sakura_no_miko

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Legolas/Gimli

Warnings: racism, discussion of violence and PTSD

Other notes: family, relationship reveal, culture clash

Length: 12k

Summary: Upon their return to Eryn Lasgalen and Erebor respectively, Legolas and Gimli each have a new adornment. Their fathers would like an explanation.

(They’re not going to like it.)

I must admit, I am not a huge Tokien fan–not in the way I’m, say, a Star Trek fan or an anime fan. I never went through the “read the wiki and all the appendices” marathons with Tolkien. I enjoyed the movies, read the books once, read a handful of fics, and went to other fandoms.

That said, I was rec'ced about 500 pages of Bilbo/Thorin fic before I went on vacation, so I am much, much better educated on Tolkien lore now. I think. The most challenging fic by far was Sansûkh, which is well over 300k words at this point. I try to read things before I rec them to refresh my memory, but, ah, that fic took me a good week to read the first time. At least the current chapter isn’t a cliffhanger.

However, while reading it, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the focus was more on Legolas and Gimili than on Bilbo and Thorin. Which–I do remember from the books, but it always seemed like it was overshadowed by Sam/Frodo or Aragorn/Legloas or, stuff like that. I also didn’t really get the enmity between Dwarves and Elves until The Hobbit came out, since the Fellowship tended to get along pretty well, for the most part.

Anyway, this is a fic by the same author of Sansûkh, but it’s a bit more accessible due to not being 300 pages long.

You know what got to me in this fic? There are a lot of Gimli/Legolas fic that focus in on the long history of hatred between the two races, and the cultural differences, and the issues of a mortal loving an immortal. But what got to me was a scene about halfway through where Legolas mentions that, even with the two of them having a short time in which to pursue a relationship, they’re not actually going to spend all their time together:

Wherever you go,“ Thranduil snarled, and turned his eyes up to his slender son, tall and elegant in the green light of the room. "Why is he not with you, then? Why are you not with him?”
“He is,” Legolas laughed. “Even now I can hear his grumbling answers to all we say! But I take your meaning. He himself travels to his kin in the Mountain, to speak with his family just as I do here. We will meet again soon. He must return to Minas Tirith ere long, and I would begin the work in Ithilien. Then there are the glittering caves of the White Mountains that require his careful hands. Our meetings will be made all the more joyous, and they will never be long apart. I will content myself with the gardens and the work and the sweet anticipation of his tread at my doorstep.”
“You will be apart long years,” Thranduil said, his anger coalescing. “He would not give up his caverns for you?”
“No more than I would give up my trees,” Legolas said, raising his chin. “I would not ask that of him, nor he of me. But I would share them with him, and gladly.”

(Whoa, that was a longer quote than I thought.)

And, um, it got to me. I’ve been having this issue with the Night Vale fandom, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. In the current story arc, Cecil and Carlos were forcibly separated into, um, two separate dimensions, and, while Cecil is pushing for them to reunite, Carlos has started to mention that there are things he enjoys in his current place. A lot of early reaction from fans seems to suggest that Carlos is less in love or being selfish because he’s not putting every moment of effort into them being together. And that was bothering me.

And here is the answer, in a totally unrelated fandom–this is what I keep trying to put my finger on: it’s perfectly fine to love and yet live separate lives with separate interests. Even physical separation, sometimes.

Sadly it’s also an argument I’ve had in real life with people. Lots of, “but if you love so-and-so, why don’t you want to move in / marry / have kids / be together forever?” And it’s like, well, sometimes that works out, but sometimes you find a job on the other side of the country, or want to go to a different school for post-grad, or you’re going through a period of instability and things just–get delayed, or interrupted, or put aside. After a point, even with family and friends you love, you just want to put your foot down and say, hey, this is my relationship, and what goes on is between me and my SO, and what works for us works, so knock it off.

Actually, that’s a good summary for this fic: the fic you want to read when righteously telling other people to eff out of your relationships.

Holy crap this is probably the most rambling and off topic review I’ve done, even giving myself a extra day to chop it down. Ugh. Apologies.

(Looking for more fic recs?)
Originally posted on tumblr on 01/27/15