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To Rescue a Damsel  by Lindelea 1 Review(s)
LeithianReviewed Chapter: 17 on 3/1/2025
'𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘺𝘦𝘵,' 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘲𝘶𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘍𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘪 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘌𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘢𝘯.

Our Strider, a ruffian? Oh, there must be a backstory to this. Or does he consider all Men as ruffians? I can understand that.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮-𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦, 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳. '𝘔𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘚𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴,' 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯. '𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶.'

Poor Sandy. That must've been awkward lol.

This chapter was so sweet, I loved it. But are you sure you didn't add some sugar and chocolate to the batter?

Thanks for the reading list. Yes now I have enough to occupy me for some time. Oh, and dear Lindelea, I haven't any discipline either. I click on a title thinking that I'll read only a couple of chapters or so and then don't stop till the end.

Author Reply: LOL, Sandy is very professional and discreet! He understands how difficult it is for people in such positions to find private moments. They're surrounded by servants not because they seek to be served or because they inherited wealth but because servants free up their time to deal with all the demands they face in trying to watch over a multitude of others and do what's best for everyone. Therefore, he fiercely guards their privacy, in part because he loves them like family and in part because he knows they're giving their all for the good of Shire-folk.

It's always fun to catch a glimpse into these playful moments. (grin) I usually aim to write such scenes on two levels simultaneously so that readers can take away what they wish. A straight reading should yield a "G" or "PG" experience, while those who wish can use their imagination to approach an "R" rating. I hit on this stylistic technique when I was teaching writing classes for children and teens, some of whom were aware of my fanfiction.

As Anne of Green Gables might have said, kindred spirits! I can't tell you how many nights I started out with a chapter at bedtime and ended up reading to the end of the story.

Author Reply: p.s. At this point in his life, Ferdi has interacted with the worst of Men: Lotho's (and then Sharkey's) ruffians, and then later, the rogue Men who entered the Shire in defiance of the King's edict, trying to steal the Thain's gold.

Ferdi's view of Men is an ongoing joke amongst his cousins. When the topic of Men comes up, he says under his breath, "Ruffians, all." Then a cousin teases him, saying, "All Men are ruffians, eh, Ferdi?" And insulted, he replies, "I never said that!"

Which is true, strictly speaking. Not in so many words, anyhow. In contrast, among the Tooks, his cousin Hildibold comes to appreciate Elessar, and his cousin Tolibold actually has friends who are Men (as told in "One Who Sticks Closer Than a Brother"), and Reginard sees Men in black-and-white terms: Kingsmen are good and all other Men are evil until proved otherwise. And, of course, Pippin counts certain Men among his friends, which is inexplicable to Ferdi, at least before he travels to Gondor with one of Elessar's kinsmen. Even later in his life, he becomes fast friends with a former ruffian, upending his world.

After he gets to know Elessar better, the stubborn hobbit still won't admit the Man isn't a ruffian but insists he hasn't made up his mind yet, even when he's grown comfortable in Elessar's company.

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