straightforwardly

So, I am mainly writing this entry because at the moment, I am taking a break from what I really want to be doing, which is playing video games until I melt into the ground. But my little brother is forever paranoid about our Xbox 360 overheating, and I've already been playing it for a while today, so here I am, writing this entry.

► If my mentions of my little brother and doing nothing but playing video games didn't make it clear, I'm done with classes for the summer! Finals were on Friday, and I moved out/went back home on the same day.

For our final, my Tolkien professor brought us doughnuts, and was all, "I have brought 35 golden rings of power, and I will need your help to destroy them all." Then, when one of my classmates asked if one of them was the One Ring, he said, "I don't know— the only way to find out is to work on destroying them all."

So, yes, I was amused by that.

► That means that I've also finished The Silmarillion since I last updated. I don't have too much to say about the rest of it, though; I enjoyed it, but not much of the ending caught enough of my attention for me to have thoughts about it.
( cut for potential spoilers? not sure if I need to, but better safe than sorry )

► And now, for the main portion of this entry. Yesterday, I went to GameStop, and now I have finally begun to play Dragon Age: Origins, which is a game that I've been super interested in for a long time. So far? I am really, really enjoying it.
( cut for length, as well as potential spoilers )

And that's basically where I am right now. I am definitely enjoying this very much, and, depending on whether or not one of my brothers have claimed the 360, might go back and play some more right now.

The last time I updated was when I was getting ready to head back to school. Now I've been here about two weeks, have settled in nicely, and have quite a bit to say about what I've been doing these last two weeks. (I've actually been meaning to write this entry for over a week now, but I keep putting it off, oops.)

► The first thing on my list of things to talk about is school. Specifically, the Tolkien class I'm taking! I signed up for this one as quick as I could when I saw it listed among the summer classes, and spoiler alert: I am so, so glad I did.
( more babbling under the cut )

► Perhaps unsurprisingly, that class has also awakened a new fandom for me: Lord of the Rings. It's kind of funny. While I've never seen the movies, I have read the books before— The Lord of the Rings twice prior to this summer (with the first time being when I was in the sixth grade), and The Hobbit once. And don't mistake me; I did enjoy them both times when I read them, but... I never really understood the passion people had for them?

Like, I loved Aragorn the first time I read it, and have always been really into Legolas and Gimili's friendship, but otherwise... it was just another fantasy series for me. I appreciated what it did for the genre, but didn't really get other people's reactions to it. I know there are people who reread it every year, and I remember just being baffled by that. Once every few years, sure. But every year?

Needless to say, I completely understand it now.
( under the cut: more fangirling! )

► Not to detract from my Lord of the Rings flailing, but I did watch the second episode of Sailor Moon Crystal last night, and I wanted to jot down some quick thoughts about it. Unfortunately, the animation quality bothered me a whole lot more than it had with the last episode— even Luna looked really odd at times, and Ami kept switching between looking great and looking uncomfortably off.

But outside of the animation, I really enjoyed it! The relationship between Usagi and Ami was great, that quick flashback to the Moon Kingdom really intrigued me, and I have discovered that I do, apparently, have some Usagi/Ami feelings. Maybe not strong feelings, but... yes, I was definitely shipping them at least a little bit in this episode.

► And I need to get back to my schoolwork, so I think I'll end this here, for now.