#scribe and i have been repeating 'queerplatonic partners go to valinor' at each other for the last several days

[astriiformes]

One thing about Lord of the Rings is that the way Tolkien wrote both Sam & Frodo and Legolas & Gimli really lends itself to interpreting their relationships as queerplatonic, or something like it, which is of course the interpretation that means the most to me, and in honesty is probably somewhere near Tolkien's intention of writing "romantic friendships," just using more modern queer terminology.

Not coincidentally though, since the intense devotion of both pairs is part of that, the fact that they all end up following each other to Valinor is another important facet of the same relationships. Which you can absolutely read as simply a way of representing their deep, enduring commitment, but also. Since it happens with both of them. It does kind of feel like the intended message is "queerplatonic partners get to go to Valinor"