A King Unkinged (For the Love He Bore Feanor) by Himring

Thank you very much, ziggy!

I seemed to have read more detailed treatments about the Fingolfinians's reactions to Finwe's departure from Tirion than about the Feanorians's reaction to his arrival, so I chose to focus on that here. 

Glad you like that moment between Maitimo and Finwe! There is a bit of Maitimo's point of view on this period in "Bindweed" (in an early outline, those two fics were meant to become one single story), but it doesn't explicitly mention Finwe's arrival. Maybe I'll manage to take another look at those two together one day!

(I hope all is going well for you. I did take note that you have been updating "Shadows" and hope to catch up again with that!)

Oh yes, I'm sure Melkor was hooting with laughter (when he wasn't dodging Tulkas and Orome, that is)!

As for Finwe--I saw in your Nerdanel story (very well-written, by the way) what your take on the relationship between Finwe and Feanor is (apparently?) and so I realize that you're coming from a rather different direction here.

To be honest, I was thinking of "not pleased at all" more on the lines of pronouncements like Queen Victoria's "we are not amused", which did have people around her, including her family, pretty much shaking in their shoes. Except under the current circumstances, for Finwe, it's not as effective as it might have been, formerly.

The "tisane" was deliberate, a conscious risk I took, although I was aware some readers might have difficulty suspending their disbelief. It's definitely not Anglo-Saxon, certainly (but then "herbs" or "tea" aren't either, and I wasn't particularly keen on anything like "wort drink", which might be the closest Anglo-Saxon equivalent). I sometimes do use words that readers might consider anachronisms to remind readers that although Noldorin culture in Aman is very different from ours, clearly, it's also very different from what they experienced later in Beleriand (which is one of the subjects that Finwe and Maedhros are discussing here). For an in-universe explanation you could say that this is directly translated from Quenya, so to speak, rather than transmitted to the reader via later versions in Westron...

Thank you very much for reading and commenting!

I'm so very glad the story works for you!

Yes, at this point, Finwe and Maedhros are communicating better than Finwe does with Feanor or Fingolfin, and yet they are still talking past each other, to some extent.

Also, that they are talking about Feanor behind his back is a measure of their fears; it is something they would have avoided doing before things got so bad.

I  believe that Feanor's fears of losing his father's love are genuine and deep. That leads me to think that he would not have expected Finwe to follow him and might well have been amazed at Finwe's arrival.

Fingolfin's words before the council are, taken literally, a declaration of loyalty. But, taken as a political act, they are a semi-public accusation of weakness and favouritism, and fannish interpretations often seem to take their cue from this. But if Finwe, at least by his own lights, was doing his level best to deal with a really tricky and dangerous political situation, he might not have appreciated Fingolfin's outburst, and not just because of Feanor's reaction. (I'm not suggesting Fingolfin wasn't sincere, you understand!)

Thank you very much! I'm really glad you like this take on Finwe. I believe he is sometimes read as weaker, at this stage, than he is likely to have been, given what else we know about him. It doesn't seem quite consistent for him to just turn into Feanaro's doormat at any point.

Feanaro isn't deliberately ignoring his father's words, I think, but is too disturbed and affected by paranoia by this time to fully absorb and process them: he is responding in the confused way that Maitimo later describes him reacting to the revelation about Melkor's activities, too driven to think things entirely through anymore.

Maitimo is dealing (or rather failing to deal) with his anxieties by sitting up in the night and compiling a guide to northern flora as a begetting-day gift for Findekano. This comes into a related story of mine, "Bindweed". So he has been retreating into precision and classification. Hence, partly, his use of "tisane". That's the bookish approach that Finwe points out in him and thinks so impractical.

Finwe is right, but also underrating his son and his grandsons. They certainly do not have a clue what Beleriand is going to be like, but nevertheless they have already had more hands-on practice in dealing with different environments than he is willing to allow for. Thus, the tisane is quite safe and Maitimo has actuallly been going out and talking to locals to do his research, etc.

And still, none of them are really prepared for what is coming, of course!

Thank you! I'm very glad my approach here makes sense to you!

Thank you very much, Indy!