NaNoWriMo Day 18

Wordcount: 36214
Words Written Today: 1651
Words I Still Need to Write Today: 16
Writing Music Obsession: 1 Hour of Epic Music (Brunuhville version)

First of all, I'm planning to host a word war on my blog from 3:00-4:00 PM EST on Thursday, November 19. I hope this time will work for everyone; if it doesn't, let me know and I'll try to reschedule.

Second, a friend of mine requested a "Write so many words if . . ." for the Avengers movie, since she liked my LOTR version. I thought others might enjoy it as well, so here it is!

Write so many words if . . .

• Two of the Avengers argue: 75 words
  • More than two are in the argument: +5 for each additional person
  • Steve and Tony are arguing: +25
• Loki uses the spear to try to take control of someone: 100 words
• Someone is released from Loki's control: 50 words
• Someone says one of your favorite quotes: However many words are in that quote.
• There's a fight/battle scene: 100 words
  • +10 words for every Avenger involved
  • +50 words if Loki's directly involved
  • +20 words if two or more Avengers are fighting each other
• Someone mentions Coulson's trading cards: 25 words
  • +10 words if it's Coulson himself
• Tony tries to provoke Dr. Banner: 25 words
• Someone jumps into something without a plan: 75 words
  • +10 if it's Tony

I hope you enjoy it! Let me know how it goes, as well as whether or not you'll be able to participate in the word war!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)

Top Ten Tuesdays: Favorite Movies

http://www.brokeandbookish.com

Hello, everyone! I'm finally getting back into Top Ten Tuesdays just in time for the one Top Ten Tuesday that isn't about books: Favorite Movies or TV Shows. Since I don't really watch TV, I'm going with my favorite movies.

1. The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Best. Movies. Ever. (Especially if you watch the extended editions like I do.) They did an amazing job of capturing the books' epicness, even if they did leave out or change a few things. The actors, the scenery, everything is absolutely incredible. I could rave about them almost as much as I do the books!
2. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Another amazing movie- not quite as good as the LOTR trilogy but still great. I wasn't all that crazy about the addition of Azog and all that, but the other stuff they added in with the White Council and Thorin's backstory and such? I loved it. Also, I've mentioned this before, but I love how the movie turns the Indistinguishable Background Dwarves (basically everyone except Thorin, Balin, and Bombur) into unique characters, each with their own story and personality. 
   
3. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Smaug. Oh. My. Pumpernickel. He pretty much made this movie for me. And considering that it takes a lot to impress me with movie dragons (mostly because I'm rather particular about how I think they should look), that's saying something. The action scenes were pretty intense too, especially the battle between the dwarves and Smaug. However, there were certain things things that disappointed me- like how quickly they passed over Beorn and Mirkwood- and others that just made me mad (*cough*Kiliel*cough). 
4. The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. This is another great book-to-movie adaptations; it's probably the best of the Narnia movies (though it can't measure up to LOTR). I like that they stayed fairly true to the book, and the casting was great- all the characters looked exactly like I imagined them! Not even LOTR accomplished that, though it did accomplish the opposite (after a while, I started picturing all the LOTR characters the way they looked in the movies). 
5. Tangled. "Frying pans! Who knew, right?" Flynn cracks me up, and he has a ton of great quotes- he's
   
   pretty much one of the fallbacks for my sister and I when we play the Quote Game. (That's a game where we take turns quoting a book or movie and the other person has to guess where the quote is from.) Besides how hilarious Flynn and the movie in general are, I really like the character development of both Flynn and Rapunzel. Plus, it's a retelling of one of my favorite fairy tales. Awesome, no?
6. The Avengers. I haven't watched a lot of superhero movies (mostly because I didn't realize I was interested in them until last summer), but I love The Avengers. The dynamic between the characters is great, and Loki? I'm not a fangirl, but he's super cool. (No pun intended.)
7. The Chonicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I kind of have a love-hate relationship with this movie. On one hand, Voyage of the Dawn Treader used to be my favorite Narnia book (until I decided that I preferred The Silver Chair), so I was kind of upset when the movie changed the story so much. On the other hand, looking at Dawn Treader as a movie in its own right? It's pretty awesome. And unlike certain other movies I could mention, they didn't make the characters act like idiots for the sake of more excitement. (Not that Dawn Treader needs more excitement . . .)
8. Beauty and the Beast. Beauty is another of my favorite fairytales, and the Disney version is just wonderful. I love everything about it, pretty much. One of my favorite parts, though, is the music. The songs from Beauty and the Beast often seem to get forgotten amidst songs from newer movies (like Frozen), but they're still lovely.
9. Frozen. It was kind of overhyped, but Frozen is still a great movie. I love that the biggest relationship-related plotline isn't a romace; it's the sister relationship between Elsa and Anna. The characters are great, and, of course, the music is awesome. 
10. Howl's Moving Castle. This is another book-retelling that's vastly different than the original story. I still love it, though. It kind of reminds me of a Beauty and the Beast type story in a lot of ways. Also, Howl. Howl is awesome. Just sayin'.

Honorable mentions go to Brave, Wreck-It Ralph, and The Princess Bride, which are also awesome movies but didn't quite make the list. What about you? What are your favorite movies?
Garo arad vaer!
 -Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)