December 24, 2019

Finally: it's Yule eve, and time for our very last Yule calendar surprise for this year. And like in the previous calendars, the very last surprise is the yule video Miss Lina puts together with the help of the Laurelin hobbit community. Shooting these videos is immense fun, and seeing the result is even more so. Now, here it is! Below, you can also read more about the background for the video, written by Miss Lina. You can view the full text and watch previous hobbit yule video greetings at Miss Lina's burrow.

Now, that's the hobbity yule calendar for this year! I hope you have enjoyed it. Feel free to add your comments and feedback below! A huge thanks to everyone who helped with he calendar – everyone who sent entries and shared the calendar to others! I wish you all a very happy, lovely, sweet, and above all hobbity yuletide!

The 2019 yule video

What stories to tell in the 2019 video?

The hobbit yule videos typically have two main vignettes, each based on a meetup where we shoot some video footage. A recurring issue every year is to figure out what kind of “story” to tell in these vignettes.

Lonely old hobbit

The yule videos are mostly merry affairs (although some hobbits grumble over the fact that far too many of them end with a bath in ice cold water). This year, I wanted to try something different, starting out with an old hobbit who for various unexplained reasons is lonely during the yuletide. Although, she absolutely would love some company.

Of course, this taps into the fact that yule isn’t a merry time with family and friends for everyone. Many spend the yuletide in solitude. And while some choose to do so deliberately, there are far too many who are absolutely longing to spend time with someone, to be noticed, to have someone to talk to… but cannot.

Thus, I made some initial scenes with the help of Almi, having her walk slowly around the homesteads, not being noticed by the other hobbits who showed up for the video shoot. Playing around a bit with speed and colours, this segment tries to convey a sense of sadness and longing, aided by the music. Eventually, we’re back to the usual merry hobbit party, where we realize every one of the lonely hobbit’s wishes for company, and then some. I’ll leave it to you to figure out whether the party is just a dream sequence for the lonely hobbit, or whether her dream actually came true. But of course, hobbits stick together, especially in the yuletide!

Ice fishing

For the second segment, we headed into the snow, or rather onto the ice. We went ice fishing! Although, the ice was thick and hard to crack…

The general idea was just to have a grand day out in the snow, where the hobbits try to chop a hole in the ice, through various actions and emotes. The instructions were really only: Go wild. And they did.

I hadn’t really figured on how to end this segment, though… after all, it isn’t possible to actually drill through the in-game ice. However, the river opens up a bit further downstream, so we could go there. Of course, then I got the old itch to send the hobbits yule bathing again, much to the dismay of those taking part. But how can you withstand the furious (furrious?) power of the pink furry snowbeast? Yep, yer can’t.
Credits

The end credits this year mostly consist of outtakes from the “lonely old hobbit” shoot, with added yule screenshots sent in by hobbits. And “Auld Lang Syne” is a grand way to end a hobbity yule video!