Grey Wonderer
· 21 December 2004
· Chapter 13: One of the Lads
This is lovely. I had not seen it before now. I like Aragorn's POV on the hobbits. I would love to hear the stories that Merry is attempting to shock Gimli with. LOL Also like the idea that the hobbits are deciding the portions that everyone should eat according to their own standards!
Author's reply
Thanks. I love showing the Big Folk's POV of our hobbits, especially the rest of the Fellowship.
I'm not sure what they are, but he doesn't want Pip to hear, and Frodo would probably wash his mouth out with soap, LOL!
I can just see them murmuring among themselves, and Sam saying "see what tiny portions they took? Maybe they don't like my cooking!" I think the relatively small appetites of the Big Folk must have shocked the hobbits.*grin*
DAYNA
· 21 December 2004
· Chapter 13: One of the Lads
LOVELY! I never cease to be amazed at the depth and knowledge the authors here at Arda show for Tolkien's characters! I am constantly amazed, and you are no exception. :) Very good little ficlet. I really liked it.
Author's reply
What a nice compliment! I try very hard to honor JRRT with my stories, so it is always nice to hear someone think I may have succeeded.
Eruviluieth
· 21 December 2004
· Chapter 13: One of the Lads
Excellent chapter, excellent characterizations. Loved the ending, especially.
Author's reply
Thank you very much. I am glad you enjoyed it.
Bodkin
· 21 December 2004
· Chapter 13: One of the Lads
I love it. Adopted hobbits - of course they are. It explains a lot! (Arwen might like furry feet. After all, she adapted to furry chin. And wild hair.)
Author's reply
Well, certainly the hobbits adopted the rest of the Fellowship--*grin* it's the hobbity thing to do, after all!
Well, personally *I* think she might, but I guess Aragorn would be hesitant to put it to the test. LOL!
pipspebble
· 21 December 2004
· Chapter 13: One of the Lads
Oh, lovely and sweet and precious all rolled together. Definitely smile-inducing! :-)
Author's reply
Thank you! I'm glad I made you smile.
Anso the Hobbit
· 17 December 2004
· Chapter 11: Wedding Night
have I read this before? have I reviewed it before? Anyway: I LOVED IT! So sweet, so loving, so hobbity, so Merry. Just perfect!
A Merry one indeed!
shire_perian
· 14 December 2004
· Chapter 12: Circle of Joy
Very nice dances you depicted! I 'm glad they're all happy. I'm just glad.
Author's reply
Thank you! They are oversimplified versions of actual historical or semi-historical dances, only I changed the names to make them sound hobbity.
And I am glad, too! This time period of pre-Quest is probably the only time in Frodo's life that he really had to be happy at all, besides his very early childhood; I just wanted him to have a nice time.
Grey Wonderer
· 13 December 2004
· Chapter 12: Circle of Joy
Lovely story. I am curious. I notice that many of your fictions include music and I wondered if this were due to Tolkien's own inclusion of song or if perhaps you are musical yourself. Some of the descriptions lead me to believe that you must play something or sing because they are very vivid and they come through so well in your writing. Just wondering.
Author's reply
Mostly it is due to JRRT's inclusion of music, but I love music myself. I do play (badly, LOL!) a couple of instruments--piano and recorder. Mostly I love to listen and often find myself inspired by muscical pieces. I've always enjoyed Celtic music--even before it became "popular" and so much of that sounds "hobbity" to me. And also, even though I write basically book-canon, I envision a lot of things in Middle-earth through the images PJ gave us in the films. Billy Boyd's singing in the films and his portrayal of Pippin, somehow made me think of him as being very musical. I am also inspired by Howard Shore's magnificent score: I first imagined Folco playing a flute because of that sprightly "Shire" theme, and some of the Elvish pieces I could imagine Legolas singing.
I am glad you think that my descriptions of music come across well. It is easy to describe visual things in writing, but when I describe music, I always worry if I am doing it justice.
But I very much like JRRT's putting in the songs and singing in the books, and wish that there were more of that in fanfic. Since I try to write the stories that I would like to read, I tend to put a lot of that in myself.
Bodkin
· 13 December 2004
· Chapter 12: Circle of Joy
'sparkling joyful blue eyes'
Esmeralda's right - it is good to see Frodo happy. (He's got about another 10 years before the Ring sucks the joy from his life. I hope he makes the most of them.)
I can just see Pippin wanting to play and dance simultaneously - I don't think he can manage it with a lap harp.
I like your Esmeralda.
Author's reply
It's why I chose that particular birthday. I do like to think that he was for the most part happy during that time period of his life.
Poor Pip! It's hard to want to participate in two activities at once! No, dancing and playing simultaneously would not work. I don't think he'd manage it with a fiddle or bagpipes, either, LOL!
Esmeralda is one of my own favorites. I know that she loved Frodo just as if he were another son, and she was a Took herself, with all that personality implies!
GamgeeFest
· 10 December 2004
· Chapter 10: Yule in Hollin
Ah, poor hobbits, homesick on the holidays. That's the worst, esp. where they are. Very thoughtful of the Fellowship to make them a small feast. There's no better gift for a hobbit than food!
Author's reply
I think that is perhaps the *first* thing one learns to grasp when making the acquaintance of hobbits: the importance of food! LOL!
Bodkin
· 10 December 2004
· Chapter 11: Wedding Night
Merry, indeed!
Author's reply
8-D
Thanks!
Bodkin
· 7 December 2004
· Chapter 10: Yule in Hollin
Ahh. Such a sweet fellowship - all supporting each other. Food, alcohol and coloured smoke rings. What more could they want?
Author's reply
Well, it wasn't what they were used to in the Shire, but the Fellowship was gradually becoming family!
GamgeeFest
· 5 December 2004
· Chapter 9: At the Inn in Bree
"It's just that I still feel unsettled by it, as though I had just woken from a horrid nightmare, in which all was dark and despair was something you could touch."
You really gave life to that long, dreadful night the hobbits spent in Bree and really set the tone of what they will continue to encounter as they travel to Rivendell and beyond. Well done!
Author's reply
Well, in the book, Merry's first encounter with the Black Breath was rather glossed over; while I do imagine that it was not as bad as his later encounter, it had to have haunted him that night. And of course Pippin would pick up on that.
It was a pretty dreadful night for all of them, I think, but we don't really get a chance to get into any of their heads at this point.
SlightlyTookish
· 5 December 2004
· Chapter 9: At the Inn in Bree
Oh, I really liked this one! I love how you show how Merry and Frodo's fears affect Pippin, and how he tries to put on a brave face and be responsible. Just lovely!
Author's reply
Thank you! I thought it would be nice to see the events from a different POV. Poor Pippin is so used to depending on Frodo and Merry, but in a pinch, they can depend on him, and he wants to show them that. I'm glad you liked it!
pipspebble
· 4 December 2004
· Chapter 3: Neither Have I Wings to Fly
Oh, oh, oh! This is so hauntingly beautiful, it just tears me up!
*I can feel the cords of my heartstrings stretching and breaking with every moment.*
Yes, that's exactly what it feels like!
*When we finally turn away, I know that for me, the sight of the sea will always do to me what the sight of the Brandywine did to him.
Finally, I understand. *
This is so powerful, to wrenching and so achingly lovely I just may cry again. Wonderful job!
Author's reply
I am glad that this touched you so; it is very different from most of my fics, a lot more angsty. But it just seemed to come out that way--sometimes I'm not sure I should take credit for some of these pieces when they seem to write themselves.
Pipwise Brandygin
· 3 December 2004
· Chapter 8: Making Time for Music
I read this the other day on your LJ... it's such a lovely scene, and very touching. I love Pippin and Legolas together and I think it's very sweet that Legolas can appreciate Pippin's music, even if he is an elf :)
Author's reply
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
I think Legolas would appreciate Pippin's natural abilities, though they would be far diffent than an Elf's. I can, for example imagine them singing together--Legolas would have this cool crystal ethereal kind of voice, while Pippin's voice would be light and yet earthy and warm. Together they would make a lovely combination.
Bodkin
· 3 December 2004
· Chapter 8: Making Time for Music
'Pippin could already sing a number of songs in Sindarin, without a clue as to what they meant.'
I love the potential for danger in this . . . picking up Dwarvish songs that insult Elves. Elvish songs that talk about the perfidy of Men . . . which he then sings in Minas Tirith. He could even start singing Orcish marching songs.
Author's reply
Now there's a plot bunny...(shoo...shoo...I don't have time for you...go back to Bodkin, there's a good bunny...)
Now the others I can see him doing, but I draw the line at Orc songs--Black Speech is not very nice to listen to. He might, however, make his own "translation" of what he *thinks* it means (like Bilbo with "Down Down to Goblin Town).
Lindelea
· 3 December 2004
· Chapter 8: Making Time for Music
Another story that just flows, start to finish.
Legolas' sensitivity, perceiving the difference in moods, and his quickness at thinking up a solution.
Pippin's politely refraining from family trees, though he doesn't understand. And his picking up music and words he doesn't understand, for the love of the music!
And the duet at the end, unconscious of listeners.
Very nice.
Author's reply
Thank you very much! I really love to write Legolas with the hobbits. I think that he truly loves them, and is fascinated by them. Of course, he is quickly able to understand Pippin's thoughtful mood, very different from Pip's usual cheerfulness.
Pip and Merry however, tend to think of their companions as large hobbits, and have to remind themselves every so often that they are not. The idea that someone is not interested in how people are related seems very strange to them.
And I thought it would be neat to have them so absorbed in the music that they just didn't take notice of the audience.
annmarwalk
· 3 December 2004
· Chapter 8: Making Time for Music
These were very lovely and brightened my morning! Thank you!
Ann
Author's reply
I'm so glad you enjoyed them!
GamgeeFest
· 2 December 2004
· Chapter 7: Sam's Mistake
The Gaffer disagreeing with Bilbo? Now that would be interesting. :) *hint, hint*
Sam definitely learned his lesson about being lazy and not using the appropriate tools. He probably feels worse about the two weeks off work than he does about the cut itself.
Author's reply
*whistles...rolls eyes...nudges bunny away with toe...looks out of corner of eye...*
I'm sure he does. He knows the Gaffer will be having to work alone without his help, which is really going to make him feel bad. And I'm with Merry--I don't think Sam truly has a lazy bone in his body. It was probably more impatience, really, than laziness, that made him use the tool he had to hand rather than fetch the appropriate one. But trust him to put the worst interpretation on his motives.
Imrahoil
· 2 December 2004
· Chapter 7: Sam's Mistake
What a proper story! - huhu, don't you get tired of it? I suppose everybody who has read "A new reckoning" does it automatically: Dreamflower + Sam = proper, at least I do, as is only proper, of course -. ;-)
Like it very much, a good Sam coddling makes always for a nice comfort reading.
Author's reply
Oh yes, my Sam's been "proper" from a very young age, thanks to the Gaffer!
Well, Rabidsamfan did ask for it, so I tried to deliver. Apparently there are not a few people who like to see Sam coddled!
GamgeeFest
· 1 December 2004
· Chapter 6: A Mist of Tears and Weariness
You don't see Merry and Gandalf alone very often, and this is such a beautiful scene. Very well done.
Author's reply
No, come to think of it. There are a lot of Gandalf and Pippin moments. But he's known Merry even longer; I didn't really think about that part of it, it just seemed natural that Gandalf could soothe him.
Thank you for reading and reviewing!
Bodkin
· 1 December 2004
· Chapter 7: Sam's Mistake
Merry remained very calm and collected. Well done, that hobbit. Poor Sam - the embarrassment of being looked after! Hardly proper.
Author's reply
I always imagine young Merry as the Boy Scout type: always prepared, and trying to do what's needed in an emergency. He probably falls apart a little later on.
Yes, being looked after would be embarassing to poor Sam, but he just doesn't get many chances at it, after all.
Viresse
· 1 December 2004
· Chapter 7: Sam's Mistake
Oh I like this one. (When do I not, she asked, rhetorically.) I do like the Gaffer's reactions. "He’d been known to argue with his master, but not in front of others". Love it. Need some more of the Gaffer and Bilbo. Any more little plot bunnies scampering around with those two, hmmm?
Author's reply
Oh, you never can tell. I'm not really certain where some of these bunnies are hatching from, but most of these little gift fics are requests from my LJ friends list. When Rabidsamfan asked for a bit of Sam h/c, I immediately thought of young Sam.
RogerGamgee
· 30 November 2004
· Chapter 6: A Mist of Tears and Weariness
Angsty is right...this is really a moving tale. I've truly enjoyed reading all of these mathoms of yours, and look forward to more. Well done!
Author's reply
Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed them.
I had begun to realize that my Author page was filling up with a lot of very short little challenge fics and drabbles, and that I had a lot more of them on the way with the holidays coming. So I decided to put them all in one place so to speak.
I'm not going to move the ones already in place, though. I'm afraid I would mess up my reviews.