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Your Heart Will Be True  by Write Sisters 4 Review(s)
ImbecamielReviewed Chapter: 14 on 2/10/2006
Yay! Bartho is back! Y'know, I've been thinking about him... A guy *that* certain he's never going to get married had just GOT to get married eventually. It's kind of inevitable. Rather like the Bible verse, "He who thinks to save his life will lose it." Yes, yes, I *do* realize that I'm taking it just a *bit* out of context here, and that the implied equation of marriage and death might be considered slightly inappropriate, but still... ANYways, I've been thinking about the list of available women so far in the story. Let's see... We've got Gilraen. Hmm, well, aside from the fact that their personalities don't seem quite compatable, there's the inconvenient fact that she's the king's daughter. Oh yeah, and I think she might be just a bit young for him... *checks name off list* And then there's Elenwen. Well, possibly a slightly more compatable personality... But that does still leave the same problems as with Gilraen. *sighs and checks another name off list* And then we've got Ioreth. Well, I suppose it's always possible... But she's not Numenorian, so I think we've got the opposite problem here - a bit old. 'sides, he doesn't seem to be too fond of healers at the moment. *frowns and checks another name off the list* And then there's Mavranor. Again, a bit old, though she seems to be holding up well enough... But then I suppose the inconvenient fact that she's an evil villainess whose goal in life is to take over Gondor and kill Aragorn just *might* put a bit of a damper on any romantic relationship... *shakes head and checks name off list* And then there's Arien... Now here I think we may have something... *smiles brightly and circles name* We shall see...

LOL! But of course his conclusions aren't good. Who'd have expected anything less of him? //In the back of his mind he methodically considered the risks involved in stealing his weapons back from the healers and slipping out of the city under cover of darkness… It sounded like something his king and Legolas would do; or rather, had done.// It does indeed! Hehe, you know, I really love this guy. *g*

Ah, and speaking of the Lady Arien, here she is! LOL! Sir Rabbit and Lady Mule... Sounds like a perfect match to me. *g* Awwww, he is SO sweet, though! //"*I* would."// And he's so astonished that a woman might show any real interest in him, or even not "wish to forget" him... *huggles poor Bartho* I'm afraid that, despite your best efforts to prove otherwise, you're still just too likable, my dear ranger :-)

He's been hurt so badly, though... He seems like the type who, when once he gives his heart, he gives it fully - without reservation. To have had that just tossed aside by a woman who wasn't worthy of him in the first place... It's so terribly sad. //"Only a rabbit," he said quietly.// *gets tears in eyes* Oh, he's just GOT to have a happy ending!

Oh dear... I can understand so well why Arien would burst into tears just then! Heh, but I must say, I can hardly decide whether I feel more sorry for her, or for poor Bartho here! LOL, for some reason I'm reminded of a part in Ivanhoe, when De Bracy is talking with Rowena after he's captured her. He's all commanding and confident, threatening Ivanhoe unless she agrees to marry him, and it almost looks like he might even succeed... until she starts crying. Then he does everything short of outright panic, pacing back and forth, trying to assure her things aren't quite as bad as all that, desperately attempting to figure out what he's supposed to do now... And then, when he's asked how things went, he says, "By the bones of Thomas a Becket, the Lady Rowena must have heard that I cannot endure the sight of women's tears." And when they're incredulous that a "leader of a Free Company" would be so affected by a few tears, and they say that "a few drops make the torch of love burn all the brighter", he replies, "Gramercy for the few drops of thy sprinkling, but this damsel hath wept enough to extinguish a beacon-light... A water-fiend hath possessed the fair Saxon." LOL, poor De Bracy! And poor Bartho - he actually meant well, and was only being nice, and he still got stuck trying to figure out how to deal with a "water-fiend". *g* All-in-all, I think he dealt with things quite well, though... I've just got to say it again - he's so sweet!

And he finally did tell her his name after all! Yay! Very promising indeed... *g*

Oh, poor, poor Eldarion! Not only does he probably realize the seriousness of the situation far more than his sisters, as the oldest, he must also feel a responsibility now to be strong for them, and not let them see just how bad things are. And then, with his father gone, he's got to deal with being, however unofficially, the "man of the house". The whole situation has just got to be terribly overwhelming for the poor boy... *sniffs*

Good thing Pippin's there to comfort him! //"Sir Pippin?"// Oh ack, now you've got me sitting here laughing with tears in my eyes... *wanders off to find a kleenex*

*wanders back* Ehem. Now where was I... Oh yes, I love Pippin's way of comforting him! He's got just the perfect blend of newfound maturity and experience, and childlikeness to relate to Eldarion, and to keep his spirits up. Hehe, and I love his little recital of just a few of Aragorn's many accomplishments. Though I must say, I was quite wise of him to leave some of his equally astonishing but not quite so encouraging accomplishments *out* of that list: World record cave-destroyer! Most cliffs fallen - or jumped - off of in the Third Age! Ninety-six year straight holder of the "Trouble Magnet of the Year Award"! First human to subscribe to the Imladris "Frequent Patient Rewards" program! Ehm, yeah... As proud as I'm sure Eldarion is of his daddy, those particular achievements might be best kept in the dark for the moment...

ROTFL! He taught Dari the drinking song!//"If it were not Pippin I would say he had gone against orders and been at the bottle already during his watch,"// Oh Pippin! Hehe, the queen is going to have his head indeed. Hardly a song for a prince of Gondor to be singing! *giggles*

Another perfectly lovely chapter! As always, looking forward to more!

Imbecamiel

P.S. Nowhere near the level of obliviousness you were at when you missed Legolas being in FOTR, eh? LOL, actually, I'm not far off... My first time through LOTR, I barely noticed him. I had some vague recollection of there being an elf there, but I somehow missed the whole "tall elf" thing, so I was thinking, "Yeah, so there's elves." *yawns* "Big deal..." Hehe, some good did come out of the generally-terrible cartoon version of LOTR - it whacked me over the head with tall Legolas, made me absolutely fascinated with elves (lol, though not "Caesar Elrond" *g*), and made me decide that Legolas is just as cool as Aragorn!

P.P.S. OH! You're going to start writing original stories! *squeals* You just totally made my day! I've been so sad about the idea of your not writing any more fanfiction, and getting rather depressed with the waste of talent it would be for you two to just stop writing... I'm so happy to hear that you're not quitting *writing*, just fanfiction! You two are SO good at creating wonderful OCs, I'm sure you'll do extremely well at writing your own stories! Do you have anything started or planned yet, or is it still just a vague idea of wanting to write something of your own?

Author Reply: Funny, the inevitability of Bartho's matrimonial fate struck us in much the same way. Sort of a, "Methinks the gentleman doth protest too much." *grin* And the verse certainly runs along an appropriate vein — perhaps if we paraphrased it, "He who thinks to save his heart shall lose it." That works perfect! Or we could dig further back and use, "It is not good for man to be alone!" *laughs* This could get out of hand very easily; perhaps we should move on… :-D

Your checklist is very enlightening! We shall take your pro/con lists under advisement. *grin*

Well, just because we decided Bartho could use a little romance doesn't mean he was just going to go along with it! Stubborn idiot. *grins at sight of Imbecamiel hugging an astonished Bartho* Poor guy — just as he was getting used to being disliked and overlooked, all of a sudden he's got people popping up left and right telling him he's a great guy! Ah, well, he'll adjust.

*sits back and enjoys a good long laugh* Oh, my word! In a handsome return for any entertainment we may have given you, you picked the perfect literary reference! In spite of the circumstances surrounding the scene, I can still remember laughing over that part Ivanhoe! 'A water-fiend hath possessed the fair Saxon!' *laughs some more* I don't think I felt a bit sorry for DeBracy, though… He was kind of a big baby, and Ivanhoe was much the better catch. Anyhow, in this case, Bartho fully deserves all sympathy for the dreadful predicaments we have landed him in! *grin*

Yes, poor Eldarion has landed in the 'man-of-the-house' boots. He's from good stock, though, and he may yet live up to his new role… *grin*

Glad you enjoyed Pippin comforting Eldarion — it was a purposeful juxtaposition with the similar scene of Pippin and Gandalf on the balcony before the battle. Pippin's matured a lot since then. *starts to giggle uncontrollably* Ah, yes, perhaps it is a good thing indeed that Pippin left out those distinctly humorous, but rather frightening titles! Particularly 'Frequent Patient Rewards'… *dissolves into more giggles*

*grins gleefully* Try to picture Arwen's face when Eldarion walks in to breakfast one morning singing that…

*hugs Imbecamiel* You almost missed him too?! Oh, you have made me so happy! It gets a little lonely being the only oblivious one. *grins* Funny how things change as our understanding deepens… I didn't used to like Gandalf much because I thought he was grouchy. Now he's firmly in my top five.

Wow! We're glad you're so pleased about our future writing endeavors! Story ideas? By the boatload! Bunnies everywhere! Hannah's already started about three different ones while I've been editing and posting this, but (BECAUSE I've been editing and posting) I haven't let myself do much with mine yet. I've got several I'm really looking forward to working on when we're finished here!

Thank you for your FANTASTIC review!! Gotta go prep some more to post now and hope the snow doesn't shut down our internet again…

Lady SarumanReviewed Chapter: 14 on 2/10/2006
wow, that was an absolutely an amazing chapter!!! i liked it when you made Bartho all frustrated and nervous when Arien cried, because you are describing his inexperience with crying women. well, that SOOOOOOOOOOO what men would do. however, we women know everything. we even know how to comfort a man when he's feeling miserable. oh yeah, i even forgot. sometimes men even make women feel even more miserable than they already are. but luckily, Bartho had the experience from Lindamar, so he knew what to do. and, he is also gentlemanly enough to help poor Arien with her baskets. you see, these days, men are SO ungentlemanly, they don't help you with loads, heavy or light. they don't even open the car door for you nowadays.

the scene with Pippin and Eldarion was quite enchanting. pippin certainly knows how to comfort someone. but in the end, it was quite funny to imagine a hobbit song coming out of eldarion's mouth. LOL

well, this time i'm not stuck dangling from a loop-de-loop. i'm twisted because the mechanism has decided to get stuck at the corkscrew part (you know, the part where it spirals like a corkscrew... crazy. :D ) now i'm stuck here for three days in this twisted odd shape and will only move on when you update. please hurry and get me out of this spirally shape. :)

Hersheys kisses/hugs
-Lady Saruman


ps. plz view my new website, www.councilofelrond.com/members/LadySaruman. if you are a member of that site, you can sign my guestbook. if you aren't, you can still see my website, decide how you like it, and mebbe join up? (at www.councilofelrond.com , the official site. there'll be this place where they'll let you register. if you do by means join up and create a site of your own, plz share it w/me and the rest of the world!!!

Cheers,
Lady Saruman

Author Reply: *laughs* Yes, Bartho has a long ways to go before he's completely comfortable with unpredictable females... In the meantime, it's pretty funny to watch him try. As for the death of gentlemanly behaviour, I suppose it's our own fault -- what with 'Women's Lib' and all, now the poor guy can never be sure that, if he DOES open the door for a woman, she won't get angry and tell him she doesn't want his help. *sigh for by-gone days*

Glad you liked Pip and Dari! *giggls* Yes, Eldarion singing a drinking song is a very unusual mental sound-byte...

*winces* Ouch! Somehow 'twisted into the mechanism' sounds even worse than the 'loop-de-loop'... Sorry we left you there for so long, but we're finally getting some snow here and it's interfering with our satellite. More on the way soon, we hope!

I (Sarah) took a look at your new website, and it was quite impressive! I was particularly interested in the backstory behind your name (which I had been curious about). I signed your guestbook too, since I was already a member at CoE. As for building a site of my own, I'm afraid I lack the skills and the patience. Hannah is the web-genius of our duo; if you'd like to take a look at her portfolio site, I'm sure she'd love to hear what you think! It's at: http://www.engeland.us/imagine/

Thanks for the fabulous review, Rhîwlim! *grin*

VilwarinReviewed Chapter: 14 on 2/9/2006
Ah, do I smell romance coming our way? I really hope so (for poor Bartho) he has deserved loving attention. Poor Arien, she is overworked. It is just too much to worry aboiut the Queen, sit with her and do other people's work. I think she will want to take her leave for a few weeks.

Pippin teaching Dari a drinking song? Oh my, the lad has not yet reached the legal age for getting drunk. Arwen would have his head (if he were just a little taller and could afford to loose a little height). But as long as it helps...

A fine chapter it was, I was glad to see more of Bartho and I am so sorry for the poor child, the only thing remaining for him is to hope. But in that is no problem, he is closely related to it. *lol*

~Vil

Author Reply: Romance? Oooh, wouldn't that be fun... We shall have to see! Certainly, you are correct: we've given Bartho an awful lot of trouble on that front.

Arien is a do-er -- generally and OVER-do-er, and she's not used to sitting down.

*laughs* Yes, unfortunately for Arwen children are like sponges: they absorb everything, whether it's appropriate for them or not.

*applauds* Excellent word-play, Vil! *grin* Hope is on the way!

And many thanks for a marvelous review!

RSReviewed Chapter: 14 on 2/9/2006
Oh I think I see a spark there between Bartho and Arien. I think she will melt the iceberg in him. Really cute! Lovely scene with Pippin and Eldarion. Eldarion singing his "Ada's song". It just broke my heart. I can imagine Aragorn holding all of his babies and rocking them to sleep with his song. Of course I just about died laughing at the end of the chapter! I can't wait for Eldarion to sing that to Arwen! You think Arwen will have Pippin's had for this? I THINK SO! Leave it to Pippin to lighten up the mood and make Eldarion feel better! He didn't need Gandalf, he did just fine! I enjoy your writing very much!

Author Reply: A spark? Perhaps! Time will tell...

Aragorn rocking his children to sleep is a beautiful mental picture -- we always liked the scene in the movie where Aragorn is singing beside the campfire after the hobbits are asleep. It seemed likely that he would instill the same love in his son.

On the other hand, Pippin's taste in music is vastly different, and yes, it is likely that Arwen won't be too pleased with this one. Still, it DID work, and you're right about not needing Gandalf. Pippin's grown up a lot!

Thank you for the wonderful review!! Sorry this is a little late (again! this is becoming a mantra for us...), but it's finally snowing here. Pretty, but highly disruptive to our satellite reception! *grin*

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