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| Eleventy-one Years: Too Short a Time by Dreamflower | 173 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 41 on 5/26/2014 |
| And just why do I fear that tomorrow won't be anywhere as fine as he anticipates? To lose his mother will be devastating, I fear. Author Reply: Yes, and while it won't exactly be tomorrow in his time, I am very sorry to say that as the next watershed event of his life, it will be for the reader. (Later today, actually.) | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 40 on 5/26/2014 |
| I can appreciate the mixed feelings Bilbo is enjoying, as I've known them myself for similar reasons. Author Reply: So have I: on the one hand is the challenge of awakening a student to something new. On the other is the sheer effort and slog of working with one who is both reluctant and hostile. | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 39 on 5/26/2014 |
| Otho as a student doesn't sound appealing to me, either! So, what is the reason for deciding to employ Bilbo as his tutor, I wonder? Start casing the joint? Author Reply: Partially. Also, Longo realizes that if his ambition for his son to inherit the headship is to come to fruition, Otho will need the knowledge of his Baggins side of the family. | |
| Andrea | Reviewed Chapter: 40 on 5/25/2014 |
| Well, that was to be expected. There were signs of improvement, but Otho himself ended it all by bullying Dudo! Bilbo was both disappointed and relieved. A perfect description of the situation! Author Reply: Otho had clearly been spoiled by his mother, and had also been infected by some of his father's disdain for Bungo's family. He was also used to getting his own way, and he didn't like Drogo or Dudo. Yes: I think in some ways, Bilbo would have liked the challenge of drawing Otho out, but he knew it would be a long hard slog, with very little support from Otho's parents. So: ambivalence over the unsatisfactory ending of things. | |
| Andrea | Reviewed Chapter: 39 on 5/25/2014 |
| The advantage of having a relatively young teacher is that he still knows how nice it was to go outside and play! And Bilbo likes Drogo very much, so he gives him a clever excuse to go outside. I don't think he would ever do that for Otho! Let's see how Otho behaves as a pupil! Author Reply: Exactly! (Not to mention that he still knew how nice it was to go outside!) But, yes, Drogo's one of his favorite pupils. You are likely right. | |
| Lindelea | Reviewed Chapter: 40 on 5/24/2014 |
| Alas, poor Otho! I really think Bilbo might have had an impact on the shaping of his character if they'd had more time. Author Reply: It's quite possible; that might make a cool AU! Sadly it wasn't meant to be, and I am afraid any possible progress was undone when Otho bullied Dudo. | |
| Lindelea | Reviewed Chapter: 39 on 5/23/2014 |
| Bilbo sounds like such a good teacher! No wonder his students have such high regard for him. Your Shire society is so fully developed; I feel as if I'm rambling along a country lane, on my way to tea in the village as I read through a chapter. Business firms and named houses, descriptions of meals, children playing (is it British Bulldog? I know our young hobbits played the game described in this chapter, among others, but I don't always assign the right name to the right game), older brothers teaching younger sisters to know their letters, or to swim (a shiver of foreshadowing there... of course Primula would have known how to swim. Did she sacrifice herself trying to save her husband?). Author Reply: Oh wow, Lin! Thank you! I feel much the same BTW about *your* Shire! Of course I've built these things up over all the years--I can't believe I've been writing fic for more than ten years! The game I describe is the one I'd always known as "Red Rover", but it might very well have another name in the UK. Those sorts of things often do. I think Primula would have at least tried to save Drogo; but I've always thought something could have interfered with her efforts--perhaps she struck her head on the boat or on a rock, or perhaps her skirts and petticoats got tangled in the River's debris? In my Shire the Brandybucks had deduced that first circumstance as the most likely, but I leave it as uncertain because certainty would not have fueled all that gossip. Author Reply: Oh wow, Lin! Thank you! I feel much the same BTW about *your* Shire! Of course I've built these things up over all the years--I can't believe I've been writing fic for more than ten years! The game I describe is the one I'd always known as "Red Rover", but it might very well have another name in the UK. Those sorts of things often do. I think Primula would have at least tried to save Drogo; but I've always thought something could have interfered with her efforts--perhaps she struck her head on the boat or on a rock, or perhaps her skirts and petticoats got tangled in the River's debris? In my Shire the Brandybucks had deduced that first circumstance as the most likely, but I leave it as uncertain because certainty would not have fueled all that gossip. | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 38 on 5/23/2014 |
| A difficult loss indeed, but one that would happen one day. At least he did not die slowly and painfully, which would have been so much harder on all of them. And bless Donna for her ability to help Bella laugh once more. As for Longo--one sees from whom Otho gets his temprament! Author Reply: Well, of course Bungo had been living on borrowed time ever since the Fell Winter; but if I have any way to avoid it I try not to let my characters die slowly and painfully! Sisters fortunately have a good supply of stories from growing up together, so that they can comfort one another. Longo's jealousy of his brother and his dislike of Tooks made for a terrible legacy for his descendants. | |
| Andrea | Reviewed Chapter: 38 on 5/22/2014 |
| If his mother still knew how to laugh, then perhaps he could recall how as well. A very sad chapter, but with a glimmer of hope at the end. Life will never be as it was before, but it can still be a good life. I would love to hear more about Belladonna's decisions as Baggins Family Head and how they possibly affected Longo, who did not make friends that day, I fear. Author Reply: Life will never be as it was before, but it can still be a good life. Exactly! No, Longo made no friends, and he's setting up a world of disappointment for his descendants! | |
| Andrea | Reviewed Chapter: 37 on 5/22/2014 |
| [...]the hobbits began making their way to the smial. Some indeed were left slumbering beneath the tables. Bilbo made sure none of them were witnesses for the wedding. A very nice wedding and and a convincing proof why standing witness for the groom also means making sure he doesn't drink too much ;-) Author Reply: I had planned out a little anecdote about a famous Shire wedding that had to be postponed because the groom and half the witnesses were passed out, and how Bilbo wanted to avoid that--but I could not find a good place to fit it in. *sigh* Exactly! | |