The Holiday Gifts Are Unlocked!

[dawn_felagund]

After a day of crazy posting, at last, the holiday gift stories are unlocked.

First of all, I must give sincerest thanks to juno_magic, who clued me in to Deepest Sender for LiveJournal, saving me hours of inserting HTML tags as I usually do. It was much easier to cut and paste and tinker with the source rather than my usual habit of scanning the story for italics, centering, or special text and adding the tags by hand, which is fine when posting a single chapter or story, but gets a bit hairy when you have twenty stories to post.

But enough of geek stuff! It's the holidays!

I must say that I really enjoyed working on these stories this year. I've acquired a lot of new bunnies as a result and thank you all for giving me such a creative variety of challenges to keep me occupied. (I'm not sure that Bobby will agree with this...he'll probably be glad to ask, "What are you doing tonight?" and getting an answer other than "Writing holiday gifts." :^P But I didn't hear him complain when I gave him his story.)

All of the holiday stories are tagged here, if you want to see them all in one place. In addition, below the cut, is a list of them with summaries and ratings and other things that people generally like to know. Two of the stories are original fiction, and they are friend-locked for their protection, as they are part of the legends that make up the world I write about in my original fantasy stories. So if you've been reading along with my stories and haven't yet friended me but want a look at these, simply leave me a comment and I'll add you to the flist.

Of course, as I wrote twenty stories in about a month, they are rough and many need a lot of revision before I'll consider showing them outside of my LJ. Per usual, I appreciate people's thoughts on stuff--both good and bad--if you feel inspired to leave me a comment. Also, three of these stories will be part of longer works, although I've done my best to include sections that can stand on their own somewhat.

I should mention also that they are posted in no particular order, certainly not in the order they were written. More like the order in which I grabbed them at random from my Data Deposit Box! So the placement of your story is no indication of how interesting I thought your idea was (I liked them all, to tell the truth) or how long I spent on it. A lot of the posts are also backdated to keep my flist from being spammed with a half-dozen postings today.

Sincerest thanks, as always, to my readers and wishing all the happiest of holiday seasons!


Discovering Love, for enismirdal. Maglor's wifes accidentally discovers the extent of her brother-in-law's friendship with his cousin. Rated for adult audiences only for discussions of slash and heterosexual sexuality.

Essecarmë, for frenchpony. The naming ceremony for Curufin leads Maglor to question family hierarchies. Rated for general audiences.

Estranged, for allie_meril. The estrangement of Fëanor and Nerdanel following his banishment. Rated for adult audiences only for reasons of some heterosexual sexuality.

Fëanor's Mistake, for tuxedo_elf. Fëanor gets lost in the woods and has a humorous misunderstanding about the level of his son Celegorm's friendship with Oromë. Rated for adult audiences only for shameless slashy sexual innuendo and nekkid!Celegorm.

The Gift, for rhapsody11. Celegorm recalls a gifts given and love lost on the night of the Winter Festival, on the journey to Araman, and he gives to his nephew a special gift for his first Winter Festival. Rated for general audiences.

The Last Night of the World, for isil_elensar. On an infamous night in Gondolin's history, Glorfindel and Laitameldë of Gondolin seal their love until the world's ending. Rated for adult audiences only for graphic heterosexual sex.

The Legend of Tamria, for tabraun. An original romantic adventure where a young Elven woman seeks to understand her strangeness and ends up greatly changing the course of history in the Midhavens. Rated for general audiences, friend-locked, and a work in progress.

Memories of Cuivienen, for sirielle. Maedhros reflects upon the legends of Middle-earth that he learned from Finwë. Rated for general audiences, with warnings for violence.

Mercy, for ford_of_bruinen. The deaths of Celegorm, Curufin, and Caranthir at Doriath and the desertion of Dior's sons. Rated for adult audiences only for violence, blood, and gore.

The Music of the Night, for juno_magic. Elladan meets someone unexpected in the forest who helps heal him of wounds he didn't know he had. Rated for adult audiences only for graphic heterosexual sex.

One Last Wish, for arandil13. A year before Fëanor is banished from Aman, he returns to his estranged wife to make one last wish. Rated for general audiences but with some sexuality.

The Puppet, for myrsine. On the night when the Silmarils are revealed by Fëanor to his half-family, Fingolfin and his sister Lalwen discover the truth of such "miracles." Rated for general audiences.

Reflections of Curufinwë, for alassante. A drabble series in which Curufin and Celebrimbor ponder their lineage and how it binds them to a certain fate. Rated for general audiences.

Return to Me, for fanged_geranium. Finarfin goes to the Halls of Mandos to assist the Vala in resurrecting his eldest son. Rated for general audiences but contains some bloody and scary images; also a work in progress.

A Song and a Story, for aramel_calawen. Young Elrond and Elros learn of the fates of the twins who preceded them and a bit also about their foster father and uncle, Maedhros and Maglor. Rated for general audiences.

A Symphony for My Father, forevils_hero. Maglor is given the task to write a song for his father's begetting day and ponders their relationship. Rated for general audiences, with a warning for nudity, and a work in progress.

Tales Unheard, for digdigil. Upon returning to Himring after being banished from Nargothrond, Celegorm discovers a city awash with vicious rumors--and an unexpected haven from them. Rated for adult audiences only for graphic heterosexual sex.

To Dream of Fire, for ann_arien. Even after his marriage to Nerdanel, Fëanor is haunted by disturbing fantasies of Arien. Rated for adult audiences only for reasons of graphic sexuality.

The Tree of Hours, for greenknight33. An original adventure, from the history of the Midhavens, in which an ordinary boy changes the fate of Mortalkind. Rated for general audiences and friend-locked.

When the Stars Smile, for tarion_anarore. Caranthir discovers how easily one is made a fool by love when he falls for an unlikely woman. Rated for general audiences, although I must warn for snarky Caranthir humor and shameless boob comments. Boys will be boys, it seems.


Happy Holidays!