New Challenge: Epic 80s
This month's challenge features hundreds of fresh prompts from the bodacious decade of the 1980s.

On two occasions, Finwë was late for Fëanor's departure into the North. This story explores the complexity and evolution of the relationship between Finwë and Fëanor.

Da Capo - musical term: an instruction to play over from the beginning.
"There must have been another way to solve the equation, a different path to other results," he thought.

Fingolfin visits Fëanor in Mahtan's forge, which annoys the latter greatly, as he just wants to stealthily stare at Nerdanel.

Fëanor and Nerdanel go and see the sky and stuff.

This is my first attempt at writing Silmarillion fanfiction, and I hope it will be the beginning of a long fanfiction journey to come :)

Nerdanel wears a dress, Fëanor is really chill about it, and they practice some....stuff.

Fëanor, summoned out of banishment by the Valar, arrives at the home of Eärwen and Finarfin the day before Manwë’s long to be remembered high feast on Taniquetil. No one knows what to expect from the Valar, but they certainly least of all expected the darkening of Valinor and the death of Finwë. (Written from Eärwen’s point of view.)

Deep into Curufin's memories

Indis is away hunting when Fëanor is born.

Young Fëanor has nightmares. Finwë offers comfort to his only son.

A young Fëanor goes to great lengths to "accidentally' meet Nerdanel on one of her journeys.

"It was not Fëanor's fault there was only one bed."
Having noted the lack of Fëanor/Nerdanel fics from his point of view, as well as the lack of bed sharing fics for this pairing, I took it upon myself to resolve both.

The first kinslaying. [Artwork]

Nerdanel remembers her husband and sons while creating pottery.

Finwe arrives in Formenos.

Melkor weaves his lies, especially between the sons of Finwë. (Artwork)

Fëanor's creation of the Silmarils, in the form of a sestina.

Fëanor experiments with the light-retaining properties of Silima in the privacy of his forge.

Feanor ponders the price of his gift. (One-shot)

Nerdanel looks back on her marriage as she watches the return of Finarfin with Anairë and Eärwen.
This is as grim as you would expect.

Basically a story of Fëanor and Nerdanel meeting and beginning to fall for one another. But, secondarily, a story of Mahtan's household and his relationship with his apprentices, featuring his wife also.
Hero’s Journey Challenge – May-June 2017 – submitting this one to meet the deadline, although I would very much like to expand and continue the story. It should have been much longer, but I met all of the required prompts. I've enjoyed working in this world I have begun to build. I love the characters and the backstory I created, seventy percent of which I am not able to use in this short story--due to lack of time and organizational skills(!! we won't talk about chronic writers' block). I hope readers can enjoy it as a stand-alone, but I definitely will return! I am (maddeningly perhaps) leaving my full cast at the end of the story as a teaser.
Many thanks to IgnobleBard for his careful Beta and putting up with a formidable amount of b.s. and dysfunctionality!

For the April-May A Woman's Sceptre Challenge. Prompt:
“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ~ Maya Angelou
Fëanáro remembers Nerdanel. A story of redemption. If you do not like Fëanor, you will probably not want to read it.

How *do* dead elves get to the Halls of Mandos anyway? And once they get there, what do they say to one another?
Fingolfin could feel his temper rising, predictable, and yet he could not stop it. His years of kingship vanished in the mist. He was the younger, less talented, less cherished brother again, but one with a list of grievances that had grown very long.
“What more did you want of me?” he said. “I gave my word. He is my father too, and he was king of all of us!"

I made an original artwork from charcoal and pastels for 2014's B2MeM. It was entitled "Feanor Never Planned to Fall in Love". Now, three years later, I have developed the story behind that picture. Here's the full effort - Feanor Never Planned to Fall in Love in illustration and text.

Fëanor first sees Indis as she practices a traditional Vanyarin spear-dance. Fascination turns into life-long antipathy.
Inspired by the B2MeM prompt, "when he first stood near her and recognized her dimly through the shadows, like one who, at the beginning of the month, either sees or thinks he has seen the moon rise through clouds." ~Vergil, The Aenid