#hobbit day 2020

[ssavaart]

Happy Thursday, All!

In 2020, we were all in lockdown and the world was crazy and I had NO motivation to make art.

So, I joined TikTok and, out of sheer boredom, started posting sketches.

Each day, I’d find a random photo online and spend an hour or two painting that into my sketchbook.

Every day.

I wasn’t “making art”. I was just sketching. Doodling. Goofing off.

I did hundreds of these over the next year until I felt ready to “make art” again.

Sometimes our minds aren’t ready for something big. Sometimes we just need to keep our hands busy and covered in paint until our minds and souls are creative again.

Anyways. I’ll be posting some of my favorite sketchbook doodles for the next few days. Hope that’s okay.

Sending big hugs from the Hobbit Hole ❤️

Scott

[medievalandfantasymelee]

Congratulations to today's Champions!

Be it known that these Competitors have triumphed on the First Day of Contest of Round One!

Frodo Baggins [Elijah Wood], The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)

Defeats Prince Chauncley [Daniel Radcliffe], Miracle Workers: The Dark Ages (2020) with 79.3% of the Vote

Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark [Sean Bean], Game of Thrones (2011-2019)

Defeats Prince Hamlet [Iain Glen], Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (1990) with 61% of the Vote

Murtagh Morzansson [Garrett Hedlund], Eragon (2006)

Defeats Mordred [Jason Done], Merlin (1998) with 59% of the Vote

Aguilar de Nehra [Michael Fassbender], Assassin's Creed (2016)

Defeats Amleth [Alexander Skarsgård], The Northman (2022) with 55.3% of the Vote

Bard the Bowman [Luke Evans], The Hobbit Trilogy (2012-2014)

Defeats Will Scarlet O'Hara [Matthew Porretta], Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) with 50.9% of the Vote

Lin Shu [Hu Ge], Nirvana in Fire {Lángyá Bǎng} (2015)

Defeats Arman [Matvey Lykov], I Am Dragon {On — Drakón} (2015) with 50.7% of the Vote

Rosencrantz [Gary Oldman], Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (1990)

Defeats Niccolo Machiavelli [Thibaut Evrard], Borgia (2011-2014) with 56.9% of the Vote

Sihtric Kjartansson [Arnas Fedaravicius], The Last Kingdom (2015-2022)

Defeats Ser Bronn of the Blackwater [Jerome Flynn], Game of Thrones (2011-2019) with 66% of the Vote

Gandalf Mithrandir [Ian McKellen], The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)

Defeats Khal Drogo [Jason Momoa], Game of Thrones (2011-2019) with 56.1% of the Vote

Samwise Gamgee [Sean Astin], The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)

Defeats Sir Leon [Rupert Young], BBC's Merlin (2008-2012) with 64.8% of the Vote

Sir Gary Galavant [Joshua Sasse], Galavant (2015-2016)

Defeats Geralt of Rivia [Henry Cavill], The Witcher (2019-) with 57.7% of the Vote

Thranduil the Elvenking [Lee Pace], The Hobbit Trilogy (2012-2014)

Defeats Asbjörn [Tom Hopper], Northmen: A Viking Saga (2014) with 62.1% of the Vote

[cochart]

I just saw the recent news about the new LOTR anime, War of Rohirrim.

It looks decent but feels more like a premise/pv for a Fire Emblem game than anything Middle-earth related. It seems like Hollywood—yes, I know the anime is made in a Japanese studio but we have to admit that the money comes from the Hollywood—just can’t let go of Tolkien. Their clawing at old IP isn’t limited to Tolkien though. It really seems like they’re desperate to milk old franchises these days.

But I just feel like the timing isn’t really right for these shows. LOTR trilogy was a classic 2000s fantasy film. And I guess the Hobbit trilogy also had its time in the mid-2010s. But is 2020s really the decade for new Tolkien TV/movies? I feel like these producers just can’t snap out of the dreamy 2000s when LOTR was the king and 2010s when GOT was at its peak. I’m just not sure if that large of an audience is there anymore for a big fantasy in this day and age. I mean, I guess people who go to Renfair and religiously play DnD or something might watch them for fun, but would the larger public be interested though?

We had great fantasy shows like Frieren and Dungeon Meshi recently. Though both are adapted from manga series that has been running for quite a while, I think they suggest the direction of fantasy people enjoy these days. They have something to add to the classic fantasy adventure tale that resonates with a lot of people. I don’t think it’s something that the bigger Hollywood fantasy productions have been able to match.

Maybe these new Tolkien shows are just targeted to older people anyway, but I can’t help but think that they feel anachronistic.

[will80sbyers]

Do you still have the list of movies that inspired ST4? I had a picture of it but I lost it and I haven't been able to find it since. Please and thank you in advance.

Yep!

Long post warning lol

300

2001: A Space Odyssey

47 Meters Down: Uncaged

12 Monkeys

28 Days Later

13th Warrior

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls

Altered States

Amelie

American Sniper

Analyze This

Annihilation

Aristocats

Armageddon

Assassins Creed

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Arrival

Almost Famous

Batman Begins

Batman V. Superman

Basket Case

Battle at Big Rock

Beauty and the Beast

Beetlejuice

Behind Enemy Lines

Beverly Hills Cop

Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey

Billy Madison

Black Cauldron

Black Swan

Boondock Saints

Borat

Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Burn After Reading

Broken Arrow

Blade Runner

C.H.U.D

Con Air

Cast Away

Congo

Constantine

Children of Men

Cabin in the Woods

Crank

Casablanca

Carrie

Crimson Tide

Clueless

Dukes of Hazzard

Don’t Breathe

Death to Smoochy

Doom

Dark Knight

Dogma

Deep Blue Sea

Dreamcatcher

Drop Dead Fred

Die Hard

Die Hard 2

Die Hard 3

Don’s Plum

Dances with Wolves

Dumb and Dumber

Edward Scissorhands

Enter the Void

Ex Machina

Event Horizon

Emma (2020)

Forrest Gump

Fargo

Fisher King

Full Metal Jacket

Ferris Bueller

Fallen

Fugitive

Ghost

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Ghostbusters

Good Fellas

Girl Interrupted

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Get Out

Good Will Hunting

Hackers

High Fidelity

Hellraiser 1

Hellraiser 2

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Hidden

High School Musical

Hurt Locker

Heat

Hunger Games

Highlander

Hell or High Water

Home Alone

I am Legend

It’s a Wonderful Life

In Cold Blood

Inception

I am a Fugitive from Chain Gang

Inside Out

Island of Doctor Moreau

It Follows

Interview with a Vampire

Inner Space

Into the Spiderverse

Independence Day

Jupiter Ascending

John Carter of Mars

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

James Bond (All Movies)

Julie

Karate Kid

Knives Out

Kingsmen

Little Miss Sunshine

Labyrinth

Long Kiss Goodnight

Lost Boys

Leon: The Professional

Let the Right One In

Little Women (1994)

Mad Max: Fury Road

Magnolia

Men in Black

Mimic

Matrix

Misery

My Cousin Vinny

Mystic River

Minority Report

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Neverending Story

Never Been Kissed

No Country for Old Men

Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

North by Northwest

Open Water

Orange County

Oceans 8

Oceans 11

Oceans 12

One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Ordinary People

Paddington 2

Platoon

Pulp Fiction

Papillon

Pan’s Labyrinth

Pineapple Express

Peter Pan

Princess Bride

Paradise Lost

Primal Fear

Prisoners

Peter Jackson’s King Kong

Reservoir Dogs

Ravenous

Rushmore

Road Warrior

Rogue One

Reality Bites

Raider of the Lost Ark

Red Dragon

Robocop

Shooter

Sky High

Swingers

Sword in the Stone

Step Up 2

Spy Kids

Saving Private Ryan

Shape of Water

Swept Away

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Superbad

Society

Swordfish

Stoker

Splice

Silence of the Lambs

Source Code

Sicario

Se7en

Starship Troopers

Scrooged

Splash

Silver Bullet

Speed

The Visit

The Italian Job

The Mask of Zorro

True Lies

The Blair Witch Project

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Tangled

The Craft

The Guest

The Devil’s Advocate

The Graduate

The Prestige

The Rock

Titanic

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

The Fly

Tombstone

The Mummy

The Guardian

The Goofy Movie

The Peanut Butter Solution

Toy Story 4

The Ring

The Crazies

The Mist

The Revenant

The Perfect Storm

The Shining

Terminator 2

The Truman Show

Temple of Doom

The Cell

To Kill a Mockingbird

Timeline

The Good Son

The Orphan

The Birdcage

The Green Mile

The Raid

The Cider House Rules

The Lighthouse

The Book of Henry

The A-Team

The Crow

The Terminal

Thor Ragnarok

Twister

The Descent

The Birds

Total Recall

The Natural

The Fifth Element

True Romance

Terminator: Dark Fate

The Hobbit Trilogy

Unforgiven

Unbreakable

Unleashed

Very Bad Things

Wayne’s World

What Women Want

War Dogs

Wedding Crashers

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape

Welcome to the Dollhouse

Welcome to Marwen

Wet Hot American Summer

What Lies Beneath

What Dreams May Come

War Games

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Weird Science

Willow

Wizard of Oz

Wanted

Young Sherlock Holmes

You’ve Got Mail

Zodiac

Zoolander

[3months2mordor]

On Hobbits and Existential Dread

or Why “The Scouring of the Shire” is the True Climax of The Lord of the Rings

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Or more accurately, there lived a human who had been in hard COVID quarantine for six months and certainly felt like a hobbit, what with all the staying inside and eating second breakfast and trying her best to ignore the world, which seemed in the summer of 2020 to be spiraling towards something unknown. And she, well I, was packing for college. On an impulse that I cannot explain except to say that I had previously binge watched all the movies in my seemingly infinite quaran-time, I packed a large red volume of JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings with the intention to read it over the course of the semester.

What began as a simple personal challenge to read a chapter a night instead of doom scrolling on Twitter became a profound experience not only in terms of discovering that my parents were right in saying the book was actually really good, but also in realizing that the Hobbits, in their edenic Shire perched on the edge of a world about to enter catastrophe, were more like me, more like a lot of us, than Aragorn or the Elves or Dwarves or Men who people Middle Earth. And here is why the chapter at the very end of the last book where the Shire is nearly destroyed is so very, very important.

Tolkien takes careful time in his books to establish the attitudes and habits of his hobbits who live in pastoral harmony in near complete isolation from the rest of the world. They are content with what they have and don’t have the greed that drives Dwarves to dig, or the ambition that drives Men to war, or even the worship of nature that drives Elves deep into their forests to protect them. They build their hobbit holes, smoke what is definitely pot, and eat and drink heartily. They care little for news of the outside world and tend their fields instead. That’s it.

But the world does not cease to exist just because they want it to. It never does.

As Gandalf warns in Rivendale, “We are sitting in a fortress. Outside it is growing dark.” (Part 1 Book 2 Chapter 1).

Regardless of how much the hobbits might ignore the coming of the Dark Lord Sauron and the existential threat that is his attempt to control the world, it will not go away. They will not be safe from the darkness just because they want to be and they have a supply of candles in the cupboard. And so, at the start of the story, evil comes to the Shire in the form of the Black Riders and Frodo, our hero, must leave to keep the Shire safe from the forces of darkness. Still Frodo is just a hobbit, albeit a brave one. So he laments to Gandalf, “I wish it need not have happened in my time” and Gandalf replies “So do I, and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” (Part 1 Book 1 Chapter 2).

I feel this quote more deeply every year. A deep childish wish for things to exist as we expected them to be, but a solemn and more mature knowledge that Gandalf is right. That our time has already been given to us. All that we have left is what we do to make that time matter.

But back to Frodo, who takes a good seventeen years to heed this advice, but eventually sets off on an adventure to save the Shire which, spoiler alert, ultimately saves the world. Along the way people despair and seem to lose hope. Theoden, recovering from a spell that robbed him of agency and clearsightedness, cries “Alas! That these evil days should be mine, and should come in my old age instead of that peace which I have earned” (Part 2 Book 3 Chapter 6). Even Sam, in his darkest hour thinking he has lost Frodo for good, groans “I wish I wasn’t the last. I wish old Gandalf was here, or somebody. What am I left all alone to make up my mind? I’m sure to go wrong” (Part 2 Book 4 Chapter 10).

Yet despite it all the One Ring is destroyed and the King returns and good wins. Everything is set right and our heroes get a chance to rebuild the world rather than watch it crumble. They get to go home.

Now this is a fine story and one I desperately needed amongst all of the *everything* going on in 2020. However it is not the ending that stuck with me. For you see once Frodo and his companions return home, the Shire is not the same place they left it.

The Shire, in their year long absence, has descended into a despotic police state run by a wealthy, privileged hobbit who stays in his hole rather than try to help his people as Men, who tower over the hobbits, and are specifically and on multiple occasions called bullies, abuse their power. They use their strength to take food and (let’s face it) weed from the hobbits, desecrate their land with deforestation and pollution, and create a state of fear and paranoia that anyone could be taken at any moment to prison without trial after only a mere whiff of seditious behavior. The world has come to the hobbits and they are so paralyzed with fear that they are unable to do anything other than sit in their hobbit holes and keep their heads down, hoping that they and their families will make it through.

Now, Frodo and his companions, having seen the change that can be wrought from people who stand up to bullies and fight to make a difference, see the state of their home and immediately understand the despair their friends and neighbors have fallen into because they too have felt it. These are the hobbits who faced thousands of orcs and rode in battle and walked to Mount Doom with only each other to lean on and they know how deeply despair of impossible odds can affect someone. But they have also learned that that despair is not inevitable. They saw the Ents on their last march when Treebeard said it was “likely enough that we are going to our doom… But if we stayed at home and did nothing the doom would find us anyway, sooner or later. That thought has been long growing in our hearts; and that is why we are marching now” (Part 2 Book 3 Chapter 4). They saw the Rohirrim ride to battle against impossible odds because it was the right thing to do. They saw even the most pitiful Gollum play his part in saving the world. And they saw the Eagles fly in to help carry the day.

There’s always hope if there’s something worth fighting for.

And so, back in the Shire which was not the Shire they knew but still the one they love, the four heroic hobbits do what had once seemed impossible: they get the hobbits, in their apathy and terror and existential despair, to stand up and fight. And it’s hard, and people die, and it gets worse before it gets better, but in the end the bullies are run off and the hobbits are victorious and they begin to rebuild, not just their homes but their forests and their relationships with each other too.

The hobbits, and me really, wanted to curl up in their holes and hope the world would go away. And sometimes, God, that seems like it’s the only thing you can do when darkness is spreading far on the horizon and it keeps creeping closer but isn’t here yet. But Sauron is not the scariest thing in this book. Tolkien’s real villain was the fear and despair that can paralyze you to stay in your hole until the Shire is burning around you. Yet even the most comfortable and secure hobbits have to stand up and face the world because if we don't, no one else will.

There is a reason Frodo is able to see the mission to the end. And it’s not that he’s exceptional in the way other heroes are. No. In fact it is because he is unexceptional and unambitious and also uncompromising that the deed is able to be done. He, like the hobbits he helps at the end of the series, has to get up and work to fight the evil that hurts people every day. And Frodo doesn’t save the hobbits of the Shire; they save themselves. Then they rebuild. They grow things again, not better, not the same, but they have to go on living. And, I don’t know, I needed to realize that.

We aren’t Aragorn with a throne and a legendary sword and a destiny to be king, we aren’t the Elves with their centuries of knowledge and skills, we aren’t the Dwarves with their mountain holds to hide in. Heck, we’re not even Frodo, or at least I’m not. There’s no way I could handle a walk that long. We’re the hobbits. We see the existential wave of dread and terror that is coming and our instinct to hide from it, to hold it off as long as we can and then silently accept it when it comes. Because what can one little halfling do against a thing like that?

But even the hobbits of the Shire stand up eventually. Even hobbits can take that dread for a bleak future and turn around and create new life. There’s a reason why the symbol of the Shire returning to peace and throwing off the yolk of oppression is a tree. The bullies cut down Bilbo’s old one and it can’t come back. But Sam plants a new one anyway and hopes it will grow.

I’m reading the Lord of the Rings again before this election as I did last time. But this time I’m not alone. I’m reading it with friends. I marked passages like the ones above that made me think but also ones that made me laugh because there is joy in amongst the shadows and if we cannot find those moments it’s hard to keep looking for the light. In rewatching The Two Towers film the other day I was struck, as I usually am, by Sam’s speech at the end of the movie, based on one he gives in “The Stairs of Cirith Ungol.” I think it bears quoting in full.

Sam: It’s all wrong By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy. How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad happened. But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn’t. Because they were holding on to something.

Frodo: What are we holding on to, Sam?

Sam : That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.

Hobbits are remarkable people, Tolkien says, and I hope we are too. I hope we can get through this by raising up our own Shires full of hobbit warriors to face the world and not lie down and give up. Because if everyone did that there would still be a One Ring and Sauron would rule forever.

But we have to save the Shire. It’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. We have to believe that. I have to. I will do my part to make sure it does, but first I have to believe it’s possible. We have to take that existential terror and turn it into righteous fury because we have seen what a shadow can do and we cannot let it spread again. We have been there. But we will not go back again.

[morpheus-somnium]

pieces of media i would make skyrim characters watch

i would totally make the characters watch these. no getting up from the couch. no getting up to get more popcorn.

i assign a few movies, series, or franchises to each character, because i spent most of my day on letterboxd

i haven't seen all of these media, but don't worry, i swear i can assign those to them based on the vibes

also i don't have caryalind, khash, remiel, nebarra and xelzaz downloaded (no storage on my pc:( ) so i went purely on the vibes and what i could find about them on nexus ToT but also, i am making them watch these, so ig it's kinda fine if they aren't that corresponding?

basic skyrim characters

babette: interview with the vampire, 1995 + eternals, 2021

brynjolf: the oceans's franchise + tangled, 2010

cicero: terrifier, 2016

delvin mallory: the pink panther franchise + the man from u.n.c.l.e, 2015 + breaking bad

enthir: the goldfinch, 2019

faralda: i'm giving her the winx franchise 🧚✨

farkas: the twilight franchise

j'zargo: whiplash, 2014

mercer frey: gladiator, 2000 + reservoir dogs, 1992

maven black-briar: the devils wears prada, 2006 + the godfather franchise

miraak: annihilation, 2018 + the call of cthulhu, 2005

nazir: the saw franchise 💕

neloth: house md

ondolemar: pride & prejudice, 2005 + anna karenina, 2012 + mean girls, 2004

runil: the conjuring franchise

serana: underworld, 2003 + the monster high franchise + the twilight franchise

teldryn sero: scream franchise + john wick, 2014

tolfdir: harry potter franchise + the lord of the rings franchise

tullius: gladiator, 2000 + the asterix & obelix franchise (especially the olympics one because i love that one)

ulfric stromcloak: the hobbit franchise

urag gro shub: the da vinci code, 2006

vex: the handmaiden, 2016 + gone girl, 2014

vilkas: fight club, 1999

modded followers

auri: the avatar franchise (she would enjoy those huge trees, omg)

caryalind: emma, 2020

gore: the scary movie franchise + the fight club, 1999 + the resident evil franchise

inigo, the brave + lucien flavius (these two come in a pair, i can't even separete them anymore): atlantis, 2001 + road to el dorado, 2000 + the indiana jones franchise

kaidan: kwaidan, 1964 LMAO

khash: the barbie franchise + hungarian folk tales + hello kitty stump village, 2004

nebarra: blade runner 2045, 2017

remiel: lara croft franchise + the martian, 2015

taliesin: the devil wears prada, 2006 + zoolander franchise (lmao)

xelzaz: ratatouille, 2007

[charlidos]

From Stephen Colbert's LotR zoom reunion convos in 2021. I cut together the bits with Viggo & Orlando. Part one.

Isn't it amazing that Viggo and Orlando never participated in a single interview together, before these digital reunions took place in 2020 and 2021? It took 20 years before it happened! Like Orlando keeps saying, it blows my mind. Almost makes me suspect it was purposely avoided...

So, this video is such a treasure for someone like me. I'm not sure there's that much to glean from it, but I'm damned if I'm not going to try my best anyway.

One thing Viggo & Orlando have in common is that they both seem to be listening so very intently to everything being said. Orlando is constantly reflecting everything he's thinking by smiling and laughing all the time. And so is Viggo, laughing and commenting. Like it's just the two of them talking.

Of course, in my mind, Viggo is listening particularly rapt to Orlando's stories. I can't quite get over the way he looks at Orlando when he O is speaking, even biting his lip at one point, like he can't quite school his face. And watching O with such warmth. There is a lot of love here, not matter what kind.

Viggo is such a good storyteller. I know they've all told these stories many times over the years, but it's still very entertaining. I get the feeling that Viggo is that person who everyone listens to, that the room goes quiet when he is speaking. And I get the feeling that Orlando can be very entertaining too, just by the sheer happy energy he seems to exude. He's so wonderfully animated.

The way Viggo describes Aragorn "this guy, he's in the woods, long legs" is hilarious. Even now, it's intriguing to think how he nearly never went to NZ. How different things would have been.

And I can clearly see Viggo and Orlando (and the hobbits!) in a bar in Wellington, dancing around, drunk, carefree and happy. Those were indeed the days. That happy laugh between them as Orlando talks about it is beautiful. I'm feeling quite sentimental. I bet they are too.

[the-likeable-wizard-mack]

Modern Fantasy Monsters: What fantasy species do for new years.

Werewolves: Poor babies really are struggling with the fireworks. However, they mitigate this with noise canceling headphones for the little ones and opt to celebrate inside with family and friends only going outside for grilling some good steaks. Vampires: ".... Another year?" Closes coffin Lol, just kidding, while they don't really care for the festivities that much they will be fine at a small gathering. They're probably the ones to forget what year it is. Vampire: "Happy 2020!" Human: "Uh...It's 2024?" Vampire: "Really? Hm...After a few centuries it all starts to blur together. Belive me, the 90's felt like they blended together as well..." Halfling/Hobbits: They're enjoying the food and fun around the whole new year thing. On new years day they probably have a whole culture dedicated to food to bring in the new year with some items of food being good luck. Orcs: Orcs bring in the new year by having a BIG ASS celebration of food, explosions and beer. They go out hunting together as a community or family to find the biggest animal they can hunt. Grill it and have a whole celebratory party to bring good fortune and strength for the new year. Mermaids/ Merfolks: Merfolk gather the surface of the water peaking their heads out of the ocean to watch the fireworks above them. Though they don't know exactly how it works they are quite tickled on how humans can seemingly "paint the sky" with fiery colors. They watch with starry eyes as colors of red, yellows, greens and blues burst into the sky.

Dragons: Dragons enjoy fireworks...Like a lot. Especially dragons with a more fiery ability. They're always trying to come up with new ideas for the biggest flashiest types of fireworks that can really wow a crowd! If they could hoard fireworks they could but, they don't wanna risk their other hoards being damaged. The colors, the burning smells everything makes them feel euphoric. Giants/ Giant-folk: While they don't mind the holiday it's still quite challenging for them since due to their height they probably have some problems with having to deal with hear the fireworks closer to how you're suppose to be hearing them. They probably have to cover there ears sometimes due to how damn loud firecrackers can be.

*sighs...* HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!! HERE'S TO A GREAT 2024! :D !

[writeblrfantasy]

i definitely want to do camp nano this year and commit to solid, routine updates. when i'm drafting i tend to go into my hobbit hole and not come out, not share anything with anyone until the entire draft is done, but i'd like to get back to the days (2020/2021 writeblr how i miss you) of sharing my progress and connecting with the other writers participating in camp nano. so if you're participating in either this year, give me a shout!

[she-karev]

Happy Birthday (Andrew DeLuca x Alex Karev’s Sister Birthday Imagine)

Age Rating: 12+

Chapters: One of One

Fandom: Grey’s Anatomy

Ship: Andrew DeLuca x Amber Karev (Alex Karev’s Sister)

Canon Episode: Season 17 Episode 17

Summary: Amber is reluctant to celebrate her birthday when her friends throw her a surprise party.

Words: 1964

September 7th, 2020

“This was Thornin’s style. He was an important dwarf.” Amber reads to her niece, Luna Karev, inside the incubator where she is sleeping peacefully while her aunt reads her a copy of The Hobbit, “If he had been allowed, he would probably have gone on like this until he was out of breath without telling anyone there anything that was not known already. But he was rudely interrupted.”

“Good morning.” Andrew greets Amber and Luan with a smile inside his helmet.

“And so was I.” Amber closes her book and stands up from her chair to face her boyfriend, “Morning.”

“I woke up and you weren’t in bed, I was gonna make you a special breakfast for today before we leave.”

“Alex and Jo are at their lawyers working out the adoption legal stuff and I didn’t want Luna to wake up alone.” She looks down at Luna with a grin, “I thought Tolkien would better stimulate her than those baby books they keep here.”

“Why can I see you two already going to cosplay as Galadriel and Frodo?”

“You make that sound like a bad thing and it’s not the first time I successfully converted a non-geek. I got you to come with me to Emerald City Comicon for two years in a row.”

“Because I was afraid you would get kidnapped in a sea of nerds.” Andrew jokes before grinning down at Luna, “Don’t worry Luna if you want to want to go hiking or learn how to ride a motorcycle, I’m your guy.”

“You put my baby niece in a sidecar, and I’ll kill you before Alex and Jo do.” Ambre half threatens before she realizes what Andrew said, “Wait why were you gonna make me a special breakfast today? What’s the occasion?”

“Seriously?” Andrew asks dumbfounded causing Amber to shrug, “It’s September the 7th, your birthday.”

“Ya-da-da.” Amber stutters holding her finger up to silence her Italian lover, “No cursing in front of the baby especially if it’s the word that shall not be said again.”

“Okay I know…that word is taboo for you for personal reasons, but I just thought this year would be different.”

“Why would it be different?”

“Because your usual rebellious half birthday celebrations in March was stalled this year by a pandemic and me getting treatment.” Amber frowns at the reminder and looks down at Luna so she doesn’t get lost in her darkness, “I just thought with all that happened maybe we could make up for it by celebrating your actual birthday.”

“No thanks. I would prefer to wait it out until next March instead of having cake on a day I detest.” Amber grabs her book ready to walk out, “Babe I appreciate the effort but it’s wasted. It’s gonna take a lot more than a pandemic and my boyfriend leaving for me to consider September 7th a joyous occasion. Save that energy for March 9th and PS I like chocolate chip pancakes with lots of whipped cream on top sprinkled in chocolate.”

“That is a lot of chocolate.” Andrew points out playfully.

“It’s my half birthday I can indulge myself all I want, or you can.” Amber giggles lightly before walking with him to go to the residents lounge so she can get coffee. They open the door and Amber starts to regret it.

“SURPRISE!” Levi Schmitt, Casey Parker, Dahlia Qadri and Taryn Helm shout out loud in the room with Parker using a confetti cannon. Amber jumps at the bang before the multi color papers float down on her to her annoyance. She groans and brushes the confetti off her before walking inside with a frown towards the residents as well as Alex and Jo who are in the room looking uncomfortable as they know how much Amber hates her birthdays.

“Who blabbed?” Amber asks before turning to Andrew behind her who holds his hands up in defense.

“I swear I had no idea; my plan was a cheese omelet with bell peppers. This is not on me.”

“It was on me.” Amber sees Bailey step forward holding a cone shaped hat that says Happy Birthday, “I made it a point to celebrate residents’ birthdays as much as we can. I figured after the year we had some cake and singing might raise morale. By the time I took this initiative your date was next on the roster.”

“Lucky me.” Amber says sarcastically with a visible frown.

“You see I told you.” Alex says bluntly, “She hates it.”

Bailey glares at him, “She does not hate it.”

“I hate it.” Amber confirms bluntly as well causing Bailey to turn her glare at her, “If you really wanted me to be happy today you should have upped my vacation days that would be better than this crap fest.”

Qadri chuckles from the side, “Yeah we tried telling her you were one of those anti birthday people, but she says those don’t exist.”

“Well then I guess this is the one day she’s proven wrong.” Amber maliciously grins at Bailey.

“Shake that negative birthday energy She-Karev.” The chief tells her in an upbeat tone, “We have vanilla cake will that make you feel better?”

Amber rolls her eyes but sees the rectangle pink frosting cake with ‘Happy Birthday Amber!’ written across it.

“Wiping a birthday off the face of the earth should be an option.” Amber responds still bitter.

Bailey is offended and speaks with a frown as well, “Or you could just tolerate the fact that it’s a 24-hour period where the people who love you can treat you extra special.”

“And for the other 364 days they treat me like garbage?” Amber asks her boss who throws her hands up clearly agitated.

“Look child just eat the damn cake, wear the silly hat and enjoy your birthday, chief’s orders.” Bailey holds out the hat for Amber who looks at it for a silent moment.

“Nope.” Bailey is stumped and drops the hat on the floor. Amber turns to the crowd with a grin, “Thank you everyone but I will not be joining you. You guys can mingle and eat while I get coffee and go back to the NICU and continue to read The Hobbit to my beloved niece.”

“Let my daughter have a mind of her own please.” Alex begs his sister.

“We’ll see.” Amber turns to Andrew, “Save me some cake?”

“It is yours so yeah.”

“Thank you.” Amber walks out of the lounge leaving the others to celebrate her special day without her. Alex and Jo chuckled lightly before cutting the cake.

“You gotta give Amber this she has a unique reaction to her birthday.” Jo says with a smile.

“More like an ungrateful reaction to my attempts to bring joy to burnt out residents.” Bailey corrects with a frown, “Who doesn’t love their birthday? What possible reason could give that child an excuse to walk out on cake and love?”

Alex winces, “Blame me and the rest of our family on that reaction. Me and Aaron were asshole teens by the time Amber was born and our mom could occasionally remember her meds. Whenever her birthday came, we would either forget or I would remember and dump her at the nearest Chuck E Cheese so I could go trolling for chicks.”

“This explains so much.” Taryn states in realization as she eats cake.

“Yeah and it didn’t help that I left for med school not long after her tenth birthday.” Alex adds to his shame grabbing a big slice for himself that he instantly devours.

Jo squeezes Alex’s arm, “She more than gets you leaving to survive, she did it too. And besides birthdays are overrated and most of the time your expectations are high, and you get let down every time.”

Alex and Andrew look at Jo surprised that she’s also anti birthday like Amber. Out of the two of them Jo is the more upbeat and positive while Amber is more sulky and cynical. Jo sees the stares and explains.

“Foster parents never remembered my birthday and the gifts I got from charity were always addressed ‘to boy’ and ‘to girl’. It’s safe to say that I more than get Amber’s reluctance to celebrate what should have been a big day.”

“Yeah I get that.” Alex shares, “My parents forgot my birthday and it got to the point where I even forgot my own.”

Andrew looks sullen by these stories, “Wow if they ever want to hire people to make others feel bad you three could be rich.”

Jo chuckles lightly, “It would be great compensation for crappy upbringings.”

“Well now I feel bad.” Bailey sulks eating her cake, “I wish you would have tried harder to stop me before I spent money on this wasted party.”

The residents continue to eat their cake instead of arguing that they tried and were ignored. Andrew finishes his cake before deciding to resolve this issue in the privacy of his and Amber’s home so she can feel special on her big day for once.

That Night

Amber turns the key in the lock on the door outside the patio of her and Andrew’s recently bought house. After he came back from Italy a month ago they went forward in buying a new place together. Amber told him his apartment was too painful for her to live in because of all the bad memories of their relationship happening there. She proposed that they get a new place and he agreed and even suggested getting a house instead.

They were able to buy a 2-bedroom house with both of their savings and a backyard for their dog Jazz who was clearly not fit for an apartment. He is the first person to greet her with his three legs scratching the hardwood as he runs toward her panting. Amber quickly closes the door and gives him an affectionate scratch on the head before walking around the marked unpacked boxes around the house.

“Hey boy.” Amber walks toward the kitchen with Jazz following behind her, “Where’s your dad?”

“Stop where you are right now.” Amber freezes at the sound of Andrew’s voice and stays in place. He walks inside from the hallway carrying a plate with a chocolate cupcake topped with a lit candle providing light in the dim kitchen. He smiles at her, “Happy birthday bella.”

“No.” Amber whines causing Andrew to chuckle as he expected this reaction, “I told you no birthday, we agreed no birthday.”

“Actually, you told me no birthday and I don’t remember making a verbal agreement.” Andrew argues bringing the cupcake with the candle still lit closer to her, “I know you hate your birthday and you have about a million reasons to but I don’t. You may not be happy about the day you were born but I am.”

Amber’s sour attitude deflates at that sweet comment as he continues, “So I’m gonna give you a cake, a private room where we celebrate alone how you like it and your gonna blow out this candle and make a wish. Got it?”

Amber looks at the cupcake enticed by how good it looks wondering if it tastes the same, “…What kind of cake is it?”

“Your favorite, devil’s food, I wasn’t born yesterday come on.”

Amber shakes her head grinning at him before taking the plate from his hands, “Your lucky your cute.”

“I know.” Andrew says smugly, “Now make a wish.”

Amber closes her eyes and blows the candle out making a wish causing Andrew to clap before she takes the first bite and celebrates her birthday for the first time feeling like it’s not a day to dread instead a day to celebrate thanks to the man that she loves.

[urbanshaman30]

Happy Posthumous Birthday Christopher John Reuel Tolkien (1924 - 2020), who is the third & youngest son of the author J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973), as well as the editor of much of his father's posthumously published work. He drew the original maps for his father's #TheLordOfTheRings books, which he signed as C.J.R.T.

From a child, Christopher Tolkien had long been part of the critical audience for his father's fiction, such as listening to his father’s tales of Bilbo Baggins, which were published as #TheHobbit. As a teenager and young adult, he offered a lot of feedback on “The Lord of the Rings” during its 15-year development. He also had the task of interpreting his father's sometimes self-contradictory maps of Middle-earth in order to produce the versions that were used in the books. He re-drew the main map in the late 1970’s to clarify the lettering and correct some errors and omissions.

J.R.R. Tolkien had written a large amount of material connected to the Middle-earth legendarium that was not published during his lifetime. He had originally intended to publish #TheSilmarillion along with “The Lord of the Rings”, and parts of it were in a finished state when he died in 1973; but the project was incomplete.

Once referring to his son Christopher as his "chief critic and collaborator", J.R.R. Tolkien had named Christopher his literary executor in his will. With this authority, Christopher organized the masses of his father's unpublished writings, some of which had been written on odd scraps of paper a half-century earlier. Much of the material was handwritten. Complicating matters, his father would sometimes write a newer draft over a half-erased first draft. Also, it was not uncommon for the names of characters routinely changing between the beginning and ending of the same draft.

Christopher worked on the manuscripts and was able to produce an edition of “The Silmarillion” for publication in 1977. His assistant for part of the work was Guy Gavriel Kay, who became a noted fantasy author himself.

“The Silmarillion” was followed by “Unfinished Tales” in 1980 and “The History of Middle-earth” in 12 volumes between 1983 and 1996. Most of the original source-texts have been made public from which “The Silmarillion” was constructed.

In April 2007, Christopher Tolkien published “The Children of Húrin”, whose story his father had brought to a relatively complete stage between 1951 and 1957 before abandoning it. This was one of J.R.R. Tolkien's earliest stories. Its first version dated back to 1918, and several versions were published in “The Silmarillion”, “Unfinished Tales”, and “The History of Middle-earth”.

“The Children of Húrin” is a synthesis of these and other sources. “Beren and Lúthien” is an editorial work and was published as a stand-alone book in 2017. The next year, “The Fall of Gondolin” was published also as an editorial work. “The Children of Húrin”, “Beren and Lúthien”, and “The Fall of Gondolin” make up the three "Great Tales" of the Elder Days, which J.R.R. Tolkien considered to be the biggest stories of the First Age.

Christopher served as chairman of the Tolkien Estate, Ltd., which was the entity formed to handle the business side of his father's literary legacy. He also served as a trustee of the Tolkien Charitable Trust until his retirement in 2018.

In 2001, Christopher expressed doubts over “The Lord of the Rings” film trilogy that was directed by Peter Jackson. He questioned the viability of a film interpretation that retained the essence of the work, but stressed that this was just his opinion. In 2008, he commenced legal proceedings against New Line Cinema, which he claimed owed his family £80 million in unpaid royalties. In September, 2009, he and New Line reached an undisclosed settlement. He also withdrew his legal objection to “The Hobbit” films. But, in a 2012 interview with “Le Monde”, he criticised the films saying, "They gutted the book, making an action film for 15 to 25-year-olds."

[ssavaart]

"I'm your Huckleberry"

Back in 2020 when the world turned upside down... I needed something to make sense and started a "Quarantine Journal".

Each day, I'd make a piece of art based off of my favorite movie or tv character and then on the next page... I'd write down anything that happened that day.

Apparently day 73 was Doc Holliday from Tombstone.

It's weird looking back on these 4 years later. But, I'm glad I did them.

Sending Big Hugs from the Hobbit Hole. ♥♥♥

Scott

[medievalandfantasymelee]

THE HOT MEDIEVAL & FANTASY MEN MELEE

FIRST ROUND: 55th Tilt

King Ecbert Ealhmunding, Vikings (2013-2020) VS. King Théoden, Son of Thengel, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)

Propaganda

King Ecbert Ealhmunding, Vikings (2013-2020) Portrayed by: Linus Roache Defeated Opponents: - Bofur [James Nesbitt], The Hobbit Trilogy (2012-2014)

“Linus Roache is already incomparably hot, but inscrutable, strategic, KING Linus Roache? Is there room in that Roman bath for me?”

King Théoden, Son of Thengel, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003) Portrayed by: Bernard Hill Defeated Opponents: - Steapa [Adrian Bouchet], The Last Kingdom (2015-2022)

"Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden! Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter! Spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered, a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!"

Additional Propaganda Under the Cut

Additional Propaganda

For King Ecbert:

For Théoden King:

[camille-lachenille]

LOTR ask game

Thanks for the tag @eomerofrohan

How old were you when you were first introduced to LOTR?

19 I think. I had heard a lot about LOTR but was intimidated by the books so I first watched the theatrical cut of the movies, then as soon as I could find it I watched the extended edition, and I only read the books in 2020-2021. I listened to the audiobooks in English more precisely and then read properly (as in, understanding what was going on) in French the same year.

Favorite LOTR character?

Why are you asking me to pick my favourite child? I have a few I cycle through but Elrond and Faramir are the most frequent ones.

Books or movies?

Books. There is something with Tolkien’s style and attention to details that speaks deeply to me and I just don’t have enough brainpower to list all the reasons why I love the books so much. Though the movies are my comfort movies and, in my very unbiased opinion, the Very Best Films Ever.

Which location in Middle Earth would you want to visit?

Rivendell! I want to live there and befriend Elves.

Favorite movie?

The Return of the King

Favorite scene?

The whole movie? More seriously, I can’t choose between all of these so here’s my favourite scenes in no particular order

« Do you remember the taste of strawberries? »

The scene with the beheaded statue crowned in flowers

The lighting of the Beacons

Pelennor

The moment after the battle where Éomer finds Éowyn

The Houses of Healing scene where Éowyn and Faramir hold hand to comfort each other as they look toward Mordor

« I’m glad to be with you at the end of all things, Sam. » and the ensuing eagle rescue

Favorite quote?

From Sam’s song at Cirith Ungol “Though here at journey's end I lie / in darkness buried deep, / beyond all towers strong and high, / beyond all mountains steep, / above all shadows rides the Sun / and Stars for ever dwell: / I will not say the Day is done, / nor bid the Stars farewell.”

And if a song doesn’t count, “I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.”

What Middle Earth race would you want to be?

A Hobbit! As Tolkien himself said, I am a Hobbit in all but size.

Favorite LOTR ship?

FARAWYN! I can’t have enough of them. They are everything to me and I’m still mad at the movies for all but erasing their love story from the plot! Them meeting falling in love and healing together is so essential to their character arc!

I tag @thescrapwitch @southfarthing @dreamingthroughthenoise @deadqueernoldor

[nocompromise-noregrets]

20 questions for fic writers

The impossibly lovely @mihrsuri tagged me in this a couple of weeks ago, and I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get round to it - but I find myself in need of distraction, just a little bit, as Last Cat Standing is in the veterinary hospital getting his radioactive iodine treatment for his thyroid, and we can't have him back for maybe ten days as he's going to be somewhat radioactive for a little while; I'm sure he's going to be fine (this is the treatment described to me by the treating vet as both 'the gold standard' and 'magical', in that it's effective in 99.5% of cases, and in the 0.5% it isn't, they just give it another go and then it's effective), but we haven't had an entirely cat-free house for this long in 20 years, and I'm feeling a bit weird about it. Also I'm procrastinating finishing off an essay plan (I'd rather just write the damn essay but no, we have to submit a plan for tutor feedback to make sure we're on the right lines, and as you all know by now, that's really not how I work XD )

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 362 (plus another 76 on the other account for the fandom that does not speak its name...)

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 1,491,388 (good grief; nearly 1.5 million?! and if you add in the 270,606 on the other account, that's 1,761,994 O.O )

3. What fandoms do you write for? Tolkien (chiefly the Hobbit movies, and LotR, a mix of movie and book-'verse); King Arthur (2004); Fisherman's Friends (fandom of one); The Alienist (TV; occasionally); Marvel (occasionally, chiefly bits of the MCU and X-Men comics/Evolution); Top Gun (here and there) - and a bewildering number of others...

4. What are your top five fics by kudos? My Heart Is An Empty Vessel (621); Shape Up (422); Safe (414); Not Alone (413); The Unworn Jumpers of Molly Weasley (343)

This is bewildering but also a fine illustration of the vagaries of AO3 and the absolute folly of measuring anything by the amount of kudos a fic has: Empty Vessel is three and a half years old, took two years to post and has 115 chapters, so was at the top of the tag many many times over those two years. Shape Up and Safe were written and posted not long after Top Gun: Maverick came out (I don't know how busy the tag still is, but it was very busy when the film came out so the fics in that fandom got a lot of interaction because a lot of people were there looking for fics) and are both one-shots. Not Alone is also a one-shot (for X-Men: Evolution) and has been up on AO3 for nearly twelve years (and has had a bit of a boost with the release of X-Men '97). And Unworn Jumpers (on which I really ought to put some sort of disclaimer, along with the small handful of other ancient HP fics I've got up there) is a seasonal one-shot that's been up for over ten years and tends to get a bit of a boost every December. So *shrugs* go figure. And if anyone wants to help the only HP fic in the top five not be in the top five any more, Come Home is only 36 behind it, and it is fluffy and cute and has Elrohir persuading Maglor to come to Imladris for Midwinter somewhat in the guise of the Elfling he hasn't been for a very long time... :D

5. Do you respond to comments? Yes. Sometimes it takes me a while (oh god six months, but I got up to speed with them all and now I'm trying to make sure I do it within a week) as I am a champion procrastinator but I feel it's important for me to say thank you. And sometimes squee a bit. :D And sometimes it makes me a new friend, which is extra-awesome.

I have a few very very old comments on the stuff I posted before 2020 which I never did get round to answering, which I feel bad about, but I also feel like it would be weird to go back and answer them now...I dunno, what do you guys think?

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I don't do angsty endings very often, but The Last Watch (in which Bard dies) is really sad, and Never Forgotten and See This Storm Through (in which Sigrid and Thranduil comfort each other after the funeral, and Legolas comes home to Dale to look after his father and his family and grieve with them, respectively) are almost as sad although they both end with a small amount of hope.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Ah, most of my fics end happily :D I'm far too tired for anything but, most of the time, these days. But let's face it, My Heart Is An Empty Vessel ends with a coronation and a wedding (spoiler alert! XD ) so let's go for that one.

8. Do you get hate on fics? I am lucky; the closest I've had was some anon complaining about Empty-Handed being a spoiler for the then-unposted Empty Vessel although the events it 'spoiled' were inevitable in the context of a mortal-immortal relationship, and someone whingeing in a bookmark comment that Thorin and Bilbo don't even talk until the end of Mr Underhill's Finest Seafood Specialities, thus completely missing the point of the fic (and the 'past' after the pairing tag) - it wasn't about them - which made me chuckle as much as the rudeness annoyed me.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Sometimes. I have phases when I feel like it, and (much longer) phases when I don't. It's generally only fairly tame and euphemistic (with the single and solitary exception of that one hanahaki fic about the twins the premise for which, although not the smut, came to me in a dream) and probably not all that imaginative since, as the acest of aces, the whole idea completely bewilders me XD

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? Not unless you count various different parts of the Tolkien legendarium. My brain just doesn't work that way.

11. (there doesn't seem to be a question 11; I feel like this might be one of those Tumblr traditions, as I've definitely done question memes on here before that have been lacking in a question 11...)

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? I have! I am deeply honoured that my KA fic Anniversaries was translated into Russian by Elenabu some years ago, and It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like... appears on Lofter in Mandarin, translated by AntheaXi. There were a couple of other Russian translations of some of my very old stories, but that was 15 or 20 years ago and I can't actually remember which or where.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? I have! A long long time ago, the fic that eventually became the original novel that is Two of a Kind, the tale of Hal and Jack, was a co-production, and I really enjoy bouncing ideas back and forth - and of course, there is the Tudors OT3-'verse fandom stuff that @mihrsuri and I have been pinging to and fro just recently, which is also hugely enjoyable. :D :D :D

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? Oh, too many to name! Gawain/Galahad from KA2004, the bi widower dads, Legolas/Imrahil, Elladan/Elrohir, Erestor/Glorfindel, Sigrid/Tauriel, to name but a few.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I am determined to finish All I Want Is You. I am also determined to finish part whatever it is now of It's Always Been You, although that's been on the back burner for a long long time. There's one WIP on the other account which I'm also determined to finish although who knows if I'll ever get there. I'm not one for saying never, though. I was out of Tolkien fandom for 16 years, and after the fandom that does not speak its name fizzled out, I genuinely thought I'd never write again. And yet...here I am.

16. What are your writing strengths? Ooooh, I dunno. Spelling, punctuation and grammar, dialogue, leavening the serious romantic stuff with a bit of humour, kindness and love for the characters and settings, happy endings and quite a lot of fluff. :D

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Plot. XD Can't plot to save my life.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? Only when necessary for character reasons, and always provide a translation. Otherwise you're shutting out readers who don't understand (unless it's not important that they actually understand precisely what's being said as long as they get the gist).

19. First fandom you wrote for? Knowingly? X-Men (comics), and that fic is here, although I posted it ten-odd years after first posting it to ff.net.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? All of them. I cannot possibly choose.

Thank you so much for the tag, lovely! Entirely no-obligation tags go to @lemurious, @verecunda, @writerman, @scary-grace, @seagull-energy, @herawell, @thenookienostradamus, @sallysavestheday, @myeaglesong, @palavapeite, @bigneonglitter, @bishkebab, @peonybroadbeltofbuckland, @redeemer46, @spiced-wine-fic and anyone else who wants to do this - if you see this and fancy it, please consider yourself well and truly tagged!

[elgaladwen]

Snowball Fight

Since I won't have new fics for a little bit, here's another old one! It might be Harvestmath starting today, but here is one based on Yule fest from 2020, where Elgaladwen and Gallorith aren't yet married, but are nausiatingly happy and in love. (See why we had to make them miserable later?) I love RPing at the festivals and figuring out how my characters would view it all, so getting to do that with ElGallorith was a treat, and spawned this fic. Gallorith belongs to @sewer-princess of course! <3 This fic has vague suggestive themes and kissing, but nothing explicit.

Gentle snow flurries were wafting down from the sky as Gallorith and Elgaladwen walked arm in arm through the quaint and lovely town of Winterhome. Both wore smiles upon their faces, and had various purchases clutched in their free hands, that were mostly Elgaladwen's, despite Gallorith carrying the bulk of them. She had found a vendor with some splendid dresses and cloaks, and also some mistletoe, which she'd told Gallorith she wanted to test the properties of when they returned to the cabin. He was a little confused by this, for it was a common enough plant, and surely she knew all about it already, but she had been talking to the vendor a while while he perused another stand, so perhaps the variety from this area was different than what she was used to.

Some of what they carried were gifts, as well. They'd been given gifts by not one, but two Father Winters, just after Gallorith had told Elgaladwen of this tradition! Everyone in the town was so friendly, but they also seemed overworked, so the pair had decided they would help out later, and clean up what they could, to hopefully repay some of that kindness.

Gallorith shifted the boxes he was carrying, murmuring to Elgaladwen, "Perhaps we should bring this all to the cabin and return after?" He was afraid he'd drop something soon, but he didn't wish her to feel as though he couldn't carry her purchases.

Elgaladwen was torn. She was enjoying it here, and did not wish to leave, but they would of course be back later to help clean. She did recall that she'd barely wanted to leave the cabin that morning, because Gallorith had looked so handsome with his hair down and adorned with flowers, and in his new tunic, that she'd wanted to stay there all day with him, and admire him more closely. She looked sidelong to her betrothed with heavy-lidded eyes, thinking perhaps some time in the cabin might be good right now, after all. She nodded to him with a smile as they wandered toward one of the town gates, that would lead to the road that eventually wound to where the cabins were in the woods.

Snowmen dotted the landscape, and just beyond was a small, fenced-off field, where a few people were lobbing projectiles made of snow at each other. The elven couple looked at each other, Elgaladwen speaking first. "Did the others tell you about whatever tradition that is?"

Gallorith shook his head. "Nay, but as the participants are laughing, and seem to be having a good time, it cannot be anything terrible."

"Oi, you two want to join?" A gruff voice asked as they walked closer.

"What does one do…?" Asked Gallorith, eyeing the man the voice belonged to. The man was dressed in nice winter attire, much like most of the vendors and citizens of Winterhome. He appeared to be in charge of whatever game was taking place in the field.

"You throw snowballs. Whoever hits the most people gets a prize. Free-for-all." The man turned away from them to hand a couple of tokens to a whooping hobbit, who was apparently the winner of the previous round.

Gallorith frowned a little. Throwing things at one another was generally done out of spite rather than fun, but perhaps it couldn't hurt to get to know about another human tradition.

"Oh come now," The man said, having turned back, and misreading Gallorith's frown. "You can set your boxes here by me, no one will take them."

Elgaladwen shrugged with a little laugh, and set her things down. Gallorith followed suit. If she was willing, so was he!

Snow crunched under her boots as Elgaladwen strode into the field, Gallorith a short way behind. "Looks like it's just you two this round, unless you want to wait!" The man in charge of the game called out to them. Bending next to a snowdrift, Elgaladwen began to scoop some of the snow in her gloved hands, playing with it a little. All of a sudden, something struck her side, and she gasped, looking down to see small clumps of snow clinging there. She stood. Gallorith had thrown a snowball at her! It hadn't hurt in the slightest, he'd clearly packed it loosely, and thrown it rather gently, but she was going to get him back, either way!

Gallorith watched as Elgaladwen stood, snow in her hands. She looked determined, rather than happy. Should he have let her go first? He glanced away nervously just as she lobbed her ball of snow at him! It missed, and he found himself smirking a little, as he bent to gather more snow. "We need to work on your aim, my love!" Elgaladwen scoffed, and now there was amusement upon her features, as she ran at him, trying to get closer to throw more snow in his direction. He nimbly danced out of the way, while expertly tossing another loose ball of snow, that grazed her shoulder this time. Elgaladwen scowled now, lobbing carelessly packed lumps of snow as she ran after him, holding her skirts up slightly in one hand, so that she might go faster. She missed nearly every time, but managed to get him in the leg once. He casually tossed another snowball at her, and winced as it sailed just over her head, breaking upon the intricately woven crown of twigs she was wearing. The crown slipped from her dark hair, and tumbled into the snow behind her. Gallorith watched as she bent, presumably to retrieve it, but she came up with snow instead, haughty indignance upon her face as she threw the snow at him with a snap of her wrist. He just saw her expression start to shift to one of surprise, before he was blinded momentarily by the snowball breaking apart on his face.

Elgaladwen brought a hand to her mouth as she watched Gallorith wipe the slush from his fair face. She thought she'd miss again, surely, but she'd hit him in the face! "Ah, are you alright?" She gasped out, but suddenly, Gallorith was grinning.

"I will get you for that, my lady!" He started toward her, and she gave a laughing shriek, backing away. He caught her quickly, laughing as he held a snowball out, and she struggled playfully as he pretended he'd shove it in her face, instead letting it drop harmlessly to the ground.

Suddenly, she lost her footing on a particularly slick patch of packed snow, and she gasped, reaching up to clutch Gallorith for balance, but instead, pulling him down with her!

Falling into a snowdrift, Gallorith was quick to raise himself up on his elbows, not wishing to crush Elgaladwen below him. He watched her chest rise and fall, the exposed skin seeming ridiculous beneath the fur she wore around her shoulders. Surely it was cold keeping her neckline uncovered like that! He liked looking, all the same, and blushed, thinking of the time Elgaladwen had said that she wore low cut gowns because she liked it when he looked.

Finally looking to her face, he saw her cheeks flushed, and her hair disheveled, dark against the white snow beneath her. She laughed, reaching up with both arms to tug him down to her, and suddenly they were kissing, and her arms were around him, and he lost himself in the warmth of her lips and embrace, feeling as if they were the only ones for miles, in the peaceful silence of the snow.

They were not alone, though, and soon a voice was shouting, "Oi, you two alright out there?"

Elgaladwen stiffened as Gallorith quickly moved off of her, reaching down after to pull her up. She couldn't help but grin at his embarrassed blush. "Just a little tumble is all!" She called back, and clearly heard him mutter, "Young couples…" as he rolled his eyes. She laughed at the absurdity of this man calling them young, and soon Gallorith had relaxed, laughing too. He quickly bent to retrieve her crown, and the way he looked at her as he placed it carefully back upon her head almost made her swoon. As it was, she stood frozen a moment, in awe of how wonderful Gallorith made her feel, before he gently took her hand in his own, and led her back to the entrance to the snowball field.

Gallorith beamed as the man in charge of the game handed him two tokens as his prize. "You can use these with the vendors in town." He said, adding, "Come back sometime, you're not half bad! Except when she pegged you in the face, of course." He guffawed as Gallorith and Elgaladwen thanked him, and set about picking up their things.

Once they were both standing again, Gallorith leaned toward his betrothed, planting a kiss on her cold nose, which made her smile and blush in a way he thought was cute. "Shall we get you to the cabin and warm you up now, love?" He added, as she nodded, "You did take quite a few hits, after all…" He watched her as she tried to look mock-angry at him, but she could not keep it up for long, and soon they were both laughing again as she placed her arm in his, and they left the snow behind.