MEMM: Days 1 & 2

Hamlette has started a Middle Earth Movie Meme Lineup for the month of February, and I am very happy to be joining in!  I won't be going on any particular schedule; I'll just post as I have time and make sure I finish before March. ;-)  So, I'll be doing the first two days today.

Day 01: Favorite moment/line in Fellowship of the Ring
Oooh.  There are so many great moments!  I think my favorite would have to be the bits before the council of Elrond, when everyone is riding in and you can feel the tension building and everything coming together.

Day 02: Favorite characters from each race

Elves: Legolas, no question.  Elrond is a close second, though.

Dwarves:  Ehmmm...Fili, probably, with Bofur, Thorin, and Kili tying for second and Gimli in third place.

Hobbits: Frodo, though Bilbo is a close runner-up.

Men: FARAMIR.  He's absolutely amazing.

Istari: Gandalf.  Not much of a choice here, is there? :P 

Orcs: Azog.  He was a very good antagonist. (Too good, unfortunately.  I still haven't forgiven him for BOTFA.)

And that concludes those days--I shall probably be a bit more verbose as the month goes on, haha.  Speaking of months going on, I do apologize for yet another prolonged absence.  Perhaps someday I will actually blog as much as I say I will. :P

"Because it was real."

Reyna Nicole at A Peace of the Past tagged me for a Battle of the Five Armies Q&A!  Thank you very much, m'dear! :-) 

Rules:

1. You must be tagged in order to take the Q&A.

2. You must tag (notify) at least three other bloggers (or whatever they are on) for this Q&A.

3. You must answer the following questions to the best of your ability.

4. You must have seen The Battle of the Five Armies to be tagged/take the quiz.
 (A quick warning before I begin: there will be Significant Spoilers.  So if you haven't seen BOTFA yet and don't wish to know what happens, this post is Not For You.)

Questions: 

1. Tell the story of how you came to see the movie(s) or got 'into' Tolkien in the first place.  

Ooh.  Well, I became a Tolkiendil when I was in fifth grade--I'd known of Tolkien for a long while, and finally I decided to read LotR when I came across it at a library book sale.  It completely captured my imagination, and I finished all three in short order.  It took me quite awhile after that to read The Hobbit, for whatever reason, but as soon as I did, I fell in love with that too. 
Well, after a year or two, my family saw the LotR movies, and we've watched them at least once a year since--every person in my family who can read has read at least one Tolkien book.  So even if my interest in Tolkien dimmed, I've never completely dropped out of the fandom.

A year and a bit ago, though, I got completely crazy about Tolkien in a way I'd never been before, and it was mostly because of--you guessed it--the Hobbit movies.  When we saw AUJ, I wasn't a big fan...well, that's an understatement.  I re-read TH just so I could point out all the inaccuracies between the movie and the book.  But then I met a few other girls who really liked the movie, and they persuaded me to give it another chance.  I proceeded to do so, and found I really, really liked it.
This was just a few months before DOS came out, so I got caught up in all that excitement, and I really loved that movie; it was the first Tolkien movie I'd seen in the theatre, and the cliffhanger at the end--!!  Well, I was totally hooked on the Hobbit trilogy after that. ;-)
...Wow, that was long.  It's really hard to stop myself once I get started on Tolkien stuff, hehe.   
 

2. Who are your three favorite characters in the Hobbit Trilogy? 
...WHAT.
I can't chooooose!  But...erm...okay.  
First off is Bilbo, because Martin Freeman was PERFECTION as Bilbo.  Oh my wooord...I loved Bilbo in the book, but Martin Freeman added whole new layers to his character and made him so complex and loveable and...yeah.   I'm a solid Bilbo fan now. ;-)

Secondly...Fili and Kili.  They still only count as one! :P  I love Kili for his youth and joy and reckless spirit (and also because he and Tauriel are SO ADORABLE.) and Fili for his loyalty and trustworthiness and courage.
 
Thirdly, Thranduil.  Yeah, he was kind of a jerk in the movies, but he's one of my favorite characters in the book and they made him sympathetic enough in BOTFA for him to keep on my list. ;-)
Honorable Mentions go to Gandalf, Bofur, and Bard (and Smaug!  He was so cool :D), and the award for My Favorite Cameo is tied between Elrond and Frodo.  Hahahaha.  Yes, that was way more than three.  No, I'm not sorry. :P

 

3. Did you cry in the Battle of the Five Armies, and if so, which scene(s) and what type (sniffling, sobbing, choke-crying)?  
Um, YESSSSSS.
I actually didn't cry until after Kili's death. I was really expecting to cry all the way through the movie, but the tears didn't come--rest assured I was crying inside, though. :P
Anyways, after Kili died it suddenly hit me: this is the last Middle-earth movie.  And it was like the shock of Kili and Fili's deaths just wore off and I just started sobbing.  I ended up curled up in my seat, crying into a friend's shoulder while doing my utmost to cut off the circulation in her hand by squeezing it so tightly. :P
I did stop crying at the auction scene at the end because one does not simply stay miserable when all those hobbits are being hobbity on the screen. ;-)  But I started again at the end because THEY ACTUALLY DID THE "WHAT ABOUT VERY OLD FRIENDS" AND I LOST IT.
And then "The Last Goodbye" was very emotional, obviously. :P 
 

4. Were any deaths compelling to you, and if so, whose?  
Well, they all were.  Smaug's actually was CRAZY dramatic--my attention was riveted to the screen. Thorin's was very much the climax of the movie, really, so it was compelling as well.  Fili's death completely grabbed my attention because it was so sudden and harsh, and the moments leading up to Kili's death were so suspenseful that I was practically hyperventilating. ;-)

 
















5. Over all, were you satisfied with the movie itself? 

YES, definitely.  There were a few things I'd have changed--Thranduil ought to have been nicer and I'd have appreciated a bit more closure with the whole Tauriel thing.  But other than that, I thought the movie was practically perfect.

UNASHAMED SHIPPER RIGHT HERE.

(However, I might be just slightly biased, SNORT.  So I'm waiting to give a final opinion of it until I can see it on DVD.  Maybe the Extended Edition will satisfy all my nitpicks. ;-))
  

6. Describe the movie in one word.
Oh goodness, it was such a big and complex thing that it's very hard to sum it up, but the first word that comes to mind when describing BOTFA (and the trilogy in general) would be "epic".  Huge and mind-blowing and ground-breaking and just...epic.  Haha.

Now to tag some people!  Okay, so I don't know who all in the blogosphere has seen it yet, but I'll just tag some Tolkiendils anyway and let them do it at their convenience. ;-)
Elizabeth Anne D.
Eowyn

And if you would like to do this tag, just comment and I'll add you to the list. :-)

Blogger Recognition Award

I've been tagged by the amazing blogger Beth over at ad majorem dei gloriam. Thank you very much, m'dear! :)  This tag was originally from the blog Edge of Night.

   RULES AND REGULATIONS:

+ Select 15 blogs to nominate
+ Thank the person who nominated you
+ Give a brief story of how your blog got started and a piece or two of advice for new bloggers. 
+ Attach the award
+ Comment on each nominee's blog and let them know that you've nominated them
+ Provide a link to the original post on Edge of Night (link above)

Okay, so.  How my blog got started...two words: Jane Austen. :D  In late winter/early spring of 2013, I discovered JA and became a giant fangirl.  I started to look up fansites for it, and found some Jane Austen blogs that I loved (the first two being Yet Another Period Drama Blog and Regency Delight, in case you were curious).  Through them, I got introduced to other blogs, and still others, and I began to want to blog myself--it looked so delightful! 
Around that time, I started to annoy everyone around me by constant talking about my fandoms, as I was rapidly developing into a Typical Fangirl and couldn't think about anything else. :P  So, I finally gave in and started a blog, first just as a chance to talk without danger of interruption, and then as an activity I really enjoyed.  

As to the piece or two of advice...goodness, I still think of myself as a new blogger, but I suppose I'm not exaaactly new anymore.  Haha.  Well, I think one bit of advice I would give anyone who's starting to blog is to get connected.  Rather cliched advice, I know, but I think that blogging is very much a social activity.  So look around for other blogs you enjoy, comment often, host events, and just generally make your presence known.  Obviously don't throw yourself at other bloggers, but blogging is a lot more fun when you have other people giving input on your posts.  In my opinion, at least. ;-)

My nominees:
Yet Another Period Drama Blog
Regency Delight
Inklings Press
Coffee, Classics, and Craziness
Hamlette's Soliloquy
Incidents of a Literary Nature
Wonderland Creek
Spilled Ink
Period Drama, &c.
Me, Myself, and I
A Peace of the Past
A Lantern in Her Hand
Lianne Taimenlore
However Improbable
The Story Girl
Puritan Observer

~Miss Jane Bennet

Happy Late New Year's...

Happy 2015, everybody!  Good grief, it's amazing how fast 2014 went.  In any case, this is not a New Year's post per se--more just an Update Post.
I did succeed at my Tolkien Challenge, though I did not post as much as I'd have liked.  However, maybe I'll do another one this year.  In any case, I can still post about such things, just not exclusively. ;-) (Yes, I saw The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, the Friday after it was released.  Yes, I loved it, yes, I cried, and yes, I ship Kiliel.  I've been putting off reviewing it until it's released on DVD so I can review the trilogy as a whole.)
I'm making it my goal this January to publish all my tag answers--hopefully I'll get some more things in, but there's a lot of IRL busyness I've pushed aside over the holidays that now needs attending to, so we'll see. 
I think that's about it for now; I hope everyone had a lovely New Year's!

Merry Christmas (Eve)!

I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas Eve and Christmas Day--God bless!

Little Things I Love About Tolkien's Works

For once I'm actually posting something when I was supposed to post it. :D  I'm really happy to be blogging again and not just thinking about it--especially since the thing I'm currently talking about is Tolkien.  Because, you know, TWO DAYS TILL BOTFA.  WHAT EVEN.
Anyways, as you probably guessed from the title, I've made a list of some of my favorite Tolkien things. Some of them are more like "Things That Make Me Cry That I Like Anyway Because I'm Insane".  Without further ado, here they are.
~Frodo Baggins.  He's inspired me in so many ways. 

~Faramir and Éowyn.  Oh my STARS, I ship them so hard.

 ~"The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen".  There's another pair I ship to the ends of Middle-earth.

~FARAMIR: one of the few fictional heroes I rate higher than Mr Knightley.
 
~The "Lay of Leithian"

~The poems in LotR.  Okay, some of them aren't the best, but others are just pure gorgeousness.

~Tengwar and Cirth

~Quenya and Sindarin (I'm afraid I get them sadly mixed up :P)

~"The Fall of Gondolin".  Tuor and Idril are adorable, and Glorfindel's last stand gives me chills every time.

~The Children of Húrin.  IT'S SO TRAGIC.  Especially the bits with Finduilas and Beleg.

~The Hobbit.  No matter what my mood is, TH can improve it. :D

~The History of Middle-earth volumes.  It's like behind-the-scenes videos, except with a book, and I love it.  I really wish some of those scenes had been kept in...

~Fili and Kili.  Book or movie, they're adorable.

~The fact that Thorin dragged a HARP through the Shire.

~The Extended Editions--and the movies in general.  They may not be completely accurate, but they're SO much better than what we could have had.

~The cast, both LotR and TH.  They're amazing.

~New Zealand
 
~Thorin's speeches :D

~On a more serious note, Aragorn/Viggo's "But it is not this day!" speech.

~Elves.  I've always loved them; probably always will.  I'm a bit like Sam in that respect.

~Elrond.  He loses (*counts on fingers* *gives up*) practically everyone he loves to mortality or death on the battlefield and he never gets bitter and I love him so much.

~Eärendel and Elwing.

~Maglor.  He's so SWEET, and he's a musician, so he gets bonus points from me.

~The Nírnaeth Arnoediad. Why is this even on the list I HATE IT.  LITERALLY everybody dies.  It's not even like LM, where at least five-ish characters survive to the end...

~"Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit"
 
~"Out of the Frying Pan into the Fire"

~Many, many more small moments that I haven't space or time to list here--Thranduil not being blinded by prejudice and refusing to "begin this war for gold", poor Bilbo and his cold, Merry and Pippin, Frodo defying the Witch-king, Fingolfin's desperate challenging of Morgoth...and so on and so forth. 

WHY MUST THEY HURT ME SO.

~Some of Tolkien's sentences.  He's one of the few authors that can make me tear up with the sheer beauty of his words.

~The fandom.  We may not totally agree, but most of the time we get along.  And Tolkiendils always come through for each other.

What do you like about Tolkien?