Hi, your story was great! Truly amazing. Just a pity that's over already...Wished you would write more.

Excuse me for a second while I go wipe my tears...okay, all set. I just need to proclaim my undying love for you for a second...OMG I LOVE YOU STORY AND BY PROXY I LOVE YOU FOR WRITING IT!

Thank you for this chapter! Pippin is wonderfully written. It is a pleasure to read you.

Well, i absolutely love everything about this story and your characterization of faramir in particular, ive read all of your stories and I.Am.Your.Biggest.Fan. lol, not to sound wierd or anything. im waiting patiently for you to write somthing new, good luck with that. anyway, shameless plug, could you perty please check out my story "finding Arda" cause it doesnt have any reviews yet, (i blame the overused concept) and i would be real honored if you did. thanx a bunch and yes, i luv your stuff. toodeloo

Beautiful! Actually, I'm kind of angry with you for playing so skillfully with my emotions and writing so beautifully that here I am in the late hours of the night wiping tears out of my eyes... but I think I'll let it slide :D

So, this wonderful, beautiful, heart-wrenching story came about because you accidentially named Faramir's son Barahir? That's fairly interesting... Tolkien wrote in his journal that he did not mean for Faramir to exist at all, but that he was just there, in the middle of Ithilien, and that while he liked him, he wasn't quite sure he was even his creation. That makes me think of that, and how some of the best things in literature weren't planned.

Anyways, please keep writing more!

Excellent story. You do a wonderful job developing your original characters, and still manage to keep the canon characters believable. I'd be very interested in reading more in this universe.

This was one of the most well written fanfics I've ever read. After finishing this story the first time, I re-read "Conversations" and the parts with Barahir in it were made more poignant. Thank you so much. Looking forward to others like it.

I finally caught up with this - RL will have to go! Heartbreaking in parts, but I think that's what you intended. :) Absolutely beautifully written.

great job with Eomund and learning his lesson!

NO! NOT EOMUND! after everything he's done to Faramir, not him! poor Mal, but i like how you dealt with his death.
Great job with Faramir and Eowyn... so sweet. Pippin is so huggable! great job. PLEASE NOT EOMUND TOO!

Go Feorl!! Go Faramir! It's so good to see Eowyn and Faramir happy (or at least pretty happy) together, even if I hate that pairing (i'm so jealous) Every time Pippin goes, "It's like that with my own boy," or some reference to his son, I get this qualm. I just can't see Pippin as a parent; he'll always be that young, adventurous, a bit idiotic, hilarious Hobbit!

great job with Faramir in the library. and Eomund's seen with Mal is great; his growing up and learning his lesson.

YAY! a happy chapter. i want more of Estel and Feorl! omg.. they are so perfect! I'm glad Faramir has hope, and I love how Pippin's excessive eating and chattering is helping. Pippin eats too much. I love how Celeborn can put things into words that Pippin is trying to say; Elven grace eh? It reminds me of my friends and I.
MORE ESTEL!

*appluds* I absolutely loved reading this story. Each chapter was wonderful to read and kept me hooked!

Excellent job on this story!:-D

Great stuff Athelas - over 100 reviews and you deserve them all!

Like everyone else I can't wait to read the new stuff you're working on!

Wow, I have so much to say! I'm going to try to shorten this, but it'll still probably be pretty long:-) First off, I'm sorry I didn't review by chapter. I should have, I know, but I just couldn't make myself stop reading long enough to review! I found your story last night and read as much as I could before I was forced to go to bed. I've had to pee for the last hour, practically, but I haven't been able to drag myself away for even a minute. Your story was so addicting (in a good way). I WANTED to be addicted to it...hehe...

Basically, it all comes down to this: I myself wrote a story something like this about a month ago (in mine Eowyn dies and his children are smaller, but it's basically the same idea: him turning into his father) but after reading yours I want to stop posting! I'll just tell everyone to read your story and call mine a quits:-) For the longest time I didn't read your story (hehe...just started last night, as I said) because I figured it would be just like mine, but I was so wrong! Yours was breathtakingly beautiful, and oh so well written! I guess just the fact that I skipped breakfast today to read it speaks for itself;-)

I'm going to now go through the whole story and highlight what I loved about it for you (the whole thing, really, but...). Ready? Again, sorry I didn't review by chapter, but now I have an overview of the whole thing and it all fits together.

We'll start with Faramir. You did him so well! Words (the very thing you use so eloquently) fail me now, but I'm trying anyway! I could see him going through all those trials very realistically. You didn't over-do him, either. A lot of people, when they write about him, just load him down with thing after thing after thing, and you end up thinking he's this super-human being and just get disgusted with him. You, however, show how just a few simple things can practically break a man. And it was so realistic how you didn't just have him recover because of one good thing, but it took time and patience. At first I wished Eomund would come to Rivendell early on so he could see for himself what he had done to his father, but now I know that wouldn't have worked:-) Eomund needed to learn (a lot). But I'll get to him in a moment.

I loved your Eowyn too, who was so loving and fearful and almost harsh in her concern. She always stuck by Faramir, even when others didn't (a characteristic I enjoyed a LOT). I hate stories where Eowyn deserts Faramir or doesn't understand him. You struck the perfect balance. She wanted to help, but he would not burden her with his grief, and by with-holding from her, burdened her more. I could feel her aggravation and sadness flying off the page, and it was so touching at the part where you talked about her caressing Faramir, as he so wanted to be caressed. Basically, I loved her:-)

And now Eomund. Wow, talk about a complex character! I started out hating him, then felt sorry for him, and now I love him. He lashed out in this grief and didn't even think about what would happen to his father. And I was so enraptured by the fact that he didn't even really change until he was forced aboard the merchant ship and beaten nearly to death, even after being told of his sister's disappearance and his father's illness. That, I might add, was awesome. Seeing his character do a complete 180 blew me away. And I loved when you said Aragorn could see Faramir in him, at the end. I also loved it how he told no one but Faramir and his wife of how he got his scars. He didn't need to go blaring it from the rooftops: it was deeply personal, and only Faramir and the woman he loved had the right to know. I almost ended up loving him more than Faramir in the end...almost:-)

Of the minor characters (all of whom I loved...except the bad guys:-) my favorites were Pippin, Mal, and Aragorn. (Running a close second are Celeborn and Arwen.) Pippin, oh my gosh, when Pippin came I knew the story had hope:-) Jk! But there is something so wholesome and loving about Pippin. He's always been my favorite hobbit, but this story just highlighted his loving nature and his wisdom. (Pippin? Wisdom? Lol:-) Just by being there he helped Faramir, and without him I don't think he would have made it. Mal was awesome just because he was a friend to Eomund in his time of need, and he believed in him and taught him that it was time to grow up. And Aragorn was so so so cool. I've always liked Aragorn, but in this story it just highlighted his love and friendship with Faramir. He cared about him, and he wanted him to recover, even if he was hurt in the process. Especially good was the part when Eumund came home (after almost dying) and when Faramir came to tell him that Estel was missing.

Which brings me to...none other than Estel herself. I'm sorry, but if there was one good character in the story that I didn't like, it was her! I understand she was headstrong, and she didn't think, but I wish she HAD stopped to think what it would do to her father! She reminded me of a little kid who needed to grow up...kinda like Eomund, only he did end up growing up. Don't get me wrong...I have no real problems with her, but I guess everyone has their bones to pick, and she was mine. However, as to writing her, you did a good job of writing her kind of personality realistically and with emotion.

Hmm...what else? I hope I'm not forgetting anything, but I suppose this is long enough as it is. Overall, I'll just say this: I've given up writing. No, that's a lie, I'm sure I'll be writing again next week, but I honestly considered giving up the pen after I finished this. I am so inspired by length, and your story (though it had just a few chapters) was quite long. That is something I simply can't do! Pray, tell me your secret? Lol:-) No, I know you can't, because there's no secret. It's just something that has to be cultivated. I'm going to go read your other stories (particularly the prequel to this) very soon, because I can't wait to read more of your writing! You have an amazing gift, and I envy you in the best way possible. Thank you for writing this beautiful story and sharing it with us.

-An ardent fan