Comes Around Again

Fanfiction
Title:	Comes Around Again
Author(s):	scarletjedi
Date(s):	2014-08-02 - June 30, 2021
Length:	51 chapters (577879 words)
Genre:
Fandom:	The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings
External Links:	Comes Around Again
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Comes Around Again is the first book of a wip series titled Third By Experience a Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit fanfic by scarletjedi that follows Gimli time-travelling into his younger self's body right before the events of the Hobbit on his deathbed. The fix-it fic features established relationship Gimli/Legolas, and Bagginshield as major components, and blends both book and movie canon. It is well-known within Hobbit fandom, and has inspired fanart. As of June 2023, it is the fic with the second-most kudos in Lord of the Rings fandom on AO3.

Comes Around Again is intended to be the first book of five, but the books are currently on hiatus in 2023. The second book, We Are Made Wise currently has 26k words.

Summary

Gimli closes his eyes, an old Dwarf on the brink of death in the home he had built with his husband in the Undying Lands, and opens them again as a young Dwarf in his childhood home in Ered Luin. He's returned to the tumultuous week before The Company set out to recruit their Burglar from his cosy hobbit hole. Gimli, once again a impetuous teen in the eyes of his family, must get into that Company--the lives of his loved ones, and the very fate of Middle Earth--depends on it.

Fandom and Fan Influences

Parts of Comes Around Again may be fanon inspired by Sansûkh by determamfidd .

Fanworks

• Podfic by [the_dragongirl]

Fanart

The fic features embedded fanart by koori, such as pieces like

• art of gimli and legolas
• cover of we are made wise

Other fanwork includes:

• Legolas and Gimli by jaegervega on tumblr
• Comic depicting the opening of the book by jaegervega
• Gimli, with lines by jaegervega and coloring by daindrawstuff
• Legolas and Gimli on his deathbed by lexidafree
• sketches and comic of Fili and Legolas bonding and comic of Gigolas relationship reveal (chapter 25) by rhinocio
• "My love, what happened to your beard!" by deheerkonijn

Reactions and Reviews

Recommendation: This is one of my most favorite fanfictions of all time, any fandom, any pairing, just full stop. I will admit that I have a heavy bias because I’m such a Tolkien nerd, but even so, this is so well executed that I would even be so bold as to put it in the same conversation as Sansûkh. I love this Gimli, he is everything that is wonderful about dwarves while still being a fun and likable character. I love the outsider’s perspective of the Company and of the Quest as well. As it stands now, the author has begun a sequel that I have very high hopes for and plans to start once it’s moved along a little ways.

[...] If you’re reading this and haven’t read Comes Around Again, please give it a peek – you won’t be disappointed! I love all the cultural building for the dwarves the author goes into - the world they create is soooo rich and dynamic!! :)

For the person asking for time travel fics, since a lot of the recs were for LOTR, can I recommend Comes around Again by scarletjedi? It's a timetravel fixit fic in which it is neither Thorin nor Filli nor Killi nor Bilbo who goes back in time and makes the death of the dragon better with foreknowledge, but Gimli. It's got a REALLY interesting view on how time travel would affect an elf's memories, heavy book themes and characterization, and Gimli and Legolas being gross husbands. It's perfect.

Thoughts: I’m a big sucker for retellings of cannon, and this one is just lovely. I’m always leery of established relationship tags, but this story does the pining so well it feels like you get both for the price of one. Scarletjedi is also one of those authors who I would recommend reading through their entire catalog as well because there is not a dud amongst them.