I am having a Middle-earth crisis right now.
So I just saw BOTFA and this is basically my thought process right now.
"I want to write all the Middle-earth fic ever.
I wanna write Galadriel and Gandalf chillin' in Valinor together before she came to Middle-earth. Hanging out in the gardens, and going for walks down by the water, and stuff. I wanna write how sad they were to part, and I wanna ( Read more... )
"I want to write all the Middle-earth fic ever.
I wanna write Galadriel and Gandalf chillin' in Valinor together before she came to Middle-earth. Hanging out in the gardens, and going for walks down by the water, and stuff. I wanna write how sad they were to part, and I wanna ( Read more... )
THAT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL. Like, we knew he had smiled at Bilbo before, but the fact he smiled so affectionately and tenderly and openly at him just made me want to have so much more of that. Without the sickness, of course. It was almost like a fanfic come to life, really, since I've read so many of them where Thorin just continually smiles fondly at Bilbo like he was the most precious in the entire world, and THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT HE DID HERE IN THIS FILM. I WAS LIKE OMG. I can't wait for all those little moments to be giffed so many times.
(Also, I like how this was how "singularly obsessed" Thorin was with Bilbo, he saw Bilbo as his shining light, his beacon of hope, his good omen, and it really makes me think that perhaps had Bilbo had more time with Thorin, perhaps he could have talked some sense into him? I know he tried, but maybe Thorin would have listened had there been more lucid moments between them, like the acorn scene. Once Thorin realized it was an acorn, a simple thing, a homely thing, something that a Hobbit would be happy to treasure above all other things, he softened and looked at Bilbo like he was the only light in his entire world. Perhaps had there been more time Bilbo could have at least tried to get a hold of him, and interestingly he kind of did when Thorin was beginning to come out of the madness; he heard Bilbo's voice loud a clear along with his own, and just, yeah.)
Methinks the entire Bagginshield fandom needs a giant collective hug right now.
For real. What I love is that on Tumblr people in the fandom are just sharing in the pain, making headcanons, and it's kind of beautiful. Painful because we're all in this NO WHY MY HEART state, but still it's pretty awesome seeing the fandom come together like this. We need all the hugs and comfort we can get. And more fix-its, in any form possible.
As for wanting more - yeah. Agreed. Can't wait until the extended edition. Bweeee. ♥
Oh god, you know how there was so much Bagginshield in the DOS extended edition? Imagine what we might get with the BOTFA extended edition! :DDD
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ALL OF THIS. I just about had a meltdown in the theater. It really is like a fic come to life - I could barely believe what I was watching - and it really is absolutely gorgeous. So many fics have that moment; and the fact that we got to actually watch something similar is just amazing. I can't wait for it to be gif'd over and over again, too.
(Also, I like how this was how "singularly obsessed" Thorin was with Bilbo, he saw Bilbo as his shining light, his beacon of hope, his good omen, and it really makes me think that perhaps had Bilbo had more time with Thorin, perhaps he could have talked some sense into him? I know he tried, but maybe Thorin would have listened had there been more lucid moments between them, like the acorn scene. Once Thorin realized it was an acorn, a simple thing, a homely thing, something that a Hobbit would be happy to treasure above all other things, he softened and looked at Bilbo like he was the only light in his entire world. Perhaps had there been more time Bilbo could have at least tried to get a hold of him, and interestingly he kind of did when Thorin was beginning to come out of the madness; he heard Bilbo's voice loud a clear along with his own, and just, yeah.)
Thank you for putting all of that into words and I 1000000% concur. I think maybe he could have talked more sense into him, too, if he'd had more time; because 'looked at Bilbo like he was the only light in his entire world' really described it perfectly well. And Bilbo's role in pulling him out of his madness in that scene was fucking wonderful. God. These two, jfc. ♥
For real. What I love is that on Tumblr people in the fandom are just sharing in the pain, making headcanons, and it's kind of beautiful. Painful because we're all in this NO WHY MY HEART state, but still it's pretty awesome seeing the fandom come together like this. We need all the hugs and comfort we can get. And more fix-its, in any form possible.
ALL THE FIX-ITS EVER seriously it needs to happen. All the AUs in which everyone lives happily ever. And yes. It's amazing to watch the fandom come together. It's good to not be in this alone, at least. Ugh our poor fandom. <3
And honestly I haven't even seen the DoS extended edition yet (I wasn't all that thrilled with a lot of the second movie, unfortunately, so I never quite got around to getting the extended version), but I definitely do need to watch it (especially if it gives Thorin and Bilbo some more screen time together), so - I shall let ya know once I've seen all that lovely Bagginshield awesomeness. That's most excellent to know. And I very much look forward to the BOTFA extended edition, aye. Wheeeee. :D
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You definitely should! It is amazing, like the little moments between them just make it so worth it. Especially the little extended Laketown moment where it was the epitome of the Bagginshield for many of the fans, and it was reference in BOTFA and it made me so happy! But yeah for me, DOS is my absolute favorite film in this entire trilogy, so the extended edition was just a huge bonus.
Oh, and the appendices behind the scene stuff is also worth it, especially when we see some of the things that unfortunately didn't make it into either version. Like, there was a little segment where we see them getting out the barrels and apparently Bilbo wasn't amongst them and Thorin is calling out for him, like literally screaming and searching in desperation, and I'm gutted that it didn't make it to the final cut (even though when you watch it in the film you can see a few of the Company standing and it looks like they're calling out but without any audio, so idk what the decision it was that they cut it out entirely). But still, they did film it, Richard was playing it so beautifully, so imho it basically is canon.
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Ooooh, this is most excellent to know. I'm glad to hear there's lot of excellence in the extended scenes. Definitely gonna have to give it a watch. :)
Like, there was a little segment where we see them getting out the barrels and apparently Bilbo wasn't amongst them and Thorin is calling out for him, like literally screaming and searching in desperation, and I'm gutted that it didn't make it to the final cut (even though when you watch it in the film you can see a few of the Company standing and it looks like they're calling out but without any audio, so idk what the decision it was that they cut it out entirely). But still, they did film it, Richard was playing it so beautifully, so imho it basically is canon.
HOW THE HELL DID THAT NOT MAKE IT INTO THE THEATRICAL VERSION THAT'S BEAUTIFUL. OH MY GOD. I'm going to watch that over and over again dear good god. Thank you for bringing this to my attention you're freaking awesome. And yes. I will definitely be counting this as canon, right there with you. Wow. Gorgeous. ♥
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I swear, when we get those exclusive deluxe DVD boxsets or whatever of the entire Hobbit/LOTR trilogies, we need ALL THE SCENES they filmed, no matter if they're finished or not. BECAUSE THESE ARE ESSENTIAL, DAMMIT.
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WHY.
THAT IS SO VERY IMPORTANT. SO VERY RELEVANT HOLY CRAP.
Uggggh thank you for bringing all these wonderful behind-the-scenes Hobbit tidbits in my life. And, yeah - I so hope all this stuff is on the deluxe sets. THAT JUST SOUNDS SO WONDERFUL AND SO VERY IMPORTANT OH MY GOD. ♥
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Okay, so, basically - Dwarves were originally created by Aulë, one of the Valar (i.e. the Valar are demigods, basically); whereas Elves and Humans were created by Illuvatar, the main god in Tolkien's world, who created all the Valar. As far as I can tell, nobody knows for sure where Hobbits go when they die, but Elves and Humans are gathered to the Halls of Mandos (Mandos is basically the god of death) in Valinor (i.e. the Undying Lands), and they have two very different fates after that - Human spirits depart from the world utterly, it seems, whereas Elves just kind of... linger, in those halls (which is a pretty terrifying thought, really, though at least they'd all have each other for company); though they can eventually be reincarnated into physical bodies, as demonstrated by Glorfindel ♥ dying in Gondolin during the First Age, only to show up again in the Third Age in Rivendell - so. Hell yes for canon elf reincarnation.
Now. As for the Dwarves - there are two main schools of thought. One - what the Elves believe - is that Dwarves turn back into the earth and stone from which they were originally made. And the second (and the one that seems more legit to me, because it falls in line with the idea of basically everyone's spirits ending up in the Halls of Mandos, even if [as with Humans] it's only a temporary thing), as believed by the Dwarves themselves, is that when Dwarves die, Aulë gathers their spirits to a separate part of the Halls Of Mandos, where they wait with him until the 'Last Battle', after which they will be called upon to help rebuild the world (whatever that may mean... it sounds a little bit like a Ragnarök situation, maybe?); and that's for sure what Thorin believes, because, when he dies in the book, his words are, "I go now to the halls of waiting to sit beside my fathers, until the world is renewed." So. Two main ideas about what happens to Dwarves when they die; and I'm definitely going with the latter, because it makes most sense.
NOW AS FOR THE POTENTIAL REINCARNATION PART OF THINGS. I found a wicked interesting essay on what happens to Dwarves when they die (http://www.lotrplaza.com/archives/index.php?Archive=archive&TID=99317) and there is a particularly fascinating bit about Dwarven reincarnation. It's not an idea that's canonically published in LotR, or The Hobbit, or The Silmarillion; but. In one of his letters, when talking about the Seven Fathers (i.e. the very first dwarves that Aulë ever made) Tolkien wrote: "spirits of the Seven Fathers were from time to time reborn in their kindreds," which, wow, is a super important sentence, because it confirms dwarven reincarnation, oh my god; and, also, when specifically talking about the idea that, at times, it seemed that someone would be reborn in the line of Durin because they were so alike to one of their forefathers, that: "[the Durins] retained memory of their former lives as Kings, as real, and yet as naturally as incomplete, as if they had been consecutive years of life in one person."
... o_O
THAT'S IT I'M CALLING IT IT'S MY BAGGINSHIELD HEADCANON THAT THORIN HAS THE ABILITY TO REINCARNATE WITHIN THE BOUNDS OF TOLKIEN CANON THIS IS A FUCKING GLORIOUS BEAUTIFUL DAY.
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I have read some fics where there was some speculation about whether Thorin was a reincarnation of Durin the Deathless because of all he had achieved and his legacy and whatnot, but yeah. I would love more stories out there exploring this very thing, including the Bagginshield angle as well. In general, I really love how vast Middle-earth's mythos is, how Tolkien dedicated his entire life to creating this world and these characters so extensively and thoroughly.
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Ahahaa, wheeee, most excellent! I dunno if I'll ever actually write it (though I really do like the idea of it), but if I do, you'll be the first to know. :)
I have read some fics where there was some speculation about whether Thorin was a reincarnation of Durin the Deathless because of all he had achieved and his legacy and whatnot, but yeah.
Oooh, I like the sounds of this.
I would love more stories out there exploring this very thing, including the Bagginshield angle as well.
:D :D :D
As for the incredible world that Tolkien created - yeah. It's just phenomenal. So absolutely freaking phenomenal, oh my gosh. ♥
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