The Awkward Adventures of Meghan Whimblesby
(AO3), by FebruarySong, inserts a fan character into the movie version of The Lord of the Rings, and uses the fandom's three most common clichés:
- A girl falls into Middle-earth and becomes an elf.
- She becomes the Tenth Walker.
- She falls in love with Legolas.
This time, the girl is Meghan Whimblesby, a college student who is Afraid of Blood. Her friends are fans, but Meghan hates The Lord of the Rings. Yet when she falls in, she starts enjoying it. As the tenth member of Frodo's company, Meghan is persistent but useless. Legolas, the only other elf, takes interest in Meghan, and the romance comes gradually.
FebruarySong started this story in 2007, and it was completed in 2014. The Protectors of the Plot Continuum made an intelligence report.
The Awkward Adventures of Meghan Whimblesby provides examples of:
- Accidental Misnaming: Meghan is not telling that she is from another world. So Meghan pretends to be from "Ravendill", her wrong name for Rivendell.
- Afraid of Blood: Blood triggers nausea in Meghan. She may vomit, or cry tears. For comedy, blood appears several times. In chapter 1, Meghan sees too much blood and faints. She wakes inside The Lord of the Rings, not a peaceful setting. Injured fighters, dead corpses, and Meghan's own period all bring blood.
- Animated Actors: Chapter 18 "Writer's Block" happens offstage, when FebSong puts the characters on break. They are actors who also work in other fan fics.
- The Full Name Adventures: The Awkward Adventures of Meghan Whimblesby
- Her Code Name Was "Mary Sue": Andrea writes fan fiction for The Lord of the Rings, and inserts Meghan as a side character. Andrea is a Legolas fan, and likes to ship her main characters with Legolas. These stories bore Meghan, who cannot expect the next surprise: Meghan is about to fall into Middle-earth and encounter Legolas.
- Important Haircut: In chapter 23 "Arrivals", Meghan cuts her long hair to about shoulder length due to how difficult it is to maintain.
- In-Series Nickname: Her friends were fans and gave her the Elvish name "Melethriel". When Meghan becomes an elf in Middle-earth, she switches her names, so Melethriel is her name and "Meghan" is her nickname. Almost everyone calls her Meghan, but Gandalf calls her Melethriel.
- Metamorphosis: As Meghan enters Middle-earth, she becomes an elf. In a sequence of surprises, Meghan discovers her new long hair, her gown, her knee-high boots (a "miraculous and somewhat thrilling discovery"), and finally, her Pointy Ears.
- Mundane Luxury: The one thing that Meghan mentions is chocolate. In chapter 2 "About That Silly Thing of Ultimate Doom", Meghan gripes,"No chocolate? Not any? No chocolate cake or brownies or cookies or hot chocolate or Snickers bars or fudge or anything? You poor, poor people!"
- Dream Emergency Exit: When Meghan sees the movie characters, she tries to wake from her dream. In chapter 1, Meghan pinches herself. In chapter 2, she tries to escape danger by shouting, "WAKE UP!" Then she bleeds. Because of her blood, Meghan concludes, "I'm not dreaming."
- Ordinary High-School Student: Meghan was a nineteen-year-old high school student from South Carolina, until she fainted in class and somehow woke in Middle-earth.
- Outdoor Bath Peeping: Defied Trope. Fearing this trope, Meghan takes a quick bath in the stream. She is out, dressed, and walking away from the stream, when Legolas arrives. Meghan mentions her bath, Legolas apologizes, but Meghan laughs. "You didn't get a free show or anything, so we're good."
- Rapid Hair Growth: When Meghan becomes an elf, she suddenly has long wavy hair down to below her waist. Unlike most such characters, Meghan has trouble with her hair. It gets in her face and in her mouth, and is hard to clean and detangle.
- Sailor Earth: Meghan is yet another Tenth Walker. The story dumps her into the wilderness, conveniently in front of the Nine Walkers. They take her along rather than abandon her.
- Trapped in Another World: Meghan, out of our world, is trapped in Middle-earth. Luckily for her, Legolas and company are willing to care for Meghan.
