Larner · 13 September 2008 · Chapter 16: No Man's Land (JRRT)
Such a chilling possibility--we would certainly not be here had THIS happened!
Branwyn's Baubles by Branwyn
Reviews (93)
Tari · 23 June 2008 · Chapter 25: Peas in a Pod (Elladan and Elrohir)
Baubles to tempt our curiosity. I finally read them all and enjoyed each one very much. But, as is always the case with me, I couldn’t help but wish they were longer. Perhaps you might be willing to write one for me next month. It would be most appreciated.
Tari · 23 June 2008 · Chapter 18: The Road Not Taken (Boromir)
I like that poem myself. It has been put to music and I got to sing it when I belonged to a chorus. So, did Ragnvald had a bit of a preminiton of Boromir's fate? It sounds to me like he might have.
Tari · 23 June 2008 · Chapter 14: Early Snowfall (Boromir, hobbits)
What fun. A little rolling in the snow and they would become snow people. This is one of my favorite baubbles.
Tari · 23 June 2008 · Chapter 7: Gifts of the Forest (Elured, Elurin)
This part has always been hard to for me to read. How could anyone abandon two little childred to die? Perhaps the woodland creatures saved them. That is something we will never know unless someone decides to write a tale about it.
Tari · 23 June 2008 · Chapter 6: Alchemy (Feanor)
And you write poetry too!! Awesome. I loved it. As you can see, I'm working my way thru your drabbles.
Tari · 23 June 2008 · Chapter 3: The Muster of Rohan (OC)
A banner with a White Pig! Sounds like the artist needed a little help. Tehehehehe.
Episcopal Witch · 13 November 2006 · Chapter 1: Dragons and Shadows (Faramir, Eowyn)
What I like best about this vignette is what it does not say, but leaves to our imaginations to fill in the gaps: Eowyn's sensitive awareness of the shadows behind what Faramir says, and her knowledge of just how to comfort him without being explicit. She surely catches that "says" that turns to "said," as she turns AWAY from the moon that he is talking about and TOWARD her husband. And what better way to gently turn his grief than to tell her beloved scholar a story he does not know.
Linda Hoyland · 23 January 2006 · Chapter 22: Pink Oliphaunts (Faramir, Elboron, Beregond)
I love it that Faramir and his son have compassion for the poor oliphants.
Linda Hoyland · 23 January 2006 · Chapter 24: Servant of the Tower (OC)
This was excellent,I suppose the servants were too afraid to do anything,even when Denethor was insane.
Author's reply
Denethor is very intimidating, and these servants would be used to obeying without question. In his letters, Tolkien describes Faramir as "cowed" (I think that was the exact word) by his father. Not because Faramir is weak, but because Denethor is the de facto king of Gondor and has a strong and forbidding character. If Faramir, who was Denethor's intellectual equal and nearly his equal in rank, was intimidated by the steward, imagine how the lower servants (like the ostler in this drabble) would feel? Thanks for your kind review!
Linda Hoyland · 23 January 2006 · Chapter 21: The Oathbreakers (Aragorn)
This was very moving.
Raksha The Demon · 23 January 2006 · Chapter 25: Peas in a Pod (Elladan and Elrohir)
Interesting basis for comparison. Evidently further research is needed. An unusual Elf-twins ficlet!
Author's reply
The twins are having trouble keeping track of their own girl friends, and the elf maidens aren't any help because they can't tell the two of them apart very easily. Not that these guys would take advantage of that situation, no, not ever! :-D Thanks for reviewing!
Bodkin · 23 January 2006 · Chapter 25: Peas in a Pod (Elladan and Elrohir)
It must be so frustrating for twins to be constantly confused. Or were they? Only a couple of hundred, eh? I'll bet their parents' hair nearly went against elven nature and turned grey over their first five centuries or so!
Author's reply
Yes, I hear that the first thousand years is the worst. :-D The twins aren't sure who that letter is for since the maidens have so much trouble telling them apart. (But, as Edoraslass said over at LJ, maybe the elf girls don't care which brother they get...)
Bodkin · 23 January 2006 · Chapter 24: Servant of the Tower (OC)
Interesting point about duty and individual responsibility - and how a servant in an autocratic society cannot defy his lord. And, in fact, the possible fate of Beregond just goes to show that refusing to comply with orders could have very serious outcomes. But also, how obeying them can have results too.
Author's reply
Good point--poor Beregond thought that Aragorn was going sentence him to death. Though Denethor was clearly unfit for command by the time he takes Faramir to the Hallows (as Pippin points out to Beregond). Is the feudal "contract" void when the lord is no longer fit to perform his assigned duties? Unfortunately, those poor servants didn't have either the authority or the nerve to stand up to him. I have always wondered where was Imrahil, the one person to whom Denethor might have listened, while Denethor was going over the edge? Thanks for commenting!
Bodkin · 23 January 2006 · Chapter 23: Soldier's Luck (Faramir)
Who was it who said, 'The harder I work, the luckier I get'? He might have been thinking about Denethor's younger son.
Author's reply
Faramir's soldiers think he is lucky--they say "his life is charmed or fate spares him for some other end." Napoleon's soldiers also had an almost religious belief in their commander's luck, but Napoleon (at least early in his career) won due to careful analysis and planning. Smart is much more reliable than lucky. :-) Thanks for commenting!
Bodkin · 23 January 2006 · Chapter 22: Pink Oliphaunts (Faramir, Elboron, Beregond)
Different viewpoints. I love Elboron's jolly pink oliphaunts. Hopefully he will never have to face their less amiable relations.
Author's reply
I saw Elboron being fascinated by them in the same way that children in our world are fascinated by dinosaurs. Monsters that were real but are also safely gone. Thanks for writing!
Bodkin · 23 January 2006 · Chapter 21: The Oathbreakers (Aragorn)
The thought of Boromir's spectre fighting at the side of the faithless - is both chilling and comforting. He will have been missed by many.
Bodkin · 23 January 2006 · Chapter 20: The Household Accounts (Eowyn)
One of those womanly tasks with which Eowyn would be as familar as sword-wielding. I love the different pieces of fabric - the rich red, the black, the green suitable for a child's gown. But I can see why the task would depress Eowyn - it's the unearthing of a past, a range of hopes and desires that never came to pass or ended in sorrow.
Author's reply
Yes, everyone in that family (except, of course, Faramir) died before his or her time, leaving their work in ruins or unfinished. I am happy that you liked the different fabrics; I was thinking of how the people you love come to be associated in your mind with certain pieces of clothing or certain colors. Boromir=scarlet. Definitely. :-)
Raksha The Demon · 22 January 2006 · Chapter 24: Servant of the Tower (OC)
This is an outstanding drabble - so much feeling caught in 100 words. We don't read much about the unfortunate servants of Denethor who carried Faramir to the Pyre, put him on it, poured oil on him, and would have set him and Denethor alight if not for the intervention of Beregond and Gandalf. Unlike Beregond, the servants weren't strong enough to risk their lives and honor to stop an atrocity - the choices were terrible. Some of them might not have even thought of disobeying. But the speaker in this drabble seems to be feeling guilty enough to be drinking and speaking defensively about the incident. Very nice!
Author's reply
Yes, this poor guy is in desperate need of a psychotherapist. His rationalization is "I am not responsible; I am just a peon; I was just following orders," but even he doesn't really accept that excuse (or why the defensiveness and avoidance?). It seems likely that most or all of the servants involved would have known and liked Faramir--they are described in the book as "household" servants. And that makes their willingness to obey that much more frightening. Thanks for your kind review!
Raksha The Demon · 22 January 2006 · Chapter 23: Soldier's Luck (Faramir)
A fine drabble; showcasing Faramir's care for the lives under his command; especially when he is about to risk them.
Author's reply
Faramir is hard at work making luck. Thanks for your comments!
Raksha The Demon · 22 January 2006 · Chapter 20: The Household Accounts (Eowyn)
A fascinating look at a part of Eowyn's life seldom seen in fanfiction - that of the Lady of a lord's household, entailing the proper physical maintenance of the home and everything in it. I like the way you write Eowyn here; definitely not a "desperate housewife" or a wild thing trammeled in a cage; but a young wife taking on the tasks she is expected to do, as a job to be done rather than a burden to be shouldered. Her melancholy reaction to the sorrow evoked by the clothing left behind by Faramir's dead father, mother and brother is understandable. Yet Eowyn is strong enough, and practiced enough, to praise the old housekeeper for her skill - she has managed servants before and knows that compliments are as important as discipline. Your understanding of medieval textiles, their composition and care, enriches this ficlet.
Author's reply
I have to admit that I was annoyed at Eowyn's seeming bewilderment when confronted with the duties of a chatelaine in the Helm's Deep scenes in the movie. None of this would have been new or surprising to her. Yet Eowyn is strong enough, and practiced enough, to praise the old housekeeper for her skill - she has managed servants before and knows that compliments are as important as discipline. And Eowyn would realize that the poor servants are probably more than a little worried about having a wild shield-maiden of the North as their mistress! Best to reassure them. Thanks so much for commenting!
Raksha The Demon · 22 January 2006 · Chapter 21: The Oathbreakers (Aragorn)
Very sad. There were so many things Aragorn probably wanted to say to Boromir, and here he's denied his chance again. But he was right to let Boromir go to find peace...
Raksha The Demon · 22 January 2006 · Chapter 22: Pink Oliphaunts (Faramir, Elboron, Beregond)
This is so cuuuuuuuuuute! Little Elboron drawing pink Oliphaunts; how sweet, but real. Loved it that he drew Eomer to be as big as an Oliphaunt - of course! And Faramir is a kind, encouraging father. Also, Faramir's compassion towards even dangerous, destructive animals is quite visible here; when, years after he faced Oliphaunts in battle, he can pity them.
Author's reply
I think that war elephants had to be goaded and driven into battle (male elephants being naturally agressive against other male elephants but not against humans), and Faramir probably knew that. The poor Oliphaunts were not evil creatures, just unlucky enough to be captured by Sauron's allies. By the way, in historic battles, elephants often behaved just like that mumak in Ithilien--panicking and trampling everyone and anyone in sight. Though I am sure that Sauron was willing to accept a certain amount of collateral damage to his own troops. Thanks for the kind review!
annmarwalk · 22 January 2006 · Chapter 25: Peas in a Pod (Elladan and Elrohir)
Too funny! You've added a dimension of - not humanness, of course, but vitality and humor to the rather dull elves of the films. but why am I picturing Elladan and Elrohir as the Weasley twins? *grin*
Author's reply
Thanks! Seemed to me that they should be funny and a little wild (though maybe not quite as silly as the Weasley twins). After all, book!Legolas has a good sense of humor.
annmarwalk · 22 January 2006 · Chapter 24: Servant of the Tower (OC)
Loyalty, fear, guilt - I can very easily imagine the thoughts that have been going through this courtier's mind; not only during the horrific events of the siege but the reflective time afterward. I hope that Faramir will be able to help him expiate his guilt, and that he will be able to find a measure of peace.
Author's reply
I do wonder what became of those servants. In the book, Gandalf tells them that they were not to blame for what happened; they had been forced to make a difficult choice. And Faramir would have forgiven them (who knew better than he how intimidating Denethor could be?). However, I think that people in Minas Tirith would still look askance at the servants and that they would continue to feel guilty. Thanks for commenting!