#it's kind of sad that my comfort musical is pippin. but like. it's comforting for a reason. i need the comfort.

[youremyonlyhope]

Pippin is my favorite musical of all time.

But unfortunately, I seem to fixate on it during times of my life when my brain is especially existential, anxious, depressed, etc.

The last few days, I've been thinking about Pippin a lot, reading analyses of it, listening to the music. Just generally enjoying my comfort musical.

Then I remembered that earlier this week, my therapist heard me describing how I feel unfulfilled while unemployed and doing a lot of stuff for other people or to make other people happy and not doing anything for myself, all while having a completely messed up sleep schedule. And she said "Hmm... honestly... that sounds a little like depression."

And I was like "No. No. Because I am doing things. It's not like when I've been depressed in the past." but now that I'm back to fixating on Pippin, I think she was somewhat onto something since that's usually a bad sign. Yay!

[richie-shitlips]

Hello!

please like if read, thanks!

we're a system! most frequent fronters listed below:

Thomas (host) - he/it/she, arospec bisexual, hopeless romantic, not religious really but I'd like to convert to Judaism when I'm out of my parents house, likes musicals and britcom. will also answer to Noel, Poison, Betty, Sheila, Orpheus, Emmett, Pippin, Roxie, and any of the other alters names. proficient in German. signoff is just -Thomas and tag is #tommy <3

Kevin Price - he/him, (ex?)Mormon (ex in source but will try to convert you now. probably joking), doesn't swear, gay and trans but suuuuper repressed. likes history and religion. signoff is -Kev☕️✝️ and tag is #kev!!☕️✝️😁

Marvin Cohen - he/him, Jewish (in source), gay, sad, paranoid. likes the weather and Christopher Columbus. also speaks German. signoff is -Marvin<3🌈⛈️ and tag is #marv🌈⛈️👑🌊

ask box is open for all of us, just specify who you're talking to if you're asking questions!

i (thomas) am also fictionkin! you can send me questions about memories and stuff! kin blog at @whenancientghostsarewaking !!

Matching blog theme/PFP with my lovely boyfriend @annahanover <3

DMs are OPEN to mutuals! just don't be weird please (duh) and if I don't respond I'm either in school or got scared to talk (the internet is scary but i really try to respond) mutuals can also ask for our discord!

IMPORTANT: mutuals, if you see this, please tag anything related to harry potter, rocky horror picture show, hazbin hotel, cats the musical, or helluva boss with #thomas don't look as that media makes me uncomfortable. thank you!

ALSO IMPORTANT: If you don't mind, please tag anything positive about Miss Goldberg (from In Trousers), any "I hate Marvin Falsettos" jokes, and anything about Whizzer POST-HOSPITALIZATION or his death with #marvin's blocked!, just a comfort thing, sometimes I don't have the mental strength to deal with that stuff, and I'd like to be able to control when I see it, thank you for understanding. -🌈⛈️

Proshippers, terfs, swerfs, pedos/paras, transmedicalists, transphobes, homophobes, cluster b abuse believers, anti-kin, endos/their supporters, and autism speaks supporters DNI. Blank blogs will be blocked.

Also DNI if you hate Marvin from Falsettos for like. Any reason. Because I am him IRL and we also have a fictive. Like literally why would you talk to me if you hate me. /fictionkin

suspected/self-diagnosed BPD and NPD. possible OCD/traits of OCD? but idk about that one. possible autism

diagnosed ADHD

be my mutual I need more friends and I like people

( matching with @just-watching-dont-worry )

( matching with @isopodonanescalator )

( matching with @annahanover <333 )

(blinkies are from, in order: I Fell In Love In Juvie Hall!, Love In Hate Nation // Marvin's Giddy Seizures, In Trousers // Masochist, Love In Hate Nation // I Have A Family, In Trousers // My High School Sweetheart, In Trousers // Kind Of Woman, Pippin // Tear Me Down, Hedwig and the Angry Inch // Spies Are Forever // Extraordinary, Pippin // Unlikely Lovers, Falsettos)

WAY more under cut! please read if you have the time!

Sideblogs: @buy-cheese-please, @richies-shit-poetry

My RP blogs:

@richie-lipschitz-official - Richie Lipschitz, Hatchetfield

@miss-hollys-toys - Miss Holloway but with a slight... twist (Hatchetfield)

@kingoftheocean-marvin - Marvin Cohen, In Trousers (teenage years)

@theroomisyellow - Marvin Cohen, In Trousers (married years)

@ilovemytightknitfamily - Marvin Cohen, March of the Falsettos

@gay-weatherman - Marvin Cohen, Falsettoland

@owenc1147 - Owen Carvour, Spies Are Forever

@digbick1152 - Dick Big, Spies Are Forever

@emmettforrestofficial - Emmett Forrest, Legally Blonde

@moniquegibeau-xx - Noel Gruber, Ride the Cyclone

@sturdywiththewordyshakespeare - William Shakespeare, Something Rotten!

@dingdong-elderprice - Kevin Price, The Book of Mormon

@theoneandonly-thomasthorne - Thomas Thorne, BBC Ghosts

@seymourlikesplants - Seymour Krelborn, Little Shop of Horrors

@therealdougsimon - Doug Simon, Gutenberg! The Musical!

@im-not-that-smart - Leaf Coneybear, 25APCSB (Spelling Bee)

@happyhomewrecker-impossiblesob - Larry, The Boys In the Band (2020) (this blog is run by Larry)

@theotheroneisalliveverbeen - Sheila Nail, Love In Hate Nation

@morning-glow-is-here - Pippin, Pippin (Musical)

@orandges - Karen Smith, Mean Girls (this blog is run by Larry)

@apoorboywithagifttogive - Orpheus, Hadestown

@bettywilliams-real - Betty Williams, OC!

@khowardishere - Katherine Howard, SIX: The Musical

@soundbodysoundmind - Ambrose Wellington Bassford, Adamandi

@itsgonnaberoxie - Roxie Hart, Chicago

@insanelycool-jaredkleinman - Jared Kleinman, Dear Evan Hansen

@brom-xtra-bones - Brom Bones, Headless

@rebel-gotta-raise-her-voice - Kitty Minx, Love In Hate Nation

@thishadbettercometoan-end - Marvin Cohen but transfem

@icantread-helvetica - Helvetica Gummistiefel, Gutenberg! The Musical!

@whatsthepointofloving - Peggy Schuyler, Hamilton

@dipperpines-pines-pines - Dipper Pines, Gravity Falls

@lydz-d - Lydia Deetz, Beetlejuice

@cmonsugardaddybringmehome - Hedwig Robinson, Hedwig and the Angry Inch

@dewin-it-with-dewey - Dewey Duck, Ducktales (2017)

@nananananananausea - Marvin Cohen, Falsettos college AU!

@theseance-004 - Klaus Hargreeves, The Umbrella Academy Season 1

Agere sideblog: @lil-marvs-gardens

(yes, i know most of those links don't work! i don't know how to fix them)

Founder of Chastity Rocks! (Mark/Boy Jerry) (i think)

Libra, the balanced nature. Favorite ride: the wild mouse.

PLEASE interact: homosexuals, women with children, short insomniacs, and a teeny-tiny band /ref

blog title from: the chess game from falsettos

My main interests i'll post for (current hyperfixations in blue):

Love in Hate Nation

Ride the Cyclone

Fabulous Killjoys / Danger Days

BBC Ghosts

Fall Out Boy

Hadestown

Taylor Swift

My Chemical Romance

Gravity Falls

Percy Jackson / Riordanverse

Starkid / Hatchetverse

The Hunger Games

The Umbrella Academy

Spies Are Forever

Ducktales / Darkwing Duck

Falsettos / Marvin Trilogy

Gutenberg! The Musical!

Legally Blonde (musical)

Something Rotten!

The Book of Mormon (musical)

Adamandi

The Boys In the Band (2020)

Pippin (musical)

Little Shop of Horrors

Hedwig and the Angry Inch (musical)

Jersey Boys (musical)

The Four Seasons (band)

my tags:

#sing it like the kids that are mean to you - school stuff

#npmd boys dont cry au - mine and logan's npmd au

#out of the depths of hell and back - lords in black

#swinging the hatchet now - hatchetfield posting

#sleeping on your folks porch again dreaming - poetry

#were falling apart to halftime - fall out boy

#take my fucking hand and never be afraid again - mcr

#we were born to be suburban legends - my crushes

#the rest of the world was black and white but we were in screaming color - gay rights

#my existence shouldn't be a compromise - trans rights

#we need love but all we want is danger - taylor swift, a lot of times this will be gaylor content btw. deal with it.

#sheila liveblogs learning guitar - self explanatory

#marvin's mail! - answered asks

#in trousers my beloved - in trousers (musical)

#headcanons with emmett - self-explanatory

#marvin's giddy seizures - VENT TAG block it if you don't want to see that

#richie sings - song covers!

[rainydaymiddleearthimagines]

What a relationship is like with the Lord of the Rings men:

 Aragorn:

He’s adorable in a relationship, honestly. 

Very affectionate when it’s just you and him, or if you initiate some sort of form of affection first

He’s protective but not over protective

You wanna go out and fight too? Great, he’ll give you a sword and fight next to you

His pet names for you are “Darling” and “Love”

If you join the fellowship he’s definitely nervous about it

He’s worried the whole time about you being in danger, which to be fair you constantly were

But any time there was a battle, he was next to you, fighting side by side, ensuring you were safe

When he finally accepts his claim to Gondor, he will call you “ My Queen/King”

On nights you can’t sleep (unless your elven because from what I’ve read they don’t necessarily need sleep) he will sing to you or tell you stories of all the places he had been too or heard about.

He definitely will make you flustered when your with him on purpose.

He’ll flirt with you and you’ll just stand there with this red face and he’ll act like nothing happened. 

He is not a jealous man by any means, he trusts you with his whole being

His go to means of affection is kissing your knuckles or forehead.

I get the vibes that he adores fiercely independent people so he can sit back and watch you kick ass and be like “Look at what my baby can do” 

When he becomes king, you bet your ass you’re ruling next to him

He loves you to the ends of the earth

Legolas:

He absolutely adores you

VERY affectionate

Will call you pet names in elvish, whispering sweet little things in your ear

his go to means of affection is hugs from behind and holding your hands

You bet your ass that if you’re a human, hobbit or any non immortal race, he will give up his immortality.

He will teach you elvish if you don’t know it

His go to pet names are “Dear” and “My love”

He is very gentle, very loving

He’s extremely protective but that mainly stems from the fact that he has SEEN SHIT MAN.

If you want to fight, he will agree to it but he definitely will not like it

He’s not a jealous man at all, in fact other men’s advances kind of go over his head.

If you can’t sleep he will tell you stories that he’s lived through

Course, some of them are so exciting it defeats the purpose of sending you to sleep

He actually likes it when you go on adventures with him

He loves having you with him 

You definitely tease him for being thousands of years old. 

you love making him laugh

And he does that all the time because he gets to see that gorgeous smile.

Frodo:

The purest relationship. Ever.

He is very affectionate

EXTREMELY protective

He loves hearing stories of outside the shire and he loves sharing his experiences too

He loves hugs and my gods he is GREAT at giving them

He loves it when you play with his hair.

He is like Legolas in the sense that he definitely won’t be happy if you want to go into battle but he won’t stop you

He would prefer you to stay behind out of danger but again, he will not stop you if you want to go

his pet names are “Honey” and “Darling” 

He’s honestly so pure it hurts

There is a BIG difference in personality if you meet him before the events of Lord of the Rings

For one, he’s a lot more bubbly before 

When he comes back he clearly has seen some shit

Sad thing: When there’s a party he can’t hear screaming without thinking its a ring wraith so he has to leave early most times

You love him though and he DEFINITELY loves you.

Samwise: 

LOYAL. AS. HELL.

Has the sweetest personality

brings you flowers every other day

He is very adamant though about you staying behind on adventures, he will get frustrated if you end up going any way but he will not be able to remain upset with you

He also really doesn’t enjoy having to watch you run into battle

Danger in general, ESPECIALLY if it’s around you, terrifies him

You love hearing his stories, him telling you all about some of the crazy things he’s experienced

If you meet him before the events of Lord of the Rings, he will mainly tell you wacky adventures he got himself into with Frodo or Merry and/or Pippin

Hell, he does that even if you meet him after.

He actually refrains from telling you about life outside the Shire because it kind of gave him trauma.

His favorite forms of affection is kissing your knuckles

He will be that guy who works his ass off for you to be able to live comfortably

He loves you and will make sure you know that fact.

Calls you “my dear” or “Darling” 

Merry:

He’s a goofball.

Expect the unexpected. 

He will definitely do really crazy things to make you laugh

little bit of a prankster

By a little bit I mean: He’s a chaotic little shit

He loves you so much though and knows where to draw a line

He LOVES it when you want to go off and do shit

You wanna fight? Great, he’s charging with you

Wanna randomly dance in the woods? He’s dancing with you

He loves spending time with you 

He is SO loyal, always by your side

Watch someone try to separate you, he will kick their ass

He loves dancing with you

His favorite form of affection is holding your hand

Something about it is just so nice

He loves you so much, honestly he could spend HOURS gushing about you

Pippin and Frodo are always over for dinner, along with Sam

They love being around you two, watching their friend be so happy 

He calls you “Love” and “Dear”

He loves cooking for you, mY GODS HE LOVES IT

Pippin:

Like Merry, massive goofball

little more of a crackhead though

He is less of a prankster, more of a cracking jokes kind of guy

He’s totally a goofball and will do all sorts of  things to make you laugh

you genuinely love him and he adores you to pieces

if you meet him after the events of Lord of the Rings, he’s definitely more serious but not by too much

He’ll have a few moments where he’ll space out and you’ll have to tap him to get his attention

He clearly suffered so much trauma while on that trip

He definitely becomes more serious after everything

Yeah, he’ll crack a joke here and there but he’s definitely changed

He doesn’t mind if you want to go off and fight, but you bet your ass he will charge with you like Merry

He loves watching you be a badass

You love hearing the hysterical adventures that he’s gone on with Merry

He loves watching you sing and dance

he will sing to you on nights that you can’t sleep

His voice is hella soothing

He loves playing with your hair

He actually has a talent for making flower crowns

Boromir:

He absolutely adores you

piggyback rides while on adventures are definitely a thing

he loves making you laugh in slightly tense situations

Giant Spider pops out? His ass looks at it and then you “Why can’t we ever encounter giant butterflies?” and then charge like he said something inspirational that motivated him into battle

He doesn’t mind if you want to fight, he’ll just guard you the entire time

He’s fiercely protective over you

He loves being affectionate

Very attentive

Cold?

His cloak will be wrapped around you

Tired?

He’ll carry you

Sick?

He’ll take care of you

He loves you so much

He is kind of jealous. 

It’s not that he doesn’t trust you, he doesn’t trust other people. 

He loves calling you “Princess/Prince” or “Sweetheart”

You love hearing about his life in Gondor

When he dies... oh gods

It breaks you

If you went with the Fellowship you were inconsolable 

His family gives you the horn of Gondor because they all are aware of him loving you

You two sadly have a bit of a tragic love story

Faramir:

Affectionate as fuck

Loves hugs, always has his hand on you in some sweet way

He loves you so much

He was always kind of the overlooked son so when he presented you as “Hey this is the woman/man I love” no one except Boromir notices

Boromir always looked as you as a sister/brother after that, loving the way his brother looked at you with so much adoration

He does not mind you wanting adventure one bit, so long as he’s charging next to you

He does not give a shit about a claim to the throne either

royal life does not suit this man as much as the adventure’s life does

He loves you so much

He is sort of reckless in battle and that worries you

it gets worse after Boromir dies

When you thought he died you were hysterical

Then Pippin made the observation that he was still alive

His father wasn’t hearing either of you

Then he turned out to be alive and you were so happy

Scolded the crap out of him for worrying you

You two love each other till the end

Gimli:

loves a woman/man who can hold their liquor

Oh he’s a complete crackhead

loves telling you stories of dwarven life

you love his wild stories

You keep his mind open

If your an elf he will refuse to be in love with you for a while

Oh you definitely have a kill count thing going on with him

He gets flustered when he sees you being a badass

He ain’t stopping you from doing SHIT

Wanna run into battle? Great, he’s supplying the swords and charging too

Wanna join the fellowship? He’ll complain about having to save another woman’s/man’s ass 

And then later get saved by you

He definitely enjoys watching you in battle

He loves hearing stories of your homeland

sure maybe your life isn’t as exciting but he loves hearing about your life

He’s not big on affection but if he’s excited, hugs. 

He also isn’t big on nicknames but he typically calls you “Lass”

He loves hearing you laugh

He says it’s like music

[perhaps-mr-collins-has-a-cousin]

🎶 Random Question Time! 🎶 What songs/tracks do you LOVE? Is there any song out there that means the world to you???

This is an almost impossible question to answer because the songs that are meaningful to me are always changing, and sometimes if a song is meaningful I don’t know why it’s meaningful, it just is? And I have a ton of songs like that, so how does one choose? How does one narrow it down???

Okay, here’s how I’m going to narrow it down. I just (tearfully) finished the last chapter of The Lord of the Rings today and I can’t really think about anything else so I think I’d like to talk about some of my favorite moments in Howard Shore’s Complete Recordings for the movies, because I always like to listen to them when I read the book, and all those songs really do mean the world to me. So here we go! (This is maybe the most annoyingly long and self-indulgent post I’ve ever made though, so please feel free to ignore any of it that you would like to ignore.)

“The Council of Elrond Assembles”: This song is so gloriously dreamy and ethereal and it puts me under a spell every time I hear it.

“Gilraen’s Memorial”: This is when the Fellowship is getting ready to leave Rivendell, and there’s this little bit on the violin that just pierces my little heart, because to me it so perfectly represents the innocence of Frodo and the sweetness and heroism and tragedy in his choice to be the one to carry and destroy the Ring.

“The Fighting Uruk-Hai”: This one’s long and covers actually quite a bit of story but I love it, particularly the first half-ish which is when the Fellowship is leaving Lórien and Galadriel is giving them gifts, and you can just hear the beauty of the place in the music, and also the reluctance of the characters to leave its safety and comfort and venture out into the world again. In the book I believe it says that they all wept when they had to leave and in a way I feel like this song fits the book even better than the movie.

“The Three Hunters”: Aragorn and Legolas and Gimli running around on the Emyn Muil and the plains of Rohan heroically looking for their lost friends while the most epic soundtrack plays in the background. What more is there to say.

“The Dreams of Trees”: This one is short and not as dramatic as the others, but there’s something about it that I really love, a sort of heartbreaking sweetness and simplicity about it that to me kind of symbolizes Merry and Pippin.

“Gandalf the White”: This scene, when Gandalf meets Gimli and Aragorn and Legolas in the forest and they realize he’s not actually dead, always makes me cry, and I think a lot of that is this song.

“Théoden King”: This song has the Rohan theme that I love, but it also has Éowyn singing at the funeral for her cousin, and it continues into the scene where Théoden cries for the son he lost. Very sad, but so beautiful.

“One of the Dúnedain”: Arwen and Aragorn’s theme for the second movie. Arwen is having to deal with the fact that Aragorn is mortal, and that no matter how long he lives she will probably outlive him, and you can hear both her love and her grief in the music.

“Flight from Edoras”: The first parting of Merry and Pippin in the story, and it’s sad but also very sweeping and dramatic and adventurous, which is fitting, I think, considering that Pippin and Gandalf are on their way to Gondor where a big battle is about to take place.

“The Lighting of the Beacons”: Come on. I had to include the Lighting of the Beacons.

“The Battle of the Pelennor Fields”: I don’t think I’ve ever listened to this song without either tears or goosebumps (and sometimes it’s both). The Rohirrim are arriving at the battle and they’re screaming, “DEATH! DEATH!” at the top of their lungs and then they charge into the battle.

“The Houses of Healing”: Liv Tyler sings this, and it’s just. So pretty.

“The Fellowship Reunited”: Another gorgeous, long song with like a zillion themes. Starts with Frodo waking up after he’s been rescued by the Eagles, and goes to Aragorn’s coronation and the Hobbits’ homeward journey and Sam’s wedding and Frodo realizing sadly that he can’t go back to the way things were.

“Use Well the Days”: This song just does things to me. “Into the West” was chosen to be the end credits song instead, and while I love that song, I love this one better. It reminds me of when Sam tells Frodo he feels torn between his love for his wife and his loyalty to Frodo, and Frodo, knowing that he will be leaving soon, tells Sam, “You will be healed. You were meant to be solid and whole, and you will be.”

[lordnelson100]

River of Stone (Fic, Lord of the Rings)

Summary: “Do Dwarves sing?” asked Legolas. “Or is it like asking a crow to sing? He can please other crows, but not the rest of the world.” A Dwarf song heard in three different decades.

If you would rather read it at AO3: feedback is adored! Link: River of Stone

Third Age, the Great Years, December, 3018

The long wilderness trek to the Misty Mountains would have been cheerless, except for the young hobbits, who were irrepressible.

Whenever there was even the least chance for a song, they took it. Ridiculous hobbit songs, full of drinking and food and clever animals. Songs they had learned from Bilbo that turned the great profound poems of the Elder Days into surprisingly sound Common Tongue lyrics. They teased Boromir into singing of the White Tower and bright banners of Gondor in his pleasant baritone, and Aragorn into beautifully-delivered tales of the heirs of Elendil in the North. Gandalf sat puffing his pipe when they rested, and listened with enjoyment; but he did not sing.

Legolas did not need much prompting to do so, as he sang anyway at the drop of a leaf (as Sam put it), about trees in the winter snow, and trees dressed in autumn gold, and trees covered in the white blossoms of spring, and the sweet, deep shade of summer. “I almost feel like I could be sitting in a meadow at home in August, under one of the grand old beeches, it’s that lovely,” said Sam. “Instead of in this cold bare place.”

“Gimli, you should give us a song!” said Pippin one evening. As Gimli was on his knees starting a fire from damp kindling in a sharp east wind, the moment was not exactly propitious. “Do Dwarves do so?” asked Legolas. He was on watch, leaning on his longbow and looking out across the stony plains, grey under the winter sky. “Or is it like asking a crow to sing? He can please other crows, but not the rest of the world.”

“Dwarves are quite musical,” said Frodo, quietly. There may have been a hint of a chiding in his tone; the thoughtful hobbit was the soul of courtesy, Legolas was learning, and disliked anything that tasted of raillery. “If you listened to my Uncle’s tale of the Quest, it all began with the whole company of Thorin and their music, singing in the twilight at Bag End, years ago. I always thought it so poetic that Thorin brought his harp with him on that journey.”

“The Dwarven traders always sing when they come marching through the Shire on the East West road, too!” said Merry. “Yes, I liked that one they do with the mountains in it,” said Pip.

Gimli had got steady flames going at last, and sat back on his feet with a look of satisfaction. He chucked a stray pinecone at Pippin. “All our songs have mountains in them, young Hobbit. You’ll have to be a bit more particular than that.” Pippin thought: “It’s all about the stony river, and wandering.” He hummed a bit, for he had a good ear.

“Right,” said the Dwarf.

Oh river of stone, deep under the mountains Oh river of sky, at the twilight’s fall Oh river so cold, that runs down from the mountains Carry me, carry me, back to your side.

He has a lovely voice, Legolas thought with surprise. It was rich and carrying, slightly husky.

Through the river of stone, down under the mountains, Through the dark silent mines, by a flickering light With my pick in my hand, I went delving and seeking, Dig my way, seek my way, back to your side.

“And there’s the digging--got to have a mine in there so you know it’s Dwarves,” said Merry, sotto voce. Gimli grinned at him and kept going.

Under river of sky, by the long stone highway Through field and through forest, by sun and moon light With pack and with cloak, I’ll go travelling onwards Wandering, following, back to your side.

By the river so cold, by the deep lonely waters Through dim distant lands, by the setting sun’s light With heart and feet weary, I went hopelessly seeking Find my way, make my way, back to your side.

The last weak gleam of winter twilight went sinking down over the black horizon, and the wind picked up as if on cue. Wind-tossed strands of Gimli’s long red-brown hair clung to his face, lit by firelight, as he finished the song.

In the river of stone, I’ll sleep under the mountains From the river of sky, my bones they will hide Oh the river so cold, still runs down from the mountains, Let your heart carry me, still at your side.

“Oh, that’s a sad one, that is,” said Sam. “Sad and yet beautiful, like much that touches our hearts,” murmured Aragorn quietly. “Thank you, Gimli,” said Frodo.

It had been a simple tune, with a rhythm fit for walking or working, and it stuck in Legolas’ head, for all it was very unfit to Elves’ taste in music. He thought of it again, many days later, during their dark and agonizing journey through Moria. “River of stone, indeed. May we live to see the other side.”

* * *

Gondor, Third Age 3021

At Midsummer, they held a party to celebrate a first successful year of the Elves’ project to bring the green woods of Ithilien back to life, jointly with the Dwarves’ milestone in repairing the stonework of Gondor. Men of the Tower Guard, and from all the work crews were there, too: especially happy at the renewal of their land.

They met on the banks of the Anduin, a few miles from the city. Long wooden benches were set for eating and drinking and talking, under a great tent canopy of canvas striped with red and cream. Gold paper lanterns were hung from the poles. Wine and ale flowed. All the different Peoples brought their instruments and singers, and music flowed, too.

Sometime in the evening, Legolas heard a familiar song taken up. It sounded quite different with fiddles to accompany it, and a great crowd of Dwarves who sang in multipart harmony and stomped their feet in time. Much happier: a song of persistence.

Under river of sky, by the long stone highway Through field and through forest, by sun and moon light With pack and with cloak, I’ll go traveling onwards Wandering, following, back to your side.

The Dwarves cheered when they noticed that Legolas was joining them in the song, and gave him a great many claps on the back and pokes in the shoulder and slopped ale on him in the course of enthusiastic toasts. Their attempts to show friendly acceptance of he and Gimli’s companionship were about as subtle as a blacksmith’s hammer to the face.

He didn’t mind. They had survived the War; together, they were conquering the peace, making the things happen that they had first dreamed of in times of peril, and much that they had not then dreamed of. What could they not do, with the years before them, at one another’s side?

* * *

Aman, Fourth Age, 170

They had always understood that their journey to Valinor gained them a beautiful respite; not an end to Gimli’s mortality. It had been a tremendous adventure.

Legolas had found at last the answers to the mysterious calling of the sea. Gimli had especially enjoyed meeting people out of legend who had created the great works of old; he’d had long conversations with they who helped build Nargothrond or craft mithril in Eregion. They’d met Galadriel once more, on this side of the sea, and Gandalf and Elrond. Legolas found his mother again; his life took a lot of telling, and he got to introduce his friend.

But the years had passed swiftly. The end would come soon. Legolas sat in a great arched window, leaning back against the cool stone with Gimli in his arms. It looked out over the wide ocean. Sea birds skimmed low over the incoming waves, twittering. The waves roared.

“It comes to my mind,” said Gimli. “That I travelled further in this world than any other of my kind who ever lived, perhaps. That seems a strange thing.”

“Dwarf of many journeys,” Legolas remembered.

“Aye. And now you must go on without me, brave lad.”

“You will be with me, still,” said he, since he wished to comfort Gimli.

Legolas knew that they two had had very great fortune; favor and dispensations that were rare indeed in this marred world, where many never found the mercy they cried out for. He did not like to complain and make moan, not when he had enjoyed so much good.

So he did not tell anyone that he was afraid of the road ahead: how long it was.

By the river so cold, by the deep lonely waters Through dim distant lands, by the setting sun’s light With heart and feet weary, I went hopelessly seeking Find my way, make my way, back to your side.

In the river of stone, I’ll sleep under the mountains From the river of sky, my bones they will hide Oh the river so cold, still runs down from the mountains, Let your heart carry me, still at your side.

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