katajainen

Yours Faithfully (10694 words) by determamfidd
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Dáin Ironfoot/Dáin Ironfoot's Wife, Dís/Dís's Husband, Other Sansukh relationships
Characters: Dáin Ironfoot, Thorin Oakenshield, Thorin III Stonehelm, Dáin Ironfoot's Wife, Glóin, Balin, Dwalin, Óin, Dís, Dís's Husband, Kíli, Fíli, Gimli
Additional Tags: Letters, 170 years worth of 'em, Loss, Angst, Thorin is a good cousin, Dain is a good cousin, they are both idiots, they are also both magnificent, Aftermath of battle, Amputation, dain2k15, descriptions of depression and mourning, alcohol mention
Series: Part 14 of Sansûkh: The Appendices
Summary:

To Dáin son of Náin, heir of the Lordship of the Iron Hills, from his cousin Thorin son of Thráin, Prince of Erebor, greetings...

...

One hundred and seventy-four years is a very long time.

(And who else is left that knows what it means, how it feels? To be a child and also a leader? To lose so very much and yet still go on, because the responsibility demands it of you? Who else is left, who understands just how heavy it is?)

Two very different but equally remarkable Dwarves learn to lean on each other in quiet, subtle ways.

And there is a pig called Petal.

A “laugh hard, cry hard” sort of thing.

A story of friendship and family, of overcoming and surviving, of solidarity and a hope that will not be quelled. Set in the Sansûkh-verse, but requires no previous knowledge apart from assuming that any unfamiliar name is probably an OC, and includes, among other things, a dash of politics, many imaginative and increasingly hilarious forms of address, and some aptly-named and too-clever pigs.

Following the best tradition of epistolary tales, you get both a lovely number of juicy anecdotes - and just enough detail to imagine the goings-on between missives. The letters themselves are written in solid and distinct character voices, and some of them will make your sides hurt with affectionate familial (and consequently ruthless) banter, while others clench tight around your heart with the grief that runs between the lines.

And then there’s the ending… well, you know the ending. It is inevitable, yet it hits like a punch in the gut, as it always does.

Recommended for those who want a full gamut of feelings with their reading, and who mind neither an occasional spitted drink nor the taste of tears.