#i do have to say i like they explored some of galadriel's potential as a character

[elvesofnoldor]

after finished watching the finale to r*ngs of power, i honestly was gonna make a post about how i found it very interesting that for a character motivated largely by the need to seek retribution and obtain revenge, Galadriel’s inability to let go of her anger towards the target of her vengeance (sauron) is the very thing that kept her from damnation. Had she been able to forgive sauron for killing her brother, she would have never been able to find peace and make it back home (and eventually back to her brother, who canonically came back to life in Aman, and her family). And despite not being very impressed with any part of the show, I found the way they wrote galadriel’s tale of vengeance to be very interesting. Then i logged on tumblr dot org and found out that apparently everybody was making halbrand!sauron x galadriel friends to enemies to lovers 3k slow burn fics and sitting around in circles singing “sauron and galadriel sitting under the tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G” and i think this is part of the reason why i didn’t log on for almost a month and half. 

[salsedine]

Oh no you reblogged it too. :/ Well then. *cracks hands*

Irene Adler, Merrill, Rings of Power Tar-Miriel and at this point I have to ask him: Ishmael from Moby dick. (how many/if you want of course💜✨)

Hello! <3 And these are all great, thank you for asking! But definitely under 'the read more', this is going to be a little long.

Irene Adler

-First impression: talented opera singer that managed to outwit both Holmes and the king that was stalking her AND carve a happy life for herself + her husbands; “The Woman” indeed.

-Impression now: pretty much the same - although with age I've come to appreciate more the crossdressing subplot. You get the idea that it is something that she does quite often and enjoys (especially given the freedom that comes with it). This is also for the -headcanon/idea for a story section, but I hope that eventually some adaptation will explore the potentially queer aspect of it. No, not you, BBC.

- Unpopular opinion: maybe it's not a big deal NOW, but I still consider the aforementioned BBC adaptation one of the worst in terms of characterization. They managed to make it worse than a story written in the XIXth century, congrats!

- Favourite relationship: her canon husband seems to like her as she is- which is nice, so he can stay.

Merrill

- First impression: I almost didn't recognize her from her tiny cameo in Origins, ops. Beside that, as soon as the other dalish started badmouthing her I pretty much immediately switched into 'protective mode'.

- Impression now: she is brilliant! why nobody notices that! By trying to restore the eluvian she is actually doing a keeper's job, and she didn't even get possessed despite doing an internship with a spirit/demon - that's impressive. And sure, sometime she can be a little awkward, but she comes from a completely different culture compared to the other characters - of course she is awkward. It’s like moving from Abbiategrasso to Amsterdam, I’d be a little overwhelmed too.

- Favourite scene: The "I believe in you, Hawke" moment during The Last Straw - everybody is (understandably) a little torn and full of doubts and yet she is the first one to be 100% on your side.

- Headcanon/story: since she cleansed the Eluvian, I guess that it’s almost-canon that blood magic could cure the taint? It’s kind of a shame that her relationship with Anders doesn't progress past his prejudices (and a few admittedly nice but short dialogues), because then you'd have a dalish mage that actually knows how to deal with spirits and can potentially cure the taint AND a possessed mage/grey warden. It’s pretty much 80% of the magical plot condensed in two characters, come onnnn.

(same with the whole 'tranquility' thing, since we saw very early in the game that interacting with a spirit can, albeit temporarily, reverse it. No I'm not over that quest)

- Unpopular opinion: I wish the romance storyline was... better written? I would have been 1000% more supportive lol. No really, they emphasized how much Merrill idolizes Hawke, while I would have opted for a more equal relationship.

- Relationship: beside the romance option, I'd say Varric and Isabela. And special mention to Aveline – I know she is not a particularly popular character but some of her dialogues with Merrill are quite sweet.

Tar-Miriel

- First impression: Cynthia Addai-Robinson could stab me and I'd thank her for her time.

- Impression now: same :P no really, this character has a lot of regality and grace, like some sort of fragile strenght. She really felt like a Tolkien character, so to speak.

- Relationship: not romantic, but I enjoyed her clashes with Galadriel and Elendil, and the overall idealism VS political realism contrast.

- Favourite moment: the whole sequence with the falling white flowers, and her final parting with Galadriel - she looks like a byzantine empress 90% of the time, so it's hard to pick one.

- Story/headcanon: not much of an headcanon, but I hope that they'll show more of her ruling in Numenor.

- Unpopular opinion: I don't think i have any? Are there popular/unpopular opinion about her?

Ishmael

- First impression: The novel starts with him explaning that he sails to fight depression (“with a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship”) so I immediately liked him. And "call me Ishmael"? - he is the one that tells the story and we don't even know his real name. The epitome of the unreliable narrator, and he tells you that himself.

- Impression now: Pretty much stayed consistent – I appreciate how he is the opposite of what people expected from a male character in a seafaring novel: introspective, melancholic and prone to philosophical musings, with an unconventional approach to religion (a lot), not particularly adventurous in the physical sense, and gay.

- Relationship: “Thus, then, in our hearts' honeymoon, lay I and Queequeg — a cosy, loving pair.” What can I add? It’s like a marriage, "until death to us part" and everything- and even after that, since Ishmael avoid drowning by clinging to Queequeg's coffin.

- Headcanon / idea for a story: I don't think I can write Moby Dick fanfiction, really. I’ll leave that to Vinicio Capossela lol.

- Unpopular opinion: I don't find Ishmael’s musings about whales boring? They are definitely not the worst part of the book (that's the XIXth century racism).

+ cute seal bonus if you read all that stuff, congrats!

[lowcountry-gothic]

I won’t give any spoilers here (maybe a few in the tags), but I’ve spent this morning digesting last night’s finale of The Rings of Power. And while I initially wasn’t sure quite how I felt, now I realize that it’s disappointment. These writers and showrunners have demonstrated so much creativity and so much knowledge of Tolkien’s lore, even outside of the narrow confines of what stories they have the rights to tell; they know their stuff.

So when certain theories began to surface, I dismissed them. These writers are smarter than that, I said. These writers are doing some really interesting and cutting edge stuff with Tolkien, playing with ideas and themes Tolkien had but never got to develop. This is some deep stuff. They’re not going to write a plot arc that’s that clumsy, that messy, that illogical. I had confidence in them. I gave them every benefit of the doubt, even when things seemed to founder for a moment. And it fully seemed like they deserved it.

And now...well, this happened. These are my biggest issues, again, without any spoilers:

The revelation of Sauron wasn’t just disappointing, it does two very negative things. It gets rid of a character I had quite come to like and come to deeply sympathize with, in his character arc and in the explorations of his culture. It also completely undercuts any menace that we might feel from Sauron. At the end of the episode, when we see him fully revealed in Mordor, I could not take him seriously at all. He didn’t feel dangerous. He didn’t even really feel evil.

The entire plot element of the fading of the elves just doesn’t make any sense. At all. That’s not how elves work in Tolkien. Elves are immortal for as long as the physical universe lasts; while their bodies will eventually fade entirely, their spirits will always linger. There’s no real death for elves. This show puts the fading in terms of actual death, as well as saying it’s their souls that will fade to nothingness. But why? Why is this happening? It’s never explained. It’s never suggested that it’s from some evil Sauron is putting into play. Sauron doesn’t seem to even be aware of this phenomenon until the elves tell him about it. And it’s not as if the elves were mortal all along and are just now beginning to discover this because their lifespans are thousands of years long. If that was the case, Galadriel would be one of the first to begin fading, and Elrond, who’s much younger, would still have thousands of years left. But we’re given the spring as a deadline for the fading of all elves. There’s a lot more I could pick apart about this story element, but I’m not interested in that.

On a positive note, I still love everthing to do with Numenorean culture, as well as the Harfoots. And the landscapes of Middle-earth are just as breathtaking as they always have been. Not to mention the acting for pretty much every character remains excellent.

I’ll still probably rewatch the season to see if any of this feels less disappointing, but I can’t imagine a rewatch will solve either of the above issues. There’s still a chance that the writers intend to develop Sauron‘s evil over the course of the show, starting him out in a fairly harmless place here. But if that’s the case, then, again, the ending reveal of him in Mordor just doesn’t work because he’s really neither all that evil just yet, nor is he at all menacing.

This is all just such a mess, and it’s so sad to see the season end this way when they seemed to be doing some really intelligent and highly creative things with the characters and stories. It feels like they sacrificed a lot of really amazing potential just to get a plot twist that a lot of people apparently saw coming anyway.

[senalishia]

OKAY notes on Nature of Middle Earth, in no way shape or form comprehensive (I'm not gonna TOUCH the math) but just thoughts that jumped out at me to share:

I like the idea that the Elves become more burdened by the weight of memory as time goes on. That seems like a rich thematic field to potentially explore.

"Minds and wills had far more control than is the case with Men over the events of the body" has always been a favorite headcanon for me (although I doubt Tolkien intended it to mean trans elves can persuade their bodies to have the desired parts) (he may very well however have meant that elves do not get erections unless they intend to)

Tolkien needs to stop fucking making his female characters immaculate saints. Let Turgon's wife (whatever her name) give the Valar the middle finger and die on the Ice!

Yes, yes, all your OCs are now totally plausible, as long as they are irrelevant to whatever narrative the historians thought it was important to write down

NO MATH you cannot tempt me with talk of extra-long pregnancies

I'm ambivalent on "there were no marriages or births during the Great March", it could be made to work, but otoh does that mean they did all their population growth at Cuivienen? Sounds fake. Plus I doubt it was a hugely stressful journey, they weren't exactly being force-marched by Orome.

Exact word are "births were FEW during all the War against Morgoth" I think Orodreth is in the clear.

If someone talks to you for years and is unaware that you're married? Even if they never meet your spouse, that's fucky.

LOL The Silmarillion Film Project also had trouble fucking with the First Age timeline while still leaving room for Maeglin's childhood.

John imma be real with you. There's no way to say "girls mature faster" that isn't creepy.

Pretty sure the essekilme at coming of age is different elsewhere, I could go either way

Why are you so fired up to give elf ladies a ticking biological clock??? I can understand the idea that they only have the strength for so many children, but let them have them when they are ready!!!

John who was bullying you into making the Legendarium scientifically accurate?

See, Tolkien agrees with me, there's no way they weren't increasing in population during the Great March

I'm a big fan of "smoke, vapors, and darkness" being the primary function of Thangorodrim

Okay time numbers are fake but how about these DISTANCE NUMBERS? 550 miles from Eglarest to Lune I can work with. And 2000 miles to Cuivienen. I like it. Past the Sea of Rhun, but not like ALOT past

Oh no he's talking about when Finwe and Miriel get married

HOW COULD ELWE AND OLWE (AND ELMO) BE BROTHERS?

I'm actually a big fan of Ingwe etc not being among the first elves, always have been.

"The first few generations...were nearly all Avari" confirmed

"Elvish lords or Kings...tended to hand on lordship and affairs to their descendante if they could or were engrossed in some pursuit" HOLY SHIT YES

Still creepy, John

Being so excited to see your spouse that you invent language is pretty cute though

I actually cannot express to you how little I want to know the age of any adult elf "in human terms". That. Is. Not. The. Point. Of. Elves.

I'm not entirely opposed to a birth date of SA 300 for Celebrian, although I usually put it somewhat later

He really is hung up on this age gap thing isn't he. Not. The. Point. Of. Elves. Let elf relationships have weird age gaps!

Love for Celeborn is a perfectly fine reason for Galadriel to stay in middle earth IF YOU ARE A COWARD

Seriously who convinced JRRT that 102 years is TOO SHORT a time to space your kids?

Sigh, fine Arwen can be a "special child"

WELL THAT WAS QUITE A TRIP. Remember kids, there is no canon in Tolkien, go forth and do whatever you want!

[undercat-overdog]

Elwing and Celebrimbor for the for the character asks?

Did Elwing already, so Celebrimbor! @feanorianethicsdepartment asked for him too! 

How I feel about this character

Um, my favorite. No, I really love him. Like Elwing, it was the cinematics that originally made him stick out (the banner and St Sebastian imagery - interesting that he may be the only true martyr figure in Tolkien? I can't think of another one.)

He's fairly unusual as a Tolkien character in that he explicitly wants to make the world a better place; most of the heroes (and antiheroes) are people who fight against the darkness to try to keep the world from becoming worse. Some of that is likely just a function of the time period when he was an active character, but that curiosity and skill and ambition melded with a vision that is genuinely good is appealing. (Which is not to say that his vision is without its weaknesses and faults, but the love of the world, the desire to heal it, is absolutely there.)

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Celebrimbor/Sauron is my OTP. Shadows of Mordor opened me to the potential that is silvergifting, and I immediately opened up ao3 and here I am, writing porn about the Lord of the Rings and the guy he tortured to death.

(Quick review of that game: it is lorelol - no, like it would be difficult to make the lore worse - and the four fridgings are overmuch. But the game play is fun and it is astonishingly shippy - Sauron's one and only motivation is to get Celebrimbor to come back to him. Seriously.)

Fond of him with Celeborn/Galadriel too (unsolicited fic rec).

Some day I will manifest Annatar/Celebrimbor/Galadriel into existence.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Celebrían! I headcanon that it was her, not Celeborn, that stayed in Eregion when Galadriel left (and, uh, given her and Celebrimbor's diplomatic talents, they were damn lucky that Annatar was there...) and that they reconnected in Valinor.

My unpopular opinion about this character

Hmmm. I'm not sure I have any truly unpopular opinions? Though I am very definitely on the "Celebrimbor wasn't an idiot" side and I think that welcoming Sauron and making the Rings genuinely was the best timeline - it was Sauron's poor life choices that made everything go terribly wrong, not Celebrimbor's (well, ok, best timeline is Sauron not failing his repentance, but that's on him). (Also, fucking Sauron is not actually the worst life choice a Finwean has made and isn't that saying a lot.)

Otherwise, I don't go for the born in Valinor version and I most definitely do not go for one big happy Feanorian family. My personal backstory is that he didn't know his non-Celegorm and Huan uncles well - I'm not sure he even met Amras and Amrod - and that he and Maedhros did not get along and that there's no love lost on Celebrimbor's side. General backstory is that he renounced his Noldorin heritage, not just the Feanorian one, after Nargothrond (or Doriath) and went around calling himself a Sinda and Penadar. Reconciled with it over the first few centuries of the 2nd Age.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

As usual, I'm happy with the canon story. This is partly because I am very good at imagining post-canon happy endings and am writing one right now. I view it as very decidedly post-canon and not at all an AU.

I would like to know how and when he attached himself to Galadriel and Celeborn. He's associated strongly with them in all the different backstories and, at least before Annatar shows up, said to be a friend of theirs, though it seems to go south. I go with very early 2nd Age, and I think the politics of Gil-Galad/Círdan/Elrond on one pole and Galadriel/Celeborn/Celebrimbor on another are interesting.

I'd also be interested in explorations of Tolkien's different backgrounds. Like, how the heck does "descendent of Daeron" work. (Presumably even more of a dwarven connection, and I like the non-craft scholarship it brings to him.)

[amerrierworld]

Oh, brother

for the request: Galadriel and her brothers

Summary: Galadriel’s surprise birthday bash! Modern AU 

Characters: Galadriel x Celeborn, a whole lot of Silmarillion and LOTR elves :D

Word Count: 1.9k

Warnings: none really, family fluff, annoying older brothers. a whole lot of blondes. 

If there was one thing Galadriel couldn’t stand, it’s surprises. She likes to know when things happen and have everything planned out. If she had the choice to foresee the future, she totally would.

But Celeborn wasn’t like his wife. And he really couldn’t refuse three ruthless blondes from barging into his home to throw a surprise birthday party for Galadriel, their baby sister. They would’ve broken the door down anyways.

It was a weekday, so of course Galadriel was working. Celeborn had taken the day off to pick up the cake that Galadriel had chosen for herself, and pick Celebrian up earlier than usual from school to help get a few decorations. The decor included a handful of balloons, and some party hats, which were mostly for their daughter than for Galadriel herself.

The door practically shook in its hinges at the sudden knock later that afternoon, making Celeborn jump. If it had been Galadriel, he would have been worried, but she had said she was working late. So who on earth...

“Celebooooooorn!”

“Oh... great.” Celeborn sighed and cursed internally. He set his laptop aside next to where Celebrian was colouring and hurried to the door, bracing himself.

“Is that Uncle Angrod?”

“Sadly.. yes,” Celeborn grumbled. He opened up and nearly fell back at the sight of three grinning faces. They were carrying large plastic bags and a few gift bags, and he immediately regretted opening the door.

They pushed inside, with Celebrian jumping into one of her uncles’ arms without any preamble, and Celeborn had a looming sense of dread about why they had shown up randomly at their home.

Finrod was the eldest, and the more approachable of the three. He explained their plans to set up a surprise party. 

“You know she hates surprise parties! The actual birthday dinner is this weekend, you know that!”

“Yes, yes, we know, but we figured we’d do something different this time.”

“Why?!”

“Galadriel works wayyy too much, Celeborn,” Aegnor huffed, flopping down on their couch. His blonde mullet was sleek and straight, and Celeborn caught a section of pure white that shot through one side of his hairdo. Another last-minute dye job, no doubt. “You both work way too much. If you’re not going to do anything about it, then we will.”

“She’ll kill us all.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. Come on, help me with the disco ball.”

“The disco ball?!”

-

Galadriel knew what was going to happen the minute she pulled up to her home. If the half a dozen extra cars in the street didn’t say anything, the flashing lights from the living room window gave enough away. She sat inside her car, genuinely debating if she should speed away and just come back in the morning, leaving Celeborn to deal with the aftermath of what looked like an attempt at some sort of party.

But then she remembered her chosen cake and pursed her lips in defiance. She had been very excited to eat it, and curl up with her own  family to just watch a silly movie the rest of the night. She’d find a way to enjoy her birthday, even with her nagging extended family.

But the first person who greeted her at the door wasn’t her husband or any of her relatives. It was Gandalf, with a butterfly painted on his cheek and a top hat on his head. He had a juice box in hand and pulled her into a hug when he saw her in the hallway.

“Happy birthday, dear friend!” 

“Oh, Gandalf. What have you done?”

“For once, this idea wasn’t mine. I was simply invited.”

“I’m sure you arrived on time.”

“I always do!”

He promised there’d be no fireworks this time; when he had set off his pyromaniacal schemes last, poor Radagast’s hedges and flowerbeds had burned to a crisp. 

In the kitchen, Celeborn was nursing a wine glass filled with apple juice. Galadriel didn’t see any alcohol opened anywhere, which did help relieve her stress. He saw her come in and his face scrunched up in an apologetic expression, and it made her laugh.

“My love.. I’m so sorry-”

“Don’t start, Celeborn. What’s done is done. I suppose I’ll be forced to enjoy my birthday now?”

He grimaced and sipped his drink a little more. “If it helps, Celebrian is enjoying herself immensely.”

“Oh, is that right?”

“Orodreth is here. I promise everything is family-friendly, even if it is a little... wild.”

“Was the disco ball Aegnor’s idea?”

“Yes.”

“Of course.”

Galadriel’s siblings were all successful, hard-working people. At least, when they were on their own. Once you put the three brothers together, all hell would break loose. Despite their sheer differences, they were able to put things together and become a team. Often to the dismay of their younger sister who had to endure the torture.

Finrod was the eldest, and therefore the most responsible. He was a successful CEO who took his time to travel and explore every corner of the world. He was stern-faced, and defiantly defensive of his family and his life choices. 

Angrod was the middle brother, and the most outlandish. His passion could lead to anger very quickly, but it made him the most emotionally expressive. His son was practically the sheer opposite of him. Orodreth was a little older than Celebrian, and very soft-spoken and quiet. He was incredibly gifted and intellectual, but you would never be able to read his face and discern that yourself.

And Aegnor was the unhinged youngest brother. As an artist and creative thinker, he explored one medium of art to the next. Galadriel believed he had a lot of potential, and being the two youngest they bonded and got along very well. But she had no idea where his life would lead him. One week it would be pottery, the other it would become architecture. But he was kind and encouraging, which made him the most favourable to babysit Celebrian out of the three uncles.

But once put together, all precedented rules of their characters went out the window.

Eldalote was in the bathroom giving people painted faces, and Galadriel assumed that was where Gandalf got his colourful butterfly. She knocked on the door and came in on Orodreth getting a big fish painted on his forehead. Her daughter was watching diligently next to her aunt as she painted. She had a large flower and heart on one cheek, and a party hat tied snugly on her head.

The minute she saw her mother she squealed and ran into her arms. Galadriel picked her up swiftly, and suddenly felt she  couldn’t be mad at her brothers anymore. Nor could she be mad about them getting ahead of themselves and starting the party before she got home. It made it easier to blend in rather than have all the focus on her as soon as she had opened the door.

“Hello, sweetheart,” she nuzzled her daughter’s unpainted cheek who began babbling about the party thus far. Orodreth said a shy hello and wished her a happy birthday. Galadriel wondered how her idiot, reckless brother had ended up with such a diligent and sweet son. Nonetheless, she gave him a hug before Celebrian tugged her back to the living room, where the main socializing seemed to be happening.

The three elder brothers were plotting in a huddled group near the disco ball, and as soon as they saw Galadriel, they swarmed her. Aegnor set Celebrian on his hip, and Celeborn rushed to Galadriel’s side, still looking a little forlorn and guilty for letting the party get so rowdy.

“Sister! Happy fucking-”

“Hey! There’s kids.”

“Sorry. Happy freaking birthday, sis. Do you like our party?”

“I hate it.” Galadriel crossed her arms, but her eyes were twinkling. “You know how I hate surprises.”

“Hey, that’s why we’re not giving you a speech, alright? You should thank me.” Aegnor bumped Finrod with his fist. “Fin was planning on drawling on for forever if we hadn’t stopped him.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Finrod rolled his eyes, but he gave Galadriel a quick side hug. “We know you never celebrate yourself, Galadriel. So this is for you. We practically had to tie down your husband to let us decorate.”

“I mean, clearly.” Galadriel looked at the overwhelming amount of  paper decorations and bright balloons. “He’d never allow it to look so hideous if he could help it.”

“You wound me, sister,” Angrod clutched his chest. 

“Your cake remains untouched though,” Celeborn pointed out. “That’s the one thing I was able to protect. The rest of the house.. not so much.”

“Oh, well I suppose that’s alright,” Galadriel sighed. She watched the small group of friends and other people in her life gather in the living room and other spots in the house. The music was cheery but not blaring. And from the looks of it.. people brought their own dinner items, like an impromptu potluck.

Elwing and Earendil came over to greet Galadriel with happy smiles and a congratulations. The couple were constantly glued to each others’ side, and Galadriel was glad to have another set of seemingly sane parents in their social circle.

Their twins, Elros and Elrond, were sprawled out on the carpet with Lego and toy cars. Elrond’s face had been smeared with cupcake icing that he had scarfed down, and Galadriel watched, amused, as her daughter went over to him, tutting like she often would. She had a napkin in hand and proceeded to wipe his face, effectively smearing the icing even further onto his cheeks. 

The sight made her chuckle, and the initial stress she had seemed to finally leave. She supposed she could enjoy as much of it as possible. 

“To be fair, this party is looking to be the best I’ve ever had.” She looked around, slipping her hand into Celeborn’s. “Food I don’t have to pay for. No idiot college friends or condescending relatives. Kids who are actually enjoying themselves? I’d rank this in the top five, boys.”

“Then our work here is done!” Aegnor declared, bouncing Celebrian who giggled happily in his arms. “Now let’s get that cake.”

“Nuh-uh,” Galadriel wagged a finger at him. “That’s for me and my family alone. There’s enough food for you behind you. Go on, you swine.”

Aegnor stuck out his tongue, and she swatted him. He went off to explore the dishes that were laid out on the dining table. So did the rest of the group; going to get their faces painted or wolf down whatever fatty snacks were in reach. Galadriel turned to her husband and gave him a firm kiss.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t defend our fortress, my lady,” he sighed. She rolled her eyes. 

“It’s quite alright. I’m not angry. Maybe because I was met with a very gleeful Gandalf at the door rather than my overbearing siblings. Besides, we didn’t even have to cook.”

He laughed. “I knew that would be the thing to win you over.”

A/N: I love these guys ;-; This is my character interpretation of Galadriel’s brothers/family in a modern AU. I posted this out of order for CB’s birthday- I finished it over a week ago but then I realized how close it was to the 14th so I just waited! I hope you enjoy my loves 

[synechd0che]

Maglor for the opinions ask?

I love Maglor!  I think in some ways, he is not as flashy as the other disaster brothers, so it can be easy to forget about him.  However, I am experiencing a Maglor renaissance right now!

the rest is below a cut because it got Really Long.

I was talking w/ starwrought about Why he chooses the Gap to defend.  Obviously the fandom has already hashed out that the Feanorians take the Northern reaches because that was what was left to them by Thingol and it’s the politically smart move to legitimize Fingolfin’s kingship and position themselves as protectors but also servants of the crown.  However, looking at the location of the brothers individually, Maglor occupies arguably one of the most dangerous locations - the flatlands/steppes.  During the battle of suddent flame, glaurung lays waste to the Maglor’s Gap.  Starwrought speculated that Maglor’s decision to guard the Gap is the decision to put himself in harms way to protect Maedhros (and indeed, Himring is the most defensible position, and the only territory to withstand the battle of sudden flame, of the older brothers) and perhaps atone for was he considers to be abandoning Maedhros to angband.  

In general, I love the concept of Maglor’s character arc.  We don’t have much material on his character pre-darkening, but I do like to think that he is relatively care free, focuses most on his music.  I wouldn’t call him a dandy, but pre-darkening I think he can be flighty, melodramatic (it’s the band kid syndrome for me), clever and humorous.  Post darkening, I think he bears the brunt of the leadership role after maedhros’ capture.  Personally, I haven’t much explored what it must be like for him to lose his father then older brother in quick succession.  I think Maglor was amply prepared in a theoretical sense for matters of state, but putting it in practice in a new land with enemies to the north and an unhappy truce with Menegroth, I think he may have had more than one breakdown.  I think perhaps Caranthir made himself useful managing certain affairs of state to keep Maglor’s plate clear; Caranthir seems pragmatic that way.

I also love how Maglor generally seems to resist the oath best, in some ways.  Maedhros really does give a good show of it, with the nirnaeth, trying to find the twins in the forest, etc... but sirion and then the attack on the camps after the last battle were his idea (if i remember correctly).  not that Maglor opposed him in any meaningful way, but it was Maglor who advocated for taking in the twins.  I think there is A Lot of untapped potential in his relationship with the twins, because some people shuffle his good qualities over to Maedhros.  That is not to say that I don’t think Maedhros made a good Illegal Guardian (lol) - I think he is perhaps more reticent with his affections than Maglor, or perhaps less willing to expose himself to hurt.

And I back that headcanon up with the fact that Maedhros chooses death (a “suitable” punishment in his eyes but one that has an End) whereas Maglor chooses eternal exile on the shore.  (for the record neither is better or more righteous).  I just feel like Maedhros is perhaps less likely to open himself to new interpersonal relationships (such as with the twins) because he knows it will hurt, like choosing the path that may consign him to the void but minimizes his suffering in Beleriand.  Maglor will open himself to new relationships not In Spite of the pain it will cause him but rather Because of the Pain.  Aha both of these boys need Therapy.

I’m not in agreement, necessarily, with people who say Maglor was wrong to remain on the shore and refuse to return west.  I think refusing to face judgement is perhaps part of it, but I do think that the other part is pure guilt.  I do wonder if he feels like singing the history of Beleriand (and therefore never allowing himself to forget the horrors that he had a hand in) is some sort of recompense.  Even if he can’t bring himself to face the judgement of the valar, he seems fine torturing himself forever.  I think he’s the other side of Maedhros’ coin, in many ways.  generally speaking, i don’t think either maedhros or maglor made the “better” or more “redemptive/righteous” decision.  Though I have seen people say that Maglor is less righteous bc he chose to live.  I personally prefer him as a character that Doesn’t engage in redemptive death - in many ways, I feel like he is similar to galadriel in the way that he chooses to remain, out of pride or sorrow.

So generally, i resist the idea that maglor is the sweet one and maedhros is the ass-kicker.  I think Maglor might take longer to lose his temper, but I think his biting intellect serves as his chief weapon before he raises his voice.  When he does, however, he shatters glass. Also he has dual swords because I say so.

[cinematicnomad]

1, 7, 25 for the fanfic end of year ask :)

001. favorite fic you wrote this year i have a soft spot for take my hand (take my everything) which was the first fic i wrote this year! and kind of the first step back into writing creatively on something new that wasn’t the 7 year monster sterek fic. also my first foray into 9-1-1 fic and was just a lot of fun! 

007. longest completed fic you wrote this year the longest fic i wrote was my second for the year! so show me (family) wound up being around 16k+ for 9-1-1 which kind of burst out of me over the course of one 48 hour window unlike take my hand which took a few weeks to crank out. 

025. a fic you read this year you would recommend everyone read SO MANY FICS DUDE!!! i’m gonna rec a couple, some that i re-read this year and some that i discovered for the first time, all from a variety of fandoms. BUT heads up, you didn’t specify a fandom so it’s gonna be a little scattered. also someone else sent me this same question but specified 9-1-1, so i’m gonna reserve those recs for that ask. GET READY!!

and this, your living kiss by opal_bullets (7/7 | 84k+ | M) destiel; AU: college/university; john winchester’s A+ parenting; angst with a happy ending

only a very few people in the world know that the celebrated and reclusive poet jack allen is just kansas mechanic dean winchester, a high school dropout with a few bucks to his name. not that it matters anymore; life has left him so wrung out he never wants to pick up another pen.

until, that is, a string of coincidences leads dean to auditing a poetry course with one dr. castiel novak. the professor is wildly intelligent, devastatingly handsome...and just so happens to be academia’s foremost expert on the poetry of jack allen.

note: i discovered this fic back in the pre-pandemic times of feb 2020 and i’ve read this fic TWICE since, leaving a lengthy comment each time. the poetry in the fic itself is stunningly gorgeous and i have a habit of reading it out loud to myself while reading bc it begs to be heard. this fic is seriously beautiful and makes me want to read all the poet!dean au’s out there in the world. unfortunately there aren’t that many so i just keep coming back to this well. i don’t think i can express enough how much i love this fic. 

lost time by ARCurren (105/105 | 350k+ | T)  bransonxsybil; AU: canon divergent; outsider POVs; original characters; slow burn

the story of a free spirit who was asked to give up the man she loved for a system she didn’t believe in and what happened next. AU after 3.04. 

note: did i think, when i stumbled across this fic years ago, that it would wind up being one of my all time favorites that i return to time and again to re-read? never. did i re-read it for like the dozenth time this year?? 110%. this fic is everything i want from fanfiction—it’s beautifully written, expands on canon, and shows me all the hidden moments the cameras never did (not to mention it’s historically accurate and delves deep into irish politics of the time). the first third or so of this fic is all about tom and sybil’s slow burn romance at downton, but the fic really bursts into its own when we follow the two to dublin and get introduced to all of the author’s deliciously detailed oc’s. heads up warning: this fic was never officially completed, though the final chapter is a beautifully written summary of the final arc of the fic. even so, it’s fucking worth it. 

misfire by mothlights & unpossible (6/6 | 28k+ | T) sterek; time travel; angst with a happy ending; alive hale family; magic; alternating POV

“the debt must be repaid,” she says, and it has the weight of a vow. the words resonate through him, ringing through his ribcage and the bones of his jaw, and stiles loses his breath and maybe his grip on reality because she draws herself upright and where there had once stood a supermodel-level MILK now there is galadriel’s much hotter older sister, a presence of unmistakable power in their ordinary, smells-vaguely-of-thai-takeout hallway. 

“oh shit,” stiles says. 

note: this fic is the first in the misfire ‘verse and i need you to understand that it literally broke me when i binge read these fics a month or so ago. i am a sucker for a solid time travel fic especially bc there are such few good ones in fandom. but this gets at the heart of it all by exploring the idea of stiles getting the chance to save derek’s family and taking it...after he and derek are romantically together in his true timeline and then actually dealing with the ramifications of how that alters everything and how stiles survives in this new present where he and derek are virtual strangers. everyone should definitely read this, but you should also know that i fucking sobbed while reading the sequel (which also has a happy ending, but really digs deep into the nitty gritty angst of the repercussions). 

map of the world by seperis (11/11 | 154k+ | M)  destiel; end!verse; alternate universe; canon divergent; original characters; slow burn

the world’s already over and they’re already dead. all they’re doing now is marking time until the end. 

note: look, if you don’t know about down to agincourt by @seperis, what are you doing with your life?? the series is over 1M+ words so far, the fic author is on book 4 out of a planned 8, and it’s fucking phenomenal. i know i’ve tagged a couple of these recs as slow burn but...this is the slowest slow burn to ever burn. canon!dean travels back into the end!verse timeline just as lucifer kills dean and somehow cas made it out alive and has to keep dean safe while he learns to become his end!verse counterpoint. the world building in this series is intense and i cannot recommend it enough. i’m still in the midst of my re-read bc it’s SUCH an endeavor but i highly recommend it to everybody. 

invictus by ellanasan (116/116 | 355+ | M) hayffie; au: alive abernathy family; pre-hunger games; canon prostitution; slow burn

“so then, before i can even think about doing something stupid like trying to stab him with his fucking golden paperknife, he gives me a choice, see?” haymitch continued, almost detached. “either i play nice like all the other victors or he’ll kill my family. i could either become his puppet—greatest punishment he could give me, according to him—or i could become the example.”

AU in which haymitch’s family lives.

note: hello, have you ever wondered what the hunger games series would be like if haymitch’s family were alive? i fucking hadn’t until 2 years ago when i stumbled across this fic and fell head over heels in love with this ship. @ellanainthetardis is my go to hunger games fic writer for anything exploring canon and i’m obsessed with anything she writes about the OG victors pre-canon (finnick, joanna, chaff, etc). this fic is just 300k+ exploring that world and all the intricate details of how cruel the games could really be. HIGHLY recommend. i definitely re-read it this fall when i needed a pick me up.

don’t know what i’m supposed to do (haunted by the ghost of you) by crazyassmurdererwall (1/1 | 30k+ | T) sterek; canon divergent; angst with a happy ending; ghosts; stiles POV

stiles sees dead people. yep. seriously.

(he’s got this. he’s totally got this. so what if one of them is derek’s mom?)

note: did you know that @crazyassmurdererwall is one of my all time favorite people? and that she’s wicked talented? and that in our spare time she’ll send me a billion fic ideas that are amazing and i get to hear all the intricate details of her plot bunnies? but i digress. this fic is one of my all time fave sterek fics i’ve re-read it sooo many times. there’s just something about the heartache and stiles’ insecurity and the way he tries to shoulder it all on his own. and then there’s alli’s brilliant writing, the way she weaves through a scene and paints a picture just so and manages to tug at your heart strings with her precise word choice. there’s some amazing world building in this fic as it explores this other facet of the supernatural that canon teen wolf never touched upon, and i’m so grateful for that bc alli is the only one who should be allowed to write about ghosts and teen wolf together. 

lagavulin and guinness by snarfle (10/10 | 163k+ | explicit) hartwin; slow burn; PTSD; suicidal thoughts; graphic depictions of violence; domestic abuse

plenty of people had looked down on eggsy throughout his life. he had gotten fairly used to it. didn’t mean it was fair, but he knew how these things worked. what really sucked was that the new arthur was worse than the old one.

“eggsy grimaced. he didn’t know how to explain to harry—who seemed like he hadn’t been discriminated against a day in his life—that the new arthur kept giving him what amounted to suicide missions, and that he was currently bleeding out in a warehouse because of the deliberately bad intel she had given him.”

also featuring: dean is harder to get rid of than eggsy thought, his mum is going off the deep end, there are way too many nefarious plots in play, and eggsy is really beginning to wish that harry would stop holding his hand and kiss him instead.

note: look, i know i recced this literally less than a week ago but i ALSO stayed up til 5AM re-reading this last night and it was a-m-a-z-i-n-g. i was on a bit of a kingsman kick earlier this year, so i’ve actually re-read this fic TWICE so far in 2020. i will give you a serious warning in that this fic delves deep into domestic abuse through the lens of a variety of different relationships. it also explores the potential for abuse in hartwin, bc this fic is one of the few that actually commits to the fact that they’re literal spies who murder people. actively. a lot. but seriously, this fic is one of my fave in the fandom and i STRONGLY recommend it. 

waste of breath by bryrosea (1/1 | 22k+ | M) loganxveronica; canon compliant; missing scenes; navy; past child abuse

logan echolls, the nine years, and the navy.

note: bryrosea has an obscene number of amazing logan and veronica fics (her canon divergent series stay with me is another i re-read this year), but i’ve found myself returning to this fic a lot over the years. i’m a sucker for canon compliant fics that explore the missing scenes in between canon and this fic hits all the right buttons by diving deep into how logan echolls went from being a trash fire at hearst college at the end of s3 to being a decorated navy pilot by the movie. it explores logan seeking out therapy and making a life for himself that he can be proud of, all while pining after the girl who got away. and bc this author is amazing, she followed it up with a sequel from veronica’s point of view in the series done by only me. 

the law of equivalent exchange by awed_frog (8/8 | 60k+ | M) destiel; POV castiel; pre-canon; post-canon; canon compliant; immortality; reincarnation

“and what’s the point of it?”

“of love? there isn’t one. loving is its own purpose.” 

note: i mean??? i don’t really know what to say except that this is one of the truly most beautiful fics i have ever read. it follows castiel through time as he meets different reincarnations of sam and dean across history and falls ever more deeply in love. it is achingly tender and so ecstatically written that i die just thinking about it. and that summary? i mean. holy fuck break my heart why don’t you? i don’t know how i missed out on this fic for so long since it was published in 2015 but i only learned about it for the first time back in july and it was. life changing?? when the fic finally reaches the canon timeline and he meets THIS dean it’s peak yearning. 10/10 will read again.

ahead in the count by elisela (17/17 | 50k+ | E) sterek; AU: sports; pitcher!stiles; teacher!derek; long distance relationship; getting together

“yankee fan,” derek says, laughing when stiles makes a disgusted face. “the bronx bombers, stiles, you can’t be a new yorker and—”

“stop talking right now,” stiles sighs, shaking his head. “i can’t believe i still want to kiss you after that,” he says, pulling derek in by his coat. “this is making me rethink everything.” 

“i’ll never watch them again,” derek promises, and stiles laughs against his mouth. 

or: stiles is a starting pitcher for the NY mets when he meets and falls in love with derek. derek doesn’t know. 

note: i read SO MANY of @elisela’s 911 fics this summer, which i loved, and then she got into teen wolf and started writing sterek and i just about died. this fic is amazing, one of my fave sterek AU’s that i’ve read in years. it’s just the right amount of drama and angst and fluff filled with all the joys of miscommunication and character relationships that makes reading sterek such a joy. reading this fic and finding out eli needed fic recs pushed me to dive back in to reading sterek fics for a bit this fall so i can say with the utmost authority that this is one of the best i’ve read in a long time. 

i used to think one day we’d tell the story of us by notequitegucci (2/2 | 32k+ | M) gendrya; alternate universe—modern setting; outsider POV; friends to lovers; friends to lovers

9 times a stark encounters gendry + 1 time he meets the starks.

note: again, this is the first in a 2 part series titled love me like you do that explores arya and gendry’s dynamics together through the point of view of her family. game of thrones ended last year with a whimper but i keep returning to the gendrya tag on ao3 to seek out new, amazing content and also to re-read some old favorites. i can’t remember if i came across this for the first time last year or this one, but i’ve read it and re-read it more times than i can count since and i love it more than i can describe. i’m a total sucker for outsider POV fics and my biggest pet peeve in canon is the fact that none of the stark’s ever found out that arya and gendry had a history together. this modern au fic almost makes up for it by giving me a gendry encounter with every family member and then the big reveal. it’s peak content. 

theeeeeeese recs got a little away from me. i wasn’t originally intending on adding lengthy notes to each entry but ... oh well!! these are all amazing so please enjoy. 

fanfic end of the year asks

[kendrixtermina]

Something which I think should be appreciated more that Melkor’s schemes didn’t just cause a rift between Feanor and everyone else; There would have been a lot of internal drama in each of the branches, too

We know Anaire dumped Fingolfin for his role in the kinslaying; Of course she might’ve blamed him for being a bad influence on the kids, but they were grown adults, with Turgon having a kid of his own, and we know Turgon and Fingon explicitly got their swoods bloody (and nothing we know about Argon’s and Aredhel’s personalities suggests that they didn’t) so it’s actually quite likely that their mother disowned them - remember a key point of the situation after the darkening is that everyone was acting on impulse & frazzled emotions, doing drastic things they might not have done if they’d had time to think it through. 

I mean, Galadriel flat out turned against the faction that her brothers & cousins were a part of (one could interpret “withstood him fiercely” to mean that she got into an actual swordfight with Feanor himself; And he might be the most powerful elf ever but Galadriel is explicitly number two. Since both lived, it was probably a draw; Maybe she had the sense to withdraw when he started winning; This is before she apprenticed with Melian so she probably hadnt reached her full potential yet) - one can totally justify why she’d take the side of her mother’s people since the Noldor clearly started it, but her brothers & cousins probably had opinions about that. Finrod was probably not present having lagged behind with Finarfin; Galadriel would’ve rushed ahead of them (& hence gotten there in time to witness the kinslaying) specifically because she was eager to leave - and then in Beleriand she gave up the whole battle for unwinnable (she was not incorrect about this...) and camped out in Doriath. (Part of this is probably that she had to be retroactively fit into an established plot structure so she doesnt get much to do apart from a few key moments (still a lot more than, say, Celebrimbor and Gil-Galad, especially if you go with the HC that she & Celeborn were the ones who absconded with Elwing), but it still has implications especially since she’s among the most powerful)

Contrast Finrod who didn’t expect Nargothrond to last & acted accordingly, but felt he had to fight to protect the world from Morgoth; He probably saw it as a good thing that Galadriel would go to set up contacts/ future strategic positions further east, but there was certainly a disagreement between her & her brothers. 

Add to this that she & her brothers were described as having been “as close as brothers” with Fingon & co, with Angrod and Aegnor being tight with Fingon in particular before all went to hell.

Angrod in particular probably had no peace at his dinner table; He wanted to go, but Orodreth and Finarfin didn’t; (At least we’re told that Finarfin’s kids did not criticise him to his face & retained some basic civility) Who knows what faction Eldalote’s family went with. And once he got to Beleriand, he got both Caranthir and Thingol accusing him of being in cahoots with the other faction; Plus the implication that Fingolfin sent him without informing the Feanorians which suggests at least some moderate political calculation on Fingolfin’s part;  No wonder he eventually snapped & spilled everything. 

And if you go with the reading that he was friends with C & C once, they definitely werent friends anymore by that time; though Caranthir clearly never liked em to begin with. 

Likewise, Turgon thought it all to be a very bad idea why all his siblings were like “Go! Adventure!”; Fingolfin himself was somewhere in between in that he didn’t want to go but felt it was his duty to look after the people & take revenge. 

Heck, though his motives were probably among the noblest, Finrod wanted to go while his BFF Turgon didn’t - and then Turgon lost his wife; It’s also implied that Turgon was pretty homesick at least early on seeing as he had Gondolin built to be like Tirion 2.0 while Finrod was initially super stoked to be exploring the unknown lands & meet & learn from the locals. 

Consider alsopoor, poor Finarfin, who probably parted on bad terms with all his siblings, was left without his children, no longer welcome where he ostensibly preferred living, left to mop up the resulting mess all alone, including diplomatic relations. 

We think of him as the one who knew better and noped out, but that would actually be Findis, who wanted nothing to do with the rebellion in the first place and appeared to have been so disgusted with Tirion & its inhabitants that she left & probably renounced the crown; She probably told her siblings that they were all terrible

Finarfin is the one who almost went and turned back last second - which requires a whole lot of self-awareness and humility, to admit that you were wrong; Maybe he’s less upright than his oldest sister but he was more responsible in the end in that someone had to be responsible for the remnants of Tirion and he decided it should be him, even though he was probably not prepared at all cause he was like, 25th in line after his older siblings & all their descendants.   It means that he had to explain to everyone why he’s leaving (including Findis, and his wife whose hometown was just turned into a war zone by his brothers), & then go back and explain to everyone why he stayed after all.

I don’t imagine the parting between Fingolfin and Finarfin to have been too pretty, either, especially since we’re told that Finarfin markedly refused to pick any sides. They would’ve been frustrated with each other at this point, seeing as they both had reasons to do what they did.

 At least Fingolfin’s got Lalwen, Findis is with their mom, Feanor & Finwe were probably soon reunited in Mandos, but Finarfin’s got no one; 

And we can assume that what happened with the royals also played out among the general populace of Tirion as families & friend groups were divided among the various factions. 

Initially the Feanorians would probably have been more unified (they would’ve been a tightly knit group, considering that their father is a standoffish loner who pretty much raised them in the wilderness) - though at the cost of an unreasonable loyalty that eventually proved their undoing, and must have strained what friendships they had with everyone else - though one can imagine that there was some friction between Maedhros as the official leader and Curufin looking to direct things from behind the scenes, with both having somewhat different priorities and principles, but it seems that rather than directly openly challenge/disagree with his older brothers, Curufin tended to try & influence them, or just do whatever he wanted without checking with Maedhros (Cue the Nargothrond debacle...) 

Likewise Maedhros would scold or defuse them & learned eventually not to bring Caranthir to diplomatic meetings, but he didnt efficiently curttail them either; loyalty to ppl you know to be questionable is not unambiguous; I personally got the sense that he was always trying to keep both his vow and his honor and then ended in a rather fatalistic, regretful, pelagian villain sort of place after the sack of Doriath - there he was, running through the forest, looking for both the innocent child casualties and the silmaril, and finding neither. In that sense Curufin was perhaps more pragmatic, but also very factional in his thinking & somewhat amoral. 

[rptv-tolkien]

Lord of the Rings: Why Viggo Mortensen's Aragorn Didn't Return For The Hobbit

Peter Jackson's Hobbit movies brought back Legolas from Lord of the Rings, but Viggo Mortensen declined to reprise his role as Aragorn.

by Craig Elvy June 27, 2020

https://screenrant.com/hobbit-movies-aragorn-viggo-mortensen-not-return-reason/

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Why didn't Viggo Mortensen decide to return as Aragorn in The Hobbit? Peter Jackson made cinematic history with his groundbreaking The Lord of the Rings trilogy and despite many Tolkien purists taking exception to some of the changes made in translation, the movies are largely faithful to the source material, certainly in comparison to Jackson's more recent adaptation of The Hobbit. Derived from only a single, modest volume, Jackson spread The Hobbit over an entire trilogy and incorporated ideas from elsewhere in Tolkien's canon that built towards major events in The Lord of the Rings, such as the Necromancer.

As part of The Hobbit's Jacksonification, several familiar faces from The Lord of the Rings were drafted in to further bind the two trilogies together. Aside from Gandalf, Elrond and Gollum, who all appear in the original novel anyway, the Hobbit trilogy also included Cate Blanchett's Galadriel and Christopher Lee's Saruman as members of the White Council. By far the most jarring film-only addition to The Hobbit, however, is Orlando Bloom's Legolas. Legolas' presence in The Hobbit arguably makes logical sense since he's the son of Thranduil and dwells in Mirkwood, but others might suggest the presence of a major Lord of the Rings character made for an unnecessary addition and a transparent marketing ploy.

In The Battle of Five Armies, Thranduil asks his son to search for a ranger by the name of Strider, referencing Viggo Mortensen's character from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but plans were initially afoot to physically include Aragorn in the Hobbit movies. According to Mortensen himself, an unnamed Hobbit producer approached the actor in 2008 to sound out a potential return for Aragorn. Mortensen declined by simply saying, "you do know, don't you? Aragorn isn't in The Hobbit."

Since this exchange occurred in 2008, the idea to bring back Aragorn can't necessarily be attributed to Peter Jackson. Although Jackson was involved at this early stage, Guillermo Del Toro was still in the director's chair and contributing to the script. With that said, the fact that Mortensen wasn't approached by Del Toro personally might suggest the Aragorn plan wasn't his doing either. A more likely explanation is that producers were exploring ways to ride on the coattails of Lord of the Rings' success and casually sounding out actors potentially willing to return. Orlando Bloom's presence in the Hobbit trilogy proves the notion was never dropped.

Even though many viewers were critical of Legolas' inclusion in The Hobbit, the elf is easier to integrate into the story than Aragorn due to the Mirkwood connection. If Mortensen had agreed to come back, his appearance would've likely generated even more controversy than Bloom's. In theory, Jackson could have altered the date Aragorn met Gandalf and delved into that duo's early dealings in addition to the Necromancer material, but this would've spawned a completely separate narrative, whereas at least Legolas could be worked into the central journey of Bilbo and the Dwarves.

Mortensen's respect for Tolkien's books and desire to be authentic to the source material would no doubt have earned him the admiration of many Middle-earth fans, but also highlights the vastly differing attitudes among Lord of the Rings cast members. While some were happy to expand and adapt their characters in ways original to the big screen, others were sticklers for fidelity. For example, Christopher Lee was an avid Tolkien fan and became famous for carrying copies of the books on-set for reference. Although he no doubt would've received a bumper payday, Mortensen might've recognized that his character's return in The Hobbit would not be well received and risked tarnishing Aragorn's cinematic legacy.

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For his second trilogy, Peter Jackson (pictured) greatly expanded The Hobbit (which included story lines and characters that were never in the book)

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This included adding LOTR characters who were not in The Hobbit (such as Galadriel, played by Cate Blanchett)

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.... But Aragorn (played by Viggo Mortensen) was also in the running at one stage

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Viggo Mortensen turned down the offer, citing Aragorn’s absence in The Hobbit book.  The offer came while Guillermo del Toro (the original director) was still attached to the project (although it is not clear whether it was his idea or not)

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Guillermo del Toro

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Aragorn would have been harder to integrate into The Hobbit than Legolas

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________________________________ 

RPTV comment: I completely agree with Viggo Mortensen.  As much as I enjoyed Orlando Bloom (as Legolas) and Christopher Lee (as Saruman) in LOTR, it was a mistake to include them in the Hobbit. It felt like a cheap marketing ploy, the sole purpose of which was to get people into the theater (rather than adding anything meaningful to the story).  It also took attention away from the dwarves, who play a vital role in the original story.  Their significance in the story is somewhat diluted by the addition of LOTR characters.

Not to mention the new characters were very distracting (especially the wizard Radagast the Brown, who not only was NOT in The Hobbit book, but who was barely in the LOTR book, and played an extremely minor role**. And of course Tauriel the elf does not exist at all in any of the books and was simply an invention of Peter Hackson).

(**To be fair, the same thing can be said of Arwen the elf, but I have to admit that Peter Jackson did an excellent job of expanding her role in LOTR.  In this particular case, it actually worked).

None of this was a big surprise to me. When I heard Peter Jackson might be making a Hobbit movie, I was not at all optimistic. It sounded like nothing more than a cash grab, and I suspected the worse (that he would mess it up). I was right.  And apparently many others felt the same way, which is why Jackson’s hobbit trilogy was not as well received as his LOTR trilogy.

And which is why (besides the Rankin/Bass Hobbit and Return of the King) these are the only DVDs I have in my collection:

[ten-summoners-fails]

For the Silmarillion themed question : 6, 8, 13, 22 and 24 :)

6. Would you have followed Fëanor?

Without any doubt orhesitation, yes; even if I saw in advance all the pain and regret it wouldcause me (and others). Personal evolution happens through trying, failing,making mistakes, falling into the darkest pits of our own mind, then getting upon our feet and trying again. Other than that, I can imagine situations where Iwould follow a real-life version of Feanor even; with my deepest personalvalues questioned every day, I admit that I often have just the mood to get upand change the world. I’m afraid of the day when I might eventually acknowledgethat I can’t.

8. Who is your favourite character from the book?(You CAN’T cheat like me, it must be JUST ONE)

In that case, I refuse toanswer this question, because I can’t choose one. It seems impossible. Either Ican say I have a dozen favourites, or I can say I have none. Those who followmy blog and read my writings probably already know that the Sons of Feanor areamong my favourites, but so is half the royal court of Gondolin, so are theinhabitans of Rivendell, and so is Bilbo Baggins (even if he doesn’t appear inthe Silmarillion).

(Most of you probablythink that my favourite is Maedhros, and maybe you could really say that; butthe truth is not that simple. Of course I, like everyone else, am sometimes„plagued” by favoritism, but I prefer to say neutral on some level and merelywrite about the characters who I find interesting. The best example for this isprobably the case of Maeglin: I don’t entirely understand him and I can’tidentify with him either, but still he continues to intrigue me, therefore Iwrite about him. Another such example would be Saruman, who literally makes mecringe, but that didn’t stop me from creating an entire thread for him in theold version of my ’A Tale from Rivendell’ series, merely because making him appear,think and act was fascinating. I like challenges).

13. A character you don’t like and why.

I greatly admire Lúthienand Beren, and I find their tale mesmerizing (no wonder it’s so carefully anddelicately handled in ’The Seven Gates’), but with all due respect, I don’treally like either of them.Especially Lúthien. To be very honest, I don’t care about her that much, andmany of her actions seem a but too „ex machina”. I mean, there’s a bit of animpression that the tale of Beren and Lúthien is set in some standaloneuniverse, where certain rules of the actual Silm universe don’t apply, andwhere several characters act in an absolute OOC manner (like Celegorm andCurufin. But that would be a long story, and it’s not like I’m defending orpalliating them, either!). Also, neither Beren nor Lúthien seems half as vividas, for one, Thingol. Or even Eöl!

However, I must alsoacknowledge that I have developed most of my way of viewing The Silm throughreading the tale of Beren and Lúthien, which has led me to create the notion of„second degree mythology” but that’s entirely another story, and I’d rather notbore you with it now.

22. If you could marry one of Fëanor’s sons whichone would you choose?

Is „none” an option? :D:D

All right, all right. Sincethey are all sociopaths on some level, I’ll stay superficial and choose Maglor,just because I picture him as the kind of lover who dresses elegantly, holdsyou the door, calls you „mlady” from time to time and greets you by kissing theback of your hand. (And he makes music). I would like that.

24. Why do you think that the race of men are theonly one that never went to Valinor besides the orcs?

…so basically you’reasking me why we have Gimli and the Hobbits going to Valinor, and never mortalMen – I mean, not Earendil-like Men, but actually „real” Men, without any Elvenblood? Huh. Are you sure you want me to answer that? OK. Let’s study some HoME,LaCE and other beautiful things together, then.

First of all, let me admitthat my independent knowledge is not very deep in this particular matter; inorder to be truly able to explain it, I would have to reread quite a fewletters and studies, which I can’t manage right now, but I’ll tell you what Ican. (And of course, my own opinion).

If we want to answer whyMen did not go to Valinor, we need to see why others did. Starting with the obvious: I see the case of Elves as a trulyunique one, and here is why.

Firstly – of all beings -,we have the Valar and maiar, beings who are more closely connected to„supernatural” dimensions of existence than material ones. Their knowledge and insightmay seem inhuman, and (especially in the case of Manwe) very close to omniscience, butthat is not the case. In my opinion, everything they know or guess in advancecomes from the impressions and sensations they’ve had during the Ainulindale,which set the frames of past, present and future and created the dimensions oftime and space. At that point, they could have had impressions on what wasabout to happen, and what was the general purpose of the Allfather (even if thevery essence, the entirety of the world’s fate remained in secret, a secret evenManwe could not tell). And when it comes to the maiar, it’s practically thesame case – only, they’re less powerful beings. Still, they have much lessconnection to the material world than other beings do, and are mostly „chained”to the eternal echoes of the Great Music, right from the birth of the world.

Elves, however noble and powerful,are no such creatures: their existence is strongly and inseparatablyintertwined with that of Arda. The world, initially, was meant to be perfectand functionating, but the machinations of Melkor sort of ruined those plans(well… this is a quite fascinating subject, we could argue a lot about that;recently, I had the honor to witness a lecture of a Tolkien scholar onIllúvatar’s notions of free will and free decisions, and how Melkor tried tointerfere in his plans; the question if he succeeded or not was an open one,and honestly, no one in the room could answer it at the end of the discussion.But whatever!!). All in all, Elves are bound to remain young in body (but notin spirit) and live on, as long as Arda lives. This is the manner of theircreation, and the fact that their body doesn’t age and is immune to maladies,sicknesses and lighter wounds is – in truth – no more than a biological defensemechanism (if you don’t believe me, please consult LaCE). Also (my friendnosmaeth has re-drawn my attention to this fact recently), there is not ONEline in the ENTIRETY of the Professor’s works which states that they are immortal!They simply live on, or, if you prefer, continueexisting – while Arda exists.

What does this mean?Mainly that they are f*cked. Sorry for the strong word, but really. Severalmillenia of joys and sorrows just weighs hard on one’s shoulders, and requiresan inhuman mindset (one I always have a hard time showing in writings, or inany other way. Yup. Elves are not superhumans, but entirely another race…).

Dwarves, Men and allother mortal races, however, were given the Gift of Illúvatar – death – which allowsthem to free themselves from the chaines of Arda marred, and reach directly outto the Creator when they leave the Circles of the World. This basically meansthat they have access to a sort of entire healing and absolution Elves wouldhave trouble seeking. Mortals – and especially men – were given the gift ofbeing able to purge themselves from everything wrong Melkor ever did to theworld.

So why could Frodo, Bilbo,Gimli and Sam go to Valinor? If you ask me, the privileges they got had nothingto do with their race. Mortal Men could have perhaps earned this sort of gift ifthey were Ringbearers, and the fact that no Man happened to have this role inthe history of Middle-Earth does not imply that Men didn’t go to Valinor simplybecause they were Men, or it was not the fate of their race. What happened toBilbo, Frodo and Sam was exceptional, and sort of made them leave the frames oftheir own purpose and existence. They – along with Gimli - could go to Valinorbecause they were members of the Fellowship of the Ring; and the three Hobbits,in addition, were Ringbearers. They’ve seen and endured things that could notbe healed in Middle-Earth; the Blessed Lands were the only possible cure forthe wrongs they’ve suffered, and thusly, they were given this gift. As forGimli, we could argue if his arrival to Valinor was some Galadriel-ex-machina,or was simply granted to him because of his remarkable friendship with Legolasand his service as a member of the Fellowship. Returning to Men… Aragorn andBoromir were the only Men in the fellowship; Boromir would have never gone toValinor, and Aragorn was destined to another fate.

Speaking of Men ingeneral: if we go back as far in time as the very history of Númenor, sailingto Valinor was the very thing the Valar forbid them. To explore the mostobvious reason behind this, I could very well quote the Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth (from the HoME series): „Do candles pity moths? / Or moths candleswhen the wind blows them out?” – Valinor could have had the very sameeffect on Men as the company of Elf-lords did as mentioned by Sador Labadal (inthe Children of Húrin), among others: it could drain them out, diminish theirpowers too quickly, before they would be able to reach the fullness of theirown human potential. Also, one cannot have the Gift of Illúvatar and theblessings of Valinor at the same time.

Gosh anon, I could haveonly said that „Men couldn’t go to Valinor because it was not their fate”, butI wanted to draw a bit of background to it… hope I didn’t scare you off. Andthank you for asking!

[ciathyzareposts]

Game 319: Lord of the Rings, Vol. II: The Two Towers (1992)

Vol. II lazily re-uses a lot of the artwork from Vol. I, including the title screen.

          Lord of the Rings, Vol. II: The Two Towers

United States

Interplay (developer and publisher)

Released in 1992 for DOS, 1993 for FM Towns and PC-98

Date Started: 5 February 2019

I remember approaching Lord of the Rings, Vol. I with some trepidation, not much of a fan of the source material, not looking forward to a game that recapped a plot that everyone already knows. Role-playing a defined character with a predestined fate, I reasoned, removes any sense of player investment in the character. Meanwhile, if the game simply follows the plot of its source, there’s no fun in exploration and no surprises; but if it allows all kinds of diversions, the player is jarred by the dissonance with the source.

           The game starts with a recap of the story from the beginning.

         I was thus surprised to find most of my worries unfounded. Vol. I plays like an alternate-universe execution of Fellowship of the Ring–one that begins at the same location as the books but is then free to go off in its own directions. The player can make any character in the Fellowship the ring-bearer. All kinds of non-canonical NPCs can join the Fellowship, including some created just for the game. Even Gollum can join. The open world is full of side quests that Tolkien never envisioned. And it’s completely non-linear: a player can exit Moria, turn around, and walk all the way back to the Shire. He’ll even encounter new situations and quests if he does so. And it turned out that none of these departures from the book bothered me at all–although we must remember that I wasn’t much invested in the book in the first place.

The opening to Vol. II makes me wonder if the developers retained this admirable freedom. The backstory makes this game more of a sequel to the original material than to Vol. I. The first game ends with a non-canonical episode in which the Witch King kidnaps Frodo and Sam (or, I guess, whoever has the Ring) and the rest of the Fellowship has to rescue them from the fortress of Dol Guldur (and keep in mind, depending on the player, the “rest of the Fellowship” might include none of the canonical members). The game thus ends on a triumphant note, before the betrayal and death of Boromir, who might not even be with the party.

          The intro screens elide some unpleasant events.

          The backstory told in the opening screens of Vol. II omits the business with Dol Guldur and jumps ahead in time to a point past Boromir’s death, the kidnapping of Merry and Pippin, and the division of the Fellowship. It begins with Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas (who wasn’t even in my Vol. I party) on the plains of Rohan, following the trail of the orcs who kidnapped the hobbits.

             The game begins.

           I didn’t expect the developers to emulate Crusaders of the Dark Savant and offer a different opening for every potential end state of Vol. I, but I was surprised that the game doesn’t even import the save file or offer any concessions to the variances in the plot. As I began, I hoped that didn’t mean that it wouldn’t feature the same spirit of open exploration and side quests that we found in its predecessor.

The manual does suggest that Vol. II is more interested in adhering to canon. Among other things, it makes a distinction between canonical members of the Fellowship (Frodo, Sam, Pippin, Merry, Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli)–who can die but will otherwise never leave the party–and “temporary NPCs” who might join for a little while, but only until their personal missions are fulfilled. There were some of those temporary NPCs in the first game, too, but generally you trust that anyone who joined your party would stick around to the bitter end.

There is thus no character creation process. Characters come with preset levels in certain attributes: dexterity, endurance, life points, strength, luck, and will power. They also come with a variety of active skills, combat skills, and lore. “Active” skills can be directly employed by the player and include such options as “Climb,” “Detect Traps,” “Hide,” and “Boats.” Combat skills are used automatically in combat, and lore–including orc, dwarf, wizard, and elven lore–are similarly passive. Skills and lore are binary; you either have them or you don’t.

           The main interface and its various commands are activated with the SPACE bar.

         You may recall that Vol. I was reissued in 1993 on CD-ROM, with artwork created specifically for the game replaced with scenes from Ralph Bakshi’s 1978 animated film. It also improved several aspects of the interface. (I started with the earlier version and finished with the later version.) Vol. II, developed in between the two releases of Vol. I, benefits from some of the interface improvements but not all of them. The party cannot move diagonally, for instance, but the main actions on the bottom of the screen–attack, view, get, inventory, skills, magic, talk, set leader, and game options–are easily called by keyboard commands. There’s also an automap, which reveals itself in large squares. When you turn the interface off, the exploration window is completely uncluttered, which I like a lot.

            The automap fills in by large squares.

         The game begins with the three companions locked in battle with half a dozen orcs. Combat hasn’t changed from the first game. You select “Attack” then specify the target from the list, with wounded and near-dead enemies annotated with special symbols. Enemies get their turns after the Fellowship members, and sometimes the Fellowship gets a free turn. I’ll have more on combat later once it comes back to me.

         In the midst of a melee.

         My party destroyed the orcs handily, after which Aragorn did some tracking and noted that the trail of the kidnappers leads north and that the hobbits needed to be rescued at once. So naturally I decided to make my way north via east-west sweeps of the area. (Hey, I was trying to spare Aragorn a broken metatarsal as long as possible.) The eastern border of the opening area is water–I guess the river Isen–and the western border is the uncrossable Misty Mountains. The southern border is open, and you have to be careful not to cross it because the game forces you to switch parties, with I-don’t-know-what consequences for the initial trio.

            Walking alongside the Misty Mountains.

            As you walk, events and combats are triggered as you enter their appropriate areas. You often don’t see anything in advance, which is one of the oddities (and, I think, weaknesses) of this interface. Some of the things I ran into on the first map include:

          Remains of an orc encampment with some rations and ale.

A party of random orcs. Once I killed them, I found a sigil with the white hand of Saruman on their bodies.

           Note that there are no actual orcs on the screen until after I get the message.

         Athelas, which Aragorn can use to heal wounds.

A Rohirrim warrior named Dorlas, hiding in the bushes, claiming to be hunting orcs who burned his town of Estemnet. He told me that a wizard has been seen on the edge of Fangorn Forest and suggested we look into it. In follow-up questioning (you talk by typing keywords, probably one of the last games in which this is true), he told me that the King of Rohan is “all but dead” and that a “craven council” rules in Edoras. He spoke of Saruman as an enemy, so his betrayal is clearly already known. Dorlas popped up several times. It got kind of annoying.

          This doesn’t seem to be this Dorlas.

         A man named “Walcnoth” who just stood there and wouldn’t say anything to me.

Three uruks trying to capture a black steed. They attacked as we approached. There were two such encounters.

The ruins of Estemnet. A warrior named Bregowine gave us a meal, which healed all our accumulated wounds. Most of the other citizens were angry and bitter about the failure of their king, Theoden, to protect them. The leader, a woman named Leofyn, said that the town wouldn’t be helping anyone until “a weregild is paid to compensate us for our losses.” Specifically, she wanted her husband’s sword, a bag of gold, and the return of her son, who had taken off, vowing to avenge his father. The sword and gold had both been stolen by orcs, with a camp to the north.

          This was the same portrait they used for Galadriel in the last game.

         A warrior named Heof. He offered to teach us the “Riding” skill (how is it possible that Aragorn doesn’t already know it?) if we solved a sub-quest to destroy a shrine that the orcs placed in a sacred pool used by the mearas (cool horses). The shrine couldn’t be harmed during the day, and at night it’s guarded by “spirits of evil.” I left this for later because I wasn’t yet sure if the slight darkening of the sky that happens every few minutes is “night.”

              That seems pessimistic.

          A group of horsemen led by Eomer. He said that they had slaughtered a group of orcs, didn’t know anything about hobbits, and not all was right in Edoras. Basically the same as the book.

         Eomer says nothing about being banished.

         In a burned area north of Estemnet, I found the orc encampment. The game warned me that there were too many to fight, but I bungled my way into it anyway. I defeated the first party of attackers but died at the hands of the second.

             If we all die, Satan gets the ring.

           After my defeat and reload, I changed my exploration pattern, going all the way north along the River Isen to Fangorn Forest. A path led into the forest–which is anything but dark and brooding–and it wasn’t long before we found Gandalf. Saying his name snapped him out of his reverie. He explained that Merry and Pippin were safe with Treebeard and that our priority should be to stop a trio of “messenger orcs” on their way to Saruman (perhaps the same party I already killed as above?), then see about helping Theoden.

             Fangorn! What madness would make us hesitate to go in there?

          At this point, the game decided it was time to switch the action, and it loaded up Frodo and Sam on the edge of the Dead Marshes. There doesn’t seem to be any way to manually switch between the parties, so I guess the game will do it automatically when certain plot points occur. I wonder if there’s any way to artificially unite (or even switch!) the parties. I guess I’d have to find a way across Isen first.

           I don’t care what’s canon; I’m glad the films didn’t make the hobbits look like goofy old men.

           The game had us distribute the gifts from the elves (two cloaks, magic rope, lembas bread), after which Frodo recommended that we approach Mordor via the marshes to the southeast. 

            The Dead Marshes, Frodo. Yes, yes, that is their name.

            I think I’ll wrap up here for the first entry, but a few miscellaneous notes before I go:

The exposition with Leofyn was delivered via a written paragraph in the manual. Vol. I had these, too, but the re-release put all the text in-game. This has to be just a copy protection exercise because the game certainly hasn’t been shy about long in-game paragraphs otherwise.

            Flashbacks to Pool of Radiance!

          I’m not really sure how experience and leveling work. The manual assures that your statistics will increase with experience. I forgot how it worked in the first game.

The screen trades between dark and light every minute or so. If that’s a day/night cycle, it happens very fast. I don’t think my DOSBox cycles are too high, though, because if I lower them it’s sluggish to respond to commands. Are those periods of momentary dimness “night,” or just cloudiness? (If the latter, I haven’t experienced night at all, yet.)

Sound effects are sparse except during combat, when there are about three: a thunk of connection, a whoosh of missing, and a scream of death.

The manual devotes a lot of space to the History of Middle Earth and a glossary of characters and places, enough that I learned quite a bit despite having been exposed to this material before. The manual also philosophically questions whether Tolkien himself would have approved of a computer game based on his work.

           I’m not going to have a lot of patience for this.

        The events of the opening area ultimately assuaged my concern that Vol. II would be too linear and plot-driven. I look forward to seeing how it develops. I suspect I’m due for an encounter with Gollum soon. Can I be smarter than Frodo and just kill him?

Time so far: 2 hours

****

Non-sequitur: I had this dream the other night that the nation of Denmark hired me to create an official Danish tabletop RPG (this despite my lack of experience with tabletop RPGs). The scenario was to be that the melting ice sheets in Greenland were slowly uncovering an ancient civilization. I invited several of you to be a part of the team, and we had a very contentious meeting in Amsterdam (yes, I know that’s a different country–I’m just telling you what my dream was) where some of you wanted to make it a pure exploration/archaeology RPG while others wanted to have, like, ice giants awakening in the melting glaciers.

Lately, I’ve been in the habit of writing down dreams that I think might lead to good song, story, or game ideas. I don’t always hit a home run. The other night, I wrote (I have no memory of this):  “Bacon-wrapped chocolate coin. The coin has an image of a woman on it, and you have to convince her to submit before you can eat the bacon.” That one doesn’t seem so promising now. But the idea of an RPG set in an ancient civilization slowly uncovered in Greenland actually seems like a good one. Anyone has my permission to use the idea.

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/game-319-lord-of-the-rings-vol-ii-the-two-towers-1992/