Good Morning! 🥰🌅 Follow Us For Your Daily Dose Of Motivation And Inspiration! 🧡

Which of the named maiar are most huggable to the least huggable? Please, include sister Ilmare too. She CAN potentially hug, it is just that her hugs will be diffrent!

A simple quandary on the surface, but more confounding upon inspection!

I note that the question is who is “most huggable”, and not “who gives the best hugs”, or “who would I most like to hug”. BUT you’ve also stated that Imarë’s capacity to initiate a hug makes her eligible for consideration, so I will expand the definition of “huggable” to include “able to hug” as well as “able to receive hugs”. This will affect ranking as well as hug quality.  

1) Olorin.  Here’s my reasoning: He is already in physical form, he is mostly amiable to other living creatures, he is a man of great empathy and insight and would probably know when and why you needed a hug the most, he wears big robes which seem cuddly, he probably smells nice, like sweet tobacco smoke and wool. It’d be like a really good grandpa hug. 10/10, accessible, unambiguously platonic, pleasantly survivable. It might not be the hug you want, but it’s the hug you need. 

2) Uinen. Have you ever hugged someone in the ocean? While you’re both floating, and your body temperature has adjusted to the water so you’re almost not able to perceive that it’s water anymore, and you’re both just weightless and adrift with the hush of waves and gulls the only sound around you, and the sun is setting and sparking off the droplets on her skin, her arms and breasts soft as pillows, buoying you gently up upon the surface of the vast, rocking sea, her hair rolling like a kelp forest with the current, and you are safe, safe and loved and in the embrace of eternity itself and it is so beautiful you no longer remember your own name, or that your skin was ever dry or your body ever cumbersome and grounded, and all that matters is the pink sky and gentle smile and the crook of her neck and shoulder that your head cradles against so perfectly. This hug affects you on a spiritual level, but you do get salt water up your nose and your fingers are pruny.  9.999~/10.   Leaving the hug forces you to return to a disappointing and squelchy reality with sand in your shoes. 

3) Sauron. It doesn’t matter how tall you are or how much you weigh, you will be swept up in this hug; it doesn’t hurt you but it is a powerful hug, you are at no point able to forget that if he wanted he could squeeze you into a cup of grapejuice. He smells like warm leather and some kind of exotic beard oil that probably costs a lot of money and a little bit of sweat but not in a bad way. There’s serious muscles behind this hug but also just enough padding that its like “oh shit this dude lives deliciously”; there’s a lot of well-groomed body hair and perilous intentions. This hug is an acquired taste, but absolutely the finest vintage. Will almost certainly lead to bad decisions. The author’s bias has been noted. 9/10. 

4) Huan. Gets top marks for being huggable, despite not being able to hug back in the traditional sense. Loses half a mark for knocking you over and licking your whole face even though you asked him not to several times, but it’s still cute. 8.5/10, a good boy, you’re a good boy yes you are. 

5) Tillion aka “Tillybun”. Hard to catch! Gets squirmy if you try and pick him up and cuddle him, but is more amendable to hugs if you come down to his level. Even more amenable if there are treats. Cannot hug back, but is VERY soft, and has tickly whiskers, and that’s wonderful. 8/10  Difficult to obtain, but worth the effort. 

6) Melian. This is a, hmmm, regal hug. It’s good! But a little reserved? It always feels a bit like a photo-op? But she’s wearing these really long silk sleeves and has little jingly ornaments that sound really pretty and she smells like cedar wood and amber and lotuses, so the whole procedure is an Experience. 7/10 Could use some more emotional availability, but the catering is exquisite. 

7) Ossë. Aside from the potential drowning risk, it’s really awkward and forced, like you can tell he’s not really into it and doesn’t understand the appeal. Also, unlike Uinen he’s kind of taut and sharp and spiny and slippery? Smells STRONGLY of iodine. MIGHT be poisonous. COULD forget you can’t breathe underwater. Aside from those concerns though, he’s got big Shape of Water energy and it’s kinda hot if you’re into that. 6/10. 

8) Eonwë. The likelihood of obtaining a hug from this uptight piece of work is slim to none, but if you ever do get one, it will be with your face smooshed into hard, unforgiving plate armor, jabbed by pointy metal flanges, for exactly 2.5 seconds before you are released with some kind of stern appraisal, like “good work citizen” or “so it pleases heaven”. You will not know what is happening and it will be cold and scary but afterwards you’ll feel strangely elated? You did it champ, you won approval from Constable Tightass. You hate it, but a part of you loves it, don’t you bootlicker? Yeah you love being praised by authority you thirsty regime doormat. 4/10 

9) Curunir. This hug lasts too long. You notice that he is uncomfortably bony and smells like wetwipes. He keeps saying embarrassing platitudes the whole time that make it seem like he’s doing you a big favor for gracing you with attention, and it comes with a little pat on the head! This is the most patronizing thing you have ever endured. You need to take a long shower. He seems pleased with himself. 2/10

10) Arien, Gothmog, Durin’s Bane, Ilmarë: Too spicy to hug. And look, it’s not their fault their hugs aren’t survivable! Other folks who are Ainur might find their hugs very rewarding and pleasant! But for the rest of us, a hug from them means being incinerated, or freezing asphyxiation in space. Simply. too. spicy. 0/10 

Nine rings were made for men. Seven for the dwarves, three for the elves, and one for the big guy himself. One, three, seven, nine. There is but a set of five missing to complete the sequence of odd numbers. I propose that this missing set of rings of power was gifted to a mysterious someone by their true love, along with a partridge in a pear tree (among other things). In this essay I will-

honestly Anakin and Padmé’s secret marriage has so much comedy potential and TCW did not take advantage of that at all

I’m talking ridiculous sitcom hijinks

Anakin diving out of Padmé’s high rise Coruscanti apartment in his knickers to avoid getting caught

Padmé sneaking into the Temple to hang out with her husband, gets caught by some random Jedi, claims she’s there to meet... uh... Master Yoda??? Gets roped into having tea with him for the next 4 hours

They get sent on some diplomatic mission together... (with Ahsoka maybe?). it all goes tits up as per usual... they *have* to kiss to avoid getting caught. they get super into it. Ahsoka coughs loudly like “the bad guys have been gone for five minutes”

Someone asks Anakin why he’s visiting Padmé’s apartment. he claims he’s there to fix her washing machine. Ends up doing odd jobs for every single resident of 500 Republica to keep his cover

I'm approaching parenting age and I've been thinking back on all the stuff I put my parents through as a kid. Only thought now is "oh no, God help me"

Hyphens, en Dashes and em Dashes

Oh- and let’s not forget the minus sign, that thing on your keyboard that can be misused as any one of the above! 

It took me a long time to understand the differences. 

The minus sign                         (-)

The hyphen                               (-)

The en dash                              (–)

The em dash                            (—)

Visually, not much in it, is there?  

But oh what a difference the length makes! 

The minus sign is a mathematical symbol. That’s it. Don’t misuse it for anything else.

The hyphen is used to join two elements to form a compound word, like  self-restraint. Numbers between twenty-one and ninety-nine should also be hyphenated when they’re spelled out. Sherlock Holmes-Watson or John Watson-Holmes (interesting to know which one wins in the battle). You should also use a hyphen in a compound modifier before a noun, as in The Crossed Keys Inn was a dog-friendly pub.

The shorter en dash  is used when describing ranges and with the meaning “to” in phrases like “Dover–Calais crossing.” It applies to ranges of numbers, such as times, page numbers, or scores (I’ll schedule you from 4:30–5:00). That said, outside of formally printed documents, it is increasingly being replaced with a hyphen, so if you miss this one, Sherlock won’t hang you for it. 

The longer em dash (—) is about as wide as the letter M (duh, now I get why it’s called this). It’s used to separate extra information or mark a break in a sentence.  An em dash is most often used to indicate a pause in a sentence. It’s stronger than a comma, but weaker than a period or semicolon. 

You can use a pair of em dashes to draw special attention to parenthetical information, as in

Sherlock—who was wearing the same purple shirt of sex—entered the room carrying his violin..

You can use a single em dash to add explanatory or amplifying information, especially when the information is surprising:

I opened the door and there she stood—Eurus, my long lost sister.

Em dashes can also signal a sudden interruption, particularly in dialogue:

“Wait! I forgot to tell you—” The door slammed shut between us and I missed whatever John was trying to say.

Interestingly, there is no firm rule about spaces around the em dash (either word—word or word — word). It’s a matter of style. Whichever style you choose, use it consistently throughout your document.

The em dash is a relatively artistic punctuation mark, compared to the more technical hyphen and en dash, both of which need to be used accurately in legal contracts, for example. 

One of the lawyers currently prosecuting Alex Jones got interviewed on knowledge fight. He talked about how he had to watch 150+ hours of Infowars content as background for the case.

He talked about how he had to take regular breaks because he could feel himself passively absorbing information against his will.

reading romance as an aroace

*opens book*

"Let's get to the good stuff"

*flips past first meeting, kissing, smut*

*gets to a mature, understanding conversation between the couple in which they each apologize, explain their experience, work out the problem between them, and formulate a specific plan to make sure things will be better in the future*

"Now THIS is what I'm here for!" *happy stimming*

my sister said to me that she doesn’t think Azula would’ve killed Aang if not to bring Zuko home, and that made me realize something very interesting.

Azula doesn’t have a reason to want to capture Aang.

Not anymore than the rest of the Fire Nation. She wasn’t ordered to, but she was ordered to bring Zuko (and Iroh) home. Which she does, by killing Aang and giving Zuko the credit.

And you know what’s interesting? During the main four interactions Azula has with Aang during the second season, she sends Mai and Ty Lee away. She leaves them to fight Katara and Sokka, she leaves them to chase the bison she knows doesn’t have the Avatar, she fights him solo on the Drill and she leaves them to guard a bear and an empty throne while she takes on the Avatar in the catacombs.

She separates herself from them to fight Aang four different times.

From anyone else, it could be a pride thing. But Azula has shown on multiple occasions that she does not value pride above all else. She is insanely strategic, and she’s fine with making it look like someone else is winning if it means she has the upperhand. She admits when she needs help, hence having Mai and Ty Lee in the first place and Zuko in Ba Sing Se. She even apologizes to Ty Lee that one time. Azula does not value pride over results.

She doesn’t celebrate prematurely, either— during the Drill episode, she’s practically the only one who isn’t celebrating the victory. Azula doesn’t celebrate a victory until it’s final. Whereas Iroh in his flashback, a prideful man, had been boasting about burning Ba Sing Se to the ground.

Pride. It’s the food of the wise man, but the liquor of the fool.

It’s as if Azula is trying to capture/eliminate Aang specifically just to give Zuko the credit. The lack of witnesses, the way she seems to pursue the mission as a personal one. She intends to bring Zuko back to the Fire Nation as Ozai requested, but she intends to bring him back her way and get him unbanished.

Every family gathering and you're with your favorite cousins.

Also,

the Dads. ❤

{older bro only irritated by the spilled drink.}

What I find interesting about Boromir being the first of the fellowship to succumb to the ring is that it wasn't because he was evil or less pure of heart than the others, but because he didn't truly believe the ring was evil or that it answered only to Sauron, he thought he could use it make it answer to him. It was only after he tried to take it from Frodo that he realized he was wrong.