sophinisba | No vacation from angst: Accidental double drabbles

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No vacation from angst: Accidental double drabbles

Usually when I write a double drabble, which some folks call a drouble and others won't, I try to make a clear and logical division between the first hundred words and the next hundred. I'm not saying it's a rule I want to impose on others or anything like that, just an extra little challenge for myself. It somehow feels like cheating to me if I don't, like I could just take a random two hundred words from a WIP and post them without bothering to build a coherent fic around them.

Hey, come to think of it...

Right. I should warn that these get somewhat less, er, nice as they go along. The first one was actually intended as a drabble, or double drabble, but this large paragraph insinuated itself into the middle, refusing to let me split it in two.

1. Merry et al. at Cormallen, rated PG or so

Pippin's breathing is painful, Merry can see, though Pippin cannot speak.

Frodo and Sam's breathing is painful for a different reason.

Once they wake up --and all three of them wake up within two days-- they're on their feet immediately. Merry marvels at such quick recovery after two weeks when nothing seemed to improve at all. He walks close to Pippin and keeps expecting his cousin to lean on him, to need him; but Pippin's stride is steady, his face is full of laughter, as always, and Merry feels guilty that he can't stop feeling sad. Frodo and Sam lean on each other, and Merry feels altogether useless.

Then Pip slips a hand in his and whispers, "He's found his then. Time for you to have yours," and kisses him on the mouth.

Sam and Frodo stop and stare, and Merry can see Frodo's slight smile even before Pippin releases him with a grin.

"Hadn't you two ever gotten around to that before, in all your adventures?" Frodo asks.

Pippin is happy and so Merry should be. Frodo is happy enough to make Merry's heart ache.

"Plenty of adventures to come," he says softly, thoughtfully, and kisses Pippin back.

These other two are snippets from much longer stories which I may or may not finish someday. They just happened to come out to exactly 200 words each and are being forced to stand on their own so that I can have something to post. This next one about Frodo? Written SEVEN MONTHS AGO.

2. Frodo and Gandalf, rated G (but with angst, mind you)

"I do not wish for any sword," said Frodo.

"Tonight at least you should wear one," said Gandalf.

Frodo hesitated for only a moment and then spoke firmly. "No, Gandalf," he said. "Let those who had to carry arms in this fight carry them again tonight, and let them be honored for it, but this was not my part. I had to carry only the Ring," and failed even at that, he thought, as words suddenly abandoned him again.

"Only the Ring", Gandalf spoke softly, as if to himself.

"All I mean to say, Gandalf, is that I did not use either of these swords, I never struck a blow to man or orc, and even so I managed to carry out the task. I want this part of the tale to be known, that there are other weapons against evil than sword or bow or axe. That there are other ways of…" He stopped, and looked up at his old friend, who was nodding and smiling slightly but with a sadness in his face that Frodo found almost overwhelming. "But I don't have to work so hard to explain things to you, do I, Gandalf? You understand?"

"Yes, Frodo."

3. Casey and Zeke, rated PG (more angst, and probably pre-slash, 'cause with Casey and Zeke, how could there not be?)

Casey used to dream that Zeke would take care of him. Zeke would rescue him from a car accident or a fire or a kidnapping, or something as mundane and inescapable as an attack by the guys outside the school. Zeke would pick him up, carry him to safety, tell him everything would be okay.

Such were the fantasies of an unloved gay teen. The reality was that Casey wasn't important enough for anyone to bother kidnapping, let alone rescuing. (Zeke, whose parents at least had money, even if they didn't especially care about him, would have been the more logical choice.) The reality was that after the guys went at him, Casey would lie on the ground, hurting and bleeding, until he could find the strength to get up and walk or crawl away. And in the end, it was Casey who stood there by himself and stuck the pen in the monster's eye. Even after that, he had to crawl back to Stokes on his own.

Casey was a small guy. Zeke and his dad and plenty of other guys were strong enough to carry him in their arms. Only nobody ever decided he was worth the effort.

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awwww...I really, really liked the one with Gandalf and Frodo. It makes my heart ache! hehe. This week I might get your beta finished! :-) You will be so proud of me, won't you? :-D

We chatted about that talk of Frodo and Gandalf's in one of my first entries, 'cause I had that written so long ago.

That would be so great if you could do the last couple chapters this week. Then I could figure out the ending and stuff while I'm still on break and post it during January.

*bounces*

I'll see what I can do! :-)

*bats eyelashes*

I love them all, but especially the one with Frodo and Gandalf, even though it's heartbreaking, there is so much truth in that ficlet. I'm so glad you posted these.

Thank you! I'd been meaning to show that Frodo and Gandalf snippet to people for so very long, it feels good to finally have it out there.

OH, the Frodo and Gandalf exchange was so heartbreaking. Really beautiful. Luring me back to FPS, aren't you?
And as I am a C/Z whore, I pointedly request that you develop #3. Please.

Remember last week when you were throwing out Zeke/Casey bunnies and I said I liked the permanent injury one? I started writing fic after that even though I was supposed to be writing term papers, and #3 is part of that. I was hoping you'd see it and am so flattered that you liked it!

OMG! So awesome!! I can't wait until you develop more..
I like your writing, hon, so I'm definitely roped in.
YAY!

I am excited too! It's the... fourth time I've tried writing a Faculty fic and I haven't been able to finish any yet, but this one at least has (very short) finished chapters, and I'm hopeful. Thanks for the encouragement!

My pleasure!
*g*

I love all three tales, honey. But my favourite is number 3. It makes me feel so sad for Casey. Zeke will decide he's worth the effort; I know it.

Thank you for sharing.

So glad to hear you liked that one. I've been writing a lot of Faculty lately and I know it doesn't appeal as much to some of my hobbit-loving friends, so it's great to hear from new friends like you and

geniusartist.

Oh yes, Zeke/Casey is my FPS otp. Anytime you want to write more, I'll be waiting to read.

:D

They are really great fun to write too.

Writing-wise, I truly love them ALL. And I really like this line I want this part of the tale to be known, that there are other weapons against evil than sword or bow or axe.

Fic-wise, the last one is my favourite. More Zekaseys please!!

Oh, goodness, I still haven't finished that Zekasey I started for you a while back. I think you'll like this new one though, if I can get my act together and start posting. Thanks so much for reading, sweetie.

That first makes me squee in ways that you, eh, probably don't find that difficult to believe. *grin* It's lovely, and I do love that hobbity resilience -- especially here,
Once they wake up --and all three of them wake up within two days-- they're on their feet immediately. Merry marvels at such quick recovery after two weeks when nothing seemed to improve at all. He walks close to Pippin and keeps expecting his cousin to lean on him, to need him; but Pippin's stride is steady, his face is full of laughter, as always, and Merry feels guilty that he can't stop feeling sad. Frodo and Sam lean on each other, and Merry feels altogether useless.: not that Merry feeling useless is lovely, or him feeling sad, either, but we all know that it ends up all very well. Anyhow, that paragraph is easy and light and I do love its flow.

And then there was a kiss, and I was very happy. Yey.

That second -- that exchange between Gandalf and Frodo -- that kind of hurts my heart. But it's a good sort of hurt, I should add -- the sort of hurt you'd want it to be, when you feel that its gone and broken your heart.

I mean:
Frodo hesitated for only a moment and then spoke firmly. "No, Gandalf," he said. "Let those who had to carry arms in this fight carry them again tonight, and let them be honored for it, but this was not my part. I had to carry only the Ring," and failed even at that, he thought, as words suddenly abandoned him again.

Oh, Frodo.

And the third -- now, Casey and Zeke are not at all my "thing", but I like the characters and I liked this, too because, ow, that is really powerful. And it's a part of something bigger? I think, when you get it posted, I'll have to give it a look. One of my fandom resolutions is, you see, that I should try new more things. *grin*

Also, this is the second feedback I've given this year and possibly bigger than any I gave in the whole of 2005. I'm off to a good start, then. *hug!*

Ha ha ha, you were the first person to like the Merry/Pippin one best. I was hoping you would find it eventually and am so pleased it was up to snuff!

The second one is part of that long thing I was talking about last night and it does have a few appearances by Pippin later on, though his part isn't as big as Merry's, and Frodo is, of course, the Star. (There's also lasses yay!) The angst in that one is pretty extreme so that it sometimes hurts my heart to write it, but I want to keep going with it anyway.

And thank you so much for giving the Faculty one a try. I see you read the post I put up today too. You should know that that fic is going to get pretty brutal very quickly and there will be very little fluff or comfort to relieve the badness of it. That's just more the feeling I get from that movie and I'm running with it. So, fair warning, but I do so love having you reading!

On #1 -- well, of course I'd like it best. *grin*

On #2 -- well, I want to see more of it. The angst, well, we do hurt the ones we love. And I like that exhange, and I would like to see more. Really, I want to broaden my horizon, being a new year and all. I have plans on going back and reading that first fic of yours -- well, the Bree on. You know, one day.

On #3 -- I really don't mind that, knowing that the fic will get pretty brutal, and pretty quick. I'm glad you're writing that, from your heart and all -- best to run with what the movie made you think!

1. And thank you for sending

slightlytookish here!

2. What about your rule about WIPs? I keep trying to go back to the Bree one and am just not feeling the inspiration for the last two or three chapters or whatever they need to be. I feel bad about it, but I'm still glad I put up the chapters I did because it was a fun way of getting to know

claudia603 and some other people. With this post-quest one I feel like I'm in better shape going into it, even though it's a little more serious and harder, because I have a better outline and at least parts of almost all the chapters written.

3. I get to feeling weird about it, with all of them, because in regular interactions with other fans I make an effort to be cheerful and kind and such, most of the time, and then in my fics it's all I don't think these characters are suffering enough. What can I do to make their lives even more difficult? But as long as you know what you're getting into I'm very happy to have you along for the ride. :-)

1. You're welcome! Another fandom resolution would be, uh, that I should rec things more often. *grin*

2. Well, I'd like to give it a look, even if you don't think you'll get back to it. And I am really looking to the post-quest story. Does it have a title, yet? I'd like to know what I'm looking for, when you get started posting it. *grin*

3. :)

1. Same here.

2. Oh, I'm sure I'll be blabbing about it plenty when it gets close. It doesn't have a title yet though. Working title has been "Angst City," but that could really work for almost any of my fics. :)

3. :)

Hi! *waves* Dana sent me here, and I'm so glad she did. I really love your Merry/Pippin double drabble! My favorite bits are:

Then Pip slips a hand in his and whispers, "He's found his then. Time for you to have yours," and kisses him on the mouth.

and

Pippin is happy and so Merry should be. Frodo is happy enough to make Merry's heart ache.

"Plenty of adventures to come," he says softly, thoughtfully, and kisses Pippin back.

That is just so beautiful! I love getting to see them all so happy. Just lovely! :)

The Frodo and Gandalf double drabble is excellent as well. I like the subtle angst.

Hi, welcome! That was so kind of Dana to do. Way back I followed a link of hers to a double dribble of yours about those two, and I never did comment (sorry!) but I still think it's about my favorite use of the form ever.

This was my first ever little attempt at Merry/Pippin and I was nervous about disappointing Dana, so I'm so glad it pleased both her and you.

And the second one is, I think, my favorite of the pack. I am really a Frodo fancier at heart. Thank you so much for reading and commenting.

Ha ha ha ha I did the wrong tag to try to end the link. Sorry about that. But hey, the link still works! *blushes*

oh my god! casey needs to be loved! you bettah give him some please!

The reality was that Casey wasn't important enough for anyone to bother kidnapping, let alone rescuing.

oh casey! i'd kidnap you! and then i would rescue you!

Oooh, good idea! Or if you kidnapped him then I could rescue him! And then you could rescue/kidnap him back and he would feel very loved!

The love in that fic is going to be a long time coming though. I know he deserves it, I just didn't feel like he was getting it in the movie from Zeke or anyone else, so I can't give it to him without some serious badness first. Sorry.

Aw! These are all adorable. I have to admit, I liked the F&G one the best. Such a lovely glimpse of character! But you certainly caught the loser mentality with your Casey one. Oh, that hurts!

Thank you, Mariole. The F&G one is my favorite too, I think. I'd always loved that little conversation in the book and wished Frodo stood up for his idea a little more. And Casey, well, everything about watching Casey hurts, guess that's why I can't stay away from him.

I like all of these - you do angst very well. The first one felt like there was some comfort, so it didn't ache quite so much. The second hits one of my major griefs for Frodo (his lack of forgiveness for himself over his "failure" with the Ring) and one of my major loves (Frodo's refusal to use a sword) in the story.

Casey and Zeke - ah, one of my only reads outside the LOTR fandom. This one hurts so good! I hope in your universe the future C/Z have more intimate times. Sometimes Casey reminds me of Frodo - the small unlikely hero with unknown depths of nobility and endurance.

Good to hear you think I do angst well because I don't do much else, lol. I'm glad you liked these and I especially appreciate your comment on the second one because I feel exactly the same way about post-quest Frodo, the need for someone to tell him that he didn't fail, and admiration for his refusal to use violence there and again in the Scouring.

Faculty barely even feels like going outside the LOTR fandom, does it? I remember one time there was a challenge at

lotr_fic_recs to rec a fic with a good OC who wasn't a Mary-Sue, and I spent like half an hour composing a rec for Borderlines in my head before I realized, Oh wait, that's not lotrips, it's that other movie! And you're right, Casey does have that strength and dignity, like Elijah's Frodo, that's not so obvious at the beginning when everything looks bigger than him, but that awes you by the end.

*loves them omg*

LOL - Casey does feel like part of LOTR. Mostly because of LOTRiPS, I assume, with Elijah bleeding over so much...

Hee, yeah. Feels like LOTR FPS because of its brave and beautiful hero, and feels like RPS for being in our world, with homophobia and swearing and all those familiar little details.

PS I think you'd really enjoy an essay I'm reading right now, that

fictualities posted today, about how being an orphan affect both Frodo and Harry Potter. The post is here and the part with the heading "My way or the highway: Frodo's emotional reticence" is especially good (and also sad).

Oh, this is just a wonderfully thoughtful essay. Thanks so much for linking me.

I had a number of reactions, but since it's after midnight I'll have to put them aside and revisit them later.

I agree with most of what she says. I might say that what she sees as contempt for others I see as trying to avoid involving those he loves from getting hurt. Frodo's guilt plays against him from early on. But great essay!

She really does write well. (I get mystified sometimes over how people like her can get so caught up in Harry Potter, but then again I'm writing Faculty fic, so I probably shouldn't talk.) I was too tired to comment either when I read it and might not because I don't really have anything to say, but it was a great read. I do love anything that adds to my understanding of Frodo.

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No vacation from angst: Accidental double drabbles

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