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Do you ever find yourself looking at My Stories and find yourself surprised how long ago you posted something. Today that happened to me with In This Land, my last Manny and Maude story. I knew it had been awhile, thought I was coming up on a year, but its actually been almost 16 months since I posted it. Yet, despite the next story, Who's the Fairest, being one of my goto stories to work on since I finished The Transformation of Gwri, it still feels like I have a long way to go.
My problem, mostly is caused by the humour aspect of these stories. If you are familiar with the prior two stories (not really the 1st) in this set, you may remember that zany appeared my goal. And I think I mostly achieved that goal; however, as I have progressed through this story, I have realized that it needs the zaniness to be somewhat muted, as the comedy tends to be a bit more observational. That possibly explains why I constantly run into a wall with the story, since I worry that I aim at a target that may not follow in line with the prior hijinks of these two characters.
I may need to set it aside, let it simmer, while determining if the story needs to be changed or if I should plod along to the expected end.
Comments
Time
Supposedly it took Joseph Heller over ten years to write Catch 22.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Arice, so glad you are still toying with Manny and Maude
The evolution of a character/characters is not an easy process unless you really can stick to an outline. I sure can't.
The zany in the Manny Maude sage so far is as much the nature of the characters and how they interact as it is being a *stranger in a strange land*.
Manny is doubly a stranger as he is not only a mundane dealing for the first time with a land full of magic and magical creatures but is simultaneously living in the most foreign land of all, the body of a woman and all that entails. The fish out of water aspects drove much of the early zaniness. That must recede over time as she gets used to the eccentricities of this land of magic and gets used to her very, very female Bigxie(?) body -- IE a tall for a human sized pixy body complete with working wings and the sex fetish pixie armor -- BYW WOW! I LOVE the mental image of Manny as a bigxie. I envision a cross between Tinkerbell, the Linda Carter Wonder Woman and Little Annie Fanny of Playboy magazine fame. Rrrrrrrrrr!
Anywho, by the end of the third story IMHO Manny is becoming comfortable as a woman. HER teasing of that vow of celibacy Paladin Holier than Thou type seems proof to me she has accepted, even is beginning to embrace/revel in her femininity. Mind you this is BC and her wishing to remain female is somewhat expected but this is a time where convention DOES make sense IMHO.
He was unhappy as a warrior, not in being one, he took pride in that, but in the politics of it. He also had never formed any strong relationships with women nor was there any hint of a prospect for his affections back at home. He seemed destined to a lonely and short life as a mercenary. SHE is still a warrior, quite possibly a superior warrior to her formidable male self and seems increasingly happy with HER fate.
The big Qs, or at least a few that come to mind are as follows. Will she stay in this land and with Maude the Seamstrix after her duties are over . Can Maude really restore her to his male body and if so will Manny ask to remain a bigxie, a magical female? With she be able to refuse to be changed should Maude feel compelled to restore him IE "you're not in you right mind due to the multiple magics used on you. You'll thank me once you are your old self again. Mind you, you make a fetching woman, pity that but I owe you and your parents. One dull male mercenary coming up"? Will she become as powerful in magics as Maude? What of his, now her family, can she go home and will she be accepted? And what of Maude;'s daughter, the one who is at the moment a bad witch.
Will Manny find romance and a life mate in this magic land? Oh and will Manny ever get that wild night of sex with the ever so grateful and willing pixies?
--snicker --
Hope my musings help yours.
John in Wauwatosa
John in Wauwatosa
A thought
It doesn't have to be zany from start to finish. They could intersperse adventures with moments of zany. I just like to read the stories about them. Too much zaniness may actually detract from the story.