Oh and another thing

[rthstewart]

This could be subtitled, Confessions of a Mary Sue Mom  the contours of which are laid out here during the Great Mother's Day Debate in which the Just King perceptively noted that I wanted to write the Pevensies so that they would be role models to (my) children and my greatest fear (other than my assistant getting into my laptop) was that my children would grow up to be like Edmund and this was why I didn't let him conclude By Royal Decree by having sex with Evil Banker Morgan.

If you've been paying attention, you will have noticed that a thematic element that is pervasive on the Narnian side of the vision (establishment of a human succession), is worming its way into TSG.  We have the flashbacks as the end of TQSiT to Cyrus with Peter and Morgan, Mrs. Pevensie's (she still does not have a first name) ruminations to Tebbitt and the Colonel, Edmund's flashbacks regarding Morgan and Aidan's small relations, Fooh and Beehn with Peter and Dalia, Thomas Clark's relationship with Jack, and now Mrs. Pevensie again, plus the little John Lennon looking for beatles [sic] and Yi and Maureen's son.  And of course, Mrs Pevensie's long discussion with Peter in AW7.

Fact is, sitting as I do as so very, very old, when I see the college age or even high school age F List women saying "But I can't tell my parents!" I jump up and down and say "Yes!  Really!  You can!"  And so, ideas of being shut out, of a mother's estrangement from children and spouse, the burden of raising children as de facto single parents (even if not divorce or death, work and war called fathers away then and still does today) are all weaving their way in here and some of this is perhaps a bit more personal than I normally go.  I am exploring the effect of the War and separation on family life as well as the continuing issue of Mrs. Pevensie's peculiar relationship with her children.  You can expect an appearance of Mrs. Goodwin eventually and I think the revelation that Mrs. Pevensie is not quite a stodgy as her children think. 

So, by the way, should I call Mrs. Pevensie "Helen" as the films name her?

Further edit:  I got whacked about in the last two days with some of the usual critique I've garnered over the years plus a new accusation that, frankly, troubles me a lot.  It doesn't change what I'm doing or my approach to the story nor does it make me conclude that I am a reprobate, that I have ruined Narnia, or that I should just wander off to write Twilight fic with others of my ilk.  But, having just posted on the subject of the relationships among parents, spouses, and children and the issues of race, ethnicity and prejudice, and in the wake of the last two chapters exploring themes of justice, retribution, and compassion, I'm going to be retooling the next chapter a bit.  Peter and Susan are due for a long, long talk.  I'm working some things out and the overdue conversation between Peter and Susan will be the vehicle for some of it.

Comments

When Peter and Lucy come to visit and Rth is underwhelmed

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Rth puts her feet up, savors (another) cup of coffee from her very own, very special Keurig brew maker, winces from the pain of the afternoon's earlier unpleasantries, and contemplates the dinner she forgot to defrost that morning in the rush to get out the door. It doesn't help that she decided to run 5 miles on the treadmill at midnight in order to watch back episodes of the Sarah Jane Adventures and then slept very badly.

She ignores the ever increasing volume of shouts outside. The school bus arrived, delivering said children and they are all out in the yard. They have collected a Cold War arsenal of Nerf weaponry and are proceeding to instigate World War 3 in a complex game involving snowballs, darts, swords, and super powers.

As the noise gets ever louder, she opens a weary eye and sees with alarm that a man and a woman have joined the assault and battery in the front yard. She lunges to her feet, grabs a snow shovel, trips over the Labrador and the Labrador's stuffed bone that is larger than the dog, and hurtles outside to protect the children from the menace of these interloping adults who are obviously child molesters. The dog barrels out after Rth, choosing to make her ferocious defense of home and hearth with a tattered, squeaky striped plush snake in her mouth.

The very tall blonde man and quick, light blonde woman are twirling Nerf longswords with what appears to be a fair amount of skill. Rth wouldn't know as she abhors all violence (the Star Wars water pistol blaster notwithstanding because it's a great Hasbro replica of Han Solo's Blas-tech D). The not so ferocious dog sees the interlopers, launches off the steps, and collapses at the man's feet instantly demanding belly rubs.

It is while limping out with the snow shovel and sliding down the steps that Rth unfortunately recognizes the Nerf sword wielding man and Nerf mace wielding woman as figments of her imagination who have, nevertheless consumed copious amounts of her free time since she made the mistake of watching Becket, The Lion in Winter, and Lawrence of Arabia in DVD marathon in November 2008 and thinking that no one would ever find her in Narnia fandom and she could toil away in quiet obscurity.

With a weary sigh, Rth limps back inside, fetches the toolbox from the basement, the dog leash from the hall closet, and comes back outside where the children are now aligned with Queen Lucy and fashioning arrows out of tree branches that dropped during the latest snowstorm and power outage and are littered all over the yard.

The man steps forward, idly twirling his sword. Rth thinks that Obi-Wan Kenobi did a better job of it in The Phantom Menace. "I'm Peter...."

"Yes, I can see that." She pushes the toolbox at him. "Something died under the back deck and the pond needs dredging. Also, the gutter fell off the back of the house."

To Lucy, Rth says, "I'll give you $10 if you can get the kids to pick up all the tree branches that fell and shoot them into that rubbish bin."

She turns back around and to head inside and remembers her manners. Over her shoulder she asks, "Do you want pepperoni on the pizza?"

Re: When Peter and Lucy come to visit and Rth is underwhelmed

[min023.livejournal.com]

Squeeee!!!!!

Re: When Peter and Lucy come to visit and Rth is underwhelmed

[autumnia]

Hah. This should be titled, "In which Rth finally deals with unwelcome Pevensies (and RAF Pilots) by making them do things that she can't be bothered with."

Though, I'd run if I were you. Peter may be here to complain about how Edmund gets all the fun (and sex) while the High King just wallows in regret over being unable to guide his siblings through such matters. As for Lucy.. hmm. I don't think she'd have that many complaints at all! Su and Tebbitt had their issues about the shoe drop, Ed wants more time with not-a-lady Morgan and well, Peter has own issues.

And yes, I very much enjoyed finding this in my inbox this morning!

Re: When Peter and Lucy come to visit and Rth is underwhelmed

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

There was going to be this whole part where I tell Peter to please not smile too much at all the suburban matron moms at the bus stop because it will embarrass me and I tell Lucy to not beat up on the boys with the Nerf swords too much because they will all fall in love with her and the mothers will blame me for the unwholesome influence. Imaginary Lucy I can handle -- I get way too embarrassed with the High King swinging a sword in the front yard -- even typing makes me DANGER DANGER VISUALS meter begin to swerve alarmingly toward the RED. I started getting confused with those actors and then that actor who plays Arthur in Merlin was barging into front yard swinging another sword and all the suburban matrons from the PTA were putting on their black capri pants and spandex to circle the house like predators. So, I went inside for another cup of coffee and some unsalted, unsweetened shredded wheat and then six miles on the treadmill with Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. And really, all I wanted was for someone to pick up all the piles of sticks and fix the gutter and find out what under the deck was making all that noise at night when I was trying to write.