Items of Interest

WTF, Kohls... opening at 3am for shopping? Why even close on Thanksgiving, let's just get it rolling right away.

Actually... nevermind. Mark has mentioned that we would be able to just come home, take a nap, and then go right out and be done by 7am. Awesome.

Also, we obtained a black Christmas tree. Fingon approved, btw.


In other news, have heard the latest on the silm-fandom dramaz. Read it while I unexpectedly ended up at the auto repair shop due to all of my interior lights suddenly not working last night as we were driving home (luckily, still under warranty, and they found something else that was under warranty and also it was due to have an oil change tomorrow so instead of waiting until next week, okay, mr. findel got his oil changed today.. whoa, that sounded dirty...) Anyhow.. I printed up the stuff from LJ and kept turning to Mark and going 'omg, i can't believe this really happened... omg, there's actual proof... omg, this is more f-ed up than anything that ever happened in the tcats fandom' And, some pretty f-ed up shit happened there.

Anyhow, after nano, I may comment further on the whole thing, such as, why one should and should not have alternate aliases online aka the proper keeping and feeding of your duplicates. (I feel I have enough knowledge on the topic, what with keeping a duplicate of my own in each of my two primary fandoms.) Or maybe not. I think I'd rather play LOTRO than write up a whole expose on the topic of aliases.

I realized it hasn't all sunk in yet. It's all kind of crazy. Well. Once December gets here and I'm not thinking of word counts and write-ins, I suppose it'll hit me.


Other than that, I'm totally slacking on the nano front. For multiple reasons. Some of which I'll probably blog about, and some, not so much.

fanfic meme...swiped from a few...expect answers after december1

I think it would be fun to talk about stories, but the usual memes are like, "What happens next?" "Tell me about Character A?" Which isn't so much talking about stories as it is writing more of a story. But you know how sometimes you read something and you're like, "I got ___ out of this story, I wonder if I have that right?" or "What on earth was ____ supposed to be?" and it's too awkward to ask the author? Now you could totally ask!

I've heard people say that writing is hard because you have to make decisions, but we never really talk about the decisions we make with stories or why we make them. We talk about plot bunnies, but not about how we actually turn them into a story.

So, if you wanted, ask me questions!

What were you trying to do [here]? Why did you decide to ____? This is what I thought about xyz, is that what you were going for? What made you write ____? Why did you decide to do this? And so on.

last one for the night

written for the middle earth lj game... later realized that since i wrote it in november, i could fit it into my nano... first line had to match the last line...


“I love it when it rains.” Erestor lounged on a sofa, staring across the room and out the window whose curtain allowed for a semi-obscured view of the scene outdoors. Branches swayed and leaves bowed repeatedly as if giving thanks to Manwe and Ulwe for their gift. “The night is so rhythmic, and everything seems at peace. The world becomes cleansed and washed away is the dust and dirt, leaving a purity come the morning.”

His companion had been quietly reading a book in his rocking chair near the fire, and looked up to regard the weather momentarily. Then, he returned to his reading.

“No opinion?” queried the advisor.

This time when Glorfindel looked up, he spoke. “I always have an opinion, and it is this. The rain brings mud and softens the ground. It brings my horse difficulty in travel, and chills me when my cloak becomes drenched. If I must spend the night away from home, it means a soggy tent and a campfire that remains unlit.”

“I suppose, in that case, that you hate the rain,” Erestor reasoned.

“On the contrary,” corrected Glorfindel. “When I am here, in Imladris, the rain brings me indoors. I find few tasks I can aid in doing, and thus I find myself here for the day,” he said, raising an arm in reference to the Hall of Fire they now sat in. “Eventually, your duties for the day are done, and you wander your way here, and take up residence upon that couch, and watch through the window with a childlike wonder. Though the rain itself is not so much an ally, it does serve a purpose for me. Without it, I would be granted few days of watching something so perfect.” Glorfindel smiled while Erestor blushed slightly. “I love it when it rains.”

On the topic of cheesecake

Erulisse has posed, among other questions, how it is that cheesecake became such a staple in the bunniverse. I wish I could post the origin piece that it came from, but the yahoo group that had it has since been deleted, so it will need to be retold from memory.
( Read more... )

But are they rose colored?

Erulisse asks...

Whatever influenced you to have Glorfindel wear glasses? I love it, but it's so out of the ordinary to have him wearing them.


I like characters to have occupations/goals/aspirations and things beyond what I need for the story. I also wanted Glorfindel to be one of the most intelligent characters in the entire bunniverse. Tolkien stated he was wise, but I saw a fair number of 'silly blond' versions of Glorfindel as the years went by. So, as time went on, Glorfindel got smarter and smarter. He's also, for those who didn't catch it in the three or four fics it's mentioned, an accountant and an alchemist. He gets into math and science the way other people get into their favorite band.

Anyhow, it seemed stereotypical -- smarties wear glasses -- but I kind of wanted that. And I wanted it for another reason; I wanted something that makes him think he's not so beautiful, so he wears them as infrequently as possible (to magnify the vanity that Tolkien wanted him to have, in my opinion). I also wanted something for him to have in common with Bilbo Baggins --- I imagine them as good friends in Rivendell, and while I only have one very tiny story with that at the moment, the reality is that for every one story written out, there are ten or fifteen more in my head. I've imagined many conversations between these two, with the commonality that started the friendship being their shared use of spectacles.

Symbolically, it deals with Glorfindel's attempts to understand the world. Those of you who wear glasses know that even with them on, one's vision is not the same as a person who has perfect vision. Things on the edges blur; there's that space above and below, and smudges on the lens will be a problem. Take them off, the world blurs more -- but sometimes, we see better when we stop looking. All of that goes into his persona, and what he's had to deal with in living a 'split' life. He has certain disconnects that he will always have.

Also, it's cute. (I think glasses are adorable.) While the stereotype is that elves are perfect and thin and pretty, there are always some that are different, and with how perfect he otherwise is... there it is.

50001

Yeah, that's a word count. You know it.

Six years in a row = awesomez.

Also... pretty sure Magic Rat is still ticked over the whole me trying to explain the history of Earth Day about six months ago (because y'all know how I am about misinformation being spread about, no matter what the reason is behind it), since it looks like she's still got my IP banned from commenting. Anyhow, it so happens that someone in our nano region is a huge fan of hers, and we've ended up in long convos about her works twice now. Thought she'd like to know, in case someone wouldn't mind passing along that info....