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| The Rescue by Lindelea | 64 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Leithian | Reviewed Chapter: 22 on 4/2/2025 |
| Lindelea, are you doing well? I wish there was something I could say to make you feel better. And don't you worry about your stories. They're awesome as always and I suspect that people are not leaving a lot of reviews in general. Of course you know the responses better than me but I have noticed that once there used to be around 10-15 reviews on a chapter while nowadays there aren't even 5. I miss the old atmosphere of SoA... As for the Tolly story, I'm sure your long time readers will appreciate it, he is a pretty well loved OC I think. Not as much as Ferdi but then the Fox is special. *** As for this update, oh my God!! Unfortunately some ruffians have brains in their heads. And what a diabolical and disgusting plan they have cooked up. The honorary member of the border guard has quite a lot on her plate now. I assume that both of them will have to somehow enter Tookland safely but that's not the half of it! They'll have to persuade the Thain to change strategy or something to avoid harming hobbits. Estella's internal monologue was amusing to read. I think it is a phenomenon or something... high altitude psychosis but that's at high altitudes... don't want to google right now... is it a scientific thing? Or just her normal 'wit' coming to life? The chapter has ended on quite a cliffhanger, and I am eager to know how the subsequent events will turn out. Btw I have a habit of reading reviews and somewhere you mentioned that you are planning to work on the Thain story. Ecstatic pretty much sums up my feelings. I loved the Bucca storyline and it is also interesting to see the evolution of Paladin's character from the humble farmer in 'Pearl of great price' to the grumpy old Took in 'Flames' and 'Jewel'. I think my review is getting too long, so I'll wrap it up here. Take care Author Reply: I'm doing well, thank you for asking. The past week was more stressful than usual because a close family member had a close call and ended in the hospital for a few days. Now it's as if everything is back to normal and nothing happened (this person is almost never sick at all, and has bounced back from the emergency with seemingly as much resilience as a hobbit! I'm so envious.), but last week was not fun. Meanwhile, I have to avoid RL stress as much as possible, and I'm pretty careful about doing just that. Except for the unavoidable, of course. I'm heartened to hear that Thain, though long absent, has not been forgotten. (I know Larner hasn't forgotten it, for almost every time we meet, she reminds me she's waiting for the next chapter, LOL.) I miss the old atmosphere a SoA, too. I must have been pulled away when things were at their height, and when RL finally gave me leisure time again, things had gotten quiet. I'm glad the site is still here, and people are posting stories! Some of the other archives where I had bookmarked stories on my want-to-read list are gone. Bless the SoA admins who have kept it going, even in the face of hackers. But I really miss the lively interaction, and that makes me doubly bless people who pause, even if they have nothing more to say than "Hi!" or maybe "I'm still here" or "I wonder what'll happen next?" "The honorary member of the border guard"! :grin: Master Merry just might be in for a surprise. You never know. As to the internal monologue: I've read accounts of people who struggled through life-or-death situations and described their thought process as breaking into two pieces, one telling them what to do and the other reflecting their dismay and confusion and fear. Sort of like a rational adult leading a frightened child by the hand. Except that Estella is not the kind of person to be passively led by the hand; her feisty side (like Twig razzing the Old Uncle) usually pops up. When you strip away the veneer of sweet reasonableness she wields like a shield, she has a pretty sharp (swordlike?) and sometimes acid wit. In other words, the "talking to yourself and hearing an answer" phenomenon can be a coping mechanism triggered by the survival instinct, if I'm remembering right. An older family member of mine also routinely talked aloud to themself and answered! as an ADHD coping mechanism to stay on track and not forget what they were doing because of distractions. Isn't the brain fascinating? I wonder if high altitude psychosis is related in some way to nitrogen narcosis, which affects sea-divers in deep water? Interesting. I'll have to look that up. I have had altitude sickness, myself, while hiking in the mountains, and had to stop 100 vertical meters short of the summit where we were going to take panoramic photos. My friend took my camera onward and took my pictures for me after we were warned that altitude sickness could be fatal if one ignorantly tried to power through it. I could still think clearly, and I didn't talk to myself (or answer!), but I had the worst headache of my life until I was able to get down to a lower altitude. Regarding subsequent events, things will continue to happen quickly from here on out, as the story is nearly finished! Though it started rather slowly, it is galloping to the ending. Here's hoping this review reply is not too long! When my coffee has not yet kicked in, I tend to ramble. Author Reply: Shoot, I just did the math, and I converted wrong just now. That time hiking in the mountains, I had to stop 30 vertical meters from the summit, even more frustrating! My brain translated 100 vertical feet to 100 vertical meters as if feet were yards... I understand that yards and meters are not quite the same, but they are close enough that the comparison made sense... until I realised I had changed feet into yards, which isn't the same at all. I'm usually better at converting to metric, but (as mentioned earlier) my coffee is only just beginning to kick in. | |
| Leithian | Reviewed Chapter: 21 on 3/30/2025 |
| Thanks for another thrilling chapter! 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘵. 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘍𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘪 𝘣𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵! Of course the ruffians' cooking is farthest from the hobbits' idea of proper food! 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘳𝘶𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 "𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘥𝘰-𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴", 𝘢𝘴 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘭𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘌𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘉𝘰𝘭𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘌𝘯𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘥𝘰-𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩, 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘍𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘪 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘵! There is learning on the fly, and then there is this! I am gaining a healthy amount of respect for Estella. 𝘚𝘭𝘰𝘸, 𝘧𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘗'𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦? This girl is something else, I say. I think she should have confirmed that the final guard was dead, to leave no witnesses, but maybe it would take too much time. Anyway, I do hope it doesn't come to haunt them later. 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘭𝘺, 𝘌𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴. And a merry dance they'll lead the ruffians... Author Reply: Your review really brightened my day. (Thank you!) On a bad day, when I see "hits" on a chapter but 0 reviews (that is, not even a single short response), I have the unreasoning fear that people are clicking into the chapter, reading a sentence or two, and then clicking out again because they hate it. Silly of me, I know. People aren't necessarily disappointed; they're just busy, and too many may be having their own bad days. Stress abounds. *** Imagine a world where the worst torture you can think of is to feed a Man's cookery to a Hobbit! I'm so glad you like Estella! She had the potential to become a terrible person, what with her father's apparent inability to say 'No' to her right on up to the time when Freddy swept her away to go into hiding. But she had some good influences in her young life including Frodo! and Rosie and Hally's example and training, her perilous journey with Ferdi, and her life as 'Twig' all worked together to transform her from a spoilt, self-centred rich kid into a fiery, indomitable, fiercely loving adult who was not afraid to confront any problem that might arise. As to leaving no witnesses... I couldn't do that to her. In general (meaning in everything I've written to this point), I've extrapolated Tolkien's statement (which he had Frodo say) that 'no hobbit has ever killed another on purpose in the Shire, and it is not to begin now', along with his observation that Hobbits do not hunt for sport, to a general reverence for life on the part of Hobbits. Thus, my Tooks kill ruffians only reluctantly (except for a brief period during the Battle of Bywater when, frankly, they lost their minds in the heat of battle), and those who have killed are haunted to the end of their days by their knowledge of having taken a life. All that to say, Estella might have checked to see if the guard was unconscious and tied him up, and yet doing so might have put her in more danger! By getting close enough to tie him up, she would have been vulnerable to him grabbing her suddenly if he was faking. Luckily, her aim was true. The guard was unconscious and didn't see her cut Ferdi's bonds and lead him out of the clearing. Ah those zany ruffians... Estella doesn't know it, but she's elevated herself to the exalted position of 'Tookish border-keeper' with her taunts and dodging and stone-throwing. Wouldn't it be fun if the border guards made her an honorary member of their society? Again, thanks so much for reading and taking the time to share your thoughts and impressions. | |
| Leithian | Reviewed Chapter: 20 on 3/25/2025 |
| Oh no. Seems that Ferdi's luck has ran out. But I have faith in Estella. Author Reply: You know what they say about the Luck of the Tooks! Or, if you don't, it's based on my contemplation of a little snippet of tradition a German friend shared with me. She described the German equivalent of "crossing my fingers for you" as "holding my thumbs for you" and went on to explain the built-in paradox: if you hold only one thumb, you get only half the luck, but if you hold both thumbs, they cancel each other out in terms of increasing someone's luck. With "holding your thumbs", there doesn't seem to be any situation where you can have *all* the luck! In a similar vein, so far as logic and balancing out various levels of luck, Tookish luck is either spectacularly good, or else it's spectacularly bad. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground. Estella has the same capacity for courage and grit and stubbornness and determination and loyalty as her Traveller cousins (and a certain gardener who is travelling with them). So I think your faith is placed on the right hobbit here! Thanks for reading and taking the time to post a review. I definitely appreciate it. | |
| Leithian | Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 3/11/2025 |
| So I finally read the Rescue, after putting it off for a time, and fell utterly in love. I am glad to know that you have decided to work on this one next, but... somehow, I don't want it to end. I always thought of the Troubles as unpleasant at worst, I am naοve, I know, but your stories have given me much food for thought, with parallels to real life situations, as well. The Rescue is rapidly becoming my favourite story, Estella is a really interesting protagonist, and I'm impressed by the way she has adapted to the drastic change in her circumstances. Ferdi is of course my favourite, loved seeing how he came to be known as the 'Fox". You've given me one more reason to hate Lotho... BTW, do you know how Lotho came into contact with the Ruffians and Sharkey? If there is any canon explanation, I have forgotten it. Author Reply: I'm glad that the Tookish (and non-Tookish) Resistance hooked your imagination! I must admit to drawing heavily upon stories from WWII of the Resistance fighters in Norway, France, Holland and other places. (Have you ever read the book Snow Treasure? It was a favorite readaloud when the wee hobbits were still wee hobbits.) This story actually spun off from The Proposition, which focuses on Hally and Rosie and continues all the way to the Scouring of the Shire, but because this covers a much shorter slice of time than that story, it's much nearer completion (in terms of the number of chapters remaining). I hope to resume posting that story once this one has been posted to the end. Tolkien's hints about what happened in the Shire reminded me of other Occupations I'd read about. For example, Fredegar Bolger was starved to the point where he had to be carried out of the Lockholes. After his own release from the Lockholes, Mayor Will Whitfoot was too ill to resume his duties as Mayor, such that Frodo served as Deputy Mayor for months until old Mayor Flourdumpling was well enough to return to the office. Lobelia was hauled off to the Lockholes even though she was female and elderly. The ruffians began beating the hobbits they dragged off to the Lockholes at some point. The Tooks were the ones who began shooting. And the ruffians turned even nastier after that! So, as you can see, there's quite a bit of food for thought there! I don't know how Lotho hooked up with Saruman, but long before Saruman came to the Shire, there's evidence of his influence there in the supplies of tobacco and foodstuffs that Merry and Pippin find in Isengard after the attack of the Ents. It's something to wonder about. Thanks for reading and stopping to leave some good words! | |
| demeter d | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 4/15/2020 |
| "Frodo taught me...". I have no doubt that Bilbo took Frodo and any visiting cousins on tramps through the Shire. There would have been foraging for wild foods, then preparing them over an open fire. They would have slept under the stars, and learned to find their way by them. And after Bilbo left, Frodo would definitely have continued the traditions. And even though Bilbo's tales of Dwarves, Dragons, Elves and Goblins may have seemed like fantasy to his enraptured younger cousins, as the Ruffians closed in and their own peaceful Shire darkened, I am sure the stories began to seem much more real. I have no doubt that more than one younger cousin took courage from remembering Bilbo's adventure! And the Professor himself, in the chapter where Freddy escapes from the Black Riders, said that within the hearts of even the fattest and most timid hobbits there hides a strength and courage which can be roused by trouble. Wow! It has been over a decade since you posted this story. I am delighted that Stories of Arda is still with us! Author Reply: Oh, I was so glad to return to SoA and find it was still here! Long may the site endure... I can imagine during this time, Freddy thought often of Frodo and his younger cousins, wondering where they might be, sending his wishes to them in his thoughts, hoping against hope that he might see them again some day, even as the darkness was growing around him. Thanks so much for stopping to share your thoughts. Stay well! | |
| Tari | Reviewed Chapter: 16 on 12/21/2014 |
| "Sun kicks off her bedcovers". What a delightful description. Author Reply: Thank you! I must give a lot of credit to Thornton Burgess' personification of nature in his stories. There is a sound of poetry in his prose, and to think that his children's books are as educational as they are delightfully not-boring. | |
| Garnet Took | Reviewed Chapter: 16 on 12/20/2014 |
| It's easy to forget that Ferdi is the same age as Merry sometimes and that Estella and they are contemporaries. Now, I'm wondering who was she supposed to marry. I had forgot that some of your characters were supposed to have arranged marriages. Did you tell us this and I just miss it? Probably. Looking forward to those times when you can come and read and update. :) Author Reply: I kept forgetting that Ferdi and Estella are close cousins, at least in terms of genealogy (his mother was sister to Estella's father), until I sat down to write this story. I think that socially, however, they weren't quite at the same level. Ferdi's father, for all he was descended from the Old Took, was a pony trainer, and Ferdi and Estella's Bolger grandmother always considered her daughter Stelliana to have married beneath her standing in society. Still, it's nice for them to get to know each other in this story, even a little bit, and will lay a nice bit of groundwork for mutual respect in future years. (Perhaps even a conspiracy, for Merry's benefit? I wonder...) | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 16 on 12/19/2014 |
| At least they have time to jest with one another in spite of their danger and her injury. Love the banter. Author Reply: Thank you! Where would hobbits be without their banter, I wonder? It certainly lightens a heavy situation. | |
| Everlight | Reviewed Chapter: 16 on 12/19/2014 |
| What a nice little surprise to find on a day that I was feeling down! From the conversation one wouldn't know very well the dangers and fears they face, they are so courageous. Estella does make a fine Twig. I wonder if she or Ferdi ever shared these adventures with the Travelers? Would make for an interesting side note story. Author Reply: I'm glad. You're right, that would make quite an interesting side story. I have to imagine that there must have been some of these tales told after Pippin became Thain and Ferdi became his right hand, and brother-in-love into the bargain! Thanks! | |
| Tari | Reviewed Chapter: 15 on 8/13/2014 |
| Twig eats raw meat? Ewwwwww! Gross. Author Reply: Well, Twig might, but Estella certainly hasn't, up to this point, so far as I know. I wonder if gentlehobbits, at least, would be familiar with Steak Tartare? (My parents used to serve that on special occasions, and it was actually delicious. Highest quality meat you could get, finely ground, mixed with raw egg and spices, spread on good bread and topped with chopped onion. Yum.) I suspect hobbits would prefer their meat well-cooked, though... Thanks! | |