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teabooksandsweets · 4 years

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I have to say something about Jill. I think there’s two very precise reasons for her unpopularity.

The first is, how real and relatable she is. She behaves very natural, very much like a child in her situation would, and she feels very, very real. I’ve seen many posts by people who don’t like her who actually admit they relate to her, and I am sure there are far, far more who wouldn’t realise it. Not all the things Jill says or does are good, but all of them are absolutely plausible things for her to do, given her siuation and background and age.

Jill’s nine years old in The Silver Chair. She went to the same school as Eustace and appears to have been raised by parents with a similar mindset as the Scrubbs, though while Eustace was pampered, Jill was encouraged to be more tough and active. She was raised without any religion or definitive moral compass (no, I do not mean that being brought up secularly meant being raised without morals; I am only talking about the context of Jill’s life)—her premise was, in short, pretty much the same as Eustace’s. And definitely different to the Pevensies’.

Which brings me to the second reason (these two blend in each other). Jill didn’t behaved perfectly, and she better—but she never behaved bad enough to undergo a significant change/redemption, nor did she behave well enough to be liked for just who she is.

When all Pevensies went to Narnia they already were, in a way, rooted there. Lucy had met Tumnus, Edmund had been enchanted by the witch, and Tumnus had been caught. The Pevensies met the Beavers, and they learnt of Aslan. They all were raised with a strong sense of duty, and Lucy was naturally faithful and open. Edmund behaved badly lately, and was then enchanted, but he received the same upbringing as his siblings. Peter and Susan were significantly older and more mature than any of the other children who went to Narnia.

Eustace was also only nine years old, and he behaved horridly, but he had his cousins, at least, and he grew immensely through his experiences in Narnia, while being led by others, and finally meeting Aslan.

But Jill? Jill had and knew nothing. A nine year old girl, bullied in a boarding school. Coming, most likely, from a similar background as Eustace, but still behaving much friendlier and nicer than him. (Actually, really friendly. Jill was a nice girl. People like to claim she wasn’t but that’s not true.) A boy she vaguely knew to be rather nasty all of a sudden told her of a magical world. They suddenly went there. She showed off, he fell down. She met a lion and couldn’t know who He was, yet after a while trusted him. She had to.

And later on? She trusted those who were nice to her, she was arrogant, she forgot things she ought to remember. She did all the little bad things that all the other children did, but they were not so dramatically bad and then redeemed as they were with Eustace and Edmund, nor were they simply accepted as every person’s right to not be perfect all the time, as with the other three Pevensies.

(I am not going to bring up Caspian, Shasta/Cor, and Aravis—children who were brought up in Narnia have an entire different set of things to their advantage or disadvantage.)

Jill is kind and courageous and plucky, but she has to navigate through Narnia with very little help—because Eustace can’t really help her, and all the Narnians who do (or don’t) are complete strangers to her, and she has to decide whether to trust them or not, and whether to agree with them or not, and she often decides wrong.

Lucy has a natural gut feeling about that, which isn’t unrealistic, because some children really have that. But I am sure that Lucy knew just as well who to trust back in England. Jill never really learned how and who to trust, and knew that people could be horribly cruel. But she was also a very small child with the natural desire and ability to trust. So, yes, she trusted the wrong people for the very shallow reasons that a child with no proper guidance has for trusting people. She also disagreed with people she deservedly trusted (like Puddleglum) for the natural shallow reasons that most children just can’t bear negativity or restraint too long.

She had no spiritual love for Narnia, not at first (though it developed greatly later on) and simply had to make her way through a strange landscape, without being granted the sense of magic and hope and special-ness that the Pevensies and even Eustace, had he accepted it from the beginning, were granted.

Jill was also whiny and, though never unfriendly or rude, odd-mannered and impatient. She was always supposed to be tough, and she was physically tough, but she was also emotionally sensitive, and very lonely. She had no friends, and she had a lot of fear, and absolutely no sense of home or safety. She cried several times in the book, which is an absolutely normal thing, even when one isn’t a child, even when one isn’t in a terribly dangerous situation, even when one isn’t constantly worried about one’s own decisions. And even though Lewis went so far as to excuse her for it, which shouldn’t even be necessary, there’s many posts on tumblr and other places saying how annoying she is for crying.

And her behaviour is typical for someone who is naturally friendly, but never learned proper manners, and who has a limited self-control; combined with that very certain air of someone who is used to being picked out to be the disliked one, not bullied for a certain thing but chosen because she was, in some way, particularly suitable for being a victim. Both the original “reason” as well as the... results of such don’t leave a person so quickly. They stuck with Jill and it shows.

But there’s another thing to Jill. A constant inner struggle. Not short moments of temptation, no a shocking experience to better her. From the very moment she steps into Narnia, until the moment she leaves, she thinks about what she does wrong, what she does right, with a great deal of denial thrown in—a denial she is often conscious of, and often not. A way from good but flawed, to, well good but flawed, though better, and more aware, and very willing to learn. A gradual, seemingly insignicant development, which began very early, and never really ended, and of which she was aware, and with which she didn’t really know what to do, and which she didn’t always want—until she understood, at least a bit.

And I think all this makes it so difficult to like her for many people. She’s incredibly human without being an obvious heroine, or even an anti-heroine, she is constantly developing, with interruptions and regressions, but with no clear redemption arc of any sort, never stops making mistakes, never stops learning from them; she behaves like a normal child would do in a difficult situation, and she has to face very specific difficulties under very specific conditions which, in that way, never happened to any of the other children.

And yet—she learned to love Narnia and Aslan so much. She spent years in England just to prepare herself for another visit to Narnia. She learnt nothing of (religious) faith in England, yet proceeded to believe in Aslan as much as she could, she kept a loyalty to Narnia and made friends with the other Friends of Narnia for years after her visit there, even though her connections to Narnia were the loosest of all the children, and she had to wait for her return much longer than any of them (not counting Digory and Polly, of course!). She never gained as much of the insight as the Pevensies and Eustace, and Digory and Polly, had, never really had a relationship to it that resembled theirs, but stuck to Narnia with all her strenght.

And people hate her.

#chronicles of narnia #jill pole #literature

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elrondsscribe · 5 years

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Narnia Readalong #5: The Horse and His Boy

Ugh! I can’t stop posting late, apparently!! Sorry, @lasaraleen!

Favorite Quote: So I just love it whenever anyone says “The Tisroc, may he live forever.” I think it’s utterly hilarious in a morbid way - everybody knows it’s bullshit and that all Tisrocs die, but everybody to say it because ‘land of slaves and tyrants’ and all that. My actual favorite quote is when the Tisroc actually points out its absurdity: “[King Peter of Narnia] shall not see [his nephew and grandnephew on Calormen’s throne] if I live forever, as is no doubt your wish.”

Favorite Scene: Definitely the one in chapter 5, Prince Corin, where Corin tells Shasta (Cor) about how he got himself into heaps of trouble. It never fails to make me laugh. He’s so dismissive of the Calormene boys he ‘knocked down’ too - I swear I can actually hear him saying “Wusses!” (Part of me is also glad that Lewis/the narrator chose not to directly relay the contents of the “beastly joke about Queen Susan” - sometimes you can’t give that kind of foolishness a platform!)

Favorite Chapter: Would have to be chapter 8, In the House of the Tisroc. In keeping with the theme of things that make me laugh that probably shouldn’t, I kinda love (in a ‘love-to-hate’ kind of way) watching Ahoshta successfully kiss the Tisroc’s ass while Rabadash throws a tantrum over not getting Susan like a five-year-old howling over a toy.

Favorite Character: Difficult pick when you have a roster including Aravis, Cor/Shasta, Corin, Lucy, Susan, and yes, Lasaraleen, but I’d have to come down on Bree. He’s Good People to Shasta, and shuts down Aravis when she goes all ‘white mistress on colored maid’ on Hwin. He’s also a sassy little sh*t. And sure he’s kinda stuck on himself and has to be corrected by Aslan eventually, but really, who doesn’t? [Except for Hwin. Hwin is an angel straight from Heaven (Aslan’s country?).]

Overall Rating: It’s hard to lay my finger on directly, but this one feels a bit ‘older’ or more ‘mature’ (in the best possible way) than the previous few books feel. I think one factor contributing to this is the fact that, while we’ve definitely left Narnia’s physical borders before, we haven’t really left Narnia’s ‘culture’ drastically . . . until now. There’s a lot that could be said (and I may say it in some other post) about the way that a white Christian Englishman of the 20th century processes and comments on what appears to be a conglomerate of ‘Eastern’ cultural and religious traits, but for now I’ll just leave it at “I think it’s interesting (and sometimes loaded).” Connected to this is a pretty clear textual condemnation of (what Lewis sees as) sexual assault and rape culture, complete with Susan blaming herself for ‘leading Rabadash on’ the way that so many women do. So anyway, the rating: 9/10.

Random Other Comment: So I believe this one was actually written before SC (hence the reference in SC) and published afterward. Which would mean Lewis wrote it not long after he briefly introduced Calormen in VDT (slave market, if you recall). Maybe not particularly relevant, but I thought it was interesting.

#narnia fandom read-along #narnia #narnia books #the horse and his boy #hhb #ugh so late #college is killing me

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santheweird · 7 years

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Hey, Sarge! (Prologue)

Summary: Due to the lack of jobs because of World War 2, Alexander Sami Hale joined the army to keep her family’s head above the water.

She falsified her enlistment form, convincing the officials that she was actually a boy named Alexander Hale.

When her sergeant, James Barnes, was captured by the German forces during a battle in Azzano, Alex went AWOL to aid a man named Steve Rogers to rescue his best friend.

This is her story

Note: Some of y’all would recognize the following as my original chapter for Winter’s Disguise until I deleted it. This is because I really preferred this over my current chapter, and thought this would be a better opening than what I have right now, so I brought it back.

It took me three whole fucking weeks really, really long to finish Chapter 1 as I decided to rewrite it. I rrewrote it as it wasn’t flowing properly, and I really wasn’t satisfied when I was done (I made three different drafts till i was satisfied) By rewriting it, I also had to change some major scenes in Hey, Sarge. Because of that, it took me some time to finish it. but don’t worry, it’s already complete! (This sounds biased, but it turned out pretty good!

I posted this for those who have not read it before, and for those who have already read it, link to Chapter 1 is at the bottom!

P.S Go back and read the sneak preview. I made some (very few) edits.

Early-September, 1943

Alex heaved as she pushed herself partially off the ground in the alleyway, her amber eyes watering from a blow she received on her face.

“Maybe that’ll teach you not to ignore us, huh?” The leader spat as his lackeys laughed.

“Let’s see what this squirt has inside his bag which is so precious to him, shall we?” He asked, his pudgy fingers reaching for Alex’s satchel.

Alex retaliated when she heard that, yanking her satchel away from him. She flailed her legs desperately, tripping one person over, and nailing their fat leader in the nuts.

“Son of a bitch!” He heaved, clutching his crotch. His underdogs rushed to help him, and Alex took this opportunity to speed off, scooping up her bag and hat along the way.

“Get him!”

Alex turned back, glimpsing two people chasing after her, no doubt for revenge for hitting their leader.

“Fuck!”

She made several sharp turns to lose her pursuers, climbing over a wall in the end to a busy street so that she could blend in. Alex tucked her short black hair under her worn out newsboy cap, pulling it over her eyes to hide their unusual colour.

She slowed her pace, keeping it at a brisk walk, her breath coming out in short huffs. She had already lost her attackers, but she didn’t want to risk meeting them or others like them for the rest of the day, so she kept her gaze down for the entire walk home, hands gripping her satchel tightly.

“I’m home!” Alex announced as she stepped into the apartment, taking her cap off and running her hand through her hair.

“You’re back early! Oh- don’t tell me you got into another fight again!” Her fellow tenant, Aunt Grace exclaimed as she wiped her wrinkly hands on her apron.

“It was an accident, really.” Alex replied, wincing as she touched her tender cheek. “Bumped into their leader, and they insisted on compensation, which meant everything inside my bag, of course.”

“What did you have inside?”

“My last paycheck.” Alex replied, pulling out an envelope from her bag and handing it to Aunt Grace.

“What do you mean, ‘last paycheck’?” A gravely voice behind them asked. Alex looked over to see her father, Henry, sitting upright on his mattress.

Alex sighed and slid her shoes off, placing her bag on an old crate which they have been using as a table.

“I was retrenched from the factory. At least they were kind enough to give me my paycheck.”

There was silence as Alex walked over to the larder and opened it, taking note of the scarce amounts of food.

“I’ll head to the grocer’s first thing tomorrow. Did the doctor come today?”

“He did. He said that I was doing fine.” Henry replied, shifting on the mattress.

“He did not say that!” Aunt Grace exclaimed, walking over to one of the shelves.

“What? What happened?”

Aunt Grace sighed, silencing him with a glare. “Henry’s eyesight is getting worse. His legs are getting weaker and weaker everyday. At least his right arm is working fine. It’s the only one he’s got.” She took out a medicine bottle from the shelf.

“The doctor prescribed another medicine. It’s more expensive, but it slows down the symptoms.” She handed the medicine bottle to Alex. “He also increased his rates per hour.”

Alex looked at the bottle grimly, before handing it back. “It’ll be fine.”

“What do you mean?”

Alex ran her hands through her hair again, pausing before walking back towards her bag. She took out a piece of folded paper and handed it to Aunt Grace. She bit her lip as she waited for the older woman’s reaction.

“Alexandra Hale.” Aunt Grace hissed. “What is this?”

Alex gulped while her father sat up straighter, curious. “My enlistment acceptance letter.”

“You just enlisted into the ARMY?!” The elderly woman screeched as Alex pried the paper out of her hands in case she decided to tear it into bits.

“How did you even get accepted? Don’t tell me the army is willing to accept 5”2” boys? How did you manage to fake your gender?”

Alex frowned at the mention of her height, but let it slide. She handed the letter to her father when he beckoned for it, and turned to Aunt Grace.

“I signed up at a center which was really busy, so they rushed my examination so I didn’t need to take off my shirt.”

“But still-”

“You put your name as ‘Alexander Sami Hale’?” Her father asked, squinting at the paper.

Alex shrugged. “Best name I could come up with on the fly.”

“I’m still against this.” Aunt Grace said, crossing her arms. “Alex, this isn’t like the times when you were stealing at twelve years old! This is the war! You could get killed!”

“Then I’ll make sure that I don’t! What other choice do we have? There are lesser people wanting to hire a kid, even if he or she is already eighteen! The army needs people, we need money. It’s a win-win situation!”

“We don’t need the money that desperately-”

“No, we do need the money. I went to pay this month's rent, and our landlord said that he’s raising the rent soon. You also said it yourself, the medical fees are higher. The groceries are getting more expensive too.” Alex paused, pleading with the both of them with her eyes.

Henry sighed. “When do you leave?”

“Day after tomorrow. I’ll be in Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, for about seven weeks before being deployed. I'm in the 107th”

Aunt Grace breathed out, giving up. “Write to us, alright?

Alex exhaled. “Okay.”

Chapter 1

Masterlist

Tags:

@mizz-kraziii @cami23593 @beautiful-aravis @buckybarnesneedscuddles @dottirose @katykyll @frittiefries @chipilerendi @fandomsandahintofmagic @jaditestuff

#ca:tfa #captain america #steve rogers #winter soldier #bucky barnes #bucky x reader #1940s bucky

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narniasecretsanta · 7 years

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First Date

@rosesnvines secret santa for @fingersnapchaos

First Date - Susan and Corin plot to get Cor and Aravis together on their first date, and what better way than the annual Christmas ball. With Edmund’s help they just might pull it off, as long as things don’t get royally screwed.

Susan was sitting by the window in the coffee shop, sipping her cappuccino and reading the paper, when the ringing of the shop’s bell followed by chatter caught her attention. She glanced up, and saw the Archenland twins and Aravis walk through the door. Cor, the heir to the throne, was talking to Aravis about something they had watched on TV the night before, one of those comedy sketches the fauns liked to put on, something Susan really didn’t care too much for. Corin, however, wasn’t taking part in the conversation and glanced around the shop, his eyes falling on Susan eventually. He grinned at her and waved before following his brother to the ordering line. Susan smiled and waved back at him before turning back to her newspaper and her cappuccino. She slowly sipped from her cup as she perused the articles, Lantern Waste was complaining about Giant attacks, Terebinthia told of their constant battle with pirates, while Archenland was all excitement and partying with the news that their twin princes were going to college in Imiamos with the Pevensies. Susan smirked at the article as she snuck a quick glance at the twins who were just getting to the register. But that’s when she noticed Cor’s arm around Aravis and blinked. When did they start going out? Susan turned back to the Archenland section to see if there was any mention of this new development between the heir apparent and the Tarkheena, but she couldn’t find a thing. Was this very recent?

“Hey Sue, what’s up?” came a voice, startling Susan. She folded up her paper to reveal the very bored-looking Corin.

“Oh, hi Corin! Nothing much. You?”

Corin shrugged. “Same old, same old with the studies, and a studious older brother. I just want to play sports, that’s all.”

“No interests in girls, either?” asked Susan pointedly, aiming to steer the conversation towards the obvious affection the oldest prince was showing.

“Nah, at least, not right now. I’m open to it later on, but not now.”

“And Cor?”

That’s when Corin raised his eyebrow and a mischievous grin spread on his face. “So, you noticed Cor only ever so slightly flirting with the Tarkheena, huh?”

Susan chuckled. “Is that what he calls it?”

Corin rolled his eyes. “That’s the closest I’ve gotten to getting a confession of love from for Aravis. He says they fight too much. Well, I told he should marry her anyway, they can do it even better after they get married.”

“Corin!” berated Susan as she whacked his arm.

“What? I’m serious! Married couples fight all the time!”

“Not all the time, Corin. What TV shows have you been watching? Comedy Central?”

“OK then, smarty-pants, how should a married couple act?”

“Completely in love! Yes, they’ll have a few arguments, but that’s not the basis of their marriage!”

“So, you think like my brother, despite the fact that he is obviously smitten with Aravis, the one person besides me he argues with, a lot.”

“Do they look like they’re arguing now?” asked Susan, pointing out the duo as they sat and chatted away like the best of friends.

Corin blinked. “OK, well, they don’t argue all the time …”

“Exactly, if they did, Cor wouldn’t fall in love with her.”

“Well then, your majesty, how do we get him to ask her out on a date? I’ve been pestering him about it for weeks now.”

“This is technically a date,” pointed out Susan.

“Yeah, but, like, with flowers, a romantic walk under the moonlight, dinner for two, and all that jazz?”

“Well, Corin, sounds like you might be properly prepared to sweep a girl off her feet when you are ready.”

Corin grinned at her. “But seriously, what should we do? He is expected to find a queen, you know. More pressure on him than you four, or me.”

Susan nodded as she placed her head on her hand, watching the couple. “I know, but, I don’t know what to do.”

“Well, if you have any ideas, let me know, alright? I’ll help as much as I can. I’m kinda getting tired of him talking about her the way he does, only for him to blush and stutter no when I suggest asking her out.”

“Hmm … it might be a little harder than I thought. We don’t want to push them too hard, or it will push them apart. I’ll give it some more thought and get back to you once I have something.”

“It better be good, because I’m about at my wit’s end,” muttered Corin before standing up. His brother had noticed him sitting with Susan and motioned him over. “I might be back, but if not, you have a good day, Queen Susan. Thanks for the chat.”

“No problem. I’ll see you later!” she said as he walked away. She waved at Cor and Aravis when they waved at her, but then Corin turned and waved her over. Susan smiled, folded up her paper, picked up her cappuccino carefully, and walked over to their table.

Later, when Susan was walking back to the cabin she shared with her siblings while they went to school, she thought about Cor and Aravis. What could she do to help convince Cor to ask Aravis out on an actual date, as Corin put it? She was still deep in thought when she entered the cabin.

“Hey sis, what’s on your mind today?” quipped Edmund as he walked past with a book. He was already well into his studies in the living room. He sat down on the sofa and glanced up at her when she didn’t reply. “Oh come on, I know it’s got nothing to do with the news. It’s the same old, same old. Father already took Peter out to Lantern Waste, they’re going to try and come up with a solution over the weekend. But what’s on your mind?”

Susan let out a sigh as she sat next to him on the sofa. “Oh, Corin asked me to help him convince Cor to ask Aravis out on a real date. I saw them today, he’s obviously smitten with her.”

“And you already ship it,” muttered Edmund.

Susan grinned. “How could I not? They are so adorable together!”

“Uh-huh … don’t they argue a lot?”

“They weren’t earlier. I didn’t hear a single argument at the coffee shoppe.”

Edmund glanced at her in surprise. “Really?” No arguments at all? Did hell freeze over or something?” he asked when Susan shook her head.

She laughed. “I don’t think so. I think it’s because Cor is finally realizing himself that he has feelings for her. Corin said the closest he ever got to a confession was Cor admitting he might have been slightly flirting with Aravis.”

Edmund laughed. “Sounds like Cor too.”

“So I’ve been thinking of what to do to get Cor to ask her out,” continued Susan.

Edmund played with his pencil. “Hmm … with Cor, that might be hard. Unlike Corin, he doesn’t make his feelings all that well known. He’ll make a great king for it though.”

“That’s true. What do you think, Edmund? You know him better than the rest of us.”

“And I would think Corin knows him better still,” pointed out Edmund.

“Right, but, you’re more observant than Corin.”

“No contest there,” remarked Edmund with a grin. He leaned forward and placed his chin in his hands, drumming his fingers against his mouth. “Well, we won’t be able to get Cor to ask her by himself for sure, and I highly doubt we could get him to ask her out to a simple dinner date.”

Susan sighed. “Then what would you suggest?”

“A party, for couples,” stated Edmund, a grin tugging at his lips.

Susan raised her eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yes, think about it, Cor would have to ask her to be his date for the night, but he wouldn’t think of it as a date, per say, since technically he won’t have to be obligated to be her date the whole night. But, between you and Corin, you can make it that way.”

“You might be onto something.”

“I mean, after all, when a guy is really nervous about taking a girl out, he likes to do it a parties first, with a bunch of people, so it makes it easy on his nerves and can open up some conversation between the two thanks to their friends. Unless, of course, you’re someone like Corin, and you’re just perfectly easy around everyone.”

Susan laughed. “Quite true. Well, then, I think we’ve got ourselves a plan. And I know exactly when to do it.” Edmund glanced at her questioningly as she grinned. “The Annual Christmas party,” she explained. Edmund’s face broke into a mischievous grin. “And I can assume you’ll help us?” she asked.

Edmund let out a sigh, though his grin and eyes were telling her he was going to enjoy it. “I guess I’d better, otherwise, you two might mess it up.”

“What? No we wouldn’t!” blurted Susan as she hit him. He burst out laughing before ttwo took to planning it all out.

The Annual Christmas party in Imiamos was always put together by the fauns and the nymphs, and it was always splendid. This year was no different. There might have been more mistletoe than usual, but a snickering Edmund with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes might have had something to do with that. Everyone came decked out in their holiday best, the ladies all wearing gorgeous gowns in every shade of the rainbow, the gentlemen usually having a flower in the matching color to indicate which lady was with which gentleman. Not everyone had a partner, but it was an age-old tradition that the fauns and the nymphs were quite picky about. So if someone came without a partner, there had better be a good excuse or they were promptly paired up with someone who didn’t have a partner. A tradition Susan was betting on to get Cor to ask Aravis to be his partner for the evening. And if not, she had already informed the fauns and the nymphs in charge of it that if they were without a partner, to partner them up. So far so good. She glanced at Peter and Lucy, Peter was with their parents talking to the guests, while Lucy was well into the games. Corin, to be on the safe side, asked Susan to be his partner, but he was coming in with his brother and Aravis. She glanced back at the door, which should be soon.

“If I didn’t know any better, I would have said you liked Corin,” muttered Edmund as he joined her.

“Edmund!”

He chuckled. “I know, you just want to make sure Cor and Aravis have their first date without really realizing it. But to someone who doesn’t know about that, it really does look like you are anxious for Corin to arrive.”

“Well I just might, with all the unwanted attention,” mumbled Susan as she crossed her arms and nodded in the direction of a certain guest from Calormen, Rabadash. “I’d rather a demigod at this rate.”

“No, no, the correct response is ‘I’d rather a god at this point’, considering not many of the gods are really that trustworthy.”

“No kidding. I’d probably go with either Apollo since he’s handsome but vain, or Hephaestus since he’s not the best-looking, but sincere.”

“And Rabadash is probably more Ares,” muttered Edmund.

Susan nodded vigorously. “Yes! And Ares is not one I really like, I would so prefer Hephaestus over him, any day.”

“But, for now, you have a handsome boxer,” stated Edmund, nodding in the direction of the door. There they were! All three had just entered, Corin was standing behind Cor, who had Aravis’ hand tucked in his arm. Aravis was wearing royal purple gown with silver accents while Cor had a royal purple rose tucked in his pocket. Susan let out a romantic sigh.

“They are so adorable!” she exclaimed softly. Edmund just rolled his eyes. By then, Corin had noticed them and was walking towards them, the pine bough he picked to match Susan’s forest green gown bouncing along.

“Alright, step one is complete, they’re here. Now what?”

Edmund shrugged. “Now we just need to make sure that they stay together the whole night and get them talking. Should be a piece of cake.” But boy was he wrong. First, Rabadash had to make a scene because Susan refused to dance with him, and Corin and Edmund had to practically pull him out of the ballroom. This caused them to lose track of Cor and Aravis, and when they finally found them again, Cor was talking with Peter while Aravis was dancing with another guy, and it seemed she was flirting with him. Corin and Susan quickly stepped in and broke up the couple and got Aravis back to Cor once the dance was over. They convinced Cor to take Aravis out to the dance floor, finally, and the three seemed to relax a bit.

“Well, that was a rocky start,” quipped Edmund. “Hope nothing else bad happens.”

“Compared to Rabadash’ complete and total meltdown at someone not giving into his childish ways, I think anything else will be … well, child’s play,” replied Corin with a grin.

“Let’s just get through the night in one piece,” muttered Susan.

“Yes, let’s,” remarked Edmund.

“So, Queen Susan, may I have this dance?” asked Corin with a bow.

“Certainly, we might not get another,” replied Susan with a curtsy. The two went to the dance floor and joined in, though while still keeping an eye on Cor and Aravis. When they returned to where Edmund was sitting, Lucy had joined him, and apparently he had given her all the details.

“Why didn’t you tell me anything? Aravis is my best friend!” stated Lucy with a pout as she crossed her arms.

“Sorry Lu, but I didn’t want you to get so excited that you’d give the whole thing away!” blurted Susan.

“She does have a point,” remarked Edmund. “Ow!” he exclaimed when Lucy pinched him.

Susan sighed. “Please don’t start, you two.”

“No, but seriously, I could have talked to her, found out if she liked him back, and dropped a few hints that he might like her!”

“She does have a point,” remarked Edmund. Susan shot him a glare. “What?”

“Ugh, can we keep to the task at hand?” blurted Corin. “I know family spats can be interesting to watch, but my brother still needs to admit he likes Aravis, and maybe find out if she likes him back!”

“Well, she kinda does …” began Lucy.

“She does?” all three asked incredulously.

“Yes, she just didn’t want to make the first move until she was absolutely sure he liked her back,” explained Lucy.

“Why didn’t you tell us this?” asked Susan.

Lucy shrugged. “You never asked.”

“She does …”

“Edmund, if you say that one more time I will drag you out of the ballroom myself and you can keep Rabadash company,” blurted Susan.

“OK, OK, but she is right. We didn’t ask her, we didn’t include her in this whole thing even though she is Aravis’ best friend, so to speak.”

Susan let out a sigh. “Fine then. Lucy, do you think you can keep Aravis close to Cor?”

Lucy saluted her. “Yes ma’am, you bet I can!”

“Good. Ed, you keep an eye on Cor. Corin and I will make sure no one else distracts them.”

“Right!’ they chorused before they set off to do their tasks, right before the next accident of the night. Jill Pole had left the games and had joined Lucy as she walked towards Aravis at the refreshments station. The three were getting some punch when a rowdy faun toppled the punch, all over Jill’s lovely crimson and gold dress. She let out a shriek as Lucy and Aravis jumped in with some napkins to sop up the liquid.

“Oh no Jill!” exclaimed Aravis. “And all over your lovely dress!” She shot the faun a glare before he slunk away.

“Really?” muttered Susan with a groan as she moved to join them.

“Well, there goes that. Sorry, everybody, but, I need to head back home. I’m not staying in this mess.”

“Someone should go with you,” stated Susan.

“Ugh, fine,” muttered Jill.

“Well, I could,” began Eustace.

“Thank you, Eustace, but, I’d rather a lady. I would like some help with it,” she stated as she glanced at the sad state of her dress. Susan and Lucy glanced at each other. Susan let out a sigh and nodded. Well, there went that. But maybe Lucy could still talk to Aravis about it later.

“I’ll go,” said Lucy.

Jill smiled at her. “Thanks Lu, you’re the best.” The two walked out slowly, the dress heavier now that it was wet. Susan let out a sigh and a groan as she turned to Aravis.

“Well, at least it wasn’t Rabadash throwing a temper tantrum,” quipped Aravis.

Susan laughed. “That’s true. I think that will forever be the worst highlight of this evening. And since we’re out of punch, would some lemonade work?”

Aravis chuckled. “I think that would work just fine.” The two went and got some lemonade.

“So, despite the, uh, interesting mishaps tonight, how are you liking it so far?” asked Susan.

Aravis nodded. “So far so good. I’ve been having a blast. I’m sorry I missed the Michaelmas party, but I can’t wait for Easter if it’s anything like this!”

Susan laughed. “Oh it will be, without the spilled punch hopefully.” Aravis laughed. Susan continued, “The fauns and the nymphs know how to throw a party.”

“So it would seem.”

“I, uh, noticed that you and Cor seemed to be having a pretty intense conversation during that last dance. May I ask what was it about?”

“Oh, Cor was complaining about his family. They sent him another message to remind him that while he doesn’t have to have a girlfriend just yet, he needs to keep an eye out for some good possibilities. Being Crown Prince sure had its down-sides.”

“Well, knowing Cor, he probably already has his sights set on a girl, he just wants to finish up his studies before he makes any moves. My only concern is that she might get whisked away by another guy while he does that.”

Aravis glanced at her in surprise. “You think, you think Cor might already be interested in somebody?”

Susan did her very best not to start squealing, she thought she was getting somewhere! Instead, she merely shrugged. “It’s possible. I think it’s very likely, in fact. Corin was just telling me that whenever he and Edmund would talk about how pretty the girls were, Cor would just stay quiet. Corin said he used to chime in, but now he doesn’t.” Susan just about lost it when Aravis bit her lip with what looked like hope in her eyes as she glanced at the fellow in question. She still liked Cor! And that’s when the next most disastrous thing happened that night, a nymph tripped and spilled the lemonade all over Aravis.

“Good grief! What is with everybody tonight?” exclaimed Edmund as he and the twins rushed to help Susan and Aravis. Well, he found out real quick, both the fauns and the nymphs had been getting plenty of liquor, and the nymph he helped up after tripping, was acting pretty tipsy.

“Alright then, party’s over!” shouted Mr. Pevensie the instant he came over and found out. He was not thrilled that children were exposed to such actions, and his children especially.

“Well, good thing I won’t have to miss too much,” stated Aravis with a smile.

Susan chuckled nervously. “There really shouldn’t be liquor out until after the children have gone to bed,” she muttered.

“Well, there’s that. Shall we escort you home, Aravis?” asked Cor.

Aravis smiled. “Yes, I would like that. Thank you.” He smiled at her as he held out his arm to her. She placed her hand in the nook of his elbow, and the two walked out. Corin practically grabbed Susan’s arm and, followed by Edmund, followed them out.

“Why do we have to come?” whispered Edmund as they quietly followed the couple.

“Because I want to see this through,” whispered Susan.

“And you wouldn’t let your sister walk home all by herself?” asked Corin in a low voice.

“Why not? She’s mean enough she could take out a whole armada of pirates,” quipped Edmund. Susan shot him a glare.

“Susan? Queen Susan the Gentle take out a whole armada? Really, Ed, you must be joking,” returned Corin with a smirk.

“I didn’t say she had to fight them. She just gives them the mean mama look and they’d run away,” remarked Edmund with a smirk.

“Really you two,” muttered Susan.

“Sh, we’re getting close!” whispered Corin. The three became silent as they quickly ducked around the corner. They glanced around the corner at the scene before them. Cor and Aravis had arrived at her house and he was seeing her to her front door when she paused and turned around.

“Well, um, thank you for inviting me. I had a lot of fun,” she said.

“Even with the lemonade spill?”

“That’s a problem for the dress, not for me,” she replied with a grin.

“Which is kind of sad, you looked really nice in it,” blurted Cor. The two glanced away as they began to blush. Susan bit her lip as she did her best to conceal her excitement. It was working after all!

“Oh, um, thank, thank you. You look really nice in your suit too.”

Cor cleared his throat as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Oh, um thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” Aravis replied softly as she grasped at her dress and began to twist the fabric. “Um, well, I guess I should get inside. Good night,” she said after a moment’s silence.

“Yeah, um, good night,” replied Cor. The two turned, Aravis to enter her house and Cor to leave. But Cor paused and turned back. “Um, Aravis?”

Aravis turned quickly. “Yes?”

“Would you, um … Corin and I are going to watch Captain Narnia this Saturday. Um, would you like to come with us?”

Aravis smiled softly at him. “Yes, yes, I would like that, Cor.”

He smiled back just as softly. “Good, we’ll pick you up around seven. Would that work?”

“Yes, I’ll be ready. See you Saturday.”

“Right, see you Saturday.” The two stood there for another second just looking into each other’s eyes, while the twin brother was currently high-fiving Susan and Edmund. Cor finally broke the gaze and walked away, but both had big, soft smiles on their faces.

Susan and Edmund had to tell everyone the story upon their arrival at the cabin, but Susan went to bed quite thrilled. She played matchmaker quite well. Who else could she pair up?

#rosesnvines #fingersnapchaos #susan pevensie #edmund pevensie #aravis #cor #narniasecretsanta #fic #2017 #submission

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codynaomiswire · 7 years

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Random ‘Tangled: The Series’ / Narnia Crossover Ideas

Just some random blips of what I think would happen in a Tangled: The Series / Narnia crossover:

- The characters from Tangled: The Series that would go to Narnia would be Rapunzel, Eugene, Cassandra, Owl, Pascal, Maximus, and Varian.

- Honestly, not quite sure how they would all get to Narnia, but I think it would be interesting if Xavier had something to do with it. (I’d imagine he would probably have been there once himself...)

- I’d imagine their adventure would take place sometime between the Golden Age of Narnia (i.e. when the Pevensies were the reigning monarchs) and the events of Prince Caspian. In The Horse and His Boy, it mentions a famous king of the neighboring Archenland named Ram the Great (i.e. son of Cor/Shasta and Aravis), so perhaps their adventure would involve helping him and the denizens of Narnia out in some way.

- While there certainly seems to be a higher concentration of only children traveling between realms to Narnia, adults aren’t totally excluded either (ex. Queen Jadis/the White Witch, Frank and Helen (who became the first monarchs of Narnia), Uncle Andrew, and the pirates who became the Telmarines, etc.), so the older members of said group wouldn’t have any trouble getting there.

- Varian would initially be losing his mind over just how much magic is permeating the place. (Not sure at this point whether he ends up actually believing in magic in TTS, but it seems likely that he will. Even if it gets the point where he ends up becoming an actual wizard and/or individual with moon powers in the series, I’d imagine the amount of magic in Narnia would still be hard for him to process in any event.)

- The animal companions in the group would at first be super intimidated by the talking animals they meet along the way, and the talking animals would in tern find them very peculiar. Yet the talking animals come to have a fondness and even great respect for Pascal, Owl, and Maximus when they find that while they cannot speak they do understand speech and think just as well as the talking animals of Narnia.

- Rapunzel would quickly become the favorite of the talking animals! Meanwhile, Varian would become to be a huge fan of all things made from Dwarven metal, and would also be impressed by the alchemical knowledge of the centaurs.

- Both Cass and Varian would be the most reluctant to get enthusiastic about their newfound adventure, with Varian’s obstacles being mostly skepticism and worrying about things at home in Corona, and Cass worrying about their safety in Narnia.

- Eugene is the first of the group to encounter the dryads. He does this when he’s wandered off a ways alone in the woods and commences talking to himself about this, that and the other thing, only to find that the tree standing next to him suddenly joins in the conversation.

- Eugene also becomes the leader when the group has to carry out a stealth mission at some point.

- Everyone in the group finds that the air of Narnia has the effect of enhancing their abilities.

- Each member of the group also has an experience where they encounter Aslan. Not sure at this point how that would go for each of them, but it would be very meaningful for all of them.

- Also considering the possibility of one of them turning into a dragon or something. May be too cliché though. Would have to think about that one.

#random thoughts #cody says stuff #narnia #tts #tangled the series #rapunzel #eugene #cassandra #owl #pascal #maximus #varian #xavier #aslan #talking animals #dwarves #dryads #centaurs #alchemy

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teabooksandsweets · 6 years

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The Horse and His Boy has always been one of my favourite Narnia books, and I am glad to say that this hasn't changed at all. It's also by far my favourite title. In fact, I dare say, it's my favourite book title in general, not only out of the Narnia books.

I love the way this book is written, from its style through its structure to its characterization. Having read the series only in the chronological order before, it's really interesting to see how Lewis' writing evolved over the course of the series. I can't say it got better, as it was wonderful from the very beginning on, but there is a visible sort of development, which is especially apparent in the characters and world building.

I love the way Shasta/Cor and Aravis are written – both of them are lovely people, but their behaviour is awfully much influenced from their upbringing and experiences. Shasta's distrust in other people, which lead to a sort of selfishness, and Aravis' privileged aloofness, which lead to a sort of ruthlessness – both of which they slowly but steadily grow out – are not part of their natural personalities, not part of their souls, but of what they are taught to be. Both of them have practically opposite backgrounds, but they come down to the same thing: In order to dare to be as good as they truly are, they need to learn about the good in others, and learn to believe in it. They make a wonderful pair. I also very much adore the horses – Hwin's gentle steadfastness and Bree's pompous fallacy are wonderfully written. It's especially of note that, despite them being Talking Horses, Lewis truly showed that he knew horses, and how to write them. They didn't feel like humans in horse bodies – they were truly horses. I also love the other two kids – in some ways, Corin and Lasaraleen are even more charming than the protagonists, although I don't like them more (or less) than them. They are lovable and engaging side characters and simply a joy to read about. I even think they'd get along really well – not at first, certainly not, but they both have such amazing temperaments that would at least be very entertaining to watch interacting. I also really loved the Hermit. He's a fascinating character and I would love to know more about him. I wonder, if maybe he is also a Star or some other, well, unusual person. That aside, it was lovely to see the adult Pevensies – they all were exactly what they were. Susan, the Gentle Queen who didn't fight though she could, and Lucy the Valiant in chain mail and helmet, Peter the Magnificent fighting giants, and Edmund the Just making peace and plans.

In fact – it's lovely to see a glimpse of the Golden Age, which brings me back the extended world building. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the land and time of Narnia were so full of a very particular, tight sort of magic and enchantment. We knew little of the times before, and even less of the lands beyond. At that point, the World of Narnia and the Land of Narnia could have been one and the same, or else, if there had been more lands, they could also been enchanted. And then, all the more of that world we saw was so, so much later. It's amazing to actually see a story happen just a few years after the Long Winter, in two completely different countries, that existed beside Narnia all the time. Just think of it! According to Lewis' own timeline, the events in this book happened fourteen years after the Pevensies came to Narnia, so the children had not been born at that time, but all the adults we see had. There has been normal life in these countries all that time, and for some reason that does feel quite amazing to me, although I can't really explain how and why. It's just a really different feeling for the story – not better or worse, just different. It's also interesting to read a story from the perspective of characters who were born in the World of Narnia, and even more so to read one from the perspective of characters who didn't grow up in the Land of Narnia. It's the only book with no relation to our world, and that's very intriguing.

My favourite scene? I don't know. Probably Aslan's appearances in various shapes. His role was quite unusual compared to His appearances in the other books, and written in a particularly interesting, and sensitive way. The things He said to Shasta/Cor and Aravis were so very individually relevant, and their effect on them so very significant. His encounter with Bree, I dare say, seemed to have a message that went beyond the pages of the book, but I don't want to put anything into Lewis' words that might not actually be there. It's more of a personal feeling than an actual interpretation.

As for the supposed racism in this book, that I know some people will talk about: Do yourself a favour, and educate yourself. To be honest, I suppose me saying this is of no good use, but I don't want to actually discuss this, beyond saying that a lot of the complaints show some underlying racism themselves, and even more so a severe lack of understanding of this book, as well as various Middle Eastern cultures and religions, both ancient and modern. There's so many remarks on this that are made up of dramatic misinformation, and also an uncomfortable array of people who claim to care for social justice, but at the same time seem to believe all sorts of bad and untrue things about the people they supposedly want to protect, yet obviously don't respect. (It his unfortunate, but certainly not Lewis' fault, that some Islamophobic Christians have a dreadful idea of Islam that somehow resembles the Calormene Paganism, but, so do some of the people who accuse Lewis of Islamophobia.) This is on the racism related to real people.

As for the supposed racism inside the story, I dare say, if anything, the Calormenes show more of it than anyone else, and even that is very limited. I already noticed in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, that Lewis preferred to portray the Calormenes in a fairly neutral, and even more so a very interesting way, describing them as a wise, wealthy, courteous, cruel and ancient people. He did this in a way similar to how he described Trumpkin's face, and I've mentioned before that I absolutely adore how Lewis used to set “good” and “bad” adjectives side by side, simply using them as what they are, rather than a form of judgement. He also did this for the personalities of various characters – such as Edmund and Eustace – and on plenty of other occasions and matters. It's also of note, that all criticism of Calormen was in regards to its politics and some traditions, and never were the people portrayed to be bad based on their race, which played no role at all, or their culture, which was described to be a very beautiful one.

Personally, I find the Calormenes to be highly fascinating to begin with. I mentioned the difference reading the books in the original order makes in regards to the world building, and – with The Magician's Nephew not yet written at that time – I wonder how the Calormenes got to Narnia. I mean, not only how, but from where. Of course, the Telmarines are already proof enough, that after the creation of Narnia there have been people from our world getting there, long before the Pevensies came, but also – long after Frank and Helen came. And that's the interesting thing. Because the Creation of Narnia shows that it happened when in our world, it was the late 19th century, we cannot know since when Lewis had that in mind. The Telmarines were pirates, and the Calormenes seem to come from a very ancient, at least pre-Islamic (if not older than that) Middle East. And at this point, I wonder, was Narnia meant to have been created earlier?

I think it wasn't. I actually think they seem so old, because of the very long time they've been in Narnia! (I mean the World, of course.) Narnia isn't an antique or even medieval world, even though many make it out to be. From the very first book on, Narnia was almost modern – they had the lamppost, after all, even before we learned how it got there, they has sewing machines, fairly modern books, houses that resembled actual modern houses like the house Coriakin lived in, and all sorts of other things that show that there has been a sort of modern influence in Narnia all the time. The Telmarines could have been more or less modern Pirates, who somehow had to adjust to the place, and so did – even earlier – the Calormenes. They used what they had, and somehow adjusted to a live that, even a thousand years after the Long Winter, seemed older than that. And while the Calormene religion is, in terms of inspiration, based on Babylonian religions, the actual religion of the Calormenes is based in their world, and while not religiously True, based around at least one very real deity, which proves that they actually developed the cult around Tash through Tash and on Tash, after coming to Calormen. They might have been normal, modern people from somewhere in West to South Asia, who applied knowledge of their own ancient religions to what they saw in Narnia, and while only a few decades passed in our world, their old and new views and experiences mingled over the millenniums that passed over in Calormen into the culture we finally got to see. I mean – think of the Pevensies, who went on to become quite medieval in style and manners, too. If they could come to Narnia as completely modern people, and then change like that in less than fifteen years, why shouldn't others do so over thousands and thousands of years? I think this is all quite fascinating. Some might think that the fact that Narnia is not really an “independent” world makes it somehow less interesting, less intricate, but I think the way people get there, and bring things into the world, and change and adjust them, is amazing and a completely different sort of world building.

Also!!! It has been hinted that there are even more countries than the ones we know!!! Which is so amazing!!! And makes me so excited!!! The world actually goes on beyond Calormen!!! And Calormen is huge, oh my!!!

By the way, I love the name Breehy-hinny-brinny-hoohy-hah, and I suppose Hwin also is short for a horsey name. According to Wikipedia, it's probably a contraction of “Hwinhynym”. That would be nice!

I cannot really choose a serious favourite quote (there's just too many!) so I'll go with this one: “Even though Education and all sorts of horrible things are going to happen to me.” I also don't really think I have a favourite chapter.

#chronicles of narnia #narnia fandom read-along #literature #c. s. lewis #personal

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