Lately, for self-soothing purposes, I re-read (or in this case, listened) to the complete Lord of the Rings. And now there are certain kinds of fic I'm feeling an itch for. Does any of this ring a bell?

Aspects like:

* LotR book or movie inspired, rather than the recent Hobbit movie series

* Details of daily life, like eating and drinking, dressing and sleeping, etc.

* Worldbuildy, especially in small/daily-life ways

* Doesn't need to be shippy, but ships are welcome, especially: Gimli/Legolas, Frodo/Sam, Merry/Pippin

* Happy ending plz

* Doesn't need to be recent--I'm sure there's heaps of old fic as well as new that I've never read


So just for instance: have you read anything good set during or after the Scouring of the Shire? (Or even just before--what about Fredegar and his band of rebels?) Sam nurturing Frodo back to daily life the same way he's bringing the slashed-and-burned land back to life? Anything about Merry and Pippin settling in together in Crickhollow, and hunting down the last of the ruffians? I was having a chat with a friend in which we wondered, what do Hobbits do for medical care? Since I assume they have midwives, is there basically a network of Hobbit gammers who do the herblore and healing work?

It doesn't have to be set in Hobbiton, but in any case I'm not after something grand or epic. So if it's in Rivendell, I'd love to see little details of how it is for regular folk to spend time there; or if it's something like Legolas and Gimli traveling or living somewhere, what is an ordinary day and night like for them? Or Aragorn--not his lofty kingy-ness, but the grounded ordinary moments that make up his day, and what it might be like for him to spend time again with his old friends.

Doesn't necessarily have to be set after the events of war of the Ring, either--anything interesting about little child Estel growing up in Rivendell?--but since the events of the books/movies changed and deepened the characters, plus created and/or strengthened so many relationships, it does seem like post- is more likely than pre-.

I'd love to hear any thoughts you may have. And thanks!

I'm not sure if everyone's feeling writing-memed-out yet, but I enjoyed participating in this on other people's journals. So, just in case: if you'd like to hear my answer to any of these questions, please comment with your chosen letter/s!

A. Describe your comfort zone—a typical you-fic.
B. Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?
C. Is there a trope you wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole?
D. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Care to share one of them?
E. Share one of your strengths.
F. Share one of your weaknesses.
G. Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.
H. Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.
I. Which fic has been the hardest to write?
J. Which fic has been the easiest to write?
K. Is writing your passion or just a fun hobby?
L. Is there an episode section of canon above all others that inspires you just a little bit more?
M. What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever come across?
N. What’s the worst writing advice you’ve ever come across?
O. If you could choose one of your fics to be filmed, which would you choose?
P. If you only could write one pairing for the rest of your life, which pairing would it be?
Q. Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order?
R. Do you use any tools, like worksheets or outlines?
S. Stephen King once said that his muse is a man who lives in the basement. Do you have a muse?
T. Describe your perfect writing conditions.
U. How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?
V. Choose a passage from one of your earlier fics and edit it into your current writing style. (Person sending the ask is free to make suggestions).
W. If you were to revise one of your older fics from start to finish, which would it be and why?
X. Have you ever deleted one of your published fics?
Y. What do you look for in a beta?
Z. Do you beta yourself? If so, what kind of beta are you?
AA. How do you feel about collaborations?
AB. Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much.
AC. If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?
AD. Do you accept prompts?
AE. Do you take liberties with canon or are you very strict about your fic being canon compliant?
AF. How do you feel about smut?
AG. How do you feel about crack?
AH. What are your thoughts on non-con and dub-con?
AI. Would you ever kill off a canon character?
AJ. Which is your favorite site to post fic?
AK. Talk about your current wips.
AL. Talk about a review that made your day.
AM. Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them?
AN. Write an alternative ending to a fic you've written (specify by title, link or general description].

Ergh ergh ergh, not-posting begets not-posting. And yet I am still here and doing stuff and having thoughts and whatnot!

Come to think of it, I actually wanted to ask all y'all a random question, if anyone has any thoughts about it. Background: I've been listening to a series of lectures on The Odyssey. I first read it early in high school, and have read and listened to it a lot since then; and I like to keep broadening/deepening my understanding of it with, like, lecture mp3s or iTunes U class recordings or whatever, about the poem or about Greek history & mythology. Sometimes it feels to me like coloring with a crayon, where you color over and over and over the same patch, and each time a little more crayon gets into little niches you hadn't even noticed weren't quite filled.

In this latest set of lectures, I had hoped that when we got to Eumaeus the swineherd, she might mention what the deal is with the narrator going into the second person, like the "You answered him, Eumaeus, loyal swineherd" sort of thing. Because for whatever reason, none of my other dilettantish readings or recordings have talked about it, and I'm curious. (And she made kind of a big deal about other switches in narrator style, like the bard-narrator vs. Odysseus-as-narrator of his own story to the Phaeacians...and yet now, it's like the audience is suddenly the swineherd and she doesn't even mention it.)

So, does anyone have a recommendation for something I can read to learn more about it? (Or, feel free to let me know, "It's no big deal, it was just for scansion". Because all of my Homer knowledge is in English translation.)

In conclusion, may I just say that the scene with Odysseus's old dog Argo is still the SADDEST THING. AIGH. I mean, even just hearing it recapped in a lecture I get embarrassingly misty. It's that sort of painful-sad-but-also-chest-clutchingly-heartwarming, since even though he's been neglected for so long, at least he does get to see that his master is home and wags his tail and pricks up his ears, his long and faithful waiting rewarded at last, but just for a moment before he dies, and Odysseus can't even break disguise and pet him or anything. Brb, sniveling.

Hey, have any of you read Joe Hill's new book NOS4A2? (Titled NOS4R2 in Britain.) I'm interested in hearing personal recommendations or disrecommendations, if you have any.

I read Hill's book of short stories, 20th Century Ghosts; I liked it fine, as far as I remember, but I don't remember it very well (even when going through the titles/synopses on Wikipedia just now) and have never felt the urge to check it out again to re-read any of them.

In a fit of optimism, I bought Heart-Shaped Box, and to my surprise and regret I really for-reals did not like it. In fact, I stopped reading it maybe 3/4 or a bit more of the way along. Not out of hatred or revulsion or anything... partly because I just never got to like the book, which created a steady, irritating boredom. The main character feels like a rootless cipher to me, a lot of signifiers of "rock star" that don't coalesce (is he a Mick-Jagger style historic rock and roll god from the 60s who's still always in the public memory? An old-fashioned 1970s country-rock-hippie gone recluse? An '80s rock and roll Bob Seger-style throwback? A '90s goth scare-meister Marilyn Manson? An industrial/machine-music Trent Reznor-type? WHO KNOWS, and I don't feel like the book does, either.). His string of super-power-imbalanced relationships with troubled young girls is like the last thing I have any sympathy for, and yet the book seems entirely on board with this. The tedious figuring-out of the "rules" of the supernatural wotsis going on is not an interesting means of propelling the story. I don't even care about the dogs, and when I do not care about the dogs, your novel has lost me, bro. (I also have figured out by now that the climax will involve the dogs, and since I don't care about them, I feel certain the book has no surprises to offer me to get me emotionally involved at this 11th hour.)

So, that was a total downer, because I had blithely expected to like it. It gets good reviews, as far as I've seen! People speak highly of it! Sigh.

I haven't read the next one yet, Horns--the premise is kind of offputting and doesn't grab me, although if a reliable someone were to recommend it, I wouldn't necessarily rule it out. Full disclosure, though: I'm pretty spoiled for what happens in it (because it didn't grab me, at some point I did skim the Wikipedia synopsis), and just judging from the synopsis, it seems like the "solution" of the premise ends up pretty labored and byzantine and not a draw. (Not fair to judge a book by its Wikipedia article, though, I know.)

NOS4A2 just sounds more interesting to me all round, and potentially more creepy. But I haven't read a lot about it, in order to avoid plot spoilers. So, if anyone out there has read it and has an opinion, I am very interested in your thoughts!

Hey, POI peeps! Which episode is it where Harold briefly wears his glasses on top of his head? I think he's doing some close-up work with computer parts or something, but my memory of the moment is unfortunately detached from context.

I think I need to make a screencap of it. Because nom.