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That paragraph was really just dedicated to describing how radically different everyone in the audience was. This is the PPC after all, humans serve alongside Orks and hyper-intelligent shades of blue. Maybe the colors red or orange had some meaning to those agent's culture of origin.

Then again, it's perhaps equally likely that they just didn't have anything else remotely suitable in their wardrobes...

Anyways, that was the first time in a looong time that a book actually made me cry.

And yeah, backstory is often just an easy package for a lot of this stuff. :-P

Not only when it comes to ripping into that movie (Oh gods it had that coming), but when it comes to blasting queerphobes who attack him for his writing.

Here's an epic comeback to a parent who tried to shame him for including LGBT+ characters in his books.

Well... at the time Morgoth stole the Silmarils Feanor was alive, so maybe Morgoth never actually knew he had what he needed for victory on top of his head...

but in that case how did Aladdin find out? The only logical way would be for Feanor's sons to have seen his spirit heading off to Angband when he died... would they have told anyone?

I think so - maybe they told Thingol in an effort to convince him to attack Morgoth instead of hiding behind the Girdle.

So... that kind of fits... and talking of the Girdle, I'm not sure the SoFs could get through to speak to Aladdin - unless when the people from Doriath go out to hunt Carcharoth... but I doubt Sultan Thingol would let anyone get away with stealing the Silmarils from his soon-to-be-son-in-law.

As for what happens to Arda, I imagine that sooner or later Morgoth would come to Doriath himself. I'm not sure Melian and Luthien (err, Jasmine) could hold out against him...

This happy ending rule seems to be cutting off nearly all the options.

I think... Morgoth gets in, then Sultan Thingol challenges him to single combat while Melian, Aladdin and Jasmine escape with the Silmarils and everyone evacuates...

or do the Orcs and Balrogs devastate the city long before that happens?

If Feanor's been freed by this stage, the good guys have made a big mistake - that "wish Morgoth to the Timeless Void" thing would really come in handy at this stage...

I can't really see Maedhros and Morgoth ever making an alliance - neither of them trust each other one bit, and I think the Oath would still mean they had to take vengeance, even if Morgoth had lost the Silmarils.

Then, of course, there's the "maximum chaos" option - once the Girdle's down but before Morgoth can do anything else, the Feanorians arrive for a massive three-way battle where no-one can decide who they're meant to be fighting...

I think I may just have unwittingly doomed the whole of Middle-earth.

Scathing? Downright destruction of the plot and what was wrong with it.
I was apart of that age bracket that he talks about when it came out.
And damn was I disappointed in the movie.

Can’t the SoFs just use their new Sauron powers to defeat Carcharoth?

Did no-one think of wishing Morgoth into the Timeless Void? Because that would save an awful lot of bloodshed... or just focus the hatred of the remaining sons of Feanor onto the other Elves, causing more Kinslaying.

Would Feanor really want to be set free? Surely even being bound to the Silmarils would be preferable to going to the halls of Mandos?

Wouldn’t the SoFs get six wishes, three each? Or do they take them together so they don’t end up double-crossing each other?

Presumably Maedhros wouldn’t be able to get through the Girdle... so a siege of Doriath? That would probably fail, but when Morgoth gets involved the Feanorians would be trapped between two enemies.

Would Melian let them in (bearing in mind they’ll then try and kill everyone to get to the Silmarils) or leave them to the non-existent mercy of Morgoth?

Too many questions!

So, Rick Riordan has been doing this thing called Rick Riordan Presents, which is basically him saying, "I don't know enough about other culture's mythology and I don't want to be disrespectful so I am going to hire and showcase other authors to write about their respective mythologies".

The reason I'm mentioning this is because the upcoming showcase novel, Dragon Pearl, was given to me in an advance copy, and having read it, I'd like to recommend it here, and the whole showcase series itself. It's not Riordan's writing, but he's using his name as a way to help build up and promote other authors. I think that's pretty cool.

There's something very moving about someone listening to (what to them is certainly) ancient music after a bereavement. You've captured the mood well, especially with the song choice. This may fade, it seems to say, but it will still be real, it will still have happened, and for all that it will pass the pain you are feeling is real and valid and okay. I think that's what I like about the use of telepathy in this; it allows you to explore an emotional connection without either party being able to hide it, and gives them both a chance to express private vulnerabilities, private griefs.

Really, really good stuff. Not that that's a surprise. =]

The PPC honoring a creator as influential and generally awesome as Stan Lee? Yeah, this happened, and everyone was there. Thanks for this. {= )

Revealing my ignorance here, but what's the significance of the colors black, white, red, and orange?

~Neshomeh

I don't mind the quotation for its own sake at all. It's very appropriate.

It's the part where Aivas says it's from "the greatest book ever written by Mankind" and ends its life with an "Amen" that knocks my head for a loop. I mean, does the AI consider itself Christian? WTF?

... But that's really beside the point.

Glad you enjoyed the story. ^_^

~Neshomeh

Chapter nine, actually. I know because I had to reread it (and the relevant bits of AtWoP) to figure out exactly when this happened. Pern's timeline is a bit rough and the wiki is little to no help. One of these days I'm gonna break down and start editing that sucker, cuz damn.

I really don't intend for so many prompt responses to be Derik backstory, but I do enjoy it, and this was right there, with feels prepackaged from my own memory, practically writing itself.

~Neshomeh

Okay, seriously this was well done, and I loved it and there is not much to say save that it made the scar of Robinton's death feel fresh again.

Jeez, that was almost chapter-10-or-summat-of-Dolphins-of-Pern gutwrenching. You know, the chapter that covers these events...

Congrats on your arrival day. You are now an arbitrary amount of time older.

I like the way you sort of show us everything at the beginning, but we still have to read to the end for all the pieces to fall into the right places. All the little details about the tools he's using and the bits of tech he's using them on are great. I don't know for sure what they all are, but they're applied with such precision that I can guess, and that I have no doubt you know exactly what you're talking about. I can even visualize the project fairly well, or at least I think I could if I gave it a bit more time to gel. (I have a bad habit of skimming description to get to the dialogue/action, so that's definitely my failing, not yours.) Swords to ploughshares is a theme I can absolutely get behind, too. Or stasers to megaflora incubators. {= )

I now want to know all about megaflora on high radiation worlds. ^_^

Always good to see you posting!

~Neshomeh

You and Thoth especially would have a great time, he loves Warhammer 40K.

Anyway, have a shield I made a little while back. It can fire two lasers in the same or multiple directions.

I hope you have a good time here, and welcome to the PPC!

-Twistey

I love this type of scathing hidden or not-so-hidden reference. (The more hidden, the better, in my opinion, so it doesn't derail the story, but in this case, it's just great as is.)

-Twistey

Here, have a grab bag of items and materials from the Wolfenstein 3D universe. Just 'cause that's what I always do.

-Twistey

...someone needs to write a LotR-style epic fantasy thing based on myths from the Middle East. And, like, not be racist about it. That'd be so cool.

-Twistey

Oooooh sick burn.

I was so excited when that movie came out. I watched it in theaters on opening day with some of my family, and then promptly filed it into the "not notable" folder in my brain.

For option 2, Cel'n'Cur aren't the brightest buttons in the box, so no, they wouldn't have brought gloves. As far as they're concerned, they have an absolute right to hold the Silmarils, so 'maybe they'll burn us' isn't even on their radar.

Option 3... option 3 is interesting. ^_^

Feanor trapped in the Silmarilli makes, uh, 'sense'; he's literally named Firesoul, and the things were designed to capture light. But how would he respond to being wished at?

Let's assume he's arbitrarily powerful at this point. He's had nearly 500 years of sitting around on Morgoth's head to hone his post-mortal artisan skills, I'm sure he can craft a spiritual invention for every occasion. And rather than a literal 'has to do what you say' (in which case Morgoth would already have used him), a 'will do pretty much anything to get away from Morgoth' rule will function in much the same way, but still let him argue.

To hew a little close to Aladdin canon, the first 'wish' could be the whole 'I bet you couldn't get us four out of here'. That puts the gang outside Angband, where there's a rather angry wolf hanging around.

Hmm... what if the quartet appear in hiding, and it's Cel'n'Cur fighting with a) the lovers, b) their ghost-dad, and c) each other that attract Carcharoth. Then Aladdin gets his hand chomped (losing one of the three Silmarils), and Jasmine makes a wish on his behalf - 'he wishes for you to get us away from everyone trying to kill us!' That matches Aladdin's second wish, and also gets around the eagle situation.

Feanor has to leave Cel'n'Cur behind (because they're part of the 'trying to kill us'), which means Aladdin can do his 'make me a prince' wish in relative peace. That runs him out of wishes, because the third one is locked in Carcharoth's belly.

So now we're in Doriath, and Sultan Thingol hears of a great wolf on the rampage - and two elven hunters chasing it. Cel'n'Cur wouldn't let the one Silmaril left near them get away, right? All three of them are heading for Doriath.

So as Carcharoth romps through the forest, Cel'n'Cur go and steal the remaining two Silmarils from Aladdin. That's when they pull Jafar's 'make me Sultan/make me as powerful as Sauron' thing (and also a 'make Jasmine love me', which is actually a thing Curufin wanted in one of the early versions of the LoL). Aladdin points out that Feanor is still more powerful than them - but that they're out of wishes. Which means all four of them (plus Huan the Tigerdog) get to go hunt Carcharoth.

If Feanor is a ghost, do Cel'n'Cur get mortally wounded during the hunt, take the Silmaril between them, wish to 'be just like you, dad', and then promptly die? If you want a happy ending, Beren can't die, so they can take that role. That leaves Aladdin free to take up the last Silmaril and set Feanor free at last, to go (with his sons!) off into the West and seek some kind of rest.

Obviously that's just one option, but I think it shows that it could work.

~

Now: what would this do to Arda? First off, you'd very shortly have a Sudden Flame 2.0 as Morgoth comes stomping out (not in person, his feet hurt) to try and get the Silmarils back. I'm trying to get my head round how that war would play out - on the Elves' side, they aren't at all ready for it, and are still reeling from the last one, but Morgoth isn't prepared either, and he doesn't have a traitor in Maedhros' camp like he did at the Unnumbered Tears. With the Host of Angband heading straight for him, Thingol would have to actually send his army out, and between him, Orodreth, Turgon, and Fingon, I think they could pretty much destroy anything Morgoth sends down the Vale of Sirion.

The east is a different matter. If Morgoth goes that way, the (remaining) Sons of Feanor are going to be pretty battered, and have to withdraw. So in a reverse of the canon, it's going to be East Beleriand which is overrun, with the dwarves, the Green Elves, and Maedhros fighting a guerilla war, while over in the west, things are relatively okay.

Once that's resolved, Maedhros now has a huge grudge against Doriath. Not only do they have all the Silmarils, they also killed (kinda) two of his brothers. In canon, he leaves them be until Luthien dies; I don't think he'd do the same here. So you get an attempted Second Kinslaying against a Doriath led by Thingol, Melian, Beren, and Luthien (since they didn't die and wander off to Ossiriand). Again, I have no idea how that would go, but it would be super messy - and of course, with the Feanorians focussed on Doriath, Morgoth would be able to push through their remnant territory and cut around to the south...

Yeah, I have no idea where this ends up. Earendil crossing the Helcaraxe? Luthien and Melian taking on Morgoth face-to-face? Maedhros making common cause with Angband? Pretty much anything could happen!

hS

It's kind of like referring to the Apollo Christmas broadcast when trying to show what the world looks like from the Moon, isn't it? /casually references another canon

If there'd been fewer religious folks in the past, we probably wouldn't be making these references now. =P As it is, they're just part of the language.

... That, and perhaps AIVAS developed a sense of irony/poetry?

In other news, this was very FEELS for me, and I enjoyed it. ;;

The plan is to more or less follow Silm up until the encounter with the Sons of Feanor after the rescue from Sauron.

At this stage the SoFs are impressed by Jasmine-Luthien's magic and realise they might actually have half a chance to get the Silmarils, so they "offer their assistance" in the quest.

They all proceed to Angband, Jasmine-Luthien puts Morgoth to sleep... and that's where it all goes horribly wrong: the SoFs turn on Aladdin-Beren and Jasmine-Luthien as soon as the Silmarils are out of the Iron Crown.

That's where I get stuck: I can't follow Silm canon any more and Aladdin canon seems rather unlikely if no new Silmarils are created.

There are several possibilities:

1. The inevitable battle wakes Morgoth.

This basically dooms everyone, but there's a chance that one or more of them could get away, perhaps with Silmarils. They wouldn't get far, though.

Who would try and fight and who would try and escape? Aladdin-Beren and Jasmine-Luthien would refuse to leave each other. They wouldn't willingly hand over the Silmarils to the SoFs, so if they ran the SoFs would follow them and no-one would get anywhere.

Obviously I want a happy ending, so I think that's more or less ruled out.

2. Morgoth doesn't wake up.

This is a lot more interesting because the fight would be quite evenly matched. Jasmine-Luthien probably doesn't have any magic left, and they couldn't realistically fight off two SoFs at once.

This would mean the SoFs win - except the Silmarils would burn their hands. Could either of them have anticipated this and brought gloves or a casket?

Exactly how bad is the hand-burning? Could it kill Elves, or would they be able to just think past it and run?

3. The Silmaril-genie is summoned.

That relies on a knowledge of what the Silmaril-genie actually is. My favourite theory so far is that it's actually Feanor himself, and some sort of magic tied his spirit to them after he died.

If the SoFs summon Feanor, they've obviously won. Again, the requirement for a happy ending removes that option, depending on how you define "happy". You could say that the SoFs are the lesser evil and that's good enough for you.

If Aladdin-Beren or Jasmine-Luthien summons Feanor, on the other hand...that depends exactly what they wish for. I presume that would be "get all of us out of Angband" which would be something everyone could agree on.

That just means continuing the fight outside - or Aladdin-Beren could make his wish to become an elf-prince and then abandon the Silmarils.

Most importantly, what on earth (I mean Arda) does this do to Silm canon?

That was a lot longer than I expected!

That is my mood, right there. I Love This. XD

... And so I don't clutter the Board by starting a new thread right away, have a NSFW, utterly hilarious series of snippets of what sex would look like written by aliens.