rthstewart (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rthstewart) wrote2011-10-30 08:59 pm
rthstewart) wrote2011-10-30 08:59 pm
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Egads, she posted
Chapter 10 of Apostolic Way, Lionsgate, just went up. It is HUGE, but as the first part of it is a re-tread of Under Cover, I did not split it.
Links to information on owl hearing are here, here, and a cool video here:
The discussion of convergent evolution here and here.
Green Tree Python
Emerald Tree Boa
Images courtesy of wikicommons
I did a lot of google fu regarding what Indians of the state of Gujarat eat for breakfast and have links to many, many recipes for handvo and theplas as well as soap rationing, maps in the UK in 1942, what to do with your garden in October in the UK, and the growing of runner beans on wigwams. There are some things I couldn't nail down and so just inserted them, like the assumption that Russell House is of fairly recent construction and so has advanced, indoor plumbing, gas rationing for zoo personnel, and other things.
Gerald Durrell's biography is here, among other places.
Again a huge thanks to Clio and Miniver who both helped enormously in the development of Jill -- Clio with research regarding her background in Jamaica and Miniver who over a year ago mentioned the possibility of Jill as Afro-Caribbean.
The discussion of convergent evolution here and here.
Green Tree Python
Emerald Tree Boa
Images courtesy of wikicommons
I did a lot of google fu regarding what Indians of the state of Gujarat eat for breakfast and have links to many, many recipes for handvo and theplas as well as soap rationing, maps in the UK in 1942, what to do with your garden in October in the UK, and the growing of runner beans on wigwams. There are some things I couldn't nail down and so just inserted them, like the assumption that Russell House is of fairly recent construction and so has advanced, indoor plumbing, gas rationing for zoo personnel, and other things.
Gerald Durrell's biography is here, among other places.
Again a huge thanks to Clio and Miniver who both helped enormously in the development of Jill -- Clio with research regarding her background in Jamaica and Miniver who over a year ago mentioned the possibility of Jill as Afro-Caribbean.
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I finally got around to watching "Mixed Britannia", that BBC series I linked a preview to for you a while back. I think you'd be fascinated by it. The first episode (the only one I've watched so far) discussed mixed race relationships in the UK from WWI up to start of the second War. There were interviews with adults who had grown up as part of a mixed race family -- British women marrying Arabs, Chinese marines, and West Indians, along with others from other far flung parts of the Empire. (You can catch interviews and some clips/episodes from the series on Youtube if you're interested.)
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It was also interesting to write Jill as observant, the first time I had a point of view character who I could characterize in that way. The others wouldn't notice things like the pots and the height of the Lady of the Green Kirtle, but Jill does. They've either seen it all before so it isn't new, or they just don't notice things that way. The ideas of her mother being so fashionable provides another lens -- her mother is from money and unlike most women who have appeared in the story, she's very conscious of her appearance. Appearance was very important to women and they really worked to maintain it to "keep up morale." It really puts a different spin on Susan's lipstick and nylons.
I thought it read as a huge info dump for Jill, but it did move things forward. I had to address Silver Chair. I had to develop Jill who is probably the least written of any canon character. I had to rebuild the story as this was the first HUGE departure from the original outline, parts of which I'd already written. They were always going to Russell House but it was in 1946, after the war, and the school was close (but there are no moors in Oxford, so I had to change that). The nurse (who was not Ruby) comes in at breakfast saying there's been quite the to do at the school, with a lion and all. Edmund and Lucy hare off to the school realizing what happened and Asim drives them and Mary is, again, in the dark. They don't let Peter go because he would go all Royal We so he rattles around the house and he makes a nuisance of himself and breaks things until Patel drags him off to go carry compost.
Errr, stopping now.
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Hmm, not sure I'd agree on that point. I suspect Susan might actually be the least-written canon character: the bulk of TSC is from Jill's pov, whereas you only get Susan pov periodically through the first two books, and then never again. Just a thought...
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And I'm really, really looking forward to seeing Jill meet the Pevensies.
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OK, stopping now. Again. Thanks so much for the links!
Also, in your review, you mentioned how Russell House was reminiscent of the staff of Cair Paravel. Yep. Back when I was hacking away at both BRD and TSG Part 1, the ideas of a merging of the two started there. Narnia is here, and Narnia is very present in Russell House. This was a place that I wanted to be really magical. Doing the story in this way has meant I lost a lot of that WOW factor in the Pevensies' arrival there. I've had to build it in other ways. It's an incredibly important locale in significant part because of the remarkable people who live there.
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I love the "keep up morale" aspect of appearance, and the possible implications for Susan. There is so much more to appearance and attractiveness than the way it's often presented as either "ignore it and try to downplay it" or "be objectified and/or invite objectification" (for women, anyway- the politics of men's appearance is quite different but also under-examined, I think).
I think this worked very well and was not just a huge info dump. We learned a lot about Jill throughout, and also Eustace and Polly. It's interesting to see Eustace as the experienced one, and the beginnings of the very competent if still occasionally dragonish adult he could have become (I do want to get back to that AU...) If I have any criticism, it's that for someone who doesn't already know of your Jill's ethnic background, it's all rather mysterious until quite far into the chapter. I can't decide if it's mysterious-interesting or mysterious-confusing because I know already.
I do love Eustace's challenging attitude towards Polly (and everyone) over it, and his assertion that if they're all really Narnian than it won't matter at all. Absolutely perfect!
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I really should have added some links to the importance of maintaining your beauty to keep up morale that I found. That was something that came up as I was working through Jill and the bundle of traits I wanted to develop. She is such a blank canvas. We know nothing about her background at all. It's funny. On FF.net I'm getting some reviews such as, "wait, the book must described Jill! You are going contrary to the book" and there is no description of Jill at all or her family.
I want you to get back to that AU too.
I'll think about the mysterious or confusing part. Some readers have mentioned not quite getting it, or wondering why Polly suddenly understands Eustace's protectiveness and then see later what I meant. I come at it several ways in the chapter itself, on the assumption that not everyone knew where I was going. The chapter has to stand on its own. I just didn't want to Polly to say, "Oh look, an African girl!" it would be clearer if I did.
I had a lot of problems defining Jill. I had been planning all along to link her with Kwong Lee and Lin Kun over cooking, culture, and gardening, and then with the AU, thought of pushing her doctoring -- which made adding Richard to the mix a nice thing, especially since from his viewpoint, her mixed race is very much like his own children and grandchildren. I was talking to myself in the car and realized that with her emotions and emotional intelligence, acting ability (from SC), her connection with the horses in SC, her being attuned to the Narnian stars (TLB), and my desire to have her be more creative and nurturing, that Jill as an artist would mesh nicely -- someone who is sensitive and tactile. I need to puzzle this out more.
I did give Eustace a lot of the lines that Edmund and Peter used in the first chapters of TQSiT. Someone said she really wanted more of an observation of Eustace's non-odious behavior -- Asim with a quirked eyebrow or something. And she was disappointed that we did not get Asim's pov when he saw Eustace for the first time. That he seemed too casual. I'm working some of that into the next chapter.
Also, something that occurred to me -- how is Ed going to react to a Narnian Friend, in England, who is closer in appearance to his wife than anyone else in their circle? That occurred to me late and I'm not sure how/if I want to go there. I don't want the whole, "they all look the same" because no, just no. This is one brain wave that I may just drop as really unnecessary. I don't need to find NEW excuses for Ed angst, but I could do a whole, "Why doesn't Edmund like me?" Errr... maybe not. Typing and thinking aloud here.
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Yes. that would be a bit unsubtle. But perhaps something more indirect connecting her appearance and the type of person Polly had expected? Similar to what you actually did, but giving a bit of a hint as to how / why her appearance makes Polly understand and have a higher opinion of Experiment house? That way you needn't nail down exactly what Jill's ethnicity is. I'm not quite sure if there's a good option there, but it would be a middle ground. On the other hand, it *does* make for a nice mystery for the reader, who presumably at this point in reading is pretty attuned to matters of race and ethnicity in wartime England.
Someone said she really wanted more of an observation of Eustace's non-odious behavior -- Asim with a quirked eyebrow or something
Yes! I'm glad you're following up on this.
how is Ed going to react to a Narnian Friend, in England, who is closer in appearance to his wife than anyone else in their circle?
It is an interesting thought, and it is something that should not be entirely ignored. However, presumably talk of Richard's Kenyan wife has at least gotten Edmund used to the idea that such things happen here, however rarely. And perhaps there is opportunity for an interesting conversation between Edmund and Eustace here. It doesn't sound like Edmund is ready to talk about Morgan anytime soon, yet if Eustace brings up Jill's treatment at Experiment House and elsewhere in England around Edmund, he would obviously have something relevant to say. Perhaps even a relatively detached observation that mixed race marriages were common in his Narnia, without going into his own. There's never been any indication that Morgan or her parents were viewed as unusual in the Lone Islands on any sort of ethnic basis.
Morgan and Jill don't look at all alike in my head btw. I mean, they both have medium-darkish coloring, but so do billions of other women. I have Jill cast as looking something like Bianca Lawson as Kendra (the 2nd slayer from Buffy the Vampire Slayer http://buffy.wikia.com/wiki/Kendra_Young who was of Caribbean origin) although without that character's ridiculous accent.
If nothing else, Jill and Morgan would carry themselves entirely differently. Jill is more confident (in general, as opposed to Morgan's very situational confidence) and has excellent communication skills (as opposed to... well, you know). Skin tone and possibly a willingness to speak their mind would be about all I see in common so far. And possibly an interest in crows :-)
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You've thought about appearance way more than I have. I don't cast or anything and when I was trying to figure out what Richard looked like, because Jill would be describing him, I asked
It's funny -- I know that writing POCs can be fraught with problem in fan fic -- writing the "other" and such. I have, so far, not found myself unwittingly in the middle of a flame war over this. A middle aged, stupid, American white suburban old lady writing cultures and races not my own is presumptuous (and while trying to dial it back to the 1940s) but one point of this exercise is to take a swipe at the nastiness I see in a fandom that is counter to the inclusive message of the Chronicles. Wiki says the books have been translated into 47 languages so why not try to shift and broaden the lens to expressly include some of those readers? I do have some international readers who have been willing to set me straight when something is off and I'm sure that will continue. With a large, multi-racial cast of characters it does mean that no one character carries a burden for the whole story as, for instance, the Black Best Friend or Asian guy in lab coat/martial arts who is necessary for plot exposition.
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Definitely not stupid, and I won't hear a word to the contrary. You're writing outstanding fic addressing a host of complex issues of race, culture, sexuality and finding one's path in life while dealing with it all. The thematic positions you're advancing (particularly with respect to sexuality) are both sophisticated and approachable (even if you lose a few folks along the way). You can't possibly be stupid and pull this off. In chapter 9 you wrote of Peter expressing relief at "show[ing] ourselves for what we are". This is what you are. Do not downplay it or hide it.
Perhaps it is presumptuous to attempt all of the foreign cultures, but if writers never stretched beyond their immediate experiences, we wouldn't have much to read. Can you imagine if men never wrote women characters and women never wrote men? (Actually, I doubt you have to imagine very hard, as there are certainly writers who are so constrained). You answer your own question in pointing out that you do not simply have the token secondary minority character. You've found a way to introduce minority characters in a society where they typically take on the roles of servants without making them subservient. You've taken advantage of a real gap in canon to add diversity to the canon cast. And you address the discomforting aspects of the whole arrangement (Polly's difficulty describing the Russell Household). I'm a not quite middle-aged white guy. I can't tell you whether you're doing the ethnic minority experience justice. But you are certainly raising a great many questions and points of interest in my mind, and creating characters that I respect and would wish to know.
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