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Interrupted Journeys: Part 2 Journeys Perforce by elliska	82 Review(s)
Bodkin	Reviewed Chapter: 13 on 12/5/2004
I suppose 2000 years is quite an age gap though. It's not so much that he is fully adult now as that babies of the family seem to pick up some 'it's somebody else's problem' attitudes as they grow up. They're supposed to be easy to get on with and fun to be around, partly because they let someone else do their thinking for them. Just read daw's comment and your review of it - two things: 1) Amoneth and Aradunnon have a kid!!!!!! (So you can't be killing them off in the near future,) and 2) Ithilden and Alfirin's early years!!!!!! (The prospect must have been nearly enough to put her off marrying him. I reckon Galion must have really been on her side - that's partly why she supported him over the drunk in charge of dwarves scenario.) Author Reply: I think Thranduil does tend to look at Aradunnon in some circumstances as his baby brother. You couldn't help it. :) And Aradunnon has to have some of the 'it's Thradnuil's problem' syndrome--and I bet he's gald of it. Who would want to be a king?! I have always been in some level of management and I've learned one thing firmly--no need to have too much responsibility. It's way too much work. :) Yes, they have a kid. That only takes one year though. evil grin And yes, poor Daw. She says something simple like that and we're all off to the races thinking 'ooo, I wonder if she'll do this or that.' It has to be hard and I don't make it any easier on her because I'm always speculating. But really--can you imagine? You'd have to be deeply in love with the guy to marry into such a difficult situation. I imagine Daw will have to go bad and re-read some of her own fic just to see the little details of all Alfirin's interactions with the staff--like that one you pointed out. It's so much fun writing this stuff and thinking about all the scenarios and all that. I just can't stop myself. My beta and I, as we argued this last chapter and the next one, started wondering about some of Thranduil's formative years. That led to writing the outline of a First Age story. God help me. It never stops.

Bodkin	Reviewed Chapter: 11 on 12/5/2004
Just noticed a title typo - feuds is 'eu' not 'ue'. Sorry to nitpick. Author Reply: For heavens sake, always tell me those things. I hate that stuff. I never notice it. I'm off to fix it. Thanks! :)

daw the minstrel	Reviewed Chapter: 13 on 12/5/2004
I was so interested in Amoneth's struggles. I've just been thinking about my next story and wondering how Alfirin thought about stepping into the management of the royal household, young as she was and aware as she must have been that there were people who were used to running it already. This is cool! I also like the idea that she likes watching Aradunnon at the council meetings. He must look different to her there when he's a councillor, not a lover. And I have to say, it's certainly clear that Thranduil runs this place! Good for Amoneth in her behavior at the feast with Fuinil. She was in a tough position. She's plainly still sorting out what's acceptable and what's not. I have to admit it hadn't occurred to me that Aradunnon was supposed to be learning a lesson either. Author Reply: Ooo. A 'early years of Ithilden and Alfirin' would be a really cool next story. I like those two--they deserve more air time. :) And that would be a toughy for her. With Lindomiel, there was Dieneryn to help introduce her and to smooth things along when they were too much for Lindomiel. Alfirin would have no one--just Ithilden and Thranduil, who would have zero time for her in that respect. She'd need to find a friend in the staff fast. That might be hard given the staff have been running the palace for years themselves and might not see her as necessary--an intrusion even. That would be a tough balance and there would have to be some friction. And at the same time she'd be dealing with adapting to the palace--unlike Amoneth, she did not live in that environment her whole life. Caves, servants, formality, boy! You could have a lot of fun with that. As for Amoneth, as I implied, this whole sequence was intially three chapters and it got some severe chopping into this one. There were two main things going on in it--Thranduil's management of the move now that it's actually happening and Amoneth's struggle to work things out. I felt like they both needed to be there. Everything can't be all peachy in this move--Thranduil can't make everyone happy. It's just not possible when you are dealing with circumstances like this. And the Amoneth/Aradunnon thing has to be worked out--they have a son in the next part and he has a role throughout the whole story--going to require a marriage! :) I tend to explain every little thing and my beta says--move it along. She won. She usually does. :) Anyway, when cutting, since I am a sucker for characters over action, I decided to keep the parts with Amoneth and only imply the difficulties with the move. I think her main problem with understanding how to treat Thranduil is that she is young and she's had little responsibility--she was 100 when she came with Lindomiel to Greenwood. Lindomiel was raised running Amroth's household and stepped into running Thranduil's with the help of his mother. She's had responsibility her whole life and so she understands the whole package that comes with it. Amoneth has helped Lindomiel, but she has not had anything she was fully responsible for. She doesn't know how to lead so she doesn't understand how important it is to support people publicly and correct them privately, for example. I think struggling with managing a household of people who love and respect someone else--Lindomiel--would show Amoneth a lot that she doesn't understand about Thranduil. And Thranduil knows that as well. I think Thranduil also knew Amoneth had to see Aradunnon (and possibly even Thranduil) in a different role to respect that role--she sees him around the breakfast table, not the council table. Time to see that difference, and she did. Amoneth did her best at the feast with Fuinil and it wasn't too bad. Except for when she first opened her mouth, she thought about what she was saying. That's a big step for her. She's learning. At least she's trying to sort things out. She's thinking. That's the first step in learning. And yes, the fact that Aradunnon needed a lesson was less obvious. But he did, and now he's received it. He seems to do a little better than Amoneth at learning faster from his lessons. So he will be helping her more. And that will only make her learning go better. They are on the right road.

Bodkin	Reviewed Chapter: 13 on 12/5/2004
I was so happy to see this! A great Sunday afternoon read. Is Aradunnon a lot younger than Thranduil? Because he definitely seems to have some 'baby of the family' characteristics. I suppose it comes partly from being the 'spare' - younger princes really don't need to take life as seriously as the 'heir', but he really does still seem to need to have things pointed out to him in words of one syllable. Hopefully, now he knows that he needs to support Amoneth and work with her, they will both get on rather better with their whole maturing experience. And Amoneth - glad as I am to see her being put through it, she is too scared of putting a foot wrong at the moment to learn as much as she could. Maybe now she has been praised for what she has done so far, she will be able to open up a bit to the information coming in from the sides. And the shock of having rebels expected her to leap in on their side will have done her good - she has ranged herself alongside the authorities now. Shame Uncle Engwe can't be put through a bit of training. He is able to take advantage of being an elder and cause more trouble than he should. (Point Aradunnon towards his uncle and tell him - that could be you, if you don't learn to control yourself.) Now I'm going to read it again. Author Reply: Aradunnon is probably quite a bit too old to be this stupid about somethings, but many adults are that way--really successful in parts of their lives and really failures in others. Its your willingness to recognize your shortcomings and improve upon them that determines how you ultimately turn out as a whole person. He would be nearly 3000 here and Thranduil would be around 5000 given where I have chosen to put his birth (I say in the first part that he was forty when Elu Thingol was killed--you do the math, I'm terrible at it). :)Anyway, Aradunnon is quite old enough to know how to treat Amoneth better. He just isn't bright with women. As an adult, I think you could be good at your job (even one such as troop commander) good at supporting the family that you grew up with, but not so good at knowing how to manage your own family, the one you intend to start with a wife. That's his problem. He has improved, though--he's paying attention to her and not flirting. Now he needs to learn to listen to her and help her. I think they've got it, finally. They just need to keep working on it. You are right on that Amoneth is currently too afraid to open her mouth. She has needed to see some praise so she can relax and see the lessons before her. Now maybe she will. And Engwe is just a lost cause. A little too much Oropher/being the elder/remembering the bitterness of Beleriand. He would have to forget too much to change. But Thranduil has him under control--he's only annoying privately.

French Pony	Reviewed Chapter: 13 on 12/5/2004
Amoneth and Aradunnon really are two of a kind, aren't they? It occurs to me that one of the many things they have in common is that they're both mightily intimidated by Thranduil. Even as Aradunnon assures his fiancee that Thrandui won't bite, you know he's worried about those teeth as well. And Aradunnon has one more thing in common with big bro: They both appear to fall for women who won't call for guards. Some men like blondes, some like legs, some go for, I don't know, elbows or something, but these two seem to go for women with bravado. The feast seems to have been a success. For Amoneth's next challenge, she should try planning out a vegan Passover seder. A feast with no meat, milk, fish, eggs (beyond the ritual ones, I guess; I've never understood how vegans deal with that), or leavening. Of course, now you've got me thinking about flourless desserts. My Sephardi cookbook has a large section of desserts based on fruit, nuts, eggs, and syrups. They tend to be extremely rich. For a party, I once made tishpishti, which is a Turkish walnut cake without flour for Passover. It absolutely swims in rose syrup, and when I took the dish home, my friend's whole car smelled like roses. Now I'm thinking that Amoneth has inspired me to try my hand at scodelline, which is a rich egg-and-almond cream. Fuinil is bad news. If Amoneth were slightly more clever than she is, she might have pretended to go along with him and learned all about the plans and the secret fort (people like Fuinil always have secret forts) and gone running off to Thranduil at the best opportunity. But that kind of Nancy Drew work is well beyond her, and probably would even be well beyond Lindomiel, who's just too nice to think of doing something underhanded like that. Dieneryn could probably pull it off, though. But I wonder about Fuinil. His name is familiar. I think he's cropped up before in this story, but it seems I remember him from somewhere in last story. I shall have to go check. And I do believe that we haven't heard from the Black Swan in a while. She's been biding her time quite patiently, and that's never a good sign. Author Reply: Hi French Pony. You just kill me, you know. I am vegetarian (though not vegan and I do not make a fuss over it), and I have attended many a Passover seder because my best girlfriend as a child was Jewish. I just burst out laughing at that whole imagine you painted because I pictured her mama fussing over me. Believe me, its not a pretty picture and her father never approved of my presence at his table. Those Sephardic recipes are to die for, aren't they? My dissertation director wrote a lot on the Sephardic Jews in Spain because their language and lit is of tremendous historical value in the Spanish tradition. So he was very interested in all things Sephardic. He would invite us over to his house for feasts (literally--he was the most phenomenal cook) and we would just drool. I wrote this chapter after a re-enactment and the feast was great--thus the specific food references (I'm not that good at food--love eating it, don't want to eat my own). Now you've got me hankering. Fuinil is bad news. He will appear again. Amoneth is definitely not so clever as to trick him into revealing the location of his secret fort. Ah, the Black Swan. I am going to try to keep my mouth shut about this part of the plot if for no other reason than I have not chosen its final course amongst the many possibilities and I don't want to box myself in yet by saying too much in a review. It is far too earlier for that. Suffice to say that everyone could not possibly be happy with moving again or the danger in the forest. There are certain to be people that are bound to be resentful or angry or frightened--it is an entire society afterall. Those types of people would make Thranduil's life difficult by doing stupid things like accepting help from tricksy, self-centered Men and arguing over settlement sites. And listening to others who are equally bitter.

French Pony	Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 11/19/2004
It's amazing what a little fencing, a day with only one class, a nap and chocolate will do for one's mood. Dieneryn really is a shiksa, isn't she? When Thranduil asked her to stay with the Dwarves, the first thing I thought was that he had picked the only person he could, for what nana could refuse her firstborn baby anything? The second thing I thought was that her response might go more along these lines: Thranduil: Stay with the Dwarves for fifty years, naneleh. Dieneryn: What? Me, stay with the Dwarves, whose people rose up and destroyed my home, which I fled with only the clothes on my back and my baby in my arms? Oy, Thranduileh, with my own body I nourished you and protected you from the marauding Dwarves, and this is how you repay your mother's love? Thranduil: On second thought, maybe Lindomiel should stay. . . Dieneryn: No, my son should not have to ask his wife such a thing. From your mother you may ask, for a mother will always give. Fine. Go away Enjoy these last years remaining to you in your lovely, civilized, tree-house capital, in the company of your own people and your brother. You will be very busy, organizing wonderful farewell parties and celebrations, so I will not expect you to write to your old mother, all alone with the Dwarves, but if you ever need anything of me, all you need to do is ask. When my grandchildren (whom I will never see in the beauty of their infancy) arrive, be kind and name one for your father, may he rest in peace, and teach them not to forget your poor, dutiful, abandoned mother, doing her duty to her King and Lord living all alone with only the Dwarves for company. By that point, Thranduil would be lying on the floor sobbing openly. But Lindomiel does make up for much of that, doesn't she. Oh well, it'll be a way to get Thranduil up to the construction site for. . . ahem. . . "inspection" at least once a year, nudge nudge wink wink, eh wot? I am endlessly amused by Nali, who approves of the King's plans. I do hope he turns out to be one of Gimli's distant ancestors, because that would be just too cool. Wow. . . when Radagast says that "a little bird told him" something, he really means it, doesn't he? And Thranduil is going to take on a fifty-year apprenticeship in bird-listening. It must seem to his people as though he's Prince Charles who's just met his latest guru. But it is a useful skill to have, and he will have fifty "frustrating" years ahead of him, so he might as well do something productive. And then he, too, will be able to smile serenely and say "oh, a little bird told me." Smackdown! We all knew Amoneth had it coming (and boy howdy, did she ever!), but the threats against Aradunnon were something else. Thranduil certainly knows how to wield a mean threat, doesn't he? Though I suspect that, were he truly to banish Aradunnon, he'd find out real quick just how much he needs li'l bro around for his own mental health. Which would just make him even more pissed off at Amoneth. Speaking of whom, she is finally going to get the education she should have had a long time ago, and it's going to be a lot harder now. This may force her to decide once and for all if Aradunnon is really worth marrying or not. Author Reply: Ok, I have a new rule--in addition to not reading your reviews at work, I am also not going to read them at 5:00am when I can't sleep because my husband is snoring. I laughed so hard at this that I woke him up.... Wait. That seems fair. I loved your version of Thranduil and Dieneryn's dialogue. Even more so because there is a version of it that has a line something like "What would your father have said and how do you plan on explaining this order to him when you see him again..." blah blah--in other words, laying it on a bit more. I liked yours better though. I like Nali too. I like dwarves. I think I'd be one if I lived in Middle Earth. They fit my personality pretty well I'd have to admit. Radagast, as little part as he gets in LotR, was my favorite character when I first read the book (I read the trilogy before the Hobbit and got attached to the Elvenking). I'm afraid I'm one of those tree-huggers as they call us in the US. An environment freak. I thought the idea of Yavanna and Radagast was just too cool on Tolkien's part. So I'm afraid I have to include him when I can. And it does say in the Hobbit that the birds had already carried news of Smaug's death to the Elvenking, so canonically, Thranduil does have a special relationship with the birds in his realm. So.... Bottom line, I'll admit, I just like Radagast and birds. :) (The Prince Charles guru thing is what finally did me in--I had my laughter smothered in a pillow before that.) Yes, Amoneth had it coming and now she's going to get it. For fifty years. Good thing time passes under an elf's notice. I'm sure Thranduil would not want to lose Aradunnon, for personal and political reasons. But, he is right--Amoneth behaved like an idiot--where was Aradunnon? He should have helped her. They both are at fault. So now they have Thranduil's personal help. As much as I'd like to spend time with the Elvenking, I don't think those would be the perfect circumstances. Thanks for the review! I'm glad you're feeling better. Yes fencing and chocolate...that's the ticket.

Brazgirl	Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 11/19/2004
This was your best chapter, it trully was. Thranduil's mother reaction was so, so nice! I love it. And Lindomiel, even at her age, is behaving so well, so queen like. It was a wise decision, though it will cause her beautiful husband some loneliness. Loved the wizard. Very natural, very Tolkien like. And now... the best. The discussion between Thranduil and Amoneth. It was better than I expected. Thank you so much for sharing this. Actually thanks for sharing this fic! Hey, I don't care how long you take to update, this is just great! Come on! When Thranduil said he would be her tutor I jumped! And I bet he is the most strict tutor she will now! He sounds to me someone who never lets his pupils fails... that is frightening! The whole guilty he made her feel, the threats... the treatment he gave his brother because of her! Very, very nice! Wonderful. Brazgirl (still amazed by Thranduil) Author Reply: Thank you, Brazgirl. :) I had fun with this chapter in a lot of ways. Mainly because I was playing with Thranduil's authority. His mother gives him a hard time--and Thranduil even admits he couldn't force her to stay--but notice that she does stay. Lindomiel stays though Thranduil would prefer she not--again he admits he can't stop her--but he still gets what he wants: Lindomiel's acceptance of the new home. The guards don't want to stay behind...but notice they do. Radagast goes where he wants, and it's where Thranduil wants him. And boy does Amoneth get what she deserves--Thranduil's full wrath. In other words--Thranduil always gets what he wants in the end. :) I love Thranduil. I thought you'd like the discussion between Thranduil and Amoneth. It was pretty harsh but she has had plenty of opportunities to do the right thing and she didn't. And now she will pay--yes, I bet Thranduil will be a very demanding tutor. :) She will not fail. It will be frightening for her if she doesn't shape up. And, ultimately, he is really trying to help her and therefore his brother. He's a good person. Thanks for the review!

daw the minstrel	Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 11/19/2004
Wow. Angry!Thranduil is really scary. If that doesn't make an impression on Amoneth, nothing will. I was interested in the fact that Lindomiel stayed in the north. That's consistent with what Tolkien says about married couple sometimes spending years apart (as Galadriel and Celeborn did in the Second Age). Of course, I think that usually comes after the childbearing years, but the times are so tumultuous here that Thranduil and Lindomiel have evidently put that off. Author Reply: Angry!Thranduil is scary. I get a kick out of him (probably because I'm safely on the other side of my computer screen and not in the same room with him). But Amoneth can't gainsay him publicly. This chapter played around a little with authority and Thranduil getting everything he needed where he needs it. There are lots of ways to do that. Dieneryn and Lindomiel do things for the sake of the kingdom whether they like them or not and Thranduil gets the help he needs from them--he doesn't have to worry about having absolute control over them because they already make their choices for the best of the realm. Some people, like Radagast, play a role Thranduil doesn't completely understand yet, that may not entirely sit well with him yet, but that his instincts tell him will serve his ends. And some people, like Amoneth, must be brought to compliance. In the end, Thranduil has what he needs. Yes, LaCE says elves sometimes spend time apart. I almost think fifty years would seem trivial to them though so it shouldn't be that big a hardship. But honestly, the childbearing years thing is the part of this story that even I don't accept, to be honest. Thranduil and Lindomiel have been married for 1000 years of perfectly peaceful time now and LaCE says elves have children early on in their marriage in times of peace. There really isn't any reason they shouldn't have children yet. Except I just can't believe that Legolas is 3000 years old at the War of the Ring so... I fudge over that a little in the opening chapter of this part with the whole 'Thranduil's been busy bringing his kingdom back to prosperity and Lindomiel was so young herself' thing but it doesn't really hold water. :) Oh well. I don't want Legolas born yet. So he's not. :-D Thanks for the review.

Bodkin	Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 11/19/2004
Well, I wouldn't want to cross Thranduil. I hope Amoneth manages to learn from his 'personal tutelage'. It could well be the making of her. (I hope it is, because I would like to see her and Aradunnon happy together.) I think it's one of the problems of being the spare. (The wives of the aristocratic and royal being obliged to produce an 'heir and spare' before getting on with their own lives.) The trouble is that the spare doesn't have much of a role and the wife (or betrothed) of a spare has even less. Perhaps if Amoneth had been put to work earlier, she wouldn't be such an idiot. Thranduil's cool authority was much more scary than shouting at her - and she might be more inclined to try if she knows how upset Aradunnon would be if she failed and was exiled. On the other hand, he was really interesting in his treatment of Radagast - and he is right. Radagast's presence is the best thing possible for the forest under present circumstances. I hope Thranduil manages to learn Dr. Doolittle techniques. Perhaps Aradunnon should learn, too. Lindomiel is wise to stay in the north and work with her naneth-in-law establish the stronghold - although it surely won't be a total separation. Thranduil is bound to have to pop north regularly. (He seems to have won on leaving his captain and lieutenant to guard the ladies.) I love Nali - he is a Good Dude. And the secret passage idea is a good one. Thranduil might not be able to command Dieneryn, Lindomiel or Radagast, but I think he can do a pretty good job on everyone else. Author Reply: No, I would not ever want to have a meeting like that with anyone and Thranduil, much less. And I definitely would not want Thranduil's personal tutelage. When I started grad school, I was terribly under-prepared for the program I was accepted to. One of the professors called me into his office after the first exam and read me the riot act (calmly, like Thranduil, but after I left his office I went to the bathroom and cried) and then offered me his personal tutelage. He and his wife, who also worked in the department, made it their mission in life to bring me up to speed. It worked. That professor did not allow failure. He ended up being my dissertation director and I just loved him. But boy! That was a tough semester! I suspect that Thranduil and Aradunnon have finally made an impression on Amoneth. I think the heir and spare thing is funny. Sad and true. But funny. And you are correct. I like Radagast a lot. I don't buy the 'he failed because he got caught up with animals' thing. Granted, Tolkien made it very clear in his letters and in UT that is what he intended for Radagast, but I think he's wrong. If Radagast had not been friends with the Eagles, Gandalf would still be locked up in Orthanc. Radagast served his role, however small. Over time, everyone who played a role in the War of the Ring has had their place laid out for them. It's so interesting how all these things come to pass. And he does help in Mirkwood too, I think. We know from the Hobbit that birds are the special friends of the Elvenking. Heaven only knows if Thranduil learned that himself or with Radagast's help but in my story, he had the wizard's help. :) I like Nali too. I had more fun writing the dwarves in the various parts of this story than I expected I would. They are pretty cool and I can identify with their personality as it's described in the Sim far too well. :) Yes, Thranduil gets exactly what he wants regardless of how he got it. Dieneryn did stay. Lindomiel did accept the caves. Radagast will help Mirkwood. The guards may have protested (I suspect they did), but they stayed. And everyone else--you'd be better off obeying. Take Amoneth as an example of what happens when you don't. :) Thanks for the review!

Brazgirl	Reviewed Chapter: 11 on 11/18/2004
Uau! What a discussion... I think it was the worse thing Amoreth had to hear from someone. He said he distrust her, he doesn't see her as his wife... that her tongue is a threat to their love... And he is right! They had had that conversation before and she should have get it by now. Thranduil irritated is always nice for me. I love this elf. I was so anxious to read this chapter... thanks for the update! Author Reply: Hi Brazgirl! Yes, Amoneth got a harsh lecture an I agree, what Aradunnon said had to sting pretty badly. She deserved it. And it's only the beginning. I am proofreading the next chapter right now and I hope to post it this evening. Amoneth faces Thranduil in this one. I have to agree with you--I find an irritated Thranduil to be a lot of fun. So I had fun with the next chapter. Sorry the update took so long this time. In addition to an insane workload, my car died and my dog is having liver surgery (can you imagine such a thing for a dog!) and both my husband and I got the flu! It's been a tense last week. :) Thank heavens I have the fun of LotR fanfiction!

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