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When the King Comes Back ( Brandy Hall ) by Dreamflower	3 Review(s)
Gryffinjack	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 12/24/2005
One of the things that makes all of your stories so wonderful to read and so like canon is your attention to detail, careful research, and grasp of LotR terminology. For example, you constantly use the hobbit names of the months and days of the weeks and use them correctly, your application of geography to the Shire, including directions, and the various characters. I am so glad that Merry got to keep Stybba! One of the visuals from the movie that sticks with me is of Merry kicking Stybba repeatedly and jostling the rains to try and get the pony to move. lol! "Still, Merry was a little embarrassed. Frodo and Pippin both thought him overprotective, and were sometimes irritated at his regard. Sam never noticed. He was too busy doing the same thing." Oh, but that's perfect! Merry and Sam certainly are the practical, overprotective ones and think alike. "“No. It wouldn’t be practical. I need to be close by to oversee the repairs; also, thanks to your meddling, I have to be available to act as ‘Deputy Mayor’. I cannot believe I let you get me into this.” Laughing, Merry exchanged a grin with Pippin and Sam. He was rather proud of the idea himself. Frodo needed to be kept busy, and as Mayor (Deputy or not) the rest of the Shire would have to show Frodo some respect. He had made up his mind that he would never let a “Mad Baggins” comment pass unrebuked ever again." So the conspiracy has not ended, eh? Those three are going to manage Frodo until the day he leaves for the Undying Lands. I love this paragraph about Merry. He has been protective of Frodo since the day he was born and made a study of his older cousin. Good for Frodo, putting one over on Merry and Pippin! I so enjoy seeing Frodo happy and laughing smugly to himself. He really has a great sense of humour, although it is masked and coloured all too frequently by the effects of the Ring. "It was a measure of how far down Pippin was that he did not even pretend to misunderstand. “I think so. Father’s still angry, but he didn’t tell me not to come back. Mother and Pervinca were glad to see me, at any rate. It’s just--dead, Merry. He said I was dead.” Pippin’s eyes glittered with moisture, but he quickly blinked it away. “I know, Pip. If you need me, send for me. And you are always welcome in Buckland.” Merry’s own eyes glittered, but with anger." Poor Pippin! The anguish and pain that must have caused him to find out that his father had declared him dead. Especially since he still was not of age, for a parent to give up all hope on him ... it must have been incomprehensible to Pippin, especially as sensitive as he is. And Merry... sigh. He is our constant, stalwart Merry, always looking after his cousins, always offering them all he has, and always ready and willing to defend and protect them. "Pippin did laugh then. “My fierce Merry." Loved that line, too. Berilac is a most welcome sight in this story! I first came to really appreciate him in On the Road to Edoras. Since then, through my readings of your stories in chronological order, I have grown fonder and fonder of this particular level-headed hobbit. Well, Berilac and Freddy, actually. But I'm so glad Berilac is here! Aside from Frodo or Pippin, he is the cousin closest to Merry and most like a brother to him. It really is enjoyable to read how Merry and Berilac speak with enough respect for each other that they speak honestly and do not hold much back, especially Merry, with all that he has gone through. This is a fine start! I'm so excited to finally be reading these stories again! Author Reply: I do try very hard to stay as true to canon as I can. The use of hobbit months is actually not quite true to JRRT's style, as he always "translated" them to our modern months; however, I found that the deviations in his calendar made that difficult for me, so I stuck to the hobbit names, so that I could easily consult his calendar. As to distances, I was hard put to it with Merry's trip to Buckland, which should have taken a couple of days in normal travel. However, I was reassured by those in the know that on ponyback and cross-country, it was in fact doable in one. I guess that you can see here the seeds of how I would develop Merry's and Sam's personalities. Chronologically, of course, this story is rather far down the time line, but it was written second, so it pleases me to see that previous developments enhanced rather than contradicted this story. It is so neat to be seeing all this through your eyes, as you read the stories in this fashion! Frodo's sense of humor and happiness were muted by his experiences with the Ring, but at this point in time, he is hopeful that he will be able to pick up the pieces. He knows that he still has far too many "bad days", but he is looking for them to decrease. He has yet to realize they will only get worse with time. And too, his joy has always been in others rather than himself. Yes, poor Pippin. His encounter with his Father was much influenced by the story by Lulleny that inspired all of this--to have been presumed dead had to hurt him horribly. And, yes, overprotective Merry. This was my first use of Berilac, and I had a good time figuring him out!

PIppinfan1988	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 3/22/2004
Most excellent--Merry's point of view now! I see they had "driving food" back then, too! lol... Pippinfan Author Reply: I really had to do some thinking with this. When I wrote the Pippin story, I had Merry telling his family the same night as Pippin was telling his. However, I came to realize that normally this wouldn't work--Buckland was too far away by road. However, I thought on pony, cross-country, he could probably do it, especially with a pony from Rohan! But not if he had to stop for six meals 8-). Author Reply:

Grey Wonderer	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 3/22/2004
I love this story so far. A very good beginning chapter. I go now to read more.

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