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Between Brothers  by Still Anonymous 2 Review(s)
svadilfariReviewed Chapter: 1 on 8/27/2007
I would like to thank you ever so much for this one-shot. I like, that for a change, it is not an angsty Maedhros or Maglor fic. Not that that's bad, there was a fic (a long time ago) about the *ahem* relationship of Maedhros and his cousin Fingon that first introduced me to the world of slash. Yes, there was a time when I was innocent. Anyway, the backdrop contrasts very well against the mood. The language of Curufin is the very double-edged manner of the court. Nice. I know well enough that the seven turned rather nasty later in Arda but, I can't help believing that this was largely due to the oath taken. Desperate Men (and Elves) turn into the uglier parts of their nature when cornered, trapped and crushed by such tides.

Author Reply: You're very welcome. :) Thank *you* for reviewing! It's nice to know this story is still read and liked. I've done an angsty Maedhros, but I agree that there is plenty of that around. In fact, you can't browse First Age fics without virtually tripping over it. As for Maedhros/Fingon . . . I had a similar experience once, and you have my deepest sympathies. ;) I tried to make Curufin and Caranthir believable, though in retrospect, I see some things I could have done better. (One of them was that I got the respective ages of Curufin and Caranthir backwards, despite my going to great lengths to ensure their accuracy, a fact which I still find embarrassing.) I'm glad you found Curufin's manner of speech to be suitable. I do think that the oath made all seven worse than they would have been, but I have a feeling these two were already pretty bad. Caranthir isn't famous for doing anything extra bad, but he was described as the darkest of the brothers and Curufin did some pretty nasty things himself. However, I do think that despite their actions towards others, they bore great loyalty to each other and their father. That, at least, is something I can appreciate, and it shows there was still a spark of goodness in them somewhere. I tried to let that shine through here.

Still Anonymous

Kitt of LindonReviewed Chapter: 1 on 2/13/2004
It is an odd change to read Caranthir and Curufin instead of Asfaloth's, err, Asfalothness, but you do the writing switch well. You don't find many stories on the sons of Feanor, (not that I know of) so it was interesting to read. Especially since in the Silmarillion, they are seen sort of one dimentioned, nothing but cruelty in their oath, so that you really don't see them as people. (Maybe it's just me.) But reading them interacting brother to brother, is a new insight for me.

Author Reply: *grins* Asfalothness. That's actually a very appropriate way to put it. Well, I haven't found a lot of stories about all of the sons of Feanor, but Maedhros and Maglor seem to be the most popular of the seven. So I, being my half-baked self, chose to write about the relationship between these two that is ignored. I thought it odd that Caranthir lived by himself in Arda, but Curufin and Celegorm lived together, despite the fact that he was between them in age, so I wanted to develop Caranthir's relationship with his family more. In the Silmarillion, there is little to Celegorm and Curufin, except a lust for more and more power (i.e., driving Finrod from Nargothrond and kidnapping Luthien), but I thought that even if they were jerks to everyone else, at least they did care about their father and each other. I wanted to give a kind of back story to that. They had to have loved their father, but he had a distinct attitude problem, so their relationship was probably rather rocky. *innocent expression* Hmmmm, it might be just you, but then, maybe it's just me in re-reading the Silmarillion a million times and memorizing all the nuances and half-buried clues as to their characters. Curufin was Crafty and Caranthir was Dark, so I tried to make this a precursor to that. I do prattle on, don't I? Anyway, I'm glad I was able to show them in a different light to you. :) Oh yes, and thank you for reviewing (again). ;D By the way, if you don't mind sad, tragic fics, you might like "Atalantie" by Aerlinnel about the death of Amrod and Amras.

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