#so i had to do one for lww

[anapotatowriter]

May I request an Edmund x gender neutral reader having a reunion? Like they both gpt sent back to their respective worlds at the end of LWW after spending Narnia's golden age married to each other and then at the beginning of Prince Caspian they end up at the opposite ends of that beach?

Edmund Pevensie x reader

A/N: SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG- My school started and I got so involved with that, but here is your fic!

Summary: The Pevensies were cast out of Narnia during their reign, along with Y/N. Their reunion is one for the books.

Contains: Swearing (as usual)... that's it? There's fire and coca-cola as well, but that's it.

Requested: Yepyepyep

“Oh shut it,” I snapped, looking up at the brunette with an impish smile on his face from my comfortable position on the chair. “I’m not talking,” he responded, smiling cheekily at his ‘brilliant’ remark, making me roll my eyes. “Yes, but you have stolen my book,” I responded, pointing at the book he held above his head, that he had snatched from my hands. “Oh have I?” he asked with a faux surprised expression, looking up at the book. “Give it back,” I said sternly, making the boy pout but hand the book back. “I’m bored Y/N,” he huffed, plopping down on the ground, leaning against my dangling legs, and blowing at the hair that fell on his face. “Oh, really?” I asked, humming uninterestedly as I resumed the book, one of the only ones in the Narnian library from my time. “Can you interact with your lovely and devoted husband, Y/N?” he asked dramatically, a small chuckle escaping my lips. The boy turned around, sitting on his knees and placing his arms on my thighs that were pressed against the soft chair. “Hmmm,” I pretended to consider, making Edmund’s eyes light up. “Nope,” I replied with a big grin, making his face fall. “Oh, you are going to wish you didn’t do that,” said the boy before grabbing my ankle and dragging me from the chair, my book dropping to the side. “Let me go Pevensie!” I yelled, making him chuckle. He let my ankle go, leaving me spread-eagled on the ground. I crossed my arms and scowled at Edmuns’ upside-down face. “I hate you,” I muttered, making the boy smile and quip, “No you don’t.” “Okay then, you’re lucky I love you,” I corrected as I placed my hands on the ground and stood up. “That I am, my love,” he said, making me grin but roll my eyes. I placed my arms around him in a hug and pressed a kiss to my hair as he held my shoulders tightly.

“ED! Y/N/N!” A voice yelled before Lucy slammed the door open, making both of us jump. “What? What is it Lu?” asked Edmund, concerned about the sudden entrance and his youngest sister. “The White Stag! They found it! Near the Lantern Waste. We must make haste and catch it!” she practically yelled in excitement before running back down the corridor, her red dress swirling behind her. “Let’s leave!” I exclaimed, grabbing Edmund’s hand and running after Lucy to the stables. Edmund and Peter, with their practice from all the battles in the past, were quickly able to get their horses ready for the long chase. "You three wait in the castle. I'll get that stag myself," proclaimed Edmund, getting onto Philip’s saddle. “If we send you both alone, the only thing we’ll catch is air. Without Susan, you two are the most incapable members of our family,” I shrugged, getting my own horse ready and climbing onto her too. “I am insulted,” gasped Edmund dramatically. “As am I!” exclaimed Peter, his pride and ego bruised. “I bet that I can catch the Stag before all of you,” I proclaimed, my horse whinnying in agreement. “Let’s go then,” said Susan, the last one to get on her horse, holding the reins tightly. 

The five of us began the chase, Edmund and I continued trying to overtake each other and trying to make the other falter. Peter's horse whinnied as it rose on its hind legs, taking off into a gallop. “Admit it, sweetheart, I am much better than you in every shape, way, and form,” I said as I left the brunette behind, now going after the blonde. I could hear Philip close behind me, and I coaxed my own horse to go faster. Susan soon realized what I was doing and immediately followed, Lucy close behind her. When I passed by Peter at one of the wider bends in the road, I grinned triumphantly, right when I saw a sliver of white though the otherwise golden and red leaves and dark brown woods. Lucy soon rode beside me, Susan and Peter right behind the both of us, the flashes of red and purple cloth prominent pointers of their identities. “Where’s Ed?” I asked, chancing a glance behind me which confirmed my suspicions of his missing presence. Peter and I slowed to a stop, Susan and Lucy doing so too, all four of us backtracking to see that Edmund was talking to Philip about something. "Come on, Ed," said Susan, tightly squeezing the brick-red reigns. "Just catching my breath," he replied as he leaned away from Philip’s eyesight. "Well, that's all we'll catch at this point," said Susan in an exasperated tone. "What did he say again, Y/N?" asked Lucy, trotting in on her own horse. "You three wait in the castle. I'll get that stag myself," I imitated him before clutching my stomach and laughing. “You're ridiculous Y/N,” said Edmund while rolling his eyes, just making the chorus of laughter become louder.

"What's this?" asked Peter suddenly, the chuckles dying down as he got off of his horse smoothly. He walked closer to what I had assumed to be a tree covered in vines. We all got off our horses as well, Ed and I walking to each other and intertwining our hands. "Seems familiar," remarked Peter, looking at the top of the object, which appeared to contain a flickering fire. The five of us gathered around the pole. I stood at the absolute end and he stood next to Susan, who stood next to Lucy. At the very last stood Peter. "As if from a dream. Or a dream of a dream," remarked Lucy, her tone sounding wistful. "Spare Oom," she said suddenly, making Edmund's face flick to hers in sudden recognition, though it was apparent that he didn't know why he knew it. Lucy then walked away from us, hoisting her gown up and looking around. The siblings and I quickly followed, Edmund keeping a firm grasp of my hand.

"Lucy," said Peter exasperatedly as he paused for a minute to look at Lucy's figure walking away. "Not again," sighed Susan, lifting up her dress and running after Lucy, Peter, Edmund and I quickly following. “She always does this,” I sighed, though the upcoming adventures sent a thrill up my spine. Soon, Peter overtook the rest of us, and I was in front of Edmund. "Lu?" questioned Peter as he pushed branches of his way, the rest of us struggling as well. "Come on!" gasped Lucy excitedly as she grabbed Peter's hand and rushed forwards. Suddenly, the feeling of Edmund’s hand pressed in mine faded away to nothing. “Where’s Y/N? Where are they?” I heard Edmund’s voice, though it was faint. “Ed?” I called out, receiving no response. I continued to push through the gaps between the branches, which were now feeling harder and were becoming more difficult to push aside. Soon, I realized I was squeezing in between walls. I remembered faces that had become dreamlike over the years, like the face of my mom, my dad, and my best friends. Memories pummeled my mind, the influx of information hurting my head as I finally escaped the claustrophobic pathway into the basement of my home. My home in 2022, not my home in Cair Paravel. The hidden compartment behind the wall which I had squeezed through years ago seemed to not exist anymore. “Ed? Ed, please talk to me!” I cried, slamming my fists against the rough basement walls. Instead of hollow booming, the only thing I could hear was the dull thuds of fists hitting solid rock. “Edmund,” I sobbed pressing the side of my face against the wall, a tear slipping down my face. “Y/N, where are you, sweetheart?” I heard my mom’s familiar voice ask, making me push myself away from the wall and wipe away any remnants of tears. “I’m down here, mom,” I said, trying to clear my throat from the choking feeling but failing. “Ah, there you are! Please hurry back up, I need you to run some errands,” she said, smiling at me. “Got it, mom,” I said, making her nod contentedly and go back up the stairs that led to the basement. I turned back to the wall, placing my hand on the wall. “I’ll never forget you,” I murmured, unsure whether I was talking to myself, Edmund, the rest of my family, or Narnia. 

“Y/N, we have to partyyyyyy,” whined my best friend from her place on the bed, making me sigh and look up from my notes. “I have to finish my homework,” I said, making her cross her eyes and stick her tongue out at me. “Come on, Y/N! It’s been so long since you’ve even talked to a guy or even unwinded,” she said exasperatedly, falling spread-eagled on my bed. I gulped, my thoughts flitting to my husband in another life, whose voice and face had started to become more dreamlike as the year passed. “Come Y/N, pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease,” she said, not even pausing to take a breath as she pleaded incessantly. “If I go for an hour, will you stop bothering me?” I asked, rolling my eyes at her antics. “Let’s go!” she said triumphantly, practically flying to me to get me changed into party attire. “You look like royalty!” she gasped, making me shudder at the title. “Thank you,” I said softly, remembering my beautiful home, Cair Paravel. “Now let’s goooooo,” she said, pulling at the crook of my elbow and dragging me out of the house. We soon reached the clear area in the middle of the forest where the party was being held. A huge campfire stood in the middle of the clearing, children my age milling about and conversing, many holding bottles of soda, some of which were definitely spiked. 

My friend left me soon after, leaving me to lean awkwardly against a tree as I sipped at the Coca-Cola I held in my hand. The campfire suddenly caught my attention, and I stared at the flames. The sound of a horn that once belonged to my sister-in-law echoed around my ears as I continued to gaze forward. The flames seemed to flicker about to form shapes and figures that reminded me of something intangible. My head tilted to the side as fauns danced around, holding flutes. Suddenly, a lion roared loudly, making me jump and drop the bottle I held. That face, I would recognize anywhere. Aslan. 

Some leaves to my left seemed to rustle, although there was no wind on the hot and sticky night. I quickly glanced around the clearing and slipped away, following the rustling of the leaves. I took off my shoes and held them in my hand, the feeling of the forest floor between my toes reminding me of the Great Western Woods where I had once ruled. The trees seemed to respond to me as the Dryads had done in Narnia seemingly eons ago. The light around me started changing, the dark night replaced by bright sunlight, hidden by a dense canopy. I continued to follow the rustling till I reached the border of the forest, right at a beach. The sand made my feet sink slightly as I examined the glistening waves of the light blue ocean right in front of me beyond the stretch of sand. A cave stood to my right, and tall mountains were right beside the forest I had just emerged from. I quickly placed my left hand in front of my eyes, squinting at the sudden influx of light, my shoes clutched tightly in my right. I giggled before dropping my shoes and running into the water, my clothes getting soaked by the salty water as the sun burned down on me.

I flipped back to examine the landscape behind me, right as four figures emerged from the cave, a regal air around them that couldn’t be mistaken. “Y/N?” asked one of the four figures on the left, confirming my suspicions. “Edmund!” I yelled, splashing water everywhere around me as I ran out of the water towards the boy, my feet slipping in the sand. “Y/N!” he explained, running towards me too. I met him right in the middle of the beach, immediately colliding with him and wrapping my arms around him, my wet clothes probably soaking his uniform. “It’s you? I'm actually you? You’re alive, and you’re here! I must be dreaming,” I exclaimed as I pushed away from the boy, clutching his shoulders desperately. “It’s actually me,” said the boy, pulling me into a hug again and pressing a kiss to my forehead. “I missed you, bastard,” I said, looking up at him to see a proud smirk. “I knew you would,” he said, making me roll my eyes and shove him a bit. The distance when I did so, however, forced me to take hold of his hand. “I don’t remember ruins in Narnia,” I commented, squeezing Edmund’s hand as I looked up at the ruins on the cliff. “Whatever it is, we’ll get through it. Together,” said the boy, looking at me and squeezing my hand. “Together,” I agreed as we walked towards the other Pevensies, ready for a new adventure.

[nothinggold13]

28, 45, 56

28. Have you ever made/got a mixtape as gift to/from a friend?

No! Not that I can remember, anyway. It’s something I probably would do, though, given my love for collecting my favourite music + physical media. But growing up my friends and I just gave each other CDs we had burned of our own original songs; mixtapes weren’t on our radar!

45. A non-musical movie or show with a soundtrack you love:

…I know I have an answer for this, but it is escaping me. Like, this is embarrassing. Shrek is unironically very good, as far as movies. Twilight’s got some good music, too. And I still swear there’s another specific movie that would be my top answer for this but it’s not coming to mind, so!! OH! The Great Gatsby? And Dirty Dancing! (I still feel like I’m missing one but 🤷🏼‍♀️) — Then there’s instrumental soundtracks, so shout out to LWW and The Secret of Moonacre. — And then shows! I’ve discovered some of my new favourite songs from shows like Criminal Minds and Bones.

56. A song/album/artist you wish you could forget so you could have the experience of hearing it for the first time again:

I’m not sure?? I mean!! I got to be part of a demo panel for The Color’s most recent album, so I got to hear 25 songs that didn’t even all make the cut and some of them were literally love at first listen and that was a special experience!! So maybe that album + it’s rejected tracks. 😢

Thanks for asking!!!

[connorbarritos]

Tournament Report. Riley's Retro #8 (PRC-EV0) 1st/17

Hey y'all, yesterday I played in an online tournament hosted by one of my favorite twitch streamers, RileyWrenTCG, and ended up winning with Volcanion! I had a lot of fun in this tournament, and I want to talk about the deck and what lead me to play it. But first, we need to discuss the format. I will also provide links for cards and decks.

The Format (PRC-EVO)

This particular format took place after the 2016 World Championships, containing the sets Primal Clash and everything up to Evolutions (the last XY set). The most notable tournament using this format was the 2016 European International Championships where Yveltal/Garbodor ran through the competition, and the last tournament being Fortaleza Regionals in Brazil, Feb. 2017, where Darkrai Dragons took the win with Volcanion taking 3 out of the top 4 spots. Other decks that were prominent in this era are Vespiquen/Zebstrika, Mega Gardevoir STS, and Mega Mewtwo. Now, let's take a look at the deck that I played and the following matchups throughout the tournament.

Volcanion

I ended up playing Volcanion as a last minute decision more than anything. I was actually going to play a Mega Altaria deck, but after some playtesting I decided not to. I ended up going with something I never had the opportunity to play within the era this tournament was set in. Now, I do have experience playing Volcanion, it just came a bit later when Gardevoir GX was out and about. Anyways, Volcanion the deck is another one of these fast and aggressive decks that populate this format. Volcanion EX has an amazing ability in Steam Up, which allows you to discard a Fire energy from your hand so your BASIC Fire type Pokemon do 30 more damage. This ability stacks, which means you can use the ability per Volcanion EX you have in play. You can power Volcanion EX up easily with both Max Elixir, look at the top 6 cards in your deck and attack a basic energy you find to one of your benched basic Pokemon, and with baby Volcanion with the Power heater attack, choose two bench Pokémon and attach one Fire energy to both of those Pokémon. Eventually, you will have Volcanion EX dealing lots of damage while also having a hefty 180 HP. However, this list is not optimal. I'd personally cut two Float Stone to add two Fighting Fury Belt, which gives you 40 more HP AND lets you deal 10 more damage. I'd also cut Pokémon Catcher entirely and add a second Lysandre and three Escape Rope. Overall, the deck worked phenomenally regardless of what I think was missing as stated just earlier. I mean, I literally won the tournament with it. Anyways, time for matchups!

Matchups

R1: Mega Ray W. Should've lost this one, but my opponent threw away all of their Sky Fields, which lets them do more damage, and their Float Stones, so I literally used Lysandre to stall until I know I could take the win late game.

R2: Raikou/Electrode W. This matchup is tricky since they also played a Jolteon EX, but I was able to get rid of it early and just ko everything afterword.

R3: Turbo Dark W. They couldn't hit Max Elixirs or set up any relevant attackers, so it just a landslide victory.

R4: Yveltal/Garb ID. We decided to intentionally draw so we could guarantee a top 4 berth for the both of us since we were both 3-0 going into this round. We did not play and took a needed break.

Top 4: Vespiquen/Zebstrika LWW. This was definitely the toughest matchup of the night. Without Fighting Fury Belt, I didn't have the health to keep the bees from one-shotting everything. It was very apperent in game 1. Games 2 and 3, however, my opponent couldn't keep up with the prize trade; whether it be them not being able to find the pieces to keep up, or me being able to knock out a Shaymin EX to further my lead. On to finals.

Finals: Raikou/Electrode LWW. Game one I started Hoopa EX and couldn't really find ways to knock anything out, so I scooped it up early and went to game 2. During game 2, I was able to knock out Jolteon EX by flipping heads on Pokemon Catcher twice in a row, the first one taking it out of the active to reset its effect, and the second one to bring it back to the active. They couldn't recover after that, so on to game 3! In the last game of the series, I start with a rough Sycamore discarding 3 out my 4 Max Elixir, but I find a Volcanion and an energy to start building up a Volcanion EX. Towards the end of the game, my opponent made the mistake to break their Jolteon EX lock they had going, while I had ZERO cards in hand, to use Shaymin EX's Sky Return attack to put itself back into the hand so I wouldn't be able to Lysandre it and knock it out. During my turn I top decked a VS Seeker, which allowed me to grab a supporter card from my discard pile and put it into my hand. I, of course, grabbed Sycamore to draw 7 seven cards and found a Pokémon Catcher. On their turn they promoted Raikou instead of Jolteon EX after Sky Return, I'm assuming to prevent Jolteon EX from getting knocked out. All I needed to do was to flip heads on Pokemon Catcher to win. I shook the card in game, as a way to find luck, and played the Catcher. And to my surprise, I flipped heads! I immediatly brought up Jolteon EX, used Volcanion EX's Steam Up ability, and took the knock out to go to one last prize card! My opponent then just passed the turn back to me, and it was all over--I had won.

After the tournament was over, I was so happy. I jumped from my desk chair and did a silent pop-off in my room. Even though it was a small event compared to others, I'm still really proud of myself! I had an amazing time playing, and I'm really excited for the next Riley's Retro event! Also, thank y'all for reading. If you want to see me in action from this tournament, my games were streamed on Riley's twitch channel here (please check her out she's cool). Huge shout out to Alex Wilson for providing the list I used tonight from PTCG Legends, his website has a ton of decks from throughout the ages of Pokémon TCG, even with streams of past World Championships. Please check it out! You can play in tournaments like the one I played in HERE on PlayLimitless, a website the hosts online Pokémon TCG, Pokémon VGC, and Digimon TCG tournaments every day of the week!

Thank y'all so much for reading,

-Connor B.

[alphasmoonlit-selfships]

(you didn't specify jason or atsushi if i checked hdjs)

bad boy turned good with jason :O?

Oop I apologize I should have done that @mxthtea lol 😭 Atsushi, Jason, and slightly Armin? (Am still developing stories with him lol)

But ooooh 👀 I like 🤍 thank you so much for asking my friend, I hope you enjoy the content with My Gentle Storm 🥺

bad boy tured good: How has your F/O changed for the good being with you?

Ah, dearest Jason ;;w;; I wouldn't necessarily call him a "bad boy" more like someone that hasn't let himself be hardened by the cruelty and indoctrination of his "supposed" father's ideals and abuse in the last 15 years of his life (or 18 years in Digimon College Au). This whole thing plays into how Jason has changed for the better with Dany/me influence. Please skip the next two paragraphs, by all means, to get to the main point lol ;;w;;!

(In both Legendary Wolf Warriors and Digimon College Au, Jason is raised by his alpha/leader stepfather, who rules with an iron fist/paw. Leaning more into the former, his father believes in a "survival of the fittest" mentality to succeed and wouldn't hesitate to literally kill anyone that stood in his way, that included Jason's actual father and his mother later on down the road. He would have also killed his sister had his mom not made a last-ditch effort to save her (which is throwing her into a raging river when being chased; she survives~).

Even in the years after, Jason managed to keep his mind from being warped and twisted entirely by his leader. Up until he had had enough of that way of living, his leader confronted him and challenged Jason's desire to leave with a fight. In the emotional desire to run and also just let out his own internal anger towards his leader, his powers of the Storm finally manifested and gave him the strength to kill him (he didn't want to, but lack of control lead him to do it).)

So with that bit in mind, Jason definitely came from a traumatic point when he officially met Dany + the other LWW's. Additionally, the realization of his powers and the haunting mantras of his father that linger only make him vulnerable in controlling his ability and emotions. Dany definitely takes that leap forward into helping him control his ability and his pains more so than the others after a certain point. In doing so, he gradually becomes more open, speaks more vocally, or chips into his own desires and wants without feeling a sense of guilt for stating his needs outwardly. He also gains confidence in his ability with the help of Danielle and the others, learning to control it much better where he doesn't hesitate or be overwhelmed by the power.

Jason has always had a good moral compass, despite the bad circumstances that were dealt onto him. He does occasionally suffer the haunting presence of his alpha every so often but has learned how to ground himself from it. He is thankful to Dany + the others in that regard.

Thank you very much for this ask! Honestly, there was definitely much more I wanted to write, but just think it was too much of a ramble about Jason's steady growth after meeting the others and Dany. One would say him killing his alpha was that breaking point to him being his own person and following through with his own beliefs and ideals. But it is the lingering trauma that remains, the survivor's guilt he carries, and the lasting emotional damage his alpha left on him and never being able to be his true self without being beaten or hurt from the attempts; plus, the sudden realization of being a Legendary Wolf Warrior (He actually doesn't know much about the stories, so to find out he is one while journeying to the FoD's kind of breaks him further). It is the healing process that begins once he meets Dany + co., breaking the chains he carried with him after leaving his past behind. It is a messy and long road ahead, but eventually, he finds his way out of the raging storm into the calmness that followed after.

I hope this all makes some lick of sense ;;w;; much appreciation for allowing me to ramble about my gentle storm <3.

[narniadynasty]

the lion the witch and the wardrobe + letterboxd reviews

[fantastic-nonsense]

I genuinely think the most of the differences between the Pevensies in the books vs. the movies can be explained by one simple fact: the Movie!Pevensies are fully cognizant of and emotionally attached to their experiences in Narnia after returning to England, while the Book!Pevensies have a notable emotional distance to their memories of Narnia

It's an explicit plot point in the books that the longer you stay in one world, the easier it becomes to forget about the other one (or think of it as a dream). Additionally, while the Pevensies do remember what happened and are permanently changed by their experiences in Narnia, they seemingly forget a lot of their Narnian-learnt knowledge and skills. This gets briefly mentioned in Prince Caspian, when Lucy talks about swimming:

When they had drunk from the well and splashed their faces, they all went down the stream again to the shore and stared at the channel which divided them from the mainland. “We’ll have to swim,” said Edmund.

“It would be all right for Su,” said Peter (Susan had won prizes for swimming at school). “But I don’t know about the rest of us.” By “the rest of us” he really meant Edmund, who couldn’t yet do two lengths at the school baths, and Lucy, who could hardly swim at all.

“Anyway,” said Susan, “there may be currents. Father says it’s never wise to bathe in a place you don’t know.”

“But, Peter,” said Lucy, “look here. I know I can’t swim for nuts at home—in England, I mean. But couldn’t we all swim long ago—if it was long ago—when we were Kings and Queens in Narnia? We could ride then too, and do all sorts of things. Don’t you think—”

“Ah, but we were sort of grown-up then,” said Peter. “We reigned for years and years and learned to do things. Aren’t we just back at our proper ages again now?” -PC, Chapter 3

So she learned how to swim while growing up in Narnia, but forgot it again when she returned to her own world and was back at her proper age. But the longer the Pevensies stayed in Narnia, the more those previously-learned skills came back to them:

This was real broad-sword fighting. The great thing is to slash at your enemy’s legs and feet because they are the part that have no armor. And when he slashes at yours you jump with both feet off the ground so that his blow goes under them. This gave the Dwarf an advantage because Edmund, being much taller, had to be always stooping.

I don’t think Edmund would have had a chance if he had fought Trumpkin twenty-four hours earlier. But the air of Narnia had been working upon him ever since they arrived on the island, and all his old battles came back to him, and his arms and fingers remembered their old skill. He was King Edmund once more. -PC, Chapter 8

The same general principle appears to apply to their memories and the emotions attached to them (which I think is one of the main reasons why Book!Susan is so easily able to dismiss Narnia as a "silly children's game" when she gets older). Narnia's magic protects visitors from feeling the pain and suffering associated with being de-aged/losing their home/etc when they leave Narnia by forcing a mental and emotional distance from their experiences, and they're only able to re-forge those connections once they return.

By contrast, the Movie!Pevensies are acutely and painfully aware of what they've lost by returning to England, and it dramatically alters the equation for everyone involved.

It turns the level-headed, loving, tired Books!Peter into the angst-ridden, hotheaded Movie!Peter who's constantly trying to prove himself. It turns Susan's story inside out, because it gives her entirely different reasons and motivations for possibly wanting to forget about Narnia and dismiss it as a "silly game." It gives Edmund a narrative reason to retain the massive character growth he'd experienced in LWW, act as the steadying rock in the siblings' lives, and feel like he has something to prove in VDT without Peter around.

And while I think Lucy remains the least changed between the books and movies, there are several added dimensions to her fully remembering her first fifteen years in Narnia that really start to peek their heads out by the time we get to VDT (particularly her desire to feel grown up and desired by the men around her; if she's truly feeling her age, I think there's an additional nuance to that plot that goes beyond the vanity and "she wants to be like Susan" dimensions from the book).

Do I think this accounts for all of the characterization differences? No. But I think it's a massively understated difference that doesn't get talked about enough as being a major driver of how differently the Pevensies act and react to things in the later books vs. how they act and react in the movies.

[queenlucythevaliant]

There’s a stance on Edmund that seems to float around Narnia tumblr a lot that doesn’t sit right with me. Something to this effect:

“Don’t hate on Edmund for betraying his siblings in LWW. The Turkish delight was enchanted, plus WW2 sugar rationing was a thing.”

All true, but reductionistic to the point of essentially missing one of the most crucial points of Edmund’s LWW story. Namely: Edmund is culpable.

Spurred on by the Witch’s lies and his own spite, Edmund betrays his family in exchange for enchanted candy and the promise of princedom. This is a crime so serious that Aslan must die to free Edmund of it.

And yes, “he betrayed his family for mediocre candy” sounds silly. It is silly! So are so, so many of the sins that we humans commit. We regularly betray kindness for status, truth for comfortable lies, integrity for money, and the God of the universe for idols. Is any of that, from a cosmic perspective, truly any less silly than selling out one’s family for Turkish delight?

Yet at the same time, it is reductionistic to discount the fact that the Turkish delight was enchanted. In universe, it is literally enchanted to make you want more of it, but I think that Lewis wrote it that way to make a broader point, one which is a bit more abstract. Sin is addictive. Once you have had a little, you will always want more (until and unless God changes your heart). This may be an explanation for many sin patterns, but it is not an excuse.  

LWW makes it very clear that there was spite in Edmund’s heart before the Witch got to him. Jadis, like Satan, saw Edmund’s predisposition towards sin and deceived him into believing that good was evil and evil good. Jadis is both deceiver and accuser, but Edmund’s heart was inherently spiteful, and the debt of his treachery could never be cleared with until Aslan died for him.

“Even a traitor may mend. I have known one who did.”

I know that the posts I keep seeing are meant to be a little tongue in cheek; I also think it’s important to point out that the sinner’s culpability is what gives grace its value. As Bonhoeffer wrote, “Costly grace […] is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner.”

Also tongue-in-cheek, I know, but a lot of the posts I’ve seen point out that Lucy goes with Tumnus for tea and sardines, just as Edmund takes candy from the Witch. It’s the Pevensie MO to take food from strangers! There’s a deeper truth there as well. It could have been Lucy. When Lucy stumbled into Narnia for the first time, she could have met the Witch the way Edmund did, cold and alone and without knowing anything else about that world. Jadis could have been kind to Lucy, and tempted her with addictive food, and deceived her as well—perhaps preying not on spite and resentment, but rather on her feelings of inadequacy. Lucy could have gotten caught in sin just as Edmund was, and so could Susan or Peter. If that had been the case, Aslan would have shown them the same grace he showed Edmund.

(I do think that Edmund encountering the Witch and eating the Turkish delight was no accident; Aslan chose to justify and sanctify him specifically. But that’s another discussion.)

This has gotten a little long, so TLDR: LWW is a Gospel story, and by excusing Edmund’s culpability in his sin, we discount the sinner’s need for grace, and indeed the marvelous beauty of the fact that grace is offered.  

[beaststhattalk]

I’m thinking about all of Peter’s interactions with the leader of the wolves in LWW, both in the book and the movie. Each has the scene of Peter killing the wolf, but the movie adds their confrontation at the melting waterfall. I really, really appreciate the addition of that scene at the waterfall. 

A reminder of what happens there: Peter, Susan, and Lucy are crossing the river with the beavers, the ice under their feet is melting, and then the Witch’s wolves arrive. Mr. Beaver is telling Peter to kill the wolf. Susan and the wolf are both telling Peter that he has the chance to give up and walk away. Peter is frozen. He keeps the sword--that he was just given--trained on the wolf, but he so clearly doesn’t know what to do. He and his sisters have been running for their lives, but this is Peter’s first time facing a fight-to-the-death. The waterfall breaks before he has to make a decision, but this scene shows how much of an ordeal every fight is for Peter.

We might be used to adventure movies with life-or-death stakes and sword fights, but Peter isn’t. He’s never had to to live that as a reality. He’s just a kid, one who’s to young to go to war in the human world--one who’s probably thought about what he would do if he could fight alongside his father, but has never had to deal with the immediacy of strike now or die.

Peter eventually fights the wolf at Aslan’s camp. Susan and Lucy are in a tree, the wolf just below them, and Aslan makes it so Peter goes in alone. The book narrates what Peter is going through: the panic of throwing himself into that situation (“Peter...felt he was going to be sick. But that made no difference to what he had to do”); each choice being so, so important (“...though this all happened to quickly for Peter to think at all--he had just time to...plunge his sword, as hard as he could...into its heart”); and the disturbing details that he couldn’t have prepared for (“Then came a horrible, confused moment...its bared teeth knocked against his forehead, and everything was blood and heat and hair” pg. 252).

In the book, we can hear descriptions of Peter’s feelings, but the movie has to display them. The waterfall scene takes all of that--the dread of joining the fight, the panic of what to do--and lets it sink in. We see the fear on Peter’s face. We see how overwhelming it is for him. Yet, through all of that, we watch Peter see the threat--that the waterfall is about to drown them--and do what’s necessary to keep him and his family alive. It’s no coincidence that he plunges his sword into the ice, just as he later plunges it into the wolf.

Neither the book or the film try to gloss over how harrowing every part of this is. Even after he’s victorious against the wolf, Peter and his sisters have to deal with the loss of adrenaline, the weight of what just happened: “[Susan] and Peter felt pretty shaky when they met and I won’t say there wasn’t kissing and crying on both sides” pg. 253. In the movie, all three of them hug on the forest floor, very much teary-eyed.

TLDR Peter was given that sword. He didn’t ask for it. However, he happened to be handed it in a time of need. A sword is a heavy thing, but Peter took it up.

That might be a simple action, but it takes so much.

[iamfitzwilliamdarcy]

okay so i’m trying again, this part of LWW always gets me: 

When at last she was free to come back to Edmund she found him standing on his feet and not only healed of his wounds but looking far better than she had seen him look--oh in ages; in fact, ever since his first term at that horrid school which was where he had begun to go wrong. He had become his real old self again and could look you in the face. And there on the field of battle Aslan made him a knight.

What I have been thinking about all week about this is that...it Edmund’s restoration doesn’t happen after he turns back to Good or making up with his siblings or even after his Talk with Aslan Himself (which surely entailed Forgiveness).  It isn’t until he’s had the cordial that he is Restored. 

Father Christmas tells Lucy about the cordial: “If you or any of your friends is hurt, a few drops a few drops of this will restore them.” It follows that if Edmund has been healed in Spirit/Restored to his former self, that he was also hurt in Spirit. You cannot be restored from a wound if you are not first wounded. His Sin stems from that hurt, as it so often does, and only wounds him more. 

It reminds me of a little this Matthew verse: And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.

But Edmund is no longer afraid--he finds both Forgiveness from Aslan and he finds Healing from the very sister he himself most often wounded with his sin. 

[totheglisteningeasternsea]

So I had this cute golden age headcanon:

(this sprung out on me because of that scene in LWW when they are waiting for Aslan and Jadis to finish talking in the tent and Edmund is anxiously ripping grass out)

okay, this turned out very angsty at the beginning, but it’s only at the beginning I swear

The war is over and Narnia has crowned their new Kings and Queens, even if there is a lot of work to do, optimism is high and the Narnians live in a constant state of celebration, they have to make up for 100 years of winter after all.

Everyone was so busy celebrating that no one noticed that each party, King Edmund started to disappear earlier and earlier or when he started to just avoid them completely.

The parties were for the Kings and Queens, but Edmund didn’t feel like he belonged there at all, he felt like an outsider, and no matter how much the others tried to reassure him, he would always be the traitor whose actions had aided the Witch.

But he was a King now, and he had a job to do, which meant that he had to appear regal and collected, that he couldn’t show his anxiety, trauma insecurities or fears.

He was busy doing royal duties all day long, and aside from sparring and his combat lessons, there was no way he could release his frustration.

He was anxious all the time. He couldn’t sit still in meetings. He couldn’t look at the mountains without remembering that horrible castle (the statues in the courtyard didn’t help either). At night, if it was one of the miracle nights in which he managed to fall asleep, he was plagued by nightmares. Every time he spoke at council, he said every word cautiously, and when everyone listened to him intently, like they valued his every breath, it filled him with guilt.

He was a ticking time-bomb of repressed emotions. He didn’t feel like he deserved to be comforted anyways, and without a release, he started to silently collapse.

Lucy was the first one to notice.

The absences at parties, the exhausted demeanor, the tension in his shoulders, the clenching of his fists, and his fingers that never stopped grabbing and tugging at something (his clothes, the couch, the book he was holding, his skin, his other fingers), trembling and moving with so much tense force that they looked like they would snap at any moment.

One late evening they were the only ones in their private sitting room, him “calmly” sitting on the big couch reading and she at the table writing letters. It was only because she was looking that she knew that what looked “calm” wasn’t that at all. For the past hour his fingers hadn’t stopped desperately tugging at his shirt, it was probably stretched by now.

She went to sit beside him and let him grab her hand instead.

He seamlessly held it and started playing with her fingers, his movements instantly becoming less anxious and aggressive and more methodical and grounded. The tension left his face and shoulders too.

It became their thing from then on, specially after a particularly bad day, they would sit together in the couch just relaxing, Edmund carefully playing with her fingers or the hem of her sleeve or the scarf she wore when it was cold.

Susan eventually caught on to what was happening and whenever Lucy couldn’t be there she was.

This led on to something else: Since she had started to keep her hair long, it was long enough to reach his fingers now, and he started playing with it too.

At the beginning he just tugged at it gently then eventually he started passing his fingers through it too as if he were brushing it. (This helped Susan relax too)

One day it was just too much and he needed to just focus on something that wouldn’t make him lose his mind, his fingers felt like they were going to snap from all the anxious tension.

He focused on his sister’s hair. Just playing with it at first, then combing his fingers through it, then trying to arrange it in different shapes, and eventually he attempted to put it into a braid like the ones he sometimes saw Lucy wear. He was so concentrated you could only hear his inconsistent breathing as he tried to calm down.

When he was done it was all crooked, with stray hairs everywhere that started falling apart the moment he let go of it, but the tension had completely left his body and he felt some kind of satisfaction from his accomplishment.

Lucy, who had been looking at them all this time, noticed again and got an idea.

She started to teach him how to braid. At first by sitting next to him and braiding Susan’s hair alongside him, showing him the simpler styles for long hair, and eventually by designating time to show him how she made the more complicated crowns with her shorter hair.

He was a natural at it and a fast learner, his fingers just managed to be gentle and careful yet precise and effective at the same time. He loved every second of it.

Besides being good at it, the brushing of his fingers brought peace and comfort and eventually his sisters would refuse for anyone else to do their hair (including themselves). It was a stress reliever for everyone involved.

Whenever the siblings had an early event, he would get up extra early so he could help them get ready by doing their hair.

At some point the dryads taught him some of their braiding techniques and he learned how to add the freshest flowers into the hairstyle.

Once Peter’s hair was long enough, you could sometimes see the High King walk around with a braid crown instead of his usual golden one.

And if when they went back to England he desperately relied on his skills once more like he had at the beginning to try and feel a sense of calm, well, no one complained.

[shelobussy]

Ohmygod YES Susan Pevensie is awesome please talk to me about Susan i want to know everything you have to say

Literally THANK YOU for asking me this bc Susan Pevensie is a character I never get asked about and I have So Many Opinions.

I'm going to start by saying that Susan used to be my least favorite character in the series. This goes for the books and the movies. Some of it was for personal reasons--she reminds me of a couple of annoying ppl I know irl--but it was also bc I watched Prince Caspian which shoehorned her into a relationship with Caspian which I hated.

HOWEVER. I ended up rethinking this position after interacting with Susan fans and realizing that there are so many wonderful things to love about her!

(putting under the cut bc this got long)

Things Ash Loves About Susan Pevensie

Aight I'm not going to do a formal analysis yet on her, but instead rant about some of the unrelated things I adore about Susan Pevensie.

Susan the Archer

Look we all love archery here. I don't have anything more to say.

Okay, I actually do have more to say. I love the fact that Susan is a complete badass with the bow. You get the general impression that she's one of the royals in charge of public relations, traditions, foreign policy, etc. and yet she's the most competent archer in the series. One of the few things I liked about the movies is how they didn't downplay this. They actually let her be a badass and show off her skills.

Also the part where she kicks Trumpkin's ass was awesome.

Susan the Gentle

Susan being the most passive Pevensie was something I definitely underappreciated as a teenager. I think my non-ability to see past "I'm not like other girls" narrative and the combination of Susan being described as the most traditionally feminine woman in the Narnia series is what initially turned me off from her.

HOWEVER, now it's one of my favorite attributes! I love that Susan is a badass and the most beautiful woman in Narnia. She has hair down to her feet, every man and woman in the kingdom want to fuck her, and she's still a fucking badass who will not hesitate to kick your ass.

Susan the Sister

Most of my thoughts of Susan as an older sister mostly stem from my own personal headcanons, but she is an awesome sister to her siblings. She's Peter's voice of reason, Edmund's sass partner, and Lucy's big sister.

Susan the Mom-Friend

She is a literal mother-figure for Corin.

"[...] the most beautiful lady he had ever seen rose from her place and threw her arms round him and kissed him, saying: "Oh Corin, Corin, how could you? And thou and I such close friends ever since thy mother died. [...]"

-The Horse and His Boy, 33-34

Most everything I have to say about this ventures into headcanon territory, but I love the idea of Susan basically adopting Corin after his mom dies. The way she trusts Cor--who she thinks is Corin in this chapter--is really sweet and I wish we could've seen more of that relationship.

Susan the Flawed

Something I notice from the fandom is a lot of people who hate Susan tend to because of her flaws. On the other hand, most Susan stans like to wave away these flaws and blame C.S. Lewis for being misogynistic or Aslan for being a "cruel god" and ignore the fact that she is a deeply flawed person.

Susan gets something of a "reverse redemption arc" in The Chronicles of Narnia. This makes her not only a fascinating foil to Edmund--as both are analytical, logical people--but an interesting character by herself.

She starts out in TWW as very skeptical of Narnia and it's whole deal and also very condescending to Lucy throughout. She ultimately does admit that Lucy was right and does get on board with the whole prophecy at the same time Peter does, and ends the book being crowned "the Gentle Queen."

In The Horse and His Boy, she has a very interesting dynamic with Edmund and in even more interesting relationship with Rabadash. They don't even interact on-page with each other, but it's highly implied that she was interested in him when he was a guest in Narnia. His behavior obviously changed when she visited him in Tashbaan, but you have to wonder what their dynamic was like before for her to travel all the way to his home when relations between the countries were strained at best.

Prince Caspian is where the cracks start showing through. Susan has lived an entire life as an adult in Narnia, gets thrown back to England with her siblings, and is yet again in Narnia as a child. This book is what really emphasizes her one fatal flaw: convenience.

(Put a pin in that thought, I'll get back to it.)

Susan denies once again that Lucy saw something that the rest of them can't seen. She continues this narrative until every other sibling finally acknowledges Lucy in the right and only then does she apologize.

The last mention of Susan is in The Last Battle, where all of her flaws rise up against her in the worst way possible. I have a lot of controversial opinions on this that I'm going to address later, but I just want to say that Susan's reverse-redemption arc is something I actually like about her.

(There is also evidence that Susan does get a full redemption arc, just as Edmund and Eustace did, but C.S. Lewis was pretty much done with The Chronicles of Narnia at the point and instead encouraged fans to write their own version of how that went down.)

Okay, back to convenience being Susan's fatal flaw. So the one thing that comes up time and time again in the series is that Susan is very focused on material comforts. I believe it's implied that she's vain, and it's canonical that her own personal comfort spurs her to make decisions.

"[...] I really believed it was him — he, I mean — yesterday. When he warned us not to go down to the fir wood. And I really believed it was him tonight, when you woke us up. I mean, deep down inside. Or I could have, if I'd let myself. But I just wanted to get out of the woods and — and — oh, I don't know [...]"

Prince Caspian, 81

Prince Caspian has the strongest examples of Susan doing this, but certainly there's evidence elsewhere. There are a lot of fans who are distressed by this, claiming that Aslan and the others are too hard on her and shouldn't judge.

Honestly, I like that she's written with this flaw. Not only is it very relatable--(my own personal comfort and convenience is something I highly prioritize too)--but it humanizes a character who otherwise is ridiculously op and basically the Helen of Troy of the series. It may sound like I'm using this as an excuse to rant, but I really wouldn't have her any other way.

Susan As Portrayed by Anna Popplewell

Movie!Susan is a fucking delight.

She's sarcastic and badass and awesome and I could spend hours heaping praise on Anna's acting and her portrayal of Susan, but I can already tell that this post is going to be long so, I'll just stop here.

(10/10 want to be stabbed by her tho.)

Personal Headcanons

Let's talk about my fanon thoughts. I have many.

Susan is Aro

There's canonical evidence for this! Susan is a character who is heavily pursued by suitors everywhere, and even lets herself be courted by many of them, but chooses not to settle down. Even when she gets back to England and is described as only having interest in parties and material things, boys aren't mentioned.

I like to think that in The Horse in His Boy Susan was interested in Rabadash at first because he was a brilliant conversationalist. Nothing she says about him implies romantic interest, before and after she realizes the truth of his intentions.

Susan and Edmund Were Best Friends

This might be my love for The Horse and His Boy showing itself, but I think Susan and Edmund were thrown into circumstances where they interacted the most with each other.

Edmund is the ruler in charge of politics. Susan is the ruler in charge of Cair Paravel's public image. I imagine they spent time as ambassadors to other countries and planning royal functions.

They're also the most level-headed and logical out of their siblings, so they probably found a lot in common.

Susan Fancast

I literally just said I loved Anna's potrayal of Susan's (and I love what they gave us of older Susan too in LWW!), but I read the books in 2008 and my parents didn't let me see the movies bc I was like...nine years old and they thought it would be too scary.

So I had to headcanon my own interpretations.

Queen Susan the Gentle:

For some reason Merlin wasn't too scary for me to watch and I fell in love with Katie McGrath in like. Two episodes so. (On an unrelated note, I also fancast Bradley James as Peter at the time.)

Anyway, fanon Susan is basically Morgana Pendragon pre-evil arc. Sassy as hell, hot as fuck, and can kick your ass.

Unpopular Opinions

Yeah, feel free to skip this part if having controversial fandom opinions is a deal breaker for you.

The Problem With Susan Isn't Actually A Problem

I'm about to start so much discourse in the Narnia fandom, but C.S. Lewis's choices with her in The Last Battle weren't misogynistic. Bear in mind, I'm not saying that all of his writing choices in the series were A++ or excusing away certain racist/sexiest bits, but it's honestly baffling to me that people are so up in arms over Susan's exclusion in the final book.

So the part that everyone loses their shit over is as follows:

"My sister Susan," answered Peter shortly and gravely, "is no longer a friend of Narnia."

"Yes," said Eustace, "and whenever you've tried to get her to come and talk about Narnia or do anything about Narnia, she says 'What wonderful memories you have! Fancy your still thinking about all those funny games we used to play when we were children.'"

"Oh Susan!" said Jill, "she's interested in nothing now-a-days except nylons and lipstick and invitations. She always was a jolly sight too keen on being grown-up."

"Grown-up, indeed," said the Lady Polly. "I wish she would grow up. She wasted all her school time wanting to be the age she is now, and she'll waste all the rest of her life trying to stay that age. Her whole idea is to race on to the silliest time of one's life as quick as she can and then stop there as long as she can."

The Last Battle, 83-84

There's a lot to unpack here and I first want to say that everyone's opinion on this part, no matter how different than mine, is valid. I'm going to be quoting some other ppl's opinions on here and by no means am I bashing them. I just want to address my feelings on the matter and the best way to do that is to cite the thoughts of ppl who have opposing ideas.

Here are some arguments on Tumblr I've heard regarding "The Problem of Susan":

"How about we talk about what might have happened if Narnia hadn't deserted Susan? [...] What if we didn't tell Susan she had to go grow up in her own world and then shame and punish her for doing just that? She was told to walk away and she went. She did not try to stay a child all her life, wishing for something she had been told she couldn't have again."

"Narnia is filled with metaphors (often not very subtle ones) that are supposed to teach us how to be, and the most glaring one for any young girl to absorb is that it's okay to be a girl like Lucy, unthreatening and cheerful and valiant and faithful, but to be a girl like Susan gets you punished - in fact, you aren't just punished, you're destroyed."

"why do we call it ‘the problem’ where’s the problem about a young woman dealing with her trauma and choosing her own path, actively making the choice to keep living and to stay and to carve a life out in England when her siblings couldn’t? what is the problem about susan forgetting to somehow cope with what she’s experienced? why is it ‘the problem of susan’ that she recontextualised her faith?"

And then there's JK Rowling who said this:

There comes a point where Susan, who was the older girl, is lost to Narnia because she becomes interested in lipstick. She's become irreligious basically because she found sex. I have a big problem with that.

It's weird how I'm still finding new ways to hate JKR in the year 2021. Again, there is absolutely zero implication that Susan had sex when she came back to England. ZERO. Did she actually read the books? IDK. If someone shares this opinion pls reply with actual canonical evidence.

Back on topic, I'm a firm believer of death of the author and interpreting art via your own experiences. Which is why I'm also going to share my own interpretation by saying y'all are wrong.

Susan Pevensie was not abandoned by Narnia. She was not barred from Narnia because she is traditionally feminine or because she "owned her sexuality" (another opinion I didn't have time to condense down for this post) or because she recontextualized her faith or even because she deserved to be punished.

I also fail to see how Susan recontexualized her faith, as the entire point of it all is that she has none. Bringing this back to Susan's fatal flaw (personal convenience/material comforts), her prioritizing herself over her own faith is the reason she is "no longer a friend of Narnia." Not...whatever fanon y'all are imposing on her character.

Susan is not being punished for liking lipstick and looking pretty. Susan's not even being punished. Y'all read Neil Gaiman's The Problem of Susan and forgot it wasn't canon.

There are many reasons Susan is not in Aslan's Country (one of them being that she's not actually dead yet), but the main one has to do with this:

"[...] But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.”

Voyage of the Dawn Treader, 215-216

Yeah, okay that's why Susan is no longer a friend of Narnia. The implication when the Pevensies are told that they can no longer enter Narnia is that they are to find Aslan in other places. Susan doesn't do this, instead choosing to focus her life on material things. It isn't the lipstick, it's that she only wants the lipstick.

Susan Had Sex In The Books

Oh and not in the context y'all are thinking. (Again, there are no implications that Susan was barred from Narnia for having sex or that she had sex when she came back to England.)

So there's actual canonical evidence that Susan and Rabadash had a sexual relationship. Sort of.

"What think you? We have been in this city fully three weeks. Have you yet settled in your mind whether you will marry this dark-faced lover of yours, this Prince Rabadash, or no?"

-The Horse and His Boy, 35

Edmund calls Rabadash her lover. Not her suitor. I don't know if the word had a different meaning in 1954, but it feels like C.S. Lewis is saying that they're fucking. I'm not really happy with the idea of Susan sleeping with an abuser, but really proud of her for Getting Some as a woman born in a time period where having premarital sex was a big no-no.

This also invalidates the weird opinion going on that Susan was barred from Narnia because she had sex.

Suspian Is The Worst

I haven't really talked about Movie!Susan much, but as long as we're talking unpopular opinions, it's worth noting that I hate Suspian. Some of it is the "Susan is Aro" headcanon screaming inside of me, but it's also the fact that it's written poorly, does nothing interesting for either character and generally comes across as awkward.

I feel like they were trying to make Prince Caspian sexy and relevant to teens. It came across as super heteronormative and unnecessary.

It also gets really really weird bc the next movie then gives Caspian and Edmund mad chemistry and we're all just like........ok.

Final Thoughts

Susan may not be my favorite character in the series, but she's grown on me over the years. I have many issues with fanon interpretations of her--which definately fueled some of my disdain for her initally--and I don't identify as a Susan Apologist.

I do however adore Susan and have many headcanons for her not mentioned here. I love reading fanfic, writing fanfic and meta, and generally having conversations about her and would love to talk more about it.

I welcome criticism (CONSTRUCTIVE) and conversation on all of my opinions and observations. Please drop into my inbox. <3

[robbyrobinson]

The Magician's Nephew (Review)

The Magician's Nephew. If The Last Battle is the Narnian equivalent of the Book of Revelation, then this book is Genesis.

In the Earth year 1900, we follow a young Digory Kirke and his friend Polly who end up getting whisked into the Wood Between Worlds by his uncle Andrew an amateur magician who was experimenting around with magic rings.

On a larger scale, the book answers many questions that the series compiled up to this point such as how Father Christmas entered Narnia nearing the end of the White Witch's reign and how Digory became familiar with Narnia as well as how the Pevensie children wound up in Narnia through the wardrobe.

As always, the imagery is on point: when Digory and Polly first visit Charn, it is a barren wasteland with the buildings reduced to ruins as though fantastical nukes were deployed.

And, of course, Aslan's creation of Narnia is majestic and magnificent. At first, the kids, Andrew, Frank, and Jadis all enter a world completely black and devoid of all life. And, yet, out of that darkness, there came a mixture of roaring and singing as the visage of a Great Lion stride in the darkness setting the stars in the sky. Land animals broke through having been formed from the dust of the Earth with each one appointed different tasks with the threat of their newly-found sapience being revoked should they disobey Aslan. And then Aslan blesses Frank and his wife as the first rulers of Narnia because "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the Earth."

I like the concept that there is a multiverse in the Narnian universe because how it was mentioned how Aslan never wanted to feel tied down to one country and it certainly explains how Father Christmas was able to get to Narnia. However, other than the destroyed world of Charn, we don't get much insight into the other potential dimensions. I do understand but I couldn't help but be intrigued with what they looked like and what form Aslan took there.

However, the novel somewhat suffers from what could be seen as inconsistencies. For one, the Stone Table.

The Stone Table is, as you could guess, a large slab of stone that was inscribed with mystical symbols. Representing Deep Magic, it more or less ensured that all traitors belonged to the White Witch which made it legal for her to kill them.

Unbeknownst to her, there existed still a Deeper Magic from Before the Dawn of Time where if an innocent took the traitor's place on the Stone Table, it would crack, and death works backward. This was clearly what Aslan was intending when he voluntarily dies in Edmund's place.

The Stone Table is not mentioned in The Magician's Nephew, bizarre because the ritual was pretty ancient. Though, frankly, I am not bothered by that because you could make the argument that because Narnia was new, there was no concept of death because no one died at that moment before evil was brought into Narnia by the White Witch. So the Stone Table would not become a thing until thousands or hundreds of years later around the time the White Witch returned after the Tree of Protection repelled her for so long.

The series also makes it clear that the Emperor-Over-the-Sea created Narnia, but here, it is Aslan who is singing the world into existence. Again, it could be that the Emperor created Narnia through Aslan if you go by the notion that he and his father represent two parts of the Holy Trinity as evidenced by the Gospel of John referring to Jesus as the Word and how the Word was God.

With no mention of the Deep Magic and Deeper Magic here, I personally theorize that the Emperor already imparted the magic on Narnia before Aslan began creating the realm. Can't forget how the Tree of Protection and the silver apples are never mentioned again beyond this point.

Most damning has to be Jadis herself. The LWW has Mr. and Mrs. Beaver speculate that she was a giantess-djinn hybrid who also had some Lilith blood in her veins. But here, we learn that not only was a false ruler of Narnia, but she wasn't even FROM there originally. She was the matriarch of another world who was in a war with her sister over the throne. They both agreed to not use magic, but she claims that her sister was the first one to break that vow which led to Jadis paying a terrible price to learn the most dangerous and lethal of dark magic.

As her sister neared victory, Jadis spoke the Deplorable Word which left the speaker alive while it killed all other forms of life. And I mean it: everything died. No birds; no magical beasts; not even bacteria to decay any fabrics. A completely dead world wherein Jadis put herself into an enchanted sleep waiting for some schmuck to awaken her with the bell.

She at first tries to take over England and forces Andrew to serve her before she ends up in Narnia as it was being created. She tries to kill Aslan with a lamppost, but it bounces off him and is planted in the ground becoming the lamp post we see in LWW. She steals an apple from the Tree of Youth tempting Digory with an apple with which he could either eat it himself and become immortal alongside Jadis, or give it to his mother on Earth.

Of course, Digory elects to Aslan's words and while Jadis did obtain her heart's desire, it came at the cost of her being eternally miserable which turns out to be a bullet Digory unknowingly dodged.

Aside from those inconsistencies, the book does its job of adding lore to the Narnian series and setting the stage for the White Witch's eventual defeat.

Score: 7/10

[justpevensies]

edmund pevensie in the snow headcanon

warnings: none

A/N: it’s been snowing here in Scotland (my home country) over the end of December/start of January and I was inspired!

Edmund has quite bad connotations when it comes to snow - y’know with Jadis and everything

The snow often reminds him of that time

If he’s ever out in it with his siblings a part of him struggles to enjoy it because it brings back those memories he’d certainly rather forget

that is, until he meets and falls for you

your first winter in Narnia... it SNOWS... heavily

Edmund has already had a couple of winters (including when he first arrived with his siblings) here but since this is your first time seeing snow, you’re naturally quite excited.

When you look out the window and see it falling freely you rush and grab him, squeaking out “Ed! Ed! Look it’s snowing”.

he chuckles before acknowledging “Yes, (y/n) I can see that”

without hesitation you’re grabbing your winter clothes to go outside

you pass Edmund his coat, hat and scarf and he begins to feel his nerves building from within, there’s no chance of them stopping

you know of his past and you’d do anything to comfort and help him... but he doesn’t want to ruin your fun so he slowly puts on his outdoor garb before you’re dragging him out the door

SNOWBALL FIGHTS WITH ED

you’d probably throw one at him first - catching him totally off-guard - and he’d probably cry out “Ow!”

picture the way he reacted in the LWW movie

You freeze, thinking you’ve hurt or annoyed him, before he smirks and throws one back at you from behind his back

then you’re throwing snowballs at each other frantically, laughing like children without a care in the world

at some point you throw one and it goes right down the back of his neck and he doesn’t thank you for that

for some reason, Edmund has never made a snow angel in his life

of course, you introduce him to the fun activity and he immediately loves it

and, of course, you two build a snowman together and Edmund decorates it with his hat

Edmund wasn’t a fan of snow for a while because of his past memories but he now has a new born love for it because of you

he sees how happy you are and that warms his heart

Basically Edmund having fun in the snow is something I would like to see.

[raging-violets]

heyyy so i saw your post and i just had to ask:

in narnia prince caspian, what are your thoughts of when Peter is fighting with those other boys at the train station and then edmund joins in and lucy and susan are all exasperated in the back. what do you think this means towards the siblings relationships with each other and the way they each adjusted to being back in their roles as children in england?

sorry if this is too much bahaha but i would love your take on this! xoxo

I think it was a good scene to show just how much Peter had changed first and foremost.

Going from being the father-figure while the Pevensie dad was away, and then having to lead his siblings through danger, learning he was part of a prophecy to save a magical land and to grow up into an adult all while learning what it meant to be a king and THEN having all that taken away from you and to be looked at as a boy who was being told what to do and where to go?

In my opinion, his anger and frustrations was mirroring Edmund's from the first movie and, in a way, he finally got what Edmund was feeling. Which is why Edmund immediately jumped in to help without a word - an example of his more quiet personality and judgement (as the LWW book described him when he was older).

Lucy is still the one that wants to keep the peace and Susan is still the one that looks at things logically - and how her wanting to handle situations withiut fighting is still a carry over from Narnia. Susan's "what was it this time" line indictaes Peter has gotten into numerous fights and she's had the conversation with him before.

I think all the Pevensies at this point are still close, but are starting to drift because of how they have reacted to going back to being kids. Lucy still has her childlike wonder. Susan adapts to being back in the real world and moves on. Peter is frustrated that he doesn't have any semblance of control that he used to have. Edmund is still his quiet, loner self, but has learned during his time in Narnia that his family is important and that he can't sit by and watch someone take what little power they have and threaten someone else with it.

[alphasmoonlit-selfships]

For F/o asks? 🌹🌵🍇 +  Jason? Love your works!

Hello mystery anon! 🥺 much appreciation to you for sending on my dearest gentle storm! ✨ he deserves all the love and appreciation and I am here to give it all to him! ⛈⚡️🐺

Let’s jumps into it shall we! A Note: I’ll go ahead and write for our Legendary Wolf Warriors selves this time around!! 😊

🌹 - Does your f/o believe in “love at first sight?” Do you?

I don’t think Jason immediately understands the “human-like” idea at first. However, that is the first thing he does experience when he first meets Danielle! ✨

He had lost control of his ability to fly for a split second, emitting sparks from his person out of fear as he fell so the others around him weren’t able to get close enough to him without getting hurt as well. Especially since he has no control on the amount of electricity he is emitting.

Danielle, who hadn’t met Jason yet at the time of his arrival, came swooping in to save him, but didn’t expect his power upon doing so, getting shocked a bit in the process. But she was quick to rebound and managed to spread her wings to soften the rough landing.

Poor Jason felt so bad and also received a bit of scolding from her before they had locked eyes with each other. You could say a spark and a shine of familiarity came through them. Almost as if their souls recalled the other and for a second felt the synchronization of their hearts… all while still having their hands interlocked together.

Their breathes and realization to everything around them came rushing back when the others came upon them with worry. The both of them letting go as Danielle stood to compose herself. Jason still in a daze of confusion and interest by the appearance of this fellow LWW. Kind of snapping out of it when Yamato slightly elbowed him to return to the living. Feeling massive embarrassment and apologizing to her, even more so when revealed that she is the LWW of the Night and Future Alpha of the Forest of Dreams 🤭

“Please no need to apologize to me, I was saving you from possibly receiving a blunt fall to the ground.” Danielle calmed him with a kind smile, “Believe me, I’m sure the lot of us know what that is like.” She says with a slight snicker, followed by a few laughs and slight winces and weak grins from the others.

“You must be the new Wolf Warrior I’ve heard much about, Jason?” The brunette says with a tilt of her head as she reach out a hand to help him up, “A pleasure to finally meet you!”

Poor Jason was combusting a little as he hesitated to take her hand a moment before doing so. Realizing how petite she was compared to him (then again so were many of the other Forest wolves), but besides that, she carried a kind and sweet nature to her despite the high regard of her status as a Warrior and future Alpha. Nevertheless, he had no idea on the concept of “love are first sight” but he has definitely grown to fall in love with the gradual learning of Danielle 💖 falling for her entirely each moment he got to know her personally and through others 😊

🌵 - How long does it take for your f/o to warm up to new people?

My dearest Jason is not a social butterfly at the start ;;w;; especially when he arrived to the Forest of Dreams. He is socially awkward and doesn’t understand the “human-like” customs of the Forest. Even more so because of his Legendary Wolf Warrior status, he’s had no previous training as a warrior and incidentally shocks others that make him nervous or come off to growly and hostile.

He sticks close to the familiar, thankful enough for the presence of the other wolf warriors, who show him the genuine kindness and the much more present side of the Forest of Dreams. He is a silent tol boi a majority of the time, usually listening and observing so he can replicate the actions and social cues from others.

He does this most obviously in the “human-world” as he is not familiar with “human-born” customs, only with a few who live in the Forest of Dreams. His anxiety is definitely on the high end whenever amongst humans and prefers to hold his tongue and stay quiet when meeting new people. The only familiar human he breaks his silence with is the human representative of the LWW, Rickie, a genuine kind man who has looked over all the warriors like his own kids for years. Despite Jason’s late appearance, he is warming and welcoming to the new pack mate.

Overall, it takes Jason a long while to really warm up to others, sticking with familiar people he’s grown to know and is rather awkward with newer ones. Sometimes, he’ll bring himself to spark a conversation and is more than happy when it lands fine! Especially when it’s genuine.

Younger animals, he often helps train, are simple to speak to as they are the ones usually rambling and speaking to him. Reminding him of simpler times with his half brother and sister…he wonders to the Great Wolf Above if they are still out there in the world.

🍇Does your f/o naturally give themself “me time,” or do they need reminders from time to time?

Jason definitely needs to be reminded of “me time” a lot, he is not one to give himself breaks or really relax as he is often bombarded by intrusive thoughts. He constantly puts himself down and guilt trips himself that he has to live up to others expectations or he is nothing more than a wolf chosen by mistake. Also the badgering voice of his former alpha/father figure is always in his head, or appearing as a disfigured phantom in the distance that terrifies him.

Which only makes him overwork himself; be it helping the other animals around the Forest, devoting himself to catching and gathering food, helping train other future hunters or trackers, and devoting himself to better his divine storm soul. Often leading to hurting himself by incident, though he deems that better than it possibly hurting a vulnerable life in the field…

Thankfully, he has Danielle and the others to calm him down and allow him to realize that they are animals/humans than they are gods. They need to rest, as much as anyone else does (do they all do it frequently? No…but together they help one another more than anything. It’s what a pack does!). Most especially Danielle, considering she is the Alpha of the Forest of Dreams, she has a lot more on her plate than protecting the world; her Forest comes first. She needs her breaks, times to socialize, and time to rest because of the two devoted duties she has.

Very often Danielle and Jason help each other when they have a time to breathe and be together 🤍 especially when it comes with getting a wink of sleep and receiving affection from the other. Very often when they aren’t together through the day, they send messages through their Howler Tech, making sure the other is taking small breaks in between, “Have you taken a moment to give yourself a break? Have you drank some water? Taken a snack of something? However we take a fly together to stretch our wings a bit?” Etc.

Gradually, Jason does learn to give himself breaks, especially when around his close knit pack. Taking meditation advice from Takaru and Lidia, letting himself take his share of duties while also making sure others do theirs by Yamato and Sora, and learning to embrace the beauty of teamwork and releasing as much of his power in a healthy way that doesn’t build up all at once by Sam. Growing immensely with time, tol sparky wolf does naturally give himself rest under the nice warm sun fields. 🌻☀️

Thank you so much for the ask my anon friend! 🥺💖💖 honestly, I’m like cooing over the doodles I managed to draw quickly! 🥺 my dearest Jay looks so peaceful and good! As he deserves! 🥰💖 I rarely talk about my stories much as before, but hopefully I can take the time to split it between BSD and LWW! I just love both mi Tigre and Gentle Storm so much UwU

[radicalposture]

ok rewatched narnia here’s my thoughts:

lww: unbelievable how good this was. the balls they had to throw themselves heart and soul into lewis’ insane world, to take everything he said seriously and at face value, to not tone down on the obnoxious symbolism of it all. weta workshop and the composer of the chicken run soundtrack and the director of shrek and shrek 2 doing for narnia what had been done for lotr. impeccable

prince caspian: literally every single choice they made was sooooo sexy in the way viggo is sexy as aragorn. ben barnes and his silly little fake spanish accent and his frilly nightshirt and the telmarines grovelling before miraz and saying ‘yes your beastlyness’ and plotting to stab him in the back and miraz hamming it up with his fur cloak and little gold earring and glenstorm and his beautiful centaur sons and edmund shattering jadis and the narnians trapped in the courtyard and the ruins of cair paravel and the trees and the river god and the call by regina spektor. literally the only thing that could have made this film sexier was the literal bacchanalia susan and lucy and aslan attend in the book.

dawn treader: didn’t watch this one because it made me so upset when i was sixteen. i remember eustace was amazing in it tho. it came out in 2010 and disney bough marvel in 2009 i think these things are related but i have some more timeline stuff to figure out bear with me

the silver chair: ahahahaha can you imagine if we’d had a silver chair movie disney didn’t have the balls to put jill pole on our screens and tragically i don’t think they ever will