Unrepentant Lovers by oshun

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Fanwork Notes

SWG B2MeM 2010 Doors of Night Challenge: Your character has a chance to change a single event in his or her past, but doing such will forever alter the future. What will your character choose? What would they change, if anything?

Fanwork Information

Summary:

Very short, less than 500 words, in which Fingon and Maedhros discuss regrets or lack thereof on the night before they last separate to prepare their own hosts and allies for the Battle of Unnumbered Tears. 2010 Middle-earth Fanfiction Awards Nominee

Major Characters: Fingon, Maedhros

Major Relationships:

Artwork Type: No artwork type listed

Genre: General

Challenges: Fanon Inverted

Rating: Teens

Warnings:

This fanwork belongs to the series

Maitimo and Findekáno
Chapters: 1 Word Count: 447
Posted on 29 March 2010 Updated on 29 March 2010

This fanwork is complete.

Unrepentant Lovers

Summary: Fingon and Maedhros discuss regrets or lack thereof on the night before they last separate to prepare their own hosts and allies for the Battle of Unnumbered Tears.

Read Unrepentant Lovers

 

My night shall be remembered for a star
That outshone all the suns of all men's days.
-- The Great Lover by Rupert Brooke

"Looking back, would you change anything?" Maedhros asked, propping himself up on one elbow to look down at the beautiful man sharing his bed.

Fingon wrinkled his brow and stuck out his lower lip before chuckling. "Undo anything? You mean like not having left Valinor, not cutting off your hand, or not falling in love with you in the first place? One of those kinds of decisions?"

"Exactly," Maedhros said.

"Obviously, I would not change any of those," Fingon answered, his voice exploding with passion. "I have struggled through some miserable valleys, but the views from the mountaintops have been stupendous. Wait! I can think of one thing I'd do differently. I should have taken your advice at dinner tonight and had the ale you recommended and left the red wine alone. After all this is over, we will have look into ways to provide you with better wine in this Valar-forsaken location."

"Be serious for once, Káno!"

"I have never been more serious in my life. What about you?"

"I should have been ready for that. I think my decisions are more painful to consider. But, for example, if I had not stupidly placed myself in a situation where Morgoth was able to capture me, you would never have rescued me, our people would never have been reunited, and, along with our allies, we all might have died long ago."

Fingon groaned. "I'm sorry, love. I should not have raised that tonight of all nights."

"Don't be silly. I started the discussion. Anyway, no better night to raise it. We should be well aware of the cost of failure in this venture. Obviously, I'm thinking about the Oath now as well. Of course, I have to answer for that. Taking your light tone relating to deadly serious matters, I might admit that I would have liked a day or two to study the text of it. Probably could have found some language that would have served our interests better. No possibility of that though, was there?"

"You are right as always." Fingon laughed mordantly. "Fëanáro was not in the mood for thoughtful consideration at the time. So apparently we are in agreement. We've done the best we could do with what fate has given us."

Maedhros leaned over and kissed Fingon. "With that settled, we should be able to sleep well tonight. Can you reach the lamp, sweetheart? We both need our rest. Tomorrow is the beginning of our most significant . . . " Fingon cut off his remark with an outraged snort.

"Not so fast! Some things are more essential than rest."

Comments

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I love this, Oshun. I do absolutely revel in these times and conversations between Maedhros and Fingon; they are so insightful and so deep. Fingon's spirit is seen so very strongly in this : light tone relating to deadly serious matters. Yet I understand that; sometimes matters are so weighted with potential disaster, (and this *matter* falls so heavily on Maedhros' shoulders) that to give them that one sometimes has to banter.

Fingon always feels as if he is trying to lift Maedhros, to keep his spirit up, and it comes across as empathic and deeply loving. 

Gorgeous piece and thank you for posting it. 

 I love the conversations between your Fingon and Maedhros.  Bold and bright Fingon may speak in what appears to be a flippant manner, but he so often carries weight in his words.  For example... 

"Obviously, I would not change any of those," Fingon answered, his voice exploding with passion. "I have struggled through some miserable valleys, but the views from the mountaintops have been stupendous. Wait! I can think of one thing I'd do differently. I should have taken your advice at dinner tonight and had the ale you recommended and left the red wine alone. After all this is over, we will have look into ways to provide you with better wine in this Valar-forsaken location."

Fingon is such a passionate appealing character.  Indeed you have crafted him as Maedhros' light, one that I find satisfyingly illuminating.

 

Oh! Thank you! I could not resist those lines from that poem.

I read a fic once where Maedhros is strong-arming/brow-beating Fingon against his will and better judgment to participate in the N.A. I'm not saying it couldn't be written convincingly, but I have never seen anything in the texts that made me want to write Fingon that way. I guess I am repeating what I often say that most of my fanfiction is either a polemic against the original canon sources or fic I have read.

I thought I'd leave my MEFA review of this fic here.

There have been many fanfic characterizations of Maedhros and Fingon, but, for me, Oshun's depiction of their passionate relationship amidst the politics of their extended families, is, by far, my favorite. I'm always happy to see more of them and so this little morsel was a treat. In addition, Oshun often begins a story with a wonderfully poetic quote and this one by Rupert Brooke fit the scene beautifully. The scene takes place the night before the lovers separate to fight the terrible Battle of Unnumbered Tears and it's a quiet moment of reflection before the storm in which Maedhros asks Fingon if he would change anything about their lives. It attains poignancy through gentle humor as well as a certain acceptance of what has been and what will be, which made it very satisfying for this fan.

Cheers,

~elfscribe