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| The Rescue by Lindelea | 1 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Leithian | Reviewed Chapter: 23 on 4/5/2025 |
| I am worried about Ferdi, he seems to be badly hurt. Somehow I like him even better for wishing to warn the Thain despite the fact that he needs to rest and recover. And I dislike the Thain even more knowing his subsequent treatment of Ferdi in 'Flames'. But I'm getting ahead. 𝘔𝘺 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩—’ ... ‘𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 – 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘮𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘮𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘯... Ummm I don't seem to understand what he's saying here. I mean that if the Smials are taken then Tookland will fall and there will be no place safe in the Shire. Does he intend for Estella to remain undercover forever? Oh please let the Travellers return soon, it is all getting out of hand. Don't mind me actually, it is far too early in the morning... Now that I know that your stories always have a happy ending, I'm eagerly waiting for it. Author Reply: Bless you! The Paladin in this story is much closer to the way I write him in The Farmer's Son (which follows an alternate timeline, and that alternate timeline, unfortunately, does not intersect much with Flames). So you might think of him more kindly that way, I hope. I do like the old hobbit, and I even liked Farmer Paladin of the original timeline (before he became Thain, that is, poor fellow). Yes, you described the potential disaster exactly. The point will become clearer in the next chapter, I think. If the Smials are taken and the leadership of the Tooks is wiped out, it's likely that the back-country Tooks (including Harley and Mum and their children) would have to band together, find defensible hiding places, and fight a sort of guerrilla warfare. If things were to continue as they're going, the safest course for Estella would be to continue to live as Twig – for the rest of her life, as long as that might be. (And considering the ruffians' goal, directed by Sharkey, is to destroy the Shire – for though he has not yet arrived in the Shire, his influence seems plain to me in various hints by Tolkien: the half-orc in Bree, the cruelty and destructiveness of the Men who came to work for Lotho, the description of the Lockholes survivors. Lotho thought the Men were working for him, poor foolish hobbit.) In that case, Estella's future would be uncertain or even distressingly brief. The remaining Tooks and Tooklanders would face a bitter struggle, knowing they were marked for death and living with that knowledge, but they'd go down fighting, and they'd never stop resisting and hoping against hope, somehow, to overcome in the end. As Sam and Frodo and Merry and Pippin proved, hobbits are amazingly courageous and stubborn creatures! I'm so glad that Tolkien wrote a different ending to their story! And I have done the same, as you noticed! (You're right. It's late May or early June at this point, and the Travellers are certainly taking their time in turning their steps back home. Silly hobbits, imagining that the Shire is just as peaceful as they left it... They are in for a shock!) Don't mind me, I was up past midnight writing Chapter 15 of Tolly's new story and lost track of the time. The bedtime patrol (cats) are elsewhere tonight. Usually one or another of them starts biting my leg around 10 p.m. or so to remind me to finish what I'm doing and go sensibly to bed. (((hugs))) Thanks so much for reading and pausing long enough to share some food for thought! I hadn't really examined closely what would happen after the Great Smials should fall and the Thain should be captured because that's a story I could never write, actually. Just summarizing it and thinking about what might have happened was almost too terrible to contemplate. (Along those lines, I think you'll continue to appreciate Paladin, and Eglantine too, in the next chapter, due to post on Monday or Tuesday, because they know what the stakes are and they rise to the challenge. And I hope you'll enjoy the story's ending. I laughed as I wrote it.) | |