So I am going to do something I
never do, which is to rec a 300k, Teen Rated, WIP. I know. But it is the most beautifully written thing I've read in a long, long while.
It's in the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings fandoms and it blends those two storylines so perfectly I swear to god it reads like actual canon. It's Bilbo/Thorin and Gimli/Legolas pairings, but like I said, it's a PG-13 rating, and it's not at all explicit, so if you are at all interested in Middle Earth, I would recommend reading it even if you aren't a fan of the pairings (TBH I've never been sold on Legolas/Gimli, but I sort of am now).
It was written for this prompt at the hobbit meme:
So why was Gimli the dwarf chosen to attend the Council of Elrond? Well, I'd like to think it was because someone pushed him to do so and things went from there. But who? Why, the dead members of Thorin Oakenshield's Company, of course!
Their ghosts/spirits/visions/phantoms have been attached to Gimli since they got word that Frodo, the cute little nephew/cousin of their own Bilbo, was going to end up on the quest to destroy the Ring. So as a favor to their still living Hobbit burglar, they vow to protect Frodo anyway they can, which ends up being through Gimli. Unfortunately though no fault of Gimli's own, he's not with the young hobbit as much as his Elders would like, which in turn makes them very irritable and annoying for as long as hobbit and dwarf are separated. So yeah. Overprotective!Oakenshield Company haunting Gimli to ensure Frodo's safety.That's the general gist, but it's so much more than that. The characterizations are fucking fantastic and the dwarves are especially wonderful. The fic starts right after the BoFA and right now is up to when Gimli, Legolas, and Aragorn start down the Path of the Dead. I honestly cannot do this fic justice trying to explain how much I adore it. We get to see both the quest/fellowship of the ring and what was happening in Erebor during LoTR, we get to meet so many dwarves(I'm especially happy about all the kick-ass female dwarves!), we get to see Legolas and Gimli and their antagonism and how it evolves into friendship and then more and it's so achingly beautiful and believable. We see Thorin struggling with his guilt over the gold-sickness, his heart-ache at realizing Bilbo was his One far too late, his resolve to protect Gimli and Frodo at all costs. There is a large cast here and every single man, dwarf, hobbit, and elf jumps right off the screen. The research that went into this is just staggering. It's honest to god perfection.
I know most of you on here are not really in the LOTR/Hobbit fandoms, and reading WIPs is risky business anyways, but I just NEED somebody else to read this, because it has consumed my life these past three days. To the point where I am just talking about it with my RL friends trying to tempt them into reading it.
Title: SansûkhAuthor: 
determamfiddPairing: Bilbo/Thorin, Gimli/Legolas, Aragorn/Arwen, multiple other pairings
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~303,000
Content/Warnings: major character death (canon)
Summary: The battle was over, and Thorin Oakenshield awoke, naked and shivering, in the Halls of his Ancestors. The novelty of being dead fades quickly, and watching over his companions soon fills him with grief and guilt. Oddly, a faint flicker of hope arises in the form of his youngest kinsman, a Dwarf of Durin's line with bright red hair.
(Follows the story of the War of the Ring).
(Bagginshield, Gimli/Legolas) In which recovery takes time, the dead members of the Company take to watching Gimli as though he’s a soap opera, the living struggle with being left behind, Legolas is confused, Khuzdul is abused, and Thorin is four feet and ten inches of guilt and anger.
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