LOL! What else would I expect Pippin to say when he sees Diamond!
I loved the talk between Paladin and Diamond. She's still a little shy and not quite sure of herself, but he's been through this before and knows just what to say. I love her realization that he could be a father to her.
Pippin's impatience is classic, as is Merry's management of him. For all that his da sees that Pip has grown up, some things probably never will change - and we love it that way.
Author's reply
8-D What else, indeed?
Paladin is more comfortable now as a father since he and Pippin have mended their relationship, and he has a more realistic view of his son than he did a few years earlier. But nobody knows better that however mature and responsible Pippin has become, he is still very emotionally high-strung. He's glad that such a steady and responsible lass has caught Pippin's fancy, and after the spotted fever business, he has a great admiration for Diamond. He's certain that she will be an asset as a future Thain's Lady.
Yes, as Merry has observed in the past, Pippin will probably never *be* patient--though he may learn to curb his impatience (two entirely different things to my mind.) And of course we love our Pip--fidgets and all!
Ariel
· 2 January 2005
· Chapter 31
Ah! Two more chapters when I wasn't even looking!
YOu know, I really have to feel sorry for Rosamunda. I have a friend who is writing the most fantastic fic with her in it and she's so sympathetically portrayed in that that I have a hard time remembering these are two descriptions of the same character!
Thank you for being so prompt and getting these two back together. Six years? Oh, I could NEVER wait that long! LOL!
Author's reply
That's what happens when we blink! 8-D I've been updating pretty fast this week--I tend to do that as I draw near the end, and want to see the finish line myself.
Well, you could feel sorry for her; it's sad that she doesn't have her children's respect, though they do love her. Still, as I have taken pains to point out, just because her priorities are a little skewed doesn't make her one of the "bad guys". She does love both Estella and Freddy, even though she doesn't understand them. And she is beginning to be fond of Merry, although that is a much slower process. But she can't really help reverting to her younger, somewhat competitive and snobby behavior whenever she's around her Took relatives. She wants to show them up. (I would imagine she was very envious and possibly catty when it came to young Esme.) And she's always thought of Buckland as somewhat of a "provincial backwater", in spite of the eminent lineage of the Brandybucks.
I did need to get them back together to wrap up this particular story! But yes, first Pippin has to come of age, and Diamond has to, and finish her apprenticeship, before they can think of being wed. In *my* Shire, at least, tweenaged marriages are very rare, and only occur when the young people have been extremely naughty indeed. Not going to happen with *my* Pip and Diamond!
This *is* a G rated fic. *grin*
SharonB
· 2 January 2005
· Chapter 31
Ah, I can finally get back to the stories. (We've been celebrating Christmas this weekend since the last weekend was snowed in!) I loved Pip's letter, so direct and to the point and not wastng a lot of words on other things. Just like him, so hasty (as Treebeard would say!)
Diamond is learning more and more about the other branch of her Took family. The Thain is wise in many ways .. making Diamond comfortable, looking after what the gossips will want to say and just managing things around them in general.
LOL, Rosamnunda is still up to her old tricks, putting on airs. With Brandy Hall ranked right behind The Great Smials does she really think she's gaining any points? Or is it just a habit too hard for her to break? The arrival of those Tooks will help Esme manage her better indeed. ;-)
Enjoyable as always. Thanks for the story.
Author's reply
That's our hasty Pip! 8-D
The Thain is much more relaxed now that he and Pippin have mended things between them; he appreciates Diamond, and is vastly relieved that she's the one who caught Pippin's eye.
It's mostly hard habit to break: she's reverting to her youth, when she felt competitive with her cousin Esmeralda (though Esme never was competing with *her*).
You are very welcome! Thanks for the review!
Bodkin
· 2 January 2005
· Chapter 31
Paladin is very wise - I'm glad he is welcoming Diamond. I like his perspective on how Pippin was a bit of a trial, but has grown up to be a great hobbit.
Merry is a good manager - years of working on Pippin will stand him in excellent stead as the future Master of Buckland. There surely won't be many more difficult hobbits around.
Rosamunda is not winning friends with her manner towards Esmeralda. I imagine she is definitely going to be out-manoeuvred once Eglantine and Pearl arrive to keep her out of the way.
Author's reply
Pippin's parents are very relieved that he has found such a steady and intelligent lass that they are bound to be welcoming to her. After some of the things Pip got into as a tweenager--(like taking foolish dares or running off with wandering minstrels) Paladin had to be afraid the lad would never learn responsibility. He's very glad to find himself proven wrong.
This is true--of course, he's been managing this particular Took since birth.
Well, really Esme didn't expect her to be much different. After all, she and Rosamunda are cousins, and she knew her ways pretty well before she married and moved off to Buckland. And I'm sure Merry and Estella had also had some warning for her. But yes, she will definitely be glad for reinforcements in the form of her sister-in-law and niece.
Eruviluieth
· 1 January 2005
· Chapter 31
Another lovely chapter. I love Pippin's impatience - and Merry's cleverness to help Pippin. Though I may wonder why Merry is still in Crickhollow when Estella is at the Hall. I guess Merry can't expect to be with her all the time :P Always eager for more!
Author's reply
Merry usually knows how to handle this particular Took, and really all it was, was a bit of compromise.
Well, Merry does live at Crickhollow now, and if he went to stay up at the Hall just because Estella's there, he'd be leaving Pippin there alone. Besides, Brandy Hall's such a crowded place, and Crickhollow only a short distance away--he'll see plenty of her, maybe more than if he were actually there.
brandy
· 1 January 2005
· Chapter 30
Haha! and Aww! at the same time:
' Diamond smiled, imagining it. “Here’s the shortest one, I got it a few days ago.”
“Dear Diamond,
I still miss you.
Love,
Pippin
How sweet, and so very Pippin at the same time.
Bodkin
· 1 January 2005
· Chapter 30
I loved seeing Diamond share most of Pippin's stack of letters with Opal - it augurs well for Opal's future in Great Smials. And it's not as if Diamond was revealing anything terribly personal! They're very sweet letters - but not, shall we say, terribly articulate.
I'm glad he can share his worries about Frodo. He'll need someone to turn to.
Author's reply
Well, it seemed to me that a girl would share that kind of thing with her closest friend--a chance to do a bit of tweenaged "squeeing", yet as you said they were not terribly *personal* (except for the two she chose to withhold). What makes them romantic of course, is the cumulative effect: knowing that he is thinking of her each and every day, and making the effort to let her know that.
I've thought for a bit, on why Pippin, who will *talk* endlessly on any subject is not more forthcoming in his letters, and have decided that it is a combination of impatience with the process of writing his thoughts down, as well as a mind that tends to run far in advance of his ability to write them down. So he tends to be as brief as possible. It is also holdover somewhat from childhood when letters were part of a learning assignment, and therefore something to be gotten done and over and out of the way.
Yes, he will. For Merry, his natural confindante, will be grieving as well, and just as much in need of being comforted. They will commiserate together, but both of them will need someone with strength who is *not* grieving over the same loss.
Eruviluieth
· 31 December 2004
· Chapter 30
Very sweet. I love Pippin's letters, they're so sweet for all their shortness. Interesting bit of knowledge about Opal's mum. Can't wait for more!
Author's reply
Pippin says what he has to--that's what makes it so sweet that he always tell Diamond he misses her.
The part about Opal's mother and her accident are in my long story "A New Reckoning".
Nina the powerwriter
· 31 December 2004
· Chapter 30
Awww...that was such a sweet chapter! It tickles me the way Pippin writes letters. Can't wait to see what's next!
Author's reply
Glad you liked it. I only have to work till noon tomorrow, so I *might* get another chapter up this weekend--I hope, I hope!
Did you get my email?
FantasyFan
· 31 December 2004
· Chapter 30
Dear Dreamflower,
I love your story.
Thank you for writing it.
Love,
FantasyFan
(Pippin's letters are absolutely darling. Whenever I hesitate to leave a review because I don't think I really have much to say, I'm going to remember Pippin's letters.)
Author's reply
Dear Fantasy Fan,
I'm glad you like the story.
Thank you for reading it.
Love,
Dreamflower
Pearl Took
· 31 December 2004
· Chapter 30
Aw, those letters are so very sweet, so very Pippin. I'm looking forward to him walking with his lass :)
Author's reply
So is he. *grin* (Won't be too long now!)
GamgeeFest
· 31 December 2004
· Chapter 30
*snickers* More Pippin love letters! Squee! You know what would be funny? If you did a fic of just letters from Pippin to people. No one would have a clue what is going on, lol, but they would know that he really misses Diamond. :) Can't wait till Yule!
Author's reply
*chuckle* His letters do seem to be popular for some reason. Perhaps because they are concise and to the point--or maybe just because they are from Pippin!
Of course, if he weren't writing to her *every day* they might be just a bit longer.
Auntiemeesh
· 31 December 2004
· Chapter 30
Aww, I love Pippin's letters, this one in particular, “Dear Diamond,
Frodo’s not coming. Merry’s really upset, and I’m not so very happy either. We didn’t sleep so well last night, and Merry had one of his dreams. I wish you were here.
I miss you,
Love,
Pippin”
The combination of sorrow and concern for Frodo and the trust and love he shows by sharing his worry is very touching.
good_one_pip
· 31 December 2004
· Chapter 29
The end of this chapter was so sad. Frodo can no longer be truly happy in the Shire, or anywhere in middle earth anymore. As you said in the previous chapter, they must loosen these deep bonds, otherwise the saddnes of the Grey Havens will be unbearable. Are you going to discuss that in this story?
Author's reply
Frodo is gradually coming to realize that his time in the Shire is going to be short, though he has not truly made up his mind to sail West yet. According to JRRT, he did not make that decision until his next spring anniversary, just about the time Elanor was born. But he knows that his health is deteriorating, and that he is not going to survive many more anniversaries.
Merry and Pippin have not quite yet absorbed all this, although Merry has had his suspicions. But they are still in denial about it. They do not want to admit that they may yet lose Frodo, especially Merry.
I've already discussed it some, and it may come up some more, but it is not going to find a solution quite yet.
good_one_pip
· 31 December 2004
· Chapter 28
You're setting something up for Yule! I'm really looking foward to how this is going to go. Pippin's "love letters" were so short and sweet. Diamond's a lucky girl isn't she?
Author's reply
I'm glad you liked Pippin's letters. You'll get to see a few more of them in the next chapter. Well, *I* think Diamond's pretty lucky--she's getting that adorable Took.
eiluj
· 30 December 2004
· Chapter 29
Oh, poor Frodo! Poor Merry! Poor Pip!
Author's reply
Indeed, our poor lads. Poor Sam, too. It's so heart-breaking to think of what's coming.
good_one_pip
· 30 December 2004
· Chapter 25
It would be awful to have to retell these experiences again. But you were right in saying that their future wives needed to know. This will only make everyone's bonds stronger. I liked the way that you have them re-telling everything. It isn't at all boring, and I'm quite interested at everyone's reactions.
Author's reply
It was very hard on them, but I think in some ways cathartic. You will notice that instead of having rough nights as they had expected to, they actually slept pretty well. But it is not something they want to go through over and over, which is why they did it together, and to both the lasses.
I'm glad you thought the re-telling wasn't boring. It's always a bit difficult to know how much is too much.
Bodkin
· 30 December 2004
· Chapter 29
Christmas doesn't help with reviewing, you know. People keep making me take my attention off new chapters.
Pippin appears to have learned patience. Remarkable what a troll landing on you will do.
So many pluses for those able to continue with their lives. And then one huge minus. Merry and Pippin must suspect now that there will be no healing for Frodo.
Author's reply
Being squashed by trolls is definitely a learning experience. And having been through that healing process once before, he knows that pushing the envelope too much could set him back more than he wants. Of course, sometimes his youthful impatience comes through after all, but he is making an effort at patience.
I think Merry's suspected it for a while, but he is just now beginning to realize the *extent* of permanent damage the Quest did to his beloved Frodo, and what possible outcome that could lead to.
GamgeeFest
· 30 December 2004
· Chapter 29
Poor Merry! His Frodo won't be there for Yule. It is difficult the first time a loved one isn't around for the holidays. You do get used to it, but the first couple of times, it just isn't the same. At least Pippin's making sense. And getting around. Had to laugh at Pippin vainly trying to keep information from Merry. Thank goodness Merry's there or who knows what Pippin would try to get away with.
Author's reply
This is exactly the case. My Merry has *never* spent a single Yule without Frodo. And add to it his growing fear that he is going to lose Frodo forever after all (which, sadly he is) it has to be hitting him very hard. In this case, it's Pip there with the comfort--and as you said, showing some sense.
Well, I'm sure he would have stretched that twenty minutes as far as he could go. ("Twenty minutes out, and tweny back again...") not to mention trying to ride, no telling what else. But in this case, Merry's on the ball.
Eruviluieth
· 30 December 2004
· Chapter 29
So sad! I'm glad Pip's going to be able to dance with Diamond, but now Frodo won't get to meet his lass! Frodo planned it, I know. He made sure his letter would arrive in time to be polite, but too late to change his mind. Please keep on, I'm so eager to know what comes next. BTW, thanks for the quick updating you've been doingm - much appreciated!
Author's reply
Well, Frodo *did* meet Diamond right after Pip broke his leg, but not since then.
Yes, I think Frodo did plan the timing of the note to make it difficult for Merry to come after him. That is something Merry had done sometimes before the Quest when Frodo didn't want to make the trip to Buckland.
I'm trying to update as quickly as I can right now, but it may slow down a bit, as I have to work for a few days. I'm going to *try* to keep them coming quickly if I ccan though.
SharonB
· 30 December 2004
· Chapter 29
LOL, Merry is worse than a mother hen for Pippin. And even worse he knows that he can't get around Merry with these things. They do know each other so well. At lest he should be able to havea dance with Diamond during Yule.
The extent of pain Fordo still has is hitting Merry very hard. Is he just realizing that Frodo might leave them, not just still having problems adjusting back to life in the Shire? HE sort of feels he is ahving to choose between Frodo and Estella in a way right now. And he knows that Frodod is not doing well because of his note. Poor Merry!
Author's reply
The days when Pippin could fool Merry even a little about his health are long past. And of course, it goes both ways.
I think that Merry has known for a while that Frodo would not fully adjust to life in the Shire. What he has slowly begun to realize, although he is still in some denial about it, is that his cousin is slowly dying. I don't think that he has yet considered the possiblity of Frodo's sailing West--that was not something Frodo talked about much. And Merry (and Pippin) are not going to want to admit to themselves that they are still in danger of losing him.
Ariel
· 30 December 2004
· Chapter 29
*swells with pride*
Yup! That's my guy! ;)
A lovely chapter, even though it's short, and a nicely angsty ending with Frodo (which you KNOW I like). Thank you!
Author's reply
Glad you lilke the way I used him! Thanks for letting me "borrow" him!
Well, I can't keep Frodo out: even when he's *not* there, he's there. 8-D
Roger Gamgee
· 30 December 2004
· Chapter 29
This was a great chapter. I suspect Merry is starting to realize now that their lives have all changed since the Quest. They can't go back to the way things were, no matter how much they might want to. I remember seeing the four of them in the inn just after the Quest, when Sam decided to pursue Rose. You could see from the looks on their faces as they surveyed the crowd that they understood - at least on some level - that things were not different. Even though life in the Shire was going on pretty much as normal, they *themselves* were not the same. Their experiences had changed the way they looked at their world.
Good to see Pippin up and about on that cane - trust to the inherent stubbornness of Tooks!
Looking forward to the next chapter in this tale...good work!
Author's reply
Merry has known they couldn't truly go back, but I don't think he had counted on just to what extent that meant for Frodo. He has suspected all along that Frodo would never be his old self again, yet even so, the idea of not *having* him *around* has yet to penetrate.
And my Merry has never in his life experienced a Yule without Frodo. At first Frodo lived in Buckland, but even after he went to Bag End, he *always* came back to Brandy Hall at Yule, no matter what. I don't think it occurred to Merry that *that* would change too.
Thanks to stubbornness and Ent-draughts, Pip's pretty well healed, though he will have to be careful for just a little while yet.
Hope to get the next one up soon, but have to go to work in a few minutes.
pipspebble
· 30 December 2004
· Chapter 29
Awww, I love it when they start out so happy and filled with anticipation and good times ahead and then - thud! Angst drops like a ton of bricks. It's a good thing you plan to have Estella and Diamond there at the Hall to comfort the sad lads. Lovely story, still. :-)
Author's reply
I do like to mix up my angst and my happy stuff. And I've known for a while that Merry would not be happy when he found out Frodo wasn't coming.
Yes, they will have their lasses there! Some nice comfort to go with the hurt.
Bodkin
· 30 December 2004
· Chapter 28
Pippin is quite right - he's not much of a letter writer. But he gets the emotion right!
Polo's letter, on the other hand, is a good excuse for a healer to dispose of her apprentice for a while. After all, she will need the cottage to herself!
Author's reply
Pippin does tend to say what needs to be said, and then get out. *chuckle*
Aha! You twigged my evil plan! I've had this particular little excuse in mind for quite a while. Whatever works!