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Counterpoint Notes
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04/01/05
This series has been in the works for about a year. It’s only recently that I’ve
begun to put it into some sort of coherent order and begun
Not many are blessed with their own personal Hobbit Pile.
My very own Frodo will talk for hours (hours!) with me about what I’m doing right, what I’m doing wrong and will gently lead me to where I want to go… and if all of that doesn’t work, will smack me upside the head and tell me to snap out of it already, bugger all, will you just think, for pity’s sake! Um…Okay, only nicer. *snort*
My Merry will patiently read every single draft I send and then poke at me until it’s exactly what I didn’t know I wanted it to be. Merry’s strategic, ‘passing comments’ such as ‘I wonder what actually happened in the Barrows’ have been known to spawn thirty pages of text from my keyboard. Which really is a good thing. No, really.
My Pippin will convince me that what I am writing is actually worth reading, whether I happen to think so at the time or not – and will put aside everything else to do it. Pippin just always knows when I need a shoulder and offers it every time with hugs and snogs to boot. Who could not love a Pippin?
And finally, my Sam takes all of my scattered thoughts, words, pages and tucks them into a nice, neat pile, smiles softly at me… then sits down and fixes them. And, as if that wasn’t enough, Sam then pats my head and tells me I done good (with the occasional ‘wtf?’). Sam has saved me from myself more times than I care to think about.
How did I get so lucky? I don’t know and refuse to question it. But my Pile has been so patient and supportive with what has become quite an obsession and I really don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank them properly. I love every single one of them madly and this particular Rosie is more than happy to be passed around the Pile.
05/18/05
I keep forgetting to mention this but I should note that I have rather abused canon here and twisted it to my own purposes. I have used quotes throughout this fic from the text source and not footnoted them, as is strictly proper. I have always found asterisks and random italics to denote direct quotes to be very distracting whilst reading and so did not include them in this fic. If you see something that sounds like I've stolen it from Tolkien, I probably have. But it's not like he'd probably forgive me for doing this in the first place, so what's one more strike against me, eh?
08/16/05
Starting with 'Sostenuto', the lovely and talented Trianne has taken over beta for this series. Trianne has authored many LOTR fics, both moving and hilarious (plus some RPS and original fiction), but it was her FOREVER FRODO, a (not surprisingly) Frodo/Merry vignette that first made me realize that I *heart* her. I think she needs to write more of that pairing, don't you? Go on - write her and tell her so. Many, many times.
03/01/06 (SPOILERS)
When trying to narrow down my choices for the music for Movement XX, I found myself hard-put to make a decision. There was 'Someday' by Nickelback, which is actually the song that started my mind going on this fic more than two years ago; it just sounded so Merry to me and the sentiments in that song (and my own wandering imagination and wild extrapolations) had a lot to do with shaping his characterisation in the series. But as I wrote and the story spun, I realised that it was also a little like Sam and even Pippin in some ways. And then there was 'Think' from Puddle of Mudd, which isn't a perfect fit but there's so much in that song -- the refrain in particular -- that speaks to the post-Quest sentiments of at least Merry... probably more so in 'Discord' (Movement VIII) than here but still. Cold Play was a new discovery for me this winter and their 'Fix You' was almost perfect but still not quite.
Now, those of you who follow 'Counterpoint' have probably noticed that after Lothlórien, we don't hear from Frodo, except for through someone else's POV. I felt that, after that point when their paths diverge, it really becomes 'Merry's Story' and since he is struggling to understand and adjust and re-build, the reader should have to struggle along with him. It didn't seem fair to inform everyone else of what's going on with Frodo before Merry himself is informed. I have dealt quite a lot with post-Quest Frodo in my gen fics and there will most likely be some insets to this 'verse at some future date; but for the actual exposition within the Movements, we see it all through Merry's eyes. But then, again this past winter, I discovered Nickelback's 'Savin' Me' and it was so very much Frodo in Movement XX that I had to use it. This was what I saw going through Frodo's heart in that moment in Bag End and though it's only a fleeting thing and he knows it's ill-advised and just wouldn't work in the end, I saw that moment as Frodo casting about for that one last straw to cling to and Merry simply unable to understand how to extend it.
So, we end up with four songs for this Movement -- one for each hobbit. :) I have no idea really which of the first three really applies to each of the other hobbits or whether any of them really fit any of them. But each of the four 'spoke' to me and I've learned to listen when that happens. At the worst, you've got some new tunes, yeah?
05/10/06
Let me tell you a little story…
I began this fic almost three years ago, beginning with, believe it or not, what eventually became (after much re-writing and quite a lot of morphing) the second part of Movement 21. It was more or less just a scene at the time -- something I picked at and played with once in a while -- but it was something I had to write, had to move from imagination to keyboard to paper. I figured at the time that it would never go anywhere else, that it would sit on my hard drive and keep a bunch of other dusty bits and pieces company until I eventually either forgot about it or deleted it.
But it would not leave me alone. 'Duet' then 'Reckoning' (in the gen section) eventually came from it and then 'Interlude' but that confrontation in 21 and the reasons for it and the motivations of the characters, and everything that led up to it, kept simmering in my head until I eventually had to start writing it or else climb into a corner and start sucking my thumb. I mean, I knew why it happened, I knew how it happened and I knew what each of the characters was thinking as it happened. I had no choice but to write it. And still, I didn't think it would ever see the light of day because it made me so sad that it had to end the way it had to end *cough*chapter24*cough* and I didn't want to write that end -- didn't want to put myself through it. I didn't want to put the characters through it. So the story remained something that would play various scenes in my head when I wasn't paying attention or trying to make it shut up, something that built itself a history while I wasn't looking, and I continued to add to it and play with it when I wasn't working on something else.
And then, many moons ago, Willow-wode came to visit me for a few days and, as we always end up doing, we talked about writing and things we were working on or thinking about working on and 'Counterpoint' (which I had tentatively named 'The Ways Appointed' at the time) came up. I had sent everything I'd done on it up until then to her before she left home and she'd read it on the plane on the way here and wanted to know why I wasn't planning on finishing something that obviously meant so much to me. And I confessed that I couldn't stand the fact that it had to end the way it had to end and I didn't think I could allow the story to write itself in the way I knew it would go. Because I'm a big baby. I wanted it to end in a different way and I knew it couldn't.
After acknowledging that yes, I am indeed a big baby, Willow then turned to me and something like the following ensued:
W-w: You're a big baby. Me: Yeah, I know. Shut up. W-w: There is a difference between a happy ending and a satisfactory ending. Me: I know, shut up. W-w: So, how do you want the story to end? Me: *blushes* *confesses preferred ending* W-w: And is that the way the story, as you foresee it, should end? Me: Er… yes. W-w: *blinks* *lifts eyebrow* So, what's the problem, then? Me: … W-w: *rolls eyes* You are such a canon slave. Me: *pouts* Am not.
It was like whiplash -- my mind immediately snapped free of the restraints I'd put on it and visualised 'Natural', filled in blanks, showed me why it made sense, how it could make sense and it was suddenly like a carrot dangling at the end of a stick. A very big carrot. A big, huge juicy carrot that made my mouth water and my stomach grumble. (Okay, so it was more like cheesecake.)
Still, I held back.
After blinking and sputtering something about canon -- probably several somethings about canon because I'm like that -- and after hearing Willow speak wisdom in the form of, 'What makes your interpretation of canon any less valid than someone else's?' (translation: Bugger canon, ya twat), sunlight broke over my soul (yes, poetic and purple, shut up) and I realised that hey, I'm writing fiction here, and more to the point, I'm writing my interpretation of that fiction and why the hell would I even dream that preventing the story and characters from going where they were supposed to go might be a good idea? And so I let the story take over and just sort of followed along. I let the characters do what they wanted and needed to do. I let go. (And just so you know, when you give a Took an inch, they'll knock you cold and leave you unconscious in a corner while they take over parts of your story. Just sayin'.)
So, the only obstacle then was time and I did now and then manage to steal enough of that. ConnieMarie got heavily involved about then, letting me bounce ideas off of her and asking me pointed questions that would make me think about a particular canon aspect in a way that I wanted to explain and write (the whole Barrows thing was just a vague personal backstory for my own understanding of Merry's characterisation until Connie kept asking me why Merry would follow that Rider in Bree and what was he doing out there in the first place and I was then compelled to write it out). The discussions I had with Connie directly resulted in at least two previously unrealised sub-plots that filled the story in and made it more real even for me.
Willow is and has been my Anchor and Guide; Connie is and has been my Muse. I honestly don't think I could have done this story without them.
And then there was Shadow who beta'd the first third of the whole and argued with me over some things and though I didn't always listen (well, I listened, but didn't always agree or make the suggested changes), the arguments were invaluable in that they allowed me to hone my own vision even further.
And then there was Elanor Gardner, who has been… wow, I'm not sure I can even describe how supportive she's been. There were times I was convinced I sucked and everything I'd ever written sucked and everything I might write in the future already sucked and Elanor would use words like 'epic love story' and 'masterpiece' and 'opus' and while those words would humble me, make me blush and sputter, they also inspired me -- she inspired me. Plus, she came up with the whole 'musical theme' idea which just worked out so perfectly.
Trianne took over beta at about Movement VIII and here was yet more inspiration. She got it right from the start. She saw the love between the characters and I never once had to explain to her why that love made sense. She loves them as much as I do. Her enthusiasm and encouragement and grammar help was so important and I'm not an easy person to beta for. She dared go where others feared. Not only that, but she also heard about my plight with bandwidth and got the wonderful, generous Alchemilla to host some of the Soundtrack. They are both too fabulous for words.
And I mustn't forget Dana, who also got it and even though this story could not, by any stretch, be perceived as a Merry/Pippin (which is of course her favourite), her enthusiasm also inspired me… plus the fact that she got advance chapters and didn't tell anyone. *grin*
Finally, there was you, The Readers. And not just The Readers but those of you who have been so generous with your comments, your support, your sharing of your thoughts on this story, your understanding of it, and to some degree, your understanding of me. I can't tell you how much your support has meant to me.
One more thank you to Willow, who has been such an enormous help on this fic from the very beginning, functioning as Meta and Guru and Willing Ear more times than I'm willing to put a number to. 'Natural' -- indeed, 'Counterpoint' itself -- would probably not exist without her. And certainly 'Natural' in this form would most definitely not exist without her. Not only is she an amazing author and artist, but she's a genius and a generous friend -- in every sense. I *heart* her madly.
Okay, that's it -- the fic-proper is complete. However, there will definitely be insets in the future... and probably more than anyone but me would feel necessary. But I never have been able to leave well enough alone. ;)
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