Thira loves her husband, and put up with a lot from him, but once they were married, she told him that under no circumstances would any pigs be sleeping on the bed, no I don’t care how old they are, yes that tiny piglet is adorable but do you know how big they grow because I do and I do not want to be waking up to that on top of me. Dain pouts. There are two Durin pouts when Thira puts her foot down on the no-pigs-in-bed rule when Stonehelm gets old enough to ask.

LMAAAAAO OH MY GOSH YES piggus are enormous, they do not belong on beds.

(I am reminded of a friend’s Great Dane, who has been known to shove him out of bed when it stretches out its legs heheheheh)

hmmm tbh I think smartypants old Dain might flip that long-suffering-wife-stereotype around at times. Thira can get very single-minded and caught up in her projects, and so Dain has a similar rule.

It goes ‘the only bit o’ blacksmithing allowed on the bed is my foot.’

I just remembered why I avoid ch. 35. Right in the feels, every time. I’ve honestly never read a story, fanfic or otherwise, that could make me cry over the characters, but this one did it. A question, though. Could Bombur and Dain’s actions be considered suicide? Bombur had to know that, with his leg, it was only a matter of time, and with how old Dain is, he likely knew too. But they still both went out and fought so…?

*hugs* Ahh, sorry Nonnie. That chapter has made people howl at me a lot!!

Oooh. I think that people will do tremendously brave and powerfully foolhardy things in order to protect those they love – even at the cost of their own life.

I think, given more time and deliberation (and less terrible circumstances), that they both would have elected to live. They didn’t go out there with death being the end-goal in mind. They went out to achieve other goals – Dain to open up a column to Dale and finally kill Dagalur, ending the blood-feud at last, and Bombur to save Bofur. Death was the unfortunate consequence.

No, I don’t think they chose suicide. I think that they’d have wanted to survive their encounters. I think they held onto a tiny hope that they would – Dain, most certainly, knows that it is near-certain, but he still hopes that he might make it.

Bombur isn’t thinking about his stupid leg at all, nor his children or wife or grandchildren – he is FURIOUS and ready to kill every Orc he can see, just to try and get to his brother. An angry Bombur is a very dangerous one!

Somehow Gimizh finds a dildo?!?! Then immediately starts using it to play at being a unicorn or a rhinoceros. Wee Thorin is face palming. Balinith is concerned. Frerin wants a turn as a unicorn!

oh my G O D

i’ll have you know that to this day I randomly cry about little flower embossed pens

*hugs* sorry.

…the nib was shaped like a leaf. heheheh.

There have been too many arguments between the parents and children of Erebor and the Iron Hills about the appropriateness of boars as pets. (“But the King has one! Her name is Buttercup! Why can’t I get one?” “For the thousandth time, NO!”)

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Now I’m imagining Beri and Genild having this argument together, with Jeri chiming in (and the Stonehelm totally and firmly on the Pig side of the argument and egging it on.)

Eventually Beri and Genild compromise on the pet issue, and get an Iron Hills goat. It’s stubborn and ornery and eats everything in sight, and is 1000x more trouble than a pig ever would be.

Beri loves the thing, and it loves her back. It is full of fiery hatred for everyone else.

Genild is resigned and grumbly about it. “I SAID WE OUGHT TO GET A PIG, DIDN’T I?” There are a lot of comments about garlic these days.

(Jeri doesn’t sleep over at their mums’ place too often anymore. Something about being woken up by a pair of square yellow eyes…)

Gimizh and his collection of little songs. Everyone is 110% done listening to him sing for hours. The same little inane song about say, pickled beets, or different types of quartz, or the alphabet.

lmaaaaaaaaaaao

the toddler tendency to sing something over… and over… and over… AND OVER, heheheh. I expect Gimizh never quite grew out of it!

I don’t know why I did this to myself, but when our power went out last night, I decided the best idea ever was starting a Sansukh reread. THORIIIIIIIN! He’s come so far from chapter one. I have never been more proud of him or more in awe of your writing abilities. Thank you for sharing them with us.

hsadlhjgaSLDJH

oh my god Nonnie. okay – a) thank you SO much for re-reading, it is just the most amazing thing to see the word ‘re-reading’ I CAN’T TELL YOU how happy and brain-staticky it makes me!! THANK YOU SO SO MUCH.

b) AHH yes he has! He really has! I absolutely wanted it to be a slow development while it was happening, hard to actually pinpoint – but obvious to see if you compared him to where he was in the beginning; back when all the dark obsessive thoughts were crammed inside him and never came out, when all that escaped was his hurt and his anger. Now he has time for himself and for others. Now he takes a break when things are too much, and insists that others do too. Now he can actually SEE how things truly are and not his own wounded, bitter, worst-case version of them. Now the dark thoughts arrive, but they don’t always stick. And if they do, he works to remove them, or seeks out help.

He’s learned some very good things from what he’s seen, done and heard.

He’s a smart cookie. Took him a while to get started at healing and managing himself, but once he began, he was unstoppable. Clever boy <3333