No idea, I don't think we have anyone handy who's made the transition in either direction.

You'd need Eru's personal intervention. Or your galaxy's magic, I suppose.

Yep. I mean, I'm hoping my galaxy's magic can do it.

If not, killing Melkor should still make the orcs' oaths tractable, just have to put them very far away from us.

Yeah. - And make sure they don't have their kids swear the oath, and that the unsworn outnumber the sworn before they can move freely around...

It's a good thing the oath doesn't include making your kids swear it, that'd be the obvious thing to do if I were evil and designing orc oaths.

Yep.

...shouldn't have said that. I first thought of it ten years ago and didn't. Ugh.

...sorry. But I continue not to be working for the Enemy, so.

I can skip the disclaimers if you'd rather.

Hmmm? No. Your peace of mind's worth more than mine anyway, and I do not find it objectionable to hear them.

Do you think there's a way to prevent Fingon and Fëanor from being rude to each other if they do wind up having dinner?

If anyone else is present they won't talk about me, so that'll probably help. If New Mithrim's done anything interesting from an engineering perspective and Findekáno is willing to listen to an explanation of how it could have been done better that'll occupy my father all evening. I decided I wanted Findekáno after listening to him straighten out a stupid centuries-old honor dispute by just cheerfully expecting better of everyone in the room until they got better, but I don't know that my father respects that as a skillset.

That's a perfectly lovely skillset!

Sadly he's never had much success using it on our family. Our family may be immune to being shamed into greater maturity.

Seems likely.

They're also immune to being manipulated into it. I didn't do nothing but in hindsight all I did was delay.

Is it naive to think I'm helping?

With my father? Probably. With things more generally you are obviously helping. You and my father are both lovely people who probably can't have the kind of relationship in which you could help things more than very temporarily.

Alas.

Fortunately there are other people who can step up there, and a war on to give him good priorities.

Yes, but in the short term I did say I'd deliver Fingon a dinner invitation. Maybe he'll just turn it down.

If you want him to accept you can tell him to accept.

I only want him to accept if it'd go well.