🌳☀️ Second Sundays Summertime 2025 Edition ☀️🌳
general updates of all the things and what's going on in the world of me
We’re officially halfway through the year if you can believe it. I feel like the first months of every year drag on, but once May arrives time accelerates and suddenly it’s Autumn and I’m wondering what I did with the last few months of my life. 🤷♀️ But hence, these updates!
Writing Update
Last month I decided to pivot from the epic fantasy novel format I’d been using and switch to a lore style instead. I have some studying to do first, so I haven’t yet begun editing the existing stories I have into this new method, but my plan is to include lore-like stories in my tbr for the 2nd half of 2025 and take notes to understand their structure and language. I’m very excited for this new path and looking forward to sharing updated and new stories down the road!
Artwork
I’m happy to say I did do some artwork over the last 3 months!
I also found myself digging through some old art school files a few weeks ago and came across a fun note I’d taken about an artist I’d chosen to study for a research paper. The artist’s name is Edwin Austin Abbey, and when I looked him up again, I remembered why I’d liked his artwork, and thought I’d share some of his pieces with you guys.
Abbey is most well known for his paintings of Shakespearian plays. I love the medieval imagery and elegant poses and staging, especially the way he paints women. They remind me of my favorite Arthurian and medieval paintings by artist Sir Frank Dicksee.
Makes me want to reread some Arthurian legends!
Bookish Things
I’m doing pretty good with my 2025 reading quest and the tbrs that I made for myself. So far I’ve read 13 of the 30 books, and I’ve checked two Tolkien titles off of the tbr list (I started a third but it wasn’t the right time). Here’s a bit of fun with a tier list of how much I enjoyed each of the books I’ve read.
For Context: “My cup of tea” means it’s a new favorite and I would absolutely reread it, “bland” means the book was ok - not terrible but not great, “Not my cup of tea” means I wasn’t pleased with the book but I’m still glad I read it, anything that goes in the “dnf’d” row is a book that I just could not stand (it’s rare for me to hate a book so much that I can’t even finish it), and “set aside for now” are books that I couldn’t finish for whatever reason but absolutely want to pick back up later.
I have full reviews of each book in the monthly Cup of Tea blogs I share here on Substack if you’d like to read my more detailed thoughts.
Some Other Fun Fantasy Media
I decided to give the Gollum video game a try despite all the negative things I’ve heard, and I honestly don’t have as much of a problem with it. I’m maybe 1/3 through the game so far and my only real gripe is that the mechanics are sometimes glitchy - which is one of the main criticisms I’ve heard. Otherwise though I’ve been having fun with it.
By far the most exciting thing that I did was go to Phoenix Fan Fusion and see a panel with all 4 hobbit actors and get a photo of Merry (my favorite hobbit) signed by Dominic Monaghan! 😍 Seeing all of the actors in one place has been on my bucket list since I watched The Fellowship of the Ring in theatres back in 2001. I still can’t believe it actually happened! 😱 The panel was so lighthearted and fun, and Dominic was such a friendly, genuine person. I’ve met 4 Lord of the Rings actors so far, and I would absolutely love to see these 4 again, not the least reason to get the 2 hobbit signatures I’m missing from Billy Boyd and Sean Astin. What a day for the history books!
While looking for updates about the new Odyssey film I came across a super cool Ancient Greek film project about the Battle of Marathon. The director is focused on bringing as much historical authenticity as possible to the story, including an entirely Ancient Greek and Old Persian dialogue. As a major Ancient Greece nerd I can’t wait for this to be released!
Here are some links where you can read more about it:
I did find out some new The Odyssey film news about the plot. According to IMDB and Wikipedia, some of the beats Nolan is going to include are the cyclops Polyphemus, the passage by the sirens, Circe, and of course, the dramatic final scene. As a creature fan, I’m personally still hoping to see Scylla and Charybdis, even if it’s only for a brief moment of screentime. Another incredibly exciting thing I learned is that Nolan is going to be shooting the film entirely with IMAX cameras and using never-before-seen IMAX tech. The more I hear, the more hyped I’m getting for this movie.
Links if you’re curious:
The last bit of news I have is that I’ve begun teaching myself how to play Magic: The Gathering at last with their free desktop tutorial! I’m having a lot of fun with it, and although kind of complicated, the rules are starting to make more sense to me.
On a similar note, I’m selling a lot of my “extra” Lord of the Rings Magic cards on eBay. I purchased the ones I have simply because I’m a LOTR fan and would love to collect 1 of every card that I can, so any multiples I have I decided to list so that they can go to new homes and be appreciated. If I start playing Magic in person, I’ll purchase other cards that I don’t mind using regularly.
On a side note, I also listed all of my old Yu-Gi-Oh cards since I don’t collect or play anymore. Here’s a link to my eBay page if you’re interested!
That’s it for the second quarter of 2025. See you in the Fall! 🍁
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