#bagginshield asks

I’m very much in the ‘Bilbo represses any emotion that isn’t sass’ camp so I’m definitely behind Thorin confessing first. I think dwarves in general, and Thorin in particular, are quite open and honest with how they feel, once you’re close enough to be within the group they trust. 

So after the Carrock, after Thorin finally sees the heart in this fussy little gentlehobbit, I think he falls quite quickly and will communicate that. 

Sorry I just woke up! Thank you so much! (And now I have someone new to follow.)

1. I am a sucker for Bilbo stays in Erebor. I don’t know why like I get everyone wants Thorin to meet Frodo which is adorable, but I just love seeing Bilbo stay in Erebor (after some conditions are met of course). I mean I won’t turn my nose to either, but I prefer Bilbo stays in Erebor.

3. Oh ghivashel is a very good one, but as a writer myself I have found some really sweet ones.

9. When do you think Bilbo started to have a crush? When he realised he was in love with Thorin? When he realised Thorin was The One? What about Thorin? When the crush started? Did he deny at first? Was the prejudice a escape mechanism? When he realised he was actually in love with the halfling? When he realised Bilbo was his Ghivashel?

I decided to write this one out because I forget questions easily. Bilbo I think it took longer than Thorin, I think it happened sometime in Rivendell specifically the extended scene where Thorin and Bilbo are together in the hall and overhear Elrond talk to Gandalf about Thorin’s family madness and Bilbo’s immediately to go to bat for him from the looks of it. Imagine getting the sideeye from a guy your entire trip and when they start talking bad about his family you go to take on the lord of Rivendell for him??? Like Bilbo loves elves but when they start talking about Thorin he looks ready to throw hands. Like and then I think Bilbo falls slowly in love with Thorin throughout the way.

thank uuu!!

3. my fav term of endearment in khuzdul is amrâlimê :) 

4. fav display of affection from thorin to bilbo is thorin touching or kissing the tips of bilbo’s pointed ears <3 and for bilbo to thorin it’s bilbo running his hands through thorin’s hair or braiding his hair for him

7. the hug scene or the acorn scene? HHHHH i think it’s the hug scene just because it’s all so happy and hopeful, the acorn scene makes me a little sad because of the dragon sickness and dwalin interrupting ;-; my fav moment between them that isn’t these two is the “not our only hope” + bilbo rescuing thorin from his prison cell in mirkwood OR “thorin!” “bilbo!” on ravenhill 

Hi there! Thanks for the asks @theballadofbilbobaggins :)

3. Favourite term of endearment in khuzdul

Oh but they’re all so good. I live for native tongue pet names as a trope and the bonus of them being secret at first is just excellent.

Not to be basic but Amrâlimê just gets me. I prefer it to givashel because I prefer the idea of ‘my love’ to ‘my treasure’ because he’s a hobbit not an object and Thorin you have a bad history with treasure lets not go there 

But I’ve also seen many other less common or bespoke ones that are really lovely too. 

4. Favourite display of affection (kiss on the forehead, holding hand, tucking the hair, etc) from Thorin to Bilbo and from Bilbo to Thorin

Bilbo to Thorin; Hand holding, or straightening his braids. 

Thorin to Bilbo; touching / cradling his face, followed by a forehead touch.

7. The Hug Scene™ or The Acorn Scene™?Extra: A favourite scene/moment between them that isn't neither of these two?

I think hug, because there’s less angst around it! 

A favourite moment that isn’t either of those; yet again, two because I can’t decide. 1 - The interaction after the Goblin tunnels, when Bilbo completely knocks the wind out of Thorin by understanding the pain of Erebor being taken from them, and 2 - When Bilbo arrives on Ravenhill. The sheer emotion conveyed in how Thorin say’s “Bilbo” is just *chefs kiss*

8. Food is a love language. What would Bilbo cook for Thorin? What would Thorin prepare for Bilbo?

Bilbo for Thorin; I think he’d make small, transportable things he can give Thorin to take with him during the day when he’s attending to his duties as King. Things like scones or sweetrolls he can keep in his pockets so he doesn’t end up missing as many meals he’s only eating like three times a day if Bilbo doesn’t do something about this his royal idiot is clearly going to waste away

Hello! Thanks for dropping by with an ask :)

9. Let's get personal: When do you think Bilbo started to have a crush? When he realised he was in love with Thorin? When he realised Thorin was The One? What about Thorin? When the crush started? Did he deny at first? Was the prejudice a escape mechanism? When he realised he was actually in love with the halfling? When he realised Bilbo was his Ghivashel?

There’s a lot of questions in this one! Buckle up, I have a lot of thoughts so here we go;

When do you think Bilbo started to have a crush? 

I think Bilbo was very reluctantly crushing from the start 'he’s beautiful and majestic and he sounds like thunder but he’s an ass oh lady why does his signing haunt me so’ but this developed into something much less reluctant first after Balin explains his history and how he’s spent his life atoning for the sins of others to help his people and then after the trolls, where Thorin firstly came charging to the rescue and then took a big risk in order to protect Bilbo from harm and Bilbo then had to contend with ‘oh he’s got a tragic backstory and he’s honourable and heroic too boot how am I meant to cope with this’ 

When he realised he was in love with Thorin? 

I think he realised his reluctant crush turned full blown crush turned hopeless pining was actually love was when the eagles were carying them to the Carrock, after Bilbo had looked around and saw the dwarves couldn’t help save Throin, saw Azog and a whole pack of orcs and a blade at Thorin’s throat and realised that yes, he was going to throw himself in front of all of that to save this grumpy, abrasive, doubting dwarf because for him, there was no other choice and then he didn’t even know if it had worked - Thorin is lying limp in an eagles claws and I think that fear is enough to break through his repression of just what exactly he’s feeling. 

When he realised Thorin was The One? 

I think he was most of the way there by the Carrock, but any doubt or lingering ability to repress the idea vanished before the Master and the people of Laketown. 

What about Thorin? When the crush started? Did he deny at first? 

I’ll answer these together. I think he worked hard to Bilbo at arms length at first - I think it’s armour he developed after years of having what I think is a heart that cares deeply battered and broken by what’s happened to him. So he’s cynical, and judgemental, and doesn’t think much of the fussy gentlehobbit Gandalf has insisted upon. I think the first real, significant crack in this exterior comes after goblin town, when Bilbo upsets Thorin’s entire understanding of him by turning up and then very succinctly validates one of the biggest wounds Thorin carries and shows how he will risk everything he holds ear, in order to return the thing Thorin once held but lost to him. 

Then, when Bilbo throws himself at an Orc to protect him, it finished off turning Throins understanding of Bilbo completely on it’s head. I think it’s after this point that Thorin really allows himself to see Bilbo - and that the crush comes swiftly after. 

Was the prejudice a escape mechanism? 

I think it’s a defence mechanism. I think Thorin’s had his faith in people rocked severely from a young age - he watched his grandfather value gold above all morals, watched an ally to his kingdom turn his back on starving people, watched his father lost to madness in battle. Undoubtedly he’s experienced the worst of people as he tried to find a new life for an entire kingdom of people. 

He’s lost trust in people that had earned it. He will not grant it to a creature that inspires absolutely no faith in his ability to assist in the one thing Thorin feels he must do, else he will have failed. 

When he realised he was actually in love with the halfling? When he realised Bilbo was his Ghivashel?

I think his feeling escalated quickly after the Carrock. By the time Thranduils holds them prisoner, Thorin has so much faith in Bilbo he’ll bet their entire quest upon him. I think once they’d connected in that way, he’s quite honest with himself about how he feels, and I think his feelings develop quickly. 

So I think when Bilbo turns up at the door of his cell with the keys - or possibly, in laketown when Bilbo testifies to his honor. 

14. If you self project when reading/writing: Are you Bilbo or are you Thorin? If you don't, who do you think you would be? Why?

Thank you so much for the asks! 

6;  A trope you have read many times but can't get enough of (idiots in love, pining, married couple, oblivious Bilbo, oblivious Thorin, Only One Bed)

Oh mahal there’s so many. But if I had to pick absolutely one; courting gifts with unexplained/untold significance, so I guess Oblivious Bilbo/Obvious Thorin? Just. Bilbo walking around with a bead in his hair that means ‘hands off this one is the Kings’ and Bilbo thinks it’s like, a token given to new friends. 

Close runners up are mutual pining, blanket / coat sharing for warmth, awkward idiots in love with an interfering Company who needs these two to get together already, this awkward flirting is unbearable someone stop them

13;  Rec a bagginshield fic/a song/a fanart

Imma rec both fic and fanart, because I can. 

Fanart; Literally anything @rutobuka2 but particularly ‘incriminating sleeping habits’ and ‘breakfast in bed’

Fic; I’m late to the fandom so I feel like the fic’s I’d rec are already very well known, but the one I read time and time again is ‘An Early Start’ by HiddenKitty. It hits so many of my favourite tropes in one go. 

thanks so much!!

i answered number 4 here <3

5. hmmm a huge dinner party with both bilbo and thorin’s families - i’m already planning on writing this lmao but maybe there’s already fics out there like this? i haven’t found any though!

10. “They are strange birds, this pair. They look a little like robins, but without the red breasts, and they fly very close together, as if afraid of losing one another.” from At the Turn of the Year by northerntrash (the only fic that has legit made me cry real tears) 

Also, “How dare you. How dare you be so noble and self-sacrificing and honourable. How dare you try to fight Bolg on your own despite having had no time to eat or sleep. And how dare you not wake up and tell me all of this in person.” from The Quest by AnonymousSong and lily_winterwood (originally the liveblogs on tumblr - they put so much work into those blogs and it was a joy to read all together on ao3 and it truly felt like I was reading bilbo and thorin’s thoughts)