b2mem | Rec List: Some Underappreciated Fics Featuring Female Characters, by Zdenka

B2MeM Prompt and Path: Fanworks Recs: Underappreciated Fanwork (yellow path)
Format: rec list
Genre: (listed under each individual story; see below)
Rating: (see below)
Warnings: (see below)
Characters: (see below)
Pairings: (see below)
Creator’s Notes (optional): All of these fics had either zero or one top-level comment and fewer than 10 kudos on AO3 before I left mine; I think they’re all good and worth reading. I decided to also choose Silmarillion fics featuring female characters, whether canon or OFCs. Other than that, it’s a pretty random selection.
Summary: A rec list with four underappreciated Silmarillion fics featuring female characters. In alphabetical order by author.

Holding On by aranrhodinhimring
Format: short story (1716 words)
Genre: het, gen, angst
Rating: General
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Elenwë, Turgon, Idril, Fingolfin
Pairings: Elenwë/Turgon
Summary: They had always tried to save each other, and on the Helcaraxë there are no second attempts.

I really like the sense of closeness and family in this. The relationship between Elenwë and Turgon is warm and affectionate, and it’s clear how they trust and rely on each other. I don’t usually like Turgon, but it’s hard not to like him here, seeing him through Elenwë’s eyes. Elenwë herself isn’t given much characterization in The Silmarillion, but this depiction of her feels right to me. And I appreciate that she’s given a more active role in this story than Tolkien often allows to his female characters. I like Fingolfin here too -- he’s suitably brave and determined, and I can see why people would follow him. The ending is quietly wrenching, with a note of hope.

Burdens by Meril (allie)
Format: drabble sequence (716 words)
Genre: het, gen, drama, tragedy
Rating: General
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Galadriel, Original Characters
Pairings: OFC/OMC
Summary: The exiles carry many things with them on their way to Arda. Six drabbles.

I love this drabble sequence. It's beautiful and sad, and it makes me picture these brief scenes clearly and feel each of the characters' emotions. Except for Galadriel in the first section, the characters are all OCs: the nameless followers of the Silmarillion, except of course they must have had their own place in the world, their families and friends and hopes and fears. I really like how this fills in some of their lives and their widely different motivations.

Shadows by ncfan
Format: short story (1168 words)
Genre: gen, femslash, alternate universe - canon divergence
Rating: Teens
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Aredhel, Thuringwethil
Pairings: Aredhel/Thuringwethil
Summary: Aredhel finds something else in Nan Dungortheb. AU.

I enjoy the genre of canon divergence fics that give Aredhel a different fate than her “not wholly unwilling” marriage to Eöl. But they aren’t necessarily fix-its; sometimes, as in this fic, she runs into Thuringwethil instead.

I like Aredhel here: independent, fearless, and eager to test herself against danger, she sees fighting the spiders of Nan Dungortheb as only another hunt. This fic has some wonderfully creepy moments, with a touch of horror -- the kind that sends pleasant shivers down my spine. (And Thuringwethil gets a great entrance.)

Noise of Thunder by Solanaceae
Format: short story (3265 words)
Genre: gen
Rating: Teens
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings; descriptions of violence, character death
Characters: Original Female Characters
Pairings: none
Summary: During the Dagor Bragollach, a captain of the Fëanorian soldiers in Lothlann finds herself caught in the flames. Written for the B2MeM 2014 prompt: Write a story or create art from the point of view of the foot soldiers or horsemen who participated in any of the battles in Middle-earth.

In case it’s not clear yet, I love OCs in Tolkien fanfic, and this fic reminds me of the reasons why. It takes a couple of sentences from the Silmarillion that I’d never paid close attention to before, and gives a vivid sense of what it must have been like to live through that. This story is dramatic, full of fire and battle, but I also love the little details we get about the characters’ lives, like the one character who worries about living up to her admired older sister. The fic makes me feel for these young soldiers caught up in the battle -- it feels realistic that they don’t know what’s going on or what the bigger picture is. (It also makes me happy that every character in this fic is female. It feels like Tolkien forgets about the women sometimes, so I appreciate it when fanfic puts them back in.)