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Your Heart Will Be True by Write Sisters	3 Review(s)
Imbecamiel	Reviewed Chapter: 23 on 4/4/2006
Oh, I’m glad that you weren’t too badly hurt! When you didn’t update, I started to get a bit worried, and I’m glad to hear it was telephone tag, and not something more serious that prevented you :-) Heh, well, that is one “advantage” that villains do have over heroes - they expect everyone else to be just as treacherous as they are, and so are rarely truly surprised by betrayal. Heroes, on the other hand, have to deal with not only the practical results, but also the emotional repercussions of having someone they trusted turn against them. It’s always so interesting to see how things that, for the villains, are quite black and white (getting too attached to people is bad, friendship is usually weakness, don’t ever let anyone know what you’re really thinking, expect everyone to be as duplicitous as you are…) can become so much more complicated for the heroes. Yes, friendship can be a “weakness”, but it provides more strength than anyone might have anticipated. Yes, not trusting anyone can be safer, but the only way to truly live is to be willing to open up and risk being hurt. So very often things that appear to be their greatest weaknesses to the villains who can’t truly understand them, actually turn out to be their greatest strength, and the only thing that can pull them through when anyone else might have failed… LOL, ok, I’m through with the lame philosophical musings now :-P Moving on… //Legolas complied with the order, raising his hands, one still holding the dagger, as he backed away. "You don't want to do this."// has sudden picture of Barbossa/Tantur replying “Oh I really think I do.” //"You were betraying us all along," he whispered around the blade at his throat, and it was not a question.//has sudden picture of Jack/Tantur replying “Ya.”breaks down giggling Sorry, sorry! It just suddenly struck me as so funny… Y’know, there are real disadvantages to loving too many fandoms at once. g LOL, well, a triumphant charge on the back of a white stallion Gimli’s entrance was not. Still, at least it served its purpose… Poor Gimli, fated to be a living diversion :-) Poor, poor Duurben, though! He had such a terrible time dealing with the fact that he’d “failed” in his duties, and Arwen had been hurt. It must be incalculably worse now, realizing that the traitor was his own nephew, and probably could never have been put in a position to do this much harm if it hadn’t been for him! ANd then knowing that he's likely either following or actually travelling with Aragorn and Legolas, and they don't have any reason to suspect him... Poor Duurben must be positively driving himself insane! Ah, and as I’d suspected - Tantur dies of his own ignorance and refusal to believe that anyone else would be less treacherous than he is. sighs Yet another proof that, in the end, it’s not circumstances or upbringing or society that determines how we turn out, but our own choices. He certainly had the opportunity to turn out well, to follow is uncle’s example, and instead he chose to betray everything he’d sworn to protect. Your ideas for Celeborn and Thranduil’s tree are so wonderful! That is such a unique idea for an antidote. And such a dramatic proof of the depth of their friendship, as well - as if they needed another one :-) Your description when they’re “wakening” the tree… so beautiful! whispers to self, I will not squeal like a fangirl, I will not squeal like a fangirl, I will not… Rumil and Orophin! squees Ahem. attempts her best Spock impression I mean, it is most gratifying to see such a wide range of underappreciated and infrequently depicted minor characters from LOTR in your stories. Yeah. That’s what I meant. Hehe… I love those two! And Tindu is lovely! I must admit, I did get just a bit tense at her first appearance. But really, with you two, I should have known better! Yet again, you’ve done beautifully with a female OC - and an elf, at that! And even more than that, an elf who is related to original characters - a type that tends to get particularly risky and annoying. But I love her! applauds And finally we get to hear more about Vardnauth! Yes! I can’t wait! Wonderful, as always - and, also as always, very very much looking forward to more! Imbecamiel P.S. chokes at image of big, tough, bug jar-wielding orc LOL! “Ha! Flee, Dunedain scum!” men and orcs both stare in bewilderment “Well… It worked once…” orc slinks off Hehe…

Imbecamiel	Reviewed Chapter: 23 on 4/4/2006
Oh, I’m glad to hear that you weren’t too badly hurt! When you didn’t update, I started to get a bit worried, and I’m glad to hear it was telephone tag, and not something more serious that prevented you :-) Heh, well, that is one “advantage” that villains do have over heroes - they expect everyone else to be just as treacherous as they are, and so are rarely truly surprised by betrayal. Heroes, on the other hand, have to deal with not only the practical results, but also the emotional repercussions of having someone they trusted turn against them. It’s always so interesting to see how things that, for the villains, are quite black and white (getting too attached to people is bad, friendship is usually weakness, don’t ever let anyone know what you’re really thinking, expect everyone to be as duplicitous as you are…) can become so much more complicated for the heroes. Yes, friendship can be a “weakness”, but it provides more strength than anyone might have anticipated. Yes, not trusting anyone can be safer, but the only way to truly live is to be willing to open up and risk being hurt. So very often things that appear to be their greatest weaknesses to the villains who can’t truly understand them, actually turn out to be their greatest strength, and the only thing that can pull them through when anyone else might have failed… LOL, ok, I’m through with the lame philosophical musings now :-P Moving on… //Legolas complied with the order, raising his hands, one still holding the dagger, as he backed away. "You don't want to do this."// has sudden picture of Barbossa/Tantur replying “Oh I really think I do.” //"You were betraying us all along," he whispered around the blade at his throat, and it was not a question.//has sudden picture of Jack/Tantur replying “Ya.”breaks down giggling Sorry, sorry! It just suddenly struck me as so funny… Y’know, there are real disadvantages to loving too many fandoms at once. g LOL, well, a triumphant charge on the back of a white stallion Gimli’s entrance was not. Still, at least it served it’s purpose… Poor Gimli, fated to be a living diversion :-) Poor, poor Duurben, though! He had such a terrible time dealing with the fact that he’d “failed” in his duties, and Arwen had been hurt. It must be incalculably worse now, realizing that the traitor was his own nephew, and probably could never have been put in a position to do this much harm if it hadn’t been for him! Ah, and as I’d suspected - Tantur dies of his own ignorance and refusal to believe that anyone else would be less treacherous than he is. sighs Yet another proof that, in the end, it’s not circumstances or upbringing or society that determines how we turn out, but our own choices. He certainly had the opportunity to turn out well, to follow is uncle’s example, and instead he chose to betray everything he’d sworn to protect. Your ideas for Celeborn and Thranduil’s tree are so wonderful! That is such a unique idea for an antidote. And such a dramatic proof of the depth of their friendship, as well - as if they needed another one :-) Your description when they’re “wakening” the tree… so beautiful! whispers to self, I will not squeal like a fangirl, I will not squeal like a fangirl, I will not… Rumil and Orophin! squees Ahem. I mean, it is most gratifying to see such a wide range of underappreciated and infrequently depicted minor characters from LOTR in your stories. Yeah. That’s what I meant. Hehe… I love those two! And Tindu is lovely! I must admit, I did get just a bit tense at her first appearance. But really, with you two, I should have known better! Yet again, you’ve done beautifully with a female OC - and an elf, at that! And even more than that, an elf who is related to original characters - a type that tends to get particularly risky and annoying. But I love her! applauds And finally we get to hear more about Vardnauth! Yes! I can’t wait! Wonderful, as always - and, also as always, very very much looking forward to more! Imbecamiel P.S. chokes at image of big, tough, bug jar-wielding orc LOL! “Ha! Flee, Dunedain scum!” men and orcs both stare in bewilderment “Well… It worked once…” orc slinks off Hehe… Author Reply: Sorry for causing worry! I didn't even think of the people I might freak out by vanishing like that… blushes Still, it's nice to be missed! Your philosophical musings have yet to be lame, Cami! This particular one was very insightful, I thought — that is to say: you hit the nail on the head. grin splorfs Oh dear, you have POTC-ified our confrontation! Never again will I be able to read it the same way! giggles It was awfully similar, though, wasn't it… Yes, poor Gimli! I don't think we realized until we'd already made him run half-way across Middle Earth that we couldn't let them get rid of Tantur too easily. It made Gimli's entrance a wee bit anticlimactic… Still, the story's not done yet, and Gimli may still have things to do! grins And definitely poor Duurben. We had an awful lot of people who begged us to bring Duurben back for another fic, and when we decided to put him in this one, we really didn't mean for it to be anything more than a repeat performance! Then we wound up cranking him through the wringer… I wonder if his fans are wishing they'd left him in early retirement. laughs A+ on your Tantur reading! Very, very true. And ultimately Duurben's rescue from guilt, if only he can be convinced of it! presents Hannah with aplomb Meet the creator of the tree! All that was her doing, and I completely agree with you: she did a fantastic job! Especially with the awakening. indulges in sister gloating Oh my! Well, we certainly didn't realize that Rumil and Orophin had a fan base! grins I'm glad! They certainly don't get much airing in general fandom. It's always fun taking advantage of all of Tolkien's background characters! And we're very pleased that you like Tindu! mops forehead in relief Seriously, we completely agree on the general risk factor when using females, especially elves, in fan fiction, and we were anxious to avoid the pitfalls! Praise for Tindu, then, is praise indeed, and we cannot thank you enough! Vardnauth's past, coming up! Though it's one of the more depressing chapters in this story, I'll warn you. guilty look Thanks for the wonderful review!!!

RS	Reviewed Chapter: 23 on 4/3/2006
Boy, do you know evil! Tantur is one evil dude! "Family are such useful tools, so trusting and so gullible.." Yikes! EEWW! What a horrible death! If I were in Legolas' place, I don't know if I would have put Tantur out of his misery! Whoops, did I say that? Talk about evil! "Where is the other? The friend closest to my heart?" What is this tree that it would call ARagorn "closest to my heart?" Did I miss something? The sight of the three elves "packing" to leave this "empty shell" that once was a beautiful place was really depressing. Lorien is no more! So Vardnauth was Tindu's student? What caused him to go to the--excuse me for using this term--"dark side"? Very intriguing! Author Reply: bows Thank you! We knew Tantur's death was going to be ugly, and we just sort of figured we'd let him suffer through it (nasty bloke that he is), but Legolas wasn't having any of it. That's why we're so fond of Aragorn and Legolas, really; they tend to be nicer than we are! grin Sorry if that was confusing! Most of those murmurs were supposed to be a mixture sentiments -- a wish on the tree's part (which was planted by two friends) for Legolas' companion to join him; the purposes of the original planters of the tree still woven into that place; and an echo of Legolas' own need for Aragorn at that moment. It was kind of depressing, wasn't it? But that's the fault of Tolkien. I don't think I'd have had the literary guts to send my favorite people group off to some distant paradise like that... rueful sigh And yes, Vardnauth's history is at hand! grin Oh joy, right?

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