#middle-earth: shadow of war

[leam1983]

On Repeated Visits

A friend from work asked me why I went back to Middle-Earth: Shadow of War so often. They're the Tolkien Purist type, the exact sort that wrinkles its nose at The Rings of Power.

I shrugged. I don't care much for Talion and Celebrimbor and the timeline getting Batman-Backbreaker'd in half in order to accomodate the designers' desire to design a city inhabited by Men without invoking Minas Tirith really didn't strike me as being sacrilegious. I don't need Everything Tolkien to be focused on Hobbits and I really don't mind Monolith ignoring and twisting huge swaths of the lore, not when said lore remains accessible in its correct form, through the Silmarilion and the Unfinished Tales.

I like Shadow of War that much because it gives one of the least-represented groups a voice, and does it in a way that respects their posture as antagonists while still adding more to the fire than the usual "Well, dur, the Uruk-Hai were made by Sauron, of course they'd follow him!"

SoW's Uruk can be seen and heard bickering, debating Ethics during wartime, behaving as much like weary soldiers as they would like the caricature of shellshocked pricks with War Crimes charges waiting in the rinks. You can see them trying to dodge conscription in hunting parties or raid groups, or step aside to question orders on the sly. They function off of woefully incorrect and incomplete information, yes - but they're asking all the right questions. They're like companies in Vietnam that went on for too long without furlough; the pecking order gets challenged, authority crumbles and the occupying force's fault lines are laid bare. They're shoddily trained and taught to think of themselves as the Bestest Evar, and some come achingly close to realizing that their training modes are insufficient. They're all clamoring for something better, but were never taught what to ask for, what to expect.

And so, logically, they hate those who have it better. The better-trained with palatable rations and properly-developed skills. Those who were given processing skills to tolerate the rigors of war without snapping. The Men of Gondor and the Elves of Rivendell or Lorien. Their aversion to light isn't just an affect of their starting as troglodytes, it marks their finding the other races' acquired power and wisdom as being insulting to their own efforts. It speaks to a massive inferiority complex and a sense of envy that's pervasive in their culture, that they see as more or less smothered away behind their hatred.

In my mind, the Orcs aren't really hateful - they're envious. They just can't process this correctly, being the product of generalized trauma. It speaks of Sauron as being an absent ruler and commander, an abusive father, an incompetent figure of authority and a force of Evil for whom the only driving factor is his absolute pugnaciousness. Sauron is very much a Karen, and he's spent two Ages of Middle-Earth's history trying to Speak to the Manager.

With that in mind, how could you not pity the Orcs and find them several orders of magnitude more interesting than Arda's better-adjusted races?

#lotr #tolkien #rings of power #middle-earth: shadow of war #talion #celebrimbor #orcs #uruk-hai

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Middle-Earth: Shadow of War - Minas Morgul Concept Art by Karakter

#Fantasy #Art #Lord of the Rings #Middle-Earth: Shadow of War #Minas Morgul #Concept Art #Karakter

[supremeentity]

#ps4 #ps4pro #shadow of mordor #shadow of war #Middle-earth: Shadow of War #middle earth #lotr

[thekrimzonknight]

Krimzon Plays | Shadow of War: Episode 22 – Baranor the Batman of Mordor

Hey ya'll! And I will be live on Twitch playing Middle-earth: Shadow of Warshortly! If you want to follow me in other places, or join me over on Discord, the links are all in my linktree! Twitch:https://www.twitch.tv/krimzonknightgaming Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8-5J2_1EqHpJws67eenqQTOLbZYmxcOX Linktree:https://linktr.ee/Krimzonknight Thanks, I hope to see you then!! Krimzon Knight

#PC #stream #streamer #streaming #live #VOD #game #gamer #gaming #games #twitch #YouTube #play #LGBTQIA+ #LGBTQIA+ Friendly #MOGAI #MOGAI Friendly #Steam #Middle-earth: Shadow of War

[darkmessiah2000]

The Owl House going to join Amphibia & Gravity Falls be like:

#thank you owl house #the owl house #owl house #watching and dreaming #amphibia #the hardest thing #gravity falls #weirdmageddon #middle earth shadow of war #talion #dana terrace #matt braly #alex hirsch

[wine4thewin]

Alright, so everyone and their mom has at least one grievance with The Rings of Power, so let me air mine.

Why the hell does Amazon think that Celebrimbor looks like this? Like a grumpy boring professor?

How do they NOT KNOW that Celebrimbor, grandson of the infamous house of Fëanor, actually looks like this:

And if Amazon knows none of this, they clearly don’t know that Celebrimbor's evil ride or die BFF looks like this:

Well done, Amazon. You missed out on the chance to milk their tragedy-filled, horrific cat-and-mouse style bromance that ends in despair & literal torture.

#Celebrimbor and his drama #celebrimbor’s evil ride or die #the silmarillion #annatar #amazon tv series #middle earth shadow of war #the rings of power #amazon lotr #lord of the rings #sauron #silvergifting #lotr #Celebrimbor #rings of power #amazon rings of power #middle earth #thoughts #spoilers I guess?

[celestialkiri]

Did somebody ask some good ol' Uruk-Hais? Just me? ----------- My Twitter

#uruk hai #urukhai #uruk #orc #orcs #middle earth #the lord of the rings #lord of the rings #shadow of war #shadow of mordor #my art #monster love #fantasy #exophilia #terato #monster boy

[chainsxwsmile-personal]

He was biting

#reblog friendly #my art #ratbag the coward #azharto #olog hai #shadow of war #middle earth #middle earth shadow of war #ratbag

[fantasyoftales]

Ratbag the Coward

#Ratbag the coward #Ratbag #Shadow of War #Orcs #Tolkien #Lord of the rings #middle earth #talion

[crossoverquest]

Alastor: I heard that if you drink blood from a Nighlok, you’ll get special powers.

Blitzo: I drank from a puddle of Mooger blood after a bounty hunt once, and all it did was make me soil myself.

#power rangers #power rangers samurai #hazbin hotel #helluva boss #incorrect quotes #incorrect power rangers quotes #incorrect hazbin hotel quotes #incorrect helluva boss quotes #source: Middle Earth: Shadow of War #crossover quest

[fortunatelyenchantingtaco]

Cannot even begin to tell you how much i am mentally unwell because of Middlearth Shadow of War/Mordor

Like Talion is one of the few people who resisted the temptation of the ring. To still be alive he nedded either the ring or Celebrimbor

And he of his own will gave away the ring for the elf. I am crying screaming throwing up every time i remember this shit.

AND AFTER ALL THIS CELEBRIMBOR LEFT HIM TO DIE BECAUSE TALION REFUSED TO DO WHAT HE WANTED OF HIM (consume the soul of a dude who was binded and wanted to be free)

This is so fucking painful but also so unabashedly gay like fucking hell. Talion really out there trying to help Celebrimbor while that elf gaslights him for two games. Impossible horrible i want them to be happy what the fuck dude can you be normal

#middle earth #middle earth shadow of mordor #middle earth shadow of war #talion #celebrimbor #like there is a fic #where they are together in valinor #happy married #and its beautiful #and helps me live #celebrimbor really went the toxic route #like this is so wild of him to do what the actual fuck who does that

[leam1983]

On Evolving Tastes

1989: "I know of no other games than Super Mario Bros. 1 through 3, Tetris, Doctor Mario and Mickey's Mousecapade. This will last for a few years, until my aunt will introduce me to bootleg 300-in-one cartridges. Ironically, I'll only ever touch Yie Ar Kung Fu, Macross, Mappy, Dig Dug and City Connection."

1990: "Dad's discovered that a store near his office sells Tengen cartridges for a fraction of officially-licenced titles! He gets me Gauntlet on the super cheap, thinking I'll play it once and forget about it, but Gauntlet becomes the one game I play the most often."

1996: "Man, Earthworm Jim and Myst are going to dominate this summer vacation! I might even work in some time for a few Mortal Kombat tourneys!"

1999: "I got over my giant snob self and gave Quake and Half-Life a shot. Something's shifted, for sure. I'm not sure, but I might actually like a few shooters..."

2001: "I am a grown-ass man and I cannot stop playing The Sims. Please send help, I'm nurturing an unhealthy God complex."

2002: "I'm really mad at myself for not finding out about Vampire - The Masquerade: Redemption until two years after its release."

2004: "Vampire - The Masquerade: Bloodlines has consumed me."

2005: "Study? Yeah, sure, I do - but Unreal Tournament 2004 is where it's at - whenever Black & White 2 doesn't consume for weeks on end."

2006: "My Dad introduced me to SimCity 3000 several years too late, which is introducing me to the wacky world of PC retrogaming. I now use his beige croaker of a clerical machine to work on Isometric metropolises while snapping my fingers to some real-ass Jazz bops."

2007: "I resisted for two years, but finally caved in to Guitar Hero. It's also the best excuse I had to get a Slim PS2."

2008: "I used my paycheck from my first Real, Adult Man Job at the campus to get myself an XBOX 360 and Fable II! I'll spend years playing it while ignoring the game's obvious flaws!"

2009: "I kinda hate myself for it, but I splurged on a PS3 after a friend showed me Super Stardust HD."

2010: "Fuck you, getting myself a Wii for the express purpose of playing the Metroid Prime Trilogy. Also, ow, this exact fucking thing will also send me off to my first serious GP appointment as an adult, for a Carpal Tunnel Syndrome diagnosis. I'll spend two years wearing a wrist brace and playing through all three games in short bursts. The tendon responsible for retracting my right thumb is on permanent fire and every gameplay session puts me through a physical gauntlet, but every new gameplay component the series introduces makes me feel like a kid again."

2011: "Skyrim. Just - Skyrim. I'll perpetrate my first and only acts of professional truancy to devote entire weeks to my quest log. It helps that this winter was particularly Siberian, so I had plenty of excuses to stay home and slay dragons."

2014: "I power through Destiny on the PS3 and spend about four months being extremely hooked onto the game's universe and lore. I'll design character after character even after finishing the main quest four times, because I finally discovered what Halo stans have been enjoying for years - which is an approachable and still complex Fantasy/Sci-Fi shooter that hasn't yet lost its narrative compass...

Luckily, I also find out about Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and realize I have a thing for Uruk-Hai labelled as "The Friendly". I'll spend a year at the pace of an hour or two per day trying to populate my two camps with nothing but Friendlies."

2015: "As is usually the case, I come into this a few years too late and discover the joy that is Saints Row: The Third. GTA never grabbed me, while Volition's total lack of self-seriousness delights me. I buy Saints Row IV immediately after finishing my first run-through, and find that Volition's writing team is the only thing that keeps me going. If it weren't for JB Blanc's mouth-watering portrayal of Emperor Zinyak, I'd be playing a fun, if average third-person shooter."

2016: "Bigger job titles means more disposable income, which means my first custom-built tower PC after years of prebuilts - and a PS4! Destiny 2 and GTA 5 are big ones on there, but the first one disappoints me with how it gatekeeps the lore behind high-skill activities that are unfriendly for players with navigational or reflex-related issues (i.e. moi) and the second turns absolutely turgid at any moment that doesn't feature Trevor Philips.

Seriously, who do I have to call at Rockstar to let them know I don't give a rat's ass about Michael DeSanta's midlife hoodlum crisis?!"

2017: "Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, baby! Copy and paste my fixation from 2014, except now Friendlies are voiced by JB Blanc. Thank fuck for apartments, 'cause I wouldn't have wanted my folks to see me aggressively blush any time a Friendly crossed swords with me, claiming to want to be my pal."

2020: "Welp, guess it's nothing except slaying demons and building an island commune on my brand-new Nintendo Switch... Oh, and wouldn't you know it, Cyberpunk 2077 just came out, and in such a state that I won't seriously touch it until September 2022..."

2021: "What's happening to me? Why am I so psyched about Power Washer Simulator? Why did I spend nearly as much time in Mechanic Simulator 2021 as I did in Skyrim? Why do I persist in being hyped for House Flipper despite reports of horribly unoptimized code?"

2022: "I might as well embrace it: I have no hair on top and grow a mo' in an afternoon, I can only maintain a very mild case of fitness and there's fifteen to twenty pounds I just can't get rid of no matter how hard I try. I am a Dad, now. I have the Dad Bod - the real one, not the one perpetuated by misaligned kiddies who'd call British Pop Music starlets Daddy - and I am now oddly hyped for Construction Simulator. I've finished Cyberpunk four times, played through Elden Ring twice, and I'm at the point where I'd honestly be excited by a game that finds some way to simplify the act of grading papers.

I dream of a twist on Papers, Please where one plays as a lecturer and where the goal of the game is to grade papers while avoiding interpersonal or professional scandals, as well as meeting faculty quotas..."

#gaming #history #super mario bros #mickey's mousecapade #city connection #mechanic simulator #fable #cyberpunk 2077 #destiny #destiny 2 #GTA V #Saints Row The Third #Saints Row IV #Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor #Middle-Earth: Shadow of War #Myst #Riven #Half-Life #Animal Crossing New Horizons #Doom #Doom Eternal #Skyrim #Metroid Prime trilogy #The Sims #Black & White #games

[life-as-a-gamergirl]

I've got some games that I still haven't played and now that I've completed God of war it's time to choose a new one!!!

Which one should I play next?

#videogiochi #videogames #video games #help me choose #cyberpunk #cyberpunk 2077 #final fantasy #final fantasy type 0 #final fantasy vii #final fantasy zodiac age #final fantasy xii #Middle-Earth the shadow of war #shadow of war #jedi fallen order #hades game #hades #assassin's creed #assassin's creed odyssey #assassin's creed origins #assassin's creed ezio collection #uncharted #uncharted lost legacy #kingdom hearts #kingdom heart 2.5 #playstation #girl gamer #gamergirl

[supremeentity]

#ps4 #ps4pro #shadow of mordor #shadow of war #Middle-earth: Shadow of War #middle earth #lotr

[thekrimzonknight]

Krimzon Plays | Shadow of War: Episode 21 – Bara-daddy’s home

Hey ya'll! And I will be live on Twitch playing Middle-earth: Shadow of Warshortly! If you want to follow me in other places, or join me over on Discord, the links are all in my linktree! Twitch:https://www.twitch.tv/krimzonknightgaming Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8-5J2_1EqHpJws67eenqQTOLbZYmxcOX Linktree:https://linktr.ee/Krimzonknight Thanks, I hope to see you then!! Krimzon Knight

#PC #stream #streamer #streaming #live #VOD #game #gamer #gaming #games #twitch #YouTube #play #LGBTQIA+ #LGBTQIA+ Friendly #MOGAI #MOGAI Friendly #Steam #Middle-earth: Shadow of War

[morkorney]

#celebrimbor #shadow of war #shadow of mordor #middle earth