Reviews (86)

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Oh! I just saw this! Thank you!

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I'm glad you returned and got to see the rescue! I do have a habit of returning to the same scene to examine it from a different perspective. I have always been fascinated by the phenomenon of witness reports to an accident, how they can differ based on the person doing the reporting, and how we can look at the same thing and notice completely different details. It is so encouraging to hear about the things you liked! Fanfic in general and SoA in particular are my comfort food at the moment, in a manner of speaking. I just had the oddest mental image... Fanfic as a person, and myself as a cat, curled in its lap. I am working on part 2, though it may be some time before I have written far enough ahead to start posting chapters (oddly enough, I don't like long stretches of time between chapters... you'd never guess that from the number of WIPs languishing on my list... but I'm chipping away at them again). In the meantime, because ADHD seems to work in my favor when I write on two stories at the same time, I can work on part 2 and a WIP (currently Bill's story) and have new chapters ready without a long wait. But I'm probably talking too much. I have the advantage of working remotely, and I worked almost until dawn last night/this morning, and it seems to be making me giddy, or chatty (kind of like a little kid trying to stave off bedtime. LOL!). But because I'm only working part-time these days, I can take today off and read fanfic to my heart's delight! So it's all good, if people can put up with me blathering on and on in my reviews and review replies. So nice to hear from you! Stay well.

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Oh, yes. You can thank Middlest for that; she campaigned for Snowdrop's happily-ever-after. (And I was hoping that Merry and Pippin being in on the dénouement would not stretch people's credulity overmuch... I think it was plausible. Hope so, anyhow.) Man, I could use some simple comfort right now, myself! I think I will go and snuggle a very large, very shaggy dog for a bit. Thanks for leaving a good word. Hope this finds you well.

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Amen to that. Three days without water is no joke. If he hadn't kept his head, those who would have come looking for them a week after people realized they were missing would not have had such a happy outcome, seeing that the earliest they would have gotten there was still days away. Yikes. Hope this finds you well!

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You never know when a bit of brandy will come in handy! (Hey, that rhymes. Perhaps a hobbit has written down a song about it somewhere. Either a jolly Bucklander, rejoicing in the contents of his handy flask, or a Took singing about "drunken Brandybucks"!) I'm so glad to hear your feedback. This story (in total) may actually come out two or three times this length when all the parts are added together. That said, I needed to take a break from a story involving much research, as this one does (with its retracing of journeys and such). Though I find it hard to believe, I'm still exhausted from being viciously attacked by that stick of butter. (Monty Python comes to mind: "It's a widdle bunny-rabbit!") As a bright spot, I realized that if I broke this one up into parts, one of those parts could be a story that has long been sitting on the shelf, with the working name "Farry and Ferdi go to Gondor"! Perhaps now that story can get a proper title, even if it is "Part 2". Ooo! So many people are baking bread these days! I used to bake all our bread when the not-so-wee-now hobbits were younger. They loved kneading small loaves of their own and making them into fancy breads. I hope you slathered it with lots of (tamed or defanged) butter and enjoyed every bite! Signing on and finding your notes (or new postings) are definitely highlights in my day! I don't anticipate taking a break from writing. The ideas are all still there, bubbling away. I just have to figure out how to manage my current energy levels. Happily enough, I do get an infusion of energy simply chatting back and forth like this, and that can often translate into some time spent writing. (I used to gently - I hope it was gently and not desperate sounding like the pleas at fanfic dot net [Please R&R!] - ask for people to leave reviews for that very reason, having always had energy issues, and I leave reviews for the same reason, in hopes of offering encouragement... and spark the motivation for them to write on.) In short (do I ever write anything "in short", I ask myself?), I still plan to post a new chapter of something or other, two or three times a week, just in case it might brighten someone's day. And I'm glad to hear that you find this little corner of the Web as diverting as I do. Author Reply: p.s. (((virtual hugs)))! To paraphrase the old television show we're binge-watching at present (I think it has 8 seasons! Yay!): "Let's be careful out there." (in other words, stay safe, and I hope this finds you well.)

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Much better, thank you! I just have to remember that butter is basically poison. Bummer. So glad that Mayor Sam's Shirriffs have their priorities straight! Thank you for taking the time to leave your thoughts and impressions. ((hug)) Stay safe. Hope this finds you and yours well.

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Oh, yes, The Secret Garden! I also had a fascination with books set at boarding schools, for some reason. And I also remember numerous stories where children found trunks in the attic filled with marvels. Our attic was filled with stuff, basically, none of it marvellous. LOL! Pretending is such fun! I got to enjoy it all over again when our children were little, what fun! Hope this finds you and yours well. ((hug)) Stay safe!

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Thank you! I appreciate your analysis, and that the story is keeping your interest. This has taken some intricate weaving, and the next section is difficult in that I am trying to shoehorn it into an already-posted story as well as deal with a subject I haven't written much on before. Whew. I hope it comes out all right. Yes, I have always been allergic to milk protein (not lactose, unfortunately, or I could use lactose-free products), but I had been able to get away with butter until recently. *sigh* I'm with Julia Child when it comes to butter and cream. I am feeling better today at last, thanks for asking. :) (((hugs back))) Hope this finds you and yours well. Stay safe.

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I can hardly believe it is Holy Week already! But then, staying at home over these past few weeks, without my usual errand days, has disrupted my sense of the days passing. We almost forgot to put the trash out on the curb last week because I was not keeping track of what day it was! And now it is Good Friday. A good day for reflection. Your comments are spot on. And now that it doesn't involve spoilers, I can offer that Erlingar and Rudigrim were engaging in a conspiracy of sorts during the Convocation. Rudigrim was playing the part of "the thoughts and voices of the Tooks", speaking aloud what those in the crowd were likely thinking (for instance, that a child couldn't be a credible witness), and so when Rudi offered the solution that he and Erlingar had actually worked out before the trial started, he made it seem as if it were coming from the Tooks themselves! That made it easier for the crowd to vote enthusiastically in favor of the final resolution, even though it was 180 degrees from the original intent of the gathering. Master manipulation (which sounds terrible when I say it) at work. All I can say in their (and my) defense is that nobody was hurt in the process - yes, it was stressful for the hobbits on trial, but they would have gone through the same stress in any event, with a much worse outcome for everyone, if Erlingar and Rudigrim and Fortinbrand had not chosen the course they ended up following. Gossip can be fun and interesting, but when it turns dark and malicious, it is a terrible thing. A blessed weekend in return to you and yours. Give those sweet pups a good petting from me. Stay safe. Thanks for taking the time to leave your thoughts. (((hugs)))

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I used to (and still do) love secret passages! I used to devour children's literature where the heroes found secret passages and secret closets and drawers and such, and wished that our house was not quite so mundane and boring. The idea of delvers wandering through untapped hallways is a diverting thought. Love from Panda and the three Rulers of All They Survey to you and yours. And the guinea pig sends a squeak. Although that might have been an indication she's hungry again. Here's hoping this finds you well and safe. Thanks for stopping to leave a good word.

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As I was writing this "take" on the fallout from the events in Runaway, I kept coming back to that old saying, "For want of a nail...", or the image of casting a pebble into a pool and watching the widening ripples. As you said, this was a heavy lesson, and it helped to encourage Faramir Took to "look before he leaps" in future decisions. We are staying safe from the virus so far. Not so much the food sensitivities, though. They have laid me low this week, I'm sorry to say, but thankfully I was a few chapters ahead in the edited chapters (as opposed to draft chapters), so postings will be able to continue on schedule. Whew. Hope this finds you and yours well. Stay safe. (hugs back) *** Interesting reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_Want_of_a_Nail

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All I can do is smile and shake my head, remembering that even the Professor sometimes found hobbits annoying. Or was it irritating? Thanks! Author Reply: p.s. Happy birthday to you (a little early). You are doing an important job. I hope your boss appreciates you. I know your clients do.

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It’s a difficult situation. Hard to guide a free and independent (and stubborn) people in one direction sometimes... Hugs back, and hope you and yours are staying well.

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You're exactly right about Fortinbrand! And it is sad but true that children often take the blame for something that is completely not their fault. I'm glad that Fortinbrand is not only good at asking questions, but at listening as well. Hope you are keeping well. Thanks for stopping to share your thoughts.

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Hopefully everything will become clearer in the next chapter (or so), including Fortinbrand's motivations. I feel for the hobbit, actually; his is what seems like a hopeless task, but instead of simply going through the motions in the face of the inevitable, he's making sure he dots every "i" and crosses every "t". I'd love to hear your thoughts when we reach the outcome of this section! And thank you for taking time to leave your thoughts this morning. And two new chapters of your latest story to savor over my coffee! What a wealth of enjoyment to look forward to! The coffee pot has put its finishing touches on this morning's brew, and so I may begin... Hope this finds you well and safe. ((hugs back))

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(Reading through this wordy response, I apologize ahead of time if it is a trial to read through it all... I am waiting for the coffee to brew, and so my thoughts are rather disorganized and wandering this morning... so I will include a summary statement simply because my sense of irony is very strong before I get my coffee.) tldr; I know! It's a wonder that Ferdibrand has not run screaming from the room. At least I'm a sucker for a happy ending. :) LOL, I know that feeling very well. And LindaHoyland certainly knows her trade! Her stories pull you in and keep you reading. Thanks for the reminder; I need to seek out her stories again and add them to my current reading list. The old story Angst, though it was hobbit-centric, was based on that premise: fanfic characters enduring endless trials. I started reading Linda's works later, or I might have asked her permission to include a few of her plot points in a chapter of that one. I used to have a list of which authors/plots I'd incorporated into that story; sadly, I lost it in a hard-drive crash, though I see to remember Budgielover, Shirebound, and febobe (and perhaps Thundera Tiger?) among them. Baylor, maybe? pipkinsweetgrass? (And Marigold, with her challenges on Livejournal, made a cameo appearance.) Well, in retrospect, I suppose you can include in the list any hobbit writer from the first half of the 2000s who gave one (or more) of the Fab Four a fever... Ironically, I started writing Ferdi-angst for the simple reason that I'd written too much Pippin-angst. "lost, captured, or otherwise injured" does make for marvelous conflict to drive a plot, and I prefer it (character vs nature, is it? character vs the world?) to person-person conflict, to be honest. But I suppose it can start to be a bit much. At one point, Bodkin threatened to form a Ferdi-protection society. That's the problem with having a Muse who generates story ideas at the rate of a firehose, along with the fact that you can only get a character into (and out of) so many scrapes before things start getting ridiculous! Peace and quiet! D'y'know, over the past few years, when the Muse stopped talking to me for a long time, I imagined Ferdi and his Nell sitting quietly together before a crackling fire, content. I'm not sure how long he could bear such a state of affairs, though. He's one of those kinds of people who almost always needs to be doing something. But that picture of him and his beloved is what I invariably think of these days, when I think of him. I hope this finds you and yours well.

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Thank you for your input! I know it puts off seeing a resolution, and may feel like yet another cliffhanger, but we are definitely making progress. Several chapters in this one have been well over 3k, amazingly enough. I think my attention span is longer than it used to be, back when I was averaging chapters between 1000 and 1500 words.

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Ah, yes. While I love to read long stories, long chapters sometimes give me problems, simply because I have to read through them more than once in order to get to the bottom, just to remind myself what happened before! Of course, it's not a terrible trial at all, since I enjoy reading, but it means if I'm pressed for time I might put off the next chapter on my list to read when I know I won't have time to finish it. I hope that Farry's recollection, five years later, clears up some questions that the trial might have brought up. Rescue has been written from the draft all the way through to the final word of that chapter. Whew. So glad to get them out of there. Not long now! Thanks!

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Definitely. I wonder how many things are more expedient to hush up than to put to the Talk...? I just now finished writing the final version of the rescue, I'm glad to say. Very glad to have them out of there. Thanks!

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It so often seems to me that the coverup ends up worse than the original offense... I just posted a "reader poll" in the chapter, so I figure you probably didn't see it. :) Got a question for you. The next chapter to be posted Friday is over 4200 words. I think I can split it in two fairly easily. What do you as a reader prefer? Long chapters over 4k words, or shorter bites? My own preference is to have a chapter between 2k to 3k. If it’s longer than that, sometimes I won’t even read it. I hate scrolling that far. Silly of me? Thank you for sharing your thoughts! Hope this finds you well.

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LOL, that tale actually wrote itself alongside this one! So it exists in draft form and will (with any luck) eventually be written out in full and posted. What fun! (hugs)

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Yes, he has always had understanding beyond his years, from his earliest appearances in these stories. I don't know if it's because he's his father's son, or Merry's influence, or if it's because he's had to grow up quickly, but that quick wit is always there when I think of him. Lovely to hear from you! (hugs) Hope you are staying well.

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Thank you! I do love Pippin; the way JRRT wrote him (curious, impulsive, intelligent) gave him so much scope for growth and character development! and that I write about in my stories... Aha! I see I am going to have to go and visit your earlier stories as well, and not just the more recent ones... Such a treat to look forward to! I am glad you are enjoying this story, and "Rope" as well. I do hope this story doesn't get too long-winded. There's a lot of conversation going on while Farry and Ferdi are awaiting rescue. Yikes! (But it's all part of what shapes Faramir into the hobbit he will become, so there is that... LOL!) So far, so good. Hope you and yours are staying well.

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LOL! New posting due tonight, so you will get your wish. I hope this finds you well. (hug)

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Naughty tablet! I understand the frustration. Children and their magical thinking... and their taking responsibility for things that are beyond their ken... it's heart-twisting sometimes. I'm glad Farry has had someone to listen to him when his parents were too busy or beleaguered. Mentors are important. (Geez, I have a talent for stating the obvious...) Thanks! I did not make any progress in writing this week, as I got sideswiped by March 25 (what, really? already?) and wanted to mark that occasion with a little something that had been knocking around the back of my brain. But I'm back to fleshing out the added sections in this story (my, it has grown, from 40 chapters to I'm not sure how many), so I should be in touch this week, I hope, to chew some things over. (hugs) Hope this finds you well.