Harold, Morgan, Chapter 9, a nod to Anastigmat, and dread visuals

[rthstewart]

So, in preparation for another trip to the oral surgeon, I posted the conclusion to the Two Hearts Chapter of Harold and Morgan, here.  And yes, we get the Director's point of view -- a strange place to be, certainly.  And Happy Birthday to therck !!!

anastigmatfic 's pic fic contribution to Morgan and Harold gets some backstory, with more to come.

I realized that my

Comments

[min023]

Wonderful chapter. If you were going for the parental whammy, you absolutely hit it.

If you can, I'd love to know more about the head-canon regarding succession in the Houses. I think I'm starting to see the edges of it, but it's more complicated than that. Obviously, marriages as regarded as nothing (much) more than business processes, which isn't really that dissimilar to the typical Royal succession, come to think of it. So, how does it work?

It's obviously not primogeniture, but can be based on birth (depending on talent). But what happens if the "birth heirs" aren't suitable. Do you always marry someone in, as with Morgan and Meryl? Find another connection within the House who's suitable? And what if the Director of a House dies and there's no obvious sucessor? Smashballs at twenty paces? Civil war in the streets? Yes, even poison?

Oh, and what's the deal with Morgan and the Director? He obviously realises her value, if he can see that empires would be built on her talents. More than that, others can obviously also see it if Linch has been offered a fortune for her. So why doesn't she see it herself? Has the Director deliberately 'undermined' her to keep her in her place? Or is it nothing more than an extension of the Asperger's, that she cannot see it herself?

[min023]

Oh, I've just had a thought of total randomness (yes, I've probably got too much time, and yes, I spend waaay too much time playing with legal materials). Ed says that it's not his first investigation, blah, blah.

It then occurred to me that modern democracies have a separation of powers between investigator and judge for a reason. Yes, Narnia isn't a democracy, it's a monarchy, but what's to prevent a misuse of power if the Just King is emotionally invested (which he is with Morgan). Leo ex machina? The fact that he has to justify himself to his sibs? Just his innate desire for justice?

Yep, totally random : )

[rthstewart]

And, I just jumped on Skype in case you are free. Just Instant messaging, typing chat, not talking -- I can't find the headset and the spousal unit is sitting RIGHT THERE so I don't talk fic when he can overhear. It's mom's dirty little secret. I'll respond more later, but...

[rthstewart]

And about that separation of powers, I am assuming that none of the Pevensies had a sufficient grounding in law and concepts of separation of power to meaningfully implement an English style common law system - to say nothing of a civil system. I think the best that can be done is that aim to, and try to be fair, afford some sort of process and to find truth in a combined investigative, prosecutorial function. Edmund knows he is accountable to Aslan and to his sibs. This is also where I feel his experience as reformed traitor is profound. I will assume that they have enough understanding to have gotten the concept of "presumption of innocence" and they all powerfully believe in the capability of redemption. So, I see Edmund as very slow to judgment, as affording process, as using the tools of the Beasts as sort of lie detectors in aggressive interrogation that is, yes, marginally coercive to secure confessions. That comfort with coerciveness isn't a nice place, but in the post-WW2 war crimes investigations, it was very real and routinely done. "Tell me the truth, or we hand you over to that mob." Our notions that coerced testimony might not be reliable post date WW2 and are part of more modern, recent jurisprudence. The unwritten story of Black, White and Gray in between was to explore all this -- the traitorous Moles and Mr. Noll and how they investigate and try the matter. And, well, there is the fact, in this chapter, that Edmund views his duty very seriously, he is a pretty emotionally detached person, and he views even the perpetrator(s) as under his authority and protection. He doesn't tell Linch that, but that's what he's thinking. That sense of duty trumps even Edmund's commitment (at this point, whatever it is) to Morgan.

[min023]

It should be pointed out that judicial power is one of those which stand for most primal base of monarchy (see e.g. Old Testament). Also among theories about modern role of monarch is that he/she - leaving legislature and executive for elected offices - could play a role of the supreme court. Idea of trias politica principle is an invention of 18th century (Montesquieu).

Krystyna

[rthstewart]

Something that has developed errrrr during the writing is in the qualities of the Houses, much like in Harry Potter, actually. Linch suggests this in his description of his loyal, stalwart son and how if you want brilliance, you go to Stanleh, loyalty, you go to Linch. Sterns is as changeable as the weather -- it's where a client goes when it wants a "yes" answer more than a "right" answer. And Meryl, well, that one is more complicated. Meryl is all about getting to "yes" -- getting someone to do something and being happy about it, manipulation of people and processes.

And so the union of Morgan and Meryl makes perfect sense. It's a really, really good arrangement. Morgan knows she's rotten with people and Alan is superlative at it and she is ambitious and sees how she'll be able to really build something with Alan to drum up the business. He gets the clients, she does the work and the House will grow and succeed. Her loyalty, a personal trait and her House trait, really doesn't allow consideration of other outcomes. It's good for everyone and while she doesn't respect Alan's intelligence, she does respect his skills with people.

Linch's lines about Morgan's worth originally were a part of the story that has since been eliminated. After the Lone Islands, Morgan was going to return to Narnia when a Calormene delegation arrived. There is LOTS of consternation among the Calormenes when they realize Morgan of Linch is there. One of them approaches Peter to buy her services and Peter gets all offended and the Calormene laughs at the High King and Narnia for thinking this was a sexual inquiry and that all Narnians think between their legs, or something like that. The Calormene would have told Peter that the Narnians are idiots to not understand what it means to have a Linch banker, Morgan specifically, support Narnia.

As for succession, I see the Bankers as being very much focused on meritocracy and bloodlines. They want to keep their Houses in the family and but will also marry people into and out of their families to achieve those ends. To make it more complex, I also assume that who inherits the House Directorship is voted on in the Conclave, to assure that the person is smart enough, competitive enough, and competent to manage the business.

It is very unorthodox in the conventional sense, but the firms do carefully monitor each other's work -- there is interdependence. If, say Sterns, does a bad job or misses something, the assumption is that the rest of them could suffer if they have relied on Sterns' bad analysis. In RL here, of course, everyone would sue Sterns and the securities and banking regulatory authorities would bring an enforcement action. Without the power of the State to enforce, they have to self-police and so this mutual checking and challenge is a method of industry self regulation. It's in their self interest to keep things running smoothly. That's the head canon anyway. Whether it makes sense is another matter...

[min023]

If looking for resemblance with royal succession - history knows something like monarchy elective within a dynasty. I suppose that's the closest pattern.
Krystyna