ebbingnight

In Memory of Bob and Nancy Strait

2014-05-24T15:21:14Z

On Memorial Day Weekend, honoring the memory of World War 2 U.S. Army Paratrooper Bob Strait, who was a member of the 101st Airborne Division, and his beloved wife for 65 years, Nancy Strait.

The Death of His Angel

The Death of Her Cowboy

The Verdict

A Librarian and Her Little Girl

2013-10-03T16:32:54Z

And this is the last of these, because I'm beginning to think that orcs are among us still:

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2013/07/david_renz_plea_clay_carjacking_murder_lori_bresnahan.html

But I do want to recognize and remember the courage shown that dark night by both Lori and her ten year-old adopted daughter.

And Yet Another Better Man

2013-10-02T14:13:35Z

than his cowardly teen-age attackers will ever be:

http://www.newson6.com/story/23355026/buddhist-monk-severly-beaten-in-spencer-teen-suspects-sought

James "Jim" Gifford, 1943 - 2013

2013-10-01T19:40:08Z

And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

http://www.syracuse.com/kirst/index.ssf/2013/10/goodbye_to_a_kind_man_at_elmwo.html

No Words For This. . . .

2012-12-14T23:38:32Z

Plotto!!

2012-02-21T15:31:07Z

Everything old is new again (or at least enjoys a reissue now and again!) From NPR.

Charlotte Brontë and the Pit of Voles

2011-12-27T19:06:08Z

Saw this recently and realized that right now on LJ there's probably a fourteen year-old writing RPF (as Charlotte did in her day, though I don't think she ever slashed anyone with her adored Duke of Wellington, though since there's still one of the magazines missing, we may never know for sure) who's going to be very famous someday....

Since obviously this fourteen year-old can't be writing RPF on Fanfiction.net (aka "the pit of voles") and is likely to be concealing both name and age here on LJ --- we see that we're still pretty much like 19th-century Londoners observing the wilds of Yorkshire in terms of understanding anything of particular literary significance until years later, lol!

The Brontës and Fan Fiction

2011-06-18T22:00:02Z

via The British Library.

(I was led to this while ruminating on the fact that it's been a very long time indeed since there's been a chapter update of "The Consort," a terrific story by Zamorna_hg that makes use of the names Angria and Gondal invented by Charlotte and Emily respectively for their two fantasy countries.) So that would be fanfiction of fanfiction of fanfiction, although two hundred years later, everything is long, long out of copyright.

And thank god that there are no androids or zombies involved, either.

*sniffs*

Anyway, I can't very well go to London for this exhibit (especially during tornado season, which I truly wish were science fiction rather than science fact, given the tragic events in Joplin last month, which isn't that far from Tulsa, where I live), but I may very well buy the book!

Arsenic and Old Life

2010-12-03T03:53:23Z

Live from California: this may change the definition of life as we know it (and this may change the definition of Nobel Prize-winning scientist as we know it.)

Spirit Day, October 20

2010-10-11T02:03:46Z

Adding musician Zach Harrington, 19, of Norman, Oklahoma, to the existing list of people to be remembered on October 20:

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=12&articleid=20101010_12_0_NORMAN920113

I only wish there was no need to....

Fanfiction from Hell!!!

2010-09-26T01:45:49Z

I can hardly wait for the release of Paradise Lost as an action-adventure spectacular, complete with "aerial warfare" in 3D, per this notice in Variety last week.

Not for the film, of course, but to see the fanfiction pieces that are sure to emerge from it.... and, dear Lord, imagine the casting, lol!

On keeping an open mind

2010-09-09T23:24:55Z

Hmm.

I don't like birds that much, particularly birds of prey.

I am not crazy about Egyptian mythology.

I am rather particular about correct spelling and grammar.

I am not that taken with yaoi.

In my opinion, the story of "Beauty and the Beast" has been told all too many times.

I am not fond of WIPs, especially when I'm not sure the author has any intention of finishing.

I don't enjoy most original fics, as compared to fanfics.

And yet I very much liked Favoured One.

Reminder to self: best to keep an open mind, then.

Prisons: It's Business as Usual Here in Oklahoma!

2010-08-30T21:51:39Z

Not only do we have the highest number of incarcerated women per capita of any place in the world, we're also now priding ourselves on the fact that detaining and deporting illegal immigrants has been an economic boon for our jails. And, unlike Arizona and its high-profile efforts to "profile" people of Hispanic descent, nobody even seems to notice....

The Princes of Ithilien are Dead

2010-07-16T02:52:04Z

MEFA rules say no pimping of MEFA-nominated stories, so I thought that instead I'd mention one that I didn't nominate, but now wish I had. It's buried in FFN, so I don't think it's gotten the attention it might well have received elsewhere. The Princes of Ithilien Are Dead is a work in progress (though pretty far along, 20 lengthy chapters right now) by Muse10 and is summarized by the author as follows:

Summary: After a violent attack on the elven settlement in Ithilien due to ancient prejudice, the lives of thirty one elves and a single human hang in the balance as their friends attempt to bring aid from Gondor.

What I like about this one is that it ties in very well with Encairion's work in her "The Price of Eternity" about the insidious effects of prejudice on Middle Earth over time, as this too is all about how it can spring up even in the most idyllic of places without warning. There are some particularly harrowing scenes, harrowing mostly because they seem all too real, given human history. (One of the things done to the elves being held hostage is that their ears are mutilated by their captors. Ugh. I absolutely hate it, but I absolutely believe it.) Aragorn is rather maddening here in his initial ineptitude as a ruler of greater Gondor, and the chief villain is far less believable than his sheeplike followers (but one could say that about those sociopaths who manage to claw their way to power in real life as well.... who would believe in Hitler were he a fictional character?), but the Princes of Ithilien themselves (Faramir and Legolas, of course) will break your heart, especially after their ordeal is supposedly over.

Not beautifully written throughout, but there are moments that work beautifully, so very well worth reading, in my opinion.

Enjoy!

A Birthday Present for Aislynn Crowdaughter

2010-07-10T22:27:30Z

This was written as a birthday present for Aislynn crowdaughter, author of the wonderfully dark Mael-Gûl universe. She has graciously allowed me to post my little "what if" speculation here, and to explain that it's based on a remark that Haldir makes to Legolas in her "Rúmil" chapter: what if Galadriel did in fact allow Haldir to "keep" Legolas permanently?

More importantly, though, Aislynn has said that she is indeed still working on the next Mael-Gûl chapter, hooray---- and that of course it will be nothing like my own imaginings here! But I hope that some of you will enjoy this while we all wait for the real thing. Happy birthday, dear Aislynn!

Over the Water

Haldir idly twined one of Legolas’s braids around his finger as they watched the remaining members of the Fellowship push two small boats into the river. “This is much better for you, you will see. The Lady's judgment is always sound. Once she learned that your Ranger had given you over to one of the Naugrim in order to protect you, she thought that the Mael-Gûl sadly needed mending. And of course you will be even safer here, if that was Lord Aragorn's concern.” He shook his head, smiling. “We will not be cruel masters like your old ones. The Lady is kind as well: the bond is much looser with us than he had wound it, true? Even if we should tire of you, her spells ensure that you will not die from deprivation as long as we remain here within the boundaries of the Golden Wood. And why should we ever wish to leave?”

Aragorn was not looking back: his shoulders as he bent to the oars seemed as stiff and set as his face had been when he turned away from Legolas for the last time. But somewhere beneath his stony expression Legolas thought he could still glimpse that of the sweet, stubborn, loving boy he had known, before everything had gone wrong. His Estel, finally freed from this evil spell, when it was too late for him not to go on to the end of the road that led to his birthright as heir of Isildur, leaving Legolas behind with other childish things. The arguments over the past few days had been long and heated, but in the end Estel, no, Lord Aragorn, had had to agree that the Ringbearer’s mission must come first, far outweighing the fate of a mere slave. The only concession he had been able to gain was that Legolas should be regarded as not having shirked his sworn duty to his master, so that the Lady would convey to Elrond her desire that no new hostage be demanded from Mirkwood to replace him.

And, unlike Elrond, Galadriel apparently had no personal interest in physical torment. There were no chains or whipping or public humiliation: merely a few moments in a private talan the night before during which the Lady broke the Mael-Gûl as easily as she might a chain of flowers woven by her maidens. Aragorn had staggered back, his face bone-white and his eyes bereft, but recovered himself quickly, as if taking a blow in battle. Galadriel switched her brilliant gaze to him then, and said in her sweet, despising voice, "If you had not meddled with the Mael-Gûl, son of Arathorn, it would not affect you so. Only the slave is supposed to suffer." Legolas drew in his breath sharply, from the force of that same savage blow, as Aragorn turned without a word and walked out of the talan.

He closed his eyes then, to bear what was to come next. But, even with his eyes shut as tightly as if he were blindfolded once more, he couldn't escape knowing it was Haldir who petted and held him, while Galadriel deftly cast the new spell. And, after the Lady swept out of the talan to join her maidens below, all three brothers took him, quickly, one after another, to seal the spell completely. Just as Haldir had said, they were not unkind in the taking, now that he was theirs, like a feast spread for them to enjoy. For once even Rúmil found his release almost easily. Orophin participated this time without protest, possibly for reasons similar to those of Glorfindel in the past, now that his high hopes for the Fellowship's quest had been disappointed as well.

Afterward, he lay pliant in Haldir's arms, not daring to drift into reverie. He couldn't even hate Haldir: like all his other masters, Haldir was simply doing what he thought best. In a way, it was better that Lord Aragorn had never kept his promise to treat him as an equal. It made it easier always to have known he was only a slave.

In the morning, Rúmil showed him where to wash, and gave him the new clothes he was to wear, in the muted colors of Lórien’s guardian warriors. Before they went down to the river to see the Fellowship safely out of the Golden Wood, Orophin helped him rebraid his hair to indicate that he belonged to them now. Haldir even let him keep his bow and his knives, saying that Lord Aragorn had flatly refused to accept any of the rest of his property back from them. So everything he had and was now belonged to Haldir and his brothers. Forever.

Neither Boromir nor Gimli were looking back, since they’d said their brief good-byes to him on the shore. The dwarf had gruffly apologized again for letting the Lady find out about him, not that he could have prevented it, Legolas thought. Who could have guessed that she would have deigned to look into the mind of a dwarf? Boromir clasped his arm in a warrior’s embrace, and muttered that he would gladly have left any three of the others behind in Lórien instead of him. Sam and the younger hobbits had hugged him hard, not saying anything at all.

Frodo was looking back, though, his enormous blue eyes still dark with shock and sorrow. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, he mouthed at Legolas over the water as the boats drew away. He’d dared to argue with the Lady too, hoping that as Ringbearer he might convince her not to make the elf prince part of the bargain for helping them continue their journey. Legolas nodded back at him once, and quickly looked down. Rúmil was watching them, with unsettling fascination. But whatever the Ring had done during its stay in the Golden Wood, at least it was leaving now. Beside Haldir, Orophin said, “I’m still not happy with this, brother. You should have left well enough alone.”

Haldir laughed. “Don’t be a fool. They are bound to fail. He is quite beautiful, and a passable archer. We can use him here.” He tugged on the braid gently, possessively. Legolas did not flinch. His heart felt brittle and dry inside his chest, like a leaf in late autumn. But what he felt no longer mattered, not even to him. He knew he would not fade from grief, though, thanks to the Lady’s power here. He would try to stay alive, for a while at least, for the sake of his sister and her children. His father would understand that he’d done everything he could to save her from this fate as long as possible. Sooner or later Haldir would decide to share him with the rest of his men: it would be good for morale. But of course the orcs could have him also, regardless of what Haldir wanted. Sooner or later.

When he looked up again, the boats carrying the Fellowship were almost out of sight, heading downstream. He turned and followed his new masters back into the trees. For him, hope was already gone.

OK Not Okay for Old People, Either

2010-06-26T00:46:49Z

WTF: a suicidal 85 year-old woman is tasered by the police officers responding to her grandson's 911 call for paramedics.

After finding that stepping on her oxygen hose was insufficient to subdue this poor delusional soul, as they arrested her grandson for trying to stop them, they tasered her. Twice. As she lay in her bed. As far as I can tell, the officers were neither reprimanded nor suspended, and until the lawsuit, there was no mention of it in the press.

From The Oklahoman.

Oklahoma: the buckle of the Bible belt. Isn't there a commandment that relates to this?

"I Want to Live Where You've Been. . . ."

2010-05-09T15:02:18Z

Beruthiel's Cat, who is a lovely writer in her own right (see her Through A Glass, Darkly), has made an irresistibly quotable comment on the most recent chapter of Spiced Wine's new WIP (Weapons of the Gods). I quote in part:

"Through a glass, darkly. To see what you see . . . and having been chosen, gifted with the ability of telling. I know you have to wring your hands in frustration, wanting to capture every shade, every nuance, every taste and color. . . I want to live where you've been. . . ."

I compare this with what Diana Gabaldon has recently been saying with such contempt about fanfiction (especially slash writers) on her blog (though the entries have just been deleted, I note without surprise), and I think to myself that I'd a million times rather "live" in their worlds, which are built with no financial reward, oftentimes many fewer readers than deserved, emotional depths that aren't always visible to a casual scan, plus struggles with depression, anxiety, and comments from others that they are "wasting" their time by giving so generously to their readers, than be a mere paying "Outlander" in the worlds of most published authors today.

But, then, I'm "just a reader," after all.

The Field of Empty Chairs

2010-04-18T17:51:41Z

Today is the fifteenth anniversary of the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The chairs represent the victims of the attack: the small chairs are for each of the 19 children killed in the building's nursery.

Real monsters

2010-04-01T00:19:54Z

I've been pondering about my fascination with "Orc-brat" by The Lauderdale, and why I would have any interest in reading about a nine year-old girl kidnapped by the orcs who murdered her family, no matter how well written such a story might be.

Perhaps because I can continue to hope that there can be a happier ending for Maevyn than there ever seems to be in real life here in Oklahoma, one of the most dangerous states in the nation for children. I read so many sickening stories like this in the local news that I'm beginning to believe that even orcs seem more human than humans can be.

"Wanting a ball isn't wanting a prince"

2010-03-18T21:57:31Z

as sung by Cinderella is one of my favorite lines from Stephen Sondheim's dark musical, Into the Woods. I'm reminded of it just now because I've been reading a new story (not one of my regular reads, but in an archive that I do routinely scan) that was going along fairly nicely until suddenly the idea that something that I consider really repugnant might be part of the fate in store for one of the leading characters jumped out from the chapter. And, I'm like, "Whooaaa! Where did that come from?!" No story warnings, no prior hint that this was the kind of society that practiced such things, nothing except this little teasing aside that it could happen if the character weren't lucky. My suspicion is that the author thinks that it comes with the dub-con/non-con territory, as it were. So do I stop reading now before this hint comes to fruition? Or keep going just in case it won't? (Insert your favorite squick here: it probably isn't mine, anyway.) I know that some people don't care for or don't read warnings, but I'm guessing that there are community norms that would preclude many people from wanting to read or write about certain things. (And I don't mean slash or BDSM, given that these are slash and BDSM friendly communities, lol!)

Okay, writer's freedom to write the story he or she wants, absolutely, but it highlights the fact that I do have considerable trust in the authors that I generally read that the pron level will be pretty much specified in advance, and that anything particularly outré will be somehow essential to the plot, not gratuitously thrown in just because the author can.

Or am I wrong to be this trusting? Do authors think that wanting the ball is wanting the prince (or the frog, or worse)?

Reading Misery

2010-02-14T17:30:07Z

I've been musing about this for a little while, so Valentine's Day seems like the perfect time to post it.

I used to read Stephen King (though not since Cell, his 2006 horror novel featuring evil cell phones, which struck me as so badly plotted and absurd that it was easy to break my earlier fast-read addiction to his writing), and I have long been conscious of the similarities that I have to one of his most infamous characters, Annie Wilkes in his 1987 novel Misery (brilliantly played by Kathy Bates in the film, I might add.) For those who don't know anything about Annie Wilkes, the gist of her story is that she is a reader obsessed with the fictional "Misery Chastain," heroine of the best-selling romance novels written by the hack writer Paul Sheldon (a doppelgänger of King). A car accident leaves Sheldon as Annie's patient and prisoner in a remote Colorado cabin. Her seeming kindness quickly turns to insistence that he rewrite Misery's "plot" to her satisfaction, because Sheldon has written Misery's death in hopes of shedding his romance writer persona in order to become a "serious" novelist. Annie forces Sheldon to burn his only draft of the "serious" novel, and he ultimately kills her, to our own satisfaction as readers, since she is indeed a nasty bit of work (being a serial killer as well as a trashy romance reader, lol!)

My similarities to Annie are that I have become more or less obsessed with various characters in fanfiction writing (though not to the extent of wanting or expecting authors to change their plots to suit my personal preferences, by any means!) and that by happenstance I have come to know a bit more about the real lives of (especially LOTR) fandom authors than I ever would have expected when I first began reading fanfiction. The difference (and I hope that it's huge!) is that I want my authors to be happy, and to keep writing, as long as that makes them happy.... even though I hate to see them leave my fandoms of preference to write elsewhere, which sometimes happens. My thought is that a real writer won't be happy unless he or she is writing, so it's not an entirely selfish wish. (Or is it?)

So it has been surprisingly difficult for me to discover that authors that I admire are having problems in their personal lives (and some of my most favorite authors have experienced tragic events recently: sadly, talent doesn't shield one from disease, depression, death of loved ones, debt, and the other disasters to which we mortals are prone.) I also love the "hurt and comfort" trope, so it's probably understandable that I want to extend the desire that I have to see the characters enjoy enduring happiness after all their travails to the authors too!

All this, then, has really brought home to me in a way that the commercial publishing world never has the precariousness and preciousness of real authors (not the corporate-farmed ones who may feed readers' fantasies, but don't nourish them in the way that the fanfiction community seems to do).

Bless you all, authors. Happy Valentine's Day!

It's not about the Balrog....

2010-01-20T19:15:29Z

Hmm, interesting thoughts provoked by a new story line in "The Power and the Passion" by Spiced Wine (highly, highly recommended, though I suspect anyone reading this entry will already be an aficionado). A re-awakened Balrog is taken prisoner by elves, and we learn that in fact he has emotions and memories and fears of his own. He is remorseful for his past but sees no way to make amends other than to allow his former enemies (and previous victims) to punish and eventually execute him.

Okay, this is a sorry (and hopefully not too spoiler-y) summary of a very exciting couple of chapters, but what intrigues me (beyond the 'verse itself, to which I am shamelessly addicted) is the thought of someone (or something) so apparently irredeemable actually wanting desperately to atone, and to have the time to (perhaps, possibly) do so. This is one very appealing thing about the "long time" of the elves to me: in the mortal world, life is so short and limited that (at least in the secular context), we've come to think that no one can change, that there is little point in forgiveness, and almost no chance of healing. One life, and if you make a "fatal" error in it, you might as well be dead, as you will never have another opportunity to redeem yourself in anyone's eyes. (Recidivism in this country is extraordinarily high now, compared to prisons in the past.) So, having vast oceans of time in which to at least try to make things right is very appealing to me as a reader. However, I suspect that says something about me, not about the Balrog.....

Knowing Cancer

2010-01-10T20:14:25Z

First seen on Melethen's LJ :

Put ♥ this ♥ on ♥ your ♥ LJ ♥ if ♥ you ♥ know ♥ someone ♥ who ♥ has ♥ or ♥ had ♥ cancer! ♥ All I wish for in 2010 is a CURE! ♥ I pray for the cure of cancer.

For my mother, too soon taken.

Resistance was futile!

2010-01-09T16:57:11Z

Couldn't resist this meme from Spiced Wine today, so here are the answers to the questions she was kind enough to pose for me:

1) How long have you been reading fanfiction, and how did you discover it?

Very late to the party (less than two years), and I discovered it in rather an odd way. I'd read Tolkien years and years ago, and didn't particularly want to see Peter Jackson's version as very few films live up to what's already in my head from a book. But I did finally rent the entire trilogy on DVD, and enjoyed them (mostly as spectacle rather than as story!) One piece of dialogue I couldn't quite catch, though, was what Gandalf said before falling into the precipice with the Balrog in Moria. I played the scene repeatedly, trying to hear the words, and finally realized that I might have better luck googling for information about that particular scene. (Oddly, it didn't occur to me to go to the library for the book, as I thought that surely the dialogue wouldn't be the same, lol!) In my googling, one of the top hits happened to be the "Library of Moria".... and I was instantly addicted, as I realized that I could now tap into what other people had in their heads about these books.

2) Do you write yourself? If you do, I apologize for not having read it, but please direct me to it.

Not really: I wrote a very short piece called "Singing Lindir to Sleep" for Binky's Mirkwood Slash Awards this year, but it was only a "friendfic" about Lindir and Gildor in Binky's 'verse. If you're curious, it's here.

3) Lol, I like this question so - if you could buy any of Tolkien's characters at a slave auction, whom would it be?

Heh. Erestor, because he could use the attention that Tolkien failed to give him!

4) What draws you most into any book or piece of fanfic? genre, characters, etc.

Slash relationships, absolutely. I'm a textbook case of the typical slash reader: I don't know what's missing in my RL, but clearly slash fills a gap somewhere. Someone else I read has an LJ tagline: "The things in your head that you can't talk about," and that pretty much sums it up for me. (Except that here, one can talk about it!)

5) What smell or scent is the most evocative to you, and what does it remind you of?

Elizabeth Arden's "Blue Grass" perfume, as it was my mother's favorite, and it makes me remember her.

And so, to propagate this meme:

Leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile."

• I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can satisfy my curiosity.
• Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
• Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions!

The season for giving

2009-12-29T01:47:21Z

is upon us, and I wanted to share a special gift from Stef, one of my fellow readers over at Ellen's wonderful Tawarwaith site: a story called "Gimli's Decision". This is Stef's very first LOTR story, written as a gift for Ellen, and it's forever changed my view of why Gimli finally accompanied Legolas over the sea. Enjoy!