TTF Memories

[Aulë]

As TTF seems to be drifting into nothingness at the moment, now seems to be a good time to reminisce about the past on the forum.
Now I haven't been here half as long as some people here, but I have built up plenty of good (and bad) memories along the way. Sometimes when I'm snoozing through a boring Biochemistry lecture, I drift off and remember several things that have happened here over the years. For some reason, my favourite times here occured when I was still reasonably new to the forum: there were still places to explore, and stories to be heard.
Some of my favourite TTF/MERPG memories (in no particular order):

-Listening to Talierin/Elbereth/Snaga tales about the forum's past (eg, the Narya Chronicles and Tal's Crusade against hackers).
-My first RPG in the Guild of Elves (which is still the only one to ever be completed...).
-FoolOfATook and I getting drunk in the TTF 2003 Awards ceremony.
-That crazy word list that I made for the Name Game.
-'Dognapping' HobbitGirl's pet terrier 'Licale'.
-Me getting thrown out of Heren Istarion for killing Nenya's squirrels (and eventually fulfilling my promise to ruin them :D).
-Snaga and Wonks' engagement.
-Wonks' futile attempts to make me change my name back to 'Pippin Took'.
-Everyone's pranks on Anamatar. :D
-My attempts to kill off Bob in Elgee's Ridiculous Story.
-Nom and Celebthol's useless attempts to try and play jokes on me.
-Cricket-related discussions between Beleg and me.
-Attacking Ciryaher and Elessar in the Chronicles.
-My first debate against OiE (which we won!).
-Getting elected into the C9.
-My bragging frenzy when Australia beat England in the soccer.
-Fighting the anti-GoR and anti-post count battle against Elgee.
-My looooong Debate Tournament.
-Idril's campaign to stop smoking.
-The British Army's ramblings.
-Tormenting Rhi and Elgee with cat "pictures".

What favourite memories of TTF do you have?

[Barliman Butterbur]

As TTF seems to be drifting into nothingness at the moment...

Whoa! Wait a minute! What makes you say that?

I personally have doubts about the long-term future of this forum for reasons of my own, but I'd like to know yours, especially since you've been around for such a long time and have been so heavily involved.

Barley

[Aulë]

Whoa! Wait a minute! What makes you say that?

I personally have doubts about the long-term future of this forum for reasons of my own, but I'd like to know yours, especially since you've been around for such a long time and have been so heavily involved.

LothoNow, now.
That isn't the topic of the thread.
This is to ramble on like a bunch of old fogies about the 'oldern days' and all the great (and not so great) memories that we have had here.

And whether you accept it or not, there is nowhere near the amount of activity as there was before. Just look at the Guilds for proof.

[Barliman Butterbur]

...
This is to ramble on like a bunch of old fogies about the 'oldern days' and all the great (and not so great) memories that we have had here...

Oh, pardon me, I didn't realize. I'm just a young fogy (relative to TTF) and have no backlog from which to ramble on yet...;) Ramble away!:p

Barley

[Turin]

I've been here a while and seen a lot of things change for good and ill. Well here goes.

Good memories:

Joining the Mithril Knights and the Dark Legion (talk about ironic:) )
Making Bob do insane things in the totally rediculous story.
Getting 100 posts and becoming TTF's official Patinator :rolleyes:.

I'll put more later if I can think of any.

Bad Memories:

Being totally idiotic and making pointless posts.
Getting warned multiple times for being idiotic :rolleyes:.
Debating to keep the post counts.
Foolishly entering into debates about politics and religion.
The recent TTF turmoil and falling out of members.

[Ancalagon]

I do not doubt activity has ebbed somewhat in recent times, I am testament to that fact if nothing else. However, as with all things that are timeless, so too I beleive is the Tolkien Forum. Many of those who once posted but retired to into obscurity may yet return, as the lust for Tolkiens work never seems to dim entirely, only becomes overshadowed by real life and its many commitments. I look forward to the revitalisation of my own love for Tolkiens work in the near future, when I once again feel the pull of his words and the desire to discuss their meaning.

[Elbereth]

I do not doubt activity has ebbed somewhat in recent times, I am testament to that fact if nothing else. However, as with all things that are timeless, so too I beleive is the Tolkien Forum. Many of those who once posted but retired to into obscurity may yet return, as the lust for Tolkiens work never seems to dim entirely, only becomes overshadowed by real life and its many commitments. I look forward to the revitalisation of my own love for Tolkiens work in the near future, when I once again feel the pull of his words and the desire to discuss their meaning.

I share your sentiments Ancalagon and also hope that in time will feel the magical pull of Tolkien once again so that I will want to discuss and explore his world with the same passion that I had when I first joined this forum.

However, in light of this thread...I will submit my favorite memories and hope that in that effort will bring back some good memories of your own.

Good Memories:

- as a newbie...I threw Talierin (the newly appointed mod) down a bottomless pit at the Silver Dragon, not realizing the consequences. :p whoops!

- the Festival of Valinor (my very first thread created)

- Getting drunk...meeting new friends, drinking vodka and fish (ok, so I never drank it...but YayG sure drank enough for all of us) and flirting with Valar at the Long-named Dragon singles bar.

- My wedding with Valar - and all of the threads that led up to the event.

- having a chance to meet several members off the forum on MSN Instant Messenger (thanks Tal for showing me the way!) - and the crazy, delirious group chats that seems to go in directions that none of us could predict.

- Being honored by being crowned Queen of Gondor....before that I was afraid to rpg seriously.

- Hempdread's Hot Summer Music Festival - Music, Entertainment, & Middle Earth ...an unbeatable combination!

- Creating and organizing the TTF awards ceremony and having to deal with all of the antics of you crazy people.

- Creating the Guild of Periaur and seeing it grow and prosper

- making friends with many of the mods and hearing all of the cool behind of the scenes plans for the forum's first big clean. (and bad - attempting to clean the Dragon singles bar of spam for 5 hours straight just to have it deleted in the end.... :( )

- Being elected to the C9

_ The Mr & Ms. TTF contest - and not winning it... :D

Bad Memories:

- Being dragged into the Ulairi Affair and trying my best to stay neutral throughout it all.

- Coping with the loss of my friend Narya, to then discover a week later that it was all a hoax, when receiving IM from her that scared me to death.

- Having to give up my leadership of the Guild of Scholars due to my increasing lack of time.

- Losing Gondor to the Enemy in the war rpg's because my trusted Steward decided to play traitor while I was away on business in real life.

- Having to say goodbye to so many friends and wonderful members here on TTF.

[Narya]

Bad Memories:

- Coping with the loss of my friend Narya, to then discover a week later that it was all a hoax, when receiving IM from her that scared me to death.


scared you to death, imagine how I felt :( , I was shaking like crazy! I had to fight with everyone I know just to get that thing cleared up.

REALLY BAD MEMORIES!

- my RPG Forbidden - it was just too tangled-up.
- my first Weeping Willow Pub being closed.
- the news that I was Dead - which if I remember carefully was stabbed to death (shivers).
- having to explain to everyone it's not true, that I am still alive...
- having to deal with really silly people who are hungry for attention


REALLY GOOD MEMORIES:

- the start of my Pub!!
- the pie eating contest
- the caber toss contest
- scenes with Chrysy - the Dragon of Honor
- the start of Forbidden.

- meeting all my great friends here. You know who you are...love you all!!!

[Ciryaher]

*removed by me old self, making a new post*

[Narya]

-Listening to Talierin/Elbereth/Snaga tales about the forum's past (eg, the Narya Chronicles ...).


Wow! Didn't know I was THIS famous. Don't know if I should be proud of this or not...it was based on a sick lie from someone who was really sick!

I forgot to mention as part of my good memories the beautiful eulogy I got from almost everyone - people I knew, people who hated me, people who didn't know me - the messages were very touching, I was moved to tears to realize how much I meant to them, even if it's just a post, it was incredible to me. I want to say it now - I APPRECIATE Y'ALL! The ones who love me, the ones who hate me, the ones who don't know me...this is really a happening place!

I wanna make more memories - hopefully it will all be GOOD. :D

And guys visit MERPG - it's just as great as this especially if you like Role Playing Games!

[Maeglin]

Good Memories:

Getting into a big religious argument with Aerin as my very first post on the forum :D
Every post I ever read by Maedhros and Grond
My first thread that actually got some attention and showed I wasn't a total moron of a newbie (Who's older, Ents or Elves?)
Joining the Heren Istarion
Leaving the Heren Istarion and breaking RP Goldie's heart at the same time
Starting the Guild of Elves, which I never thought would be successful but quickly became a huge Guild (thought it was full of members who never posted)
My first (and only that I finished) RPG in the Guild of Elves (same as the one Aule mentioned in the beginning of this thread)
Everyone picking on Anamatar
Yaygollum's crazy posts
Yelling at Legolas lovers and getting in trouble for it
Wonks and Snaga's wedding

Bad Memories:

Waning of my Guild
Disappearance of Yaygollum
Disappearance of Grond
Disappearance of Maedhros
When I left and came back 3 weeks later to find that everyone thought I had disappeared
Shutting down of the Tolkien Debates website
Ancalagon's resignation
The past 6-8 months in which there has been greatly reduced activity here on the forums and I haven't been able to find anything good to post about because every thread that gets started now seems to have been discussed in the past and I have nothing more to say on the subjects :(

[Saucy]

:( thanks aule for starting this depressing thread....i have only been here a year but... i have a few memories

- that annoying singing spock thing that kept popping up all over the place *shudder*
-Thol wanting to change his name to...Laura!!!!! :D
-My many name changes...
-the extremely long elf falling down bottomless pit thread...and we are still falling.
-my various attempts to leave..
-meeting Aragorn21
-badger, badger, badger, mushroom, mushroom
-my first attempts of making usueful conversation and ending up bombarded with more information then i could handle


Also everybody here who knows who iam...i know who you are...and thats a good memory :D

[Tar-Ancalime]

Good Memories:

Totally Ridiculous Story
TTF oscars
The Spa at Rhun
Valar and Elbe's wedding
The LOTR/ Silm name game
The Burning Chicken Inn

Bad Memories:

Elessar's "Rebellion"
Forbidden (God, was that fiasco...sorry about all that mean stuff i said Narya :( )
Dengen's considrable absesnce.

[Beleg]

I have only been here for an year so there aren't as many memories as others possess.

Good ones.

1. Reading jallan's posts.
2. Discussion with Nom, Inder and others in Sil, HOME, LOTR and HOF sections.
3. My first few months in Guild of Tolkienology [very enjoyble]
4. Various chats with Aule and Nom.
5. Contesting with Inderjit for the honor of Finduilas's love
6. YayGollum's posts
7. Third Round debate in Debating Tournament against Guild of Scholars.
8. Inviting all online MSN TTF members. [There were 12, If I recall correctly] :)
9. Discussions with Foalofatook. [Who unknowningly re-triggered my intrest in English classics.
10. Chats with various other TTF members which I enjoyed greatly and who I only met through TTF.


Bad ones.

1. The abandonment of original Tolkien Debates. :( :(
2. An embarassing attempt of entering into Mithril Knights and retreating later when I found out I was not made for that stuff.
3. Leaving Guild of Tolkienology
4. Lessening of activity in the Book forums alongside the leaving of people like Meadhros, Feanorian et al.
5. My Pre-marital coitus thread.
6. Disbanding of HT.
7. Demolishment of GOT and GOP. :(:(
8. being catty with a few people.
9. My non-fullfillment of many debate related promises.

[Lantarion]

I have a foggy memory, plus I've been here for...4 and a half years now, so there's a lot of stuff to think about in the ol' noggin :D
Exactly how I feel! :D I've been here about as long, I think, but many of the memories are quite foggy.

Good
-Simply finding a place (brand new as it was then :D) where Tolkien and his works were held in such high esteem, and where loremasters of the subject (Ancalagon [who I believe had a different nick back then.. ;)], Grond, and later many others) could be found
-Being unexpectedly chosen as a Moderator *sniff*
-All the unforgettable personalities: YayGollum, Anamatar, Aulë, Talierin, HLGStrider, HT, Ulairi, Celebthôl and many many others
-The rise and golden age (and continuing existance) of the Guild of Writers
-The unbelievable community feel of TTF, and the friendliness therein

Bad
-Dissention caused by new Guilds, Stuff and Bother, Movie sections, C9 etc.
-Trouble between members (HT, Úlairi..), bannings, denotings (Cir) etc.
-The retirement of several exquisite Moderators (including Nóm some time later)
-Difficulties between Mods and with WM (Tal almost leaving..)
-Sit layout discussion problems (i.e. GoP and GoR)
-Members leaving :(


Good times and bad times.. I think that not many discussion fora on the internet have gone through the evolution process TTF has been through and is still going through today, without losing their appeal. For many people the appeal of TTF has lessened greatly, as has been professed; but I think that the reasons for this lack can be rectified. Some changes need to happen, and will happen, which will not please everybody, but will hopefully make TTF a better and more properly focused discussion forum and community.

[Celebthôl]

Good:
- Meeting so many decent people i can discuss Tolkien with
- The long debates that meant i could get my opinions out in a one to one instance....i.e. with Eri :p
- Finding great friends on here e.g. Lanty, Oren, Aulë, Nom, Ithy etc...

Bad:
- Anc quitting as a mod
- Lots of stupid arguing about politics and religion

Yup yup, thats all i can think of at the mo...

[Lantarion]

:eek: :eek: :eek:
THÔL! Wonderful to see you posting again (even if it doesn't mean you're 'back')!! Really nice to see your name beside a post again, long time no see. :)

[Saucy]

:eek: *falls off chair and dies* gets back up!

MEH HEH EH!!!!!!!!!!
:eek:

[Inderjit S]

good points about being at ttf-isn't that a paradox

oh well:

1. getting like 20 warning points.
2. fights with members.
3. making overly-long posts about total trash.
4.trying to be funny and satrical but ending up sounding stupid.
5.all of the above.
6. getting into that silly argument about celebrimbor's parentage and who was his father at a certain time, with nom, after I soon realised I had mis-read the text and was wrong I still continued to follow my fallicious argument. I'm nothing if not persistent.
7.getting totally trounced in that run for C9 thingy. Wanted to be cliched trouble maker there. :(
8.reaching the finals of mr. ttf only to finish bottom.
9. having long discussion on the more refined day-to-day activities with Nom and ithrynluin. (By 'refined' I mean perverse'.)
10. annoying Nenyas with my incessant 'refinements'.
11. when I first joined the GoS and me and some of the other members used to like to berate the other guilds, for fun.
12. all the trouble that has ever taken place here. yay ;)
13. meeting new people.
14. me getting trounced at the debate tournament and giving up. yay!
15. me getting angry at the debate tournament and giving agro. yay!

bad points

1. the gos's fall from glory. Or pseudo-glory.
2. people like Maedhros leaving.
3. writing a post on TTF occasionaly means I cannot find the time to wash my hair.
4. finding no time to go to the toilet whenever I have a long post to write here.
5. and many many others.

[Celebthôl]

:eek: :eek: :eek:
THÔL! Wonderful to see you posting again (even if it doesn't mean you're 'back')!! Really nice to see your name beside a post again, long time no see. :)

Well, i couldnt go cold turkey :p
Yes, yes it is, had a lot to do and such. And, well, just couldnt resist the urge to post the good and bad points of the place ;)

[Glory]

-badger, badger, badger, mushroom, mushroom I still shiver at night because of that creepy flash animation :rolleyes:.

I would like to contribute just as well as the others. But, I'm afraid that my memories of TTF are blurry and few. However I can recall someting about a insane-funny-weird topic about unicorns and something about gluing horns to the forehead :p. That and something about people eating spider's pizza :eek:.

[Snaga]

This thread is just way too tempting. I think its safer if I just say its all good!:D

Of course I met Wonks through TTF, so it will always be a happy place for me, and all the other stuff isn't important besides that. (OK, that wasn't very orc-like of me, was it?;) )

[Tar-Ancalime]

What was that? :confused: Oh yeah! :o Anyone remember the glory day's of RP #5...or on the other hand....RP #6 :mad: :( Dark times those were, dark times.

[Aulë]

Well, i couldnt go cold turkey :p
Yes, yes it is, had a lot to do and such. And, well, just couldnt resist the urge to post the good and bad points of the place ;)Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!
*can't stop laughing*

OMG! I knew that it wouldn't take long for you to crack!
I believe that we had an agreement of sorts...;)

[Ithrynluin]

Yes... those were good days, the youth of GoS the Second... what a bunch of Feanorians we all were.
WE? Not moi, I've always been on the opposite side! ;)

I believe that we had an agreement of sorts...;)
*revelation moment* Gotcha! It is clear that Aulë is really a toothless witch living in the remote parts of Tasmania, and that it was (s)he who put a spell on Thol! Poor Thol... But whoever brings Aule's scalp will not only break the curse but also receive two thousand pieces o' eight. :D

[Inderjit S]

You little ***** - **** and **** *** who ******** for **** and always **** I knew you ***** did that! Now you admit it!

Ain't I just the greatest? And what pray do you mean with your repeated use of *? ;)

WE? Not moi, I've always been on the opposite side

Liar. ;) You cannot exclude yourself from our Feanorian-esque behaviour. You were the worst one out of all of us. In fact not much has changed there. ;)

[Thorin]

Well, as a veteran of this forum, I think I need to say a few things.

Good things
- Arguing the finer points of Jackson vs Tolkien with Harad, Foe-Hammer and markrob.
- Allying against the above foes in defense of Tolkien purism with Greymantle, ReadWryt, Ancalagon and Grond (though Grond was a bit more neutral)
- Finding a kindred spirit in anti-Jackson sentiment in Mrs. Maggot
- Seeing TTF flourish with newbies interested in Tolkien's work
- Seeing Harad finally get the boot and wishing Foe-Hammer had followed!
:D
- Debating with Talimon
- Having a somewhat less stubborn and ignorant Foe-Hammer and markrob come back to the forum and renew conflicts and debate of old.
- Arguing the finer points of religious theology with Eriol

Bad points

- Arguing the finer points of Jackson vs Tolkien with Harad, Foe-Hammer and markrob. :D
- Seeing TTF flourish with newbies interested in Tolkien's work
- Seeing great mods like Ciryaher, ReadWryt and Grond eventually fade out
- Being a veteran and seeing the First and Second Age of TTF fade away to make way for the new. :( (now I know how the Elves must have felt)
- Biased and unfair shutting down of the Guild of Religion and Guild of Politics

[Arvedui]

Good things:
- "Meeting" a lot of friendly people that share the same interest as I have: Tolkien.
- Reading a number of tremendous posts that have increased my understanding of Tolkien's works. And threads like "Uruks vs. Uruk-hai"
- Winning the Debate Tournament. (I still haven't seen Aulë's reaction to that fact...:D )
- Seeing the final fruits of last year's 'Spring Cleaning.'
- My theory on the origin of Hobbits. It can still be found somewhere in the dark halls of Ost-in-Edhil. I wonder when someone is ever going to convince me that I am wrong....http://www.thetolkienforum.com/showthread.php?t=7510
- That I will continue to meet a lot of friendly people around here for years to come.
- That there still will be tremendous posts coming along.
- That the film-noise have mostly died down.
- The Links-thread.
- RD's wonderful ability to calm things down with a bit of humour.

Bad memories:
- All those intentionally great threads that declined into rubbish.
- All the quarrel in the former Guild of Politics, and even worse in the Guild of religion.
- Members that suddenly decided that they knew everything so much better than everyone else, and as a result of that got themselves banned.
- Members that don't have the time to be around here much longer, if at all.
- Being dragged into stupid arguments in the 'Film-section', or GoP.
- All those totally idiotic posts I have made.
- The horrible incident a year ago which ended in a number of good moderators leaving, and a thread called 'Húrin Thalion' or something.
- Loosing that debate to the Periaur (actually, not so much because of loosing it, as to having to live with Aulë's stupid comments for months afterwards). Although it did have it's up-side, as Aulë thought that he could take on the whole world, and so started the Debate Tournament...:D
- All the times when I have been prevented from logging on, and all the times in the future when I will be in the same position.
- The demise of Ost-in-Edhil.

But why is it that so many seem to be of the opinion that TTF is about to dissappear? What TTF has been and will continue to be, is up to the members! If you think that it is lacking in something, don't wait for others to fix that: do it yourself!

After all, there are 1800 registered members, of which 317 have zero posts, and close to 200 of the members have been here that past week, some of them are members that have been considered 'gone.'

[Rhiannon]

Oh gosh, I've been here a year now. :cool: Let's see...

Good:
Tal stopped nagging me to join
Rapidly establishing myself as the Militant Eowyn Fan
All kinds of craziness in the Guild of Outcasts
Becoming friends with The-Elf-Herself
Being dragged into the Chronicles of Ea by Dain
Driving Dain to drink by taking an entire hour to come up with a name for my first Chronicles character
Frank! Everybody loves Frank!
Being vicariously intelligent by reading other people's comments
So many people remembering my birthday!

Bad....being attacked for being snarky about RotK, and being attacked by FoeHammer. Never mind, I didn't enjoy the movie forums anyway. And bungling up the debate tournament with my sheer incompetency at least twice. And YayGollum vanishing and Tal almost leaving.

[Aulë]

Good things:
- Winning the Debate Tournament. (I still haven't seen Aulë's reaction to that fact...:D )You don't want to know. . . .
And you're lucky that I wasn't around when you managed to bribe Nóm. . . . ;)

[Inderjit S]

Well, I just remembered this rather embarrassing memory. When I first joined, in my first debate, being impetuous, and not reading the rules, my post was about why Fingolfin could be slain in his fight with Morgoth, when my guild was arguing against Fingolfin's fight with Morgoth being some kind of rage induced suicide mission. Luckily Maedhros saw it and told me to delete the thing.

[Inderjit S]

hehe! I thought me and Maedhros were the only ones who knew. :o

Well, I was pretty new to the forum, And I really wanted to impress everyone with my erudite brilliance but I end up making a total prat of myself. Well, I've certainly made a prat of myself on more then one occasion here so that doesn't really matter anyway. ;)

Bleh, I'm not really insulted. If you'd thought I was a complete idiot after my post, then that would have been worse for me, even though your assertion would have been justified.

Plus I think I was too much of a newcomer to rebel. I need a few months until I become an annoying pseudo-rebel with my magnanimous accosting and silly satirical posts.

[The-Elf-Herself]

*pokes head in* Hunh, interesting... *wonders if she should say anything since she's mostly been a lurker* Ah what the heck, I might as well, it'll make the post nice and long-or not. :rolleyes:

Good Memories:

*Coming over here from the other GOO as per orders *coughs* I mean request of Yay
*Getting to be a staunch anti-falling-in-love advocate against a few formidable romantics
*Becoming friends with Rhian and with Kai too, wherever she went off to
*Making the TTF GOO a nice, homey place for outcast chicks everywhere
*the brief, glorious time when my 'Pillaging Barad-dur' RPG was active
*the debates, both reading and contributing something with my meager skills
*helping Olwe(or Omni) start the Renegades on MERPG

Bad Memories

*the disappearance of chicks from the GOO
*Yay disappearing from TTF, despite my best efforts to weasel him back over
*some stuff happening(I have no idea what, I read posts that look interesting, those didn't...) which resulted in people leaving, getting upset, etc

[Bethelarien]

Hmmmm...interesting. Sad, I think, to find that no one has mentioned me. I'm scarred for life now.

Good
~Joining TTF and the Guild of Elves
~My first ever RPG in the GoE (same one Owly and Glorf mentioned)
~Becoming friends almost immediately with Isal..heh heh...."friends"
~OK, becoming friends with other people, esp. Scatha, Glorf, Owly, Ol'Gaffer, Thol, etc....hmmm...those are all guys. Interesting.
~Debating all by my lonesome the very first debate I ever did. It was great!

Bad
~TTF splitting into MERPG
~Guild activity plummeting
~Friends disappearing
~GoP & GoR being outlawed *disgruntled noises*
~All the drama...heavens, you'd practically think this was high school!
~People being mad at me....I hate that.
~Being deserted by my debate team several times and then getting upset and swearing the whole thing off, even though I later broke down and helped anyway
~Feeling like leaving TTF because there really isn't anything else that interests me...oh wait, that's not a memory, that's how I feel right now!

Sheesh. I've been here for over a year, and I can't decide if that's too long or not long enough.

[Rhiannon]

Hmmmm...interesting. Sad, I think, to find that no one has mentioned me. I'm scarred for life now.
Well, no one mentioned me either...except Jam, who could hardly get away with not, because I'd...well, never mind, probably nothing, but still.

[Inderjit S]

Good points: reading Rhiannon's militant Éowyn-type rants.

bad points: reading Rhiannon's militant Éowyn-type rants.

;)

[Saucy]

:D iam reluctantly satsified tosee that iam not in anyones bad memory list so far :D

[baragund]

Hmmmm.... This thread sounds kind of like a eulogy and at first I felt kind of weird taking part. But it seems to have gotten legs so what the heck...

Happy Memories

*Finding this forum in the first place. You see, I had gone my whole adult life loving JRRT's works and having NOBODY to talk to about it. Finding this site (quite by accident I might add) was, well, like stumbling into a whole new world (sorry for using the cliche).

*Extra Special Friendships: I am fond of many folks here but there are a few that stand out - Maedhros for taking me under his wing and showing me around when I first arrived. Chrysophalax for getting me hooked on RPGs and just being a super pal. Yay for being a total nut (true hero of LOTR my foot!!). My fellow Scholars, particularly Feanorian, Elfarmari and Idril (how's the new kitchen?). My fellow RPers from Heren Istarion and The Chronicles. Starflower for teaching me all about Dark Elves. Lhunithiliel for keeping me on my toes.

*The Debate Tournament: Staying up half the night researching material and being useless at work the next day. Collaborating with my teammates. Contributing to some of our victories, particularly our wins against the Tolkienologists and snapping O-in-E's winning streak ;) .


Regrets

*Being careless in my use of sarcasm and hyperbole, and hurting some people's feelings in the process.

*Not getting to know some of the other senior citizens around here better like Ancalagon, Arvedui and Grond.

*My own apathy and busy schedule contributing to the demise of the Guild of Scholars.


Did you notice that not once did I mention religion or politics. That's because I'm one of, oh, perhaps two or three members here who never bothered with either of those topics. :)

[Tar-Ancalime]

Eulogy? The tolkien Forum isnt that dead yet! :p

[greypilgrim]

The good:

~The Limlight Lounge
~Everything YayGollum ever said in here
~Quotable Quotes
~Movie Quote Game
~Role Play Games
~Yikes! Bar With A Name Too Long And Crazy That Was Made For RPG'ers (and sure, fun)
~Reading Thorin, Mrs. Maggot, Snaga, and Grond discussing anything

The bad:

~I won't mention....

[Snaga]

I'm feeling like a lengthier reply now.

Good memories:
-Finding this place, a little before the first movie was made.
-Being inspired to re-read Lord of the Rings, for the first time in 10 years as a result
-The wit of Harad in his hey-day
-Daisy and me vs the right in the Guild of Politics - or is that a bad memory?
-Starting role-playing as Snaga: the birth of RP35
-RP36: a classic
-Plotting the downfall of the west with Dengen, Telchar, Sting and the rest of the Dark Legion
-Creating Terendul, anti-hero of Forbidden
-The end of Forbidden... with hindsight the whole thing is too funny!:D
-Finding Wonks, falling in love, getting warned about our poetry!, meeting her for the first time...
-The amazement, and the kind words of everyone when we announced our engagement
-The British Army... great fun on the forum... and our Hogsmanay bash! Damn that was a long drive!
- Maedhros and the Scholars' shock defeat in the Debate Tournament Round 1.
-Getting the whole double account mess straightened out

Bad memories:

-Getting so fed up of certain people I created a second account to avoid them
-Finding out that second accounts were illegal
-The fall of Harad
-The exile of VoK, and my secret double-life
-All my harsh words, sarcasm and foolishnesses on more threads that I care to remember

[Khamul]

Good times :
-Not caring about what people thought about the way I posted...Syntax, general thought process, etc. I mean, I really preferred the spamming days...it gave me a reason to post.
-Meeting some awesome people
-Learning that debating an opinion is not always necessary when you have an opinion.
-TTF helped me grow up a bit, but I lost it all...and am having the time of my life in real life right now...idk. It was really a stage for me when I moved to Texas, just didn't really have all that much to do except play games, so I got on forums and talked. Then DSL came along and Counter Strike....

Bad times:
-Leaving and having no one really care :-p
-Learning how cruel people can be to others
-Learning that even the scapegoats have personalities and reasons to do what they do. (harad, ulairi, etc)
-Learning that removing a problem without explanation can end up causing more **** than anything else

Overall, I was able to understand people much better through TTF...thank you

Later guys,
Khamul aka Sting

[Maedhros]

Memories from a long time ago!

Good:
I have met a lot of great people in here: Harad, Anc, Grond, Walter, Lhun, Inder, etc.
I would have never thought that Harad is the nicest person I have seen in a Tolkien forum!
The great debates and threads that I have participated or I have seen in this forum.
The resurgence of the GoS for a while.
The RPG Redemption with Chrys, Snaga, etc.
That people mention me mostly in the good memories part.
Maedhros and the Scholars' shock defeat in the Debate Tournament Round 1.
This is funny.
Because of joining TTF, I had a resurgence of the works of JRRT and it lead me to become involved in the Revised Silmarillion Project (http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=4429).

Bad:
People taking shots at banned people. To me they are just cowards.
Harad being banned from TTF.
The administration chosing Cir over Anc. That doesn't even makes sense.
All of the stupid arguments I had with nice people.
Guilds with age restrictions. That is just plain STUPID.
Leaving the Guild of T and the Guild of S because of lack of time.
Not being able to see to its completion the Silmarillion chapter by chapter discussion.
People who say to my face that they are going to do something and then they just do the opposite.
Althought it was my first Forum, I made the right decision to leave TTF.

P.S.
Todos tenemos un amor que nos complica la vida, todos tenemos un amor que nos rompe el corazon y nos complica la vida. ;)

[Lhunithiliel]

Todos tenemos un amor que nos complica la vida, todos tenemos un amor que nos rompe el corazon y nos complica la vida. ;)
Un amor si puede romper el corazon a miles de pedasos; el corazon sera tan triste por perder una amistad .... todo es verdad.
Pero porque tener este dolor enserrado en el corazon, my 'tall' amigo?! Es triste vivir asi! Asi que, vuelva! VUELVA!
Te estamos esperando! ;) :D

[Tar-Ancalime]

I think I'll randomly post again, Hi all, again!

I forgot the Latin Freaks, way better at translating then myslef. Those were some good times, getting yelled at for bad latin :p .

I still think the collapse of the Dark Guild and disaperance of Dengen really ended an era of so called rivarly. We were all so silly back then, in the days of Ciraheyer( or however you spell that.) Ellessar and everyone else that made the forum wierd and funny.

Most people would probably call it good that messy time is gone, but I relished those days.

[Ciryaher]

I still think the collapse of the Dark Guild and disaperance of Dengen really ended an era of so called rivarly. We were all so silly back then, in the days of Ciraheyer( or however you spell that.) Ellessar and everyone else that made the forum wierd and funny.

Most people would probably call it good that messy time is gone, but I relished those days.

Ah! You still can't spell my name! C-I-R-Y-A-H-E-R :p (without the hyphens ;))

I miss those days too, though. Alas for such dark times as these! But I've been thinking some, so my list is changing of memories.

The Good:

--Having been the first mod on TTF when it was still annexed to thelordoftherings.com
--Giving Dain a half of a warning point "for being French" ;)
--The Early Days of the Chronicles (too much to list, so that'll have to do)
--Helping with MERPG
--Finding out that people have some very interesting views on Tolkien and Politics :D
--Being infamous
--Meeting Kementari and falling in love
--Meeting a bunch of interesting people and making friends (and friendly rivals ;))

The Bad:

--Always getting blamed for things
--Finding out that some people weren't coming to MERPG because I was there
--Realizing that the world was more insane than I thought
--Falling out of the discussions on Tolkien, and losing interest

And the Ugly:

--HT and the following suspension of my modship because HT wanted to play a joke on the forum (his words, not mine)
--People with their heads so far up their posterior ends they don't even make sense anymore

[Tar-Ancalime]

I'm so sorry, Cirry!

I'm just so unsmarter than all you diabolical geniuses!
:( :( :(

Here is the ultimate bad on this forum: Naiee I Indo

My feud with Narya kinda sucked. we were all being drama queens!

but that failed RPG showed the last good RPG on the TTF before it became MERPG.

Also, my trademark was the deplorable spelling/grammar functions....not much has changed.

[Eledhwen]

I've been on TTF for a while now. I looked at a couple of other fora, but they just weren't right for me, so here I've stayed. This is actually the only place I can get any decent dialogue on Tolkien and his works, as no-one in my circle of face-to-face friends understands what is so special about the subject.

What is good about TTF:
1. The Bulgarians - they seem to walk about with one foot in Middle-earth (or maybe even two!)
2. Peoples' willingness to help when there's something I don't understand or want to understand more clearly.
3. YayGollum, whose posts were always in character - as incisive as Gollum's own teeth!
4. The encouragement I have received from people who don't know me except on these boards.
5. Mrs.Maggott and Barliman Butterbur - both old enough to say exactly what they think, but also old enough to do it with respect.
6. I have gained much from the knowledge of others - Walter and Inderjit come to mind; plus some magnificent debates in the early days.

Bad:
1. Attempts at democracy
2. That horrific expansion of the Green Dragon into a sort of mega-mall of chit chat places. It seemed at one time like practically every TTFer was running their own bar! Glad it got tidied up.
3. Talks of a convention died away to nothing.
4. Name changes! I can never be sure who the heck I am talking to!
5. Anonymity breeds contempt: This is rare, but at times I have been spoken to on these boards with an air of contempt that I never have to suffer in face-to-face situations.

Finally, I'd like to say "Thank you!" to the founder of TTF, and to all those who have given time and energy to making it a place I can keep visiting. :)

[Halasían]

Interesting thread this is. Ok, here goes...

The GOOD:
Finding this place when Tolkienonline collapsed in December 2001.
Writing a collaborative story with my girlfriend.
Some good Tolkien BOOK discussion.
Good manipulation of the VBull 3 software.
The Bad
The seemingly constant changes this board layout has gone through.
Breaking up with my girlfriend before we finished our collaborative story.
Having a mod change what I posted in a book discussion.
A short list, but I'm looking at the highlights here that affected my life here. This place is a good place to write ones stories in the Pony. I may not post alot here, which has probably kept me out of the deeper dooundercurrents that have obviously gone on causing bad blood among some, but I like the people and the place, and I manage to come back around regularly if erratic.

[Eledhwen]

I am glad I can now write about Queer Lodgings without resorting to special characters, spaces or hyphens!

[Arvegil]

Oh, my. I appeared here quite late and have noticed that things can be rather quiet. It appears that things were once neither so quiet nor so peaceful.

[HLGStrider]

We have our ups and downs;)
But they'll never be rid of me!

[Arvedui]

Hopefully not. :)

[HLGStrider]

Thank you, Ardy. . .good to know not everyone is after me with pitchforks;).

Truthfully, the forum does have quiet times and loud times and hard times, but what group doesn't. We're people. People like to fight. My best memories are of the people. Some of my worst are as well, but that's what makes it fun. I can think Tolkien any time and read Tolkien anytime but it is only fun to talk Tolkien with fun people.

[Arvedui]

I'm not after anyone with a pitchfork, except perhaps Frank. ;) The way I see it, I feel a sort of fondness for every member of TTF.

By frequenting here, a person is in my opinion basically a great person. :)

[Eledhwen]

Oh, my. I appeared here quite late and have noticed that things can be rather quiet. It appears that things were once neither so quiet nor so peaceful.To get up to the past levels of activity, we would need the fourth film in the increasingly mis-named Lord of the Rings trilogy (to misquote Douglas Adams):D.
Those were the days! There was a huge divide of two camps: those who approved of all Peter Jackson's works, and those whose toes curled up at the changes he wrought. Of course, there were also those who could see the flaws, but also thoroughly enjoyed the films; but they weren't as easy to shout at.

[Húrin Thalion]

Now let's see...

Good ones:

-What would I have understood about Tolkien, without all these fellow members to discuss with and, well even if I'd never admit it, be taught by?

-Having a lot of fun, both on the forum and on various chats with TTFers

-Having a good, in fact very good forum to return to whenever I have time.

-All of you.

Negative ones:

-Being the catalyst of a lot of underlying conflicts on the forum, causing large fights and the banning of moi.

-Not totally unrelated with the former one, being on five times as many bad lists as good.

-Not being elected mr TTF in absentia. Obviously this voting system is more corrupt than even the italian football association. :eek:



I would also like to seize this moment to for the first time apologize. First of all to Ciryaher. Secondly to all those who in any other way suffered from my actions or their consequenses, including Ancalagon, Gothmog, Beorn, Lantarion and a lot of other people whose names I cannot spell.

Húrin Thalion

[Inderjit S]

-Not being elected mr TTF in absentia

Don't worry Hurin-I certainly didn't vote for you. :)

[Arvedui]

My oh my!

My favourite Swede is back !!!
This is going to be a great day. :)

[Gothmog]

I would also like to seize this moment to for the first time apologize. First of all to Ciryaher. Secondly to all those who in any other way suffered from my actions or their consequenses, including Ancalagon, Gothmog, Beorn, Lantarion and a lot of other people whose names I cannot spell.

Húrin Thalion
Thank you Húrin, this wonderful gesture and I accept without reservation. Let us all put it behind us and enjoy the future of TTF. :)

[Arvegil]

Those were the days! There was a huge divide of two camps: those who approved of all Peter Jackson's works, and those whose toes curled up at the changes he wrought. Of course, there were also those who could see the flaws, but also thoroughly enjoyed the films; but they weren't as easy to shout at.
Pity I was not here, because I split the difference quite well. I am one of those rare ones who enjoyed Jackson's early films long before the release of FOTR, and had a good knowledge of the books. And, if you have not seen "Meet the Feebles," get a copy immediately!

That being said, there were changes I thought were logical, changes which I would not have done but made a certain amount of sense (remembering that Jackson had two audiences to please: those who knew the books well, and those who knew them not at all), and changes which made me go "huh?" I suppose that several of the latter ones involved Liv Tyler in nice gowns was a mitigating factor; and fortunately, fewer of them were in FOTR so that people were already invested in the series when they were presented.

[Sammyboy]

It's quite interesting reading this thread as a newcomer to this forum, and see some parallels with another forum I am a member of (a mobile phone one, totally unrelated to Tolkien but it's another of my interests and my main other experience of internet forums).

I've been a member there since May 04, which doesn't sound that long, but I've posted quite a lot there! I think I'm even considered one of the 'old guard' there. I seem to have joined after a lot of people said that forum was 'more interesting', and talk of the 'old days' but I found it very interesting. There often seems to be a member or two that are 'infamous' for starting flame wars, posting rubbish, and getting banned, and the stalwarts that consistently post interesting and informative things.

Anyway, I'm going on a bit - but it seems I've joined a bit too late and missed a lot of interesting threads! However, in my short time here, I do like what I see!

[Eledhwen]

Welcome, Sammyboy! "I know nothing, nothing."If more people told themselves this, they might learn something!

[scotsboyuk]

@Sammyboy

Well you know that I know exactly what your talking about! I think you are an 'Honourary Old Guard' rather than it being based on age. :p

@all

I agree with Sammyboy, it is rather amusing to see how some things are universal. On that other forum I am older than Sammyboy, I would be one of the old codgers moaning about how good things used to be! :p There were so few of the 'ancient ones' left that we tended to band together, which is perhaps not the best thing to do, sometimes 'new blood', so to speak, is exactly what is needed.

[Maedhros]

From the Book of Lost Tales

It was early and still in the night of June,
And few were the stars, and far was the moon,
The drowsy trees drooping, and silently creeping
Shadows woke under them while they were sleeping.
Twinkles and flashes, came up to the panes
Of my high lattice-window. Or was it a sound?
I listened and marvelled with eyes on the ground.
For there came from afar a filtered note
Enchanting sweet, now clear, now remote,
As clear as a star in a pool by the reeds,
As faint as the glimmer of dew on the weeds.
It was Tinfang Warble that was dancing there,
Fluting and tossing his old white hair,
Till it sparkled like frost in a winter moon;
And the stars were about him, and blinked to his tune
Shimmering blue like sparks in a haze,
As always they shimmer and shake when he plays.
His slim little body went fine as a shade,
And he slipped through the reeds like a mist in the glade;
And he laughed like thin silver, and piped a thin note,
As he flapped in the shadows his shadowy coat.
O! the toes of his slippers were twisted and curled,
But he danced like a wind out into the world.

He is gone, and the valley is empty and bare
Where lonely I stand and lonely I stare.
Then suddenly out in the meadows beyond,
Then back in the reeds by the shimmering pond,
Then afar from a copse where the mosses are thick
A few little notes came trillaping quick.

I leapt o’er the stream and I sped from the glade,
For Tinfang Warble it was that played;
I must follow the hoot of his twilight flute
Over reed, over rush, under branch, over root,
And over dim fields, and through rustling grasses
That murmur and nod as the old elf passes,
Over old hills and far away
Where the harps of the Elvenfolk softly play.

[Beorn]

The Good
- Custom User Titles
- Arguing with RW about a sort of "Gentleman's Agreement"
- My God, It was Horrible (Part I) (http://www.thetolkienforum.com/showthread.php?t=1191)
- My God, It was Horrible (Part II) (http://www.thetolkienforum.com/archive/index.php/t-7952.html)
- My God, It was Horrible (Part III) (http://www.thetolkienforum.com/showthread.php?t=14323)
- Resolution with HT
- Creating the Warning Points System
- Cir warning Dain because he's French
- Ancalagon drunk in the Silver Dragon
- Evil Voodoo Peanuts & YOU
- Becoming King Beorn (and fighting Cir for it)
- Hey Not Queen Chippy! (Inside joke)
- Anc being a mod
- Grond being a mod
- Moderator Humor (http://www.thetolkienforum.com/showthread.php?t=4684)
- Poll: Do you consider the moderators evil?


The Bad
- Problems with Harad
- Problems with Ulairi
- Hours and hours spent on HT
- Hours and hours spent on Narya Hoax
- Hours and hours spent on Olwe / Nahum / Morf / Kieca / de'uda / Te'edwa / shift_eyed_dog
- Kings of Chaos
- Michael Martinez
- My sort of Tolkien falling out
- Various other things not worth being brought up



Maed: ti spero tornare!

[Nóm]

I am sure I've posted in this thread before, but looking back after an even longer time, what stands out...


Best:

Playing trivia with Rumil for a few hours.

Entering the Sil forum after having just read the book.

Grond re-opens some old guild called Guild of Tolkienology, and I join.

Joining Guild of Scholars, and all efforts there.

Remember first meetings with Turgon, Ithrynluin, Inderjit, and others over MSN Messenger.

'Is it not Celebrthol?' Probably the most valued by the membership thread I ever started. It was about the likeness between Celebthol and a drawing I found of an elf. This was an S&B thread obviously, and so has since been deleted.

'Aule of TTF and I, is it written in the stars?' Funny thread sadly was deleted before its clipping time.

Discussion of obscure points and arguing over Noldor-related topics with Inderjit.

Celebthol's (though Aule and perhaps others were behind it too) special story for me in Snaga's One Post Contest, which got deleted for being too r-rated, but was funny all the same.

Some various excellent discussions I was a part of.


Worst:

Losing so many debates, and having people BS me that I am a good debator when my record proves that I am not.

Having countless book discussion threads that I started get zero replies. (Many were lated deleted at my request.)

Ill relations with Ciryaher, Beorn, Lhunithiliel, Mrs Maggot, Elbereth, Eriol and others.

Quitting GoS.

My whole time as a mod sucked. Everything surrounding it sucks.

The gradual turning (in 2004) into a spammer out of spite, and then finding that it was just as well and welcome as my bookish nonsense!

Anamatar and FoolOfATook left.

The time I lost my internet connection just after Round 10 of the tournament started. Man! It still kills me that I was unable to post my reply to the GoS opening post, and so bring up major points that went on to be left out by both sides!! Man!!

The someone (perhaps more than one?) thought I was lying about my motives for bumping up an old thread, which still burns me up to this day, as I would have admitted it had the motive been what he thought it was, and furthermore I could have easily found much better threads for the purpose I "allegedly" had, so the allegations were stupid.

And I save the worst by far for last: the circumstances surrounding, and the actual resignation of Ancalagon, then Gothmog, and then Turgon and the way this changed everything for me. I never got over it as I feel the fundamental wrongs of it all were never aknowledged. With 'the mod mess of 2003' TTF went from bringing out something great to bringing out the worst in me, and it was never the same since. (Sometimes I wonder if anyone remembers that once upon a time Nom wasn't such a pain in the...thread.)

[Inderjit S]

It is surprising and somewhat funny that a forum can bring about so many emotions.....

It is a well known fact that people are narrow-minded and think that things used to be better even though they probably were not. In my opinion, the best period of the forum was during 2002-2004, especially after I joined *nudge* *nudge* No, really, I am not moaning, just looking back. Whilst looking back I am also embarrassed by a lot of my old school posts, the lofty, verbose language (Is Gandalf paradigmic of the perfidious cognitive dissonances of Middle-Earthen politics, or is this syllogism a logical fallacy, and discuss the homogeneity of such a view! That's right-my post makes no sense BWAHAHA!)

And my satirical posts which no one found funny. Boo

And meeting so many interesting people-Nom, Maedhros, Eriol, Hurin, ithrynluin, Barliman, joxy, Beleg, Arvedui, Nenya and others. I am too lazy to use my brain and remember who else I remember. Go brain! Or a lack of it thereof.

My Finduilas obssesion and me competing for her love with Beleg. Proving we both need to get a life-fast. Or a maid-servant.

The many interesting discussions I have had with other people. Go other people!

BADS:

Being mentioned five times in this topic. WHASSUPWITHDAT?

I like Inderjit. Ha-six times now!

[Ingwë]

The Good
- Moderator Humor (http://www.thetolkienforum.com/showthread.php?t=4684)


Mike, we cannot view this page. You're admin :) and you don''t see this:
Ingwë, you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:


Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.

[Ithrynluin]

The thread is in the moderators' forum, that's why it cannot be accessed.

[Beorn]

Mike, we cannot view this page. You're admin :) and you don''t see this:
Ingwë, you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:




Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.


Some excerpts (mind you, it's old)

I hereby submit the following new names for fora:

Member Announcements: Member Denouncements
Entmoot: Spoot
The Hall of Fire: The Hall of Farts
The Prancing Pony: The Prancing Prat
Bag End: Bad End
Related Topics: Slightly related in the most remote way to Tolkien Topics
Stuff and Bother: S [from BS] and BS

NLC/FotR: If you want to talk about the movie you've seen...
NLC/TTT & RotK: If you want to talk about the movies you haven't seen..
NLC/Tolkien Vs. PJ: If you've actually read the book, and would like to compare and contrast it wit hthe movie...

RP/Lighthearted: RP/Running Jokes
RP/Serious: Role Playing



Newbie1: Yo peeplz! I want 2 konw wat an rP is. If U can tlel me wat 1 iz, thatd be kewl

Mod1: Go to the RP Manual at <link yadda yadda> and read it. That should help.

Newbie2: I was wondering that too. This forum sucks and they are all mean!

Newbie1: Mod-persun R U going 2 tlle us wat Rps R?

Veteran1: The mod already gave you the link.

Newbie2: What link? You guys suck.

Mod2: The link was posted by Mod1. Here it is again in case you can't see it <samelink>.

Newbie1: So I click on that?

Newbie2: You're all ******** and I ******* hate you guys? <additional whining>

Veteran2: What the **** is your problem? The mods both posted a link.

Ulairi: You mods are so ignorant. I know everything and I think Ciryaher is a German descended from Erwin Rommel.

Newbie1: Hello? Is this thing on?

Veteran1: Geez, the link is there! I'll post it AGAIN <samelink>.

Newbie2: This site sucks. All the mods are jerks and the veterans won't let anyone do anything.

Veteran2: We were newbies too, you know.

Newbie2: Shut up you ******* *** **** *** *******!

<Mods 1 & 2 confer and decide to inform Supermod1>

Supermod1: Ok, the system is quite simple: you click the link and you go to the page, Newbie1. Newbie2, I hope you enjoy your time being banned.

Newbie3: Wats a lnik?



Threads you would NEVER like to see again:

Who's your favorite character?
What should I read next?
Frodo is ____(Fill in girly word for hot)____
How do I make a picture thingy under my name?
How do I get those words under my name?
How do I change my profile?
How do I....


____(Anything)____Gollum____(Anything)____
I was given a suggestion for a description for the moderators ... What do you think? :)

A moderator is a members worst nightmare. They are more intelligent. They never eat, they never sleep, and they read every post, no matter how obscure. They are the Antichrist, Beelzebub, Lucifer, a devourer of members. You will go to bed each night wishing plague and pestilence on their unborn children, and you will wake up each morning praying for their approval. You won't get it.


Paraphrased from an episode of E. R.


A conversation between Anc and I:
Mike B says:
Who do you think is the most evil moderator?
Ancalagon the Black says:
Truth, probably you, cause you have the tactfulness of a brick
Mike B says:
hahaha...and that's a compliment
Ancalagon the Black says:
Well, I am sure you will take it as one



I came across this sig today.. I especially like the last line.

Tar-Elenion
Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice.
Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue.


After changing to the current, green color scheme:
I don't know about anyone else, but I keep having this urge to put ranch salad dressing on my screen......


A moderator memo:
Subj: Leave of Absence (for an operation):
We are no longer allowing this practice. We wish to discourage any thoughts that you may not need all of whatever you have. You should not consider having anything removed. We asked you to be mods as you are, and to have anything removed would certainly make you less than we bargained for.

*evil grin*

[Ingwë]

It is funny, thanks. I didn't know that the mods can be so funny. In their forum they post many jokes :). The description for the mods in cool!

If the normal men lives 80 years, TTF is now almost 4 years (is that correct?), then I am a teenager here. But I have memories, though they aren't a lot and they are not bad (bag :) )

Good:

Finding TTF
Finding Gil-Galad in the Forum Leades list and seeing that he is Bulgarian
First PM with Gil when he told me that there are 7 Bulgarians here
My thread Elrond ( http://www.thetolkienforum.com/showthread.php?p=446740#post446740) in the Character profiles forum.
Project - The Economy of Middle earth (http://www.thetolkienforum.com/showthread.php?t=15855) by Gil-Galad - great thread. I hope I will have enough time for posting it that thread.
Nom's post in the thread 'The worst deed of Melko' - I was glad to read it.
Meeting great person at MSN :) (TTF members)
This thread - 'TTF memories'
I think these are the best. They aren't many but as I mentioned, I am a teen. :)

[I will edit this post when something good happen.]

[baragund]

I didn't know that the mods can be so funny.

Yes, they put on their pants one leg at a time, they have parents and siblings, they eat, drink and sleep (I think), and many other human characteristics to boot! :D

[Ingwë]

Yes, they put on their pants one leg at a time, they have parents and siblings, they eat, drink and sleep (I think), and many other human characteristics to boot! :D

Yes, they they eat meat (they aren't vegetarians :) ), they drink blood :D , sometimes they sleep... Of course I know!

Hahahaha. Just a joke. Maybe we must start a thread 'Users humour' ? :confused:

Look at my previous post...

[Eledhwen]

Yes, they they eat meat (they aren't vegetarians :) )That reminds me of a long conversation I had on these boards, explaining that I am a proxy vegetarian (The cattle eat the grass; I eat the cattle). It was in a serious vegetarianism thread: [b]Your Opinion: do animals have souls?[/b}, and a few posters had major sense of humour failures over it. Here's a taster (so to speak)

Originally Posted by Helcaraxë
A "proxy vegetarian"? This is the complete antithesis of the very concept of vegetarianism.
I know that! My daughter has been a veggie for, oo, about 14 years.
I am rather disturbed by your lack of regard for your fellow inhabitants of Earth.
My regard for a good steak is limitless.

Do you really only put one pant (trouser) leg on at a time, Baragund?

[baragund]

LOL!

Good one, Eledhwen! :D

And here's another witty rebuttal if a vegan ever gets in your face about eating meat:

Animals are yummy!!

[Eledhwen]

Yes, they are aren't they!

I'm not going to refer to a specific TTF member or incident; but over the years, I have noted how some people have come onto the boards very overconfident in their immaturity, only to develop into mature individuals and skilled debators in the mighty company they found hereabouts.

[Feanorian]

Good memories:

1. The Guild of Scholars and all of the great people I met there. Especially Baragund and Maehdros.
2. The debates, while I was 14 at the time these debates helped me learn valuable lessons that have stayed with me in debates that take place off the internet in the real world.
3. The eagerness with which I signed on to TTF and would stay for hours at a time.
4. People like the Blackrider and the above mentioned who I talked to outside of the forum. Anamatar as well.
5. Realizing how little I knew in comparison to others when it came to Tolkien and his works, and the wealth of knowledge they had to share with me.

Bad ones:
1. Maehdros and Blackrider leaving.
2. Losing my interest in Tolkien.
3. Never posting anything which was to be respected in the world of Tolkien.
4. Other things I can't remember I'm sure.
5. The whole fact that we needed a C9 and their general incompetence after they were elected.

[Eledhwen]

I don't think one ever loses interest in Tolkien, if it was there in the first place. What one loses interest in is the desire to debate and discuss the works with others, which sees people either leaving the forum for a while, or propping up the bar in one of the 'general chat' inns. Everyone needs a break every now and then!

I am not sorry to see the back of political and religious discussions on the boards, mainly because I found myself being drawn into the ones I found interesting when I had come here to discuss Tolkien! :rolleyes:

[e.Blackstar]

Memories:

-My first posts...I knew NOTHING.
-/+Changing my username...4th time's the charm, I guess...I'm sticking with e.Blackstar.
-/+Barley :D
+Turin
+Hammersmith
+Elgee
+Everybody else
-Confusion when Pippin Took changed his name
+Snaga and Wonks getting engaged
+Lonna...whereever has she gone?
+Making my first pub
-Pippen Took/Aule wrecking my first pub :mad: :( :D
+Guild of Outcasts

There're more, yes, but I can't think of them right now.

[Barliman Butterbur]

What is good about TTF:...

5. Mrs. Maggott and Barliman Butterbur - both old enough to say exactly what they think, but also old enough to do it with respect.

Thank you! How nice of you to remember our jehovian jousting that way. :) Now if only Madame M would come back, we could have at it all over again! ;) :D But for now...

back into the shadows...:cool:

Barley

[Lonna]

eBlackstar,

I'm here! In New Zealand at the moment, on and offline as there are more sheep here than computers!

Hope you are well. I'll be up and posting in no time, I hope. Maybe I'll open an Internet Cafe on the South Island!