Totally forgot that Enoch was taken by God. And I agree with you that the Ainur are more like angels.

Not really answering your question but your post got me thinking. Is there a person in the bible who is immortal like the Elves? And God and Jesus do not count. So I found these three on the internet:

Enoch: In the genealogies of Genesis, everyone’s story ends with “…and he died.” Enoch is the sole exception. Genesis 5:24 states: “Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” The New Testament confirms this in Hebrews 11:5, stating he was taken “so that he did not experience death.”

Elijah: The fiery Old Testament prophet did not die a natural death. Instead, while walking with his successor Elisha, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated them, and Elijah “went up to heaven in a whirlwind” (2 Kings 2:11).

Melchizedek: He is a mysterious king and priest who briefly meets Abraham in Genesis 14. In the New Testament, Hebrews 7:3 describes him in highly unusual terms: “Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.” A bit like Tom Bombadil.

Or should we see Elves like Angles on Earth?

I heard that the Tolkien Foundation had the letter of dismissal framed in their office and laugh about it when they can. Do not know if it is true but I would do the same.

The Fellowship of the Ring in my opinion contains the most beautiful words to describe places like the Shire which just come alive in my mind. I have been to the Shire without ever being in the Shire. And Beren and Luthien and The Children of Hurin are the best fairy tales out there. And if you do not like fantasy than Leaf by Niggle is amazingly well written. No dear Nobel Prize, this guy was and is a Master in Literature.

The thing probably is that I remember it being something special especially gameplay wise, but probably because I was out of touched with gaming. I think around the same time Mass Effect came out and the Xbox 360 was for me an impressive console.

Check, yes you are right.

So the reason why I say inspired because I was thinking that countering was something AC had created, but I’m probably remembering this incorrectly.

Yeah Unity also felt really special.

Just want to say, I’m very happy with my Shiftphone 8.1, which is running e/os L (no Google). I use Micro G for payments with Curve Pay and use Magic Earth instead of Maps. It is amazing how long the battery lasts without Big Tech constantly looking over my shoulder.

This is the thing that worries me. I’m currently Degoogling and relying on sources like F-Droid, but these sneaky tricks seem unavoidable

Thank you for this, i will look into it.

For me it is also difficult to get rid of Whatsapp because family and work use it. I really like YouTube and am still hoping for the great next YouTube alternative. I use Proton for mail, calendar and online Drive. I use a Chinese mobile with F-droid and Aurora Store. I also have an old Pixel phone with which I’m experimenting with GrapheneOS For my desktop I’m still experimenting with which Linux is the best fit compatibility wise.

I’m currently using Brave as browser but I’m thinking of switching to Waterfox or Vivaldi.

Edit: and my DNS is from a European server.