Wow. Just read your story- and wow. I'm amazed at how well written this is- you truly capture their characters, as well as their development. Dealing with parents' aging and death, you wrote that so poiniantly, it felt so realistic. Its clear that you did a lot of research- I loved the note at the end, and all the little refrences that you slipped in!
Thank you for sharing your story, I really enjoyed it.
Author's reply
Thank you, kind person, for your kind words. I'm glad to know you enjoyed the story. (And I love research - I'm just that kind of gal. ;)
storyfish
· 17 November 2006
· Chapter 99999
*wild applause* Absolutely wonderful! I wish I had more time to leave a more thorough review now, but since I'm strapped for time I better make this short and sweet--I absolutely adore this story, and the time and thought you put into it is obvious. I love your perceptive depiction of Pippin--how gentlemanly he is, and the way his perceptions of himself (especially in the chapter(s?) about his nightmares) differ so much from those around him (he think's he's broken, but Bert & Diamond only see who he truly is--incredibly brave). Diamond too is a very complex character, and I love that you've given us reasons for that "aloof" Diamond we see so much in fanfiction (a depiction I always thought was unfair)--reasons that make her much more sympathetic. And your OCs, like Bert, are wonderful wonderful wonderful. So bravo, bravo, bravo! :-)
Author's reply
Thank you ! [blushes] As for the time, I think I mentioned that I can tend to get kind of research-happy, LOL...but I really didn't intend for it to take over a year for this story to be finished. RL just kind of got in the way. I like Pippin, too, and I didn't think it fair for him to be saddled with Evil Diamond of much fanfic, particularly when I was always left wondering why she is portrayed in such a manner...so I decided to try to answer the question. And I'm rather fond of Bert, too. :)
Dreamflower
· 20 February 2006
· Chapter 99999
These notes are fascinating. I love the little quotes that you identified, sprinkled here and there. I have to confess to splorking when you said that you quoted "Gilligan's Island" theme, LOL! But you know, it sounded perfectly natural, and rather hobbity, after all.
I'm going to have to check out some of the herbal sites you identified. You can't have too many of those where you are writing hobbits, especially h/c. And I plan to copy off that recipe, too!
As to the "Song of Roland", well, I just *knew* it! And your use of those names was so apropos. I discovered long ago that JRRT deliberately used "high-sounding" names from Frankish, Merovingian and Carolingian sources, "Song of Roland" among them. It is definitely an excellent source of hobbity names--it really gives me a jolt when names are used inappropriately in LotR fanfic--he was so very *particular* about names, and it seems to me that we should be, as well. I was very impressed with your use of names.
I also like the various chapter names--you are so clever. I am abolutely lousy at titles, and I rarely use anything but numbers, because the one story I have attempted to put chapter names to--well, let's say that at best they are lame. You do so well with that!
I really look forward to seeing more from you soon! You have left a few bits and bobs that I wouldn't mind seeing addressed in shorter fics. I will refrain, however, from lobbing bunnies at you right now.
Author's reply
I’m glad you enjoyed the notes. I can get kind of research-happy on certain subjects, LOL. And, really, I tried to get Sam to stop putting the words to the “Gilligan’s Island” theme in my head, but, as you said, it was just too hobbity to get him to stop. :) (And making someone splork is a good thing, right? ;) )
The herbal medicine research was fun; I have a thing for plants and wish I had more time/confidence to actually employ more herbal methods in RL. As for the recipes, I was surprised --- since I really like apples -- that I didn’t care for Rosie’s Creamy Apple Slaw in Chap. 10 as much as I thought I would. I really like the cucumber recipe from Chap. 9, though.
On “Song of Roland”: yeah, you may have been the reviewer who had her suspicions early on, when I wasn’t quite ready to let the cat out of the bag. :) And I love playing with names, and their meanings. Glad you appreciated it. (Have had inklings of thoughts about doing something with Gerontius Took and the impact of his descendants/the poem “The Dream of Gerontius” and the rough translation of the name as “old man.”)
As for chapter titles, thank you again. This also reflected some of the fun of the research -- and is a shining example of my response to that fanfic meme about “some sort of wordplay will be involved” in my fics “because the author thinks it’s fun.” (And as for the numbers: well, now you know why some of your stories may be getting odd numbers of hits on chapters occasionally -- it is because I have no brain for math! :) )
As I said in a response to an earlier review, I have tried to leave a few things open in this. I also have a shadow of an idea for a story with Pippin’s family when the children are a bit older, in a different part of the Shire -- but it’s a sequel to another story that I haven’t finished writing yet, so that will have to wait! There are a few bunnies in the hutch right now, but thank you for not bombarding me with more at this time (although at least they’re soft, and cute...hmm, might make good nursery decorations....) ;)
Dreamflower
· 20 February 2006
· Chapter 27: "Are Forever..."
I'm so sorry to see this one come to an end--although continuing to this point is a logical stopping place. But it would have been fun to have kept it going a bit longer--I would have loved to have seen Aragorns visit to the Brandywine Bridge, for example, and Diamond's reaction to Faramir's courtship of Goldilocks, but I suppose every story has to end somewhere. *sigh*
I'm so glad to see that Pippin's and Pervinca's relationship seems to have been repaired--I can't see him being happy as long as they were on the outs.
I love "Mari's Wedding"--it definitely sounds so hobbity. I've made use of that one myself, in appropriately enough, "Marigold's Wedding". And I am so glad that Pip and Diamond now have a daughter. Pippin needed a little lass to spoil.
This has been a very interesting and unusual take on Pippin/Diamond, and as I said, I'm sorry to see it come to an end.
Author's reply
Thank you so much for all your reviews for this story. I’m glad you think it’s a logical stopping place; I have known since the beginning how it needed to end --- it just took me a while to get there. I deliberately left it somewhat open-ended, as well, in case I want to go back and write in this era of their lives again.
Pippin and Pervinca have made up, and have essentially renegotiated their relationship so they’re relating to each other as adults, rather than repeating their childhood patterns. (One reason they clash so much, I think, is that they’re both rather similar, strong-willed personalities.)
“Marie’s Wedding” definitely does sound hobbity: in fact, that was the first thought I had when I heard it on the CD, LOL. I listened to it quite a few times for “inspiration” for this chapter.
I suspect that Pippin may have the sort of besotted relationship with his only daughter that Paladin had with his only lad.
Thank you again. :)
Dreamflower
· 20 February 2006
· Chapter 26: In the Rough
So sad, so melancholy, yet the way of life. I loved Pippin's comforting of Merry--that was incredibly beautiful.
And poor Pippin, to lose both his parents so very quickly. It had to be incredibly hard; yet from what we know of hobbit marriages, it is not surprising.
I am a wee bit puzzled at the timeline, but perhaps I'm misremembering the dates on the Family Tree. Wouldn't be the first time I've done that.
Author's reply
Thank you for saying this chapter was beautiful and melancholy. As life cycles round, this is the way of things.
I was a bit “rough” on Pippin in this chapter, with Eglantine passing away so soon after Paladin, but this was the way I figured out my interpretation of what it means when it says “Peregrin becomes the Took *and* the Thain” in 1434 in the Appendices.
As for the timeline, this chapter is a bit unlike some of the other, more slower-paced ones in this story in that we zip through two years passing between the time the scene with Merry at the river occurs in 1432, and then Pippin’s 44th birthday, in 1434, when Paladin tells him he’s going to hand over the office of the Thain. (The events in this chapter from that point onward take place in 1434.)
Chancey Ann
· 20 February 2006
· Chapter 99999
Topaz,
I have been reading this wonderful story for over a year now... chapter by chapter. It is the most beautiful portrayal of Diamond and Pippin's relationship that I have ever read.
I'm not usually one to read uncompleted works, but from the very first chapter I knew this was special. Yours is the only story I've read that I loved so much that I actually printed it and lovingly placed it in a special binder. I did so that in years to come I will be able to reread it. I have recommended it to many friends.
Thank you for your time and devotion to this story. It is the way I will choose to view Diamond and Pippin for as long as I read fan fictions.
Author's reply
Chancey Ann,
Thank you so much for your response. (*I* haven’t even printed the story off out of its electronic format, although I keep meaning to.) And I know what you mean about uncompleted works: that was one reason I vowed to myself I was going to keep the implicit “promise” I had made to readers, and *finish* it.
For your recommendations, for saying it’s “the most beautiful portrayal,” and “the way you will choose to view Diamond and Pippin”: thank you so much for such wonderful, kind words. You’re making me tear up.
(They’re happy tears, though, and I cry easily these days. :) )
Thank you again.
Lindelea
· 16 October 2005
· Chapter 1: Healing the Long Cleeve
Actually, I do that a lot--read chapters out of context and out of order, that is. Sometimes they pull me into a story and I put that story on my list "to read when there's time". I usually try to leave a note after each chapter, but if I'm rushed it becomes a note after five chapters or so... I really don't remember if that was an isolated chapter or if I'd been intrigued enough to go back and read the whole.
It is nearly 2 am here so I doubt I'm making sense.
Looking back, the story that I was writing in this time frame (early in Pippin and Diamond's marriage) was probably "A Took By Any Other Name", which followed from "Seeing the Forest", which of course was an offshoot of "Jewels".
Or maybe it's related to the fact that I've been trying to rewrite "Jewels" to get Estella's age in line with canon. Pretty futile up to this point. Cannot seem to re-think certain key scenes.
Am not really sure at this point. Had better try, at least, to sleep.
*sigh* Guess that means I won't go on to chapter 2 tonight (this morning). Ah well. Something to look forward to.
Lindelea
· 2 October 2005
· Chapter 1: Healing the Long Cleeve
I thought I had read this, and reviewed it, but looking through the reviews I don't find any of mine. Perhaps there are some, buried in the deluge, but I didn't find them!
I love the way you've set this up, and your Paladin, so bravely taking on the difficult choices he faced, paying in the coin of his children, yet doing what he could to offer them a choice in the matter. I loved Eglantine's motherliness, and her finding Pippin's scars as he slept. I loved Pippin's conflict (adult versus child, what was he now?), and thought it very well portrayed.
One of your reviewers maintains very strongly that it would be impossible for hobbits to have arranged marriages. Looking at the same text (from Letter 214, was it?) I don't see Tolkien making such a thing impossible. Arranged marriages were very common in the culture JRRT sprang from, and in other cultures, and did not necessarily imply unhappy marriages. As a matter of fact, I sometimes suspect that such marriages were happier than many we have now, in this time of choice, simply because the people were committed by custom and culture to make things work. And certainly, even if a marriage were arranged, it did not necessarily mean a wife was chattel or possession--I am thinking of the castles we visited, lately, and the information that the lady of the castle ran the domestic side of things, but when her husband was away she was also in charge of the defence of the castle and other aspects of the lord's "job description".
And so I see what you've written here as falling well within the pale (is that the right spelling?) of canon.
Anyhow, I think I've avoided this story for quite awhile, since I was writing in the same time frame, but wanted you to know that it has been on my "want to read" list for just as long.
I could cut-and-paste the majority of the chapter, I suspect, but one part that really jumped out at me as very "hobbity" was:
Still, what was this to talk of saving the world? Despite the incursion of Men into the Shire, and his position of Took and Thain, Pad knew little of the lands beyond the borders. He supposed it was all well and good that Frodo had saved this world; but his son had saved the Shire.
Author's reply
(Sorry it has taken me so long to reply, and that I *still* haven't updated the final chapter...every time I think I am going to have a chance to work on it, my life invokes Murphy's Law. Sigh.)
Anyway: I think you posted a review of one chapter, but I was confused because it seemed as if you had read it as a standalone, and I couldn't figure out, if that was the case, how on earth you had made any sense of the story...
I'm glad that you liked Paladin, and Eglantine, and Pippin's conflict between adult vs. child. I think that aspect of his experience on the Quest may be one reason I'm particularly fascinated with him, so I was glad to get to explore it a bit. It's also a bit of a subtheme in my dealings with Diamond in this story: yes, it bugs me a bit that she was underage when she was wed, despite the fact that I know it's historically been very common for females, especially those of the noble class, to get married *very* young.
I'm also glad that you think the arranged marriage thing works. I do not by any means want to claim that my story is the definitive answer to "the story behind those brief notations in the Appendices", as I think one of the great aspects of fan fiction is that there can be so many different interpretations of the same event. That's what I'm trying to do: provide one interpretation of it, which says some things in a certain way. And, as you point out, arranged marriages are a historical and/or cultural commonplace, to which today's reader may bring interpretations based on her own experience that do not necessarily reflect the way things actually are. (Actually, I was just reading something that pointed out the danger in imposing current values on the motivations of people who lived in a different era: doing so, that author said, may mean missing the entire point.)
You were writing in the same time frame? Really? Where? I feel like I've missed something in your stories.
Thanks for saying Paladin's thoughts on his son and the Shire were "hobbity": that's what I was going for there. :)
Larner
· 12 August 2005
· Chapter 26: In the Rough
Excellent ending, and that Duro has learned his rightful duties and consideration toward his wife. Funny he should have had to be taught them by the wise fool of a Took.
Thanks for a wonderful read.
Author's reply
Glad you’ve enjoyed so far but, umm, this isn’t quite the end. There’s still one more chapter, plus author’s notes, to go. Just been a really annoyingly irritatingly frustratingly busy time of RL: not enough time to finish fanfic. Grr.
Glad you also see some of a change in Duro. I think Pip thinks he’s more of a fool than others do -- with the exception of a certain wizard, of course.
Larner
· 12 August 2005
· Chapter 25: Carbon
So, Ganelon isn't the only one to quote medieval poetry? Too funny! And I hope a certain Proudfoot is learning his lesson!
Author's reply
Umm, no, Ganelon isn’t the only one to quote medieval poetry. [mutters....quite a few characters in this story do...cough, cough...wink]. I hope the Proudfoot is learning his lesson, too. He does have *some* valid points in his conversation wtih Pip; he’s not irredeemable.
Larner
· 12 August 2005
· Chapter 24: Syndicate
Too bad Pippin is left with this judgment as well. It must be tearing him apart.
Author's reply
Yes, I thought it was interesting to explore a little bit how the demands on Pippin as Took and Thain (as the appendices note he becomes in 1434) would weigh on him in terms of havingt to deal with “disciplinary” type actions against his family members -- especially when he grew up as the little brother in the whole birth order thing, so it might seem a bit of role reversal in some ways.
Larner
· 12 August 2005
· Chapter 23: Valley of Diamond's
How the webs we weave catch ourselves in the end.
Satisfactory that Ganelon is caught himself, and has lost all just when he thought he held all within his own hands.
Author's reply
Hoist by our own petards, as it were... Glad you thought the Ganelon comeuppance was satisfactory. iIt really is all his own fault.
Larner
· 5 August 2005
· Chapter 22: The Hope
It's hard when jealousy and frustration seek to damage what is there.
Author's reply
Mmm-hmm. Jealousy and frustration. Two pretty ugly emotions. (Unfortunately, a part of all of our make-ups nonetheless.)
Larner
· 5 August 2005
· Chapter 21: Eg' Market
Apparently the marriage was nowhere as successful for Pervinca as it has been (FINALLY) for Diamond and Pippin. I pity the lass.
Author's reply
No, Pervinca’s marriage didn’t quite work out the same as Pippin’s. To paraphrase Merry’s quote from an earlier chapter: all marriages are different...even when the circumstances might seem similar.
Larner
· 5 August 2005
· Chapter 20: Flawed
The foolish things we worry about....
Author's reply
Yes, but they don’t seem so foolish to those who do the worrying, especially at the time...
Larner
· 5 August 2005
· Chapter 19: Occlusion
Yes, the pain of the loss is there, and will remain for all of them.
Author's reply
Yes; it’s a sweet but lingering melancholy that suffuses all of them, I think.
Larner
· 5 August 2005
· Chapter 18: Canteen Rush
A good meeting here. I love Aragorn, you see--have done so for 42 years now, and I do love to see him give a greeting.
Author's reply
Huh. OK, I’m not clear on whether what you particularly love about Aragorn is his greetings, but I’m glad you liked him in this chapter just the same.
Larner
· 5 August 2005
· Chapter 17: Mining Deep
At last--the marriage well and truly consumated, and done well at that, even if they did need a little guidance. The story my mother blushingly told of her own marriage night comes back to me....
Author's reply
Thank you; glad you liked this chapter. (I was a bit nervous about it, as it’s the first sex scene I’ve ever written.) That’s very...intriguing...that your mother would tell you such tales of her wedding night. It’s not the kind of information I particularly want to get from my mom (thin walls gave me quite enough information, thank you) -- although it was encouraging, albeit uncomfortable, to have my 80-something grandmother refer winkingly to a certain kind of “fun.”
Larner
· 5 August 2005
· Chapter 16: Anniversary Band
Well, it's about ruddy time! About time indeed! And I suspect Diamond will like it far better than her mother!
Author's reply
“It’s about time” -- now, where have I heard that before? Oh, yes, in nearly every response to this and the subsequent chapter, LOL. Guess you’ll find out reading that one what she thinks in comparison to her mother.
Author Reply: “It’s about time” -- now, where have I heard that before? Oh, yes, in nearly every response to this and the subsequent chapter, LOL. Guess you’ll find out reading that one what she thinks in comparison to her mother.
Larner
· 5 August 2005
· Chapter 15: Lapidarium
They needed to tell, did their best to hold it in, to hide it, but needed to tell. Glad the two of them have each other now.
Author's reply
Yep; he not only needed to tell, but she needed to know. Glad that the bonding worked for you.
Larner
· 5 August 2005
· Chapter 14: A Girl's Best Friend
Both couples will grow in their marriages and their love now. And it will be good for Diamond to realize the physical aspects of love from Sam and Rosie.
Author's reply
Of course, marriages are shifting and changing/growing all the time -- including in this chapter. I don’t think Pip and Diamond are going to necessarily be spying on Sam and Rosie’s bedroom, though.
Larner
· 5 August 2005
· Chapter 13: River Diggings
Yes, just perhaps she is good for him. Now, if Pippin and Diamond will just move on to the next stage and actually find the love that's growing find its proper expression!
As you can tell, I'm getting a bit eager for the two of them to get on with it!
Author's reply
“Yes, just perhaps she is good for him.” YES! Thank you!: the story is meant in part to lead slowly to a change in thinking about the much-maligned in fanfic Diamond; kind of a parallel to Merry’s journey on the subject.
Yes; making readers impatient seems to be a hallmark of this story. :)
Larner
· 5 August 2005
· Chapter 12: Lozenge
The staff being where it rightfully belonged could be very suggestive, and I'm glad she chose the marshmallow game. That is WAY too late for the two of them to begin kissing, you know!
Author's reply
Yes, umm, I seem to have gotten the idea from what reviewers have said that there’s quite a strong feeling out there that this is too late for them to begin kissing, LOL. (Of course, this story is what it is.) Glad you liked the marshmallow game, which I did as well.
*Could* the placement of the staff be suggestive indeed? Really. Hmm. [Blinks innocently.]
Larner
· 5 August 2005
· Chapter 11: Cut
Oh, we are all becoming so certain we know what's going on, and none of them have a clue, do they? Love Diamond's protectiveness.
Author's reply
Yep, we do have that tendency to be certain we know what’s going on, don’t we? Glad you liked Diamond’s protectiveness, too. [“*Nobody* messes with *my* Pip.” -- Diamond]
Larner
· 5 August 2005
· Chapter 10: Clarity
About time she cottoned on. She still is an innocent, but smart enough to realize when others are doing their own flirting with her man! About time, about time.
Author's reply
Mmm-hmm. She’s not dumb. (“Stand by your man...”) Sorry. The phrasing of your review just caused me to have a little Tammy Wynette flashback moment there. ;)