Architecture Student • Artist • Retired Ballet Dancer • Bohemian Hipster • Chicagoan • Writer • 23 Years Old

Pen Name: Nalbal (NAHL-BAHL)... Name Origin: a fictional character in a Korean historical drama, "The Immortal Yi Soon Shin"... Nalbal was the silent, secretive, loyal warrior and bodyguard to Admiral Yi.

• INTRODUCTION •

Hello, folks. I'm a young lady who loves to write in her admittedly rare spare time. My favorite style is First-Person Present-Tense because it's both a challenging and enjoyable point of view for me to write. It allows me to explore a character's mind in a deeper and more intimate way. I also love family-oriented, prequel stories surrounding Tolkien's dwarves from The Hobbit, so that is what you will find here.

I am a graduate student in a master's architecture program, so I scarcely have time to breathe let alone write. However, if and when I have the time/inclination/inspiration (mainly over holidays/breaks), I will post anything I can. In these busy times my muse, The Blue Canary, often bothers me and then flies away at the most inopportune moments... However, I never publish anything I don't intend to finish, so if you can bear with me, please join the party!

To see drawings and photo manipulations I created for my characters, check out my profile at .

You can also follow me at littlepocketses. for updates and more fandom fun.

• STORIES •

Fear: COMPLETE

A Private Little War: COMPLETE

The Mark of Gideon: in progress [hiatus]

The Father of My Boys: in progress [hiatus]

Grab My Hand: in progress [hiatus]

• DWARF AGE-CONVERSION CHART •

Dwarf Age/Human Equivalent: 10yrs/8yrs... 15yrs/12yrs... 20yrs/14yrs... 25yrs/16yrs... 40yrs/18yrs... *50yrs/20yrs... 80yrs/24yrs...

(*50 years old ="Coming of Age" – at which the dwarf is officially recognized as a "Young Adult" – therefore, an adult, but technically remaining under parental authority until marriage.)

• EXPLANATION •

I had to create an age-conversion method/theory for Tolkien dwarves purely for my own sanity, since age is such a confusing topic for many writers (including myself) and I write primarily about young dwarves. It is merely my own view of matters that rectifies Tolkien's and Peter Jackson's conflicting interpretations.

Tolkien seemed to think that dwarves cease to age once they reach their "prime", and then age rapidly at some point when the dwarf has become quite old in physical years. In Peter Jackson's films, however, the dwarves of The Hobbit appear to be in varying stages of aging (like humans), which seems to go against Tolkien's view. Therefore, my own interpretation is as follows:

Since dwarf lifespans are far greater than those of humans, their maturation process is slower. As dwarves mature they continually age more slowly – mainly in physical attributes, but somewhat in mental and emotional intelligence as well... you can see in my chart how the gap grows over time. Much later in life, as dwarves begin to grow old (not charted), the aging process speeds up again, but the time and extent in which it happens varies from dwarf to dwarf.

In addition, due to their longevity of life, after their first decade of life a 5-year age difference between dwarf children is not considered an immense developmental gap, unlike for human children. For example, then, if Fili and Kili are 20 and 15 years old in physical dwarf years, I would say they are 14 and 12 years old in comparative human years. The reasoning behind those numbers is that humans of 14 and 12 years are more alike developmentally, and I imagine that as children Fili and Kili are closer in emotional and mental childhood intelligence. However, they still experience developmental gaps as time goes on, and the idea of the "big brother" versus the "baby brother" still applies!

So, I hope that makes sense! Drop me a line if you have any questions.

Cheers!