#i love edmund and lucy parallels so fucking much

[tending-the-hearth]

oh my god jadis calling edmund “dear one” during their first meeting and that being aslan’s term of endearment for lucy i’m going insane

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

Have you noticed the thing in fanfics of children's lit where the writer gives the protagonist new parent figures? The parent figures say things like "no child should have had to do x!". PF's don't prevent protagonist from doing heroism but might ground them for it after. Under their care, the protagonist is likely to get a job, often at the business of the PF. Seems less common for the Animorph (more in ATLA and Harry Potter), but if you have seen this, what's going on? Why do writers do this?

Why do writers do this?

Welcome to the fandom renaissance, Nonny!  My best stab as to what’s going on here is that we’re seeing fewer and fewer shipping wars due to a whole range of forces from “the average age of fandom is increasing” to “there’s an ongoing post-monogamy societal shift.”   BUT that there’s still a desire to see relationship-building fic go in the gaps where (for instance) Pro-Jacob Anti-Edward fic used to go.  So instead of writing about Edward and Bella’s romance, people are writing about Edward and Carlisle’s mentorship, or Leah and Rosalie’s friendship.

What’s going on?

Again, a stab in the dark: it’s a really fun story premise, one that can get away from the way ships are sometimes fraught with baggage.  Found Family is intensely cathartic, in the sense that it takes characters who are miserable and/or lonely in canon and allows them to build loving relationships with each other.  It also (IMHO) reflects that trend among Millennial Whippersnappers to move away from nuclear definitions of “family” and toward embracing everything from polyamory to sexless romance to adult adoption.

Not only that, but it’s awesome in that it lets writers play so much with foils.  Stranger Things obviously does this Up to Eleven (pun intended): Steve’s an arrogant jerk when he’s interacting with Nancy but a dorky sweetheart around Dustin, Hopper’s at his worst around Joyce but at his best around El, Billy’s evil to Max but might be redeemable around his mom, etcetera.  This premise gives fan writers the chance to get wildly different characters into a room together — what if the Tonks family adopted Neville Longbottom? — and start playing out the fun potential.

Why Avatar and Harry Potter (but not Animorphs)?

In a word: FOILS.  Both AtLA and Harry Potter are series filled with good, bad, and ugly mentors, and both series have contrasts between the good and the bad.  For AtLA, it’s no accident that Zuko finally reuniting with his father in S3E1 is intercut with the scene of Katara finally reuniting with her father.  Katara’s fam airs their grievances, talks things out, yells, cries, apologizes, forgives, hugs, and affirms their ongoing love.  Zuko’s fam deals with having 500 times as much baggage by... Zuko kowtowing silently on the floor while Ozai talks about everything but their problems with each other.  After that sequence, the desire to get Zuko into a room with Hakoda for some proper fathering is practically overwhelming, and many brilliant fan writers have obliged us by doing exactly that.

For Harry Potter, there’s no scene that’s as in-your-face with the contrast between healthy vs. unhealthy disagreement with one’s father, but there are still plenty of mentor foils.  Sirius and Petunia are probably the clearest examples.  Sirius is a raging mess who (on the surface) has nothing to offer Harry: he’s an ex-con with a drinking problem and untreated mental health issues who spends much of the series homeless.  Petunia has her shit together and (on the surface) is the perfect guardian for Harry: she’s a wealthy full-time parent who lives in a large suburban house, and is both his closest surviving relative and his legal guardian.  But of course all Harry needs from a parent is love and support, and Sirius offers that in spades while Petunia has none to spare.  Again, the desire to rip Harry away from the Dursleys and ship him off to go be a Black is overwhelming, and many beautiful works of fan fiction have done exactly that.

Animorphs... doesn’t have mentor characters.  Like, none.  Elfangor dies, Toby does her own thing, Erek can’t be trusted, neither Ax nor Jake wants to mentor, and all adults are possible controllers.  Eva’s the closest we get, but by the time she’s free, everyone (especially Eva) recognizes that the Animorphs are already more experienced than her.  We don’t even see a dynamic like the Teen Titans show where the villains mentor the heroes — Jake and Marco might occasionally parallel Visser Three and Visser One, but they don’t learn from the vissers the way that Robin does from Slade or Raven does from Trigon.  The kids just... find their own way.  So while people have written fic where Elfangor or Eva or Mertil or Tom mentors the team, there’s not this in-your-face missed opportunity for the kids to get the parenting they deserve in Animorphs the way there is with Harry Potter and Avatar.

Have you noticed the thing?

Personally, I love this trend.  I’m not much of a shipper — I’m not fond of “will they or won’t they” romantic premises, and actively dislike “they will because they’re soulmates” premises.  My favorite Ship Dynamics are all platonic.  Like, my faves include (but are not limited to):

Grubby Semi-Feral Mentee and Aloof Socially-Incompetent Mentor Bond with Alarming Speed Over Niche Magical Interest (see: Briar and Rosethorn in Circle of Magic, Boy 412 and Marcia in Septimus Heap, Jason and Bruce in Batman, Wart and Merlin in The Once and Future King)

Well-Intentioned Loving Parent Irretrievably Fucks Up Child, Copes with Fallout (see: John and Dean in Supernatural, Adam and Cal in East of Eden, Soichiro and Light in Death Note, Elaine and T.J. in Political Animals)

I’ve Only Known This Person With Extremely Specific Shared Trauma for 10 Minutes But If Anything Happened to Them I Would Kill Everyone (see: Toph and Zuko in AtLA, Luke and Annabeth in Demigod Diaries, Ax and Tobias in Animorphs, Spike and Angel in Angel, Parker and Eliot in Leverage, Johanna and Finnick in Catching Fire)

Saving the World Sucks But At Least My Ultra-Competent Siblings Are Suffering With Me (see: Edmund and Lucy in Chronicles of Narnia, Sam and Dean in Supernatural, the Hargreeveses in Umbrella Academy, the Crains in Haunting of Hill House)

Just Because I Tried to Kill You That One Time Doesn’t Mean I Won’t Help You Hide a Body, JFC We’re Still Family and I Don’t Know What You Take Me For (see: the Robins in Batman, Septimus and Simon in Septimus Heap, Kyle and Ian in The Host)

We Were the Weird Cousins At All the Family Reunions and We’ve Only Gotten Weirder Since (see: Kate and George in Story Time, Jake and Rachel in Animorphs, Po and Bitterblue in Graceling Realm)

[theycallmebaepsae]

Unpopular opinion:

I disagree with the parallel between the Pevensies and the Four Hogwarts' Houses. I have seen it so many times and I enjoyed this theory, but overall I disagree with it because I feel like it's very much based on the stereotypes that are put upon both the Hogwarts houses and the Pevensies siblings. First of all I strongly believe that Lucy should be a griffindor because she is the most brave and is very strong willed; despite being the youngest she always stands for herself and what she believes in even if that means going against powers so much bigger than her and doesn't hesitate to call her siblings on their bullshit. On the other hand I believe that Peter would be a perfect fit for Hufflepuff: he is kind and always ready to give comfort and protection to his siblings and would straight up die for them. He also has a very strong sense of duty and responsibility and fights fiercely for his loved ones. Edmund is a ravenclaw in my opinion: he shows in many occasions that he is incredibly smart and witty, and he is also very kind in his own way. I'm tired of people putting him in Slytherin because he did one mistake when he was a fucking CHILD. l also can't stand that so many associate slytherins with being bad/making mistakes. Please end this stereotype, it's getting annoying. Finally, Susan would be in slytherin; like Edmund she is very smart but she prefers the more academic approach and is definitely the most ambitious. This does not stop her from being a very nurturing figure who loves her family. She knew what she wanted from life and went for it and I respect that very much.

Sorting Peter in griffindor just because he is strong and the oldest, Lucy in hufflepuff because she is little and cute, Edmund in Slytherin because he made a mistake and Susan in Ravenclaw because she likes to read is just plain superficial. I have nothing against the mainstream theory, but I am against people who just slap them in those houses because they are focused only on the stereotypes.

You are free to agree or disagree, I just wanted to take this off my chest, have a nice day.

[little-narnian-notes]

Headcanons on tea time or just meals in general in Narnia during the golden age?

during tea time, there would be so many cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches

there would be little pastries for dessert. while pastries are a dessert these ones would be p healthy

it would last for three hours (1-4 pm) every day

this is the only time the Pevensies ever get to relax when they’re Kings and Queens!!!

Sometimes Mr. Tumnus and the Beavers would join them

But usually the only guest is Oreius 

The Pevensies would be having tea time in a secluded part of their elaborate garden (okay so maybe there wasn’t a garden-maze kinda thing in Cair Paravel… fight me on this I buy into this headcannon part 100%)

There would be comfortable chairs and pillows for the siblings to sit on

Lucy would put too much sugar into her tea

Edmund would eat half the sandwiches and a fourth of the pastries

Susan drinks green tea, Lucy drinks peppermint, Peter and Edmund drink black tea

They talk about how much their parents would have loved the cushy tea times they have in Narnia. What must or may be going on in England. do people miss them? is obvious the four siblings are missing? Does no one know?

They discuss time theories together sometimes when they talk about that. Lucy thinks they fell into an alternate universe and Edmund agrees with her. Peter thinks it’s a parallel one and Susan agrees with him.

sometimes Susan wants to plan masquerade balls or little dinners… she pretends they’re filthy rich and can just do whatever they want without having to worry about fucking up the economy in Narnia. She would get lots of clothes - she would only ever have to wear a dress one time. Susan would also have

these fantasies are very fun for the other three too!!

Peter would spend a ton of money on hounds and hawks and stuff. He’d want to spend a lot of time camping and hunting the White Stag

Edmund would spend his fortune on weapons and art. He’s really into being a good fighter - he doesn’t want to be second-best into comparison to Peter. He wants to be equal with his brother.

Lucy would buy books because she loves reading. She would also buy art supplies so she could draw or sculpt whenever she wanted

also!!! In public, the Pevensies wouldn’t say this, but in their actions they’d be following the whole mantra of “Haters are my motivators”

I think that they would definitely believe in doing that, because they’re legit not bad people. Also, when Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy reigned, it was called the Golden Age!!! They were good people.

But! I think that at times in the beginning they felt petty and spiteful because other diplomats and rulers wouldn’t take them seriously at first

Peter would just talk shit “Oh yeah! Tashka thinks I can’t do shit, but look at how well he handled the rebellion in Calormen a few months ago!”

Susan would berate the women who talked snidely about her “They think I’m not a good archer. As if! I’ve bested all the greatest archers here.”

Everybody underestimates Lucy because she’s Small but she’s actually terrifying. She’s basically the Arya Stark of Narnia and people learn p quickly not to fuck with her.

Edmund has to work three times as hard to prove he’s half as good as his siblings, since he did briefly join the side of the White Witch. It frustrates him to no end sometimes, and doubts his progress, and he hates it!! But he also gets why half the Narnians expect more from him

[its-captain-sir]

OK I'VE BEEN ENABLED so here are my thoughts so far:

• I think a crossover setting where the Pevensies are put into star wars works a little bit better than anyone from star wars going into narnia (though my heart wishes to be able to put the clones and maybe Ahsoka in narnia ��)

• so in that case I think the best time for all of this to happen is empire era so the themes of rebellion will match up and you can have the Pevensies be the last of the Jedi that everyone looks up to as their saviors, mirroring the way being humans in narnia affects their story

• maybe there's some sort of smaller conflict on their home planet? with one side backed by the empire (so the empire isn't their true enemy yet) and they get sent off to another planet once things start getting worse

• not sure who would fill Professor Kirke's role yet.... I kind of like the idea of it being a clone so there'd be a certain closeness and understanding of the jedi (mirroring the professor's understanding of narnia) and it also would have my next point make sense...

• Lucy finding the wardrobe in this crossover would translate to her finding an old jedi's lightsaber! and that acts as the catalyst for the Pevensies finding out they're force sensitive and sending them on this whole journey of joining the rebellion

• don't know who the role of Tumnus would be filled by yet, though "Tumnus" should probably live close to where Lucy finds the lightsaber so she can learn more about it and the jedi from him but he should still have some connection to the empire (HONESTLY seeing some Wolffe parallels here in terms of reporting it then realizing it was a mistake.....)

• no idea who the role of the beavers would be filled by. like genuinely have nothing here hskdhskdj

• Jadis is "the emperor", but she takes on a more active Darth Vader-type role and does try seducing Edmund to the dark side

• idk the rest of it is like them being on the run from the empire for while and trying to get Edmund back (who also realizes his epic fuck up moments) and they run into Master Huyang! who takes on the role of Father Christmas and instead of gifting them stuff, he helps them build their own lightsabers with their own crystals they found along the way (though Lucy uses the crystal from the original saber she found. Edmund also finds a crystal while imprisoned by Jadis and the empire that he purifies later on to make his own saber) They all pretty much make standard sabers except Susan who gets a gun-saber cause fuck yeah that's cool and she deserves it

• Aslan is a jedi from the republic that's been helping to lead the rebellion but uh. idk what else is up with him beyond that. he's still gotta like fake die somehow to Jadis so everyone will look to Peter for guidance but then come back and beat her and I don't think force ghost shenanigans are enough to do that but who knows! maybe that would work hkajdkshdk

• final battle is still really final battle-y hskdhskd there probably is a ground battle and a space battle just to fit in with the star wars vibe more, Peter goes up against Jadis for a while, Edmund ends up breaking Jadis' saber and still nearly dies until Lucy comes in with a natural affinity for force healing (which I swear would not just come out of nowhere, it would be remarked upon beforehand like the cordial hskdhfgsk)

• ALSO Lucy and Susan still rescue "Tumnus" and a bunch of other people from the empire with the help of maybe-alive/maybe-dead Aslan

• the Pevensies obviously don't become kings or queens or anything cause this is star wars but they still are the last of the Jedi and helped beat the empire so everyone loves them <3 no other thoughts about the ending besides that, I don't really see how much of it would transfer over shy of involving the world between worlds or something which. I guess is still an option? but that's pushing it a little bit I think hshdjshdk

That's all I've got so far and it really is just a rehashing of the Pevensies story but in star wars, but I'm having fun with it and that's all that matters <3

If I had an ounce less of self control I would be making a star wars/narnia crossover