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A Small and Passing Thing by Lindelea	4 Review(s)
Larner	Reviewed Chapter: 36 on 4/22/2023
A good end for the last year of the Time of Troubles. Glad Freddy could (almost) stay up for the full time, and was able to go to the inn with the other gents.

	Reviewed Chapter: 36 on 10/17/2003
More Hobbity goodness! You had me in giggles the previous chapter over Freddy's "deep, dark secret" and his insistant, business-like offers to beta (if they would have used such a word) Frodo's book!! New Year's as you have it here sounds like such a pleasant, quiet holiday. It also looks full of little things that you've collected from other cultures and folk groups. Did you? I'm curious as to which ones! I might also say that together they blended nicley into something unique to the Shire. Tolkien has left us with a fairly generous space for our imaginations to play in on this topic. But for me, half the fun is researching, mixing, matching, and modifying real traditions of various peoples (and time periods), since the great Master did so much of that creating this epic. colors guiltily I'm afraid my little monologue has inspired several half-finished manuscripts to crawl out of my desk and begin gnawing on my ankles... Malva Brandybuck Author Reply: Yes, Freddy is a character, in more ways than one. D'you know, when I come to think of it, beta-ing was what the Inklings were doing to each others' writings, weren't they. Imagine having the likes of C.S. Lewis and Dorothy Sayers as your beta readers? (I think there were others but cannot remember names.) I have mixed several New Year's traditions. "First footing" is Scottish, I think. People I know raise a glass in a toast and sing "Auld Lang Syne", so why not hobbits, even if they sing something different? The Yule Log is a tradition I have heard about, don't remember which European culture it comes from, and I figured hobbits would probably roast something over it the way we roast marshmallows. Bacon and mushrooms comes to mind. Telling stories about the past year, and talking about hopes and aspirations for the coming year sounds pretty universal. I haven't even scratched the surface! What fun! Ooo, unfinished manuscripts, know how that goes (scratches bites on ankles). So where are they to be found? I'm always looking for good fanfic to read.

FantasyFan	Reviewed Chapter: 36 on 10/16/2003
So Frodo is off to the Smials. I wonder, does he realize that the Cotton's are trying to keep him as fed and strengthened as they do Freddy? Frodo doesn't show many outward signs of his time of darkness, except he's probably still thinner than the Cottons remember him from his days before the quest, yet I'm sure Sam has warned them that Frodo had as bad a time in the Black Land as Freddy had in the lockholes. 'Feeding him up' is something Mother Cotton can take to heart. The other half of the prescrption is 'keeping him busy.' I'm reminded of when Frodo gifts Sam at the Havens with all he has or would have, he says something like, "your hands and your wits will be needed everywhere." That's an apt description of what Frodo's life is like now. He's been taking care of Freddy, and in agreement with Merry he's off to take care of Pippin, but it seems Merry might need some taking care of too. At least, that's what I assume is the urgent message from the Master of Buckland. Merry's not been there much since coming back to the Shire, since while driving out the rest of the ruffians he seems to have been based in the Tookland with Pip. The old trouble won't return in force until March, so it's got to be something else. We know he doesn't sleep, and when he does there are nightmares: are the Brandybucks now seeing and trying to deal with this, or has something more acute happened? I know from experience that long term sleep-deprivation can make you literally crazy, and I wouldn't wish that on Merry. I hope the long delay, from the lame pony and the detour to the Smials, won't make a serious matter worse. Last little comment. I like Tillie fixing Rose's and Marigold's hair like the grand ladies. If enough people conspire, maybe they can budge the rock. Interesting though, that Sam's first reaction is to see Rose as not good enough for him, and that he fights it. Author Reply: Quick reply, in haste. The urgent message from Buckland is a tie-in to "Flames", the chapter entitled "NightScares", I think. As a result of this incident, Frodo will be meeting with the Thain and Master and hammering out an agreement with them that Merry and Pippin should not be so soon parted, which is why we see them riding about the Shire together and moving into Crickhollow to live together for a time, later on in "The Grey Havens". Somehow the bond they've formed helps both of them fight off the dark memories of the Quest, just as Frodo has Samwise to do the same. Tantrum has just started, must go. Author Reply: Ummm, Sam doesn't see Rose as not good enough for him, I think it is rather the other way around. Maybe she'd look better in a fancy dress living in a great hall, and better loved, better cared for, and more contented, than as a plain gardener's wife. Not that I think that way, but Sam might.

Miriel	Reviewed Chapter: 36 on 10/16/2003
I'm so glad to see taht Freddy is improving! Estella's such a smart lass. It must be hard for her to sacrifice these things such as hair and clothes, even if it is to help her brother. Shame on Sam for thinking that Rose would look good with Merry! I wonder what is so "urgent?" Brilliant story-please update soon! Author Reply: Poor Estella. This is one of those stories I really hate to write, kind of like digging a splinter out of a kid's finger... I do not like what I am having to do to Estella at the moment, taking away her carefree ways and lacing her into a corset (figuratively speaking. I don't think hobbits would wear corsets... they're not so figure conscious, considering plump is pleasing). Don't be too hard on Sam, he is only wanting Rose to be happy, and he's not sure he's good enough for her... Thanks for the kind words! Very encouraging.

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