Comments on Coming of Age in Beleriand

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Ah, ha!  So here is the promised Celebrimbor smut! :^D  And that's some hot stuff going on in the cozy lean-to, but I must confess that the other cultural exchanges had me just as entranced.

I really enjoyed your exploration of strikingly different elven-cultures and sexual mores through the eyes (and hands and mouths) of Nolpa and Celebrimbor, e.g., Nolpa's natrualism and Celebrimbor's more rigid upbringing.  (Of course, this is my own bias speaking given that these are similar to how such things operate in the Pandë!verse. ;^))  Casting the Laiquendi as something more akin to late Neolithic hunter-gatherers is perfect IMO.

I loved the many details which add to the setting of the fic, among them:

On the opposite side of the clearing, beneath the canopy of a large chestnut tree, stood a simple lean-to built of branches lashed together with vines and roofed with leaves; a slender bow and a birchbark quiver rested against the tree trunk, and dangling from one of the branches, high enough off the ground to be safe from any predators, was a brace of rabbits.

...and

the knife he was using, Celebrimbor noticed with interest, had a strange black blade that glittered like glass, rather than the silvery grey steel he was accustomed to.

Also greatly enjoyed Tyelpo as an adolescent.  Again, my own bias is speaking here because my take is that he was something of a brash adolescent when he followed his father, uncles and grandfather into exile.

it creates a bond between the couple that is both physiological (via pheremones, perhaps?) and spiritual...

More likely vasopressin than pheromones (or at least that is what is written about Homo sapiens eldarensis in the Pandë!verse ;^)).  Check out this abstract on monogamy in prairie voles in Nature.  Perhaps a) elves have more vasopressin receptors in their brains than do their mortal kin and b) "speaking the vows" coupled with penile-vaginal intercourse triggers a release of vasopressin, thus imprinting the couple on one another.  Ack!  Well, enough nattering on that.  i perpetually threaten to write an essay on elven biology (as I see it) but never seem to get around to it.

Thanks for an enjoyable -- and obviously thought-provoking -- read! 



I'm so glad you enjoyed this, Pandemonium!  I had a truly indecent amount of fun working out the culture of the Laiquende for this story, seeing just how far I could vary things from the Noldor society and still stay within the bounds Tolkien drew for the Elves in HoME.  Turns out there's quite a lot of wiggle-room there, if you look for it.

Celebrimbor is notable for how well he works with Men and especially Dwarves during the Second Age, creating a very multicultural society in Eregion.  I could see this episode with Nolpa (or something similar, in other people's conceptions of Arda) playing an important role in his later broad-mindedness.  The discovery that Nolpa doesn't automatically view the Noldor culture as superior to his own and is quite happy to remain a 'primitive' was doubtless as much a revelation to my adolescent Celebrimbor as the sexual encounter was.

And thanks for the link to that Nature abstract!  Very interesting reading!  Now I find myself wondering whether there are differences in the degree of imprinting that occurs between mates in different Elven couples... perhaps there's some room for cheating and adultery even in an Ardaverse where LACE is more-or-less accurate? 

What an interesting fic! I really love your young Celebrimbor. I deals with teens every day and I can see him acting that way, insecure, rebellious, but still strife for his family's approval. His hesitation and fear for his "first time" was ... well, adorable, I say, though he wouldn't like it to hear me calling him that. :)

Your Laiquendi elf is fascinating and so interesting, so is your Amrod. I really like your version of LACE vs Moriquendi custom, also how the Moriquendi who used to live only with the light of the stars view the rising of the sun. Their love for open air versus the cities of the Noldor are another contrast you picture wonderfully. 

 



I'm glad you enjoyed the story, Naltariel.  yes, young Celebrimbor would be offended if he knew you thought he was adorable in this fic - but so what?  He is!

I thougth it would be fun to explore the idea of just how different Elven cultures could be while still being technically compliant with the dictates laid out in LACE, hence my take on the Laiquendi.  And I figured that an enconter such as this might have helped turn adolescent Celebrimbor into the man who later was able to forge such successful relationships with Men and Dwarves in Eregion. 

What a fascinating view of Elvish societies, the hunting-gathering Nandor versus the high-tech Noldor with all the cultural and social implications that this has and the complexity of interrelations that it gives rise. Also the idea of social change and integration as explained by Amrod that will definitiely influence Celebrimbor's views and future actions. And, as if this is not enough for one story, the discussion about the validity (or lack thereof)  of LaCE.

Additionally,  and having two teenagers at home -girls, in my case- I couldn't help sympathizing with the bachelor uncles stuck with a moody teen who doesn't seem to find anything of interest. Luckily for him, there is always the cool young uncle around....



I'm so glad the story worked for you!  I really had fun working out the culture of the Nandor, and considering how the nandor and Noldor societies would go on to influence each other.  Playing with LaCE was an added bonus.

And I'm glad you think I managed to get the moody, sulky teen dynamic right!  Celebrimbor's going to be a wonderful person when he grows up, but in this story he's at just that age where he's a trial to be around, even to those who love him.  He'd probably benefit from spending more time around his cool younger (but still adult) uncles; it's too bad they live so far apart.  

This is a fascinating story! Being a Sindar fan myself, I'm very fond of stories that explore cultural differences between the tribes of the Qunedi (the Noldor vs. the Sindar in particular), and this is a really outstanding take on that subject matter (among other things, of course).

I like the portrayal of Tyelpo as a teenager, rebellious and with his mind on fire, but backing away when he thinks he needs support/approval of his family. I like Nolpa, and I think this whole outcome was pretty believable regarding the actual sex because Celebrimbor would have never been as vulnerable with a girl, would he? He would have rather played at being an Oh-My-Eru hero, I suppose. ;)

All in al, this was a truly enjoyable read. Thanks a lot for sharing :)



I was going to start by saying, "I don't usually read stories like this," but that seems insulting to you and this story because it's so well-written. I guess I've read some other stories with similar scenarios, but this is so thoughtfully written that it's wrong to put it together with this.

Nolpa and Tyelpë hook up (if I may call it that...) was sweet, hot, but I have to say that their discussion on the differences between their cultures, in terms of sexuality and also lifestyle - was so engaging and thought-provoking and yet not patronising or overly expositionary, as I think it could've been in another writer's hands.

– what exactly do you do in these cities of yours?

A line that struck me, for some reason, I guess because it highlights the differences so well. 

I also loved reading about sulkyteen!Tyelpë and his poor bachelor uncles, we need more of that in fanfiction! 

I really enjoyed reading this, thank you.



I'm glad you liked the story so much, Klose.  The cultural differences between the Laiquende (and the Sindar in general) and the returning Noldor must have been HUGE, and yet we see so little of that in most fanfic.  It seemed a topic ripe for exploration, and a young (and naive) Celebrimbor proved the perfect tool for the job.  (The hotness was of course an added bonus!)