#silmarillion filk

[meadowlarkx]

loving, intensely low-tech tribute to @i-am-a-lonely-visitor's incredible Mamma Mia AU, here we go again (lyrics from chapter 8)!! In Finrod's words, "Here’s one we used to sing in the camps of the War of Wrath"

[damnfool-of-a-took]

amazing XD

but yeah, the bit where it's just the Fëanorians left on screen and the "we didn't start the fire" chorus comes back in?

yes you fucking did 😂

Timeline of the First Age – The Silmarillion to the tune of 'We Didn't Start the Fire' by Tim DeMarco (bardofarda)

[comment-exchange]

Podfic Highlight Week

In honor of Voiceteam 2024 (which is happening right now), and for the Chip In challenge, the week from May 13th to May 19th will be Podfic Highlight Week. That means any and all podfics and other audio based fanworks can be submitted without having to provide proof that you commented on something else. All our other rules still apply.

All podfics that have already been submitted will be reblogged this week and listed on this post. Podfics that get submitted will be added to the list as well.

I also made an info post about podfic, with information and links about what they are, how you can find them, how to heighten you chances of someone turning your fic into a podfic and how to learn how to podfic yourself. I will post that hopefully tomorrow and update this post with a link. If you have suggestions what should be included in that post, please reach out.

If you have any questions regarding this highlight, podfics or Comment Exchange in general, I'm happy to answer them.

So far 9 Podfics, 1 fan playlist and 2 Filks (fan songs) have been submitted to Comment Exchange:

[Podfic] The Meaning of Family (Octopath Traveler) by @postalninja

[Podfic] Edge of Jealousy (Julie and the Phantoms) by @meggie-jolly

[Podfic] the strange idea of continuous living (Guardian) by @flamingwell

[Podfic] The Waltz (Good Omens) by @meggie-jolly

[Podfic] Almost Home (Hades) by @devilwithabirddress

[Podfic] Covenant (Our Flag Means Death) by @vexbatch

[Podfic] automatic joy (Fandom for Robots) by @sunshineprincejeremyknox

[Podfic] In Full Bloom (Hades game) by @vexbatch

[Podfic] It’s treason, then. (Star Wars) by @sunshineprincejeremyknox

[Podfic] All Part of the Plan (Good Omens) by @vexbatch

[Filk] Rexxentrum Fair (Critical Role) by @erdariel

[Filk] Rowan of Aman (Silmarillion) by @erdariel

[Playlist] EYES ON FIRE, SPINE ABLAZE (Skulduggery Pleasant) by @bubblemoon66

[shinraelectricpowercom]

Silly-marillion* Fanworks Community discord launch announcement

*Silliness not mandatory (but strongly encouraged)

After my interest check got a decent amount of responses, I've decided to launch the server!

The Silly-marillion Fanworks Community is a Silmarillion fanworks-focused Discord server, intended to be a space for Silm fanwork creators to discuss the Silm and our Silm-based works, such as fic, art, meta, fansongs and filk, speculative linguistics, etc. It is an adults-only (18+) space with no mandatory content warnings and no limits (besides applicable US law and Discord TOS) on fictional discussion and content, including art (although NSFW images are required to be spoilered).

A few of the server rules & a server map are below the cut, so that people can get a sense for the server & see if they want to join it before actually clicking on or requesting an invite link.

The invite link will be in a reblog.

Server Rules sample

1. Don’t be a dick. That includes not engaging in hate speech, harassment, bigotry, or threats, even “as a joke”. Remember that there is another human being on the other side of the screen. Bannable "being a dick" behaviors include (but are not limited to!) using slurs in an insulting context, harassment, doxxing, and targeted bigotry. N.b.: The owner of this server is pro-bodily-autonomy with regards to pretty much every issue that covers. I am not interested in having server members who do not respect others' rights to autonomy. I will kick people over this.

2. If you’re unsure about something, ask. This goes for everything from pronouns to “what type of feedback do you want” to “can I make X sort of jokes with you”. Accept the answer with grace, respect it, and act accordingly.

3. No topic is off-limits. This is an 18+ space and as such may include frank and/or explicit discussion of sexuality as well as potentially triggering and dark topics (including abuse, incest, and suicide), as the text of the Silmarillion itself does. N.b.: It is the responsibility of individual server members to remove themselves from discussions that they may find upsetting or triggering. However, please use your judgment about whether this chat is the best place for discussions of IRL sexual activity and other such sensitive/personal topics.

4. Images that are NSFW and/or gory are allowed, BUT if you post one, please spoiler the image and put a text note ahead of it explaining that it contains NSFW and/or gore.

Server map

–HOUSEKEEPING ⁠#rules: where server rules are hosted. Read well and respect them, please. #announce: where changes to rules and other important server updates and information is shared. #⁠intros: where newcomers can introduce themselves. An introduction is required to gain access to certain channels.

–SILM DISCUSSION #general-silm: main home of discussion in this server. Anything Silm-related can go here. #meta: for meta relating to the Silm. #works-gallery: for sharing your Silm fanworks. #works-discuss: for discussing Silm fanworks. #works-assist: for asking for assistance with specific aspects of your fanworks. (Only introduced members can message in this channel.) #project-threads: for threaded discussion of specific fan projects that server members are working on. (Only introduced members can message in this channel.)

–OFF TOPIC #off-topic: for discussions which started on-topic and then went elsewhere. If there are only two people in an off-topic discussion, consider taking it to DMs. ⁠#fandom-whining: for complaining about those petty annoyances that fandom life sometimes contains. (Only introduced members can view and message in this channel.)

[ao3feed-tolkien]

SWG Jubilee

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/QTPKDr9

by cuarthol

A collection of various prompts from the Silmarillion Writers' Guild for the Jubilee challenge.

Words: 3182, Chapters: 5/?, Language: English

Fandoms: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen

Characters: Finrod Felagund | Findaráto, Elwing (Tolkien), Morwen Eledhwen, Rían of the House of Bëor, Ilwen (Tolkien), Gwidhil (Tolkien), Unnamed Canon Character(s), Baragund (Tolkien), Baragund's Wife (Tolkien), A mouse

Relationships: Elwing & Finrod Felagund | Findaráto, Morwen Eledhwen & Rían of the House of Bëor

Additional Tags: Ficlet Collection, Silmarillion Writers' Guild, Noldolante, Filk, Holidays, Gifts, Cuiviénen, Mithrim, Character Study, POV Animal, Unspecified characters

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/QTPKDr9

[iridescentoracle]

LOTR filk album but it’s all new lyrics to hymns i grew up hearing in Mass

[scribefindegil]

Akallabêth the Downfallen

Sometimes your friend makes a joke about throwing a Silmaril into Lake Superior and then things escalate and you have to write a tragic ballad filk about the downfall of Númenor set to the tune of The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, as you do.

Some lyrics will probably be tweaked but you can hear our first play-through of this version here on the recording of last night’s filk stream! (time stamp 29:00)

On these hither shores we forget Númenor Land of Star, Land of Gift that was granted. Now lost Westernesse is called Akallabeth In the tongue of the Elves Atalante. It was once bright and fair, and the men who dwelt there Knew arts that are now lost and hidden But they chafed at the Ban and the Doom laid on man That the Undying Lands were forbidden.

King Al-Pharazôn was both prideful and strong And he thought there was none could defeat him. His force was so great that he need only wait Until Sauron came humbly to meet him. And indeed Sauron came, acting subtle and tame And condemning the Ban for its harshness And he fed wicked things to the mind of the king Till he worshipped the Lord of the Darkness

The sky filled with clouds and the thunder boomed loud And the Eagles of Manwe came flying But the King took no heed in his pride and his greed And his fear that too soon he’d be dying As the great fleet departed he hardened his heart From his ship decked with sable and golden And they sailed to the West to make war upon death And the Ban of the Valar was broken.

They came in a while to the first Lonely Isle Where their fleet made the setting sun darken And they reached the fair strands the Undying Lands Where even the king paused and hearkened. He wavered at last and he nearly turned back From the land and the brink of disaster But he strode on the shore and so doomed Númenor For in the end pride was his master.

The ocean was split with a cavernous rift And the whole world of Arda was shaken As the sky wheeled and raged o’er devouring waves They knew that their land was forsaken. Its gardens and halls and its riches and tombs Are drowned far beneath the deep waters With its music and mirth and its wisdom and lore And its wives and its sons and its daughters.

Elendil alone with his sons’ ships was blown Far away from the wrack and the ruin He was faithful through all and ignored the king’s call So escaped Pharazôn’s swift undoing. They were tossed on the strand of the still-risen land With masts snapped and hearts full of mourning Though their kingdoms grew strong they would never move on From their grief for the land they were born in.

The world has been rent and all roads are now bent And the Undying Lands have been hidden So that never again may the folly of Men Let them seek after Aman unbidden. And on these hither shores we forget Númenor, But sometimes when the seabirds are calling We may look to the West and with grief in our breasts Weep for Akallabeth the Downfallen.

[astriiformes]

hey i’ve been reading about filk after seeing you mention it and it sounds really interesting!! do you have any recommendations for songs or artists i could start listening to in the genre? thanks!

Do I ever! I love recommending filk music to people. I don't know what direction your particular tastes lean, either music genre or interest-wise (there's filk about just about everything) so this might be a little more of a loose primer than anything else, but hit me up if you ever want more specific recs.

The album that got me into filk is a 1983 collection of space travel songs called Minus Ten and Counting, which you can listen to in its entirety here. A few of the songs on here are really famous filk classics (as are many of the artists!) and also all absolute jams, especially if you, like me, have a lot of feelings about human space exploration.

A lot of other the recommendations I have (of the top of my head, at least) are more modern artists that I've heard at cons (pretty much all of whom I can confirm are also lovely people, as well). For a quick sampling though:

Cheshire Moon are a filk duo who write a lot of fantasy/witchy/mythological songs -- I love their sound, especially the violin on many of their tracks. Favorite of mine include Banshee and Build Your Wings

The Faithful Sidekicks are another duo, with more of a rock sound and a lot of very pop-culture-based songs (although they write about other things, too!). I really like their songs Fatty Bolger, Sancho Panza, and Spoons

Ben Newman does some extremely good filks, all very lyrically clever and all over the map in terms of subject matter. I have to include his stuff just because his songs Not All Who Wander Are Lost (In Space) (lyrics here, mp3 here) and Galadriel to Sam (again, lyrics here, mp3 here) are among my very favorite filk songs. He also gets bonus points for being the only person I've ever seen rap the plot of the Silmarillion, which really feels like the the kind of thing filk is all about.

Beth Kinderman & the Player Characters are some friends of mine who also make fantastic folk-rock style music -- their album The Hero's Journey is a great bit of trope deconstruction paired with really incredible instrumentals. On the sillier end, I love their song The Dread Gazebo very very much.

And for the lightning round: The Traveller by Julia Ecklar, Starsoul by Urban Tapestry, Somebody Will by Sassafrass, Cheshire Kitten by S.J. Tucker, Kitchen Heroes by Talis Kimberley, and Vixy & Tony's version of Dawson's Christian (a much older filk, I just love their version best)

Also, if it's not too gauche, can I link my own stuff, haha? @scribefindegil and I have a filk duo of our own called Astrisoni; we've only got a few of our songs up and recorded on Bandcamp, but we also both have filk tags on our tumblrs (mine is just "filk tag") where we've shared lyrics/recordings of some of our other songs, too. If you asked me for some favorites -- Pure of Heart, and Opportunity Lullaby off of our debut EP, and Time Waits for No Man and The Fastest Ship in the Galaxy off my blog (both rough recordings, but they're still some of my favorite songs I've written)

Hopefully that will give you a jumping-off point for some of your own exploring! Filk is a vast, fun, weird body of music that mostly lives in fan corners of the internet, old fanzines, and at conventions, which can make it tricky to unearth at times, but also really unique and charming & gives it a lovely sense of community alongside the great music. If you want to dig into it more yourself, I recommend both @filkyeahfilk (a blog run by some of my friends -- technically I'm a mod too, but I haven't actually posted there, whoops) and the podcast FilkCast (sort of like a filk radio program showcasing music from all over the community, run by Eric Coleman of the aforementioned Cheshire Moon).

[downwithpeople]

pre-2000s blind guardian kinda hits the sweet spot for what i want out of power metal where yes, these are filk songs about fantasy novels and yes, this is a concept album about the silmarillion, but it’s very thrashy and there’s a lot of brian may-ass guitar solos which stop it from feeling as nerdy as it could be

[st0pandg0]

My Lover’s Eyes

How tenuous the ally only caused by fear and need Too easy to mistake the deal and pay the clues no heed Unbearable adjusting, to the kin that we despise But when I look into his face, I see my lovers eyes He forced me to captivity, he tried to rule my kind   But I’m not made to entertain a cruel and twisted mind My rescue turned to torture and a state that tantalize But when I look into his face, I see my lovers eyes We battled over mastery as kings over their lands And I shouldn’t feel intimacy in cruel oppressive hands I should not see reliance when there are just misleading lies But when I look into his face, I see my lovers eyes Now how am I to deal with all this feelings in my soul I can’t treat him dismissive while my own misgivings grow I truly wish to hate him still my heart would not abide And when I look into his face, I see my lovers eyes Only my lover’s eyes

[multsicorn]

from a filk zoom chat last week:

‘should I watch The Untamed?’

‘well, I haven’t seen it myself, but there seems to be lots of crossover with Silm fandom.  So if you like the Silmarillion you might like it??’

[whetstonefires]

My favorite parts of that rock opera version of the Silmarillion that I made up in my head based on Blind Guardian’s Nightfall In Middle Earth album are still:

1) That Morgoth was hands-down the best role in the show, because of both the Villain Song tropes that not only allowed but obligated you to go Large Ham,

and because within the narrative of this imaginary show existing, the main songwriter wrote the role for himself, and put in all kinds of outrageous vocal frills and furbelows

to show off with, and also because you can do that kind of thing to yourself but it’s kind of a dick move otherwise.

(i have no idea if any of this is in character for the real actual person Hansi Kürsch, but he does seem to be having a lot of fun in the Morgoth tracks.)

2) That according to my made-up universe where, again, this is a real show that people perform, smaller productions regularly double-cast Morgoth and Fëanor--because they both have to be strong singers, but Fëanor dies early enough it seems a shame to waste any of your really good cast members on him, and gloriously enough they have no scenes together.

Technically they’re supposed to appear onstage at the same time during the big crowd scene number in the Ages of the Trees, in the first half of Act 1

but you can cheat that by some combination of quick costume changes and reordering the verses

or altering the score more dramatically and having Melkor largely represented by some other actor in a dramatic cape, miming the spreading of scurrilous rumors

while Fëanor eats the scenery with his increasing paranoia, and picks up some of Melkor’s best bars from the original version of the scene in a way that folds into the narrative of the rumors having successfully gotten to him, so now Morgoth’s words are coming out of his mouth

Bonus please recall they are, in this scenario, actually the same person so the guy has to sing as Fëanor sounding eerily like Melkor, who is also him.

Actors singing this combo role notoriously strain their voices at the end of Act 1 if they’re not careful and then Morgoth sounds extra creepy in Act 2.

Which is mostly fine in itself but straining your voice is bad Steve. You don’t even have an understudy! If we had somebody capable of being your understudy he’d already be playing Fëanor! At this rate you’ll lose your voice around the time you kill Fingolfin tomorrow night!

Alternately you can double-cast Fëanor and Beren, which is easier logistically since their lifespans don’t overlap at all but everyone agrees feels more weird

and also requires the guy to be both a good singer and a good actor, since you can’t typecast Fëanor-and-Beren, and it’s kind of important that Beren and Luthien’s romance be convincing.

3) Is this technically some sort of combination fanfic of the Silmarillion itself and a Silmarillion filk metal album?

I feel like there’s a recognized genre of ‘musical theater AU’ but that’s usually about the characters performing, not being performed as. You know?

[first-and-last-neocount]

So, guess who's currently using their lunch break to write what is basically a Silmarillion filk song?

Yes, I am in therapy, but what does that have to do with... ah.

[eighthdoctor]

1 (chinhands) 13, 19

FISHING FOR COMPLIMENTS

1. Five facts about your current relationship OR Five facts about your single life

We’ve been dating for 4 years and 2 weeks as of today, actually, and have been in the same room for not quite 4 weeks of that time.

We are always messaging, and that’s a huge bit of what makes this work. If there’s something going on in my life, she knows; if there’s something going on in her life, I know

I am that horrible DM who lets their partner play a homebrewed chaotic neutral rogue and I cannot believe the rest of the party puts up with this

We were literally planning future pets before we realized we had crushes on each other, oh my god, why are we like this

Speaking of, I clued in first (I say, like I didn’t have to be called out on my constant blushing by @rhydalic) and mentioned it, and Jo about bolted, and so I was good and dropped it and was very very restrained for the next two weeks but always on edge for like, is she going to commit? is she going to definitively say no?anyway so when she finally admitted she also had a crush, I messaged back “hang on, watching a video of tiny puppies learning how to howl”

EDIT: SHIT

13. Five facts about your favorite show

me, for 5 literal seconds: what would that be??

@noaacat tried to get me to watch it for like, years, a decision I think they regretted later

I watched nuwho s1-6 in literally 3 weeks, coincidentally (not) the 3 weeks before I went to college

I was a Nuvian for exactly 6 months and then spent the next 6 months watching all of Classic Who, which basically ruined any opportunity I had to seem “normal” at college

I got my roommate (not rhydalic) into dr who in return for her introducing me to OUAT, this was a bad idea all the way around because she was a very serious watcher of OUAT and I am...not

I don’t remember who’s at fault for getting me into Big Finish which is a shame because they should be dragged, but I listened to basically all? of the BF I’ve ever heard while doing part sorting at an internship summer after freshman year

because 4 was mostly about ouat: I care about twelve really very deeply and hope that the special interest cycle comes back someday (not SOON because I need more time with lotr) because twelve is. me? a lot?

19. Five facts about you right now (it could be what you're wearing, how you're feeling, what you're doing)

Currently at home with my mom and younger brother #2, which is very nice because we’re all very similar people and so basically we just will spiral our way through conversations taking turns to infodump

I neeeeeed a haircut, I’m getting shaggy again and This Will Not Do, made funny bc I keep my hair shorter than basically anyone I know

I slept pretty poorly last night because the dog I was dogsitting took 45 minutes to chill out and also snores loudly, but tonight I get to sleep under my weighted blanket again and I’m jazzed

Getting to exciting (aka cute and/or murderous) areas in the Silmarillion, I say, like the Silmarillion isn’t mostly cute and/or murder, but I promise you it’s getting more intense and we meet MEN soon

My English folk music phase has not worn off yet but I may cycle to lotr filk soon (basically the same idea, right?)

[avelera]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Leaflock & Original Female Character Characters: Finglas | Leaflock, Treebeard | Fangorn, Galadriel | Artanis, Skinbark | Fladrif, Ents | Enyd Additional Tags: Original Character(s), Fluffy, Elf Culture & Customs, Gap of Rohan, Misty Mountains, Valinor, Grey Havens, Fangorn Forest, Entwash, Handmaidens, Tree shepherds, Tree-ish, Fourth Age, Elvish, Eldarin, Quenya, Sindarin, Middle Earth, Tree-friend, Caras Galadhon, Lindon (Tolkien), Sea-longing, Undying Lands, Entwives, Age of Men, Original verse, Music, Filk, Song Lyrics, Laurelindórenan, Lóthlorien, Aman (Tolkien), Old Forest (Tolkien), Teleri (Tolkien) - Freeform, Lindar (Tolkien), Third Age, Second Age, Sea of Belegaer, Emotional, Elven Lore, Emo Series: Part 1 of Last Elf Summary:

Teluial, last elf on Middle-earth, whom Lady Galadriel tasked with learning the language and culture of the Ents so as to keep their memory alive in Valinor, wakes one morning to find her Ent charge, Leaflock, going tree-ish. When she learns the Sea-longing is upon her, Teluial must sing farewell to her Enyd friends, which she does in Entish using an instrument she made with wood from the forest floor. Leaflock goes into deep slumber, and Teluial leaves Fangorn Forest, embarking on her journey through the Gap of Rohan to the Grey Havens, where she will meet the ship Galadriel has sent for her.

--

Hey guys you should check out this story from my badass writing friend from the writing workshop I attended earlier this summer! She's a professional grade writer dabbling in fanfic, I think you'll enjoy!

[scribefindegil]

i love tragic ballads but i can’t handle long-form tragedy at all

galaxy brain take: if i turn enough Silmarillion stories into filk songs maybe i can trick my brain into actually engaging with the Silmarillion without having to fear that i’ll succumb to the Elf Depression