Dominic Monaghan/Elijah Wood

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Pairing
Pairing: Dominic Monaghan/Elijah Wood
Alternative name(s): Domlijah
Gender category: m/m
Fandom: Lotrips
Canonical?: no (some thought yes)
Prevalence: popular
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Dominic Monaghan/Elijah Wood, also known as Domlijah, is a popular pairing in Lord of the Rings RPF that became infamous in fandom for the large number of fans who believed that the two actors were secret boyfriends in real life. Domlijah lives on as the reason that the term tinhat was coined, though overall fandom activity for Lotrips decreased after the film trilogy was completed.

Tinhatting History

A particular group of LOTR RPS fans were communicating on the DataLounge (a GBLT forum), specifically a section called the "Prancing Pony".[1] On that forum in early 2003, anonymous posters who claimed to be movie industry insiders promised inside information on "the boys" and message passing by subtle gestures and James-Bond-style secrets. The group around MsAllegro was especially vehement in their belief in the couple. Then the words 'charchuse' (sic) and 'burnt sienna' were mentioned in the forum, amongst other colours. When pictures of Dom and Elijah in yellow and light orangish brown shirts (respectively) turned up, euphoria abounded. The threads exploded, and people who had hitherto wavered on the fringes started to get sucked in.[2] That is, many additional fans started to believe that these actors really were "shouting out" to their supporters by their color choices, ring wearing or non-wearing, and song choices. Expectations were high that these two men would eventually come out as a gay couple.

In 2016 one fan described their experience of Prancing Pony thusly:

It was a party in there, all garbage all the time. There were so many insiders and cryptic verses and predictions thrown about during the promo tours and red carpet events, and in retrospect we now know that NONE OF IT WAS REAL so the fact is that everyone in there was making everything up. I threw in a prediction or two, and it was an adventure, trying to come up with just the right amount of cryptic but also plausible, and seeing if anyone would bite.[3]

Fans who disagreed with the Prancing Pony shippers created a web site dispelling the rumors: Sanity, Please. Elijah Wood Is Very, Very Gay was fansite that parodied Domlijah tinhatting.

The actors explicitly denied being a couple several times, making fun of the various rumors. Dom said at a convention Q&A in 2003, that the actors had "read rumors of a contract they signed with New Line that they wouldn't come out as gay until after Return of the King." Dom laughed, and added, in a sarcastic tone that they were "thinking of walking down the red carpet holding hands for Return of the King." [4] Nothing like that, or any other kind of public announcement ever happened, and the actors have continued to deny any romantic involvement with each other.[5] As of April 2010, these actors have both mentioned long-term girlfriends.

Example Fanworks

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Links & Resources

References

  1. ^ Wikipedia entry, the name refers to a Hobbit tavern in The Lord of the Rings. (accessed 2008-09-30)
  2. ^ Sanity, Please page, on archive.org (accessed 2008/10/03).
  3. ^ anon ask answered by back-to-louis, tumblr post, 25 April 2016.
  4. ^ Fan report, October 5, 2003 (archived at TheOneRing.net, accessed 2008/10/3)
  5. ^ Sept. 12, 2005 Newsweek interview with Dominic Monaghan (accessed 2008-10-24)