*
| "I helped to make Honduras right for the
American fruit companies in 1903. I helped to make Mexico - and especially
Tampico - safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti
and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues
in. I brought life to the Dominican Republic for American sugar in 1916.
In China, in 1937, I helped see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.
I was rewarded with honors, medals, and promotions. Looking back on it,
I feel I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was
to operate his racket in three city districts. We Marines operated on three
continents..."
--Major-General Smedley "Old Gimlet Eye" Butler,
USMC, conflicted hero of the Spanish American War, the Boxer Rebellion,
World War I, and sundry other interventionist games of the first part of
the 20th century. The only thing missing I see there is Hawaii... |
*
~ Odd Lots ~
(Odd stuff, and lots of it)
|
"Aye, that's the battle for you,
and no worse today than wars you sing of,
when Fróda fell, and Finn was slain.
The world wept then, as it weeps today:
you can hear the tears through the harp's
twanging. . ."
—from The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth,
Battle of Maldon fanfic
by JRR Tolkien
|
|
5/10/02 Protectors
of the Plot Continuum
Exiled unjustly from ffnet, here you will find PPC: TOS, by Jay & Acacia,
aka Harpwire, Assassins Extraordinaire,
numerous spinoffs, and the PPC Posting Board.
Back up and running 3/11/03!
"Do not meddle in the affairs of assassins, for we are
heavily-armed and quick to anger. And not noticeably subtle."
6/05/02 The
Mary-Sue Litmus Test, customized for LOTR by Winterfox,
dwells here after its ffnet eviction.
6/07/02 The
Cottage
Something completely different: a wonderful Celtic mythos-inspired story
set in modern times
by LOTR lover,
mirrored here with permission.
3/17/03 The
Confessio of St. Patrick
His own account of his mission and life story, written by someone who never
finished high school
because of being sold as a slave, in clunky amateur Latin, translated adequately
into English
by Ludwig Beiler, and revealing a very different character from the stodgy
guy on the holy cards
waving a fancy crozier at the mythical snakes...
5/05/03 The
"True History"
by Lucian of Samosata
Goofy fantasy and screwball takes on the classics by a citizen of the late
Roman Empire and
master of humour. Great antidote for academic pretentiousness as Lucian
gets to interview
Homer and grill him about the Iliad's opening lines, battle man-eating
donkey-sirens, and save
the Moon from invasion. Heed the author's notes, and be sure to suspend
all your belief first!
8/23/02 Jane Austen's Teenage Fiction
Parodies
Morbid, raucous, and spot-on, these brief, skewed reinterpretations of
contemporary gothic novels, complete
with improbable coincidences, impossibly-perfect heroines, and random
plotholes, are even more impressive
given her age at their creation: she wrote them between 13 and 17 for friends
and siblings. If you liked Joan
Aiken's Dido Twite books, -- these are even better. Good antidotes for
angst, too.
Henry
and Eliza, A Novel
"As
Sir George and Lady Harcourt were superintending the Labours of their Haymakers,
rewarding the industry of some by smiles of approbation, & punishing
the idleness of others
by a cudgel, they perceived lying closely concealed beneath the thick foliage
of a Haycock,
a beautifull little Girl not more than 3 months old..."
Jack
& Alice, A Novel (in 9 chapters)
"The Johnsons were a family of Love, & though a little addicted to
the Bottle & the Dice,
had many good Qualities."
Frederic
& Elfrida, A Novel (in 5 chapters)
"From this period, the intimacy between the Families of Fitzroy, Drummond,
and Falknor
daily increased, till at length it grew to such a pitch, that they did
not scruple to kick one
another out of the window on the slightest provocation."
The
Visit, A Play in 2 Acts
WILLOUGHBY.
Come Girls, let us circulate the Bottle.
SOPHY.
A very good notion, Cousin; & I will second it with all my Heart. Stanly,
you don't drink.
STANLY.
Madam, I am drinking draughts of Love from Cloe's eyes.
SOPHY.
That's poor nourishment truly. Come, drink to her better acquaintance.
A
Letter From a Young Lady, whose feeling being too Strong for her Judgement,
led her into
the commission of Errors which her Heart disapproved. —
Just what it says...
For your delight or horror:
"The
Script"
A Boy, A Girl, & A Dog: The
Lay of Leithian Dramatic Script
(with apologies to Messrs. Shakespeare and Tolkien)
Not fiction, but useful reference while reading it:
7/12/03 Geneology chart (rev 3) with the combined royal houses
of the Eldar and the Edain, based on LOTR & Silm., with some input
from HOME, in plain
black and color
formats; (many thanks to Vorondis for indicating where references in HOME
could be found.) [Archivist's note: Unfortunately neither version is preserved.]
In Years
of the Sun and Moon
An index page showing the relation of all current and planned Silmarillion
stories, including those listed below.
(Stories from the cycle For One Year of the Sun:
Terrible
Gifts - short story, complete, very dark, R
for violence-with-reason. Context provided in the Notes
 .
Betrayals,
Renunciations— - sequel to Terrible Gifts: Tol Sirion II. Not as
violent as the previous story, but more psychologically oppressive. Complete.
Shadow
and Silver - Tol Sirion III. Complete. PG13 - R for thematic reasons,
not for the treatment of them.
Fell
Knowledge - Anfauglith. Complete. Fairly short; PG13 - R for horror,
some violence.
Hunting
- short and practically cheerful (PG for monster slaying) set late in the
First Age. Complete.
In
Brethil's Shade - short story, First Age, minimal angst. Concerning
Two Kings and a Message from a Lady...Complete.
Exultation
of Gold - Extremely Short Story, First Age, Complete, G -- Never
Laugh at Live Dragons . . . Because he
isn't a fat gray iguana!
Ongoing - begun 5/17/02. Updated 8/20/02. Silmarillion
story: the Fall of Gondolin from an unusual viewpoint.
The
Timelost
I.
A Rede
II.
Ringa
– The Coldness
III.
Únyárima
– A Tale Beyond Telling
IV.
Rúkin
– 'I fear it'
V.
The Sky is Like the Sea
VI.
Hecilë
– She Who is Lost and Forsaken
VII.
Úquétima
–
What Cannot Be Spoken
Timelost
Glossary
|
Wise,
Fearless & Fair
Lord
of Carrion
Two Ring War viewpoint vignettes testing the upper limit of the number
of Silmarillion references it is possible to cram in under 2 pages, the
first from Fellowship of the Ring, the second from Return of
the King. Both complete, both G.
Ongoing - updated 5/10/02. The events of ROTK from the perspective
of a staff member at the Houses of Healing.
Without
Hope: Eight Days at Gondor Medical
The Suvian Cannon
[sic]
(Projected) Ongoing Series - what would happen to a Mary-Sue
leaping into the real LOTR canon?
May be read in any order.
O
Will You Walk The Wood So Wild?
"Fantasy is made out of the Primary World,
but a good craftsman loves his material,
and has a knowledge and feeling
for clay, stone and wood
which only the art of making can give.
By the forging of Gram
cold iron was revealed;
by the making of Pegasus
horses were ennobled;
in the Trees of the Sun and Moon
root and stock, flower and fruit
are manifested in glory."
— from "On Fairy-stories," by
J.R.R. Tolkien
|