OK, this time the gloves are off. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN LAEROPHEN GOES OFF CARRYING COOKIES TO EREBOR AFTER AN UNINTENTIONAL LAPSE OF A YEAR OR TWO BETWEEN VISITS AND SUDDENLY REALIZES LITTLE GIMIZH IS ALL GROWN UP

*squints* Hmmmm I HAVE MY SUSPICIONS AS TO WHO THIS MIGHT BE 😉

Have to wait and see, Nonnie! 

(one thing I will say: nothing will happen immediately. To remain healthy and non-creeptastic, the relationship has to develop from an adult-child friendship to an adult-adult friendship. Though Laerophen may have some prior experience in such matters, being immortal and also so much older than his younger brother, Gimizh does not. So, yeah, if this is a shippy question, there’s not gonna be first-thing ‘oh no he’s hot’ moment, my apologies! Give him a few years!)

Tbh, when The Letter arrives, Gimizh is extremely worried for both his grandpa and his da what with all the shouting and the uncontrollable laughter. Can either of them breath? Are faces supposed to get that color, Ma? Ma? (okay, he’ll just take the opportunity of no one paying any attention to him to make some mischief and work on his welcome home gift for Uncle Gimli and also go hide over with the Dwalinuls)

psst nonnie, don’t forget Laerophen! 😉

I forget, did you ever tell us what Gimizh’s craft is going to be when he grows up? Is causing mayhem a craft? (What about the Dwalinuls?)

Uhhh, not really… but I know what they’re gonna be. Under the cut for SPOILERS HEY

Gimizh. Oh Gimizh, my tiny happy mayhem child. 

Is going to inherit the lordship of the Glittering Caves (from Gimris, who takes over briefly after Gimli um. retires?). He’s an awful administrator, but he makes friends as easy. as. breathing. Under his rule, he extends the friendships of the Dwarves further than any before – the Elves, the Men in Rohan and Gondor, you name it, they love him. He’s also FABULOUS at trade and contracts and deals… mostly because he can spot a trick three light-years away. Thanks to his youthful experiences during the Ring War, also, he is a very good judge of character. He’s that Head of State that organises the GIANT PISS-UP and ends up the last one there, singing arm-in-arm with some kinglet or prince he’s never met before. And he’ll remain life-long friends with them too. 

(and he’s also the Head of State who forgets where his assigned rooms are when visiting, and ends up wandering around and poking his nose into everything because ‘it’s all so interesting! Oh hello, d’you work here? What’s that, can I have a go? Nice, thanks! And how old are your kids?’)

Craft-wise, he ends up being a fairly decent warrior (like his idol UNCLE GIMLI ZOMG) – though he is actually better with a bow or a broadsword than an axe. He also ends up being a very good baker (mostly because he missed Barur’s cookies). But yesh, a beloved and incredibly friendly – and yet terrible administrator, absolutely awful at keeping track of things. Absolutely awful.  

Guess who is a good administrator. 

Frerinith. 

Our emphatic, bossy, confident little tyke already has a certain ‘THINGS SHOULD TOTALLY BE DONE THIS WAY’ attitude. He’s going. to. be. tall. He’ll be a lanky stringbean, as Dwarves go, not strong and bullish, like his older brothers… but he’s no weakling or pushover, watch out for that clever legal and administrative mind of his!!! He’ll still be a sunny, cheery fellow, but people soon learn to fear that open, guileless grin – HE’S FOUND SOMETHING OUT, HE KNOWS SOMETHING, OH DANG. 

(He likes making clocks in his spare time. Ooooh, yes, the fiddlier the better. ) 

And so we come to Balinith.

All that reading and study and fascination with the natural world and its workings pays off in a MASSIVE WAY. He builds on the writings of his Cousin Oin, to the point where Dwarvish medicine rivals that of the Elves (and easily surpasses it, in some areas). He collates all the botanical and medical writings of every race he can get: Hobbits, Men, Elves, even Orcs (that cordial they gave Merry, for instance? THAT FASCINATED HIM FOR YEARS after he heard the tale… what the heck was in it???) He categorizes all. ALL. the native flora of the White Mountains, and examines it all for medicinal properties, and the best way to prepare it for different conditions. A mammoth undertaking, and a truly awe-inspiring achievement.

Young Dwarves beg to be taught by Balin Dwalinul. Aglarond becomes renowned as a center of learning as well as beauty. Thanks to him. 

And the oldest of the crew? 

Wee Thorin will NOT be ‘Wee’. NOT AT ALL.  He’ll be shorter than Frerinith… but he’ll fill the doorway. He’s going to be built like a mack truck. 

If Gimizh is a cheery and vivacious Thorin Oakenshield (laugh inserted here lmao), then Wee Thorin is his Dwalin, his closest friend, advisor and right hand. Wee Thorin’s first kills came when he was in his thirties, after all. that’s like, Dain Ironfoot levels of badassery. He is a consummate and professional warrior, a bodyguard and voice of reason. Bulking enormous behind any desk or conference table, his arms huge and his mother’s long-handled axe on his back, tattoos on his cheekbones and all up his neck, a sardonic and outwardly-stern counterpoint to Gimizh’s cheery, happy-go-lucky, sharp-eyed-nosy-sticky-beak method of interaction… 

…who also knits. Delicate lace knitting so fine that it feel like clouds to the touch and can be pulled through one of his earrings with ease. Wee Thorin will be one of the best knitters in all of Middle-Earth. To be gifted a piece made by him for your new child? BEST. GIFT. EVER. 

(there’s also a MASSIVE SPOILER that goes here for Wee Thorin, but I’m not letting it out of the bag juuuust yet…)

Very few people know that Wee Thorin is the softest softy to ever soft. He really is his parents’ child. 

(He never does quite escape that ‘wee’, either. The Dwarvish Little John, really.)

So, yeah, that’s (part of!!!) what I am planning. There are still some things to be ironed out, but that’s the overall direction I am heading with them! This is probably a LOT more detail than anyone ever wanted (how very unlike me lol), but I couldn‘t really talk about their crafts and interests without talking about where these crafts and interests take form. 

So one of Bombur’s kids is a dancer. Maybe Gimizh gets into their dancing stuff and goes around for a while covered in fancy dancing clothes.

Yes! Bofrur, a dancer and musician who specialises in drums (and in dancing on the drums, BECAUSE WHY THE HECK NOT)

pfffffft Gimizh in the best dancing gear, wearing the special shoes and with the tails of the jewelled and belled shirt trailing along behind him, lmaaaaao

jingle jangle, little Dwarf…!

Fili and Kili totally have dolls in Bofur’s shop. The boys watch the dolls’ antics from the Halls and proudly tell stories of the best ones. The time Gimizh sent his Kili “sledding”down the stairs on one of Gimris’ medical books was a highlight. Fili is not pleased with the amount of chewing his toy receives from Frerinith. His poor arm is work to a nub.

Tbh I think Gimli would rescue and repair the Fili and Kili dolls.

He still misses his cousins.