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| Relapse by Periantari | 23 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| demeter d | Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 4/16/2024 |
| Well. Sometimes sleep is the best thing for whatever ails one. Small wonder, though, that he dimly remembers the trauma of the day before. I like how even tho it is early days for them. and they still formally address each other as "steward" and "king", Aragorn is already concerned for Faramir and is firmly in the role of his healer. I wonder, too, if Aragorn already suspects the alcohol abuse...their are teas for that, and "do not use anything else"! And there is "the city will recover in time, but we need you to recover too"! Yes. the dreams have changed. We go from dreams of fire to Numenor's history of destruction by cold sea water. But even in the middle of that, he begins to hear the voice of someone crying for his son. Is he beginning to be willing to forgive his father? We all will be watching! | |
| Lindelea | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 4/15/2024 |
| Just the title of the chapter has me worried and concerned... I'm glad Éowyn is looking out for Faramir, even with all the preparations and the journey she is about to undertake. Yay, Hobbits! (And you can't go wrong with Legolas and Gimli.) I love the idea of all of them gathered to share their memories and impressions with Frodo. (Hobbits almost always make me smile, too.) I also find Pippin (and Merry) eminently practical in this scene. How perceptive Frodo is! Not surprising at all. Looking forward to reading more. Tomorrow, I hope, or soon after. Author Reply: Thanks so much! I liked having Eowyn interact with hobbits before she left (there will be more). It would only make sense to have them be on the look-out . Thanks for liking my hobbits and yes, i love perceptive! Frodo. Glad you're following the story. :) | |
| Lindelea | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 4/13/2024 |
| That was a moving ceremony. From personal experience, I put my Dad's clothes (the ones he wore on that last trip to the hospital) in a box and shoved it behind some other boxes for years before I was finally able to deal with them. Follow-up can be so difficult. Author Reply: Thanks so much! I thought it was odd that the book didn't say anything about Denethor's burial/funeral but spent a lot of time with details about Theoden's. I do think it's very hard to handle a passed one's items. SOrry to hear about your dad! | |
| Lindelea | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 4/9/2024 |
| Stealing a dinner break to read a chapter. (Food for the imagination as well as the body.) Poor Faramir. Any reminder of his fever dreams has got to be awful. Give the man athelas, for crying out loud! Your descriptions of Denethor remind me why I have almost felt a compulsion to describe him as "healed" in the Halls of Mandos, able to see everything clearly, regret his past actions that harmed others, find clarity, learn from his review of his life as a lesson set for him by a compassionate, benevolent Ilúvatar before his ultimate departure from Arda and Eä. Why would he take his own life like that? Alas, poor Denethor. He was dealing with powers beyond his human capacity. As a parallel topic, Frodo claimed the Ring in the end... He's only remembered as a hero because the Ring went into the Fire (and not as a result of that hobbit's act of will; there was probably no way he'd be able to consciously throw the Ring into the Fire; thus, the story sets up Pity as the ultimate saving force). He's remembered because the Quest succeeded, and the Dark Lord was defeated. In his Letters, JRRT mentions that Frodo believed he had failed. (If I were able to argue with Frodo, I'd point out that his struggle paved the way for the Ring to go into the Fire. Without Frodo, ME would have fallen to darkness. He got the Ring all the way to the Fire... opening the door for Fate to carry it the rest of the way. More or less.) Oh dear, hidden bottles. Not a good sign. I also remember from a lecture dim in my memory that alcohol amplifies whatever you're feeling. If you're depressed, alcohol is likely to deepen the depression. Or something like that. Adding insult to injury, using alcohol to sleep actually disrupts the sleep cycle. An Éowyn-Faramir support group? Sounds effective. Hah. Coffee has much the same effect on me; I can power through all kinds of tasks with its help. Unfortunately, though, I've reached the point in life where it keeps me up at night. Bummer. Author Reply: Denethor is a complex character and it's easy to dismiss him as cold and not understanding of his sons but i think he was not like that at all-- movies did him a disservice but books were more three dimensional even though Tolkien didn't seem to hold him in a positive light either when it had to do with politics. I think the palantir really overthrew his mind and grief made him think unclearly at the end. He did care about Faramir at the end but Faramir would never know that unfortunately even though we can say from other characters that Denethor did care. It is interesting how to write more about how Faramir thought about his father's death. Regarding Frodo, glad you mention his letters because in Letter 246 Tolkien does say Frodo has failed but he did not fail as being a vessel to bring the Ring to Mount Doom and his only contract to everyone was to bring as far as he could. And he did that. I must quote my favorite part of favorite letter. “Frodo undertook his quest out of love—to save the world he knew from disaster at his own expense, if he could; and also in complete humility, acknowledging that he was wholly inadequate to the task. His real contract was only to do what he could, to try to find a way, and to go as far on the road as his strength of mind and body allowed. He did that .” ~Letter #246, Letters of JRR Tolkien I do think depression and PTSD makes you think unclearly on what can "make you feel better" so i do think alcohol and other substance abuse could be a real thing here... i love coffee too and drink it as much as i am allowed. haha thanks for your thoughts! | |
| shirebound | Reviewed Chapter: 7 on 4/9/2024 |
| “Why …can’t …I control this?” It would be so difficult for Faramir to admit this "weakness", especially to those he reverences so much. I'm enjoying the calm comfort Imrahil and Aragorn are conveying, and I'm sure Faramir is too. :) Author Reply: thank you! Yes, i feel like many of us do not like to yield to "weakness" and Faramir is no exception. I do like calming comfort as well and think that's the best part of h/c =) | |
| Lindelea | Reviewed Chapter: 7 on 4/8/2024 |
| Here is a new chapter, and I left off at chapter 2! I am working on a special project this week (and here I thought I'd retired...), but I'm glad to see this at the top of the home page as a reminder I need to read further. Looking forward to more reading a few days from now... Thanks. Author Reply: Thank you for keeping this in your to read list. :) appreciate that! | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 3/25/2024 |
| At least he now knows. However, I suspect it's added to his distress more than alleviating it. Author Reply: Yes, there are different author's take on when this news was given to Faramir and i thought post-Quest with the hobbits made sense. I'm sure it opened up some distressing thoughts from Faramir though and we do not get any fic about it much. | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 3/25/2024 |
| He's as reluctant as anyone to admit how he really feels,I note. Author Reply: I think there was such a busy time from the King returning, duties and "moving on" there's not time to process and admit what one may feel. | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: Prologue on 3/25/2024 |
| Am looking forward to reading this. I've had similar feelings about several characters, as you probably realized. Author Reply: Thanks so much! I hope you enjoy and let me know your thoughts. :) | |
| Lindelea | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 3/14/2024 |
| I think Faramir might be on the right track here. At least, I find that hobbits generally lift my spirits. (I love protective Sam and perceptive Frodo...) The palantir… Even the slight mention of that made Faramir feel queasy and his heartbeat increased. I should imagine Pippin would have quite a similar reaction. And poor Pippin, having to recount such a tale. Merry warning Faramir about dreams is interesting. I'm glad he's better now. (But alas, poor Faramir!) Looking forward to reading more, and I'm so glad you are still posting new chapters! Author Reply: Thanks so much! I liked writing this hobbity chapter as well. Bookverse did say that Faramir found out later and i think it made sense for Pippin to break the news. The Black Breath is a foreshadowing of things to come. Thanks for reading and reviewing! =) | |