Article six

(Or, an excuse to post a random request without getting taken for site abuse.)

He sang of Men

Of Numenor

He sang of the Shire

Of hobbits galore

Of Rohan and the Rohirrim

Of Eomer and Eowyn

He told of Sam

And Frodo too

Of all the valor they could do

He told of Strider, proud and tall

of Helms Deep and the Deeping wall

He wrote of Elves

Of happy faces

Of courage in the far off places

He wrote of freedom

Hope and glory

He spun nine lives into a story

For this I'm thanking him this day

Before my mood has gone away

Without his work there'd be no fics

No fanart or Pete Jackson flicks

There'd be no Ring

No Middle Earth

There'd be no Pip to show his worth

There'd be no lilting Sindarian

No Moria or Lorien

I love my treasured Lord of the Rings

For that I thank you, Mr. Tolkien!

That was a spontaneous little blurby thing, wasn't it? In English class we were supposed to write something to honor one of our idols. I suppose its apparent who I chose! Not the best thing I've ever written but I won't say that it wasn't fun!!

Anyhow, the true reason I called you here today (heh heh heh.....I always wanted to say that....) was to ask two things of my beloved reviewers.

1. I have many pictures in my head, but I am an atrocious drawer, painter, sketcher, line-maker, anything. I know that there are a lot of you out there who do not have the same....problem as I do, therefore I wanted to pose a little bit of a contest to you all. Its easy, just pick a scene from any of my stories or poetry-whatevers and draw it for me. Any style you like. Any colors you like. Anything!! (I'm desperate. I've been trying unsuccessfully for a long time to get someone to illustrate scenes from my work but I've found no one....*sob*) Anyhow, the winner will receive some sort of prize...as soon as I can decide what it is.

2. My birthday is coming up! Yes, on May 16th of this year I shall be 17 years old. Woo!! In true hobbit tradition I want to give back to all my lovely reviewers. So if you'd like, let me know which character you would like me to personally dedicate to you and I will write a poem all for you about that character. Wee!! Not much, but its the best I can do, me be all the way over here and all.

If either interests you, you can e-mail me at silent_juuhachigou@yahoo.com or CHALE637@aol.com. Thank you all so very much and I apologize if I have wasted your time.

Note: To all those who read Exchanged or Simple and Clean: I am very sorry they are taking so long to be updated. Simple and Clean should be updated by my birthday and Exchanged shouldn't be too long after that.

To the reviewers:

Elf Ears: I'm glad you liked the poem. I'm no expert on the matter but after reading the Silmarillion I decided that the orcs were true elves who were tortured and twisted into the exact opposite of what they once were. As for the Uruk Hai, you're right, they were bred with men but I think they were genetically altered. For some reason I just can't picture a female orc getting pregnant or a human woman getting pregnant with an orc child. If I am wrong on this, I'm sorry. Its been a while since I read the Silmarillion (and it is very hard to follow at times....) Also, the dark elves were still Elves. They lived in Mirkwood (Where our friend Legolas is from.) I think....again, I'm not sure. I really need to go check my sources!! Gah!! Anyway, thanks for reading close enough to bring that up! It makes me happy! Also, regarding your slash question.....while I do write some that poem was not meant to be strictly slash. You can interpret however you want!

SteLLa: Gollum seems to be quite popular lately....grr....little bugger. Oh well, I'm happy you liked my poetry!!

BlackJaguar12: Oops....sorry for making you cry!! Yes, I am a Sam freak. I've always loved the little guy, even when I was very young.....long ago.....(ha ha!) But um.....no, I don't hate it when people think that they're gay. I'm not Tolkien, but I interpret that Frodo and Sam definitely share a very, very deep kind of love that is extremely rare. Merry and Pippin also display this bond as do Legolas and Gimli. Weather this is platonic or romantic is up to the reader, but personally I like to think of it as romantic in a way. (By the way, you can't help who you fall in love with. It just happens.) I enjoy hearing from you, and I hope you review more in the future!! Cheers!

Violet Raven: Thanks much! Exactly what I was trying to do!!

ZoSo Gamgee-Baggins: Yeah!! I missed your long reviews!! My, but you flatter me. Such praise!! (the phrase Praise them with great Praise! comes to mind....). I should rather like to hear that song. That is the highest compliment you could possibly give me!! ::glows with pride and shows everyone the nice reviews::