King Thingol's Codpiece by elfscribe

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Fanwork Notes

Tait Geijer(left) as Oropher and Rupert Friend (right)as Finrod.  Banner by Russandol.

 

Written for Darth Fingon for the Slashy Valentine 2011 fic exchange.

Request:
Pairing: Finrod, Oropher, and Celeborn.  Any relationship (or not) between any of the three is up to the author.  Gen fic is fine.
Story elements: A spy.

Rating: Soft R mostly for innuendo. 

Warning: This story flagrantly flouts the LaCE, has m/m relationships, and is full of double entendres, gwib references, outrageous elvish attire, and completely disrespectful characterizations.

Any resemblance between Finrod and Sherlock Holmes is purely intentional.

Betas: Many thanks to my wonderfully perceptive and skilled beta Russandol, to botanical researcher Leaf Light, and to language consultant Malinornë.  Their skills greatly improved this fic and their lively correspondence made writing it fun.

Fanwork Information

Summary:

Oropher, a healer and son of the Lord of Nivrim, assists Finrod Felagund in a hunt for a saboteur who has prevented spring from coming to Doriath.  In the process, Oropher finds himself increasingly attracted to his clever friend.

A Sherlock Holmes style mystery with a twist.

MEFA 2011 winner First Place in Mystery: General and also a winner of a Smaug's Treasure award.

Major Characters: Celeborn, Daeron, Elu Thingol, Finrod Felagund, Galadriel, Melian, Oropher, Treebeard

Major Relationships:

Genre: Adventure, Humor, Mystery, Romance

Challenges:

Rating: Adult

Warnings: Mature Themes, Sexual Content (Mild)
Chapters: 5 Word Count: 24, 458
Posted on 15 February 2011 Updated on 15 February 2011

This fanwork is complete.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Where Have all the Flowers Gone?
Chapter 2 - The Missing Codpiece
Chapter 3 - Clues and Cures
Chapter 4 - The Game's Afoot
Chapter 5 - Blowing in the Wind

Comments

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Copying most of my SV review. Funny story. Just so entertaining.

I absolutely adore Finrod and simultaneously I cannot resist poking fun at him. Really? Counseling young Oropher about selling weed?

I really enjoyed the stuff with him and Galadriel:

“I see you’ve picked up another pretty boy. What would Amarië have to say about that?”

“What she always said on the subject,” Finrod said mildly. “But then she could have come with us to Endórë and instead chose to stay behind and miss all the fun crossing the Helcaraxë. You and I have been over this endlessly and I fear I cannot undo what’s been done. In any case, your assumption is invalid. Young Oropher is merely assisting me with the investigation.”

“Assisting, is that what you’re calling it now,” she sniffed.

And what a yummy Celeborn:

Celeborn was nearly as handsome as Finrod, but his features were less delicately hawkish and more ruggedly chiseled. He was tall with that plaited silver-white hair, and tarn-blue eyes under low-riding dark brows.

Finrod makes an utterly perfect Sherlock Holmes. How in the world did you ever come up with the idea for this? Greatly enjoyed the quotations at the beginnings of the chapters. I used to know my Sherlock Holmes really well, but it has been decades. God I am so old!

“I wondered about that,” Finrod said. “She sometimes seems to have an uncanny ability to see the future, but often can’t see something right under her own nose.”

I hooted at Melian here. This is funny.

I just knew that Galadriel and Celeborn had to be connected to the mystery in some way. But the final twist was beyond anything I might have guessed.

You do pick labor-intense projects to be done to a tight deadline. I was racing through this to find the plot dénouement and although I am quite conversant with Darth’s work, I only spotted a couple of things, so it looks like I will have to re-read when I am not so distracted by all the new stories available at one time.

Great story!

Thanks again, Oshun for your review here and on SS.  I'm so pleased you enjoyed it.  Especially glad you liked the characterizations.  I had a lot of fun with them, particularly the Finrod/Sherlock  Oropher/Watson characterizations.  I'm now wondering if it wouldn't be fun to do a couple more with the two of them?

*Applauds*

OMG, what a rollicking adventure of a romp, 'Scribe!  I thoroughly, completely, absolutely enjoyed this wonderful story,  with its zippy plot, clever banter, lush descriptions, and spicy humor.  Plenty of LOL moments there.

The characterizations of Finrod as Holmes and Oropher as Watson are just perfect, and the supporting cast from the wilted beauties of Menegroth who entice Oropher to the King and Queen to Finrod's bossy sister and her silver-tree BF, Ka and especially Fangorn.  What a hoom, ha, hoot and a half to find the old Ent (without wood - ah hahahahahaha!) in the story.  I know I detected a nod to Darth's canon of copper as Ainur repellant, but was Oropher's natty bee costume a sly wink at "Bee-Elves?"

The Magical Codpiece.  That sent me over the edge.  Well, many quips did.

What is it about Darth's prompts that inspire creativity? :^)  These surely did.  Brava, Elfscribe!  Brava!

I'm thrilled to death that you liked it, a279;Pandë.  This was a departure for me in a number of ways.  I've never tried a detective/mystery type story, certainly not with so many, um, non-traditional approaches to canon. I don't normally write humor, nor do I normally have as many het couples, both of which I enjoyed.  I actually sat down and developed a detailed outline before writing, since with a mystery, you have to figure out the end and then plot it backwards, an approach also somewhat different from my usual modus operandi.   I'm especially glad you liked Fangorn (not to mention Fimbrethil), although there is something sort of sacrilegious about ent sex, even off-camera.  And yes, the bee references, and there are many in this fic, were a nod to Darth's Bee-Elves.   I knew this was for Darth from the minute I saw the prompts, so figured I'd better get creative, although I can't hope to match his wit. 

Russandol was a huge help, not only with an incisive beta, including getting me to push Finrod's Sherlockiness, but also in bouncing ideas around, such as how the Codpiece/Girdle connection worked. At one point she made me laugh when she said she was going to take my first e-mail -- in which I told her not to let me exceed 20 pages on this -- and frame it. I'm all for joint efforts on fics in future.

My MEFA 2011 review:

I'm amazed by the wildly original plot and the clever characterisation in this outstanding piece. Elfscribe has crafted a dazzling plot full of surprises and twists, in the best tradition of good thriller stories, and characterisation which carefully preserves the spirit of the Silmarillion while adding to the two main characters (a charmingly naive Oropher and a cunning Finrod) a few traits from those of the very familiar Sherlock Holmes duo.

Add to that a wonderful romantic relationship (including oodles of UST), peculiar Doriathren fashion, plus a fantastic cast of other characters like Thingol, Melian, Celeborn and Galadriel, not forgetting a couple of ents with, er, marital problems and a crowd of highly frustrated elves, all endangered by a strange shift in the normal cycle of the seasons. Mixing all of those ingredients, elfscribe has crafted a truly polished story which grips you from the beginning and carries you through a whirlwind of mystery, action and humour set in a wonderful vision of Doriath crammed with a wealth of details that truly brings it to life.

So, even if Sherlock Holmes is not your thing, if you want to read something different in this fandom, you will certainly enjoy this!

What a great light hearted story! Even before I started reading this I knew you must love Sherlock Holmes. Finrod is an entertaining and very believable “Sherlock”. Oropher is charming. This is a very different Oropher from others I have read and I love him young, sweet, and charmingly just a bit awkward. Very much enjoying this. Thank you for writing and sharing as always.

Thank you Lisse.  I am quite fond of Sherlock Holmes, all versions, but most particularly the recent series with *sigh* Benedict Cumberbatch.  I'm so excited that he's going to play the Necromancer and Smaug's voice in The Hobbit.  I never thought much about Finrod or Oropher before writing this, and I'd not read too many stories with either of them, although I am aware that Oropher has often been portrayed as the villain.  I did enjoy making Finrod into Sherlock Holmes and was surprised at how well it worked.  That's the beauty of swaps where you get an assignment.  I've written several stories that way that I'd never have thought of if not for the assignment.  It really stretches the imaginative muscles. This was such an unlikely story, but  I enjoyed writing it a great deal, so I'm glad you enjoyed reading it.