L.E. Fidler > Recent Status Updates

Sigh. How does one provide solace for a gutted 7.5 year old? What’s the best way to explain Middle Earth afterlife?? Asking for a friend...

Alternate professions for Bilbo: guard, swordsman, medic, emotional support hobbit

A metaphoric storm is brewing, ravens as excellent translators for thrushes, a quick
Biography of Tolkien, greed is not good (and gold shouldn’t be deemed a necessary part of any habitat), cram - it’s what’s for dinner!

Hobbit Trivia Part Deux, greed and gold as the source of many a war, an interlude without hobbits, a debate over whether or not Bilbo would like adventures or not after this one ends, the desolation of the dragon

Hobbit trivia game (we need to practice our dwarves’ names), the root of dimly is dim and if it had an a sound it would be a bad word, more Arkenstone fun, a spirited debate over whether Gollum calls himself or the Ring precious (and if he has become one with the Ring, can we really answer that question)

Powerful words: owe (not Oh!), enchanted, Arkenstone

Chatter: the characteristics of a dragon, connections to Harry Potter and Sofia the First, the dwarves as “dummies”, Bilbo hatched a plan

Small talk: Gollum and the disastrous effects of greedy monomania, the definition of grim (and connections to Harry Potter), the difference between a journey and a quest

Hobbit recaps, what came first - the goblin or the troll?, fish preferences (don’t ask), why sometimes they say Bilbo but others Mr. Baggins, the Master of Lake-town

Chitchat: more connections to Harry Potter, the fickle nature of luck, Bilbo has a Titanic moment, learning from Ratatouille that stealing food is wrong (but we get why Bilbo does it), the greed of men and monsters

Chitchat: how going off the path into a forbidden forest and finding spiders feels familiar, the siren-esque nature of the wood elves party, Bilbo as a fast learner in the art of distraction, a necessary recap of major events and characters, hamlet and Thorin and Inigo Montoya as sons with overdeveloped senses of vengeance

Sleepy time murmurs: the endless advantages of skin changing, dragons and treasures, Gandalf always knows a guy

Book chatter: the literary function of the deus ex machina and how it breaks realism, confusticate it!, a spirited debate over whether or not Wargs look like saber tooth tigers, what exactly goblins are and do, the Eagles 🦅

Riddles in the dark: the unlikely genius of Bilbo Baggins, the inability to think when scared, the many personal definitions of misery, Gollum (my precious)

Campfire Chat: a spirited debate as to the presumed futility of naming inanimate items, defining: prosperous, steady, cavern, uncanny; our parallels to goblins, the height of Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Fireside Chats: imagining sun dancing on water, the various races in Middle Earth, gleaming, dwarves’ mistrust of elves, beginner’s guide to cartography

Drawing-room language: barn owl vs barred owl and whose call wins, defining scuttle / glum / muttering / purloined, connecting trolls to Medusa, Gandalf’s cleverness, roast mutton vs porkchops, the rangy gaminess of dwarves

Bedtime Chatter: why the party is unexpected, what a hobbit is, fairy magic in the Took lineage, comfort, Gandalf is awesome, Bilbo is NOT Frodo, so many dwarves and so little cake

Book Chat: can animagi transform into multiples animals or just the one?, if we were an animagus and wanted to play hide and seek - what would we change into?, Snape as vindictive and petty, Poppy Pomfrey Saves the Day (with her chocolate boulders- which is not a euphemism), the myriad potential plot points that could have been more easily resolved by a time turner

Chatty Kathy: the trouble when Sirius and Severus actually sound similar and they’re both in the same scene and it’s problematic, how a person’s face can be a mask even if they’re not wearing a mask, Peter Pettigrew is still the worst, Dementors kissing should not be part of anyone’s sexual awakening

Hot Topics: what the description of “glittering eyes” means, the figurative expression “to stop dead”, Peter Pettigrew as the actual worst, Snape and whether his mad glee when he finds them is legit (some felt he “was kinda right” to yell given the perceived dangerousness of the situation), if you attack a professor to save another professor...how is that handled??

Hot Topics: defining “convulsively”, trying to figure out how there could be underaged unregistered animagi but if Harry accidentally farts magic the Ministry knows?, the logic of the shrieking shack as a werewolf residence, ten points for Gryffindor, the myriad benefits of an invisibility cloak

Pep Talk: It is okay to cry when we are sad. We are okay. We are loved (lots of sad babies tonight).

Chatty Kathy: recapping the Gryffindor win, a dispute over whether the ref showed penalty favoritism toward G, what euphoria means, professor Trewlawney makes an accurate prediction, the return of Scabbers, the Fate of Buckbeak

Hot Topics: If an animagus dies in animal form, do they revert back to human or stay animal, the many definitions of atmosphere, how you can be taller than someone but younger, why Gryffindor “always” has to win the Quidditch Cup (except when they don’t)

Hot topics: Black’s monomania and why approaching Lupin first might have been more logical than stabbing Ron’s curtains, Hermione continues to be much maligned and this book would be shorter if they just listened to her good sense, poor Hagrid, poor Neville, what a grudge is

Hot Topics: how one can be both pretty and pretty impressive, how Mommy’s reading with inflection helps us understand how characters feel, trying to recall Prongs, the difference between being a werewolf, animagus, or polyjuice fiend, poor Neville, hermione is all of us, another thrilling episode of “this would be easier for you if you just told dumbledore”

Hot Topics: the origins of “thirteen at dinner” and a brief history of Christianity, a discussion of belief and faith/religions/polytheism vs monotheism, what patronus we’d have (red panda, goat, something ridiculous, giraffe, golden retriever), whether Jesus was a real person and why it is ok to say Jesus when talking about the man but not “Oh Jesus!” When you drop a toy on your toes