In the House of Feanor by Aiwen

Comments on a Cousin

The C's of House Feanor Comment on Their Cousin

Caranthir

Finrod irritates me just by existing. He doesn't have to do anything other than be himself. It seems that no matter what I do, he does it better. He speaks more languages, he rules more people, he has more money, his singing voice is better, he doesn't offend people every time he opens his mouth, he didn't kill anyone at Alqualonde, and he attracts female attention he then ignores because he's in love with someone who isn't even on the right continent! To top it off, everyone else likes him! Life just isn't fair.

Celegorm

Finrod's not such a bad fellow for the most part, but he can be annoyingly prissy. He disobeyed the Valar, same as the rest of us, but I feel like he's looking down on me because of Alqualonde. He likes hunting, but he doesn't like killing things. Sometimes I wonder if he just doesn't like getting his hands dirty, although he does do his share of cleaning up after the beast has been killed. These things weren't such a problem until I was forced to seek refuge in Nargothrond. I can't stand being beholden to him and having to be grateful. It makes me seethe inside.

Curufin

Finrod was never my favorite son of Finarfin. Too intelligent, too perceptive of things which ought to be other people's private business. He also has not left Valinor behind in his heart and that makes me uncomfortable. I feel a bit guilty for helping get him into this whole venture in the first place. But he should have stayed behind with his father of he felt so strongly about it. It's not my fault he's here.

Coming to Nargothrond was hard. I've always liked being able to run things and have people do what I tell them. I did not realize quite how much I'd come to expect that until we were refugees in my cousin's halls. Losing it hurt. Even most of my own people listen to Finrod ahead of me - my own son idolizes him and nothing I do or say seems to stop this. He has started acting ashamed of us and Finrod certainly has done nothing to discourage this.

Celebrimbor

I like Finrod. He treats me as an adult and actually listens to what I have to say. Unlike many of his people he doesn't look at me sideways because of my family's reputation and if I ask an awkward question he gives me an honest answer. That is more than my father has ever done. He's also really encouraged me in my technical studies. He comes up with the most interesting problems that are of real use to this city once I figure them out. I like feeling useful on my own terms, not merely because I am somebody's son.

Chapter End Notes

A/N: The idea for Caranthir's jealousy of Finrod in particular came partly from Dawn Felagund's story, When the Stars Smile. I'm presuming she doesn't mind my borrowing it.