Remix reveals and rambling

[rthstewart]

Remix reveals are up!!! 
I am so lucky!! I ended up remixing the people who remixed me!!  snacky wrote this lovely follow on to Follow the Star and lotl101 wrote an alternate view of how Lucy and Asim might have met!  Go and tell them how wonderful they are!!

Thank you both so much for these wonderful stories!!

I wrote two, a Narnia/Silmarillion xover for Snacky

Comments

[anonymous]

Ooh, the tricky plot bits. I'll give it a go :)

I've always sort of thought in the back of my head that Edmund never really thought about children/the legacy until some unwitting Narnian mentions it in passing and he's like, "...Oh. Dear." Or maybe some foreigner. I can't see any of his siblings mentioning it, and I feel like Jalur or Jina can't bring it up, for fear of setting the two of them to running. As for discussion between Edmund and Morgan about bonding, I think that it's "discussed" in that not-really way of theirs, until they absolutely have to.

Or maybe, in taking on Narnia as a client, Morgan sees it as her obligation to discuss the succession--but purely in a business sense of course :)

The biggest impediment I can see to Morgan leaving the Lone Islands for Narnia is the power imbalance for her. It would have to be entirely her own decision, because Edmund would never make her do anything, being afraid that he'd be lording his sovereignty over her. And really, Morgan is leaving a VERY powerful position in her banking house, to be Royal Consort--not even queen. I'm not sure what her incentive is yet, though, so sorry, I'm no help there. (Aslan says something, maybe?)

I hope this helps, even though I feel like I've mostly said, "Don't do this," haha. Good luck!

greaves

[rthstewart]

Thanks so much! Excellent things for me to chew on. Something that occurred to me after reading this is how much, in this set up, it really is a bad idea, power-wise. She does far more for Narnia going back and using her knowledge of both places to direct policy and finances to Narnia's advantage. Anyone could be consort, right? I think I've figured out how the children thing comes up, actually, and currently I have Aslan expressing frustration with humans generally (he didn't create them, they just ARRIVED and he is a True Beast and really doesn't get it). Aslan also goes to a point that Clio has reminded me of, which is that Edmund assumes that Morgan's low demands on him means everything is fine -- when some of it is that Morgan is really not accustomed to thinking much of her emotional needs at all -- which going to tenut's points below, does make her a bit like Peter.

One of my challenges has always been to retain Morgan's worth and dignity apart from being the womb of the heir.

[anonymous]

I think that what it comes down to is practical vs. emotional. Practically, it makes much more sense for Morgan to become the head of Lynch (spelling? can't remember) House, and serve Narnia in that regard. On the other hand, listening to her emotional needs--something she's notoriously not good at--and letting that for once overpower the "smart" choice, is what it looks like needs to happen. Because, really, anyone COULDN'T be consort.

But like adaese mentions, Morgan isn't going to settle for a passive role, either, but I'm not sure that setting precedent in each nation having a dedicated banker is really workable. It would destroy the current structures the banking houses rely on, set everything into upheaval, and generally be a huge mess. And for what? So some king guy can marry a lady? This limits, though, what she can do as Consort. Maybe work in an advisory capacity only...?

Though I do remember you mentioning, in the TSG sequence somewhere, that Edmund and Morgan got bonded on accident. The three-year presumptive bond. I think it was a flash-back scene near the Otter pond? That means they fall into being bonded, and could serve as the impetus for Morgan leaving Lynch House permanently. And she could very well have been trying to find a someone else for consort before then.

[anonymous]

Oops, sorry, that was me again.

greaves

[rthstewart]

About the huge mess this causes, I've had in my head a conversation among the ladies of the court that some Narnian overhears that sets it all out. I had thought Lucy but now, actually... it might be better if it's one of the crows and maybe Jina... Jina won't understand all of it, but Harah would.... and it's along the lines of real consternation. "Oh so that's why my rates went up. Clever of Narnia to co-opt all the houses that way. They used to be independent." That sort of thing. But, to be very Machiavellian about it, Narnia is small and doesn't have a lot of power in the greater world and they've now taken control of the economic heartbeat of the known lands. They may not realize it, but that's what they've done. Errr, I may be committing meta here, which I don't really do. Or I need a degree in medieval banking guilds.

It's all sort of silly straw man since we all KNOW where they end up, so maybe I should just chuck it? They return to Narnia and live happily ever after until the white stag, the end?
Because really I am being silly. And now Ruth goes through little flailing motions about being stupid....

right then. I guess that I do see Morgan posing some very modern problems that are important and we see in AW the power that this relationship has on Edmund and that's important too. I've been thinking all day about your comments about how poor Morgan is at placing her emotional needs as important. And something that (I think) Min and Doctor Dolly have pointed out is going all the way back to BRD that anyone must love Aslan first and Narnia second and the rest shall follow. Morgan doesn't love Aslan, but she does love Narnia and they love her and she provides value to them, apart from her relationship to the King. It's that piece that needs to be preserved.

Thanks so much for this thought provoking stuff. It really helps.

[anonymous]

Oh, you're not silly or stupid. Sure, we know where it ends up, but getting to that point is important. There's conflict here and you can't just paste over it with a magical band-aid, that would be bad writing which you don't do, so your worries about resolving all these issues are entirely justified. You can't go from climax to conclusion without falling action. (This is me using literary fancy things to justify my desire for MOAR HAROLD AND MORGAN.)

"I've been thinking all day about your comments about how poor Morgan is at placing her emotional needs as important." Just because she's bad at it doesn't mean that she's incapable. Right now she knows that she's pretty much miserable without him, but I don't know if she's admitted to herself that she loves him, given her feelings a name. That self-realization could prove a very big part of her motivations.

She might realize too, that she's emotionally compromised in the case of Narnia.

"I do see Morgan posing some very modern problems that are important." Yes, this is tricky. We know the endgame for this, too, which is a large part of the trickiness. The answer, too, we know: choice without coercion. It's the getting there bit. Children would have to be her decision. Not necessarily alone, but Edmund would be so concerned about pressuring her that the choice would be mostly hers.

"It's that piece that needs to be preserved." I agree, but I'm hitting a wall so far as solutions are concerned. Morgan is good at: finance, trading, law, technical jargon, numbers. Er...Not really seeing an alternate occupation for her, unless she wants to usurp Edmund's position in acquisitions :D She'd have to do something new, though. It may be that she has to divorce herself from Lynch entirely, and maybe work as an independent financial advisor to the banking houses and nations. There'd be bias implied, of course, but it's less messy that way.

And now I've officially written more for your fic than I have for mine today, haha.
greaves

[rthstewart]

BACK TO FIC WRITING. I wrote below that in fact Morgan has known her whole life that children were part of her duty to her house. It's part of their job -- to raise children in the tradition of the houses. And she's worried about the stability of her Narnian investment, which she has certainly discussed with the other bankers. It's all very calculating, but it's real.

it's funny. I've written loads of H&M interaction and I've yet to have either of them use the "love" word. I may need to remedy that.

just a thought

[basaltone]

Sorry, I know I am coming to the party late, so this may all be moot, but I was going back and reading some of the character development blogs and this post led to a thought. I do think that Harold and Morgan will probably just stumble along until they are bonded, they are both so emotionally stunted, but your comment above made me think. What if this "concentration of power" you mentioned is what brought Narnia to the attention of Telmar, who had pretty much ignored them up to this point? What if by accidentally leaving Narnia an heir, Edmund also accidentally brings about its downfall? Too dark? maybe.

Re: just a thought

[rthstewart]

And this is why I continue to maintain that my readers are way smarter than I am.... I don't know. It's a definite possibility.