So. I've read it, and I've thought for a while about what I want to say about this chapter.
For me, it has the distinct feeling of wheels spinning in mud. Eressetor, Fëanáro, and all the kids are trapped in a distinctly sticky and increasingly gloomy situation from which they cannot seem to extract themselves. Each and every one of them seems to be getting more and more depressed about it, but they don't seem to be able to do anything. Fëanáro is doing completely random things in his workshop, his relationship with Eressetor has plateaued at an unhealthy level of dominance and non-communication. Eressetor continues to fritter his time away is vague and seemingly unproductive "studies." Even Maitimo, the most active of the bunch after dear ol' Dad, is reduced to puttering around breeding completely useless roses.
It does make me want to see the ending, in the hopes that something will happen to break them out of this stasis. On the one hand, some of this chapter is atmospheric, and you've written it with your usual exact attention to psychological detail. On the other hand, there's a lot less oomph to this story than to AMC. Partially because of the characters' particular arcs in this one, and partially because you don't seem to be as focused on what the characters are actually doing at any given point. Eressetor is the consummate navel-gazer, noticing relatively little about his immediate surroundings.
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For me, it has the distinct feeling of wheels spinning in mud. Eressetor, Fëanáro, and all the kids are trapped in a distinctly sticky and increasingly gloomy situation from which they cannot seem to extract themselves. Each and every one of them seems to be getting more and more depressed about it, but they don't seem to be able to do anything. Fëanáro is doing completely random things in his workshop, his relationship with Eressetor has plateaued at an unhealthy level of dominance and non-communication. Eressetor continues to fritter his time away is vague and seemingly unproductive "studies." Even Maitimo, the most active of the bunch after dear ol' Dad, is reduced to puttering around breeding completely useless roses.
It does make me want to see the ending, in the hopes that something will happen to break them out of this stasis. On the one hand, some of this chapter is atmospheric, and you've written it with your usual exact attention to psychological detail. On the other hand, there's a lot less oomph to this story than to AMC. Partially because of the characters' particular arcs in this one, and partially because you don't seem to be as focused on what the characters are actually doing at any given point. Eressetor is the consummate navel-gazer, noticing relatively little about his immediate surroundings.