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Dreamflower's Mathoms I by Dreamflower	10 Review(s)
Kaylee Arafinwiel	Reviewed Chapter: 86 on 10/26/2011
It seems an enjoyable First Yule was had by all! grin I love all the song title references!! Kaylee Author Reply: It was certainly a fun challenge to see how many songs I could fit in and still have it sound kind of natural!

Queen Galadriel	Reviewed Chapter: 86 on 4/25/2006
Oh, how lovely! I love your Yule stories! And very clever to slip those titles in there as you did. :) God bless, Galadriel Author Reply: I had a blast with this one! It was fun seeing how many I could get in without sounding forced! I love that sort of challenge!

Larner	Reviewed Chapter: 86 on 1/10/2006
Lovely working all those titles into the story, Dreamflower. And I can see Frodo and Sara, thinking of how Frodo reminds them of his lost mother.... Author Reply: I had a good time with the titles. I was very pleased with GW's challenge. Frodo, of course, misses his parents the most and was the most affected by their loss. But I think that Primula and Drogo were much beloved among their extended family, and I am sure that Frodo's resemblance to his mother would have given those who loved her a sharp pang from time to time.

Anso the Hobbit	Reviewed Chapter: 86 on 1/6/2006
I did review this on LJ, didn't I? Anyway, I love it and I recognise several of the songs too. :D

Pearl Took	Reviewed Chapter: 86 on 1/4/2006
Had to use song and carol titles, eh? Hehehehe Well done, a warm and cheery story of the season :) Author Reply: Yes. Grey Wonderer really came up with a fun challenge--she only required one, but I took it and ran with it, to see how many I could fit in, LOL!

Gryffinjack	Reviewed Chapter: 86 on 1/2/2006
I reviewed on your lj as well, but wanted to post here so everyone for those who look at reviews to help decide whether or not to read a story. The review is mostly the same, with very little added. This was a lovely picture of the Yule celebration at Brandy Hall! I especially enjoy seeing the earlier stories, such as this one, where Frodo is happy, surrounded by all of his loved ones, and does not have the weight of the whole world on his shoulders. He is such a gentle soul and so richly deserves happiness. Even back then, Merry was such a Merry, so stubborn and organised that all of his meals had to be out of his pony bowl. It's a good thing Frodo knows how to get around him! lol! One of the things I like about your stories is how you populate them with the various aunts, uncles, and cousins found in canon. Not only do their names pop up, but they evolve and become full fledged characters with personalities and stories of their own. And your attention to detail is exquisite! All of those tiny little details about the bowl, the hearth, the Yule log, oh! and Frodo's new clothes! That was such a moving moment between Saradoc and Frodo. "Bilbo smiled indulgently, and pointed with his chin at Frodo, who had lifted Merry up to hang a ball of mistletoe. Merry’s eyes were wide with alarm at being up so high, but there was a set of determination to his chin as he hooked the ribbon over the nail above the doorframe. “I did it, Fro!” he gasped. “Let me down now!” “Good job, Merry!” Frodo said proudly, giving his small cousin a hug." ... "The room was chill, for there was as yet no fire lit. All gathered about the huge fireplace, wide enough for a grown hobbit to stand in, though as Frodo had reason to know, with a chimney nowhere near wide enough for a teen to climb up." LOL! I love when you include elements of some of your other stories! Merry being afraid of heights ... Frodo stuck in the chimney! I'm so glad "your Shire" is all interwoven between all of your stories! "The little family spent awhile in quiet activity in the small sitting room, with a treat of chestnuts roasting on an open fire, while Bilbo sat with Merry on his lap, Frodo sat on the floor in front of his beloved older cousin, leaning against his knee. Saradoc and Esmeralda sat on the settee, and all listened to Frodo read from the new book that had been his gift from the new book that had been his gift from Bilbo. It was a long and complicated poem about a mariner, and the lilting words soon put Merry to sleep. When Frodo finished reading, he carefully took his little cousin in his arms, and carried him to his room and put him on the bed. “I think I shall take a little nap myself,” he thought, and next to Merry’s warm little body, he drifted off to the sounds of the adults’ quiet conversation." Wow. This was quite a lesson in brevity for me. You had more impact in one paragraph about this type of subject than I did in many, many paragraphs about a similar circumstance. You truly are a master at it! This was a pure delight to read! Author Reply: I'm so very glad you posted here, for right now my LJ friends page is a bear to navigate. sigh I may have to unfriend a particular community, as it makes finding my regular friends and previous entries difficult. I truly think, that except for those times of year when his depression hit him hardest, Frodo was generally a happy child. Once Merry was born, to anchor him and give him someone to hold on to, he was able for the most part to put his melancholy aside. It was never completely gone, but at times like this, when he had both Merry and Bilbo, he must have been truly joyful. Little children, especially only or youngest children, can sometimes be a little obsessive about their things. I've seen it before. But of course, Frodo knew just the thing to say that would spare Merry a scolding from his father, LOL! I'm glad you like the details. Those things are what I find to be the most fun to write, to imagine all the little things that would have made life in the Shire such a special joy. I am glad that you liked the moment with Saradoc and Frodo. I think that Frodo was not the only one who missed Primula and Drogo. I really could not leave out these things. Once I have come up with them, then I see them there, and they are a part of it all. Of course, since my stories are not all in order, there are some omissions, as you have discovered. blushes I am so glad that you liked that paragraph. I think that showing hobbits in cozy domesticity is one of my favorite things. And I am very happy to have delighted you. grin

Bodkin	Reviewed Chapter: 86 on 1/2/2006
Merry poked with a doubtful finger at the sausage on his plate, as though it might taste differently if it were not served on his own plate. Oh yes. I recognise this scenario only too well! Good management skills from Frodo, though! And good management skills on the part of whoever decided how to keep the youngsters busy and out of the way until everything was ready. Buckland Yule sounds a good time - and the only reason Merry has any interest in the dancing is because he's too young to stay! Storytelling is much more fun. A good day had by all. Author Reply: Merry's reaction to not having his own plate really struck a chord with readers. But as you note, it is a scenario only too common at that age, especially among only or youngest children. Frodo knows Merry as well or better than his parents, and the threat of having his sausage eaten by someone else was far more effective than a scolding from his da. And the children helping with the greenery is a long-cherished Brandy Hall tradition--probably thought up for the very reason you state, LOL! Oh, I think that next year, Merry might enjoy some of the dances. My hobbits do a lot of circle and set dances that are almost like games, and any of the children who are old enough to learn the steps are welcome to join in. The more sedate and couple dances, however, probably would bore him. But those are later in the evening, so still plenty of time for him to join the story telling after all. When I first began dancing in SCA revels, one of my favorite partners was eleven. He'd already been dancing for a few years when I came to know him, and his younger sister and brother usually joined in as well.

Grey Wonderer	Reviewed Chapter: 86 on 1/2/2006
Came over to look for new postings and just had to read it again. You really were so very clever with this one and I do enjoy the story. Author Reply: Thank you for stopping by! I am so glad you enjoyed it enough to re-read it here!

Marigold	Reviewed Chapter: 86 on 1/1/2006
Oh, this is just lovely and hobbity! I love so many things about this story; Merry and his plate with the ponies, Frodo looking like Primula, all of the preperations, the way that everyone had their tasks and enjoyed working and being together as a family...just great! And I loved the mention of Grey Wonderer's Grubbs and Mr Grubb being up on the roof withour a ladder, lol! Great story, thank you! Author Reply: Thank you, dear! "Hobbity" is high praise indeed from you, for I know how high your standards are for hobbitiness. Merry's plate has been mentioned before; I figure it's one of those little things a small child, especially an only child, can get a wee bit obsessive over, LOL! "My" Frodo is a good deal like his mother in looks, so I am sure that it strikes her other relatives from time to time. Since GW had given me such a delightful challenge, I thought a little tribute was in order, and "up on the house-top" seemed tailor made for just that! And "Concening Ladders" is one of my favorites among her stories.

Baggins Babe	Reviewed Chapter: 86 on 1/1/2006
What a fabulous description of Yule at Brandy Hall! I felt as though I was there. I love all those old Yule traditions and it was lovely to have them here - and a little bit of magic from Gandalf, just to add to the delights. I particularly enjoyed the fact that Frodo is happy and having fun. I know some people like to think that Frodo's life at Brandy Hall was unrelieved misery but I don't believe it. He was far too close to Merry for that - I don't think there would have been that bond between them if his time at Brandy Hall held terribly unhappy associations. Thank you for a beautiful tale, Dreamflower. Happy New Year. Author Reply: Yes, I try to make the traditions hobbity--the greenery, feasting, gifts and music are a given. But I try to leave out anything that would make it seem like an imitation Christmas, for really, with all the similarities, they are not, of course the same holiday at all. "My" Frodo is happy most of the time at Brandy Hall. But in the spring, near the anniversary of his parents' deaths, he becomes very seriously depressed, even suicidal at times. This is the reason that Saradoc and Esmeralda send him away to Bag End to visit every spring. Once he is away from the reminders, he cheers up a lot. And the rest of the year, with Merry to distract him, he is mostly very happy. He knows he is loved by Saradoc and Esmeralda, though he can't quite make himsself believe they love him as much as his parents did, and he does love them as well, and of course, there is the mutual adoration between him and his little Merry. And Yule is an especially happy time for him because then he has both Bilbo and Merry to keep him company! But of course, it's not Brandy Hall that makes him unhappy from time to time, but the Brandywine River is another matter...

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