Reviews (1,168)

Author's reply

Oh, dear--they see you sobbing and they know it was me again! That the stories move you is definitely my reward. Am so glad that you find you like it all, including our master sculptor, and the way I depict hobbits and King. Thanks so much for the long review, and I, too, am glad Lord Ulmo decided to get involved in this one. The idea of someone sending a message in a bottle has literally been haunting me for months, and it finally got written out. That it would come across as well as it did after giving me days of fits when things weren't working together is such a relief.

Author's reply

Am so glad you appreciate it. I think the Valar would have appreciated the intent, but particularly Ulmo, to whom in my version of the tale Frodo feels he owes so much.

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Frodo would have wanted them to know, I think, that these were the ones he loved so very much. And only one who was at the Grey Havens would have known how the three of them looked at the moment they realized he would be well, and would have sought to assure them in such a way how much he appreciated their sacrifice at that moment.

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So glad you felt about it much as I did. I sat and growled over this story for several days, for there was one bit that was just too contrived, and it was driving me crazy. I finally found myself, like Tolkien himself, erasing the offending bit and going back in the story to where that branch started and starting it over, and although most of what came after that was almost identical to what I'd written first this time it resolved properly. Pippin's stubborn insistence that he was going to try to send the remaining wine was so like him, as was, I felt, Sam's final realization that the little he wrote was what he wanted Frodo to know. And Halladan wanting to share the wine with Aragorn just sort of appeared there--wasn't certain how it happened. Some elements just insert themselves, I've found. But am glad you enjoyed the ending; and Ulmo, coming closer to the mortal lands than many others, would have felt more inclined to assist. I'm strapped for cash, and don't make it over the Sound often right now, but will let you know when I can get that way, and maybe we can go out to dinner or something.

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Frodo would have wanted to express his love and thankfulness for their sacrifice in letting him go, which could not have been an easy thing for them to do; and that's not always easy to find words for. That he'd have caught the moment he realized that they realized they were doing what was right and that he'd made the only decision which could allow him freedom from the memory of the Ring and its attendant guilt and anger and pain only seemed right for his return communication. Sam finally reduced his message to what he really wanted to say, which was probably best. And as my version of Frodo had basically accepted Ulmo as his patron, I thought he would take a personal interest in making certain that the messages got to their proper recipients.

Author's reply

When I first started reading "Discretion" my mind went into hyperdrive just trying to figure out what kind of phrases the dwarves would have taught Elrond's sons, and I found myself with all kinds of things going in my mind. As she began to translate some of them I began trying to figure out similar phrases and think of how Frodo might have been aware of what was being said, particularly if Aragorn said something particularly hilarious. And this was what came out--Bodkin's Dwarvish phrases, Grey Wonderer's carpentry lessons, and a betting pool all sliding into a single story. So glad you enjoyed it.

Author's reply

I'll admit some of the stories I've read I've copied out as well, and have put them into my notebooks devoted to LOTR, which includes the screenplays for the films and all. Some by Baylor, Lindelea, Tom Fairbairn (or Chip of Dale, depending on where you know him from), and a few others who have done short works have found their ways to my personal archives, so I can't fault anyone who'd want to capture a story likewise. I'm honored. I suspect Bilbo died not terribly long after they got there, probably the first spring after their arrival on Tol Eressea, as he was already the oldest Hobbit in known history. I think that Frodo's drawing of him was intended only to show the others that Bilbo had known joy and the ability to waken long enough to appreciate it again, and that he was not distressed to go on when the time came. For the other picture, I think he wanted to express his own love for them, and his appreciation of how much they sacrificed in letting him go, how much he KNEW they loved him as expressed in the combination of tears and smiles. Sometimes a picture can speak volumes, and I suspect this did that. At the time Frodo received the boat I suspect he'd have been there but eight and a half or nine or so years, so it was still relatively early in his life on the threshold of the Blessed Realm. Even at the end he could still speak, although I suspect it cost him some effort. But he was already speaking only small phrases. He was in the Becoming, probably, but still mostly in the tangible world; and even as the change continued, because he remained a mortal I doubt he ever went quite beyond the borders of that tangible world. He would have had to maintain a core of physicality just to remain within the bounds of Arda as one who could not be denied the gift of Illuvatar. As this was focused mostly on the relationships between Frodo and those back in the Shire, I felt that going beyond it to include the sharing of the wine IN THIS PARTICULAR story would be a distraction at that point, although we might just look at that separately. But I felt Gandalf deserved that fool of a Took's boat, and suspect he afterward kept it wherever it was he as a Maia considered proper to keep such physical reminders of love shared with mortals. Thanks so much for appreciating it and letting me know how deeply it touched you.

Author's reply

You have me embarrassed, Dreamflower. I know how deeply we want to have reassurance that those we've loved still love us, so deeply we invest in Ouija boards and visit spiritualists and mediums and channelers and so on; my grandmother's fantasies about the visits she felt she had from my grandfather were touching and rather sad, I thought. Communicating via mutual awareness through the White Tree is one thing; but there is a need sometimes for something tangible, and the bottle and its contents symbolize that need, and having it fulfilled. Frodo wasn't yet beyond the bounds of Arda--there was still the desire to have some physical manifestation of love; and I doubt the Hobbits would abuse the privilege by seeking to reproduce it without need. Thanks so much for the appreciation you've shown. That this one would turn out so well after the days of frustration when one section decided to become contrived and I had to go back and start over a good section of the story still amazes me.

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It's one thing to share moments of awareness via the White Tree, and quite another to have something tangible and which will remain in ones hand, as these pictures would. I doubt that Gandalf would have warned Frodo not to write about his life in Aman so much as Frodo found that in this case a picture indeed was more than a thousand words. He'd have had to write reams to express his love for them, his appreciation for their sacrifice in letting him go, his realization of their ongoing love for him, his ongoing love for them.... He had but a bottle to send his reply back in, and perhaps it might never reach them. What would someone who might have found the bottle elsewhere have thought about its contents? Words of love are all too commonplace and are often empty; but the pictures of what are obviously real individuals, obviously created out of love for them, would have stood as a testament to his feelings far more than a couple sheets of tightly packed words. So he captured the image of Bilbo sufficiently recovered to enjoy the last of his life before he went on; and the image of the moment when he and they expressed through a mutual gaze their mixed grief and joy that he would again be able to know healing and delight after all. It was his reassurance to them, I think, that they did indeed do the right thing and that his decision was the right one for what he needed. Thanks so much for appreciating this story. I almost didn't post it, for it took me days to get the ending right.

Author's reply

The idea of a message in a bottle going between the mortal and undying lands has literally been nagging me for months, and finally today the last little bits fell into place with it. And I think all within Arda would have watched with interest what happened with this particular bottle; and it would definitely have taken Ulmo's aid to reach its destinations. So glad you enjoyed it.

Author's reply

Thank you Breon, for the response. Glad it pleased you so much.

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Yes, a link to the story just finished and to The King's Commission as well, I think. And the idea of a message in a bottle has been nagging me for months, Glad you like it, Linda. Enjoyed your latest chapter, and the attempt with the palantir. Poor Faramir.

Author's reply

Thank you very much for the kind evaluation. I'm so glad you like the dialogue and that you feel the pacing is right. It is always nice to hear this. And I'm so glad you like this one. The next one is a bit sad, I think, and the third I hope will give you a chuckle. As for the fourth--wasn't sure I'd post it, but some of the kinks worked themselves out today. Hope it is appreciated.

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The Dwarve's version of the old favorite, the "Kick Me" sign! Yes, Bodkin certainly started things, and had to work in the Grey Wonderer's carpentry lessons and a betting pool at the same time. So glad to hear from you--it's been too long!

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I hope you've been following Bodkin's lovely series of stories regarding this, both in Reflections and in Discretion. She started it all, after all, putting all kinds of weird thoughts into my head that they might have been saying! And now and then I think Aragorn would indeed want to get away from it all--go play civilian for a time; and the idea of the betting pool on when he'd do so had to get itself expressed.

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Ah, am so glad you enjoyed it. The idea of the betting pool, Bodkin's Dwarvish phrases, and Grey Wonderer's carpentry lessons were just begging to be combined, I thought.

Author's reply

Depression is such an insidious disease, and can destroy us while we still live. But I can see Frodo overreacting like this, shocked at Lotho and Timono being struck from the Bracegirdle book and thinking of himself as being even more of a traitor and doing the same to himself in a fit of pain. This one was fun to write. Once I'd read the first chapter of Discretion my mind started churning out possible phrases they might have been taught by the Dwarves, and when I started actually reading Bodkin's own translations, the old "Kick Me" sign just came to mind and I had to write that one in somehow. Add in the Hammer story and the idea that Bilbo might have been similarly treated by Fili and Kili and corrected by Balin, then have shared that knowledge with Frodo--and there was the story, just waiting to be put together. And now and then Frodo just deserved to laugh in spite of himself! Thanks for the double review here.

Author's reply

I'm a lousy typist, and go through my stories repeatedly before posting them--and STILL find typos! I have tried to include allusions to many of the stories that I've incorporated into my vision of ME and the Shire into my stories, and yours and Bodkin's were just asking to be expanded on WAY down the line somewhere. It was a pleasure to work the two ideas together into one story.

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Yes--when there is no football to wager on, what kinds of betting pools might have been set up? "Let me see, Imrahil, we have you down for a week from Thursday; I give him three days tops, Pippin has given him a week and Eomer has him for a week and a day. Come on Legolas, are you in or out?"

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Yes, we do start setting one another off, don't we? Now when do I get to read YOUR story? So glad you enjoyed it, as it was fun to write.

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Except that I left Aragorn still in ignorance of what he'd actually said, you certainly have it reasoned as I did. I know that Bilbo and Balin appear to have become closest of the group, and figured that Balin would have been most likely to have corrected Bilbo if he was using a phrase improperly or was being used as a patsy in this way. And I wanted to give Frodo a moment of pure, wicked pleasure at the King's expense here. I warned you my mind was going into hyperdrive figuring out phrases that the Dwarvish might have translated to, didn't I? So I didn't go with the nursery phrases as I'd first envisioned, but with another more in keeping with wishing to become a lapdog or kneel naked to perform duties as a footstool--although I think the one in which they begged permission to lick the Dwarf King's armpits has to be the best of the bunch! Thank you for putting my poor brain into a churning madness figuring out more such phrases!

Author's reply

Thank you, Rayma. Am so glad you enjoy my work and that you apparently liked this one. It's always a pleasure to get feedback such as yours.

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Have changed that now, Apprentice. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

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That was why I referenced both Bodkin and Grey Wonderer. Had to work If I Had a Hammer as well as Discretions and Reflections into this one somehow. Do you think I ought to have written the titles of the stories in my reference? Anyway, I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I've been outlining in my head driving to work and back all weekend.

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Glad you liked it. Try Grey Wonderer's "If I Had a Hammer" and Bodkin's "Discretion" to find the inspiration.