Edit: These next four posts were from last year's National Novel Writing Month challenge. If I wasn't planning on participating again this year, I would have waited to share these with you again this November. But since I hope to have a new story begging to be written by that time, I am also hoping to be creating a new series of posts for you all. So I hope you'll enjoy this trip down memory lane, or for any new readers, get a glimpse of what November will hopefully bring. :-)
Okay, if you are reading this, it means that I managed to wrestle my muse and inspiration into submission and out of the grasp of the Sherlock fandom.
Muse: Just so you know, it was all her idea. Inspiration and I are just her . . . um . . .
Inspiration: Her hostages.
Muse: Right. That works.
<John Watson appears.> John: Wait. Didn’t you take that from our show?
<Aslan’s Princess groans as she face-palms.> AP: Here’s what I have to work with. Why did Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch not only have to play Bilbo and Smaug in The Hobbit but also star in an intriguing modern-day version of Sherlock Holmes? Am I a true fan? Since I’m a little leery of a few episodes and I find a persistent fan pairing a bit disturbing because of my beliefs, most likely not. Although a while back I went through a phase of listening to Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective masterpieces on Spotify almost nonstop.
That being said, if my interest persists, maybe another NaNoWriMo project. Or just a few little things once this month is over. For now, it was great seeing you, Dr. Watson. My regards to you and all your friends. I’d say cast, but I do not wish to say anything to Moriarty and his minions.
John: I’ll pass it along. Until next month.
<Muse and Inspiration sadly watch him go.>
AP: <sighing> Okay, girls. We’ve digressed long enough. This is supposed to be about our NaNoWriMo project, not some ideas that are barely substantial enough to form ingredients, much less a whole novel.
<Muse and Inspiration grumble.>
<AP dangles Mellon Chronicles in front of them, only to be nearly bulldozed over as they scamper to catch the fan series.> Well, that worked. Anyway, sorry about all that.
Last year, I had just gotten bitten by the Tolkien bug and started a fanfiction entitled The Two Hobbits. I had caught sight of an unfinished fan story where Bilbo had a sister who was mistaken for him and went on the quest instead. I decided that Bilbo and his sister should go together. And I say that I started the story because although I reached the challenged 50,000 words, Thorin and his Company were just getting ready to leave Rivendell. Just a little over half the first movie if I am figuring right. (Although as of this writing, they have just left Beorn’s home and are heading for Mirkwood.)
This year, I am doing another fanfiction inspired by Tolkien and partially inspired by a couple fanfiction I’ve seen. I intend to explore what it would have been like if Aragorn had been born a woman. The first short story that I saw this done kinda had me chuckling and scratching my head. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen it now, but I’m half wondering if it was meant to be something not taken seriously. I’m thinking this because there are some parts that have me scratching my head and thinking “seriously? How could they have not seen it sooner?” I’m thinking that I have since come across some unfinished fanfiction with the same idea, but because I have a pet peeve about unfinished stories, especially well-written ones, I don’t believe that I’ve touched them. I especially didn’t when I started to seriously consider writing my own version. Not wanting to subconsciously steal ideas.
First off, my borrowed character needed a new name. It had to be from Tolkien’s world in order to be believable and yet still connected to Aragorn’s name. Thanks to The One Wiki to Rule Them All, I discovered that Aragorn is rooted in Sindarin (Tolkien’s original elvish language) and translated into “revered king.” A Google search and a few sites later, I figured out how to change it to “revered queen/princess.” And thus Ringorn emerged. Now, Aragorn is a man of many names, and so would his female counterpart. Her ranger name was simple. Strider is rather gender neutral in my opinion. Her elvish name I was uncertain about.
Because Aragorn was raised by Elrond Half-Elven of Rivendell and his twin sons, he was given the name Estel, Sindarin for ‘hope.’ Considering that, maybe I didn’t really have to worry. I had even run across one fan having the characters mildly teasing that it was already a girl’s name. But a part of me wasn’t quite satisfied. I hopped onto Arwen-Undomiel’s girl name page to see what I could find. There wasn’t a difference in spelling, but there was another name that caught my eye and I combined the two while changing the spelling (slightly inspired by a Mellon Chronicles story). Veredhiel Estelle easily translated into “promised hope.”
Then her relationships. Admittedly, not much is changed. Upon meeting Arwen around age twenty, instead of romantic love, it’s an instant sisterly bond that has their brothers, Elladan and Elrohir, wishing that they had remained oblivious of the other’s existence. (Whoever made these two elves pranksters, thank you to the moon and back. It’s perfect.) When we get to Rohan in The Two Towers, Ringorn and Eowyn will be like kindred spirits. And while I love a good “love at first sight” tale, I decided not to give Ringorn that. Oh, sorry, I didn’t reveal her love interest. Prince Legolas Greenleaf of Mirkwood, son of King Thranduil. Their love is a slow rosebud that starts as a beautiful friendship before it blossoms into love.
Now since I consider the Mellon Chronicles to be “official” record of what happens (possibly once I am better read in the original source material, I’ll change a little, but not at this point), my timeline bounces off the various stories Cassia and Sio created. This means that although I may have a four or five-year-old Estelle joining her adoptive family during a journey to Mirkwood where she meets Tauriel (sorry, Tolkien purists. I’ve fallen in love with her presence.), Ringorn and Legolas’s first substantial meeting is when Ringorn is about twenty-years-old. Several years and many misadventures pass before either of them realize they have fallen in love. For Legolas it is the events of “The Stars of Harad” number 20 in the fan series, that cause him to recognize his feelings toward this reckless ranger. For Ringorn it is a couple tales later, “Dark Visions,” where she discovers her feelings. But since neither of them wants to potentially ruin the good friendship that they have, it isn’t until the 27th installment of the Mellon Chronicles that they actually say anything to each other. Now before it is said: No, I will not be rewriting Cassia’s and Sio’s works. I will only be briefly touching on scenes that I believe would be different if Aragorn had been a woman. Meaning that if readers wish to have the full story surrounding the scene, they’ll have to head over to one of the sites hosting the series. (They deserve to be read, and this will be how I can help them to be read. Ha!)
Then eventually, I will get to Fellowship of the Ring. If I manage to reach this point before I crest 50,000 words, or just simply before November is out, I’ll be happily surprised. I own the dvd’s of the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy, and I am currently reading the original source material. This means that I feel safely free to pick and choose, mix and match as much as I wish. Oh, slight spoiler for my fanfiction, since I hate character deaths, especially of beloved characters, there may be one or two characters who originally didn’t make that will in Ringorn’s story. :-D Oh, and those of you who recall that greenish, smokey ghost army in Return of the King? Nearly from the start, I could imagine that ghost king almost laughing his head off until his blade met Isildur’s restored blade.
So, there is a peek into the workings of my thoughts for this project. Now, I wrote this a week ahead of time because I work semi-crazy hours every other Saturday, and I am currently on that non-crazy week. Which means in addition to the blog I posted last week, I also typed this one up. Since I can’t look into the future, I can only hope that I have managed to get at least a couple pages, if not a couple chapters down by the time I post this.
Welp, that’s that for now. Hope you enjoyed.
Until next week. Bye.
Disclaimer: The three drawings I have used are creations I made using the Lotr and Hobbit doll maker and Viking Woman doll maker crafted by Azalea's Dolls and Doll Divine.
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