Snowflake Challenge, Day 4, 5
Jan. 9th, 2014 04:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
red_lasbelinDay Four:
In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you did not create. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so. See if you can rec fanworks that are less likely to be praised: tiny fandoms, rare pairings, fanworks other than stories, lesser-known kinks or tropes. Find fanworks that have few to no comments, or creators new to a particular fandom who maybe aren't well known or appreciated. Appreciate them.
I realized while I was finding stuff to recommend for day 3 that I had not commented on those stories, just bookmarked them, so I went back and gave them some love. I don't know them at all and they're part of fandoms I only read in generally, so I think this counts.
Day Five:
In your own space, talk about a creator. Show us why you think they are amazing. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.
I went back and forth on who to pick for this day (hence part of the reason I'm running behind, lol) but I'm going to go with my instinct and talk a little about![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
keiliss. I try to keep my fangirl in check most of the time but I think this is permission to let her out, right?
I met Keiliss in 2004 on the Yahoo groups (the Erestor group, I think) and we struck up a conversation through email and then later YIM. We got along like fire and gasoline, and encouraged each other to write and participate in this crazy busy, fun LOTR fandom we found ourselves in. I still remember reading her first fanfic, and going 'wow, this is cool'.
Nine years (and some) later, my reaction is still 'wow, this is cool.' And no, I'm not saying that just because I've beta'd her work for a long time - sporadically from 2006, I think full time since early 2008 or thereabouts. I'm not entirely clear because I just sort of fell into it. I think if anyone were to ask me why I beta her, I'd probably say it is because it means I get first access to fic, because I've always first and foremost been her reader.
After all this time, it's kind of hard to put into words why I like her stories so much. I've gotten attached to her characters, her worlds, the different arcs she's done, so there's an emotional connection as much as anything, but I think it's that way with all the authors (fanfic or original work) we love and follow over the years. I've always thought a story has done its job if it's made you think, if it's changed your view of something a bit, if it's taken you to another world and lived in it for a while or if it makes you fall in love with a character. Kei's stories have managed to do all of those for me.
Before I read her stories, Gil-galad was just another character from the Silm (and like - 3 seconds of the FoTR prologue), which I had read through once, but it was very dense and not all of it memorable (Turin's story stood out to me, as particularly tragic) - he didn't stick in my mind either way. I didn't know what to make of Galadriel, I didn't mind PJ's interpretation and a lot of the fanfic writers I was reading at the time gave her an evil slant, so she was hard to attach to or care about either way. And Second Age Silm? Really not something I knew much about or a time period I particularly wanted to read.
Then Even Quicker Than Doubt was born (initially through the first Slashy Swap, coincidentally), and she made me care about Gil, Elrond, Elros, Erestor, and Galadriel (and Laslech, can't forget her!), and the events that made up their lives in the Second Age. (I already cared about Glorfindel, to be fair, but she did make me care a lot more about Doubt!Glorfindel) It really opened up a whole new world for me and a new cast of characters and different ways of looking at familiar characters. Doubt is still one of my most favorite LoTR fanfics, and Gil-galad/Glorfindel is one of my ultimate OTPs, largely due to this.
The point is, she made me care, and I think that's one of the ultimate traits of a good creator. When you can tell a story, share a vision of something and get someone, a friend or a complete stranger, someone who is familiar with Tolkien's vast world or someone who isn't, to care about your story, you are a good creator.
She's written Galadriel as a fully formed woman with desires, dreams and motivations, cunning and love. She's written Gil-galad as a king, a good, kind, shrewd king, but also explored the man behind the crown. He's one of my favorite characters now. She's written Elrond in many different stages of his life, both as an incredibly good father, a wise leader and a hard-headed, sharp-edged, soft-hearted young man. She's written some of my favorite Glorfindel fics, showing depth, goodness, kindness and joy that I admire. She's written Erestor, as a fully formed character, beyond fanon characteristics and I've seen more aspects of him through her and her vision has definitely influenced my own view of Erestor. I quite disliked Elwing from the Silm, but Keiliss made me understand her in a different way, beyond what I could ever conceive.
She made me cry over the thought of Elros dying, and the deep tragedy of the twins' choice.
But I think one of the things that I love the most about her creations is the touch of magic that she brings to Tolkien's world, a kind that both delights and fascinates me, it has depth and feels - grounded, if that makes any sense. One of the ultimate examples of this is her story, Hidden Within.
She's a story teller. She breathes life into characters, imagines plots, political machinations, heartfelt threads and aspects of life brilliantly, and I don't know how her head didn't explode before she started fanfic writing, because she's had so much to tell over the years. I literally have barely scratched the surface of talking about her fics. She's grown so much since I started following her writing, and it's really neat to be a small part of that.
Ultimately though, she just writes the kind of stories I want to read, the kind of creator where I would track someone's LJ posts, or follow them on Tumblr, or subscribe to them on AO3, just because I don't want to miss a story or update.
If you haven't read any of her work, you can find it on her website, Braided Light. There are a lot of stories on there, and there's something for everyone, truly.
In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you did not create. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so. See if you can rec fanworks that are less likely to be praised: tiny fandoms, rare pairings, fanworks other than stories, lesser-known kinks or tropes. Find fanworks that have few to no comments, or creators new to a particular fandom who maybe aren't well known or appreciated. Appreciate them.
I realized while I was finding stuff to recommend for day 3 that I had not commented on those stories, just bookmarked them, so I went back and gave them some love. I don't know them at all and they're part of fandoms I only read in generally, so I think this counts.
Day Five:
In your own space, talk about a creator. Show us why you think they are amazing. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.
I went back and forth on who to pick for this day (hence part of the reason I'm running behind, lol) but I'm going to go with my instinct and talk a little about
keiliss. I try to keep my fangirl in check most of the time but I think this is permission to let her out, right? I met Keiliss in 2004 on the Yahoo groups (the Erestor group, I think) and we struck up a conversation through email and then later YIM. We got along like fire and gasoline, and encouraged each other to write and participate in this crazy busy, fun LOTR fandom we found ourselves in. I still remember reading her first fanfic, and going 'wow, this is cool'.
Nine years (and some) later, my reaction is still 'wow, this is cool.' And no, I'm not saying that just because I've beta'd her work for a long time - sporadically from 2006, I think full time since early 2008 or thereabouts. I'm not entirely clear because I just sort of fell into it. I think if anyone were to ask me why I beta her, I'd probably say it is because it means I get first access to fic, because I've always first and foremost been her reader.
After all this time, it's kind of hard to put into words why I like her stories so much. I've gotten attached to her characters, her worlds, the different arcs she's done, so there's an emotional connection as much as anything, but I think it's that way with all the authors (fanfic or original work) we love and follow over the years. I've always thought a story has done its job if it's made you think, if it's changed your view of something a bit, if it's taken you to another world and lived in it for a while or if it makes you fall in love with a character. Kei's stories have managed to do all of those for me.
Before I read her stories, Gil-galad was just another character from the Silm (and like - 3 seconds of the FoTR prologue), which I had read through once, but it was very dense and not all of it memorable (Turin's story stood out to me, as particularly tragic) - he didn't stick in my mind either way. I didn't know what to make of Galadriel, I didn't mind PJ's interpretation and a lot of the fanfic writers I was reading at the time gave her an evil slant, so she was hard to attach to or care about either way. And Second Age Silm? Really not something I knew much about or a time period I particularly wanted to read.
Then Even Quicker Than Doubt was born (initially through the first Slashy Swap, coincidentally), and she made me care about Gil, Elrond, Elros, Erestor, and Galadriel (and Laslech, can't forget her!), and the events that made up their lives in the Second Age. (I already cared about Glorfindel, to be fair, but she did make me care a lot more about Doubt!Glorfindel) It really opened up a whole new world for me and a new cast of characters and different ways of looking at familiar characters. Doubt is still one of my most favorite LoTR fanfics, and Gil-galad/Glorfindel is one of my ultimate OTPs, largely due to this.
The point is, she made me care, and I think that's one of the ultimate traits of a good creator. When you can tell a story, share a vision of something and get someone, a friend or a complete stranger, someone who is familiar with Tolkien's vast world or someone who isn't, to care about your story, you are a good creator.
She's written Galadriel as a fully formed woman with desires, dreams and motivations, cunning and love. She's written Gil-galad as a king, a good, kind, shrewd king, but also explored the man behind the crown. He's one of my favorite characters now. She's written Elrond in many different stages of his life, both as an incredibly good father, a wise leader and a hard-headed, sharp-edged, soft-hearted young man. She's written some of my favorite Glorfindel fics, showing depth, goodness, kindness and joy that I admire. She's written Erestor, as a fully formed character, beyond fanon characteristics and I've seen more aspects of him through her and her vision has definitely influenced my own view of Erestor. I quite disliked Elwing from the Silm, but Keiliss made me understand her in a different way, beyond what I could ever conceive.
She made me cry over the thought of Elros dying, and the deep tragedy of the twins' choice.
But I think one of the things that I love the most about her creations is the touch of magic that she brings to Tolkien's world, a kind that both delights and fascinates me, it has depth and feels - grounded, if that makes any sense. One of the ultimate examples of this is her story, Hidden Within.
She's a story teller. She breathes life into characters, imagines plots, political machinations, heartfelt threads and aspects of life brilliantly, and I don't know how her head didn't explode before she started fanfic writing, because she's had so much to tell over the years. I literally have barely scratched the surface of talking about her fics. She's grown so much since I started following her writing, and it's really neat to be a small part of that.
Ultimately though, she just writes the kind of stories I want to read, the kind of creator where I would track someone's LJ posts, or follow them on Tumblr, or subscribe to them on AO3, just because I don't want to miss a story or update.
If you haven't read any of her work, you can find it on her website, Braided Light. There are a lot of stories on there, and there's something for everyone, truly.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2014-01-09 09:49 pm (UTC)Bless you, this was so incredibly kind. And you have no business making me cry while I'm wearing mascara.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-12 06:11 am (UTC)*hugs very tight*
no subject
Date: 2014-01-10 12:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-12 06:08 am (UTC)I'm always thrilled when Doubt has another fan. :)
no subject
Date: 2014-01-10 09:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-12 06:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-12 06:29 am (UTC)