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| Elf Academy 3: The Enemy Within by Fiondil | 19 Review(s) |
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| Kitty | Reviewed Chapter: 79 on 11/14/2014 |
| Oh man, and I thought it was bad trying to find a day to meet with three friends! That's quite an unlucky point in time to get married from a mortal point of view, and with all their mortal friends attending that would indeed be a problem. Poor Serindë, having all her plans messed up was a bit much. Good idea to go and talk to Ron, he's such a sensible one and it's clear how much everyone appreciates his advice. It really shouldn't be so hard to wait a few more weeks. What's that to an immortal Elf, after all? Loved it when Elrohir went into healer mode and sent Amroth to bed. Sounds like he really needs it, too. Author Reply: And if this is the worse that happens with respect with the wedding, I'd say they are getting off very easily. LOL! At any rate, problem solved and hopefully Amroth will follow doctor's orders. Can't have him fainting away now. Thanks for reading and reviewing, Kitty. | |
| FV_Whisper | Reviewed Chapter: 79 on 10/8/2014 |
| Well, let's try to catch up on some chapters... It;s funny, when Ash Wednesday was mentioned several chapters back, I had the random thought the wedding might be pretty close around Easter. Guess I was right! (Last year's Easter dates are still somewhat in my mind, due to some less fortunate events during that period. It's kinda weird reading about others now going through the period, even though it's fictional characters lol! ) It's a good thing the Elves are taking the Holy days into account, not just for the sake of their mortal friends, but also to show that they feel not above these things. Marrying on a Tuesday was a nice running gag, but let me give you a twist on it! Yes, I actually know someone who must have married on a Tuesday, and have seen quite a few couples getting married on a Tuesday at the city hall. Because Tuesday is the day the city does not charge a fee for getting married! (Hence why my acquaintance must have gotten married on it Tuesday, I know for fact it was a free one). I guess that does say something about Tuesday being a less popular day for such a thing in general. Nimrodel seems to be thriving. Did she have her ultrasound yet? Now for the mystery that Amroth is up too...Amroth can be really closed when he wants too. Author Reply: Hi FV_Whisper. When I originally had Elrohir announce the date of the wedding, I only knew it was a Friday without realizing at the time that it was Good Friday. Once I learned of it, then I knew this chapter had to be written. That's interesting about Tuesday weddings being free-of-charge at the city hall. You have to wonder why Tuesdays. At any rate, we will have news of the ultrasound soon enough, though we may never know what Amroth is up to. Ellon is cagey about such things, but as long as it keeps him happy and out of Della's hair, no one cares. *grin* Thanks for reviewing. I appreciate it. | |
| Laer | Reviewed Chapter: 79 on 10/6/2014 |
| I kind of feel bad for them having to make all these last minute changes; but it is nice that they are thinking of mortal holidays. Mortals don't always remember to take that into account. ;) Author Reply: You're right about that, Laer. And I think the later date will work out better for them. If nothing else, it'll be warmer and more spring-like. Thanks for reading and reviewing. It's much appreciated. | |
| obsidianj | Reviewed Chapter: 79 on 10/4/2014 |
| May the fourth be with you! LOL! That was too funny and perfect for this chapter. Oh, the joys of planning a wedding. Good Friday is definitely a day you want to get married in such a small and close knit community as Wiseman. I don't quite get what is so wrong about May 1st. It is a holiday in several countries and a Tuesday is not the end of the world. How many friends from out-of-town do they have that would have to travel far? Saturday weddings are mostly for the convenience of people who have to travel far. But as Ron said, it is Elrohir and Serinde's wedding and they should do as they see fit. Author Reply: Hi obsidianj. It's true that other than the ap Hywels in Fairbanks and their parents flying in from Wales, anyone else attending the wedding would be living in Wiseman, but I think for Serindë it just seems odd to be married on a Tuesday. And while May 1 is a holiday in many countries, it isn't in America. It's just another working day if it happens to land in the middle of the week. At any rate, I think they've settled for the first Saturday of May. Thanks for reviewing. I appreciate it. | |
| Dreamflower | Reviewed Chapter: 79 on 10/3/2014 |
| What's so awful about Tuesday? May1 would have been a great date, with personal significance to Elrohir (being the date of his foster-brother's coronation--not to mention the date of Sam and Rosie's wedding, though not so important to Elrohir). But these days weddings almost always take place on a weekend for very practical reasons. Author Reply: There's nothing awful about Tuesday or being married on it and I'm sure many people have been. It's just that in our culture the expected wedding day is usually either Saturday or Sunday, sometimes Friday evening. And May 1 in our calendar isn't really May 1 in Middle-earth. According to Tolkien, there's a 10-day difference between our present calendar and that used by the Hobbits, for instance. At any rate, as Glorfindel points out, symbols can get in the way of the truth, and the truth is that they would be married regardless of the day. Thanks, Dreamflower. | |
| Sunny | Reviewed Chapter: 79 on 10/2/2014 |
| Hehehe. I've had a look at the other reviews, and the consensus seems to be that you have cleared the calendar for the Bad Guys to really strut their stuff. So - where are we now? End of February or beginning of March? That means about 2 months until The Wedding. I can see it now: *Bad Guys, in a strategic huddle: "OK, folks we have a deadline here. We have 2 months to drive these people bonkers, in which case the Götterdämmerung is probably going to start right then. If we don't achieve this goal, we have to give our adversaries time to do a bit of celebrating (which should include at least one honeymoon) before we go at them again. (Unless our own side offs us for not living down to expctations.)"* Author Reply: Hi Sunny. Yes, it's the last day of February, so about 2 months until the wedding. Whether we see the Bad Guys planning dastardly deeds or not remains to be seen, but there will be (hopefully) surprises along the way leading up to the wedding and then afterwards. We'll just have to see. And have you ever noticed that when some Bad Guy's flunkies fail an assignment, usually through not fault of their own, they get offed? You would think the Bad Guy would run out of flunkies after awhile. Whereas if a Good Guy's flunkies mess up, they're usually given a lollipop or a stiff drink and told that all's forgiven because everyone makes mistakes and tomorrow's another day, blah, blah, blah. The Bad Guy's flunky just gets offed; the Good Guy's flunky wishes he would. LOL! | |
| Tari | Reviewed Chapter: 79 on 10/1/2014 |
| May the fourth be with you? LOL. You are too much. Author Reply: Thanks, Tari. I'm glad you found the chapter and the ending amusing. | |
| SashaHoneypalm | Reviewed Chapter: 79 on 9/30/2014 |
| Not technically related to this specific chapter, but: BREAKING NEWS! Unearthly glow-in-the-dark Elves are really a real thing! Well, sort of. There was a fascinating article in today's Science Times about weird weather thingies called lightning sprites, and related phenomena such as "Luminous regions, called elves, that span hundreds of miles at the base of the ionosphere, some 55 miles above the earth". Wikipedia says "ELVES is a whimsical acronym for Emissions of Light and Very Low Frequency Perturbations due to Electromagnetic Pulse Sources", but since there are also lightning "trolls", "gnomes", and "pixies", I think it was intentional. I still think your (and Tolkien's) Elves are cooler, but it's a tight race. Author Reply: Hi Sasha. That's very interesting. I never knew that, even about lightning "trolls", "gnomes" and "pixies", so I think it's only appropriate that "elves" be associated with such a phenomenon. Anyway, I'm glad you think Tolkien's and my Elves are cooler. Thanks for sharing. | |
| Kevana | Reviewed Chapter: 79 on 9/30/2014 |
| Nice to see a discussion on the Academy and how it's going. I was wondering how they were managing with such a spike in growth, and not that many teachers. Do they have any mortals helping with the classes or is it all Elves? I could imagine that would be stressful. Oh my goodness, Sarah, bless your heart, honey! I think the big reason most weddings are centered around the weekend is so it's easier for the guests to attend without missing too much work, so in Aman I imagine that wouldn't be an issue. And I had a good laugh at Finrod raising his hand after the couple had gone through all of that, and suddenly a Tuesday is a good day. LOL! It's always amusing seeing these powerful, brilliant Elves getting caught up in mortal red tape. Poor things. But maybe some unexpected good will come from them moving the date. I love how you incorporated the actual calendar into the story like this. I am always amazed at how much research you do in writing these stories. May the fourth be with you as well! I cracked up at that one. Well, I was reading these chapters at a rest stop while taking a break from driving. I have finagled myself a week of vacation (!!! MIRACLES DO HAPPEN) and am on the way to Kill Devil Hills on the OBX. Have a great week and thanks for the wonderful chapters! -Kevana Author Reply: Hi Kevana. At the moment only the Elves are teaching things like Sindarin and Elvish history and there are more than enough of them to cover those classes without stressing anyone out. Mortals can and do teach the other classes like the winter survival class and nature studies class and so forth, so it's a joint enterprise. I'm sure weddings occur on all days of the week. Think of those people who get married on their lunch breaks before a justice of the peace, but it's true that most weddings take place on the weekend because most people are not working then. Whether there is any unexpected good that comes from them moving the wedding date remains to be seen. Originally, when I wrote Elf Academy 1 I didn't specify any particular year and didn't use any particular calendar, but when I came to write Elf Academy 2 in 2011 I decided, since the first story had taken place in 2009 because that's when it was posted, so the second story would take place two years later. We never see their first year running the Academy; we only learn of it in retrospect as they are gearing up for their second year where Alex shows up. After that, I just continued keeping old calendars to help keep track of things. Anyway, have a great week off. Thanks for taking the time to read and review. It's much appreciated. | |
| bookworm | Reviewed Chapter: 79 on 9/30/2014 |
| "May the fourth" *WHEEZING LAUGHTER* Author Reply: Just couldn't resist, bookworm. *grin* | |