Reviewer: Kitt Otter Signed [Report This]
Date: 02/06/09 - 07:07 pm Title: A Young Romance

Very sweet essay! I loved this line: As we grow older we lose that part of ourselves and it makes me sad that I can't fully be convinced that the trees in my backyard are ents anymore.
So true.
I felt heartbroken for you about Gollum. I know that scene in RotK makes me teary as well. I grew up with the slightly sillier Gollum of The Hobbit, so the LotR Gollum always shakes me up.
Good luck with the reading and writing! :D

Reviewer: Anwyn Signed [Report This]
Date: 01/06/09 - 12:41 pm Title: "Of Plant Pots, Siblings and Mad Uncle Tim" - Narya

Hey there Karlmir, that last essay was mine but I did forget to put my name anywhere on it as I finished it at quite late as I was determined to finish it but didn't sign it anywhere XD

Reviewer: xFanarix Signed [Report This]
Date: 01/06/09 - 10:13 am Title: Chapter 6: Not all those who wander are lost; Some of us quite enjoy it!

Lol, Anwyn, I remember the RPG boards very well, and the kerfuffle at anything slightly 'different', but as I put on my bio, I do not know another person beside you who came from play-by-post RPG to Fanfiction (apart from myself) I do think though, if I had never grown through RP and had places to write which were safe and allowed me to explore my characters, I would never have gone on to write stories. So, I do owe those sites that!

Reviewer: Narya Signed [Report This]
Date: 31/05/09 - 09:01 pm Title: Thank you, by Ndil

This was a lovely essay, Ndil - I totally agree that Tolkien reads like history! And I also agree that it's very unfair that nobody translated the appendices.

Did you ever re-read The Hobbit?

Thanks for adding to this! :-)

Reviewer: Kitt Otter Signed [Report This]
Date: 31/05/09 - 01:44 am Title: Thank you, by Ndil

This was a really touching essay, Ndil! I read the Hobbit in German once and yeah, it's hard when looking up every other word...
I had to chuckle a bit on the only fantasy knowledge being from Disney. (Snow White - ew.)
I was pleasantly surprised too finding this site and seeing it so active.
Good luck writing… :)

Reviewer: xFanarix Signed [Report This]
Date: 30/05/09 - 06:28 pm Title: Thank you, by Ndil

I read all three books in two days. I forgot about trivial things like eating and sleeping. Tolkien captured me, with maps and vivid descriptions of his world. I didn’t even realize I was reading and appreciating fantasy. It didn’t feel like fantasy. It read as history, ancient history. He shaped my imagination like few others have.

I absolutely agree with you there. I think what sets Tolkien completely apart is that his is a fully realized universe with an underpinning of immense and complex history and that, to me, is an irresistible invitation to write within it, just as *real* history is an invitation.

Reviewer: Esteliel Signed [Report This]
Date: 15/05/09 - 12:30 pm Title: Chapter 3 ~ And the doors in my mind swung open...

I'm so glad that somehow you wound up finding my story and this site through this - I couldn't imagine any higher praise than knowing that someone whose stories and characters I love and admire found her way to fanfic through me!

Despite the troubles one can sometimes find in fandom, for me the positive experiences vastly outnumber the negative ones - reading (and writig) fanfic or just talking about Tolkien's work is something that gives me a lot of pleasure and joy, more than any other fandom I've ever been in, and I hope that will never stop. (I can't imagine it will - there is somehow *more* to Tolkien than there ever was in any other fandoms I've been in. :))

Reviewer: Kitt Otter Signed [Report This]
Date: 14/05/09 - 12:30 am Title: An Unexpected Journey

"demonic apple trees from the Wizard of Oz..." Wow! Me too!!!
The songs were hilarious. I'm still laughing. :D
Thanks for sharing this, Caller!

Reviewer: Narya Signed [Report This]
Date: 13/05/09 - 10:19 am Title: Chapter 3 ~ And the doors in my mind swung open...

Oh, thank you so much for adding to this! I can just picture you lying in the hammock and being engrossed in The Hobbit...and I also type out massive long quotes and pin them to my noticeboard at uni!

Tolkien is timeless for many reasons, but his use of folklore speaks to something deep within our race memory, Elves, sorcery, artifacts of Power, the death of hero's and tragic last stands (which is very Anglo-Saxon, and if any-one has a chance to read Esteliel's superb essays, please do.) hence that feeling of familiarity, or that is what I believe.

I think that's absolutely spot on; it speaks to us on a very primal, basic level. And I will have to look at Esteliel's essays!

By the way, since your essays were pretty much all Tolkien-related, I think you'd be safe to put them back up - I loved them, so please think about it!!

Reviewer: xFanarix Signed [Report This]
Date: 13/05/09 - 06:13 am Title: "Of Plant Pots, Siblings and Mad Uncle Tim" - Narya

Wow, what a marvelous story. You certainly have your uncle's gift for storytelling! Although I must admit if one of mine had whispered ' Put...on..the Ring.' I would have gone through the roof!

Not every story ends happily, although some – like Sam’s – do. All that is gold does not glitter. Love and infatuation are two different things and can easily be confused. The world is not divided into “goodies” and “baddies” – there are shades of grey everywhere. Most importantly, ordinary people are capable of extraordinary things; you don’t have to be a prince or a beautiful young orphan to deserve to have a story told about you. No other book has ever taught me so much.

Very true, and although my infatuation rapidly shifted from LOTR to the Silmarillion I will always remember coming to the books. That is a fantastic title, too!

Author's Response: Thank you!!! I now love the Silm too, although I do tend to write around the Third Age because that's where my canon knowledge is strongest. I have got a couple of plot bunnies nibbling at me from earlier times, one to do with Haleth and one to do with Maglor, but I'm writing so many stories at the moment that I'm going to wait until I've finished one off before I launch into another project. And nothing has made me jump as much as "put...on...the Ring" - ever. Thanks for reviewing, glad you enjoyed it :-)