#trolls little golden books

[alanaartdream]

Ok so my copy of dreamworks trolls band together little golden book has just arrived today

(Don’t worry I’m not gonna post anything spoilers on here I want everyone to watch the movie 🍿 like I’m planning on doing)

Now I’ve seen some posts saying it’s ok to pirate this animated film because dreamworks is a big animation company

That is the lamest excuse I’ve ever herd

Dreamworks isn’t Disney; it’s not got the funding to buy out other animation companies like Disney been doing; it doesn’t own a a bunch of parks based on it’s movies/ shows all over the world; plus dreamworks pays their writers/ animators/ artists for the work they do

Dreamworks started out as a group of animators who Disney screwed over after treasure planet movie was made by them (witch is a very underrated flim) ((also it’s what I’ve herd from a lot of animation fans have told me about dreamworks animation history))

Look I get not being able to afford to see a movie or it never being available in your part of the world so that’s why you pirated I get that excuse but if you can afford it and have the time and can get it on dvd then don’t be a cheapskate go pay for it but if you can’t I get it no hate to you

It’s the cheapskates people who like to put every animated film company as like Disney when no the others are not Disney in fact Disney the only one right now who can afford for many people to pirate their films/ movies/ shows right now

I mean they own stars wars and marvel AND Pixar

They we’re it’s competition and they just bought them over so that they can do whatever it is they want

The competition they have now is studio ghibli: dreamworks; and maybe Sony animation

Too often Disney gets away with how they handle their artists/writers/animators and even it’s actors (Disney has a lot of skeletons in their closet and not talking about jack skeleton here; I’m talking about the stuff alot of people like to ignore and just say oh it’s *Disney* we’re just gonna ignore it because it’s them)

Also if you think pirating doesn’t effect a movie series

Let me remind you of dreamworks Rise of the Guardians (you know the movie with Jack Frost the character so many like to ship with Disney frozen Elsa character? You know him)

That movie cost a lot to make but it didn’t make enough for it to have it’s story continue; they were planning on fleshing out Jack Frost’s story more to go with the books the movie was based on but being as soo many had pirated that movie the year it came out they couldn’t get the money together for that so those plans were cancelled

Because it was pirated to kingdom come

It was at a time before streaming services were a thing and people didn’t want to wait for it to finish being aired AND couldn’t wait for it to come to dvds either so any ideas they had to continue the story got cancelled this no more story of teenage Jack Frost or even about night light (character from the books) or anything

So look I get it if you can’t afford it and it’s not coming to your part of the world so you pirated the movie but could you at least wait until after the movie been out in and makes it to dvd before you pirate it?

And if you can afford it; have the time AND can get the dvds AND it’s showing where you are

DO NOT BE A CHEAPSKATE

Go pay for it to see it it could all the support it can get

This isn’t a Disney film that can afford to lose a few dollars

If you want trolls to last as long as my little pony; transformers; Care Bears; kung fu panda 🐼 and teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 🐢 have done then

WE NEED TO SUPPORT it however we can (within reason; don’t make yourself broke for it ok thank you)

Just don’t let yourselves turn into poor Floyd’s captors who are killing him for their own gain not caring that they are killing him for their own selfish gains

If you can’t afford ok I get it but please be patient and don’t post spoilers for others who are planning to see the movie maybe try to wait until after the movie comes to dvd; also if you can check out the books while you wait if you can

Because we all want this movie to do well

We all don’t want a repeat of what happened to rise of the guardians movie to happen to trolls band together ok

[elsasketch]

I am excited to announce that my 5th Little Golden Book is out today! I got to illustrate “Trolls Band Together” to accompany the film releasing in November.

Illustrated by me

Words by David Lewman

[citnamora]

If there is going to be a third series I think it would be really funny if Branch and Poppy were back to being only best friends. Just to continue the trend

[poppibranchlover]

This book is amazing!!! 😍😍😍

My favorite pictures from the trolls Golden book

[daisyswift3]

Cardiac Arrest, CPR, and the Reticent Volcano 🌋🎁

So yesterday I made a very interesting discovery while watching the TTPD (track) lyric vid that led to me having several epiphanies at once. If you watch the vid, you'll notice that for the most part the lyrics are in all caps save for a few lines. Of these lines, one in particular, “like a tattooed Golden Retriever,” caught my attention bc it has 2 capital letters--G and R--that you wouldn't have been able to see if the line was in all caps like the ones just before it. What makes it more interesting is that golden retriever is not a proper noun like a name or title so it shouldn't be capitalized according to English grammar rules.

This led me to search for the TTPD album booklet scans to see if this was also capitalized in the booklet and to see what other words were capitalized. Then after looking at the booklet it hit me--CPR(G)!!! Charlie Puth Retriever Golden. Everyone agreed these lyrics sounded a little odd compared to the rest of her lyrics and the shout out to Charlie Puth seemed kind of random. But now it makes complete sense why she wrote those lyrics. She was trying to draw attention to the capital letters CPR(G) that are repeated throughout the album. In this post I explained that Taylor mentions CPR in So Long, London bc they're all related to each other, they're a family. C=Cassandra=Taylor; P=Peter=her 2nd kid; R=Robin=her 1st kid; G=Gold/Golden=Karlie. If you look at the TTPD tracklist, Cassandra, Peter, and Robin are in the same order as CPR.

Taylor wanted to acknowledge her family in some way on this album and so she represented them w these 4 letters which are likely a stand-in for the Swift-Kloss family crest since I don't believe that showed up on this album. This is the key to deciphering several of the anon messages and understanding why some things are lowercase while other things are capitalized. For example, all of the volcano 🌋anon messages and the last 2 messages from (PR)esent anon 🎁 are lowercase with the exception of the words "Gold" and "Goodbye." This connects these messages to TTPD (track). "Gold" is highlighted like "volcano" to indicate that Miss Gold Rush is going to be a part of the atomic bomb Taylor is getting ready to drop. And the "Goodbye" being capitalized indicates that Karlie is indeed the "neighbor" in this message and in Fortnight as well as "the woman who sits by the window" in Peter that turns out the light/lamp. She is the one who keeps a lit jack-o-lantern 🎃 on the front porch while awaiting Taylor's return home from exile. These things single-handedly prove that 🌋 and present 🎁 anon are indeed legit bc how would a troll have been able to predict these things when The Anthology tracks were surprise dropped at 2am and weren't revealed w the standard edition tracks on Feb 5, and why would a troll even bother w such subtle details?? Plus no lyrics had leaked yet at the time these messages were sent so the only logical answer is that they must've either been sent by Taylor or someone close to her.

Side note: When I first wrote that post analyzing the present 🎁 anon messages, I had thought that the song Robin, and maybe Peter as well, was the gift/present to us kaylors that present 🎁 anon told us to look out for since P's and R's are repeated in the messages. However, I have since figured out that actually the poetry book For now, she slumbers was likely the gift since present 🎁 anon's messages mention the title of the book "for now, she slumbers" and "reticent volcano" which is the author's name as an anagram (see this post). Plus the March 4 message directly quotes the first poem in For now, she slumbers called "Two" ✌️ (If you want to read all the poems in order see this post). I explain in this post that the reason why this poem is the first one in the book is bc it's the key to understanding all the ones that follow and to understanding TTPD. The 2 ✌️ is probably the most important motif in TTPD bc it symbolizes the 2 different versions of Taylor and 2 opposing narratives abt her life that exist. Taylor Swift the brand vs Taylor Swift the person; the boy-crazy maneater that only writes songs abt her ex-boyfriends vs the tortured closeted queer poet that is forced to hide her truth behind metaphors and red herrings. Going back to the CPR of it all, I still believe my initial analysis of the present 🎁 anon messages was correct for the most part since the "reticent volcano" is likely a tell-all memoir that will explain the whole messy story and how and why she kept her family (CPRG) a secret. The purpose of the 🎁 and 🌋 anon messages was to guide us to both the poetry book and to CPR(G) which both foreshadow what her memoir--that she's hinted at w The Manuscript and The Story of Us--is going to be abt.

Now continuing on w the theory, as I mentioned previously, we have Cassandra=Taylor, Peter=her 2nd kid, and Robin=her 1st kid. And if you look at the pg in the booklet w The Manuscript, you'll see that there is a capital G in "Good Samaritan" which completes the CPRG set and is also the only capital G that shows up in this song.

And to tie it all together, if you look at the summary poem/epilogue at the very end, Taylor mentions cardiac arrest. This happens when someone's heart suddenly stops functioning and can be reversed by CPR! "I stopped CPR after all it's no use, the spirit was gone we would never come to." And this connects to You're Losing Me (From the Vault) which is abt the fans not seeing the real her or paying attention to her repeated queer signaling -> "I can't find a pulse, my heart won't start anymore for you, 'cause you're losing me." Taylor has given up trying to get her fans to listen to her (CPR) and has accepted that she may lose a lot of them when she reveals everything (CPRG). She is warning them that they are abt to lose the Taylor that they know, the old Taylor, bc she is going to have to kill her public persona and brand in order to be reborn as the new version of herself and move onto the next chapter of her life.

And to add even more evidence to this theory, CPR is often performed on drowning victims, and where does drowning show up in TTPD? Oh it shows up in The Bolter which just so happens to be sandwiched in between Cassandra, Peter, and Robin! -> "By all accounts, she almost drowned when she was 6 in frigid water...And she liked the way it tastes, taming a bear, making him care, watching him jump then pulling him under...as she was leaving, it felt like breathing/freedom" // "When I was drowning that's when I could finally breathe." Drowning also shows up in Guilty as Sin which I've determined probably represents the acceptance stage of grief so the drowning metaphor checks out (see this post) -> "Drowning in the Blue Nile, he sent me 'Downtown Lights.'" (Also check out this amazing video which explains the Blue Nile and religious connections). This connects to the 8th 🎃 message where Taylor chooses to jump into shark infested waters and sacrifice her image and brand so that her lover doesn't have to. So putting all these pieces together, this means that by giving up on trying to revive her relationship w her fans or to maintain her image (CPR) and by putting her family and her happiness first (CPRG), Taylor will finally be able to be truly free. She is going to let Taylor Swift the brand drown so that she can finally breathe. This connects to The Black Dog where she compares the red herrings/bearding/lavender haze/smokescreen to an old habit like smoking that she's trying to quit -> "6 weeks of breathing clean air, I still miss the smoke."

Now w all this context in mind, it makes more sense why Taylor has been emphasizing capital and lowercase letters and the number 4 recently. The hidden word hunt on Apple Music, thanK you aIMee, imgonnagetyouback, her retweets from 4/21/23-4/24/23 which happened in groups of 4, putting 4 letter words in all caps, etc. And now it's clear that "I keep these longings locked in lowercase inside a vault" is most likely referring to her explosive tell-all memoir, the reticent volcano, she's going to publish since 🌋 anon's messages were all in lowercase. "Restful, reticent, restraint" = locked inside a vault. Rep tv and the folklore and evermore vault tracks may also be included in this since these albums are in lowercase as well.

In conclusion, I think it is safe to say now that all of these anons are probably legit. In my opinion, all of these connections provide concrete evidence that these anons do foreshadow things and have ties to Taylor.

[verkomy]

okay so I’m rereading the hobbit and I want to make a list of my favorite quotes and parts so here we go:

“bilbo (…) got something a bit queer in his make-up from the took side” I chuckled

“mr. baggins was very fond of flowers” of course he was he’s a blorbo

“it was a beautiful golden harp, and when thorin struck it the music began all at once, so sudden and sweet that bilbo forgot everything else” bombastic side eye

“as he lay in bed he could hear thorin still humming to himself in the best bedroom next to him. bilbo went to sleep with that in his ears, and it gave him very uncomfortable dreams” criminal offensive side eye

“the explanation did not seem to explain” my brain 24/7 (but also when someone’s trying to explain the rules of any board game to me)

“bilbo was wearing a dark-green hood and a dark-green cloak borrowed from dwalin. they were too large for him, and he looked rather comic” bilbo in dwarven clothes, just throwing it out there

“bilbo baggins, a bur — a hobbit,” said poor bilbo, shaking all over, and wondering how to make owl-noises before their throttled him” this one made me laugh

“trolls simply detest the very sight of dwarves (uncooked)” this one too

“his house was perfect, whether you liked food, or sleep, or work, or story-telling, or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all” I want to go to there

“dori, who was at the back next to bilbo, and a decent fellow. he made the hobbit scramble on his shoulders as best as he could with his tied hands, and then off they all went at a run. (…) that sent them on faster than ever, and as poor bilbo could not possibly go half as fast, they took it in turn to carry him on their backs” WE WERE ROBBED

“why, o why did I ever leave my hobbit-hole!” said poor mr. baggins bumping up and down on bombur’s back “why, o why did I ever bring a wretched little hobbit on a treasure hunt!” said poor bombur” comedic duo

gandalf answered angrily “I brought him, and I don’t bring things that are of no use” we love a supportive friend

“(gandalf) gave bilbo a queer look from under his bushy eyebrows” live gandalf reaction

“you ought not to be rude to an eagle, when you are only the size of a hobbit” good life advice

“here they sat on wooden benches while gandalf began his tale, and bilbo swung his dangling legs and looked at the flowers in the garden” a short king <3

“that only makes eleven and not fourteen, unless wizards count differently to other people” I LOVE BOOK BEORN SO MUCH and this whole chapter is probably my favorite by far

“the hobbit felt quite crushed, and as there seemed nothing else to do he did go to bed” what a mood

“long noses are sometimes useful you see” do with that information what you want

“they knew only too well that they would soon all have been dead, if it had not been for the hobbit; and they thanked him many times” AS THEY SHOULD, too bad thorin didn’t see any of what happened

“he did not like being dependent on by everyone, and he wished he had the wizard at hand” honestly, same

“never laugh at live dragon, bilbo you fool” another hopeful advice

“you are more worthy to wear the armour of elf-princes than many that have looked more comely in it. but wonder if thorin oakenshield will see it too” ouch

“then bilbo turned away, and he went by himself, and sat alone wrapped in a blanket, and, whether you believe it or not, he wept until his eyes were red and his voice was hoarse” this one hurts

“he was in fact held by all the hobbits of the neighbourhood to be queer” of course he was :D

[poppibranchlover]

OH YEAH!!! Its marketing campaign is growing stronger than ever!!! 🤩🤩🤩

Got a big week coming up for us Trolls fans!

What with the release of the first few books for the movie - including the Golden Book, Family Harmony, Crank Up the Color, Sister-Squad/Band-Tastic Brothers, and Sticker Activity Book - all coming out on Tuesday September 26th...

And Trolls Night on The Masked Singer airing on Wednesday September 27th...

And the full version of "Better Place" by *NSYNC releasing on Friday September 29th

Plus, anything else that we may not be aware of at this moment (with the way these TV spots and trailers have been dropping like hot potatoes lately, I wouldn't be surprised if we get a few more ^^)

We've got a lot to look forward to!

[universallydestinytaco]

SF Headcanons ROUND TWO

CW: Unbridled chaos and possible shitposting

Alan carries around a rubix cube cube with him for stimming, he wonders if he’ll ever solve it.

Charlie logs into Shitter and gleefully trolls all the gullible and bigoted Karens on there.

Many find Pim attractive in a dainty boywife way, Pim who is seriously lacking in social cues didn’t realize at first when people where flirting with him.

Smormu and Pim love harmlessly gossiping to each other in the break room.

Glep killed a man with only his thumb.

Mr Frog made his own “neon green sauce” he advertised on some shitty website and Charlie was crazy enough to try it, he along with like 50 others wound up bedridden for weeks afterwords and they all sued the pants off Mr. Frog, not like it’s any skin off his nose because he’s the richest and most powerful man in the world or whatever!!

Charlie is a Cheech and Chong fan and he has all their comedy albums.

Pim competes with his sister Amy, like even though she’s the golden child Pim knows he’s got what she covets: that lovely figure of his! Pim decides to be petty one day and shows up to Amy’s wedding wearing a little red cocktail dress showing off his curves knowing all the compliments he’ll get. Everyone wonders why Amy is in bridezilla mode all of a sudden because it’s not like Pim wore white nor is it as flashy as her wedding dress so he couldn’t have deliberately upstaged the bride right?

Gwimbly attended a convention with his own panel and everything and gets legitimately emotional upon seeing dozens of cosplayers and fans overall who haven’t forgotten him long after he was abandoned by his crappy company.

Glep is a menace to society on April Fools Day, one time he let a hoard of frogs loose at the Spaghetti Disco and watched the chaos from afar.

Smormu loves wearing cute pastel clothes and she wears different ensembles everyday, she gets a lot of complements as she so deserves because she slays!

Dj Spits eats nails for breakfast without any milk. (Dj Spitz kinnies please DON’T attempt this irl)

Mr. Boss is a time lord, his office is his TARDIS and his son is his companion.

Glep makes Alan read him comic books before bedtime.

Mip is a JK Rowling stan and he eats up everything she says…..don’t be like Mip, Mip is a brainless little shit!!

[autumnalfallingleaves]

The Witch's Brew Café: A Hilda Coffee Shop AU

AO3

reblogs are highly appreciated, and please do not repost my art

Summary:

Frida, a young witch fresh out of college, moves to Trolberg to work at the library with her apprentice-sister Kaisa. However, when she checks out a magic-friendly café, she might get more than she bargained for with moving to a new city. Enter Hilda, the very cute butch working the till. Frida is going to kill Kaisa.

Hello! I haven't written in a while but I actually got this all out this afternoon over tea and I managed to polish it up enough to post :) I may write more at some point, but here's this.

Excerpt:

The late-autumn sun is only just starting to kiss the tops of the trees when Frida parks her car on the side of the street. She hasn’t been in Trolberg long, having moved into the small-ish city only a few weeks ago, but she’s already appreciating the reduced traffic, and with it, the available parking spots in convenient places. 

She’d only finished up at the Witches Tower a few hours ago, finally done with all the paperwork needed in order to register as a practicing witch within the city limits. Bureaucracy with the Trolls, or something else equally ridiculous. Frida’s just here because there was an open job opportunity at the library with Kaisa and there’s good resources for college graduate witches at the Tower. 

Anyway. She’s tired and all she wants is to enjoy a cup of coffee (preferably dark. And strong enough to hold itself up outside the mug.) and chat with her apprentice-sister, whom— despite working in the building above the same Tower Frida’s had to inhabit for days— she hasn’t seen in forever. Mother of magic, she’s exhausted. 

Locking the car door behind her, Frida crosses the street and pushes open the café’s door to the swirl of fallen leaves around her feet and the cheery tinkle of wind chimes. It’s a warm little place, inside, with golden lighting falling over the plush couches and chairs in the seating area, worn books stacked on low tables, and a healthy buzz of conversation from the assembled patrons. The website, when Frida had looked at it (it doesn’t hurt to be prepared, and she’d wanted to know if they served croissants) had advertised that they welcomed all, including the more magical of Trolberg’s citizens. She can see that now, glimpsing a few elves chatting over on one of the low-set tables, and even a nisse in an orange jumper quietly sipping at a steaming mug and reading a book over in the corner. Amazingly, for all the prejudice against magical beings Frida’s seen and experienced, there seems to be none of that here. 

It’s nice. It’s really nice. This must be why Kaisa had insisted they come here. She’d also had a bit of a suspicious look on her face, but Frida hadn’t called her out on it. Kaisa kinda of always looked suspicious. This was nothing new. 

Probably. 

Hopefully. 

Read the rest on AO3

[alanaartdream]

Going over my trolls collection of things to do with dreamworks trolls and good luck trolls being as I added in some new additions from the trolls band together movie 🍿

I’m still waiting on a few more trolls to arrive but this is what I got at the moment

[poppibranchlover]

LET ME HAVE THEM ALL ALREADY!!! 🤩🤩🤩

*heavy breathing*

[lonesomedreamer]

The Rings of Power Liveblog: Adrift (Episode 2)

In between watching the first and second halves of this episode, I was looking back through the Appendices and realized that the events this series covers, from the reemergence of Sauron in Middle-earth to the eventual forging of the various Rings, span 1200 years! So it’s kind of absurd to think of them somehow adapting those events “accurately” (which makes you wonder why they made some of the narrative choices they did…).

The idea of Galadriel swimming back across the sea to Middle-earth is laughable, but tbh what else can she attempt to do in this situation?

The fire around the Stranger isn’t hot because…magic, I guess?

Nori’s a darling.

Arondir is being all self-sacrificing and stupid noble by going to explore the scary tunnels alone…good thing he probably has plot armor.

People who haven’t read The Silmarillion: Who the fuck is Fëanor? What are the Silmarils?!?

Helpfully, Elrond tells us that they were “the jewels that contain the very light of Valinor.” Oversimplified, sure, but that’s the kind of exposition the first episode needed: Tolkien 101 for people who know nothing about Tolkien (beyond, probably, some movies)!

As someone who can’t roll their Rs, the aggressively exaggerated pronunciation of “Sauron,” “Morgoth,” and now “Silmaril” makes me feel…kind of inept.

That said, a) do they even have the rights to tell this Morgoth story? and b) exposition between two characters who already know it (and I guarantee that Elrond knows the story Celebrimbor is telling rn…) is mildly annoying.

Elrond Half-elven, “as noble and fair as an elf-lord, as strong as a warrior, as wise as a wizard, as venerable as a king of dwarves, and as kind as summer” a Kiss-ass

Good set design! Tbh, I wish Rivendell had been portrayed more like this in the PJ movies: a little richer, with more wood and warm golden light.

Why is Celebrimbor in such an arbitrary hurry to build this forge? A few months is nothing to an Elf!

“How far outside [our own race]?” Well, I just don’t know, Celebrimbor, who else in Middle-earth is renowned for their metallurgy? Which race has yet to be portrayed in this—oh, right.

Please book me a trip to Middle-earth.

“Their prince, Durin, is an old and dear friend.” And yet Elrond, one of the wisest people in Middle-earth, doesn’t know what “Durin’s Day” is when it comes up in The Hobbit. If he had a near-fraternal bond with a Dwarf prince, wouldn’t he be aware of significant Dwarven holidays?

I know this Elrond is just supposed to be younger and less experienced, but he’s coming across as kind of dumb.

Khazad-dûm looks incredible.

So the Dwarves have Scottish accents, the Harfoots Irish, and the Elves English? But the Men also have English accents, just less refined? Hmm. Choices were made.

I would die for her nbd. ♥

Gee, I wonder why everyone is speculating about Gandalf.

“Looks can be deceiving.” Given that I know who this character turns out to be, this dialogue is a little…heavy-handed.

The whole water dragon (?) sequence was so silly. Just like the “ice troll”.

It’s almost like “Elrond is besties with this Dwarf prince” subplot was a bad idea cooked up only to create some pointless, petty interpersonal conflict. It also makes it painfully obvious that there’s no reason Celebrimbor, an Elf, would be in a big hurry to build anything.

“Gamli” is the really best name they could come up with for Durin’s son? Pretty sure Durin’s son was also named Durin. I cross-checked the Appendices and could not find a “Gamli” anywhere…

Do Durin and Disa, the crown prince and princess of Khazad-dûm, have no servants? They’re just welcoming a guest into their house, fussing with their children, and serving dinner like regular folk. Where is a single one of the dozens of extras that we just saw in a previous scene??

What is it with the tendency of Tolkien adaptations to show the Dwarves as less than dignified? (i.e., Durin belching loudly at the dinner table.) Gimli was reduced to comic relief, and the Dwarves in the Hobbit films who aren’t meant to be seen as goofy—Thorin, Fili and Kili—are much more like Men than the other Dwarves. Tolkien felt VERY strongly about Dwarves being a proud and noble race! Respect that!!!

“Aulë’s beard!” I love this. (People who haven’t read the Silmarillion: Who’s Aulë?!)

“I am simply wondering what manner of man would so readily abandon his companions to death.” Big Elizabeth Swann energy.

There are so many problems with making this character a hot human dude. I’m glad I already know the truth about his identity, though—I don’t have to come around to “Halbrand” or (even worse) start shipping him with Galadriel. I can just be indignant.

Based on what we know about the duplicitous behavior as [redacted], you’d think Halbrand would be a little bit more…suave? Charming? Anything but this blunt, confrontational asshole.

People sure can cover ground quickly in Middle-earth. Unbelievably fast travel for the sake of moving the story along is a problem in almost all fantasy TV shows, mind you. If they only budgeted for 10 episodes instead of 8…or even (gasp) 13…

Why do Orcs look like straight-up horror movie villains now?

Also it’s so convenient that this Orc appeared beneath Bronwyn’s house on the same day she tried to convince her fellow villagers about the Orc tunnel threat.

Their pathetic little raft wouldn’t survive this, lol.

WHY does Halbrand save Galadriel? Repeatedly?? Did they think about this at all? There is nothing human, selfless, or compassionate about [redacted], lmfao.

As magical as this looks, Nori and Poppy’s “firefly” lanterns aren’t flickering, and anyone who’s ever seen fireflies knows that their glow isn’t consistent. They blink individually.

Same, Poppy. I also get freaked out when I see a firefly die.

The Appendices tell us that the Dwarves came to the military aid of the Elves and that they were as closely allied with Celebrimbor/Eregion as at any time in their shared history. So why are they making King Durin such a bullheaded, racist prick? (I know: for drama.)

Is the narrative implying that the shining object in King Durin’s chest is…what, a Silmaril? Because it sure as fuck shouldn’t be.

No, little emo kid, don’t take the broken Sauron sword that will surely attract evil to your people as they flee their village!

Bronwyn’s entire village is pretty easy to scare despite their generally gruff attitudes, aren’t they? At least they’re not completely stupid/have some sense of self-preservation.

The Good:

There’s still some stunning imagery to be had in this one, namely Khazad-dûm and the surrounding mountains

Likewise, some really nice set design in Eregion and especially Khazad-dûm

Nori!!!

A little exposition for non-readers (though maybe still not enough)

The Bad:

Most of the acting was weaker than in first episode, not that the writers gave anyone much to work with

Weak writing throughout: the dialogue’s not great. The characters’ motivations/choices don’t make much sense. Most of the scenarios they find themselves in vary from illogical (Elrond, Arondir) to unbelievable (Galadriel).

Why is the Stranger—Gandalf or Radagast or whoever he is—mute? And why does Nori keep assuming that she can understand/communicate with him??

No respect for the Dwarves, as usual

Too much stuff is convenient or coincidental, i.e., the perfectly-timed Orc appearance in Bronwyn’s house and the improbable survival of Halbrand’s raft

Meaning no disrespect to gamers, there were more “video game” type scenes—specifically, the water “dragon” and the Orc in Bronwyn’s house—which added nothing to the story and told us anything about the characters.

Halbrand. Yes, I am biased by knowing the twist.

I didn’t feel like this episode was that much worse than the first while I was watching it, but after reading over this, it’s obvious that it was quite a step down in quality. The first one felt, in most places, like a heartfelt homage to Tolkien’s world in ways this one just didn’t. But I love Nori to bits, and the visuals are still amazing, so I will persevere.

[nanawaffles]

Hey, I just wanted to share an opinion after reading one of your posts which I completely agree with. Apparently there's always been a lot of LoTR (am I even writing the abbreviation right, uh...) and I was aware that the movies exist. It's been like 20 years since I first learnt about this universe and I haven't watched the movies yet. I started, I tried, it just never got me, while lots of ppl around me were either lorebros or admiring those elves played by Lee Pace and Orlando Bloom. Yeah, that's how illiterate I am. Never planned to change, but came across the Haladriel ship last year, caught my eye, and this year... wait, is it the came dude who gave off Flynn of Tangled vibes??? I swear, if such a characters, such an actor was a part of those movie trilogy I would have watched them long time ago! I mean, this is absolutely golden, I had to dive deeper and I totally enjoy Haladriel dynamics like I haven't enjoyed a romantic ship in ages (life made me go for bromances somehow). But what else occurs... All of my friends hate the show, I dunno if I ever tell them I wanna watch it and find the Haladriel thing amazing. Feels stupid, feels like doing something wrong.

First if all, hi, I'm so glad you could share this. Secondly, yes, LOTR is the correct abbreviation. 😊 thirdly, I'm so happy to hear that rings of power is giving you a a bit of an entryway into the world, that's amazing, and you have no idea how welcome you are by a lot of us. I can't say all of us, unfortunately, but a ton of us are thrilled you're here and interested.

Lastly yeaaaah that's exactly my concern. You shouldn't ever feel bad about wanting to enjoy a piece of art; and i think the negativity about rings of power has done quite a bit of damage to those who would be most welcome in the fandom and just being able to enjoy it. Take it from a hardcore fan of the books, the movies, who has been on this train since i was a wee little one-- there's nothing wrong with wanting to watch it, or even finding interest in haladriel it's an interesting ship though it sure does anger folks I'll tell ya. But everyone and everything has a critic, and there's far more of a fanbase than a negative one. Even those who don't ship it find it an interesting dynamic.

I think the lorebros, like you mentioned, got very attached to Jackson's vision, though even that vision was flawed--and in some ways flawed quite heavily-- aaand its kinda become their holy grail. Like i love lee pace and Orlando bloom, but there is certainly a gravitas that got added, and more than that Jackson changed both characters in ways I'm not particularly fond of. Why, I'm not quite sure. Orlando bloom seems the type of guy who if you told him to troll 95% of the time just cause his character is 3000 years old and thinks everyone is a baby, plus screech at seeing a balrog because "oh fucking shit" he'd have a blast. What rings of power hits on with elves that the movies don't... is the humanity if you will. They're thousands of years old, with wisdom given as gifts from youth, and still fuck up horrifically. They're not these.. stoic beings who speak all high and beyond everyone else's comprehension. They fuck around, they tease, if anything they're humans without the inhibitions because they are so old and. They explore and sometimes that destroys the world.

And I'm talking pure canon on that. I'll shut up now though-- point is it's not wrong. Millions of us like this show and fully believe it's worth it.

i wish you well. And if you ever do watch it, know that I'm cheering for you 😎❤

OH ALSO hal as Flynn vibes is something I've not thought of but gosh... that explains a lot.

[kittyball23]

Hi is it okay if you write a story about baby branch and Floyd

It sure is 😊

Remember (a Trolls fanfic)

Dear Diary,

It’s been a pretty quiet evening at home so far, and I guess there’s a few reasons for that. For one, I guess it’s no secret that I’m the quietest among my brothers (they say I should assert myself more, but I find that I can’t - it’s just the way I am 0.0). Also, my older brothers aren’t here at the moment, and the bro that IS here is sleeping on my lap (it’s a little hard to write right now, but I can manage). I’m guessing you’re probably wondering where exactly my older brothers are. Well, John Dory is out running some errands with Grandma, so they’re hitting the grocery store and a few other places (plus, JD DID say he was going to try and get supplies for some new costume ideas he has planned for us and our band, BroZone).

Spruce is out on a date. He ran another one of his competitions, and the winner this time around is a girl named Doreen. I’ve seen her around town a bit, and she seemed very excited to be able to be with him. As for Spruce… I don’t think I could really say the same :( But, regardless, they were heading out to Senior Frosty’s. A lot of us like to go down there for some sweet treats (personally, I think Grandma’s stuff is the best, but they’re okay too ^_^). Spruce’s favorite is the Tropical Sunset sundae, which is an ice cream that I think is made from vanilla, with some kind of fruity syrup and chunks of pineapple on top. It sounds pretty tasty, but my personal preference is the strawberry delight (an underrated flavor, but delicious nonetheless!)

Clay headed off to another one of his sad-book club meetings. He’s sorta told me about them before, but I’m a little nervous to go to one, if I’m being honest. If it’s about sad books like he says, I’m probably gonna be in tears the whole time! I guess I’ll just have to make sure that I pack a lot of tissues when I do get the chance to accompany him :)

That leaves me and Branch, like I mentioned before. We had some fun with all kinds of activities around the house.

We frosted some sugar cookies that Grandma had baked earlier in the day (Branch got a little messy with the decorating, but he didn’t mind). We played some games (the usual - hide-and-seek, tag… freeze tag) and sang some of our band’s songs together. I’m very proud of him. Even though he’s only a couple years old, he’s got a great falsetto going. Golden! I can tell he’s going to be an amazing singer one day, and I can’t wait for him to start performing with us. John Dory thinks he’s ready, too. A few days ago, he actually suggested that we should start arranging for our first tour. Spruce and Clay agreed, and it’s going to be so exciting!

As Floyd tapped his pencil to his chin, pondering what to write down next, the light weight on his lap began to shift. He immediately put his journal down, and watched admiringly as Branch cutely yawned and stretched.

“Hey, Branch,” he cooed softly, stroking his brother’s delicate little cheek. “Did you have a good nap?”

The baby blinked up at him, rubbing the sleep out of his large blue eyes and grinning his sweet little one-toothed grin. “Uh-huh!”

Floyd chuckled and ruffled his rich blue hair. “That’s good.”

“What did you do, Floyd?” the small Troll asked curiously.

“Oh, I was just writing in my journal,” he said, showing him the book that he’d placed at his side.

“Ohhh,” Branch mused, cocking his head. “Can I see it?”

“Sure thing,” Floyd replied fondly, opening it up and allowing Branch to flip through the pages.

“I write all kinds of things in here,” the magenta-haired Troll explained while the baby stared in wonder. “Ideas, stories, wishes… but do you know what my favorite thing to write about is?”

“What?” Branch asked, his eyes twinkling with interest.

“All the stuff I do with you, and our brothers.”

“Wow! Really?”

“Definitely,” Floyd answered. “That way, when we want to remember something special, it’ll all be right here.” He gave him a little side hug that Branch happily leaned into with a giggle. Then, the little blue Trolling thought of something else.

“Do you write songs in there, too?”

Floyd nodded. “Yeah, I do.” Then he smirked. “But you know, I’ve been having a little trouble trying to finish the one I’ve been working on. Do you want to help me?”

His baby brother’s face lit up. “Yeah!”

And, as he and Branch made another cherished memory - harmonizing together and creating wonderful new melodies - Floyd made sure to recall every little detail of their experience so, in that way, he could notate it in his journal for them to always remember.

[poppibranchlover]

Oh, yay! YOU GOT THEM ALL!!! 😍😍😍

My books came!

[grizzlyofthesea]

My FNAF Movie Experience

I was so excited to see the FNAF movie on opening night. I had my mom with me, we had our snacks, and of course, my costume:

I'd been waiting for this for over 8 years. The hype was real--and not just for me. I only saw one other person in full costume (dressed as Afton), but plenty of others brought their plushies and wore their best merch.

Did the movie live up to this massive anticipation?

For me, yes. It has flaws, but as a tribute to the FNAF fanbase, I adore it.

LOTS OF SPOILERS BELOW. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK.

There were so many nods to the fandom. Here are the ones I can remember off the top of my head:

Dream Theory appearing as a book Mike reads

Chica's Magic Rainbow being the mascot/logo of an ice cream place at the mall

The Balloon Boy jumpscares. Annoying (but surprisingly effective) every time, just like the real BB.

Afton (as Steve) over the phone telling Mike, "See you on the flipside," referencing the "Phone Guy is Purple Guy" theory

Sparky/Fetch appearing as a spare suit

CoryxKenshin making a cameo as the taxi driver (My theater FREAKED OUT at this.)

Matpat making a cameo as the waiter at the diner, even saying his famous line, "But hey, that's just a theory." (Again, the audience was very pleased.)

The aforementioned diner being called Sparky's

TLT's FNAF song playing during the end credits

The animatronics were, of course, stunning. I mean, it's the Jim Henson company. Of course they were going to be awesome. (Oh, and Bonnie gets a plaid tie instead of just plain red. Adorable.) The actors inside the costumes did really well, too, mimicking their slow, deliberate, robotic movements. Except Foxy. He wasn't played by a suit actor at all, probably because of his skinny legs. So for that, massive props to the puppeteers. Oh, and his little "dum diddly dum" song? Kellen Goff sings it here. Amazing work from Mr. Goff as always.

I know some people were disappointed by the lack of on-screen gore, but honestly, I like how the violence was handled. FNAF has always been relatively blood-free, so it's only fitting. And honestly? That silhouette of Freddy biting Max in half was chilling, and I think it wouldn't have been nearly as good if we had seen it in full.

The horror as a whole was on the tame side, but it was still enough to spook my mom. Take that for what you will.

The Balloon Boy jumpscares were hilarious. So was Mr. Cupcake. The fact that Mr. Cupcake was the biggest threat out of the main animatronics was kind of awesome. Goofy? Heck yeah. But it's so silly that, at least for me, it loops back to being awesome.

Mike and Abby had an adorable sibling dynamic, and I am SO GLAD that Vanessa didn't end up as a love interest for Mike. Mike communicating with the children's spirits and taking damage from them through his dreams isn't something I expected, but I found it interesting. The Golden Freddy kid being the de facto leader of the missing children (and a manipulative little troll) was very fitting, too.

Art, specifically children's drawings, was a notable focus of the movie; the drawings seemed to symbolize communication, imagination, and escapism. I thought this was a creative way to incorporate the children's drawings that we've seen in the background since the first FNAF game.

Matthew Lillard as William Afton/Spring Bonnie/Springtrap doesn't get enough screentime, but he absolutely kills it when he's in the spotlight. I just wish there was more of him. Same goes for the animatronics.

Overall, while this isn't a perfect film, I love it so, so much. I can't wait to see what the future holds in terms of sequels, too; at the very end of the credits, "My Grandfather's Clock" plays, and a Speak 'n' Spell spells out "C O M E F I N D M E." FNAF 2 and the Puppet are at the very least being teased!