Subject: Fanfic history.
Author:
Posted on: 2019-03-08 20:08:00 UTC
It was /incredibly/ commom for bad fanfics to show Gimli as a buffoon, Boromir as plain evil, and Merry and Pippin as interchangeable idiots. Partly I think it stems from the popularity of Legolas, and Gimli coming off the worse in their various confrontations.
But mostly it comes from "Nobody tosses a dwarf!"
hS
I'm a huge fan of the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, and I'm reading my way through the books for the first time. And it just hit me for the hundredth time how beautifully crafted and complex this world is, with so much mythology and history and enduring characters that we can love so much. It's not perfect, of course, but it is a truly amazing piece of fiction in both formats (in my opinion). And the PPC basically introduced me to Tolkien back when I'd read the Original Series, so I'm doubly emotional over both right now.
Anyway, I thought we could have a little Tolkien Appreciation here on the board - tell me your favorite book/character/scene/quote/piece of trivia/anything you fancy? Or perhaps let's share some Tolkien goodfics, to shine a light upon the sea of badfic. Anything goes, basically, as long as we fangirl/boy/person about Arda together.
Hi don't mind me SOBBING IN THE CORNER
...I wonder why it says in TOS that Sues never like Gimli. I mean, he's pure awesome, in book and in film.
It was /incredibly/ commom for bad fanfics to show Gimli as a buffoon, Boromir as plain evil, and Merry and Pippin as interchangeable idiots. Partly I think it stems from the popularity of Legolas, and Gimli coming off the worse in their various confrontations.
But mostly it comes from "Nobody tosses a dwarf!"
hS
I've seen *some* of that in old fics I've hunted down, but this part of fandom history has mostly escaped me so far. I don't know if I'm happier now that I wasn't around in the time of TOS, but it's food for thought.
Anyway, I love both Gimli and Boromir, so I'm just itching to tackle some badfics of this type after I get Permission.
"In the Land of Mordor, where the Shadows lie."
Explorable map
Noooooo idea whether this is the last teaser map update, but it's looking like a firm map of the early Third Age. At a guess, the fact that the Great North Road goes to Fornost, not Annuminas, means that we're after the division of Arnor - ie, in the run-up to the Fall of Arthedain and the ending of the Line of Kings in Gondor.
I have wanted this for quite some time.
A Fall of Kings episode would actually work really well with Young Aragorn. It explains both why he isn't a king (his ancestors lost their kingdom) and why he could become one (the Gondorian king went missing). It lets you introduce the Nazgul as a sort of hereditary enemy (the Witch-King is directly responsible for the fall of Arnor and the death of the last king of Gondor), which means you can use them as a threat during the series. Plus, 'army from the frozen north led by an undead sorcerer' has a certain... resonance with another big-budget fantasy series. ^_~
hS
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
Welcome to the Second Age.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
[Gasps for breath]
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
hSAAAAAAAAA
The best part is I'm on a slow connection right now, so the map expanded bit by bit... and then kept going. I was all "Wait, what?" It was amazing. {= D
~NeshomAAAAAAAA
Soooo, theorycrafting. I seem to recall them saying they were going to make 5 seasons, which seemed weirdly specific at the time, but makes sense if there's a specific storyline they want to follow. For instance:
Middle-earth: Numenor
Welcome to the Second Age. You won't be leaving it until the last episode of Season 5.
S1: The Mariner's Wife - Aldarion & Erendis (800s)
The only nearly-complete story of Numenor before its fall, this is an easy place to start your series. It's relatively contained - you can pay fleeting visits to Middle-earth with Aldarion, but mostly remain in Numenor - and lets you pull a lot of the political side of things. If you play it right, you can also start building in future conflicts by introducing Gil-Galad and company.
S2: Forging the Rings/Tal-Elmar (1500s)
AKA The Annatar Season. Runs from his first appearance to the forging of the One, slowly building the threat of Mordor (you can definitely turn the first use of that name, and the name Sauron, into a key moment). Alongside this, we have the settling of Middle-earth by Numenor, including a narrative inspired by Tolkien's aborted tale of a Middle-earth native meeting the Kings from Over the Sea.
S3: The War of the Elves & Sauron/The Shadow over Numenor (1600s)
Interleaving the war - including the founding of Imladris - with the first touch of the Shadow on Numenor. The Numenoreans become crueler, and though ultimately they drive out the Darker advisors and sail to the aid of Middle-earth, the stage is set for later stories. Late in the season, three of the Numenorean exiles are gifted Rings by Sauron...
S4: Akallabeth (3200s)
A big time jump, which takes us to the tail end of Tar-Palantir's reign. This season runs at breakneck speed, covering Pharazon's takeover, his conquest of Sauron, Sauron's conversion of Numenor, the assault on Valinor, and the escape of Elendil & co. It's a fun one, and it ends with the Downfall.
S5: The Last Alliance (3400s)
How do you follow that? All-out war, obviously. Spend a couple of episodes building Arnor and Gondor, then witness Sauron's return and forge the Last Alliance. The war takes twelve years in canon, so there's room for plenty of material. Let me put it like this: Sauron announced his return by razing Minas Ithil and laying a three-year siege of Gondor, which was only broken when the Elves finally arrived. There's a lot to play with.
And yes, you get to end by entering the Third Age, showing Isildur's claiming of the One Ring, and basically meeting the prologue of the films. That leaves the door wide open for several follow-up seasons, including the Fall of Arnor & Gondor, the founding of Rohan, and, yes, potentially Young Aragorn as season 8.
hS
I hope the actual show turns out to be like this. :D
Faramir is my favorite character. His refusal to take the ring, because he pledged to not, and his ride to Osgiliath, Sometimes you just need a character that does the noble thing without fail, like something to aspire to.
Look, I was that into Tolkien. I read it, but it went over my head. I was probably too young? I'm not sure. Maybe I'll go back and still won't like it.
But man, I am in awe of the guy. Middle Earth is a kind of insanely well-developed setting and I genuinely do understand WHY there is such a fandom for it. It's utterly fantastic.
Anyways, the one thing I DID get into was Tolkien Fanfic. However, I only know the classics that anyone already invested in the PPC or Tolkien fandom is already aware of. So, allow me to proselytize to you young'uns... who are my age. I am also a young'un.
-OFUM. The Official Fanfiction University of Middle-Earth was funny then, and it's still funny now. It's a wonderful snapshot of the manic spirit of the PPC/fandom Back In The Day, and I love it so much for all of its insane goofiness.
-Suedom. I'm going to disagree with the authors here, and tell you that Suedom is pretty great. Yes, it's goofy and weird in places, but it's also amazing, and probably the single darkest and bleakest thing to ever be written in the PPC setting, while still being funny in places. And frankly, the tinge of darkness makes it really interesting and special and just that much more real than anything else of its era. If the PPC is a lighthearted workplace comedy, Suedom is the adjacent grim look into a hostage situation.
It could also be considered subversive, but I don't think it's quite as subversive as the authors might think: the PPC (well, now at least) is generally more broad-minded then we're painted. Although I don't think we've recruited a lesser Sue in a while... maybe we should bring that tradition back.
-Finally, if you haven't... you need to read Mostly Harmless. It takes the "girl sucked into Middle Earth" trope, subverts it, and then proceeds to do everything with that subversion you could conceivably do. There is nothing left to do now, because Mostly Harmless has done it all already, and done it better than you will. Yes, that was a joke, but it is legitimately that good.
I can’t find that. Did you mean Don’t Panic?
HG
Wooow. I confused my Adams references and misnamed one of my all-time favorite fics. Today is not my day. XD
My favourite scene in LotR is and always will remain the coming of the Rohirrim to Minas Tirith. RotK-M made a valiant effort, but it really didn't do it justice.
My favourite thing about Tolkien's writing is the sheer depth there is under it. Middle-earth always feels like a world that we're only seeing a small part of. In contrast, something like Harry Potter or even Discworld feels much more like a soundstage or a theatre set - yes, there are background details, but they feel like they exist in isolation, not as part of a coherent whole.
One way this manifests is in how even the smallest characters have a whole lot going on. Take, for example, Rosie Cotton, pretty much a textbook example of a featureless love interest. Except...
‘Hullo, Sam!’ said Rosie. ‘Where’ve you been? They said you were dead; but I’ve been expecting you since the Spring. You haven’t hurried have you?’
...
‘Well, be off with you!’ said Rosie. ‘If you’ve been looking after Mr. Frodo all this while, what d’you want to leave him for, as soon as things look dangerous?’
That's practically all the lines she gets, but in just that much, Tolkien paints an entire character for us. You could write Rosie Cotton, as a living character in her own land, and be sure you had her pretty much as Tolkien intended, entirely on the basis of that quote. And I think that's pretty fantastic.
hS
The world of Tolkien is so rich and vast, and so perfectly put together, that it's simply breathtaking. For a Tolkien newbie like me, there is always something new to discover - some other fascinating detail to fit into the puzzle.
My favorite scene from the books - so far, at least - is anything involving the Ents. In the movie not so much, but the way the Ents are described in TTT, and the sheer power of their last march, impressed me a lot. From the movie scenes, though, nothing will ever compare in my eyes to Boromir's last stand. I would say he's my favorite, but it's so damn hard to choose when there's also Aragorn and the hobbits and Gimli and Éowyn and all the others. Which yet again points out the sheer richness of this world.