Tag: representation matters

Out of curiosity, do any of your characters have ADD or ADHD?

Yes, actually! Pippin has ADHD, and Bergil has ADD. 

They have a conversation in Chapter 32 about it, in which it is explictly stated. Here is a snippet of it!

“I hate waiting,” grumbled Bergil.

Pippin suddenly smiled. “I do too,” he said. “I get strange impulses now and then – I can’t stay put. The whole world calls to me, and even though a small voice in my head is telling me ‘what a terrible idea, can’t you see that is an awful idea?’ I simply have to investigate. My teachers used to despair of me ever focusing fully upon one thing.”

“Me too!” said Bergil, delightedly. “Although I tend to focus on the things I’m not meant to focus on…”

“There is a well in Moria that agrees with you,” Pippin said, and laughed a little under his breath.

“I don’t know what you meant by that, but adults are strange anyway,” Bergil said after a moment. “What are we waiting for? We could be down at the gate, looking at the soldiers from Pinnath Gelin by now. They have green cloaks, just like our rangers!”

100% DONE

dain-mothafocka:

arianaofimladris:

arafinwean:

tolkienfish:

I get that people are looking for more fantasy with more diversity. I AM SORRY but Middle Earth is another world with their own races and they have their own developed history with racial problems with Elves, Dwarves, Men, Hobbits, the Dunadiain, Wizards, and Orcs. The universe itself was creating in Tolkien’s back in 

1937. There were much different standards in that time. You wont find racial diverse Hobbits in most cases because Hobbits are their own race and have their own commings and goings. I’m sorry. It’s how Tolkien created it. Middle Earth itself is it’s whole other world that is not our own. 

If you want to know more about the races in middle earth READ THE SILMARILLION!  

You’re right, I’m 100% done too.

Done with you.

Because I dunno if you actually bothered to read The Silmarillion but like, NO WHERE IN THAT BOOK DOES IT DESCRIBE THE CHARACTERS SKIN COLOR. We could have elves of different races because gasp, there are different races of elves!!! Who is to say the Vanyar aren’t black after all.

And honestly there are brown hobbits (the harfoots) or did you fucking forgetting forget and where blinded by your racism. Fuck.

Also just because there were different standards in that time doesn’t mean that something wasn’t fucking racist jesus.

Dear God, I was really hoping to avoid this kind of discussion in my beloved fandom…

Vanyar, for what I know, were fair skinned and there were blondes among them. As for people, there were those who then betrayed Feanorians, and they were described as having darker skin.

But seriously – do we have to put real world’s racism into fictional world that had its own problems (AND, as it was pointed out, its own ways of racism)? What is wrong with accepting the book the way it is, even if it contains mostly sort of white characters? Or are you telling me that there is something wrong in feeling strong bond with character that has different skin color or different sex? Most of the characters I love are men, while I’m a woman, and I never felt it’s wrong. 

As for Middle-Earth itself, I can imagine people with darker skn, those from East. But I cannot imagine black elves. And it’s not me being racist, it’s mostly looking where Tolkien got his inspirations. His elves come from celtic and nordic folklor, and seriously, how many Celts 1550 or so years ago were black/eastern? Tolkien got his inspirations from certain cultures, so it is quite understandable that the readers subconsciously (and I think correctly) see similarities between those two. If you read about Vikings, or when you read northen mythology, do you expect the gods to be black?

So much for not finidng hate in my fandom.

Look guys, I found another one.

*breathes in and out very slowly*

Right. 

I have already covered my feelings on this turd of an argument. Enjoy.

(

(and it bears adding, too; Please realise that, by not recognising that you yourself are blindly headcanoning the whiteness of all characters, you are perpetuating the invisibility of white privilege. White is also a race. You have a race. You are also a member of a race. Congrats, race is not something that “does not apply” to you bc you are white. 

Yes, as much as I love him and his work, Tolkien failed people of colour *70 years ago*. Well done pointing that out. Do you actually intend to perpetuate that failure? 

You are ascribing a race and a corresponding skin colour to fictional people. Why can’t others do likewise? Why can’t you share?

The fact that you cannot imagine a black elf does not make you ‘correct’. It only displays the limitations of your imagination.)

Hi Dets! I’m having a lot of Sansûkh feelings today and I wanted to thank you for this fic. It’s gorgeous and marvelous and the representation means so much to me, I was so happy when I found out Merilin <3 And I was wondering.. what would you think about a lithsexual/lithromantic character?

*hugs you* Thank you, Nonnie. I am thrilled you enjoy the story.

I have very long-term plans for Merilin! We will be seeing much, much more of her. 

Hmmm, I haven’t currently got any plans for an akio- or  lithsexual/lithromantic character – but dangit, let’s fix that! 

Okay, making stuff up on the go again, but here’s a possibility: I actually think that Frerin is most likely lithromantic & lithsexual. He is very content to admire from afar, but has no real desire to act upon his attraction. 

And now that I come to think of it, I think Laindawar is most likely lithsexual as well. Huzzah for more ace-spectrum characters! Thank you for pointing this out to me, Nonnie – it’s wonderful to add more depth to these people and this world.

divascreech:

“not every show needs queer characters”

well not every show needs 25 straight white carbon copies of the same characters from every other show ever aired in the history of television yet here we are with ten thousand of you on tv and one of me if I’m lucky

how dare you eat a feast, throw me a bone while I’m starving, and then tell me to be happy that I’m finally equal to you you spoiled entitled brat

Why Is There Not More of This? Part 3

poplitealqueen:

poplitealqueen:

daincrediblegg:

dain-mothafocka:

poplitealqueen:

FEMALE CHILD CHARACTERS.

Why aren’t there more adorable little Dwarfling girls? Or Dwarflings that identify as girls? (because dain-mothafocka has written splendiferous Dwarf headcanons about gender and I just…

ARE YOU GONNA BE ON EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE tolkienfish ?

I dunno how exactly Smaug being the “last dragon” (what about the Withered Hearth?) has to do with this conversation at all, but oooookay.

And ‘super AU’?  For wanting Hobbit girls that daydream about adventure? About Hobbits in general thinking of leaving the Shire?

So that makes the Hobbit and LotR super AUs, then? Huh.

This just in: Tooks are not Hobbits. 

*raises eyebrows* Huh. 

okay, I dislike getting into these sorts of arguments. But I would like to ask this person politely to stop pestering people for wanting to see themselves in Middle Earth, rather than yet another Standard Grim White Male Protagonist (tm – with optional manpain!!). The made-up fictional people in the made-up fictional world can be any colour. Yes, the dear professor likely didn’t intend for that, but unless you can ask him directly, please stop.

Yep, the vast vast majority of Hobbits stay at home, and frown on going out of the Shire. Guess what? It doesn’t stop their kids from listening avidly to Bilbo’s stories. Imagination is not limited by location, and that applies to little girl Hobbits too. Or perhaps they are not permitted to be imaginative and adventurous, bc reasons canon reasons blah?

(also, apparently the ‘remarkable’ Belladonna Took and her referenced but not detailed adventures are outliers and should not have been counted.)

Aaaaand you may wish to investigate this. And this. Smaug was not intended to be the last dragon. Only the last dragon with ‘fire hot enough’ (whatever that means). Finding both of those took ten seconds of googling, btw.

I have to mention as well – the Professor contradicted his own creation all the freakin’ time. Anyone who clings to the sword of ‘canon’ in Middle-Earth is gonna eventually come across a discrepancy. Beliiiiiieve me. (just look up Celeborn for a good example.)

Another person’s interpretation takes nothing from you. It is important to them. Don’t shoot it down. It appears uninformed at best; bigoted, racist and sexist at worst.

In the meanwhile, enjoy these canon descriptions of Aragorn (all from the chapter “From the Sign of the Prancing Pony”):

In those days no other Men had settled dwellings so far west, or within a hundred leagues of the Shire. But in the wild lands beyond Bree there were mysterious wanderers. The Bree-folk called them Rangers, and knew nothing of their origin. They were taller and darker than the Men of Bree and were believed to have strange powers of sight and hearing, and to understand the languages of beasts and birds.

(Gandalf’s letter delivered by Butterbur)

Dear Frodo,
Bad news has reached me here. I must go off at once. You had better leave Bag End soon, and get out of the Shire before the end of July at latest. I will return as soon as I can; and I will follow you, if I find that you are gone. Leave a message for me here, if you pass through Bree. You can trust the landlord (Butterbur). You may meet a friend of mine on the Road: a Man, lean, dark, tall, by some called Strider. He knows our business and will help you. Make for Rivendell. There I hope we may meet again. If I do not come, Elrond will advise you.
Yours in haste
GANDALF.

Frodo lay down again, but for a long while he could still see the white flashes, and against them the tall dark figure of Strider, standing silent and watchful. At last he passed into uneasy sleep. 

Why Is There Not More of This? Part 3

Here’s a thing

gundam-tanakas-yaoi-hands:

sweetheartpleasestay:

nicknamenyquil:

•If two bi girls date each other they are not lesbians. They’re bi.
•If two bi boys date each other they are not gay. They’re bi.
•If a bi boy dates a bi girl, they are not straight. They’re both bi.
• You can be trans and be bi.
• If you are single and not wanting to mingle, but you are bi, then you’re still fucking bi.

you can be attracted to more than cis men and cis women and be bi

you can be monogamous and be bi

you can be polyamorous and be bi

you can have a preference for certain genders and be bi

also: 

you can have attractions outside the gender binary and still be bi, not just ‘’liking both boys and girls’’.

May I ask you a question? I love your dwarrowdams, they’re all awesome! But what do you think of the idea that at least some of the company were female? Bilbo was a hobbit, after all, and dwarrowdams look different than female hobbits would. And, although the story is in third person, it is vaguely from Bilbo’s perspective. So, do you think that some of the company could be female, masquerading as male while on the road for various reasons, and Bilbo just didn’t realize?

Hi Nonnie!

I do enjoy that idea. I haven’t used it, obviously, but it is one that I like a lot. I know that Tolkien said something along the lines of keeping the female Dwarves in the Mountains etc, but my own prejudices and inclinations don’t much line up with that! It seems oppressive and isolating and controlling to me. I dislike the total invisibility of anything other than the male Dwarves, so I made my horde of Dwarrowdams. But I do also enjoy stories where one or more of the Company is female, be they cis, trans or other.

I particularly like the idea that perhaps Dwarves have a different concept of gender and gender identity than the other races. dain-mothafocka​ has some truly awesome ideas on Orocarni dwarf gender. Tolkien DOES say that female Dwarves are basically indistinguishable from the boys, too. So I think – why not? Bilbo wouldn’t have been able to tell just by looking at them, their culture is not his (and tbh, unless they say so explicitly to him, it’s not his business).

(I see Ori or Kili written as female most often: myself, I would LOVE to see more AUs where it is Gloin and/or Bifur. Mama Bear and badass berserker vegetarian, yes please!)

umbralillium:

collegehumor:

Are you angry about today’s Iceman twist?

Marvel Revealed Iceman is Gay and It Makes Complete Sense

I’m angry about it because of HOW Brian Michael Bendis went about writing it. Look at those pages. NOWHERE does Bobby himself reveal his own sexuality. Jean is the one telling him. When he denies it, Jean tells him “I’m psychic, I can read your thoughts.” Just because you can read someone’s thoughts, Jean Grey, doesn’t mean you should read them or that you should talk about their inner thoughts without their permission. They’re inner thoughts for a god damn reason.

Don’t even get me started on how biphobic that last panel is. Not everyone is bi.

You can read a better analysis on bisexual-books‘ post here

ah that is good to know – I only reblogged that knowing the general fandom consensus (of ten years ago, blahhh). Thank you for letting me know. That is indeed shitty.