Light of the Westering Sun by Dawn Felagund

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Fanwork Notes

Unsung Heroine never even truly made a request of me. Her "request" was phrased as, "Am I right in assuming I don't even need to tell you my preferences?" But, indeed, she was right. As one of the authors responsible for making Haleth/Caranthir close to canon for many people--indeed, I have developed a soft spot for this pairing thanks to UH's stories--then her request is always for Haleth/Caranthir, and this year is no different.

Since I've done a short story already ("Choices of Spirits") and a ficlet from last year's "Tales of Thanksgiving," then I needed something new for this year. So this year, I have done a series of double drabbles about Haleth's life and how it was touched by Caranthir's at all points: from old age down to girlhood. To keep things interesting, I decided to experiment with the idea of writing a story backward: This one starts near the end of her life and works back from there, tracing how she came to love one of the Eldar when she was of the Edain.

Fanwork Information

Summary:

For Unsung Heroine, a series of double drabbles about the life of Haleth and how it touched, briefly and in love, upon that of Caranthir. MEFA 2008 nominee.

Major Characters: Caranthir, Haleth

Major Relationships:

Genre: Drama, Romance

Challenges: Gift of a Story

Rating: Teens

Warnings: Mature Themes

This fanwork belongs to the series

To Give in Return
Chapters: 1 Word Count: 1, 204
Posted on 15 January 2008 Updated on 15 January 2008

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Table of Contents

Light of the Westering Sun

Comments on Light of the Westering Sun

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Oh, this was so beautiful! Not only that, so utterly romantic as well. Itare just brief touches upon her life and yet they tell so much. Even though this piece mainly breathes Haleth and her decisions, I love the way how Caranthir show through here as well:

 Writing a letter to his brother that contained all that he wanted to say, then rewriting the letter with what he was permitted to say and burning the first.

or

 Neither looked at the other: He gazed at the stars and she upon his black-clad shoulder.

No longer did anything stand between them and the stars.

Okay, I shall stop here, I loved this a lot! Btw, the ë's in Fëanorians are not displayed correctly, just fyi. 

Hi, Rhapsy!

Thank you, thank you! I\'m glad that it worked. It was an eensy bit experimental, going backward in the story, but I do like ficlet series; they\'re fun to write and usually seem to work for me. Of course, what works in my head could seem completely crazy to someone else. ;)

I\'m glad that you noted those lines; they were some of my favorites as I was writing this, but it often seems that what I like best in stories, no one else does! :)

On the umlauts ... I\'m at work and working through a circumventor (since Websense has out site blocked as ... web hosting? >_<) and special characters sometimes don\'t display correctly through the circumventor. But the umlauts are showing up fine in your review, and I checked Doc Bushwell\'s story, and they\'re working there too. Do you recall where particularly you noticed the problem?

Anyway, enough business talk! Thank you again for the review. *hugs*

I like your idea very much. It most certainly works, and I like the way you've brought the series full circle as the first and the last one present a young girl and an old, wise woman. This way, I think, you've given the story more significance.

I like Caranthir here too. He speaks when it's necessary, and as many words as he thinks are needed, and I'm yet again contemplating the fate of the Eldar and Edain. Ah well... :)

Thank you for sharing. Lovely series. 

You ripped my heart out with this one. The moving backwards certainly did work. When I got to the end and read the line, "Those are not our sort, girl," you had really finished the job. You made me fall in love with Caranthir too. I agree with Rhapsody's remark that one of the best lines is about Caranthir writing a letter and burning it. Hooray, for fanfic! I loved your segment that included Maedhros (of course, he isn't cursed to me, only doomed or fated, but that is my craziness and has nothing to do with Haleth's opinion or this story).

In two of those odd coincidences that seem to happen to me in relationship to youi, I was reading about Haleth for my upcoming bio, when I took a break to read this, and only a short while earlier had written a segment in my Maitimo/Findekano saga, in which Maitimo asks Findekano, "Am I cursed?"

Wonderful story. I enjoyed it so much.

I'm a horrible person. I actually read this as soon as you posted it, but didn't so much as leave a *squee* or a thank you. But you can believe me, I did squee. When I found it, and several time while reading through it. This story works soo well on soo many levels. I especially love the "circular" structure because that's something I particularly enjoy, be it in writing or in movies (I just recently realized that the Fiery Chasm scene with Sam and Frodo in LotR is edited in the very same way as the one with Elrond and Isildur - that made me squee, too - yes, I'm strange). Also, the idea to tell the story backwards is GREAT!

But I'm telling you, this right here...

Sleeping in his vast bed, naked under furs

... is highly unfair. I'm supposed to write 100 pages of scientific work here and you tempt me with naked Noldor! I'm not so sure if I want to be friends with you anymore. ;-P

Also, I've especially liked drabble IV. It's funny, but I've written quite a similar scene (a conversation of Maedros with Haleth) that was planned as some kind of AU to WRU. I've thought of putting it into the revised version, but then WRU is characterised by the fact that somehow no one talks to each other, so I will have to think about that... (damn, I wish I had the time to write fanfic right now... I miss that).

This is truly wonderful. This story made my day and will make many more yet, I guess. I simply love those two. Thank you soo much!

P.S.: "I would love a pony," Haha, this is so Haleth! :)

I've always preferred elf-to-elf pairings in the stories I read but Caranthir and Haleth's had always been too interesting for me to pass up. I especially liked how you describe the Feanorions, thanks to AMC I've always pictured Caranthir/Carnistir as a cherubic, pink-faced baby who bounced on his family member's knees--a picture of innocence. But here I'm treated to a very different Caranthir/Carnistir--a grown-up and utterly irresistable image of physical attractivness and power.

In my opinion, he is the most mysterious and probably the least developed Feanorion and having him fall in love with one of the Second-born adds to his "appeal". I liked how you compared the color of his eyes to the setting sun--I thought it was romantic. The first and last scenes served their purpose well; I think they "united" the whole story. I wish I could give more technical comments but I'm afraid I'm only limited to writing about how your story moved me. I'm hoping to read a few more stories about Haleth and Carnistir/Caranthir from you in the future, maybe lighter, happier ones too. Thanks for sharing this.