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All Work and No Play  by Lindelea 1 Review(s)
demeter dReviewed Chapter: 16 on 4/19/2025
I just had to say something at this point. Thank you for the detailed "world building" you have accomplished which connects stories and gives us more pictures of the life of one remarkable Hobbit. Ferdi's attack of PTSD feels very real. I am the age of younger Viet Nam veterans. I have known vets who hear a loud noise, say in traffic, and feel as if they were under attack. My late Father-in-Love was a veteran of the Pacific Theater in the Second World War. My husband's mother recalled him having nightmares for a very long time after the war. I would imagine if he ever took a Pacific cruise he might have had bad memories. This recreation is very much plucking threads from the tapestry of the original journey!

Author Reply: I'm so glad to hear that the story works! I sometimes wonder when I see "hits" but no reviews for chapter after chapter if somehow something is wrong with the characterisations or the plot or something. I must keep reminding myself that people are busy, and not everyone has the luxury of time I now find myself enjoying.

Your descriptions of PTSD are very similar to what I've heard from or about family members. My dad and uncles all fought in WWII. My dad only told funny stories about his time with a bomber group. One of my uncles didn't talk about the war at all, and another uncle didn't talk at all (about anything!) for six months after he came back.

Tolkien doesn't describe PTSD for Merry or Pippin or Sam (if I'm remembering right), but I don't think that means hobbits would be immune to such an aftereffect of what they went through. (If I got that wrong, then a lot of my stories would have to be labelled AU, probably.)

Hopefully Haldoron's struggle also sounds realistic. From what I've read, the Northern Rangers in general know of athelas and can apply it with some degree of effectiveness, but in the hands of a descendant of Isildur, the leaf has much greater power.

Thanks so much for reading and pausing to share your thoughts! I appreciate your insights.

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