magic is just science that we do not understand

gul | her/she | university student | south asian academia | discovered dark academia and found a door to my soul | Tolkien is my god :) | ig: academemyeah

[ad-wills]

don't leave me!

[mwagneto]

What are you doing in Budapest?! How did you get there in the middle of a pandemic??????

......................i am in budapest because i was born here and ive lived here all my life in the same house. which i still live in. which is in budapest. sometimes ppl just live in places??

[milfkarlmarx-deactivated2021081]

so irrespomsible of roughly 2 million people to just be in budapest didnt you know theres a global pandemic??

[charlesoberonn]

[shortace]

In yet another episode of The Internet is Not Just America!

[aureentuluva70]

Spoilers for Ep 3 of Rings of Power, Adar Reaction/Thoughts:

The warg totally freaked me out, and that's a good thing. Mostly because, well, just look at its eyes. In the Peter Jackson movies the wargs themselves were much bigger in size and more muscular. But this one...man. This warg's eyes were eerily human, wide-eyed and just filled with this pain, insanity and desperation I can't describe. It reminded me less of the tough, vicious wargs of the Jackson films and more of a wild, rabid dog, something of a mix between a hyena, a chihuahua and a boar. Parts of its body look infected, burned and torn. The way it acts speaks more of a malnourished, beaten animal, so hungry and in pain it is willing to do anything just to feed itself. The state of the poor creature, and the amount of cruelty it must have faced to turn out this way is heartbreaking to think about despite how dangerous it is. Some people think it looks weird but I think it works very well with Tolkien's philosophy of "the shadow can only mock it cannot make". The warg is not so much its own creature as it is a mix of different creatures and the result of many twisted experiments, abused and tormented until its totally deranged.

2. Numenor looks EPIC, and I love it. The score for Numenor is amazing, and matches very well. Seeing Characters like Elendil, Isildur, Miriel and Pharazon was fantastic, and I can't wait to see more of them. Elendil has to be my favorite though. The actor just nails his character so well. AND THE ELROS MENTION EVERYBODY??? I was literally giggling with joy. Seeing the look on my mom's and sister's faces when they discovered Elrond had a twin was worth it.

3. Dang, they really are going full Aragorn with Halbrand aren't they? (Specifically the movie version.) I personally don't go with the theory that Halbrand is Sauron, but I really hope that it'll go full reverse with the Aragorn paralells and Halbrand ends up becoming one of the nazgul or something similar, possibly even the Witch King. And the scene where Halbrand just went absolutely savage and just destroyed those numenoreans was brutal. It was pretty horrifying to watch. Do you have to put in so much gore, Amazon?

4. My eyebrows immediately raised when I learned Earien(An original character for Rop, and Isildur's sister) was an architect. When it comes to sub-creators in Tolkien's world, things rarely go well for them, even the more decent ones. Maybe she'll be the one responsible for the construction of the Temple of Melkor when Sauron comes around to Numenor?

5. I love how they remembered the little detail of Elves being treehuggers just as much as Tolkien was. The way Arondir looks around him before he's about to chop the tree down, then puts his hand on the tree, and in elvish whispers "forgive me"...just dang, man.

6. The fact that we only get one blurry shot of Adar at the very end of the episode is driving me insane. I don't think Adar is Sauron as it seems too early in the season to make such a reveal, and a little too obvious since the characters themselves theorized that Adar could be Sauron. But whoever Adar is, I am incredibly interested. Sure, he totally breaks Tolkien lore but I honestly find the idea of an Elf working for the dark lord, not to mention respected and revered by the orcs, fascinating. Who is he? How did he become corrupted? Why do the orcs call him Adar, the elvish word for father? I genuinely have no idea and that's what makes him interesting.

7. Seeing that Elf finally get out of the trenches only to be killed almost immediately reminds me so much of Tolkien's experience with war. Like, this was the stuff he saw and experienced, the stuff that haunted him for decades afterwards, and it's harrowing to see such a haunting reminder of that.

[muchymozzarella]

Extremely cool deep cut about the opening of Rings of Power (more info if you visit the threat)

I adore this because the world of Tolkien was created through music, as mentioned in the Silmarillion.

And that was clearly the intention:

From the plainsofyonder:

We conceived and created the opening title sequence for The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power.  The prequel series is based thousands of years before The Hobbit - a time of Sauron’s ascendency when dragons flew and Proto-Hobbits roamed. We set out to portray a universe both primordial and timeless. Taking inspiration from J.R.R Tolkien’s Ainur, immortal angelic beings that sing such beautiful music that the world is created from their very sound, we conceived of a main title sequence “built from the world of sound.”

Cymatics is a natural phenomenon that makes sound visible to the eye.  Vibrations of fine particles on a flat surface display striking symmetrical patterns that reflect audio frequencies.  Cymatics are understood by physicists and mathematicians, but to us mere mortals, they are nothing short of magic.

The sequence conjures an ancient and invisible power, struggling to be seen. Symbols form, flow, push, and disappear as quickly as they came. The unknowable realms of sound create fleeting visions of conflict and harmony that move in lockstep with Howard Shores’ opening title score.

It all came together through a digitally connected caravan of creators that ran from Seattle to Chicago to London, Barcelona, Madrid and New Zealand - thanks to our spectacular key collaborators Anthony Vitagliano, Fernando Cózar, Germán Diez, Colin Davis, Nicole López Naguil, Visual Effects/Animation Studio Nexus Studios, and Digital Studio MakMac.

[kesteral]

"omg youre pissed off about the elves HAIR LENGTH???" yes! yes i am! because tolkien created an incredible subversive fantasy world (IN THE 1930s) that rejected the influence of modern society - beauty norms were different, gender norms were different, its what made tolkiens world a WORLD. it was unique. but instead of actually caring about tolkiens unique and beautiful world, amazon has chosen to busy themselves with making sure the beauty standards are THEIR beauty standards, the gender norms are THEIR gender norms, the messages being spread are AMAZON'S messages, not TOLKIEN'S messages. sometimes things have nuance to them - maybe not to you, fine, but that doesnt mean the nuance isnt there.

[technoturian]

Tolkien fans are upset because Galadriel should be married with a kid by now but I don’t remember them actually saying in the show that she’s single, so what I’m saying is it would be hilarious if once she gets back to the elf lands to tell the king she has a new Sauron lead, this guy with silver hair walks up with a kid like, “Sweetheart, what the Middle Earth equivalent of hell?”

And Galadriel is just like, “Oh hey hun! I’m back from Valinor ha ha, funny story…”

[the-princess-of-doriath]

This Casting tho

[gulmoharandsandesh]

I hope tomorrow will be a fruitful day, a day of fruits and vegetables and good food.

[amnhnyc]

Tardigrades—microscopic eight-legged animals that resemble plump piglets in puffer coats—have been charming and astonishing biologists since they were first discovered in the 1770s. Tardigrades are phenomenally successful organisms, having first appeared more than 600 million years ago. Though they’re common in moderate climes, terrestrial tardigrades are also one of the few animals that thrive in spots that are particularly inhospitable to life, such as Antarctica’s McMurdo Valleys, thought to be the driest and coldest desert on Earth.

To eke out a living in the mosses of Antarctica, and even in more mild places where their habitats are very vulnerable to sudden water loss, tardigrades have evolved a remarkable ability. When conditions turn life-threatening—whether from rapid drying, extreme dips in temperature, or spikes in salinity—they seem to defy death by imitating it. They temporarily wind down their metabolism in a reversible process called cryptobiosis—literally, hidden life.

There’s still much to be learned about the mechanisms by which tardigrades become cryptobiotic when faced with different stressors. The dramatic change they undergo in response to lack of water—anhydrobiosis, first described by Spallanzini in 1776—is still the best understood.

First, the animal curls into itself, tucking its eight limbs and head inside its body. It sheds more than 95 percent of the water in its body, shriveling into a blob, known as a tun for its resemblance to a beer barrel. In the process, the tardigrade produces a sugar that replaces the lost water, protecting internal structures from fatal damage. Metabolic processes dwindle to less than 0.01 percent of normal activity as the animal waits for conditions to improve. Just add water, and these “barrels” transform back into active “bears.”

Tardigrades star in the exhibition, Life at the Limits: Stories of Amazing Species, now open at the Museum. 

[liquidstar]

imo a funny as fuck gag is when a character calls out another characters name from somewhere up high or otherwise not immediately noticeable and the second character replies “god?”

[incomingalbatross]

People make jokes about “haha Tolkien based Treebeard on C. S. Lewis” like it’s some kind of burn, and I suppose I get the joke, but also… Have you met Treebeard?? We should all be so lucky as to have someone out there who thinks that highly of us.

[incomingalbatross]

My favorite arc in LotR is actually “Gandalf & Pippin’s Questions.”

The core of this relationship is that Pippin likes asking questions and Gandalf only sometimes has the leisure to answer them:

‘What are you going to do then?’ asked Pippin, undaunted by the wizard’s bristling brows.

'Knock on the doors with your head, Peregrin Took,’ said Gandalf. 'But if that does not shatter them, and I am allowed a little peace from foolish questions, I will seek for the opening words.’

(“Undaunted” is such a good word for Pippin re: Gandalf. He’s clearly never feared an authority figure in his life. Meanwhile, Gandalf is like “Pippin is a good kid but if someone doesn’t squelch him when necessary he’s going to do something REALLY stupid.”)

Later, the continuing saga of “Gandalf doesn’t like unnecessary questions” returns as soon as he does:

'Then Gandalf came back to us, and he seemed relieved, almost merry. He did say he was glad to see us, then.

’"But Gandalf,“ I cried, "where have you been? And have you seen the others?’

’"Wherever I have been, I am back,” he answered in the genuine Gandalf manner. “Yes, I have seen some of the others. But news must wait.”’

Note Pippin’s tolerant familiarity with “Gandalf giving useless answers.”

After Isengard and Pippin’s first sight of the palantir, we see its influence showing itself in Pippin’s stronger and angrier irritation at Gandalf’s uncommunicative ways:

'You had the luck, Merry,’ said Pippin softly, after a long pause. 'You were riding with Gandalf.’

'Well, what of it?’

'Did you get any news, any information out of him?’

'Yes, a good deal. More than usual. (…) But you can go with him tomorrow, if you think you can get more out of him–and if he’ll let you.’

'Can I? Good! But he’s close, isn’t he? Not changed at all.’

'Oh yes, he is!’ said Merry, waking up a little (…)

'Well, if Gandalf has changed at all, then he’s closer than ever that’s all,’ Pippin argued.

We all know how that ends. Boy steals rock, boy looks into rock, boy gets his mind filleted by the Enemy, Gandalf evacuates with him to Minas Tirith.

But then! While Gandalf is quite clear that Pippin should have known better/talked to him before resorting to stealing (and he’s right, obviously), he also responds to this incident by changing his own behavior. He starts talking more.

'What did the men of old use [the palantiri] for?’ asked Pippin, delighted and astonished at getting answers to so many questions, and wondering how long it would last.

And he seems to make it clear that this IS in response to the palantir incident, and is him attempting to take Pippin’s desire for information more seriously.

'But I should like to know–’ Pippin began.

'Mercy!’ cried Gandalf. 'If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more do you want to know?’

'The names of all the stars, and of all living things, and the whole history of Middle-earth and Over-heaven and of the Sundering Seas,’ laughed Pippin. 'Of course! What less? But I am not in a hurry tonight. At the moment I was just wondering about the black shadow.’

(I love that Pippin laughs and says “If I have the option, I want to know everything, obviously,” partly because he’s making a joke so soon after that nightmare incident and partly because it’s the first time we see Pippin expressing a desire for real, comprehensive knowledge. Even if it’s a joke, this is also the point in the narrative where—having lost both Merry and Frodo—Pippin’s horizons start being forcibly widened, and we’re about to see him taking in an unfamiliar world by himself.)

Despite Gandalf’s “How much more do I have to say?” protest, Gandalf keeps talking and telling his passenger stories, even when Pippin’s falling asleep. <3

Pippin became drowsy again and paid little attention to Gandalf telling him of the customs of Gondor, and how the Lord of the City had beacons built on the tops of outlying hills along both borders of the great range, and maintained posts at these points where fresh horses were always in readiness to bear his errand-riders to Rohan in the North, or to Belfalas in the South.

After we get to Minas Tirith, they both have less time and less peace, but we still get a glimpse of Gandalf trying to balance Pippin’s questions with his other, weightier duties:

'There are evil days ahead. To sleep while we may!’

'But,’ said Pippin.

'But what?’ said Gandalf. 'Only one but will I allow tonight.’

(I don’t remember the exact question, but it was after they’d seen Faramir, and Pippin was disturbed by the fact that Frodo and Sam were traveling with Gollum. He wanted Gandalf to give an explanation, which Gandalf didn’t really have.)

Finally, two notes on the subject after the destruction of the Ring. Firstly, there’s this exchange when Frodo and Sam are first reunited with Merry and Pippin in their knightly armors:

'But I can see there’s more tales to tell than ours.’

'There are indeed,’ said Pippin turning toward him. 'And we’ll begin telling them, as soon as this feast is ended. In the meantime you can try Gandalf. He’s not as close as he used to be, though he laughs now more than he talks.’

And later in Minas Tirith (when Aragorn is keeping them around for his wedding, but he and Gandalf both refuse to tell them that’s why) Frodo teasingly recalls that line.

'Pippin,’ said Frodo, 'didn’t you say that Gandalf was less close than of old? He was weary of his labors then, I think. Now he is recovering.’

(Frodo, of course, also has a great deal of experience in “Gandalf not answering your questions even when he thinks he IS.”)

I don’t really have a point to this, I just love the shift in Gandalf & Pippin’s relationship over the course of the books, and I also love the change from Pippin’s sulky “if Gandalf has changed at all, then he’s closer than ever >:/” to his merry, affectionate “He’s not as close now as he used to be, though he laughs now more than he talks.”

[incomingalbatross]

History and the Shire

So… the Shire-folk, so notably insular for most of their history, came into contact with the Wide World just in time to become the lore-keepers for all the history that was passing away.

Tolkien goes into detail, in the prologue, about how Sam and Merry and Pippin not only kept all the contents of the Red Book, but supplemented their libraries with all the knowledge and resources of Gondor and Rohan–more than that, Merry visited Rivendell more than once, and it’s implied he talked to Elladan and Elrohir and Celeborn, one of the last Elves left from the First Age.

They used all these resources to build up the histories of the first three Ages and compile them in the Shire, even as the peoples of those Ages began to fade. I guarantee you that, if Tolkien had ever gotten to publishing stories from those times, the framing device would have been that they were found in a Hobbit library at the same time as the Red Book of Westmarch.

Is there a point here? Maybe. I just… I love that they came forward at exactly the right time for the Shire’s stability to become a haven for the other races’ lore.

[incomingalbatross]

Thank you for the tag essay!!

And yes looking at how they appeared in Tolkien’s Very Serious Fantasy World, and how they enriched it–and the in-universe parallels of them suddenly appearing on everyone else’s radar in Middle-Earth–is really fascinating.

So many things said in-story about the worth of hobbits, or the worth of the Shire, can also be applied to their narrative value. Just as the quest to destroy the Ring needed their small, sturdy, overlooked virtues, the audience needed characters small and everyday enough to relate to, to see the full scope of the war through their eyes. (I think we get a truer perspective from hobbit-level than we would from the human characters, perhaps ironically.)

And it’s also important, yes, that Tolkien’s first published story was The Hobbit. He already had his deep, complicated legendarium in the works, but I presume it was very far from being publishable… but then Bilbo turned up, and his story was a simple there-and-back-again quest, but Tolkien decided to draw from his Elvish history to fill out Bilbo’s world. So Bilbo managed to actually walk through the world of dwarves and dragons and wizards (we might never have had Gandalf without him), and run into Elrond Half-Elven and the Necromancer and blades from the fallen city of Gondolin along the way. The Hobbit gave an actual solid, manageable foundation from which to explore Middle-earth, for the first time…

And the combination of the old and the new, the carefully-developed linguistics/history and the race that appeared out of nowhere on an empty exam-sheet (and other things, like Tolkien’s children’s toys), all grew together and flowered beautifully into The Lord of the Rings.

[incomingalbatross]

So I’m starting a full Lord of the Rings reread for the first time in…. a long time. This may or may not result in an influx of Tolkien-related textposts over the next few days…

Some of my current thoughts, having just finished Chapter One:

I love the Shire

I love Bilbo

I love Gandalf

Did I mention I love Bilbo??

(I could expand on any of the above, but that would take a lot more time and space.)

[gulmoharandsandesh]

I'm gonna take this as a hint from the universe to start a reread soon I miss middle earth

[incomingalbatross]

Okay, so:

Merry and Pippin knew Frodo was leaving the Shire as soon as he knew it himself (and Sam told them at least SOME of the Big Conversation about the Ring).

Gandalf stayed at Bag End for over two months after that conversation.

Merry and Pippin were presumably in and out of Bag End pretty regularly during that time, since Frodo is their best friend and Gandalf’s presence would only be an added reason to visit.

While they very justly make fun of Frodo for saying things like “Shall I ever see this valley again, I wonder,” OUT LOUD, in the PRESENCE OF OTHERS, Merry and Pippin are… also not masters of subtlety.

Gandalf literally has supernatural people-reading powers.

Given all of the above facts:

What are the odds that Gandalf caught on to their “conspiracy” within the first couple weeks and just… said nothing? Because I feel like there’s definitely a non-zero chance that that’s what happened.

[incomingalbatross]

Gandalf, having just put the pieces together: “Oh. Oh joy. A Brandybuck and a Took (and a Bolger) have found out part of THE most dangerous secret in Middle-Earth. This is a good start.

“…On the other hand, they are literally motivated PURELY by the desire to stick close to and take care of Frodo. And it’s not like he’s likely to ASK them, or anyone, for the help and support he needs.

“On second thought… I think I can let this slide for now, right? We’ll see where we are in September.”

[incomingalbatross]

Evidence that Tolkien was the number-one fan of The Lord of the Rings:

*looks at 1200-page epic* “It’s too short :/”

Put a lot of work into pulling together a full timeline, exploring missing scenes/backstories, inventing elaborate explanations for apparent inconsistencies, etc.

Also put a lot of thought into what everyone did post-canon, and was firm on the fact that everyone still on the same plane of existence not only had good lives but also hung out regularly, knew each other’s kids, etc. (and half of them reunited in Valinor eventually, as well!)

He loved it like a writer loves their own work but also like a dedicated fan loves their favorite work, and honestly that’s probably one of the reasons it’s so good.

[onedirectionforever]

“you support gay rights so you must be gay”

i support animal rights do i look like a fucking alpaca to you

[onedirectionforever]

turns out i am gay

[monsieurenjlolras]

holy shit how’d this alpaca learn how to type

[mywitchcultblr]

Diversity win! The alpaca is gay!

[adreamthatsworthkeeping]