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

[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

[anonymous]

Oops, sorry, that was me again.

greaves

[tenut]

One of the reasons John didn't like Edmund (oh, he loved him, dutifully, because he was not a bad man, just a petty one, sometimes - he just didn't like him that much) was because he reminded John too much of himself.

Peter... Peter was like Helen. Like all the things John used to love about Helen, all the things that drew him to her those many years ago, before time and disappointment wore him (and his love) out. All the things that made him want to be a better person. The things that sometimes did make him a better person. Some things that remained with him still. So loving Peter was easy.

But Edmund... Edmund had a hint darkness about him that reminded John of those things he was really not fond of in himself (because remember, John was not a bad man, just a petty one, sometimes), those things that made him harsh, and sometimes a little calculating, and possibly selfish. And petty.

And somehow, it was worse now. Edmund had changed. Of course, all of his children had changed. He could see that - he was neither blind nor stupid.

[rthstewart]

Wow. I'm amazed. And grateful. Further, following this reasoning, both men married the same sort of woman, as Morgan and Helen both have some similarities -- or it is Edmund seeing those similarities that make him more willing to confide. Thank you. And should you have any more of this insight, please share. I'm astounded it came so quickly after posting.

[tenut]

I've been a devoted reader since The Stone Gryphon, and find myself really absorbed in the character dynamics you created :-)

With this little snippet, it was something you wrote about John not liking/being disappointed/not caring about Edmund, and the first thing I thought about is how we often dislike and/or avoid people who remind us of the things we don't like about ourselves. And then I thought - how would John react to Edmund post-Narnia? because he's still the same person, with the same basic traits - but transformed in a way that John would not be able to relate to (yet?) and would find puzzling and annoying.

Em. Thanks for supplying so much source material and inspiration. This is the first fanfic-shaped thing I have ever written in my life. So.

[rthstewart]

but transformed in a way that John would not be able to relate to
Transform is exactly the word. I wrote to E and Clio that as I see it, there are two powerfully transformative events -- the grace of Aslan and the gift of Morgan's loyalty and love in spite of that black mark in his past.

And I'm honored that this is the first fanfic-shaped thing you've ever done!!! Please write on as the mood hits! I hugely value this and thank you so much for weighing in and saying hello!

[adaese]

I can't see Morgan settling for anything less than an active role in Narnian governance - which everyone around her, Monarch or Beast, will acknowledge she's well fitted for (at least for a role in finance. Maybe not active diplomacy). However, the moment Edmund announces his Consort is also going to be the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, every princess and tarkheena in the known lands is going to take that as a precedent. Expect Peter & the Queens to have some very tricky proposals to negotiate their way around.

I don't think the heir thing will be a huge issue in the Lone Islands, because a) she's got a brother, b) he's got an elder brother, whose offspring will presumably take precedence, and c) Edmund & Morgan can always have several, in which case one can inherit the country and another the bank, if necessary. It is, of course, far more of an issue in Narnia, where many generations have passed for the smaller, more short-lived beasts without the Monarchs showing any signs of securing the succession.

[rthstewart]

Thanks so much. The loyalty/nationality issue is something that a reader had been pointed out to me, using Catherine the Great as an example of how it could be perceived if one spouse (or the offspring) are always deemed to be loyal to one country versus another

[anonymous]

I'm supposed to be writing lecture notes not fanfiction notes. Ah the joys of procrastination on a Sunday night

[rthstewart]

funny you should mention the Centaur stuff... I have been thinking about this a lot in the context of I love not man the less, especially the story told at the beginning and the vows and that Edmund and Lucy were as bound by them as Susan and Peter for all that they didn't go through them. Morgan stoned is a very amusing possibility....

I'm really looking forward to returning to Constance and Maeve. The two of them together terrify me.

Thanks so much and enjoy your sunday!!!

[anonymous]

Crack baby fic? You know, no one ever said that Jalur's cub was the first attempt ....

doctor dolly

[rthstewart]

yeeep.... the thought has been pounding along. It's all just so fan fic trope-ish/cliche-like but I think I could make it work and it could explain a lot about Morgan later. I'm thinking about it.

[rthstewart]

Thanks so much! Right. Candlestick!!

I had given no thought to John prior to 1946 so this is 3 years earlier in my thinking. I had initially assumed he just sort of ignores Edmund, but in fairness, Helen did marry him and his children are all pretty remarkable people so, while Helen is REALLY pissed at him, and he's been pretty clueless about Peter and his high expectations for Peter left Edmund, as a child, feeling very left out. It's time to show him in a little more rounded way. Your ideas of a man of Expectations and narrow minded do make a lot of sense. There's also the possibility, that one reader has been saying, that John really loves espionage and the spy's life. He likes the glamor and duplicity and this raises interesting questions about how he feels about what Susan it doing.

Thank you for taking precious time to share!