Imagine Thorin Stonehelm bequeathing his Thorin 2 toy to Wee Thorin.

(imagine Dwalin stopping one day, his eyes widening.

“What’s that you’ve got there, lad?”

Wee Thorin holds it up. It’s very worn: one of the wooden carved braids has broken off, and there is chipped paint everywhere. Though there is evidence that a little boy, long ago, tried painstakingly to mend the damage. The blue coat has been meticulously detailed, with only one or two childish slips of the brush. 

The face is stern and proud.

“The King gave it to me,” says his son, his own Thorin, and Dwalin has to pick up the doll in trembling hands.

“That was… kind of him,” he says, and his voice sounds a bit thick. He smiles at the doll, and then he hands it back to his eldest boy and ruffles his shock of hair. 

“Well, he said that I was gonna need him more,” Wee Thorin says seriously, and he straightens the tiny wooden painted boots. “Cos he can’t go on any more adventures now.”

Dwalin hesitates, and then he has to nod slowly. “Aye, well. This one is a good one to follow into an adventure, lad. Just don’t expect him to know the way.”)

Hi! Thank you for your wonderful writing! If you have time (and like seriously I know you must be super busy) I was wondering – is Tauriel off in the Halls of Mandos trying to find out if she will ever see Kili again? Has anyone let her know that she will find him in the world remade? Sorry for bothering you, and thank you so much, you’re writing makes my days so much brighter!

*rubs hands* I have plans with a capital PLUH. We shall see Tauriel again – but sorry, Nonnie – I can’t really give you answers to this without spoilers! 

*blushes* you are so so kind, thank you so much! I am thrilled and touched that you enjoy it. 

Hi! Firstly I just have to say that I love your fic to death, I literally could not stop reading it for hours on end! Also, you are an Aussie and I feel really proud when I find Australians doing wonderful things! Now, I just wanted to ask you what made you start your fic, and also how did you get the confidence to actually post it? (Obviously you’re an incredible writer, but I just wanted to ask anyway.) I am working on a fic myself and I am so nervous about it :(

AWWWWW THANK YOU! 

Also – hey fellow Aussie! Greetings from the Goldie! 😀

Ooooh, well, Sansukh was originally a hobbitkink prompt, actually. I blab a lot more on my writing tag, ‘how does a Dets write?’ That describes in more detail how I characterise and how I plot etc etc. 

Oh, uh, well! I have been writing fanfiction for around 15 years now! And yeah, the first few years were hellishly nerve-racking. But I got better, and I got more confident in what I was doing – mostly because I was beginning to eye it critically, and still like it. Sometimes it can be hard to like your own work when you look at it from a technical and critical viewpoint. 

(Sometimes the opposite is true – that you can’t view your own stuff without being over-protective about it!)

You’re on your way, Nonnie, you’ll find your method! *hugs and hugs and hugs*

Hi Dets! I was just curious about something – have either Nori or Ori run into their dads in the Halls? Or would they want to?

Okay, I’m gonna post the blurb so I can refresh people’s memories, hahaha!

Meet a Dwarrowdam – Zhori daughter of Yori

Zhori was a middle-class weaver, descended in direct line
through her mothers from the famously controversial concubine of the 25th
century of the Third Age, Ymrís. This was a matter of shame for the family, who
did their best to keep the matter hushed up. Zhori was very beautiful, with
soft brown hair that silvered early in her life, a full and luxurious beard, and
a stout and sturdy frame. She was reasonably well-to-do, comfortably set up,
and her beauty attracted many admirers. However, Zhori, a life-long romantic at
heart, was unfortunately terribly unlucky in love. She spent her whole life
searching. Her first husband, a handsome young miner, had married her dutifully
when she fell pregnant. But he then fell in love with another Dwarrowdam and
left Zhori soon after the birth of their son, Dori. They remained in touch, and
she held no ill-will towards him. Zhori remained alone for fifty years before
she tried her hand at love again. Her second husband was a dashing rogue and a
charmer, and he was killed in a game of chance while Zhori was pregnant with
her second son, Nori. Late in her life she was surprised by the advances of a
fellow weaver, and her third son, Ori, was conceived out of wedlock. Her sons
were fiercely protective of their mother, and they habitually referred
to themselves as the ‘sons of Zhori’. She was one of the few Dwarrows to die of
old age in the turmoil of the past two centuries, passing away peacefully in
her sleep in Ered Luin.


And now to your question, Nonnie! Actually – yes.

Ori was surprised to discover that he looks remarkably like his dad. They aren’t exactly close, but they are friends. Roi is a gentle, dreamy-eyed sort of Dwarf who likes his weaving and his sketching and his pipe, and is bemusedly proud of his rather famous son. He remains close to Zhori, too, and is still very much in love with her.

Nori immediately picked his father’s pocket, sad to say. They have a prickly biting sort of relationship. Nori isn’t quite ready to forgive the feckless, dashing Nevi for getting himself killed and leaving Zhori alone again… particularly because it appears that Nori is more like Nevi than he would care to admit. They routinely snark and aim little barbed remarks at each other. When that doesn’t quite satisfy, there’s always petty theft 🙂

Dori’s dad is there too. They don’t talk to him much, though they’ve noted that 

Dánin has the same splendid ears as Dori. Zhori holds no ill-will to her first husband, though her sons aren’t nearly so charitable towards the Dwarf who left her when Dori was only a baby. Even Ori gets rather pugnacious. 

will we ever see petty-dwarves in aulë’s halls? also will we get to hear narvi’s whole backstory (and sad things abt celebrimbor) or will you just keep it to little hints?

Ah, not really incorporating the petty-dwarves in any way tbh, Nonnie. They were rather suspicious in the first place, and with even more cause than regular Dwarves. And they were never numerous, so there really aren’t that many at all, even in the Halls.

And 2nd Question: probably hints, sorry again, Nonnie. I adore Narvi, but she isn’t the focus of this tale. She may end up with a story all of her own in the Appendices, however! I am fully down for that! 🙂

Hey dets! You’re writing is the bomb-diggity, it always either brightens my day or drowns me in feels. I was wondering – are there any gender-fluid characters in sansukh? would dwarves be accepting of genderfluid people?

Hey Nonnie! I am so glad you’re enjoying it, thank you so much!

There is at this stage one genderfluid character in Sansukh: Bombur and Alris’ child Bomfur. They also answer to Bomfa. Bomf is a silversmith, and a very good one. They are married to a goldsmith, Zerin.

Bomf is something of a quiet achiever amongst their huge and noisy and generally rather famous clan. They habitually speak rather softly, and are very close to their young brother Bibur (who is apprenticing under their husband, Zerin). 

Bomf is well-known for their incredible wealth of hair. Bomf has the brown hair of their mother, Alris, but in the bushy abundance that is all Bombur’s legacy. Bomf also has a very remarkable singing voice, though it is not the stellar polished brilliance of his eldest sister Baris. 

They like to part their beard in the middle on some days and braid it in different styles upon each side, each indicating a different gender. This gives them an asymmetrical appearance, which they rather enjoy.

Upon some days they wear the braids that indicate that this is a Bomfa day, and others to show that today they prefer to be Bomfur. 

Check out the list of Bombur’s mighty clan here!