![]() Author has written 3 stories for Silmarillion. Housekeeping things First of all - welcome to my world! :) Second of all - I am a full-time college student double majoring in biology and history and studying voice on the side. That's a bit of a crazy life. In addition to that, I have an interest in many fandoms, and my inspiration often shifts at random. Because of both those things. I update slowly and irregularly. Writing is something I do for pleasure, and I don't force creativity to happen. You all know how that is. If slow updates bother you, you might want to check back with my stories at longer intervals rather than following chapter by chapter. That being said, I might keep you waiting for a while, but you all deserve the best: therefore, I will not post anything of low quality just for the sake of a quicker update, and I will not abandon fics once I've started posting them. Please respect that fact and please don't ask me when I'm going to be putting up a new chapter. Stuff About Me I am a girl, a college sophomore from Small Town America, and a lover of music/musical theater, history, the natural sciences, and language, foreign and otherwise. I am primarily a Tolkien writer, especially in the realm of the Simarillion. However, my imagination is very capricious, so I also dabble in Pokémon, the Amnesia series (I adore "A Machine for Pigs"), Fullmetal Alchemist, Dragonriders of Pern, Les Misérables (the musical; I'm working on reading The Brick at the moment), and Phantom of the Opera, along with whatever else inspires me at a given moment. I'm also in the process of familiarizing myself with George R.R. Martin's, "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. I'll say up front that I use occasional ideas/characters from Peter Jackson's films in my Tolkien writing. A lot of people don't care for what he did with Tolkien's work, and I don't agree with all of his decisions either, but there are things of value to be gleaned from Jackson. The way he portrayed the Balrog in Moria, for example, terrified me the first time I saw it, and since then, his vision of the Balrogs has been mine as well. I love the bestiality and the raw power. I am at present studying to major in biology, but I am also a student of music. Music is my passion, my balm, and my closest link to God. I listen to a little bit of almost every genre, from melodic metal to country to classical, but I'd have to say my favorite composers are Bach, Beethoven, and Fauré (recently getting into Brahms as well). I enjoy film scores, video game scores (does anybody here know of Jessica Curry, composer for The Chinese Room?), and opera a great deal as well. I have the honor of singing part-time with a world-class orchestra's chorus, and as a flutist, I've toured Germany and the Netherlands with a respected youth concert band. So I know my music! :) If any of you ever have questions on anything music-related, or you just want to geek out over a piece, drop me a line! I am a Christian (Roman Catholic, if that matters to you), as I was born and raised. As all authors are influenced by their real-life experiences, I draw on aspects of the church I go to, its style of worship, and my own understanding of God in my writing. Usually this is subtle - so if you are of a different faith or not religious, you should still be fine with my work - unless I'm dealing with characters who are canonically Christians, such as some of those in Les Misérables. Things You Will See in my Writing - Fëanor. A lot of Fëanor. Tolkien's (in)famous Spirit of Fire is my muse and, oftentimes, my courage. I am an ardent supporter of Fëanor and his house, so you'll be seeing very much of them in my writing. If you're not a fan of Fëanor, my stories may not be your cup of tea. If you do give them a try, I have been known to change people's minds! :) - Canon-divergent ideas. I am not a canon purist by any means; in fact, I enjoy bending canon and even breaking it: see Nerdanel Istarnië's all-female fighting force as Exhibit A. - Themes of redemption and second chances (Fëanor being the primary example in my in-progress long work, "One Star in the Sky"). - A powerful presence of music. Music is a theme that runs all through my stories, often on multiple occasions per story, for reasons that are probably obvious given my background. Concerts of all kinds and some episodes of spontaneous song/dance are guaranteed in my writing! :) - Empowered female characters. Whether they are soldiers, spies, politicians, or craftspeople, many of my female characters are not meek and submissive. However, I do also believe that women can be strong without taking on traditionally male roles. It takes just as much strength for a mother to hold her family together on a day-to-day basis as it does for a soldier to wield a sword, it's just strength of a different kind. Things You Won't See in My Writing - Sexual content of any kind. Not even much romance, honestly. I'm too awkward at it. - Gratuitous violence. Of course, there's going to be some violence when I deal with the wars of Tolkien's world, but I try to keep it realistic rather than shocking. - Strong bad language. A minor curse here and there, but nothing extreme. - Absolute canonicity. Some of my Silmarillion Views for Reference - The Dagor Dagorath takes place post-Fourth Age, and that's all I'll say about that. Outside of that restriction, when it comes up in my stories you're free to imagine it taking place any time you want! :) - The Void is not a nice place (of course). While I wouldn't say it's Hell, it is most definitely a place of punishment and a place where sinners are forced to look their wrongs in the face and decide once and for all whether they want to repent or not. I take a VERY dark view of it. - Balrogs have wings. In my opinion, they're non-functional and probably exist mostly to be threatening, but even so, to me, Balrogs would look unbalanced without them. - Fëanor created the palantíri. He's not just thought to have created them; he did. Definitely. - I write Findis and Faniel as the daughters of Finwë rather than Findis and Írimë. For those who don't know, Faniel never made it to the published Silmarillion, so I thought I would give her a chance to shine and see what kind of character I could develop for her! - When Fëanor tells the Valar he will break his heart and be slain if he must break the Silmarils, he's not just being melodramatic: he means it literally, because part of his soul is actually inside those jewels. If you've been reading "One Star in the Sky," you know just how much I mean this. ;) - Galadriel fought on the side of the Teleri at Alqualondë. - The Fëanárians' war on Morgth cannot be explained simply by saying, "They had an unhealthy obsession with shiny things." Their motives are much more complex than that, and I will argue that point to the death. - Elves do not have extramarital affairs. I do think they can occasionally be attracted to or tempted by people other than their spouses - they're not perfect, after all - but that's absolutely as far as the infidelity goes. - LaCE (Laws and Customs of the Eldar) has an in-universe author: Aelfwine, a mortal man from medieval England. In the context of Arda, it was not written by an elf, and therefore, like any historical document, I take it with a grain of salt and don't consider it to be a gospel account of Eldarin culture. I don't adhere to it very much in my writing, hence my female Eldarin soldiers. - I don't care for the Valar too much. To me, they're not gods, and they are not perfect or infallible. They're more like powerful angels watching over the world and attempting to understand the will of Eru Ilúvatar, but sometimes they get it wrong. - Fëanor fought a lot of Balrogs in the Dagor-nuin-Giliath before he died. A lot. Like, up to seven; eight including Gothmog. - I know Maglor and Caranthir had canonical wives, but they don't start out married in my stories. If you want to know whether they end up married or not, well...you'll just have to read! :) - Fëanor did not return to Tirion immediately after the Darkening to lead his people to war, as it appears in the published Silmarillion. There was a long period, probably several months, of mourning and trying to figure out what to do in between his father's death and his infamous departure speech in Tirion. - Celegorm has blond/silver-blond hair that can be traced back to Míriel Serindë. - Elves can sleep with their eyes open when they need to - like if they're traveling through dangerous country and need to be more alert, for example. Otherwise, under normal circumstances, they sleep with their eyes closed like a human does. To me, having your eyes open while you're asleep looks too much like death, and I find it to be a little creepy, so you won't see my elves doing it! - Gil-galad is the son of Orodreth and the brother of Finduilas. - Neither Amras nor Amrod died at Losgar. They both died at Sirion in the Third Kinslaying. - Headcanon: elves are often said to call upon spells and secret lore. I believe this may well have included alchemy, which I suspect was partly responsible for how Fëanor made the Silmarils. After all, this is a fantasy universe; why couldn't fantastical sciences exist there? :) Besides, the thought of an elite group of talented Noldorin alchemists is just exciting, isn't it? - Headcanon: elves did have other instruments than the harp and the flute; in fact, chamber groups and even orchestras were common in Valinor. I tend to lurk a lot. A lot. I do plenty of reading and not much reviewing/favoriting, but I'm trying to improve on that, so if you've let me know you're enjoying my work and you want to hear my feedback on yours, don't lose hope; I'll get better! My academics occupy a lot of my time (and sometimes my muse takes a side trip to Mars), but I do try my best to make sure I never present anything substandard. I'm mainly here to share my love of Tolkien's world and get some constructive feedback (no flaming, please!) to help me improve my writing. Happy reading! :) |
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