The Kindness of Strangers by Elleth

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Fanwork Notes

Many thanks to Zeen for giving this a look!

Fanwork Information

Summary:

Maglor meets a stranger on the beach and makes some important discoveries. Written for Indy for the 2013 edition of Fandom Stocking.

Major Characters: Maglor, Original Character(s)

Major Relationships:

Genre: General

Challenges:

Rating: General

Warnings:

Chapters: 1 Word Count: 1, 693
Posted on 19 January 2014 Updated on 19 January 2014

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Comments on The Kindness of Strangers

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*distant muttering because how are you allowed to be so talented it's not fair*

Maglor! You always write him so well. I love this whole hidden-elves-in-modern-world thing that's going on here. That little bit of tension over the naming thing--"unlike you I have not let go of my past so far that I have all but become mortal..." Yep. That was... wow. I liked that.

And the last line! It was really, really perfect. 

*distant muttering in the same vein right back at you* :3

I'm glad you liked the story so much! I like the notion of Elves in modern day a lot as well - much better as living, breathing people, too, rather than merely by inheritance from a distant ancestor, but it seems quite logical that they would have to adapt all the same - and Maglor, here being extremely conservative (and quite literally living in the past) of course would take issue with that.

Thank you so much!

I really like your Eric/Erchir and the way he adapted to modern world - he seems like a capable, nimble man who doesn't live in the past but takes the best of the present. I like his wise, practical words.

P.s. Just a suggestion that you might ignore if you want - there's a line, close to the end, that goes: "...that's much easier now, with mortal technology, ..." It is totally clear what you meant, but to me, it would sound better "with mortals' technology". But you decide, of course. ;)

You're spot-on with Eric's characterization - I think he's very much reconciled himself with the fact that times do change, and as an immortal creature he needs to stay on his feet to keep up, but he enjoys it, in part because it keeps him active, and seeing that change affords him plenty of opportunities.

Thank you for the suggestion, too. As long as it's clear I think I'll leave it this way (it's intended to be adjectival here, mortal technology as opposed to elven technology), but all the same, thank you. :)

Thank you so much! :D I'm sure there are some mortals who do in fact know, but they're the rare sort who can be trusted utterly with a secret like that. Modern medicine and Elves... oooh dear, there's a story that does bear telling! I do essentially hold the view that Elves and Mortals are the same or a very closely related species, seeing how the capacity for fertile offspring exists, but with detectable differences that make Elves not only infinitely longeval, but also grant them other advantages like better healing and greater resistance to all our usual complaints, which would need to display in their genes somehow (handwavy answer because I have no backing in any medical field).

But I do think it's safe to say that "there's a whole new (old) group of people living among us and they're immortal!" would make quite a wave (and that was an unintentional Númenorean allusion there again, ahem), probably enough to chuck ethical concerns overboard, inofficially. And... while it's not written, and taking a backseat behind current WiPs, I'm afraid Maglor is going to attract some undesired attention at a future point in this storyline...