All's well that ends better

in the books, Gimli is an incredible, poetic, charming, heroic, axe wielding sexy man!!

and Legolas is a skilled but funny, cheeky, whimsical, singing prince of Mirkwood!!

this is really apparent in the battle of Helm's Deep

in the books, Eomer is already with them and has dramatically charged out into battle with Aragorn when he's overwhelmed by orcs. Gimli heroically launches himself into danger and beheads several, saving Eomer from death, then he wonders back up to his position on the wall and greets Legolas with the news of his kills. Legolas is the first to mention their competition and tease Gimli with his higher score

later, Gimli and Eomer are separated from Aragorn, the situation is clearly grave and he rejoins Legolas and informs him of where he last saw Gimli. Legolas frets but ultimately breaks the tension by saying he wished to see Gimli so he could boast of his even higher kill count

just ugahhsjh I can't explain my thought very well

absolute cowards, I say

And Legolas, everyone’s favorite lightly feral backwoods weirdo who is terrifyingly competent and talks to trees and rocks and rivers and invents songs on the fly and makes dumb jokes while his traveling companions are pretty much actively dying in the snow!

Worldbuilding where being queer is normalized and queerphobia has no impact on the plot? THAT'S FINE. Worldbuilding that includes queerphobia and tackles the effects of it as part of the story? THAT'S ALSO FINE.

Low-stakes queer romcom where the characters are fluffy and cute? THAT'S COOL. Messy queer drama with toxic people who fuck each other over and clash repeatedly? THAT'S ALSO COOL.

Stories that center the characters' queerness, show a trans character's transition, and are about the queerness as much as the rest of the plot? AWESOME. Stories where the characters' queerness isn't treated as a big deal, and have trans characters whose transition happened before the story entirely? ALSO AWESOME.

You may PREFER one thing or another, but it is actually good to have all these things. It's about variety. It's about queer characters being allowed to exist without censorship. It's about queer artists getting to make things without being told we're a "niche issue" or "adult content." It's about having as many goddamn cakes as the bakery can produce.

I can’t recall the taste of food… nor the sound of water… nor the touch of grass. I’m naked in the dark, with nothing, no veil between me and the wheel of fire!

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THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (2002) dir. Peter Jackson