Alice_Allington

Watching Disney's Anastasia and I have never seen a character giving Han Solo vibes as Dimitri does.

Alice_Allington

My knowledge on this is based solely on memes (for both fandoms), but hear me out:
          
          Star Trek Vulcans are telepathic. So far so good, happens all the time.
          
          They can form telepathic bonds with loved ones (doesn't sound like Ósanwë, not at all).
          
          Said telepathic bond forms during rituals like marriage or close physical contact (so, marriage and making love is basically the same thing. Interesting...)
          
          They have pointed ears.
          
          Their emotions are so strong, that they have to bottle them up constantly or they'll become selfdestructive (looking at you, Feanor, Fingolfin, Turgon).
          
          What I'm trying to say: Vulcans are the space-equivalent of Tolkien's elves and noone can convince me otherwise.

Alice_Allington

Maedhros allways wants to do what is right, but - when it comes to it - doesn´t know how. He is hopeless.
          
          Maglor doesn´t know, how to handle grief and loss. He is lonely.
          
          Celegorm was allways very close to Ambarussa, but didn´t notice one of them was missing, when they burned the ships. He hates himself.
          
          Curufin allways wanted to create something beautiful, but everything he does is overshadowed by his father´s work. He is desperate.
          
          Caranthir never quite fit in and hoped, it would get better in Middle Earth. He is disappointed.
          
          Ambarussa lost half of his soul. He is empty.
          
          
          ...and I´m bored, as it seems. And I forgot, whether Amros or Amrod died first again.

Alice_Allington

Remember, how in LotR it is said, that Hobbits tend to phrase the most horrifying experiences in a light, careless tone - like, when Merry and Pippin talk about the torture, fear and starvation they endured when captired by the orcs, as one might talk about a weekend-trip?
          This makes you look at The Hobbit (there and back again, written by Bilbo Baggins) with it's comic, lighthearted style from a wildly different angle.

Alice_Allington

@ a_hazelnut  True. I just went through the Westron Hobbit Names part of the Apendixes (and pretty much had this kind of wtf, Tolkien-moment, but overall I adore it deeply). Did you watch that "Was Maedhros right"-video by GnG? It so interesting, that this is the amount of layers we are dealing with.
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a_hazelnut

@Alice_Allington ohh, such a good thought! I really love the web of in universe narrators amd translations that Tolkien did, it can male you look at the stories in such a different day. And it‘s also really valuable for the real world to keep background and culture of those who wrote a text in mind
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Alice_Allington

Just seen that Hagen-movie in theater and damned, this was NOT, what I expected. The visuals, the atmosphere, the characters... That was not a movie, it was a goddamned piece of art!
          I adore characters who are trying to do what is right in a world where they can only choose wrong. I adore characters who try do do what is right so desperately it does more harm than good.
          Throughout the film, I thought, there was some unreflected misogynie (men making decisions for women), but then the last scene came and all my doubt was blown to smithereens.
          That difference between Sigfried, who rejoiced in battle and Brunhild, who is battle. Sigfried´s whole character of a person who enjoys, even embraces insanity, knowing, they won´t escape it anyway. Brothers being brothers. Alfs (Alben??) not needing alot of special effects, affecting the characters´ psychology unseen, but allways present, making the line between magic and reality shift.  This movie was such a delicate interplay of countless factors that simply worked, creating a net that is - I can only repeat - a piece of art.

Alice_Allington

@ a_hazelnut  It was released a month ago (I think). But you'll definitely have to watch it.
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a_hazelnut

@Alice_Allington wow, why haven‘t I heard of this before
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Alice_Allington

Just found a very interesting analysis of the first chapter of the Hobbit, that claims, that we as a reader are introduced to that world alongside the protagonist and that Bilbo's struggle to adjust to that world reflects the struggle of a reader entering that secondary-belief state of mind.
          Which makes perfect sense, but I wonder, if this might be the case for LotR as well:
          We kind of know the world in which the story takes place and are ready to reenter it  (just as Frodo is familiar with Bilbo's stories and kind of wants to leave the shire himself), but we aren't quite prepeared for the serious style and the complexity of the story (similar to how it takes Frodo quite a while to adjust to the thought of not having a "there and back again").
          
          I have no idea, if this makes sense. But I like, to think about it.

Alice_Allington

@ a_hazelnut  It was from a Podcast I found on Spotify. The Tolkien Professor (I really enjoy, that he does analyses and not simply retellings). 
            Very true. It kind of feels like LotR was written for people who read Hobbit as kids and then grew up. Makes sense. And that whole "a story like Bilbo's adventure" doesn't make that much sense/doesn't feel so real.
            I totally agree. Most of those worldtravel-fantasy books seem to rely on that.
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a_hazelnut

@Alice_Allington i love these thoughts, yours as well as the one in the analysis. I also wonder sometimes how it feels like to enter Lotr without having read the Hobbit. Because, especially after rereading the beginning lately, I feel like it‘s very much written for readers of the Hobbit (which is obvious, because the readers of the Hobbit are the reason Tolkien wrote it, but whatever). But when you haven‘t read the Hobbit before you don’t habe this feeling if rediscovery, or coming home.
            Also on another note, I think mamy stories use that strategy of the reader being able to relate to a character discovering in a new world, because they at the same time have to get used to this world. It‘s not exactly like comparing the way to secundary belief to the Hobbit, but it‘s similar.
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