#carlandrea
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So the thing about the PJ films going all in for the “Girl Power!” stuff is that it’s really not the situation that’s happening in the books?
Now, for some reason that I don’t understand, the political situation and actual plot of the Rohan arc of LotR got completely gutted and rewritten to something that makes significantly less sense than the text, and Éowyn’s storyline really suffers as a result.
In the book (and this is vastly simplifying things), instead of evacuating everyone (including civilians) from Edoras to Helm’s Deep, the army rides out to meet Saruman’s Uruk-hai in battle and realizes that shit is significantly worse than they’d anticipated. They pick the Hornburg as a reasonable place for a last stand, and Gandalf leaves to try and gather other fighters to provide support. The army is coming for them and the battle will happen, and they pick what they hope will be a good place to defend, since they’re significantly more outnumbered than they suspected. Théoden never tries to get out of fighting, he’s trying to make sure he controls the where + how + when of the coming storm.
While all this was happening, Éowyn was acting as a sort of regent, and this is the responsibility that is once again extended to her when the King and her brother and the army ride to war. Her being “left behind” and barred from fighting is her being charged with the defense of her people and told to lead them in the stead of their King. That’s not a responsibility given to someone who’s seen as incapable of leadership or making decisive and good choices! She’s also given mail and a sword to act as signs that in an emergency she’s got military authority.
Now, when she and Aragorn argue, she directly links this to her gender - she feels and she says that the only reason she’s being given this less-prestigious less-worthy job is because she’s a woman. The Rohirrim value prowess on the field of battle, and she desperately wants to be valued, but she thinks that because she’s a girl she’s locked out of that boys’ club. She says so outright (the excellent “You have leave to be burned with the house” line). What’s of course actually going on is that she’s suicidal and not thinking clearly, and she sees being given a less-prestigious role out of necessity as a sign that she’s not valued, and this aspect of her characterization is more relevant later in the Houses of Healing.
(Now, Tolkien writes about Éowyn in a very sexist way. He does this pretty consistently, and getting around that to see what’s actually going on with her character is basically step 1 of interpreting how to treat her in a fanwork or adaptation. It’s very clear that he himself has a lot of opinions about how she ought to be behaving and you can’t escape those when you’re looking at her. I don’t personally think they impact the themes of her story arc, but that’s a matter of reader opinion really.)
all this to say - Éowyn is not being told by the characters that she can’t fight because she’s a girl. The narrative is certainly arguing that, but it’s also arguing that being eager to die and kill is flawed and that basing your self-worth on how good you are at being violent isn’t sustainable and that there can be joy after depression. It also features a sequence later where something similar happens to men - when the suicide distraction run on the Morannon is in progress, Aragorn directs soldiers who are scared to go on and maybe die but who are afraid to admit this because they don’t want to be seen as unmanly or cowardly to take part in rebuilding efforts and repair work.
As a result, PJ and Fran and Philippa had a chance to really make Éowyn’s story about everything but gender, everything that’s going on in the actual themes and subtext of the book. They could have ignored Tolkien’s sexism, and made her a more fleshed-out person. Instead, they gave us “everyone (even the heroes) thinks this girl can’t fight because she’s a girl, and she proves them wrong!” The whole “war is the province of men, Éowyn” scene just exists to hammer home the presence of sexism that isn’t there in the world itself, and so her entire Thing is “but I’m a girl with a sword”.
I kind of think that’s dumb, you know?
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Bombalurina
Bombalurina feels like one of those people who’s always in jeans-and-a-tee-shirt but once in a blue moon she’ll show up in the most outrageous glamorous fashionista outfit for no reason. And she slays.
(I know the reds don’t match shhhh)
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art trademark! a sort of stately elegance. Clean lines and clean patterns. Very shaped. muted colors. I adore your art btw
yay I'm glad! i'm Always trying trying to make things more shaped tbh they can always be more shaped so I'm so glad that comes across :)
#& it's nice it looks clean askjdhfkjsahdf I often feeling it's sort of a mess so that's reassuring#thoughts#ask#carlandrea
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fic title: memento mori
Title ask game!
This is such a good title, and I couldn't decide between my ideas, so you get both of my completely opposing concepts that I adore with all my heart.
memento mori (carpe diem): absolute crack, founded in my firm conviction that accidents are universal and some unlucky elf(s) must have died in Valinor before Miriel did, even if they got booted out of Mandos pretty quick (less trauma involved in slipping off a ladder than being skewered by an orc). One such Vanya is unluckier than the rest. Maybe they ran into Morgoth on parole on a bad day and got cursed, who knows. Let's call them Entulessë. Follow their exploits as they remain unfailingly cheerful and optimistic in the face of constant death and reembodiment, firmly convinced that this time everything will be fine, and that a little spurt of bad luck isn't going to stop them for volunteering to try out the latest invention- a parachute, was it? Enjoy how they never learn and how Lord Namo becomes increasingly resigned to a familiar face beginning to play messenger between dead Exiles and their families, because what else are they going to do? Write a paper on their unique experience to broaden the knowledge in the world? What are they, a Noldo? (Namo: With how Doomed you seem to be I wouldn't put it past you.)
memento mori (iterum): Elves get reembodiment, humans get reincarnation. If Beren and Luthien don't have love strong enough to last through lifetimes, literally who does? Tooth-aching fluff and soft bittersweetness over lifetimes of falling in love and getting to know each other and living and dying all over again, from the end of the First Age to modern times. Also a little bit of meta-humor as regardless of the circumstance they're always reborn just outside the main plotline/events, and I see how many variations on Luthien's names I can force to make sense. The goal here is to make people tear up from the Emotions.
#asks#carlandrea#title ask game#honestly i think i might write both of these#they spark joy#entulesse
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also, Legolas 🎵
Interestinggg. I have basically no Legolas opinions, so it was pretty challenging! But for the Legolas/Gimli folk, I couldn't resist:
Orange-Colored Sky | Natalie Cole
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Legolas, Gimli, Aragorn
AWESOME THANK YOU
Knead- Legolas but very very gently. Really I’m giving him a nice massage
Shakey shakey - Aragorn I think…I bet he has some cool stuff in his pockets that he found on his travels. Nice rocks and leaves and stuff
Washing machine- Gimli bc I love to rotate him as you know BUT I don’t want to hurt him in there! So washing machine on a very low setting 😔❣️
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i first met you when you left just the LOVELIEST tags on my Luthien drawings
The tags were well deserved!
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Legolas playlist?
Yes! Here is is on Spotify and here it is on Youtube - you will notice that there is an extra song on the YouTube playlist because Adele McAllister isn't on Spotify but hers is my favourite rendition of Legolas' Gull song.
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Thranduil :)?
Yay! Thanks for asking. I am very fond of Thranduil, as you know. However, actually doing this bingo made me realize I don’t actually know what some of these boxes meant in the context of Tumblr blorbos, so I put little question marks on them. Thranduil didn’t quite get a bingo, because one does not survive the Second Age by being a himbo.
I bet the Second Age Noldor & Celeborn-aligned Sindar thought Thranduil had Chihuahua Energy & was perpetually lost (and that he was a feral cryptid, per Tolkien’s notes on Oropher & co returning to the woods), but I’m a wood-elf sympathizer, so it is what it is.
Thank you for asking about my Thranduil headcanons in Blorbo bingo!!
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Thoughts on tuggerlurina?
Thank you for asking! We're getting right into the good stuff I see.
I have Opinions on this but overall it goes like this:
I Don't Ship It
Why don't I ship it?
I just feel like it's mostly sexual tension. HOWEVER. I feel like they would have a very strong platonic bond (I'm very okay with them having a casual friends with benefits arrangement, but I don't always headcanon that). I feel like they could have a really deep, only-you-can-understand-me relationship (especially Tugger towards Bomba), with Bomba being the one Tugger can just expose his raw feelings and thoughts to.
Honestly, it's less that I don't ship it moreso that I don't think about it? It's not a Notp, it's not an Otp either, it's just There and doesn't bother me at all. (For example: if I find a Tuggerlurina fic with a good summary, I might check it out and not be dissuaded by the ship, but I wouldn't go seeking out specific fics with them).
I just don't actively ship it, and I feel like I would be misclassifying it if I listed it as a ship. But I'm not against it.
What would have made me ship it?
So. What I love about Cats is that it's sung-through. What I cry about about Cats is that it's sung-through. (This is where fics come in.)
Honestly, I HAVE shipped it in a few ships - but always in a casual way, never something fluffy and exclusive or anything. *
I guess if we had more interaction between them? I mostly see their relationship being shown as sexual only in most productions, with little actual depth, so that hinders my appreciation of the ship.
I 100% ship it platonically, though. From the very first fic I read.
Positive thoughts?
Many! But again, I see them mostly platonically. I typically can see them together in casual affection (honestly I have imagined a few times a poly relationship with Tuggoffelurina, with aro Misto (which goes against the usual terms, I know, but it makes sense in my head!! Just the three of them together)), and I don't mind seeing fanart. (In those cases, I tend to focus more on the techniques though, and the art in itself, rather than the characters and emotions. Mostly because romantic Tuggerlurina doesn't conjure up any emotion in me.)
But I absolutely don't mind seeing them! I've even enjoyed a few pics and a few fics. Just not my personal thing as romantic.
As platonic, again, very many positive thoughts.
*to be fair:
My interpretation of Bomba VASTLY depends on the context. Most of the time, and especially in close-to-canon fics that happen around or after the Ball, I see her as not looking for a relationship, so naturally I don't see Tuggerlurina there. I would kill for a friendship fic with them though after the Ball. And just Bomba being casual! It's one of the words I associate most with her.
BUT. In AUs (especially human), I see her as more vulnerable and open to romance. Or aro. It completely changes. Either aro or open to romance, depending on how I'm feeling usually.
Thank you so much for asking! It allowed me to think about a character I don't usually have many thoughts about, so this was cool, thanks!
enjoy one of the only gifs of bomba that aren't either taylor swift or unrelated to bomba (there is some VERY random stuff)
tl;dr I like it, not necessarily romantically.
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for the character bingo (it was yesterday so it's cool if you're not still doing it), Demeter?
I did a bingo card for Demeter here!
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someone aught to get that woman under control..
fanart for @carlandrea's regency au because i am not immune to demeter looking distressed while wearing pretty dresses
#my art#demeter#demeter cats#cats the musical#cats musical#cats au#cats musical au#i dont know much about regency fashion truth be told so i drew her in just like. a real actual dress#i would have done more but i put so much effort into the details of the dress i was Not doing a background#when in doubt slap some neon rim lighting on there looks awesome every time#anyways if u arent following carlandrea yet. what are u doing go look at their art
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Demeter!
First impression: I don’t remember what my first impression of her was. There is a photo of me in a cardboard cutout of her in the lobby from when I was little though
Impression now: I honestly still don’t know. Demeter’s really a fan favorite but I see so many variations and takes on her that I don’t have a cohesive image of her in my mind.
Favorite moment: gotta love the Macavity reveal
Idea for a story: can’t think of anything at the moment—i feel like Demeter would really be suited to a romanticized American 1950s setting though
Unpopular opinion: gosh idk I don’t think I really have many opinions about Demeter in general.
Favorite relationship: Demelurina. I do like demestrap too though
Favorite headcanon: that she’s Jemima’s mom :)
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a while back when there was that "what does the blog I reblogged this from taste like" ask going around you said my blog tasted like spiced pears cooked in red wine so ANYWAYS. I decided to try to make that because of that and it was delicious 💖 so thank you 💖
!!! I'm so glad!!! that was one of my favorite deserts growing up I'm so happy you liked it <3
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📖
Ask game
My post about Cirdan secretly being Ulmo? That I intended mostly as a one-off crack idea? Yeah it Will Not Die. @aniseandspearmint mentioned in an absolutely brilliant reblog that it would mess with the Sauron-as-Annatar situation and. I have no idea what to do with that but it C O M P E L S me in the bestworse way possible. I have no idea what I would do with any of it, but I know it would end up being formatted as a very very long one-or-two-shot going through the ages of Middle Earth from Cirdan/Ulmo's perspective... Also I maybe Nienna knows and is being a bro covering for him?
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Faramir! 🎵
Oh, starting off with a bang with my Middle-earth favorite! I do have a House of Húrin playlist (surprise), so I think I'd pick this one from it:
Heart of Courage | Two Steps From Hell
I think it may be partly the association with this well-known but intriguing quote from Tolkien's letters:
As far as any character is ‘like me,’ it is Faramir– except that I lack what all my characters possess (let the psychoanalysts note!) Courage.
I do like the mixture of strength and beauty for him, though!
#carlandrea#respuestas#jewel of the seashore#legendarium blogging#meme prattle#my little piano: music is magic#húrinionath
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