In the Silent Spaces by Elleth

Fanwork Information

Summary:

In the wake of Finrod's abdication and departure, Finduilas struggles to uphold order in Nargothrond in whatever way she can, and finds herself involved, if quietly, in momentous events. Written for Zdenka at Not Primetime 2013.

Major Characters: Curufin, Finduilas, Huan, Lúthien Tinúviel, Orodreth

Major Relationships:

Artwork Type: No artwork type listed

Genre: Adventure, General

Challenges:

Rating: Teens

Warnings:

Chapters: 1 Word Count: 4, 631
Posted on 11 July 2013 Updated on 11 July 2013

This fanwork is complete.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Comments

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Elleth! I told you on AO3 that I loved this, and I really, really do. One of the most intriguing questions about the Nargothrond episode (for me, anyway) was always been what interactions (if any) Finduilas could have had with Luthien. And this totally delivers! 

I like Finduilas' bravery and clear-headedness, Curufin's obvious political machinations (try harder, Curufin), replacement!Huan (who sounds beautiful, poor replacement!Huan). 

I think, in the end, Finduilas falls a little bit in love with Luthien, and it's totally understandable. Good job, you! 

Zeen! Thank you so much, again. :) I am really, really, really happy this fic convinced you - it was, I think, my first time writing Finduilas (and definitely the first time I ever considered her more closely as a character), so it was a leap in the dark in many ways, so to speak. Finduilas and Lúthien's interaction I had hoped could be much more substantial, but I tried to stick to canon and then I ran across the fact that Lúthien was not permitted to talk to anybody (which implies guards) so that limited it to Finduilas sneaking around, and Curufin's political machinations (which always seemed quite painfully obvious in my understanding of canon as well) gave a welcome, if transparent impetus for it. And thank you for letting me use replacement!Huan!

Falling for Lúthien: I tried to keep my femslash tendencies under control, but can't say I particularly mind that it did not quite work. Which is to say, heh. Once again, thank you!

Thank you very much, Indy! :) It was a little tricky reconciling Finduilas' apparent passivity in the book during that incident with the fic prompt and the preference for swashbuckling - after all, her name is never even mentioned in the Beren and Lúthien story - so I'm glad her sneakiness works, and not just as a story device but as part of her character. The Nargothrond architecture came from the idea that since it is described as a veritable cave city, rather than just a cave, it would feature similar structures, so it seemed to make sense at that point, though seeing that it stands out for you is wonderful.

I love the way you wrote Finduilas here - really smart and subtle, carrying out her own plans without Curufin (and the others) even suspecting.

Let Curufin continue to assume she were frail and weepy, and in that, harmless.

Such a clever ploy XD And then going to see Luthien. That whole conversation was great. The ending also worked really well.

(aaaand... Finduilas is almost certainly at least a little in love with Luthien and I ship that.)

There is something to be said for being read as what'd probably colloquially be called a 'ditz', and more for Finduilas being clever enough to use it to her advantage. :D I'm glad the conversation worked for you - I was worried it'd be too short or lacked substance, but seeing positive reviews largely did away with that concern. :)

(Aaand, yes, I think you may be right. But then why should she be the exception when everyone else is falling for Lúthien? ;))