Oh man I loved everything about this. I've always been fascinated with what happened with the Noldor left behind, because while they didn't face the horrors of Melkor in Middle-earth, they did have their families torn away and were left trying to put the pieces back together. And for Finarfin, who ended up on the throne, there must have been a particular kind of grief. Some things that stood out that I really liked:

- Nerdanel is like a ghost in this story. She shows up to report on deaths and disappears again. This fits so well with how I imagined her time in Aman went after the Darkening. She really lost everything when the Exiles left and I can't see her sticking around trying to repair relations with the rest of Feanor's family, and I can so easily see her getting tarred with the same brush as Feanor, even though she stayed behind. So it made so much painful sense that she's largely absent from this story.

- I liked what you did with Findis' character! We know so little about her but I kind of also took her to be a bit difficult to get along with, so it was interesting to see how that played out here. You can tell Finarfin does love his sister, they just...don't always see eye to eye. And that would be difficult, when he feels (and maybe she does as well) that the siblings he got along best with are the ones who are gone. But it was really sweet seeing them work together despite the difficulties. The end to their meeting with Firiel was just precious <3

- Just the general post-Alqualonde difficulties. There's so much pain, even between loved ones now (the state of Earwen and Finarfin's marriage when he comes back to Tirion just has to be a mess), it's very believable that it takes them a long time to sort all of this out.

- The deaths TT_TT That they can feel the deaths of the ones closest to them is such a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it would SUCK feeling someone you loved leave the earth. On the other--at least they know, and aren't forever wondering what happened and if X is still alive or not. But the way the deaths hit and then just keep coming must have been exhausting, and they're all swimming in this sea of grief and impotent pain, because there's nothing they can do and no way they can help the Elves in Middle-earth. Finarfin comparing Finrod to Feanor broke my heart a little bit. "Finrod the Beloved" indeed!

- FINROD. Finrod is my fav. I have so many feelings about his return to Tirion. And I loved him here. He's happy to see his family again, and he does bring so much joy back to them just with his presence, but he's also traumatized. The way Idril describes his tales about Middle-earth--"with the edges filed off"--is so him. He tries to soften it for his parents I'm sure, especially the story about how he died, because he doesn't want to hurt them, or speak long on such ugly things. Loved his portrayal here.

- Idril! Finrod came back first and he was mostly familiar, but Idril is where things start getting wild for the Noldor of Aman. She was young when she left so Middle-earth is in a way more home to her, and she comes back married to a Man and talking about all these things that are so unfamiliar to the rest of them. You describe her in the story as bringing change and I feel that both within and without the story. Idril's arrival kind of marks the beginning of the climax of the story, as the fall of Gondolin arguably marks the beginning of Melkor's last, biggest push to crush the Elves and conquer Middle-earth. Her impatience and restlessness make total sense, and this line absolutely crushed me: “Yet time is running through my hands like sand."

- Idril's relationship with Anaire. My heart's always broken for Anaire, who lost all of her family out in Middle-earth, and so to have her granddaughter with her must have given her at least some measure of joy. Seeing them take comfort in each other was so sweet.

- The way they talk about the Feanorians, OOF. The Feanorian descent from hero to villain is part of the core of Silm, but from the Aman perspective, it must be baffling, and you can feel that. These were their nephews and friends and neighbors, and the Elves coming back now have such horrifying stories of what the Feanorians have done, it must be sickening to hear. And poor Nerdanel--even her grief for their loss must now be marred by pain for their crimes. Really loved how these discussions were handled.

- Gil-Galad complaining about Elrond and Elros was great XD

- Celebrian's fate is never not terrible, but I do so love the idea of her and Finrod becoming close. I think he would adore any child of Galadriel's and it makes total sense he would care for her on her arrival--especially since, having been in the captivity of Sauron, he can really empathize with her situation.

- Galadriel comes hooooooome TT_TT [sobbing] Beautiful. Just beautiful and wonderful and so perfect.

- The note that Maglor is still out there somewhere doing something. Ouch.

This was just so fantastic, well done. For your first Tolkien fic I think you knocked it absolutely out of the ballpark.