Finrod Rock Opera Promo Post

Jul. 6th, 2025 11:19 am
grundyscribbling: white stars on a light blue background (stars)
[personal profile] grundyscribbling posting in [community profile] innumerable_stars
A still from the Finrod Rock Opera, version staged October 7, 2023. (Teatr-Studio "Portal")
 

(written by [tumblr.com profile] thepastisaroadmap )

Summary: This is a couple different Russian stage productions of the part of the Lay of Lethian focusing on Finrod, which covers the time between Beren and Luthien’s meeting to escape from Tol-in-Gaurhoth. It is a rock opera, which means it’s a sung-through musical.

Why should I check out this canon? Musicals are a good form to adapt the legendarium into! It works particularly well for the battles between Finrod/Luthien and Sauron, where the song bends between their leitmotifs. Truth (Finrod's final song), the meeting of Beren and Luthien, and the quarrel with the sons of Feanor are also really good songs.

There are also some intriguing implications of canon divergence, including Celegorm and Curufin being the only remaining sons of Feanor, Sauron being an amalgamation of himself and Melkor, and the implication of Sauron rehabilitation/orc healing in recent performances (during Galadriel’s final song, Thingol and Melian heal the orcs while Finrod goes to a defeated Sauron and leads him into the cast as a whole). The loyalty between Finrod and Beren is showcased quite strongly; they have a couple of duets together. The 2001 Temple version also includes Caranthir in Nargothrond! (All of the sons of Feanor are still alive in this version, and they’re wearing the burning of the swan ships on their costumes.)

Where can I get this?

Many of the productions exist on YouTube in full! As far as I’m aware, the only English-subtitled versions are this video of the 2014 production and the 2001 Temple production. (These can be machine translated into other languages as well.) However, asterisq on ao3 has created an excellent line-by-line English translation of the lyrics for both the 2014 production and 2021-2023 ones, available here . This YouTube playlist includes full versions of many other productions.

What fanworks exist already?

There are not very many fanworks for this, but one I particularly like is this really lovely piece of fan art . There is also a small fandom for this show on tumblr!

Sunshine Revival Challenges 1 and 2

Jul. 5th, 2025 06:27 pm
independence1776: Stitch escaping from chain link dog kennel (Stitch free; interesting!)
[personal profile] independence1776
Challenge #1: Journaling Prompt: Light up your journal with activity this month. Talk about your goals for July or for the second half of 2025.

My primary goal for July is to finish the first draft of my Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang fic. I would like to but do not expect to finish it before the Mereth Aderthad.

*

Challenge #2:
Journaling: The romance of summer! What do you love? Write about anything you feel sentimental about or that gets your heart pumping.
Creative: Write a love poem to anyone or anything you like.


Right now, the summer-related thing I want to do the most is to sit on the lakeshore at the cabin and read a book for hours on end. I was able to do that last summer and I really miss not being able to do so this summer. Right on the shore, the lake breezes kept the mosquitos and flies away; even ten feet inland this didn't happen. The lapping of the waves, the sky, the ever-changing clouds (when there are clouds), the birdsong and insects buzzing in the forest: I need this.


And now for the poem:


Natural fireworks:
lightning storms,
lightning bugs.
Fireflies are preferable--
they're less dangerous.
But I love both.

Fireflies I can hold in my hand:
light on, light off
-- and then they're off
back into the wider world.

Character of the Month: Marhwini

Jul. 5th, 2025 10:02 pm
daughterofshadows: A photograph of a nebula and stars (Default)
[personal profile] daughterofshadows posting in [community profile] silwritersguild
A banner of two hand drawn horses, a blue one in the front and a brown one in the back. The blue one mostly obscures the brown one. Text above the horses reads: Character of the Month: Marhwini by Secondborn

Marhwini of the Éothéod is a character who exists between books. He is, in the words of his biographer Secondborn, "a representative of a people who didn’t even exist," appearing in neither The Silmarillion nor The Lord of the Rings. But as Secondborn articulates, this doesn't mean Marhwini is unimportant. Her biography of Marhwini not only compiles the details of the life of a character who is likely unfamiliar to many Tolkien fans but also explores why this character matters. Important to both the histories of Rohan and Gondor, Marhwini is a character who influences events in the legendarium from across the centuries and whose actions exemplify the essential theme of the value of friendship and allegiance.

You can read Secondborn's biography of Marhwini here.


Roverandom Promo Post

Jul. 5th, 2025 12:28 pm
grundyscribbling: white stars on a light blue background (stars)
[personal profile] grundyscribbling posting in [community profile] innumerable_stars
Photo of a small black and white dog chasing a tennis ball toward the camera. Dog and ball are on a gravel road in the countryside, with trees and greenery in the background.

(written by

[tumblr.com profile] aprilertuile )

 

Summary: Roverandom is the incredibly cute story of a small dog that gets turned into a toy dog by a wizard and sold to a family with children. While Roverandom just thinks of escaping and being turned back into a real dog, his new owner, Little Boy Two, loses Roverandom on the beach.

The story contain wizards, a visit and life on the moon and in the sea, it also contains dragons, and Roverandom’s adventures to be turned back into a real dog.

Why should I check out this canon? It’s a beautiful little story that contains everything one might want: dogs, adventure, magic, a bit of mythology, new friendships. It’s entertaining, and has dogs and dragons. (Don’t go and poke at the dragon, he’s ill-tempered)

Where can I get this? Roverandom is available in libraries, perhaps even your local one, or book shops. It is also available from online booksellers. Roverandom is included in Tales From the Perilous Realm, which is available on the Internet Archive.

What fanworks exist already? There are 18 fanworks on AO3, and another 3 on Fanfiction.net. Four are also available on the Silmarillion Writers' Guild



grundyscribbling: white stars on a light blue background (stars)
[personal profile] grundyscribbling posting in [community profile] innumerable_stars
Game sheet with many dice of various varieties (D4, D6, D8, D12, D20) against a red and white background
 
Written by [tumblr.com profile] jaz-the-bard 

Summary: Adventures in Middle Earth is a tabletop roleplaying game set in Middle-Earth between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The system is based on Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition, but can also be played in its own system, The One Ring RPG, and it has a sister game: The Lord of the Rings for 5e and The One Ring 2e. The game has premade adventures, such as political intrigue in Dale, a particularly persistent undead creature trying to do Sauron's bidding, and venturing -- carefully -- into Angmar, but there's no need to stop at the published plotlines!

Why should I check out this canon? AiME is a lore-knowledgeable game designed specifically around Arda, both thematically (misdeeds and influence of the Shadow cause player characters to slowly become corrupted) and practically (journeys from one place to another are fleshed out and feel like real adventure, as do audiences with powerful figures). Characters from the books make appearances, and have in-depth guides on how they should act, and if you've ever wondered what Legolas's stats are, there's an answer! And the original characters are just as good, from the ones the adventurers befriend to the ones they desperately want to deck every time they talk. The worldbuilding is top-notch, too, and gives more detail to places that get glossed over in the books!

Where can I get this? AiME and TOR 1e are out of print, but some sourcebooks are available on the Internet Archive, or from people willing to share their copies. LotR 5e and TOR 2e are available to buy online or at some game stores.

What fanworks exist already? In a way, every game of AiME is a live fanwork! But there are some fics on Ao3, and some art that can be found on Tumblr. Most of these feature player heroes in central roles, and let readers glimpse between the pages and see the other heroes Middle-Earth might have.

The Story of Kullervo Promo Post

Jul. 3rd, 2025 11:09 pm
narya_flame: Young woman drinking aperol in Venice (Default)
[personal profile] narya_flame posting in [community profile] innumerable_stars
 

Summary: This dark little tale follows "hapless Kullervo" as he tries to reunite with his family after they are torn apart by the evil wizard Untamo, who killed Kullervo's father.  Our hero makes Túrin Turambar look like a good luck charm; expect witchy women, terrible twists of fate, incest, and tragedy aplenty.  (Oh, and humans descended from swans.)

Why should I check out this canon?  Jesting aside, this text genuinely is the forerunner of Túrin's story - Tolkien confirmed as much in Letter 257.  Tracing the motifs through is a lot of fun, as is seeing what changed.  It's an interesting look at Tolkien's early prose writing (the drafts date from 1914, when he was an undergraduate in Oxford) and also at how he drew on and adapted the epic literature of other countries when creating his own legendarium.

Where can I get this?  There's a copy available on the Internet Archive; for physical copies, try your preferred bookseller or your local library.

What fanworks already exist?  Nothing comes up in an AO3 search - could you be the one to give this canon the love and attention its tragic soul deserves?
just_ann_now: (Reading: Weekends are for reading)
[personal profile] just_ann_now
Two heat waves, and two sets of storms to break them. Pleasant this morning and a sunny and warm weekend predicted (so I can cut my grass.)

What I've Just Finished Reading

An interesting reading week! A selection (but not everything):

A Garden's Purpose: Cultivating Our Connection with the Natural World, by Felix de Rosen. A very pleasant read inside in the AC when it's too outside hot to garden. Not a garden how-to but a garden think-about, with lots of really nice photos.

Bad Badger: A Love Story, by Maryrose Wood, illustrated by Guila Ghigini. Charming middle-grade novel; if the illustrations has been in color it would have been breathtaking. For Monthly Keyword: Story.

The Last Murder at the End of the World, by Stuart Turton. Whhhhhhhaaaaaaat was this even. Postapocalyptic, twisty, confusing. I had The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, by the same author,on my To-Read list, based on [personal profile] rachelmanija's review (Summary: "It was weird"), but now, nope. It wasn't horrible, just too - something, and I don't quite know what. For a Goodreads "Poolside Puzzlers" challenge.

On the other hand, Arboreality, by Rebecca Campbell, climate-change distopia, but also hopeful and lovely. Interrelated stories joined to novella-length, lovely characterization.

Saving the best for last: Orbital, by Samantha Harvey. Not a plotty book - 24 hours in the lives of an international group of astronauts on the ISS. Gorgous prose, introspective characters, passing mention of things happening outside their metal cocoon. [A spoiler, but a worthwhile one, so no apologies: NO horrible crisis pops in from nowhere, so you don't have to be on tenterhooks, as I was.] Very short, barely 200 pages, won the Booker Prize last year, which usuallly makes me go "Uh-oh, this will be too thinky for me", but what I think is that I'll buy my own copy for when I need soothing. For Monthly Motif: Single Day Story.

What I Am Currently Reading

Just this morning started The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by V.E. Schwab, also for a Goodreads challenge.

What I Am Reading Next

I'm planning my holiday weekend around Somewhere Beyond the Sea, by T.J. Klune!

Question of the Day: I don't have one. Do you?

Horn of Gondor Promo Post

Jul. 2nd, 2025 07:26 am
grundyscribbling: white stars on a light blue background (stars)
[personal profile] grundyscribbling posting in [community profile] innumerable_stars
Horn of Gondor fan film promo poster. The poster shows a man on a cliff at blowing a horn against a brilliantly lit sky silhouetting a forest. To the right, a man raises a sword in salute.

(Written by Aprilertuile)

Summary: Horn of Gondor is a fantastic fan film that follows Borondir, a knight of Gondor charged alongside 5 other knights to bring a message to the horse lords of the North, to the Eorlingas. Gondor is in a difficult position, losing a terrible war: will the messengers be able to bring Gondor’s plea for help to the Horse Lords? Will they be in time?

Why should I check out this canon? It’s fan made but it’s beautiful. The cast is PERFECT, the story is full of adventure, the fights are beautiful and the story itself keeps your attention from start to finish, once you start the film you will not be able to look away, and to add to all of it, the decor, the landscape is gorgeous. All of it looks like it belongs in Tolkien's Middle Earth. 

What fanworks exist already? I have alas found no work already existing for this fandom (but you could be the first)



Smith of Wootton Major Promo Post

Jul. 1st, 2025 12:37 pm
grundyscribbling: galadriel smiling (Default)
[personal profile] grundyscribbling posting in [community profile] innumerable_stars
A fancy spread of delectable baked goods, interspersed with bowls of various nonpareils. A small vase with a brightly colored flower is at the lower right.

Summary:
Smith of Wootton Major is a short story full of faery, adventure, baking, and other good things. The eponymous Smith has a stroke of luck as a child that opens the way to Faery, where he travels throughout his life.

Why should I check out this canon? Do you like cake? Baking? Faery? Adventure? Good things happening to people who deserve good things? Hopeful endings? If you answered 'yes' to any of the above, you should definitely check out Smith of Wootton Major.

 
Where can I get this? At the bookseller or public library of your choice. Be aware that while you can get it as a standalone book, it’s also to be found bundled with other Tolkien short stories in collections such as Tales From The Perilous Realm, or Poems and Stories. (If you’re checking out several of our promo fandoms for the first time, this might be something to keep in mind. There is a copy of Tales From the Perilous Realm available on the Internet Archive.)

 
What fanworks already exist? At time of writing, there are 33 works on AO3 (one is a translation); 5 may also be found on SWG.

Rebuilding journal search again

Jun. 30th, 2025 03:18 pm
alierak: (Default)
[personal profile] alierak posting in [site community profile] dw_maintenance
We're having to rebuild the search server again (previously, previously). It will take a few days to reindex all the content.

Meanwhile search services should be running, but probably returning no results or incomplete results for most queries.
daughterofshadows: A photograph of a nebula and stars (Default)
[personal profile] daughterofshadows posting in [community profile] silwritersguild
Mereth Aderthad 2025 Interview with Anérea and Shadow. Featured artist and author for "How to Make a Star From a Tree: The Science of Telperion and Laurelin."

Anérea and Shadow are the featured artist and featured writer, respectively, for Zhie's Mereth Aderthad 2025 presentation, "How To Make a Star From a Tree: The Science of Telperion and Laurelin." They sat down together to chat about their work on Zhie's presentation and on Mereth Aderthad more broadly, as both are involved as volunteers for the event, and Shadow has also written a story for Maglor's presentation "Gil-galad was an Elven King: Kingship and Personhood in the last High King of the Noldor." They spoke about the appeal of light in Tolkien's world, about achieving freedom from perfectionism and imposter syndrome, and the special role that fanworks and fan communities play in so many of our lives.

You can read and listen to their conversation here.


just_ann_now: (Reading: Weekends are for reading)
[personal profile] just_ann_now
Hot hot HOT so good for staying inside reading. (See also: February, Cold cold COLD, good for staying in reading). Gardening, walking, yoga, all happening early in the day; housework, food organizing and preparing, etc, interspersed with reading time.)


What I Just Finished Reading

real ones, by Katherena Vermette. An engrossing read, most of the emphasis was on emotional abuse of children by a narcissistic parent, also topical re: "pretendinans" who fake an Indigenous background. I remember being shocked a few years back by the revelation that Buffy Sainte-Marie was actually Italian-American, from Massachusetts, and I didn't even have a dog in that fight. For Read Broader-Indigenous Author.

Bee Speaker, by Adrian Tchikovsky. If there is a bad AT book, I haven't read it yet, though there are some I love more than others. This was an enjoyable completion to the Dogs of War trilogy, again with that intriguing mix of scifi and epic fantasy elements. Not for any challenge other than maybe the "Keep with AT!" one I should invent for myself *grin*

Nine Pints: A Journey Through the Money, Medicine, and Mysteries of Blood, by Rose George. This was really fascinating, selected on a whim for A to Z Titles. I'm glad I read it.

Jazz, by Toni Morrison, also picked up on a whim for A to Z Titles, dreamlike prose, nonlinear storytelling.

When I'm Gone, Look for Me in the East, by Quan Barry. A reread for Read Broader: AAPI Author. I bought this one right away after reading it from the library. Unique plot and setting, memorable characters, very transporting.

Empires of the Steppes: A History of the Nomadic Tribes Who Shaped Civilization, by Kenneth Harl. I read this immediately after the Quan Barry book because I was curious as to why Tibetan Buddhism has such a strong influence in Mongolia. I did not really get any answers from this book, all names and dates and battles. (Note to self: look for more contemporary information about Mongolia.)

Aunty Lee's Delights, by Ovidia Yu. I needed something light and fairly frothy after Empires of the Steppes, and this filled that requirement easily.

The Six: The Extraordinary Story of the Grit and Daring of America's First Women Astronauts, by Loren Grush. For A to Z Titles. [personal profile] cairistiona, I think this would be right up your alley!

What I Am Currently Reading

Zero at the Bone, by Mary Willis Walker. NOT a cozy mystery but an engrossing one, with an unusual main setting. There are some bits that make me go "Whaaaaa?", so it probably could have used a bit more editing, but I'm enjoying it. A to Z Authors.

What I Am Reading Next

I have two more books to finish up Read Broader, and they are both on my Kindle, so I don't even have to venture to the library. And oh, look, here comes July, and two more monthly challenges! So I'm all set.

Question of the Day (Jeopardy version): Mine was 101.8, late yesterday afternoon. Yours?

(no subject)

Jun. 24th, 2025 08:05 pm
marta_bee: (Default)
[personal profile] marta_bee
Just checking in. I'm still here and hanging in there. I do hope you're all doing well!

August 2021

S M T W T F S
1234 56 7
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031    

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jul. 7th, 2025 06:02 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios