jus in bello

Sometimes the comics are more about profound truth than humor.

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(Originally posted at LJ.)

the end of a fannish era

I've been volunteering with the Middle-earth Fanfiction Awards for longer than I've been on LJ. I've had to take a few breaks, for personal reasons, but for the most part it's been my online home more than anywhere else.

I used the past tense just now because that particular awards is ending. It's a bittersweet moment, to be sure, but today I'm focusing on the good memories of how much joy I got out of the awards. I really grew as a writer and as a person through that event, and I also made some of my best friends through those award. I know several people on my flist have been reacting to this news and I haven't commented, not because I don't care but because (as Legolas said) "for me the grief is too near." I really appreciate all of the email thank-yous I've received these last few days and will try to reply as soon as I can. I'm teaching summer school so I'm pretty busy in my offline life, and I'm also dealing with a hurt hand that makes it painful to type for too long at a stretch.

(It's actually quite bitter for me; but today I'm focusing on the sweet.)

A little while ago I made the last official MEFA announcements, thanking some of our volunteers and also talking about what the awards mean to me. It ended up being quite personal. I thought some of you might enjoy reading it:

http://mefas.livejournal.com/309993.html

Every year, I usually post stories that are MEFA-eligible which I invite people to nominate if they want to. I started this as a public service to people who read my work, since I don't always post my fiction in the same archives. And it kind of became a yearly tradition. Even though there's no MEFA this year, I'd still like to do a run-down of my recent work.

1. a biography of Sauron, written for the Silmarillion Writers Guild
2. Nor By Jerusalem: a vignette looking at Caranthir's thoughts on the journey to Middle-earth.
3. This Year, Next Year, Sometime, Never: Elanor Gamgee remembers her childhood, on the night before her wedding.
4. *With the Blood of Patriots: After Pelennor Fields, Faramir and Aragorn remember the fallen.
5. Profiles in Courage: An essay re-examining Lobelia Sackville-Baggins's actions during the Shire's occupation.
6. *But Have Not Love: Maedhros and Maglor, just after the sack of Doriath.
7. *Not Because We Are Angels: Life must have been quite grim for Ar-Zimraphel in the years before Numenor's fall.
8. We Still Remember, We Who Dwell: As penance for the previous piece (unusually angsty for me), I wrote something lighter. Maglor reunites with Elrond at Arwen's wedding.
9. Finding God(s) in Middle-earth: I examine several incidents from The Silmarillion and speculate about how they might have shaped Gondorians' views on religion and the supernatural.
10. *Like the Heathen Kings of Old: The aftermath of Denethor's pyre. Because when writing the previous essay, I was struck by a certain similarity between Denethor's pyre and the human sacrifice that occurred on Numenor.
11. Beginnings: A moment shared between Curunir [Saruman] and Feanor, before either came to Middle-earth.
12. The Point of the Sword: A Dunedain Ranger walks into a bar... (Swordspoint/LOTR crossover)

I also found a draft I'd written but never finished working with a beta on, with Bilbo learning about the Battle of Greenfields. I can't even remember who the beta was. Maybe it's time to polish that off?

Nearly all of these were written for Dawn's Back to Middle-earth Month. Thank you, dawn_felagund for organizing that!

(Stories with asterisks have graphic violence and themes that some people may find upsetting. Or attractive. In any case, you've been forewarned.)