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How It All Got Started...  by Dreamflower 7 Review(s)
Queen GaladrielReviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/4/2006
Excellent! You've got Sam's voice and character down to a T here, and that's more than most can claim to have, myself included. It's nice to see Sam getting into a little mischief, even if it is to protect Frodo. He's so often portrayed as too saintly, which is why I had so much fun with "A Promise and a Gift." Lovely read, and a refreshing new look at how it really began. God bless,
Galadriel

Author Reply: Why thank you so much! I always appreciate it when readers tell me I've a good handle on a character's "voice". Sam's no saint, and he's no fool. He knows that Merry has a handle on his cousin's probable reactions.

I'm so glad that you think this is the way it might really have been. Thank you again, dear.

DanaReviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/1/2006
I really love the Conspiracy, and different takes on it. And I like your Sam-voice here, so I feel that I should applaud you for that. This sort of feels like a missing bit of book here, and I think I love it for that. And I do like the rest of your character voices, too!

Author Reply: Thanks a lot. I really appreciate it when people think I have the voices right. And that you think it could have been in the book--wow, that just really makes me blush.

GryffinjackReviewed Chapter: 1 on 11/3/2005
Ah, and so the conspiracy begins!

The voice you give to all four of our lads is really spot on. It really helps in reading the stories. This sounds so much like Sam, and Merry.

This is one of those missing moments from the book that it is a pleasure to have filled in, especially by one so skillful and understanding in the relationships between the four hobbits.

It's easy to see why Merry would go to Sam for help in finding out more about Frodo's plans, and just as easy to see why Sam would feel comfortable to speak about Frodo's private business with Merry. I'm sure they both will now feel a little bit more relieved now to know that they have the other's help.

Author Reply: Yes, this is where it really began--long before Gandalf revealed the truth of the Ring to Frodo. It began in Merry's intuitive understanding of his Baggins cousin, that he would not be content to stay forever in the Shire if he thought there could be a chance for him to see Bilbo once more.

I try very hard to stick to the book for their voices. Sam can be difficult, so I always find myself re-reading the first two chapters of FotR when I'm going to tackle Sam's unique voice. Frodo, Merry and Pippin are gentlehobbits, and there is no need for "dialect" when they speak. I do like the idea of the "Tookish lilt" that came from Pippin's portrayal by Billy Boyd, but you won't find me trying to imitate that. Let the reader imagine it.

Since you read "Conspiracy", you know this is the flip side--the Sam side--of the conversation Merry recalls. And since you've read all the other stories, you also know that the two of them had more of a friendship than Sam sometimes cared to admit to.

Nina the powerwriterReviewed Chapter: 1 on 12/6/2004
Oh, I liked this one! The first two paragraphed sparked an idea last week and I quickly wrote it down.

Author Reply: Glad you liked it, and glad it gave you a bunny! Let me know when the bunny hatches!

esamenReviewed Chapter: 1 on 10/24/2004
Well, if it had been anybody else, I wouldn’t have said nothing. My master’s business is his own, and I don’t discuss him with folks just casual like. But this was Mr. Merry, who loved his cousin like a brother, and I knew he wouldn’t have brought himself to ask me if he weren’t right worried.


Wow! This is great!

You have Sam's voice down PERFECT and Merry is wonderful. The Shire just comes to life in your words. What great writing! This is the kind of fan fiction I just love. Please keep on writing . . . will there be a Chapter Two? I'll be watching! Happy typing!

Esamen



Author Reply: Thank you so much for your kind words! This was my first attempt at doing a first person POV, and I am glad you think it worked out. This story is just a little piece in Sam's eyes of one of the same events that take place in "A Conspiracy of Hobbits", so I won't be going over the same ground again. But I definitely will keep writing as long as the plot bunnies keep hatching! And since this worked I might try another first person story again sometime.
Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Grey WondererReviewed Chapter: 1 on 10/24/2004
Love Sma' POV. I must have missed this one over on the Ficathon but am glad to have found it here. Nice moment between Merry and Sam.

Author Reply: Thanks, GW! I just thought it would be nice to know Sam's thoughts of when Merry asked his help; I've never done first person before. It's a bit harder, but more fun when it works out.

SharonBReviewed Chapter: 1 on 10/24/2004
Oh how funny. Merry giving Sam an out by offering "to make it worth his while", boy did they ever but not in the way intended there. And Sam's retort about letting him be part of the conspiracy was priceless. I would have loved to seen Merry's face when Sam said that.

In the long run, yes it was all worth their whiles to keep an eye on Frodo and not let him do this alone. That's what family is for after all, to stand with you through thick and thin.

Author Reply: I had a lot of fun with this one. I'd never done a first person POV before. And it was definitely worth everyone's while that they did form their conspiracy; without it Sam would not have been eavesdropping so that Gandalf caught him, Frodo might very well have never made it as far as Bucklebury Ferry by himself, there would have been no swords from the Barrow-wights, no Merry to slay the Witch King, no Pippin to save Faramir...

And Frodo's family was there for him through thick and thin, even when Merry and Pippin were separated from him, they did their part to help him!

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