QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"All have their worth and each contributes to the worth of others"

-J.R.R. Tolkien, the Silmarillion

LOTR 30 DAY CHALLENGE
DAY 23 - Least favourite character: Denethor. The steward of Gondor, who rules when the king is absent. He should have been proud to welcome Aragorn as the true king, but instead refused to acknowledge him like he was the king and not just a steward. Also, the way he treats Faramir is detestable, his second son is a fine warrior and Captain of Gondor, who agreed to go out on a suicide mission just to make his father proud. This guy just gets my blood boiling.

LOTR 30 DAY CHALLENGE
Day 22 - Character you pity the most: Frodo. I'm so sick of when people watch the Lord of the Rings and just bag out Frodo, like I hear it so much and it just frustrates me, they don't understand that he carries literally the biggest burden in Middle Earth. Not only does the ring mess with him mentally, like manipulating him to its evil will, he also feel the weight of it as well, as in he's physically weighed down by it. In the Return of the King book when Sam has to put on the ring to get up to the tower of Cirith Ungol, it says he instantly feels the weight of it, so for Frodo to have been carrying it for the better part of a year, I can't even imagine it.

"Death will come to all"
(credit to azogthekingofflowers.tumblr.com)

LOTR 30 DAY CHALLENGE
Day 21 - Most inspiring moment: Sam carrying Frodo up Mount Doom. I had to use a gif for this one, I just think it's definitely the most inspiring. Frodo and Sam are on the brink of death, from starvation and dehydration, and Frodo trying to fight off the power of the ring. And Sam knows that it would kill Frodo if he tried to take the ring, or even Frodo might kill him, but the quest needs to be finished, so he goes right ahead and carries him up the mountain. I'm getting inspired just writing about it

Martin Freeman, Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis, Peter Jackson, Sir Ian McKellan and Richard Armitage at the New York premiere for "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"

LOTR 30 DAY CHALLENGE
Day 20 - Saddest character death: Gandalf the Grey. I already used Boromir's death for a previous answer, so I'll go for Gandalf this time. I know that by the time you see The Two Towers it's obviously not sad anymore, but this scene is so perfectly done with the music and with all the other character's reactions, it truly is the saddest death.
"I have not the heart to tell you, for the grief is too near." - Legolas in reference to the Elves' of Lorien singing about Mithrandir.

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 had happened?

(pictures credit to avelinas.tumblr.com)

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"All we have to do is decide what to do with the time given to us"

 -Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring. 

LOTR 30 DAY CHALLENGE
Day 19 - Weirdest Screencap: Uhh okay, so this was a weird one, so I'll just go with Gimli passing out drunk, haha. And yeah, there's not much more to say about this one.

LOTR 30 DAY CHALLENGE
Day 18 - Coolest Visual Effect: The size difference between Hobbits and normal sized people. I know that there are so many "cool" ones to pick from, but I was tossing up between this and Gollum, and I just think that this is the most consistently well-done visual effect. With the use of both body doubles and CGI, they've pulled it off so well for movies that came out ten years ago, and it's only got better in the recent Hobbit movies.

P.S. Sorry that my updates have slowed down a little bit, I've been super busy, but I'm still trying to regularly update this!

LOTR 30 DAY CHALLENGE
Day 17 - Elves or Dwarves? Elves. I chose Elves because there is just so much history, with Feanor and the creation of the Silmarils, to the lost city of Gondolin, and Luthien, being a pivotal role in the starting of the line of Numenor, just everything about them. Also I like their style of weapons and armour more than the Dwarves.

LOTR 30 DAY CHALLENGE:
Day 16 - Favourite Female Character: Eowyn. Ahh I just realised I totally messed up with the last answer so I'm gonna go ahead and skip to this question. So I like Eowyn because she was born as a warrior, but was never allowed to follow her dreams because she was a woman, and a noble woman at that so she had to be a lady. But despite that, she rode to the Fields of Pelennor and with the help of Pippin she was able to kill the Witch King of Angmar when no one else there would have been able to.

LOTR 30 DAY CHALLENGE
Day 14 - Favourite Outfit: Sauron (armoured). I know I've used Sauron as a previous answer, but I think he has the coolest looking armour out of everyone. It's completely terrifying plus you know that it would be the absolute best quality as well, like obviously not made of mithril, because it's too dark, but it's bound to have some kind of crazy enchantment on it to make it impenetrable, because that's just how Sauron is. Only an enchanted Elvish blade was able to cut through it, and that was with the strongest enchantment that they could put on the blade.

LOTR 30 DAY CHALLENGE
Day 13 - Favourite weapon: This is probably a pretty lame answer, because there's all the amazing swords that have awesome back stories to them, like how Glamdring was forged in the ancient lost Elvish city of Gondolin and then was mysteriously  found in a troll hoard, but if we're talking purely visual, my favourite is the Uruk-hai Scimitar. I don't know what it is about it, it's just so crude and dangerous looking, you wouldn't want to mess with anyone wielding this.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy posters by Marko Manev. http://markomanev.com/

Quote of the Week

"All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wonder are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost."

 -J.R.R TOLKIEN, LORD OF THE RINGS

 

LOTR 30 DAY CHALLENGE
Day 12 - Favourite Location: The Shire. I picked the Shire because it's just such a beautiful place, and it's so peaceful. This is definitely where I would like to live a simple life

LOTR 30 DAY CHALLENGE
Day 11 - Brotp: Legolas and Gimli. These two started out absolutely hating each other, with their hatred going back to their fathers' in the days before Smaug attacked Erebor. But in their journey they become best friends, and their competitions in the battles is hilarious. Also fun fact, Gimli actually won at the battle of Helm's Deep, with one more kill than Legolas.
(image credit to l-o-t-r.tumblr.com)

So I finished the main story of The Lego Hobbit tonight. I was kinda disappointed that it only ended with the ending of Desolation of Smaug. That being said though, it was a great game and there's still so much to do in free play. 

LOTR 30 DAY CHALLENGE
Day 10 - OTP: Samwise Gamgee and Rosie Cotton. Now I know most people would probably say Arwen and Aragorn or Eowyn and Faramir, but I just think like having a simple life in a beautiful little country with your wife and kids is the dream.

BREAKING NEWS

The third film for "The Hobbit" series has had its name changed from "There and Back Again" to "The Battle of the Five Armies".

Read about it here

http://au.ign.com/articles/2014/04/24/the-hobbit-there-and-back-again-is-now-called-the-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies

LOTR 30 DAY CHALLENGE
Day 9 - Favourite Hobbit: Peregrin "Pippin" Took. I don't really know what to say about this, but Pippin has always been my favourite. He's funny but he can also be pretty serious and full on, and he does the best he can to try and make things better for his guilt about Boromir's death.

Here's a pretty interesting interview with Peter Jackson and some of the cast of "The Hobbit" about what the third and final installment will entail, for those who didn't know already (from reading the book) or if you just like to watch cast interviews, like me.

(video credit to Total Film on youtube)

Quote of the Week

"I will not say "do not weep" for not all tears are an evil"

-Gandalf, The Return of the King.

LOTR 30 DAY CHALLENGE:
Day 8 - Gondor or Rohan: I'm gonna have to go with the Horse Lords on this one. I like the look of Rohan more than Gondor, and even though Gondor is all about the blood of the Numenor and stuff which I do really like, I think Rohan just trumps them. Also the Riders of the Rohirrim are just so badass, coming in and winning the battle for Helm's Deep like that. "Forth Eorlingas!"
(image credit to AlexAKADucky.deviantart.com)

LOTR 30 DAY CHALLENGE
Day 7 - Favourite Antagonist: I hadn't really thought too much about this previously, but I think it would have to be Sauron. Starting from when he was just a servant to Morgoth, he was able to trick the Numenorians into making him chief advisor so they would do pretty much whatever he would say, plus he was the necromancer as well which was pretty awesome. Also the fact that he's like the most powerful being in Middle Earth (besides Morgoth, but he's not really in the picture since he was imprisoned).
(Image from Guardian's of Middle Earth on Steam)

Hey hey, sorry for not posting anything over Easter, I was pretty busy with Easter things. To get things going again I think we'll get straight back in to the 30 day challenge, shall we?

LOTR 30 DAY CHALLENGE
Day 6 - Ugliest Orc: I think this one's pretty obvious, without a doubt it's Gothmog. He's missing an eye and has a misshapen face, what else can I say?

LOTR 30 DAY CHALLENGE:
Day 5 - A scene that makes you laugh: I know it's such a corny joke but when the Hobbits tumble off that hill in Farmer Maggot's crops and Merry is like "I think I've broken something" and then pulls out this carrot, it always gets me

LOTR 30 DAY CHALLENGE
Day 4 - Scene That Makes You Cry: I don't think I actually cried, but this is definitely one of the saddest scenes. Boromir was one of the most understood characters; he was under the spell of the ring when he attacked Frodo, which isn't unreasonable because it's the most powerful thing in the world at the time. But once the spell is broken, he realises what he's done and the only way he can see to make up for it is to sacrifice himself to save Merry and Pippin. Also it takes three massive arrows to take him down, and that's pretty hardcore.

Quote of the Week

"For so sworn good or evil an oath may not be broken and it shall pursue oathkeeper and oathbreaker to the world's end"

-The Oath of Feanor, The Silmarillion, pages 97-98

So I got The Lego Hobbit game today and I got some pretty rad DLC gear for pre ordering and the PS4 exclusive stuff. (that is Sam dressed as Smaug and Frodo with a lightbulb on his head)

LOTR 30 DAY CHALLENGE
Day 3 - Favourite Character: Gandalf the Grey
I know I've already said this with the other two, but this was so hard to decide on! I love all the characters in the Fellowship, so it was always going to be one of them but it was just a matter of who. I think I had to go with Gandalf the Grey, because he can go from laid back, enjoying his pipe weed to "Come at me, Balrog", whereas when he becomes Gandalf the White he's a lot more serious. Also he puts his pipe in the top of his staff, and that's pretty badass.

LOTR 30 DAY CHALLENGE
Day Two - Favourite Battle: Mine would have to be the battle of Pelennor Fields, although it was pretty close with Helm's Deep. I ended up going with this one because of the death of the Witch King, and also the sass of Legolas and Gimli in the movie.