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The Apparition--Comments/Discussion Thread

Started by Evie, March 24, 2016, 08:22:35 PM

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Elkhound


Evie

"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Evie

Quote from: Laurna on March 25, 2016, 03:20:18 AM
The FS system sounds good.  Just know that the best thing this forum offers over the fanfic.net site is that at Rheumth castle, we (the readers and writers) are friends and as such we all love to get into long discussions with the posting of new stories. That is the best part of sharing a story here. Therefore it is very important that the Discussion Thread be attached to every story.  Will that thread get out-of-hand (really long) for multiple chapter stories? I am thinking that probably isn't a problem, as you can go directly to the New posts in the discussion thread. Have to see how it works.

Way back when the original Deryni Fanfic section started, we started out posting stories in a single thread, with chapter comments just added in between chapters.  So one single thread would contain Chapter 1, a bunch of comments, Chapter 2, more comments, Chapter 3, etc.  While it was easy enough to scroll through to the last chapter and comments read and work from there, you can imagine how unwieldy that could get after a while, so DesertRose ended up splitting each chapter and its comments up into separate threads.  That made the thread lengths much more manageable, but because people commenting on earlier chapters would get the chapters out of order on the main Fanfic board, we ended up having to add in the "Next chapter" and "Previous chapter" links to prevent chapters from getting lost if they got out of sequence.  One of the things I like about the new system, provided we can work all the kinks out of it, is that it allows all of those connected chapters to be read easily in proper sequence while still remaining in one story thread, so to speak.  I think having a single Discussion Topic thread per story can be made to work easily enough.  If it helps, maybe we can add the chapter name or number to the subject line when we post new chapters, so people who start a story later than everyone else can more easily stop reading comments once they start discussing chapters they've not read yet.  For instance, someone posting to Chapter Two of this story (if there was a second chapter) could revise the subject of their post to say "The Apparition--Discussion Thread--Chapter Two."  Just one suggestion, but others would be welcome.  And the new Spoilers button would also help with not giving away major plot points before others have had a chance to catch up.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Shiral

Thanks Evie,

I was able to read the story properly this time. Silly Helena, she should know the spring weather in Gwynedd is notoriously fickle! But fortunately, Catriona was able to guide her through the necessities, and then go fetch the new Archbishop.

Melissa
You can have a sound mind in a healthy body--Or you can be a nanonovelist!

Elkhound

Anent her problem with her long skirt--why didn't she just fold the hem up and tuck it in her belt?  A trifle immodest by the standards of the day, but who was out there to SEE her?   (Also, wasn't it improper by the standards of the day for a lady to be out unescorted?  Wouldn't propriety have required her to have at least ONE companion?)

Evie

Quote from: Shiral on March 25, 2016, 04:20:27 PM
Thanks Evie,

I was able to read the story properly this time. Silly Helena, she should know the spring weather in Gwynedd is notoriously fickle!

True. ;D Though in her defense, I think had this been a regular snowfall, she'd have gotten home safely on her own, but I was envisioning this to be more like a sudden nor'easter style of blizzard. The day the Blizzard of '93 hit our area, we knew there was snow in the forecast (thanks to modern meteorology) even though the weather seemed fine enough earlier in the day, but no one expected more than a few inches at most. We ended up with snow nearly waist deep in places the following morning, and IIRC it continued to fall throughout the weekend!  So that left lots of people unprepared, even though we knew snow was coming.  Without reliable weather forecasting, I figured Helena would be even less well prepared for that sort of weather event.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Laurna

Quote from: Elkhound on March 25, 2016, 04:34:47 PM
(Also, wasn't it improper by the standards of the day for a lady to be out unescorted?  Wouldn't propriety have required her to have at least ONE companion?)
I agree that any noble young lady should be out with a companion. But I think farm girls often tended their animals out on the land, possible alone, but hopefully not far from home. In this case, Helena is an lady of middling years and a little less concerned about her propriety. However, in this case I have to agree. For her to wander beyond the castle's walls she should have taken a student, one she could be teaching which plants were the ones to pick and where to look for them. The story would not be changed with a young Deryni student on hand. Perhaps one that was not yet trained in long distance rapport. They still would have been caught out in a snow drift. Only the second person would have helped with the warding. Because I believe that ward would have been very energy draining to set up without the ward cubes,
May your horses have wings and fly!

Evie

It might have been wiser to bring someone else with her, but who knows, she might have been hoping for a day away from her students.  Having taught teens before, as much as I like the young rascals, I probably would be by the time March came along!  ;D

Hitching her skirt up might have helped with the trailing hem, though might not have been the best trade-off if it left her legs more exposed to the wintry cold.  In any case, though, I think by the time our story begins, Helena would have been suffering from at least the beginning stages of hypothermia, which only increased the colder she got and the more body heat she lost, which is one reason why her difficulties with thinking clearly are alluded to in various places in the story.  If Duncan hadn't seen the apparition as well, doubtless Helena would later chalk Catriona's appearance to some sort of freezing-induced delusion, but since Duncan can attest to seeing her also, she'll be assured that wasn't the case.

And of course the plot-necessary reason for not having a second person with Helena would be that, if a second person could have made it back to the city gates to request help for Helena (assuming that neither of them noticed the weather changing until too late to get back in time), Catriona's intervention might have been necessary at all, and without an apparition this would have turned out to be a different story altogether!  Or even if both Helena and her helper ended up in dire straits, there's less of a sense of story urgency in a second trained Deryni already being on hand to assist an injured companion than there is if the protagonist is struggling for survival and help suddenly arrives from an unexpected encounter.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Laurna

#23
"Miracles of miracles." Archbishop Duncan said softly. He smiled at the megistra before him, thankful for her health and silently thanking the angelic soul that he had hoped, but had not known until now, had become a heavenly protector from above.

"He should be scolding you for not taking a student with you, m'lady." Sister Theresa claimed. "and next time I trust you will not wander so far out on your own without at least a companion at your side."

"It was such a lovely spring morning, I..." Helena started in defense until Duncan reach across and squeezed her hand.

"Shhh...Ah, your fingers are finally warm again. That is what matters. That and knowing that our Beloved Catriona has earned her wings this day. For surely, only that can explain this heaven sent intervention."

"Pure white wings." Helena whispered knowingly.


(The heart of the above is meant as an apology)
May your horses have wings and fly!

DerynifanK

loved the story. Always thought it was sad that Catriona took so long to decide to marry Dhugal and then they had so littke time together
"Thanks be to God there are still, as there always have been and always will be, more good men than evil in this world, and their cause will prevail." Brother Cadfael's Penance

Evie

Thank you! Unfortunately, hindsight is clearer than foresight, and at their ages, they probably assumed they'd have many more years together. But life doesn't always turn out as we hope, and especially so in the Middle Ages with its greater number of hazards to life and limb that even the very best of medieval medicine couldn't cure.  Even so, killing off Catriona was one of my hardest story decisions ever, since I was (and still am) extremely attached to her, so it was great to be able to bring her back for a story. And she may yet get some moments in future tales; after all, there are dreams, flashbacks, visions, and as we've seen here, even the possibility of a direct and personal intervention, if circumstances warrant and divine agency permits. :)
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

DerynifanK

really enjoyed this. Hope to see more of Catriona.
"Thanks be to God there are still, as there always have been and always will be, more good men than evil in this world, and their cause will prevail." Brother Cadfael's Penance

Evie

Quote from: DerynifanK on April 04, 2016, 08:59:39 PM
really enjoyed this. Hope to see more of Catriona.

Thank you! Perhaps that might happen sometime.  :)
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

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