Laerthel's Workshop

About aroace Maedhros and about Russingon that is still vital

Platonic Russingon is so important to me.

I understand and support them as a romantic pairing, but I wish more people saw the significance of platonic love. It is natural to say: of course Fingon did it out of love for Maedhros! What other explanation could there possibly be?

Sometimes I want to answer: of course he did it out of love! But must it only be the love for a romantic partner?

Because Maedhros and Fingon do understand one another almost without words. Because Maedhros and Fingon are soulmates.

For Maitimo, this is the highest expression of love he has ever felt for anyone outside his immediate family.

Fëanor raised his children with a sense of duty toward desperate, almost painful loyalty — to him and to one another. Maitimo’s heart — the heart of an eldest son, the eldest brother, the responsible one — is already full, and there is something so powerful, so pure, in his decision to love someone else.

In this headcanon, Maedhros grows up aroace. He grows up surrounded by filial, brotherly, and platonic love. Fingon’s feelings for him are vast and multifaceted, and he knows that Maedhros is his destiny. He would want to be with Maedhros in every possible sense of the word. But Maitimo’s inability to return the romantic aspect of those feelings does not become a tragedy.

Because this is not a story about unrequited love. It is about being different — together.

I love their relationship. I love their ancient friendship. I love the grandeur of sacrifice made for its sake.

For Nelyafinwë, the burning of the ships at Losgar is a catastrophe because he believes he will never see his best friend again. Because Fëanor — who had already, without ever realizing it, claimed too much of Maitimo’s heart for himself and his younger sons — has now physically taken away the only thing Maedhros chose for himself. But giving up Fingon is what Maedhros would never have agreed to. The one thing in which he would not submit to his father.

For Findekáno, a suicidal decision to save Maedhros from captivity is the only possible one. He saves the peace between the Houses of the Noldor. He saves his friend.

Friendships matter just as much as romances do. They can be the driving forces in the lives of characters. They are complete and meaningful in their own right.

Thanks! I absolutely love this story!

thank you, that's so-so sweet! ❤️

I could yap about a lot of things, but I'll go with my OC Tyelcano's trip through the Unseen World!

Some context (canon):

The LotR movies show the Unseen World as a kind of shadowy realm, where corporeal forms are blurred, and Frodo's eyes - thanks to the Ring - open to shapes and things that remain invisible for everyone else in the material world. The Unseen fascinates me to no end, so I wanted to recreate it somehow in 'Gates' using what we know from LotR and HoME canon:

Valar or powerful Maiar may walk in the material world "unclad", without a corporeal form

in this case, only creatures who have access to the Unseen Realm may perceive them

Elves who come from Valinor have a presence in both worlds: Seen and Unseen (like Glorfindel in FotR)

however (this is more assumption than canon fact): Elves cannot navigate the Unseen World alone, they need guidance or some kind of tool (a Ring of Power, a superior being who helps them, etc.)

Some more context (my fic):

The main plot of The Seven Gates is driven by a series of strange, fragmented dreams that the central characters (my OC Tyelcano, Maedhros, Fingon, Turgon, Glorfindel and my other OC Anardil) keep seeing. Unknown to them, the dreams predict the outcome of the Nirnaeth. Searching for answers, Tyelcano attemps to cross the war-torn lands between the Himring and Barad Eithel to get a message from Maedhros to Fingon, but his party is waylaid by Orcs. Tyelcano is rescued by Gondolin scouts, but Turgon - true to his laws - refuses to let him out of the city, which prompts Tyelcano to get creative politically. At one point, he gets to speak to the mysterious and powerful being, "The Master of Dreams", who claims to have sent the Nirnaeth visions as clues that would lead the characters to him. The Master of Dreams walks Tyelcano through the Unseen World to show what the dreams truly mean. This means, that Tyelcano's soul (fëa) temporarily needs to leave his body (hröa), making him appear dead.

There is not much we know about the Unseen World, but I had a blast trying to imagine it!

The way nothing makes sense to Tyel at first:

(...)he was astonished to be standing in something-like-a-camp, bathing in something-like-the-summer-sun, surrounded by colours he could not name and shapes he could not comprehend.

Then he slowly learns how to look, and differentiate between people -- who may not have any presence in the Unseen at all, but he can see other details about them:

He saw that the camp was full of soldiers of all affiliations, and guards, and craftsmen, and healers, and many more: all blurred patches of faint glow in the fabric of Arda; mostly pleasant to the eye, but sometimes with strange patterns and depths, the meanings of which his mind could presume rather than understand, as if he was touching pieces of fabric to feel the differences in texture.

Then he just passes through everyone and everything as a shadow:

No one seemed aware of him as he walked past them; Eldar, Edain and Naugrim passed around him and his guide as they made their way through the gates and into the streets. Tyelcano witnessed that those who had come from Aman had a Presence in the Unseen World indeed, unable as they were to notice him from within the confines of their hröa. His kinsmen were clearest to his eye, although perhaps it was a matter of affinity rather than power alone; and when he came upon the High King of the Noldor, his fëa welled with love, and briefly, he basked in the warmth of a familiar presence.

Then he glimpses the treachery of the Easterlings -- or at least, he thinks so:

On top of the wall waited three Men. Their faces and voices remained a mystery to him this deep in the Unseen; but he saw that their hands were bound with ties crueller than iron and sharper than steel. Shackles that went deeper than skin, flesh or bones. Restraints that were woven into the very fabric of their souls. Chains that were, themselves, Unseen; and as such, there was only one possible source that they could come from.

And then, of course, MAEDHROS, who is Tyelcano's liege lord, very close to him and dearly beloved (platonically):

All he could see were dark, shapeless patches of shackled thralls, their number larger than he could fathom. The shadow of despair descended upon his spirit, and the beauty of the world could not penetrate the vaults of the Unseen to lighten his heart. His sorrow darkened the world itself around him instead, dark forebodings whispering their terrors in his mind. And that was when he felt the coming of his lord; so mighty and powerful that he pressed his free hand to his chest, feeling as if he had been pulled from underwater to finally breathe. The fëa of Maedhros shone with a white light, so sharp and cold and brilliant that Tyelcano could barely look at him; and yet the sudden familiarity of his Presence soothed him, and chased the shadow of his fear away. To have him this close at the risk of deadly peril, with so many things to say but unable to speak was torture; and yet it seemed almost as though their bond of unbreakable loyalty could bridge the two Worlds, for Maedhros raised his eyes to meet his. Almost as if he could still perceive him, even across the unfathomable distance of Beyond, even Houseless.

"You have returned from Beyond," Gwaihir said. "You walked through the Unseen, and came back with knowledge beyond your understanding. You would do well to beware of it." "The – what?" Laurefindil stared at him. "The Unseen? We looked for you everywhere until we found you in your own bed! We thought that your fëa had left your body in silent anguish, and gone to Mandos! We feared..." "I am here," said Tyelcano, though each spoken word felt like gravel scrobbling a chiselled marble floor. "The dreams – the dreams have been sent by the Powers. A warning. They have always been a warning." With an effort, he set up in the bed, heart rattling desperately in his chest. "I must speak to the King... I must..." Gwaihir laid his large head upon his chest, turned slightly to one side so he could hold Tyelcano's gaze with his left eye. "I owe you my life, servant of the Star," he said, "and that is the only reason why I shall say it again: beware of the Unseen! The future, in its pure and absolute form, cannot be predicted by those within Ëä; even the Powers are not able to draw more than elaborate lists of possible consequences. What you have seen may never come to pass." "I have seen Things That Are," said Tyelcano. "The truth." "Truth can take many shapes," said the Eagle, "and it can save you as well as lead you to ruin."

Caranthir - by Da Lomacchi

Reblog this if you want readers to come into your ask box and ask for the “director’s commentary” on a particular story, section of a story, or set of lines. 

(blog formerly known as TEN-SUMMONERS-FAILS) most of the time i'm a somewhat prolific genfic writer, and then there are those times when i accidentally ghost everyone for a year. i will always come back, though, and i will always be happy to have you here! ❤️

current big project: THE SEVEN GATES, also known as, The Union of Maedhros: a novelization attempt __

I have two Ao3 pseuds:

Laerthel for my main longfic projects, related stories and gifts/ exchange pieces/ short stories/ vignettes written for fandom events