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Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Hobbits  by GamgeeFest 19 Review(s)
elanor winterflowersReviewed Chapter: 2 on 3/25/2007
I'm a little behind here—just read your first two chapters this morning over breakfast and enjoyed myself immensely. This is terrific, slyly insightful, very funny, with really excellent characterizations. The byplay between Merry and Pippin is so much fun, fast- paced and loaded with wit. Frodo is properly gentle and Sam wonderfully understated. And it's so nice to see Boromir as his brother would remember him—friendly, thoughtful and kind, glowing with honor in the days before he fell to Ring-lust.

I so enjoyed learning the illustrious history of hobbit meals, too:

“Here it comes!” Pippin squealed, his voice shaky with excitement.

Obviously, this was a spectacularly successful hearthside tale in the Shire! At least by the end of the Quest, Pippin had learned two very important food facts: go easy on the lembas and don't eat six slices of rum cake before bed!

Looking forward to reading more—

Author Reply: What I have enjoyed most about writing these is seeing Boromir as he truly was, before Lorien and the Ring-lust, and allowing him to share some quality time with the hobbits.

Any tale involving food would be highly popular in the Shire, and a tale that is about nothing *but* food is gauranteed to get any hobbit drooling with anticipation. LOL Hm... it's a good thing the lembas didn't have any rum in it! :D

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 2 on 9/2/2006
Boromir and Gimli DID ask for it, after all! Hilarious! Thank you for this lovely chapter.

Author Reply: And Gimli was even *warned* against it! He has no excuses, but Boromir is rather flying blind here. You think this would be enough to make Boromir stop asking questions, but in that sense, he and Pippin share something in common - they just *have* to know. :D

Frodo BagginsReviewed Chapter: 2 on 8/22/2006
Oh my goodness! This was *hysterical*!! I'm so glad that Frodo is a late sleeper - that makes two of us. :) My mom has to drag me out of bed on school mornings, and even then it takes me about an hour or so truly wake up. :) But this was such a wonderful tale. Hannon le! I love the cousins's conversation. It reminds me so much of my cousins and how we tease like that. Namarie!
God Bless,
Frodo Baggins

Author Reply: Thanks, FB! My Frodo has always been notorious for sleeping in late, but he's not ashamed of it one bit! I suppose it helps that he doesn't exactly have to rush off to do anything first thing in the morning. ;)

No one can tease you quite like your family can. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not! But at least the hobbits enjoy the teasing, for the most part. :)

AntaneReviewed Chapter: 2 on 7/9/2006
Cute story! I also read the story on westofthemoon about Frodo-lad asking his father why he never said his name and thought I would find here but didn't, at least not as a separate story so I though I would take this moment to comment about it here. I liked it. One forgets sometimes that Frodo wouldn't have been the only one to suffer from nightmares and flashbacks and such. My very favorite part is Rose's wisdom about whether Sam loved her or Frodo more - like asking whether you liked breathing in or breathing out more - great explanation for the two loves that were different but equally fierce.

Namarie, God bless, Antane :)


Author Reply: Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed both stories. :)

"By Any Other Name" is here on this site. It's in my Keepsakes, where I keep my smaller stories. I think all of the hobbits would have had their share of nightmares and flashbacks. Hobbits aren't warlike, and what they experienced during the Quest was far removed from anything they could have imagined or anticipated. Once the danger was over, their minds would have caught up with the terror they had been through and the nightmares would have started.

Rose is a smart lass. There was a reason she and Sam were destined to be together. I don't think any other lass would have understood the bond that Sam and Frodo shared, and others might have even been jealous of it. But not Rose. She never would have fathomed attempting to make Sam choose between them.

BodkinReviewed Chapter: 2 on 7/7/2006
Very bold of Gimli to put his oar in! He should have been listening to his father's advice. He'll know better in the future.

Merry and Pippin seem to have had plenty of experience of dish-washing. Sam, of course, will have done it automatically on any occasion when the young masters weren't condemned to being useful. I like Boromir's reaction! And would love to hear just why he spent days polishing swords.

I hope we get to see Boromir's bemusement with hobbits when he is trying to train them in swordshobbitship. Although swords hardly compete with full plates when it comes to being hobbity.

Author Reply: Gimli just couldn't help himself. It's like when you drive past a horrible accident on the freeway - you don't want to look but you just can't stop yourself. Now that his curiosity has been satisfied, he won't be so quick to encourage the hobbits in the future. :D

Merry and Pippin combined must hold the record for the most dish-washing punishments. They're probably also, as a result, champion dish-washers. If that's a contest during their various fairs and festivals, they'll likely win every time. hehehe Boromir hasn't shared the full story yet, but I think I can piece enough together to figure out why he had to polish those swords. =)

We'll get to see a little bit of Boromir's attempts to teach the hobbits swordsmanship in the next chapter, which should be as informative for the hobbits as it is for everyone else. :)

XtremeFrolickerReviewed Chapter: 2 on 7/6/2006
Haha thank you so much for writing this...I've often wondered myself what the deal was with all of their meals. Once again, I love the way that you manage to capture all of the characters EXACTLY as I imagine them myself. Keep on writing!

Author Reply: Yes, it's good to know that at least two of those meals are really just 'snacks'. :D I love it when my characters ring true to other readers.

Thanks for the review!

EstellaBReviewed Chapter: 2 on 7/6/2006
“The time you broke your arm and the time I left you stranded at Milo’s house, so really, in a way, those were your fault,” Frodo said.

I would *love* to read about these Incidents. Have you written about them anywhere?

Author Reply: One day, I do plan to write the stories behind these ancedotes. Perhaps when I swing back into angst mood, I'll be ready to tackle them. :) As of now, they're only mentioned, though in rather full detail, in the stories mentioned in my author note at the beginning of the chapter. :)

Pearl TookReviewed Chapter: 2 on 7/5/2006
“Oh Merry, it was so awful,” Pippin said. “There was this chicken but it was really Isumbras the Third, and he had your arm in his beak and he was making you wash dishes with mud, and... and... and he took away second breakfast!”

“How much of that rum cake did you eat, Pippin?” Merry asked.

“Six slices.”

“Good night Pip,” Merry said and went back to his slumber.

LOL LOL LOL

Bravo, GamgeeFest! Bravo!

And I loved your history of hobbit meals :)

Author Reply: hehehe Yep, hobbits and dwarvish cooking just don't mix. Merry, Frodo and Sam had the sense to keep the cake intake to a minimum, but not Pippin. Let's see if he learned his lesson, hm? ;)

Believe it or not, that was the abridged version of the history of mealtimes. :) Merry could have gone on much longer.

Thanks for reading!

AndreaReviewed Chapter: 2 on 7/5/2006
How are ice and mud the same thing?” Frodo laughed.

“Because…” Merry stalled, searching for an answer. “Ice is on the ground and when it melts it makes mud.”

“What?!” Frodo exclaimed, as Pippin broke into uncontrollable giggles, and Bilbo and Sam laughed. “Now you’re starting to sound like Pippin.”

“Hey!” Pippin said.


LOL!!! Wonderful, GamgeeFest!

I don't know why Gloin was so afraid of listening to the history of hobbit meals. I found it very interesting and not at all boring.

Actually, I have second breakfast every working day, first breakfast at home and second at work. But these are only snacks and nothing compared to the amount of food hobbits eat on such an occasion. But I agree, second breakfast is a real good thing. When I'm on holiday, I usually take only second breakfast ;-)

I'm looking forward to reading more!


Author Reply: Merry does sometimes slip into talking Pippish, especially when he's flustered. :D

I tend to think of the dwarves as being just a tad bit pompous and ego-centric. They'd rather hear and talk about themselves than anyone else. Perhaps this is why Gloin found Frodo such good and polite company at the feast. ;) Plus, Gloin knew it could have gone on much longer, as Merry no doubt knows all the little side stories and subplots of the history of mealtimes.

Second breakfast is a wonderful thing, isn't it? I have my breakfast at work as well, since I get up too early to eat before leaving the house. I wonder if the hobbits have a special holiday for the anniversary of the invention of second breakfast lol! I wouldn't put it past them!

quendriaReviewed Chapter: 2 on 7/4/2006
This story is delightful! I don't think I have ever read any of your works Gamgeefest! Now I must dash off and catch up by reading everything!! I love stories about the hobbits, and especially humorous ones involving their relationships with the other races and with each other. Thanks so much for sharing this with us!......Q

Author Reply: Hello Quendria! Nice to meet you! It's always a pleasure to have a new reader. :) Most of my stories deal with pre-Quest Shire, but there are a few that are set during the Quest or after, most noteably "It's All Relative" and "A Humble Gift".

Thanks for reading! I'm glad you're enjoying this and I look forward to hearing from you again! :)

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