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Completion  by Garnet Took 7 Review(s)
LarnerReviewed Chapter: 3 on 3/6/2023
Yes--the need to be reassured is there for Merry. Love the comparisons of familial traits.

Author Reply: For someone named Merry he can be way to up-tight at times. :)

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 3 on 6/5/2014
There are reasons for Merry to be concerned, but also reasons to relax and allow love to work its magic.

Author Reply: Yes, yes there are. I'm thinking of having Merry and Diamond have a small chat that will, helpfully, clear the air a bit.

Thanks for the review.

LindeleaReviewed Chapter: 3 on 6/2/2014
Oh, and to add to Dreamflower's comment: I don't recall reading about a Yule Dwarf in Llinos' stories, though there may very well have been one! I was away from fanfic for so long, and there's so much I missed or misremember. However, I do remember quite clearly that in one of Llinos' stories she had a Yule Dragon! If I'm remembering right the Yule Dragon would fly in and bring gifts to all the children, but while I'm clear on the Dragon part, I'm pretty hazy on the details.

Haha, now just watch me be wrong about that one fact that I'm "quite clear" on...

It's fun to catch glimpses of little traditions that the people inside the stories take for granted, like a Yule Dwarf or an Old Owl (I adapted that from my years living abroad, from a little family down the street that had little ones). I love to immerse myself in a world while reading, and details add so much to being able to be immersed, which is what makes one of your chapters, or Dreamflower's, or Larner's or Shirebound or Grey Wonderer or Budgielover or Fiondil (a recent addition to my reading list) or any number of other authors' stories so enjoyable.

Whoa, I can tell I haven't had more than a few sips of coffee this morning. I'm rambling more than usual. Thanks for having patience and letting me think aloud!

Author Reply: I knew it was you or someone that had the Yule Dwarf. I should probably give you credit for that. :)

I'm glad the little things I'm trying to add are making it a better story. This one is starting to look like it's going to be a long one. I may even end up coming close to the length of some of yours. I love all the neat details you put into your stories.

I have, after you mentioned you liked it so well, started reading the Elf Acadamy stories and I'm totally hooked. I'm so not an elf person but those characters are so much more likable in their new setting than they ever were to me in the first, second and third age of Middle-Earth. Okay, I did like Glorfindel, but he was about it until now.

You can send me rambling reviews any time you want to. I enjoy them.

LindeleaReviewed Chapter: 3 on 6/2/2014
Ah, Merry. It can be hard to regain trust once it has been lost. And I have the feeling Merry is fiercer in regard to Pippin's well being than he is to his own!

This was one of my favourite parts:

“Merry is a Brandybuck, and the only thing more immovable than a Brandybuck is a Baggins,” said Estella with a small laugh.

(And I don't know if Dreamflower has a Yule Dwarf -- what fun! -- but I had Gimli play Father Yule for the Brandybucks in At the End of His Rope -- complete with flour dusting to make him look aged, I think. At least his beard was real! ...whereas Regi always had to put on a combed-wool beard to play the part at the Great Smials.)

Author Reply: Merry's only interest in all of this is the wellbeing of Pippin's heart. He will do anything to see that nothing hurts his cousin. Once he believes all is well, he'll be his easy-going self again.

I'm glad you liked that line. I loved it when I saw it appear on the page. :)

Thanks for both reviews. ;)

DreamflowerReviewed Chapter: 3 on 6/2/2014
Ah, Merry is just perfect in this! And Pippin's right, it's not nearly so much suspicion as it is a need to be sure his "little" cousin isn't going to have his heart broken again. And Estella's comments to both Diamond and to Merry show just how wise she is to her husband--I'm sure she'll help win Merry over.

BTW, I think the "Yule Dwarf" is both Lindelea and Llinos, although I don't recall which of them came up with it first. It's a fun bit of fanon, though I don't use it myself, I love to see it crop up in a story.

Author Reply: Thanks for the Yule Dwarf info. I need to credit Lindelea since I now know I saw it in one of her stories I re-read recently.

Thanks for the compliment about Merry. I am a little out of practice writing him and needed to really weigh how he would be acting about now. Estella is a wise wife and a good friend. She and Diamond can make a team equal to their husbands.

Thanks for the review and the information.

shireboundReviewed Chapter: 3 on 6/1/2014
Sorry, only half my review posted! I meant to say that I really enjoyed this line:

You’re both Tooks and that means you will always be incomprehensible to other hobbits.

*grins*

Author Reply: I thought that was a fair assessment of them. Tooks are a different breed. :)

I thought it looked like something was missing in that review.

shireboundReviewed Chapter: 3 on 6/1/2014
The Yule Dwarf, LOL! Love that. And I love this, too:



Author Reply: I don't remember who created the Yule Dwarf. It was either Dreamflower or Lindalea I think. I guess I should credit them with that one.

Thanks for the review.

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