Shipping all the Gandalf rarepairs

I have finally seen The Hobbit Episode I The Phantom Dragon, so I am feeling more like a fully-topped-up member of this fandom. (I still have not finished my The Hobbit reread, however. Shhh, don't tell anyone.)

I quite liked it! On one hand, it doesn't stand on its own very well and I wouldn't even recommend it to introduce someone to the LOTR movieverse, much less to Tolkien fandom generally. On the other hand, if I had that kind of budget to produce a fanwork and I knew it was going to be my last opportunity to do so, I would indulge all of my whims and fancies, too.

( Discussion of adaptation choices cut for people who are more behind than I am and who also consider adaptation choices to be a form of spoiler )

After the movie was over, my mom, who is a strictly movie verse-only fan, asked me why Bilbo had been brought along in the first place. I said that as far as I knew the movie came closer to answering this than the book, that answer being that apparently hobbits are like teddy bears for Gandalf and he feels better when he's carrying one around with him. This actually is almost working for me; but then, I still massively ship Gandalf/Pippin.