dragon sick Thorin but give him black shining scales around his ears/cheeks and his hands slowly become completely scaled claws so when he's lying almost dead on the ice and he reaches up to Bilbo, he accidentally cuts him with his claws and has to die knowing the last thing he ever did was hurt his burglar AGAIN.

Or he could just. Not die. But when he recovers, the scales don't disappear and so he tries to clip the sharpness of the claws but it hurts so he just wears gloves bc he can't risk hurting anyone anymore after everything that's happened and he carries this big heavy survivors guilt for no reason. And Bilbo sure, he stayed around for a few months, but he had to get back to the Shire, at least to make sure his home was okay. So Thorins unrequited love has left— [context, they both are in love but they don't know each other are, and they can't forgive themselves, thinking they're unworthy of love]— and So they're just both sad fucks

But then Bilbo comes back after a bunch of years and fuckass Frodo is there, cuz why not he's just a little guy, and it's all happy silly and Thorin and Bilbo's relationship is still slightly strained, but the ice has thawed. Thorin helps Bilbo figure out how kids work bc He's Cool Like That™️ and Bilbo is appointed the ambassador for the kingdom so he can go away and see The Shire if he wants/must.

Then like one day Thorin is chilling or whtvr and Blibo is like Hey Dragon Boy™️ and they sort shit out and they're like married or whtvr but when he kisses Bilbos cheek he sees the scar on his face from his scaley claws and just. Regrets everything

Uhhh my attempt at angst idk.

rightwing so called fanboys of Tolkien getting mad over "weak effeminate Elves" is the funniest thing to me. Cause like, Tolkien wrote that it was hard to tell the difference between Elvish genders and also good for you, Chad! You've slapped 2023 gender roles on a work based on medieval myth and older!newsflash: men back then had long hair and wore colorful robes!

dumping south park sketches lol

Okay but I do get really tired when people rag on Narnia's Biblical parallels for being too overt. Like, yeah dude. It's written for kids. Most kids don't do subtlety. I knew my Bible better than probably 95% of third graders, and yet my parents still had to clue me in. I've talked to people who grew up secular and didn't realize Narnia was Christian until well into adulthood. The Christian parallels in Narnia are at a pretty perfect level for most kids, and the fact that we as adults continue to get new spiritual meaning from it as we grow is a real testament to the depth of Jack's writing.

I know I've ranted about it a million times, but every time someone brings up Roman, Byzantine, and Egyptian inspirations/influences on Gondor in more mainstream Tolkien fandom spaces (not me, because I don't even talk about it off Tumblr/DW), it seems like there's always someone who gets super weird and defensive about it. I've seen so many "well actually there's no need to consider any influences outside of England, mythology for England blah blah" responses.

And it's like! Oh, you want to play the decontextualized Tolkien quotes game? How about this one:

“But this [the setting of LOTR] is not a purely 'Nordic' area in any sense. If Hobbiton and Rivendell are taken (as intended) to be at about the latitude of Oxford, then Minas Tirith, 600 miles south, is at about the latitude of Florence [in Italy]. The Mouths of Anduin and the ancient [Gondorian] city of Pelargir are at about the latitude of ancient Troy [in Turkey]. Auden has asserted that for me 'the North is a sacred direction.' That is not true. The North-west part of Europe, where I (and most of my ancestors) have lived, has my affection, as a man’s home should. I love its atmosphere, and know more of its histories and languages than I do of other parts; but it is not ‘sacred’, nor does it exhaust my affections. I have, for instance, a particular love for the Latin language, and among its descendants for Spanish ... The progress of the tale ends in what is far more like the re-establishment of an effective Holy Roman Empire with its seat in Rome than anything that would be devised by a 'Nordic.'”

Or this one:

we come [in ROTK] to the half-ruinous Byzantine City of Minas Tirith

Or:

In the south Gondor rises to a peak of power, almost reflecting Númenor, and then fades slowly to decayed Middle Age, a kind of proud, venerable, but increasingly impotent Byzantium.

Or:

The Númenóreans of Gondor were proud, peculiar, and archaic, and I think are best pictured in (say) Egyptian terms. In many ways they resembled ‘Egyptians’ - the love of, and power to construct, the gigantic and massive. And in their great interest in ancestry and in tombs. […] I think the crown of Gondor (the S. Kingdom) was very tall, like that of Egypt, but with wings attached, not set straight back but at an angle. The N. Kingdom had only a diadem (III 323). Cf. the difference between the N. and S. kingdoms of Egypt.

Or:

Thank you very much for your letter. … It came while I was away, in Gondor (sc. Venice), as a change from the North Kingdom

Middle-earth is not equivalent to England, or northern Europe in general, and Gondor especially is not northern at all!

I've been thinking about tolkien lately, and i know this must've happened to many fathers and mothers across europe in the 1940s, but

do you ever think about how tolkien was sent to fight in a pointless, brutal, terrible war, from which only he and one of his friends returned? a war that promised young british men that they would find glory, only to find death and trauma and suffering? and when he returned, stricken with trench fever, he told his children stories of the adventures of a humble hobbit - a simple tale, that maybe purposefully didn't reflect just how awful his own "adventure" was.

And then just 20 years later, those children, his children who had heard those stories of a humble hobbit, got sent to fight in another brutal, devastating war, and he had to watch them go without him, knowing what they would go through because it had happened to him.

and this time, after that second war was over, and his sons had returned to him safely, he wrote another tale. This one not as simple. This one not for children, but for the grown men and soldiers his sons had been forced to become. This one centered the brutalities of war but also the hope of friendship and love.

i just. do you ever think about john ronald reuel tolkien???

Maedhros built up a high pain resistance from Angband; particularly to the burning sensation. Considering how low he thinks of himself, it’s likely he expected the Silmaril to burn him. He didn’t think he was redemptive, he thought I can take it.

Part of why Maedhros acts so viciously is because that’s how life treated him. I can take it if my brothers die. I can take it if I’m damned for eternity. I can take it if everybody thinks I’m a monster.

He’s proud, and he’s suffering. He won’t back down, he will succeed or be martyred.

@feanorianweek Day 7: Miriel

Maybe Miriel wasn’t there physically, but she was present every small struggle and every tiny moment of joy in her grandchildren’s lives.

♡(ꈍ ᴗ ꈍ✿)

(part of the now camed “Eramos Felices y no lo Sabiamos” series, a.k.a. 5 times a Feanorian was not appreciating the moment and 1 time one did + 1)

°˖✧ Happy Feanorian Week! I hope you enjoyed it!! ✧˖° 

+

@feanorianweek Día 7: Miriel

Tal vez Miriel no estaba físicamente ahí, pero ella estuvo presente en cada momento de conflicto y cada momento de alegría en la vida de sus nietos

♡(ꈍ ᴗ ꈍ✿)

(parte de la recién bautizada serie “Eramos Felices y no lo Sabiamos" a.k.a. 5 veces que un hijo de Feanor no disfruto el momento y 1 vez que sí + 1)

°˖✧ Feliz Semana de Feanorians! ✧˖°  

It simply does not matter how many times I rewatch Lord of The Rings or The Hobbit. I feel all the same emotions and cry just as much every time.

Here’s the thing that separates Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy from Amazon’s Rings of Power and why I wish people would stop calling out so called ‘hypocrisy’ when fans defend lotr and criticize rop.

The lotr film trilogy was made by independent filmmakers who weren’t in it for the money, profit, recognition, or accolades. They were invested purely out of love for their craft and love of Middle Earth. They poured their SOULS into every ounce of the films, devoted YEARS of their lives to create a twelve hour epic masterpiece, brimming with HEART, and SOUL, and PASSION, and LOVE!! Lord of the Rings is overflowing with GENUINE EMOTION — none of it contrived to manipulate a sense of nostalgia or “feels” — and utter respect for the Professor’s creation. And for all those people who keep pointing out that ‘they didn’t follow the books to the letter either’, in every instance where they deviated from the source material, THEY ADMITTED IT AND GAVE REASONS FOR WHY THEY FELT THEY HAD TO GO IN THAT DIRECTION!! They apologized!! They did what they felt they had to do to make the best movies they could. You know what that is? Respect. They held true to Tolkien’s themes, and they refused to politicize them. They aimed to make the best films they could, for the best fans in the world. The fact that they revolutionized both the filmmaking and the fantasy industry while they were at it was just a happy accident. Are they 100% perfect? No. But are they Perfect? Yes.

My number one takeaway from every trailer, promotion, and clip I’ve seen from Rings of Power is that there is no soul. All of it seems so contrived to engineer a certain *feeling*, but it falls flat. Why? Because Amazon, by its nature, is not capable of doing Tolkien any semblance of justice.

It was the artists working out of their backyards and basements, travelling around their country to find the best locations, pouring hours and hours of passion into every costume, prop, and set, devoting themselves completely to making the best they were capable of, only they could do it.

Okay, all I wanted to know what which Quenya words originally had þ instead of s, and instead I stumbled on this thing, and now I need to make it other people's problem.

So I knew a large part of why Feanor was so...twitchy about the þ vs. s thing was because of his mom's name, Miriel þerinde. What I did not know was that, while the verb þer- means "to sew", which means that "þerinde" is "seamstress", there was also a verb ser- before the þer- verb changed.

The original ser- means "to rest". So after the pronunciation shift, "Serinde" could mean either "seamstress" or "she who rests".

Considering that Feanor lost his mom because giving birth to him took so much out of her that she essentially had to permanently rest...I can see why this would be such an incredibly sore point with him.

It's not just about "hey, quit mispronouncing my mom's name", it's about "quit calling my mom 'the one who couldn't hack it and had to go away forever' and use the name that describes her as a craftswoman, you complete troglodytes".

I just realize something that made my blood boil.

You know how a lot of people in the fandom hate how Maglor had mercy on Elrond and Elrond and raised them as his own?

And how they try to twist and pervert that relationship into something abusive, selfish, and/or manipulative?

What if it was Maedhros?

And why do I feel like if it was him, everyone would be at his defense and write fan fictions, draw fanart, and love this family dynamic more than when it was Maglor?

Why does Maglor seem to have the most issues in the Silmarillion fandom, more than Maedhros?

Why do many people try to make Maglor into an even worse person than Maedhros despite what- albeit little- canon lore said about him?

Lastly, why did Tolkien make so many changes and switch so many things about those two in order make their characters consistent? Not to mention actually giving them character arcs…

You know, I’m staring to think that if Maedhros had found Elured and Elurín- and quite possibly raised them- the whole fandoms would’ve equally supported that dynamic.

I’m also guessing by the reason the fandom seems to like and defend Maedhros so much is because he is the ‘hot ginger’ out of the two brothers.

After all, you can project whatever you want out of a ‘blank page’, but you can’t touch the so-called ‘masterpiece’.

I’m not attacking anyone, I don’t want to attack anyone, heck maybe I’m wrong and all of Tolkien’s words are misleading from his true vision. I’m attempting to defend and respect the material that he worked so hard on, and sadly never finished.

Oh and just to be PERFECTLY clear, Maglor is not a good person, neither is Maedhros!

I just want the facts to be made clear. Maglor is a son of Feanor, a fierce killer, who committed 3 kinslayings! That is not the topic I’m discussing.

This is about the guilt, sorrow, and compassion he expressed for two orphaned boys at the end of the last kinsalying.

“For Maglor took pity upon Elrond and Elrond, and he cherished them, as little might be thought, but Maglor’s heart was sick and weary with the burden of the dreadful oath.”

- J R.R. Tolkien

is it just me or did they copy and paste steve harrington’s hair onto elrond

i actually literally do not care if tolkien ever wrote in drafts* that elves are seven feet tall and stronger than humans bc it does not match up to his stories. like saeros being scared bc Túrin was stronger than elves and aragorn and boromir bragging about how strong men are in the snow. if legolas is stronger + taller why isn’t he digging them out? elves having lighter weapons and boats. elves not putting men in their tree houses but being okay with the hobbits bc they aren’t scared of them. why would elves need to hide if they’re stronger + have magic? why is the dragon-helm to heavy for them? why is aragorn the tallest of the company if legolas is seven feet tall? how could nienor disguise as an elf?

for one thing it’s boring to have them be both magical and also stronger but also so many of his stories just fall apart. there are entire plots that rely on elves being not as strong as Men. elves of varying heights has always been interesting to me with some reaching ten feet and some under five feet. and average elf soldier being stronger than average not soldier human is fine too but elves have super human strength is just not something that holds out against plots

like i do not care dungeons and dragons** can do whatever they want but from my encounters with folk tales elves being not as strong as Men is very on point and tolkien’s stories literally fall apart without it. not to say elves are weak. just to say aragorn is stronger + taller than legolas any way i’ve ever looked at the story. and i think elves stronger + taller and also having magic is just boring and i refuse to go by it. have all elves be seven feet tall in your stories or whatever. i will continue with my version bc i can’t make sense of tolkien’s stories without it and elves need a weakness for interesting points and to make the plot work

which is to say i don’t want to have to keep saying this in the fanfic i write you are not more right than i am and tolkien can say whatever he wants he wrote a structure into his stories i will keep in mine for Interest

*haven’t been able to pinpoint where this motion is from

**no idea if elves being taller and stronger is a thing from dnd bc i don’t know it but i see it pop up in some video games

me, to myself: I've been ranting for over 20 years about my gripes with the Peter Jackson LOTR movies and especially their tremendously influential (mis)handling of Gondor, Aragorn, the legacy of Númenor, Elrond, etc, and been consistently annoyed by how much their fans insist on uncritical glorification while also trying to present themselves as fandom underdogs who must defend these inescapable behemoths from the smallest slight. Maybe I should try to focus on other things and put them behind me.

[news: Jackson is making a new LOTR project involving Aragorn and Gollum]

me: alternately, maybe I will never be free

Comments on the Rings of Power Instagram page are frankly so embarrassing. Whole grown ass adults whining about something that they will never watch just to yuck other people’s yum and to be racist and sexist like do they not fucking have lives