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<i>He was all anticipation—until the first of the Children turned up on his doorstep, hurt, bewildered and inarticulate in their anger. Quendi! Before they had even learned to speak properly, they were already learning how to die, in terror and in pain.</i>

Loved this segment. The other literary part I truly enjoyed was the repetition of "and Findekano"--so much in those two words.

This is one of the few stories I ever read, including Tolkien himself, who made me feel sympathetic to Namo. (Poor Namo! Like he needs my sympathy.

Love the concept of the pillar of fire.

Your rendering of the otherworldlyness of Mandos shines through; I enjoyed the fine balance of control vs chaos in Mandos as a place/plane which also reflects in the personage of Namo himself.  I read this almost as I would a painting though not in terms of image, line, likeness and colour but rather as degrees of contrast and texture.  The painter that comes to mind is Paul Cezanne: an artist whose work often revealed heavy brush strokes, fine washes or indeed just bare canvas.

Please do not be insulted by this next comment, believe me it is not meant offensively, but reading this left me with two words repeating in my mind: DRIP DROP - DRIP DROP...  

Weird eh?

This was... odd. There's angst, but there's also humour. It's weird, wanting to laugh and the next moment feeling like I shouldn't have found that funny. Or maybe I'm in a weird mood (a kind of post-holiday depression or something). Anyway, I enjoyed the story and am sorry it took me so long to r&r :)

He should have known better, from experience, than to extend forgiveness to a Feanorion and expect grateful acceptance  ::LOL::

He feels his brothers and sisters are far too enamoured of the work of their hands—so obsessed with what is contained in those Silmarils they might as well be Noldor themselves.  Really good point. I've never thought of it like that but he's right.

I think it probably is quite an odd piece! And also, it's okay to laugh at things. You know there is a saying: life is tragic, but not serious.

But I very much hope if you really did have a post-holiday depression, it was short-lived and went away again quickly!

I'm happy that you feel I made some good points and that you enjoyed reading this despite its oddness.

I absolutely loved reading this. An excellent, well-balanced mixture of angst, humor and eeriness.

(Actually, the mood of the piece corresponds remarkably well with Planescape: Torment - a brilliant CRPG I am re-playing for ca a bambillionth time right now.)

Also, kudos for strong, powerful imagery and vivid descriptions. 

The idea of each sinner encapsulated in their own personal hell is very intriguing.

Awesomeness.

Thank you very much! I really appreciate your comments.  I've never heard of Planescape, but am interested to hear that it chimes with the mood of my story.

I think the idea of each sinner encapsulated in their own personal hell may have been a theory of Swedenborg's, although I haven't actually read Swedenborg, just an anthology of different ideas of heaven and hell by Borges and Casares.

I absolutely love this story!!

I love how Namo is questioning the morality of everything, in a sort of odd balance between bitterness and hope.

The way you protray the Valar is interesting. The idea that they used to play at sleep to imitate the Children, and that Namo wasn't able to articulate his own feelings until Luthien named them for him, and this line: " Namo, the mighty Ainu, who entered Ea on a one-way ticket, on a contract without escape clause, who cannot resign his job, cannot leave, cannot get out..." I mean, wow!

 The way the Feanorians are tormenting themselves in his halls is poignant, too, as is Namo's reaction to it. Some lines I liked especially, were:

 "He was all anticipation—until the first of the Children turned up on his doorstep, hurt, bewildered and inarticulate in their anger."

"Nelyafinwe Maitimo is wanted for the Project. Does that justify what the Project is doing to Nelyafinwe Maitimo?"

 "Namo, who entered Arda knowing everything about everyone and is gradually coming to terms with the fact that, by the end, he will know nothing for certain about anyone, gathers himself and strengthens his resolution once again. It will be a long haul.

And it may be that when the One finally comes to declare his Judgement—and yet, after all this, how dare he?—and yet after all this, how dare he not?—Namo will be released to cast himself at his feet and plead for mercy for one and all, and it will be Nienna who will stand the accuser, the wellsprings of her pity having run dry. But that would be symmetrical and almost tidy—and so it is very likely not true."

Sorry to add so many quotes! I just thought those lines were so thought-provoking. I really like your depiction of Namo, and how conflicted and complex he is.

Great story!

I'm very pleased that you found this so thought-provoking! You've picked up on some lines here that nobody else had commented on, as far as I remember.

(By the way--I seem to have missed reviews of yours for which I don't remember getting any notification. I've tried to respond to all I could find, but if I've still failed to respond to any, I apologize!)