Discussion Discussion for Maitimelia's Story Gifts

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

If you have received a story gift from me, this is the place to discuss it!

 

[WatcherWraith]

Tecno, you sneaky- The bastard has actually managed to say  one pleasing thing. "What a superbly furnished room and what  eXCeLLeNt bOiLEd PoTaToEs." It was all I could do not to bust out laughing, and if Aranya had known the reference, I have no doubt she would have been both amused and appalled.

What has always stood out to me about Anca was the sturdiness of her character, and it shone well in this little tale :] Her quiet humor, sharp and focused gaze, and the attention to detail were all hallmarks I have come to recognize from our Curvo's stories of her. It was lovely to read.

And how sweet, to use a kitten, and to ensure Maitimo and Aranya had time to relax together as well! I'm glad the plan worked. Potatoes for the win!

 

[Server Room Gremlin]

Aight, I'm back.

I enjoyed that this story had Aranya and Tancaquárë meeting and interacting with each other: it made me think of the drawing I made for you where both of them were hanging out. ^_^

But as she sat lost in her own thoughts, embroidering a tiny snail immersed in a landscape of flowers,

It's a snail! Whether or not this was intentional, it made me smile, as snails are significant symbolically to a few aspects of my thought life. Also tiny snails are very cute.

Aranya dropped her embroidery hoop and nearly fell off her chair. Maitimo had spoken often of Curvo’s wedding while his family was in the frenzy of planning it, and naturally, Maitimo had sacrificed many nights of sleep to help with the preparations. (This had made Aranya somewhat bitter and angry on his behalf, more so than he seemed to feel for himself.)

Lol. 🫠
Maitimo: Bro is getting married, must help! 🥺
Aranya:

Tancaquárë raised her eyebrows slightly at Aranya’s reaction. “You needn’t look so shocked. Contrary to popular belief, Curufinwë is civilized enough to take a wife.”

Aranya opened her mouth and tried to think of an apology of some sort, but only after Tancaquárë smirked slightly did Aranya realize this was a very deadpan joke.

Ehehehe Tancaquárë making that kind of joke would definitely take you off guard.

With Curufin's brand of deadpan humour, you can usually tell that it's a joke because it's normal for him to be snarky or sarcastic at fairly regular intervals. He also has that gleeful glint in his eyes at whatever amusing thought is in his head, hoping and expecting that his wit will be appreciated by his listeners.

However, Tancaquárë is quite serious and matter-of-fact for the vast majority of the time, and she's even less facially emotive than Curufin due to her generally stable, calm, stoic mood. So when she is deadpan, she is deadpan, lol.

He resumed his work despite all my protests, and if I took a tool away from him, he took it up again.

Tancaquárë right now: 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

So I decided to seek the authority of the household to assist my case. Fëanáro and Nerdanel are away on a trip to a certain mine about three days’ journey away, so Nelyafinwë was the one I sought. And he was good for nothing.

I can feel her frustration growing with every sentence in her recount. 😂 But this does not deter her, she merely gets more stubborn about reaching her objective. 💪 She and Curvo are like two little peas in a pod in that way. 🤭 Except that Anca's objectives/priorities tend to include adequate food, sleep and physical comfort!

And I figured if Nelyafinwë rests, he may exert his influence over Curvo and convince him to do the same. Do you agree with this reasoning?

Very insightful! 👀
Curvo tends to feel the drive to be 'productive' more intensely when he sees others close to him are also busy working away. (It's like the extroverted thinking version of 'fear of missing out' or something 😅 Or he just wants to prove himself and not be seen as inadequate in comparison 🥺)

“Potatoes…” Tancaquárë’s gaze grew distant and thoughtful. “Yes. That is what Curvo must become, and his brother too.”

Aranya wasn’t entirely sure what Tancaquárë meant by that, but she didn’t ask.

Aranya needs to learn the slang of the youth! 😂
(I imagine Anca is somewhere around Moryo's age)

“Also, how exactly does one do nothing all day?” Curvo added. “Even if you do nothing but sit there and stare at the pond, you’re still technically doing something.”

Anca: Don't you sass me. 🤨 (but also understanding that he's being like this because he's wound-up stressvo at the moment!)

Aranya noticed perhaps a trace look of disappointment in Maitimo’s eyes, though he forced a cheerful or at least somewhat awake voice when he said, “Well, with that being settled, I suppose I must return to my work—”

Maitimo, if you don't wait here, then you won't get to have your turn with taking care of the mini Catvo!
Also, I did 'aww' slightly in my head when I saw him get visibly disappointed over not immediately getting to hold the kitten.

“I felt exhausted after watching you for one morning. You shouldn’t have to carry all the burdens of Tirion’s future, or solve all the emotional problems of your brothers— including my husband’s. I’m available to assist on that front now,” Tancaquárë said with a wry smile. “I don’t wish the uncle of my future child to destroy himself for the sake of everyone else.”

Maitimo smiled sheepishly and turned his face away, and Aranya caught a brief glimmer of a tear escaping his eye.

Naww. *pat pats bro* 🥺

Curvo: I know, she has that effect on me when she speaks about... certain things, too. (-﹏⁠- )

“I know.” He gazed at her softly, and gave a small sigh. “It’s just… it’s fun to think about and fun to work on, and hard to stop once the work is started.”

“Yes. But I married an Elda who is only made of the stuff of the earth. Not a machine of constant output.”

She took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Whether she said it aloud or not, she knew he would understand her meaning: she would always love her Curvo, whether he was creating or at rest.

🥺🥺🥺

Curvo does indeed tend to treat his body as just another tool to work with... he needs fairly constant reminders that he does not need to view himself this way.

And I see the reference to the title of my story about them: I Will Hold Your Hand Again! Not only that, it's also just one of those small physical gestures of care and affection that are common between them. A very sweet and fitting way to end this.

Thank you again! 🥺🤗

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

I loved the way everyone's reactions or expressions were described: in-character, but in a slightly exaggerated way so that it seemed light-hearted and cartoonish. My mental images while reading this were top notch. 😸

Oh, good! I had to put this together quickly due to schedule constraints, so the sensory descriptions didn't get as much attention as they normally do, but I'm glad it was still enough to give you some good and funny mental pictures!

There is always a bit of trepidation when you try to portray a character created by someone else, where it will be seen by them!
I had the sense that Tancaquárë, seeing no other option that would work, gave in to her inferior Ne (being an ISFJ) and therefore has subtle chaos gremlin vibes as she explains and carries out her plan to get these bros to become potatoes. 😂👌

Yeah, I was a bit concerned at first that she was talking too much, since she is typically a nís of few words. But, she had to take charge to solve the problem, and there was Business to be explained! I tried to keep her explanations as literal, factual and concise as I could, though.

Tecno, you sneaky- The bastard has actually managed to say  one pleasing thing. "What a superbly furnished room and what  eXCeLLeNt bOiLEd PoTaToEs." It was all I could do not to bust out laughing, and if Aranya had known the reference, I have no doubt she would have been both amused and appalled.

Hehe, I believe Servo here was the one who first pointed out the Tecno-Mr. Collins connection, so naturally it required a reference here!

I enjoyed that this story had Aranya and Tancaquárë meeting and interacting with each other: it made me think of the drawing I made for you where both of them were hanging out. ^_^

I did choose this storyline partially because of that artwork!

It's a snail! Whether or not this was intentional, it made me smile, as snails are significant symbolically to a few aspects of my thought life. Also tiny snails are very cute

Aww, I had no idea! I just wanted to give Aranya’s embroidery some variety besides the usual woodland critters and cats. And I've been very amused with cute bugs and jumping spiders and stuff like that lately, and snails are very cute. And I think Aranya would enjoy embroidering something so small. I guess it also supports the story theme of slowing down, too, though I didn't consciously think of that!

Aranya:

Very accurate meme for Aranya Duckie. 😂

However, Tancaquárë is quite serious and matter-of-fact for the vast majority of the time, and she's even less facially emotive than Curufin due to her generally stable, calm, stoic mood. So when she is deadpan, she is deadpan, lol.

I'm so glad I got that right! Also, "contrary to popular belief" used to imply that there is a widespread popular belief about something the public could not possibly know, is one of my favorite brands of humor. 😂

Aranya needs to learn the slang of the youth! 😂
(I imagine Anca is somewhere around Moryo's age)

I am HERE for the idea that calling someone a potato is the equivalent of like, Gen Z slang in Valinor, and Aranya is too millennial to understand! 🤣

And I see the reference to the title of my story about them: I Will Hold Your Hand Again! Not only that, it's also just one of those small physical gestures of care and affection that are common between them. A very sweet and fitting way to end this.

Indeed, I figured you can't go wrong with a little hand holding! I had ideas to make it a little more intimate-- for example, one reason why Anca is so stressed about Curvo being stressed is because She Wants a Baby and the babymaking process takes a lot of energy for elves, so she wants him to be ready for that-- but I decided not to go there, not because I think it's inappropriate, but because Curvo and Anca are extremely private and so it just felt like it wouldn't be a good story fit. Whereas Maitimo and Aranya are more open and might even overshare things if the person and emotional environment is right, lol!

I'm glad you enjoyed the story, and it was a pleasure to write for you!

 

[Server Room Gremlin]

for example, one reason why Anca is so stressed about Curvo being stressed is because She Wants a Baby and the babymaking process takes a lot of energy for elves, so she wants him to be ready for that-- but I decided not to go there, not because I think it's inappropriate, but because Curvo and Anca are extremely private and so it just felt like it wouldn't be a good story fit.

Aw, I love that.

First of all, it's really sweet. Of course that would be an additional consideration in an elven couple's mind as to why it's necessary to conserve energy.

Also, that happens to be exactly how I approach writing particular scenes and interactions between characters! It's not just me that has to be comfortable writing it: I also have to feel that they would be comfortable with me writing about it.
Hence why when I wrote about Curvo's wedding in my own story's timeline of events, I shared it with only a few of you. It's very personal, and so it's something he would have only recounted to the people closest to him after it happened.

It was very thoughtful of you to write it like this, and I really appreciate learning about this additional layer of your thought process when writing this. 🥺