I agree. Thingol, Melian and indeed all of Doriath deserve so much more attention than they get! But these pieces are certainly lovely, thanks!

I loved the first one; I've wondered what it was like for Melian to give birth, and I have my answer. And the second, too, so vivid it hurts. These are short, but it wouldn't be the same if they were longer. Perfect. I like the point that wisdom and power aren't always enough, since those are the things that make Melian so intimidating. I'm always impressed to see a story that makes it possible to relate to her.

....But a small thing of beauty is still a thing of beauty Alena...and you tidily concisely make a complete loop of Thingol and Mellians love: birth and death...simple and precise...
beautiful!

OoOo dear I made a fool of myself yesterday, the first time I read it I didn't get that the corpse was Thingol... I beg your pardon! :P

Original read! Never seen any fics were elves give birth before! I'm confuzzled about who the father is, but then I'm tired.. :)

No, indeed, one story and two vignettes are hardly enough. But the vignettes especially are a great start, don't you think? :)

I don't know how I missed this before. But here it is now, and it's so very Melian, so... detached on the one hand, and yet with this magical feel, and understanding, and seems so simple, until you realize it's anything but that.

Thank you so much for this. I've had my ideas about Thingol and Melian, but could never have done something like this.

Beautiful pair of vignettes. I'd say you're good enough to write a whole story about these two.

That was so beautiful. So I almost cried when Luthien was born, but when you depicted the death of Thingol in such detail, I couldn't help but feel a little twinge of Melian's grief. What a lovely piece. . . Great job.

Very nicely done images. Melian is such a good character but a little scary to write. I'm glad you weren't intimidated. Lovely description of childbirth.

An interesting approach to show the difficulty of a Maia to adjust to incarnated life. Are you sure you don't want to write some more about it? You seem to have a good catch on Melian's character.

Better writers? This shows you're very well capable of writing such a story yourself. My only quarrel with it is that it is too short.

Stop doing this... I have enough elfies in my mind as it is... ;)) This is poking my muse. So stop poking with such good ficbits...

Nice. Short but still well-written and a great comparison between birth and death. Melian really did love Thingol greatly, didn't she? Despite the fact that he could be overly proud and a jerk, for lack of a better term. Music of childbirth... I suppose it's all part of the larger plan. Oh, as for your Chinese saying, well, I wish I had enough energy to write about those two. They're very unusual as one of the few cross-racial relationships, and they're never quite given the right amount of attention.