#my trop reviews

[attheexactlyrighttimeandplace]

The Rings of Power is such a treat! Each episode is a gem in its own way and i can't get enough of it.

The best part being how each week is like an injection of a powerful mix of excitation for LOTR universe and desire to reread all Tolkien's work, as if rewatching the episodes multiples times isn't enough (I'm having very modest ambitions so far and starting with the appendices of the Lord of the Rings and planning The Silmarilion and the Unfinished Tales for next month...)

Some thoughts on episode 4 (full of spoilers for the series),

Episodes with no hobbits and more dwarves are a win. Actually anything involving Durin father and son, Disa and her children whom we see and don't see at the same time is a delight.

Howewer i don't see there a happy family story with their friend Elrond as a gentle and benevolent sponsor, like everyone seem to describe their bond. I think Elrond appreciate them a lot individually and as couple, enjoys truly their company, but he's by nature incapable to be a friend to them. I can't call friendship a relationship where he doubts his friend's intentions and invades their privacy with suspicious questions he has no right to ask. It could have been another kind of secret more personal to Durin like a real affair. So why did Elrond think it was ok to follow him and his wife and overhear their conversations? The little advice he gave to Durin in the end of the episode, under the form of a confession about his own his father, redeemed him a little bit, but only a little bit. I don't think the couple should trust him or consider him genuine. And it's not because they're dwarves that Elrond is acting this way in my opinion, but really because he can't trust people and can't resist manipulating them to serve his goals and ambitions, like he did in the first episode by colluding with Gil-Galad to send Galadriel to Valinor, out of their way, instead of discussing with her what the elves king has foreseen for her future.

The visuals of Númenor submerged by a giant wave were terrifying and stunning at the same time. What a way to start an episode! I totally empathized with queen Miriel: her panic is completely appropriate. This is the stuff of nightmares, more than any orc or Dark Lord could be and it's not even the work of the dark side. How could an alliance between elves (who are going to be blamed for it) and men work after so much destruction? But at the same time: what a way too to end a season! Because i can't imagine another season finale now than the real destruction of the island...

Loved all the scenes between Tar- Miriel and Galadriel. The verbal sparring between these two strong/competent women leaders was the best moment of the episode: be it the ego fight during the audience or the emotional revelation in the king's tower. In this later scene, the dialogues and acting were especially moving (all this inner conflict for Miriel, so ready to follow Galadriel but incapable to deal with any opposition and conflict, was really good characterization). My favourite part was Elendil staying by the side watching quietly "his" queens (queen of his heart for Galadriel and queen by legal authority and loyalty for Miriel) fighting each other, while trying a little joke to get some attention.

Romeo and Juliet aka Kemen and Eärien are too good and pure for this world, so of course, they will die. They had a dark cloud announcing their doomed fate on their head during the all episode, following them everywhere. It's insane how strong this vibe attached to them was despite all the cuteness of their dialogues and the extra romantic spirit of their costumes.

As expected Adar turned out to be an elf who has been seriously wounded, more likely tortured (captured or left behind by his squadron?) and has now joined completely the dark side. It's a charismatic and quite sad character and i'm really curious to know more about his past. I consider him to be literally the father of the orcs: the one who created them by torturing elves. In the first episode Arondir explained to Bronwyn that the elves healers are in fact artists who reveal the beauty inside everyone. I think Adar was doing the opposite job for Sauron Morgoth, a perversion of his past noble mission.

On the other hand i'm trusting less and less Arondir: did he make a deal with Adar or did Adar release him in a sick game to catch him later and make the hunt of the strong elf who deserted more interesting? Arondir got an interesting mix of action and romantic scenes for a character who was so close to die at the start of the episode. Almost too much, in as he's getting all the focus before getting really killed or turned evil like Adar. This dark turn wouldn't be surprising because the guy has no luck, not in love at least: the timing to kiss Bronwyn is never but never right. I think it will happen eventually (more than some kissing) but they might both deeply regret it. I mean i've got this theory that Theo's father is Halbrand, mostly because it's the only way i can explain for now the ongoing mystery about Halbrand's homeland (i think he was maybe from the same village as Bronwyn, the one that was emptied completely and burned to the ground by the orcs of Adar - that would explain Theo's attraction to the dark side if you believe like i do that Halbrand is the futur Witch King - and i fear his reaction if he catches Bronwyn and Arondir at one point (if Adar doesn't before him).

So far, all the human characters of the Southlands were invented only for the series and had little connection to the books or the films, that's why it was very satisfying when, intentionally or not the writers wrote the attack of the tower of Ostirith like a call back to the battle of Helm's deep. Of course it won't be as epic as in the LOTR films (there's no armies only civilians and the scale is something else), but just the awakening of my memories and of my nostalgia alone is a very nice feeling.

Halbrand and Galadriel keep getting a lot of attention and i still fail to see why? Sure they have chemistry but he's so clearly reducing her in the best case to her race, calling her elf all the time as if he's holding a grudge against elves, and in the worst scenario to someone he wants to dominate, to tame/control (like an horse to use a word that he used), and eventually possess sexually after the blacksmiths planted in his head that she wouldn't want him because she prefers men of better origin (the comment was clearly sexual, there's seduction/attraction but no really romantic feelings in his interactions with Galadriel)

Also this subplot makes Galadriel so stupid: why would she jump to the conclusion that he's a king in disguise just because he wears an insignia? Why does she refuse to believe his protestations and explanations that he found it on a dead man (whom he possible killed)? How can she believe that a real king would act like he did since she met him? He was traveling with poachers who were hunting the worm and have shot it with arrows, that's why the marine animal attacked them (she saw the arrow when she was underwater), he abandoned his shipmates to death, started a tavern brawl, stole the guild crest from the blacksmiths and beat them savagely etc.. In which way does this attitude compare to queen Miriel's regal posture in everything she says and does, or even a "lesser" noble man like Elendil? I don't know why she wants this bad to make him a hero, why she's being so blind to his objections. She keeps bringing his people and the emergency to save them and he showed no interest or care. It makes me crazy and that renders their scenes painful to watch, even though they were well acted and written.

EDIT: I just rewatched the episode and i realized that her position was clearly explained during the audience with Tar Miriel: Galadriel is desperately in need of a royal figure that could gather the men of The Southlands. They clearly won't follow an elf, and not even a numenorean queen can convince them given Númenor's closeness to the Elves. Only a leader born in the Southlands would be able to gather them under one banner. Thus Halbrand is her only and best shot at any attempt of an alliance, whatever the circumstances in which he came into the possession of the insignia, no matter if he's a real king or nobody. She's just trying praying very hard that he's not as bad as he pretends to be and taking a bet that nobody will detect his lies. Or rather, i really hope this interpretation will be proved to be true, because if not, i'm back to the part that i crossed out.

There's so much more to say, notably about Isildur who had a big episode, and his relationship with his sister Eärien, Pharazôn and his relationship with his son Kemen but this is already too long. I'm keeping the rest of my thoughts for future posts.

[wildwren]

Bronwyn + Elendil + Hands of Man by The Stray Birds

[tolkiens-middleearth]

At SDCC showrunner John D. Payne said: “So, one, always back to Tolkien. And two, when Tolkien was silent, we tried to invent as Tolkienian a way as possible." Let's see how much of this is true...

Analysis of Amazon's "The Rings of Power"

Episode 1

Galadriel is on a quest for revenge, Gil-galad ships inconvenient people into the West, and a guy falls as a meteor out of the sky?

Let's see which parts of Tolkien's worldbuilding was used by the show, where they directly contradict what Tolkien wrote about his characters, and how much of the storyline is an Amazon invention (spoiler: all of it).

Spoiler warnings for the first episode.

Preface

I wanted to write a comprehensive overview about where Amazon's show actually adapted something from Tolkien's writing in their first episode, where they contradict Tolkien's writings, and where Amazon came up with their own inventions.

What I won't get into in this analysis is

most of the visual choices of the show. The series is a visual medium, while most of Tolkien's work isn't. Therefore I won't focus on visual differences unless a) Tolkien described something explicitly or b) it is relevant for the story, character or world building.

themes within Amazon's series or Tolkien's story. The interpretation of themes is heavily subjective, as is the assessment whether it was well integrated in the series or not. In addition, it can't be checked on an episode-to-episode basis and should be evaluated rather at the end of the season.

On a side note: I am aware that the show did not have the rights to all of Tolkien's work, but it still is their decision to either not read or consciously contradict his writings.

If I have overlooked anything in this episode, please let me know.

I'll add it with credit to the list.

Worldbuilding

Where the show references Tolkien

Locations

Tolkien's map is included, although with extensions made by the show.

Locations with the names Lindon, Rhovanion, Forodwaith and Valinor are shown.

Forodwaith is shown as a region of mostly ice and snow.

In Valinor, the Two Trees and a large city are briefly shown.

The destruction of the Two Trees is briefly shown and mentioned.

Races

The races of Elves, Dwarves, Men, Hobbits, Orcs and Trolls exist.

The Elves are immortal and have pointy ears.

The Hobbits are smaller than Men or Elves.

The concept of Elves sailing form Middle-earth to Valinor exists.

History

Elves journying from Valinor to Middle-earth is mentioned.

"The war" – probably refering to the war against Morgoth in general – is briefly shown with a few images and mentioned. Finrod is briefly shown fighting in a battle against Orcs. Morgoth's defeat is mentioned.

Somen Men have sides with Morgoth in the wars ages ago.

Language

Some of Tolkien's Quenya words and grammer are used in dialogue.

Tengwar letters and Cirth runes are used on some objects and in some places.

Where the show contradicts Tolkien

Elvish character design:

Age: Some Elves, like Celebrimbor and Gil-galad, look visibly too old. tolkien described his Elves either as youthful or as ageless in his writings, they are never supposed to look like middle-aged/older people.

Hair: The Amazon series shows most of the male Elves with short hair. However, whenever Tolkien describes the hair length of an Elf, it's long. For the Noldor and the Teleri as a whole the hair was described as long at one point.

Beauty: All of Tolkien's Elves are described as exceptionally beautiful. In Amazon's series this is not the case.

History:

The Prologue claims that it was Morgoth who "destroyed the very light of [the Elves'] home", but in Tolkien's story this was done by Ungoliant.

The Prologue also implies that the Elves went to war against Morgoth because of the destruction of the Two Trees, but in Tolkien's writings the Noldor rather left to avenge Finwë's death and the theft of the Silmarils.

Another implication of the Prologue seems to be that the Noldor never had been in Middle-earth before – or that there were no Elves in Middle-earth before their journey altogether.

No word for death: In the Amazon series, Galadriel in the intro says that they had no word for death yet. In Tolkien's writings however, at the time of Galadriel's childhood the Elves had already experienced death a) in Middle-earth during the Great Journey and b) in Valinor when Míriel died. Galadriel wouldn't have been born if Míriel hadn't died, because otherwise Finwë wouldn't have married Indis. The concept of death therefore must have existed.

Who is allowed to sail west: In the Amazon series, Gil-galad seems to decide which Elves are sailing West and which don't. This is heavily contradicting Tolkien's writings, where sailing West was open for all Elves – with the possible exception of the former leaders of the Noldorin rebellion, including Galadriel. This permission or ban came from the Valar, and not from any single elf, king of no king.

Sailing to Valinor: During the 2nd Age, the passage to Valinor over the sea was, more or less, a "normal" journey on ship. No special magic was needed to get there, and in fact sailors would reach Tol Eressëa first.

Elvish supervision of Mannish villages: The Silvan Elves in Amazon's Middle-earth seem to be ruled by Gil-galad and keep watch on human settlements east of the Ash mountains. In Tolkien's writings, Gil-galad ruled in Linon and at best over Eriador in general, but certainly not further east or south, were the Silvan Elves lived. The Silvan Elves kept to themselves and refused the rule of the Noldor, except for Galadirel in Lóthlorien in the 3rd Age. There is no record of any Mannish settlement being controlled by Elves against their will.

Meteor Man: It is impossible for any Man or Elf to fall down as a meteor and survive. However, for the few Maiar that came to Midde-earth no such incident was ever reported either: Sauron was already in Middle-earth in the 2nd Age, and the Istari came by ship.

Nori's name: Nori's full name is Elanor Brandyfoot. Elanor is a Sindarin name, and therefore an unlikely name for any Hobbit (or "proto-Hobbit") unless they had contact with Sindarin speaking Elves. However, this contact with the Sindar is unlikely to have happened in the Wilderlands east of the Anduin.

Language:

In Tolkien's 2nd Age, Westron did not exist yet. Elves and Men had trouble with communication. In Amazon's 2nd Age, everyone seems to speak the same language: Elves, Men and Harfoots. If they speak different languages, it is not made clear.

Elves are shown to speak English, but every now and then they switch to Quenya. However, it does not appear that their "English" is supposed to be Sindarin, because when Elrond writes Gil-galad's speech it's in Quenya, yet later Gil-galad gives the speech in English. Unless Elrond translated the speech into Sindarin afterwards the switch between Enlish and Quenya makes no sense.

Where the show invents their own content

Tirharad: The culture, history and current situation of Tirharad and its population is an invention of the show.

Harfoot-Hobbits in the Wilderlands: The culture, lifestyle and current situation of the Harfoot-Hobbits is an invention of the show.

Elvish culture:

Veiled Elf-women are nowere described in Tolkien's writings and an invention of the show.

The Greek/Roman-looking wreath is an invention of the show.

Elves calling healers "artificers", and they "labor [...] to render hidden truths as works of beauty" in order to heal the soul is an invention of the show.

Characters

Where the show references Tolkien

Galadriel: A character with the name Galadriel exists, who lived in Valinor for a while, has an older brother (named Finrod in the credits) and who has some connection to Gil-galad and Elrond. She has long, golden hair.

Elrond: A character with the name Elrond exists. He spends time in Lindon and has connections to Gil-galad and Galadriel.

Gil-galad: A character with the name Gil-galad exists. He is High King of the Noldor and has connections to Galadriel, Elrond and Celebrimbor.

Celebrimbor: A character with the name Celebrimbor exists. He is known as a great smith and has connections to Gil-galad.

Finrod: Galadriel's older brother (named "Finrod" only in the credits) exists. He is shown in the introduction, but is no longer alive in the present time of the show.

Sauron: A character with the name Sauron is briefly shown, and described as a servant of Morgoth, as a sourcerer and leader of armies of Orcs.

Morgoth: A character with the name Morgoth existed, and is described as the Great Foe. He is only mentioned, not shown.

Where the show contradicts Tolkien

Galadriel:

Amazon's Galadriel doesn't seem to have a husband nor a daughter. In contrast, in Tolkien's writings she gets married to Celeborn soon after the 2nd Age begins, and not long after gives birth to their daughter Celebrian.

Amazon's Galadriel has apparently spent a whole age (however long) searching for Sauron. In Tolkien's writings, Galadriel resists Sauron once she is aware of his presence, but there is no record of her actively searching for him anywhere or trying to take revenge.

Amazon's Galadriel is shown sailing West, although she stops and turns around. In contrast, Tolkien's Galadriel was "the last survivor of the princes and queens who had led the revolting Noldor to exile in Middle-earth. After the overthrow of Morgoth ath the end of the First Age a ban was set upon her return, and she had replied proudly that she had no wish to do so."

Elrond:

Amazon's Elrond has light brown hair and is rather young. Tolkien describes Elrond's hair as "dark as the shadows of twilight", and at the forging of the One Ring Elrond is already over 1600 years old, and at the Downfall of Númenor even over 3000 years old.

Amazon's Elrond is not considered an Elf-lord. Given that Tolkien's Elrond is the son of Eärendil, grandson of Dior and also great-grandson of Turgon, there is no way he would not be counted among the nobility or even royalty of any Eldar society he wanders into.

Gil-galad

Amazon's Gil-galad looks older than Galadriel, although in Tolkien's writings he is from a generation younger than Galadriel, and therefore most likely younger than her.

Amazon's Gil-galad refuses to acknowledge Sauron's presence in Middle-earth. In Tolkien's writings, Gil-galad is among the first to notice Sauron's shadow, to recognise it as a threat, and to try to form alliances against it.

Amazon's Gil-galad is dressed all in gold, including gold stars. In Tolkien's writing, he is instead associated with silver and white stars.

Celebrimbor

Amazon's Celebrimbor looks too old (see above).

Galadriel's brother (Finrod)

Amazon's Finrod is killed by Sauron, after having been on a hunt for Sauron. This heavily contradicts Tolkien's writings, where Finrod was supporting his friend Beren on a mission and is killed by a wolf in Sauron's dungeon.

Amazon's Finrod seems to have a very different philosphy compared to how Tolkien has written him. In Amazon's series, when a young Galadriel asks him how to differenciate between light and darkness, Finrod's advice response is that "sometimes we cannot know until we have touched the darkness". This seems contrary to any attitude that an Elf in Valinor before Morgoth's release would have, and especially strange for an Elf like Finrod, who had a very strong belief in Eru.

Sauron

Sauron in the series is said to have gained power after Morgoth's defeat, and that he found and killed Finrod. However, in Tolkien's writings he went into hiding until he appeared in fair form at the doorstep of the Elves. Finrod was killed by Sauron's wolf before Morgoth's defeat.

Where the show invented their own content

Galadriel: Galadriel's desire for revenge, her position as a warrior in and leader of the Northern armies, the expedition to Forodwaith, the journey with the ship and the subsequent jump into the ocean are all inventions by the show. See also the contradictions.

Elrond: Elrond writing speeches for Gil-galad is an invention by the show, as is his conscious decision to ignore warnings of Sauron's presence. See also the contradictions.

Gil-galad: Gil-galad's plan to get Galariel out of the way by sending her to Valinor because she is inconvenient is an invention by the show. See also the contradictions.

All other characters not already mentioned in the character section are inventions of the show. This includes

in Lindon: Thondir

in Tirharad: Arondir, Bronwyn, Theo, Waldreg, Revion

in Rhovanion: Nori, Poppy, Sadoc, Marigold, Malva, Largo

... and naturally all the other characters in the background.

Storyline

All three storylines – Galadriel's, Arondir's and Nori's – are the show's invention and have no basis in Tolkien's writings.

Summary

Worldbuilding: The show only uses the basics for the setup of their world, but most of them can be found in many fantasy settings. When it comes to the details, the show often contradicts Tolkien.

Characters: Most of the characters are invented by the show. The characters that are inspired by Tolkien are very differently characterised in comparison to Tolkien's writings.

Storyline: All the storylines in this episode are invented by the show, they have no basis in Tolkien's writings.

[anragaire]

So I saw the first two episodes of The Rings of Power last night and here are my thoughts and opinions (potentially lightly spoilery depending on how many trailers/interviews/reviews you've watched/read). I'll add more as I think about it throughout the day/ watch it a million more times tomorrow.

Overall it is jaw-dropping in its achievement

The visuals are truly a remarkable feat - from the word go they stun you with their beauty and epic quality.

The sets, the costumes, the VFX - just *chef's kiss*

Gods bless Bear McCreary. The music brings SO much to the show.

Due to the fact they don't have the rights to the Silmarillion, they have to skirt around some First Age lore (they don't necessarily change it overtly, but more brush over a lot of stepping stones they simply can't access due to rights issues). I think, given their circumstances, they summarise the Silmarillion events really well. There were one or two other lore moments where I was like huh? but to be honest, they're so minor in comparison to everything else and they narratively worked.

Morfyyd and Robert somehow manage to both make Galadriel and Elrond their own whilst from the get-go making it clear that these characters are deeply linked to the ones we will see in The Lord of the Rings. (I particularly loved Robert's adoption of a lot of Hugo Weaving's mannerisms). They are truly wonderful, as are the rest of the cast. There was such overt glee in my audience as well for the dwarves. Disa and Durin IV are nothing short of spectacular. It is a crime that we have not had female dwarves onscreen before.

Being Irish, I was incredibly skeptical about the harfoots being these travelling pseudo-Irish folk. Nevertheless, they completely won me over. They're both different enough from the hobbits that they don't feel like a copy and paste job, but you can see some of the hobbit mannerisms there. Nori and her family are a delight. I would protect Nori with my life. Sir Lenny Henry is brilliant.

I was so confident as to who I thought the Stranger was, now I'm back to the drawing board with multiple theories.

They've already said this in a number of interviews, but I LOVE that they lean into the arrogance of the elves. The politics between all the various races is super interesting on screen.

There's one scene with Elrond in particular that just shows that the writers are invested in the lore and ethics of Tolkien's work.

The design of the orcs is so cool - I love how you can tell they began as corrupted and tortured elves from looking at them alone.

Still not entirely here for the 80s haircuts on the elves, and some of the background ones sometimes border on the hair options for Dragon Age 3 *shivers* but some do work to be fair. The real glory is Gil-Galad's luscious locks.

Finrod. My love. My life. That's all.

I love how they're setting up the Southlands.

I can understand why some of the reviewers were wondering about the plot, but if you know your lore, you can see the mechanisms falling into place pretty quickly. These two episodes are doing a lot of set-up which I'm fine with. There are a lot of characters and I want to care about them all so I'm glad we're getting to know them. The second episode moved with a lot more gusto.

The things in the trees - I won't say anymore, but we need to discuss them.

[laoih]

Middle-earth without Tolkien

Review of "The Rings of Power": Episode 1 & 2

I am a big fan of Tolkien's writings and the fictional world he had created. If you try to sell me a show that is supposed to be "true to Tolkien" and that is supposedly set in Middle-earth and uses the names of his characters and locations, I'm going to have expectations.

Unfortunately, in the first two episodes they were not met. While the show looks decent and could be an okay-ish start for an original show, at this point it does not work as an adaptation of Tolkien's writings at all.

Spoiler warnings for the 1st & 2nd episode under the cut.

The Production

Nice sets, overall good VFX and music

Let me start by saying that overall, the look of the show is mostly fine. This is especially true in regards to the sets and most of the visual effects: Moria looked impressive, Lindon has a few nice shots and the landscape shots are, of course, also beautiful. We also get some great VFX shots in the intro and whenever they introduce new locations. The music was good as well – for the most parts it was fitting for the atmosphere of the scene and was not distracting. However, I wouldn't say that it was anything special – only in seaso 2 I found one moment where the music really stood out for me.

Questionable character design

I wasn't a fan of the character designs when the casting and later the designs were announced, and this hasn't really changed:

Among the Elves, Galadriel's casting is probably the best of them, but the choices for her costumes are strange at times. Gil-galad is completely miscast in my opinion, and his golden costume just looks bad, especially the fabric. Elrond doesn't look the Elvish part, and especially his costume in Moria doesn't look good. Celebrimbor is way too old, and no acting can change that. And the fact that they make him walk from Ost-in-Edhil to Moria in his long robes is ridiculous. For Arondir, and other Elves, it's little details that sometimes just don't work or that are irritating – like the fact that most Elf-women besides Galadriel seemed to be veiled. And then there is, of course, the fact that all male Elves but Gil-galad have short hair, and I think this is a really really bad decision. Give the Elves their long hair back! Also, what's up with the Roman style of the Elves?

Among the Dwarves, things look a little bit better: Durin IV looks decent for a Dwarf, and most other Dwarves that we see look Dwarvish enough. But of course there is the issue of Disa, who according to Tolkien should also have a beard - which she doesn't. Her costume also looks not really Dwarvish at all. But since she is basically only in one scene in these two episodes, this can be overlooked.

For Men, the character designs are mostly okay – although Bronwyn sticks out in so far that she seems to be the only clean person in her entire village. The Harfoots have overall mostly fitting costumes, but the random plants in their give un unnecessary primitive impression.

Acting

The acting is overall decent – there is rarely a case where the acting feels off or pulls you out of the show. However, in these first two performances there wasn't really anything impressive to see either.

My favourite performance is probably Roberto Aramayo – his acting is charming, his line delivery is good and he displays the most interesting emotions. Especially in combination with Durin IV it's an enjoyable performance to watch. Notable is also Markella Kavenagh as Nori, who brings a lot of heart into her role.

My least favourite performance is probably Ismael Cruz Cordova as Arondir, who seems to have the same facial expression throughout the two episodes.

Writing

The writing and directing is, together with the weak character design, the weakest part of these two episodes so far, but unfortunately it's also the most important part:

The story and character treatment has many issues I will describe further below. The dialogue feels clunky at times, especially when its Elves talking. While I understand that they tried to give the Elves a certain way of speaking that probably tries to mimic Tolkien's beautiful prose, it sometimes tries too hard and too much. The best example is probably the following excerpt:

" Do you know why a ship floats and a stone cannot? Because the stone sees only downward. The darkness of the water is vast and irresistible. The ship feels the darkness as well, striving moment by moment to master her and pull her under. But the ship has a secret. For unlike the stone, her gaze is not downward but up. Fixed upon the light that guides her, whispering of grander things than darkness ever knew." – The Rings of Power, Episode 1

There are also times where it works, but the times it doesn't are more memorable because I had to stop and go back once or twice to understand what they tried to say in their convoluted way.

And last but not least: language. Something that should be vital to any series that tries to tackle Tolkien, yet here we are in a series with some really basic mistakes: we see at least two instances between Elves where they switch to Elvish for a couple of lines and then go back to seaking English. ... why? Aren't they normally speaking Elvish and it was just translated to English for the viewer? Apparently not. Then why are they speaking English anyway? Did anyone even thing about this? Why is this not addressed when it's hinted at?

More details about the writing I will discuss in the story section.

The Story

The Intro

The intro of the show takes about 8 minutes of the first episodes, and it was my first big disappointment. While it works as a short summary of the history and gives a good insight into Galadriel's current situation, it is also filled with small details that are simply frustrating for me as a fan of Tolkien's writings.

There is, once again, the repurposing of character lines right at the beginning of the show: "Nothing is evil in the beginning" is said by Galadriel as the first line of the first episode, yet it is Elrond's line in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. And so far, this line stands without connection at the beginning and there is no follow up to it.

The first scene we see is Galadriel getting bullied by other Elf-children. The first of those children to speak sounds rather like Draco Malfoy than an Elf-child. It kind of sets the tone of how the Elves will be portrayed in these two episodes (and possibly in the whole first season).

Galadriel's conversation with her brother not only is written with weird metaphors (see above), it's also is illogical at times. "I won't always be here to speak them to you", her brother says to Galadriel, and she is surprised. In a voice over she than explains that they had no word for death – but then why does her brother believe he won't always be there? There are other instances like this, so I want to mention this one as an example.

The plot of the First Age is very quickly summaries with a few sentence. It's not very accurate, so not going too much into details is probably the best. The visuals combine several images that could belong to various different battles: the War or Wrath, the Dagor Bragollach, and the Nirnaeth Arnoediad. There are some really impressive shots here, but half of them had already revealed by the teasers. Since there is not really much more there, I think it was a mistake to use them in the teaser.

There is a shot of Galadriel on the battlefield after the battle is over, and she just wearing a delicate white dress while walking through the mud. It's a distracting in this moment because all I could think about was "who on earth picks clothes like these to go to a lost battlefield..."

After the intro part, the episode then transitions to the main storylines of these two episodes, starting with:

Amazon's Galadriel and her quest for revenge

Galadriel's storyline is probably the most frustrating to watch, because out of the four storylines it's one of the two where the character names actually come from Tolkien.

However, there is not much else left that could be attributed to Tolkien beside the names. Amazon's Galadriel shows neither the greatness nor the nobility nor the ambition nor the wisdom that were central to Tolkien's Galadriel. Instead she is brash, inconsiderate and driven by revenge.

She spends the 1st episode as the Cassandra in the story - warning everyone of Sauron's return, but nobody seems to listen. But there is never a good reason given as to why everyone ignores her – instead, apparently most Elves have forgotten the pain of the past, Galadriel's men think it's too dangerous to search any further in the North, Elrond has no better reason than Gil-galad-said-so, Gil-galad actually knows Galadriel is right but apparently prefers to deny reality.

This leads to Galadriel basically getting shipped of into the West against her will – massively breaking the lore because it ignores the Ban of the Valar completely. Seeing the ship almost reaching Valinor wasn't as impressive for me as the creators probably would have liked, because it's not earned: in Tolkien's Middle-earth, sailing West is a personal choice, it's not something any Elven-king can hand out as a gift or keep from any Elf. It certainly shouldn't be used to remove the uncomfortable political opposition. It has no emotional weight because while the no-name-Elves in the background are all very happy, Galadriel obviously doesn't want to be there. Which is why she eventually decides to turn back by jumping into the sea. This decision is absolutely nonsenical, because anyone with half a brain would then expect to drown and die. This storyline may be impressive visually, but it's purely build on dump decisions by Gil-galad (+Elrond) and Galadriel.

Galadriel of course doesn't die, most of the 2nd episode she spends with not drowing, and during that she gets aquaintend with the human man Halbrand. About Halbrand there is not much to say yet – this episode mainly brings these two characters together for further story development in the following episodes. The other humans in these scenes are quickly forgotten, and only used for a quick example of human racism against Elves.

Galadriel is not the only mischaracterised Tolkien character here: with Gil-galad it's even worse. He is one of the biggest disappointments because he is an unsatisfying combination of being miscast, having a flawed character design and being written completely unsympathetically: Amazon's Gil-galad is a it patronising, lets Elrond write his speaches, and ignores Galadriel's warnings even though he knows she is right. The idea of trying to pretend the thing he doesn't want to be true will go away simply by ignoring it is directly contradicting Tolkien's writings, since there Gil-galad was one of the first to notice the growing shadow, and one of the first who tried to do something against it. I truly hate Amazon's portrayal of this character so far.

Other little things that caught my attention:

Climbing ice mountains with metal gloves is a stupid idea.

The fight scene against the snow troll is really really bad, especially because it seems to be so easy for Galadriel, and everyone else is just standing around doing nothing.

I'm curious what Galadriel's plan would have been if they would have found Sauron at some point during that mission. Did she plan to fight him one-on-one? If he had Orcs with him, would his not-so-merry band of Elves be enough to take them on?

All in all, this plotline was frustrating and dumb in the first episode, and got boring in the second one.

Amazon's Elrond and the Dwarves

Amazon's Elrond, as mentioned above, has the advantage of an endearing performance by the actor, but he simply is not convincing as an Elf – or as Tolkien's Elrond at this point in time.

Watching his scenes with Galadriel was frustrating because although they claim to be friends they don't really seem to understand each other at all. Elrond seems to act, more or less, on behalf of Gil-galad, which Galadriel resents. She is unkind in these conversations, and Elrond deliberately ignores that her concerns are valid - Galadriel has found some proof for her claims after all. And since I'm not a fan of Amazon's Gil-galad, I dislike the scenes of Elrond with him as well.

A recurring element here is also the attitude of the Elves – Elrond is not included in a council meeting because it's "Elf-lords only". ...who among the Eldar would refuse to count the immortal son of Eärendil, grandson of King Dior, great-grandson of King Turgon, among the Elf-lords? That's just absurd, but continues what was shown right at the start of the intro: the Elves as stuck-up bullies.

Elrond becomes a lot more interesting once he is in the company of the Dwarves. For me, his relationship with Durin IV was the only emotional storyline that really interested me and that felt like there was actually some depths to these characters. Incidentally, the issue of the Elvish immortality compared to the rather short life of a Dwarf (250 years on average, according to Tolkien) is one of the few moments where the show actually picks up on a Tolkien-related storyline. Had something like this story been front and center I would have been much more invested in the this two-parter. While the initial refusal of Durin IV to speak with Elrond and the following Rite are a bit cringe, the scenes that follow work quite well.

Durin IV and Disa are used well in this context. Durin III, while looking very Dwarvish, is less welcome because he really shouldn't be there without breaking another part of Tolkien's lore. But who is counting anymore at this point, I guess...? What is not clear is why Elrond ignored Durin IV. I mean, surely he got an invetation to Durin IV's marriage or the birth of his children. Even if time feels a bit different to Elrond, he still should know about the importance of such occations and that one can't just come a coupld of years later to them?

For this storyline I also have to quickly mention Celebrimbor. He is not well casted in my eyes because he simply does not look the Elf-part at all. And apparently Celebrimbor is aware of that: he has decided that he quickly has to build a large tower, until spring, because apparently he has no time left to be patient for no further explained reasons? If there is peace now, why can't Gil-galad's Elves help? Shouldn't Celebrimbor be a Lord in his own right in Eregion? What are all his Elves doing? WHAT ARE THE GWAITH-I-MÍRDAIN DOING? Anyway, Celebrimbor and Elrond seem to walk from Ost-in-Edhil all the way to Moria on foot, and Celebrimbor still wears his long costume and that's just funny to me. So far nothing that they have done with this character works for me.

Some little notes:

Fëanor's hammer in this series looks like a toy. Please don't show or mention it again.

The close-up reaction shots of the Dwarves during the Sigin-tarâg are just really uncomfortable to watch. This is one of the times where the editing draws attention to itself – and this is always a negative thing.

Overall, this is the storyline that works best in these two episodes. It's not ideal by any means, but at least it has a bit potential. Just keep Elrond away from Gil-galad and never show Celebrimbor again...

Arondir and Bronwn

Arondir, Bronwyn and Theo are one of the two storylines that have no foundation in Tolkien's writings at all so far. The characters are an Amazon invention, the location where the story is set is only vaguely defined, and the story itself is going nowhere known so far. It is most likely a setup for something bigger, but at the moment this part of the series is among the most boring parts to watch.

Arondir is the most uninteresting character to me, thanks to the writing and acting. His romance with Bronwyn hasn't had much chance to be developed and their scenes together show them mostly in a state of awkwardness or miscommunication. Nothing there makes me invested in their relationship.

Arondir's plotline mostly seems to emphasis once more that Elves are stuck-up bullies. So these human people have lived there for 1000 years, peacefully, but the Elves still keep a military presences there because they don't trust them? How lovely. There is a scene between Arondir and another Elf that tries to reinforce just how badly the Elves think of these people. "The blood of those who stood with Morgoth still darkens their veins", this Elf says, and that they had to be watched over not because of what their ancestors did but "because of who they still are" and "be grateful that you need never see them again". OKAY, WE GET IT. This scene is horribly forced and annoying exposition, because there is no need to tell Arondir this if he has been stationed there for 79 years. Take your indoctrination somewhere else please.

The humans on the other hand call Arondir "knife-ears", which is also racist but probably understandable after 1000 years or mistrust and control because of the ancestor's crimes. It's not very fitting for Arondir though, his ears are barely pointy...

Anyway. The Elves here also pretend everything is okay now, everything evil has somehow vanished despite there being signs that it's just around the corner, and it makes everyone look stupid. Before declaring peace on earth, maybe check around the next corner?

Some other little things that annoyed me:

When Arondir comes into the village, he has his hood so deep drawn in his face that it's hard to see how he can see where he's going. It looks ridiculous, put the hood further back, please.

Arondir has been promoted as a Silvan elf, yet he is under the command of the High King of the Noldor? How? Why? Since when did Gil-galad's kingdom ever go past the Misty Mountains in the East or the Isen in the South. Surely not as far as East of the Sea of Núrnen. Why did the show make Arondir a Silvan Elf and then just ignore a majority of the Silvan culture? Silvan Elves didn't want to get involved with the Noldor, they stayed in their own little corners.

Bronwyn has a Cassandra moment in the 2nd episode, similar to Galadriel in the 1st episode. I think it would have been better if Theo had been the one to do it this time, because now it just feels a bit obvious in regards to what the message is supposed to be...

The cut from when Bronwyn kills the Orc to where she slams the head of the Orc on the table is really really bad.

There is more, but I have to stop somewhere. Theo could also be discussed, but frankly there is not much to say about him aside from the fact that Orcs digging tunnels under his house sounds like mice to him, and that he found a sword and is possibly being possessed at the end? Either way, I can't bring myself to care for the boy.

Nori and Meteor Man

The storyline that is probably furthest away from Tolkien's 2nd Age is the HobbitsHarfoots storyline (trying to convince anyone that Harfoots aren't Hobbits is laughable, so let's just note that they are Hobbits. At least they are not yet in Eriador but somewhere in Rhovanion).

The focus is on Nori, a HobbitHarfoot with an Elvish name. The scenes with her and her family and friends are charming in a way, but I also don't have much to say about it because while watching it I mostly wondered where the point of all this was.

The point comes in form of Meteor Man at the end of the first episode: Nori finds him and decides to take care of him, and from then on her storyline becomes less interesting. Her interaction with Meteor Man is simply not particulary interesting, because Meteor Man himself is not particually interesting at this moment. It's a setup for something further down the line, and for itself it doesn't add much to the current state of the story.

As Nori and her friend correctly notice: Meteor Man can neither be Man nor Elf, so he'll most likely be one of the Maiar – probably Gandalf or another of of the Istari, or Sauron – depending on which plottwist route the showrunner will take. Coming as a meteor breaks the lore once more, no matter who it is, so that's annoying. And since we won't get any solution to this riddle any time soon I lost interest in that plotline half into the second episode.

Two small notes:

I quite liked the music that played when Nori first hid Meteor Man and explained to her friend why she was doing it.

In that scene there is the other small hint at a motif from Tolkien: Nori says she somehow knows that this is supposed to happen and that she is supposed to take care of Meteor Man. This is an echo of Gandalf's words to Frodo: "I can put it no plainer than by saying that Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, and not by its maker. In which case you also were meant to have it. And that may be an encouraging thought." Which makes the idea that this Meteor Man is Gandalf much more likely.

One question that remains for me when it comes to Nori: her father was hurt wenn he fell, so they said he wouldn't be able to migrate. But in the next scene that we see the HobbitsHarfoots in, Nori says that they'll soon migrate, so... what's with the father now? Is he healed? Did I miss something?

Pacing & story coherence

The show juggles with four storylines in these two episodes, and often a single episode suffers when it is split between more than two storylines: as a result not enough time is spent on each single storyline. Because of this the pacing is usually not that great – while the eisode jumps form storyline to storyline, the viewer has to follow constantly with their attention and emotional investment, and usually that doesn't really work. Whenever the viewer has gotten used to and invested in a storyline, the episode is already heading to the next part.

Another issue with the pacing is the fact that for all of the storylines these two episodes were mostly setup. But there are only eight episodes in this season, so 25% of the season are already spent on setup. At this rate, I'm curious how they want to get to the Last Alliance in five seasons without rushing it, but maybe they'll speed things up in the next episodes.

Conclusion

As an adaptation of Tolkien's stories, these first two episodes completely failed. As a story set in Middle-earth, these first two episodes also fail because they keep ignoring some of the most basic elements of Tolkien's worldbuilding. Of course is can and most likely will change in future episodes or seasons, but we'll see to which extend and in which quality.

As a fantasy series, it's not completely bad, but it's lacking a lot. The pretty visuals can't hide the fact that the characterisations and the overall writing is unconvincing, at times dumb and at other times boring. So far there is nothing smart or subtle about this show.

Most frustrating is the portrayal of the Elvish characters, and the Elves as a people in general. While the Amazon oirignal plotlines my not be particulary interesting, at least they can't get as many things wrong as the Galadriel or Elrond storyline.

Overall it was a disappointing start for this series, both as a show supposedly related to Tolkien's work and as its own work.

[abnerkrill]

I posted 13,798 times in 2022

That's 5,929 more posts than 2021!

451 posts created (3%)

13,347 posts reblogged (97%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@salzundhonig

@plangentia

@britomart

@geislieb

@walkerskieren

I tagged 8,136 of my posts in 2022

Only 41% of my posts had no tags

#trop - 1,215 posts

#stranger things - 422 posts

#lotr - 364 posts

#abner krill - 304 posts

#the old guard - 227 posts

#dc - 174 posts

#marvel - 172 posts

#the suicide squad - 166 posts

#nope movie - 126 posts

#star wars - 123 posts

Longest Tag: 135 characters

#i don’t really take advantage of the whole emoji library it’s just too much lol. but i do love all the fruits dearly 🍎🍓🍇🍐🍋🥭🍑🥝🥥

I sent 1 gift in 2022

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

the sound i just made

120 notes - Posted June 10, 2022

#4

spoiled rotten by in the flesh giving me zombie protagonist boy with such a good kind heart he mostly just doesn't want to harm anyone anymore + angsty zombie cult leader gay love interest who throws aside everything he's ever believed in because of LOVE!!!! no one's doing it like them :(

131 notes - Posted September 29, 2022

#3

me about elrond in episode 1: why does he look like peter pan? not my type. where is hugo weaving

me about elrond now: sunshine child. most beautiful person alive. i am writing 20,000 words about him in 2 weeks to express my depth of love. best guy in middle-earth. the beauty of lúthien tinúviel herself radiates from his face. he is sweet and kind as summer. babygirl material.

134 notes - Posted October 28, 2022

#2

y'all were right about angel torres. now THAT'S babygirl material!!

269 notes - Posted August 28, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

wake up girls hozier collab with bear mccreary for god of war soundtrack dropped

891 notes - Posted November 10, 2022

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[hithelleth]

I posted 3,010 times in 2022

90 posts created (3%)

2,920 posts reblogged (97%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@daniel-bruehl

@stargazerdaisy

@vesperass-anuna

@lady-eleanor-vane

@sproutwings

I tagged 3,003 of my posts in 2022

#queued - 1,311 posts

#scheduled - 673 posts

#the rings of power - 281 posts

#marvel - 201 posts

#cats - 178 posts

#the cleaning lady - 169 posts

#the rookie - 163 posts

#lucy chen - 152 posts

#tim bradford - 149 posts

#lucy x tim - 141 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#(gah i hope these pandemics wars and shitty governments all around sort themselves out and my health at least holds and finances improve)

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

See the full post

179 notes - Posted September 27, 2022

#4

See the full post

186 notes - Posted October 2, 2022

#3

See the full post

216 notes - Posted September 28, 2022

#2

See the full post

225 notes - Posted October 23, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

See the full post

382 notes - Posted October 1, 2022

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[arosetolivefor]

I posted 3,926 times in 2022

That's 1,748 more posts than 2021!

118 posts created (3%)

3,808 posts reblogged (97%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@hiraethy

@mndvx

@hillbilly---man

@ringsofpowerfans

@solosclark

I tagged 2,338 of my posts in 2022

Only 40% of my posts had no tags

#trop - 264 posts

#art - 245 posts

#animals - 106 posts

#i've been saving all my summers for queue - 90 posts

#zsjl - 78 posts

#derry girls - 72 posts

#the sandman - 52 posts

#cats - 41 posts

#photography - 40 posts

#f - 38 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#but at the same time the social structures and concepts about how life should be don't agree with this so that is what makes me more anxious

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Halron on that raft

42 notes - Posted October 17, 2022

#4

The creation of ROP's Isildur

50 notes - Posted October 17, 2022

#3

found many people in the Rings of Power tag here that were *still* hate watching the show... babygirl are you lost?

72 notes - Posted October 14, 2022

#2

JERIN IS CANON

157 notes - Posted May 3, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

this may be lame or even non-existent but the way Erin was smiling while James was filming her at the station >>>>

164 notes - Posted April 26, 2022

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[ncytiri]

serializd let me block people PLEASE

[spoonietimelordy]

My very short review of The marvels :

Spoilers incoming!

The heteronormativity was so over the top that it became a joke that the movie was conscious of. This movie did not have any textual queerness, but it was so fucking gay. Heteronormativity is the centre of so many jokes that I can't site them all from memory.

All of Carol's story was a bunch of classic lesbian movie trops on top of each others. The whole "aunt" thing, the over the top lavender wedding, the cat lady etc...

I don't think cishet people have watched the same movie as me, there is no way that they've watched the movie like I did. And yes it's Disney it's queerbait, but it's queerbait taken so much to the extreme that it becomes actually queer. I don't know if I make sense.

This was a parody of a marvel movie. Could not have asked for more.

[attheexactlyrighttimeandplace]

Anyone else excited by the place the show has made for the women so far?

The writers managed to create for almost each species, conflicts in which one woman dominates her community through her leadership skills (Galadriel, Tar Miriel) or her strong will (so strong that they seized the power and break the traditions under extraordinaire circumstances in the case of Bronwyn and Nori).

It used to be true for Galadriel who had as a commandant a high military status during centuries before falling from grace, it's ambiguously true for Miriel who must share the influence with Pharazôn to keep the peace in Nùmenor, it's spectacularly real for Bronwyn who showed an extraordinaire courage by killing an orc and who convinced entire villages to follow her to Ostirith, it's painfully true for Nori who forcibly included a complete stranger, a tall man to her small nomadic and peaceful community of gatherers, breaking an almost sacred rule and making her family pay a high price for it.

It's also so freeing to watch in a such big production main female characters who are not defined first and firemost by their romantic potentiel.

Miriel and Galadriel are single (even if Halbrand and Elendil are presented as potential love interests for Galadriel, though these subplots are written in such a soft and restrained style, that it requires attention to notice the signs), and they have been introduced with no discussion or commentary inside the plot about their marriage prospects or their child desire; Bronwyn is a single mother and the independent head of her family; Eärien has won her place in the Builder's Guild and has been wanting a career long before meeting Kemen; Nori is enjoying her free life and traveling all around Middle Earth; and Disa, mother of two children and the only wife of the lot is the most non conformist model. She challenges all the norms of feminity established by the more popular characters in term of skin color, weight and height and yet looks fabulous, all while she takes care of her family and helps her husband in his work.

They are not only modern heroines, they are also complex heroines: i'm still impressed that writers dared to make at times Galadriel so rude and bossy, Nori so frustrating and naive, Miriel so indecisive, that they have not been afraid to separate Eärien from her family because of her unpopular (in the fandom) anti elves positions.

Considering the conservatism and even religious traditionalism in Tolkien's work (things he wrote when was older and which were a censorship of his more "progressive" earlier writing), the writers have done in my opinion a really solid job at actualizing his work in regard to the current ethical standards, without breaking the unity of the universe he created.

If it was only about filling the quotas for diversity, the writers would have stopped at this point with their large main cast of wonderful femal characters, but they decided to add two more groups:

The women in white that appeared to be studying the crater where The stranger crashed. I loved everything about their appearance: from their outfits that gave a religious (as in "high priestesses") and warrior vibe, to their confident attitude and the impression left that they belonged to the" magical" world of the Valar.

Whoever they are, i'm thrilled the most by the risk taken by the writers, who seem determined to shake things even more by adding new players to the game and that they picked more women for that. I'm not even sure at this stage that i want them to reveal their identity, i'm just satisfied that those women (spirits?) looked so powerful, cool and fierce and that they seemed to lead the hunt, be it for good or bad reasons.

The veiled Elves servants: they have been giving all its meaning to the idiom "hiding in plain sight" since episode 1. So silent that i could sometimes almost forget that they are present in every scene related to Lindon while performing their many tasks: messengers in episode 1 when one of them informed Elrond that he couldn't participate to the Council, assisting others elves in religious rituals on the elf ship that was taking Galadriel and the company she lead to Valinor, or domestic servants during the dinner with Durin. That's why i easily noticed and reacted during the post dinner scene between Gil Galad and Elrond, when they stopped and turned back to watch the two male elves accusing each other of lying. It was ethereal and i was almost expecting them to break their "vows" and make some commentaries like chorus do in the ancient greek tragedies. It seems to me it was filmed to look like a group move, and it's one of those details that make me want to know more about them collectively, (how they are hired, trained etc).

Not that i believe that they have any influence on the plot, but just because of the light they can shed on the elfic society and its hierarchy. I need to understand better the contrast between their position and the trajectory of Galadriel's career, especially in a community like Lindon which seem too wise to judge people based on their gender (though the family lineage and class seem to play a big part in the assignment of social roles). And this thirst came probably from the fact that Galadriel is the only woman elf developed so far (there was one fighting at her side during the discovery of Morgoth's lair in episode 1 and one other captured by the orcs of Adar in episode 3, but they weren't even named and the one in the Southlands died quickly during the failed escape).

It's not perfect but it's enough to say that a show written with this level of attention and care for its heroines, is a show that knows how to tell properly a story.

[trulybetty]

Sunday | Week In Review IX

I feel like I just wrote the last Sunday Week in Review five minutes ago and like six years ago at the same time. Short work weeks and coming off the back of vacation really do mess with your sense of time.

Another short week ahead too, Canadian Thanksgiving tomorrow, happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canucks who observe this holiday! 🧡

October has brought so many good stories to my dash that my drafts list is out of control and I still have so many good fics I haven't finished reading yet! Having said that, I've enjoyed the pause to jump in with these October x 500 prompts. It's been a jolt of inspiration/creativity that I needed.

Having said that, on with the week in review!

T R U L Y  U P D A T E S . . .

october x 500 (masterlist)

oct' x 01 - ruffled hair (joel x gn!reader)

oct' x 02 - apple scent (chiffon!dieter x bryony)

oct’ x 03 - full of colours (tim rockford x f!reader)

oct' x 04 - walks in the forest (strings!joel x reader)

oct' x 05 - autumnal (dieter x gn!reader)

oct' x 06 - falling leaves (gold rush!joel x charlotte)

oct' x 07 - chestnuts (chiffon!dieter x bryony)

W H A T  I  R E A D . . .

On Deck (One Shots) (Jack AU) by @something-tofightfor Just when I think I’ve gone through someone’s master list, I manage to find a gem and this is one of them. I have no clue about baseball, went to a game and had no idea what was happening no matter how many times someone tried to explain. However, I am 110% positive that if Jack was to explain the rules to me, I’d know him inside and out, oh and maybe a bit about baseball too. Gotta make sure those lessons get stretched out…

Bloom (Joel AU) by @penaonthestreets-javiinthesheetsThis was such a delightful opening chapter! Reader has their own flower shop, and just so happens our favourite Texan pays a visit. The characterization of Ellie almost steals the show from Joel’s meet-cute with Reader - I’m not going to spoil it, but I had to pick myself off of the floor after - just saying…

Working Title | Chapter 13 (Dieter) by @rhoorl I’m so rooting for these two! Both deserve a happy ending (in more than one sense!) and yet it seems there's those who want to bring them down or stand in their way. This update was a little angst, incredibly sweet and the last bit, well - I can't wait to read the next update!

Kinktober Day Two (Frankie) 🌶️ by @youvebeenlivingfictional I love the whole fun roleplay trop between established couples and this one does an excellent job of doing just that! Reader and Frankie are out at the bar having fun and, I'm not going to spoil it - go enjoy it for yourself!

Tip Your Server (Dieter) by @nothoughtsjustmeds This is just the best! Dieter and wife!reader on the night of his Oscar win and it’s just so much hilarity, sweetness & spice and the banter between the two is just the best. Please go read it, you won’t be disappointed, I promise! 

Kiss Me Quick (Dieter) by @secretelephanttattoo This, how I love this so! It’s a love letter to the British seaside and is told through a day at the beach with the one and only Dieter. It managed to not only invoke laughter but homesickness too. I’d go to the seaside for a stick of rock any day of the week with Dieter. 

Sofa So Good (Frankie) by @secretelephanttattoo This was cozy, domestic bliss wrapped up as tight as my fingers would be in Frankie’s hair. This was a sweet slice of life and so done so well. A perfect cozy Sunday read if you’re looking for one!

Video Nasty I & II (Joel) 🌶️ by @sin-djarin I don't think I've recovered from these two yet... Oof, incredibly hot, incredibly Joel and incredibly read-again worthy! Also provided a fun memory of mine working in a video store and will Marcus be forever associated with a poorly titled porno? Yes. Yes he will be.

Paranoid Heart (Javier P.) by @goodwithcheese This was such a great opener and introduction to our main character and Javi. Now, if you're thinking you need to watch Narcos to read this, take it from me, Ms. Truly 'I think I've watched six episodes now but can't remember' Betty, you don't need to, because Megan is so good at immersing you in her characters worlds that you'll be well taken care of. Can't wait to see where this story leads us!

A Month of Sundays(Various) by @gnpwdrnwhiskey I love each and every one posted so far! There’s something to be said about drabbles, little slices of life etc., six-sentence fics - because they’re not as easy to write as you think. There needs to be some establishing of what’s going on, and while not a resolution - something to end on. These are all great insights into some established characters and some we’ve not met before and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the month brings!

No Panties, No Problems (Frankie) by @blackfemalenerd Frankie is an A-grade menace here and, oof is this hot? Please do yourself a favour and go read it and leave your comments - because I think we all deserve some more of this Frankie!

Delta Landscaping | Chapter 7 (Triple Frontier Boys) by @rhoorl Jess really knows how to weave multiple stories and character backgrounds together and take you through from start to finish and never feel like you've missed something or added confusion. This week's installment is no different! We've got it all packed into this chapter and I don't want to spoil anything, but please go check it out!

M E M O R A B L E  P O S T S . . .

The next guest appearance on Mulefalls Court @rhoorl

the grey sweatpants revelation

hands, hands and more hands

a visual from @maggiemayhemnj that I won't be forgetting anytime soon, and this one here where I might still be on the floor from

a good Tumblr 101 + reblog etiquette post from @morallyinept

Bob's Burgers fest started by @darkroastjoel

B R O U G H T  T H E  J O Y . . .

Just how lovely this community is - this week I've had so many great interactions with equally amazing people and I'm so happy to have found a home in this little corner and appreciate every one of you who comes and interacts with my blog and me in whatever capacity 💕

F R A N K I E  C A T ™️ . . .

I missed last weeks update, so here’s an update on Frankie Cat - she’s very much settled in. She is pretty laid back as her name sake, but sometimes her tiny humans can get on her last nerves, but baby Truly #2 and her are BFF’s (mostly because baby Truly is forcing Frankie to love her, like I would the actual Frankie…)

She also has to go back to the shelter today for treatment, as she’s not 100% a Truly until her spay (which if anyone has tips for care after I’m all ears) - hopefully she doesn’t get excited and think she’s finally getting away from us… sorry Frankie Cat, you’re one of us now. Even if you do rip my feet to shit. 

T H I S  W E E K ' S  J A M . . .

Back in my Sons of Anarchy feels as I finally work my way through season seven (no spoilers or talk please, I've gone this long without a spoiler, I'd like to finish it out the same way)

Happy Sunday all! Here's to another great week! Feel free to share your favourite posts, stories, thots and whatever and never hesitate to tag me in it 💕

[nikarie5]

Chair de poule - snippet

Rating: General audience but with warnings Trigger warnings: Walburga Black's A+ parenting, corporal punishment, book burning, bad French* (although less than expected because it was a very unproductive weekend and I didn't get my act together.) Description: A view into Sirius's childhood, and how Pascal Dumais ended up with multiple complete sets of R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series in his basement. Thanks to @lumosinlove, @noots-fic-fests, @hazelnoot-analyst for their excellent work, @1-800-shedevil for the fun line divider, and to R.L. Stine for giving me many nightmares (not that I ever read a full book, just the thought of the stories and YTV show gave me nightmares.)

-Sirius. SIRIUS! Descend de là tout de suite. Tu étais censé commencer tes exercices il y a cinq minutes.

Sirius sort de sa chambre, tourne pour se présenter pour une rapide fesser (peut-être il pourra ainsi éviter une punition plus sévère), puis se dirige vers le foyer ou se rangent tous les patins. Il avait oublié que son père n’avait pas un match ce soir, et sa mère était toujours plus stricte et attentif quand son père était là. Se peut-il que son père entrerait assez tôt pour observer un peu de son entrainement? Sirius savait qu’il était toujours un petit peu trop lent, qu’il n’avait pas réussi à surpasser les objectifs fixés par Orion pour le mois peu importe qu’il ait fait des intervalles pour une heure chaque soir sur la patinoire dans la cour, même après les entrainements avec son équipe les lundis et mercredis. Devrait-il tenter de changer l’objectif pour démontrer son contrôle de la rondelle? Il a beaucoup amélioré sa technique depuis la dernière fois que son père l’ait vu. Mais, en ce faisant, il sera peut-être puni pour avoir l’audace de changer le régime qu’Orion lui avait dicté. Non, mieux qu’il se prépare pour une double session sur la patinoire avec son père. Sa collation n’était qu’une banane, s’il vomisse, ce ne serai pas trop dégoutant. De toute manière, s’il ne se gave pas à diner, son père ne croira pas qu’il s’est efforcer jusqu’au bout. Ce soir, il n’ira pas au lit affamé. Perdu dans ses calculs, il commence ses étirements puis se lance dans sa routine. --

He was right, he was in for a double session on the ice, and then a lecture after supper to boot, since he both failed to meet his father's speed goals and missed the net with one of his slapshots. What he hadn't expected was for Walburga to then bring Regulus into the room, carrying his stack of Chair de Poule novels. He had convinced his parents to buy him the series and each new novel, because it was what most of his team was reading on the bus, and it was important to fit in with the team. He had been passing them on to Regulus after reading each one and they would read them together on the few nights that they could sneak into each others' rooms - usually when Walburga and Orion had a team event.

Walburga showed Orion how she had been tracking the boys' practices and progress, and more importantly, how they had been lacking in discipline and failed to follow his set training regime. She claimed that these books were a distraction, were the reason the boys had failed to meet Orion's expectations. She had seen both boys reading on multiple occasions over the past two weeks, when they should have been studying the plays Orion had designed for them to practice. Sirius had been late - late! - to start his practice sessions twice - twice! - in the past month, because he was holed up in his room reading.

Orion looked very disappointed as he ordered both boys to lower their pants and bend over. He reviewed the boys' lap times, and told Sirius that he would remove his signet and Cup rings this time, since Sirius had gotten faster, albeit if not fast enough. Afterwards, he lectured the boys about the need for drive and discipline if they wanted to make it into the NHL and win Stanley Cups for Slytherin. Distractions would derail their career before it ever began. Distractions must be eliminated. Their team mates would respect them more for their dedication to the game if they studied playbooks on the bus. He and Walburga then ordered the boys to feed the books into the fireplace, one by one, until they were all reduced to ash. It took over an hour to burn the 60 books they had - nearly the full collection. Sirius blamed the smoke for the tears he and Regulus were both blinking away.

-- « Sirius, tu as un livraison », cria Celeste Dumais quand elle entenda Pascal et Sirius sortant du garage. «C'était un peu lourd, et je ne voulais pas descendre les escaliers avec un tel poids...» --

Celeste and Pascal were expecting their third child, and Sirius didn't want her attempting the basement stairs with a heavy package either. He hadn't been around many pregnant people, but even he knew lifting wasn't what they should be doing.

He hefted the box, and brought it down stairs. Pascal watched with a raised eyebrow but made no comments as Sirius started unpacking a complete set of Chair de poule books.

Pascal's eyebrows raised further when Sirius ordered, and unpacked, the exact same series three months later.

He figured it was a Black secret that Sirius would eventually unburden himself of when over the course of the next three years, Sirius bought more than thirteen complete sets of the series. He thought he had it nearly figured out - as far as he could tell, Sirius ordered a new set around the time he reached a point milestone, or if he broke his own scoring record within a season.

When Sirius moved out, he only took one set of the books with him, and asked Pascal to give a set to each of his children, and donate the rest. Pascal did that, but also left a set on the basement shelves. He would often find Logan reading one of those spare copies in the quiet hours of the morning, or at night when he was still too keyed up after a game to sleep but none of the Dumais kids were awake to be read to. In fact, he himself had started grabbing one or two of them when he was still keyed up after a game but Celeste and the kids were in bed. Adele had outgrown them, and never really liked that brand of horror anyway, but she had loved snuggling into Sirius when he started reading aloud. She had recently sent her complete set back to the basement because she had run out of space on her bedroom bookshelves. Marc and Louis were about the age to find them the right amount of frightening, and Katie was into anything that would get her snuggle time with Logan, so they were still getting lots of use.

He hoped that whoever next billeted in the basement would be able to carry on the tradition with the kids' horror books. He didn't expect Regulus to tear up when he saw the complete set on the bookshelf in the basement bedroom when Pascal gave Regulus a tour. He certainly hadn't expected it to be the deciding factor when Regulus was hesitant about moving into the basement. Maybe one day Regulus would explain the attachment the Black brothers held for these books? Although, given how attached the two brothers were to just these books, and what he knew about their childhood, maybe he didn't want to know.

[submissivegayfrenchboy]

23 / 04 / 2023

🇨🇵 FRANÇAIS / FRENCH 🇨🇵

RECOMMANDATION D'UN FILM

J'ai été voir le film Dongeon et Dragon - L'Honneur des Voleurs, et comment ne puis-je pas vous dire à quel point il est excellent 😍 ! C'est simple, j'ai adoré. Drôle, généreux, une intrigue prenante, un rythme parfait qui alterne entre les moments d'humour, d'action et d'émotion, les personnages sont touchants et pas trop complexes pour rien, chaque arc narratif apporte quelque chose à l'histoire principale, la morale et le message du film ne sont pas omniprésents et donneurs de leçons.

Visuellement il y a plein d'effets spéciaux réussis, des beaux costumes (l'armure de Xenk était peut-être inconfortable pit l'acteur mais lndieu qu'elle était belle😍), un univers créatif et riche, avec pleins de paysages variés.

Hugh Grant était hilarant en méchant, Michelle Rodriguez était excellente en guerrière, et en tant que Français j'étais fier que la chanteuse Mylène Farmer ait été choisie pour la chanson de générique de fin.

Bon si vous avez vu et aimé le film je vous invite à venir en discuter en commentaires plutôt que je fasse une longue critique de film, chose que je ne faits plus depuis longtemps après avoir remarqué que mes lecteurs s'en fichent.

Par contre, je voulais vous dire que je me sens motivé à écrire sur Xenk (joué par René-Jean Page) et Edgin (Chris Pine). En fan de couples gay interraciaux, j'étais obligé d'être fan de leur couple 😍

Même si je n'avais pas vu de dessins sur eux avant même de voir le film, j'aurais quand même trouvé qu'ils forment un couple, en raison d'un certain homo érotisme entre eux. C'est le bon vieux cliché de l'homme qui est secrètement attiré par ce qu'il déteste officiellement.

Daddy Chris Pine est l'un des hommes les plus beaux de l'univers et l'un des acteurs les plus drôles, gentils et talentueux. Il a vraiment été excellent, comme d'habitude.

J'ai davantage été surpris dans le bon sens avec la performance de René-Jean Page en Xenk, qui était le bel homme courageux et fort mais au moins l'on se moque un peu de lui. Et j'ai aimé qu'on laisse le spectateur pensait qu'il puisse être attiré par Edgin.

Donc voilà où nous en sommes. Je compte écrire une histoire où ils sont en couple, peut-être que ce ne sera pas très long donc ne vous attendez à rien de spécial. Mais s'il y en a qui ont des idées pour rendre ça plus intéressant avec un scénario étoffé, n'hésitez pas à m'en faire part. Je ne sais même pas si je veut rendre cette histoire plus érotique ou romantique. Sûrement plus une histoire émouvante qu'excitante, mais un peu des deux en vérité. Voilà, en tout cas je voulais vous en faire part, chers lecteurs. 😉

🗡️🐉🏰✨⚔️🗡️🐉🏰✨⚔️🗡️🐉🏰✨⚔️

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🇬🇧🇺🇲 ENGLISH / ANGLAIS 🇬🇧🇺🇲

MOVIE RECOMMANDATION

I went to see the movie Dungeon and Dragon - Honour Among Thieves, and how can I not tell you how excellent it is 😍! It's simple, I loved it. Funny, generous, a gripping plot, a perfect rhythm that alternates between moments of humor, action and emotion, the characters are touching and not too complex for nothing, each narrative arc brings something to the main story, the moral and the message of the film are not omnipresent and givers of lessons.

Visually, there are plenty of great special effects, beautiful costumes (Xenk's armor was perhaps uncomfortable for the actor, but damn it was beautiful😍), a creative and rich universe, with lots of varied landscapes.

Hugh Grant was hilarious as a vilain, Michelle Rodriguez was a real badass and funny character, and as a French man I am proud that the singer Mylène Farmer was chosen to sing the original song of the end credits.

Well if you have seen and liked the film, I invite you to come and discuss it in the comments rather than I do a long film review, something I haven't done for a long time after noticing that my readers don't care.

On the other hand, I wanted to tell you that I feel motivated to write about Xenk (played by René-Jean Page) and Edgin (Chris Pine). As a fan of interracial gay couples, I had to be a fan of their couple 😍 Even if I hadn't seen any drawings on them even before seeing the film, I would still have found that they form a couple, due to a certain homoeroticism between them. It's the good old cliché of the man who is secretly attracted to what he officially hates.

Daddy Chris Pine is one of the most handsome men in the universe and one of the funniest, kindest and talented actors. He was really excellent, as usual.

I was more surprised in a good way with René-Jean Page's performance as Xenk, who was the brave and strong handsome man but at least we laugh at him a little. And I liked that we let the viewer think they might be attracted to Edgin.

So here we are. I plan to write a story where they are a couple, maybe it won't be very long so don't expect anything special. But if anyone has ideas to make it more interesting with a rich scenario, do not hesitate to let me know. I don't even know if I want to make this story more erotic or romantic.

Surely more a moving story than an exciting one, but a bit of both in truth. Anyway, I wanted to share it with you, dear readers. 😉

🗡️🐉🏰✨⚔️🗡️🐉🏰✨⚔️🗡️🐉🏰✨⚔️

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@chrispineofficial @chrispine-blog @chrispinehq @chrispinesays @chrispinesourcefans @chrispinees

@gayhopefullove @lovefanfiction01 @torinya @awesomecrowdcontrol1 @fartsmellafiction @inanimatetffantasies @innerpiratefun @rainykpoptravelcreator @bat-woodfeet-us @delicateaestheticwritingmug @tidodore2

[buffyfan145]

I'm 100 pages in the "Stranger Things" Eddie book "Flight of Icarus" and I'm actually really enjoying it!!! 😀 I know some fans didn't but it feels like Eddie to me and getting so much of his backstory, his band, and everything. I'll post a full review when I'm done but I did not expect all these LOTR references even though I knew he was a huge fan. LOL He actually started talking about in Chapter 12 of what happened in "The Silmarillion" and what we're seeing play out on "The Rings of Power" TV show that I'm also a fan of!!! 😮 He mentioned Gil-Galad, Galadriel and her family, and Sauron using that to get the elves to work for him as Annatar. The author is using that to show that Eddie actually views his dad Al Munson as Sauron as Al is also a charming, deceiver and been in and out of prison and Eddie's life for years!!! Eddie's also always had this stigma against him being Al's son. There's also a flashback scene in an earlier chapter too of when Eddie's dad taught him to play guitar and gave him one of his guitar picks to keep and Eddie mentioning he felt like Gollum getting the One Ring!!!

This is so weird to me too as last year I instantly loved both Eddie/Joseph Quinn and Halbrand/Sauron/Charlie Vickers with both of them showing up 4 months apart of each other. Then now having this and the book's author is one of the "ST" writers and his dad's name being Al and all of us "TROP" fans calling Halbrand Hal. Just some really weird connections here and I know we Haladriel shippers have written Halbrand/Sauron being a dad too especially to Galadriel's daughter Celebrían and it ending tragically sometimes but this is also sad too with Eddie's mom dying so young and his dad being in and out of his life like that and roping him into his schemes. Then how one of my old soaps had a character on it named Hal Munson and he was the dad of the Munson family so just so weird for me how this all connects. LOL 😀

[pursuitseternal]

Tag Game-Fandom Edition

Lol time to do this!! Thank you for the tags @myfavouritelunatic @iamstartraveller776 @somebirdortheother @youwearfinethingswellwriter

Your name: Catrine

Your first fandom: Robin Hood BBC, but Rings of Power is probably my first “real one” because I’m interacting with more people than just my actual immediate friends, who I would BEG to read my chapters.

Your current fandom: TROP!!! All the way baby. Give me all the sweet Saurondriel/ Haladriel love you can.

How did you first get into fandom? Well, a friend kind of dared me and my friend to write ourselves into our favorite show. Something like 40 chapters for me later, and the beast was released forever. We happily write every possible way our little college brains could think of ways to have sex fictionally 😆😆. Now I just write with more creativity and experience 😏

How long have you been engaging in fandom spaces? Well, originally, 20 years, but in a “real” fandom where I’m interacting with real people and not just coercing my friends? Since October.

How often do you read fanfic? I try to read a little every day, even if it’s a few lines, maybe a chapter if I’m feeling extra luxurious. It’s always less when I’m fixated on purging my own writing, but I just AM BEYOND TICKLED when I get reviews, so I try really hard to return the pleasure.

Top three characters? Can I could Saubrand three times?? 😈😈😈. If not, the. Sauron, Gal and… Disa if I have to pick a third. I love her Lady Macbeth vibes.

Have you ever written a fic for a fandom, and if so shout it out!

Touch the Darkness- canon divergent post season 1, secret missions, lots of smut, LOTS of arrogant Sauron. And magic. (Explicit Rating)

Beautiful Creature of Darkness- Gothic Lit, Phantom of the Opera inspired AU. Lots of magic, seduction, sexy voices, ptsd Finrod, werewolves, and Sauron shapeshifts to a Vampire for a very hot chapter. (Explicit Rating)

Dark Wolf of the Woods- Red Riding Hood au, first age Sauron is cursed to remain in werwolf form until someone of the light tames him. Aka, the home of Goodboi Sauron, bestest boy wolfron, give him all the Scritches and treats.

Have you ever drawn fan art for a fandom? NOPE. Art is not my strong suit. But I’m happy to keep painting with words.

Share a personal headcanon you feel strongly about? I’m with @myfavouritelunatic on this one. I love the concept of Repentant Sauron and all the what ifs he went through with redemption instead!

You're trying to convince a friend to get into your current fandom(s) with you. what episode, clip, or scene are you showing them?: “don’t start…” that was enough to make me quiver. I was HOOKED from then on. And I think that chemistry is enough to hook my friends.

And finally, what does fandom mean to you?:

Creativity, Collaborative, Community. That’s what it has really become for me, and I love it!! Thank you to all my new friends, you have really helped me find joy and fun in times when it is hardest in my own life. You will probably never know the full extent that you help me personally or even professional with a comment, a like, a reblog, or my favorite- a message. You are all so awesome!!