#niennaanswers

[niennawept]

Trick!

Hi - uhm - please allow me to remind you that you asked for this. I am sorry in advance.

A perfect drabble set toward the beginning of Adar's life (100 words)

One minute. That was all he got. In the ever-present shadow of Utumno, in the very depths of the earth, he was allowed one minute to hold the newest of his children before they were ripped from his arms until they were older. He couldn’t help the tears that misted his eyes but he breathed deep through his nose, memorizing their scent. Trying to hold onto it—the imprint of his child while they were still untouched by this malicious place. “Come on, Adar,” the minder said, voice filled with cruel glee. “Your time’s up.” It always ended too soon.

I'm not crying, you're crying (also, Adar is crying)

[niennawept]

treat, please!!

Fluff?! From me? In this economy?

Here's my college try - a perfect drabble set in the Scars universe (100 words)

Adar sat alone by one of the bonfires of the Long Night and felt warmth on his face. In the circle marked by these flames, they laughed, drank, ate, and importantly—they lived. For the first time since its coming, the sun didn’t trouble their days, but this mid-winter night was no less vibrant for it. “Ah—ada?” A tiny hand clutched at his sleeve. Vazg, and Vrath running after her, ready to snatch her up. He shook his head and allowed the child to clamber into his lap to watch the flames. To him, this fire sounded like peace.

Apparently, Vazg is talking now! But I suppose she is about the right age for that. I think they're all in trouble given her parentage <3

[niennawept]

Fic titles for the game: 🙏

1. The trees are bare, but my heart is full.

2. Red.

3. Three Velvet Dresses.

Hi Anon! I hope you end up seeing this and it hasn't been too long!

The trees are bare, but my heart is full

After the rebellion at Forodwaith, a new winter has fallen over the land, but Adar feels only warmth, knowing for the first time that his children are safe from Morgoth and his servants. (one shot, aftermath of Sauron's death and the journey south)

Red

The wine is not wine. Its red is not the red of grapes left to rot. It is too thick, too dark, and too warm. But his thirst is so great. He has been on the edge of death and unable to die for ... he's not sure how long. So when the Maia puts the glass to his lips, he drinks. (one shot, dark/torture aftermath, in which Sauron is The Worst and Adar hates his guts)

Three Velvet Dresses

Three velvet dresses are laid out on the bed in high hall in Meduseld. One each for Arwen, Éowyn, and the bride herself, Lothíriel. It is customary in Dol Amroth for the mother and sisters of a bride to dress and prepare together, but she has none of either - all of them lost. So it was that the Queen of Gondor claimed her kinship and Éowyn did as her sister-to-be. Three velvet dress are laid out and Lothíriel's heart is full. (one shot, Éomer/Lothíriel, bittersweet with a happy ending)

Thank you so much for sending these!

For the "send me titles and I'll give you the fic that title is for" ask game.

[niennawept]

For the fic title ask game:

Open My Heart Like a Scroll

Despair Rooted in Your Smile

Hi there! Thank you for taking me up on this!

Open My Heart Like a Scroll

Just after the War of Elves and Sauron, Elrond retreats to the newly-founded Imladris, struggling with the rampant destruction he has fought for years and seeking to rebuild the great libraries lost in the burning of Eriador. He expects to spend a great deal of his time with his nose nearly touching old manuscripts. He does not expect to meet his match in a mysterious elven scholar and he's even more surprised to learn that she is the daughter of a dear friend. (Slow burn, Celrond, novel length, nerds in love/themes of healing)

Despair Rooted in Your Smile

When Faramir first met Eowyn, all of her smiles were sad. There was an undercurrent of sorrow that clung to her like a second skin. He feels privileged to watch as that changes - as hope, the stubborn weed it is, chokes the older plant and reaches for the sun. (vignettes that tell of Eowyn's grieving and newfound peace, Farawyn, short story)

This was very fun - but I must admit the second one stumped me for a bit!

For the ask game here.

[niennawept]

For the writer asks! 2, 17, and 29?

(ps-I'm still working my way through 'Scars', I'm so sorry that I'm so...slow? Or, more accurately, easily distracted by Tumblr 😅)

Hi there!

2. a character whose POV you’re currently exploring

Mírdania (though I'll probably full-on change her name because I dislike the suffix they added) has been in my Elf Thoughts lately. I completely understand why the show did what they did, but my poor elvish baby deserves better. And by better, I mean getting kidnapped by uruk and taken to Adar for reasons.

17. talk about your writing and editing process

Well - I'm a recovering perfectionist. So for a long time, my writing and editing process were the same really. The thing I drafted was essentially my only draft and then I'd proofread it and publish. Since I'm trying to get better, we're playing a game where I'm not allowed to backspace unless I spot a typo and I have to edit everything else in another sitting. Something that has stayed the same is that I always let a draft sit at least overnight before posting it. Sometimes you just need to sleep on it to be sure it's right.

29. how easy is it for you to come up with titles?

Hard, lol. Unless it's a smutty one-shot that I wrote purely for giggles, catch me agonizing about titles for an absurdly long time. I prefer for titles to have some thematic value so unfortunately that requires thought.

Thank you for the ask! And absolutely take your time! The story will still be there when you are ready to go on.

[niennawept]

2, 7, 30 writer asks!

Hi friend! Thank you for the ask!

2. a character whose POV you’re currently exploring

I answered this once already, but let's pick a different one! I'm writing several things at once and on the backburner is a spooky Maedhros story about him not(?) finding Elurin and Elured. It won't be ready for Halloween, I don't think, but I have enjoyed this glimpse into his psyche right after the Second Kinslaying.

7. your preferred writing fonts

I'm obsessed with this question. I'm not sure I've ever noticed fonts outside of Scrivener. But I suppose I'll have to look. On Scrivener I use Literata which is a mostly free Google font - check the license part etc. For LibreOffice, I use "LiberationSerif" apparently; I believe this is the default. I also use whatever font discord is in because that's what I type snippets into when I'm on the go/I woke up at 3am and had to write the skeleton plot of a fix-it for Mirdania (despite her unfortunate name, I will protect her).

30. share a fic you’re especially proud of

I'm absurdly proud of Where now all our sons? It's a fic that hops between the POVs of Anairë, Eärwen, and Findis as they sail for Beleriand and endure the War of Wrath with the armies of Valinor. I loved writing it. Even though it's more work to breathe life into characters that don't have much more about them than their names in canon, I think it's worth it to people the Legendarium with more women of varied kinds.

Thank you so much for asking <3

For this ask game!

[niennawept]

Heads Up, Seven Up

Thank you for the tag, @zealouswerewolfcollector! This looks fun!

RULES: Post the last 7 lines you wrote.

From my Chaining of Melkor WIP, pax valarum:

“I am here to listen.” “No. You are here because my brother asked you to come.” “He did not.” The sound of Nienna's foot as she stepped closer to the bars. “I came because I hoped.” He laughed, bright and cruel and wrathful. “Hoped that I would fall into your chorus again? That no dissenting voice would mar its boring, lifeless perfection?” His voice snapped at her, but she did not flinch. “I hoped that you missed us, or at least, some part of you did.” A slender hand gripped the bar, revealing that she’d knelt down on his level. “I can see I was right.” Unwillingly, he turned to look into those wet eyes. “It does not matter.” “I think it does. Some part of you seeks harmony still, Melkor.” She settled, then, knees meeting the floor. A posture for waiting. “And while it does, I think you are not yet lost.”

Tagging seven people for seven lines: @polutrope, @melestasflight, @eilinelsghost, @sallysavestheday, @cilil, @maironite, @a-world-of-whimsy-5

[niennawept]

20 Questions for Writers

I was tagged by @lordoftherazzles and by @thenookienostradamus! Thank you both! These are some cool questions!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? Thirteen at the moment (not counting an Adar headcanon collection), but likely to be more soon.

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 170,865 (not bad for a year and a quarter)

3. What fandoms do you write for? Tolkien broadly (so far it's been Rings of Power, The Silmarillion, and The Hobbit - no LotR yet, but I do have an idea for one)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? Click with caution, all of these but the second one are rated E; apparently, I am mostly known for Adar smut: Scars of Silver and Gold, Because the world is ending, Mistletoe Mischief, Calendar Girl, Until the Stars Burn Out

5. Do you respond to comments? Might take me a bit, but yes, I always do. I figure that someone gave me a little of their time in writing out a comment and I can give them some of mine in return. It's especially fun when people are predicting things; I love hearing what they think will happen.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Mmmm. I think it's probably Scars? Without spoilers, my protagonist lost something very important to her and although there's a lot of good things about that ending - she's still going to have that loss to grieve in the next fic and it'll inform her next arc. I'd say it's still a bittersweet ending.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I don't really do purely happy endings? I write a lot of hopeful endings, but most of them have some darkness lurking under them. I guess if I have to pick one, it's into the wild because that's technically a fix-it fic with Nienor getting saved by Mablung. Although, I might continue it some day, and it would inevitably get some Nienna-the-Song-is-tinted-with-grief flavoring.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not so far.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Uh, yes. I'm not sure what "what kind" means here? I guess I've written a variety- from kind of dreamlike and romantic to fics featuring BDSM-related kinks.

10. Do you write crossovers? I have never written one. I think that I'd probably never directly write one. But I might do something like shove Elrond into the plot of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight for a bisexual awakening set sometime in the Second Age. Not sure if that's a crossover or just a retelling though.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I'm aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes. Into Russian, if I remember correctly. It was a long time ago and I'm not in that fandom anymore.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yeah, I'd say my THAUC piece counts as co-written in the sense that my artist partner and I talked through the main ideas and beats of the story together.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? Uhhh for Tolkien, I'm afraid I don't have one (I like a lot of ships, but there's not one all-consuming one). So - I guess I pick Sesshomaru/Kagome from Inuyasha? That's the pairing I read when I don't know what else to read.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I don't start a lot of WIPs. I have a lot more ideas for fics than I have documents or text written, but I do have a Finrod piece that I'm not sure I'll ever finish. I have a lingering idea that might save it, but I think that needs more time in the oven.

16. What are your writing strengths? Mmm - I think worldbuilding, specifically for culture is one of my strengths. I also think that I have a pretty good ability to make OCs that people care about (something that was important with a mostly OC cast).

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I struggle with internality a lot. I find thoughts cumbersome to write, because I process most things by talking them out or writing them down. I also think I could tighten up the cast of characters and subplots. It's something I'll definitely be careful with in novels going forward.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? It really depends on the fic. In Tolkien's world, I think so much of culture is tied up in language that it's a little hard not to include some bits and snatches of other languages. It's important to provide translations in text, I think, but otherwise, go for it if it's important to your characters and your plot.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Alas, I don't talk about that fandom anymore. The author turned out to be terrible.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? Definitely Scars of Silver and Gold. It's my first completed longfic and I'm very proud of it, honestly. Are there some things I'd do differently? Yes. But I do love it. Honorable mention to peaches we devour, dusty skin and all. The YEARNING.

tagging (no pressure, just love): @runawaymun, @polutrope, @melestasflight, @fishing4stars

[niennawept]

Not-Yet-Written-Fics Game

Tagged by @runawaymun to expose all my not written fics. There are ... a lot of these that surface for a time and disappear into the ether, so I will name only the ones that are the most pervasive.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, but make it Tolkien (Elrond/Thranduil/Thranduil's OC wife) - aka Elrond's bisexual awakening, the fic

Adar taken prisoner in Valinor (Adar/Palariel) - an AU of my own Adar/OC story where they met in Valinor instead, with messy elf politics and mandatory therapy for the uruk dad.

East of the Sun, West of the Moon inspired dark fic (Adar/new OC) - This one is dark and doesn't have a happy ending (because Sauron is the worst), but if you've ever wondered what Angband was like in my headcanons - this would be the place to find out.

ira valarum (or, what were the Valar up to during the First Age anyway) - this would be a sequel to 'pax valarum' - the story of Melkor's captivity expanded. It's the First Age from the perspective of the Valar - why did they make the decisions they made? etc

Círdan recognizes a Moriondo - what it says on the tin. Cirdan knows one of the first uruks and finds them dead on the battlefield after the First Battle of Beleriand. I have a lot of emotions about this one.

Maeglin and Aredhel go to Doriath instead - Eol is Thingol's kin. Aredhel thinks that Eol will try to find them in Gondolin, so she and Maeglin go to Doriath instead. Thingol is frosty but polite to Aredhel for Maeglin's sake. This one's messy - but I Iike it.

Cirdan/OC longfic - I love Cirdan and I'm about to make that everyone else's problem to the tune of 70k words.

Kidnap fam longfic - with all the adoption trauma that I think is likely to come of that situation. Love may have grown between them but that doesn't make this a net positive situation.

MGIME with a twist (the twist is that it's also a body swap)

Thank you for the tag - listing these out proved to be more fun than I expected and I was already expecting a good time.

If anyone is curious about these, feel free to send me an ask and I'll tell you the vibes.

No pressure tags: @lordoftherazzles, @fishing4stars, @from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras and anyone to whom this looks like fun.

[niennawept]

🟥 for the fic writer asks?

Hi there!

🟥How long do you spend in edits?

As little time as possible. I don't enjoy edits at all; I don't understand how some people do? I try to write stuff that I'm like 95% happy with on the first pass so that I don't have to edit. (Of course, this leads to other problems like rabid perfectionism.) I finish writing a chapter one day and then reread it out loud the next day to catch grammar mistakes (hopefully). I honestly feel like writing would be a lot easier (faster, etc), if I were better at rough drafts. But I've never been that way, not even writing for school or my career. I struggle to write at all if you tell me if has to be "rough."

Thank you for asking <3

[niennawept]

Something I've always been curious about: How did you end up choosing the name Nienna? What drew you to her in particular?

Oh! Thank you for asking!

I've always been really fond of pantheons, real or fictional. I think people's gods tell you a lot about their culture and their world. It's one of those things I could talk about for an hour unprompted. So I was already primed to be interested in the Valar.

But to answer your question for Nienna specifically - it's what her presence says about the world. Yes, there is tragedy. There is grief and death and loss. But the Children are never alone in their grief because Nienna has compassion for the whole world

She has the kind of energy that I want to bring to life. Empathy for people's hurts, attempts to understand them and give them the benefit of the doubt.

(There is also a silly reference to the mild oath "Jesus Wept" in my name because I contain multitudes.)

Thank you for asking ❤️

To answer in a more personal way, and cw: grief

The only thing I wanted when my father passed away was not to feel like I was the only one morning him. He was a pretty difficult person at times - he didn't have many people at the end - and I felt so alone in missing him. When I read about Nienna - I wished she was real so I wouldn't have to be all by myself.

Anyway, Nienna is my favorite Vala; thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

[niennawept]

Would you ever write a full account of Adar's backstory at Cuiviénen and Utumno?

You know - earlier today I would have said "no" because I didn't have any ideas for one. Then, I started thinking, which is a dangerous choice for a writer, and now the answer is maybe.

Am I sure I will ever get to this idea? No. But does one now exist? Regrettably, yes. (This is all your fault.)

Thank you for asking me and causing problems ideas.

[niennawept]

Hi Niennawept, I think I'm going to start sending out weekly ASKs to engage with my followers and mutuals. Today I'd love to know if you have a favourite day of the week (also if it's a recurring situation like a ritual) and what happens on it that you like it. Sending my best wishes to you! ♥♥

Oh - this is such a lovely idea! Thank you for thinking of me (and I'm sorry for the delay in replying).

I think I'd have to say Saturday? I know that's probably the expected answer, but for me, it's because I go to the public library on Saturdays to pick out new books. My parter and I refer to it as "free book day (all you have to do is bring them back)" and it is really nice to be a regular somewhere in the community. All our librarians know us and we have to warn them when we're going out of town so they don't worry.

Thanks for the ask! It made me smile! I hope you're doing well <3

[niennawept]

Do you ever wonder if your OC is someone's blorbo? Well I doodled Palariel today because she is spinning around in my brain today!!

(ofc I cannot withhold my masterpiece from you)

AHHHHHH! (Pardon me while I SCREAM) sdlkjslgjahljsdlfjk!

You drew her! It's Palariel! 🥺

Thank you so much for sharing this with me! She looks so lovely. You did such a great job with her hair and I love that she's holding a bunch of flowers there!

It makes me so happy to know that you spend any amount of time thinking about her. I mean, I know she occupies a lot of my thoughts, but the fact that she's in yours too? 🥺💖

Thank you so much, my friend!!!

[niennawept]

What can you tell us about: BagginshieldLetters? 👀💖

You know, I had a hunch you might ask about this one. Not sure where I got that notion 😉

The beginning of this idea was actually from a one word FotFics prompt from last year: "postcards." I've been sort of mulling it over on the backburner ever since. I've decided it's an AU where Bilbo doesn't get that moment of reconciliation with Thorin at Ravenhill, but Thorin lives. Bilbo runs away in the night, heartbroken and thinking that Thorin won't forgive him the theft of the Arkenstone when he wakes.

So the story is basically: how would the dwarves go about enticing a hobbit who is convinced he's banished back to the Mountain? And make it partially epistolary! Angsty in the beginning, but with a happy ending, I swear.

I recently started writing it and it's turning out to be fun! Here's an excerpt:

Bilbo Baggins had always had a head for remembering dates. Catch him in the lane and ask him for the birthday of anyone from Hobbiton proper down to the smallest child and he would give it to you as if it were a mere trifle, which was why he found himself taking a very brisk walk to Bywater and back, for today was an anniversary that he most certainly did not want to remember, thank you very much.

Anyhow, I mean to work on it alongside the sequel to my longfic, so that I have a couple of choices for things to bounce between. Thank you for asking!

From the ask game here

[niennawept]

Hello niennawept. It’s another week of sending out some interesting ASKs to my mutuals. 🥰 Have you read any must-read classics? If you did, which was your favourite and why? If you haven’t, what is your favourite book and why?

Hey! Sorry for the very long delay. I've been trying to take my time with things so I don't get overwhelmed.

I'm not sure what qualifies as a must-read classic so naturally, I googled it. If we go by Penguin's list, I've read 15 in their entirety and parts of a few others. The standout titles to me are Pride and Prejudice and The Picture of Dorian Gray. I've read both of them more than once. I guess from this you could draw the conclusion that I like authors who are willing to use humor to point out aspects of their society that are a bit absurd.

Thank you for asking! (And what is your favorite? I'm so curious now!)