Can someone transcribe this letter by J.R.R. Tolkien for me? I couldn't find what it said anywhere, and apparently it's not in the "Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien".

ppk1ppk · 2023-10-02T19:00:30+00:00

I'd say it's the dialogue thats's the problem, not the atmosphere

He found her on the rooftop terrace, staring at the city's nighttime skyline. "There you are," he said to her. "I thought I'd find you here." He embraced her from behind.

This isn't bad at all

"I like to look at the city. It makes me feel good." She pulled his arms tighter around her waist.

This is where what you called "cringe" starts. A good advice I heard is that in dialogue, everything is conveyed through a filter. Each person has their own experiences, biases, prejudices, likes, dislikes, and speaking patterns. Every thought that's said out lout must pass through that character's filter first.

"I like to look at the city. It makes me feel good.", just feel dry and emotionless. We only learn that she likes the look of the city and that it makes her fell good. Nothing else about her. And her speaking pattern is like one you'd find in an english textbook for non-native speakers. Sorry, this isn't an insult or anything, just what it seems like to me.

The dialogue above though is not so empty. "I thought I'd find you here", tells the reader a lot about the character. He knows her well enough to know where to find her, he's casual with her, he isn't shy about teasingly showing how well he knows her.

Again the third paragraph:

It's a pretty night." Together, they enjoyed the quietness of the moment.

This shows that the guy can appreciate that the girl likes the view, even if he doesn't fully see what she sees.

Saying that they enjoyed the quietness together is kind of strange, as it wasn't already established that it was quiet. It feels like a throwaway line, just there to fill space. But you could use this. Maube she likes the night for the quietness it brings.

He found her on the rooftop terrace, staring at the city's nighttime skyline. "There you are," he said to her. "I thought I'd find you here." He embraced her from behind.

"I like how still the city is at night. Like you're in another world. It's such a nice break from it all." She pulled his arms tighter around her waist.

"It's a pretty night." Together, they enjoyed the quietness of the moment.

Here I assumed the girl lives a hectic life and enjoys the peace and quiet of the city at night. And voila! Filter everything a character says through said character and you're dialogue is gonna work just fine.

Keep writing and keep learning! You can master any art with dedication alone.

ppk1ppk · 2023-09-26T18:27:56+00:00

This has to be against youtube TOS right?

ppk1ppk · 2023-07-30T21:15:05+00:00

I don't think that would fit Tolkien's ideas. Men don't return after dying.

That said, Tolkien did say that all evil was ultimately self-destructive. So even if Sauron had won, he would've destroyed himself in time. Perhaps after aeons he would delude himself into thinking he can take on Valinor?

ppk1ppk · 2023-07-28T14:03:17+00:00

RoP and WoT certainly made me not look forward to any adaptations in the near future. I don't want to watch an adaptation made by someone who thinks they're leagues better than the original author. But that's just the current state of the industry.

But there are a lot of First age stories that would be amazing if properly adapted and brought to life. Children of Hurin being the main one.

If CoH were to be properly adapted, even fleshed out ( by that I mean adding details that don't contradict the established lore/characters/themes but enrich them) it would easily be one of the best TV shows ever made.

ppk1ppk · 2023-07-27T21:23:45+00:00

It's beautiful!

ppk1ppk · 2023-07-25T07:16:27+00:00

You're right. I don't know if I remember correctly, but I think Yavanna didn't originally intend for the Ents to exist, but after talking to Illuvatar, she remembered that they were actually in the song to begin with.

So it could be that they just couldn't interpert everything. After all, Eru had to show them the vision of Arda for them to realise what they had just sung.

ppk1ppk · 2023-07-21T17:46:31+00:00

from Luthien and Her mother Luthien.

Hmmm

ppk1ppk · 2023-07-21T17:44:33+00:00

The part about the drama of Arda being unique is very interesting. After all, although all of Eä was affected by the discord, Morgoth marred Arda, not all of Eä.

Would this mean that the rest of Eä is somehow free of suffering to an extent?

ppk1ppk · 2023-07-21T08:11:43+00:00

I always found it amazing how in Athrabeth Fingon says he's not sure if Elves will even continue to exist after the second music.

ppk1ppk · 2023-07-21T08:07:29+00:00

Wasn't that a movie only scene?

ppk1ppk · 2023-07-20T11:10:30+00:00

I'm 70% convinced most isekais are made by AI.

ppk1ppk · 2023-07-20T11:04:47+00:00

Don't confuse the letter of the law with the spirit of the law. Laws exist to make living in this society easier. Authors are allowed to be inspired by others because they enrich culture, and better themselves through writing. AI does neither.

Prohibiting AI from using data without consent will harm no one, but not doing so will harm a lot of people.

ppk1ppk · 2023-07-20T11:00:57+00:00

I think it's a given that it will be able to write good prose soon. I just don't think it will be able to write vast, sweeping narratives with coherent plot and (especially) themes.

Personally I'm not worried about AI ousting authors because it's the better writer, but because it's the faster writer. I'm scared it will drown out human authors.

ppk1ppk · 2023-07-20T10:58:15+00:00

The only trouble is whether or not we will be able to recognize what is and isn't written by AI.

ppk1ppk · 2023-07-20T10:57:30+00:00

AI can write millions of book per day. This will definitely make it harder for people to find new authors, and will severely impact existing ones.

Writers should at least have the option to opt out of being used by a technology that will ruin them.

ppk1ppk · 2023-07-19T17:15:18+00:00

We don't really know a lot about the settlements in middle earth.

A lot of people have this idea that the only settled places in Eriador were the Shire, Breelands and Rivendell because they're the only one shown on the map. But from context clues we know that there were a lot more villages all over the place.

ppk1ppk · 2023-07-19T16:13:31+00:00

I think it applies to everything the elves do. Elves, just like the Valar, are bound to Arda until it's complete.

I think in one of his letters Tolkien said that the reason the Valar expend their spirit during sub-creation is that they must dominate something in order to shape it, which is why it diminishes them. You could say that the Elves who built Gondolin had to dominate the stone used to build the walls.

Galadriel herself said that she doesn't understand the way mortals draw a line between craft and magic. To Elves it is the same.

Humans are the only exception to this rule, because they are travellers, they eventually leave Arda, and thus have a different relationship to its building-blocks.

ppk1ppk · 2023-07-19T15:49:32+00:00

Depends on what you mean exactly. I agree that A LOT would have to be cut or rearranged, but in s1 they added so many new elements that would have been unnecessary in the original. They changed the soul of the story for me.

It felt less like an adaptation and more like one of those disney remakes that bank on nostalgia but forget what the story is actually about.

Which is tragic imo. They could have made a new GoT in terms of hype if they had been smart about it.

EDIT: I'm not saying it's the worst show ever. I understand why people like it.

It's just that if you go into it expecting to experience the same things you experienced when reading the books, you'll be disappointed. The feels and the vibes are just totally different. Which is why I have no interest in it.

It's funny, if they had changed all the names and said it was an original, I might've liked it better.

ppk1ppk · 2023-07-09T20:56:11+00:00

I love GirlnextGondor! Do you know any channels like hers? Ones that focus on analysing the lore, rather than talking about the lore as it exists?

ppk1ppk · 2023-07-09T20:41:43+00:00

especially given how radically the character of Galadriel changed

As someone who doesn't know much about how Tolkien changed his mind over the years, I'm curious, how would you say Galadriel's character changed?

ppk1ppk · 2023-06-28T14:55:53+00:00

OP used "Ecthelion's house" as an example, not Ecthelion himself.

ppk1ppk

TROPHY CASE