#tbh i don't generally tag my criticism unless it's constructive

[djemsostylist]

ROP was never meant to be Game of Thrones which why they kept the show family-friendly and tonally, there's nothing ASOIAF about it either. Tolkien's own estate has continued to license his works for all kinds of adaptations, including the most recent hilariously bad Gollum game. Fans act as if these studios can just produce works without the legal blessing of the Tolkien estate, and even then, ROP was not allowed to use the Silmarillion. It's so obvious his estate wants to profit from these adaptations, even in limited capacities, which Tolkien fans seem to never want to admit to.

I don't mean Game of Thrones as in the sex and nudity or themes, I mean Game of Thrones in the "Show everyone talks about and is a Part of the Discourse and Conversation." They wanted to make a popular fantasy show that would be a major part of pop culture--not unlike whatever the Witcher is attempting (and also failing) at doing.

And yes, I'm well aware that ROP has the rights because they were sold to them. I do know how copyright works. I also know that the current Tolkien in charge of the estate is more concerned with money and less concerned with preserving a legacy than Christopher was. I am not unaware of these things, nor has that ever been the point of my posts.

The point of my posts has always been that I find the entire thing overwhelmingly sad and vaguely depressing. Because while yes, Tolkien did initially sell his rights early on, we also know exactly what he thought both of big corporations (he notoriously hated Disney) and also how he felt about changing the fundamental aspects of his work in order to turn a profit. We also know that Christopher Tolkien was very protective of his father's legacy, and wanted nothing more than to preserve his father's works as close to their original form and meaning as possible. My point has always been that as Tolkien's works move further and further from their origin, and as the media (tv shows and movies) developed from his works take over the public consciousness, and fewer and fewer Tolkien fans are actually reading the works which they claim to love, his works become less the things he poured his soul into, and more the thing that tv show/movie fans *think* it is. And this isn't just me saying that--I have read/listened to/seen so many fans talking about his works as huge Tolkien fans while never having actually consumed any of his works.

And because of the unique place the Tolkien holds in fantasy literature, I find this sad. Unbearably, overwhelmingly sad. Again, my point has never been that ROP fans can't like a show--it's been that when said show becomes the thing that people think is Tolkien, then we lose something fundamental about what his works so special in the first place.

I feel like the fact that my ROP posts inspire so much anger and defense in ROP fans says all that needs to be said really. (And also the fact that every time I get an anonymous post angry about my ROP posts, they always seem to have actually not read said post, or at the very least comprehended none of what they did.

[gingerteaonthetardis]

writing tag game

i was tagged by @kelkat9! thank you, dear!

how many works do you have on a03? not many! just 25, though several of those are longer collections.

what’s your total a03 word count? 426,054.

what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

5. a sign : rose & aziraphale, general audiences

4. 'til you come (into the water) : fremione, explicit

3. grass : fremione, teen

2. some people just need a push : fremione, general audiences

1. the contingency plan : ninerose/tenrose, mature

do you respond to comments, why or why not? i really try to, but much as i enjoy getting feedback, it also tends to motivate me to put more pressure on myself... which isn't particularly conducive to me getting stuff written. so, sometimes i won't check comments until the next time i'm ready to update and then i catch up on what everybody's thinking. i am one of those few authors who isn't motivated by kudos and comments, but in spite of them, lmao.

what’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? probably the contingency plan? which... i don't think it's very angsty personally, but some people seemed surprised by the ending. even though, in my opinion, it really only could've ended one way. but i think that's about as close as i've gotten to angsty endings.

what’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending? hm, that's a hard one! since i tend to go in pretty hard on fluffy endings, you could probably say 'all of them.' for you, you hungry thing. (fremione, general audiences) and the common tongue of me loving you (eightrose, mature) are both pretty high on the happiness scale, i'd say.

do you write crossovers? if so, what is the craziest one you’ve written? i do, on occasion. i was once prompted to write a good omens/doctor who body swap crossover fic, so that was fun.

have you ever received hate on a fic? i am very fortunate not to have ever received hate, basically of any kind, on my fics! probably because i spend my time in very specific, curated spaces (and, like, half my writing is for a rarepair ship crewed by the nicest people alive). occasionally, i'll get criticism that's probably supposed to be constructive (but is actually incoherent). but that's pretty rare.

do you write smut? if so, what kind? yes, i do. i wish i was better at it, honestly; it's a difficult skill for me to develop, since i'm very in my own head about sex. i've usually stuck with m/f stuff (because that's mostly what i'm prompted to write), but i have a few f/f things in the drafts... maybe someday they'll see the light of day. one of my favorites to do was a m/f/f scene, prompted by a beloved friend.

have you ever had a fic stolen? not that i'm aware of, but who knows? like i said, i'm pretty small and unnoticed in my various fandoms. (for which i am thankful, tbh.)

have you ever had a fic translated? no, but i've had requests to do it. honestly, i'm not sure i'd be comfortable with letting someone translate my fics unless i knew them beforehand and felt i could trust them.

have you ever co-written a fic before? yes, with the lovely and amazing and spectacular and fantastic and brilliant @lotsofthinkythoughts, whomst i adore. take the money and run (eightrose, teen) remains a very fun fic for me to look back on, and a particularly creative point in my life.

what’s your all-time favourite ship? you would make me choose from among my children?? not likely.

what’s a wip that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? oh god, so many. basically every wip i have?? i have a witch!bella new moon rewrite in the drafts, a tenrose d:bh crossover situation, two... yes, two fremione marriage law fics, a doctorrose retelling of lavinia, a tenrose stardust au... literally 90% of the writing i do is doomed to live forever in the docs and none of those fics will ever see the light of day unless my adhd suddenly gets cured or i get a beta reader who works overtime as my personal ass-kicker.

what are your writing strengths? making everybody fucking communicate for once in their lives. oh, overblown emotions. and banter. i think i can manage some pretty bangin' banter. AH, also making everybody so bisexual they can't function.

what are your writing weaknesses? what else! plot. smut. finishing anything, ever, for any reason. also, sustaining motivation; i lose interest in ideas fast.

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? i've done, like, maybe single words or short, well-known phrases, but i would not be willing to do more than that, holy god. i already made an ass out of myself writing german dialogue once. never again.

what was the first fandom you wrote for? harry potter. dramione, to be specific. my friends and i passed around a composition notebook and i always wrote people either fighting or kissing. nothing in between. (i still pretty much do that...) my first pUbLiShEd fic was on some harry potter website and it was a songfic and i'm pretty sure hermione fell out the window. i don't really remember much from middle school, and thank fuck for that.

what’s your favourite fic you’ve written? probably grass and the contingency plan are my favorites. they're definitely the most self-indulgent and had the most fluid writing processes. almost no editing went into the former, and the latter was such a passion project that i was willing to really put my back into it. i wish i could get that motivation back, honestly, but... life is life, i suppose.

if you made it to the bottom, you're a hero and an icon. here's payment in the form of a snippet from a ninerose prompt i'm working on:

“Anything?” A sharp, Scottish accent came promptly down the line.

“Nope. You?”

“Nothing.”

“I’m telling you, Amy, Wilson’s having us on about this so-called ‘maintenance guy.’ If there is one, how come I’ve never seen him before?” It was far more likely Wilson just wanted to offload his responsibilities onto someone else—even if that someone else was a fiction.

Her upstairs neighbor pretended to consider, giving a thoughtful hum. “He could be a ghost?”

“Oh, I quite like that. Explains all the moaning you hear in the corridors.”

“No, that’s just Jack and his boyfriend.”

tagging: @deardiary17, @saecookie, @loupettes, @lizann5869, and @ialwayscomewhenyoucall <3