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Description

This is old, but i'm 99% sure I never posted it- I can't find it in my gallery anywhere. Dialog taken verbatim from LOTR: The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien. Designs are ... mine based on the written descriptions of the characters & influenced by how they're portrayed in other media. So strictly speaking these designs are probably only 75% or so mine, but the important thing is I know it doesn't look like the movies lol

I did a series of little comics like this that can all be seen here: ach-sss-no.tumblr.com/post/663…

...and they will be posted here too, if they still look OK to me a year and a half later, which not all of them will <_<

IMO one of the most significant changes to Gollum's character in the movies is that... in the books, Sam specifically asks him to go hunt down something to eat because Sam wants to give Frodo some food that isn't elf bread (there is also a pretty significant change to what sam is doing, as well, taking him from a character who merely reacts to something weird that happens, to one who is proactively looking for a way to help his friend in an unpleasant situation, and also one who is aware of what his cannibal-frog companion's abilities are and of the opinion that said companion should be doing productive things). frodo isn't even involved in this exchange. he's sleeping

anyway, gollum hunts the rabbits, as requested, and brings them back and is then reluctant to hand them over, because he's hungry and selfish. so in the books we have a selfish, socially-aware-somewhat* character who understands what is expected of him (to follow a reasonable request) and is not inclined to be generous, which is kinda the opposite of a character who wants to give you a present out of his own free will and doesn't understand that you don't want a dead animal.

also, in the book, after receiving the rabbits he specifically requested, Sam asks Gollum, the nearly 600 year old hobbit who doesn't seem able to walk far without the use of propping himself up with his hands, to go carry water in the big heavy stew pot, and Gollum does it, and when he returns from doing what Sam told him to do, this exchange happens. After which Sam asks him to go gather herbs, they have the famous exchange about the taters and Gollum finally leaves in disgust, after doing two tasks that he probably found physically taxing, at the urging of someone he does not like and who does not like him, and having a very reasonable (if awkwardly worded) warning about starting a fire disregarded- with a 'that probably won't happen but if it does, screw you'. the next time we see gollum, he's by faramir's no-fishing-allowed waterfall, muttering about how he wants to throttle everyone

...and that's how a change to a script that is technically minor can result in large repercussions for a character's psychology. actually, two characters. actually three, i forgot about frodo because in the book he is sleeping and not part of the scene at all until later when he wakes up and said 'oh gosh sam, making a fire in this location was a risky thing to do actually'. now don't ask me about cirith ungol

*there's a little detail in this dialog that i like. gollum says 'dont make the red tongues' and then immediately says 'fire, fire!'. this scene isn't in his POV so there's no reason given in the text for why he said it that way, but it gave me the impression that he used his own personal caveman-term and then realized at once that Sam wouldn't understand him and made the effort to produce the correct word. also, my mans cant even be in the sunlight for 0.5 seconds of course he's not okay with you making a fire what did you expect him to say when he saw you making a fire

Description

This is old, but i'm 99% sure I never posted it- I can't find it in my gallery anywhere. Dialog taken verbatim from LOTR: The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien. Designs are ... mine based on the written descriptions of the characters & influenced by how they're portrayed in other media. So strictly speaking these designs are probably only 75% or so mine, but the important thing is I know it doesn't look like the movies lol

I did a series of little comics like this that can all be seen here: ach-sss-no.tumblr.com/post/663…

...and they will be posted here too, if they still look OK to me a year and a half later, which not all of them will <_<

IMO one of the most significant changes to Gollum's character in the movies is that... in the books, Sam specifically asks him to go hunt down something to eat because Sam wants to give Frodo some food that isn't elf bread (there is also a pretty significant change to what sam is doing, as well, taking him from a character who merely reacts to something weird that happens, to one who is proactively looking for a way to help his friend in an unpleasant situation, and also one who is aware of what his cannibal-frog companion's abilities are and of the opinion that said companion should be doing productive things). frodo isn't even involved in this exchange. he's sleeping

anyway, gollum hunts the rabbits, as requested, and brings them back and is then reluctant to hand them over, because he's hungry and selfish. so in the books we have a selfish, socially-aware-somewhat* character who understands what is expected of him (to follow a reasonable request) and is not inclined to be generous, which is kinda the opposite of a character who wants to give you a present out of his own free will and doesn't understand that you don't want a dead animal.

also, in the book, after receiving the rabbits he specifically requested, Sam asks Gollum, the nearly 600 year old hobbit who doesn't seem able to walk far without the use of propping himself up with his hands, to go carry water in the big heavy stew pot, and Gollum does it, and when he returns from doing what Sam told him to do, this exchange happens. After which Sam asks him to go gather herbs, they have the famous exchange about the taters and Gollum finally leaves in disgust, after doing two tasks that he probably found physically taxing, at the urging of someone he does not like and who does not like him, and having a very reasonable (if awkwardly worded) warning about starting a fire disregarded- with a 'that probably won't happen but if it does, screw you'. the next time we see gollum, he's by faramir's no-fishing-allowed waterfall, muttering about how he wants to throttle everyone

...and that's how a change to a script that is technically minor can result in large repercussions for a character's psychology. actually, two characters. actually three, i forgot about frodo because in the book he is sleeping and not part of the scene at all until later when he wakes up and said 'oh gosh sam, making a fire in this location was a risky thing to do actually'. now don't ask me about cirith ungol

*there's a little detail in this dialog that i like. gollum says 'dont make the red tongues' and then immediately says 'fire, fire!'. this scene isn't in his POV so there's no reason given in the text for why he said it that way, but it gave me the impression that he used his own personal caveman-term and then realized at once that Sam wouldn't understand him and made the effort to produce the correct word. also, my mans cant even be in the sunlight for 0.5 seconds of course he's not okay with you making a fire what did you expect him to say when he saw you making a fire