A word from Rella concerning AI, binding and selling fics, and Book 3 of Rávamë's Bane
Hey folks,
I’m treating this post as a bit of a blanket PSA for all those who read my work and follow me here, but I’ll also be copying the message over to AO3 once Book 3 of Rávamë's Bane goes up.
Before anyone gets spooked, all is well, I am well, and I’m still happily working on the first 5 chapters of Amabilis Insania. However there are a few glaring subjects that have sprung up in the fandom space that I can’t really ignore. The fanfic community as a whole has changed a lot in the past decade I've been part of it, and given some of the unpleasant stuff I’ve seen going on in just the past year, I wanted to cover some housekeeping points ahead of posting the next RB book.
1.) Please don’t ever bind and sell fanfics.
Profiting from fanfiction in any way is completely illegal, and puts the entire community at risk.
I’m lucky enough that I’m a relatively small fish in the fanfic pond, so no one has sold bound copies of my story specifically (that I know of). However, I know several folks who have had their work bound and sold without their knowledge, and have had to take their fics down completely to stop it happening (which royally sucks). If you see any fanfics being sold on sites like Etsy, please do report them — they are absolutely not supposed to be there. And if you want a bound copy of a fic for personal use, I'd really encourage you to learn to bind them yourself. There's a tonne of tutorials out there, it’s pretty fun and easy to learn (I picked it up in a couple of weeks) and it doesn’t take as many materials as you’d imagine.
Side note: I have made typesets of LM and CM for myself and friends, but honestly, I’m reluctant to share them publicly now given all the above. That said, if you really want a copy of LM or CM for personal use only, you can message me directly on Tumblr and I can maybe look into making a watermarked version to share on request.
2.) In light of the recent news that AO3 was scraped to create a generative AI dataset, I’ve decided I’ll only be posting the final RB book to AO3 from now on.
On top of that, all my fics will be restricted to users with AO3 accounts only. I really don’t want to do this as it cuts off guest users from enjoying the story too, but for now it’s the only way to protect my work from being scrapped again. I don’t believe this will be a one-time occurrence given how carelessly AI is being used right now, and I feel very strongly that no one’s work should be used in model training without their consent.
The vast majority of you in my comments, asks and kudos are genuinely wonderful, and I’m so damned grateful that you aren’t a part of the issues above. However, with all that in mind, let me be absolutely clear just for the public record…
!!TRLD: This Is The Important Bit!!
You do not, and will never have my consent to:
- use any of my writing in generative AI (this includes making AI-generated fanworks, or scraping my fics for training AI models)
- bind and sell any of my fanfics (profiting from fanfiction is completely illegal, and puts it at risk for us all)
- profit in any way from any of my work that I have publicly shared online (this includes putting my fics on recommendation lists behind paywalls, or selling my fics in the form of typesets or bound copies)
If you do any variation of the above despite knowing the risk it poses to the entire fanfic community, I respectfully hope you spend the rest of your life in clothes that smell damp no matter how much you run them through the dryer.
To the rest of you; a genuine thank you for making the community what it is. And thank you for making the RB comments section specifically such a joyful place to be.
I promise my next post/update will be less grim.
Until then,
Rella x
Edit: Since I literally just had to deal with this happening just earlier today 🙄 You also do not and never will have my consent to:
- advertise any generative AI apps in my review/comments section (Seriously? I firmly believe that generative AI has no place in the writing and publishing world, and more often than not, using it makes you both worse at writing and is no better than stealing from people who took the time to learn to do it well. Keep all that trash out of my comments section.)
I am a long time fan (even though I never post here lol), and I swear this chapter couldn’t have come during a better time, since I had bought a LOTR beer to taste test earlier today. Thoroughly enjoyed this chapter with a beverage fitting the theme. Thank you for your amazing work and can’t wait for the next one as always!
A long awaited RB preview (of a chapter that needs editing)
“How did you know?” I asked. I wasn’t really surprised, and didn’t bother to hide it.
“I sensed and suspected during your instruction…” he explained, keeping his voice low, while keeping an attentive gaze over my shoulder for any prying eyes or ears. When he looked back at me his expression softened from caution to something almost grandfatherly. “But I can see it in your face clearly now.”
I nodded, a little shiver running down my spine with the recall — the emotions and thoughts coming back as if they happened moments ago.
“I have… memories now. Hers and mine. Mostly mine… and a name. My name.”
Tindomiel.
It rang through my mind like the words of a childhood song I’d been struggling to remember for years. But I didn’t speak it aloud, some shapeless instinct in me holding it back.
“Ah…” He looked genuinely sad, and made no effort to mask it. “And you have not yet shared it with your companions?”
“Not yet.”
“You should,” he stated, gaze drifting toward where Legolas and Gimli had headed to see Haldir and his brothers off. “Though I would advise you choose your moment wisely… and privately.”
“I was planning on it…” I couldn’t quite restrain a somewhat dry smile up at him. “Though I don’t suppose you can tell me why you’re giving me this advice now that I have my name specifically?”
He smiled, the sadness not quite leaving despite the warmth of it.
“You should know by now, Eleanor, that it is the prerogative of a Wizard to be cryptic,” he murmured softly, reaching out to rest a weathered hand on my shoulder. “So I hope you won’t begrudge me one more piece of veiled advice: Tread carefully with the answers you pursue weilding that knowledge, especially now. Each answer you uncover will have far-reaching consequences, for you both. Many that you cannot yet see or understand yet.”
I hadn’t told Gandalf any details of what I’d experienced in the memories during the palantir attack, but somewhere in my guts, I was utterly certain he knew exactly what I’d seen. Who I’d seen. Every detail. And he understood in unfathomable detail all the consequences of what was to come, now that I had this one crucial piece of the puzzle resting in my hands at long last — whether I heeded his warnings or not."
Amabilis Insania (Rávamë's Bane: Book 3)
Chapter 3: A White Tree Burning
While waiting for an update on Amabilis Insania, I decided to play around once again with my vision of Élanor - this time as Tindómiel. I can proudly say that from the moment we were given Élanor’s brother’s name, Var, I knew who the main heroine truly was (in no small part thanks to my obsession with Elven lineages).
Within the trilogy itself, there are still plenty of questions, an average number of answers, and a large amount of speculation on my part, all of which I jot down in my notebook dedicated solely to the Rávamë’s Bane Trilogy. I can’t wait for the continuation, especially since the description of the third part already promises more drama and conflict. I’m also curious to see how many of my theories will turn out to be correct.
As for the fanart itself, this is one of my most successful digital character artworks (despite the armor being done rather lazily). I hope you can tell I've greatly improved upon human (or elven) faces :3
Mind you, this is Tindómiel after the battle with the Hravarim, hence the bruises and general lack of her sunny personality.
This was such a wonderful suprise to stumble across while randomly scrolling today! Thing have been a bit overwhelming recently and I was really sad I haven't had time to do any updates this Christmas and New Year. Seeing this really cheered me up and has put me back in the mood to write again. Thank you ❤
Lord of the Rings Fancast: Matthew and Marco Lobaton as Elladan and Elrohir
In the forefront of the charge they saw two great horsemen, clad in grey, unlike all the others, and the Orcs fled before them; but when the battle was won they could not be found, and none knew whence they came or whither they went. But in Rivendell it was recorded that these were the sons of Elrond, Elladan and Elrohir
In the last three months I've been re-reading the entire Ravame's Bane Trilogy, and today I decided to draw Eleanor or how I've always visualized her. Mind you, I am NOT a profesional, and am aware of how messy it is, but I decided to share it nonetheless.
I've first discovered Ravame's Bane when I was 15, and since then, it has become this beautiful and safe place I always return to when in need of comfort. The work of art that is the trilogy deserves more recognition, it is hands down the best, most creative and breathtaking fanfic I've ever read. (Honestly, it could be a book of its own ngl)
I am excited for the third and final book more than ever, but also fully understand and support Rella for not rushing it, because no matter how long the wait, I know it will be worth it <3
Elrond as viewed by Númenoreans is hilarious. Aristocracy is one thing, and their long kept histories and direct descent from the elves.
But someone lowborn - still educated, still familiar with the stories. Faithful or not. Lifespan lower than the upper class, but longer than other humans - but that doesn't matter - thousands of years is a long time. The Roman Empire was more recent than this guy.
Because imagine the founder of your nation and its first king, who was told to have been born as the son of a bird and a star, lived to be 500, and who died 2000 years ago. Just. Has a sibling. Who is still running around. You can go visit him. You can! He's very friendly. He wrote the medical book your healers study from. He updates it religiously every other decade. You don't hear from him often because he lives fairly secluded from society and seems to prefer a quiet life but every few hundred years something batshit insane happens and he's right there. At the center of things. Pretending to be a background character, as if Sauron didn't look warily at him expecting him to turn into another Lúthien incident. Maybe he's shy?
You are a sailor. You meet him on one of your journeys to Middle Earth.
He's not shy. He's just crown-phobic. He looks like every single painting of Tar-Minyatur you've seen. He glitters under starlight. Literally. His parents are a bird and a star and you keep forgetting that's not a metaphor. Everyone is in love with him. He sings to the birds. He has had a slowburn one-sided romance going on for the past 1000 years. His crush has yet to find out but the king is running a betting pool.
Damn I just realized that since the Rohirrim didn’t read or write (wise but unlearned, writing no books but singing many songs) that means Eowyn couldn’t read or write and since she marries Nerdboy McGee who loves reading and writing more than anything you can your bottom dollar one of the first thing that happens in their courtship/marriage is Faramir and Eowyn wholesome tutoring sessions in the Minas Tirith library (!)
I feel like it’d be an exchange; Faramir teaches Eowyn his love of books and writing and in return she teaches him the many, MANY, songs of the Rohirrim that have never been written anywhere.
I’m crying……….. because what if they co-author a book of Rohhirim folk tales and history together T_T
Also Faramir keeps trying to over-analyze everything like “Ah, I see, the horse keeps tripping because we all must stumble our way through the unpredictable nature of this world” and she’s like “No babe, the horse keeps tripping because it’s funny and this is a story used to cheer up frightened children.”
i love the idea of faramir being super excited about rohirric folk tales and very seriously looking eowyn in the eye and saying “if you don’t teach me these songs and we don’t write them down This Instant they’ll be lost forever” … passionate cultural preservation
meanwhile eowyn’s just fondly humouring him bc my dude we’ve been doing this memorising and singing thing forever it’ll be fine don’t worry
Boromir Week, Day 1: Brother of Faramir, Childhood, Protector
It's gonna be a week of headcanons! Starting with this one: Faramir's love of books was stoked by Finduilas reading to him all the time---Boromir was a more rough-and-tumble child with a shorter attention span. After Finduilas dies, Boromir takes it upon himself to keep reading to his younger brother. But reading doesn't come easily to him, riffing off one of the first headcanons I ever posted. Faramir is too little to understand how to tell his older brother that it's okay, he can just read the books himself---and something tells him Boromir needs to struggle through this act of protective normalcy as much for himself as for Faramir.
Though there may still be some splitting of chapters if they get too long, there are currently 24 chapters planned for Amabilis Insania, and they all already have names. ✨
The ones currently released are:
Chapter 1: The Overlapping
Chapter 2: A Battle of Wills
And to give you a preview of the next five upcoming:
Hey Rella. I’m curious after your last post as to whether the original Fellowship characters in the movie are identical to the images of the same characters in RB in your head?
PS. ❤️ you
Yes and no. 😅 It's complicated for me.
I adore the films, and I think the original actors were spot on for their roles, and they all have a special place in my heart. However, in my head now -- 10 years of writing RB later -- how I imagine each of the Fellowship is pretty different to their screen portrayal. They all look and behave similarly, but because I fleshed out their characters over such a long time, when I watch the films now they feel like different people. RB Legolas especially feels very different from Film Legolas, and if I were to look into other faceclaims for any of them it would likely be him.
I am curious now though; do any of you have your own faceclaims for the Fellowship?
Someone sent me their faceclaim for Eleanor a while ago (Emily Bader, which I can completely see) and it sent me down a spiral of thinking about potential faceclaims for the other RB characters not a part of the original LotR trilogy...
Emily Bader as Eleanor/Tink/Rávamë
Anya Taylor Joy as Merileth
Rose Leslie as Katie/Sarra
Sam Claflin as Var
Carla Gugino as Nazrîn
Jordi Webber as Abrazîr
Joanna McGibbon as Desha
Imelda Staunton as Ilda
Amita Suman as Dahlia
Behold, as promised, another chapter! This will likely be the last one I can do until after my presentation later this month. I'll still be writing bits and pieces, but absolutely won't have the brainpower for editing. So until then, I hope you enjoy a look at E&T matching wills.
