Questions for Mab

[g33k]

  I think Harry will have come into some more money by now to his sorrow.  Murphy may have left her worldly goods to him in her Will, which also included at least one sock full of diamonds...

ROFL!
I now imagine a small heavy box left for Harry, labeled "gotcha!"

[Talby16]

Yeah, this.

Harry gets everything he bargained for there under the stars, at the Stone Table.

Everything.

And not a single bit more.

(except a tiny bit here or there, as he manages to leverage new points by virtue of being the Winter Knight and having understanding of Faerie Law and Winter Law (e.g. Mab was annoyed with him for summoning her to Judgement in Talvi Inverno's office, but it was a correct use of Winter Law by the Winter Knight; so she was compelled to do it).  salary is nowhere in this. )
 

Harry has a history of not being complete with his bargains (ie the Magic Feather with Lea). Granted, he is under pressure most of the time when he makes bargains. He got everything he asked for at the Stone Table. He was already planning on weaseling out of it so he did not take the time to find out more about what the job entails or the resources he could use to do the job. He could have asked for more.

I'm pretty sure the Author has no wish to do so.

Money is power.  If Harry has access to lots of cash on a regular basis, his life gets easier, his options more extensive, it gets harder to wrap him in plot difficulties.

Remember back in Turn Coat:  Harry was hiding Morgan from the Council and almost everyone else, but he had only a handful of places he could use.  Luckily for him, most of the people hunting him were used to having lots of resources and didn't fully grasp how limited Harry's options were.

Binder did get it, and he actually said at one point "Money never gets it."  Binder is working class background and he understood exactly why Harry was doing things they way he did them.

There is a WOJ about how much Harry can do and how much equipment he can maintain given his time and financial constraints. That is one of the things that keeps him a medium sized fish in the pond who occasionally gets a lucky shot in against the bigger fish. If you give him unlimited resources that will allow him to level up to quickly which is at odds with who he is and his growth up to this point. I give it 50/50 odds that if he had access to that much money he would just blow it all on worthy causes instead of using it for himself.

  I think Harry will have come into some more money by now to his sorrow.  Murphy may have left her worldly goods to him in her Will, which also included at least one sock full of diamonds.  This might also be one of Mab's motives for the union between Harry and Lara, she has enough money for the two of them.

I believe that motive to be really far down on the list. If Mab wanted Harry to have money she would just give him money. There is no need to be that circumspect when resources are not a problem for Mab.

[Mira]

I believe that motive to be really far down on the list. If Mab wanted Harry to have money she would just give him money. There is no need to be that circumspect when resources are not a problem for Mab.

Agreed, unless there is a rule against the Winter Knight getting a salary from his Queen.  Remember before the battle, Molly was buying a house close to her parents to further protect them and she loaned Harry her old place because he was homeless.  I seem to remember that there was a rule against him being paid, because Mab could have given him money then and didn't.  Unless Harry just doesn't want to be in Mab's debt anymore than he has to be so refuses a salary.

[Talby16]

Agreed, unless there is a rule against the Winter Knight getting a salary from his Queen.  Remember before the battle, Molly was buying a house close to her parents to further protect them and she loaned Harry her old place because he was homeless.  I seem to remember that there was a rule against him being paid, because Mab could have given him money then and didn't.  Unless Harry just doesn't want to be in Mab's debt anymore than he has to be so refuses a salary.

I could see Harry being leery of getting anything from Mab and going further into debt. I could also see Mab having the viewpoint of the Knight being disposable and thus not worth any extra resources.

[g33k]

Agreed, unless there is a rule against the Winter Knight getting a salary from his Queen
...  I seem to remember that there was a rule against him being paid, because Mab could have given him money then and didn't.  Unless Harry just doesn't want to be in Mab's debt anymore than he has to be so refuses a salary.

I don't think there's any "rule against" salary, no.
If Harry had included a cash stipend in his negotiation, I don't think Mab would have blinked or balked.

But there is now a rule against Harry being paid:  he didn't bargain for it... and Mab fulfills her bargains with surgical precision, and zero charity.

... Remember before the battle, Molly was buying a house close to her parents to further protect them and she loaned Harry her old place because he was homeless ...

I think Harry is morally/philosophically opposed to leveraging his power too-directly for wealth; it's a really easy line to cross, with a huge morally-grey area.
I suspect this is a too-strict interpretation of the anti-warlock values that Ebenezer instilled.

Molly has no such inhibitions.  She owns a luxurious condo in an ultra-secure enclave, paid for with magical service.

I don't doubt she has used her waywalking & veils & so forth to make her own wealth, independent of the Winter Court.

Like... in her "Ragged Lady" phase, she likely learned a bunch about the criminal underworld of Chicago.  Returning to it as the Winter Lady, she could just walk into a drug-deal under a Veil, put everyone to sleep, and walk out with all the cash; or something similar in other places, where she doesn't bump against Marcone (but I suspect that during the Fomor build-up, his hold over all those street-deals was much weaker:  killing one of those non-Marcone deals might actually put Marcone in Molly's debt!).

Or just use a Way to courier some high-value deliveries with unmatchable-by-mundanes speed & security.

Or Veil into some top-tier business negotiations, and leverage that knowledge in the stock market.

etc etc etc.

[Mira]

I don't think there's any "rule against" salary, no.
If Harry had included a cash stipend in his negotiation, I don't think Mab would have blinked or balked.

But there is now a rule against Harry being paid:  he didn't bargain for it... and Mab fulfills her bargains with surgical precision, and zero charity.

No, Harry didn't bargain for himself, he offered himself so his daughter would live.  Then when he woke up at the end of Ghost Story he made it clear to Mab that while he'd do her bidding as far as he could but that he was and will remain his own man. Mab wants that because that gives her a good effective Knight.  That was the bargain, being well off or secure financially was furthest from his mind at that point because he had never been well off financially or secure..  Now with children to think about and others his outlook is different.

Molly has no such inhibitions.  She owns a luxurious condo in an ultra-secure enclave, paid for with magical service.

She never had any inhibitions of that type that's what got her into trouble in the first place.  Molly was always rebellious, long before she discovered her talent.. Remember her going up to the tree house and removing make up and putting her school uniform back on when she came home from school?  No, she is more like Charity was than Michael is.

[peterwiggin94]

Mab has solved Harry's castle financial problems already: she engaged him to Lara. Lara has plenty of resources including cash and lawyers to help him out. From Mab's perspective, Harry can get on board with her solution or come up with another one.

[Talby16]

Mab has solved Harry's castle financial problems already: she engaged him to Lara. Lara has plenty of resources including cash and lawyers to help him out. From Mab's perspective, Harry can get on board with her solution or come up with another one.

Would Harry be ok with that? I can see him having a hard time with using ill gotten gains or going into debt with the White Court.

[peterwiggin94]

Mab doesn't care.

[Talby16]

Mab doesn't care.

Mab doesn't care what Harry thinks, but Harry also doesn't particularly care what Mab thinks unless it touches upon his family or friends. Mab may have set it up that he has access to non-Winter Court resources, but that does not mean that Harry has to use the resources if he objects to the source.

[Overfinch]

I think it just makes for a better story that Harry always seems to be struggling financially.
It means he has to be more creative in problem solving and recruiting allies etc.

Considering he now lives in a top of the line, all the bells and whistles, castle courtesy of Marcone.
If he also had practically unlimited funds he would be a far less sympathetic or relatable character.
Whatever the problem, friends in trouble, need some hired help, run a castle, research...Just throw money at it.
It would become boring quickly.

[Mira]

I think it just makes for a better story that Harry always seems to be struggling financially.
It means he has to be more creative in problem solving and recruiting allies etc.

Considering he now lives in a top of the line, all the bells and whistles, castle courtesy of Marcone.
If he also had practically unlimited funds he would be a far less sympathetic or relatable character.
Whatever the problem, friends in trouble, need some hired help, run a castle, research...Just throw money at it.
It would become boring quickly.

  I think Harry being broke all of the time can also get old after a bit.  I think a happy medium can be struck, between Harry having so much money he can just throw it at any problem, and Harry having no money at all.  I don't think no matter how much he has I don't think we'd see Harry just throw money at them. We all know many of the problems Harry faces money isn't going to help at all anyway.  I would like to see him have enough money for housekeeping, (including little Maggie expenses), taxes, and keeping Toot and Za'Gard in pizza..  He really doesn't need more than that.

[Talby16]

  I think Harry being broke all of the time can also get old after a bit.  I think a happy medium can be struck, between Harry having so much money he can just throw it at any problem, and Harry having no money at all.  I don't think no matter how much he has I don't think we'd see Harry just throw money at them. We all know many of the problems Harry faces money isn't going to help at all anyway.  I would like to see him have enough money for housekeeping, (including little Maggie expenses), taxes, and keeping Toot and Za'Gard in pizza..  He really doesn't need more than that.

I think the Harry in Proven Guilty was hitting a good spot. Still was tight with financial issues, but was able to do some cool stuff on the side like Little Chicago. He did not have unlimited resources that he could throw at any problem, but he had enough that he could choose something cool to devote some resources to.

[g33k]

I think Harry being broke all of the time can also get old after a bit...

It's worth noting that the "financial struggles" theme is pretty endemic to the "noir detective" genre that was foundational to the Dresden Files.  Also, it has been narratively-useful as a way to get Harry involved when his "common sense" suggested he not do so.

On the other hand, he's working directly for a superpower these days.  I think a good argument can be made that we're no longer within the "Noir Detective" genre (even as a fantasy mashup).  Mind you, his sponsoring "superpower" is a remarkably-stingy one, so I think he'll remain short of ready cash in his daily life... even as he owns a castle in Chicago, and a hidden island in Lake Michigan, like some billionaire supervillain would.

Burger King & IHOP (and Pizza 'Spress) will be his "splurge" foods, unless he solves some magical problem for a high-end chef who gives him "always eat here free" privileges as a reward.
 

[Mr. Mouse]

Where we are in the series should also effect how strapped Harry is for cash. He's going to have a lot bigger fish to fry and (narratively speaking) having to run back down to put quarters in the meter or have the Blue Beetle towed becomes more distracting than amusing.