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| Second Mum by Larner | 16 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Armariel | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/4/2007 |
| Ah, a new story, wonderful.....I like seeing these glimpses of Frodo's childhood. I like seeing different authors' takes on it, and feel like I should try my hand at it sometime;);) Well maybe in the distant future.... ~~~{~@ Author Reply: We all seem to try it at one time or another. As Mother's Day is coming up--second Sunday in May for the U.S., for those of you who live elsewhere in the world, I wanted to do a tribute to the mothers and second mothers I've known over the years. And Esmeralda's POV just seemed to fit right in. | |
| Baggins Babe | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/4/2007 |
| I've always thought that the relationship between Frodo and Esme must have been a very loving one, although I have read some where she is horrible to him. This I find impossible - Merry is such a great character that I'm sure his mother would never have been cruel, and just because Frodo moved to Hobbiton, it does not mean that he was badly treated in Buckland. A lovely story, Larner. Author Reply: I've tried to make it realistic as to why Frodo felt unhappy in Buckland, although he plainly loved his relatives there dearly. Not horrible treatment, but missapplied love backed by stubbornness, too much pride on Menegilda's part, and a bit of possessiveness. And I suspect that he truly loved Esme and Sara very much, even as he felt increasingly exasperated with them. | |
| Linda Hoyland | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/3/2007 |
| It seems that Frodo somehow senses his destiny lies over the sea. Author Reply: I like to think that Frodo already had some degree of prescience and that he was also beginning to manifest the King's Gift as well. Thanks so much for the comments. | |
| French Pony | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/3/2007 |
| Tumnus? Now I have an interesting image of a faun-Hobbit in a red scarf teaching Frodo. Highly amusing, yes it is. Menegilda seems so intent on overprotecting Frodo from anything that could possibly be a physical stress, but somewhere in there, he learned to dance. Did he learn before this, or do we get to see him finally get an outlet for all of his bottled-up energy? Author Reply: Lessons Master Tumnus first made his appearance in "The Choice of Healing," and now that I'm describing that time we actually get to see a bit more of him. He's the first one to encourage Frodo to write out the frustrations he didn't wish to speak aloud, leading Bilbo years later to purchase the stationery box that is featured in For Eyes to See as Can and subsequent works, and then to insist Frodo must write out his own story, using the fact he can't stay awake for very long any more to encourage Frodo to describe what happened to him and hopefully help work a lot of the lingering effects of the quest out of his system. And I wrote that before I knew Lewis would finally get put on film. I'll admit the use of the name was a deliberate nod to Tolkien's best friend for many years. If you'll note, Frodo danced with his father at the Free Fair the last summer before his parents died. Drogo, Bilbo, and Primula undoubtedly all worked together to teach him to dance before the boating accident, and Bilbo kept it up afterwards, although that will be covered in the coming chapter. Another nuzgul with ears on this one turned out to be! Heh! | |
| shirebound | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/3/2007 |
| Three things that gave Frodo joy that could ever put his doldrums to flight--telling a tale, the company of Bilbo Baggins with his sheer delight in the life given him and the world about him, and the smile of little Merry, whose own face lit up as much as that of Frodo when they saw one another anew. It's lovely how you're moving us forward through Frodo's childhood as if we're all sailing onwards on that Sea of which he dreams so often. I'm so happy (along with Frodo) that Merry is in his life at last. Author Reply: Am so glad you like how it's being told, Shirebound; and at last Frodo has his Merry to hold and cherish and keep him grounded--for a time, at least. Thanks so much for the review. | |
| Dreamflower | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/3/2007 |
| I'm loving the way you are weaving in all the wonderful little bits and bobs from your other stories, giving us a closer look at many of the anecdotes we've seen in them, and fleshing out some of the characters we've hitherto only seen secondhand. Menegilda fascinates me. Her worry and concern for Frodo are clearly motivated by love for him, but the way in which she seems to feel that only *she* knows what is best is very prideful. Her insistence on keeping him wrapped in cotton when it's so clear to everyone else that it's no longer necessary makes me wonder *why* is she so very *certain*? Why does she reject the advice of others who also love and care about Frodo? I have a feeling that she and Bilbo are really going to butt heads before long. I also like the way that you show his prescience as being a life-long thing--the dream of the Sea, his premonitions of harm to others--that's something I've also always thought would be. Author Reply: You know how much I try to weave my stories together, Dreamflower, and am so glad you appreciate me doing so now. It is fun to look at some of these characters. Menegilda isn't exactly exhibiting Munchausen's by proxy, but is somewhat close to it. She knows Frodo has shown symptoms of a heart defect, and not only is trying to protect him--somewhat inconsistently--from stress but even from the knowledge of the condition to begin with, leaving the poor lad confused and frustrated, and imagining who knows what in his heart to explain why he's not allowed to do all the things other people do. Have had parents of my blind students who do similarly, pushing their children to do more than they can in one area where they really need more specific training to be successful simply because they know successful adults who are blind tend to excel at these skills, and babying them on other very simple tasks because they can't imagine how they'd do these things without seeing. One individual ended up being terminated from a pre-college program because she'd never put on her own underware independently in her life and was demanding a housemother be added to the program to help her dress; and a student who graduated with a perfect 4.0 grade average had NEVER learned to open a car door. It seems inconceivable to me such things will happen, but there you have it. There will be more arguments between Bilbo and Menegilda, I fear. I tend to think Frodo probably experienced prescience throughout his life; I still have some such dreams, although they are nowhere as common as when I was a child and adolescent. And I suspect that the King's Gift, which is actually a form of psychic empathy, would have begun manifesting itself about this time in Frodo's life as well. Thanks so much for the response. | |