Runner up for a Golden Mushroom Award (for "Most Dramatic Use of Near Drowning") and Second Place My Precious Award for Hobbit fic. Thank you to those that came out to support hobbit fics of all stripes!
I welcome feedback of all kinds! dead_sirius@earthlink.net
Or weigh in at: http://www.livejournal.com/users/aelfgifu/
Big hugs to my incredibly talented beta, Aratlithiel- an amazing author in her own right!
This is the non-slash version of this tale. The version with plot-driven slash in a number of the chapters can be found here: http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=1287871 or on my official site: www.geocities.com/aelfgifuemma/RATM
Illustrations (and there are many) can be found on www.geocities.com/aelfgifuemma/RATMpics
Warning: Though the ending will be happy (and distant, this is a long fic) This story will take some very dark roads, so if you hate darkfic and very heavy Frodo Angst, don’t read. But if you love your hobbit angst slathered on with a trowel, then my beta, Aratlithiel, and I will be your own personal goddesses for the duration of this tale.
I have followed the line of Tolkien’s masterpiece as closely as possible until it totally leaves the trajectory once the hobbits arrive at Crickhollow. You will notice that I play with Tolkien’s quotes sometimes, twisting them in subtle ways, or playing familiar quotes in new character’s mouths to make this Alternative Universe work. If you can find them, let me know. You won’t win anything, but I’ll be impressed with your book knowledge! BTW-I always answer my reviewers!
This Story has three parts.
--The first part, the 5 preludes, show the early relationships between the four hobbits, and between Merry and Frodo in particular. They set up the AU with very subtle detours from the original.
-Part 2 shows how the Ring slowly ensnares Merry, at first subtly, then utterly. Merry will come to the decision to keep both the Ring and its bearer captive at Crickhollow, a decision that will have baleful results for all four hobbits, and perhaps something worse for the fifth. In these chapters Merry will take control of Frodo, body and soul, in the slow process of breaking the hobbit and bending him to his will. Frodo will not break easily, but break he will. Other themes include Pippin’s struggle to set a course between his love for Merry and his inner understanding of right and wrong, Sam’s struggle to save his master under the most desperate conditions, and finally the Ring’s ability to twist even the most noble intentions for its own malevolent purposes.
--Part 3 begins with some unexpected visitors descending upon Merry’s perfect “family” at Crickhollow and forcing the captor to become captive, along with one of his unwitting preys. (I can’t give that away!). There will be unlikely allies joining forces to the rescue, and Frodo will begin to heal. More importantly, Merry will be separated from the Ring’s baneful influence and will have to come to terms with the harm he had brought down upon his loved ones while under the thrall of the One Ring. Will Merry be able to find the redemption he so desperately craves, or will the evil of the Ring engulf them all? These question will be answered in part 3!
This story, above all, is a character study and a psychological drama exploring how the Ring affects the relationships between Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin. All four characters will interact with each other, and all will be changed for both good and ill.
“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”
--Inscription that Dante would have put on the gates of Frodo’s house at Crickhollow if he would have read my fic!
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I love when people ask me questions! Here are some of the most common ones. Ask more and be answered!
1. I thought hobbits were incorruptible!
Well, Tolkien said they were resilient, not incorruptible. If you remember, Smeagol was hobbit-like, and fell prey to the Ring, and within minutes of first contact, commits murder. Ted Sandyman and Lotho end up to be Saruman’s cronies, and even jolly old Bilbo began to show signs of strain after the Ring “woke up.” Hobbits are generally not ambitious, unlike humans. But they suffer from many of the same frailties, and even a great soul, such as Frodo, could not cast the ring away at its source without intervention of “fate.”
2. Why does it affect Merry different than it has anyone else in your AU?
If you look at the preludes, I am now setting Merry's first interest in Bilbo's ring back to his teens (that's cannon-actually-its in "A Conspiracy Unmasked" in the book) So in my AU I follow that, but amp up Merry's interest a bit to lay the groundwork for different storyline. In the prelude part 5 (To Crickhollow) I also lay the groundwork work a second reason Merry might be tempted- he is different in that that he is ambitious for a hobbit, or at least, takes his future role as Master of Buckland very seriously. Now it does not mention that in the book, but leaves it open. In the book it does show that Merry has a plan for every contingency and is mature.
True-Bilbo had the ring a long time and it did no permanent harm. But the majority of the time Bilbo had the Ring, it was asleep. The Ring did not start to "wake up" as Sauron began to return to his previous potency. Bilbo began to be affected when the Ring woke up and found it difficult to part with. He began lying about the Ring, at least to Gandalf, from day one.
3. Merry doesn't even have the Ring. He's only near it.
Being near the Ring was enough to corrupt Boromir, and he was only around Frodo for 3 months, and it got him. Merry has been around the Ring for 20 years by the time the story starts. Add to that that I've given him a hint of ambition, a desperate desire to keep the Shire safe, and a fierce protectiveness of Frodo, and well-the temptation would be there. And remember-being NEAR the Ring was enough to goad Smeagol to murder within minutes. But, sad to say, Merry in this story is driven by a host of good intentions: saving the Shire and saving Frodo.
4. Why doesn't Merry just claim the Ring in your tale?
Because Merry is still, at his core, a good hobbit. He has convinced himself, and continues to convince himself that he is doing this for the good of Frodo and the Shire. Of course, that is the Ring tricking him, but it would take a lot to get a hobbit to fully claim it. Sounds weird, but in my mind, there is still enough old Merry in him to see that as stealing. I am trying to show this as a big part of Merry’s inner struggle. Plus, until late in the story, Merry will see Frodo and the Ring as one package. As Merry will say in RATM--"Frodo is the Ring's keeper, and we are Frodo's keepers."
--Hugs!
Emma