H&M Chapter 18

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H&M Chapter 18

So, last night I posted Many Happy Returns.

This has been a very difficult update. I’ve had tons of real life writing and close readers know what is coming and I'm looking forward to it no more than you are. It's strange because I have probably 50,000 words in this part of the story and the first part, the presentation to Peter, I had written before and it still took me 2 weeks to write a few thousand words of the same scene from a different point of view.

And gosh, I could not resist making Peter so sentimental about it all. They are completely counting their eggs before they are fertilized, though both Roblang and Mr. Hoberry express some caution. And yes, about that. The resolution at the end of the chapter leaves open the possibilty that Morgan is pregnant. If you have any thoughts on that, I'd love to hear them.

Peter and Susan are a bit clueless about all this -- in their defense, they've really not been around for most of the relational development. Susan also has her issues with the whole thing as she sees it (and rightly so) as politically very problematic. Also, we have something of a return to the politics and worldbuilding, such as it is, that were developed in the Lone Islands arc.

We've covered a lot of ground in the last couple of chapters. They have really learned how to communciate and are both rising to the challenge of becoming a couple, a we, a them, in the greater world. And then... well...

Coincidentally, Elecktrum and the1hobbit posted the first chapter of a bawdy bachelor party with Bacchus in attendance, so you know it's going to be a rollicking time. They borrowed my Sir Leszi who would never miss a good party and I'm very flattered that they did so. You can find the first chapter of Evangeline here.

I'll say this again, even at the risk of being a review hound. This type of story is a dying breed in the Narnia fandom on fanfiction.net. If you like it and other works like it, even a single guest review of "Thanks for updating! I liked it!" really, really means something. Those counts, favs and follows make a statement. As I said in the a/n at the end of the chapter, my work and I have become real outliers in the past few months as the fandom on the site has become actively hostile to anything except a very specific, very narrow brand of story. Thanks so much for your support.

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I greatly enjoyed it, but a real review will be a little delayed. Real Life is being bothersome again. Until then, I was laughing and tearing and flailng and d'awwww Jina! Great job!

I was SO happy when I saw the email alert in my inbox this morning. I can't wait to read it. ♥

I just wanted to let you know that I am going to have to wait to read this until at least the next bit comes up, because we were at a good stopping point in the last chapter, and I cannot take my poor heart being shredded. So you have not lost me as a reader! I'm just looking after my poor heart.

Interesting, isn't it? You've characterized the more creative, imaginative and innovative story writing as a dying breed, with a more constrained and narrow archetype taking its place. At the same time, I'm now reading almost nothing in this fandom EXCEPT for stories like yours, from authors who bring a wider view and explore bigger issues. Wonder what that says? Guess I'm just perverted too (or whatever the latest perjorative is), and happy to be there.

I really enjoyed this. It's so strikingly plausible that a more mature bond between the two of them would look this way. For all that it was a struggle, you've pulled it off so very well.

That's so funny, Min023, I would say the same thing. This is one of the few stories that I have read everything. Elecktrum, Sentimental Star, and Cofax being the others.

The word that I would use, min, would be sophisticated. I am not a child, I am an adult who can handle adult content and adult themes like world-building and what religious and cultural tolerance might look like in practice.

I have spent entirely too much time thinking about culture wars, their impacts, and how to engage with them this week. I would hate for you, rth, to fall victim to the same thing. So, you will be happy to note I have know posted double reviews. And I am eagerly looking forward to the next chapter, even if I do know what's coming next.

Doctor Dolly

Here's more support for you - and I've just left an anon review at FFN :) I'm not actually sure what's coming next that everyone's so anxious about - I've ideas but am not sure, it's been too long since I've read this in detail. This chapter is so happy, and I'm glad of it. It IS such a shame that this sort of story is, as you say, a dying breed, but in some ways it's good - if there were lots of stories like this, I'd have trouble telling them apart! :) Fandom hostility is horrible and you shouldn't have to deal with it. Though I admit that I also have a very specific, narrow brand of stories that I read - these ones. Bah! to any other elitists in the Narnia fandom. It's a matter of taste, always, and if I may, this tastes like mint chocolate chip ice cream; sometimes sharp and tangy but always delicious.

...And now I'll stop with silly metaphors. It's a great story and a good update. Enjoy the writing :)

Already left a review on FF, but just wanted to throw in my 2 cents worth on the idea that Morgan might already be pregnant. We know that Morgan's first child isn't born until after Ed leaves, and that's several years in the future, so I am guessing that if she is pregnant now, she loses the baby. Can I respectfully vote no to that? She is about to lose her best friend, give up her succession to her house, leave her family for good. She is already terribly emotionally stunted, I just think a miscarriage would push her over the edge of sanity and I hate to think of Ed and Morgan's few years together being marred by her spending months in a depressive state. But that's just my opinion.

My internet was down last night so I didn't get to read this or Elektrum's story until now, but I liked them both. I really enjoyed seeing Leszi and Roblang mentioned in "Evangeline" and well, they've got Leszi's characterization pretty accurately. :-)

and it still took me 2 weeks to write a few thousand words of the same scene from a different point of view.

Two weeks is nothing when one hasn't managed to get an update out in over a year! So a few weeks or a month is perfectly fine!

As for Morgan, I don't think she's pregnant now given the timeline for when the Guards do know she's with child. I think I like this "am I or am I not" questioning/conversation with Edmund just before they all depart. We're seeing the beginnings of how they would react if Morgan was pregnant or not -- are they really mature and ready enough to have a child yet? At any rate, just bringing this up allows the two of them to truly start thinking about the possibility and how that will affect Narnian succession, reactions from their own families (of course, the other Pevensies would be thrilled) and even the political ramifications when the news spread to other countries.

Yeah so I woke up and the first thing I did besides checking my email is to check your LJ for a post on Ch.18 because it wasn’t there last night before I went to sleep. And then I read the chapter again and love finding again the little gems of “things I should have mentioned in the review but was too busy squeeing to remember” like everyone wanting to claim Mr Hoberry for themselves, “We are having a baby!” and Morgan appearing as a Hound on the schedule. And Peter being adorable and so not the Magnificent warrior king. Only if Morgan could walk inside his head, she wouldn’t feel so intimidated anymore.

Re pregnancy: You mentioned it to me once and I can’t remember what I said. It was probably in some form of yes *and* no. Thing is, I can see how having Morgan lose a baby around the same time/so soon after losing Jina who was pregnant at the time of death would be transforming for both her and Edmund’s character, and from a writing standpoint I would love to see how you deal with that big upheaval in their lives. Certainly put it all together, and Morgan will still end up staying in Narnia would speak vastly of their love for each other. But I’m not sure whether all our hearts would stand it. I would say looking at the whole picture, I’m thinking more towards no, since there will be enough losses as it is.

Re fandom hostility: It astounds me, because you do have to comb through the stories at FFNet to find stories like yours that take time for worldbuilding and character development, so if you want to belittle it, you do have to go looking for it (and read it). Right now I just sort of stick to authors I know and rarely go exploring the main Narnia page on Fanfiction,but when I do, I give up if I don’t find anything new interesting in the first three pages (and usually is the case). So with the abundance of the other stuff that is out there, I don’t understand why people would feel the need to put so much effort and time to acting hostile to something that doesn’t fit the norm and generally being not constructive. Maybe I just have a life and I only read stories that I actually like, but really, if there is ever a need to ask “Don’t you have anything better to do?” I think it’s for this.

Good luck with RL! You are missed!

Awww, thanks! I hope you are having a good weekend!

Awww, thanks, I think. I know about the shredding. There are some out there who don't know it's coming and I guess/I'm assuming it's better to know?

I keep writing and re-writing responses to this. I had a long elucidation on some of the current trends Delete Delete. You can see the latest pejoratives and hear the clucking disapproval in the profiles and in reviews, or, to borrow from Holmes and the dog that didn't bark, who and what is read and reviewed and by whom.

Shrug. I am so fortunate to be associate with such generous people.

It's funny -- last night I just started writing a bit in the Lone Islands where Constance is complaining - why did she come back? it was going so well?

I think for the next chapter (which may be 2) I'll pull back to outsider povs. We don't need to be in that deep.

Oh gosh, thank you so much! What everyone is worried about is mentioned in reviews, so you can see it there if you want to know. And yes, I quite understand about the narrow range of interests and we do all have our favorite flavors. Snacky refers to it, "this is not my favorite flavor of delicious cake!" but the analogy really works with ice cream too. I don't like butter pecan or peach ice cream. Of course, I also don't tell people who do like butter pecan or peach ice cream that God and I do not approve of their taste in ice cream.

Thanks so much for the review and the PM. I saw your note how you really see Jalur as being Edmund's father figure. That is such an insightful idea! And thank you for sharing your thoughts on the pregnancy issue. Among other things, we're all in for a bumpy ride, so why make it worse. I have big chunks of this already from earlier chapters in Part 1 and 2 of TSG and I've realized that I will want to pull back even further. There are things I'd like to try to play with, but at some point, Enough is enough.

So very many Narnia stories emphasize the sibling bond, and test it and retest it, over and over, and shred it and build it back up again, I added something about Edmund telling his siblings very late in the edits. But I was flummoxed because fandom convention would probably make this a huge, big emotional thing. Instead, I pull back. I tend to write Edmund as pretty emotionally reserved and he and Peter do not have the emotionally intense relationship that is so popular.

Authorial restraint is called for and that is something I should keep in mind.

Thanks again!

*THIS* Absolutely this. Doctor Dolly, I agree with you entirely, both with rth and the other authors you note, as well as the characterisation of sophisticated storytelling.

Well, I didn't know for sure the shredding was coming up, so THANK YOU for this post that let me know to avoid Harold and Morgan for a bit.

Considering the attendant canon, both TSG and bookverse, it's kind of hard to avoid thinking that a light at the end of the tunnel is the (ultimately welcome) train, but go figure. You went and created a whole 'verse of great backstory and loveable OCs so now I'm invested in EVERYTHING. I'm sure that warms the cockles of your heart, you emotional-wringer you!

Meanwhile, I will go back to your Lucy and littlegiant!Bruce shenanigans. I wish we could see an Edmund and Lucy team up to track mass murder/executions in totalitarian states!

I sometimes write my reviews here instead of on ff - now I thought it is a point to write it there, to show that some people like stories the way you write them. Even though they are not children's stories.

I'm completely with basaltone about the pregnancy. We don't want Morgan to lose a child. Her life is stressful enough as it is. Happy, at the moment, but still stressful. And with more stress to come ...

I've had a busy month, with lots of overtime ... so not nearly enough time for fanfiction reading ;-)

Ed needs to have one of his spies tell Constance that the easiest way to keep Alan is to back Morgan in the upcoming negotiations. Perhaps through Constance's eyes on the ground in Cair? Besides, it's been awhile since we've seen a good double cross spy from you. VBEG

Doctor Dolly

I've had a few people say, couldn't you please just go AU and ignore the train wreck? But then it would never end, would it?

SHE'S ALIVE! You lost Internet? OMG!

And it is so funny that Elecktrum and the1hobbit posted Evangeline the same night I posted this update and it included Leszi! It was so nice of them to include him!

I wrote the is she? isn't she? ambiguously. There are ways I could make this work and I'd toyed with some of it but, you know, everyone is right. I'm not disciplined at all but stories would be better with more authorial restraint, so I'm exerting it. Even in the chapter I just posted there was a whole lot more than ended up cut. I added some things in -- but I cut a lot. One reader had wondered if maybe, with Morgan's eventual joining with Narnia, if this resulted in increased suspicion in some areas, including Telmar. It's an interesting idea.

The fact is, these are conversations couples have. It's very personal and complicated. Reader E had pointed out a while ago, why didn't Edmund see succession as his responsibility? For whatever reason he didn't, but he does now.

Thank you!

The gulf between Morgan and Peter is pretty large. In fairness to them both, they have spent very little time around each other. Lucy knows Morgan very well and Susan has been with Morgan no more than Peter has and I think Susan is also a little protective of her younger brother.

Re the pregnancy: there were some things I was interested in doing in the writing and if I didn't do them there, I'm not sure I ever will be able to do so. So, I have to let them go. That's hard, and has required more discipline than I usually have.

As for the hostility, one new reader came to my stories because she saw a Tumblr that reccing some stories (which she disliked) and waring readers from my work. Figuring that if the poster/reccer was that afraid of my work, it might be OK, she checked it out. I've known for a while that this was out there. I've looked for it but apart from a really horrible review on TV Tropes, I've not been able to find it in posts or blogs. Shrug. I'd really like to find it in a 'train wreck' sort of way. It is weird and highly dissonant and my teen thinks it's hilarious that his mom is so immoral.

But oh boy, I've seen some stuff recently that completely squicks me out -- it's marked all up as not slash and good Christian fare, and it is seriously creepy and warped. I'm very happy with who is reading and what they say and I'm really blessed to have met an extraordinary community of friends and readers.

She's alive! How are you? Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! I really appreciate it!

I wrote the scene ambiguously to give myself some room should I want to pursue it. It's hard because there are things I wanted to do and if I do not do them here, I think I'll have to toss them. Restraint does not come easily to me! But this has been useful to see just how much readers are dreading it -- does it make it worse or better knowing what is coming? I suppose better. But I'm listening too and there were some things I was working through where I realized I need to take a step back, use outside povs and off-camera. We just don't need to be right in the middle of some of this. And so this means MORE REWRITES!

I actually thought that the fact that him telling his siblings as almost an after thought showed just how much he had matured. This was a private matter between he and Morgan, and with the whole of the kingdom already sticking their nose into their business, I can understand them playing it close to the vest. He has reached the level of adulthood when he would no longer ask his siblings advice/permission about who he is going to marry. He would inform them of his decision and hope they are happy for him, but they wouldn't change his mind. I just hope that Pierce and her father can understand it when Morgan does the same. He has already recieved the blessings of two who are closest to him, Aslan and Jalur, so he is feeling confident. I just can't help wishing Jina had decided to go to Narrowhaven with Morgan. Is it weird that I am now wishing for an AU in an already sort of AU story? I think I might have gotten a little too invested in this universe. Soon some of your more rabid fans are going to start writing AU stories based on your story where Jina lives a long and happy life with Rufus and the puppies. We can't help it, that's why we like fanfiction to begin with. "I reject your reality and replace it with my own" and all that. Thanks for your story, by the way, I don't know who the people are that are giving you a hard time, but they are obviously idiots.

Thank you! Exam is Thursday morning, so I should be back by friday. Until then I am burying myself in embryology and animal development.

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H&M Chapter 18

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pregnant?

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Ruan Chun Xian

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Re: pregnant?

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