Nienor Niniel
· 26 September 2006
· Chapter 6: I'll See You in My Dreams
Another bunch of reviews!
I read this one and the next I'll review last night, but was too tired to type in coherent English... at least what goes as coherent for me.
I LOVED this! I really like it whenever you write about the complicated relationship between Pippin and Ferdi, and it is so great to see Ferdi trusting Pippin again. The predicament you brought them in worked so well in the way Ferdi had to rely completely on Pippin, and Ferdi reacted to te situation like I would have expected him to do.
It's also very Ferdi-like how things go afterwards: no big, emotional Talk between the two, just Ferdi taking care of Pippin and doing some thinking for himself.
As I said: I loved this! Nienor
Author's reply
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
(fervent, because this reply is so very belated)
Somehow I missed this review until tonight. I do appreciate your taking the time to share your thoughts. You've been a thoughtful and generous reader.
(Thanks!)
Ariel
· 6 March 2005
· Chapter 6: I'll See You in My Dreams
Done! And done well. I was wondering if you'd make Pippin sick 'again' - LOL! Thank you for an enjoyable story. Now I can start on the next one.
Author's reply
Well, you're welcome! It would have been logical for Pippin to be sick after that interlude in the icy river, but for the fact that he "needed" to be well and hale for the journey to Buckland in only a few days' time. Sometimes when writing you come smack dab up against an already-established timeline (either by Tolkien, or if it's me, my own, which is sometimes quite inconvenient). So we'll just say that it wasn't the right time for Pippin to catch a cold, or pneumonia, or anything in between.
Must have been something in Efram's draught, perhaps.
Thanks for reading & commenting!
Author Reply: p.s. I *did* make Pippin sick again. Only not in this story. (See "A Took by any Other Name" for details. And yes, we're really talking angst. See how well I've learned from your example, "Teach"?)
Bodkin
· 2 February 2005
· Chapter 6: I'll See You in My Dreams
Ferdi - he's just so flipping noble! He would sacrifice himself to save Pippin. Good job he didn't have to. Good thing he kept fighting for Nell, too. I don't know if she could have survived another widowing - even with the infant-to-come.
Mutter of 'sorcery' indeed. There's a rustic as needs some Pippin-inspired water rescue training! Just as well Haldi was around to be loud and sensible - and informative.
I just love it when Ferdi gets into the hands of the healers - he's so snappy with them, and witty with it. And he and Pippin are a proper Laurel and Hardy.
But I think Pippin is a good ninr tenths of the way to convincing his cousin that he has grown up into a worthwhile person. Either that, or Ferdi seriously doesn't want to cross the Brandywine.
A most enjoyable tale.
Author's reply
LOL "so flipping noble"
Am going to have a little fun with the Ferdi-Pippin relationship in the next story on the schedule, working title "A Took by any Other Name".
Poor Nell, I'm not sure she would survive, either, no matter what Ferdi tells himself.
Snorked at your estimation of Ferdi--interesting summation. Either he's noble and finally fair-minded, or he's seriously spooked at the thought of yet *another* river...
Thanks!
Auntiemeesh
· 1 February 2005
· Chapter 6: I'll See You in My Dreams
This is a wonderful story! I've got a whole stack of your stories to read and I'm clearly starting at the wrong end of things, but I loved this. It's very well written, with excellent character development, as well as a tense and captivating plot. :)
Author's reply
Why thank you! I'm glad you had time to read and comment!
(Reviews are so encouraging, aren't they? *g* If dh didn't want the computer back I'd sit here and write a chapter of something...)
Larner
· 1 February 2005
· Chapter 6: I'll See You in My Dreams
Excellently written, and love the characterizations.
Author's reply
Ah, thank you!
Ferdi's surrender was sudden, and total, and I hope it was believable.
Anso the Hobbit
· 1 February 2005
· Chapter 6: I'll See You in My Dreams
Another great chapter. I was afraid thiw swas when Ferdi would lose his eyesight for all that time, but now he sees again. I hope Pip will be all right. Merry need him on the 15th.
Author's reply
Ferdi actually loses his eyesight in "Where the Merlin Cries", and at the time I wrote that one I was thinking more hysterical blindness (had been researching shell shock from the Great War) than physical cause. But after our little one suffered temporary blindness in one eye (with a slight concussion) it seemed as if it might work in a story.
And yes, Pippin *has* to be all right because when "At the End of His Rope" starts he's on his way back from Buckland!
Thanks!
Mysterious Jedi
· 31 January 2005
· Chapter 6: I'll See You in My Dreams
Excellent, as always. Interesting how the temporary blindness is just a foretaste of things to come :)
Author's reply
Ah yes, that foreshadowing...
Thanks!
Dreamflower
· 31 January 2005
· Chapter 6: I'll See You in My Dreams
Rats! I hit the wrong button and the darn review disappeared. *grmble*grumble*laptop* (I want *my* computer back! waaa..)
This was a great ending! Lovely to see Ferdi's trust renewed, and a new appreciation of Pippin in place. I had to laugh at Pippin's response to Ferdi's cutting him loose: an hour's freedom, before he comes under Merry's watchful eye...(but somehow, Merry's vigilance doesn't fret him quite so much as the escort's)
Speaking of Merry: You've left this nice little two week gap between this story and "At the End of His Rope" that's just begging to be filled with a visit in Buckland and Pippin helping his cousin deal with his annual bout of the Shadow...*hint*hint* (shoves bunny in your direction with toe, backs off whistling innocently...)
Author's reply
I hate it when that happens! Bad laptop! Bad! Behave yourself!
Whenever it happens to me, for awhile afterwards I'm cautious and write my reviews in a "write mail" window, and eventually I am lulled into false security once more...
That bunny has not yet nibbled (the two weeks in Buckland), but you never know.
At the moment I am fighting off a "Jack" bunny, a story of one of his rambles through the Shire before Paladin became Thain... wouldn't it be funny if he'd met a very young Pippin?
And then there are the two WIPs, "Thain" and Rosemary's story...
And then there is Woodruff's story, which keeps rearing its head and nudging at me to outline it at the very least.
And if I buckle down and write on those it leaves me precious little time to read.
What to do?
Hai Took
· 31 January 2005
· Chapter 6: I'll See You in My Dreams
It is sp very nice to see the trust restored in Pippin! Ferdi got a little taste of being blind, although he seemed a little more prepared for it this time than he does when he is actually made blind! Of course who would really want to be blind.
Ferdi making a deal with Pippin to cut him loose for a while was a nice sign of the trust that has bloomed between them. That whole life for a life things seems to have worked out.
I'm sorry it's over but it was fun while it lasted! I guess there will be another one at some point! Thank you for all of the fun!
Author's reply
Well after thinking it through, I decided that Ferdi was able to handle the thought of being blind in this story much better than in "Where the Merlin Cries" because he still had all his other faculties. In "Merlin" when he awakened blind, he couldn't feel his arms and could only perceive one leg, so in addition to being blind he had the idea that he was to be a helpless invalid, and he just couldn't handle such a thing, no matter that his father had lived armless and legless for years... or perhaps because of that fact.
You're welcome, and thanks for taking the time to comment!
Pearl Took
· 31 January 2005
· Chapter 6: I'll See You in My Dreams
*APPLAUSE* *APPLAUSE* *BRAVO, BRAVISIMO*
A wonderful, wonderful ending to a wonderful story!!! VWD indeed!!! :)
Author's reply
Ah, thank you, Pearl. I'm glad the ending worked!
Connie B.
· 31 January 2005
· Chapter 6: I'll See You in My Dreams
Oh, I'm so glad to see this updated. Hope RL is giving you a little more time for your writing.
I may need to go back and reread the beginning of this, but I thought Ferdi didn't know Nell was pregnant. I thought everyone said that if he'd known he'd have wanted to stay with her. Maybe I misread something, or am misremembering it. Also, isn't Diamond expecting? If this takes place right before ...Rope, she would just about have to be. Speaking of At the End of His Rope, I had to laugh when I read that part about an hour without the escort. A lot can happen in an hour.;)
Thanks.
Connie B.
Author's reply
I always appreciate it when someone takes the time to note an apparent inconsistency. I am buried too deep in the story, usually, or else I've forgotten something said near the start when I'm wrestling the finish to its close.
You're right, Diamond is expecting. At this point she's about 7 - 1/2 months along. Difficult to ride a pony, perhaps, uncomfortable, but doable. (I did! I think I stopped riding when I reached my ninth month.)
Perhaps it wasn't clear in the first chapter that Ferdi knew Nell was expecting; I think it was implied rather than stated outright. I figure he'd be one of the first to know! What he didn't know was that the healers were concerned that Nell was a bit "poorly" since the last birth and needed careful feeding. Do I need to go back and make that point a little clearer?
A lot can happen in an hour...
Though the way I see the accident in "Rope" is that it happens after Ferdi re-joins them. They stay overnight at the Cockerel and set out on their way once more, and a couple hours later Pippin and Ferdi are sitting together on top of the "box", chatting, when something spooks the ponies. Ferdi is thrown clear when the coach overturns, while Pippin is pinned.
Or something to that effect.
Thanks!
lmw
· 24 January 2005
· Chapter 99999: Author's Notes
I have stumbled my way into the Hobbit section of fiction here, said hobbits not my most favourite characters. After reading some of your stories, I am changing my mind some, at least, the way you write them. After starting this one, I decided it would be best to start at the beginning of your impressive list,(chronologically speaking) and have just finished 'At the End of His Rope'. What an adventure! I am pretty much speechless (or wordless). Your characterisation (?) is so 'real', and the interaction between husbands and wives, and friends and the 'help', and the children....so easy to read and believe. I laughed, I shed a few tears, I worried, I had a marvelous time. Thank you. Off to read some more.
Author's reply
How heartening! It is always nice to make a new acquaintance. Was a little puzzled--sometimes I take things too literally. Did you mean you started with the first story posted here at SoA (possibly "SpiderWebs", I forget for sure), or that you started with the earliest on the timeline ("Shire")? Just curious.
Anyhow, nice to meet you, and you're welcome, and please drop me an occasional line; it is nice to hear from a reader that they didn't just click into a chapter by accident and click out again immediately!
Funny what the imagination does on cold meds, isn't it?
Thanks!
jodancingtree
· 22 January 2005
· Chapter 5: I'll Love Her ‘til the Seas Run Dry
Whew, this is a tale you read all the way through at a gallop! Wonderful, very suspenseful, and marvelous characterisations like all your stories. Brava!
jo
Author's reply
Thanks, Jo, high praise! So I take it that this fits seamlessly after "Runaway"? Now I still have to work out Pippin and Ferdi working things out, for they haven't really *talked* yet! Whew.
Appreciate the good words.
Pearl Took
· 21 January 2005
· Chapter 5: I'll Love Her ‘til the Seas Run Dry
Whew! I need to catch *my* breath! Go Pip lad, proving (sp) yourself at last. *sigh* Now perhaps Ferdi will understand a bit more why Pippin ended up getting himself knighted ;) VWD :)!!!!!
Author's reply
Ah, yes, he will soon, anyhow. But have been too tired to write any more, the last day or two, and even if I did feel like writing it is the weekend and computer time around here is as scarce as hens' teeth.
Thanks!
Anso the Hobbit
· 21 January 2005
· Chapter 5: I'll Love Her ‘til the Seas Run Dry
What is it with Tooks, rivers and bridges? They certainly get enough of excitement crossing little streams that suddenly becomes roaring rivers. They should have brought a Brandybuck each time they need to cross one. :) Anyway, another test of courage, trust, health and wit for both Ferdi and Pip, this, and I`m enjoying it very much!
I like how you made Ferdi see his life in review and that he never really trusted Pip, but now has too. He doesn`t want to, it seems but if he is to live he is to trust for Pippin to blow air and life into him, and they both survive. Can`t wait for more!
Author's reply
Could be a lucrative business.
"Brandybuck for hire. Need a river crossed? Call a Brandybuck today! (We also do boats)"
Anso the Hobbit
· 21 January 2005
· Chapter 5: I'll Love Her ‘til the Seas Run Dry
What is it with Tooks, rivers and bridges? They certainly get enough of excitement crossing little streams that suddenly becomes roaring rivers. They should have brought a Brandybuck each time they need to cross one. :) Anyway, another test of courage, trust, health and wit for both Ferdi and Pip, this, and I`m enjoying it very much!
I like how you made Ferdi see his life in review and that he never really trusted Pip, but now has too. He doesn`t want to, it seems but if he is to live he is to trust for Pippin to blow air and life into him, and they both survive. Can`t wait for more!
Grey Wonderer
· 20 January 2005
· Chapter 5: I'll Love Her ‘til the Seas Run Dry
I enjoyed all of the introspection in this one. I also found that I was breathing along with them. LOL I think Ferdi still feels a measure of guilt for Pippin's health and also a measure of anger for what he had to go through because of Pippin's leaving like he did. This bond between them may help to heal some of the past in a way that other things might not.thank goodness for the Took stubborness on this one!
Author's reply
O lovely insight! Fits very well with the third revision we worked on tonight! (LOL) A measure of guilt for Pippin's health, yes, we hadn't even *thought* of that, but it fits. Guilt and anger are so often paired.
Maybe we will not rush back to the Great Smials after all, but will insert a scene on the riverbank and perhaps one at the woodcutters' smial as well...
Chewing on the food for thought that kind reviewers have provided this day.
Thanks!
Author Reply: p.s. Just got off the phone with my editor-friend and she adds her "thanks".
Ariel
· 20 January 2005
· Chapter 5: I'll Love Her ‘til the Seas Run Dry
LOL! Closet of insecurities? YOU? Oh, hon, we all have those, but I guarantee this; you have more readers than I will ever dream of having! Count your blessings.
I am often reading, though I do tend to stick to angstier things. If I don't review it's usually because I can't think of anything constructive to say. 'Nice job' is what I say to up and coming newbie authors - but you deserve more indepth commentary.
Suffice to say, there are things I like in your fics and things I don't. In this one, I am unclear on the bridge and how the fellow was caught. Perhaps a bit more description of the situation would have helped - though it also could be that I am particularly dense! LOL!
You have, so far, not pulled too far back from that angst line - which I like to see, of course, but I know you are uncomfortable with - and I am impressed to see you trying to push it in this fic. If you are doing this as an exercize, very good! Trying new styles, POVs, mechanisms is a very good idea - you never know when you might stumble on something that works very well for you.
I can't promise I will have this much to say about all your fics, though I will try to remember to comment and say 'I'm reading!' at the very least.
Author's reply
Well, no, not exactly an exercise. It just sort of wrote itself this way. "In the Greening of the Year" was sort of a dress-rehearsal, I think. It was supposed to be the "Ferdi learns to trust Pippin" story but Eglantine and Tolly insisted on taking over.
For Ferdi to go from the angst Jo cranked into "Runaway" to the amicable relations in "Rope" I figured it would take an *awfully* angsty situation.
Hmmm. More description of how he was caught... might be able to work it into the revised version of the next chapter. Basically the bridge crumpled when the flood hit it, and he went down through the "floor", through the broken boards, which meant that when they tried to pull him up the boards were facing "down" and "in" and pulling against them pulled them "up" and "in" to his abdomen. Um. That's harder to describe than I thought. Does it make sense now?
Beruthiel
· 20 January 2005
· Chapter 5: I'll Love Her ‘til the Seas Run Dry
Marvelously done!
Waiting eagerly for Ferdi to be set straight about Pippin's leaving him under the water. Wonder how he'll react when he finds out the hobbit he doesn't trust actually did save his life.
Author's reply
Oh, I imagine he'll react honorably. We are still hammering out the next scene. Don't know if the angst and nightmares will make it into the finals or if some understanding will come on the riverbank first. Weighing two different variations on the same draft chapter, and now a third is raising its head!
Isn't writing an interesting process?
Dreamflower
· 20 January 2005
· Chapter 5: I'll Love Her ‘til the Seas Run Dry
This is incredibly well-done. I think even someone who'd not read your other stories would understand enough for the chapter to make perfect sense. Poor Ferdi! I love the imagery of a smial with a collapsing ceiling, as he loses his supports one by one. Ferdi's been betrayed and bereft so often in his life, it's no wonder he finds trust difficult.
And Pippin, operating here basically on physical memory, not even thinking, but simply doing what he's been trained to do, and trying to save a life. That his own life is in jeopardy is not even registering with him at the moment, and it's no wonder he is confused when rescue is finally at hand.
It's a shame Ferdi did feel abandoned at the last, but I'm sure Hildi will very quickly set him straight.
Please don't let Pip get too sick this time--he's not got much time before he has to go to Merry in Buckland, and if he can't do that, he's *really* going to be distraught!
As for the stubborn contest: I guess this one turned out to be a draw, though I think if rescue had been only a few seconds later, Ferdi *might* very well have won.
Author's reply
Whoa! Gives a whole new meaning to the old saying, "Can't win for losing!"
Pippin can't get too sick this time. I'm constrained by the timeline. He's due in Buckland in a week or two, and stays in Buckland a week or two (I forget how long), and it's on his way back from Buckland that "At the End of His Rope" starts. And this story has one more "bug" to fix (something that bugs me, anyhow).
In "Rope" it's clear that Ferdi has never seen the Brandywine up close, so how can he be driving Pippin and Diamond back from Buckland at the beginning of that story?
--Am hoping to clear that up in *this* story. Whew.
Thanks!
TopazTook
· 20 January 2005
· Chapter 99999: Author's Notes
If the wooden bridge was already damaged, it would make sense that that would be the particular spot at which it broke. But I don't think that's necessary. The force of raging water is certainly enough in and of itself to destroy wooden pilings. (Kind of reminds me of tornado destruction in a way -- some things can be left standing perfectly fine, while the house that used to stand next door is demolished and completely swept away.)
Author's reply
Ah, good, that's what I had in mind. The bridge was not yet damaged, but the force of the flood that came down after the debris dam was breached was enough to sweep most of the bridge away.
Thanks!
Ariel
· 20 January 2005
· Chapter 5: I'll Love Her ‘til the Seas Run Dry
I never know what to say to you in reviews, which is why I rarely write them, but I did want to let you know I am reading and enjoying this story. Yeah, angst. *Sigh* I'm so predictable.
Author's reply
Pity, because I always enjoy hearing from you. You know how it goes, that mixed feeling, looking at the hit counter. Is that number representing one really dedicated reader hitting the same chapter X times? Or is it X people hitting the chapter and thinking it's not worth commenting on...?
Pardon me, my Closet of Insecurities is ajar. :::firmly closing door, shoving wedge into place as latch seems to be defective:::
You could just say, "Ariel was here. :::waving:::"
Nice to know you stopped by. Am honoured, actually. :::bows to Angst Maven:::
FantasyFan
· 20 January 2005
· Chapter 5: I'll Love Her ‘til the Seas Run Dry
The Red Cross instructions for CPR say that once you begin, you should continue CPR until either 1) the patient revives, 2) someone else arrives to take over from you, or 3) you are too exhausted to continue. Even the Red Cross knows that there are some rescues that can't be accomplished, and some people who can't be saved.
And Pippin is chilled, ill, breathless himself, and certainly exhausted. He never considers giving up. Yes, he swore an oath, but nobody expected it to be like movie-Aragorn's oath that "If by my life or death, I can protect you, I will." Nobody could blame him for failing if he had quit - Ferdi's underwater, for goodness' sake, and one member of the escort, however beloved, isn't worth the Thain dying for. None of that even goes through his mind, because he did truly mean his promise. He would rather die than break it.
Ferdi however, has lots of things go through his mind. How tragic that in the darkness he sees all the people that he has lost and the weight of all that sadness. I think though he does realize that he still has a lot to live for, and that's what keeps him from letting that last breath go. He may not know exactly the state Pippin was in at the end, but the other hobbits saw it, and he's already working through the Pippin-paradox in his own mind. If Pip can avoid dying of pneumonia now, this certainly will lead to a strengthening of Ferdi's and the others' faith and trust in him.
Not only are there all those good things in it, it was also very tense and dramatic chapter. It really had me on the edge of my seat.
Author's reply
Lots of food for thought. No time for more than cursory reply. More later, I hope. Thanks!
Author Reply: Actually, the other hobbits didn't pull Pippin out of there because he was exhausted and in danger of collapse and drowning (even if it was true) but because they were ready to pull Ferdi out, having made cuts in the boards all around him and just needing to do a big heave, sort of, and Pippin was in the way of that.
Still, it might have felt briefly like abandonment to Ferdi, enough to figure in some nightmares that will lead to discussion and resolution. (Another echo of "Runaway" perhaps.) And as fallout/a side benefit, I'll resolve the little plot hole that has bothered me for a long time in "Rope" (see reply to Dreamflower's review).
And I am out of time again! But I wanted to answer your review before I got sideswiped by the weekend.
Thanks for another thoughtful review.
TopazTook
· 20 January 2005
· Chapter 99999: Author's Notes
(These are comments on a few chapters, as I’m sure you can tell.)
Hmm. I thought perhaps the temporary blinding in this story was a contributing factor to Ferdi’s later experiences -- kind of a buildup of things going wrong, like wiith Pippin’s health.
The rescue-breathing doesn’t jolt me out of Middle Earth, but unfortunately the “Good Night, Irene” discussion does. I find it interesting what you’re doing with the song titles, and I’m enjoying the story iitself, but when I read the discussions of the song in the notes and reviews (which I like to read to gain greater understanding of a story), I can’t help thinking about the elderly, blinded neighbor for whom I did light housekeeping as an 11/12-year-old. Obviously, her name was Irene, which is where I first learned of this song. I’m absolutely sure, though, that this problem is just me.:)
Walking onto a flooded bridge is incredibly stupid. I count it as among the two stupidest things I’ve done in my life. At least Pippin had the excuse of being tired and suffering the pony version of highway hypnosis so he wasn’t even thinking about it! If you ever revise this story, you might want to add in some foreshadowing as Ferdi stands on the bridge and tests it: as a Took unaware of rivers, he probably wouldn’t realize the significance, but you can feel the bridge moving under you -- kind of vibrating, withthe currents of the water -- if you’re standing on one that the water is rushing over. Even if the water isn’t there yet, you can feel a kind of thrumming and rocking if you’re in a car on a not-quite-flooded-yet-but awfully-close bridge. (The flooding of the Mississippi River in Iowa in 1993 was referred to as a “500-year flood.”)
I thought the description of Pippin as forgetting how to see and being unaware of his surroundings except for his concentration on Ferdi was very gripping. Tend to agree with Connie, though, that they’re both going to feel betrayed/guilty with Pippin’s hand pulling away.
Author's reply
I was very interested to read your description of flooded bridges. I've never walked onto one and could only imagine. Will look at adding the foreshadowing you mentioned. Do you suppose that last wooden bridge was already damaged, or would the flash flood coming down, full of trees and tree branches and other debris, be enough to do it in if it were still in good shape?
The funny thing is that the flooded bridges were safely crossed, and it was the bridge that *wasn't* flooded (at least, when they rode onto it, for the flash flood came down when they'd just about reached the centre point) that nearly did them in.
Guess we're going to have to deal with guilt/betrayal in the next chapter.
Thanks!
Author Reply: p.s. It is quite possible that the temporary blindness here contributed to the later long-lasting blindness.
I had thought at the time of writing that the blindness in "Merlin" was of the hysterical sort (did a lot of research into shellshocked soldiers from the Great War), but there might well have been a biological component, with very slow healing.
As a matter of fact, I'm sure there was a physical component, considering the blinding headaches he suffered over the years as a result of the earlier head injuries.
Goodness, listen to me discuss a character as if he's my next-door neighbor or relative or someone like that!
But then I've spent so much time amongst Tooks that I practically feel like a Took myself.
What fun!
Bodkin
· 20 January 2005
· Chapter 5: I'll Love Her ‘til the Seas Run Dry
That's a very sad run through poor Ferdi's life. Abandoned, one way or another, by everyone whom he trusted and loved. Thank goodness he's now got Nell to stand by him - even if he can still hardly believe it. And Pippin - there for him regardless of the dangers to himself. I'm glad to see he is thinking better of Pippin as he looks beyond the irresponsible tween - and also looks to Pippin in the wider world. (I still find Pippin in Runaway to have taken about fourteen large leaps backwards. And Merry, come to that.)
Pippin is excellent in a crisis - just as well he had to live through so many. I think it's everyday boredom that gets to be a bit much for him. Although, thinking about it, with his Lungs, I don't suppose there are many days to discard at the moment. I hope he doesn't go down with anything too serious at this point. No elven flask of magic juice. No handy Strider. He'd better stick with a slight chill.
Thank goodness the cavalry arrived when they did.
Author's reply
Well, yes, and that's one of the reasons I couldn't stand to look at "Runaway" for months after writing it. Someone said Pippin was OOC and because I felt tenative about the story in the first place, I internalised that and winced every time I thought of the story.
Yet Jo had done such an excellent job, rescuing it, that I couldn't bear to delete it.
Ah, well. I'll just chalk it up to "delayed stress". Knew of a Vietnam Vet who'd put his life together pretty well, only to have it fall apart when his life got very stressful. He had a hard time rebuilding afterwards, too. Guess that'll be my excuse for Pippin's and Merry's backwards leaps.
Shellshock?
Slight chill, yes, I think that's the ticket, amazingly enough. Wonder what's in those vile draughts? Echinacea and garlic, zinc and vitamin C for starters? Airborne?