Writer and artist. My writing 2016 onward is on AO3. Older LOTR fics before 2010 under same name on ff.net; no promise of quality there. Other links: #my artwork tag | #my writing tag | the prompt/bingo fills master post | MCU meta/headcanon master post
Main fandoms: Doctor Strange (and the rest of the MCU by osmosis), LOTR. Side fandoms: Other Tolkien work, BBC Sherlock. This blog is a collection of my writing and art, and I try to keep my reblogs to mostly funny, interesting, and positive things, often from the fandoms above.
Please don't repost my art on other sites.
I've been thinking about doing this for ages, and it came to mind again and I'm finally doing it. Hopefully this is helpful (especially since links in the summary don't work always on the mobile app).
Links I'd Like To Share With Others: #my-artwork tag | #my-writing tag | the prompt/bingo fills master post | MCU meta/headcanon master post | my AO3 page
How Often Do I Post: 1-4 times a day usually. This only increases when my blorbo (Stephen Strange) has a big media time period. That said, I never try to go over 8 a day. 95% of my posts are queued/scheduled.
What Type Of Things Do I Post: A not-insignificant amount of my posts are going to be featuring my blorbo. Other posts are going to be about the MCU, fanfic/writing tips/culture, fandom culture, LOTR, or something I find funny. A few other posts are going to be what I consider interesting and informational and crossing all sorts of topics, usually tagged #the more you know. On rare occasion I'll post about current politics, news, or disasters, which are tagged as #current events. Finally, if it's something about me or new personal news, it's, well, #about me and #personal. Haha. These are all listed so if you're following me for a specific topic, you can block tags and posts a bit more easily. I tag everything.
I Want To Follow You But Avoid All Your Discourse Posts And Just See The Fun Stuff: Block #current events, #discourse, #fandom wank, and #fandom discourse as I'll put opinions and news about wanky stuff there, and current events cover events that are, well, in the news.
If you want to avoid educational posts that may cover harder things in RL, like finding healthcare resources, tax issues, environmental issues and education, and anything that may touch on parts of the real world that isn't all fluffy, consider also blocking #the more you know as I can't guarantee that it's all positive.
#mental health and #personal are other tags to consider if you're sensitive to the topic. I am interested in the research and promotion of the topic - and I may cover my own harder times under this from time to time.
Do I Accept Fic Prompts: Yes, but you should be aware of what I currently write and the genres I write (i.e. my extreme lack of romance writing. Gen content FTW). The prompt shouldn't be longer than a few sentences too, as I don't go beyond a one-shot with fills and too much detail doesn't allow my own spin on the prompt. You should also be aware that it may take *years* for me to get to yours as I'm still working on the 2019/2020 batch, so if you fandom-hop frequently, you may want to find a faster writer for your prompt. :P (If you think of a prompt to help fill my terribly neglected Bad Things Happen bingo card, it may come a bit sooner? Maybe?)
Other Stuff About Me: I'm she/her though I've played enough online games in the 2000s to be immune to being called "he" so you won't offend me if you forget. I've been writing online for 20 years. I'm opinionated; I try not to be an ass about it, but this is my space so I'm not gonna hide my opinions, either. I think being open to constructive critique is the best thing any artist or writer can do for themselves, even if it's just a hobby for them, and I often reblog posts with the purpose of improving in one of those crafts. I'm pro-critique of any media, anti-hating on fans for differing opinions. I loathe absolute statements, especially with a negative connotation, in the fandom space. I love the willingness to deconstruct and debate in the fandom space. This is probably enough, eh?
Turns out that I didn't do the monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly update on the it-should-have-ended-in-January lawsuit. Let's go through Baby's First Deposition.
It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but that was largely because my lawyer is amazing. She walked me through how it works really well, to the point that I got asked an odd question in the process. She told me I was the best witness she's ever had which was pretty awesome. Very relieving.
Other things happened that I don't think is wise to get into details about until this whole thing is over. Someone remind me later lmao. Stuff that is now on court record so that's wild.
Anyway. I did very well. Now I get to wait until probably June for the next part. This can either finish maybe end of summer or quite potentially go into next year. Their choice on if they really want to spend god knows how many more 10s of thousands of dollars on something that seems heavily in my favor. Not counting eggs or anything though. Not until signatures come in. Or however it works.
Yeah it's ridiculous.
I guess the positive is that this could turn out anywhere from a new, basic sedan (which I do need, my poor baby is 18 years old) to... after-retirement-life-changing if done smartly. Which is insane. But nothing is guaranteed so it's out of sight, out of mind, focus on work and being healthy and doing my damnedest to get a promotion before the end of summer. Which is viable.
So yeah. Figure this'll get an update mid summer or something.
Question, do blogs that openly love a specific character enjoy being pm-ed or ask-ed about them and asked questions about said character? Or is it uncomfortable when that happens
The last one (acquired sometime in 2012) finally died, so it was time for a replacement. The new model 105 is the cheapest one they make but by golly it's an upgrade in every conceivable way.
However.
The startup/unpacking procedure has changed. Where, before, you just charged the thing for 8 hours then turned it on... now you gotta configure it:
download the app
create an account & login
connect Roomba to the app/internet
use the app to configure Roomba
use the app to designate "forbidden" areas
use the app to schedule Roomba's start/stop times
Etcetera. Upon unboxing it I was >this< close to returning it, because nowhere was it stated on the web store that the app was REQUIRED to utilize the small floor cleaning robot.
But then I had an idea.
I set New Roomba down and pressed the Power button, without installing any apps or connecting it to wifi. And you know what?
IT STARTED CLEANING
It bumbled around the house mapping everything itself and did a marvelous job, without my having to do any of the recommended crap in the Quick Startup instructions. And without configuring its wifi there's no way it's sending data to iRobot's servers. Yayy.
In 2025 some things do just work right out of the box.
Can confirm my wireless enabled air filter does not require any Internet connection to work exactly like its non wireless predecessor. I tried connecting it once and it did not work as well as it did when I disabled the wireless connection. It was flashing a small "can't connect" light so I put tape over that light and it still all works fine.
My stove, dishwasher, and washing machine all have apps. "Install the app!" the manuals all say. "Get access to fancy cycles and features!" they all say.
I have installed exactly none of these apps, and have connected exactly zero of these appliances to the wifi.
They all work fine.
Like seriously 99% of my dishwasher cycles are "auto" and the remaining 1% are "express", neither of which I need an app for. Allegedly the app can tell me when the dishwasher needs more rinse aid but so does the little red light on the display. Which is handier than the app because the rinse aid lives in the cabinet next to the dishwasher and so when I see the little light I fill the rinse aid and am done, instead of an alert on my phone stressing me out everywhere and impinging on my brain.
The washer? 95% of what I was is cold water on the colors cycle. The rest is towels in hot water or delicates in cold water. Sometimes I get fancy and delay the towels an hour so it's not competing with the dishwasher or the shower for hot water. None of that needs the app. Allegedly the app can tell me when the washer is done but so can a timer I set to the wash time handily displayed when I start the washer, and that doesn't send any data to the manufacturer.
Honestly I don't even know what the stove app does because I can do fancy things like "turn the oven on in 3 hours" without it.
Yes, it is incredibly shitty that these all have apps now and that some features are app-only and that we are all pushed to give up more and more of our control and privacy in order to feed the gaping maw of corporate "profit". HOWEVER. Sometimes you can still just not.
And if you HAVE installed the app and connected the thing to the wifi, you can change your mind in most cases. Change your wifi password and uninstall the app. Sometimes for big appliances you can find instructions on how to physically remove the wifi module. If it literally won't turn on without a wifi connection, you can almost always make a separate network for it on your router that you then block from internet access.
[Image ID: Tweet from verified user Redhead Ranting (TM) (@/ redheadRanting) reading: You know what I miss? Turning on something and having it just work. No registering on another device. No signing into an account. No downloading an app. Just plug it in and it does the thing it's supposed to do. /End ID]
things i wish someone told me before i started writing (and also things i ignored anyway)
okay. writers of tumblr. i’ve compiled a list of things i desperately wish someone had sat me down and said before i started writing, not that i would’ve listened, because i was 14 and powered entirely by hubris, iced coffee, and my wattpad era.
anyway. here we go:
1. stop rewriting chapter one.
i know you think it’ll fix everything. it won’t. it’s a hydra. you cut one head off, two Google Docs appear.
2. your first draft is not a treaty with god.
it can be messy. it can be unhinged. it can have 47 placeholders named “idk something happens.” it’s fine.
3. perfectionism is just fear wearing a blazer.
write badly on purpose. humiliate your draft. it builds character (yours).
4. word count culture is a scam.
you are allowed to write 200 words and call it a day. you are allowed to write 5k and then disappear into the void for three business weeks.
5. google docs autosave WILL betray you.
download backups. then back up your backups. then sacrifice a pen to the writing gods idk.
6. description is not pretty synonyms.
it’s specificity. the torn movie ticket in their pocket. the buzzing light in the hallway. the chipped nail polish on their thumb. write the thing not the aesthetics around the thing.
7. dialogue isn’t two Shakespeare ghosts monologuing at each other.
interruptions. trailing off. people lying. people avoiding the truth. people saying “whatever man.” let it get messy.
8. you don’t need a whole map before you start.
sometimes you just need one character with one problem and the stupidest idea imaginable.
9. reading your old writing will make you cringe but also cry a little because wow you cared so much.
keep that version of you alive.
10. don’t wait to ‘be good.’
you get good by writing the stuff you think is embarrassing.
11. also: nine out of ten times, your “bad” idea is actually the one that goes feral and grows teeth and becomes your WIP.
12. hydrate.
no further explanation.
ok that’s it because if i keep going i’ll start confessing things about the time i wrote a whole novel in 2017 that will never see daylight again.
reply if u relate or if u too have 87 abandoned document fragments in your google drive.
With just under two hours to spare, I got (some) of my Gondor OCs done in this little collage thingy for @gondorweek. And all dark-haired as god intended. Totally new style to try and find a style that isn't full realism for pics that are a bit quicker to draw. Pencil on paper.
Happy with the tree. Unhappy with those stupid stars. Mostly happy with the characters if I don't think about it too much.
Few people care about OCs from my experience on the internet, so I'll put that blabbing under the cut. These are all RP characters from Lord of the Rings Online. ... and they're all from Minas Tirith because I'm heavily biased. So this could fit for either minor characters or the city prompt.
Top: Laerlin
Faceclaim: Jennifer Connolly from Dark Water (2005)
Created: 2011
Age: Uh, she was 21 when she started, and she like in the 28 range now. Time is weird in a game where less than a year of canon time has taken 19 RL years. The WOTR is much longer in her timeline.
Brief blurb: Her dad was an Ithilien Ranger. Mom died, dad died, some other tragedy common in RP back stories, she left the country and started her little RP adventures. Which were numerous as she was my main for several years.
She is a healer by profession, specializing in surgery and triage, and by the ring's destruction she has gained some respect after a bumpy start in the Houses of Healing. Plan to traumatize her further by sending her on a plot into Mordor (because it's open season there in this game's version of post-destruction) before likely sending her to rebuild Arnor or something.
-------
Middle: Finesten
Faceclaim: Benedict Cumberbatch in Sherlock (2010-2017)
Created: 2017 or 2018, can't quite remember.
Age: I rebooted him with LOTRO's new servers, so he's 36, having only aged a year now.
Brief blurb: Several years ago I thought it would be super funny to put the really ornery assholey Sherlock in M-e, with similar skills but not the profession. A Sindarin translation later created Finesten. When server migrations happened, I rebooted him and revamped his back story to major success. He's still a bit assholey, but has had a lot of growth over the last year to help shape him into his own character who occasionally does a deduction and mystery solving.
In Middle-earth, he is pre-War and in that fun period of time where the Fellowship isn't in TTT territory yet. He'll stick in that canon zone until I feel like moving his story up the timeline. His role in the "war effort" was helping come up with antidotes to Mordor's poison of the month until he got tasked to do research on the Great Plague as there was rumor starting that Mordor may try to weaponize that devastating disease once again. So he is tasked to find as much about it as humanly possible and, if possible, figure out a treatment should that end come to pass.
Oh, and his brother is naturally in the council of Gondor. Not trying to rule the country or anything, he is a very loyal servant.
------
Bottom: Meluion
Faceclaim: Sharlto Copley circa early 2010s. With longer hair.
Created: Uh, 2015 I think it's when I brought him to LOTRO with a new background.
Age: He was 67 when I started with him, I'd say he's about 69 now with the amount of RP time he's had.
Brief blurb: His original form was a Northern Dúnadan, created because I wanted one who bucked all the typical stereotypes. So he's quite personable and jolly in nature. When I brought him into LOTRO, I moved him to the position of a retired Ithilien Ranger with strong Dúnedain roots so he could look late 40s in his late 60s lmao.
He serves more as a support/advisory role to the much younger characters that tend to be in the RP scene. He's had his adventures, had his sorrows (lost his wife to disease), had his dumb moments, and is now more there to help along and provide expertise when a certain role needs filling.
for the record im not technially 100% anti-AI, in the sense that its a broad category of tech being lumped under one umbrella term so it feels over-zealous to say i hate all of it all the time forever. but i also think trying to discuss what it actually IS good for is difficult right now when i cant take one step without something trying to convince me to use chatgpt to summarize my life and speed up my hobbies and turn my friends into chatbots and optimize my life into oblivion. i am certain there is nuance to the topic but can we stop cramming the square peg into the round hole before you start trying to sell me on the legitimate benefits of the square peg. please.
Neural Nets have existed for decades and are genuinely useful. It's a form of AI that recognizes patterns, and can do stuff like identify cancer cells, tell whether an egg is fertilized or not, detect fraud, and optimize routes.
Those are Expert Systems, tuned to do exactly one thing. If you (say) ask a medical expert system a question about financial law, it's useless. The autopilot that flies a 787 has no idea how to drive a truck on the freeway. A Coulter Counter is excellent at identifying lymphocytes in a blood sample but can't predict the next card in a blackjack game.
And so on.
The problem with so-called generalized AI (AGI) is that we don't have that yet. It doesn't exist. It MIGHT some day, but AGI has been "10 years away" since the 1980s. The goals keep moving as we learn more about how people and machines process data.
But the current crop of AI techbros have been selling generative Large Language Model AI (LLM) as AGI because generative systems do a good job of faking it. There's no actual thought going on, merely the illusion of thought via predicting the next word in a sentence accurately.
If you let a human toddler listen to 800 hours of YouTube car influencer videos, that toddler might end up sounding like a car influencer. They'd parrot horsepower numbers and 0 to 60 times, mention EV range and MSRP numbers.
But they wouldn't understand any of it.
That's ChatGPT.
And yeah, it's worse than useless because it doesn't even know when it's lying or hallucinating. It just babbles convincingly until you stop it.
But for techbros to make money selling that as "AI"? It's the perfect scam, especially if you don't understand how it works.
When things are all said and done, I like to imagine Aragorn paying a visit to the nameless townsperson who supplied the six dried leaves of athelas that revived Faramir, Eowyn, and Merry.
I just wanted to share something beautiful with you guys tonight! (Well, other than a ficlet which will (hopefully) be coming soon.) I commissioned @aelaer for a pet portrait and here we are! Below features Ko'te (right) and Salazar (left).
When Laer opened commissions for pet portraits, I knew immediately that I wanted one, and I cannot thank her enough, because I love the final product so much and it means... well, it means a lot. While I'm not sure anyone cares, I kind of want to ramble about these two a little. Because it involves the death of a pet, I'm going to put it under a read more.
In 2020 my sister and I were living with each other during a transition period when we were both trying to figure things out (plus, well, it was 2020, I'm sure you remember). Now, something to note, my sister is NOT a cat person (now that we've both have our own places, she has two very big and very energetic dogs that she adores... we are very different people, and I'll leave it at that), but she knew that I was and that I planned to, someday, get one. As it was, I knew she wasn't a fan of cats and so I had no plans to get a cat until I had my own place—or a roommate who liked cats. So it surprised me when she was the one who approached me and said she thought I should get a cat. I was struggling massively with depression at that time, and had been for years (and would continue to, because, as much as I love them, cats don't solve everything) and she thought they would help. (And they did; I can state with absolute certainty, that having Ko'te and Salazar kept me alive during a few really rough periods.) My sister had found two kittens through a friend of a friend and just felt like they were the right ones.
I looked at the pictures of those two cats and I fell immediately in love. I went and met them, and I... I just knew that these two were the right kittens. My sister's one condition to bringing the cats into our apartment was that she got to name one of the cats, and thus Salazar earned his name.
I brought them home when they were six weeks old and... I loved them. That really was just... the truth. I loved them. They were energetic and ridiculous, and very, very adamant that they be allowed to rule the apartment. Which they did. Ko'te tended to sit on my lap while I worked and cuddled up on my chest at night, while Salazar shared his cuddles a little more sparingly. Most of those cuddles were given to Ko'te. Which, you know, fair enough. Ko'te deserved all the cuddles. Though, the best nights would feature Ko'te on my chest, with Salazar on my legs. It was just as good as a weighted blanket, in some ways.
Then, in July of 2023, Ko'te got sick. One month before, the vet had told me to put him on a diet due to being just slightly overweight. I did as I was told. I have to admit, I have never regretted anything more in my life. Because, while I didn't know this, nor did the vets I went to for semi-annual check ups, Ko'te had a congenital heart disease.
You can't see it very well in the picture due to the cuddling, but Ko'te was born with three legs. I was later informed that birth defects like this can often be accompanied with unseen heart defects. What this meant, though, was that when Ko'te started losing weight, he could not gain it back. The sharp loss of weight had me concerned—especially when I started feeding him more out of worry, and he wasn't gaining any of it back—but since he was still highly active, the vet wasn't concerned and told me things were fine.
And then on July 27, Ko'te got sick. He wouldn't drink. He wouldn't eat. His gums were a whitish-gray. He could barely walk; when he did, it was unsteady and sluggish. He couldn't even get onto the couch by himself. Salazar wouldn't go near him because he could smell that Ko'te was sick. The day before, Ko'te had been just fine—as far as I could see. I took him to an emergency vet, the only one in my immediate area—I later learned this emergency pet hospital was considered scammy—and they gave him a shot that would "help within 24 hours" (yeah, maybe I should have picked up on the scammy bit, but I was stressed out of my mind and desperate, and my regular vet had recommended it when I'd called them for help).
I remember that night perfectly. I slept on the couch because I had a loft bed and Ko'te couldn't get up there (next to my bed I had a tall cat stand that they could use to get up and down) and I didn't want to try to carry him up and potentially hurt him. I say slept, which is a bit inaccurate, because I didn't sleep a wink. I just laid there all night, watching Ko'te next to me, watched how labored his breathing was, watched him hurting.
He did not get better. I took him to the second emergency vet first thing the next morning. They were the ones who discovered that Ko'te had a congenital heart disease and that he was currently experiencing congenital heart failure. They told me that there was a chance they could keep him alive a few more days, but that there was very, very little chance that he'd survive any longer, and that he would be suffering. I didn't want to lose him, but I knew I didn't want him to suffer anymore.
Less than 24 hours after I noticed that Ko'te was sick, I had lost him. A part of me will never forgive myself for listening to the vet and putting him on a diet. While the congenital heart disease was a ticking time bomb that would likely always lead to congenital heart failure, Ko'te might have made it longer if he hadn't started losing weight. I don't know, of course. And it's a what if that haunts me a little. How many years did I accidentally take from him? I miss him. I still love him. I suspect it is always going to hurt.
Salazar has been alone in the three years since then. At first it was just too early for me to get another cat. Now, I admit, I'm afraid of failing another cat the way I did Ko'te. Only recently I have started the process of looking into getting another cat, though I admit I'm not sure how Salazar would feel about that at this point. The first three years of his life he had his brother, the last three years he's only had me (though he has become a bit of a cuddle bug in the time since (he is, in fact, currently on my lap as I write this); I suppose without his brother to cuddle with, I became a next resort). I'm honestly not sure if Salazar wants another companion or if he'd be very displeased I'm letting an intruder into our space. He can be a little grumpy, I admit, and he's not a fan of most other humans outside of me and a few spare people. (Current 'acceptable' people include my sister, a second roommate I had, and my mom. He hates my youngest brother, though, which is actually a little funny.) But future additions to the household is for future me to figure out.
When Ko'te died, I got a memorial item: one of those ceramics with Ko'te's paw print in it that the emergency pet hospital took before... well, before. I'm grateful for it, don't get me wrong, that memorial of Ko'te. But it never felt right. Or maybe it's better to say that it never felt like enough.
But this picture... this feels right. Even if I did cry when I first got the physical version of the picture (and I might have also cried the whole time writing this). Having this moment caught in time of Salazar and Ko'te together feels like the memorial I've been looking for. More so, even, than just the pictures I have on my phone (even if they show essentially the same thing, it still feels different).
Anyway, I'm not sure if anyone read this, but I think I had to write it. And I just want to say thank you again to @aelaer, because I didn't realize until now how much I needed something like this, Ko'te and Salazar together, happy and healthy.
Maybe, now, it'll be easier to remember Ko'te that way. So, thank you again.
Thank you so much for reaching out to me, and thank you for sharing your story. I'm honored I could help memorialize Ko'te now, and Salazar for the coming decades. And I'm so glad you believe that I did your kitty babies justice.
You did what you were advised by a professional. You did everything right with the knowledge you had at the time. You are a good pet owner and pet mama.
This is an event that will be running from the 27th of April to the 3rd of May, in honour of Aragorn being coronated on the 1st. Bring absolutely anything (fics, gifs, meta, etc) to this event - as long as it's related in some way to Gondor, or Gondor's many characters.
Here's the basic rules, how I'm going to tag posts, and the ao3 collection.
Prompts:
The Line of Kings, Minas Tirith, "It has come to me, the One Ring. It shall be an heirloom of my people." (Further inspo)
The Line of Stewards, Artifacts, "fealty with love, valour with honour, oathbreaking with vengeance" (Further inspo)
The Rangers of Ithilien, Nature, "By the blood of our people are your lands kept safe!" (Further inspo)
Osgiliath, Grief and Conflict, "I love only that which they defend." (Further inspo)
Dol Amroth, Cultural Differences, "the great stone city, vaster and more splendid than anything he had dreamed of" (Further inspo)
Minor characters, Tradition, "But there are no travellers in this land: only the servants of the Dark Tower, or of the White." (Further inspo)
Fourth Age, Gondor's past, "I would have her loved for her memory, her ancientry, her beauty, and her present wisdom." (Further inspo)
Participate in as many - or as few - days as you would like! This has been reposted so people newly stumbling upon this can actually reblog it.
on “the blond,” “the older man,” and other crimes against third-person limited
You know that thing where a story is written in tight third person limited — we’re meant to be inside someone’s head, seeing the world through their thoughts — and then suddenly the narration says “the blond frowned” or “the shorter woman sighed” about a person the POV character knows really well?
That’s called antonomasia — using a descriptive label instead of a name. And it’s fine when we’re talking about strangers: “the cashier handed her the receipt,” “the tall guy blocked the door.” The POV character doesn’t know their names, and we just need a quick way to tell people apart.
But the moment it’s used for someone the POV character already knows, it breaks immersion. Because that’s not how our minds work. We don’t think “the older man smiled at me.” We think “Mark smiled.” Or maybe “my boss” if that relationship matters in the moment.
Third person limited means the narration sits inside someone’s perception. Their inner monologue is the story’s voice. So when you switch from “Mark smiled” to “the blond smiled,” you’ve pulled the camera away from their mind and turned it into an outside shot.
If you want to create distance or irritation, you can do it on purpose —
“The idiot from accounting emailed again.”
That’s character voice. That’s judgment. That works.
But otherwise?
As soon as your POV character knows someone’s name, use it. While we do tend to worry about repetitions, names rarely register as such to the readers.
If you need variety for rhythm, use relational or emotional identifiers that make sense in their head: her friend, his partner, their teacher, the person they loved.
Because inside someone’s thoughts, there are no “blonds” or “brunettes.”
Same! As far as I'm concerned, the only time you should describe a named character by their hair color is when it relates to the conversation/plot. For example:
"They told me someone spotted a tall redhead doing something mysterious to the sidewalk where the coins were glued down," he said, casting a glance at the tall redhead beside him, who was hiding the superglue behind his back.
not everything in a story has to or should be "realistic" but in my opinion there's a level of illusion that should be maintained, and I think that's the actual problem that many people try to pinpoint with the "unrealistic" criticism. Dialogue shouldn't be written like an actual transcript of human speech, but should contribute to the illusion of a real person speaking. A character is a tool of the story, not a narrative, but we're trying to maintain the illusion that they are a person. Worldbuilding should exist to serve the story, not to be a perfect simulacrum of how every aspect of nature/society etc. would actually play out for real. But there should be the illusion that it could be real, that organizations and systems would operate in such a way, that people might behave in such a way.
in conclusion: "Is this realistic?" <<wrong question. "Does this serve the illusion or disrupt it?" <<now we're talking
Can you imagine being Gandalf? Getting shit from other wizards because you have a thing for hobbits and you're just like, okay. Okay, maybe I'll temper my fascination with hobbits.
This Ring quest will have two hobbits. Maximum.
Then they all get to Rivendell and have somehow multiplied into four hobbits. And it's like. Okay. Maybe the others are right.
Maybe this is too many hobbits.
We have as many hobbits as we have not-hobbits.
But damn it, you just don't want to get rid of any of these hobbits. Screw it! Everyone can deal. Four hobbits. This is a four hobbits problem.
So away you go.
And things go bad in the worst possible way.
Over and over.
You've lost your hobbits. You've lost yourself. The fellowship has been separated.
It takes everything in your power to help the humans defend themselves, bringing them together to save Rohan. Finally, as things begin to look upright, you're ready to face the war with everything the Rohirrim have left.
You're ready to face him. This may be the hardest battle you've ever fought. But you ride.
Then you get there and two of your fucking hobbits are sitting there like "Yeah, while you were gone, we raised a tree army and beat Saruman's ass. Wanna help us loot his tower?"
