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Tangled Web by daw the minstrel	25 Review(s)
mistry89	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 6/19/2004
It is lovely to see the tie-in to TH, linking Legolas to the 'shippers and also "explaining' why the elves persisted in that celebration ... I had always wondered! Thank you again for your interpretation and "extension" of ME. Author Reply: Glad you liked it, mistry. Working out how some of this might have happened has been a real challenge. Why were the elves so intent on keeping the feast secret, for instance? Why not just arrest the Dwarves or ask them what they were doing there? This was the best answer I could come up with.

Tapetum Lucidum	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 6/13/2004
I loved this chapter! Your elven perspective was a great addition to the adventure! Their speed cannot be natural... LOL! Poor dwarves are being insulted and are too stupid to even realize it. Sinarn does sound a lot like his father. Legolsa could use a little of his eldest brother's diplomacy. Their timing and proximity to the wedding feast is terrible. Makes for a much more interesting evening. Having the King ride up on you when you are already stressed is not a fun time. Even Beliond bolted? I am shocked he left his charge unattended for his trip back to the palace. At least Thranduil treated his son like a warrior for a few minutes before he reminded him not to be tardy. Your description of Thranduil's spell casting was super! The merriment of the feast was in keeping with the event. I enjoyed all of the banter among the characters. Tonduil's nervousness was cute. I was glad to see Legolas and Celuwen keeping each other company. They were both a little less lonely that way. I pity the night shift. They are going to be in so much trouble. Both Tonduil and Legolas are going to get quite an earful as well. Beliniel throwing her napkin over Annael's head was adorable - and very realistic. The two guards Legolas came across after the second incursion were very pitiful. I imagine that at this age Legolas closely resembles his Adar when angered. A very scary thing. Amdir did the right thing by making the spiders his primary concern. You handled the bonding ceremony with the reverence it deserves. I was glad to see even the bachelor prince was in awe of the occasion. Too bad there were no curly haired elleth. Leaving Thorin in a heap in the clearing was very Thranduilesque. He didn't even bother to move him out of the way. It was classic! Author Reply: This chapter was fun to write. I had originally thought it would be serious but Tolkien was too much for me. Just knowing how this looked from the Dwarves' point of view made me laugh myself silly even as I was writing. And even Annael and Legolas seemed to think it was funny. Now Thranduil didn't think it was funny at all, unfortunately. And I doubt if Legolas was too amused by the end either. Writing about Thranduil's magic is interesting because I'm ordinarily very much a realist, but there's certainly magic involved here, and it had to be Thranduil's. Do you suppose the elves dragged Thorin to one side or just danced around him? ;-)

Estel_Mi_Olor	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 6/13/2004
Wow, what a wedding! Poor Tonduil! At least they finally managed to get married. Good grief, but that night patrol is rather incompetent. I feel for Legolas and the conversation he will be having with Thranduil in the next chapter-I think. :) You've already updated, so I will be brief. The Dwarves were amazingly annoying, and perhaps it might have turned out better if Thranduil had never put them to sleep. Actually, it would not have made a difference since they seemed to be waking up at inconvenient times. I did not know that Thranduil had such power. Pretty cool. Legolas is so adorable in his competance. It makes me smile to think of him ordering everybody about when just the other day he was a little elfling... I will go read the next chapter now, keep writing! Author Reply: Just had to point out that you and Thranduil agree about the night patrol! I had trouble figuring out just how the Elves made the light go out and the party seem to move (as The Hobbit tells us happened). Surely magic had to be involved and that meant Thranduil.

erunyauve	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 6/12/2004
'Sinnarn looked sheepish. “I would like to talk to them,” he confessed.' Good for Sinnarn! His curiosity about dwarves shows a more thoughtful side and scores points with Annael. 'The words of the vows were sacred and were carefully guarded from the ears of mortals. It would be unthinkable to have the Dwarves intrude upon tonight’s wedding feast.' Excellent point! And I loved Thranduil's magical circle - that explains the disappearing elves in The Hobbit. I think people too often forget how much trouble the dwarves would cause for the elves by rousing the spiders. (I suspect that Legolas is going to bear the brunt of that trouble.) Author Reply: Ithilden and Alfirin did a good job with Sinnarn, I think. I give Ithilden credit for that openness to the Dwarves. I had to think long and hard about why the Elves didn't just walk up to the dwarves at the feast and ask them what they thought they were doing. I made the feast a wedding just so I could use that thing about the privacy of the vows. And fortunately, I'd just been writing about young Legolas encountering spiders. Thanks, Erunyauve.

White Wolf	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 6/12/2004
I probably shouldn't have laughed at those poor dearves, but I did, though I also felt a twinge of sympathy. The crazy things that happen at weddings can make for some great memories - later on. I wonder if the elves will someday see it that way. I don't envy Legolas having to face Thranduil on the matter, especially right after his father's praise. Author Reply: I laughed at the Dwarves too, even though from their point of view, things were pretty desperate. And I figure Tonduil and Aerlinn will have stories to tell their grandchildren. Thranduil is a hard person to have as a father, I think. He loves his kids but he's very demanding.

ValkrieCrow	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 6/11/2004
Uh oh, PO'ed Thranduil, not good. I would NOT want to be Legolas right now... Poor Tonduil! I can just imagine him cursing at the dwarves under his tongue because they are prolonging his wedding day...er...night. I absolutely loved this chapter, and I will be waiting for another! Author Reply: Poor Legolas. It's not really his fault but he's in charge, and Thranduil wants to let loose at someone. And Tonduil was probably ready to either invite the dwarves or shoot them. LOL

Duchess	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 6/11/2004
Oh my goodness! They interrupted the wedding feast THAT many times?!? shaking my head good grief, poor Tonduil! And his lovely bride! giggling at the thought that Legolas and Annael used to throw snowballs at her when they were Elflings LOVED the reasoning for making the Dwarf party blind like that, too clever a way to work that in there. vbg Oh more, please? This is too good not to beg for another chapter right away. :):):) Author Reply: Poor Tonduil indeed! At least he has a story to tell the grandchildren, assuming he and Aerlinn can ever get married enough to produce children. :) It was fun to try to work out how the events of The Hobbit might have looked to the elves. And I'm writing as fast as I can!

Dot	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 6/11/2004
Ah the excitement of it all. You know, this story isn’t at all how I imagined it would be. I mean, it’s still excellent of course. You do a really great job fitting your world in with Tolkien’s. Bravo too for such incredible detail, such as the colour of the hoods, the lights and fire, the crown that the king wears, etc. I’m enjoying your humour – actually my sides ache now from laughing! – but I really like that underneath we still get a sense of the threat of spiders, of increasing danger in Mirkwood and in a way of events spiralling out of the control of the wood-elves. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to read this part of “The Hobbit” again without thinking of Legolas, Annael and Sinnarn perched up a tree watching the Dwarves! I remember Sinnarn was curious about the Dwarves in ‘Fire and Shadow’ as well. Actually, he’d probably make a fairly good diplomat between the two races because he seems more open than most Elves and genuinely interested to learn about the Dwarves. What a good Ada Ithilden is. And Sinnarn does seem to be winning Annael over! Yay! It’s so wonderful to see more of Annael. I miss him when he’s not in stories. He seems to have grown up with a father willing to respect Dwarves as well. sigh Even the tiniest mention of Siondel makes me teary… I liked the bit about Thranduil guarding his people’s rituals. I’d never thought about him like that before but it really gives a sense of a king whose people mean everything to him and that the very essence of what makes them wood-elves is sacred to him. Tonduil’s marrying Aerlinn?! I do remember her being pelted with snowballs. And mud another time too! Whatever happened to Miriwen? You’ve an amazing gift for pulling all these people out of other stories! “Is Sinnarn nearly done for the day? His naneth is looking for him.” I thought that was so funny. Thranduil would never have done that with any of his own sons. It just shows how eager he is to please Alfirin. And it’s so endearing how genuinely fond he is of his grandson. The part with Thranduil’s magic was breathtaking. What a powerful image of the trees leaning towards him. I love the way everyone present can feel that something has happened and just gaze in awe at their king. It really shows just how very closely tied Thranduil is to his forest and in a way it’s almost as though his trees love their king too. Oops, I’m getting carried away now in my admiration for all things wood-elfy… The entire wedding was just brilliantly written. Again, it’s a treat to see Annael and Legolas together again and acting like the elflings they once were. It must have been a teensy bit uncomfortable for Emmelin to have to sit near Legolas and Celuwen when she’s being teased about Sinnarn. She definitely seems to like him, though. I do hope that Sinnarn isn’t more attracted to her than she is to him. And poor Legolas looking for curly-haired maidens! I think Tuilinn has spoiled him for everyone else;) “Dori! Nori! Ori!” Oh, that’s hysterical. Invoking a spell?! I loved Thranduil watching the events with a smile and Legolas realising just what his father has done. I always thought it was a bit odd the way the lights go out and appear again later. This was just genius. That image of Dwarves bumping randomly into trees and even Elves is definitely going to stay with me for a while! Thranduil must not have been impressed when Amdir & co came rushing in behind the Dwarves. Then Bilbo appears! Poor Tonduil. I wouldn’t have blamed him if he got a sword and went after those Dwarves himself. I must admit I actually felt quite sorry for Legolas when I saw the care he took with the “child” and in trying to ensure he found the mother. He’s a good soul, is Legolas. Even if he did just practically snuggle an adult hobbit up to a male Dwarf. As for thinking his name is “Hobbit”…that’s just so comical. I read this earlier in the day (under the desk at work again) and every now and then I just started laughing when I thought about little “Hobbit” the Dwarf-babe. O.k., I completely understand that Amdir thought he should check out reports of spiders. But crikey, the Home Guard are looking rather inept right now! It’s probably a pity too that it just happened to be Amdir who made the decision to take most of the patrol away from watching the Dwarves because he’s widely-know for his opinion about them. Where’s Todith anyway? At home in bed, I suppose. Actually, I think it’s good that Ithilen isn’t here, because he’s so ultra-efficient you probably couldn’t really have had the same story. Even if they had managed to intrude once, the Dwarves would very likely have immediately had several Elven arrows pointed at them. Legolas is right, Ithilden will not like the fact that so much of his hard work is undone. I really liked the different reactions of the Elves at the wedding. What a story this will make. They all seem fairly united in indignation about the use of a child, though. It is kind of amazing to think that they did nothing besides feel confused and outraged when it must be so completely unusual to see Dwarves at an Elven wedding feast. Still, I suppose if the king is still present and not unduly troubled they obviously see no reason to panic. “…not ten feet away from Thranduil, a Dwarf stepped into the clearing…” LOL! It’s as though they just keep coming! Ah, and Thranduil reaches the end of what little patience he possesses. I’m kind of glad, though. I do like to see the Elvenking all riled up. And those Dwarves really are making nuisances of themselves! Legolas and the guards are not going to be allowed forget this one. I can’t wait to hear what Thranduil has to say about things. It’s a little bizarre sometimes reading this when we know full well what’s happening but I love that you’ve really brought us even closer to the story and we get to see events from the Elves’ point of view. This was such a fantastically-written chapter. Are you going to show us Thranduil questioning Thorin? Please?! And just how are the gang getting on down South?! Author Reply: Geez, I love getting your reviews, Dot. I will confess that then I started writing this chapter, I thought it would be all serious. After all, things are grim from the Wood-elves' point of view. But then I sat with my copy of "The Hobbit" open in front of me, trying to be sure to incorporate everything Tolkien used, and the tone of the chapter just got away from me and turned into farce. I was dismayed for a while, but then I decided that was just the way life is too -- romance and tragedy and farce all mixed together. At least, that's what I told myself. ;-) But it was tricky, because Legolas really is seriously worried about the "child" for instance. So that had to mix in too. "Bizarre" about covers it. I thought that the rituals of Wood-elves must have a significance for them that is akin to what religion has for others. Bonding must be especially significant since elves really are tied to Arda and wood-elves must be even more so. That's why Thranduil's magic works through the forest too. The wedding itself was a joy to write about. I loved have Legolas and Annael laughing about how nervous Tonduil was and then how silly the Dwarves looked. I think I may have to start waving my arms around and shouting "Dori! Ori! Nori!" when I want to make something happen. And the Dwarves really are like ants at a picnic: you can't get rid of them! I'm working on the next chapter now. It should be a mix of the south and the day after the wedding at home. I always have trouble starting a new chapter, so we'll see how it goes. Thanks for the review, Dot.

emjo	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 6/11/2004
Daw, you are brilliant. I loved this chapter! Seeing the elves side of this event was very interesting. I can't wait till the next chapter! Author Reply: Thank you, Emjo. From the Elves' POV things looked quite different, didn't they? I struggled a little figuring out how to do this, but it turned out to be fun.

Rose Sared	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 6/11/2004
You use the scaffolding of canon to such wonderful effect it illuminates the whole story for us. Both yours and his! If you have any talent going spare could you put it in a box and send it to me, it's obvious you would not miss it, as you have so much! Thank you for the entertainment. Rose Author Reply: Thank you, Rose. I had my copy of The Hobbit open in front of me as I wrote this chapter and it was a lot of fun to try to figure out how things might have happened. I finally decided that the Elves did NOT move the feast, but that the Dwarves got confused and came into the same clearing from different sides each time. I don't think you need much from me. You have your own nice supply of talent! :-)

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