The Last Goodbye?

Greetings again, dear friends.

 

Last night, I had the immense pleasure of attending a midnight showing of the third and final installment of the beloved Hobbit trilogy, The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies.

You know me.  I am the very epitome of a fangirl.  I spent several hours after the film spazzing about this and that and everything beyond and in-between.  Smaug’s siege and destruction.  The battle scenes.  The one-on-ones.  The wraiths.  Elrond.  Everything about Thranduil.  Bard.  Legolas (despite the fact that he is a sassypants show-off like his father).  Those rams large enough to ride on up the side of a mountain.  Kiliel (I SHIP IT).  Bilbo's little nose twitch thing.  And lots of other things that aren’t coming to my mind as I write this.  Pretty much the whole movie.  It’s been a while, oddly enough, since I so heavily abused caps lock, exclamation points, and nonsensical emoticons.

After my inner (and outer…) fangirl calmed down to a stable state, however, I realized what my true emotions were in regards to the film.

            Tauriel: ‘…Why does it hurt so much?’

            Thranduil: ‘Because it was real.’

I have ventured to many distant lands.  Each one has a special place in my heart and mind that is a permanent part of my being.  Middle Earth holds some of my particularly fondest memories.

The point is that The Battle of Five Armies, another end to another fantastic adventure, will continue to haunt me with sentimentality and nostalgia for many years to come.

When The Return of the King released, I was still quite young and a bit naïve in the ways of the world, but now that I’m an adult and am burdened with my cares and experiences, I’ve learned to value these childhood fantasies and to approach them in a very different way than I did before.  The wonderful thing is, that I can always relive them.

          “There and back again.”

As I mentioned in my previous post, I tend to judge films very subjectively.  That’s just how I am.  I wouldn’t necessarily call myself my Tolkien purist, but I am in agreement that this movie is in no way perfect in relation to the book.  There are so many things that I could pick at and whine about, but honestly, this movie was so epic that I feel like I can overlook those things quite easily, for the most part.  There are several things that I wish weren’t left out and certain things that I would change if I could, but that’s not what this post is about so I won’t go there.

The book is the book and the movie is the movie.

This movie made me feel so...inspired.  As an artist and a writer, this is a most beautiful feeling.  Battle of the Five Armies was entertaining from start to finish, with nonstop action and continuous development of both character and story.  I’m quite surprised, honestly, how much was covered in just two hours and a half.  I am impressed.

It goes without saying that this is something very near and dear to me.  What I have been able to articulate and put together to form this blog post barely scratches the surface of my thoughts on this topic.  There is so much more that could be said.

            “To these memories I will hold
            With your blessing I will go
            To turn at last to paths that lead home
            And though where the road then takes me
            I cannot tell
            We came all this way
            But now comes the day
            To bid you farewell.”

            —“The Last Goodbye,” Billy Boyd

Despite previously declaring that Battle of the Five Armies would be his last film within the Tolkien universe, director Peter Jackson recently stated that he would “probably” be up for another journey in Middle Earth.  Mr. Jackson, I’d definitely be up for that, too.

So is this really the last goodbye?

Personally, I’m going to hope that this isn’t the case. I think that the greatest stories are the ones that are never-ending; the ones that will forever be immortalized within the hearts of those who believe that there are much higher things in this existence, even if some of those things are just in our imaginations.

 “Still round the corner there may wait

A new road or a secret gate,

And though I oft have passed them by,

A day will come at last when I

Shall take the hidden paths that run

West of the Moon, East of the Sun.”

“The Road Goes Ever On,” J.R.R. Tolkien

APRIL FAVORITES ♥

Hello, my sweet music notes!  Alleluia to our risen King!  I hope you all have been having a very holy and blessed Easter season.  Mine has been nothing short of beautiful.

I’m going to be honest: I’ve been so distracted lately that I nearly forgot about writing this blog post.  Now that Lent is over and I’m out of school for the summer, I’ve been overwhelmed with the amount of things that I can do!  Hahaha.  Sorry this post is a bit later than usual!

Anyway—my favorites for the month of April.  Here we go~!

Let us begin with a film, shall we?  Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Omg you guys.  This movie gave me so many feels.  I can’t even begin to articulate.  I’ll begin by saying that it is a great movie and I really enjoyed it.  So much action!  I was literally on the edge of my seat two or three times.  But I’m just a comic book nerd like that.  If you haven’t seen it yet, definitely GO SEE IT.  LIKE SOON.

I can’t really say much about it without spoilers, but wow, the storyline was quite unexpected.  In a good way, mind you.  I just wasn’t expecting it to be so intense and multi-faceted.

Let’s just say that The Winter Soldier makes me very excited—and curious—about the upcoming Marvel Universe films, particularly Avengers: Age of Ultron.

My music feature for this month goes to three-man Korean band Lunafly, composed of members Sam, Teo, and Yun.  The leader, Sam Carter, is half-Korean, half-British, and has a wonderfully clear voice.  He also plays guitar, as does Yun.  Yun is my bias (favorite member) for this group.  He has a lovely personality, and his voice is so warm and versatile.  He plays keyboards for the group.  Teo is on percussion most of the time.  Most of their stuff is vocal and acoustic, which ya’ll know I really like.

Believe it or not, I didn’t find them from listening to k-pop.  I was actually on YouTube looking for new covers of Pink’s Just Give Me a Reason, which is one of my favorite songs to sing. :-)  All three members of Lunafly speak English (Sam, being British, is fluent; Yun and Teo have pretty good pronunciation for a second language!), and they have many American pop (a-pop? lol) covers on their channel.  Their JGMaR is stunning.  I love it!

I have consumed so much food mostly dessert since Easter!  My food favorites for this month are Japanese candy and snacks, which I have been acquiring in packages from my dear friend, and from my local Asian grocery.  Lots of Almond Crush Pocky!  ♥  But my favorite is a new discovery called Chococones by Japanese snack company Meiji.  So yummy and addicting!  I can easily eat a whole box to myself during a single sitting.

I’m also back to my games!  Been playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and I finally made some progress in The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD.  I got it as a Christmas gift and have only played it once.  That’s ridiculous.  XD  But my favorite game for the past month is Super Mario 64.  I bought it on the Wii’s Virtual Console.  This game, like many others on the Nintendo 64 and Gamecube, brings back so many fond memories for me.  Things that were tucked away in my heart and mind—brought back to life through a video game controller. 

Wow, so deep, Ashley.

‘Til next month, peeps.  ^_^

NOVEMBER FAVORITES ♥

Here we go with round two of my monthly favorites! :D

This time I’ll begin with a movie, Thor: The Dark World.  I’ll admit that it was incredibly difficult for me not to go to the midnight showing, or even during opening weekend.  I had previously promised to take my brother out to see it for his birthday, so I ended up waiting 2 WHOLE WEEKS!  That aside…it was well worth it.  I’ll be brief and without spoilers.  Asgard was beautiful.  The landscape shots, the architecture, the costumes.  I wasn't as impressed with Malekith as I would've liked/expected to be, but I'm blaming General Zod in Man of Steel for that one.  He was the last movie supervillian that I experienced, and yeah.  Wow.  But I digress. 

 

Thor x Jane = love.  Loki was amazing, in every way imaginable.  The ending of the film certainly made me curious about the God of Mischief’s future role in the Marvel universe!  My second favorite character was Darcy.  She was hilarious!  And reminded me of myself in a few scenes…

 

…Here is the trailer!

 

 

 

 

The local radio stations have started playing Christmas music…DUN DUN DUN.  So it begins.  I live for this time of the year!  I’m super excited to finish up this term and start decorating, shopping, and baking to my heart’s content. ♥ But I’m going a little off-topic (again) here.  As for my favorite music during the month of November, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise when I say that I’m still addicted to k-pop.  Now that I’ve officially immersed myself in the world of Super Junior (in particular; I listen to other k-pop, too, I promise), I’ve come across some of their lesser known/less popular tunes, a few of which I’ve been absolutely loving.  Promise You by their subgroup Super Junior-K.R.Y. is one such song.   Also, Sorry Sorry (Answer Vers.).  How—no, WHY—does this video have less than a million views? o__o

 

I’d say that my absolute favorite for this past month has been Daydream.  Such a beautiful song!

 

 

 

Other (non-Korean, ha ha) music picks for November are Waiting for Superman by Daughtry, Honestly by Kelly Clarkson, and Strong by One Direction.

Lots of ramen and chocolate pocky have been consumed by me as of late.  Neither of these is particularly new to my diet, so I’m not sure if they count as a “monthly favorite,” but it doesn’t hurt anything to mention them here.  :)

 

 

As the weather gets colder and colder, our summer tans fade away, and we’d all look like Noh masks if it weren’t for makeup.  One look that I’m particularly fond of for myself during fall and winter is blush.  I don’t wear blush during the summer because all the sun exposure usually causes it to melt into my foundation and…yuck.  Besides that, blush doesn’t really show up well under summer’s rays, at least against my skin tone.  I like blush when it’s cold because it provides subtle color and an overall warmer look to the face.  It’s like a holiday glow! ^_^ My favorite everyday blush right now is one from e.l.f.’s Studio Line.  The color is called “Tickled Pink.”  It’s a perfect dark pink that isn’t too faint or too vivid.  It stays on quite well for up to 8 hours.  And you can’t argue with the $3 price tag!

 

 

 

Video games were pretty much non-existent in my life during the month of October, but I’ve been slowly easing them back into my schedule lately, because truthfully, I really miss gaming. ;__;  Back in June I received a bunch of 3DS games for my birthday, so I’ve been playing those.  I absolutely love Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance.  This is the first KH game that I’ve owned.  I played the original game years ago, but to be honest I don’t remember much about it.  This installment is just so.  Much.  Fun.  The characters and storyline are fantastic, and I love the suspense of not knowing which Square Enix or Disney element is going to pop up next.  I’ve also been playing Tales of the Abyss and Fire Emblem Awakening.  I just started those two, so I’m not going to comment on them right at this moment.

 

I’ll end this month’s favorites with an accessory.  Ya’ll know that I am a huge Lord of the Rings nerd.  I’ve been wanting an Evenstar pendant for as long as I can remember.  Ever since the Noble Collection came out with their rather pricey replica, it’s been near the top of my materialistic wishlist.  For a while it seemed like a bleak dream, because I’m a poor student and starving artist.  (Ha ha ha)  Just recently I found another, wayyyy cheaper replica on Amazon.  I bought it without hesitation!  Because it shipped from China, it took a while to get here, but!  It’s quite a lovely thing.  I wear it often, and am looking forward to wearing it with my Arwen look for The Hobbit premiere!

 

 

…And that’s all, folks!  I hope you enjoyed reading this post.  As always, if any of you have any questions about anything I’ve said here, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line!

 

Within the next couple of weeks, I will finally be posting either my ocarina review for Songbird Ocarinas, or my contact lens review for EyeCandy’s.  Or maybe both.  Who knows!  Christmas break is on the way, after all! :D

 

‘Til then!

Random Randomness 5/15/12

Just a couple of things today.  This past week, I've started three new short stories, all very different in substance and style.  I will be submitting each of these stories for publication to various magazines, websites, and compilations.  I will keep you all updated with my Facebook Page, so check back often.  Oh, I just realized that I haven’t announced my Facebook page here on my blog.  Ahem.  Well, yes, I have a fan page now.  Please do me a HUGE favor and “Like” it!

Back to the short stories, number #1 is about a charismatic young woman with some interesting stories to tell; #2 is doused with faerie dust; and #3 concerns a beautiful but dangerous romance between a girl from a troubled family and a seasoned fighter with a score to settle.

#3 is not something I would usually write, but, last week I had a lengthy conversation with a writer friend, and it went something like this:

Friend: Have you ever considered writing a story about a girl who falls in love with a guy twice her age or older?
 Me: Romance isn’t really my thing.
 Friend: BS.  You write good romance.  And you can throw your fantasy-action-drama-whatever it is you write stuff in there too.
 Me: I’ve never considered it, but eh, I could probably do it.
 Friend: EWWWW, Ash!! lol
 Me: I don’t see what’s wrong with it! XD If you’re in love, you’re in love, and you can’t fight your feelings.
 Friend: I suppose now you have to write this story now.
 Me: I suppose so.
 Me: (after the conversation) Crap.

So yeah.  That’s how that story came to be.  I’m actually quite pleased with how it’s coming along.  And I’ve modeled the guy in it after actor Jeremy Renner, who happens to be forty years old but still totally drool-worthy.

Speaking of Jeremy, he stars as Clint Barton/Hawkeye (*random fangirl moment*) in the EPIC superhero movie The Avengers, which came out this past Friday.  I got to see it on opening day with a few girlfriends, and let me tell you, The Avengers was one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time.  It’s fun, exciting, hilarious (good, clean humor!), and full to the brim with great acting talent and deep character.  A few days ago I watched the movie again in IMAX 3D.  I don’t care for 3D or IMAX (I think it’s too loud, lol), but hey, it’s Avengers.

If you haven’t seen this movie, shame on you.  But here’s the trailer, just to wet your appetite a little.

 And, if you like—here is the second trailer, which has different music and shows different scenes from the movie: Avengers trailer #2

And that’s it for today.  I hope to put up some artwork on my Tumblr tonight, but we’ll see how that goes.

Random Randomness 4/9/12

First off, the opening date of my online store has been pushed a week later to Saturday, April 21st.  The reason for this is that I haven’t had much time to work on my jewelry (or much else, might I add…).  And because of Lent, I had been trying to stick to the fasting, spiritual reading, etc.  And the lack of time and energy had definitely caught up to me artistically.  I have been writing (Chapters 1-5 of Felicity [prequel to The Otherkind] and several new poems are now available for you to read @Writers' Cafe), but other than that not much else.

I have been sketching and drawing a bit as well, but it goes without saying that my WIPs are still indeed WIPs.  I have not given up though, oh no, quite the opposite.  I really do try to get as much done as I possibly can in the time that I have.  And writing is my priority, so art tends to be set aside all too often.

But anyway, that’s an update.  Now for the randomness.

So, I did happen to see The Hunger Games movie this weekend (and again a few days later).  I very much enjoyed it, so I went and saw it again.  I was pleased to find that it did follow the book very closely, and was impressed at how the directors fit as much as they did into the two-hour movie and seamlessly, as well.  Bravo.  Now only four-hundred something days until Catching Fire releases.  Sigh.  On that note, I think that Catching Fire was my favorite book of the trilogy.  I’m not exactly sure why, but I just remember enjoying it immensely.

Also on the Hunger Games topic, I listened to Taylor Swift’s song Eyes Open off of the soundtrack and it’s my current favorite song.  I find it to be very poetic, with deep meaning.  The music is calm, but the lyrics deliver a solemn, powerful message.   It’s a song with a purpose.

Listen to it for yourself.

I just love when I find songs like this.

Since Facebook was one of the things I gave up for Lent, I’ve had to find other ways to waste my internet time.  I think I’m addicted to Pinterest.  I’ve been a member for about three weeks and I already have five hundred something pins.  I think it’s a great idea, though, to get and share inspiration.  So it’s not a total waste of time.  And, I have a cool board called “Visualizing My Books”, in which I share pictures of actors, places, scenes, costumes, and more, inspired by things in my books.

If you would like to visit me at Pinterest, here’s the link: Aianarie @Pinterest

Last thing for today, Hyrule Historia.  The Japanese-published Official The Legend of Zelda artbook.  Two hundred and seventy-six pages of beautiful Zelda artwork.  I NEED this book.  I’m saving up in order to buy it.  Anyone care to donate? Hehehe.

Next week I'll be posting about my store.  Until then!

P.S. Have any ideas or requests for me to talk about in my next post? Send me an e-mail!

EDIT: HAPPY EASTER, EVERYONE!

Just something that I found.....

Lately I have tapped back into my inner Zelda-nerd.  Fanart and other Farore's Melody (remember this?? :P) may very well be a reality in the near future.  Keep checking my deviantART. :]

I am not a frequent YouTuber, I just go there to look up lyric videos occasionally.  But last week I was watching some Zelda-related vids and found a full-length fan-film called The Legend of Zelda: The Triforce Prophecy.  A dude by the name of Scotty Whitehurst heads the project as director, writer, and also stars as Link.  And yes, he is a lot hotter than the guy from IGN.com’s 2008 EPICLY FAKE movie trailer (*deep, agonizingly slow breath*…AUGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!! …Ahem.  Ok.  Frustration out.)

So, is this fan movie worth watching?  I watched all thirteen parts (each is roughly 8 minutes; the entire movie is about 120 minutes long) plus the blooper reel and “making of” vids.  And yeah, I think it’s pretty good.  It has a lot of humor, a developing relationship between Link and Zelda (here you can see some inspiration from the old cartoon—Well excuuuuuuse me, Princess!  I laughed so hard.), and the music selection is spot-on.  The special effects are great, considering that’s it IS a fan film.  The acting is good; I wasn’t expecting to be impressed there.

Yeah, I think it’s worth watching.  You’ll at least get a laugh out of it, I promise you that.  Go check it out.

Here’s the link (HA I almost capitalized “link” there XD) to the videos at Scotty’s YouTube channel: “The Legend of Zelda: The Triforce Prophecy” on YouTube

…Aaaaaand, if you’re really that lazy: here, just click the play button below to watch Part One.  You’re welcome.

Gale and Peeta in the "Hunger Games" movie

Well well well!  Upon seeing this cover of Entertainment Weekly, I have more hope that this movie will succeed! ...Hmm.  Gale, not so much.  I dunno.  But Peeta?  Oh yes.  Hutcherson is one hot kid. :-)

Follow The Hunger Games movie news and more at the movie's official website.

May the odds be ever in your favor!

"The Hunger Games" Movie Poster

Oh my goodness; I can't wait to see this movie! :D If YOU haven't read The Hunger Games trilogy yet and you love to read, get your lazy little tush over to your local library or pick up your own copy at Barnes 'n' Noble--whatever, just READ IT! Three of my most favorite books of all time. I STRONGLY recommend them to friends and aquaintances and everyone always ends up loving them.

<---Anyway, this is the first official poster for the movie. :)

You can read my review for The Hunger Games as well as any other books that I've read at Goodreads.com here: Aianarie's review of The Hunger Games

THE BOOKS:

Comments on "The Hunger Games" casting...

So lately I’ve been following the casting process of one of my favorite book series, The Hunger Games, and boy, have I had a few surprises.

I agree with the casting choices for the most part; I think Jennifer Lawrence is a great choice for Katniss Everdeen, I think she will play the part well. I’m a little disappointed with the choice for Peeta Mellark, Josh Hutcherson; I would have preferred this beautiful boy from Beastly and I Am Number Four:

Alex Pettyfer <3

…*sigh*…At first I was really disappointed but now that I’ve thought about it, I think Hutcherson will be able to pull off the role nicely. I wish him luck. I am far less-than-satisfied with the choice for Gale Hawthorne. I don’t think Liam Hemsworth fits the part at all. I would have liked someone more along the lines of:

Drew Roy

…and CINNA?! I was absolutely quite dumbfounded when I heard that Lenny Kravitz was casted as Katniss’ stylist. And a bit…disgusted. He doesn’t seem right for the part at all (even more so than Hemsworth for Gale), and I wondered to myself if the casting director even read the book, let alone took the time to think about who would be right for the role. In my opinion, Kravitz is too big. Too masculine. Cinna needs to have certain feminism to him, but not as much as popular fan choice Adam Lambert. Please, no. I was thinking of Prince Caspian:

Ben Barnes. Can’t you just see him with gold eyeliner? <3

Finally, I’d like to comment on Portia, Peeta’s stylist. Latarsha Rose has been cast for the role. They almost hit it for me, but not exactly. Rose is pretty and has the calm face I was looking for, but my number one choice for Portia was Tamina from Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time:

Gemma Arterton


So those are my thoughts. As for the other leads and the tributes, I think they’re all fairly good choices. I look forward to seeing what else they come up with. Regardless, I can’t wait to see this movie.

My pretend casting of "Shiver"

Recently, a friend of mine showed me some videos on YouTube made by Shiver fans of pretend casting for the book's upcoming movie (SO excited!!). She asked me to put together my own cast, so I did, and that’s what I’m going to share with everyone today.

*Full credit and my thanks go to the others who put together their videos; I have used some of their choices.

~*~*~*~

AIANARIE'S PRETEND CAST

FOR SHIVER by Maggie Stiefvater

Sam – MATT PROKOP
Casting Sam was extremely difficult. I couldn’t find anyone who fit the picture of him that I had in my mind. Finally I stumbled upon this cutie, from High School Musical and Furry Vengeance. I ultimately chose Matt because he looks almost exactly as Sam is described in the book by Maggie. I love his pouty face. :o)

Grace – DEBBY RYAN
Grace was another toughie. I wanted to find a girl that is cute but not too cute, with a face that radiated youth, curiosity, but also strong will. Grace has a great sense of humor, and I think that is another important aspect to casting her. You may recognize Debby from The Suite Life on Deck and 16 Wishes.

Beck – JUSTIN CHATWIN
Justin is a favorite amongst fans of Shiver for the role of Beck, and I have to agree. He seems to fit the part seamlessly.

Isabel – TAYLOR SWIFT
Taylor immediately sprang to my mind when I began looking for an actress to fill those designer shoes. I have no doubt that she would make a flawless Isabel.

Jack – JAKE ABEL
This character wasn’t too hard to cast, but I found that there were many choices to choose from and any of them would make an excellent Jack. I ended up choosing Jake Abel from Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief because he had that very jock-like appearance that I saw in Jack.

Rachel – EMMA WATSON
Emma was another fan favorite. I like this choice because her accent would really make Rachel stand out, and that’s exactly how Rachel is. She’s talkative, scatterbrained, and just plain funny. Emma would be absolutely hilarious.

Olivia – ANNASOPHIA ROBB
Olivia was the last character I casted. I know her part seems easy, but really it wasn’t (for me, anyway). I wanted to find an actress who had a very thoughtful, introspective look to her face.

Shelby – DAKOTA FANNING
Shelby was probably my least favorite character in the book, and I wanted to find an actress who would show everything I disliked about her in a less smoldering way. Almost everyone else picked a model-gorgeous girl to play Shelby, and I think that rivals Isabel’s role too much. I like Dakota for this part because she is pretty and has that passive, uninterested look to her face that is perfectly reminiscent of Shelby.

Grace’s Mom – JENNIFER ANISTON
For whatever reason, Jennifer seems to me a perfect choice for Grace’s artsy mother. Plus, she looks a lot like Debby Ryan, who I casted as Grace.

Grace’s Dad – PATRICK DEMPSEY
I don’t have a lot to say about why I chose Patrick for Grace’s father, I just like the fit. I think he could pull off the absentminded father who’s trying to be a businessman role quite nicely.


~*~*~*~

I hope you enjoyed this! Please leave your comments; I would love to hear what you have to say.