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Dreamflower's Mathoms I by Dreamflower	8 Review(s)
Queen Galadriel	Reviewed Chapter: 27 on 12/18/2005
Awww! What a sweet little story! I love little Pip, and poor Merry. You portray him so well. And that song...LOL! Very clever variation I must say, and it has the same effect! groan :-) I loved this so much! God bless, Galadriel Author Reply: I'm glad you liked this little bit of fluff. My challenge was that some part of the story had to take place in a waggon--and I just thought of a waggon load of little hobbits singing...it went from there. And I'm so glad to see these reviews for some of my older stories. Your review of this one gave me just the bunny I needed for another one of my 20_ring stories! Thank you very much!

Gryffinjack	Reviewed Chapter: 27 on 10/14/2005
I am so enjoying your stories of the four lads growing up! I am sorry though that Sam has to now start calling the others by their honourific titles. However, at least this now makes Pippin to join in on the springtime fun without being accompanied by his parents. What type of tonic does Pippin have to take? Is it like taking vitamins or something more serious? Bilbo really is a wonderful "uncle" to all of the young hobbits, isn't he? Yes, he spoils them, but he also keeps them in line and wouldn't let anything happen to them. So much for an old bachellor not being able to take care of children! Eglantine had nothing to worry about. A very hobbitty twist on the old "One Hundred Bottles of Beer on the Wall." That song is always very tiresome to adults, but frolicking fun to youngsters. It's not just in size that Pippin appears so much younger than Nibs, but also in the way he acts in comparison. I suppose this comes from being the youngest child with three older sisters in a family of gentlehobbits, plus Pippin's own cheery disposition. I wonder who was more afraid that Pippin might fall - Farmer Harfoot or Merry? The difference, of course, is in why each one was afraid, Harfoot only about himself being in trouble while Merry will never stop worrying about his Pippin-lad. Thank goodness Sam and Fatty Bolger were there to take charge of the situation since Merry was too paralyzed with fear for Pippin. Pippin is a beautifully open, trusting child. It never would have occurred to him that this farmer could be mean toward children or that he himself would not be able to climb so high in the tree without Frodo. He has so much faith in himself and in others. And with those beautiful green eyes and little mouth, well, I don't think anyone could refuse him anything he wanted. Although he may not realise it has an effect on others, he knows that he can use those green eyes and look in his face to his advantage when it comes to his family, including (or especially) Merry, Frodo, and Bilbo. You write these stories of the children so well, especially the way you are able to write them to reflect the various ages of childhood. Author Reply: What a lovely long review! And this is one of my own favorites, so the nice words are just making me grin like crazy! Sam is beginning to get old enough now to take on more responsibility as his father's helper, and that comes with having to be more formal. Something he probably expected sooner or later, and just had to get used to. But to Merry, it's putting a distance there, which has to make him feel a bit down. He understands why, but it doesn't really make sense to him either. Sam just accepts it. This tonic, I guess you could say, is sort of like vitamins--sort of a preventative measure, as Pippin is subject to colds which often take a turn for the worse with him. (I'm rather influenced by the "fanon" notion that Pip was a preemie, and so had weak lungs as a child. But for my Pip the Ent draught solves that problem when he's older.) You might want to check out the PippinHealer group story "Of Tea and Tonic". It's archived at SoA, and also on ff.net. Bilbo does tend to spoil them a bit, but he also takes good care of them as well. He certainly did not live up to fears from certain female relatives, at any rate. Yes, that's my hobbity version. Actually, hobbits probably would also like "One Hundred Bottles of Beer on the Wall" as well, LOL! But I wanted something of the same sort that would not jolt the readers into the modern world. You are right about the differences between Pippin and Nibs. True, Pippin does live on a farm as well, but as Farmer Cotton so wisely realizes, Paladin Took is not at all the same sort of farmer. Nibs has older brothers--their influence would definitely be more rough and tumble than Pippin's influence from his sisters, though Merry does his best to fill the lack of brothers. Also there is the matter that Pippin is also a bit spoiled because he was so frail as a baby. If you have read "A First Time for Everything" (which I don't recall if it's in my chronology or not, but it's in Twenty Rings) then you will know that takes place this same spring, shortly after this incident. Poor Merry! It's awful for a lad with a fear of heights to be afflicted with cousins who love to climb trees, LOL! You have perfectly nailed the Pippin I wanted to present at this age. He's still innocent of the effect he has on others, with his charm and his big green eyes. In a few years, though, he will begin to realize that he can use that charm to get his own way. But he never quite loses that faith in people, and the desire to see the good in them. I am so glad that you like the way I present them. I do try very hard to keep the different maturity they each have,in mind.

Larner	Reviewed Chapter: 27 on 4/22/2005
Oh, I truly, truly love this one. Good ol' Pippin of the guileless green eyes! Lovely tale! Author Reply: Thank you! At that age, those eyes truly were "guileless"; as he got older he started to realize what those eyes could do, LOL! I'm glad you liked it; it really didn't have a lot of plot, but I thought it would be fun to see what it was like for hobbit lads with a free afternoon of play.

pipinheart	Reviewed Chapter: 27 on 3/18/2005
Lovely story..From begining to end... Nobody even that old grochy farmer can resist Pippin when he smiles with those big green eyes... Nice read.. Author Reply: That's our Took, irresistable! 8-D

GamgeeFest	Reviewed Chapter: 27 on 3/15/2005
LOL, I love the apple pie song! Did you make that up? So typical of kids. And how adorable is little Pippin, even getting that old farmer to smile. A fun story all around. Oh, and the Cottons live in a house, not a smial. :) Author Reply: Yep, it's an original; I wanted something that would be the Shire equivalent of "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall", LOL! Wee!Pip is so adorable, especially when he's all hyper and earnest at the same time, grin. Only Bankses and Sackville-Bagginses and Hyacinth are immune to his charm. Went and checked. Yup. You're right. I'll have to fix that. Thanks for the heads up! Author Reply: Finally got a chance to go in and fix that small mistake! Thanks again!

Bodkin	Reviewed Chapter: 27 on 3/15/2005
Has Farmer Cotton thought about suggesting that they can a) stop singing or b) walk home? Only Pippin, you could say. Only Pippin could approach the old curmudgeon as if he was his best friend. Only Pippin could leap up the tree so coolly. And, of course, only Pippin is the son of Paladin Took the gentlehobbit-farmer. Yet more proof, if Sam needed it, of the importance of social class and the need for propriety. Author Reply: snickersnort* I think that's one of those things parents complain about, but put up with for some unaccountable reason. Perhaps because they remember inflicting those kinds of songs on their parents, or because it gives them something harmless to complain about. Or maybe it doesn't really bother them as much as they think it does? Yep. Only Pippin. 8-D Of course, the farmer didn't know Pip was a Took when he let him scramble up the tree. And you will notice that Sam took a sort of proud glee in informing the old coot of the fact--he's already aware of that importance, and what it will do to set the old fellow down a peg.

Kitty	Reviewed Chapter: 27 on 3/14/2005
Somehow I am glad I hadn't to watch Pippin as a child. It must have been quite exhausting, although he was a cute lad and quite irrestible, I assume. After all he charmed the old farmer into smiling instead of scolding. Had to grin about the Gaffer and his 'proper' adressing of Merry and Pippin. It reminds me so of Sams week without saying this word in 'Reckoning'. Since I have read this, the word makes me smile wherever I see it, remembering this part of the story. Author Reply: I'm sure it was exhausting, though to be fair a lot of what he does in this story is Bilbo's fault--after all, Eglantine did warn him about the sweets. But Bilbo can afford to spoil Pippin, because when he gets to be a handful, he just turns him over to Frodo and/or Merry. And he is charmingly irresistable--he just likes everybody and expects everybody to like him. Works on everybody, too, except for Bankses and Sackville-Bagginses. In my Shire, Sam and Merry were springtime playmates from the time Sam was nine and Merry was seven. At first, when they were so young, it didn't matter that he just said "Merry", but now that he is old enough to be working with his father full-time, the Gaffer thinks it is time for the honorifics to be used. And I am sure he had it drilled into him.

Lindelea	Reviewed Chapter: 27 on 3/14/2005
Laughing in delight! The entire story was wonderful, but somehow for me this was the capper: “I hope he doesn’t fall and break something,” said Folco cheerfully. “It’s an awful long way up there. I wonder how he does that?” chortle! And then that Freddy came forward, saying, "I was a bounder too..." So very practical! What an enjoyable tale! And now I'm ready to get back to the demands of Real Life. Author Reply: I'm so glad I made you laugh! That's always nice to hear! My Folco is so cheerfully clueless and socially inept. I do miss him. Well, Freddy had to be the practical one, since Merry was petrified. Real Life? Oh, the errands and the laundry and the housework and stuff...riiiight. (me too)

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