#tie all that up in a Curufin-shaped bow and you certainly have the recipe for a compelling idea

[veilder]

And sometimes—after moments of grief, of strife, of hopelessness in a hopeless world—Curufin will look into the mirror and squint his eyes just the right way, and he’ll recall a faint echo of the past that called him good, that spoke with pride, a warm hand on his shoulder and a blinding smile filled with expectation and delight, and quite suddenly, he will not have to squint at all. Quite suddenly, he finds his sight obscured with a weighty, glossy film. Quite suddenly, he finds he must work to hold back the tears that he could never let slip when those memories were reality.

Yes, he understands his brothers’ pain. He knows it far, far too well. But how could he possibly begrudge them when the same persists in his own heart?

Something something about Curufin really resembling Fëanor. Sometimes Curufin catches his brothers looking at him weirdly. Like, really weird. Maglor standing in the doorway with tears in his eyes while Curufin plays with Tyelpe, softly singing the same songs Fëanor used to hum to them as kids. Or Maedhros going completely silent—teary-eyed silent—after Curufin delivers a fiery political rant they absolutely don’t agree on. Tyelko weirdly saying a soft “thank you” (with a smile, no less) when Curufin quietly replaces his worn-out arrows with new ones. Even Caranthir showing up at the forge, saying nothing at all, just standing there until Curufin asks what’s up and all he says is, “I like watching you work.”

It used to weird him out. Now he kinda gets it. They weren't looking at him at these times... they were seeing echoes. He accepts it. His brothers' pain is the same as his.