Hm... I don't think I can give a true answer (the baker does not say his leaven is excellent... damn, it sounds better in Hebrew) but I'd like to imagine that yes, I will resist its temptation. My desires in life are simple (tea and books/stories, basically) and I have less ambitions than most people I know. I also consciously follow a certain ethical code (behave as you want other people to behave/do not try to change the inevitable/do to others as you want them to do you) so I think I have good chances of ignoring the Ring's call.

I'd like to say I could resist it, but in reality, I have no idea. I'd resist taking that responsibility on principle, just because I know what that thing is and what it could do to me.

But...

In group situations, I tend to kind of become the leader just because I'm the only one who bothers to step up and take charge. If Frodo hadn't volunteered, I probably would have... and that's when the Ring would start screwing with my head. I'd love it if I could make the world better (insert Team Magma/Aqua/Galactic/Plasma/Flare reference here) and end starvation and war, and I'm pretty sure the Ring would use that to its advantage.

If nobody was willing to carry the Ring, I'd do it, but I'd be like, "Please make sure I don't go batcrap crazy during the trip, plzkthx."

I can only hope I'd be smart/resistant enough to give away the ring as soon as I notice what power it holds, otherwise I'd be on a one-way trip to Gollumville, as I am not barely resilient enough to resist such temptation as is presented by the one ring.

The Ring would have a field day, showing me all my power-mad fantasies fulfilled. I have no idea how long I would last against that- hopefully long enough to get it to Mount Doom.

And then, should I decide to keep the ring, cue angry Gollum! :)

I mean, assuming I had some idea of what I had and it wasn't just a case of "Oooh, shiny." But even then, I don't normally wear rings except my wedding and engagement rings. Wearing a plain chunk of gold doesn't really appeal to me, and the Ring is always noted as being heavy. Do not want.

As to invisibility and long life, I do pretty well avoiding people on my own already, and I've seen what even a good very long life looks like at the end. No, thanks. (If I could have any superpower, it would not be invisibility. I'd either want teleportation or the ability to always say the right thing at the right time.)

Realistically speaking, though, I just don't want a whole lot. I do occasionally wish people would just shut up and do what I tell them because god dammit I am right and it would be so much easier my way... but I have already made it a habit to curb those thoughts. For one thing, it would be too much bother having to tell everyone what to do all the time, and for another, free will for everyone plzkthx.

Ring: But you could make them bend to your will!

Me: Yeah, that would be fun for a while, but then I'd want to go do stuff on my own and not deal with people.

Ring: But... but... power!

Me: Whatever, man. I have projects to do. Also, pretty sure mind-slaves give terribly boring, unhelpful reviews.

I dunno, am I overlooking something? It seems to me that all the ring-temptations we've seen have been about "ooh, shiny" (Gollum) or power (Isildur, Galadriel, Boromir, Sam) or... I dunno what you'd call Faramir's. Stature? He wanted to prove himself to Denethor... but not so much that he'd compromise himself, which is why he resisted. Ain't nobody whose opinion I care about enough to damn myself over it, either. Not even Phobos. And I'm pretty sure that's something he likes about me, so there.

If the Ring granted the power of every creative thing you touch automatically being awesome, then we might have a problem, but power over others? Nah, I'd rather just stay home with my cat and write goofy stories, thanks. Maybe I could pawn it off for a year's rent, though, that would be sweet. Or, what about a ring that makes everyone use logic/common sense all the time without me having to force it? That'd be cool. Though I guess I'd miss Not Always Right and the Darwin Awards and stuff.

I doubt if I could do what Frodo did, either, though. Maybe if it looked like I was really the only person for the job, but then it would get me. Like, it would start out being like, "Well, okay, if no one else is gonna say anything... I guess SOMEONE has to...." But then it would be like, "Hey, don't you touch that. You didn't want it before. It's my responsibility now, and no way am I letting you jerks cock it up." And then it would be like, "I have to keep it FOREVER because I'm the ONLY ONE who REALLY CARES about DOING THINGS RIGHT." And then I don't even know. In real life I tend to get fed up and abandon things for months at a time when it gets to that point...?

~Neshomeh, who has a serious lack of ambition.

This question actually brings up a headcanon of mine that I had about the Ring waaaay back in the day. I always thought that half of the Ring's magnetism came from its innate ability to get inside its bearer's head...like, traveling with the Ring or even conversing with it is like talking to Hannibal Lector, you know? Yeah I know this is kind of a "no shit" observation but it would be a really interesting thing to base a fic on.

Though admittedly I don't see why you'd need an OC to do this. Granted though, I don't think any OC of mine would be able to resist its lure for long. After all, the Ring does have an uncanny ability for bringing out the WORST in people, even the best people. I think one of the reasons why Frodo himself resisted the Ring for so long was because he didn't really have anything for the Ring to exploit. With Frodo it felt like the Ring needed to cultivate that bad seed itself by exploiting the cracks in Frodo's spirit left by the Morgul Blade.

TL;DR--I'd think you'd have to be really comfortable with who you are in addition to having a strong spirit to resist the Ring and its temptations.

On a side note, I don't think I'd mind reading a Tenth Walker fic that tried to incorporate these kinds of questions in its work but what's the possibility of that happening? I mean, having a Tenth Walker is a huge violation of cannon right off the bat (one liable to get a fic PPC-ed). Sure, you can write off the initial misstep by saying the fic's a speculative AU but still... Tenth Walker fics have already set up a bad rapport with readers and agents alike with their terrible writing and lack of consideration for the rest of cannon. You'd have to play it very smart in order to avoid justifying these icky expectations.

Long post >.

Because I am already not-jokingly desperate to never die.

The Ring would be like, "Sup?"

And I go, "Whoa."

And it's like, "Yeah?"

And I'm all, "Sure!"

And then I turn into a Gollum-thing.

Just goes to show the power of the Ring I guess. I'll put in an answer of my own later.

This is partially due to the fact that I never really had any sort of idea what the One Ring does or why people would wage war for it, but it doesn't seem like it would be that much of an issue.
Its only powers, at least the only powers that have ever been apparent, are the ability to extend life while turning that life into some twisted alternate form, like a wraith or a whatever Gollum is, to make a single person turn invisible, and to make people desire it to the point that they will do anything to possess it again. Only the third one is in any way formidable, and you wouldn't be able to use it to save Arda or however someone would decide to help people using the Ring's power. Granted, I can see why the second power would motivate people to use it for less-than-innocent means, since an object that lets one person turn invisible for an extended period of time would have a sizable number of uses, many of them immoral, but that's a very small-scale power. You won't exactly be tempted to rend worlds in two and turn yourself into a lord of evil and destruction with only the power of invisibility and a convoluted form of immortality.

I mean, I know why Sauron wants it, since the One Ring contains a portion of his consciousness and he'd need that to be able to use his full power again. Plus, he was exposed to the One Ring when it was first being made, since he was the one who forged it, so he probably would've gotten the full brunt of the Want It Need It spell the Ring exudes, possibly far beyond the level it exuded when it was finished. I just don't know why anyone else would decide to use it to start going around and conquering. Is it because the piece of Sauron inside the Ring would possess them and enhance their innate desire to rule over others? Because that doesn't really match up with Boromir's feelings(and maybe Isildur's; I don't quite recall) that the Ring would somehow be able to be turned against Gondor's enemies, as though it could be used as a weapon or something. Maybe no one knows what the Ring is actually capable of, and is just running off of the logic that if someone as big and bad as Sauron wants it, it must be insanely powerful? I'm grasping at straws here, if you can't tell.

On one hand, I have the meta-knowledge of what the Ring does to people and the reasons why it must be destroyed. On the other hand, I am an absolute chicken and willuse the Ring's powers of concealment whenever danger presents itself.


I'd probably be putty in the hands (torus-thing?) of the Ring.

I'd probably try to use it for something really petty, knowing me, or maybe to try, like hS, to help people and go about it completely the wrong way. I don't have much strength of will or much of a drive, and those would only help the Ring. I'd be an incredibly horrible decision as Ringbearer.

-Aila

Not dark, but...darker, I guess, and...um...more terrible? Yeah, this really isn't going as well as I had hoped.

Anyway, I have gained the nickname "The Betraying Betrayer Who Betrays" amongst my friends (no word yet from my enemies). I don't think I should be trusted with semi-phenomenal, nearly-cosmic power. I think I'm too selfish, honestly. The temptation to use it for my own benefit would be too much.

-Phobos

I'd like to think that I'd be tempted by the power to do good, but somehow I think that I'd be done in before I got there, just by the desire to be safe. Adventures in Middle Earth are all well and good, but in the end I prefer my wifi and my hobbit hole and far less uncertainty (and no things trying to kill me.)

(No ideas on how I ended up with the thing - I suspect it involves Frodo getting a seriously bad cold)

I think, like Gandalf, the Ring would tempt me with the power to do good - to make things better for, well, everyone. Precisely what it would offer would depend on its actual abilities, but maybe the ability to just... convince people to stop doing bad things. That can't be wrong, can it? I mean, sure, you'd have to twist them a little on the way - but in a good way!

But there's all those people who just don't understand, who keep wanting to attack me, to hurt all the people I helped. And I've got this Ring...

Of course, I don't imagine I'd actually get that far. I rather suspect I'd fall foul of the first Nazgul to hunt me down. But you didn't ask about chances of success. ;)

About 'know thyself' - I'm not so sure. Remember, Gandalf is a demigod, and he didn't want to go anywhere near the thing. Of the three 'resisters' you mentioned, only Bombadil truly resisted - and I think that was because of who (or rather, what) he is. A nature spirit, tied to a specific feature of the landscape, wouldn't be affected in any way by bottled demigodly power.

Galadriel, of course, nearly didn't resist - she was on the verge of accepting (and had thought long and hard about what she'd do - in fact, the way she describes it sounds more like a fond daydream or fantasy). Ultimately, yes, it was a form of self-knowledge that gave her that resistance - the knowledge that the time of the Eldar was past, and that it was time for her to 'diminish, and go into the West'... even if the West wouldn't have her ('But if of ships I now should sing/What ship would come for me?').

And Sam? I like to image Sam resisted because, of all the people who encountered the Ring, he's the only one who actually knows what hard work (as opposed to fighting) feels like. So the promise of 'I can do all this effortlessly' would be met with 'There's no such thing as a free lunch (as my old Gaffer used to say)'.

hS

I mean, look at his name! But Elrond will have the foresight to kick me out first, as I have a cohort of orcs weaving spidersilk for clothing. Yeah, I hadn't released Dark Lord Aakmal, have I?

If the ring falls into my character's hand, his world domination will be through economic and fashion sense. The One Ring promised him many people wearing his brand, and little taxes that he has to pay.

But, Master Galthrid from the other day may fall quickly to the ring's power, evoking his 'loyalty' to Sauron, and attempts to steal it and turn it to him.

Me myself IRL, truthfully I only want dominion over my state for a decade or two as I fix my state's situation. Large enough a way for the Ring to tempt me. I hope there's Gandalf to knock me senseless when I get mad enough.

In both the book and the film (and, for that matter, the Bakshi movie), I get the distinct impression that Frodo was being driven into taking on the Quest. This is arguably clearest in the book, where Bilbo is the first person to volunteer - only for Elrond(?) to tell him that no, his part's over, the Ring has passed to another. It's all he can do to keep from giving Frodo a significant look.

So that's a sort of answer to your last question: Frodo didn't really make a decision. Or rather, he did, but pointlessly: he would have ended up carrying the thing one way or the other.

I'll come back to the rest of it when I get a chance; no time now, but the question is very interesting.

hS