Death to Fanon!
Challenge Details
This is a challenge for all brave souls out there: break the chains of your fanon conventions!
Yes, it's true, most of us come to the fandom seeking what we loved in the original - so we want, for example, further confirmation of how wonderful a human being Faramir is, or how courageous Sam is, or how wily-yet-mystical Gandalf is. These original virtues or vices end up evolving into fanon conventions (well, sometimes; the jury's still out on where the fanonical alcoholic-and-abusive Thranduil comes from...).
And so this challenge is to not only avoid fanon, but go against it altogether!
(Most of my examples are focused on characterization, but this could be flexible enough to work with points of plot generally accepted by the fandom yet never outlined by Tolkien; or even scenarios Tolkien did write but could be suitably altered when keeping in mind that LOTR is a "historical text". However, to keep things simple, I'm going to restrict these examples and such to characterization.)
Anyway, here are some prompts:
- Petty!Faramir; maybe in his parenting days, was he stingy with Elboron? Or did he spoil him? Did he look at other young men to see how Elboron compared?
- Cowardly!Aragorn; perhaps sometime in his youth, though the real challenge would be showing a cowardly moment later on in his life, perhaps during his reign?
- Maybe a happily!domestic!Eowyn; something showing Eowyn as she revels in tending to the household.
- Silly!prankster!Frodo (post-Quest)
- Studious!Boromir; not just military history, as that's just too easy... how about some fluffy poetry? Did he have a secret stash of paperback romance novels he'd unwind with in Osgiliath?
- Clumsy!Legolas
- Inhospitable!Elrond; did he ever have any unexpected and/or unwanted guests?
- Emotional!Denethor; this man needs a good cry every now and then.
You get the idea. Basically, try to write a scene showing our beloved characters being... well, less beloved. Remember, they're three-dimensional people, and so they will undoubtedly exhibit contradictions and quirks of character. Also, to make this more challenging, no humorous or ironic takes on it - rather, try to make it as realistic and "in-character" as possible.
Courtesy of Aeneid.
Entries with Stories
The following authors have entered a story in the Challenge.
- Berzerker prime - Cup Full of Words, A
- General Audience
- Last Updated: 16 Nov 05
- Following the King's Judgment, Beregond and Faramir aren't quite sure what to do with each other. Luckily, a couple of Hobbits know just what to do about it.
- Gwynnyd - Paying the Price
- General Audience
- Last Updated: 25 Jun 05
- Aragorn adjusts to being king. A slightly humourous look at the first days of his reign, and the sacrifices a king has to make for his position. With many thanks to my beta readers, Tanaqui, Marta and Lady Aranel. They stuck with me though this story's many iterations.
- Marta - Conspiracy Forged, A
- General Audience
- Last Updated: 19 Jun 05
- Young Pippin attends Bilbo's 111th birthday. He receives, loses, and regains a rather unique family heirloom.
- Marta - Hope Rekindled
- General Audience
- Last Updated: 08 Oct 04
- A short vignette from the middle of the Battle of Pelennor Fields, from Imrahil's POV.
- Marta - Summer Nights
- Adult Audience
- Last Updated: 09 Jun 04
- The summer of 3000 is the hottest one Faramir can remember. When he finds himself lost in Dol Amroth he stumbles into a situation he would never have faced in Minas Tirith and is forced to confront inherited beliefs he has never had cause to question. Warning: This piece discusses mature themes. Read at your own discretion.
- Marta - Dulce Et Decorum Est
- General Audience
- Last Updated: 25 May 04
- Beregond reflects on his role in preventing Faramir's death, and justifies to a fellow guard why he considers Denethor one of the "victorious dead."
- SheBit - Completely and Utterly
- General Audience
- Last Updated: 05 Jun 05
- Fanon tends to view Legolas as the flawless elf who never makes mistakes, but sometimes even elves get confused. A drabble with slight reference to movieverse.
- Soubrettina - A Man's a Man
- General Audience
- Last Updated: 03 Jun 07
- There's a wedding in the air for the Telcontar family. Now King Elessar just has to find the bridegroom. Or just a bridegroom. And that's just the start of his problems...
Superficially, odd Strider's offspring fic- but mostly about men, elves and sex. Started with the 'Death to Fannon!' challenge, then wondered off somewhere... else. Started as 'drama', but I think 'humour' is now more to the point. - Werecat - You Will See Them at Night
- General Audience
- Last Updated: 30 Dec 06
- The tale of an orc bard. Seriously. Rated PG-13 for gore and violence, just to be safe.
2004 Galvorn Awards: Winner -Best Evil Character Trying to be Good
2004 Galvorn Awards: Winner -Best Characterisation (Improbable OC)
Mithrils 2005 - Finalist, Other Races
Mithrils 2005, Runner-up, Silmarillion - Werecat - In Defense
- General Audience
- Last Updated: 30 Dec 06
- Queen Beruthiel is a minor character from Tolkien's writings, portrayed as an evil witch with ten cats as her familiars. This is an attempt to read between the lines and see her true colors.
MEFAs 2005: Third Place, Non Fiction/Men
Mithrils 2005: Runner-up, Critical Essay - Werecat - Full Circle
- General Audience
- Last Updated: 27 Dec 05
- Beasts, they've called us. So end the days of Kolgrun, last warrior of the race of orcs.
MEFAs 2005: Third Place, Villains/Orcs - Werecat - Nine Lives
- General Audience
- Last Updated: 16 Oct 05
- Inspired from a passage in Tolkien's Unfinished Tales regarding the life of Queen Beruthiel and her ten cats. According to this passage, Beruthiel was like an evil witch and the cats were her minions.
But we never really hear her side of the story.
Recommended to all cat lovers.
Finalist at the 2004 Mithril Awards for:
-Best vignette
-Best characterisation – minor character -COMMENDED
-Best entry by author for whom English is not their first language MEFAs 2005 - Second Place, Drama
Placeholders
The following authors have entered a placeholder in the Challenge.
- Aeneid
- Entry Date: 07 Apr 05
- EdorasLass
- Entry Date: 16 May 05
- Gandalfs apprentice
- Entry Date: 03 Jan 06
- Karigan Rohanna
- Entry Date: 24 May 05
- marastar
- Entry Date: 07 Apr 05
- Raksha
- Entry Date: 17 Apr 05
- Rous
- Entry Date: 07 Jan 06
- SarWolf
- Entry Date: 23 May 05
- Vistula the Dunadan
- Entry Date: 07 Apr 05
- Werecat
- Entry Date: 08 Jan 06
- Werecat
- Entry Date: 08 Jan 06
