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Dreamflower's Mathoms I by Dreamflower	10 Review(s)
GamgeeFest	Reviewed Chapter: 91 on 2/4/2008
I’m still catching up on these. I like the tone of this one, Pippin’s restless thoughts as his brain kicks into overdrive when he’s supposed to be sleeping. I’ve known many sleepless nights like this myself, but none under such dire conditions. Poor Pippin, thinking himself useless and a burden, thinking it better that he had died. When the war is over and he at last hears the full story, he’ll understand what a crucial role he played, yes, even in getting captured by orcs. But for now, he’ll have many more long and weary nights ahead of him. Author Reply: Indeed, his mind is working overtime, and making it worse is the Shadow looming over the City, being completely seperated for the first time from every other being of his kind, and filled with guilt for the palantir. A very long night for sure, and not the last one, poor hobbit.

Anso the Hobbit	Reviewed Chapter: 91 on 2/20/2006
Poor Pippin! That is a lot of worries and troubles to have in one night, but also some good memories, despite the yelling from Paladin and argument with Merry. He is wise our Took. :) Author Reply: Yes, at this point in time, without his Merry, all Pippin can do is think and worry, and worry and think, poor lad. And, yes, in spite of it all, he is very wise.

Kitty	Reviewed Chapter: 91 on 2/6/2006
You’ve captured Pippin’s feelings in this difficult situation very well – his despair about his mistakes, his feeling of being useless, his shock how Denethor treated his younger son. In this state of mind, Faramir’s injury and Denethor’s death must have been even nastier than they were already. And then to come home and to have all the problems with his own father ... poor Pippin. No wonder he was so much more matured than one would have expected considering his true age. Author Reply: Yes, poor Pippin--this is one difficult time for him. Alone, ashamed, afraid--very hard for him. I know that his mind had to be in complete turmoil.

Larner	Reviewed Chapter: 91 on 2/5/2006
I love the current situation so interspersed with the flashbacks. A superbly done story, Dreamflower. Author Reply: Thank you. When I looked at the Tale of Years, I realized that the night of the 10th and into the wee hours of the 11th would have been very hard for Pippin. I am quite sure that his mind would have been churning, and old memories surfacing, amid the turmoil of his troubled spirit.

Bodkin	Reviewed Chapter: 91 on 2/4/2006
Poor Pippin. Not designed by nature - or experience - to be alone. I like his horror at the way Denethor behaves towards his second son. I can't imagine anything more likely to turn him into a fierce defender of Boromir's little brother. And it'll get worse before it gets better. But I'm glad to know that it will get better. Author Reply: No, he's definitely not designed to be alone. He, more than any of the others, needs other hobbits at his side. Hobbits are so family oriented, and we know from what JRRT says, that their children are cherished and indulged and protected. The idea that a parent could show such harsh favoritism would just be beyond alien to Pippin. And knowing how dearly Boromir loved his brother, it would definitely have put him squarely in Faramir's camp. I actually know of a person whose brother was killed in an accident, and whose mother never ceased to tell her that she wished it had been her killed instead. This happened when she was a young teen, and yet when she passed on in her late seventies, her mother's cruelty still haunted her. You are right though, for Pippin it will get better, though it's hard for him to see that at this point in time.

Andrea	Reviewed Chapter: 91 on 2/3/2006
But he couldn't silence the tiny voice in the back of his head, that said--"At least you'd be together. Now you'll probably both die, hundreds of leagues apart--no comfort there." Oh, I know that tiny voice! It keeps on bothering until your thoughts begin to circle around one thought: "It's all your fault!" You have just to see it from a different point of view to know that it's simply not true! Poor Pippin, he really needed some comfort that night, but he dared not to ask Gandalf. Though, I'm quite sure he would have given it gladly! Author Reply: Oh, I know that tiny voice! It keeps on bothering until your thoughts begin to circle around one thought: "It's all your fault!" Exactly. Just that exactly. But you are right of course, that this is far too big for it to be any one person's fault--Pippin just can't see that right now. And yes, if he had asked Gandalf would probably have done just that--but since Pippin feels guilty about taking the palantir from him, he really does not dare ask.

harrowcat	Reviewed Chapter: 91 on 2/3/2006
Wow! Now that was a night full of angst. I kept wanting Gandalf to intervene. I think Pippin is finding out the truth of Gimli's words at the departure of the Fellowship 'Sworn word may strengthen quaking heart.' Author Reply: I know. I think if Pippin had spoken to Gandalf, he would have been comforted. But he's trying so hard to be grown up and cope on his own, and still a bit ashamed of himself over the palantir, so he wasn't about to ask. You've made a good point. When it came to helping Frodo, or taking care of Merry, Pippin needed no oath to strengthen his resolve. But here in this strange place where he knows no one save Gandalf, an oath is probably a good deal of comfort to him, to realize he has a duty to perform.

Pearl Took	Reviewed Chapter: 91 on 2/2/2006
i'm nearly speechless. This is wonderfully insightful, Dreamflower. Pippin would not - could not - understand Denethor until later when he would see a palantir in the mad Man's hands. Author Reply: Yes, he'd know then just what tipped the Steward over the edge, none better. Yet he, an inexperienced, young and small hobbit, managed to resist the Dark Lord's pressures, while Denethor pridefully and deliberately courted disaster over and over...

Maid of Ithilien	Reviewed Chapter: 91 on 2/2/2006
Very evocative story! I especially admired the flashback when Merry and Pippin discussed going with Frodo and the talk about Frodo "keeping secrets". Every detail was just right. And Pippin's sleepless tossing and turning -- excellent writing! Author Reply: Thank you very much! Poor Pippin, this was a very trying time for him, and I think his mind must have been in turmoil! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Queen Galadriel	Reviewed Chapter: 91 on 2/2/2006
Oh, poor, dear, sweet Pip! wipes eyes To be all alone in that stone city, in the service of a man who is less than admirable and horribly crafty, to be awake in the night, wanting nothing more than the comfort of one who loved him, and finding no solace, no loving arms. It ought to have been obvious from the book, but I never realised how that must have felt until now. I wish Gandalf could have comforted him. I don't think he would have been angry. Very poignant and not unlike a few of my own experiences. Thank you for driving this home. God bless, Galadriel Author Reply: Gandalf and Pippin arrived in Minas Tirith on the ninth. Faramir showed up the next day, the tenth, and after making his report, was sent back out the following morning, the eleventh. The night before is the one I showed--Pippin was witness to some things that just broke his heart. And what with worry over Merry, Frodo and Sam, guilt and shame over the palantir, fear of the coming War, and sheer loneliness from being the only hobbit there, it's a wonder he got any sleep at all. I think Gandalf would have comforted him, if he had sought comfort that night, but Pippin's still feeling too ashamed of his actions to do so. And Pippin had several more nights like that--or worse--before Merry arrived with the Rohirrim, and he had a new worry altogether.

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