Yes, we are going to see Yavanna! She will turn up 🙂 Quite soon, in fact!
I’ve written a bit about how I see her before, here! But here we go, I’m a little inspired now, and so have a wee flight of fancy:
She is my untamed goddess of moss and jungles and algae and scrubland. She loves the flytrap and the fennel, the grass and the deathcap mushroom alike. She fills the needles of her mammoth conifers with near-indigestible resin so that they cannot be eaten. She covers the cactus in thorns, covers the apple in flowers and fruit, and covers the spreading fig in tangling vines that will one day pull the giant to the ground. She cups the fern-leaves to house a tadpole, and fills the pitcher-plant in acid to kill its prey. She pours scents both sweet and stinking from her hands. She scatters the wheat that is grown and harvested – and then covers the resulting bread in fungus. Rot and renewal make up the rhythm of her steps – and they are slow and inexorable. She has the endless dry patience of the Resurrection plant, its heart curled tight, waiting for rain in the desert.
Her Ents stride in her wake, and their feet soak up the decay and rebirth of her passing.
Bees sing in her retinue, and beautiful flowers nod their poisonous heads as she goes.
🙂
(so, i may have recently re-watched ‘Life of Plants’, and it makes me think all over again that ‘HOLY HECK YAVANNA MUST BE FIERCE AS FUCK’)
NECESSARY STUFF:
The OP above gave full permission to use their post as a launchpad for this
commentary, so please don’t mistake this as either endorsement or criticism, and please do not mistake it as a group invitation to attack. I’ve
written about this phenomenon in the Rowling fandom before and this gives me another
excuse. Plus, as someone who tried to join
a fandom via this writing strategy and failed, I think I can contribute some thought
fodder on the issue of content sameness.
I’m bout to drop an essay, hobbits. This essay isn’t,
however, a critique. This is a non-evaluative observation and a writing theory. And, finally, an open
question to fellow fic writers.
BASE OBSERVATION: The
dominant writing styles in book-based fandoms mirror and pay homage to the style
of the original author.
WOW, holy heck this is a beautiful theory, and one I agree with absolutely.
I’ve noticed that stylistic imitation seems to happen more often in fandoms where the canon is heavily book-based, such as Harry Potter or Tolkien. In Avengers fandom, though, the writing was far more varied in style. I think this is bc it is mostly a visual canon (movies/comics) and people can explore different avenues of capturing it.
I’ve seen the argument made that folks enjoy the atmosphere and language of the books, and so seek out works that remind them of it.
I’ve mentioned before that I set out in Sansukh to try and channel Tolkien’s style, and so yeah, that’s a totally spot-on observation to make. Really pleased that you feel I did so, too 🙂 Thanks!
The main aim though, for me, was to capture the ‘feel’ of Tolkien’s work whilst also making it a little more accessible and fluid, bc the man could get so dense and impenetrable – less so in The Hobbit, absolutely, but LOTR can be slow and a bit arduous at times. So, I’ve stepped right away from some of his more idiosyncratic writing quirks, such as the gigantic block of descriptive text, slipping into ‘high style’ with the ‘thees and thous’ every so often – this seems to happen mostly in emotional moments – and the heroic declamations, as some examples. (Aragorn has SO MANY DECLAMATIONS)
Something else I tried to implement as the story progresses – I add more and more of my own stylistic interpretation, rather than Tolkien’s. I try to, in effect, transition away from a purely faithful ‘Tolkienesque’ style, to something sliiiiiightly more modern and blended – and far, far more emotional.
I do enjoy his dialogue syntax very much, though – particularly for the hobbits!
When it comes to your three choices detailed, I definitely fell into the first category:
Faithfully reconstruct and largely adhere to Tolkien’s style. (This is the choice most Big Fic writers in any book-based fandom make. On the downside, this limitation can feel creatively constricting. It should, however, be mentioned that some writers find this strategy ultimately increases their creativity – the stylistic constraints demand they make more daring creative choices in other realms, such as plot or characterization.)
I ABSOLUTELY find that constraints make me more creative! Well, 90 times out of 100, I do, hahaha. I enjoy writing myself into a corner and then finding the way out – it is something I’ve done again and again, it forces me to up my game. Further, the restraints placed on me by following an existing timeline/story forced me to get even more inventive! I knew that readers weren’t interested in reading the same story all over again (I mean, they could just read the book instead, sooo….) and thus I had to find new ways and new angles from which to view it, and new language with which to tell it. I am a lot fonder of simile and metaphor than Tolkien, that is for sure
In regard to your supporting/opposing notes: I would agree once again. I also personally find them irritating, both the patriarchal cultural concepts, and the feminisation of Bilbo. Both of these are aspects I have striven to eschew. I will have only succeeded imperfectly, I know, bc i am a fallible meatbag, but I hope I have managed to a greater rather than a lesser degree.
Addressing the open question now: god, I have no idea. I obviously plumped for your first option for the big fic! I have smaller Tolkien works (The Long Road, or Yours Faithfully, for instance) in which I have experimented with a very different authorial style and made very different syntactic choices. They didn’t ever reach the same sort of readership as the more Tolkien-flavoured fics. So, I don’t know, but I would be thrilled to hear more of your thoughts on the matter. Thank you so much for an engaging and thoughtful read!
I am afraid that instead of an update schedule, there is just an A4 piece of paper with “SHITFUCKSHIT” written on it, hehehe. In other words, there is no update schedule – I post the minute I have finished a chapter (and often, I am still editing it after posting).
I’ve just gotten back from a very long trip/holiday/visit to family in another state! I hope to have another chapter out next week (I HOPE I HOPE, cross your fingers and toes for me!) – but I haven’t even started it yet, tbh.
I know what is going to happen in it, in broad strokes, and once I begin writing I tend to move fast, so it is entirely doable to get a chapter out next week. My awesome lil toddler goes back to daycare next week, too, and I will actually have the opportunity – huzzah! So, sorry that I can’t be more reliable, but I promise I am doing my best 🙂
um, my first instinct was to be flippant at you here, Nonnie! But I am guessing you want me to Mum at you a bit? Okay, but I am a bit kerflummoxed here! Like, I hear food is highly recommended, and you can even go to sites where you input what you have in your cupboards and fridge and come up with recipes now. Catch a link here!
Anyway, Mumming at you. Here’s some ideas and some things I’ve used – mostly learned from my own mum, tbh. She is a KILLER GOOD COOK, btw, and it is thanks to her that we have our own garden and make so much stuff, not through any virtue of our own.
-if you dress a salad too early and leave it for too long, it will wilt and go mushy and gross. Likewise, sauce or mayo on a sandwich causes lettuce or salad leaves to go mushy if they’re not eaten straight away.
– Canned fish in a small workplace Makes No Friends.
– RICE IS AMAZING. Make cheesy rice balls, paella with chorizo and peas and saffron (a dinner staple for us, I always have leftovers), fried rice, whatever. It will keep and also be yum.
– frittatas, quiches and egg pies are delicious eaten cold, and can last two or three days in the fridge, depending on the ingredients (eat a tuna or salmon one on the same day or day after making, though). Make a big one and freeze that sucker in portions.
– Avocado is a time bomb. Dress it with lemon juice to keep it green straight after cutting into it, or it will begin to brown. Wrap it in plastic so that air doesn’t touch the cut surface.
– PASTAAAAAAAAAA. PASTA PASTA PASTA. We make our own – it’s not that time-consuming, and good god is it tasty (the machine is pricey however, if you get a decent one – and GET A DECENT ONE, the cheap ones are shit. It’s a great investment tho!). Just pesto and olive oil stirred through pasta is good enough tbh – or saute a few sage leaves in oil with garlic, until the leaves go crispy, and toss the pasta in that.
– wraps are Good, but better on the day of making (sauce or mayo again – things get Soggy so QUICKLY). Use leftover roast veg if you have any, but make sure they’re not too oily or the bread will (once again) go mushy.
– make your own pizza! You don’t have to make the base, if you’re pressed for time or spoons. Just use sliced bread and the grill. Many mini-pizzas! SO not authentic, but hey, meh. Toast the bread first. Add what you like to it, but perhaps don’t get too flush with Cheese or Sauce Power (again: SOGGY THE NEXT DAY). Anchovies also Make No Friends in small offices.
– Jaffles (I think US types call them a Grilled Cheese?) but you can add so much more than just cheese and ham and tomato. Crack an egg into it, add leftover cooked veg, pesto, beans, leftover chicken, whatever you have lying around.
– I like pulses – they’re hella cheap and tasty. Barley goes great in salads and with roast veg like potatoes and carrots and pumpkin, cooled and sprinkled with balsamic vinegar. Chickpeas can be tossed with veg and herbs and flavoured oil. You can make yummo daal! I love daal, it’s VERY CHEAP, and my kid loves it too: lentils and spices and onion makes a good one, but buy decent ghee if you can, i find it makes a difference.
– noodles, but leave that ramen packet aside, my friend, it is pure Salt. Add sliced and stir-fried veg like carrot, snow peas, choy sum and capsicum, and if you have any leftover chicken or beef or whatever, this is a good way to get rid of that. Dress that dude with a bit of soy sauce, a TINY bit of oil, sprinkle with sesame seeds or a weenie splash of sesame oil. Yeaaaaaaaah.
– Casseroles in the slow cooker! Put it on overnight, and it’s ready in the morning. Freeze that sucker in small individual containers, and you have lunch sorted for a week. Doesn’t have to be elaborate. Slow cookers make magic happen.
okay, I think there will most likely be a thing you can eat in all of that! Hope it helps, Nonnie 🙂
Aw Yiss 