任是无情也动人

1. Yes, I'm still alive. I realize I've been neglecting my journal, but I'm hoping to start rectifying that.

2. It's been a long long time since I did any of these, huh. ^_^


The Game of the Gods, by Limyaael
Silmarillion fic, humor parody, multi-chapter
This is a entirely hilarious fic featuring mainly the Valar and certain First Age elven personages (I think ossian should really get a kick out of this one). Almost each chapter features a hilarious and unique Sue-bashing of a particular LOTR-sue archetype, but the entire work as a whole resolves into a rather cute statement on how to write well in general (play on the redemption theme, entirely tongue-in-cheek). Some characters are OOC, but certainly excusable for reasons of parody. And it's probably the few times that I'll sincerely say - Poor Morgoth! Hee. ^_^


The One Ring Reforged, by Cirdan
In the Land of Mordor Where the Shadow Dies, by mirielle
These two LOTR/Silm xovers have one theme in common, and that is the resolution of the Ring quest at the critique hands of the original master-smith of Arda. Somewhat whimsical humor-fics with not much plot consistencies attached. One-shots both.

Should've Thought of That One, Bori, by Eggo Waffles
Another humor/parody. This one's a multi-chapter WIP, movie-continuity (what there is of continuity) starting off from the aftermath of Parth Galen, based on the premise of Boromir not having died then. The humor may be a little heavy-handed in some scenes, and there's rampant breaking of the fourth wall, but there were several parts which had me laughing so hard I couldn't breathe.

Until the World is Changed, by fanged geranium
This one's not quite a humor fic, and I suppose it technically is a xover between LOTR and Harry Potter. However, the whimsical tone and light humor makes it stand out for me as a much better work than most xover fics of the genre. One shot, not too long.

...only the slashiest couple in the Silmarillion. Their lov-er-loyalty won them the pity and aid from the Valar, even when they were pretty mad at the House of Feanor.

So what might've been Maedhros' response to the aftermath of the Nirnaeth Arnodiad (I know I misspelled that)? He was the one who put together the plans. He was the one who roped together all the allies. He was the one who presumably convinced Fingon to join in. He was the one who employed the Easterlings that betrayed their side. And one of the major reasons he was so desperate for the fight was because he was also being pressured by his Oath to go and attack Doriath for the Silmaril Beren just stole (this back when Meilian & Thingol were still around).

But the Easterlings did betray them, and that fact destroyed Maedhros' entire host - which was about 2/3 the total fighting force the "alliance" had in that war. And of course Fingon was turned into a smear by Gothmog.

What kind of depths of despair and gloom could Fingon's death, and the guilt of his death and the general failure of the entire battle, have sent Maedhros to? How much could the results of that tragedy influence the next major event in history - the second Kinslaying in Doriath?

( Cut for those who don't care )

In my rewritings of the last part of the Afterlife Arc for YvtW, I've just gotten to the segment dealing with Mg back on Middle-earth. So while my mind was on the subject, I got to thinking about a couple of things...

( cut for those who aren't interested )

I'd love to hear what ossian has to say on any of these issues... though I don't think we'll ever get to deal with them in-story at the rate things are going. ^_^;;

Haven't done one of these for a while. Most of these aren't stuff I've just only discovered. Some have been knocking around my harddrive/bookmarks for weeks or months now.

( Misc recs - LOTR & HP )

( Highlander Fics: )

More will be forthcoming in the future, I hope.

So there was this Rumbles thread, whose topic veered off into a comparison of Legolas' and Gimli's performances at Helm's Deep. Particularly, it seemed to me that, given the epic level abilities of our two heroes, and the sheer numbers pressed on Rohan, the body-counts in the low 40's seemed somewhat low.

So, me being the LOTR-obssessed fangirl that I am, I went and reread the relevant chapters and rewatched the relevant scenes. Yes, I know. I disturb even myself.

( What happened in the book )

( What happened in the movie )

In conclusion:

While the ~40 count is okay for the book version, it really doesn't fit *at all* in the context of the movie. The movie versions should have accumulated much higher body-counts.

As for Legolas vs. Gimli... Well, in terms of kill rate, the book version of Gimli *might* *arguably* have a slightly faster kill rate than Legolas. However, Legolas came out in better condition from the battle. In the movie, both of them are killing machines with murderous kill-rates. Yes, that includes Legolas in knife/sword-only melee. No definite answers either way.

Me? I'm inclined to think half-half either way in melee. 5/10 each.

(Disclaimer: The conclusions and analysis that I make from the scenes are highly speculative given the ambiguity present in both film and book. They should not be taken as canon. Canonicity belongs only to the explicit quotations.)


( Addendum )

Title: Thrice Stolen Heart
Fandom: LOTR (TTT & ROTK, Movie Version Only)
Genre: Angst
Rating: G
Word Count: 600
Warnings: None
Summary: Scenes centered around Eowyn's doomed love for Aragorn.
Notes: This is for cashew's writing challenge on the theme of "jealousy". Well, okay, the over all fic is more for despair than for jealousy, but oh well.

( onto the fic )

Got it from the thread ossian linked to. So very amusing.

The Silmarillion in 1000 words, by camwyn: click here

I am really *sick* of people like Jack taking every single chance they get (and making their own chances besides) to bash Elves (and cats) on CBR. Half the time I'm almost convinced that he (they) do it just to see the reactions from those who like Elves (and cats). Moreso on the former, since there's less fans around to defend them.

You don't see me going around bashing Dwarves and dogs left and right whenever a "Elves vs Dwarves" or "Dogs vs Cats" subject comes up? I might praise the side I like, or just vote for my side, but I sure don't go out of my way to sling mud at the other side.

*is highly irritated*

Not a slash archive, but while I was looking through the various K/S sites, I came across the Sarek & Amanda Group site, and they've got some very nicely written (non-slash) pieces in the archive. I especially like It's All Relative, by Saidicam, Selek, and T'Lea, which brings in the whole family on board the Enterprise. Fun, fun, fun. Also loved the other stories in the same universe/sequence by those same author(s).

In other news, my "The Statistics of Touching" got currently has the second most reviews of all my fics up on ffnet. ^_^ I was checking out the stories of those reviewers who also have accounts on ffnet, and I came across Gifts of Wood, which is a very cute and fluffy LOTR fic. Heheh... Gandalf and Thranduil come up with the ME answer to Santa Clause for the Yule celebration.

Meh, and also, what's up with CBR again? It seems to be down for me all morning. Blah.

...playing around with CSS formatting.

Wheee... @_@

RK Cards
LOTR Cards

Need to learn how to get by w/o tables. Me go sleepy now. @_@

(Edit: Oh yeah. New icon. *points*)

For the "Drunk in the Rain" Challenge from cashew. It's also posted to breakfast_nook.

Title: The Bitter Rain
Fandom: Silmarillion
Characters: Maedhros, Maglor, Earendil
Genre: Angst
Summary: The last remaining sons of Feanor witness the first advent of Earendil.
Notes: I wanted to include the Peredhel kids in the fic too, but they were too traumatised and shy, and refused to cooperate. *sigh* Such reluctant muses.
Word count: 400

( the fic )

Ideas for a LOTR set... will be updated as ideas come to me. (Check the previous entry for Anime card ideas that I've also been updating. You can look for it in my memories if you're too lazy to scroll down. :p)

Set "house rules":

horsemanship - can only be blocked by creatures with horsemanship, trample, or flying.

( cut for length )

Err... not quite a fic plug, but I guess you can call this an article plug?

A Case of Mistaken Identity

A very nicely researched defense of the character of one Elvenking Thranduil Oropherion of Greenwood the Great, later called Mirkwood. I like how she uses canon excerpts from The Hobbit and other Tolkien sources to show that Thranduil isn't the villain that most of fanon (the ignorant portion) sees him as. Quite the opposite, in fact.

All That is Gold - short and humorous fic. Young Estel learns a new song about the fall of Gondolin and the bravery of a certain Lord of the House of the Golden Flower... much to the utter mortification of Glorfindel.

Eloquent Remembrance, by Sphinx - one shot, post-LOTR, Silm-based, and angsty. After Celeborn finally crosses West into Valinor, he has a somewhat belated conversation with his father-in-law regarding marital decisions, bloodlines and other verbal landmines. Or as Celebrian says... "My mother had some rather...interesting..speculations as to how this meeting would go. ... I believe her exact words were 'Let the fittest survive'."

So Near, Yet So Far, by Sphinx - 6 chapters fic taking place in Imladris before the Council of Elrond in FOTR, focusing mainly on Aragorn and his foster family. Very angsty fic... somewhat annoying in that it keeps referencing an earlier fic/incident that I haven't read yet. The first half of the fic is nicely emotional and stuff. By the time I hit chapter 4, I was all for smacking Aragorn a couple of times to make him stop whining and take his head out of... ahem. Fortunately it manages to redeem itself by the end of the chapter. Chapter 5 is ripped straight out of the movies, extended versions and all, and a glaring reminder of how much the A/A romance in the movies sucked. Chapter 6 is slightly better by the end. Overall... it would've been a vastly better fic if it didn't follow the movie, and if it had been condensed down to 4 chapters or something.

What Can be Learned In Dreams - Don't bother reading this one unless you're a rabid Legolas fan (which I am) AND don't mind other LOTR chars being downplayed in comparison (which I'm not, as much, anyway). It's a WIP and also ought to be marked AU, since a *lot* of liberties have been taken with canon. But mainly, I just wanted to quote a couple of lines in the last 2 chapters that had me laughing. (Oh, and note: it's not a slash-fic... so far, anyhow) ( clipped quotes )

Stuff I've read recently. They're all pre-LOTR fics, mostly Silmfics. Oh, and dang... I am becoming more and more of a rabid Elrond-fangirl... Hm. if I find the time, I might also write up a longer review of one of the longer fics and put it up on editing_room.

(First of all, ossian still needs to read Sapphire Aurae, and gimme a review of it. So I'm posting up the link again.)


Fairest in Arda is a short drabble. Very cute. And a slight teasing of the readers.


Upon the Highest Perch, Majestic is a one-shot taking place when Imladris had been just established following the fall of Eregion. The first part of the fic is a conversation between Celeborn and Elrond. I love how Celeborn notes that while Elrond's bloodline/heritage is nothing short of "majestic", it's his skills as healer and teacher that awes him-the same skills in which Elrond will be renowned for in the future (Third/Fourth Age) rather than his bloodline. OTOH, I disagreed with Celeborn's disparaging description of Elves in general, and praise of the qualities of men...though I guess he might be a little biased by recent events in Eregion. But even though it was Celebrimbor's mistake to make the lesser rings, it's also the folly of the kings of Men to put on the Nine.


Fight the Dusk, Spite the Dawn is a three-chapter fic featuring the courtship of Elrond and Celebrian, mostly through the perspective of Galadriel and Celeborn. I like the way Elrond and Celebrian's personalities were portrayed here, even though Elrond seems to be a little more...overly-solemn...than most depictions. However, the scene with them gently teasing one another was very well done. Also, on my first read, I thought the depiction of Galadriel in this fic was somewhat OOC... that is, some of the her opinions and actions doesn't seem to be very "wise". But upon reading it a second time, I think I get a little more of what the author was driving at, which makes me understand her position a little more, even though I still think the author could've made things a little less obscure.

Oh... and my favorite line ever in the fic: "I shall fight not the inevitable dusk impending, lest I spite the glorious dawn ascending. And though it be dark and hard at its falling, even the twilight is not everlasting – the sun should have taught me that!" Very poetic. Wonderful imagery and rhythm. ^_^


Insomnia is a one-shot... a rather interesting "What if?" for the end of the Last Alliance. I dunno... it's kinda weird... I like the fic and I feel kinda uneasy about it at the same time, but there's no reason for the latter that I can put a finger on. Eh. *shrug*


Daw the Minstrel has another fic up on ffnet, Fire and Shadow, with 8 chapters. It's the latest installment of her series which takes place in Mirkwood, featuring Legolas and his family. This one includes dragons and dwarves, but not the ones from The Hobbit. There's also a reference to the first incursion of the Balrog of Moria in the early Third Age.

...I figure I'll put this up anyhow. If anyone out there is squicked by slash, they can skip this entry.

Anyway, I spent most of today reading this huge series by Capella. The pairing is A/L in the earlier fics, and mostly Legolas/Imrahil in the later ones. Now, A/L fics are dime a dozen all over the LOTR slash fandom. But I think this is the first time I've seen a Legolas/Imrahil fic. Fairly well written too.

Granted, there were a few themes and events in the stories that made me uncomfortable... not squicked or anything, but morality-wise, I'm not sure I agree with some of the lines of reasoning used in it. A few sentiments came a bit too close to being rationalized non-con, and a few of the character reactions to things came off a bit forced and unrealistic.

Oh yeah, and there was this one LOTR/Buffy xover that was just awful. Like watching a train wreck in action. The girl shouldn't write xovers, especially with slash in it. Seriously.

Most of these are fics that I've *alread* bookmarked, so they're not recently found. But some of 'em do have updates to them.

---

Okay, first of all, Mysterious Rurouni (RK), by Mieren has updated on ffnet. Hilarious as heck. The latest chapter features Kenshin and Chichiri taking turns making Amiboshi's life miserable in the funniest ways. Poor Amiboshi... poor Suboshi who has to experience everything that happens to his twin. *snicker*

Secondly, I've been hearing good things about the Stories of Arda LOTR fanfic archive. It's somewhat alike to Henneth Annun in that it doesn't have as much of the lowest denominator quality fics as ffnet... much less Mary Sues and more canonical adherence in general... though I think it's harder to navigate and there's more WIPs on it - but that might just be 'cause I haven't gotten the hang of it yet.

( more )

First of all, I think my internet is finally working right now. Wow. That only took like the rest of the day, huh? *rolleyes*

Though ffnet did come back up a couple of hours earlier... and some of the other sites I tried to surf worked okay.

Anyway, I found some interesting reading while I was waiting. Not fics... more like articles or fan-compilations related to LOTR. Some people have a lot of time on their hands... but the stuff is interesting, and some of it might be useful if I ever decide to write a real (serious) LOTR fic.

( summaries and links )

Yep. More of them. I spent mucho hours on ffnet again today. Though instead of browsing straight through the archives, this time I went rec-hopping... that is finding a good author and then looking through her "favorite stories" list, finding good fics there and going to their author pages... lather, rinse, repeat.

( the recs )