The Dresden Files > DF Reference Collection
Mab/Murphy Ironies
raidem:
I finally found something resembling the woj I recalled. This isn't it though but it's close.
Jim Butcher Atlanta, GA 2011 signing.
Part of Part 4 through the end of the Q and A.
--- Quote ---If it’s not a spoiler, what’s Murphy doing for a paycheck these days?
Well, if you stop and think about it, I’m sure it will occur to you. Of course, she didn’t talk about it with Dresden.
--- End quote ---
raidem:
--- Quote ---PR: Now, in terms of your plotting, it's one of the things that I'm terribly jealous of, because I'm comfortable with my world-building and other elements of my writing, but there are a couple things that you do that just so thoroughly out-class me, and one of them is the plotting, where you write these books that have, in themselves, great, very tight, very satisfying plots, but it's not like a sit-com. With a lot of series, you have the rise, and the fall, and the action, and then at the end of it, it's like the Simpsons - nothing is ever going to change in any permanent way. But in your books, you break that tradition in the episodic fantasy. How do you do that?! Teach me!
JB: Okay, basically, when I think of a book, what I'm actually writing is, like, Harry Dresden's worst weekend of the year that year. That's pretty much what I've got in mind. And then, to do that, I've got to figure out what are going to be awful things I'm going to have happen to him, what are going to be the cool things that I'm going to get to do within the story, and then after I put that all together, then I spend a lot of time between the books thinking, “okay, what's going to be the fallout from what's happened?” That's one of the things I've always taken to heart very seriously, is that actions have consequences, and choices have consequences, and you've got to live with them. So for Dresden, that's one of the fun things to do is to stop and think about, “okay, now, this is what's been going on for the past six months, or eight months, or nine months, in the the Dresden universe. How is everybody who's actually in this book, how do they experience that?” Everyone has a slightly different experience based on who they are and what they bring to their point of view within the story. You know, Murphy experiences the world very differently from Dresden, very differently from Dresden's brother Thomas, and so on. It's mostly just a matter of sitting down and thinking it out, and figuring out, “how do they experience this? What kind of spin can I put on it that's going to make it a fun part of the story?”Murphy mostly gets crap at work as fallout from her stuff, but I killed Dresden at the end of Changes, so everybody had to sort of look around and suddenly realize “oh my gosh! Somebody shot the sheriff.” Who's going to be the one who's going to step into his boots, and nobody can, so we've all got to.
--- End quote ---
raidem:
--- Quote ---? Crazy-theory-discussion... WOJ: You've previously said that the Sidhe and Mab came from origins like Toot Toot and kind of took on responsibility and grew. You've also said that every single Fae have come from mortal origins like changelings and Scions and stuff. Could you reconcile these two apparently contradictory origins?
I could but I won't sing song I'm not gonna tell you.* The Sidhe were created for a reason though. They were created specifically by certain agents who no longer had as much influence on the world as they once did. I've hinted at that in some previous books and I'll leave it at that and I'll leave the rest to you. That's perfectly enough material to come up with fan crack theory. And fan crack theory is awesome. I love reading fan crack theory. I will go through occasionally and look at the crack theory boards, and it's like excellent. And occasionally its like 'ooh that's actually better than what I had planned..."(edited)
--- End quote ---
This is Jim expressing his appreciation of fan crack theory. He loves reading it. Some of it is excellent. And occasionally, he likes it better than what he had planned. He says so. So we thank those of you on the forum that have allowed the more creative, maybe unshackled too, amongst us to indulge in our *crack* theories. Understand that as *crack* as they are, Jim likes reading them it seems. I'm sure it's entertaining to him seeing either how close we come or how far off we are to what he has planned.
raidem:
This is an excerpt of when Harry in Cold Days says "Screw Winter Law" and loses all access to the mantle as a result. Take note that Mab gave Harry back access to the mantle after Thomas, Butter, Murphy, Molly touched and helped Harry up but before he said "Maybe we won't screw Winter Law." I underlined two of the potentially important people where there may exist a coincidence in this situation. Also, it seems either via the mantle or within the room, Mab has Harry under surveillance.
(click to show/hide)
--- Quote ---“Well,” I said, starting toward Hook. “I never signed on to that treaty. So screw Winter Law—”
And abruptly, as if someone had just slammed a row of staples into my skin, the mantle of the Winter Knight vanished completely. Pain soared back into my body, inflamed tissue crying out, my bruises throbbing, the edemas beneath my skin pounding with a horrible tightness. Fatigue hit me like a truck. The sensations were so intense, the only way I could tell that I had fallen to the floor was by looking.
And my body abruptly went numb and useless from my stomach down.
That scared the hell out of me and confirmed one of my worst fears. When I’d consented to serve Mab, my back had been broken, my spine damaged. Taking up the mantle had covered what would probably have been a crippling and long-term injury. But without it, my body was only mortal. Better than most at recovering over time, but still human. Without the mantle, I wouldn’t have legs, bladder or bowel control, or, most important, independence.
I was on the ground like that for a subjective week, but it could have been only a few seconds before Thomas reached my side, with Murphy, Butters, and Molly right behind him. I knew they were there because I could see them, but their voices swam down to me from what seemed like a great distance among the cacophony of raking sensations scouring my nervous system. They lifted me to a sitting position—and then abruptly the pain was gone, and my legs started moving again, jerking in a single, gentle spasm. The mantle had been restored. “Okay,” I said in a ragged voice. “Uh. Maybe we won’t screw Winter Law.”
--- End quote ---
Talby16:
--- Quote from: raidem on October 26, 2017, 08:31:21 PM ---This is an excerpt of when Harry in Cold Days says "Screw Winter Law" and loses all access to the mantle as a result. Take note that Mab gave Harry back access to the mantle after Thomas, Butter, Murphy, Molly touched and helped Harry up but before he said "Maybe we won't screw Winter Law." I underlined two of the potentially important people where there may exist a coincidence in this situation. Also, it seems either via the mantle or within the room, Mab has Harry under surveillance.
--- End quote ---
I don't know if Mab necessarily has Harry under surveillance. Consequence of breaking Winter Law could be inherent in the Mantle. Kind of like in the short story Cold Case: (click to show/hide)when Molly was told by Mab to "turn her attention to the outer gates" and the knowledge popped into her head. I believe it also happened when she turned her attention to what the tribute was and the answer came to her I think some things are just inherent to the Mantle.
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