Stories of Arda Home Page
About Us News Resources Login Become a member Help Search

Consequences of a Fall  by Dreamflower 11 Review(s)
Indigo BuntingReviewed Chapter: 8 on 7/13/2006
By the time Bilbo had made his plans for the Dwarves' escape, Pippin was fast asleep, and by the time he was riding the barrel down the river, Merry had finished just about everything on his tray that could be eaten with fingers.

I like this sentence! It's lovely the way you tie the story in with what's happening in the here-and-now. And I have to say "good luck" to Reggie in his efforts to clear Pearl's name. It looks like he knows what his wife's like. Too bad for her he doesn't want to be the Thain!

Author Reply: Oh, I'm so glad that you liked that sentence, since it's some of the new material. Lin thought I had the chapter a bit too short and wanted me to show just a bit of what was happening with Frodo, and with Reggie.

I thought of having Frodo coaxing Merry to eat, as he once had done when the lad was very young. And in my Shire, it is considered poor manners to allow someone to eat alone, so naturally Merry just automatically fell in with Frodo's feeding him...

Poor Reggie--no one really wants to be Thain.

PeriantariReviewed Chapter: 8 on 5/18/2006
I love that bit with Frodo having Merry eat some dinner and in the meanwhile got PIppin to fall asleep~ i love big cousin Frodo so much! Yes, that was so very sweet. :)
this is a wonderful story--must find time to catch up. :P
and the side plot is very intriguing...

Author Reply: I love "big cousin Frodo" myself. He is so careful and protective of his beloved young cousins--it's why they adore him so much.

Intrigue...yes...

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 8 on 4/26/2006
I don't think I had the chance to review this before the modem quit, but love the awareness Frodo shows when inducing Merry to eat in spite of himself--and then using his nickname on him! Oh, such a clever Frodo, and so very insightful!

And poor Pearl--yes, things are beastly, but nowhere as beastly as Hyacinth would LIKE them to be. So glad Reggie has his wife's number!

Author Reply: Frodo knows that as long as he's eating too, Merry would automatically accept and eat what he handed him--as long as he didn't really pay attention to what Frodo was doing. And tweaking him with his baby-name was just the old mischievous Frodo coming out!

Reggie's had Hyacinth's number for several years, but he's been at a loss most of the time as to what to do with it. On *this* occasion, however, he actually has something positive he can do to counter her.

PIppinfan1988Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 4/12/2006
So many new things...and so very sweet!

Something I don't think I expressed before was how much I like your Ferumbras. Not that he's an angel, but he isn't indignant toward Pearl. But like you said, there isn't a shred of malice in that lass, so could anyone *not* like her?? :-P

I enjoyed Frodo's storytelling and getting Merry to eat; Eglanting and her husband having a wee private moment...Pearl comforting her younger sister and then she being comforted (or about to be!) by her Auntie. All of it was just lovely!

Pippinfan

Author Reply: Yes, Lin's made some beautiful suggestions. And we've needed to add some things to make it flow better, now it's all in one piece, so to speak.

My Ferumbras is not malicious like his mother. He *is* however, selfish and a lttle manipulative (not unusual for someone raised by an overbearing parent--in order *ever* to get their own way, such children often learn to be self-centered, secretive and just a little deceitful out of self-preservation) and his social skills are very awkward. He tends not to have as much empathy as most hobbits do. But he's not evil, and he knows that Pearl could not have done such a thing. Still, he's going to handle it in a way that will cost him the least effort and embarrassment.

When we decided that this chapter needed to be a little longer, I came up with the idea of Frodo paying a little bedtime visit to those two--and the part with feeding Merry just came out of that...

AndreaReviewed Chapter: 8 on 4/12/2006
Reggie smiled. This was a task he would undertake with pleasure. And the less Hyacinth knew about it, the better.

Reggie knows his wife very well, it seems ;-)

I loved it how Frodo succeeded in "feeding" Merry. That was a clever idea!

"Did you enjoy your supper, sprout?"
LOL!!! Simply wonderful!

I wonder how Pearl will react when she learns that she is *forbidden* to attend the feast, or so it must look from her point of view.

BodkinReviewed Chapter: 8 on 4/12/2006
Reggie goes for very quiet rebellion. The kind that lets you stick your tongue out at a person after they've left the room. The sort of resistance used by a pillow - still being there after you stop pummelling it.

Frodo did a good job of getting Merry to eat - and Merry is doing a good job of comforting Pippin. While Primrose is doing her best with Pearl.

Trust Lalia to leave the world in a way guaranteed to ensure that her unpleasant legacy lingered as long as possible.

Author Reply: Yes, Reggie is passive/aggressive, so to speak. He is quietly but firmly opposed to what Hyacinth stands for, but years of hiding his own foolishness in marrying her in the first place, as well as concern for scandal and how it would affect his daughters, has kept him from opposing her more openly. Even she does not realize the extent to which he constantly sabotages her efforts. She thinks she has him firmly under her thumb, and is always surprised and angry when she finds out he hasn't gone along with her schemes.

Yes, Frodo knew just how to get his Merry eating. I'm quite sure he's used that tactic before--just not very often since Merry was little. Merry, of course, will always be there for Pippin. And Pearl is learning a greater appreciation for her older Aunties.

Oh, Lalia was a troublemaker. You couldn't really expect her to quit just because she was dead...

Grey WondererReviewed Chapter: 8 on 4/12/2006
Seems no one is getting any sleep tonight. I do feel so sorry for Pearl in all of this. Wrong place at the wrong itme. It could just as easily have happened when someone else was there.

Author Reply: No, it's a rather restless night.

And you are right--it *could* have happened to any of the other young Took lasses subjected to Lalia over the years. Unfortunately, it had to be Pearl.

GamgeeFestReviewed Chapter: 8 on 4/11/2006
Looks to be a long night for everyone. Poor Pearl. She already feel so self-conscious and horrible about all the rumors about her, and now she has Pippin to worry about too.

Frodo knows just how to handle Merry, just as Merry knows how to handle Pippin. Loved his use of Merry's childhood nickname and how Merry couldn't argue over it!

Wonder what Reggie's plan will be for stopping the rumors.

Author Reply: Yes, this stay at the Great Smials has been very rough for her. What with the trauma of witnessing Lalia's death, the suspicion and gossip, and now Pippin under the weather, she had to be feeling horrible.

Frodo's handled Merry all his life, LOL! And yes, Merry knows how to handle Pippin as well. I thought Frodo might like to tease Merry a bit; I think he misses calling him "sprout".

Well, Reggie has his assignment, and he will be quite thorough.

harrowcatReviewed Chapter: 8 on 4/11/2006
To keep her away from the feast might fuel the flames rather than quench them Dreamflower! Can't wait for more.

Author Reply: Well, yes. But Ferumbras is not exactly a people person. He goes by the adage "out of sight, out of mind", and the truth is, if he did not actually dislike Hyacinth as much as everyone else does, her campaign might have worked. But then Ferumbras has his own agenda.

Queen GaladrielReviewed Chapter: 8 on 4/11/2006
Reggie's fault now, is it? Oh, that Hyacinth! She's hopeless!

*grin* That was very clever of Frodo, very clever! :)

Poor Pearl, I'd be a basket case if the whole Great Smial was gossipping about me and my baby brother was ill. I'm so glad she has the Aunties. Can't wait for more!
God bless,
Galadriel

Author Reply: Well--yeah! You wouldn't expect her to take any of the blame *herself*, would you? *grin*

Frodo's dealt with Merry before; and really for my hobbits, it's automatic to nibble a little something to keep someone else company if they are eating. It's most unmannerly to allow someone to eat alone. And of course, Merry was not really noticing that Frodo was actually giving most of it to him. Until they were finished, at any rate, LOL!

And, yes, poor Pearl is having a very rough time of things.

First Page | Previous Page | Next Page | Last Page

Return to Chapter List