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Interrupted Journeys: Part 2 Journeys Perforce by elliska	10 Review(s)
ghemstone	Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 11/9/2004
I am really enjoying this fic. The move to the caves is certainly a headache for Thranduil, but at least now Lindomiel is warming to the idea. Men? I am lokking forward to seeing who they could be, as i'm looking forward to many things in this fic. Too much good stuff yet again. Not that i'm complaining, of course. One thing i've realised though, is that Thranduils' mother is quite prominent in the story, but obviously there is no mention of her in the Hobbit (althugh saying that, there was hardly any mention of Thranduil either), do i take that to mean that she is staying as a character, or will there be more grief for Thranduil and Aradunnon. Whatever you do with this fic, i have no doubt that i will love it. ghemstone Author Reply: I'm glad you are enjoying it. :) Yes, I think this major of a relocation would be awful to manage. But Thranduil is very good at it. Thranduil's mother, Dieneryn, has a continuing role--bigger in a couple of parts than others. That is because too many OCs in each part make the story impossible to manage so sometimes some OCs have larger or smaller roles as the plot warrants. But by the time we get to the Hobbit...Hmmm... Yes, there is some angst as the plot develops too. The Men are a new complication added most recently due to a discussion in the Yahoo group. I was glad it came up because it was actually kind of a plot hole to not include them. Thank you so much for the reviews.

Brazgirl	Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 11/8/2004
I have known this site for a while but I prefer reading this at ff.net because of the backgroud. Here is cute, those leaves there... but it distracts me and as I have photophobia it means trouble to my eyes. But, I prefer to review here! This chapter was long and very good. I loved to read Lindomiel dealing with the dwarves, especially when she was showing them her Queen ring. It was fab, your descriptions are always good. Amoneth is getting so boring! How can she stills contradict Thranduil in public and worse: in front of dwarves! She needs to hear something really soon. At least Lindomiel sent her away... in time. I believe she could have done worse damages to Thranduil's dealings with the dwarves. And that elven woman... Valar! She is a demon, as Thranduil said. Disrespectful and extremely rude. But I think she will end up moving with the King. After all, he did not give her much options... she moves or she dies! The dwarves interaction with the elves were hilarious! I don't know why, but they always are. And the way you make Thranduil and Lindomiel talk to them makes the whole thing elves x dwarves more interesting. Now, about the caves, the esmerald thing reminded me of something very, very similar that happened here in Brazil some hundreds of years ago. The portuguese were looking for gold and they thought they had found tons and tons of it in a small city called Vila Rica (something like Rich Village) but they discovered it was not actually gold. It was a rock that had the same bright when it was on the rock, thought it was not gold - people called it fake-gold or fools' gold, because it was actually black. Then they called the city Ouro Preto (Black Gold). But they ended up finding the damn gold they looked for in the city. I actually visited one mine that is now opened to visitation - of course it has no gold and it is abandoned for years - and it was very fun. It reminded me of that. So tell Thranduil he can find more that fake esmeralds there!!! Gosh, and I still remember those things from school... ahahah!!! I am so, so curious to know about these men the elves found!! Don't tell me this is trouble for Thranduil. And, I promise, one last thing: I can't wait to read silly Amoneth visiting the caves!!! Author Reply: Hi again, Brazgirl! Yes, I can see where the background would be more difficult if you have photophobia. White is easier. But you cannot beat the review function here. It is the best of all sites. I had fun with Lindomiel and Thranduil and the dwarves. I like dwarves. They're pretty cool. And I thought hearing the dwarves talk about the caves might help Lindomiel be happier with the idea of living in them since she is curious and would listen. Amoneth is going to get her just dues in the very next chapter so as soon as I can get it up, people can have fun watching her squirm a little. I'm glad I don't like her because my readers really don't. She's not supposed to be likable, so that works out ok. :) The men won't be exactly trouble. They are a complication. :) You will see that in the next chapter too. The fool's gold story is very funny. I think that happened some to people in here in the US in California too. Can you imagine how disappointed you'd be! Thank you so much for the reviews. I appreciate them greatly.

French Pony	Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 11/7/2004
Looks like everyone's gotten all shook up by this chapter. I'm sure they're all getting down on their knees and giving thanks for Lindomiel, who has managed to work her usual magic on the Dwarves. Her secret seems to be a genuine curiosity about and enjoyment of foreign things. She doesn't just listen politely when the Dwarves talk about how they could build a cave; she really seems to get interested and get some new ideas from them. People can tell when others are really interested, and it flatters them. And likely, her interest in what the Dwarves can do bolsters Thranduil's heart about this. He seems to need some emotional propping-up, and Lindomiel's growing enthusiasm is just the thing for him, for all he has ever wanted is to make her happy. And of course, show the stone carving Elves a limestone cave with semi-precious gems in it, and they'll drag their families so fast you'll eat their dust. The forest is pretty, the Dwarves are being polite and understanding about finances, there may be a new source of income in them thar hills -- things are looking up. It's time for Thranduil to grin and make the best of a situation that isn't nearly as bad as it could have been. That village leader, Maethorness, is quite a piece of work. She sounds like someone Thranduil could easily like, unless they happen to be on opposite sides of an issue. He handled her well, I think, because her objections are ones that he's already made and thought through. She can feel secure in knowing that he really understands her problems, and he can be all the more convincing because of it. We just need to show her the fresh new forest, and she'll come around. Less likely for Amoneth, though. She's gone beyond being merely un-royal into being downright rude. Poor old Aradunnon is going to have to take a good long look at her, and I think that a few scales are going to fall from his eyes. He'll not be a happy camper for a while. The very day they arrived, the scouts led the king and his party for a tour of the cave system. They moved from cavern to cavern, discussing that this cavern might be used for a Great Hall since it is large enough and close to the entrance and that one might be used for a kitchen since it is close to the underground river and smaller ones might be used for personal apartments or offices or what have you. I think this paragraph needs a little work. You've got some shifty tenses, and the phrase "what have you" is a little too colloquial to match the rest of your writing style. Author Reply: I think you are exactly right about Lindomiel. She is just curious and people like genuine interest. In my opinion, people with intellectual curiosity, people who are a little interested in most things, are the most fun to be around. I think the dwarves got a little taste of that and it worked out well for everyone involved. Thranduil does see the light at the end of the tunnel to some extent. Maethorness is a real piece of work. She reminds me of a few people I know unfortunately. And you're right--Thranduil dealt with her as he did because he largely agrees with her complaints, he just has had more time to think them through. Amoneth. She is consistant if nothing else. LOL--will you look at that sentence! Is that one sentence? It's pretty bad isn't it. Yes, I will go have a look at that. :) Author Reply: Fixed it--I took the lazy route and just made it way simpler. But geez--it was comically bad. It took the place of a longer description of a tour of the caves so it was the result of a fast cut right before posting. My beta never saw it and will make some comments when she sees your review and that 'sentence.' Thanks...and she thanks you too. :)

Bodkin	Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 11/7/2004
I hope you don't mind if I join in on the grammar rant!! I have pet aversions - affect / effect, allude / elude and so on - but it's the apostrophe that usually gets me screaming at the screen. There was a best-selling book in the UK last winter called 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves' which said there should be a militant wing of the Apostrophe Society - I empathise totally. Especially it's - the number of times I tell the world that it's only has an apostrophe when it is a contraction of it is and that as a possessive pronoun it is apostrophe-free. And I have a son who believes that every word ending in 's' requires an apostrophe. That is a test of mother-love, I can tell you!! (And that's hyperbole.) Apologies for story-free rant. Author Reply: It's quite alright (she says checking carefully to be sure she has used the apostrophe correctly). You are right though. I had a student tell me once (mind you this was a native spanish speaker and spanish doesn't have contractions so how did he know?) that 'it's' absolutely always has an apostrophe. I corrected his mistakes on a paper and he took me all the way to the Dean of Students trying to get his points back for those mistakes on the paper. The scary thing was, I had to prove to the Dean thatI was correct because he didn't believe me!!!!! AARRGGGHH!!!! That was one of the incidents that pushed me out of teaching. That was also the last class where I let the students write their papers in english. I think I'd join the Militant Wing of many Pet Peave Societies at this point. I don't have a problem when people make mistakes--everyone types too fast sometimes or makes a little flub or just doesn't know--that's human. My problem comes in when people make them and then don't want any help correcting them. Aren't they embarassed to make them? Don't they want to do better? Blows my mind. :) Better still though are the people who are going to argue about their wrongness. By all that is holy they Know Everything and you Know Nothing. These people are truly lost. Affect and effect are hard for me. I think I know that affect is a verb and effect is a noun but I have to look it up everytime I use them--I at least am aware of this one so I usually think to look them up. Allude and elude though--that's easy. Have seen it though. :) I had a professor of linguistics that wrote his own language (spoke 8 languages in five different language families fluently / kind of a nut). He made it so that there were no words like there/their, no apostrophes/contractions, very simple punctuation, one sound per letter etc. It was great. Then we spent many a class day debating why the world would never adopt such a language no matter how efficient it was. Interesting class. (Did I mention my degree was in Spanish Linguistics and Lit--we had a lot of strange classes. For my Masters exam I wrote a whole three page essay on the evolution of a word no one really knows the evolution of--strange degree, but fun).

daw the minstrel	Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 11/7/2004
Forgive me. I swear this is my last review of this chapter. "Lay" means to put something somewhere. It is a transitive verb, meaning it always takes a direct object. I lay a book down on a table. "Lie" means to recline. It is intransitive, meaning it never takes a direct object. I lie down on the bed. And if my aerobics teacher tell me to lay down on my mat one more time, I'm going to throw something at her. Usually, people say lay when they mean lie. The real confusion comes when you start changing tenses. I always have to consult a dictionary to make sure I'm doing that right. I lie down in present, but (unfortunately) I lay down in the past. I lay the book down in the present, but I laid it down in the past. I'm going to go work on my own chapter now and leave you alone! Author Reply: LOL I am rolling and I do not mind at all. In fact, I love it. Having intelligent conversations is part of the fun of this for me. I cannot express to you how much I miss teaching literature and I would get back into it in a heart beat if I thought there was the slightest possibility of getting back into academics after a five year absence but we both know what the odds are on that... You are right, it is when you start changing tenses that I lose it (I think I got the lose right though grin). Actually, it is a great relief to me that you have to look at a dictionary too. I almost choked when I read the part about your aerobics teacher. Mine does that too and even I know she's using it wrong. I always say to her something about laying eggs (What am I suppposed to lay on my mat, an egg?) when she says it. She always looks at me funny and one day she will ask me why I say that everytime she says 'lay on your mats' and I'll explain that. In seriousness, I think your examples up there help though, if I think about it. It is the past tense that causes me the confusion because lie becomes lay and then looks wrong and I was never sure that was really the proper past tense of to lie down. And laid--I think I didn't know that past tense. That helped and I'm glad you posted it. But by all means do work on your chapter. I love your chapters. :) Author Reply: PS--I think it's very funny that you just couldn't resist explaining lie/lay and it is a sign of what a good teacher you must be. I bet you are enthusiastic in class. I liked teachers who couldn't resist teaching.

daw the minstrel	Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 11/7/2004
Oh god. "Lie" and "lay." Don't get me started. My beta has heard me raving about this particular little glitch. Author Reply: :) LOL I am laughing and my husband is looking at me like I've lost my mind. I can hear your frustration in that one little sentence. (My particular peave is there/their/they're--that one is too easy to mess up). You are a writing teacher, aren't you? I bet you see a lot of that. I got this really cool link from the Mirkwood Fanfiction Archive called Confused Words and it is pretty helpful (but I don't think anyone could explain lay/lie to me). I did a search in all the chapters of this fiction and found all the loose/loses (there was at least one in every chapter but one so I am so glad you mentioned it). I remember French Pony pointing that out to me once too. Maybe after fixing it almost 10 times, I will remember it this time. :) That is how we learn and I do enjoy learning from this. I am really very serious--point those things out. It only helps me improve.

daw the minstrel	Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 11/7/2004
So Thranduil is affronted by the dwarves' "utter honesty," is he? LOL. Pot, meet kettle. I liked his understanding attitude toward Maethorness, though. He was really quite charitable toward her. And Hallion's point that leading in good times is easy is also a good one. I love it when Lindomiel realizes that she can hear the song of Iluvatar in the rock of the caverns. I see you've been doing research on what minerals grow in limestone caves (and I'll bet you consulte the Atlas to know the caves were limestone). I love that kind of stuff. P.S. Don't mind me, but I can't stop myself. You often have "loose" where you mean "lose." You can remember the difference because that double vowel (oo)makes the following "s" sound like "sss" instead of "zzz," which is what you get with a single vowel. Author Reply: Yes, Thranduil is funny that way. Pot and kettle indeed. And he is very charitable towards Maethorness, but I think it is largely because she is voicing objections he has himself to this decision (she might learn to do it a bit more respectfully...). He just has had more time and experience to come to realize it is the only choice. :) Yes, I love that Atlas, don't you? It is sooo cool. I do love that kind of stuff. I did do the research on gems in limestone caves. I used to live in Kentucky and we went to Mammoth all the time but it didn't have any copper in it so to the best of my knowledge, this type of gem isn't in it. I know Malachite is big in caves out west. It's fun to do this type of stuff and learn a little as you write! (lile you and your arrows--it adds to the stories for certain). And ALWAYS point out to me when I do things like lose/loose and never apologize for it. English is not fully my native language--nothing really is, I was raised bilingually so I speak two languages poorly. :) I am always very, very happy to have things like that pointed out to me because I'd rather go fix them than have them hanging around and embarassing me for everytime someone reads them. :) Thank you very much for pointing it out and I'm going to go read for it right now. You are so lucky you are a rhetoric teacher. I bet you know when to use lay and lie too. That's the one that does me in completely--I don't even know the difference.

Lackwit	Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 11/7/2004
This is a good gapfiller to explain Wood-Elves in a cavern (something that had always baffled me when I read the Hobbit years ago). Love the dwarves-don't get enough of them in realistic group portrayals in fics (other than fighting O_o ). I am so glad you are showing how perfectly reasonably both elves and dwarves can conduct themselves when necessary instead of just fighting and insulting each other. Lindomiel in particular shines; I was afraid that she was going to be a bit superfluous over the course of the story (other than to pop out Legolas) but I like the touch of having her be interested in the other races of Arda. And now more Men on the scene- looking forward to how they interact with Thranduil. Author Reply: Thanks Lackwit! I also thought it was bizarre that woodelves would live in caves when I read The Hobbit. I'm glad this is working for you as a bit of a gapfiller because that is exactly what I intended to do with this part of the story. I like dwarves too and I agree enough people don't write them. I think they have just tons of potential in any scene. I'm not certain I exploit it well, but it is definitely there for someone who can get into their heads well. I'd love to read more good dwarf fictions. I think dwarves and elves, even Sindarin elves, could get along perfectly reasonably. I especially thing that is the case given what is at stake for Thranduil. He has seen the dangers he faces and he is motivated. I am very glad Lindomiel is turning out ok in your mind. I do see very clearly the potential for her to be Legolas' Mother and absolutely nothing else and that is very boring. I think Thranduil's wife should have a role helping to shape Greenwood. I'm looking forward to the Men too. I actually added that part in the last weeks. It will be interesting to see how it works. Thanks so much for the review.

Bodkin	Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 11/7/2004
I would love to know all the possible ways that Amoneth could to get her just dues. I can think of a few options. Perhaps it should be like the twelve labours of Hercules. What a delightful decision you have in front of you. H'mm - ranging from 1. no dessert to 255. beheading. Author Reply: LOL. That really cracked me up! I do not think beheading was on my list but it is amusing to contemplate. :) If I use one of the possibilities, the one I lean towards most, the outcome will lead Thranduil to wish he could behead her in later chapters. It is a tough choice. :) Writing this is really fun for me. There is a 20th century genre in latin american lit called the BOOM novel (that's the actual spanish term--they used it because the genre just sort of exploded in popularity). Anyway, one of the characteristics of it is that it plays with time and order--the plots are not linear. When I write/edit this story, I feel like I am playing with a BOOM novel. There are a couple of places that are key points where I wrote a range of versions that subtly change later plot points and I never decided which one I liked most / thought was most believable etc. This is one of them. It's driving me mad really. Thanks for the laugh!

Bodkin	Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 11/7/2004
That Amoneth is clearly a very slow learner. What part of 'you will co-operate and uphold the family in public' does she not understand? I'm quite surprised that she has lasted a whole millennium really. Just as she was beginning to seem a bit more sensible, she goes and proves yet again that she is an idiot. Still, I suppose at least she is better that Dragonelleth, aka Maethorness. How about putting Maethorness, Engwe and Amoneth into a big pit and seeing who comes out at the end of a month? (Could be Dragonelleth.) I really like the Dwarves. And Lindomiel and the Dwarves. And the Dwarves and the caves. I hope the Doriath elves manage to overcome some of their prejudices and realise that there are Dwarves and Dwarves, just as there are Elves and Elves . . . and the idiot Amoneth. Great chapter. Loved it. Author Reply: :) Yes, I almost cringe reading this chapter myself. Amoneth is about to get it, though. I have several different versions of how she's going to get it written and I haven't decided which version to use, but she will get it. One cannot deny that she just isn't bright. Selfish. Very self-centered. And not bright. Maethorness is a disgrace, isn't she. She makes another appearance in this story much later on and poor Legolas has to deal with her. I still laugh when I read what he does (I re-read it before posting this to make sure the two encounters are not too different and it cracked me up). I like dwarves too. I think they are great. Thranduil and Hallion at least are doing ok with them. They might want to be thankful for them, I would think, after this chapter.

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