Discussion Twilight Amidst the Everlasting Darkness: Discussion

Interesting that you used poison derived from an actual plant. Trust Maedhros to survive something fatal for that long.
I personally also see him as having an uncommon level of endurance. In no small part due to sheer stubbornness. 😁

But even if the poison has been identified, the crises are still far from over. If Maedhros is to survive, more than a simple remedy would be needed to bring him back now, as it's already too late to treat him.

Server Room Gremlin said:

the crises are still far from over

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Well this was an oddly fitting choice of word. 🤔

Server Room Gremlin said:

I personally also see him as having an uncommon level of endurance. In no small part due to sheer stubbornness. 😁

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Yep, accurate! Even though I see him as one of the more gentle and even-tempered Fëanorians, he still has that Fëanorian stubbornness, which is only awakened under certain circumstances.

I think I see him as a bit more Fëanor-like in some ways. For example, he is filled with anger towards Morgoth after Fëanor's death, and this drives his decision to meet Morgoth's emissaries, without much more of a plan than 'secretly bring more troops'.

Stubborn..!

Chapter 13 has posted! Some underworldly adventures. We look forward to your comments!

We were speaking about the Halls of Mandos not long ago. And now here we are. 😆

Thankfully, Maedhros has been brought back with chest compressions, but there'll still be 'fun times' ahead for everyone, no doubt. Amrod's enthusiastic curiosity about what just happened to his brother was pretty funny.

He had many dead cousins, so no one could fault him for not caring to take a guess. But when the said dead cousin turned out to be Írissë, Pityo couldn't say he was surprised. Ammë always worried for her fate considering her impulsiveness and her adventurous soul, fearing she may find her demise in one of her trips she loved so well.

And Ammë was never wrong.

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A subtle reference to Nerdanel's foresight about Amrod's fate (since this follows the version where Amrod dies early). When elven mothers start getting worried about you, exercise caution. 🙃

Curious about the new tapestry, and why it's hidden from Aredhel just now.

Server Room Gremlin said:

We were speaking about the Halls of Mandos not long ago. And now here we are. 😆

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Funny how that works! 😂

Server Room Gremlin said:

Thankfully, Maedhros has been brought back with chest compressions, but there'll still be 'fun times' ahead for everyone, no doubt. Amrod's enthusiatic curiosity about what just happened to his brother was pretty funny.

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Oh yeah for sure. And hehe, that would be Dr. Amrod, which is my favorite interpretation of his character.

Server Room Gremlin said:

A subtle reference to Nerdanel's foresight about Amrod's fate (since this follows the version where Amrod dies early). When elven mothers start getting worried about you, exercise caution. 🙃

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Yeah, yikes... 😬 They have a loooot of people to worry about in the First Age, though.

Server Room Gremlin said:

Curious about the new tapestry, and why it's hidden from Aredhel just now.

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That will be revealed in due time...

Sorry it's been so long; real life has been tough for me. But Chapter 14 is up! Let me know if any of you catch the double meaning in the chapter title!

Fantastic and heart-wrenching chapter, as always! ❤️

Maedhros_Nelyafinwë said:

Let me know if any of you catch the double meaning in the chapter title!

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“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

Aside from the literal sense of Maitimo’s leg having been broken by Eöl with a rock, and Lómion’s toes nearly met the same fate when he lost grip of the rock, there’s also the double layer to the phrase. People say this as a way of trying to comfort or shield themselves from hurtful things said, but what a lie it is. Words can, and do, hurt far worse than physical wounds, and they can dig deeper and last longer.

Notably here, Celegorm is quick to lash out at Lómion for trying to carry a rock too heavy for him. From all the stress, worry, grief, anger, etc., the last thing he needs is Íri’s son getting hurt from doing something foolish. However, just as he’s hasty to anger, he’s also hasty to feel guilt, and he regrets his tone came out as harsh as it did. He once could have been this way with Íri and she’d understand, because she understood him. But this isn’t Íri. This is her son, who doesn’t know Celegorm very well. He feels bad for lashing out so quickly at Lómion and tries to be kinder to him, but the damage is done. Lómion is embarrassed and hurt, and he’s tense around Celegorm.

This is just one small instance I could analyze from many others, but I’ll leave it at this for now.

I appreciated Celegorm's perspective here. How painful this situation is for him is clearly seen and felt. Though he cares deeply, his abrupt, quick-tempered nature often doesn't help, and he realises this. Kind of sad to see how inadequate he feels compared to other people in Maedhros' life, and it's only made worse by the dire situation. I think all the character relationships and dynamics came across very well, and they made sense to me.

My initial reaction to Lómion's perspective was 'I feel you bro'.

As they spoke, Lómion leaned back against a tree and closed his eyes. He agreed with Elion’s points. After Maedhros' heart had stopped for a few minutes and Elion had revived him successfully, Lómion had been much more hesitant to offer any help or knowledge to Elion.
[...]

"You can go get some rest, Elion,” Celegorm added, turning to the healer. “You'll be no use to my brother while you can barely stand. Me and Lómion here can take care of him ourselves for now. He seems stable enough. We'll call you if he needs you."

Lómion, though, wasn't sure if he wanted to accept this responsibility. He had been careless while treating Maedhros, and if he had actually died from his sudden stroke, Lómion couldn't have forgiven himself.

After all, what did he know of the healing arts? Nothing but what Eöl had taught him of poisons and Aredhel's lessons about treating minor wounds. He was barely out of childhood and the fact that Elion had even trusted him enough to take his advice amazed him.

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Being seen as the person currently most competent and suited to handle something when you're close to being overwhelmed yourself is pretty weird and surprising, to say the least. But watching over Maedhros is what Lómion feels he's got to do, and he does it anyway.

As for the chapter title's meaning, I can see multiple things that could be connected to it.
It appears to reference the saying "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words shall never hurt me". Maedhros is physically hurt: his leg was broken by Eöl. And Celegorm catches the heavy stone before Lómion drops it on his feet.
However, the impact of words is referenced throughout as well. Celegorm thinks about the relationship between his parents, and how they only hurt each other with words. Which, while incomparable to what happened between Eöl and Aredhel, is still a kind of hurt. And Celegorm's irritable manner startles or upsets Lómion a few times, which Celegorm regrets and tries to mitigate. Celegorm's own hurt is not caused by anyone physically wounding him, but by witnessing those close to him suffering or dying, and also by the way he perceives Maedhros' relationships with those close to him.

I'm curious about where it's going to go next. As they can't risk moving Maedhros, they have to bring more people and supplies to him. While this will help to alleviate everyone's physical problems (their wounds and exhaustion), the interpersonal conflicts and possible resulting emotional troubles will almost certainly get more complicated.

Great analyses from both of you guys! I really enjoyed reading them!

Fingon_Findekáno said:

Fantastic and heart-wrenching chapter, as always! ❤️


“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

Aside from the literal sense of Maitimo’s leg having been broken by Eöl with a rock, and Lómion’s toes nearly met the same fate when he lost grip of the rock, there’s also the double layer to the phrase. People say this as a way of trying to comfort or shield themselves from hurtful things said, but what a lie it is. Words can, and do, hurt far worse than physical wounds, and they can dig deeper and last longer.

Notably here, Celegorm is quick to lash out at Lómion for trying to carry a rock too heavy for him. From all the stress, worry, grief, anger, etc., the last thing he needs is Íri’s son getting hurt from doing something foolish. However, just as he’s hasty to anger, he’s also hasty to feel guilt, and he regrets his tone came out as harsh as it did. He once could have been this way with Íri and she’d understand, because she understood him. But this isn’t Íri. This is her son, who doesn’t know Celegorm very well. He feels bad for lashing out so quickly at Lómion and tries to be kinder to him, but the damage is done. Lómion is embarrassed and hurt, and he’s tense around Celegorm.

This is just one small instance I could analyze from many others, but I’ll leave it at this for now.

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Yep, bingo! This is exactly what I was thinking of when naming the chapter. The rock used by Eol, Lomion nearly dropping the rock on himself, and the fact that Celegorm lashed out with his words at that exact moment.

Server Room Gremlin said:

I appreciated Celegorm's perspective here. How painful this situation is for him is clearly seen and felt. Though he cares deeply, his abrupt, quick-tempered nature often doesn't help, and he realises this. Kind of sad to see how inadequate he feels compared to other people in Maedhros' life, and it's only made worse by the dire situation. I think all the character relationships and dynamics came across very well, and they made sense to me.

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Thank you, and yeah, for sure. As I said to Madi when I edited this chapter, it's really ironic because Celegorm is complaining about how he's not doing anything for Maitimo. But I had a very difficult time editing that chapter precisely because Celegorm was doing so much. He was all over the place, checking on Maitimo, talking to the guards and Elion, saving Lomion from hurting himself, and so on. I was like, bruh!

Server Room Gremlin said:

It appears to reference the saying "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words shall never hurt me". Maedhros is physically hurt: his leg was broken by Eöl. And Celegorm catches the heavy stone before Lómion drops it on his feet.
However, the impact of words is referenced throughout as well. Celegorm thinks about the relationship between his parents, and how they only hurt each other with words. Which, while incomparable to what happened between Eöl and Aredhel, is still a kind of hurt. And Celegorm's irritable manner startles or upsets Lómion a few times, which Celegorm regrets and tries to mitigate. Celegorm's own hurt is not caused by anyone physically wounding him, but by witnessing those close to him suffering or dying, and also by the way he perceives Maedhros' relationships with those close to him.

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Oh, I wasn't even thinking of Fëanor and Nerdanel hurting each other with words, but that exactly fits into the sticks and stones theme too! It's so funny. We didn't do any of that on purpose. It's only really in this spot where physical rocks and hurtful words are such a big theme.

Server Room Gremlin said:

I'm curious about where it's going to go next. As they can't risk moving Maedhros, they have to bring more people and supplies to him. While this will help to alleviate everyone's physical problems (their wounds and exhaustion), the interpersonal conflicts and possible resulting emotional troubles will almost certainly get more complicated.

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Servodamus. 👀

Maedhros_Nelyafinwë said:

Servodamus. 👀

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😂
You can't tell me that bringing a stressed out Curufin into the mix will make things much better.

Server Room Gremlin said:

😂
You can't tell me that bringing a stressed out Curufin into the mix will make things much better.

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Yeah, not exactly.

This RP is where we got Curufin the Crabby from.

Sorry it's been a long time again since the last update. These last few chapters have been really tough to edit! But Chapter 15 is up and we hope you enjoy it!

My favourite part was that dream section at the beginning. It was very vivid. I like these kinds of spooky things that indirectly show the character's state of mind.

Thanks! I found that very disturbing yet fun to write. I remember driving home one night and the idea hit me like, "Hey, you know what would be really messed up??"

Maedhros_Nelyafinwë said:

I remember driving home one night and the idea hit me like, "Hey, you know what would be really messed up??"

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Don't I love those moments. 😌

Server Room Gremlin said:

Don't I love those moments. 😌

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Trying to figure out the most messed up thing usually leads to the most compelling story. 🙂

Apologies for the long wait for this update! Updates have been, and probably will continue to be, slow for the foreseeable future, since Madi is in school and I'm swamped with work and studying for the CPA exam. But we have been able to work on this story a bit here and there, so it feels good to get this chapter out. Let us know what you think!