Some lighter BOTFA Thoughts

Everyone has been writing their reviews after seeing “The Battle of the Five Armies” and I wanted to write one too, but it’s proving difficult. My first impressions aren’t always lasting impressions, so I can’t really wrap my head around the movie until I see it again. Also, I had a strong reaction to seeing this character die. I’ve never seen a RA character die in real time before, the others were long after their original air dates.  Somewhere along the way I transferred a lot of different things onto Thorin’s death that didn’t really belong to him: my “adventure” in this fandom, my admiration for Richard himself, the ending of not only this trilogy but all of Middle-Earth. so instead of burying myself in all of that angst, I’m going to share my lighter thoughts of the movie instead.

Random BOTFA Thoughts:

⭐ Laketown=Esgaroth. not that this fact matters much but how did I not realize this? because you skim over all the place names at lightening speed so you won’t run the risk of trying to pronounce them and screwing up horribly later. Out Loud.

⭐ We know from LOTR that Galadriel is married. when does she get married? because there is some crackling chemistry going on between her and Gandalf in these movies! I’d go more for Elrond, myself. he’s got it together, with his shiny armor and waterfall wonderland. and he’s so intellectual, knowing all those ancient prophesies and reading moon runes.

 

if I was into Elves, that is. because I’m so totally not *fidgets nervously*

 

ETA: Wiki tells me that Galadriel was indeed married long before the events in The Hobbit BUT: Galadriel is Elrond’s mother-in-law.

⭐ Now let’s talk about Azog and his accessorizing arm. he has us all fooled, he’s not some wild barbarian but a metrosexual in disguise! that wasn’t just some rudimentary claw in the first movie, that was his camping hand. he was getting ready to pop some marshmallows on those tongs when his men so rudely interrupted.

what do you mean you forgot the chocolate?!

he’s showing off his shiny sportsman’s blade in this movie, so I’m sure he has a spongy Nerf attachment for when he’s just chilling at home too. and something classy for his days at the office?

“so, what do you do?
I’m into, uh, well, murders and executions, mostly.”

⭐ Confession: I rather liked off-balance Thorin. the way he flipped from bad to good, talking about himself in third person gave me a thrill. I should probably examine that internally but I’m just going to leave it alone for now.

good plan

⭐ Kili & Tauriel and The Bridges of Esgaroth County: I see you reaching for that door handle, girly. Go! screw those family commitments, choose Love! get in the boat! ignore blondie and make the right decision for once, Kate! wait…what island are we on again?

I’m not sure anymore, Merry, I’m just not sure

⭐ Then there was a bunch of really heartfelt and inspiring stuff that I can’t bring myself to make fun of (the House of Durin charge anyone? Badass with a capital B!)

we’re not gonna take it! no, we ain’t gonna take it! we’re not gonna take it anymore!

⭐ Which then leads to Thorin’s demise, which I can’t make fun of either. oh wait, except for when Azog fell into the water and everyone but Thorin knew that he wasn’t dead. Action-Thriller 101: if you don’t see them die, they aren’t dead.

no proof, no truth.

⭐ Then…My King died. and I cried all the tears. I was okay until Bilbo sobbed, then I was done. the waterworks spilled forth and would not stop!

so when Tauriel mourned the loss of Kili, I internally screamed “I don’t care! you hardly knew him!” and when Legolas would just not shut up about his childhood, I groaned “be quiet you twit!! you’re not even supposed to be here!”

and when the lights came back on at the end of the movie and Billy Boyd started singing his lovely song amidst the beautiful hand drawn images of the cast, I jumped up and told husband “we have to leave now or you’ll have to physically carry me out.”

the next few days were complete and utter shite (duff? naff?) with family drama and fandom drama.

me on the 6 hour car ride to my parent’s house

⭐ But never fear! all was right with the world again on Christmas morning when I opened up my Pop! Thorin.

“what took you so long? I was stuck in traffic”

 

we’ve been inseparable ever since

if my 10 year old doesn’t quit stealing him for a laugh though, there could be trouble. children…

 

Survey Says

Last week I participated in a questionnaire for the Liebster Award. I then nominated a few bloggers and provided questions for them to answer. Preoccupied with Armitage and Ancient Armitage have since answered the questions on their own blogs and passed the nominations forward. So now I’m going to answer my own questions. I enjoy doing this because it makes me really stop and think about what I like/don’t like and why, instead of just giving rote answers. okay, here goes:

 

1.) is there a song you like different versions, covers, of? which is your favorite?

I enjoy song covers in general. I find it interesting to see how different artists emphasize certain parts of a song or even change it completely. “Hallelujah” is a song cover that I enjoy various versions of, though I prefer the Rufus Wainwright version. Some think it’s a depressing song but I find beauty in it’s realism. how love can make us lose ourselves in negative ways, yet we keep coming back for more.

She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

don’t look at me like that Guy, it’s a metaphor!

Most of the lyrics do center around the bleak retelling of a past relationship, but it includes lyrics like this as well:

 

And remember when I moved in you
The holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

like that one better, do you? (me too)

2.) what is something that you’re afraid of that you’d like to force yourself to face?

my aversion to drinking alcohol. not that I want to force myself to like it but I close myself off to the possibility that I could.  I learned, by trial and error, not to trust what anyone said while drinking. It wasn’t the negative things said that were the problem, it was the positive. It messes with your psyche when people can only give you compliments while under the influence, show you affection while chasing a buzz, share their hidden fears and desires with you while struggling to remain conscious- and then walking right past you without a second glance when they’re sober.

 

3.) what is your favorite footware of Richard’s?

The boots. any and all kinds.

 

4.) what is your favorite photography subject?

paths

 

5.) what is a habit of yours that you’d like to break?

procrastination. I somehow see it as a control issue: you can’t make me do this until I’m good and ready to do so! but then if I”m never really ready and it’s something that I should/have to do, then I’m late or at least down to the very last minute. it’s annoying to me and I’m sure doubly annoying to others.

 

6.) have you ever had a dream about Richard Armitage? share a short summary.

My sister had come for a visit (I don’t actually have a sister), so I was cooking a big dinner for her and our family. We sat down to eat and the adults suddenly started snickering because apparently I was the worst cook ever and could even mess up boiling water. Richard dumped salt, like heaping mounds of it, over everyone’s plates to save them from my horrible cooking. I dejectedly arose from the table and started cleaning up while my sister declared we were having cake & ice cream for dinner, making the kids cheer. Afterwards Richard felt bad, so he invited me out onto the porch with him, where I perched myself on his knee as he kissed my head in apology…the end. 

 

he was a jerkface & I was pathetic; good times!

whot? hand over the salt!

7.) what was the first professional play you saw and how did it affect you?

Peter Pan, when I was 17 years old. I was fascinated to see how the story was brought to life. It was a smaller production so although Peter did fly, some of the sets where just tricks of light and shadows instead of elaborate sets, which I found very inventive.

 

8.) what has been your least favorite pet that you owned and why?

my pet mouse, Pat. he was mean and put me in embarrassing situations.

 

9.) if you could insert yourself into a RA film as an original character, which would it be and how would you effect the outcome of the story?

Since I can only share one example, though I have several (active daydreamer, remember!) I’m going to go with the Into the Storm version where I’m Kaitlyn’s single mother who teams up with Gary to find our missing children. we get together in the end, which may prove awkward for Donnie.

Trey: did you hear the good news? Dad bought Kaitlyn’s mom a ring! Donnie: FML.

10.) what is your favorite movie about classical mythology?

up until a few years ago I would have quickly answered “Clash of the Titans” because there wasn’t really much else to choose from. We have several more movies that could fit into this category now, but I tend to get them all mixed up. Which one cooked people alive inside that big metal cow? I’ll go with that one…

 

11.) share a random Richard Armitage related confession

Thorin has become one of my favorite RA characters, and that was a development I did not anticipate. I liked him instantly in The Hobbit: an unexpected journey but he was pretentious, had long hair, and I knew his story ended with him succumbing to the gold sickness and acting like a spoiled brat; kind of killed the swoon factor. But now he’s really grown on me and I respect him immensely (collecting all of the fan quotes for The Thorin Project greatly aided in this). When I saw the recent conclusion to his story, I didn’t look at him as being a spoiled brat but someone who had very human faults that he tried to fight and overcome. I have very warm feelings towards Thorin now, and when you factor in that it’s because of him that I was drawn into my Richard Armitage Admiration to begin with, he holds a special place in my heart that even Harry can’t touch.

he’s a snazzy dresser as well

 

Thorin On the Brain

Last evening I was watching one of my favorite television shows, Cutthroat Kitchen. If you’re not familiar with this Food Network show, each episode centers around a cooking competition between 4 professional chefs. What is unique to the show is that they can bid on “sabotages” throughout the competition to trip-up their competitors. It’s always something unusual, like taking away a key component of their required dish and replacing it with candy, junky snack foods, or something equally as undesirable like canned meat (I basically just described my diet) or making them cook on upside down frying pans, taking away their cooking utensils, etc. it’s always a challenge and really fun to watch!

So last night, when I saw a particular contestant I couldn’t take my eyes off him… because he looked like Thorin Oakensheild! Okay, maybe saying he reminded me of Thorin would be more apt since Thorin isn’t an extremely tall, slightly balding Italian chef with an accent.

The criteria for winning this show is to discern whether or not the dish presented reminds the judge of the required dish, not necessarily if it is the dish or even looks like it. So Chef Alberico reminds me of Thorin; do I just have Thorin on the brain or do you see what I see? Thorin-esque or not, he was very cute to watch.

(Edited to Add: video was removed from Youtube)

On a slightly different but equally random note: this evening we will be adding yet another animal to our household. we’re “rescuing” a bearded dragon from an abandoned situation. because we need another animal in this house; 4 cats, 2 birds, a 3 ft. Iguana, a very rotund hamster, and various tropical fish just aren’t enough. My son was trying to come up with a name for the lizard but didn’t know any appropriate Australian names (because Bearded Dragons were originally from Australia. Thank You Wikipedia!) I suggested we name it Smaug. Son kind of crinkled his nose at that but my reasoning is that not only is it a “dragon” but when our two youngest cats sneak into my son’s room to hassle it, which is inevitable, it will be Fili and Kili trying to slay Smaug.

Update: The Thorin Project

Hello! I just wanted to give you an update on the progress of our little project.

First of all, let me say that I have been pleasantly pleased with the quote submissions that we’ve received thus far, both in number and substance. It’s gratifying to see that the character of Thorin has touched so many of you in meaningful ways, and that you’re willing to share those thoughts with us to include in this book for Richard. I’ve enjoyed conversing with each of you as you’ve submitted your quotes, whether in “meeting” you for the first time, or getting to know you a bit better through one-on-one messages that we’ve traded in relation to your quotes; it’s been fun!

 

I’ve collected all of the quotes received so far and passed them on to Guylty, who has started to plug them into the beautiful pages that she is custom designing for this 10×8 inch photo book. Currently we are in the “tweaking” phase: experimenting with font sizes, gauging space, deciding in what ways some of the larger quotes might be split, arranging by main idea and photo theme, etc.

so exactly like this

 

Nothing is set in stone at this point but we wanted to give you a peek, nonetheless, and let you know how it’s all coming along. So below are screen shots of two different pages from the book (these are too small to read but just meant to give you a general idea of what the pages will look like)

If you haven’t submitted a quote but would like to do so, information can be found on The Thorin Project page. Please get those quotes in soon so that we can arrange them all in a pleasing manner and send it off to Richard in time for the movie premiere! Thank you all so much for your enthusiasm and encouragement.

we less than three you!

 

Bluff

I’ve been thinking of Thorin a lot lately, what with The Thorin Project and the final Hobbit movie approaching. I thought this song by Pilot Speed was perfect for a little Hobbit trilogy lyrical pic spam.

 

Bluff by Pilot Speed

(the link will take you to the song on Youtube, in a separate window,  so you can play it in the background while viewing this post)

 

It ain’t kind and it ain’t right,

but when you wore away the shine what did you find

 

Still you would say you’re not afraid,

to lay down your bones on the bed you’ve made

Someone made a sound,

it turned you right round
I wasn’t cold enough to care, but brother I dared

See it tear you up, and it calls your bluff
When the lie that keeps you warm, is the truth you’re counting on

There’s a shadow in the sun,

and it crawls along the path

from whence you’ve come

 

It’s not as clear as you had planned
Feel the sun go down, turn and make your stand

Trying to account for the troubles you’ve found
Hey could you use a little help

to be honest with yourself

See it tear you up, and it calls your bluff
When the lie that keeps you warm, is the truth you’re counting on

Up in the clouds,

tell me sister are you coming down

There’s a lie in every town oh …
And every word and every sound oh …

See it tear you up, and it calls your bluff
When the lie that keeps you warm, is the truth you’re counting on