#tss2020advent

Before signing up, make sure you have thoroughly read our Guide. Once you're all set, head over to the Join page to sign your preferences onto our handy dandy Google Form.

Signups close November 20th - do reblog and spread the word!

Please be aware of the two biggest rule changes this year:

We have a hard deadline of December 26th for all gifts before they are forfeit to pinch-hitters, and a hard deadline of December 30th for all gifts. See the Guide for more details including possible exceptions and other extenuating circumstances. 

We will not be accepting email signups. As the exchange has grown in scale, communication - between participants and where necessary mediated through mods - has had to become more streamlined. In the previous exchange, 97% of participants signed up using Tumblr only, so we’re returning to the original scope of this event as happening on a singular platform. It is super easy to set up a blog to participate - contact the mods if you need any help with this! 

You'll also spy something new on both pages - because we are extremely excited to share a special addition to this edition of TSS that's designed to make the end of a really difficult year brighter, happier, and more wholesome...

...the Tolkien Secret Santa Advent Calendar!

The idea behind this is to give all of our participants something nice and motivating to wake up to every morning in the lead-up to the Secret Santa reveals on December 24th. Signups will occur concurrently with the usual Secret Santa signups, but will close earlier (November 11th). Check out the special Advent Calendar section (also linked in the Guide) for more information.

An important note: although inspired by a Christmas tradition, the TSS Advent Calendar - like the exchange itself - remains non-denominational and secular. It's just another excuse to bring each other more joy during the festive season :)

We hope you'll join us for the main exchange and consider signing up to contribute to the Advent Calendar as well! It's wonderful to be welcoming so many people back - and if this is your first time joining the TSS, we're here with mugs of hot cocoa, lots of good company, and a chair for you by the fire...

Welcome to Tolkien Secret Santa 2020!

Letters to Elrond

Three letters from Celebrían to Elrond.

A treat for day 16 of the @officialtolkiensecretsanta 2020 Advent Calendar! This is for the NSFW prompt “Love Letters” - though it’s not very NSFW, just a little dirty talk.

Rating: M | No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Celebrían/Elrond Characters: Celebrían, Elrond Word count: 567

~

Dearest Elrond,

Your words to me when we last spoke have warmed my heart ever since. I confess the love you speak of had not then been known to me, and I apologize for my surprise and swift retreat, but please find comfort in knowing I have scarcely thought of anything else since.

It is as if you revealed to me the depths of my spirit, making known what has been lying quietly in my heart since the day I met you. Fear not, for the admiration you expressed to me is returned in full! I yearn to see you again, that I might let such sweet words spill from my tongue—and, perhaps, onto yours.

Is that too forward? Oh, but I cannot hold in this wanting now that it has awoken—I fear I will go mad if you will not grant me a kiss. And yet for you I would wait, dear Elrond, if that is your desire.

I love thee, and my fëa sings with it, Lady Celebrían Siryanís of Lothlórien

This is my entry for day 12 of the @officialtolkiensecretsanta advent calendar! It was supposed to be voyeurism but that... didn’t exactly happen, unless taken in a very non-literal way, so have some Galadriel pining instead.

Read it on AO3

Title: i’m a bundle of confusion (yet it has a strange appeal)

Pairing: Galadriel/Aredhel

Prompt: Voyeurism

Rating: Teen

Wordcount: 707

Tags: Introspection, Stream of Consciousness, voyeurism (kinda sorta not really at all), a bit of internalized homophobia, Pining, desired cousin incest, Adolescent Sexuality, Unrequited Love, (at least for now), TSS Advent Calendar

Summary: Artanis is entranced by Írissë, watching her whenever she can.

For day 23 of @officialtolkiensecretsanta‘s 2020 Gen Advent Calendar!

Title: pebbles & leaves

Pairings: Kili/Tauriel | (Implied Bilbo/Thorin)

Characters: Kili, Tauriel, Bilbo, Thorin, Dis, Original Dwarf/Elf Children. 

Rating: Gen

Word Count: 951

Summary/Tags: Kiliel-centric family fluff. Kili & Tauriel are tired parents of twins. 

[Read on Ao3]

at long last

“We’ve waited long enough,” Findekáno rasped.

“No,” Maitimo growled, bending to bite at Findekáno’s lips, “we’ve waited too long.”

A treat for day 20 of the @officialtolkiensecretsanta 2020 Advent Calendar! This is for the NSFW prompt “First Time.”

Rating: E | No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Maedhros/Fingon Characters: Maedhros, Fingon Word count: 1.4k

a flame that never dies

part of the wondrous parts of you and I

Findekáno and Russandol share a family tradition with their son.

A treat for day 13 of the @officialtolkiensecretsanta 2020 Advent Calendar! This is for the gen prompt “Candlelight” :)

Rating: G | No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Maedhros/Fingon & Gil-galad Characters: Maedhros, Fingon, Gil-galad Word count: 804

~

Russandol hadn’t let Gil-galad play outside in the snow very long—for all he himself had to be coaxed and coerced into wearing scarves and gloves even in the dead of Himring’s dreadful winters, he was overly concerned with their tiny son’s exposure to the cold. Findekáno, who preferred to stay inside in weather like this, was grateful for his husband’s care with the baby, but the way Gil pouted as his atya ushered him back to the warmth of the hearth after only ten scant minutes of laughing at snowflakes tugged at Findekáno’s heartstrings.

“Atto,” Gil whined, snuggling into his father’s lap. “Play? Outside?” As an afterthought, he added, “Please?”

Findekáno kissed his nose. “Tomorrow, maybe,” he said. He was yet unfond of anything that reminded him of the Helcaraxë, but for Gil-galad he would endure the cold.

“It’s Long Night,” Russandol said, ruffling Gil’s hair. “Do you think you’re big enough to light the candles this year?”

Tolkien Secret Santa Advent Calendar Day 18: A Peaceful Moment

Elemmakil and Voronwë take a walk in the snow together.

For day 18 of the @officialtolkiensecretsanta 2020 Advent Calendar!

Rating: G | No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: queerplatonic Voronwë + Elemmakil Characters: Voronwë, Elemmakil Word count: 431

Read it (with notes!) on AO3 - or continue below :)

~

The mountainside is quiet, even the murmur of their voices muted by softly falling snow. Voronwë slips his hand into Elemmakil’s, twining their fingers together, and earns a smile from his dearest companion.

“Vorno, what’s this?” Elemmakil teases. “You haven’t been this clingy since you got drunk at the last winter solstice.”

Voronwë huffs, only squeezing his friend’s hand tighter. “Your fingers get cold,” he scolds. “How often do I have to pester you into wearing gloves on a frosty morning?”

“I’m wearing gloves now,” Elemmakil laughs.

Voronwë shrugs, his eyes reflecting the starlight above. “Maybe I just like being near you.”

Elemmakil softens. “Alright, Vorno. But don’t get too sappy on me!”

They walk hand in hand for a few minutes more. The air is cold, the snow drifting down like falling feathers, gentle and calm. At last Voronwë halts, gasping.

“El, look!” he cries. “You can see the whole city from here! It’s lit up in the moonlight—I wonder if even Tirion was so beautiful.”

Elemmakil had been only a child at the Darkening, one of the few children who survived the Ice, and his memories of the time before are hazy. But staring down at Ondolindë, gleaming in Isil’s light, he knows that nothing compares to this, his home.

“There was no Moon when I was in Tirion,” he says softly. “Nor was there snow. This, I think, is a sight for us alone.”

Voronwë sighs, leaning into Elemmakil’s embrace. “I almost wish we didn’t have to go back,” he admits. “It’s so peaceful up here.”

“We must return,” Elemmakil chides. “I am a guard—if I abandon my post forever, who shall keep us safe, and this peace perfect?”

“Oh, all the Lords,” Voronwë dismisses, but he knows his friend is right. “Still, perhaps you have a point. The White Lady has brought down a great elk, and there will be a feast tomorrow—I would not want to miss such a celebration!” Nor, he thinks to himself, the warmth of a friend beside a fire.

He turns to descend down the mountain, but Elemmakil tugs him back. Voronwë looks up at him, asking a silent question.

“Just a moment longer?” Elemmakil asks, his voice soft as the snowflake that lands on his nose. “You’re right. As much as I love the city, and all the bustle this time of year, I feel at peace in this moment, with you.”