Fanfic: Woodland Trust (~8,000 words)
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A bit of a geeky one, featuring (some of) my Tolkien-inspired headcanons - blame The Rings Of Power for reigniting my interest in this stuff! - plus more fun with characters who never met in the show.
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That was beautiful!
I'm going to try giving feedback without including spoilers, so here goes: Gwendoline never particularly resonated with me but this story gave me the chance to see her being pushed out of her comfort zone and see how she manages. Velda has shown up in the series and in one of the books, and it's lovely to see both appearances referenced. Her goodwill wasn't always easy to earn - the dungeoneers got an easy ride on that score, at least sometimes - and it was great to see how you didn't have her give Gwendoline her trust easily. I enjoyed watching their mutual trust develop over time.
That final scene with the frightnight was exciting to read! And the aftermath was satisfying to read too.
The story ends quite slowly after that, and I'd normally say that a story should end soon after its main conflict is over, but here, it was a lovely wind-down to the end of the story. You gave me a glimpse of a few corridors and rooms that we never got to explore, and they sounded interesting and unsettling. Given the quality of your writing, if you were to write so that we could explore them I have no doubt you'd make that a satisfying read.
Finally, your writing is gorgeous! I love the woodlands too and am looking forward to this year's wild garlic season, so seeing them get an honourable nod too was nice!
Keep up the writing: you're very good at it!
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That was beautiful!
I'm going to try giving feedback without including spoilers, so here goes: Gwendoline never particularly resonated with me but this story gave me the chance to see her being pushed out of her comfort zone and see how she manages. Velda has shown up in the series and in one of the books, and it's lovely to see both appearances referenced. Her goodwill wasn't always easy to earn - the dungeoneers got an easy ride on that score, at least sometimes - and it was great to see how you didn't have her give Gwendoline her trust easily. I enjoyed watching their mutual trust develop over time.
That final scene with the frightnight was exciting to read! And the aftermath was satisfying to read too.
The story ends quite slowly after that, and I'd normally say that a story should end soon after its main conflict is over, but here, it was a lovely wind-down to the end of the story. You gave me a glimpse of a few corridors and rooms that we never got to explore, and they sounded interesting and unsettling. Given the quality of your writing, if you were to write so that we could explore them I have no doubt you'd make that a satisfying read.
Finally, your writing is gorgeous! I love the woodlands too and am looking forward to this year's wild garlic season, so seeing them get an honourable nod too was nice!
Keep up the writing: you're very good at it!
Oh wow, thank you so much for the lovely detailed review and encouragement! I'm really happy you enjoyed it. Certain scenes gave me a lot of trouble, so I'm glad they all achieved what I was aiming for!
I also love walking in nature. Somewhere near me has that garlic smell in the woods.
Haha, I'm sure someone around here will get the significance of the graffiti, but I'll explain later if no-one beats me to it.
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(I won't completely avoid spoilers in my post because it restricts discussion. For anyone who wants to read both this thread and the story, it makes sense to read the story first.)
I enjoyed this. It felt true to the characters - not straightforward when there's so much to account for between the episodes and the various books - and I got more invested in their journey as the story went on, to the point where I was sad when they parted ways.
I'm always interested in retcon and gap filling in Knightmare fanfiction. While some of your elements were alternatives to those in others' works - such as the explanation for Skarkill's eye injury in one of my stories - plenty were new. I particularly liked your explanation of "Elvandis".
Had I written this story, I might have included more humour e.g. Gwendoline having water in her ear and mishearing Velda's Vs as Bs. Then again, that might not have suited the plot and the main characters that well.
While 'DJR 87' felt a bit too meta in this context, I did enjoy being reminded of Hill Valley 2015 in one particular scene. I also liked how Chapter 1 had an all-female cast (including the goblins as they were cast in Knightmare).
As long as you enjoy the experience of writing, I hope you'll write more.
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Yay! Thank you for commenting!
"Gap filling" is definitely the main thing that draws me to Knightmare fic (and there are still so many gaps to fill). I am borrowing heavily from LOTR for Elvandis and various other things in this story - on purpose, since a lot of the elements in Knightmare came from there in the first place. I love all the connections between those two universes.
I might have included more humour e.g. Gwendoline having water in her ear and mishearing Velda's Vs as Bs.
LOL!! I never thought of that... half of Velda's dialogue could have been impossible to make out, but then their conversations probably wouldn't have flowed as smoothly.
What was it that reminded you of Hill Valley? It's been a while since I watched the films.
As long as you enjoy the experience of writing, I hope you'll write more.
I do have plenty of others on the back burner, but most of them require a firmer grasp of all the world-building before I can write them with confidence. One day, hopefully! What about you, have you any plans to write more fanfic?
To answer Beltane's question:
What's DJR 87??
I noticed while writing the story that it bizarrely had a bunch of unintended similarities to The Wizard of Oz, and decided it would be fitting if the path to the Emerald Greenwood actually resembled a yellow brick road. The corridor is therefore based on the 'bland room' that was used for many things in the original Knightmare dungeon, and the graffiti is a nod to it being created by David Rowe for the 1987 series, as if he had signed it.
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What about you, have you any plans to write more fanfic?
I have one unwritten story idea (another crossover) but no plans to write it. Having said that, this year's the 20th anniversary of my first Knightmare / Quantum Leap crossover, and there are new Quantum Leap episodes to watch...
What was it that reminded you of Hill Valley? It's been a while since I watched the films.
Think going onto and under water to evade a flying adversary, followed by instantly drying clothing.
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Think going onto and under water to evade a flying adversary, followed by instantly drying clothing.
Ha, that is very reminiscent of my scene! Great spot! (...I think I just did another unintended BTTF reference...)
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To answer Beltane's question:
What's DJR 87??
I noticed while writing the story that it bizarrely had a bunch of unintended similarities to The Wizard of Oz, and decided it would be fitting if the path to the Emerald Greenwood actually resembled a yellow brick road. The corridor is therefore based on the 'bland room' that was used for many things in the original Knightmare dungeon, and the graffiti is a nod to it being created by David Rowe for the 1987 series, as if he had signed it.
Oh, I get it now! Thanks!
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