Valentine's Day love to friends and fans

[thrihyrne]

I've become a fan of Valentine's Day as an opportunity to let my friends (and work colleagues) know how much I care about them and enjoy their company. In my work environments, I've tended to get the kids' valentine's and traditional candy and hand it out; this year was no exception. I had Harry Potter valentine's from last year and gave those to my coworkers at the Opera, who thought it was really endearing. Despite being nearly 40, I'm the youngest worker there in my department. :P

To you all, my deep-abiding affection, appreciation, and gratitude is with you all. Thank you, new friends and those who have known me for decades alike, for being here with me, and for being a friend of mine. EDIT: To eldritchhobbit and abigail89, a special shout-out of thanks for the beautiful Valentine's cards and their heart-warming sentiments. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

And while this will not be everyone's cup of tea (or coffee!), I did participate in a Tolkien slash fest for the holiday. My contribution has been posted here: Herald, Steer Not Your Heart by the Stars. It's Halbarad/Aragorn, as canonical as possible, high angst, adult. I won't feel badly if none of you are interested, but if you are, go forth and enjoy.

I'll be AFK for much of the rest of the weekend until Sunday evening as I have yoga/errands/opera tonight/singing in church choir for the first time in over a year tomorrow morning/phone calls/writing, but I hope that you all have a wonderful next day or so. I'm privileged to have you all in my life in various capacities. For those of you paired up or trio'ed up, enjoy time with the one(s) you love. I'm in a space where being solo is already at times more than I can handle, and that's where I need to be. For those others who are without a particular companion, I hope that you, too, are content in that space and if not, that whatever relationship you are hopeful for comes to pass.

Comments

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

I read your story earlier today and have been thinking about writing a more worthy comment. But I just wanted to let you know now that I really enjoyed it. So much so, that I had an idea for a fanfic of it (a ficlet and terribly OOC and AU of yours I am sure). I’m telling you this so you will know how much it captured my imagination; not asking for permission yet but running the idea around in my head. (And that is a big deal for me, since I tend to write elves.)

Just a tiny note on a technicality: I would not consider this an NC17 on any level. Too much plot, too much backstory and solid characterization and it is just not salacious enough to make it an NC17 given the redeeming literary value and all those other factors. I would rate it a solid R. (I volunteered for the ratings board on the MEFAs for two years now and I can only think of once when I had a dissenting vote and, in that case, I was the one who thought that the fic should have been rated higher.) I mention this for a couple of reasons, first, one of my pet peeves is Tolkien slash writers rating themselves too high and self-isolating as a result and, secondly, fics self-rated as NC17 are not eligible to run in the MEFAs.

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow! I'm so gratified that you read my story, and even more so that you might like to write some fanfic for it! I'm fascinated that you don't consider this NC-17. To my mind, if you have adult physical interactions in which there are bona fide descriptions of slot a, tab b, etc. and not fading to black or vague euphemisms, it's adult, ergo NC-17. I didn't realize that the MEFA's didn't include NC-17; you would really consider this to be a hard R? I'll have to ponder that. I've just always assumed that if I've written something descriptive enough that it's like watching a movie, and I'm describing someone's genitals and what those pieces and parts are actively doing, it's adult, hands down. I wouldn't consider this story to be PWP or anything— it definitely has plot and backstory in order for it to be as canonical as possible, since that was something the recipient specifically requested. I'd love to chat with you about this, especially since I might actually have stories that could be considered for the MEFAs again now that I'm writing a smidgen of Tolkien again!

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

Every website has it own rating range, but NC17 in literary works is gnerally considered different than for film and graphic arts media in my understanding. A PWP with your descriptions, shorter and without any setup, definitely would be NC17. But in the case of your story, the acts you describe are far from the center of the reader's attention and the mitgating factors include the things I wrote in my previous comments.

The main question: is the story intended primarily to titillate or is there a lot more range within it. At a certain level, of course, quantity and nature of the descriptions can overcome any other factors. That was certainly not the case in your story. There is also the question of the balance overall throughout a piece.

I have a whole bunch of articles that we were asked to read in order to participate in the ratings panel of the MEFAs that I can track down and send you. Nothing NC17 is permitted in the MEFAs, which in itself, can give an idea of what is allowed and what isn't.

Believe or not, my plot bunny for your fic was to write something about them from the POV of Arwen, of all things!

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

A-ha! So in this realm, it's more to do with content and ratio of sex acts to plot than how explicit the sex is. That makes sense, and it's just different than how I rate my own stories. Fascinating that there are different interpretations.

Arwen's POV? Hmmmmm. Could be interesting! There are precious few women whose heads I've tried to get into in the Ardaverse: Éowyn, of course, but also Erendis, my OFC Fréalas, Morwen of Lossarnach, and Narvi, as a female Dwarf. ;) I'd be interested to see what you wrote! I also need to go back over to the new offerings and read jaiden_s's story since I know her; I'm also going to find more stories by Ennorwen. She wrote for me, and I was literally in tears at the end, both due to content, the wordcraft, and that she'd picked a character I figured nobody would bother to research. I was spoiled rotten!!

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

Context is extremely important in rating. (Of course, websites have a right to set their own private ratings IMO; they face the consequences of underrating. HP, for example, attracts so many kids. I can see them rating higher.)

I'll have to read Ennorwen's story for you! I've not read many yet (I'm sure I'll end up reading most of them). I read yours and Erfan Starled's (hers was lovely too and a surprise to me--not her usually style at all, she usually write much darker pieces). IgnobleBard called upon me to Beta his at 3 am last night! (He caught me reading on the computer, ready to go to bed.) I refuse to call it a Beta--more like a typo check.

So you would't mind horribly if I went all AU with your characters? I will write you a private note, if I do decide to do it and if it sounds appalling then I won't.

I just adored your Halbarad. I've always loved the canon references to him and whenever I read the Battle of Pelennor Fields I cry when he dies (I don't do that often, I'm a stoic reader). But your Halbarad was unique, a real original. Not at all the fanon Halbarad who is usually Aragorn's age or occasionally even significantly older. He was a such a charmer the way you wrote him. Beautiful too, in my imagination, although your description was fairly sparse.

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

I'll be reading Erfan Starled's story as well since she's someone you've noted; I've just recc'ed Ennorwen's story on my LJ. I'd forgotten how into Tar-Meneldur I was for a while; apparently I did his bio at HASA while so engrossed. ;)

No, I wouldn't mind if you go AU with the characters— they're Tolkien's, after all. :) I'm so thrilled that you liked my interpretation of Halbarad. I didn't know that there was a fanon Halbarad... guess it boded well for me that I didn't go looking for Halbarad fanfic that might have negatively influenced me, or made me second-guess myself. I'd written a short Halbarad genfic for llembas a few years ago, but that's it. I did imagine him to be beautiful, but stern and rugged as Gimli and Legolas describe the Rangers when they see them. I did try to be fairly sparse in his description (beyond the dark auburn hair, a thevina giveaway if ever there was one!) so that the reader could see him in her/his mind's eye.

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

I read Ennorwen's story and fell in love with it. I was gonna read it anyway, but bumped it higher on my list on your rec. It even made me do a little Numenor canon research (not something in which I am well-versed).

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

I have definitely read some NC17 fics of yours in the Harry Potter fandom. They still had your usual lovely characterization, but the sex was front and center. Not the case here.

[lena3.livejournal.com]

I'm not a big valentine's/holiday in general fan as you know, however...

I am looking forward to all the chocolate that will go on sale tomorrow!! haha

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

That's right! Chocolate for all!! :D

[mrsquizzical.livejournal.com]

love to you, too, thev.

♥

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

(((warm hugs)))

[brumeux77.livejournal.com]

That's such a beautiful title. I'd love to read it, but I really can't handle high angst these days. Sorry.

I think your new layout is great--very cheerful.

*many squishy hugs*

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I like the title, too— and it's one I made up, not taken from poetry or a song. The angst isn't all that bad, honestly: no deaths, or even truly broken hearts, though the protagonist does have it a bit rough knowing that he'll never have what he really wants. Maybe at another point in your life... I'm grooving on the layout as well! Thanks for noticing! :D

(((hugs back)))

[wolfiekins.livejournal.com]

Thanks much for the Weasley valentine and the card!

A gorgeous, beautifully written post...hope you have a great weekend, luv.

***huge hugs***

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

You're so welcome!! I loved the gifties you sent; will be watching some more BSG this evening. :D I just wanted to speak/write from the heart; it's been a busy weekend, but now I'm settling in to some quiet down time with writing and a black and white cat in my lap, LOL. Like Odo, but heavier. And his name is Stan. ;)

((((massive hugs))))

[erfan-starled.livejournal.com]

I can recommend to any lj readers of yours reading this entry, 'Herald, Steer Not Your Heart By The Stars', and came looking to see if the story was here. I'll leave a comment on the Slashy Santa site instead.

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much!! I was thrilled to read your review and comments. What a wonderful element to my day today!!