narya_flame | Entries tagged with fandom

These are from

1) A character you've wanted to write but haven't yet, and why?

So many!!!

I have Ideas about Ungoliant that I haven't quite managed to work into anything yet. The main thing stopping me is I need to button down my thoughts on the cosmology and creation myth as presented in the Silm, and what the 'reality' might be. Bits and pieces have crept into my 'verse but it's more hints than anything.

There are whole groups that I want to give more time and thought to but haven't made time to do appropriate levels of worldbuilding for.  The Éothéod, the Woodsmen of Mirkwood, the Lossoth, the Haradrim...

There are characters outside Tolkien I would like to write more of too, mostly from Penny Dreadful and Castlevania.

Time, really. It's always time.

2) Favourite coffee/tea/cocktail/beer/etc to order when you go out? (Or feel free to pick several from different categories if one overall is too hard)

Ooooh.

Coffee - black coffee all the way. Nothing beats a really good espresso, though finding one is a different matter.

Tea - I actually really love jasmine tea. I tend not to order breakfast tea out and about because it's never as good as when I make it at home.

Cocktail - dirty martini or Aperol spritz, depending on the weather and occasion!

Beer - I really love a black IPA, not that you see them that often.

3) Best discovery of 2023?

Perthshire!!!

I never spent much time there when I was a student; if we were leaving St Andrews we would go further afield, rather than just heading across the Tay. But we went for a short break there this autumn - completely by accident, actually The place we were supposed to go to, up in the Highlands, had flooded, so we had to scramble last minute to find somewhere - anywhere - that would let us bring the dog. It was wonderfully quiet, the hills are amazing, we visited a distillery we hadn't been to, found some gorgeous farm shops...it was perfect, exactly what we needed.

These were from

spiced_wine - I'll come back to the others in batches!

How old were you when you first read Tolkien?

Encountered - tiny! My uncle showed us the Bakshi cartoon one night when he was babysitting for us, back in the early 90s, and that was it, I was hooked. My favourite part was where Frodo got stabbed - make of that what you will.

Read - seven or eight when I read Fellowship for the first time. My uncle (same one!) bought me the trilogy as a late birthday present to keep me quiet on a long car trip to Cornwall. I think I read The Two Towers and possibly RotK the same summer, as I remember asking lots of questions about Shelob, and worrying about finding her down a Cornish mine shaft.

What was your first fanfic?

Published - this one.

A lot of the stories I wrote growing up were basically fanfic, though - not that I knew what it was back then! I remember one about a girl named Ethel going off to an academy for witches, which owed far more to Jill Murphy's Worst Witch series than it did to Harry Potter. I'm not even sure Harry Potter had come out at that point.

I also had an English teacher whose favourite creative writing exercise was getting us to write from the POV of one of the characters in a book we were studying, or encouraging us to write what was effectively canon divergence fic - what might have happened if the friar had refused to marry Romeo and Juliet, that sort of thing. And I wrote a gothic romance when I was thirteen/fourteen that was a thinly veiled crossover between Flambards and Jane Eyre.

What was the first fanfic you read?

I used to read a lot of Harry Potter fanfic when I was at school. When we were waiting for my Mum to finish up I would obsessively scour the JK Rowling website to find clues or announcements about the next book (I feel like I shouldn't need to say this but just in case it's necessary, this was literally decades before her views on the trans community emerged). She had links to some of the more popular fan sites on there, I think, and that was my gateway drug.

I didn't go looking for Tolkien fanfic until I was into sixth form and procrastinating when I should have been studying! Dark Prince was the first one I remember reading; it may not have been the very first, but it was the first one that stuck. I also read Adora's tenth walker series, which I don't think she ever finished, and, a little later, Pink Siamese's A Dawn of Many Colours, which gave me the multiverse bug!

I am going to cheat a little here, as what I'm going to recommend is not a fanwork in the traditional sense, but I do think it's something to be aware of as we go about our fannish lives.

elwinfortuna speaks very eloquently on the issue, so I am going to recommend their essay on identifying and avoiding scammers, grifters and toxic people in fandom.

As Elwin says, it is important to remember that the majority of people we meet in fandom are exactly what they seem - fellow enthusiasts of something you love. Most people I've met in online spaces are delightful and I'm so glad I know them. Bad actors are few and far between - and it's also important to remember that not everyone you dislike is toxic/abusive/manipulative etc.. Those words, I believe, should be used carefully, or they lose their meaning. Still, just because those individuals are rare does not mean they are not out there.

Elwin's post is not locked. I am leaving this unlocked too, to maximise visibility. However, comments are off as I'm currently not up for a big public discussion on the subject.

Snowflake Challenge promotional banner with image of gingerbread Christmas trees, a silver ball, a tea light candle and a white confectionary snowflake on a beige falling-snowflakes background. Text: Snowflake Challenge January 1-31.

In your own space, tell us about 3 fandom resources, spaces, or communities you use or enjoy.

The Silmarillion Writers' Guild is an incredible fandom-specific archive and community with a fantastic reference section, monthly challenges, a dedicated Discord server and wonderful mods. Their character bios are invaluable for quickly tracking down information spanning multiple disparate sources.

Tolkien Short Fanworks is a community for very short texts from all Tolkien fandoms (word count up to 1000 words, especially 500 words or less), such as ficlets, all types of fixed-length forms, and poetry. There are monthly prompts and formal challenges, but you don't have to follow these; all short texts are welcome.

(SSP incoming) - I co-mod the Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang, which brings together artists and writers from across the various Tolkien sub-fandoms (books, movies, games, beyond). Artists submit visual prompts to be claimed by writers, who then write a piece of fiction (min. 5k words) based on the prompt chosen.

Had a busy few days, so playing catch up!

Day 4

In your own space, make a list of things that you wish existed in fandom or elsewhere, and/or that you'd like someone to create or do for you.

This year I've seen so many people wishing that fandom would chill the F out and be a bit nicer, which I definitely agree with. In that spirit, I'm going to adapt something from my Silmarillion Writers' Guild holiday wish list, which was intended to encourage people to take a breath and look at the world, but also to use their fannish instincts at the same time:

Notice the world around you; find (and photograph?) a little corner of it that makes you think of your favourite fandom setting. That could be a tapestry that reminds you of Cintra, a weird landscape feature that could have come straight out of Star Wars, a ruin that Marcus Flavius Aquila might have seen in all its glory, a bar where you think the Avengers might gather, or a flower you think Sam Gamgee would love.

If you feel comfortable linking to pictures in the comments, I'd love to see what you come up with!

Day 5

In your own space, talk about an idea you wish you had the time / talent / energy to do.

Hmm. Well, my Tolkien fic ideas list is enormous, but I've accepted that I'm never going to write everything on it, and that's OK; I'm not going to beat myself up over the ones I don't get to. The list is a lovely resource to have in its own right.

I can't really think of much else that would be relevant to this particular challenge, so I'm calling that done!

Current Mood: calm

Snowflake Challenge promotional banner featuring an image of a purple candle surrounded by pine cones, pink berries and snowflakes. Text: Snowflake Challenge January 1-31.

In your own space, put some favorite characters into an AU, fuse some favorite canons together, talk about your favorite AU/fusion tropes, or tell us why AU/fusions aren’t your cup of tea. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

This one is right in my sweet spot! I am a huge fan of crossing multiple Tolkien canons together; I love teasing out the links between his various works. Here are a couple of my efforts from the last twelve months:

Are Met In Thee Tonight - Finrod meets an old acquaintance when he follows the call of the wild one midwinter night. A crossover between The Silmarillion and The Father Christmas Letters, with Annatar as a very literal and famous Bringer of Gifts. Not rated, but probably a T at most.

Gone With The Harp's Echo - There was once a young man who could move between worlds, and he fell in love with a fairy... Modern day Maglor, original characters, Arthurian legend, and a dash of Smith of Wootton Major. Rated T.

I also co-write the Summerland series with

spiced_wine, which is a fusion of both our 'verses.

Hosted by

kimaracretak .

Current Mood: busy

Snowflake Challenge promotional banner featuring feet in snuggly socks, a mug of hot chocolate, a notebook with 'dreams' written on the cover, and a guitar. Text: Snowflake Challenge 1-31 January

Challenge #7

In your own space, create your own challenge. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

2020 was tough, but with any luck 2021 might be a year of rediscovering at least some of the pleasures we've had to put on hold. In that spirit, I invite you to apply the sense of rediscovery to your fandom life too. Check in on an old fandom you haven't visited in a while. Re-watch a favourite film. Revisit an old community. Re-read and comment on that fic you've loved for years. Write/draw a character you haven't done much with lately. Reach out to old friends.

Challenge #8

In your own space, create a wishlist. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I wish for health and happiness for my fannish friends, who already give me so much.

Challenge #9

In your own space, brag about yourself. Tell us what things you've done that you're proud of; the things that make you the wonderful person you are. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I am proud of the event I co-mod, the Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang. Artists submit Tolkien-themed art to be claimed by writers, who write long-ish fics (5k+ words) based on the piece they claim. Raiy and I threw the first one together on a whim in 2018; we saw a small increase in art pieces submitted from Year 1 to Year 2, and then last year the event just exploded. 116 artworks were submitted, and at least one fic was written for each.

We've already had people asking about 2021's event, which we're hard at work on, and we've brought three new co-mods on board to reflect the size of this beast now. I can't believe we've gone from being a casual event with participants who mostly all knew each other, to an Actual Fandom Thing, but each year we pull it off and the feedback is overwhelmingly positive. Let's just hope 2021 stays true to form...!

Current Mood: calm

Challenge #15

In your own space, create your own challenge. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Get warm and dry again after surviving today's apocalyptic deluge in Edinburgh.

No?

OK, on Day 6 I wished for an event for the smaller Tolkien canons (i.e. not Hobbit, LOTR, Silm/HoME), and...if you want the thing, make the thing, right? I'm thinking along the lines of a low-commitment fic and art swap, but there are a few things giving me pause:

1) I don't see a logical space in the Tolkien fandom calendar for it.

2) I already co-mod a pretty big fandom event in the Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang, which consumes my fannish life from May to September (and I wouldn't have it any other way, I love that event and I'm so proud of it).

3) Is there even any demand for an event like this or am I paddling the canoe on my own? I know that the small canons can be requested in a lot of events, Tolkien and multi-fandom, but it's rare to match on them even in Tolkien-only events.

Thoughts, Tolkien friends? If enough people are interested and I can see a way to make this happen in a fairly low-effort, low-stress manner, I might be willing to take it on.