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.

"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

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.

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