edenfalling: stylized black-and-white line art of a sunset over water (Default)
[personal profile] edenfalling
Note: I am repurposing my stock Yuletide letter here, which is why some of the sections may seem slightly off-topic for a single fandom exchange.

Hi, and thank you in advance for writing a story for me! I'm pretty easy to please -- unless you write context-free porn, I'll be thrilled just to get a response to one of my prompts. *grin* But I realize that's not terribly helpful, so here's the (very!) long version. (I am sorry for the tl;dr, but I like to talk about things I love and I figure more details are better than fewer.)

---------------

General Information:

1. I will read anything when it comes to pairings -- het, slash, femslash, threesomes, poly, whatever, so long as you put in a bit of character development so the relationships don't seem to come out of nowhere -- but I prefer gen, and I tend to skim sex scenes because the non-sex parts of the story are almost always more interesting to me. So while you can do whatever you like with background pairings, they are not what I am most interested in.

2. I read all kinds of genres and moods, from schmoopy fluff to angsty deathfic, but my favorite endings are bittersweet (...okay, bittersweet leaning toward happy) and a little complicated.

3. I fall in love with worlds and themes as much as I fall in love with characters, if not more, so any world-building you can sneak in around the edges of a story will be received with great joy. I am also totally open to OCs and/or the development of canon characters who might as well be OCs, as you may note from the structure of several prompts.

4. Stuff I really, really like: This can be boiled down to, 'Please treat characters as intelligent people who have understandable motives for their actions, please take the worlds seriously as settings, and please remember that there's more to life than sex. Also, ethics, metaphysics, and world-building are dead cool.'

The long version: I like character development; world-building; explanation of plot holes in canon; subtle humor; good spelling and grammar; a sense of wonder; writing that evokes an emotional reaction as well as telling a story; close relationships that don't necessarily involve sex (i.e., friendship, families, teachers and students, coworkers, traveling companions, soldiers in the same cause, etc.); the consequences of actions and choices; a sense of place and time; dialogue that conveys character as well as plot information; politics; ethics; people being intelligent even if they make bad choices; people trying to do the right thing even if they make bad choices; conflict because of opposing goals that both have points in their favor; a lack of simple solutions; female characters treated as people instead of plot devices; male characters treated as people instead of plot devices; ideas that make me stop and think; the nature of memory; the nature of truth; possession; soul-searching; non-gratuitous torture (...I have a kink, shut up); war and battles; hand-to-hand fighting; swordfights; peace and diplomacy; magic that's properly magical and strange or magic that's explained as a science (but not both at once); books and reading; people exploring a new country/world/city; linguistics and languages; early Industrial Revolution technology (or whatever technology is suitable to the milieu); people using logic to investigate a problem; and fires, floods, earthquakes, and other natural disasters.

5. Stuff I'm not so keen on: obvious authorial hatred for characters I like and/or find interesting (which is generally all of them); sex or romantic love with no in-story justification (unless the people in question are already a canon couple); gratuitous angst/torture/rape (i.e., bad stuff that comes out of nowhere and is not necessary to make the plot or character arc work); idiot plots (i.e., problems that could be solved in five minutes if the characters asked one or two obvious questions); and predestination, prophecies, and anything else that denies free will.

6. If you want to know more about my general approach to Narnia, all my fanfic is available on this masterlist. Some of my meta posts are also listed there, down at the bottom of the page.

The three most important things to note are as follows:

A) The books are my canon, not any of their various adaptations to film.

B) My personal stance on the Pevensies after their initial return from Narnia is that they really did become children again, in mind as well as in body. So they are children who remember being adults, but those memories are filtered through children's brains and general perspective on the world. The only prompt for which this might be relevant is the sedoretu AU prompt, but I figure that since this seems to be a minority viewpoint in the fandom and I'm asking for a tailored gift, I might as well mention it. :)

C) I am not Christian. However, Lewis's use of Christian mythology is central to the series, which I find creates an interesting tension for many writers that doesn't occur in stories built on mythologies that aren't in widespread current use. So while I prefer stories that stick to the general canon assertions that Aslan is a god and a Christ-analogue, that he created the Narnian world, and that he is good (but not safe), I would also prefer stories that acknowledge the existence of other gods in the Narnian world, in the world of England, in Charn, and any other worlds that become relevant. I would like a recognition that good does not always equal right, ethics are complicated and often situational, and there isn't always one right answer. And I do not want to be preached at.

Thank you for your consideration!

Okay. On to specific prompts.

---------------

Dwarf Culture Under the Telmarines:

Prompt: I would like a story about Narnian dwarf culture in the decades leading up to Prince Caspian, with a particular focus on how (and why) Jadis was remembered among some dwarf factions with so much more fervor than Aslan. If you want more character-specific prompts, I'd be interested in knowing how a Black Dwarf and a Red Dwarf came to be living together with a Talking Badger (because that seems like an unusual arrangement even among the people who lived in hiding), or in the details of Doctor Cornelius's dwarf heritage and what seems to have been a network of Old Narnian sympathizers who lived among Telmarines and had no direct contact with the people who lived in hiding.

(Note: This request is for book!verse rather than any of the film versions of PC.)


Thoughts: So basically, I am fascinated by the cultural transmission and alteration of history and folklore, and while it's made textually explicit that Talking Beasts pride themselves on accurate memories, I am pretty sure Narnian Dwarfs are more like humans in that their stories shift over the generations. Additionally, some of them were clearly allied with Jadis and there's textual prejudice between them and Talking Beasts, as per Mr. Beaver's ugly words in LWW about things that look human but aren't. The "dark" Beasts seem to have been accepted back into regular Narnian culture by Caspian's day, but there are clearly a bunch of "dark" Beings -- werewolves, hags, etc. -- who remain outsiders. And I wonder if that's somehow inherent to their nature, or if it's continuing prejudice.

Nikabrik is a fascinating person to me, because while Trumpkin clearly thinks all the ancient stories are made up, Nikabrik is quite sure that Jadis, at least, is real. He doesn't jump to summoning her immediately, though; that waits until the war is in dire straits, after the attempt to summon the "bright" figures from history/mythology apparently fails. But he clearly maintains contacts among the outcast Beings, since he was able to bring in a hag and a werewolf on relatively short notice -- especially since they don't seem to have been part of the army beforehand. But so far as I can tell, neither Trumpkin nor Trufflehunter had any idea about those connections, which is interesting since he'd lived with those two for years.

Doctor Cornelius is also fascinating to me, though admittedly that's mostly because of the implications of his existence and what it implies about the existence of semi-humans living in secret among Telmarine human communities. Whoever these people are, they are clearly living in some degree of hiding, and yet they appear to have no contact whatsoever with the Old Narnians out in the woods. How and why was that contact lost? What parts of their cultural heritage have they retained (or lost) and why? Are there Old Narnian humans among their communities, or have they been assimilated into Telmarine human society? It's such a fascinating area of speculation. (Also I'm really curious about whether his dwarf heritage comes from his mother's side or his father's, or maybe even both.)

Um. Also the Dwarfs get really bad treatment later on in TLB, and I'd like to see them taken on their own terms and treated as a people with their own rich, thriving culture, even during the generations in hiding. I mean, they probably had an easier time of it than some of the Talking Beasts. And I guess I'm also curious why the Old Narnians seem not to have kept contact with Archenland, nor asked for help during the war against Miraz. (The Doylist reason is obviously that Lewis hadn't invented Archenland yet, but from a Watsonian perspective, that needs explaining.)

This has devolved into rambling, sorry. Anyway, Dwarfs! Culture! Jadis! Prejudice! Nikabrik torn between two factions! Doctor Cornelius and his mysterious backstory! Hopefully you can dig some inspiration out of this mess. *wry*

---------------

Rilian's Everyday Life While Enchanted:

Prompt: I would like a story about Rilian's decade under enchantment. He canonically didn't spend all his time in Underworld -- we first meet him and the Lady of the Green Kirtle riding on the road from Harfang, and he himself says she takes him aboveground to accustom his eyes to sunlight, though he's not allowed to show his face or speak to anyone on those trips. He also seems to have a position of some minor authority in the Lady's city, though what exactly he uses it for is anyone's guess. So I would like to see some of his day-to-day life under the Lady's spell, and through that, some of the world he and the Lady moved in.

(Note: You can go as dark as you want in the background, for obvious reasons, but the foreground should be practical details and worldbuilding rather than angst or mindscrew, please!)


Thoughts: Obviously any response to this prompt should have a creepy undertone, because Rilian is not in his right mind (and if his relationship with the Lady is in any way sexual, that's rape), but as stated above, I'm more interested in everyday practical details. In other words, where did the Lady take him on those trips? What did he DO all day underground? How did the food and clothes and supplies (and horses!) get to Underworld? What kind of diplomatic relationships does the Lady have with other people who live north (and/or west) of Narnia? (Secondarily, who are those people? We know about Harfang, but a castle like that can't exist in isolation; it needs a society to support it.) There's a very medieval romance feel to the Lady, her environs, and her spells, and I'd like to see them through a more realistic lens.

I am inclined to think that Rilian didn't age while enchanted (except maybe in his one hour of freedom each night), which might make for extra background creepiness if anyone notices that aspect of the spell and the Lady either handwaves it or makes him forget.

---------------

Sedoretu AU:

Prompt: I freely admit this is kind of a weird prompt, but somebody put the idea in my mind a while back on Tumblr and I want to see someone tackle it. Namely: let's do a sedoretu AU. :)

A sedoretu, for those who aren't familiar with the term, is a very specific kind of polyamorous relationship created by Ursula Le Guin in some of her science fiction. I want to see that applied to Narnia. Is it a custom only in Narnia? Sure, why not. A custom only among certain subsets of Narnians? Sure, why not. A custom spread through the entire Narnian world? Sure, why not. (But please not only in Calormen; that has unfortunate implications.) A custom from Earth that somehow got lost in the Narnian world? Sure, why not.

The main point is to explore interpersonal relationships and social structures through the lens of this specific and somewhat complicated pattern. Pick any characters you want to focus on, though I have listed some potential starter ideas below. :)


Thoughts: Actually, you know what? Rather than copypaste the whole thing, I'm just going to direct you to this post and its comment threads. That should give you an idea of some of the flavors I'm looking for in this prompt. :D

But please don't feel constrained by the options in that post! If you have another idea, go for it! In this case, I am all in favor of weird random side-corners, minor characters, and OCs. I am also totally cool with stories set in other worlds such as Earth or Charn or even somewhere else people might have gone via the Rings whether during a canon interstice (oh hey, what if Letty had an adventure that involved a world where sedoretu were the norm?) or post-canon with Susan (and/or some AU survivors of TLB) going on an inter-dimensional adventure.

---------------

Let's Talk About Lasaraleen!:

Prompt: I want a story about Lasaraleen! Not Lasaraleen-and-Aravis, though it's fine for Aravis to be a supporting character, but a story centered on Lasaraleen and her life in Calormen. Some potential story prompts: what is Lasaraleen's relationship with her husband like? What happened to Lasaraleen in the immediate fallout of HHB? Where do you see Lasaraleen ten or twenty years after HHB? Or any other story exploring her life, and preferably examining Calormene culture through her POV or other people's POV about her.

Thoughts: Let's talk about those story seeds in more detail! For example, who exactly IS her husband and how do they get along? Does he appreciate her loyalty and ability to make friends, or does he see her simply as a mother for his children, or as a silly girl he's been saddled with, or what? I don't think their marriage can be too terrible given how cheerful Lasaraleen seems to be... or is she a vastly better actress than Aravis gives her credit for being?

Or on a slightly different note, what does Lasaraleen do post-HHB with her new understanding of what the Tisroc and Rabadash are like in private without the eyes of the court upon them? I find it hard to believe she'd carry on precisely as before -- and also, people must know she and Aravis were friends. Does that get her into trouble?

Or what about Lasaraleen some years in the future: is she still in Tashbaan playing court games? Has she gone to manage her husband's estates? If she has children, how does she handle being a mother? (Aside from pushing a lot of daily tasks onto slaves, because I am quite sure she is that kind of person. Tangentially, I am intrigued by her canonical attitude toward her own slaves -- she blithely issues terrible punishments, but they're somewhat logistically nonsensical and it's unclear how much she intends anyone to follow through on her words. That must be nerve-wracking for anyone under her authority, at least at first.)

Mostly I want a look into high society Calormene culture through the lens of a person who is very much in the center of the social whirl and has a fair amount of influence because of that, but who is also young, and inexperienced, and self-centered, and whose position depends entirely on her male relatives and strategically keeping her mouth shut about certain things. And also I just really want to see Lasaraleen being a silly, self-centered, naive social butterfly marinated in privilege since birth... but who is also loyal and determined and brave, and who is clearly good enough at social maneuvers to have made a reputation in a fairly cutthroat court society at a very young age.

---------------

Two Queens in Narnia:

Prompt: We know very little about Queen Prunaprismia, and very little about Ramandu's daughter/Caspian X's wife/Rilian's mother. Let's change that!

I am of the opinion that Prunaprismia probably did NOT go through the door to Earth at the end of PC, and instead stayed in Narnia with a goal of protecting her son's political interests. He would naturally become a focal point for any Telmarines who disliked the new status quo but were not willing to risk stepping through a magical door or emigrating. I suspect there was probably a rebellion at some point -- possibly during VDT, while Caspian was away from Narnia for well over a year, or possibly later when he married and his cousin was no longer his heir presumptive.

Meanwhile, Ramandu's daughter dove headfirst into a world WILDLY different from the isolated, magic-drenched island where she grew up (did she grow up? who is her other parent?? does she even HAVE a second parent???) and apparently coped well enough that by the time of her death she was a deeply beloved queen.

She and Prunaprismia MUST have encountered each other over the years. I would like a story about those encounters, or about what one thought of the other, or about them coming to a truce, or about one presiding over the other's execution, or... well, as you can see, there are lots of possibilities! Mostly I just want these two background female characters to interact, because dammit, women are half of the world and deserve to be named and have their stories brought into the light.

(Note: This request is for book!verse. I'm okay with the name Liliandil if you don't have an alternative of your own devising, but please avoid elements found only in the Disney film versions of PC and VDT.)


Thoughts: I think the prompt is fairly self-explanatory?

However, let me also offer a totally not required but fascinating tangent! If anyone wants to write a story where the Lady of the Green Kirtle starts her designs on Narnia a few decades earlier by way of an alliance with Prunaprismia, only to be disrupted by Caspian and the Star's Daughter sailing back from the uttermost east when people had started to consider the Dawn Treader lost at sea, I am SO THERE. Because the only thing better than two queens in Narnia is THREE. *evil grin*

---------------------------------------------

And that is that.

Profile

edenfalling: stylized black-and-white line art of a sunset over water (Default)
Elizabeth Culmer

July 2025

S M T W T F S
  1 2345
6789 101112
1314 1516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  

Tags

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags