katajainen

Your Own Faithful Land (9469 words) by 61Below
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield, Bilbo Baggins & Frodo Baggins
Characters: Frodo Baggins, Bilbo Baggins, Drogo Baggins, Primula Baggins, Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, Lotho Sackville-Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield
Additional Tags: Kid Fic, Letters, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Dwarves in the Shire, POV Outsider, The Ravens of Erebor, Families of Choice

Summary:

Uncle Bilbo lived Very Far Away, so he never stopped by for tea, and he missed the fireworks Gandalf lit off at the Lithe. It was too unfair. Instead, Frodo had to content himself with the letters and the wonderful stories that Uncle Bilbo would write to him.

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A lovely story about a bright and curious hobbit child who gets adopted by a proud, cantankerous, and secretly quite sweet raven, about an uncle who lives far, far away, but sends the most wonderful letters and presents, and about grief, comfort, and choosing your own family.

Makes an excellent use of letters without exactly being an epistolary, and balances warmth, humour and bittersweetness in an effortless, uplifting way that never grows old for me.

Recommended for a gentle and comforting (re)read.

Small Comfort (3461 words) by Roselightfairy
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Gimli (Son of Glóin) & Legolas Greenleaf
Characters: Gimli (Son of Glóin), Legolas Greenleaf
Additional Tags: Sleep Deprivation, missing moment, Enemies to Friends, kind of, elf sleep, Grief/Mourning, Memories of Battle
Summary:

Legolas has not slept in over a month; has not even so much as dreamed in days. The horrors of their travel through Moria feel like a hallucination – or a nightmare – and now that they have arrived in Lothlórien, he knows there is nothing else for it but to slip away to rest.

Grief-stricken by the loss of his kin and the ruin of Khazad-dûm, Gimli too excuses himself from the Fellowship as soon as he can manage, seeking solitude. But when he stumbles upon one of his companions fast asleep in the forest, he cannot justify leaving him without a guard.

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There’s always room for one more story about what pushed these two from barely civil to bosom friends under the eaves of Lothlórien.

This particular gap-filler is an engaging, atmospheric little tale built on an intriguing piece of headcanon - or imaginative interpretation - that’s been floating around the fandom for a while, layered with solid character insight and sprinkled with moments of unexpected humour.

Here, shared grief and shared trust are laid out as the cornerstones of a great friendship, and that is no small comfort in any sort of dark times.

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.

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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.

What Truth in Tales (6733 words) by Adina
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Gimli (Son of Glóin)/Legolas Greenleaf
Additional Tags: POV Outsider

Summary:

What might Sauron have told the Easterlings and others to secure there assistance? What does a warrior do after her battle is lost? Reference is made to Legolas/Gimli slash, but nothing explicit or pivotal to the story.

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Recommended for a well-executed, thought-provoking outsider POV and excellent use of an OC. (And also for really nice background Gimli/Legolas, but that's not really the point here.)