Fic Rec Fridays 2020 - part 46

[katajainen]

Festival Dancing (14681 words) by Rubynye
Chapters: 3/3
Fandom: Lord of the Rings (2001 2002 2003)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Frodo Baggins/Rose Cotton/Sam Gamgee
Characters: Rosie Cotton, Samwise Gamgee, Frodo Baggins
Additional Tags: Threesome - F/M/M, Nonmonogamy, One of My Favorites

Summary:

A festival dance entangles Rosie in the truth of Sam and Frodo's relationship.

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A romance of the bittersweet variety with a strong-voiced and relatable narrator.

Set in the years before Frodo and Sam leave the Shire, the story does a great job illustrating various intricacies of hobbit society and culture, especially relating to courtship and propriety thereof. The issue of social class, for instance, is addressed honestly and thoughtfully, given that it's central to this particular relationship.

The complications of an unconventional love affair aside, there’s simply so very much love in this tale; verily an overabundance of warmth, a deep, tangible chemistry that sparkles in each and every encounter, maturing over the course of several years into a heady mixture of pining, secret trysts, and slow burn.

And at the crux it all, Rosie Cotton emerges as a fully empowered and complex flesh-and-blood character instead of the almost placeholderishly simple ‘girl back home’ featured in the canon text. (I love her a lot in this story, all right. The author really makes her shine.)

The easily flowing, well-paced prose is very readable though charmingly Tolkienesque, the dialogue wonderfully in character, and the combination of the two entirely captivating. I recommend reading the entire thing in one sitting (have some tissues ready for the last bit) -- and in case you’re in the mood for something a bit more raunchy, there’s an E-rated outtake from ch. 3 here.

TL;DR: a tender canon-compliant romance for three, will break your heart, but in a thoroughly enjoyable way.