Happy birthday, Altariel!

[dwimordene_2011]

Title: The quiet on the western front
Author: Dwimordene
Summary: In the unreal city, desire and memory.
Characters: Halbarad, Faramir
Warnings: AU, prequel, probably confusing, possibly disturbing.
Dedication: For Una, on her birthday. Happy birthday, altariel! (Can you believe we’ve been reading each other’s stories since 2002?)

Comments

[aliana1]

HOORAY more AU!Halbarad! With Faramir!

Battered life, he may die, they say; body and soul war-rent, even Elessar doubts his standard-bearer.

I love this sentence although it is, of course, heartbreaking.

So I have to admit, I'm not entirely sure what's going on at the end (though ambiguity is also a-okay with me). Is Faramir seeing his father's death drive reflected in Halbarad's eyes, and is trying to say "no" to both of them? Whatever it is, I like the last sentence.

C'mon! Pull through, AU!Halbarad! You can do it (especially with the help of Faramir and also the most talented and alcoholic team of healers in Gondor)!

[dwimordene_2011]

HOORAY more AU!Halbarad! With Faramir!

Halbarad: Yeah. Woot. *sigh*

Is Faramir seeing his father's death drive reflected in Halbarad's eyes, and is trying to say "no" to both of them? Whatever it is, I like the last sentence.

Got it in one. Glad you enjoyed the drabble, despite its somewhat cryptic character.

[altariel]

My head is zinging with echoes of "The Burial of the Dead": "your shadow at evening rising to meet you", "I had not thought death had undone so many", the corpse that is sprouting, and the temptation to "come in under the shadow of this red rock..." Faramir has closed that Door and turned back, unlike Denethor, who stepped through without a backward glance, and Halbarad is still hovering on the threshold.

I absolutely love it, Dwim, all the echoes and allusions are spinning around my head. Thank you so much. More than a decade reading each others' stories is amazing.

[dwimordene_2011]

:-D Glad you enjoyed it! Denethor's shadow looms large, but Faramir at least has experienced Aragorn as a concrete sign of hope, unlike Denethor. Halbarad... is just not in a position to interact with Aragorn like that. But Resurrection lies ahead...

Hope you had a wonderful birthday!

[mrowe]

How did I overlook this one?

Seconding the Hooray here.

A beautiful drabble.