Back To Middle Earth Month - Fun

LOTR MUSICAL EXCHANGE: A BONUS SURPRISE GIFT FOR EVERYONE - FROM EILEEN!

i'm so excited to get to share these videos from eileen: ✨Now And For Always ✨Special Thank You

thank you SO SO MUCH to ben, michael, spencer, suzanne, and especially to eileen for reaching out to take part and making this incredible gift for us!!!

jet lag s13e2 “we’re about to go absolutely thurbo mode”

During my last re-read of The Lord of the Rings it really sunk in for me how often the protagonists encounter not only danger and betrayal, but unexpected help and friends in unlikely places. Tolkien had a sojourner's heart and said yes, we may be small, but be encouraged. Evil always tries to make itself look bigger than it is. Keep faith with ordinary goodness. Never underestimate the power of simply doing what is right and kind, against the convoluted machinations of evil. The gates of Mordor will not prevail against it.

Headcanon: Bilbo eventually evolves into something of a Santa Claus figure to Hobbits.

“It became a fireside-story for young hobbits; and eventually Mad Baggins, who used to vanish with a bang and a flash and reappear with bags of jewels and gold, became a favourite character of legend and lived on long after all the true events were forgotten.”

Mad Baggins was remembered for randomly appearing with money, but Bilbo Baggins was well known for being extremely generous with his, especially to people who weren’t too well off. Frodo, of course, is just as free with his fortune as Bilbo was, as is Sam when he comes into it, and even Lobelia with what she has left after Saruman’s occupation, and as “Baggins” begins to decline as a name, it becomes somewhat synonymous with charity, and this gets mixed up in the legends about Bilbo’s funny adventures and ridiculous stories until everything’s too tied together to separate.

Bilbo would give out lots of gifts in the winter, to ensure everyone had warm clothes and a roof that didn’t leak, which is how he eventually became tied to Yuletide, and the legends start out as, “Mad Baggins will share his fortune with those who truly need it,” and eventually evolves into, “Good little Hobbitlings might get gifts from Mad Baggins,” and there are all sorts of pageantry and games, like someone will dress up as Mad Baggins and use Hobbit stealth magic and sleight of hand to “appear” in various places, set off a firecracker, and then run for it, and anyone who can catch him can have some candy out of his bag.

Long after Hobbits stop having dealings with Dwarves, and perhaps even after they stop believing in them altogether, they become mystical figures attached to the Mad Baggins legend, coming and going as they please and answering to nobody; anybody who catches a Dwarf may get cursed, but they also may win a treasure off of them like nothing else (and the curses, of course, are the sorts of dreadful things Hobbits can think of; thin foot-hair for a season, or never finding something until you’re looking for something else).

You know those creepy ornate woodland Santas, or like, the horrible Victorian illustrations? They have those too: Mad Baggins (a bright red nose and curly golden hair around his ears, bald on the top of his head and wearing boots of all things) accompanied by thirteen dwarves and a troop of ponies, passing out gifts and then disappearing with more than Hobbit skill. But the classic image of Mad Baggins, the one that springs to mind when children think of him, and appears in whatever their version of The Night Before Christmas is, garbs himself in green and silver and carries a sword (quite an outlandish thing among Hobbits!), and laughs often, being a great lover of song and good food and drink and practical jokes.

And if sometimes the perfect gift does appear out of thin air with no reasonable expectation, well. They say he learned from wizards too, and even though all things are diminished in the latter days, nobody ever said they were going to dwindle to nothing, did they? And it sits well with certain entities that at the end of the day, this is what’s left of a certain Dark Lord’s legacy; a legend borrowing the incidental property of his magic talisman to grant invisibility to bring gifts to children.

Narnia PSA

Not to be controversial or anything but the #1 thing I ask for of the Greta Gerwig reboot is for the fandom of mostly now adults who grew up with the books and the movies to be kind to the children who get cast. I'm a Star Wars and a PJO fan and I've basically hit my limit with people being absolutely horrible towards literal children who have no real say in the casting process other than to audition based on whatever the character breakdowns are (which again, is an element of this process that they have no control over) and work with the material that is given to them. Children in the industry are already SO vulnerable to a number of different things that they do not need Internet vitriol to be added to the pile - I cannot imagine being 12 years old and knowing that bunch of adults apparently hate me and think I'm somehow personally responsible for ruining something they love from their childhood. Spreading and encouraging this attitude - ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE AN ADULT - is not only unfair to these kids, it's flat-out wrong. Idc if the adaptation is good or bad, I will not stand for it, nor should anybody else. I am VERY worried about this cycle repeating itself again when the casting gets announced, so if nobody else is going to put out this warning then I'm taking it upon myself to do so. If you are a mature individual, then please act like it and please encourage those around you to do the same. These kids are probably going to be very excited to get cast and they do not deserve for anyone to take that joy away from them. Remember, most of us came to this series as kids, and it belongs to this new generation of kids just as much as it belongs to us adults who grew up with it. This includes the kids who get cast. Again, IT DOES NOT MATTER IF THE REBOOT IS GOOD OR BAD. THESE KIDS DESERVE TO BE TREATED WITH KINDNESS AND RESPECT REGARDLESS. Please let us behave in a manner that Aslan would be proud of rather than disappointed in

The difference between Howl and Gen is that Gen won't try and weasel his way out of the things he really really doesn't want to do.

I haven’t platonicposted in a while

What kind of a stupid superpower is Heart anyway?

The post about Frodo from earlier got me thinking about the underuse of Heart as a superpower in modern fantasy, by contrast to perhaps its overuse in older texts.

The idea that I started to get at in the tags is that Frodo is “above average” in a non-standard sort of a way, and that is in compassion.  His name, Maura, means Wise, and he’s very deliberately named after Froda, doomed king of the Hathobards, famed as a (failed) peace maker.  And that is what makes Frodo “special.”  He has other virtues, sure - heading off on the quest because it needs to be done even though he hasn’t got a clue what he’s doing takes a huge amount of gumption.  But that if anything goes into “hobbits are just kinda great that way.”  The thing that sets Frodo specifically apart is the wisdom to make peace and show compassion.  The Taming of Smeagol, which is for one reason or another really the last thing Frodo actually does as Main Character ™ is the single thing that allows the quest to succeed, and it is above and beyond what is normal and expected (contrast Sam’s reaction).  Because although Frodo ultimately falls, he does not, in fact, fail.  It takes Sam’s loyalty and determination to get them to Mount Doom, and it takes Gollum to get the ring into the volcano.  And it took Frodo’s compassion (and Bilbo’s pity) to get Gollum.

And this is a thing about Frodo.  He takes mercy on Gollum with the Taming of Smeagol, and he takes mercy on Saruman in the Scouring of the Shire.  It’s something he grows and develops into, but you can see the roots of this flavor of Wisdom even in how he reacts to Sam’s eavesdropping in the very beginning (despite the absence of eaves on Bag End).  Taking Sam along is the first major step towards ensuring the success of the quest.  It’s not just that Frodo needs help, it’s that (with some token stubbornness) he’s wise enough to accept help.  Kindness, Mercy, Compassion.

There’s an old style of fairy-tale which I have referred to as a “gift fairy-tale.”  And in it, the heroine’s superpower is, once again, kindness.  I had a book called Old Bony Legs, which was a version of the Baba Yaga story, and it went about like this.  There’s a little girl, who goes to see the witch, and packs a lunch - bread and butter, and a little meat.  When she gets to the gate it creaks, and so she gives it her butter to oil her hinges.  The gate is grateful and swings easily.  She likewise gives her meat to the cat and her bread to the dog, who in return giver her a magic comb and a magic mirror, and instructions on how to use them.  When she has to escape (because the wants to eat her), well, the gate opens easily before her, not even creaking to give away her flight, the comb becomes a thick forest, impeding the witch, and the mirror becomes a vast lake, ensuring her escape.  There’s a number of these sorts of stories, and the common pattern is this:

random acts of kindness/compassion –> gifts/debts from the powerful –> PROFIT

What makes the hero or heroine special, then, is the decision to be kind.  All the magic and power and whatever comes from outside, from the beneficiaries of that kindness.  The heroine succeeds not because she is Great, but because she gets help, and she gets help because she is compassionate.  Kindness, Mercy, Compassion.

So, my childhood was shaped, even before Tolkien, primarily by impoverished itinerant do-gooders called the Doctor.  Let’s talk about the other one.  Doctor Doolittle’s superpower is that he can talk to animals, right?  WRONG.  Doctor Doolittle’s superpower is that he’s a really nice guy.  One of the crucially important things in universe is that talking to animals is not an innate ability - anyone can learn it, if it occurs to them to try.  Tommy Stubbins, the Doctor’s apprentice, is training to be a great naturalist and he can talk to animals as well, or at least is learning.

The story is this.  John Doolittle, successful physician, acquires at some point an African Grey Parrot and names her Polynesia.  And, in an act of kindness, rather than training her to repeat a few words, goes all the way and just  teaches her English.  And she, in return, teaches him Parrot.  And, upon realizing that animals have languages and personalities as rich as humans, he gives up his practice and his respectability to be an animal Doctor - not a vet, but a Doctor who can actually communicate with his patients.  Because he cares.  He gives a voice to the voiceless and then stops and listens to what they have to say.  And, importantly, anyone could have done this, but only John Doolittle does, because only John Doolittle cares enough to try.

Dr. Doolittle has no superpowers.  He’s small, unassuming, quiet, unsuccessful (by human standards), penniless, a disgrace to his family, a joke to his colleagues, kind to a fault, trusting to the point of naivite, assuming the fundamental goodness of every living thing and returning it without question.  And every animal on earth (and on the moon, eventually) knows his name, and would do anything for him.  He is the Great Man.  And what’s so great about him?  Only this: he took the time to be kind.  Kindness, Mercy, Compassion.

There was a really fun comic about why all superpowers suck, if you only get one, and the only power that gets you everything without the drawbacks is Being Rich, as long as you don’t waste all your time angsting about your dead parents or trying to kill Superman.  But Dr. Doolittle is penniless, and flies to the moon on the back of a giant moth, and moves mountains with the help of some friendly whales.  Frodo Baggins sells everything he has to set off into the vast unknown - but he has a magic sword given in friendship by a King of Dwarves, a light when all other lights go out given in friendship by a Queen of Elves, and a loyal friend to wield them both (not to mention a King of Men as a guide through the wilderness).  Little Sasha has only her lunch and she gives that away - and yet throws behind her magics powerful enough to defeat Baba Yaga herself.  One of my favorite lines in one of my favorite Doctor Who episodes is this:

“We couldn’t change our future - but we talked to people, influenced them, and they changed it for us.”

The best superpower is Heart.

Hobbits with spring flowers!