#jenni milward

[lady-trent]

How amazing is this!?

[needlesslycryptic]

Here’s my personal art project that i've been working on since last summer. It is created to go in tandem with TRAoD novelised sequels,written by my friend Jenni Milward. Here is the very first card of AoD Tarot Deck: "The Magician"!

Pieter Van Eckhardt "As above, so below":The Magician,also known as The Alchemist,is the first card of the numbered series in the Tarot Deck. It represents Will, Manifestation and making ideas happen in the real world.Magician is the conduit between spiritual and physical.

[positivelyamazonian]

So if I were to make a calendar based on Mr. Trent. and totally use my grahuc desuugner skills to draw him. and create pages. and make them to be printed for free and include a totally sfw poster with a certain piercing Jenni mentioned in her book.

can I get a spicy fanfic of yours in return?

#it's been years and I still adore Kurtis #got a damn LV tattoo on my whole lower arm #pls don't shame me I will ship Lartis forever bye

Fair enough! ;)

Buuuut I don't take delivery ends because hell, my last fanfic is still unfinished and I just can't get myself some time to properly close it. And I still own a spicy oneshot to @luluvonv and it's a wonder why didn't she kill me yet! But of course I'd definitely try to get it done!

I'm not familiar with Milward's headcanon on Kurtis having any piercing or I don't remember it, though. It's been a while since I read her first fanfic. I've not read her last, either.

#pls don't shame me I will ship Lartis forever bye

Excuuuse me? No shame here, we're all in the same Lartis hell.

Be proud!

[ocularhorticulture]

Episode 2 of my Tomb Raider documentary web-series “History & Geography in Tomb Raider” is finally up! 

Follow Lara around the globe, on her quest of finding the Chinese Dagger of Xian! Narrated by the wonderful Jenni Milward with original music by Marlon Witte and classic themes by the game’s original composer, Nathan McCree.

Enjoy! 

[theleaderdotinfo-blog]

La Siesta Bowls Club By Rod Edgerton has been published at http://www.theleader.info/2018/10/28/la-siesta-bowls-club-rod-edgerton-4/

New Post has been published on http://www.theleader.info/2018/10/28/la-siesta-bowls-club-rod-edgerton-4/

La Siesta Bowls Club By Rod Edgerton

In the Enterprise Division the Apollos entertained Monte Mar Matadors and continued their good start to the season with a victory by 101 shots to 73 gaining 8 points to the Matador’s 4.Ann and Robert Heath with George Richardson lead the way with a win by 33 shots to 7 whilst Ramsay Sinclair with Pat Reilly and Irene Mangan won 26 shots to 9.Not to let the team down Dawn Taylor with Pat Harman and Alex Morrice won 21-10. In the Voyager Division the La Siesta Pioneers visited Emerald Isle to play the Saturns and came away with an 8-4 victory the overall shiots being 84-76.Winning rinks for La Siesta came from Pat Moore with Bill and Sue Jordan by 20 shots to 9 whilst further wins came from the rinks of Irene Laverick with Tony and Val Dalton and from Dave L:averick with Tony Campbell and Ann McEvoy. The Sputniks did not have such a good day at home to Country Bowls Flamingoes picking up just two points gained by the rink of Dot Kocsis, Sheila Milward and Jim Eastwood winning 21-20 on the final end. Not such good luck for Joe Kocsis, Rod Edgerton and Willie McVey who lost their encounter on the final end by 21-20 thanks to some excellent bowling from the Flamingoes team in a match which swung one way and another. The overall match shots difference was 72 to 116. Our Winter League team travelled to Benitachell and managed wins on 2 rinks. The winning rinks were Joy Gardiner, Jenny Bowman, Pat Harman and Jean Cooper 21shots to 13 and Barbara Cooper, Val Dalton with Mike and Florence Edwards 19-15 thereby picking up 4 points to BBC’s 8. The overall shots went to BBC 118-76. In the Southern League A Division the Blues entertained Vistabella Picadors and managed to win on 2 of the 5 rinks. The winning rinks were Dave Davies, Pat Reilly and Irene Mangan 22 shots to 15 and Ann and Robert Heath with John Ball 19 shots to 17.With the Picadors winning the overall shots by 94-79 four points to the Blues and 8 to the Picadors. In the B Division the Golds travelled to Montemar Matadors and were soundly beaten by 106 shots to 51.The closest to picking up points for the Golds came from the rink of Derek Smith, Val Dalton and Rab Logan who lost by 16 shots to 13. In the C Division the Silvers  visited San Luis Pumas and came away with a win by 91 shots to 81 obtaining 8 points to the Pumas 4. The winning rinks for La Siesta were Joe Kocsis with Tom Heaslewood and Jim Eastwood 20 shots to 8.Closely followed by Kathleen Morrisoe, Ken Stringfellow and John Clarke 22 shots to 14 whilst Hilary Clarke, Noel Morrisoe and Alan Ralph won 18 shots to 14.   In the C Division the Silvers  visited San Luis Pumas and came away with a win by 91 shots to 81 obtaining 8 points to the Pumas 4. The winning rinks for La Siesta were Joe Kocsis with Tom Heaslewood and Jim Eastwood 20 shots to 8.Closely followed by Kathleen Morrisoe, Ken Stringfellow and John Clarke 22 shots to 14 whilst Hilary Clarke, Noel Morrisoe and Alan Ralph won 18 shots to 14.

[lady-trent]

Tomb Raider: Path of the Black Alchemist...

...is bloody amazing!

I just finished reading it this morning (I am the slowest reader on the planet but I devoured this book within two and a half days) and I am exhilarated to the bones while my heart aches, longing for mooooore.

This is hands down the best book I've read this year, and I can not wait to get my hands on the third book (which is coming hopefully by the end of this year, according to Jenni Milwards website!).

Without spoiling any contents, I just want to say: if you have any interest in AoD what so ever, this book is worth picking up for sure.

And if you are, like me, a long time fan of AoD you're in for a treat, love! But be warned: it will leave you breathless and with a hole in your heart in the shape of book three.

Jenni, if you ever read this: from the depths of my heart, thank you! <3

Image credit: daledrau on deviantart

[lady-trent]

J.R. Milward’s Tomb Raider: Path of the Black Alchemist is finally out!

OMG OMG OMG IT’S FINALLY HERE!!!

Jenni Milward’s Tomb Raider The Angel of Darkness novelisation PART 2 - Path of the Black Alchemist

I haven’t been this hyped in a solid decade and can’t wait to get my eyes on it!

Thank you, Jenni!

[lady-trent]

Sooo, I am a little over half way through the book, and I am LOVING IT TO BITS AND PIECES OH MY GAWD!

Just wanted to share this amazing playlist that I found just this morning. Jenni Milward put that together herself. She says in the description it helped inspire the writing of Path of the Black Alchemist, and boy does it feel right. Awesome background music for reading (or cleaning, in my case today :D )

[positivelyamazonian]

Have you read Jenny Milward's unofficial novelization of AOD and what did you think of it?

I read it some years ago, while I had my first destination in my job and I felt lonely in a stranger city, in a stranger flat. Kept me company during the time before sleep and it was a nice read. I can’t say I didn’t enjoy reading it, since it’s very well written in terms of skills and composition and presents very good highlights and moments reminding of the game and in Lara’s personality.

But apart of that, it wasn’t particularly my cup of tea. Basically because it’s too canon divergent and it fails in many aspects of characterization when the canon in game situation was there for reference. It’s been promoted as a “novelization” or as you say, an unofficial novelization of the game, but it isn’t. It’s a fanfic. She invents too many things, changes the original game situation and canon and introduces characters, dialogues and scenes and details that not only don’t exist in the game, but also diverge too much from the original product in which it’s based.

That’s why I think it should not be called a TRAOD novelization but a TRAOD fanfic. However, while this doesn’t mean anything negative or degrading, I see reluctance on the author and the fandom to accept this obvious detail, as if fanfic was a “minor genre” or inferior category, when in fact writing fanfiction takes more effort, work and creativity from the author - in terms of world building, story telling and characterization - than merely writing down an  already existing game or story.

Which in any case she didn’t do, because despite having access to Murti’s notes - if I remember correctly - she didn’t implemented any of the deleted content of the game in her story, which would have been the only ampliation expected if she wanted to keep it a “novelization”. Instead, she sticks to the plot holes and boundaries seen in game and adds her own lore, which makes it a fanfic.

In general, as I said, the ambience, descriptions and punctual characterization are excellent. But there are other details and personal ado too canon divergent that ruin the whole thing for me. For example, Lara has a mental trauma in her story and ends having a personality dissociation with the appearance of a second voice in her head, “Maggie”, who tells her what to do and how to react because she’s too damaged to act on her own initiative. We see absolutely nothing of this nor in the game, neither in the deleted content.

Kurtis and Lara’s dynamics are seen as a “predator and prey” and later “cool allies” cliche which again barely have little to do with the equal footing and power couple we see in game.

While Kurtis in general is decently depicted, the terror with which he faces the Sanitarium horror and which leads him to fear and doubt - he ends praying in Latin and asking strength from his deceased ancestors - has nothing to do with the fearless calm and sarcasm and irony with which he faces the Sanitarium levels, per original in game canon and the unused audio lines recorded by Eric Loren.

While the author gives some details in many parts of the story, others are absolutely suppressed, giving a sensation of imbalance. She suppresses practically all Parisian ghetto after being so detailed with the previous part, same with description of some stances in Hall of Seasons and erasing the others.

Lara loses her original backpack at the beginning of the game. Here, this backpack was not only waiting for her in Werner’s apartment - he gives it to her - but she keeps it after if I remember correctly, another canon divergence.

She inserts a nice flashback from Kurtis’ past in the Legion and a scene of Boaz and Karel’s plot before her punishment that don’t exist in game but are a good ado, giving her own lore and context to the story, but again, canon divergent as we don’t see anything of this in the game.

Kurtis’ Chirugai speaks. The blade has an own voice and conscience that speaks to him in his mind as “Maggie” does inside Lara’s brain. And guides and encourages him because he apparently needs so but using a very limited grammar and expression compared with “Maggie” when guiding and counseling Lara.

Finally, Lara is aided by Horus himself in the battle against Eckhardt. The Egyptian god appears out from nowhere and helps Lara to defeat him, something that never happened in the game.

I can’t point out here all the story details that are TRAOD’s in game canon divergent but I think that with the examples I provided I explained why I think this story should not be called a “novelization” but a fanfic. The author is free, entitled and encouraged to insert her own headcanons and lore but then again, that makes it a fic since a novelization, as I understand it, is the faithful writing down of an already existing story with minimal divergences - only the ones needed for a literary format. Which is not the case.

In the end, I can’t say I didn’t enjoy the reading but I don’t think I will ever re-read it. I’m not convinced with Lara and Kurtis being traumatized heroes needing inner voices to guide and motivate them because it’s not what they were, not in the game. The characterization fails here and I can recommend many better fics in this aspect that don’t pretend to be an exact and only novelization of the game but have a much better grasp of the characters and lore.

Summarising: a well written, entertaining read, but not the TRAOD novelization they say it is. It’s a fanfic because the author invented and changed and diverged enormously from the game’s canon, and personally, I didn’t like many of these divergences. That being my opinion, of course. Thanks for asking!

[lady-trent]

Little sketch I did recently of Lara and Kurtis, the scene right before “C’mon, I’ll give you a boost” <3 

It”s weird that I barely ever draw Lara or Kurtis. I guess I’m just always afraid to fuck it up because I love them both so much and I put too much pressure on myself to get it just right. Does anybody know that feeling? Well, this time however I managed to put that pressure aside and just enjoy the process. It’s not perfect by any means but I still love it very much, even though I could’t quite get Lara’s face expression right. 

I was listening to the AoD audiobook by Jenni Milward ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OapWNeahUz8&list=PLjlEmS9LVAHRVa9jt_-T3ZesbhR4DC51x ) when sketching this and I just have to mention how much I loved what Jenni added to this scene. After Kurtis gave Lara a boost up to the balcony of the arena and told her he’d catch up she said “You better” which gives me the feels every damn time! I read the novelization and listened to the audiobook so many times in the past and yet it still gives me chills, I love it <3 

[ocularhorticulture]

Finally, the second episode of History & Geography in Tomb Raider, narrated by the wonderful Jenni Milward will be released on my YouTube channel either today or tomorrow, depending on your time zone! 

Thank you all so much for your continuous support, contributions, feedback, subscriptions, likes, follows and most importantly thank you for watching! While you’re at it, please make sure to turn on notifications on my YouTube channel (the little bell icon next to the “subscribe” button) so you’ll never miss a new video! In case you wanted to rewatch the debut episode or haven’t seen it before, click here and in order to listen to its score and ambience tracks composed by Marlon Witte, click here! (He will upload the entire score of each episode as soon as it airs so make sure you follow him for updates!)