Not AU exactly -- AW through a blurry, malfunctioning telescope

[rthstewart]

In the following, we now cover 15-16 years, and this goes places I did not intend, and we end up not in AU exactly, but maybe. It's not what I'd intended. The first part is re-hash of the commentfic and I blame lady_songsmith for the prompt that took us to the Amazon and then anastigmatfic for where we’ve ended up, however improbably. The very end is new.

Comments

[snacky]

Such great Peter and Mary interaction! But oh, how can he be so insightful and supportive of Mary and so dismissive of Susan? Peter! I want to shake my fist at you!

[rthstewart]

Heh. Yep, Peter's not showing to a particular advantage here. Particularly if the assumption is that he's somehow not condemning Edmund and supporting Mary and criticizing Susan. Not pretty. Oh Peter, Your Most High King Thickness

[anonymous]

As an AU - yes.
As the part of main story - no. It is much to clearly far from where the story has been going. I can hardly see what could you put in the middle to make characters' words and bahaviour fit their words and behaviour in SG Oxfordshire, TQSiT and AW. And even if you would write something that would make it fit, it wouldn't necessarily be the most realistic course of events. And I'm not sure if you would like all the consequences of that.
Krystyna

[rthstewart]

Thanks for weighing in Krystyna. I saw your other comment and congratulations on your move! I was thinking about your comment about "I love not man less but nature more" that it was impossible for you to review it. I've gotten that comment a lot. I've also concluded that a lot of my regular readers object to the content but don't want to criticize and so say nothing.

[h_dash_h]

They may not object, they may simply not be able to comfortably say anything of substance. That's not the same thing as objecting or disliking the material. There were things I considered saying in my response that I trimmed as simply TMI (in my case, I did not wish to push boundaries further than the story itself did- given an interested and comfortable audience well outside of a work environment, I'll happily discuss quite a bit

[anonymous]

>I've gotten that comment a lot.
I'm not surprised.
>I've also concluded that a lot of my regular readers object to the content but don't want to criticize and so say nothing.
I suppose that in many cases it is just that they feel as I do - that it would be much better to talk about it during long late evening chat.
Krystyna

[rthstewart]

HMMM indeed. The reaction to Peter here and his treatment of Susan has been very interesting and that reflects a need for further refinement. That's always been one of the hardest parts of the story.

I posted above that insofar as Peter and Mary are concerned, this shows 1)why in the actual story it would be such a really terrible idea; and 2) that in terms of the words with the two of them together, others have written more of them than I have, and what's in the AU is way WAY more than what's in TSG. Funny, I finally get back to AW, Lionsgate, I remember now that I did promise to write a scene with just the two of them. Gosh, maybe I don't have to do that now, or maybe I do, from Peter's pov to show very precisely what is NOT happening.

[snitchnipped]

Late to the comment party...

Yes, as much as I am a secret Mary/Peter shipper... it's still really jarring to see something like this! I was always under the impression that you had other things in store for Peter in that regard... That being said, I have always loved their interaction.

And now after reading this, I almost wish I would have requested that scene in which Mary learns in this little mini-challenge that's going around! It's such a tricky subject in fic when "outsiders" learn of Narnia, and it can either be done really well, or... well, yeah...

I say almost wish I would've requested, 'cause, hey... Peridan. ;-)

[min023]

Actually, that's started a very interesting train of thought. While it's undoubtedly well-written, there is a dissonance that I found a bit jarring as well, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was.

The 'other things in store' reminded me that you've said in the past that Mary 's resemblance to Dinan means a big, fat nothing. So, reading Peter as madly in love with Mary is slightly off-putting in a way that I couldn't previously articulate.

Re Peter and Susan, I figured that it was at least partially to do with the way that siblings that are close in age can be judgemental towards each other. Yes it's more common between siblings of the same gender, but closeness in age is also a factor.

Your comments above also got me to thinking, so OK, Peter is making unfortunate judgements about Susan's career choices. But is there any of that happening in reverse? Susan was keen to push Peter towards something in the US, so what assumptions or judgements has Susan been making?

[elouise82]

Given Susan's single-mindedness when it comes to Rat and Crow business, I have been sort of assuming all along that the problem is with both of them: Susan pushing Peter to get involved in things that make him horribly uncomfortable, as well as sort of shoving her involvement in his face, trying to force him to acknowledge the necessity of it and to hear him say he accepts it. Peter, being both stubborn and the High King, doesn't exactly respond well to this, and so ends up being more critical of her than maybe he would otherwise

[rthstewart]

I asked the question below of making the distinction -- there is whether Peter's seeming double standard is consistent with his character as written or whether it is out of character. I will say that folks are making some assumptions about Edmund. But taking out the seeming hypocrisy, does it make sense that Peter and Susan would be at odds over this? That regardless of what was done in Narnia, what he perceives is being done now strikes him as immoral as much as it strikes Susan as a morally necessary -- the dirty necessity of espionage vs the battle against communism. Is that a legitimate, credible tension?

[vialethe]

Also late to the party - and also very much an awkward newbie to commenting on this thoroughly amazing verse, but I had Thoughts.

On Peter's seeming double standard towards Susan's behavior vs Edmund's, I do wonder if it might not have something to do with their roles in Narnia, where Peter always knew Edmund was his 'logistics man,' doing all the uglier Rat and Crow things Peter didn't want to know about. Whereas while he obviously knew Susan was involved in it as well, perhaps he saw her more as a partner in the more high and noble aspects of everything? And so now in England he's disappointed that she doesn't share those same ideals, where he always knew that Edmund didn't. Still sexist of him of course, but for me at least that makes it more understandable.

[rthstewart]

Hey there and welcome! When and how did you come on board? What have you read? I never know these things unless someone tells me! I know you wrote that cool AU with Edmund and Susan remaining behind!

I've found these discussion really interesting. People are making certain assumptions and I'm finding the assumptions about Edmund especially intriguing. Peter and Edmund did discuss this ambiguity back in TQSiT and Susan and Edmund discussed it in AW. Edmund and Peter discussed how he used to deliver to Peter the truth or the lie and that he would never lie to Peter, which raised the issue of whether Peter would ask. So, there's the question of whether this seems out of character for Peter or whether it is in character but just objectionable to readers -- in short, people are mad at him and how do readers feel about being mad at the High King? Does it make sense? I'm just "thinking aloud" here.

[autumnia]

I don't think it's necessarily that Peter is out of character. We've seen his views on the world and life change over the course of the summer in TSG (such as the warning Edmund gives Susan that the High King with his many titles have suddenly become anti-colonial

[rthstewart]

Very clear! You are so wonderful. I so appreciate you sharing your thoughts on all this.