And I weep with her! Alas! How terrible a loss--Frodo's own writing! I know there are copies, but none could be the same! Tom has much to answer for, and he doesn't realize how great a harm he has done her and the entire Shire!
Author's reply
Yup. It's going to take a long time for Kira to heal from this, and right from the start she has a long, lonely winter ahead of her, one which could do more harm than good if it's not handled the right way.
*sigh* There you have it, but it's canon. Doesn't make it feel any better, though.
A lot of people have a lot to answer for, I'm afraid, but Tom especially. Too bad he's too much of a stubborn mule to see what he's done.
Sunny
· 1 December 2008
· Chapter 11
This was positively _painful_ to read! Poor Kira! And the book.... :-(
I _still_ think it would be an excellent idea for some convenient monster to invite Tom over for dinner. And Roly and Daffodil, too! But I suppose you are not going to have any sympathy for those poor, starving monsters and won't let them get even a nibble.
Well, with friends like those three, Kira certainly doesn't need enemies!
Author's reply
As horrible as it is to say this, if I've inflicted pain on my readers with this chapter I've done a job well done. But that hasn't made it easy, let me tell you...
Tom will--eventually--realize what he's done (at least so far as hurting Kira, and I'm not just talking about almost drowning her, goes). But it'll take a long time. Because of that, I must hold the monsters off.
You may not have caught it, but Daffodil just saved Kira's life (yeah, I know, it doesn't look like much after she just participated in the plot that put it in danger). So her heart is in the right place, especially now, much more than Tom's (or Roly's, to an extent) ever was.
You're right about the enemies front, but unfortunately she's eventually going to get a couple of them, too!
Raksha The Demon
· 30 November 2008
· Chapter 11
Oh, say it ain't so - the Red Book of Westmarch destroyed because of two jealous hobbit kids?
Aren't there copies somewhere (though they wouldn't be in Frodo's own hand)?
No wonder Kira's so upset. Hurry and update, please!
Author's reply
Yup--and the really sad thing is this is the point I've been working the entire story towards, right from the beginning. I mentioned somewhere in another review reply that a portion of the concept behind this was that since adults were at the moment not really carrying on the struggle of learning vs. ignorance, it's been up to the children to play it out on their own scale. But because they have different concepts of how far is too far, it ends up having much larger consequences. It'll be interesting to see how this shakes up the book community.
I've mentioned the copies a little bit in the Buckland and Westmarch chapters; now of course I'll have to deal with them again once this horrid winter is over, because that's the question at the back of Kira's (and indeed a good deal of other people's) mind.
Well, whereas normally I just stubbornly hold off updates for a week this time I really can't update as the next two chapters are still with my beta. Thanks for sticking through this with Kira--she needs all the support she can get!
Dreamflower
· 30 November 2008
· Chapter 11
Oh dear! Oh dear! Oh dear!
I do hope that Tom is feeling the sting of some really nasty and well-deserved guilt!
Poor Kira. And I find myself worried about Sandra Fairbairn. How much trouble will she be in, when all of this comes out...
Author's reply
I'm afraid the next two chapters by necessity will have to deal solely with Kira and her own struggles to deal with this, so I can't exactly say what is going on with everyone but those nearest her (we do get a little bit of Daffodil in there, but Tom has not been allowed in the hole).
It's good of you to worry about Sandra, but ultimately she will have something to help her that Kira does not: she is surrounded by people who recognize the importance of learning (and the Book itself) who are also grieving. Yes, there will be trouble, but it's of a very different sort from what Kira's going through.
Virtuella
· 30 November 2008
· Chapter 5
What a good idea that reading could be good for your health! I very much liked the scene at the market, especially the fabric shop. Oh, and great sentence this:
"I’m a lass, and I know when things are stupid.”
Author's reply
Well, it certainly seems to be effecting an improvement in Kira!
Very pleased that you liked the market scene--I loved getting into Kira's mind especially as she went through some of the finer parts of town. I've always loved fabric stores but cloth would have still been quite expensive at this point (though I try to make it more affordable than it actually would have been since the Shire is also supposed to be Edwardian).
*grins at the quoteback* I love watching Kira argue with Tom!
Virtuella
· 27 November 2008
· Chapter 4
Hmm, I think Sandra will get into a lot of trouble about this...
The image you give of the Red Book is lovely, making it feel like a real historic artefact. I like your descriptions in general, especialyl this one:
"The sky had a greyish cast to it, which made the entire land seem half-asleep."
Author's reply
She probably will, but at least at this point she doesn't care because she still did what she wanted. If anyone else had been there she would have had to send Kira away either empty-handed or with one of the copies, and for that one moment at least Sandra believed that this was her chance to show someone else the wonderful world she knew. She didn't want to waste it with a mere copy.
I love the fleeting descriptions we have of the Book in canon, especially the handwriting which at once fits Bilbo and Frodo to a tee. It would be an amazing thing to see.
Thanks for the review, especially for the encouragement on descriptions: dialogue comes a lot more naturally to me so it's good to know I'm doing something right with the things I feel less sure of.
Virtuella
· 27 November 2008
· Chapter 3
Arrrgh, the narrow-mindedness of these rustic hobbits is so frustrating. All this condescending talk about "Outside". I want to slap Kira's mother! Well, it looks like Kira is going to find out more.
And yay for mud fights!
Author's reply
I'm reminded a bit of Frodo's mentioning that he had wished at times for an invasion of dragons to stir up the otherwise quite dull (often frustratingly so) Shire. And of course they'll condescend about Outside because they know absolutely nothing about it... *sigh*
Oh, glad you liked the mud fight! There's something incredibly tempting about dirt after a spring melt...
Kara's Aunty
· 27 November 2008
· Chapter 10
Hello Celeritas,
Good grief, this chapter cartainly put me in a passion and stirred up my blood :) And I have a piece of my mind to share with three very naughty hobbits!
Kira really has some of the most unpleasant 'friends' ever! Not speaking to her because she reads; Tom trying to force his will on her by depriving her of his 'hallowed' company (not that that's actually a loss); Daffodil luring her away so Tom and Roly could steal the Red Book; Roly stamping on her foot (and only lamenting that afterwards because it was her sore foot); Tom chucking the book out of reach when she doesn't say what he wants to hear - petty, malicious lad! (I actually think he secretly fancies her, whether he realises it or not, and that's why he's making such a fuss. But Kira's far too good for him).
I know what children are like sometimes though, and I understand that the three are provincial hobbits and some may view reading with suspicion. Tom and the others care for Kira and don't want to lose her company to a rival (reading and possibly adventuring) that they don't know & will never understand. Perhaps that frightens them, children that they are. But their resulting treatment and attempts to control Kira - who suffers daily with her foot and needs the escapism a book offers to cope - is difficult to witness.
I was verging on forgiving Daffy & Roly for certain parts of their behaviour when they realised what they were doing was wrong - but when that horrible Tom threw the Book in a tree and they all abandoned Kira to get it herself - bearing in mind she had a very injured foot (courtesy of Roly)? Apparently Daffy & Roly are not as sorry as they claim to be. The three of them are the most spiteful hobbits since the S-B's!
And now poor Kira's flying towards the icy waters (and possibly the Red Book is too - aaagh!)!
Still, the Terrible Trio ARE children, so I'm sure they'll grow out of this unpleasant phase. But Aunty Maureen desperately wants to teach them a lesson - please?
I recommend you should take Tom, Roly and Daffy - and gave them the telling-off of their lives (the Gaffer would approve), give them extra work/chores around their homes, allow them only one hour of (supervised) playtime for the next month - but NOT with each other, OR Kira. All three should be made to apologise to her for their disgraceful treatment and then marched to the Undertowers to apologie to the Fairbairn lass for the shoddy handling of the Red Book. Tom and Roly should be banned from going near Kira again and weak-minded Daffy needs to choose once and for all where her loyalties lie - with Tom or Kira. She can't have both.
Phew! I feel I've purged myself a bit after that. You do realise that your excellent chapter sent my pulse into treble digits! And had me swearing at non-existent people? Such is the power of your talent. Now, do my poor heart a favour and make the next chapter a bit less exciting!
M ;)
Author's reply
Whew, what a review! ^_^ (Seriously, I nearly squeed my trousers off when when I clicked and saw its length.)
Avoiding Kira at market was just asking for trouble; I think Kira started the silence wars after that. If Tom had asked Daffy and Roly to go along with a full-fledged silent treatment Daffodil at least would have refused.
Daffodil luring Kira away from the book is the hardest thing for me (and Kira) to forgive about her.
Roly stepping on the foot was an impulsive reaction to Tom's telling him not to let her get it. At the same time he deliberately went for the bad foot because he knew to some vague extent that it would hurt Kira enough to get her to let it go. But he was not expecting it to hurt that much, or to receive such glaringly obvious evidence that it did (I've tried to bring across the idea that Kira masks her pain around her friends; one wonders if things would have come out differently if she had given her explanation at the end of Chapter 9 to Daffodil and Roly). It shook him, badly, because all of a sudden he was faced with the horrible realization that he was the problem. He was exhibiting remorse more over that than a sort of "Oops, wrong foot" sort of thing.
Tom, however, I can't make any excuses for, though that's a very interesting (code word meaning I don't want to tell you whether you're right or wrong) motivation you've got for him. He's a butt.
You're spot on with why the children did what they did--and you're right, they are after all children. They are frightened, very frightened, because they're losing Kira to something beyond their control. Learning that things change (especially in such a traditional society as the Shire) and that there's nothing you can do to stop it is one of the most painful lessons in the transition from childhood to adulthood, and to be taught it so drastically at such a young age is a bit more for them to bear.
That's why Roly and Daffodil run away. Right after Tom exhibited some extreme, frightening behavior, persisting in having his joke even though it was obviously hurting Kira and then throwing it into the tree, the thought of Kira going after it, and wanting to get them involved (when they want nothing so much as this whole crisis to just be over) is too much for them. And I think that Roly, at least, did not think that Kira would actually go after the book (just as I think Tom did). Daffodil, as I've mentioned in other reviews, manages to redeem herself.
Since the tale is told from Kira's point of view I can't really say all of this within the text, but I still try to make it there. I like giving all of my characters story arcs and only letting the reader see the parts of it that Kira would, leaving them to surmise (or ask me for!) the rest.
Yes, they are children, and that to me is probably one of the more interesting aspects of this story: Kira bewails the fact that no one's actively trying to keep alive the memory, and indeed it seems at this point that almost no adults are. She was taught how to read (by her own initiative) by a tween, the Book was lent to her by a tween, and now the people who react to her reading most strongly are her peers. I've made oblique references to the "Falling Out" before; this is to some degree the same tale played out on a smaller scale--but with far-reaching consequences, possibly very far-reaching depending on the fate of the Book. For a chunk of past years the adults have been doing nothing and so the children take it into their own hands.
The friends' punishment: unfortunately beggars can't be choosers. I have the southern White Downs fairly sparsely populated, and it's a bit harder for Kira to make friends because of her personality and her disability. While I'd love to be able to keep Tom at least from Kira for at least a year out of sheer vindictiveness, the truth of the matter is that they live near each other and they're going to have to interact without blowing up at each other every three seconds. Another lesson of adulthood, I'm afraid. Same thing goes for Daffodil, who would choose firmly (and probably side with Kira) if her will were a little stronger.
It's interesting because I never felt for Kira's friends the extent that I do now until I experienced someone else dear to me drifting away and me unable to do anything about it but pray. The only difference between me and them was that I already knew that. It's a difficult time for all concerned, and I can only hope that they'll all come out--eventually--the wiser for it.
Um, this chapter ended on a cliffhanger of DOOM. What makes you think the next chapter will be any less intense, joy or sorrow? ^_^
Again, thanks for the review, and I hope the reply did it justice!
Kara's Aunty
· 27 November 2008
· Chapter 9
Hello Celeritas,
Dear, oh dear!
Kira's having a rather hard time of it lately! A very cruel punishment indeed to deprive her of her only joy. And aren't her friends a wily bunch? Trying to keep her so entertained with hee favuotite games that she forgets her book.
I do hope Tom isn't planning anything drastic, so I'll click on the next chapter to find out...
Author's reply
Yes, they can be pretty wily when they have the mind for it--especially Tom, and if he can get the others to go along then Kira's pretty much done for. But it's not working--she doesn't forget the book; she can't and she never will. I have to feel sorry for all of them; there doesn't seem to be a way that the characters can get out of this and all of them feel happy.
Virtuella
· 25 November 2008
· Chapter 2
Imagine having to fight like that just to be allowed to read! I like this story very much (though it might take me a while to catch up with it).
Author's reply
Yes, I wouldn't like that either! (Though fortunately Kira has some very good allies who are willing to do all the arguing for her!)
Glad you're enjoying what you've seen so far, and I hope when you have the time you'll enjoy the rest as well!
~Celeritas
Virtuella
· 25 November 2008
· Chapter 1
This chapter captivated me from the start with the very vivid description of the hobbit party. How well you represent the history, which some consider myth bu now, the horn, the Traveller's Tales, the lockholes. The character of the lonely little girl is well done, not too dramatic, but touching enough to make the reader care for her.
Author's reply
Oh, excellent! I had a lot of fun writing those opening descriptions (ages ago, now!!!)--I simply love hobbit parties and they're a great setting to get characters to interact that wouldn't be able to under normal circumstances.
I've always been fascinated with the relationship between memory, history, and myth, especially in cultures that have physical reminders of key events built into their landscape (which as an American I often lack). A good chunk of the reason why I set this tale when I did is that Kira's generation is the first to grow up without having known the Travellers--so if they're to get any enjoyment out of their history it will be more because they're fans than because of the direct relationship it has with them.
You should see more snippets of this sort of thing as you progress through the tale.
not too dramatic
Well, that's a relief!
Virtuella
· 25 November 2008
· Chapter 0
An interesting start. I always find it a little hard to get into stories that are set long after the canon events, but I think I'll give this a try.
Author's reply
Oh, thanks for stopping by, Annette!
I do hope you'll enjoy the tale, even though it's set so long after canon. I try my best to weave in enough canony tidbits to keep interest high, though.
FantasyFan
· 25 November 2008
· Chapter 10
I have been afraid for the Red Book ever since Kira began carting it around. Oh what a wonder it would be to actually touch the original: to see the different handwritings, to look at the quality of the binding, to treasure every little blot or imperfection, to find the tearstains you know must be there. To actually hold something created by Bilbo and Frodo. But Tolkien says the original Red Book was "not preserved," and so I have been waiting for a disaster to happen, and so it has. The Book is not rescuable, I assume. I hope the hobbit is!
Author's reply
Tolkien says the original Red Book was "not preserved," but he also gave us several millennia for it to be lost in the vagaries of time. That it would be lost so early in its potential history is highly unlikely from that standpoint, especially since the time-line records events beyond this point (i.e. the passing of Elessar and the sailing of Legolas and Gimli) without mentioning the book's destruction or the story behind it.
So please don't assume that the book is not rescuable--while there are compelling arguments (such as the one you just made) that it is gone, there are equally (if not more) compelling arguments that it is not: the need for Eucatastrophe, the extreme trauma that such an event would put Kira through (needs of the story basically assure that she physically survives), and the fact that I would be in danger of getting hung, drawn, and quartered by my readership if I was to do such a thing. I still, of course, maintain control of the story (well, plot, at least. The characters more or less boss me around) so that if I want to rescue the book I can make it happen--and hopefully not too hokily.
I'd love to get my hands on the original, too, even though I couldn't read the Westron. The handwriting bit (especially seeing it change with the writer's emotions) is a big deal for me and it'll be something the characters pick up on in more detail in the future.
Sunny
· 24 November 2008
· Chapter 10
NOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Consider this sentiment delivered in a tone of utter despair, with a decibel level likely to induce deafness.
I find that the nice thing about reading a lot of Fantasy is imagining various Dire Fates happening to various Deserving Characters (of which Tom is now one, for violence done to the Red Book [and Kira, too, of course])
Not that Tolkien was a total loss in the Dire Fates department – it is only necessary to imagine the Character of one’s choice ending up second best against a suitable critter – a nazgûl, a Balrog, a Dragon, Shelob… but if I you expand the scope, you add …. possibilities …. that are suitable for someone who would murder a book…..
(Yes, I am proud to call myself a bibliophile)
Author's reply
Uh oh... I got a filmic angsty "no" on my hands...
Unfortunately the style of fantasy in this particular fan fiction is not heroic, but cultural, which means that Dire Fates have to be a lot more circumstantial and a lot less awesome-to-watch (but if it helps you feel any better I've got Tom next door, bound and gagged and available for any sort of non-lethal damage that Book fans want to inflict upon him--though perhaps you should wait and see if the book makes it out alive or not!).
The main problem is that punishment, even deserving, only works well when it's hand-in-hand with repentance. Tom still doesn't think he's done anything wrong.
Agape4Gondor
· 24 November 2008
· Chapter 10
Yikes! Would you mind if I strangled three supposed friends???? I'm just about ready to murder them all. Especially Daffodil. I can't stand someone who swears you're their friend and then they abandon you.....
I do so hope you are going to update this soon! The thought of the Red Book ruined, the inky markings of Frodo lost forever, is almost too much to bear....
Author's reply
"Some that die deserve life," etc., etc. I'm afraid you can't kill them yet, though Tom is bound and gagged in the next room if you'd like to inflict some non-lethal damage. Daffodil does manage to redeem herself to some extent in the future; suffice it to say that while she dearly loves Kira the girl is slipping from her realm of understanding and she doesn't know how to react to it all. If she had stayed behind she could have tried to restrain Kira, sit helplessly below the tree, or climbed with her (the last of which she would never do; facing your fears for a friend's--even a best friend's--idle fancy would take more strength than she has). I won't say that what she did was the right thing, but given that she is quite young and immature and given to the same imperfections we all are, what she did was certainly very natural.
Getting Kira to leave the book behind, on the other hand, is going to take a lot more to forgive...
*sigh* Expect the next chapter on Monday. I decided on weekly updates when I started publishing this, and I'd better keep to it.
If you feel the need to let out more steam, though (though all I'm afraid I'll be able to offer by way of consolation is more tantalizing hints), the blog (labourslamp.livejournal.com) is open for business.
Dreamflower
· 24 November 2008
· Chapter 10
Tom? There are absolutely no polite hobbity words for what Tom is. There is a word in modern use that describes him perfectly, but I don't much use that language either!!!
He may be trying to convince himself that he was doing all of this "for Kira's sake" but the truth is, that it was nothing but a nasty little power trip on his own part. Not only does he not want her to do anything that he can't be a part of, he doesn't want her to *think* anything he doesn't agree with. Not only that, but the book was not his property to destroy. What does he think is going to happen when his actions come to light? Yes--Kira's mother may agree with Tom notions, but that book was the property of the Fairbairns!
Poor Kira! What a cliffie you ended on!!
Author's reply
Yes, Tom is being a horrible little selfish brat. He really does think that he's doing all of this for the good of Kira, but he simply cannot see that any viewpoints other than his own are legitimate. Though he may not look it, he has an extremely protectionary nature (especially towards Kira) and unfortunately it kicks in, even gets spiteful when he sees things spiraling out of his small sphere of control. In one sense he's trying to punish her for changing like this.
Honestly, Tom hasn't thought things through quite that much. I'm still not sure what he was originally planning to do, but his throwing the book into the tree was on an impulse, from anger at seeing himself outnumbered.
And the book may be the property of the Fairbairns, but if we're going to look at it from that point of view we may as well question how wise it was to lend it to a 15-year-old girl all the way over on the White Downs whom Sandra knew next to nothing about and who didn't even value the tales that much at that point in time. *sigh* Things have to be complicated at this point.
Poor Kira, indeed! *tries but utterly fails to mask the slightly sadistic pride she has in getting the tale to this point and then CUTTING IT OFF*
Larner
· 24 November 2008
· Chapter 10
Oh, how horrible! The Redbook and Kira both in the water--and I'm actually crying about it!
In another future story the current Master of Buckland burned the original Redbook. And to see it lost like this--I want to cry indeed! That poor child!
Author's reply
Please don't lose hope just yet--I cut off the chapter where I did (before Kira actually hits the water) for a specific reason.
Obviously I'm not going to give away any plot points, but this wouldn't be a Tolkienian fan fic if Kira did not receive her Eucatastrophe at some point in the tale.
(I did come across the other future story you're talking about [after writing this one] and nearly had a coronary when the book got burned. So I know how you feel and I'm really sorry to inflict such emotions on you!)
No matter the actual fate of the book Kira's going to have a lot to work through, so I hope you'll stay steady with her through that.
...Sometimes I think that if she ever managed to meet me in real life she'd smack me hard. And I'd probably deserve it!
Agape4Gondor
· 18 November 2008
· Chapter 9
Oh my! Another great chapter...
in the centre of it all four Hobbits stranded in the sea of Outside, separated from one another and trying to find the courage to go on.... loved this line....
And I'm glad she finally talked with Daffodil - though the girl really doesn't understand....
Perhaps *giggles* Kira will, when she's finished reading, start wrting... *giggles furiously*
Author's reply
Oh, thanks for the quoteback! I had a lot of fun writing that entire prosy section.
No, Daffodil doesn't really understand, but at least she's making an effort, unlike some characters... *glares at Tom, who is whistling nonchalantly in the background*
Heh--well, we'll see how well that goes considering she's had absolutely no training in penmanship thus far...
Agape4Gondor
· 18 November 2008
· Chapter 8
Oh my! This is an excellent chapter. It seems difficult to think that Dwarves are looked upon in this light - yet, years pass and people forget, I suppose. Poor Frodo was never honestly shone the honor due him for his part in the War - and so, I suppose, it would be foolish to hope for better treatment of the Dwarves.
As for Kira and the heavy heart - I'd wake with one too after reading of Boromir's death *sobs*
The ending was very sad. I'm sorry she missed the last day of the fair - but most especially that her mother left the book in town... Very sad indeed.
Author's reply
Glad you liked this installment!
Thanks for the feedback; I'm always a bit worried that I'm taking the Shire a bit too far through this reactionary phase.
Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if the downturn events took in the books helped influence Kira's sad mood there.
Unfortunately Kira is learning that not all the consequences of her actions, no matter how well-intentioned, are good. One of the sadder parts of growing up if you ask me.
Dreamflower
· 18 November 2008
· Chapter 9
I read this last night, but got interrupted before I could review!
This is a bittersweet chapter--her grieving over the loss of her reading privileges at the beginning was very realistic. To me, the idea of not being allowed to read at all for that length of time would be sheer torture--no wonder she threw herself into a frenzy of activity.
I was so glad that the doctor convinced her mother that the reading would be more beneficial than harmful, and that the lack of reading was actually making her worse.
But I can't help but worry about her friends' reactions. There seems to be a foreshadowing of trouble there, especially with Tom. I wonder if she had offered to read the story to them from the beginning, if it would have made a difference, if they would have become as engrossed as she with the tale. They might, to begin with, have made fun of her--but I can't help think the story would have drawn them in as well in the long run. On the other hand, perhaps it's just as well--I think if Tom had become interested in the story, it would have been for all the wrong reasons, and he might have gotten into even worse trouble...
Author's reply
Good perception all around.
Kira's come to rely on the book in a way that she wouldn't have been able to fathom if it hadn't been taken from her. And for someone who has a weaker constitution like her, in one sense she does have a physical need for it, since she can't sit around and do nothing anymore, the way she did before she learned.
Goodness, I've never thought of the possibility of Kira reading to her friends from the start. I can tell you why she didn't, though: she's known all her life that reading is something odd, and she can only get away with it now by explaining that it's to help her rest. There would be no reason for them to even be interested. Plus she doesn't think her friends could ever understand all that goes on in the tales (a bit of smugness there, I'm afraid), but more importantly that they wouldn't fit in with it. Whether that's true or not I can't say, but that's how Kira sees it. If she were crafty enough she could probably play on the native curiosity of youth--"Gasp!" "What?" "Oh, nothing, it's just something very horribly exciting in these babyish tales I'm reading..." But while she's bright she's not that devious, so it really isn't an option within this tale.
And if she had pulled it off? Well, Tom has that adventurous streak to him, and the main reason his family tolerates it is because he's not putting it to any seriously harmful use (i.e. Adventures). So even if he did start to grudgingly split infinitives appreciate the book as soon as it started affecting his behavior his parents would stamp it out and Tom would become even more callous. If they couldn't stamp it out, they'd turn to Kira next and who knows what would happen from that confrontation. I may have to do an internal AU now!
Larner
· 17 November 2008
· Chapter 9
Ah, the most tragic time of all. But at last and at least Daffodil is starting to appreciate WHY Kira's reading! And hopefully perhaps she'll begin to appreciate why the story is important, not just to Kira, but to every Hobbit in the Shire!
Author's reply
Yes--no wonder Kira's so reluctant to put the book down! It's a good thing Daffodil didn't interrupt her a few pages later or she would have put Kira down as a lost cause.
Daffodil is beginning to understand why Kira has to read, but not much beyond that, at least not yet. It's a start, though.
Raksha The Demon
· 11 November 2008
· Chapter 8
Kira's become a dwarf-friend, how wonderful! If she's not careful, I bet she'll end up an Elf-friend at some point.
Good chapter, as usual.
Author's reply
Thanks so much, Raksha--I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Kira is not being very careful right now, but since the number of Elves going through the Shire has gone down I can't make any promises.
Dreamflower
· 10 November 2008
· Chapter 8
Ah, Kira! She really is a wonderful character, with her blend of curiousity and fear, honesty and stubbornness, and her efforts to refuse to believe in the things that she's beginning to realize could be true. She's a very realistic blend of contradictions! For example, the idea that an Elf is imaginary--when all of the other evidence is piling up...*shakes head*
I loved her confrontation with the Dwarf, and their conversation. I like Firin, as well, and the way he turned the penny into a ring for Kira.
I do wish I could figure out why the hobbits are being this way about Dwarves--who have been trading with them for many years before any of the Adventures, and are certainly profitable!
And her mother is really very unreasonable--far more unreasonable than normal parental protectiveness would account for!
Author's reply
*grins* And you know that years later she's going to look back on this and think, "How could I have been so stupid?" because that's the exact sort of thing that goes through our heads every day.
Firin really is a nice fellow--a lot more forgiving and accepting than your storied Dwarf, I think. My best guess is that it has something to do with his being under Gimli for so long.
For both hobbits in general and Kira's mother in particular, the general motivator at hand is fear, specifically fear of change. Even though the Shire is much the same as it was in the Third Age, hobbits have cottoned on that the outside world is different, and they still have the cultural memory of what exactly happened when Outside came in, which hasn't, I'm afraid, been counteracted by pleasanter memories of Men since Elessar has placed down the Ban. So it doesn't take much to extend suspicion of Big Folk to outsiders in general, because they have this perception of a dangerous world increasingly pressing in on them as the wild lands of Arnor get settled. Trade with the Dwarves will continue, because it's profitable, but relationships are seen as strictly professional and anything approaching friendship is considered dangerous.
Mother, on the other hand, is starting to realize that her daughter is changing in ways completely unanticipated and out of her element, and since Kira is her only child (and she's a widow) she is especially dear to her. She's put up with her reading so far because it makes Kira happy (and healthy), but the girl's behavior is really starting to frighten her and she doesn't want to take the chance that anything will take her away from her.
Larner
· 10 November 2008
· Chapter 8
How very sad! Poor lass--all she wants to do is what's right, and she's punished for it, and must wait that much longer to understand what Firin means by their debt! She is so fortunate and blessed to be who she is, and doesn't betin to understand why! Oh, Aragorn, if only you could meet this lass and let her know what kind of person your friend truly was!
Author's reply
Somewhere from the depths of my memory I recall the phrase, "No good deed goes unpunished" and I think it's applicable here. Fear for Kira--after all she is still quite young and impressionable--wins out over any good intentions she may have, and if the only thing to make her behave is to take the book that makes her so happy from her, then so be it. I don't necessarily agree with where Kira's mother is coming from, but I understand why she's doing what she's doing, especially since she's faced with something that's increasingly out of her own control.
She does not understand yet, but she will. I don't know if Aragorn's caught sight of her in his Palantir or not, but if he has I am sure he is content to let history take its course and teach her in its own way.
Kara's Aunty
· 10 November 2008
· Chapter 8
Hello Celeritas!!
I'm so happy! The Dwarves have come!
Oh! I'm so shocked! That idiot Mayor has inexcusable manners to shove them out of the way. How inhospitable. I'm going over to keep them company... (They've just called the Mayor's an orc and I agree!).
May I timidly suggest that 'moneybox' may have sounded more hobbity than 'cashbox'?
Oh bless her! Kira's trying to assuage their disappointment by sending them to her Buckland relatives. She's a good wee soul!
Oh dear! She's made a little faux pas by asking for payment! I didn't realise that at the time...
Ooh, is the hobbit-sword Sting?
“And… may your beard always get longer, or something to that effect, sir!” - so sweet! That made me smile a mile.
What a shame to see her mother's reaction to Kira's adventure. And to take her ring and her book. A very sad chapter. Poor Kira! Poor Dwarves!
Great read, though :)
Maureen :)
Author's reply
Duly noted and edited; thanks.
I'm pretty sure that Sting's awesome enough it wouldn't rust even if it did get neglected (and it hasn't, nor any of the other Traveller artifacts). I have no clue whose it was and whether it saw any use in Bywater or not... it just seemed like a fun detail.
The Dwarves could care less about how they actually get treated--it's more that the norms of hospitality are being slighted and this implies something rather saddening about the state of the Shire, which they can see so much more clearly because they remember.
I'm afraid you're going to have to buckle yourself in for the next few chapters; things are going to get worse for Kira before they get better.
~Celeritas