"The Picture of Daeron Gris", by Lyra

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

B2MeM Challenge: The "Fin de Siècle" prompt on the "Maglor in History 2" BINGO card (an uncalled number, N34)

Format: Short Story (3150 words)

Genre: Historical Crossover Mystery, if you look at it sideways

Rating: Teens

Warnings: for allusions to substance abuse, mental illness and homophobia

Characters: Daeron; Maglor; Sarah Bernhardt; Oscar Wilde; Arthur Conan Doyle

Pairings: suspicions of Daeron/Maglor, but nothing actually happens so don't be disappointed

Creators' Notes (optional): WHAT DID I DO.

Summary: At a soiree in Paris in early 1890, two writers meet Daeron and Maglor.

Abject apologies to the great historical artists whose characters I have shamelessly fictionalised.

"The Picture of Daeron Gris" at the SWG archive

Comments

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

What a neat concept; I really like the idea of Daeron as the inspiration for Dorian Gray!

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Thank you for reading, enjoying and letting me know! :)

[zdenka]

This was a fun story to read. An immortal Elf as the inspiration for Dorian Gray makes far too much sense!

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Even the name is vaguely similar! I just couldn't resist the idea. Glad you liked it!

[blslarner.livejournal.com]

Most intriguing! I like the idea such an encounter would inspire two such important writers.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Thank you, glad you like it!

[silver-trails.livejournal.com]

Lovely! And Maelor was one of Maglor's names in Home, so it fits to use it now. =)

I'm a Maglor/Daeron shipper!

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

I know - I will forever be wondering whether Tolkien ever encountered the Breton saint(s) of the same name...

I really rather like the idea too - which is why I said in the "pairing" list that you shouldn't be disappointed that there isn't really much Maglor/Daeron going on!

[hhimring]

I didn't know about Stoddart's challenge! It really has potential, doesn't it? You exploited the contrast between the two writers well. Doyle is sort of his own Watson here, as well as a bit Sherlockian in between! I'm now remembering that he ended up believing in Fairies, later on, didn't he? Maybe he had another encounter?
Trust Oscar to have a perspective on the shipping!
There are some quite serious undercurrents in here--despite the lightness. Maglor's remarks on lunatic asylums--and Daeron certainly isn't mad in the way suggested, but he doesn't seem entirely well, either, somehow. Or maybe just in a really sour mood?
(Oh, and what the others already said, of course: very neat idea!)

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

It has soooo much potential, I couldn't resist in the end. Yes, Conan Doyle fills both parts, as required. Whether or not he has another encounter, I cannot (yet?) say...
Definitely some serious undercurrents - I didn't really want to explore the darker aspects touched by the plot, especially as this was meant to be just a short story, but it wouldn't be properly Fin de Siècle without some gloom, and besides, skipping over the "bad parts" would have been doing the characters injustice.
No, I don't think Daeron is pathologically mad. (Of course, we know that he is immortal, and probably did meet King Arthur, Bonaparte, and a lot of other important people in between!) But he may indeed have tried some of the substances that went around canonic-- I mean, historically! - around the Parisian Bohème, and I'm assuming they're as unhealthy for Elves as they are for humans.

But in my mind, he finds it harder than Maglor to adapt to society (any kind of society, but Victorian may be particularly challenging), and sometimes he just can't contain himself. Not sure he's still traumatised from the loss of Lúthien or whether he's generally more psychologically fragile (or more prone to "fading"?). Maybe both. For some reason, I've always assumed that Maglor would be pretty resilient (a result of his happy Valinorean childhood, no doubt :P). So Daeron kind of needs Maglor to steer the rocky waters of human history, even if he probably wouldn't admit it. Sometimes he gets lost (and then, things like the Pied Piper of Hamelin episode may happen), sometimes he can adjust all right, and sometimes they just need to find a place where he can be himself without being in danger of getting locked up. Among the friends of Sarah Bernhardt (who did keep a pet lion and a puma and other wild creatures), he isn't actually that odd!

[nialoke]

*squees a little* This is perfection! Love the idea of Daeron as the inspiration for The Picture of Dorian Gray! I love your characterisations of Maglor and Daeron, too, and I can very well see Maglor as the more resilient and Daeron as struggling more to adapt - he seems to me a little reclusive in canon as well. Watching the famous authours trying to figure out what was going on was fun, and I really like how you play off their different personalities against each other.
(Also, I'm fascinated by the idea of him as the Pied Piper of Hamelin that you mention in your comments. Do you plan to write more on that?)

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

*squees at your lovely comment* Thank you so much! So glad that my interpretations of Maglor and Daeron work for you, and that you enjoyed the interaction between Oscar Wilde and Arthur Conan Doyle. Their characters contrast so much, it's hard to imagine that they were friends, but somehow it seems to have worked...
In conclusion, thank you!
(I might! I don't have any conrete plans for writing that in detail, but the idea has been with me for a long time, and I do expect that I'll eventually know how to deal with it. Meanwhile, you're welcome to borrow it, if you like!)

[nialoke]

My pleasure!
(Thanks for offering to let me borrow your idea - I might try it out :3)