rthstewart | H&M, Chapter 17, Meeting of the Minds

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H&M, Chapter 17, Meeting of the Minds

so yeah, despite the horrendous weather situation in this part of the world (we were without power for 4 days) I've just posted Chapter 17, Meeting of the Minds, here. Thanks so very much to those who commented on the last one.

Now I have to turn to the NFE. Eeep. I have a concept and I've been writing some of it in my head, so... yeah, need to get that done immediately.

As for this chapter, my thanks to E for sharing her thoughts on some of this from weeks ago. There's actually some pretty important stuff that occurs, for all that it's all very talky. And it's also the sort of thing that only an old person would write. We've seen lots of Harold's growth in the last chapter or two, here, we see Morgan, really trying, making some mistakes, and trying really hard to rectify them. Anyway, I hope you'll share your thoughts.

Edit- It might be that no one sees this now, and I hesitated to make too much of it. But... two things. First, I occasionally write something that I really, really like for whatever random reason and one of my favorite moments has just occurred where Edmund tells Morgan to please stop offering illustrative performance as a means of an apology. I've been sitting on this exchange for weeks and weeks. I thought that a huge leap in emotional maturity -- especially for him, and ultimately for her when she processes that she doesn't need to do these things to placate and assuage. This is a very mature discussion for a couple to have and marks a big milestone. Second, when I was writing about the Banking House practices during shut in and conclave, some readers noted that they bore an uncomfortable resemblance to real world, current workplace practices, particularly in our large cities and large professional workplaces -- law, accounting, consultancy, investment banking, and so forth. Those environments are ones I'm very familiar with even if I don't live in them any longer. I have long said that life in those places turns men fat and bald and turns women infertile. There are places where this story has a very, very modern cast and Morgan's struggles are one of them. The need to produce progeny isn't relevant in those places; but the difficulties in trying to do so (and those in management who reluctantly accommodate it) are very, very relevant.

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Oh, yea! I'm always glad to see more of this!

I like seeing Morgan puzzling over accounts, trying to figure out what's what. Seth fit right in with the flow of the story. I wasn't sure how he'd be when he turned up.

Thanks for writing!

Thank you! I manipulated that exchange with Seth a lot and so I'm glad it worked for you. It's always amusing to write their nerd-Banker speech, especially since I nearly flunked college level accounting.

Thank you - and I'm glad to hear you got your power back. Eventually. That kind of temperature, plus no air-con, sounds like my idea of place-to-be-avoided at whatever trouble - I can still remember the one day the thermometers hit 100F in England, and wilt at the memory.

I thoroughly enjoyed, and had no problems with, the modern-banker parallels. Partly because when I read the lives and letters of people very long dead, the bits that stick in the mind are the bits that make you sit up and realise these people were, for all their different settings, so very much like us (the Egyptian boy who sends a part-tantrum, part-whine, part I-really-miss-you letter to his father, the medieval shopping list muddling sugar and almonds up with pikes and crossbows). Lone Island bankers who resemble us as much as the Medicis therefore don't jar. And also, of course, because Lewis himself wasn't above using the Lone Island administration as a way of digging at modern, real-world, bureaucrats.

thanks so much. We've been in misery here due to the weather. In the grocery store, I was with the other women all restocking our frozen and refrigerated food and we were all in a state of panic over another thunderstorm. I decided to be a thrill-seeker and buy popsicles.

Thank you for the support on the modern day parallels. I know some people get very, very concerned with historical accuracy. Here, I so much make it up as I go and this relationship has resonated with some readers. Equalizing the power, giving Morgan choices, and writing her as maintaining her agency and competency apart from the relationship have been important. The balance of work and relationship, never mind familial life, is hard.

Finally there is the very sad admission that Morgan makes, building on her previous question to Aslan. Why am I the way I am? And What if my child is like me?

Lewis did use the Lone Islands to make his points, didn't he? And then there are his attacks on education, with Experiment House and how good Fauns weren't forced to go to school, and the dreary Telmarine schools.

Thank you so much

Read it, loved it, will lost longer review Friday. Hopefylly.

Doctor dolly

That was a particularly great moment for Edmund - I was happy to hear him say it :)

Just wanted to say I loved the last 2 chapters (I love all of them, of course, but Morgan's meeting with Aslan was so touching- I nearly cried when Aslan said that, for her love, he would wait.) And Edmund's maturity makes me hopeful for making his father see sense back in Spare Oom. It is a beautiful thing, watching Morgan and Edmund grow together, become better people because of each other.

I know Morgan has told Edmund he makes her want to be better- will he ever tell her that it is the same for him?

And, lastly, you were right about otters. http://www.kare11.com/news/article/983016/396/Woman-attacked-by-otter-in-Duluth-lake (if lj doesn't like the link, just google Duluth otter attack.)

It makes me love your Otter even more... I did cry when he brought Morgan an orange in Archenland.

~ Syena

Argh! Left a comment, lj marked it as spam. Will have to summarize now, try again later. Love, love, love, and google Duluth otter attack.
~Syrena

It was just screened. It's fine now. Thanks so much! There's been a big, big drop off in this chapter so it's especially nice to hear from you!

That's such a good point about what Morgan brings for him. I was worried that maybe I'd done a thing often seen with the self inserts where the Female Other Character is so awesome the Pevensie male has to debase himself to be worthy of her. I don't think I went that far. I hope. There's been some big growth for Edmund over the last 3 chapters -- when you look at where he was in BRD, there's a big difference. And really, isn't learning to listen, giving trust, and not taking a partner for granted all good things that are signs of emotional maturity rather than having to jump through hoops to earn love? Aslan does say some very nice things about him and Morgan does compliment him quite a bit, and he does get to be Just and compassionate. So... hopefully I've not beaten him up in order to build him up. I've wondered if maybe that's why people have fled the story again?

Someone said in a review that it was pretty uncomfortable to have Morgan strugglign with the weight of that expectation of childbearer and womb of the realm. It IS uncomfortable, but I felt I had to deal with it. A part of it is her assumption that this has always been a part of her duty, something she's known for forever even if she's fearful about it. Further, she IS worried about her investment and she DOES really love the Narnians. Is that enough to move her to childbearing at this point? I've been thinking about doing more there and haven't decided. Given where close readers know this arc is going to end, regarding Jina, the argument goes that she's got enough grief to deal with -- I don't need to add to it.

Errr, musing aloud now, so I'll stop.

And people keep think I invent that about otters. They EAT PYTHONS FOR BREAKFAST. THEY TAUNT CROCODILES. THEY DRIVE ALLIGATORS FROM PONDS AND EAT THEIR EGGS.

Oh yeah--it was great as always. I loved the bits where Eirene is brushing Morgan's hair and Morgan stands up to Seth and tells him off. Also an emotional and clingy Jalur, still not reconciled to no otters. Somehow you are going to have to let Jalur crunch some otters. He is our favourite cat and he deserves it!

Using Seth to introduce the issue of children was brilliant--much more original than having one of the sovereigns or even one of the Guards bring it up and it really worked. Morgan's anxiety about having a child like her was so real and Jina's comment that a puppy just like Morgan would be wonderful, was so touching.

I'm getting a quivering, sad feeling about the future and Jina. Gulp!

Love The Banker and the Lion song! Do you have a tune in mind for it?

Thanks again.

ClaireI

Thanks so much, Clairel! It's wonderful to hear from you! Somehow, yes, someday, Jalur is going to get to taste dumb otter and find that they are very nasty.

I keep thinking I'm doing a retread here, but then I think maybe not? I think the issue of issue had to come up, finally. They aren't sure what they will do about it - and I've had some ideas there that I've floated by a reader or two -- given what will happen to Jina, I'm not sure I need to do still MORE to Morgan.

It's a fine line to walk. On the one hand I don't want her to be the Womb of Narnia, even if she totally is, and so I go into excruciating detail to establish her competency beyond her relationship with Edmund. And Morgan has always been aware of her duty to raise children into the family business. Edmund is the one who has been very much of the, not me, no way. So they are coming to a place where they can at least begin a conversation about it.

A lot of people have that "what if the child is like me?" fear and I think it's very real in Morgan's case and gives added poignancy to her question to Aslan in the previous chapter. He can't tell her. Jina gives her the same answer that Aslan does but I think she's more likely to believe Jina than Aslan. And Jina, yes, SNIFF. I've had a couple of reviewers say, wait, what ARE YOU THREATENING WITH JINA? And unfortunately, that's been cast since Chapter 11 of Part 1. And reinforced in TQSiT. Alas.

Thank you again. I so appreciate your comments. I was pretty happy with these chapters and have very much missed not hearing from people!!

and I am terrible at songs and poetry as evidenced by that very bad song I wrote and so no, I have no clue about tunes at all. I am SO BAD AT IT.

Edited 2012-07-20 00:45 (UTC)

I *finally* managed to read this chapter (Summer is the season of distraction) and absolutely loved it. Some of your finest character work, I think. Morgan truly comes into her own here, without losing all of her insecurities which I think is wonderful. We see through the eyes of Seth how Narnian she has become, without necessarily realizing it. And yes, Edmund is starting to find a reasonable balance between not being sensitive enough and overreacting and spiraling into self-recrimination. This chapter really establishes them as a balanced relationship, with Morgan's freely made declaration to return permanently.

I loved Morgan forcing herself to discuss things. And losing herself in the numbers and having *no idea* that Edmund left, much less had been asking a question. They're both now at the point that, while they still lose track of how best to act with each other, they can recognize (sometimes with help) and recover from it without it being a Total Relationship Crisis.

The scenes with Jina are so poignant given what we know is to come. You've pulled off a great trick with a highly non-linear collection of stories yet making this sub-plot leading up to a long-known event so gripping.

Also, I love Jalur the clingy tiger :-D

Thanks again for all the stories! And I still have a Lucy and Asim with the rings idea rattling around my head. If I can just get these last eight articles for this project that I've been working on all year out of the way...

Thank you so much. I've not heard from so many of the regulars with regard to the last 2 chapters, and I've been so hoping that you would find the time to weigh in. I so appreciate your observations.

Morgan is such a peculiar construct. I do see them as moving to the "balanced relationship" as you describe it. They really are finding an equilibrium and learning to communicate. It's really difficult to write a relationship that is 1) not UST and 2) not always careening from, as you describe it, one Total Relationship Crisis after another.

Something Linnea pointed out and I'm still thinking is whether Edmund is, now that she has asked, comfortable enough to say, after a day or so, that it really would be better for Seth's rehabilitation if he stated involved.

Alas, I do h ave some readers who, from their reviews, don't know where this segment ends. I've been wondering if I should keep that scene off camera, where we see the aftermath. I really don't like writing HUGE ANGST and this would be seriously angst-ridden.

Good luck with all your projects! I do hope they finish well. I'd love to see/hear/read your ideas on Lucy and Asim!

Just got caught up on about 6 months worth of your stuff or so. If I was a very good reader I would give you the regular and detailed reviews that your high quality writing entirely deserves, but I am specifically getting on the computer (I usually read on my Nook) during kiddo's nap to tell you that your rich world is the first fan-fiction that has ever won my husband over. I downloaded the ebook format of Stone Gryphon from AO3 and read it to him when the kids were sleeping on a long roadtrip and he LOVED it. He has lovingly made fun of my love of fanfiction for years but now he understands the joy of finding a fic that so greatly enriches your view of a world you love. I did tell him, in all fairness, that finding fic of your caliber is extremely rare. You are seriously in my top 3 fav fanfic writers and Narnia isn't even my primary, or even secondary, fandom. But at least now he understands why gems like this make me willing to slog through so much dreck to find it. So thank you.

Thank you so much. I've been at a low ebb lately -- I've written a whole lot in the last year, both fic and real life-wise and it's taken a toll, and the fandom has gotten me down. To have someone suddenly pop out of the woodwork, and especially on top of some of the recent nasty just means the world to me. Thank you to both you and your husband though my own has only a vague idea of the fan fic habit - I now will admit I'm writing, but not what. "Are you going to publish again?" he asks. "NO!" He's never expressed any interest in reading it, thank goodness, nor my teen, who is far more savvy to mom's online activities.

Thank you so much. I really appreciate hearing from people and I'm very, very grateful to you.

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H&M, Chapter 17, Meeting of the Minds

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Meeting of minds

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