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In Darkness Bound by Fiondil	11 Review(s)
Tari	Reviewed Chapter: 84 on 7/22/2011
This chapter was very hard for me to read. I don't like the way Arafinwe is being treated even though I know Manwe has his reasons. I can't help wondering why Manwe has not consulted with Iluvatar in this matter. Author Reply: This was a hard chapter to write, as you can imagine, Tari. And who is not to say that Manwe didn't consult with Atar? We are seeing this mostly from Arafinwe's viewpoint so we're not always privy to what the Valar think or do. At least we know that there is no lasting resentment on Arafinwe's part for how he was treated and which he only brought on himself. We'll be seeing how he fares and how the Valar plot to get him to rebel so they can deal with him more forthrightly in the following chapters. Thanks for reading and reviewing. I appreciate it very much.

obsidianj	Reviewed Chapter: 84 on 7/2/2011
It is hard to read about Arafinwe (I don't call him Pityahuanya) brought so low. I have the feeling, he is a bit insane at the moment. But at last he starts to learn something about being a king. Author Reply: It was difficult to write this chapter and the first draft was way darker than the final one which you've read. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he wasn't a little around the bend by now. Thanks for taking the time to read and review. I appreciate it very much.

Larner	Reviewed Chapter: 84 on 6/28/2011
He's a bit slow on the uptake, it appears. He has put himself into this situation, and returns himself to it voluntarily; he must truly wish his freedom to receive it, although it is offered him repeatedly. Poor Arafinwe has a good deal to learn--at least he is learning. (And purring? Heh! Quite the feat for the little hound!) Author Reply: He is indeed a bit slow on the uptake, Larner, poor puppy. Well, he'll eventually learn the truth of it all though it'll take a bit of time and patience. Thanks for reading and reviewing. I appreciate it very much.

Erulisse (one L)	Reviewed Chapter: 84 on 6/23/2011
This is brainwashing, pure and simple, and the subsiding of the person in the overlaid persona of the superior. It disturbs me to see the Valar playing this role, but I know it disturbs them also and that in the end it will be worthwhile and the education in statecraft that Arafinwe desperately needs. However, time passes and Ingoldo is still being rebellion, Ingwe is still imprisoned, and his sons are still trying to save the throne for him. How long can the Valar afford to keep Arafinwe with them instead of pushing him to take the Noldor throne? It's a balancing act worthy of the Valar. - Erulisse (one L) Author Reply: Hi Erulisse. It is a sort of brainwashing, similar I suspect to the situation in boot camp that Rhyselle describes in her review. And it's true the Valar can't afford to keep Arafinwe with them for too long, but they need him to bring him to where he is acting the king of the Noldor (whether crowned or not) instead of the slave of the Valar, which is how he sees himself at this point. He's useless to anyone in that state. It is indeed a balancing act and we will see in the next chapter how the Valar start tipping the scales in their favor. Thanks for reading and reviewing. I appreciate it very much.

Serindë	Reviewed Chapter: 84 on 6/21/2011
It is clear that Ingwion will be looking for help in Tirion - so what the hell is doing Arafinwë in Valmar ? - was exactly my question. Now I see. Arafinwë decided that he had made few foolish decisions and so for the future, till he is infallible (it can be called arrogant), prefers not to exercise his free will at all and not to take any decision. He submits himself to the every Valar's whim and he puts up with all the nonsense the Valar are able to come with. And Manwë's and Námo are trying really hard to make him rebel and reclaim his freedom, but to their exasperation he does not play along. The freedom, and the responsibility which freedom brings, are too terrifying. I am looking forward to see the plan they will come with. Author Reply: Hi Serindë. That certainly is the question, isn't it? Arafinwë is just stubborn enough (it runs in the family) that Manwë and Námo are really at their wit's as to what to do with the ellon. We will see in the next chapter just what the Valar come up with to force Arafinwë to rebel and what they plan for him. Thanks for reading and reviewing. I really appreciate it.

Kaylee Arafinwiel	Reviewed Chapter: 84 on 6/21/2011
Good evening (as it's now well past 11 pm, it's more than 'evening', but anyway, Atto Fiondil :) ) I decided I'd give you a 'proper' review besides the email I sent you, lol. I'll begin by quoting some of my email. Apologies for the redundancy, but of course I hadn't posted it here before. grin "Just finished reading the new chapter of In Darkness Bound, while listening to my Worship Together: Platinum CD. "Lord, I Lift Your Name On High" is playing, and it occurs to me that, of course, God is our Master, as well as our Father. We are to be slaves to salvation, not to sin, in His care. It seems that thraldom to the Powers is not such a bad thing, after all, once Arafinwe's begun to learn the joy in obedience, and to have his arrogance stripped away even as his clothes were before. I'm glad he's more accepting of his situation." I'll add to the above that I've been listening to WoW Worship: Aqua while rereading. Somehow your stories bring me closer to my faith, particularly this one...maybe because the Valar are so central to this story. I see an issue of pride here, though Rhyselle covered that quite eloquently, LOL! It seems Arafinwe is learning the lesson taught to Ingwion earlier (well, later, technically, but we saw it earlier) about obedience and humility. Ingwion wasn't listening. Neither is Arafinwe, completely. He's begun to, but there's a long road ahead, I fear. "Seeing Arafinwe accept his situation...or at least begin to accept it, as I can see he's still rebelling somewhat...and to see how his Masters care for him so, heartened me. I see he's begun his training in statecraft, too...very good. I'm sure that by the end, this will be less thraldom and more of a true apprenticeship...I'm feeling echoes of Finrod and Vorondil again, though of course Finrod never made Vorondil fashion a collar for himself. Ah...and the point of Arafinwe's shorn hair reminded me of a question the previous chapter brought up. I recall Vorondil's father viciously attacking him with shears, chopping off his hair. Is it because he was marking his son as a thrall? (Although he should have managed the haircut when he wasn't quite so...volatile.) Glorfindel didn't get his hair cut, unless I'm mistaken, so perhaps I'm not on the right track with that. He did remove his braids, but that was his choice, right? How usual is it for there to be thralls in Aman?" (I know you answered me about Vorondil's haircut and Glorfindel's lack of one, but as I said, Atto, not everyone saw :) ) I'm really interested to see where things go from here. I can just see...eventually...Arafinwe being told "Put your collar back on like a good Little Hound"...and deciding to chuck it across the room instead. I wonder what Manwe and Namo would do about it... I'm really curious to know how he burned Nienna's cottage, too. I do hope that's addressed soon! suspects that maybe Manwe and Namo will have Pityahuan serving the other Valar, too Hmm...going by memory alone, but wasn't there a quote like this: "We are your teachers, not your Masters, and you have free will"...I /think/ that was Namo to Ingwion. Or Finrod...of course, in some cases they /are/ certain Elves' Masters indicates Finrod and the Feanturi But that's a different case than this, of course. All right, Atto, time for me to sleep. Oh...one last thing. Two, really. The Maia helping Arafinwe bathe...her name means "Friend of Knowledge", right? with a female ending? And Manatamir...or however it's spelled...he was the one who led...will lead...Glorfi to Aewellond? The one with the dog? (How very ironic...) Tye-melin, Atto. Kaylee Author Reply: Hi Kaylee. I'm glad to hear that my stories bring you closer to your faith. Thanks for letting me know. I am truly humbled. You are correct that Arafinwë has to learn proper obedience, that he is not 'listening' to what is being said to him by the Valar. Now, with regards to Aldundil and Vorondil, Aldundil's actions were in response to the fact that his son had worn warrior braids without earning them. I'm afraid the shock of the blasphemy was too much for him. In Arafinwë's case, the cutting of his hair was part of the humiliation that he was being forced to endure as part of his lessoning. You notice that the Valar don't insist on having his hair shorn again after it begins to grow back out. And Glorfindel didn't get a haircut, although he did undid his braids, but that was the extent of it. As I mentioned to another reviewer, I don't hold that the Eldar practiced slavery, but Fëanor metioned thralldom, and that may have been simply metaphorical on his part, but many Elves suffered thralldom in Middle-earth, so the concept is there. In Arafinwë's case, I think he was taking Fëanor's word literally, and the Valar obliged him. We will indeed see Arafinwë with Nienna and learn what happened to him and what happened to the cottage, but that won't happen for a little bit. First we need to get him to Nienna's. grin Anyway, to answer your questions about the two Maiar: Mánatamir is indeed the same Maia who will escort Glorfindel to Aewellond a millennium hence. And Sayandilmë's name is take directly from "Book of Lost Tales" and means "Fire-fay friend". Thanks for reading and reviewing. I really appreciate it. Tye-melin.

Rhyselle	Reviewed Chapter: 84 on 6/20/2011
What a chapter! The thing that I like best about your interpretation of the Valar is that it is apparent that they are created beings with flaws and foibles, and that as powerful as they are, they are not omnipotent. I rather enjoyed seeing Manwë's and Námo's frustration over Arafinwë. And it helped me in appreciating the events described in the remainder of the chapter, and made me try to look at them from the Valar's perspective as well as Arafinwë's. The issue of pride is an interesting one. I remember reading a quote by C.S. Lewis about the need to forgive oneself when one has been forgiven by God; that to refuse to forgive oneself is actually like putting oneself above God. And that's what I see here. Arafinwë was told by the Valar that there was no need for him to be punished or enslaved as they (and Eru) had forgiven him, but he refused to accept that, insisting that he could never be forgiven for what he'd done. And when they make him a thrall in truth, as he insisted, he holds on to that pride, hoarding his guilt and pain, even though letting them go would free him in all sorts of ways. The description of how Arafinwë is treated makes me sad and frustrated at the same time. It's sad that his pride has caused the Valar to resort to this in order to teach him who he is and what he was created to be. It's frustrating, because in every part of it, I can see the moments when there are opportunities for that "small rebellion" that Manwë is seeking to take action--and get Arafinwë to stop clinging to the past. But in Elf Interrupted I we saw that even then, that it's a problem that Arafinwë still struggles with (when Oromë led them to Formenos). The whole thing about the collar: that only the one who made it can put it on, and only others can remove it got me to thinking, and I concluded that the mechanism of the collar is so very much a representation of Arafinwë's situation overall. It was his choice to become a thrall to Lord Manwë and Lord Námo, not theirs. He puts on the collar. They take it off of him, gifting him with (many) opportunities to reach for freedom, but he, whether through fear, guilt, or stubbornness, or all three, keeps locking himself back up. All he has to do is refuse to put on the collar and not even the most powerful of the Valar can compel him to do so. But he can't--or doesn't want to--see that. The mental and emotional manipulation going on here has a lot of layers, and it will be interesting to finally figure out all of the reasons behind Arafinwë's "behavioral therapy". By the way, this past Sunday, I taught a lesson about obedience in the Ladies Relief Society meeting, and so a lot of what was in that lesson on willing obedience to God is probably coloring much of how I interpreted this chapter. Arafinwë NEEDS to rebel. Not in a huge way, but enough to take back his free agency. It occurs to me that after what happened with Fëanor, the elves who returned to Tirion would likely have a great fear of any sort of action that could be interpreted as going against the Valar in any way, and so slide into the same compliance trap that Arafinwë has put himself into, even though they do not have any literal collars on. They need to obey the Valar, not just comply with their commands/orders/desires. I don't know if I'm expressing myself well here, but I keep thinking about Lord Námo's conversation with Ingwion at Nienna's mansion about what obedience really is. Arafinwë is not listening. Compliance with the orders he is given might get him some short term rewards, like the blanket and the sleeping fur, and the playtime in the snow, and the demonstrated affection of the Valar, but in the long run, he will need to see past them, past his own selfishness, and stand up and say "No more!" and take the consequences of his actions like a free soul should--and not try to negotiate to control those consequences like he did in the last chapter. S’ avaquétima is an interesting phrase. I looked at what Námo said to Arafinwë and tried to see it from outside Arafinwë's perspective, but I'll be rolling it around in my mind for some time to come as there is a niggling of an idea about it, but it hasn't come clear to me yet. It seems to be tying back to Námo's conversation with Ingwion in EI1 again! Gosh, this is probably as long as the chapter by now! I could probably continue to blather on about the thoughts that this part of the story has given me, but I'll spare you more verbosity. grin I'll close this review with the comment that when Arafinwë apologized, and Námo called him by his real name at the end, it was a very powerful moment for me, the reader. You do not state what it was that he was apologizing for, but I have some ideas on that which I'll look forward to the upcoming chapters to see if I came close to what you have in store. You have taken a sequence of what could be considered touchy and sensitive events and described them effectively without giving unneeded amounts of voyeuristic detail, but also helped us to be there with the characters throughout. Well done, dear friend! Well done! Author Reply: Hello, Rhyselle. Oh, there is so much here that I cannot even begin to address everything you bring up. I think your analysis of Arafinwë's situation, his spiritual state, and where the Valar (Manwë and Námo especially) are in all this is quite correct and very insightful, especially with regard to the collar. It really is an outward manifestation of his inner state and until he can see that and recognize it, he will never be free of it. We will see in the next few chapters (the next one in particular) the ways in which the Manwë and Námo plot (with a little help from Olórin) to bring Arafinwë to a state where he has no choice but to rebel, though his rehabilitation will not be immediate. There's a 'stage two' to this process that I hope you will find as intriguing as what has been presented to date. I'm glad you think I've been able to write this chapter with sensitivity without falling into voyeurism. These chapters were not easy for me to write and I've agonized over them for some time. Thanks for your comments, Rhyselle. I hope others who read them will find them as thoughtful and as insightful as I have.

Laikwalâssê	Reviewed Chapter: 84 on 6/20/2011
Hello Fiondil, I agree that Arafinwë has to learn to let go of his arrogance, but to treat the children I love thus, I cannot imagine. He has made a mistake yes, but this is not what he deserves. But maybe I´m mistaken and this is exactly the treatment he needs to become the great King he is later. I hope he soon rebels more and see the idiocy of his request to be a thrall. Don´t get me wrong. I like this chapter very much but sometimes the ways of the Valar are hard to understand. I´m looking forward to see how this ends. Sorry for my bad english but I hope you could catch what I wanted to say. Thank you. Lai Author Reply: Hi Lai. Unfortunately, Arafinwë has left the Valar no other recourse, and they don't like it any better than you. In the next chapter we'll see how, with a little help from Olórin, the Valar plot to get Arafinwë to rebel and out of their hair, so to speak. I think you will find the chapter rather amusing. And your English is just fine and I understood exactly what you were trying to say. Thanks for reading and reviewing. I appreciate you taking the time to do so.

	Reviewed Chapter: 84 on 6/20/2011
omgwtf? Author Reply: Indeed.

6336	Reviewed Chapter: 84 on 6/20/2011
So he Literally learns statecraft at Manwe's feet. Ah, poor Little Puppy, but he is getting there, in spite of Manwe and Namo's frustration and exasperation with him, they do love him after all and will treat him with all the patience they have, after all what is time to a Vala? Got to watch those Children, they never jump the way you expect them to! Huggs, Lynda Author Reply: Poor Little Puppy, indeed, Lynda! We'll see how the Valar try to get him to no longer be the 'poor little puppy' that he is here in the next chapter. He's not going to learn all his lessons immediately or easily. We're going to be spending quite a bit of time with Arafinwë before we move on to other characters. Thanks for reading and reviewing. I appreciate it very much.

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