Seeking Lord of the Rings fic recs

[dorinda]

Lately, for self-soothing purposes, I re-read (or in this case, listened) to the complete Lord of the Rings. And now there are certain kinds of fic I'm feeling an itch for. Does any of this ring a bell?

Aspects like:

* LotR book or movie inspired, rather than the recent Hobbit movie series

* Details of daily life, like eating and drinking, dressing and sleeping, etc.

* Worldbuildy, especially in small/daily-life ways

* Doesn't need to be shippy, but ships are welcome, especially: Gimli/Legolas, Frodo/Sam, Merry/Pippin

* Happy ending plz

* Doesn't need to be recent--I'm sure there's heaps of old fic as well as new that I've never read


So just for instance: have you read anything good set during or after the Scouring of the Shire? (Or even just before--what about Fredegar and his band of rebels?) Sam nurturing Frodo back to daily life the same way he's bringing the slashed-and-burned land back to life? Anything about Merry and Pippin settling in together in Crickhollow, and hunting down the last of the ruffians? I was having a chat with a friend in which we wondered, what do Hobbits do for medical care? Since I assume they have midwives, is there basically a network of Hobbit gammers who do the herblore and healing work?

It doesn't have to be set in Hobbiton, but in any case I'm not after something grand or epic. So if it's in Rivendell, I'd love to see little details of how it is for regular folk to spend time there; or if it's something like Legolas and Gimli traveling or living somewhere, what is an ordinary day and night like for them? Or Aragorn--not his lofty kingy-ness, but the grounded ordinary moments that make up his day, and what it might be like for him to spend time again with his old friends.

Doesn't necessarily have to be set after the events of war of the Ring, either--anything interesting about little child Estel growing up in Rivendell?--but since the events of the books/movies changed and deepened the characters, plus created and/or strengthened so many relationships, it does seem like post- is more likely than pre-.

I'd love to hear any thoughts you may have. And thanks!

Comments

[nestra]

Have you read "The Night Season"? It's linked on PolyRecs, and it's just gorgeous with those tiny worldbuilding details.

[destina]

+1 to this rec, I was just struggling to remember the name of it.

[dorinda]

Yay, thank you!

[dorinda]

No, and it sounds great! Thank you thank you. I've put a pdf of it onto my phone...bless you and PolyRecs and the Wayback Machine too. ♥

[lynndyre]

The King's Commission by Larner
Fourth Age, after Frodo has sailed, Aragorn wants there to be a statue of the hobbits in Gondor. Epic length, lots of little details, very into Frodo even if he's not actually present.

History Lessons
History Lessons: Second Age
History Lessons: Third Age by Nilmandra
Mixing bits of normal life, and occasions of h/c in Rivendell with pieces of the past. So very long! Mostly family-centric gen, bit of Elrond/Celebrian and Galadriel/Celeborn

A LOT of stuff by Shirebound. Very hobbit-centric. Quarantined and sequels are a pre-LOTR AU where Aragorn meets young!Frodo- lots of h/c, lots of hugging and shire things and also young!Frodo gets a dog.



Will be back with more! ^.^

[dorinda]

Woo hooooo! I will be stocking my phone up like woah. Thank you so much!

[lynndyre]

By Such a Foolish Name and its sequel No Better Name by Cairistiona
A Breeland Hobbit OC helps out a Ranger.

Journey's End by Altariel
Little snippet of innkeeper pov, with two rangers in the years after the ring war. (Faramir and Aragorn sleep in a barn and are happy about it.)

The Rings of Evendim
I rec'd Shirebound in general, but maybe especially this one- post war Aragorn comes to Arnor and Annuminas begins to be rebuilt. People and trade and hobbits and building.

Pipeweed and Pints by Baggins Babe
A night at the pub with four hobbits, a king, and a steward.

Buckland Celebration, also by Baggins Babe
Hobbits don't celebrate the destroying of the ring, they celebrate the sounding of Merry's horn in the Shire.

<3 Will add more if I find them. Hope you enjoy!

[dorinda]

Thank you! What an avalanche! *grabby hands* I will definitely be applying these to my eyeballs for medicinal purposes.

[marycrawford]

OK, I know I've already recced some of these to you before, but here's a bunch that I hope will be cheering:

Wedding Cup (3022 words) by smilebackwards>Summary:

I would have your comment on the seating arrangements, Glóin wrote above a drawing of Erebor’s reception hall where he’d crowded dozens of long tables with dwarves and set a small table labelled Thranduil three back from the head table, a deliberate taunt.

[marycrawford]

Sorry, hit return too fast, and also I've forgotten how to DW, the edit window keeps logging me out. >:-[

Stone Hearts and Halls (40975 words) by appleapple
Summary: Gimli is injured in an accident rebuilding the city of Minas Tirith. When Legolas arrives he finds that not all is well in Aragorn's kingdom.

This is a well-characterized, post-LOTR slow build where Legolas tries to figure out who tried to hurt Gimli, and in doing so becomes acquainted with a whole host of engaging dwarf OCs, who initially don't want anything to do with him, but he slowly wins them over. There's h/c and battle and culture clashes and sweet understated romance, and I do think of this as a comfort fic.

For Continuing Strange by Annie Harris. My favorite Legolas/Gimli story, I think. This is the one where they live together in Minas Tirith, Sam keeps bringing them food, Gimli designs jewelry for Legolas and all his favorite elf ladies, there's h/c when Legolas tries to save a child in a collapsing house, and all the detail of their daily lives is beautifully painted. I could just sink into this story like a warm bath.

The Child and the Darkness by MyselfOnly. This is a series, I think part 2 is my favorite, but you should start here for continuity's sake. This is a long Legolas & Gimli story where the emphasis is on their friendship, as well as h/c. A nice counterpart to "Stone Hearts and Halls" because here, Gimli eventually becomes acquainted with a bunch of forest elves who are Legolas's oldest friends, as well as a stern elf commander and Thranduil, and has to get used to their ways and win them over with sheer stubbornness and good dwarf sense.

[dorinda]

Squee! Thank you for these--even if you had already recced them, I had forgotten, and I must not have kept them anywhere well-organized. I'm so eager to read them that it's difficult to save them for convalescence! But I am trying my best, because I really need special things to look forward to.

*hug*

[marycrawford]

Aw good, and you're v welcome, if I can think of any others I will drop them in here! {{rindy}}

Also, I rec the first three without reservation, but that last author, you may bounce off, fair warning: she writes in first person present, which I know isn't your fave, and it takes her a while to learn how to punctuate dialogue. I admit I'm willing to overlook a lot for a big stack of h/c and self-sacrifice. o_O

[thady]

Here via reading list.

I love rhymer23's stories, especially The Shadow of War, which is novel-length.
It's fourteen years since the fall of Sauron, and Gondor is at peace. But old enemies are stirring beyond her borders, and some have infiltrated Minas Tirith itself, and are waiting for the time to strike… - pairings listed but not pairing centric.
Great characterization, world-building, and plot.

[dorinda]

Oh, wow, thank you very much! This looks great--I am really looking forward to it.

[laurajv]

marycrawford suggested recovery recs. I am not reccing these because they are my own work (although obviously *I* love them), but I've written two Legolas/Gimli stories recently:

Numberless the ways, and imperceptible. https://archiveofourown.org/works/13680141

and

From Sweet Fellowship Comes Nectar. https://archiveofourown.org/works/14588664