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| A Took by Any Other Name by Lindelea | 177 Review(s) |
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| FantasyFan | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 2/4/2005 |
| This is a marvelous chapter. I can understand why Diamond is laughing and crying at the same time. The scene is right out of Abbot and Costello - a cascade of falling hobbits and breakfast everywhere, all caused by the need for a bedpan. At the same time, seeing Pippin on the floor, tall and strong and totally helpless, would have caused a pang in pretty much anyone. I'm thrilled to hear this story will feature my favorites, the strong women of the Took and Brandybuck families. I know their menfolk appreciate them, and love them deeply, and rely on them for a lot of things, but these women have a strength that is as deep as the earth itself, and as inconspicuous as dirt. I do like reading about them. Author Reply: Yep, the womenfolk have to be pretty strong, what with the menfolk being beset by old fears and nightmares. Ah, Abbot and Costello, just the effect I was going for. Glad you saw it. And yes, "tall and strong and totally helpless" is enough to give me pangs! Thanks. | |
| Dreamflower | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 2/4/2005 |
| Poor Pippin, just one big bruise from head to toe. I loved the part about getting the porridge out of the way first! LOL! And I really loved the part at the end when Esmeralda is scolding him just as though he were still a young tween. Still wondering how this is going to fit into his naming of Faramir. I hope we will get to that soon, as my "puzzler" is "getting sore". *grin* Author Reply: Poor "puzzler". We'll be getting to that sooner than later, I think. I can only take so much angst, you know. Loved hearing about what you loved! Thanks. | |
| Dreamflower | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 2/4/2005 |
| Oh boy, two more chapters! And just enough time for them before I go to work! I love this conversation between Diamond and Esmeralda. Pippin's aunt knows him so well, and she's so concerned about the estrangement between her brother and his son. I love Diamond's tart and no-nonsense attitude about it. And I love the healer's discomfort at being privy to such personal discussion. This is going to be so hard for Pippin to come back from. Orcs. One of his worst nightmares, in the Shire. Author Reply: Goodness, I missed answering this review! I love hearing you hit the highlights. You're right. I cannot imagine Orcs in the Shire (except, perhaps, in the time of Bandobras). It was all I could do to imagine them in the Old Forest! | |
| Connie B. | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 2/4/2005 |
| I thought for sure that Diamond was going into labor this time. Those last few days before delivery seem neverending. Something told me that Pippin had tried to get up to go to the privy. Poor thing. He must have been sooo embarassed. I'm still trying to figure out the subtleties of this story. I know that eventually it will all make perfect sense, but for right now I'm looking for clues in everything. Which raises my next question. Pippin was acting like he'd hurt his arm again, did he? Just curious.:) Thanks. Connie B. Author Reply: Sorry, bad phrasing. Pippin was clutching desperately at the *healer's* arm. Changed it to make it clearer. Nothing wrong with Pippin but that every bone feels out of joint and every muscle is in knots and he's covered with scrapes and bruises all over. Poor lad. Thanks! Author Reply: p.s. They're going to try to keep Diamond from going into labour at all cost. She's still a month to six weeks away from term. | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 2/3/2005 |
| I see I have some catching up to do in some of your other stories. You are about the most prolific writer on the site I'm aware of, I must say! Author Reply: Goodness! Is prolific a good thing, or a bad thing? | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: Prologue on 2/3/2005 |
| Lovely scene between the Pippin and Diamond. Pippin, who hates admitting his weaknesses. Author Reply: Ah, yes. He'd rather make a joke than admit to such a thing. Thanks! | |
| Grey Wonderer | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 2/3/2005 |
| I have no idea how my review managed to go away when I posted it a minute ago, but I am stubborn enough to try again. You can delete the empties. LOL I enjoyed the way the healer was embarrassed by Diamond and Esmeralda's frank conversation. I also loved how Diamond could see some of Pippin and his father in Esmeralda. Lovely chapter. Glad therre was more posted of this so soon. After my reading session last night I was quite in the mood for more of this. Author Reply: Deleted empty review. It showed your email address, and I don't know if you're sensitive about such things. Am very glad you're stubborn enough to try again! Thanks for hitting the high points. Am trying to wrestle the next chapter to the ground even now. If I win, I'll post it tonight. | |
| Pearl Took | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 2/3/2005 |
| Very intriquing so far. Abattered and abused Pippin, a pregnant Diamond and a concerned everyone else. I'm really looking forward to reading more :) VWD!!! Author Reply: Thank you, Pearl. I really feel awful, revisiting this event. The Pippin-angst is so thick you could stand a spoon up in it. | |
| Hai Took | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 2/3/2005 |
| Your story "Seeing the Forest for the Trees" always intrigued me, I was fascinated by the idea of Orcs being in the Shire and the hobbits having to deal with them. I had never thought of the set backs it might have for Pippin. The physical seemingly being the least. I'm glad you have rather taken it up again, through another story! I'm looking forward to more, thank you! Author Reply: Thank you! I never thought I'd revisit this time, until I started wondering just how Faramir Took got his name... | |
| FantasyFan | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 2/3/2005 |
| I'm always so excited when you begin a new story. Whether it's in a familiar setting and time, like this is, or branching out somewhere new, I always have a sense of anticipation for thrills and heartache and excitement and good old-fashioned hobbitness. I forget to say sometimes how much I feel enriched by your imagination and wit. Thanks for continuing to put these gifts out there for us to squeal over. This is really a tough time for Pippin, isn't it? He's not too sure of anything right now, except the love of his wife and his cousin. I can imagine that getting over another orc abduction and torture is going to be difficult. I hope Farry's impending arrival helps distract and heal him. I think you have an error in this chapter as posted. The two lines, "Through it all, Pippin continued to sleep, but the healer did not seem concerned by that fact. Esmeralda laid Diamond’s plate aside and returned to the bedside." are repeated in the thirteenth and fourteenth paragraphs. (Unless Diamond is really hungry enough for two plates.) Looking forward to the next chapter! Author Reply: Thanks for the catch. That was supposed to be a cut-and-paste to move the text to a more appropriate place, and it ended up a copy-and-paste, I think. I certainly appreciate your encouragement. Sometimes RL gets busy, people don't have time to review and I feel as if I'm talking to myself (which I do, but at least I don't answer myself... yet). And my RL has gotten busy too. But so long as people are reading I will keep carving out from RL writing projects some time each day for writing LOTR stories, and posting a chapter as I finish it. (And hopefully enjoying the "outside" perspectives that the reader brings to the story.) Yes, this is a tough time for Pippin. At a time when the present is full of promise for the future, building upon the past, he's cut off from his roots, after being brought up as a loyal Took. I sure wish Frodo were around for him to talk to... He could use an older and wiser cousin, and there are things he doesn't want to talk to Merry about. Frodo would be a little more detached, and he hasn't had some of the shared experiences that Merry and Pippin have had. Still, even without Frodo, you'll have some of your wishes: strong womenfolk having their hour to shine. Or so the outline promises. Haven't quite finished the draft yet, though a few of the chapters are written (first, last, and some of the middle). And it takes my mind off "Thain" which is not going at all, at the moment. We are discussing just how much of the next sheaf of pages is "background" and how much is "story". The scene takes up right after the Thain's bombshell, but it is possible all that will get cut and we'll start off with the ride home (for Pearl, and the Brandybucks, and the Thain, and...). Dunno. Am of two minds. Thanks! | |