#frodo is such a good main character I love him

[kiragecko]

I have complicated feelings about this.

Because I don't think Tolkien would have wanted this interpretation. And that doesn't matter, we can read it how we want, but I respect Tolkien so much! I want him to be at peace!

Sam is such a love-letter to the men under his (brief) command. The men who returned home and didn't have the luxury of taking time to recover, because their loved ones NEEDED every penny they could make, and so they just ... kept living.

He wanted those men to be okay. To recover anyways, and find joy in the things that seemed so meaningless after the horrors of war. (Many men broke off engagements after their return.) To find rest.

Basically, I agree completely with the second half of the post. And don't disagree with the first half. A few of the ways you worded things got me thinking it was going somewhere different. But no, I agree with everything you said. No complicated feelings.

Tolkien wanted Sam to get a happily-ever-after, and he understood they required work. It is a very respectful reading to posit that Sam recovered in the same way he did everything else - through complete commitment and dogged determination.

(Though, again, no one is required to have respectful readings. I just connect with those more.)

I think Sam Gamgee didn't get off as lightly as people often think. Just my interpretation. But the ferver with which he snapped back to doing "normal" things reads to me as a kind of trauma response too. The desperation to return to the status quo. I think he needed to live in the Shire as much as Frodo needed to leave it. It's just - he's so aggressive about it. Mayor seven times, getting married quickly and having so many children, it paints a picture of frantic activity, a need to be kept occupied - perhaps so that you are too tired to think on things best left in the past. I think Sam needed to live that busy, full, life, I think that WAS a form of resting for him. He could not join Frodo, who he loved deeply, until he had had a lifetime apart. As if, having gone on a perilous quest into lands unknown, Sam snapped defensively back into familiarity and refused to leave until his wounds had healed. It took until the end of his life for any tolerance for travel and adventure (no matter how gentle) to return.

[jonsnowunemploymentera]

And remember kids, the next time someone tells you, "George R. R. Martin wouldn't make Jon Snow the typical fantasy hero because that's cliche".....

Oh yes he would!

One viewer wants to know what character would you play (on the show)? GRRM: If I could magically clap my hands and become a different person, it would be cool to play Jon Snow who's much more of the classic hero. Everybody wants to be the classic hero! ABC Interview, 2014

GRRM: And the character I’d want to be? Well who wouldn’t want to be Jon Snow — the brooding, Byronic, romantic hero whom all the girls love. Meduza Interview, 2017

In fact he already has ☺️

[tossawary]

I'm thinking about "What if the main character did not have a secret, powerful family background and was just some random person?" AUs for different stories, because I personally find that situation more compelling most of the time and I think it introduces more interesting struggles. While thinking about a bunch of other stories, I ended up thinking about Aragorn in "Lord of the Rings".

Now, Aragorn is a special case because 1) I wouldn't really call him THE main character and the "noble" members of the Fellowship are well-contrasted by the hobbits. The hobbits may be mostly Shire gentry (except for Sam), but on the grand stage of Middle Earth, they're still unimpressive nobodies. Frodo is already our ordinary hero. 2) Aragorn's road to kingship comes with him struggling with his ancestor's failures and accepting the heavy burdens that come with being Isildur's heir. This is specifically an arc of a character struggling with their family history. I am absolutely not saying that Aragorn being royalty makes LOTR a bad story and that it would be better if he was just some random guy. I think this is a well-written character storyline that is a key feature of the overall story.

But I do think it would be really funny to write fanfiction where Aragorn wasn't Arathorn's son. (There is the issue of the heritage that makes Aragorn age slowly, but maybe you could wiggle that so that Aragorn has that kind of heritage from a different source?) Like, the line of Isildur has died out, and let's say that Aragorn's mother takes shelter in Rivendell with her son, and kid Aragorn ends up wandering around to the broken sword and picking up the handle. And either Aragorn's mother lies to Elrond about Aragorn being Arathorn's son or Elrond happens across kid Aragorn with the broken sword and thinks... "Hey, what if we just... lied about it?"

Now, this could end really badly! As I vaguely understand it, the Silmarillion (which I have not read) contains a bunch of examples where lying did not go well, so maybe this lie is how Middle Earth falls into chaos in this AU. Whoops.

But even though this breaks some plotlines, I'm a sucker for adoption storylines. I love adoption being treated as important. It's compelling to imagine Elrond and Aragorn's mother carefully explaining the situation with the sword to him, and then this child just... stubbornly deciding that he's going to become Isildur's heir. Maybe Aragorn's determination falters at some point, he gives up on the idea, and he later has to return to Elrond as an adult and persuade him that no, he means it this time, mankind isn't just about bloodlines, he's going to pick up this burden on behalf of all of humanity. I think that there's something powerful in a person deciding that no, I'm not of Isildur's blood, but I have his same potential for success and for failure, and I'm here. I'm fighting. I picked up the broken sword and that's good enough, isn't it? Who are you to say I'm not his heir? I'm HERE.

I think there's powerful magic in that too. (Also, Arathorn is dead and getting adopted as a father by some random kid. Sure. Okay. I think that's just funny.)

(Also, oh my, there is SO MUCH tragedy if Aragorn being Isildur's heir is a lie and Boromir died believing it. The GUILT. The GUILT that Aragorn would feel when Boromir says, "I would have followed you, my brother, my captain, my king." Like, oh man, now you HAVE TO make it true.)

Now, maybe Aragorn doesn't become King of Gondor in this AU or maybe he does. Maybe Faramir becomes king instead. Maybe it becomes well known by the end of the journey that Aragorn isn't a blood descendant of Isildur and maybe it's a secret known only to the Fellowship. I'd like to think that he still marries Arwen. I like the idea of Arwen happily and knowingly marrying some nobody lying about his heritage and Elrond internally being like, "This is kind of on me."

The most important thing here is that it would be so fucking funny if Aragorn (and Elrond and Gandalf and Galadriel) successfully lied to Sauron the Deceiver. Sauron's like, "Oh? A secret heir come out of hiding to fight against me? Sounds legit." And at some point near the end, just before some hobbits chuck a ring into a volcano behind his back, Sauron is looking at Aragorn like, "Wait a minute, what the fuck, you lying little SHIT."

(Or Sauron finds out via Pippin that Aragorn is lying and feels SO SMUG about how he's going to crush a false king, which just adds to Aragorn's whole "made you look!" distraction keeping Sauron from noticing the hobbits sneaking into Mount Doom.)

[live-laugh-legolas]

Hiiiiii omg your head canons for the fellowship are so cuttteeee I love it. Do you think you could write how the members of the fellowship would be around a character who has a dragon companion? I’m sorry I know that is soooo weird but I literally love dragons so much and Lotr so y’know. Preferably a f reader or just Gn. Sorry if that’s weird and no pressure!!!!🫶🫶

What a fun prompt! I’ve literally thought about this before. I’m picturing you show up at Rivendell just casually with your dragon. Totally breathes fire because that’s cool as shit.

How the Fellowship reacts to a dragon companion

Aragorn:

-Has to do a double take

-wtf

-He’s a chill dude, but this feels unhinged

-He will introduce himself with you only once you’re not with your fire friend

-Once you introduce the two he’s back to his chill self and act like this is totally normal

Legolas:

-Fascinated, and immediately introduces himself to you and your dragon

-Elves have a way with nature and animals so I don’t think he would be scared

-Wary, maybe, but he just wants to pet it

-He sees is as a big puppy

-Will tell you a billion dragon facts

Gimli:

-Listen, dwarves have a bad record with dragons

-Doesn’t trust you, and certainly can’t believe the “beast” could be friendly

-Keeps his distance and is definitely a bit cold to you like he is to Legolas, at first

-He eventually warms up to you but still doesn’t like your companion

-The dragon wouldn’t hurt him, but he doesn’t know that, and the dragon totally takes advantage of that and will scare him

-“I don’t like the way it looks at me”

-Big “it don’t bite, yes it do!” energy

Boromir:

-I just feel like he would not care

-He would be casual about it like the cave troll

-Totally sees the advantage of having a literal fucking dragon on their team

-Talks to it like a person

Frodo:

-You thought his eyes were big before? Well guess what? They are literal saucers

-Mostly knows only of Smaug so he doesn’t have a particularly positive view on the species

-But he’s also nothing if not curious

-Asks you so many questions

-This I think applies to all the hobbits except maybe Sam, but it would be so cute if they cuddled up with the dragon at night to keep warm

Sam:

-Big nope

-He’s heard Bilbo’s stories

-His main priority is keeping Frodo safe

-Probably wouldn’t warm up until he saw Frodo petting it with a big smile

-Would ask if it wants a bowl of stew when you all settle for the night

-Worried it might eat him if he doesn’t keep it fed

Merry:

-Guess what?! You now have a new biggest fan! Congrats!

-No fear in this hobbit

-Maybe that’s not a good thing, but he’s a confident boy

-“Hypothetically how would one go about acquiring such a creature?” “You can’t have a dragon Merry” “…I was asking for a friend”

-Will brag about knowing you and that he’s friends with a dragon when they eventually get back to the shire

Pippin:

-?????

-So confused

-He must have smoked too much and is now hallucinating

-Once he gets over that shock, he’s probably the type to watch from afar, but weary to ask to pet it

-“Do you think we could roast marshmallows with its breath?”

-It’s a genuine question. And yes, the answer is yes

-That is if you like your marshmallows burnt and basically disintegrated

Gandalf:

-He probably invited you to the council

-Wary because he knows what dragons are capable of, but trusts you so therefore he trusts your judgment

-He’s got his eagles, you’ve got your dragon, unstoppable duo

*Bonus Elrond:

-“Um…whatcha got there?” “A smoothie”

-Wouldn’t let you in until Gandalf convinced him

-Then he just decides he’s seen so much shit that he shouldn’t even be surprised anymore by anything

I definitely don’t love all of these answers, some feel ooc, so as always I may edit when I get a different idea. It’s like how my mind will be blank when doing an assignment but the second I submit it I have so many better answers

[vero-valzer]

This!!! All of this!

In the Peter Jackson adaptation of Return of the King, he literally turns to what remains of the reunited Fellowship and softly but resolutely says this before rushing headfirst into the Battle of the Black Gate which is solely to act as a distraction to stall for time and draw Sauron's gaze to give Frodo and Sam their best chance to destroy The One Ring :

I think the reason so many LOTR ripoffs fail is because they make their Aragorn analogue the main character, when the entire point of Aragorn is that he’s “the person the villains think is the main character, but is Not.”

Aragorn seems like a traditional King Arthur style hero— he has huge Main Character Energy because he’s supported by destiny, by bloodline, by all these magic artifacts and prophecies, and etc etc. Frodo and Sam are Just Some Guys. Aragorn recognizes that Sauron understandably thinks he’s the main hero of this story ….and he pretends to believe it too, spending the entire series using himself as a diversion to prevent Sauron from seeing Frodo and Sam.

Aragorn’s whole thing is that knows he seems like the Main Hero of this legend to people who don’t know better —- but he also knows that he isn’t, and that his role is just to keep Sauron’s eye on him in order to protect the people around him.

And it works! Sauron is so fixated on defeating his Legendary Destined Archenemy with Extreme Main Character Energy that he completely overlooks the two ordinary little guys who were the real threat to him all along.

[fun-fact-generator-3000]

I watched The Lord of the Rings trilogy for the first time when I was 5 years old. It has been well over a decade since then, so here are a couple of characters 5-year-old me thought were scary/creepy/evil from most to least understanding.

Borormir.

I feel that this is pretty understandable. He tries to take the ring from Frodo and gets super angry/violent and I was far too young to understand the situation with Gondor being the last line of defence or the amount of stress he was under. I just saw a guy bully a hobbit. Ironically, I love him now and am a Boromir defender.

Bilbo.

I could not get past the scene where he gets ring-crazed and leaps at the screen. Scared the crap out of me as a kid to the point that even reading the Hobbit a year later did not help.

Galadriel.

Again, just because of the scene where she is overcome by the ring for a moment. I thought she was so terrifying, even though she spends the rest of her screen time being very lovely and gentle. I am also pretty sure I was convinced she was secretly an antagonist.

Frodo.

The main character of the whole series. I do not even have a good justification for this I think his eyes and thousand-yard stare just creeped me out as a child. I also thought that his portions of the second and third movies were the scariest versus the Gimli and Pippin shenanigans.

[shirefantasies]

Why is Tolkien so charitable regarding Frodo's missteps? After all, Tolkien conveniently and entirely blames all of Frodo's missteps regarding his handling of the ring on the ring itself.  "I do not think Frodo's was a moral failure. At the last moment the pressure of the Ring would reach its maximum -- impossible, I should have said, for anyone to resist."- JRR Tolkien. One can't imagine him saying anything remotely like this about the others who tried to take the ring. It's only Frodo's actions that Tolkien excuses by saying that anyone in Frodo's position would have done the same thing.

Hi there! Not sure if this comes from dislike of the character or just Tolkien’s handling, but if it’s the former I know I have characters I wouldn’t want someone to push me to like so I for sure will be surprised but respectful if Frodo is a character you don’t enjoy. Having people try to change your mind can be exhausting and annoying lol, so this’ll focus on just how I take things in the story personally! I am by no means a huge Tolkien scholar, but here’s how I take that situation with the ring and some evidence for the points as I at least see them (with some general agreement from other fandom and analysis discussions and conventions with other LoTR fans as well!). Hope this is at least an interesting read and I’m pretty darn flattered you chose me to ask this to ☺️

1. The ring bears a heavy weight (literally) on everyone’s decisions interacting with it, but I’ve always taken the story and Tolkien’s words on it as a bit of commentary on the folly of man, and as a religious person the concept of original sin. I.E. that we as humans (men, hobbits, dwarves, and even elves included in this setting) are simply not perfect and cannot be. Part of that evidenced in quotes like that from Tolkien himself but also scenes where even characters seen as beacons of good, strength, wisdom, morals, etc. do show temptation by the ring or that it would turn good intentions to evil. Galadriel and Gandalf, for example, are some of the most powerful beings and they tell Frodo that they would become corrupt and misuse the power they already have and that of the ring. Boromir as a character shows this too, because he is held overall pretty blameless too despite doing a bad thing. I love Boromir personally but nearly every fan on here I interact with does too and many discussions are had around his desperation, his life experiences up to the point of the fellowship’s travels, and how we all believe him to be a good man that made bad decisions out of both the influence of the ring and the pressure put on him to be his people’s hero. So I hold Frodo and Boromir especially on an equal ground of people who are flawed and strained, people tired of fighting and who just want an escape, frankly, a solution they don’t feel is coming especially not through the dark lens of the ring and its temptation to trust the way it warps you.

2. I think part of why Frodo gets emphasized in what can seem like the ‘oh he did no wrong’ narrative comes from the simple fact that he’s one of the characters who holds/interacts with the ring the longest. Besides characters like Bilbo and Gollum, we don’t see as much detail on a long time spent with the ring- in fact, beyond the what the Smeagol flashbacks do Frodo is the main indicator of it all for readers/viewers. Most of the other characters only touch/hold/carry it briefly, not for months like he does. So the weight of it does not fall as heavily on them, but we do see that Sam, the chief hero of the story (Tolkien’s words!), even hesitates before giving the ring back to Frodo after carrying it for a fraction of the time. Would Sam have been driven that much further down by it if he had been the one to carry it? I believe so, though it would have manifested differently (Frodo is more a quiet, brooding type who spits venom on occasion where Sam is much more a man of action and outward anger, so the ring would have twisted that and I think he would have been more tough and explosive while Frodo got nasty if that makes sense). Bilbo and Gollum take on similar traits when they try to snatch the ring and I believe Frodo would have descended further into those, too, with even more time carrying the ring.

3. If we’re looking at LoTR also as a showing that absolute power corrupts, we have to have someone like Frodo fail. We have to show even a ‘little guy’, someone young and joyful at the beginning of the story, someone with innocent beauty, falling to it for that very idea that anyone would. It’s almost easier to believe that one of the aforementioned beacons of power and strength like, say, Gandalf, would fall because they already have power to go to their heads. We see this with Saruman, for example, and how he literally falls from grace and dies trying to dominate. But a hobbit and a young innocent one falling when he has nothing of the sort is more telling and tragic. He never wanted this, in fact though he is brave enough to take it on he also tries to give it up numerous times because of the pressure that ultimately threatens to crush him. It’s a cautionary tale that’s sad because it’s true- pressure and power get to us.

4. I totally agree that Frodo made some bad decisions on his own, too! Once again, nobody’s perfect so as an author I can see why it’s realistic to have him screw up, but for sure I would not blame the ring on every single bad thing Frodo has done! The ring definitely amplifies and warps things, but one of the biggest tells of that is Gollum. Sam doesn’t trust him and is right to do so, and while Gollum is very essential to the story, Frodo does let fear and a desire to do every single thing right (again, pressure, imo a big theme here lolol!) take over the decision to trust their shady guide and then the ring takes the stress of that and Gollum’s words and twists all his feelings of exhaustion and resentment against Sam.

5. We’ll never know for sure, but I’ll wrap this up by saying I do personally believe that Frodo is by far not the only person who would fall in this way. He isn’t a perfect character, either, but that is exactly why what happens happens. But then that logic can by applied to many others too, like not only more obvious targets like Boromir or Gollum but even Gandalf, who feared what he would do with ring in hand, would succumb. The concept of the folly of man is especially interesting to me outside of ‘man’, like in the case of Saruman who is supposed to be of great wisdom and purity as a white wizard, but even he falls short. Even the Valar can fall short. Tolkien to me exemplifies the idea shown biblically that anyone can fall, even angels like lucifer/Maia and Valar like Sauron and Morgoth, if they let greed follow their hearts or do not trust the guidance of others. In this case, for Frodo that was Sam. Distrusting Sam gets him in world of trouble, Tolkien lists Sam as the chief hero, and to me the other core of Lord of the Rings is that NO ONE in that story can do it alone. Frodo would have died and fallen all the way without Sam. Rohan had to come to Gondor’s aid. The Three Hunters would not have succeeded if just Legolas or only Aragorn set out and I firmly believe that. Friendship and trust are what keeps us afloat, and Frodo’s mistrust in that, greatly amplified by stress, exhaustion, and indeed the ring, is his undoing. Human nature and evil temptation are a heck of a combo, friends!

Again, hope you find this an interesting read and even if you still don’t personally enjoy Frodo as a character I understand! I hope this comes across as just an analysis, for I don’t like debating and want to be respectful. People with the ‘I’m right, you are wrong’ mentality are a huge turnoff for me so I try to avoid that type of thinking. Thanks again for giving me a lot of food for thought anon, feel free to stop by more if you want to talk so long as this blog can keep a tone of study, not debate 🫶🏻

[kazoosandfannypacks]

Can I hear about your OCs??

ahhhhhhhh ABSOLUTELY uhhhh okay so I don't exactly know what coherent thoughts (or attempts at coherent thoughts) I can say uhhhrm

okay this has been sitting in my drafts for an UNCOMFORTABLE amount of time, so I think I may as well respond now?

Maristella is the main character and she is very aware she is the main character and knows she ought to be the main character. She's smart and calculating and her father is he admiral of the navy.

HER DAD IS SUCH A COOL CHARACTER. I don't get to flush out most of his backstory until (someday!) when I write his prequel but basically:

he joins the navy!

he gets thrown overboard during a battle!

he ends up in the in-universe equivalent of venice, italy!

he washes up on someone's doorstep!

they feed him spaghetti!

he falls in love with one of the daughters of the family who lives there!

he finds his way back to his place in the navy!

as soon as he gets a leave from the navy, he returns and marries her!

they have a daughter! that's maristella!

eight years later he gets promoted to admiral!

(there were lots of promotions leading up to that!)

and as admiral he gets to go home to see his family once every year!

not-so coincidentally he also has a child every year after that for the next four years!

except the second to last year of that when he has twins!

and then he's in the navy for a while!

and then he almost dies in battle!

and then these two cadets in the navy save his life!

and then he promotes them!

and then he invites them to a ball he hosts!

and then... oh, perry the platypus, the pop-up book seems to have caught up with us in real time. and by that i mean this is where the book starts!

Now let's talk about Verity! Verity is Maristella's best friend. The admiral saved her life once and she swore allegiance to his family (she was like. ten. but she meant it.) and she and Maristella instantly became besties! Verity is the Samwise to her Mr. Frodo but Verity is also like Elizabeth Swann!

Verity and Maristella both hate Victor Durand III. Victor Durand III has had a bitter rivalry with Maristella ever since her dad was promoted to Admiral and his dad stayed a commodore. Fortunately, Maristella's hatred of Victor is only rivaled by her enjoyment of her hatred of Victor. They become more like salty friends in the second book, like reluctant besties, and it's a vibe. Victor also has a cousin named Alastair who basically worships the ground he walks on. Alastair doesn't show up much, but I have him set up for a romance with a character who doesn't show up at all in the first book but was definitely there the whole time and she's an absolute ray of sunshine and her best friend is not!

Speaking of best friends, Victor is NOT best friends with Conroy. Conroy is a nerd. Victor is a jock. However, Conroy's dad is a professor at the naval academy and Victor's dad is the commodore of the navy and Maristella's dad is the admiral (hahaha take THAT, victor!) and Verity is basically family with her family so all four of them become close comrades. Conroy cannot read social cues.

Oh and while we're not on the subject at all! Isabella (who used to be Casper but I switched him to a girl because it fit the narrative better) is the best big sister in the whole world! She takes good care of her little brother, Adrian, and they join the navy together! And then they save the admiral's life! And then he promotes them to captain and lieutenant! And then they get invited to the admiral's ball! (Yes! It's the ones I talked about up there!)

Adrian has eyes as blue as the viorel sea and arms as strong as the waves that move galleons and a smile as refreshing as the southwestern breeze and his hands are always cold and he has a secret love for expensive shoes and he falls for Maristella the minute he lays eyes on her at her father's ball, which is very fortunate because he also catches her eye too! And then they share eleven waltzes! And they talk on the balcony for a while! But instead of a premature love confession, he convinces her to join the navy! And she does! And so does Verity! And then just before they graduate from the navy, Maristella recieves word that Adrian perished at sea!

(but did he? or didn't he? ooooooohhhhh plot TWIST)

uh yeah that about sums it all up! I also have a sideblog for my wip! It's @theadmiralsdaughter

[bluewings55]

So I picked up a new slight obsession:

A Quiet place

I've watched ppl play the recently released game and I fell in love with the concept. I also watched the first two movies and I'm currently watching the third movie. I'm not that far in the game yet and I'm not gonna Spoiler anything about the game or the third movie, but I do wanna write down my own opinion about it :>

The only spoiler about this is that it's gonna take a while to read 😅

You have been warned

Also a little update side note:

My mental health is kinda shit so I'm not really in the mood to draw much sadly, which also explains why I'm not that active atm and why the sirenix and charming redesigns take so long.

I'm doing better now since I'm on meds and going to therapy, and I've picked up an old hobby of mine: Rainbow Looms. I've been making many dragons out of them so that I can stay creative and that does help me as well.

Now that that's out of the way:

First of all

I absolutely LOVE the concept

I'm normally not that big of a fan of horror movies, but personally, I don't think it fits the genre that much. It feels more like a thriller with jump scares that's heavily unsettling.

I think the main reason is that they don't have soundtracks that can make your blood run cold. Music and soundtracks play a very important role in movies. Not sure how to explain it well, but they help set the mood. If you pay attention, certain soundtracks actually make your heart beat faster or slower, depending on the setting of the movie.

But the lack of music fits perfectly. It makes jump scares more unpredictable imo. Also it wouldn't make much sense to make a movie where you have to be quiet and then plaster it full of action music.

The creatures

Holy shit I love them so much. They look amazing. The anatomy, the claws, THE HEAD?? It does look similar to the Demogorgons from Stranger Things, but I don't mind, they still look and act differently. They were meant to orient themselves with echolocation and I love how they make the clicking sounds and the head armor plate thingies separate.

But I do have one big con about the movie, and that's how the concept was made into a movie, bc to be real, it's not that good.

You're telling me we are going to follow this random ass family trying to survive in a world filled with hunter aliens that react to sounds, with no context or backstory?

I get they can't rrl introduce the characters bc yk, talking = sounds, but they don't mean anything to me. I don't know their names, personality or anything. There's a deaf girl, a dumb 4 year old, a scaredy cat boy, the badass mom and kinda-sexist-but-means-we dad with questionable intentions to bring a baby into a world where randomly aliens crashed and started killing everything that made sounds.

That's it. That's all I know. The characters don't mean anything to me bc I don't know them well.

So yeah, it's not that good of a movie.

But it would have made a great series.

In movies, you only have a limited amount of time to introduce the characters, but due to the limitation of speaking, you can't do that here. If they made a series, like the Walking Dead, they could have done that.

They could have introduced the characters more, shown how their lives were before the aliens arrived, how they changed after the apocalypse, how they adapted, how they survived, everything!

But maybe that's already happening rn. The third movie shows that so maybe it was intentional to drop a very questionable cliffhanger and let the viewers wait for the next movies to find out more. But even after the second movie, I still don't know much about the characters tbh. And now with the third movie, there are completely different characters to follow? The only character I know is Frodo the emotional support cat, who's the sweetest, I love him.

The game however does it SO MUCH better. It shows how the lives were before the apocalypse and makes it more interesting to see how they live now. I care about the characters cus I get to see how they were before the creatures arrived. AND I ACTUALLY KNOW THEIR NAMES FOR A CHANGE. I don't have to look at a character and be like 'oh, hello deaf stubborn teenager'. I look at a character and see a person. Someone with a story and how they changed in this now broken world. I can actually feel sad if a character dies bc they were more than just a face.

In the end, I don't hate it. In fact, I love it! Yes its questionable with plot holes but it's an amazing concept and I want to see and find out more about this.

But now comes a few questions that I noticed during the movies and game:

(skip if you don't want any spoilers)

1. How did they all have electricity? Like, how does that work? Generators, nuclear power plants and windmills make a lot of noise/ need people to function. I didn't see any solar panels so where does the electricity come from?

2. Bringing a baby in this world? Really? You can't tell me that she got pregnant before the arrival since they lived for over a year in that shed and a pregnancy needs 9 months. Same situation in the game. Like, either use protection or don't have sex. Giving birth in this world is gonna be the start of a suicide mission.

3. One thing I noticed in the game were.... Crickets. Yk, the tiny NOISY insects? How are they still alive??? Also does this mean the aliens don't kill mosquitos? If u don't kill mosquitos, then why are they here?

4. Watching the second movie when the boy steps into a bear trap gave me an idea. If I was in the world, I would keep chloroform with me. Just 'pst pst' and presto, no more screaming person! Seems very effective to me. Nap time could really profit from that!

5. In the beginning of the third movie, the scene where the main character saved her cat and the guy was face to face with the alien, a helicopter then appeared and the creatures ran back outside and a stampede followed.

But the creatures only left after WE, the audience heard the helicopter. This creature has hypersensitive hearing, why does it run after we heard it? That doesn't make sense

6. After the first movie, the daughter and mom found out how to kill the creatures. Then a hoard runs towards their house. Ur gonna tell me that millions of people never thought about the idea that these creatures are stunned by high frequency's? That only one deaf girl with a hearing aid existed in that world to find that out? Aren't there multiple devices that actually release high frequency's? Just surround your house with those mole deterrent devices and ur done

7. These creatures can't swim. Makes sense. Their body isn't properly built for that. But in the first movie after the mother gave birth, the safety room was about to be flooded. She quietly went to her baby but in the meantime, the creature dived down and then came up again after a while. How does that work???? Does that mean that they don't need to breath? But then why don't they just walk over the seafloor to islands where noise is coming from? Speaking about not having an essential necessatie:

8. How do the aliens even survive? Like what's their purpose? They don't eat the people, they just kill and destroy anything that makes sounds, so what do they eat? They don't have a hierarchy so taking over planets to reduce noise is unlikely. The only thing I can think of why they came to earth is for population control, to stop patriarchy and climate change. Now that I think about that... they are actually pretty good for our society.... 🤔

9. And my biggest problem:

If you have to survive in a world with creatures

That react to sound

And have such though skin that can't be penetrated

Can someone please explain to me why SO MANY PEOPLE CARRY GUNS AROUND???

Before the first movie, they knew that these creatures can't be shot. So what's up with the guns then??? It's like they are asking to be killed. If u want to die that badly, then just:

I think that would be all for today. I still have to finish the third movie so imma do that rn.

Have a great day!

[calliopechild]

Fave LOTR character and why?

Oof, this is a tough one. It's a tossup between Aragorn or Merry, honestly; Aragorn takes the #1 spot, but it's close. (You opened a can of worms, friend, because I could talk about LOTR for days; this is gonna be long, lol.)

For Merry, I love his combination of having that rascal energy with Pippin but also this quiet, serious dedication to his friends. It doesn't make it into the movies, but I love this quote of his from the books:

“You can trust us to stick to you through thick and thin – to the bitter end. And you can trust us to keep any secret of yours – closer than you yourself keep it. But you cannot trust us to let you face trouble alone, and go off without a word. We are your friends, Frodo. Anyway: there it is. We know most of what Gandalf has told you. We know a good deal about the ring. We are horribly afraid–but we are coming with you; or following you like hounds.”

Of all the hobbits, I feel like he's right up there with Frodo in really recognizing how small he is in the world--both in terms of size and influence--but it doesn't stop him from acting once he's decided he needs to. Following after Frodo, distracting the Uruk-Hai so Frodo can make a break for it, rallying the Ents, fighting with the Rohirrim, helping Eowyn kill the Witch-King...I love how he's the epitome of a small rock thrown into a pool that ends up making ripples so much bigger than you'd expect.

And Aragorn...well. Beyond my enduring crush on him, because Viggo Mortensen gave us all a great gift by being so handsome perfect for the role, his character and character arc are so incredibly interesting and dense. He has the epitome of Main Character Energy, and he checks off damn near every 'the protagonist is so special' trait on the list. He's the descendant of royalty and the heir to the throne; he's a human/elf mix blessed with long life; his bloodline has a Dramatic Burden(TM) that he has to discharge to restore their honor; he's part of an old, respected group of extremely skilled individuals who are highly secretive and masters of the wild. If he had been a woman, the Mary Sue accusations would still be flying, even 70 years later.

But despite all that, Aragorn, to me, is so incredibly human. He's excruciatingly aware of his legacy and the weight his name/bloodline carries, but (or because of that) there's a big part of him that just wants to be Some Guy. He's been part of the Rangers for decades, wandering the wild, looking after the Shire, helping people, and it's important to him; that sense of service and duty is a big part of his nature. But as a Ranger, he gets to do it on his terms: he can keep his heritage quiet, the other Rangers will respect that, and he can help and heal without the near-crushing weight of looking after a whole kingdom and trying to make up for the mistake of an ancestor who screwed the pooch so bad it literally fucked over all of Middle Earth. Aragorn spends years in anonymity because he has such a human fear of repeating Isildur's mistakes, of trying to pick up all the weight that goes with his inheritance. He's been trying to live in the elven part of his heritage because that's so much less fraught than the human half, and yeah, it means he's been running from his duty to Gondor, but God, can you blame him? If I had that much expectation piled on my shoulders, I'd disappear into the wilderness and take on three different names too.

And yet despite his fear, Aragorn does face the same temptation as Isildur did, and he overcomes it easily. I really like that contrary to Isildur's temptation by the Ring--after an epic battle, set against The most extra backdrop ever by being in the middle of an active volcano--Aragorn's is quiet and understated. Frodo stops just short of offering the Ring to him, it calls Aragorn by name, and yet he's able to say no, to resist that pull (and, I think, gain some empathy for the ancestor he's resented all these years) in a matter of seconds, and gently press the Ring back into Frodo's keeping. And Aragorn keeps proving he has that strength of will and integrity; he confronts Sauron in the palantir and doesn't fall to despair or greed the way Denethor and Saruman did, he faces the army of Mordor at the Black Gate with Sauron calling him by name once again--and he runs straight at that army headfirst, with not so much a hope of victory as the intention to buy Frodo and Sam as much time as he can. After all his years of being afraid he'll fall to the Ring just like Isildur did, Aragorn keeps spitting in Sauron's eye (lol) and barely misses a stride.

And I really like that the thing that finally convinces Aragorn to acknowledge and take up his duty is not any desire for recognition or greatness or a crown, it's out of friendship and love--it's to honor Boromir's sacrifice, the duty he's lived for Gondor all his life, and to fulfill Aragorn's promise to him that he would look after their people. I think that, much like Frodo, Aragorn is going through the events of the movies in a state of resigned determination and fear, with this sense that things are so much bigger than he is, even with all his skills and Main Character Energy. But he keeps going anyway, because that sense of duty is what drives him, and I love that about his character.

So yeah, one essay later, here is your tl;dr answer: Aragorn is still (and probably forever) my favorite, and I personally think Tolkien knocked it out of the park with his character design.

[blorbologist]

hello did you say something about a lotr style retelling of campaign one???? if you're willing please do tell

Hi anon - this one likely won't be written for ages yet, I'd be happy to <3

So it's a very amorphous idea (like my Filles du roi AU) because I want to reread the books front to back before touching the project. But the ghist of it is that it'd be a mythological retelling of Campaign 1 with a similar framework to LOTR - a book built from the accounts of a few characters and them getting accounts from their friends / likely flat-out imagining some shit (hard to get a Sauron POV), written in prose of Tolkien's style. Characters will sing beautiful songs mid-battle, the hearts of men and their like are fundamentally good, and etc.

Here's the thing: Scanlan is the primary author, here, so he deliberately exaggerated and switched up a lot for the sake of the story. It might actually follow TLOVM's plot more closely than canon, because it already does a lot of the streamlining he would want to do.

I figure he only publishes this in his old age - when only he, Keyleth and Pike are left - and the girls both think the rest of the party would be delighted by this story so they don't go out of their way to correct it. Also Scanlan clearly worked hard on it with all the prose, illustrations, poetry and songs - it's a love letter to Vox Machina. (Some sections are from Vex when she was still around, with notes she got from Percy's journals. Tbh half the poetry is his, and all the Celestial.) There are also probably contributions (coughcorrectionscough) by Keyleth and Pike.

BUT ENOUGH WITH THE SAD SHIT

The main problem would be finding the right balance of LOTR elements and nailing the writing style. But I'm excited!

My thoughts so far include:

Given this is Scanlan writing this story, he and Pike are the main characters, taking up elements of Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin. Making them get separated and be present for the reclaiming of Whitestone (battle of Pelennor Fields, Merry & Pip) and their bond being pivotal to defeating the dark lord (Frodo and Sam. Pike doing the 'but I can carry you' thing <33)

Percy just... is Aragorn. It's stupid perfect for him: heir to an empire fallen from grace heavily associated with white and trees, hello?? Except all his names are part of his full name, not a host of aliases and titles.

Vex would likely be a combination of Faramir (ranger of Gondor, daddy issues galore) and Éowyn (I AM NO MAN, close friendship to one of the hobbits/gnomes, Trinket could be her horse). Both of them have a close bond with a brother that makes things absolutely heartbreaking. Except given she’s both Faramir and Éowyn she gets to smooch Percy-Aragorn, and their roles in the House of Healing are swapped (true love's crit).

Vax would likewise steal elements from Frodo (tragic bearer of the burden, cannot really go home) and Boromir :)

Keyleth and Grog neatly slot in with Percy as the Three Hunters. Grog and Percy n Kiki and Grog friendship time <33

Scanlan compresses the timeline so multiple great forces of evil act at the same time. Vecna is obviously Sauronlike, with a great evil land of evil. Undecided if the Briarwoods are Saruman (manipulation, sorta serve the great evil for their purposes) or Denethor (stewards of the white city, motivated by despair and in a twisted way love). Conclave could be akin to the Nazgul, or Saruman (Raishan namely, plus Saruman of the Many Colors = Chroma Conclave).

Look getting the balance Right between LOTR and CR and TLOVM is gonna be a bitch is what I'm saying, but taking some elements from LOTR would make it more fun.

Anyways apparently the theatrical edition doesn't include Éomer's cry of agony when he finds Éowyn on the battlefield???? Or Pippin looking for Merry amidst the corpses long after dark? I only ever watch the Extended Edition so im Heartbroken :c

Anyways watch this and think of the Twins (Éomer and Éowyn), Percy (Aragorn), and Pike & Scanlan (Merry & Pip):

[hwestalas]

Aragorn (a.k.a. Strider) as Frodo first saw him, on a not-so-ordinary Thursday evening.*

This is my first (and so far only) attempt at drawing this iconic scene. It's also almost the only time I have drawn Aragorn without a beard. I initially imagined him without a beard (probably because my dad shaves, I trust my dad, and Strider gave me strong trustworthy vibes**), but I can't get him to look how I imagined. I guess he's inadvertently closer to the animated version in Ralph Bakshi's film, so that's something :)

He is my favorite fictional character (though it took a couple of years before I was willing to let him displace Littlefoot from that position). Aside from his just being such a good, noble, upright person, I mostly like him so much because of the contrasts in his character: he looks scary and ragged and disreputable, but he's actually one of the greatest heroes in the book, both in moral character and in abilities. Speaking of which, he's a powerful healer and a really strong warrior, all at once! This surprises people in-universe (even people more sensible than the Herb Master, such as the Warden of the Houses of Healing).

Oh, and he's the greatest tracker of that age, which is also cool. He's just really, really epic. And I love his sense of humor. I keep forgetting that the whack-a-troll scene exists, which is awesome because then I can laugh about it all over again!***

Funny story and fact citations in the Notes down there V

*According to Appendix A, this was on September 29, which, according to Appendix D, always falls on a Thursday.

**The Story of How I Came to Trust Aragorn:

I had heard some vague spoilers in earlier years about Aragorn being an unlikely king, revealed through his healing powers. Then I read the summary on the back of the novel, and it mentioned Frodo travelling with several people, including "a mysterious stranger named Strider." Aragorn wasn't mentioned by name, but I figured he was a main character, and my brain put two and two together to assume that "Strider" was Aragorn's alias.

Meanwhile, my dad started reading aloud The Fellowship of the Ring. Hobbits showed up, did their thing, and eventually reached Bree... but not without some super sus gate-jumper on their tail. I just knew it was a Ringwraith... Then they entered the Inn, and this super sus stranger was sitting in a dark corner, and he was *invisible*! Well, all you could see was his eyes, but I figured a Ringwraith had followed them right into the Inn! Then Mr. Butterbur introduced him as Strider, and in an instant, everything changed.

I was very excited, because Aragorn had shown up!! And I trusted him from the start; I was rather proud of that. I loved him more and more over the course of the next two chapters or so, and declared that he would always be my favorite, no matter what other awesome characters might show up later! (I knew this to be foolish, but I didn't care.)

I also learned (from him, I believe) that he had been the super sus gate jumper when the Hobbits first arrived at Bree... which means that I mistook him for a Ringwraith not once, but twice - the first two times I saw him!

***If you, too, would like to laugh at the whack-a-troll scene, I would highly recommend LotR Book One (this is the first half of FotR) chapter 12, specifically the middle part that one would expect to be boring. If you start about six sections in, the travel log should soon give way to some mention of trolls, upon the heels of which comes one of my favorite funny scenes.

[zalrb]

the summer i turned pretty 1x03 review -- "you mean conrad?"

Oh god, the infinity symbol. Why would you pour that on her pancakes tho. Why is that the moment for the Moment.

"Looking like a vision in floral." She looks NORMAL. You guys are making it seem like she's Arwen coming to Frodo in an ethereal light and bringing him back from the brink of death.

Why would you get your daughter a present because it includes your best friend's favourite poem? That doesn't make any sense. That should be a gift for Susannah. This isn't how you show how close all of you are.

"You excited to see Taylor?" How long has it been since you last saw her? Like a week?

"You're the main character, not Taylor." Is she though?

"I do not want to be cancelled by the sailing community" that's not what being cancelled IS.

stop. saying. extra.

"I just really want to look good next to you" you know, you wouldn't have to try this hard with Jere, Steven.

BOYFRIENDS.

Yeah, Steven, play with your boyfriend

I don't understand why this volleyball scene is so long.

"I know, I just ... care." Do you though?

So if Nicole is the girl this season then who the fuck is Aubrey?

Nicole, honey, you can do SO MUCH BETTER than Conrad.

"Suddenly you care about clothes, you have new friends, you have a boyfriend." OK a) they're making it seem like Belly was dressing as a slob and she her wearing a baggy shirt and shorts isn't the same vibe, it's like when Teen Wolf was trying to say that Kira looked so un-put-together and messy and my girl was looking like this

please be serious. 2. Nicole literally sat by the pool with Conrad and watched you and Belly play water volleyball together. It's not like you and Belly went to get a banana split and then Nicole dropped by and she was like I invited Nicole too, that's OK right? and then you watched as they had all these inside jokes and Belly's trying to include you. You are still very prominent Taylor. 3. Same thing. Jere picked you two up it's not like she came to pick you up from the bus station with Cam Cameron and you walk to the car and see them making out and you have to be like "erm erm". *cries in frustration* DETAILS. And if these things happen later, they shouldn't they should happen BEFORE this conversation.

Where are Steven and Jere they are my only source of marginal entertainment this season because of pure head canon.

"Just promise me one thing, we'll always be best friends?" She comes her for three months out of the entire year, Taylor.

Right, Aubrey was his girlfriend from before and Nicole is a new disposable chick.

"You think you could talk to him?" see, if they were as close as they were meant to be, Laurel wouldn't need direction to speak to Connor about opening up. She'd just do it.

Why would you have a Midsommar theme? White people realize it's a movie about white supremacy right?

See Jere's being an ass here with the whole her lips touch a dead animal's lips but calling him Cam Cameron is just a dumb way to be a dick.

And Cam showed you the fuck up with that quick peck, Jere, so shut up you child.

BOYFRIENDS

Taylor is a good friend though, I just find her supremely annoying but that's a best friend.

OK so if you're going to play Best Friend by Saweetie, this is not the scene you play it at

for thirty seconds until they walk into the party. Especially when you're rolling up looking like this

If anything, what should happen is Taylor should do her up, look proud at her work and when they roll up to the party, she's NOTICED by people and Taylor should look her proudly and the song should be playing. JUST GIVE ME A SHOW.

Oh Jere and a disposable Black guy to make out with.

What kind of likkle stiff kiss is this?

*staring at Conrad* for WHY. I love how we're three episodes deep and I have NO IDEA why she likes him.

Yeaaah Lola tries too hard to act like she's having a good time.

So does Jeremiah.

Hahah I like how they skipped over the super rape-y part of Summer Lovin'.

Yeah, see again, this makeout is very just staged. If it's a stupid, drunken mistake, it should be a little sloppier.

"Oh my God I am so sick of hearing about this fucking deb ball." Did Belly ever mention it?

It's literally been one day, Taylor. And aren't you supposed to know that Belly has her Cousins life anyway?

It has been. a day. And Belly has been acting EXACTLY the same. She just finally wears the clothes you want her to.

So, she is but she hasn't done anything to you, Taylor, for you to say that.

We literally never see this, though! She just looks at him from time to time in a way that's supposed to be wistful but she can't access the nuance for that.

I remember I was obsessed with this guy in high school and I took a picture of him and his friends when we all went on a class trip to the States, I really just wanted a picture of him but I wasn't going to ask him to JUST take a picture alone so I took the picture and then I was looking at the picture on the bus but like zooming in so I could only see him and my friend was like WHAT'RE YOU DOING? and looked over and saw what I was doing and then we both decided that she never saw that and THAT was super embarrassing. I should be seeing THAT type of "omg I feel like I'm in high school again" shit from Belly.

Give me a gen z version of this shit

"I can't deal with this right now. I gotta go." I mean why? What are you doing, Belly?

See I know the whole thing is Jeremiah is supposed to be friending Cam Cameron up to deflect but it's not giving him the layers they think it is.

And he's not good at playing drunk.

OH MY GOD, the way I BURST OUT LAUGHING AT THIS

she is TERRIBLE.

"Can I ask you something..." "Is that it?" "Yeah, that's it." Why are they acting like the moment to ask him has passed when he still has to drive her home?

Like is that car ride silent?

"They should be in his desk" where she will find the infinity necklace.

"He's been acting weird for months. Just forget him." Lol, do you two like each other?

"And today you can't stop obsessing over Conrad" and like I know that we use that word liberally and this is partly because the acting is terrible but the scene needs more room to breathe. Like I feel like what should happen is she sees the bracelet and she mulls about it quietly and Jeremiah keeps asking her about Cam Cameron and she gives monosyllabic responses and then he's like Bells, where are you? Like you're barely speaking and then she should talk about Conrad in a rush where she just can't stop talking and it's like verbal diarrhea and then she takes a deep breath and Jere's just like wowwwwwwww

Honestly, Belly.

Brat.

Oh my god Belly, you should be yelling at him for making out with Taylor when he's dating someone else.

For your best friend dying, this is a very cold conversation. Like they're trying to be Beaches but they're not being Beaches.

My mom was OBSESSED with that movie omg.

[jackoshadows]

Hey thank you so much for your answer. That was actually a very very good and plausible way! To tell you the truth as long as my three favorite characters: Dany, Jon, and Arya all survive and we can be sure they will have good lives I will be perfectly happy with the ending even if Dany and Jon don’t become Queen and King like I want. What you said makes a lot of sense and it keeps the bittersweet angle and Bran becoming King like apparently George said (though I do not trust anything D&D say. They’re incompetent sexist hacks). But the thing is… well I know Dany would happily give up her crown for the man she loves (she thinks it is Daario but she’ll realize he’s not the one for her) and what she wants the most is a quite peaceful life with her love and children in a house with the Red Door. But still, she’s had this arc of learning how to rule. How it’s very hard and not fun many times. And Bran’s arc is mostly about magic. I mean all key five have magic in their arcs but Bran I believe has it the most. Maybe Dany right behind him. So I just don’t really see how Bran can becoming King and Dany won’t be Queen when Dany’s arc has involved learning how to rule with GRRM saying she’s one of the best qualified to rule. But… if Bran becomes King and Dany lives and gets to have a peaceful life and even more if she gets to be with Jon then I will be very happy with that. I just am someone who really wants Dany to be Queen.

I do think that our five, tier one main characters will survive in some form. Jon and Bran are already going to be physically changed, Arya, Dany, Tyrion etc. have gone through so much trauma and will be going through even more before this is done, that I see them all getting relatively happier endings. I think King Bran is the equivalent of Frodo in the scouring of the shire.

I agree it's very hard to wrap our heads around Dany and Jon having political and leadership arcs and then Bran ending up as the ruler of a war torn and devastated Westeros. Especially given everything GRRM has said about ruling and queenship and critiquing Tolkien with his infamous 'Aragorn's tax policies' statement. Bran becoming King on the Iron Throne is a magical solution, no different to Tolkein's in LOTR or Frank Herbert's in Dune.

Again, we need the next book to have an idea of what he is going to do with Bran Stark.

It’s interesting to note that GRRM never talks about Wheel of Time these days (Even though he and Jordan were colleagues, he has a character in the books named after Jordan and Jordan wrote the forward of the first book AGoT back when GRRM was an unknown fantasy writer), not even commenting on the TV show (when he has commented on the LOTR TV show). In WOT, Robert Jordan had an ending which did what GRRM says he intends to do.

WOT SPOILERS under the cut!!

Jordan wrote in long political and leadership arcs spanning many books for characters like Elayne Trakand, Perrin Aybarra and Mat Cauthon and then the books ended with them in charge while the magical protagonists faded away.

Jordan actually tackled the ‘Aragorn’s tax policies’ question in his fantasy novels long before GRRM even mentioned that!!

[elentary]

It's been a month now since I have seen the second season of Good Omens and I think I can finally express what I have been feeling in this period.

Unfortunately, my curiosity (and the fear of spoilers) made me see the whole season in one night (even if my mind was somehow supplying me with the idea that something catastrophic was going to happen before the ending).

I loved the episodes and everyone involved in the project from the main duo to the littlest kid ("I made this pot" was so cute I giggled for a minute).

Some of my headcanon didn't survive this season, like Aziraphale discovering foods earlier on history due to the love infused by baking (but maybe that's due my heritage) and lacking proper heavenly guidelines on consuming earthly matter. But I think I can live without them.

However the ending, which I watched at almost 6:15 (three hours before my work shift), killed me at that moment. I really wanted a nightingale singing again for the angel and the demon.

I knew they couldn't resolve their "problems" with a snap of fingers and in those few years but... ... everything happened, it hurt.

And still does.

Especially since Good Omens has been my "comfort show" (for a good laugh or to remember that there is something good in this world or everything else).

Pretty much two weeks later, I found out that the feeling I had in my heart wasn't something new. Deep down, it was something I had already experienced many years ago, with some books.

When I was seven or eight, during summer, I read this book with my dad (we alternated as readers): I loved it because it was funny, adventurous, fantastic, engaging and had a happy ending (even if there were saddening parts). He told me there was a sequel but he asked me to wait a year to read that because it was more difficult and much much longer.

A year later, my dad kept his promises and borrowed the sequel from our library. He explained to me that it was technically one whole book but it had been divided in three because paper had been scarce when it was published (well to be pedantic those are six books).

At the beginning the "first book" had the same vibe as the "prequel" but it changed, but to me it wasn't a bad thing: I was fascinated how the story deepened and grew. It was so fascinating that sometimes I stole the book from his nightstand to read ahead because I couldn't wait for my father (I stopped -or at least tried to restrain myself- just because he told me that he really loved reading with me, especially seeing my reactions or discussing what was happening with me).

I wasn't outraged at the end of the first book because it has a sort of closure, knowing that one of the characters would have someone to help him in his journey (if you haven't already guessed that, those two were Frodo and Sam at the end of the Fellowship of the ring).

However I was fuming at the end of the second book: the author was killing me because it had split those Sam from Frodo. And it wasn't a "nice" separation. It was this:

"The great doors slammed to. Boom. The bars of iron fell into place inside. Clang. The gate was shut. Sam hurled himself against the bolted brazen plates and fell senseless to the ground. He was out in the darkness. Frodo was alive but taken by the Enemy."

I was divided between rage and sadness: I needed pretty much 180 pages (at that time, a quantity unknown to me) to know what happened next to them. I knew that Tolkien wasn't going to kill Sam and Frodo (I was a relatively smart kid and probably my father "tipped" me on that) but gosh, it was painful waiting to wait (especially since the Hobbit had a happy ending).

Well, that was the same something I experienced for Good Omens.

However this recent one is more painful for a couple of motives:

1) I needed some days to have my answer with LotR and now instead we need at least 4 years from writing (and filming, editing and everything) to the finishing series.

2) there is a strike going on that halts everything (due those Scrooges and cheapskates who don't want to give better working conditions, defines rules and/or limits about A.I., and pay to writers, actors, and everyone involved).

I know that Neil has reassured us many times...

(From FuckYeahGoodOmens)

...and I really hope that everything is going to be alright!

I'm putting all my hope here, believing that this darkest hour for Crowley and Aziraphale will pass, and they'll have their happy ending together, possibly lovingly spending their time in their little cottage in South Downs.

(I had to include this video)

Sorry for the long rant but I needed it!

[warrioreowynofrohan]

A few more of the questions from the Twenty Questions ask game, just for fun:

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

The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, The Rings of Power. If I’m adding Unfinished Tales I’d put it after The Silmarillion and before The Hobbit, because I love “Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin” and there’s so much fascinating information in “The Quest of Erebor” and “The Hunt for the Ring”, as well as the sections on the Istari and Palantíri.

I’ve certainly spent more time lately talking, thinking, and writing about The Silmarillion than The Lord of the Rings, but much of that is thanks to fandom and fanfiction. There’s no denying that The Lord of the Rings is the more complete story, with characterization and character development and conversation, while much of the Silm is a sketch or outline that we enjoy fleshing out. That’s the very thing that makes me want to write fanfiction for The Silmarillion - I have little desire to write it for LOTR, because the story is already there.

ROP comes way at the end - I haven’t watched it and don’t want to. I read some people’s discussions of events so I have a general sense of the plot, and in addition to my distaste for Amazon’s business practices, they seem to have done a very poor, haphazard, and ill-thought-out job of plotting and characterization.

13) What do you think it is about hobbits that makes them much better at resisting the evil of the One Ring than others?

For one thing - the Great Rings are Rings of Power. They offer power of different kinds - to the elves, power to preserve what they love; to the dwarves, power to amass wealth and build great kingdoms; to mortal men, the power (among other things) to avoid death; and the One Ring, Sauron’s Ring, the power to rule and order the world as one sees fit.

Hobbits, as a general rule, have very little desire for power. They are governed, if that word can even be used, by a mayor whose main role is presiding at banquets. They do not create great cities or great works. They enjoy comfort, good food, and good company. Their desires are not an easy thing for the Ring to prey on - as we see with Sam. We don’t see Frodo or Bilbo ever corrupted by the desire to use the Ring for a specific purpose: it can gain a hold on their minds and make them unwilling to give it up, but only to the degree of creating an overpowering desire to have and keep the Ring, not to do anything particular with it.

But this is only a general rule. No group is monolithic. If, say, Lotho Sackville-Baggins had gotten hold of the Ring, things in the Shire under his rule - during the short time before the Nazgûl showed up and took it from him - could have gotten even uglier than they did. He did want to order the world, or at least the Shire, as he saw fit. He would likely not have much capacity to use it - hobbit powers of mind and will can be extraordinary, but always in the direction of resisting external power and control rather than exerting it - but he’d likely have tried.