—— and fairer than most.

Update: he's also feeding my husband and I bread.

❝ look, see a world that holds more wonders than any since the earth was born. ❞   ❝ let me tell you instead a new tale. ❞   ❝ so stay a while. rest. and make yourself content. ❞ ❝ and if death awaits me? ❞ ❝ surely your knights have spilled enough blood in your name to bind them closer to you than i. ❞ ❝ good to have one’s family by one’s side. ❞   ❝ i recognize but i do not know you. ❞ ❝ what is this? a trick? ❞ ❝ and this is what you want most in life? ❞ ❝ green is the color of earth, of living things, of life. ❞ ❝ the world is fit for all manner of mysteries. ❞ ❝ you are not very good with questions. ❞ ❝ surely a knight knows something of love. ❞ ❝ i never knew so many books even existed. ❞ ❝ what if i wanted to sit by your side and take your hand and have your ear? ❞ ❝ do you still fancy me? do i make you happy? ❞ ❝ green is what is left when ardor fades, when passion dies, when we die, too. ❞ ❝ when you return, you will come with your head held high. ❞ ❝ this is how silly men perish. ❞ ❝ you rest your bones, my brave little knight. ❞ ❝ where you off to? a knightly quest? ❞ ❝ all dead. no one to bury them. ❞ ❝ by nightfall, you will be at the doorway of your destiny. ❞ ❝ i promise, you will not come to harm. ❞ ❝ why greatness? why is goodness not enough? ❞ ❝ are you really going to go? ❞ ❝ you’ll do this one thing, you return home a changed man, an honorable man? just like that? ❞ ❝ keep your five fingers strong, your five senses sharp. ❞ ❝ you have mud on your face. ❞ ❝ is it wrong to want greatness for you? ❞ ❝ i’ve been waiting for you. did you not hear me calling? ❞ ❝ what do you expect me to do? ❞ ❝ i am the luckiest here today because i am amongst you. ❞ ❝ do not take your place amongst legends idly. ❞ ❝ though my will longs to leap across this table and meet you, my body will not follow. ❞ ❝ you tell me a tale of yourself, so that i might know you. ❞ ❝ i’ve got no guts for merriment this year. ❞   ❝ i need…i need a sword. ❞ ❝ i dare say every table in this land has heard of you and sung your song. ❞ ❝ i know more than just your name. ❞ ❝ well, come on in if you want. ❞ ❝ perhaps you think that i am something i’m not. ❞ ❝ why would you ask me that? why would you ever ask me that? ❞ ❝ are you real, or are you a spirit? ❞ ❝ you are at the end of your quest. a little sooner than you expected, perhaps. but such is the case for us all. ❞ ❝ i am just a lost traveler, seeking rest for the night. ❞ ❝ did my father send for you? ❞ ❝ are you certain there is nothing you wish to give me? ❞ ❝ what will you say if i asked you to make me your lady? ❞ ❝ i do not know of any man who has not marched up to greet death before his time. ❞ ❝ were you afraid? ❞ ❝ you have had a year to find courage. ❞ ❝ come, come home. come home with me. ❞ ❝ i never asked for your company anyway! ❞ ❝ what witchcraft is this? ❞ ❝ go that way and your doom is at hand. ❞ ❝ unhand me and let us go our ways. ❞ ❝ fear not. you’ve only slept through the night. ❞ ❝ which direction are you headed? ❞ ❝ i will eat and give thanks and then take my leave. ❞ ❝ how do you know my name? ❞ ❝ you will find no mercy. no happy end. ❞ ❝ i don’t want your games, or your gifts, or your kindness. ❞ ❝ there’s an enchantment sewn into its threads. wear it and you will never be struck down. ❞ ❝ do you believe in magic, in witchcraft? ❞ ❝ do not touch me. ❞ ❝ i’ve lost something. will you help me find it? ❞ ❝ i’m very sorry. i…i did not see you. ❞ ❝ i fear i am not meant for greatness. ❞ ❝ stand up and face me! ❞ ❝ make a move or i shall make mine. ❞ ❝ let’s just stay here. come. let’s just stay here. ❞   ❝ i’ve got time. i’ve got lots of time. ❞   ❝ out my window this morning i looked, and i saw a land shaped by your hands. ❞ ❝ i look out upon my friends here today and i see songs no muse could ever sing or dream of. ❞ ❝ no. i’m not ready yet. ❞   ❝ i’ll finish this quest for you. ❞

daenerys watches @ineder the way the elves watch the stars, as if not to claim them, but to remember why they endure. t here is no fire in frodo, not the kind the world fears, and that is precisely what draws her. he carries ruin without craving it, bears power without believing it belongs to him, and in that refusal she recognizes a strength older than crowns. daenerys has known flame as destiny, as punishment, as promise; she has been worshiped and hunted for it both. but here, beside a hobbit who trembles and still steps forward, she feels something settle into place. not conquest, nor prophecy but rather a choice. ❝ if the road bends too sharply, ❞ she thinks without speaking, ❝ i will be the heat that keeps you from freezing. ❞ not to take the burden from him, she knows better than that, but to walk close enough that the dark cannot pretend it has him alone. fire was never meant only to burn, she has long since learned it is often meant to guide.

For this brief hour, the road ahead did not seem so pressing. There would be time enough for miles yet untraveled (burdens yet born). Herem besides the fire and in the company of a truested friend, Frodo allowed himself a moment of peace.

it makes sense that Frodo, who was so deeply changed by the trauma he experienced doesn’t see the world the same way anymore and his home doesn’t feel like home anymore. It’s significant that every year on the day he was stabbed by the morgul blade, it hurts so much more than usual... it’s a significant date for him. I dont necessarily see him as a 1:1 victim but in that moment where he was stabbed, it wasn't just an injury, it was a total loss of his bodily autonomy (not including the rings temptation) from the greed of a man who only wants power. The wound immediately necrotic, almost killing him and basically sending him shifting in between consciousness/the realm of death. It's a very apt comparison to what it is like to be raped or sexually assaulted. Especially since that’s one of the first big terrible things that happens to Frodo on his journey. after this he continues to feel the ring’s temptation and his moods shift, he frequently wants to give up and feels hopeless, he’s stripped naked by the Orcs (which is canonically an assault in itself) and left humiliated and vulnerable until Sam rescues him.

The gardener was silent, staring at Frodo's serious expression. He took his hand, voice softening. "Courage, I mean. You've got more courageousness than anyone I know, that's for certain," he waited for the older Hobbit's face to turn, but it wouldn't budge. "Besides, why are you speaking in the past tense, and all? Sam is here, your Sam is right here," he gently stroked the fine brunette hairs on the Hobbit's hand. Since their journey they'd become more physically affectionate, often letting touches linger, spending nights together in Frodo's plush bed, clinging to each other as if they still had to retain each other's body heat to survive. That hadn't been true for a long time now, but the habit stayed. Sam couldn't picture life any other way. "Have you got it now? Please say you have."

When he drew back, Frodo rested his forehead against Sam’s. “There,” he murmured, breath unsteady but sure.

You bring great evil with you.