Blossoms Appearing in the Land, Green Figs Forming on the Trees by janeways
Fanwork Notes
TL;DR warnings: It's about sex but not sexy. Vague allusions to sexual acts but no explicit depictions.
As the granddaughter of a fairly prolific and successful romance novelist, I have seen quite a few bodice-rippers from the golden age of romance novels with truly extraordinary covers: the inspiration for my take on this challenge. (You can view a couple examples of what I mean here and here.)
I've also wanted, for a long time, to see more honest representations of sex in fanfic (and media in general). That of course serves a different purpose than titillation! But unsexy depictions of sex also serve a purpose.
This triple drabble, a subversion of the bodice-ripper/smutfic genre(s), is my attempt at killing both these inspirational birds with one stone-fic.
A note of explanation: Somewhere (probably LaCE, where all Cursed Elf Sex Facts come from) Tolkien says that elvish reproduction involves magically deciding to get pregnant before/during sex. Or something like that. (He also shared many other Cursed Elf Sex Facts that I am either ignoring either on purpose or because I forgot them, but either way I don't care.) Anyways, that is the understanding of producing children Caranthir is working under.
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Summary:
The blossoms have appeared in the land / The time of pruning has come / The song of the turtledove / Is heard in our land
The green figs form on the fig tree / The vines in blossom give off fragrance / Arise, my darling / My fair one, come away!
- Song of Songs 2:12-3
Haleth and Caranthir attempt to make love and discover they don't know much about making babies.
My attempt at subverting the bodice-ripper; a triple drabble.
Major Characters: Caranthir, Haleth
Major Relationships: Caranthir/Haleth
Genre: Fixed-Length Ficlet, Humor, Romance
Challenges: Book by Its Cover
Rating: Teens
Warnings: Sexual Content (Mild)
Chapters: 1 Word Count: 316 Posted on 5 June 2021 Updated on 5 June 2021 This fanwork is complete.
Chapter 1
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“Ah, yes, there—no, ow!”
“Sorry, here, if you just…”
“Oh, that’s—hmm.”
“Better?”
“Mmm.”
“Here, let me…How’s that?”
“It’s—ah—it’s fine.”
“Fine?” Caranthir sat up. “It’s fine?” he repeated.
“It’s fine.” Haleth’s voice was like a shrug.
“I don’t want it to be fine. You deserve better than fine.”
“Maybe it’s supposed to feel like this.”
Caranthir simply gave her a look.
Slumping into her pillows, Haleth sighed defeatedly. “I know, I know. If it were supposed to feel like this, your parents wouldn’t have had seven children.”
Now Caranthir was giving her a different look.
“What?” she asked, cocking her head.
“I have no desire to make as substantive an addition to the House of Finwë as my father and his half-brothers,” he began slowly. “My brothers were enough to make sure of that,” he added under his breath. A smile cracked Haleth’s face. “But I fear I miss your understanding with regards to my parents.”
Haleth’s smile vanished, replaced with a quizzical frown. “Your six brothers. That is considered an unusually large family among your people, is it not?”
“Yes, it is. Apparently, my uncles felt the need to be competitive.” Caranthir rolled his eyes as he spoke. “But what does that have to do with…?” His voice trailing off, he gestured towards their bodies.
Haleth gave a short, unbelieving laugh. “I mean that they clearly…enjoyed each other’s company.” His expression remained befuddled. “Enough to forego, or forget, precautions,” she added.
“What?”
“Precautions. To prevent children.” Haleth said the last bit slowly, the tone of her voice suggesting that this ought to be a sentence Caranthir understood. “Precautions. By what polite word do your people call it?” Met with a blank look, she broke out in exasperation, “Precautions—to prevent you accidentally impregnating me, Moryo.”
“What?”
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