The Dance by Dawn Felagund

Not a surprise, I loved this. The characterization is top, I've come to admire your Mahtan, and Minyaní and Maikwende (is that Mai-Kwende, or Maik(a)-wende, by the way? I like to match meaning to the names. *nerd*) are delightful in their own way. Feanáro's behaviour at the ball made me laugh, it's just so fitting to see him twist customs and decrees to fit his own unconventional ways. At first I found it a little hard to buy to see him unable to dance, but when you clarified that he just didn't know the steps, that was fine after all. (I can't imagine someone like Feanor actually lacking skill and grace for dancing.) - And Nerdanel... :) I recently learned that 'my' version of her hates court ceremonies with a passion (and avoids them whenever possible), so seeing her cope so admirably in this story was a refreshing point of view. 

I must confess that I thought the last sentence somewhat cliché at first, but then upon reading it again, it made perfect sense on a deeper level, and still fits the tone and mood of the story perfectly. In fact it reminded me of a passage of T.S. Eliot's 'Burnt Norton', one of my favourite poems:

At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered.

Hi.  I always enjoy how you set your stories--the details, (his left boot unstrapped, her too-tight dress) the build-up (who IS the other girl?), the emotions of the characters.  (Nerdanel's was pretty straightforward and Feanaro's was quite easy to guess.  :-)

The beginnings of Feanaro and Nerdanel's love has always interested me. Your version is sweet and I like how it "connects" with your other stories like a piece of a large jigsaw puzzle. 

Will this be part of the AMC "prequel"? 

This. Is. So. Cute.

Seriously, I can't even begin to describe how cute it is.

I'm totally adding this to my favorites. 

So cute! I think I will add it to my favourite!

The characters emotions are characterised so well and their emotions are very clear.

Lindale

I've meant to review many of your stories for ages, but this one is a favorite.  Your characterization of Nerdanel is what sticks with me whenever I encounter her in other fic, or think about her as a character - what you created in AMC and smaller fics like this is really fantastic.  I also love the sisters you came up with for her.  I want to smack them upside their heads whenever they open their mouths - but  I mean this in a good way.  Their "compliments" to Nerdanel in the first scene always make me laugh.

The dancing mnemonic is another favorite of mine - and that moment when it clicks in Feanor's mind.  His fear of rejection (?) is surprisingly sweet, and so nicely portrayed, and his confession at the end is pitch-perfect.  Just generally speaking, this story is structured perfectly to make me melt into a puddle of goo.  I always enjoy reading it.  I sometimes feel, when reading your fic about Nerdanel and Feanaro, that you've explored all the depth and subtlety that needs to be explored between them, and trying to follow it would be extraneous.