B2MeM 2013:: Day Three: Wildcard Day

[dawn_felagund]

It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door. You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.

Throughout the month, we will offer weekly wildcard days, days when there are no new prompts but instead a simple, Tolkien-related task, for those who wish to participate. We hope wildcard days will give you a chance to refresh your muses, read, catch up on your WiPs, and breathe! :)

Our first wildcard day task: Step out your front door.

B2MeM is an event for the entire Tolkien fandom. Just look at what's been posted so far! All three major books are represented and characters ranging from Bilbo to Balrogs, Finrod to Faramir. Because of our diversity, though, we may not all know each other and we may define ourselves more by the communities from which we come rather than viewing B2MeM as itself a community. So, today, step out from your front door. Say hello and meet someone new. Lean out, take a look down the road, and ponder where it leads.

He used often to say there was only one Road; that it was like a great river: its springs were at every doorstep, and every path was its tributary.

To participate, leave a comment here and introduce yourself. Tell us the name you go by, what your passion is in fandom, and anything else about yourself that you want to share. Then, share a link to your favorite of the fanworks that you've created. (If you're new and don't have any fanworks yet, feel free to share a link to your favorite work by another author or artist.) The link you share does not have to be to a B2MeM piece; please make sure you include appropriate ratings and warnings if this won't be apparent when visitors click on the link.

After you've introduced yourself, take a moment to read/view another person's fanwork and leave them a comment to say hi and tell them what you thought.

Comments

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

Hello! I'm Cairistiona, or just Cairi, or Cair, or "hey you" or "that Aragorn fanatic", or... well, I pretty much answer to anything. :) I participated in B2MeM last year for the first time and hope to this year, though for the past year real life issues (caring for an ailing elderly mother who's currently in crisis) have severely limited my time for fandom fun. Even if I don't get anything written this year, I hope I'll be inspired by the prompts and can jot down notes and ideas for such time when life slows down again.

I'm interested in all things Tolkien, book or movie, but my particular fanfic interest focuses primarily on canon-based gen/het stories of the Dúnedain and the North in general, including Bree and Rivendell and the Shire. Aragorn, Halbarad, Elladan and Elrohir, Gandalf, and the Rivendell denizens are among my favorite characters, and lately I've developed a real fondness for writing stories with the Rangers interacting with hobbits and the folks in Bree--I'm currently working on a novel-length story where I'm trying to bring to life those Breelanders we know only by name. In "Homeward Bound" in ROTK, Butterbur relates that there were men and hobbits killed in Bree during the Ring War, and while the names are given, there's no detail about their lives. That bothers me, so I'm trying to give them voices of their own within my own universe. Back to my interest in the Dúnedain: in seeking to thoroughly understand them as a people, one has to look at the entire legendarium, from 1st Age to 4th, and all the peoples and races therein. So I may say my interest is in the Dúnedain, but it encompasses just about everything. Call it attempting a holistic approach, and I'm definitely learning as I go.

All of my published stories can be found at http://storiesofarda.com/author.asp?AuthID=2342, and selected ones at Naice a Nilme and Fanfiction.net. I also post a few things on my LJ that don't always make their way to the archives (like, um, last year's B2MeM fics, which are still languishing on the hard drive awaiting polishing. See note about Real Life!)

Looking forward to all the good reading!

[cascadewaters.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry that your mother is in crisis--you both have my prayers. If you ever need prompts/challenges, I'm just an email away.

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! The prayers are deeply appreciated. So far I've been able to keep up with checking the prompts and copying the ones that look intriguing, but I'll remember that I can email you if I fall behind.

[cascadewaters.livejournal.com]

Oh, heh. I have no idea what the b2mem prompts are until (usually) Kaylee posts her fic for them. I'm just offering in general. My challenges are more prolific than my fics for this fandom. Sorry for not being clear.

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

Oh, sorry! I simply misread. :) Either way, much appreciated!

[almaheart.livejournal.com]

The story of the Breelanders and the rangers sounds absolutely fascinating! (notes down to read later). I much look forward to exploring it. Wishing helpful muses to you, and time to use them.

I hope things with your mother improve. You will both be in my thoughts and prayers.

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

Thank you... the prayers are greatly appreciated.

I hope eventually writing moves along more quickly on the novel. I've got about 10 chapters finished but I'm not posting anything until I've finished the tale completely. I've finished and posted 2 stories in that series, "By Such a Foolish Name" and "No Better Name", but this third one evolved into a much deeper story than I expected. It's both fun and a little bit scary when stories take on a life of their own like that!