June of Doom & Gloom - Week 3 discussion and etc. post

[huinare]

A slightly belated welcome to the third week of this here.

Have another update/progress/discussion post thing. Any progress in your writing, frustrations, new plot bunnies? Feel free to gab. General discussion question (all welcome, participants or otherwise): Are there particular characters you tend to victimize select more frequently as subject matter when writing sad, scary, or otherwise not-lighthearted stories? or particular groups/settings/time periods? Put another way, are there certain characters who just can't seem to catch a break from you in your fanworks?

Comments

[zdenka]

Apparently I like writing angsty stories about Celebrimbor, Tar-Míriel, and OCs. I've mostly been focused on Noldor and Númenoreans lately. Though Tolkien doesn't let his characters be happy very often or for very long, so I feel like you could pick names out of a hat if you wanted -- everyone has angst potential. :)

I haven't done much for this event this week, because I’ve been working on an exchange fic. I did write a few paragraphs of what is currently labelled "the thing with Feredwen at the Havens of Sirion," wherein two Fëanorian OCs are having a very bad day (and so is everyone else in their vicinity).

[huinare.livejournal.com]

Though Tolkien doesn't let his characters be happy very often or for very long, so I feel like you could pick names out of a hat if you wanted -- everyone has angst potential.

Too true. Celebrimbor and Míriel are particularly interesting angst!candidates IMHO, as each could arguably have done things somewhat differently (or could they have?) and thereby maybe saved both themselves and many others.

Good luck with your exchange fic! And the gloomsome stuff of course. I think I've mentioned before that I'm quite fond of Feredwen.

[ladybrooke]

With the completely unscientific method of going to my Ao3, looking at my stories labeled angst, and then using the sort and filter thing at the side where it gives you characters: Maglor (12), Turgon (7), Fingon (7), Curufin (6), Fëanor (6), Celeborn (6), Caranthir (5), Maedhros (5), Argon (3), and Finwë (3) are apparently the ten most common. :P

Curufin and Finwë are the only ones that really surprise me on that list - I don't feel like I write Curufin that much. The rest are completely unsurprising for me making them angst. I would have thought Maedhros would be higher though...

I'm not sure it's so much that they can't catch a break from me, as that most of them are the characters I write the most period. To compare: Fëanor (27), Maglor (21), Maedhros (20), Celeborn (18), Orodreth (15), Fingon (15), Celegorm (15), Caranthir (14), Fingolfin (11), and Finwë (8) are my 10 most common period - so there's a lot of overlap.

There has been exactly zero progress. I'm upset and angry atm, and then I hit my head hard on the deck today...

[huinare.livejournal.com]

So apparently when you do write Curufin, he's filled with angst and/or inspires angst? ;)

I find it interesting that your Orodreth is not statistically likely to be subject to angst although he's clearly a favorite of yours (and what does it say about me that I assume favorites must be subjected to unsavory things? Ha!).

Ack! Sorry it sounds like your day isn't proceeding ideally. =( Do rest up if you need to.

[ladybrooke]

He does! Generally because he's being written in a kinslaying and/or after a death.

Lol, that's why I termed it unscientific - when I go to Orodreth's page on my profile, there's four stories tagged with Angst (and more that are borderline). I make him suffer a lot too! Ao3 just doesn't want to tell anyone that. :P I know what it says about me that I make my favorites suffer!

Thanks! Ugh, my week/month/summer isn't going well. Is it time to go back to uni yet? At least it's good for feeding fanfic stories.

[huinare.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure I'm going to turn into sludge over summer unless I get that job I just interviewed for. I don't resume school until the 1st week September. o__x But yeah, in the meantime, I'm trying to get a bit of reading/writing done.

[ladybrooke]

I should have put myself on a schedule from the beginning of the summer to keep myself busy. :P Now, I've just turned into a little bored, anxious mess, like is normal. I go back a week before you do!

I hope you get some of the reading and writing done.

[independence1776]

I'm part of the way through my second draft! (AKA my sister-- who I asked for a subject-specific beta that the first part of my fic depended on-- said I had everything wrong. I took the easy way out and started the fic later rather than completely rewrite the scenes. I'm actually successful in not feeling guilty about that.)

As for characters I pick on… I tend to glom onto certain characters and usually write about them, whether for darker stories or not. So, basically: Maglor.

[huinare.livejournal.com]

Go draft 2! Still curious what this fic is going to pan out as. =)

I tend to glom onto certain characters and usually write about them, whether for darker stories or not. So, basically: Maglor.

Not surprising! I think most of my glomming onto characters also entails my picking on them (though probably for different reasons, such as my apparent inability to be kind to characters in general), although some more than others.

[independence1776]

Idril and Tuor encounter the Enchanted Isles. It'll probably one of the lighter fics in the challenge…

As much as I love Elrond, I find it difficult to make his life any more painful than what canon did to him. Maglor I don't have a problem doing that to.

[huinare.livejournal.com]

Oh cool! The Enchanted Isles do have a certain creepiness about them that I could see lending itself well to this, even if the story is "lighter."

Elrond does get kind of a raw deal, pretty much from the start. Whereas Maglor had at least the chance of a good youth.

[independence1776]

Yay! I'm glad I'm not off the mark in thinking it fits.

Exactly. Plus, it doesn't help that things seem to have happened to him; they're not a consequence of his choices. Maglor's… are.

[samtyr.livejournal.com]

Uh.... well it's turning out a lot *stranger* than I expected ... with a definite element of kink in there. And some pseudo-het and an element of dub-con... so just yeah. :/

There's probably a lesson to be learned somewhere, though what it is idek. Keep me away from the keyboard? Maybe? ::shrugs::

Btw, when do we post? Any special time?

[huinare.livejournal.com]

Elements of dub-con are certainly not exactly lighthearted. I mean, I'm personally pretty difficult to shock (although I do worry I may have acquired an anti-sex reputation through some incidental comments I made, which may have been easy to misinterpret in context).

Post whenever you want! This thing was a pretty casual and non-rule-bound whim of mine, so whatever typically works for you, be it drafts/excerpts or waiting until you feel confident that it's all ironed out. I'll probably do a roundup post in early July, for those who want to include links to their stories officially in said post.

[huinare.livejournal.com]

I've taken my sweet time in leaving a response to my own update posts, for the simple reason that I didn't begin my own fic efforts until late yesterday evening. That didn't seem the best showing for my own challenge, but since I myself stated that it runs all month, I never did violate my own requirements. ;)

I've been pondering some stuff about Mairon/Annatar/Sauron's sojourn in Númenor for a while, so that seemed the evident project to work on now. I originally intended to begin with a short story inspired by Nico's "The Falconer" (this goes with week 2 and the music discussion, really).

The aforementioned song can probably be obliquely blamed for anything I write about Númenor during this month, but what I did end up writing yesterday was just about Mairon-as-high-priest-of-Melkor. Tiny snippet:

“I couldn’t,” the young man apologized.

“Couldn’t what?”

Thrown by the question, the acolyte attempted to find delicate words for the grotesquely obvious, quickly reduced himself to stammering, and concluded with a sudden interest in the floor, “Kill the woman, your reverence.”

“Well, yes, that is apparent.” Mairon’s voice hung artfully suspended between amusement and annoyance. The acolyte, gazing compulsively back upward, noted the same ambiguity in his face. “What aspect of that process prevented your carrying it out?”

I find it worth mentioning that my rough draft of yesterday had the as-yet-unnamed acolyte addressing Mairon as "your holiness." I liked the sort of deadpan irony--even obscenity, if you will--of that title, but I ended up switching it solely on the basis of the cult of Melkor still being in its start-up phase at this point (picture Mairon running it out of Ar-Pharazôn's basement or attic, albeit with the latter's blessing). "Holiness" seemed a bit too lofty, to my mind, given the context. I welcome opinions on that point.

[pandemonium-213.livejournal.com]

"Holiness" seemed a bit too lofty, to my mind, given the context. I welcome opinions on that point.

The DM heartily approves of the use of "holiness." In the Pandë!verse, there are plenty of blatant religious references similar to that(cf. Downfallen and Into This Wild Abyss). Prior to writing those, I had read not a few fics that addressed Sauron in Numenor that also played on the religious angle but these heavily (and quite uncomfortably) alluded to Islam in certain imagery. My knee jerk response was to incorporate, ummmm, little nods to another Abrahamic religion that the original author of the source texts embraced. So "your holiness" is spot-on. Mairon is, after all, the high priest.

DM: You could say I was darker version of Elmer Gantry.

All righty then...the DM and I must return to our "doom and gloom" documents. ;^)

p.s. Love the snippet. I now hear Aidan Gillen whenever your Mairon speaks, and I CLEARLY hear that voice here!

[huinare.livejournal.com]

... ummmm, little nods to another Abrahamic religion that the original author of the source texts embraced.

You mean said religion is not infallible? Surely you jest. ;)

I loved both of those stories, but it has been some time since I read them.

"Your holiness" wasn't a reference to any real world religion per se (it evokes the Dalai Lama as much as the Pope for me, when I hear it). The holy varies culturally and even individually so I do find it a plausible (and also satisfyingly jarring) title for priest!Mairon. I thought possibly it was too extreme a title at the chronological point of the story, since I don't see him as having a completely firm hold on things in Númenor just yet. Today I've been pondering keeping it as "your reverence" in this ficlet, and later on in the sequence it will conspicuously become "your holiness." >=D

Thanks much for commenting! I know you (and the DM) are swamped.

p.s. Love the snippet. I now hear Aidan Gillen whenever your Mairon speaks, and I CLEARLY hear that voice here!

Score! Voicecasting success.

[independence1776]

Butting in: I like the "your reverence" now and "your holiness" later; your reasoning makes sense.

[huinare.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Not butting in at all, I asked for opinions. =)

[hhimring]

I try to give everyone a bit of a break, mostly. The ones that get the worst treatment from me tend to get the fluffiest bits as well. As for who, the name of my main series is hardly an accident...

I was sure last weekend I had completely lost it and would never write again. Then I wrote another drabble on Brandir for Tolkien Weekly and a piece about Turin, Sador and Finduilas (with Finrod feels) for the LOTR commmunity challenge--this was unveiled yesterday.
Not certain whether either of these would be gloomy enough to make the grade for your challenge, though, although I guess the end of the Turin fic has a pretty good try.

Msedhros is still stuck on the stairs. I suspect he must be allowed at least to think about Fingon in this fic, otherwise I can't bribe him to do the angsting for me.

[huinare.livejournal.com]

The ones that get the worst treatment from me tend to get the fluffiest bits as well.

You have brought balance to the Force.

As for who, the name of my main series is hardly an accident...

No indeed! =)

I'm glad things are going a bit better with the writing or whatever else was going on with your weekend last. *eyes LOTR Gfic comm sidelong* I do intend to read that latest crop of stories...in...in good time. As for the challenge, essentially if you think it makes the grade, it does. I have no interest in being dictatorial about that kind of thing. I mean, if someone wrote fluff about a hobbit picnic with puppies and not a single cloud in the sky and said it was for the challenge, I'd call them on that, but I can't really see anyone doing that.

*brings tea to Maedhros on the stairs*
*helpfully hands a locket with a miniature of Fingon to Maedhros*

[hhimring]

Maedhros writes:

Dear Huin,
Thank you very much for a most refreshing cup of tea--and also for the locket! Regretfully, I have to report that she-who-types and I have been having a bit of disagreement about the locket. She says that I'm not supposed to be aware of my deeper feelings for my cousin yet and can't be allowed to whip out a miniature of him and gaze at it sentimentally in the middle of this particular story. I told her she was being misled by untested cultural assumptions but she wouldn't budge on that. We have reached a compromise: I'm allowed to have the locket in my possession as long as I don't actually mention it. It perked up my spirits no end--and as she-who-types happens to be indulging in massive procrastination again this weekend, the story proceeded apace! Indeed she-who-types has now reached the stage at which she feels impelled to post the story as soon as possible, before she starts thinking too hard about how impossible it really is to do justice to Feanor (let alone, of course, Gandalf/Olorin or your own Curumo!).
Yours most cordially,
Nelyafinwe Maitimo

[huinare.livejournal.com]

Nelyafinwë Maitimo:

The writer-thing which I frequently find attached to my arm has expressed that she is passing delighted with the story she-who-types has recently posted. Huinárë presently needs to depart for some evening obligations and did not wish to leave a hurried and incoherent bit of shrieking on aforesaid story, and has thus resolved to re-read it and comment upon it later this evening. Meanwhile, she wishes to convey that she is happy you enjoyed the tea and the Locket That Does Not Actually Exist. I should like to convey that this tale has given me much to brood think upon, myself.

Regards,
Curumo