tag:dreamwidth.org,2010-08-20:547323Medium Dawn Felagund of the Fountainshe of the brown dusty attic-smelling wingsDawn Felagund2018-12-24T04:38:57Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2010-08-20:547323:436775A Rec and an SSP2018-12-23T22:32:58Z2018-12-24T04:38:57ZBobby playing Super Mario Bros. 3okaypublic2I want to do two quick things!<br /><br />First is to rec the new story of my beta-author, Idril's Scribe, <a href="http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/archive/home/viewstory.php?sid=3855&index=1">The Stars Above the Sea</a>. This is the sequel to her story from earlier this year, <a href="http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/archive/home/viewstory.php?sid=3620&index=1">Under Strange Stars</a>. USS is an AU story in which Glorfindel is tasked with tracking down Elrohir, who was kidnapped as a child, sold into Umbarian slavery, and currently fighting alongside Haradrim rebels. USS is a phenomenal story, and <em>The Stars Above the Sea</em> is an excellent sequel about Elrohir's journey to rejoin his family in Imladris and how he copes with what he discovers about himself and his own misgivings about Elves and magic. Idril is a phenomenal writer--able to paint beautiful scenes in a few sentences in a way I envy--and I recommend all of her work, but if you want something longer to read over the holidays, these two in particular.<br /><br />I'm also SSPing myself: <a href="http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/archive/home/viewstory.php?sid=3864&index=1">Home Alone: Forgotten in Formenos</a>. Yes, it is a Silmarillion/Home Alone crossover. I have been wanting to write this for two years now; it is not finished, but I hope I can finish it during the holidays.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=dawn_felagund&ditemid=436775" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2010-08-20:547323:404820Fandom Snowflake, Day 5: 10 Tolkienfic Stories I Have Read and Loved in the Past Month2017-01-16T22:24:55Z2017-01-16T22:24:55ZCHOMpleasedpublic2<a href="http://snowflake-challenge.dreamwidth.org/">Fandom Snowflake</a> Day 5 asked participants to "post recs for at least three fanworks that you did not create." I went *ahem* a little above and beyond. I did ten. I've been reading a lot of Tolkienfic lately--it is one of my goals for the year to make time for reading, as it is often one of the fandom pleasures that falls first to the obligations of running a website--and I wanted to share some of my favorites from among what I've read. I feel like I need to make up for a few years of rarely reading and commenting while I was in grad school. Most of these stories are <em>Silmarillion</em>-based, but there are a few that are from <em>The Lord of the Rings</em>.<br /><br />Please check them out and, if you like them, consider leaving the author a note letting them know.<br /><br /><a href="http://lotrgfic.com/viewstory.php?sid=3708">The Choice</a> by Keiliss. Thank goodness the prompt that inspired this story gives away the ending or I don't think I would have been able to take it. I still teared up at multiple points in this tenderly written and beautifully <em>human</em> story about Elladan and his daughter making their choice about whether or not to sail for Aman. Few of Tolkien's unanswered question have inspired the speculation, angst, and fanfic as the question of whether the sons of Elrond sailed, and Kei's story deserves a place at the top of the heap. Her characterization, too, of characters who only appear in passing speak of why she is one of the giants of Tolkienfic. This story is simply wonderful.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/archive/home/viewstory.php?sid=3033">Elendili</a> by hadastheunseelie. I picked up this story for the Fandom Snowflake challenge that asked participants to reach out to someone new. I'll admit that I hesitated. It mentions a teenage girl and glitter in the summary, and while I totally support teenagers writing fanfic--a lot of my students do and I think it's awesome!--I also reserve the right <em>not</em> to read said fanfic when it's not one of my students! And the story was long. But, in the Snowflake spirit, I gave it a go and OMG. OMG, y'all. It is probably the strangest story I will rec here--which anyone who knows me will know I mean as a compliment--but Hadas is one of those writers with a gift for wielding words like a knife between my bones where they actually hurt. The imagery is stunning: sometimes gritty and very anchored in Modern-earth (where this story is set) and sometimes ethereal and otherworldly, making that familiar world of colleges and coffee shops Elvish somehow.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/archive/home/viewstory.php?sid=3031">Eyes Bright with Honor</a> by heget. Heget is working on telling the tales of the ten companions who died in the dungeon with Finrod in defense of Beren. The Beren and Luthien story has never particularly entranced me (Finrod's on the other hand ... *ahem*), but I walked away from this story <em>getting it</em>: getting some of the magic that people (including Tolkien) see in that story and in the character of Beren in particular. The story meanders through time, mostly looking back to the life of the OC Consael whose story Heget tells in this piece, and it is a story where the pieces all coalesce and make beautiful sense in the end. This is one of the most horrifying episodes in <em>The Silmarillion</em> to me, yet I could walk away from this story with a rare sense of feeling uplifted and hopeful instead of imagining those eyes kindling in the dark ... Heget plans to write about all ten companions, and I will be checking out the other pieces in the series on the strength of this one.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/archive/home/viewstory.php?sid=1638">Galadriel: There and Back Again</a> by Himring. If someone were to task me with writing the life of Galadriel, I would sweat over it for a year and turn out a sprawling, half-million word epic. And I still don't think I could top this story. Himring is perhaps one of the most underappreciated masters of Silmfic, and this story shows why. Her Galadriel manages to be stubborn, strong, and vulnerable with a no-nonsense wisdom that probably explains her survival alone (almost) of her family. And in well under 2000 words! Every wrenching, poignant word counts in this piece that stitches together the Galadriel who competed with (and feared) Fëanor and she who gave Frodo the light of Eärendil that saved him.<br /><br /><a href="http://lotrgfic.com/viewstory.php?sid=3711">Home for Midwinter</a> by Tallulah Red. I will echo Tal's several reviews on the LotRGenFic community--this was written for their annual Yule Exchange--who praised the world-building in this story. The story was written for Indy, who wanted to see Maglor adopt a family from among the Avari. Although a short piece, it sparkles with believable characters and culture, taking a different take on the Avari than most writers do. And in a fandom that has a Maglor-walks-by-the-shore-and-laments trope, it was refreshing to read a story that allows him happiness in the future while also not shying from his history.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/archive/home/viewstory.php?sid=3035">Journeys</a> by Independence1776. This story was written for me, for the MPTT/LotRGen Yule Exchange. I remember writing a story once for a friend that she described fitting like a pair of gloves that could only be selected by someone who knew her well. This is such a story. It is Maedhros and Maglor and a conversation in a cave, yet the dialogue simmers with much more than can be seen on the surface, and Indy achieves an easy camaraderie between the brothers that is delightful to read. It is simply wonderful, like Indy dove into my mind and extracted a story I would have loved to have written for my own verse. I'm officially adopting this one into the Felakverse.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/archive/home/viewstory.php?sid=3042">The Purple Dress</a> by Avon. This story gave me chills. Set in Númenor, a young woman flouts convention in her choice of dress color ... but this story is so much more than that. It is one of those pieces that unspools in slow revelations so that, as a reader, you're never entirely on steady ground. And once you realize what is going on, you're not there yet; the ending simmers with delicious double entendre. There's A LOT going on in this short piece, and every word and image count.<br /><br /><a href="http://marta-bee.tumblr.com/post/155238181343/silm-fic-though-the-road-darkens">Though the Road Darkens</a> by Marta. Marta's story tells the tale of Gorlim the Unhappy through the eyes of his companion Gildor. The voice in this story is simply magnificent; you feel like you are sitting at the fireside, hearing Gildor tell his tale. A complicated story, it brings in folklore, myth (Middle- and Modern-earth), and questions the historical tradition, offering different look at Gorlim's story. Oh, and it's beautifully written, the kind of words you want to lean back and savor like wine. If you're thinking--like I probably would have if Marta hadn't asked me to read this story--that you'd never be interested in a story about Gorlim, take a chance and prove yourself wrong. (I'm happy to admit that I was! :)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.lotrgfic.com/viewstory.php?sid=3699">Winter Came Earlier</a> by Oshun. She calls this "just a bit of fluff" in the summary, but saying this is "just" fluff is like saying the Grand Canyon is "just" a sidewalk crack. This is a layered and thought-provoking story in which Elladan faces, through Arwen and Aragorn, his own worries about mortality and what it means to be Peredhil. But don't let my summary scare you into thinking that this is a deep, heavy story that one can only read in a bright-lit room. This is Oshun, after all, and her work is as ever sweetened with romance and humor that balance perfectly with the deeper themes of this short, lovely work.<br /><br /><a href="http://lotrgfic.com/viewstory.php?sid=3713&warning=3">Winter Sons of Gondor</a> by Elwen. It was my turn this month on MPTT to archive the challenge stories. This necessitates skimming each piece so that I can add the meta-data to it about character, genre, et cetera. Most of the time I do just that--skim--and I started to do so with this story but got hooked in despite my intentions to make quick work of posting it. Young Boromir and Faramir are coping with the pressures of their father's growing madness when they decide to escape for a morning to enjoy a rare snowfall. But their journey takes an unexpected turn. This story is a page-turner, and I could not have left off reading it and gone back to skimming if I'd wanted to.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=dawn_felagund&ditemid=404820" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2010-08-20:547323:328006MPTT Yule Fic Exchange: "Daytracer" (by Me) and "Exile to Exile" (by Elleth)2014-01-06T22:59:05Z2014-01-06T22:59:05ZMedieaval Baebes, "We Three Kings"okaypublic3I have spent the weekend trying to keep my head above the water in terms of lesson planning and grad school after our trip, so I have not yet posted here about my new story or the lovely story that Elleth wrote for me! D^: This year, I decided to participate in <a href="http://lotr-community.livejournal.com/279668.html">MPTT's Yule Fic Exchange</a>. In the past, because I'm usually taking two classes, I could never manage.<br /><br />Elleth wrote the story that I received. I love Elleth's work, so I knew I would enjoy this as well, and I was not wrong! I am going to be lazy and copy over the rec I wrote on Tumblr:<br /><br /><blockquote>Elleth wrote this story for me as part of Many Paths to Tread’s Yule Fic Exchange. It’s a beautiful story, and I hope more people will read it and leave her lots of love in the form of comments and kudos! :)<br /><br />My request was for a story about friendship between at least two women of the House of Finwë. The story begins after the Darkening of Valinor (one of my favorite time periods to write/think about) with Nerdanel (one of my favorite characters! :) seeking a form of redemption for her family’s deeds by working on the defenses of the Calcirya. In the midst of her labors, she receives a letter from a most unexpected person …<br /><br />Elleth’s stories are, imho, consistently some of the most gracefully written in the Silmarllion fandom. This one is no exception and deftly includes magical elements that make Elleth’s descriptions feel otherworldly—Tolkien might say “elvish.” Elleth also nails the voice of Nerdanel’s correspondent perfectly (I want to keep it a surprise who it is!). This is a character I’ve not written in any significant sense, in part because she intimidates the hell out of me. But her voice in this story is like Elleth crawled into my head and made my vision of her real.<br /><br />This is a lovely and thought-provoking story, and I hope you’ll take a look! It is on <a href="http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/archive/home/viewstory.php?sid=2078&index=1">SWG</a>, <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/1114801">AO3</a>, <a href="http://www.lotrgfic.com/viewstory.php?sid=2785">MPTT</a>, and <a href="http://lotr-community.livejournal.com/277671.html">LiveJournal</a>.</blockquote><br /><br />My story was written for Wheelrider to fulfill the request for "A story that passes the Bechdel test! Meaning it features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. Any characters, any time period, any Tolkien source are fine." Here is the summary of "Daytracer":<br /><br /><blockquote>After the Darkening of Valinor, the Aulendur struggle to find a way to bear aloft the final fruit and flower of the Two Trees. Nerdanel finds a unexpected ally in Arien, who helps her discover the secret knowledge that will return the world to light.</blockquote><br /><br />"Daytracer" is on <a href="http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/archive/home/viewstory.php?sid=2080&index=1">SWG</a>, <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/1115491">AO3</a>, <a href="http://www.lotrgfic.com/viewstory.php?sid=2784&index=1">MPTT</a>, and <a href="http://lotr-community.livejournal.com/276785.html">LiveJournal</a>.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=dawn_felagund&ditemid=328006" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments