But are they rose colored?
Nov. 23rd, 2010 11:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zhieErulisse asks...
Whatever influenced you to have Glorfindel wear glasses? I love it, but it's so out of the ordinary to have him wearing them.
I like characters to have occupations/goals/aspirations and things beyond what I need for the story. I also wanted Glorfindel to be one of the most intelligent characters in the entire bunniverse. Tolkien stated he was wise, but I saw a fair number of 'silly blond' versions of Glorfindel as the years went by. So, as time went on, Glorfindel got smarter and smarter. He's also, for those who didn't catch it in the three or four fics it's mentioned, an accountant and an alchemist. He gets into math and science the way other people get into their favorite band.
Anyhow, it seemed stereotypical -- smarties wear glasses -- but I kind of wanted that. And I wanted it for another reason; I wanted something that makes him think he's not so beautiful, so he wears them as infrequently as possible (to magnify the vanity that Tolkien wanted him to have, in my opinion). I also wanted something for him to have in common with Bilbo Baggins --- I imagine them as good friends in Rivendell, and while I only have one very tiny story with that at the moment, the reality is that for every one story written out, there are ten or fifteen more in my head. I've imagined many conversations between these two, with the commonality that started the friendship being their shared use of spectacles.
Symbolically, it deals with Glorfindel's attempts to understand the world. Those of you who wear glasses know that even with them on, one's vision is not the same as a person who has perfect vision. Things on the edges blur; there's that space above and below, and smudges on the lens will be a problem. Take them off, the world blurs more -- but sometimes, we see better when we stop looking. All of that goes into his persona, and what he's had to deal with in living a 'split' life. He has certain disconnects that he will always have.
Also, it's cute. (I think glasses are adorable.) While the stereotype is that elves are perfect and thin and pretty, there are always some that are different, and with how perfect he otherwise is... there it is.
Whatever influenced you to have Glorfindel wear glasses? I love it, but it's so out of the ordinary to have him wearing them.
I like characters to have occupations/goals/aspirations and things beyond what I need for the story. I also wanted Glorfindel to be one of the most intelligent characters in the entire bunniverse. Tolkien stated he was wise, but I saw a fair number of 'silly blond' versions of Glorfindel as the years went by. So, as time went on, Glorfindel got smarter and smarter. He's also, for those who didn't catch it in the three or four fics it's mentioned, an accountant and an alchemist. He gets into math and science the way other people get into their favorite band.
Anyhow, it seemed stereotypical -- smarties wear glasses -- but I kind of wanted that. And I wanted it for another reason; I wanted something that makes him think he's not so beautiful, so he wears them as infrequently as possible (to magnify the vanity that Tolkien wanted him to have, in my opinion). I also wanted something for him to have in common with Bilbo Baggins --- I imagine them as good friends in Rivendell, and while I only have one very tiny story with that at the moment, the reality is that for every one story written out, there are ten or fifteen more in my head. I've imagined many conversations between these two, with the commonality that started the friendship being their shared use of spectacles.
Symbolically, it deals with Glorfindel's attempts to understand the world. Those of you who wear glasses know that even with them on, one's vision is not the same as a person who has perfect vision. Things on the edges blur; there's that space above and below, and smudges on the lens will be a problem. Take them off, the world blurs more -- but sometimes, we see better when we stop looking. All of that goes into his persona, and what he's had to deal with in living a 'split' life. He has certain disconnects that he will always have.
Also, it's cute. (I think glasses are adorable.) While the stereotype is that elves are perfect and thin and pretty, there are always some that are different, and with how perfect he otherwise is... there it is.
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Date: 2010-11-24 11:39 am (UTC)- Erulisse (one L)