PIppinfan1988
· 9 October 2005
· Chapter 11: Sums, Showers and Scones
*sigh*...you have a wonderful talent with writing your hobbit lads--and I enjoy them so much. I like to bake, hope you don't mind I printed out this page for the recipe. I also love scones...with coffee...Mmmm.
PF
Author's reply
Of course I don't mind, LOL! that's why I included it. Be sure to let me know how they come out. Come to think of it, it's been a few months since I made any. Maybe it's about time for another batch...
PIppinfan1988
· 9 October 2005
· Chapter 4: A Sticky Situation
(snickering)...that was too cute--especially Tina's thoughts about Bilbo's choice of soaps!
PF
Author's reply
I could just see her getting a whiff of that strong lye soap, and immediately jump to the conclusion that an old bachelor obviously didn't know anything about good soap...
Bodkin
· 2 October 2005
· Chapter 24: Two Nights Out of Rivendell
The hobbits are more grouped - definitely a Merry/Pippin and also a concerned Frodo/Merry/Pippin - but the rest of the Fellowship are definitely individuals still. Concerned about each other, but not yet one. And polite to each other even in thought. I like the way they all think about each other.
Author's reply
Yes, for the hobbits, their central thoughts are going to revolve around one another. Yes, they haven't quite yet come together as a group, especially travelling, but they are beginning to.
I'm glad you liked it, and sorry for the late response. I somehow missed seeing several reviews.
Lindelea
· 2 October 2005
· Chapter 23: If I Only Had a Fire
"Pippin didn’t want to be cheered up."
LOL. BTDT.
I love your understanding Merry.
Author's reply
Yes, all of us have moments like that, don't we. To quote the country song "I just want to be mad for a while", LOL!
And of course, Pip's usually the one doing the cheering up. I'm sure that at times he just got a little tired of it.
Merry does understand Pippin. He didn't try to tell him he wasn't miserable, but just to come snuggle up and get as warm as was possible.
(Somehow I missed seeing a whole batch of reviews. Sorry for the belated response!)
harrowcat
· 2 October 2005
· Chapter 24: Two Nights Out of Rivendell
This is great Dreamflower. I hope they find a way to communicate their thoughts to each other as well.
Author's reply
They are beginning to. This is early days yet.
(Sorry for the belated response. I missed seeing several reviews.)
Larner
· 1 October 2005
· Chapter 24: Two Nights Out of Rivendell
Yes, Baggins stubborness takes over.
Lovely look at almost all the company here. Only Gandalf's POV seems to have been left out--his and Bill's.
Author's reply
Actually, I do have Gandalf's POV, in the second paragraph. But, alas, I'm afraid I did leave Bill out, LOL!
Anonymous
· 1 October 2005
· Chapter 24: Two Nights Out of Rivendell
Yay! Hopscotch-thoughts! Or perhaps leapfrog would be more appropriate? In anycase, a very interesting and entertaining way to make the rounds of the Fellowship.
Author's reply
I'm so happy you liked this structure. I thought it would be neat to show each member of the Fellowship thinking of a question, and then have the next person thinking of the answer...I'm glad it worked!!
Baggins Babe
· 1 October 2005
· Chapter 23: If I Only Had a Fire
Poor Pip! I can sympathise with that feeling of being cold and wet and miserable. Loved the repetition - tweenage moaning! :-)) Very sweet.
Sorry I didn't review earlier. RL got in the way - had to have one of my beloved cats (the model for Rufus) put to sleep yesterday.
Author's reply
Oh, poor you! (((hugs))) Last year, on New Year's Day, we had to do the same thing. Not fun.
Yes, Pippin doesn't do a lot of that on the Quest--he's trying to prove how mature he is after all, but sometimes, he just can't help it. He's usually the one to cheer everyone else up, but he has his moments, like everyone else.
Larner
· 30 September 2005
· Chapter 23: If I Only Had a Fire
Of course he wished they could have a fire. Poor dearling. And love Merry trying to cheer him up by bumping shoulders and suggesting getting under the blankets and warming up that way.
Author's reply
Yes, poor thing.
Well, Merry knew what would work on him. Pippin doesn't often need cheering; usually it's the reverse, but when he does, nobody can do it like Merry.
Bodkin
· 30 September 2005
· Chapter 23: If I Only Had a Fire
I like the repetition - it's just the way a tweenager can keep harping on an idea. And the pleasures brought by the fire, small as they are, would make all the difference to a weary, cold, wet, young hobbit far from home.
And I can so understand getting cross with the elf, just because he didn't get cold and wet and hungry and dirty.
But at least he has Merry and Frodo and Sam.
Author's reply
Yes, tweens (or human teens) can certainly do that. Poor Pippin, usually he was the one to cheer everyone else up, but sometimes he just had to be miserable. And like any tweenager, misery *really* loves company. I am quite sure he didn't understand Gandalf's reluctance to have a fire (*I* certainly don't, and I'm not even travelling with them. Gandalf occasionally seemed a tad insensitive to mortal discomforts. Yet we know from what JRRT said, that he most certainly felt them himself. Odd, that.)
As for cross with the Elf, that was a bit of me getting in there. I have to confess to a certain amount of envious crossness with one of my neighbors, who not only suffered no storm damage, but within three days of the storm had his yard as perfect and pristine as always, while we *still* are waiting for our debris to go away.
And Pippin always has Merry and Frodo and Sam...and in a few days, he'll be the one cheering *them* up again...
Grey Wonderer
· 27 September 2005
· Chapter 22: The Long Dark of Moria
Another lovely drabble. How do you do it? This is like a tiny picture painted on a small canvas with so much detail.
Author's reply
Thank you very much. I thought drabbles would be hard till I tried them. And I am glad you thought it made a picture. I could see it in my head as I wrote.
Larner
· 27 September 2005
· Chapter 22: The Long Dark of Moria
A wonderfully atmospheric description! Lovely!
Author's reply
Thank you very much. The chapter on Moria really triggers something claustrophobic in me, although I am not so, normally.
Baggins Babe
· 27 September 2005
· Chapter 18: The Way of Things
This is such a lovely little picture of our hobbits, and emphasises beautifully that Pippin is more like Frodo - impulsive and emotional, grieving over the death of a fledgling. Frodo would probably have been more like Pip but the deaths of his parents took away a lot of his impulsive Tookishness and forced him to grow up too fast.
Love your hobbits!
Author's reply
*Exactly!!!*
That is exactly how I see it: Frodo as a young child a good deal like Pippin, but then he is tempered by sorrow and the loss of his parents, which makes him more thoughtful and introspective. But the great heart, filled with love, and the brilliant mind filled with curiousity remained.
Bodkin
· 27 September 2005
· Chapter 20: Sometimes It's Worth It
Lovely. I can just see them out there as dawn burns of the morning mists and kisses the world with colour.
I like the way Pippin sits up all night in frenetic excitement eating jam. And his technique for rousing Merry is the best.
Author's reply
Oh, how nice! I wish I'd thought of that phrase!
A Pippin full of apple pie, jam and honey is a Pippin to be reckoned with, LOL!
Well, I'm thinking it must be a usual method for the cousins--remember how Frodo rolls Pip out of his blanket in "Three's Company"?
Larner
· 26 September 2005
· Chapter 20: Sometimes It's Worth It
Ah--a lovely start to a new day after a back-breaking one the day before.
Thanks, Dreamflower, for the description of the dawning seen through the eyes of some who probably preferred to sleep through such quite often.
Author's reply
I figure probably only Sam sees them very often, although my young Pip is a bit of a morning person. I'm not sure how often he'd be up *that* early, though, LOL!
Andrea
· 26 September 2005
· Chapter 18: The Way of Things
It's always amazing what you can say with so few words!
I think it's true. Pippin takes after Frodo in this respect. And Sam and Merry are the practical ones. That makes Frodo and Sam, and Merry and Pippin the perfect teams, because they complement each other. And the four of them are almost unstoppable :)
However, when it comes to decisions, Frodo and Pippin are very different. Pippin is very impulsive, whereas Frodo always ponders the situation. And that's something he has in common with Merry, I think.
Author's reply
You are very right on all counts.
I think what makes Frodo more contemplative and less impulsive, aside of course, from the age difference, is his loss of his parents. That traumatic experience caused him to draw back and be less impulsive and open as a result.
He ponders a situation because, unlike Pippin's sunny optimism, he *knows* that something can go horribly wrong, all at once and without any warning.
Pearl Took
· 26 September 2005
· Chapter 19: "He Sat and Sang a Melody..."
Bravo!! Bravo!! Bravo!! This touches the soul.
Author's reply
What a lovely thing to say! Thank you!
I think, though, most of the credit goes to JRRT, for writing such a sweet and haunting piece as "Errantry".
Pearl Took
· 26 September 2005
· Chapter 17: Blue Eyes
Wonderful! yes, Frodo's eyes have that Took twinkle.
Author's reply
Don't they though? I can see Pip recognizing it easily!
Pearl Took
· 26 September 2005
· Chapter 18: The Way of Things
This is most precious! Pippin would cry for the wee dead bird and Frodo would understand.
Author's reply
Yes, he would, and yes, he would. I'm so glad others see Pippin and Frodo as I do.
Lindelea
· 26 September 2005
· Chapter 18: The Way of Things
What a sweet story, and very much how I see the hobbits. Funny how we take little clues out of the original and build on them.
I like the way Sam and Merry share a practical bent, and Pippin somehow takes after Frodo. You know, I first wrote of a resemblance between Pippin and Frodo as a way of comforting myself after Frodo sailed away, but I really do like to think of them as sharing similar traits. Perhaps that's why Merry could be so close to each of them--their personalities complemented his.
Welcome back! And thank you for your warm welcome as well. Am seriously jet-lagged--ready for an afternoon snooze and it's just past breakfast time. LOL.
Author's reply
Somehow, I've always imagined that Pippin's personality--his generosity and loving nature and openness, his fun loving nature, and his non-stop curiousity were much like what Frodo's would have been if Frodo had not lost his parents so young. That tragedy tempered him, matured him early, and subdued some of the more outgoing parts of his personality. But his large heartedness and ability to forgive were very much still there, and called to Pippin's heart as well.
Merry I think recognizes this similarity. Although he too, is loving and generous, he is not nearly so forgiving, especially of those who have hurt his loved ones. And I see this in Sam as well. (I think of his attitude towards Gollum for example--not nearly so charitable as his master's.) And of course he and Sam are eminently practical. (I think of how well prepared he was for their journey from Crickhollow, and how Sam always seems to remember everything they need, except rope, LOL!)
I am so glad to *be* back!! Having to be away for so long was awful!
I'm really looking forward now to more of "Healer's Tale".
Have a nice nap!
Kitty
· 25 September 2005
· Chapter 26: A Convivial Evening
And woe betide me if I should cause their weapons practice to go even a few minutes past a regular meal. I do believe I could set a clock by the rumblings of Pippin’s stomach.
The first time I watched Pippin eat, I was worried that he would make himself sick with all the quantities of food I watched him consume, only to have Merry turn to me, in all seriousness, and say “I’m worried about Pip. He seems to be off his feed. I suppose it’s all the fear for Frodo that has blunted his appetite.” I have since learned that Merry was quite right. I do not know what hobbits do with all the food they eat.
*lol *
Boromir has found out the most important thing about hobbits! After that, he shouldn’t have much more problems with them ;-)
Sometimes I wonder how the hobbits get any work done. Six to seven meals a day means every two to three hours a meal, and if I count the time to prepare the meal, eat, and wash up after, I wonder how much time there is left for doing anything else!
Anyway, it was interesting to see the fellowship through the eyes of Boromir, particularly his slow realization about who Bilbo is and what he once did during his adventure.
Author's reply
I know.
Sometimes I think JRRT made things difficult for us fic writers. I mean, you'll be just writing along happily, everything falling into place, and suddenly you realize "Darn. It's time to stop for another meal."
I have fun occasionally with that. I once had a Dwarf ask "How do hobbits get anything done when they keep having to stop for meals?" and of course, in "Life of a Bard" I had Menelcar notice that Frodo starts making lunch right after the hobbits have finished their elevenses! LOL!
And my hobbits mostly tell time by their stomachs, even when they have pocketwatches to hand, LOL!
I think that it would be easy to underestimate Bilbo at first meeting. His hobbity sense of humor would get in the way of realizing just how brave and intelligent he really was.
Kitty
· 25 September 2005
· Chapter 19: "He Sat and Sang a Melody..."
Idly, Merry wondered how it was that a lad who could forget from one moment to the next what he had done with his jacket, or who had given him a message, never seemed to forget the words of a song, no matter how long or complicated.
*grin* A very good question! Well, it is probably because Pippin is very interested in songs, but not interested at all in jackets and the like!
Author's reply
Quite probably.*grin*
And my Pip is a bit hyper, and that is one thing about that--songs are easily memorized.
Grey Wonderer
· 23 September 2005
· Chapter 17: Blue Eyes
I loved it. I really enjoyed Merry's take on Frodo. Just lately I've been very interested in their relationship. Wonderful.
Author's reply
I'm so glad you liked it.
I'm also glad to hear of your interest in Merry and Frodo. Makes me dare to hope we might see some Merry and Frodo fics from you that are as dear and funny as your Merry and Pippin ones...
And you know me, I'm interested in the ins-and-outs of all their relationships with one another. So many combinations and permutations between the four of them...
lindahoyland
· 23 September 2005
· Chapter 21: Set #2 (featuring the Fellowship) : Who Will Best Serve?
I enjoyed this very much, I love to imagine how the ring affected the members of the fellowship.
Author's reply
Well, now you see how I imagined it. The poor Ring really never stood much chance with any of them save Boromir, and it actually couldn't even get it's hooks into him more deeply. Imagine how disappointed it must have been when he didn't chase after it, and a simple stumble was enough to tear its grip loose.
Of course, with time enough, it could have snared them all, but Frodo outfoxed it by leaving them.
Armariel
· 23 September 2005
· Chapter 19: "He Sat and Sang a Melody..."
An enchanting little piece. The image of Pippin singing this (which is new to me) is wonderfully beautiful and somehow haunting. Both sad and happy at the same time.
Author's reply
It is a wonderful piece, exactly as you describe it, as well as being utterly charming. It is, of course, far longer than the portions I quote here. If you can get your hands on The Tolkien Reader it's in the section "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil" which is all poems by JRRT. The conceit is that these were poems either written or translated by Bilbo, save one, which was supposedly by Frodo.
Also, if you know music, you might try to get a copy of The Road Goes Ever On which was a collaboration between JRRT and a composer named Donald Swann. The pieces, written for piano and voice, are full of arty embellishments, which don't sound very Middle-earthy to me. But the underlying melodies are very nice. "Errantry" is one of those included, and I always "hear" it to that tune.