I understand the "the age difference between stepfather and stepson feeling weird to Bard and Legolas" but allow me to suggest "they feel comfortable anyway and like to make jokes about it"
Bard: "This is Legolas. He's my oldest child. By far the oldest. So much so, he's even older than me."
Legolas: "When I was your age..."
Bard: "That's no way to talk to your father."
* both burst out laughing*
Legolas: "See this DILF? That's my father's young lover. Younger than his own child, can you believe it?"
Bard: "Stop it or I won't let you have dessert after dinner."
Ok but hear me out. Thorin snaps out of goldsickness a little earlier, just in time for the elven army to show up, so the dwarves and Thranduil and Bard all meet to negotiate together.
Thranduil, upon walking into the tent and seeing Bard for the first time: decides the best thing to do in this situation is to give a rather detailed and explicit description of all the things he wants Bard to do with him, in Sindarin.
Thorin, who does not speak Sindarin but sees Bard's eyebrows fly up and really doesn't want him any more angry than he is over Thorin setting a dragon on his people and then nearly going back on his word to help them: If he wanted to insult you, he'd do it in Westron. Trust me on this, I would know. It was probably something nice.
Bilbo, who does in fact speak Sindarin, grinning next to Thorin: Oh, it was VERY complimentary.
Thorin, desperate to not cause a diplomatic incident: You know what he said?
Bilbo: Oh I'd be quite happy to translate.
Thranduil, who was entirely unaware that anyone else here spoke Sindarin and is trying to cover his embarrassment: Absolutely not.
Bilbo, having the time of his life: Oh don't be so upset about it, we hobbits aren't nearly as prudish as the rest of you.
Thranduil, getting defensive: That was not meant for your ears.
Bilbo: Well if they were meant for his I would suggest saying them in a language he can understand.
Bard, who spent years working with elves, somewhat amused and in pretty decent Sindarin: Oh I understood.
Took me long enough, but!! New drawing of Thranduil and Bard in the modern AU! inspired by x this chapter from @laudys83 ;) less smuty than my first sketches, but oh well ☝️
As always, better look on the faces and all under the cut
If Thorin moved to the Shire to be with Bilbo, he 100% would have become an adoptive uncle to Merry and Pippin because they reminded him so much of Fíli and Kíli
Imagine the beginning of LotR when they set off the firework, but Thorin is the one who grabs them by the ears because they're his boys
Hi I've been exhausted lately but I finally finished some Middle-Earth cane designs for Disability Pride Month and they make me very happy.
Click for better quality, zoom in please I spent way too long on these.
I'm a cane user, and most fictional or antique canes really annoy me, because they're rarely actually usable or practical. So this is my attempt to design usable but still interesting canes for characters I have somewhat arbitrarily projected disability onto. For example, they all have padded handles and most have wrist straps.
Individual design ramblings below!
Nerdanel has some type of genetic chronic illness, I haven't decided exactly what yet. Her cane has metalwork decoration, and a locking hinge mechanism to allow it to fold, because one of my canes is folding and it's super useful. Those parts were made by Mahtan. The Fëanorian star carving and crystal section were later modifications, and I think Nerdanel would continue modifying it throughout her life.
I've drawn Idril with prosthetic legs post-Helcaraxë, and some people with prosthetics use canes or other mobility aids for extra balance. I also headcanon that her silver legs were made by Celebrimbor once he ended up in Gondolin, so before that she may have had lower quality prosthetics and relied more on a cane. Hers has an eagle carved into it (Thorondor maybe), as well as eagle feathers, ribbons, and her heraldry for decoration. Elenwë's name is also carved closer to the base as a memorial (hopefully I did the tengwar right).
Celebrían uses a cane in Valinor due to her injuries. Hers is mallorn wood with metal decorations. Specifically the snake and flowers reference the House of Finarfin. The snake is made of mithril, which i think would be popular for mobility aid details due to its light weight. Also, she got Celebrimbor to help her make it after she dragged him out of Mandos.
Elros' is the only one without a wrist strap because I unfortunately couldn't work it into the design well. He uses it due to a leg injury from the War of Wrath, mostly because I wanted Elrond to encourage him about it in a fic I never finished. The handle is a carved and painted seagull, the column shows fish, and the base has Eärendil's star.
Caranthir inherited Nerdanel's condition, the only one of the sons who did. He didn't start using a cane until they were in Beleriand, so his is a from-memory recreation of Nerdanel's, made with Curufin's help. It also has metalwork details and a hinge. The textile wraps were his own addition, and the claw and beads were gifts from Haleth.
Faramir was born disabled with chronic health issues (again haven't decided exactly what yet), but this wasn't publicly acknowledged by Denethor as it didn't "fit the image". He had very little access to mobility aids growing up because of this. Injuries from the War of the Ring certainly didn't help, and he started using a cane after that. His was given to him by Éowyn, and was made in Rohan, hence the horse. The blue fabric band with stars is a reference to the cloak he gave her, and the lower band was made using remnants of Boromir's horn as a way for Faramir to carry his brother with him.
Sam scared out of his wits, getting ready to ask Bilbo and Thorin for their blessing to court Frodo. He's so sure this will all end with him being murdered by a dwarf or, if not banned from bagend for life, but for Frodo, he has to try.
Little does he know, he is the only person on the planet that Thorin would accept courting his littlest nephew, and Bilbo has already written him into the will.
Lotr headcanon, having lots of patches on your clothes is fashionable in the Shire. The more patches, the cooler you are. Especially if it's a lot of different fabrics. It's common to trade patches with friends and family, and it's usually treated with high sentimental value. It's like carrying a piece of someone with you.
While the hobbits are on the quest, their clothes get holes and such. This leads Sam and Frodo to nab small things from the other members of the fellowship, like handkerchiefs or anything too worn for use, to use as patches. Merry and Pippin aren't so courteous, and cut pieces from the fellowship's clothes while they sleep.
Of course, the hobbits exchange patches amongst themselves while traveling, and they never go anywhere without a needle and some thread. Sam is the best at sewing. Pippin is not allowed around needles.
Boromir notices this, thinks it's adorable, and leaves things out purposely for the hobbits to use. Eventually, he asks about it, and they convince him to do the patches, too.
Aragorn also notices and thinks it's adorable, but doesn't bring it up to them. He's secretly flattered to find pieces of his rag on Frodo's pants. He asks Boromir about it instead.
Legolas doesn't notice. His clothes are elven-made, and the scissors refuse to cut it.
Gimli notices the random holes in his clothes, and the things going missing, but doesn't realize it's the hobbits. He brings it up to Legolas, who immediately convinces Gimli that he's crazy and it's all in his head.
Gandalf notices, obviously, and he doesn't mind until Pippin tries to cut his cloak while hes asleep. He proceeds to wake up and yell at him until dawn.
After Boromir dies, Aragorn takes his cloak, and sews pieces onto his clothes. These are the only patches he has.
Bilbo has a set of clothes with patches from the dwarves, from his own adventure. He told them about the tradition, and they all gave him pieces of fabric to use. He can still recount which patch belonged to who.
I had this vision, where Woodland Elves can choose to off themselves, for instance out of grief and they do it by changing into a tree. It starts with less talking and just communicating with plants, it ends somewhere in Mirkwood, in the forest.
hi! do you like the burn scar thing they gave thranduil in the movies? I thought it was a pretty cool scene. do you have thoughts on bard eventually seeing? 👀
Yes, I do like it! I think it enriches his lore especially in the sense that it strengthens the reason as to why Thranduil is isolationist and rarely leaves his realm.
As for Bard seeing, I did a lot of thinking about this and I don't think Bard would be afraid of it because he'd already seen countless of his own people scarred by dragon fire (in ways that are unhealable, even) so he sees it as what it is; someone who survived a dragon attack and lived to tell the tale. So...
