#...something which also applies to frodo

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

3, 9, 10, and 49 for Grima?

Two Grima anons!! Because you all are amazing and know me and the way to my heart

3. Obscure headcanon

Honestly, I feel like I've talked enough about Grima that all my headcanons have been exhausted in the "Grima Thoughts" tag and the "Grima Wormtongue" tag more broadly on my tumblr.

I suppose one that I've never voice too much, and haven't played with (YET. GET READY.**) is that I headcanon him as distinctly Not Cis but he's very convoluted and vague about what that means. The whole seidr aspect I read onto him adds different layers to how you can interpret that, especially given some views that seidr-working might have been viewed as an alternative gender, or an additional aspect to gender, or something in that ballpark of being different from man and woman.

I just enjoy that, aside from Eowyn, he is one of the characters you can make the strongest argument for being Outside the Gender Norms of Their Respective Society. This makes me very pleased and happy.

Grima just wants to be queen. Let him be one!!

--

**this only applies to people reading What Makes a King

9. Scene that first made me love (or hate) the character

For the movies it was the tear-drop scene in TTT after Saruman sends the uruk-hai off to Helms Deep. So much regret and realization of the scope of the impact of his actions captured in a single emotional moment. And it's fleeting! But so well done. No words are needed. Just dawning horror and that stomach-dropping-out-from-your-body feeling of What The Fuck Have I Done - This Was Not How It Was Supposed To Go.

In the books it's 100% when Grima is sassing back at Treebeard. He is Peak Drowned Rat and a GIANT TREE is telling him: You need to go to Orthanc. It's voer there.

And Grima. Who has been on a horse for two days straight, riding through the night, and probbaly hasn't eaten in 48h, and is now stinking soaking wet becuase Treebeard dropped him in the muck and mire of the waters around Orthanc. That man. That man looks at the Giant Tree, the stuff of childhood legends in Rohan, and his instinctual reaction is to be the sassiest most lie-filled bitch on the planet.

What the fuck Grima.

Grima: Well, since you don't think I was here on behalf of Theoden which was My Quickly Thought Up Plan Because I DID NOT Expect This. I will now just be super sassy at you as my fall back. Seems reasonable.

Tree Beard: ????

Love that deranged bastard so much.

Grima: [sees a being way, way more powerful than him. Gandalf, Treebeard, whatever] What if I just said some sick burns and was a petty bitch for fifteen minutes??

Eomer: . .... ..,, , as a treat?

Grima: As a treat!!

10. Best moment on screen (or in the book)

I loved his seduction scene in the film. That whole speech is masterfully rendered by Brad Dourif and Miranda Otto is also fantastic in that scene. Seeing her tempted, truly tempted, then pulling back like: nope, nope, nope, I can't. Grima's face when she leaves. Absolutely phenomenal.

I also love the "These Men Don't Know What Personal Space Is" scene with Eomer.

Nothing to see here. Move along everyone.

In the book, the best scene is everything in the Scouring of Shire. The wanting to take Frodo's offer of a helping hand. The desperation for that salvation from himself and the situation he is in - yet, he is so trapped in whatever it is he feels for Saruman. That quasi-enslaved state by the time we get to the end of ROTK. It's so fucked up and such a fantastic representation of the push/pull of abusive situations. I want out/I can't leave/I can see a future/I can't see a future. So well done.

(And I think Saruman-Grima dynamic is something Tolkien didn't know he had - at least in terms of the potential that is in it.)

While I have gone on before about Grima's death being a let-down in terms of thematic satisfaction, I do love, love, love that he gets to kill Saruman. He gets to put the knife in Saruman's back. That is so fantastic as a full circle of all the traitors betraying each other. ALSO, of course, Grima gets to kill the man who has spent the last eleven months torturing him for shits and giggles. We love to see it.

16. Deepest darkest secret they won’t even admit to themselves

I think Grima is very afraid to look at a lot of things about himself. He cannot look into the mirror straight-on. All truths about himself have to be captured in peripheral vision - which is to say, only ever faintly brushed against.

I don't know what the darkest secret is that he can't admit to himself. I suspect, for him, it's several. He's done so much harm in his life, and he's been also denied so much too, and wants so much, and has broken so much - it's all a tangled mess.

I think for Grima, what drives a lot of his actions post-Helm's Deep is a two-fold sunk-cost fallacy (that's the thing he can't admit to himself - it's not all lost. He can and should walk away. "If it's shit, hit the bricks" was not something he ever learned) and the inability to be able to see a life outside of Saruman. A path away from Orthanc. (Granted, no one was being helpful in that regard until Frodo. Literally no one. Not in any meaningful capacity.)

24. Most annoying habit

Maybe stop stealing things from people?

Probably, though, the sycophancy. The whole "oh my lord" this and "a wise/brilliant thing you said my lord" that. Ugh. Miss me with the verbal dick-sucking there, Grima.

I get why he does it. I 100% understand. I still find it grating. This is something, I will say, that turns up in fanfics more than canon. I've written it, myself, because it works for his character! It's what he would do! It makes sense post-Saruman that he would be like this! If he wasn't it would be weird! But my god Grima, get a spine and a sense of self-worth!

(Grima: shall not.)

For proper canon things, we don't really see enough of him to have specific habits to pick on. Because frankly, I find his thieving delightful and funny, if not a little whimsical. In fact, he should do more. Steal more things! Steal more things!

(Grima: Shall!!! Right now!!)

32. Something guaranteed to make them smile/laugh

Scathing commentary on people he hates. This man is a gossip and a first-class professional Bitcher. He can bitch with the best of them. Hearing dirty things about people makes him so happy.

Also, I think he likes word play and clever jokes. Riddling games and the like, especially ones that are terribly, terribly clever are near-guaranteed to make him smile.

I don't know that he laughs all that much. I think he does that snort/exhale as a form of "laughing" but I don't think he does full on laughing. Save very rarely, and I think it's a shockingly warm sound for someone who is a walking glacier in many respects.

49. Favorite toy as a child

Oh gods. This is hands down the toughest question. If only becuase I have only ever envisioned Grima's childhood as fairly toyless. But he would have had toys - even in the bleakest versions he would have had toys.

I can see little Grima, as a four/five/six year old, being partial to a small, carved cow. He likes the gentle eyes and is familiar with cattle and they smell like home. I can see him also having a small wagon as a boy and he would go out to a small copse and pretend to be a runaway who has joined up with a band of robbers or highway men. In the wagon he'd pack food and water and such, also his bow and a small knife.

Practicing a quick get-away since he was eight.

----

Thank you both so much! <3 <3 <3 This got long but 0 regrets. Grima deserves it.

#grima wormtongue #lotr #lord of the rings #eomer #lotr ask #ask meme #ask game #anon #reply #Grima Thoughts

[aragornsrockcollection]

Considering Elrond, Cirdan and Gil-Galad refused Annatar entry into the Grey Havens (despite disguising himself as an emissary of the Valar) and that Galadriel also didn’t trust the “Lord of Gifts”, why wasn’t that very same mistrust from the high Elves applied to the Istari once they arrived in middle-earth, as well?

I think this was the primary reason Glorfindel was sent back when he was, which was alongside the blue wizards in at least one version. I can’t remember the source, but I remember reading he was a follower of Olorin in Valinor after being reembodied, and as a famous hero who presumably there were people from Gondolin still around to verify his identity. (Turgon’s great grandson is leading most of the remaining Noldor after all, and Galadriel probably crossed the ice with Glorfindel)

Thus he can verify the Istari’s story as actual emissaries.

Also one of the ways we see Galadriel, Elrond and Gandalf speaking is mind to mind (Osanwe or whatever), and that for sure has to come with a certain level of heightened empathy, and insight, so I could believe them clocking Sauron off pure rancid vibes.

There’s also the fact that Annatar came in a fair form offering power, which is somehow way more suspicious than coming as an old man and offering wisdom. When Frodo chooses to trust Aragorn he says something that I’m not going to look up because my energy level is subterranean, which amounts to “I feel like if you were trying to trick us you’d make an effort to not like a dirty bandit, because looking like a dirty bandit is not helpful in convincing anyone, but since you do look like shit, I believe you’re being genuine.”

Except he says it pretty.

But yeah, mainly Glorfindel paved that road.

#tolkien #the silmarillion #jirt #lotr #glorfindel #silm #sorry I haven’t been posting much my last cat got cancer and I’m just devastated

[thebreakfastgenie]

different anon and i'm just curious - why don't you like beejhawk? i mean not the ship in the show but just like in general?

Anon hope I understand your meaning. If I'm answering the wrong question, please feel free to send a follow-up! Also sorry for the delay, tumblr ate this and I had to retype it.

The main reason I don't like beejhawk is that I literally just don't see it. And while canon is far from the arbiter of everything, the fact is that it's not only non-canon, there's not even any teasing in canon like there is with Margaret. They are presented as very close friends whose friendship is especially intense because of the circumstances. That resonates with me. The way they behave is exactly how I behave with my closest friends. I really like that dynamic. The only reason I wasn't surprised to see people shipping them is that I've been around fandom spaces since I was 13 and I know the game. If I weren't online, I wouldn't expect people to ship them.

Shipping them is just way too much work. When I do ship non-canon pairings, they're usually ones that slot into canon fairly easily, like spirk. Watching with shipping goggles is exhausting! I don't want to be constantly reinterpreting canon to fit my ship, especially when that involves taking something to mean the opposite of what it says. I prefer to take the show at face value, which says BJ loves Peg and wants to be with her. Even if I were inclined to look for hidden meanings, MASH really isn't the kind of show that does that. MASH is not subtle. Even when it does have a double meaning, which is mostly reserved for the early seasons commenting on Vietnam, it's never in conflict with the surface-level meaning; it's still telling a complete story about Korea. So it just feels discordant to me to be doing that. Other people have told me they see the ship effortlessly and I'm not arguing with that, but I don't.

My general disinterest did sort of blossom into dislike because of fandom. It's just so dominant, it's not just the most popular ship, the entire fandom revolves around it, and the assumption is if you post about MASH on tumblr you ship it. And along with the ship comes a bunch of popular headcanons and characterization that I don't like or see. I don't see BJ as a liar, as evil, as insane, as unhinged, as gay, as repressed, etc. I don't see Hawkeye as a lovesick martyr pining after a married man. There is beejhawk that doesn't use that, but very little, and it's not worth finding for me. I do think punnihawk tends to avoid most of the characterization I dislike, which is why I can and do on occasion enjoy that. And when I did read beejhawk, it always felt out of character as soon as they kissed or confessed their love, even if I was enjoying it up to that point. The image of them growing old together is absurd to me. I'm not usually so frank about that, because I have friends who ship it, but I really can't imagine it. The insistence that there is no explanation besides romantic love is really off-putting, especially when I'm seeing that statement applied to things I literally do with my best friends.

Using that shipping lens does kind of ruin parts of the show for me, too. For example, the end of Where There's a Will There's a War, when Hawkeye is looking at the picture of Peg and Erin. To me it's about mortality and Hawkeye finally realizing what he can leave BJ when he's reminded of what's most important to BJ, what means the most to him. If it's some sort of tragic romantic moment I don't like it.

I have a thing for those comrades in arms type relationships that form under intense circumstances. I think it's fair to say they're something more or something different than the friendships most of us experience in our secure civilian lives, but I also think interpreting that extra closeness as necessarily inherently romantic is reductive. It takes something away. I don't like the Sam/Frodo ship for the same reason, but I do ship Legolas and Gimli, just for reference. Extremely close battlefield relationships happen in real life, and I'm sure some of those soldiers were and are in love, but I'm equally sure many of them were not and are not. And those bonds don't translate to civilian life exactly as they were, so in the case of BJ and Hawkeye I just don't see a path from the intensity they have going on in Korea to a relationship in the United States.

I'm not wild about wartime BJ/Hawkeye because I do see them as platonic and I do see BJ as straight, but I'm a bit more relaxed about that as long as it ends there. I think it undermines the ending of the show to put BJ and Hawkeye back together after the war. They can be in touch, they can see each other, but their lives have to be separate. And they do both have lives and familial obligations on opposite sides of the country. I have reservations about any MASH characters ending up permanently together, though I'm willing to suspend that in some cases for fanfiction. And I get that a lot of people like to put BJ and Hawkeye back together for self-indulgent fic purposes but that's not what I like to indulge in. The fun for me is staying true to the themes of the show as I understand them. And I'm not wild about them spending the rest of their lives as each others' lost Lenores either. They have lives outside each other.

From what I've seen, quite a few shippers view MASH as a love story. I don't. It's a war story. It's a tragedy, because it's a war story. Hawkeye and BJ's friendship is the central relationship from season 4 on, but it's not the only or even the main thing going on in the show. My interest is just elsewhere!

#mashposting #i probably forgot some stuff lol

[on-wednesdays-we-eat-the-rich]

A Very In-Depth Analysis Of That Scene From The LOTR Films, The One Just Before The Shelob Scenes, You Know The One

So. I've seen a lot of people say this scene is Bad and Shouldn't Be In The Film because it Wasn't In The Book. And I understand why. But (and this may be controversial) I think it's actually a pretty good scene. Let me explain why.

Obviously I like the Book Version (in which the scene just doesn't happen), and I wouldn't say one version is better than the other. I like both, but for now I'll be focusing on the Film Version.

In case it's not obvious which scene I'm talking about, it's the one in Return Of The King that comes just before the Shelob scenes, where Gollum does a bit of Good Old-Fashioned Trickery and basically causes Frodo and Sam to have an argument about bread, resulting in Frodo telling Sam to go home.

I can see why this scene can be annoying. Why? Because we, as viewers, know that Gollum is lying. We have been clearly shown that he's being a sneaky little shit, and as a result of that, we know that Frodo shouldn't trust him. But the thing is, Frodo doesn't know that. He does not have the information that the viewers have. He is also being affected by External Forces (and by that I mean the Ring).

I've been thinking for a while about how exactly the Ring causes him to make the mistakes he does, and even though it's not explicitly stated in the films or the book, I think I've found an explanation that, if it's not canon, is at least plausible.

So we all know that the Ring is supposed to make people do bad things. It seems to do that by manipulating them and making them think that what they're doing is a good idea. And how does that work?

We can see how that (most likely) works by looking at both Gandalf and Galadriel's reactions to being offered the Ring. Gandalf was insistent that he shouldn't have it because if he did, it would end up using his power to do bad things, even if he tried to use it for good. And we saw what would happen if Galadriel had it. Both of these characters are very old and very powerful, and morally speaking they're both very good people, but they make it clear that if they had the Ring, they would most likely hurt a lot of people.

The thing they seem to focus on when telling/showing how the Ring would affect them is power. As I said, they're both very powerful. And they use that power to help people, but if either of them had the Ring it would cause them to use that power to hurt people. The implication here is that the Ring uses the qualities people have to its advantage by sort of turning the good qualities into bad qualities, if that makes sense.

Now let's apply this to Frodo. He is, fundamentally, a good person. He treats other people with kindness and empathy. These are very good qualities to have, but the Ring still manages to use them for bad things. An example of this? Frodo's relationship with Gollum.

To the Ring, Frodo's ability to empathise with Gollum is basically just a really good opportunity for it to fuck with him. And the sad thing is, it works. Because Frodo probably doesn't see it coming. The Ring takes his kindness and empathy and makes sure it is directed at Gollum, so that it's harder for Frodo to see him as a bad person, therefore making it easier for Gollum to trick him. And that's just what Gollum does.

In The Scene I'm Talking About, he does the Bread Trick to make it harder for Frodo to trust Sam. And unfortunately, he succeeds in doing that, so it leads to their argument and separation. This is where people tend to get annoyed at this scene. Because to them, the people watching the film, it's obvious what's happening. They saw Gollum doing the Bread Trick, and are now seeing Frodo falling for it. And it makes sense as to why they find that irritating, but I think they're forgetting that even though the viewers know something, that doesn't mean the characters do.

Frodo is Quite Affected by the Ring at this point. He's also very sleep-deprived. Therefore, he's probably more vulnerable to the influence of External Forces. He is also lacking the information he needs to make the right decision. He doesn't know what's actually going on. He has been presented with a potential reason not to trust Sam, and although evidence to the contrary exists, he doesn't actually have it.

And, of course, things get worse when Sam offers to help by carrying the Ring and giving Frodo a break. It seems obvious that his intentions are perfectly good, but the thing is, it's probably the thing Frodo was really scared of hearing. Because it's eerily similar to what Boromir said to him in the first film. Y'know, before he got angry and attacked him. Frodo tells Sam to leave because he's scared that's going to happen again.

People say Frodo's actions in this scene are Out Of Character. And they're right. They are Out Of Character. That's the point.

This scene is supposed to show that he's being manipulated by both Gollum and the Ring. They both want him to fail, so naturally they are trying to get him to make decisions that will lead to his failure. And if they never got anywhere with that, it just wouldn't really be realistic. (I know the situation isn't meant to be realistic. I mean realistic based on the situation.) The Ring is supposed to affect people. Frodo isn't an exception to that.

The fact that the scene is out of character, and the fact that so many people are seeing that it's out of character, is a good thing, because it shows that he's not genuinely like that. He's not making bad decisions because he wants bad things to happen. He is misinformed and he's being lied to and he's making a mistake because he thinks it's the right decision. A couple of scenes later, when he realises it wasn't the right decision, he visibly regrets it.

Look at him! He's so sad! Because he's realised that he made a mistake and it's backfired.

The scene isn't meant to reflect badly on him, it's meant to show that the Ring is affecting him. And I think the filmmakers had the right idea when they included this scene. Was it done perfectly? Maybe not, but it gets the message across. Is it better than the book? Taste is subjective. I like them both, because both versions work.

#lord of the rings #lotr #another essay let's gooooo! #it's four in the goddamn morning what am i doing #i wrote this instead of sleeping so y'all better appreciate it #you have no idea how long it took me to find that picture #frodo baggins

[emilyryann]

Prudence: An overlooked virtue

Pictured above: A painting of a woman that embodies the idea of virtue, with a snake in one hand representing wisdom, and a mirror in the other representing clarity.

Prudence is one of the four cardinal virtues that Aquinas wrote about and I believe it is an often overlooked virtue. Prudence, as I would define it, is using common sense and having the wisdom to make a decision that is good for you and others, not just what brings a good feeling or happiness at that moment. To quote Aristotle, prudence is recta ratio agibilium or"right reason applied to practice." Having prudence requires one to have the wisdom to look at their own experiences and the experiences of others in order to make a reasonable and informed decision. Cultivating prudence is difficult because it requires wisdom, which is something that comes with age and experience. In order to grow in your own prudence you must seek the counsel of those wiser than you and those who have more experience. One can also cultivate prudence in their life by getting to know themselves better and reflecting on what is good for themself and what is not. That way when the time comes for decisions, you will know yourself and will be able to make a more informed decision. Anscombe writes in her article modern moral philosophy that "in fact rather generally it must be good for anyone to think 'Perhaps in some way I can't see, I may be on a bad path, perhaps I am hopelessly wrong in some essential way'" and I think the idea of self-reflection and logic being applied to every thought and action is what prudence is.

It is difficult to pick a role model for prudence because everyone is very flawed and often times people's flaws stem from a lack of prudence and an inability to use practical wisdom. I have chosen to look into the fictional realm in search of a model of prudence and a character that came to mind was Samwise Gamgee, the companion of the Lord of the Rings protagonist Frodo Baggins. There are many fictional characters that exercise prudence but I believe Samwise is a particularly good example because J.R.R. Tolkien writes his character to be a voice of reason throughout the novel. He understands what is best for his life and the lives of those around him. Despite some insecurity and irrationality from his companions, he fulfills his purpose. This may be seen as fortitude to some, but I see it as prudence because while he is completing his goals despite adversity, it is because he is making wise choices and using reason that he is able to complete his journey. Throughout their journey, Samwise is concerned with not only the struggles at present but the struggles to come and makes a calculated decision based upon that. This is a perfect example of prudence in my mind because it is logical thought and self-governance in a time of difficulty, and one who continues to make wise choices while having every reason not to is an exemplar of prudence.

As far as models of human flourishing, I think the virtue of prudence best fulfills the independent esteem need on Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Prudence is the ability to make sound choices for yourself and this allows for one to achieve success and well-being without depending on someone or something else to motivate you to make those smart choices. It is hard to fit prudence into just one category of human flourishing on any of the three models (Maslow, Seligman, and Galtung) because some degree of prudence is needed in almost every category. For example, in Seligman's PERMA model, you need good judgment to form positive relationships and to be able to find meaning. In Galtung's core needs model, you need prudence to make decisions to better your well-being and take care of yourself. I do think that prudence extends beyond physiological needs and survival though, it is a virtue that cultivates a higher level of well-being. You don't necessarily need prudence to have your physical needs met, you need some decision-making skills maybe, but not as a virtue. If one has prudence it allows them to make the difficult choices that allow them to grow into a better person. It is a clarity of mind that is needed as you develop self-actualization, freedom, and identity.

Pictured above: My placement of prudence in Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Galtung's table of basic human needs.

"Entering the forest" in terms of prudence is another difficult task. I think when we look for prudence throughout history we should look for the mundane people who made a difference not by surmounting great obstacles but by continuing to live and do the right thing for themselves and others. I think "entering the forest" for prudence requires one to enter not a war or major world event but at a person who listened to reason and made logical choices when faced with troubles. Prudence is a virtue that is not as often displayed in modern media, but it can be found throughout history in everyday people who do great things just by having practical wisdom when others do not.

Note: Underlined phrases are hyperlinked to web pages with more about that topic.

#prudence #seligman #maslow #cardinal virtues #galtung

[ao3feed-tolkien]

William the Pot Dealer

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/AULpmlC

by j9ac9k

---- “We’re not babysitting an undergraduate,” said Frodo definitively, “by which I mean I’m not babysitting - you can, if you want.” “We don’t have to babysit, just provide a y’know,” Merry waved his hands vaguely, “steadying influence.” “I’m just minuting it,” said Frodo dryly, “MB to provide steadying influence.” “FB to teach him what a plain clothes officer looks like,” added Merry. “That,” said Frodo, “is an important skill for any young man to have. But does he have to live here to learn it?” ----

College AU but also it’s 2002. Frodo and Merry are postgraduate students, sharing a flat in some medium sized university town in the north of England. Frodo is in the 4th year of a PhD in something like “comparative mediaeval European literature” with no plans to finish any time soon, Merry is in the first year of a PhD in electrical engineering.

My intention is that this will be part of a larger series, each reading like an episode in a sit-com. In this, the pilot episode, Merry's happy-go-lucky cousin moves into the flat (under less than ideal circumstances) but what trouble is he bringing with him?

Words: 9579, Chapters: 3/3, Language: English

Fandoms: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen

Characters: Frodo Baggins, Merry Brandybuck, Pippin Took, Gandalf | Mithrandir

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe, Comedy, jokes about arts students, jokes about engineering students, Rated T for:, mention of drug use, mild sexual references, Incorrect parliamentary procedure

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/AULpmlC

#IFTTT #ao3feed #fanfic #Tolkien #JRR Tolkien #Tolkien works #ao3 #fan fiction

[macil]

Paradigm Shifts

I've been coming back into old realizations. I remember these revelations from years ago that got shuffled into some dark corner or swept under the rug somehow. (edit: I don't think I was prepared to hold onto them until now.)

Once again, we ask: What is Ex Inanis?

I had thought Ex Inanis was a kind of philosophy -- a way to navigate this world of ours. I am realizing this is not quite right.

Ex Inanis is (primarily) an attempt to describe the local universe (Context). There is knowledge in Ex Inanis that is "outside scope" (metaphysical) which has been critical but improperly integrated. This knowledge also concerns "how to live" (philosophy) and I should have separated these concerns better. For readers, this is still muddled, but for me it is enough of a note for now.

Most of this work began out of a desire to create a holistic metaphysical system for a fictional universe. This led me down a deep, deep rabbit hole. As I tried to design an "ideal" metaphysical system, I had to answer question after question: How do we create eternity? How do we account for infinity? What is the role of death? How do we retain free will? What is the source of morality? And so on.

As I answered more of these questions, I seemed to create a contrast of two worlds. The ideal world and the actual world.

The aspects of Ex Inanis I developed to "help navigate" are misguided. They are founded in the belief that the local universe is a place I wish to reside and so I have been attempting to force a square peg into a round hole.

As of late, I have been feeling like "Ex Inanis" was not needed anymore. I have been attempting to discover the root of this feeling. I think it resides in the recognition that while Ex Inanis has been great at describing how this place functions (mostly still in private notes that trickle to this blog), there are "no acceptable solutions."

Or rather, it has (so far) failed to produce guidance on a desirable or meaningful life.

For most of my life, I attempted to leverage the knowledge of knowing "how the game worked." I dug deep inside, just looking for that for that first step that called to me.

Why did everything have so much resistance? This didn't seem normal for most people. I felt like I was chained to a wall. I dived into the idea that this was a willpower or discipline problem, yet these just created suffering and seemed to glorify endurance and pride.

I could never find a way to apply all this ancient wisdom. People want to achieve things, build things, have careers, accumulate material stuff, families, see the world … Why? Where is the freedom in any of that? I tried to make ANYTHING resonate.

If there was "freedom" in the journey, then why was there never a path that made sense? Even Frodo knew he had to get to Mordor.

I became guilty because it felt like I was letting down loved ones who just wanted to see me happy. I wanted to be happy, but how could I be happy by saying that I "wanted nothing"? They wouldn't understand that. I didn't understand that.

My dreams were never of mundane things or places. I tried to find an "ideal" mundane life to strive towards -- imagined owning islands, jets, whole empires -- the ideal mate -- making great discoveries -- or just some humble simple existence -- and it all seemed meaningless. My heart did not sing for it.

I concluded something was wrong with me, so I set out to find it and fix it. But all those explorations just kept leading back to the same place. My heart seemed to only allow me to do this work. It would NOT RELENT.

Ex Inanis understands how this "game" works quite well. The mistake I have made is not having the confidence in my heart. And this has lead to the understanding about "being."

You must have a complete, thorough, and total disconnection with the world to unlock the concept of being. It is such a subtle, invisible thing. Even as I write this, I feel my confidence is a little shaky. But it is growing.

It is OKAY if you do not feel disconnected from the world. That means your destiny lies elsewhere and you should follow it with zeal. If you don't need to ask questions, feel blessed! This post is for all of us who WANT TO GO HOME.

What is BEING?

Being is the concept of this blog -- "from nothing." It is needing no basis from which to "be." It is in the audience, but not on the stage. It is the "solution" to the problem.

BEING is about ACCEPTANCE, ALLOWANCE, TRUST, FAITH and SURRENDER. Accept your life/the world, trust your heart, allow your life to unfold, have faith in "being" (or what is "yet to be"), surrender to the unfolding (let it do so how it likes).

We could see "believing" as a trick -- BE -- LEAVE -- or "leaving being." If you have to "be something", you are missing the concept of BEING altogether.

I have realized that only the "ego" wants results & answers. If you are looking for results or answers, you are OUT OF BEING, with your face planted in the mud -- the "Earth." You have your head up the elephant's ass (see wise men and elephant).

I am suspecting that cohesion itself is only relevant within the Earth/Human Context. The game does everything in its power to make you feel "eternally linear." It molds our perceptions so that it seems like it marches forever in a "straight path." This is to make you keep "choosing time."

Cohesion is "done" as soon as the choice is made, because Cohesion is just breaking down "being" into a spectrum, instead of an "on switch." Anything less would be to be choosing extra steps.

In the "Prime" Context, the world would work like you'd expect -- it would not be a place where you would doubt, or need to come up with many "systems" and "reasons" to explain it. You would KNOW.

But that is not the case here, is it? We are obsessed with "reason." We are obsessed with existentialism.

My heart has always deeply loved the Adventures of Baron Munchausen and this scene in particular. The world has forgotten how to dream. I may as well be the Baron in this scene.

In this place, there seems to be a negativity bias. Why would a universe with a positive slant be any less viable? Can you imagine a more effortless life? Of course you can.

But so what if there was a positive bias -- "everything that can go right, does go right" -- you might be better off, but you still wouldn't be free. You'd just be playing the other half of the game until you ended up right back here -- wanting to understand freedom.

The nature of this place seems to confuse or deceive our true nature. It does not matter whether this was by design or accident. Further granularity is not needed, simply the acknowledgment of this recurring theme.

"BEING" is how this game is eradicated. Being "erases" the game by sitting in your true nature / throne by pouring "infinity/potential" into the "field" that produces the game. As more and more of the field is filled with this potential, it breaks down.

We come into this world with a "personality." Whether this personality is the accumulation of hundreds of lives, a parameter of the game, or something we ourselves designed, it doesn't matter. Remember: answering questions is a trap. The personality, like the world itself, is just a lie -- a distraction to make you create time.

This game has ONE PURPOSE AND ONE ALONE (whether it is purposeful or not) -- to teach you the concept of BEING. We don't need to answer why this is, because once again that is a detour. This game will rain temptation & absurdity down upon you.

The Nonsense will use every tool at its disposal to get you to "drag time." And YOU WILL. You will drag time until you become SO SICK of it that you start asking the questions you need to ask to learn "being." Until you are prepared to STAND IN YOUR TRUTH, how does one learn how to "be" like we are in a dream? How do we learn how to be "fearless"?

This game is a mockery of the Prime universe not for good or evil, but because that is just the nature of the game. We don't need an answer or a reason. The answers and reasons are INFINITE. As soon as we go looking for one, we've lost -- we're "out of being." We're losing the game.

If you become fixated or content with some affair of your life, you are "losing" because you have latched into the illusion. You are staring too deeply down the microscope. This game is designed to not let you lose and it will shake your life apart to get you to let go -- to look up. You will wonder what the hell happened. How often has life seemed good -- seemed to "settle down" -- for some random wrecking ball to come in?

This will happen so often that you will feel compelled to construct philosophies, religions and identities to JUSTIFY, GLORIFY and PRAISE this process as a normal state of affairs. You will do everything, including sabotaging yourself, rather than step into sovereignty, because this kind of sovereignty requires a complete abandonment of reason.

You would rather lead CRUSADES across human time & space attempting to establish a harmony or paradise that can NEVER BE rather than face these fears that prevent your being.

This is "by design."

This will go on until you are utterly exhausted of every Earth/Human temptation/feature. You will NO LONGER CARE about petty world concerns -- you will yearn only for FREEDOM from this cycle. You will prefer DEATH to continuing this cycle.

Do not expect anyone to understand this feeling -- especially those you love, because you will feel you want to "be better" for them. But "being better" assumes you weren't whole to begin with, which is just another broken concept that holds you back.

When you apprehend the nature of these things, you will feel like you are absolutely insane -- comprehending how all the rules work and having ZERO desire to participate. You will wonder WHAT IS WRONG with you? But you will find no answers, because there is nothing wrong with you. You are functionally perfectly.

There's something wrong with me, I better keep testing!

You will wonder WHAT IS WRONG with all these people? How can they spend their dream this way? But that is a trap. Those people exist to ENSARE YOUR MIND.

How can we re-organize ourselves to REMOVE ALL DOUBT?

This is why my heart never allowed me to have any deeper attachments. My heart was always giving me what I truly wanted.

You are breaching into that FEARLESS mind. The birth of the "DREAM WORLD."

Acting in any other manner -- stepping outside of that relentless neutrality -- especially a destructive manner thinking this is somehow righteous -- means you are "OUT OF BEING" again because you are lost in appearances. You are exploring/dragging time. You are lost in the ephemeral thinking it is real, meaning you have become fixated/dense again. The service to others (which is also a service to self) is what ensures this never happens.

As compassion & decency are fundamental to higher consciousness, it becomes natural -- emergent -- to assist others. Riding your own wave leads you to helping others ride theirs.

I will try to revisit some of these closing thoughts in the future as they are just now reaching a level of clarity within my paradigm. But for now, I need to end this post.

There is no sense is speculating about the future whilst the game is still running. To repeat the last post, there is nothing to do but "be" -- you ARE the mirror that unravels this riddle.

More posts to follow, of course, as I unpack this box I had put in storage.

#lightworker #esoteric #subjective idealism #service to others #freedom #home #being #existentialism #dreams #philosophy

[simptasia]

i love the idea that hobbit society doesn’t have a single issue with bilbo being gay. or frodo being gay and trans. like they’re not bigoted in that way at all. no, instead, what’s confounding to most hobbits is the idea that neither of them want to have children. like they can’t wrap their heads around that

#frodo: i'm gay #hobbit society: thats nice #frodo: i'm not interested in getting married and having children #hobbit society: ?????? [blue screens] #Different Cultural Norms #lotr headcanons #a hobbit not wanting babies is like a hobbit not wanting copious amounts of food #...something which also applies to frodo #he's an Odd One he is

[septembercfawkes]

In a lecture series on Youtube, #1 New York Times best-selling author Brandon Sanderson talks about the three P's of plot structure: Promise. Progress. Payoff.

Promises are particularly important in the beginning of the story, as they draw in the audience.

Progress keeps the audience invested, particularly through the middle of the story. If there is no sense of progress, then the reader feels as if the plot isn't going anywhere.

Payoff is what fulfills the promises of progress. It rewards the audience for sticking around, and if done properly, creates a feeling of satisfaction at the end of the story.

While all three can be tricky in their own right, many writers struggle to create a proper sense of progress, which can lead to saggy middles.

Luckily, Dramatica Theory breaks plot down into eight story points that essentially encapsulate progress.

If you apply them to your stories, your writing will always have progression through the middle.

1. Goal - Every story has a goal. It may be a goal of aspiration, such as becoming a top chef. Or it may be a goal of thwarting something, such as stopping a murderer. Whatever the case, a story's goal is what enables us to measure progress. If there is no goal, then what one does, doesn't really matter. We have no orientation or purpose, so there is no sense of moving forward or backward. The goal allows progress to happen.

2. Requirements - In order to achieve the goal, something is required. This can be broken down into two variations. In one, the characters must follow an order of steps, like following a set of directions. In the other, the characters must do or obtain things in any order, like a shopping list. The characters in Jumanji, for example, have the goal to restore the world to normal. The requirement is to win the game. But they must do this in a proper order--they can't skip turns.

3. Consequences - Consequences are what happen if a goal isn't achieved or hasn't yet been achieved. In some stories, the protagonist is trying to prevent the consequences, but in others, the protagonist is trying to stop the consequences that are already happening. Consequences might be thought of as overall stakes. In Ralph Breaks the Internet, if Ralph and Vanellope don't buy a new steering wheel for Sugar Rush, then its characters will be homeless.

4. Forewarnings - Forewarnings convey that the consequences are getting closer, becoming worse, or becoming permanent (depending on the story). If a dam is in danger of breaking, then a forwarning may be a crack that shoots out water. In Back to the Future, Marty's family slowly disappearing from a photograph works as a forewarning.

5. Dividends - Characters will likely receive small rewards for little successes along the journey to the goal. These are dividends. For example, on her journey to fight in the war in her father's place, Mulan is rewarded honor and a place in the military when she is able to retrieve an arrow from a wooden post that none of the men could get down.

6. Costs - Just as the journey may include dividends, it also entails costs. These have negative impacts on the protagonist's well-being. In order to win The Hunger Games, for example, one must be willing to kill others, which also includes psychological trauma. In order for Frodo to get to Mount Doom to destroy the Ring, he must suffer a loss of innocence. This is a cost.

7. Prerequisites - There are often certain essentials one must have, to pursue the goal at all. These are prerequisites. Prerequisites on their own don't bring the goal closer. This is why they aren't requirements. In Interstellar, a spaceship, equipment, and astronauts are needed to travel space to find a new home (goal). But simply having those things doesn't necessarily mean the characters are closer to discovering a liveable planet.

8. Preconditions - Preconditions do not directly relate to the goal. They are "non-essential constraints or costs placed on the characters in exchange for the help of someone who controls essential prerequisites." In Karate Kid, a prerequisite is that the protagonist must receive extra lessons from a master, but the master adds the precondition of doing chores. One does not technically need to do chores to do karate.

Some of these points are more direct--like requirements--while others are more indirect--like preconditions. The direct points will usually be more intense than the indirect. As you apply these elements to your stories, you'll create a sense of progress--especially through the middle, which will help make any story more satisfying.

#writing tips #writing tips and tricks #writing help #plotting #writing reference #writing a book #fanfic #writeblr #writer problems

[writingwithfolklore]

Character is Plot

Character is plot. I mean that as, your main character’s arc is (literally) the main plot. If you think about arcs as something to put over or alongside an existing plot, they probably aren’t working very well. Or at least, you don’t have as much time or space as you need to fully explore both a good plot and a good arc. They are one of the same, so I’d even say throw whatever idea you have about plot out the window. They’re called arcs now. Congrats.

This also means if your characters aren’t working, the whole thing is going to fall apart. So I’m going to relay what was taught to me about solid character creation, and finding your arc!

There’s five critical things that go into character building: Goal, Objective, Unconscious Need, Disrupting Characteristic, and a Formative Event. They all work very closely together, so once you get one going, the others typically fall into place. (oh, and they sound complicated, but I promise they’re not.)

Goal and Objective go hand in hand, I’m sure you’re telling me right now that actually they’re the same thing. You’re right, they kind of are. The reason I split them up is so I make sure I always get not only a journey for my character to go on, but a meaning behind it. Action and intention. So:

Objective: the actionable (your character can work at it) objective of the story. What your character is physically doing throughout the story. Frodo taking the ring to Mordor is his Objective, Rapunzel going to see the lanterns in Tangled. Mulan protecting her dad by taking his place. Essentially, objective is what we’ve thought of as plot.

Goal: the intention behind the objective. Why is your character doing this? This is usually the emotional core of the story, where we tuck away arc and characterization. Rapunzel wants to see the lanterns to finally get out and start her life. Mulan wants to prove she’s worthy. Your character wants to make someone proud, or hurt someone who’s hurt them, or feel loved. This is the emotion behind their objective and cannot on its own be turned into an arc. One cannot ‘prove themselves worthy’ out of a void, that’s the goal, you also need an objective, ‘prove themselves worthy through taking their father’s place in the war’.

If you have these, great job! You’ve got a really solid foundation for your arc. What your character wants, and why they want it. However, if we just follow an objective and goal, your characters are going to feel very lifeless—so we need some additional depth:

Unconscious need: This will probably be the one you get stuck on the most. Good thing is, both of these words are hints on what to do here, Unconscious meaning your character doesn’t realize it, couldn’t put it into words, and Definitely doesn’t say it out loud. Need, is the start of how to answer this blank space. Your character needs to realize something they haven’t been aware of to achieve their goal. Or they need to realize a flaw in their goal. For example, a woman wants to run for president (objective) to make her mother proud (goal), but she needs to realize all her mother wants is to spend more time with her, and by using all her time to campaign for president, she’s actually splitting them further apart. Mulan needs to internalize that she doesn't have to be bigger than life to make her parents proud of her and bring them honor.

Your need is character specific, which means no one else should need the same thing. If your need can apply to multiple people, you probably didn’t get specific enough. Everyone needs to be loved, everyone needs to feel cared for. However, not everyone closed themselves off from relationships and needs to open up to people if they want to foster a connection. See the difference?

This step will directly influence how you write your climax, because it leads to a choice your character makes. They can either realize their need and adhere to it (Fine, I’ll take my name out of the campaign for president/call my parents/apologize to the people I’ve hurt) or continue with their objective despite it. Typically, characters that ignore their need after they realize it are considered to have tragic arcs. Getting your character to realize their need is the end of their positive arc, it’s what we’ve been working towards all along.

So it’s important. Don’t skip, yes?

Disrupting Characteristic: this one is fun. This step is adding a flaw to your character, specifically, it’s the flaw that’s holding them back from meeting their need. If there was nothing holding them back, wouldn’t they be satisfied already? So that’s the easiest place to start with this one, what they need, and what could possibly be holding them back from it. If they need to see their father as he truly is, maybe their disrupting characteristic is that they’re optimistic to a fault. This characteristic could be a thing the character does (idolizes their father, acts fiercely independent, etc.) or a belief they have about themselves or the world (self conscious, believes humans are inherently cruel, etc.) It’s the epitome of their internal conflict, they need something, but some ingrained part of them is keeping them from it. Evil? Absolutely. But us writers tend to be.

The disrupting characteristic is the internal arc your character goes through, they are working and being challenged throughout the story to overcome this characteristic. So in another example, a romantic character may realize their parents led them to believe they were undesirable (unconscious need), and that it has no merit, so they gain a new confidence and overcome their self consciousness (disrupting characteristic) to ask their ideal partner out.

You see what I mean why I say all these steps work together. Need and disrupting characteristic and goal are so intertwined that it can be difficult sometimes to voice them apart from each other, but they also can’t carry each other. A solid need and disrupting characteristic isn’t going to do much if you don’t have a very convincing goal. Make sure you can put them into words (preferably write them down) and voice them all as separate things from each other, and how they work together. If you can do that, you’re set.

Last but not least is Formative Event: this is essentially your beginnings of backstory. The formative event Is the (usually) singular event in a character’s past that made them to be who they are today—importantly, that developed their need and disrupting characteristic. Your character showed up to school in their new dress and was bullied, a mom left, or a dog died. The reason they are the way that they are. From this, you can build up the rest of their backstory. Moana is chosen by the ocean, her parents try to keep her away from the ocean, she grows up unsure about the idea of being the next chief. If you’re struggling with backstory, start here, build around it.

(Oh, and you don’t necessarily have to mention the formative event in your story, in fact most screenplays don’t. As long as you know it, you’re set.)

Speaking of backstory, it’s our invisible sixth step (or… first, really) because all of these things you come to know about your character is developed out of backstory (which makes it a pretty good place to start). It makes sense, really, if these steps are who they are, they’ve become that way because of where they’ve come from. I tend to start with family when I’m trying to discover backstory, given family is a large part of who we are—then education, then home/community, friends, interests, etc. But there’s no real ‘perfect’ way to do it. Just write, let your mind wander, add and take away whatever you want, and meet your new character for the first time.

So how did all of that give you your plot? It’s through how they change! We’ve created someone who wants something, and needs something else, and unless we take them on a journey so they can figure it out, we’ll never have a story. So that journey to help them realize their need? That’s your plot.

If you’re struggling with how to help them change, consider putting your arc into a logline (something screenwriters do, but I find it really helpful even in novel writing). A logline is essentially your plot (character arc) summed up in a sentence or two. It goes like this: A but B so C

A: Disrupting characteristic

but

B: Conflict (goal/objective meets antagonist)

so

C: Changed character

Loglines are a tool for writing (at least in the way we’re using them), so make sure you have your full story—ending, character change, conflict, anything you’d find helpful to keep you on track.

I’ll often write a logline for each major character I have. Here’s an older one about a character I’ll call “Mark”:

A: Obsessive

B: His death has been predicted

C: Opens up to the others, recognizes he only has a little bit of time left, and should spend it with the people he loves (that’s also his need!)

Logline: Private Mark Jackson obsesses over an unproven myth that promises the escape of his small life, but when his untimely death is foretold and every day drives him closer to his fate, he opens up to his friends to be content in a slightly different life than he had imagined for himself.

Loglines are great because they have it all!

Private (additional characteristic) Mark Jackson obsesses (disrupting characteristic) over an unproven myth (objective) that promises the escape of his small life (goal), but when his untimely death is foretold and every day drives him closer to his fate (conflict), he opens up to his friends (need) to be content in a slightly different life than he had imagined for himself (change).

You see how the entire story is right there in that sentence? This is a great place to start before we move onto officially outlining next week, so save your work, we’ll come back to it!

To get a good handle on all this, I’d recommend watching your favourite movies or reading your favourite book and filling out as many steps as you can, then creating loglines for each major character. Disney movies especially stick to this structure (thus all the examples) and typically have very clear arcs, but anything works.

Good luck!

#writing #writers #writing tips #writing advice #writing inspiration #creative writing #writing community #books #film #filmmaking #screenwriting #creative #character creation #character development #original character #logline #character is plot

[nowandforalways]

Frodo has the lowest voice out of all the hobbits in the Lord of the Rings musical and it's very important to me: an accidental essay.

EDIT FROM 2023: This was written before the Watermill Theatre's production, and does not apply to their arrangements, where Frodo has the highest part more often than not. :)

Join me under the cut, won't you?

A bit of background if you're not a musical theater/opera person:

Generally speaking, in musical theater and opera, there are certain vocal ranges (that is, how high or low a voice sings) that are associated with certain character types or tropes. The rule is that the main character will have the highest voice, the villain has a low voice, and everyone else is scattered in-between. There are other character traits that can factor in as well - a character in a higher social class will have a higher voice than one of a lower social class, older characters have lower voices than younger characters, innocent, dreamy, ingenue-type characters will have higher voices (these also tend to be the main characters so it works out well for the convention) while their solid, steady friend(s) will have lower voices, etc. - these matter less than the rule of the main character, and even within themselves have sort of a hierarchy of which tropes have more weight in combination with others.

Some shows choose to play with these conventions - the villain in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute has the highest voice in the whole cast, the youngest character in She Loves Me (a teenage boy) sings lower than two of the adult male characters - these decisions to subvert audience expectations are usually to communicate something about the character, whether right from the start or as a twist later.

So how does this apply to the hobbits?

Well, just to get it out of the way, all of the hobbits are tenors (the highest voice type that is generally assigned to male characters in musical theater) - they are small, they are all less experienced in the wide world than the rest of the Fellowship, they are good guys, so they all get voices on the higher end of the scale.

According to a majority of the conventions (rule of main character, highest social class, 'ingenue' type, etc), Frodo should have the highest voice out of the hobbits. But what do we hear?

There are 3 main hobbit songs in the musical: The Road Goes On, The Cat And The Moon, & Now And For Always (I'm discounting The Cat And The Moon for this analysis because the hobbits sing in unison pretty much the whole time) and in each of them, Frodo is always on the lowest part.

In the stage version of The Road Goes On (it's not in the cast album version but it does happen) Sam & Frodo sing together on "...behind the moon and beyond the sun/step by step where the Road may run", and Frodo is singing lower than Sam. When Merry & Pippin join in and sing the same line as Sam & Frodo ("Just beyond the far horizon.."), Merry & Pippin are on the melody (the main tune of a song) and Sam & Frodo take a lower harmony underneath it. On the 1st chorus of Now And For Always, Sam & Frodo are both singing the melody, but both other times they sing the chorus (in the cast album version), Sam takes a higher harmony (a descant, if you wanna be technical) while Frodo stays on the melody below him.

So why does this matter?

Basically, by having Frodo on the lowest part at all times, the audience is reminded through musical shorthand of some very important facts about him, and by extension the other hobbits.

The lower part(s) in any multi-part harmony is often quieter or less conspicuous than the higher part(s), and this puts the solitary and thoughtful Frodo in relation to the other hobbits quite well. In The Road Goes On, Merry & Pippin sing the melody above Sam & Frodo's harmony - they are younger, they are louder, they are flashier, so to speak, so they sing the melody of the song in a range that will make it stand out. Sam & Frodo's lower part is there for musical support, essentially - this makes sense for Sam, whose role as a character revolves around supporting other characters, but is somewhat subversive for main character Frodo.

Now And For Always takes this weirdness even further, because now the melody is the lower part of the two-part harmony. So instead of the main-character Ringbearer singing the melody while being supported from underneath by his loyal and steadfast gardener, the assigned vocal parts are based more on Sam and Frodo's characters as individuals. Thus, we have the dreamy, poetical, and younger/ingenue-ish Sam soaring above with his harmony, while the older, still-main-character Frodo is carrying the melody below, somewhat less notice-grabbing, but sturdy and steady nonetheless (I could write an essay on Sam and Frodo's characters and how they relate to each other based on this one vocal part assignment alone, but I'll save it for another day).

So, in conclusion, Frodo having the lowest part:

Reminds us that he is the oldest out of all the hobbits (something that 19-year-old Elijah Wood in the Jackson movies makes very easy to forget).

Communicates to us his maturity, his strength, and his steadiness - words like that are usually applied to Sam, but Frodo is the one who pushes on while carrying the Ring, and they apply to him equally well.

Keeps him somewhat quieter, sometimes out of focus, not as obviously heroic or action-oriented, but still moving, still steady, still holding on, carrying what needs to be carried - his entire character is represented in his voice part.

And that is very important to me.

#thank you and heyday #lotr musical #frodo baggins #lotr music analysis #mary analyzes the lotr musical #(there i'll just make that the tag for this lil series) #i think i'll go all in on now and for always next #mwahahaha #for frodo

[vickyvicarious]

Hello! I love your posts about both of the Leverage series. What role does Breanna as a Maker fulfill in the team?

First off, sorry I took so long to answer this. I was holding off until I watched all the episodes because I wanted to see how much more was or wasn't done with 'Maker' Breanna.

And the short answer is? Not much.

But the long answer... well, to sum it up, that might change pretty soon in the next part of the season, and it's actually pretty character-based that we don't see it yet. Let me explain my reasoning.

Breanna tries to sell herself as a team member like this:

Breanna: "I'm not as good a hacker as you."

Hardison: "Damn straight."

Breanna: "But hacking's kinda old-school anyway, it's like any script kiddie can do that. I'm really better with, like, the social media part. Or like, drones, physical builds, you know, like... relevant skills."

So. First off, in this scene she's clearly trying to make herself sound valuable to the team. She doesn't want to just present herself as 'Hardison, but not as good.' She acknowledges that he's a better hacker but then tries to point out her own skills that could be useful, and the 'relevant' dig is just a joke because she's nervous and also he's her sibling so she's gotta.

No one really responds, so she asks them to give her a shot, to let her in because she found them and she's earned this. Hardison, though, is still stuck on her calling him a "script kiddie":

Hardison: "S- I'm s- scrip-script who? Who you calling script kiddie?" [to Eliot, standing behind Breanna] "Bruh, script kiddie? You hear this?"

Eliot: "Hey. Head chef." [pauses, tilts his head towards Breanna] "Chopping lettuce."

I bring this up because I think it's pretty relevant to what we see from Breanna. She literally just tried to present herself as different from Hardison, to emphasize her own skills in drones and social media manipulation. But the very first thing she hears is "head chef/chopping lettuce." Without the context of Eliot and Hardison's earlier conversation about Hardison being torn between his other work (that only he can do) and needing to let go and delegate some stuff, all she's hearing here is Eliot essentially calling her the less experienced cook. Same job really, just not as good at it.

We don't see much reaction on her face to this line. But throughout the rest of the season, a recurring aspect of her characterization is that she gets frustrated or disheartened when people shut her ideas down, and she tends to be less confident in herself/hesitant about offering ideas or surprised by getting praise.

She tries to prove herself quickly in the Rollin' on the River Job by going for the pearl despite being told not to, and then gets very upset and resentful when she's confined to the van for the rest of the con. Thing is, she was trying to prove herself by demonstrating Parker skills - skills which Breanna does not have at this point.

She's also compared negatively to Hardison in I think the same episode or maybe the next one? When she finds the shell corporation and is all proud of herself and then the team just kinda goes "even Harry coulda done that." They're not mean about it, but Breanna clearly isn't going as deep into the research as they like or are used to. Similarly, Eliot complains about having to apply for a job instead of just having it given to him and changes his backstory on the fly when Breanna really isn't ready. She doesn't have all the backups built like Hardison, she isn't able to change them as fast as he can. Again, there's a scene where he left her manuals and she kinda skimmed them but failed at something that would have been explained in the manual if she'd read it all.

She showed up wanting to be an addition to the team, to fill a different role from Hardison. But he took that as the impetus to leave and do his own thing, meaning Breanna now feel like she has to fill his role. And it's not going super well at first because that's not what she's good at. Not that she's bad by any means - but the Leverage team is very used to Hardison, and they aren't slowing down enough for her, or aren't always clearly explaining what they want from her.

Also, they're planning their cons with two things in mind for her: a) her safety, and b) her doing tech. Parker tries to teach her thieving skills onscreen, and just generally be a mentor. They put Breanna in the van early on and hesitate to let her out too much until they're more confident in her skills. This isn't helped by the whole pearl fiasco, obviously, but in general, they build plans around her being with someone else guiding her at first, or her being back at base doing Hardison's old job. Partly because they see that as safer but also because that's just, what they know to plan for.

Breanna is someone who feels bad about herself pretty easily, in my opinion. She gets discouraged. Eliot's early comment and Hardison leaving was enough to push her into the reckless pearl grab to try and impress the team with her skills. When that backfires, she gets a lot less bold about protesting a plan. Part of that comes from Harry's pep talk to her, as well. He encourages her to work as part of a team with the rest of the crew. And she basically takes that and throws herself into being what she thinks they want her to be.

Now, I'm not saying she never offers any ideas of her own. But it takes a while before she's very confident doing so, and it's not until the Card Game Job (which happens to be very emotionally significant for her personally) that she really tries to argue her point. (She repurposes her Halloween decorations to help the con the episode right before, but it's not quite the same situation.) And then she's still shut down. This is partially due to Parker's own hangups about being a mentor meaning she should always be the wiser one and not have to learn from her own student, and that does change over the course of the episode. But Breanna doesn't push super hard for Parker to use her notes at first, despite clearly wanting to. However, she does grow in confidence once her relevant knowledge starts being the key to figuring out the riddle. And at the end of the episode Parker makes a point of mentioning that Breanna's a good teacher.

The very next episode, she brings a drone to a job.

Now, sadly poor little Frodo the drone is killed basically instantly, but that timing seems pretty telling to me. The other incredibly important thing that happens that episode, is that Breanna opens up, at first to Eliot, and then to the rest of the team (minus Harry), about her past and her regrets and mistakes.

We never actually learn what those are, because the team tells her it doesn't actually matter to them. Eliot tells her directly that they don't need her to be Hardison. Parker goes a step further and says "All we need from you is to be exactly the person you are."

And I think that is the key. Breanna was trying really, really hard to show them that she's a worthwhile member of the team. She was trying to live up to their perceived expectations of her, trying to fill Hardison's shoes. And because they aren't familiar with any other skills of hers/don't often work with things like social media and drones, they don't make plans for those. Breanna needs to take the initiative to offer her own skills and ideas, because unlike Nate in the original show, Parker and Sophie don't have the same knowledge of everything Breanna is capable of. They put her in plans in ways they knew she'd be safe, and doing things they expected she could do. And it wasn't exactly wrong of them, but it didn't give her the opportunity to bring many of her own unique skills to the table.

Now, the Double-Edged Sword Job (where they tell her all this) is the second-to-last episode, and the finale is entirely focused on Sophie and the ghost of Nate. Breanna plays a relatively small role in that one, so we don't see instant payoff from this conversation. But I do believe that, now she's no longer carrying the yoke of 'being Hardison', we will see her feeling more confident in offering up her own skills. We will see them succeeded and her own ideas and techniques becoming something the rest of the team learns how to account for in planning cons.

The two things Breanna brags about at the beginning are social media and drones/physical builds. As of yet, we've seen her utilize social media once (to throw the rave in her first episode - when Hardison was still there), and a drone once (the episode after her knowledge was key to the con succeeding). The drone didn't work that time, but I hope to see more, and see more clever applications of whatever "social media manipulation" and "physical builds" even means, in the second half of the season.

(Granted, Hardison never fit fully into a box of just hacking in the first place, and I'm sure there will still be a lot of overlap with Breanna being the primary tech person, but I'm excited for more variety as well.)

#leverage #leverage redemption #leverage spoilers #breanna casey #leverage meta #my meta #anonymous #replies

[chaussetteblanche]

just like the wind (part iii)

PART THREE

summary: trying to save Frodo's life, you separate from the group

word count: 1'655

warnings: fight scene, frodo being sick

Ira, n.

Wrath, anger, rage, fury

(Translated from Latin)

You travelled non-stop until you were about a day from Rivendell. You were, not literally but very figuratively, dying. You probably looked just as bad as Frodo, if not worse.

The purple bags under your eyes were a reminder of all the nights you had spent walking instead of sleeping. You had been too selfless and had not taken enough food for both you and Frodo and had naturally given it all to him, which lead to the colour draining from your slightly hollowed cheeks. You had acquired even more bruises (and quite a nasty cut) from a very conveniently timed wild-boar attack.

You reach a river a promptly collapse after gently laying Frodo down. You splash some water onto your dirty face before helping Frodo drink out of your hands. You freeze when you hear a small crunch of leaves behind you.

Your sword is drawn in less than a second, pointing at the potential attacker's throat. Your eyes finally meet the face of- Arwen, your friend. You let out a deep breath of relief as your sword falls to the ground.

"My apologies, I thought you were another wild boar," you admit, picking your sword off the ground and placing it in its sheath.

She laughs softly before pulling you into a warm embrace. "Do not fret, my friend, no harm done! How have you been? It's been decades!"

"It has been!" you agree, returning the touch before pulling away, "But before we rejoice, I may need your help," you motion to Frodo with a bruised hand. "Can you do anything?"

Arwen hums and takes a step closer to the frail body of the Hobbit. She gracefully kneels next to him and starts chanting an unfamiliar song. She slowly shakes her head with a frown.

"This is beyond me. He needs my father," she declares, standing up.

"I'll come with you." you decide, getting Frodo off the ground and placing him on her horse.

"I am a faster rider," Arwen tries to reason, but you shake your head.

"Yes, I am more than aware of that," you say, wordlessly referring to the countless races you and her had had. "I am also aware of how difficult, and near impossible, to fight off the Wraiths while holding on to Frodo to assure he does not fall off a galloping horse," you argue.

She reluctantly nods her head. You had a point.

"Before we go, I must just fetch something," you mumble, more to yourself than her, but she seems to understand as she goes to check on Frodo. You take a few steps backwards and finally recognize the sweet scent of Athelas leaves. You had been applying some to Frodo's wounds for the last few days in a desperate attempt at keeping the poison from reaching his heart.

You quickly grab a few handfuls and shove them into your mouth. You walk back to where Frodo was sitting in front of Arwen on her horse. You hurriedly chew the leaves before spitting them out on your fingers. You lather the thick, sticky paste to Frodo's wound before heading back to your own horse.

For the majority of the journey, you do not see the Wraiths. You were actually starting to think that you may reach Rivendell without a surprise visit from the Riders, but were soon proved wrong.

The first screech you heard made your skin crawl and your mind race. Maybe you hadn't thought this through completely. Fighting off the Wraiths? All nine of them? At the same time? While on a horse? Galloping at full speed? This was with no doubt not your brightest moment, Strider definitely would have agreed. It was thoughtless and reckless and absolutely insane, but it had to work. The Ring Bearer's life depended on it.

No pressure.

Your sword violently meets the first Rider's blade when he came out of the woods from behind you. You keep one hand on the rain of the horse between your legs and slash at him again. You are pushed to the side by another one and almost lose your balance. You curse before pulling yourself back up and narrowly dodging a what-could-have-been-fatal jab at your middle. You aimlessly swing your sword around you, trying to keep them all at a distance. You perceive the river marking the entrance of Rivendell and a surge of hope flies through you. Maybe you could hold them off until then.

In that mere second of distraction, you forget to steer the brainless animal beneath you and pull the rains just seconds before he slams into a tree. You groan out in pain when you feel multiple branches tearing through your skin.

As you dodge another blow from a Wraith, you make a promise to yourself to never, ever help another Hobbit. If this was what it meant to help a Hobbit, you didn't want to anymore.

Arwen stops in the river and starts to chant. You don't stop to see the river all but destroy the Wraiths as grab Frodo off your friend's horse.

You pull him in front of you with a grunt and head for the castle.

You ignore the indignant cries of the guards as you gallop into the main Hall. You ungracefully clamber off your horse and throw your hands up in surrender at all the guards aiming their bows at you.

"The Ring Bearer!" you exclaim, "He's been stabbed by a Nazgûl blade!" You turn to Elrond, who had arrived to see what all the commotion was about. "He needs healing, My Lord!" You pull Frodo into your arms and hand him over to a guard. He runs off, followed closely by Elrond.

Another guard takes your horse away but before he can leave you, you ask him where you could find Gandalf. He tells you the wizard arrived a few days ago and is probably on the balcony.

You take in a deep breath and march over to said balcony. You find him sitting on a bench next to an old Hobbit, leisurely smoking his pipe.

You can feel the rage bubble up in you as you remember all of what you had to go through while he was relaxing here.

"Where have you been?" you demand, crossing your arms over your chest, a deep frown making its way to your face.

The two old men take in your appearance silently. Your hair had multiple pieces of unknown substances (noticeably mud and blood). Your usually clear face was now orned of fresh cuts (you had a tree and a horse to thank for those) and dried blood. Your clothes were full of mud and blood and could barely even be considered as such anymore, considering how much they had been ripped and abused. All in all, you looked you had been swallowed and spat back out by Sauron himself.

"I was delayed," the old wizard answered infuriatingly calmly.

"Delayed? You were delayed?" you spat, unbelieving.

"Well, yes, that is what I said," he answered, a small, daring smile on his lips.

"It was a rhetorical question!" you fume, almost pulling your hair out of frustration. "I have been thrown over a hill! Thrown! Over! A! Hill! Have you ever been thrown over a hill like a child's toy? Don't answer that! I don't think you have! It's not very pleasant, as one can assume! I rolled off the same hill! Like a barrel! I have not slept in a week! Seven days, Gandalf! Seven days! Do you know how many hours that is? No? Well, I do! That's 168 hours! And to top it all off, my skin was ripped apart by a tree! A tree! All because a darned horse couldn't walk straight! I had to fight off nine Wraiths! While on that same, stupid horse! While it was galloping! And you're sitting here smoking your bloody pipe without a care in the world telling me you were delayed! I can't believe you! And to top it all off! I risked my life for four total strangers because my friend followed your instructions! Instructions you were supposed to follow yourself, may I remind you!" you roar furiously.

Gandalf blows out a few smoke rings before answering you with the same calmness. "I asked Strider to bring the Hobbits to Rivendell. Not Ira,"

"I didn't have a choice! He would have died as well as the Hobbits if I hadn't gone!" you cry.

"Then it's a good thing you made the decision to follow your friend," he says. You let out a sound very close to a growl before leaving, done with his attitude.

Gandalf leans back into the bench and inhaled a puff of smoke. Bilbo chuckles.

"Well that was certainly something," he notes. Gandalf hums.

"She is something," he agrees.

"You said her name was Ira?" Bilbo questions curiously.

"That is what she is called, yes, but her name is actually Alice,"

"Oh, that's a rather sweet name," Bilbo compliments, "I'm not too sure it resonates well with her personality, though," he adds, exhaling some smoke into the air.

"She can be sweet when she wants to be," Gandalf assures. Bilbo hums.

"She is an elf, yes?"

"Half-elf, half-man," the wizard corrects.

"Oh, yes, that explains her temper, then," Bilbo murmurs.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I see elves as a rather calm and collected kin. Not as- as expressive as she seems to be," Bilbo chooses his words carefully, noting how Gandlad still seemed quite fond of her after what she had done.

"Yes, she's got quite a temper on her, that one. But I do not think that her being a full elf would change much... And she didn't earn the name 'Ira' for nothing, after all," the wizard reminds. Bilbo nods along to his words, peacefully exhaling the smoke into the faint wind.

#lord of the rings #lotr imagine #lotr #tolkien #legolas imagine #legolas x you #legolas one shot #legolas greenleaf #legolas x reader #legolas #justlikethewind

[class1akids]

Idk if this is unpopular but I think quirk singularity is a dumb plot device. What is the need for it in the story?

I feel the opposite - I think Quirk Singularity is absolutely necessary at this point to make the OFA-AFO plot at least somewhat interesting. 

1. Let’s recap what is quirk singularity?

Quirk singularity means that (1) with each generation powers become more complex and stronger (2) this means quirk will be more difficult to control, since the human body doesn't evolve quickly enough to keep up (3)  there will come a point when Quirks will become too overpowered and complicated, and no one will be able to control them anymore.

Basically, quirk singularity puts a limit on the power a single person can hold and poses an interesting and complex ultimate threat at the level of society that relies on ever-increasing powers to solve its problems. How can you solve the problem with more power if more power is the problem itself?

2. How the limits quirk singularity presented manifest in the story and why they are important?

Powers having a drawback is essential for good the story-telling. There is nothing more boring than characters who are so powerful that they can always do whatever they want, there is no real danger, real stakes and at most they are inconvenienced from using their power. It’s difficult to put such characters in suspenseful or dramatic scenarios where the audience really feel that they may lose or fail.

So in the BNHA universe, generally, all people have a single quirk. All these quirks are limited in some way or have some built-in drawbacks:

- Top-level quirk with versatility, but still with soft upper limits (there is always a plus ultra at a price), the holder’s personality flaws lead to self-sabotage (e.g. Bakugou, Endeavor)

- Top level quirk with versatility and no hard upper limit, but the holder can’t fully wield it unless they overcome underlying trauma linked to the power itself (e.g. Todoroki)

- Top power-level quirk with a single ultimate weakness (Hawks, Tokoyami, Aizawa) or the use of which starts a cooldown period (Kaminari) or the power is limited for stockpile resource (Eri, Momo)

- Mid-level powers that can do one thing really well (Kirishima, Iida, Mina) or more support nature powers that are versatile but do not have a lot of raw output attached to fragile users (Froppy, Jirou)

- low-level powers.

But the Top Good (OFA) and Top Evil (AFO) are not limited to a single power - they can acquire multiple powers. 

AFO’s power limitation is how much quirks his body can absorb. As evidenced by the existence of the nomu - multiple powers usually come at the price of losing one’s humanity. But luckily for AFO, he has Evil Scientist as sidekick, who can find a way around this problem by evil sciencing (modifying a body to create hosts for AFOs upgrades).

OFA is a power that started out weak and has been built through generations through self-sacrifice to reach the point where it could compete with AFO, but not quite eliminate it (All Might era). 

Without quirk singularity, this battle of evil and good would continue forever without stakes until AFO and OFA-users are chucking planets at each other, but now OFA has reached it’s full potential and the tipping point where it cannot be transferred anymore, creating a now-or-never situation to defeat AFO. 

This puts the protagonist under some pressure and creates some stakes. If he can’t win, everyone is doomed. (Unfortunately we already know that Deku will not fail because it’s stated in Chapter 1, so it’s not exactly the biggest suspense, but better than nothing)

3. How could quirk singularity apply better to OFA ?

So we saw with AFO, how quirk singularity is a real barrier to his continuous power-ups. Failed nomu, the damage to Tomura’s body, the mental problems caused by the quirk upgrades are all interesting limits. 

In contrast, OFA’s limits I think were not very well handled. Especially, because of who Deku is as a protagonist. 

His goal is to become like All Might - the hero who was the ultimate Deus ex Machina of the universe, so powerful that he inadvertedly created a terrrible system reliant on that incredible power of a single person. Deku is trying to follow in his footsteps.  

So where lies Deku’s conflict or challenge or limitation?

He’s morally perfect - already surpassing All Might in character from the start (as evidenced by his positive influence on people All Might failed, including All Might himself). He has no conflict as regards his goal - he’s not a reluctant chosen one - his goal is aligned with the power and legacy he gets. His power is a stronger version of All Might’s. So logically, he should be able to do everything alone that All Might could. 

So the limit doesn’t lie in Deku’s character, nor in the goal, nor in the power. So where is it? 

Because of quirk singularity, OFA has become more difficult to handle than it was at All Might’s time, which in the beginning gives Deku all kinds of limitaitons and broken bones, that he could only solve by lowering his power-output. He had to nerf himself to be able to continue. 

This is a good limitation, but unfortunately the story didn’t deliver so far on the consequences. While in the Muscular fight Deku permanently damages his arms, this damage didn’t really hold him back so far in a credible way. He wins against Overhaul with the biggest plot-device ever (Eri-backpack), and he manages to smash ShigarAFO endlessly without much visible harm. 

Also, because of “plot”, OFA underwent an evolution where it opened up the actual quirks of the previous users to Deku. This was in my view a very bad development, that made Deku less interesting. Suddenly, he had all these extra powers for free (so far neither Black Whip, nor Float came with any drawback whatsoever) that means:

- he can do everything better than other characters, making their niche powers redundant and sucking the oxygen out of their arcs (how could a Sero, Froppy or Uraraka fight look cool now that Deku can do all that but better and on a grander scale)? He has the most power, the most speed, long range, short range, snare, flight - basically the best of everything.

- he has a convenient tool for everything that gets him out of every situation and makes it so that the consequences he suffered because of OFA-singularity to his body don’t apply anymore - he could use Black Whip as a brace and continue smashing with broken arms, and even when his body was broken, he could help Todoroki with his tongue (unlike before in the Forest, when Bakugou was kidnapped).

These upgrades don’t come from any personal development or growth, but all come from OFA’s evolution. Deku also doesn’t struggle much with the extra powers (masters Black Whip in a week and Float instantenously - with some pre-training). 

Plus, in the latest chapters his quirklessness has been retconned into making him the perfect vessel, pretty much abandoning the physical consequences as a limit to OFA singularity. Whatever damage his body sustains is always repairable or can be overcome with new gizmos or using the extra quirks. 

So did multi-quirk OFA ruin the OFA plot irrevocably?

I think it did a lot of damage to Deku as a character (no growth, no conflict, no clear story-reason why he should be his own hero relying on others rather than still wanting to be an upgraded All Might-god), and to the story overall, by trivializing and making useless other characters who we as audience were invested in. Seeing everyone becoming nothing but fodder sucks big time in my view. 

But I think there could still be interesting things be done with OFA due to quirk singularity. As we’ve seen with Shigaraki and the nomu - multiple quirks come with a price to be paid not only physically, but also mentally. 

So far Deku is not paying any price for it though. All the extra quirks have come without drawbacks. Danger Sense has the potential to start wearing Deku down mentally though - due to sensing the crisis situations but not being able to be everywhere at once and wearing himself out.

Another thing I’d like to see is the pain and self-sacrifice of all the previous users taking a toll, as well as finally having some of these randomly chosen people to be not perfect. I think having multiple personalities living in Deku’s head shouldn’t look like a peaceful royal tea party. 

All these users gave up a lot to get Deku here, so I feel like there should be some pressure on him from inside to get the job done or at least some disagreement about Deku’s plan to make nice with Tomura instead of eliminating AFO (remember, it’s the last chance!). So I think maybe whatever chat he had with 2nd and 3rd provided some conflict between the wills of the previous users, resulting in conflicting wishes for Deku. 

All these could lead towards a mental exhaustion or breakdown that could be an interesting moment for Deku as a protagonist and really give him the clarity that repeating history is useless, a solo saviour is not the right answer, but changing the system and empowering everyone else is. 

Since the power-scaling of OFA is already off the charts, I think it would be good to make it hurt more. It should  feel like a terrible mental and physical burden (something like Frodo with the One Ring) to mirror Tomura being suffocated by AFO, so when the two powers destroy each other (which I really hope is the endgame), it will feel cathartic - that giving up and destroying that great power liberates Deku and saves his life so he can continue as a great hero (but scaled back towards the other in-universe top powers) who kept his humanity and his chance of a normal life full of meaningful bonds. 

I’m also wondering how the story will close the society-level quirk singularity plot. One option is that all quirks are somehow tied to AFO (it being the original source) so AFO’s destruction leads to the elimination or gradual decline of all quirks - which would be cohrerent with Deku being the “greatest” - he would hold the peak power at peak quirk level. 

Or it may be left unresolved, leaving the door open for a sequel where the ultimate “evil” is quirk singularity doomsday itself. 

#bnha meta #bnha endgame speculation #ofa #midoirya izuku #quirk singularity #afo #ofa plot

[lover-of-queens]

Farah Dowling is Alive Part 3

Or, as I like to call it, I think I’m running out of funny subtitles. 

If you haven’t yet, I recommend checking out Part 1 & Part 2

Under the cut, as usual!

Parts 1 and 2 of this analysis were focused on a deep dive into the first season to to look for clues and any evidence that suggests getting our lovely Eve Best back for season 2 of Fate. This part will be slightly different. While I’m honestly surprised at the seeming fandom consensus that Farah is alive, there are some counterarguments I’ve seen/heard that I’d like to address. These counterarguments may either be the ones most convincing to me that Farah isn’t coming back (and then I’ll give reasons why I think they’re wrong) or fears about Eve’s filming schedule (I’ll also try and offer some hope there). 

The first counterargument is that the writers may choose to not bring Farah back in order to play into the dead mentor trope. Also known as the Mentor Occupational Hazard trope. Pretty self explanatory, but the essential idea is that at some point the protagonists of the story have to learn how to make it on their own without that guiding figure; they have to grow up. Frodo has to make it without Gandalf, etc. You only have to google examples of this trope to see how much it shows up in the media we consume. And it could easily apply to Fate. Farah provided that mentoring role in the first season but now, without her, the girls have to figure out how to hold their own against the villains infiltrating their school. The end of season 1 is, essentially, setting this trope up. 

I just don’t think that Farah has to be dead for them to do it. While I don’t know where the writers are planning to take season 2, I would imagine even if we do get Farah back, she won’t play as big a role as she did in the first season. What this means is that likely the winx girls will still have to figure out a way to hold their own despite losing that mentor figure (hopefully, she’ll just be in hiding and not dead *cough cough* fate writers). 

Also, the thing with setting a show at a school is that the mentor role is somewhat inherent to the structure. And as I’ve mentioned in the previous two parts (extremely unlikely redemption arc pending) I just cannot see Rosalind holding onto that “mentor role” for more than a season (or two, depending on where season 2 ends & if there’s a renewal for a third). Seems to me like they’ll have to bring that “dead mentor” back to resume her rightful place. So, I think it’ll be more likely we’ll get a subversion of the dead mentor trope. 

The second argument & the argument that concerns me the most can be summed up in one character: Andreas. Now, I know what you’re thinking, what the hell does he have to do with this? It’s less to do with him and more to do with the fact that he came back from the dead (or allegedly dead, it’s complicated!). This concerns me because writers generally want the idea of death to be taken seriously on the show or whatever form of media they’re writing. Especially since Fate has taken a darker route, I’m not certain it wants viewers under the impression that anybody they kill off can just come back; it somewhat defeats the purpose. 

So will Fate writers want to bring Farah back despite knowing this? Maybe. 

The whole ‘Farah’s eyes glowed before she died’ plot is interesting because of precisely how vague it is, how many directions it can be taken in that could either lead to her coming back or not. It may be intentionally vague because they want us theorizing and talking about the season/show after it’s ended, it may be vague because they themselves are trying to figure out what direction to take. But let’s be clear, they are heavily pushing the theorizing angle. These are all taken from three separate posts on Fate’s IG page: 

In the last one, Hannah, Precious and Sadie all agree that Farah needs to be in season 2. As Sadie says “We can’t have a season 2 without her.” Precious points out how the death scene was “too easy”. Similar sentiments are echoed on Netflix’s Afterparty for Fate when the host asks: 

David Spade: “Do you think Professor Dowling . . . faked her own death and then she can come back on season two? . . . sometimes it’s such a big hit like this, then they say ‘People like that character, let’s try to find a way to come back’”. 

To which Abbey says: “It’s a magical show, anything can happen!” 

I mean one only needs to take a look at AO3 to see that over half of the stories on there feature Farah - but admittedly that is a more niche section of a fandom. Something broader would be looking at the IG comments where Farah’s name generally pops up in the top comments with a message hoping she’s going to be brought back. Also the Farah/Eve fandom on IG is LARGE and growing.

Additionally, I think the amount of Farah/Golden Trio bloopers we got is also a good sign (especially because Eve got single shots) that Netflix/Whoever is in charge sees her as a popular character. And I don’t think there would be a push for discussion of Farah theories just for it to end with her remaining dead. So even though Andreas has come back, I think Farah can too. The next person that dies on the show though . . . well . . . that’ll likely be more permanent. 

Now that we’ve established from a story and fandom perspective why Farah is likely coming back. Let’s talk about what most people are actually worried about. Eve’s filming schedule. I’m going to preface this argument with a mention that I’m not an industry professional or anything, so these are just my best guesses based on the facts available to us. 

House of the Dragon is due to start shooting in April (source). Since it’s the first season we don’t really have an idea of how long it’ll take to film, but since it is the GOT prequel, I would say its a fair assumption to base a rough production schedule around the earlier seasons of that show. The reason why I say earlier is that the later seasons did come with longer filming schedules, but GOT was the epitome of pop culture at that point. I don’t think House of the Dragon will be getting that treatment until it proves itself. 

Game of Thrones took roughly six months to film a season (source). If we’re assuming that HOTD will take a similar timeline then we’re probably looking at an April to September filming schedule, possibly longer because Covid is causing production delays everywhere. 

We don’t have news about when Fate is planning to start filming their second season. From Abbey’s IG, we know that the first season filmed from September to December 2019, so I think it’s also fair to assume that we’re probably looking at a similar schedule for season 2. Also, considering they got an additional two episodes then I’m guessing their filming time will increase. 

Put these two schedules together and there’s not that much overlap and even should HOTD take longer, or Fate start shooting earlier, there’s still should be enough time for Eve to film both - if she’s willing! Also, realistically, I don’t see any way that Farah’s screen time doesn’t drop in season 2 (for a variety of reasons) but that drop should hopefully mean that they can get Eve. 

Alright y’all, I think that’s the last part of this series, at least for now. It has been so so fun to theorize with all of you and to write almost four thousand words on this topic (that’s crazy!). I wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t fun for me, but at the same time, seeing everyone’s reactions to these posts really just makes my heart warm and it all worth it. So, thank you all for coming on this journey with me <3 

#farah dowling #fate the winx saga #this one is shorter thankfully <3

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

That ‘Gríma lives at the end of ROTK’ fic would be absolutely everything - I’ve always wanted something with that premise to exist, but of course, there’s hardly any Gríma content out there! If you ever end up writing one, I can’t wait to read it!

💜💜 One day! It might happen! I do have ideas for it.

Like, I have a very specific few scenes in my head and a vague plot where Grima ends up in Lake Town or maybe out near Rhun for a bit involved in Middle Earth's First Printing Press, about which he has many Hot Takes and Spicy Opinions.

But here he is anyway.

Travels back to the Shire regularly for Reasons. Namely, Frodo Gets It and other people don't, necessarily, understand what the ring/dark lord/evil wizard can do to a person's head and sense of self. Frodo understands Grima in a way I don't think anyone else would be able to, and to a certain degree, vice versa. Other than Sam, of course. He gets it, too. But from a different lens. Less broken. etc.

They're manifestly different people, Frodo and Grima. Frodo is stronger to a certain degree, originally came from a happier and more hopeful place, but is absolutely broken at the end. Grima, I think, started broken and just kept going in that direction yet, beneath it, evidently had a will to live and keep striving. Which is shown with the Saruman Murder Scene.

But I think they'd weirdly work as a sort of mutual healing thing. I wrote this in another post about Grima, but it applies regardless - people are wounded through relations to other people, and yet it is also through relationships that healing occurs. I feel like between them all - Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin and this fucking weirdo they picked up from Rohan, some balance could be found.

Nothing heals completely - Frodo would still go to the Undying Lands. He still wouldn't be able to make shift in the Shire. But I think some things would be different. Like, he wants so badly to see the good in people, to help people, and he has little opportunity to engage in that in a way that's successful. Fucking Gollum went and yeeted himself, the ring, and Frodo's finger into Mount Doom.

Yet, this presents an opportunity for some successful helping to occur. Which I think is something Frodo needs. Here is Grima, this broken shell of a man, and he is here because of Sauron, because of the despair and fear wrought by men who want to use it as a means to control and contort the world to their liking. And this is an opportunity to show that his journey to Mount Doom wasn't in vain, that those most directly, and irrevocably, impacted by the dark lord and his servants, can be helped and can change for the better. That some good can be found in them.

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Grima's this back/forth sort of person. Scared of Sauron/End of the World, doesn't want to die, doesn't want to fight - also, greedy, lustful, selfish, cowardly - little that is nice. And he wants. He is someone who so very clearly wants. He wants love, he wants to belong, he wants safety, recognition, some sense of control - and while he does all this wanting (and it's so much wanting) I can't help but wonder if, beneath it, he doesn't strictly believe he deserves to have everything it is that he wants. Or, if he isn't also a little scared of it. Of himself, even.

I think the journey back home, There and Back Again: Grima's Edition (he sends Frodo letters to include; it's a whole appendix and a half. 90% of it is gossip Grima's picked up while poking around in Lake Town and Bree and other places he goes to while Finding Himself for a few years), I think that journey would be meaningful and - provided Grima is able to be open to it, which he could learn to be - could lead to him being like "maybe I'm not a worm? Maybe I deserve to sleep in the bed and not on the floor and I'm not a half-breed cur and I'm allowed to eat from the table."

Sam does that Growth.Gif bit.

Eventually he does make it back to Rohan and goes through the whole pay-your-weregild journey there. But it's been quite a few years at this point, since the war, and so things are different. And he's different. And Eomer et al are different.

It'd be so weird! And there'd be so, so, so many emotions flying all over the place.

Gods, can't fucking wait.

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Ugh I'm so sorry, this became a mini-essay.

Guys, friends, my fellow witches, demons, intergalatic space people, dragons, wanderers - all of you - I just .. i just have a lot of thoughts and feelings about Grima. So many of them. 1100+ of them.

So I'll end it here and just say that this fic might happen. Have to finish my current LOTR rewrite - which does have a Grima Redemption Bit but you know, it's different than this. Very different.

I will say, Grima 100% goes into "must squirrel away food" mode whenever Gandalf is around because he associates White Wizards with Starvation & Murder (& possible cannibalism? because of the aforementioned starvation).

and someone had the fucking gall to say Grima would be the bad roommate between him and Saruman. i'm not still angry about that post that's really old.

Thank you so much for the ask and for the encouragement! It's true, we have precious little good Grima content out there. It's a damn shame. 💜💜

#Grima Wormtongue #LOTR #lord of the rings #ask #reply #anon #rohan #Frodo #this would end up being Griomer related because when Grima gets back to Rohan eventually I can't help but have him and Eomer go OH RIGHT #YOU'RE A THING HELLO HI around each other like the fucking nerds they are #Grima meta #sort of