Yahoo Forum Archive

Title: Little Lad Lost · Author: Citrine · Races: Hobbits: Children ·
ID: 895
Reviewer: Dreamflower · 2006-08-30 20:43:53
What an adorable concept! Lobelia finds an unclaimed baby and decides to
keep it, little knowing that it's tiny Peregrin Took. But the little one
has decidedly wrapped the old battleaxe around his tiny finger!
Really fun to read.
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Title: A Length of Haradric Silk · Author: annmarwalk · Times: The Great
Years: Gondor · ID: 69
Reviewer: Marta · 2006-08-30 23:57:19
This was such fun. Sam as a plain hobbit is so effacing here, and it's
charming, but I disagree - he did so much more than any loyal servant
would have, and deserves a king's wardrobe at the very least. The fact
that he thinks he isn't worth the fabric, but that Rosie is, was very
touching.
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Title: To See Justice Done · Author: Lindelea · Times: The Great Years:
Post-Sauron's Fall · ID: 306
Reviewer: Bodkin · 2006-08-31 06:26:57
This matter of Beregond does concern me somehow - he broke the rules to
save the last son of the last Steward. In most ways this is heroic
rather than blameworthy, and it seems rather petty, at the end of a war
like this, to have the poor man expecting to be executed for it. On the
other hand, rule-bound is rule-bound - and this is a very rigid society.
Makes me think of Max Frisch, too - and his play Andorra and the whole
thing about obeying orders and individual responsibility. Does doing
your duty sometimes involve taking a stand - as Beregond did? I think it
probably does.

Phew, though, I'm glad Aragorn hung out the matter for a while - until
he managed to get the inspiration. And discovered that actually most
people wanted him to find a solution that was not execution! (Note to
Aragorn: You can be too careful to work within tradition.)

Good on you, Gandalf. Good bit of haunting voice at the right moment.

I'm glad Targon tried to break the news gently - good news being just as
shocking as bad. Gilwyn, Bergil and Fargil are going to take a while to
accept the new state of affairs. But I think the party tonight is going
to be amazing.

I like Sam's conclusion - and I suspect the lesson saw its way through
to the scouring of the Shire.

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Title: Thus Are Legends Born · Author: annmarwalk · Races: Men:
Fixed-Length Ficlets With Children · ID: 732
Reviewer: Bodkin · 2006-08-31 06:30:50
Ahh! What a sweet little Faramir - filled with imagination and keen to
see legends come to life. (And intelligent, too.) While Boromir has his
feet far more firmly in the mud of the Anduin. Funny to think that
prosaic Boromir walked into legend - and that Faramir grew old with the
creatures of dreams.
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Title: Hewing Naught But Wood · Author: Thundera Tiger · Genres: Humor:
Parody · ID: 825
Reviewer: Bodkin · 2006-08-31 06:38:58
I can just see Eomer's head starting to ache with that nagging migraine
feeling. Battle must come as a blessed relief to him, compared to this.

Pedantic elves, yes. They have, after all, eternity to niggle about
precise meanings. But who would have though dwarves were quite so
pernicketty. Or perhaps, as dwarves, they have 57 words for ways you can
cut with an axe. As the Inuit are reputed to have for snow.

Aragorn is a little more inured to the debates, I see. Must have spent
too many nights in the Hall of Fire.

Very funny. I do love these off-beat ideas that have you writing such
entertaining pieces! More of them would be very welcome.

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Title: Caws Llyffant · Author: Llinos · Races: Hobbits: Pre-Quest · ID: 634
Reviewer: Bodkin · 2006-08-31 06:58:01
This is such a delightful story - I love Frodo puzzling over the list
and ending up with half the Shire's cheese supply! And Pippin's fretful
mother worrying over her little mite chancing his health by risking
eating such a dangerous foodstuff. The interaction between the
characters is great - so amusingly portrayed.

And then there's the idea of Bree... (Hard to imagine such a delicate
creamy cheese coming from there. I'd have thought they'd be better at
something more like Gorgonzola.) Good story!
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Title: The Stars Will Light Your Way · Author: SlightlyTookish · Races:
Hobbits: Hurt/Comfort · ID: 705
Reviewer: Bodkin · 2006-08-31 07:01:35
I do like the idea of Pippin and his two little stars - and the idea
that they offer him protection. He needs it, too! If ever a hobbit
did... And this is a lovely follow-up to Stars and Sniffles. There's
nothing like having a Gandalf around at times of crisis.
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Title: Making the Legends of Our Times · Author: Gwynnyd · Times: Fourth
Age and Beyond: Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 860
Reviewer: Bodkin · 2006-08-31 07:05:57
It's one of those sad facts of life that heroines grow old and frail -
if they are lucky.

I wonder how the child felt when she learned that the slayer of the
Witch King and the ancient dame were the same person - and whether it
was a wonder or a disappointment. A disappointment at first probably -
until she came to recognise the indomitable flame within the princess
and (perhaps) understand that becoming a legend is within the reach of
audacious young girls.

So much in so few words!

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Title: Work Detail · Author: Gandalfs apprentice · Genres: Romance:
Fixed-length ficlet · ID: 789
Reviewer: Bodkin · 2006-08-31 07:10:20
Child-bearing hips. And it took Aragorn a moment or two to work out what
that meant? And how it would affect his future? Still I suppose he was
sleepy and it is a bit earthy for a man who has been in love with an
unattainable star for half a lifetime.

May they have fun in proving the midwife right!
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Title: Consequences of a Fall · Author: Dreamflower · Races: Hobbits:
Hurt/Comfort · ID: 221
Reviewer: Bodkin · 2006-08-31 07:23:50
Hyacinth ... one of the nastiest baddies in the Shire. Worse, in many
ways, than the likes of Ted Sandyman - although probably only because
such selfishness and lack of care even for her own children seems worse
in a female and a mother than in a drunken miller. Mind you, if Reggie
was less peace-loving, she might never have become such a monster - and
Lalia hadn't set such a monstrous example, or if Ferumbras had been more
forthright... It's rather over-simplistic to blame all her nastiness on
her, since had she met people with backbone before coming close to
snuffing out the obstacle in her path, she might not have become quite
as vile as she did.

I feel sorry for her brother - who can escape to work or the fields or
whatever he does - and Euphorbia, who is stuck with the poisonous
sister-in-law (- until that poor troll comes along). They deserve the
silver pennies - but I doubt if there's really a quantity of money that
will make her presence bearable (- and it's guilt money from Reggie,
really, who is just so glad to get her out of his sight, even if it does
mean dumping her on someone else). But the people I feel for most are
Hyacinth's poor daughters - who now have to try to learn other ways
after having been abandoned to her lack of care and consideration
throughout their lives. They will be very lucky if she hasn't ruined
them entirely!
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Title: Demand and You Shall Receive · Author: grey_wonderer · Genres:
Humor: Children · ID: 159
Reviewer: Bodkin · 2006-08-31 07:32:26
You are so brilliant at these hilarious little tales of hobbity childhood!

Merry is proved right about the bossy and light-fingered little Took -
and poor Frodo ends up giving into his cute persistence - but, at least
no-one can say that he doesn't value what he ... acquires. Although I
suppose the purse has developed extra sentimental attachment as a
memorial of his cousin the Ringbearer.

Lovely story - I think I especially like Esmeralda's unmovable belief in
the charming innocence of baby Pippin. Yes, right!!
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Title: That Which Cannot Be Put Into Words · Author: Pearl Took · Times:
The Great Years: Vignette · ID: 230
Reviewer: Bodkin · 2006-08-31 07:35:32
Pippin has a natural talent for communicating with others - he always
seems to find a point of contact. (Must be his faerie blood!)

I do love the image that came to me of Galadriel as a kind of
benevolent, all-seeing nanny overlooking the Wood and its environs and
inhabitants.

And trust Pippin to find that singing is a perfect way to communicate
with someone whose language he does not share. Very touching.

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Title: A new tradition · Author: Tanaqui · Races: Dwarves: Fixed-Length
Ficlet · ID: 869
Reviewer: Bodkin · 2006-08-31 07:58:52
There could be a bit of serious improvisation going on here - twenty
three is quite a lot of toys to find overnight! Mind you, it's a
pleasant innovation - and one that will make Aglarond a place of its own
with its own traditions.

And Legolas is off to find a present of his own! I wonder who that will
be for ...

I do like stories about dwarves - there aren't enough of them! Lovely story.
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Title: Night Phantoms · Author: Marta · Genres: Drama: Remembering · ID: 696
Reviewer: Bodkin · 2006-08-31 08:13:08
Faramir and Eowyn are just so exactly right for each other. He is
sensitive enough to offer support in such a subtle way - and she
understands him. I love the idea of Faramir seeking information about
Grima and Eowyn's life in Rohan, while not letting any of his sources
realise that they are telling him all about it. I suppose he has known
her long enough to realise it would be a mistake to respond to her
sexually at that time - and that what she needs is affection and gentleness.

I also love that Eowyn will be there for him in the spring - offering
him the same understanding. Whatever the customs of Gondorian and
Rohirric society, there's is a relationship of equals - and happy to be
equals, too. No cages in their relationship.

The nightingale seems a perfect symbol of beauty after suffering and new
worlds.
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Title: Cakes and Apples · Author: Ruby Nye · Races: Hobbits:
Post-Sauron's Fall · ID: 891
Reviewer: Bodkin · 2006-08-31 08:32:30
I just love Merry's memories of Bag End's kitchen and apple cakes past -
it just sums up so much of what made these hobbits the people they were.
And I can smell that kitchen and see Pippin shooting up getting taller
and hungrier, yet still bouncing. It reveals just exactly why Merry is
so worried about the limp survivor who isn't bothering to eat. I can
certainly see why he'll find any apples within a fifty mile radius and
get that cake made!

Mind you, I think the love - Merry's and Legolas's - is probably even
more healing than the cake. But the cake is a terrific bonus. And it
sounds delicious!
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Title: Pride Goeth... · Author: Marigold · Races: Cross-Cultural · ID: 936
Reviewer: Bodkin · 2006-08-31 08:53:22
Poor Boromir. So sure of himself. So confident as to his own
superiority. So wrong.

He is being more than a little sizeist here. And patronising. But at
least he shows himself willing to listen and learn. And he is likeable.
But, oh dear, the foreshadowing - he will not sound his horn again
unless their lives are in danger.

He can't help but like the hobbits - even if he does think of them as in
dire need of his protection. Which he will give them. Poor Boromir.
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Title: Planning Ahead · Author: Gwynnyd · Races: Men · ID: 84
Reviewer: Bodkin · 2006-08-31 09:09:33
Poor Arathorn. It is undoubtedly quite cute to have a pretty little girl
tell you she is going to marry you - most of them can be reminded of the
incident in later years to their intense embarrassment - but when you
are hungover and in pain it must seem rather surreal. And then, with the
Dunedain having these flashes of foresight, you could never be sure that
it didn't mean rather more than it first appeared.

I do like this first meeting - Gilraen is so delightfully sure ... and
very forgiving of him for not having her ring there and then. Arathorn -
he must wonder if he's still drunk, I think. But she will remind him!
(If he needs it.)


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Title: Second Son · Author: Nesta · Times: Fourth Age and Beyond: Gondor
· ID: 843
Reviewer: Bodkin · 2006-08-31 09:35:00
Turin has an enquiring mind - but he is too immature to consider the
human aspect. Perhaps his father should tell him about Hallagrim - and,
if he can identify them, about the former owners of the other bones. In
some ways Faramir's son seems to share some of his father's
characteristics - curiosity and analytical intelligence.

They must have been turning up the remnants of war for years on the
Pelennor and throughout Ithilien - just as they are on the battlefields
of the First World War. Eventually it would all become ... just the
interesting leftovers of history - but, for Turin, this is his father's
past. The sooner he understands that, the less likely his brother is to
throttle him.
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Title: Summer Call · Author: mitasova · Races: Men: Post-Sauron's Fall ·
ID: 772
Reviewer: Bodkin · 2006-08-31 09:41:38
Poor Barahir will always feel guilty that he let his grandfather
persuade him to connive in his escape to the outdoors - but really,
Faramir was ready to leave. He will relish the reunions and the return
of his youthful strength.
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Title: Sisters · Author: grey_wonderer · Races: Hobbits: Children · ID: 182
Reviewer: Bodkin · 2006-08-31 11:56:25
I love the characters that you have given Pippin's sisters - and I think
that, on the whole, I agree with Merry - three Took sisters are better
to have than a pony. Pippin does, underneath it all, know that he's well
off with the them all, even if they are rather tiresome at times.

Great fun.
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Title: On Frozen shores · Author: ann_arien · Times: First Age and
Prior: Incomplete · ID: 490
Reviewer: Marta · 2006-08-31 12:04:19
Nice start. I like that Feanor stayed behind; that could prove an
interesting twist, and certainly suggests a different character than the
one I've always imagined.
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Title: When Winter Fell · Author: Lindelea · Races: Hobbits: Incomplete
· ID: 111
Reviewer: Bodkin · 2006-08-31 12:17:55
I am looking forward to seeing Bilbo's relationship with his Uncle Isen
develop (hopefully) into affection and respect.

It is so easy to empathise with him. Uncle Isen is embarrassing - but he
isn't mad at all - well, not really - and what he really needs is
someone who will listen to him and show him some respect. He must be
desperately lonely, poor hobbit. And the rambling tunnels of the Smials
is probably the worst place for him. (Especially with those
unadventurous brothers acting as gaolers.)

He might not see it yet, but Isen will be better off with Bella and
Bungo - and Bilbo is about to learn a few things that will turn him into
Gandalf's next hobbit adventurer.

And then there's the parallel of Fortinbras's story - of mad old
Gerontius and his smug son. And another bitter winter.

I do look forward to see how this is going to develop.

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Title: Do Not Think Me A Dream · Author: EdorasLass · Races: Men: Gondor
· ID: 40
Reviewer: Bodkin · 2006-08-31 12:26:01
Poor Finduilas. She seems so lonely. It must be hard for her to fill the
role of Gondor's First Lady - to the exclusion of the role of being
Boromir and Faramir's mother. If she had been able to spend more time
involving herself in the practicalities of caring for them, she might
have been less vulnerable to the drag of the dark shadow hanging over
the White City.

I loved seeing her tuck Boromir into his blankets and kissing him - and
I'm glad that he roused enough to notice her. I hope he remembers his
mother's occasional nocturnal visit once she has gone from them all. I'm
not surprised she is somewhat jealous of Nanny's closeness to the boys,
either, but she is lucky to have someone so caring to protect them when
she can't - and to be there for themwhen their mother has gone.

Very bitter sweet.


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Title: I can only manage One · Author: Lady Bluejay · Genres: Romance:
Lothíriel & Éomer · ID: 766
Reviewer: Bodkin · 2006-08-31 12:33:58
This was another fun excursion into the development of Eomer and
Lothiriel's relationship. I'm not surprised that Lothiriel was rather
indignant at everyone making up her mind for her - they could at least
have introduced her to Eomer first! I did like it when Lothiriel stood
up to the lion - and revealed that she has a strong will. And when she
was ... informed of the facts of life! It made the remaining days of
courtship much more fun! And, probably, the days that followed the wedding.

Good fun.
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Title: Don't Panic! · Author: Boz4PM · Times: The Great Years · ID: 908
Reviewer: Bodkin · 2006-08-31 12:40:05
This is a hilarious - and very sensible - look at what it must really be
like to be landed in an alien world with a bunch of very strange people,
none of whom can speak your language. Not to mention the very reasonable
take on - er - hygiene issues. It is also a very good set of ideas on
the whole butterfly-wing stuff on causality. Penny's horror and
disbelief and eventual decision that she has to remain silent in order
not to change the future is really the only one she can come up with -
particularly if she's seen various Star Trek episodes - the one with
Joan Collins.

I love your take on various key characters - particularly the
Rangers-need-no-onions Halbarad. And the share-my-comb!!??!! Elladan.
(Others, too - but those moments just stick in my memory.)

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this - and I'm glad I didn't discover it
until it was complete because it was such fun to read the whole thing
through in one big bite. Good stuff.
-----------------------------------