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Moments in Time  by Larner 11 Review(s)
Queen GaladrielReviewed Chapter: 79 on 3/18/2009
Awww!

This is so perfect! I thought to catch up on fanfic while I put off a conversation with my dad about not having been accepted into one of the colleges I applied to...yeah, I know, I'm horrible, but I really don't want to tell him. I didn't know I'd find something so conducive to cheerfulness. :)

I just love seeing Bilbo's POV on all this! He was surely meant for Frodo as much as Frodo was meant for him. So heart-warming, I love it!

Author Reply: Procrastination about an unpleasant topic, eh? I certainly relate to that!

I was lucky--only applied to one college and got accepted right away.

Am glad this was found a pleasant diversion, and that it made you smile. Yes, the two Hobbits who were truly intended to be there for one another. Thanks you so for all the comments!

KittyReviewed Chapter: 79 on 3/14/2009
But then according to her I’m so cracked I can’t find my way out of the hole without a map in hand and two at my elbow to guide me *lol* How very Lobelia! That has to be the exaggeration of the year ;)

Nice little interlude with Folco. That copying books is something I remember well - I think Sam said he was the best copyist in the Shire, at least after Frodo left.

I'm sorry for Saradoc and Esmeralda for losing their foster son, but so glad for Frodo and Bilbo. It really was the best the old hobbit could do for his young cousin to take him under his wing in Bag End.

The farewell from Brandy Hall was moving - and very typical of Frodo.

The rest is just lovely. To watch Frodo brightening more and more, to see him enjoy himself is great. And I love Sam's reaction at seeing Frodo :) It truly was the beginning of a great friendship, wasn't it?

Author Reply: Yes, how very much Lobelia indeed!

Saradoc and Esmeralda may be losing the presence of the son of their heart, but in the end I suspect he loves them the more for seeing to it his true needs were being met at the moment. And we know that Frodo and Merry remained friends and almost brothers always.

Am so glad you found it moving and lovely--that makes me very glad! Thank you so!

AntaneReviewed Chapter: 79 on 3/14/2009
Of course I did not mean to imply that Sam being 'in love' with Frodo was romantic since we both share the professor's view and the hobbits' own view of this tremendous love. I love your response about the growth of their love.

Namarie, God bless, Antane :)

Author Reply: I know you don't mean that, but some folk who don't understand our appreciation of the love between Frodo and Sam have rather risque imaginations.

Yes, it grew over time, the love of these two brothers of the heart!

Thanks again for the feedback!

AntaneReviewed Chapter: 79 on 3/12/2009
Sorry it's taken so long to get to this. :( But it's certainly well done. This was such an important step in Frodo's life and not without its heartache. You can see already that he hates goodbyes, maybe because he was robbed of saying goodbye to his parents? I can see another part of myself in him when he admits to feeling ugly inside at times when he's angry at people. I'm working on that, more annoyed and irritated than angry. This is a big moment in Bilbo's life too and I love the way that was handled too. And certainly a big moment in Sam's life too! :) He's already in love and Frodo will soon be too. Indeed the two were made for each other, but also for so many others. Cute first meeting there. I would absolutely love if they could somehow put that meeting in the second Hobbit film.

Namarie, God bless, Antane :)


Author Reply: I think most decent folk feel ugly within ourselves at times--certainly I've found it in myself often enough.

The last time Frodo bade goodbye to someone he loved, he lost them completely. Perhaps it's a terrible superstition he's developed, but if he can help doing so he'll avoid saying goodbye in the future.

Sam is definitely fascinated by his first glimpse of the Master's new ward, but the love that will develop between him and Frodo will come to its own over time. Not an erotic love--definitely the love proper to friends and brothers of the heart, or so I see it. This love will help to sustain both when it appears all other comfort is lost to them, and it will be the last true love, perhaps, Frodo will know within Middle Earth. But it will serve to the needs of all in the end, preparing Sam to take over his friend's role as protector and nurturer of the Shire.

AndreaReviewed Chapter: 79 on 3/10/2009
Wow! That was simply perfect!

Once again I find that the amazing Dreamflower has already said nearly everything I wanted to say ;-) And she expressed it much better than I could have done!

It's the little details that make your stories so lively and interesting, some of them already known from other stories, some of them new.

I had nearly forgotten about that stone. But now I understand even better why Frodo left it there in Buckland. He wanted to leave a part of him there to show that *he* was still a part of Buckland and would always be, even if he now lived at Bag End.

He had to leave one small admirer in Buckland (Poor Merry!), but he found immidiately a new one ;-)

And as Frodo knelt to greet the gardener’s lad Bilbo saw the hero worship growing in the child’s eyes and his face brighten.

One last question:

Does Folco's story about "Celeborn and the Dragon" really exist? For I'm reading "Eragon" at the moment and it's also about a boy who finds a dragon's egg but doesn't know what it is...



Author Reply: Thank you so, Andrea. No, "Celeborn and the Dragon" hasn't been written yet, although Baggins Babe wrote "The Story of a Garden" for me as mentioned in "For Eyes to See as Can." I'll also have to write the story of Joco one day, I suppose!

The green fairy stone insisted it be remembered in this tale, so it was included. And I might just one day write the story of its provenance into one of my other stories. And it was wonderful to look at Sam's first look at Frodo through Bilbo's eyes this time, as well as to include Folco.

I've not read Eragon yet, although I found a copy at a book sale and have it waiting to be read, although I'm devouring Terry Pratchett's Making Money at the moment. I'll read it eventually!

6336Reviewed Chapter: 79 on 3/9/2009
Such a nice welcoming, little tale, a little bitter sweet perhaps but vey good all the same.
Bilbo has his dear lad with him at last!
More please,
Lynda

Author Reply: Thank you so, Lynda. Yes, Frodo has come home at last!

CeleritasReviewed Chapter: 79 on 3/9/2009
I'm assuming this one wasn't done by the time it would have been due?

At any rate, I'm glad to see another extra prompt answered/extra-long fic. I especially liked the various points of view that we got--Folco was an especial treat, and getting to see that "Sam first looking at Frodo" moment through Bilbo's eyes was a treasure!

Author Reply: I found this one was rather getting away from me--I'd wished to write something short and rather intense, and this one proved rambling and--well, Bilboish, if you understand what I mean.

So, now it's finally written, betaed, and posted. About time! And am glad you like that moment seen through Bilbo's eyes. I do like Bilbo!

Thanks so.

DreamflowerReviewed Chapter: 79 on 3/9/2009
*applauds!*

Marvelous! What a wonderful take on the move from Buckland to Hobbiton! I have read a great many versions of the change, and even written my own--and I have to say, this is a really good variation on the theme!

I like how subtly you bring in the bits of your own universe, events and OCs--they are there for those of us who are familiar with your Shire to appreciate, yet not so obtrusive as to be incomprehensible for a new reader.

I love Frodo's ambivalence about leaving Buckland when it came right down to it: he's pleased and excited to go live with Bilbo, but it has to be hard to leave all his other loved ones. Unlike many writers, you've given him a relatively happy childhood there (as happy as it could be for one orphaned in such a tragic manner). He's not neglected nor abused, and any "mistreatment" comes from an excess of care, not a lack of care--he's loved in Buckland, and he knows it, even if that love has sometimes been expressed in a stifling fashion. Yet at the same time, it's been hard for him to relate to having someone else trying to fill his parent's shoes. It's *time* for him to make the change.

I love Bilbo's eagerness to have him come--he's so cute as he prepared to go and fetch his lad, and he's given a lot of thought about what they will do together.

The leave-takings were appropriately painful. (Making it a bit less so was my reason for having the change the other way round, taking place at a time when Sara and Esme had taken Frodo to Bag End, on what he thought was just a regular visit. A bit of a cheat, I suppose, but I was not very experienced yet in writing angst at the time. It worked for me, anyway.)

I also love how you reveal Frodo's inheritances to him: that's another thing I've often disliked in some fics, where he is portrayed as penniless and living in Brandy Hall on charity. Ridiculous! His mother was the Master's sister, and his father was a Baggins, for goodness sake! Of course they had property to leave to him!

Wonderfully done, all round!

Author Reply: (Curtseys deeply.) Thank you!

It was fun to finally write this, which of course I've been meaning to write for a good long time, of course. And I found I had to write the growing excitment in Bilbo and the mixed anticipation and anxiety in Frodo.

I would think that Rory would have doted on his little sister; how could he see Primula's son mistreated or ignored? And leaving had to be at least somewhat painful, particularly if everyone was trying to say goodbye, and particularly if Frodo had difficulty with leavetakings as is indicated in the books.

Nor would Frodo have been penniless. I find myself shaking my head at the idea of it, too.

Anyway, thank you so for the feedback--you know how much it means!

Linda HoylandReviewed Chapter: 79 on 3/9/2009
A nice glimpse into a rarely seen part of Frodo's life.I liked the bittersweet foreshadowing,but at least we know Frodo enjoyed many happy years at Bag End.

Author Reply: I've seen other folks' looks at this move, and thought I ought to do my own at last. Yes, some foreshadowing, and the lad already hates saying "goodbye." But he does have a new home where he has a good deal of positive memories.

Thank you so, Linda!

ElflingimpReviewed Chapter: 79 on 3/9/2009
Aw! I just loved that, it went straight to my heart! Hugs The Imp

Author Reply: I'm so glad it did, Imp. Thank you!

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