Words and that, yk?

of course, one could argue that in the time of the war of the Ring, these lines have all but faded into one population of hobbits, meaning they should all look relatively similar (even this would imply that hobbits, being mostly comprised of the browner Harfoots, would have had a darker complection overall), however, in the passage above it states that the Fallohidish strain (the least numerous line) could still be noticed in certain hobbits. this implies that, however little, there is still a measurable distinction to found between these lines

I could go on with more examples of racial diversity in the Lord of the Rings books, of which there are several, but truthfully, I don't think that's the point.

the Shire, as said by Tolkien himself, has always been a reflection of the central Midlands English countryside

(clipping of a 1964 bbc interview for reference)

being someone who lives in these English countrysides, it has always meant a great deal to me that in Tolkien's brilliant mind, the Shire was as diverse as we still find this beautiful country to be today.

the comment made that the Shire seems a very white area is not only disingenuous to the original source material, but also a worrying, gatekeeping, and aggravating statement in a time where a concerning number of people from this country (and many other countries) will find every excuse they can to disregard and separate ourselves from our POC neighbours in collective spaces.

the Shire, the wider world of Middle Earth, the Lord of the Rings as a whole, has always been, and should always be a collective space for whoever enjoys epic fantasy, regardless of race, gender, and ethnicity, and it is insulting to all the fans to suggest otherwise

it is disheartening to see so many agree and condone the statements made by Andy Serkis and I hope in time the damage done to the POC fans will somehow be reversed

Drew a little picture of the Artemis II live stream as I watched it :)

Space is so cool guys, everything about it, all of humanity's missions just reflects the inate wonder and ingenuity of our species

how special it is that we can wield our curiosity as tools powerful enough to literally ascend into the stars

hello! thank you so much telling me this, I hadn't even considered that

when he asked both Merry and Eomer to send his love and goodbyes to her when she lay only feet away

like you can't just say that to me.

he got to say goodbye to the two he called sons but not to the one he called 'dearer than daughter', who faced down the Witch King of Angmar, fierce and unafraid, and won to keep him safe

this is somehow worse than the movie and when I tell you I SOBBED at that too

and the poor Eomer's REACTION

he thought she was SAFE

he thought she was far away and safe and back in their homeland, waiting for him to return

and then he sees her lying among the dead around their fallen King, who has just asked him to give her his farewell, and assumes that she died with them

he feels the loss of a father and a sister in one moment and realises that he had not been there for either if them

I ended up drawing Elrond & Arwen, Bard & Bain, Thranduil & Legolas, Finarfin & Galadriel, Bilbo & Frodo, and Theoden & Eowyn

the completed piece:

he said it looked amazing and that he's gonna make a big "Elvish looking" frame for it 😁

he also guessed all of the characters correctly which is a big deal because he has aphantasia haha

I was wondering, since he's read the Silmarillion and I haven't, are there good any father/child relationships in there that I could draw?

there was actually quite a crowd and I got some lovely pictures so it was all worth it in the end

and, I live in the West Midlands so I love picturing the Shire whenever I'm out on our rolling hills

why did no one tell me about this?

or this?

I can't stand it guys, they love each other so much.

It's not even romantic at this point, they've surpassed that too. If there were words for every type of love one could experience, even then I could not describe how deeply these two care for each other.

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

hey so, what exactly did you mean by that Sam?

I literally don't care how people interpret their relationship because it's so meaningful whatever way you see it

I love their conversation after the battle of Helm's Deep, when Gimli describes the caves in the Deep so passionately that even Legolas regrets that he didn't see them, he even compares their beauty to that of Galadriel, because he knows that that is something they would both understand

I love that Gimli agrees to travel to Fangorn even though the woods scare him, just because Legolas's longing for them is so clear

just

the promise to travel together, Elf and Dwarf, to experience the lands and culture of the other once war has passed and by all rights they could go back to their own homes

the thought that they would choose to spend their times of peace sharing with each other parts of the world they would otherwise have been blind to

The Lord of the Rings Part 2: The Two Towers, Book 3, Chapter I: The Departure of Boromir

guys, I'm devastated

you know when you're reading/watching something and you know what's gonna happen but you still get that sense of dread and grief when it happens?

there's much less of him tryna avoid leadership, like his plan from the beginning is to go help Boromir in Gondor as soon as he can, it's actually Gandalf's death that complicates things because then Aragorn feels that he has to stay with Frodo and ensure his and the ring's safety

I just love how much it adds to the dynamic of all the characters, because it shows how much Aragorn cares and how much responsibility he takes upon himself, it also shows how he's still unsure about the nature of the men he is destined to rule and how that too affects his decisions

it also adds to Boromir and explains a little more how the ring was able to corrupt him since it's so easy to see why he would think the best option would be to take the ring through Minas Tirith, especially when he starts to realise Aragorn might not come with him otherwise. I imagine the thought of returning home with nothing but a few Elvish gifts was so terribly disheartening