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OMG! Dawn! How do you write something like that so fast. It's incredible. I love every line of it. Of course, you know I have special thing for the parts about Maedhros and Fingon.

I really loved these lines, but then you probably guessed I would:

"Always, they had been coconspirators, and an idea kindled in the mind of one took on a delirious intensity when it was shared between them."

I also adored Fingon talking about their first kiss.

I was also terrified to read it though. You scare me when you right dark!fic. I am such a big baby. Anyway, you moved me with this one and did not scare me too much or make me want to refuse to buy it. I accept it as it is. Not a rose garden! But, hey, I agree with Carnistir, "People survive things like this all the time. All the time. He survived Angband; he will survive this too, but Fingon? It's not so certain he will survive the loss of Fingon."

Here is where you broke my heart, actually, "A military commander? A failed military commander. I should have stuck with the books! I was good at that."

And then there are the beautiful words about a star: "I am mad. I know. I am like a star that has burst: My light was so bright it lit the sky even in the day but now, every day now, the darkness tears more of me away."

Poor Maglor! But I think he has known for a while that Maedhros is bat-shit crazy! It runs in the family you know--the trade-off for the lighting the sky like that.

In my verse, following this progression, they eventually will get a little better before they get even crazier again and in Maedhros's case terminally so.

Thank you, thank you so much. It's beautiful!

Yesterday was one of those days when the urge to write was so overpowering. After Bobby and I got home from dinner, I just sat down and ... wrote. Well, I'd read the chapter earlier in the day, and it struck me in a way it hadn't before. (Big battles not being my thing at all. :) But the bit about Fingon being beaten into the mire of his own blood has always been one of those lines that stuck with me, of course with the attendant thought of how Maedhros would respond to that.

I put Maedhros and Fingon in it for you! :) You didn't ask for it, but I hadn't written them in a very long time and needed to fix that. ;)

I'm glad it wasn't too scary. I felt kinda bad at all about dark!fic, knowing it's not really your thing, but then, like what you said on LJ, could a post-Nirnaeth story really be light and fluffy?? I suppose some could make it so, but I don't think I have that in me!

It runs in the family you know--the trade-off for the lighting the sky like that.

That's totally how I see it too.

Thanks for your kind words (and rec!) and, of course, for the request! This was a really fun piece to work on, as weird as that sounds. It felt really good to write again.

I saw you asking for prompts today. This is very powerful I really like the dark aspect of the story and the way you've portrayed both the brothers here, the way each is coping in the face of such horrible events. How Maglor keeps pushing on while Maedhros retreats into his own world. How you managed to write something so rich in detail in such a short time is inspirational.

Thanks, IgB! Sometimes the muses descend in full force. Yesterday was one of those days. (I would love to try it again today, but too much RL stuff is going on. Bleh.) I don't normally write this part of the Silm at all, but Oshun's request caught my fancy. I'm glad I did. Thanks so much for reading and commenting! :)

This is such a powerful story.

I was crying half way through, just feeling both their pain of the now, and the sense of loss of what was.

I saw through the story such a vivid image of everything. Thier looks, the desolate conditions they live in as oppose to those of the memories, and last, but not least, Maedhros, trying to salvage something, in the name of better days.

Ilogocally enough, I felt the strongest at Maedhros's apology, putting this incident among the 3 most he regrets.

This story is wonderfully written. Thank you Dawn.

Thank you, Scarlet. How evil of me to feel accomplished for making a reader cry. >;^) Sorry 'bout that!

One of the major themes I had in mind as I wrote this was the loss of innocence. It's an interesting situation, for immortals: Maedhros, for example, finds himself in a situation with Fingon almost identical to one in Aman. I'd imagine how disconcerting that must be; how overwhelming the sense of the loss of innocence.

When I read the "Of the Fifth Battle" chapter, the line about the Feanorians being driven "like leaves before the wind" and living a nomadic, rustic existence has always struck me. I'm glad the desolation I imagine must have pervaded that time came through for you here. I can see doing more stories about this time period. Oshun may have opened a can of worms. ;)

Thank you again, Scarlet, for your kind words here and on LJ.

Wow, Dawn!  Powerful is right.  This is poetry in prose form.  All the details are incredible, the ink spots on Maedhros lips,the rime of frost receding from the blood, the lone candle, The Book of Errors.  You've captured the towering characters of the Silm, full of passion, madness, regret.  An amazing portrait of the relationships between the brothers. This is a story I wish I could have written. Gorgeous.

That's an incredible compliment, coming from someone who has authored many a story where I've clicked out thinking, "Damn. I wish I'd written that." :D I love playing with poetic language ... and crazy characters. :) I'm thrilled that you liked it so much--thanks for reading and commenting to let me know!

It's a rare story that makes me really like the sons of Fëanor, and you have done that here with this one!  I love the interweaving of past events with the contemporary narrative of the sticks/fire.  And I'm usually neutral on the Maedhros/Fingon pairing, but it really worked for me here.

And your Caranthir.  OMG.  He is both terrifying and adorable.  I love him.

Thank you, Huin! :) Caranthir has a long history in my writing. (I realized after I posted this that I should have probably noted that, since not everyone will have read the massive amount of writing behind his appearance here.) It's a relief to me that he worked for you! :) I'm also relieved that the shifts in time weren't confusing; I did worry about that. I usually write in present tense and so can shift into past tense for flashbacks but went for all past here.

Thanks again for reading and commenting!

Absolutely loved this. It hurt-- a lot--but only because it was so utterly believable.  You find these tiny little, almost throwaway lines from canon (which is written in such a formal, distant tone) and just rip off the facade to show us the true cost of these wars.  It's like that old [Stalin?] quote: "one death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic."  The Silm gives us the sweeping epic with the millions dead, and it is grand and dramatic, but you've honed in on the tragedy of a few particular characters, and it is absolutely gut-wrenching. 

 

(also: poor batshit-crazy Maedhros. :( )

When Oshun requested a post-Nirnaeth story, my first thought was, "Ugh. That means I have to reread the Nirnaeth chapter." Battle scenes just don't work for me; I have trouble picturing what's going on (not having very good spatial intelligence), and they often feel distant and removed--as you note, strategy and statistics. What I have to do is focus my thoughts on individuals, which I tried to do here. Then they can break my heart. When I reread the chapter with that in mind, so many lines and scenes jumped out at me in a way that they had not before that the story was pretty easy to shape from there.

Thank you so much for your kind words, Kenaz. You're a writer I really admire, so your compliments are high praise indeed! :)

This story haunts me always- it is the bleakest and saddest thing and it is always in my mind when I read AMC - those little characteristics you have given them, Maedhros holding th epen agaisnt his lips - just give it such a poigancy that I can hardly bear it. This is =I htink- the most complete and brilliant story showing the complete destruction of the beautiful brilliant sons of Feanor.

There were definitely some tomatoes lobbed [softly] in my direction for this story because of the tragedy of it. As I just noted, appropriately enough, in my reply to your most recent comment on AMC, I prefer to dwell in the happy times. I'm not even sure 100% where this story came from. It's not a time period I usually have much interest in writing, but it is one of those stories that feels like it wrote itself, so I went with it. The psychological issues experienced by the characters have always been probably my chief interest in writing. Thank you so much for continuing to read and comment on my work! As I noted in my last reply, it is very much appreciated right now. :)