I want to tell you how much I love Sansukh!! It was my first fic in English and sometimes a sentence was difficult to understand, but it was totally worth it!

Oh my gosh – thank you SO much!

I know you said you have no plans to, but I do hope you write a book one day – I would buy the crap out of it 😍😍😍

*brain goes pink and fuzzy*

oh NONNIE…! *hugs* thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Thank you so much. That is just the most lovely, epic compliment.

No, I don’t have any plans to write a book. I won’t say never, because maybe one day I’ll have an idea that won’t leave me alone!

did you know that the main fic of sansûkh is only about 70000 words away from the total wordcount of war and peace? counting the appendices, (98k according to ao3) you (and the authors of other appendices) have surpassed it!! that’s super cool, congratulations!! (and it’s all fantastically written!)

war.. and… peace…?

oh my GUH

WOW. Thank you! WOW.

I will… just go and blink to myself for a while, bc here is the hard cold proof of my very verbose verbiage… and whoa.

Any advice for first time fanfiction writers?? (Specifically TH/LOTR writers)

I suck at advice! But here’s two points to keep in mind:

1. This is your story.

Yes, we have an established world, and established and well-loved characters. Yes, it comes with a boatload of rules and history. You can use it, or not. You can change it up, or not. You can research like mad, or not. You can use fanon, or not. You can use a Tolkienesque style, or a modern one, or a mixture of the two. You can go plot-driven, or character-driven. It’s yours now. What does your story require? Whatever it needs, do that.

Dive, dive, dive, and enjoy it. This is meant to be fun.

2. Write.

Just write. Write and write and write. Some of it will not be great, some of it will be awesome, you will be amazed at what is in your head sometimes – and other times it will feel like you’re emptied out entirely. But the more you write, the better you get at it. It’s like anything else, be it an instrument or drawing or cooking: if you practice, you will improve.

(Story time: I have been writing fic for approx 17 years. I was in my late teens when I began. I have made many, MANY shitty stories. I have been the writer with no reviews A LOT. For basically a decade, I chugged along in my own little writing world, making stories that nobody found or was interested in. But I liked them. I worked hard on them and loved them, they were crappy in hindsight but they made me feel things, and that’s what it’s all about I suppose: these are words that make us feel things. That decade was good for me. I didn’t stop writing. I read a lot, I practiced a lot, I got better, people grew interested at last and I was hugely grateful – still am – but in the end, it STILL boils down to whether I like what I’m writing, whether it still makes me feel things. I’m still practicing, every time I sit down to write, I am a student like you. I’m still getting better, I hope. I hope.)

So, don’t stop. You may be discouraged at times. You may love your stuff one day, hate it the next. You may feel like you’re shouting into a black hole of indifference. Just keep going. Cut ruthlessly if you have to, in order to find the pieces of story that make you feel things – the ones that work. Be cruel to your work, kind to yourself. Whine to your friends about how goddamn difficult this section is being. Ask folks to read over parts you are uncertain of. Get friendly feedback in private, from someone you like and trust. Specify what it is you are anxious about (dialogue? pacing? Whatever) and listen to their response. Fix it. Work on it. LOVE IT – it is yours, so love it even when you also hate it. Take your time when you gotta, and then get back onto the horse and keep writing.

You’re one of us now, Nonnie! Welcome to the fun 🙂

So I’m finally about to start reading Sansûkh. And it’s 2am and I only have 15% battery. Wish me luck!

omg you like living on the edge…!

I really hope you like it, Nonnie! Thank you so much for giving it a shot!

I recently held someone’s two week old baby and I just stood there in mingled awe and terror before blurting out that the baby was the single most amazing thing I had ever seen, and now I’m just imagining Thorin with his siblings/nephews when they were born

i can’t deal, everything about this is too cute

WAIT WAIT WAIT I MISSED IN WESTERN LANDS?!?!!!!!! WHAT THE FRICKING FRACKING FLIPPING FUDGY FFFFFFFFFFF???!!?!!? HOW?!??! WHEN?! ARGH!!!!! IT’S MY FAVORITE TOLKIEN POEM?! BAR NONE?! AND YOUR VOICE IS BEAUTIFUL?! AND HOLY FUCK YOU HAVEN’T EVEN FINISHED THE FIC BUT THIS IS THE PERFECT WAY TO END?! LIKE A BEAUTIFUL CODA?! IT REMINDS ME OF THOSE BITTERSWEET STORIES WHERE THE HAPPY ENDING IS EARNED THROUGH SACRIFICE AND TEARS AND LOSS AND WHEN ITS FINALLY OVER ITS JUST THIS CALM WITH PEACE AND

[pt2] SUNLIGHT AND HOLDING HANDS AND KNOWING THAT WHATEVER COMES NEXT ITS NOT GOING TO BREAK YOU BECAUSE YOUVE WEATHERED THUS FAR AND YOURE STRONGER FOR IT? GOLDEN CRACKS IN POTTERY, THATS WHAT THIS MAKES ME THINK OF; STARTING WITH SOMETHING HARSH, BROKEN, UNHAPPY, BUT TENDING TO IT WITH SUCH LOVING CARE, REALIZING WHERE SHARDS CAN’T, SHOULDN’T, BE SAVED, BUT RECOGNIZING THE WHOLE IS SALVAGEABLE, WORTH THE TIME IT WILL TAKE TO REPAIR IT AND IN THE END ITS MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN EVER, ITS CRACKS AND

[pt3] DON’T DIMINISH IT THEY ENHANCE IT, THEY TELL ITS STORY AND THEY PROCLAIM TO ALL THAT IT WAS LOVED SO MUCH THAT IT WAS REFORMED, REFORGED, INTO SOMETHING REAL AND WHOLE OUT OF WORN AND BROKEN PIECES. FUCK NOW I’M HAVING FEELS ABOUT SANSÛKH AND THORIN AND EVERYONE. I’M GOING TO CRY WHEN THIS IS OVER, DETS, BECAUSE IT’S GOING TO BE SO DAMN BEAUTIFUL. YOU TOOK THE CRACKS AND BROKEN PIECES OF TOLKIEN’S WORK, THE FORGOTTEN OR DIMINISHED, THE UNTOLD STORIES THAT HE ONLY GAVE A FEW WORDS FOR,

[pt4] AND YOU’VE FILLED THEM IN WITH GOLD: LOVE AND PATIENCE, STEADFAST AND TRUE, BREATHING LIFE INTO THE CHARACTERS (HIS AND YOURS), AND YOU’VE TENDED TO THE FANS WITH THE SAME CARE AND I JUST… this song sounds like a loving goodbye, a promise of tomorrow and someday; something to celebrate all that has come before, both merry and sad, a gift of thanks and memory. It’s an ode, I think, of sorts, and your voice brings such a depth to the words that have carried me through so much in my life.

[pt5] “I will not say the day is done, nor bid the stars farewell” They’ve always been important to me, Dets, but I think they’ll mean so much more now. Sansûkh has been an experience for me on par with things like Harry Potter, watching something so simple touch and change and bolster so many people. I know it’s not done yet, that there’s still so much to come, but you need to know that it’s been an honor to be part of this, even just from the sidelines of lurking. Watching the enthusiasm

[pt6] that has churned out so much talent and creativity is amazing. I’ve loved seeing this experience evolve from just another fic (and doesn’t that sound blasphemous) into what it is now, with massive appendices of art, music, short stories, character biographies, cosplay … I’ve loved every minute of it. So thank you for making that all possible and nurturing it with such enthusiasm.

[pt7] I’m sorry this has been so over the map and so long; I meant to just leave a funny comment about how much I love ‘In Western Lands’ [still can’t believe I missed it for this long], and then I just … couldn’t stop and I didn’t know where else to put this without loosing my nerve. So to sum up: Thank-you so much.

So… I am crying a lot.

From the bottom of my heart… thank you. From everything that is me… thank you.

In Western Lands is the most complicated song I have ever composed, and I have been so… conflicted about it. Thanks to you, I have gone back and listened to my own work with new ears, and for that, I cannot ever thank you enough.

This fic has been an experience I would not give up for the world. I have learned so much. This story has brought me so many friends, and the sheer amount of creativity and beauty and enthusiasm and support is quite honestly breathtaking.

I will never be able to thank anyone enough.

You are so lovely :)

Back at you, Nonnie, with reinforcements. You are so lovely ❤

Thorin makes Dain a few flower collars for his various ridiculously named pigs. one of them, an especially pretty one, is just petals of various flowers.

PFFFFT

broken wheezing Dis and Thorin being siblings. So many sniffles. Also she is never going to let this die. Because little sisters have rights. (Dis is more like Kili than you’d think)

😀 Glad you liked the snippet, Nonnie!