I see there’s been a big time jump from the previous chapter - I guess it’s time for the Young Thain stories to begin! I’m glad things seemed to have worked out well, poor Pippin really went through the wringer in this one. But all ended well - except for poor Merimac, and even his death was so bad truly. Thx for sharing your stories - catch you in the next one!
Author's reply
Thanks for letting me know you read this one! I've been answering reviews, but I'll have to stop after this reply (at least until tomorrow). The cats are insisting it's bedtime.
In case you'd like another dose of the Young Thain, the final chapter of "The Rescue" (also an epilogue) is also set during Pippin's early days as Thain.
It's good to hear you're enjoying the stories!
PSW
· 6 April 2025
· Chapter 17: Heart-to-Heart with an Old Badger
Well, huh - this was an interesting and unexpected and sad and happy chapter…
Author's reply
Definitely unexpected. I had actually written myself into a corner with this one, for my original solution didn't look like it was going to work. And then one day, while idly perusing the family trees, the solution jumped out at me, simple, elegant, and (sigh) sad.
Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to share your thoughts!
PSW
· 9 January 2016
· Chapter 99999: Notes
Wow, lots going on here! But all seems to be looking up in the end....
Thanks for writing!
Author's reply
Belated thanks for taking the time to write this review!
Eirinn Leigh
· 20 November 2015
· Chapter 17: Heart-to-Heart with an Old Badger
Oh Merimac! Oh Ferdi!
Author's reply
Oh I know! It made me very sad to write this goodbye – and to realise what it would mean for Ferdi.
Belated thanks for stopping to leave a review.
Eirinn Leigh
· 20 November 2015
· Chapter 9: Tea and Gossip
But Pip never found out... what happened!?
Author's reply
What happened will become clear in a later chapter.
Belated thanks for reading and pausing long enough to share your thoughts!
Eirinn Leigh
· 20 November 2015
· Chapter 6: A Took by any Other Name
Out of all the horrors and pains in this chapter it hurt the most to think of Ferdi - not riding off to route goblins or preparing to drag Pip home to face the music as Pip would have it - but wandering through life in near silence, too took-stubborn to leave and too took-loyal to rebel against his sentence in any but the most minor of ways.
Author's reply
I just saw this, years after you wrote it. Thank you so much for your encouragement, and stopping to leave your thoughts.
Author Reply: And p.s., you have exactly described my feelings in the matter.
Imhiriel
· 5 December 2006
· Chapter 16: Drowning in Fire
The parallels between Pippin's present situation and his recollections are truly eerie, as is the way he later confuses and mixes both. And well presented, here and in the previous chapter.
Author's reply
Why, hello!
Here is another review I don't remember seeing in my e-mail. I just chanced upon it now.
Thanks for leaving your impressions.
Imhiriel
· 5 December 2006
· Chapter 14: Homecoming
Knowing what was to come, Merimac's return and every gesture and every word had so much poignancy!
I loved the scene with Paladin and Eglantine at night: little scenes like this always are so moving, because they show that for all the bad Paladin does, there is still the love for his wife, and the memories of earlier times, when he was the warm and loving father. Which makes it all that much harder to read in contrast.
but then Paladin was always one to acknowledge hard truths, as long as he wasn’t looking into his own faults.
*snort* Too true, too true...
Author's reply
I can't believe I missed some of your reviews! And so, I offer belated thanks for your taking the time to write out your thoughts and send them along.
I hate character deaths and avoid them wherever possible. Unfortunately, I ran up against a hard stop in the case of Merimac if I didn't want to make this story AU. Ah, well, perhaps I can find more stories to write about him if I choose a point earlier on the timeline.
Imhiriel
· 5 December 2006
· Chapter 9: Tea and Gossip
"...tradition is, when one under the Ban falls seriously ill, sentence is lifted, but there’s been nothing of the sort in this case."
"Came here to see the lad, out of his head with fever, and left without saying a word. Woodruff as head healer is the only one who’ll openly defy the hobbit..."
If Woodruff were not so brave as to defy Paladin, what do you think would happen/would have happened? Would Paladin really risk endangering Ferdi's life for the sake of his foolish, wrong-headed, despotic, tyrannical, heartless etc. pride? (Sorry, but this just makes me so angry everytime I read it...)
Author's reply
I think, perhaps, that if someone had not taken Ferdi up when he collapsed, if Woodruff had not defied Paladin, that Eglantine would have dragged Paladin by his ear to where Ferdi lay, in the corridor, and the shock of how far things had gone would have brought him to his senses.
So the irony is that Ferdi's Ban would have been over four years sooner, if nobody had done anything to help him at a time when he couldn't help himself.
Either that, or Eglantine would have had Woodruff declare her husband mad and unfit to be Thain (wonder why they didn't do that anyhow?) and then she, as head of the family after Paladin's removal, would have reversed the Ban. But it would have been an irreversible act, for Paladin, and so she never quite got up the nerve to do so. Perhaps she never stopped hoping Pippin would return soon, or perhaps that her constant chipping away at Paladin would bear fruit and her husband would have a change of heart.
It was heartening to read this review, almost like having a new review, though you wrote it some time ago.
I don't know if I'm making sense today. Am groggy from a headache. But belated thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.
Dana
· 24 April 2005
· Chapter 19: Epilogue
Oh. Oh, but this was an incredible ending.
Author's reply
So glad you made it all the way through! And glad to have your note, as well. *h7gs*
Cuthalion
· 30 March 2005
· Chapter 19: Epilogue
Dear, this is one of the most remarkable tales I've ever read. Wonderful characters, a magic worlds of details, and you ripped my heart out of my chest with the fever-scene in the bathtub (sorry that it took me so long to return and to read since my last review!). This is the work of a great storyteller... thank you so much, Lin!
Cúthalion
Author's reply
Aber danke!
And I know how it is, about getting back to a story. I have a number on my reading list, that I last commented on some time ago. Here I am again, with almost no time to read.
But then, I suppose it's better than having a boring life.
Saoirse
· 11 March 2005
· Chapter 19: Epilogue
My... What a wonderful ending to another wonderful story. It is nice to see Pippin getting along with Diamond in your stories (as I've always pictured his marriage with her to be rather bad). It seems that Pippin has come into his own here, and although the road ahead for him may still seem a bit foggy (and rocky), at least he's wandering the path. The ending was just perfect. How could Paladin not have the heart to add his grand-lad's name into the Yellow Book? At least there Pippin can see that his father was indeed thinking of him and his family, and despite cruelties and misunderstanding, loved them all very much. Wonderful job :)
Author's reply
Well, thank you! Appreciate the encouragement. I always get depressed when finishing a story--perhaps that's why some of them go on and on.
Anyhow, yes, Paladin did love his son very much, though he did not know how to show it very well. But someday, perhaps, I'll shock everyone and write a Pippin-getting-along-with-Paladin story. LOL.
Ariel
· 11 March 2005
· Chapter 18: Bed and Breakfast
While I assume you wanted to get this lovely and very in character dialog into this scene, I found Pippin's very sudden (and strangely complete) recovery after being 'dead' to be a bit unrealistic. While I know you shy from really biting angst, I would suggest, if you ever tinker with this one, to put a bit of time in after he 'returns to life' to let his body rest and recover before he begins talking so coherently. After the fever, and especially after his heart stopped and then started again, he would be EXHAUSTED and would likely only be conscious for a brief time, if that. He'd need to sleep and build up the energy the fever, trauma and cold water would have sucked out of him.
Just MHO, of course.
Author's reply
Good point. Will consider it for the rewrite. Might even put back some background that was cut, for it might require spinning off another chapter. Upon consideration, I remember that enervating feeling of jumping in a cold lake after a steamy sauna.
Thanks!
Grey Wonderer
· 11 March 2005
· Chapter 19: Epilogue
Enjoyed Eglantine in this chapter and I loved how Pippin thought that his visit with Merimac had been while the hobbit was alive. Was sorry to see Pippin feel so responsible, as always, for Ferdibrand, at the end of this one though. Paladin did so much damage to Pippin with that. I do like the image of Pippin wander about the Great Smials at night thinking and visiting with others. A lovely tale!
Author's reply
It is nice to write Eglantine at peace, even though she's grieving the loss of her beloved Dinny. She has confidence that she'll be reunited with him some day not far off.
It's funny, but that image of Pippin wandering the tunnels of the Smials first came to me while writing this story, yet it seems as if it would be the natural thing for him to do. Wonder why I didn't think of it sooner? LOL
Thanks!
Beruthiel
· 10 March 2005
· Chapter 19: Epilogue
Aww, that was so sad!
But did Paladin cross out Pippin's name or not? That isn't quite clear.
And you got names mixed up here: "Before Ferdinand arrived to feed late supper to his father . . ."
Poor Pip and Paladin. Didn't someone suggest Paladin or Eglantine maybe keeping a diary or something? You should consider something like that. Perhaps Paladin left him a letter written shortly before he died, knowing he'd never have another chance to speak to Pippin? It's just so heartbreaking that they never completely made up.
Author's reply
Thanks for the catch! I so often mix up similar names; it's a bane of mine.
Have re-written the part where Pippin read his own name in the Book. Is it clearer now?
Hmmm. I could see Paladin writing a letter to his son. Will think on that.
Thanks!
Connie B.
· 10 March 2005
· Chapter 19: Epilogue
That brought a tear to my eye. You keep reminding me that Paladin really did love his son, but that he had become too burdened with the resposibitlities of be Thain to take time to show it. He was so focused on the job and the fact that Pippin was to follow him in it that he lost sight of the fact that Pippin needed to grow into the person who could follow him, not be forced into someone else's mold. Poor Paladin allow his cercumstances to turn him into a bitter old hobbit, and that is just so sad. Too bad he was never able to see through his anger to realize what a fantastic person his son had become.
I would say that from your description you are right, Paladin's failior to keep his temper in check may have contributed to his demise. Uncontrolled anger does raise the blood pressure and cause other physical problems. He probably did have several small strokes over the years which didn't help his cause any. Stress and his deminished mental capacity probably just made matters even worse. He was in a situation that was spiraling down to disaster.
Thank goodness Pippin learned at a much earlier age to curb his impulses and his temper, or he might have ended up much as his own father did.
Thanks for such a great story. I'm sad to see it end.
Connie B.
Author's reply
This is one of those I'm sad to see end, too. I find myself at a loss, though it will be good to take the weekend off and sort of stretch out the kinks.
Very good analysis of Paladin; spot on. And your observation about Pippin rings trueas well.
You're most welcome, and thanks for going through the story with me and leaving your thoughts.
Larner
· 10 March 2005
· Chapter 19: Epilogue
Two stubborn Tooks, each as stubborn as any Baggins, loving one another across the miles in spite of themselves.
Wonderful, wonderful ending.
Not the relationship I've dreamed, of course, but still the love has been there. And Merimac's vision is still--sort of--remembered after all.
Bless the old Hobbit.
Author's reply
Agreeing with you; a part of me would like to write another whole set of stories in which Pippin and Paladin have a close, warm, and loving relationship like I've seen in some fanfic. But there's no time for that, and it would mean abandoning Ferdi, or much of the shaping of his life, anyhow, as well as Pippin's. I'd have to come up with a whole new timeline and idea of character development, from Quest to Thain...
And I'm up way past my bedtime, so such a task sounds even more daunting. Or perhaps daft.
So I'll just stick with what I've got for the moment, and imagine Paladin, fully healed, at the Feast, finally reunited and reconciled with his beloved son and reaching full understanding and open communication. Whew.
Thanks! (And appreciate the reviews you're leaving in other stories as well.)
Dreamflower
· 10 March 2005
· Chapter 19: Epilogue
A wonderful epilogue, and a fitting ending to the tale!
I love Pippin's combination of confidence and doubt--you show that so well, in his early days as Thain, and it really comes out here.
I am glad that Eglantine recognized the moment that Paladin had "seen".
There is a hint that part of Paladin's personality change came from what could have been a stroke after Pippin refused to return. Is that what you were trying to indicate? It's true that is not unheard of.
Best of all, the ending, where Pippin finds Faramir in the book.
Very well done, indeed!
Author's reply
Thanks so much!
You're right. Have been thinking on Paladin's change, considering how much was the result of bitterness, how much might have been organic in nature. I don't want to think any character beyond redemption, which is why I started to lean towards the idea of a stroke. After research I have found that, as you say, such a change in personality is not unheard-of.
Hai Took
· 10 March 2005
· Chapter 19: Epilogue
I was so glad that you let Paladin's dream be fulfilled in this story! It must have been strange for Eglantine to see it as well, and a bit sad as well.
Pippin talking to Ferdinand and hearing he was to be given a message. I also liked that you wrote about Merimac talking to Pippin about the name Faramir but not remembering when they had spoken about it.
There very end was so sweet! That Paladin set aside his pride to some extent and put Faramir's name into the book, very sweet! Well I guess this is the end, it was such a lovely story I hate to see it end, hopefully we'll have more from you soon, though ;)
Author's reply
It was interesting, that the Epilogue tied Paladin's dream and Merimac's vision together, and of course Saradoc was a part of it, though unspoken, for his having given Pippin a chance, and Ferdinand was involved as well. Sort of the last gathering of the four friends together, in a sense.
Thank you so much! I'm planning to take the weekend off (have some RL writing projects to finish) and then see what beckons to be written. I'm sorry that "Thain" is taking so long, but though it's being painfully difficult we have no plans to abandon that story. In any event, after the weekend you're likely to see a new chapter of Rosemary's story, or "Thain", or perhaps the start of a new story told from Woodruff's point of view. That one is outlined and I'm just starting to draft it out.
So you see, there is more. Thanks for the encouragement.
Anso the Hobbit
· 8 March 2005
· Chapter 18: Bed and Breakfast
Oh, such greif! The dream/conversatioin between Pippin and Merimac was highly interesting. It was interesting to see a Brandybuck getting to see the future, but it probably was just as he was dying. I am very glad he didn`t get the nes and stayed but I am sorry Merimac is dead now. You wrote him well. Please continue soon!
Author's reply
Yes, Merimac was shown the future as he died, and a possible future as well (sort of like Galadriel's mirror, which I think she said showed things that might be? I forget). Thanks!
Hai Took
· 7 March 2005
· Chapter 18: Bed and Breakfast
Poor Saradoc, to loose his brother although things were nearly a great deal worse! I can't imagine what Diamond must have been thinking, to be a widowed mother to be would be terrible!
Pippin was a great deal like himself. It was interesting that his dream was about what Merimac had seen. Does he remember nothing then about speaking to Merimac? I do hope he remembers part of it at least!
Looking forward to more! Hope it is soon! ;)
Author's reply
Missed replying to this. Yes, things were nearly a great deal worse! And I was sad to lose Merimac as well, but his death in this year is at least consistent with JRRT's genealogy. Otherwise the story would have needed a great deal of re-writing and possibly amnesia on the part of some character(s)! (If only to keep Pippin ignorant of Ferdi's plight, since it's already well-established elsewhere).
Thanks!
Larner
· 7 March 2005
· Chapter 18: Bed and Breakfast
Nice awakening, and glad to see Pippin back in his right mind, although that he forgot his vision is a bit troubling. He knows Merimac is gone, and will need to accept that and the rest of the implications soon.
Author's reply
In this chapter he doesn't exactly realise that Merimac is gone... the revelation came fairly early, during the confusion, and they stopped talking about it quickly. I don't think he ever twigged, but of course they'll have to tell him.
After you read the Epilogue (due to post next) let me know if you think more of the bridging material ought to be added, as an intermediate chapter between this and the Epilogue. We cut out quite a bit of stuff as "background" because it rather spoilt the balance of the story. (Anticlimactic, if I spelled that right).
Grey Wonderer
· 7 March 2005
· Chapter 18: Bed and Breakfast
So Pippin only remembers part of his dream then. I had thought that Faramir was getting his name thanks to a word from Merimac, but now, I wonder what you have in store. Loved Pippin complaining about the bath and coming out of his fever complaining. Loved this line.
‘Lost me? In a tub?’ Pippin said, amazed. ‘You weren’t looking very hard, then.’
Laughed out loud at that one and others as well but I really shouldn't copy and paste the entire chapter now should I? I felt so sorry for Merry and Saradoc having to be both sad and happy without letting Pippin see it. I do love this one!
Author's reply
Well, you shall see in the Epilogue. Am trying to infuse a little bit of an air of mystery, as you'll see. Sort of a "just where did I hear that?" feeling.
Glad you've enjoyed this story. Thanks!
Author Reply: p.s. Think good thoughts if you don't mind. I'm sort of at a loss, with this story finishing. The notes and outline and draft chapters for "Thain" were lost, and we're having to re-create everything from memory, and it's a painful process. It's one reason why the updates on that story have been few and far between.
I would almost rather write a whole new story than try to re-create something I already wrote.
Dreamflower
· 7 March 2005
· Chapter 18: Bed and Breakfast
Well, no, he doesn't remember much, except the most important part.
Though it would also be nice if he could remember his mother's message. I wonder what Paladin's and Eglantine's reaction to Merimac's passing will be?
I loved the ending: seedcake and apple tart for breakfast (along with everything else, of course). How very hobbity!
Author's reply
Well, we'll see about his mother's message...
I like to have pumpkin pie for breakfast, the day after Thanksgiving.
Had apple pie for breakfast once, but we don't often have apple pie left over.
Still the Epilogue to come!
Connie B.
· 7 March 2005
· Chapter 18: Bed and Breakfast
So, Pippin doesn't remember his near-death experience? He did remember dreaming the events Merimac described though. Interesting.
Now I curious to see what happens. Does it really take four more years for Pippin to make things right with Ferdi? I probably should know this, but my brain is not functioning well at all thanks to this cold/flu thing that I've picked up from my daughter.
Thanks. Looking forward to more.
Connie B.
Author's reply
Poor thing! *hugs*
It really does take four more years! All my stories spring from Tolkien's timeline: Pippin marries seven years after returning from the Quest, he has Faramir ten years after, and he becomes Thain fourteen years after (the year Farry turns four).
And from "Flames" we know that Pippin sent birthday presents back to the Smials, and from "Jewels" we know that he had a cautious reconciliation with his father, though it appears his mother did not travel to see him (I will have to check that more carefully). In any event, it seems Paladin did not see fit to inform his son of Ferdi's circumstances; either he didn't want to use that to force Pippin back to the Smials, or he was deluded enough by that time not to think of Ferdi. (Have been working out things with editor-friend and we've pretty well decided that Paladin suffered a series of small strokes over the years, diminishing his decision-making ability and likely his ability to reason as well. You know how your blood pressure skyrockets when you lose your temper? Blood vessels in the brain can leak under such pressure, and such leaks do subtle damage.)
In any event, it takes four more years... and Pippin is incredibly grieved when he finds out the damage he's done.
Thanks.