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The Road to Edoras  by Dreamflower 10 Review(s)
Agape4GondorReviewed Chapter: 12 on 5/23/2007
Great chapter. Again, I believe one of your best talents is telling the everyday life of a Hobbit (even if it is on an adventure) with such ease that it makes me feel like I'm right with them. Bravo!

Author Reply: I'm very glad. One of my worries about this story was that it would get rather boring after a while: eat breakfast, ride, eat lunch, ride, camp, get up...etc. So in addition to the little adventures I had planned to be interspersed along the way, I also tried to include other details that would make it a little more interesting.

GamgeeFestReviewed Chapter: 12 on 6/12/2005
LOL, those hobbits, always thinking with their stomachs. The Men should know better by now, that if you ask a hobbit if he wants to camp (and have a proper meal) or ride on (and eat on the saddle) he's going to say to camp. As if Berilac wasn't smitten enough by Viola, he gets to see her in a temper, lol. Now he's hooked.

Author Reply: That's hobbits for you. You will notice my hobbits almost always tell time by what meal it is: before first breakfast, after elvenses, right around teatime, etc. They use clocks and watches, because Bilbo had them, but most of the time they just tell time by their stomachs, especially the young ones.

I thought it was time Viola got a chance to show that when it comes to something important, she's not always timid. And when it comes to her profession, she's learned from Poppy just how to put her healer's foot down.

Poor Beri doesn't stand a chance. Isn't Merry going to be surprised when he finally gets back?

Anso the HobbitReviewed Chapter: 12 on 6/10/2005
Very nice! I can clearly see the hobbits longing for bed and proper food. It`s nice to see that Viola has some spirit and I also like how you express the prisoners thoughts about who should rule the Shire! :D

Author Reply: Yes, camping's all very well and good, but a roof and a hot meal are better.

Viola *does* have a good bit of spirit, or Poppy would never have taken her on as an apprentice. But she's not been shown to her best light on this trip, because going out of the Shire has been such a trial for her.

I just wanted to reinforce my villain's natures. They have to be a bit resentful being dragged around and ignored like they are. It's no wonder if they indulge themselves in some fantasy from time to time...

ElentarielReviewed Chapter: 12 on 6/9/2005
This is a beautiful story. I think Clovis' thirst for power is going to cause trouble. It's an interesting way to show it, the 'if I had the ring' scenario. Please update soon

Author Reply: Clovis wants a lot of things, but he's not got what it takes to get them, and never has had. His idea of the Ring is nothing more than a wild fantasy...

Grey WondererReviewed Chapter: 12 on 6/9/2005
Scary thought, Clovis with the ring of power. Good thing it is already gone and his day dreaming will come to nothing or Merry would be the first to suffer, but hardly the last. The healer's apprentice is starting to come out of her shell. I think it has been good for her to be away from Poppy for a while. She seems to be getting the hang of things and impressing Berilac in the bargain.

Author Reply: Yes, it is good it's gone. Not that Clovis would have even had the intelligence of a Smeagol. I think the Ring would have made short work of him. But even a bit of slime like Clovis can dream...

Viola has all that's needed to be a competent healer, but when Poppy is there it is only right that she take the back seat. This way she gets a chance to show her stuff.

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 12 on 6/8/2005
Mushrooms and fresh fish--sounds like a wonderful meal for them. And love the idea that it is better to offend the warrior than the healer. Lovely!

Author Reply: Sounded like it might be to me, ;-) but then, I think I've just about turned into a hobbit myself.

Well, all the warrior can do is kill you--the healer can just make you *wish* you were dead, LOL!

Baggins BabeReviewed Chapter: 12 on 6/8/2005
Well thank goodness they arrived in time for lunch! Always a good idea for hobbits!

I'm so glad to see another chapter of this story and I love the budding romance between Viola and Berilac. So sweet.

Re-reading the previous chapter and realised what I meant to add. Poppy Burrows, Shire CSI. I was wondering when she would turn to Legolas and snap, "Pass me the luminol!" :-))

Great story, Dreamflower!

Author Reply: Yes, lunch is always a good idea for hobbits--especially when they had to eat second breakfast and elevenses from the saddle.

Yes, things seem to be going fairly smoothly for Viola and Beri so far...

I've never seen CSI, but I've seen and read enough other crime dramas to know what you mean, LOL! But I think any competent healer would have been able to tell as much as she did from just a basic assessment of the body, with the shape it was in.

BodkinReviewed Chapter: 12 on 6/8/2005
People who pride themselves on their respectability always seem to be such - such slime. I can see Lobelia priding herself on being better than everyone else - and that entitling her to take what she wants.

All those Bankses are just so nasty. Especially Cado - who is a nasty vicious slimeball of the worst variety.

It's much nicer to think about Viola and Berilac. I loved seeing Viola take on the healer persona and boss! (Berilac, take note!) Although it's actually to everyone's benefit and just goes to prove she'll make a good mother.

I'm glad they're in the process of teaching Bergil to tell the difference between different types of mushroom. Most particularly, which mushrooms to leave alone. (I hope Cado doesn't get in touching distance of poisonous fungi - he's loathsome enough to think that it might be a good way to escape the Men.)

And such a hobbity conclusion!



Author Reply: Yes, the brand of "respectability" that the Bankses prefer is very similar to Lobelia's--a chance to brand everyone else as "inferior".

They are all pretty nasty.

I wanted to show that in spite of Viola's timidity, she has what it takes. A lot of that timidness is due simply to the very *strangeness* of everything. After all, she is neither a Took nor a Brandybuck, with a heritage of wanting adventure; she probably did not grow up listening to Bilbo's stories as many of the others did; she is a lass, as well and so she probably never in her wildest dreams ever thought of leaving the Shire. But she is a competent healer, and when she is in that element, the timidity evaporates. It would have to, or Poppy would never have thought to bring her. And Berilac needed to see that she wasn't simply a "shrinking violet".

Poor Bergil. He was so proud of himself for giving Pippin mushrooms in "Kingly Gifts" that Pip just didn't have the heart to bust his bubble at the time.

Yes, finishing up on a mealtime *is* pretty hobbity...

Mysterious JediReviewed Chapter: 12 on 6/8/2005
This is wonderful, as always. I look forward to the next chapter! Won't Pippin be impressed with Bergil's new ability to distinguish between edible and poisonous fungi!

<>< Saved from sin through Christ,
MJ

Author Reply: Yes. That was something Pippin meant to get around to teaching Bergil, but he never got the time. There are a good many little skills that a country lad takes for granted that Bergil, raised in the City, would not know. For with the War on, he would not even have had very much opportunity to even go out into the surrounding countryside.

KittyReviewed Chapter: 12 on 6/8/2005
Ah, an update perfectly well in time for my lunch break - thank you!

Why couldn’t a *respectable* family be in charge of the Shire?
*lol* Because the hobbits have too much common sense to elect someone like Cado and his immediate family? I must admit, I'm enjoying Cado's silent complaints quite much. It is so nice to see him fuming over this *eg*

And the tattoos again. I wonder if they think in the world of men this is a sign of honour or a fashion or something like this and they can lie about the meaning of their own tattoos? For even the Bankses can't be so stupid to think the men's tattoos alike to their own.

He supposed it was about time to return, as he thought, amused, that he was in some danger of being turned into a hobbit. Another great line which left me giggling. No doubt, it is infectious to be too long in the presence of Hobbits! We're ourself the best example, I fear. The men will miss them if they are back at home, and probably ever fondly remember this journey.

There were too much nice little bits to mention them all, so I will say only I have enjoyed this!

Author Reply: It's probably because that branch of the Bankses meant something *else* by "respectable" than most hobbits do. I think most hobbits mean living a quiet peaceful life and getting along with folks when they speak of "respectable", but certain families, such as the S.-B.s, the Bracegirdles, and Clodio's branch of the Banks family mean something different altogether, and usually that is meaning "We're better than everyone else."

I thought it would be interesting to get into their heads a bit now and then. I don't want them to simply be extraneous props.

Dago (and perhaps Cado) are beginning to get ideas about the tattoos (and no, it wouldn't be lying about their own.)

Yes, the Men are definitely going to miss the Shire and the Hobbits they met there, and will remember their journey for the rest of their lives.

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