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Jewels  by Lindelea 2 Review(s)
PSWReviewed Chapter: 44 on 4/3/2025
Ohhh ... that's sad news. I'm sorry to hear it.

It's good to see Merry and Pippin growing into their responsibilities, but this is probably a bit more than they wanted! Hopefully they are able to save most of the lands and especially the people thereabouts.

Thx so much for writing! :-)

LeithianReviewed Chapter: 44 on 4/2/2025
Poor things can't just catch a break. I can see how dangerous the situation is; fields and crops, and homesteads threatened by the swelling river. The question is: is this unusual for the Brandywine (I think it is the Brandywine, but I may be wrong) to flood in this way? Here, in our country, we usually plant rice fields in lands adjacent to rivers that usually flood (i.e. seasonal flooding), so it is part of the agriculture. Flash floods and urban flooding are generally more dangerous, though.

𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯'𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦. '𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴,' 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥. '𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘤 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘭.'

Wow, Merimac is up and about again, he is really a sturdy hobbit.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. '𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦.' 𝘏𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥'𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵. '𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘵. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘛𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥'𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴; 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥.' 𝘏𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘬, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘗𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳. '𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵.'

Too true. Thain Paladin was too harsh on his son, and refused to understand him, and now, he has lost him. And here, Pippin has learnt to be a responsible hobbit, and a leader, under the much gentler hands and guidance of Saradoc and Caradoc.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘺 𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘳.

I also wonder how the Paladin of "Pearl of great price" somehow turned into this, whatever he is. Maybe it was the pressure of his position, but then, Saradoc did not worsen after becoming Master of Buckland.

For some reason, I like the Brandybucks way more than the Tooks. This is very strange for me, because, although Merry is my favourite hobbit, I was very interested in the Tooks in the original LOTR. They are the ones suspected of having faery blood, they don't suffer invaders, and gave Lotho, and Co. a hard time. But now that I know the Brandybucks better, they seem to be more pleasant, lighter, and more forgiving. For all their adventurous nature, the Tooks seem to be very rigid, and judgmental, e.g. the Talk. Anyway, I have rambled enough.

'𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘬.'

Ouch, that hurts!

Thank goodness for Pip's quick thinking to get Merry out of the food. That was truly close!

𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥. '𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘶𝘱𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮, 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘯-𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥; 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦.'

Ah good idea here. And I really like your characterisation in this passage. Merry was (in my view) the most practical of the Travellers, he had a lot of street smarts and could quickly analyse the situation to find solutions to problems. Here too, he devises a simple, practical solution to ensure some safety for the volunteers working at the Bridge.

'𝘐𝘴 𝘖𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?' 𝘗𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘥. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴.

Oh no. No, no, no. Poor Estella, so sorry for her. And Merry, too... I am just so sorry for these two.

Author Reply: I hate to say it, but the angst in this chapter is an important building block for some future scenes that have more to do with loving relationships and less to do with angst. So, yeah. Deliberate, character-developing and/or plot-driven angst hurts just as much as gratuitous angst. Even so, I can't do angst for the sake of angst. I always have to be working towards the "comfort" in the "hurt/comfort" formulation, or I don't see any point in writing further.

I like the Brandybucks better, too. I don't know why my subconscious originally saw Pippin's relationship with Paladin as strained and Merry's with his father as warm and close (maybe an echo of Denethor and Théoden and the hobbits' interactions with them?). In fact, Paladin in his younger years is extremely likable in my "verse": As tweens, he and Saradoc and Ferdinand and Merimac were inseparable and wandered around the Shire together, having adventures (shhh, don't tell anyone), making mischief, and getting into and out of scrapes.

In my original vision of the Shire, Paladin never anticipated becoming Thain. His grandfather withdrew from the Succession, but the letter he wrote was either lost (or deliberately destroyed; I haven't quite worked that part out yet – that part of Thain has two alternative paths I need to choose between before posting the rest of the story) when Ferumbras grew old and had no heirs. When Ferumbras died suddenly, Paladin was stuck with the Thainship, with no training, no preparation, and no resources (because Ferumbras hid the treasury without telling anyone; he wasn't expecting to die quite so soon as he did).

Before I had to stop writing due to RL time constraints, I actually sketched out and started writing on an alternate timeline where Ferdi's family's stable fire never happened and Paladin remained a kind, contented, jolly farmer even after he became Thain. (See The Farmer's Son, another WIP in line to be completed after The Long Winter according to the current plan.) He is Paladin as Paladin ought to have been, probably. (Setting my original impressions based on Denethor and Théoden aside, of course.)

Unfortunately for my favorite hobbits, I was still learning to write fiction when I wrote this story, and my mentors emphasized *conflict* in its various forms (man-vs-man, man-vs-others, man-vs-the environment, etc.) as essential to drive the plot along. So there's an awful lot of angst in this story. I began to understand that there could be too much of a "good" thing (if you can call not being able to catch a break a good thing) when people who were reading in 2003 protested Pippin breaking his leg in a later chapter. Frankly, I breathed a sigh of relief. (There is such a thing as too much angst! I thought so, but what did I know as a novice fiction writer in a writers' group that included published authors? Whew.)

Of course, my long-time proofreader who rode into adventure by my side for several years, in a manner of speaking, called herself (and probably was, LOL) a bad influence, for she seemed to thrive on angst. Her attitude was basically: Pile it on! The deeper, the better! We originally became friends through our mutual appreciation for cliffhangers! She pushed me way beyond my comfort zone over the years, which was probably good for me, at least in terms of developing my writing muscles. Her challenges stretched me as a writer. We still talk occasionally, though her interest has moved on to another fandom. She keeps nagging me to dip my toes in and "challenge" her favorite characters over there. I keep telling her that hobbits have captured me and imprisoned me in their cleverly disguised dungeon called The Shire. Escape seems unlikely, at least at the current time. I have WIPs to finish!

Anyhow, I wrote a lot of Merry-angst in this story. When I couldn't take it anymore (he is my favorite hobbit, after all), I turned to writing Pippin-angst. When I wore out my welcome there, it became Ferdi's turn... until my brain rebelled, and all I wanted to imagine for him was to see him and Nell cuddled cosily together on a couch in front of a cheerful fire. Satisfying, perhaps, but probably not enough conflict there to drive a plot, as my writing group mentors and peers would have said. Recently, Tolly has stepped up (but I must say, exploring his character in the latest WIP has been fascinating).

And... the coffee is finally kicking in! So I will conclude this rather lengthy and perhaps rambling reply and wander off to do RL things now. Thanks for listening.

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