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| Let Sleeping Dogs Lie by Lindelea | 116 Review(s) |
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| shirebound | Reviewed Chapter: Epilogue 2 on 8/17/2024 |
| Mittens and her kitten getting so much love! The City finding its colorful and bustling self again! The ladies seeing the City through the eyes of a young hobbit, and the citizens seeing them all as people -- not just remote celebrities. Thank you for such a lovely Epilogue, and congratulation on finishing your Tale. I enjoyed this story so much, my friend. Author Reply: Thank you for staying with me to the end of this tale, dear friend. It's been years in the making! I am so glad to hear you enjoyed it, and I appreciate your taking the time to stop and share your thoughts. (((hugs))) | |
| Hai Took | Reviewed Chapter: 21 on 7/22/2024 |
| I appear to have missed a few updates to this story! So I read the whole thing from the beginning! I loved the way you brought the story around from the fear both the Gondorians and the Haradrim had of each other to a mutual respect. It flowed quite nicely that they were united in their desire to save the "children" from the rubble and the value each society placed on rescuing those trapped. I enjoyed the description of the "dance" between the leaders in their exchange of weapons. Finally, we know what drew the puppy into the ruins in the first place! :) It looks like Pippin is going to end up with quite the collection of pets! Thank you for the enjoyable story! Reading it straight through to this point it has all come together quite satisfyingly! I do, however, hope to get an update on Turambor here at the end. Author Reply: Thank you for describing the parts you enjoyed! I love seeing the story through your impressions. You are most welcome! I’m so glad you enjoyed the story. (((hugs))) Good to hear from you. Author Reply: p.s. I’m glad to say you’ll get a glimpse of Turambor in the epilogue, which has now been posted. | |
| Silmarien | Reviewed Chapter: 15 on 5/17/2024 |
| I am reminded of the movie, “The Russians are Coming”, where the American townfolk and Russian sailors join to save the children dangling from the roof. Author Reply: Oh! Thank you for reminding me of that scene! You're right. I hadn't made that connection before, but the idea is very similar in this story and that one: setting aside existing hostilities to save an imperiled little one, everyone suddenly united in purpose and hope and worry. (And then all those people in small boats determinedly escorting the submarine to safety... What a delightful ending.) Alan Arkin has long been near the top of the list of my favorite actors. I still remember clearly his deaf-mute character talking to himself in sign language in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, even though I was only a small child when I saw it. His performance was deeply moving and convincing. There's a snippet of dialogue from The Russians Are Coming that we have quoted for decades just because it delights us. Alan Arkin is attempting to teach his men an English phrase to help them blend in with the citizens of the small US seaside community while trying to figure out how to get out of the situation without getting arrested or killed, and they are doing their best to repeat after him: "Emergency! Everybody to get off street! Emergency!" "Egermency?" "Nyet! Emergency! Emergency!" Our children learned that quote from us long before they got a chance to see the movie it came from. LOL! Thanks so much for reading and taking time to share your thoughts. | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 21 on 5/12/2024 |
| Having managed to save one of five kittens injured by Griffin, who imagined himself a mighty hunter one night, I know too well how fragile such creatures may be. Sherbet is now eating solid food alongside sister Lady Jane Grey, and being savage to their chirping bird toy. Sherbet even seeks to protect me from the bows on my slippers. Both are now using the cat box, and Sherbet was first to devine the purpose of the water bowl. Still not certain Sherbet's gender. Frodo is the perfect one to care for this kitten, Hooray for Galador's recognition of this fact. Now, to see Mitten's rehoming! will Mitten and kitten accompany one another? Author Reply: I'm so glad that Sherbet survived and is taking on the task of protecting you from slipper-bows - quite sneaky and treacherous as they can be! Yes, we'll catch a glimpse of them in their new home in the final chapter, which is due to be posted next. I was derailed from writing or reading this week by some dastardly dairy, but am back at the laptop again today and eyeing all things "dairy" (including chocolate suspects) with suspicion. It's so important to attend to the labels on things. That's what they're there for. Thanks for reading and stopping to leave a note. | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 21 on 5/12/2024 |
| Having managed to save one of five kittens injured by Griffin, who imagined himself a mighty hunter one night, I know too well how fragile such creatures may be. Sherbet is now eating solid food alongside sister Lady Jane Grey, and being savage to their chirping bird toy. Sherbet even seeks to protect me from the bows on my slippers. Both are now using the cat box, and Sherbet was first to devine the purpose of the water bowl. Still not certain Sherbet's gender. Frodo is the perfect one to care for this kitten, Hooray for Galador's recognition of this fact. Now, to see Mitten's rehoming! will Mitten and kitten accompany one another? Author Reply: I was so sad to hear the tragic tale. I hope you've been able to sort things as best as possible for all parties. Our temporary pups seem somewhat in awe of the cats thus far, but we're still finding it necessary to lock them up in "time out" to give the cats a breather from the dogs' focused attention and interest and fascination with All Things Feline. The baby gates mean the pups do not have access to all parts of the house, and the cats are taking full advantage of those refuges. But still, some of them venture out to the main part of the house and are quite put out when the dogs notice their presence and become playful... or at least hopeful that playtime might ensue... | |
| Soledad | Reviewed Chapter: 21 on 5/3/2024 |
| I know I've mentioned it before, but I love your take on Haradric culture. :) Author Reply: Thank you! I'm looking forward to reading your Harad story as soon as I've posted the last chapter (which should be the next chapter) of this one! | |
| shirebound | Reviewed Chapter: 21 on 5/3/2024 |
| What a marvelous chapter. So much story to wrap up, and you're doing great. Hooray for hobbitses and furries all getting gentle care and healing. then reached over Pippin to take Merry’s nearer hand. ‘I’m here, Merry.’ Merry’s eyes opened, unfocused, and looked from Pippin to Frodo. He smiled, sighed, and closed his eyes. Awwwww. Author Reply: I'm so glad it worked! I've been interrupted multiple times in fleshing out the draft chapter into this form, and I'm not sure I can call it "final" since it feels muddled to me in a few places, especially the Black Gate flashback. (Battles are chaotic things, so maybe it's not as much of a problem as it might be?) On the other hand, at least I think I have pulled almost all the threads of the story together! Whew. That poor wee kitten has been mewling at the back of my mind for what feels like forever. Ever since the puppy dragged Bergil into the collapsing building, at least, with Pippin in hot pursuit... I don't know if I can untwist any of the minor knots I've noticed in reading over the posted version. My editor-friend of a few years ago has moved on to a different fanfiction branch, so I can't throw myself on her mercy or offer to buy her a Starbucks drink if she'll agree to pick up my dropped stitches. Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to share your thoughts! | |
| Soledad | Reviewed Chapter: 20 on 4/15/2024 |
| Thank you for your detailed answer to my woefully short review. :) As to your question, my Harad-themed story is "The Face of the Enemy". I, too, diverted Harad into different realms, with various cultures that once existed and partially still exist. Should you want to discuss particular aspects of it - or indeed of Dwarves - I've got a LiveJournal community called edhellondawards that is for all things Tolkien... including fanfic. It is mostly dead in these days, serving as a personal archive for my stories, but you are welcome to join or just take a look. :) Author Reply: Oh! Wonderful! I just renewed my activity on LJ after more than a decade, so I will certainly check out that community! (And your story! I looked at your list of stories on SoA but didn't realise "The Face of the Enemy" was the Harad-themed one. At second glance, I ought to have been able to make the connection. Ah well. You've made it for me, and I've added it to my list, so all's well that ends well. Just as soon as I post the last chapter of this story, "Face of the Enemy" will go to the top of my list.) Okay, I managed to find elhellonawards on LJ and I think I friended it. I find LJ a bit confusing. But we'll see if it shows up on my friends feed. I don't know what the "Notification Center" is, but I checked that to notify me of new posts. I guess we shall see! (I don't know what they meant by "Inbox", either.) And you're welcome! One of the things I've treasured about SoA over the years have been the interactions between authors and readers (I've been both, and though I took a long hiatus, I'm glad to find it still here. It would be nice if more people would return and if new authors should start to post stories, especially now that I have time to devote to fanfic again. I'm still getting used to retirement, but reading and writing seem to be excellent and satisfying ways to fill the hours that were, up until a few weeks ago, filled with steady, heavily-focused work. Author Reply: (And hah! I see my old nemesis, the unfinished parenthetical thought [I keep forgetting the "close parenthesis" to end such a thought] continues to haunt me... Hopefully it bothers me more than it bothers other people, lol.) | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 20 on 4/15/2024 |
| I enjoyed that Cuillon realizes that Merry and Pippin will both relax and accept treatment better if they are allowed to lie together, that this is indeed Hobbit healing technique. And poor Mittens, needing his own rest after the horrendous doings of this day! And at last the injuries of the wounded aide to the general are recognized and will be given proper treatment as well, and Ambassador, General, and aide see the King himself as the great healer King his was born and bred to be. I look forward to seeing Mittens finding his proper place in Gondor's capitol, and the Haradrim accepting the friendship of their former foes. Thanks so for the time we spent together today, and may healing find us all as our own wounds and griefs are relieved. And thanks so for the bunny--it met its intended fate after I finished my dinner! Heh! Author Reply: It was lovely to see you! I have been avoiding angst or reading/writing light angst in recent days and emphasizing comfort food(-for-thought). Luckily, this story is in its last stages, where the comfort and healing kicks in, which makes it easier to work on than some of the other WIPs (like Bill's story, which is "Angst Personified" at the present stage of the journey and won't really reach the "comfort stage" for quite a few chapters yet. Whew. Well, at least it's outlined, for the most part - except for the gap I realized was there when I was musing aloud today. But I think I hit on a good solution. Thanks for listening). (and "Thain", which is stopped at an incredibly angsty part. Maybe I'll be able to write angst once more when we have a pup again. It was always so much easier to get through difficult scenes with a slumbering dog at my feet. Sadly, we were notified this evening that the puppy we were anticipating fell through. It would have been the same age as Panda when we brought her home, 4 months old, but much smaller than Panda, of course, who weighed 44 pounds at 4 months. *sigh* But the right one will come along, and the rescue organization now has us on their list and will let us know when another dog comes to their attention that needs a good forever home. Since they brought us Zoe, years ago, I trust they know what they are doing.) You're most welcome. I'm glad the bunny was a success! Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to share your thoughts. *hugs* Wishing you comfort and healing. | |
| Soledad | Reviewed Chapter: 20 on 4/14/2024 |
| Have just come around to read the story in its entirety. Love what you are doing with Haradric culture - so different from my own ideas and yet so interesting and convincing. Great job! Author Reply: Glad to see you here! I had to envision Haradric culture for an earlier story where Harad was a major plot point. I made it more interesting for myself by dividing Harad into the Hundred Kingdoms with varied cultures and landscapes but some common elements (like being conquered by the Dark Lord before He was thrown down). Lots of scope for the imagination! I also enjoy complicating the rather simple dichotomy of "good-bad" by showing that enemies can be noble and honorable (with good as well as evil people), even when their culture differs markedly from that of the West. In what story/stories do you write about Haradric culture? I'm intrigued! I will add them to my "Want to read" list. p.s. I find your Dwarves fascinating! I have a story in progress featuring Faramir Took as a tween visiting the Lonely Mountain; the outline is complete, along with draft chapters of the non-Dwarf scenes. But - obviously - a Fourth Age story about the Lonely Mountain is going to heavily feature Dwarves, isn't it? ...and the main part holding me up is trying to imagine Dwarf culture and society! Tolkien showed us homeless or travelling Dwarves. Who are they when they're at home? And the hints I've seen from other authors (like Dwarf women being hidden away, in at least one story I saw a few years ago) - would parts of their culture be off-limits to a visiting Hobbit? Or not? (And unless JRRT wrote about Dwarf women with beards, it's not something I can easily wrap my brain around unless, like your story mentions, fake beards are involved.) All that to say, I've barely scratched that surface. Hence, I'm so impressed by the amount of thought that has obviously gone into your "Balin" story. p.p.s. Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to leave a good word! Author Reply: p.p.p.s. Did you get my email? I was just wondering if I had the right address. | |