I know that many people love the Rankin-Bass Hobbit and LOTR, and that many people love the artwork of the books from the 1960s and 70s, but I gotta say… I love having the films and Alan Lee and John Howe and Weta Workshop as my first introduction to Arda. It feels so tangible and accurate and it’s so beautiful. I can’t get over how beautiful.
Sorry I'm a few days late with the Conversation Hearts. 😅
I really enjoyed the Big Hero Six TV series when it came out. Not sure I ever got season 3 fully watched, though. I want to revisit it sometime.
Haven't finished it, yet, but I have really been enjoying Mr. Delivery Knight. Hilarious! But also so sweet and charming. The ridiculous, self-aware humor is sprinkled in just right.
Love our trio of idiots: The Driver, The Duke, and the Damsel. Looking forward to see how their tale works out in the end.
NO worries Hobbit, I myself failed completely and utterly to read off other peoples' lists (I JUST got in an audiobook from someone's list that I reserved on the Libby app like two weeks ago), so I'm just grateful and enjoying all the responses people have sent to me!
YESSS a fellow BH6 show enjoyer! What are your thoughts on Globby? I love him, he's such an idiot and he has a sweet redemption arc!
HAHAHA YES I'm glad you enjoyed! XD The humor is SO peak and the self-awareness definitely is part of the draw! I hope you enjoy the rest of it! I'm a little sad it ended but also happy it didn't overextend itself and get full of love triangle drama like these types of stories usually do!
I really need to rewatch the BH6 series. 😅 my recollections of glory are vague, but I do remember being so happy for his redemption arc. Do love a well done redemption arc.
Sorry I'm a few days late with the Conversation Hearts. 😅
I really enjoyed the Big Hero Six TV series when it came out. Not sure I ever got season 3 fully watched, though. I want to revisit it sometime.
Haven't finished it, yet, but I have really been enjoying Mr. Delivery Knight. Hilarious! But also so sweet and charming. The ridiculous, self-aware humor is sprinkled in just right.
Love our trio of idiots: The Driver, The Duke, and the Damsel. Looking forward to see how their tale works out in the end.
NO worries Hobbit, I myself failed completely and utterly to read off other peoples' lists (I JUST got in an audiobook from someone's list that I reserved on the Libby app like two weeks ago), so I'm just grateful and enjoying all the responses people have sent to me!
YESSS a fellow BH6 show enjoyer! What are your thoughts on Globby? I love him, he's such an idiot and he has a sweet redemption arc!
HAHAHA YES I'm glad you enjoyed! XD The humor is SO peak and the self-awareness definitely is part of the draw! I hope you enjoy the rest of it! I'm a little sad it ended but also happy it didn't overextend itself and get full of love triangle drama like these types of stories usually do!
I really need to rewatch the BH6 series. 😅 my recollections of glory are vague, but I do remember being so happy for his redemption arc. Do love a well done redemption arc.
Crowds filled the village square for market day—at least two dozen black-cloaked Oprien soldiers among them—but Vallen placed his bag on the ground and settled easily onto his stool beneath the tree, confident in his disguise. He wore none of the marks of his priestly office—no robes, no chains, no visible tattoos. To unknowing eyes, he was simply an old man in shepherd’s garb whiling away his day with whittling and idle chatter. Only those who had been directed to seek his help would notice that he was carving a wedding chain.
No one spared Vallen a glance all morning, which was both relief and sorrow. The Oprien emperor had banned Rioven weddings since the invasion; all who disobeyed the decree were publicly executed. Early on, the people had been eager to defy the emperor, but now most Riovens thought the rites too dangerous to risk. Ground down by the occupation, they were forgetting the habits of freedom. All rumors of the royal family’s return had faded into childish legend. The emperor’s oppression grew ever more cruel. Why try to fight when there was no hope of success? As long as Vallen lived, he would try to preserve the Rioven ways, but what if he died? Would others continue his crusade, or would Rioven rites—Rioven life—die with him?
As the sun rose higher, Vallen lost the tree’s shade. He was beginning to contemplate a rest in a tavern when he became aware of eyes upon him. A young man with dark hair and a square face, wearing garb much like his own. A Rioven peasant down to his bones and, by the look of it, a pious one.
But appearances could be deceiving.
Vallen kept his eyes on his chain, smoothing the wooden links with careful strokes of the knife.
The man stepped forward. “You sit idle on such a day?”
Vallen responded casually, “I’ve had many years of labor.”
“We have need of you now. The laborers are few.”
Accurate down to the last syllable. The man had learned the signs from a trusted source. Vallen dared a closer look.
The young man was solemn, assured. A bit too assured; a bridegroom seeking an illegal wedding usually showed some sign of nerves. His garb was ill-fitting—a sign of poverty or disguise? He seemed not even to notice the soldiers passing by—a sign he was in league with them?
Vallen gathered his bag and rose to follow. He put the chain in his pocket, but kept the knife in his hand.
The man led him through the market crowds, passing up a dozen opportunities to hand him over to the Opriens, but passing up just as many places that could hide a marriage ceremony. Bridegrooms usually wanted the ceremony done quietly nearby, limiting the chances of detection and keeping the priest near his post so other couples could find him. Was there a wedding at all, or had Vallen walked into a trap? There were other groups that would rejoice in the elimination of a priest.
They passed beyond the edges of the village and went far into the countryside with no explanation from the groom.
On an isolated stretch of road, Vallen dared a comment. “It seems you keep your bride well-hidden.”
The man graced Vallen with a smile that did much to calm his doubts. “These days, all treasures must be.”
At last, they came upon a small cottage surrounded by garden plots at the edge of the forest. A silent young woman emerged, wearing the robes of a hermitess.
For a moment, Vallen was puzzled—a hermitess could allow no others into her tiny abode—but then the woman placed her hand upon the man’s arm and gave him a look of devotion so pure that it was clear the only vows she planned to make were to him.
Hiding the wedding was expected, but what reason could they have to disguise the bride? The young woman was tall and slender, with pale skin and black hair, and moved with fluid grace. The very picture of beauty and innocence. Vallen couldn’t picture her as an outlaw.
The woman spoke quietly to the young man, but Vallen could just make out her words. “He is truly a priest?”
The woman’s flowing, musical accent made the reason for secrecy clear. The costume of a silent hermitess kept others from speaking to her and revealing that incriminating voice. The robes hid the tattoos of her heritage. When the woman moved, Vallen caught just a glimpse of a black-ink swirl of vines and leaves beneath her collar--the mark of a highborn Taina.
That tiny little duchy had thrown up such fierce resistance that the emperor had decreed they were to be wiped from existence. It said much about the girl’s courage that she was alive today. It said much about the man’s devotion that he was willing to wed her.
What dangers the young were driven to these days. Hidden heroism, never known to the world. No doubt there were a million such stories all across Rioven—and not one had thrown off the Opriens.
Had Oprien ground Vallen down, too? He had been doing this work for years now, always watching, always hiding. And for what? In the lair of the Oprien monster, would one more wedding really make a difference?
A voice that seemed to come from somewhere outside himself reminded him—it will make all the difference in the world to the bride and groom.
“Are you sure we can trust him?” the woman asked her bridegroom.
Vallen raised his hand in holy greeting. In Tainu, he said, “I am your devoted servant, my lady.”
The woman brightened at the sound of her native tongue, and a tremulous anxiety faded from her.
Vallen looked toward the groom and patted his bag. “I have the herbs and water for the marriage rite.” He started toward the cottage. “We can begin the ceremony inside.”
The man stopped Vallen with a hand on his arm. “We are not far from the Innocent River.”
Vallen pulled away. “The cottage is ideal. Much safer.”
“The ceremony must be completed in the waters.”
This was why Vallen’s work was important. So many were losing the nuances of the rites. “It’s a common tradition, but not a requirement of the ceremony.”
“I’m afraid it’s necessary in this case.”
Necessary? To a man hiding a Taina bride? There was devotion to tradition and then there was recklessness. Yet the man spoke with authority that would not be disobeyed.
Vallen met the young man’s eyes and explained as calmly as possible, “I admire your devotion, but the river is only strictly required in the marriage rite—”
Of kings.
The words caught in Vallen’s throat, lit up his mind. Before his eyes, the man in the shepherd’s robes gained a king’s bearing. Vallen had seen it in the old king who resembled this young man, had recalled it often in the days since the invasion. The king stood tall, not to look down upon his kingdom as the Oprien did, but to hold it up with his own strength.
The line of kings had survived.
Vallen nearly fell to his knees, but the man grasped his hand and lifted him up. With a smile, the man said, “I am glad you understand the rites.”
He handed Vallen a tarnished golden chain set with small sapphires—a wedding chain older than the Oprien empire, last seen in a burning cathedral in the king’s city.
Vallen grasped the chain, then seized upon his priestly training. He had served kings in palaces; he could serve one in the forest.
The ceremony took place in the headwaters, a short walk away from the cottage. Hidden witnesses—the king’s supporters—watched silently from perches among the trees. Shallow, crystal waters flowed over the bare feet of the king and his bride as Vallen took between them binding their hands with the marriage chain.
The rite had never felt so alive. The bride and groom took up their own chains, not of oppression, but of love. Not enslaving, but serving.
I had an idea, that seemed fairly straight forward on the surface: make an etched 3D wood cut scene of Tech working in a chaotic enemy computer lab, trying to get important data.
It was anything but straight forward, but we are almost there.
I drew the design from scratch in Adobe Illustrator, breaking out all the different layers. Then, I put them all into the laser cutter software, Lightburn, and got all the settings figured out.
And then, I decided to make it even more complex and add lights. The wiring map broke my brain. I nearly gave up many times.
We are now 96 hours in, with 14 individual layers, and 17 separate pieces, plus the electronics, but we are near the finish line!
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