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Sharing Sam  by Celeritas 6 Review(s)
AntaneReviewed Chapter: 2 on 11/2/2008
A loving, lovely, heartaching tale. You go, Rosie! Give that stubborn Baggins a good talking to! He needs to know there are those who would take care of him. And yes, she and Sam will match perfectly because they both are such caring, loving souls. I'm glad Frodo trusts Rosie enough to have cried in her arms. He sees far and with his soul so knit to Sam's, of course he would know whether Sam was troubled by nightmares, even when they are apart. That deep a connection between them wouldn't change even with all the Sea between them. I love what Rose did - sleeping in Sam's room so she could watch out like he would - and I love also that she perceived that her/their Sam was even more Sam after his return than before she left. These three will get along very well together in Bag End. But oh for Frodo to have seen a vision of what Sam will feel after Frodo has left...but then he knows that Rose will be there...and Frodo himself will be always in Sam's heart and Sam in his.

Namarie, God bless, Antane :)

Author Reply: Honestly, with both Sam and Rosie giving him the what-for you'd think that Frodo would try to put a little more stock in propriety just so they'll leave him alone!

I think the bit where Frodo cried for Rosie was a leap of faith on his part: they still hardly know each other and to bare your soul like that is a very difficult thing to do. But she'd already seen him weak, coming in on his dream like that, and she had just told him that she was trying to do what Sam would--so perforce he had to do what he would have if it were Sam there and not Rose.

I don't think Frodo would know for certain whether Sam was perfectly all right while away, but he certainly knows his character and his capacity for healing. Sam seems like the sort not to get troubled by anything as long as he has something to do.

It was hard trying to think of how exactly Sam would have changed to those who remained in the Shire over the Quest--because you know he would have to have, but he adjusts back to life in the Shire so well. So I think his time Outside just helped him to realize his Sammish potential a lot faster than he would have within the Shire. Then Rosie just had to see that and put it in her own words.

I also think Frodo needed to see exactly what his choice to sail would mean to those he left behind--as grievous as that was! But once he realizes the reason for the sorrow in that vision, he'll remember that Sam is not crying alone, and other, later ones that show him happy and healed will tell him all he needs to know.

VirtuellaReviewed Chapter: 2 on 11/2/2008
A most excellent story. You portray the delicate relationship between Rosie and Frodo very well. She couldn't not resent him, and still she couldn't not try to understand and like him, given how close he is to Sam. I like how you refer to class distinction and at the same time allow them to transcend it.

The dreams, yes. Post traumatic stress disorder, isn't that what it's called? Tolkien tells us only that Frodo was troubled, but you're right, all of the fellowship would have been affected by it to some degree.

It was a lovely sentence when she realized that the quest had changed Sam, but only to make him even more like Sam.



Author Reply: I'm glad you picked up on that sentence, because as soon as I had written it I became exceedingly fond of it.

PTSD is the current correct medical term (I personally prefer the older "shell shock"), but I try not to actually apply psych per se to fiction that's set in a pre-psych world. Getting bad dreams from bad experiences is pretty normal, and I think that going through what the hobbits went through and not coming out affected by that would be more worrisome than getting bad dreams. I do think that eventually after he's done grieving for Frodo Sam's dreams would die down, but it's only been a year after all and Sam is by no means complete in terms of his character.

I'm glad you thought I got Rosie and Frodo's relationship down. There's not a lot about them out there, but one can make educated guesses!

Thanks for the review!

Kara's AuntyReviewed Chapter: 2 on 11/2/2008
Hello Celeritas,

I'm so glad that there was another chapter to this. I had thought Sharing Sam to be a oneshot, so it was delightful to see it top of the list on the home page of SoA again.

This was a moving chapter. How like Sam to have nightmares that were concerned with him being unable to stop Frodo being hurt - and how like Frodo to try and play down his own dark dreams to Rosie.

This is an excellent story that beautifully explores their tentative relationship. I hope there shall be many more chapters to it.

Sorry I haven't read or reviewed for a while. Big changes at work and I've a bad head cold so reading is giving me headaches at the moment, but I will catch up on Kira and Co when I'm up to tackling more than one chapter at a time. I'm looking forward to catching up on all the chapters that have accrued since my last visit.

All the best!


Maureen :)

Author Reply: Oh, believe me, I thought it was a oneshot, too, but sometimes those plotbunnies sneak up on you without your realizing it. The story's still set at "complete" because I can't think of anything else to add at the moment, but now that this one's been added there may be a few more. Nothing I can guarantee.

I'm glad you found both Frodo and Sam (although the latter doesn't appear directly) in character with their dreams. There really is nothing more frightening for Sam than Frodo getting hurt!

No need to apologize for any perceived neglect, by the way! Reality should always take precedence over the fanciful sub-sub-creations that reside here, and there is no such thing as a reader's obligation. Still, when you have the time I look forward to your commentary on the later developments in my tale, and I do hope that you will continue writing--and posting--when the fancy hits you!

~Celeritas

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 2 on 11/2/2008
He will either be dead or have sailed when that one comes, I think. Not that sailing isn't akin to dying as far as all are concerned.

I'm so glad she was so thoughtful for him, and that she thought of sleeping in Sam's room so as to be nearby. Poor fellow. But she'll make a perfect mistress of Bag End!

Lovely details.

Author Reply: Frodo knows deep inside, but can't quite seem to grasp, that in that vision they're grieving over him.

I still don't think Rosie is at the point where she can think of Mr. Frodo as a friend, but she does pity him and she knows she needs to look out for him for Sam. It's a good start for her future role in life.

Thanks for reviewing!

DreamflowerReviewed Chapter: 2 on 11/2/2008
Oh, your Rose is so much as I've always thought of her: practical, steadfast and as loyal as Sam himself. It was a wonderful conversation, and I loved her shrewdness in picking forth what Frodo was leaving out about himself.

And of course, there was the foreshadowing there at the end. We know. But it's not something Frodo is ready to admit to himself yet, not for a while, at any rate...that's why he can't quite grasp it.

Author Reply: It's interesting, isn't it, how we know so little about Rose from canon but try to make the same conclusions? Aside from the fact that she must be a character worthy of Sam's affection, she obviously must have been an excellent mother so I tried to put forth some of those qualities in this chapter--the shrewdness being one of them.

I don't know, of course, when Frodo made his decision to sail--I imagine he'd put it off as long as he feasibly could--but compounded with whatever visions he's started having it must have been very frustrating because all of the sights have one thing in common: he's not there. But you're right, he's not ready to realize that yet.

shireboundReviewed Chapter: 2 on 11/1/2008
Ohhh, how heartbreaking. But it really is best if there are no secrets between Frodo and Rose, especially when it comes to preparing her for being Sam's wife, Mistress of the Hill, and one of Frodo's guardians for as much time as they have together.

Author Reply: Yup. I did (suddenly, too; you never know when those plotbunnies will bite) want to show from the other side how difficult this would be for Frodo, to try and open up to someone he hardly knows simply on virtue of the fact that he knows Sam loves her, and that he will marry her. As in the previous bit, though, better now than later.

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