

War of the Rohirrim thoughts:

Overall, I would say that I quite enjoyed stepping back into the world of LOTR (and it would be impossible for a single film to live up to the atmosphere of the original trilogy) it was a relief to see that, despite a few deviations/flaws, you can tell there was a lot of care and respect for the source material from those involved.

I only wish they provided more of a historical context as to the disparity or ongoing conflict between the Dunlendings and the Rohirrim to give more depth to the 'contract' or marriage proposal that eventually goes awry. I also wish that they fleshed out Wulf more and I think reducing him, even jokingly to an "incel" (or even reducing the character of Héra under a label) doesn't do justice to their characters. Wulf could have been more of a compelling villain and the fact that his late father's general (a new character in the story of the movie) placed some measure of faith in his rulership, points to that possibility. But, I guess it's also realisitic that he fumbled those grand ambitions (if there was a tiny seedling of that in his quest of revenge) in the end. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that General Tark (?) had more nuance than just throwaway supporting villain.

Apart from one major plot deviation concerning how the conflict is resolved, some may take issue, but with the choice of how the story was more Hera focused at that point, I'm not sure how the writers could have made it align with how it really concluded according to the book. I'm also not sure if the writers intended to open up the question I had been wondering before this was film was released about "deeds remembered in history" and added to that with "who" and "how" these tales are recorded or passed down generations. It is mentioned in Appendix A of RotK that "[m]any lords and warriors, and many fair and valiant women are named in the songs of Rohan [...] (Tolkien 424). So, it's not far-fetched to think there could have been such a story about Hera but it was never written down or recorded as such, and the story as Éowyn tells it may have survived only orally through song.

There was no "girlbossery" to be found in Héra if ROP's "Galadriel" is an exemplary model of that regurgitated toxic trope. She had her strengths and weaknesses and cared deeply for her family and for her people.

I enjoyed the familial relationships we saw, though I wish there was more, especially of Fréaláf. I wish we could've gotten more on his situation in Dunharrow during the Long Winter and how and why it was difficult to secure aid for the refugees in the Suthberg (Hornburg later named after Helm Hammerhand).

As to the allegations that may be out there that Helm is a "Gary Stu" , I think he's more akin to the mythic characters like Beowulf or Gilgamesh; just an epic, larger than life character --and I think the medium of animation did that mythic hyperbole justice, and live-action would require some kind of creative framing to suspend the disbelief of the audience.

For me, the movie had the potential to be more, but I still enjoyed it, coming away with loving Rohan and the Rohirrim all the more, especially Fréaláf, who may hearken back to another horse-lord, but is not a "copy-paste" of him, just as Hera is not a facsimile of Éowyn (though I do wish they had given her a more Anglo-Saxon inspired name).

TLDR; if you enjoyed the trilogy/ hated the travesty that is ROP, you will most likely enjoy this movie.

(Also, kudos to the voice-acting, especially Luke Pasqualino.)

[literallyjustapebble]

I’ve been listening to the LOTR books again, and I think the main thing I like about the books more than the movies is that especially in the Two Towers everyone is way more gung ho to reck shit up. 😔

Like Tree Beard totally unprompted goes on a tirade about how much he hates Saruman then he’s just like IM GONNA KICK THST GUYS ASS RIGHT NOWWW (after a long and non-hasty desccusion)

Then all it takes is Gandalf curing Theodén then he’s just immediately like LETS GO TO WARRR!!!! ROHAN IS WITH YOU GONDOR!! WE HAVE ASS TO KICK RAHHHHHH

Also unrelated but I really like how much time Tolkien takes describing random stuff. Like, does the terrain of a riverbank or the size of a specific orcs hands matter to the plot?? No.. but do I want to know anyway?? Yes.

[adeadcreator]

hihi! hope you’re doing well :)

can i request Rohan with a reader who is protective of Koichi? i’m watching through jjba for the first time and i’m on episode 24 of part 4 right, and ever since i started watching this part i’ve been joking to my friends that Koichi is my son. he’s so cutie patootie and the poor boy keeps getting put in situations. if i had a nickel for everytime my poor boy was attacked with a stand by a gorgeous man with a sexy voice i’d have two nickels, which isnt a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice 😭

so basically reader’s first impression of Rohan is, obviously, not great since Rohan basically kidnapped (?) Koichi and tried to take his memories with Heaven’s Door, and Rohan would probably know from Koichi’s perspective that reader is very protective of him (i imagine reader probably babysat Koichi when he was little and has had a soft spot for him ever since, so they’re always looking out for him, i also imagine reader getting a stand because atp everyone in Morioh has one 💀). so Rohan becomes interested in reader and wants to win them over but can’t because reader already has a negative view of him from the entire Koichi situation, and i feel like in this scenario Rohan wouldn’t use Heaven’s Door on reader since a) it would be rather obvious that he did so and b) tampering with reader’s memories might alter their relationship with Koichi and since it’s a major part of them Rohan doesn’t want to risk ruining it too much.

either headcannons or a oneshot is fine, i don’t mind either way! love your work, tysm <3

No seriously, they have to leave that poor boy alone ToT

“Don’t you have a job? You’re a grown man targeting a child. Leave him alone. Otherwise you’ll be seeing the depths of hell real soon.” Koichi glanced nervously at the two adults, (Y/n) on his right as Rohan was on his left. 

Rohan could have been offended, Hell he should’ve. Yet for some reason he couldn’t be bothered, his eyes narrowed by the way you gently grabbed the grey colored haired boy. Leading him away from the manga artist, hearing some insults you spat out “So that’s the famous (Y/n) Koichi always praises..”

From what he had read, you were a past babysitter of his; one that treated him like a brother. Yet his memories never truly expressed your beauty, even when you were berating him for his odd attachment to a child he just met, you were like a literal angel. He felt his heart swell as he huffed and puffed about not capturing your expression right then and there.

Days passed from your encounter with the manga artist, and with that Koichi gained a lecture from you. He was currently in your house as you both were binging some old movies, reaching into the bowl you found to be empty. “I’ll be right back, gotta grab some more popcorn, pause the movie real quick!”

Doing as you asked, the grey haired boy glanced at the large bandage that covered half of your collarbone, “What happened to your heart (Y/n)-san?” Despite attempting to hide your injury with a large bandage, it was still visible through your tank top “Huh? Oh nothing, just some kid fooling around with an arrow; shot me but I lived..” 

You hadn’t seen the horror that was plastered on the young boy's face “W-What type of arrow was it..?” he asked as you continued on your way to the kitchen “Oh, um I’m actually unsure. All I know is that I woke up after a few hours, why?” Your question went unanswered as the doorbell rang, catching both your attention before Koichi got up from his place and answered the door.

“M-Mr. Rohan, what are you doing here?” Koichi was shocked seeing the artist casually in front of him, especially since he did not give any information of (Y/n)’s whereabouts “Who is it Koichi?” You asked as you turned the corner, catching the eyes of both of them.

Your face turned sour as you neared them. “That’s it, I’m calling the police.” you said as you began closing your door, earning a sharp yell from the manga artist “NO! I mean, no…I’m not here to harm anyone. I’m actually here to apologize for my previous actions” his foot blocked the door as you huffed and opened it once again.

Your eyes still holding anger as he seemed to be distracted with them “Right. Well as much as we appreciate your words, we would like to go back to watching our movie.” he had to think of something, and as quickly as you seemed to be ready to shut the door on him, he stumbled with his words “Would you be interested in becoming a model?”

“No, I’m quite happy with my current job” Rohan pouted, perhaps he could use his stand briefly, just enough to erase your negative narrative of him. “Heaven’s Do-” his words were cut off as an angelic stand shielded the (H/c) haired user, a light golden mist filled the area as Koichi’s eyes widened by its presence. 

It was truly much like an angel of the heavens, even Rohan had never seen such beauty, so much so that he hadn’t realized he began to disappear “At least tell me your name..?” he pleaded as you glanced down your nose towards him “(Y/n) (L/n), now go.”

He found himself back on his porch, shocked at how your stand worked. He couldn’t properly understand it as he quickly went inside to capture its essence onto paper, No matter if your words were filled with disdain, he would continue on his quest to win you over; No matter how long.

[ridingforrohan]

What was wrong with War of the Rohirrim and how it could have been better.

Before I go into this, I want to say that I did like the movie, a lot. It was a story that I needed badly at the time that got me back into Tolkien at a time I really needed it. I think it has a lot of great elements and is overall a good movie.

All that being said, in my books, they handled the Dunlendings badly. Really badly.

I did love the story of a woman who turns down a man and then suffers tragedy at his hand but does not cower in fear. Especially since men who behave like Wulf (most just can't raise an army or siege weapons) are all too common and having stories that point out how wrong that behavior is so important for people to interact with.

Now, for those who don't know the Dunlendings are a people pushed westward by Númenórean conquest. Their forests were cut down and they were driven from their ancestral home over what seemed to be a prolonged period of time until they were mostly settled in the area known as Dunland later.

When the Éotheod are gifted the land that became Rohan by the then Steward of Gondor, they inherit that conflict with Dunlendings who are still upset about being displaced. This results in continued conflict between those peoples for some time, even though the Dunlendings don't seem to have any evil ways besides being anti Númenórean conquest and share linguistic similarities to the hobbits and Rohirrim.

Which I find incredibly interesting, especially since the Dunlendings are the ancestors of the men who founded Bree and apparently lived beside Hobbits during their wandering at one point (I bet the Rohirrim's word for hobbits comes from the Dunlendings!). Considering the linguistic similarities and the fact that both peoples came from pre-Númenórean peoples it's kind of surprising that they clashed so much instead of intermingling more (which we know they did to some degree).

That history wasn't addressed at all and instead, the Dunlendings were portrayed as this lesser civilization full of simple-minded, greedy, and cruel people. Which I get simplifies the story, but it also leaves some questions to be asked...a lot actually.

Frecca is a prominent Lord in the West of Rohan who has a fair amount of Dunlending blood. So much that Helm refers to him as 'Dunlending' in his challenge and in the movie he and Wulf are dressed in such a way that shows the greater connection to that culture as well. So we know from that there's plenty of intermarrying and dare I say immigration between the two if men like Frecca are holding titles.

What would have been cool to see is how the death of Frecca upsets whatever delicate balance was existing on the borderlands. Were Frecca's lands seized? Were his Dunlending subjects driven out? What was the fallout from that event? Saying Wulf disappeared and then months later you spot a rabid mûmak and accidentally end up in what looks to be a well-set-up military encampment with a lot of people. I just feel like that doesn't happen without any signs.

If you had shown the collapse of that, with a slightly slower progression of Wulf becoming obsessive and desperate it would have been very neat. Also giving us more to sympathize with in the Dunlending characters would be good. Targg seemed like a pretty together guy with a sense of honor, which leads me to believe he's not the only person in Dunland like this.

Now for the kicker. I love Fréaláf, so much, but I think his character did not make sense. Specifically, because they used him as a model minority in a really weird way. He's always perfectly put together and composed and doesn't resist when Helm shuts him down for pointing out really obviously concerning military reports and their implications. He just goes away when told and returns when called for. It felt like an odd forced diversity thing when giving him any sort of reasonable backstory would have made him make so much more sense.

In the witan scene you are introduced to both Wulf and Fréaláf and they look kind of similar. I'm not really expecting to see a racially diverse crowd in Meduseld, so when Fréaláf shows up on screen my initial thought was "damn he's cute, but where the hell did he come from?"

There's a story there and it never got addressed, they just stuck him on the throne at the end without giving any context as to who he is or why he's qualified to be king. I get that the story is about Héra but a little more would have been great, if only to give that pretty face more screen time..... I mean his role in the story more context.

They do imply in the companion books that they like the idea of his mother being married off to Southern Gondor, which is where his dark features come from. If that is the case, why is he in Rohan holding a really significant command, a Rohirric name, and a matronym instead of in Dol Amroth fighting off Corsairs with his father's people??!!!! What did he do to get banished to Rohan for so long they promoted him to Lord of the Harrowdale?

Anyway, I like the idea of him being of Dunlending blood and being tied to people on both sides of the conflict in some way. I've written a lot of fics about this which can be read on AO3 here.

I was sad not to see much of a fandom pop up from this movie so I'm curious to see if anyone with more Tolkien lore literacy than myself has an insight on it.

[readingreddingread]

I tried to do a detached movie!Eowyn meta just touching on my caretaking experience a lil bit to explain how helpless that feels but failed because it got too intertwined with my [redacted] [redacted] feelings. It's one the better things I've ever written, but it's just too personal to post on fandom PvP kill zone site I think.

So I'm just going to say care taking a loved one in decline is experience of helplessness and despair like nothing else especially when the world itself appears to be getting burnt down around you but at least I didn't have a politically powerful person creeping on me and sending out my other loved ones out to get killed. Anyway those sort of feelings of helplessness make you want to do something that feels effective and riding to war against the thing burning the world down feels so much more effective than running away with the non-combatants to die last while your only remaining family goes off to die first. Put it this way; Rohan are a people of heroic deed tales and hail the glorious dead of battle. After all she had experienced so far why run from battle to die hiding experiencing fear and helplessness again when she could go down fighting instead. The urge to give the effort to write anything at all about the trauma familial caretaking can affect decision making comes from something horrid I read yeaaars ago that insisted Eowyn was being a brat, behaving like a spoiled child going into battle instead of doing the duty her king and uncle commanded of her and should never ever be treated like a hero. Also that she didn't deserve to be rewarded with Faramir as a husband. Pretty sure ever wrote that thing or anybody who agreed with it would look at what I've written and give some "cool motive, still murder" type response. I. DO. NOT. CARE. I'm all about the motive here folks, motive is the enrichment in my enclosure. The motive btw if you weren't paying attention is she's traumatized BEFORE the Black Breath gets her.

[sirdeln]

I was lucky enough to be able to attend the Lord of the Rings musical in Chicago earlier this week and was SO DELIGHTED. I can't stop thinking about it and talking my friends' ears off and wanted to write down all of my thoughts!  Here's my review under the cut :)

A brief background on the musical for those unfamiliar: In the 2000s LOTR excitement was high! This musical originally premiered in 2006 in Toronto and moved to the West End in London the next year. It was extremely expensive to produce and included a massive cast, full orchestral pit, and large, complicated sets. It consequently lost a lot of money. Bummer!!! I did not see this production as I was 8 and living in Oregon at the time. 

Last year (2023) the musical was reworked into a new production for the Watermill Theatre with a smaller cast, more intimate feel, and notably, all the musician/actors on stage. It received generally positive reviews and presumably was commercially successful, because Chicago Shakespeare Theater announced it would be hosting the same production with a new cast this year. Of course I rushed to buy tickets, because I never thought I'd get to see any version of the LOTR musical (and also I lived in Chicago for a short time and love it there 😊 ).  

Of course, there are some necessary plot changes and abbreviations to fit the story of the whole trilogy into a 2 hour and 45 minute musical. Most notably Rohan is entirely absent. No Eowyn :,(, no Eomer, and no Helm's Deep. Theoden and Denethor are combined into one character, "The Steward," which I think works fairly well. There's one large battle between the armies of men and the forces of Sauron, and there's an inserted argument between Frodo and Sam, similar to the movies.  

Unlike the movies, the scouring of the Shire does occur, although we don't actually see Saruman at the end of the show. I think that to someone unfamiliar with the story, it would be a little confusing, especially because it's full of unexplained names, other references to Middle Earth, and singing in elvish, but ultimately I think it's pretty impressive that they've created a mostly coherent plot that's the length of a normal show! 

I'll caveat that I went into this already an opera/musical theater appreciator (although I've only ever been involved in productions playing in the pit, I am certainly no actor). I was really hoping to be pleased based on everything I had heard about last year's UK show and my positive opinion of the old cast recording.  

On to specifics about the Chicago show!  

The cast is extremely impressive. Basically everyone on stage is a quadruple threat; acting, singing, dancing, AND playing instruments. The casting call posted earlier this year made me so curious because it seemed so specific (here it is for those who are curious: https://www.theatreinchicago.com/auditions/industrydetail.php?AuditionID=10319), but they really managed to find Suzanne Hannau, who sings, dances, and acts as Rosie Cotton all while playing piccolo, flute, and recorder (and possibly tin whistle? Tin whistle heads out there, let me know).  

Standout members of the cast are Alina Jenine Taber as Arwen, who gave my favorite vocal performance of the show. She is a perfect Arwen and blends easily with Will James Jr.'s Aragorn in their second act duet. Also she learned harp for the role! Will James Jr. as Aragorn is excellent casting as well. He totally pulls of the humble gravitas of Aragorn and I actually prefer his voice to the Aragorn in the 2008 cast recording.  

More flowers go to Rick Hall, who made a perfect, lovely Bilbo (and is double cast as the Steward), and Spencer Davis Milford as Frodo. His acting chops are WILD! Special mention goes to Ben Mathew as Pippin. He is a truly wonderful cellist and gives a noticeably excellent musical performance while acting and dancing! With a cello strapped to his front! Crazy good!! Generally though the whole cast is excellent. 

Here are my small gripes. These are less flaws, and more things that I would have done differently were I for some reason in charge. Lauren Zakrin plays Galadriel and is an extremely talented singer, but IMO her vocal style is much too "Broadway show tune" for Galadriel. "Lothlorien" is one of my favorite tracks in the show, and while she totally rocks it, I prefer a more ethereal sound for this role.  

Tony Bozzuto brings an incredibly impressive physicality to Gollum (climbing down ropes into the audience, swinging fully around ladders 20 feet up in the air type of stuff) but I think using an Andy Serkis Gollum voice and movie Gollum look is a directorial mistake. Bozzuto does a great job with what he's given, but the Serkis Gollum voice made the audience (at least the night I went) react to Gollum as if he was a comedic character rather than a tragic one. It also slightly cheapens the emotional impact of “Now and For Always,” which is hugely unfortunate. He would say incredibly sad things but the goofy voice made people laugh. 

UK correspondent and subject expert @lotrmusical tells me this wasn’t an issue at the Watermill. The voice wasn’t as much a Serkis-specific voice and worked more with pathos. I also think using the movie Gollum look is a missed opportunity to do something really cool and unique with the character – imagine if they'd gone with a cartoon froggy type Gollum or come up with their own original look! 

My final qualm is a musical qualm. The new orchestration is extremely impressive in that it creates a very similar sound to a full orchestral pit (I've read it was 60 musicians?) with a MUCH smaller group and mostly sounds very very good. Having the actors as the instrumentalists on stage works really well in creating the folk story vibe, and fits with the framing device of this show; it's hobbits telling you their version of this story.  

But a couple of moments are weird. Harmonica during an Aragorn/Arwen love scene is a wack choice, and same for accordion representing wizard magic. There are a few issues with intonation, balance (sorry brass players), and ensemble. I think this is inevitable when your instrumentalists are playing simultaneously to acting, moving across the stage, and performing choreography. To be clear, in no way is this the fault of the musicians themselves, but it's a pretty unavoidable side effect of this staging: you just aren't going to play perfectly together if you're standing 40 feet away from each other and your instruments are individually mic'd. 

@lotrmusical tells me this also wasn’t a problem for the Watermill, maybe because it’s a much smaller venue than Chicago; very possibly these small problems arise from a combination of the Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theater being a larger/more difficult space and from my seeing the show in its first week. It may resolve itself as it progresses! Personally I think the staging is worth these minor issues because the folk atmosphere works so well with the story, but it's worth pointing out.  

Okay, time for all the stuff I loved!  

I mentioned the folk element of this staging briefly and this angle works really well for LOTR. There's a framing device of hobbits telling this tale to you with ensemble cast members at times narrating, and I think it's a great fit for the story. It creates a feeling of intimacy that I really loved, and that feeling is enhanced by some interactive moments with the audience.  

When I entered the theater, the stage is set for Bilbo's birthday party. There's a beautiful party tree revealed by the backdrop, a large banner proclaims the occasion, and bunting is flying out above the audience. Hobbit actors came out into the audience and interacted with us, playing games and chatting, while Bilbo made the rounds on each level to greet his "party guests". It really effectively transitions the audience into the world of middle earth, and I'll admit to tearing up when everyone sang happy birthday to Bilbo.  

(screenshot from official trailer)

The stagecraft maintains the immersion throughout the show. The lighting design incorporates lights flashing straight out at the audience for a few dramatic moments (there are epilepsy warnings on the website and program for a good reason) and characters move swiftly up and down the aisles throughout the show. Gollum climbs down a rope from the gallery at the beginning of the second act, and the Nazgul snap and prowl around the audience.  

Speaking of the Nazgul, the PUPPETS in this show are totally stunning. Shelob is an absolutely massive puppet that emerges from the back of the stage and moves extremely realistically, and the ringwraiths are glowing, articulated skeletal horse heads, each moving with a dark cloaked puppeteer. The Nazgul are absolute showstoppers; it's impossible to convey the way they move and look under the stage lights, but it was totally enthralling. I could watch just them for ages. The puppet designer is Charlie Tymms, website here if you're curious: https://www.charlietymms.co.uk/ 

(screenshots from official trailer)

The lighting, choreography, and sound design are all fantastic and combine to create a really magical feeling. The best way to get a feel for this is in the short trailer released by Chicago Shakespeare Theater, but even that doesn't really convey how cool it was in person. The fight and dance choreography is super impressive as well. I'm a big believer in the importance of lighting design for live theater, and this production is maybe the best I've seen. Some favorite moments are Galadriel and Lothlorien's swirling, twinkling gold effect, the spotlight and freeze when Frodo puts on the ring, and the projection onto vertical cloth streamers for the Bruinen water horses.  

(Liz Lauren via playbill)

Overall, I loved my experience and if I lived locally, I would go see it a second time. If all goes well and they tour this production, I will absolutely be there if it comes closer to me. This show is clearly made by people who love the Lord of the Rings, and that love absolutely shines through.  

I think you will enjoy this production if you love the atmosphere of the Lord of the Rings and you like the music in the show. You'll enjoy this if you love theater and stagecraft, or don't know much about the Lord of the Rings but are ok with being a little confused/ready to be along for the ride. I think a person who is primarily a film fan and loves the epic battles of LOTR would perhaps not have a great time, and a person who knows that they don't enjoy or aren't immersed by theater would also not have a good time.  

If you're thinking of attending, you should check out the trailer from Chicago Shakespeare Theater:

the cast recording from the west end 2008:

and Mickey Jo Theatre's review of the Watermill production:

Most of what Mickey Jo Theatre says about the Watermill show is applicable to the Chicago production. The trailer and cast recording will give you a sense of the show as a whole (although of course the orchestration is significantly changed), but the overall sound is much the same. 

I'm certainly not an expert, but feel free to reach out if you are thinking of attending or have any questions! I'd also love to hear from/compare notes with anyone who saw the Watermill production from last year 😊 

A huge thank you to @lotrmusical for checking my facts and telling me about their experience with the Watermill show!!! you rock!