narya_flame: Young woman drinking aperol in Venice (Default)
Poem of the week is officially back!

The year is turning; my monster event is winding down, and Innumerable Stars has commenced.  That, together with today's early autumn sunshine putting me in mind of The Fellowship of the Ring, has inspired me to share this lovely and slightly spooky short piece by the man himself.

Shadow-Bride

There was a man who dwelt alone,
as day and night went past
he sat as still as carven stone,
and yet no shadow cast.
The white owls perched upon his head
beneath the winter moon;
they wiped their beaks and thought him dead
under the stars of June.

There came a lady clad in grey
in the twilight shining:
one moment she would stand and stay,
her hair with flowers entwining.
He woke, as had he sprung of stone,
and broke the spell that bound him; 
he clasped her fast, both flesh and bone,
and wrapped her shadow round him.

There never more she walks her ways
by sun or moon or star;
she dwells below where neither days
nor any nights there are.
But once a year when caverns yawn
and hidden things awake,
they dance together then till dawn
and a single shadow make.
narya_flame: Young woman drinking aperol in Venice (Default)
I feel more relaxed about my TRSB fics than I did this time last year - which is odd because I still have one unfinished and currently not making a whole lot of sense, but it is squarely in my comfort zone, and I have faith that it will come together in very short order.  I just need the "a-ha!" moment.

I'm taking a breather from writing this afternoon, and prepping for D&D.  The campaign I started with friends during the first lockdown has run its course, and it's hard to get so many people together on a Saturday night now the world has opened back up again, so this one is smaller scale - I'm running a two hander for my husband and myself, which I've never done before.  I'm quite excited!

Dog stuff - nothing solid to report yet, but I've got a watchful eye on a few rescue websites.  Probably no point given we're going to Cornwall at the end of September and it wouldn't be fair to bring home a new dog before then, but I can't seem to help it...
narya_flame: Green leaf on black background (Leaf)


The Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang is returning for 2021!


The Dreamwidth page has now been updated with 2021's need-to-know dates, and we're in the process of updating the FAQs over at the Tumblr blog.

Key upcoming dates...
 
  • 1st April – our suggestions spreadsheet will open, so start thinking now about your ideas for our wonderful artists!
  • 16th Aprilsign ups open.

Narya, what the heck are you talking about?
 
TRSB stands for the Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang.  Signed up artists create fan art, which is posted anonymously for authors to view and claim. The authors then spend the summer writing a piece of long-ish fiction (min. 5k words) based on the art they chose.
 
We are open to all characters, genres, ships and ratings, and all canons that fall under the Tolkien fandom umbrella. This includes movieverse (i.e. the LOTR and Hobbit trilogies), lesser known works by Tolkien (such as The Father Christmas Letters), and/or other works with a clear link to his life or creative output (for example, Tolkien’s translations and academic texts, the 2019 Tolkien biopic, fan-made films like Born of Hope, and game canons such as Lord of the Rings Online). Crossovers between two or more Tolkien canons are permitted.
 
 
What’s the suggestions form?
 
This form gives potential authors (and anyone else who wants to play!) the opportunity to suggest characters, places and scenarios they would like to see in the submitted art. The answers will feed into a publicly available spreadsheet listing the ideas submitted; artists can peruse this to get inspired!  
 
Last year’s spreadsheet contained some great ideas – here is the link, if you’d like to use it to feed your muses.  
 
We can’t wait to see what everybody dreams up this time!
narya_flame: Young woman drinking aperol in Venice (Default)
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...!

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