#【 interaction: elijah shroud. 】

[rclldamage]

Should he care or send help to claim the young man ? Since the moment he had tracked the fiend to the location and saw Roy impressed, bound with coarse ropes, he had fought the instinct to allow the young man to remain bound. Elijah was no champion for those in need of aid. He was a man who was cursed by the very power he wielded to save him. Yet, the blood that ran through his body sang to a higher calling. Even the guardian who whispered to him urged him to save the man. Allow him to live and continue and thrive. To him, his celestial blood was the curse. Ancestry locking him away to a path that most believed he should follow without question. It was only a few seconds, but stretched on for an eternity for him.

Fuck, he growled under his breath. His fingers gripped the shaft of the glaive so tightly that knuckles turned pale and appeared pale red with the glowing crackle of red electricity that hummed and snapped from the metal of the blade. He peered over his shoulder at the man. Elijah could still find a use for him and there could be a reward for his return. Slowly, he stepped over the dead fiend and approached Roy with his weapon spinning between his callous fingers - striking the bindings that held Roy and cutting him free. Quickly, he pulled forward and caught him as he collapsed into his strong arms. Spinning his body, Elijah lowered to his knee and took the man with him, leaning him against his thigh and peering down at him with a coy smile.

“ Today is your lucky day,” Elijah mused, “I often charge extra for recuse and … “ He trailed off, a warm light emitting from his palm while he ran it slowly down from the man’s throat to rest on his stomach. Slowly, the radiant energies provided by his celestial bloodline melded into Roy’s skin and pulsated throughout his form, healing him of his minor injuries, “ a chance to have me feel you up. “ His hand ran back over his torso to rest at his throat, thumb rested against his pulse. “ Unless you have a fetish for being tied down.” 

answered for @holysound

[storiesbybrian]

You Live In A Zoo

Ken was riding alone in the elevator, holding a large black forest cake when he sneezed. He aimed his face away from the cake, but the volume of snot and spit oozing down the elevator’s wood-paneling suggested the cake had not escaped the sneeze’s blast radius. Well, Ken thought. Maybe the cake deserves it for preventing my hands from taking one for the team. So it was unsurprising to turn back and see the white-piped letters reading HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESSICA glistening with effluvia, but it was still dismaying. Ken would have loved to blame the person who insisted that cake boxes, with their thin cardboard and non-biodegradable plastic skylights, were preposterously wasteful, but that ever so environmentally ethical person was the same one who just exposed the cake to his own inner environment. He tried blowing the cake clean, which sent a flagella of mucus he hadn’t realized was dangling from his nose lashing across both Ps, just as the elevator stopped on his in-laws’ floor.

He stepped out and placed the slimy cake on the hallway carpet. Sounds of merriment  streamed from the cracked door of his wife’s childhood home. Sounds of merriment and his father-in-law’s favorite record, Extensions by the Manhattan Transfer. That damn record was going to play on repeat all night. Ken took a tissue from his pocket and poised a corner of it over the cake, hoping to absorb his nose’s unwelcome contribution without disturbing the calligraphy. He caught one substantial gob that way, but a few streaks still glared up at him. Using a different corner of the tissue, he swept these toward the nearest cherries where they could just blend right in.

When the most damning of the evidence was cleared, Ken stuffed the tissue into his back pocket and carried the cake the rest of the way to his mother-in-law’s 70th birthday party. Jessica and Boris’s apartment had five bedrooms and four and a half bathrooms, all centered around a dining room so large, Ken always expected Irish wolfhounds to come running in at dinner time, even though the building was pet-free. Ken was nearly sure he would have hated the art they slapped all over their infinite wallspace even if his in-laws’ rent wasn’t lower than what he and Caroline were paying for a one-bedroom 10 blocks away. But maybe he did feel more brutally assaulted by that economic outrage than he did by the enlarged ads for a French liqueur, the brown, crumbling opera announcements, the braille transcriptions of rap lyrics and poetry by Havel, the portraits of all six members of their immediate family, all those ornate frame corners poking from the mint green walls like dungeon spikes.

“Happy Birthday!” he said loudly enough, he hoped, for his mother-in-law to hear him anywhere in the cavernous apartment. He turned left, ducking under copper whisks and ladles hanging from the kitchen doorway to hand the snot-smeared cake off to his brother-in-law Gene, who ruled the kitchen with a despotism his cooking did not merit. Gene took it with one hand, without looking up from his phone. Caroline was pinned to the living room sofa by two of their nephews. Ken stood at the edge of the room, giving the entire party one more chance to herald his arrival, and maybe give him subtle guidance on who to kiss first, his wife, the birthday girl or scotch. Just in case any of Rebecca’s guests noticed he was there, he imagined them judging him most harshly if he greeted anyone before his wife so he wended his way past Caroline’s siblings and parents’ friends to the skirmish on the couch.

“Hi Uncle Ken!” his nephew Elijah said. “Can I tickle your armpits?”

Ken knew permission didn’t matter so after glancing disgustedly at the cluster of paintings, charcoals and lithographs, united in their celebration of 19th Century Japanese agriculture, he stiff-armed Elijah and leant over to kiss Caroline. He wanted to be able to confide in her about the splash he’d made on her mother’s cake, to have it be their dirty little secret, which made him think of Betsy, a girl he’d known years before getting married who, one winter, dared him to stick his tongue up her nostril, which he did. And while getting his tongue poked by her jagged, salty boogers wasn’t much of an erotic thrill, goddamn it was intimate! But Caroline’s devotion to her mother was too slavish to allow her to conspire, even mildly, against her so, with Elijah swiping away at his underarm and kicking at his shin to get closer, Ken just smiled and told her she looked nice, wondering why breathing in the chopped herring on her breath didn’t feel as intimate as Betsy’s boogers.

Elijah reached a few finger tips to Ken’s armpit. Ken clamped his arm down, trapping Elijah’s wriggling fingers against his ribcage. Ken smirked and said, “Still too thin to win, boy.”

“Uh, Ken?” Gene said, swatting his own torso with a spatula right where Joan Jett’s eyes squinted from his dark denim Meow Mix apron. “May I see you in the kitchen?”

Everyone at the party intoned her own version of, “Uh oh, what’d you do?”

Ken assured Caroline that everything was fine and dragged Elijah toward the kitchen ready to deny everything. Absolutely everything. Just before the utensil stalactites, Ken raised his arm and Elijah ran back to the sofa, stopping briefly to try crying but abandoning the project when no tears sprang forth. In the kitchen, Gene gave Joan Jett a break and pointed his spatula at a Royal Copenhagen gravy boat on a shelf he couldn’t reach.

“Gene,” Ken said.

“Yes, Ken?”

“You know I’m not the tallest one here. I’m not even your tallest family member.”

“Darling,” Gene’s father Boris said, poking a rare nude spot on a wall repeatedly. “I’m hungry.”

Boris tried to maintain deference to his son while also entering his own kitchen and sticking spoonfuls from every pot into his mouth, using a different spoon each time, and leaving it there, until it looked like he was trying to swallow a very fancy bicycle gear. Boris was almost elfin in his slightness, his ribbed turtle neck sagging from the slender limbs of his 4’ 9” frame. But then there were his eyebrows, which Ken believed could hold carnations by their stems.

“Daddy!” Gene said. “How is it?”

“That one’s great, that one’s pretty good, that one’s very good, that one’s too mushy and that one needs salt,” Boris said, extracting the spoon corresponding to each critique separately.

Ken felt like the entertainment value of the family schtick had reached its apex, so he handed Gene the gravy boat and made his way to the bar.

Boris had hired the same catering company that handled Ken and Caroline’s wedding, but only for beverage and waiting service. All of the food was courtesy of Gene, who bravely ignored the disappointment shrink-wrapping every thank you and congratulations his parents’ guests lavished on him. Gene’s menu was modeled on Boris and Rebecca’s first date, when Rebecca’s grandmother had served them beef stroganoff by candlelight on the fire escape of Rebecca’s childhood apartment in Middle Village. In addition to the egg noodles and beef stew, Gene had kasha varnishkes, steamed carrots, roast broccoli, cold potato leek soup, and fried zucchini blossoms stuffed with goat cheese. The shard of blossom batter Boris had hacked off with a spoon edge was what needed salt. Ken had never eaten Rebecca’s cooking, which led him to believe it was bad, and he wondered how Boris finessed deploying gusto on their first date with exiling her from the kitchen for the next 40 years.

“Scotch and soda?” Ken said to the bartender.

“Single malt or blend?” the bartender asked. Ken was slightly perturbed to be delayed by further consideration, but this was a special occasion so maybe Boris had sprung for some of the good stuff.

“Single malt,” he said. “Hold the soda.”

The bartender poured a slug from an oddly shaped bottle of a brand Ken never heard of into a wine glass. Tattooed flames rose above the cuffs of her tuxedo shirt, licking at her palms, making Ken feel warmer.

“Hey,” he said. “Have I seen your band play? At the Mercury Lounge?”

“Nice try,” she said. “But I don’t think so.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Ken saw Caroline’s twin brother Tommy watching him get his drink and somehow Ken knew that Tommy had already made the bartender tense about getting hit on.

“No really,” Ken said. “I’m… married, but I do get out to see music pretty often.”

The bartender nodded with all the polite contempt she could contain within the boundaries of professionalism. Ken had his drink and now she’d really like to stop interacting with him. Have a nice day, sir. But Ken felt embarrassed and protected by his connection to the payer of tonight’s bills, so, beneath the shroud of his own bullshit version of decorum, he declared himself the arbiter of when this little chat would be over.

“Drums?” he asked.

“I’m not in a band,” she said. “You don’t recognize me.”

She looked past him to someone else who wanted a drink. Ken turned to see who, hoping it was somebody he didn’t know. In five minutes, he’d secretly ruined the birthday cake and meta-cheated on the birthday girl’s youngest daughter.

“Two red wines please,” Caroline’s sister Gretchen said.

“Hey,” Ken said. “Elijah’s really getting stronger!”

“Yeah,” Gretchen said, taking her wines. “I really wish you’d help me discourage his more violent tendencies, Ken.”

Am I crushing it or what? Ken thought. Well, the scotch was very good. Time to move on to the next exhibit and pay tribute to his mother-in-law.

Rebecca was in a group that included her brother Alan, and her department dean at CUNY. They stood by Boris’s large oil of a barn in Vermont. Ken couldn’t look at the painting without picturing two farmers holding Boris by the ankles so they could paint the barn with his eyebrows.

“No!” Rebecca said to her brother.

“Oh yes,” Uncle Alan said. “Ken, maybe you’ve heard about this.”

“About what? Happy birthday, Rebecca.”

“Thank you, Ken,” she said, extending her cheek to be bussed. Ken never found Rebecca attractive, but her hair was well-coiffed and her jawline was strong and she usually smelled nice. “How’s the cake look?”

“Like a potential fire hazard,” he said to a heartening amount of chuckling. “What am I supposed to settle here?”

“Well, Alan says there was a guy on his flight who was whittling. Whittling! On an airplane. Is that really a thing now?”

“Oh yeah, I have heard something about that,” Ken said. He had not.

“See?” Alan said. “And it was a full-on bowie knife too!”

“Must’ve been a service knife,” Rebecca’s dean said, waiting for his subordinate to laugh at his wit. Rebecca nodded without mirth and Ken tried staring at the dean, daring him to be petty enough to make a note of Rebecca’s defiance, but wary that the dean might mistake his look for a ha ha I’m funnier than you taunt. Someone tapped Ken’s shoulder. It was Tommy, beckoning Ken into the bedroom where he still lived.

“Boys,” Rebecca said. “No vaping!”

Tommy closed the door. Ken had never been able to square Tommy’s bedroom decor with his personality. Floating shelves jutted from one burgundy wall, holding several dozen coffee table books on subjects ranging from wartime photography to arctic wildlife photography, none of which Ken had ever heard Tommy talk about, even when relevant subjects came up in family conversations. The opposite wall was dominated by a wide oak desk that held three monitors across which Bloomberg financial data perpetually ticked. His bed was a stately four-poster that Ken doubted ever saw any action. Tommy sat on it and invited Ken to sit next to him. Ken declined.

“I do have a pen, if you want some,” Tommy said.

“No thanks.”

“So… uh, just thought you should know that the reason Gene called you into the kitchen was to settle a bet we had.”

“Uh huh?”

“Ken,” Tommy said. “You know Caroline tells me everything, right? Like, everything.”

“Well I’m sure there are some-”

“Everything.”

“I see.”

“So, like, my bet with Gene,” Tommy said, now fiddling with the vape pen. “Gene says he can smell how long it’s been since somebody’s… you know. Had sex?”

“Um, for just how much was this bet?”

“Five bucks.”

“Ooh, high stakes!”

“Hey, you can make fun of me if you want Ken, but has it ever occurred to you that I might be helpful to you here?”

Ken tried to leave the room and Tommy yanked him by the arm til he was sitting on Tommy’s plaid comforter with the edge of a sham pillow under one buttock, Tommy’s weight by the foot of the bed seesawing Ken till his feet didn’t reach the floor. And sure enough, Caroline had told Tommy everything, everything being that Ken had not had sex with his wife in several months, and that she correctly surmised it was because he had gotten so tired of being the sole initiator of sexual contact with his wife that he had vowed to leave his balls in her court until she was ready to pick them up and play with them of her own volition. And even with Tommy’s spin on the state of his sister’s marriage, it all sounded pretty reasonable to Ken. What Ken was afraid to say, to Caroline or Tommy or anyone, was that he just wanted to be wanted, that he was tired of doing all of the wanting, so tired, and ashamed of how unwanted he felt and further ashamed of how hopeful he was that his wife’s overweight twin brother might actually be able to help him out here. So they talked some more. And vaped. Ken was about to ask Tommy to put on some music when his phone chirped. It was a text from Caroline reading CAKE!

Ken and Tommy emerged from the bedroom to see everyone gathered and facing Boris and Rebecca. Boris signaled Gene to turn down the music mid-Coo Coo U. Ken stood next to Caroline, trying not to seethe at her for exposing his private foibles to what now felt like the entire party. Did everyone around them seem extra gentle and sympathetic with him? Or was that Tommy’s pot?

Boris gave a bland speech about how thrilling it was to share this milestone with so many of his and Rebecca’s nearest and dearest. Ken estimated the toast was about 15% too long, but Rebecca managed to keep her smile looking genuine the whole time.

Ken went off to use Gretchen’s bathroom, because it was the only one with a door that shut completely. Gretchen’s room was being used for changing and storage by the caterers. Among the various duffels and totes was one Hello Kitty backpack scaled with buttons featuring ostensibly rebellious slogans: Save the Rainforests, They/Them, Fuck White Supremacy, Stop All Wars, People Over Profits, Health Care Is A Right, Leave Britney Alone, Oil Kills and more, plus a few that were just pictures or symbols. Ken used his toe to undo the backpack’s zipper, and then the same toe to widen his view into the backpacks contents, just enough to see the scarred blonde wood of a few drumsticks. He tried his best to not feel ashamed by how good this vindication felt. But with that much joy for a triumph that frivolous, the shame could not be kept at bay. Out of fury at the flame-wristed bartender for her role in his present difficulties, he did not bother to rezip her backpack.

Gene was waiting for him outside of Gretchen’s bathroom.

“Best lock?” he asked, handing Ken a piece of birthday cake.

Ken nodded and took the cake without eating it. They ambled together back to within earshot of the Manhattan Transfer. Ken pretended not to notice Gene’s pretending not to notice the guests smiling more widely over the cake than they had over his fare.

“Saw you talkin’ to Tommy,” he said. “And I dunno what he told you, but if you want the advice of somebody with a more robust love life?”

“You mean you,” Ken said.

Gene stopped walking for a millisecond, as if to warn Ken that he was about to blow his shot at the gems Gene was feeling generous enough to offer. And while he was still hiding how desperate he really was, Ken put enough remorse on his face for Gene to continue.

“You’ve gotta be an animal Ken! You know? Primitive! Find something deep within yourself and just let it out. Rowr! That’s sexy.”

Ken nodded agreeably. Too agreeably, like, give me a medal for being such a good agreer.

“Thanks Gene,” he said. “Here. You can have my cake.”

[justanothercinemaniac]

Epic Movie (Re)Watch #198 - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Spoilers Below

Have I seen it before: Yes

Did I like it then: Yes.

Do I remember it: Yes.

Did I see it in theaters: No.

Format: Blu-ray

1) The prologue.

The studio originally wanted to cut the prologue, but I’m glad they didn’t because it works REALLY well at establishing the world and lore of Middle Earth moving forward. I’m someone who has never read any of the books, so my only experience with this world IS the movies. And the prologue works not only to set up the intense backstory of this story, it also sets up the ring as a character all its own. But more on that later.

2) Ian McKellen as Gandalf.

McKellen was nominated for an Oscar because of his performance in this film (but oddly not because of the sequels, even though the performance loses none of what makes it special). This trilogy has a number of stand out cast members in it and McKellen is one of them. He is able to fully embrace all of Gandalf’s qualities. He is wise, occasionally angry, has immense patience but does lose it at times, and just has this massive beating heart. The way he interacts with the other characters - namely Frodo and Bilbo - shows just how important he is to them. You get invested in him and their relationships. It’s an absolutely wonderful role.

3) The Shire.

The trilogy is able to consistently portray a song sense of place across Middle Earth, so it is important that The Shire starts the trend. Through production design, writing, character, and even music (Howard Shore’s score plays an incredible part in all three films), there is a true sense of peace to The Shire. It feels like home, the one place which is untouched by the darkness which spreads through Middle Earth (in the films at least). And creating such a sense of safety which the audience then leaves from makes the following conflict all the more intense.

4) According to IMDb:

Gandalf's painful encounter with a ceiling beam in Bilbo's hobbit-hole was not in the script. Sir Ian McKellen banged his forehead against the beam accidentally. Peter Jackson thought McKellen did a great job "acting through" the mistake, and kept it in.

5) Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins

Upon first meeting Bilbo you understand the warmth that lies beneath him, but the jadedness is what comes through strongest. He’s fed up with the simple living of The Shire, of the proper hobbits, and he longs for adventure. It’s a feeling I think most people have had at least once in their lives and it gets you invested in the character. Holm is a great character actor and does as fine a job here as he did in, say, Alien or The Fifth Element. You understand upon meeting him how important he is to Frodo, Gandalf, the story even, and he’s memorable even with minimal screen time (although minimal screen time in a trilogy of films all around three hours long is still a fair amount of screen time).

6) Elijah Wood as Frodo.

Frodo is really the main hero of this journey. He’s the one who carries the titular thing and definitely the one who goes through the biggest change from beginning to end (which is saying something considering some of the character development in these films). In this film, Wood is able to play Frodo with an incredible amount of warmth in him. You understand that he is a good person who is happy, but he forsakes that happiness to do the right thing (taking the ring to destroy it). Wood plays Frodo’s progressing grief and (in future films) descent into madness absolutely incredibly. You have to believe him through ever emotionally state and Wood performs in a way where you do.

7) This is a great representation of Gandalf’s complexities as a character.

Gandalf [after Bilbo accuses him of wanting the steal the ring]: “Bilbo Baggins! Do not take me for some conjurer of cheap tricks! I am not trying to rob you! [Calmer now] I am trying to help you.”

Don’t mess with Gandalf. He may act kind to his friends, those he holds in good standing, but if you piss him off he will get so mad the room literally darkness around him. Juxtaposing this threatening anger with deep compassion for his friend is a great way of showing the audience just who the grey wizard is.

8) The trilogy deals with tone shifts REALLY well, to the point where you don’t even realize that there is a shift. But we are able to move from light happy Shire territory to dark evil “one true ring” territory effortlessly. I dig that.

9) I had a whole conversation with @theforceisstronginthegirl WHILE I WAS WATCHING THE MOVIE to figure this out. Because, besides invisibility, I didn’t really understand what the ring DID. I knew it worked as a horcrux which could bring Sauron back, but besides that? Now I understand the ring is more representative of the temptation of evil. There is power in evil. The power to influence, even the power itself is tempting. And the ring represents this. That works really well, I think. Better than - say - giving you superpowers through an evil ring.

10) Sean Astin as Samwise Gamgee.

While Frodo does start very grounded, the ring does end up effecting him in many ways. Not Sam though. Sam is consistently good and human throughout all three films, always doing the right thing, always having the best intentions for his friends in mind. The Fellowship needed Sam for the same reason the films do and that is because he is the heart of both. He’s the small town hobbit who has no aspirations for pride or adventure, only to do the right thing. And he stays this way from beginning to end. He is a good man and, in many ways, Frodo’s rock throughout the journey to Mordor. Sean Astin plays Sam just brilliantly, taking any sense of ego out of the performance and just letting Sam breathe as a character. He’s absolutely wonderful and has a great connection with Elijah Wood’s Frodo, helping you get invested in that relationship also. All in all, Sam is just great.

10.1) Yes, I ship Sam and Frodo. Not in a way where I’m like, “I’m so mad they didn’t get together in the end!” But like in a way where I understand how deep their relationship is already and can easily see them being with each other.

11) Christopher Lee as Saruman

Even before we learn he’s evil, Saruman is a dick. Calling Gandalf stupid and referring to Hobbits as “half-lings”. Lee is able to make the white wizard absolutely chilling and threatening, a guy you know you don’t want to mess with from moment one. Lee actually knew author JRR Tolkein and I believe had hoped to play Gandalf. Even though he didn’t, he still read the novels once a year every year until his passing. So he brings a lot of respect and understanding to the part which shows through. While Lee has always been a great villain actor, he’s almost chameleonic as Saruman I think. He knows the character inside and out; his motivations, how far he’ll really go, and that makes for a wonderful performance.

12) Merry and Pippin.

Portrayed by Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd respectively, both films characters go through a wonderful transformation in films two and three. However, this is a post about Fellowship, and in Fellowship we get a strong sense of who these characters are in the beginning (making their future development all the stronger). They are used for a lot of comedic relief in the film and are very good at it. Each of the Hobbits brings their own brand of warmth and heart to the first film, with this duo being no different. Each actor is great in their part and plays off the other incredibly well. Merry and Pippin are a set, they’re linked. And you understand the strength of that bond right away.

13) The Black Riders.

These movies do an excellent job with their monsters/villains. The Black Riders are a great representation of that. Their design is wicked strong and immediately threatening, playing upon classic fears of the unknown as they are literally shrouded in darkness. Every time they appear on screen there is an immediate feeling of threat. They’re just freaking awesome.

14) Hey look, it’s director Peter Jackson!

(GIF source unknown [if this is your GIF please let me know].)

15) Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn

Probably my favorite character in THIS film (Éowyn is my favorite character in the whole trilogy, but she’s not in this movie), Viggo Mortensen is crazy strong as the mysterious ranger. He reportedly was so in character during filming that director Peter Jackson referred to him as "Aragorn" for over half an hour without him realizing it. He has the grizzled rogue thing down but without the irresponsibility which can be attributed with the characters. There is this clear sense of both duty, grief, fear, and even shame for his ancestors which are always at conflict with each other that makes the character WILDLY interesting. Honestly, he’s just really freaking good in the part.

16) Ah, to eat like a hobbit.

Aragorn: “Gentlemen, we do not stop ’til nightfall.”

Pippin: “What about breakfast?”

Aragorn: “You’ve already had it.”

Pippin: “We’ve had one, yes. But what about second breakfast?”

[Aragorn just walks away]

Merry: “I don’t think he knows about second breakfast, Pip.”

Pippin: “What about elevensies? Luncheons? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper?”

17) One thing I like in this film that was unfortunately lost in The Hobbit films is the reliance on practical creature makeup. ESPECIALLY with the Orcs. I could theoretically walk down the street and see an Orc because it was actors in REALLY elaborate makeup. They felt real, grounded, even though they’re fantasy creatures. In prefer that to CG.

18) Holy shit, I just realized that these are the trolls from The Hobbit.

(GIF source unknown [if this is your GIF please let me know].)

19) Liv Tyler as Arwen

Unfortunately, there are only three really significant female characters in the entire trilogy (Arwen, Galadriel, and Éowyn) and they never interact with each other. Fortunately, they’re all pretty awesome. You understand just how important she is from her very first frame. Like other elf actors like Hugo Weaving and Cate Blanchett, Tyler does a good job conveying Arwen as something a little more than human. A little more evolved. Although I wish Arwen did more in terms of fighting during the trilogy, the audience is made to understand that she is not only competent but dangerous. Her first moment in the film she puts a sword to Aragorn’s throat after sneaking up on him (ah, flirting) and she easily tricks the nine Ring Wraiths into a watery (if temporary) demise. I just wish we’d had more of her fighting or interacting with other women.

20) Much like The Shire, Rivendale has a palpable sense of peace and safety to it which relates to a strong sense of place. You get a taste for elf culture as the film allows the audience (and its characters) to slow down and get their wits about them.

21) Hugo Weaving as Elrond.

Weaving is a remarkably talented character actor who is great in this part. As mentioned before, he is able to make the elf leader seem a little more than human. A little wiser, a little more evolved. He is very controlled which suggests a great amount of power behind him. You understand his concerns, his fears, his love for his daughter, his duty to his people, all through Weaving’s performance. He is just really great in the part.

22) There is a strong immediate juxtaposition between the more ambitious Boromir and the cautious Aragorn in their very first scene with each other. They don’t even really talk to each other but you understand what makes them different IMMEDIATELY.

23) I really like Aragorn + Arwen because we understand that there is not only a deep love between them but a great respect. They see each other as equals and in their scenes together are consistently honest, respectful, and compassionate. It’s just a great relationship.

24) The Council of Elrond

This scene is just dripping with such juicy and interesting conflict. It is defined by such a unique culture clash between elves, men, and dwarves which escalated so wonderfully. All these different people with different ideologies and motivations fighting amongst themselves, including our first encounter with Gimli and Legolas’ blossoming fun conflict. It’s just awesome!

24.1) Ah yes, The Lord of the Memes.

24.2) I could talk about why Frodo is such a great hero, why he’s the one who takes the ring, but instead I will refer you to this excellent meta that’s been going around Tumblr.

24.3) I love Elrond’s sass face when Sam shows up, then his look of utter surprise when Merry & Pippin show up to his super secret council meeting.

24.4) And finally.

Elrond: “You shall be the fellowship of the ring.”

25) The way Bilbo freaks out when the ring is once again so close to him, when that evil tempts him, is so telling of just how dark this item of power is.

26) There are a number of small moments in this film which gets you invested in the group dynamic of the fellowship, making its dissolving at the end of the film all the more powerful. One of the earliest examples of this is when Boromir teaches Merry & Pippin how to handle swords before it devolves into a friendly row.

27) John Rhys Davies as Gimli

Davies is a character actor who is probably most well known for his role as Sallah in Raiders of the Lost Ark (outside of this film, that is). He blends wonderfully into the part of Gimli and I think is one of the most underrated actors in the film. Davies makes Gimli fun, gruff, occasionally heartbreaking (when he weeps over his cousin Balin) with an incredible fighting spirit that allows him to steal a number of scenes. He gets more room to shine in The Two Towers than this film, but that doesn’t mean he’s not consistently great.

28) The Mines of Moria.

As I’ve mentioned before, this film does well to convey a great sense of place in all of its locations. The Mines of Moria are no different. As soon as we enter this place we understand the danger which lurks here. It’s threatening and frightening, marking the Fellowship’s first great challenge. You know they’re not going to come through the other side unscathed.

29) I always liked this speech.

Gandalf [after Frodo says it’s a pity Bilbo didn’t kill Gollum]: “Pity? It was pity that stayed Bilbo’s hand. Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends. My heart tells me that Gollum has some part to play yet, for good or ill before this is over. The pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many.”

30) Ah yes, the mine skirmish.

There’s a wicked sense of dangerous fun which marks this action sequence, which is potentially the best in the film. You get a sense of each character’s fighting spirit, with even the Hobbits jumping into battle passionately after they believe Frodo has been struck down. It’s just really entertaining.

31) The Bridge of Khazad Dum.

This is a scene of pure stakes. I was taught that if a character can leave a scene without being devastated, than the stakes are too low. That’s exactly what’s happening here. Gandalf can’t let the Balrog pass and destroy the quest and if the only way the Balrog doesn’t get what it wants is through death. This is why the scene is so iconic, because it’s so freaking simple. The creature design of the Balrog is absolutely amazing and Howard Shore’s score just packs a strong punch when Gandalf dies.

Because that’s the other memorable thing about this scene: Gandalf freaking dies. It’s absolutely heartbreaking even when you know it doesn’t take. This is partially because of Howard Shore’s score, but mostly because of the incredible performances the actors give while their characters grieve their departed friend. It’s just freaking great.

32) In continuing the film’s strong sense of place, the Elf Woods are very strong. There is something just a little bit off about it. It’s not the safe place Rivendale was but instead much more unsettling and mysterious. It’s otherworldly, just like its queen…

33) Cate Blanchett as Galadriel

Cate Blanchett is - I think - the greatest actress around today. And her performance in this film is no less great, even if it is supporting. You understand her wisdom, her heart, but there is something dangerous about Gladriel that lurks just beneath the surface. You know you don’t want to get on her bad side even when all she’s doing is being kind to you. Blanchett is able to be all these things with the appearance of ease, which I think is what makes her so great. When you’re watching Cate Blanchett act, you don’t think, “Oh, that’s Cate Blanchett.” Instead, she fully immerses herself in the character and leaves any sense of ego out of it. I freaking love Cate Blanchett.

34) The moment where Boromir opens up to Aragorn is really strong for me. It’s a moment of great connection between the two, where Boromir is able to put his pride aside and actually communicate the insecurities he has. The fears. How he wants to be a great man, a great leader. And Aragorn doesn’t judge, doesn’t argue, he just listens. He makes it safe for Boromir to speak. I dig that.

35) I never got the whole “Frodo offers the ring to Galadriel and doesn’t rescind the offer when she’s obviously tempted” thing. Like every time I watch I’m just like…

“Frodo, put the ring back. Don’t let crazy Cate Blanchett have the ring.”

36) I’m reaching the end of the post, so I should talk about Orlando Bloom as Legolas.

As with the other elves I’ve mentioned, Bloom is able to make Legolas feel something a little more than human. However, he’s also the closest to human elf we’ve seen so far. There’s a bit more fear to him, he’s occasionally more brash, and just genuinely interesting. Legolas ends up having a great kinship with Gimli and is just a lot of fun to watch.

37) The scene where Boromir gives into temptation and tries to take the ring from Frodo is incredibly powerful. It largely shows how poisoning the evil of the ring is and how even good men can give into that weakness. But the fact that his last moments are regretful ones over his actions just makes his eventual death all the more heartbreaking, especially because he asks Aragorn for forgiveness.

38) The final fight with the orcs is a solid climax with some real consequences, organically splitting up the group for future installments. The action is well choreographed and fun, making the scene just genuinely interesting.

39) Ending the movie the way it does is great because it is based on one of the simplest and most important ideas in storytelling: choice. Frodo CHOSES to leave the Fellowship, Sam CHOOSES to swim after him even though he can’t swim (one of many reasons I kinda low-key ship these two). Their choices have consequences which effect the rest of the trilogy and just lets them both grow as characters. I love it.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is an incredible start to a great film trilogy. We are introduced to Middle Earth in a great way with incredibly strong performances marking the lengthy run time. There is a great sense of epic scale to it as well as great heart, leaving the audience with a memorable adventure that feels full even though there’s more to come. All in all, just a great film.

[alltheworldsrpg-blog]

WELCOME TO ROSWELL, ELIJAH HELENUS

Admin Ais: I absolutely love Elijah, from his dedication to their culture, to how they interacts with others. You’ve managed to find a great balance with him, with how seriously they takes their role as a starweaver and how easygoing they seem while interacting with others. Your para sample did such a great job showing this, from how they use their gift to how they treat others.

You’ve been accepted as THE NOVA with the faceclaim of EKA DARVILLE. Please follow allrules and regulations as laid out by the Roswell Town Council, especially concerning any non pre-approved biologic. All UFO’s outside of city limits must be stickered or will be towed. Enjoy your stay in the first city of extraterrestrials.

NAME/ALIAS + PRONOUNS: Lottie – she/her or they/them

AGE: 22

TIMEZONE + ACTIVITY: Eastern – It’s summer but I’ll also be working a lot so I’m gonna say a 6 out of 10

TRIGGERS: Removed for privacy.

ANYTHING ELSE?:

Honestly, you’re both just lucky I haven’t copy and pasted the bee movie script in here.

IN CHARACTER.

SKELETON TITLE: The Nova

FULL NAME: Elijah Helenus

Elijah originally took the surname of their mentor, fellow starweaver, Priam Hecuba, and was named Helenus Hecuba until they chose the name Elijah when they came of age.  

GENDER + PRONOUNS:

Agender – they/them pronouns

SEXUAL + ROMANTIC ORIENTATION:

Pansexual

DATE OF BIRTH + AGE:

By Earth’s dating system they are 30 years old, born on February 4th, 2031.

OCCUPATION:

Starweaver

FACECLAIM: Eka Daville

BIOGRAPHY:

What most humans don’t seem to understand— indeed what most other species besides the centaurians seem to dismiss— is that time is not linear. It is not a river that runs from one point to another. It is not a singular path in which the living are set upon, and to think so has always seemed incredibly arrogant to Elijah. Instead, time is like a chorus, crying out endlessly, and everything that is and ever will be are parts of the universal melody. Elijah has never known why anyone would prefer to deny this fact, why they would shut their eyes and plug their ears against the universe’s will and struggle uselessly against the current of time. They have a theory that it has to do with the dangerous self-importance that other species have such an overabundance of. Elijah can see it start to spread like a disease. The concept is catching among their own people until soon there will be none left who will listen to the universe when it sings.

This is why Elijah has come to Earth, even though the ache for home is a physical thing inside their chest. There is a prophesy that rings in their ears always, humming louder and louder as it’s time approaches and Elijah knows it will be the brightest thing the universe has ever revealed to them. It signals an ending, and usually that would not bother Elijah so much, because only a fool or a novice Starweaver thinks that endings do not come accompanied by new beginnings. But this one, this vision that was the first thing the universe ever showed them as a child, it might mean the ending of Elijah’s culture, their way of life, and it all starts on Earth. This is not something they can just let happen. There is too much that hangs in the balance. Too many lives.

The prophesy cannot be ignored, because when the universe speaks it will make itself heard, one way or another. Its voice echoes endlessly and reverberates through the bones of every living thing that shares its energy. That was Elijah’s first lesson as a Starweaver, told to them when they were only four years old by their mentor and caretaker, Priam Hecuba, a Starweaver who worked at the pleasure of the Chosen. At the time, Elijah was unable to recognize the weight of those words, or what they would mean, though as they grew and their ability as a Starweaver manifested just as Priam had predicted it would, Elijah found that nothing was as absolute and all-consuming as the universe’s will. They still remember the first time they’d realized that fate was something that hung around their shoulders like a shroud, a clinging shadow. It was when they’d first asked Priam why they did not live with their parents like most of the other children who had shown a knack for glimpsing the universe’s will at a young age.

Priam had replied that on the day of Elijah’s birth, she had a vision, one that compelled her to go to Elijah’s parents and explain that their child was meant for Starweaving and that she personally would like to oversee Elijah’s education. At the time, Elijah believed her, because she had never lied to him before, but Elijah would soon realize that there was a difference between lying and deliberately hiding parts of the truth. Only a few months later, while they lay half asleep in their bed, Elijah heard their father cough wetly, painfully, the sound ripped from his throat and coming from nowhere. It was then accompanied by a vision of their father, older and thinner, wasting away from disease. Elijah’s mother was absent from his side, but the bandana she often wore in her hair was wrapped tightly around his wrist like a talisman.

In all their time as Priam’s apprentice, this was the lesson that was hardest for Elijah to learn: Not everything that the universe shares can be changed, and not everything is set in stone. The true talent of Starweaving is being able to tell the difference between the two. And here on Earth, the line that is drawn down the middle is more blurred than ever.

MUSING + HEAD-CANONS.

HEAD-CANONS:

-          As a child, Elijah, who then went by Helenus Hecuba until they came of age, could have been described as studious, serious, and quiet by most people who knew them. However, when Helenus renamed themself Elijah, it marked a gradual shift in their personality. Elijah was still just as dedicated and passionate, but this was now also accompanied by an irreverent humor, an open, yet shallow friendliness, and a flare for the dramatic. When asked, Priam speculated that this shift was directly correlated to the increase in people coming to Elijah for their talents in Starweaving. “We all adopt a persona of sorts,” she said. “We have to. It’s a way to distance ourselves from the things we see and the lives that we touch. We’d be crushed under the weight of our responsibilities if we didn’t.”

-          One of Elijah’s greatest fears is the gradual disappearance of Centaurian culture. They don’t want their practices and values to be swallowed up by the glamor of human and luytan life in particular. That being said, Elijah doesn’t have anything against either species’ people as individuals, and wouldn’t mind sharing their culture with any species that came to it with an open mind and a humble heart.

-          Elijah also appreciates music from all the species that have gathered on Earth, and has accumulated quite a collection of different genres and different sounds. It’s an idealistic notion maybe, but Elijah believes that any species that creates great music cannot be truly deaf to the universe’s will.

-          Also, birds. Elijah loves the birds on Earth. They have a pet cockatoo named Nina who they got a year after relocating to Earth.

-          When Elijah first got the vision that signaled their parents’ death, the first person they went to was Priam, only to find out that she had known for some time that this was how Elijah’s parents would meet their end. “It was part of the reason I took you from them,” she said, her eyes sad. “I didn’t want you to see them suffer.” She’d always been an especially blunt woman. Elijah was furious at first, and ran from Priam, deciding to go back to their parents and tell them the ugly truth in order to do something to stop it. But when they got to their parents’ house and saw how happy they were just to have Elijah there, the words wouldn’t come. Elijah stayed with his parents for two whole months, and only returned to Priam’s side when he first heard his mother start to cough. Only a few years later, the technology that the humans and luytans provided essentially annihilated the disease that took both Elijah’s parents.

-          Elijah came to Earth when they were twenty in order to join Priam and the Chosen who had relocated to Earth a few years prior. They would have held out longer and stayed behind on Centauri if it were not for the ever-looming promise of the prophesy. Now, Elijah has lived nearly ten years on Earth and has become quite accustomed to life there, even if they long to return home.

PLOTS + CONNECTIONS:

I’d really love for Elijah’s views to be challenged and for them to experience doubt in the universe’s will since it’s something that they’ve believed in so strongly from such a young age. Their principles are what they’ve based a great deal of their identity around and I’d love to see what kind of person Elijah would become if for a short period of time, they were not able to starweave. I’m also very interested in the prophesy mentioned in the skeleton and expanding on it, maybe getting more details about it and how it will play into the larger plot.

I think also it would be cool to have Prima as a playable character eventually. She’d obviously be an older woman, but as I see Elijah being someone that people would come to for advice, I think it’s also important that they have someone in their life that they can also confide in and go to for advice. Elijah is friendly, but they’re also closed off because they have to be. They keep people at arm’s length always in order to protect themself from seeing terrible things about the people they love. It happened with their parents and they don’t want to experience that again. So, obviously, I’d like for someone to break passed that barrier and for the same thing to happen again. Elijah sees something and has to desperately find a way to stop it. I want them to have to fight the universe’s will.

WRITING SAMPLE:

The sun is sitting high in the sky, sizzling the pavement and drawing fat beads of sweat from Elijah’s temples. They wipe them away with the back of their hand and keep their eyes fixed on the intersection a few feet away. It’s a little after noon, and the streets are busy with cars and people alike. The pedestrians are walking quickly in an effort to make it to the next air conditioned building, but Elijah stands perfectly still. In their pocket, an alarm from their phone goes off. They take it out and check the time.

Its 12:33.

There is a leather-bound journal on Elijah’s bedside table, its pages filled with ink. There have been many like it over the years, the first one given to Elijah when the letters still came shakily and unrehearsed from the pen. Elijah can’t remember the last time they spent a night where one journal or another was not just a few inches from their pillow. Some nights there’s no use for it, but most nights, in the grey areas between sleep and wakefulness, the visions spill from the universe’s mouth in a way they never do when Elijah is fully conscious.

It was two week ago exactly that Elijah used the journal to write about this intersection. They wrote about the sound of cars speeding passed, the engines spitting out heat. They wrote about the sun, an unwavering white circle in a sea of dull, cloudless blue. They wrote about the crowd of people approaching the cross walk as the light turned green. They wrote about the time.

It’s still 12:33.

Elijah has been waiting at this crosswalk every day for the past two weeks, arriving at 12:30 and then leaving at 12:35. Every day until now, nothing has happened like they saw it, and so every day until now, they have gone home. But today, there is that familiar feeling of déjà vu, which is a wonderful phrase that the French people of Earth coined that makes Elijah suspect that Earthlings are not so deaf to the Universe’s song as they pretend to be.

The light at the crosswalk turns red and the people on the sidewalk stop. The cars a few yards away start to approach.

It’s 12:34 now.

There is a man who is looking down at his phone and he does not notice that the crowd has stopped around him to wait for the cars to pass. He keeps walking, the metal frames of his glasses catching the sunlight. Elijah wrote about too.

He takes a step off the side walk and into the street.

But Elijah is already there, their hand wrapped around the man’s arm, pulling him back amongst the crowd of people who have all turned to stare at the displacement. The car that would have hit the man dead on blares its horn as it passes and Elijah can feel the wind on the side of their face even after it’s gone.

“Shit, thanks a lot, man,” the man says, looking down at Elijah with wide, awestruck eyes. His voice is deep and rumbles in a way that doesn’t match his fragile features. Elijah decides they like it. “I wouldn’t be anything but a smear on the pavement if you hadn’t been here.”

Elijah smiles at him. “Buy me a cup of coffee and we’ll call it even,” they say and watch as the man’s slack jaw constricts into an answering grin.

They have a nice time, but Elijah does not call the man after he gives them his phone number. Instead he writes it down in a page of his journal, just underneath the paragraph that spells out the man’s death that never happened.

ETC:

Heres Elijah’s pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/lottienaut/ch-elijah-helenus/

I’m also probably going to be making them a playlist so look out for that in the talk tag

[rclldamage]

The creature would not be felled so easily with mundane means. Elijah had grown fatigued in the exchange but most of all annoyed by how the scale mail that donned his torso had been damaged. Ringlets clattered on the stone ground much as rain droplets would fall against the earth. There had been only one option. He made it without hesitation. When the creature had lunged for the stranger, Elijah took the blade of his glaive and ran it across his palm with a loud hiss. As the blood seeped from the wound, he raised his palm forward and enacted the blood curse from his own vitaly into the monster. Its eyes fogged and clouded with crimson. Blinded. Before recovery was an option, Elijah dragged the blade across the back of his hand, coating the sharpened edge with his own blood. The crimson rite had caused the metal to crackle with electricity. Each strike against the creature charged and bursting with crimson electric energies.

When the beast laid slain, Elijah moved away from the corpse. The handle of his sparking glaive made a deep trench along the ground as he dragged it behind himself to a fallen over log where he rested. He had believed that he had kept his damaged hand away from eye sight, away from the eyes of Lambert, until the other had made mention of the blood. His retainers were nowhere in sight to use as a distraction. And out in the wilderness, he made sure that no one knew how much weight his name would carry within a glided and guarded cityscape. No, he doubts that a man such as him would even listen should he give orders from him to ignore it.

He snorted softly. There’s not much to it then to reveal the bloodied hand as casually as it was to breathe in the very air. “ I was not as quick and the beast had a taste of me, “ Elijah lied. Though he believed it had been a convincing one, the markings on palm and back of hand were too clean and precise to be from a tooth or claw. “ Needn’t worry, all I need to do is fetch a potion from my bag and right as rain. “

answered for @holysound. Blood Maledict, Blood Curse of the Eyeless, & Crimson Rite used for prompt. Deception Check roll: 8.

[rclldamage]

"You show your thanks by — – getting yourself killed?" Elijah searched the armory, followed close behind the boy. He had stopped in his search only once and that had been to look at Roy and had decided he was too young to have been bloodied. Roy was barely old enough to have his fun with the local whores yet to feel the warmth of blood against his skin, Elijah believed he had a few more years to age. Elijah intended to spill more blood that night than he had ever intended to do and it wouldn't be safe to have the archer there. It wasn't the enemies that worried him, but how the his power may effect the boy. Elijah grabbed at a recently sharpened glaive that was hung on the wall and tested its weight in his hands. It was decent enough and a good replacement for his own while it was being repaired.

He had been surprised when he turned around to find that Roy hadn't wandered off but had stayed behind him the entire time that he had taken to find a decent weapon. Elijah had thought the boy had little patience if any at all. He clenched his jaw and decided to ignore the youth while he attached the glaive to the sheath on his back and take two hand axes from their rest. When he turned back at Roy, he fixed him with a hard glare and grabbed him by the jaw. He was not the boy's mentor and never would he want Roy to be put in the position where bleeding himself gave him power. But, there was still a seed of feeling buried below the surface for the boy. One that Elijah wished not to entrain. "Fine. If you come, you will listen, or I swear to the fucking gods I will bend you over and tan your hide with the blunt of a sword on the battlefield."

answered ask for @holysound

[rclldamage]

His eyes which held a brilliant azure brightness to them darkened with carnal curiosity while he watched Draken. There was something … primal in the way he gazed at the other, near predatory in its execution. It was an act so intimate yet it aroused him from how vulnerable the other had attempted to make him with the act. Oh, the coarse contrast of the rope against his bare skin made the surface of their connection itch but it was a price to pay. Danger excited him. The bondage only made him desire the other. His lips parted to let out a soft puff of quickened air from lungs as his muscles tensed from the anticipation. Elijah’s tongue teasing as it swiped across the bottom of his own teeth.

Oh, he could escape if needed to. One hard bite to his own lip and he could enact the blood curse and blind Draken. But, where would the fun be in that? There was a reason why Elijah abjured his nobility and instead plunged himself into the darker aspects of the world. Being a Blood Hunter, rare and secretive as they were, was a dark promise to balance between pain and the more feral corners of the world. There was no light to be shed in the shadows. His very power was derived from cutting into his own flesh to empower himself. A little danger? It made the blood flow. As it was evident by the heavy erection between his legs.

Throbbing in its eagerness to have the ropes tied tighter and inflict that pain from the burn. His eyes moved from Draken, head laid in an angle where he could watch the other’s hands and fingers work together to secure the rope to the wooden headboard behind them. Elijah tugged at them as a test before he turned his gaze back onto Draken with the same coy grin he used when he was enraptured with the prospect of battle. “You might want a safe word by the time I’m done,” he hummed. The smile seemed to twist into one of more arrogance. Laid naked, aroused and vulnerable before Draken seemed to do nothing to his narcissist tendency when it came to his own decadent pleasures.

answered ask for @holysound

[rclldamage]

How did it come to this ?  Elijah could not recall, but what had started would end. One way or another. The glaive in his hands was more of a musical instrument than a weapon. A brilliant orchestra of star-metal humming as it cut through the air mingled with the crackle of electric energy. Elijah fought with a fervor that teased the line of feral. Each strike against him that made him bleed only seemed to empower him. It became a dance, elegant in its brutality and violence and Elijah aimed to become the master of its rhythm. Even being injured did not seem to slow him as he dodged and through acrobatic feats somersaulted backwards to avoid a blow. Landing on the ground several feet away from Draken. He bared his teeth, stained red from his own vitality and slammed his open palm against his chest.

Radiance of light shimmered against the forged metal on his chest. Partially, it hummed as it illuminated his chest. Divine energies pulsating against him as the light seeped into the metal and flesh. Wounds slowly sealed with pinpricks of light until no trace that he had ever been damaged existed at all. He spun the glaive in both hands and pushed off from the ground into a defensive stance while his eyes never wavered from his opponent. A coy grin danced on his lips as he raised one hand and beckoned Drakeen forward. “Is that all you have? Pathetic.”

There was no more need to hold back. He had judged Draken’s strength and deemed it … a minor inconvenience. His fingers fanned and spread on the shaft of the glaive to find better purchase on its surface. Elijah anchored himself and pushed forward, the crackling from his glaive seeming to intensify as he came down with an attack … and as he did turned his eyes away as it came down upon Draken … casting his aasimarian innate spell ability into the glaive itself to cause a brilliantly blinding light to fully engulf the weapon and casting a bright light in a twenty foot radius around the weapon itself.

answered ask for @holysound.