"Here do I swear fealty and service to Tolkien, and to the Canon of the realm, to fight and defend, to speak and not be silent, to do and not let be, to come and to go, in need or plenty, in peace or war, from this hour henceforth, until death take me, or the world end, or I leave the fandom and this site forever. So say I, Alaenor-Skybird of the One True Fandom of Fanfiction.net!"

Hello to whoever has stumbled across this page!

My name on this site is Alaenor. I am female, and a native speaker of English.

I run a forum called the Society for the Guardians of Tolkien's Fandom. It's a place for those of us who don't like the pit of voles Tolkien FF is turing into to talk things over, think of possible solutions, complain, and maybe even do something productive.

It also a place where I keep all the rants and amusing fol-de-rol I've written. (Such as The Beastiarium: A guide to the Gods and Demons of Fanfiction)

If you got here through one of my reviews, you probably know by now I don't much like Marysues. They're my biggest pet peeve, and I hate them with all my heart and soul. Especially the ones in Lord of the Rings, which has been literally overrun over the past few years.

A LIST OF LINKS and SOURCES:

Here's my personal favorite: The Mary-Sue Litmus test. As the name suggests, it's a test for giving you an idea of how bad a Mary Sue your character is. I'd advise it for everyone no matter how experienced a writer you are. The results are always illuminating. Even if your character isn't a Marysue, Springhole (and all the other MS test sites, google for 'em) can help keep you away from any cliches you might have.

Another link here: The legendary Dr. Merlin's guide to Fanfiction. This is also high on my list of required reading for every good fanfic writer. Pages four, nine, and ten especially. The MS stuff is on page six, and it's pretty good too, but for a more complete explanation of what a Sue is, I'd check out the Wiki article here.

More fun stuff:

An absolutely hysterical MS litmus test just for LOTR Sues. :)

And a well-organized scientific classification of the many types of 'Sues, their names, descriptions, and examples.

Speaking of Tolkien FF, Dreamingfifi's website, 'Merin Essi ar Quenteli' is a blessing to all Lotr fanfiction writers. Her site useful includes:

1) A full-blown Sindarin (elvish) textbook, along with lists of useful phrases in the Elvish languages, plus as the Black Speech and others.

2) Lists of canonical human and elvish names for you to give your characters. Plus, a list of Tolkien's names translated into English.

3) Handy, idiot-proof timelines of important events in Middle Earth.

4) A list of Beta-readers. Yes, you do need one of these! ( also provides them for you, in any fandom you might wish!)

5) And my favorite: The Essays! For any fools who refuse to read the books, Dreamingfifi clearly spells out things such as:

• What really happened at the Council of Elrond, and why there are only NINE in the Fellowship.
• How to write dialogue that fits in Tolkien's universe.
• How magic and mythology worked in Middle Earth.
• What the Elven Sea-longing actually is, and why it is not an affliction.
• And explains the beginnings of the elvish and human races in a way that clearly proves there are no magical 'hidden elven kingdoms'.

If you need any more help with the history, people, or world of Middle-Earth, the Encyclopedia of Arda is another invaluable and well-organized source. Give it a try!

The Thain's Book is a second encyclopedia, with descriptions and cross-references that do a beautiful job of explaining anything at all you might need to know.

If that's not enough, there is a Tolkien Wiki. It's huge. The ordinary also has Tolkien-related articles.

I also recommend Michael Martinez's Merp site and all it's detailed articles.

Some Nice Quotes:

“The first draft of anything is shit.” ~ Ernest Hemingway

"If one man calls you an ass, it's just his opinion. If two men call you an ass, consider the opinion. If three men call you an ass, get fitted for a saddle." ~Unknown.

"Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy, and good with ketchup." ~ A highly amusing bumper sticker.

"Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Whatever you may be sure of, be sure of this, that you are dreadfully like other people." ~James Russell Lowell

Just for fun, I've also made a list of what I call the 10 Commandments of Writing Fanfiction. This is my list of the top 10 most irritating things writers need to stop doing. (Roughly in order of most important to least.)

1) Thou shalt not write Mary Sue or Gary Stu stories, stories with "You" as the main character, or self-inserts.

2) Thou shalt get a fucking Beta.

3) Thou shalt not write in abbreviations or chatspeak, nor in any other way butcher the English language. Thou shalt respect the English language and it's rules, structures, and etiquette.

4) Thou shalt learn how to use spell check and grammar check. Nonetheless, thou shalt not consider them infallible. Read over your own work, and make sure you know how to use commas.

5) Thou shalt read the book before writing about it. The movie is not the same as the book.

6) Thou shalt not alter a character's personality from how the Author wrote it.

7) Thou shalt not write songfics. Stories where characters sing popular modern songs every other page are in equally poor taste.

8) Thou shalt write dialogue only in languages you speak fluently. No more of this "kawaii desu". No more butchered elvish.

9) Thou shalt not write authors notes that are more than a few sentences (at most a paragraph) in length.

10) Thou shalt not write one word/one sentence chapters, or any trollfic variation thereof.

Extra!: 11) Thou shalt not delete reviews giving concrit or harsh criticsm. Only flames are deletable. Constructive criticism is necessary to improve.

Credit for my avatar, 'Of Love and Other Demons', goes to Basia AlmostTheBrave on Deviantart.