On A Scale Of Tolkien Protagonists, How Has Your Adventure Been Treating You?

Anyway, post-canon/resurrected/reborn/survival AU/Halls of Mandos Fëanor is much more interesting to write because that's the cooldown time, that's the time for character development, for consequences, for despair, for moving onwards. Some people are so caught up in their own burning sense of single-minded purpose that they need to burn out before they can even begin to change.

😂 new HC that a tatooine phone book very much exists 10000%

Boba is written in it twice because somebody wrote Bob Fett by accident once but they never removed it

BOB FETT.

Okay but what if that’s not a mistake at all. And he’s actually just some dude and suddenly people are turning up at his door either like. super pissed at him, or they’re throwing like gifts at his feet to get on his good side and he’s like. So tired of this shit?

“For the last kriffing time, my name is ROBERT. I’m not a bounty hunter?? I’m a research scientist from Bogano! I study bantha droppings. No—no—don’t you dare leave that chest of spice—come back here!!”

LOTR character Hogwarts houses?

oooooo good question. 

Gandalf- Ravenclaw (Values knowledge and wisdom foremost. Literally named the wisest of the maiar.)

Galadriel- Slytherin (Very wise, but she was also willing to follow Feanor to fulfill her ambitions of ruling a kingdom and she was tempted by the ring. Protects the people of Middle Earth and put aside her ambition to help them. Awesome, healthy Slytherin.)

Sam- Hufflepuff (This character is, in my opinion, the PRIME example of a Hufflepuff. Loyalty? Desire to protect his friends? Nurturing? Yes, very yes.)

Boromir- Gryffindor (I mean, he’s incredibly brave, protective of his friends, and a bit reckless. Excellent Gryffindor.)

Frodo- Hufflepuff or Gryffindor (Honestly can’t decide because he fits both pretty well.)

Faramir- Ravenclaw (Ultimate Nerdboy McGee. Preferred to hang out with an old wizard professor than go do boy stuff with the homies. Love him.)

Pippin- Gryffindor (While his loyalty to his friends is evident, his impulsiveness and his bravery in the face of the most terrifying danger ever makes him a Gryffindor. I mean, he literally stood up to the Steward of Gondor when he was in the throes of madness and was trying to burn himself, his son, and anyone who got in his way. You go Pippin, you funky little hobbit.)

Merry- Gryffindor of Hufflepuff (Loyalty to Pippin and Theoden and his intense study of hobbit history and culture gives strong Hufflepuff vibes, but facing off against the Witch-King of Angmar and his giant fellbeast in a terrifying battle gives off big Gryffindor vibes.)

Eowyn- Gryffindor (I don’t feel like I need to explain this one. She was literally dying to go do brave stuff. She faced off against the Witch-King. She snuck into the army. Superb.)

Elrond- Ravenclaw (Please let this dude read his books in peace. He didn’t ask to be pulled into everyone else’s drama.)

Aragorn- Ravenclaw (A hot take, but I feel like you have to be a Ravenclaw to know the history of Middle Earth to that degree and also to be able to compose amazing ballads on the spot like that. I mean, he’s brave and loyal and stuff too, but he’s also just a big nerd about a variety of topics and he’s very wise.)

Arwen- Gryffindor (“Arwen, babe, we can’t be together because you’re immortal and I’m human and also your dad wants you to go to the Grey Havens with him.” “Nah, Imma stay here with you and defy the world by becoming mortal and facing the uncertainty of a human death because I’m a badass.”)

Legolas- Hufflepuff (Totally willing to throw down for his friends. Decided to befriend a dwarf despite the fact that elves and dwarves hate each other. “Dwarves don’t go to the Grey Havens, it’s just for elves and ring bearers.” “Yeah, screw that this is my emotional support dwarf so he is coming with me.”)

Gimli- Gryffindor (I mean, he’s a big ole history nerd but he literally insults everyone the fellowship meets and tries to fight everyone so…. Also he literally flirts with Galadriel in front of her husband which is a totally baller move.)

Denethor- Ravenclaw (He’s actually really smart, he’s just a dick who went mad. Master strategist. Great example of an unhealthy Ravenclaw.)

Sauron- Slytherin (Climbs his way to the top. Manipulates Numenor to destruction to gain power. Veeeerrrrry sneaky.)

Bilbo- Hufflepuff (Hufflepuffs are particularly good finders.)

"So, wait," said the thief, topping off the detective's wine glass. "You're saying that your stressful case is catching that hot shot cat burglar that everyone's talking about?"

The detective grimaced, but didn't change the subject. "Yep," they muttered into their Pinot and took a swig. "The celebrity criminal."

This was a triumph. This was their third date and the thief had spent the prior two carefully laying the emotional groundwork leading up to this moment. The detective, as a social partner, was affable and considerate - surprisingly funny even, in a dry, deadpan way - but rigidly guarded about their line of work. The thief had asked the normal questions about jobs and had been expertly deflected with self-deprecating jokes about spreadsheets and paperwork. The thief had been content to wait. The detective was a fundamentally honest person, and the thief trusted the truth would work its way to the surface soon enough.

"But that sounds exciting!" the thief prompted brightly. "I mean, daring heists executed by moonlight! It must be such a nice change from your run-of-the-mill crimes."

"Mostly it's just exhausting," sighed the detective, rubbing their temples. "This perp is such an asshole."

The thief blinked. "Excuse me?"

The detective shook their head, tried to force a smile. "I'm sorry. I've had too much wine. You were saying about your invitation to audition for the Bolshoi -?"

"Oh, forget about me," the thief said quickly. "Please, go on. You're clearly stressed about -"

"Do you know," the detective went on as if they'd never stopped, "the morning guy on Channel Seven had the nerve to call this a victimless crime?"

"Well, the insurance will pay for it," the thief started.

The detective slapped the table. The thief jumped. "What about the people?" the detective exclaimed. A few nearby heads turned in their direction. "Are people supposed to walk into museums and look at what, framed checks on the wall from Lloyds? And meanwhile, these masterworks disappear into the vaults of gangsters and petty criminals, never to be seen again. Because you can be sure," they added, jabbing a finger at the thief, "crooks that steal art have no love for it. They'll destroy it, every lick of paint, if there's the slightest risk to their own skins."

The detective took another deep swallow of red wine. They looked close to tears. The thief awkwardly patted their hand across the table. This was not at all what they'd expected on this little reconnaissance side mission. The detective caught their hand and squeezed it with a grateful look that wrenched something in the thief's upper chest area.

"Now those guys," the detective said thoughtfully. "The criminals with the vaults. Now that seems like a worthy target."

"I... huh?" The thief stared across the table. The detective looked back with those guileless, honest eyes. 

"I'm just saying," they said, with the slightest drunken slur on their words. "Walking the art out of some budget-strapped public facility is one thing. But emptying out of one of those vaults, liberating all those works of art and returning them to their rightful place before the public..." The detective sighed dreamily. "Now that actually sounds like a daring, hot shot kind of heist."

There was a moment where neither moved, gazing at each other like the lovers they were pretending to be. Then the detective tugged their hand free, stood up with an apologetic smile. "But I'm definitely tipsy," they said. "Let me go splash some water on my face."

When the detective returned from the restroom, the thief was still at the table, watching the waiter clear the plates. By unspoken agreement, they didn't speak until she was well clear.

"So, hypothetically speaking," the thief said finally, running a finger theough a puddle on the tabletop. "How would one go about this vault heist of yours?"

The detective smiled again, nothing drunk or vague about it at all.

They had overnight flower delivery in the 1890s??

I’ll just let the piece speak for itself.

Mood.

So, I fell down a rabbit hole and learned two cool things in relation to the Irish language and Tolkien!

1) He seems to have tried and failed to learn Irish and thought it sounded awful XD

2) In one of his letters where he’s talking about the origin of the word nazg (Black Speech for ring), he says that he thinks it most likely came from nasc, which in modern Irish refers to a tie/bond/link and in older Irish seems to have also referred to ring-shaped jewellery (by which I mean bracelets, necklaces etc, not just finger rings). Technically, he does say that he didn’t do this consciously. He was looking up some stuff about Irish, came across the word and ‘re-learned’ it as such and thought “oop, that’s probably where that came from!” but I still think it’s cool.

Bonus! In that same letter, he describes the Irish language as “mushy” sounding and like, I get what he means? I don’t know why, but I find this description hilarious. He’s not wrong XD

People can be so quiet about their pain, that you forget they are hurting. That is why it is so important to always be kind.

— Nikita Gill

2020 is the túrin turambar of years

thinking about Jet, as I often do, and thinking about how bryke really thought not only that vilifying the only organized resistance to the Fire Nation was a good idea, but also that making that resistance a group of mostly kids and teenagers and still painting them as horrible monsters was a good idea. We really don’t talk enough about how Jet is treated like an adult in the show. And to an extent, all of the kids in ATLA are doing things that they’re too young to do, but pretty much all of them except for Jet have their emotions and backstory explored. Jet gets one line about the Fire Nation killing his family. One line. He’s shown to be this mature, autonomous figure, a leader, taking care of a bunch of other people, and the show goes out of its way to make him both unlikeable and totally responsible for his actions in a way that a character like Azula (who is exactly as old as Jet) isn’t. I was thinking about this post, which talks about the little girl and how that draws on an old racist trope that depicts people of color violently resisting oppression as child-killers and makes real the “what about the women and children?” hypothetical, and it honestly just turns my stomach that bryke used another child to paint this group of mostly children as evil. The little girl gets to be a little girl and is protected, and her protection is used as justification for vilifying Jet. Jet and the rest of the Freedom Fighters don’t get to be kids. They don’t get to be good or morally ambiguous or even just naive. They already had their innocence robbed from them when the Fire Nation took their families from them, and bryke, instead of exploring them as the children they are, makes them out to be just as bad and just as culpable, if not more culpable, than adults who actively participated in imperialism (like Jeong Jeong and Iroh.) And then Jet’s “redemption arc” is him, the only Brown Freedom Fighter, dying violently for the cause. I don’t know, man, writing this post is making me cry, but Jet deserved so much better than that. Jet deserved to be a kid, and he had that taken from him both within the narrative when the Fire Nation burned down his village, and outside the narrative by Bryan and Michael.