Not cheating at all! (And if you want, as a fellow theon/jeyne + silm fan, I can send you the link to the story, as more readers the better.)

3. What’s the part of the fic I’m most proud of?

I still think the parts where Faelindis corners Faron and talks to him about memories of green and the sea is the most bittersweet and tragic-romantic of the fic. I’m also proud of how Galuven pushed himself onto the page and how he adds character and tension to that flashback section where C&C are ruling Nargothrond, and has parallel situations to several characters including Faron. 

5. What part of the fic am I still dissatisfied with?

Okay, right now I’m working on the section where Maeglin is brought into Angband and then the rev up to conquer Gondolin from Faron and the slaves’ pov. It’s slow going and while the first part where Faelindis asks about Gondolin I really like (and I’ll post it), the rest of it is unfinished.

“Faron tried to recall the host of Gondolin as it appeared unlooked for on that morning of the Fifth Battle. He remembered the horns coming out of the mist from the south, from the direction of the Fens of Serech, that place where the men of Barahir had rescued him in the Fourth Battle. The unfamiliar horns brightened the spirits of the High King and filled the army with overconfident joy. The Noldor serving under King Fingon recognized the banner of his younger brother. Turgon was his name, the king of Gondolin, the one Galuven swore had been the closest friend to King Finrod. Galuven had recognized the banners emerging in the distant mist, chief among them the blue, silver, red, and gold of the king. Other banners there had been, a golden flower on a field of green, blue with a multi-hued gem, silver and crystal, green, more purples and blues and white, and several that were black, half of which had a silver harp. It was the silver harp that Faron remembered most, for he had wanted to weep when he saw it approach. The shape had been wrong, and it had not the burning torch nor the field of muted green, but it had come from the direction of the Pass of Sirion, and for a second he had believed the ghosts had returned.”

And the two very short segments before the last segment that finish what I call the middle arc. The third to last is only one line, but I don’t know if it needs to be expanded or if the brevity works. Or if to switch the order of the segments around. (It has to do with post-Gondolin, where Faron has pretty much lost all hope, especially when he hears about the Mouths of Sirion).

And the title. Right now it’s “Release From Bondage”, which isn’t much better than “Squidboy in Angband” tbh.

7. Were there any major decisions I made about the fic that could have made it go a whole different direction?

The actual escape, as I haven’t finished it, but there were a couple of ideas I toyed with, but will probably go with the simplest plan. Also I’m firmly attached to the general spirit of LaCE, if nothing else, so despite the inspiration material, I’ve axed almost all story threads that explicitly involve Ramsay!orc predatory sexual interest in Faelindis (which is not a bad thing). 

And that I’ve expanded both Faron’s flashbacks of Nargothrond and really gone into detail of ‘here’s everything happening in Beleriand because the Balrogs like to spread gossip’ and the architecture of Angband (though I think i’ve lost focus on exploring the orcs themselves). It’s a much longer and hopefully stronger work for that.

10. If I had to sum up this fic in a sentence, what would it be?

The later half of The Silmarillion from the POV of prisoners in Angband, as inspired by A Dance with Dragons.**

**possible actual summary

 

(Or: “Another Theon/Jeyne AU because that first one wasn’t ‘Lay of Leithian’-esque enough for me.”)