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First happy birthday to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sleeplessmarea who hopefully spent the entire weekend with hobbits!!
I was thinking about Frodo today. Well, actually I was thinking about Frodo andmirabellawotr's Rain!Frodo. I love Rain for many reasons relating to how I feel about Frodo in general.
I was at first surprised at the controversy surrounding this fic. From what I gather Rain!Frodo is a problem for a lot of people. He's a hot little number, no doubt about it, but I think the bigger problem is maybe the anger, self-destruction, demanding quality and the casual sex being OOC. I think it's safe to agree that Canon!Frodo did not have this kind of sexual history, yes, and during the course of LOTR we see him being anything but demanding or angry. To me, though, Rain is wonderful because it expands on things that I think are very much part of Frodo or at least potentially part of Frodo. I find it a relief to see them, I've realized, because I have more of a problem with the more saintly version of him I see in many other fics. It's always interesting to me which fanon characterizations are considered horribly OOC by so many people while others who are equally OOC (as I would say shrinking violet Frodo is) are considered excellent variations on things in canon. To me, Rain is an incredible exploration of things in canon.
Of course, if one was going to pick a character for sainthood Frodo would be a good candidate. He sacrifices himself willingly and completely for the world at large, is able to take the One Ring as far as anyone could take it, and succeeds ultimately because he has an ability for compassion rarely seen. I find it bothers me, though, or at least I prefer it when people don't make these qualities in Frodo a sort of otherworldly blessing. This, perhaps, is why I can't get so involved in fics where young Frodo suffers and suffers at the hands of others and forgives them the way that, say, Christ might be portrayed at forgiving them ("They know not what they do," etc.). To me, this isn't Frodo at all. He's non-judgemental but he has a very clear sense of right and wrong, not to mention one hell of a survival instinct, imo. His forgiveness is more practical than soft-hearted. His compassion, to me, isn't simply a gift for love but linked to his intelligence as well. When they return to the Shire and find what Lotho has done Frodo's forgiveness of him, for me, has always seemed simply logical, probably because I had the same reaction to things as Frodo did and I'm far from saintly. Knowing Lotho it just seemed obvious that he was now probably miserable and had never intended any of this and needed help. There's no need for revenge.
So what does this have to do with Rain? Well, I guess a lot of F/S makes Frodo into sort of an object of purity who just exudes wonderful feelings, like he's already that clear being of light. Rain presents Frodo's generosity of spirit in a much more realistic way, imo. This is the real guy hobbits like Merry and Pippin would like hanging out with, funny and snarky and cool. He just...is what he is. He loves his friends and has his own way of showing it. Sam shows love by taking care of physical things for his loved ones, Merry by protecting them, Pippin by lifting their spirits. Frodo is...harder to describe I guess. He's more a quiet, calming presence. More importantly I've always thought he naturally gave his friends a dignity they might not have gotten elsewhere. Like I suspect he treated Merry as the capable grown-up he wanted to be before others did. He encouraged Sam's wish to create poetry. Perhaps he took Pippin seriously when he was being serious. This is something, I've realized, that isn't always portrayed in fanfic, especially ones where Frodo is special and fragile. In Rain I can understand why his friends think he's so cool (special talents aside!!). In the "Translations" section I love the way Frodo's able to keep things light when Merry needs them light but still obviously take things very seriously. This is exactly where Frodo's compassion comes from. He's able to see things from Merry's pov so is able to give him what he needs. Because of that Rain!Frodo is able, perhaps, to truly tell when Merry is ready for something and when he isn't. Frodo doesn't always seem like the oldest of the four hobbits and many fics portray that by making Frodo more in need of protection, but really I think Frodo is the type of person who always seems like he's the same age as anyone he is with because he's so able to relate to others on their own level. It's that ability that makes it impossible for Frodo to see even someone like Gollum as not having some dignity somewhere, imo.
The other part of Frodo's personality Rain deals with so well, imo, is his solitary nature. Again, this is something that's sometimes characterized as something lofty, like he's just so pure he's above needing what other people need. To me Frodo's always seemed simply like an introvert (Yay Introverts!!). He needs to be alone a lot and his life reflects that. In the beginning of the book he's living the life he's chosen in a million ways: he spends a lot of time alone, studying the things that interst him, exploring the places that interest him. He has a few close friends he loves to spend time with, then they go home and he can recharge alone. What I love about Rain is that it deals with the problems of being this type of person. Sam shakes everything up because Frodo loves him. He wants to be with him, but at the same time he knows himself well enough to know that wanting Sam isn't going to turn him into a different person. It's not just that choosing him would rob Sam of the family and children that would make him so happy, it would also give him a life with someone who is never going to be fully there for him, can never fully surrender to him. (Like in RoP where Frodo has to reassure Merry by saying, "I'm here," even when they are sitting right next to each other.) Frodo's in such a bad place in Rain, imo, because he's fighting with himself as well as Sam. If only he was someone else!
That's why the whole Merry/Frodo interaction hits me so hard as well. Merry knows how wonderful Frodo is, but he too belongs with someone else. It's like...how do you find someone for someone who is always going to be tugging away, who can't fully surrender to another even when he wants to? I guess that's why I find Rain such an empowering story. I think I sometimes feel like people let themselves off the hook by thinking of Frodo as some ethereal creature who came to earth to do these things and was always more "there" than "here." I love the way something like Rain says no, he wasn't just some creature gifted to the world for a time, he was a hobbit who wanted things, got some of them and not others, got a sucky deal in life but didn't regret it. For me he's a character on the outside looking in, but not in a pathetic way. He's an outsider, but not an outcast. He loves the Shire but always from his slight distance. I love in the book when Tolkien says Frodo was surprised how much he missed Bilbo and describes him as having birthday parties for Bilbo when he's away. This makes perfect sense to me. Frodo would be very good at loving people who weren't actually present and of course he'd be able to help Bilbo with departure without finding it upsetting. Surviving, even all on his own, is nothing for Frodo to fear. It's just life.
Lastly, I think it's interesting the way this relates to Frodo as an orphan. I notice people love to talk about "The Orphan" as if this is a character in itself--like people will point out alleged similarities between LOTR and HP by saying that Frodo and Harry are both orphans. But what completely different orphans they are! All orphans are by definitions survivors and both Frodo and Harry show the basic signs of people who feel they must ultimate depend only on themselves because other people could disappear at any moment. They just react to this knowledge very differently given their personalities. Harry is in search of his parents in every book and sees himself as having been robbed of something. He's driven by his desire to avenge their deaths against the person who killed them. Frodo, by contrast, never mentions his parents. Where Harry seems to actively seek father-figures, longing to live with Sirius, getting angry when Dumbledore ignores him, raging against Snape, Frodo really doesn't. Bilbo adopts Frodo as his heir, not his child. Frodo's in his twenties when he comes to live at Bag End. (Many fics prefer to have ickle orphan Frodo nursed through his many illnesses and grief by Bilbo instead.) Sam sometimes acts like a parent when he's phsyically caring for Frodo but he never becomes an emotional father figure. (Nor is Frodo a father figure to Sam. Someone he learns from, but not a father figure, imo.) One could point to other possible father figures for Frodo in Bilbo and Gandalf, but I don't think he relates to any of them truly in a father/son way. One could suggest this is because Frodo is older in his story than Harry is, but I honestly think this has much more to do with personality as well.
Anyway, blah, where am I going with this? I'm rambling. Basically, I'm saying I love Rain for how it makes Frodo so difficult and yet so cool because I think this is very much the way he was in canon (just, you know, without the threesomes probably). This is why his friends would always look forward to seeing him and spending time with him. This is why they would force their presence on him during the Quest. More importantly, this is why they would HAVE to force their presence on him during the quest. When Frodo plans to sneak off on his own he's not (bless him!) being a martyr, hoping or expecting anyone to follow. That's why when they do follow he's so deeply, truly touched and happy to have such wonderful friends.
And that's not even getting into how much I love the other hobbits in Rain...
Also, I'm going to London next week. Yee-ha!
sleeplessmarea who hopefully spent the entire weekend with hobbits!!I was thinking about Frodo today. Well, actually I was thinking about Frodo and
mirabellawotr's Rain!Frodo. I love Rain for many reasons relating to how I feel about Frodo in general. I was at first surprised at the controversy surrounding this fic. From what I gather Rain!Frodo is a problem for a lot of people. He's a hot little number, no doubt about it, but I think the bigger problem is maybe the anger, self-destruction, demanding quality and the casual sex being OOC. I think it's safe to agree that Canon!Frodo did not have this kind of sexual history, yes, and during the course of LOTR we see him being anything but demanding or angry. To me, though, Rain is wonderful because it expands on things that I think are very much part of Frodo or at least potentially part of Frodo. I find it a relief to see them, I've realized, because I have more of a problem with the more saintly version of him I see in many other fics. It's always interesting to me which fanon characterizations are considered horribly OOC by so many people while others who are equally OOC (as I would say shrinking violet Frodo is) are considered excellent variations on things in canon. To me, Rain is an incredible exploration of things in canon.
Of course, if one was going to pick a character for sainthood Frodo would be a good candidate. He sacrifices himself willingly and completely for the world at large, is able to take the One Ring as far as anyone could take it, and succeeds ultimately because he has an ability for compassion rarely seen. I find it bothers me, though, or at least I prefer it when people don't make these qualities in Frodo a sort of otherworldly blessing. This, perhaps, is why I can't get so involved in fics where young Frodo suffers and suffers at the hands of others and forgives them the way that, say, Christ might be portrayed at forgiving them ("They know not what they do," etc.). To me, this isn't Frodo at all. He's non-judgemental but he has a very clear sense of right and wrong, not to mention one hell of a survival instinct, imo. His forgiveness is more practical than soft-hearted. His compassion, to me, isn't simply a gift for love but linked to his intelligence as well. When they return to the Shire and find what Lotho has done Frodo's forgiveness of him, for me, has always seemed simply logical, probably because I had the same reaction to things as Frodo did and I'm far from saintly. Knowing Lotho it just seemed obvious that he was now probably miserable and had never intended any of this and needed help. There's no need for revenge.
So what does this have to do with Rain? Well, I guess a lot of F/S makes Frodo into sort of an object of purity who just exudes wonderful feelings, like he's already that clear being of light. Rain presents Frodo's generosity of spirit in a much more realistic way, imo. This is the real guy hobbits like Merry and Pippin would like hanging out with, funny and snarky and cool. He just...is what he is. He loves his friends and has his own way of showing it. Sam shows love by taking care of physical things for his loved ones, Merry by protecting them, Pippin by lifting their spirits. Frodo is...harder to describe I guess. He's more a quiet, calming presence. More importantly I've always thought he naturally gave his friends a dignity they might not have gotten elsewhere. Like I suspect he treated Merry as the capable grown-up he wanted to be before others did. He encouraged Sam's wish to create poetry. Perhaps he took Pippin seriously when he was being serious. This is something, I've realized, that isn't always portrayed in fanfic, especially ones where Frodo is special and fragile. In Rain I can understand why his friends think he's so cool (special talents aside!!). In the "Translations" section I love the way Frodo's able to keep things light when Merry needs them light but still obviously take things very seriously. This is exactly where Frodo's compassion comes from. He's able to see things from Merry's pov so is able to give him what he needs. Because of that Rain!Frodo is able, perhaps, to truly tell when Merry is ready for something and when he isn't. Frodo doesn't always seem like the oldest of the four hobbits and many fics portray that by making Frodo more in need of protection, but really I think Frodo is the type of person who always seems like he's the same age as anyone he is with because he's so able to relate to others on their own level. It's that ability that makes it impossible for Frodo to see even someone like Gollum as not having some dignity somewhere, imo.
The other part of Frodo's personality Rain deals with so well, imo, is his solitary nature. Again, this is something that's sometimes characterized as something lofty, like he's just so pure he's above needing what other people need. To me Frodo's always seemed simply like an introvert (Yay Introverts!!). He needs to be alone a lot and his life reflects that. In the beginning of the book he's living the life he's chosen in a million ways: he spends a lot of time alone, studying the things that interst him, exploring the places that interest him. He has a few close friends he loves to spend time with, then they go home and he can recharge alone. What I love about Rain is that it deals with the problems of being this type of person. Sam shakes everything up because Frodo loves him. He wants to be with him, but at the same time he knows himself well enough to know that wanting Sam isn't going to turn him into a different person. It's not just that choosing him would rob Sam of the family and children that would make him so happy, it would also give him a life with someone who is never going to be fully there for him, can never fully surrender to him. (Like in RoP where Frodo has to reassure Merry by saying, "I'm here," even when they are sitting right next to each other.) Frodo's in such a bad place in Rain, imo, because he's fighting with himself as well as Sam. If only he was someone else!
That's why the whole Merry/Frodo interaction hits me so hard as well. Merry knows how wonderful Frodo is, but he too belongs with someone else. It's like...how do you find someone for someone who is always going to be tugging away, who can't fully surrender to another even when he wants to? I guess that's why I find Rain such an empowering story. I think I sometimes feel like people let themselves off the hook by thinking of Frodo as some ethereal creature who came to earth to do these things and was always more "there" than "here." I love the way something like Rain says no, he wasn't just some creature gifted to the world for a time, he was a hobbit who wanted things, got some of them and not others, got a sucky deal in life but didn't regret it. For me he's a character on the outside looking in, but not in a pathetic way. He's an outsider, but not an outcast. He loves the Shire but always from his slight distance. I love in the book when Tolkien says Frodo was surprised how much he missed Bilbo and describes him as having birthday parties for Bilbo when he's away. This makes perfect sense to me. Frodo would be very good at loving people who weren't actually present and of course he'd be able to help Bilbo with departure without finding it upsetting. Surviving, even all on his own, is nothing for Frodo to fear. It's just life.
Lastly, I think it's interesting the way this relates to Frodo as an orphan. I notice people love to talk about "The Orphan" as if this is a character in itself--like people will point out alleged similarities between LOTR and HP by saying that Frodo and Harry are both orphans. But what completely different orphans they are! All orphans are by definitions survivors and both Frodo and Harry show the basic signs of people who feel they must ultimate depend only on themselves because other people could disappear at any moment. They just react to this knowledge very differently given their personalities. Harry is in search of his parents in every book and sees himself as having been robbed of something. He's driven by his desire to avenge their deaths against the person who killed them. Frodo, by contrast, never mentions his parents. Where Harry seems to actively seek father-figures, longing to live with Sirius, getting angry when Dumbledore ignores him, raging against Snape, Frodo really doesn't. Bilbo adopts Frodo as his heir, not his child. Frodo's in his twenties when he comes to live at Bag End. (Many fics prefer to have ickle orphan Frodo nursed through his many illnesses and grief by Bilbo instead.) Sam sometimes acts like a parent when he's phsyically caring for Frodo but he never becomes an emotional father figure. (Nor is Frodo a father figure to Sam. Someone he learns from, but not a father figure, imo.) One could point to other possible father figures for Frodo in Bilbo and Gandalf, but I don't think he relates to any of them truly in a father/son way. One could suggest this is because Frodo is older in his story than Harry is, but I honestly think this has much more to do with personality as well.
Anyway, blah, where am I going with this? I'm rambling. Basically, I'm saying I love Rain for how it makes Frodo so difficult and yet so cool because I think this is very much the way he was in canon (just, you know, without the threesomes probably). This is why his friends would always look forward to seeing him and spending time with him. This is why they would force their presence on him during the Quest. More importantly, this is why they would HAVE to force their presence on him during the quest. When Frodo plans to sneak off on his own he's not (bless him!) being a martyr, hoping or expecting anyone to follow. That's why when they do follow he's so deeply, truly touched and happy to have such wonderful friends.
And that's not even getting into how much I love the other hobbits in Rain...
Also, I'm going to London next week. Yee-ha!