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]

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).