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apinkheartinmiddle-earth · 1 year

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I was watching The Two Towers again recently and I realized something about Eowyn. Many paint her as this strong badass woman who doesn’t take shit from anyone, which is still true in a sense. However, people tend to forget that she is still a flawed character and has a long way to go in the story so far.

This was probably the intention of the scene, but when she was complaining about having to be with the women in the caves, it kind of left a bad taste in my mouth. The women of Rohan tending to the children and finding food is still an important task, after all. Eowyn was practically looking down on them because they weren’t doing the badass stuff assigned to the men. More so because she couldn’t be able to join the men in battle. She fails to see that someone needs hold the fort so that the warriors have a home to come back to. Without those staying at home, Rohan would fall apart.

It was good on Aragorn for calling the women’s duties an honorable charge because he knows damn well that their role is just as important as those in battle. I love how he holds them in highest respect for it and calls out Eowyn for how she talks down on them. Aragorn is calling out Eowyn for her internalized misogyny, basically.

Now, I am not going to drag Eowyn and call her awful (why the fuck would I, I literally love her). I’m trying to look at this from a place of understanding at how she could have possibly got this mindset in the first place. It just suddenly struck me that one of the reasons she probably thinks this way is because she didn’t really grow up with a significant mother or female figure in her life whose duties involved the home. She was raised by a man whose job was to command armies. Therefore, she has never truly understood why these women chose to hold the fort instead of going out into the trenches. Tending to the house and taking care of the children is an inherently thankless job but a very important one nonetheless.

Eowyn putting down these women and their duties was perhaps because of her lack of understanding, not because she held any resentment towards them. In fact, she probably wanted them to fight alongside the men like what she desired for herself. But it bears repeating that what she fails to see is that someone has to take care of matters at home. It would be amazing if the women of Rohan had the opportunity to go into battle, but alas, they have to stay there since they have little say in doing so. Sexist? Quite. But the women are still doing their job at home the best they can.

Weirdly enough, that scene of Eowyn complaining to Aragorn actually made her character development all the more meaningful to me. Remember by the end when she decided to become a healer and love all things that grow? Yeah, some people didn’t fuck with it because they thought Eowyn was going to become dainty and submissive. However, I rocked with Eowyn making that decision.

This was the turning point in Eowyn’s story when she realized that war fucking sucks and that her worth shouldn’t come from how many enemies she can slay or how traumatized she can get from the horrors of war. She finally chose to prioritize love, kindness, gentleness, growth, and happiness. That’s about the most badass thing someone can do, to be completely honest. As a result, Eowyn has surely grown from looking down on the mothers and other carers in Rohan.

This is in no way trying diminish her typical badass heroine characteristics, but to show people that she still really had a long way to go in spite of her obvious strengths. It’s just that her battling capabilities and desire to fight with the armies don’t necessarily make her better than those who are just trying to keep their families safe and fed at home. I love how she grew from this mindset and chose instead to be empowering in her own way without the need to put down other women who obviously had important jobs to do.

#lord of the rings #lotr #tolkien #eowyn #aragorn #middle-earth #feminism #eowyn of rohan #lotr meta #lotr eowyn #text #the lord of the rings #the two towers #miranda otto #jrr tolkien #rohan #lord of the rings headcanons #lotr headcanon #lotr headcanons

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hollers-and-holmes · 2 years

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Story tag game: the thing with the kid and the assassination?

This one exists very clearly in my mind but I’ve only got about three chapters dredged up and actually written 😂 Some of it is posted on AO3, I’ll smouch an excerpt from there. Basically a teenager joins the Rangers because his religious sect wants him to establish himself as a plant and then kill Aragorn who they consider a usurper. Once again I chose the dreaded First Person, because I have a condition or something.

Four weeks. A month at the tender mercies of Sador son of Sadroc, Captain of the Rangers, chief provost, judge, and executioner, connoisseur of quality miseries and curator of time-honored torments.

There are six of us. I am the oldest, the others stripling cadets, fourteen or fifteen years old, gangly and speckle-faced, their voices still fumbling around for a man’s timbre and often laying hold instead of something far more girlish in the pitch. To a one they can outrun, outshoot, outfence, and outstrip me over rough ground, so I don’t spend much time pointing out their adolescent absurdities. Don’t talk much at all, which has always come easiest to me.

I get the impression it is not customary, this arrangement. The other fellows certainly gave me strange, gawking looks when I joined them in their tiny gap-slatted little barracks on the edge of the camp. Now that I think of it, I suppose it is strange there are no more recruits my own age. I know they run continual continuous training for the army proper down in the River Camp, trying to get those common lads as handy with a sword as they are a pitchfork. Why there aren’t more of a similar sort up here, I haven’t yet determined.

Maybe it’s the food. Beards of the Avalôi, it is vile stuff. Slop the color of what spurts out of a spring-fluxed calf. Must make it that way on purpose so no one complains that there’s never enough.

Not enough sleep, either. Some days I run around feeling like a fat man, like my flesh is too heavy to hold on my bones. I have never spent so much time awake in the dark; we return in it and leave in it and sometimes trek right through it until the sun creeps up again and saner people rise full-rested.

It occurs to me that I am soft.

They’re good lads, though. Once the gawping is over they aren’t too hard on me. They’re too young to rag me bloody the way an older bunch might have.

Slowly, I lag a little less. Hit a few more targets. Narrow the gap in number between bruises I take and ones I dole out.

My trousers get looser and my belt tighter.

Sador cusses us a lot and whacks around a lot with the flat of his sword and calls us all little girls in lace knickers and makes us spend hours out in the undergrowth trying to move through it secret as ghosts, which we inevitably fail at, and the cussing and whacking and name-calling can recommence.

When we camp he sits up smoking and watching the dark and I don’t think he sleeps. Does he sleep? I have not seen him do it.

We build a bridge in between the drilling. What that has to do with soldiering I have yet to lay ahold of, unless it serves as a good stand-in exercise for being told to move faster and shut up while you’re at it.

I stand with a brutally heavy beam across my shoulders, waiting for the crew to fill the pylon-hole with mortar and set the post. The Captain leans up leisurely against the weight I’m holding, not doing much to share the load.

“You don’t want to be here, lad,” he tells me conversationally. He carries a plug of dried galenas in the pocket of his grey fatigues and lifts it out two-fingered to carve away a sliver with his beltknife and pack into his bottom lip. “You’re not fooling anyone, we know what you left behind. A pretty little inheritance. An estate at your leisure when all this is over and done. Men like us are the ones who die so men like you don’t have to. Why don’t you go home and let us?”

The the muscles of my back and legs are starting to cramp. I keep my eyes out on the hills. Somewhere far behind me the faint roar of the river. That bridge would have taken more than the backs of half-grown green recruits to put up. This little tributary a trickle in comparison with old Hoarwell.

“These lads, you know,” he goes on, leaning a little heavier, his knife now whittling away at the stony calluses at the top of his palm, “These lads, they were born to it. They were skulking around like shadows before they’d started to lose their baby teeth. Medlinion there is the fourteenth in a line, Ranger’s all of them. I’ve already got to watch my step he’s so quick with a sword. He was bred and raised to wear the Star. These others are like him. But you…” he taps me on the collarbone with the tip of his bright little knife. “You were bred and raised to hold out that big gold ring for serfs to kneel and kiss.”

I have not worn the thing since I have been here. Sometimes the things this bastard knows rub me right down to a gall. But I do not take his bait. There are cranes there in the field beyond the little river. I see them standing, stepping, ducking down to drill the sward. Spring is here in earnest, despite the hard frost still brittling the grass each morning. My mother and her ladies will put in the early fields, soon.

The beam gnaws my shoulders. The Captain leans in closer yet. He says to me, “If you wanted, you could have a gold-liveried charger and a seat at the officer’s table every night. I know the commission your father’s name would buy you in that troublemaking Tarîkthôr’s little club.”

I can smell the sweet, sticky herb he’s chewing, the molasses that holds it packed together, the danker, staler stench of old man’s breath, like dry white mold. The cranes light up at some unseen startlement and strive into the sky, clattering at one another their strange, repeated cries. They look far too gangly to fly, but fly they do, and drift to motes on the cold grey horizon, and disappear.

The old man says very softly, “What are you doing here, usurper’s son.”

Men come then, their pylons buried at last, and lift the beam from off my shoulders to fix it in its place. I step out from under its weight and my back feels like a decrepit’s back, that straightening it might snap me in half like a dead stick.

But straighten I do. I am bare to the waist. It is warmer today. Or maybe the cold is ceasing to trouble me the way it used to.

I bend for the next beam and heave it up while my muscles shriek and plead for mercy and I say as I shuffle past, “I’m here because I like the food.”

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warrioreowynofrohan · 3 years

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Today in Tolkien - February 16th

This is the day when the Fellowship leave Lothlórien and begins their journey down the River Anduin. Quite a lot fits into the day, so I’m going to track it chronologically.

First, in the morning as the Fellowship is packing up, elves of Lothlórien come and bring them lembas and elven-cloaks. Both are an example of the value and dignity of practical crafts within elven society; Galadriel personally works on making the cloaks of Lothlórien (“she and her maidens wove this stuff”), and of the nature of “elf-magic” being tied to their close relationship with the natural world (“leaf and branch, water and stone: they have the hue and beauty of all these things under the twilight of Lórien that we love”; and “grey with the hue of twilight under the trees they seemed to be; and yet if they were moved, or set in another light, they were green as shadowed leaves, or brown as fallow fields by night, dusk-silver as water under the stars”). It’s quite possible that this is the first time non-elves have been given lembas since the time of Túrin Turambar, and the second time in all Elven history.

After having breakfast, the Fellowship are preparing to leave the site where they have camped for the last month. Haldir comes to meet them as their guide (he’s come a lomg way from the borders, so it’s likely that the “guide” thing is an excuse and he’s come to say good-bye). He tells them that “The Dimrill Dale is full of vapour and clouds of smoke, and the mountains are troubled; there are noises in the deeps of the earth” - likely consequences of the battle between Gandalf and the balrog.

As they walked through Caras Galadhon the green ways were empty; but in the trees above them many voices were murmuring and singing. They temselves went silently. At last Haldir led them down the southward slopes of the hill, and they came again to the great gate hung with lamps, and to the white bridge; and so they passed out and left the city of the Elves. Then they turned away from the paved road and took a path that went off into a deep thicket of mallorn-trees, and passed on, winding through rolling woodlands of silver shadow, leading them ever down, southwards and eastwards, towards the shores of the River.

They had gone some ten miles and noon was at hand when they came on a high green wall. Passing through an opening they came suddenly out of the trees. Before them lay a long lawn of shining grass, studded with golden elanor that glinted in the sun. The lawn ran out into a narrow tongue between bright margins: on the right and west the Silverlode flowed glittering; on the left and east the Great River rolled its broad waters, deep and dark...One the bank of the Silverlode, at some distance up from the meeting of the streams, there was a hythe of white stones and white wood. By it were moored many boats and barges. Some were brightly painted, and shone wuth silver and gold and green, but most were either white or grey.

New word for me: hythe. Even my 1950s OED doesn’t know it! Fortunately, Google knows everything, and tells me it is an “archaic” word meaning “a small harbour or landing-place,” which is what I expected from the context.

There are thee boats for the Fellowship, and elves provide them with rope, to Sam’s satisfaction. The Fellowship practice with the boats by rowing a ways up the Silverlode. They meet Galadriel and Celeborn in a great swan-ship:

The water rippled on either side of the white breast beneath its curving neck. Its beak shone like burnished gold, and its eyes glinted like jet set in yellow stones; its huge white wings were half-lifted.

This matches the description of the swan-ships of the Teleri that Fëanor stole and destroyed, described in the Silmarillion: “Their ships...were made in the likeness of swans, with beaks of gold and eyes of gold and jet.” Galadriel’s mother is Telerin, and so the ship, as much as her song of lament (“What ship would bear me ever back across so wide a Sea?”), is a sign of her homesickness.

The Fwllowship, Celeborn, and Galadriel return to the green lawn at the angle of the two rivers for their parting meal. It is a fitting place: still within Lothlórien, but looking across the rivers to the mallorn-less shores beyond its southern and eastern borders. Galadriel seems changed to Frodo, and it may be not only his perception, but the result of her choice, refusing the Ring, to “diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel”:

She seemed no longer perilous or terrible, nor filled with hidden power. Already she seemed to him, as by men of later days Elves still at times are seen: present and yet remote, a living vision of that which has already been left far behind by the flowing streams of Time.

Celeborn gives the Fellowship advice on their onward journey, speaking of the Brown Lands and the Emyn Muil, of the rapids of Sarn Gebir and the falls of Rauros, of the Dead Marshes and the plains of Gorgoroth, of Rohan and the Forest of Fangorn. Since all this territory is likely familiar to Aragorn, this is likely as much for the reader’s benefit as the Fellowship’s. He warns them not to become entangled in Fangorn, “a strange land, and now little known”; with the spread of Men across the plains of Rohan, it is likely now many years since the Elves and the Ents have spoken.

Boromir, showing more warning signs, though subtler than the previous night, dismisses the stories of Fangorn as “old wives’ tales, such as we tell to our children”, and then digresses to brag/complain about his difficulties in reaching Rivendell: “A long and wearisome journey...and it took me many months, for I lost my horse at Tharbad, at the fording of the Greyflood. After that journey, and the road I have trodden with this Company, I do not much doubt that I shall find a way through Rohan, and Fongorn too, if need be.” He is clearly feeling both proud and aggrieved. Notably, Aragorn, with far broader experience and travel of Middle-earth that Boromir, says no such things.

Galadriel then gives gifts to the Fellowship. To Aragorn, a scabbard overlaid with tracery of leaves and flowers of silver and gold, with words in gemstones spelling out that it in Andúril, reforged from Narsíl, the blade of Elendil. And along with this, the Elessar, the elfstone, which Arwen gave her to give to him: “a great stone of a clear green, set in a silver brooch that was wrought in the likeness of an eagle with outspread wings.” The Elessar is, from some versions of Unfinished Tales, an enhancement to healing abilities; the fact that Galadriel gave it to Celebrian and Celebrian to Arwen suggests that Celebrian and Arwen may both have used healing abilities as well. (Arwen, as Elrond’s daughter, would be particularly likely to be trained in it. Wouldn’t it be neat if the gemstone she gives to Frodo at the end, to help him in times of sickness and ill memory, was one she made herself, a combination of jewel-craft and healing?)

And, for all the fandom focus on how many people Elrond has lost, it’s worth remembering here that Galadriel is parted from her father and mother, her brothers are long dead, and her daughter departed for Valinor terribly ill and broken-spirited after having been captured by orcs; and unlike Elrond, at this moment she does not know if she will ever be able to see them again. Elrond at least knows he will see his parents and his wife again, in time. Galadriel also knows she is going to lose her granddaughter; indeed, she had a hand it it, practically matchmaking Aragorn and Arwen on the occasion when they became engaged.

Galadriel’s gift to Sam, of the earth and the mallorn-nut, is particularly touching: she knows from his vision in the mirror that the Shire will likely not be untouched by the war, and that the loss of the trees in particular distresses Sam; and she gives him a gift that can amend it.

And Gimli, of course, asks for a strand of Galadriel’s hair, and recieves three. I could say more on the interactions between these two, but I’ll try to keep it to this: in all the language concerning Gimli and Galadriel, Galadriel’s beauty is not used simply or even mainly to mean physical appearance, but to stand in for goodness, kindness and understanding. Gimli’s answer for what he would do with the hair is “treasure it...in memory of your words to me at our first meeting,” when she understood and defended the dwarves’ love of their home and spoke their place-names in the dwarf-tongue. Similarly, when he demands Eómer “acknowledge Galadriel as the fairest of ladies” if ever he sees her, he is responding to Eómer insulting Galadriel’s character, not her looks. Beauty here means something more than beauty.

And to Frodo she gives the Phial of Galadriel, holding the light of Eärendil’s star that is the Silmaril; a parallel and inverse of the Silmaril, a gift to be given rather than a possession to be clung to; and fitting for the end of the Noldor’s presence in Middle-earth, as the Silmarils drove their arrival there.

The Fellowship at last departs from Lothlórien, and Galadriel’s song in Quenya flows down to them on the wind.

So the Company went on their long way, down the wide hurrying waters, borne ever southwards. Bare woods stalked along either bank, and they could not see any glimpse of the lands behind. The breeze died away as the River flowed without a sound. No voice of bird broke the silence. The sun grew misty as the day grew old, until it gleamed in a pale sky like a high white pearl. Then it faded into the West, and dusk came early, followed by a grey and starless night.

#tolkien #today in tolkien #the lord of the rings #galadriel #aragorn #aragorn x arwen #arwen #boromir #gimli #sam gamgee #the silmarillion

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gilded-green · 3 years

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In celebration of the 10th anniversary, I’ll probably reread GG and send updates/highlight areas and as for commentary. Probably XD

But first. What aspect of Gilded Green was your favorite? What was something you put in a lot of world building for but never got to show either in fic or on tumblr. Who is your favorite character and why, what makes them special in your eyes? Which character has turned into a completely different one as soon as you started writing them? Which part of the fic did you like most when you finished it, do you still like it? Similarly, which part do you dislike most?

Lasty, anything about gg2’s story you want to share/talk about/rant?

-love, the dai li fangirl

Haha, no pressure! But at the same time yes if you do feel free to send me passages for commentary here! <3

What aspect was my favorite? Hmmm. *thinking face* I think, when I first came up with it, I was just thrilled to have these two small things - minor character Lu Ten, overlooked villain organization Dai Li - that I was able to combine into something so big. That was pretty nifty!

As I started developing the story, I think what really caught my attention was the fact that “Wow, all these characters are awful people!” Like. The Dai Li aren’t good.The Fire Nation aren’t good. Lu Ten is a victim but also an oppressor. All off these people have extremely different beliefs and worldviews - Fire supremacist, police state enforcers, classist academic gatekeepers - and all of them think THEY’RE in the right here and none of them are. I think Tien and Hoang might be the only people with a decent, non-oppressive worldview in the story so far. XD I was growing out of the storytelling trope of black-and-white morality at the time, so it was really fun to start experimenting with writing awful people as enjoyable, sympathetic characters.

World building? Hmm. I was just learning how to use my worldbuilding muscles back then. I seem to remember reading up a lot on how brainwashing actually works in the real world and going “I don’t think this is compatible with what we have in ATLA” and just kinda tossing that whole thing out. XD I also recall looking up a lot of stuff for the bits about Jouin, some of which - kalua pig! - has since shown up again in WFFD. I also recall someone on FFdotnet at the time saying “All this chapter did was tell us more about a dead character than the living one” and I was just kinda like -_- yes because he is DEAD and this is your chance to feel sorry about that, we’ll get plenty more of the living one later on account of him still being, y’know, alive. XD

Oh, and Shirong’s personal side projects. I finally got into that a bit in A Meeting of Minds, but the dude DOES have his own stuff going on, which Delun so rudely interrupted to drag him off to see Long Feng about brainwashing a Firebender.

I also did a bunch of research for the birthday party interlude, I think. Mostly appropriate alcohol for such an occasion? And....okay, this’ll sound funny, but.....food containers. I wanted Fen to pack up leftovers for Suyin and Shirong. That’s what my Italian family does after get-togethers, and I assumed that a Chinese family/friend group would do the same! But I also had, like, zero exposure to everyday Chinese life, let alone everyday Chinese life in the 1800s, and I just didn’t have the...idk, cultural osmosis? to figure it out. Like, if you asked me how Victorians would transfer food I’d probably come up with “Idk, wrap it in cloth and stuff it in a basket?” and I assumed people living in modern China would also be able to explain what their people did for food storage/transport 150 years ago but I didn’t have that cultural background, now, did I??? Also this was 10-12 years ago I was looking this up, mind you, the internet was still very different, there was plenty of information on Chinese historical events but not on everyday life objects, CDramas weren’t easy to find if they were translated at all and I certainly didn’t know they existed, and no one was posting beautiful aesthetic videos of life in a rural Chinese mountain village to youtube yet. Eventually I learned that bamboo baskets were a thing, but there wasn’t much info on THOSE either and I wasn’t sure how to describe them, so I just tentatively typed “basket” and called it a day. XD

YOU CANNOT ASK ME TO CHOOSE MY FAVORITE CHARACTER THAT’S LIKE ASKING ME TO CHOOSE BETWEEN MY CHILDREN!!! *shoves Yong off a cliff*

I’m very fond of the Dai family, along with the Trungs and Sais. I’m very proud of how Tuan turned out. I adore Yuan, who you’ve barely met, and Xun, who you haven’t. Huang and Wu Sheng are also definite faves and I can’t wait for y’all to get to know them better.

Characters do usually behave for me in terms of personality development. They surprise me, but they never really turn out to be the complete OPPOSITE of what I was expecting? They just kinda develop organically. Huang and Wu Sheng surprised me, tho, those boys got deep. I knew they had the potential, but developing their backstory actually caused Stingrae and I to develop Ba Sing Se’s socio-political backstory and Long Feng’s rise to power, all because of an inkling I had. That was a very satisfying few years of worldbuilding and story development.

Um, favorite part of the fic....idk, I’m very fond of the final scene, with Azula and her wall chunk from Lu Ten. I’m doubly fond of it because of how it always resonates with readers. Heck, during Azula week last year, I used that chunk of rock as an ongoing theme in Sandstone, and someone commented like “I DIDN’T REALIZE YOU’RE THE ONE WHO WROTE GILDED GREEN” and that made me really happy!

Lu Ten’s time stuck underground - I used the seven stages of grief to get through that one and it was very helpful in structuring that part of the story, and I figured it was deep or something because PSYCHOLOGY.

I’m also proud of myself for getting through the dark brainwashing scenes. So, like, FYI, fanfiction could get...very dark, back in the 00s. People love to play purity police these days and complain about how nasty people get can, but listen. Listen. Do you have any idea how dark FFdotnet got back in the day? Legolas And Aragorn Get Captured By Orcs And Brutally Tortured was an entire genre. I feel like torture fic was actually a lot more common back then, and darkfic in general - I’m sure someone could write a whole thesis on why it’s not so prevalent anymore, I’m gonna guess the fact that fandom is less-insulated and more public now could be part of it, maybe also the fact that the internet is more social media/influencer culture based so people care about their image, and also the purity police which is its own kettle of worms, but I also think that the Bush Administration had something to do with it? You have all these kids who were pre-teens when 9/11 happened, growing up during the Iraq War with an awful presidential administration while everyone was scared and conservative Christianity started to realize that their control over the nation’s “morality” might be slipping and reacted accordingly......yeah there was a lot of darkfic back then.

And I read a lot of darkfic too, but, uh....well, statistically speaking, a lot of writing is bad, okay? A lot of those fics were just weird; you could see where the writer had this idea, and also where they failed to execute it in a way that resonated or made sense. And whatever, writers were young and just wanted to pound out some catharsis, it’s cool, but it still just felt narratively awkward when you could tell how the writer was more focused on LET’S MAKE THIS AS DARK AS POSSIBLE instead of “Let’s tell this as well as possible.”

So the first several attempts at writing the brainwashing scenes, I was nervous because I didn’t want to get TOO dark, and when I finally decided “eff it” and said to Stingrae “I think I need to let this be as dark as it needs to be” I was still nervous because I didn’t want it to end up WEIRD. Idk if that makes sense, but anyway I seem to have done a decent job at it!

As for parts I dislike the most, uhhhhh Iroh’s retreat (I didn’t care, I just wanted to get it over with), Enlai might’ve been promoted too fast? idk, the fact that I came up with Nanyue AFTER I finished publishing GG so I couldn’t work that into the Quy bits, the fact that I was young and innocent and didn’t understand sexual slang or innuendo and randomly chose Dong as the name of the court physician which could lead to some awful puns except no one ever seemed to pick up on that and maybe I’ll regret pointing it out but the man IS going to appear again so I might as well get the first shot in myself. XD

I might have GG2 stuff to talk about but not sure, if I do I’ll make another post on that!

#GG tumblr escapades #GG 10th anniversary

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paradoxcase · 4 years

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After Gandalf heals Theoden (in the book it is described as healing, there is no scene where Saruman is actually in possession of Theoden or where he personally battles Gandalf), he suggests that Theoden should send Eomer out to defeat Saruman (in the book Eomer was a prisoner at Edoras at this point, freed when Theoden was healed) and lead the rest of his people to a safe place. Theoden says,

‘Nay, Gandalf!’ said the king. ‘You do not know your own skill in healing. It shall not be so. I myself will go to war, to fall in the front of the battle, if it must be. Thus shall I sleep better.’

There’s note on this piece of dialog in the companion, where basically, where someone wrote to Tolkien to complain about all the archaic dialog in the Two Towers, to which Tolkien responded, a) it’s appropriate to complain about people who use affected archaism without actually knowing how archaic English worked, but Tolkien is a linguist who studied the Anglo-Saxons and most certainly does know how archaic English worked and always uses it correctly, b) Tolkien has actually spent so much time studying Anglo-Saxons that he’s actually more comfortable with archaic English than with modern English anyway, and c) really, it could be much worse, Tolkien could have made the dialog even more archaic.

Then he provides some translations of this piece of dialog, first into “even more archaic”:

‘Nay, thou (n’)wost not thine own skill in healing. It shall not be so. I myself will go to war, to fall...’ etc.

And then into modern English:

‘Not at all my dear G. You don’t know your own skill as a doctor. Things aren’t going to be like that. I shall go to war in person, even if I have to be one of the first casualties.’

He then wonders, what would come next? He suggests “I shall lie easier in my grave”, but claims that no one who speaks modern English would say such a thing and thus it would sound out of place. (It was only at this point that I realized that when Theoden said “thus I shall sleep better” he doesn’t mean literally that he will sleep better at night, but that his soul will rest easier after he dies.)

Anyway, I’m not entirely sure what Tolkien means here. It’s not true that we don’t talk about resting or sleeping in death or the idea of being at peace versus not at peace after death, because we say “rest in peace”. It is true that we don’t generally consider fighting in battle to have an effect on our souls after death, like I think the full weirdness of how medieval people regarded war is not fully apparent to us because all that stuff is dressed up in this medieval aesthetic which we’ve learned to regard as romantic and valorous. Like, if a modern-day seventy-year-old army general unretired and decided to go fight on the front line of a war with the other soldiers because it was brave and valorous, in spite of this not being tactically beneficial and maybe it even being tactically a bad idea, we would think he was nuts. But this is exactly what is happening in this scene with Theoden. And yes, if you strip it of the aesthetic, it seems weird. But this is fantasy, characters talk about things which seem new and strange to us as a matter of course. Like, what type of dialog or aesthetic would you suggest for Mr. Weasley talking about how amazing and neat everyday modern technology is, or for the descriptions of Diagon Alley or other fantastic elements of Harry Potter? Tolkien is obviously going for a particular time period here, as the companion frequently reminds me by continually explaining how everything about Rohan is really just Beowulf in Middle Earth, but I think there’s no reason you couldn’t express medieval ideas in modern English. It’d sound odd, but isn’t that the point of fantasy?

Also: In the scene where Theoden casts Wormtongue out, they do use some of the book dialog, but the movie is much more direct about it. This is how it goes down in the book (if I may be pardoned by our lord and savior Tolkien for paraphrasing the dialog in modern English):

Hama: I found your sword, my lord, Wormtongue was keeping it in a locked chest, we also found a bunch of other stuff he’d stolen from other people in there, too.

Wormtongue: That’s not true! Anyway, Theoden gave me this.

Theoden: And now I’m asking for it back. Anyway! Guess what? We’re going to war. And so are you. Hurry up, you just have time to clean the rust off your sword.

Wormtongue: Oh please, my lord, please don’t send your loyal servant from your side!

Theoden: I’m not. I’m going to ride into battle too! And you’ll come with me by my side.

Wormtongue: ...don’t you need a trustworthy steward to stay behind and keep the castle up?

Eomer: If this pathetic request doesn’t excuse you from war, what more degrading position will you accept instead? Maybe you will offer to schlep grain to Helm’s Deep, if anyone would trust you with it?

Gandalf: No, no, you don’t understand what he wants. He’s trying to find a way to continue working for Saruman.

Wormtongue: That’s not true!

Gandalf: You say that a lot. Anyway, you’ve been a very good stooge so far, and Saruman tends to forget about nice things people have done for him. Maybe you should go back and remind him what a good boy you’ve been so you can get your reward? You see, Theoden, there’s a problem: we’ve found a snake. It’s dangerous to take it with you, it’s dangerous to leave it here, it’s sensible to kill it but we probably shouldn’t. So, give him a horse and let him go wherever he likes, and make your opinion of him based on what he chooses.

Theoden: Ok, Grima. Here’s your choice: you can come with me and ride to battle, or you can go off somewhere else. Think carefully. If you make the wrong choice, we probably shouldn’t meet again.

Wormtongue:

Slowly Wormtongue rose. He looked at them with half-closed eyes. Last of all he scanned Théoden’s face and opened his mouth as if to speak. Then suddenly he drew himself up. His hands worked. His eyes glittered. Such malice was in them that men stepped back from him. He bared his teeth; and then with a hissing breath he spat before the king’s feet, and darting to one side, he fled down the stair.

Indicidentally, when most people hear Wormtongue’s name they probably think of worms. But actually, it’s from wyrm, which is Old English for serpent (Rohirric is, basically, Old English). He’s named that because he’s deceitful, not because he’s icky.

Minor shipping note: Apparently Tolkien originally intended for Aragorn to get together with Eowyn, and only added Arwen to the story later. So, he didn’t actually plan for there to be a love triangle, he just changed his mind while writing the story and I guess didn’t want to get rid of the Aragorn/Eowyn UST in the new version. Arwen does definitely seem like a character who was added at the last minute - in the movie she has actual scenes and dialog, and is an actual character with a personality, but in the book if you blink you miss her existence entirely. Aragorn occasionally says things that have subtext related to Arwen, but if you’re reading for the first time you’ll completely miss this unless either a) you’re the kind of shipper who shipped Blaise Zabini before even knowing what gender he was, or b) you already read the appendix that’s about Aragorn and Arwen.

Another note is that Wormtongue’s obsession with Eowyn is only mentioned in the above paraphrased scene as yet another thing that makes him awful, he doesn’t actually have any interactions with Eowyn at all, and presumably it is never important again because I don’t think Wormtongue is ever within arm’s reach of Eowyn ever again.

#lord of the rings #lotr #wormtongue

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writinginstardust · 5 years

Text

Movie Night

Pairing: contains Tyler x Finian, Kal x Auri, and Scarlett x Cat x Zila

Request: @blossomtheterror asked “ Aurora rising - the squad has a LoTR marathon and Kal finally learns who Legolas is. ”

Warnings: a couple of bits of suggestive conversation, I think someone might swear? big-ass spider and mentions of fictional violence

A/N: Does what it says on the tin, the squad have a movie night. god i really loved writing this one and it gave me an excuse to rewatch lotr as well. it’s more of a general thing with just like a few moments of ship related content and I really need to do more of this casual found family bonding stuff because it’s great!

Word Count: 1944

"So you're telling me none of you have watched Lord of the Rings?" Auri was horrified.

"Tyler and I have," Scarlett offered. "I don't remember much of it though."

"This is unacceptable. We're watching them all tonight, I can't be around people who haven't seen them for another day."

"Technically tonight we're meant to…" Auri's hard look cut off whatever Tyler was going to say. "...We can reschedule I guess."

"Good. Kal and I will go find snacks and meet you in the common room at 5."

"So early?" Kal asked.

"We've got 9 hours of movie to get through so yes."

"Alright, see you guys in a couple of hours."

At exactly 5 the squad converged on the common room. Scarlett arrived early and managed to nab the big screen with the comfiest couches, quite possibly through a little persuasion if the awestruck look on the faces of a group of guys across the room was anything to go by. She grinned as everyone filed in and got comfortable, Cat coming to sit on one side of her and grumpily leaning her head on Scarlett’s shoulder.

Kal and Auri claimed the second couch, curling up together only slightly uncomfortably. It was still new to them and they weren’t sure how to navigate everything but they were cute. Everyone thought so. That left Tyler and Fin with the pile of pillows and blankets dumped on the floor in front of Scarlett’s couch. The boys pouted at Scarlett but she wouldn’t be swayed and eventually they flopped down onto the floor. Scarlett prodded her brother’s head with a foot and giggled when he swatted it away, grumbling under his breath.

The lights dimmed and sound blared, causing them all to wince as Zila frantically turned down the volume and offered a quick apology before crossing the space to curl up on the couch, half in Scarlett’s lap. She stole a blanket on her way over to the protests of the boys on the floor. Scarlett quickly silenced them both with light kicks and a glare when they turned around, her face softening when Zila finally settled against her and Cat curled in closer to fit under the blanket as well. Tyler rolled his eyes but didn’t complain further and settled down with Finian tucked under his arm.

With everyone finally settled comfortably, Zila pressed play and Auri shushed everyone loudly as the first whispers of Cate Blanchet’s ethereal voice started. She didn’t even follow her own command though and eagerly narrated and explained everything to Kal in excited whispers. No one really had it in them to complain though. That or they worried Kal might rip out their tongues if they said a word against her.

Kal barely even watched the film, far too entranced by Auri, the passion in her voice, the glint in her eyes. He got the gist of it from her rambling anyway. Auri pointed frantically after about an hour and a half and Kal finally forced his eyes away from her and towards the screen in time to see a tall man with long, blond hair and pointed ears appear.

“That’s Legolas!” She proclaimed gleefully and Kal had to admit after a while of watching him, he could see why Aurora had made a link between them.

“You never told us you were an actor, Kal,” Finian said in mock offence.

“I can’t believe I’ve kissed a celebrity!” Tyler pretended to swoon and Kal felt his ears redden at the reminder of that time in the server room.

“What!?” Everyone’s attention turned from the movie to the boys and Finian scowled at his boyfriend.

“You kissed Kal!?”

“Fin-” Tyler suddenly regretted dropping that on them all in that manner.

“And you didn’t invite me!? Maker, you think you know a guy...”

“Wait,” Scarlett piped up. “When did this happen?” She shoved him with her foot. “And why didn’t you tell me!?”

“On the Worldship. A tech was about to catch us in the server room and it was the first thing I could think of to stop our cover being blown.”

“I can assure you,” Kal looked between Auri and Fin to try and reassure them, “it meant nothing.”

Tyler gasped. “But baaabe,” he said, just managing to maintain a hurt pout through the bubble of laughter that threatened to escape him.

“So if I invited you-”

“Do not finish that question,” Tyler, Kal, and Auri all practically yelled in sync.

“Alright, fiiine. I guess I’ll just stick with Tyler.” Said boy pretended to look hurt but he knew better than to take what Fin said seriously. The devilish Batraskan grin aimed his way and the quick kiss he received only confirmed it.

“Okay, can you all shut up and watch the movie now?” Cat grumbled, the sound less threatening and quieter than normal with her face pressed into the crook of Scarlett’s neck. Still, they did as asked and focused back on the movie.

‘You have my sword. And my bow. And my axe.’

“And my freaky mind powers,” Auri continued with a grin

“And my wrench.”

“And my awesome pilot skills.”

“And my disruptor pistol,” Zila added, quite to the surprise of everyone.

“And my leadership skills.”

“And my powers of persuasion.”

“And his...well...him,” Auri said, gesturing to Kal. Everyone was starting to really get into the film and she was ecstatic. They all broke down laughing at their own ridiculousness and missed the Fellowship head off. Half an hour later there was yelling and popcorn was thrown at the screen.

“They did not just kill off Gandalf!” Cat exclaimed, royally pissed off and enjoying the film far more than she’d planned to. Maybe she was a bit more inclined to give the film a chance than usual since Scarlett seemed to be enjoying it so much. Scratch that, she was absolutely more inclined to give the film a chance because of that. Although, she knew she’d enjoy it anyway but it’s not like she could admit that to the others. Anyway she was not happy that the old wizard was gone now. Auri had to bite her tongue to avoid ruining anything for her and the others.

The film finally ended and everyone was mildly shocked. They had no idea Boromir was going to die. Auri and Fin were the only ones seemingly unaffected.

“You know, if I was trying to protect a bunch of Hobbits, I would simply not get shot in the chest three times. RIP to Boromir but I’m different.” Auri could barely contain her giggles as the rest of the squad scowled at Fin and Tyler shoved him gently. His death was too fresh for them it would seem.

“Alright get the next one on,” Cat demanded, unwilling to move and do it herself. Zila slipped off Scarlett’s lap instead and sorted out the next film. Disgust was voiced when Grima was introduced. Cheers erupted when Gandalf finally returned. And the squad discovered both the Jones twins had a knack for impersonating Gollum. Fin most definitely did not appreciate this particular talent, especially when, without warning, Tyler whispered an eerily accurate my precious directly in his ear. He nearly jumped out of his skin, fortunately managing to hold back a scream which at least slightly lessened his embarrassment.

“You’re going to pay for that golden boy.” He glared down at Tyler who was clutching his stomach while his body shook with laughter. Something disgustingly soft formed in Finian’s chest at the sight of Tyler so carefree and relaxed though.

“Worth it,” he wheezed. He managed to calm himself enough to grab Fin’s hand and tug him back down into his arms, still giggling softly into the older boy’s hair.

“You won’t be so pleased about that later,” Fin grumbled and Scarlett couldn’t help laughing.

“Looks like someone’s not getting any tonight. Bad luck baby brother.”

“Will you all shut up? I’m trying to watch sentient trees kick ass,” Cat complained.

“They’re called Ents,” Auri corrected absentmindedly but Cat just waved her hand dismissively.

By the end of The Two Towers Zila had fallen asleep in Scarlett’s arms and the rest of them were on the way to it. Auri crawled out of her comfortable spot curled into Kal’s side and put the last movie on.

Too tired now, the squad kept the comments to a minimum this time. Auri and - surprisingly - Cat shuddered when Gollum led the hobbits into Shelob’s lair and Cat actually hid her face in Scarlett’s shoulder. A comment about that was on the tip of several tongues but they all thought better of it. Cat would certainly kill them if they dared mention it.

Despite enjoying the film, probably more than everyone except Auri, Cat fell asleep soon after Sam escaped from the Orcs with Frodo and then Scarlett’s attention was no longer on the film. Technically she’d seen it anyway so it didn’t matter. She’d much rather enjoy the rare quiet contentment from a sleeping Cat and Zila than watch a movie. About 20 minutes later, she too fell asleep.

“Wait. There’s ghosts in this?” Kal questioned when Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas met the army of the dead.

“Yep,” Auri said through a yawn. “It’s long and complicated but they’ll explain in a minute.”

“But ghosts…”

“Shut up Legolas,” she groaned lovingly. “Just wait. They’re very useful.” She fell asleep before their use could be revealed though and Kal cared more about gazing lovingly at her than the movie. No one made it to the end. Tyler and Kal got close but in the dark and the quiet even they couldn’t keep their eyes open any longer.

In the morning, groggy and awoken by other Legionnaires coming in, Auri insisted they rewatch the end. Tears were shed. Even Cat and Finian were caught crying silently by the Jones twins.

“So, did you like it?” Auri asked when the screen finally faded to black. They all did.

“It was very enjoyable,” Kal admitted. “I...can understand why you call me Legolas now.”

“Do I get to keep doing it?”

“I think you would with or without my permission,” Kal smirked as Auri conceded that she probably would. “But I do not mind the nickname.”

“Good.” She kissed his cheek before taking his hand and standing up. “Now take me to breakfast, Legolas.”

“I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?”

“Almost definitely.” And then she dragged him from the room. Zila and Cat tugged Scarlett up as well and followed them out.

“You want breakfast?” Tyler asked Fin who was still laying on him.

“Depends. Are you on the menu.” He said it around a yawn and there was little of his usual teasing in it. Tyler just laughed. He leaned in closer and whispered in Fin’s ear with his best gollum impersonation again.

“Anything for you, my precious.” Fin lept up with a screech and Tyler was losing it again.

“I told you not to do that again.”

“Your face,” Tyler wheezed. “It’s still worth it.”

“You’re sleeping on your own tonight,” Finian grumbled.

“Oh come on.” Tyler stood and wrapped his arm around his boyfriend as they both left to catch up with the rest of the squad. He pulled out the smeagol voice he was also rather proud of. “It’s just a bit of fun, precious.”

Finian jabbed an elbow into his side. “I should never have let Auri talk us into watching that. She’s created a monster.”

“Don’t be mad, precious.”

“No. No. No. No. No.” Finian squirmed out of Tyler’s grasp and ran, Tyler’s laughter following him all the way down the hall.

Tag Lists: (send an ask if you want to be added!)

Everything: @wonderfilledness @writingbychelle @ad-astraaaa

Aurora Cycle: @aurising

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lydia-can-live · 5 years

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Nopelander...revisting an old post

I still see sooo much Outlander stuff on my dash so I thought I’d share my thoughts on Season 4. I don’t have high hopes for S5 and even though I said I was done, I am still curious. Hanging around to see how it turns out is different than being a die hard fan, which I was. Its amazing to me that the built-in fan base and super hot chemistry between the 2 leads could fizzle out to a boring, flat, emotionless promotion. The Fiery Cross is very focused on Roger and Brianna (with Jamie and Claire always watching an guiding which is a gift for those who crave a stable family life...and is too subtle and nuanced for these OL writers to grasp) so the magic of the show that was Jamie and Claire is no more. Here is what I had to say about the S4 finale. tl:dr OL used to be great, and instead of writing it as the romance-fantasy that it is, they subscribed to the theory that drama and plot are more interesting than nuanced intimacy and in doing so drained it of its charm and energy while at the same time bashed fans for not being happy about it.

Production ruined the magic that was Outlander in such a stumbling, amateurish, way. First off, they do not understand Jamie and Claire, who are soul mates, as well as best friends. They love making each other laugh and share many inside jokes. They know life is hard but as long as they can connect with each other, they’ll get through anything. In the show their relationship is tenuous and they never realistically comfort one another. Touching each other’s jaw line in lieu of good dialogue is just irritating. 2nd, the wigs take you out of the story, immediately. Why did that not concern anyone? Sam Heughan is a gorgeous man but I snort every time we see that alpaca hair. The only time I can take him seriously is when he is wearing a tri-corn. Claire’s hair looks passable from far away but up close it’s like, holy hairline! It really bothers me that this was not important to production. Jamie had shaggy hair in S1 because he was growing out a buzz cut he got at the Abbey, not because he liked having fringe. If they are trying to recreate S1 hair they have failed spectacularly.

Season Finale: Rescuing Dog Face. I want to care, but I don’t. Roger and Bree do not have an established or believable relationship. He showed up with his Paul McCartney hair in Boston and the writers decided he loved her and that’s all it’s based on. There is no chemistry between them but there isn’t any conversation, either. She is apathetic. We’ll never know how Sophie would deliver well written dialogue but with her somnolent, emotionless, delivery my guess is it wouldn’t have helped. Maybe they limited her dialogue because she couldn’t manage more than a few words at a time. Imagine the stirring ‘He’s real…I know’ or the riveting ‘You’re here’ with a modicum of energy. I know, it’s just as bad. She was miscast, obviously. They couldn’t have found a tall, American actress with dual UK/USA citizenship with an Equity card? Hey Bree: In the show, Roger humiliated then abandoned you at the Clan gathering because you didn’t want to marry him. He then had a relationship with you --in his mind--, while you were living on your own and trying to keep your eyes from closing while you talked. Why do you love him? Back to Roger. A group of people are going against their own tribe to rescue Dog Face and risk alienation from said tribe just to get a stone they could have just taken from Claire? Come on. The tribe had sentries posted when Jamie and Claire were approaching but everyone had the night off to gather around for the drumming circle? The one guy watching the idiot tent gets clubbed (is he dead? We don’t know) by Jamie and no one notices? Finally the jig is up and the resulting scramble to “reach the river” is so laughably amateurish that I imagined the camera guy laughing like you do when you’re filming your friends in the backyard trying to recreate the Aragorn/Nazgul fight scene from the LOTR. Thankfully, Claire was there to bring a sensible end to it all with a very effective “Its ovah”. Even the Mohawk warriors were impressed. So did they all sleep in the idiot tent that night, or what? And Roger isn’t totally amazed looking at Claire and Jamie, together? No? He just cowers in her clutches. At least he’s not wearing those absolutely ridiculous but completely historically accurate culottes anymore. The Birth: Everyone complaining about this is correct. Claire would never have allowed her daughter to go through child birth in the 18th century without her. I don’t understand why the writers made this decision. That whole birthing chair thing was cringe worthy. Jocasta and her hand-made silk dress isn’t going to be assisting at a freaking birth. (I just kept seeing a thought bubble above Sophie that said “I should have stuck to dance”. I don’t think she’s enjoying Outlander that much.) In the book, while Bree is asking Jamie to stay for the birth, he pleadingly looks to Claire like ‘what do I do’ because, while he’s heard a lot of birthing going on, he’s never been asked to assist. It shows their complete unison as a team, their trust in each other, and it’s cute to see Jamie out of his element a little. More importantly, Jamie got to experience his grandchild with his heart burst wide open and he reveled in it. The dialogue in the book is touching and funny and it resonates because its tied to emotions that have long been been building. Jemmy is the catalyst for healing many of Jamie’s wounds regarding his children. He is the balm for his soul. In the show, Jamie barely acknowledges the baby. But here, blind Auntie --who in the show uses a cane-- you take the baby. Don’t hurt him with the giant brooch thing you are wearing. And don’t walk anywhere. Just stand there. Don’t you go dyin’ on me! Here’s the other thing: Bree loves her baby from the start. She makes that decision early on. When Jemmy is born she is completely devoted to him and his care. She wouldn’t be sitting in a room by herself while her baby is hanging with a bunch of people who seem to be just standing around in a circle.

Back to the book for a second: When Roger finally shows up, Bree is not broken. She’s besotted with her son and enjoying the loving embrace of her family. She’s whole. I like that Bree. She’s got a good heart. As much as I miss the humor between Jamie and Claire, I didn’t want to hear Sam call Claire “Granny” unless it was with a twinkle in his eye after he comes to the realization that this is the first time she’ll be called that, and it’s the first time he gets to say it. I hate book dialogue spoken with no depth or understanding of the moment. Intimacy is what DG gets so right in the books and I don’t like hearing actual lines unless it carries some weight, I’m looking at you “Turtle Soup” (cringe). Murtagh: When he jumped off that wagon I was like…Duncan LaCroix is just loving the shit out of this. I don’t like the Regulator plot because they are shit stirrers who like to argue and ruin gatherings. Murtagh should be sticking to his vow, which was to protect Jamie. These are 18th century people, they took that shit seriously. The fight with Jocasta was hilarious but when she said ‘let’s get breakfast’ and they pan over to Murtagh and he’s all laid out on the bed like ‘here’s your freakin’ breakfast, with sausage’ I laughed so hard I had to pause it, drink some water and pull myself together. I was dying. It wasn’t as funny the second time because I knew it was coming but the first time it was like I could see Duncan turning up that sexy vibe to 11 and it was both funny and ridiculous, and he knew it. Rogers Choice: They should have made Roger a man of worth by having him immediately want to go to Bree. If you freaking love her so much it wouldn’t be an issue. What is she going to do, choose Bonnet over you? It should have been with no hesitation. It would have redeemed him, gave the search and rescue a satisfying conclusion, and saved us from yet another use of the two lovers running toward each other imagery. The music was so cliché I have to wonder if Bear is just picking stuff off a spotify muzak playlist. It’s clear that the show has lapsed into soap opera territory. Sam’s face when he said he had to –takes off glasses-- kill Murtagh wasn’t full on Drake Ramoray, but it was teetering close to it. Poor Outlander. You had the rare combination of chemistry, beauty, and talent combined with an eager and knowledgeable fan base and you reduced it to a strange wooden version of itself. Dedicated fans are leaving. I’m done. These writers are not smart or creative enough to chisel down The Fiery Cross. So much times passes during the gathering that surely Jamie will have outgrown his bangs, but of course he won’t. He just keeps hacking at them and I don’t want to stick around to watch.

Post, post Scriptum: You could also have a drinking game for every time Claire crosses her arms but you’d better have plenty of libations on hand. post post post scriptum: Sam and Cait are tired of Outlander and can’t wait for it to be over.

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elizabethrobertajones · 6 years

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I've had a couple of requests for an explanation about this Jensen vs scripts thing since JIB, and I think the best way to explain it is to look at the "I read books" flip around... I can't for the life of me find versions where I've explained it before which aren't just messy quotes from my episode notes, so I'm just laying it out :)

In 9x04 we got these lines as filmed and presented to us:

DEAN Wow. That Joffrey's a dick.

CHARLIE Oh, you have no idea. Wait until he --

SAM Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! S-spoilers. I haven't read all the books yet.

DEAN You're gonna read the books?

SAM Yes, Dean. I like to read books -- you know, the ones without pictures.

[DEAN shoots an annoyed look at his brother.]

In conventions etc the boys have been quite happy to tell us how they flipped the lines around as if they had corrected a characterisation error; Sam is the one who reads books! Dean is a jock who will watch a T&A show but not get into the books.

Robbie, a dear fan of nerdy Dean (look no further than his total glee at LARP-ing in 8x11 and the direction of his getting dressed up as Aragorn which totally does not mirror a scene from the LotR movies...) had picked up on the fact that Dean has referenced Vonnegut and other writers before (with multiple references, I believe) and clearly does read for pleasure, though he seems to keep it on the DL most of the time, referencing movies and TV shows far more frequently.

The most egregious example other than this, which I don't know if it was scripted or not, is in 6x21 when Dean complains he has no idea what a Cthulu is because he was too busy having sex with women to read the books that Bobby and Sam know. Anyone who knows Dean's taste in music knows that his favourite bands frequently reference LotR and Lovecraft among other things, so he absolutely would have the cultural context. It's easier to interpret Dean as lying to cover his wounded pride in this situation but in 9x04 it's a mess.

The implication becomes Dean seeming SURPRISED that his nerdy ass brother, who he knows uses obscure Star Wars characters as fake names, wants to read a series of fantasy novels... In an episode by the same writer who once had Sam bond with Charlie over the Harry Potter books. Hrm.

Sam goes on to say the most condescendingly shitty line ever to mock Dean that books exist that don't just have pictures in them.

Now flip the lines back to how they're intended: Dean reacting in a panic when spoilers are about to start flying, and Sam surprised that his brother, who rarely admits to liking nerdy stuff, wants to read a stack of books as tall as Sam is, won over by the TV show. Dean, prickly and defensive of admitting he likes the things he likes - but standing his ground and reminding Sam he DOES like books - you know, even the ones without pictures. Dean's reading level is well beyond A Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Robbie's intent with these lines was clearly to expose new Dean characterisation ground, especially in an episode showing him comfortably at home and flourishing in the Bunker in contrast to Sam's reticence to call it home, that Charlie points out in the same scene. I also remember a line later about books or Charlie or something that would have made more sense if Dean had said the lines this way around, though I can’t recall which moment. Instead the lines sticking to enforcing the established surface level characterisation come across as regressive and unintentionally demeaning to the characters, just because Dean has always previously been the one to mock Sam for liking nerdy things, rather than understanding the nuance of the scene.

In 11x04, though, Robbie decided that it was time to try again and get the exact same line to come out of Dean's mouth, come hell or high water, and so we get this exchange in the iconic BM in the car scene, and I apologise for quoting loads of it, but its context is important:

DEAN: You were singing in your sleep, that song mom loved that dad used to always play for us. I think I've actually still got the tape.

SAM: Hey, Dean, um . . . You said when you saw the Darkness, you weren't sure whether it was, uh . . . the real thing or a vision, right?

DEAN: Mm-hmm

SAM: I think I've been having visions, too, lately. I mean, it's just images. I mean, more of a . . . feeling, really. But I just had one right now, and -- and Dad was in it. But it wasn't dad like -- like . . . The Dad that -- that I grew up with. It was Dad when he was our age. And I-I guess it wasn't even really Dad. It was someone pretending to be Dad and --

DEAN: Okay, what makes you say that?

SAM: For starters, he told me everything I wanted to hear.

DEAN: Yeah, that doesn't sound like dad.

SAM: No. Anyways, whoever it was . . . They had a message to deliver. They said the Darkness is coming, and . . . only you and I can stop it.

DEAN: Did they have him give you any helpful tips on how to do that?

SAM: He said, "God helps those who help themselves." I mean, maybe these visions are coming from God.

DEAN: Whoa. Pump the brakes.

SAM: I mean, Dean, the first one happened after I prayed.

DEAN: You prayed? When was this?

SAM: Back in the hospital.

DEAN: Why?

SAM: Because I was infected. I was infected. I'm not anymore. I-I-I never went full rabid. I . . .

DEAN: You get infected and you didn't even tell me.

SAM: Dean . . .

DEAN: What did you pray about?

SAM: I guess I was just looking for answers, you know?

DEAN: Well, I'm sure whatever is kicking around in your head right now is a side effect from the infection that you failed to tell me about.

SAM: You know, I don't think it's that simple.

DEAN: Come on, man. That quote? "God helps those who help themselves"? God didn't say that. That's not even in the Bible. That's an old proverb that dates way back to Aesop. I read. And more importantly, when was the last time God answered any one of our prayers? It's not a vision, Sam. All right? It's just some . . .Some fever dream. That's all. And as far as Dad goes, I dream about Dad all the time.

SAM: You do?

DEAN: Of course I do. It's usually the same one, too. We're all in the car. I'm sitting in the driver's seat, dad's sitting shotgun. But there aren't any shotguns. There's no monsters. There's no hunting. There's none of that. It's just . . . He's teaching me how to drive. And, uh, and I'm not little like I was when he actually taught me how to drive. I'm 16, and he's helping me get my learner's permit. Of course, you're in the backseat, just begging to take a turn. We pull up to the house -- the family house -- and I park in the driveway, and he looks over and he says, "perfect landing, son." I have that dream every couple of months. Kind of comforting, actually.

SAM: I always, uh . . . I always dream about mom. Usually the same kind of thing, though.

DEAN: Normal life?

SAM: Yeah. Normal life. But, Dean, this wasn't just a dream. I'm telling you.

DEAN: Why would somebody dress up like Dad to give you a message? I mean, Dad. You don't exactly have a history of listening to what he had to say.

SAM: But you said the Darkness is -- is sending messages to you. Maybe whatever is the opposite of the Darkness is sending messages to me.

DEAN: And you think that this thing is God? Come on. How many -- how many opportunities has God had to crack this pinata, and I don't see any candy on the floor, do you?

SAM: Okay, then maybe it's not God. But uh . . .

DEAN: I know what you're trying to do here. You're trying to find some -- some greater meaning to it all. Right? Some . . . Fate to what went down. But I'm telling you, Sam. The Darkness? It's on us. And no one's gonna help us, certainly not God, so we'll have to figure this thing out, like we always do. But until then . . . We hunt. This case for starters, course this case is . . .

The conversation has a couple of threads - that quote and who the mystery person might be, the family stuff and dreams, and the trust they have in each other, and faith in their family, their impressions and ideas about Mary and John. The dialogue wanders back and forth through the themes, starting with talking about visions, and the line about "god helps those who help themselves" is Inceptioned into Sam's brain in the previous dream sequence, the main subject for discussion.

Sam brings its up while trying to explain what happened and immediately leaps to the conclusion that the vision came from God, and it takes a lot more back and forth before we get around to the quote again as the dialogue drifts into their trust about each other, before Dean uses that as a springboard to question Sam's faith in the quote, that he is taking on surface value. He points out it's not biblical at all, and it's important, thematically, to understand this quote, and Dean is analysing it, knowing it's from Aesop.

His assessment that God didn't send this turns out to be true, and his explanation of WHY he doesn't trust this line means that explaining he read it in a book is essential to explaining his confidence; Sam's position as unquestioning and full of faith is too vitally plot important to turn it around. Even if Sam had ended up saying, "I know that, I read," defensively, the fact that Dean brings up the provenance of the quote still has to be something that Dean does, to fit the much more important, broader characterisation of the scene. Changing it is non-negotiable in the sense that the flow of the dialogue has firmly established who is on each side on each theme.

This scene ends with that wonderful shot of Sam and Dean top and tail in the car, in their contrasting red and blue conflict characters. Very much emphasising the two halves of a whole and always utterly oil and water personalities and feelings they have. In this scene, Dean dreams of John, Sam dreams of Mary, Dean is doubting, Sam has faith. Dean's had visions from the Darkness that he doesn't trust, Sam has had visions from "god" that he does.

I love this moment so much because it is completely natural characterisation, but Robbie went out of his way to craft dialogue in such a way that even though he had a spiteful little motive to get that phrase out of Dean's mouth it still worked perfectly easily, and emphasised Dean's intelligence gently, while not making it a focus of the scene, it was still a line that added to what would have been an inarguable nod to Dean's intelligence without it, but with it is the "hey so Dean's gonna have this line come out of his mouth no matter what" comment, which in character is Dean just casually confirming that it SHOULDN'T be weird, the amount of lore books they have lying around, that he might have cracked one open at some point and learned a thing or two.

(Back in 5x19 we get Dean's POV by the camera, showing us him identifying each and every one of the gods in the room with several photographic memory moments of books and illustrations of them, along with their name tags - the line after this is Sam being baffled about what's going on but Dean knows they're gods and can probably tell you their backstory all around the table. Dean has an excellent memory and recall from books... Even back in 1x16/17 they established his knowledge of symbols and lore with the blood splatters and BOC symbol things.)

So, yeah. It got fixed, but I feel like I don't even know half the things the actors change, and what later little corrections we're getting... :P There's a lot of ad libs I think have been good or funny, and in character, and of course the majority of their emotional choices are spot on for how to act a scene. But when it comes to forward character momentum, if they are missing the clues on why their characters are being written seemingly "backwards" from how they would normally act, and correct course back to the established way, they ARE shifting the nuance of scenes.

What I don't get about this whole ~scriptgate~ thing is that Sam had to absolutely be left alone dead in a hole so that Lucifer could come and get him, and motivate the entire of 13x22 and the direction that went in. I think in a way it's just character bleed that in some ways is good that he can act the raw horror and frustration of being dragged away from Sam, when every part of him is screaming that he doesn't want to do it. But like with the 11x04 scene the story boxes Dean in that he has to behave in the way the script says as the plot weighs too heavily on this scene, that it would require an enormous rewrite rather than a simple flip or something, in order to accommodate a different and more regressive interpretation of Dean's character in these instances.

With a plot motivation that strong thankfully we seem to have got the scene as intended, and it's immensely powerful to the point that I don't think I can look at Dean's face in the gifs of Cas stopping him running after Sam. It's clear he cares and he's not callously abandoning Sam, but there's more going on at the same time, that he can't throw away all his characterisation to stay with Sam. The Lucifer and Jack storyline from next episode is the thumb pushing down on that pressure point, as much as in 11x04, Sam being wrong about his visions is forcing Dean to be the authority who read a thing in a book, and can not be portrayed as ignorant in this context. So really, if Jensen is saying he wanted Dean to stay with Sam, or go after him, it's a wholly emotional, in-character response, and I love what it brought to the scene, but at the end of the day, it's damaging to the overall story and I'm glad that like Cas restrains Dean, the story restrained Jensen from doing it...

But tbh because the story gets to lock lines into place like this, where actions have too much depending on them (and we see the disparity in Buckleming episodes where they have lines which do NOT depend on having read the other episodes beforehand and accidentally break continuity - yes I am still baffled about why Cas was wondering bloody around the woodland in 13x13) it's really the little characterisation beats which bother me more, because they can seem harmless, when nothing is really depending on them, but at the end of the day the asides and quips and little character jokes are the important place where a huge amount of our character interpretation comes from - small incidents can tell us so much more about what's up with them than huge decisions in moments of high tension, that changing quips around to the wrong characters can be really damaging. Especially when long-term plot things do rest on the characters and how they are coming across.

People are quick to complain when characters are too cheerful one episode or too depressed the next. In season 9 while Sam was possessed by Gadreel there's a weird misinterpretation where all the other writers write Sam as perky and doing well, but in 9x08 Jenny Klein clearly misread how Dean was trying to convince Sam he was tired and unwell and needed to rest after the angel trials as Sam LITERALLY being this way, and so one episode before Gadreel makes off with Sam and 2 before he has to be freed from him, despite Sam getting up at 5 to go jogging not long after being possessed, he's now miserably sleeping on the kitchen table, like my chronic fatigued ass might. It's a small detail, but it throws Dean's attempt to wrangle Sam into a light where he seems to have a greater case, and generally undermines completely the forward momentum of the narrative about how Sam was doing that all the other writers in that block of episodes had kept up. When the actors are throwing in confusion with how they interpret the lines and swapping motivations etc as well, it becomes even harder for us to keep up and to get a clean read on the characterisation which is informing the major plot events.

Which, basically, as a meta writer who overhauls each episode to explain and interpret it into the narrative as I understand it, based as much as possible on the clues they're giving me, is a REAL HEADACHE when I slam into a wall of "this is literally just improbably backwards to how it was last episode" :P

But it’s not a criticism to point this out, really. After all, Edlund, one of the most beloved writers to have been on the show, wrote in his last episode how Sam and Dean went to the Grand Canyon and Dean rode a farty donkey, and it turned out that past canon had very firmly established that they had never been. Everyone makes character and plot errors, though when it comes on the actor level there is the problem that sometimes it may be they feel they are correcting a farty donkey plot hole (and I think they sometimes HAVE, such as Jared declining to sass and quip with Lucifer) when they’re really missing a cue from high above that their character is going places.

#9x04 #11x04 #13x21 #this absolutely isn't intended as wank #i think all the writers mess up here and there and literally no one has the same interpretations #what I really dislike is plotholes #and you can have character plotholes too #the swap in 9x04 is a character arc plothole #besides they do let them sometimes do these things and then film how it was supposed to be #e.g. 7x06 where Jensen appears not to even realise that they went with it as scripted and not the version he wanted #or just today I saw a video going around of Mark S talking about how Dabb let him add tons of Crowley stuff to 13x23 which disappeared #sounds like one line suggestion got in and that was it :P #I think a lot of them see their characters as they were still introduced #Misha seems to roll with it more because he has a new Cas every other week #Cas has never been a stagnant character ever - he's on a constant growth journey #anyways this is my take on script changes - the writers can fix it or the editor can ruin it #it's all up in the air but by and large the finished product is going in the right direction and makes sense #there's just like... too many people with opinions involved sometimes :P

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laureljupiter · 6 years

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more orc stuff from the vaults

“The biggest and most serious criticism I've seen of Tolkien wrt: his worldbuilding is that he separates his peoples into good and evil races. Junot Diaz cut to the core of it: "He read The Lord of the Rings for what I'm estimating the millionth time, one of his greatest loves and greatest comforts since he'd first discovered it, back when he was nine and lost and lonely and his favorite librarian had said, Here, try this, and with one suggestion changed his life. Got through almost the whole trilogy, but then the line "and out of Far Harad black men like half-trolls" and he had to stop, his head and heart hurting too much." And yet every love story that gets significant screen time in his books is an inter-racial, inter-species, or at the minimum cross-cultural romance-- Arwen and Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli, Galadriel and Celeborn, Idril and Tuor, Elwing and Earendil, Thingol and Melian, Faramir and Eowyn, Beren and Luthien. The only couple I can think of that bucks this trend is Turin and Nienor, whose operatic incest and suicides are not really a ringing endorsement of marrying one’s own kind. It feels to me like Tolkien was at cross purposes with himself in a lot of the racial dynamics of LOTR: he was writing from a place of entrenched nostalgia for the unspoiled British countryside, was trying to scapegoat the industrial workers, whose accents he gave to the orcs, for their own exploitation; was writing a book that many people have read as a high-myth retelling of the Islamic seige of Vienna with the Orcs as caricatures of Suleiman's forces; but was also writing during the second World War when those violent racist-based ideologies fully exposed themselves and he openly rejected them, and at at time when the British Empire was waning and it was becoming clear that the colonies were throwing them off for good reason. Whenever Tolkien gets close to these scapegoat races, real or fictional, he writes them as human; Sam wondering about the Haradrim soldiers’ families; orc soldiers complaining about poor leadership. The text is always at odds with itself; the impulse to create an enemy population who can be killed virtuously always falls apart when he zooms in close. While being deeply embedded in his own perspective as a white British man from his time period he also was writing about a deep longing for his country to be something better than it was; even in his neatly ordered little created world, in a place where different ethnicities and cultures were represented as alien species whose souls went to different places after death, his deepest need as a writer was for them to be able to connect with each other, and he wrote his most emotionally engaged stories of these vastly different peoples longing for union with one another.”

#@corseque this is relevant to ur interests although very very pretentious i apologize #tolkien

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imaginexhobbit · 7 years

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Seriousness Comes Without Hiccups

Author | Imagine

The road ahead was long and dangerous. Everyone knew it.

Still, they were here. All of them were still here.

None of them knew exactly how they had managed to survive the several attacks. The underfed hobbits. But seriously, who ate that much on a regular day anyway?

And when the hobbits were quiet he had to keep an eye on Boromir. All had seen the flicker in his eyes when he first laid his eyes on the one ring. His hunger for power, for strength, couldn’t be denied. And thus shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Aragorn had his hands full with them.

When Legolas also said he would come along he had been glad. At least there would be one grown-up who he didn’t have to look after.

Until the first fight between the elf and the dwar broke out. Granted, it was only an orc-killing fight but still… Everything was a competition based on race for the two of them.

He wasn’t a ranger anymore.

Now he could be called; Aragorn, the almighty babysitter.

He wasn’t sure what was going on now but Legolas and Gimli were in some kind of argument.

Again.

Pippin and Merry were complaining about lunch.

Again.

Boromir was staring creepily at Frodo.

Again.

Frodo and Sam were sitting too far away.

Again.

This time Aragorn couldn’t control himself. For how long were they going to act like this? They weren’t even halfway through to Mordor!

Where was Gandalf?

Mister “I will go with you Frodo. You should be protected Frodo. You need a wizard by your side Frodo” was nowhere to be seen! And the hobbit just kept doing stuff he wasn’t supposed to do!

How much patience did Gandalf think he possessed?

He couldn’t even remember how many times Aragorn had to warn him.

“Frodo, don’t put on your ring. It will let the ringwraiths know where you are.”

Frodo puts on the ring when nothing is wrong.

“Frodo stay close to me or Legolas. Never stray too far from us.”

Frodo makes it his personal job to do the exact opposite.

“FRODO! LOOK OUT!”

Frodo keeps on walking, looking back over his shoulder, falling into a river.

“AND NOW IT’S ENOUGH!” Aragorn shouted.

His voice carried over the field as a loud thunder storm. The others froze, turning their heads to see what has upset their leader.

“Where is the danger?” Gimli growled, reaching for his axe.

Aragorn closed his eyes to collect some of the patience that he had left. “There is no danger, put your axe away master dwarf” he said, barely hiding his annoyance.

Legolas and Boromir both looked at Aragorn with a mix of concern and confusion.

“What we are going to do now is *hick*” Aragor waited a moment, raising his finger to let the others know he wasn’t done talking yet.

Pippin and Merry frowned, not knowing what was wrong. “Are you alright there?” Pippin asked.

Aragorn nodded. “What I was saying. We are going to move o- *hick*.” Seriously? Just breathe in, and breathe out. Calmly so you don’t - *hick*.

The hobbits started chuckling. When Legolas noticed, he slowly shook his head with a stern frown. Now wasn’t a good time to make fun of their leader. If there ever was.

“Listen to me” Aragorn said a little louder. Finally.

He sighed deeply. “I want you all to pack your things and - *hick* *hick*.”

“Do you want us to move on?” Boromir tried to help out.

“Or do you want us to stuff his mouth full with whatever we can find?” Gimly offered, pointing at Legolas.

“No *hick*” Aragorn answered quickly.

“Maybe you want us to catch food?” Legolas asked.

“No! He wants us to make up camp so that we can stay here for a few more days!” Pippin said excitedly. The other hobbits cheered with him as they went off to make camp.

Aragorn put his hands in the air to show he wasn’t done but the hobbits didn’t pay attention to him anymore.

“No, what I want is *hick*. I just want to say *hick* *hick* For the love of *hick* I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!” he bellowed.

Sam dropped some wood that he had just picked up. And the attention was back on Aragorn.

The field had fallen silent. Nature knew very well when a storm was brewing.

“JUST STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING!” Aragorn continued. Screaming seemed to stop the hiccups.

“You don’t want us to make camp?” Frodo asked innocently.

Aragorn stomped forward. “I WANT YOU ALL TO BEHAVE LIKE THE ADULTS YOU ARE!” He looked around the small group.

“YOU!” he shouted, pointing at Boromir. “Find a tree if you can’t *hick* control your desire for power!”

Boromir was a bit taken aback by this. “Pardon me?”

But Aragorn wasn’t in the mood for explanations. “AND YOU!” he now pointed at Frodo and Sam. “How many times do I have to remind you that your life is in danger? For once in your life *hick* just listen to *hick* what others tell *hick* you. You may live a lot *hick* longer!”

Frodo looked down at his feet. “I will try Aragorn.”

“AND YOU SCANDRALS! STOP WHINING ABOUT THE FOOD! WE ARE ALL HUNGRY!” Aragorn shouted at Merry and Pippin.

“We just need more because w- Ouw!” Pippin said as Merry shoved him.

“And you” Aragorn said, slowly turning towards Legolas and Gimli.

“Me?” Legolas asked confused.

“Yes you. Stop *hick* arguing about everything. I have had it up until *hick* here with that pitty feud between your race *hick* and his" he said pointing at Gimli. "We all get it; dwarves and elves don’t get along. Well, *hick* whoop-di-doo. Can you tell us something new?”

Aragorn took a deep breath, breathing out heavily through his nostrils. “Now, if you *hick* excuse me, I am going to sleep right over there. Don’t *hick* disturb me.”

He stomped away from camp, not looking back to check on his man. Finally, peace and quietness.

Sam kicked at a pebble near his feet.

“Well, that was interesting, wasn’t it?” Gimli was the first to speak.

“Aye, interesting and amusing. I can’t take him seriously that way” Boromir said, turning around to look for a tree like Aragorn had suggested. Maybe it would help.

#drabble #the fellowship #the fellowship drabble #aragorn #aragorn drabble #lord of the rings

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ace-reviews · 7 years

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LOTRO Races from Best to Worst

I’ve been on a LOTRO kick lately, and even though I have one character that’s my main and is the one I primarily intend to focus on, I made one of each (free) race and I’m trying to get them all at least as far as Bree.

It’s important to note for the purposes of this list that metagaming really isn’t my thing, I didn’t pay attention to the stat boots and whatnot each race gets, and I can never remember what each stat does, anyway. This is mostly ranked based on how much fun I have when playing each of them.

1. Dwarves

i haven’t actually played this guy, but i did have a different dwarf champion before that i deleted for reasons much too stupid to get into

Pros:

Their starting area allows you to cover the majority of the map with little backtracking or deviation from the epic questline

The first thing that happens after you start as a Dwarf is Gandalf calls you, a complete stranger, over to complain at you about Thorin and that’s such a quintessentially Gandalf thing to do that it’s hilarious

Dwarves are tough little bastards

You can have a mohawk

Even though the color palate of the Dwarf cities isn’t that much more varied that than of the Dwarf cities in Dragon Age Origins, it still feels much less oppressive, and the floors are nice and shiny.

A Dwarf player wearing a flowing gown named Fairygodmother once rode past me on a horse and I felt I’d been blessed

Cons:

They move kinda slow

They can’t be burglars

They’re short so you can’t jump over Elves without clipping through their heads

The tutorial for Elves and Dwarves is too damn long.

2. Hobbits

taterberry is Best Girl

Pros:

My tiny little Taterberry is a Hobbit and she’s my precious daughter, who is currently having all sorts of off-screen adventures with Bingo and his new buddy while I work on getting The Ones That Aren’t My Taterberry to Bree

Celandine Brandybuck is a Hobbit and she’s my favorite character in the game

The Shire has a lot of fun quests

Starting in the Shire puts you in prime position to get a bunny and the fishing hobby really quickly

The tutorial for Hobbits and Men is nice and short.

Cons:

The postal carrier and pie delivery quests are a pain

Hobbits being tiny makes the corrupted trees just a touch too scary

My tiny little Taterberry is too short to jump over walls that my Man or Elf would totally be able to jump over

They’re also a bit slow. Short legs n all that

3. Men

lol nice helmet nerd

Pros:

I don’t typically play humans in video games because it’s boring, but they’re not too bad here

Only (wo)Man characters get to see Celandine burn that house down

They’re tall so they can jump over Elves without clipping through their heads

After playing as a Hobbit and a Dwarf for so long, when I switched to a tall race and saw Hobbits and they’re just??? so smol??? No wonder Aragorn and Boromir are always wanting to carry them around in the movie.

Cons:

Atli Spider-bane said I could have the name Spider-bane but the Title you get for killing spiders is Spider-foe. I haven’t gotten to a Notary so I don’t know if you can make Spider-bane your surname but I doubt it.

If you just stick to the questlines and don’t go out of your way to visit any other area, you can’t find an Outfitter or Vault until you get to Bree.

4. Beornings

I'm still saving up my coins to unlock this one, but turning into a bear seems cool.

5. Elves

first rule of being a mage: never, ever dress like one

Pros:

They’re tall.

They move faster than Hobbits or Dwarves.

Some of the hairstyles are kinda nice.

The pre-Bree stuff is pretty short. I managed to finish it all in about a day.

Celondim is near the ocean and it’s purdy.

Cons:

I hate Elvish cities. I get that they design them around the natural lay of the land, but the lack of railings makes me nervous (if I suffer fall damage, I want it to be because I jumped, not because I fell) and I’m always getting lost. I suffer more fall damage in Celondim and Duillond than I do taking short cuts down cliffs

They’re the only race (that I know of) that can’t be dark-skinned and I don’t need an essay explaining why I just want to comment that I like making dark-skinned characters because there are too many goddamned white people in video games

I dunno I just feel no connection to this race whatsoever. It’s all just generally kinda meh

6. High Elves

I haven’t played this one either, and I don’t understand the point of it. In what way do they significantly differ from regular Elves (note: I don’t actually care so don’t feel obligated to tell me). I also don’t like that they can be Captains. It makes my Shankswyn feel less special, and I like my Shankswyn almost as much as my tiny little Taterberry and won’t stand for anyone making her feel less special.

I might just be bitter towards this class because when I was playing my Elf the other day there were a bunch of baby High Elves hanging around, flaunting their ability to spend money on this game. I bet they’ve got jobs n shit. Bastards.

Last time I checked I was about halfway to the amount of points needed to unlock Beornings, so once I get there I’ll probably write up some thoughts of that race. I don’t know if I’ll ever play a High Elf. I’ll think about it later maybe.

I have no idea how to end this. Play LOTRO, I guess. It’s fun.

#lord of the rings online #lotro #video game review

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lesbian-gandalf · 5 years

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“Saruman’s got to be mad,” Tauriel hissed. “This?” - She gestured violently at the sheet music in her hand - “This is too many pages. How are we supposed to get this done before the concert in two bloody weeks?”

Legolas stood picked up his viola case when the bus slowed. “What, are you surprised? Saruman would never let his students get good grades. The only person he’s ever given more than a 65% to is Grima Wormtongue, and there was some serious sketchy stuff involved there.”

“I know, but it’s annoying - my mums said they don’t want me to pursue a military career until I can hang a nice shiny degree on my wall and I’m not planning on disappointing them. I don’t want to have to retake this class.”

“Hate being my stand partner that much, do you?“

“You are the worst stand partner; you always miss the page-turns. See you next rehearsal - and have fun with your date!” Tauriel grinned.

Legolas groaned. “Don’t remind me.”

“Aragorn, you know you don’t have to fall in love with every other student here, right?” Legolas slumped against his seat. "I mean, I wouldn’t be complaining - every date is a day you wash your disgusting greasy hair - but do you need to drag me into it?”

“Shut up,” Aragorn said. “You’re too antisocial, Leggy-”

“I am not-”

“-You need to get out more. I think he’ll be a good fit,” Aragorn decided, perhaps too optimistically.

Legolas rolled his eyes. “Fine. Sure. Like the last five ‘good fits’. Don’t call me Leggy ever again. What’s his name?”

“Um.” Aragorn started. “He’s a friend of Boromir’s-”

“Your date is Boromir? As in Denethorsson?”

“…Yes? Why?”

Legolas sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “He’s a douche, Aragorn. He picks up a new guy every week. You idiot, what are you doing?”

Aragorn shrugged defensively. “He’s a friend from PoliSci, and I enjoy his company. And for the record, it was me who asked him out.”

“You. Asked Boromir Denethorsson. Out.”

“Yes, Legolas, that’s what I just said. And please stop calling him by his full name, it’s weird.” Aragorn shifted a little. “Look, do you want to know your date’s name or not?”

“Oh my god, you’re going to get your stupid little heart broken. All right, who is it?” Legolas sat up a bit - but not much.

“Who are you to call me ‘little’, I’m taller than you.” Aragorn cleared his throat. “His name is Gimli-”

“Gimli Gloinsson.”

Aragorn winced. “Okay, look, I know he’s a little outside your area of interest-”

“He’s a dwarf, Aragorn. I’d say that’s more than ‘a little outside my area of interest’. In fact, he’s so far outside my area of interest that I don’t think I could find his Tinder profile with the NASA Hubble Space Telescope!”

“Chill out, would you? Inside voice.” Aragorn hissed.

“I’m chill! I am very chill, I’m a music major, how much more chill does it get? I’m happy, I’m not annoyed at all, I’m only about to spend two excruciating hours with my idiot roommate and Boromir Douchebagsson, with only a dwarf for company!”

“Look, perhaps it’s time you looked past your prejudices?” Aragorn tried.

Legolas snorted.

“All right, then, consider it payback for last weekend’s midnight viola concerto.”

“I had an audition first thing next morning!” Legolas said.

“Sure.”

“I hate you.”

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batwynn · 7 years

Text

Invitation For Two

#Sterek #Drabble #unfinished #fanfic #Vampire!Stiles #college AU

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lydia-can-live · 5 years

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NopeLander

tl:dr Outlander used to be great, and instead of writing it as the romance-fantasy that it is, they subscribed to the theory that drama and plot are more interesting than nuanced intimacy and in doing so drained it of its charm and energy while at the same time bashed fans for not being happy about it.

Production ruined the magic that was Outlander in such a stumbling, amateurish, way. First off, they do not understand Jamie and Claire, who are best friends as well as lovers. They use humor to sustain their connection and share a lot of inside jokes. Physically they are rooted to their intimacy. In the show their relationship is tenuous and they never realistically comfort one another. Touching each other’s jaw line in lieu of good dialogue is just irritating. 2nd, the wigs take you out of the story, immediately. Why did that not concern anyone? Sam Heughan is a gorgeous man but I snort every time we see that alpaca hair. The only time I can take him seriously is when he is wearing a tri-corn. Claire’s hair looks passable from far away but up close it’s like, holy hairline! Jamie had shaggy hair in S1 because he was growing out the buzz cut he got at the Abbey, not because he liked having fringe. If they are trying to recreate S1 hair they have failed spectacularly.

Season Finale: Rescuing Dog Face. I want to care, but I don’t. Roger and Bree do not have an established or believable relationship. He showed up with his Paul McCartney hair in Boston and the writers decided he loved her and that’s all it’s based on. There is no chemistry between them but there isn’t any conversation, either. She is apathetic. We’ll never know how Sophie would deliver well written dialogue but with her somnolent delivery my guess is it wouldn’t have helped. Maybe they limited her dialogue because she couldn’t manage more than a few words at a time. She was miscast, obviously. They couldn’t have found a tall, American actress with dual UK/USA citizenship with an Equity card? Hey Show Bree: Roger humiliated then abandoned you at the Clan gathering because you didn’t want to marry him. He then had a relationship with you --in his mind--, while you were living on your own and trying to keep your eyes from closing while you talked. Why do you love him? Back to Dog Face: A group of people are going against their own tribe to rescue Dog Face and risk alienation from said tribe just to get a stone they could have just taken from Claire? Come on. The tribe had sentries posted when Jamie and Claire were approaching but everyone had the night off to gather around for the drumming circle? The one guy watching the idiot tent gets clubbed (is he dead? We don’t know) by Jamie and no one notices? Finally the jig is up and the resulting scramble to “reach the river” is so laughably amateurish that I imagined the camera guy laughing like you do when you’re filming your friends in the backyard trying to recreate the Aragorn/Nazgul fight scene from the LOTR. Thankfully, Claire was there to bring a sensible end to it all with a very effective “Its ovah”. Even the Mohawk warriors were impressed. So did they all sleep in the idiot tent that night, or what? And Roger isn’t totally amazed seeing Claire and Jamie, together? No? He just cowers in her clutches. At least he’s not wearing those absolutely ridiculous but completely historically accurate culottes anymore. The Birth: Everyone complaining about this is correct. Claire would never have allowed her daughter to go through child birth in the 18th century without her. I don’t understand why the writers made this decision. That whole birthing chair thing was cringe worthy. Jocasta and her hand-made silk dress isn’t going to be assisting at a freaking birth. In the book, while Bree is asking Jamie to stay for the birth, he pleadingly looks to Claire like ‘what do I do’ because, while he’s heard a lot of birthing going on, he’s never been asked to assist. It shows their complete unison as a team, their trust in each other, and it’s cute to see Jamie out of his element a little. More importantly, Jamie got to experience his grandchild with his heart burst wide open and he reveled in it. The dialogue in the book is touching and funny and it resonates because its tied to emotions that have long been been building. Jemmy is the catalyst for healing many of Jamie’s wounds regarding his children. He is the balm for his soul. In the show, Jamie barely acknowledges the baby. But here, blind Auntie --who in the show uses a cane-- you take the baby. Don’t hurt him with the giant brooch thing you are wearing. And don’t walk anywhere. Just stand there. Don’t you go dyin’ on me! Here’s the other thing: Bree loves her baby from the start. When Jemmy is born she is completely devoted to him and his care. She wouldn’t be sitting in a room by herself while her baby is hanging with a bunch of people who seem to be just standing around in a circle. Back to the book for a second: When Roger finally shows up, Bree is not broken. She’s besotted with her son and enjoying the loving embrace of her family. She’s whole. I like that Bree.

As much as I miss the humor between Jamie and Claire, I didn’t want to hear Sam call Claire “Granny” unless it was with a twinkle in his eye after he comes to the realization that this is the first time she’ll be called that, and it’s the first time he gets to say it. I hate book dialogue spoken with no depth or understanding of the moment. Intimacy is what DG gets so right in the books and I don’t like hearing actual lines unless it carries some weight, I’m looking at you “Turtle Soup” (cringe). Murtagh: When he jumped off that wagon I was like…Duncan LaCroix is just loving the shit out of this. I don’t like the Regulator plot because they are shit stirrers who like to argue and ruin gatherings. Murtagh should be sticking to his vow, which was to protect Jamie. These are 18th century people, they took that shit seriously. The fight with Jocasta was hilarious but when she said ‘let’s get breakfast’ and they pan over to Murtagh and he’s all laid out on the bed like ‘here’s your freakin’ breakfast, with sausage’ I laughed so hard I had to pause it, drink some water and pull myself together. I was dying. It wasn’t as funny the second time because I knew it was coming but the first time it was like I could see Duncan turning up that sexy vibe to 11 and it was both funny and ridiculous, and he knew it. Rogers Choice: They should have made Roger a man of worth by having him immediately want to go to Bree. If you freaking love her so much it wouldn’t be an issue. What is she going to do, choose Bonnet over you? It should have been with no hesitation. It would have redeemed him, gave the search and rescue a satisfying conclusion, and saved us from yet another use of the two lovers running toward each other imagery. The music was so cliché I have to wonder if Bear is just picking stuff off a spotify muzak playlist. It’s clear that the show has lapsed into soap opera territory. Sam’s face when he said he had to –takes off glasses-- kill Murtagh, wasn’t full on Drake Ramoray, but it was teetering close to it. Poor Outlander. You had the rare combination of chemistry, beauty, and talent combined with an eager and knowledgeable fan base and you reduced it to a strange wooden version of itself. Dedicated fans are leaving. I’m done. These writers are not smart or creative enough to chisel down The Fiery Cross. So much times passes during the gathering that surely Jamie will have outgrown his bangs, but of course he won’t. He’ll just keep hacking at them and I don’t want to stick around to watch.

Post Scriptum: Drinking game idea: Anytime anyone says Fraser’s Ridge. I mean, who talks like that? You’d say, ‘lets go home’. No one spouts the address when they reference home. ‘Where are you going?’ ‘123 State Street, where I live’. Post, post Scriptum: You could also have a drinking game for every time Claire crosses her arms but you’d better have plenty of libations on hand.

#Outlander #A Man of Worth #outlander starz #outlander season 4

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