The Hobbit:

Green Lord of Dol Guldur: both hilarious and touching story two parter, in which Bilbo and Gandalf, en route back post Battle of the Five Armies, stop by at Dol Guldur, and... unexpected and very Hobbit-ish things happen. (Which deal also with one of my pet peeves about Tolkien's universe per se, see also: entire races born evil.)

In the second story, Tauriel arrives at Dol Guldur as well, and it's a wonderful growth and healing story for her. It's a such a great mixture of crack premise and straight forward execution, I can't tell you.

Blake's 7:

Rumours of Immortality: Avon and Orac consider alternatives, not too long before Gauda Prime. It makes for a great character portrait.

None of these are new, but they may be new to you as they were to me, fellow readers.

There are notoriously few female characters in Tolkien, and even fewer allowed some dialogue and personality, but thankfully, this has not stopped fandom to work with what is there and flesh out the ladies in question. Take Bilbo’s mother Belladonna Took, of whom we solely know that she had adventures, knew Gandalf, and that that Bilbo’s father Bungo built Bag End with her money. Two stories providing wonderful versions of Belladonna:

Light words about nothing, and other pleasures : in which she encounters Thorin’s sister Dis (remember, dwarves have a far longer life span than Hobbits, who in turn live longer than humans); Dis herself, whose pov the story takes, is also a Tolkien female of whom we only know the name and whose relation she was, and who took on a life of her own in fanfiction. More often than not, she’s stuck with the role of shipping cheerleader, but not so here.

Back, and there again: Tolkien was clear on what kind of afterlife was available for elves and dwarves, but not so much for Hobbits. This means some creative liberty for fandom, and not least due to Sansukh, afterlife reunions have become an entire subgenre. In this version, Belladonna and Bungo have been waiting for Bilbo to join them after his long life is finally over. But one hobbit’s paradise is not another’s, and so Belladonna goes on one more adventure, together with and for her son.

The Crone of Bagshot Row: no Belladonna in this one, but an old friend of hers, who has been keeping an eye on her son from afar.

But of course the most famous female Hobbit in Tolkien’s world is also the one with the worst press: Lobelia Sackville-Baggins. Lobelia is usually used as comic relief (fair enough, that’s how Tolkien uses her, with one remarkable exception), if she isn’t used as in an uncanonical mean stepmother role for Frodo so he can be rescued. (As ridiculous as that is, it pales next to the AUs where Lobelia gets to be Bilbo‘s mean aunt. I mean, AU or no AU, she’s younger than Bilbo in canon, and my own preferences for AUs is that they should keep the generational outlines of the original.) legionseagle wrote a witty and spirited defense of Lobelia, which I urge you to read, so I shan’t repeat to her but will quote the moment of glory Tolkien gives her, during the Scouring of the Shire, as recounted to Frodo: it’s Lobelia Sackville-Baggins versus Saruman (via his henchman): ‘ “I’ll give you Sharkey, you dirty thieving ruffians!” says she, and ups with her umberella and goes for the leader, near twice her size. So they took her. Dragged her off to the Lockholes, at her age too. They’ve took others we miss more, but there’s no denying she showed more spirit than most’.

Bearing this in mind, I can entirely believe the following AUs take on what would have happened if Lobelia in her penchant for acquiring shiney objects of metal not hers (shared, as legionseagle mentioned, by Cousin Bilbo) would have gotten hold of the One Ring:


The curious case of Lobelia Sackville-Baggins and her magic ring

And lastly, not a female-centric tale but one of the funniest I’ve ever read (with one angsty interlude), using the movieverse circumstance of Thorin addressing Bilbo as a“Mr. Baggins“, „Master Baggins“ or „Master Burglar“ up to and until he’s entered the Lonely Mountain, at which point he switches to „Bilbo“ to spin a hilarious yet entirely in character explanation (Thorin didn’t catch Bilbo’s first name before Bilbo had won his respect near the end of the first movie and afterwards was too embarassed to ask directly) into this glorious epic:

The Naming of Hobbits

Still in a mood to be sentimental about Middle Earth, I came across this neat take on Bilbo’s and Frodo’s first „real“ (i.e. not among masses of relations) encounter:
By the Brandywine

Noteworthy for a) keeping Tolkien’s take for how old Frodo was when Bilbo got interested in him and decided to adopt him, and b) letting Frodo show a sense of humor and spirit. Seriously, if you look for Bilbo & Frodo stories, you have to wade through Dickens pastiches where Frodo is a waif barely able to talk and prone to bursting into tears all the time, complete with the writers ignoring he was quite happily raised chez Brandybuck after his parents‘ death before Bilbo adopted him, not with the Sackville-Baggineses. This, incidentally, is not something you can blame the movies for, much as Peter Jackson makes the most of the angst potential of Elijah Wood’s blue eyes once the quest has started. Frodo when he’s introduced is very much a cheerful Hobbit, whose reaction to Bilbo trying to express his fondness is to say „Bilbo, have you been at the Gaffer’s home brew?“, and who parties with the best of them at the birthday gathering. (Which of course makes the later Ring and quest-caused changes all the more effective.)

Speaking of the birthday party, Bilbo’s farewell speech with the glorious trolling in the non-Middle Earth sense („I don’t know half of you half as well as I would like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve“) basically sums up his relationship with the Shire post-quest: both fondness and exasparation. In a way, both The Hobbit and LotR make the point that you can’t go home again, not to the home you remember, because either you or it or both have changed. It’s true for Thorin, for Bilbo, for Frodo. Incidentally, rewatching the birthday sequence has reminded me again what a superb job Ian Holm did, who with little screen time for Bilbo gets across a lot about the character, his relationships with Frodo and Gandalf, the effect the Ring has had on him, the crankiness mixed with the whimsy, the undiminished capacity for wonder and that old longing which gets him on the road again as it did decades earlier, against all Hobbit traditions. The Doylist reason why Bilbo leaves the tale early on and then has only cameos is obvious, once Tolkien had decided that he couldn’t be the ringbearer in this new tale, but on a Watsonian level, I think Bilbo deciding not to end his days in the Shire (where he lives in comfort and with a companion he’s fond of) after all but to hit the road again (until old age catches up with him once the life prolonging effect of the Ring is gone, and makes him retire in Rivendell) is a remarkable statement about just how powerful that inner restlessness must have been. And at the very end, in the Grey Havens, when he’s on the boat to the West, the very last thing he says is an expression of joy that there is at yet another adventure to go to. Here’s the birthday sequence for you all to enjoy and be sentimental about with me:



And the extended edition version, which has the Bilbo-Frodo moment I mentioned earlier:

In a hole in a ground, there lived a hobbit.



( Et in Hobbiton Ego )

This is why German book fairs are the best. I mean, clearly. Where else can you see Thranduil in his comfy slippers on the lookout for the latest bestsellers in Sindarin and Quenya?

Finished the Yuletide treat as well and sent it off to be beta'd. Phew. I wasn't sure whether I'd manage to finish the story in time this year, and I really wanted to because it's been churning in me for a good long while, and the recipient is a treasure.


Also, post Battle of the Five Armies hurt/comfort fics, because of course yours truly is in the market for them. Just to be on the very safe side, I shall employ a spoiler cut, decades old book or not.

( Spoilery recs await )

I'm at a conference right now, but I just have to share these marvellous stories. Tolkienverse fanfiction (can be read by bookverse purists or movieverse friendly readers)


The Mercy of the Fallen: in which Elrond (and his twin brother Elros) have a complicated childhood. (It involves being raised by the men who killed their family.)

In the Service of the Elven King: In which a young Aragorn is introduced to Thranduil by Gandalf, and three quite different perspectives clash - and meld.

We have two book fairs in Germany, one in autumn in Frankfurt and one in spring in Leipzig; I'm currently at the second one, which is why it'll take me a while to catch up with fannish tv etc. However, I spotted the TARDIS herself as well as Kili and Fili at the book fair, not to mention I heard world famous cinematographer Michael Ballhaus dish about Scorsese, Fassbinder, Jack Nicholson and Joe Pesci. More, with pictorial proof and illustration, under the cut to protect your innocent eyes.

( Leipzig Book Fair in Sci Fi Technicolour )

Nominations for the Rarewomen ficathon are discussed here; I wonder whether one can still nominate Judi Dench's M, or whether the fact her letter, if not herself shows upon the juggernaut of Bond/Q stories means she doesn't qualify as a rare woman anymore?

On to some fanfic recs:

Harry Potter:

One of the most fascinating aspects of the last HP novel was to me the backstory about Dumbledore (and relations); one of the more overlooked characters in the fannish HPverse, as far as an occasional visitor like myself can tell, is Horace Slughorn. (Despite the fact that, Phineas Nigellus the portrait aside, he's the one adult Slytherin character who as far as we know never at any point in his life went Dark Side and who consistently fights against Voldemort.) (I suppose it's the lack of sexiness?) So I was very glad to come across this little gem featuring Slughorn, Albus and Aberforth Dumbledore during events of Half-Blood Prince; you need to know the Deathly Hallows revealed backstory about the Dumbledores to understand what's going on between the brothers, but we're in Slughorn's pov, and it's a lovely character piece about three people - and a Christmas story to boot!

The Messenger


The Hobbit:

If you haven't read the novel and only know the movies, this one contains spoilers for the likely events of the third movie based on the book. It's a terrific Thorin character portrait.

but oh, my heart was flawed (7042 words) by lacking
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit (Jackson movies)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Relationships: Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield
Characters: Thorin Oakenshield, Bilbo Baggins, Durin Family - Character, Dís, Frerin, Fíli, Kíli, Balin, Dwalin, Thranduil, Bard of Laketown, Galadriel
Additional Tags: Character Study, Canonical Character Death, Non-Chronological, Gold Sickness
Summary:

Thorin hopes the story of his life will not be told as a tragedy. And as he looks back on it all, watching for glimpses of sky through the swaying flap of his tent, it’s finally become clear to him that there was never another way for this to end.

Breaking Bad:

Jesse between seasons 2 and 3, in recovery. Or not.

12 Steps/2 Planes/1 Day at a Time (3373 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Breaking Bad
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Relationships: Jane Margolis/Jesse Pinkman
Characters: Jesse Pinkman, Walter White
Additional Tags: Canon Compliant, Drug Withdrawal, Recovery
Summary:

Jesse spends 45 days coming to terms with who he is and what he's done.

How better to begin the new year than with a look back at the last? :)

1. Your main fandom of the year?

I'm a fandom polygamist, always was, always will be. However, I think the fandoms that occupied me a bit more than the others this year were Breaking Bad and Once upon a Time.


2. Your favourite film watched this year?

Wadjda, my review of same linked, which was absolutely amazing and would have been even if it wasn't a) the first Saudi Arabian big screen movie, b) the first Saudi Arabian film directed by a woman, and c) all about a girl.

Runner-up: Iron Man III, which broke the curse of the third movie in a popular franchise being weaker than the previous ones, was highly entertaining and provided a good wrap up to the Iron Man films while leaving Tony and friends available for Avengers shenanigans.
.

3. Your favourite book read this year?

It's a tie between Steel Blues, which is just the kind of ensemble adventure with great character stuff I love, and the first volume of Mark Lewisohn's monumental Beatles biography.


4. Your favourite TV show of the year?

It was a very good year for tv, both new (how so awesome, Orphan Black?), and recurring/finishing, but this, too, is a tie of the two named in 1). Though if you push me: Breaking Bad. Because it is complete now and thus one can say it really remained and ended as one of the most amazing accomplishments on tv.


5. Your favourite online fandom community of the year?

I loved the disussion of The Charioteer which naraht was hosting on her journal, but as far as communities go: 2ceuponatime, which will resume its s1 rewatch now that the show proper is on hiatus. It makes think of b5_revisited a few years ago.


6. Your best new fandom discovery of the year?

Considering I didn't discover BB this year but did start to marathon Once upon a Time after Christmas last year, it's the fairy tale show, together with Orphan Black which I marathoned in the summer, and Bates Motel (ditto). Of these three, Orphan Black wins in sheer quality, but Once upon a Time in terms of my emotional investment.


7. Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?

Homeland. Alas.


8. Your TV boyfriend of the year?

Tricky. I don't really have one in the sense the meme means, I suppose, and in terms of my male tv loves of years past (and forever - Londo Mollari, I will never quit you *g*). Not that I didn't like various male characters, sometimes a lot, but never in the sense of crushing on them. Although, you know, if I had to pick one to have an affair with, well, err, I'd probably go for Rodrigo Borgia, him being Pope not withstanding, in the hope I'd get a graceful exit like Giulia and not a bloody demise courtesy of general scheming in Rome.

9. Your TV girlfriend of the year?

Norma Bates. As she's ever so doomed by narrative, I'm trying to steel myself for the inevitable. But Norma is such a vivid, rich character, impulsive, loving, controlling, repressive, resourceful, mamma bearish, hopelessly damaged, helplessly damaging.

10. Your biggest squee moment of the year?

The Day of the Doctor was everything I'd hoped the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special would be. Also, in April I saw Helen Mirren and Judi Dench both on stage in London. Don't make me choose.

(The amazing last bunch of Breaking Bad episodes, particularly Ozymandias, certainly left me breathless, emotionally wrung through and pulse racing, but squee is the wrong term for what I felt.)


11. The most missed of your old fandoms?

You know, I always go periodically back to my old fandoms like Star Trek or Babylon 5 or Highlander, so I can't say I miss them. Writing a Torchwoodstory for this year's DW remix made me rewatch a lot more TW than was needed for the story and made me miss the show, but most certainly not the fandom, the majority which I always remained at a cautious distance from due to my utter lack of Jack/Ianto shipping.

12. The fandom you haven’t tried yet, but want to?

Other than Slings and Arrows, which the "this year I really will do it!" show to marathon, I'm now tentatively eyeing Sleepy Hollow and The Americans.

13. Your biggest fan anticipations for the New Year?

Orphan Black, season 2: will it keep up the quality or have a second year downfall? Also, seeing MCU Natasha Romanov again in Captain America II, and watching the third part of The Hobbit.