Kaylee Arafinwiel
· 26 October 2011
· Chapter 7: Babe in the Woods
Ah, yes, we all have our prejudices, I fear! I do like to think I don't have any, but I'm sure if I thought hard enough I'd find something, lol. It's only natural to mistrust what we don't understand, at least at first, but it's best to try to understand the unknown rather than disparaging, if we can!
I'm so glad Neddy was found!! And how did they enjoy the meal, I wonder?
Kaylee
Author's reply
Yes, we all do. Sometimes even those of us who think we don't are prejudiced against the prejudiced, if you know what I mean.
Well, with the greatest tracker of his time on Neddy's trail, there wasn't any question of his being found-- and I am quite sure they really enjoyed that meal!
Kaylee Arafinwiel
· 26 October 2011
· Chapter 6: A Light Lunch
A light lunch, indeed! Ha! *grin* Very well done, Dreamflower! Pippin *is* still a growing lad, after all...or that could be his excuse!
Author's reply
Well, yes, of course he's still a "growing lad", LOL!
Kaylee Arafinwiel
· 26 October 2011
· Chapter 5: One Is the Loneliest Number
So very creepy...which is a compliment, considering who the subject is!! *shudders*
Well done!
Author's reply
Gollum *is* a creepy little person. I'm glad you thought I caught his personality!
O poor Merry! I do love how you handled this sestina, Dreamflower! Very evocative, and I could just see it!
Author's reply
Thank you! Sestinas are a difficult form, but very rewarding!
Kaylee Arafinwiel
· 26 October 2011
· Chapter 3: Believe It or Not!
Boy, can I sympathize with Hamson! My favorite cousin's turning 21 tomorrow, and though I've been keeping up with her on Facebook, it's still hard not to picture her as a little one! (Though she's on a mission in Mexico right now, and I know she's handling herself quite capably, it's still hard!!)
Well done!
Author's reply
*nods* Personally I have always thought that other people's children should not be allowed to grow when I am not looking! My niece has three children now, but I still see her as a young teen...
Ah, an AU! How very clever it is, too...I wonder where things might be taken from here? Most interesting, this...*ponders*
Kaylee
Author's reply
It is an interesting idea for an AU, and I'd had the bunny for a while, though it never went past this part-- making it a perfect vignette for this challenge. I've always thought that it would have made no difference to Merry and Pippin if they had not been picked-- they simply would have carried on, on their own if they had to.
You are welcome to take it from here if you like!
Kaylee Arafinwiel
· 26 October 2011
· Chapter 1: Charmed!
Dreamflower,
I want to learn this Tangle Dance! (Though I fear I'd be no good at it, what with my right leg/foot being shorter/smaller than the left...I wasn't walking until I was 3, and not without a brace till I was 8 or so, and I still off-balance at times even now...) But dancing with hobbits! Lucky Gandalf, and Galadriel! And Pippin is so very talented! Hehe!
Kaylee
Author's reply
The Tangle Dance is a staple of SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) events and demonstrations (though the actual name is "Tangle Bransle", pronounced "brawl") and it's not exactly graceful-- more of a game than a dance actually! You'd have no problem with it: the entire dance consists of two short steps to the left followed by two slightly larger steps to the right and don't let go of the people's hands you're holding! The leader of the dance leads the line under people's arms, weaving in and out and making a great tangle out of everyone! It's huge fun, and can be danced by all sorts of people who may never do any other dance! The best ones end up with the dancers so tangled that they can't even move at all by the end!
6336
· 2 October 2011
· Chapter 24: Counting Crows
In other words if you see crows/crebain don't stop to count them! Hide!
Lynda
Author's reply
LOL! Yep.
Antane
· 29 July 2011
· Chapter 30: Meriadoc and Peregrin, S.R. 1484
A big moment for them both. Interesting that all Four Travelers died outside the Shire. Love how you ended each stanza with the same words.
Namarie, God bless, Antane :)
Author's reply
I think it is more than just interesting, I think it is significant. Clearly something about each of them had changed so much that they could not find their final rest in their beloved homeland.
Antane
· 29 July 2011
· Chapter 24: Counting Crows
Love this sweet moment with two cousins and their game! I can just see it.
Namarie, God bless, Antane :)
Author's reply
Childhood clapping games seem to be one of those things you never completely forget, sort of like riding a bicycle, LOL!
Antane
· 29 July 2011
· Chapter 19: Listening for Returning Feet
A sweet, joyful, long awaited reunion, lovely!
Namarie, God bless, Antane :)
Author's reply
Thank you!
Antane
· 29 July 2011
· Chapter 18: Pity
I love how you have filled out another bare mention from the Tale of Years. What a marvelous tale.
Namarie, God bless, Antane :)
Author's reply
Thank you. I think that it is quite significant that a Maia who spent much time with Lorien and Nienna would find something very attractive about a Race whose chief characteristic was Pity.
Antane
· 27 July 2011
· Chapter 14: A Question of Gratitude
So Dora can be taught things too, huh, instead of just teaching....hmmmm.... How refreshing!
Namarie, God bless, Antane :)
Author's reply
She can. She is a hobbit of good sense, and would never think she knows everything...just almost everything! ;-)
Antane
· 27 July 2011
· Chapter 11: White Stone
Finally, finally, getting back here - A lovely poem! Most interesting - immortality vs eternity, giving/losing one's entire self so others can live, indeed two sacrifices made at the Havens.
Namarie, God bless, Antane :)
Author's reply
I am really intrigued by the parallels between Arwen's life and Frodo's and how they intersect!
Baggins Babe
· 5 April 2011
· Chapter 31: Stupid Is As Stupid Does
I have been loving these stories, Dreamflower. This last one is especially good - love to see Lotho come a cropper, and for him to pounce on Aunt Dora was absolutely priceless!
Aunt Dora even talks in capitals! she is wonderful - I like the note that Dora was the only hobbit Lobelia was afraid of (apart from Menegilda).
And of course Frodo recognised Merry's 'fine Brandybuck mind.'
Wonderful!!
Author's reply
Thank you! This one was great fun to write!
Yes, there were not many Lobelia feared, but Dora was the senior female of the Baggins clan, and I am quite sure she made Lobelia tremble!
Of course he did!
shirebound
· 2 April 2011
· Chapter 31: Stupid Is As Stupid Does
How I love hobbity conversations in which we learn of mischief, past or present. There's no putting anything over on ever-vigilant cousin Frodo, is there?
Author's reply
Just the once, during the Conspiracy. And I really think the only reason they managed then was that Frodo was so worried and nervous that he dismissed any suspicions that Merry and Pip knew, thinking it was all just his own nerves getting the better of him. ("Does he suspect?...No, how could he?...I'm just jumping at shadows...")
Andrea
· 2 April 2011
· Chapter 31: Stupid Is As Stupid Does
ROTFL!!!
That was the perfect ending for a wonderful series of stories!
Of all the "lasses" in Hobbiton it had to be Aunt Dora!
"Fine Brandybuck mind at work" indeed. I would have loved to see Lotho's face.
And, I'm very impressed that Aunt Dora even Speaks In Capitals ;-)
Author's reply
Merry knew *exactly* how Lotho would react to his "secret admirer" turning out to be Aunt Dora! And I hope I made it clear that Aunt Dora quite likely knew she was Being Used.
And of course, Frodo possessing his own "fine Brandybuck mind" in addition to his Baggins one, had no trouble discerning Merry's handiwork.
Yes, she does indeed manage such a feat! LOL!
Raksha The Demon
· 2 April 2011
· Chapter 30: Meriadoc and Peregrin, S.R. 1484
A charming poem. Merry and Pippin were always notable for their large spirits; and, because of the Ring War, and all the wonders and horrors they had witnessed; they became too large for the Shire. Their leaving the Shire to live out their final years in Gondor and Rohan strikes me as bittersweet but very appropriate; and you capture it perfectly here.
Author's reply
Thank you very much for your astute observations! All of that is exactly what I wished to convey, and I am so happy to see that in your case at least, I achieved it.
eiluj
· 2 April 2011
· Chapter 17: Better to Give Than to Receive
I always enjoy Aunt Dora. Perhaps she might advise me as to how to proceed tactfully in my dilemma -- but unfortunately she's not here, so I'll just barge in like Folco!
Daisy being in your canon Folco's mother, I believe her father Dudo would be Folco's grandfather rather than his uncle.
Author's reply
You are 100% right, and I actually had realized it myself, some hours after I had already posted-- I do intend to rectify that soon.
One of the perils of having to write a story every 24 hours for a month without knowing the topic ahead of time: sometimes the details suffer! LOL!
Andrea
· 1 April 2011
· Chapter 21: "Lament for Boromir"
How beautiful!
I especially like the illustration of the funeral boat after it has passed the Rauros Falls and is yet unharmed.
Author's reply
Thank you! I had originally planned to do this piece as a collage, but a number of factors made it impractical. I was rather pleased that I came up with this one instead.
And yes, I thought it would be nice to show how the Falls did not scathe it!
Andrea
· 1 April 2011
· Chapter 29: "Samwise at Cirith Ungol"
Very well done!
The star against the spider web. It looks as if the net has just been thrown in the viewers direction and is stopped by the star.
Sam's song in the tower has always been one of my favourites.
Author's reply
Oh, what a neat concept! I just wanted to show the contrast between the star and the web-- but I do like your idea!
I love it too! And I always "hear" it to the lovely tune Donald Swann composed for it.
Andrea
· 1 April 2011
· Chapter 30: Meriadoc and Peregrin, S.R. 1484
The world behind and home ahead
Much said with so few lines indeed!
A beautiful walking song which fits perfectly with the starting quote!
Author's reply
Thank you! I think that once those they loved most in the Shire had passed on, they'd begin to think of their other "family" and their other "home" in the South!
cookiefleck
· 31 March 2011
· Chapter 29: "Samwise at Cirith Ungol"
Very impressive artistic concept (your design and the juxtaposition of the two quotes) and I like your execution and calligraphy. I imagine the cardstock/ink format is not very forgiving! Good job.
Author's reply
Thank you! I felt that the two quotes captured the spirit of the challenge-- from despair to hope.
White ink is really difficult-- I have to shake it frequently and dip my pen more often, although the brand I used is an excellent one and does not separate as badly as another brand of white ink I have used in the past. And cardstock tends to absorb it quickly.
eiluj
· 30 March 2011
· Chapter 30: Meriadoc and Peregrin, S.R. 1484
Their story never quite ends. -- There's quite a lot in those few words.
We don't have the details of their lives in the White City. 8-(
Tolkien didn't give us their death dates, so there's "no end" in that sense either. [Admittedly, he couldn’t tell us of Bilbo, Frodo, and Sam’s deaths, because there could have been no news from the West. So did JRRT simply follow the pattern and not tell us Merry and Pippin’s death dates, or did he have some other reason?]
We don't know how much information got back to the Shire from Minas Tirith. Well, of course Merry and Pippin sent letters to the Shire. And surely Aragorn sent additional details when he wrote people in the Shire, as well as speaking of Merry and Pippin to their families when he visited the North. [Now there's an interesting speculation: how many years were they in the City, and did Aragorn visit the North during that time, Merry and Pip being too elderly to travel with him?] But regardless how much their friends and families were told, I’m sure they would have liked to have known more.
Yet there's the conundrum that almost none of the details about Merry and Pip’s lives in the South got into the Red Book. There are some later dates and details about other people: the birth of Harding of the Hill in S.R. 1501 and forty years later Aragorn's death, Arwen’s fate, and Legolas and Gimli’s sailing -- but no end to Merry and Pippin's tale (aside from the info about the later disposition of their bodies alongside Aragorn’s).
And finally, the story never quite ends because when they died, there was still "home ahead."
Author's reply
No, we don't. There is a snippet, I think in UT, that says that the two of them died within a day of one another, but still, no date. Of course it had to be before Aragorn died.
I like to imagine the two of them living in Elessar's court, the darlings of everyone, and spoiled rotten by their friends for several years. I have written two stories set during that time.
"And finally, the story never quite ends because when they died, there was still "home ahead." "
Indeed! *grins*
eiluj
· 30 March 2011
· Chapter 29
A nice choice of quotations and motifs.
The link has an extra "http://" at the end, and so doesn't link to the page! (Firefox was not cooperative, but I managed to outwit it.)
Author's reply
I've managed to fix it, I think!
And I'm glad you got to look at it anyway!