for The Shadow of Suspicion1/24/2017 c4 Ava
well, your Italian heritage got me...
I liked how Dis ruled over Thorin, I laughed at this because I do the same with my older brother :). we are close.
I like also how you portrayed Denethor's behavior to be as it is, somewhat, in The Return of the King when he IS steward...
good job!
well, your Italian heritage got me...
I liked how Dis ruled over Thorin, I laughed at this because I do the same with my older brother :). we are close.
I like also how you portrayed Denethor's behavior to be as it is, somewhat, in The Return of the King when he IS steward...
good job!
1/24/2017 c3 Ava
I love how you added Aragorn! I was so excited when I read the ranger.. with the Rohirrim because I knew it had to be Aragorn, and it was! I hope I will read more of him in here?!
I love how you added Aragorn! I was so excited when I read the ranger.. with the Rohirrim because I knew it had to be Aragorn, and it was! I hope I will read more of him in here?!
4/21/2016 c10 
5Nalbal
pride in this. He takes pride in his accomplishments, but not in an unhealthy way. He feels that by doing this, he is "useful", and has fulfilled his "purpose".
And then Nala goes and tells him "Oh, I don't love you for any of these things." It rocks Fili's world. Then what the hell is he good for? Deep down I believe he knows that his family loves him as a person, but intellectually, I think he gets caught up thinking that they love him for what he does or has become (e.g. Thorin loving him because he is a good nephew, prince, heir, warrior; Dis because he is a good son, etc.). It certainly is plain to see that if Fili ever knew that he is loved for his person and not his actions (which, again, I am sure he did at some point), he has forgotten. Or else, because he a stupid boy who gets all caught up being macho, he never condsidered it (actually, quite likely). Thank goodness Nala set him straight. That moment when Fili realizes that he is loved *unconditionally* regardless of what he is or has become... it is beautiful.
But, *wow*, when Fili compares Thorin to Thranduil. . . phew. Such a great moment. And this...
"He saw the bitterness and anger that had consumed him, driven him, kept him blind to the qualities of a great king. He looked in the eyes of Fili and saw none of those vices. Fili was selfless, wise, unbroken by the cares of this world. All the things Thorin had never been."
Fili's kindness to Denethor, too is an example of this. I really like how Thorin attributes Fili's greater qualities to Joli, the father he knew for so short a time. . . I did a little dance inside my heart at that.
DSFSAFDKLdslfkj and Kili's embarrassed little hug and expression of love I just CAN'T.
This was such an epic ending, so carefully and wonderfully crafted. Well done, my friend. 3
5Nalbalpride in this. He takes pride in his accomplishments, but not in an unhealthy way. He feels that by doing this, he is "useful", and has fulfilled his "purpose".
And then Nala goes and tells him "Oh, I don't love you for any of these things." It rocks Fili's world. Then what the hell is he good for? Deep down I believe he knows that his family loves him as a person, but intellectually, I think he gets caught up thinking that they love him for what he does or has become (e.g. Thorin loving him because he is a good nephew, prince, heir, warrior; Dis because he is a good son, etc.). It certainly is plain to see that if Fili ever knew that he is loved for his person and not his actions (which, again, I am sure he did at some point), he has forgotten. Or else, because he a stupid boy who gets all caught up being macho, he never condsidered it (actually, quite likely). Thank goodness Nala set him straight. That moment when Fili realizes that he is loved *unconditionally* regardless of what he is or has become... it is beautiful.
But, *wow*, when Fili compares Thorin to Thranduil. . . phew. Such a great moment. And this...
"He saw the bitterness and anger that had consumed him, driven him, kept him blind to the qualities of a great king. He looked in the eyes of Fili and saw none of those vices. Fili was selfless, wise, unbroken by the cares of this world. All the things Thorin had never been."
Fili's kindness to Denethor, too is an example of this. I really like how Thorin attributes Fili's greater qualities to Joli, the father he knew for so short a time. . . I did a little dance inside my heart at that.
DSFSAFDKLdslfkj and Kili's embarrassed little hug and expression of love I just CAN'T.
This was such an epic ending, so carefully and wonderfully crafted. Well done, my friend. 3
4/20/2016 c10 8booksfoodmusic-minion
I love this fic, and I'm sooo happy that it has a happy ending! I loved the whole thing!
:D
Will we be seeing more of Fili and Nála later in other things? E.g. after marriage etc...?
:)
8booksfoodmusic-minionI love this fic, and I'm sooo happy that it has a happy ending! I loved the whole thing!
:D
Will we be seeing more of Fili and Nála later in other things? E.g. after marriage etc...?
:)
4/19/2016 c10 jaymzNonoel
Wow! That was a great ending! :D ThNk you for writing and sharing this awesome story! :D
Wow! That was a great ending! :D ThNk you for writing and sharing this awesome story! :D
4/15/2016 c10 1faramirs
oH MY LORD I LOVED THIS SO MUCH THIS AU IS LITERALLY MY FAVOURITE IM CRYING NALA AND FILI ARE JUSt
mAN I AM SO HAPPY THIS IS MY FAVOURITE AU IVE SAID THIS ALREADY BUT HOLYYYYYYYYYY IT'S MY FAVOURITE
GOSH DARN THIS IS THE GREATEST
i swear if nala dies or something oR YOU TORTURE FILI EVEN MORE I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN
but actually this was such a great ending and although i'm a little, ahem, "salty" that Beren was such a bad guy even though in the silm he was tHE GREATEST i loved it anyway and i can't stop crying this was so good oh my gosh
and yooooooo i'm glad you're back! my url is fairamirs so i'll be coming to follow you :DDDDDDD
1faramirsoH MY LORD I LOVED THIS SO MUCH THIS AU IS LITERALLY MY FAVOURITE IM CRYING NALA AND FILI ARE JUSt
mAN I AM SO HAPPY THIS IS MY FAVOURITE AU IVE SAID THIS ALREADY BUT HOLYYYYYYYYYY IT'S MY FAVOURITE
GOSH DARN THIS IS THE GREATEST
i swear if nala dies or something oR YOU TORTURE FILI EVEN MORE I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN
but actually this was such a great ending and although i'm a little, ahem, "salty" that Beren was such a bad guy even though in the silm he was tHE GREATEST i loved it anyway and i can't stop crying this was so good oh my gosh
and yooooooo i'm glad you're back! my url is fairamirs so i'll be coming to follow you :DDDDDDD
4/13/2016 c10 Grace2smile
Loved this story! :D And I can't wait for the next one!
Eleanor Tomlinson is LOVELY! But every time I picture her, she's with Kili. O.o Oops.
Keep up the good work!
Loved this story! :D And I can't wait for the next one!
Eleanor Tomlinson is LOVELY! But every time I picture her, she's with Kili. O.o Oops.
Keep up the good work!
4/13/2016 c10 28Pericula Ludus
Here we go! Now don’t expect me to be competing in this mad race for THE LONGEST REVIEW ever. I’ll focus on quality and quantity might not happen ;). The end! Dundundunduuuuh… What a wild ride this fic has been! I’ve really enjoyed your work, it’s a great take on an Everybody Lives AU and a mystery fic is a little explored avenue in this fandom, so as I’m a sucker for a bit of variety, I had a lot of fun with that. The cast of characters is vast, but never felt overpowering, and of course it’s nice to see some well-known names putting in an appearance, linking hobbit and LotR fandoms. Nice work and a whopper chapter to tie up all the many strings now!
Oh Denethor… I like that he is a good guy in this, but you can’t entirely ignore the tendencies that are going to lead to his downfall either. It’s all there in this shy young man who tries so hard to do good, even though he is in way over his head in this situation. Your description of the way down to the prison cells is nice. It always fascinates me to think about Erebor, simply because the Dwarves think so differently from us. Pfffft, Balin, don’t pretend you’d spend any less than an age arguing with the guy if the roles were reversed… Anyways, back to the serious subject matter. The greater good. The justification for so many things. The greater good. Ahh, that has been the underlying drive for so many, many horrific deeds. What I like here is that Beren’s reasoning is quite sound. I’m the first to admit that I’m a coward. All those great values and virtues are lovely, but a bit of compromise… tempting, very tempting if there is nothing but loss and darkness ahead. For all that Beren is disparaging of Denethor here… Denethor holds out for a very long time. Gondor stands strong, not as strong as it could have maybe, but Gondor stands and Gondor defends and I think we cannot forget that. Gondor held out until the King returned. A King who right now is in Erebor and knows of the weakness in his kingdom… and decides that it is better off in the hands of the steward and his son for now.
Ahh, sweet lovebirds. Haha, I very much sympathise with Fíli here. Being weak is just not on, certainly not in front of people you care about, very, very difficult. And the Nála turns that into “do you not trust me” issue. Argh. Ahh, sugar… I feel like I need to brush my teeth now to keep them from rotting. People, can you please vote against the love stories? I’d quite like to keep my teeth for a few more years…
Oi, Thorin, watch the racism… not all Men are fools… Doing pretty well for people who don’t live for centuries, thank you very much… I love that this is such a contrast to the earlier observation by Kíli that insanely young Men are pretty wise and experienced. I like how Thorin trusts Fíli to know best. Those two are fascinating in this, very similar, but also very different, and with a pretty complex relationship. Seeing Fíli stand up to him and put an end to Thorin’s desire to hunt down more traitors is lovely. I wish he’d had a few more lines in this scene, but given what he has just gone through, he can probably be forgiven for leaving things up to Balin for the most part. Interesting that he said the line about Thranduil “hotly”. I imagined it more as an icy quiet voice. Either way, it certainly shows Thorin that is ickle nephew has grown up a fair bit! Ooh, and there some Gandalf’s line, back to haunt him… dundundunduuuh…
Thorongil! Hehehehe, oh you know you can always make me happy by mentioning him. Even if he makes those horrid Elven gestures. Really, Thorin… that racism… It’s nice to see the young Lords together… what a team they could make, Thorongil, Denethor, and Fíli… not to be for many reasons, but what a trio…
Hehehehe, Kíli, you know thinking before speaking is totally overrated. Ah, I like Fíli’s perspective on Beren’s suicide. He’s got his head screwed on right. A lot more reasonable than the rest of them put together. Even Thranduil likes it, so hey, Fíli really has some good ideas. Perfectly understandable though that he wants to just sit quietly for a while after all of that. Happy end! Yay!
Ideas for the future… and you are dragging me into this… right, right… Well, let’s see what the assembled readership says, but I would be delighted to write this collab with you!
28Pericula LudusHere we go! Now don’t expect me to be competing in this mad race for THE LONGEST REVIEW ever. I’ll focus on quality and quantity might not happen ;). The end! Dundundunduuuuh… What a wild ride this fic has been! I’ve really enjoyed your work, it’s a great take on an Everybody Lives AU and a mystery fic is a little explored avenue in this fandom, so as I’m a sucker for a bit of variety, I had a lot of fun with that. The cast of characters is vast, but never felt overpowering, and of course it’s nice to see some well-known names putting in an appearance, linking hobbit and LotR fandoms. Nice work and a whopper chapter to tie up all the many strings now!
Oh Denethor… I like that he is a good guy in this, but you can’t entirely ignore the tendencies that are going to lead to his downfall either. It’s all there in this shy young man who tries so hard to do good, even though he is in way over his head in this situation. Your description of the way down to the prison cells is nice. It always fascinates me to think about Erebor, simply because the Dwarves think so differently from us. Pfffft, Balin, don’t pretend you’d spend any less than an age arguing with the guy if the roles were reversed… Anyways, back to the serious subject matter. The greater good. The justification for so many things. The greater good. Ahh, that has been the underlying drive for so many, many horrific deeds. What I like here is that Beren’s reasoning is quite sound. I’m the first to admit that I’m a coward. All those great values and virtues are lovely, but a bit of compromise… tempting, very tempting if there is nothing but loss and darkness ahead. For all that Beren is disparaging of Denethor here… Denethor holds out for a very long time. Gondor stands strong, not as strong as it could have maybe, but Gondor stands and Gondor defends and I think we cannot forget that. Gondor held out until the King returned. A King who right now is in Erebor and knows of the weakness in his kingdom… and decides that it is better off in the hands of the steward and his son for now.
Ahh, sweet lovebirds. Haha, I very much sympathise with Fíli here. Being weak is just not on, certainly not in front of people you care about, very, very difficult. And the Nála turns that into “do you not trust me” issue. Argh. Ahh, sugar… I feel like I need to brush my teeth now to keep them from rotting. People, can you please vote against the love stories? I’d quite like to keep my teeth for a few more years…
Oi, Thorin, watch the racism… not all Men are fools… Doing pretty well for people who don’t live for centuries, thank you very much… I love that this is such a contrast to the earlier observation by Kíli that insanely young Men are pretty wise and experienced. I like how Thorin trusts Fíli to know best. Those two are fascinating in this, very similar, but also very different, and with a pretty complex relationship. Seeing Fíli stand up to him and put an end to Thorin’s desire to hunt down more traitors is lovely. I wish he’d had a few more lines in this scene, but given what he has just gone through, he can probably be forgiven for leaving things up to Balin for the most part. Interesting that he said the line about Thranduil “hotly”. I imagined it more as an icy quiet voice. Either way, it certainly shows Thorin that is ickle nephew has grown up a fair bit! Ooh, and there some Gandalf’s line, back to haunt him… dundundunduuuh…
Thorongil! Hehehehe, oh you know you can always make me happy by mentioning him. Even if he makes those horrid Elven gestures. Really, Thorin… that racism… It’s nice to see the young Lords together… what a team they could make, Thorongil, Denethor, and Fíli… not to be for many reasons, but what a trio…
Hehehehe, Kíli, you know thinking before speaking is totally overrated. Ah, I like Fíli’s perspective on Beren’s suicide. He’s got his head screwed on right. A lot more reasonable than the rest of them put together. Even Thranduil likes it, so hey, Fíli really has some good ideas. Perfectly understandable though that he wants to just sit quietly for a while after all of that. Happy end! Yay!
Ideas for the future… and you are dragging me into this… right, right… Well, let’s see what the assembled readership says, but I would be delighted to write this collab with you!
4/12/2016 c10 sorrellkaren
It was good to hear from you again. I enjoyed the end of this fic and yes I have read Ghost of Erebor so I know what happens next. It is good hear you are planning future fics. I have noticed a few authors have stopped writing as much or at all now that the last movie has come and gone. I feel some are leaving the Hobbit universe in search of other things. Not I. I will forever be a fan of these characters. The politics was very will written in this chapter I was so proud of Fili. Thanks for another great fic. Be looking forward to the next one.
It was good to hear from you again. I enjoyed the end of this fic and yes I have read Ghost of Erebor so I know what happens next. It is good hear you are planning future fics. I have noticed a few authors have stopped writing as much or at all now that the last movie has come and gone. I feel some are leaving the Hobbit universe in search of other things. Not I. I will forever be a fan of these characters. The politics was very will written in this chapter I was so proud of Fili. Thanks for another great fic. Be looking forward to the next one.
4/12/2016 c10 4Booksnake3
That bit with Fili and Nála was actually beautiful. I think I almost cried. You are beyond wonderful.
I have therefore come to a very difficult decision. You see, about a year ago or more I had an idea for a (very angsty) fic to follow an everyone-lives au, set at the time of the War of the Ring (because Erebor gets a ton of problems and war and stuff) and I've been clinging onto this idea for so long in the hopes that I might get around to writing it, but the background is so hard to put together and then I get stuck on the actual writing bit because, to be honest, I'm not a very good writer. On the other hand, it would actually fit in this universe and you would be my absolute first choice person to write it. But please don't feel I'm forcing this on you! It's just a vague setup for some pain so if you actually want to hear it I will message it to you. If it's never going to happen then that's absolutely fine, and I may write it in 10 years or so. If it's going to sit on your ideas shelf as a maybe for several more years, that's also fine. I just felt you were the person to offer it to :)
4Booksnake3That bit with Fili and Nála was actually beautiful. I think I almost cried. You are beyond wonderful.
I have therefore come to a very difficult decision. You see, about a year ago or more I had an idea for a (very angsty) fic to follow an everyone-lives au, set at the time of the War of the Ring (because Erebor gets a ton of problems and war and stuff) and I've been clinging onto this idea for so long in the hopes that I might get around to writing it, but the background is so hard to put together and then I get stuck on the actual writing bit because, to be honest, I'm not a very good writer. On the other hand, it would actually fit in this universe and you would be my absolute first choice person to write it. But please don't feel I'm forcing this on you! It's just a vague setup for some pain so if you actually want to hear it I will message it to you. If it's never going to happen then that's absolutely fine, and I may write it in 10 years or so. If it's going to sit on your ideas shelf as a maybe for several more years, that's also fine. I just felt you were the person to offer it to :)
4/12/2016 c10 5Celebrisilweth
Nice wrap-up. I'm sure Thorin and the rest felt cheated by the outcome; I know I do. And there always the unanswered question about how far the problem reaches. In fact, there's much more potential to be mined from this story.
5CelebrisilwethNice wrap-up. I'm sure Thorin and the rest felt cheated by the outcome; I know I do. And there always the unanswered question about how far the problem reaches. In fact, there's much more potential to be mined from this story.
4/12/2016 c10 1jepenner
Stephanie! This was brilliant (as always!). I always adore how you write the fluffy bits with Nala and Fili. Also I kinda feel Thorins disappointment that Beren cheated the hangman. Bur oh well. I agree, not letting Beren make himself into a martyr was a smart move.
Anyways splendidly done as always!
1jepennerStephanie! This was brilliant (as always!). I always adore how you write the fluffy bits with Nala and Fili. Also I kinda feel Thorins disappointment that Beren cheated the hangman. Bur oh well. I agree, not letting Beren make himself into a martyr was a smart move.
Anyways splendidly done as always!
4/12/2016 c10 31ladybug114
Yay, you're back! I loved the way this ended, Fili and Nala are so cute together, and I love her character a lot :)
Can't wait to see what you do next!
31ladybug114Yay, you're back! I loved the way this ended, Fili and Nala are so cute together, and I love her character a lot :)
Can't wait to see what you do next!
4/12/2016 c10 14delovlies
What a great ending! Though shamelessly I'm really excited you are rebooting lost in the dark now. Still, I loved this fic! Making it au, but still dealing with the consequences and all that. It would be cool if you wrote another one continuing on into the war of the ring and if thorin and the boys being alive changed anything. (But that would also be super hard to write!) the adorable scene with fili and Nala was the best, and I totally see Eleanor Tomlinson as her, perfect! the way you wrote thorin and films realationship is also great. But that hug with fili and kili at the end destroyed me. I forgot how much I love them!
Happy writing whatever comes next:)
14delovliesWhat a great ending! Though shamelessly I'm really excited you are rebooting lost in the dark now. Still, I loved this fic! Making it au, but still dealing with the consequences and all that. It would be cool if you wrote another one continuing on into the war of the ring and if thorin and the boys being alive changed anything. (But that would also be super hard to write!) the adorable scene with fili and Nala was the best, and I totally see Eleanor Tomlinson as her, perfect! the way you wrote thorin and films realationship is also great. But that hug with fili and kili at the end destroyed me. I forgot how much I love them!
Happy writing whatever comes next:)
4/12/2016 c10 18Luinwen-2013
Worth all the waiting, as usual. Fili is going to be a great king, when his time comes!
18Luinwen-2013Worth all the waiting, as usual. Fili is going to be a great king, when his time comes!