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You Can Lead a Took to Water  by Lindelea 6 Review(s)
EverlightReviewed Chapter: 6 on 4/3/2014
Ah, the wisdom of a child. He didn't think of himself as a hero then, ‘Heroes have swords!’ or later when he *did* have a sword. Strange how real heroes never seem to realize that they really are heroes.

I'm sure Bilbo will think of some way to help Robin, he is quite good at coming up with things like that.

Author Reply: The thought had crossed my mind, that even heroes with swords don't think of themselves as heroes. In point of fact, heroes are identified by others, not self-identified. Perhaps that's the way things ought to be.

Bilbo knows more about Men than most hobbits living in the middle of the Shire, that's certain.

Thanks!

AndreaReviewed Chapter: 6 on 4/3/2014
Great to see this story continued! I would have liked to meet Robin again in a much better condition, though ;-)

So I hope that Bilbo's wisdom also results from experience in healing "Tallfellows". If not there will be no other way than to try and see...

I'm looking forward to reading more!

Author Reply: Robin is an interesting fellow, one I've come to like over the years. At first I wasn't sure I was going to like him -- he was something of a ruffian at the start of our acquaintance -- but after spending more time in his company he's quite grown on me. (I first met him in All that Glisters and got to know him better in Just Desserts. He really is a gem among Men, IMO.)

Bilbo has some unique experience, I'm glad to say, as will come clear in an upcoming chapter.

Thanks!

DreamflowerReviewed Chapter: 6 on 4/3/2014
*grin* So Bilbo's there, and Robin will be properly seen to what with the old hobbit able to reassure the healer, LOL!

"Tallfellow". I like that! (Now I am imagining a family of OCs: a family of Men, living in the Shire with the surname "Tallfellow"! Shoo, bunny! Get to the end of the line!)

And the tale of how Pippin made Robin's acquaintance once more postponed, I see! ;)

I loved the way you show Frodo's youthfulness, and yet in spite of his impatience, his trust in Bilbo! Beautifully done!

Author Reply: LOL! What fun to contemplate such a bunny! (But not mine to write... I can only hope it bites someone's ankles that we may read it later!)

Thanks!

shireboundReviewed Chapter: 6 on 4/3/2014
What a relief that Bilbo's arrived, especially since everyone's looking to him for wisdom and advice.

The phrase "a Tallfellow" is delightful.

Author Reply: Thank you! I'm glad to see Bilbo arrive, too. He has some unique experience, after all, that might come in handy.

I'm glad you like "Tallfellow" -- very fitting for a Man in the Shire! "Tallfellow" is actually Robin's travelling name when he's in the Shire. He starts out as Robin Tallfellow, changes to "Jack (Tallfellow), son of Robin" after running afoul of less honest Men, and eventually resumes his original name, Gwill o'Dale, in his later years.

Garnet TookReviewed Chapter: 6 on 4/3/2014
Love the exchange between young Pip and Bilbo.

It's amusing that one of the three people involved in this with the most knowledge about the man is the youngest and it appears that Bilbo has some decent respect for Pippin and what he did and what he understands.

Mardi actually has a good point. Doubling the dose of something just might be too much. Seems like a dose and a half or three- quarters might be safer.

Hope Robin pulls through. Sounds like he really is a good sort.

Author Reply: Robin is definitely a good sort. Oh, he makes mistakes, just like everyone, but his heart is in the right place.

You're right about dosage -- it's a tricky business going from Men to Elves to Hobbits. (I wonder how dosages correspond between Men and Elves? I haven't seen any speculation about that in other stories, but then I'm just starting to read Elf-centred stories so maybe it's something I'll run across sooner or later.)

Thanks!

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 6 on 4/3/2014
I'd always believed a good deal of Frodo's wisdom he'd learned from Bilbo, and here we are shown one such instance. And love the healers' concerns regarding how else besides appetite Men might differ from Hobbits. This concern is a good part of what make Woodruff and Marti good healers.

Author Reply: I'd always believed it too, else how would he go from being one of the worst young rascals of Buckland to one of the finest hobbits of Bilbo's acquaintance?

Woodruff has an essential quality of curiosity, an itch to know what makes things tick (which is, in part, a basis for her close relationship with Pippin from his earliest days -- they understand each other). She manages to pass some of that on to her apprentices... maybe more to Hetty (Healer's Tale) than Mardi, but Mardi does pick up a little of that sense of wonder and exploration.

Thanks!

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