Trinity by pandemonium_213

Thanks so much, Dawn!  Of course, you do realize these accolades only serve to encourage me in my skewed view of Middle-earth, Arda and points beyond. :^)

Thanks so much, G.A.! As for more, I anticipate that there will be another fic offering from the pandemoniverse posted here within the next few weeks. \r\n\r\nI met Jim Watson at a cocktail soiree at Cold Spring Harbor some years ago. He\'s pretty entertaining - glib and scary-intelligent, not unlike the two Tolkien technologists in my Trinity indulgence. I don\'t know that Watson and Oppenheimer ever interacted, but it seems to me that they should have!

Thanks so much, Tarion!  That piece is so far out in the AU that it's hanging off the edge of the known universe, but I have no shame.

 "And I truly spent much of genetics class contemplating Elven genetics...:D"

 Ay, caramba!  Or should that be "Ai, carambë?"  Don't get me started!  I have my theories. ;^)

Thanks so much for the compliments, Klose.  "Trinity" really does form the foundation of my 'verse, and its themes inform much of my writing. The latter is less "engaging gap-fillers" but more often commentary on Tolkien's attitudes.  Of course, I'm hardly alone in interweaving commentary into fic.

Yes, there's some mysterious sub-text going on with Oppie's reaction to Watson's script.  Part of it is indeed due to the impact of the discovery.  But for the rest, one would need to analyze the mtDNA of the Oppenheimer and Watson of the pandemoniverse. ;^)

Thanks very much, Gwidhiel for your comments and compliments!  Yes, I am nothing if not irreverent. ;^) "Trinity" is something of a fictional offshoot of "The Tolkienian War on Science," my rather opinionated (and irreverent - how surprising) screed which resides both here in the SWG Reference section and on the Chimp Refuge.

A little clue to Sauron's identity -- besides the similarity of his modern alias -- is his missing finger.  I expect that Sauron (or at least my interpretation of him) is simultaneously envious and chuffed over Oppie's work on atomic fission.  Yes, the destructive aspects of atomic fission fit into Morgoth's nihilism, but like it or not, there are some beneficial applications of nuclear physics, too.  Technology is invariably a double-edged sword. 

Tossing Watson's eldritch alleles into the story may not seem obviously germane, but there's an overarching theme here (this figures in the majority of my ficcish hackery): brilliant, creative people are often morally fallible, and driven scientists and technologists ("thralls to knowledge") often seem to have a bit of the devil in them so... ;^)

"Imagine what a hash Freud would have made of his story!"

LOL moment here! :^D

Oppenheimer was entranced by psychoanalysis so I figured a reference or two was in order.  I like to imagine that as part of their rehabilitation* in the pandemoniverse, Fëanor and Sauron were subjected to whatever therapeutic flavor of the Valarin month that their counselor (I like to think this was Olorin - heh) decided to apply to them, ranging from Freudian to Jungian to cognitive-behavioral therapy! :^D  Oh, crud. I think a plot bunny has spawned.

*This concept of Fëanor and Sauron's "redemption," in addition to my more Miltonian interpretation of Sauron, is in part why I slap "AU" on pretty much every fan fic I write even if the strict accuracy of this designation is arguable.

Thanks so much, whitewave!  Yes, my fan fic amounts to commentary on science and technology in Tolkien's world, and sometimes -- maybe frequently -- as a counterpoint to Tolkien's own views, but sometimes confluent with them, too.  Glad you enjoyed my (brief) take on Fëanor.  He's my long-suffering scientist-hero.  Given that others have written Fëanor so well, I decided to focus on another scientific intellect, and one who fell much further than Fëanor, but still, the artisan of The Silmarils makes his way into my fics either directly or indirectly.

And radioactive, too! :^D   These three fellows continue to release megatons of kinetic energy in my little mind.  Thanks for reading & the grinworthy comment.

Thanks so much for the compliments, Indy.   I'm honored that this out-on-a-limb story worked for you.  Tolkien's secondary world is so rich through his knowledge and use of science in it, notably botany and astronomy.  I'm just taking it a step further.

Trinity is the first fan fic I wrote (well, if you don't count the little story I wrote about Boromir in 1969 using my dad's manual typewriter), and it really is the foundation of my 'verse.  It was generated by the unusual sequence of reading Amercian Prometheus followed by The Silmarillion, which I had read many times when I was younger but had set aside for almost 20 years.  After reading about the physicists on the Manhattan Project -- and notably Oppie -- I recognized similar archetypes in both Fëanor and Sauron.  A couple of readers have interpreted "Trinity" to mean that I was saying the atomic bomb is the Ring.  Not at all.  it is, however, about the ambiguity of technology and the grave responsibilities that a scientist/engineer bears for what he or she creates.

"I love that the major scientists have Elvish/Maiarin genes. So, what does that say for the rest of us?"

In the Pandë!verse, genes -- mortal, hobbit, dwarf, elf, Maia, and even orc -- eventually reunite back to H. sapiens.  So, speaking as one of the rest of us in the Pandë!verse, I guess I'd have a Noldorin brain in a hobbit's body!  :^D 

Oppenheimer had intense blue eyes, described as "beautiful."  Being infected with Tolkienism, I looked at Oppie's eyes and thought, "Hey!  They're Finwëan!" ;^) 

Thanks again!

Thanks a million for the compliments, 'scribe!  "Trinity" is hanging by its nuclear fingernails on the very edge of the Tolkienian framework, but the unholy confluence of reading Amercan Prometheus within 3 months of a re-read of The Silmarillion caused my imagination to reach critical mass and detonate. :^D   One MEFA08 reviewer learnedly opined that Tolkien did not equate the Ring with the bomb.  As tempted as I was to respond with a snotty "No! Duh!  Thanks for pointing that out, Captain Obvious!" response,  I refrained. I didn't write this story as allegory, but as you astutely noted, as an exploration of timeless human archetypes, the moral quandries of invention and pride in one's creation, and the doubled-edged sword of technology.  Fionn and Saunders seemed like excellent vehicles for this exploration, and well, as one of their ilk (a scientist with far too much of her own hubris), I have a soft spot for these fallen technologists, including Oppenheimer.

Watson and Crick's discovery has also unleashed a Pandora's Box of ethical questions, just like Oppenheimer and the scientists of the Manhattan Project's did with letting the thermonuclear genie out of the lamp.  

Trinity truly is the foundation of the Pandë!verse so I am very glad that you read it and enjoyed it.  Thanks again!

Thanks so very much for the compliments, Ithilwen!  I very much appreciate them.  Trinity is near and dear to my heart as the first fan fic I wrote and put out there for public viewing (I don't count the little Boromir fic I typed out on my late father's manual Smith-Corona back in 1970 ;^)), and it truly represents the foundation of my 'verse.

As a scientist myself, I constantly see the double-edged sword of technology, and in fact, that is a theme that threads itself throughout most of my fics: technology (or "curwë" as Fionn, errr...Fëanor might say) can be used for both good and ill purposes, and thus an inventor bears responsibility in the act of its creation.  Also, JRRT's rather jaundiced view of scientists and engineers (although not for the "puree," more academic sciences and their practioners) caused me to have more sympathy for the devil(s). ;^)

Thanks so much, Astris!  Trinity was the first Tolkien fan fiction that I wrote, save for a Boromir ficlet I typed out on my father's old Smith-Corona typewriter in 1970.  No Internet then. LOL!   I have long been fascinated by J. Robert Oppenheimer, so reading American Prometheus and re-reading The Silmarilion almost back-to-back resulted in this unholy AU of a fic, and really, got the whole ball rolling insofar as the Pandë!verse is concerned. And of course, Trinity is a commentary on technology, a double-edged sword that brings us both wonders and terrors.  Certainly, Tolkien recognized this.

I'm glad the symbolic imagery of the gold ring and three jewels detonating into the massive explosion worked for you.  And also you felt smart! :^) 

Thanks again!

Thanks so much for reading my debut fic, maeglin! :^D 

But perhaps the fact you this story was written back in the "Elder Days" (saucy grin) is relevant here?

HA!  Could be.  My freshman effort here must be pretty hamhanded if the idea that Fëanor thinks the Silmarils never should have been made is what the reader takes away from this.  I'm certainly not going to make any major revisions to this, but when I wrote the story, I was kinda hoping that phrases like "Do not regret what you have done" and "...each man engrossed in the sight of his creation" might indicate that whereas both Fionn and Saunders might feel guilt after long, long years of reflection (in my alternative history, Sauron does not become an evil spirit gnawing on itself in the wilderness per Gandalf's canonical musings), they still take pride in their creations and when push comes to shove, do not regret creating the Ring or the Silmarilli, but instead note to Oppie that there comes a burden of responsibility for such creations.  Likewise, in Real Life, Oppie allowed as how "I had never said that I had regretted participating in a responsible way in the making of the bomb."  So, no regrets there either.  But again, clunky writing may have obscured this message. 

Maybe Fëanor's comment about self-inflicted guilt is an issue?  I could see how one might take issue with such an idea, given there's a pervasive tendency to paint Fëanor as "mad" and "obsessed,"  a man continually blinded by his desire to retrieve his creations from Morgoth.  I just don't embrace such a unidimensional view at all, just as I don't embrace the "mad scientist" trope or worse, that scientists are like those portrayed in the minstrel show that is The Big Bang Theory.  BUT!  What I was trying to say clearly didn't come across for you in this fic, so mea culpa for less-than-adequate writing.

And as an afterthought, the storms of that time were, and remain, puny compared to those Aule or Varda have unleashed on Endore in the past and could unleash again at any time :)

Definitely, and we both know that as readers.  However, that paragraph is written from Oppie's POV, and he might have "end of the world" thoughts churning along in the background of his mind's OS. ;^)

Thanks again!