I Suddenly Remembered My Charlemagne

(Yes, it's early. I used chocolate milk.) ;)



On the anniversary of your birth,
I'd like to thank you for Middle-earth,
For the rivers, plains and mountains of fire,
But most of all – thanks for The Shire.

The woods and fields and little streams,
The beech trees talking in their dreams,
Cosy homes with big round doors,
You made them ours, these tales of yours.

Thanks for making hobbits like us,
Quiet shy folk, who don't want a fuss,
Thanks for making us loyal and true,
Oh and thanks for the ale and pipeweed too.

For making us lively and full of tricks
And not much taller than three foot six,
For sturdy feet and woolly pates,
Second breakfast and filled up plates.

You found a place, peaceful and calm,
And filled it with wonder, magic and charm,
Although a professor, learned and wise,
You shared the world you saw through your eyes.

On hobbits' birthdays, we give things away,
And it's clear that you celebrate in the same way.
You gave us a gift more precious than gold,
A wonderful dream that will never grow old.

--:> llinos, the amazingly talented.

Have a good day, friends.

It's Hobbit Tuesday! The day when I go and see The Hobbit. Sadly, the HFR was gone, so I had to see the regular 3D, but the HFR makes the most difference in crowd scenes/when the camera's moving, and this time I was there for the closeups, so that's okay. It'll probably be the last time I see it in the theatre, though, so...moment of silence.

ANYWAY, there have started to be a lot of really good gif sets on tumblr (by which I mean the quality of the gifs is great), or at the very least I am now following a person who reblogs a lot of Hobbit stuff. SO FEELINGS, basically. Which makes the movie interesting, because I'm accustomed to the visuals so I can focus on the background characters and the music.

Which.

I think my two favourite themes are the King Under the Mountain theme (which has always been the dwarf theme, and is a whopping six notes), and the Laketown theme. What really struck me this time, though, is that at the end, Percy plays the King Under the Mountain theme at the memorial, not his own theme song. It's one of those tiny details that makes me happy/sad, and I hope in the EE, if we get shots of the actual funeral and it's not the one I wrote, that that music still brackets it.

(Aside: Percy is a seriously talented dude: fisherman, archer, swordsman, sharp of eye, can play the large horn thingy well enough that it makes more that one sound at the same time...)

Azog, in this movie anyway, is kind of beautiful. Not beautiful, striking? I don't know. He's not gross. They are usually gross. He's beautiful the way that cow at the end of Season Two of TRUE BLOOD is. I'm not sure how else to describe it.

I'm going to have to keep watching the Jerk From Laketown scenes because they are also all of Bard's character growth scenes, and I HATE THAT THIS WAS THE STORYTELLING THEY CHOSE. UGH.

(I was thinking: he had to take that dress from a dead person, probably. And he didn't just take the dress! He also took the underthings! I HATE HIM SO MUCH.)

I would like to know where all the fanfic about the bro-ship that never was between Thorin and Legolas is hanging out. I like that in the movie that never ever talk about it. It's just character development (for Legolas), and we move on. BUT HOLY CRAP, CAN YOU IMAGINE HIM TELLING GIMLI ABOUT IT? Or Bilbo, for that matter, because someone had to tell him what was happening while he was unconscious.

WAIT: THAT'S WHY THE BATTLE IS DIFFERENT. BECAUSE BILBO WAS UNCONSCIOUS. AND THEN HE HAD A HEAD INJURY! THAT IS WHY IT'S GOT ALL THOSE WEIRD SPOTS! HE'S RECONSTRUCTING IT FROM HIS OWN MESSED UP MEMORIES, AND ALSO OTHER PEOPLE'S MESSED UP MEMORIES.

I still want a fic, though.

(Also, the scene where you can see Bilbo turn from Took to Baggins are OUTSTANDING, but I think my favourite from him might be the SHOCK after Fili dies. Until he picks up stones to fight, he's totally out of it, much like Pippin at "they called us out to fight", and it's REALLY. GOOD.)

Where was I?

I am never going to be over Fili. Ever. It just HURTS. SO. MUCH.

I know I freak out a lot about Richard Armitage's face, but the way he had Thorin slide in and out of the deep end was a.m.a.z.i.n.g., and I will never be over it. The bit where he tells Dwalin to get out, for example? TOTALLY SANE, but he knows he's turning, and then he does and UGH. He did such a good job.

(Also, can we talk about how Dwalin basically shadows him afterwards, presumably to make sure he doesn't do anything to hurt himself or something? And then they MUST kiss and make up before the scene with Kili, because Dwalin's already onside. And then on Ravenhill, Thorin is going to protect Bilbo while Dwalin gets Fili and Kili, but then after Fili dies (AAAAAAAAAAH!), Thorin MUST tell him to go back and protect Bilbo instead, and that was probably the last conversation they had why was I given emotions?)

Bard's little smile when Bilbo admits to stealing the keys from Thranduil's guards warms my heart, as does the way Thranduil ABSOLUTELY AVOIDS touching the Arkenstone (which, fwiw, Bilbo and Bard are like, carrying around in their pockets along with acorns and the Ring of Power and GOD KNOWS what else, because they do not care. They just want a garden/house for their kids and I LOVE THEM SO MUCH).

I will admit to having no clue if Tauriel went back to Mirkwood or not. Like, obviously I stand by my own fic, which I still feel is reasonable, but I think an argument could be made that she DID go back, and EVERYONE WAS JUST REALLY SAD ALL THE TIME, until it came time to go kick the doors in at Dol Guldur again.

The hobbits at the end are all so freaking perfect.

IT IS OVER, though. Like, we still have the EE (and the Sarah Rees Brennan recap) to look forward to, but...

I wouldn't change my own experience for anything.

It's Tuesday! The day I go see The Hobbit!

I love it so much. I've almost worked out the geography of the final battle without breaking, like, geography. "The North" is very big, after all, and you have to go around the Mountain to get to Ravenhill (which is on the west side of the Front Gate), so...yes. Except it all falls apart when the Moria orcs come out of the EAST, but whatever: almost got it.

ANYWAY. I remain completely verklempt about the whole thing. I think I spotted Benedict Cumberbatch in the Lake-town scene. I for sure found Katie Jackson, who appears to be Unnamed Lady's daughter, which is great. RICHARD ARMITAGE'S FACE, MY HEART. ALSO DEAN O'GORMAN.

I do wish there had been about three more seconds of camera on Martin Freeman when Thorin tries to kill Bilbo. But that is, in the grand scheme of things, a small quibble, and you can hear a sort of panicked breathing the whole time, so that's a nice touch.

Thranduil, I can't even. ALSO: BARD. AND THE CHILDREN.

And Elrond.

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Faith and I went to see three movies in theatre, and re-watched the first two HOBBIT movies at home. All were a lot of fun. Since one of the movie we saw was THE HOBBIT, I won't go over it again, but we ALSO saw BIG HERO SIX and MOCKINGJAY I, so that was good times.

I though BH6 did really well in terms of fusing Japanese and American culture. It was very pretty, from a visual standpoint, and the characters were clearly not all white either, which was handy. Probably my favourite Stan Lee cameo (in the actual movie, not in the extra, which was just...well, this is a kids' movie!).

As a bonus, FEAST was also pretty good.

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BUT LET ME TELL YOU MY FEELINGS ABOUT MOCKINGJAY PART I.

( Spoilers! )

Does Part II come out in six months, or 12 (I mean, six/12 months form the release of Part I. I realize that I am quite behind!).

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

( Chapter 5 )

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Apparently there are going to be six chapters.

PLEASE LET THERE ONLY BE SIX CHAPTERS.

Chapter 6

It's Hobbit Tuesday! The day when I go and see THE HOBBIT.

I went back to my Landmark Cinema (formerly Empire Cinema), to the noon showing, and it was DELIGHTFUL. There were only about 20 people, and it was much quieter. Because we didn't get a midnight screening for the opening, it was a weird crowd. This crowd was much better.

Also, I think, I was much better. I was so caught up in my own feelings and expectations the first time, analyzing things as they happened instead of just watching the movie. It's a part of my brain I can't turn off as readily as I used to be able to, and usually it's not a bad thing (it does wonders for my recall, for example), but it does make FEELING hard the first time I watch something.

Also, god, the HFR. It was beautiful.

Anyway, ( Let's go to spoilers )

And that was take two! I look forward to several other viewings when I go to visit Faith, as well as in the New Year.

If anyone has any fic recs, I'd love to see them.

So many feelings (also: spoilers). Please link me to your posts, so that I can find them.

All the feels.

ALL OF THEM.

I am so dead.

(SERIOUSLY, though, of ALL THE MUSIC THEY COULD HAVE PICKED. I never even GUESSED. I LOVE EVERYONE IN THIS BAR.)

AN: Elves, I tell you. Sheesh.

Spoilers: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings

Disclaimer: Not mine. Not mine at all.

Rating: Teen

Characters: Elrond, Gandalf, Galadriel, Frodo

Summary: Elrond makes a study of the Morgul blade, though he is not sure how he will put the knowledge to use.

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( The Study of the Blade )

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Gravity_Not_Included, April 19, 2014

AN: Part III! Sort of! Well, eventually. It's mostly written.

Spoilers: The Hobbit

Dislaimer: Tolkien wrote THE HOBBIT, the Jacksons made the movies. I just love them dearly.

Rating: M

Characters: Fili, Sigrid; Fili/Sigrid

Summary: Well, they are married after all. This sort of thing was really to be expected.

An Inevitable Outcome

( Chapter 1 )

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To Be Continued...