From your beta, I tried to go through that first Susan scene and make less rude! But yes, it's very much a "nothing" scene. But not really. The nothingness of it IS what makes it important!
Ed. Ed, Ed, Ed. I'll say no more. We've discussed that scene in length already months ago with the first draft!
The Doves and other Birds were tricky. It would be so easy to make them Harry Potterish, or to make assign a bird to each monarch in a symbolic gesture (which almost happened). But that would've been way to "neat." So it was a conscious decision...Ed's Bird—which IS rather symbolic—was going to be a Crow or a Raven, but that didn't seem right. For one thing, you've nailed the Crows and Ravens perfectly and I wouldn't want to touch that with a ten foot pole!
And then came the idea of the Jackdaw, and the significance in MN. And I decided to flesh Milletpeck out a lot. She's not just a mascot or a messenger, nor is she directly in his service... she's one of Edmund's closest friends. They help each other.
So the others? I researched other birds according to their personalities. A hawk seemed fitting for Peter... and that IS a conscious, symbolic choice on HIS part. Early on, I changed a Raven to a Hawk in Dichotomy to reflect that. Susan got her Doves. I tried other birds, but the Doves just fit. Surely the have names. Who knows how many there are.
And Lucy... well, she loves ALL birds, doesn't she? She could never just pick one!
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Ed. Ed, Ed, Ed. I'll say no more. We've discussed that scene in length already months ago with the first draft!
The Doves and other Birds were tricky. It would be so easy to make them Harry Potterish, or to make assign a bird to each monarch in a symbolic gesture (which almost happened). But that would've been way to "neat." So it was a conscious decision...Ed's Bird—which IS rather symbolic—was going to be a Crow or a Raven, but that didn't seem right. For one thing, you've nailed the Crows and Ravens perfectly and I wouldn't want to touch that with a ten foot pole!
And then came the idea of the Jackdaw, and the significance in MN. And I decided to flesh Milletpeck out a lot. She's not just a mascot or a messenger, nor is she directly in his service... she's one of Edmund's closest friends. They help each other.
So the others? I researched other birds according to their personalities. A hawk seemed fitting for Peter... and that IS a conscious, symbolic choice on HIS part. Early on, I changed a Raven to a Hawk in Dichotomy to reflect that. Susan got her Doves. I tried other birds, but the Doves just fit. Surely the have names. Who knows how many there are.
And Lucy... well, she loves ALL birds, doesn't she? She could never just pick one!