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| Just Desserts by Lindelea | 203 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| harrowcat | Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 10/15/2005 |
| At least they now know that Pippin is not to blame for the arrests. But who overheard Farry? I guess we are about to hear. Author Reply: It was the guardsman or guardsmen who were shadowing the young hobbits. Hopefully it will become clear in an upcoming chapter, especially now that I have Dreamflower's lovely list of names to choose from. | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 10/14/2005 |
| Oh, Eru preserve the child, and them. And not fair! Another cliffhanger! AARGH! Author Reply: Sorry. Cliffhangers make convenient stopping places, especially when I'm interrupted. Thanks! | |
| harrowcat | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 10/14/2005 |
| Uncertainty is the worst of all possible states to live with I think. The heights of hope and the depths of despair can all come within seconds. And poor lad - brightening at the thought of Farry's promise and then to realise the promise was actually kept! We are all hanging on the thought of the decency and enlightenment of Aragorn; as long as they get as far as him! Author Reply: I agree with you about uncertainty. That dratted King. Such abysmal timing, to go visiting his relatives at a time like this... | |
| Dreamflower | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 10/14/2005 |
| Well, of course, Robin's faith is not misplaced. I am quite sure Farry's father *is* speaking for them, but of course the legalities are going to be all a-tangle, such as only you can weave, and while they may not have been hung, I am quite sure they will not win free quite so easily... Author Reply: Of course Robin's faith is in the right place, but it's just been shaken by reality. (I love that old quote, "Don't confuse me with the facts!" or something like that.) Where *are* Will and Jack? One can only rationalise for so long... though of course the delay is explainable, and if it is plausible that no one would go by the gallows on purpose, tucked away in an inconvenient, isolated part of the city as it is, then no one in the marketplace would know that no hanging has taken place. Whew, so much yarn, and such a complicated pattern. Hope I don't drop a stitch. | |
| Bodkin | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 10/14/2005 |
| I'm gibbering!! I'm not surprised that Robin has managed to have some faith that Pippin will have spoken for Jack and Will - he knows what happened and knows that saving Hilly, Diamond and Farry - and then saving Farry again and - Merry-lad was it? - has more than earned these three not just forgiveness but gratitude from king and hobbits alike. But in that case - where are they? And everyone else is convinced that they are swinging on the gallows without courtesy of hearing. Poor Seredrith is in shock - this can't be good for her. Or Merileth, come to that. It's a good thing they have a good strong loving family round them. But it is an indictment of the system under which they grew up that none of these common folk expect to have the ear of their rulers - or, in fact, to be granted justice rather than retribution. This is a fantastic story - I'm only glad you consented to write it! Author Reply: Yes, where are they? Because I was grumbling again about being too predictable, my editor-friend rattled off (she types for a living, and very quickly indeed) and sent me a draft where they come to the gallows to fetch the bodies and Jack and Will are hanging there still, very angsty stuff, absolutely horrid for everyone involved, hobbits and men alike, and there is much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth that is the stuff of tragedy, and the story ends with Pippin presenting Jack's reward to Rob... a hollow ending at best. She says she much prefers my version, and truth be told, so do I. Ok, so I'm not going to moan about predictability any more, or at least for a while. I will still try to get enough twists and turns into the plot so that it is interesting to read, but I can go only so far and no farther. Thanks for the thoughtful review and words of encouragent! It causes me to ponder further the system under which they grew up... | |
| Bodkin | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 10/14/2005 |
| Good for Airin. And Denny. Nothing like a bit of quiet rebellion. Rilion was brave to let them into the house to take some possessions for Seredrith, baby Robin and big Robin. Right, but brave nonetheless, because he could get into terrible trouble for it. I hope that Aragorn gets this sorted out pretty quickly! I love it that Robin took the horse - in the long run, those kinds of thing are much more important than clothes. Poor lad. Author Reply: Yes, Rilion was brave. I don't know if Elessar would have reversed a charge brought against him, since technically he was in violation of his duty whether right or wrong, but even so it might not have come to the King's ears until after Rilion had suffered the penalty, whether flogging or something else. He was quite brave, indeed. Poor Robin, indeed. The way the story is set up it would be very easy to turn it towards darkness, if I were feeling destructive, but I simply cannot do that to characters I've grown to like. Probably makes me predictable as all get-out. I hate being predictable. Such is life. | |
| Beruthiel | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 10/13/2005 |
| So Seledrith and Robin get kicked out of their home with nothing? Kinda harsh. Hopefully Aragorn or Pippin will be able to do something about that. This is much more angsty than I was expecting. Bliss! I love angst. More please (pretty pretty please). Author Reply: Well, we aim to please. Could write longer chapters, but it would be less angsty that way, with so many angsty bits all clumped together. Much angstier spread out. Longer story, too. At present I know what is going to happen, but not how many chapters it'll take. Goodness. | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 10/13/2005 |
| I bless Rilion for his ability to bend the rules for the sake of humanity, and hope the King Elessar will show the courage to do the same. And glad Robin carried out the horse, and Denny the kettle. Author Reply: Yes, poor Rilion, who must have been quaking in his boots at the possibility of discovery... he'd already heard the sergeant threatened with a flogging. He must be wishing he never got out of bed that morning. | |
| Dreamflower | Reviewed Chapter: Author's Notes on 10/13/2005 |
| Just thought I would comment on your idea of using history as a precedent for the strict interpretation of the law, and of its penalties. It's one used often by writers, and is a perfectly legitimate way to fill in gaps left unanswered by canon. I've seen it used to remarkable effect in a number of stories, including yours. It's quite true that the death penalty was usually passed summarily, and carried out the same way, and often for crimes that we nowadays would consider misdemeanors. Another penalty, and a more common one, was servitude, and a criminal might find himself and possibly his family losing their status as freemen. Somewhat later on, in the colonial age, transport and hard labor were more often used. Among early Saxon societies, there was an elaborate system of fines, which would be paid off in coin or in a term of servitude--that's what I'm basing my ideas of justice in Rohan on. My own take on Gondor and Arnor though is slightly different: Aragorn was a Dunadan, heir of lost Numenor. It was a more advanced society than that of Middle-earth--we know, for example, that the medicine of Gondor remained far in advance of that practiced elsewhere, due to its Numenorean roots. He was heir to that tradition, which I think would have been more enlightened than that of lesser civilizations around him. I think that would have changed if the King had *not* returned--Denethor clearly was well along the road to becoming a despot, if not a tyrant, and tyrannies are *anything but* enlightened. Anyhoo, this really is just me blathering on, because I'm finding your story fascinating, and I like to blather on about hobbits, and Middle-earth in general. Author Reply: O I am being persnickety indeed... someone is definitely overzealous, and the angst is heaping high. Perhaps there is an assistant steward who in the steward's absence is trying to make his mark. (The steward is a Dunedan, but I can't imagine one of them being so hasty... unless perhaps he takes the protection of the Shire *very* seriously. Hmmm. Might work.) Don't know quite yet, it's not quite working but we're in the fourth revision now so I'm sure we'll muddle through somehow. Of course, there is precedent in canon for the death penalty or I wouldn't make such liberal use of it. I did suggest that certain crimes resulted in fines or confiscation of property. Dereliction to duty, at least among guardsmen, can result in flogging. I am (only) imagining here that a hanging offence would result in seizure of property as well... it seemed logical to me. There aren't a lot of hanging offences in my version of M-e: murder, mayhem, breaking an edict of the King (somehow I don't think Elessar issued a whole bunch of these. It's possible that there were lesser edicts, with lesser penalties attached. Haven't given it oodles of thought). Now I know in historical England, cut-purses and pick-pockets could lose a hand (at least I think I remember that), but I also remember reading in Dickens' "Oliver Twist" that Fagin was hanged--was he a murderer or was it for something else? And I think the Dodger was hanged, too, or threatened with it. I don't remember why. Do you think that the death penalty for Beregond's crime was a relatively recent innovation, or something that came from Numenor? (But Elessar said "of old death was the penalty", when I think more deeply on it.) As for names... might you have a few more to spare? I am certainly appreciating all you've given me thus far, but I need, yet, to name the Steward of the northern Kingdom and Turambor's sons... And why are there so many darned guardsmen in this piece??? (And the executioner, I had to give him a name too. *sigh*. And the healer. Sheesh, how about a cast of thousands?) | |
| Dreamflower | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 10/13/2005 |
| Ummummumm...tsk..tsk...tsk *Someone* is being overzealous! I cannot imagine that if Aragorn, or even Pippin, had been on the spot, they would have been turned out so. For one thing, as Denny so wisely pointed out, it wasn't practical, and for another it wasn't humane. Sounds more like the way things would have been done under Denethor, though. It takes a while for a different way of doing things to sink in. I like your Airin--what a nice name for the lass! *grin* Wherever did you find it? LOL! She is both sympathetic and practical. Poor Rilion, apparently is just *young*. Bodkin asked for angst, huh? Looks like you are going to dish it out in spades! Ah well, angst makes for longer stories than fluff. 8-D Poor characters! Author Reply: I don't think this situation would have come up in the first place if Aragorn were accessible. It seems he went fishing early this morning... He's probably somewhere along the shore, having breakfast with some half-wild mysterious stranger or other... This may be the trip where his son nearly drowns, not sure without checking the timeline. And Pippin is sticking very close to Jack and Will at the moment, and cannot spare a thought quite yet for other consequences of this whole mess. Airin--lovely name, one I'd never seen before, actually. She's practically Seledrith's twin, having been raised with her from early childhood. Of course she's going to know what to pack... in the least amount of time. Poor Rilion. Guess he's got room to grow. Lots of angst in this one. Don't know quite how practical or realistic it all is. But we do our best to figure out rationalizations, and if something can't be rationalized it gets re-written. Four revisions. And counting. Whew. Yup, angst makes for longer stories. The happy fluffy story is about one chapter in length, by contrast. Author Reply: Huh. Since I am now informed of some psychological syndrome or other, whereby young children raised together, even if unrelated, are unable to fall in love later in life and have romantic feelings for each other, I am re-writing a few things to reflect that Airin was adopted by Turambor's brother, and is a best-friend-as-close-as-a-sister to Seledrith. Interesting, the things one learns along the way... | |