silwritersguild | B2MeM09:: Day Twenty-Three: Mercurial Monday!

Day Two Twenty-Three--Mercurial Monday!

For Mercurial Monday, we offer B2MeM participants the choice of two prompts. Participants may choose whichever they prefer. In addition, the second prompt may be used in place of any other prompt in the challenge!

You find an old dusty bottle and, when you pick it up, a genie pops out! What three wishes would you make and why?

Now, imagine that your character bumps into a genie (or a Middle-earth variation of it) and she offers to grant your character three wishes. What are the wishes and why would he and she wish for them?

Create an artwork, story or poem how your character mulls it over or goes about it.

What is the greatest sacrifice you can be asked to make? Think or write briefly about this.

Write a story, poem or create an artwork where the characters make their greatest sacrifice.

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I am caught up with all of the links I have received and then some (including the one I just got in my inbox thirty seconds ago!), so all of the entries as of now (1044 EST) can be found here. Past prompts are here as well. If you'd like me to add your work to the list, please either leave a link (or post the work) in a comment on the relevant entry in this LJ community, or email me at DawnFelagund AT gmail DOT com.

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Here you go. I'll post the one for Days 21 and 22 later. It's good that we have only 8 days/8 prompts to go. ;-)

http://whitewave16.livejournal.com/33149.html

"Day Two"?! ;)

Ack! Good catch! Can you tell I just copy and paste from day to day, sometimes indiscriminately? ;)

I fixed it!

Title: Sacrifice
Summary: Summary: Duty can leave you feeling so very exposed...

A very tongue in cheek interpretation of the prompt.

URL: [http://www.tolkienfanfiction.com/Story_Read_Chapter.php?CHid=4407]

Dwim

Ficlet for prompt #1:

Wishes
http://f-ireworks.livejournal.com/45552.html#cutid1

I don't know whether this was truly Maglor's greatest sacrifice, but the idea for this image came to me when I read the prompt: Maglor throwing the silmaril into the ocean (http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p134/Esteliel/Poser/maglor3_2.jpg).

Here's mine: http://indy1776.livejournal.com/10602.html

What a great choice of moments ... and I like that you let the boys realize Elwing's fate; so often, I see stories where she is believed by them to be dead. The limited glimpses the boys have of what is going on provides an interesting perspective as well.

I've seen a lot of stories like that, and the story (universe?) called for them knowing she isn't. I think it's somewhat against fanon, too. (And I'd dearly love to know where everyone gets that she jumped off cliff from, as I couldn't find that in the Silm.)

The limited glimpses-- I think they're six when this happens, so there's no way they'd understand what's going on or who the strangers are.

*excited!* I'm always trying to find details like the cliff thing that everyone swears are true but aren't actually in the texts! Like Maedhros threatening to kill E&E or Maglor walking around till the end of time with a blackened hand or Nerdanel having red hair. *adds the cliff to the list*

I definitely agree that it's against fanon, which--if we're being honest--was part of the reason that I liked it. ;)

It's why she jumped off a dock-- I wrote that in my novel, and went back to check the Silm to see if it really was a cliff. Couldn't find it. When I wrote this for the prompt, I double-checked. Still not there.

In my 'verse, Maglor's hand isn't blackened, but it is scarred and actually *usable,* though with a limited range of motion.

It's a part of why I wrote it that way-- fanon isn't canon! And people can easily jump off docks-- they aren't always low to the water. (It doesn't help that my view of Sirion is something like New Orleans, being built on/near a river delta, though not below sea level.)

i sort of repeated an old trick and almost-responded to both prompts in the same drabble? and, again, it's glorfindel and his sacrifice, but including his three greatest desires: falling (http://community.livejournal.com/100_indecisions/18761.html).

Considering that your project is called 100 Indecisions, it seems appropriate that you should also be undecided on the Mercurial Monday prompts. ;) However, since I give mad respect to anyone who can fit both into a drabble, then I've listed it under both!

You've tied the two together really well here. I'm wondering, if he's saved, would he still earn his first two wishes? And if he had to give those up, would he be content being saved? And some of the more visceral descriptions? *shivers* You certainly have a gift for sharp imagery in very few words! :)

i suspect that, being loved and being remembered have guaranteed that he will be saved, if not from death itself, at least from regret and a long stay in Mandos.

Here is a drabble trio for "Sacrifice".
http://lindahoyland.livejournal.com/146843.html

Edited 2009-04-06 22:36 (UTC)

River of Dreams

Summary: Be careful what you wish for...

She lies in her curves across the road, across the land; beneath the trees of Mirkwood that darken ever she sighs – a cold, damp thrill.

In other lands, her sisters run and burble their laughter, roar their rages and joys as they plunge down their channels to batter the stones and their shores alike. They burble coyly in little pools, wink dappled-dazzling shade that obscure their depths, and they open their arms into welcoming shallows.

But she is a simple soul. No coquette, she, to tease and promise what she cannot give. And she does but wish to give.

She can give them their dreams – relieve them of the cares and woes they bear. She blackens with the burden of such – they float upon her surface like slick of oil or a bruise. But she draws them down, her dreamers, rests them gentle in her clear bosom, pours herself inside to wash them clean and they are pure – pure, pure, pure as they were once in the womb, when they lived in their mothers' waters.

Dream, dream, she chants, and one by one, they fall quiet, and for a little while, they have what most they want – to forget. Sleep she gives to let their dreams fly free, and she will take the rest.

It is what they wish. What she can give. And later, over loving years, she polishes the bones, and holds them deep and warm in the silty depths of her soul to cherish them, singing to herself:

O shadow-slip O care a-woe
Come seek me now by sorrow banks
Come lie with me, come love me low
My love lies down thy dreamy deeps

Hush na hush na hush na sweet!
Flow, flow, flow, flow with me
Forget forget forget na sweet!
Forget and way with me flow!

***
Author's Notes: So a chapter, a song, and a poem walk into a bar...

The perspective here is that of the Enchanted River in Mirkwood. In The Hobbit, Beorn describes it as dark and dangerous, and warns the Dwarves and Bilbo against it as he hears it is enchanted.

When the party discovers it flowing across the road, they cross by boat, but Bombur accidentally falls in. He falls into a deep sleep during which he dreams of wonderful food.

Somehow, this got crossed in my mind with Goldberry as the River Daughter dragging Tom into her waters *cough* and "Sweet Thames flow softly". What flowed out of this mess was an innocent elemental murderess.

Yeah.

Oh, but it's beautiful! :D And such an interesting perspective to write. And this line,

And later, over loving years, she polishes the bones, and holds them deep and warm in the silty depths of her soul to cherish them

Her innocence certainly shows here, but to those of us who know better ... *shivers*

B2MeM09:: Day Twenty-Three: Mercurial Monday!

Day Two Twenty-Three--Mercurial Monday!

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Sacrifice - Dwim

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River of Dreams - Dwim

Re: River of Dreams - Dwim