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minutia_rStaying on in Series Twelve when one is native to a different Series (or not-Series in the case of Eleven): A tedious bit of fanwankery by Minutia_R
Over on tumblr, inerasabledreams asked: "I'm a little confused, in "Conrad's Fate," Gabriel de Witt said that is not possible for a person living in another series, but Millie (Series 10) lives with Christopher in Series 12 ... Someone could explain?"
I'm glad you asked, inerasabledreams! (You asked the fuckyeahchrestomanci blog and not me, but that was an understandable oversight.) This is indeed one of the most vexed questions in Chrestomanci canon, and it's complicated by the fact that Mordecai Roberts, aka Tacroy, also spends most of his life in Series Twelve while being a native of Eleven (Not a Series).
I should start this off with a disclaimer that the question was never resolved in the books, and now never will be; I have reasons to prefer my own theory and will elucidate them below, but ultimately it's just a theory and no more canon than any other.
That being said, over on the fuckyeahchrestomanci blog, elanchana gave the following answer: "It's because Millie used one of Christopher's lives as an anchor. Presumably you die if you move to another world/series without moving your circle of doubles around as well, but if you have a life to give then you're fine. I THINK that's how it works."
With respect to my esteemed colleague, I don't think this can be right. At least not if, as I understand, she is referring to Christopher's life which Millie initially used to travel to Series Twelve. I don't see how that life could have been used to fix Millie in Series Twelve when Christopher got that life back shortly after; there would still be a sort of void of missing life-essence in Series Ten in that case.
However, it occurs to me that maybe she's talking about Christopher's life that's in Millie's wedding ring? In which case Millie would not be living on her own life, as it were, but a borrowed one of Christopher's. I'm pretty sure I've seen this theory elsewhere, and it makes a certain amount of sense. However, it still doesn't explain how Mordecai was able to spend his life in Series Twelve--and also, Conrad had to go back to Series Seven after six years, and more time than that passed between the time Millie arrived in Series Twelve and the time she married Christopher.
(I must also admit to personal--one might even say partisan--reasons for disliking this theory; as someone who ships Christopher/Conrad as well as Christopher/Millie this seems too much like Christopher choosing Millie over Conrad for my tastes. I touched on some of these issues, as well as Christopher's left-and-leaving problem, in my story Worlds Enough, and Time.)
Another theory, advanced by sesame_seed in her story La Familia, is that being outside her own Series does in fact have a negative effect on Millie, and she eventually solves this problem by going on occasional trips to Series Ten. Again, my problem with this is twofold: If occasional trips to one's native Series are enough to deal with the problems caused by being displaced from it, why can't this work for Conrad? And since even brief trips to Eleven are likely to prove fatal for Mordecai, how does he manage?
In the Chrestomanci books, we do see one instance of someone intentionally fixing herself in place in a world other than the one she was born in. Gwendolen does this by arranging for someone else to take her place (and since we are dealing with people with only one life here, it causes a chain reaction, dragging nine people out of their native worlds and permanently fixing them in different ones.) It's as if taking a life out of one world creates a gap that can only be filled by another life--and this, I will argue, is what Christopher and Gabriel do with Mordecai and Millie respectively in The Lives of Christopher Chant.
In the book, Millie says to Mordecai that he is like herself and Christopher--part of him is somewhere else. While he has lived most of his life in Series Twelve, his soul has remained in the Dright's keeping in Eleven--and this is why, I believe, he never had any trouble living outside his native series until that point. Later, Christopher buys his soul back--in exchange for one of his own lives, which remains, however briefly, in the Dright's keeping in Eleven. Similarly, when Mother Proudfoot comes to collect Millie's life (or a reasonable approximation) on behalf of Asheth, Gabriel gives her one of his own in exchange, which she takes back with her to Series Ten. It's this exchange of lives and souls, their own for ones that belong properly in Series Twelve, that enable Millie and Mordecai to remain in Series Twelve as permanent residents.
Obviously, this is the sort of magic you only do in life-or-death situations--maybe it's only possible in life-or-death situations. And that's why the option wasn't available for Conrad.
I've had this theory for a while, but this is the first time I've written in all up like this, as opposed to obliquely alluding to it in fic. It's . . . certainly long, isn't it. If you have gotten this far, I salute you.
Over on tumblr, inerasabledreams asked: "I'm a little confused, in "Conrad's Fate," Gabriel de Witt said that is not possible for a person living in another series, but Millie (Series 10) lives with Christopher in Series 12 ... Someone could explain?"
I'm glad you asked, inerasabledreams! (You asked the fuckyeahchrestomanci blog and not me, but that was an understandable oversight.) This is indeed one of the most vexed questions in Chrestomanci canon, and it's complicated by the fact that Mordecai Roberts, aka Tacroy, also spends most of his life in Series Twelve while being a native of Eleven (Not a Series).
I should start this off with a disclaimer that the question was never resolved in the books, and now never will be; I have reasons to prefer my own theory and will elucidate them below, but ultimately it's just a theory and no more canon than any other.
That being said, over on the fuckyeahchrestomanci blog, elanchana gave the following answer: "It's because Millie used one of Christopher's lives as an anchor. Presumably you die if you move to another world/series without moving your circle of doubles around as well, but if you have a life to give then you're fine. I THINK that's how it works."
With respect to my esteemed colleague, I don't think this can be right. At least not if, as I understand, she is referring to Christopher's life which Millie initially used to travel to Series Twelve. I don't see how that life could have been used to fix Millie in Series Twelve when Christopher got that life back shortly after; there would still be a sort of void of missing life-essence in Series Ten in that case.
However, it occurs to me that maybe she's talking about Christopher's life that's in Millie's wedding ring? In which case Millie would not be living on her own life, as it were, but a borrowed one of Christopher's. I'm pretty sure I've seen this theory elsewhere, and it makes a certain amount of sense. However, it still doesn't explain how Mordecai was able to spend his life in Series Twelve--and also, Conrad had to go back to Series Seven after six years, and more time than that passed between the time Millie arrived in Series Twelve and the time she married Christopher.
(I must also admit to personal--one might even say partisan--reasons for disliking this theory; as someone who ships Christopher/Conrad as well as Christopher/Millie this seems too much like Christopher choosing Millie over Conrad for my tastes. I touched on some of these issues, as well as Christopher's left-and-leaving problem, in my story Worlds Enough, and Time.)
Another theory, advanced by sesame_seed in her story La Familia, is that being outside her own Series does in fact have a negative effect on Millie, and she eventually solves this problem by going on occasional trips to Series Ten. Again, my problem with this is twofold: If occasional trips to one's native Series are enough to deal with the problems caused by being displaced from it, why can't this work for Conrad? And since even brief trips to Eleven are likely to prove fatal for Mordecai, how does he manage?
In the Chrestomanci books, we do see one instance of someone intentionally fixing herself in place in a world other than the one she was born in. Gwendolen does this by arranging for someone else to take her place (and since we are dealing with people with only one life here, it causes a chain reaction, dragging nine people out of their native worlds and permanently fixing them in different ones.) It's as if taking a life out of one world creates a gap that can only be filled by another life--and this, I will argue, is what Christopher and Gabriel do with Mordecai and Millie respectively in The Lives of Christopher Chant.
In the book, Millie says to Mordecai that he is like herself and Christopher--part of him is somewhere else. While he has lived most of his life in Series Twelve, his soul has remained in the Dright's keeping in Eleven--and this is why, I believe, he never had any trouble living outside his native series until that point. Later, Christopher buys his soul back--in exchange for one of his own lives, which remains, however briefly, in the Dright's keeping in Eleven. Similarly, when Mother Proudfoot comes to collect Millie's life (or a reasonable approximation) on behalf of Asheth, Gabriel gives her one of his own in exchange, which she takes back with her to Series Ten. It's this exchange of lives and souls, their own for ones that belong properly in Series Twelve, that enable Millie and Mordecai to remain in Series Twelve as permanent residents.
Obviously, this is the sort of magic you only do in life-or-death situations--maybe it's only possible in life-or-death situations. And that's why the option wasn't available for Conrad.
I've had this theory for a while, but this is the first time I've written in all up like this, as opposed to obliquely alluding to it in fic. It's . . . certainly long, isn't it. If you have gotten this far, I salute you.
