 Pyrefly07 2008-04-19 . chapter 1Honestly you have alot of work to do with this story. There is very little wrong I can see grammar wise, which is very good. My concern lies with your characterization. The story isn't horrible, but this story might tank just from the OC alone. Luna is not the name of an elf normally but that can be ignored.
But the rest cannot. First things first, a fox protector, 'elves' with blue hair? This isn't an anime this is Middle Earth. These things don't exist in this universe, if you do that, then that means that your changing the universe. Just go to Fiction Press if you want to do things like that, that way you won't have to worry about people getting upset with your additions. Also, please try to give your OC more flaws, its cliche to make her be the scapegoat for all of Middle Earth; where she does nothing wrong and everything's so unfair. Its unlikely that Thranduil would've taken her on as Legolas' teacher, in fact, I doubt it would be possible at all. There's no way she'd be better than him, and if so its impossible she'd be good enough to have to literally teach him. She's practically flawlwess, which is also so cliche in this fiction that it really gives OC's a bad name. Rape as a plot device? Do you know about how elves view sex and marriage? I guess not, but another reviewer already touched on this well enough.
Her diction is all wrong. There's no need to sound pretentious with it, but come on, 'awesome' and other words weren't really common, especially among elves. |
 I.H.N 2008-03-09 . chapter 5I don't really know what to make of this story. I think that it could be interesting, but it would need some work to reach that point. Let me point out a few of the areas that need further attention:
First of all, Mirkwood is no town. It is a forest, a rather big forest. Do you mean that she was born in Thranduil's dwelling on the eastern edge of the forest? If that is so, you could say that she was born in the same stronghold as Legolas, but certainly not in the same town, as there are no towns in Mirkwood.
Secondly, nobody would force an Elf to marry against her wishes. An Elf so forced would surely die of grief. Her parents could perhaps suggest a match for her, but if your character declines, that's it. They would not, could not insist.
Then, there is the language you use. It is far too modern. You don't have to write like Shakespeare, but you should cut out words like 'OK' and similar modernisms.
Next, there are no wolf demons in Middle-earth. You can insert them, of course, but your story ceases to be set in Middle-earth if you do so. Why do you need them anyway? Why does your character need a pet fox? Until now, it is not like her cute animal friend has really done anything noteworthy. Sure, it killed an Orc or two, but that is nothing a well-trained war horse could not do. Your character could not take such a creature to bed with her, but on the hand, having 'Silver' be a faithful horse would not make my mind boggle every time your 'Luna' rides that creature.
You see, there are no size changing foxes in Middle-earth either, so turning 'Silver' into a horse would patch several plot-holes at once.
It's also odd that 'Luna' thinks that having a 'protector' like that "sounds awesome; like my own servant." Don't get me wrong, having her regard that creature as her servant would make a good flaw, something that 'Luna' (please think of a more appropriate name, by the way) desperately needs, but that attitude should eventually come back to haunt her.
Just look at what Huan, the hound of Valinor, did to his less than kind master when said master underestimated the hound's will and his sense of justice. If Silver eventually deserts her because she treats it like her servant or pet, keep the creature in. If it doesn't, turn it into a horse.
Whatever you do with it, pick a size for Silver. Either it's a cute little fox and a pet, or it's a enormous unnatural monster, but it can not be both.
Anyway, in the first chapter, it sounds like Legolas and your character are roughly of the same age, with her "having a crush" on him (which is a horribly modern phrase that does not exist in Middle-earth). But if they are of the same age, how come that your character can act as Legolas' teacher? At best, she could be a little better than he is. She could perhaps give him a few hints, but Legolas' father would not hire her as his teacher.
I think that it is highly unrealistic that a King's son has not received intense training with all kinds of weapons from a very young age. It does not matter if Legolas does not get along with his other teachers. Mirkwood is at war. A King of a realm at war, a realm under siege, actually, has to make sure that by the time his son reaches his majority, he can not only defend himself, but that he is an accomplished warrior. If I were Thranduil, I would do everything to ensure that my son can deal with anything he could encounter in the forest. At need, Thranduil would train Legolas himself.
Next chapter...There really is nothing wrong with your OC and Legolas being ...interested in each other. Using rape as plot-device is wrong, however. Not even Legolas should be able to make it all better by cuddling up to 'Luna'. At least, the matter should not simply be forgotten next morning. In fact, by next morning, she should be dead. You see, among Elves, sex equals marriage, in essence. Sex is the cause of a legal marriage, in their eyes. Elves are also strictly monogamous, since marriage also has a spiritual component for them. This means that if an Elf is forced to have sex with another, these two are then married until the end of days. Death only suspends such an union. An Elf that is bound in this manner to a rapist would without doubt die and refuse to return to life until the end of days!
And then there are the magical powers of your character. No Elf can fix a broken dish using 'magic'. Certainly not a random Woodelf. The magic of the Elves is their craftsmanship. An Elf could, for example, make a dish that can be repaired by simply holding the shards together. That would be what they call 'craft'. An Elf could sing a song that causes the listener to see the dish as it was before it broke. That would be 'enchantment', and fundamentally the same thing. But no Elf, not even Luthien herself, could put an ordinary dish without previous 'modifications' back together without glue.
But it gets worse: If 'Luna' can do 'magic', why did she not use it to deter her rapist?
Then, there is the matter of the journey to Imladris. Nobody was summoned there. Legolas did not travel to Mirkwood because of the Ring, but because Gollum escaped. It was "coincidence, as we say in Middle-earth".
Furthermore, Legolas is no healer. Perhaps Elrond could heal an injury in such a manner, because Elrond, unlike Legolas or your 'Luna', is an Elvenlord of great power, age, experience and wisdom. He also bears one of the Three Rings. Legolas has no such power, and neither should 'Luna' have it.
Likewise, 'Luna' should not be of paramount importance. She should not be essential to the success of the quest, and there should be no prophecies around her. If you want your character to outshine everybody around her, please set this story in an original universe. If you want this to be fanfiction, she has to fit in somewhere. She should not be the savior of the world. That is Frodo's job.
She should not be flawless and loved by all but the designated bad guys. Give her a few flaws, and make sure that they bring her into trouble (see above). She should not win every argument either. Let her actually be wrong sometimes. Let her make mistakes. Everybody does, even the Valar. That is an intrinsic property of finite beings and your character should fall into this category, even in Middle-earth. If she does not, she has no place there and this should not be fanfiction.
Make her apologize for these mistakes. Show that she is not the linchpin of Middle-earth, and that there are other characters there that matter just as much as she does or that are even more important.
All in all, keep writing. If you can give your character depth, flaws and shortcomings that actually hinder her, and if you can give her a realistic place in the world, with realistic abilities, then your story could actually become quite good (given that you weed out the modernisms). If you want your OC to be the dominant character of the world you are writing in, put her into a world of your own design. |
 Saber Apricot 2008-03-05 . chapter 1Eh, blue, lavender, periwinkle, or indigo hair just won't work. Elves don't have wacky hair colors. Being the only person with blue hair would make her look weird and not in an exotic-pretty sort of way. How about giving your elf hair that is so black that it looks indigo, blue, or something? It's still unnecessary, but it's not as annoying as your character straight-up having blue-purple hair.
'Luna' is not a Middle-earth elf name. It's a name that could be used in other fantasy series fine, but not in The Lord of the Rings. It almost sounds as if you're ripping off the character from Lunar:Silver Star Story Complete. Luna was a special blue-haired girl (who had the power to use magic through her voice).
A fox protector? No.
...Alright, this is very AU, so you ought to list this story as AU. If you're not going to follow LOTR universe rules and make this an AU story, you'll need to keep the LOTR characters very true to their characters, or it won't resemble The Lord of the Rings very much at all.
Maybe you should just cut out the LOTR stuff and replace it with your own personal fictional world. If you change this from a fanfiction into an original fiction, then there is nothing wrong with having a blue-haired elf, silver fox protector, half-human demon-thingies, and so on. |