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It Takes a Took by Dreamflower	7 Review(s)
PIppinfan1988	Reviewed Chapter: 24 on 11/14/2005
"Diamond shook her head. “I am fine. You lads are not going to use me for an excuse to get out of this.” Go, Diamond! She doesn't take any of his/their nonsense! I really like her! Oh, I get such a tickle out of watching Tina play Rosamunda like a piano. Rosamuda is no fool (sometimes), but I love how Eglantine is the ringleader of hers, Pippin's, and Merry's conspiracy. Speaking of which--I really enjoyed your rendition of the pre-Conspiracy days. Merry lurking in the study while Bilbo and Frodo went to the Stationer's. Merry did remark just before Pippin stole away the palantir, "No Took ever beat a Brandybuck for inquisitiveness!" He sure did prove it when he formed his Conspiracy! Pippinfan Author Reply: No, she doesn't. And she has three reasons for wanting to continue hearing the tale: first of all, her concern for Pippin personally, second of all her worry about him as a healer, and third, her Tookish curiousity. Tina does know Rosamunda's weaknesses. And to be fair, Rosamunda knows her own weaknesses as well, and chooses to give in to them. After all--it's not every day you get to meet such a talented dressmaker... Yes, Merry did indeed prove his inquisitiveness on that score, LOL!

Auntiemeesh	Reviewed Chapter: 24 on 12/22/2004
I'm finally getting caught up on some of my reading! I do love this story. It is so hard to see Frodo slowly declining as he is, and even sadder to see how it affects Merry and Pippin. I'm looking forward to seeing how Diamond and Estella react to Merry and Pippin's story. Author Reply: I'm so glad you like the story. It is supposed to be mainly a Pippin/Diamond story, but you will notice that I can't keep away from the others, even so. I do so love them all together! Frodo is coming down to his final decline, when he has the anniversary of his wounding by Shelob and his captivity in Cirith Ungol just before Elanor is born. It is then that he makes up his mind finally, to accept Arwen's gift of passage, according to JRRT. Merry and Pippin will be left to grieve for him, and it is sad to know that it has to come to that. Diamond and Estella are going to have a lot to think about when the lads have finished their tale.

pipspebble	Reviewed Chapter: 24 on 12/21/2004
I love how you have Merry gleaning support from Pippin in his telling Estella of their ordeal. And that bossy old Rosamunda! Poor Merry! Does he know what he's in for, having her for an in-law? Wonderful story, still! Author Reply: Merry needs a bit of encouragement to get through this again, and Pippin needed to tell Diamond, as well, so it only made sense. chuckleI think he knows, but he's crazy enough about Estella to put up with her. It shouldn't be quite so bad once they are married and living in Buckland, as Estella is not too fond of Buckland. (Though you will notice that if the Thain and his Lady are going to be there she is more than willing to put up with it)

pipinheart	Reviewed Chapter: 24 on 12/21/2004
Really nice! Merry and Pippin finally get to tell thier story... It begings farther back than I would have guessed. They got estella's mother away so they could all,talk.... Going very well, please update soon... Author Reply: I really wanted to address the fact that Merry had been basically watching and planning for Frodo's departure for seventeen years! The conspiracy, at least in his mind, began with Bilbo's departure--Merry was 19, which in our years meant he was only about 12 years old in hobbit years. Yet even then he was wanting to keep track of his cousin! It is a very large piece in the puzzle of Merry's personality. But I also felt that Merry would start out there as a way of kind of avoiding the actual journey--just a way of delaying the darker things he didn't want to talk about a little bit longer. Yes, getting Rosamunda out of the way was essential. ;-)

Bodkin	Reviewed Chapter: 24 on 12/20/2004
I just love the way they all deal with Rosamunda. So subtle. So adept. So effective. And she doesn't even realised she's being managed. It is going to take Merry and Pippin quite a while to tell this story, though, especially if they are going to go into detail. They'll never get through it in one go. Author Reply: Rosamunda is based on a couple of people I know, who are intelligent enough, but whose priorities are very shallow and materialistic. They seldom suspect anyone of deeper motives, because their own motives are so obvious: money, status and being "in" with the right people. She does love Estella and Freddy, but she can never really understand them. I did not really expect that they would--I think they did, but once they get started, they will find themselves saying more than they meant to. Telling it together, while giving one another emotional support on the one hand, on the other is going to also make it a bit more harrowing. What one wants to skimp or gloss over, the other will not. But by the time they do finish, Estella and Diamond will have a much greater understanding of the hobbits they love.

GamgeeFest	Reviewed Chapter: 24 on 12/19/2004
Oh yeah, they finally started telling the story. I wonder how much of it we'll get to hear. Interesting that Rosamunda trusts Merry more than her own daughter but good ole Tina to give the kids, though technically Merry and Estella aren't kids, some privacy. Poor Diamond though, she just barely gets over being ill to have this landed on her. I hope it's not too overwhelming for her. Author Reply: I don't want to go into a complete re-hash of the entire Quest; I will probably hit the highlights, and dwell more on their emotional reactions to what they are telling than to the actual events themselves. Tina has more than one ace up her sleeve as far as Rosamunda is concerned. Diamond's pretty tough. And this is something she wants to know, not only because of her attraction to Pippin, but also because of her need as a healer to understand his pain, and her need as a North-Took to have her curiousity assuaged.

SharonB	Reviewed Chapter: 24 on 12/19/2004
Ah yes, Diamond gets to hear it all too. I imagine she may have a bit more understanding than Estella at what some of the events really mean to the boys. Her medical training will help her undestand those problems more so. But at the rate Merry and Pip are going it will take a lot longer than one afternoon to get the full story out. Author Reply: Diamond is going to understand a lot more, probably than Estella will about some things. And Estella, having known all of them from childhood, will probably understand more than Diamond on others. They are dragging the preliminaries out--perhaps in a vain hope of delaying the worst of it. And it probably will take more than one day.

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