#entish

[definegodliness]

I can hear the wind

Rustling between the leaves of trees

At my leisure

Sometimes I realize

This is not a small blessing

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Entish Restoration by Calder Moore

[retellingthehobbit]

I went to read your comic on Ao3 and I noticed you'd started back in 2020. Aside from your clear and beautiful art progression, what can you tell me about the timeline of your comic?

Thank you! And yes, started this webcomic in January of 2020. “I sure hope nothing bad happens in 2020 that will hamper my ability to focus on a large personal project!” — me in January 2020 with all the naivety of youth. Top ten images taken minutes before disaster. This comic is like a deeply personal diary of my mental state, complete with the long empty hiatuses that are sort of like that part of Twilight where months of depression are represented by blank pages.

One of my favorite things about webcomics is how you can often see an artist’s style grow organically over time. I think it’s something that’s getting lost in the age of “Webtoon Originals,” where people are starting to expect webcomics to be produced by an actual production studio with a team of artists behind them and to maintain a consistent highly curated art style throughout. These professionally funded comics are fun, but they do lose the messy personal organic growth that used to separate webcomics from traditional print comics? But i could go on a whole tirade about webtoon haha 😂 !

The Hobbit is partially a story about someone learning how to express themselves. Bilbo starts the story as this stuffy little guy who is repressing a lot his own personality; he ends the story as a skilled artist writing elaborate prosy poetry about his adventures. I deliberately chose to start drawing the comic before I went to college, knowing my art style would change a lot of over that period!

Anyway here's the timeline as I remember it: Pre-development: I was working on sketches of the comic itself as early as 2016. Chapter 1 (A Bedtime Story/Tooks and Bagginses): (Posted on Tumblr in January 2020, on Ao3 later): Published shortly before I went to college. I was drawing in Paint Tool Sai, and hand-writing all the words instead of using a font. I set out to adapt at least the Unexpected Party chapter, but thought I'd probably adapt the entire novel within a year or two. ("It's a webcomic Michael. How long could it take? twelve months?") Chapter 2: (A Very Respectable Hobbit): Posted like a week after Chapter 1. This was when I still thought I could post a ten page chapter every week, haahahahahahahahahaha Fs in the chat.

HIATUS #1: DANCE BREAK: TIME FOR A GLOBAL PANDEMIC. The exact timeline of 2020 is a blur for obvious reasons, but I do remember the updates became very sporadic over this period. Chapter 3-5 (Very Old Friends and An Unexpected Party chapters): there’s a global pandemic. During Spring Break my college abruptly kicks us all off campus and sends us home. I keep looking at the “post dates” on these chapters like what??? Really? I posted that at thAt time? But there was a global pandemic happening and I was so busy and overwhelmed with college???? When did I have the time? I have no memory of drawing these. My memories of all 2020 are so blurry. I think these chapters just manifested spontaneously.

The weekly/biweekly update schedule has been tossed to the wind, never to return. Alas. Chapter 6 (An Enormously Important Dwarf, aka Thorin’s intro): I was back “at college” during our “hybrid” year, so in practice I was extremely isolated. this was posted during a year after the first chapter, in 2021. I would never have found the motivation to continue if I wasn't so excited to draw Thorin! I also joined a "comic club" at my college which was comprised mainly of awkward video calls with like three people. On a weirder note, this chapter was posted a few weeks after the January 6th attempted coup. I was drawing in a a weird headspace.

DANCE BREAK #2: IT’S TIME FOR A YEAR LONG HIATUS:

I've started to often dislike the word “burnout” when it’s applied to art. It implies that the problem is that you were drawing too much or that you can’t find inspiration, when often the problem is much bigger than your art-- it's wider economic anxieties and social circumstances outside your control. It is very hard to think clearly and create things when you are worried about your future, about work, about housing, about a global pandemic, about constant demands on your time, and about being extremely isolated. In hindsight, I wasn’t “burned out”— I was in a situation where I could not think clearly or produce anything. Chapter 7 (The Lonely Mountain): posted a full year after chapter 6. For a while I considered having this be the “last chapter” of the comic!

Changing art styles was a thing I was really motivated to do, and was my last “bucket list” item for the comic.

HIATUS #3: I get really busy with junior year of college! I grow more and more disillusioned with Tolkien as I learn more about The Hobbit Law crushing labor unions and worker's rights in New Zealand, and how Amazon takes advantage of that. The Tolkien Estate also releases a statement saying they disapprove of any unauthorized use of Tolkien's works for profit or not, which isn't really legally enforceable but is also just an act of pure contempt XD. Chapter 8 (A Tangled Web): I get sent to the emergency room in an ambulance for Reasons and begin drawing this in the weeks after, as I realize I don't care about the Tolkien Estate or Amazon or Warner Brothers or whatever hollow marketable products they produce under the tolkien brand. I think this is the weakest chapter of the comic, both in writing and art, and in hindisght think the comic works better without it pacing-wise. However!!!! I was drawing it in a weird mental state, so. XD

Also, at this point I am drawing entirely in Photoshop. Chapter 9 (Ash and Smoke): Back at college for senior year— time for dragon! The comic starts updating with something that resembles a "regular schedule!" this year had more and more people on campus in person, and I started to slowly make college friends :). Also, at this point I am the President of the comic club, and we are now meeting in person and rebuilding our comic empire. Chapter 10 (The Heart of the Mountain): Some funky bits of writing I'd like to revise at some point, but I enjoy the art in this chapter. Chapter 11 (Polite Nothings): If I were to do this all again I'd shorten this chapter and combine it with chapter 12. One important note is that originally, I tried to keep all chapters under ten pages. This made it easier to post them to Instagram and Tumblr, because tumblr still had a “ten image limit” at the time. However at some point I realized that was more trouble than it was worth, and really made the pacing difficult/slow as I struggled to split the story into ten page chunks.

A lot of webcomics often fall into what I call a “wheel-spinning” phase, where the author is so focused on finishing smaller updates that they lose the pacing of the larger narrative—- and so the story stalls out. I feel like I dealt with a lot of “wheel-spinning” while I was at college, both in my life and in my comic XD. Chapter 12 (The Quest): My internship company gives me an offer to work full-time, which I accept. in the last semester of my last year of college, I take the most helpful elective class I have ever taken: a class on using 3D models in blender to aid with blocking out illustrations. This is the first chapter where you see one of those backgrounds! From this point on my background art will improve dramatically. I also have lots of internet friends and college friends!

As I grow more confident in my art I also make the decision to change the character designs, something I’d wanted to do for a while. Chapter 13 (The Necromancer): I graduate college! It's time for some Lotte Reiniger art. I stay in my student housing until my lease ends. The art starts to grow more elaborate as I have more time to spend on it. Chapter 14 (Terms and Conditions): my summer is free, so I spend it drawing gay little hobbits. I move up North to live with my grandmother until my work start date. This is the very last “normal-sized” chapter of the comic, where I hold myself to keeping it under 10 pages. I also think this is where my new more elaborate character designs actually start to look a lot better XD.

I was finishing up apartment-hunting at this time, so both Bilbo and I were goin over contract terms. Chapter 15 (Unattached): summer free time!! More gay little hobbits. I move into my New apartment and sleep on an air mattress for a while. I have a lot of time to draw and the art gets far more complex; this chapter was also twice as long as my usual chapters. I am still proud of this chapter, honestly, even though it's gotten less attention than Chapter 16/17-- it's one I'd been excited to draw for a while. A lot of this chapter was drawn on my beautiful powerful beloved air mattress. Air mattress, my beloved. Chapter 16 (the Song of the Lonely Mountain): I start my new job! I get a BED. Lots of exciting things are happening. I was really excited to draw and post this chapter, because it’s one id been dreaming about drawing from the beginning-- it was surreal to see it "posted" because part of me never thought I'd get this far. I even started a tiktok and posted the chapter there, certain that people would enjoy it. However, tiktok basically ignored it, alas! This is why tumblr is the only social media site. Chapter 17: I continue my new job. My roommate surprises me with the news that they will move out at the end of our lease, making me realize that months have somehow passed. I make a post asking for anyone looking for roommates in Milwaukee to contact me via dms (that offer is still open, if you’re looking to move here in early June.) I privately am very confused about why anyone would ever want to leave a comfortable settled home to go off on an adventure and then realize that I am behaving exactly like pre-quest Bilbo Baggins.

Chapter 18: the chapter I am working on now!!! Another chapter I have been excited to draw forever!! It’ll feature studio-Ghibli-inspired backgrounds, exciting landscape art, and so much fun! I’ve also started a Patreon where, if you want to see “one page a week” instead of “twenty pages every Mystery number of Months” you can subscribe there. (The first page of Chapter 18 has already been posted!)

But yeah! The TL:DR:

I think the moral of all this (to me) is that it’s hard to make art if you’re just not in a position to do it, and you have to allow yourself time to grow and change as a person XD. Sometimes you need to spend a few years thinking and getting better before you're ready to go on an Adventure. I started this comic when I was very Young and Naive to the Ways of the World. The quality (and dips in quality) reflect my wildly fluctuating mental/emotional states while trying to draw each chapter in the midst of a global pandemic. My art has improved a lot lately, and I think a large part of it is really just being in a situation where I *can* improve— having a decent job, not being in the middle of a global pandemic with no vaccine in sight, not needing to live in constant fever-pitch anxiety, having friends, etc etc. I am completely different person now than I was while drawing chapter 1.

Not to be dramatic, but I think you can see there’s a lot more joy in the recent chapters than there is in some of the older ones. It's weird to look at your art and realize you've gotten happier. XD

[almostlookedhuman]

[southfarthing]

I have to go hunting for it but I remember he stays before he realises his own lack of hope was what made him lose andreth. luthien never gave up hope and was resilient in her love towards the bitter end should it come. aegnor had accepted things as they were and put duty above love because of his lack of faith and doomed andreth to a life of yearning in the process. it was basically him breaking down and pleading to eru because he didn't know and the answer was that you didnt try

[ent-maiden]

The Legolas hair color debate

What if Legolas doesn't have brown or blond hair? What if the debate was meaningless? What if he was neither? What if legolas was... BROND.

[inoankin]

not to awopost twice in five minutes but you guys the arm wrestling minigame is so fucking important. like narratively, obviously it foreshadows the final fight, but it could so easily be used to foreshadow the victor as well. maybe leo is phyically stronger from years of being beaten down, and he’s so fucking desperate on that rooftop, driven by fear and rage and the need to protect his family. maybe vincent has more stamina, and is terrified to die before he even learns his daughter’s name, before he can reconcile or at least settle things with his wife. and of course there’s the development of their relationship and admiration of each other facilitated by the match, how one gloats and the other scoffs but you know he doesn’t mind, maybe even finds it endearing. and the throughline of hand-holding through the entire story, how they grasp each others’ hands and look each other in the eyes and still vie to beat the other. always one against one. even when they’re together they are against one another. and vincent knows it will all go wrong but he still grasps leo’s hand and grins when leo teases, because he can’t help himself, he can’t stop himself from liking leo and all his brash, cocky swagger. god dude. you don’t get it.

[swan2swan]

It’s good to know that I moved so far beyond Sleepy Hollow that I can’t feel upset by anything about it anymore. I know exactly where the blame belongs, and there’s no more surprises that can damage the parts of the show I loved.

Now to go check the articles--

--Me, three minutes ago, before I died

[jamesphillimoresumbrella]

Hi, it's me.

Feel free to use, or message me for more banners

yes, I'm self-aware thank you

[nosoypotter]

“There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men for this treachery.”

[my-deer-legolas]

Treebeard: There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men for this treachery!

Gimli: Want to learn some Dwarvish?

[joshua-beeking]

I just woke up and.... to my American friends: "There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men bad enough for......all this."

I offer a shoulder, a hug and a venting space during these hard times.

[dumpster-of-the-lost-souls]

I've got more things to say about Entishal. Mostly tweaks and things about her character and lore, I've switched her being a pediatrician to being an Emergency Medical Technician, or EMT a first responder like a firefighter. It would explain why Entishal would be so close with Levina, since Mike (Vina's dad) is a firefighter and would honestly work much better as an explanation as to why she goes with the rest of the gang to Magix when Mitzi (eventually) gets off of earth.

The next bit is more of a conundrum about her Wings. In my au Wings are magic constructs that have a metaphysical connection to the fairy's magic core, they aren't biological. If wings are damaged or ripped off is like you just get exhausted or stunned from that very heavily. You wouldn't be able to perform magic for a while either since a lot of your magic supply would be missing.

The conundrum would be even though the wings aren't technically a part of her body like her arms or her legs would them being exposed be Haram? I'm not exactly sure since I'm not Muslim, if any Muslims see this post would you let me know your thoughts?

More winx stuff!

I have been up all night last night with zero sleep and nearly fell asleep in math class earlier so apologies if this is not coherent in the slightest.

Again token shoutouts to @emsartwork @drops-of-moonlights @dragonflyxparodies for being the people that got me thinking about winx again. go look at their works!

I am dead serious about this, if I'm too annoying or you want me to stop pinging you just tell me to shut up.

This post is mostly about Diaspro

From her perspective she assumed Bloom was a witch and a gold digger assuming that she had spelled/charmed/hexed Sky into loving her. Sky didnt really do anything to support or refute those ideas. With the pitchman episode ending up making her double down on her bitterness and assumptions, since the pixies told her to focus on her kingdom and with the way that Eraklyeon is structured being a monarchy that is implied to be patriarchal and how Diaspro has been groomed to be Sky's fiancee, diasporas only real way she knows of that point of protecting and governing her kingdom is through marriage it makes sense in a roundabout way why she teamed up with Valtor.

Her plot was based on the assumption of Sky still being spelled/hexed and Diaspro was hoping to have Valtor's mark destabilize the hex while being destabilized by said hex enough that she could break both hexes without fairy dust which back fired on her and got her exiled.

Diaspro drifts through the Magix dimension for a while before the constant news articles about Bloom and the Winx gets to her so she decides to go to earth for some peace and quiet. She ends up on the east coast and is homeless for a while since she doesn't have an id and isn't able to purchase/rent a house or apartment. but she does have the ability to conjure gems to pawn off for money which allows her to pay for things in cash, this is what allows her to get her hands on a Van which she lives out of.

She travels around the west coast and the US for a while before making her way to Gardenia after doing some soul searching and introspection. She talks with Bloom's earth family and gets what they know from Bloom's perspective which makes her have some more introspection. At this point earth is aware of Magic and the Magix dimension allowing Diaspro to get an ID/passport/visa and she takes a job at the Love and Pet shop.

I'm probably going to talk more about this later but my brain is not cooperating with me right now.

[estelofrivendell]

Anon, as someone who doesn’t get a lot of interaction, not so kindly fuck off.

bro can u like not post those long reviews on fics? its kinda annoyin lol.

[glorf1ndel]

🌙& 🧙‍♂️for the tolkien ask game!

🌙 Which of Tolkien’s languages would you most like to speak?

Answered this one; probably Entish or Valarin! But I would be excited to speak any of them. Even the Black Speech; at least I could send a few choice swear words to Sauron. XD

🧙‍♂️ What is your favorite Gandalf moment?

What ISN’T my favorite Gandalf moment? I love the scene in The Two Towers when he convinces Háma to let him keep his staff before seeing Théoden, and Gandalf turns around and winks at Aragorn. I laugh every time. 😆

Some other faves: the “there is only one lord of the ring, and he does not share power” scene, the “Saruman as he should have been” scene, and Gandalf arriving at Helm’s deep with Éomer! Also, that one time he kicked Denethor’s butt. Let’s be real; Gandalf steals the show in every scene.