RemixRedux: A Brandybuck's Bravery
Apr. 3rd, 2006 01:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hathycolSee, this remix was a little tricky for me. I foolishly slapped down LOTR as my third fandom, because I figured if I did end up with that, I could knock out a story about Eowyn, or Elves, or even Gondor or Rohan, and it would be okay.
Yeah, I didn't take into account that I would be assigned not only a Pervy Hobbit Fancier but a Pervy Hobbit Fancier Who Also Slashes The Little Dudes. I flailed a bit, because I like the Hobbits, I do, but I really dislike Frodo, Sam is too perfect as a character to form any sort of story about (because? He is my Dad) and Merry and Pippin are good but tricky to get right because of the character progression involved in them all. (No one ever writes about Bilbo, and will anyone ever consider poor old Fatty Bolger? I do like the Hobbits, you know, and I love reading gen stories about them...) And I can never ever ever slash them.
I spent two weeks going "OMG HOBBIT SLASH I AM SO FUCKED" to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
spockette, who understood my pain, and stupidore, who didn't quite so much. I didn't at any point mention my author name, but oh, the stress.
So, I read through her stuff, and then I found this absolutely beautiful drabble: Merry's Simple Courage bymordelhin. I loved it, because Merry is sort of quietly my favourite Hobbit (it's the Eowyn connection, or something) and because I loved the last line.
So, I remixed. I forgot to do so until the night before it was due in, so I ended up gettingzeta_of_s to beta-read, because I had no idea where I could get a LOTR fan at short notice, so it was only really checked for spelling and grammar rather than fandom inacuracies, but the nature of the story meant I didn't have to entirely accurate. I sort of lost patience with a lot of the fandom and my friends who are also LOTR fangirls I didn't know if I could get hold of them with such short notice. And then I sent it off, ON TIME AND EVERYTHING.
And that is the story of Baby's First Remix. Enjoyed it, but not putting LOTR down as a fanom because I'm not risking the bloody Hobbits again. I had vaguely been hoping for Firefly, actually, just for the challenge, but never mind. We'll see what next year brings.
And, erm, yes. This is my story.
Title: A Brandybuck's Bravery (Merry's Simple Courage Remix)
Summary: Young Merina Took is something of an unnatural Hobbit – she wants to hear stories about a Brandybuck.
Rating: G
Spoilers: ROTK, for the three people who haven't seen the film or read the book.
His tale wasn't exactly a favourite amongst the Hobbits who lived away from the Brandywine. Everyone, of course, knew that the famous Meriadoc had gone on a quest to lands in the South, but no one really knew about the details and no one cared to find out.
Old Meriadoc would tell everyone about his stories, though, and sing his strange songs, and the Hobbits would give him a polite listen and go about their day. No one cared for stories of far away, not even the barmaids who served him in the inns and listened to his stories.
Well, not quite no one. As was the way of the family, it was some of the younger Tooks who gave Meriadoc an attentive ear (although putting him, in terms of heroism, firmly behind the great Peregrin Took, who was the most magnificent Hobbit and Thain who ever did live), so there were a small number that would tell you proudly of their time down South, with the King. So carefully did they listen that they could soon make stories of their own about the great Hobbit…
"Papa, tell me a story."
It was bedtime for young Merina Took, but it was also a fine summers evening and she had been persuaded with the promise of strawberries the next day to take a bath and go to bed by her exhausted mother. Tonight, though, like every other night, her father Sudoc actually put his young daughter to bed. And tonight, like every other night, she begged for a story.
"What story, then?" he asked indulgently, for it had been a fine evening and he had drunk two mugs of old Drigo's beer. "Mad Baggins, who appears with jewels? What about the coldest winter, when wolves invaded the Shire?" Looking at his daughter's terrified face, he decided against that particular story on the warm evening. "Shall we carry on talking about the famous quest that the great Peregrin Took went on?"
"You always talk about Peregrin," Merina complained, before Sudoc could continue. "What about his friends, or the other Hobbits?" Her eyes went wide. "What about Meriadoc?"
"You are altogether too fond of that Brandybuck," Sudoc complained. "But since you were so good for your Mama this evening –" this wasn't entirely true, but the beer had been very good – "I shall tell you a story about him anyway, one that my old Papa told me, which is proof that sometimes a Brandybuck can be nearly as good as a Took. You remember, of course, when the great Fellowship broke up on the banks of the Great River?"
"Of course I do!"
"And you remember that the great Peregrin and Meriadoc ended up in Rohan?"
"Papa, I remember the story. I thought you were going to tell me something new!"
"Well, young Hobbit-lass, I'm going to tell you exactly what made Meriadoc was nearly equal to the great Peregrin, and why it's all to do with the king of Rohan." Merina grinned happily, and settled down into her feather bed so her eyes were out of the last fading rays of sunlight across her bedroom.
"Meriadoc swore his allegiance to the king of Rohan. A great man he was – I forget his name, because the names of Men are fleeting – but he did not think that Meriadoc would be strong enough to fight in battle for him. After all, Meriadoc had already grown bigger by then-"
"I remember that!" added Merina. "When Treebeard the Ent gave Peregrin and Meriadoc magic soup that made them tall!"
"Yes, exactly. So you see, even though Meriadoc was quite a big Hobbit, he still wasn't big enough to ride along with all the tall Men and their huge horses. But he wanted nothing more than to fight and to help the mighty king of Rohan. Luckily, the king's niece felt the same way."
"A girl? Wanting to fight?" Merina's nose crinkled with the disgust of a small girl who liked playing in her pretty dresses.
"Oh, but she was a mighty brave girl! She was equal to her strong brother, who helped to lead the army, but they wouldn't let her even come along to battle. So she dressed up like a soldier, and took along Meriadoc like he was a piece of hand luggage! Meriadoc was so small – because Men are so big and blunder around in their big boots – that no one even noticed him.
"So they carried on, and the king's niece took Meriadoc on the field of the biggest battle even she had ever seen, outside of the city of the King."
"Minas Tirith!" Merina chirped happily. "Where it's all white and the King lives with his pretty Elf-maiden!"
"Oh, but this was before then," said Sudoc sadly. "And it was a terrible battle, with the Dark Lord sending his worst creatures out, horrible things that we never got in these parts and the world will never see the like of again. And the worst, the very worst, was the king of the Black Riders."
Merina shivered. "Like the ones that came around the Shire, looking for Baggins?"
"The very same, but this was their King. He didn't ride a horse, though – he rode a terrible winged beast, but not scaly like a dragon. And this lord of the Black Riders killed the King of Rohan, even though the king was a great and a good fighter, and all while the king's niece and Meriadoc watched, unable to do anything."
Merina's eyes were open wide. "What then, Papa? Did Meriadoc run away from the horrible king of the Black Riders?"
"Oh, no. You see, this is why even a Brandybuck can be terribly brave too. The king's niece stepped in front of the horrible lord of the Black Riders, so that his beast wouldn't eat – yes, eat! – the body of the king of Rohan. And he attacked her again and again, and he broke her arm too, but she still stood in front of the king of Rohan's body out of the love she bore for him. So as the terrible king of the Black Riders came closer, looking all the time like he could never be killed. But then Meriadoc stepped forward with his sword to help the king's niece, and together they struck him, and killed the king of the Black Riders!"
Merina gasped.
"And do you know why? Meriadoc remembered all the times he had been made to feel ashamed, like he wasn't as good as fighter as the other Men, even though he had come so far with Frodo Baggins on the great Quest. So even though the terrible king looked like he could never be beaten, and it would be hopeless, it was a simple thing for Merry to master his courage and unsheathe his sword. A simple thing indeed."
The room fell quiet for a minute, until Sudoc slapped his hand on his knees. "Well, I think that's quite enough story-telling for tonight. Your Mama will be annoyed at letting us talk for so long!"
"But, Papa, what happened after that, what did Meriadoc-"
"No, Merina, we can save that for another night." He leaned forward and gently kissed his daughter on the brow as the last orange ray of the sinking sun slipped from the room. "Sleep well, my daughter."
Merina did sleep well, and dreamt of brave Hobbits and shining swords. The next night, she asked what Peregrin had been doing during the same battle.
~*~
In other news, I have repaired my social life with the aim of that old-fashioned beast, the telephone (spent about an hour howling with laughter with Jess about people who used to go to school with us) and now have something to do every single night until I go back to university. Simon is coming around to tonight (fear, fear, fear - Mum makes noises about old dance vidos and the worst part is I KNOW SHE'S NOT JOKING), going to the Buck tomorrow night (OLD SCHOOL) and it's all just busy busy...
~Hathy_Col~
Yeah, I didn't take into account that I would be assigned not only a Pervy Hobbit Fancier but a Pervy Hobbit Fancier Who Also Slashes The Little Dudes. I flailed a bit, because I like the Hobbits, I do, but I really dislike Frodo, Sam is too perfect as a character to form any sort of story about (because? He is my Dad) and Merry and Pippin are good but tricky to get right because of the character progression involved in them all. (No one ever writes about Bilbo, and will anyone ever consider poor old Fatty Bolger? I do like the Hobbits, you know, and I love reading gen stories about them...) And I can never ever ever slash them.
I spent two weeks going "OMG HOBBIT SLASH I AM SO FUCKED" to
spockette, who understood my pain, and stupidore, who didn't quite so much. I didn't at any point mention my author name, but oh, the stress.So, I read through her stuff, and then I found this absolutely beautiful drabble: Merry's Simple Courage by
mordelhin. I loved it, because Merry is sort of quietly my favourite Hobbit (it's the Eowyn connection, or something) and because I loved the last line.So, I remixed. I forgot to do so until the night before it was due in, so I ended up getting
zeta_of_s to beta-read, because I had no idea where I could get a LOTR fan at short notice, so it was only really checked for spelling and grammar rather than fandom inacuracies, but the nature of the story meant I didn't have to entirely accurate. I sort of lost patience with a lot of the fandom and my friends who are also LOTR fangirls I didn't know if I could get hold of them with such short notice. And then I sent it off, ON TIME AND EVERYTHING.And that is the story of Baby's First Remix. Enjoyed it, but not putting LOTR down as a fanom because I'm not risking the bloody Hobbits again. I had vaguely been hoping for Firefly, actually, just for the challenge, but never mind. We'll see what next year brings.
And, erm, yes. This is my story.
Title: A Brandybuck's Bravery (Merry's Simple Courage Remix)
Summary: Young Merina Took is something of an unnatural Hobbit – she wants to hear stories about a Brandybuck.
Rating: G
Spoilers: ROTK, for the three people who haven't seen the film or read the book.
His tale wasn't exactly a favourite amongst the Hobbits who lived away from the Brandywine. Everyone, of course, knew that the famous Meriadoc had gone on a quest to lands in the South, but no one really knew about the details and no one cared to find out.
Old Meriadoc would tell everyone about his stories, though, and sing his strange songs, and the Hobbits would give him a polite listen and go about their day. No one cared for stories of far away, not even the barmaids who served him in the inns and listened to his stories.
Well, not quite no one. As was the way of the family, it was some of the younger Tooks who gave Meriadoc an attentive ear (although putting him, in terms of heroism, firmly behind the great Peregrin Took, who was the most magnificent Hobbit and Thain who ever did live), so there were a small number that would tell you proudly of their time down South, with the King. So carefully did they listen that they could soon make stories of their own about the great Hobbit…
"Papa, tell me a story."
It was bedtime for young Merina Took, but it was also a fine summers evening and she had been persuaded with the promise of strawberries the next day to take a bath and go to bed by her exhausted mother. Tonight, though, like every other night, her father Sudoc actually put his young daughter to bed. And tonight, like every other night, she begged for a story.
"What story, then?" he asked indulgently, for it had been a fine evening and he had drunk two mugs of old Drigo's beer. "Mad Baggins, who appears with jewels? What about the coldest winter, when wolves invaded the Shire?" Looking at his daughter's terrified face, he decided against that particular story on the warm evening. "Shall we carry on talking about the famous quest that the great Peregrin Took went on?"
"You always talk about Peregrin," Merina complained, before Sudoc could continue. "What about his friends, or the other Hobbits?" Her eyes went wide. "What about Meriadoc?"
"You are altogether too fond of that Brandybuck," Sudoc complained. "But since you were so good for your Mama this evening –" this wasn't entirely true, but the beer had been very good – "I shall tell you a story about him anyway, one that my old Papa told me, which is proof that sometimes a Brandybuck can be nearly as good as a Took. You remember, of course, when the great Fellowship broke up on the banks of the Great River?"
"Of course I do!"
"And you remember that the great Peregrin and Meriadoc ended up in Rohan?"
"Papa, I remember the story. I thought you were going to tell me something new!"
"Well, young Hobbit-lass, I'm going to tell you exactly what made Meriadoc was nearly equal to the great Peregrin, and why it's all to do with the king of Rohan." Merina grinned happily, and settled down into her feather bed so her eyes were out of the last fading rays of sunlight across her bedroom.
"Meriadoc swore his allegiance to the king of Rohan. A great man he was – I forget his name, because the names of Men are fleeting – but he did not think that Meriadoc would be strong enough to fight in battle for him. After all, Meriadoc had already grown bigger by then-"
"I remember that!" added Merina. "When Treebeard the Ent gave Peregrin and Meriadoc magic soup that made them tall!"
"Yes, exactly. So you see, even though Meriadoc was quite a big Hobbit, he still wasn't big enough to ride along with all the tall Men and their huge horses. But he wanted nothing more than to fight and to help the mighty king of Rohan. Luckily, the king's niece felt the same way."
"A girl? Wanting to fight?" Merina's nose crinkled with the disgust of a small girl who liked playing in her pretty dresses.
"Oh, but she was a mighty brave girl! She was equal to her strong brother, who helped to lead the army, but they wouldn't let her even come along to battle. So she dressed up like a soldier, and took along Meriadoc like he was a piece of hand luggage! Meriadoc was so small – because Men are so big and blunder around in their big boots – that no one even noticed him.
"So they carried on, and the king's niece took Meriadoc on the field of the biggest battle even she had ever seen, outside of the city of the King."
"Minas Tirith!" Merina chirped happily. "Where it's all white and the King lives with his pretty Elf-maiden!"
"Oh, but this was before then," said Sudoc sadly. "And it was a terrible battle, with the Dark Lord sending his worst creatures out, horrible things that we never got in these parts and the world will never see the like of again. And the worst, the very worst, was the king of the Black Riders."
Merina shivered. "Like the ones that came around the Shire, looking for Baggins?"
"The very same, but this was their King. He didn't ride a horse, though – he rode a terrible winged beast, but not scaly like a dragon. And this lord of the Black Riders killed the King of Rohan, even though the king was a great and a good fighter, and all while the king's niece and Meriadoc watched, unable to do anything."
Merina's eyes were open wide. "What then, Papa? Did Meriadoc run away from the horrible king of the Black Riders?"
"Oh, no. You see, this is why even a Brandybuck can be terribly brave too. The king's niece stepped in front of the horrible lord of the Black Riders, so that his beast wouldn't eat – yes, eat! – the body of the king of Rohan. And he attacked her again and again, and he broke her arm too, but she still stood in front of the king of Rohan's body out of the love she bore for him. So as the terrible king of the Black Riders came closer, looking all the time like he could never be killed. But then Meriadoc stepped forward with his sword to help the king's niece, and together they struck him, and killed the king of the Black Riders!"
Merina gasped.
"And do you know why? Meriadoc remembered all the times he had been made to feel ashamed, like he wasn't as good as fighter as the other Men, even though he had come so far with Frodo Baggins on the great Quest. So even though the terrible king looked like he could never be beaten, and it would be hopeless, it was a simple thing for Merry to master his courage and unsheathe his sword. A simple thing indeed."
The room fell quiet for a minute, until Sudoc slapped his hand on his knees. "Well, I think that's quite enough story-telling for tonight. Your Mama will be annoyed at letting us talk for so long!"
"But, Papa, what happened after that, what did Meriadoc-"
"No, Merina, we can save that for another night." He leaned forward and gently kissed his daughter on the brow as the last orange ray of the sinking sun slipped from the room. "Sleep well, my daughter."
Merina did sleep well, and dreamt of brave Hobbits and shining swords. The next night, she asked what Peregrin had been doing during the same battle.
~*~
In other news, I have repaired my social life with the aim of that old-fashioned beast, the telephone (spent about an hour howling with laughter with Jess about people who used to go to school with us) and now have something to do every single night until I go back to university. Simon is coming around to tonight (fear, fear, fear - Mum makes noises about old dance vidos and the worst part is I KNOW SHE'S NOT JOKING), going to the Buck tomorrow night (OLD SCHOOL) and it's all just busy busy...
~Hathy_Col~
no subject
Date: 2006-04-03 08:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-05 12:20 pm (UTC)ah well. i should've realised you'd be back :)
xx
no subject
Date: 2007-04-17 06:59 am (UTC)