Hi! So I’ve never actually reached out to a fanfic author before (because shyness) but I just really want to say how much I love Sansukh – on my third re-reading! I especially love how you have dealt with Fili; your approach to people realising how much potential he had but never got to achieve is so well done. Just wondering if we’re going to get more between Thorin and his nephews? (for example, how do they feel about Thorin’s relationship with Gimli – any jealousy when he calls him ‘son’?)

AHHH THANK YOU NONNIE! I am stunned and stoked that you enjoy it so much! And eeee, yes, I’m so glad you like Fili’s trajectory in the fic! He is my Golden son, my word yes. He’s come SO FAR.

There’ll be some more! But at this stage I think it will be interactions in combination with other characters… not entirely sure! *cough*DIS*coughcough*FRERIN*cough*

Oooh, I’ve covered a bit of that in the story through their reactions etc: They’re not jealous, no way. Really early on, they saw that Gimli was helping Thorin connect and re-centre himself. That’s a GOOD thing. 

Like, if someone close to you is self destructive and imploding slowly, and you personally are not the one that gets through and helps them (despite trying or whatever), it doesn’t really make sense to be jealous of the person that does. You’re relieved and happy that the one close to you is doing better. 

Thorin has a special name for his nephews: they are his Undayûy. It means ‘greatest boys’. They are special to him in ways that Gimli can’t replace (and vice-versa). Thorin will always feel protective and paternal towards them: he helped raise them. 

He’s not the primary parental figure to Fili and Kili – Dis is and always will be THE parental figure – but he is absolutely one of the most formative pillars of their lives, is there for them, teaches them, cares for them. He loves them unconditionally. 

At first, Gimli was a touchstone for Thorin, he’s been a way back to the world and to life. That’s an entirely different thing, and he loves Gimli for it in a different way. I love my students entirely and with all my heart, I’ve watched them grow up and change and learn and BECOME, and I am stupendously proud of them. But I don’t love them exactly the way I love my niblings. 

Too, much like a teacher-student relationship after a long long time, Thorin and Gimli are moving slowly towards a friendship of equals now. 

Thorin has a gigantic damn heart. There’s a lot of love there for a lot of people. 

(PLUS Fee and Kee love Gimli too. They were playfellows and friends as children, and he helped their uncle AND their mother. They’re all ‘AW YEAH GO GIMMERS!!!’)

So I’m facing my second loss of an immediate family member in a year, this time my mother. And I just- I don’t know if I can do it. I don’t mean to put anything on you, because God knows how much you’ve already done for me and the other fans, but. If, like, if you don’t have a million other things to do and you feel inclined, could you record yourself singing “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” my mom used to sing it to me when I was little, and now I’m faced with her never being able to do so again

I am so so sorry. My every good thought is with you and your loved ones. I hope you’re together as often as you can be. I hope time is kind. I hope people are kind. I wish you and your family all the strength and support in the world. 

Here you are. 

This is really random, but who are Wee Thorin’s parents? I seem to have forgotten and I couldn’t find where it was stated

Hey! No worries – massive cast, after all! Here’s the character list, though I haven’t read over it/checked it in a while. It gives you all the characters and their relationships to each other.

Wee Thorin is the first child of Dwalin and Orla. He’s the equivalent of a human 13 or 14 year old. He was dubbed ‘Wee Thorin’ at his birth, and despite being quite a large and husky lad, he SIMPLY CANNOT shake the name! He has two younger brothers – Balin (”Balinith”, approx 8 in human terms) and Frerin (”Frerinith’, approx 3-4 in human terms). 

His very best friend is Gimizh, the son of Bofur and Gimris (Gimli’s nephew, the cookie-stealing Terror of Erebor). 

I’m really sorry if this is a stupid question, but why does the A03 Sansukh have 43 chapters, but the version of it on the other fanfiction site only has 41? I only noticed when I accidentally clicked on the fanfiction link instead of the A03 one when I wanted to re-read the latest chapter, sorry! (Although I did re-read it on A03, and Glorfindel cracked me up just as much as he did the first time).

Hey Nonnie!

the reason is that every time I update Sansukh on FFN, I am sent a couple of anon hate messages from a ‘guest’, who virulently hates Thorin Oakenshield and mentally ill people. As a mentally ill person who loves Thorin Oakenshield, I am uninterested in their abuse and their victim-blaming bullshit. 

Still wavering on deleting that account, tbh. 

Awwww, thank you! Glad you liked Glorfindel! He is SUCH fun to write!

So I was telling a friend of mine about your royal family of elves and trying to give her a brief summary of the brothers ended up like this; There’s the awkward warrrior with zero chill, the awkward scholar beanpole, and Legolas who is basically curiosity wrapped in an elf.

PRETTY MUCH. :DDD

Though – Laindawar isn’t awkward, heh – he is a small, graceful, deadly little package. He won’t get blurty or clumsy when he is wrong-footed. He’s more like ‘stares at you like a falcon stares at a mouse.’

After the other anon’s questions about the boys’ relationship to Thranduil, I have to ask: How do Laerophen and Laindawar (really hope I spelled those right!) interact with each other, and with their little bro? I know in Midwinter we see a bit of Laerophen/Legolas interaction, and Legolas’ hero-worship of Laindawar at that age, but it kind of seemed like Laerophen is jealous of his older brother?

Ooooh, I’ve answered this before, but in a really higgedly-piggedly fashion. Check out my Laerophen or my Laindawar tags!

Summarised: Laindawar and Laerophen get on very well with each other. They are both loners, and neither feels the need to press the other for attention or amusement or whatever. Also, they were quite close in age. 

We see that Laerophen tried to be as martial and physically adept as Laindawar – not gonna happen, sad tall baby. He still holds a small amount of resignation towards this. He can’t really see that the things he can do are just as impactful. He doesn’t need to be as amazing a warrior as Legolas and Laindawar to do great things. Case in point: Erebor. 

(something to note here: I am a middle child. I feel this In My Bones.)

Both Laerophen and Laindawar are incredibly protective of Legolas – and he confuses them a bit. He was an unexpected gift, born centuries after both his brothers. He is just so unlike them in temperament. 

Dunno if you’ve been a part of or been intertwined with a family in which there is a massive age gap between siblings, but again, I myself am. There’s a big distance in comradery between the sibs with the age-gap – you can love each other dearly, know all there is to know about each other, but there’s an unavoidable remoteness there. You’re never quite on the same page, even when you’ve reached adulthood. You never quite lose that gap.

Laerophen is astonished and delighted by Legolas, constantly. His younger brother pulls him out of his layers and solitude, makes him a part of a tiny community of two. We see that in Midwinter. Laerophen would be alone more often than not if it weren’t for Legolas. Yet Laerophen cannot be as social as Legolas can, he must retreat at times. He can’t keep up with Legolas’ pace for too long before burning out.

Legolas is also one of the few people who know that Laerophen can be funny. 

Laindawar is proud as FUCK of Legolas. His muindor and he share the same spirit of adventure, and also a love of weaponry and combat. Laindawar was probably happier than Legolas was upon the day his younger brother out-shot him at the Autumn revels. He is known to boast of Legolas’ archery in a way he won’t ever speak of his own swordsmanship. But he can’t be as affectionate as Legolas, he cannot be as open with himself. It’s just not his nature. 

When Legolas was small, his brothers took it upon themselves to teach him different aspects of the world. Laindawar taught him weaponscraft and woodsmanship, and Laerophen taught him histories and stories. 

There we go! Hope that’s interesting!