News and Views: Beneath the Star of War
Originally Posted October 26, 2002, Expanded Feb. 1, 2003
Gentle Readers,
There was some enjoyable news at this update: an Ansereg reader who's a writer herself has created an online space for virtual role-play based on my AU concept of ansereg. I've never done online role-play, but this space looks excellent and has my seal of approval. If you like that sort of thing, see the Links page for more information.
The main part of this update was to launch a new Elladan and Elrohir slash series from me. The new stories are incorporated into the Star-Crossed storyline, expanding that storyline substantially. While this expansion was in progress, I called it Beneath the Star of War. You can see all these stories together, in chronological order, at the Star-Crossed series page.
Beneath the Star of War tells a story that I found within the earlier tale. It explores the twins' experiences during the War of the Ring, and how the great conflict of good and evil makes them confront the ethics of their incestuous relationship. In the first Star-Crossed story, To Drive the Cold Winter Away, Elrohir was the more confident and committed of the pair; Elladan was hesitant. In the second Star-Crossed story, Spring of Peace, set 500 years later, Elladan's committed and confident, despite his continuing ethical misgivings, and Elrohir's in the more ambivalent mental space. What happened? What did the War of the Ring make them confront in themselves, as individuals, that brought them to this stage? That's what this series expansion was about. Along with the politics of the White Council, poison, corpses, black lore, the One Ring, gritty battles, haunting spirits, ambivalent elephants, and transgressive NC-17 slash action
This
series expansion is done now. It was a very messy process, expanding an existing short series into a
more substantial one, and I appreciate readers' patience. Star-Crossed
is still a rambling and organic story arc, but I now feel that it's a
full-told tale, and that the eight stories added give it greater depth. A few readers
have asked if this is it for Elladan and Elrohir stories from me; no, I'm
planning to include them in another storyline.
The Sons of Elrond, Elladan and Elrohir, have become very popular in Tolkien fanfiction over the past six months. I hope that readers will indulge my own further interpretation of these characters.