Aragorn.

Send A Symbol To Explain Why We’re Not RPing Yet

send in a symbol i’ll answer the corresponding question about my muse!

[ 🏃‍♂️ ] does your muse have escapist tendencies?

[ 💄 ] does your muse have an aesthetic? do they adhere strictly to it?

[ 👥 ] does your muse have many friends? do people feel they can rely on your muse?

[ 📚 ] what is your muse’s favourite genre of books, tv, movies, etc.?

[ 💐 ] what is your muse like in relationships?

[ 💍 ] how dedicated is your muse to their job?

[ 🍺 ] does your muse have any addictions?

[ 🍀 ] does your muse believe in luck? do they have a good luck charm or rituals they follow to avoid bad luck?

[ 🎀 ] does your muse have any childhood friends or people that are important to them?

[ 💕 ] does your muse believe in true love? do they believe in love at all?

[ 🧸 ] does your muse have any guilty pleasures or hobbies that make them embarrassed?

[ 🌟 ] is your muse comfortable in their identity? are they insecure or confident?

[ 🧭 ] does your muse know what they want? how well can they advocate for themselves?

[ 🎈 ] does your muse have many regrets? what are they?

[ 🏆 ] is your muse afraid of failure? what do they do when they fail?

[ 💭 ] does your muse have imaginary friends? did they have any as a child?

[ 🩹 ] what does your muse do to de-stress?

[ 🚓 ] would your muse break the law?

[ 🧲 ] is your muse generally flirty, or are they more reserved?

[ 🗾 ] how self-sufficient is your muse? are they more independent, or do they need others around them?

[ 🙏 ] is your muse religious? what do they believe in, if anything?

[ 👻 ] if your muse were a fantasy creature, what kind would they be? why?

[ ⚖️ ] what is your muse’s moral code? what kind of morality do they have?

[ 💥 ] is your muse determined, or do they give up easily?

[ 🃏 ] how does your muse handle being lied to?

[ 🥀 ] would your muse betray someone they love?

[ 🥊 ] how strong is your muse’s survival instinct?

[ 🌼 ] what kind of first impression does your muse leave?

[ 🐣 ] does your muse have anyone they look up to?

hmm ok

1) their power depends on how physically close they are to sauron/mordor

2) they consciously weren’t unleashing their full power early in Fellowship bcos it didn’t seem worth it when they were just dealing w hobbits

3) they just woke up from a REALLY long nap and it takes them a while to fully come ‘online’

4) their power just waxes & wanes sometimes

6) they have essentially no bodily power - in addition to their sight, their abilities are also mostly derived from their mounts, so when they were on basically-dragons, one of them could force an entire military city to its knees just by flying over it; mounted on horses,they were Quite Intimidating in Bree, and eight of them gave Glorfindel a run for his money; on foot they could be defeated by Farmer Maggot's barking dog

7.) They kindly levelled up as the heroes did so it would be fair

8.) Sauron explicitly gains power throughout the series and possibly has more to share with his minions

9) the Shire exerts a dampening effect on all attempts at majesty... genius new theory in which the Ring is nearly harmless, Gandalf known mostly for his fireworks, the Witch-King of Angmar is reduced to interrupting tea parties, etc because the land is just not very magical at all

Galadriel: you're back early

okay.

I can’t prove this is what Tolkien meant. I thought until This Month, after eighteen years with these books, that I was reading Sam having conversations with himself. but? now? I’m really not so sure.

this first happens in “The Choices of Master Samwise” in The Two Towers, after Sam has gone from rage and grief to dabbling with suicidal thoughts and despair:

He looked on the bright point of the sword. He thought of the places behind where there was a black brink and an empty fall into nothingness. There was no escape that way. That was to do nothing, not even to grieve. That was not what he had set out to do. 'What am I to do then? ' he cried again, and now he seemed plainly to know the hard answer: see it through. Another lonely journey, and the worst.

‘What? Me, alone, go to the Crack of Doom and all?' He quailed still, but the resolve grew. 'What? Me take the Ring from him? The Council gave it to him.'

But the answer came at once: 'And the Council gave him companions, so that the errand should not fail. And you are the last of all the Company. The errand must not fail.'

‘I wish I wasn't the last,' he groaned. 'I wish old Gandalf was here or somebody. Why am I left all alone to make up my mind? I'm sure to go wrong. And it's not for me to go taking the Ring, putting myself forward.'

‘But you haven't put yourself forward; you've been put forward. And as for not being the right and proper person, why, Mr. Frodo wasn't as you might say, nor Mr. Bilbo. They didn't choose themselves.'

‘Ah well, I must make up my own mind. I will make it up. But I'll be sure to go wrong: that'd be Sam Gamgee all over.

‘Let me see now: if we're found here, or Mr. Frodo's found, and that Thing's on him, well, the Enemy will get it. And that's the end of all of us, of Lorien, and Rivendell, and the Shire and all. And there s no time to lose, or it'll be the end anyway. The war's begun, and more than likely things are all going the Enemy's way already. No chance to go back with It and get advice or permission. No, it's sit here till they come and kill me over master's body, and gets It: or take It and go.' He drew a deep breath. 'Then take It, it is!'

Sam taking the Ring was absolutely the right choice, above all else. It was vital and necessary. It had to happen and it speaks to his bravery and determination.

But.

Sam has one of the most consistent character voices in Tolkien - you can look at him and know when he’s talking, just by reading his dialogue. (all credit to @nikosheba for reminding me of that, and pointing it out) And this?

‘And the Council gave him companions, so that the errand should not fail. And you are the last of all the Company. The errand must not fail.'

He could not sleep and he held a debate with himself. ‘Well, come now, we’ve done better than you hoped,’ he said sturdily. ‘Began well anyway. I reckon we crossed half the distance before we stopped. One more day will do it.’ And then he paused.

‘Don’t be a fool, Sam Gamgee,’ came an answer in his own voice. ‘He won’t go another day like that, if he moves at all. And you can’t go on much longer giving him all the water and most of the food.’

‘I can go on a good way though, and I will.’

‘Where to?’

‘To the Mountain, of course.’

‘But what then, Sam Gamgee, what then? When you get there, what are you going to do? He won’t be able to do anything for himself.’

To his dismay Sam realized that he had not got an answer to this. He had no clear idea at all. Frodo had not spoken much to him of his errand, and Sam only knew vaguely that the Ring had somehow to be put into the fire. ‘The Cracks of Doom,’ he muttered, the old name rising to his mind. ‘Well, if Master knows how to find them, I don’t.’

‘There you are!’ came the answer. ‘It’s all quite useless. He said so himself. You are the fool, going on hoping and toiling. You could have lain down and gone to sleep together days ago, if you hadn’t been so dogged. But you’ll die just the same, or worse. You might just as well lie down now and give it up. You’ll never get to the top anyway.’

‘I’ll get there, if I leave everything but my bones behind,’ said Sam. ‘And I’ll carry Mr. Frodo up myself, if it breaks my back and heart. So stop arguing!’

At that moment Sam felt a tremor in the ground beneath him, and he heard or sensed a deep remote rumble as of thunder imprisoned under the earth. There was a brief red flame that flickered under the clouds and died away. The Mountain too slept uneasily.

note the “in his own voice” rather than clarifying it’s from himself, and the fact that after he tells whoever he’s talking to off, the Mountain reacts.

this, again, isn’t Sam.

Lord of the Rings Art Prints - Created by Ann Bembi

Tîmbâr was one of the smallest villages in the Angle that was still inhabited: a ramshackle settlement of stone, timber, and thatch, surrounded by crags and shielded with pines. Chickens and dogs wandered the lanes between houses, and the laughter of children mingled with the quiet conversation of adults and the occasional whinny from the shaggy horses preferred by the Dúnedain.

Eruingil, called ‘Bravefool’ by some, stood awkwardly under the rough-hewn gate that marked the ‘entrance’ to the village. She struggled with herself despite being weary from her long journey from the Grey Havens, unable to work up the nerve to just walk up to someone, let alone talk to them. What would she even say? What if she made a bad impression? What if she was too formal? Not formal enough? What if she jumbled up her sentences again? What if they laughed her out of town?

What if they hated her?

Wasn’t this a delightful revelation. She could stare down a charging orc without flinching, but couldn’t even start a conversation with her own kin.

No, no, no! You can do this!

She looked around--probably in vain--for someone who appeared to be around her age; maybe it would be easier to start a conversation with someone less… experienced? Someone like her: on their own for the first time, who had no idea what they were supposed to do or where to go next.

And hopefully they wouldn’t laugh at her if she stumbled over her words.

“Well, I suppose you’re right... Can you ever say you really know anyone? Even yourself? How do you know what you’d do, faced with challenges you’ve never had before...? Until recently, I didn’t even know who-”

He stopped himself at the last second, before he said too much. Erui seemed nice, and he hoped he’d made a friend, but the chieftain should be the first to know about him being Arathorn’s son, Isildur’s heir. And he was still out on patrol somewhere.