Subject: The Old Ones have told us stories of you.
Author:
Posted on: 2014-02-18 08:27:00 UTC
They didn't prophesie-size-soufflé your return, though.
So, welcome back. Not sure if we've ever met, but I suppose you're a local celebrity of sorts and good manners demand a greeting and...where was I going?
I'm going to follow Bryn's lead and do a sort of "Oh-by-the-way-I'm-back" post. I didn't really intend to drift away from here, but life kept happening, and then all the stuff happened at once, and meanwhile there were laptop issues upon laptop issues (upon laptop issues) (and still kind of are).
But I forgot that this existed, and today, I ran across it again and went "Has anyone told hS about this? I hope so..." but in case the answer is no, here it is! And, while I'm plugging things, did you know I have two RL-related blogs now? Talking to Crows, which is mostly a flora-and-fauna Tumblr, especially about the local crows, but also about other things, and Feral Sheep, which is a significantly more personal blog about religion, and all the parts of life it intersects. (note: this tends to be all of them.)
Since I wandered off the last time, I have: done some more writing on the Starships and Sorcery 'verse (which is still open for people who want to join the fun, by the way!), begun to re-establish my relationship with the local band of crows, hit a massive wall of writer's block which hasn't yet yielded, and most recently, declared for the History major, to mingled approval and dismay. I have a feeling this is going to be good for writing, even if it does leave me with a painful lack of free time.
Anyway, I've been thinking about coming back and trying to be more Active In The Community, plug goodfic, participate in fandom discussions, and so on. So, with any luck, you'll be seeing more of me around - and on that note, how 'bout them Teleri?
A little belated, I know. Luckily, the extra time means that I've reordered and/or rebaked all of the food on the welcome-back table. No more mini fur in anything! The people responsible for the previous slip-up have been demoted to bathroom-cleaning duty.
Also, since you're a magic-using Baron on the PPC Boarder AU below, I'll add in an additional gift: your very own wizard robes! With them, you now have the ability to use magic! It's at a very low level, though. I could only get one of the ones with a handful of stars on it, because the wizards are very close-guarding of the robes that allow for high-level magic for reasons that are very obvious in retrospect.
Hi, have some welcome-back fudge!
Good to see yet another familiar face/name return to the PPC. I'm getting all nostalgic-y up in here.
Slightly off topic, but when I saw the phrase 'local band of crows' my mind immediately leapt to SoIaF/Game of Thrones. It made me think that you're hanging around with a posse of the Night's Watch. Yes, even though you mentioned actual crows in the previous paragraph. Behold the curse of thinking in fandoms and references too much.
Have a collapsible unicycle and a Bleeprin-laced custard pie. They're surprisingly useful, in that if you ever find a use for them you'll be surprised. =]
But be careful- it's been a while since I've let out any of the furry little critters, and they're getting jumpy. Don't let them hug your face, as it will get hair in your mouth. It's really REALLY uncomfortable, so watch out.
Have a nice day, VixenMage! :)
And a paperclip, and a cocktail sword, and a ton of snow. Yes, I'm just giving away the snow!
We've had very little snow in the little valley where I'm living right now, and it's terribly frustrating. The one time we had a reasonable amount, I wound up being too sick to actually do anything with it! Bah.
I did scrape together a sea serpent, and then a tri-masted ship being eaten by a kraken with the second snow, but it rained the next day. Bah, I say.
I know what you mean about life - I had a couple of years there where I was barely able to do, like, anything. But hey, you made it back!
Someone had told me - Kaitlyn, in fact - but this gives me a chance to talk about it! I've always liked Diaz's art style, and seeing someone work through the Silm like this is thrilling. I like a lot of the pictures - though, being me, I do object to some things:
-Melian has horns. Wut.
-Yavanna-the-deer. While technically she is the patron of wild animals, the deer is more associated with Orome the Hunter - or Nessa, who specifically associates with them. I do like the linking of the antlers with tree branches, though.
-I think he's made Melkor too dark. He has devil horns and a dragon tail - why, exactly, did the Valar think he'd repented? I like the linking of his appearance with that of the balrogs (he was the Vala of Darkness and Fire, which they are spirits of), but I think it's a bit... eh. I suppose the argument could be made that the 'devil' association is because of Melkor - that, assuming our world = Middle-earth, those aspects were originally non-evil, but have become so because of him - but it's a bit too blunt, I think.
And since it's a constitutional requirement on the Board to discuss the Sons of Feanor when they come up (isn't it? Can we get that put in?), I think he's hit Cel'n'Cur dead on. Caranthir I can get behind. Amrod and Amras... don't have personalities anyway, so I can't comment either way. Maedhros I guess, though it's playing up the 'tragic' a bit much. But I don't much like Maglor.
That's not true. I think he looks just fine - but his expression is too evil'n'angry. Remember, he's the only one who ever said 'Silmarils... yeah, can we not steal them?'. He wrote the Noldolante - the song about how rubbish all their decisions were. I don't see him as being that angry-looking.
My favourite pictures are probably Feanor making the Silmarilli, and the Two Trees. Oh, and the Lamp. I guess I just like light. ;)
Right, should I talk about something else? Heeeeey, New Cal crows! Why do I suspect they're actually escapees from the PPC City, and that's why they're so smart? (Probably because the alternative is too terrifying for words)
Speaking of writers' block, I have a fairly ridiculous way of getting around that - randomised stories. They're often easier to tell verbally than write down, but it works both ways. The way it works is to take... something. Anything, really - I have a set of Story Cubes which are quite fun to work with (and I think there's an app), but I've also used the semi-precious stones I have around the house to cobble together a lithomancy set, not for fortune-telling (because it's a ridiculous method), but because it tells great stories. I'm sure you can think of other things to work with - illustrated playing cards, for instance. Then, rather than trying to write a story, let the thingies do it for you; you just have to add the words.
(I'm actually doing a full-on random version of this: with the plot decided by story cubes, the characters by a combination of Dragon Dice and tarot, names by random letter generation, and places by litho'mancy'. It's good fun, if a little surreal - my protagonist is a blind Ent)
HOW 'BOUT THEM TELERI. Man, all that hanging about by the seashore, mucking about in (very pretty) boats - it's a good life, in't it? Not to mention the truly vulgar number of pearls they get - and the high collars, if the Silmarillion Project is to be believed.
hS
PS: You're a Baron! If you want to come down and join the fun, we'd love to hear the Epic Tale of Baron VixenMage. ~hS
A Baron? Egads.
And the randomized storying is an interesting idea! I used to do the Three-Random-Words thing, in which I'd pop into the IRC, demand three random words, and construct something vaguely story-like around them. This is interesting, though, and seems like it'd be easier as an end to writer's block. I'll have to give it a shot, thanks!
I really like the Silmarillion project, so far. He manages to do things in a very distinct and individual style - at no point is he cribbing absolutely anything - but still does the characters, and his predecessor illustrators, justice and then some. I'm also gleefully enthusiastic about his take on the racial makeup of Middle-earth, as one of the things I will never forgive Peter Jackson for is convincing the modern world that everyone in Tolkien's stories was white except the bad guys. No! No cookie for you, Jackson. But... that said, I'd like to see more different sketches of different characters, too. But time will tell!
With your responses on the Valar, I'd say it comes down to two competing ways of depicting them. He sorta splits down the middle - they're all humanoid, mostly, but have attributes of their other natures. I'd say if he was going to go with things like deer-antlered-Yavanna (and agreed, she should be more trees-and-flowers, IMO) and horned-Melkor, he should steer farther away from the human model than he does. But that's probably Evan Dahm's influence coming out.
(Oh man, I do really love the high collars on the Teleri, though. They were always my favorite elves.)
Also: Yes to the crows being fictional escapees. I was going to do a whole NaNoWriMo on them, but it turns out I had more to say about how awesome crow culture was than I did, say, an actual story to tell. Whoops.
I'm looking at what almost has to be Ulmo in Chapter III, and wishing the rest of them were more like that. On that score, Yavanna actually works (and I do like the way she has no mouth), but the 4/5 (depending on whether the one on the right in III is supposed to be Aule again) are just... humans with magicky attributes.
If (ha ha) I ever get that far in my 'Lay of Earendil/War of Wrath' script, I plan to show the Mahanaxar originally inhabited by pure 'attribute' forms of the Valar - so Vaire would be a spider's web (but no spider!) stretched between a memorial stone (Mandos) and... well, I don't have them all decided, obviously. Then switch to human form later on. I'd really like to see someone render the whole bunch of them as incarnations of their attributes - but I'm hard-pressed to picture that as anything other than 'and Yavanna's a talking tree, and...'. So maybe this actually is best. Like I say, if it weren't for the deer association, Yavanna would be brilliant.
I guess it's about breaking out of your mental images. How do you render The Weeper as anything other than a woman in a grey cloak? A small black cloud out of Winnie-the-Pooh?
hS
Glad to see you around again!
I've been drifting in and out for the last year or two (I'm effectively working three jobs at the moment so RL is insane) but I'm trying to be active on the Board a bit more.
While I'm at it, have a welcome back mongoose!
Elcalion
I'm glad you wandered back in, as well. Returning to communities for the win! For some reason, picking up forum-going habits seems to be harder now than it was back when we joined. I blame the world, and change, and Kids These Days.
The mongoose shall have a special place of honor atop my desk.
The obvious: Hey, you're back!
The not-obvious: have a welcome-back present of a cup of Sencha tea. Just don't let it eat you. (Or your crows.)
The crows usually seem more interested in solid things, but I will keep them away from potentially-carnivorous tea, just to be on the safe side.
They didn't prophesie-size-soufflé your return, though.
So, welcome back. Not sure if we've ever met, but I suppose you're a local celebrity of sorts and good manners demand a greeting and...where was I going?
I usually try not to tangle with Old Ones, especially not when soufflé is involved. But, er, thanks, and return-greetings!
(I'm not a local celebrity; I've only ever written like two missions, ever. But thanks!)
You are a Permission Giver, after all.
It's good to see you around again!
Wow, I haven't posted here in a while ...
(Obviously following Aila's lead there.) But either way, welcome back! BTW, that "Feral Sheep" link doesn't work. It leads to http://disc.yourwebapps.com/theferalsheep.blogspot.com, and I think that you mean to type http://theferalsheep.blogspot.com
*takes a look at the blog*
Speaking of which...may I have your e-mail address, please? Mine is linked to my username.
Welcome back!
Thanks for the fix! That is indeed what I was looking for to link, I'm not really sure how the other bits got in there.
My email address - currently also linked - is just my username at gmail.com.
The link should appear this time.
Hello and rewelcome!
(Ohmigosh, I've been here long enough to recognise a returnbie! That's... unexpected.)
Here, have a Generic Gift to mark the occasion! *tosses*
-Aila
(My, I'm all about the exclamation points today, aren't I?)
Sorry you had such a rough road, there, but I'm glad things are evening out. Hope you have more time to hang out around here!
But glad to see I'm not the only one crawling out of the Forest of Kar'eer. I'd follow your tumblr(s) again, but uh. I can't be bothered to make a new one.
Bookmarks it is! And here have a welcome back waiver- for old time's sake! I promise it's just one about liability. This time.