A Bagginshield Sleeping Beauty AU
Bilbo has heard fairytales of the lost prince of the dwarves, Thorin son of Thrain, who disappeared the day Smaug attacked the Lonely Mountain. But he does not believe in fairytales until he comes across the dwarf sleeping in the depths of Erebor, and kisses him back to life.
Now Thorin - a hundred and fifty years out of his time - has to confront a world in which his city is empty, his people scattered, his baby brother Frerin is king, two nephews he’s never met are missing in action, and a war is brewing right on his doorstep.
Pairings: Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield, Bilbo Baggins/Frerin (Unrequited), Kili/Tauriel
Cropped preview of an ebook/book cover I’m working on for this fantastic fic. I was hoping to finish it for @anunexpectedanniversary! But since real life seems to have gotten in the way a semi-banner it is!
(That’s supposed to be Frerin btw. And yes that’s Hugh Jackman. Sorry Bilbo and Thorin weren’t ready yet!)
Anyway, this is a BRILLIANT fanfiction that I highly highly recommend. Not the usual Sleeping Beauty trope and so so so amazingly well fleshed out. It is just so painful and beautiful and good. With wonderful character development–particularly for Fíli, Dís, and Frerin. And a very different twist on Bagginshield! A truly defining story in the “What If” genre.
A blank, my lord. She never told her love,
But let concealment, like a worm i' the bud,
Feed on her damask cheek: she pined in thought,
And with a green and yellow melancholy
She sat like patience on a monument,
Smiling at grief. Was not this love indeed?”
Thirteenth Night by Nelpher
When Hermione is assigned to keep tabs on a memory-charmed Draco, she is faced with a decision that could change her life forever.
Highly recommended! Loved it so much, it actually made me go read Shakespeare’s Thirteenth Night right after (which is also excellent reading).
Originally posted to DA [here]. And borrowed Draco for the photoshop from [this] lovely image.
by caffeineheroes (Laurfinde) || Words: 755 || Read on AO3 [here]
Summary:
“You know sometimes I wonder…”
“What?” Steve asks.
"Well, if I hadn’t been Iron Man and you hadn’t been Captain America. And you and I had just-- met.”
“Yeah, yeah. I would have asked for your number. And I wouldn’t have been able to wait 24 hours before calling you up and saying ‘hey, how bout some coffee, or drinks, or dinner, or a movie’….for as long as we both shall live.”
Steve’s eyebrows shoot up and he leans forward, confused. This is most definitely not the conversation he had been expecting. “Tony…”
But Tony, not to be deterred, continues on. “And you and I would never have been at war. And the only thing we’d fight about would be which video to rent on a Saturday night.”
Notes:
Inspired by (and borrowing) dialogue from You've Got Mail. Those lines were just made for Stony!
Post-Civil War AU. Set in 616-universe, but could also apply to MCU (Civil War's coming), EMH, or whatever version of Stony. I kind of like to think of them all as one universe in a tenth dimension kind of way.
Tony Stark dodges a blow to his right shoulder, only to realize too late it wasn’t the real target. Captain America knocks his feet out from under him and he hits the mats like one of Cap’s punching bags. Tony puts his hands up in surrender. The gesture is somewhat mocking, but in reality his right knee isn’t feeling completely fantastic. Practically living in the Iron Man suit for three months didn’t do Tony any favors, and without Extremis…well, he was never able to compete with Cap.
Steve Rogers begins to quirk his lips in a small, triumphant smile. The gesture, still automatic, was once frequently directed at Iron Man. Steve quickly turns around to hide it and makes his way over to one of the gym benches, grabbing a towel. He's clearly not worn out like Tony is, but still managed to work up a good sweat. Draping the towel across his shoulders, Steve leans against a nearby wall and slides to the floor. He's missed this. And wasn't that a sobering thought?
Tony notices the change in atmosphere and grabs a couple of water bottles from the cooler. He tosses one to Steve, then collapses to the floor as he takes a long gulp of some H-two-O. They sit in almost awkward silence for a moment. Despite hugging it out after Asgard, Tony was still unsettled. Not over the hug, but because it had dredged up old feelings Tony'd had about Cap long before Civil War. And now there was a palpable tension between them. They were working themselves back to normal, but still dancing around each other like they had in the early Avenger days. It unearthed a little glimmer of hope Tony thought buried and gone.
Did Steve feel it too? Maybe there had always been something there—something mutual—even before SHRA. Tony looks over to Steve whose resting his head against the wall with his eyes closed. It seemed like Steve was finally letting down some barriers. Learning to trust Tony again. So maybe this wasn't the best idea, but Tony’d been a few gunshots too late before. No time like the present, right?
“You know sometimes I wonder…”
“What?” Steve asks.
“Well, if I hadn’t been Iron Man and you hadn’t been Captain America. And you and I had just-- met.”
Steve opens his eyes and glances over briefly. Civil War. “I know.”
“Yeah, yeah. I would have asked for your number. And I wouldn’t have been able to wait 24 hours before calling you up and saying ‘hey, how bout some coffee, or drinks, or dinner, or a movie’….for as long as we both shall live.”
Steve’s eyebrows shoot up and he leans forward, confused. This is most definitely not the conversation he had been expecting. “Tony…”
But Tony, not to be deterred, continues on. “And you and I would never have been at war. And the only thing we’d fight about would be which video to rent on a Saturday night.”
“Well, who fights about that?”
“Some people…Not us.”
“We would never.”
Tony smiles softly at the playful turn of conversation, but he looks down, avoiding eye contact. “…if only.”
Steve’s Avengers ID beeps, signaling him about whatever new disaster has been cooked up to terrorize New York. “Damn.” He looks down at the message. He was almost relieved to read Dr. Doom had unleashed Doom Bots on Central Park. This conversation was bringing up a whole slew of things Steve had buried a long time ago. And he didn’t know if he was ready to face them yet. “I gotta go.”
Tony looks back up, eyes wide and startled back into action by the interruption. “Look—before you go rushing off with the cavalry, let me ask you something…” He looks away for a moment, then focuses his eyes back on Steve. “How can you—”
The ID goes off again, the alert more insistent this time. Tony swallows his words with apparent distress, but Steve is not equipped to handle this right now. Nor does he have the time. He turns away to hide the rising internal panic and grabs his shield, leaning against the wall behind him. Dr. Doom is something he does know how to deal with. “I really have to go.”
When he turns back around, shield in hand, Tony’s face has closed itself off. He looks down and then up, giving Steve a tight smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “Yeah, well—you don’t want to be late.”
Elephant Walk by everythursday
Every decision defines us long before we realize the shapes it will create, or the ones in which it will destroy.
Wonderful fic with some very thoughtful, philosophical bits. I also loved the non-linear storytelling. (Don't want to say more than that for fear of ruining it!) And sorry, guys! I think you need a dramione account to read. But worth the effort to make one. [Source] for original.
Poem I did a very long time ago for school to imitate Beowulf’s style, and what better inspiration than Tolkien? It is meant to be read both horizontally (the usual way) and vertically (by column).
—Laurfinde [x]
Photographs and books, they break down, can be burnt
Memories die and become one with the dirt
Songs are forgotten, and like technology, lost
And that, my friend, I tell you that is the cost.
It was all for religion, or for power, or gold
But for the countless who died, their stories remain untold.
No matter how nice or how cruel, or the things that they knew
All of it's lost—their lives brief as morning's dew
How long is the past written in stone?
We don't last forever, not even our bones.
The memories we leave behind fade
Just like the crumbling empires we made.
Our ideas, our dreams are corroded by time.
Past and future written in water: nature's greatest crime.
Bilbo stands at the prow of the Elven ship, his face weathered from age, overlooking an approaching white shore. Far in the distance, where the coast meets a green countryside, Thorin Oakenshield stands, waiting with Fíli and Kíli at his side.
The Hobbit sees him as the ship docks. Leaping off, Bilbo once again becomes the young burglar who ventured to the Lonely Mountain with thirteen dwarves and a wizard eighty years ago. Bilbo stops just short of Thorin, who smiles softly as he bows.
“At your service, Master Baggins.”
Bilbo has not heard that rich baritone since apologies hastily given on a battlefield littered with broken shields and shattered souls. When Thorin raises his head, Bilbo sees a face younger than the one he used to know, bereft of the lines and grey that came of a long wandering king. Yet Thorin’s eyes are the same piercing blue, bearing the weight of his past, but also a new peacefulness that came from stone halls eternal.
Bilbo smiles and closes the distance, embracing his friend.
“At last, I am home.”
[1] Dwarves go to the Halls of Mandos too! And although the halls are described as black lit by the dew of Telperion, that’s for Elves who were born under the stars. Dwarves wait in “halls set apart,” so what else but in ones of stone just like they were born? I’d like to think they also get to leave like the Elves do.
[2] There's no way Bilbo's going to spend eternity in Valinor with the body of a 131-year-old Hobbit.
As a Dark revival begins to rise four years after the war, Hermione Granger is placed on the assignment of putting an end to them – and her first task is to recruit the Ministry's best hope and last option in the form of Draco Malfoy.
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Awesome fic. And sorry, guys! I think you need a dramione account to read. But worth the effort to make one.
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