The different peoples of Middle-Earth have their own ways of farewelling the old year and greeting the new. Each race has its own rich customs and traditions to mark the winter solstice and the longest night of the year. Each is as distinct and unique as snow is to fire.
Post-holiday doldrums getting you down? Your family driving you crazy this holiday season? Or did you just have a lovely holiday, and are looking for the perfect treat to top it all off? Don’t care about the holiday season one way or another? Well, we at Sansûkh Productions have the perfect thing to send in the new year.
In short, we are thrilled to announce that this year, @determamfidd did us the honor of writing four holiday themed vignettes and allowing us to release them to you, our beautiful audience, at the same time the text version is posted (those of you who would rather read the fics first, we have a link to the text below). We are so grateful to both her and the cast members who were able to set aside their time this holiday to record lines on (very) short notice. We are so incredibly thankful for all of you, and wish you all the best in this upcoming year.
So, without further ado, you may find the podfic of Midwinter in the following places:
Click here for streaming/download link for the MP3 file.
Click here for streaming/download link for M4b file.
See below the cut for the cast list and full attribution.
Note: I had to go home for the holiday, and I recorded the credits at the last second before I left (while sporting a 100 degree fever). Consequently, I was obliged to re-record some sections on my phone (since I couldn’t bring my mic with me), so you’ll notice some sound discrepancies in the quality during the credits. My sincerest apologies for this, particularly to those folks whose names I failed to pronounce initially. >.< I’ll fix the file when I get back to my apartment, but in the meantime we thought it best to release the chapter in a timely manner. -HD
HERE IT IS HERE IT IS OH MY GOD THIS IS IT AND I AM NOT CALM
(reaction and a lot of flailing under the cut!)
okay – first off, that music is beautiful.
I love your voice, Ricky, your voice is like a salted caramel coffee poured into each ear ❤ As always, your delivery is so nuanced and intelligent and sensitive and clear. Oh whoa, ilu.
OH MY GOODNESS HD, HD AS LAEROPHEN BE STILL MY HEART, HOW MUCH PERFECTION??? HOW? Sardonic and long-suffering, and yet so so so LOVING.
Tiny Legolas! oh my god, OH WOW – you are amazing, @apalatablevastness, so incredibly versatile!!! ALSO ADORABLE OH WOW. “is this how it is?” = my heart exploded.
and you are the perfect mismatched siblings, so sweet and loving despite all that time and dissimilarity and oh my goodness th e dance the d ance HD you have slain me deaded
I would like to apologise for the line, “even the doughtiest Dwarves could not undo such devastation overnight” – that had to be a bit of a tongue-twister, SORRY RICKY YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU
oooooh sound effect for fire, OOOOH
Oh Dis, @grimminsanity your amazing mithril voice. Oh, you only have to speak a few words as Dis, and I am sniffling. You are a wonder.
FRERIN YOU ARE A JOY AND A TREASURE. SUNSHINE DWARF FOREVER ❤
Cully, once again you reduce me to a quivering freaking mess. YOUR GIMLI IS THE BEST, BEST, BEST, AND i LOVE YOU AND HIM. SO VERY MUCH. (also, so much sibling snark, help, i love the pair of you together faaaaar too much, there must be MORE)
GIMRISSSSSSSSSS ❤ Nota, bless you forever, your voice is delicious, and you sibling-bicker like a genius. So much fire and sass!
AUGH @the-dragongirl, your Mizim!!!!! That is one in-charge Dwarrowdam! And you, STEPPING UP TO THE PLATE LIKE A PRO, YOU FAB FAB PERSON!
Ohhhhhhh, gdi, Oin and Gloin together – @balinisballin and @gremlinloquacious, you are delightful and dwarvish perfection itself, I laughed aloud at your opening lines!!! (ALSO the ‘Elves charge like maddened pigs’ line – HALP TOO FUNNY)
FLUUUUUUKE, YOUR BALIN ❤ You have tripled my need to hug you until you squeak. You’re amazing!
(ahdglajshdgfalsjdhfgaksjhda FRERIN THE WORLD LOVES YOU TOO, YOU UTTER STAR)
Excuse me, Battlepig. EXCUSE ME. YOU. ARE. AMAZING. How dare you. How DARE you be such utter spot-on incredibleness. I am gasping at hearing you as Dain. GASPING. You’re stupendous, just in that first line. Holy hannah, I am floored.
Riza, your voice is so warm and friendly and gorgeous and BOFUR. SO BOFUR, the MOST BOFURISH. It’s like getting an aural hug!
AVIIIIIIIII! Avi, you are the most wonderful Stonehelm! THERE YOU ARE, BUTTERKNIFE, IT IS WONDERFUL TO HEAR YOU AT LAST!
ohhhhh the humming, ohhhhh the humming, shivers, shivers everywhere, my spine is all a-quiver
AUGH GULLS, GULLS IN MINAS TIRITH AUGH – how amazing is this soundscaping???? EEEEEE
@cagethesongbird – your Boromir!!! I am now UNCONTROLLABLY excited to hear you read his older self – you are completely tone-perfect, brave and proud and oh, it is AMAZING, you are so so brilliant! And you capture his wounded youthful pride and his complete devotion so utterly well, I am bowled over and in awe of you. the description of the Yestare celebrations!!! oh my GOD *bows down to you* Captain of the White Tower, I am so SO happy to hear you at last!
KEN KEN KEN MY KING! *wibbles all over you* AUGH AUGH YOUR ARAGORN, HELP, I HAVE A PROBLEM, IT IS TOO AMAZING, my heart is trying its damndest to BREAK over all that noble weariness, all that conflicted sorrow and longing to belong, all that heaviness and wisdom… AUGH AUGH AUGH also you should always speak in Elvish bc hot damn
folding. paper. folding. paper. The attention to detail in the sound design, the creasing paper and the soft whoosh of the wind around the tower – I just need to love on that for a few seconds <33333
Oh my goodness Ricky, you can hear how much FUN you are having with the Hobbity exposition!!! SO PRIM, SO TWEE, OH HOBBITS ❤
asldjgfsjaldhfgalsjdfga FROOD! My dear Antipodean Hobbit, how I adore you (and your beautiful accent!!!) you are absotively, posilutely GORGEOUS. And oh, your understatement is SO PERFECTLY FRODO – his unassuming bravery, his cheekiness, his unspoken baggage when it comes to being packed off in Brandy Hall, and his unconscious defence of Rorimac, and aargh, my heart, you are a gem beyond compare. (Also I snickered far,far too loudly at ‘you’re not serious.’ bwaaahahahahahaha, THE MOST STRAYAN OF DELIVERIES, my dearest Frood!) ❤
And itty bitty teeny MERRY! oh my god, you’re completely PRECIOUS I AM GONNA SQUEAL, you will destroy me with pure concentrated ADORABLE! I actually let out a squeak at ‘SHOVE OVER!’ and oh help me @ “I’m invited to the Party, but not the adventure. D’you think Mr. Bilbo might take me to see Dwarves and that?” YOU ARE ILLEGALLY CUTE. I ARREST YOU IN THE NAME OF MY SANITY. ‘Aooowwwww but MUM!’ = I EXPLODED.
Once again, @themadmanwithablog, you make me lightheaded with how wonderful you are – your humour, your warmth, your exasperation and intelligence and briskness and beautiful voice! I was smiling like a loon at every single one of Bilb’s lines, they were all utterly wonderful. Special mention HAS to go to ‘Yes, of course you do, I remember you advising against it quite well indeed.’ *Standing ovation* Bravo!
EEE PARTY MUSIC PARTY HOBBITS
holy heck, @strongenhelm – I am now convinced you are either Sir Ian McKellen himself, or you’re holding him hostage. YOUR VOICE, YOUR VOICE, GOOD GRAVY. From the first word, I can SEE GANDALF in that moment, the millennia weighing on him, all his weary humour and care. And I adore the little laugh on ‘approve’ awww. Your timing is stupendous, whoaaaa, I am flattened in awe. SERIOUSLY.
oh noooo no that can’t be the end already NO AARGH I LOVED IT I LOVE YOU ALL THANK YOU SO MUCH. I have ascended and am now a being 100% composed of sheer admiration for all of you. You astound me. Thank you.
The different peoples of Middle-Earth have their own ways of farewelling the old year and greeting the new. Each race has its own rich customs and traditions to mark the winter solstice and the longest night of the year. Each is as distinct and unique as snow is to fire.
So, we totally failed at getting the photos up in a timely manner, but a few weeks ago, another small Sansukh Cast meetup occurred (okay, really it was just @aviva0017 hanging out with me for one night, but I firmly maintain that meetups of two people count.) A delightful time was had by all. We ate the pie I had baked to reward myself for actually being a responsible adult and cleaning the place for once, and Avi decided to test out how well I she could make me look like a guy. I think she succeeded rather well, which is slightly disturbing, because I look EXACTLY like my younger brother in these photos.
Okay once again: don’t wanna see me babble about colors just block “Colors of Sansukh”! (To the people who did not previously know I am weird: surprise! I am weird.)
I made a post specifically to squee over Will Shaw’s Bilbo and I am squeeing again. Bilbo’s got a weird name? “Bilbo” and “Baggins” and “Bilbo Baggins” are all different. Bilbo is polished wood, Baggins is kind of brown dirt and green grass, and Bilbo Baggins is almost polished firelight orange. Voices are almost never polished, that’s purely an unnatural color thing, but…the first thing I saw when Bilbo spoke in this chapter was Anders from Dragon Age II, because I associate his character (not voice) with a specific shade of orange-tan that’s the lighting in DAII’s Lowtown and that is what I saw for Bilbo. I am gonna be crying come later chapters dammit.
Gandalf is a foggy-pine forest that’s mostly grey word (even when he’s the White, unless it is specifically “Gandalf the White” in which case…it’s white). Matthew Spark’s voice was a bit more rough and fur-like but ugh actual perfect Gandalf okay.
Bofur in the last chapter I described as calico colored heavy on the orange (which is weird but words are weird)? Theriza’s a nice brown that really suits Bofur and it’s really kind of close to James Nesbitt! Only he’s got some glassy green in there as well and is a tiny bit more medium coffee, but yes. Theriza: only person who can make me tolerate chocolate brown. This is a legit miracle.
Ori, name wise, is…tea-stained paper, almost, only smoother and more uniform and faded. Karo, from what I could pick up, might have been more parchment-fur colored? But there was only one line I could attribute to Ori and it was short so later chapters might prove differently.
Gloin like I said last chapter is golden-shiny smooth copper and Hakira’s Gloin is a bit more…gemstoney? (Google brought up carnelian when I googled “orange gemstones” and that works really well, though not so brown as the unpolished ones can be.) Most voices aren’t metal, I think I’ve said that before, but I like polished carnelian so go casting! (Also it may be an accent thing, since Cully’s Gimli’s a gingery color and they both manage similar accents.)
Nori is a color I call “red wine” but idk what other people call it because there’s a tiny little bit of purple in there. Maybe cranberry. Again, one short line isn’t usually enough to say for sure? But the line was an Outshine grape popsicle (oddly specific but it’s not quite simply “grape juice”) color so I am calling it a point for casting! And possibly humor, that color’s gonna be fun to see pop up.
…look okay Bombur as a name is a pumpkin. Straight up pumpkin, and I can’t tell if the green is supposed to be there or if my brain just sees that orange and sticks a green in there because he’s a freaking pumpkin. Liliumconcolor is…I’d call it “rustic” but that’s not a color. Maybe faded fence-post? Kind of grey-brown dusty? Look it’s an in-between color, I like it, and literally no voice could ever be freaking pumpkin. (And yes I processed this name over and over again to make sure it was right. It is.)
(Bifur for the curious…black and then aged dark wood, blended.)
Oin is a little lavender-y with silver? Very shiny for a name. Gremlinloquacious was very…bright white. Like, it’s white. Sunshine on snow white with just the tiniest hint of pale bright blue. Very different and man is it gonna be fun to hear this voice drunk and cursing Gimli XD
Nali! The name’s kinda Balin’s clothing red but. But! Inkbot’s voice is a color I call McGonagall because damn if it isn’t Dame Maggie Smith’s McGonagall tinted. It’s a bit like that yellowish brick you see in some places, only without the porousness? But I approve of this so much because Nali and McGonagall are forever linked in my brain.
Loni…the name is actually hard to place. Kinda dark blond, kinda smooth polished maple…I dunno, s’a weird one. Rare Parrot has a cider-y voice, like Starbucks caramel apple cider. I like it! …granted I do love hot cider so that many influence me a bit but who cares.
As a name, Mizim is…rough? Z’s do that, and it kind of breaks the word up for me. It’s mostly…chocolate oranges have a specifically colored wrapper and it’s like that, only not shiny. T’Erina’s voice is…another color I can’t really place, there’s a brush of black like someone painted against the grain and it’s sticking up? But I can’t really place the proper color itself. It’s not black, it’s not brown, it’s…not even dark roast coffee or brandy, which are things I associate with that color! Congratulations, you legit stumped me on a color name here.
Gimris! She’s got a nice dark green at the very end of her name that mostly covers up the rest, like I know there’s another color there but I’m not quite sure what, almost like Gimli’s but not quite. Nota’s voice is…grape-blackberry? (I have had to put names to so many colors thanks you guys.) It’s interesting and I haven’t heard a voice with that shade before! It’s almost reminding me of Grimm’s voice and how badly she keeps breaking us with Dis sooooo I imagine the same is gonna happen when poor Gimris gets her moment to cry.
Dear listeners, I present to you, a multi-voice podfic of modestly epic proportions: a podfic of Reading the Signs, a beautiful Gigolas story by @everybodyilovedies, who kindly gave us recording permission. This collaboration began many months ago as a way for some of the Sansukh cast to practice their characters, but grew into a fully realized podfic of its own. It features:
and, of course, me as the narrator. Please, enjoy the nosy hobbit shenanigans! Also, thank you to @flukeoffate for creating amazing cover art, and to @fuckthisimgoingtoerebor for beta-listening.
GASP
OH MY GOD
OH MY GOD OH MUR GORRRRRD
skdfjhglsjdfgzkdjgfsjhgakj!!!! this. is. stupendous.
you are all illegally and sinfully and RIDICULOUSLY talented. Gimli and Legolas are so incredibly perfect (LIKE, HOW PERFECT, I HAVE NO WORDS), and the Hobbit crew are amazeballs, and OMFG that narration!!!
I think we’re competing to figure out who can pick the most homosexual song for us to duet.
Anyway, @determamfidd@grimminsanity, these are always for you. Fee, you’re remarkable for putting up with me randomly messaging you at three in the morning about our next duet and then telling you that I’ve already recorded it. ❤ It may not be my line, but #Ibelongwithmybrother too.
oh darling Fee and Kee, you do a stellar job of this duet! Awwwwwww, i love to love your love, my dears. *hugs* Thank you, as ever!
Thráin dearly loved his children, but he did wish that they had allowed him this one day of the year to sleep in. As it was, he was awoken by his youngest sitting astride his shoulders.
“Adaaaa…” she crooned as his sons giggled and snorted from the end of the bed. “Ada, wake up. Ama’s made breakfaaaast…”
“Ada, Náin’s here, and he’s brought his get,” Thorin told him blandly, casually shoving a squawking Frerin off the bed. “Better get up before Dáin destroys your receiving room.”
“Let him,” Thráin mumbled, shoving his face further into the pillow as he spoke. “I can make Náin pay for it and laugh at him.”
“Ama won’t be pleased,” Frerin chirped, peeking over the edge of the bed.
“’S my name-day. I can do what I like,” he informed his son.
“That excuse never works on my name-day,” Frerin complained. Thráin grunted as his youngest began bouncing enthusiastically on his shoulders, giggling.
“That’s because whenever you try to use that excuse, you’ve done far worse than let your cousin destroy my receiving room.” Thráin told him.
“Nu-uh, one of those times that’s exactly what happened.”
“No, that time you destroyed it and blamed it on Dáin despite the fact that he was too young to have achieved that level of chaos,” he contradicted, “and anyway, it’s my receiving room to destroy as I please.”
“Ada, just get up!” Dís wailed, bouncing violently enough to knock the breath from his lungs. “Ama won’t let us eat until you get first choice!”
He snored loudly and unconvincingly, making both Frerin and Dís release offended squeals and Thorin collapse in a fit of giggles.
“All right, you great lump,” his wife ordered from the doorway amusement in her tone. “Don’t starve the children.”
“They could stand to lose a few pounds,” he grumbled playfully, sitting up with some difficulty and dislodging Dís in the process. She collapsed to the bed in a fit of giggles. “Most days Thorin seems to be growing sideways more swiftly than he does upward.”
This time Thorin was the one to release an offended squawk.
——————————
The fire was crackling merrily as his his three children and Dáin wrestled on the rug. He laughed heartily as Frerin pinned his older brother triumphantly and Thorin concealed an indulgent smile.
A pair of study hands landed gently on his shoulders.
“Good day, my love?”
He twisted in his seat to drop a kiss on Frís’ nose.
“Each name-day is better than the last, darling.”
“Cheating!” Dáin shrieked behind them.
Dís cackled and something crashed. Frís didn’t break eye contact with him.
“If I don’t look, it never happened,” she informed him seriously.
“It was ugly anyway,” Frerin chirped hopefully.
His wife sighed, and Thráin’s amused chuckles joined Náin’s unrestrained laughter.
Okay, would you judge me if I collected all the birthday fics on AO3?
Also, determamfidd, forgot to tag you originally. Thought this would make you smile.
oh my GOD is this the cutest thing ever or what! AWW KILI, IT IS ABSOLUTELY LOVELY (happy Line of Durin??? PINCH ME I’M DREAMING)
When I say
“I wish I could drop everything
And just fly there
To be with you”
I mean it-
To Australia,
My queen,
My brother,
My friend,
To England,
Uncle,
Cousins,
Companions,
Japan, Canada,
Dear friends,
Germany, Norway,
Kind souls,
I wish I could be there with you.
And when I say
To friends here,
“I wish I could leave,
Be far away
In places I don’t yet know”
They laugh
And say
They’d like to visit Big Ben
And Tokyo,
They get that,
Wouldn’t it be cool?
And I smile
And nod
And think
I’d prefer to see
Your favorite coffee shop
Your favorite park
The secret paths you take to work
And the silly museum you’ve been to a million times
Because no one cares but you
Because Big Ben has its place
It’s just not in my heart
(That place is reserved
For you)
–
I’m in a sappy mood, if that wasn’t immediately obvious. Anyway, this is for the wonderful cast- I’ll just tag a few of you cuz it’s late and I’m forgetful on the best of days. So have some mediocre 3AM poetry, determamfiddflamesburnonthemountainsidetherizamorvidra oh gahd so many more guys I can’t think of anyone at all right now save me
oh Kiliiiii
I am having a quiet cry rn. I love you, I love all of you so very much.
Aw Yiss 