A.k.a. "Oh. Em. Gee. I cannot handle the feelings."
I've been trying to say very calm about this series, folks, mostly because I don't know if it will do what I hope it will, which is focus heavily on the elves, a contingent of beings that Tolkien, for whatever reason (read: because he was too close to them), hardly handled at all in LoTR and The Hobbit. (And we all know how the Hobbit movie did us wrong in many respects re. it's take on King Thranduil of Greenwood and his elves.)
Thranduil and his elves, with narry a Ring of Power to protect them, were front-line combatants as Mordor's influence spread across the land. They stood between Lothlorien and Rivendell, holding back a tide. Thranduil was there with an army to help throw down Dol Guldur, and why wouldn't he be? It was his territory, for heaven's sake. So, I sighed at much of that.
Still, I hope that the focus of Rings of Power will largely be on the elves and their influence here. I know that is highly unlikely, because there were 20 rings, which I also think conservative. Missing ElfKing Thranduil was a very stupid thing for Sauron to do, particularly considering that his armies of elves had been effective in keeping Lothlorien and Rivendell hunky-dory for more than an Age. But hey. Evil egos do tend to be full of themselves and that leads to flunkies being too afraid to correct The Plan. I imagine Sauron is the Undisputed King of this kind of amour propre, a complete egomaniac.
So, even if we accept that Greenwood and the Grey Havens/Mithlond didn't count in Sauron's polluted mind, there are only 20 Rings of Power. (So, no new freedom-fighters up to here with Sauron's bullsh*t! You got that?) In any case, you know the drill, friends. 20 rings (eat your heart out Ariana Grande):
3 for the Elves
7 for the Dwarves
9 for Men
And One Ring to rule them all, and in the darkness, bind them... because who doesn't love jewelry, am I right? :D
This means, in my case, that the focus should be inverted to what I'm hoping to see. Lots of Men going around and being Men. Some Dwarves -- who I at least find interesting, as another inhuman culture (though they are closer to men given no powers like we see among elves). And then some stuffs with Lady Galadriel, Lord Elrond, and this fantastic, amazing, arrow-snatching elf (you can bet your buns is from the Greenwood ElfKingdom).
I really, really don't want to wade through oodles of Middle Earth human mess. I just don't have the heart for it without the Elves (though I can do with seeing what the Dwarves are up to).
So. Net? I am anxious and nervous about Rings of Power. (You have to understand things being intensely important to me is a just another fun part of my neurodivergence. Yay!) I fear the show will bump me off track with the Folded Earth, and I do not -- absolutely do not -- want that. I'm no JRR Tolkien, but Ora and these elves are incredibly important to me. I will 100% not watch RoP if this starts stressing me out or interfering with my work.
In short, if you like my writing, you should know that I am:
a) A Noblebright fantasy writer
b) A Hopepunk scifi writer
Essentially, that means Lord of the Rings = YES. Game of Thrones = No. That means if this series has any blatant violence against women (oh, like 'hacking them apart to - say - get to the baby they're struggling to have', not for nunthin), I'm out. I am out if it's (forgive me if this is triggering) rapey. I'm out if there is no underlying hope. There are a lot of ways this could go wrong.
<short break for hyperventilation in lunchbag>
Anyway...! How are you doing?
Will you be watching?