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#pippin and diamond
emilybeemartin · 3 months
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Illustrations from chapter 1, sort of a grab bag, stylistically, because I did a lot of them in the process of writing, instead of as one big batch.
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mistergandalf · 1 year
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ULTIMATE TOLKIEN BLORBO: ROUND ONE
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GIMLI vs. PEREGRIN "PIPPIN" TOOK
See the ULTIMATE TOLKIEN BLORBO MASTERPOST for details and follow #ultimate tolkien blorbo to cast your vote for the blorbiest blorbo of all!
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velvet4510 · 7 months
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Is it just me, or do y’all also sorta wish that Jackson had filmed Appendix B as the actual ending of ROTK? Clearly, as you’ll see, I have relatively normal feelings about this.
I understand and appreciate the movie having the same ending as the actual book. But the STORY itself doesn’t end with the last chapter; it ends with Appendix B.
Imagine a 2-minute montage, fading in after Sam comes home from the Grey Havens:
An unfamiliar female voice narrates over these images:
Sam & Rosie raising their children at Bag End; Sam reading the Red Book aloud to the children.
Sam making a speech as Mayor.
Sam sitting in Bag End’s study, reading a letter signed ‘Frodo,’ which Frodo clearly left for him.
Pippin & Diamond’s wedding.
Merry & Estella’s wedding.
Aragorn & Arwen with their children in Minas Tirith.
Aragorn dedicating and unveiling a tall statue of Frodo & Sam in Minas Tirith.
Legolas restoring the destroyed forests.
Gimli bringing the dwarves to Helm’s Deep.
Faramir & Éowyn with their children in Ithilien.
Teenage Elanor reading the Red Book by herself and reading a letter or poem that Frodo wrote for her before he sailed away (because, come on, he was a 2nd dad to her. he literally named her. he adored her, so of course he left something for her since she was too young to actually remember him).
Aragorn & Arwen visiting Sam, Merry, Pippin and their wives & children at the Brandywine Bridge.
The Gardner, Took & Brandybuck families all celebrating Yule together.
Time passing … the Travellers aging … the children growing up.
Teenage Elanor introducing Fastred to her parents.
Faramir Took and Goldilocks Gardner dancing at a party, transitioning to a dance at their wedding.
Sam and his son Frodo teaching Frodo’s own young son how to work in the garden.
The seasons in the Shire changing as more years go by…
Elderly Sam and his now-adult children gathered around elderly Rosie’s deathbed.
Elderly Sam sitting alone in Bag End’s beautiful, flourishing garden with a faraway look on his face, pulling Frodo’s now-wrinkled letter out of his pocket and reading it again.
Elderly Sam, Merry & Pippin sharing one last drink at the Green Dragon, followed by a tearful group embrace.
(I know the following messes up the book’s timeline, but for dramatic effect, I think this order of events would work better as a close for the film):
Elderly Merry & elderly Pippin hugging their adult sons goodbye and riding out of the Shire together.
Merry & Pippin shaking hands with elderly Éomer in Rohan.
Merry & Pippin’s gravestones in Gondor, with a statue of them standing above their tomb.
Aragorn’s tomb now beside theirs, years later.
Arwen hugging Eldarion goodbye in his throne room, with Eldarion now wearing the king’s crown.
Arwen entering Lothlórien alone.
Legolas hopping into a small sailboat and helping an aged Gimli onboard before they drift off into the sunset.
Sam placing the Red Book in adult Elanor’s hands and embracing her tightly.
A ship pulling away from the Grey Havens.
Elanor standing on the quayside and tearfully waving as the ship disappears into the horizon. She composes herself and her narration says “And that day, my dear Sam-dad passed over the Sea … the last of the Ring-bearers.”
Her words lead into the very last shot, fading from her face into a flash of white, and then fade-in to a distant view of an island, with greenery on one side and a sparkling beach on the other. Two hobbits, their backs to us, are strolling along the coastline, hand-in-hand.
THE END.
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frodo-with-glasses · 1 year
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Discord Highlights: Hobbit Babies
This discussion got very chaotic very quickly lol but I've done my best to sort it all by category. Enjoy!
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Topic One: Sam's Kids
InvisibleWashboard:
If I’m allowing myself the privilege of indulging in AU where Frodo doesn’t leave, I often imagine Elanor calls him [Fro]. But she is the only one who is allowed to.
meg is me:
"Fwo" Frodo, lifting a cup in his hand: "throw?" "No! Fwo!"
novelmonger:
I've been imagining Elanor calling him "Unca Fodo."
And then there's "Unca Mewwy" and "Pip-Pip." (Pippin tries to get her to call him Uncle too, but it doesn't work. He's not Unc-y enough 😂)
InvisibleWashboard:
Stop it I’m dying from cuteness.
meg is me:
Can you imagine when elanor was born and sam was like all tender and amazed and he was like "lets call him frodo" and rosie was like. She's a girl, Sam And Sam was like..... so excited to name his son frodo that he forgot it might not be a son XD
Me:
I love that he canonically didn’t even consider that she MIGHT be a girl until she came out as one 🤣🤣 “We were all set to name him Frodo! But, well, ah. He’s a she. :-C”
meg is me:
I love sam Bless sam
I desperately hope that Sam's son Bilbo was 10x worthy of the name 😂
Me:
Bilbo Gamgee was an utter gremlin
Writing Valkyrie:
He just recites poetry to get out of punishment. Sometimes it works.
meg is me:
"First he's robbing the pantry. Next he'll be robbing dragons- THAT'S MY WEDDING RING"
Me:
Bilbo Jr. tells his friends about how he, too, won his ring in a game of wits against a nasty, ugly creature while Sam is over there waiting for him to give his wedding band back like >:-C
meg is me:
Better yet His older siblings And they half believe him because quote "Daddy is rather ugly" and Elanor gets SO offended on dear old Sam's behalf
Elanor could be overheard hugging her dad and saying "don't worry you're very handsome" Sam just laughs
Me:
“Well your mother thinks I’m handsome, and that’s all that matters ;-)” Cue the chorus of “EWWW”
Windmill to the Stars:
100% something my dad would say XD
meg is me:
It's split between ewwww and awwww Bby frodo ships his dad and mom so hard and is ecstatic to learn that they have in fact gotten married to each other
Me:
“So you’ll be together?? FOREVER??” “Indeed we will, lad!” “8-D”
Frodo Jr. ships his mom and dad almost as hard as his namesake did
InvisibleWashboard:
So Frodo-lad is not the little boy who is disappointed when he learns he can’t marry Rosie when he grows up, but was baby Elanor initially devastated when Rosie had to tell her, “You can’t marry Sam-dad love, he’s already married to me.”??
Me:
Oh my word I love that ahaha Elanor is 100% a daddy's girl
Windmill to the Stars:
In the epilogue she calls him "Sam-dad"
InvisibleWashboard:
Sam-dad and Rose-mum just absolutely freaking melts my heart every time I think about it. I don’t know why.
meg is me:
He loves his family so so much
Me:
See I know it says in the epilogue that Frodo Jr. is the spitting image of Sam, but part of me can’t help imagining that he looks like Elijah Wood’s Frodo… Brown curly hair and all that
meg is me:
Speaking of facts disproved by the appendices but true in my bones Merry and Pippin Gamgee are twins
Me:
oh my word I love that
InvisibleWashboard:
I like that this is true in your bones and not in your heart. Because the heart is fickle and can be changed by things like canon. Bones are more stubborn. Sometimes not even canon can break them.
meg is me:
I adore that they aren't named Meriadoc and Peregrin but rather Merry and Pippin Sam took his dad's advice to heart- if you give them a short name you don't need to worry about nicknames Guess old Gaffer learned from needing to shorten his son's names to Ham, Sam, etc
Me:
“I’m not giving my boys those fru-fru gentlehobbit names, they’ll have short names like sensible folk”
meg is me:
Pippin casually mentions to Sam if it's a boy maybe we'll name him Aragorn Strider Elessar, Gorn for short And sam is an inch away from taking custody of Pippin's unborn child
Me:
HAHAHA PIPPIN NO
Topic Two: Merry's Kids
InvisibleWashboard:
I head canon Merry being that way with his kids only he desperately wants a girl so he can name her Eowyn.
meg is me:
Merry has Boromir, Eomer, and like 3 other sons before baby Eowyn comes into the world
Me:
Would Merry even feel worthy of naming a son Theoden?? I feel like he’d want to, but…
meg is me:
Ok but bby Theo With his little curls
InvisibleWashboard:
Theodoc.
meg is me:
Theodocuments
Me:
THEODOC I LOVE IT NO LISTEN I AM 100% ADOPTING THEODOC INTO MY BELIEF SYSTEM ‘CAUSE IT JUST F I T S
Windmill to the Stars:
Part of me wants Merry to half-jokingly ship his daughter Eowyn with Faramir Took. Partially just so he and Pip can share grandkids
Me:
There’s no canon evidence that to disprove that some OTHER pair of their children ended up getting married! X-D
Topic Three: Pippin's Kids
meg is me:
I wrote a fic where Pip had a daughter named Sable because my best friend at the time was named Sable and the only place the word sable was found in lotr was in regards to Pip's tower guard uniform
Me:
That's so sweet oh my word
meg is me:
Pippin in many ways will never mature and I love him for it I'm still stuck on him and diamond naming their kids the most obscure things after Merry stole all the Friend Names besides Faramir The tooks already sound Outlandish
Pippin and diamond would be that couple who wants to choose Unique baby names but their friends keep reining them in "Let's name him TREEBEARD" "hmm and Enta for a girl" Sam: do you HEAR YOURSELVES
Windmill to the Stars:
What nickname would Pippin give to his son Faramir?
Kasey Gondor:
Furry
Me:
Progressively shortened more and more until it’s just “Ra”
InvisibleWashboard:
Faramir refuses any and all nicknames anyone attempts to give him ever.
Windmill to the Stars:
Faramir is "Me, an Intellectual" from an early age XD
meg is me:
He started "courting" lil Goldilocks at age 7 and Sam wants to be mad but it reminds him so much of him and Rosie that he lets Faramir Took pick the flowers from his garden to give to his daughter
Goldilocks: daddy fair-meer picked MY flowers! 😄 Sam: ....we planted those together, sweetheart Sam: beyond pleased for you, lass
Me:
Sam sitting down with little Faramir Took and having a Very Serious Talk that if he intends to court sweet little Goldilocks he’ll have to be very kind and good and generous to her and always look out for her good above his own even if it’s hard and it hurts
Faramir was like 9, and all Sam was concerned about was Faramir pushing her and pulling her hair and stealing the berries out of her picnic basket, but it stuck
Years later, after the wedding, Faramir tells Sam that he’s never forgotten that talk and it absolutely changed his life and Sam is like “wot” cuz he’d forgotten all about it
InvisibleWashboard:
NO STOP IT THAT IS TOO CUTE
Windmill to the Stars (re: nicknames):
Ferry to rhyme with Merry, and lil Faramir HATES it
meg is me:
THIS IS CANON TO ME STARTING NOW
InvisibleWashboard:
That is so good I adore it!
meg is me:
Pippin: "hop in the cart fam we're going to Buckland" everyone looks at faramir Faramir: "don't" Pippin: "We're gonna go on the FERRY"
Me:
EYYYYYY
Merry, meanwhile, calls him Master Faramir, and this is why Merry is his favorite uncle
meg is me:
perfection
InvisibleWashboard is @invisiblewashboard, novelmonger is @novelmonger, Writing Valkyrie is @writingvalkyrie, Windmill to the Stars is @windmilltothestars, Kasey Gondor is @captaingondor, and meg is me does not have tumblr :-3
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hetaczechia · 1 month
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Spotify Ad: Did you know that babies' skin is super absorbent?
Pippin: Really? Well, I did just spill my coffee and we are out paper towels... [Reaches for Baby Faramir]
Diamond, taking Baby Faramir away: Don't you dare
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The Fourth Age: Peregrin Took
A.K.A. Pippin, The Thain
Wed Diamond of Long Cleeve
Father of Faramir Took, who marries Goldilocks Gamgee
Becomes the Thain, and a Counsellor of the North-Kingdom along with Master Meriadoc of Buckland and Mayor Samwise of The Shire
Peregrin the Thain names Fastred Fairbairn (husband to Elanor and father to Elfstan) to be Warden of Westmarch
Hands over goods and offices to Faramir and rides away with Merry to Edoras
Also laid to rest alongside King Elessar
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warrioreowynofrohan · 8 months
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Favourite Female Tolkien Character Poll - Round 2, Match 19
Pearl Took
Quotation is from The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, letter 214:
A well-known case, also, was that of Lalia the Great (or less courteously the Fat). Fortinbras II, one time head of the Tooks and Thain, married Lalia of the Clayhangers in 1314 [Shire-reckoning], when he was 36 and she was 31. He died in 1380 at the age of of 102, but she long outlived him, coming to an unfortunate end in 1402 at the age of 119. So she ruled the Tooks and the Great Smails for 22 years, a grand and memorable, if not universally beloved, ‘matriarch’. She was not at the famous Party (SY 1401), but was prevented from attending rather by her great size and immobility than by her age. Her son, Fenumbras, had no wife, being unable (it was alleged) to find anyone willing to occupy apartments in the Great Smials, under the rule of Lalia. Lalia, in her last and fattest years, had the custom of being wheeled to the Great Door, to take the air on a fine morning. In the spring of SY 1402 her clumsy attendant let the heavy chair run over the threshold and tipped Lalia down the flight of steps into the garden. So ended a reign and life that might well have rivalled that of the Great Took.
It was widely rumoured that the attendant was Pearl (Pippin’s sister), though the Tooks tried to keep the matter within the family. At the celebration of Fenumbras’ accession the displeasure and regret of the family was formally expressed by the exclusion of Pearl from the ceremony and feast; but it did not escape notice that later (after a decent interval) she appeared in a splendid necklace of her name-jewels that had long lain in the hoard of the Thains.
Pearl was Pippin’s older sister. She was 27 at the time of the incident; Pippin was twelve. All his siblings had P-names (Pearl, Pimpernel, Pervinca, Peregrin).
Diamond of Long Cleeve
Married Pippin in the year 1427 of Shire-reckoning (8 years after the War of the Ring). Three years later, they had a son, Faramir. (Source: LOTR Appendices B and C.)
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frodothefair · 7 months
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Yesterday I was driving and came up with some broad strokes of the Pippin/Diamond ship.
Typical opposites attract, but what can you do.
Pippin essentially has ADHD - from the moment he could move, he could never sit still, could never remember anything or keep his mind on anything unless it interested him immensely. And nothing really did interest him immensely, except perhaps music. His parents were fond of saying that if he were not the son of The Took, he would have come to grief a long time ago. He barely learned to read, preferring to throw spit balls at his siblings when they had their lessons with their tutor. He spent his tweenage years smoking pipe weed (which, oddly enough, settled him down) and running wild throughout the country with his closest friends. The Battle of Bywater brought him a newfound respect in the community, with many of the other hobbits coming to him for aid and advice when his father was not available. His adventure made him rather more interesting to the Tooks, but at his heart he still felt like the Fool of a Took, and a fraud. The only time he felt comfortable, and himself, was when he composed and sang sons for the many weddings that took place after the Scouring.
Diamond Took of Long Cleave had to grow up early. Both her parents passed away, and her great-aunt, who became her guardian, was an ailing hypochondriac like Emma's father in Emma. At the same time, the Tooks of Long Cleave had a large estate to farm, and a sizeable smial to maintain, and it was all falling into disrepair.
Luckily, Diamond had an extraordinary memory. She remenbered everything from how the harvest went 14 years ago when the Chubbs experimented with rutabagas, to how many coins each servant had been paid, to what tenant had what skill, and where her aunt had put her pins an hour ago. By twenty, she was running the household and estate with a sober, firm hand, and had an encyclopedic knowledge of farming and animal husbandry, as well as a preternatural ability to compute four-digit sums in her head. She was universally acknowledged as one of the most clever hobbits in the Shire.
But was she happy? She had no friends her own age. She did not know how to play, or flirt, or make casual conversation. She had a fanatical interest in wild flowers, insects, birds, and animals, and could tell them apart on sight and reel off long lists of facts about them on command. She unwound at the end of a day by taking long walks, and communing with nature. (Does this remind you of any other form of neurodivergence?)
She meets Pippin at a wedding where he sings. After an awkward start to their conversation, he is fascinated by her interest in the plants and animals he had encountered in his travels ("why that of all things?!," he thinks) and she is compassionate to his difficulties in learning to run his estate and help his father, so he asks her to go for a walk.
Should I add this to my pipeline of fic ideas?
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thrashntreasure · 7 months
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Ep17 The Gospel According to Andy w/ Andy Dowling! (LORD)
SAY WHAT?! Who knew Gareth had friends?! LORD's (only) Bassist Andy Dowling (The Andy Social Podcast) drops into the studio, but is he brave enough to subject himself to one of Aaron's infamous reviews of LORD's music- or will he chicken out?! PLUS, Aaron goes to war against Gareth and Andy with the hit, surrealist musical PIPPIN! Plus we chat Touring, Steffi D, RuPaul's Drag Race, and heeeaaps more! twitter.com/AndyDowling -- Andy-Social Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/2KeIeCxEfCQpltORsX524o -- https://open.spotify.com/artist/6mLDXLOEh4fcvxm5ICKfhE
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cynassa · 6 months
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countermelody
1.
Gimli has witnessed, before this, the grief of a father or a mother who has outlived their child. Even as his craft lay elsewhere, like all young and strong Dwarves half his life was in the military. As he grew in stature and wisdom, he had begun to lead patrols, or even the occasional skirmish against orcs and spiders and other dark creatures innumerable and unnamed. With this came the duty of going to parents and telling them that their child had perished bravely and gained much glory, whether it was true or not. Perhaps it brought them some peace, although Gimli doubted it.
Some of that grief he could see in Elrond's face, from time to time, as the day wore on, and the gentle lordliness occasionally slipped away to reveal the father. More than one parent, in Gimli's knowledge, quietly gave themselves to the forge after completing their child's last rites, but elves, of course, had no such recourse.
So Gimli dances, when Legolas and Pippin drag him off, and drinks as much as he can to the King and his new Queen's happy marriage, he scatters gold according to his own customs, and flowers according to elven, and cheers when the bride and groom dance on a shield until it is beaten flat, as the custom of Gondor calls for.
And when the wedding ends, he walks long with Legolas, hither and thither, to balconies and roofs, but when they reach the final juncture he unhesitatingly goes to his own room. He does not ask.
2.
Despite what elves seem to believe, occasionally to Gimli's amusement, Dwarves too can love living things. Sometimes they even love Dwarves back. Gimli has had to gently counsel a young dwarf, not even two full decades old, to let go of a wild parrot that she had found half-dead and nursed back to health. It was almost as much a task to coax the parrot away from her, she who had fed it grain by grain when its beak was barely capable of movement. Yet, once it was out of the cold and dampness of the Mountain, it immediately burst into song, voice going from a stale croak born of disuse to the richness born of joy, calling forth many of its own kind to come sing with it. In forty years, the parrot has ever and anon come back to the edge of the forest, but it grew too dangerous to allow their children, so it could only sing from afar. Even were it willing to come back, Gimli told the dwarf, it would waste away again so far from the greenness of its home and the song of its own kind.
In the Glittering Caves of Aglarond, Legolas is as a tall young tree, and as silent as one, a shock to the eye amongst the lovely veins of ore that go line by line unending into the far deepness. His green and grey travel cloak conceals him entirely, and yet the rippling gold of his hair marks him out to the eye at once.
In Fangorn, where finally they walked only two alone, Gimli sees much to wonder at, not only in the trees and fauna around him but in his companion. Legolas seems young indeed, laughing and singing, even more than usual.
And so, even as they make a fire and lay their bedrolls, Gimli does not ask.
3.
After they had walked a long road, they rest, weary yet happy. Unknowingly, Gimli comes to tell Legolas the story of a Firebeard bride. Her Ironfoot husband took her to the far South, and she left all she had to follow him, but after the marriage they came to much misfortune. Many of his kin died and those who lived a while before succumbing told of a terrible beast who ripped them apart with claws alone.
Gimli pauses and Legolas says, with surety, "It was the bride."
"Yes," Gimli says, "and it ends very sadly, with her laying hands on her own babe. Unable to accept it when in her right mind, she ultimately took her own life."
"I pity her, although you may not," Legolas says.
"You are mistaken, she is indeed pitied by all," Gimli replies. "But we also take it as a lesson, that a diamond must be set in its own place and coal in its own."
Legolas laughs quietly. "And yet, even I, ignorant elf that I am, know that one cannot have diamonds without first having coal."
His eyes glint challengingly at Gimli, who finds himself rising to it on instinct, who says, "And yet one would not expect diamond to burn like coal, or a parrot to live long in a cave, or a father to outlive his son."
Then he flinches. I did not ask, he tells himself, surely I did not.
Legolas laughs again, ringing out like bells or the sound of a waterfall from far off, beckoning. "A parrot may nest in a tree outside a cave, and with time coal may do a diamond's task. I have outlived the deadly quest we were on, and what there is beyond this is not in my ken, but my father will not have cause to grieve me for many years yet."
"Some things cannot be asked for," Gimli says, his heart beating like it would escape his chest and fly to his love, if Legolas holds out his hand for it.
"You need not ask," Legolas replies and leans down to hold his furred cheek and chin in two long-fingered hands and kiss him like gentle rain after scorching summer.
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spinningalbinoturtle · 5 months
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The fellowship of the Kinsey scale aka LoTR characters ranked from most to least fruity
Btw this is a joke (well sort of) so don’t take any of my stereotype arguments too seriously. Although I do genuinely think most of these characters are gay.
1. Frodo- Frodo is gayest the character. He’s constantly described as queer, his deepest connection is with Sam and their relationship is incredibly romance coded. Plus he reads poetry all the time, wears his sparkly elvish top and that fall in Return of the King movie? Homosexual. Not to mention he has THE gay haircut. Man looks like a starbucks barista. Galadriel is his gay icon.
Sam- although more masculine than Frodo and also bi Sam has the second most Gay EnergyTM. He’s a bit overemotional he spends the entire series simping over Frodo and is obsessed with flowers and poetry. When his wife dies he leaves his kids to spend eternity with his husband and the elves. Gay behavior
Legolas- Legolas is a petty drama queen and I love that for him. Loves his dwarf husband. Just look at his hair-no straight man cares that much about their hair. Gay gay gay.
Gimli-a bear but in the dwarf way. Galadriel is also his gay icon. Loves his elf husband. Loves some sparkly diamonds and jewels. Lord of the GLITTERING CAVES you say? Sounds kinda fruity
Gandalf-he’s basically a minor god and thus does not conform to human ideas of sexuality and gender. Literally all the LGBTQIAs. Gandalf Big Naturals , Gandalf the Gay are just a few of this bitch’s many names.
Pippin-Y’all on this app have convinced me Pippin is not cis gender. I don’t know in what form trans, non binary, gender fluid? Honestly could be any one.
Merry-pansexual and very open about it. Just seems like a chill queer dude who smokes a ton of weed and is open to a relationship with anybody
Boromir-excessively emphasizes his straightness but has homoerotic battle moments and after battle showers with his comrades in Gondor. Very repressed bisexual
Aragorn- I think its funny if he’s the token straight but THE BIGGEST ALLY YOU WILL FIND. Literal king passes a bunch of laws enshrining LGBTQ rights cause all his friends are gay
Bonus
Faramir- is transfem and you can’t change my mind. Lesbian with her wife Eowyn. Has bi-to drag queen-to trans character arc.
Eowyn-butch lesbian horse girl and ya know what? We absolutely love her for it. After the war she has a buzzcut.
Bilbo-ace icon. I’M SORRY if you ship Bagginshield but I headcanon him as ace/aro. Hates the idea of sex but wanted kids so he adopted his gay little nephew.
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velvet4510 · 5 months
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Ok here’s a whole essay’s worth of headcanons about some of the LOTR main characters’ lives in the Fourth Age, particularly their children.
(note: some of these names and marriages I’ve invented, and some I’ve borrowed from Elenya54’s phenomenal fics “All That I Had” and “The Gift of Ilúvatar,” which have many elements that I’ve absorbed into my hc, including Frodo leaving letters for Sam & Elanor and jewelry for Rosie, as well as Legolas ending up with Frodo’s healer’s daughter. Elanor & Fastred’s historian work is mentioned in Tolkien’s appendices. Frodo-lad’s love of dwarves and Rosie-lass’ love of the Entwives are taken from Tolkien’s unpublished epilogue.)
All dates in Shire Reckoning.
Frodo wrote Sam a love letter before he left, which Sam carried in his waistcoat pocket close to his heart every day.
Frodo left a letter for Elanor to read when she was older, letting her know how much he loved her and how sorry he was that he could not be there to watch her grow; he signed the letter “your Frodo-dad,” to which Rosie referred to him as she firmly felt that her daughter had two fathers in her life before Frodo had to leave. This is why Elanor called her father “Sam-dad” all her life.
Frodo left Rosie a set of freshly-polished jewelry (necklace, earrings, and bracelet) that once belonged to his mother Primula. Rosie always cherished these trinkets and wore them to every formal event she ever attended; she lent them to Elanor to wear at her wedding to Fastred.
Sam & Rosie’s entire family adopted the Gardner surname in the year 1424.
Sam taught all his children to read and write in both Westron and Sindarin. He was known as “the People’s Mayor,” as he helped the rich and poor alike. He came to know everyone in Hobbiton, regardless of class, on a first-name basis. He advocated for literacy in the entirety of the Shire, and his agenda ultimately modernized the Shire and created new opportunities for education, including the land’s first-ever public school in Michel Delving. He managed to change many conservative minds who used to not believe in the importance of reading by emphasizing how he only was able to accomplish what he did because of the knowledge he gained from Bilbo Baggins. He also personally planted many public and private gardens in the Shire, including a memorial garden for Frodo in the Party Field; his continuation of manual labor despite his affluent position went a long way in weaking the previously strict Shire social class system.
The efforts to rebuild after the Scouring, combined with Sam’s rise from lowly gardener to Master of Bag End and Mayor, shook up the class system. Many formerly upper- and middle-class families who had lost big chunks of their fortunes in repairing the Ruffians’ damage turned to manual labor to help the work move faster. It was a humbling experience for many, and the working class gained more respect than it’d ever had before. Sam’s brothers and cousins had their hands full taking on apprentices to learn their skills and help out. As a result, the Fourth Age saw more employment for hobbits than ever before; the bourgeois lifestyle became far less common.
Rosie became a leader in her own right, helping all the poorer hobbits in one way or another. She threw many parties at Bag End, including an annual celebration on September 22nd in honor of Bilbo and Frodo. Having been taught to read and write by Sam as a child (who passed on Bilbo’s lessons to her curious mind), she set her husband’s educational goals into motion by becoming a part-time tutor for hobbit children once her own children were older and in less need of her constant care. Many of the hobbits she tutored went on to become schoolteachers. She became extremely popular and respected, and when she died, a major party was thrown in her honor that went down in Shire history alongside Bilbo’s famous party.
Legolas and Gimli paid visits to the Shire as often as they could.
Elanor was a lifelong bibliophile and linguist. While working for Queen Arwen, she became fluent in Sindarin and translated many Elvish texts in the library. She was far more interested in the Elvish language and culture than any of her siblings. Besides Elfstan and Fíriel, she and Fastred also had 4 other children: Frodo, Astred, Arwen, and Rosemary. The couple led the Westmarch community together, doing a lot of impactful philanthropic work, and created an extensive library filled with historical records of the Shire, as well as Elves and Men, all the information that Elanor could compile while working in Gondor. Elanor also was struck with many dreams throughout her life of events in the Red Book, as she vividly imagined all the descriptions she heard and read so many times. A natural empath, she developed a deep understanding of Frodo’s suffering post-quest - mainly because of the personal connection she felt with him through his letter to her - and wrote several volumes of original poetry in both Westron and Sindarin, inspired by her two fathers. She became a beloved celebrity in the Shire, and eventually throughout Middle-earth when the Queen requested and published a copy of her work (with her permission). She, her husband, and their children continued to visit Gondor through the years and maintained a lifelong friendship with the royal family. Elanor eventually surpassed Bilbo Baggins as the oldest-lived hobbit in Middle-earth history, living to the age of 133.
Frodo-lad shared his father’s deep passion for gardening and they worked together on the flowers and vegetables at Bag End every day. He often teamed up with Elanor, his best friend as well as his sister, to help their parents manage their younger siblings growing up. He developed a love of Dwarves after reading about them in the Red Book; Gimli once created and gifted to him a harmless toy dwarf axe for his birthday. He was as skilled a scholar as Elanor, but didn’t enjoy it as much as she did, preferring the outdoors. However, he did help her with her research on Shire history for her library and eventually wrote his own book on gardening. He later married a hobbit lass named Violet, who hailed from the Bunce family. Besides Holfast, they had 3 other children: Heather, Wilfred, and Lavender. Frodo eventually became Mayor after his father retired and inherited Bag End when his father left the Shire. By this time, enough residents of Hobbiton had learned to read to enable him to open the town’s first-ever public library, which included copies of his own gardening book. The title of Mayor was later taken up by Holfast after his own retirement, and then later by Holfast’s son Harding of the Hill.
Rosie-lass was an in-demand artist who sketched and painted illustrations for the Red Book as well as portraits and landscapes which were given away as mathoms. The walls of Bag End were covered with her art. Framed in her and her sisters’ bedroom was her favorite creation: a drawing of a fantasy in which she found the lost Entwives. She later married Fredegar Bolger’s son Rudecar and they had 7 children.
Young Merry eventually took over operation of the mill formerly owned by the Sandymans and purchased by Frodo after the Scouring. He married Robin Smallburrow’s daughter Hazel and they had 3 children.
Young Pippin became a skilled furniture maker and married one of Fredegar Bolger’s daughters, Jessaminta. They had 5 children.
(The mother of Fredegar Bolger’s children was his wife Angelica Baggins, the last of the Baggins bloodline. Sam and Rosie were thrilled that their family was united with one of Baggins descent via Rosie-lass and Pippin’s marriages.)
As per canon, Goldilocks married Pippin Took’s son Faramir. They had 6 children and eventually became the heads of the Took family. Goldilocks loved to cook with her mother as a child and later insisted on helping the cooks at the Great Smials hands-on with preparing meals, class system be buggered. She and her husband made sure to pass this egalitarian mindset onto their children.
Hamfast loved the story of the Ents so much that he dedicated his life to forestry. He married Malva, who hailed from the Burrows family, and they had 3 children.
Daisy inherited her father’s knack for songwriting and composed many tunes which she eagerly performed at parties. She sang at all her siblings’ weddings. She herself married and had 4 children with Merry’s son Théodoc.
Primrose, a tomboy all the way, inherited her father’s talent with knots and became Hobbiton’s exclusive roper, alongside her cousin Anson’s latest apprentice, Nico Goodbody; they married and had 3 children.
Bilbo enjoyed a simple life working for the Quick Post and co-owning a bakery with his wife Azalea Hayward (daughter of Shirriff Hob), with whom he had 2 daughters.
Ruby became fascinated with medicine and eventually took on a career as a midwife. She was deeply moved by Frodo’s words in the Red Book about cherishing the beloved land that was saved by him and her father, and she took it upon herself to help bring the next generation of hobbits into the world to honor his wishes. She eventually married and had 5 children with Pippin’s son Beregond.
Robin followed in his namesake’s footsteps and became a Shirriff. He married Merry’s daughter Éowyn and they raised their 4 children in Frodo’s former residence at Crickhollow.
Tom became a merchant, traveling constantly between Gondor and the Shire. He never married but had a lifelong partnership with Pippin’s youngest son Beren. The two of them looked after the old hobbit in his final years in Minas Tirith, as he needed walking sticks to help him move due to lasting effects of troll-inflicted wounds. They shared their luxurious house with Pippin until his eventual death at age 106, two years after Merry had succumbed to a long illness in Pippin’s arms at age 112. Tom himself became quite an adventurer, retracing the Fellowship’s steps and sightseeing all of the quest’s locations with Beren. They both eventually rose in esteem to become advisors to the king.
Many times, but even more so in his later years, Sam had dreams of the Sea.
All of the children moved out of Bag End when they married, except Frodo-lad, who raised his own family in Bag End while also looking after his aging parents.
When Rosie fell ill for the last time, Sam and Frodo-lad summoned all 12 of Frodo’s siblings to Bag End, and they all were present in their mother’s last moments. On her deathbed, Rosie bequeathed Primula’s jewelry to Elanor.
Before sailing West, Sam showed Frodo’s love letter to Tom, Beren, and later Elanor. Although he never saw the letter, Frodo-lad also sensed his father’s true feelings for his namesake. They were the only members of their generation to be aware of Frodo & Sam’s secret romance; they honored Sam’s wish that this detail be kept private and left out of all records.
Elanor, Fastred, Frodo-lad, Goldilocks, Faramir, and Pearl all collaborated on the creation of the Thain’s Book, mainly working on it in the two years between Elanor’s inheriting of the original book and Pippin’s impending departure, which he was already considering and discussing with his family even before Éomer wrote to Merry.
When Sam sailed, he took with him several flower seed packets to plant in the West, a stash of Old Toby, letters for Frodo from the rest of the Fellowship (updating him on their lives and families), and a book of Elanor’s poetry which she intended as a present for Frodo. He also was given a small trinket from each of his children, which he kept and cherished as mementos of them. He left the Star of the Dúnedain and Sting to Frodo-lad, and both became cherished Gardner family heirlooms.
Sam happily reunited with Frodo on Tol Eressëa. Since time passed differently there, Frodo had not aged. Sam’s physical youth was gradually restored by the island’s rejuvenating energy, as was Bilbo’s. The couple lived happily together in a hobbit hole which Frodo had built for Sam.
In his time on the island, besides being fully healed by the combined efforts of Gandalf, Elrond, a Vanya healer, and Nienna herself, Frodo became good friends with Celebrían, as they understood each other’s similar reasons for sailing West. He became a gardener, realizing how much knowledge he absorbed from Sam through the years, and helped tend to many Elves’ private gardens as well as his own, and also became fluent in Quenya as a necessity for communication.
When Sam had settled in, Frodo taught him to speak Quenya and to swim.
Bilbo eventually chose to lay down his life after leaving nothing unsaid between him and the younger hobbits. However, Frodo and Sam continued on, and were still living when Legolas and Gimli finally arrived. They and Gandalf enjoyed many happy times together, especially at the beach, and reminisced about their lost friends.
When the hobbits finally accepted their mortality together, lying in each other’s arms after saying all their goodbyes, their bodies were laid side-by-side and housed with Bilbo’s body in a permanent memorial for them in Avalloné. They left all of their possessions to be placed within a historical museum on Eressëa, containing artifacts from all the ages of the world.
Pippin & Diamond were friends since tweenhood, but only saw each other in a platonic light for many years, and Pippin had some fun flirting with and trying to impress lasses when he returned from the Quest. An avid reader, Diamond was fascinated by the stories of what happened to him. But she was also an unusually empathetic and insightful hobbit, and she could sense that not all of Pippin’s adventures were fun, and that he had some lingering trauma. She became his safe space to talk to, and they quickly fell in love. As Tolkien put in canon, they finally married in 1427 (when Diamond was 32 and not even of age yet, as they couldn’t wait any longer) and the heir to the Thainship was their son Faramir, born in 1430, who later married Goldilocks. Here’s my version of the rest of their family:
Faramir took after Diamond more than Pippin. He had his sense of humor but had a sense of responsibility much earlier on in life and grew to be a fine leader in his own right, long before becoming Thain. He bonded closely with his namesake during a year-long visit to Gondor in which he served as a page to the King. He overcame Goldilocks’ shyness toward boys via their lifelong friendship from childhood that blossomed into more in their tweens.
Once Faramir was born, Pippin & Diamond realized that they loved parenting and wanted a big family, not unlike Sam & Rosie. They wanted to take on the adventure together and they did. Diamond wanted all her children to have special unconventional names and encouraged Pippin to borrow names of people he met on his quest and who he’d read about. Pippin agreed as long as his wife agreed to allow herself her own honor by naming all their daughters after jewels like her. They visited Gondor together often.
Their 1st daughter Pearl was born in 1433. An introvert, she preferred to read and draw than go to parties. A natural scholar like her mother, she was responsible for the cultivation of the Great Smials’ library, collecting and writing much of the history of Gondor, helped largely by her youngest brother’s frequent travels to the kingdom. She eventually married into the Goodbody family to Elio, brother of Nico (who married Primrose Gardner). They had 2 children.
2nd son Boromir was born in 1436. He helped his older brother keep their younger siblings in check. He initially in his youth felt hurt that he was named after the man who tried to steal the Ring, but as he grew older and came to understand the full story better, he came to deeply admire and respect his namesake. He opened a law firm alongside his best friend Estel Brandybuck, and married Fredegar Bolger’s youngest daughter, Miramunda; they had 7 children.
3rd son Beregond was born in 1438. He worked as an auctioneer and married Sam & Rosie’s daughter Ruby. See above.
Twins Bergil (boy) and Opal (girl) were born in 1440.
Bergil followed in his grandfather Paladin’s footsteps and made a living from farming the fertile earth of Tuckborough. His sister-in-law Goldilocks was helpful in this endeavor, as she arranged for him to gain experience in his youth by helping her mother’s family, the Cottons, at their own farm for a year. He married and had 3 children with Lydia Hornblower.
Opal founded the Shire’s first theatrical company and wrote many plays that retold the full story of the Fellowship. It was her plays that enlightened the rest of the Shire regarding the extent of Frodo Baggins’ sacrifice, and his reputation vastly improved as much of the population finally understood his heroism. Opal married into the Grubb family to a lad named Aldo, and they also had 3 children.
When she heard the story of Beren and Lúthien for the first time while pregnant with Emerald, Diamond loved it so much that she insisted they name their next boy after Beren.
3rd daughter Emerald was born in 1443, named in honor of her great-aunt Esmeralda Brandybuck. She married into the Burrows family to Marco, brother of Malva (who married Hamfast Gardner). They opened an affluent restaurant together near the Three-Farthing Stone, which blended Shire cuisine with those of Gondor and Rohan via recipes collected by Emerald’s father and “Uncle Merry”. They also had 2 children.
5th son and youngest child, Beren, was born in 1446. He never married but had a romantic life partner in Sam & Rosie’s son Tom, with whom he worked as a merchant. See above.
After many happy years, Diamond died at age 86 in 1481, six months before Rosie’s passing. She held on until she heard the news that her youngest grandchild had been born safely earlier that day.
Estella pursued Merry for many years until she finally won him over. They married the same year that Faramir Took was born, and decided they wanted a smaller family than the Gardners and the Tooks. They ultimately had 4 children:
1st son Théodoc was born in 1432. Merry knew he wanted to name his firstborn after his late king; Estella agreed, admiring the king greatly from her husband’s stories, but wanted to continue the tradition of giving the future Master a name ending in “-doc.” This was their compromise. Théodoc was a born scholar like his father and helped him put together his book on old words and names. He later married Sam & Rosie’s daughter Daisy; they became the Master and Mistress of Buckland when Merry left the Shire for the last time.
2nd son Estel was born in 1436. His parents were amazed at how perfectly the name worked as a tribute to both Aragorn and to Estella herself. Estel was a mama’s boy and never minded his name’s resemblance to hers, even before making the thrilling discovery that he was also named for a king. He opened a law firm with his best friend Boromir. On a family trip to Bree, Estel met a real Underhill, named Sarafina; they instantly fell in love and he brought her home to Buckland as his bride. They bore 3 children.
1st daughter Éowyn was born in 1439. She worshipped and maintained a lifelong friendship with her namesake, who sent her birthday presents every year, and in whose footsteps she followed by becoming the Shire’s most reliable healer. She also helped her father gather research for his herblore books, and gained much knowledge of herbal medicines from this project. She later married Sam & Rosie’s son Robin; they first got together when Tom & Beren played matchmaker.
2nd daughter Athela was born in 1441, named after Athelas in honor of her father’s love of herbs and her mother’s appreciation for the specific herb that saved her father’s life. She married into the Goldworthy family and had 3 children with her husband Fabian. She shared her sister’s passion for independent thinking and eventually became a teacher at the Shire’s first public school.
Merry was the first of the Travellers to be widowed, as Estella passed in 1480 at age 95. The following year, Athela named her newborn 3rd child after her mother.
As Tolkien wrote, Aragorn & Arwen’s firstborn was Eldarion, born in 1422, who eventually succeeded his father as king and created a long-lasting dynasty. According to me, Eldarion was followed by three younger sisters:
Idril was born in 1425. She remained in close touch with her Elvish roots and arranged for the history of Elves and Men to be taught in all of Gondor’s schools. It was for her and her sister’s sake that her parents were inspired to issue a law requiring girls to be educated as well as boys. She later married Elboron, son of Faramir & Eowyn (b. 1424), and they became Prince and Princess of Ithilien after Elboron’s parents’ deaths, and helped Legolas restore the land to its former glory. Their son Barahir wrote The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen (Tolkien canon).
Twins Celebrían and Gilraen were born in 1429.
Celebrían was a linguist and expert diplomat and helped her father with peace talks among the Southern and Eastern lands, made easier when she became fluent in the languages spoken by the Haradrim. She was close friends with Elanor, as they shared a passion for learning languages.
Gilraen was a tomboy who joined the remaining Rangers of the North in patrolling the woodlands of Arnor, eventually marrying a fellow Ranger.
All four of Aragorn & Arwen’s children were raised bilingual in Westron and Sindarin. The Sindarin language became common in Gondor once again, and was taught in schools.
Eldarion oversaw the restoration of Osgiliath alongside his father.
Aragorn also arranged for absolute premogeniture in the Reunited Kingdom’s line of succession, echoing the similar policy of Númenor.
Two centuries later, Eldarion’s firstborn, Silmariën, became the first Ruling Queen (regnant) of Gondor. Her younger sister was Nimloth.
Also, in Ithilien:
Besides Elboron, Faramir & Éowyn had a daughter, Elwyn (b. 1427), who became a healer like her mother. She exchanged much information with her close friends from the Shire, the hobbits Ruby Gardner and Éowyn Brandybuck.
As for Legolas and Gimli:
Gimli was gray and aged when he and Legolas sailed West, but had a few steps left in him.
On his last journey, Legolas took with him letters for Sam from his surviving children, all of whom he had stayed in touch with through the years (especially Elanor and Tom), as well as his own copy of the Red Book in Quenya, which he’d made himself in Gondor from the Thain’s Book, in order to keep the details of the story recorded for the populace of Valinor.
They were thrilled to reunite with the hobbits on Eressëa, having hoped they’d still be alive.
Gimli bonded with the Elves who specialized in mining and delving on the island, and eventually learned Quenya.
Legolas fell in love with Laurëalotë, a Vanya resident of Tol Eressëa and the daughter of Frodo’s healer.
Gimli, being 260 years old when he sailed, ultimately lived to the age of 330.
Many years after the hobbits and Gimli had finally passed on, Legolas married Laurëalotë and they had two daughters, Malinalda and Altáriel, and a son, Elessar. They settled on the island and often visited the permanent memorial built in honor of their late friends.
Gandalf sailed on to settle in Valinor. His reward from the Valar for his deeds was to travel freely among the Blessed Realm whenever he pleased, no longer bound to be a servant. Thus, he often visited Legolas and the memorials on the nearby island.
Legolas’ copy of the Red Book became the most cherished item in his household, as he read the story to his wife, daughters, and grandchildren, and kept it alive forever.
For the rest of time, Gandalf and Legolas personally reminisced about the Fellowship, and their memories of and love for their friends never faded.
The Last Ship sailed from the Grey Havens in the year 201 of the Fourth Age. Among those onboard were Círdan, Celeborn, Elladan, Elrohir, and one Elf who had long served his repentance through many lonely millennia in Middle-Earth and was at last granted passage back to his homeland: Maglor.
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camille-lachenille · 6 months
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I tried not to repeat myself too much from the previous poll but the movies are pretty of accurate when it come to jewellery so 🤷🏻‍♀️
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theteablogger · 2 months
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Why do you think that Andy specifically uses fandom to build cults/manipulate people, rather than more conventional religious or spiritual ideas?
This post is pretty long, but well worth a read, and gives a number of reasons why fandom has been the most convenient avenue for Andy to abuse people. Here are a few excerpted points:
Fandom has an unending, always-increasing, EXTREMELY OPEN supply of victims. [...] In real life, people are very unlikely to come up to you, sobbing, stumbling, and generally in extreme distress, and open up to you about their extensive emotional damage, their deepest, darkest secrets and fantasies, the subjects that are central to their passions, their enjoyment of life, and (in extremity) their willingness to keep breathing for another day - yes here’s the complete list - and their extreme sensitivity to certain stimuli that will quite possibly leave them shaking, their heads spinning, and their minds wide open to all sorts of fuckery - yes, here’s the other complete list. Because that would be giving a predator the keys to the kingdom, and people are distrusting enough in the offline world that they’re hardly going to leave that open for every stranger to examine, digest, and consider at length. On Tumblr, that’s sometimes contained just in the blog header. [...] An abundance of vulnerable teenage girls and naive twentysomethings. [...] A lack of parental supervision. A lot of people in fandom are HIDING from their parents. Excellent! It means the ONLY authority figures are authoritative, wise, kindly BNFs… ones who are so concerned for socially-isolated, mentally-ill teens…
As I noted in my reblog of that post, Andy did add elements of various religions into his cults, especially as a means of explaining how "channeling" worked and why it was a legitimate practice:
Remember, when he was first getting his claws into Abbey, how he went on and on about how a “pagan priestess” told him that elves, hobbits, etc. were real? This was the person who allegedly told him that he was a “Rare Lesbian Paladin” and that these spirits were reaching out and communicating through him. Supposedly the “Great Mother” was connecting to Abbey through Pippin, which makes no sense, and occasionally he would throw in the names of a god or two that was actually worshiped by some past culture.  Apparently this evolved into an actual religious…thing. I hesitate to say “practice” because it doesn’t seem to have been organized at all, but in her AMA, Abbey elaborated a little on the Tolkien-influenced “pagan” thing he was doing with her, Diamond, and Little Sam. She also said that toward the end of their involvement, he was trying to get her into Catholicism.
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autistook · 1 month
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DAISIES - pt 1
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Merry Brandybuck x fem!hobbit!reader/soft oc
Words: 3.1k
Summary: You have been best friends with Merry (and Pippin) for several years. You see each other on almost a daily basis and have been referred to as the unseperable trio, as you do almost everything together, and have all been there for each other, through thick and thin. Slowly, you start to feel something shift. Something feels different when you look at Merry.
SLOOOOOOOW burning romance, pre - the Fellowship of the Ring.
Possible TW's: panic attack, anxiety, mentions of drowning and death, dead parents
English is not my first language, and this is the first fanfiction I have written since I was 10 years old, so I apologize for any errors or confusion. 😭 Treat me gently, I am sensitive to critisism lol
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The sun glistened on the leaves, making the raindrops that fell on them the night before look like diamonds. The grass was damp under your feet, and the slight breeze felt comfortable on your skin. The sounds of the Shire were as usual: lots of Hobbits doing their regular chores, children running around and a few groans here and there, when the sleepiest of all were forced to get up early. Your gaze followed a beautiful bird flying from one tree to another. The bird was a beautiful one, with a bright-red chest and a grey back, the feathers on the wings being different shades of grey and black. It's melodic singing as it sat on the old willow branch, is always a reminder for the Shire folk that spring has arrived. There was a fresh lavender smell in the air, and as you stopped on your feet to enjoy it, you noticed another familiar scent.
Your gaze moved to a pastry shop window, and as you started walking towards it, you could see your best friends enjoying a couple of scones, filled with strawberry jam. Your lips curved into a smile as you opened the wooden door, and the bell above it rang to announce your arrival.
The friendly Hobbit lady behind the dusty, old counter greeted you gleefully. Her hair was grey, curls all the way down to her shoulders, and the smile lines nearing the corners of her eyes revealed just how happy of a personality she must have. But your eyes weren't focused on her, but to the two young Hobbits now noticing your entry. Pippin's green eyes sparkled with joy as he noticed you enter the room. More happy than Pippin to see you, was Merry. You had been best friends with the two for a number of years, and almost every week, the three of you would sit at the bakery, planning some mischevous pranks and talking about any new happenings around the Shire.
"We were wondering where you were!" Pippin exclaimed, mouth full of the delicious scone, and some red jam from it that had decided to settle on his lips. Amused at the sight, you smirked but still decided to not say anything, as usual. It would be funnier to see how long it would take him to notice his messy appearence.
"Sorry, I had other things in mind," you said in serious tone, pulling up a chair and sitting between the two. The round table was full of crumbs and there were two empty plates. You looked at the plates and then at your dearest friends, raising one brow as if to question how on earth they could have this ritual without you.
"We got hungry, I'm sorry!" Merry said, wiping his palms on his cream colored cotton shirt.
"How dare you!" you answered with a playfully offended tone. You turned to look at Pippin for an apology, but the young Hobbit just shrugged his shoulders, and kept munching the last piece of scone in his mouth. You shook your head and chuckled slightly, leaning back on your chair.
"What did you mean when you said you had other things in mind?" asked Merry, curiously, now wiping his mouth with a napkin. You took a deep breath and crossed your arms.
"It's been twenty years," you stated, as if Pippin and Merry were supposed to immediately understand the rest of that sentence. The two locked eyes. Their faces could only be described as curious, but utterly confused.
"Twenty years since what?" Merry inquired. His blue eyes looking straight into yours, his gaze making you feel like he was almost concerned.
"Since my parents died," you sighed. Pippin immediately turned to look at Merry, flustered as the two completely forgot about this tragic event in their best friend's life.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Merry apologized, his tone full of shame. "I completely forgot that was today."
"It's quite alright. You couldn't have known," you said with a faint smile. Your head might have told you to act fine, but the sadness behind your eyes revealed your true feelings: how tragically heartbroken you felt at that moment and how twenty years still wasn't enough of healing.
"But we should've remembered!" Merry cried in guilt. Pippin apologized, mouth full of scone, then finally swallowing the last piece. You reassured both of them that they did not offend you in any way, and that you would be fine.
"Is there anything we can do?" Merry asked, like he was in a rush to cheer you up.
"Yes! We could do something fun!" Pippin said cheerfully, his eyes sparkling with excitement. He slammed his hands on the table, making the empty plates clink against each other. "How about we go for a swim?"
"You know I can't swim, Peregrin!" you cried, arms still crossed, your fingers fidgeting with the soft fabric of the sleeves on your favorite yellow dress.
"Didn't you say you have had practice?" Pippin asked, puzzled.
"It doesn't mean I can."
"Well, we could always just go just hang around the water, you know?" Merry suggested, trying to not make your mood any worse. "We used to do that all the time when we were just little innocent Hobbits." You smiled at him with gratitude. Merry's lips curved upwards and his eyes had a glimmer of pride in them.
"That actually sounds great," you finally responded to him. "When should we go?"
"How about immediately?" said the young Took suddenly, and before either of you could answer, he was already up from his chair, quickly whisking away the empty plates from the table.
"I guess we're going?" you chuckled. You and Merry got up and before you could make a leave, he put his palm on your shoulder. His warm touch gave you a sense of comfort.
"But seriously, are you okay?" he asked, looking at you from under his brows, his eyes full of concern. You nodded and gave him a soft smile.
On your way to the river, the sun was rising higher in the sky, warming your skin. The spring breeze had settled, the lavender scent no longer lingering in the air.
"I can't believe you still can't swim," Pippin said, shaking his head. You groaned in frustration as a response. "You should know at this point!" he teased, skipping ahead of you and Merry. You shook your head. Still fidgeting with the fabric of your dress, Merry took notice of it.
"Can I help your anxiety in any way?" Merry said suddenly.
"How do you know I'm feeling anxious?" you asked, looking at him full of confusion. Merry smiled softly and compassionately.
"You always fidget something with your fingers when you feel anxious," he responded and gestured towards your sleeve, where the tips of your fingers now suddenly had stopped rubbing the dress, like they almost felt shy for being caught. You blinked slowly, moving your eyes to look at your delicate hands.
"I never realized that it was noticeable," you mumbled, slightly embarrassed. You were aware of it, but did not know it was a telltale sign of anxiety for others.
"We've been friends for years," he said, as the three of you kept walking towards the water on a gravel path, Pippin just slightly ahead of the two of you. "Of course I notice things like this."
You smiled at him, impressed by this small detail that he had noticed. Pippin was still slightly ahead of you two, every now and then stopping to gesture for you two to move faster. "That's kind of endearing, actually," you smiled and Merry let out a small snicker, turning his face to the ground.
"You actually have a lot of tells for how you're feeling," he said in a confident and knowing tone. This made you plead for him to tell you what he had noticed. "I'm not going to tell you what they are!" Merry smirked visibly amused. "Where's the fun in that?"
"If I have a tell, I will have you tell me what it is!" you said in a commanding tone, horrified of this revelation.
"I think not!" Merry exclaimed, his tone mischevous. "You just have to wonder about it for the rest of your life!" he laughed, and then in a mocking, high pitched voice, imitating you, he said: "Oh no! How did Meriadoc know I was exceptionally happy today? How did he notice I was nervous? Whatever will I do? How will I ever figure it out?"
"You jerk!" you laughed, elbowing his side gently, making him stumble a little to the left. It made him want to continue teasing you, still mocking you.
"Oh, how will I ever know? Merry is such a master at reading people!" he continued, making you crack up a little. You gave him a gentle push. You then suddenly bumped into Pippin, who was standing there, waiting for you.
"What took you so long?" Pippin asked.
"You were practically running!" Merry responded, still a wide smile on his face from teasing you. He gestured towards you and smirked. "And as I can tell from her expression, her old age has caught up to her, and her body gave up, forcing us both to slow down."
"Excuse me?" you said as your jaw dropped. "I am younger than you, Merry! I will have you know, if someone has any problems with their old age, it's you, Mister Brandybuck! Now, you old prune, what are my tells? Tell me!"
"My dear friend," Merry said, putting his hands on your shoulder. "I absolutely will not tell you."
"What are you two on about?" Pippin asked confused. Merry just chuckled, and gestured you both to follow him to a shallow part of the river, so you could safely sit with them without going too deep. You scrunched your nose at Merry, and walked behind him and Pippin to the water.
You had sat on a large rock, smoothed down by the flowing water, making it sparkle under the rays of sunshine. Every now and then some water ran over the rock, drenching your dress from the parts that were laid on the almost black stone. Twenty minutes had passed, and Merry gestured you to come closer to the slightly deeper water. You shook your head, fidgeting the sleeve of your dress anxiously. The water had finally washed away the jam from Pippin's lips as he kept plunging into the water, diving for what seemed like a forever. Pippin's head ascended from the cool water and he shook his head like a wet dog, trying to dry his curls.
"Come on, it's just waist deep!" Pippin tried to pursuade you. You just shook your head again. Pippin locked his eyes with Merry's. They both nodded in unison, turning to look at you again. "I bet you a small pouch of Southern Star that you don't have the courage."
Your ears perked up at the mention of pipe-weed. It was a delicious offer, but just the thought of going in any deeper made your heart pound faster. Pippin and Merry also knew just how to press your buttons right; they knew how competetive you were. "How much are we talking?" you inquired, your ears doing one small wiggle as your body started to show signs of peaked interest. This made Pippin and Merry chuckle.
"Does it matter? You don't have the guts!" Merry cried with a wide grin on his face. This made your fingers stop fidgeting the dress, and instead your fingertips squeezed the fabric tightly. You stood up, careful not to slip on the wet rock, and tipped your toes in the water, moving them on the surface lightly. You gave a challenging look to both mischevous hobbits, and hopped in the water, ankle deep. You took one deep breath, inhaling the warm air to help calm you down. One step after another, you slowly waded towards Merry and Pippin, who looked rather amused and impressed. The water rose as you waded in deeper and as the cold water touched your hips, you froze still.
It felt like the world stopped for a moment, and the surrounding noises of the river flowing suddenly sounded like an ominous threat coming closer and closer, about to swallow you whole. The bottom of the river was muddy and it felt like you would slowly sink, inch by inch, until you would be under water, unable to escape. The water felt like it tried to push you down, make you stumble and fall. It would laugh at your struggles to try and stay on the surface, making you regret ever taking even one step towards your best friends. How foolish of you to take up on a challenge, knowing the water was your enemy, who would smother you the first chance it got.
Suddenly you felt Merry's hand on your arm, shaking you softly. All you could hear was mumbling. Your ears were ringing and your vision was blurry, as you tried with all of your strength to not collapse from fear of facing the same destiny as your parents. Your feet lifted from the mud as Merry and Pippin lifted you by your armpits and waist to get you off to the dry land immediately, taking notice of your looming anxiety and inability to move even an inch.
What felt like forever, you soon got back to dry land and your hands gripped to the grass like it was the only thing that would keep you from falling into the flowing river. Your vision still blurry, you could distinguish the familiar voices of Merry and Pippin, but not one word was coherent. The grass felt safe and warm, pieces of dirt clinging to your wet palms and feet. You were starting to shake a little, still not able to move.
Soon you felt a warm palm on your cheek, turning your gaze to the direction of it's owner. Merry caught your attention enough to lock your eyes on his. His blue eyes felt comforting as they looked at you with compassion and care. You could see his lips moving, but not one word made sense to you. He gently brushed your cheek with his thumb, looking guilty from pressuring you.
"You're okay," you could finally decipher some of his words. Your brain felt fuzzy, and your lips were quivering with fear and anxiety. "You're safe, just breathe."
You took a deep breath, slow and steady, trying to push away the panic attack that was taking over your body. You followed Merry's guidance as much as you could make sense of it, slowly starting to feel more air in your lungs. The grass started to feel like grass again, instead of an anchor you had to hold on to, unless you wanted to drown. You felt Pippin's palm gently rubbing your back, as Merry was still caressing your cheek, guiding your every breath. You could slowly focus more, but you kept your gaze on his blue eyes, scared that if you turned your face away, the water would somehow jump on you and try to pull you back. It took you several minutes, but finally the two managed to calm you down. Your body still trembling lightly, you took one more deep breath.
"Well that was embarrassing," you jested, trying to lighten the mood immediately. Merry chuckled with relief and shook his head, lowering his hand to your shoulder from your face. Pippin didn't laugh, but instead made his way in front of your face next to Merry.
"Are you okay?" he asked nervously, clearly feeling some guilt for the second time that day. You nodded, looking at him reassuringly. Pippin's lips curled into a small smile. "Good, I thought you might feel embarrassed." You laughed loudly, voice slightly shaky.
They both got up on their feet, clothes drenched and every curl on their head dripping with water. You slowly got up, taking some support from the two hobbits and straightening your back. After a small discussion, you all agreed it was time to go home and calm down a little. Pippin did promise you that he would still give you some pipe-weed as a 'consolation prize.'
You made your way home alone for most of the journey, as Merry headed towards his home in Buckland and Pippin made his way to, in his own words, 'somewhere secret.'
The green round door of Bag End was there waiting for you, immediately providing you comfort at the sight. You entered your home and called your brother by his name. He was not your brother by blood, but being adopted to the same household and growing up together most of your lives made him as much of a brother as someone who was a blood relative would.
"Hello?" you shouted, the hallway echoing, seeming empty. You took just a few steps before Frodo's head popped up from behind a wall. He gave you a soft smile and let you know there was tea at the ready in the kitchen. Frodo had made it for himself, but so much of it was left that he decided to just let it sit there, knowing how much you liked his chamomille tea.
You made your way into the kitchen and poured some still warm tea into a small cup you inherited from your parents. It was decorated with yellow flowers and had been hand painted by your great-grandmother. You stirred it calmly, looking out of the round window, admiring the green grass and the butterflies flying around, enjoying the spring as much as any being would. The small silver spoon your uncle Bilbo had given you as a birthday present (that Lobelia Sackville-Baggins kept trying to steal) was softly moving in circles, creating music-like sounds when it hit the porcelain on the edges. Your dress had mostly dried up on your way home, but it was still slightly moist, making you do a small squirm as the slightly wet fabric of it kept clinging to your thigh.
With the tea in your hand, you started making your way to your room, but something stopped you in your tracks. As you passed a small round mirror, you noticed something behind your ear that was not supposed to be there. A small daisy was decorating your frame on the left side of your face. You touched the soft flower lightly. Merry had put it there while calming you down. A small chuckle escaped your throat. He really knew how to cheer you up, even if it took some time to notice the gesture.
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warrioreowynofrohan · 8 months
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Favourite Female Tolkien Character Poll - Round 1, Match 38
Diamond of Long Cleeve
Married Pippin in the year 1427 of Shire-reckoning (8 years after the War of the Ring). Three years later, they had a son, Faramir. (Source: LOTR Appendices B and C.)
Estella Bolger
The sister of Fredegar ‘Fatty’ Bolger; married Merry Brandybuck in one of many versions of hobbit family-trees in The Peoples of Middle-earth (HoME Vol. 12). However, there are many other versions of the family trees in which Merry occurs and is not listed as being married, and his marriage is not mentioned in LOTR Appendix B. Tolkien wrote of Merry in one letter in 1965 that “I believe he married a sister of Fredegar Bolger of the Bolgers of Budgeford”.
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