narya_flame

Whoops, I did my classic "go back to work and lose all track of time, comments and posts." I'm sorry <3

These were from

saelind :

What is your favorite part of writing?

It varies from story to story. Sometimes the initial rush of an idea is incredibly exciting - but then execution turns out to be a slog. Sometimes a piece will just write itself, or so it seems (my most recent example of that was The Marsh Where the Dead Sleep.). Sometimes I get so completely lost in a story that I forget where I am. Both of those things are thrilling - but, consistently, the thing that delights me is looking back at a first draft. Not because it's always good (it often isn't) but there is a quiet satisfaction in looking back at pages of my own handwriting, knowing that I made a thing.

Favorite vacation spot?

Galloway. I've been going for years with university friends. Wigtown with its second hand bookshops; miles of unspoilt (and practically empty) coast; the Isle of Whithorn, with its ruins, and history, and its links to all of the rest of the British Isles. When the light is right you can see five ancient kingdoms - Scotland, Ireland, England, Wales, and the Isle of Man. Excellent food too - locally caught fish, farmhouse cheeses, salt marsh lamb...oh, and the best place in the UK I've found to really see the stars.

Is a hot dog a sandwich?

Not according to the British Sandwich Association, apparently!

I feel like some things break free of the basic "thing in bread" definition of a sandwich, and become their own separate category. A hot dog is one. See also burger, fajita, etc..

#2 of responses to comments on this post!

This one was from

spiced_wine :

How did the (OC) characters in ‘Paradox’ come into your writing mind? Gradually, or did they just ‘appear’ on the scene acting in their roles and speaking their lines? (so to speak).

So I wanted to write Paradox almost ten years sooner than I actually did. I'm glad I waited because the concept needed a bit more weight than I'd have been able to give it when I first had the idea.

Claire was, for some reason, originally called Catriona and she was Irish. In the very early drafts I think she lived with other postgraduates, but they never really came to life as characters. I think in the earliest days she may even have been related to Tolkien, but I canned that fairly quickly; I'm not sure it even made it into a draft.

When I started writing it "properly", she began to speak and behave rather like one of my friends from secondary school, although I didn't deliberately set out to recreate that. There are bits of my own experience in the mix as well; that's hardly a secret. She also, on occasion, behaves a bit like my husband, which I didn't realise until quite recently. Anyway it was silly continuing to force her into a persona that made her feel like a made-up character, so I let her be who she was telling me she was. Once I had her voice and personality nailed, the rest of it was easy.

The first housemate on the scene was Theo. I knew a lot of Theo types at university and in my early years at work, many with a lot of wasted potential, one of whom is sadly now dead (he overdosed). I suppose Theo was a composite of all of them, and a fictional means of exorcising some ghosts.

I couldn't work out, though, why Claire would live with someone like that, unless there was some sort of pre-existing connection - hence, Harrison, who wasn't really meant to be much more than a side character and a sounding board for Claire. He developed XD

Rosie - I don't quite remember. I think I wanted another female character, and she seemed to "fit" with the group. People wonder how like Claire I am, sometimes, but the truth is at twenty I was far more like Rosie, despite studying a different discipline!

Luc turned up partway through the story, uninvited, and refused to leave.

Snowflake Challenge promotional banner featuring a snow-covered green bench in a snowy park. Text: Snowflake Challenge January 1-31.

In your own space, celebrate a personal win from the past year: it can be a list of fanworks you're especially proud of, a gift of your time to the community, a quality or skill you cultivated in yourself, something you generally feel went well.

I'm going to keep this pretty straightforward. I was really proud of my fic With the Dawn in his Eyes, which I wrote for this summer's TRSB. It's literary RPF, which made it quite a change and a challenge for me, but I was pleased with how it turned out. J. R. R. Tolkien and Geoffrey Bache Smith, before and during WW1. Rated T. 5k words. Choose not to warn.

Current Mood: cold

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.

Format: Ficlet
Fandom: The Silmarillion
Rating: G
Word Count: 676
Characters: Caranthir; Original Character(s)
Summary: A prince, his butler, and a pair of unexpected gifts...

Read it on AO3, SWG, and at Tolkien Short Fanworks.

Current Mood: chipper

Something hopeful and create-y this week.

Reply to the Question "How Can You Become a Poet?"

take the leaf of a tree

trace its exact shape

the outside edges

and inner lines

memorize the way it is fastened to the twig

(and how the twig arches from the branch)

how it springs forth in April

how it is panoplied in July

by late August

crumple it in your hand

so that you smell its end-of-summer sadness

chew its woody stem

listen to its autumn rattle

watch as it atomizes in the November air

then in winter

when there is no leaf left

invent one

After a small eternity, I have finally managed to update this - thank you, SWG Challenges!

Title: The City Over the Mountains
Format: Multichapter
Fandom: The Silmarillion
Rating: M
Characters/Relationships: Elemmakil/Voronwë; Elemmakil & Ecthelion; Elemmakil/Ecthelion (unrequited)
Word Count: 754 to date.
Summary: A midwinter dalliance grows into something neither Elemmakil nor Voronwë expect. Duty, family and the ghosts of the past lie between them, and beyond the Hidden City, the shadows lengthen and grow deep...

Read it on Faerie, SWG and AO3.

Current Mood: accomplished

I have been really slow to post this here so I expect anyone who's going to read it has already done so - but in the interests of being better at archiving fic links, here, have a fic link!

Title: Guarded Heart
Format: Drabble
Fandom: The Silmarillion
Rating: G
Characters/Relationships: Gelmir & Gwindor; Gwindor/Finduilas (pre-ship)
Word Count: 100 per Open Office, but I think it might have lied to me.
Summary: Gwindor's attention is not where it should be, and his brother has noticed.

Read it on Faerie, SWG, AO3 and tolkienshortfanworks.

Current Mood: calm

Time for some Gaelic this week; this is long-ish, so both the original and the English translation are under cuts.

( Coin is Madaidhean-allaidh )

( Dogs and Wolves )

Taken from Hallaig and Other Poems, published by Polygon. More about the author here.

The SWG's block party challenge for Monday was "go behind the scenes of one of your own fanworks," and I forgot to do it because work. Today I haven't got the energy to think of a fic and come up with something interesting to say about it, so if anyone wants to play, I'm flinging this open - anything you fancy asking about any of my fanworks, or the characters I write, or why Tolkien, or my writing process in general, go ahead. Ask as many things as you like, though complicated or multiple questions will take me longer to respond to! Who knows, it might get me into the mindset to write again, because who knows where that has gone lately.

(There are some fun ideas for general writing questions here, but I'm also more than happy to answer specific questions about individual fics.)

AO3

Faerie

SWG

Annatar takes a brooding Celebrimbor for a walk in the snow. Written for My Slashy Valentine 2020 as a gift for erlkoenig, who requested a tender moment between Celebrimbor and Annatar, and prompted “hot cider.”

General Audiences. M/M (pre-ship). 1.2k words. Choose not to warn.

Challenge #14: In your own space, share your love for a trope, cliché, kink, motif, or theme. (Or a few!) What makes it particularly appealing for you? What do you like in fanworks featuring that trope?

I really had to think hard about this, because I thought my tastes were quite wide-ranging, but there are some common threads. I like fic that hurts me, and makes me laugh, and makes me think, and makes me believe in the world it's set in. Preferably all of those things in one story. I like authors who understand language and can use it in ways that make me go "oh! Why didn't I think of that?" I like hauntings (literal and metaphorical), and the juxtaposition of the everyday with the mythical and magical. I like groups of disparate people finding their way to each other, working together, learning to care about each other - even (especially) if it's in strange, complicated ways.

I'd struggle to unpick exactly why I like all those things, except perhaps that they're all elements that run through Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, which is my oldest and deepest fannish love.

Current Mood: contemplative

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

Not strictly written *for* this challenge, but I polished and posted it today, so I'm counting it!

Stones and Shadows. On their journey to Britannia, Maglor and Felix encounter an old and unusual structure. Gen; 197 words; rated G; no warnings.

Current Mood: calm

I'm not a great fan of saying hi to people or doing nice things just because there's a challenge out there that says I should. I was going to skip these, but I've already met some lovely new people via Snowflake posts so I suppose that satisfies Day 5. As for Day 12's act of kindness, I volunteered to go down to Manchester for the day to help my old team with something. I didn't strictly *have* to; I could have taken the slopey shoulders approach and decided it wasn't my problem any more, but I like my old team a lot and it felt like the right thing to do.

For my pains, I had the train journey from hell back to Edinburgh - five and a half hours instead of three - but on the plus side it meant I finally had time to read

bunn 's wonderful Rexque Futurus (BBC's Merlin and Arthur adventuring in 21st century England, with a healthy side dose of dragons, linguistics and snark). I also wrote a couple of snippets in response to combinations left on my new year prompt meme, so hopefully I can get those typed up and polished over the weekend.

And I got home eventually, and had a very late supper of prawns, brie and radishes. All in all, it could have been worse.

Current Mood: awake

( Read more... )

Current Mood: calm

Day Will Come Again.

Fingon takes a moment to remember his cousin at midwinter.

Category: Gen
Rating: General audiences
Warnings: Choose not to warn
Word count: 207

Written for the SWG New Year's Resolution challenge. This is the fic I meant to write for the Season's Greetings challenge last year, but somehow I never quite got round to it.

Current Mood: sad

AKA the self-rec thing. These are all genfic and star Maglor, Celegorm, or both - I'm nothing if not predictable. They should all work as standalones.

This year I finished The Ways of Paradox, a novel about Maglor living in modern day Scotland. It's narrated by his friend Claire James, a postgraduate student at the University of St Andrews who starts to get to know Maglor when they appear in a production of The Pirates of Penzance together. The premise sounds a little silly, and yes, there is humour, but it also has its fair share of melancholy moments and a couple of scenes I found genuinely upsetting to write (all warned for in the AO3 tags). It's not particularly plotty or pacy, and the town is (deliberately) as much of a character as Maglor, Claire and their friends. 133k words; rated M for language and said upsetting scenes.

In terms of shorter fics, I was really happy with my Darkest Night fic, Fire on the Mountain, which I wrote for

independence1776 . Maglor is caught in the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, and faces a fight for survival. Also stars a cast of OCs I'd like to write more about, one day. 5k words; rated T for peril and non-graphic descriptions of injuries.

I also have a soft spot for What's in a Name?, a cracky drabble featuring a reborn Celegorm. Rated G; 100 words exactly.

Finally, since I was moaning about lack of content for the smaller Tolkien canons, I'm going to mention the two Silmarillion/Father Christmas Letters crossovers I wrote this year:

The Elf Who Saved Christmas, written for

bunn for TRSB19. Maglor leads a quiet life as a Research Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford. When his scars begin to hurt on one damp November evening, the last thing he expects is to find a letter on his desk summoning him to a mysterious meeting - a letter signed only with an initial, and bearing a stamp from the North Pole... T for peril and potentially upsetting imagery; 9k words.

Snow Bears, written for

elwinfortuna for Innumerable Stars. A hunting trip in the mountains goes awry, and Celegorm finds himself responsible for a trio of bear cubs. Guest appearance by the Great Bear from the FC Letters. Rated G; warning for animal death; 4k words.

Current Mood: accomplished

Chapter 22 is up on AO3 :)

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Ask Anything: Answers (6)

Ask Anything: Answers (2)

Fandom Snowflake: Day 8

Fandom Snowflake: Day 7

Snowflake Challenge: Days 4 & 5

Snowflake Challenge: Day 3

SSP: To Give and Receive

My Poem of the Week: 'Reply to the Question "How Can You Become a Poet?"' by Eve Merriam

SSP: The City Over the Mountains - Chapter 2

SSP: Guarded Heart

My Poem of the Week: 'Coin is Madaidhean-allaidh' / 'Dogs and Wolves' by Sorley MacLean

Meta Monday! (On Tuesday...)

New Fic: Waiting for the Thaw

Fandom Snowflake Day 14

Fandom Snowflake Day 13

Fandom Snowflake Day 5 and Day 12

Fandom Snowflake Days 8 - 11

New Fic: Day Will Come Again

Snowflake 2020 - Day 7

Fic Update: The Ways of Paradox