Whoa! That is quite an amazing story. I somehow got confused and thought I had already read it and almost did not click on it here.

I am not usually so overwhelmed by stories which change the history, but this is filled with so much fascinating explorations of a whole series of "what ifs". I have read at least one story which made me interested in the idea of a Finrod/Curufin match up. You described perfectly for me one way it might work.

And as for their little dalliance before -- well, Curufin was a married man, of course, and Finrod, a promised one. Such an affair meant nothing, they were just a temporary easing of loneliness...

Yeah, right. Because Finweans are so casual.

I love how you allow the reader to see how similar Curufin and Feanor can be. This one made me chuckle darkly a little!

Curufin glowed at the scope of his magnanimity, at his generosity. He was an excellent father, wasn’t he?

OMG! That is so like Feanor in my head canon! (And like the great men I model him on.) So Curufin is perhaps a paler example. More of a lying liar than totally caught up in the certainty of his convictions.

Swear again! Fëanor’s voice echoed in his head, reverberated slowly and faded away.

Feanor was relentless.Once was not enough!

Curfin waxing poetic about Maedhros' weakness (cough, cough--actually his strength) really cracked up a little. I know. So sorry, not supposed to be chuckling over this dark fic. But the fact that I am is what makes the story so awesome, what raises it above emo angsting to a true consideration of the human condition and how people's heads work!

I usually read Finrod the way I read Maedhros or Fingon, greedy for every tiny detail, I allow him to become the center of my little world. And your Finrod here is compelling. But Curufin and long-dead Feanor stole the show for me.

Nice work!