sophinisba

How about Sam babysitting with Marigold and Pippin for some reason, with a little help from Frodo?

"How did you do that?" said Sam. "How did you make him go quiet like that?"

And Frodo looked like he would shrug if he weren't holding a baby in his arms and worried about waking him, so he smiled instead and said, "Practice, I suppose."

Pippin's parents were inside visiting with Bilbo and eating seedcakes, which Sam liked very much, and drinking tea, which Sam cared for not at all. So Sam didn't mind terribly being outside, but he wondered if Frodo, who liked his tea well enough, resented being sent out with the children. But he decided not to ask.

"That might be right," said Sam. "My big brothers and sisters are better at making Marigold do what they want, and maybe it's because they had practice with me already."

Frodo nodded. "Like I had practice with my cousin Merry when he was little."

"Da says I need to practice taking care of Marigold now since someday I'll have my own little ones to take care of," said Sam.

"That sounds like good advice," said Frodo, swaying a little with the baby.

"I don't think so."

"But why not, Sam?"

"Because I don't want to get married and I don't want to have little ones. And even if I did, they'd be good children, and well-behaved. Not like Marigold and Rosie."

As if on cue, the two little girls came running up the path and screaming as they came, and of course the noise woke Pippin, who immediately joined in the screaming. The girls stopped short and went quiet, repentant.

"See what you've done now?" said Sam.

"We were just playing," said Marigold, though it was a little hard to hear her over the baby's screams.

"Playing is fine, but you weren't supposed to yell, and you weren't supposed to get mud on your skirts."

"You didn't say that though!" said Rosie, who's cheeks were flushed from running but also, maybe just a little bit, from anger. "You said go and play and don't leave the garden and don't hurt the flowers. If you didn't want us to yell that should've been part of the rules!"

"Now, Rosie Cotton." Sam put his hands on his hips. "I'm talking to my little sister and you've no call to be sassing me as well."

"There, now," Frodo tried hushing Pippin, with very little effect. "Sam, do you think you could...?"

"What's that, Mr. Frodo?" But Sam knew perfectly well what Frodo meant, since he was holding the screaming baby out for Sam to take from him. "I don't think I'd know how to..."

"That's all right, Sam, I just need my hands free." Frodo had raised his voice a bit to be heard over Pippin's yelling, which of course, caused Pippin to yell louder, and rather than keep the argument going Sam took hold of the baby and did his best to start rocking him as he'd seen Frodo do. Frodo, mean while, crouched low to the ground so as to be able to look Marigold and Rosie in the eye as he spoke to them.

"It's true Sam didn't tell you not to yell or not to get your clothes dirty, and he probably wishes he had now. So, you can just imagine he's saying he's sorry, only he's too busy to tell you so himself because he's taking care of Pippin."

Sam frowned but didn't say anything. Pippin, for no reason Sam could tell, was actually starting to calm down now, and he didn't want to disturb whatever was happening.

"Here's the thing though," said Frodo. "You don't do something just because Sam says to do it. You do it because you want to."

"But mud is fun," Rosie said seriously, and Marigold, though too shy to speak, nodded her agreement.

"That's true!" said Frodo. "Mud is terrific, and Sam and I know it too, don't we, Sam?"

Pippin had not fallen asleep but had taken an interest in Sam's nose, and was delighted to see it move in his hand as Sam nodded.

"What's not as much fun," Frodo continued, "is washing clothes when they're stained. Who's going to be doing that for you then, Mari?"

"Daisy." Marigold dug in the dirt with her toe.

"She didn't tell us to be careful of her skirts either," Rosie put in.

"All right, I believe you," said Frodo. "You have to keep in mind though, is it going to take Daisy more time to wash now that there's the mud?"

"Probbly," said Marigold.

"And if that's true, then she'll have less time to do other things that she'd rather."

"Daisy doesn't like mud," said Marigold.

"All right, that's fine," said Frodo. "Not everyone does. But maybe she'd rather be going for a swim or reading a book than washing your skirts."

"Maybe."

"And maybe Pippin would rather be sleeping than screaming. And certainly Sam and I would rather be holding a sleeping baby than a screaming one."

"So?"

"So you see, running and yelling is great fun, and I wouldn't ask you to give it up. It's just best not to do it when Pippin's around, you see?"

"I don't like babies," said Rosie.

"Me neither," said Marigold. "They're no fun."

"That's what Sam thinks too," said Frodo. "So it's a good thing you two aren't babies anymore."

Well, there was something Sam could agree with, anyway.

"Good then," said Frodo. "Come, Sam and I will bring Pippin back inside with the grown-ups -- it's time he had something to eat anyway -- and you two run back to Number Three so Mari can get changed. We'll meet over by the well, and Sam and I can show you two some wonderful things to do with mud that won't get your clothes dirty. Does that sound all right?"

Sam didn't think spending more time with the girls sounded like a very good idea. He had liked his own plan of letting them run loose in the garden as long as they didn't make trouble. On the other hand, Frodo had got them to stop screaming. And Sam was big enough to watch the girls, it was true, but he wasn't so big that he wasn't interested in finding out what Frodo liked to do with mud.

"All right," he said, "but I hoped you girls have learned your lesson."

Marigold frowned as if confused, and Rosie stuck out her tongue, but then they both turned and ran away down the hill, and Sam decided that was taken care of well enough. Then he and Frodo, and Pippin quiet and happy and still in Sam's arms, turned around and went inside.

This is wonderful, Sophi, so sweet and loving, with Frodo so gentle with the children, and careful of Sam's feelings, and Sam very much himself. I loved it that he tried so hard to copy Frodo's technique with Pippin, and actually quieted the baby. All the children were great.

Thank you, Julia, and thank you for the prompt. Marigold and Rosie turned out to be so cute that they stole the fic from me and from Sam, but I will keep working on him. :D

I LOVE this! Frodo knowing at such a young age how to care for children because of his own young cousins, and his lovely empathetic nature. While Sam, not quite seeing the point, is willing to let Mr. Frodo lead the way.

Poor Sam - good thing he doesn't know how MUCH he'll need these skills in the future. (And now of course I get all soppy because Frodo will only be there to help with Elanor and not the other 12...)

Thank you very much! Frodo being kind to younger hobbits makes me all melty. I saw your comments last night and I ended up writing soppy fic about Sam and his kids in my notebook when I should have been sleeping! I have stuff to go with your other prompt as well. Need to sit down now and type some stuff up (after the excitement of seeing

almostnever's latest!).

Oh, more from the prompts! Such a great idea of yours - brave too, since you've roped yourself into writing what you didn't feel easiest with.

And that was a good mashup (or whatever it's called); I like how she used Stokely there. You are inspiring fics now!

you've roped yourself into writing what you didn't feel easiest with.

Only not really, because I didn't promise I'd actually go through with thim:
"which I may or may not answer in comments or in new posts or, um, something." Some may stay in the notebook and some might not get written at all, but I do figure practice is probably the best thing I can do for myself here.

It took me a long time to be comfortable writing Sam, because the whole "working class/gentry divide" isn't something I can read or write with great comfort. Then I realized that I had to write in the way I *was* comfortable... meaning that, in my fics, Sam and Frodo have blurred the "class" line, and are friends. They both still know 'their place', but it's not such a sharp division of Master and Servant. I think you need to decide how you most enjoy reading and thinking about Sam -- his education level, intelligence, emotions, and how he sees himself (and others see him). Once you identify the Sam you feel most comfortable with, just write him that way! I think we need to enjoy our reading and writing, and not worry too much about "getting it wrong".

Don't know if that makes any sense! *hugs*

Thank you, Janet. That makes perfect sense and resonates a lot with me because it's a lot the way I feel about writing Merry and Pippin. I used to look at other people's discussions about how too many people get them "wrong" and I would angst over it. Eventually (and I was just chatting with Claudia about this last night while I was working on those Merry ficlets) I got to worrying less about how much my characters fit one idea or another of canon, and I've just concentrated on writing with the emotional connection I feel for them. And I guess I need to figure that out with Sam too.

It's weird for me that it should be difficult because for a long time most of what I read was Frodo/Sam. But I guess I read a lot of that when I wasn't thinking much about writing myself, and I payed attention to different things.

Anyway! I will try to keep practicing. I've been writing a lot of cousins lately and Sam's been left out a lot. Thank you very much for your advice.

I don't often write Sam either very much, except as a minor supporting character. And so I only have one piece of advice: I see a number of writers dumb his speech down too much (in my opinion). For example, using "in'" instead of "ing" for his speech---it isn't that way in the books. Yes, he speaks with more idioms and "aint's" and slang than the other hobbits, but still, he's a bit of a cry from Ellie Mae Clampett, which is how I see him written sometimes. So... that's my two cents. :)

Ha ha! Sam as Ellie Mae - what an icon THAT would make!

I do wish someone would PhotoShop it... :D

You know, most of the girls I'm close with don't write a lot of Sam, so for the most part it's not a big deal that I don't write a lot of Sam fic. Most of my good friends are interspecies fans and, well, I'm not awesome at writing Aragorn either, but those stories are mostly Frodo and I love writing Frodo. It's just recently I've been writing so much with the cousins and it's really starting to feel weird to me how much I leave Sam out of things. I don't like it when the dialect thing is overdone so I'm not really tempted to go that way. He does have an impressive store of idioms though, it's true, and I tend not to be able to think of anything like that. It makes my words feel a lot less colorful than his would be. Hmmmmm. Well, thank you for your thoughts. This is a fun post.

First the advice: Don't try to write his dialect if you don't know it inside and out. (I grew up in rural England and have certain areas very much in my ear.) If you attempt it, don't try to spell out the accent. Just use word order and an occasional contraction to indicate it. Keep his speech simple and straightforward, but not stupid. (i.e., follow

lillybaggins's guidelines about not dumbing him down.) He is a hobbit who'd like to live up to his potential, not to be less than he can be.

Some points I bear in mind when I write him: Sam works from love. Love of family, of the Shire, of all things that live and grow (except maybe Shelob and the Orcs), and, of course, Frodo. (And I don't mean that in the slashy sense, much though I love it that way.) He wears his heart on his sleeve, but he's also guarded when he needs to be. His emotions are close to the surface in a lot of ways, and he is much slower to anger than movie!Sam. He is honest and forthright (except when conspiring against Frodo fro his own good), though shy at times, and is largely unaffected by the Ring because it has nothing he wants, and its evil cannot understand him. He's had harsh words from his Gaffer, whom I don't see as a bad person, but as one who has accepted more limitations than Sam and is comfortable with them in a way that Sam could never be. Sam is both intelligent and very strong, deep down, though many underestimate him at first blush.

A prompt: "Well, now, my Gaffer's the one to ask about them taters, Mr. Frodo. He knows more about root crops than anyone else in the Shire, begging your pardon."

Hope some of this helps, and thanks for letting me ramble about a favourite subject! :)

Catherine

Wonderful, Catherine, you really do have Sam's character framed here.

I agree with everything here and your character outline is outstanding. But I do take pause at this...

Don't try to write his dialect if you don't know it inside and out.

I think the only way to come to know something inside and out is to try it. If you get it wrong, it is certainly not the end of the world and you will have learned along the way. Heck, Sean Astin didn't have the accent down perfect and he had a coach, but he made a very convincing Sam nonetheless. I say go for it, try the dialect (even if you butcher it)...do a little research, look stuff up in the books, play with it...have fun. But never be afraid to try! And of all the places in this world where you'll get kudos and support when you try, the LJ Hobbit fandom is one of the safest places to screw up!

You have a good point. Certainly, such things must be attempted if one wishes to do them. However, this remark was made in response to someone asking for pointers on how to write Sam well, who seemed nervous about doing so. Therefore, the advice about the dialect was given as a way to try to remove that as a prerequisite for writing Sam. I have seen many writers agonize over it when perhaps it's not necessary to write a special dialect, at all. I cannot say that I made either point as well as I could have, as I have been short on time, sleep and eyes, lately.

To my mind, there's a difference also between hearing dialect and seeing it written out. I know that Sean Astin didn't get it completely, though he did a very decent job for an American, I think, and I adored his performance. (I am American, and I grew up in the area they were trying to emulate. I always had trouble translating it from the ear to the mouth. :) ) Going off on a technical and geeky tangent, they gave Astin the wrong accent for Sam, as they chose a Westcountry one when it actually should have been moved closer to the Midlands, specifically Warwickshire and/or the Severn Valley of the early twentieth century. (The way Tolkien wrote him, though, I always heard him the way our Devonshire gardener spoke, with a few exceptions.) The speech of this area is tinged with all sorts of influences and virtually impossible for an American to emulate. The Westcountry accent is tough but possible for an American to do, as that's about where the underlying 'standard' American accent originated. Of all the possible English regionalisms, Astin's native speech most closely resembles that accent, so it was a wise choice that best fit the needs of the movie and the actor.

It's a hard thing to write dialect well, and one that can be an obstacle to any writer if they think that they must attempt it. I struggle with it when I write it, as it's something that can overtake an author, thus distracting the reader. All that said, you're quite right that for a person who specifically wishes to attempt Sam's dialect, in particular, LJ Hobbit fandom is (or can be) a fairly safe place to start. Had I known or deduced that such was the case for Sophinisba, I might have phrased things a little differently, and simply expanded upon the advice I did give about how to write it. To my mind, though, the very best stories about him focus less on his language and more on his character.

Sorry for the lengthy response. I am a huge language geek, and always get carried away when talking about it.

Catherine

It's funny because I think of myself as a language geek too, but I can't get excited about dialects in English. I think what all of you are saying makes sense. I do find this fandom to be a pretty supportive place for the most part, and I'm all for experimenting and trying new things, but it's true that Sam's speech is one of the things I've found a little daunting. I'm not really tempted to make his accent part of the way I write. When I read things with the spelling changed to reflect an accent it tends to look exaggerated to me and distracts from what the story's really about. I have run into other people who seem to say "Don't try to write in dialect because YOU WILL FAIL OMG" and that's a little discouraging, but I think what you're saying is more "Don't feel that you need to write Sam's dialect because there are other things that are more important," and that is very helpful.

I also thank you very much for the other things you said about him in your first comment.

And I scribbled about taters in my notebook this morning, will see if it comes to any more than that. :D Thanks a lot.

Thank you, dear, this is a wonderfully encouraging comment. I am not especially drawn to writing in dialect, but I think it's important to keep in mind that, yeah, we can try anything we want here. This is what we do for fun and this is a community of people who enjoy the same things. It's not like I'm going to be banned from the fandom forever if I get it wrong.

I also love your prompt and it was very clever of you to insist I write only about Sam. I haven't come up with anything for it yet (and I don't know the first thing about gardening), but I will keep it in mind and see what I can do.

Well, for me Sam is so grounded and practical that he can both enjoy and yet anchor Frodo when his scholarly ways lead him off the beaten path (like forgetting to eat when he's writing). He sees his role in life as taking care of Frodo the way he takes care of all growing things, and he has the art of nurturing and growing. And although he is deliberate and full of common sense, he still has enough poetry in him to love elves and Gandalf's fireworks and the exquisiteness of Frodo.

How about something to do with Sam's hands - so work-roughened and yet so sensitive (to the feel of a plant - or even Frodo if you're so minded!).

Love for Frodo is something I can do! That's how I learned to write Merry and I love writing Merry now. So. And thank you very much for this prompt. Maybe someday I will do something else with plants, but last night I went Frodo crazy again. But hey, who doesn't like Frodo?

***

Sam held his good hand while Ioreth slowly unwrapped the bandage from the other. And Frodo remembered Sam at Rivendell, how he'd reached for Frodo's hand in joy to see him awake but then let go shyly almost at once. Sam's shyness, which Frodo had always though charming, though he hadn't said as much, was gone now, or at least retreated for a time. His grip was warm and secure and gentle as ever it had been through the terrors of their journey, with the Nazgûl screaming overhead. And Frodo clung to it, close to panic just as he'd been then, for as Ioreth peeled away the layers of cloth he felt exposed and ugly and embarrassed. But he looked away from the injury, put his concentration into the feel of Sam's hand, the old calluses and the more recent scars, all put there by his work of caring, protecting, nurturing. Frodo looked into Sam's kind, warm eyes and felt that he was safe.

There might still be some shyness in Sam's nature, but making Frodo comfortable was more important to him than that, and in this particular situation that meant holding his hand, and it also meant putting himself forward. He didn't shy away from looking at the wound either.

"That's healing up clean as ever we could have hoped," he said to Ioreth, taking away any pressure for Frodo to speak. "My oldest sister, Daisy, she's a healer too, though she never did have to worry about any wounds from battle, nor anything like this."

"My mother's sister was a midwife," said Ioreth. "And I thought that would be the best thing for me too, but there were so many men coming back from the battles, the word came out they needed anyone with any skill or knowledge of healing to tend to them, and that's what I've done ever since I was an apprentice and barely grown.

"Now, Mr. Frodo," she said (for she revered Sam but she'd also somehow recognized him as her equal, and she copied his mannerisms with the other hobbits), "this next part will sting some, you probably know from when they changed the dressing already at Cormallen."

Frodo nodded and braced himself, glanced at the scarred stump and turned quickly away. Sam squeezed his hand and Frodo squeezed back, and a sting in his eyes but managed not to hold back the tears and any noise as she cleaned the wound.

Sam said, "I hope that's the end of the battles for your people for a long time, and you'll get to give more of your attention to mothers and their babies from now on."

"That's what I most like to do," said Ioreth. "To bring a new life into the world."

"Daisy says the same."

"And I believe in a year or even nine months' time I'll be too busy delivering babies to even stop to remember how grateful I am that the fighting is finally over."

She was wrapping a clean white bandage around his right hand now, and Frodo found he could look at it again, and could look at her, and that they were both smiling.

"I believe you'll have a lot of work," said Sam, "and good work at that. But I hope you never forget how good it is the war's over, and I hope you'll never forget about us."

"Oh, no," she said. "I never will forget you."

Oh, oh, I love this! And Ioreth is in it!

The way you have Frodo flashing back on points where Sam's hands were important to him, bringing him to this point, is wonderful. Sam is both comfort and support.

I like the exchange between Sam and Ioreth about healing and babies and the end of war. Excellent.

Hee! I thought you would like the Ioreth. I treated her a lot better here than in that other fic. Thank you for your help with this.

Peeking into your journal to read the story. Very sweet, and very funny! I hope you write more Sam. Thank you!

Thank you! It was kind of Julia to link back to it. I never used to write about Pippin but now I do it all the time, so I guess you never know what'll happen!

Here's a prompt then...all Sam, no other characters (*g* that way Frodo can't take over, he does that in my fics too!)

Prompt: Sam's thoughts and feelings his very first day taking over for his father as the official gardener of Bag End.

Sam

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Not only Sam but also wee hobbits! What have you done?! (Part 1)

But then it gets away from me and turns into Frodo fic again! :( (Part 2)

Re: But then it gets away from me and turns into Frodo fic again! :( (Part 2)

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