also okay, whenever you have time: in lieu of a star, because it's me...Wild West AU? *eyes emoji*
*cracks knuckles* saddle up, here is the directors cut to the Wild West AU.
So first off, I really don’t remember how it first came to my head. I never watched a lot of westerns growing up. The only significant “western” movies I can remember are “An American Tale: Fievel Goes West,” and “Shanghai Noon”. That said, I certainly read several book series that took place in the Wild West, on ranches, or on the frontier. I also was very interested in Annie Oakley.
I just remember the idea of Legolas’s improbable aiming translating over to the idea of a nigh mythical sharpshooter just resonated with me.
I also felt a lot of the immigrant story with Gimli was very fitting. Especially the Irish immigrants. I know there are other cultures even more strongly tied to the culture of the Dwarves, but the Irish resonated with me because of my family’s history. A good deal of my family were Irish immigrants, and I’ve been tracing back their history. There was even one of my grandfathers so many greats back that we realized was an Irishman, when we had never thought so before. We always thought he was German, until we found his trail and realized that he had changed the spelling of his Last name to a similar German name, moved to a new city, married a German woman, and passed himself off as German. That tells you something.
I wanted to highlight some of the more romanticized parts of the Wild West outlaw gang (because it turns out it’s a fun sandbox to play in), and highlight how people who are outcasts could find community and family together. I also wanted to play with some of the aspects of the west that get overlooked with the image that is most known. I wanted to make a point not only of our two main fellas falling in love, but how colorful the West was too, in terms of people involved.
The plot of the first story stands for itself. I just really wanted a high action, comedic, dramatic “meet cute” as it were (and now I really want someone to make a list of prompts for Action Meet Cutes).
So let’s get into the cast! I’ll happily reveal some of their backstories, since I don’t know that I’d be able to fit it all in in the sequel.
Gimli; an Irish immigrant who came to the US in search for opportunity as a teenager. He hasn’t had an easy time of it, owing greatly to his hard it’s been for him to find and keep a job. People don’t want to hire the Irish for anything but the lowest paid and toughest of jobs. Landing the job as the fireman for the engine is the best one he’d had actually, until the outlaw gig presented himself. He still hasn’t told his Ma, even though he writes to her whenever he can.
Legolas “Legs”; is a legendary sharpshooter and outlaw. It’s alluded to in the story, but never fully stated in what’s been written so far, but Legolas is mixed race. Part Native American, and Part European. I don’t go into as much detail in these aspects, because it would be rather uninformed, despite what research I can do. Still I felt it was important to his character. I can say that he can feel as though he doesn’t really belong with either side of his family, and like he’s always too much of the other side to really fit in. It’s part of why the gang means so much to him. He fits in there.
Aragorn; has a mysterious past. Because it’s Aragorn. When doesn’t he? I won’t reveal all of that, just know that his grandfather fell from grace. I also wanted to make it clear that Aragorn has dark skin in this story. Again, the Wild West was colorful.
Boromir “Beau”; was a bugler for the Union during the civil war. He’s came back jaded. Proud of what he accomplished, but definitely scarred as well.
Faramir; is Boromir’s younger brother, he was supposed to go to school to become a chemist and start work at a pharmacy. But his father cut him off. When Boromir decided to strike out on his own, he decided to come with him. Aside from the bit of medical knowledge he has, both he and Boromir are responsible for handling any explosives the gang may use.
The Hobbits are all Italian immigrants. I’m giving them one bullet point because they are very much intertwined. Frodo was sent to the US to join his uncle Bilbo, who had immigrated before and opened a shop. Frodo was a very bright student with a gift for languages, so he learned English well before he took the trip. His cousin’s Merry and Pippin ended up joining him last minute to avoid some trouble they’d gotten into at home in Italy. They will not divulge what trouble that was. They spoke enough English to make it through immigration, and understand it fairly well, although neither speaks it very much. Pippin speaks a bit more than Merry. Sam actually did not meet the others until they were on the boat. He did not speak or understand any English whatsoever, and upon learning that he needed some to make it through immigration, was in despair. Frodo noticed, befriended Sam, and spent the whole trip tutoring Sam in specifically what he’d need to get through immigration, and English in general. He’s devoted to Frodo because of this and swore to help him in return. He remains the best cook you’ll ever meet. Upon arriving to the US, they find that Bilbo’s shop is closed. Apparently some strange folk who were heading west with the hopes of finding gold and a new life (the cast of the hobbit) somehow convinced them to go with them. Frodo and the others ended up heading west in hopes of someday finding Uncle Bilbo. They ran into the gang along the way and somehow ended up joining it.
One thing that was important to me from the beginning, was getting the voices right. I wanted to get the dialects to sounds right without writing accents too phonetically. It’s an interesting line to find.
The town that Eowyn is leading them to is called Dreadwood, as a play on the city of Deadwood, and the literal name of one of the places in middle earth.
I can’t think of what else to say other than that! I hope you enjoyed!
