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Eleventy-one Years: Too Short a Time   by Dreamflower 5 Review(s)
AndreaReviewed Chapter: 29 on 9/3/2013
But I think that the Tookishness is just below the surface, ready to burst forth if the right occasion comes along.

Old Gerontius was quite right with that remark!

And I like Aunt Citrine :-) Let's hope Lalia won't pay her back!

AntaneReviewed Chapter: 29 on 7/25/2013
What a neat chapter! I am sorry that it took me so long to get to it. I love the insights about Bilbo the Old Took and Gandalf have and the foreshadowing there. Glad the old hobbit got to see fireworks once more before he accepted the Gift.

Namarie, God bless, Antane :)

Author Reply: I'm glad he did too!

Foreshadowing is one of the most important elements in fanfic--not because it hints to the reader what might happen, because the reader already knows that, but because it lends depth and resonance to the canon connection.

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 29 on 7/23/2013
Oh, and as for Lalia--what can we say? She appears to always have preferred imagining disasters to dealing with life as it really was!

Author Reply: My idea is that Lalia thrives on drama; if she can't see any happening around her, she'll make it up. And she wants to be the center of attention--so being the predictor of bad news brings that to herself. She can never leave well enough alone.

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 29 on 7/23/2013
Oh, so perfect to see him conversing with his grandfather that one last time. I grieve he couldn't do so again. And love Gerontius's evaluation of his most Tookish of Baggins grandson! As for Gandalf and his foresight--well, he can't say he was quite that surprised when he found Bilbo smoking on his doorstep! Heh! Love it!

Author Reply: It was important that I show this part of Bilbo's life; Gerontius had played a huge role in his grandson's life, after all!

No, I daresay he wasn't. And he took care to be sure that his future adventurer did not run off somewhere else in the meanwhile.

shireboundReviewed Chapter: 29 on 7/22/2013
Gandalf laid a hand on his head gently, and bent down to look into his eyes. “Never is a long time, young hobbit. I think that you will forget for a time--but when the time is right, you will indeed remember!”

How interesting. :)

What a splendid way to introduce us -- and Bilbo -- to Gerontius and Gandalf's friendship, and include us in saying farewell to this remarkable old hobbit.

Author Reply: Thank you!

It seemed so odd to me that Bilbo could have so completely forgotten a figure that must have loomed large (in every way, LOL!) in his childhood and youth. Did Gandalf have a feeling that perhaps it was necessary for Bilbo to forget about wizards and adventures for a little while in order to get on with his life in the Shire? It might have been.

Yes, it was sad to say farewell to Gerontius, but he had a wonderful run, and his life had been rich and full.

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