14: is there anything I wanted readers to learn from reading this fic?

Ahhh, thank you! 

uhhh, idk honestly. I set out to write as canon-compliant a fix-it as possible, but ended up throwing that idea away very early on. So I guess that initially I wanted to cram a lot of lesser-known canon stuff into it, for people to read and go OH HEY THAT’S P COOL. 

I also wanted to try my hand at writing the process of the management (MANAGEMENT, not “recovery” – but not indulgence or enabling, either) of mental illness. Thorin’s development closely mirrors my own in places. It’s not something I’ve ever been confident talking about, so it was a big step outside the comfort-zone. IDK if I wanted anyone to learn anything from it, but I certainly wanted to show it. Maybe work through a few of my own bugbears while I was at it.

As the diversity of the cast grew and grew (AND GREW), I also became really invested in establishing a society that had all types and sorts of people in it, nobody hiding or silent, all of them living with respect and understanding for each other. Don’t know how well I have succeeded, but i think the point was to try. I’ve had people tell me that the fic is the first place they have seen a particular representation, and I am proud and humbled simultaneously. 

Regardless of whether anyone learns anything or not, I have always wanted to tell an entertaining story with relatable characters, so yeah… I am always up for the educational side of things, but it really isn’t the impetus behind the fic.