It's nearly the conclusion of 2008, and while I do have a couple of stories which haven't yet had the author reveals, I'm going to go ahead and do a summary of the year. It's been another productive one, in which I dove head-first with great gusto into a new fandom, which really surprised me. I thought my head would be full with Harry Potter and Tolkien and I'd never get involved in any others. Instead, Storm Constantine's Wraeththu series of books totally took over, but I also wrote a few short selections in Ellen Kushner's Swordspoint world as well. I'd love to write some Mary Renault The Persian Boy fanfiction one day, but it hasn't yet happened. ;)

I'm going to organize these by fandoms rather than by date, but here's what I've written and posted in 2008 (not including 2 fest stories not yet revealed):

Wraeththu
All of my Wraeththu fics can be found here at my website. You can't leave reviews, but for the first fic below, I do have it saved as a pdf there, and there are pictures of 'Castlegar' as well as some other yummy pictures.
§ Maelstrom and Mage, Desire Thine Darkling
49,083 words; Ashmael/Vaysh and OCs, adult
Available here at Forever Wraeththu [where you can leave a review! ;) ] or here as a pdf file to download.

§ Down the Whispering Well
44,523 words; Vaysh/Ashmael and OCs, adult
Available here at Forever Wraeththu. I didn't get around to making a pdf of this one, though maybe I will soon.

§ Passion's Acolyte
3,015 words; Cal/Swift, adult
Available here on LJ or here at Forever Wraeththu

§ Interpret Me the Savage Whirr
6,198 words; Seel/Ashmael, adult
Available here on LJ or here at Forever Wraeththu

§ Quare Clausum Fregit (Wherefore he broke the close)
3,364 words; Vaysh/OC [Yazdyar, from 'Down the Whispering Well'], adult
Available here on LJ and here at Forever Wraeththu

§ Mere Trifles
1,723 words; Seel/Swift (not adult), Cobweb
Available here at Forever Wraeththu or here at my website. I don't seem to have ever posted it at my LJ!

§ Swooping to Landward
13,800 words; Chithra/Lemuel (OCs), a study of Fioan/Colurastes cultural interaction, adult
Available here on LJ (link is to part one) or here at Forever Wraeththu

§ After the Storm, Restless Fire
4,979 words; Ithiel/Cobweb and Ithiel/Terzian, adult
Available here on LJ or here at Forever Wraeththu

§ Reap the Wild Wind
24,402 words; Kelp/Blackspur, Kelp/Hunt (OCs), adult
Link to the first post on my LJ here, or you can read the whole thing here at my website. It hasn't yet been uploaded to Forever Wraeththu.

§ Libertine
389 words; Terzian, PG-13
Available here at my LJ

A few Wraeththu drabbles written along the way are here at my website

Harry Potter
§ Cloudscape of Ravens
18,030 words; Ron/OC, Ron/Severus, adult
Written for the ginger_lust Ron-centric fest I hosted with a lot of help. The link there is locked to ensure no-one underage in the community got to it, but you can read it here at my website or here at Skyehawke if you'd care to leave a review.

§ No Shame, This Life, Beloved
14,792 words; Ron/Draco, adult; in all likelihood, the last story in the "Magic Immunity" story arc.
Available here at my LJ

§ A Rally Toward Exalted Moments
5,567 words; Harry/Charlie, adult
Available here at my LJ or here at the weasley_fest community

§ Scotch Game
9,144 words; Ron/Remus, adult
Available here at my LJ; it's locked at the remus_ron_slash community to prevent underage folks from reading it there.

§ The Sensibility of Wantonness
3,181 words; Ron/Draco ["Crown of Rope" universe], adult
Available here at my LJ

I also seem to have written a slew of various drabbles by request on a few different days. Rather than organize them, there are a bunch of requested HP drabbles here (some Wraeththu, too, but I put them on my website), a rare het Ron/Hermione drabble here and Ron/Charlie drabble from the vampire!Charlie incest story I wrote a year or so ago for wolfiekins

I also have one lingering WIP, a Dean/Ron for the very patient Callum James. I actually printed out what I had when I was at his flat in England in October, and I really will finish it. It's just taken a back burner, to my chagrin.

Swordspoint
These are nearly all drabbles, though I think I did write a vignette. LOL. I've written a lot this year and can't keep it all straight! Hence the annual wrap-up.

Basil's Banquet, Fall of the Kings drabble
Untitled Richard/Alec drabble
Revenge Effloresces, Richard/Alec drabble

Hmmmm. Thought I'd written more Swordspoint than that; I think I just wish I had!

Lord of the Rings
Unbelievably after my start in the Ardaverse, the only things I've written in LotR fandom this year have been drabbles, but I do seem to have written a few. All are general rating unless otherwise noted.

Untitled Halbarad-centric drabble
Alliances, Gimli-centric
Untitled Gimli-centric drabble
Untitled Éowyn-centric drabble
Untitled Celeborn/Aragorn drabble, adult
Another untitled Gimli-centric drabble

Wow. So, looking at the non-drabbles, it appears as though I've written around 200,000 words of fanfiction this year. I'm not a real word-counter usually; it's just good for me to look at the year and see where my focuses have been. Obviously it's been with Wraeththu more than anything else, and I don't know what my focus will be next year. I will be expanding "Maelstrom and Mage," trying to double it in length to get it ready to be a proper novel available from Immanion Press, and my slashy_santa fic is Tolkien. This year I also started out trying NaNoWriMo, so I wrote about 3K of actual original fiction. Wheeeeeee.

For those of you who have read and enjoyed my stories and let me know, thank you so much! Feedback, commentary, and enthusiasm are always gratifying for an author.

I'm watching The Two Towers again, partially to see my dress in action, but then it prompted me to write a wee drabble from Gimli's POV when he first meets the Rohirrim. From The Riders of Rohan in TTT:

"...for these horsemen are riding down the orc trail. We may get news from them."
"Or spears," said Gimli.

Title: Alliances
Rating: General

One hundred and five horsemen, so Legolas said. They thundered past them as their small entourage of three crouched until Aragon stood, calling to them. Gimli found himself surrounded by tall, long-limbed men wearing mail of standard make — certainly not of Dwarvish influence — and long, blond hair. He didn't care about the thicket of spears aimed at him, though he snapped a retort when their leader proved insolent. Éomer did provide horses, though he also jabbed at Gimli's heritage, and his hand itched as it clenched on his axe-handle.

Merry and Pippin: they were his focus, his intent. Surely, they lived.

I'm at home, as my knight in armor, pghpatronus, has come down with the flu, so I'm not travelling to visit with him and wolfiekins and koshweasley. We're all disappointed that we won't get to see each other, and I hope that PGH gets well soon. He's on some serious meds, and I'm in a funk.

So! This time of year is a good time to look back. I can't really begin to comprehend how incredibly painful, anger- and anxiety-ridden this year has been for me in RL, so instead, here's the listing of the stories I've written, the various new and old pairings and life experiences I explored through writing as an escape and/or written alternative to my own situations out in the world. Despite the very, very challenging year, I've written a lot that I'm proud of, and hope that you who are readers of my fic, have enjoyed at least one or two of my output from 2007.

( fic listing, in chronological order )

The ones I'm most proud of? Probably the Ron/Dean Vermilion Hunger, Cerulean Thirst; Strange-Eyed Constellation (a rare trio if ever there was one!); Strife from the Furthest Prime, and Crown of Rope. Here's to an equally creative outpouring in 2008. For those of you who continue to read and enjoy my stories and let me know, my heartfelt thanks to you. To those who read my stories and lurk, thank you for that as well. And to my many betas, I so appreciate your insights and enthusiasm. With each story I hope that I'm honing my craft, and one of my planned intentions is to spread my wings a bit out beyond fanfic this next year. I'd hoped to do that in 2007, but it wasn't to be. Still, as I look back at what I did contribute to the Harry Potter fandom in 2007, I feel a sense of pride and accomplishment. Thank you all for bothering to take the time to read my often long-ish fics, and to let me know what you thought.

Yes, it's been forever. Still, here's another entry for my table. For all five or six of the people on my flist who like/remember my Tolkien writing, hope you enjoy yet another glimpse into Gimli's psyche.

Title: The Ground Portends
Fandom: Lord of the Rings
Characters: Gimli, Legolas, Éomer
Prompt: 53: Earth
Word Count: @ 3,000
Rating: G
Summary: Gimli muses on his active dislike of horseback riding and is grateful for a walk on the Rohirric plains.
Author's Notes: This gap-filler takes place during The Two Towers, referencing events at the very end of "The King of the Golden Hall" and the beginning of "Helm's Deep." Vram is an original character and kinsdwarf from the Lonely Mountain.

( The Ground Portends )

I've realized that I get almost as giddy when someone I've beta'ed for posts a fic and lists me as a beta (usually myself and someone else; two sets of eyes are always better than one!) and writes that I was astute, perceptive, or something similar, as I do when I receive reviews for my own stories that laud the story and/or my wordcraft. I really love editing. I seem to be pretty good at it. It would be really cool to earn money for writing, especially writing gay erotica with plot. Or just plotty stuff with gay sex as part of it. But I still think I'd enjoy doing that on the side, at my own pace, and being paid to edit fiction. Especially reading good authors. I finished reading I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb and cried. I don't do that very often, and it wasn't because it was the most gorgeously written book in the world, nor the most innovative and heart-wrenching (I sobbed the last few pages of His Dark Materials); it was because I really felt for the main character, and I really admired Lamb's clean prose and the overarching story. I think I could be a helpful editor for writers, and would love to do that, but there don't seem to be degree programs in editing. Am I missing something? Do you have to simply get into it somehow, and then people get your name out there? Or do you pay your penance at a newspaper or magazine or something and then segue into fiction?

( Elvish question )

Back in May, a lovely person with the pseudonym Cúthalion read my Gimlific story Antiphon to Light over here at the Open Scrolls archive, back in May. At the time he left a great review, told me he'd nominated it for the MEFAs, and asked if he could translate it into German. I, of course said yes, but then didn't hear from him again. Just today he left me another review for it, this time at Stories of Arda, and he congratulated me on my MEFA win for the story. He also let me know he *had* translated it, so this makes my first fic to be translated!! I'm so excited. It's here and looks so cool. I studied German for a couple of semesters but don't come close to reading it. I love seeing Gimli's interchanges and thoughts in German, regardless.

And I think I'm staying out of LJ until the smoke clears about the HP book 7 title.

Well, I didn't place first in anything writing-wise, but I did make a few appearances! Considering how little Ardaverse-fic I wrote last year, I'm thrilled to be in this at all. Oooh, and this means that I'll get to use some of the award banners I made! How funny; I think they're all ones that I made. Granted, I did have a focus on Dwarves, but still, the third-place cross-cultural I made, too. And I made a major typo in the 3rd place for Dwarves. Augh. Of the many banners I made, I think this one may be my fave:

Congratulations to so very many people, especially just_ann_now. ((hugs))

Thusly are my awards:

Genres: Romance: Rohan— Honorable Mention— Kindly Winter's Gift (warning for slash)

Races: Cross-Cultural— Third Place—

A Taste of Diplomacy

Races: Dwarves- Second Place—

Antiphon to Light

Races: Dwarves- Third Place—

The Stones' Lament

Genres: Romance: General Authors— Honorable Mention

Races: Cross-Cultural: General Authors— Honorable Mention

Races: Dwarves: General Authors— Second Place

Races: Men: General Authors— Honorable Mention

This (my most recent for my fanfic100 table, All About Gimli) has been written in fits and starts, and recently completed after looking at some delightful and kind comments left to me as part of the MEFAs in regards to my Dwarf-centric fic. It reminded me that I need to get back to my Tolkien roots, and having llembas's fave samples from the extended LotR soundtrack haven't hurt, either.

Boy, do I miss Middle Earth. So glad that it's there for me when I'm ready to revisit. Have already put a bookmark into my copy of LotR for the next in my Gimli table. I think it'll be from Legolas' POV, which would be totally… new territory.

This was initially inspired by celandineb and just_ann_now's visit earlier in the summer, which made me think about Dwarvish culture and tattoos. Me being me, I've imposed the ritualism of tattoos on my other favorite culture already, the Rohirrim, with my first long story, "Daughters of Oromë." But when Cel and Ann visited and we all talked out loud about what we love about the cultures we adore and their attributes, JRRT-given and otherwise, I recognized that the secretive Dwarves might very well have tattooing of a sort as an element to what I see as a very hierarchial societal framework. JRRT in The Hobbit tells us that each Dwarf wears a hood of a different color (we'll overlook the fact that their beards are ALSO different colors; it was a children's bedtime story, after all, in its earliest incarnation). I thought it would make sense to intimate that the different colors indicate different professions, and so I've run with that in many of my Dwarf-centric stories. Because it's not like there are heaps of Dwarvish culture scholars out there to tell me my musings are crap. Bit of a shame, that. Further inspiration came when it was pointed out to me that I often write about Gimli and Pippin's relationship, one that must be somewhat unique in that Gimli goes seeking Pippin out after the battle of the Pelennor. "Black Diamond," which expounds on that, was one of my first Gimli-centric stories, and perhaps it colors my perception of things. But I really didn't know I was focusing on that until somebody showed me how blatantly obvious it had been in my writings.

Onward to fic!

Title: Via Media
Prompt: Passing
Rating: G
Gap-filler, just prior to the Fellowship leaving Rivendell

( Via Media )

I'm still writing the other Gimlifics, but this one just came to me in drabble form. Since it encompasses a lot in a very few words: this is set after the Ring War; Gimli is back home, presumably after Aragorn's coronation and he and Legolas have seen the Glittering Caves and all that. The Dwarves lost a lot of people in their own battles up north during the mess in Mordor; this takes that into consideration. Vram is Gimli's… companion.

Title: Earth Friend Thee Forever
Fandom: Lord of the Rings
Rating: PG for implied deaths and m/m relations.

Gimli endured the feast, the likes of which hadn't been engineered since the successful, but devastating conclusion of the Battle of Five Armies. He'd fought there; tested his metal, in the most visceral way imaginable. He still harboured an otherwise inexplicable, profound satisfaction of the thunking, wet sound of his hacking blade. Goblin, orc, other… he'd battled enough.

His palms itched with memory.

Much later, he sat on his heels in the moonlight, paying homage to his fallen kindred. The fire in his diamond was gone, forever. Gimli thanked Mahal for sheltering Vram until they were reunited again.

He wept.

Instead of making icons, I've been making MEFA 2006 nominee buttons like nobody's business. If you go here (and currently the 3 new banners/awards are all by me, lol) and look at nominee buttons #s 23-27, they're all made by me. I made a few Award Banners, too, larger ones, a few Dwarvish but also one for the Merry and Pippin Humor Award. If you browse through them you'll find a few made by Thevina Finduilas and then you'll know. What fun! I'll make nominee buttons by request, too: I, of course, made two initially, one for Rohan and one with Gimli because the nominee buttons were decidedly lacking in Dwarf representation.

In addition, the kind soul who nominated Antiphon to Light from Open Scrolls also kindly offered to translate it into German! You may remember that I had a young Italian boy who was going to translate Cartography of Fire; well, the last 3 emails I've sent were returned saying his email no longer exists, so I'm afraid his parents took him away from the internet. Ah well. Guess that's about it for Tolkien stuff; I'm checking out a copy of The Hobbit because I can't find my copy and my next Gimli-fic will occur during that time period.

In other news, kaalee, you showed up in my dreams last night! We talked about your stories and then I think I was showing you my MEFA banners, lol. I think because I'm going to be able to see both celandineb and just_ann_now in a few weeks, I have fanfic friends on my mind. Plus, Kaalee isn't that far away from me IRL. Anyway, it was delightful to 'see' you!

The Muse has been busy, cross-fandom and everything. I'm especially pleased with this one.
edit, 4/28: have changed errant 'stocky' word to more appropriately Dwarvish sentiment.
edit, 12/4: I was a Best Bet!!

Title: Antiphon to Light
Characters: Gimli, Galadriel, Pippin, Legolas
Prompt: 85: She
Word Count: 1,548
Rating: G
Summary: Gimli meets Galadriel, and is forever changed.

( Antiphon to Light )

This one is for prompt 84: He.

Fandom: LotR
Rating: PG for referenced M/M Dwarvish relations and oblique adult innuendo (Gimli/OMD)
Word count: 1200

( otherwise untitled )

First new ficlet for my fanfic100 table, all about Gimli. Prompt #37: Sound.

The Stones' Lament

It was after a fortnight of walking when I realised I'd begun humming some of our old travel songs under my breath. I stopped immediately, only to catch myself at it an hour or so later. It didn't matter that I was with none of my kind, resigned to the fact that after spending two eternities of months surrounded by Elves I still had not managed to escape their company entirely. Even the worrisome presence of the childish hobbit who had no business accompanying a mad enterprise such as this adventure couldn't dampen my thoughts. My feet itched to set a pace faster than my limbs could sustain; the incessant wind had calmed and my gear felt light as leather.

I knew what caused it, this sturdy tune of heel to ground, drumming steps against the hard earth.

Khazad-dûm.

Though I'd yet to explore its wonders, from far-off I'd seen the companion mountains once before. As we drew ever closer, I believed I felt the spirit of Mahal; he was manifest in the regal rocky spires whose names spilled forth from me in my native tongue in my hasty enthusiasm to identify them to our small band. Gandalf raised an amused eyebrow at that, Aragorn nodded, and Peregrin gaped at the smattering of Khudzul.

We were on the edge of Hollin, the hallowed place where my distant ancestors had crafted their greatest achievements, wonders worthy of song and legend. The great lake of Kheled-zâram was there, with its shimmering, inky waters, silently beckoning me to its banks. Narvi, brilliant rockwright and inspiration for all Khazad who build with stone, had once dwelt in this land. It was no wonder I found myself more verbose than usual. This was a true homecoming, in the most tangible, solid sense of the word. Legolas began to speak and I rounded to face him, readying myself for a counter-attack against any possible slur.

"Only I hear the stones lament them," he said, the melancholy statements unexpected and bewildering. "'Deep they delved us, fair they wrought us, high they builded us, but they are gone.'"

His words turned my world upside down. I stared at his face, which betrayed no emotion save a pinch of curiosity. I was silver, struck with tuned precision and ringing with incredulity. I felt sure my shock at his comments must have been painfully obvious to all in our company. And yet— apparently not. Chatter sprang up between the hobbits, Boromir set to tending camp. I alone appeared affected by the inconceivable fact that an Elf from Mirkwood could hear the speech of stone.

I went through the motions of readying my bedroll and ate my meal as the sun rose higher above the horizon. Sam took the first watch with Aragorn as company as I lay on my makeshift bed, hidden by thickets. I turned on my side, making sure my back was to Legolas. From my time spent in Rivendell, I knew that Elves noticed much, even when it appeared that their focus was elsewhere. This was a private moment, as I pressed my ear against the rock.

Silence. I closed my eyes, willing the stones to surrender their sorrows to me. I was the child of Mahal; stone-language was my birthright. This wood-dwelling Elf from the north had no business listening to the sighs of the earth, even as I grudgingly acknowledged that in this land, the rock seemed to mourn the Elves, not the Dwarvish masons. I passed fitfully into sleep, straining to hear the dark pulse of ancient loss.


* * * * *
Author's Notes

Inspiration for this came from 'The Ring Goes South' in Fellowship. Gimli's outpourings included a rather shocking amount of Khudzul, naming the mountains both in Westron and Dwarvish. Then he gets positively poetic:

'Dark is the water of Kheled-Zâram, and cold are the springs of Kibil-nâla. My heart trembles at the thought that I may see them soon.'

Dwarves carry adoration in their hearts as much as any Elf, says this author, only slightly smug.

Yes. Have lost mind, yes. ::nods::

001.	Beginnings.	002.	Middles.	003.	Ends.	004.	Insides.	005.	Outsides.
006.	Hours.	007.	Days.	008.	Weeks.	009.	Months.	010.	Years.
011.	Red.	012.	Orange.	013.	Yellow.	014.	Green.	015.	Blue.
016.	Purple.	017.	Brown.	018.	Black.	019.	White.	020.	Colourless.
021.	Friends	022.	Enemies.	023.	Lovers.	024.	Family.	025.	Strangers.
026.	Teammates.	027.	Parents	028.	Children.	029.	Birth.	030.	Death.
031.	Sunrise.	032.	Sunset.	033.	Too Much.	034.	Not Enough.	035.	Sixth Sense.
036.	Smell.	037.	Sound	038.	Touch.	039.	Taste.	040.	Sight
041.	Shapes.	042.	Triangle.	043.	Square.	044.	Circle	045.	Moon.
046.	Star.	047.	Heart.	048.	Diamond.	049.	Club.	050.	Spade.
051.	Water.	052.	Fire.	053.	Earth.	054.	Air.	055.	Spirit.
056.	Breakfast.	057.	Lunch.	058.	Dinner.	059.	Food.	060.	Drink.
061.	Winter.	062.	Spring.	063.	Summer.	064.	Fall.	065.	Passing.
066.	Rain.	067.	Snow.	068.	Lightening.	069.	Thunder.	070.	Storm.
071.	Broken.	072.	Fixed.	073.	Light.	074.	Dark.	075.	Shade.
076.	Who?	077.	What?	078.	Where?	079.	When?	080.	Why?
081.	How?	082.	If.	083.	And.	084.	He	085.	She
086.	Choices.	087.	Life.	088.	School.	089.	Work.	090.	Home.
091.	Birthday.	092.	Christmas.	093.	Thanksgiving.	094.	Independence.	095.	New Year.
096.	Writer's Choice.	097.	Writer's Choice.	098.	Writer's Choice.	099.	Writer's Choice.	100.	Writer's Choice.

Yup. Thanks to llembas's very fast and thorough beta, I finally have another Ardaverse story to share. I began it in December of 2003, I got stuck, and then revisited it in the spring of 2004 and gave it a major overhaul (but no ending) and finally finished it over the weekend. For only being 6 pages, it's taken quite a while. At any rate, 'tis here behind the cut!

( Fathers and Sons )

Okay, have revised satisfactorily (I believe!) the end of Speak, Friend, and Enter. So here y'go. Oh, and happy St. Patrick's Day to you all. Celebratory virtual Guinnesses on the house!!

Here's the summary: A tale of Dwarves and Elves, of artisans, the creation of the great West-Gate at Khazad-dum, and unlikely authors. Both post-WR and Second Age; Legolas and Gimli, and Narvi and Celebrimbor. Written for the "Authors of Middle- Earth" challenge. Humor, but with a serious nod to Elvish/Dwarvish relations during their heyday as well as musings on Dwarvish culture in general.

the author's notes will be posted separately; apparently the story is too long for one lj-cut.


( Speak, Friend, and Enter )