I blame Sarah Connor and Nancy Botwin

[bedlamsbard]

...the colonial fantasy novel is now going to include Lady Lucy Loring (oh god, I know), the single mother of the four siblings who raised them and was completely kickass awesome after her noble husband Colonel Richard Loring died/went missing only a few years after the penal colony he was governing was abandoned by the government.

Because. Everyone should have a strong mother figure who raises her kids to be awesome. It also makes me make the siblings slightly younger, which I like if only for the complete cultural FAIL that happens later, what with the home government coming back and all. And makes it MUCH more logical for them to be raised as -- to some extent -- royalty, without them all having the authority dropped on them at once. Because that makes no sense whatsoever, especially considering that Jaime (the oldest) was originally, like, somewhere between twelve and fifteen when Richard died (and the mother originally died in childbirth), and it's a PENAL COLONY; the hardened criminals aren't going to listen to soldier boy's kid, you know? But his wife, now -- strong-willed woman, four young children, abandoned in the wilderness with a bunch of criminals -- now there's something.

Also, this means I can make Jaime, like, somewhere between five and eight when Richard drops that whole, "Take care of them. Take care of them all," thing on him AS HE'S DYING (Jaime is probably the most screwed up of the siblings), and also means that the Loring siblings are much, much scarier because they've had more time to get that way. There is a lot of culture shock. It's basically Narnia without the wardrobe. Or the magic. The incest is there, though.

And, you know, me being me, the most pressing question is: guns or no? Because I'm kind of torn. (And then the question becomes, I don't want, like, rifles and flintlocks and that sort of guns, I'd want to skip that stage and go straight to the automatics. (Maybe?) But that just brings up the question of, "Wouldn't they have the technology to, you know, not lose people?" And then on the other hand, that kind of negates the whole point of it being colonial fantasy. OH LORD HELP. Maybe we'll just go back to...WWI tech? Or back to Napoleonic Wars tech? Or just go to swords and bows?)

So, clearly, research for Lucy Loring's personality is going to involve me watching more Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles and Weeds. Strangely, I am perfectly okay with this. I'm not sure how much of a role she's going to play in the story, but it's going to be interesting.

Comments

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

I just feel like it's missing something. *ponders* I think it's maybe not concentrating enough on the overarching plot -- it's too much about the Loring Family Issues.

I know. I know. *dramatic sigh*

There was some kind of war or something about fifteen years earlier, and the Crown decided that they were going to cut their losses and leave the penal colonists alone while they fought the damn war. They were actually going to withdraw the governor (Colonel Loring), his family, and the troops present, but Loring elected to stay behind, along with some, though not most, of the troops. He did offer to send Lady Lucy and the kids away, but she said, "No, I'll stay with you," and they stuck it out. And then Home just kind of...lost track of the colony. It kind of became one of those legends, like the missing Roanoke colony, and it was pure accident that they actually found it later on.

The guy hasn't seen his kids in more than ten years! Hard to treat the boy you used to know as a very earnest eight-year-old as a grown man, warrior, and leader, especially when he's still about the same age that military cadets are, at which point they do still tend to be...pretty much kids. (The question here is if I go with, "Oh, let's make it a military academy," which is a little more modern, or go with purchasing commissions, which is more Victorian. Questions, questions. I like the academy, though.)

Skandar runs the Delta Force, sneak in through windows, steal documents, and cut throats, branch of the military, and he and Jules figured out that what was going down was NOT RIGHT; Home was going to screw over the colony. (They're also much more native than Homelander; they barely remember their father, while Jaime and Victoria distantly do.) Skandar and his team went off to track some of the politicos and military leaders around the globe, and eventually get Jaime and Tori back (as well as Lady Lucy, but she's got a couple aces of her own up her sleeve), and Jules stayed behind in the colony to hide out and watch from that end.

I think we may also meet Lady Lucy's two brothers, the Babingtons, who aren't particularly friendly with Colonel Loring and aren't happy that their sister and her children just got abandoned -- they're not happy with the way Jaime and Tori are being treated now, either. (Home Government was originally treating Jaime, sort of, the way they treat foreign dignitaries -- of the uncivilized, we are about to conquer your country, type -- and then they dumped Jaime on the colonel at some point. Tori got shipped in later. Lady Lucy didn't even get the dignitary treatment; they just dumped her with her brothers.)

Colonel Loring also has a live-in mistress.

[be-themoon.livejournal.com]

AWESOMENESS.

Although I do have one question - if the Colonel said that he was going to stay behind in the Colony, how did it end up that he was dying when Jaimes saw him and then somehow got on a ship to Home? This confuses me.

Wait, and he's having Lady Lucy tried for adultery? BAD, HYPOCRITICAL COLONEL. *glares*

Don't places like Home ALWAYS screw over the colonies? Silly peoples.

Haha, lost colony (of Atlantis)! But if they actually forgot about the colony, thought it was a myth, it would have to have been barely developed etc., about zero maps/captain's logs to it. Also, if technology is very advanced at all, you're going to have records of it. And then there's the people withdrawn from it, surely they'd know it was there and would be advocating for a return?

*can be horribly annoying and detail-oriented*

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

*cough* The Colonel and Jaime were out hunting when they were attacked by...someone (locals?) and the Colonel was badly injured. He sent Jaime back to the colony for help, but when help got there, he was gone. What actually happened was that he was taken prisoner and eventually rescued by a wandering trader/missionary from a rival country (Home not being the only empire out there) and eventually, through some complicated procedure, got traded back Home.

I think he's pissed at Lady Lucy. It's a little up in the air regarding that point.

Well, for one thing, penal colony, so they're all, "Oh, the criminals can take care of themselves!", and the colony's just started. And I think the ship with all the records may have sunk. Or something. And it's in a dangerous part of the world and there are other countries out there with colonies in the general area; the colony may or may not actually have some contact with them, though more as an independent nation than as a Home colony.

[be-themoon.livejournal.com]

Ooh. Oh dear. Poor Jaime. *pats poor boy*

Also, you're brilliant, and I have no more annoying detail-oriented questions except for the exact style of dresses and the names of every lady in Home society and who's saying what when. :P

It sounds like a pretty awesome story, I really hope you develop it! *bounces in excitement* I mean, you probably won't post it on your LJ, but hopefully we'll get updates on how it's going if you decide to do it.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Jaime has Issues. The rest of them, not so much. I mean, yes, of course, but not nearly so much.

I want to write it, oh my god! I need a good original fantasy novel, anyway.