What do you expect from a story when it comes specifically to its non-binary characters? (70% shitpost, 30% serious)

[YmaOHyd]

I wish this was canon. "Merry is the top and Pippin is the bottom" is the sort of individual character traits that could help me finally tell the difference between the two of them after forty years of rereading the books.

Merry is the smart one and Pippin is the impulsive one who makes everything worse.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

If her gender identity is a major part of the plot, maybe? I have no idea what tags to suggest though

It sounds like her gender is a major plot point, but it's more a subversion to keep her alive than it is self realization. I mean, she's known she's a girl her entire life, which sounds trans, but it's not really in her case. She might face some of the same issues, especially social, but I'd lean more toward fantasy that transgender on the category and tagging.

 

[TheRedChamber]

Merry is the smart one and Pippin is the impulsive one who makes everything worse.

Mindblowing if true. Am I going to have to reread it again to confirm this?

 

[YmaOHyd]

Mindblowing if true. Am I going to have to reread it again to confirm this?

Yes, because every time you're not currently rereading Lord of the Rings you should be.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Merry is the smart one and Pippin is the impulsive one who makes everything worse.

Merry is ever so slightly taller than Pippin, too.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Mindblowing if true. Am I going to have to reread it again to confirm this?

It is... I just watched the entire extended trilogy in one sitting. Then I slept for two days.

Read it again anyway. LOL

 

[PennyThompson]

Can't argue. If you don't explain yourself how are we supposed to split a hair 8 days from Sunday? For someone who wanted to argue I can't believe I need to manslpain this

 

[SimonDoom]

https://imgur.com/a/jPKrG1m

This skit, for me, is a personal empowerment video.

 

[Katie_Mae]

Okay, somewhat serious question.

I've been trying to figure out how to classify this character (Mostly I've been defaulting to, don't even bother trying, she is what she is), but it might be important for tagging later? I dunno.

Anyways, my main orc in the series that I'm writing is biologically a girl, she identifies as a girl, but she looked enough like a boy at birth that combined with everyone knowing that all orcs are boys, she was raised as a boy.

I'm pretty sure that's just a cis female with a weird upbringing, but what do you guys think?

I knew a real life (not orc) woman who was assigned male at birth in error and raised as a boy. She was a woman, used she/ her pronouns, wasn't trans. But, what happened to her did have a huge impact on her life. I second the recommendation to Google (now you know the words) because I have seen people sharing their stories online about this.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

View attachment 2593093

Hate to call you out, @TarnishedPenny, but you did explain. You wanted to start arguments, not engage in them; instigate, but not participate. It's kind of evil if you think about it, deliciously evil....

 

[SimonDoom]

I like Penny's idea of signposting at the beginning of the thread the relative amount of "shit" that is intended by the post. Maybe we could use the emoji for that. It might go a long way toward reducing misunderstanding and rancor.

 

[PennyThompson]

I like Penny's idea of signposting at the beginning of the thread the relative amount of "shit" that is intended by the post. Maybe we could use the emoji for that. It might go a long way toward reducing misunderstanding and rancor.

 

[YmaOHyd]

View attachment 2593093

 

[SimonDoom]

At least you didn't reply with an "old prospector" emoji.

 

[Statius]

It is... I just watched the entire extended trilogy in one sitting. Then I slept for two days.

Read it again anyway. LOL

I did that once. It is exhausting

 

[Bamagan]

Non-shit answer: A personality that lands somewhere between stereotype and caricature.

Shit answer: I demand full hexadecimal assignments for all possible combinations of physical, mental, and social gender-related attributes. "Hi, I'm {name}, and I'm a 7B6 looking for A57s; strictly A, but happy to consider plus or minus 2 on the others."

 

[ericalauren]

When I see that a character is nonbinary, I jump for joy. Also, a part of me expects better writing than a story about an allocishet couple. Maybe more emotional depth, too.

 

[anthrodisiac]

I mostly expect words.

 

[onehitwanda]

It is... I just watched the entire extended trilogy in one sitting. Then I slept for two days.

Read it again anyway. LOL

One of the best things about the movies is Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn, but the very best thing about the movies is Miranda Otto as Éowyn.

I'm still bitter about Glorfindel and how they did the dirty to Faramir , and I'm just profoundly thankful that Peter Jackson shat the bed after the trilogy rather than before. They shot footage of Arwen fighting in the battle at Helms Deep. Arwen. The elves being there was bad enough, but fucking Arwen!

*hyperventilates into her brown paper bag*

 

[AlinaX]

One of the best things about the movies is Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn, but the very best thing about the movies is Miranda Otto as Éowyn.

I'm still bitter about Glorfindel and how they did the dirty to Faramir , and I'm just profoundly thankful that Peter Jackson shat the bed after the trilogy rather than before. They shot footage of Arwen fighting in the battle at Helms Deep. Arwen. The elves being there was bad enough, but fucking Arwen!

*hyperventilates into her brown paper bag*

I didn't mind about Arwen taking over Glorfindel's role, but the elves at Helm's Deep made no sense whatsoever.

 

[onehitwanda]

I didn't mind about Arwen taking over Glorfindel's role, but the elves at Helm's Deep made no sense whatsoever.

I can see the dramatic need to explain it for a modern audience. Theoden believes Rohan stands alone, then, magically, the Elves come and fight beside him to show that Rohan has allies, so Theoden in turn rides to certain death at Minas Tirith. For a modern uneducated audience, I can see the need for this.

If, however, you're up to speed on the social power of oaths in Anglo-Saxon times, well, you're right. The Elves at Helms Deep makes no sense - Eorl the Young swore an oath to Cirion, and oaths to ones allies were seen as sacrosanct. Rohan was always going to answer Gondor's call for aid, the question was just how many Eoreds they'd be able to send while also dealing with Isengard. Holding Helm's deep for three days allows Gandalf to find Erkenbrand, and their arrival seals the fate of Isengard's army, which then freees Theoden to ride in force to Minas Tirith.

But instead we get Elves, and Eomer (okay, Karl Urban gets a pass because he was perfect in this role), and all the whizzy-bangy cgi goodies.

shit. Who put that soapbox there.

 

[onehitwanda]

View attachment 2593130

Don't. I know they needed comic relief, but honestly, they had Merry and Pippin and could have just made Gimli awesome.

I'm a purist about LotR. It's one of the first fantasy books I read. It's... important... to me.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Don't. I know they needed comic relief, but honestly, they had Merry and Pippin and could have just made Gimli awesome.

I'm a purist about LotR. It's one of the first fantasy books I read. It's... important... to me.

Dwarf throwing though...

Here in Oz, a while ago now, a pub got banned from running a Friday Night dwarf throwing contest. The prize was probably a round of pints, when every else got schooners.

As I recall, it was a classy joint - Saturday nights was jelly wrestling, and a ABBA covers band on Sundays.

 

[onehitwanda]

Dwarf throwing though...

Here in Oz, a while ago now, a pub got banned from running a Friday Night dwarf throwing contest. The prize was probably a round of pints, when every else got schooners.

As I recall, it was a classy joint - Saturday nights was jelly wrestling, and a ABBA covers band on Sundays.

I've seen documentaries about Australia.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

I can see the dramatic need to explain it for a modern audience. Theoden believes Rohan stands alone, then, magically, the Elves come and fight beside him to show that Rohan has allies, so Theoden in turn rides to certain death at Minas Tirith. For a modern uneducated audience, I can see the need for this.

If, however, you're up to speed on the social power of oaths in Anglo-Saxon times, well, you're right. The Elves at Helms Deep makes no sense - Eorl the Young swore an oath to Cirion, and oaths to ones allies were seen as sacrosanct. Rohan was always going to answer Gondor's call for aid, the question was just how many Eoreds they'd be able to send while also dealing with Isengard. Holding Helm's deep for three days allows Gandalf to find Erkenbrand, and their arrival seals the fate of Isengard's army, which then freees Theoden to ride in force to Minas Tirith.

But instead we get Elves, and Eomer (okay, Karl Urban gets a pass because he was perfect in this role), and all the whizzy-bangy cgi goodies.

shit. Who put that soapbox there.

So, is it safe to assume you may have read the books once back when you were in college?

Odd point, I took a class in Tolkien and the Arthurian mythos when I was at Texas, taught by a defrocked catholic nun. The class would meet on Friday’s at the bar n the student union. She’d buy the beer and we’d just talk. Good times.