grey-gazania-fic

[grey-gazania-fic]

not to be controversial bc I know this is like…not in line with shifting opinions on fanfic comment culture but if there’s a glaring typo in my work I will NOT be offended by pointing it out. if ao3 fucks up the formatting…I will also not be offended by having this pointed out…

‘looking forward to the next update’ and ‘I hope you update soon!’ are different vibes than a demand, and should be read in good faith because a reader is finding their way to tell you how much they love it. I will not be mad at this.

‘I don’t usually like this ship but this fic made me feel something’ is also incredibly high praise. I’m not going to get mad at this.

even ‘I love this fic but I’m curious about why you made [x] choice’ is just another way a reader is engaging in and putting thought into your work.

I just feel like a lot of authors take any comment that’s not perfectly articulated glowing praise in the exact manner they’re hoping to receive it in bad faith.

fic engagement has been dropping across the board over the last several years, and yes it’s frustrating but it isn’t as though I can’t see how it happens. comment anxiety can be a real thing. the last thing anyone wants to do is offend an author they love, and that means sometimes people default to silence.

idk where I’m going with this I guess aside from saying unless a comment is outright attacking me I’m never going to get mad at it, and I think a lot of authors should feel the same way. ESPECIALLY TYPOS PLZ GOD POINT OUT MY TYPOS.

[grey-gazania-fic]

Tell us about your Easterling conlang! Was it inspired by any real world languages?

No real-world languages at the moment, at least not consciously, though once I get deeper into developing the grammar that may happen. Tolkien doesn't give us much for the Easterling languages, just a few names. (I know he later changed his mind and said Bor & Family and Ulfang & Family were Easterling names and not Sindarin, but I find it too hard to swallow that Bor and Uldor just happened to have names that were cognates with Sindarin terms reflecting their choices in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad.)

So I took some of the sounds that Tolkien seems to have disliked, and then I used the OT constraint model to develop a functional phonology. I ended up with a quantity-sensitive monopodal language with syllable structures of CX(C) and CX:, where X is anything more sonorant than a glide. Its feet are trochees and are aligned with the left side of the word. It requires onsets and CC-voice-agreement, and bans epenthesis and adjacent identical segments. It also bans [g] in outputs. It allows complex clusters and deletion when necessary to prevent violations of higher-ranked constraints. It does not force agreement in place of articulation.

It's called Lathtesh ('speech'). The Easterlings call themselves Rikishim ('sun-people').  The plural morpheme is -ishim, though the output obviously changes based on the noun it's modifying. So nuv ('mountain') becomes nuvishim, but ki ('person') becomes kishim because *kiishim would violate the Onset constraint, and *ki?ishim (? = glottal stop) would violate the Dep constraint. Brodda ('wolf') becomes broddashim for the same reasons, as well as the additional reason that *broddishim would violate the Max-Root constraint.

(Just to make things more fun: the input that leads to ri ('sun) is actually /iri/, so if for some reason you wanted to make the compound word 'mountain-sun' you'd actually end up with nuviri, not *nuvri.)

Verb conjugations are not gendered. The first-person plural morpheme is -li, and the third-person singular is -o. So verbs ending in consonants are easy - khavral ('to be', with kh being the voiceless uvular fricative) becomes khavrali ('we speak') and khavralo ('he/she/it speaks'). Verbs ending in vowels behave differently; lathta ('to speak') becomes lathtali ('we speak'), but stays lathta for 'he/she/it speaks' because *lathto would violate the Max-Root constraint.

...I might have got a bit carried away here. Hope you don't mind!

#first age easterlings #easterlings #ulfang #uldor #bor #tavoreth #tókhesh #my ocs #people of ulfang #people of bor

[grey-gazania-fic]

I'm sorry someone bombarded you with bitchy comments 😭. While my To Read list is lengthy and continually lengthier (actually I think something of yours with her is on it), I'd like to hear more about Ianneth-Fingon-Maedhros if you want to talk about them.

@polutrope

It wasn't really upsetting, just annoying and honestly a little bit funny. This guy left comments on all six chapters of By Love or at Least Free Will, every time I updated the story, just objecting to the entire premise of the story and ranting about how Elves have incorruptible pure souls and are immune to lust. I was sorely tempted to respond with this quote from "Laws & Customs Among the Eldar":

Even when in after days, as the histories reveal, many of the Eldar in Middle-earth became corrupted, and their hearts darkened by the shadow that lies upon Arda, seldom is any tale told of deeds of lust among them.

'Seldom' is not the same thing as 'never', and furthermore, I don't think lust is even a major theme of my story. It's more about conflicting obligations and unruly hearts.

In the end I deleted the comments without responding, because I have a personal policy of not engaging with people who are acting in bad faith. But I have to assume that this guy has no actual hobbies if he spends his time hate-reading entire stories instead of just...closing the window and moving on with his life. Maybe take up crochet, bro? Or volunteer at a soup kitchen? Watch a TV show that you like? Grow some tomatoes? Do something that will be more fulfilling than typing long screeds on AO3. I promise it will make you a happier person.

Anyway. On to the actual topic of your ask! As you've probably noticed, I am very fond of Russingon. However, I am also very fond of Fingon as Gil-galad's father. At first I balanced these two ideas by keeping my Russingon ideas and my Fingon-father-of-Gil-galad ideas in two separate universes, but then I started really fleshing out Gil-galad's mother, and it made me think some thoughts. To repeat something I said to @cuarthol in a comment on AO3:

...half the genesis of Ianneth was seeing so many stories (in multiple fandoms, not just Tolkien) where the woman is written out of a canon or semi-canon couple to make room for a popular M/M ship instead, without the female character being treated with any respect. I decided that the female perspective on that situation would be a nice change of pace and interesting to write.

I'm not trying to point fingers -- I'll readily admit that I have my male faves just like the next gal and that it's fun to make them kiss -- but the wives and girlfriends don't get a lot of love in fandom, do they? And it doesn't help that the legendarium in general tends to be a bit of a sausage fest. So I decided that Fingon would have a wife and be in love with Maedhros. But instead of focusing just on the forbidden love, I was going to focus on the wife's feelings, too.

Ianneth ("bridge-woman") is one of the Northern Sindar, from the community that lives around Lake Mithrim. She's the daughter of Annael (yes, that Annael), whom I've imagined to be one of the more influential leaders among the Northern Sindar, and particularly among the Elves of Mithrim.

Her betrothal to Fingon starts as a political arrangement. Fingolfin loves Fingon dearly, of course, but he's also been hinting for a while now that Fingon really needs to settle down and start having kids so that there will be a strong line of heirs should Fingolfin die. After all, Argon's dead, and Turgon and Aredhel abruptly fucked off to god-knows-where some three hundred years ago and haven't been seen nor heard from since. Your dad needs some grandsons, Fingon, and this also seems like a ripe opportunity to strengthen the Noldor's alliance with the Northern Sindar.

I don't think political marriage is unknown among the Elves of Beleriand. (For one example in the text, see Celegorm trying to marry Luthien to force Doriath into an alliance.) And the quote I drew the title of the aforementioned Fingon/Ianneth story from, also found in "Laws and Customs Among the Eldar," is:

The Eldar wedded only once in life, and for love or at the least by free will upon either part.

Free will could easily mean, "Are we in love? No. But I'll still marry you, for the good of our peoples, and I'll bring some of Dad's soldiers along with me." That sort of thing happened all the time among real-world nobility, so I see no reason why it can't happen among Elven nobility in Beleriand, too.

At any rate, Fingolfin arranges for Fingon to meet the daughters of some of the more powerful leaders of the Northern Sindar, and he's hint-hint-hinting that Fingon really needs to pick one of them to be his wife. Fingon, having been in love with Maedhros since they were young in Valinor, is not exactly keen on this plan. But he goes along with it anyway because he is a dutiful son, he knows that his father is right about needing to strengthen the line of succession, and he also knows that revealing his (quite taboo!) relationship with Maedhros to his father would probably break Fingolfin's heart.

It takes Fingon a while to decide who to court, but he picks Ianneth because he likes her sense of humor; she has the guts to gently tease him at their first meeting, which he finds quite charming. He doesn't think he can love anyone besides Maedhros, but he does look at Ianneth and think, "This is a woman I could grow to care for and whose companionship I think could enjoy."

The trouble begins when, over the course of their courtship, Fingon starts falling in love with Ianneth without falling out of love with Maedhros. And he doesn't know what to do about this. He can't call off the marriage, and he doesn't want to break things off with Maedhros, so he decides to just...keep the whole thing with Maedhros a secret and marry Ianneth anyway. It's not a good decision, but really, are there any options here that won't end with someone getting hurt? I don't think so.

So we have Ianneth, blissfully ignorant of her husband's infidelity (for now); Fingon, in love with two people at once and feeling horribly guilty about it, but unwilling to pick one partner over the other; and Maedhros, resigned to the situation but still hurting because Fingon is no longer his alone.

Maedhros' feelings are complicated by the fact that, once he meets her, he finds that likes Ianneth. It would be easier, he thinks, if he could write her off as just a political necessity for Fingon, but it turns out that she's charming and intelligent and kind, and he can understand why Fingon loves her. His feelings soften further once Ereiniel is born, because Fingon is so happy being a father, and he loves Fingon, so how can he begrudge him that? There's a line from "Famous Blue Raincoat" by Leonard Cohen that I always think of when I'm getting into Maedhros' head at this point:

And thanks for the trouble you took from [his] eyes. I thought it was there for good, so I never tried.

Things tick along about as smoothly as they can for thirteen years, until, in the aftermath of Fingolfin's death during the Dagor Bragollach, as Fingon prepares to send Ianneth and Ereiniel to the Falas for their safety, Ianneth learns his secret. This is understandably devastating for her, and leaves her wondering if Fingon ever really loved her as she loved him, or if his marriage to her was simply a politically expedient sham.

Add to that the fact that she leaves for the Falas less than ten hours after this revelation and spends most of that ten hours either crying or asleep, as she's too upset to really talk to Fingon about what she's discovered, and it leaves her with this horrible knowledge and all the worst thoughts that come from it gnawing at her nearly a full year until Fingon next comes to Eglarest -- time that she spends as the sole caregiver for her young daughter, among strangers in a foreign city, without her mother or her sister or any of her friends who might have theoretically been able to offer her some emotional support.

Theoretically is a key word there, though, because even if, say, her sister had come to Eglarest, Ianneth isn't sure she'd even be able to tell her. For one thing, she can't help feeling ashamed, because infidelity is very rare among Elves, and she can't help thinking that maybe she failed as a wife somehow, and if she'd done something different, Fingon wouldn't have strayed. Then there's the fact that he's the High King of the Noldor, and if this gets out it could cause a crisis in the Noldorin government and possibly tank the alliance between the House of Fingolfin and the Northern Sindar. Ianneth is a practical woman, and she's of the Northern Sindar -- the people who have been living practically on Morgoth's doorstep for centuries, with no Maia queen's magic girdle to protect them. Their alliance with the Noldor is vital, and she would never want to jeopardize it.

So Ianneth is just...completely alone with this pain. She has no one to turn to, no one who can comfort her. And that pain is central to her story, and a not insignificant part of Ereiniel's story, too.

#ianneth #fingon's wife #fingon #maedhros #gil galad #woman king au #my ocs

[grey-gazania-fic]

Tagged by @zealouswerewolfcollector and @welcomingdisaster to badly summarize my WIPs!

I think some of you have done this already, so if you have feel free to ignore the tag, but I'm tagging @spiritofwhitefire, @thescrapwitch, @vidumavi, @elfscribe, @melestasflight, @cuarthol, @swanhild, @swanmaids, @polutrope, @leucisticpuffin, @emyn-arnens, @thelordofgifs, @hhimring, and anyone else who wants to do this but hasn't -- @ me and say I tagged you!

#dash games

[grey-gazania-fic]

Reblog if you write fic and people can inbox you random-ass questions about your stories, itemized number lists be damned.

[grey-gazania-fic]

Y'know, I see a lot of posts urging people to comment on fics, so I just want to say, to all the people who do comment, and especially the long commenters:

thank you.

Long comments can be time-consuming. They can be difficult to write, but you leave them anyway!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, to everyone who comments.

You are the highlight of fanfiction writers' days.

[grey-gazania-fic]

I noticed that an amazing fic I read with over 60k words and over 900 kudos...didn't receive a single comment in 2022.

There were some comments in 2021, then a gap, then a few comments from this year. That is insane.

Ao3 is not built like Wattpad, it is not meant to treated like the 'latest hits' page where you only read the new works, or where you only click on sort by number of kudos. It doesn't matter if the fic you like is not wip anymore - if you really like the story, comment. A simple heart will do. The author won't think you're annoying, in fact they'll probably be incredibly happy.

Fic authors don't deserve to have their work just disappear with no engament after few weeks pass. The fics don't deserve it either

[grey-gazania-fic]

Do regular commenters know just how valued they are? I mean, obviously ALL commenters are valued, but as a fic writer when you’ve got a group of familiar usernames and profile pics who pop up again and again like old friends to share their thoughts and appreciation on one of your fics, that’s so special. I hope my regular commenters know that I remember them, and I recognise them each time they come back, and I am so incredibly grateful for them not only leaving comments, but leaving them time and time again. I hope they know they’re making someone, somewhere, smile.

[grey-gazania-fic]

In the spirit of this joyous holiday season, may I present to you the stupidest thing I've ever written: Fingon the Grumpy Zombie

To the tune of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"

Fingon the grumpy zombie Had a very broken head And if you ever smelled him You’d know for sure that he’s undead.

All of the other Noldor Used to scream and run away Only his boyfriend Maedhros Ever was convinced to stay.

Then one sunny solstice day Gothmog came to say “Fingon with your skull so broke How is it you managed to uncroak?”

“Morgoth is very curious He has experiments he’d like to do But don’t worry, grumpy zombie Your boyfriend is invited too!”

But then our grumpy zombie Was filled with terrifying rage And fear that Morgoth once more Would stuff Maedhros into a cage.

“You wicked slave of darkness We will not fall prey to your schemes!” And then our zombie Fingon Pounded him to smithereens.

Then how the Noldor loved him Despite his really yucky smell “Fingon the grumpy zombie, Now we really think you’re swell!”

#the silmarillion #tolkien #silmarillion #maedhros #fingon #gothmog #russingon

[grey-gazania-fic]

Shoutout to the dedicated cheerleaders of wips who comment on each chapter and motivate the poor fic writer to keep going you are crucial to the ecosystem

[grey-gazania-fic]

Tangled String - a fanmix for Fingon and his wife, Ianneth, for @nolofinweanweek

"Your Love is Sweeter Than Wine" - Black Tape for a Blue Girl

I believe in the beauty in your eyes, In the power of your words, I believe in your purity You'll set me free; You'll set the whole world free. I believe in the beat of your heart; I trust the words I kiss from your lips.

"Song for the Asking" - Simon & Garfunkel

Here is my song for the asking; Ask me and I will play, So sweetly I'll make you smile. This is my tune for the taking; Take it, don't turn away. I've been waiting all my life. Thinking it over, I've been sad; Thinking it over, I'd be more than glad To change my ways for the asking. Ask me and I will play All the love that I hold inside.

"Torn" - Natalie Imbruglia

I thought I saw a man brought to life. He was warm, he came around And he was dignified; He showed me what it was to cry. Well, you couldn't be that man I adored; You don't seem to know or seem to care What your heart is for Well, I don't know him anymore.

"Ravens Land" - Voltaire

Ravens land upon her hair, Clouds adrift on her skin, A smile that tugs upon my soul And whispers gently in my ear. … And if you ask me how I know What she looks like, I will tell you She left yesterday.

"Rain" - Patty Griffin

Sometimes a hurt is so deep You think that you're gonna drown; Sometimes all I can do is weep With all this rain falling down.

"I'm Sorry" - Voltaire

I'm sorry I'm selfish; I'm sorry I behave this way. I'm sorry, couldn't help it; I'm sorry that you lost your faith in me. We lost our faith in me.

"Unraveling" - Deb Talan

Take it from me; it is no use Washing your hands so often They are clean and cracked. You never get your old skin back Once you have loved like that. … He is inside you; he loved your marrow. You think you could cut him out with a knife If you went deep enough? I don't think so.

"Anthem" - Susan McKeown

We asked for signs; the signs were sent – The birth betrayed, the marriage spent, The widowhood of every government – Signs for all to see. … Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything; That's how the light gets in.

"Forgiven" - Deb Talan

And I wait for a warmer season; Meanwhile, you are forgiven. You are forgiven.

#nolofinweanweek #nolofinweanweek2023 #fingon/fingon's wife #fingon's wife #fingon #ianneth #my ocs #findekano #findekáno #i disabled my adblocker to do this

[grey-gazania-fic]

also im so sorry for anyone that ever compliments me on here, I know I very stale with the same “I’m glad you like …!” “I’m happy you like …!” over and over again I’m just really bad at taking compliments I promise I’m not icing over at you. I promise I reread them and think about them at night giddily kicking my feet in the air like a lovesick teenager

[grey-gazania-fic]

Trick or treat! 🎃 — @emyn-arnens

@emyn-arnens || ask box trick or treat

Here's a snippet from that kidnap fam outsider POV ficlet that I'm still chipping away at:

As Ada had said, I met the boys the next morning. As was usual, I was watching over Nelmir and Arthoron, who up until now had been the only other child at Amon Ereb besides my brother and me. Lord Maglor brought Elwing’s sons to me, telling me to keep an eye on them, and I introduced my brother and his friend to the newcomers.

“Nelmir,” I said, once Lord Maglor had left the room. “Arthoron. Lord Maglor has brought you two new friends. This is Elrond and his brother Elros. They’ll be living here at Amon Ereb with us now.” I was, of course, careful not to bring up any of the details my father had confided in me. Elwing’s sons surely needed no explanation of their current situation, and it was the sort of thing Nelmir and Arthoron didn’t need to know.

I had to confess, if only to myself, that I was only able to tell Elrond from Elros due to the differing color of their tunics. They were uncannily alike in face, even more so than Lords Amrod and Amras had been. They seemed to be alike in voice, too, though that was harder to say for certain, as neither of them talked all that much; at first they did little but frown, one expression spread across two identical faces. My brother didn’t seem to mind; he filled the silence with his usual nonstop chatter, something Arthoron at least was used to. Little finch, Nana often called Nelmir, for he was forever chirping away like an excited bird.

#emyn-arnens #dash games #trick or treat #kidnap family

[grey-gazania-fic]

ask box trick-or-treat (fic writer edition)

Send an ask with "Trick or treat!" to the writer who reblogged this & you could receive a 3-sentence fic, drabble, headcanon, sneak-peek at a WIP, the last sentence they wrote, a new fic idea, random line from a fic, picture of their notebook, a deleted line they love, an idea for a sequel, something they're researching, behind-the-scenes info on a published fic, or something else!

happy halloween!

reblog to welcome trick-or-treaters to your inbox! 🕸️🦇

[grey-gazania-fic]

World Turned Upside Down - a Fëanor/Nerdanel fanmix

"Prettiness" - Noe Venable

I have never been one for prettiness (prettiness) Thinking of lace 'bout makes me puke But the thing I just bought has a little bit (little bit) I'm putting it on and I'm thinking of you.

"Nothing Without You" - Vienna Teng

All my books are lying useless now All my maps will only show me how to lose my way Oh, call my name; you know my name And in that sound, everything will change Tell me it won't always be this hard I am nothing without you, but I don't know who you are.

"Take This Longing" - Leonard Cohen

Your beauty lost to you yourself Just as it was lost to them. Oh, take this longing from my tongue, Whatever useless things these hands have done Let me see your beauty broken down Like you would do for one you love.

"Cannonball" - Vienna Teng

Stones taught me to fly Love taught me to lie Life taught me to die And it's not hard to fall When you float like a cannonball.

"If I Were a Weapon" - Suzanne Vega

I feel more like a needle Always pulling on the thread Always making the same point again And wondering if you heard what I just said.

"Where's the Girl?" - Voltaire

Where's the girl I fell in love with? Where'd she go? Where's that kind and gentle princess Of my dreams? Where'd she go? Why'd she go away? Where'd she go? Why'd you take her away from me?

"Storm in a Teacup" - Susan McKeown

I'd forgotten what it looked like To look in your eyes and see all that madness and mistrust.

"House Where Nobody Lives" - Tom Waits

What makes a house grand ain't the roof or the doors If there's love in a house it's a palace for sure Without love, it ain't nothing but a house A house where nobody lives.

#fanmix #feanor #fëanor #nerdanel #feanor/nerdanel #fëanor/nerdanel #nerdanel/feanor #nerdanel/fëanor #feanel #fëanel #feanor x nerdanel #nerdanel x feanor #fëanor x nerdanel #nerdanel x fëanor #the silmarillion #tolkien #silmarillion

[grey-gazania-fic]

Ereiniel sees bedraggled disowned-himself-from-his-family Celebrimbor show up on Balar and says “Is anyone gonna adopt this guy?” and doesn’t wait for an answer.

#gil galad #celebrimbor #woman king au

[grey-gazania-fic]

people who leave nice comments on writing and art saying this is what stuck out to me this is what i saw and what i love and this is how your work changed me and people who say i love your word choice your style that one little brushstroke your message people who say i love what you make i cant wait to see more people who say hey this art reminded me of you or hey i made this because of/inspired by you people who say hey im really excited to share this thing i made with you people who say your feedback made me so proud and so motivated. i love you