At least once a year I come back to this truly wonderful, beautifully written story. Sometimes I wonder whether or not I misremember its compelling tone, fascinating characterizations or moving story line – silly me! From the very first sentence I’ve been drawn in without fail every single time. I don’t know if you still ever visit this site or read these comments, but I sincerely hope you do. Thank you so much for writing and sharing this – and for leaving it online! I hope to re-read this many times still to come :)

More than a year later, and hello again!

Recently I’ve had some time to come back here and re-read not only this favourite but also some of your other stories. It was great to find that this story is still as emotionally captivating to me as it was the first and all the other times after I read it, when sometimes I find that I’ve changed so much that I wonder what exactly it was about a story that got me hooked. Your writing, and “Grief and Hope” in particular, however, still have the same pull they used to, perhaps even more so than before – after all, so much time has been spent wondering and asking questions and hoping Faramir might yet get the happy ending he deserves that it feels I’m more invested than I would be if I’d already had all the answers. Finding a positive side to a long time in-between updates :) Still true, though.

In comparison to your other longer works, though, I feel that this story is more balanced somehow. At least, I get the impression that all the characters are more complex here than in your other stories, making their development and substance both more believable and real to me as a reader. I’ve enjoyed all the different takes on Faramir you’ve done, yet this Faramir is “more” to me in a way than the Faramirs in your other writings. There is a very delicate subtlety in your portrayal of him that makes him more tangible and accessible. Please don’t get me wrong, I, like most of the readers on this site, love hurt/comfort stories and so don’t mind a more subdued and cowered Faramir, but I still really like the quiet strength Faramir has here, even more so than in “The King and the Ranger”. Plus, I’m a huge fan of Denethor (flaws and all, to me one of the most fascinating characters in LotR), and as I’ve said before, I like what you’ve made of him here.

So while, of course, I would love to see this story continued sometime in the future (and who doesn’t know RL taking more time than we’d like?), what you’ve written so far stands well enough on its own, and I’d like to say thanks again for sharing this much with us readers already. Some unfinished works are still so much more satsifying and moving to read than many finished stories, and as long as I can come back here and enjoy all the splendid work, I’ll be content and happy with what you’ve accomplished so far. Great work!

update soon, please!!!!!!

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@Loreley: Thank you for taking the time to leave this review and such a detailed one at that. It really made my day to read this, and also made me wish I could be a lot more regular in updating this fic. I’m sorry to take so long to respond.

Thank you for such lovely words. I’m only too glad there were some new chapters for you to read. I have been undeniably slow on this one. I’m heartened that Faramir comes across as you have written, with his wish to find a place he belongs to and his thirst for learning. He is certainly still a scholar and in this particular story I think gentle is one word that describes him very well. It is all the more a contrast to Denethor’s anger at him.

I am extremely glad too that Aragorn comes across as complex and human. He is used to a different kind of male friendship especially when it is more sexual than platonic – one where the friend sees himself as an equal and has the same expectations out of their intimacy that Aragorn has. Faramir unfortunately enough does not quite see him as an equal – he is too overwhelmed by Aragorn’s rank and achievements and also cowed down by his perceived shortcomings. He is also cowed down by a given cultural context where he may not allow a non-platonic relationship to progress beyond a point simply because it is not the done thing. And Aragorn doesn’t really understand right now how much he means to Faramir. In my mind while Faramir has fallen headlong in love with Aragorn, Aragorn himself has not really reached a stage where he thinks of himself in love with anyone other than Arwen whom he has loved for years. Even with Boromir, while he recollects him vividly, it is more from a sense of brotherhood and the joint tribulations of their journey together. With Faramir he has no such linkages and no such experiences, but as you rightly point out he may still learn what it could be like to slowly fall in love with another person.

Denethor is indeed still coming to terms with everything. He would rather concentrate on Andreth and to him Faramir is possibly just a distraction and an unpleasant reminder of what he lost.

As to your questions, well, Lady Idril will have a brief role and may indeed steer Denethor to some direction. Arwen will have something to say of Aragorn’s intimacies in the next few chapters. Andreth is aware that there is strife, but he is young and like most young men he’s not really cognizant of what happens in the lives of others. He grieves for Boromir and misses him and he is fond of Denethor so may care of what he goes through. But with Faramir his relationship is undeveloped. I like to think Denethor involuntarily made it so, by keeping Andreth close and encouraging him to be more like Boromir and less like Faramir. Aragorn knows at the back of his mind that Faramir has once been a capable captain. But he is for now more concerned about the now. And Faramir’s injuries have reduced his physical capabilities. What Aragorn and others need to realise is that hi mental acuity for now remains strong.

I wish you a very happy new year too and thank you again greatly for your lovely review. It encourages me to be a little more diligent in getting back to this. I have been very distracted by RL but I do want to work towards finishing this. :)

Dear Minx, I first came across this site and this story several years ago, yet I never left a comment despite the way this particular work moved me and drew me in from the very first sentence. So now that I’ve happened to find this site again, I thought it was high time I actually told you how much I admire your writing and how beautifully I think you capture everything you set out to do :)

It’s been truly heartachingly wonderful to reread this and even more so to discover that since then you’ve actually written some more chapters and seem to never have entirely forgotten about this, when no doubt it must be difficult to get back into the story and its emotional frame of mind time and again. Faramir’s sorrow and tentative hope, too often quashed as not to get lost in the inevitable despair of unfulfilled longing, his grief over both his brother’s death and the seemingly ever-growing impossibility of being a family with his father and nephew, his wish to find a place – any place, really – to belong and feel secure of, the bittersweet tenderness of his observations and the perpetual struggle to not totally accept perceived shortcomings as his own, his curiosity and need to learn of other cultures and the wish to not give up – all these aspects of Faramir’s personality are quite palpable and render your portrayal of him as believable and touching and human as can possibly be done. I really enjoy that there is far more to Faramir than morose and unhappy feelings, that underneath it all he is still the scholar, the gentle soul and faithful integrity.

But Aragorn, too, is remarkably complex. It’s amazing, I think, that with these few glimpses you’ve given us we still know him to be a stern but kind ruler, a loving husband and father, a grieving friend and, of course, the ranger of old. He, too, seems so very believably human in that he succumbs to the ever-present comparison of Faramir to his dead and beloved brother, even though he still tries to see beyond that and reconcile what he sees with what Boromir told him about his brother. His bemusement at Faramir’s wish to touch and be intimate in more ways than he is used to with men also gives his character another interesting aspect. Heartbreaking as it is to feel Faramir’s resigned acceptance and his decision to be content with whatever affection Aragorn may offer him, Aragorn’s obvious different views and feelings make sense in themselves and show him to be a person still open to grow and learn.

I also appreciate how you write Denethor. It’s nice to see him as more than the stereotypical abuser. Rather, it seems indeed as if his violent and abusive behaviour towards his son stems from his own unabated grief, his inability to come to terms with everything that happened and maybe even as part of the madness the palantír stirred in him.

The last point, however, I’d like to mention, and the one which makes this story, in my opinion, even better than your character portrayals already do, is the many questions these chapters keep bringing up. What, I wonder, will be Lady Idril’s part in this? Is Denethor finally looking for a new love? Is she just a friend or will she become one more reason for Faramir to feel left out of the family? May Denethor in time even wish to remarry and want his son out of his home? Or could she be someone to bring Denethor to at least view his son in a more positive light, even if he may never come to realize his worth?

What about Arwen? What do her glances and inscrutable looks mean? Is she aware of Aragorn’s intimacy with other men? Has he told her about Boromir? Does she read both Faramir and her husband’s hearts more shrewdly than they do themselves? Does she perceive a threat? Is there perhaps more to her comments and does she, as well, wonder about the Steward’s family?

When will Andreth start to ask questions? How much does he already know? Will Faramir’s financial worries become more urgent? When will the King finally catch on to just how much wrong there is about Faramir and his father’s relationship? And what of the Northern rangers? Is there too little communication between them and their Southern kin for word to reach Aragorn just how much of a capable captain Faramir used to be? Does he even know how Faramir helping Frodo and Sam on their way in Ithilien changed the outcome of the war? So many questions … :)

So, thank you so much for writing and sharing this! This truly is one of the most compelling stories I’ve ever read and I’m really glad I remembered this site, after all.

Have a happy New Year and may the muse visit you again some time in the future, even if it may be another year from now :)

Iris – thank you!:) I’m so glad all of that worked…:) hugs

Raven – yes, he’s baaad :) I’m very glad you liked it, and happy thinking juicy thoughts:)

Katiedaly – thank you ever so much for continuing to read despite my tardiness. i’m delighted you liked it!

LID – Thank you:) I’m glad all of that worked! It’s always nice to come across a fellow lover of deprived and unfulfilled Faramir :)

Сan’t wait for more. For some mysterious reasons absolutely in love with your deprived and unfulfilled Faramir, though the state you are putting him in makes my heart aches. Pain is so close to pleasure:)

Thanks :) I love this story. I am waitinng the next.

Tsk tsk tsk, bad Aragorn playing pranks when he´s awaited so desperately! (slap) ;) And apart from that: Beautiful work! And now I have to go thinking about the more juicy complicate parts…

Ooh!! “Completely smutty” is what you promised, and completely smutty is what you delivered! But it’s not just straight-up, mechanical porn smut — or at least not for F’s part. I love the bitter sweet longing; F’s so happy to get just this, but at the same time so desperate for more.
Great stuff — as always. Thank you so much for sharing!

Fan – Thank you so much for reading! I’m sooo sorry it’s been on hold for so long. I sort of reached a block on it, got stuck with other stuff in RL and then got blocked further more. It is as you say, a little complex so returning to it is taking me very long :( But I’m trying to finish it, I haven’t given up on it…. I’m hoping soon I’ll be able to unblock myself and progress. Thank you for the support…

YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I NEED YOU TO CONTINUE THIS. I need Aragorn to understand how he’s affecting poor Faramir, and I need Faramir to gain some closure on this whole ordeal and stand up for himself in Denethor’s presence. Please tell me that you aren’t giving up on this amazing and complex story. It’s paining me to see Faramir go through all of this.

Isabel: I’m so sorry, I missed out o your feedback earlier. thank yoiu for your lovely words… I’m really delighted you like the way it flows. I haven’t forgotten about it, I’m just looking for a long run of quiet time :o sigh hopefully will get some soon!

This story is wonderful! The way all of the characters interact with each other is extremely believable and the slow progression of their relationships is very realistic. I’m a little bit in love with your writing style.

I do hope you haven’t forgotten about this because I’d love to find out what happens next. :)

A: thank you! I’m delighted you’re liking it. there will be more Denethor-Faramir scenes, never fear:) Denethor has quite a bit he wants to say to his son!