Non-angsty Maedhros

YEA, I MADE A MAEDHROS WHO SMILES AND YOU CAN'T STOP ME! ~MWAHAHAH!~

No but seriously, do you know how sometimes there are seemingly innocuous sentences in fanfic that can drive you up a wall even though you really shouldn't be so angry about them? That happens to me regularly. Tend to result in colourful curses, a quick hit of the "BACK" button, and the conclusion that that author and I clearly have very different interpretations of the original story. If it's especially bad, I'll find some kind of creative outlet to contradict the offending line, because otherwise I'll start to spew fire and poison, and that's not healthy. For instance, a few years back, I wrote a ficlet called The Children of Alqualondë because I was so pissed off at the idea that there would've been cutesy innocent Telerin children playing on the docks during the kinslaying and those evil, evil Noldor cut them down in mid-play. Because they had nothing better to do. - But I digress!

Another case - I don't even recall the fic in which I read it - was, years ago, "Maedhros never smiled again after Thangorodrim."

Look, I can see how the idea is tempting. Maedhros has a lot of reasons to be all grim and angsty, and fanficcers often like to wallow in angst, and...

... I just can't buy it. I mean, this guy goes on for another couple of centuries - centuries, people - before he jumps into a fiery chasm. If he hadn't occasionally found a reason to smile, I expect he would've cut a long story short. And while he has a lot of reasons to be all grim and angsty, he also has reasons to smile. Like, not being on Thangorodrim anymore? I might be willing to buy "after the Nirnaeth Arnoediad", because by that time he'll have figured out that nothing is ever going to work out, but after Thangorodrim, I'd expect that everything looks dandy and shiny and full of new hopes and chances. Right? Right!

In this particular case, he's smiling because he's made up his mind to give up kingship to Fingolfin, thereby more or less single-handedly (awful pun fully intended) re-uniting a people ripped apart by petty rivalry, a linguistic feud, treason, arson and stubbornness. Inspired by The Tempered Steel, which I'm actually in the throes of finishing, good grief, didn't think I'd ever see that point but it's only taken a bit over six years, anyway, a fic centered on (mostly) Maedhros in which, in spite of all the unpleasant things that happen to him, he occasionally smiles because sometimes, things get better. (Before they get worse, but shhh, don't tell him. Isn't he precious when he's all optimistic and happy? Exactly!) (I'm ending the story in a happy place. Because I can. Yes, I know that's not fashionable at the moment!)

In less rambling news, if I ever decide to try and paint gold brocade again, somebody stop me.

I still wish my scanner would stop eating colours.