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the mood actually applies
You know how like, you have an assignment, and it's not a terrible assignment, and you just gotta sit your ass down at the toilet of academia and churn that shit out. (Procrastinating: it is like constipation?) But you don't. 'Cos your work ethic is not being helped by the fact that spring break has started, and instead of spending the past two days working seriously on this thing, you spend it, uh, not working on it. Also, your computer dies on you.
Seriously, I have the worst luck with computers. I got a Durabook this time around, which is supposed to be kitted out for soldiers going into combat. It's supposed to be water-proof, drop-proof, sandstorm-proof or whatever, and I swear I've been treating this baby nicer than I've treated all my past girlfriends (computer girlfriends), and it's STILL insisting we go out on more dates and that I don't listen enough. WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME.
Okay, more from the rambling meme, and then it's the toilet of academia for me, I swear.
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mumblemutter:
Peter/Susan
Oh man, it's all this fic's fault really. That fic is awesome for two reasons: introduction to Peter/Susan and introduction to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
1sentence. 1sentence is so great, because the next time I want to explore a ship but don't have the wherewithal to write a proper fic about them, I'll just grab their prompt table. I thought I was gonna be all about the boys when I first came to Narnia fandom. Caspian/Peter/Edmund, 'cos seriously, watch PC and I dare you to tell me which of them you'd rather fight hypothermia in an ice cave with, I DARE YOU. Impossible choice. (All of the above!) Narnia is the fandom that reminded me there's more to fic than slash, and also to write about girls being awesome (OH PROBLEM OF SUSAN). Thanks, Narnia fandom. Thanks, Susan and Jadis.
With Peter being oldest brother and High King, he probably has an “I must protect and lead everyone” complex, and Susan is the one who reacts best to that, because she likes structure. They’re both burdened by responsibility, by being older siblings, by being High fucking King, by being the most beautiful queen ever, by making it their duty to keep everyone in line (which means something different to each of them post-PC). I don’t OTP ‘cos I want a ship to be a happy ship, necessarily. I don’t care as long as it’s something I can sink my teeth into, whether it’s shippy or just friendshippy or even antagonistshippy. It’s not about saying, “She is my girlfriend,” but more about saying, “She is always in my head, for better or worse.” I mean, not that I think Peter and Susan obsess over each other. I think they were both each other's shoulders to lean on, but post-Narnia they have the grace and level-headedness to grow apart, which kills me in that good way.
Fromanimus_wyrmis:
Susan/Jadis
Weird. I’ve recced Susan/Jadis, but I’ve never written it. It’s a pretty interesting concept. You got the “Jadis recruits Susan and together they fight the patriarchal hegemony” angle going on. Kind of like fanon Nimueh/Morgana? And Jadis likes Susan’s diligence and her anger and her ability to bend and not break. Also, the Witch always had a weakness for pretty things, and Susan’s skin is smooth and warm, her lips soft, and her laughter like bells (but there is a certain distance and a spark of intelligence in the eyes that reminds her of Edmund), and so anyway, she advertises her cause to Susan as one of liberation or something, and doesn’t tell Susan everything, ‘cos Jadis is tricky like that.
Um THANKS, WYRM, ‘cos now I just wanna write a long plotty fic about Jadis luring Susan away (will Susan be kept using magic, or will that not be necessary??) and Peter is freaking out, but also feeling betrayed and discombobulated. Plus, as High King he has a million other things to worry about, so Edmund says to him, “Chill, I got it.” If there’s anyone who knows how to take down the Witch, it’s Edmund. (Or so he likes everyone to think, but we all know what happened in Calormen.) MEANWHILE, there is sink-your-teeth-into-it Susan/Jadis subtext, with all sorts of sexy magic and mindfuckery. And then, at some point, there would be Susan/Jadis/Edmund. At some point, Jadis would laugh and say, “Your sister needs no rescuing, Edmund.” At some point, Susan would give him a look - maybe amused, maybe pitying, maybe resigned - and say, “I don’t need to be rescued, Edmund.”
Wow, this sounds like the Calormen fic with Edmund and Susan’s roles reversed.
From a bunch of people, which I'm going to consolidate under:
crack
It’s really like a game, or a challenge. Some people play basketball, I think about the various repercussions of Bradley James being beamed up to Camelot. There’s a quote that says (I forget the exact wording): the best genre fiction shifts just one small element of our world, then follows up thoroughly on the consequences. Which is a pretty good description of how I approach crack. So basically I approach crack the way one approaches an AU? I would solve “What if Camelot were attacked by zombies?” and “What if Merlin were the prince and Arthur the manservant?” using similar methods. The voice in my head becomes Tim Gunn telling me to make it work. And how do you resist Tim Gunn? You don’t, that’s what.
To get srs bsns about crack (oh lordy), I think the best crack takes a lot of things srsly. It takes them as given, so it focuses on ‘what next?’ instead of ‘how’ and ‘why’. It kind of reminds me of the attitude of the long-suffering, intelligent servant who looks upon his master’s excesses with an air of, “Okay, that may be so, but who’s going to clean the chicken shit off the piano?” I think if I had also focused on how and why Bradley ended up in Camelot, it would’ve been a poorer story, y’know? It’s kind of like putting on make-up: you go for dramatic eyes, or you go for dramatic lips, but you can’t go for both lest you wanna end up looking fugs.
commentfic
Commentfic is my favorite game! All ya’ll should play it with me at some point, I’m serious. ALL YA’LL. I love these collaborative games: acting improv, musical jams, or conversations getting carried away on a sea of hypotheticals. Like, “What if Uther got turned into a cow? Oh my gosh, then XYZ would happen, which means that ABC would happen too, and can you imagine what that would do to PQR?!” And suddenly, before you know it, you have enough hypotheticals to have a srs (sometimes) story. Round-robins, one-word story, the oracle, etc: these are the games that I love because I do not love the games that are about winning and losing. ‘Cos I hate losing! And god, it’s just so satisfying to dash off commentfic in the heat of the moment – ‘cos it’s all about the heat of the moment! - and you don’t have to worry about things like backstory, phrasing, or describing the setting (unless you want to). You just go straight to the heart of it and bang it on the knee, no bullshit. Commentfic often starts as description of a story that I want, but then: you know how Neil Gaiman wrote that the best way to describe a story is to tell it? Yeah, then that happens.
Seriously, I have the worst luck with computers. I got a Durabook this time around, which is supposed to be kitted out for soldiers going into combat. It's supposed to be water-proof, drop-proof, sandstorm-proof or whatever, and I swear I've been treating this baby nicer than I've treated all my past girlfriends (computer girlfriends), and it's STILL insisting we go out on more dates and that I don't listen enough. WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME.
Okay, more from the rambling meme, and then it's the toilet of academia for me, I swear.
From
mumblemutter: Peter/Susan
Oh man, it's all this fic's fault really. That fic is awesome for two reasons: introduction to Peter/Susan and introduction to
1sentence. 1sentence is so great, because the next time I want to explore a ship but don't have the wherewithal to write a proper fic about them, I'll just grab their prompt table. I thought I was gonna be all about the boys when I first came to Narnia fandom. Caspian/Peter/Edmund, 'cos seriously, watch PC and I dare you to tell me which of them you'd rather fight hypothermia in an ice cave with, I DARE YOU. Impossible choice. (All of the above!) Narnia is the fandom that reminded me there's more to fic than slash, and also to write about girls being awesome (OH PROBLEM OF SUSAN). Thanks, Narnia fandom. Thanks, Susan and Jadis. With Peter being oldest brother and High King, he probably has an “I must protect and lead everyone” complex, and Susan is the one who reacts best to that, because she likes structure. They’re both burdened by responsibility, by being older siblings, by being High fucking King, by being the most beautiful queen ever, by making it their duty to keep everyone in line (which means something different to each of them post-PC). I don’t OTP ‘cos I want a ship to be a happy ship, necessarily. I don’t care as long as it’s something I can sink my teeth into, whether it’s shippy or just friendshippy or even antagonistshippy. It’s not about saying, “She is my girlfriend,” but more about saying, “She is always in my head, for better or worse.” I mean, not that I think Peter and Susan obsess over each other. I think they were both each other's shoulders to lean on, but post-Narnia they have the grace and level-headedness to grow apart, which kills me in that good way.
From
animus_wyrmis: Susan/Jadis
Weird. I’ve recced Susan/Jadis, but I’ve never written it. It’s a pretty interesting concept. You got the “Jadis recruits Susan and together they fight the patriarchal hegemony” angle going on. Kind of like fanon Nimueh/Morgana? And Jadis likes Susan’s diligence and her anger and her ability to bend and not break. Also, the Witch always had a weakness for pretty things, and Susan’s skin is smooth and warm, her lips soft, and her laughter like bells (but there is a certain distance and a spark of intelligence in the eyes that reminds her of Edmund), and so anyway, she advertises her cause to Susan as one of liberation or something, and doesn’t tell Susan everything, ‘cos Jadis is tricky like that.
Um THANKS, WYRM, ‘cos now I just wanna write a long plotty fic about Jadis luring Susan away (will Susan be kept using magic, or will that not be necessary??) and Peter is freaking out, but also feeling betrayed and discombobulated. Plus, as High King he has a million other things to worry about, so Edmund says to him, “Chill, I got it.” If there’s anyone who knows how to take down the Witch, it’s Edmund. (Or so he likes everyone to think, but we all know what happened in Calormen.) MEANWHILE, there is sink-your-teeth-into-it Susan/Jadis subtext, with all sorts of sexy magic and mindfuckery. And then, at some point, there would be Susan/Jadis/Edmund. At some point, Jadis would laugh and say, “Your sister needs no rescuing, Edmund.” At some point, Susan would give him a look - maybe amused, maybe pitying, maybe resigned - and say, “I don’t need to be rescued, Edmund.”
Wow, this sounds like the Calormen fic with Edmund and Susan’s roles reversed.
From a bunch of people, which I'm going to consolidate under:
crack
It’s really like a game, or a challenge. Some people play basketball, I think about the various repercussions of Bradley James being beamed up to Camelot. There’s a quote that says (I forget the exact wording): the best genre fiction shifts just one small element of our world, then follows up thoroughly on the consequences. Which is a pretty good description of how I approach crack. So basically I approach crack the way one approaches an AU? I would solve “What if Camelot were attacked by zombies?” and “What if Merlin were the prince and Arthur the manservant?” using similar methods. The voice in my head becomes Tim Gunn telling me to make it work. And how do you resist Tim Gunn? You don’t, that’s what.
To get srs bsns about crack (oh lordy), I think the best crack takes a lot of things srsly. It takes them as given, so it focuses on ‘what next?’ instead of ‘how’ and ‘why’. It kind of reminds me of the attitude of the long-suffering, intelligent servant who looks upon his master’s excesses with an air of, “Okay, that may be so, but who’s going to clean the chicken shit off the piano?” I think if I had also focused on how and why Bradley ended up in Camelot, it would’ve been a poorer story, y’know? It’s kind of like putting on make-up: you go for dramatic eyes, or you go for dramatic lips, but you can’t go for both lest you wanna end up looking fugs.
commentfic
Commentfic is my favorite game! All ya’ll should play it with me at some point, I’m serious. ALL YA’LL. I love these collaborative games: acting improv, musical jams, or conversations getting carried away on a sea of hypotheticals. Like, “What if Uther got turned into a cow? Oh my gosh, then XYZ would happen, which means that ABC would happen too, and can you imagine what that would do to PQR?!” And suddenly, before you know it, you have enough hypotheticals to have a srs (sometimes) story. Round-robins, one-word story, the oracle, etc: these are the games that I love because I do not love the games that are about winning and losing. ‘Cos I hate losing! And god, it’s just so satisfying to dash off commentfic in the heat of the moment – ‘cos it’s all about the heat of the moment! - and you don’t have to worry about things like backstory, phrasing, or describing the setting (unless you want to). You just go straight to the heart of it and bang it on the knee, no bullshit. Commentfic often starts as description of a story that I want, but then: you know how Neil Gaiman wrote that the best way to describe a story is to tell it? Yeah, then that happens.
no subject
I was contemplating that Lucy insists she goes with Edmund, on account of what happened in Calormen. It would be interesting to set it in that 'verse, though I'm not sure I want to, but that fic does have a lot of set-up... 'cos WHAT IF. What if Jadis just took Susan to get to Edmund? I mean, she wants Susan too, because Susan is a pretty addition to any menagerie of lackeys, but Jadis ships Jadis/Edmund, so. So, we got Susan and Edmund knowing magic (Lucy and Peter are still hesitant; they prefer their swords), so it's gonna be like some sexy Jadis/Edmund/Susan/MAGIC awesomeness going on somewhere.
So in this 'verse, Lucy would want to go to watch Edmund's back. Though I would kind of prefer if Lucy found something else to do, like maybe help Peter fight the giants. Though I think that's just my tendency to not write Lucy. I dunno, WWLD?
I want Susan to win, but I also want it to be less clear which side Susan is on. 'Cos, I don't want Jadis to be completely denounced. Maybe Jadis's spiel can be about how Narnia is a the hegemon crushing other cultures (i.e. hers), and I can unleash my post-colonial rants. Maybe not. I just want Jadis to have some good points. I'm not sure exactly how Susan wins anyway, 'cos I'm not sure what they're fighting about in the first place.
I also want Edmund and Susan comparing notes on standing alone and betrayal. I want undercurrents of jealousy and possessiveness in the Jadis/Edmund/Susan/MAGIC, like, grabbing each other's wrists and touching each other's cheek, whispers you feel on your skin, lingering kisses on the forehead, all with an air of DOMINATION and things held hostage. It's not a game but they're all keeping score. They all end up kind of hung up on each other, in their way.
no subject
Jadis does have other methods. And Aslan might have killed himself (...for a night?) for Edmund, but Susan was willing to break the Deep Magic for him.
Also! There is this really interesting Jadis=practical=witch thing going on in the books, and Susan is also practical. Her horn jumped worlds to find her. Maybe she's got potential for magic? Edmund would be fun to have, as a lover or a knight (oh god the creepy), but he's turned noble. Susan, if you could turn her, would be powerful.
Maybe Lucy would go after him? (Also, maybe she would be at Cair Paravel, because someone has to.) But you do tend not to write her, which is sad and depressing because I love it when people write Lucy! (See, it is my master plan to have more femmeslash and more Lucy in this fandom, ALL AT ONCE. Bwahahaha.) OTOH, what's her relationship with Susan? They seem so close before Susan gets all nylons and lipstick on them.
Maybe it's time for a world that isn't ruled by gods (Jadis totally counts as a goddess)? Maybe also...it's like there's no room in Narnia for fights that are solved by something other than fighting, so Susan gets sidelined, and the movie solved that by making her fight, but that doesn't solve the initial issue. Hm.
It's not a game but they're all keeping score. They all end up kind of hung up on each other, in their way.
I would love you forever if you wrote this!
no subject
On Lucy&Susan and the practicality of women, have you read this fic (http://fire-and-a-rose.livejournal.com/542549.html)? She wrote a lot of about the awesomeness of Lucy. Sometimes I forget that, what with the era and age and stuff, it would make sense that the girls are BFFs and the boys are too.
Maybe she would! But maybe not at first, 'cos she has to fight giants or take care of Paravel and etc. But then she heard through the magical portents grapevine that Edmund and Susan are in over their heads, and off she goes. Well, maybe first Peter is like, "Edmund is capable of taking care of himself. You're needed here." But Lucy insists she must go and gets all angry at him, and Peter's sentiments (though he may or may not say it) is like, "What, did Aslan tell you to go?" BECAUSE this is possibly a secret bone of contention between the golden children of Narnia, that there are undercurrents that Peter is jealous of Lucy for being closer to Aslan than he. But anyway, Peter's a busy and responsible High King and not the monarch who has been known to slip away from the palace without telling anyone to go chill with dryads and fauns. And he knows this. And he isn't surprised when his steward tells him that Queen Lucy is nowhere to be found, her bed not slept in, her traveling clothes gone.
But then I think, "But what about their royal retinue, or at least capable back-up? Why do they always go off alone?"
it's like there's no room in Narnia for fights that are solved by something other than fighting
OOooooOOoooOOOh, tell me more!
I would love you forever if you wrote this!
zomg liiiiiikewiiiiise! HERE ARE SOME PROMPTS/disconnected details:
- Susan, Jadis, and Edmund sit down to dinner after Edmund first arrives. He had been expecting to fight, but is unsurprised when, instead, they wish to talk. Fine, he'll talk. But mostly he'll listen. He doesn't trust Jadis's intentions nor his sister's weakness.
- The first time Jadis and Edmund are alone (he refuses the refreshments she offers), the first thing he says is, "You didn't make it very difficult for me to find you." To which Jadis replies, "[???
- Before Edmund arrives:
Jadis says, "Your brother approaches."
Susan replies, "I know."
The Witch's hand on Susan's waist, the proximity of her, the Witch's breath tickling her ear, and a question: "What shall we do with him, my queen?"
- But maybe to love Jadis is to have a hole in your heart, which she tricks you into thinking she can fill. She can't, and she knows this, and knows that you don't, so you go around feeling incomplete, waiting for her to fit together with you, and sometimes she does. These occasional exceptions only strengthen the illusion.
- "Don't do that, don't lie," Jadis snaps at her. "I can tell when you lie."
- Susan draws her bow and, behind her, the Witch smiles.