Hiding fandom in the underwear drawer since 1977

Whynot, thanks for reading and leaving comments.  You obviously have some questions, so if you want me to answer them, you can comment over here.  A few things,

Separated at Birth -- some people think I have the timeline right, others don't.  I worry less about that sort of thing than I used to.  I wrote the story mostly because it's two female characters with a lot of baggage on a heist and I think Mara and River are great foils for one another, with River bringing some of the crazy that Mara really tries to avoid.

By Royal Decree -- I'm not quite sure what you meant.  It sounds like the tone of the story was bothering you.  If you had difficulty distinguishing the princesses, you aren't alone as Edmund hasn't bothered to tell them apart, either.  They are supposed to a broad parody, with even the line inserted in the story about "learning the business of government" being a riff on popular fic at the time.  As for the tone, it's humor and parody, not something seen much in the Narnia fandom, I guess.  It doesn't read as typical romance because I didn't start it as a typical romance -- Evil Banker Morgan was a late edition and on my Journal you could read the Great Mother's Day debate in which I was undecided about how to end the story.  That idea of it not being a typical romance is realized more fully in H&M.

Harold and Morgan -- I guess the doorstop comment in that chapter is referring to Edmund being relegated to a position inferior to bankers where he's basically anonymous and leaning against walls and doors.  It's how he's feeling.

Thank you for reading.

And so Harold and Morgan has concluded. The chapter is here, based heavily upon some meme responses and requests here, including E's Acceptance of the Terms and requests by Adaese and Syrena. I am going to go ahead and make a plea. If you did read it and liked it, could you let me know and please leave a review?

I guess I should say something about the characterization of Edmund Linch -- he (and Liv) are both pretty critical of their older generation. He's vowing to do it differently and Liv is there pushing him on. A lot of this is the arrogance of youth and the "I won't make the mistakes they did." He wants to strike his own path, establish his own rule, and that's not a bad thing. It can, however, be hard to read, as if some young one is just trashing all the good that came before. He's not -- Ed is just making his own way. They are young and think they know everything and I let them enjoy that surety that comes with youth.

Liv sort of leaped off the page. In pieces that didn't make the cut, I played a lot with her being very much inspired by Lucy, though with more of Susan's traditional femininity (she is 2-3 years older than he is). And I enjoyed writing their relationship, which took an unexpected turn toward the sensual, which I hope isn't off putting -- but that's where this all started. There's a lot of guilt and baggage both in H&M (for instance the way the Bankers and Calormenes look down on Narnians) and in I love not Man the less with the bonding rites. Liv and Ed are obviously way beyond that, crazy in love, completely devoted to one another, and always have been, and have a very positive and equal relationship. This chapter ended up pulling in things from nearly all my other work.

And I killed Jalur (that was Syrena's fault). And Lambert.

I had promised a second epilogue, Rejection of the Terms, in the vein of Lost in Translation's Everybody Stays, Nobody Leaves. I liked the 7000 words or so I've pulled together. The idea, which doesn't hang together completely, is set up at the beginning of Acceptance. Peter has the choice to again chase the White Stag or not. Chasing the wish leads them back to Spare Oom. It poses the same issue that underlies a lot of the work -- If you act, does it mean you don't have faith? Are you the Foolish Faun? It's at the heart of Food for Thought and the ultimate split between Peter and Susan over whether to use the rings. Peter will act, because that's what Peter does, even if maybe he should not, in this case to literally chase a wish. So the epilogue splits at this point. Does Peter chase the Stag (Acceptance of the Terms) or does he not chase the Stag (Rejection of the Terms). This piece with Dinan I owe to Adaese btw.

Rejection of the Terms is very Peter and Morgan heavy, with lots of added children sword play and food fights. it poses the idea that both of them come to terms with what family means and the possibility of letting go of expectation -- also, very much a Peter character issue. It was too long to include in this update and once Acceptance of the Terms was all on the page, I was happy with its happy ending.
( a little more on Rejection and what I might or might not do with it )

if you read, thank you, so much. I'm very grateful.

So, the Narnia Fic Exchange will be winding up soon.  I've really enjoyed so many of the stories.  Anon commenting is available, so do check them out.

In the Bujold community, Hedda62 just posted Further Up and Further In, a Betan Survey/Narnia cross over to fill the prompt:  You know all those Betan survey ships that go into wormholes and don’t come out? They go to Narnia. It's so much fun.  I really enjoyed it.

In recognition of some real ugliness and other things, lady_songsmith has started a new Comm, Marvelous Things Beyond Reckoning to promote the stories that celebrate "the diversity of vision in Narnia and the richness of the world."  Huzzah.  PM her with questions and suggestions. 

The ugliness, more on that briefly, below, underscores how much I miss the Narnia Fanfiction Revolution community which had at its core a celebration of diversity and creativity.  It was that rare thing in the Narnia fandom, a community that did not tolerate intolerance.   Maybe, given that the films are over and the fandom is contracting again, there is no need for it and so its demise will pass unremarked.  Still, I miss it.  I know the technical skill to transfer the old site to the new server is beyond me and I really don't know anything about forum management.  If anyone has any thoughts on this -- is there a need for it, if so where, who, and how -- I welcome your thoughts.

I've been trying to write but have been badly distracted.  First, I managed to fall into a rabbit cage on to cement and now have bruises and cuts on both legs, knees, feet and one arm.  I have been Battered by bunnies.  School also started and so that is always a stressful time of year.  huzzah for a long weekend.

Second, I had a unsigned, anonymous review to I love not man the less but nature more.  Over the last day, I've been tinkering with a response.  There's a little more here, under the cut.  Please be warned -- this anon review and my discussion that follows contain horribly homophobic language bracketed by smileys.  If being labeled horrible things due to sexual orientation is triggering, stop now. 

( How did I become the poster child in the Narnia culture wars? ) 

Anons and others, thank you for the kudos over on A03! CKate, if you keep reading Harold and Morgan, you will finally see Tumnus make an appearance. Also, he’s in The Horse and Her Girl. Tumnus and Peridan can’t stand each other. It’s a total bromance and probably romantic. And thank you blithers for the rec in het_reccers

So, let’s see. With the sort of merging of old fandom friends and new fandom friends, I’m not sure any more where I should bitch about my brother and sister in law and the never ending power struggle involving the bitch beach house that has now roiled over into a school fundraising activity  involving pencils and erasers. So many lawyers in the family is so very much not a good thing (there are 5?  6?   plus Grandma likes to sue without a lawyer because she doesn’t think she needs one) especially when coupled with a cultural proclivity toward rigidity and argument and a habit of carrying out warfare via email.  The good thing about the last three years in this fandom was that I was able to quote back to a worried teacher who’d received an email bomb from my BIL about the pencils and erasers, “No really, it’s him, not you.” Or to quote my newly minted teen, “Haters are gonna hate, mom.”

Which brings me to pound cake and porn. The porn challenge is underway and so here is the signal boost and the note that as vialethe pointed out there is a real lack of Narnia porn thus far. I keep wanting to do something with Cor and Aravis but I’ve found myself really reluctant to write them after the wonderful work of edenfalling which isn’t porn or pound cake but still highly sensual and has become complete head canon for me. And hey, I wrote Caspian and Peter (sort of) for snacky! And that whole paragraph of the Revel in I love not man the less! And Maenad!  And before that, other things.  Really!  Been there, done that, got the t-shirt and burned the negatives. 

Which brings me next to the fact that yeah, the lovely anons notwithstanding, I continue to get hit, and in particular took one to the teeth recently. I have written a response which I have not posted, going back to my teen’s sage advice. Still, it rankles to stay silent when I'm instructed that fandom has changed since I entered it in the 1970s so I should just get with the program.  Really, I can act my ancient age (unless it involves beach house selection with my in laws).

snitchnipped is proposing a big bang write in for Friday night so if you are interested, contact her but I think the timing is 9 PM ET. We’ll hang on Skype or in a chat room somewhere and motivate each other to sit down and write.

To that end, I somehow have managed to develop over 16,000 words of Harold and Morgan, Part 3, none of it postable.  I keep thinking that I can write both the Big Bang and a Two Hearts Day piece for H&M at the same time and I'm not being real successful at it. 


( blather in which Morgan engages in evasive tactics and massive rationalization )

Enough’s enough.
The previous entry on Chapter 12 has exploded so at the risk of self-aggrandizement, I’m just going to move some of that discussion and such over here to a new entry. 

Neiman and Flavia, thanks for the reviews and Nemain it’s great to hear from you again. Flavia, as the comments to the previous entry indicate, you are not alone in your defense of Edmund. They are both to blame; I’m just annoyed with him that he did not explain to Morgan why he’s all angsty about Seth/brother/betraying family for material gain.

( Shipping Susan and the Director )

( blowing up canon with cannon and reflection on Narnia fandom )

( General observations on ships )

( Richard and Peter discussing gay giraffes )
( More shippiness, the impact of the Guards and Edmund's "Relationship? What relationship?" )

It is that time of year to spread the good word of the Narnia Fic Exchange, moderated by the fabulous caramelsilver  and snacky .  Come and play!  join in!

Last year, I wrote Maenad of the Maquis and Under Cover for the exchange.  The divine athousandwinds  wrote the fabulous More Than Kisses Letters Mingle Souls for me.

I had dinner with the fabulous intrikate88  and was actually asked for identification to confirm I was above the age of legal drinking.  Fabulous.  Good thing I had my wallet.  I was also able to use the Adipose from Dr. Who Season 4, Partners in Crime as a very relevant example in a presentation to a room of important people.  I am also devastated because my favorite pink baby doll t shirt now has a big ink splotch on it. 

I'm also on Twitter and Tumblr though I don't do much with Tumblr except be intimidated by all the dread visuals.

Also, it never rains but it pours, but two unsigned anon reviewers, Jim and Reader of the Open Range.  ( In response to Jim )

( In response to Reader of the Open Range ) 

Work proceeds with 9, but I'm adding more and so that will take a few days.  It's over 7,500 words.  I also owe a few review replies.  I've put a couple of snippets in comments to the previous entry (I think).  Oh, question...  am I right that we get no physical description of Lord Peridan other than he rides a bay horse in HHB?

So, I've done two things this weekend.  Work and fiddle with this chapter in my very sparse downtime.  Chapter 8 was clocking in at 17,000 words, so I've split it.  The first part of this chapter has been seen before here on the LJ, but it's tweaked with different spin and dialogue in places and more context that is consistent with the story.  I'll add comments to the anonymous reviewers shortly.

Thank you all, so much.  It means the world to me that  you are reading and commenting. 
( Anonymous reviewers Flavia and AM )

In exchanges with Syrena, here I offered a little Polly and Digory fic.  And, here I promised more of the Horse, His Boy, The Trickster, and the Rat.  Alas, I got distracted with working on AW Chapter 7, which, given the length appears to now be Chapters 7 and 8.  This means there's no Trickster story excerpt, yet. 

Also, whoa, thanks so much to all the anonymous reviewers on ff.net.  I really, really appreciate it.  The story is one away from a milestone, and I'm just childish enough to notice that sort of thing.  So thanks ever so much for your support. 

As recompense to Syrena and in thanks, I offer a peek at something I've been hoarding for a long time. I'm still tweaking it, and in fact, still need to write the whole exchange -- the ones between Susan and Lucy and between Edmund and Susan are done, plus the build up.  I"m at about 14,000 words so far.
( Peter and Susan are tossing back hard liquor and discussing what each did over the summer holiday )

Also, I posted a whole bunch of Fem-oriented Narnia fic recs for the fabulous halfamoon  community here
And, true confession, the only reason I made Mary Anning Russell look like Dinan -- the aggressive, enthusiastic, proprietary Silver Birth in By Royal Decree -- is so that it would not be of emotional significance for Peter or anyone else.  It was a poke at fandom convention which would have made it a HUGE ANGSTY THING and I did it solely so I could have something like the above exchange establishing otherwise and I've had this  in my head for over 2 years.   Why yes, sometimes I am very immature.

I'll post something by the end of the week.  Thanks again!