News Resources
Login
Become a member
Help
Search
|
|
| About Us News Resources
Login
Become a member
Help
Search
|
|
|
| All Those Who Wander by daw the minstrel | 36 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| emjo | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/19/2005 |
| Oh Daw you have no idea how excited I am to see a story from you! I love this story already. Daddy Thranduil is my favorite no matter how old his sons are. Thank you for posting! Author Reply: I'm excited about it too! I missed these characters while I was off writing original fic. I think Thranduil was a good father, the primary evidence being the son we see in the Fellowship. All the bad Ada Thranduil stories drive me crazy. | |
| Alice | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/19/2005 |
| Yay! You're back! I really missed reading new stories from you this summer. I'd come to Stories of Arda and look for Daw the Minstrel and kind of sigh when there was nothing there. This story seems like it has a lot of potential. Legolas is going with his daddy on a business trip! That's bound to be interesting. Nimloth seems very capable though, so hopefully Legolas won't get into too much trouble. Of course, we all know he's going to get into some. The family interaction is really sweet. I started college this weekend and I was doing all right on home sickness until I read this chapter. Family really is the center of your stories. I like that, because it's how life is also. It can't all be orc slaying and quest joining, no matter what Tolkien would have you believe. There were just a lot of really nice little moments in here, like the thing about the blankies and Legolas crawling into bed with Eilian and Eilian and Ithilden kind of snarking at each other. Hee. If I were Eilian, I'd so make fun of Ithilden for having a blankie too. Ithilden was great in this chapter by the way. I loved "he was sure he'd been much more sober when Eilian's age" thought. Of course Ithilden was more sober than Eilian. Ithilden was more sober than the adults who raised him well before he hit his majority. Eilian and Ithilden are good foils for each other. I like how both Ithilden and Legolas have gone into over-protective mode over the father. The lost one parent and they're not going to lose another. It's very understandable. And maybe I'm a bit too attached to these characters because I'm analyzing them like they're real people . So, I'm really glad you're back, even though I so totally think you writing original fiction is a great idea and really want you to get published so I can go and buy it and thereby have transportable Daw writing. I look forward to reading more cute Legolas as an elfling moments in the next chapter. Update soon! Author Reply: Wow. Your college started late in the year, you lucky dog. We had two full weeks of classes before Labor Day. Surely that violates the laws of nature? Poor Ithilden. He had a hard time being a kid. Did you see the story Nilmandra wrote about him this summer as a birthday present for me? He was serious as anything, poor baby. His mother probably spent time trying to loosen him up. Now no-one ever tried to loosen Eilian up. He was loose enough to start with! But you're exactly right about Ithilden and Legolas being on the same page. Neither one of them intends to leave Thranduil unguarded. The original fic is a trip and a half. I have the novel all written (although I keep discovering things that could be better). So now I have to find an agent. So I've been sending queries and getting rejected. One agent told me he gets 50 queries a day and takes 15 new clients a year -- meaning less that 1 in 1000. Ack! I'm learning a lot though. I hope the thing does eventually get published because I'd love to share it with all my fanfic buddies. | |
| meckinock | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/19/2005 |
| This is just what I needed. I missed Eilian! And the first segment was so warm and cozy I wanted to climb in to bed with Legolas and Eilian (no snorting, your Minstrelship!) Orc spit! I can't wait to see where that little gem comes up again. Eilian got what he deserved for forgetting Legolas's little stockings, though. He's so good with the little guy, despite being hung over. I so love the way the alternating POVs fill us in on everyone's gossipy little insights about each other. Legolas doesn't mind smelling wine on Eilian's breath, but Ada sometimes does! LOL. And a bored Eilian is a dangerous Eilian. And then there's this: But Legolas did not make the rules, and in the long run, he would be happier if he knew it. Good luck with that one, Thranduil. As I recall, that's a lesson that takes a long time sinking in. I like the way the warmth and humor are interwoven with the heavier tones - the loss of Lorellin is driving the family closer but there's an edge of fear - from Legolas wandering the halls doing bed checks at night (that's so sweet but so sad) to Ithilden ordering extra escorts for the king, their lives have changed and they're just beginning to come to terms with it. I am so looking forward to the upcoming trip. Author Reply: I missed Eilian too! I don't suppose the fact that he sleeps naked affected your feelings on whether to climb into bed with him? He probably needs a ranger to protect him! He and Legolas are good for one another. They love one another pretty uncritically, something Eilian probably needs even more than Legolas does. I think that despite Thranduil's best intentions, Legolas does get not exactly spoiled, but perhaps a little overprotected, so that it takes him too long to realize that his actions can have serious consequences. I'm thinking about the trip. I'll have to make up some village life for it. I like doing that once I get over groaning about it. | |
| Frodo3791 | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/19/2005 |
| You're back! I was so glad to see the story alert in my email a little bit ago. I've missed your stories a lot, and during those long stretches without anything new to read, I went back and read some of your other stories. You always make your stories so interesting. Due to the time in which this is taking place, I have a feeling we're going to have another angsty story on our hands. No problem. I like angst. I can't wait to see what's up next. Update soon. Blah... now to work on that dreaded homework I should have worked on earlier... -Micah Author Reply: Hey, Micah! I'm very glad to be writing about these characters again. I miss them when I don't. I think there'll be some angst here but less than in "When Shadow Touches Home" maybe. They're healing. They're just not healed yet. Homework is the worst. If only you could be done with work or school when you go home! | |
| Kitty | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/19/2005 |
| Great to see you back with a little Legolas story which happens to by favorite may i add! Can' t wait to see the trip as it will almost be like a family outing for Legolas. Author Reply: I'm so happy to be back I could cry! I've missed little Legolas no end. I'm hoping the trip produces some interesting moments for Thranduil and his sons. | |
| thechevin | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/19/2005 |
| Well this was such a lovely surprise I have missed your stories so much and it was a real treat to read too This family it seems are all in need of some TLC especially Legolas. His cold feet came as a surprise to Eilian and I suspect that his reaction will come as much of a surprise to Thranduil when Legolas repeats it! Will that be at the meeting with the villagers perhaps! I did like the idea of his comfort blanket and the care everyone took to make sure he had it with him when he needed it not to mention Ithilden's horror on finding his own blanket in the treasure box and Eilian's glee Eilian can do no right it seems in his family, except as far as his youngest brother is concerned where he can do no wrong. I thought the way Legolas managed to break the stalemate in the dining room was very much in keeping with two stubborn wills only prepared to bend for his needs. Thranduil is such a good father and is struggling so hard to keep his family together in this sad time I just wish he had someone to offer him the comfort he gives to others. Author Reply: It was kind of a surprise to me too! I've been working on original fic and just missed these characters too much not to take a chance to write a story about them. Legolas will repeat what he hears at a time that seems right to him, no doubt. :-) Legolas's family is very tolerant of the blanket, which I think is good. I hate it when people try to shame a kid into giving up something like that. Eilian is having his usual trouble in getting along with anyone in his family except Legolas. It's obvious they love him. They just can't deal with him, and really he can be very provocative. | |
| Alison H | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/19/2005 |
| Yes, you're back! I was hoping that you would post your next story as the summer reached autumn--and this chapter has set the story up nicely. I just *love* little Legolas and Eilian together.The love they have for each other is so special and they both need that unconditional love now that their mother has gone.Yes, the cold feet was funny and I'm sure that Eilian will rue the day he said '"Orc spit"! I love the little touches you add to each character,how you explore the dynamics that exist between the brothers and their father and how Thranduil has the toughest, but most rewarding job of all--that of a single parent.What a hero he is! I do hope Eilian gets to go on the trip with the family.It would be very interesting for Legolas especially, to see his family away from the stronghold. Can't wait for the next chapter.Update soon! Ali. Author Reply: I'm so glad to be back doing this. The scene with Legolas and Eilian together was my favorite one to write in this chapter. They do enjoy one another and really NEED one another. I'm afraid "orc spit" may become part of Legolas's vocabularly for a while. We'll see what Ada has to say about that. Thranduil is a very good father, even though he's struggling to figure out how to do the things Nana used to do not only with Legolas but with the older two too. I'm working on the next chapter. I have about 2500 words done, but now I have to go to work. | |
| Elena Tiriel | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/19/2005 |
| I have been suffering terribly from withDawal, and am thrilled to see you writing for us again! More Eilian, please! You can include more of those other secondary characters, too, if you must.... ;-D - Barbara, so happy to get a fix.... Author Reply: I've been missing these characters terribly, so I'm thrilled too. More Eilian, please! Must he be naked? Or is clothed okay too? It turns out there's a fair amount of Eilian in this story, I think. | |
| Yanic | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/19/2005 |
| It made me so happy to see a new story! And Legolas and Eilian's relationship is just too adorable. Putting his cold feet on his back, adorable! I know someone who does just the same thing. And the flashback Eilian had about ithilden's special blanket was priceless. Makes them seem more like a real family. Author Reply: I made me happy to see this new story too! :-) I love writing about Legolas and Eilian together when Legolas is young. They love one another uncritically and they both get a lot comfort out of that. | |
| Socket | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/19/2005 |
| Oh, it's so great to see you back with another story, Daw! I have really missed reading them. And a story about Little Legolas! I had this huge grin on my face when I got the e-mail. I love the way you create these realistic, touching relationships within the Thranduilion family, the tension between Ithilden and Eilian as their dual roles as brothers and commander-warrior conflict; Eilian the loving, if forgetful, caregiver of his younger brother; and Thranduil's struggles to raise his youngest as a single parent, torn between a desire to discipline and his pity for the struggling, fearful Legolas. There's always so much going in your stories, I can read them over and over again (and I do!). And I love the humor you inject into the story -- the image of Legolas tasting his porridge as if it were a vintage of wine; Eilian realizing that he's naked under the sheets and possibly the view of Nimloth; the triumphant look that Elian gives his father when he's able to eat breakfast. Those moments go quite far in making your stories so enjoyable. I did have some problems figuring out the timeline at the end of this story -- I think that, without your comment, I might have not known on the first reading that we had shifted back some years. Not a major problem, but I thought I'd pass it on, since you had asked about it. Thanks for feeding my addition again! Can't wait for the next chapter. I think it will be great for Legolas to take a journey with his father and Ithilden, and I'm sure you're setting up another exciting adventure for the family. Author Reply: I'm pleased to be back too. I miss these characters greatly when I'm not writing about them. I've written about them long enough now that I can see the complications in their relationships easily. They love one another but they annoy one another and scare one another too. I feel like I know them well enough to know when they'll give one another triumphant glances and so on. Oh geez. I guess I just missed them. Maybe I'll look at that last part again and see if I can make it clearer. | |