I do love screencapping because it gives you a chance to really catch all the little details and acting moments. Like this, look, this is where Boromir sees Faramir for (unbeknownst to either of them) the last time:
And, having never really taken it in before, I’m STILL SAD ABOUT IT. Goddammit, Sean Bean, why did you have to be such an amazing actor in a series already full of amazing actors?!
Recently the fanfic floodgates really opened, and that’s great! But I can’t for the life of me bring myself to really write anything, and that’s… less great.
Story ideas that have been fluttering around for either a few weeks now, OR a few years and I just re-thought of them:
#1 Lord of the Rings: Eowyn dealing with impending motherhood. Based on some of the things she says in the book that story sounds so fascinating (since we know she had at least one child) how she reconciles her past with becoming a parent. Plus I always loved how she and Faramir named their son after Boromir, Elboron. How’d they come to that decision (since Eowyn wasn’t exactly short of dead people she could name a kid after either?) I just, aaaah, there’s even actually one whole paragraph from this story that I wrote ages ago, no more than one, lurking back in the archives somewhere. So at least there’s that.
#2 Another LOTR one. Boromir only manages to tell Aragorn that he tried to take the One Ring from Frodo, but did Merry and Pippin ever find that out? Did it change their perceptions of him? (It’s occurred to me I might be able to combine this story idea with the previous one. Ya never know I guess.)
#3 Now we’re in Star Wars territory. I so badly want to write about That One Moment from Rise of Skywalker where all the Jedi call out to Rey. I loved that so, so much. Unfortunately, how to do it is more of a question. I have like, one page so far.
Seen and borrowed from Mary and the Words! As you can tell I’ve been on a Middle Earth/LOTR fandom kick recently SO…
(This will have a slight movie bent, sorry!)
Middle Earth:Hobbit or Lord of the Rings?
Oh, Lord of the Rings. When I first saw the first movie, it blew my young mind completely. Then I got ahold of the books and they blew my mind too. I didn’t read The Hobbit until later alas.
Fellowship: Favorite Hobbit movie
I’ve always been a little torn on the Hobbit movies because as much as I do like them, Martin Freeman as a person gets on my last nerve and they’re a wee bit overstuffed with completely unnecessary things. (cough love triangle cough) But if I had to pick a fave it would be The Battle of the Five Armies. Yeah, it’s a bit all-over-the-place but I can’t help but love its earnestness.
Ring: Favorite Lotr movie / book
Oh, Fellowship of the Ring, hands down. It was the thing that introduced me to the world of Middle Earth, after all. And as a movie it is just stunningly gorgeous.
Bilbo:Favorite character
Hmmm, TECHNICALLY it’s Boromir but I can see there’s a “favourite fellowship member” question further down so for this one I’m gonna say: Eowyn. My god I loved her so much when I was a kid. Now I’m an adult I can see she’s quite a complex and flawed character which makes her even better.
Dor Guldur:Least favorite character
I actually find it hard to pick a least favourite character because they all have their place in the story BUT… oh it’s totally Wormtongue. That slimy little asshole.
Gundabad:Favorite “evil” character
Oh Saruman, easily. He’s evil but he’s such a great character, y’know? A true magnificent bastard. Plus, a snappy dresser.
Also, he’s played by Christopher Lee. I miss Christopher Lee.
The Shire:Favorite place
Hobbiton! I dream of one day getting to go to the Hobbiton set in New Zealand. It’s green and full of nature, the houses are cosy, there are impressive firework displays every so often and lots of hobbits live there. (…in the movie/book, not in New Zealand.) It’s perfect.
Rivendell: Favorite species (hobbit, dwarves, elves..)
I love them all but I guess I should stand up for, ur, my own species and say men.
…and women.
Misty Mountains:Do you have a favorite quote from the movies/books?
Yes! And it’s this:
“The world is full enough of hurts and mischances without wars to multiply them.”
Very timely, isn’t it. :(
Mirkwood:Would you rather be an elf, hobbit, mankind, dwarf, wizard?
Ah well, I think given the choice most people would be hobbits, wouldn’t they? I already have hair on my toes so I’m halfway there. (Gross, sorry.)
Gondolin:Favorite Durin’s son
I like all of the Incredibly Hot Dwarves. Ultimately, though, gotta be Thorin. Poor Thorin. (Also, man, did Richard Armitage put in one hell of a performance as him.)
“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. But, sad or merry, I must leave it now. Farewell.“
Ah, that could be another contender for favourite quote actually.
The Nine: Favorite fellowship member
Near-empty religious studies classroom circa 2001:
Person #1: “Who’s hotter, Aragorn or Legolas?”
Person #2: “Boromir!”
Person #1: “Boromir’s an asshole!”
Me (internally): “What movie were you watching?!”
So, him.
(Stupid arrows!)
Sindarin:Favorite weapon
Legolas’s Bow of the Galadhrim. Look at it go!
Minas Tirith:Do you own any Lotr/Hobbit merchandise?
YES! Except… I kinda lost a lot of it over the years. For example, I got an awesome Gollum figure back when I bought the Two Towers DVD Special Edition, and now I still have the box it came in but NO GOLLUM. Where is he?!
Gig-Galad: Would you have changed something from the movie?
I would! There really ought to have been a more diverse cast, for one. (The Hobbit trilogy did at least attempt more racial diversity among the extras, but that was about it.) And take out the silly Kili-Tauriel-Legolas love triangle, I cannot name a single person I’ve ever met who liked it. Heck, even some of the people involved in it didn’t like it.
Minas Morgul:Gandalf or Saruman?
Gandalf. Sure he’s an old grouch but isn’t that what really makes a wizard? He’s wonderfully snarky at times too:
“I am Saruman the Wise, Saruman Ring-maker, Saruman of Many Colours!”
I looked then and saw that his robes, which had seemed white, were not so, but were woven of all colours, and if he moved they shimmered and changed hue so that the eye was bewildered.
Recently I screencapped the whole dang (three-hour!) movie from a Blu-ray version of the film and while sorting the screencaps I noticed some delightful little details. To wit:
When Isildur takes the Ring, for one brief second there’s this shot of his reflection looking back at him from it. It’s kinda weird and unsettling, which is obviously very appropriate.
You can get a glimpse of Arwen’s stunt double during the river scene.
Boromir is a total manspreader.
Everyone’s nails in this film are so fantastically dirty and gross (especially yours, Frodo.)
Legolas having to physically hold some other Elves back from… beating up the Dwarves? during the Council of Elrond is sort of funny to me, but also a great character detail.
I frickin love the Argonath scene (I used to have this poster on my wall) and I especially love that there are birds nesting in one of their eyes.
At a couple of points during the Amon Hen battle scene you can very clearly see Merry and Pippin’s smaller stunt doubles.
Aragorn taking Boromir’s vambraces at the end is very touching when you spot it, but it amuses me that the film just breezes past him actually taking them off the body and what exact explanation he gave, beyond possibly “I wanna keep this dead guy’s stuff. As a tribute to him, obviously.”
#1 Use a different movie for each prompt #2 Add photos and/or explanations of how your choices fit the prompts #3 Tag a few friends to play along
Let’s see what we got.
1. A Partridge in a Pear Tree — movie that involves agriculture
OH NO. Okay… Hmm. WAIT! My husband just HANDED ME the most obvious answer. The Martian, a space movie which I love, all about a guy who survives on Mars by growing potatoes. (It’s much, much more interesting than I make it sound there.)
Home to a really good line about humanity and the world:
“Every human being has a basic instinct: to help each other out. If a hiker gets lost in the mountains, people will coordinate a search. If a train crashes, people will line up to give blood. If an earthquake levels a city, people all over the world will send emergency supplies. This is so fundamentally human that it’s found in every culture without exception. Yes, there are assholes who just don’t care, but they’re massively outnumbered by the people who do.”
2. Turtledoves — movie about a long-lasting relationship
Back in 2007 this movie ripped my heart out, stamped on it, put it back in, then kicked it upwards through my brain and out my head.
I speak of course of Atonement, the tale of a doomed romance and some beautiful, beautiful dresses. In the end, Robbie and Cecilia can’t survive World War II or the British class system. (Yeah, the British class system, not Briony, is the villain of this story.) But Briony ensures via her writing that they have a long-lasting relationship anyway, and I cry.
3. French Hens — movie that takes place in France
Okay, it’s a toss-up between two movies here, both based on works by Victor Hugo: Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables. And… despite the fact that it has virtually nothing at all to do with the book… I think Hunchback juuuust takes it, because it’s a gorgeous, interesting, progressive-for-Disney film, and I love it.
I can’t even choose one shot from this movie so just have the opening one. And hey! The titular church didn’t burn down this year! It’s still there!
4. Calling Birds — movie where people talk on the phone
Okay, I’m gonna stretch the definition of “phone” a bit here and show you something from The Phantom Menace:
I’m sorry I knoooooow Love Actually probably isn’t really all that great as a movie and it’s so cheesy and corny and up-itself but I love it. It’s like a warm Christmas hug. (And I don’t even really like Christmas, so…)
6. Geese A-laying — movie with a birth or that features babies
So before there was Baby Yoda, there was this equally adorable fella:
And I think his presence is enough to qualify Guardians of the Galaxy 2 as a film that features babies. No births though, unless you count the birth of a god or the birthing chamber stuff on the gold planet or various “rebirths” of characters. Wait… GOTG2 is surprisingly birth-metaphors-heavy actually. Who knew.
7. Swans A-swimming — movie where someone goes swimming
Okay, so maybe this isn’t so much “someone goes swimming” as it is “someone tries to swim and nearly drowns” but…
I can still remember the music from that bit in Fellowship of the Ring after all this time. My god, the last quarter of that movie kicks all kind of ass and tramples on my feelings, I love it so.
“I made a promise, Mr. Frodo. A promise. Don’t you leave him, Samwise Gamgee. And I don’t mean to. I don’t mean to.”
8. Maids A-milking — movie with cows
Okay, this can only be Children of Men. (A film that I very nearly put at #6.) Why? At the film’s pivotal moment we get this beautiful, striking scene featuring a whole lotta cows.
I think it’s meant to be reminiscent of Mary in the manger. And I love it so much. Please watch Childrenof Men, it’s so harrowing but so good, it’s amazing, I promise.
9. Ladies Dancing — movie with a dance scene
AM I GONNA DO IT? YEAH I’M GONNA DO IT. I’m gonna put Spider-Man 3 in here. Yes, that one.
But not for that dance scene… or even that one. You know the much-derided ones I mean. The one I like is this one:
Harry Osborn (in his various incarnations) is my Second Favourite Fictional Character Of All Time, and Mary Jane is pretty high up the list as well, so it was nice to see them have a moment of happiness before one of them dies. Honestly, that’s it. (I unapologetically love Spider-Man 3, even if only for Harry. I admit it. I’m sorry. No wait, no I’m not.)
10. Lords A-leaping — movie about athletes
Aw dang… I’m not good at this genre. But I do really like Noel Clarke’s Fast Girls and no-one else seems to have seen it, so I’m putting it here. I really need to watch it again actually. It suffers from Unnecessary Forced Heterosexual Romance In An Almost All-Woman Film Syndrome but eh, what doesn’t.
(Yeah, the Noel Clarke from Doctor Who. And yes, that is a pre-mega-fame Lily James.)
11. Pipers Piping — movie with someone playing a musical instrument
Wait, NOW I can get Les Miserables in here. During the very start of the “Drink With Me” scene Grantaire (my First Favourite Fictional Character of all time) starts running his hands over a broken piano.
It doesn’t make any sound of course, but that’s so much more poignant than if it had.
12. Drummers Drumming — movie with characters in the military
I don’t really get to go to the cinema much these days but one film I did see this year was Tolkien, which kinda delves in a little into how Tolkien’s experiences in the First World War inspired his writings.
It didn’t get very good reviews, to my surprise, and I suppose the dispute with Tolkien’s descendants definitely didn’t help, but I liked it. It definitely didn’t shy away when depicting the horrors of World War I.
And that’s that…
You should definitely do this meme if you want to! In fact, please do!
One of the things that’s really struck me while rereading the Lord of the Rings–knowing much more about Tolkien than I did the last time I read it–is how individual a story it is.
We tend to think of it as a genre story now, I think–because it’s so good, and so unprecedented, that Tolkien accidentally inspired a whole new fantasy culture, which is kind of hilarious. Wanting to “write like Tolkien,” I think, is generally seen as “writing an Epic Fantasy Universe with invented races and geography and history and languages, world-saving quests and dragons and kings.” But… But…
Here’s the thing. I don’t think those elements are at all what make The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings so good. Because I’m realizing, as I did not realize when I was a kid, that Tolkien didn’t use those elements because they’re somehow inherently better than other things. He…
According to Know Your Meme, on August 18th, 2005, Erwin Beekveld brought forth this work into the world. HAPPY TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY, THEY’RE TAKING THE HOBBITS TO ISENGARD.
sheds a single tear
every august 18th my notifications break and i go, fuck, tumblr has failed me once again, but it hasn’t. it hasn’t failed me. it’s just the taking the hobbits to isengard-iversary. happy 12 years
i love how much everyone cries in lotr like aragorn just had his boromir weep and we cut to frodo and he’s sobbing under the weight of his now entirely solitary task like yeah as an audience i need that cathartic placeholder!! well done i’m empathizing and processing my pain!! with big blockbusters today most of the time i come out of the cinema constipated and wondering if the men in them are even supposed to have human feelings
they better fucking weep tho that shit is canonical! you can’t read a page of lotr without a man crying! i was reading rotk a month ago and pointing out this exact thing, just look at all these men with actual emotions!
Éomer, to an army of crying men: Do not cry! We have work to do!
