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Healing the Long Cleeve by TopazTook	6 Review(s)
Larner	Reviewed Chapter: 25 on 8/12/2005
So, Ganelon isn't the only one to quote medieval poetry? Too funny! And I hope a certain Proudfoot is learning his lesson! Author Reply: Umm, no, Ganelon isn’t the only one to quote medieval poetry. [mutters....quite a few characters in this story do...cough, cough...wink]. I hope the Proudfoot is learning his lesson, too. He does have some valid points in his conversation wtih Pip; he’s not irredeemable.

Marion	Reviewed Chapter: 25 on 7/12/2005
Me again... Tolkien's Letters, letter no. 214: "As far as I know Hobbits were universally monogamous... and I should say that their family arrangements were 'patrilinear' rather than patriarchal. That is, their family names descended in the male-line (and women were adopted in their husband's name); also, the titular head of the family was usually the eldest male. In the case of large powerful families (such as the Tooks), still cohesive even when they had become very numerous, and more what we might call clans, the head was properly the eldest male of what was considered the most direct line of descent. But the government of a 'family', as of the real unit: the 'household', was not a monarchy (except by accident). It was a 'dyarchy', in which master and mistress had equal status, if different functions. Either was held to be the proper representative of the other in the case of absence (including death). If the master died first, his place was taken by his wife, and this included (if he had held that position) the titular headship of a large family or clan. This title did thus not descend to the son, or other heir, while she lived, unless she voluntarily resigned." With other words: Diamond, according to Hobbit custom, does not have to obey Pippin at all. She has the same status as her husband. Pervinca is an adult woman, married into the Proudfoot family. The only familyhead that could 'order' her would be the head of the Proudfoot family, since she has been officially adopted (by marriage) into that family. For Dudo to treat her as a prize pig and a maid and childminder to his sisters is very unusual (not to say un-hobbitty) because she is, by hobbit custom, supposed to be his equal partner. But then, she has been sold and bought, so she might feel as if she has no say in her own marriage from the start. Of course, the whole 'arranged marriage' thing is totally un-hobbitty, but then, the whole business with Sharkey and the Ruffians which sparked the whole unsavoury affair could be called unusual in the first place, so that's all right. It's sad how Saruman's 'little evil' in the Shire still has the power of making hobbits unhappy more than a decade after he died... "The Shire", according to Tolkien (LotR, Prologue), "had hardly any 'government'. Families for the most part managed their own affairs (...) and usually they kept the laws of free will, because they were The Rules (as they said), both ancient and just (...) The Thain was the master of the Shire-moot and the Hobbitry-in-arms, but as muster and moot were only held in times of emergency, which no longer occurred, the Thainship had ceased to be more than a nominal dignity (...) The only real official in the Shire was the Mayor of Michel Delving, who was elected ... As mayor almost his only duty was to preside at banquets ... but the office of Postmaster and First Shirriff were attached to the mayorality." In short: the Thain (or his Heir) does not speak justice over anybody outside his own family, nor has the office any practical authority in the daily life of hobbits (it's a military honorific). The Took family is very numerous and very rich and the Took and Thain is therefor respected as head of a very influential family, but the Thain does not lead anybody but his own family (and within reason at that) The Mayor does not lead people, unless you consider opening fairs and presiding over banquets as 'leading'. Hobbits lead themselves. They are 'clannish' and the family-heads therefore have a lot of 'clout' within their families. Pippin, as son of The Took, might have some clout within his own family, but he does not have the authority to send his married sister away to Bree. Not only because his sister is now a Proudfoot and he would tread on the Proudfoot head's territory, but more because his sister is a grown, married hobbit and thus an independant free individual in her own right. Nor does Pippin has any authority over Duro. Duro is his brother-in-law. That's it. If Pippin inherits the headmanship of the Tookclan, Duro might give him the respect one gives the head of a large, influential family, but that would it. I'm sorry if I sound pedantic, but I can't stress this enough. The Shire is not America. Or Pakistan. Or Afghanistan. Or any other country where girls are married off to uncaring husbands who are only intersted in siring sons on her and where younger brothers can punish their older, adult sisters for not 'respecting his authority'. From the start of this (excellent) fic I've been expecting that somebody would 'deprogram' Diamond's strange, unhobbitty convictions about 'obeying her husband' because (according to Tolkien) married hobbits are equal partners. In the midst of this waiting on somebody that would tell Diamond of the fact that Pippin has no authority over her (save the 'authority' of his love and respect for her), along comes the Ganelon-and-Pervinca plot-twist and suddenly Pippin starts assuming authority he doesn't possess over his sister and brother-in-law (as a side note: Pippin does not have the authority on his own to banish Ganelon, but this is a moot case: Ganelon's own clanhead-and-father disowns him. If Pippin would spread the news of Ganelon's actions to the rest of the Shire, no hobbit will help Ganelon, because all would damn his actions. So although Pippin does not have the actual authority to banish another hobbit, because of Pippin's and Gerin's damnation Ganelon is effectually banished) Although I think Pervinca far from perfect, she is a most mistreated character. She has been sold into marriage (against custom) and although Paladin told Gerin to make sure that his lass would be worthy of his son, he apparantly made no such demands on the husband of his youngest daugher because that husband turned out to be a downright bstrd. Dudo does not consider his wife to be an equal partner (as is custom amongst hobbits) but a mere 'prize pig' to sire offspring off (and she is tall enough to hang the Yule greenery, which is a bonus). Pervinca's inlaws treat her as an Cinderella. Her own children follow their father's example by not minding her. Her own blood-family does not give a damn. One of the most painful (and therefore wonderful) scenes in the whole fic is in chapter 21 : “Although ‘tis strange,” Eg laughed off her mood, “to see this particular lass of mine with four babes of her own. You were never so like to play with dollies, or to use your brother as one, as your sisters were.” “Nay,” Pervinca whispered, using her fingers now to crumple the remains of her cake into smaller crumbs. Is Eglantine truly so callous, or is she merely selectively blind? All through the fic we are shown signs that Pervinca is unhappy. That Pervinca's marriage is not as it should be. And nobody cares. But Pervinca does care about her little brother. She is the only one that cries for him (chapter two) and she wants to help him get out of his arranged marriage even if she cannot. And then Pippin has the audacity to punish her, not for her part in Ganelon's plan but for "not aknowledging Pippin's authority as Thain's Heir but instead adressing him as her little brother"??!! And Pervinca OBEYS him?!!! What the.... !! Although I'm not one to talk of 'shoulda's and woulda's', what Pip should've done was proclaim to the family (as his father's Heir) that Pervinca's marriage to Dudo was made under duress of the Troubles and that she would always have a place and a home in Great Smials. Pervinca would then have the choice (finally she would've had a choice) to leave her husband and return home. Dudo would then have the choice to try to persuade her to come back to him, if he wanted her back. As long as her parents, sisters and brother didn't aknowledge her position and didn't proclaim their support of her, she had no choice but to stay in her unhappy situation. Author Reply: (I wanted to wait until posting this chapter to respond to this review, as the impetus for the last section of this chapter has been in the works for a long time - it grew out of my wondering at the chronology that Pippin became Took and Thain in 1434 when the widowed wife of the previous head of family could retain that office. This chapter holds my explanation.) And this story is what it is: a story based on Tolkien’s world and his characters, but also its own story. I certainly respect your right to decide that its elements have veered too far off what you see as essential, fundamental, canonical and choose not to read it. I’ve tried to base it strongly in canon -- it’s not meant to be an AU -- but there are also elements of fanon, and of interpretation, there, such as the stronger role of the Thain. Again, the story summary has referred since the beginning of this ride [over a year ago now; I feel guilty about how long this has taken] to both “learning to make a marriage” and “to lead a people.” It was a conscious decision to portray the role of the Thain not necessarily as an overbearingly authoritarian figure, but as someone who does have authority in the Shire. Which, no, is not the U.S., nor Pakistan, nor Afghanistan, nor...wherever. It’s a fictional creation in which we fanfic writers play, writing stories which cannot help but be, in their own ways, of their own time and era and author. I’m not Tolkien, nor do I think anyone, including he or me, would want me to be. Yes, I do realize of course, that there are some writers/readers who want their fanfic to be Tolkien-esque in all ways and whose connection with LOTR comes through the world-building he accomplished and, again, I respect that choice. I enjoy the world in his stories, but that’s not my connection: I connect through the characters. That’s what I’m interested in exploring, and reading about, and why it rankles me some when “canonical” stories have characters alive in years when they’re not supposed to be and such — but also why I push on past that to get to character portrayals and interactions. Diff’rent strokes for diff’rent folks. Different is key to what I try to do with my stories. It’s just the way my mind works with these characters: if there have been many, many interpretations of an event in a character’s life from the same angle, I start thinking, “well, what if...” And I realize that can make me kind of an odd-gal-out in the fandom. Not only because my connection is with the characters and not the world building, but also because I do not have ambitions to be a Tolkien scholar. This is (probably not suprisingly, given the Professor’s background) a very scholarly fandom. Which is great for those who dedicate themselves to that; more power to you if that is your choice. But it is also, as a general observation, not very welcoming to those who don’t choose to pursue that path. I don’t mean just the “I wrote this when I was bored in math class and have only seen the movies and don’t even know the names of any hobbits besides those four...wait, were there five?...in the movies” ilk of stories on places like fanfiction.net at which “serious” fans turn up their noses. I mean that the emphasis on sooo much research, Tolkien interpretation, etc., not only carries with it some danger of (possibly unintentionally) reinforcing the great similarities among many of the fanfic stories out there, but also doesn’t necessarily provide a welcome environment for those fans who (like me) do do research, and do think about canon -- but who don’t want to make this fandom inaccessible, so view the metatext as the trilogy + hobbit books (yes, obviously, including the appendices). I tend to view the “Letters,” et. al. -- even those things written by Tolkien himself -- as supplementary material to the metatext: interpretive, additional material in the Midrashim tradition. I want to pull my canonical interpretations out of the metatext itself. In which, although JRRT may have described the hobbit dyarchy in “Letters,” his only female character to exhibit an untraditional role is Eowyn — and it’s made a big deal of that she’s acting in an untraditional role for a woman. So it seemed unlikely to me, for this story, that the hobbitesses would be thoroughly modern womyn. Obviously, this story does carry that traditional role thing, and the authority thing, to extremes in some points and in some marriages. But, again, it is what it is for itself. And Pervinca’s story is complex. Love is a deceptively simple thing, but its manifestations, actions, inactions, etc. in various forms -- whether familial, marriage and/or romantic, etc. -- are not always so simple. (She wasn’t crying for Pippin in Chapter Two, by the way, as she -- like Merry and the other sisters, and most of the Shire -- didn’t know about his arranged marriage until right before it took place. She was crying for herself.) As for myself, I realize I have just opened myself up for interpretation as a lazy researcher who ignores Tolkien’s world-creating to pick and choose among a narrow definition of canon. So be it. Again, I respect your choice if my interpretation differs so greatly from the part of LOTR that is most important to you that you need to put this story aside, or shift it in your mind to AU, or whatever. I hope that the fandom as a whole will have enough respect for me that my need to focus on the metatext as the source, and on the characters, in this hobby of writing fanfic will also be accepted.

Marion	Reviewed Chapter: 25 on 7/7/2005
Sorry, me again. After posting last review I checked back and read some of the other reviews and your replies to them. One thing puzzles me: where exactly is Pervinca shown as overly proud? Did I miss something? Any references to Pervinca's 'pride' was probably interpreted by me as "poor thing, your position as Thain's daughter is the only thing your husband is interested in and the only thing left after you've been bargained away by your parents and treated as breeding stock by your husband and his family. Withouth that stiff upper lip and that stiff neck you'd be crying your head off. Go, girl!" I liked Pervinca's stiff upper lip. Hey, if your loving family gambled your life away, don't give them the satisfaction of seeing you cry. So now she must learn 'humility'... And to what purpose, exactly? So she will lisp 'yes husband' to Duro? So she will be happy with her marriage because being the unloved spouse of Duro Proudfoot is still better than scrubbing floors? Why doesn't anybody (Pippin, Diamond, Pimpernel, Eglantine) TALK to Pervinca, for goodness sakes. I'd bet she'd crumble and cry out her pent-up misery of twelve years. That might be a first step of healing Pervinca. 'Learning humility' sound to much to 'breaking her spirit' to me, and spirit is the only thing left to her... Author Reply: No need to apologize for reviewing again. Obviously, I can ramble on at length about this story. (Yeah; I think some of my responses to reviews are getting close to being as long as some of my chapters. :) ) Pervinca’s pride is tied in quite closely to her stubbornness -- both of which are big parts of her personality. It’s not so much her “I’m the daughter of the Thain” thing, which is a bit snobbish but is also, ironically, one of the things she has in common with Duro (I believe we’ve established that he’s snobbish, too). It’s more her “I’m the daughter of the Thain but you’re my baby brother who I still see as a baby and not the Heir to the Thain and I refuse to acknowledge that you’ve grown up or have any authority in the Shire” thing. Another one of the many things this fic is about is how seeing our relatives, particularly our siblings, in the place where we have pigeonholed them as children (i.e. , the pretty one, the smart one...the spoiled one, the baby) can create a mental image that prevents us from seeing them as they are as adults...until there is some sort of epiphanic understanding reached that, “oh, he/she is all grown up now.” Pervinca seems particularly resistant to this realization in regard to Pippin -- which is a big problem as, if he’s going to be a successful Took and Thain, he has to be able to exercise authority (even if, as discussed in the responses to previous reviews, he sometimes screws up with it). Pervinca’s managing to pass on her refusal to acknowledge Pippin’s authority to Duro as well, as we see in this chapter, so it’s an attitude that she’s helping to spread -- again, problematic for Pippin. I think I’ve said before that nobody in this fic is perfect -- and that includes Pervinca. It’s possible that she and Pippin could have had a chat about the whole marriage thing way back in Chapter One -- if she hadn’t got distracted and called him an oaf and a child, which made him run away in the confusion of a still-tweenaged hobbit with grown-up responsibilities. She refuses to recognize Diamond’s authority in letting her in or not to see the ill Pippin in Chapter Eleven, despite Pimpernel’s attempted warning; and she tells Pippin flat-out in Chapter 24 that she doesn’t have to listen to him -- even though, according to the authority structure which favors the male Heir, she does -- as well as continuing to call him by the rather disrespectful nickname “Piglet” during a formal audience he’s called her to by her full name. (She should probably be calling him “Peregrin” during this.) (The similar stubborn streaks in their personalities probably don’t help in having them get along with continued harmony, either, as Eglantine’s story about the squabbling young Pippin and Pervinca in Chapter 10 kind of indicates.) So, it’s not a matter of “breaking her spirit” to have her “lisp ‘yes, husband’” to Duro, but more a matter of getting her to actually acknowledge the authority of the Thain -- whether her father or not -- rather than just reciting lip service to the idea. (And I’m not so sure she’d crumple and cry if someone were to talk to her directly about all this. I kind of think she’d be more likely to thump Pip on the head and say something like, “Now, you twit? You’re asking me about this now?”)

Marion	Reviewed Chapter: 25 on 7/7/2005
My last review might've sounded rather harsh, but this is not a reflection on how much I enjoy your story and your writing. This is one of my favourite fics and every time you update I do a little dance for joy. I'm just annoyed with Pippin's treatment of his sister. You no doubt meant to make him annoying, as shown in his recurrant inability to see beyond his own nose. Look at Trefoil. Pippin is happy in his marriage, so he wants to play matchmaker to Trefoil and Bert. But Trefoil does not love Bert, she loves Whit. But she might feel obligated to marry Bert, just to please Pippin. This is not so farfetched as it seems. I myself got suicidially depressed fifteen years ago after years of pleasing my parents (and quitting the school I very much wanted to go to just to please them) People do strange things to please the ones they love. Pippin, although mostly adorable, can be most annoying when he's in his "I'm happy so everybody is happy" mode. And when he is all self-righteous towards his brother-in-law (dreadfull person though he is) it is about time somebody kicked him in the ss and said "hey, your sister has been married to this schtick for twelve years. You've noticed she's deeply unhappy in her marriage only now?!" Author Reply:* Really, “a little dance for joy”? You’ll have to send me the choreography, some time ;) (That one line of Duro’s in this chapter about Pearl’s flightiness is in part a placeholder for a future story I’m toying with that would feature more Pearl -- beyond her, what? three lines of dialogue in this one? --- as well as more hobbity singing and dancing.) I’m glad you’re enjoying the story and that you are having such a strong reaction to it -- although the depth of such reactions has been a bit of a surprise. I do recognize that stories can hold within them things that the author is not necessarily aware of, but that does not mean they are not valid interpretations of the tale. In fact, it’s kind of exciting knowing that there is enough subtextual stuff going on that there is even more additional stuff to pick up on than all the stuff that I already know is in there (which, admittedly, is a lot. This story isn’t exactly about just one thing). So, I’m glad to get your reactions -- I just sometimes can’t respond to them very quickly because they force me to think things through more. Which is a good thing. :) (Also, as I said in response to your previous review, because I have been so crazy/busy the paast few days. (Why can no one pay me for writing things that I can’t make any money from because it would be an illegal violation of someone else’s copyright? Or at least cover my health insurance. Sigh.) I am so sorry that you experienced suicidal depression from trying to please others, and hope that it is a state that you have grown through and never, ever experience again. In terms of this story, and this review, it is definitely not farfetched to think that Trefoil might feel obligated to court and marry Bert because of Pippin. In fact, it is exactly what’s going on. In your previous review, you said that Trefoil had more control over her life than Pervinca. I don’t think that’s the case. Diamond is not the only one, in this class-conscious society, who has to “obey” Pippin as the son and Heir to the Thain, a fact that Trefoil, who has lived with her “starstruck” Gran since she was a lass, would be very familiar with. When Pippin suggests that she “take a look at Bert” when she gets back to the Smials from Buckland (Chapter 13), Trefoil perceives it as an order and starts arranging to court Bert by having him carry her washing baskets and such -- albeit not very enthusiastically (Chapter 15, Chapter 22, Chapter 24), leading to clueless Bert’s confusion on the matter. I don’t know if “annoying” was the word I was looking for when trying to depict Pippin in these situations, but it’s one that’ll do. I guess I was thinking more along the lines of “irresponsible” or “unthinking of consequences.” Again, this is part of “learning to lead a people”: realizing the consequences his actions do have on those around him, because of his position. He has just got done saying (to Duro), in this chapter, that there will be no more arranged marriages for his family. But because of his inadvertent actions in the “I’m happy so everybody is happy” mode -- and his failing to notice the consequences of them -- he is about to create (were it not for Diamond’s running interference) a “carbon copy” of this bad situation. (And, yes, these situations are the metaphorical meaning of the chapter title.)

Marion	Reviewed Chapter: 25 on 7/5/2005
I do find these recent developments rather disturbing. Pippin sends his sister away to Bree to become a servant in an inn (quite humiliating for a gentle-hobbit, I'm sure, with all the floorscrubbing, dishwashing, bedmaking and fending off drunken customers) Next he berates her husband for thinking his wife to be a 'good bargain'. Tsk. Where the smeg does Pippin get the right to be all high and mighty about Pervinca's marriage? By this time Pervinca has been married for more than a decade and Pippin has never asked himself or anybody else if Pervinca was happy in her marriage. Mind you, his father told him at his return that his sister was married off in a bargain with the Proudfoots (Proudfeet) and he never thought to ask Pervinca what she thought of that. Only when she, desperate to spare her little brother her own horrid fate, conspires with Ganelon to seperate Pippin and Diamond, only then does Pippin notice that perhaps his sister is unhappy with her fate. And what does he do? He seperates her from her home, her family, her children and everything that is familiar to her. Maybe she doesn't care for her children. They were concieved by a man that used her as a breeding sow. But to be exiled, to loose everything familiar. To loose her sisters, her brother and her parents (and with the state her father is in she might never see him again)... this must surely be a dreadful fate for a hobbit. For all Diamond's servitile attitude towards Pippin, she knows her rights as his wife and isn't afraid to exercise them. But poor Pervinca never had much say in her own fate, had she? She was married off against her will, never had any say in her in-laws smial and when her little brother exiles her, off she goes. Even Trefoil the maid has more say over her own life. And Pippin was quite happy to turn a blind eye to his sister's unhappiness until she did something that directly influenced his life. I can only assume this selective blindness has something to do with the fact that he himself had likewise been married off and his wish that it might somehow be a happy marriage made him subconciously or deliberately ignore all the signals. Paladin and Eglantine's selective blindness must be a direct result of overwhelming guilt. Author Reply: (Sorry it’s taken me a while to respond. This past week has been insane with work/RL stuff.) Yes, Pippin et al are rather oblivious to Pervinca’s fate. It is not deliberately malicious on their part; more that their focus has been tied up in their own lives -- Eglantine and Paladin focused on holding things together despite Paladin’s health; Pippin off in Buckland for much of the preceding decade as he puts out of his mind his own marriage, and then adjusts to it upon his return to the Smials. In a little bit of his defense, Pippin was ready to get up from the chair in the Thain’s office and defend his sister’s honor when he thought she “had to get married” for the reason that used to be euphemistically referred to as “getting a girl in trouble” in Chapter One. After Paladin explained the whole situation, though, he was mostly in shock during those first two chapters, then, as I’ve stated, essentially put the whole thing out of his mind as much as possible, basically as a self-defense mechanism. (When Clover was born nine months later, he apparently suffered, as you say, some sort of selective subconscious amnesia to help this denial along.) The family as a whole also doesn’t see Pervinca very often -- certainly not as often as they do the children living at the Smials. She hangs out with the Proudfeet at the Fair (Chapter Eight) -- not that it’s her choice, but it’s what happens -- and doesn’t make it to Pimpernel’s birthday party (Chapter Six). When they do see her, she is stubborn and prideful enough that she doesn’t talk about her feelings -- basically expecting other hobbits, namely Pippin, to just guess at and share them the same way (Chapter Eleven). Because of all that, even though he kind of has inklings that things aren’t all they should be in the Proudfoot smial (Chapter Eight), Pippin doesn’t really know for sure what’s going on for Pervinca until she does something dramatic, like trying to separate him from Diamond, whom she’s convinced he can’t love. (Chapter 23/24). Yes, you can argue that he ought to have known, but he doesn’t. Both that blindness and the choice of discipline he chooses to use upon her are part of the “learning to lead a people” part of this story, as reflected in the summary -- as he admits in this chapter (25), he sometimes “hasna the slightest idea what [he is] doing.” (Also a reference to some of the authorial wrestling with this subplot. Ahem.) He actually probably wouldn’t have sent her -- at least unwillingly -- to be a barmaid in Bree if she hadn’t refused to acknowledge Pip’s authority as heir to -- and, as Paladin’s health worsens, essentially acting in the stead of -- the Thain. Not that, despite Pervinca’s initial reaction, being a barmaid in Bree is apparently all that bad. In the current Chapter 25, it’s she who chooses to go back -- letting Pippin have the blame for it, if anyone wants to place any (see Pippin and Merry’s conversation). Butterbur may be forgetful and a bit blustery, but he has employed hobbits before (Bob and Nob), and treated them well. The amount of ruffians and ne’er-do-wells roaming the countryside should have been reduced by the victory in the War of the Rings (i.e., Bill Ferny’s no longer about). And at least she’s getting paid for, and acknowledged for, her work -- unlike all the floorscrubbing/dishwasing/bedmaking type tasks she’s been doing thanklessly for the Proudfeet for years (Duro’s references to his sisters in this chapter; their reactions to Pervinca’s jam, and childcare arrangements, in Chapter Eight; her reaction to Pip getting dirt on his coverlet and someone having to scrub it in Chapter Two). Why Pimpernel, who actually goes to visit Pervinca at her smial at times, seems on the surface to have remained clueless to all this, I’m not sure. The separation from her family is the most problematic aspect of it, both for the hobbits and for me. She does get to see them at Yule in this chapter -- when, as mentioned in the previous paragraph of this reply, Pippin would have let her come back; so she’s been gone about four months from the Shire, which he seems to feel is long enough to prove his point. Her concern about being gone with Paladin’s health as it is I find especially poignant (yeah, I know I’m ostensibly writing this, but sometimes these hobbits become very forceful in taking the story where their characters’ character will) -- Pippin isn’t swayed by this completely rational argument because he’s in so much denial himself about losing his father. (“He willna!”, Chapter 24, essentially forbids Paladin to die while she’s gone.) I think Pervinca has mixed feelings about her children. On the one hand, they’re kind of spoiled, snobbish little brats (Chapter Eight, Chapter 21, Chapter 22); on the other hand, they are her children.

Dreamflower	Reviewed Chapter: 25 on 7/3/2005
So Pervinca's husband finally decided to object, huh? This is all so very interesting. I am wondering where you go from here. I do love the little interlude with Merry at Crickhollow. Author Reply: Yeah, he objected when her absence started to seem more an inconvenience to him. From here, we go to the last two chapters of this story, in which plots/subplots will get as resolved as possible. (Sorry for the delay in response, and in updating. Dang Real Life.) Glad you enjoyed the Merry-n-Pip conversation at Crickhollow. I do like writing (and reading) those two together.

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