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wordbunch · 1 year

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the fellowship meeting their partner’s family

a/n: this brilliant idea was requested by @starlady66! I hope I did okay, let me know how it was 😄 and yes, of course I am including Faramir too. if you liked this fic, consider reblogging it so more people can potentially see it and enjoy 💕 it gives me motivation to write more!

ARAGORN:

is a little quiet at first, but not awkwardly quiet

remembers what you had told him about your family and then brings it up in conversation with the

very very respectful

offers to help with anything and everything, from cooking to cleaning or fixing something

your family thought he was initially just a little odd, but they warmed up to him very quickly

he’s invited to every family gathering right away, you insist that he doesn’t have to come if it’s too much, but he really wants to

💐

BOROMIR:

brings them flowers and a fancy drink at least

wants to bring even more gifts but you reassure him he’s already doing enough

he’s an absolute favorite among your younger siblings/cousins, they don’t want to let him go

and it warms your heart so much

he praises you in front of the family and makes you blush

they all liked him immediately and he was super charming and easygoing, you were the more nervous one

💐

FARAMIR:

not gonna lie, he IS stressed out, but you reassure him he’s perfect and has nothing to worry about

literally practices how he’ll introduce himself and all that

he manages to accidentally fumble something, but it’s a perfect ice-breaker because everybody is laughing

they love him instantly, even if he’s initially a bit quiet and awkward

he was going to bring them some little present, but he forgot

eventually gets so carried away talking and having some deep discussion that you almost fall asleep by his side

💐

FRODO:

simultaneously he’s a nervous wreck, but also knows that he generally makes a good impression on people

runs his hand through his hair a million times to make it look neater

offers to help with the food even though it’s not his strongest suit

asks a lot of questions after he gets comfortable, and listens with interest

accidentally takes a short nap after the meal and is SUPER embarrassed

but nobody takes it the wrong way, it just becomes an inside joke that runs forever

💐

GIMLI:

lots of gifts for everyone. EVERYONE.

you think it’s too much but he just really wants to make a great impression

you’re important to him, so, your family is too

they bonded so quickly that they almost forgot that you were also there (oops lmao)

lots of laughing, and they would be asking him to retell some fun adventures you had together

he compliments the food a lot and eventually they’d pack him some leftovers

💐

LEGOLAS:

you know the charming, charismatic elf that he is? well, you can forget about that, it seems

he feels extremely awkward, no idea why

regardless, your family likes him immediately, even if they do consider him a bit strange

you try to carry the conversation most of the time and he’s very grateful for it

eventually when he gets over himself, he will be very communicative and pleasant

your family asks him a bunch of questions; they’ve never had a guest like that before!

💐

MERRY:

charming and witty as ever, also brings flowers

fits in right away, as if he’s always been a part of the family

they all think he’s hilarious and can’t get enough of his stories

he wants to hear the stories about you when you were a small child (and will use the new information to poke fun at you for eternity)

compliments everyone and everything, loves all the food

also invited to all the family gatherings and events henceforth

💐

PIPPIN:

is nervous, but hides it decently well, or eases it through humor

really wanted to bring a little gift, but forgot

accidentally knocks something over or trips or something like that, but you all just have a laugh about it (he blushes)

he likes to talk about how great you are, so he will definitely comment on that in front of your family too

okay, maybe they did think he was a little too chaotic or immature, but he has a heart of gold and they know it!

you will overhear them commenting on the way he looks at you and how good he treats you

💐

SAM:

brings a half of his garden as a present: flowers, vegetables, you name it

maybe even he cooks/bakes something and then brings it over, then blushes at the compliments

they all love him immediately (who doesn’t!)

loves to listen to your family’s stories about you

offers to help with washing up

a younger sibling/relative of yours asks him something like “when are you going to marry [Y/N]?”

💐

everything taglist: @starlady66 @lotrnonsense @lazyoswald @entishramblings @thesolarangel (ty all for wanting to be tagged and reading my stuff <3)

#lotr x reader #lotr headcanons #lotr imagine #aragorn x reader #legolas x reader #boromir x reader #faramir x reader #merry x reader #pippin x reader #samwise x reader #frodo x reader #gimli x reader #merry brandybuck #pippin took #lord of the rings #from my pocketses

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greenerteacups · 1 month

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Hi :) I’m reading Lionheart for the first time and I’m really impressed with the breadth of your vocabulary and your references to architecture, prominent figures/characters, just the little things you reference throughout the text. I’m interested to know, how did you become so well-versed in all of this? I was wondering if you have a career in any of these avenues! I’d love to expand my vocabulary and really just enhance my knowledge of the world around me. I’ve learned a lot just from looking up things that you’ve referenced but if you have personal recommendations for reading (I assume most writers enjoy reading?) I’d love to know! Thank you :)

Thank you very kindly! This is so gracious. I hate saying this, because it makes me feel pretentious, but I'm a voracious reader, and I read things across a broad span of genres — architecture and fashion and floristry and theory, etc. — which enriches the descriptive vocabulary. I don't have a career in writing, though I tend to think writing is one of those things where if you just do it enough, and you take it seriously, you can achieve pretty incredible results without doing the normal grad school/internship/fellowship track. The training of most great novelists in history consisted of just reading other people's novels. I can't think of a better recommendation than that.

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ofdarklands · 2 months

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10 Characters, 10 Fandoms, 10 Tags

Tagged by @gunkreads (hello!)

Rules: choose 10 favorite characters from 10 different fandoms -- no double dipping! Then tag 10 0 friends or mutuals to complete the game as well.

i tend to forget everything i've read or watched after a while so this will take a bit. uhh in vague cronological order, and in things that actually have a fandom i've interacted with:

pikachu from pokemon. i loved him as a kid; he's just cool and round and can produce lightning and loves ketchup and runs real fast and also is kind of an asshole. who's ash

in the same vein i loved gatomon(spanish name) from digimon; i remember it having an interesting storyline. kept imagining it in other books i read just for fun (like lotr. the fellowship! and gatomon is there <3)

sakura from sakura card captor. anime that got me into fanfic, as i've mentioned before. though technically i liked sakura+the cards themselves as a unit

of the narnia books, i believe lucy was my favourite. it was the mix between youth and spirit and decisiveness i think

from lotr, i don't think i had a favourite character exactly; i like the story itself. i enjoyed the sections with aragorn the most though, so i suppose him. i did end up loving rangers as a concept from somewhere!

childhood section done... hmmm. alright first things that come to mind:

obligatory naruto mention. i liked the yondaime since the beginning u_u and thankfully the later plot didn't murder his character so success! still cool, did his best, died too soon etc.

castiel from supernatural. you agree. lets move on

spent a while fascinated by the anguished one from devil survivor 2. i do love his storyline and design and the whole living stars thing. also the game and it's multitude of endings is really fun, despite some dodgy uhhh character anatomies

ren/akira from persona 5. loved being a fancy thief, and the details of personality you get despite being a mostly silent protagonist are very fun. great character

the exarch/g'raha from ff14. love me some mysterious wizards with hoods and towers leading you to your noble death, but watch out. you agree, etc.

i'm sure i forgot a bunch but ah well. guess these were just floating at the top at the time

i'm not tagging. just do it if you want!

#rol #fandom #historical accuracy bonus: harry himself from hp #we know how that goes nowadays but it did take a bunch of my time as a teenager so #a bonus

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thewriterowl · 10 months

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Now for the hard question: in your top 10 movie franchises list add in ALL of the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings movies in order of favorites.

Oh you have to ask the hard questions! Ok, let me see...in order for Star Wars:

Empire Strikes Back -- it is just such a good movie with some iconic Luke looks and Daddy-Son moments. It's so good and him with grandpa-Yoda is so cute. I also love how we see this lead up into Luke's change of perspective with everything.

Return of the Jedi -- Also great Luke and Daddy-Son moments. I think it barely inches over New Hope simply because I got to see it again on the 40th re-release in theaters and I was feral over how Luke looked. Also, loved the fighting scenes and we get Lando. I also happen to love the Ewoks.

New Hope -- May actually be in second place once RoJ-theater release gives me peace (need another few months). But this Luke is just so pure and whiny and I want to put him in my pocket forever and ever and ever. (let me throw this Luke at Din omg)

Revenge of the Sith -- UGH just UGH so god. Anakin is so hot in this and so messed up and this lead up is just fantastic and wonderful and absolutely tragic.

Rogue One -- I mean, how could I not adore this? It is absolutely AMAZING. Just heartbreaking with amazing graphics, awesome characters, and is only getting better thanks to the Andor series.

The Force Awakens -- Honestly, I adored this movie so much. It wasn't perfect, it needed more Luke and the original trio, but it had so much potential. I just thought it was leading up to something amazing and the memes Mark gave us after left me excited and laughing for a long time.

The Phantom Menace -- Part of this is spite-love for young Anakin and Jar Jar Binks; both deserve better. But honestly, I have rewatched this a few times recently and was all "this is actually great? why the hate?"

Attack of the Clones -- Honestly, I need to rewatch this again. It's just here cause I haven't rewatched it in a while and i don't know why. We get Jango! We get the Clones! Baby Boba! The SAND-QUOTE! Obi-Wan's mullet! The lead up to the Clone War series! Badass Yoda! Yeah, gotta do a re-watch.

Solo -- Again, i actually really enjoyed the movie. It wasn't the best but it wasn't bad. Honestly, there were just some weird choices for some story movements and character interactions but other than that? It was good. I need to rewatch it honestly.

The Last Jedi -- I hate, hate, hate what they did to my Luke. If they were going to go this route with him I'd understand 100% because it would make sense for him to to have so much PTSD and just be burnt out and so hurt (still, i think we have enough of this and deserve older heroes that are still full of hope and silly and are kind). But the execution and how he is made to be a loser is just wrong. There were also some other scenes and interactions that were "uh...no?" but the fight scenes were great, Po was great, I loved Rose, I loved Finn's story and realization. It was just really wonky, disjointed from what we were getting before, and I will keep my head-cannon Luke in my claws.

The Rise of Skywalker -- I...didn't like it. I saw it twice and actually checked the time till I could go home often (only have done that with like two other movies). It was so awkward, the dialogue was poor, the actors seemed done, there was so many random new stories thrown in at last second, characters were thrown away, "Palpatine somehow returned?" like...what??? It was just lame. Such a lame, lame ending. The OT-trio and the new trio deserved so much better. It needs a re-do.

Now for the Lord of the Rings!:

The Fellowship of the Ring -- Even though it wasn't the most action packed, what it sparked, how good it was...just AUGH perfection. I adore this movie so much.

The Two Towers -- Incredible, amazing, also perfect. Great action, all the characters are given their due-time (with Legolas making faces). I love it.

Return of the King -- AMAZING ENDING. The wraps up is just...the moments of suffering and the release. The HAPPINESS. How ever gets what they deserve (tho RIP Boromir) just adore it so much.

The Desolation of Smaug -- PERFECT. Except for maybe some off CGI, this movie was amazing. So much Bagginshield, the intense cliffhanger, the Arkenstone....it was so good. I adored this movie so much!

An Unexpected Journey -- I adore Bilbo. I love him so much. And how this opened up Bagginshield just how could I not adore it??

Battle of the Five Armies -- I didn't like it the first time I watched it. But a few more times I was "huh, actually, it's not bad!" It honestly should've been loads better. There were so many wonky decisions and everything that happened did not feel like it met up with the end of a trilogy. But the end....how everyone survived! Can you believe that there was absolutely NO HEARTBREAK WHAT'SO'EVER??

#owl inbox #star wars #the lord of the rings #the hobbit

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frostyreturns · 8 months

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Frosty Ruins The Lord Of The Rings (1978)

This will be my first time ever watching this version of Lord Of The Rings, I didn't even know it existed until fairly recently. So this review is based on total first impressions.

To start with it opens like an old film serial and looks kind of janky. You could tell it was from a time where a lot of people probably didn't even know what Lord Of The Rings was, back when it was a far less mainstream property, back in the days where Robert Plant could slip plot details from the book into a song and expect that nobody would really take notice.

I'm not sure if the opening is live action or is rotoscoped like parts of the rest of the movie but it looks like they just filmed actors but did them all in shadow so they didn't have to design quality costumes. The voice over is classic 70's and is vaguely the same as the opening of Jacksons Fellowship Of The Ring, which becomes a theme.

The movie differs from the books and the Peter Jackson movies because it puts the scene of Smeagle murdering for the ring in with the introduction. However you can also see that Jackson obviously took a lot of inspiration from this version rather than just using the books as source material.

You can also see the ways that Jackson made it better, there are elements of the storytelling that to me are missing in this version. For example in this version as the nature of the ring is being revealed by Gandalf, he knows coming in what the ring is and begins the conversation by saying it is evil. Whereas in the movie there was some additional tension added by Gandalfs uncertainty, and there was a bit of a fake out and a moment of false relief. There's also the way Frodo just casually slips in the line about wishing this wasn't happening in his time…but it hasn't yet been established just how dire the situation is so the line falls flat.

As the animated portion of the movie takes off, you kind of see also that originally the story was marketted more exclusively to kids. The art style is a lot more cartoonish than I would have guessed, it's like studio ghibli crossed with an 80's cartoon like He-man. The voice over also sounds cartooney and is done in that same 80's cartoon manner. While I don't enjoy it as much as the live action which to me was near perfect…it's not terrible. The character design isn't my favourite but the art style is still very good even though the realistic live action animation rotoscoping doesn't mesh well with the cartoonish simpler animation or look all that great, but it is interesting, very well composed. The backgrounds look like they would all make good paintings that I would frame and hang around the house. The movie looks like it's a product of its time so I can see there being a dedicated fanbase for this version but I can also see people saying it's cheesy and dorky.

Speaking of bad character design. I hate what they did to most every character especially Sam, they made him look and sound like a little effeminate homunculus. Saruman the white they for some reason depicted in a red cloak. The Nazgul looked less intimidating and more zombielike, they had the movement of lurchy hunchbacks that would have been reminiscent of old 30's horror movies. Aaragorn also looked so frumpy and plain, almost native american looking. Elrond looked so plain and looked more like Kevin Nealon than the animated Kevin Nealon from 8 Crazy Nights where he played the mayor. The orcs and trolls looked like smudgy incoherent blobs, the only reason you can tell it's supposed to be a creature is the glowing eyes. Even the balrog looked weird and less intimidating…and they didn't really build it up in the Moria scenes like the books and other movies do. Although one interesting thing about the characters is I thought the voice actor for Frodo was excellent and actually sounded a lot like Elijah Wood, to the point I wonder if that effected his casting at all.

There are moments compositionally that seem amateurish, for example they introduce Merry And Pippin by having them simply walking behind the main characters without introduction, and then they threw in dialogue about them agreeing to follow them as far as Bree…but the audio sounded different and it sounded like the voice actor rushed the line to make it fit into the scene before it changed. Seems like they made a last minute change because they had to cut the scene where they introduced the characters or because they realized they forgot to explain who they were. Then it cuts to a shot of them doing a weird little dance and then the scene changed again…very strange and makes the whole thing looks less professional.

One other complaint I have is that the visual depictions of magic use are not well done at all, and if I did not already know what was happening I would have no clue what I was looking at. The duel between Gandalf and Saruman was just flashing lights, and there was a prolonged scene with the black riders where the background kept shifting in and out and it looked like they were in the sky one second and on land the next. And they just held out their hands and Frodo just seemed to stand there watching them point at him for no reason at all. Knowing the story I know what is happening but without the context of the books or the Jackson movies this scene would have been very confusing.

The action is also underwhelming. The way they swing their swords makes them look like less effective weapons than a twig, they hit enemies with a sword like they're using a blunt object, it's hard to describe what I mean but it just looks wrong.

The other main issue I have with the movie is that because it squeezes the whole story into one two hour movie a lot is missing, a lot is glossed over and many of the scene changes seem abrupt. For example they talk about going through Lothlorien and then cut immediately to talking with Galadriel. The biggest problem with this version is that so much is missing. It's only half the story with Return Of The King completely missing because of a cancelled sequel. But even much of the parts they did show were greatly cut down and much was ommitted.

One thing i liked about this version is that they never really explain in the Jackson movies how Frodo kept gollum in line. The idea that he could threaten to use the ring to command him as a thrall was never in the movie but it was in the books. So for all my complaints I can't say it wasn't a faithful adaptation. It was an interesting one time watch and for parts of it I did enjoy it, it is still Lord Of The Rings so it can't be totally bad. I'd certainly rather watch this than anything Amazon shits out. Overall though it wasn't good and it's enjoyablity depends on how much you enjoy anachronistic cartoons about classic fantasy literature.

#lord of the rings #1978

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traskomancer · 8 months

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RPG a Day 21-25

Day 21: Favorite licensed RPG

Free League's Alien RPG, hands down. I can't think of any other licensed games I even play off the top of my head, and the Alien game is very well done. The stress mechanic and 3 act structure go a long way to achieving the feel of the source material.

Day 22: Best secondhand RPG purchase

Not even a purchase but a trade; I swapped a 5e book to @marquisnaberius in exchange for the 2e Unknown Armies core book and the 1e One Shots book. As far as strictly things I've bought, I did get a lot out of my set of core books for D&D 3.5 as a kid despite barely actually playing that particular edition. I was used to 4e and the juxtaposition was interesting. Also, I like the sketchy art style in the PHB.

Day 23: Coolest looking RPG product/book

I'm very partial to games that have a diegetic-ish style, like Monsters and Other Childish Things, the Unknown Armies 3e character sheet, and so on.

I also really like the art and feel of the Mothership scenario Gradient Descent. As far as the coolest art, Over the Edge 2e has some great stuff, though there are many others I could mention. Tales from the Loop is obviously designed around its art to some extent. This is definitely a prompt with a lot of answers.

Day 24: Complex/simple RPG I play

I think D&D 5e is the most complex RPG I feel I fully understand, and I do mean I FULLY understand it. I have half the monster manual and spell lists memorized and can improv anything else I need. It is kind of nice having a system of moderate-to-high complexity at my beck and call. I know there are much more complex systems around, including other editions of D&D, but I don't really want to make the mental investment of learning them. That's not what I enjoy in RPGs these days anyway. If I want crunch I'll play a video game.

As far as the simplest game, Fiasco is basically improv with a little bit of dice prompting for structure. So if you consider improv simple, which I feel is a plausible perspective, then that would count. One page games like Lasers and Feelings and Everyone is John of course also count for this.

Day 25: Unplayed RPG I own

Oh god, so many. I've already mentioned Monsters and Other Childish Things a few times in these prompts. Troika!, Ryuutama, Liminal Horror, Vaesen, The Dee Sanction, Mothership, and Fellowship all also fit this category. And that's to say nothing of all the games I've played once or twice and would love to come back to...

#rpgaday2023 #ttrpg #alien #unknown armies #dnd #Monsters and other childish things #Mothership #over the edge #Tales from the Loop #Fiasco #lasers and feelings #everyone is john #troika!#liminal horror #ryuutama #vaesen #the dee sanction #mothership #fellowship

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endpoem · 1 year

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Stuff I liked in 2022

‘Saul’ good (and other TV)

It’s not easy to say goodbye to Better Call Saul, the supposed end of Vince Gilligan’s Albuquerque cycle. I bought my dad the complete Breaking Bad on DVD for Christmas in 2014, and we watched the entire thing together, back before I had kids or a real full-time career. Jesse Pinkman, Nacho, Jimmy and Kim—these characters have meant the world to me for the better part of a decade, and Saul was absolutely the pinnacle.

El Camino, Saul season five, and the two halves of season six have been such a gift of flawless storytelling these last few years; sometimes they were the thing that got me out of bed in the morning. Logging into work on a Monday ain’t so bad when you’ve got more of Kim and Jimmy’s mischief to look forward to. Peter Gould, Gilligan, and company stuck the landing. If one of your favorite characters must die, you can’t ask for a more beautiful sendoff than “Rock and Hard Place.”

Bob Odenkirk’s book, Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama: A Memoir, was a great way to spend a weekend, as well, deepening my appreciation for an actor who’d already won my heart in the first couple seasons of Saul. (I’ll admit it: The character was never my favorite part of Breaking Bad. It took the Jimmy dimension to win me over and sell me on the idea of a spinoff. Mission accomplished, I guess.)

It’s a nice treat to see Odenkirk back in his home country of comedy, and it made for a good excuse to watch Mr. Show season one while I was waiting for Better Call Saul to come back from its mid-season break. Bob and I have a shocking number of things in common: five-nine, Irish-Catholic, Illinois guys, a cynicism born of trauma, severe impostor syndrome, et cetera. Anyway, I can’t wait to see what he does next.

I loved Atlanta season three; “New Jazz” was my favorite episode by far, probably because it focuses on Al (Paper Boi) and is weird even by Atlanta standards. I also enjoyed Stranger Things season four, which was a definite high for that series—Joseph Quinn was brilliant. And as a Halo fan going all the way back to 2001, I mostly dug the TV adaptation’s first season, though the finale was a bummer.

I’m a couple seasons into a Mad Men rewatch, trying to fill the void left by the Gilliverse, and it’s a different show now that I’m a father with two kids and more of a career. Unbelievably good.

‘The Rings of Power,’ classic Tolkien, and other fantasies

This was the year I got really into epic fantasy outside of, say, the Elder Scrolls games. The Rings of Power came along just in time to cure my post-Saul blues, and it certainly did the trick. It’s a gorgeous (and expensive) spectacle, with a rich, expansive world, mythic stakes, and some really great performances. And have you seen how beautiful that cast is? I’ve been known to develop the occasional TV or movie crush, Your Honor, but Morfydd Clark’s Galadriel is in a league of her own. My God. She’s great in Saint Maud, too.

After Rings of Power, I rewatched the extended cuts of the movie trilogy and bought a stack of books for good measure—The Hobbit, Rings, The Silmarillion, The Fall of Númenor, Tolkien’s translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. I just finished Fellowship of the Ring, which is exquisite, and I’ve been reading The Hobbit aloud to my daughter. We’re about three-fourths of the way through that one.

I finally saw the original Willow and Legend (1985) earlier this year, and thought both were excellent. (The Legend Blu-ray from Arrow Video looks stunning.) House of the Dragon was pretty fantastic—as good as Game of Thrones in its earlier seasons, only more focused. And the Disney Plus Willow series is probably my second-favorite fantasy work of 2022; it’s playing around with the same kind of Lovecraftian terror as John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness, and I can’t help but see it as a riff on the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

‘Andor’ and more

There was some good star stuff on the tube this year. “The Tribes of Tatooine,” the second episode of Book of Boba, elevated that series above the disposable feel of Mandalorian season two (“The Believer” notwithstanding). And Deborah Chow’s Obi-Wan Kenobi gave those of us who grew up on the prequels a magnificent bookend to the Obi-and-Ani relationship.

Light & Magic, the six-part docuseries on ILM, offered a phenomenal overview of special-effects history beginning with the inception of Star Wars and ending with the biggest breakthroughs of the CGI era. You could easily do a second season on the last couple decades of blockbusters and stuff like StageCraft, but maybe that’s a series for down the road.

But of course no Star Wars discussion this year could pass without addressing the main event, Andor, which can safely be called the best Star Wars story since 1983. Tony Gilroy is a masterful writer and showrunner, responsible for much of what people loved in Rogue One, and he brings all his intelligence and rage and love to Andor. He and his crew ought to be very proud. Who knew that all Star Wars needed was more Andy Serkis and Diego Luna? Gilroy, evidently.

Shadow of the Sith, a 496-page novel by Adam Christopher, was another Star Wars highlight in 2022. If you’re looking for a good Luke Skywalker book, or a good Lando Calrissian book—or some spooky Sith magic—you’ll find all of that and more in this moving Rise of Skywalker tie-in. For those curious about Rey’s parents, this is largely their story, as well, and it’s beautifully done. My favorite Star Wars book in years.

Always gamin’

I’m not a full-time games journalist anymore, so my gaming habits are a lot more relaxed than they used to be. Which is to say I play to have fun, now, and I can’t recommend it enough. I buy far fewer new games these days, for one, though I did love Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, Destiny 2: The Witch Queen, and several games I’ve started but not yet finished.

One of my biggest games this year was Final Fantasy VII Remake, which I finally finished on the PS5. Hell of a game—if any video game can be called a masterpiece, that one comfortably belongs in the category. I also rolled credits on Mass Effect 2 and 3, and thought the latter was far superior to the middle chapter in spite of the general consensus. Regardless of how you feel about the very end, that game is quite an achievement for BioWare, and I hope Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is even half as engrossing.

I spent a lot of time playing Fortnite and Call of Duty online this year—something I plan to do a lot less of in 2023—but had plenty of fun doing it. I replayed a lot of familiar favorites: Skyrim, Halo Infinite, Fallout: New Vegas, Miles Morales. Most of my hours on the Nintendo Switch were spent with KotOR and KotOR II, and I’m currently struggling through an attempt to replay Morrowind on the Xbox, which is both painful and rewarding. I’m rediscovering a lot of the reasons why I fell in love with it twenty years ago.

At the movies

I didn’t go to the theater much this year, but I did watch 209 movies—most of them at home on my 65-inch TCL 5-Series. My top ten films of 2022 were The Fabelmans, Top Gun: Maverick, Elvis, del Toro’s Pinocchio, Watcher, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Pearl, The Batman, Nope, and Hellraiser. Fabelmans and Top Gun in particular made my heart soar; it’s nice to see both Spielberg and Cruise still delivering career-best work a full two decades after Minority Report, which was my favorite movie for a long time.

Outside of those ten, I also loved Kimi, Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, Revealer, and Confess, Fletch.

As far as new-to-me classics, I had a very fulfilling year working my way through the gaps in my Carpenter and Mann viewing, if nothing else—They Live, Prince of Darkness, Elvis ’79, Big Trouble in Little China, In the Mouth of Madness, Cigarette Burns, Ali, The Insider, The Keep… I spent a lot of time studying my favorite Carpenter flicks last year as I wrote the treatment for a horror script that’s lived in my head for a while, but I didn’t want to watch Prince of Darkness till after I’d finished a detailed outline of the story. In 2022, I logged fifteen Carpenter films and seven from Mann.

I saw Citizen Kane, F for Fake, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Godfather, Part II, Solaris (2002), The Meyerowitz Stories (every bit as good as Marriage Story), Twin Peaks season two and The Missing Pieces, Killing Them Softly, Jaws, Your Name, The Gambler (the one with James Caan, not Marky Mark), Bonnie and Clyde, Near Dark, The Hidden, Silent Running, the original 3:10 to Yuma, Joe Kidd.

It’s been a hard, stressful, scary, transformative year. But I’m grateful for the strides I made, both personal and professional, and for the media and stories that inspired me along the way.

Subscribe to my Substack newsletter.

#andor #better call saul #rings of power

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sur-un-fil · 2 years

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Ink demonth 2022 - Prize

Or... How did Joey think of black magic?

Chapter 1: before 1920

He could not understand how anyone could waste his time - and his money! - on such stupid things. How could people like Nathan and his rich friends, who had been lucky enough to get an education, believe this?

Joey had been deeply bored for two hours, but he continued to smile and say sentences in Latin, a language he was the only one not to speak, without complaint. Being able to hang out with Nathan Arch was at that price. He knew how lucky he was that the young man had taken a liking to him even though he had no wealth, no influential protector and was clearly not part of his world. So he followed him to all his secret meetings pretending to be as passionate as he was, hoping that this "common interest" in the occult arts would lead to a real friendship.

Joey was as young as they were, but he already had plans. He had the motivation, the unshakeable confidence that he would succeed, and a gift for spotting talent. Most importantly, he is ready to do whatever is necessary. He hadn't been to any great schools, far from it, but if poverty had taught him anything, it was that all dreams, no matter how beautiful, needed funding.

And that was why he was wearing this ridiculous dress, in this freezing cellar, instead of having the fun he wanted. He puckered up his lips. We had to get in the mood, didn't we? To give themselves a thrill without risking anything... They who had never had anything worse to fear than their father's refusal of one of their whims. He stopped himself from letting the contempt that these fat, white roosters, sitting in a circle around him, inspired in his face. The incantation was finally coming to end, he could leave soon. And of course nothing happened. He listened distractedly to the debates that arose around him, talking about insufficient offerings, or directives that were not clear enough. One of them suggested that they should have chanted a specific name, instead of calling out a vague call in the demon dimension. Joey held back a chuckle. As if hell really existed. Life could be horrible enough without needing to invent a afterlife, and he wasn't a child anymore to need to believe that those who hurt him would pay next. No one would be punished, no one would save him. So why bother with morals to get what you want? He had already understood that to get what he deserved, he had to take inspiration from the worst and not hesitate to get dirty.

He was startled when Nathan put his hand on his shoulder. The others were all looking at him. Nathan handed him a thin, black book with a surprisingly plain cover. He took it and examined it politely, then looked up with a questioning look.

"I've seen how much you enjoy our meetings, Drew. That's pretty unusual for a poo... For a young man like you, so the fellowship and I decided to reward you. This is a very simple summoning manual, absolutely within your reach. You will be able to increase your knowledge and be all the more useful to your brothers."

It was offered so condescendingly that joey felt like tearing it up in front of him rather than accepting it. Instead, he nodded and thanked everyone, promising himself to throw it away as soon as he could.

Yet the book was still in his hand when he got home. He left it on his bedside table, telling himself that he would get rid of it the next day. But without really knowing why, he found himself putting it back on his shelf, among all the books he had painstakingly bought. And the book stayed with him, resisting his frequent moves and lack of money. He couldn't walk past it without wanting to throw it away, without picking it up to do so. But he never finished the act, strangely enough.

Fifteen years later, he still had it.

..................................................................

Hey!

I'm going to participate in the Ink demonth this year. I'm not sure if I'll finish in time at all, as I have very little time to write and a lot of other projects going on, but I'll try anyway, and I don't care if I miss the deadline. I just want to have fun ^^ ( and not stress!!)

SO! I've been writing - laboriously - a fiction on BATIM for some almost a year now, "What they deserve" ( the link is HERE) which takes more or less the story of the game, but with an extra detail: what if Henry, mortally wounded, managed to slightly deviate the scenario from the loop?

That's for my fic. During the Ink demonth, I'm going to use the daily themes to develop with small texts the story BEFORE "What they deserve", from the creation of the studio to the ink machine, including all the years Joey was 'active' between the closing of the Studio and the letter he sent to Henry... (I couldn't do it in the fic, so I figured this was my chance).

-> The main periods :

Before 1920: Joey's youth

1929 - 1939: Studio opens, Henry leaves (1930), 'normal' cartoon and comic book production.

1940 - 1959: experiments with ink, production of the ink machine and decline of the Studio until its bankruptcy and closure.

1960 - 1963: Joey still has hope and continues his experiments.

1964: he knows he'll never be famous and he just trying to save his old ass.

Just to clarify, I haven't read any books and just used the first game, BendiWiki and my imagination for these stories.

I hope you like it :)

#bendy and the ink machine #batim #the ink demonth #batim au #joey drew #young and cynical joey #Anyone ever wonder how he got the idea to use a fucking demon? I've wondered that too.#The Ink Demonth #Bendy and the Ink Machine

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doberbutts · 1 year

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I have to say I watched the rop partially bc of your positive reviews and I loved it. I mean I definitely have my qualms with parts of it (Elrond’s haircut, female dwarves not having beards) but overall I found it hella enjoyable.

I also love the LoTR movies, and the animated ones, and the books. I did hate the hobbit movies though, which is actually why I didn’t want to watch it originally was because I was worried it would be like them. But I’m glad I decided to watch it in the end.

Also in terms of not being exactly compliant with the lore, I can never remember the lore anyway so it doesn’t really bother me. It’s also a fantasy world, I’m ok with seeing different interpretations of things. The point is to just enjoy watching it *shrugs*.

This is just my opinion but I think like... people saying that the short hair on elves or the beardless dwarven women are taking a minor detail and making a huge mountain out of what would effectively be negligible.

Like, the short hair on the elves does bug me, but mostly that's just because I did like the PJ look better. Not saying one is inherently more correct than the other because Tolkien never said that all elves have waist-length hair, I personally feel that it's a better look is all. Elrond's hair specifically doesn't bother me nearly as much as Finrod's, because the dude's named "great hair" more or less and he's got maybe an inch or two on his scalp and an undercut. Where are my boy's long flowing locks??? He's one of the elves that's specifically described as having very long hair I demand to see the actor in a wig right now. But also again, relatively minor detail for a character that has a collective 5 minutes of screentime in the first season's entire 9 hours.

Like I'm not saying you can't be upset about it, it's just one of those things where I'm like. Does the hair length really matter that much? Compared to everything else?

PJ's Fellowship is literally my favorite movie ever and the trilogy will always always be my comfort food, don't get me wrong. I'd say they're a solid 8-9/10. I think Rings of Power is more like a 7-8/10. I think the Shadow of Mordor/War games are a 6-7/10. The Hobbit trilogy I'd rate a 5-6/10. Maybe even a 4/10 depending on how annoyed I want to be about some things. I appreciate that they are all a return to my favorite franchise ever and what I've devoted frankly embarrassing amounts of my life and hard-earned money towards, and even if I don't like a particular entry it'll still earn a place on my shelf just for having the name "Tolkien" attached to it, but I'm also honest in how much I actually enjoyed them.

Like the Shadow of Mordor/War games were a serious departure from lore (despite people currently astroturfing them and saying that they're lore-compliant, lmao)... Celebrimbor forged the One Ring??? His soul merged with Sauron's??? A human has the ability to be a necromancer??? And a human necromancer has the power to lasso an elf soul and stuff it into a dying human's body??? Shelob is a sexy goth spider lady that has a romantic tryst with Sauron??? Two of the wraiths are twin sisters from Totally Not China??? But even despite that, I found them really fun and enjoyed the story it was trying to tell me, even if some of the lore breaks made me wince.

#tbh the shadow games lost points most often for bad textures #pop-in #bugs #and really annoying but constant crashes #granted I played on console so maybe it's better on PC idk #but I tried to go back and play on my ps3 and I just can't #it lags so hard that there'd be a black screen and Important Cutscene Dialogue and I wouldn't see anything #and timing certain things that require QTE was impossible due to lag #it didn't lose points for story (mostly) it lost points because in its current state on my ps3 it's practically unplayable

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devious-little-milkmaiden · 4 months

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All The Books I Read in 2023 (and My Personal Ratings)

The Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys (Fiction)

6/10

Based off of the character of Bertha (Rochester's wife) from Jane Eyre, this is a short read. The writing style isn't my personal favorite, as I feel it's a little bit underdeveloped. I appreciate Rhys' choice to portray Antoinette as a morally gray character (especially regarding her racism, which can't really be passed off as a "product of the time") while still maintaining that she doesn't deserve the treatment she's given. The language does have some good moments. I do recommend this to anyone who's read "Jane Eyre", as it could serve as an interesting re-assessment of Rochester's character, though you should note that I myself have never read Jane Eyre.

Brutal Imagination - Cornelius Eady (Poetry)

10/10

This is an incredible collection of poetry which tackles racism in a really fascinating way. Brutal Imagination is a collection of poems written from the persona of the anonymous black man Susan Smith claimed stole her car and killed her children. If you aren't familiar with the case, Susan Smith, a woman from Union, SC, let her car roll into a lake, killing her two sons. She then made up the story about the armed, anonymous black man. It's interesting to speculate about this detail specifically: why did Smith choose to claim it was a black man? Was it a conscious decision she made, knowing that the race of the supposed suspect would make it more believable? Was the race descriptor a subconscious decision based on her own prejudice?

In this collection, Eady portrays the "armed black man" as materializing into existence when Smith gives her report to police, rather than a concrete person. The collection is rife with nuance and vulnerability, and Eady is an incredible poet. I cannot recommend this collection enough. However, I don't like the final section, which is an excerpt from a completely unrelated collection of poetry by Eady, "Running Man". It feels shoehorned in, maybe per request from the publishing company or something. I recommend just skipping it or reading it separate from the rest of the collection.

The City in Which I Love You - Li-Young Lee (Poetry)

7/10

Another incredibly strong poet language- and structure-wise. Rife with symbolism and references you could analyze and over-analyze for ages. However, it does suffer from some of the stereotypical pitfalls of poetry: intimate scenes for intimacy's sake, and self-referential moments that aren't possible for the reader to understand. However, as a whole, it's pretty good.

The Afterlife and Other Stories - John Updike (Short Stories)

10/10

This is definitely biased, because John Updike is my favorite writer of all time. This short-story collection is quintessential Updike: the mundane being given its beautiful due. Read through completely, the story components can definitely get repetitive: mostly from the perspectives of middle-aged men, married to women with varying levels of satisfaction. While I can recommend Updike as a writer, I can't recommend him as a diverse writer. Therefore, I combine this recommendation with Oyinkan Braithwaite and Mohsin Hamid (I have read very, very little of Hamid's work but from what I have read he is a great writer. I intend to read more of his in the future).

The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien (Fiction)

9/10

I have a bit of trouble with sitting down for long periods of time with a book, so this one definitely took a bit of time to finish (but I did it!!). It was a thoroughly pleasant read, mostly due to Tolkien's writing. Brevity is not his strong suit, so if you're more of a fan of action-centered books that keep lengthy passages to a minimum, than this may not be an enjoyable read for you. However, if you don't mind or even enjoy pages-long infodumping (that's the only way I can describe it), this book is right for you. I watched the movie series first and was surprised at how much was left out of them! It was a pleasant surprise, however, as there was so much more to delve into with Fellowship. I do intend on reading the rest of the series, including The Hobbit, at some point.

I usually don't enjoy high fantasy novels as I find that they can get cliche and repetitive without expanding or subverting the cliches they're filling. However, considering that LOTR was one of the first high fantasy series, it doesn't fall into this rut. It definitely possesses the archetypes of a classic hero's journey, yet often expands upon them.

My Immortal - XXXbloodyrists666XXX (Novel)

6/10

A playful "satire" (it's so mindless that I hesitate to label it as a satire) that has several laugh-out-loud moments. Though many readers may become annoyed with its flat-out disobeying of Harry Potter canon without any signaling of it being an AU, it's incredibly entertaining, especially since it's clear that the author has never picked up a single Harry Potter book. Gets more and more unintelligible as the chapters continue. Fantastic.

Maus, Vol. I and II - Art Spiegelman (Graphic Novel)

10/10

Not only should you read banned books, you should read this banned book. The art style is incredibly expressive considering that everybody is represented by animals. I'm not going to say it has "dark moments" because it is quite literally a book about the Holocaust. I learned several things I did not know before about concentration camps and the Holocaust as a whole: there's so much in here that textbooks didn't teach me. It's a very fascinating intersection between personal and universal history. Here's a quote from my thesis statement from an essay about Maus, because I am lazy, but also because I think it's an effective summary on my feelings about these graphic novels: "Heroic tales conventionally have morals at the end of them, something about how someone’s good character led to them being able to make it out of an experience others did not. But Maus does not congratulate Vladek [Art Spiegelman's father] for his savviness: it comes off less as a gift and more as a survival instinct. Vladek and Anja [Art's mother] lost their home, their family, and their sense of safety. The importance of Vladek’s story is not to congratulate him for his intelligence, but rather put into perspective the brutality of the Holocaust: even Vladek’s intelligence could not save him from the horrific experiences the Jews were subjected to. It was a lose-lose situation: live the torturous experience or die from it."

I cannot stress enough how incredibly important it is to read this book.

Interview with the Vampire - Anne Rice (Novel)

7/10

I am a HUGE fan of the movie, which I watched first, then decided to read the book. (Side note: I know people have their qualms about watching the movie before reading the book, but I think in some cases it helps to visualize scenes from the book. Also, most of the time, books have more in the story than movies, so it's sort of like bonus content--and you aren't getting all annoyed while watching the movie and going, "They left this out!! How could you leave that out?!" Of course, this doesn't apply to every book and its movie adaptation.)

The book version of IWTV was quite the enjoyable ride! Anne Rice... she gets it. I don't know what "it" is, but she just does. Her writing is strong, her characters tactile and brimming with energy, and her storytelling ability absolutely magnificent.

However:

There is something really weird going on with the relationship between Claudia and Louis, and I don't think Rice intended it to be pedo-y?

It is a bit bloated, which can make it hard to recognize thematic parallels.

Above Us the Milky Way - Fowzia Karimi (Novel, Autofiction)

6/10

Based on Karimi's personal experiences growing up in Afghanistan and being forced to seek refuge, AUTMW takes a highly abstract and speculative approach to this personal history with an abecedarian chapter structure. It has several strong moments, but overall it feels very disjointed. I do recommend reading this book, though I wouldn't say it's the most important book you could read regarding this subject.

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islandpcosjourney · 7 months

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IVF/ICSI Day 8

29th sept 2023

STIMS action scan

“I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears” - Psalms 34:4

7 Days ago I had just written about carrying out my first injection as part of the STIMS stage of our IVF cycle. I asked for prayers to help me build my confidence and they were answered. I did not live in fear of those injections each day and I carried them out without hesitation 🙏🏻

After the 2nd one, I sat in church for our Saturday service during communion weekend feeling a little tender from that particular stabbing but I knew I wanted to be there and that desire placed a cloak over the pain I felt. I was comforted by the fellowship of my lovely congregation afterwards who are so supportive of our journey and we are so grateful for their prayers, hugs & messages of encouragement. I didn't sleep very well that night because I felt nauseous and what really struck Kevin in the morning was that I was not up for the fry-up I'd been looking forward to for weeks 😂 I eventually managed an Iron-Bru sausage (culinary ingenuity of one of our local butcher's) and ½ a slice of black pudding but I still felt queasy. A lady in my IVF WhatsApp group told me she also felt the same on the morning of day 3 and that it passed so I was glad to hear that I wouldn't necessarily feel this way for the remainder of the week!

By Monday, Kevin was packing up to leave for 5wks and my hormones were all over the place! I was moody, I was in tears, I was laughing, I was numb - at least Kevin got to witness some of it before he left 🤪 small matters were getting to me, noises grated on me, I felt overstimulated at every turn and I found myself appreciating what some people with autism have to handle everyday when they are sensory, emotionally, intellectually & socially overstimulated. It wasn't much fun. I had my mum on speed-dial, my dog to cuddle & 4wks of packing to do which kept me grounded!

By Tuesday, I was on the ferry and facing my first morning injection - a pre-filled needle this time. I was warned that it might sting and cause some irritation - the nurse was right 😂 so I just lay down and slept through it, it was going to be a rough crossing anyway with the bad weather - but I missed it all! By the time I reached Edinburgh I was exhausted and had a headache so I had a nap to reset.

Wednesday & Thursday I was in work at the Scottish Bible Society office, meeting colleagues I hadn't yet met, enjoying bible study with them - it is so wonderful, inspiring & refreshing to work in an environment where each member of staff also walks with the Lord! 🙏🏻 Being a remote member of the team can be challenging at times so it's really important to connect with colleagues in person every so often to maintain strong relationships and I am so blessed to have had these couple of days this week to do that and hopefully a couple more next week too.

It is a relaxing work environment and even though I felt abdominally uncomfortable (like I was on Day 1 of my period all day every day, cramping & sore legs from pinching nerves) I really wanted to be there and a great working environment can make all the difference to someone's experience going through any sort of treatment alongside everyday life. It served me not only spiritually to be there but also as a great distraction to keep focused on what was important - not overthinking things (as I'm in bad habits of doing) and allowing God's work to be carried out as He means it to be. It can be so easy to fall into traps, to be lured into the world of IVF, talking with non-believers about their experiences, comparing notes, hearing their anxieties (and mirroring their burdens) and getting sucked into their negative trains of thought where they try to find scientific/secular meaning in every little thing that is happening and ultimately getting no answers.

Everyone has their own way of dealing with pressures and I am not trying to judge but I am so comforted in the process of "Let go and let God" - acknowledging God to direct our paths, letting go of lingering doubts, and submitting our lives to God alone. When God is in control of our lives, our lives become whole.

I have trusted in him to guide me over the years. This is where he led us. I don't know why, I don't know what's to come but I simply trust in Him. Where I was once in fear of the unknown, I now embrace it because it may lead somewhere exciting! Kevin messaged me after my latest appointment:

"I know you don't agree but it's all very exciting. I love the engineering in this. Even if it fails (which it most likely will) it's still exciting 🥰"

He's right, I haven't felt excited, I’ve been the realist, because ultimately excitement leads to disappointment, like you're expecting something & when it doesn’t happen, it feels much worse.... or that's what I thought. I think I am excited now (I felt a lot of joy after today’s appointment) but not because I expect something but rather because I don't. I'm not sure if I'm making sense but stick with me a second...... As I can't expect anything, because I am not in control, only God is, the possibilities are endless, which means that the unknown is an exciting adventure. To know what the end result will be is like a spoiler for a good book or film, it's no fun knowing what happens at the end without going through the middle section of the story first, with all the branches of the plot being intricately knit together. We are just in the middle of it and boy is it now getting exciting not knowing where each stage will lead us!

Speaking of which, the next stage! So I have had my action scan, which was to check on the progress of my follicles. An internal ultrasound was used to check that the lining of my uterus was thick enough & to look at both my ovaries to measure the size of each follicle. My right ovary has produced more follicles than the left, which I suppose makes sense because we naturally ovulate from alternating ovaries each month - September is clearly the turn of my right side 🤩

In order to proceed on to the next stage of egg collection, they were looking for 3 follicles to be 17mm. I have 3 @ 17, 18 & 19mm, 3 @ 10, 11 & 12mm and loads of wee ones (measuring smaller than 10). So, they’re hoping to find eggs in the 3 largest follicles, hoping the next 3 will grow a wee bit more so they’re mature enough to harvest eggs from those too but they won't expect the small ones to become mature enough - but 6 is a good number, we don’t want too many, we want quality egg production 🤪

The most important point is that I won’t be subjected to any more days of hormone injections than is absolutely necessary - I’ve only had to do the minimum amount, 8 days, when really I was expecting 10-12. Saturday will be my final day on hormones, with my last injection (Ovitrelle) being @ 2315, 36hrs before scheduled egg collection - this is to mature the follicles so that they can be drained on Monday, hopefully to locate an egg in each one (a growing follicle does not mean there’s an egg present within it).

God is so good to have watched over me and protected me thus far to allow each stage of this process to work as effectively as it has.

Once eggs have been collected, on Monday afternoon they will be (using the ICSI process) individually injected with Kevin’s thawed sperm and we will know by Tuesday morning if any fertilisation has taken place.

Prayer points to consider:

Pray for the cycle to continue as smoothly as possible.

Pray for Màiri as she prepares to go under conscious sedation on Monday.

Pray for Calum, Màiri’s brother, who will be driving Màiri & Christine up to Dundee on Monday (an early start leaving before 6.30am)

Pray for Christine, that her fibromyalgia will not flare up and that she will feel well enough to support Màiri.

Pray for a resolution to their travel plan options on how to return from Dundee to Edinburgh afterwards.

Pray for Kevin who cannot be with Màiri during this process and is supporting remotely from his ship in the North Sea. So far levels of communication have been satisfactory but a stable internet connection is not always possible.

Pray for them both in their relationship, to uphold each other in the strength of their marriage.

Pray for the quality of the eggs to be collected, that they will be blessed with God’s Grace.

Pray for the ICSI process, that the egg/sperm will not be compromised.

Pray for the staff in the unit - the embryologists, nurses & consultants.

Pray for those who are also going through infertility or have gone through it, no matter how long ago, for the pain leaves scars on your heart similar to grief.

On the wall of the waiting room in the ACU unit, Ninewells.

"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" - Romans 5:1-5

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your-cryin-fool · 1 year

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Srs here! (Also, don't worry about late replies! Life gets in the way sometimes didn't it lol! Or work or like everything else haha!)

For me, Christmas traditions have changed some over the years. When i was little, we always would get up early, open our stockings then we'd have to wait till after dinner (usually held around noon or 1), then we could open presents. It was torture as a kid haha! Now, we go to my fiancés sisters house on Christmas eve and my parents on Christmas for brunch.

As a kid, on Christmas Eve, we'd hang out as a family and get a fire going in the fire place, have cocoa and play the piano, and sing carols.

I really enjoyed Rings of Power! I wasn't sure what to expect, but like you, anything that gets me back in to middle earth is fantastic! There were so many moments I was yelling at the TV like "THERE'S A REFERENCE TO LOTR" and things like that. I was fangirling to a great extent!

Admittedly, I only watched the first two seasons of GoT. I got so mad when Ned died--Sean Bean dies in everything, and I was just like, NOT AGAIN, C'MON!!! it is on my list of things to re-watch though because I know it was very good.

The Lotr Lego game was so great. The hobbit one was really fun too. And this is funny, but the Lego City game (which is totally for kids) was an absolute blast to play. It was super funny. So was the Ninjago one. Haha!

(And last lotr thing for now--Faramir: he is amazing! His story line was so heartbreaking, especially that footage in the extended edition where you see him with Boromir and Boromir is like, "remember today, little brother". (Also i love book Faramir--I think you get more of his character in there but I did enjoy movie Faramir too))

Those sound like really fun traditions!! Some of mine have stuck around since I was a kid, we always watch Christmas Vacation on Christmas Eve, and even if I'm alone on Christmas Eve I watch it, we normally do a kind of snack night on Christmas eve too instead of a big dinner, and my mom always puts on A Christmas Carol right at midnight on Christmas

Omg the LotR references KILLED me in RoP (in the best way) I started SOBBING during the last episode when the line "when in doubt, follow your nose" was said. I was Emotional during the last episode in general but that got me.

I haven't really read the books, I'm almost finished Fellowship but that's it, I've read the hobbit a couple times though. From what I've heard, I do know that book Faramir is very good, and that him and Eowyn have more time together which I'd love to see. I love them together and I wish they got more screen time in the movie. Also in the extended edition when Faramir volunteers to go to Rivendell but Denethor is, well the worst, and sends Boromir. I firmly believe that if Faramir went instead, he wouldn't have tried to take the ring, and then we might have gotten to see a happy ending for both Boromir and Faramir, and maybe Denethor would have stopped being the worst. Maybe. Denethor's was one of the deaths I wasn't too upset about 😂

Is there a moment in the LotR trilogy that no matter how many times you watch it, it still gives you chills? For me it's "My friends, you bow to no one" anytime I think of that scene my eyes start watering, god it's so beautiful

#srs22

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celeste-clearwater-06 · 3 years

Note

hello. it is i. so! i was wondering if you could do a little ditty abt nail polish with the company and/or the fellowship? basically like modern girl in middle earth type stuff, and she realizes that she has nail polish on her which is something they totally don't have in middle earth. basically headcanons abt like how they would react to painted nails and which one of these mfs would let me paint their nails. cuz like - they dont know its just a "fem" thing here so no toxic masculinity. ty <3

OMFG I'M SO HYPED FOR THIS! I just picked a few random Tolkien characters that seem to have a lot of attention, so I hope you like this!!

Nail Polish (LOTR/THE HOBBIT X READER)

Frodo~

I feel like Frodo would be very skeptical at first

Because, come on, a girl falling into Middle Earth out of nowhere??

However, his interest is certainly peaked, seeing you twist the brush away from it's blue colored bottle as you smile down at it

"What's that, you've got there?"

"Oh, just some nail polish!"

He watches with curiosity as you perfectly decorate your nails with the periwinkle color

"How interesting..."

He may not want to have his nails painted at first, but has this deep fascination with how perfectly you can paint them without screwing up

Soon, he forgets all about the ring as you paint your nails, sitting cross-legged and starting with those huge blue eyes with interest

If he allows you to paint his nails, he would smile the whole time

I mean HIS TINY HANDS?!?!

What a bean 🥺

Tries his best not to chip the color when he leaves for Mordor with Sam

Gollum is actually really interested with his nails

"whAT IS IT prECI0us?!?1!1?"

But Frodo will swat his hands away, because "it's a gift from someone important."

The one thing that keeps him smiling along the way 😊

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Legolas

Elf prince is so interested!!

He thinks the spring green color looks so pretty in the bottle

He's obviously not used to most thing from your world

Asks politely;

"How do you use this?"

"...can I show you?"

So whenever the Fellowship stops for the night, he watches with amusement as your brows furrow and you stick your tongue out in concentration

Legolas sits very still, so it's easy for you to paint his nails

How does he keep them so clean?!

He's low-key obsessed with how satisfying it is...

wAIT...

Now HE wants to paint YOUR nails?

THE PRECISION...

He's so good at it!

Legolas is so patient and calm

He says it reminded him of making flower crowns I guess?

And he doesn't even mess up once 😳

THE MASTER NEEDS TEACHING, DAYUM-

He gets so happy with how the color matches him!

Forgets that you have to let it dry at first, so it gets a bit smudged when he draws his bow

Upset Legolas :(

But you fix it for him, and he's happy again!

CAN

NOT

STOP

LOOKING

He's amazed!!

And so proud!

Pretty Elf 🥰✨

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Pippin

Pippin is very confused, to say the least

He though it would be something relatively close to a nail filer

But once he sees the pastel yellow color, on your own fingers, he has to have some!!

WILL

NOT

SIT

STILL

While you're trying to paint his hands and feet (by request), he's telling you great tales of the shire, a throwing his limbs around to exaggerate his story

You've to clonked him on the head and scolded him quite a few times

For some reason, he's saying it tickles??

"It does! The brush is like feather!"

Painting his toes it a lot easier, seeing he can't really feel much on his feet

The color goes perfect with his green eyes 🥴

Also, let's not forget that Pip is the definition of "disaster-on-legs"

After the polish dries, it immediately chips, since he's busy causing trouble with merry or practicing his hand with Boromir

He really wants to paint your nails, and you let him do so...

Poor hobbit has zero clue with how this shit works 🤦‍♀️

He feels so bad about getting it all over your fingers, but you assure him it'll be fine and that it will eventually wash off in a few days

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Boromir

HE WANTS TO USE IT RIGHT AWAY-

Pink, as cliche as it sounds, suits him so well

He's just amazed!

Also, really likes the smell 🤔🤔

Is grinning like an idiot while you're painting his nails

"Such talent and patience you have!"

"Pfft, it's really nothing. Takes a bit of practice is all."

Afterward, is flashing his bright pink nails at everyone

"Look at Y/N's spectacular skill of hand!"

I think Boromir would have a habit of picking at the polish after it dries

But that's okay, he doesn't mind too much

It gives him more time to spend with you while you repaint them!!

He's afraid he'll screw up your nails if he tries to paint them, so he never offers

That's alright though, since you know he only means well 😊

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Thorin

Oh he's so regal

You were in Rivendell, digging through your purse, and suddenly

Tada!!

A deep navy blue bottle, probably about half empty was revealed

He was curious, but tried not to let it show, since that would damage his royal ego 🙄

"What is that?"

"Oh, just some nail polish. Wanna try some?"

Thorin would insist that you show him how it works first

And so, you did

He definitely admires the color

But defied any suggestion of you painting his own nails

That would be "un-kingly" 😤

Okay so maybe he lets you paint his pinky finger when nobody is around

But he smiles (a rare sight) while watching you paint your nails

And does give a somewhat compliment at your articulate handwork

"It looks exceptional as artwork."

"Erm... Thanks?"

He definitely thinks the color matches you beautiful skin tone 😌

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Kili ~

Prince Dumbass LOVES red

It reminds him of Tauriel 🥰

One night, you left your bag opened on the ground as you went off to get some food from Bombur, and Kili couldn't help but notice the glittering ruby bottle inside

He grabbed it, being the nosy prince he was, and examined its glow in the firelight

"What kind of jewel is this?"

"Oh hey, my nail polish!!"

Very confused

"Why does it smell so strange?"

Thankfully, being a dwarf, his fingernails are a bit bigger, so there's more room and it's easier to paint

He, like Pippin, has issues with sitting still and gets you really annoyed

"I swear to all things fluffy, if you don't sit still I will cut off all of that hair in your sleep-"

"😳"

He immediately smudges them, and then you have to paint them AGAIN

Once they FINALLY dry, he won't let anyone touch them

"Stop it, Fili! You'll damage them!"

He can't stop touching them, since it's so smooth!

The others tease him, but he doesn't mind, as long as they stay nice and clean

Turns into a whiny toddler the MINUTE they chip

"Y/nnn! I need you to repaint them!"

"I just painted them yESTERDAY-"

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Fili

A mix of Thorin and Kili when it comes down to it

Definitely prefers gold 😌✨

Sees you painting your nails one night in the library in Erebor

"What have you got there sagh (friend)?"

"Just some nail polish. Wanna try some?"

Once again, he wants to see what it does like Thorin

And you of course happily oblige

Admires the color greatly

He says it reminds him of the gold floors in his kingdom, and it makes you chuckle

Fili loves to have his nails painted, and especially with such a regal hue 💅😌

DAMN does it bring out those baby blues 🥴

After that, you stare at his hands a lot, proceeded by his flirtatious teasing

Shows up Kili's sparkly red polish with his "more extravagant" color

He is also very protective of his nails and tries his very best to keep them from chipping

You love watching him hold his weapons and spar with his pretty nails 😳

Even with his larger hands, made for forging and wielding huge swords and axes and smelting, he had an incredibly steady and gentle hand when it comes to this subject, so he's AMAZING at painting his and your nails

Fili insists that you have matching nails all the time, and it's a regular thing for you to hang out and talk about your day while you paint each others nails 🥺

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°��°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Thranduil

Have you MET this man?!

KING OF DIVAS 💅💅

At first, he's very weirded out

"What do you have in your hand, mellon (friend)?"

"Oh, just some nail polish."

"Interesting..."

Thranduil watches intently over your shoulder as you carefully decorate your nails with a glossy black polish, sitting directly next to his throne

"Do you want me to paint your nails?"

"Hm?"

He reluctantly agrees, placing his BEAUTIFUL hand in yours and stares down at your gentle talented work

He loves the color more than he cares to admit, and much like his son sits very still as you lead the brush over his clean nails

The elf king loves seeing your tongue stick out in concentration

You remind him that it'll need time to dry out

And as he says in his notoriously sassy voice;

"I thousand years is a mere blink in the life of an elf... I'm patient... I can wait."

Ofc, you just scoff at this and tell him it'll only take about five to ten minutes

He just nods and stares back down at them with admiration

Thranduil doesn't do much around his kingdom, except maybe get a bit drunk and direct orders to his guards, so it's no worry about him chipping or ruining his nails

I hope you liked this, just as much as I enjoyed writing it!! Have a lovely day, and don't forget that requests are open as always!! ❤❤😊

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queenlucythevaliant · 3 years

Text

The last word’s not spoken

Peter’s crown slid down his brow as he knelt. When Aslan commanded him to rise, he nudged it back into place as he did so. The Lion brought troubling news, and Peter felt clumsy in the face of it. Your reign is soon to end, Aslan told him. Make arrangements.

He did not say it unkindly, as though he were threatening or punishing; rather the opposite, in fact. Nevertheless, it was an unsettling thing to hear.

“I tell you this because you are the eldest, and are High King above your brother and sisters,” the Lion finished.

Peter opened his mouth and closed it. “Aslan—” he tried. No use. Finally: “Do you mean we’re going to die?” He was thinking of Edmund, who just celebrated his birthday barely a fortnight hence; Susan, who longed to marry and have a family; Lucy, who was still so very young.

“My son, I have not come to reveal all that will happen to you. I will make your path straight, but you must discover where it leads for yourselves.”

Peter nodded. He hadn’t really expected any other answer. He sucked in a wavering breath. Lifted his head. Set his shoulders, then met the Lion’s eyes.

“Peter.” Aslan’s voice was deeper and richer and full of more compassion that Peter could understand. “It is hard for you, my son. Your path is more difficult than those of your siblings. Yet this I promise you today: the best is still yet to come.”

The best is still yet to come.

Peter’s classes fell such that he ate a late lunch most days. He saw very little of Edmund until the evenings, at which point they would often sit together in the younger boys’ dormitories and do their work together in quiet fellowship. It wasn’t altogether different than their evenings had been as kings of Narnia, Peter remembered dimly.

Sometimes, when they found themselves in private, they spoke of their kingdom in hushed, reverential tones. They did not pine for their older selves or their faintly-remembered skills so much as they simply missed the glories of that other world. There was a beauty and nobility that permeated even the mundane in Narnia which England could not match, no matter how they searched for it. Edmund was reading The Once and Future King. It made him wistful, if occasionally short with his more boorish classmates.

One evening, in between Latin and algebra, Peter looked across at Edmund and was so overcome with longing that he could scarcely think. It was then that he tore out a page from his notebook and scrawled across it the Lion’s words from that last conversation: The best is still yet to come. He folded it up and kept it in his pocket thereafter.

After a good bit of looking, Caspian found Peter in a little wooded clearing far away from the music and noise of the celebration. The High King had vanished after giving the toast (“to Aslan, Light of Narnia and the founder of this feast, and to King Caspian: long may he reign!”), but here he was sitting in silence and looking very grave. The noon sun on his face made him look almost like the great warrior Caspian had once imagined him to be.

When Peter noticed Caspian, he beckoned him over with a nod. “Was the feast not to your liking?” Caspian asked.

“It was a wonderful feast,” Peter replied. “I’d have liked to stay and enjoy it. Only I wanted some time here alone in the woods, now that they finally seem familiar to me.”

“Surely you shall have plenty of time to reacquaint yourself,” said Caspian.

Peter smiled. How young Caspian sounded! The boy king of Narnia indeed. But then, Peter himself had once been the boy king of Narnia. Was the boy king of Narnia, even now. If only, if only Aslan would allow them some time to enjoy Narnia at peace! Peter would be content to leave then, if only he could have a few weeks to say a proper goodbye this time.

“I was speaking with Aslan,” Peter told Caspian slowly. “Or—he was speaking to me.”

“What did he say?”

“I’m sure you’ll know in a couple of hours.” Then, quieter, as if to himself rather than to Caspian: “The best is still yet to come.”

“I’m sorry?” Caspian wasn’t sure whether he ought to ask about what the High King had just uttered, but he almost couldn’t help himself.

Peter shook his head. “Aslan makes promises, you know. A lot of them, if you learn to listen well. This is the best advice I can give you as king, Caspian: hold on tight to those promises. They’ve never failed me yet.”

***

Sometimes, Peter Pevensie took a very worn piece of paper out its place tucked between his Bible’s title page and table of contents and looked at it very hard. These days, he was more and more certain he knew what the words written on it meant.

The best is still yet to come. In the last days of his hazy, long-ago kingship, Aslan had spoken those words to him and Peter hadn’t known what to say. He had been older, and yet he had known so much less then.

Now, Peter sipped tea with Professor Kirke as they talked through Galatians in the Greek. Now, he traded notes and prayer requests with his seminary classmates and answered Eustace’s theology questions as patiently as he could. He met up with Edmund in Oxford pubs and inquired eagerly about life and law school and the lady he had taken to supper the night before. Lucy sang in the church choir, and Peter sat in the third pew from the front and sang “ponder anew what the Almighty can do” in a rough baritone, warm and joyful right to his core. They were all praying for Susan.

This, Peter was sure, was the joy for which Aslan had prepared him all those years. Yet when the Narnian figure appeared at dinner that night, he wondered.

***

Edmund held an electric torch while Peter dug. His shovel thumped on something hard, and he bent down, thinking the best is still yet to come.

The best is still yet to come, he heard a voice say as he stood on the platform and heard the sound of metal being rent, the sickening rush and bump of something enormous and fast tearing towards him.

“Peter, High King of Narnia: shut the door,” Aslan said. As he moved to obey, Peter could feel a piece of folded paper heavy in his pocket. Although he didn’t remember putting it there, he was sure it was the one from his Bible back in England.

And then Aslan was before him, crying “Further up and further in!” in his fierce, rich voice, and all at once, Peter understood.

#narnia #peter pevensie #peter is such an internal character #and we see so little of his thought process #Aslan speaks to Peter too #but so little of it is comfort at least on the page #so here we go #pontifications and creations #high king over all the rest #Leah stories

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fellowshipofthefics · 2 years

Text

Hey Fellowship of the Fics! Please welcome @ahufflepuffhobbit!! 👏🥳 Robyn decided to share her thoughts and impressions on her fic: I’ll Die to Care for You.

Question 1: What inspired you to write this fic?

I had been reading a lot of time traveling fics, and typically they feature Bilbo being the one who is sent back. I really enjoy those, of course, but it did get me wondering what it would be like if Thorin was the one sent back! From there, I started thinking about scenes that would probably occur, and what Thorin would change, and who would know, and I knew I needed to write it because I couldn't find anything like what I was imagining.

Question 2: What was your favorite scene to write in this fic and why?

My favorite scene was probably the first time that Thorin and Bilbo make love, quite honestly. There are only two sex scenes in the fic (so far), and each one is special. That first one really shows the comfort and fun that can happen when two people are really connected, and it is still sassy and loving in a way that feels true to the characters (I think).

Question 3: What was the hardest scene to write and why?

It's a scene that hasn't been posted yet! Everyone knows that the Battle of the Five Armies is coming up in this story (it's the next plot point, quite literally), and it was very, very difficult for me to write. I had been procrastinating on it and am now procrastinating on editing and posting it because I'm just not sure that it's where I want to be. Soon, soon, it will be ready! Still very hard though.

Question 4: Was there any parts you had to cut/change before the final draft and do you have them to share?

Not so far. I don't really cut out scenes - if it's not working in the moment, I don't write it. However, that may change with the upcoming battle scenes!

Question 5: What overall impression/moment do you want readers to take away from your fic?

That there's more to Thorin being a great warrior. He's someone who is traumatized, and in this story, he is discovering that it is okay to recognize that trauma and to allow other people to help him, including others that he may not have considered at first. Plus, you know, true love. XD

If you haven’t read this story yet, go back up to the top and be sure to click the link. Also if you haven’t seen Robyn’s works before, here are some other fics that she has done that are worth checking out as well:

Dwarrow Holidays Series

You're the Only One for this Heart of Mine

I Can Make it Holy

If you would like to get you and your story featured in Monday Mentions, please click the Application Link! If you have any questions/concerns with the form, please feel free to leave an ask or DM one of us!

#monday mentions #ahufflepuffhobbit

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