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| All Work and No Play by Lindelea | 5 Review(s) |
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| demeter d | Reviewed Chapter: 16 on 4/19/2025 |
| I just had to say something at this point. Thank you for the detailed "world building" you have accomplished which connects stories and gives us more pictures of the life of one remarkable Hobbit. Ferdi's attack of PTSD feels very real. I am the age of younger Viet Nam veterans. I have known vets who hear a loud noise, say in traffic, and feel as if they were under attack. My late Father-in-Love was a veteran of the Pacific Theater in the Second World War. My husband's mother recalled him having nightmares for a very long time after the war. I would imagine if he ever took a Pacific cruise he might have had bad memories. This recreation is very much plucking threads from the tapestry of the original journey! Author Reply: I'm so glad to hear that the story works! I sometimes wonder when I see "hits" but no reviews for chapter after chapter if somehow something is wrong with the characterisations or the plot or something. I must keep reminding myself that people are busy, and not everyone has the luxury of time I now find myself enjoying. Your descriptions of PTSD are very similar to what I've heard from or about family members. My dad and uncles all fought in WWII. My dad only told funny stories about his time with a bomber group. One of my uncles didn't talk about the war at all, and another uncle didn't talk at all (about anything!) for six months after he came back. Tolkien doesn't describe PTSD for Merry or Pippin or Sam (if I'm remembering right), but I don't think that means hobbits would be immune to such an aftereffect of what they went through. (If I got that wrong, then a lot of my stories would have to be labelled AU, probably.) Hopefully Haldoron's struggle also sounds realistic. From what I've read, the Northern Rangers in general know of athelas and can apply it with some degree of effectiveness, but in the hands of a descendant of Isildur, the leaf has much greater power. Thanks so much for reading and pausing to share your thoughts! I appreciate your insights. | |
| Mirkwoodmaiden | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 2/27/2025 |
| Lindelea! This is making me want to re-read "A Matter of Appearances!" Again you write of hobbits so well. I can really imagine the society you write of so well. My only problem is that I am finding angsty stories hard to deal with at the moment as well. I am driven to finish "Destiny's Child" though she will have to deal with some pretty dark moments before she finds the light of Faramir's love! All of this is in explanation as to the lack of reviews from me. I do truly love your work. (((hugs))) MM Author Reply: Bless you! I'm sorry you're having trouble with angsty stories. I have to say, "A Matter of Appearances" and "As the Gentle Rain" are my two worst stories in terms of angst, so you are definitely wise to stay away for now. The ruffians in "One Who Sticks Closer than a Brother" (the sequel to "Matter of Appearances") are mild by comparison. And my Farry-Goldi story has no ruffians whatsoever, which is why I started editing and posting chapters to both those stories instead, all the way to the end. It's such a good feeling to finish a WIP, I feel motivated to keep working on the others that are waiting to be marked "Complete". It's odd, and maybe it's just me, but I don't think I'll have trouble reading "Destiny's Child" to the end, even as I'm not sure if I'll go back and read the chapters I skipped. Thinking about (or reading about) Wormtongue makes me feel physically ill, especially during the dark time when he was haunting Éowyn, and it seemed as if all her protectors were gone. But when Gandalf arrives, and Wormtongue is cast down, and Éowyn can take action (even if it's bringing the women and children to Helm's Deep rather than fighting) and doesn't have to just sit and watch her beloved uncle deteriorate, while Wormtongue's influence continues to spread and grow, like rot or mildew infecting Edoras... It is such a relief that his day is done (though it'll be a while before his malice is gone from the world, and unfortunately, his presence will pollute the Shire before he's completely gone), and Gandalf will soon restore Théoden. In the past, I always posted an angst warning in the story summary when publishing a difficult chapter in a WIP. That's something I will probably continue to do now. Perhaps you remember how in "Matter of Appearances", I used spoiler spaces and summaries at the top of a chapter and warnings to readers to skip a chapter or two (the ones too angsty for *me*! But then, I was writing a birthday story for someone whose angst tolerance is much higher than mine), along with a signpost telling them when to resume reading and a summary (minimizing the angst as much as possible) of what they missed. Anyhow, I've been careful about reading for the past month. Things are better now, but I'm even more convinced that putting an angst warning in the story summary when the chapter leaves "G" and "PG" territory and starts staring into "PG-13" or worse is a good idea, at least for me. But then, the person who used to push me to write extreme angst has moved on to a different fandom! So maybe it won't be as much of a problem going forward... (((hugs))) Author Reply: "staring" above should be "straying"... but on second thought, "staring" just might work in the context. Author Reply: (And I just this morning realized that I didn't put an angst warning on the latest chapter of Jewels, which is very angsty indeed. Sorry about that.) | |
| Mirkwoodmaiden | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/30/2025 |
| Lindelea! I am so looking forward to reading the rest of this story! I don't I read it when it was first posted! Although I do remember reading "A Healer's Tale" and "At the end of his rope" though it has been a long time since! I sense re-reading is due!! Must dash to work!! (((hugs))) MM Author Reply: I'm so glad! Only four chapters were posted at the time the hacker struck and deleted the story, but this work will actually run quite a bit longer than four chapters, considering the length of the journey! (Not as many chapters as JRRT took, of course... and speaking of re-reading, January is almost finished and I have not yet started my annual re-reading of LOTR! I think I know what audiobook I'll be choosing for bedtime reading from here on out.) I hope you enjoy it! (I'm having a bit of trouble at the moment dealing with stubborn Tooks, but hopefully it will all work out satisfactorily.) I'm happy to have you along on the journey! Seeing one of your reviews (or, for that matter, another chapter of one of your stories) always brightens my day. (((hugs))) Stay well. | |
| Leithian | Reviewed Chapter: Prologue on 1/27/2025 |
| Yay! Thanks for reposting this story about our favourite hobbits :) I do remember starting this story but somehow dropped it in the middle, it will not happen this time!! You've crafted a compelling narrative about characters whom we only know the names of and that's a huge achievement on its own. I'm in awe of your writing style especially the dialogues. They feel so natural and the conversation flows so smoothly. Since I've started to try and write a bit myself I've really started to appreciate all these things I took for granted... a well written story, engrossing descriptions and flowing dialogues. When done well it feels so easy but is actually quite hard and now I've got a healthy respect for writers... On another note if you won't mind me referring to your review on Arnakhor's story Dol Guldur, I believe that Minas Ithil was the twin city of Minas Anor (later Minas Tirith). At that time Osgiliath was the capital of Gondor and I think they were both garrison cities. It was the Palantir of Minas Ithil that fell into Sauron's hands. While Saruman used the Orthanc stone ie the Palantir of the Tower of Orthanc. Apparently at some point Gondor lost control of Isengard. (Although how that happened I don't know) Take care Author Reply: I'm glad to hear you're reading. Only four chapters were posted before the story was deleted (I accidentally posted it twice under two different names) in the recent Breach of 2025, so there wasn't much there. In fact, in going over the chapters again before re-posting, I recognised the need to rearrange some information in order to fasten the plot threads more securely before launching into the journey. So a couple of the unpublished chapters that came later in the original draft of the story have been moved closer to the beginning, as will become apparent soon. I know what you mean about engrossing descriptions and flowing dialogues. My descriptions tend to run too long, even now, and it's a hard habit to break. I think good dialogue can come from listening to real-life and fictional conversations and how they flow, along with reading good writing and lots of practice writing while thinking of your characters as real people and listening with your inner ear to how they talk. I'm probably putting it badly. Best of luck with the writing! I look forward to reading the fruits of your labours. Thank you for the clarifications on Minas Ithil and the palantíri! I got confused at the thought of Minas Ithil as the twin of Minas Tirith; Minas Tirith is huge! At least, it sounds huge (and looks pretty impressive in the film). But it makes sense to think of Osgiliath (not Minas Tirith) as the capital and the other two sites as outposts. (Still, Minas Morgul must be huge, much bigger than my impression of the place from reading the book and seeing the films.) | |
| Mirkwoodmaiden | Reviewed Chapter: Prologue on 1/27/2025 |
| Lindelea! Delightful! I must read more!!! So Faramir takes after his dad not his namesake I see! LOL! (((hugs))) MM Author Reply: He very much takes after Pippin! (With a bit of Merry thrown in, since his Uncle Merry is a very good influence.) Yet, I think you might see some hint of Faramir the Man in the mix, perhaps as a result of Pippin's stories, or perhaps because of Faramir Took's interactions with the Prince of Ithilien – if I ever get through all the parts of this long story focused upon the experiences that molded and shaped Faramir into the hobbit he became. I'm chipping away at it, anyhow. Thanks for reading and stopping to leave an encouraging word! (((hugs))) | |