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Consequences of a Fall  by Dreamflower 9 Review(s)
LarnerReviewed Chapter: 18 on 8/23/2006
And from here on in we get to see the silly fool destroying her remaining life with her husband, do we? She is only fortunate Primrose's arrival kept her from becoming a murderess.

Indigo BuntingReviewed Chapter: 18 on 7/14/2006
Hoo, hoo, hoo! So not only does Reggie not want the Thainship – he especially doesn’t want Hyacinth to be the Thain’s Lady! She hasn’t got a ghost of a chance, and she doesn’t even know it. He was smart enough not to tell her that he’d been trying to clear Pearl’s name.

Poor Reggie, hmm? I understand that Hyacinth only attached herself to him because he was in line to be Thain, but if she was such a mercenary, I wonder that Reggie didn’t see it. I can’t hold him wholly blameless for the situation he’s in. After all, choosing a spouse is a matter for the head as much as the heart. People do sometimes change radically, but I don’t get the feeling that Hyacinth is one of those. She’s likely been self-absorbed since her teens, at least. Wouldn’t other people have known what she was like? Did no one try to dissuade him from marrying her? My parents would have had no qualms about telling me if they thought my choice of spouse had a questionable character. These two seem completely unsuited for each other. Reggie should have chosen better.


Author Reply: Yes, you've got it. The Tooks suffered long enough under Lalia, and they most certainly don't need someone who's just like her--or worse!

Poor Reggie was rather blindsided by her. Unfortunately there was no one at Great Smials well enough acquainted with her true personality to warn him (she was a visitor, from far enough away that there weren't any mutual acquaintances who would know) and she managed to push through a whirlwind courtship. Once wed, he began to notice her flaws, but as hobbits don't really *have* divorce in my Shire (though they do, rarely, have something like legal separation and annullment)it was up to him to try and make the best of things. It was her attitude when Pippin was born that tore the blinders off, and made him realize her true nature. But by that time, they had two daughters and a third on the way. (Much of the latter information is in the story I first introduced Hyacinth--"A New Reckoning"; the rest of it is just "backstory".)

PIppinfan1988Reviewed Chapter: 18 on 7/10/2006
She had never seemed to understand that this was a job he not only did not want, but, so long as he was married to her, would not take. As long as he was able to draw breath, he would never give her the satisfaction of being the Thain’s Lady.

Yes, poor Reggie--being duped by that heiffer. I like his thinking, though. ;-) I have no doubt that Reg would have made a fine Thain if the unfortunate opportunity arose. On the other side of the coin, Hyacinth would have been three times worse than Lalia if she were the Thain's Lady. *shudder the though*

Pippinfan

Author Reply: Poor Reggie. *sigh* He probably *would* have made a good Thain. But, like most of the others in line for the job, he doesn't particularly want it.

Yes, I do think she possibly *could* have been worse. But without Lalia's stranglehold over the Tooks for all those years, I don't believe Hyacinth would ever have got as far as she did in her own nastiness. Lalia fostered an atmosphere of scheming, in which Hyacinth could thrive.

BodkinReviewed Chapter: 18 on 7/7/2006
I don't think I'd want to be Reggie over the next few weeks...

Thank goodness for Auntie Peridot's premonition - and Auntie Primrose's arrival. And now all Pippin's protectors are around him and the wicked witch of the Tooklands isn't likely to get another chance at him. I hope.

Author Reply: No, she'll be out to make him all the more miserable, for a good long while.

Auntie Peridot, I've always thought, has a special relationship with Pippin. She's a very gentle soul, and loves music, and she and Pippin have a good deal in common.

I like the way you put that--yes, his protectors are in place, and Hyacinth will never get another chance.

AndreaReviewed Chapter: 18 on 7/6/2006
Poor Reggie, indeed!
In German we call what awaits him "Donnerwetter", which could be translated with "thunderstorm". I think that's very fitting ;-)

She took a deep breath. She had not, after all, *done* anything. Really, she had not. Not a thing.

But she *intended* to do it - that's all I have to know! Hyacinth is not simply stupid, she's dangerous!

I was relieved to see, that not only Primrose but also Frodo and Merry where on their way to look how little Pippin was faring.

Still, there remains the question about the identity of "the guest". I'm really curious about that!

Author Reply: Oh yes! Hyacinth is going to "storm" all over him for messing up her plans! All the more so for her own dirty little secret--she'll be on the defensive.

She *is* stupid and dangerous. Thing is, even *she* will never know if she could have actually gone *through* with it before she was interrupted.

Yes, well, Peridot definitely had a "feeling" about him, and of course, Merry and Frodo would head straight for him first chance they got.

You haven't figured it out?

ElemmírëReviewed Chapter: 18 on 7/6/2006
Poor Reggie, indeed! I like how he's the sort of unsung hero of the story and how he and Ferumbras both want nothing to do with being Thain. I also liked Merry's rationalization that it was all Amethyst's fault that Pippin got sunburned. He's quite right, in a manner of speaking. (I think I dislike Hyacinth even more than Lobelia ... at least _she_ had the good grace to apologize to Frodo in the end, after all.)

I've really enjoyed your characterization of Frodo. He's no longer an awkward tween, but now the Master of Bag End at a young age, when the rest of his family is much older. It's nice to see that those who know Frodo the best give him the repsect he deserves in his new role, while the other hobbits are still getting to it, as is he. It makes for a very realistic setting and story given the time period it takes place in.

So, is it time to make Pippin well yet?

Author Reply: Yes, he really is the hero, though no one knows quite how much.

I think Ferumbras just selfishly wants to be shed of the job so he can finally "play". Reggie knows that it's what Hyacinth wants, so he'll do all he can to keep it from her.

Well as you say, Merry was quite right!

Lobelia, at least, I do not think had murder in her heart, though Lotho would not have surprised me.

Those who know him best are aware of just what a great Master of Bag End he will turn out to be. He himself, though, is still feeling his way in the job.

Very, very soon! *grin*

harrowcatReviewed Chapter: 18 on 7/6/2006
Yes poor Reggie indeed but he deserves a medal from the rest of the Tooks! Great Dreamflower.

Author Reply: Well, we *know* Paladin and his family, at least, will appreciate him!

GamgeeFestReviewed Chapter: 18 on 7/5/2006
I'd hate to be Reggie right about now. Or ever. He got a rather rotten deal in life, being landed with such a wife.

No one would ever suspect the truth of what Hyacinth was about to do. She plays dumb so well that no one would think her capable of such plotting. Loved Merry's scolding look at her, just the sort of thing he would do.

Author Reply: He did get a very rotten deal.

No, no one would ever suspect it. For one thing it is just so far out of Hobbit reckoning to consider such a thing, and for another, as you say, Hyacinth excels at "playing dumb". Of course, she really is not intelligent, but she does have a sort of sly cleverness.

Merry's instincts when it comes to Pippin rarely let him down.

Pearl TookReviewed Chapter: 18 on 7/5/2006
"She had not, after all, *done* anything. Really, she had not. Not a thing."

Only contemplating and nearly doing the unthinkable, for a hobbit.

Poor Regie indeed! Bless him, he really does deserve better.



Author Reply: Only contemplating and nearly doing the unthinkable, for a hobbit.

And it truly is unthinkable for almost all other hobbits. Personally, I think that when it came right down to it, she would not have been able to bring herself to *really* do it--she *is* a hobbit, and I think if nothing else--for she has no compassion--she would simply have been too squicked by it to go through with it. Problem is, she will *never* know. And whenever she is not trying to repress the memory, she can't help but wonder if she should not have tried to do it anyway.

Reggie did deserve a lot better than Hyacinth.

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