The Tales That Really Matter

09/02/2024

"The fairest of cities..."

Word of the Day prompt: Armenelos.

Arrayed in beauty, this
Realm of Men.
Meneltarma rising over
Elros’ city.
Nimloth blooming in her courts;
Elves were once welcomed.
Long now under the waves;
Osse drowned her under
Seas of tears.

09/02/2024

🤣😂😅

The forod never bothered me anywaith.

08/31/2024

B i r b 🦅

08/31/2024

Morfydd Clark, our Galadriel, attending a special screening of her upcoming folk-horror film Starve Acre on August 28 sponsored by the BFI; the film has its theatrical release in the UK on September 6.

08/31/2024

Mostly 1 and 4, although some of the...ickier moments had me at 3 🤣

Welcome back to Middle-earth. Which character describes your reaction to the three episode premiere?

08/30/2024

It's finally here. Not only Season 2 of The Lord of the Rings on Prime, but also my impressions of the premiere after watching it twice. And they are...very favorable.
This was a wonderful premiere. In keeping with the promise of all the trailers, the focus is squarely upon Sauron, his rise to power, and his manipulation of Celebrimbor to forge the "lesser" Rings of Power, after Galadriel drove him out of Eregion before he could corrupt the Three. And Sauron is in full career, in all his smarmy, slimy, seductive glory. And he's so GOOD at it, it's terrifying; for different reasons, Celebrimbor, Adar, even a random warg are all mere putty in his hands.
Thankfully, most of the Elves are still prepared to resist him. Of these, the standout is Ben Daniels' Cirdan; he is so soft and wise and calm and I love him so much. But thankfully, Galadriel still is a main character, and she is still so good. Still so driven and purposeful, but also much more humble and more willing to talk with others and not do everything herself. Her setbacks in Season 1 would have broken a lesser person, but instead they have taught her wisdom and made her stronger.
Of the other storylines in the premiere, all of them were pretty strong, with the exception of Numenor, which had some interesting substance but whose ex*****on felt truncated and rushed. Of the others, my favorite was actually the Rhun storyline; it was such a joy to be able to see Nori and the Stranger actually be able to have intelligent, two-way conversations. And it was wonderful to see Durin and Disa thriving, not only as character in their own right but as members of a bustling civilization that is currently in peril, and ripe for manipulation by Sauron.
It wasn't perfect, of course; there are some questions I have about geography and timeline that took me out of the show, and some characters don't really feel like characters as much as names. But overall, this was a wonderful start, and I look forward to continuing this journey with Episode 4 next week.
That should be enough for now. I hope to have an essay on my Substack with my full thoughts live this coming Sunday 😊

08/28/2024

A quick reminder, for anyone who didn't catch my most recent housekeeping essay "The Deep Breath Before the Plunge":

I will not be posting about the premiere on Tales' social media until sometime on Friday, and my full review for the blog will go live on Sunday (I hope; it may end up being Monday depending on how meaty the premiere is). This is because of how the premiere is dropping at 3 am EST, and consists of THREE episodes of at least an hour's length each. This way, hopefully by the time I post I'll be able to have digested the episodes, have my thoughts in order, and be able to have access to quality screenshots; meanwhile, hopefully as many of my followers as possible will have been able to see the premiere for themselves.

08/28/2024

The Body Is Round 😍😍😍

"I love this time of year when my beary adorable co-workers get all voluptuous and potato-like." ~Becky, AWCC Development Director

📷 Patron by Sarah (Howie) Howard

08/28/2024

"The Sun Yet Shines," after all 🥹🥰☺️

"The night would swallow everything...and in the end the last little flame would flicker out, leaving no more than a wisp of gray smoke to curl away unseen...But...the final end would not be darkness. Somewhere, far beyond the night, there would be a brighter and a stronger light."--Bruce Catton, "This Hallowed Ground: The Story of the Union Side of the Civil War", p. 400

08/27/2024

Darkness is spreading throughout Middle-earth as Sauron's influence grows.

08/27/2024

In-article, the title is "Morfydd Clark Isn’t Afraid to Face the Rings of Power Fan Fervor." And she has nothing to be afraid of, at least when it comes to her Galadriel being faithful in spirit to what Tolkien wrote 🥹🥰☺️

As the popular but polarizing Lord of the Rings series returns, the actress has found solace in Galadriel’s saga.

08/27/2024

"I will not stop until this is put right."--The Lord of the Rings on Prime
"She deemed it her duty to remain in Middle-earth while Sauron was yet unconquered."--Unfinished Tales

08/27/2024

Our wonderful cast 🥰 Or some of them at any rate; a lot of the new ones are still being saved for the show itself, for some reason 🤔

08/26/2024

With three days to go before the release of Season 2 of The Lord of the Rings on Prime, here's a little impromptu bit of housekeeping, where I sincerely thank everyone who's participated in my journey here at Tales, give a brief schedule of how I plan to cover the show, and provide links to several of the interviews that came out of the world premiere this past Wednesday 😊

Getting ready for the release of Season 2 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

08/26/2024

I mean, most of us know this already because we've been actively rewatching Season 1 in preparation 🤣 But still, it's nice to see that Season 1 isn't being disavowed at all 🥰

08/25/2024

08/25/2024

For its second season, the creators of Amazon’s pricey “Lord of the Rings” prequel aim to raise the bar, and have leaned into psychodrama.

08/25/2024

😂🤣😅

Those she-elves have really gone downhill.

08/24/2024

Morfydd Clark, our Galadriel, photographed with her costars Charlie Vickers, Daniel Weyman, Charles Edwards and Robert Aramayo by John Francis Peters for the New York Times. These were probably taken the day before the SDCC panel, judging from their clothes which are the same as they wore for the Press Party that evening.

08/24/2024

All indications are that their friendship will undergo some serious strain this coming season. But I'm sure that in the end, Galadriel and Elrond will be able to remember who they are, and the real, platonic love they have for each other.

08/23/2024

Morfydd Clark, photographed by Ejatu Shaw for an interview with Wonderland Magazine (link in the comments).

08/23/2024

After the horror of "The Last Ballad of Damrod" and the charm of "Old Tom Bombadil", we finally have the full soundtrack for The Lord of the Rings on Prime Season 2. Once again, Bear McCrearyhas outdone himself, as have all the artists with whom he has collaborated (including some of our wonderful cast, like Sophia Nomvete, Rory Kinnear, Daniel Weyman, and Benjamin Walker). Available wherever you find your music 🎶 🐻

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08/22/2024

Spoilers for Season...4, probably. Maybe very late Season 3.

. . . a Mr. Creosote sized

08/22/2024

I do think Elrond is wrong here, or at least premature; Sauron doesn't have the One yet, or any other Rings. But I DO feel so bad for him, standing on principle when all the world seems to go mad.
(Although, I wonder if seeing Galadriel joining Gil-galad is giving him deja-vu to how he himself joined Gil-galad against her, and behind her back).

08/22/2024

Morfydd photographed by Charlie Grey for an interview with NME.

08/21/2024

"Sauron has many powers. One of his sort of primary powers is the ability to change form."
Me, a man of culture: "Please turn into a black cat at some point, please PLEASE turn into a black cat at some point."

08/21/2024

A new interview just dropped with several members of the cast and showrunners McCay and Lindsey Weber. It must have been filmed over the weekend, since Morfydd is wearing the same white dress her stylist Emma White Turle photographed her in on Sunday.

Comicbook got the chance to sit down with the cast of Prime Video's upcoming The Lord of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Season 2, to talk about the big change...

08/21/2024

Hopefully some of my American followers will be able to take advantage of this opportunity 😊

08/21/2024

Contrary to what some people will claim...Galadriel in Unfinished Tales was ALSO deceived by Sauron. She was suspicious and scornful of Annatar, but she never guessed who he was until he had actually forged the One and put it on. In this regard, show Galadriel was a lot quicker on the uptake, actually figuring out who he was. For more details, see my essay "The Quality of Mercy" in the link in my bio.

08/21/2024

Morfydd Clark, our Galadriel, attends the world premiere for The Lord of the Rings on Prime in London yesterday.