#what am I doing I have to get to France!!!

[frodo-with-glasses]

Where have you been?

Uhhh, France?

(That’s a Hamilton reference, btw. I have never been to France.)

So! Another Hobbit Day is upon us. On this day last year, I’d promised you all that we would take another trek through LotR, with all new drawings and poems and fanfics. I fully expected to be finished with Book One by now, at least halfway through FotR. What actually happened is that the blog struggled through the first five and a half chapters of the book before suddenly going radio silent.

So what happened?

Well, as you might expect, real life happened. I won't go into the details here—since it has nothing to do with LotR—but I can explain in DMs if anyone is interested.

Basically, a change in my family led to a reexamination of what I thought I knew about my family, which led to a reexamination of what I thought I knew about myself, which kicked off an intense period of self-improvement.

Over the course of this past year, I began to unpack my family's abuse; I learned about boundaries; I started to unlearn my old people-pleasing tendencies; I reconnected relationships that were broken, reevaluated ones that were in the wrong place, and cut off ones that weren't good for me. I discovered there was a little kid in my head who's been waiting years and years for an adult to love her, and to take her needs seriously, and I finally have the chance to be that adult. And I'm happy to say that I've come to a place where I feel safer in my own head than I have ever been.

Probably very little of that is going to show through on this blog. It's all inward stuff; foundational stuff. But one thing that might affect you guys is that I left my (dreadfully overstimulating and stressful) part-time job, and I'm now working full time somewhere else. As much as I love what I do for a living now, working 40 hours a week does mean that I am become Boring Adult who does not have as much time for interneting. With my current schedule, there is no way I'd be able to sustain the intense schedule of "must post one drawing a day" that I had in the early days of this blog; and I don't expect myself to.

But! I would like to—slowly—get this train rolling again.

I find it hilariously apropos that the last piece of art I posted on this blog was of Frodo suddenly disappearing. From Merry's perspective, he completely vanished without explanation or warning. From your perspective, so did I.

But I find myself here again, on another September 22nd, and once again I'm beginning to feel that pull; that pull to read, and draw, and create, and share, and laugh with all of you. Life has calmed down enough for me that I once again have the mental space to think about pursuing my hobbies. There are so many things I want to do—so much to do with the time that is given to me. And I want this blog to be on that list.

My current goal is to post some new book art every other day. If that's too much, I'll adjust it. But if I find my groove and really get into it, who knows? We might return to your regularly scheduled Daily Dose of Frodo-With-Glasses. We shall have to see.

Anyway. If you've read this far, thank you! If you've stuck with this blog since the early days, thank you. And if you are one of that lovely core Fellowship that has had my back and prayed for me all along, I cannot thank you enough.

This past year has been an absolute ride. Not as difficult as a trek to Mordor, maybe, but not easy either. But no matter where I walked, I knew I didn't have to take the journey alone.

Anyway! Enough sappiness. Happy Hobbit Day! I'm excited to see what the next year has in store for us. 💚

[chal-jeete-hai]

Hmm so what happened with the rg kar medical college case? Nothing? I mean what do you expect.. it's anyway India.

Maybe I should live abroad in a nice country...study has revealed that nearly one in three female surgeons in the UK's NHS have been sexually assaulted by colleagues in the last five years

But I have been with this guy for so long of course I can trust him a woman in France gets raped by her own husband after 30 years of marriage and he lets more than fifty men do the same to her

Right maybe I should just stay at home ..... High Court holds father guilty of raping minor daughter for over 2 years, calls him 'monster'

God I wish I was a child and not a grown up woman... 3.5-year-old nursery student raped by school van driver in Jamshedpur

Okay I am 70+ now of course I am safe ... 85-year-old woman dies after allegedly being raped in UP

Oh my god what is happening with women let me talk about it on a site which allows freedom of expression...gets 30+ gangrape threats

I wish I was dead... A 28-year-old man was caught raping a woman's dead body

[hellonerf]

endless insanity incoherent shit about ame and love and family(featuring england and cana a bit specifically sorry france i actually do have thoughts about that there but i'm lazy and tired and this is incoherent already)(it didn't start off like that this is honestly like some stream of thought shit hence the incoherence)

some shit when i think about. sorry. colonial ame extremely upset tantrums theres no way england didnt hit him or spank him which would just upset ame more. ame would sulk and wish for england to drop dead because theres not much else he can say or do about the frustration. cana goody two shoes kid would be like why do you have to act out like that so much... ame immediate rage. probably hits cana like GO CRY ABOUT IT!!! and cana cries and then england walks in like America!!! and it just gets worse. but in the end when england has to leave again ame still clings and cries after england is saying his goodbyes. england does feel that he cares about ame deeply, so he does try to show his affection. theres some gap here between the care he shows and his "responsibility as a caretaker" if you will... and he's like a teen dad at this point? with his own shitload of baggage and ideas on responsibility from that baggage. man this family can be so interesting. i love tension

of course. this is just my crazythinking that in situations where, you could say, england's parenting was abusive of sorts, specifically in the physical way, to punish tantrums or etc... i think cana would be inclined to try to play polite kid to avoid punishment. and so he would feel maybe more vindicated? that he's the good example. in this it creates kind of a chasm between england/cana and ame. (why i think mapletea would just drive ame crazy wall smashing head insane, besides that ame already feels jealous/insecure like that anyways no matter what) this feeling is pushed by the revolution where ame and england are Like That, and here again cana sides with england(he's not Fully in it but he does technically side with england, and ame definitely views it like that). to him this is proof... of what you ask? i don't know..... that period where he was on decidedly bad terms with both of them, i always think he's like teenage-losing it about it. won't show it or at least will try not to of course, but it's genuinely something that eats at him so hard. (ame voice Nobody loves me. Everyone should love me. i could probably make that happen.) and ame decides things like that first and foremost with personal relations. this is specific, but im like, i think it's a mental testing he does on people. example, completely without their knowledge, someone's random act can register in his brain as an opposition to him, because his mind decided that's what it means.(somewhere subconscious). so for some time i'd imagine in his mind, that cana and england hated him, or looked down on him, or expected him to wind up dead anyways. ame is never not looking for approval and this fuels that sooooo much. it's like spite and anger and crying and stomping on the ground and in a way grieving. he's staring at the sky like it's unfair. they don't want me in their life. because i'm better than them. i hate them so much.(he wouldn't say it like this to other people, hate is a strong word, and i wouldn't say he hates them here either)

despite his bravado of "whaat? everyone likes me right?" the mental cogs are stuck here no matter what he says. cana loves him, even if it's so frustrating to, cana cares about him deeply. it fucks with ame's brain but he knows this deep down, that cana does love and care about him. at some point too he knows the same for england. but i also think he's like, specifically with cana too when he's specifically being really cynical about relations is like, "oh and he's only around... cause he has to be..." and ame wouldn't entirely be wrong there. and cana would argue so what! do you need a cosmic soulmate love to prove something? and ame is like (yeah i kinda do....). love can't just exist for you right here right now?! cana's love is "invalidated" in this sense. and also it hurts his brain too much to really think about the complexities in his relationship to both england and cana. that they really did care about him, but it's not easy. (hurts his brain... like why is interaction so stressful? why is it complicated? why can't people just go i love you and the end?). ame is not a romantic person but i think his view on love can get so fantastical like this. (he wants to be the one proposed to awwww omg you guysss...) at the same time it's a very simple view on love. he doesn't want to end up humiliated and is willing to humiliate others to avoid it. if love is true then there is One True Love... For him... JK! NOT FOR HIM!(slurps soda) who needs that shyit!!!(eats burger). a lot of things he can't/really doesn't want to accept. this is why i'd say anytime he ever felt feelings significant enough that even he would call it love it was mindnumbingly overwhelming. putting his eggs in one basket... don't fail me now!!! (and i always think none of his relationships are stable. duh. so). i like fics where ame is made to be like a crazy ex girlfriend. because he would. rather than love as a constant thing to do it sometimes feels more like an achievement or endpoint for him. something that happens at the end of movies lol... if love was happening REALTIME it'd be surreal for him to process. and like true genuine love not his fake idea of what love looks like

[softquietsteadylove]

Gil surprised her with a matching look? She has a white nice dress and he shows up in a white suit? Would be a cool partner look =)

"Madame?"

Thena offered a tight smile as she picked up a glass of champagne off of a passing tray. "Merci."

She hadn't really wanted to come all the way here for this function, but it was insisted upon not only by her French diamond contact, but the entirety of his diamond house family. It was to seal their business, as well as act as a gesture of good will for future deals.

Karun told her she had to go, and Kingo doubled down, even telling her that she should 'lead him on a little more' for the sake of business. She attempted to ignore that.

She was an engaged woman.

She had told Gil she had to attend a meeting in France. But she knew that he was no fan of the monsieur with whom she had conducted business. In all fairness, she supposed she wouldn't be thrilled if he had to conduct business with the Little Heiress again. But she was here for tonight and then she could return home.

"Madame Glasse?"

She smiled as her business associate sat down adjacent to her. At least if she was seated or holding something, he didn't feel the need to kiss her hand. "It's a lovely soiree."

"You seem very," the gentleman looked around the sparkling ballroom, "isolated."

Thena inhaled, looking down at her don perignon. "Forgive me, monsieur, I have never been the life of the party."

"Ah," he offered a smile, adjusting the gold button of his beautiful blue suit. "You accepted my offer, but I think perhaps your heart is not here with us."

Her heart was in a penthouse apartment with a certain Tyrant King, who had probably fallen asleep on the couch in front of the Food Network. She should have just asked him to come with her, risk that he would start a fight be damned.

"Madame, would you grant me the privilege of speaking my mind with you?"

She gave him the faintest expression of surprise before nodding. Perhaps he wasn't as much of a dumb blonde - the irony of which did not escape her - as she had suspected.

"I admit I am quite taken with you," he expressed openly, leaning on the arm of his chair that was closer to her. He did have that sad, puppy-love expression on, too. "Positively enchante, truly."

Thena merely waited for him to go on.

"But as much as you did not tell me," his eyes drifted down, and to her hands, safely folded over her crossed legs. "You do not withhold your heart from me out of modesty, non?"

Thena adjusted her lace around her arms and in the crooks of her elbows. She didn't bother taking her ring off for the night. "Would that affect our business if I told you that you're right?"

He chuckled, although she could already see his disappointment. "But of course not. I am a gentleman, Madame Glasse, and I will honour our business just as you have. And I do have some brain under these looks."

Thena resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She knew it was in good humour, but few men were allowed to get away with cocky humour like that with her. One man in particular.

"I realise I am pursuing a woman who has already made her match," he sighed, leaning back again. His eyes flicked down, "it's a beautiful ring, cheri. They are small, but I can tell the quality of them is impeccable."

Thena smiled. The little diamonds in her ring, creating joints where the bands could meet in their weave, were indeed perfect in every way. "But of course; I am the diamond queen, after all."

"Indeed," her associate agreed, also plucking a glass of champagne for himself. He gave her a smile, "I am grateful that you came. But if you wish to leave, I will not hold it against you."

Oh, how she ached to be at home, in the arms of her Tyrant. But even with a private plane, the journey home was no quick hop across the pond.

"She should stay for a dance, at least."

"Gil!"

"Hey Princess," he greeted gently, despite her insistence that he not call her that in public. He bent over the arm of the chair, capturing her hand smoothly and pulling it up to his lips. "Miss me?"

He was like a knight in shining armour, and while she had never seen him in a white suit before, she didn't dislike it on him. She raised a brow, "new?"

"Like it?" he grinned as he pulled her to her feet, leading her closer to the dance floor. "I had my tailor whip it up just to surprise you."

Thena shook her head at him, her feet moving automatically as he led her until they could sway together, his hands holding hers and at her back. "When did you get here?"

"Not long ago, actually," he made a more sheepish face. "I got on a place a few hours after yours, after I picked up this number."

She smiled, running her hand over the lapel. "Did you want to match me so badly?"

"Well," he smiled as well, his eyes soft and reflecting the chandelier above them. "Can't let my wife show up to a fancy ball unaccompanied, can I?"

She refused to let him know how much she liked it when he called her his wife. "I did, though, didn't I?"

"Okay, so I was a little late," he huffed, rolling his eyes in good nature. He spun her around before pulling her closer, "I wasn't invited."

Thena stole a glance to the edge of the room, where her associate was excusing himself from the room entirely. "Last I checked, he was not in your good graces."

Gil shrugged, and her hand moved with the bounce of his massive shoulder as he did. "Just don't laugh at his jokes, Ice. Then we've got no problem."

She did not believe that. But perhaps she was too intoxicated by the warmth of him and the champagne she'd had. He pulled her nearly flush with him and she resisted the urge to lay her head on his chest.

"Sorry I'm late, baby," he whispered, sneaking a kiss to her temple while they were able to go unobserved. Or at least, unremarked upon, as far as this branch of society was concerned. They weren't exactly law abiding citizens, but this territory of Thena's was more about business than about brutality.

"You're forgiven," she sighed as she let him numb her overstimulated senses, "this time."

"This time?" he chuckled, and his chest bounced against hers from it.

"Just this time," she purred, running her hands over the front of his fine, white suit. "And this?"

Gil didn't even glance down as she tapped at the royal blue pocket square that screamed against the colour of the rest of his outfit. "Maybe a little bit of a challenge to French-y."

"So territorial," she murmured. She had to be careful not to sound like she enjoyed his territorial side; it would only encourage him.

Gilgamesh pulled her hand up his chest until he could kiss her fingertips, tapping against her ring as he did. "I think I have a right to be territorial about my own wife."

"We are not married."

"Yet," he nearly cut her off to insert. He smiled at her, still swaying them loosely to the beat of the band, "not yet. Anytime, any place, Ice."

"Hm," she sighed, the exhaustion of the business and the travel and the whole of the last few weeks weighing on her. She leaned against him heavier and he allowed it, holding her as much as she liked. "Not tonight."

"Fine," he chuckled, kissing her cheek this time. He stayed close, his nose dangerously near 'nuzzling' territory. "Wanna go home?"

"You just got here," she nearly groaned at the thought.

"Okay, so we get a room, spend a little time here before we go back?" he suggested. "We can take a long weekend in Paris, what do you think?"

She did not care what they did, so long as she didn't have to let go of him.

[ask2ps]

Who's 2p Italy's type in partners?

NORTH ITALY: Grazie lo stesso! [ Thanks, regardless! ] NORTH ITALY: And before you ask, no, I had nothing to do with my boss' death. I still dunno what happened there! I was only gone for a few months..

[sexynetra]

Good morning to me and me only :)

[royaltea000]

Prussia can also be abnormal about the Italies as a treat... I remember the cleaning game and the drama cds with him sounding Desperate @Italy and I really remember the statement in the manga that he likes Romano as much as Veneziano-

You may be right anon - I haven’t watched those cds yet! I really should thanks for reminding me :P I did watch one just for this ask tho and there’s a good case there ngl -w-

Me, personally, I see this as him being the freak that he usually is who doesn’t know how to make friends normally lol - like he needs to know information about them before finally approaching so he lowkey fact stalks them before being like hiiii I know when your birthday is do you wanna be friends <3 👁️👁️

I think it’s really sweet that he likes Romano as much as Vene I think it’s the moxie that dude’s got that attracts him :)

[titaniumabsol]

Celestin Caron (Dragon Age: Awakening)

Age: 38 (9:31 Dragon) Gender: Male Tarot: The Emperor Nationality/Ethnicity: Chasind/Orlesian-Antivan Class/Specializations: Mage, Blood Mage/Arcane Warrior/Spirit Healer/Shapeshifter (Lvl 31) Love Interest: Seneschal Varel of Vigil's Keep Party Comp.: Nathaniel/Justice, Anders, and Sigrun (But rotates with all pretty regularly)

Background: Born in 8:93 to a Chasind mother and an Orlesian-Antivan father, Caelesyn Caron lived in the familiar swamps of the Kocari Wilds until they were forced to leave due to increasing Templar raids. His father took them to Orlais to live with his family, living in serfdom under an Orlesian noble around Val Firmin. Caelesyn, now called Celestin, developed magic at age 8, and was aided by his parents to hide it.

He was discovered at 19 after a confrontation with the Orlesian noble, and evaded Templars for 5 days until he was caught and locked away in the White Spire. On grounds of good behaviour and a vouch from the Senior Enchanter, he was allowed to entertain nobles in the Imperial Wintersend Ball for a few years until the Enchanter is replaced, and so his sliver of freedom was ripped away. Short after, he received news of his parents' deaths. He escaped and made his way to a Grey Warden outpost in Val Chevin, where he became part of the Wardens.

Returning to Ferelden was, as best as it could be described, a reverse-culture shock. He wasn't back down in the Kocari Wilds but now in the north, dealing with nobles that didn't act like Orlesian nobles. His Chasind roots alienated him from Orlesians, but his Orlesian mannerisms and Chasind influences also alienated him from the Fereledans. And that is ignoring his status as a mage, and one that now held land property as the Arl of Amaranthine.

But, he is a Warden with a Duty. And he would fulfill his roles to the best of his abilities.

[everysongineverykey]

the legends of localization book has reawakened my love for the nuances of translation and now i REALLY wanna take all the undertale dialogue and narration and translate it into french. for funsies

[mitamicah]

.

[moodr1ng]

one weird and annoying effect of me spending so much time on mainly american social media and watching all these american shows and movies and reading books by american authors and having all these online friends from america etc etc is that like.. when i write i no longer feel like i can set my stories in france? like, bc i write in english it feels like i need to set my stories in an english-speaking country, and the us is the easiest one to set up (i think in a way it kinda feels like the "default setting" of western media?). i feel like if i wrote a book set in france itd be weird or confusing to people, and also im always bugged bc like.. the stuff i write in english cannot be directly translated into french, like it doesnt correspond 1:1 to french sentences, and so if i set a story in france im always bugged bc i think "but that cant be what the characters are actually saying, because theres no equivalent to this in french". so i end up setting a lot of my stuff in the us, except ive only been to the us once and not long enough to get a good impression of what living there is like (not to mention ive only been to nyc), so i also feel like when americans read my stuff theyre gonna immediately go "huh? thats not how things are here. this author is a hack who cant do research." .. so then sometimes i set my stuff in fictional countries or in an ambiguous impossible setting which mixes stuff from various english-speaking countries + france, but then that makes my story immediately less grounded. this is such a big issue that it blocks me from writing entire stories i wanna write bc i just cant even begin to put them somewhere 😔

[bandzboy]

i will say this tho… the reason why most kpop groups don’t come to europe is because in comparison to maybe the usa, the market for kpop music there is better than in europe and also since companies nowadays are obsessed with making groups international (promoting them in the us basically) they know it’s easy money over there honestly that’s what i think

[unkillobel]

i keep buying concert tickets like a ravenous beast but holy shit artists actually visit this continent!! i get to see Actual Thom Yorke?? and maybe dunes…..if i can get a random monday off to go to the netherlands. dunes. in front of me. anthony green????

[thetimetravellercat]

To every single person who has decided not to wear a mask on public transportation in the middle of a triple epidemic outbreak (covid, the flu, bronchitis, aka the unholy trinity of death): I hate you with a burning passion. Sincerely, someone who could die from your lack of care.

[icewindandboringhorror]

oh my god.. a job for me.. historical pierrot beach performer lol

[b4kuch1n]

oh my gods I know what adam's fighter is gonna look like now. holy shit. its gonna be SO GROSS I canNOT fucking wait