PSW
· 23 March 2025
· Chapter 41: Rest and Recovery
Yay!! Merimac lives!
This was a cute little chapter - glad everyone is feeling well enough to enjoy being doted on by their fiancées! And it’s wonderful to see all the Hobbits of the area come together to rebuild. ❤️
Author's reply
Yay! I really like Merimac. He's such an interesting character; spy, guerrilla fighter, engineer (the term I use for delvers of tunnels and mines and smials), mentor, and more. I was sad that JRRT included his death date in the Family Trees, even though it saved my bacon as I was writing one of my stories that he appeared in. (I almost wrote myself into a corner, actually. Maybe my brain had noted that death date before I even began writing that story? I can't account for it.)
You've mentioned a couple of the reasons in my long list of why I love hobbits...
Thanks for reading and stopping to share your thoughts! (I'll be returning to your young Estel story in a day or two; I had to get over the elder Dorhaur's death. You've made him so real to me!)
Mirkwoodmaiden
· 21 March 2025
· Chapter 8: Of Mushrooms and Music
Lindelea!
The Shire was definitely suffering hardship! It is good the four Travelers did not know, but the thought of the Shire untouched and that they were protecting the Shire is what kept them going.
"The sharing out of the gatherings had kept the wolf from many a door, but the Master of Buckland had refused Deputy Mayor Frodo's offer of help, saying that Buckland had not suffered so much as the rest of the Shire, and that it was only right for the Bucklanders to tighten their belts, a bit, as their part of helping the Shire-folk get back on their feet."
Very community spirited of Saradoc!
"'Fine! The ponies are saddled, a picnic is packed, let us go and see what we can catch for the supper table!' Pippin sang.
Ponies saddled already? He must start being stricter with the rascal; Peregrin seemed to think he had his uncle wrapped neatly around his little finger. All right, then, he would start on the morrow. But today, he intended to enjoy himself."
True, but Pippin is so dear. I am glad that Saradoc has decided to go fishing. Little spots of joy are necessary in times of stress, upheaval. It is all part of the healing process and a return of more normal times.
Thank you for chapter...and the warning of angst to come. I will soldier forward, so warned!
(((hugs)))
MM
Author's reply
MM!
Oops! I belatedly remembered that the next chapter, the fishing chapter, is angsty, but I can assure you that it all comes out right.
In my Shire, the Brandybucks have a motto: people first, then supplies, then the clearing up. So the idea appears in several of my stories.
You're so right about the absolute necessity of little spots of joy!
I hope this reply finds you well. (((hugs))) dear friend.
Lin
Mirkwoodmaiden
· 20 March 2025
· Chapter 7: Coming Home
Lindelea!
What a wonderful idea for a story! Never thought what might the Master of Buckland and the Thain of Great Smials might have felt at the disappearance of their offspring.
" When his son stood before him, at first he had not recognized him, clad in shining mail and green cloak, taller than he remembered, more grim."
A sobering thought and telling about how much Merry had changed.
"Yet he had not come back, not the Merry who had left. Saradoc thought of the long solitary rides, the dark moods, the times he caught his son staring at nothing. He thought of the countless nights he found Meriadoc pacing the floor, unable to sleep. He missed his son's voice raised in song. And though Esmeralda tempted him with all his favorite foods, the lad was too thin." Of course Saradoc would worry. His son has came back from war. It changes you.
Frodo a bad influence! LOL. Love the different perspective of a father. A lovely bit of realistic writing. Not everyone is going to have the same opinion and good writing understands! Yay!
"because young Peregrin had come too. That was a relief, for Merry seldom fell into one of his silences with young Took along. The rascal had a gift for pulling Merry out of himself."
NEWSFLASH: Pippin is finally recognized for his qualities. Again Yay!
"He stood a long time gazing into the face of his sleeping son." Of course he did. :-)) Wonderful depiction of what those on the home front suffered! Love it!
Must dash off to work.
thanks for the chapter!
(((hugs)))
MM
Author's reply
MM!
Your reviews always bring a smile, and this one is no exception. How I love revisiting a story through a reader's eyes!
From my earliest fanfic days, it made sense to me that Merry and Pippin didn't simply go back to "normal life" after returning to the Shire. I think even Tolkien would have admitted as such from his own experiences (and from how he decided that Frodo was too damaged to remain in the Shire but had to sail into the West to find healing). And though JRRT gave us almost no glimpses into the home front, I often find myself pondering the hobbits who were left behind, both during the year the Travellers were gone and their thoughts and feelings after the Travellers returned. Did friends and family members experience pure relief and joy? Were they inexplicably angry? Did any of the Travellers' loved ones yell at them and burst into tears and then hug them as if they'd never let them go again?
How are things with you, by the way? I'm remembering that you were avoiding angst, so I must warn you that the story is a little angsty in Chapters 13 and 14 (when Frodo begins to fail and eventually sails from the Havens) and then, after a joyful stretch of narrative, the story falls off a cliff in Chapters 19 and 20, followed by gradually resolving angst (with a few ups and downs) until Chapter 34 or so, when Merry *finally* realizes what Estella means to him. I can add an "angst warning" to the story summary when I post a new chapter, but I don't think it's not possible for the chapters that are already there.
Thanks for reading and for pausing to share your thoughts so generously! (((hugs)))
Hope this finds you well,
Lin
Mirkwoodmaiden
· 18 March 2025
· Chapter 6: Gift of a Jewel
Lindelea!
How lovely! Merry has his new (and yet somehow old) pony! Yay! Love the name! "Jewel" I love how Frodo and Merry can talk to each other, at least a little bit each having their own troubles, they can help each other along. Your gift with writing Hobbits is also a Jewel!
Must dash to work! Hope you are doing well as well! :-)
(((hugs)))
MM
Author's reply
MM!
I'm so glad this chapter gave you a lift before dashing off to work! If I'm remembering right (and I very well may not be; it was more than two decades ago), I think this might have been the first chapter written, even though I had an idea of how the rest of the story would go (and that idea, which included "Ruby" and Frodo's use of Arwen's jewel to help Merry, prompted the name he chose for the pony). I'm still amazed when so many diverse elements come together to form a cohesive whole. I guess it's just more evidence for the incredible richness and meaning inherent to Tolkien's world.
(((hugs)))
I hope this reply finds you well.
Lin
Mirkwoodmaiden
· 17 March 2025
· Chapter 5: A Long-Expected Wedding
Lindelea!
"It was a grand day for a wedding indeed, and even with Sam's shyness and Rosie's blushes, the ceremony went perfectly, despite Merry's copious eye-wiping and Pippin's elbow jabs to quell him." LOL!
"Rose even danced a dance with Merry, laughing as he gazed at her with lovestruck eyes and said, pretending wistfulness, 'Ah, Rosie, lass, and to think you could have married me had I only been a wee bit faster than Samwise in my courting!'" LOL! That Merry! :-D
That was wonderful! Hobbits celebrating anything is a joyous thing!! Tipsy Merry and Pippin! Imagine!! ;-)
"Fredregar Bolger turned to Frodo. 'Looks like he is on the mend.'
Frodo laughed, 'I would say he's completely mended!'" is a wonderful bit!
And good on Mistress Cotton distracting Frodo from the marriage question, asks innocently enough by Fatty...but this is night for Joy!!
thanks for this chapter!
(((hugs)))
MM
Author's reply
MM!
Joyous chapters are my meat and drink, in a manner of speaking. Angst is more of an... appetizer? maybe? (This analogy may be flawed...) What I mean is, my whole purpose in writing angst is to set the foundation for the healing and comfort to follow! (As I used to say to reviewers in the old days, and still holds true today, "I am a sucker for happy endings.")
Thank you so much for reading and hitting the high points in your review! As you know, reviews are a blessing.
(((hugs)))
I hope this reply finds you well!
PSW
· 16 March 2025
· Chapter 40: Awakenings
Well, they have a long road to go. I do hope Merimac lives, but I know the chances aren’t good… :-(
Author's reply
(If you want to cheat or look for spoilers or such, Merimac's birth and death dates are included in the Family Trees...)
Thanks for reading, and additional thanks for pausing to share your thoughts. (((hugs)))
PSW
· 16 March 2025
· Chapter 39: Aftermath
Yay for Elven cloaks! But I wish they’d all had one. And that Pippin didn’t have a lungful of smoke that he truly doesn’t need. Such a sad turn of events. I hope not many more die, and that those who are hurt recover quickly.
Author's reply
I wish they'd had more Elven cloaks, too. On a positive note, because they're using honey to treat the burns, the rate of healing will be much faster (added to the remarkably fast recovery hobbits show in general, like at Cormallen, where Pippin was on his feet 13 days or so after being crushed under a troll).
Thanks for reading, and more thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts! I appreciate it.
Mirkwoodmaiden
· 11 March 2025
· Chapter 4: Moving House
Lindelea!
'You will always have to choose to walk in the Light, to turn your back on the Dark, from now on, but at least you are aware now that the choice must be made. Better than being taken unawares.'
I think this is sage advice for anybody at anytime to be honest. Now more than most. And of course Frodo should definitely be the one to talk with Merry!
"Waggon" I did wonder! LOL.
Wonderful chapter, I shall continue!
(((hugs)))
MM
Author's reply
Definitely good advice. Some people I know and love struggle with chronic depression and must make this conscious choice every day, bless them.
So glad you're enjoying the story! Thanks for pausing to share your thoughts. It's always a pleasure to hear from you.
(((hugs)))
Mirkwoodmaiden
· 10 March 2025
· Chapter 3: Walking in Light
Lindelea!
Yay! Merry is back with us!! Yay!
You know that this was serious for Pippin to lose his appetite!
(((hugs)))
MM
Author's reply
Yes! Pippin is still a tween, and tweens are always hungry! (Or so I've been told...)
(((hugs)))
Mirkwoodmaiden
· 10 March 2025
· Chapter 2: Walking in Darkness
Lindelea!
Eeeeek! Poor Merry, poor Pippin! I found myself shouting at the Computer screen, "Athelas! Kingsfoil, you know...it's a weed!"
Diamond...Ahh...the story of when Pippin and Diamond find each other...Yeah!
:-D
(((hugs)))
MM
Author's reply
It was such fun to imagine what the north-Tooks must be like, and go from there...
Thanks! ...and (((hugs)))
Mirkwoodmaiden
· 10 March 2025
· Chapter 1: Rescue of a Wee Cousin
Lindelea!
Your deft touch at writing about Hobbits is as ever wonderfully strong. I love it!
On to the second chapter to see what has happened to Merry! Oh dear!
(((hugs)))
MM
Author's reply
(((hugs))) back! I'm glad!
Thanks for reading and pausing to share your thoughts. Stay well!
Periantari
· 9 March 2025
· Chapter 7: Coming Home
It's nice to hear Esme and Saradoc's point of views as they welcome Merry back into their lives. It must've been worrisome for them as their only son went out to the wide world but i'm glad for the last scene in which they had a good meal and some pipeweed and brandy.
As adults looking over adult children they may always worry for them . Nice scenes in here -great gapfilling.
Author's reply
So true that parents still worry about their adult children even though the relationship has changed and they have to respect them as fellow adults! I've long found the "home front" intriguing, though the Professor only dropped hints about what happened back home and didn't even mention how Merry and Pippin's families responded to their disappearance or reappearance! (We just got a glimpse of the Gaffer and Rosie Cotton and Freddy's reaction to seeing Pippin as he was carried out of the Lockholes.)
Thanks for reading and taking time to share your thoughts! I appreciate hearing your perspective.
Periantari
· 7 March 2025
· Chapter 5: A Long-Expected Wedding
What a delightful chapter! Loved the songs from Merry and Pippin- did you make it up yourself? So creative!
Lovely to see them so happy for Samwise. :)
Author's reply
I'm so glad you liked the songs! I must lay the blame (or credit) squarely on ffnet, for they had a policy of deleting stories that quoted the lyrics of published music (or at least that's what I remember from all the way back in 2003). Therefore, if I wanted to include hobbit-songs in my stories, I had to make them up out of my own head.
Thank you for reading and stopping to share your thoughts!
Periantari
· 7 March 2025
· Chapter 4: Moving House
Frodo looked over at his cousin. Merry still stared at the clouds, but a shadow had fallen over his face. 'I think...' he said, striving for the right words. His hand sought the jewel. 'I think,' he began again, 'that when one has been touched by Shadow, it leaves a...' he had been going to say 'stain' but thought better of it and said instead, '... a mark. Even though the Shadow has passed away, the mark remains.' He thought of Merry's fits of melancholy and understood them better now. After all, he had his own evidence of remaining stains that could not be scrubbed or sanded away. 'You will always have to choose to walk in the Light, to turn your back on the Dark, from now on, but at least you are aware now that the choice must be made. Better than being taken unawares.'
I loved this part because it shows how understanding the hobbits are to each other because they did both suffer from the Black Breath and had an experience with the Witchking- Frodo being stabbed, and then Merry being able to help kill it. I love when Frodo gives comfort to Merry and the other hobbits - shows that he is indeed wise and a truly giving hobbit.
Author's reply
Frodo was always the older, wiser cousin, at least it has seemed so to me, in his relationships with Merry and Pippin. Although... in one of Sam's anecdotes (In At the End of His Rope, I think it is), Frodo gets down on the same level with little Pippin and the two of them raise quite a muckle of mischief!
(And now, somehow, I want to read a story about Merry being the wiser cousin and helping Frodo at some point...)
All my stories with Frodo-Merry interactions seem to have a tinge of melancholy for some reason. Though I do mention them making mischief together in some places, I haven't written a whole story about mischief and hobbity mayhem featuring those two cousins. At least, not yet.
Thanks for reading and pausing long enough to share your thoughts!
Periantari
· 7 March 2025
· Chapter 3: Walking in Light
Also loved the part in which Merry was teasing Sam about asking Rosie to marry already .. it's such proper hobbit banter, i loved it. :)
Author's reply
I'm so glad you liked that!
I made Merry a lot more aggravating in a longer story that I wrote later, A Small and Passing Thing, where he launched an entire campaign to get Sam and Rosie together that, unfortunately, backfired. Still, it all came out as it should in the end. Whew.
Thanks!
Author Reply: p.s. Actually, I had forgotten, but in the re-write of Jewels, I incorporated some of the ideas from later stories. So any talk about Merry proposing to Rosie in this story reflects his actions in A Small and Passing Thing (which goes into much more detail).
Periantari
· 7 March 2025
· Chapter 3: Walking in Light
So glad Frodo is there for Merry. The care they gave Merry at the end was just perfect and glad that Frodo thought of the jewel that can possibly bring Merry back to the light.
Author's reply
Very early in my fanfic-writing, it made sense to me that all those who suffered the Black Breath might have an anniversary illness, and that Frodo's anniversaries weren't just from the memory of evil (Shelob and the Ring). For that reason, I've written in several stories about Frodo using his elf-jewel to help others combat evil memory and shadow, such as Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, Fatty Bolger and, of course, Merry.
(((hugs)))
Periantari
· 5 March 2025
· Chapter 2: Walking in Darkness
I like hearing about the Black Breath and how it could affect Merry as he heals post-Quest. Great story with the right dialogue and tension to start!
Author's reply
Thank you! I'm glad to have you along for the journey, and I appreciate your pausing to share your thoughts and encouragement.
PSW
· 5 March 2025
· Chapter 38: Awake! Awake!
So good that Merry noticed the fire! But not so good that he’s stuck in it now. 😳 And Pippin shouldn’t be straining his lungs, but it’s had not to run in to try to help! I hope they find Merry quickly!
Author's reply
It's ironic that this, the next chapter to be posted after the long delay, concerned the devastating stable fire. I really ought to have written a chapter or two "gapfiller" set during the 18 months between the last chapter and this one, just to ease readers back into the story.
The "good" news is, the next chapter is scheduled to post a few days from now, with regular updates following. ("Just so long as it don't rain," as a sister-in-law was fond of quoting, "and the crick don't rise...")
Thanks for staying with me!
PSW
· 1 March 2025
· Chapter 37: The Steward of Buckland
That’s it?? You said there’s more though, right? I hope there’s more at some point….
I have truly enjoyed this story - you’ve done such a lovely job with Merry and Pippin, their family and friends. Thanks for sharing!
Author's reply
Thank you for reading and stopping to share your thoughts on this chapters and the previous ones to this point! I promise, I will come back and respond to each one, for I appreciate them all!
As I mentioned elsewhere, your reminder that this story was unfinished has moved this WIP off the back burner. I'm working my way through the remaining chapters and incorporating the beta-readers comments and suggestions, and I will start posting the revised chapters soon, from this point onward to the end of the story.
I'm so glad you've enjoyed the story to this point!
PSW
· 1 March 2025
· Chapter 36: Lamp in the Window
Yikes … Pippin is going to have to deal with this eventually, but I suspect he has some depression going on and that makes things really hard…
Author's reply
I think you're right. The thought of facing a permanent limitation is depressing, and he's already been pulled down by his father's criticism and fault-finding. Alas, poor Paladin, he wasn't trained to take on the Thainship, and he's desperate for his son to avoid the shock and difficulty, but how does one who was never trained turn around and train his successor? (There's a lot to be said for on-the-job training if one has a good mentor, but that wasn't the case for Paladin.)
But at the moment, Pippin's feeling rather useless to everyone, and that's a hard feeling to fight.
PSW
· 1 March 2025
· Chapter 35: New Beginnings
I’m so glad everybody went well. I couldn’t bear it if things went badly with the baby - and this house has seen enough of sadness.
Paladin needs to chill a bit…
Author's reply
Paladin does need to chill. He's gotten so used to people saying, "How high?" when he said "Jump!" ...but that was necessary during the occupation of the Shire by Lotho's (and then Sharkey's) Men. He's had a bit of trouble transitioning to a peacetime Thain. However, interacting with hobbits outside of the Tookland (and his wife, who's fed up with the estrangement from their son), takes him down a peg or two and gives him food for thought. Or perhaps a better metaphor is planting seeds that will lie fallow for a while and then sprout?
PSW
· 1 March 2025
· Chapter 34: Beanpoles and Bedtime Snacks
Yay! That’s better for everyone involved. Glad to see that neither lads nor lasses will be unhappy with their choices!
Author's reply
LOL, at last things are settling out the way the genealogies have them!
Thanks so much for reading and pausing to share your thoughts.
PSW
· 1 March 2025
· Chapter 33: Dissolution of an Agreement
❤️❤️
Author's reply
I'm glad you liked this chapter. In the previous chapter, I wanted to shake Estella, even though I knew what her intentions were. All the frustration kept mounting up; she was trying so hard to make things work, but it became increasingly clear that Pippin's heart belonged to someone else. Not to mention, being constantly thrown into Merry's company, since Merry is always in Pippin's company, must have been agonizing for her. It was so satisfying to put things right!
PSW
· 1 March 2025
· Chapter 32: A Curious Courtship
Ah - I wondered if it might be Estella, but I didn’t know her well enough. So glad she’s a good, observant girl!
Author's reply
As a gifted artist with a photographic memory (I wonder what hobbits would call that?), she's definitely observant. And she's the spoiled only daughter of a very wealthy hobbit. Though she has an older brother, she's Odo's only daughter, making her something of a princess in that her father can refuse her nothing, pretty much. All her life, she has almost always gotten her way, and she's used to speaking her mind. (And during the Troubles, her life as a "lad" in the Tookland opened her eyes to the freedom that common hobbits enjoy, such as marrying for love rather than accepting a marriage arrangement because it's the custom in your family.)
So now you know a little more about Estella! :)
PSW
· 1 March 2025
· Chapter 31: Bird in a Trap
At least the north-Tooks understand. Or at least Diamond’s father does. How are they going to get out of this??
Author's reply
The north-Tooks understand even though they don't, really. Society in the North Farthing (as I write it) is much less rigid and constrained by tradition and social divisions and status-seeking than in the Lower Shire. This distinction is, in part, because Long Cleeve was founded 400 years after the Great Smials, enabling me to envision a difference in viewpoints and customs between different parts of the Shire.
Let's just say that a 50-to-1 outsider is going to come galloping up on the outside of the pack (it's too crowded at the rail) and flash across the finish line well ahead of the rest of the ponies. In essence, winning the race on Pippin's behalf. Seems more fun than a deus ex machina solution, anyhow.