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Interrupted Journeys: Part 2 Journeys Perforce  by elliska 6 Review(s)
BrazgirlReviewed Chapter: 13 on 12/8/2004
I had a busy week but here I am. This chapter is amazing. Totally centred in Amoneth, which was great. I believe the lessons are doing great to her. Clearly she is becoming a fine person, a better one. If she recognizes her selfishness in some actions she can change them in the future. And Thranduil was wise in this chapter... a fine tutor, indeed. I loved to read about his and his brother's reaction to that odd elf. It was great. I think this was one of your best chapters, if not the best one.
One more thing: Thranduil saying he missed his wife was so cute! I wanted to cuddle him... and Amoneth is right: Lindomiel would be most upset if Thranduil starved in her absence.

Author Reply: It's the time of year for being busy, isn't it? I appreciate you taking time to review! I'm glad you liked this. Yes, Amoneth is showing signs of improving for real this time, thank goodness! And I do think Thranduil was a good tutor to recognize what she needed to be able to learn her leassons.

I felt sorry for poor Thranduil missing Lindomiel. I'd cuddle with Thranduil anytime. :)

BodkinReviewed Chapter: 13 on 12/5/2004
A First Age story with Thranduil growing up?????? Yes, please. My eyes are brightening at the very idea. What a terrific idea.

(Aradunnon and Amoneth have to hang on long enough to get round to the begetting though. At the current rate that could take a couple of millennia.)

Must stop using reviews for conversation. (But it's just too much fun to speculate.)

Author Reply: It is very hard not to use the reviews as conversation, isn't it? I often find myself writing a review and then thinking of something afterward and I have to restrain myself because I can be very chatty--boy I bet you would have never guessed that. :)

I just like teasing you. Aradunnon and Amoneth do have to be around long enough for the begetting. And I actually haven't decided what to post next. We wrote some stuff that we really intended to be back story just for ourselves but that I ended up liking. Might work that into an actual full plot. Or I might just go ahead to the part we actually planned to be next, which is Legolas' birth. I have to decide that in the next few days.

But remember I did say once: there are only four people in this story that get a guaranteed easy sail to Valinor--Galadriel, Elrond, Gandalf and Legolas. 'Cause Tolkien says so. Its open season on everyone else. Everyone. *Another evil grin*

Yes, it's a First Age story that starts out with Oropher and then has Thranduil growing up (I just love Thranduil). We ended the outline where this series started out (so it goes through the War of the Last Alliance). The problem was caused by the Yahoo Group again. Someone in it mentioned the Silm on CD. Of course, I've read the Silm before and I liked it very much. So I bought it on CD and I've been listening to it in my car on the way to work (I drive an hour one-way each day, so I've got lots of time). And I just found myself thinking about Oropher and Thranduil amidst all that and my friend and I started talking about it when we were editing the next chapter of this fic and it went downhill from there. We even wrote the first chapter. My husband is threatening to take my computer away from me. He says I'm obsessed. :) But, the fact is, it will probably get written. I am going to be out of the country for three weeks in December. I won't have any computer access and I'll go insane. I see a major part of that First Age story getting written on sheets of actual paper during that time. I will go through withdrawal otherwise. I've said before, fan fiction is like a drug. It's too much fun to stop.


Author Reply: Bodkin,

By the way--been meaning to ask you this for a while so I'm going to do it now since I thought of it. You use 'daernaneth' and 'daeradar' in your stories. My Sindarin is most limited. Is that canon or did you make it up? I saw it first in your stories but I've since seen it in others, I'm sure. If you put it together, did you get the 'daer' part from canon and if so, what does it mean? (I mean, obviously I know the term means grandmother/father but I can't find 'daer' anywhere and I'm curious how you made the word).

Since you have reviewed every chapter of this fic for almost 40 chapters, I hope I'm not being too presumptuous in assuming you might review another time and let me know. :) Thanks!

BodkinReviewed Chapter: 13 on 12/5/2004
I suppose 2000 years is quite an age gap though. It's not so much that he is fully adult now as that babies of the family seem to pick up some 'it's somebody else's problem' attitudes as they grow up. They're supposed to be easy to get on with and fun to be around, partly because they let someone else do their thinking for them.

Just read daw's comment and your review of it - two things: 1) Amoneth and Aradunnon have a kid!!!!!! (So you can't be killing them off in the near future,) and 2) Ithilden and Alfirin's early years!!!!!! (The prospect must have been nearly enough to put her off marrying him. I reckon Galion must have really been on her side - that's partly why she supported him over the drunk in charge of dwarves scenario.)

Author Reply: I think Thranduil does tend to look at Aradunnon in some circumstances as his baby brother. You couldn't help it. :) And Aradunnon has to have some of the 'it's Thradnuil's problem' syndrome--and I bet he's gald of it. Who would want to be a king?! I have always been in some level of management and I've learned one thing firmly--no need to have too much responsibility. It's way too much work. :)

Yes, they have a kid. That only takes one year though. *evil grin*

And yes, poor Daw. She says something simple like that and we're all off to the races thinking 'ooo, I wonder if she'll do this or that.' It has to be hard and I don't make it any easier on her because I'm always speculating. But really--can you imagine? You'd have to be deeply in love with the guy to marry into such a difficult situation. I imagine Daw will have to go bad and re-read some of her own fic just to see the little details of all Alfirin's interactions with the staff--like that one you pointed out. It's so much fun writing this stuff and thinking about all the scenarios and all that.

I just can't stop myself. My beta and I, as we argued this last chapter and the next one, started wondering about some of Thranduil's formative years. That led to writing the outline of a First Age story. God help me. It never stops.

daw the minstrelReviewed Chapter: 13 on 12/5/2004
I was so interested in Amoneth's struggles. I've just been thinking about my next story and wondering how Alfirin thought about stepping into the management of the royal household, young as she was and aware as she must have been that there were people who were used to running it already. This is cool!

I also like the idea that she likes watching Aradunnon at the council meetings. He must look different to her there when he's a councillor, not a lover. And I have to say, it's certainly clear that Thranduil runs this place!

Good for Amoneth in her behavior at the feast with Fuinil. She was in a tough position. She's plainly still sorting out what's acceptable and what's not. I have to admit it hadn't occurred to me that Aradunnon was supposed to be learning a lesson either.

Author Reply: Ooo. A 'early years of Ithilden and Alfirin' would be a really cool next story. I like those two--they deserve more air time. :) And that would be a toughy for her. With Lindomiel, there was Dieneryn to help introduce her and to smooth things along when they were too much for Lindomiel. Alfirin would have no one--just Ithilden and Thranduil, who would have zero time for her in that respect. She'd need to find a friend in the staff fast. That might be hard given the staff have been running the palace for years themselves and might not see her as necessary--an intrusion even. That would be a tough balance and there would have to be some friction. And at the same time she'd be dealing with adapting to the palace--unlike Amoneth, she did not live in that environment her whole life. Caves, servants, formality, boy! You could have a lot of fun with that.

As for Amoneth, as I implied, this whole sequence was intially three chapters and it got some severe chopping into this one. There were two main things going on in it--Thranduil's management of the move now that it's actually happening and Amoneth's struggle to work things out. I felt like they both needed to be there. Everything can't be all peachy in this move--Thranduil can't make everyone happy. It's just not possible when you are dealing with circumstances like this. And the Amoneth/Aradunnon thing has to be worked out--they have a son in the next part and he has a role throughout the whole story--going to require a marriage! :) I tend to explain every little thing and my beta says--move it along. She won. She usually does. :)

Anyway, when cutting, since I am a sucker for characters over action, I decided to keep the parts with Amoneth and only imply the difficulties with the move. I think her main problem with understanding how to treat Thranduil is that she is young and she's had little responsibility--she was 100 when she came with Lindomiel to Greenwood. Lindomiel was raised running Amroth's household and stepped into running Thranduil's with the help of his mother. She's had responsibility her whole life and so she understands the whole package that comes with it. Amoneth has helped Lindomiel, but she has not had anything she was fully responsible for. She doesn't know how to lead so she doesn't understand how important it is to support people publicly and correct them privately, for example. I think struggling with managing a household of people who love and respect someone else--Lindomiel--would show Amoneth a lot that she doesn't understand about Thranduil. And Thranduil knows that as well.

I think Thranduil also knew Amoneth had to see Aradunnon (and possibly even Thranduil) in a different role to respect that role--she sees him around the breakfast table, not the council table. Time to see that difference, and she did.

Amoneth did her best at the feast with Fuinil and it wasn't too bad. Except for when she first opened her mouth, she thought about what she was saying. That's a big step for her. She's learning. At least she's trying to sort things out. She's thinking. That's the first step in learning.

And yes, the fact that Aradunnon needed a lesson was less obvious. But he did, and now he's received it. He seems to do a little better than Amoneth at learning faster from his lessons. So he will be helping her more. And that will only make her learning go better. They are on the right road.

BodkinReviewed Chapter: 13 on 12/5/2004
I was so happy to see this! A great Sunday afternoon read. Is Aradunnon a lot younger than Thranduil? Because he definitely seems to have some 'baby of the family' characteristics. I suppose it comes partly from being the 'spare' - younger princes really don't need to take life as seriously as the 'heir', but he really does still seem to need to have things pointed out to him in words of one syllable. Hopefully, now he knows that he needs to support Amoneth and work with her, they will both get on rather better with their whole maturing experience.

And Amoneth - glad as I am to see her being put through it, she is too scared of putting a foot wrong at the moment to learn as much as she could. Maybe now she has been praised for what she has done so far, she will be able to open up a bit to the information coming in from the sides. And the shock of having rebels expected her to leap in on their side will have done her good - she has ranged herself alongside the authorities now.

Shame Uncle Engwe can't be put through a bit of training. He is able to take advantage of being an elder and cause more trouble than he should. (Point Aradunnon towards his uncle and tell him - that could be you, if you don't learn to control yourself.)

Now I'm going to read it again.

Author Reply: Aradunnon is probably quite a bit too old to be this stupid about somethings, but many adults are that way--really successful in parts of their lives and really failures in others. Its your willingness to recognize your shortcomings and improve upon them that determines how you ultimately turn out as a whole person. He would be nearly 3000 here and Thranduil would be around 5000 given where I have chosen to put his birth (I say in the first part that he was forty when Elu Thingol was killed--you do the math, I'm terrible at it). :)Anyway, Aradunnon is quite old enough to know how to treat Amoneth better. He just isn't bright with women. As an adult, I think you could be good at your job (even one such as troop commander) good at supporting the family that you grew up with, but not so good at knowing how to manage your own family, the one you intend to start with a wife. That's his problem. He has improved, though--he's paying attention to her and not flirting. Now he needs to learn to listen to her and help her. I think they've got it, finally. They just need to keep working on it.

You are right on that Amoneth is currently too afraid to open her mouth. She has needed to see some praise so she can relax and see the lessons before her. Now maybe she will.

And Engwe is just a lost cause. A little too much Oropher/being the elder/remembering the bitterness of Beleriand. He would have to forget too much to change. But Thranduil has him under control--he's only annoying privately.

French PonyReviewed Chapter: 13 on 12/5/2004
Amoneth and Aradunnon really are two of a kind, aren't they? It occurs to me that one of the many things they have in common is that they're both mightily intimidated by Thranduil. Even as Aradunnon assures his fiancee that Thrandui won't bite, you know he's worried about those teeth as well. And Aradunnon has one more thing in common with big bro: They both appear to fall for women who won't call for guards. Some men like blondes, some like legs, some go for, I don't know, elbows or something, but these two seem to go for women with bravado.

The feast seems to have been a success. For Amoneth's next challenge, she should try planning out a vegan Passover seder. A feast with no meat, milk, fish, eggs (beyond the ritual ones, I guess; I've never understood how vegans deal with that), or leavening. Of course, now you've got me thinking about flourless desserts. My Sephardi cookbook has a large section of desserts based on fruit, nuts, eggs, and syrups. They tend to be extremely rich. For a party, I once made tishpishti, which is a Turkish walnut cake without flour for Passover. It absolutely swims in rose syrup, and when I took the dish home, my friend's whole car smelled like roses. Now I'm thinking that Amoneth has inspired me to try my hand at scodelline, which is a rich egg-and-almond cream.

Fuinil is bad news. If Amoneth were slightly more clever than she is, she might have pretended to go along with him and learned all about the plans and the secret fort (people like Fuinil always have secret forts) and gone running off to Thranduil at the best opportunity. But that kind of Nancy Drew work is well beyond her, and probably would even be well beyond Lindomiel, who's just too nice to think of doing something underhanded like that. Dieneryn could probably pull it off, though.

But I wonder about Fuinil. His name is familiar. I think he's cropped up before in this story, but it seems I remember him from somewhere in last story. I shall have to go check. And I do believe that we haven't heard from the Black Swan in a while. She's been biding her time quite patiently, and that's never a good sign.

Author Reply: Hi French Pony. You just kill me, you know. I am vegetarian (though not vegan and I do not make a fuss over it), and I have attended many a Passover seder because my best girlfriend as a child was Jewish. I just burst out laughing at that whole imagine you painted because I pictured her mama fussing over me. Believe me, its not a pretty picture and her father never approved of my presence at his table. Those Sephardic recipes are to die for, aren't they? My dissertation director wrote a lot on the Sephardic Jews in Spain because their language and lit is of tremendous historical value in the Spanish tradition. So he was very interested in all things Sephardic. He would invite us over to his house for feasts (literally--he was the most phenomenal cook) and we would just drool. I wrote this chapter after a re-enactment and the feast was great--thus the specific food references (I'm not that good at food--love eating it, don't want to eat my own). Now you've got me hankering.

Fuinil is bad news. He will appear again. Amoneth is definitely not so clever as to trick him into revealing the location of his secret fort. Ah, the Black Swan. I am going to try to keep my mouth shut about this part of the plot if for no other reason than I have not chosen its final course amongst the many possibilities and I don't want to box myself in yet by saying too much in a review. It is far too earlier for that.

Suffice to say that everyone could not possibly be happy with moving again or the danger in the forest. There are certain to be people that are bound to be resentful or angry or frightened--it is an entire society afterall. Those types of people would make Thranduil's life difficult by doing stupid things like accepting help from tricksy, self-centered Men and arguing over settlement sites. And listening to others who are equally bitter.

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