Tag: how does a Dets write?

dets im (re)reading sansukh an i just wanted to let you know that i love how much thought and care you put into each character. youve taken the time to make everyonr u write about a rounded and developed character an i cant even tell u how much i love that, it makes your writing so much more delightful to read! same goes for all your well-researched things – you make the world believable and incredibly realistic, i just wanted to let u know how much i appreciate and love the work u put into this

*biting very hard on lip*

thank you so so SO much. Oh, my god. I am really touched and grateful, thank you for taking the trouble to say this to me, it is hugely hugely appreciated. I’ve been in love with these characters and this world for so long and I wanted to do them justice, and just. It often can be a lot of work, 12K+ chapters and all that research. But at the same time it’s work I love and am thrilled to do. And I’m so so SO happy it translates into the story and the characters.

and I can’t think of anything else to say – you’ve rendered me entirely speechless and a bit teary!

SO! I am /trying/ to write a Laerophen centered ficlet and I am really struggling with the characterization. Do you have any tips?

Here’s some bullet points on how to write Laerophen Thranduilion, the Elven gooberking:

– he speaks formally

– he is graceful

– He dislikes Dwarves (but is VERY SLOWLY beginning to understand that his dislike is unfounded)

– He loves kids. LOVES them. They bring out an openness and an honesty in him that he will otherwise hide.

– he is not, actually, a confident leader. 

– When he is angry, he speaks very fast.

– He is not a natural warrior – all of his proficiency has come from dutiful practice. He is competent, not gifted. 

– He loves books and learning. 

– He is not good at reacting quickly. He will have a moment of flustered consternation, or annoyance, or anger.

– he tries to hide all this by being as cool and impassive on the surface as he can.

– BUT his mask is not very good. 

– He’s very proud of his home and his people.

– he finds it hard to relax. He is ESPECIALLY tense in large gatherings. One or two people, though – he is more likely to unwind with small numbers.

– bluntness usually gets him a bit wrong-footed. He expects other people to hold up a mask as well. Dain confuses the hell out of him by being upfront and honest, for example.

– He’s very very tall. Very tall. He stoops a little. 

– He is INCREDIBLY learned, but not a showoff. In fact, most people wouldn’t even realise. 

– He used to believe that everything that is worth knowing, came from Elves. And Sindar Elves, at that. Language, Cirth runes, history, lore, you name it. 

– that’s changing. He has lived in the middle of this Mountain for MONTHS now, and he has met Gimizh and seen the dance of the forge and has discovered that Bomfris knows what she is talking about and that Dain isn’t at all what he was expecting, and the Stonehelm is actually an admirable Dwarf altogether.

– His father is all-consuming and all-expecting in his love. He is a huge enveloping presence in Laerophen’s life – loving and affectionate and tactile, but demanding as well. Laindawar reacted by trying to meet these expectations: Laerophen reacted by hiding in his library.

– Laerophen is a loner back in Mirkwood as a result.

– He has been thrust into a place and situation CRAMMED WITH SO MANY PEOPLE, and it’s a siege so there is no escape. He is being forced to adopt social strategies he has no context for. 

– He was close to his fierce, silent elder brother, Laindawar. They are near in age. 

– he loves his youngest brother Legolas, but doesn’t understand his gregarious (for an Elf) social nature. Still, he tries to make Legolas laugh, a holdover from when he was a child and Laerophen made silly jokes and songs.

Okay I think that’s all good, I hope that helps! 🙂

Out of curiosity, around how many chapters do you predict sansûkh will have when it’s finished? Just based on how much left you have planned for it and such.

No idea! *cheerful shrug*

I never know how long the chapters are going to end up, or where exactly they end themselves in the narrative. So I can’t really give you much in the way of estimates.

I know in a general sense where I want to end the story, and it will be after the events of LOTR. So we are seeing out the rest of the War of the Ring, definitely – and that includes the Scouring of the Shire. Then the aftermath (rebuilding, new gates, new leaders, returning home, Aglarond & Ithilien, etc). 

And then – what happens after that. 

And then, what happens after that happens. 

(yes, the danger here is that I end up with as many ‘endings’ as the Extended Edition of ROTK, I know, I know *headdesk*)

Have we made it far enough for some Bomfris/Thorin 3 smuts? Or some retroactive Dis/hubby porn? *wobbly Hobbit begging eyes and pouty lip*

IT’S CUT TIME NOW

Bomfris/Thorin 3 is DEF on the special menu (hurr hurr). There are a few more pairings that I am eager to write and will very possibly get their own smutty one-shot. I’m not making promises at this stage, though.

You can probably guess that I am D Y I N G to write Gigolas, though. *trembles* Oh myyyyyyy.