One overlooked thing that really sets the Lord of the Rings films apart from other franchises is how earnest they are-
Most movies are so afraid of being “cheesy” that whenever they say something like “friendship is the most powerful force in the world” they quickly undercut it with a joke to show We Don’t Really Believe That! 😉 Even Disney films nowadays have the characters mock their own movie’s tropes (”if you start singing, I’m gonna throw up!”) It’s like winking at the camera: “See, audience? We know this is ridiculous! We’re in on the joke!”
But Lord of the Rings is just 12.5 hours of friendship and love being the most powerful forces in the world, played straight. Characters have conversations about how much their home and family and friends mean to them, how hope is eternal, how there is so much in the world that’s worth living for…. and the film doesn’t apologize for that. There’s no winking at the audience about How Cheesy and Silly All This Is; it’s just. Completely in earnest.
And when Lord of the Rings does “lean on the fourth wall” to talk about storytelling within the film, it’s never to make jokes about How Ridiculous These Storytelling Tropes are (the way most films do)…. but instead to talk about how valuable these stories can be. Like Sam’s Speech at the end of the Two Towers: the greatest stories are ones that give you something to believe in, give you hope, that help you see there are things in a bleak violent world that are worth living for
Earnestness is so much cooler than all the hip cynicism in the world. You go LOTR
it seems so strange to me that the only people it is socially acceptable to live with (once you reach a certain stage in life) are sexual partners? like why can’t i live with my best friend? why can’t i raise a child with them? why do i need to have sex with someone in order to live with them? why do we put certain relationships on a pedestal? why don’t we value non-sexual relationships enough? why do life partners always have to be sexual partners?
If you require kids to go to school by law, they shouldn’t have to pay for anything at all to be able to go there. They shouldn’t need to pay for food, books, a laptop, anything that the school gives you. If a child has to pay in any way to attend school, it’s a failure of our government to provide proper funding
This also includes transportation to and from school.
This should also include accessibility, aids and assistance for disabled children!
shit dude, here’s to all of the quiet victories. the things that other people take for granted but are so, so hard for you. the way your voice didn’t shake when you ordered your drink, the time you felt a swell of pride at something instead of shame, how you got out of bed after only the second time hitting snooze even though you couldn’t imagine anything more difficult than facing another fucking day. fucking cherish those. relish them, rejoice in them, do not let anyone pluck them from your grasp because they are yours and they are important.
“You’re only shipping those two characters for fun!!!” i mean… yes?
as opposed to doing the hip new thing of picking a ship for its supposed ideological purity, and then not contributing anything to the community except shitty discourse and a toxic atmosphere, I guess?
When people tell me, “Trust your gut! Follow your intuition!” Like, bitch, I have anxiety. My “gut” is usually telling me that everyone hates me and that I’m going to die. I can’t trust what that motherfucker tells me.
Fandoms years ago: your kink is not my kink and I’m personally squicked by some of the things in your fanfics so I’m not gonna read them, but I’m gonna be civil to you anyway
Fandoms now: I’ve read your 18+ fic even if I’m a minor and I ignored all your tags and trigger warnings. The fault is still yours. I don’t know you personally but your kinks are Bad so you are also Bad. Kill yourself and pee your pants.
I really like seeing your personal posts, even the whiny angsty ones, and particularly the strange boring ones. I like these little windows into your lives even if I’ve never seen pictures of you and all I really know is that we like a few of the same tv shows. Please continue to let me read your to do lists and your conversations with strange relatives.
it always amazes me when a man says he doesn’t know how to iron, wash his clothes, or cook. Like, don’t you feel embarrassed saying that…smfh
All the people in the comments saying “they were never taught how” can somehow learn how to speak dorthraki and watch YouTube to learn how to make a furry suit but can’t use the internet’s infinite resources to learn to wash their underwear got me fucked up
shealwaysreads 