#unrebloggable because i don't want tolkien experts to yell at me djkfjg i'm just sharing my personal feelings as of today

[markantonys]

is ROP lacking in the female character department or have i just been way too spoiled by the plethora of them in WOT? lmao

like, galadriel's excellent, 10/10 no notes. but it feels like the others are always playing second fiddle in a storyline the source material designed to be about men (disa, miriel), or are bopping around on a charming sidequest that, while important as a breath of lightness amidst the heavy stuff, is nowhere near as compelling as the ring-related storylines (nori, poppy). (or had to get written out due to the actress leaving; such a shame because i imagine bronwyn would've been a big player in the southlands storyline this season.)

and i think it mostly comes down to source material. i have a vivid childhood memory of reading the hobbit and then the fellowship of the ring and then quitting because i got bored and cranky about there not being any girls except for arwen in like 2 chapters, so i would not be surprised if much of ROP's source material is similar, where the vast majority of the important players are men. and the show is doing what it can to add in more ladies, but it's just tough to make them feel like they're on an equal level of narrative importance as the men for whom the story was originally designed.

and that makes me so incredibly thankful for WOT and the huge amount of story-driving women RJ baked into the story. i give him flak for some things, but in this regard he was truly ahead of his time! and ahead of OUR time, even today it's rare to see a (mainstream) story with such a wide array of female characters. and that's made the show's job easy; it doesn't have to fight the source material to make women important in the narrative, because they already are. i saw a text post the other day about "tasting the good bologna" and how you can never be satisfied with a mid-quality thing again after you've had the most luxurious version, and boy have i tasted the good bologna with WOT and female characters.