Wow! It is fantastic! You are totally my favorite author on FF!
Aranel/Glorfindel

*sniggers with unholy glee*

This was a wonderful chapter! Elves painting by number themselves into corners, Nim getting wet and cold just for a bit of quiet and a cup of tea, the bit with Arasil, the boat and his father was especially well done... and when Legolas is trying to subtley hint to Meril that Curan might not like a pink boat... *sporfle* :)

Uh oh- the impermance of the paint will be a bit disconcerting for everyone.
Uh oh- what is poor Thranduil's floor going to look like when this is all said and done?
"Healers did not squish. At least, not without good reason." For some reason, this just absolutely cracked me up.
Pink... poor Curan. Maybe he doesn't want his boat back after all.
Bad joke alert, bad joke alert! (Though it was amusing and appropriate given all the painting going on).
Good chapter.

Lol, they have cornered themselves! so happy they were with their painting... ;)
I loved Cerveth's thoughts about guiding his beloved and showing her the artwork :)
Lol, and Meril! so happily painting Cúran's boat pink... I hope he won't be dissapointed when he recovers his boat.
I look forward to next chapter!

What a wonderful, wonderful chapter, mellon-nin! I thoroughly enjoyed it! :-)
I am quite glad about the course the boat problem took - there is a chance now that Arasil will get back his own boat, and I believe this is very important in order to ensure that his ada's decision does not damage his and Curan's friendship. I must say that I do love Eldor here - it is just too sweet how he finds a compromise that keeps the balance between important educational experience and getting the boat back for his elfling. And - although it was but a small moment in the whole story - I liked it very much that Legolas offered to share his boat with Cúran. That is not only very cute of him, but also allows him to take the role of the helpful, helping one for once while it is usually Cúran who is busy mothering Legolas a little.

And then, the boat is found! I was very happy to read that - thank the Valar for Meril's perceptivce eyes! :-) In a way, it is good that they find out that the freshly painted boats come from the river very damaged - there must be another idea for the children's boat race that will work! It would doubtlessly only lead to many tears and great unhappiness if all the poor little boats came out of the water barely recognizable!
LOL - more rapids for Nim, yes! This promises to be fun.

The next part made me laugh so very hard - poor Thranduil! One tends to forget that, in addition to his duties as a king, he also is a "normal" father and husband who is faced with all sorts of problems of daily life. Perhaps he can compare notes with Meril's poor adar at dinner. *g*
And Galion and his companions are too perfect! Painting the floor indeed! And it was most amusing to see poor Thranduil give up completely and flee in the face of disaster - I am sure that does not happen very often!

The next scene was wonderful as well - Legolas is so very right! "No matter how many times he said "I know" though, Nana continued to talk." - that is the way with nanas, I fear, and they never change that habit... Poor Legolas, let me warn you - they even do it to grown-up children, at least to a certain extent!
Again, this is so very realistic and true to life that it just made me laugh with delight, and the ending was very sweet. :-)

It is good to know that Nim enjoyed his wild time on the river - it is an original perspective to see it from the aftermath, but it is true that doing invigorating, even slightly trying, things makes us appreciate the calm and quiet we can usually get even more. I like how you always manage to show us such truths, packed in lots of humour - and I also enjoy the silly "fundamental truths" that we get in between, like this immortal observation: "Healers did not squish. At least, not without good reason." Hm, will we ever get a healer squishing with good reason and on purpose in one of your stories? ;-)

I like it that Legolas almost forgets to eat over all the interesting things "Lady Meril" is working with - they do sound intriguing indeed! And now Curan's boat is painted pink - oh dear! As we learnt earlier that he likes blue better than red, he does not exactly sound like an elfling who would appreciate a "horrendously pink boat", so I can only hope that Meril adds lots of nice bits of coloured glass and the like so that he will have a nice and special boat even in spite of the... unconventional colour. ;-) LOL - why must girls be so silly and paint everything pink, hm? Poor little boy elflings!

Nevertheless, I fear that I liked the last part best, especially as the ending comes so unexpected - Ondren's great experience and art has been presented to us at length before, so this mistake that sounds like something that could happen to a less experienced person is just too priceless! Thranduil have another fine forning the next day, I fear! The number of elves asleep in the dining hall and the amount of splashed paint seems to increase! "Oh, Valar!" indeed! I love it - you always manage to write such awesome humourous scenes!
And Cerveth is still perfect - daydreaming of his lovely lady and proud of his "now ever-so-slightly manly" hand...

Thank you for this wonderful, wonderful chapter - I greatly enjoyed it!

*calmly dodges the water & tackles him with a bear hug*

Nim: V.V;

Me: ^-^

I was so excited to see this update. I like the way that Arasil is so careful about his child. He wants the little one to develop into a good person and that's what he attends to. I wish all children had parents like that.

And the tone of the boating part always pleases me. Here's Nim, who is not enthusiastic, and Meril, who is so capable, and Aldan, who is in love. And they're friends too! Even if she does steal heart and sense.

And paint by number? Tee hee. Who knew the elves painted by number?

Here comes the late, late review... Sorry it took me so long!
LOL - poor Nim! Aldandil seems to rediscover his great love for teasing the poor healer, and he has got a lot of chances to do so now - the Forest River is *not* the Bruinen, after all... ;-) But how very mean to let poor Nim sit in the front for his first ride on this river! "This was not right." - sometimes, I just feel like hugging this poor healer! He takes everything so very seriously!
I loved the Thranduil and Thilome moment that followed then - yes, think positive! It is a nice color! LOL! And I had to laugh very hard at Galion's hope that king and queen would discover there love for an... innovative style of dining room decoration, shall we say? *g* But Thranduil's owl tapestry idea is great as well! I hope the owl tapestry was not a gift from Elrond so that the Lord of Imladris will be very... pleased to see it trampled in the dust. ;-)
But the poor elflings! It is always crushing when you have to realize that some grand plan has not gone as it should... And poor little Cúran! He is always such a dear and the one who ends up offering help... or his boat. And now this! Of course he would be sad that "The Crescent" is gone... Hm, tell me... Will it be found again?
Again, you do a marvelous job of interlacing the more serious parts with the funny ones. Cerveth is a wonderful new OC (although I can't help thinking 'cervus' - Latin for 'deer, stag' - every time I read his name... I know I should rather be thinking of sunlit, flowery meadows and a thunderstorm brewing in the distance, but... Oh well, perhaps it is because he courts his lady so desperately and tries to be so rugged and manly). I had to chuckle at Cerveth's musings over "manly" elves - that is just too funny! And his explanation for Ninglor's strange wishes! Trading trips to Laketown indeed! *g* But there is something true about that... Rugged, manly men seem to be attractive to elven ladies... Aragorn, Túrin, Tuor, Beren... Most interesting, actually. What is it that male elves lack? (Hm. A beard maybe? In that case, Cirdan must be surrounded by hords of female admirers).
ROCL - there are no words for the next conversation between Nim, Aldan and Meril! This is too funny, especially this part: "Perhaps you got the feelings mixed up, especially since you aren't very used to being excited." Poor Nim! But Aldan is right, to a certain degree - it will do Nim good to come out of his safe, boring stillroom and get splashed a little! He tends to bury himself in his work far too often and misses the lighter, more amusing parts of elven life. So, go Aldan! Splash the healer! ;-D
The next part was exceptionally well written in regard to the parent-child-relationship. I loved how you showed Eldor torn between having to be the stern father having to deal out punishment and his love and compassion for his little son. I like that you have both sides there at once - in far too many stories, we get to see only the outside, angry ada one day, happy, loving ada the next... So this is very good and touching!
But, poor Arasil! After all that trouble about his boat and making it especially beautiful, having to give it to Cúran will be terribly hard for him. But, hmm... You left out the really interesting bit, so this *is* a cliffhanger! Will Cúran take the boat at all, or if he takes it, will he regret it later? He seems to have been brought up to empathize a lot with others, so it would not surprise me if he refused this sort of compensation (not even to mention that those boats are self-made and that each boat has a special meaning only to the elfling who made it - they are not as exchangeable as bought toys or toys made by someone else)... I'm hooked now.
After this more serious part, it was *very* good to have a fun bit at the end of the chapter! The initial misunderstanding is priceless, Cerveth misunderstanding Galion's order completely... But... uh oh. Galion has a plan...? I don't know if that is a good thing! Pray tell, what plan? Painting the whole floor that "nice color"? Hm...
"Galion! Is there something else for me to scrub?" - alright. That almost sent me under the table with laughter - Cerveth is such fun! But small wonder that poor Galion is a bit confused now - this *is* not quite understandable if you do not know Cerveth's thoughts... But what wouldn't an elf in love do to make himself more... beautiful, hm?
Awesome chapter once again, Aranel - I am eagerly awaiting the next one! :-)

Nim of course you are alive. Dear Authoress would never kill you off. We all love you too much.
I have gone down the Jurassic Park ride at Universal and Splash Mountain at Disneyland as well as a few other water rides and they are wet and scary. But no the water never hurt me. In fact in August it feels pretty good. But I do commiserate with Nim being cold, wet and frightened of the next bend in the river.
Poor Galion now he has problem with the paint spots. Before it was just the painting he was in a tizzy with. Life is never easy for a major-domo.
I felt very badly about Curan's boat. I hope it isn't lost forever. It never hurts to wish.
I am sure Nim is ecstatic. Can't you tell, he is shivering from both cold and fear.
Poor elflings. Arasil had to give his dragon boat to Duran. Can't Curan just make another one? We have three very sad elflings, one sad ada and one annoyed nana. I love the touch with the clothespins. Especially the teethy, growly one.
Cerveth, somehow I don't think of dishpan hands as being manly or male elfly or whatever, but to each his own.
Yes I expect lots of insanity from this Regatta. I am so waiting for this one to capsize big time but since the wood elves won't know any better they will have a blast.
Thanx for the promise of peach pie.
Thanx also for a saturated elf chapter.

The ending was hilarious! I just loved the scene you set up for Galion and Cerveth... scrubbing floors... that doen't sound very appealing to me. Even more when the red spots doesn't want to come out!
I feel sorry about Arasil. He is always getting into trouble, doesn't him?
I really liked his handiwork on the clothespins!
I look forward to next chapter!

*snickers at a wet Nim*

Very nice chapter, as always. Poor Nimaron- what was he thinking when he got himself into this? Hopefully he will find some way to better cope with his less-than-perfect situation and/or get the others to join his misery.
Gotta love the way elven parents always seem to be able to read their kids' minds. Good for Eldor, making Arasil give up his boat. That seems the fitting and just punishment for his decidedly poor judgment. Does this mean Arasil can have Curan's boat when it washes up battered and covered in water plants?
And poor Galion; it seems the world is crumbling around him. Hope the servant's girl learns to appreciate his smooth hands.

Oh I feel so bad for poor Arasil and for his father too. He's right. Raising children is terrible. It's the most difficult, most subtle thing I've ever done. Sigh.

But Nim is having an experience that is probably good for him. We all need to step outside our comfort zone once in a while, and boy is he ever doing that!

And finally, I find the time to review... ;-)
This was a wonderful chapter once again, with so many fun moments and lovely little details - I absolutely adored it, and I must say that it is especially good that this charming, amusing story is there, too, to balance the more serious ones like "Singing"... :-)
I loved the elflings admiring their boats - their pride in their work rings so true! Perfect little boats indeed, and Arasil's dried red, just as it should! (LOL - poor Galion still! I fear I will never be able to read about that boat without getting the mental image of a collapsing elven butler...) I also like that it is called the Dragon (Alagant says to tell Arasil that this is the very best name a boat can have indeed! ;-)).
And then, another glorious plan! Yes, a boat without people in it would only be half the fun! LOL to Curan's plans - he is very inventive! I had to laugh so much at the idea of the Crescent being the lifeboat of Vingilot! It is truly amazing what a different perspective on all Middle-earth you show us from the elflings' POV - very amusing, endearing and surprising! :-)
LOL to Nim! Yes, it is a bad omen if little wooden Nim and Aldan and Meril get wet! Watch out, valiant healer! *g* But nevertheless, it is cute of Legolas to name his toy people after those three... The remark that both Aldan an Legolas "like green" made me smile - it is amusing to see which likings run in the family and which don't (and how very fitting for Thranduil's boys to like green! ;-D).
The next passage somehow made me think of you know what scene in "Pirates of the Caribbean" (which leads to the great question if there are elven pirates, perhaps attacking the ships going to Valinor...? ;-))... Don't ask me why - it is just the mental image of the people under the boat, I suppose! ;-D The conversation here was most amusing - and Aldandil's "I did?" moment made me laugh so very hard! It is so ironic that he almost causes an accident because he fears that he has already caused one! *g* But poor Nim! He must really be a bit flustered by now! Rocks to hit your head on - and no emergency bandages! A horror scenario for any healer, I suppose!
The elflings' discussion about "good" and "well" made me chuckle - that is such a typically childlike thing (or, more precisely, one you do in childhood, almost forget in your teens and then, start doing again when you have become a language and literature student... *sigh*) - if you have been told that the less attractive way of saying something is the *right* way, much to your chagrin, then others should not be allowed to use the fun, wrong way, either! LOL!
But no, this does NOT sound like a good plan - testing the boats on the forest river?! :-/ And it is a bit sad that they use Curan's - I pity him a bit here because he always wants to help and to be nice, so his boat gets used, of course... And that after he has so nicely secured it with the yarn on the pond! No, not a good thing... I sense trouble ahead!
The three adventurous boat people are really a treat - I enjoy their good-natured banter and Aldan's teasing Nim the slightest bit about the rapids... And putting the healer in the front, no less! Oh dear - that will be interesting. (This part of the story is very good composition-wise, by the way - the elflings' actions of "testing the forest river" mirroring that of Nim & Co until finally both boats are in the water - wonderfully written! :-))
Hm... Arasil can be brave and unworried, of course - it is not *his* precious boat that will be sent floating! If we could only be sure that his predictions are as infallible as Thranduil's! Oh dear - and then it is done... Will this end well? "“It wouldn’t be gone if it were really Eärendil’s lifeboat,

LOL at Curan's ingenuity, responding to the news that he's canonically wrong with a logical and unplanned response. Not that Earendil would have really needed a lifeboat, but these are just details.
Uh oh. Foreshadowing... Hope Nim doesn't wind up too wet when all is said and done.
Two points for Legolas' difficulty doing grammar good. (Well, mutters Awrin). That's the kind of little detail that makes your characterizations so convincing.
Silly elflings, losing poor Curan's boat like that, even after Legolas states the better and more obvious way to test them. Maybe this is why Legolas became Master of the Obvious in RotK.
Rapids. Just what Nimaron wanted...
School (ughvay). Two more weeks, and then I can actually get back to updating my stories. Good luck with that.
Nice chapter.