3 things: my health; backstory is a vicious, vicious addiction; RemixRedux 8

[edenfalling]

1. I continue to improve, slowly. Still regularly dosing myself with NyQuil, but last night I slept about 8 hours straight (plus one more on either end, for a total of 10 hours), which is usually a sign that my airways are clearing, because if they're clogged, then when the NyQuil runs out, I start breathing through my mouth and wake up with a horribly dry throat, drink a lot of water, and then wake up again shortly thereafter for obvious reasons. (Water does not just sit in the body forever, after all. *wry*)

Anyway. That is more than enough TMI. (I blame the NyQuil. I will be blaming everything on NyQuil until, probably, Sunday-ish. It's very freeing.)

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2. I am trying to write ch. 4 of "The Courting Dance." What I keep coming up with is something more like a ten page dissertation on the history of Archenland. With footnotes. Also, I now have a rough idea for a historical novel about the founding of Archenland (in the year 180, apparently, according to supplemental info from Lewis), dealing with the tensions between human and non-human settlers from Narnia, and how that eventually spills over into violence (year 203) which leads to the losers (human supremacists, obvs.) being exiled into the southern desert (year 204, according to Lewis). But the conflict has left bitter blood, which makes a lot of Talking Beasts and other mythological creatures return north through the pass to Narnia, and is the start of Narnia's long isolationist streak (never really broken in canon, actually), and the reason why Archenland, while Narnia's "sister country," has a majority human population.

Um. And then I go on with the fate of those southern exiles (I do not, incidentally, think they founded Calormen, regardless of what Lewis says -- I think they met the Calormenes and were pushed west and then their fledgling settlement was later conquered, which is one reason Calormen seems to have a lot of rebellions in their western provinces -- see, I can and will explain anything if you give me an inch), and how at some point the Calormenes sent traders and missionaries and stuff to Archenland, and the old bad blood over the slave trade, and then we get to the Long Winter and I should shut up now because I think I'm getting close to things that may become actual plot points in "The Courting Dance."

Right. Shutting up now.

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3. musesfool posted in remixers_lounge to say that in order to make matching particpants as easy as possible (and to give people the best chance of getting matched to the fandoms they really want), it would be great if people would sign up who qualify in and are willing to write in the following fandoms:

Weiß Kreuz
Saiyuki
Naruto
Johnny's Entertainment
Bandom
Sherlock Holmes (books or 2009 movie)
White Collar
NCIS
Criminal Minds
Firefly
Good Omens
The West Wing
Sports Night
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek: Deep Space 9

To qualify in a fandom, you need either five stories of at least 500 words each, OR seven stories of at least 100 words.

RemixRedux is a lot of fun! Come join! (And sign up for Naruto, damn it.)

Comments

[alchymie.livejournal.com]

Re: #2. Okay, there's a time for world-building and there's a time for story-telling. One can wish Lewis had spent a little more time (okay, a lot more time) on his world-building: e.g., how did Calormenes come to regard Aslan as a demon? Did the ur-Calormenes slip into the Narniaverse through an accidental chink, as the Telmarines did, and if not, why don't they physically resemble the other descendants of King Frank? Why do Talking Beasts live only in the country of Narnia, and nowhere else in the Narniaverse? etc.

But in truth, he didn't really need the answers to those questions when he was telling his tales. Possibly such answers might have changed the shape of the stories, but not by much: Rabadash would have remained Rabadash, the Penvensies would still have defeated Jadis, and so on. But we might have had a richer wealth of details in their telling.

How much of the history of the Narniaverse directly impacts the troubled courting dance of Cor and Aravis? Maybe Archenland-Calormen relations, but anything else? Throw into a drawer what isn't needed on the page.

Re: #1. Get Better Soon.

[edenfalling]

I know 90% of this does not belong in the story. Trust me, I know. Unfortunately, it keeps drowning out the story, and thus driving me progressively madder and madder (even allowing for NyQuil weirdness). I am beginning to think I may have to write the "official" history of Archenland just to get it out of my head and give me the mental space to hear Cor talk about stuff that's actually immediately relevant. *headdesk*