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frodo-with-glasses · 11 months

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More Reading Thoughts: Three Is Company

Frodo calling it “Our Birthday” is making me feel things. Oh would you look at the time, it’s Crying About Bilbo and Frodo O’Clock again TT~TT

It’s honestly such a mood that Frodo says to himself “I’m following Bilbo!” so he doesn’t have to think about “I’m carrying a thing of great evil into danger and unseen ends”. Me too, Frodo. Me too.

“And see that Sam Gamgee does not talk. If he does, I really shall turn him into a toad.” 🤣

“Bilbo went to find a treasure, there and back again; but I go to lose one, and not return, as far as I can see.” OH WOULD YOU LOOK AT THE TIME—

Also “and not to return” is so heartbreaking, especially knowing that by the time he gets to Mordor Frodo is fully expecting to die at the end of his journey TT^TT

“It may be your task to find the Cracks of Doom.” JUST DROP THAT FORESHADOWING RIGHT THERE LIKE IT’S NOTHING, HUH, TOLKIEN??

Also teehee crack

Yes I am a twelve year old boy on the inside, moving on

The local shade towards the Sackville-Bagginses is HYSTERICAL

“Ah yes Merry is looking out for a house for me in Buckland.” INSTANCE #2 OF MERRY BEING ORGANIZATIONALLY GOATED

I’m honestly very impressed by how neatly Tolkien crafted Frodo’s backstory and interwove it into the story. The idea that he’s going back to Buckland where he grew up really does seem credible! None of the hobbits would suspect a thing! I almost have to wonder which came first in Tolkien’s mind, Frodo’s backstory or the fact that he’d need a good excuse to go East. It’s so well-crafted and it makes my writer brain happy.

F in the chat for Folco Boffin; we know your name and nothing else about you

Frodo draining the last of the wine like “lol at least the Sackville-Bagginses won’t get THIS!” is very funny to me

I have said it before, I’ll say it again, Frodo looking in the mirror and going “geez I’ve gotten fat” will NEVER NOT BE FUNNY

“Frodo did not offer [Lobelia] any tea.” I hereby name you Frodo Sassville-Baggins.

Aww, the Gaffer agreed to Sam going to Crickhollow to work for Frodo!

If only he knew just how far he was really going

“…though it did not console him for the prospect of having Lobelia as a neighbour.” o7 for the Gaffer, everybody

And they had tea by themselves and left the dishes for Lobelia 🤣 FRODO SASSVILLE-BAGGINS

“‘Coming, sir!’ came the answer from far within, followed soon by Sam himself, wiping his mouth. He had been saying farewell to the beer-barrel in the cellar.” LOL

Also I can’t blame him, knowing what he’s walking into

“He waved his hand, then turned and (following Bilbo, if he had known it) hurried after Peregrin down the garden-path.” OH WOULD YOU LOOK AT THE—

Frodo, whining: "My bag is so heavy" Sam, lying: "I could carry more, sir!" Pippin: "Oh no you don't, let him suffer"

Honestly the dynamic of this trio is super underrated LOL

I'm honestly not sure whether "well, we all like walking in the dark" is meant to be sarcastic or genuine—the way it's repeated later on makes me think it's genuine, but I can't be sure—so just to be safe I'm bringing the Frodo Sassville-Baggins score up to 2.5

I'm taking the time to read the walking bits slowly now, and honestly, the way Tolkien describes the countryside of the Shire is so beautiful. I want to go there, and I want to walk there, and I want to see what the hobbits are seeing. Every little piece of nature and topography elicits an emotion; from the enclosed safety of Hobbiton, cradled in its cozy little valley, to the great fir tree standing guard over the hobbits as they sleep, to the road winding endlessly on before them, promising still more work and beautiful scenery and adventures to come. Is this slow reading? Yes. But I love it so much.

Frodo wakes up and the first thing he does is grumble to himself about his back and neck. He really is an old man. I love him.

Honestly this entire scene is comedy gold

Frodo: "Wake up, hobbits! It's a beautiful morning." Pippin, a literal teenager: "What's so beautiful about it?" ROFLOL

Pippin, literally out in the middle of nowhere: "Sam, draw a bath!"

And for that, Frodo steals his blankets and makes him roll over. Frodo Sassville-Baggins score: 3.5

Pippin: "Water! Where's the water?" Frodo: "I don't keep water in my pockets!" SASSVILLE-BAGGINS SCORE: 4.5

And then he makes Pippin come get the water with him, since he wants it so badly. I love Exasperated Older Sibling Frodo and I wish we got to see so much more of it.

Pippin, after Frodo randomly bursts into poetry: "Wow, was that Bilbo's poetry, or yours? It's kind of a downer."

I'm so glad they kept the "it's dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door" line in the movies, because it really is so good.

Sam's canonically good hearing returns!

Frodo suggesting they prank Gandalf for being late is honestly so cute lol

Twice in this chapter we get the eucatastrophe of Frodo just barely not putting on the Ring, right at the last second. The first time, the Black Rider just walks off on his own, and the second time the Elves show up and scare him off. I will praise Frodo's virtues 'till Spring turns into Winter, but I think this is clear evidence right from the beginning that Frodo was not, and could not, be saved from the temptation of the Ring by any virtue of his own. He is saved; he does not save himself. All of which is honestly very Christian of Tolkien.

Pippin, to Frodo: "All right, keep your secrets!"

I love the walking song. I might do a revised recording of it, if you guys will tolerate my singing voice again X-D

Can we just acknowledge how bad*ss it is that Frodo sneaks up and spies on a Black Rider, just out of curiosity?? Like, I know this is more a feat of stupidity than it is of courage, but given everything we know about them by the end of the book, that is honestly WICKED cool.

Sam, having to be dragged back by his arms: "ELVES! ELVES!"

GILDOR!!

GILDOR MY UNDERRATED BESTIE

I can't wait to draw Gildor. He's gonna be so PRETTY

"But we have no need of other company, and hobbits are so dull" is so funny tho

The Elves, with all the love in their hearts: "You can't sit with us, you're boring!"

FINROD MY MAN

I have not read the Silmarillion, but I know enough about it to know that Finrod is the G.O.A.T.

The Elves: "You're being followed by Black Riders?? Okay you're coming with us now"

Frodo speaking the High-elven tongue like a NERD

I love him

And Gildor immediately like "LOL y'all watch your language, the babies can understand us!" I love him dearly

....Okay wait I have a thought about the hobbits walking with the elves until they nearly fall asleep on their feet. A thought about soldiers and Tolkien's experience in war. Wait. I'm gonna have to make a post about this.

Eyyyy it's the Turin constellation!

Something about the Elven hall did indeed become a core memory for young Lady Glasses. I spent quite a few years building a fantasy world that would capture that sense of mysticism and wonder. Just like Sam and Pippin, I never really remembered the details, but the emotion stuck with me, and it enchanted my imagination.

The Elves bringing out a Thanksgiving feast and saying "sorry we don't have better food" is like going over to your friend's immaculately cleaned house and them saying "sorry for the mess"

Frodo speaking the Elves' language and charming them all is so cute

Sam falling asleep at Frodo's feet as he talks to Gildor is SO CUTE

“At last Frodo asked the question that was nearest to his heart: ‘Tell me, Gildor, have ever you seen Bilbo since he left us?’” OH WOULD YOU LOOK AT—

"My faithful Sam" UGH THE FEELS

Gildor: "But it is said: 'Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.'" Frodo: "And it is also said, 'Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes.'" HAHAHA GETTIM FRODO

SASSVILLE-BAGGINS SCORE: 5.5

Gildor saying "you don't need to understand the Black Riders, just stay away from them" is honestly very Christian of Tolkien too. The best spiritual warfare advice I've ever heard is "don't try to understand demons; just get as close to your Protector".

Anyway Gildor complimenting Frodo is very cute and that is all

#chapter review #frodo baggins #gandalf #meriadoc brandybuck #merry #samwise gamgee #peregrin took #pippin #gildor #lord of the rings #lotr #my writing

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velvet4510 · 7 months

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The Gaffer is an interesting character to me. His few scenes definitely show us that he is a gruff kind of guy who never shies away from making his opinion known among the gossips. Though he’s illiterate, he’s not stupid at all, and is actually very intelligent when it comes to all things gardening. But he also has very polite manners toward the gentry and is more than humble enough to “know his place” and be content with the simple working class life. He doesn’t share Sam’s passion for Elves and for learning in general. He’s perfectly fine with his lot in life and has no aspirations. It’s clear that Sam’s modesty, resourcefulness, and grounded sense are all inherited from the Gaffer.

Yet I’ve seen the Gaffer get a bit of hate amongst the fandom. Some dislike how he apparently calls Sam names like “ninnyhammer,” and some fanfics have taken this and ran with it to the point of depicting the Gaffer as a straight-up abusive father. Which…absolutely does not gel with Tolkien’s portrait of him at all.

It seems to me that the Gaffer is actually similar to Gandalf in his demeanor. When frustrated or exasperated, he calls people names, but in an affectionate way. And Sam obviously adores his dad, constantly worrying about his wellbeing back home. It’s clear they have a close and good relationship. Sam just does not seem or feel like an abused child. Maybe overly humbled, yes - the Quest does give him a much-needed boost in self-esteem - but not abused. Sam doesn’t have an abusive or unkind bone in his body; I really don’t think he would be as benign as he is, if he grew up with as cruel a role model as many seem to assume the Gaffer is.

Especially since Sam’s mom is clearly no longer around, and his older siblings seem to have all moved out, since Sam and his dad are the only ones who live in 3 Bagshot Row. So they seem similar to Bilbo and Frodo in that it’s been the 2 of them for a while, they have their own little lifestyle system that works for them, and they look after each other.

Notice in particular how the Gaffer often calls his son “my Sam,” which to me indicates he has great affection and pride for Sam. He even seems like he has that parental mindset of remembering and always seeing his son as his little boy, even when his son is all grown up.

The Gaffer also gives off the vibe of somebody who is actually much more open-minded than he claims to be. Yes, he’s a traditionalist and doesn’t like the idea of leaving home for anything. But notice how he fervently defends Bilbo and Frodo in front of the gossips. He’s not among those who disapprove of the Bagginses or call them “mad.” He’s very fond of them and will not speak ill of them. He appreciates how kind they are to him, and doesn’t see any harm in their unusual interests. And while he does drill an absolute sense of humbleness into Sam by saying things like “don’t get mixed up with your betters,” he actually doesn’t seem to mind that Bilbo taught Sam to read and write, even though Sam wasn’t “supposed” to be literate given his place in society. I feel like while he is set in his ways, he is also able to notice and acknowledge when something unusual has its benefits.

And let’s never forget that the Gaffer is also brave! He literally lies to a Nazgûl’s face to protect Frodo, claiming Frodo had already left when he hadn’t. Even if he didn’t know Frodo hadn’t left yet, it’s still clear he has no intention of selling Frodo out to this creepy guy. When push comes to shove, the Gaffer has some admirable courage inside him…another quality of his that Sam inherited.

I also feel great sympathy for him when I consider what that year must’ve been like for him. Imagine your son disappearing without a trace for 14 straight months, right after some creepy cloaked guy comes asking for your son’s boss. How terrified must that poor guy have been! It’s not much of a stretch to assume he was worried about Sam every single day, wondering if he was safe, if he’d ever see him again. How much sleep must he have lost because of his fears.

And of course, Sam names his fourth son after him. Another indicator that they had a genuinely good and loving relationship.

I really like the Gaffer and will always defend him. Let’s give him some credit. He’s a good guy. We primarily have him to thank, anyway, for raising Sam to be the amazing person he is.

#lotr #jrr tolkien #lotr books #lord of the rings #gaffer #gaffer gamgee #hamfast gamgee #samwise gamgee #hobbits #the shire #lotr analysis #nazgul #ringwraiths #black rider

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checkoutmybookshelf · 5 months

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Re-reading The Fellowship of the Ring for the First Time in Fifteen Years

Hi, Hello, Welcome! The conceit of these posts is pretty self-explanatory. I read the Lord of the Rings for the first time at age 17, in the middle of my parent's divorce (it was messy, we're not going into any details). Needless to say, I remember pretty much nothing about that read, and I would like to give the books a fair shake of a re-read. That's what this is, and there will be spoilers throughout!

I usually do full-book reviews, but if ever I was going to do a chapter-by-chapter re-read, it would be for LotR. The rules are that I'm going in as blind as I possibly can (I have watched the movies and have absorbed like...a reasonable amount of lore from existing on the internet as a millennial) and I'm not doing any research beyond like, defining words for myself as I read. So here we go, and I hope you enjoy rereading with me! Let's talk "A Long-Expected Party."

The first chapter of ANY book has a lot of work to do. The first chapter of THIS book has...rather more to do than most. Which is why I was kind of floored by HOW MUCH of it was dedicated to establishing how godawful the Sackville-Bagginses are. Like, when Tolkien said,

He remained on visiting terms with his relatives (except, of course, the Sackville-Bagginses)

on literally page one of chapter one, I was over here going "relatable, my dude." I also taught The Hobbit for an Intro to Literature class when I was getting my PhD, so I also knew that they had overtaken Bag End and were on the verge of declaring Bilbo dead and taking over his life and estate. I also knew about Lobelia stealing the spoons. I was ON BOARD with the Sackville-Bagginses being the godawful relatives that not only we do not like but also we legally cut out of their inheritance. I was cool with that, it was fine. I got it.

THEN IT KEPT GOING. They get snobby about attending the birthday party. They only showed up because the invitation was inexcusably fancy. They got offended about Bilbo's speech. They talked shit about him on his birthday at his party. They bulled into Bag End to insist on seeing the will, and stole stiff while they were there. They insulted Frodo's parentage and the Brandybuck side of his family IN FRONT OF MERRY, the most famous Brandybuck of the fellowship. And then Lobelia has the sheer goddamn nerve to be offended when Frodo stops her from stealing his shit, calling her on her bullshit, and kicking her out of his house.

Did...did Tolkien have an aunt that he had a massive, lifelong beef with? Because IT SURE SEEMED LIKE IT. Although passively aggressively gifting her the remainder of the set of spoons was just A+ shitty relative management on Bilbo's part, and I deeply appreciated that he can do both sincere and pointed gifting.

So, when I watched Dom Noble's LiA on Fellowship, I was like, "I don't actually know if I agree that the hobbits would vote Republican, Dom." Let this be my public apology for doubting Dom, because HOLY TITS YES, YES THEY WOULD. It literally took a gaggle of hobbits two "Well I heard"s to get to "Primula pushed Drogo out of the boat and he pulled her in after him" like it's a murder gone wrong. And no matter what the Gaffer said, nobody would hear different after "murder" came up.

And speaking of the Gaffer...his name is Ham. Ham Gamgee. Ham and Sam Gamgee. What the Jolkien Rolkien Rolkien Tolkien was happening with this name, John Ronald??? I demand to know! And no, not even Bilbo calling him Master Hamfast makes "Ham Gamgee" any less ridiculous.

Now, let's talk Gandalf for a sec. I know there are plot reasons that Gandalf doesn't initially know that Bilbo's ring is THE ONE RING, but like...their first conversation weeks before the party tells us that Gandalf has concerns. And yet he still is cool with Bilbo HANDING THE RING OFF TO FRODO??? Even if it's just a weirdly powerful, not inherently evil ring, Frodo is basically an 18-year-old (33 in hobbit years) with no life experience and no sense of how to manage a magic ring. Gandy. Wizard, buddy, friend. This is not like...a great plan. Yes, you get Bilbo off the ring cocaine, but you've just exposed Frodo to it. And this is BEFORE you know it's holding a bit of Sauron's soul. If you taking it is a bad idea, there has to be a secret third option that isn't "Leave it with Frodo." That all said though, Gandalf was SUPER prepared to hand fireworks to LITERAL CHILDREN and hammered hobbits at Bilbo's birthday, so he's clearly not the guy you call for safety or babysitting.

That probably hits all the key things from me for this opening chapter, so other than calling out how cute Merry and Frodo are when Merry has Frodo's back as the Shire descends on Bag End to claim or just straight steal shit, I will sign off for now. Key takeaways were that the Sackville-Bagginses FUCKING SUCK, and Gandalf was super cool with exposing Frodo to basically magical cocaine.

#lord of the rings #the fellowship of the ring #reread #chapter 1 #a long-expected party #lotr #seriously who was the aunt who inspire lobelia sackville-baggins???

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lucigoo · 5 months

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So, I'm going to make this a Masterlist of all my Hobbit fics as I write them. I'm also going to attmept to put them in some type of order. Hopefully it's easier for others to anvigate the mess that is my Tumblr lol <3

The Hobbit - All are Bilbo/Thorin unless stated otherwise Active Wips: A Home, A Pack, A Place of Love (Animal Au) Summary: Bilbo is a corgi and he has become the guardian of a traumatised little corgi pup. He has to leave their cosy home and hope for the best. For him and Frodo.

Hopefully he will find a ew place to call home, a new family for him and Frodo, hopefully they will thirve. I want you right here, where you belong:Home with us (Bilbo/Thorin, Sirius/Remus crossover) Summary: Thorin has moved to "The United Kingdoms" with his friends and family.

Follow his life as he ends up an unexpected father, Uncle and husband, and extends his family with wizards, witches, centaurs, goblins and, sadly, elves.

Bilbo stays in Erebor fics:Stop me Fading (Needs major re edtiting) Summary: Its a few weeks since BOTFA. Bilbos running around like a headless chicken, The Company are being plonkers, Thranduil and Dain are being antagonistic, Bards just a cinnamon roll and Gandalf keeps disappearing for long amounts of time (for good causes of course). There's one lonely, sad little hobbit on the plains outside of the Lonely Mountain. Bagginshield-tober (A uncomplete series) Summary: A series of fics spanning from LakeTown until Bilbo's death. Bilbo stayed in Erebor, this is his and Thorin's life. Afterlife Fics: I will join you Summary: MCD!! Bilbo sits with a dying Thorin, knowing he will join him. Dead or not, this will not be the last time he seee his beloved. A Little Drop of Rain Summary: Thorin holds his dying one in his arms. All he can do is hope he will see him again after his life is over. It was a long life and all Thorin wants is to be reunited with his hobbit. Defying Death (or at least the ones in charge) Summary: Bilbo has finally died, and now Lord Mandos wants to shove him away to Lady Yavanna's Green Gardens. Well that wont do. After all, Thorin wont be in Yavanna's gardens and Bilbo wont stay where Thorin isnt.

He's a burglar, and if he can smuggle his dwarves out from under Thranduil's nose, he can smuggle himself into Mahal's Halls under the Valar's noses, right?

Reshirement: Changeling Child (Mpreg) Summary: Thanks to his Stone headed nephews, Bilbo now has a new quest. One that needs cleverness and diplomacy. Not the reckless battle tactics of dwarrow. This is the most important quest Bilbo will ever go on, even more imprtant then facing a dragon. For the most important being in his life. Animal Au's: A Pasture Too Small for A Bovine’s World so Large Summary: Bilbo is an odd Highland Bull, so odd that he has had enough and takes Primula, Drogo and baby Frodo to find a new place. A new home.

Thorin and his family are an odd little herd of Bison. An odd herd with room for a few other strange bovines. Wait for me in the Aurora Bearalis Summary: Bilbo is a red panda, he had had a good life. He had managed to make it to 64 seasons (16 years) when most red pandas were lucky to make 40 seasons (10 years).

Thorin doesnt want to say goodbye to his little Orso but he has too, hopefully they can find one another in another life. Ive found Frodo ....and he found you? Summary: Canine distemper has stolen all of the Bagginses away apart from Bilbo and little Frodo. No he has to find his kit, who has wandered off, again, and keep them safe from "The Sick". If only he wasn't alone doing it.

Bittersweet/hopeful ending: The Last Meeting (Until Arda is Remade) Summary: Bilbo is a sad, lonely hobbit in Rivendell. What is left of The Company, his friends, his Family find him there. There are less then there should be.

This is Bilbo's last meeting with the few remaining dwarves he adores. Until they meet again, when the world is remade, hopefully. Sad Ending: The Demented King Under the Mountain Summary: TW MCD, Murder, Thorin did not beat the dragon sickness. Thorin did not defeat the Dragon-sickness and in his rage destroyed the gift he was given to cherish. “How rare and beautiful it truly is that you existed, and that you existed with me, for me" Summary: It is time for Bilbo to leave The Shire, he is going to make his way to Erebor, hopefully.

Before that, he makes his way to his oak tree, the last living thing he has that reminds him of Thorin, it is time to say goodbye. One more hour with you Summary: Bilbo doesnt want it to end, he just wants one more day, one more hour, one more minute with his beloved. He will deny the truth in front of him to get it if he has too. You Never Cared, Why Start Now? Summary: It started with the fires burning through Erebor. It will end with the fires burning through Bag End. The Last Durin Princess returns home (Gen fic, Dis-centric) Summary: The Last Durin Princess returns home, but home is a tomb. A place with ghosts. With her dead borther and her dead sons.

When home is no longer home, all it is is a place of pain and heart break. What is the last of her line supposed to do? How is she supposed to go on? You were to late Summary: Bilbo is watching the eagles fly overhead in victory. With Thorin's cooling hand in his, Bilbo isnt sure what their is to feel victorious over.

Quest Fics: Dwarrow hugs in the dark Summary: The Fell Winter wasnt just a time whe hobbits starved, it ws much worse then that. An entire generation of hobbits traumatised.

For one Bilbo Baggins, on a quest with a troop of rude dwarves, the memories become nightmares whilst on the road. Maybe waht he needs is dwarrow hugs off a dwarrow king? A heart of stone and Fire in his soul Summary: Thorin is but a ghost of a king, desperate and making stupid choices. Bilbo is a hobbit out of The Shire, trying to find his place. But he needs to keep his daft dwarven king alive to succeed. The trials and tribulations of a married hobbit (a bowman's persepctive) Summary: Bard see's a small hobbit amongst a crowd of dwarves clamouring to get on his barge. From that first glimpse he makes a friend, suprised by who his new friend has married. Follow the events from Lake Town until after from Bard's pov. Far over the Misty Mountains:A hobbit with a heart Summary: Bilbo's home is suddenly invaded by a troop of dwarves. He would be bad, should be mad, but that song ....

Modern Au's: "Bring Your Older Gays To Play" at Club Erebor Summary: Frodo had convinced Bilbo to go the event night at his favourite queer club. All Bilbo wanted to do was go home, back to his books and cup of tea. Well, that was until Mr tall, dark and sexy was pushed into him. The reason is you, the reason is him, the reason is me (Dwalin/Nori, background Bilbo/Thorin) Summary: Nori hates himself for the 4 and a half years he spent in prison. For destroying everythig good in his ife. For losing everything he had to live for.

Hes out now and hopefully he can fix his realationships and see his son again. ABC's of Avoiding Bullying and Crying (Gen fic, The Companny are all young children) Summary: Thorin is a big grown up 7 year old dwarf. Frerin is a little 5 year old dwarf who is usally bugging Thorin and his friends to play. So why didn't he bother them on this day, and who was he with? It's a good job I love you! Summary: Bilbo sees that Thorin has once again forgotten to take the rubbish out, bloody husbands, he thinks exasperated.

LOTR Fics: Akmâthu Bask:Song of the Bath (Gen Fellowship fic) Summary: During a bath by the river, Gimli starts singing Bilbo's bath song. Confusing the hobbits. It turns out that isnt the only song of The Hero of Erebor's that they sing in the Lonely Mountain. Between the forest and the sea, I leave my heart with thee - (Gen fic, Elrond-centric) Summary: Elrond is set to sail to Valinor to reunite with his wife when he has a vision. How can he leave when his he sees his precious daughter dying alone, her grief clear through time and space? Two Lives Will Be Spared This Day (Boromir/Theodred) Summary: Boromir looks into Galadriel's mirror and he doesnt like what he sees. Maybe if he makes a different choice he cna save himslef, and the love of his life.

#My fics #The Hobbit #LOTR #Bagginshield #dwalin/nori #gen #boromir/theodred

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green-fifteen · 8 months

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Day 3: bandits, revenge, and mulberry jam

Prompt: Entertain Fandom: The Hobbit Pairing: Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield Word count: 3,979 Summary: On the long road to Erebor, Bilbo and Thorin must keep their nephew entertained. (Reshirement AU) read on AO3 instead

for @fluffyfebruary

"Did I ever tell you my favorite story about your uncle?" Bilbo asked mildly as they bumped along the road to Erebor. They were on the open road again, finally clear of the murk and damp of Thranduil's woods. They weren't far from the mountain, now--they could turn their faces to see it whenever they wished--but the trip through the wood had not been kind to young Frodo, and it had lasted too long.

As if by some awful magic, Thorin grew ill just after they reached the Eastern boundary of the forest. No sooner had they stepped upon the Old Forest Road than he'd begun to sway on his feet as he walked and his slumber had been more and more difficult to chase from him in the mornings. Unlike the last time Bilbo was taken to the mountain, this time they traveled by cart--it was an easy matter to leave him on it to recover and let the ponies bear him hence. Still, this delayed their party by a number of days, for there was room enough atop the cart for Thorin to lie out, his head cushioned upon a sack of flour, only if Bilbo and Frodo walked along beside the wheels. At this slower pace, the three of them spent longer in the darkness than Bilbo would have preferred.

And now it was clear that Frodo had not been unaffected by their time in the Mirkwood. Even as Thorin recovered his health, sitting up and taking tea and cram at mealtimes, the little hobbit yet looked as pale and drawn as ever. Bilbo thought he might be coming out of his funk, but it was not happening very quickly. He had noticed the boy looking around himself with his usual awe the day before, as they cleared the cover of trees and darkness and saw the pink light of a sunrise before them. It had been beautiful, after so long in the woods--Bilbo was not ashamed to be brought to tears. His husband had handed him a handkerchief. Frodo also smiled just that morning, when Thorin nearly toppled from his seat in the cart after the ponies led them over a low boulder. He'd made such an outraged expression that the Bagginses in front of him could not be blamed for laughing.

Excepting these brief moments, Frodo had traveled the road from the Mirkwood to Dale in silent contemplation, something his guardians were unaccustomed to. Their charge was still young and viewed each new day with curious eyes. Meaning, they routinely answered excited questions about all manner of things, which numbered so greatly once they'd left the Shire that Bilbo and Thorin had begun a habit of turn-taking, signalling with a glance when one or the other of them should like to give up the responsibility. They'd been exchanging looks of a different sort since the forest, heavy with worry and care for their young nephew. It was Bilbo who broke the silence first, determined to lift Frodo at least a moment from his far-away mood.

"It's a good one, I promise," he continued. Thorin raised an eyebrow at him, but Bilbo did not mind him, his eyes fixed on the smaller hobbit.

"It was quite the adventure-- bandits, revenge, mulberry jam. And your own dear mother was there." Frodo tilted his head to the side. Choosing to take this as encouragement, Bilbo went on.

"It was before you were born, mind. Before the lass had even thought of marrying, I'd wager. Yes, this was a fair few years ago, when your uncle had first come to me, complaining about his sad old hill."

"The Lonely Mountain," Thorin grumbled. Frodo's mouth twitched up as it always did when they had this argument. It was an old one.

"Well, what's the difference? Lonely or sad, hill or mountain?" Bilbo affected a pompous academic air. "I think you'll find that a mountain is nothing more than a very large hill. Hobbits know about hills, you are aware."

Thorin leaned in. "And dwarves know their mountains, Master Hobbit."

The old hobbit tutted and wagged a finger. "Be that as it may, Master Oakenshield, there is a tale to be told. I'll not let you distract young Frodo."

At this, he leveled the young hobbit with a serious look. "However much I wish to tell this story, I must warn you: your uncle may come off a fool in the recounting. Do you still wish to hear it, knowing it may forever change your view of the dwarf who raised you?"

Frodo seemed to perk, humor finding him at last after days of malaise. Thorin huffed a laugh which he disguised with an annoyed look. The boy's response was all too predictable. "Well, I wouldn't want to embarrass him. But I respect your wish to tell me, and can have no objections." He was fighting a smile, matching his hobbit uncle's expression feature to feature.

"At least allow me the dignity to interject here and there, Bilbo. Your love of drama can at times surpass your regard for the truth, especially when you are telling this story," Thorin insisted. Bilbo nodded graciously, and then began.

"After the business with the dragon, your uncle wanted to return to the Shire and live with me. He had to stay in his kingdom for a while yet, as he was the king. But you know this already. What is really interesting is what happened the first time he came back to the Shire after he'd been settled with me for some time.

He was visiting friends and family in Erebor and he'd been gone nearly a year. I missed him terribly. Counting the days, nearly ready to hop onto a pony and fetch him back. This was Halimath, so I was growing worried that I would not see him again until the spring. The chill of those solitary mornings, looking out to my frosted tomato plants, was colder even than the bite of the icy wind."

"I was gone all of summer and into mid-autumn. I was home before the plows had even left the fields." Thorin's voice was dry as he interrupted.

"Yes, well, the sentiment remains. I was desperate to have you home again. Nothing was the same now that I'd known what it was to have you with me. The food I cooked never tasted as rich, the sun never came out as far. I think that was the grayest summer we've yet seen in Hobbiton."

"You never remember to open the curtains."

"Do you know what your dear uncle was doing, while I pined away to nothing for the want of him? In those last few days as I cried myself to sleep alone in our bed?"

Frodo's eyes were wide by now, taken in by his uncles lovelorn expression. "What was he doing?"

"He was losing a fight to Esmeralda Took in Buckland, that's what." Despite his tone, Bilbo was unable to resist smiling at his husband.

"Merry's mum?!" Frodo cried, nearly unseating himself as he fell backward. "Why were you fighting with Merry's mum?" He was looking at Thorin too now, mouth wide and eyes bright.

The dwarf shook his head. "She was nobody's mum, then, pebble. She was younger than you are now and likely to bite somebody's ear off if she wasn't minded close enough. A wild thing."

"Yes and, as it happens, Primula Brandybuck was charged with the minding."

"My mum!"

"Yes, the very same. But, you see, she had the misfortune of minding the entire lot of visiting Took children. Can you imagine it? The yelling and hair-tugging that went on? How was she supposed to keep track of each child that day? There were at least forty of them!"

Frodo made a face. "Uncle Bilbo, that can't be right. I don't even have forty cousins."

"I'm sure you do, don't forget you are a Took, a Baggins, and a Brandybuck. Anyway, it's about the sentiment, my dear boy. Do not let the facts distract you." Thorin looked at him askance.

"As one might predict, Esmeralda and a band of her roughest cousins slipped free of their handler. They roved north along the road to look for mischief and spied a traveler not very far from Brandybuck Hall. He was riding a pony and wore shoes on his feet, like a man. Something about this man told the children they had met their mischief at last. Everyone save Esmeralda hid in the Hedge, while she stopped him to tell him her sad story. What was it again, dear?"

"I'm dreadfully lost, won't you please help me get home?" Frodo smiled to hear him recite her words in his gruff and unimpressed manner.

"But, Uncle Thorin," he said after a moment. "What were you doing on the road to Buckland? You should have been on the main road toward Hobbiton."

"Oh, remarkably well timed, my boy. Go ahead and ask him what he replied."

"What did you say?"

Thorin gave his husband a withering glance. "I said, 'What a pair we make. I too am lost along this path.' I was trying to calm the poor girl. You did not hear the way she was wailing."

"Telling her you do not know the way may not have been the most reassuring course of action, had she really been so upset" Bilbo countered with a laugh.

"But what happened next, Uncle?" Frodo urged.

"Yes. Well, the young hobbit girl used her pathetic story to compel him out of the saddle, which allowed the other children their opportunity to strike."

"They struck him?"

"No, no. They robbed him! Untied his saddlebag like they'd done it a hundred times and went running on down the path toward Brandy Hall. Esmeralda showed him her tongue, and then flew away, too."

"Robbed him?! The bandits!" Frodo fell forward laughing. "Uncle Bilbo, I did not think you meant hobbit children! Did you retrieve your bag, Uncle Thorin? Bilbo mentioned revenge, too."

Thorin's face was soft and fond. "I gave chase to the beasts until I realized at last there was no hope. Although they were small, their legs moved faster than I could believe. Worse, they threw the bag to and fro among themselves, that I never knew which child possessed it."

"A classic game of keep-away," Bilbo agreed. "It was a hilarious success for the Took children in Buckland that day, who returned to Brandy Hall to stash their treasure. Thorin arrived not long after they'd disappeared back into the hall."

"Like rabbits in a warren," his husband grumbled.

"Yes, dear. They had utterly vanished by the time he came upon the hill. Your uncle had no choice but to knock on the front door, dripping in sweat, wearing his dirty traveling clothes and a great big scary sword. You can imagine how much he frightened them, but the Brandybucks were never the type to be terrified, especially in their own home. After they invited him inside, my cousin Gorbadoc eventually recognized him as my husband and took him by the arm to the dining room. To make him feel welcome (and Brandybucks are very much a welcoming group!) he sent in Primula with one of the children."

"Not Esmeralda!"

"Yes, your cousin Esmeralda came through the door and when she saw your uncle, her eyes went round."

"As the saucers on the table." Thorin chuckled.

"What did you do?" Frodo asked.

Bilbo answered. "He did nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing as course and affronting as accusing a Took girl of tomfoolery." The hobbits shared a moment of humor. "No, instead he allowed Esmeralda and Primula to bring him courses of fine food. They brought him sweet cakes and rich loaves of buttered bread. He ate fish and game and piles of seasoned potatoes. At the end, when they asked if he'd like a dessert, he looked at Esmeralda Took, who was almost certainly trying very hard to avoid drawing notice from the dwarf, and told her he'd like something special--the best thing they had in the house. Primula at once urged the girl to the pantry.

She returned with the finest Buckland jam you've ever eaten. Sweet and dark and without a single seed. It tastes like climbing a mulberry tree in Wedmath. Served warm on a crumpet with butter, it is more than a taste--it is a sensation."

Thorin sniffed. "I liked it fine."

"And although he liked it, your uncle ate only one bite of his crumpet, before setting it down again. 'This isn't what I'm looking for,' he told the girl. She and Primula hurried back to the pantry to find something else. They came back to the dining room with a nut pie."

Frodo groaned. "Oh, Uncle. I'm too hungry for talk of the food in Buckland." And Bilbo could see that he meant it. An uncomfortable-looking line was forming between his eyebrows.

"Never mind the pie. Never mind the next three dishes they brought out to please him. Know only that they tried five times to find what the dwarf was craving and five times he was not satisfied. When he refused the fifth plate, Primula finally spoke her mind. You can imagine how she esteemed your uncle by then."

"What names did she call you, Uncle Thorin?" Frodo asked between happy giggles.

"The kind that are best not repeated," he replied gravely.

"When he responded, he looked not at Primula, but at her young charge. He said, 'You know well that what I am looking for cannot be found in the larder or the pantry, although I am sure they are very well stocked with the finest ingredients. (By this time, he was aware enough of hobbit customs to know what an insult he gave and he did very well to try and soften it.) He pressed on.

'I believe you know what I'd like to find, little hobbit. Do you disagree?' he said to her. Now the searching eye of Primula Brandybuck was on Esmeralda Took, which is a frightful feeling for a person of any age or race." Frodo nodded in agreement. He could remember well enough. "It is no wonder the bandit Esmeralda gave up the act, then and there. She did try to run, but your mother had captured her arm before she even took a step. After some questioning-"

"And yet more of her false tears," Thorin added.

"-Esmeralda led Primula to the treasure. Your uncle did not follow. Why did you stay in the dining room, my love?"

"So that she might walk there and back to me. I will not waste energy in rushing to reclaim that which has been stolen, if I may instead let the thief bear its weight back to me." Frodo looked appropriately awed by this pronouncement, but Bilbo only cleared his throat.

"And the real reason, dear?"

After a moment, Thorin admitted, "There may have been a.. strategic aspect to my reasoning. For Brandy Hall is very large and I knew already that Esmeralda Took could run much faster than I. If she had outmaneuvered me again, in that tangled den of tunnels--"

"You did not want to get lost," Bilbo said, in summary. His nephew was grinning with delight, as he always was when they teased his dwarven uncle in this fashion.

"It is a fair concern," he insisted. "After all, Uncle Thorin can get lost on a straight road like the one from Bree to Hobbiton. What should happen to him in a place like Brandy Hall?"

"Precisely!" Thorin said, and then narrowed his eyes at Frodo. "That is to say--I should be at a disadvantage, in one of your great hobbit halls. Your people seem to have an affinity for dirt and digging holes, like moles. Or badgers."

Bilbo sniffed and turned his body away from Thorin. "Because Esmeralda Took had been to Brandy Hall many times since she was born, and not at all because she had the characteristics of any rodent, as some might claim, she was back again in very little time, your uncle's saddlebag in her hands.

Primula of course had shaken the entire story from her on the way and her shouting had even compelled a few of her relatives to tag along behind them. So it was that Thorin had his revenge on young Esmeralda--forced to trudge through the corridors, the criminal bearing evidence of her crime before her cousins, brought to trial in the only way a child can be."

He turned back to his husband and gazed at him admiringly. "He did not know it, of course, but it was just the kind of scheme that any Took or Brandybuck worth the name might enjoy. So after they fed him spirits and kept him laughing long into the night, they convinced him to stay another day. They had not heard enough about the brigands he'd faced on the road, they claimed. He must stay at least until lunchtime. What was the hurry? Indeed, he had nowhere urgent to be. His husband could wait another day. He had waited so long already and he did not have to know about the delay."

Thorin broke in. "They convinced me of nothing. Your strong hobbit ale convinced me to stay when I woke in my own grave the next morning."

"Your weakness in this regard is a fault I am still working to accept," Bilbo said, sighing. To this, his husband wrapped an arm around his waist and drew him in to whisper something in his pointed ear. Frodo could not hear what was said, so he did not know why his uncle blushed so deeply.* After coughing once or twice to clear his throat, the hobbit simply straightened and continued his story.

"And so your uncle dithered there in Buckland, while I thought of nothing else but seeing him come down the lane to Bag End. When he eventually showed his face, of course I asked him about the delay, for in his last letter to me, he said he would arrive before Trewsday and that day was Mersday.

'There was no delay,' he told me. 'I must have been mistaken when I counted the days before.' And then something about how the hobbit way of keeping the days is too confusing, I'm sure. In any case, I believed him. I had my suspicions, of course, but they weren't important. My husband had returned to me. The sun was shining on the hills. The fish I stewed that evening was the best I had ever eaten."

"So how did you find out about Emseralda?" Frodo asked.

"It came in a letter, from reliable old Gorbadoc. See, while your uncle was out of the smial a few days later, the post came for him--a message from Buckland. I was curious. And, you know, I'm a Took too, on my mother's side. It is in my nature to open intriguing envelopes, and who can fight their very nature? That evening, Thorin arrived at Bag End to find me reading over the letter for what may have been the hundredth time."

"I was only gone an hour."

"It was a short note. It was a simple benediction from my cousin and a brief line from the bandit herself. Do you remember the wording?" Bilbo asked the dwarf.

"Not as well as you do, I'm sure,"

"Yes, I did read it rather a lot. I still keep it in the study. I can show it to you sometime when we're home again. Just remember to ask, because it is totally out of sight--hidden from your uncle just the way Esmeralda hid his saddle bag! I often forget it's there."

"But what did the letter say, Uncle Bilbo?"

"Oh yes. It said, 'Dearest Cousin Thorin, After the to-do here at Brandy Hall yesterday, I am writing to inquire after your health and safety. I will admit to some concern, now that you have left us, that you may not find the way to Bag End on your own. When you fell from your horse today, I was truly worried I may need to call upon my cousin to fetch you himself. Simply remember this and you shall be home by tomorrow evening and, what's more, with all of your belongings!: Stay your pony upon the wide road to Hobbiton. Follow signs to Hobbiton. Do not stymie your own progress along any more side roads. Be assured--you shall be safe from little bandits if you do. Your friend and cousin, Gorbadoc Brandybuck'"

"And what did Esmeralda write?"

"She wrote, in the clumsy hand of a child: 'Please forgive me, Master Dwarf. If I didn't do it you would still be lost in Buckland. --Esmeralda Took. p.s. Please don't tell Master Bilbo about it, he is my favorite cousin.'"

The hobbit grinned as he finished his tale, looking from his husband to his nephew. "And then the truth was out, Frodo. He told me the story as you've heard it today."

"Not exactly as you heard it today."

"Close enough, I'd say. And all that really matters is that our dear nephew found it inspiring."

"Oh? Is Frodo inspired by tales of my misfortune?" he asked drily.

"When they're funny," Frodo said, covering his mouth with his hand. "You have to admit, Uncle Thorin--it is fun to imagine you chasing after little hobbits. And my mum!" He giggled anew. "She must have been so cross with you!"

Thorin smiled and reached to pull the young hobbit into his side. "She was, pebble. Your ears would have bled."

"I think I would have liked to see it," he said. "Imagine if my mother were here. She could tell us what they thought in Buckland after you left, and everything that happened with the rowdy Took cousins." After saying this, the boy went quiet for a long time, his smile dimming to a thoughtful twist.

"I am sorry I've been… distracted since the Mirkwood," he said at last, his voice low. Thorin squeezed his nephew tight against him. "I was only thinking… I have lost my parents once already."

"Oh," said Bilbo, scooting around to sit on Frodo's other side. "Did it scare you, when Thorin fell ill? It was scary for me too."

He nodded and cast his eyes to the straw at the bottom of the cart. "I could not help but think of the worst while we traveled in the dark. It got better when we left the woods, but I can still feel the weight of those thoughts even now."

"It is always that way, when one enters the Mirkwood," Thorin assured him. "It steals all the light from your mind, leaving your thoughts in darkness. I do not wonder that you feel ill at ease." Bilbo hummed in agreement.

"And if it will help you dispel the gloom--you must know that our dangerous days are over, nephew. Your uncle and I have faced a dragon once already, we are due our share of peace and safety."

"What about bandits?" Frodo said, his lips drawn up to one side.

"Oh, don't waste your time worrying about bandits. Haven't I told you how your uncle deals with that kind? We are perfectly safe there." He smiled back at him. "No, my boy, I think that he and I will be with you for a long time. You shall see."

Frodo still looked far too contemplative when he answered, but his smile was genuine. "I think so too, Uncle Bilbo."

*[Thorin whispered to Bilbo: "Strange. You seemed to accept this fault of mine with pleasure on the evening of my name-day." Basically: "Is that so? It seemed like you accepted it when you got me drunk on my birthday and couldn't keep your hands to yourself." ]

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shirefantasies · 6 months

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Hello, congrats on 300 followers! It’s well deserved! Can I request a matchup? I don’t have a preference for LOTR or The Hobbit characters. I’m 5’5, I have very long brown hair (although my family sometimes says it looks auburn) and brown eyes, and I’m on the curvy/chubby side. I’m pretty shy and anxious around those I don’t know, but I’m more outspoken and honest with those I do know. My interests include cooking for my family, taking care of my cats, three goats and my pig! I also love photography and writing/reading. I love nature and live in a rural area. I love going on walks and collecting rocks, acorns and other cool things I find. I don’t really have a preferred gender. I hope you’re feeling well after your surgery! I wish you all the best 💛

Thank you and of course you can! Enjoy your hobbit man for I ship you and…

Merry!

I can just see you as the cutest visitor to the Shire, maybe you’re even staying there for good. You may not be a hobbit but you look like a quite tall one with your sweet eyes and gorgeous curves. Merry sees you out in in the field one day tending to your goat and his heart leaps out of his chest. That’s it for him, one look and one wave from you and he’s lost. Luckily for him, though, he’s not afraid to walk right up and introduce himself- only the neighborly thing to do, after all. Leans up casually against a fence post as he asks how long you’ve been living ‘round these parts. Your shy glances only have him smiling wider. The next time you run into each other, it’s almost literal, Merry nearly bowling you over running from a farm grab while you’re turned around to pick up a pretty rock. Fate must be smiling on the hobbit, though, as you offer to let him hide in your farmhouse and end up making him afternoon tea while he’s there.

Visits become more natural, more regular from then on. He’s found mushrooms? You are the only one he trusts to cook them up right. He was just walking by and oh? Need help with the pig? They’re stubborn little buggers, after all. Merry becomes quite a fixture at your farm and he doesn’t even care if the Sackville-Bagginses talk.

Shy as you are, you make a bold move one day to return master Brandybuck’s calls, bringing a pie by, and soon after your tea and talks you’re strolling down the lane with him until he comes to a garden pretty enough to stop you and tell you he wants to make you his. Your lips are as sweet as your smile, that’s what he tells you after your first kiss there.

One of Merry’s favorite things is when your feisty side comes out. The way you’ll sass Pippin when the three of you have outings, tell him like it is if his idea’s a bit too daft. Sweetheart as you may be, you know how to stand up for yourself and Merry admires that. You can see it in the way he looks at you, chin resting on his hand and love sparkling in his eyes.

After every outing he brings you back a new rock, acorn, or something else like an intact snail’s shell. He’ll even help you build a shelf to display it all if you’d like one! Merry loves indulging your sense of adventure and play in general, sometimes tackling you down into the grass to surprise you. He loves play wrestling, so don’t be shy! You’re the sunshine of this hobbit’s life, so you best believe you’ll get away with quite a lot.

Taglist: @lokilover476 @fuckyoumakeart @mossthebogwitch @ibabblealot @kilibaggins @joonies-word @stormchaser819 @pirate-lord-of-narnia | Reply/Ask/Message to join 🥰

#lord of the rings #lotr #lotr imagines #lotr x reader #lotr matchups #merry #merry x reader #merry x female reader #female reader

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almost-gabrielle · 1 year

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I absolutely love your writing❤️ and I would like to know if you could do a imagine of dating Frodo or something along those lines

***I struggled a little bit with this one, but I hope that you like it all the same :)! Lemme know if you want me to change anything! Also, I wasn't sure what gender you wanted me to use, so I chose gender neutral for this one. Lemme know if you want that changed as well!***

You'd always admired Frodo and became quick friends before he randomly disappeared for nearly two years. You never got the opportunity to tell him how much you loved him, and you nearly lost that chance. And now, you were starting to lose hope that he would never return.

You kept Bag End clean while he was away. And every day, you kept looking out the window in hopes that he would return. Just as you were beginning to lose hope, however, a knock sounded at the door, causing you to jump.

Your heart pounded as you slowly made your way to the door, praying and hoping that it wasn't the Sackville-Bagginses. They've been pressuring you quite a bit to sell Bag End, but you bluntly refused, saying, "This is still Frodo's property. No one is having it."

You grasped the handle of the doorknob and carefully turned it. You blinked your eyes multiple times, wondering if what you were seeing was reality or a dream.

There stood your sweet Hobbit that had been gone for a couple of years. He was dressed in luxurious clothing made fit for royalty, and you had to remind yourself that it probably was. The only thing that you noticed that was different, however, was his face.

He no longer looked innocent, jovial, or carefree like he once was. He now looked worn and tired. There was no longer that gleaming light in his eyes that was usually there every time he saw you. Instead, there was a look that troubled him. But his eyes did light up momentarily when you came eye-to-eye with each other, before his expression became weary again.

In an instant, you opened your arms out and he sank into your loving embrace, holding him tightly to you. He buried his face into the crook of your neck, causing pleasant shivers to go down your spine. You breathed in his familiar scent.

"Two years, Frodo," you breathed, hugging him tightly. You never wanted to let him go. Not this time. "For two years, you've had me so worried."

"I know," he mumbled tiredly in reply. "I'm so sorry. I would have told you what was going on, if Gandalf hadn't told me that I had to leave so quickly."

"You could have at least left me a note telling you what was going on."

"I didn't want to risk anything, y/n."

You relaxed, knowing that you couldn't stay mad at him forever. You broke the hug and he put his hands on your shoulders, giving you a firm look in the eye.

"How about I make it up for you. We can go on a little date tomorrow morning if you want to. I'll tell you my story."

You rested your forehead gently against his. You could see him closing his eyes at the gentle pressure against his forehead.

"Deal," you whispered in reply.

The next morning, you dressed up in a nice outfit -- one that you wore to Frodo's and Bilbo's birthday party the day before he randomly disappeared without a word. Once Frodo's eyes were on you, his eyes widened, and he blushed brightly in realization.

"Th-That's --" he stuttered as his eyes raked you up and down.

You giggled, smirking at him.

"I know."

The two of you went to a quiet part of the Shire in the woods, before settling yourselves down after spreading the picic blanket on the ground. He told you of his adventures as the two of you feast on your favorite breakfast foods.

Your eyes widened as he told you that he had been stabbed by a deadly blade that could have killed him. How he had offered to take the Ring to Mordor. And how he found the legendary creature, Gollum, who ended up siding with his bad self in the end.

Once his story was over, it was nearly late afternoon, almost time for Afternoon Tea. Your sweet Hobbit seemed relieved to get all the horrors he'd witnessed over the past two years, off his chest. And he now leaned his head on your shoulder in exhaustion. You smiled down at him.

"You have Bilbo's old book, don't you? The one he wrote?"

Frodo looks up at you in surprise, and furrows his eyebrow in confusion.

"Yeah?"

You smirked knowingly at him.

"Why don't you go ahead and write your story?"

***Yikes! Not my best writing ever, but I feel like it's alright. Lemme know if you want me to change anything! And thanks for requestiong :)!***

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snaggletoothedbastard · 2 years

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All right, I'm about to say it. Frodo Baggins is autistic.

During what I just realised is literal years I've spent researching autism, I have noticed quite a lot of autistic traits not only in myself, but also in Frodo. And I'm going to talk about them because I've been thinking about this for a long time and I just really want to talk about it. (Also this gives me a chance to practise analysing stuff for some English exams which are happening soon.)

Just to be clear: I am not a psychologist nor do I claim to be; this is based on extensive research, my own experiences and the experiences of other autistic people that I've seen/heard/read about.

I'll focus on the book first.

So, literally one of the first things anyone says about Frodo and his family is that they're "queer", in this case meaning "strange". Someone also says Frodo is very similar to Bilbo, and if Bilbo is not autistic I will eat my fucking hat. It also makes sense that some people in Frodo's family would be autistic because autism is genetic.

In the first chapter of "Fellowship", Frodo spends the day after Bilbo's party dealing with various annoying hobbits, and we get these lines: "In the middle of the commotion the Sackville-Bagginses arrived. Frodo had retired for a while and left his friend Merry Brandybuck to keep an eye on things. When Otho loudly demanded to see Frodo, Merry bowed politely. 'He is indisposed,' he said. 'He is resting.'" and "Frodo was sitting at a table with a lot of papers in front of him. He looked indisposed – to see Sackville-Bagginses at any rate; and he stood up, fidgeting with something in his pocket. But he spoke quite politely". Both imply quite strongly that he ends up getting burnt-out from having to interact with all those people. Also, "fidgeting with something in his pocket" sounds a lot like stimming, and it happens again in the Prancing Pony when he stands on a table and tries to divert the attention away from Pippin. Another example of stimming is the random singing/waxing poetic that happens frequently in the book. However ridiculous it might be to read, it's actually something I do quite a lot, especially at school.

There are some implications of sensory issues throughout the book. In chapter six Frodo is "reluctant to have his garments touched". When he is in Lothlórien he seems to experience some kind of sensory euphoria, suggested by the lines: "The others cast themselves down upon the fragrant grass, but Frodo stood awhile still lost in wonder" and "He saw no colour but those he knew, gold and white and blue and green, but they were fresh and poignant, as if he had at that moment first perceived them and made for them names new and wonderful", which describe quite accurately how sensory euphoria feels for me. In chapter one of book four when he hears one of the Ringwraiths he "loosed his hold (on the rope) and put his hands over his head and ears"; this quote is fairly self-explanatory.

Frodo doesn't speak for a great deal of the book (highlighted in various quotes, including, "He said nothing, indeed he hardly spoke at all") and there are multiple occasions when someone, usually of high status, is talking to him and he doesn't say anything back because he can't find the words. When I read this I thought, bloody hell this is literally me.

He also has a very strong moral compass and sense of justice, which is shown frequently in the book (and the films, of course, but the book seems to make it more obvious). He makes a point of avoiding having to kill people, two good examples of these people being Gollum and Saruman. Several moments in the book, for example, the part where the elves don't want to let Gimli into Lothlórien and Frodo defends him, and the part where Faramir says Gollum should be blindfolded when they leave Henneth Annûn to which Frodo says this: "Blindfold us all three, and cover up my eyes first, and then perhaps he will see that no harm is meant" show how much he values fairness, and his determination to keep things fair in difficult situations.

To end the section about the book, here are two quotes:

"'I had a funny dream an hour or two before we stopped, Mr. Frodo,' he said. 'Or maybe it wasn’t a dream. Funny it was anyway.' 'Well, what was it?' said Frodo, knowing that Sam would not settle down until he had told his tale, whatever it was. 'I haven’t seen or thought of anything to make me smile since we left Lothlórien.' 'It wasn’t funny that way, Mr. Frodo. It was queer. All wrong, if it wasn’t a dream.'"

and: "Faramir smiled grimly. 'Then you would grieve to learn that Boromir is dead?' 'I would grieve indeed,' said Frodo. Then catching the look in Faramir’s eyes, he faltered. 'Dead?' he said. 'Do you mean that he is dead, and that you knew it? You have been trying to trap me in words, playing with me? Or are you now trying to snare me with a falsehood?'"

In the first quote Sam says his dream was "funny", meaning, "It was queer. All wrong, if it wasn’t a dream", but Frodo takes him literally and thinks he means "funny" as in "anything to make me smile". Autistic people are often more likely to take things literally when meanings aren't entirely clear. And something similar happens when Frodo talks to Faramir, as shown in the second quote. When Faramir says, "Then you would grieve to learn that Boromir is dead?" Frodo doesn't understand him straight away and assumes he is talking hypothetically.

Okay now I'll focus on the films. I'll probably be doing more subtext-reading for this, because the films can't really show what's going on in Frodo's head as well as the book can. So I can't promise that everything I say here will be totally accurate but I'm thinking, if it's not explicitly stated, you technically can't tell if it's wrong or right so I'm going to go with what I think is the most accurate interpretation of the evidence given, and hope for the best.

The way Frodo expresses himself in the films is interesting. He is likely to be more expressive when he's with people he's close to, like Gandalf, than when he's with people he is less friendly with, like the elves in Lothlórien. If we compare his facial expressions in these shots:

to these:

we can see that they change a fair bit more when he's talking to Gandalf than when he is in Lothlórien with the rest of the Fellowship and the elves. In the first three pictures his face doesn't really change drastically but it conveys various different emotions, whereas in the last two pictures his face is very neutral and it's harder to tell what he's feeling. It's also important to take note of the scene in between these two sections, which I'll just refer to as Gandalf's Death Scene. Frodo's reaction to Gandalf's death presents itself as a relatively short but very intense outburst which quickly turns into a much quieter, and what looks like a more internal, reaction. He goes from screaming at the initial shock to just crying silently within about two minutes. The impression I'm getting from this is that he feels quite intense emotions but possibly struggles to express them, especially around people he doesn't know. And the scenes I've mentioned are just a couple of examples. Here are some more:

(talking to Faramir)

(talking to Sam)

See the difference?

Going along similar lines, Frodo is clearly shown to have a lot of empathy. The stereotype is that autistic people don't have much empathy, and while this is the case for some people, for others the opposite is true. Frodo is very empathetic and also very compassionate. He obviously cares a lot about other people and he at least tries to be kind to everyone, even when no-one else sees the point. (Is it obvious I'm referring to Gollum? Because let's be real, we all knew this was going to come up eventually. I've talked in great detail about this before so I won't elaborate too much about it now or else I'll just be repeating myself. If you want to read my analysis about Frodo's relationship with Gollum, it's on my blog somewhere, it's fairly recent and it shouldn't be hard to find.)

I think one of the most noticeable differences between the book and the films, at least in the context of what I'm writing about, is the fact that the body language in the films seems to have more significance (for want of a better word). Not that there isn't any in the book, because of course there is, but as far as I can tell, the films, being very visual things, allow body language to be shown more clearly and with more subtle details than the book. This is what has led me to focus more on things like facial expressions when I'm talking about the films, in contrast to what I've said about the book, which is mostly about dialogue (or lack thereof) and description. So, following on from that, I'd like to point out something that is apparently quite obvious and has caused a lot of people to take the piss out of Frodo: his clumsiness. Apparently Frodo falls over thirty-nine times (or thereabouts) in the film trilogy, and spends a fair amount of time walking like he's got two left feet. Struggling with balance and coordination is a slightly less well-known autistic trait but it's an autistic trait nonetheless, and it's also a symptom of other disabilities like dyspraxia. So I would advise against making fun of it, because being made fun of for showing signs of a disability doesn't feel great.

In conclusion, Frodo is autistic-coded and I see this as an absolute win, whether it was intentional or no. He is a brilliant character and the fact that he is autistic-coded just makes me like him even more. There are a lot of fictional characters that I like and can relate to, but I have yet to find someone I can identify with as much as Frodo.

#lord of the rings #frodo baggins #i wrote another essay at ungodly hours of the night #at this point I'm not even surprised #this has become a normal occurrence #i would have used more pictures but i'm only allowed to use ten so i hope this still gets the point across #autistic characters #lotr analysis

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mordoriscalling · 1 year

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Assurance and Authority (4/25)

Post-BOTFA Persuasion Au: Bilbo returns to the Shire after the Quest, having rejected Thorin’s proposal of marriage. For years after, he struggles with regret. When he and Thorin meet again, he knows better than to hope.

Chapter 4 also available on AO3

(Ch 1) (Ch 2) (Ch 3)

The Great Smials in Tuckborough, the ancestral home of the Tooks, was a system of numerous smials connected by a multitude of tunnels, in which the Tooks had been residing for generations. The place was a remarkable piece of construction, which constituted a home to many a dozen families and still allowed them to host guests. Despite that, the Smials were typically rather crowded on normal days, but there were times when the place was nearly packed to the brim with hobbits, which occurred if many guests were visiting at the same time.

Such was the case when Bilbo took Primula up on her invitation. Prior to his arrival, Primula had come to Tuckborough from Buckland together with her husband and son, two sisters Amaranth and Asphodel, her mother Mirabella and her father Gorbadoc Brandybuck, as well as half a dozen of their relatives. The reason for their visit to Tuckborough was both a familial and a diplomatic one - they all wished to see their Took relatives, and Gorbadoc, the Master of Buckland, wanted to meet with his nephew Fortinbras II, the current Thain of the Shire.

With the Great Smials so overcrowded, there was scarcely a chance of not bumping into any hobbit after leaving one’s room. Bilbo, when he passed someone in the corridors of the Smials, more often than not ended up seeing one of Primula’s immediate family. This was not unfortunate in itself, but the problem was that they all liked to confide in Bilbo about their problems and tiffs, which often concerned Primula’s husband Drogo.

"My dear Bilbo,” aunt Mirabella told him one morning on their way to breakfast, "I must say that I did promise myself not to meddle in the affairs of any of my daughters, but bless me, I have no very good opinion of the way Drogo intervenes with how Prim rears Frodo. He always has objections to how she encourages his curiosity and lectures Frodo about what’s respectable. The lad is just a little fauntling, for goodness’s sake!”

"Bilbo, my dear boy,” uncle Gorbadoc said when he and Bilbo chanced upon each other in a pantry, "Since you’re the head of the Bagginses, I wonder if there’s something you you could do to arrange for Drogo to have more earnings? I’m sure he could use more money to indulge his appetite better. Why, he dines with us at least twice a week, and he always eats for three every time! Not that I mind, but I’m sure it would put him at ease to be able to buy more food for himself.”

"Whilst you’re here,” Amaranth murmured to Bilbo while they helped with washing the dishes, "Could you possibly give Drogo a hint that it would be better if he didn’t try to take precedence over papa? We know you Bagginses are an esteemed lot, but Drogo has no authority in Brandy Hall, Baggins or not.”

‘No matter how much Drogo insists on them, papa doesn’t care about proper table manners,” Asphodel said while she and Bilbo were baking lemon cake, "It’s good food he cares about.”

Primula herself had a thing or two to say as well. "I can take care of Frodo just fine without Drogo’s lectures,” she grumbled to Bilbo one evening over tea. ‘I know our boy is a Baggins and with that come certain expectations, but he’s just as much a Brandybuck as he’s a Baggins!” She sighed. "And I wish you could have him assured that nothing would happen to him when boating if only he allowed me to teach him how to swim. Perhaps you could talk some sense to him, Bilbo? Swimming is really something that one should be able to do.”

When Bilbo tried to raise these concerns with Drogo, most of his attempts were futile, as Drogo had just as many issues to complain about.

"Oh, Bilbo, you have no idea how relieved I am!” he said once when they enjoyed a smoke by the Great Door. "To have a Baggins around who understands me! Really, Brandybucks are too strange for me sometimes. How can they go boating, I will never understand. It can’t be safe. And to think Primula wanted to take Frodo boating too! To endanger our boy so! You must try to tell her to be more reasonable, Bilbo.” Another time, he said, "The very thought of going boating makes me feel ill. You have seen Brandywine, you know how wide and deep that river is. Merely being near it makes me uneasy, and living next to so much water makes my joints ache. I swear, it’s all because of that moist river air. I’m so relieved to have come here, I feel better indeed. I wish I had another Baggins with me in Buckland, then I’d be seen and heard. Perhaps you could talk to them in a way that would make them understand me?”

The unsolicited role of a mediator began to tire Bilbo profusely. His only respite from it was being outside of the Great Smials altogether, which was why he took to long walks most eagerly. Often accompanied by Primula, Frodo and many other fauntlings, Bilbo would wander around the green hills of Tuckborough, exploring its colourful meadows, charming groves and little brooks.

When not busy entertaining or watching the little ones, Bilbo found his mind wandering as much as his feet did. He tried his best not to dwell on the past, instead turning his thoughts to the problem at hand. It was not the first time that he bore witness to all the disagreements stemming from Primula’s marriage to Drogo. Since they had been wed six years ago and welcomed their son into the world a year later, the couple had been facing a problem of not seeing eye to eye on certain matters with one another and each other’s relatives. That was not to say they were unhappy together; they were greatly fond of each other, loved their son dearly, and found as much charm as fault in each other’s differences. Rather, Bilbo worried that, because of their financial circumstances, they were too dependent on Primula’s parents and thus, having no prospects of moving elsewhere, they were always bound to living near disapproving family members. Such conditions fostered only conflict and could not be beneficial for their union in the perspective of decades. Bilbo believed that the situation was likely to lead to unhappiness, and Primula’s well-being concerned him greatly; the lass, eighteen years his junior, was one of his relatives that were most dear to him.

She had always been a curious spirit ever since she had been little, and when she had been old enough to speak, she would always seek Bilbo out during family gatherings, at the time when Bilbo had been past his second eleventy birthday and everyone had already labelled him as quite a bit of a recluse. Little Primula, being a tiny fauntling, had not cared about the general opinion of him and befriended him right away. She had stayed constant in her liking of Bilbo for all her childhood, and the two had formed a strong connection, similar to that of siblings. Once Primula grew older, their bond had been nurtured by them both, which Bilbo could not have been more grateful for, especially since it had been Primula more than any other who had helped Bilbo overcome the grief of becoming an orphan.

Due to their closeness, Bilbo worried about Primula’s happiness a lot, so much so that one day he did ask her about it outright.

“Are you happy, Prim?” he said during one of their outings, on a sunny afternoon at the beginning of Wedmath. They had played hounds and hares with Frodo and a dozen other fauntlings earlier, after which the whole group enjoyed a picnic. Now that the children had had their rest, they were up again, playing leaf flutes at the top of the hill, which Bilbo and Primula were slowly climbing.

“Of course I am, Bilbo,” she replied. “I have a family of my own now, a healthy child, whatever else could I wish for?”

Bilbo frowned, displeased with her answer, for he knew far too well what one with family and a child but no place to call their own would dearly wish for. “Primula,” he said, “If you ever find yourselves in need of a different smial to stay, Bag End’s doors are always open to you, for as long as you wish.”

“Why, Bilbo, I could never impose on you so!”

“Come, now, Prim, it’s an invitation freely given. Besides, I’m sure Drogo would find the comforts of Bag End most beneficial to his health.”

At that, Primula laughed out loud. “He would indeed. There would be nothing better for his joints than the ability to run a hot bath at will!” She sobered. “Still, you’re too good, Bilbo. I cannot find it in myself to abuse your generosity like this.”

“It’d be no abuse! It’s simply the least I could do. I wish you to take me up on this invitation.”

“Bilbo, please. You must realise that it’s not easy for me to accept charity.”

“Charity? It’s not charity. I’m much more selfish in my offer than you can imagine.”

“How so?”

Before Bilbo could reply, one of the fauntlings above shouted a question about whether the group could go play in the creek on the other side of the hill, which Primula gave them permission to do.

“My adventure has changed me very much,” Bilbo said once the little ones disappeared from view. ‘Before, I was more than happy to eat my dinners alone. Once most of my grief of losing mama and papa passed, I loved my solitude. Then, my adventure showed me what I had been missing, and now I can scarcely like lack of companionship.”

“I see,” Primula replied, and that was all they said on the matter.

They walked in companionable silence, reaching the top of the hill. Bilbo began to imagine what it would be like to have Primula, Drogo and Frodo live with him and he found the idea exceedingly pleasing. He had always believed that his father had built Bag End for it to be full of laughter; the smial standing near empty seemed to be a terrible waste that had been weighing on Bilbo’s heart and mind for some time now.

When Bilbo and Primula were about to descend the hill to join the fauntlings at the creek, a call from behind them caught their attention.

"Mister Bilbo!”

It was a tween lad, running up to them together with another boy, whom Bilbo recognized to be Hamson and Halfred, the two oldest children of Bilbo’s gardener Hamfast Gamgee. The boys were visibly red in the face even from some distance away.

"Mister Bilbo!” Hamson cried again. "We’ve been looking for you!”

The two lads finally stood before them, panting heavily.

"Papa sends us,” Halfred said. "There were three dozen dwarven soldiers marching through Hobbiton before noon, and a few of those dwarves knocked on Bag End’s door! They even asked him where you were, mister Bilbo. Papa said you’d want to know.”

"Are they friends of yours, mister Bilbo?” Hamson asked.

“I don’t know,” shocked Bilbo replied, as was the truth. “Perhaps.”

Bilbo had indeed invited the Company to visit his smial anytime. He had told them at what time tea was and even not to bother knocking, when he had bidden them farewell. Thus, Bilbo dearly hoped that the dwarven soldiers in question were some of his friends, but at the same time feared the heirs of Durin might’ve knocked on his door, even though the likelihood of that event was exceedingly small. Alas, before he could ask the boys if they knew anything about how the dwarves looked like, Frodo’s pained cry carried in the air.

#myfic #bagginshield #bilbo x thorin #persuasion au

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thisisnotthenerd · 1 year

Text

c3e59 thoughts and musings

wow its been awhile. i have 57 and 58 t&m in my drafts unfinished bc of some irl nonsense i was dealing with but we’re back on the train now. i hope. aabria’s discussion of deanna’s afterlife gave me a new fic idea that i’ll have to follow up on later.

anyway. we’re coming back to team hells! i know they’re officially AOL but team bells and team hells just works too well. whatever happens this episode is going to be so great. i can’t wait to see what matt has concocted in this time. i hope we have the time for taliesin to explain what ashton was doing on their day off. not placing any bets on guests because old or new, whoever it is is going to have to match the incredible energy that aabria and christian gave to the team bells wildemount arc. just as deanna and frida had plothooks for chetney and fcg’s pasts in particular, i hope that whoever’s coming on will have some kind of link to dig into ashton’s backstory a little more and maybe get into the ashari/hishari part of his and orym’s background.

from what i can tell, this 3rd arc is all about uncovering lore--the new state of the world and the plans that led to it along with the backgrounds of core bells hells and their new friends. i’m really hoping for a good lore finding character--while orym’s fantastic perception is gamebreaking, i think they need someone for investigation/arcana. maybe laudna will get proficiency in arcana from having delilah in her head/unpicking the remnants? that would be good bc these three only have +1.

this group is also currently melee heavy; most of the spellcasters went to wildemount. i hope they can strike a good balance--maybe get some hybrid classes to work with them? e.g. ranger, paladin, artificer. i had thoughts about orym multiclassing into either of the first two, but i think orym is staying a fighter.

wtf is this ad sam. emily and omar are coming to the dome!!!! i can’t wait for this zelda oneshot!!!!

here we go! where are we gang! ruidus is likely to the south! wildemount, marquet, or issylra. laudna here being deeply worried about imogen and the blowup. oh boy sending’s not working.

this feels like a shittier situation than team bells. Pate’s here though!

Aimee’s back! latina dwarf energy! i love her. i love her. Mona! the energy is immaculate. ex-fiance??? barbarian rogue? i don’t fuck with the gods. denise though

that fucking speech broadcasted??? OH???

843 PD=no time lapse

bilbo bagginsing it

quick meth

new person??? utkarsh? cringefail of a guy. hair trigger bor’dor sorceror. ruidusborn?

EMILY AXFORD IN THE DOME HOLY SHIT

a little try hard wizard! Cobalt Soul Archivist? investigation queen! teleport malfunction result. Prism my wizard girlie

nexus of infinite personalities in a hole in my head??? this survey is just coming out with the best personality display.

combat?? the rookie energy coming off of bor’dor and prism is fantastic.

very different energy as we get into this side of bell’s hells. communication is going to be a sticking point--ashton and denise are both very insular and private, bor’dor and prism are both new to the situation in varying ways that will really affect the future of the party, and laudna and orym are kind of taking the lead on the social interactions for the party and easing the way through this unprecedented scenario.

laudna’s compartmentalizing hard. ashton is at least letting his anger out. the lightning bolt situation was super frazzling for orym and everyone. i hope that they have the chance to actually sit down after this battle.

i have a feeling that this is really going to bring out different facets of the people we already know, and i hope they have the opportunity to relax the way that team bells did. if it’s formulaic, i think they might head for the nearest big city, then go to traverse toward marquet and maybe hit the hishari village and/or ivaadel on the way.

emily kicking ASS. Bladesinger?? this battle is so cool.

weekend at bernie’sing two corpses as a bit is so funny to me.

prism and bor’dor interacting is so neurodivergent to me.

laudna & ashton talking it out! worries about imogen & the philosophy of not leaving people is really sticking. we are more than enough.

DARIAX???? WANTED POSTER?????EX_FIANCE!!!!

aw orym’s getting to talk it out.

ascendant bridge mountain--i’m seeing a vasselheim trip in the near future maybe.

and we’re off to the nearest town in june! i can’t wait to see where we go from here!

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retellingthehobbit · 8 months

Note

I went to read your comic on Ao3 and I noticed you'd started back in 2020. Aside from your clear and beautiful art progression, what can you tell me about the timeline of your comic?

Thank you! And yes, started this webcomic in January of 2020. “I sure hope nothing bad happens in 2020 that will hamper my ability to focus on a large personal project!” — me in January 2020 with all the naivety of youth. Top ten images taken minutes before disaster. This comic is like a deeply personal diary of my mental state, complete with the long empty hiatuses that are sort of like that part of Twilight where months of depression are represented by blank pages.

One of my favorite things about webcomics is how you can often see an artist’s style grow organically over time. I think it’s something that’s getting lost in the age of “Webtoon Originals,” where people are starting to expect webcomics to be produced by an actual production studio with a team of artists behind them and to maintain a consistent highly curated art style throughout. These professionally funded comics are fun, but they do lose the messy personal organic growth that used to separate webcomics from traditional print comics? But i could go on a whole tirade about webtoon haha 😂 !

The Hobbit is partially a story about someone learning how to express themselves. Bilbo starts the story as this stuffy little guy who is repressing a lot his own personality; he ends the story as a skilled artist writing elaborate prosy poetry about his adventures. I deliberately chose to start drawing the comic before I went to college, knowing my art style would change a lot of over that period!

Anyway here's the timeline as I remember it: Pre-development: I was working on sketches of the comic itself as early as 2016. Chapter 1 (A Bedtime Story/Tooks and Bagginses): (Posted on Tumblr in January 2020, on Ao3 later): Published shortly before I went to college. I was drawing in Paint Tool Sai, and hand-writing all the words instead of using a font. I set out to adapt at least the Unexpected Party chapter, but thought I'd probably adapt the entire novel within a year or two. ("It's a webcomic Michael. How long could it take? twelve months?") Chapter 2: (A Very Respectable Hobbit): Posted like a week after Chapter 1. This was when I still thought I could post a ten page chapter every week, haahahahahahahahahaha Fs in the chat.

HIATUS #1: DANCE BREAK: TIME FOR A GLOBAL PANDEMIC. The exact timeline of 2020 is a blur for obvious reasons, but I do remember the updates became very sporadic over this period. Chapter 3-5 (Very Old Friends and An Unexpected Party chapters): there’s a global pandemic. During Spring Break my college abruptly kicks us all off campus and sends us home. I keep looking at the “post dates” on these chapters like what??? Really? I posted that at thAt time? But there was a global pandemic happening and I was so busy and overwhelmed with college???? When did I have the time? I have no memory of drawing these. My memories of all 2020 are so blurry. I think these chapters just manifested spontaneously.

The weekly/biweekly update schedule has been tossed to the wind, never to return. Alas. Chapter 6 (An Enormously Important Dwarf, aka Thorin’s intro): I was back “at college” during our “hybrid” year, so in practice I was extremely isolated. this was posted during a year after the first chapter, in 2021. I would never have found the motivation to continue if I wasn't so excited to draw Thorin! I also joined a "comic club" at my college which was comprised mainly of awkward video calls with like three people. On a weirder note, this chapter was posted a few weeks after the January 6th attempted coup. I was drawing in a a weird headspace.

DANCE BREAK #2: IT’S TIME FOR A YEAR LONG HIATUS:

I've started to often dislike the word “burnout” when it’s applied to art. It implies that the problem is that you were drawing too much or that you can’t find inspiration, when often the problem is much bigger than your art-- it's wider economic anxieties and social circumstances outside your control. It is very hard to think clearly and create things when you are worried about your future, about work, about housing, about a global pandemic, about constant demands on your time, and about being extremely isolated. In hindsight, I wasn’t “burned out”— I was in a situation where I could not think clearly or produce anything. Chapter 7 (The Lonely Mountain): posted a full year after chapter 6. For a while I considered having this be the “last chapter” of the comic!

Changing art styles was a thing I was really motivated to do, and was my last “bucket list” item for the comic.

HIATUS #3: I get really busy with junior year of college! I grow more and more disillusioned with Tolkien as I learn more about The Hobbit Law crushing labor unions and worker's rights in New Zealand, and how Amazon takes advantage of that. The Tolkien Estate also releases a statement saying they disapprove of any unauthorized use of Tolkien's works for profit or not, which isn't really legally enforceable but is also just an act of pure contempt XD. Chapter 8 (A Tangled Web): I get sent to the emergency room in an ambulance for Reasons and begin drawing this in the weeks after, as I realize I don't care about the Tolkien Estate or Amazon or Warner Brothers or whatever hollow marketable products they produce under the tolkien brand. I think this is the weakest chapter of the comic, both in writing and art, and in hindisght think the comic works better without it pacing-wise. However!!!! I was drawing it in a weird mental state, so. XD

Also, at this point I am drawing entirely in Photoshop. Chapter 9 (Ash and Smoke): Back at college for senior year— time for dragon! The comic starts updating with something that resembles a "regular schedule!" this year had more and more people on campus in person, and I started to slowly make college friends :). Also, at this point I am the President of the comic club, and we are now meeting in person and rebuilding our comic empire. Chapter 10 (The Heart of the Mountain): Some funky bits of writing I'd like to revise at some point, but I enjoy the art in this chapter. Chapter 11 (Polite Nothings): If I were to do this all again I'd shorten this chapter and combine it with chapter 12. One important note is that originally, I tried to keep all chapters under ten pages. This made it easier to post them to Instagram and Tumblr, because tumblr still had a “ten image limit” at the time. However at some point I realized that was more trouble than it was worth, and really made the pacing difficult/slow as I struggled to split the story into ten page chunks.

A lot of webcomics often fall into what I call a “wheel-spinning” phase, where the author is so focused on finishing smaller updates that they lose the pacing of the larger narrative—- and so the story stalls out. I feel like I dealt with a lot of “wheel-spinning” while I was at college, both in my life and in my comic XD. Chapter 12 (The Quest): My internship company gives me an offer to work full-time, which I accept. in the last semester of my last year of college, I take the most helpful elective class I have ever taken: a class on using 3D models in blender to aid with blocking out illustrations. This is the first chapter where you see one of those backgrounds! From this point on my background art will improve dramatically. I also have lots of internet friends and college friends!

As I grow more confident in my art I also make the decision to change the character designs, something I’d wanted to do for a while. Chapter 13 (The Necromancer): I graduate college! It's time for some Lotte Reiniger art. I stay in my student housing until my lease ends. The art starts to grow more elaborate as I have more time to spend on it. Chapter 14 (Terms and Conditions): my summer is free, so I spend it drawing gay little hobbits. I move up North to live with my grandmother until my work start date. This is the very last “normal-sized” chapter of the comic, where I hold myself to keeping it under 10 pages. I also think this is where my new more elaborate character designs actually start to look a lot better XD.

I was finishing up apartment-hunting at this time, so both Bilbo and I were goin over contract terms. Chapter 15 (Unattached): summer free time!! More gay little hobbits. I move into my New apartment and sleep on an air mattress for a while. I have a lot of time to draw and the art gets far more complex; this chapter was also twice as long as my usual chapters. I am still proud of this chapter, honestly, even though it's gotten less attention than Chapter 16/17-- it's one I'd been excited to draw for a while. A lot of this chapter was drawn on my beautiful powerful beloved air mattress. Air mattress, my beloved. Chapter 16 (the Song of the Lonely Mountain): I start my new job! I get a BED. Lots of exciting things are happening. I was really excited to draw and post this chapter, because it’s one id been dreaming about drawing from the beginning-- it was surreal to see it "posted" because part of me never thought I'd get this far. I even started a tiktok and posted the chapter there, certain that people would enjoy it. However, tiktok basically ignored it, alas! This is why tumblr is the only social media site. Chapter 17: I continue my new job. My roommate surprises me with the news that they will move out at the end of our lease, making me realize that months have somehow passed. I make a post asking for anyone looking for roommates in Milwaukee to contact me via dms (that offer is still open, if you’re looking to move here in early June.) I privately am very confused about why anyone would ever want to leave a comfortable settled home to go off on an adventure and then realize that I am behaving exactly like pre-quest Bilbo Baggins.

Chapter 18: the chapter I am working on now!!! Another chapter I have been excited to draw forever!! It’ll feature studio-Ghibli-inspired backgrounds, exciting landscape art, and so much fun! I’ve also started a Patreon where, if you want to see “one page a week” instead of “twenty pages every Mystery number of Months” you can subscribe there. (The first page of Chapter 18 has already been posted!)

But yeah! The TL:DR:

I think the moral of all this (to me) is that it’s hard to make art if you’re just not in a position to do it, and you have to allow yourself time to grow and change as a person XD. Sometimes you need to spend a few years thinking and getting better before you're ready to go on an Adventure. I started this comic when I was very Young and Naive to the Ways of the World. The quality (and dips in quality) reflect my wildly fluctuating mental/emotional states while trying to draw each chapter in the midst of a global pandemic. My art has improved a lot lately, and I think a large part of it is really just being in a situation where I *can* improve— having a decent job, not being in the middle of a global pandemic with no vaccine in sight, not needing to live in constant fever-pitch anxiety, having friends, etc etc. I am completely different person now than I was while drawing chapter 1.

Not to be dramatic, but I think you can see there’s a lot more joy in the recent chapters than there is in some of the older ones. It's weird to look at your art and realize you've gotten happier. XD

#thanks for the ask!!!#and sorry it took so long to respond #I am Treebeard-core when it comes to responding to asks #just like I am Treebeard-core when it comes to posting this comic #it takes a very loong time to say anything in oooold entish #and we never say anyythiiiiing #unlesssss #it is worth taking #a long #time #to say #the hobbit #the hobbit comic #retelling the hobbit #lotr #lord of the rings

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