“He lifted his other hand and allowed it to drift through the wispy white
spiderweb of Bilbo’s hair. ‘I am glad you grew old,’ he said in a low
voice. ‘Whatever the reason, I am glad one of us did. Still, I find I
hate that you grew old without me. Would you laugh at my grey beard, I
wonder? Would we barricade ourselves against each winter, wrapping
ourselves in your quilts and complaining about our bones? Would we grow
more alike as time passed; my mannerisms becoming yours, your words
becoming mine?’”
Fanart for Chapter 10 of
determamfidd’s fic, Sansûkh. Thorin expressing regret that he could not grow old with Bilbo broke my fragile little heart ;_; Totes recommend this fic if you’re ready for an EPIC read.
oh my god
this is so beautiful. you are a magician with light and colour, I am honestly COMPLETELY blown away and I am just looking at this amazingness and shouting internally, just. everywhere my eyes settle
GOD. THE CORONA OF COOL WHITE LIGHT AROUND THORIN, ESP HIS ARM AND HAIR, THE FIRELIGHT ON BILBO’S FACE AND WAISTCOAT, THE BLUUUEEEEEEE THE BLUE: SO MANY SHADES OF GHOSTLY AND ICY-WHITE, LIKE STARLIGHT
MOTES OF LIGHT AROUND HIM, LIKE TINY STARS THEMSELVES – I JUST
AND OLD!BILBO’S ELVEN CHAIR AND WALKING STICK AND THE TWILIGHT ON THE LEAVES OUTSIDE, THE ART NOUVEAU SWIRLS OF THE FIREPLACE and even the RELIEF ON THE WALL…
THORIN’S FACE. his FACE. HIS COAT, THE FUR SHADING FROM BLUE TO GREY TO WHITEST WHITE – AUGH, your skill is ASTONISHING
EVERYWHERE I LOOK I AM STUNNED
this is incredible, I can NEVER thank you enough, I am so so blown away and just. so amazed! SO AMAZED AT YOUR SKILL, thank you so so much!!
I just REALLY wanted to draw characters with these expressions….but @scarletjedi and I ended up discussing whole stories on wtf is going on here. Maybe one day I’ll write one of them….
Frerin invented shield-surfing first. Kíli uses the Durin Death Glare. It’s super effective! Dwarves have sensible gender concepts, stone giants are a hazard, and everyone is collectively done with a certain old scrotum beard.
The Service by rutobuka (E, WIP, fem!Bagginshield, sex work, honestly read the tags, this fic is so goddamn hot, hottest thing I’ve ever read, I love it)
The Sons of Durin by KivrinEngle (T, modern au, sorta crime family but idk that doesn’t 100% descibe it, doesn’t have a lot of romance but the action is good)
A Literal Roll in the Hay by GayForWerewolves (E, one-shot, trans male Bilbo, Dwarves have sensible gender concepts i.e. everyone is what they say they are so being trans is no problemo)
Hearts Will As Hearts Must by determamfidd (G, one-shot, also Kiliel and Gigolas, Gigolas is kinda the main ship here but Bagginshield has a big role, this is just such a sweet and good lil fic) (lil fic my ass it’s 10k)
and then a fic I always rec bc it just is so damn good:
Sansûkh by determamfidd (T, WIP, long as balls but honestly it’s the best fic ever, it’s the biggest blessing ever to grace this fandom, and I have so many feels about it and I want everyone to read it because it is so so so so good)
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!
Aw Yiss 