#gollum: good grief | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

velvet4510 · 1 month

Text

Here’s the thing.

Many Bagginshield shippers, especially in fics, focus on how Bilbo never got over Thorin, to the point where some describe Bilbo’s life as sad and unfulfilled because of that loss.

Don’t get me wrong: I do agree that he suffered terrible loss and undeserved torment by the Ring. And the fact that he never marries probably does have some connection to the memory of Thorin.

But, y’all, don’t forget or ignore the fact that, in Tolkien’s text, Bilbo does move on from grief and live the rest of his life well.

He does not become bitter from his pain. He retains his kind heart.

He is generous with his wealth, helping in every way he can the very community that ostracizes him.

He sees in Frodo a kindred spirit and takes it upon himself to be the parental figure that Frodo so badly needs as an orphan.

He and Frodo develop an uncle-nephew (really more like father-son) relationship built on trust, keeping no secrets from each other, to the level where he tells Frodo the truth about his encounter with Gollum. (And probably the truth about his feelings for Thorin, too.)

He and Frodo have so much fun, going for walks every day, studying the Elvish languages, and throwing big birthday parties to show the community a good time. It’s plain to see that caring for Frodo filled that massive void inside Bilbo, finally giving him someone to love and devote himself to looking after, after his first chance at that (albeit the first being a different kind of love) was taken from him.

He does not see himself as superior to the lower class despite his riches, and always treats the Gamgees with the utmost respect.

He teaches Sam to read and write.

He tells his story to the younger hobbits, inspiring more of them to want to learn more about the outside world and not be so sheltered and ignorant…an effort which ultimately saves Middle-earth because the Travelers learn from him to be curious and interested in the lands outside the Shire, and he inspires them daily, as they constantly say to themselves “if Bilbo could go there and back again and face great danger, so can we.”

He even learns to love having a tarnished reputation, ultimately taking advantage of being “mad” to play a fun prank.

When he is no longer at rest in the Shire, he gifts Frodo all his property which will ensure Frodo is set for life, and through all his passive aggressive gifts to his relatives, he gives the Gaffer genuinely useful items that he knows will help him, including ointment for creaky joints.

He gets a peaceful retirement among his Elven friends, which he spends writing his memoir so that future generations will know all about his lost friends.

And ultimately, he embraces the special gift of an exception from the Valar and rare permission to set foot in the Blessed Realm for one last adventure, where he will continue to look after his beloved nephew.

And the fact is, he never would’ve gotten any of these things if he’d stayed in Erebor. He would never have developed that special bond with Frodo - he may never have even met him - and consequently, Frodo may never have met Sam.

Yes, a lot of his life was lonely and somber. But much more of it, even after experiencing such a tragedy, was full of love and joy and fun and excitement. He became an invaluable caretaker and mentor to the next generation of hobbits, got a taste of fatherhood, passed on his expertise and his story, and spent his last years surrounded by friends and family.

Bilbo Baggins may have lost the love of his life, but he did not give up on life itself, and he lived a full one. Don’t forget that.

#lotr #jrr tolkien #lotr books #lord of the rings #the hobbit #bilbo baggins #frodo baggins #bilbo and frodo #hobbits #samwise gamgee #elvish language #red book #the valar #valinor #tolkien elves #bagginshield #thorin x bilbo #samfro #frodo x sam

647 notes · View notes

searchingforserendipity25 · 1 month

Text

For @feanorianweek, Maglor at a turning point of his exile, which might be the turning point for the history of Middle Earth, depending on how keen you believe his fishing skills to be.

There was a lot to be said about the quiet of solitude. Maglor said all of it, at length, in a variation of arguments.

"O, I do not know who I intend to convince," he sighed, half-way through the Third-Age's last waning years. "This grows very tiresome, and I do not see that it does any good, either."

Perhaps it did; likely it did. Certainly he could not imagine his return would be a cause of comfort to any, and like as not disturb what peace they may have found.

Nonetheless, he had half a mind to make his way to Lindon, and see what manner of trial Círdan might contrive.

All the business of endless sand in his boots, and pockets, and hair had grown irritating long, long ago; and the Noldolantë was not improving. At this time, he was fairly certain it could not be improved upon. He had invented it many times already, in arranged melodies and plain recitation, also atonal arrangements.

The facts remained the same, and still he did not know the name of many of those he had slain, which ruined the general balance of the meter. He had not the right to want to know them, decently speaking; but he would have liked to feel something about the lament, at least, was whole and complete, though it be terrible.

Nonetheless, he could not quite contrive of how to breach his exile. It was not as if he could easily return among Elvenkind. Not he, marred as Morgoth had been, and responsible, on the whole, for causing grief direct or indirect to all of Elvenkind, thereabouts, not including the terms of blame carried for his dead kin, his followers.

His chance for judgement as one of their own had been set aside, erased fully when he followed Maedhros out into the wild each with a jewel-casket in hand, Eönwë's too many eyes set on them with terrible knowing.

The burns on his hands seared with the same sharpness as they had, then. It did not ease, or alter. Nor did Maglor wonder at it. He had reflected long on his deeds, and sought in the echoes of the Music upon the wave-song a measure of wisdom and clarity; but he had not set out to heal himself.

It was not a thing that was in his means to do.

But then, neither could he ask, or expect, or suppose it could be possible. Even had all he had slain had in pleasant harmony found it in their hearts to forgive him, that changed not what he was, nor Varda's verdict on the matter.

"No," the old man agreed. She goes not change her mind, on the whole. Still more evil it would be to attempt it not, when an attempt might be had. And it generally is, if one take a - broad-minded approach. Would you not like to try it?"

He, at least, bore only the one pair on deep-set eyes under fierce brows; but what eyes they were! Too clear, and cutting, and clean. Maglor felt keenly all the sand on himself, the stiff salt in his braids, the weak crusts on his burns seeping through the bandages.

That was not very pleasant, either; but he could not deny it was a novelty.

It had been a long time since Maglor had been regarded as a useful thing, the sea having no interest in him even to drown, and most birds of rapine clever enough to sense the dead flesh he carried was not to be stripped from his fingers lightly.

"Tell me more of this creature," Maglor said, and passed him the pipe once more, with one last drawn breath of rich smoke to fill his lungs. "Gollum, if that be his name. You say he is a sorry thing, fled from the forest and crossing the mountains to hide in damp and dark caves - why, then ought I hunt down a wretch such as he?"

"I believe it should be a thing by none accomplished, but one such as you," said Mithrandir, mouth pursed slyly - flashing glance too-bright by far, and not wholly unkind. "Indulge another old wanderer, if you would. Think of it like so: would you not like a just excuse to leave the shores of the sea, for a little time only?"

#maglor #my fics #gandalf #feanorian week #silm fic

41 notes · View notes

antianakin · 10 months

Note

I know that Luke exiled himself to Ahch-To after the Kylo Ren incident, but what there was more to it? What if he went into exiled after discovering the severity of Vader's crimes and the countless atrocities he had committed? What if he went into exile out of shame and feeling like a fool for admiring his father for many years and defending him?

While the concept is kind-of funny in a crack way, it's WILDLY out of character for Luke lol.

As mentioned in the previous ask I got about Luke, the details aren't going to change the way he sees Anakin, I don't think. He DOES know that Anakin betrayed the Jedi and helped hunt them to near extinction, he's aware Anakin would've been involved in the Death Star's destruction of Alderaan, and I'm sure he hears plenty of other stories during those three years or so between ANH and ESB as well as probably having more personal experiences himself now that he's in the Rebellion. His extreme reaction to the discovery that Vader and Anakin are the same person sort-of says a lot about how Luke personally views Vader, so I don't think he's completely naive about how evil of a person his father was. Learning more stories and more details don't really change that.

If Luke was going to exile himself somewhere in shame for Anakin's deeds, it would've been just post-Bespin and instead he seems to have thrown himself into saving Han and by the time they finish that up and he goes to talk to Yoda and Obi-Wan about it, he's mostly made his peace with that. Anakin might have once been a good person, a good friend, a good Jedi, but he's spent a large portion of his life being a monster, CHOOSING to be a monster. That's just who Anakin is now and Luke has to accept both of those things: the good man, and the monster. It would've been easier if Anakin had just always been an asshole, someone everyone expected to go dark anyway, but he wasn't. People liked him, he was once kind, no one anticipated any of this. And that's what makes it harder. Luke has to be able to accept both aspects of Anakin and that's what ultimately allows him to turn around and decide to believe that Anakin can still make the better choice. He HAS to believe that Anakin can still make the better choice.

You can maybe see it similar to the way Frodo has to view Gollum. He KNOWS Gollum has done evil things, that Gollum could still DO evil things, but he also knows Gollum was once Smeagol, that he was once not that different from who Frodo is now and Frodo recognizes that he could still become what Gollum has become. He can't hate Gollum or give up on Gollum's ability to be better because that feels akin to giving up on HIMSELF.

I think Luke feels similarly about Anakin by the end. Obi-Wan chooses to give up because, for him, holding onto that belief ended up skirting pretty close to attachment that threw him into a grief spiral. But Luke is not Obi-Wan, his relationship with Anakin is very different, and he knows how easily he could become what Anakin became. So he has to believe Anakin can still be better, because he has to believe in HIMSELF, too. If he can believe that, even if he loses control, he can still get it back, then he can believe the same about Anakin. Anakin is a part of him, the darkness that corrupted Anakin is a part of him, he has to accept that truth in order to be able to choose not to give into it himself. And that acceptance is what allows him to forgive and believe in Anakin in turn.

So I don't think that there is ANY truth about Anakin he could learn, especially years after Anakin's dead, that would cause Luke to just straight-up give up on the entire galaxy and exile himself away in shame. I think it sort-of ruins his entire character for him to do so.

Which is why I don't even like that they have him exile himself away in shame over the Kylo Ren debacle. My personal preference would have been that Luke isn't on Ahch-To alone, he's there with all of the Jedi he was able to evacuate and save. He's hiding them there so that Kylo and the First Order BELIEVE they're long dead, to keep them all safe as long as he can. He doesn't tell anyone the truth, not even Leia, because he's holding the lives of dozens of people in the balance. It's not shame keeping him away from the fight on Ahch-To, but love and responsibility and sacrifice. When Rey arrives on Ahch-To, there's an entire community, a whole family, there waiting for her. When she says that she is all the Jedi later on, she doesn't just mean everyone who's dead, she means that she takes strength from the family she's just found, this family that are all connected through the Force, that are right there with her.

If we need a twin who does not think very well of Anakin and isn't inclined to forgive him, Leia is always there. She's let go of her anger, obviously, it does nobody any good to hold onto it, but she owes nobody her forgiveness, especially not the man who forced her to watch as her home and family burned. Her character is not reliant on her forgiving Anakin, her character has no real connection to Anakin in any way that actually matters. She is an Organa, Bail and Breha's daughter, and that's what she CHOSE to be when she was ten years old. Anakin Skywalker means nothing to her and nothing she ever hears about him, good or bad, will ever change that.

#star wars #luke skywalker #leia organa #anakin critical #anakin skywalker critical #star wars sequel trilogy #star wars sequels critical #sequels critical

35 notes · View notes

dartxo · 5 months

Text

"Gandalf's Wisdom"

2021

"Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends."

-"The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring", by J.R.R. Tolkien

Next in my countdown of Fellowship of the Ring favorite scenes is perhaps one of the most iconic, important dialogues of the series. And though the "all we have to decide..." line is very poignant and has been shared and reshared countless times, I actually think Gandalf's comments on pity, mercy, and fate, though perhaps not as widely shared, carry more weight as to what pertains to some of LotR's core themes and values.

It's a scene that establishes kindness and empathy as powerful forces in their own right, and mercy as a life affirming action able to turn tides and rule the fate of the world. Bilbo, and later Frodo, took pity on Gollum, and by granting him life instead of death they allowed his role in the grander story to play out. Mercy, in its connection to life, offers pathways, choices, possibilities. Apathy, cruelty and death offer none.

I think it's also sweet how Gandalf, after Frodo laments the Ring coming to him, reminds him how of all people, the One Ring found its way to him. If fate would have it that the most powerful and treasured weapon of the Dark Lord fell into the keeping of a pure-hearted, brave little hobbit, then they should feel encouraged that something good might come out of this Quest after all.

One of the (many) strokes of genius in these films that were an improvement on the source material was to have this dialogue moved to the Mines of Moria. It makes more sense for Frodo to lament his situation at this stage, after already having gone through a lot, than at the very beginning of his journey. And its a nicer, more impactful setting for Gandalf to offer words of wisdom, encouragement and hope in a quiet moment amidst one of the darkest and scariest places in Middle-earth, shortly before the grief and devastation of the Fellowship losing him.

#gandalf #gandalf the grey #istari #lord of the rings #fellowship of the ring #lotr #lotr fanart #lotr art #fandom #realism #screencap redraw #photoshop #art #artists on tumblr #mexican artist #autistic artist #dartxo

13 notes · View notes

clonewarsarchives · 2 years

Photo

BACK FROM THE DEPTHS! (#132, APR 2012)

Being bisected by a Jedi and plunging down a seemingly bottomless pit would ordinarily prove fatal but not for Darth Maul! Sam Witwer plays the long lost warrior in Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ epic season conclusion.

Star Wars Insider: Before you were cast, what was your opinion of Darth Maul?

Sam Witwer: The thing with Darth Maul is that we all want to know more about him. He shows up and creates this incredible impression—and then he’s gone! We’ve all been clamoring for him to return. The fun thing about these episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars is that we learn a little bit about what he’s been doing for the last 10 years and it’s not good. He’s been uncomfortable.

What did you think when you found out Darth Maul was returning, and that you would be playing the role?

Dave Filoni hinted that he might have something for me after the Mortis episodes [in which Witwer voiced the role of the Son—Ed], and so I was naturally curious. I assumed it was going to be some bounty hunter or something, which I would have been thrilled with. When he informed me that they needed an actor to play Darth Maul, I just had a geek-stroke and lost the power of speech! Dave not only said that he wanted me to play Darth Maul, but that he wanted to take it in sort of a “Gollum” direction. When I read the script I saw what he meant, but also saw that this might be an opportunity to take it in a “Colonel Kurtz” direction.

How did this influence the character?

We decided that he might be pitiful one moment and dangerous the next, creating this maelstrom of conflicting emotions and unpleasantness. We all have our opinions about who he is, and that creates expectations, so what do we do? We blow away all expectations and say he’s insane! It makes perfect sense. If you’re going to be dispatched in the way he was, there must be huge consequences for having him come back. He can’t just come back with mechanical legs and say, “I’m the same old Darth Maul that I ever was.” There was a major cost, and its consistent with the other things we see in the movies.

Palpatine says that the dark side of the Force leads to abilities that some would consider to be unnatural, and one of those things is cheating death. The Sith see death as defeat. The Jedi see it as the natural progression of things. The Sith don’t look at it that way; they want to control everything. You can’t gain any more power if you die, so one of the things that all the Sith do is try to preserve themselves at all cost.

For example Darth Vader is all about that. He gets burned and put in a suit, but that’s somehow preferable to death. In a way, Darth Maul has done something similar. He’s wallowed in these caves, eating garbage, living in these horrible conditions. Through all his grief and connection with the dark side of the Force, these spider legs made of garbage have grown out of him as manifestations of his pain.

How do you feel about the character now that you’ve played him?

He’s a fearful man. He feels that his rage and hatred have kept him alive, along with his fear of death. He has a twisted sense of humor and he’s far more dangerous than people realize. I looked at him as purely muscle: He was the ultimate hit man. But we learn that he’s also potentially a general. He’s tactically minded, strategically minded, very smart and politically savvy. He was raised by Palpatine—or so we’ve understood —so he’s good at things that you might not expect.

Let’s also not forget that Darth Maul perhaps was intended to participate in the Clone Wars. Maybe he was supposed to be General Grievous or even Count Dooku? There was a plan for him, a purpose for him and all of that was stripped away by Obi-Wan.

How has he changed?

In the first two episodes, we focus on the madness of what’s happened to him, how he’s been disabled for a decade, and lost a lot of what he was trained as. The way he speaks is muddled and he’s not the same person he once was.

In the next episode—after he is reunited with Savage and gets put back together a little bit—he still doesn’t quite know where his place is, but we do get that ultimate dark warrior that we were hoping to see back. We see pretty much exactly what we thought we were going to see: a very angry, very efficient warrior who wants nothing more than to fight Obi-Wan Kenobi.

As the story continues, he realizes that fighting and destroying Obi-Wan ultimately isn’t satisfying. He has many opportunities to kill Obi-Wan, but he keeps prolonging it and realizes that this has to last; he’s been dreaming about it for 10 years and can’t just kill Obi-Wan quickly! He starts developing plans and aspirations, but at the center of those aspirations is, ultimately, revenge against Kenobi.

What was it like to record these episodes with Clancy Brown (Savage Opress) and James Arnold Taylor (Obi-Wan)?

I love the way James plays Obi-Wan! No matter how much you beat that guy up, he’ll always have some snarky response; he’s like Indiana Jones!

I’ve been a big fan of Clancy since I was a kid, going back to Highlander and The Shawshank Redemption. I met him when I was doing the Mortis trilogy last season. He brought his son in because he wanted autographs from the people that were working on The Clone Wars, and I had no idea that Clancy was part of the show. I was recording the Mortis episodes and Clancy walks in and says, “Hey, you’re the apprentice from The Force Unleashed, will you sign an autograph for my kid?” It was weird—he should have been signing autographs for me not the other way around!

Dave Filoni was talking about some sort of story point and how it would relate to The Force Unleashed and Clancy starts piping in about “Well, in The Force Unleashed, this happened…” He really knows his stuff! He’s a tremendously well-respected actor and here he is talking to Dave about “my” video game!

When we were recording, I was so nervous. I think I’ve settled into it now, but in that first session I felt like the pressure was on. Dave and Clancy were cracking jokes, and I think someone mentioned to me about loosening up and I said, “If I mess this up, millions of fans are going to be mad. at me!” Dave Filoni’s like, “Welcome to my world, pal. Now read the lines!”

You’ve embodied the dark side before, as the Emperor, Starkiller, and the Son. How is each role different for you?

Those roles are extraordinarily different. When we were developing the character of Starkiller, we thought of him as an interpretation of Darth Maul in part. We created this little geek formula where Starkiller was two parts Han Solo, one part Luke Skywalker, one part Indiana Jones, and one part Darth Maul. Any time that Starkiller was talking to Darth Vader, Darth Maul became the inspiration—I thought he should behave more like Darth Maul did in the film. When Starkiller addresses Lord Vader, he sort of assumes that Sith-like posture and voice. Palpatine has the manipulative edge and a wonderful sense of humor, at least when things are going his way.

Since he’d been trained by Palpatine as his protege, he would’ve taken a lot from that guy. So we borrowed heavily from Palpatine for Darth Maul and I think he’s a much more dangerous character when you realize how smart he is.

The Son was an arrogant character. I felt Darth Maul had to be extremely arrogant; that starts causing trouble for him later, but you don’t necessarily see that at first. It’s cool because there’s a little bit of connection to the Mortis episodes that the fans will pick up on.

I read a scene in the script where Darth Maul is ranting and raving. I was doing my research, and as soon as I read that Darth Maul was muttering to himself, I found myself wondering, “Well what is he muttering about? What has he told himself in order to keep himself alive?” Part of it is remembering his training, so I started bringing pieces of the Sith Code into the mutterings. There is a thought that the Sith had this code that’s a mockery of the Jedi Code. It’s things like “Peace is a lie” and “There is only power in strength” and all this great stuff. As I was reading that there was this moment where it said something about “Through victory my chains are broken.” Immediately I thought, Yeah, the chains....

When I was recording the speech that the Son delivers to Ahsoka before he turns her to the dark side — “The chains are the easy part; it’s what goes on in here that’s hard”—I was adlibbing and threw that line in. I love how they feature it; there’s this moment when Maul is getting disjointed bits of the Sith Code out, trying to remember his training and then he gets to this point where he recites this line about the chains. It makes his insanity specific in that way.

There are things that he talks about that you’ll have to turn up the audio and listen to very carefully.

BROTHERLY LOVE?

Sam Witwer: “It’s sad to see how hard Darth Maul works just to get back at Obi-Wan; it’s kind of tragic, especially when you take into account Savage and where he sits with all this. Savage is not necessarily a bad guy, or at least didn’t start out that way. We can imply from Savage’s back-story that Maul had a similar story. We explore that a little bit, too. I think the relationship between Maul and Savage is very interesting as Maul will eventually look upon Savage as his apprentice.”

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Sam Witwer: “I went to a sneak preview of Episode I the day before it opened, After the movie, we noticed that there was a line at a nearby theater for some guy named Ray Park, So we went and met Ray Park. He was a total sweetheart to us and this was just before the film was going to open that night, out there in Skokie, Illinois!

“My first impression of Darth Maul was at once, this brutal, dangerous, terrifying warrior and Ray Park who was just the nicest, coolest guy you could ever meet. I think between those two experiences—seeing the movie and meeting Ray—that this character really has a special place in my heart.

“The next time I met Ray was years later. I wasn’t even an actor when I saw first saw Episode I. I met Ray and I tried to explain to him, ‘You know, Ray, this is gonna sound weird, but in a video game, I sort of fight you!’ I tried to explain the whole Force Unleashed connection, but I don’t know if he understood what I was saying because I was geeking out! Then a week later, we were both signing at a convention and I’m like, ‘OK, you see now? I’m sort of a Star Wars character, too!’ He’s a wonderful guy.”

AM AMERICAN SITH?

Sam Witwer: “I know that Darth Maul has an English accent in The Phantom Menace, but we didn’t worry about that because he’s been eating garbage for 10 years and that’s going to slightly change the way you talk! But don’t worry. We made sure there were moments when he sounds like his old self.”

REUNITED WITH VADER AND FRIENDS!

“I had a lot of Star Wars toys when I was a kid, but alas, they were either given away or thrown away—or so I thought! My mother recently found my Darth Vader Collector’s Case with tons of my old figures. I was stunned. I really thought all that stuff was gone.”

RED MENACE!

George Lucas described Darth Maul as “a figure from your worst nightmare,” leading designer lain McCaig to offer Lucas a design based on a nightmare of his, which although rejected, would later inspire the Nightsisters from Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

McCaig’s eventual illustration used his own face adorned with markings blending a “flayed flesh face,” face-painting of African tribes and Rorschach experimentation (spilling ink onto paper, folding it in half and opening it to produce a pattern—Ed)

Darth Maul’s head originally had feathers, which were interpreted by the design team as horns.

THE FUTURE...

Sam Witwer: “Darth Maul will be around for a while in the show. The story takes some really interesting turns, but the psychology of the character is very, very well thought out. It’s deep stuff! He’s not just a moustache-twirling villain; there’s a lot more going on there—there’s pain and there’s suffering. I don’t know how the audience is going to react, but I actually feel sorry for the guy. It’ll be interesting if the audience does as well by the time we’re done.

WITWER’S WORLD

Sam Witwer was born in 1977, making him the same age as the Star Wars saga! He has appeared in individual episodes of numerous television shows as well as minor recurring characters in shows such as Battlestar Galactica, Davis Bloome AKA Doomsday in Smallville, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and Dexter. He also played the main protagonist, Galen Marek/Starkiller, in the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video game and its sequel. He can currently be seen in the US/Canadian remake of BBC’s supernatural drama series Being Human.

On the big screen, he has appeared in Crank, The Mist, and Gamer.

His talents also extend to music, as he fronts his own band: The Crashtones! Check them out at www. samwitwer. com

#Sam Witwer #Darth Maul #the Son #cast #insider #i132 #the clone wars

171 notes · View notes

taleweaver-ramblings · 2 months

Text

Taleweaver Rereads Prydain: The Book of Three (Part 3)

My reread of The Book of Three continues! I did not finish last night because it was stupid late by the time I actually went to bed (and my reading time is right before I go to sleep). Oh well. Tonight, then.

Again, I am not making any effort to avoid spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Part 1 | Part 2

Chapters 14–17

Taran and Medwyn's conversation about whether or not Taran can leave his quest is so lovely. Medwyn's offer of rest, Taran's declaration that he chose this quest — and the fact that Taran continues to choose it, knowing how hard it has been and will continue to be. I don't know. It resonates with me, perhaps because my life is full of quests that I chose to take up and choose not to set aside even when I know I could do so.

Also lovely: the scene with Fflewddur's harp and its song of home.

Aaaaaand we're done with lovely things and back to facepalming because dear goodness Taran — and Fflewddur too — you were given perfectly good instructions and you just straight-up ignore them. Good grief.

I completely forgot about the whole Fair Folk interlude . . . and I also forgot that they were all Like That, as opposed to it just being Doli being Doli.

I love that Hen Wen is just as happy to see Taran as Taran is to see her. It makes me happy.

Ok, I have to admit: Gurgi is growing on me. Maybe he's easier to bear when one isn't a teenager.

Taran choosing to spare and tend the gwythaint has very similar vibes to Bilbo and Frodo pitying Gollum, in some ways. And I can certainly appreciate the character it shows.

Eilonwy's metaphors/similes give me life, and I can't decide which of them I like best.

#taleweaver reads #taleweaver reads prydain

4 notes · View notes

frodo-with-glasses · 2 years

Text

Decisions

If I had a nickel for every time I tried to write an essay while recovering from a sinus migraine, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice, right?

Anyway, I've seen this theme popping up throughout the story and figured I'd finally write something about it. There are several instances in LotR where Tolkien puts a surprising emphasis on Choice; that is, one of the characters making a Decision, and how that effects the course of the story going forwards.

Now I think there are (at least) two different kinds of Decisions that the characters have to make.

1. "I Know What I Have to Do, but It's Going to Suck"

This is a Decision in which the right thing to do is very clear, but doing it will be difficult or unpleasant, which creates uncertainty in the chooser. Frodo hesitates at the Falls of Rauros not because he doesn't know what to do, but because he knows he has to leave the Fellowship behind, and he's dreading it. Beregond hesitates to go save Faramir, not because he doesn't know what to do, but because he knows defying Lord Denethor will make him a traitor to his lord and country, and he's dreading it.

These Decisions, while not easy, are at least simple. The choice is between doing the clear, plain, right thing to do, or chickening out and subjecting yourself to a thorough butt-kicking by your conscience for the rest of your life.

But there are Decisions in which your options are not so plain and simple, and that's where the second category comes in.

2. "Whatever I Choose to Do, It's Going to Suck"

This is the sort of Decision that we call a "lose-lose situation", where both options are going to have some form of negative consequences—with varying degrees of relative catastrophe—necessitating extra care and discernment from the chooser. The first instance of this that we see is, I think, when Sam has to choose between running after Bill the Pony or running to rescue Frodo from the Watcher at the Gates of Moria. We also see it when Aragorn has to choose between following the Ringbearer to Mordor or following Merry and Pippin, who've been captured by orcs.

This moment with Gandalf falls into Category #2. He literally has to choose between the life of Theoden and the life of Faramir. It is an "evil choice", and it ultimately causes him great grief in the end, even though he succeeds in what he set out to accomplish. It's not that Faramir's life mattered more than Theoden's; it's just that Gandalf knew that one man's life was in immediate danger, and that he could save that man, but by leaving the Witch King unchecked he could potentially be risking the lives of many others, and, unfortunately, he was correct.

Consequences

But there's an interesting thing about those lose-lose situations: sometimes, somehow, good shows up in spite of the bad.

If Sam had run after Bill instead of going back for Mr. Frodo, he would have gotten shut out of Moria. Assuming the Watcher didn't eat him, he'd have no way of reuniting with the Fellowship, and he'd be forced to make the trek back to Rivendell alone, and Frodo would lose his greatest helpmeet on the journey. In fact, if Sam had turned back for Bill, the Quest probably would've failed altogether.

If Aragorn had followed Frodo instead of Merry and Pippin, the other hobbits still might have gotten free on their own—it was Pippin's ingenuity and a little luck that saved them there, after all—but the Three Hunters would not have come to Rohan at just the time that they needed strong arms to defend Helm's Deep, nor would they have been able to hijack the corsair ships and bring reinforcements to Minas Tirith. In making the choice that he did, Aragorn not only changed the tide in two major battles to defend his people, but he also gave the unlikeliest creature ever—Gollum—a chance to guide and help the Ringbearer and potentially redeem himself.

(He refused that chance, in the end, of course, but the option was open to him, and that's what counts.)

That brings us to Gandalf's decision here. If Gandalf had not rushed to the Silent Street with Pippin, the line of the Stewards would have ended right there—and Beregond, outnumbered, probably would have been killed on the doorstep of the house. Because Gandalf made the choice he did, both Eowyn and Merry had a chance to prove their valor and their love for Theoden; and out of his grief, Eomer led an attack so fierce that it would be remembered in song.

"And so what we have learned, applies to our lives today..."

I dunno about you, but sometimes, I struggle to Choose. Weighing the pros and cons of lose-lose situations can be paralyzing; sometimes the temptation is just to sit right where you are, and make no decisions at all, for fear of making the wrong one.

But that's just the catch: if you choose not to make a Decision, you are making a Decision. You are Choosing to do nothing. If you do nothing, then nothing gets done, and both of the Bad Things might happen after all. If Gandalf had sat there deliberating on Shadowfax instead of taking action, both Theoden and Faramir would have died, and we can’t have that.

Sometimes, on matters of conscience, what we really have to do is Grow Up, Think Clearly, and Decide. And once you've Decided, you have to Commit. There's no time to second-guess yourself after you've made the Decision. Gandalf doesn’t Decide to save Faramir, swoop Pippin up on top of the horse with him, and then think to himself, “hang on, I think I’d rather go down to the battlefield instead”. No, it says “then having made up his mind he acted swiftly”. The period before the Decision is the time for deliberating and seeking out information and weighing the pros and cons; but after you've Decided, it's time to turn your attention away from "what should I do?" and towards "how should I do it?"

Of course, you can always change your mind later if new information comes in that casts your Decision in doubt, but I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about blowing around like a balloon that hasn't been tied off, for no good reason, when you’ve already done everything you can to make your Decision in the best faith possible.

James 1:6 and 8 says, "He who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind", and "Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do." To be double-minded is to be "unstable in mind; undecided or vacillating". People who flip-flop between one Decision and the other are like a boat that gets tossed around by waves in the middle of the sea: there's a lot of movement, but they never actually get anywhere.

Part of what makes it so hard to make Decisions sometimes is the fear that I'll be held responsible for whatever Bad Things happen because of my Decision. And sure, on Category #1 Decisions, that's all well and good, right? That fear will keep me from chickening out of doing what I know I have to do. But on Category #2 Decisions, it sucks, because Bad Things are going to happen no matter what I pick.

But these stories give me a little bit of hope. They give me hope because, even in the worst of Decisions, a little bit of good comes out—through, and even in spite of, the bad.

So, to recap, the emphasis on Decisions in Lord of the Rings has taught me three things:

Sometimes we need to, as my pastor would put it, "buck up little buckaroos" and Choose.

When we have Chosen, in the best faith possible, we must not "put our hand to the plow and then look back". No one who is double-minded ever gets a darn thing done.

Even in the worst of lose-lose Decisions—the suckiest of Category #2s—don't be paralyzed with fear. Keep a clear head, do what you need to do, and you might be surprised by how much Good comes out in spite of the Bad.

I don’t have a way to end this, so if you’ve made it this far, here’s a picture of a baby elephant:

#gandalf #lord of the rings #lotr #my writing #long post #in which i get theological on main again oops #you'd be surprised how much the bible has to say about making decisions

66 notes · View notes

manicpixiedgoblin · 1 year

Text

Nervous Young Inhumans

Masterpost

Chapter Fifteen.

The shifts were long for the next two days - everyone was on call, makeshift beds were being put up, the entire hospital was packed.

In the lobby and ER entrances families crowded, people begging to know if their loved ones had been brought in, if they were alive.

Making it worse, the TV kept blaring the news about the crash. And at one point, between the second day and the third, Ellie understood who it was.

During the twenty-eight days Jesse spent in rehab she drove out there almost every day. But she rarely let him know, or go inside.

When she had he was despondent, dissociated. He took her hand and then barely spoke, was mostly incoherent, guilty and ashamed.

She’d been dodging Jimmy or Saul while this happened, busy with work and being concerned. They saw each other maybe twice.

The last day, she pulled up to pick up Jesse. She saw Walt’s car in front of hers so she got out and went inside.

Jesse was carrying his large bag and for the first time she saw him in his own clothes. He’d lost weight. He’d shaved.

Ellie walked up to him and tried taking his bag.

“I got it,” he gave a weak smile. “Where we going?”

“Well, while we figure your housing situation out, you can stay at my place.”

“Thanks. Thank you, El.”

She gave a small smile. Both of them hadn’t been able to really talk since this mess. When she’d visited it was all labored, awkward. She couldn’t draw the line between his grief and his guilt and wondered how much Jane had really meant to him and then felt ashamed for feeling animosity or jealousy towards a dead woman.

They walked outside and Walter waved them over to his car.

“Mr. White?” Jesse said, barely above a breath.

“I’ll wait for you in the car, yeah?” she took his bag and walked over to her parked car while Jesse talked to Walt in his.

**A/N: this is to imply the conversation Jesse and Walt have in the show at Walter’s place at night is had outside rehab in Walt’s car and at night he’s with Ellie**

While they talked, she rang Saul.

“I’m going crazy, let me see you or I’ll kill myself,” he picked up. She laughed.

“I’m calling to let you know that Jesse’s staying with me until we find him somewhere to settle down. He got out of rehab today.”

Silence. After a beat, “uh, on the couch, right?”

Ellie laughed again. “Yes, dumbass.”

“Gotta make sure, y’know. So how long? Why doesn’t he stay there and you stay with me, then?”

“Because he’d wonder where I am. Also don’t call if I don’t call you, I don’t want him to know. Especially not now.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he waved her away, “but anyways, this living situation, it can’t last. I need to see you, you have now idea, my dick is so-“

“Goodbye, Jimmy,” she hung up with a fake annoyed roll of her eyes and a small smile on her face.

Afterwards, she stared out the window at Walt’s car until Jesse walked towards her.

***

That night, she made them a pasta and ordered them both pizza. The mix of takeout and homemade suited them. Jesse looked healthy, physically, but his eyes betrayed him.

She put on Lord of the Rings and sat next to him, on the couch, where she’d made him a bed.

They ate in silence, watching the TV.

When Smeagol came on screen, Ellie turned to him.

“Precious?” she made her Gollum voice like she used to.

He let out a small laugh, pizza on his face.

“Precious, is the pasta good?” she continued, pulling her legs onto the couch in a convoluted crouch.

“Stop,” he laughed.

“Precious, we wants to know if pasta’s good!”

Jesse laughed and then grabbed the back of her head and pulled her to him. His lips met hers and she tensed. He kissed her while she remained unmoving, not kissing him back or pulling away. When he realized he stopped.

“I, uh,” he cleared his throat, “sorry. I’m sorry, El.”

“No, no,” she sat back down normally, “it’s okay.”

He sighed and put his elbows on his knees.

“Jesse, it’s okay.”

“I -“ he turned to her, “Ellie, I cared about her. But mostly I feel guilty because of all the people that got hurt. Including her. And I still-“

“You don’t have to say it, Jess.”

They stared at each other. She bit her lips.

“I know,” she said. “Me too.”

Neither one of them said anything.

“But I’m not sure that’s what’s best for us-“

“I know.”

They looked away, back to the screen. After a few seconds she took the remote and rewinded to the point where they’d stopped paying attention. They watched the rest of the movie and then slept separately.

***

The next day she went to work, came home and they watched the second Lord of the Rings with a salad and the leftover pasta. They talked a little more, and nothing else happened.

Saul had texted her all day, asking if he had to buy a house for Jesse to see her.

On the third day, after a night shift, she got home and Jess told her Saul had called and he had an idea about how he could move back to his old place. Ellie stopped herself from showing anything and went with him to see Jimmy.

He was on a phone call when they walked into his office.

“Yeah, I’ll call you,” he hung up on them and turned to Jesse, “Return of the Prodigal! Welcome back to the land of the living, how you feeling?”

“I’m good.”

“And you?” he inconspiciously turned to El.

“Good,” she said.

“Looking good as ever,” he wriggled his eyebrows, making Jess furrow his.

“Unencumbered young man with, uh, stacks of cash,” Saul turned to Jess, “world’s your oyster, am I right? What are you doing living off her! You could have your own place! Alone! All that space, Jesus.”

He handed Jesse a bag where Ellie assumed his money was.

“Hey, I’m jealous,” Saul said, “hand to God,” he gave a look to El, “I’m jealous,” and then while Jesse opened the bag he looked at him again, “speaking of, uh, cash, you know what’s giving me heartburn lately? Your former partner. This guy, he works like a bastard, right? Builds a business single-handed. Finally the big money shows up and what does he do? He walks out. Talent like that and he flushes it down the crapper.”

Jesse took the bag and sat on the couch. Ellie walked over and leaned against Saul’s desk.

“It’s like Michelangelo won’t paint,” Saul went on with a chuckle. Jesse started bringing his money out of the bag and stacking it.

“Look, I know you’re out of it and all,” Saul said, “but you, you wouldn’t talk to him, would you? Help him pull his head out of his ass?.”

Jesse gave him a glare.

“All right, all right, scratch that. Yeah he won’t listen to anyone, heh.”

“Saul,” Ellie cut him off, making him turn to her. When he saw her leaning against the desk he licked his lips and gave her and up and down. Jesse was still stacking the money so she smirked and shook her head.

“You want a job?” Jesse asked.

“A job?” Saul turned back to him, “who’s got a job for me?”

“I do.”

***

“You have no idea how invested I am in this particular job,” Saul called her later. “Waiting on his parents now. I’ll call you back.”

He hung up. She cracked a smile, even though she was a little concerned.

That was at the hospital.

That night, she sat next to Jess for their last roommate meal.

“You know,” she said to Jess, “there’s no rush for you to move out.”

“Uh, yeah, there is.”

“Jesse, we’ve been through a lot. And we’re still here for each other.”

“No - we’ve been through a lot and you’re still here for me. And I can’t pay you back and it feels like shit.”

“Woah, pay me back for what?”

“For being good to me, for being-“ he shrugged.

“Jesse, I don’t think you realize how much you’ve done for me as well.”

He sighed.

“Why do you keep me around,” he said. He stated it, didn’t pose it as a question.

***

Diane called her to let her know she should most definitely stay away from their son and that he’d even involved a lawyer in extorting the house out of them.

Ellie thought of the irony of having slept with both the men Diane mentioned.

While Jesse went to move in to his new place, Ellie drove to a furniture store and bought the things she knew he wouldn’t for himself.

She bought him new sheets and towels, some kitchenware, and in the end also got some picture frames.

She let herself in, he hadn’t locked it.

“Jesse?” she called. Nothing.

In the living room wall, she hung the frames with pictures she’d had - mostly shitty ones of the two of them, some of landscapes of the places they’ve been. She also hung the painting she’d recently finished of his hand.

The rest of the stuff she put in its place. It was still pretty sparse but she knew everything else he’d get for himself.

She just didn’t trust him to think of the basic things - that wasn’t his strength.

She sat on the front steps and lit a cigarette to wait for him to come back.

***

They didn’t fight over what she’d bought him and he even agreed to let her come along furniture shopping. But she could see how lost he was, unmotivated, with no clue what to do next.

She showed up at his house and let herself in and he was sitting on the ground waiting for her.

“So, couch first,” she said.

He pointed at the stack of sleeping bags next to him. She tilted her head.

A few seconds later came a knock on the door.

Jesse sighed and started to get up but Ellie stopped him and went to open it herself.

Saul was on the other side, in a purple shirt and colorful tie. He looked surprised to see her, though she should be the surprised one. These crossing interactions should be kept to a minimum, in her mind.

“Hi?” she said.

“Ah! So he’s getting a proper housewarming! I’m glad I came,” he let himself in, checking Ellie out as he took a step.

She was wearing scrubs, since she’d just finished yet another night shift at work.

“I’m thinking of that whole let’s-play-doctor thing but I’ll keep it to myself,” he said with a suggestive face.

She rolled her eyes and slammed the door behind him.

“Jesse!” he said, “glad to see you.”

Jesse just raised his eyebrows at him, not getting off the floor.

“Brought you this, uh,” he showed him a potted cactus, “housewarming gift.”

He held it out and Ellie ended up taking it and setting it on the windowsill with an annoyed look. The only living room decoration was on top of the fireplace, where she’d hung the pictures and the painting.

At that moment it seemed to click to Jimmy that they were way closer than he thought they were.

He cleared his throat before speaking again.

“Interesting decor,” he looked around, “subtle. The whole minimalist thing never blew my hair back, but, hey…”

Ellie thought to herself I know but said nothing.

“So,” Saul went on, Jesse still staring at him from the ground, “how are you doing? Staying clean?”

Ellie looked at the ground, didn’t see Jesse look at her and then back at Saul, give him an annoyed nod for a yes.

“Good,” she only heard Saul say.

She looked back up at them.

“I was kind of worried that you were back to old habits, since I didn’t hear from you,” Saul said, “you do realize how stupid it is to ignore your councel’s phone calls? What if I was trying to warn you that the DEA was gonna kick down your door, heh, what then?”

“Spare me the sermon, and get to why you’re here,” Jesse let out a tired breath.

Ellie was half sitted on the windowsill, watching the exchange.

“Fair enough,” Saul looked at her before continuing towards Jesse, “remember the other day when I brought up the idea of you getting back in touch with your, uh, partner? Well, I kind of wanted to refloat that boat-“

Jesse raised his eyebrows.

“I’m not suggesting that you yourself get back to cooking, I mean, you being in rehab and all,” Saul spoke as much with his hands as he did his mouth. How much he signed to speak amazed El. He continued, “I mean I only want you to convince the master chef to do his thing. So, uh, what do you say?”

Ellie picked at a loose thread in her sweater. She didn’t want to see Jesse’s face now.

“Sure, man, whatever,” Jesse replied.

“Oh, huh, okay. Whatever what, I mean… you gonna call him?”

“I’ll handle it,” Jesse sighed, stood up and walked back to the door to open it. When he passed Ellie his hand stopped for a moment to touch her lap. Everyone in the room tensed at it.

“Now bounce, will ya?” Jesse pointed to the way out.

Saul gave a look to Ellie while she tried to keep her face as blank as she could.

“Final thought, yeah?” Saul said, still staring at her. Jesse raised his eyebrows and snapped his fingers and Saul looked at him again. “I mean, look at this place. You’re house-poor. You got no bankroll. If you get the maestro cooking, I’ll make it worth your while.”

“‘kay, we’ll take care of the minimalist thing,” Ellie interrupted. “And Jesse will handle Walt.”

Saul stared at each of them by turns. He ended up furrowing his brow and muttering something under his breath while looking at the ground.

“Well. Call him,” he ended his pitch with his usual Saulsmanship and walked out.

Jesse shut the door behind him. Ellie put a hand on his back. He turned to her and took her in his arms, hugging her around the shoulders. She wrapped her own arms around his torso and for a few minutes they stayed like that.

When a little while later she finally left, she had two texts from Saul.

The first saying: Call me.

The second: Or just come over tonight.

21 notes · View notes

duskerot · 11 months

Note

dusk,presently Im not crumbling. presently im wwatching Gollum game. (bad) (Funny bad)

OHHH i just watched waynes vod of that game last night . Good Grief is all i can say.

#txt #asks #glad ur not crumbling ! lots of mess that creates i think #that game was absurd. frankly cannot believe it exists #it also now consistsof About 85% of all of my knowledge of that franchise #i need to put that thang dow n. myself #i am watching uhh . a charity streamvod from today . i just ordered an art book ! that is about all i have doen today #i saw my frienfs yesterday and it was Very fun but im so weak and sickly so i need like 28 hours to recover

2 notes · View notes

senadimell · 2 years

Text

5 Movies, 4 Songs, 3 Essentials, 2 Books, 1 Quote

Thanks @i-will-steal-your-intestines!! This was really fun!

5 MOVIES

This is gonna be the hardest section, isn’t it?

1. Princess Mononoke. Ahhhh all of this movie. Hisaishi’s score. The characterization. The art. The relationships. Even the English dub! (I’m fascinated by the choice of accents between Lady Eboshi and the women of the forge because it was a clear case of “rural, southern, working-class accents” vs “posh, upper-class” accents even if we don’t have an in-universe reason for RP vs US south)

2. Song of the Sea. I have only seen this once and it wrecked me. I’m still in awe. Such a work of art! The storytelling! The symbolic overlaying reality! Grief! And actually likable characters working through things!

3. The eminently quotable The Princess Bride (with a special honorable mention to Quibi’s The Princess Bride Home Movie because that was just so utterly amazing)

4. Little Women (2019) Look, this movie got me through a very rough time. Related hardcore to the “loneliness” speech and really latched on to the non-linear style of storytelling.

5. West Side Story (2021) because I liked that movie enough that I inflicted my ramblings on my irl family and friends instead of containing it to tumblr. it is SUCH A GOOD ADAPTION. so much going on. So much analysis jangling around my skull.

Honorable mention to The Tale of Princess Kaguya, Mulan,

4 SONGS

1. Susan Boyle’s cover of Proud (link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpkrVuYxA0c)

2. Lindsay Mendez’ cast recording of Pretty Funny ties with Before It’s Over (actually, Pretty Funny wins because I can be exceedingly angsty and it knocked the wind out of me and changed everything when I heard it first, but I listen to Before It’s Over more often these days to inspire myself)

3. No Good Deed (pretty much any person, but here’s the Idina Menzel version and I’m partial to Willemijn Verkaik). I love the entire musical of Wicked but have made extensive of this song. Let’s just say I was under a lot of strain in high school and didn’t have the words to even know what was wrong, and leaned reeeeal heavy into songs like this.

4. Tie between Emily Portman’s Tongue Tied, Open the Door for Three’s Beeswing, Le bal des chats, Horses (with my daughter Maral), Now and For Always and Star of Earendil from the LotR musical, The Longest John’s Downed and Drowned, and the entirety of Imogen Heap’s The Cursed Child score

Turns out I listen to music as a tool these days, so most of point 4 are songs I can listen to while doing other work, while the musical theatre songs of my pre-COVID years require my full mental attention, so I can only listen to them while doing things like driving or cleaning, not while reading.

3 ESSENTIALS

3. Peppermint essential oil. Great placebo &/or distraction &/or treatment for headaches, stomache discomfort, and more

2. Socks, a robe that ties around the waist, nail clippers, headphones, chew stim, and hairstick, for the Self-Regulation

1. Food and medication! Love love love medication that reduces pain and helps me to function!

2 BOOKS

I only get two of these? I’m changing it to series. Then it’ll have to be the old favorites, the Time Quartet and the Tapestry series.

1 QUOTE

Currently this is rattling around my head:

“Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them?”

this is from Fellowship of the Ring, I think? Frodo and Gandalf are talking about Gollum and Bilbo.

Whoops forgot to tag people. @butwhybother @hobbitsetal @kiralamouse @brightbeautifulthings

#asks #asks and answers

2 notes · View notes

justalotrgeek · 3 years

Text

Let’s talk about Boromir...

So... Boromir... everyone kind of hates him at one point or another. But as you grow older, you start to realize... Boromir deserved better. And he’s pretty awesome. And pretty relatable.

Like, yeah, he comes across as this high-and-mighty-”Gondor-needs-no-King” buddy, but he’s, like, so pure?

His whole motivation for trying to take the Ring from Frodo (big mistake, one that could have cost the entire world) was not greed, but something more along the lines of why Sam DID take the Ring, or wanted to in the first place. Both of them wanted to be heros, yes, but the root of that was love for their people, for their plants, for what they know and love.

And let’s be honest, the Ring wasn’t helping one bit. Boromir felt alone the whole time he was with the Fellowship, let’s be real. He’s the one on the front lines of a war. He’s the one that’s a Captain-General (correct me if I’m wrong there). He has a little brother to worry about, a father who is giving into despair, and his mother died when he was little. He is looked up to by commoners and soldiers alike, a beacon of hope in a rapidly darkening world. He is in line for a Stewardship that he probably doesn’t want. He’s seen so much in his short 41 years.

Boromir journeys alone for 110 days, most on foot because he loses his horse, from Gondor to Rivendell. Upon arriving, he finds himself alone in the knowledge of the horrors of war. Rivendell is the last safe haven, and is filled with immortal elves who are wearying from the woes of the world. Mirkwood could not care less (except for Legolas, I guess) about the fate of the world as they are more worried about themselves. The hobbits, bless their hearts, do not know fear or pain or sorrow quite like Men do. The dwarves are stubborn and slow to trust those they do not know, let alone elves. Gandalf is mysterious and makes little sense most of the time, as he is also immortal and wise beyond the understanding of many. And Aragorn...

Well, having Aragorn introduced second-hand as the King of Gondor -- Gondor, who has not seen a King since TA 2050 (968 years is a long time, guys); Gondor, who had struggled alone; Gondor, who was losing hope, Gondor, who had only Steward-kings to look to since the line of Anárion and Isildur -- did not help in the slightest. Here is this rugged, silent man, and he is the supposed heir of Isildur, the one who will lead them to victory? All Boromir knows is that he was not there when they needed him. Boromir believes he has no knowledge of politics (which is more of his brother’s strong suit than his own, but he knows enough).

The Ring of Power is filled with malice, hate, and distrust. Every. Single. One. Of the Fellowship was struggling with the Ring weighing down on their minds. Every. One. Even the hobbits, whose connection with the power of Yavanna and nature protects them and warns them against evil, even the elves, the Eldar, the First Children of Eru, who flinch at evil, even the dwarves, who are firm and steadfast in truth as is their right because of Aüle, even Gandalf, who is Old, who is a servant of the Valar -- all of them feel it. And Men are the most susceptible.

The Ring sees their hearts, knows their situations, their love, their fear, and it does what it does best. It twists and turns and warps the truth until the Ring is the only solution. In our own lives, we grapple with good and evil, and sometimes the evil makes the good look bad. Boromir is no different than the rest of us. In his love for Gondor, his fear for Gondor, the Ring finds hold. And it grows and grows because Boromir is human. He does not see until it is too late what power the Ring has over him.

But Boromir does something few of us ever would. Even in his despair, his grief, his feelings of worthlessness and helplessness because he let the Ringbearer go, he attacked Frodo, he does not know, does not know, and it hurts; his guilt weighs him down, but he gets up and goes after the hobbits. He gets up and fights and fights and fights. And when Aragorn finds him, surrounded by dead orcs, barely breathing, Boromir apologizes once more, he tells Aragorn what happened to Merry and Pippin (saving their lives, I might add, and giving the broken Fellowship a reminder and a purpose), and apologizes again, saying he has failed.

Most of us would have given up hope because we made such an astronomical mistake. We would have believed, like Boromir, that there would be no redemption for us. Yet Boromir still keeps trying.

He knows in his heart that what he has done is unforgivable, that he if the quest fails it is his fault. But he gets up and tries to do what little he can to make it right. And in his eyes, it is not enough.

But Boromir’s actions redeem him, though he does not live to see it. Merry and Pippin live. Sam, Frodo, and Gollum destroy the Ring (and they all fail). Aragorn is crowned King, and the three remaining hunters are bonded for life. Middle Earth, Gondor, his home, his people, are all saved because of Boromir. And Pippin’s life, saved by Boromir’s actions, goes on to save Faramir, his little brother, who he loved more than the world.

Boromir should have lived. He should have been able to see the fulfillment of his redemption, a chance to see that it is okay, that he didn’t need feel guilty for so long, that he is loved worth every tear we shed for him. He, like us, fails. Really, each one of the characters in The Lord of the Rings fails. Some are redeemed at long last, some are redeemed through death, and some never find redemption or closure in their life time, or even at all.

But the lesson Boromir teaches us is to keep trying. Even when hope seems to be gone, even when you cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel, even when life does not make sense and what you have been asked to do seems impossible, you keep trying.

And in the end, though you may not live to see it, hope blossoms and blooms and light returns.

Your efforts are worth it. They are always worth it.

#LOTR #lord of the rings #boromir #hope #lifelessons #redemption

56 notes · View notes

dragynkeep · 3 years

Note

Someone just described RWBY as being hopepunk and I’m just like ???? What the fuck is that? A setting with technology relying on hope to power things? What’s next? Smilepunk? Bloodpunk? PUNKPUNK?

I love my favourite genre; PunkPunk.

Hopepunk is a story that celebrates positivity in the face of adversity. So yeah, I would say RWBY is technically a hopepunk story, we have the heroes constantly trying even when faces with increasingly dire odds, but I have to say that just because RWBY is a hopepunk story doesn't mean its a good hopepunk story.

Like comparing it to a very famous story that is hopepunk; Lord of the Rings. Both are stories about heroes that go on a journey to defeat a great evil while facing serious danger and loss, but RWBY is a cheap imitation of the feeling you could get with LoTR.

Because LoTR doesn't pull back its punches and comes from a man who does understand what its like to go through such loss and sorrow, but still hold on to that little hope in the end, and you can see that in Sam and Frodo. They're not soldiers, they lived a life of luxury before being chosen by chance, whereas RWBY were Huntress in training and were getting ready for this exact life.

There were plenty of times where Frodo did falter, where he didn't know what to do and was letting not only the ring's influence take over, but just the sheer grief and despair to take over; not just because he had witnessed so much death, but because as he goes on, he keeps losing people. To him, Gandalf, Merry and Pippin, Boromir, Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn were all dead or worse, and the only people there now are Sam and Gollum.

It's realistic reactions in a world while still holding on, and it's not even Frodo that does this. It's Sam. Sam is what Ruby is trying to be, but whereas he acknowledges that they're in way over their head, that the world is harsh, yet keeps on going because there's still something worth fighting for, Ruby isn't.

Ruby constantly decides on things only if they align with her very narrow view of the world. She doesn't have realistic reactions to things most of the time, or they never last long, and when someone else comes in with an idea that doesn't conform to her expectations? She shuts it down and then complains about it.

You only have to watch Sam's speech in Osgiliath to know just what LoTR stands for.

Sam: It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy. How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad happened. But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn’t. Because they were holding on to something.

Frodo: What are we holding on to, Sam?

Sam: That there's some good in this world, Mr Frodo. And it's worth fighting for.

This is what hopepunk should be. Not a fake anime made by two guys who thought it'd be funny to make Holocaust jokes about a little girl who died horribly.

#rwby #lotr #rwde #answered #luke.txt #ppl wish their favourite faux anime was like lord of the rings lmao

41 notes · View notes

postmodernmulticoloredcloak · 3 years

Note

I love the purgatory prayer for the Emotions and acting choices. But at the same time, I'm really bothered by the implications that it was wrong and unreasonable of Dean to be upset about his mother's death and he should apologise for that. I mean, apologising for your behaviour is great, but that's his mom, and Cas did fuck up in this situation, Dean had every right to be pissed! Esp since it all really happened not so long ago.

Idk, that's probably my problem with the whole Beren's anger arc in s13-15: they repeatedly gave Dean very good reasons for anger (bc he's still a protagonist), but then turned around and acted like he's crazy for expressing or even feeling it. It just doesn't sit right with me. Also, it felt kind of redundant after the MoC plot, which was also about Dean's rage. And tbh, to me, MoC storyline handled this theme (for the most part) better.

Sorry for ranting in your ask box, you are my fave meta writer in this fandom, and it's always interesting to see your pov on different aspects of the show.

Thank you ^-^

I agree! It’s actually curious that you bring up the MoC arc because earlier I was thinking about it... That was different, because the “rage” was programmaticly trauma. In the Carver era Dean’s mirrors are characters like Claire, Amara, characters who lash out from a place of pain and betrayal. That was clear and intentional.

The narrative drastically shifted at a certain point from “the MoC draws from your inner darkness” (which was more in line with the “dark variation on fantasy” thing they played with back then) to “the MoC draws from the Darkness” but at the end of the day it doesn’t really change much, because Dean and Amara are the same. In Supernatural’s horror variation on the fantasy classic, there’s no clear lines drawn between who’s Frodo and who’s Gollum and who’s the Ring, because there’s no magical source of evil, but evil is trauma. (But Dean is definitely Frodo, who gets his return to the Shire at the end that he can never quite enjoy because everything’s changed - I’m pretty sure it was planned all along that Mary wouldn’t be The Perfect Mother, because she was supposed to be Frodo’s return home, things can never be the same after the journey. But I don’t think Mary was supposed to just get killed like that.)

The Jack arc feels different because Dean also lashes out from pain and trauma, but somehow the narrative is not compassionate to him. The narrative of the Carver is kind to Dean, it gives him the return home at the end.

Now, people have been making jokes and memes about Dean in the Jack arc - how he was basically the man resentful at the child for killing the wife in childbirth, how he was “baby trapped”, how he and Cas were respectively husband-coded and wife-coded... well, that’s not an incorrect assessment...? Dean was painted as an angry man, you know? Not as a villain, of course, because it was still acknowledged that his anger came from a place of pain and trauma, but in a way where he cannot understand his feelings and doesn’t really have much to write home about in the emotional intelligence department.

The Carver era painted Dean as a wronged woman in pain slash Frodo who thinks he’s Gollum or even the Ring itself, the last seasons painted Dean as an angry man who somewhat can’t recognize that anger comes from trauma. (I’ve always said that the tragedy of Dean is that Dean is aware. And the tragedy comes from the helplessness. That’s how I read him, at least.)

Obviously not all writers write Dean the same which results in a picture more complex than this, but this at least is the general gist of it, imo. Or, at least, this is one side of the issue.

The other side of the issue, as you point out, is that the narrative doesn’t seem to allow Dean his feelings. I don’t know if it’s a reaction to the Carver’s era tendency to write Sam as vaguely unsympathetic and Cas as chronically suffering from bad decision syndrome, but possibly - Sam is now the sympathetic one (at least in theory, because Dean always defies intentions...) and Cas is Definitely Taking The Right Decisions. So everything regarding Jack is The Right Decision, because Jack Is Good And Will Save The World, and Dean... Dean is chronically wrong and an ass because he doesn’t quite jump on the wagon. (Despite being cool with getting on the wagon on his own terms, based on his own assessments.)

Jack is repeatedly shown as naive and dangerously easy to manipulate for the wrong things, and hardly in control of his hyper-powerful powers, but if Dean expresses reservations then he’s chastized for it, despite having all the reasons to be terrified of what Jack can potentially do.

But first Sam projects himself on Jack (and when that happens there’s no escape from it, Dean is the asshole ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) and then Cas is Totally Right This Time, so Dean should not be a dick and definitely should not experience grief and trauma in ways we don’t like. Only Good(TM) trauma survivors allowed.

#my spn thoughts #damn i gave the dabb era the benefit of the doubt all the time #but now the bubble has burst #i ain't doing their work for them anymore #spn #anon

36 notes · View notes

slashingdisneypasta · 4 years

Text

Horror Villains / Misc x Reader || Drabbles

Plot: You accidentally summon Beetlejuice because he convinced you that he could help you with your Slasher problem, but he becomes an even worse problem. So, you need your Slasher to help you exterminate him, instead.

Includes: Chucky / Charles Lee Ray and Freddy Krueger

Warnings: It’s got nasty gremlin man in it (Meaning, gross language, dirty jokes and such), and also Slashers (Meaning, gore, swearing, course and suggestive language). Groping (Himself)

Notes:

Okay, those of you who were with me at MainstreamBaddies; You remember that post I wrote about some rando killer trying to get the reader, so reader goes to the Slasher that’s also trying to kill them for help?

Well this is basically that but with (Movie) Beetlejuice as the rando.

THERE WAS MEANT TO BE MORE CHARACTERS!! But its late and I wanna slep ^^ Hopefully I’ll do Ghostface and Jason tomorrow!

~~~

THE START / ‘Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice’

“So… “Worrying my bottom lip, I look from the wall where I can think properly to the small, ‘fun size’ version of ‘Beetlejuice’ who’s looking expectantly at me. Excited even.

Although I guess that’s a given. If I was that small and had the possibility sitting right in front of me, of growing back to full size, and full power again, I’d be jazzed too. But, still, there’s something very off about this guy, and it isn’t just the fact that he’s the size of maybe 2 thumbs snapped off at the knuckle and taped one on top of the other. He’s very enthusiastic.

In a Gollum-Swamp Monster-Chick Hicks kind of way.

“’So’, what? I don’t have all day baaaaaay – well, I do have all day. I got nowhere to be – not many fun joints for a guy to go to at this size, amiright? Yeah, but, that’s not the point! Do you wanna get rida’ your lil’ problem or not? Eh?” Beetlejuice is practically vibrating, like an alarm clock and I have the most impulsive urge to call his name three times just to stop it.

Luckily, I have impulse control.

“Of course, I do. I… “Eyeing him pointedly, I start wringing my hands. “I just don’t want to create a new problem, in its place.”

He rolls his dark, feral racoon-panda eyes, muttering something lightning quick to himself before throwing out his arms and yelling. “BABE! I promise ya, really, sweetheart. Baby-lemon pie-dumpling-doll-dollar-sugar-tea, I’m just gonna fix your problem! All I want in the world right now is t’ cum-plete our deal! Get rida’ your Slasher, and be on my way! Unless theirs somethin’ else you ask of me, eh? When I’m back to my normal size? You know, I’m big in all the right places sugar tit- “

I took a deep, necessary breath in when he started on the ‘something else’ and now have the required breath to drown out the last words. “Oooookay!! I wont need that.” I say quickly, as a statement. He licks his lips. “But, um… Are you sure you can get rid of them?” ‘Them’. The bane of my existence right now. The co-star in the horror movie of my life. That them.

“Trust me, babe-sickle. It’ll be sinch.” For a moment, he looks absolutely calm. No vibrating, no yelling, no talking really fast. And it hits its intended mark – my assurances. Okay.

“Alright.” I wring my hands one last time, then clap them and step back from the town diorama that Beetlejuice is roaming in. I cross my arms, then drop them to my sides and look around, then finally back at the impatient ghost… who’s doing squats. Good grief, how much energy is in this guy? “Beetlejuice.”

He gasps, jumps up to his feet, nearly falling over because his weight landed wrong and then rubs his hands together. “Here we go!”

“Beetlejuice.”

“Oh. You do it right, babe.”

Oh my god, here we go. Hopefully this can’t make my situation any worse- I mean, I am being targeted by a killer. What are the odds that this goofball of a ghost could ruin my life anymore? “Beetlejuice.”

“PRESTO!”

Human! Chucky / Charles Lee Ray – Chucky’s POV:

I figure this is going to be a pain, when a screech tears from the ugly old house before I even get in. Confused, and more then frustrated because this spells out nothing but problems for me for when I get in, instead of the nice peaceful kill I was intending to enjoy, I open the screen door -bitch didn’t even lock the front door, it’s like she wants me to kill her,- and rush up the stairs to where the sound came from. “Hold on, I’m not there yet!!”

What the hell is going on?!

“Look, in my professional experience, the screamin’ doesn’t start til the killer takes out a knife, sometimes even before but not before I even get into the house, lady. The audacity of you, here- “

What am I looking at here?

In front of my eyes, my fucking eyes, stands of course Y/N, my victim. And some kind of zebra - one that’s been dead and left out in the swamp for a fuck-long time. He’s got crazy eyes if I’ve ever seen them, and have you seen mine? That’s saying something. Who is this joker? In my coat, I grip the gun I keep just in case strangulation goes awry, but don’t bring it out just yet. Not until this guy reveals his cards, first.

The guy’s eyes flicker in smug amusement from my face, to my gun pocket -evidently, he realises something’s up. Can’t blame the guy, damnit, -, then whips right around, leaving his back wide open for me and my weapon, to my facepalming victim. I smirk at her. “I take it that’s the guy you want rid of, toots?”

“Uh… yeah… “She looks adorable and awkward. The guy lets go of her waist, which he was holding close to his body as she leaned away before, when I walked in and he literally, and I’ve never seen any person do this before, halted in his tracks. Stopped breathing, stopped shifting, it even seemed like the history around him stopped for that ‘caught’ moment. And I swear I heard the sound of record music abruptly being turned off come from his mouth.

And for some odd reason, I get the feeling he’s not human. Can’t conjure a reason why, though.

I should be saying this shit out loud, I’m wasted on myself.

Figuring this guy’s been hired to get rid of me, I take out my gun. “Okay, you’re gonna have to catch me up on what’s happening... Oh, no? Well, okay.”

BAM!

A bullet flies across the room and sticks into the freak’s chest, and that is the end of things going my way.

Because the force of the bullet somehow sends him slamming across the room and through a wall in the back. His body goes ‘poot’ down two stories outside and theirs a silence that doesn’t last long enough for either Y/N or I to digest what just fucking happened before the bastard’s grotty fucking hand spiders up my spine from behind. I wriggle out of his reach immediately on impact, because it’s like a real fucking spider, and whip around, waiving my gun- which is useless now, of course.

Games are over.

The guy looks over at Y/N and grins, throwing his arms out in a ‘ta da!’ way. She winces and just narrows her eyes in a glare. “What’d you think of that, sweet cheeks? I got a flare for the dramatic, you know? Ssssexy! Eh?” When she sticks her tongue out at him, for lack of any words to respond to that with I guess -I mean, I, can think of some choice words for the guy, but she’s clearly not as creatively gifted in the art of insult as I have been told I am. But, a tongue out works, - he grins the most fucking horny grin I’ve ever seen and clutches his sack. Her jaw drops.

“Where the ever-loving fuck did you pick crazy pants up from??” I ask, looking accusingly at Y/N. She chews on the inside of her cheeks and looks even more awkward then before.

“Truce?” She asks, instead of answering my question. I’m genuinely curious.

I roll my eyes. “Ughh, fine.”

“Oh well that won’t do,” The guy speaks up again, looking between us and letting his Johnson go, thank god. The boys have to breath! “Baby girl, blossom, light of my FUCKING DEATH! You wound me. riGHT IN THE HEART! Let me show you, sweetgums, why that was a bad idea.”

Her eyes widen, and I suddenly feel real unsafe. “How about you don’t- “

“Watch this!”

He turns to me, makes some overdramatic hand gestures, throwing his back out in the process and momentarily acting like he’s out of order.

Then he whips back into action and shoots me with finger guns,

And then suddenly everything around me looks 4 times bigger then before. Oh, well, its that or… I’m closer to the ground.

Because I’m a fucking doll again.

I slowly look up from the little black baby shoes and the edges of the godamn jean jumpsuit, to the infected condom in black and white grease paint. “… You son-of-a-bitch.”

He chuckles and turns to Y/N, and gives her finger guns too, but the only other thing that happens this time is he winks at her. “Now, baby! Time to get hitched!”

“What?!” She shrieks.

Freddy Krueger – Freddy’s POV:

“I’m going to die of boredom before this bitch catches winks. I’m gonna pummel her with the counting sheep she clearly needs when she gets here.” The corners of my mouth lift up from the deep scowl I was wearing before, at the idea. It has merit.

Behind me the fine folks of Pompeii run for their lives and a red and green striped Vesuvius explodes molten lava over their little town when I remember it’s been 2 days since she’s fallen asleep. Or found some fucking Hypnocil. Or killed herself. Who knows, really. I have a… deadly effect on women.

But damn, it would be a bummer if she killed herself. I was having fun with her. I had plans.

Have, have. I have plans. I won’t give up hope yet.

An hour, or who knows how long later -time is a human construct and doesn’t exist in the dream plain, - , I’m lying on the ground watching Psycho play in the sky when that familiar tingle rushes through me, telling me someone’s entered my world.

I’m just getting up and brushing myself off, taking my damn time like she left me to wait -besides, I can turn back time and make it seem like I appeared instantaneously if I want to. Time’s a construct, remember? And this is my world. I’m just doing this for me, to make me feel better, - when she comes out of fucking nowhere and nearly knocks me over. Im-ee-diate-ly I open my mouth to ask her why she’s so eager, but she beats me to the punch, causing me sadness.

“Wake up, wake up, wake up!”

Hold on, I definitely think there’s something off here. Don’t I make the fucking demands?! “Bitch- ”

“Wake!”

“-I haven’t done anything to you yet.”

“Up!”

“Goddamn!”

What is going on here!?

“I’ll do anything you want, just please. Wake me up!” Her eyes are deadly serious, and I can’t help the greedy smile I get at her submissive idea. What could have made her this way? I laugh.

“Ohhh, I’ll think it over. Tempting offer, though~” She lets out a growl and let’s go of me in pure frustration, looks around quickly for something and then lays eyes on my glove. She picks it up, and my eyes widen in surprise at what she does next.

The blade slices through the skin in her upper arm before I can take any control of the situation, and a nauseous feeling suddenly rolls me and she whimpers from the pain of slicing herself open, as the world goes blurry around us and she wakes up- of course, still holding my glove, which is attached to me, so I go with her.

“Fucking he- “

Much quicker than you think it will be, we both turn up back in the fucking reality. She hops up immediately and flies across the room to a first aid box.

I’m just assuming, I mean. Because I don’t make any move to leave the bed at all and just close my eyes and groan, and resist the urge to cry.

I hate this placceeeeeeeeee.

“BABES, YOU’RE BACK!”

Now I resist the urge to scream and phase out of existence, because a man just appeared on the bed with me and called me his babes. Instead, I slowly turn my head to him and sinisterly narrow my eyes- and hope he doesn’t notice my distress from a second ago.

I’m starting to understand why Y/N was so intent on getting back here. If this guy, a dung beetle with… oh, god. Clearly, some kind of terrible illness if that smell indicates anything, was hanging around me while I slept, I’d be… slightly bothered too. If only for the stink!

He squints, and while he does, his hair flickers through the various colours in the rainbow, confused. “Sweetbottom, theirs something different about you. Did you get contacts?”

As a knee jerk reaction, I stab him in the gut with my blades. “Stranger danger, bitch!”

My panic dissolves into glee as I jerk the knives upwards… just to turn back into panic when he starts tearing all the way in half from my stab wound up to the top of his head with minimal effort from me. I gulp, and retreat from him to where Y/N is, taping her bandages securely around her arm. I gesture to the freak who’s padded onto the floor and is zipping himself back together in front of my eyeballs. “… the fuck is that?”

“That’s Beetlejuice, he’s a ghost=

“With the most, baby.” ‘Beetlejuice’ stands up straight and rests his hands on his hips, chest puffed out and winks at Y/N.

“-What do we do?” She asks, looking with wide eyes at me.

What does she think I am? The Fairy Godmother of the dead?? I’m no godmoth-

… I could use this. A slow grin spreads across my mouth. “First, you go over there and distract him.”

For a split second she looks like she’s actually going to go with it, then looks with furrowed, unimpressed eyebrows at me. ‘Beetlejuice’ makes grabby hands at us, and she starts to look more panicked by the second. “And what will you do??”

I yank the bedroom door open. “Run!!”

#Keatlejuice #Beetlejuice #Chucky #Charles Lee Ray #Freddy Krueger #Drabbles #Scenarios #Part 1 #Horror / Misc Drabbles || Part 1 #Beetlejuice x Reader #Keatlejuice x Reader #Chucky x Reader #Charles Lee Ray x Reader #Freddy Krueger x Reader

108 notes · View notes

seinelee · 4 years

Text

ako naman muna (pt. 3 of 'i k a w' - Legolas X Reader!Soulmate AU)

(Hi! I have moved to another blog. If you would like to see more of this content, feel free to follow me there and visit it! @ceinelee Thank you so much!)

(First of all I want to thank all the people who took the time to read these and even liked, reblogged, and commented you make my day so much! Another note, I tried really hard to be able to translate the sentences as close as to what it means in Filipino but some may come off as awkward I guess. If you need help or if you want to ask please feel free to do so. But I hope you will be able to understand it through the text. Also, to those who said that these broke their hearts, you are not alone, I am breaking my own heart T_T but it's just I'm tired of reading Soulmate AUs where they meet their one for the first time and they just smash their faces together. I think love is only really there when you get to see the perfection and accept the flaws of another person. It's just my opinion though, and I think I just wanted to show that not all the time you'll end up with the person you think you will end up with. Ohhhh don't listen to me babble on I don't even have a love life save me)

Part 1 | Part 2

It had been around 60 years since you left Mirkwood. After following Tauriel's decision on leaving and helping on matters that the Elvenking Thranduil did not like meddling with, you had forced yourself into a voluntary exile.

You were there in the Battle of the Five Armies, helping the people of Laketown defend their people and caring for the wounded. When news came of how the King Under the Mountain and his two sistersons died in battle, you immediately knew what was going to happen.

You had seen how Tauriel and the other dwarf interacted and how Legolas looked from afar. And you were correct because not long after you heard the news of Legolas' departure.

After doing what you could to help Bard and the people of Laketown, you left and explored, something you weren't able to do when you were still under Thranduil's reign. But after a while, you seeked the comforts of a place you could call home.

So to Rivendell you went and thankfully they were all very welcoming, despite the differences. Lord Elrond offered you a place in the guards after seeing how your skills fared in using a sword.

Soon you also began to patch up your bruised and broken heart. You focused more on yourself, on how to make yourself happy again. You studied and read and found new hobbies that helped calm your thoughts. Protecting the borders also gave you a chance to put all your frustration out.

It was in Rivendell that for the first time in years, you forgot that you had something written on your wrist.

And it was also in Rivendell that when you were reminded of it, you didn't feel pain.

Lord Elrond had called in the people of Middle Earth for a council to discuss what should be done to the One Ring. You were tasked to guard the entrances to Rivendell and look out for the visitors that were expected to come, seeking answers to their questions and bringing news from different parts of the land.

And so you spent your day with a handful of elves with you in welcoming those who arrived. You were surprised to see Gloin whom you had the chance to talk to when you helped with the restoration of Dale. He introduced you to his son Gimli and you laughed at the memory of Gloin showing you a portrait of his wife and his son dozens of times.

But what caught you offguard the most was when your eyes landed upon blue orbs on a face framed by blond locks.

The two of you stared at each other for what seemed like a long time before you took a deep breath. Legolas looked at the ground, afraid of what you might say next. But to his surprise, you placed a closed hand to your heart, head slightly bowed, and afterwards outstretched it towards his direction.

He returned the gesture, eyes wide and shoulders relaxing at your genuine smile.

"Mae g'ovannen, Legolas (Well met, Legolas). Nathlo na Imladris (Welcome to Rivendell)," you said, beaming at him.

Legolas returned your smile, his heart now allowing itself to patch up the wound from your misunderstanding that night he saw your wrist.

"Gin suilon (I greet you), (Y/N)," he answered. "Ci maer (Are you well)?"

"Ni maer (I am well). A gin (And you)?"

Legolas' smile grew wider. "I have never been better."

Your greetings were cut short when your group had to direct them to where they would be staying before the council begins. So he nodded in your direction and went off.

Absentmindedly, you ran a hand over your scar again and smiled to yourself. It was good to have your friend back.

* * * * * * * * *

That night as you sat near a fountain, you heard footsteps coming closer. Without even looking up, you knew who it was. Years in Mirkwood spent with him made you familiar with his actions.

And admittedly, even when you tried to distance yourself before, you still noticed the little things in him.

When his footsteps ceased, you moved a little to give him space for him to sit beside you. Legolas sat down and the two of you remained in comfortable silence, watching the stars in the sky.

"I would like to apologize," Legolas started, looking down at his hands. "My actions were brash and it hurt you."

You shook your head. "Both of us were hurting, Legolas. Both of us were being fooled by those who decided to bring us together."

"Did you ever think what could have happened if we found each other when we needed one another the most?"

You chuckled. "I think your father would already be a grandfather by then."

The both of you laughed at the idea of Thranduil running around to babysit. But Legolas' frowned once more when you asked, "You left Mirkwood after the battle, did you not? Yet you come representing your father. How did you receive news?"

"I did leave, but I also came back, although I have never stayed there for too long whenever I returned. After travelling, I thought it best to come back to Mirkwood and maybe try to be there for my father. I thought it was time to forget the past mistakes and to begin trying to understand him in some way. There is darkness and danger everywhere. Wouldn't it be better if I do something now before it is all too late?

"He also sent me here to bring ill news—Gollum had escaped. And although I know my news would not be taken lightly, I was eager to go. For some reason, it makes me feel proud and happy, that Ada trusts me with something that is of great importance."

"He trusts you because you are destined for great things." You looked at him. "I've known you for years, Legolas. And I've always felt you would be an important figure in this world."

Legolas met your gaze, teary eyed but with lips pulled up into a smile. The sincerity in your voice made his heart swell with happiness, for in the years he spent with doubt in his head and grief in his heart, you were the first to say such words he didn't think he needed to hear.

Unconsciously you ran a hand over your scar again and your small action was noticed by Legolas. He pulled up his sleeve and moved his wrist beside yours. The both of you looked at the words on your wrist: siya pa rin.

Legolas was about to say something when the words begin to fade and new ones started to form:

May pag-asa pa.

Pero ngayon,

Ako naman muna.

And like how it was before, the both of you seemed to understand what they meant without even knowing what language it was.

"Take care of yourself, Legolas," you said, holding his hand in yours with a firm grip. "If there are any calls of help to be made for our kin, I will do what I can to help."

He nodded. "You take care as well, (Y/N). May we meet each other again."

As he left to return to his room, you looked at the words on you wrist again. Then and there you found yourself silently thanking whoever brought you two together for letting you meet again and patch things up.

You were uncertain of what would happen in the future and uncertain of what you would do by then. But for now, you discarded the thoughts. You would focus on the now and on yourself.

You would let yourself heal.

Because to help and love others, you must also know how to help and love yourself.

May pag-asa pa.

Pero ngayon,

Ako naman muna.

—(Filipino; Philippines)

Meaning:

There is still hope.

But for now,

It is my turn/I will go(be/put myself) first.

#legolas #Legolas X reader #Legolas imagines #imagines #lord of the rings #the hobbit #lotr #soulmate au

149 notes · View notes