Reviews of Meriadoc The Magnificent and The Boss

Hai Took · 25 June 2007 · Chapter 1: “Meriadoc The Magnificent and The Boss”

I happened to be wondering SoA today and ran across this and I'm glad I did! It was very cute! I can just imagine how it might be frustrating for Diamond to listen to advice from Pearl, sometimes it is hard to listen to advice from other family members no matter what the subject. I liked the Merry and Pippin interaction here and Merry knowing just what to do from his own experiences and knowing what needed to be done. Well done, and I loved the way you wrote everyone, especially Merry! Thank you!

Author's reply

Hello, stranger! So good to hear from you and to know you are still around. Hope you are well. I am very glad you enjoyed this and thank you for the lovely review. I had fun writing a bit about Pippin's experiences as a new father.

Anso the Hobbit · 27 March 2006 · Chapter 1: “Meriadoc The Magnificent and The Boss”

Awww! At first I thought the Boss had to be Pip, maybe as a little lad but Faramir is a great Boss indeed! Lovely story, GW. :D

Author's reply

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it. Merry had to set things right or Faramir would still be in charge. Seems Merry was able to take control of the situation and restore order, but then, I always enjoy letting Merry come to the rescue! He's so good at it!

GamgeeFest · 21 March 2006 · Chapter 1: “Meriadoc The Magnificent and The Boss”

Oh, that's just like my youngest niece! She would scream every time she was put down and just when you thought she had fallen asleep and tried to put her in her crib, she'd start screaming again! Thankfully, she grew out of it. ;) Pippin and Diamond are in for a long haul. They better learn to toughen up and, though it is difficult, not be so defensive when others offer advice. Loved Rose's reaction the best. 'It's just a baby' LOL. Said just like a mother of 13!

Author's reply

Rose does have experience even at that point and I am very sure she would think that Pippin and Diamond were making far too much of it all. Some people are better with disapline than others. I was always more like Pippin and Diamond than I was Rose. I give in too quickly. Thanks for reading and for reviewing!

Andrea · 21 March 2006 · Chapter 1: “Meriadoc The Magnificent and The Boss”

“In fact, I think you’ve been running the show around here for too long now, Boss. It’s time I took over for a while.” Merry was quite right in naming the little Took baby "Boss", for that's exactly what Faramir is doing! Merry was just the right one to solve the problem. He had not only experience as a father, but he also knows how to deal with Tooks ;-) That's something that Rosie doesn't understand yet, but I'm quite sure she will come to learn. Just wait until she gets her own impression of little Faramir!

Author's reply

Good ole Merry to the rescue! Thanks so much for the review. Yes, Rosie might have to spend a day with darling Faramir before she gets the full picture. I can't do that to her, can I? LOL

PIppinfan1988 · 20 March 2006 · Chapter 1: “Meriadoc The Magnificent and The Boss”

“I have yet to meet the Took that I can best in a fair fight. I got three in one afternoon. Not a bad day’s effort.” Merry's remark had me rolling! I like your idea of Pippin and Diamond having thier own smial before taking on their future titles. I think it's very original and quite plausible. I really enjoyed reading about one of Pippin's first forays in fatherhood. Looks like Merry is a good father as well. :-) Thanks for sharing your world. :-) Pippinfan

Author's reply

I liked the idea of Pippin on his own with his tiny family instead of stuck in the middle of the Great Smials trying to get used to married life and to being a father. Also, I love the idea of Merry and Estella staying in the Crickhollow house on their own for a time. I guess this is very unhobbity of me but I wanted all of them to have a bit of privacy. I am glad you liked it. Thank you for reading and for all the sweet things you say!

PIppinfan1988 · 20 March 2006 · Chapter 0: It's that time again

ROTFLMBO!! You are too funny! If it was legal, I'd buy your stories. :-) PF

Author's reply

Hey, if it was legal, I'd be happy to sell them to you. LOL

Pearl Took · 20 March 2006 · Chapter 1: “Meriadoc The Magnificent and The Boss”

*applause* *applause* This was wonderful!! Marvelous!! Fantastic!! I had a good friend whose child had her trained in just this manner, I helped her to see the light :)

Author's reply

Oh, so you were Merry to her Pippin then? I could just see Pippin being too soft hearted to resist a crying child. Glad you enjoyed this because I am enjoying your Diamond and Pippin story very much!

Larner · 20 March 2006 · Chapter 1: “Meriadoc The Magnificent and The Boss”

Rosie has no idea just what Took bairns can be like, can she? She might just end up babysitting one of them and learning the hard way. Not everyone is as quietly competent and apparently sanguine as Sam, after all; and I think his children would be far more subtle and circumspect in their manipulation than a Took's child. And after dealing with a child whose tantrums could go on for hours when I inherited him, I can certainly appreciate Merry's advice. Yes, Pippin NEEDS this fishing trip.

Author's reply

Yes, Rose may need a first-hand experience with Took babies and she will very likely get it thanks to Goldilocks! Nothing can put you in need of a vacation like a crying baby. LOL Thank you for reviewing!

Bodkin · 20 March 2006 · Chapter 1: “Meriadoc The Magnificent and The Boss”

What a delight! Merry seems to have done slightly better in getting the message across than Pearl. Maybe Diamond just knows and trusts him more - and feels less inadequate in his company. And he is soooo right. (I note it was Eowyn who got left to cry. By the second child you are a bit wiser to their shenanigans. And with Rosie and Sam - by the eighth, or wherever they're up to now, you haven't any time for pandering to the whims of toddlers.) Mind you, it's rather good to see Pippin being bullied mercilessly by a manipulative little Farry. And delightful to see the pair of them flaked out on the sofa, making up for some of their missed sleep. Magnificently managed, Merry. The Boss has met the Master.

Author's reply

Yes, Merry stepped in and straightened it all out. I think sometimes it is easier with someone else's child. It is always harder to allow your own to cry. I think Pip earned a bit of what he was getting from little Faramir with his own childhood behavior. Sam was right, "what goes around, comes around." LOL Thanks so much for reading and I am glad that you enjoyed it!

Dreamflower · 20 March 2006 · Chapter 1: “Meriadoc The Magnificent and The Boss”

I don't think there is anything to say whether the two couples lived together for a while after they each married or not. Some think they do, some think they don't. The only thing that is certain is that Merry became Master about two years after Faramir was born. (Faramir born 1430, Saradoc dies 1432). So if you want to postulate that Pippin and Diamond had their own little smial for a while, more power to you. This story is trademark GW all over! (Which, by the way, means charming, delightful and funny, in case you were wondering.) I love the description of Pippin's "help" in building the smial, and it looks like he also invented the Middle-earth version of a La-Z-Boy, LOL! Poor Pippin, absolutely frazzled and run ragged, dear lad. He's so tender-hearted, of course he can't stand to hear his little son crying for even a moment. Merry to the rescue--he very quickly has the situation pegged, and soon sets things to rights. He *is* Merry, after all. And he is not going to let anyone abuse his Pippin, even if it is his adored little one-year-old first-cousin-once-removed! I loved the description of Diamond's tangles with Pippin's sisters, LOL. So typical of a new young wife and mother, feeling insecure, and taking even the mildest of advice as a personal insult. And your description of the pregnant Pervinca was a howl. *I* think that when Diamond gets over her cold, she should pay a little visit to Rosie and Sam. Rose is not one of Pippin's sisters, and she is very capably running Bag End with at least 5 little ones around, and possibly 6, depending on just when that year Goldilocks was born. I think Diamond might take her common sense advice a bit less sensitively than that of Pippin's sisters. *nudges plot bunny in GW's direction* This was so fun to read! Thank you, GW!

Author's reply

Good to know I haven't walked all over the canon again. (I am famous for that.) I used Meriadoc the Magnificent rather than "The Master" because I wanted this set before Merry became Master, hence, Faramir being still under the age of two. I like to think that all of Pippin's building projects came out as a bit different, the three-wheeled wheelbarrow was only the beginning of rare and unique Took-furniture. LOL I remember being less than thrilled with advice from well-meaning relatives on how to raise my child and so I decided to take it a bit further and have Diamond completely upset over it all. I do suspect that with that many older sisters all with little ones and experience in, if nothing else, looking after Pippin, that Diamond was likely to get more information than she wanted. I went ahead and let Merry claim the honorary title of "Uncle" in this story since he and Pippin are more like brothers than cousins. I do seem to give Pervinca a hard time, don't I? LOL Your bunny is eating my lunch, Dreamflower. I may have to take that one in after I write my challenge story. Tell the person with the stickes that I am hard at work if you see her. Thanks for the review!

shirebound · 20 March 2006 · Chapter 1: “Meriadoc The Magnificent and The Boss”

Pippin was sound asleep with his tiny son in his arms. Faramir was sleeping in the strange way that little babies have, knees drawn to his chest and tiny bum in the air. His thumb was in his mouth and a hand full of Pippin’s unruly curls in his other fist. Pippin had one arm around the baby and was completely relaxed in every other respect. “Now, that’s much better,” Merry whispered to himself. “I have yet to meet the Took that I can best in a fair fight. I got three in one afternoon. Not a bad day’s effort.” *** “Sam,” Rose hissed. “It’s one child.” She rolled her eyes and sighed looking disgusted. “Merry’s right, Rosie,” Sam said. “It’s only one but it’s a Took child and worse still, it’s being raised up by not one, but two Tooks. One Took is like eight or ten Gamgees.” *giggles* I love how Merry is passing along his hard-won experience. The Took household is going to be so much more calm and well rested and... quiet! :D

Author's reply

Yes Merry is doing his good deed for the week on this one. Nothing like having someone turn up who knows how to handle things, is there? Thank you for reading and I am glad that you liked it.

SlightlyTookish · 20 March 2006 · Chapter 1: “Meriadoc The Magnificent and The Boss”

Heehee! I like how Merry called wee Faramir "The Boss." It's funny how a baby comes in and takes over! But poor Pippin, so exhausted and being pulled from all directions. I'm glad Merry was there to help. I also liked the description of miserably pregnant Pervinca. Poor Merry, having to deal with that! (You ought to post this to wee_hobbits, you know) :)

Author's reply

I have known women like Pervinca. They love their childern dearly but can't stand being pregnant. I figured with that many sisters, one of Pippin's had to be a terror to be around while she was 'carrying'. LOL I thought Faramir should have a nickname from his Uncle Merry and I didn't want to use any that were already in use such as Farry, Fam, etc, so I decided to let Faramir's nickname come from something he did and not his full correct name. Glad you liked it!

harrowcat · 20 March 2006 · Chapter 1: “Meriadoc The Magnificent and The Boss”

I really enjoyed this GW. My heart goes out to Pippin and Diamond. I loved your description of a sleeping baby even though I feel that 'butt' may be a little too American for my tastes in a story about hobbits. (Not a flame, dear GW! Well, may be just a tiny wisp of smoke)*g*

Author's reply

Glad you enjoyed it. In order to avoid the flames that might come in future reviews I have changed the word 'butt' to 'bum' which I do believe is a wee bit more British. LOL I thank you for the correction. I truly didn't notice it when I was writing this down. Sometimes, try though I might, my American-isms sneak out. Thank you for helping me to put out the fire before things got out of hand. As always, thank you for reviewing and for reading, and in this case, for putting out the fire.

Reviews (13)