Reviews (245)

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Hello! Sorry for this belated reply. I originally imagined Remembering Day as a Shire custom, so it probably would not be observed in Gondor and Rohan. I'm not sure when hobbits began the custom, though logically, it seems reasonable that the Stoors would have been the first, and perhaps the Fallohides picked it up from them, possibly around T.A. 1630 (when the Tale of Years says the Stoors came up from Dunland and joined the hobbits who had migrated from Bree to found the Shire). If the thought solidifies into a scene, it'll probably appear (eventually) in the "Marcho and Blanco" story that is sitting on the shelf, waiting to be finished. (Think good thoughts. So many stories waiting to be finished or told...)

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Mmm, I am tempted... warm milk, honey, a dash of nutmeg and some brandy. (I even have milk on hand at the moment that is safe for me to drink - "A2", they call it. I really hope it catches on (the store does not always have it in stock), and that they begin to make butter and cheese as well. (So far, I have found milk, cream, half and half, and – on rare occasions – yogurt.) Diamond takes very good care of her Pippin. :) Stay safe! ((hugs))

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It is certainly a mercy he didn’t take after them (at least in this instance) and take to drink! Thanks so much. I’m glad you’re enjoying the story. Stay well. (hug)

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I do believe JRRT was descended from hobbits, and got some of his storytelling genius from them. Thanks for stopping to leave a good word!

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LOL, "Jewels" was a gateway drug of sorts. It drug me into writing more and more about 4th Age hobbits, anyhow. (Just a hint, Jewels is half complete here at SoA as I was trying to rewrite it to make Estella the right age and hit a brick wall around that time. I will have to add the rest of the chapters unedited, I guess. I will add that to my list.) Thanks so much! Diamond is certainly a match for Pippin. Hope this finds you well.

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You're right about that! I hadn't thought of it in quite that way, maybe because Pippin always had lingering doubt (if he hadn't stopped to talk to Beregond, then Beregond wouldn't have left his post... he has told someone at least once that maybe he could have found Gandalf and got back to the Houses of the Dead in time to save Faramir without endangering Beregond). I wonder if Bergil will someday be the one to convince Pippin that he is not guilty in Beregond's trial and "exile". For certainly Bergil looks up to Pippin. In a manner of speaking. Thanks. Hope this finds you well. (hug)

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I'm so glad the story has caught your imagination! It is probably similar to my going out of my comfort zone (hobbits) and reading about other folks in M-e... for example, you have helped me fall in love with Faramir and Eowyn and Eomer and want to see more of them, and I am finding myself intrigued with Imrahil, Thranduil and Legolas, and with the life of the Dunadain, and Beorn, from other authors, just for starters. Yes, stay safe seems a good greeting in these days. So, same back at you.

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So glad you like her! It always seemed logical to me that the Travellers, being the extraordinary hobbits that they are, would marry wives with spirit and courage and common sense. Rosie Cotton certainly set the tone, even with the small glimpse that JRRT gave of her. (I have to admit that Pippin has got into a lot of scrapes in my stories because the Muse has a taste for angst and h/c. It got so bad that I had to lay off him and pick on Ferdi instead for a while, until one of my readers threatened to start a Ferdi Protection Society... LOL) Good to hear from you! Stay well.

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I am so glad to hear from you. Amazing how isolating isolation has been... or maybe not surprising. D'y'know, I was re-reading in this story as a part of preparation for writing new stuff (and making sure I don't put my foot in it where stories cross over), and was struck by the real life vs fiction thing. Ironically enough, I can still remember how, at the time I wrote this, I was saying to myself, "Nobody will ever believe that a fever can be so widespread, so debilitating, so deadly..." and hoping they could suspend their disbelief enough to enjoy the story. It is so heartening to hear your thoughts on this. I mean, I write the stories that I would like to be reading myself (and does it sound too egotistical to say that sometimes I go back and read my old stories simply for comfort's sake? Although, I am re-reading Runaway at present, for "research" purposes, and so I'm not exactly indulging in "smelling my own farts" as a family member would put it, for I recognize the passages that Jodancingtree wrote (and whole chapters, in parts), so I'm enjoying revisiting her efforts as well. And now I'm hoping she's well, for we haven't connected in such a long time...). Yet whenever I read a review, I feel a spark of energy and a smile and I don't feel so much like I'm just talking to myself. Silly me. We are sort of on the edge of the cauldron where we live, or maybe between a rock and a hard place, between one of the hard-hit cities and another city where cases doubled one day and then doubled again the next day despite the restrictions the governor announced (so double-double? Scary to think of that kind of progresion. And also a tinge of closing the stable door after the ponies have already run off), and more deaths begin reported. I'm praying for our medical personnel, and the people in government who are having to find the safest path through the quagmire, and the rest of us... Blessings to you, and hope this finds you well.

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Belated thanks for stopping and taking time to leave your impressions!

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Aw, lovely! Thanks so much for the note of encouragement, and the rec! (Such an honour!) Somehow Pippin sprang forth, fully formed, and so did Ferdi, in this. I'm not sure just where they'd been (though there was a foundation for Pippin's character in the Young Steward tales, Jewels among them), but the two of them continued pretty much as they started here, and Regi too, if I remember right. Isn't it interesting how the subconscious works? Ah, yes, hard to leave Frodo out... I'm sure he "stayed" in the Shire in a sense, in the memories of those who loved him. It was fun, too, to wonder if Merry's dream was perhaps not just a dream, but two dreaming together and meeting in some otherness. Funny, that this story started as a one-chapter joke, and then expanded to no more than five chapters, and then kept growing and growing like a weed gone mad. I'm glad it found its way to a satisfying ending, even if it did take a long and sometimes meandering path to get there. Thanks again.

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Ah, bless you for your encouragement. It makes the Muse smile, and helps the new writing flow a little easier. (Don't know how I managed to write a chapter or three a day for so long... I'm lucky to have one new chapter a week, these days. All the rest being posted are beta-edited chapters.) Well, a sort of sequel to Just Desserts would be found in Dreamflower's Bunny. Jack and his "boys" make their appearance in the parts of the story that act as frames for the main tale. It takes place not long after Just Desserts ends. And I certainly hope you enjoy Healer's Tale. It was one that I very much enjoyed writing, and was sorry to end. Thanks much for your taking the time to share your thoughts.

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I hadn't thought of it being Gandalf-y, but you're right. Thanks!

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Yes, and I must give much credit to Jodancingtree, who helped me with this chapter. I think that perhaps the hobbits are beginning to understand. Thanks!

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Thank you! The food arrived at a good time, in good time.

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Well, thank you! Methinks that yon Tari is a very astute reader.

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Thanks!

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Belated thanks! I tried to make them as hobbity as I could imagine.

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Again, thanks for your feedback. It is good to talk with others, to look through old pictures, to exchange stories and to sing songs. We still do that on occasion in my family, remembering our parents and our brother who have gone before.

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Yes, I'd hoped that would be the result. I think it a fitting tribute to Frodo, and how difficult it must have been to the Men of Rohan and Gondor that he wouldn't take any kind of reward for what he did.

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I don't know that it would be a common practice, but considering how the Tooks isolated themselves in the time of the ruffians, I thought it might be a possibility. Not really censoring, so much as keeping an eye on what news leaked out what with the gossipy nature of hobbits. The last thing Pippin wanted was for Merry to come charging in to rescue him, compromising his position even more than it already was. I think he might have kept a discreet eye on Meliloc's communications, might even have talked to Meliloc about not alarming Merry. I thought I'd answered this review before now, for I think I remember reading it in my email, but I don't see a reply posted. Thanks so much for your feedback.

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Belated thank you!

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Nienor, somehow I missed this review! Don't want to appear ungrateful. I appreciate your hitting the high points, and you are most welcome.

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Thank you for your review. I'm sorry that I am so late in answering. I don't remember seeing this before. Appreciate your taking time to leave a good word.