*whispers* They were called the Undying Lands because they were populated by (mostly) immortals, i.e. Maiar and Elves. Not because nobody dies there. If that were the case, lots of strife in the Ages of the Trees/Lamps etc would have been avoided (well hello there, Finwë…)
Um. Sorry.
*disappears in a cloud of tears, like the proverbial Fairy Godmother of Angst*
Look, everyone’s rec’d or read Sansukh by now. (If you haven’t and are a fan of minor characters, Gigolas, Bagginshield, and more variety of characters than you know what to do with, go read it. It’s massive, but worth it. Also lady Dwarves. Because even Cate Blanchett knows that bearded Dwarven ladies are bamf.) But Dets does write other fics! And I personally love this one. It’s a collection of Gimli’s firsts regarding Legolas, chronicling his changing opinion toward the Elf of the Fellowship and it is written in a wonderful prose that feels like Tolkien but with more life (I’ve said it before, but Tolkien writes histories with more trees, not really stories and Dets managed the feeling of Tolkien with the life of modern writing). I can’t say “try this to see if Dets’s style works for you and then go read Sansukh” because the two are completely different, but I really do like this fic.
(Also I’m serious about the Cate Blanchett thing, she gave WETA a photo and they Dwarf’d her up and used her for Dis in the BOFA EE.)
AHHH THANK YOU SO MUCH, FAE! I am so happy you enjoy this one ❤
(also – congrats on your upcoming bday, you wonderful person! *hugs*
see, I actually think that it’s the opposite situation.
because elves aren’t the type to flirt casually or be socially gregarious, every gesture in elven society has Important Meaning, if an elf puts his hand on another elf’s arm it is because they have Deep Designs and Intentions to communicate, there’s no “just being nice”
whereas in dwarven culture, you can flirt with your friends because it’s friendly, you’re expected to flatter your king and lords to excess, compliment great workmanship, lots of casual gestures of affection—the dwarves are very big into affection, friendly, platonic, romantic, sexual, familial, affection for everyone
so at the outset of the Nine, gimli is being polite and charming because he has found himself in a strange group of individuals whom he is still getting to know, while legolas is over there like “BY THE VALAR, this dwarf is in love with me he clapped my shoulder as he laughed, what else could that possibly mean”
and initially, legolas keeps thinking “I will be very Noble and Let Him Down Gently because we are compatriots and ringbearers”
but by the time they get to moria, legolas is starting to have sneaky mr. darcy-esque thoughts like “…………in vain I have struggled, maybe he is tolerable enough, I will care for him despite the great difference in our races and the enmity of our families"
when they reach lothlorien, the last of legolas’ defenses has crumbled, and all he wants is to be with gimli and show gimli the trees and talk to gimli about what it is to be an elf and listen raptly to all of gimli’s stories as they walk beneath the mallorn.
(very gingerly, he reaches out, touches gimli’s shoulder. over that hill, he says, and hopes the falling dusk is enough to disguise his flush.)
And my own Duchess has a bit of a foot fetish herself! She rubs her head against feet and shoes obsessively. It makes getting up a little tricky sometimes, because you’re just. Um. Okay, kitty, you do you.
AAAAH OMFG OF COURSE, GIMIZH IS TOTALLY PONYO *sings* Gimizh, gimizh gimizh, child of Erebor, tiny little Dwarfling, the terror we adore!
Oh! I love the practice-piercings idea too – does anybody remember those magnetic earrings that were around a gigazillion years ago? I bet Dwarves make use of stuff like that!
(omg everybody, I just got back from swimming with my Dwarfling…and my inbox has asploded again! I love you all, tremendously. But pretty pretty please can we maybe scale it back to one headcanon per person per day? I would like to give them all more time, you see!)
Aw Yiss 