plenty of talk about “don’t go where i can’t follow” but not enough talk about sam leaving his sword and the phial of galadriel by his side while begging frodo to understand that he has to go on. not enough talk about him contemplating hunting down gollum and killing him, but realizing it wouldn’t be worth it because it wouldn’t bring frodo back, and he would rather be dead alongside him — even though “that too would be a lonely journey.” not enough talk about sam kissing frodo’s forehead as he takes the ring from his neck, and frodo not responding being what truly convinces sam he’s dead. not enough talk about sam promising that if he doesn’t die in mordor, he’ll come back to frodo’s body, and “he’ll not leave you again.” not enough talk about the steps away from cirith ungol being “the heaviest and most reluctant” sam had ever taken.

one of my favorite bits in lord of the rings is something the movies didn't really try to do because it's entirely internal, but sam's carrying the ring and it starts trying to do its work on him, so he's having these intrusive visions of himself marching at the head of a vast and terrible army, and he just starts laughing because, me? samwise gamgee? sam gamgee the general sam gamgee the dark lord are you for real? man i just want to go home and do some gardening. and the ring gets frustrated and it starts trying to figure out other stuff that would actually tempt sam and it's finally like, okay, but hear me out: imagine if you could have...A REALLY REALLY BIG GARDEN

and then he's like, i don't know that sounds like a lot more work than a regular garden actually. why don't we just get on with finding mister frodo

close your eyes and imagine freshly roasted root vegetables perfectly seasoned and crispy as far as the eye can see

Sam trying to get Frodo to take one more step

Sam psychologically tormenting Gollum

That's because this is Silmarillion

completely sober in the club googling sam & frodo pictures

as someone with aragorn's kind of face framing layers i just know the front pieces are hanging in his eyes all day every day... "my path is hidden from me" you are 4 bobby pins away from utter clarity.

And when Aragorn becomes King Ellesar lo and behold! He has a proper haircut. He wears a crown that stops his hair falling in his eyes. He gets a wife who knows about bobby pins.