RISE AND SHINE POTTER, TIME TO SAVE THE WORLD.

a fandom journal.

[ring-bearers]

do any of you guys have any particular headcanons about hobbits/hobbit culture

[overthinkinglotr]

ooh ok! One of my favorite headcanons is that Belladonna Took was an adventurer and a storyteller, like Bilbo…and that listening to her stories is what gave Bilbo his “Tookishness.”

I also hc that Gandalf was so insistent that Bilbo go on the Adventure partially because he was being selfish? Gandalf misses the other Tooks he took on adventures— he missss Belladonna, and the Old Took, and all the other old members of Bilbo’s family who aren’t alive anymore. And sometimes Bilbo reminds him of them.

[riseandshinepotter]

my headcanon is this + Elanor Gamgee is the next Baggins kid to be whisked off on an adventure by Gandalf (bc Elanor is basically Sam and Frodo's lovechild and a Baggins and Frodo's heir)

[overthinkinglotr]

Bag End’s Design

 I love the set design of Bag End bc it tells you so much about Bilbo without words. 

 One of things that separates LotR from many other fantasy films is that the environments feel lived-in…they don’t just feel like sets, they’re designed to make you feel like the characters are actually living there, and making their marks on the environment.

I’ve mentioned before how I love the contrast between Bilbo’s cozy Bag End we see in the Fellowship of the Ring vs Frodo’s cold empty Bag End that we see in Return of the King.

But I also just really love how much FotR Bag End says about Bilbo as a person, without any words.

The home is a clutttered mess. There are books and maps and papers and inkwells eveRYWHERE, on every available surface– on shelves, on tables, on chairs, on stools, scattered across the floor.

I like how there are stacks of books next to the fireplace, implying Bilbo and Frodo are used to reading next to the fire. I also like the little detail that the shelves above the fireplace (where the books should be) are half-empty, and all the books are on the floor instead, where they’re easier to reach. 

I also really love the into where the camera pans across a map of the Shire as if Bilbo is carefully observing it……….

but then the camera slowly zooms out to reveal the map is actually lying on the floor among a scattered heap of random papers in a random room, while Bilbo is writing in another room.

And we see a collection of walking sticks, and books! So many books! Books everywhere, in huge disordered stacks that look ready to fall over at any moment!

You can also see food and half-empty cups lying around among all the scraps of maps and papers on all the tables, and in the windowsills:

Another little character moment I like is when Bilbo takes Gandalf’s hat and staff and puts it away for him. I don’t think it’s just Bilbo being courteous– I think it’s also that the house is so cluttered that only he would know where to put things.

I also like the moment where Bilbo thinks he’s lost the Ring and PANICS….I get that it’s because the Ring is having an effect on his mind, but I think it’s also because “oh no how am I gonna find anything in here?????”

(Another thing I like about that scene: we see that when Bilbo doesn’t like the things he writes, he just rips the pages up, crumples them, and throws them on the floor. Like a drama queen.)

And then there’s the very important framed map of the Lonely Mountain, which Gandalf finds lying on a table under a bunch of papers:

Because of this, you get the feeling that Bilbo is eccentric and excitable but extremely absentminded.

 He loves books and writing….but he leaves books and scraps of writing scattered all over the house because he can’t focus. He’s chronically disorganized, and even Important Things with Deep Histories like the map of the Lonely Mountain are half-lost in the clutter.

And if Bilbo’s mind is as disorganized as his house…no wonder it’s taking him so long to finish his book, lol.

But that’s what I mean by the environment feeling “lived-in.” A lot of fantasy films have cool CGI sets that look so perfect and new that you don’t feel like anyone actually lives there. They’re like a new house that no one has moved into yet. But Bag End isn’t just a cool-looking set, it’s designed to make you feel like this specific character has made this place their own….like it’s existed for a while, different characters have made their marks on it, and it has a clear specific story and history.

[mothric]

I’ve never seen or read Lord of the Rings*. Here’s what I’ve learned through cultural osmosis:

*my sister forced me to sit through Two Towers when I was 10 and would’ve rather been playing Pokemon, so I hardly have any memory of it and therefore it doesn’t count

basic plot:

a Hobbit named Frodo is tasked with throwing an evil ring into an evil volcano and he tries very hard to not also become evil along the way 

he succeeds at the first thing and only sorta succeeds at the second thing 

also a bunch of friends tag along like an RPG

also there’s a war? I haven’t figured out where that’s supposed to fit in

or the giant sentient trees. I know they’re in there but why and also how

everything is set in alternate New Zealand (Old Zealand?)

there is an awful lot of wandering through forests, especially in the second movie, which according to my memory is at least 90% trees (not the talking kind) and some horses (I don’t think they can talk either)

Dumbledore dies?? unknown

it’s all a metaphor for Jesus somehow

there’s also a prequel starring Martin Freeman and Bendydick but we don’t talk about those

characters:

Frodo and Sam are ride-or-die. I’m assuming Frodo would’ve gone full evil if Sam wasn’t there

Frodo & Sam are the Serious Hobbits and Merry & Pippin are the Comedy Relief Hobbits

there’s a Good Gandalf and a Bad Gandalf one of them is grey one of them is white one tells the truth the other only speaks in lies

Good Gandalf carries a big stick and dispenses fatherly wisdom. Bad Gandalf probably fronted for a metal band and encourages kids to do Satanism

there’s a dwarf (Grimly?) who’s like,,, short Hagrid

Boromir is ‘one does not simply’ guy. he has a brother (?) named Faramir and every time I see that name I think “but where’s Nearamir?” and snicker to myself. I don’t know anything about these characters except that Boromir seems like a real downer

Legolas is a pretty-boy elf who either gets on people’s nerves or everyone else gets on his nerves, I can’t remember which

”Legolas Legolas what do your elf eyes see” “they can see you’re being a lil bitch” is probably a real exchange that really happened

Arwyn is also an elf. at some point she glows and sings and it’s Very important

Gollum used to be an adventurer like you, but then he took an evil ring to the psyche. it turned him into a horrible little gremlin man with a penchant for riddles. he has a second name that sounds like a Pokemon but I can’t remember it

Big Evil Eye … dunno what he does. don’t think I want to know

in the books there is a C. S. Lewis easter egg in the form of Tree

races / classes:

Hobbits (known for being hardcore introverts who like beer and potatoes but they can party hard also don’t try to take their land they’ll shank you)

humans (boring)

orcs (bad)

dwarves (good)

elves (20/20 vision, live forever, can’t tell lies?)

dragons (probably evil but very cool)

wizards (Extremely cool regardless of alignment)

Trevenants (I don’t know their actual name)

if there’s more than these I haven’t heard about them so they are probably not that important

books vs. films:

either I’m not privy to the debate on which is better or the books and films are equally good in their own right

I’ve also heard the soundtracks are good but personally I only know the two motifs that got memed to death in the hit classic “Taking the Hobbits to Isengard” (2006)

I have heard it said that Tolkien was the kind of person who’d stop and contemplate a blade of grass for half an hour and it shows in his writing

reading the books allows you to unlock Hidden Ability: Elvish 

people will literally murder you if you do not watch the extended editions of the movies so tread lightly and keep your bladder empty bc there are no pee breaks where we’re going

important quotes:

one does not simply walk into mordor 

they’re taking the hobbits to isengard 

my precious

you shall not pass

boil em mash em stick em in a stew

and something about second breakfast which,, isn’t that just brunch? brunch is what that is

as you can see I know just enough to fool people (for like 5 minutes) into thinking I might have seen the movies once while half asleep and this might be why I have gone so long without actually seeing them. 

please do not murder me

[gandalfthequeer]

I’m glad I woke up to this

[riseandshinepotter]

I giggled uncontrollably throughout

[insomniac-dot-ink]

Lord of the Rings Made me Gay

When Sam jumps into the river After Frodo as he tries to take the ring alone,  And Sam says “Don’t go where I can’t follow, Mr. Frodo.” And they sit, wet and terrified and oh so devoted to each other.

I think that made me a little gayer.

Not in the sense I thought they were gay Or even I was gay or that it was anything more Than comradery and affection in times Of great war. For I knew I was supposed to see myself In the dark-haired elf lady courting Aragorn. I knew I was supposed to be swooning And wanting to be beautiful and dedicated To a fault.

But there was something about  A love without the promise of  Procreation for kingdoms, And a love and tenderness without  Gender consideration. There was something about Jumping into a river and Following someone across A great bleakness and across The worst of themselves. A story that It was not about being kept apart By forces of star-crossed lovers, But about the great strength Of getting through things together.

That made me a little gayer.

And I know it’s not for me. I know that line is for  Brothers-at arms and  Devotion without romance. I’m not part of this story as being Gay and strange and female.

But maybe we can pretend. I can be your gardener, you Can be my ring-bearer. And  When things get rough with Darkness rising and the world of Sorrow, I will pick you up and  Carry you to the top of the mountain. And you can hold me close and Say “Don’t go where I can’t follow.”

And I won’t.

[riseandshinepotter]

i meaaann

[pointyearedelvishprinceling]

The Lord of the Rings meme - The Ring-bearer

[riseandshinepotter]

noooo

[flying-dutchwoman-blog-blog]

[putrida-deactivated20151128]

J.R.R Tolkien, looking at flowers.

[the-voyaging-voyageur]

Apparently people hated to go for walks with him because he would stop and look at every tree for like 20 minutes.

[pluckyminna]

EXPLAINS THE BOOKS

[overthinkinglotr]

I like how when Tolkien wrote The Hobbit he wasn’t planning to write Lord of the Rings at all… so a lot of the most iconic elements of Middle Earth aren’t Super Serious Lore that Tolkien Created After Hours of Intense Study in to the Gritty Realistic Dynamics of his Fantasy World™, they’re things that Tolkien originally created while he was having fun writing a story for his kids.

Like, in the Hobbit, Tolkien didn’t write Gandalf as a Serious Gritty Epic Fantasy wizard. Tolkien wrote Gandalf as an EXTREMELY PETTY sarcastic drama queen who just roasts everyone 24/7 and is almost like, a parody of a wizard– a funny character who isn’t supposed to be “realistic,” but a character that little kids would find funny and want to hear stories about.

but then years passed

and Tolkien decided to write Lord of the Rings

and he gradually realized the story would not be a lighthearted children’s book like the Hobbit, but a  dramatic serious epic

but he was like

“I already wrote Gandalf as a petty grumpy drama queen, and I have to be faithful to that. this element of his character must be preserved”

[valtsv]

honestly the funniest thing about the lord of the rings is how gandalf is literally a minor god sent to middle-earth by The Big Man Himself and yet literally nobody apart from the elves seems to recognise this or take him seriously

[valtsv]

like yeah gandalf is pretty grumpy most of the time but how would YOU feel if you were the fantasy equivalent of an angel and a bunch of people who only come up to your knee were just like “oh fuck it’s that spooky old wizard” every time you showed up for a friend’s birthday party

[gandalfthequeer]

god-like gandalf literally rocks up to the shire and shoots fireworks from his magical staff and the hobbits are just like “cool what’s for lunch”

[gandalfthequeer]

The true hero of The Lord of the Rings is......Bill the Pony

[prokopetz]

I kind of feel like jokes about Legolas being the elvish equivalent of a pickup-truck-driving redneck – while totally accurate from an IC standpoint – are glossing over what a deeply weird person he is in the novels.

[lotr-shitposts]

[3798tadpole]

hey so what the fuck was this about

[insomniac-arrest]

If Boomers didn’t want my generation to be full of obstinate spite against widespread evils then why did they expose me to these lines in Lord the Rings at the tender age of eight:

fuck your Climate Change Denial-ism, we’re going to get through this

[riseandshinepotter]

Buffy season 7 is so weird, it's literally and explicitly just waiting for the big evil of the year and filler plots and even towards the end in the thick of it... just waiting for the showdown and hey some more filler plots

[spuffyfeels]

[sunnydales]

[ssammys]