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It Takes a Took  by Dreamflower 11 Review(s)
PIppinfan1988Reviewed Chapter: 26 on 11/14/2005
"Rosamunda began to get the feeling she was being maneuvered,"

*snorts laughter* I was really enjoying this--too bad she's wisened up.

Its true--our lads *had* to spill thier guts at some point. To keep all of this inside would create an immense wall between them and their spouses when they marry. And what sort of marriage is that, anyway? It was very brave of them to face the facts and re-tell it all. Wonderful.

Pippinfan

Author Reply: But she still lets herself be maneuvered, LOL!

Well, one thing that had kept Merry from moving forward in his plans to marry Estella was his fear of what would happen when she heard his nightmares. And she realized what a barrier it was. Now that barrier is mostly down. And Pippin, having already seen what it had done to Merry, in his blunt way, decided to be upfront with Diamond from the start.

melilot hillReviewed Chapter: 26 on 1/9/2005
I've not be reviewing as much as I shoul have, but I'm still enjoying this story very much. I'm glad Merry and Estella finally had there conversation with Pippin and Diamond. I liked it how the other family members kept Rosamunda busy :)

Author Reply: I'm glad you like the story! LOL! Keeping Rosamunda busy is turning into the Took family hobby!

pipinheartReviewed Chapter: 26 on 12/29/2004
Nice... Both the boys get time with thier girls again...They tell the finishing tale of their travels,of the pain and horrors.
Love the ending......Nice

great job..

Author Reply: I'm glad you enjoyed it. It was a rough going, but now they have it behind them, and they don't have to constantly worry about being guarded in their speech in front of the lasses.

BodkinReviewed Chapter: 26 on 12/28/2004
A story that's enough to put hobbits off their food is some story! I'm glad Amethyst and Pearl kept them away from curious eyes - they need recovery time. Good thing Pippin had a good breakfast!

“Do you want sausages, ham or bacon, Pip?”

“Yes,” replied Pippin.

What a superb response.

The story-telling has definitely been a bonding experience - Merry/Estella, Pippin/Diamond share something that no-one else is likely to be invited to partake in. As a courting technique, it's . . . different, but I suspect that nothing will now be able to split P/D, so it's effective.

(Shallow people can have small but unexpected areas of depth. Does Rosamunda?)

Author Reply: Pearl's a good sister, and Amethyst is glad to follow her lead. It would have been difficult to come from that to the tea table.

I thought it was a pretty hobbity response. *grin*

It is definitely a different courting technique, but trust Pippin not to do things the usual way. And I suspect your suspicions are correct.

Rosamunda? Quite likely--in fact, I'm sure she does, but so far has had no reason to show it. That may change one of these days. (shoo...shoo bunny...no time for you...)

SharonBReviewed Chapter: 26 on 12/28/2004
It only took a second time to get through the telling. And it looks like our lasses took it well although it seems they were affected by the telling as well. I'm glad to see that Rosamunda is sensible enough to see that thoe 4 aren't getting into trouble.

LOL, you portrayed Pip well as the typical growing hobbit .. a "Yes" to which of these do you want to eat.

You did a very good job of summarizing LOTR in what you had the boys relate in their story telling. And they seemed to realize a few things themselves for the first time in hearing the story straight through. An d I loved Estella's pronouncement to Merry ... "Why, when you have a bad dream, I can truthfully tell you there are no such things, because you slew them!” A very smart young lady he's courting! ;-)


Author Reply: Yes, though it took all day. But they really wanted to get it over with. I think that Estella and Diamond took it much better than Merry thought they would.

Rosamunda is not so much worried about what they might get into, as she is about what people might say. But with Reggie and his daughters there for propriety's sake, she's covered.

Well, what else would he say? Like he had to choose, LOL?

I did think that the telling might be somewhat cathartic for them, and hearing it told like that, straight through, they did realize some things they had not before.

Estella's a sharp one, but then she *is* Freddy's sister.

brandyReviewed Chapter: 26 on 12/28/2004
I do love this tale! I've been reading it for a while, but I've never left a review (I know, I know; curse those that read and do not leaveth reviews!! hehe) Anyways, I am very much enjoying this and there were two particular lines today that made me want to review and point out to you how much I liked them:

'Merry saw Pippin seated, and put the crutches out of the way, and went to get his cousin a plate. “Do you want sausages, ham or bacon, Pip?”

“Yes,” replied Pippin.'


LoL (reminds me of myself) and:

'She knew her love well enough to know that he would make Frodo's sorrows his own.'

How poignantly heart-wrenching! Dear Merry and his devotion to his cousins, it is so touching how much they really love each other. Great job! I'll be waiting for the next chapter ^_~

Author Reply: Well, I'm just glad to know you've been reading. Even when you don't review, you make the hit count go up! But I do love reading and responding to reviews.
So don't be a stranger--I'm glad you're here.

I was kind of pleased with Pip's response to Merry myself--I thought it pretty hobbity, after all.

The devotion and loyalty between the cousins, as well as Sam, is kind of an obsession with me. You will notice how I somehow have them *all* tangled up in what was supposed to be a fic mainly about Pippin/Diamond. But I can't seem to help myself--any longer fic is sooner or later going to get them all in, no matter what.

pipspebbleReviewed Chapter: 26 on 12/27/2004
“Why, when you have a bad dream, I can truthfully tell you there are no such things, because you slew them!”

*sigh*

Okay, now I officially love Estella! This is beautiful, really, a truly well done summation of all that happened to them without stinting on any of the emotional toll it took on them. Terrific job! This story continues to delight me. :-)

Author Reply: Estella's pretty special, isn't she?
The emotional reactions were what I was basically going for; after all, everybody reading these fanfics hopefully already knows the main story, and just a summary alone would be pretty boring.

I am glad that my story makes you happy; it's nice to know!

EruviluiethReviewed Chapter: 26 on 12/27/2004
Excellent telling of the War from Merry and Pippin's perspectives. I loved the ending - so true! I eagerly await more chapters.

Author Reply: It's amazing how much difference a change in POV can make. I am glad that you are enjoying this story; I'm working away at it.

Nina the powerwriterReviewed Chapter: 26 on 12/27/2004
Just wanted to let you know I'm still following this story! I've had to catch up about six chapters though :P Good retelling of the quest. Letting them get interrupted so many times makes the telling seem more real, because most stories just do it in one sitting. When did Pippin and Diamond finally decide they wanted to be together? I remember them thinking about it, but don't remember them discussing it. Did I miss something? or maybe I didn't...lol. Please keep going with this story!

Author Reply: No, you didn't miss anything. Pippin is plowing right ahead on the assumption that he is going to get what he wants sooner or later, but so far, all that has been actually accomplished is that Lavender's removed her opposition, and Diamond has admitted she cares about Pippin. Also, Diamond is allowing him to take a lot for granted--she *wanted* to hear his story.

And it was a smart move on his part, because having heard it, she is going to feel included in a part of his life that he doesn't share with just anybody. And she knows that.

I'm glad you didn't mind the interruptions. I, too, thought it seemed more realistic that way. It's a long story, after all. I mean, look how much was cut out for the movies, and it still takes over 9 hours, or more than 12 for the EE. Even with only telling their own parts, Merry and Pippin had a lot to tell!

AuntiemeeshReviewed Chapter: 26 on 12/27/2004
You've done a masterful job of retelling the entire quest, here, with just enough detail. Poor Merry and Pippin having to relive everything like that. No wonder Merry didn't want to face the task alone. And the lasses have held up beautifully under the horrors they've been told of.

“Why, when you have a bad dream, I can truthfully tell you there are no such things, because you slew them!”

*loves Estella forever* She knew just the right thing to say, to make it alright or Merry.

I'm loving this story more than ever. :)


Author Reply: I tried not to go overboard with details of the Quest, and hit what would have been the highlights for our two lads--mostly I wanted to dwell on their own emotional reactions to what they were telling, and that of Diamond and Estella. Even so, I worried that I did too much re-capping; I'm glad you think that I did not!

Estella loves Merry and is proud of him. And of course, she is right--Merry needs to be reminded when he falls into Shadow, that he helped to slay it, and it is no more!

I'm so glad you are still with me on this. Like a lot of my stories, it's ending up a lot longer than I originally intended.

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