Tolkien Meta Week Starts December 8!
Join us December 8-14, here and on Tumblr, as we share our thoughts, musings, rants, and headcanons about all aspects of Tolkien's world.
That it was returned, he did not question. He could look back now and see everything arranged in its full image, he could trace the careful dance they both wound through this past year; every word, every silence, every touch ringing through with that steady truth. How had he been so blind?
Springtime has come to Estolad. Finrod is struck with a realization he has been avoiding and faces the decisions that lie in its wake.
“Let us not perish here in the long darkness,” Balan said softly, crossing back to take one of the waiting wreaths and set it upon his own brow, “these creatures you chose to form. Remember us, here in our frailty.”
It is Yuletide. The Atani and Finrod celebrate throughout the night as they stay awake to greet the dawn after the Longest Night. Balan's people settle into Estolad, Atani traditions abound, and Finrod faces some memories.
It was a custom done in scorn of death, Balan would tell Finrod later that night as they sat beside the fire in the hush of the midnight watch. He might come ever ravening among them, but they would scorn his maw. Even in their rotting they would lay claim to life.
Balan's people are on the road to Estolad. Finrod begins to suspect his own feelings, there is danger on the road, and we witness Atani burial rituals.
Finrod felt the other’s panic strike his perception like a blow and was running even before Balan’s cry reached his ear. In a glance, his eyes took in the scene before him: the camp in sudden stillness, one of the Laiquendi staggering through the clearing, a limp body slung in his arms, Balan and Baran sprinting toward him.
It was Belen in his arms.
The Edain and the Laiquendi cross paths in the woods of Ossiriand and are faced with immediate conflict. Finrod and Estreth work to heal the damage, Balan (Bëor) tries to learn the communication of thought, and the Edain choose where their loyalty will abide.
It was danger only if the goal was avoidance, and Balan had no desire to escape. The urge to laugh returned and his heart dared Estreth’s cautions to be true so he might find himself ensnared forever, held motionless on this hilltop, a statue cradled within the other’s hands till the world’s ending. If his soul was consumed in the process, then let it be so. It was a fair price.
A few months after Finrod discovered the Edain near Thalos, he continues to dwell with them and form friendships. Balan (Bëor) attempts to learn multiple languages, some old folktales of the Edain come up in conversation, and Balan and Finrod discuss grief with a side of constellations. Balan has a crush.
An ongoing series (estimated to ultimately include around 20-25 works) about Finrod & Bëor, their relationship, and how Finrod copes in the face of that loss. Basically, if you ever wanted a longer than necessary slow burn of these two trailblazing the elf-mortal love tragedy, I've got you covered.
I’m sorry for not having a more consistent schedule on getting these finished, edited, and posted. I’m juggling full-time work and in a busy season there, so I’ve been slipping this in wherever I can, but that does mean I’m a bit unpredictable when it comes to a posting schedule. Currently I'm managing approximately 1 piece every 2 weeks or thereabouts. Thanks for bearing with the slow burn!
Belen, son of Beor, speaks of his youth.
(For 2018 B2MeM. Music of the Waters.
Also a story I was going to use for Breaking Boundaries.)
Balan, leader of the first Men to enter Beleriand, asks Finrod Felagund some personal questions.
A gathering place for ficlets of varying length written in response to prompts, prods and as gift ficlets.
New (added December 2024):
Instadrabbling fics from the SWG server event on February 17, which I never uploaded here, as well as a couple of shorter ficlets from November 2024.