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Reflections from the Paradise of Elves by Bodkin	7 Review(s)
Larner	Reviewed Chapter: 62 on 10/18/2005
Good understanding of the psychology of their parents. And perfectly normal behavior for infants when being presented publicly for the first time, of course. And no longer color-coordinated? Has me giggling. Author Reply: Well - the main advantage of choosing your husband's robes must be setting off your own. You wouldn't want him to clash. And Ellanthir is making sure that the cooing is aimed in the right direction!

Redheredh	Reviewed Chapter: 62 on 5/19/2005
Just got done reading this chapter and am still giggling. :D You never fail to entertain and to make a point. Or a least make me think about your character in depth and elvishness in general. More offspring for Elrond and Celebrian? I like your reasoning much better than Tolkien's simply saying that childbearing/rearing happens and then ends. That they turn their minds to other things. Coordinated outfits! Hehe! They'd look like a deck of cards when all together! Always looking forward to the next. Thanks for posting them so often. Author Reply: Good! I'm glad to have provided entertainment! I can see - sort of - that elves probably would have years when they wanted to produce offspring and then they would choose not to. Otherwise they'd be like mosquitos, with kazillions of the little blighters. But I do think that reunion after long parting would probably make even long-established couples more - shall we say - active again. And might well result in a rash of baby-boom babies. And I wonder what the effect of rebirth might be on the 'we're-really-too-old-for-all-that' elf. They might find that the whole surge of joy, energy, freshness, whatever, might bring them into 'season' again. Well - if you have to choose and organise what your husband is wearing, you're not going to have him clash with your beautiful outfit, are you? You'd want him in the elven equivalent of a penguin suit so he could set off your general stunningness. There will be more. Count on it! Thank you. Author Reply: I just can't get the deck of cards image out of my head! Legolas and Elerrina as the King and Queen of Hearts, I think. Elladan and Miriwen as the Spades and Elrohir and Sirithiel as the Clubs. (I have some pictures I have associated with these characters - and Sirithiel is a painting by Prinsep called the Queen of Hearts - (who made some tarts). But the Elrondionnath would make better dark cards, I think.) Maybe Thranduil and Laerwen could make up the set as the Diamonds?

daw the minstrel	Reviewed Chapter: 62 on 5/19/2005
I don't know how you manage all your characters. And with backstory, too. Must be talent. And organisation. And madness! Don't forget madness! Author Reply: The thing is, you just get to love all the extra people just as much as the originals. I am very fond of Elrin and Elrohir's twins and the rest - they've become part of the family as far as I'm concerned. And I'm just as interested in the ins and outs of Sinnarn's relationship with Emmelin as I am Legolas's - and equally intrigued by Annael's ancestry and Beliond's wife and son. They're all real. So maybe madness helps. I'll make a note.

daw the minstrel	Reviewed Chapter: 62 on 5/19/2005
Oh my goodness! I missed this entirely. How could I have done that? I just didn't see it at all. LOL at Elladan having to cope with an infant whose needs he simply cannot meet and then being wet on for his pains. Are you hinting that more babies are on the way here, Bodkin? How can you manage such a large cast??? Author Reply: Poor Elladan. But at least his leg is healing. Slowly. And he forgives Ellanthir - he knows that the kid can't help it. I don't know about more babies. It does all get rather complicated as they grow up. (Alfirin could do with one, though!) Actually, the hardest people to keep track of are those minor walk-ons who just get mentioned in passing. I'm having to make a list of names, so I can reuse them rather than just inventing another. It's all getting too complex just to remember it now. (I don't know how you manage all your characters. And with backstory, too. Must be talent. And organisation.)

elliska	Reviewed Chapter: 62 on 5/19/2005
I saw this notification first thing in the morning yesterday and couldn't sit down to read it until now. Good thing I didn't try to read it at work because I was howling. I'm with Elladan--poor fellow! It's just pure meaness to sit an invalid down with an infant in his lap and no one within hearing range. That was funny--the description was great. And Legolas's "I do not sulk" crack me up too. Along with their discussion about clothing and complimenting their wives. You have to feel sorry for males...wait, no you don't. :-) I can actually hear my husband saying something like that only it couldn't be further from true--I don't choose his clothes so he compliments mine. I chose his clothes because I don't want him showing up for evening events in jeans and a T-shirt. But I loved the discussion of more elflings--my your cast grow larger! I would love to Thranduil and Laerwen with an elfling. And Legolas and Elerrina with another. And I really liked the end. Indeed Elrond and Celebrian would not have more until they knew the fates of the ones they had. I loved this one! Great job. PS. I almost forgot--last weekend I was at an encampment set in 1597 but the date wasn't of particular historic importance nor was the event. We were there only to train in a different fighting style (in longswords) and the treatise the training was based on came from the year 1597 so we chose to set the encampment in that year. So nothing too interesting unless your are into getting bruised training with padded weapons. I guess I'm crazy. :-) Author Reply: Thank you - I'm glad you enjoyed it! Perhaps they didn't mean to abandon poor Elladan with the baby - it just happened as everyone was rushing around getting ready. Perhaps. And if the males in your life are happy to give up the responsibility for choosing their clothes, what sensible wife wouldn't dress them to her advantage? And they know better than to argue! Elflings are fine in infancy - but they take up a lot of space as they get older - note I am only dealing with it by showing them in smaller groups! Too many people together is just too complicated. I'm not sure if elfling production for the more mature elf is likely. (Part of me would love to present G and C with one.) But then what is the situation for the reborn? Are they more likely to have babies or less? What a decision. You fight with longswords? Goodness. Does it help with battle scenes? I'm most impressed.

The Karenator	Reviewed Chapter: 62 on 5/18/2005
long fingers gently smoothed the fluff of black hair adorning the baby’s head and caressed the soft cheek. The wobbly head wavered in the direction of the hand. I love this image. Little baby fuzz and a Nana-seeking missile. As always the banter is fun and funny. I got a chuckle out of the matching outfits and Legolas as an arm ornament. He's apparently good for a few things. So is the House of Oropher thinking of increasing? The conversation at the end between E2 was very well done about why they didn't think their parents had considered having more children. I always enjoy how you construct these chapters. You give us lighthearted fun, but you always manage to slip in some very interesting deep thoughts. Another delightful chapter. What's next? Author Reply: I love the expression Nana-seeking missile. So clever and so apt. Do you think Legolas would make good arm-candy? Many males, I suspect, look on one of the plus points of having a wife as never having to think about what to wear ever again. (I don't think Miriwen will worry too much. She has a well developed sense of humour and will probably enjoy the incident!) In some ways it would be rather fun if Legolas developed a baby sibling, wouldn't it! But I'm not sure it will happen. (Candidly, there are enough people around now - it can get really difficult fitting them all in. Not so much here, as only E2L ever appear - so a throwaway mention here or there is all that is needed. But Elflings is developing a cast of thousands.) It would have seemed a betrayal, I think, for Elrond and Celebrian to have more children. Makes them seem more like a commodity than an irreplaceable part of your life - you cannot substitute a new child for one you have lost. After all, if you could, Galadriel might well have turned up to find that Earwen and Finarfin had produced another half dozen - or Elrond arrived to find that Earendil and Elwing had given him three or four siblings. That might be even more difficult to deal with than getting to know your parents after several thousand years of separation. Earendil's probably next. Although he's getting into charted territory now, which is easier in some ways, but trickier in others. And then, Elladan needs to get back on his feet. And I think I promised E2L some time in the woods. And Arwen is tapping her foot. Galadriel and Celeborn don't mind being left on their own for a bit, though. When shall I fit in the work I have to do?

Jay of Lasgalen	Reviewed Chapter: 62 on 5/18/2005
Phew! Elladan's more-or-less mobile again. That must be a relief for everyone - not just that Elrohir is no longer worried sick, but he doesn't have to endure any more bad jokes. Nice to see Elladan with his new son. I like these little glimpses of E2L with their offspring, and the besotted tenderness they all display. And the baby wets on Elladan. Ha! I particularly liked Elladan's insight at the end. It's true, if Elrond and Celebrian had had another child when they were first reunited, it would be an admission that they never expected to see the twins again. And E2 are not replaceable! (That came out as 'not irreplaceable' at first. Whoops!) Jay Author Reply: The leg is taking its time - Elrohir was right that it was a very nasty injury - but it is recovering. I think Elladan will carry on with the bad jokes, though. Although the contrast between badly damaged brother and bad jokes will be less. Elves have so short a time with little children. They would be either totally inept or besotted, I think. And, for all the bold warrior on the surface, E2L are the besotted type. Ahh, for the days of changing baby boys, when this sudden fountain would spray everywhere! And the look little babies have on their faces at the time! Yes, I don't think they could have brought themselves to have another child - even if it were possible (I'm not quite sure whether elves can just have them at will at any stage in their lives.) I did have Elrond and Celebrian have a baby in one story, but I'm quietly ignoring that now, because I think they would have looked on it as an abandonment of hope. And E2 did come! In their own good time, but they did come.

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