Comments on Songs of Stone and Mountain

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Thanks so much, Indy!  This has been lingering on my hard drive for a while now, and being under the weather yesterday (and hence not up for work-related writing), I fiddled around with the fic a bit and decided to post it.  Very glad that you had a read and reviewed!

I'm glad to be part of that limited audience; Pandë-verse fic is a treat that's not to be missed, and you more than delivered! Sad, of course, in the first two chapters - but convincingly so, and the backdrop of their love scene did leave me with a lump in my throat. 

But the two of them as girls were adorable and I loved the idea of dwarven clockwork toys as well as the impromptu trip to the forges - I'm sure that meeting turned out to be formative for them both!

And of course you're very welcome to future language help, whenever it's needed. Wonderful work, Pandë.

Thanks so much, Elleth!  Oh, yes, you are definitely part of that limited (and high quality!) audience. :^)

These ficlets are a bit rough and maybe less developed than some of my other stuff, but with a little downtime yesterday, I fiddled around with the drafts a bit and decided what the heck, why not post it?  That decision might have been prompted by coming across a certain Tumblr-post bemoaning the lack of female characters and femslash *whistles innocently*.   Because Mél and Dísa are OFCs, they are of limited appeal (versus, for example, some of the more prominent pairings of canon characters like Aredhel and Galadriel or Lúthien and Galadriel or [my favorite] Lúthien and Thuringwethil), but I'm way too fond of them not to give them their own series of ficlets.

I know I have read some version of this before. It's absolutely fantastic.

The sense of loss, so clear at the beginning of the story, the rich and sweet eroticism conveyed so vividly without any graphic detail in the next part is heartbreaking. And just when the heartbreak is most intense, you give the reader the momentary relief of the humor and mischief of that first meeting of the two girls, Dwarf and Elf, with such lovely hints of their grownup selves shining through sharp and vibrant.

It leaves me longing for more. Really great stuff. So happy that you decided to share it now!

Oh, wow, thanks so much, Oshun!  Yes, indeed, you read the chapter about the two little girls when they first meet.  I posted that on my f-locked LJ a good while back.  As I noted to Elleth, this is a bit rough, and I'm not engaging in a lot of world-building here, but want to focus on Dísa and Mélamírë.  It's also a way for me to keep exploring the ramifications of relationships between the quasi-immortal Elves and mortals. 

These drafts have been rattling around on my hard drive for a while now.  With a bit of downtime this weekend, I was able to fiddle around with them a bit and post them.  It will be sort of a series that I'll add to when I can.

Really like seeing Mélamírë basically drop (almost literally) everything, knowing her mortal friend has so little time.  Also noted the public formality between Mél and Aldis, though they actually know each other.

I appreciate that she keeps herself open to close relations with mortals, both here and in later stories, rather than insulating herself from the inevitable loss.  Though with the violence of some eras of the history of the Elves, even associating only with immortals will not prevent grief...

It's so good to have women interacting on different levels!  Mél, Dísa, Aldis, Culinen--I love them all.

I remember the third bit, when Mél and Dísa meet; it's such fun!

So glad you posted these!

Thanks so much, 'Wench!  One of the motivations I had for giving Mél that Maiaran blood was my notion that the latter confers an exceptional ability to adapt to change, far better than the Elves can (with reference to Tolkien's concept that the Elves of Eregion were seeking a kind of stasis or "embalming").  She's a vehicle, in a sense, for progress forward instead of looking behind in regret.  Had I the courage to do so, my alternative story line for Mél was to have her lineage "captured" in mortal Men (and thus on to Oppenheimer, Hypatia, et alia) by the same means as Lúthien - finding a mortal Man as a companion and having children with him, but then losing her life in the downfall of Númenor, but...well, I just couldn't do it.  Probably would have been the braver choice on my part.

"Also noted the public formality between Mél and Aldis, though they actually know each other."

I think they like their social rituals. :^D

Thanks again for having a look at this.

I think the order you've placed these in is highly effective. The yearning sense of loss in the second one lends to the third, which is otherwise a fun romp, a bittersweet sense. 

The image of two girls from different cultures bonding by disassembling and reassembling clockwork toys is priceless.

"The elf-girl opened her mouth, but snapped it shut, as if she meant to say something but thought better of it."

Not sure what she was really going to say, but I swear in my head it was 'superstitious nonsense'!

Hey, thanks, Huin!   When writing the third chapter, I wondered what kind of toys a young Dwarf-girl might have, and it took me about 5 seconds to come up with "Clockwork (or wind-up to be accurate)!" 

"Not sure what she was really going to say, but I swear in my head it was 'superstitious nonsense'!"

HA!  Well OF COURSE that was what she was about to say! :^D

Thanks again for reading and commenting!