An Update and an Announcement - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

***Mithadan*** · 02-22-2023, 01:23 PM

Three years ago, I undertook a pet project, to resurrect stories from our old Fan Fiction Forum and begin posting them here. I had some extra time on my hands (COVID) and expected it to be a simple undertaking. Access the archive, copy a story, edit a bit if needed, and post it. Barrow-Wight was kind enough to create this sub-forum for me and I started the project. In my introductory post, I said I would try to post one story a week. Easy enough... Three years later (today, more or less) I have reposted 11 stories.

There are many reasons for this. I had less free time on my hands than I thought. But more significantly, it turned out to not be as easy as I believed. First, I started out by trying to locate stories authored by present or former members. This presented an immediate issue. For some reason, the authors whose stories were posted did not use the same username as they did here (and many were apparently not members but were just looking for a place to post their material). Second, many of the stories were unfinished. So, it wasn't as simple as merely cutting and pasting. I had to read them all the way through and make sure they were complete. Third, many of the files are corrupt and cannot be recovered (sorry Urwen, I've tried a number of different ways and cannot recover your Tar-Miriel story). Fourth, this used to be a moderated forum, but we later changed it so anyone could post. The result, pages of spam to sift through. Fifth, some of the stories are loooong and were posted literally chapter by chapter (some are converted RPGs and I am passing on these for now as they are in the Elvenhome forum below) and have to be copied post-by-post. Sixth, what someone posted ten or more years ago may not be something they would want resurrected. Editing can be a chore.

Anyway, I am getting ready to post some additional materials, including one certain story that is, literally, over two hundred pages long (nod to Gilthalion, wherever he is). Huinesoron, thanks for your help on that one. If you are following along, please be patient with me. And give some indication here if you feel this is a worthwhile effort. It would be nice to see some comments on the stories.

Finally, we initially restricted this forum to reposting old stories. If you have something that you have written that you might want posted, feel free to reach out to me via PM. The Stories forum remains restricted and only I can post there. This is at the request of the Admins. If you reach out to me, keep in mind that there are some rules. No slash, no cross-overs (no, R2-D2 was not in LoTR), and stories must be based upon Tolkien's Middle-Earth writings. This is an experiment. No promises.

02-22-2023, 01:23 PM	#1
*Mithadan* Spirit of Mist Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Tol Eressea Posts: 3,381	An Update and an Announcement Three years ago, I undertook a pet project, to resurrect stories from our old Fan Fiction Forum and begin posting them here. I had some extra time on my hands (COVID) and expected it to be a simple undertaking. Access the archive, copy a story, edit a bit if needed, and post it. Barrow-Wight was kind enough to create this sub-forum for me and I started the project. In my introductory post, I said I would try to post one story a week. Easy enough... Three years later (today, more or less) I have reposted 11 stories. There are many reasons for this. I had less free time on my hands than I thought. But more significantly, it turned out to not be as easy as I believed. First, I started out by trying to locate stories authored by present or former members. This presented an immediate issue. For some reason, the authors whose stories were posted did not use the same username as they did here (and many were apparently not members but were just looking for a place to post their material). Second, many of the stories were unfinished. So, it wasn't as simple as merely cutting and pasting. I had to read them all the way through and make sure they were complete. Third, many of the files are corrupt and cannot be recovered (sorry Urwen, I've tried a number of different ways and cannot recover your Tar-Miriel story). Fourth, this used to be a moderated forum, but we later changed it so anyone could post. The result, pages of spam to sift through. Fifth, some of the stories are loooong and were posted literally chapter by chapter (some are converted RPGs and I am passing on these for now as they are in the Elvenhome forum below) and have to be copied post-by-post. Sixth, what someone posted ten or more years ago may not be something they would want resurrected. Editing can be a chore. Anyway, I am getting ready to post some additional materials, including one certain story that is, literally, over two hundred pages long (nod to Gilthalion, wherever he is). Huinesoron, thanks for your help on that one. If you are following along, please be patient with me. And give some indication here if you feel this is a worthwhile effort. It would be nice to see some comments on the stories. Finally, we initially restricted this forum to reposting old stories. If you have something that you have written that you might want posted, feel free to reach out to me via PM. The Stories forum remains restricted and only I can post there. This is at the request of the Admins. If you reach out to me, keep in mind that there are some rules. No slash, no cross-overs (no, R2-D2 was not in LoTR), and stories must be based upon Tolkien's Middle-Earth writings. This is an experiment. No promises. __________________ Beleriand, Beleriand, the borders of the Elven-land.