The beginning...
Jan. 5th, 2019 10:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
roselightfairyIn the spirit of desperately wishing I saw more shippy content for Legolas/Gimli on Dreamwidth-- and in the spirit of warning everyone exactly what kind of person I am-- I thought I'd crosspost my most popular Tumblr post over here. It was the unintentional start of my dive into full-on fandom participation, as well as the thoughts and headcanons that launched my most prolific writing endeavor to date. So below the cut, here is the post:
So I was rereading The Two Towers the other day, and it struck me that there is literally one instance in that entire book that Legolas speaks without being prompted to someone he doesn’t know. And that out of three instances in the entire book that he speaks to someone he doesn’t know at all (one of whom is not even a person, but an Ent, which I don’t think counts since elves talk to trees anyway). And it made me think back on what we see of Legolas, and come up with the following headcanon which I present for your perusal: shy Legolas.
Legolas who is fine in his woodland home, because they’re all elves; everyone basically gets to know each other, because you have so many centuries in which to develop at least some level of comfort with each other. But he doesn’t really go very far away very often, particularly if you headcanon him as being kind of young, so he’s not very good at talking to people outside of his immediate sphere.
So, painfully shy Legolas who takes on the role as messenger to Elrond because he feels responsible for what happened to Gollum. Legolas who spends the entire time before the council sweating in anticipation of having to speak to someone else – to a lot of someone elses, in fact. Legolas who has been psyching himself up so intensely and for so long that as soon as someone mentions Gollum, he’s blurting out his news – no matter that he’s kind of interrupting someone, he’s been working on these words for the last three days, they’re coming out right now.
Legolas who goes on this journey with a ton of people that he doesn’t know. I imagine he’s met Aragorn, at very least because Aragorn brought Gollum to them, and he knows Gandalf, because who doesn’t know Gandalf. But other than that, there are all these new intimidating people that he doesn’t know, and they seem great, but he has no idea how to interact with them, and he keeps getting tongue-tied when he tries to say anything.
Legolas who is actually really lovely when you get to know him – he’s sweet, and can wield some devastating sass, and he actually has quite the poetic streak, but you really only get to experience that part of his personality once he’s become comfortable with you.
So, Legolas who spends the first few weeks of the Fellowship’s journey saying almost nothing to anyone but Gandalf and Aragorn. Everyone else thinks he’s stuck-up, but he’s actually just too uncomfortable to know what to say to them. And then he finally starts gaining some confidence on Caradhras, because finally he doesn’t feel like he’s at a terrible disadvantage, but of course he just ends up aggravating everyone because – now that they’re all miserable is when he decides to be cheerful? So they all just think he’s self-absorbed and kind of rude, when really he’s just socially awkward and terrible at first impressions.
And then Moria happens, and Gandalf “dies,” and they make it to Lothlorien, where Legolas is kind of the only person who CAN negotiate for them. And he does his duty when he has to – besides, these are wood-elves, the closest to his people he’s run into anywhere else, so he’s at least able to talk to them about the Fellowship and ask them for passage. Besides, Gandalf is dead, and he’s too busy being sad to be anxious.
Legolas who is one of the only ones who can look at Galadriel for very long because a) he’s an elf, and more used to this sort of thing, and b) he’s frankly so relieved he doesn’t have to talk out loud that having her in his mind is nothing. And maybe she’s able to sort of gently ease his worries about the people around him, at least to the point where he starts relaxing enough around the other members of the Fellowship to interact with them like a regular person – or, elf.
This headcanon actually makes me have even stronger feelings about his relationship with Gimli – because a) once they become friends, the two of them are almost never seen outside of each other’s company, and b) Gimli often seems to be the designated speaker, but what he says applies to both of them. Also, Gimli is very confident, self-assured, and charming. Legolas is decidedly none of those things.
So, looking back through their relationship starting from the beginning: Gimli’s ready to try to look beyond the elf-dwarf feud, because he’s diplomatic enough to realize that they need to be able to get along for the rest of the Fellowship. So he makes some cautious overtures towards friendship, which Legolas responds to with one-word answers and lack of eye contact – which leads Gimli to think that he’s giving himself airs, when actually Legolas just has no clue how to do this social thing. So then Gimli, offended, gets a little snippy towards him, which makes Legolas withdraw further, and before Lothlorien they’re both pretty much ignoring each other, with the occasional snappish comment here and there. And of course the blindfold business doesn’t help matters.
But in Lothlorien, the Lady gives Gimli the inspiration to try to look beyond the feud again, and gives Legolas a little more confidence. So Legolas goes to Gimli and tries to apologize for the blindfold thing, and Gimli – while not quite ready to forgive – does sense that he’s really uncomfortable and is honestly trying, so he gives him a chance. They start spending more and more time together, and eventually Gimli realizes that Legolas is actually lovely one-on-one, but he’s just so uncomfortable around unfamiliar people.
This activates Gimli’s mama-bear instincts, and he sort of becomes Legolas’s protector. I imagine that the two of them become really good at communicating nonverbally in the presence of other people (though of course they do talk when they’re together), but they just get a really good feel for each other, and usually Gimli is able to just speak for both of them after no more than a shared glance and some facial expressions. And they become each other’s most important people, and make sure to stay close all the time.
This, of course, makes “he stands not alone” even more touching and poignant, because this is the only time in the entire book that Legolas speaks to someone unfamiliar without first being spoken to. (Which gives me EVEN MORE FEELINGS ABOUT THIS SCENE THAN I ALREADY HAD) The thing is, Gimli is all set to speak for both of them: Eomer asks why the two of them aren’t saying anything, and Gimli immediately goes on the defensive. Which would make sense because he’s not only defending Galadriel, but also taking some of the heat off of Legolas with his own reaction. Eomer of course reacts – and then Legolas leaps in to defend Gimli without any prompting. The thing that makes him overcome his reluctance to speak is Gimli being threatened.
I also – to move things into the more romantic angle; forgive my shipper heart – absolutely headcanon that Legolas was the first of the two to realize his feelings, and also the first to bring it up – and I think that that, too, is heightened by Legolas being so timid and awkward. Because Gimli makes him feel comfortable – enough to tease, enough to defend, and enough to confess. I think it’s even more meaningful if this poor awkward and socially-anxious elf is the first one to gather the courage to speak.
Basically: Legolas is shy and socially awkward and Gimli is confident and protective and they both deserve all the hugs.
...
And if you want the link to the fic, it's here.
So I was rereading The Two Towers the other day, and it struck me that there is literally one instance in that entire book that Legolas speaks without being prompted to someone he doesn’t know. And that out of three instances in the entire book that he speaks to someone he doesn’t know at all (one of whom is not even a person, but an Ent, which I don’t think counts since elves talk to trees anyway). And it made me think back on what we see of Legolas, and come up with the following headcanon which I present for your perusal: shy Legolas.
Legolas who is fine in his woodland home, because they’re all elves; everyone basically gets to know each other, because you have so many centuries in which to develop at least some level of comfort with each other. But he doesn’t really go very far away very often, particularly if you headcanon him as being kind of young, so he’s not very good at talking to people outside of his immediate sphere.
So, painfully shy Legolas who takes on the role as messenger to Elrond because he feels responsible for what happened to Gollum. Legolas who spends the entire time before the council sweating in anticipation of having to speak to someone else – to a lot of someone elses, in fact. Legolas who has been psyching himself up so intensely and for so long that as soon as someone mentions Gollum, he’s blurting out his news – no matter that he’s kind of interrupting someone, he’s been working on these words for the last three days, they’re coming out right now.
Legolas who goes on this journey with a ton of people that he doesn’t know. I imagine he’s met Aragorn, at very least because Aragorn brought Gollum to them, and he knows Gandalf, because who doesn’t know Gandalf. But other than that, there are all these new intimidating people that he doesn’t know, and they seem great, but he has no idea how to interact with them, and he keeps getting tongue-tied when he tries to say anything.
Legolas who is actually really lovely when you get to know him – he’s sweet, and can wield some devastating sass, and he actually has quite the poetic streak, but you really only get to experience that part of his personality once he’s become comfortable with you.
So, Legolas who spends the first few weeks of the Fellowship’s journey saying almost nothing to anyone but Gandalf and Aragorn. Everyone else thinks he’s stuck-up, but he’s actually just too uncomfortable to know what to say to them. And then he finally starts gaining some confidence on Caradhras, because finally he doesn’t feel like he’s at a terrible disadvantage, but of course he just ends up aggravating everyone because – now that they’re all miserable is when he decides to be cheerful? So they all just think he’s self-absorbed and kind of rude, when really he’s just socially awkward and terrible at first impressions.
And then Moria happens, and Gandalf “dies,” and they make it to Lothlorien, where Legolas is kind of the only person who CAN negotiate for them. And he does his duty when he has to – besides, these are wood-elves, the closest to his people he’s run into anywhere else, so he’s at least able to talk to them about the Fellowship and ask them for passage. Besides, Gandalf is dead, and he’s too busy being sad to be anxious.
Legolas who is one of the only ones who can look at Galadriel for very long because a) he’s an elf, and more used to this sort of thing, and b) he’s frankly so relieved he doesn’t have to talk out loud that having her in his mind is nothing. And maybe she’s able to sort of gently ease his worries about the people around him, at least to the point where he starts relaxing enough around the other members of the Fellowship to interact with them like a regular person – or, elf.
This headcanon actually makes me have even stronger feelings about his relationship with Gimli – because a) once they become friends, the two of them are almost never seen outside of each other’s company, and b) Gimli often seems to be the designated speaker, but what he says applies to both of them. Also, Gimli is very confident, self-assured, and charming. Legolas is decidedly none of those things.
So, looking back through their relationship starting from the beginning: Gimli’s ready to try to look beyond the elf-dwarf feud, because he’s diplomatic enough to realize that they need to be able to get along for the rest of the Fellowship. So he makes some cautious overtures towards friendship, which Legolas responds to with one-word answers and lack of eye contact – which leads Gimli to think that he’s giving himself airs, when actually Legolas just has no clue how to do this social thing. So then Gimli, offended, gets a little snippy towards him, which makes Legolas withdraw further, and before Lothlorien they’re both pretty much ignoring each other, with the occasional snappish comment here and there. And of course the blindfold business doesn’t help matters.
But in Lothlorien, the Lady gives Gimli the inspiration to try to look beyond the feud again, and gives Legolas a little more confidence. So Legolas goes to Gimli and tries to apologize for the blindfold thing, and Gimli – while not quite ready to forgive – does sense that he’s really uncomfortable and is honestly trying, so he gives him a chance. They start spending more and more time together, and eventually Gimli realizes that Legolas is actually lovely one-on-one, but he’s just so uncomfortable around unfamiliar people.
This activates Gimli’s mama-bear instincts, and he sort of becomes Legolas’s protector. I imagine that the two of them become really good at communicating nonverbally in the presence of other people (though of course they do talk when they’re together), but they just get a really good feel for each other, and usually Gimli is able to just speak for both of them after no more than a shared glance and some facial expressions. And they become each other’s most important people, and make sure to stay close all the time.
This, of course, makes “he stands not alone” even more touching and poignant, because this is the only time in the entire book that Legolas speaks to someone unfamiliar without first being spoken to. (Which gives me EVEN MORE FEELINGS ABOUT THIS SCENE THAN I ALREADY HAD) The thing is, Gimli is all set to speak for both of them: Eomer asks why the two of them aren’t saying anything, and Gimli immediately goes on the defensive. Which would make sense because he’s not only defending Galadriel, but also taking some of the heat off of Legolas with his own reaction. Eomer of course reacts – and then Legolas leaps in to defend Gimli without any prompting. The thing that makes him overcome his reluctance to speak is Gimli being threatened.
I also – to move things into the more romantic angle; forgive my shipper heart – absolutely headcanon that Legolas was the first of the two to realize his feelings, and also the first to bring it up – and I think that that, too, is heightened by Legolas being so timid and awkward. Because Gimli makes him feel comfortable – enough to tease, enough to defend, and enough to confess. I think it’s even more meaningful if this poor awkward and socially-anxious elf is the first one to gather the courage to speak.
Basically: Legolas is shy and socially awkward and Gimli is confident and protective and they both deserve all the hugs.
...
And if you want the link to the fic, it's here.
