#I've been in this fandom since BEFORE the LotR movie trilogy was released

[evenstar]

I will not go on a rampage through the Rings of Power tag replying “HOW ABOUT YOU TAG YOUR HATE YOU ASTONISHINGLY LARGE IGNORAMOUS :)” to every toxic post. I will not. There is enough poison in the tag as it is.

That, however, does not preclude me from really, really wanting to.

Heca ar á puhta Valarauko. Sí lumba nán.

[lordoftherazzles]

What made you fall in love with The Hobbit in the first place?

This is such a good question, but it also comes with such a simple answer! Except it doesn't. (Also, sorry for the delay in answering).

I'll be real - when I was a kid and LOTR was coming out in theaters and such, my sister, who is a couple of years older than me, was OBSESSED. She read the books, she saw the movies, etc. She tried to get me to watch them, but I couldn't get beyond Fellowship of the Ring, not for lack of interest, it just terrified me lol (I was like, 7, sue me).

Jump forward some years, and I kept easing my way further and further into the films, making it past Two Towers, and finally through Return of the King. I had done it, and I found them enjoyable! Cue some books (it's been a long time since I've read any of these, and I need to fix that).

Jump forward once more with me, and the Hobbit films are announced, the trailer for AUJ captivates me, and I dive into basically anything I can Hobbit related (this was way before I really understood what fandom was, so that's why I'm late to the game) - and I've been obsessed since. The films, the book, the story was just completely charming - minus that ending. I can't really say what it is about it, but even before all the Bagginshield obsession that snuck up on me, I just LOVED the story.

More than that? I got to build an actual friendship with my sibling, and now we make Tolkien one of the top priorities in our hang-out sessions. We saw the Hobbit trilogy in theaters together multiple times (this is where our friendship as siblings really took off), the re-releases for LOTR (let me tell you, watching all 3 extended LOTR in one day, in one theater was something else), we have marathons and hobbit food, puzzles, you name it. It's been such a way to BOND for us. She even listens to my fic ramblings, and has read some of them!!!

So I guess to put it simply: I was able to forge a bond with my best friend primarily through The Hobbit, which then worked backwards into LOTR too, and THAT'S the part that means the most to me.