Vitality is seasoned with nuance!

* The reasons why Thranduil might not be King of the Woodland Realm can be whatever you like, from an Amidala and her handmaidens system to Thranduil being a compulsive liar to Thranduil quitting in disgust after the Battle of the Five Armies.

Poll question and several answers based on this post by @celebbun:

I have come to the conclusion that, despite what much of the fandom would like to think, Legolas is, in fact, not a prince. My reasoning to back this up is based on two main pillars: the Woodland Realm’s monarchy system and Legolas’ lack of royal title throughout the books.

Celebbun then details the relevant history of Oropher (Legolas' (presumed) grandfather) and Thranduil; it's absolutely worth reading their whole post before voting (except you almost certainly already voted before getting this far).

Some additional context specifically regarding the use of the word "prince" in The Lord of the Rings is below, but honestly it's fairly trivial even by the standards of this blog.

You know the joke about how even the trees have genealogies in Tolkien? Yeah, that's not actually a joke, just a statement of fact. They also have wiki pages, but please refrain from looking it up until after you've voted.

Gondor Week

Today's poll is honor of Gondor Week, a fandom event celebrating the anniversary of Aragorn being crowned King on May 1st. You can find prompts here if you want specific inspiration each day, or you can simply reblog your favorite Boromir meme and bring equal amounts of joy to the tag.

Shoutout to @emilybeemartin, whose reblogs brought the event to my attention.

Like, despite what parodies might say, Katniss is nowhere near the stereotypical “unqualified teenager chosen to lead a rebellion for no good reason”.  The entire point is that she’s not leading the rebellion. She’s a traumatized teenager who has emotional reactions to the horrors in her society, and is constantly being reined in by more experienced adults who have to tell her, “No, this is not how you fight the government, you are going to get people killed.” She’s not the upstart teenager showing the brainless adults what to do–she’s a teenager being manipulated by smarter and more experienced adults. She has no power in the rebellion except as a useful piece of propaganda, and the entire trilogy is her straining against that role. It’s much more realistic and far more nuanced than anyone who dismisses it as “stereotypical YA dystopian” gives it credit for.

And the misconceptions don’t end there. The Hunger Games has no “stereotypical YA love triangle”–yes, there are two potential love interests, but the romance is so not the point. There’s a war going on! Katniss has more important things to worry about than boys! The romance was never about her choosing between two hot boys–it’s about choosing between two diametrically opposed worldviews. Will she choose anger and war, or compassion and peace? Of course a trilogy filled with the horrors of war ends with her marriage to the peace-loving Peeta. Unlike some of the YA dystopian copycats, the romance here is part of the message, not just something to pacify readers who expect “hot love triangles” in their YA. 

The worldbuilding in the Hunger Games trilogy is simplistic and not realistic, but unlike some of her imitators, Collins does this because she has something to say, not because she’s cobbling together a grim and gritty dystopia that’s “similar to the Hunger Games”. The worldbuilding has an allegorical function, kept simple so we can see beyond it to what Collins is really saying–and it’s nothing so comforting as “we need to fight the evil people who are ruining society”. The Capitol’s not just the powerful, greedy bad guys–the Capitol is us, First World America, living in luxury while we ignore the problems of the rest of the world, and thinking of other nations largely in terms of what resources we can get from them. This simplistic world is a sparsely set stage that lets us explore the larger themes about exploitation and war and the horrors people will commit for the sake of their bread and circuses, meant to make us think deeper about what separates a hero from a villain.

With one, it's because they bitch about some of the animation and it being a "disservice" to LOTR (Even with whatever the fuck Amazon is doing; Wasn't there a anime wannabe series that somehow isn't by Adi Shankar?).

The other because the story is kinda messy (Blame the execs for it, plus enough with the "story matters more than visuals in a visual art based medium") and the obvious comparisons to Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which just happened to star popular characters like Mickey and Bugs Bunny.

Also plenty of movies try to be Roger Rabbit and failed, mainly because they just focused on the overall presense of popular/mascot characters and the animation they carried was shit (A lot of them treat animation as a secondary gimmick while the real spotlight is some uninterested celebrity).

Out of the remaining ten options, 4 might somewhat apply for the sake of the baking I've got to do today. There's a lot of it, after all... 7 and 20 both are relatable in their own way, but they would have to be combined and blended till they finally harmonized (As in, "The age of Men and only Men is over. The time of Men and Orcs as one has come. For this day does not belong to one man or orc but to all."), and like I said, I've already got a lot of culinary work cut out for me, today. That said, 8 and 11 could team up together very nicely. Some good meat will very much be called for today, and eating it raw would definitely take off a load of work for me - I don't care much for the wriggling part, but that's just a personal preference/moral hang-up. Not all may agree. This gives us an even 50-50 cut again, leaving just 9; 12; 15; 16; and 19 awaiting the due weight of consideration.

9 also applies to all that baking and cooking that's very obviously weighing quite heavily on my mind, but as far as a theme for St. Valentine's Day, it ultimately feels cheap. 15 is by no means invalid, but if the something and the there are what my mind immediately went to, well it's funny-for-the-punny-sake of "Galentine's Day", and all that jazz, but I feel more than a little exposed just for having confessed to that much. 19 almost didn't make the initial cut because of how grim it gets, but at the same time, it's a good and noble message which does have love and loyalty at the core and taking up two thirds of its body, overall, so it does have that going for it. 16 also comes pretty close, as one does feel an obligation to be extra nice to everyone on such an occasion, but while it ultimately is a pretty close second...

Something about #12 just sits right, right about now. I'm going to drop the silly-talk and get real, here. St. Valentine's Day for me has never been a holiday of the pursuit and/or celebration of strictly romantic love, or amorous love if we broaden the extension of the concept a little bit. If ever that should come to apply in my life, personally, then I absolutely will factor it in, of course, but today is about LOVE OVERALL. Love of your family; parents, siblings and/or parents' pets, children and/or your own pets if applicable, friends, community, the world at large, the land and infrastructures, your home and belongings, your higher powers as you perceive them, if you do. And of course, yourself as well. It's a day in the midst of winter to just pause everything for a moment and say, "I love. I love you all. I love me. There's a lot to love, and I love it all." (I do want to note, here, that the way I am wording this does rather match the notes of another certain fan-favourite Lord of the Rings quote that I very much share in the fan-favouriting of. That one might also fit the mood very well, for the record, but I still would go with the choice I have made.) Every year, when I have baked up all of the Valentine's-themed sweet treats I like to make for my family and I, listened to my playlist for the occasion, and we've had dinner together and just lounge and relax together for the rest of the evening? Well, it all just feels so cozy and comfortable, that #12's sentiment just sounds like the most right thing that could ever be said. And the thing one wants most of all.

(Plus, it was actually one of the votable options, so I undoubtedly had to go for it just for that reason alone...)

If you believe my mother deserves life, write something for her and share it with your audience. Your simple words can mean so much to my mother.

Kidney stones, a stent inside my body, and unbearable pain every single day.

I only need $300 to remove the stent and break the stones so I can live without this pain.

Please, don’t leave me to face this alone.

Your mercy could save me… and your share gives me hope.

Since October 7, 2023, the war has taken my home, my education, and my sense of safety. I do my best to support my family and survive day by day in conditions no one should have to endure. Please donate

This space is where I’ll share my journey — the pain, the losses, and the small hopes that keep me going, especially for my younger siblings Huda, Mohammed, Zain, and Taim, and to help them achieve their dreams and continue their education.

If you’re able to help, please consider donating. Every donation, no matter how small, truly makes a difference in our lives and helps us build a better future for our family. And if you can’t donate, sharing my story means a lot to me.

I am writing these words with tears streaming down my face. I can no longer bear this pain. My wife is suffering from a severe deficiency in vitamins, especially vitamin D, and she urgently needs surgery to save her life. Her body is growing weaker day by day, malnutrition is stealing her strength, and I stand helpless watching her suffer.

All I wish for is to see her alive and healthy. Please help us provide healthy food, her medications, and fund the surgery that could save her life.

Even if you cannot donate, please share this post. Every support, every word, could be the difference between her life and death.

Hello! Have you ever heard of a "city of the dead"?

It's a place where the living reside, but they're dead! They're doomed to die, either quickly through direct targeting or slowly due to the absence of vitality in their city

Wherever you turn, you find nothing but death, displacement, homelessness, destruction, hunger, thirst, ignorance, disease, and rampant infection.

It's my city! It was fully with life until the butchers passed through it! Since the beginning of the massacres, I've been struggling to save myself and my family.

I am Mohammed from Gaza I’m sharing my story with hope in my heart, because your kindness has already given us so much strength.

a 31-year-old living amidst the war in Gaza, a place deeply affected by conflict and hardship. I hold a Bachelor degree in Medical Laboratory Sciences , I graduated with very good But Unfortunately, I did not get a job opportunity.

my family

Before the outbreak of war, my family and I had a comfortable life in our beautiful home filled with cherished memories. However, since the conflict began, our lives have been turned upside down. We now find ourselves living in a small tent, exposed to the harsh elements and constant threat of violence.

Our home, which once embraced us, is now destroyed It became a remembrance

👉 Watch the video

A picture of me and my family in front of our destroyed house.

👉Our house was bombed in the 2008 escalation and we built it, and also in the 2014 escalation the house was destroyed again and we rebuilt it, and in this 2023/2024 war the house was also destroyed.

Every time we start again, the Israeli occupation destroys us again

Life is unbearable. It has become hell for us. destruction, no education, no future

We can't stand it anymore

The situation here is dire. Food and basic necessities are scarce, and famine and malnutrition have become rampant. Our lives are hanging by a thread, and we fear for the safety and well-being of our children every single day.

The cost of living here has become extremely high. All of our resources are going towards securing food and trying to escape from disaster, desperately seeking a lifeline.

We are yearning to escape this nightmare and rebuild our lives in a safe place.

However, the cost of traveling to a safer area was beyond our means.

The border crossing is currently closed, but Netanyahu has decided to open the Rafah border crossing to allow people to leave the Gaza Strip in the coming days.

We want to raise funds to leave Gaza if the crossing opens, so we can live in safety and peace, and secure a future for ourselves and our children.

That's why I am reaching out to you, dear friends. Your generosity and compassion can make all the difference for me and my family. Your donations will enable us to flee this war-torn region and start anew, away from the horrors of conflict and instability.

How You Can Help Us Cross the Finish Line Even the smallest act of kindness can make a difference:

$10 may seem small, but for us, it’s a little relief, a moment of comfort, and a reminder that kindness still exists. ❤️

Can’t donate? Reblog this post to help us reach someone who can. Every share matters more than you know.

✅️Vetted by @gazavetters , ( #533 ) here✅️

verified by @bilal-sala7 ( #36 ) here ✅️

The necessary documents for proper verification have been submitted, and anyone who wishes to verify is welcome to contact me. Thank you for your kindness and support. 🙏

Donation Link

Every night, I listen to my children shiver under thin blankets, and I hold them close, trying to give them some warmth… but the cold is stronger than all of us.

Since we lost our home, this worn-out tent is all we have.

The wind strikes it every night as if trying to tear away what little is left of our lives.

My husband grows weaker day by day, and I have nothing but a heart that breaks for all of them.

We desperately need help—blankets, food, a better tent… anything that can protect my children from this merciless winter.

Your kindness could be the reason they sleep tonight feeling warm and safe.

Please… don’t leave us alone in this cold. 🤍❄️

✅Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is (#514)✅