In absentia by Robinka

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Fanwork Notes

Thank yous go to my friend Neume Indil for her beta help.

Thank you, Dawn, for your friendship. If I'd had a sister, I would have liked her to be like you :).

 

Fanwork Information

Summary:

A post-Thangorodrim vignette written for Dawn Felagund.

Major Characters: Fingon, Maedhros

Major Relationships:

Genre: Drama

Challenges: Gift of a Story

Rating: Teens

Warnings: Violence (Mild)
Chapters: 1 Word Count: 1, 529
Posted on 28 January 2008 Updated on 28 January 2008

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Table of Contents

In absentia

Comments on In absentia

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I loved this the first time you showed it to me, and it does not become worse for reading both second and third times. :)

The first time around, Maedhros was the one who jumped at my eyes, his pain and the depth he has sunk to are so very obvous by the stupor he sits in, and the anger and reproaches he aims at Fingon. This time however it is the Valiant Fingon who stirs my heart. He who has sacrificed much to come to the rescue of his kin is not reaping any gratitude or recognition. He has cried his bitter and fearing tears over having doomed his cousin to this existence, and at this point in time, he is just numb - and instead of hope he has stubbornness. Poor Fingon. Luckily though not as numb as he thinks himself, when he fights the shadows in Maedhros and wins.

Thank you so much for sharing this story here - it was a delight to reread.

 

 

I remember writing it as if in a frenzy and sharing bits and pieces with you as I went :) It was a blast, wasn't it? And then your fab drawing to complete the portrayal of Maedhros :D Thank you a million for your constant support and shaking pom poms :) Surprising arrivals of new muses are indeed very thought-provoking. Lucky me ;)

Thanks for the review :D 

Every time I read this piece again, something else just jumps at me. It is not so much a happy piece, a test of wills where Fingon is confronted with his actions. Valiant vs the concequences of such deeds, did he actually really think  things through properly and considered what Maedhros actually wanted. Again, Binks, this is a fabulous take about the aftermath of Thangorodrim: you bring anger and raw emotions to the surface, not to much, but with the gritty relalistic writers touch that I don't see often when it comes down to these two. It simply jumped off the screen and then you realise how fast you are drawn into this piece. Well done!

Binka, thank you again for the story. I just read it again with the same delight that I read it the first two times. The passion, madness, intensity ... wow. And the ending is very touching. I don't think I noted this the first time that I read it, but I found the ending very poignant, very well done.

Thank you again! *hugs*

Wow!  Robinka, this is a very powerful take on Maedhros' post-Thangorodrim state of mind and the profound damage he must have suffered.  He's precariously balanced at the edge of a knife between sanity and madness.  All of the piece is compelling (loved the intensity of the dialogue between Maedros and Fingon and its bittersweet resolution), but your first paragraph is simply fabulous.  It drew me immediately into the story.

Thanks for sharing Dawn's gift with us. :^)

It was a blast, I can tell you. The muse simply broke the door here and sat me in front of the screen commanding, "Write!". Who was I to argue? And it was the very first time I wrote Fingon :) I'm really glad that my idea worked. Thank you so much for reading and taking the time to leave a review. :D

Beautifully done! I like the way Meadhros has withdrawn, and it isn't clear he will ever be coming back - until faced with Fingon's refusal to let him go.

 The contrast between the room - fire-lit, musty etc.. and the outside world - the night air, Maedhros' brothers waiting out there... really worked well for me. I loved this bit  about the bat - "he looked up to see a bat meandering in hasty circles". It was a bat all over, and for me it just emphasised the contrast between the room and the free and open world outside the window, where a bat is chasing moths. (Oh - I quite like bats btw, so I can see that people who don't have a very different take on the scene! Worked for me though!) 

I finish with the comment Pandemonium gave me... What happens next?

Thank you tons for your wonderful review :D I'm really happy that you found the story interesting and that the details you pointed out worked :) As for your question, I wish I could say, "and they lived happily ever after" *sigh* Maybe my Nelyo muse will decide to tell me one fine day ;)

Once again, thank you very much for taking the time to read and review :)

This is very powerful and thought provoking. I am particularly interested because I have been writing the same story from a totally different perspective—the same impulse but a polar opposite way to get to this point. I decided to tell the story as though Maedhros seems almost preternaturally normal (excuse the contradiction in terms there). He appears to be too well to be true and it is only over the passage of time that Fingon begins to realize the full extent of the damage that he is hiding. Who knows if I can do it; because it is a much slower process, I have barely started after writing some nearly 50,000 words on the subject.

And, yet, when I read yours, I see the same people. I find the characterization very strongly based in the bits of canon that we have for their story. I completely believed in your interpretation when I read this.

Thank you so very much for your kind words. I admit I was pretty uncertain about this ficlet. My Nelyo muse came around quite unexpectedly, besides this was the very first time I wrote Fingon. I'm so happy to hear that my idea worked :D It was a very interesting experience. Once again, thank you a lot for taking the time to read and leave a review. :)

Best wishes,

Binka 

I’ve read this quite a few times, and by now I think it’s quite overdue for a review from me.  You’ve got everything just right – the mood, the dynamic between the two of them – it’s moving, and powerful, and overall just excellent.  Good work.  (Although, I have to ask: the quote you chose for the beginning was an interesting choice – why that song?)

Thank you very much for taking the time to letting me know that you like my story, and more and more thank yous for reading it several times! I'm very happy to hear that and I appreciate your kind words.

As for the song, well, Linkin' Park is one of the bands I really like. When I wrote this ficlet, (and it was a very sudden impulse to be honest. I looked at the flame in my oven and thought: And Maedhros stared at the fire. Then, Of course! Dawn! And I ran to my desk and wrote it.), these lines lingered in my head, so I thought that I'd add them to underline the desperation, both Fingon's and Maedhros' -- the song seems a call for help, but at the same time is very rebellious in tone.

Thanks once again! :D

I'd call this a lovely piece, but there isn't anything lovely about it - which is why it's so good.  An asture reader knows there had to be a lot of pain in the aftermath of Thangorodrim, not just for Maedhros ('...the shadow of his pain was in his heart'), but for Fingon and theo ther sons of Feanor as well, who are going to have to accept the reality that some hurts they can't heal.