narya_flame

Hi!

I'm so excited we're a match; I love the concept of this exchange, and I can't wait to see what you come up with. Worldbuilding is a huge geeky obsession of mine, so I'm sure I'll love whatever you're inspired to make.

General Stuff

Given the focus of this exchange, I'm not going to go into a massive list of things I love to see in shippy or smutty fanworks (although I'm open to receiving it unless there's a fandom-specific DNW in my signup that says otherwise. If you do want inspiration in that direction, I put some ideas in my Smut Swap and Chocolate Box exchange letters). Please don't read anything into the length of the prompts, or whether I've requested or written a certain fandom or character before; if it's in my signup, I'd love to receive it.

I've added in a list of things I love that seem vaguely relevant to this exchange, but as always, if you're inspired to do something different then please ignore all of this and follow your heart; I don't want this to be stressful, life's tricky enough without making fandom hard too. (And feel free to take fic prompts and turn them into art, make fic out of the meta prompts, create illustrated meta, swap things around and blur the boundaries wherever you like.)

I also exist over at Tumblr and Pillowfort (I really need to get better at using that site). I post moodboards and manips at DeviantArt, periodically trawl for aesthetic inspiration on Pinterest, and am active on the Silmarillion Writers' Guild Discord.

I was born in Yorkshire but I now live in Scotland. I have a busy “career” type job with more than full time hours, but when I can, I write, read, or retreat to the sea or the hills. I've been hanging out in the Tolkien fandom for going on fourteen years now (I am a Fandom Old, though I was a naïve teenage baby when I started). My uncle introduced me to the Bakshi cartoon when I was a tot; I read LOTR when I was still fairly young, the Silm when I was a bit older, and I never looked back. I both write and read fic, mostly about Elves, though I like or at least am interested in most of the canon characters.  I also love to read and write OCs, and I enjoy reading non-Tolkien fic, though I rarely write it and almost never post it.  Non-Tolkien fannish interests include:

• The MCU
• Narnia
• Star Wars
• Star Trek
• Castlevania
• Doctor Who
• Mushishi
• Penny Dreadful
• Firefly
• Downton Abbey
• The Hollow Crown
• Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire
• Dragonriders of Pern
• The Old Kingdom
• Folklore and Mythology (including British, Greek, Roman, Norse and Mesopotamian)
• The Forgotten Realms
• A bunch of smaller fandoms based on individual books, films, short stories, plays, fairy tales, poems, songs, games, works of art and other things.

My Fic

My main, mostly Noldor-centric 'verse lives here on AO3. Mostly my fics are canon-based, if not strictly canon-compliant (I pick, choose and blend the versions of canon that I like best; I stretch, bend and extrapolate beyond established canon fact; I treat LACE as an optional extra) and run from pre-First Age all the way through to modern times.  The stories are listed in chronological order as far as possible, and for the most part they stand alone – though if that isn't the case, the story notes or summary will say so.

I also co-write the Summerland series with Spiced Wine, a crossover between my modern Maglor story The Ways of Paradox and her Dark Prince/Magnificat AU.

I write original fiction too, but like my non-Tolkien fic, I rarely talk about it and never post it.


My Journal


Mostly I use Dreamwidth to keep in touch with my fandom friends. I try to post links to my fic when I remember, but I'm not good at doing this consistently.  Personal stuff is locked to my access list (and may also be restricted to a filter, depending on how personal it is); fannish stuff may also be f-locked if it's just wittering, or bits of drafts, but links to finished works will be public.

Other things posted publicly are my 'Poem of the Week' posts, which (when I'm doing them) go up on Mondays, 'Dear Creator' letters, and the results of my kitchen experiments.

Friending

If you follow me I will most likely follow you back, as long as you seem like a nice person and not a troll or a bigot.  If it's not obvious how we know each other, I'd appreciate a DM or a comment on here to say hi :)

Commenting

Comments are welcome, including single word responses and emojis. Equally, you're welcome to stay quiet if you're more comfortable doing so.

One caveat – my job is stressful. Fandom is my happy place. I don't do discourse, drama or arguments, and I will step away if things look to be heading in that direction.

Transformative Works

If anyone wants to translate, remix, make art, podfic etc. that's absolutely fine - just tell me so I can get excited about it and promote/reblog your creations! Please note, though, that this does not extend to writing spitefic, parody, or feeding my fanworks into any kind of generative AI programme.


Events and Communities


I moderate the hidden_paths event, a low-pressure annual celebration of the smaller Tolkien canons. 



I had a sort-of admin role at Faerie, a small Tolkien archive which was my fandom home for a long time, and is now sadly defunct.  I also cross-post fic to the Silmarillion Writers' Guild.  From time to time I run fanfiction book clubs on the Silmarillion Writers' Guild Discord.

I love exchanges and prompt fests.  A few favourites:
 

• My Slashy Valentine, a hand matched slash fiction exchange focused on the people of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth.
  
• Innumerable Stars, a low-commitment, low pressure fic and art exchange inclusive of all things Tolkien (books, movieverse, game canons, and more).
• The Tolkien Short Fanworks community, which is exactly what it says on the tin - a DW community for the posting of very short texts from all Tolkien fandoms (word count up to 1000 words, especially 500 words or less).  There are optional monthly prompts and formal challenges, though all short form texts are welcome.  I've found some lovely pieces and writers here.
• The Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang, which involves authors writing long-ish fic (5k words minimum) in response to an artist's prompt. The prompt should be based on one or more of Tolkien's works.  I am slightly biased about this one as I was one of the founding mods; I stepped down in 2022 but intend to keep taking part as a writer and maybe an artist.
• Tolkien Secret Santa, a fandom-wide gift exchange inspired by the season of giving and celebrating. Everyone who participates gets to make and receive a little digital present from their Secret Santa, which could take any number of forms: a fic, a playlist, an artwork, a poem, a graphic… 

Other
 

I'm married, I play the cello, I love Italy, I speak decent French and a little Scottish Gaelic, I have a soft spot for a dram of good whisky, I'm a football fan (my team is Leeds United), and I giggle at anything.

I have an enormous cat also. (“He is the size of a sheep, as majestic as a snow leopard, and the colour of Irn Bru.” - a dear friend.)

Hi! Thank you for making a gift for me; I'm really excited to see what you come up with.

There's no real theme to my selections, other than “characters I love/find interesting/want to see more of.” I'd be equally delighted to receive something about any of them, and I enjoy fanwork content of all genres and ratings – portraits, comics, mood boards, fluff, gen, angst, smut, vignettes, darkfic, horror, it's all good. Honestly, if you stay out of my DNWs, you can't go wrong.

I've included a list of likes and prompts below as I know a lot of people prefer to have them, but if these don't appeal then feel free to junk the whole set and follow your muse. I don't want this to be stressful and this letter is in no way intended as a shopping list. (Also please feel free to take fic prompts and turn them into art, combine prompts, swap things around and blur the boundaries wherever you like.)

 

Dear Creator,

Hi! It's time to explore some fandom roads less travelled. I love minor characters, new perspectives and relationships that aren't frequently explored, so I can't wait to see what you come up with.