Challenge #1 - An Essential Parable for a Young Woman

[will_o_whisper]

Title:  An Essential Parable for a Young Woman
Rating:  K+
Warnings:  None
Characters/Paring:  Morrigan, God-baby (Agrona)
Summary:  A mother, a child, and the stories they share.
Notes:  For Official Challenge #1: One character tells another a fable, a story or a fairy tale.

Comments

[promisetruth]

Very well done. Loved the relationship between Morrigan and her daughter.

And the ending made me chuckle.

Good job. :)

[will_o_whisper]

Relationships between mothers and daughters are among my favorites. :)

Thank you!

[alias_sqbr]

My brain is mush with a cold but I'll never remember to reply later, I hope this is coherent.

Yay, I love a good Morrigan + baby story. Which this is :) I liked how she has a complicated relationship with her combined identities as Fereldan, human, elf, and mage.

Since you asked for constructive criticism, I found it a little jarring how Morrigan was so cold (more than I'm inclined to characterise her as being with those she cares about, based on her behaviour around Flemeth and the Warden) and yet Agrona seemed totally well adjusted and happy about it as an adult. Not that I'd want her to be all angsty and bitter, this is definitely preferable :) And overall I really liked the story.

[will_o_whisper]

If you have any recommendations for Morrigan + baby stories I would be all over them~

I'm endlessly fascinated by the god-child...how mortal would she be? How mortal does she want to be? Who is her father and how much does she know about him? What does that mean to her? I don't know, I don't know. Personal identity is an important theme to me, though, at it was fun to explore it a bit through this character.

I didn't intend for Morrigan to come across quite that badly...a bit emotionally detached, yes, but also genuinely and noticeably concerned about her daughter. Fail! ^^; Sounds like some expansion on their relationship is needed.

Thank you, and I appreciate the concrit! :)

[alias_sqbr]

Heh. I poked through my recs and was about to rec you your own story :D

The other one I have saved is Devil in the Details by birdsarecalling.

Plus there's my own series Urthemiel, which you would have to judge the quality of yourself :) It starts with Morrigan's pregnancy and ends when the child is about 20 and is ever so slightly silly.

I'm always getting the wrong end of the stick with stories, so it's possible noone else would read it that way! But yes, I LOVE exploring personal identity, and you did it really well.

[will_o_whisper]

I'd seen your art and comics (which I love, btw), but I hadn't realized there was fic to go with them! Fantastic! Thank you so much for these. :)

(You're link to 'Devil in the Details' leads to 'Urthemiel,' though. I found them both no problem, but just so you know. ;) )

[payroo]

Oooh, that parallel between Morrigan taking the book away from Agrona and Flemeth taking the mirror from Morrigan really stings. It's also ironic how Morrigan tells her such morbid stories, considering how she mentions Flemeth's stories terrified her and chilled her blood.

[will_o_whisper]

I'm so happy somebody noted that connection! :D

For all the damage Flemeth's child-rearing ways might have done to her, they're also the only ways Morrigan know how to raise a child, and in some ways, at least, she does believe they work; morbid blood chilling stories certainly put the fear of God (so to speak) in kids, at least. I think Morrigan falls back on them without quite realizing what she's doing.

Thank you!

[baroque_tragedy]

Very nicely done!

I loved Agrona's characterization, and the troubled, complex depth of her relationship with Morrigan. It seems half like Morrigan was taking a page out of Flemeth's parenting book, and half like she wanted to do something different with Agrona...but really didn't know how. It's a very in character mix of kindness and coldness, I think, for mother!Morrigan.

I also find myself curious about Agrona's father, the elf mage, and what his relationship was like with Morrigan, and what it would like if he and Agrona ever met.

[will_o_whisper]

That's very much how I intended Morrigan's behavior to be read, so it really means a lot to hear that that came through a bit. I am honestly blushing. Thank you!

I'd like to do more with Agrona's father in the future. m!Surana was my second play through...he was a fun one. :B

[lehni]

I actually quite enjoyed Morrigan's coldness with her child, and I think it's reasonable that she would (consciously or not) adopt the same parenting methods as Flemeth. The fairytale itself had me hooked; as cautionary tales go it could have been worse for poor little Agrona. I found it pretty easy to imagine Claudia Black's voice as I read. Lovely!