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With Their Heads Full of Dreams  by GamgeeFest 7 Review(s)
Queen GaladrielReviewed Chapter: 2 on 4/18/2006
Wow, GF! Such meaning from such a chaotic dream. Poor Ham! Somehow that's really, really sad...but I can't exactly put my finger on what's sad about it. Yet there's something that's funny too. Can't teach a snake to play the fiddle? What in the world! LOL! But the message is clear here.
God bless,
Galadriel

Author Reply: There are all sorts of little tiny bits of meaning in Hamfast's dream that we don't get in the other ones. I'd have to write another whole story just to address them all! I was going for both sad and whimsical and I hoped that the craziness didn't make it too evasive. I'm glad you were able to see both sides!

Maybe he could teach the snake to play the chimes! lol

Elf FriendReviewed Chapter: 2 on 3/18/2006
Oh my gosh, but that was so hilarious! You perfectly captured the complete randomness dreams have sometimes (well, most of the time). On a side note, I was proud of myself when I guessed that Sam was what he was missing. :)

Was the undercurrent of insecurity and uncertainty meant to reflect Hamfast's feelings during his waking hours? I often find that between all the craziness that my dreams have, they're conveying something that's either been bothering me or something that I have yet to resolve, like a problem or some other obstacle. I wonder if this same pattern will show up in the others' dreams.

Can't wait to read the next chapter! :)

Author Reply: For Hamfast, Bilbo and Frodo, their hidden fears and denied emotions will certainly play a part in their dreams. Not sure yet about Sam's. ;)

I so rarely remember my own dreams, so I find other people's dreams fascinating. It's also a rather useful way of getting to a character's inner conflicts, without them necessarily facing those conflicts and doing something about them. We get a glimpse into their inner-selfs and they just shrug it off as a bad dream - or they'll try to.

Thanks for reading!

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 2 on 3/13/2006
Talk about Groundhog Day! My heavens.

And in ways he lost Sam. I know in my one story I found myself writing that Hamfast was afraid of the day Sam realized the fineness in him, for on that day he'd lose him. It seems you and I have the same perception. Yes, Sam as Bilbo's heir....

What a dream!

Author Reply: It's the dream that wouldn't end! I did have Groundhog's day at the back of mind while writing this, and also those dream sequences they have sometimes whent the character wakes up only to find that they're still in the dream.

Hamfast fears that he already *has* lost Sam. He knows that Sam thinks the world of Frodo and Bilbo (and that they think the world of him), and with all the time Sam's been spending at Bag End of late, he's beginning to see that Sam is slowly but surely being pulled away from him. Sam's also reached that age where he's going to start pulling away from his father a bit, and that only makes Hamfast's realization harder to swallow.

In a way, through Frodo, Sam does become Bilbo's heir, and even before he inherits Bag End, he takes up Bilbo's skill of song-writing and story-telling, though Sam would never think himself as good as Bilbo at those things.

Thanks for reading!

BodkinReviewed Chapter: 2 on 3/12/2006
Very dream-like. Very bizarre. Poor Hamfast - all that chasing and getting nowhere.

Author Reply: Naturally, as Hamfast, by his very name (and nature) is homebound. Even in his dream, he didn't have to go any further than the back of The Ivy Bush to find what he was looking for.

This will likely be the last time Hamfast will ever eat dwarvish food again! Thanks for reading!

Grey WondererReviewed Chapter: 2 on 3/12/2006
WOW! Whatever those Dwarves were cooking with, it's some dangerous stuff! Hamfast has had quite a night for himself. He'll be worn out in the morning. I liked the way this jumped around and went into Bilbo's song for details. Very like dreams and very entertaining with a bit of the future in it.

Author Reply: Hamfast will be a bit ramped up by this dream come morning, that's for certain. He won't know what to make of it, and he'll likely never eat dwarish food again. This is by far the strangest dream he's ever had and it will strike too close to home for comfort. It will be interesting to see what the others dream about. I sort of know what Bilbo's dream is, but I'm still in the dark about the others.

Thanks for reviewing!

AndreaReviewed Chapter: 2 on 3/11/2006
Hamfast turns back to the elf lady and stutters, “But, but… I don’t understand!”

“It is not for us to explain. Did you bring the mustard?”


LOL! That reminded me of the famous conversation between Frodo and Gildor: "Don't ask the elves...".
But I had counted on that elf lady to explain the dream to me ;-)

It's funny to see elements from the Merry Old Inn Song here.

Despite the weirdness of this dream, it's quite obvious that Hamfast is searching for Sam. Instead, Odo turns up. And I must say, I rather don't like him. I think he's arrogant, for one does not speak of his brother like that.
And Odo is Bilbo's heir? Thank god, this is only a dream.
But I cannot deny the fact that it was Odo, who arranged the meeting with the elves. And when Odo turns into Sam that makes perfect sense to me, for to Frodo Sam has always been like a brother - and a much better brother than Odo would have been.
So much to my theory, which would have worked, if there hadn't been the strange ending ;-)

Now, let's see what Bilbo's dream will be like!


Author Reply: Well, the thing you have to remember is that this is all from Hamfast's mind, so anything Odo says in regards to Frodo is because in some hidden corner of his mind, Hamfast thinks of Frodo in that way. There's no doubt that he likes Frodo and respects him greatly - he defended Frodo against all the patrons in The Ivy Bush, after all - but there is that tiny seed of jealousy that Frodo commands so much of Sam's admiration and loyalty.

I'm considering putting Author's Notes at the end of this story, but for the time being, I'll let you all noodle over the dreams and come to your own conclusions of what they mean. :)

harrowcatReviewed Chapter: 2 on 3/11/2006
Wow! Now that was seriously wierd. I'm not sure about the spices but... just what mushrooms did you say that you had been snacking on GF? *g*

Author Reply: You were warned, lol! Mushrooms? Nasty little things, I don't like them. Scarily enough, all this is from a sober, well-rested mind, and probably one too many episodes of "Buffy" and "Angel". :)

Thanks for reading!

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