in thoughts...

I cried quite a bit watching the movie.

I cried when the Rohan soldiers formed the line to fight Sauron's forces, especially when I saw Eowyn on the frontline. And Merry sitting in front of her. And I thought about Eowyn saying to her brother the night before that, "Why can't we let him (Merry) fight for the ones he loves?" (something along that line... it shows what she's thinking too... ) Looking at the Rohan soldiers, you think: they just fought one big battle at Helm's Deep, now they have to fight again. They could have chosen to stay at home and rest, recuperate, be contented till Sauron launched another attack on them, but here they are, fighting for Gondor's survival. It's easy to think of it as someone else's war, but still they fought for them. Reading war stories last time, they say in war, when you're fighting, you don't think of the innocent civilians back in your town, you just think about your buddy on your left, and the buddy on your right. But in this case, for the Rohan soldiers, they really need to see that they're fighting to uphold an old agreement...

I cried when Gandalf was trying to give the soldiers morale and keep up their sense of duty - "You're soldiers of Gondor... you must stand your ground, no matter what comes through the gate..." (something like that, I'm not good at remembering exact words) And the bloody gate opens and these giant creatures come in... how can men, about a quarter of their size, inflict enough pain to kill them? and all through the fighting, I thought about Sam's speech in The Two Towers, when he and Frodo were caught by Faramir, held in Gondor... he said "how can you expect the world to go back to the way it was, after it has seen so much death..."

I cried when Eowyn was fighting the Witch King... protecting King Theoden... laughed at how she says "I am no man..." to the stupid faceless Witch King... smiled when Theoden said "I know your face" for the second time when he "wakes"...

I was very proud of Pippin - when he jumped into the fire to save Faramir... He only knew the guy for a day... can you beat that? He just makes us laugh, but there is that potential in him..

I cried when Sam held Frodo, and cried, saying "Don't go where I can't follow..."

I smiled when Merry said to Pippin, "I knew you'd find me..." when Pippin found him...

I cried when Sam said to Frodo, "I can't carry the burden of the ring for you, but I can carry you!" and he did... He just swung Frodo over his shoulder and inched up the mountain...

Cheers to friendship and courage and hope!