he of the star-dome
(August 14, 2022 · Endórë, fandom, love, thoughts)
I…actually just had a weird revelation (for lack of a better word) about The Rings of Power.
I’m absolutely fascinated by Elrond Tarantino* — weirdly enough, it was seeing Robert Aramayo in action that solidified that; the man is poetry in motion and perfect for Elrond, even if the costume department keeps dragging its ass! And that voice, oh goodness — and am so looking forward to seeing his character really, really dug into. We only got glimpses of that in PJ’s Middle-earth movies, which is totally understandable, because he was such a minor character in those. And it’s a testament to how powerful an actor Hugo Weaving is that his movie depiction pretty much became the depiction of Elrond that I saw when I read the literature, but.
So. I got into a relationship that lead to engagement a few months after FotR’s release, and my then (now extremely ex) fiancée was completely obsessed with Elrond — well, really, she was obsessed with Hugo Weaving, and thus Elrond followed (and six months later when she had her brain eaten by Harry frickin’ Potter of all things, said “obsessions” were dropped like hot po-tay-toes, but hey, that’s what she does. Use people, and lie about having cancer. Oh yeah, dodged a bullet there). I always wanted to like, dig into his character from a fandom perspective, you know? Like fic, art, opinion pieces, research, all that kinda stuff. But…I never really did, because the image of Elrond was always slightly tainted by this toxic waste spill pretending to be a person.
(Look, she lied about have cancer in order to passive-aggressively get me to be the one to break up with her. Then cheated on me, twice. And then had the fucking gall to email me several years later wailing about how I was her “greatest love story”. I do not have to spare her feelings whatsoever.)
But now…what with Elrond Tarantino…it’s like…not like a new Elrond, because I think Aramayo really captures that same essence that Weaving did, but like…it’s like the bad associations have been removed from him? So it’s like I can dive into fangirling without the bad memories (or just the exasperating ones). And I absolutely love that idea. Maybe I’ll make that Elrond fansite after all.
* yes, this was mocking, originally. now it’s pure hopeful fondness! ♥ (yup, I’m one of those annoyances that mocks the things she likes, with no mercy. y’all know how much I adore Nicky Wire from the sheer amount of times I’ve made fun of his dramatic cranky gorgeous ass.)