Narnia (movieverse) fic: "In Constellated Wars"

[bedlamsbard]

Title: In Constellated Wars
Author: bedlamsbard
Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia movieverse
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The poetry does not matter. It was not (to start again) what one had expected. For the pattern is new in every moment and every moment is a new and shocking valuation of what we have been. One story: five views.
Disclaimer: The Chronicles of Narnia and its characters, situations, settings, etc., belong to C.S. Lewis. Some characters, situations, settings, etc., may belong to Walden Media. Titles, cut-tags, summary, and excerpts from T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets: East Coker.
Author's Notes: This takes place during Prince Caspian, after the attack on Miraz's castle and before the council of war. In the universe I'm working in, it may take place before Long Forgotten Wars, but prior knowledge of the 'verse isn't necessary. Thanks to cupiscent, and also to everyone on my journal who listened to me babble about this for the past couple weeks.

On a Summer Midnight (Lucy) | Of Dead Secrets (Edmund) | Gone Under the Hill (Susan) | In a Dark Wood (Caspian) | In Constellated Wars (Peter)

Comments

[limmenel.livejournal.com]

OMG IT'S POSTED.

I forsee my entire Friday taking place in front of the computer.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

It's not that long. *arches eyebrow*

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

CONGRATULATIONS!

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

*falls over*

[leaves-of-ink.livejournal.com]

Hi! I lurk in your lj for fic reading purposes and should probably comment more. As for this story, I'm sorry, but you really must give me a moment to put my brain back together. *stares* WOW. I absolutely am blown away by this fic!

I love how all the Pevensies hear Narnia speaking with Peter at the end and then in Peter's section we see that it's something akin to finally reconnecting with Narnia, I love how Caspian doesn't think Peter could take Miraz in a fight (HA!), I love that Peter is running around being a crazy/brutal sonofabitch and Caspian is like "Holy shit! He's a madman!" and his siblings are like "Ho hum, just another day of dealing with Peter". I adore Edmund's snark and Peter's ire, I love how Edmund's comments about letting "someone else spill the blood that is rightfully yours" echo (to me at least) how in the PC movie Peter hands the sword to Caspian because Miraz's life is "not [his] to take".

There are so many other things that I could go on and on about, but I'll just say you did a truly fabulous job on this. It amazes me how well connected this fic is to itself, the PC movie, your personal canon, and Narnia in general. Like connected to the last detail. Can't wait for more Narnia fic!:)

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much!

[snacky]

Gosh, I loved this. Each part I read, I loved it more. Lucy's was wonderful, she was so practical and determined and so not a child. I loved her moments of remembering things, and how everything with her was instinct. And oh, her dismissal of the unicorn, "Well, they were only attempts."

Susan - man, I don't read enough Susan fics, especially one where I say, "yeah, that's it, that's Susan, exactly." I love how much of it was about her identity, whether as Queen Susan vs. Susan Pevensie, or how she related to her siblings, especially to Peter.

I loved Edmund's voice in his part. He's so snarky and clever but so much a part of Narnia - I loved him recognizing Narnia in Peter. And his longing for the royal guard and the past - with Edmund more than any of them this came through so clearly, how much he missed that.

Of course, there's poor confused Caspian, just getting snapped at and snarked at left and right - totally not getting what the hell is going on around him and so completely over his head. I'd love to see something about how the Pevensies all go from being ready to kill him to being able to trust him with Narnia (at least a little) - what changed their minds?

And Peter, of course the whole thing is really about the High King and his connection to Narnia and what he'll do for his country and how the others react and view and connect with and through him. I like how he's so ready to snap here, trying to be who he wants to be again.

Man, this was just really good, and I enjoyed it so much. Thanks for sharing it!

P.S. I saw some typos in a few spots - do you care about stuff like that?

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

(Yes, tell me about the typos! I caught one last night, but of course there are more. I suspect they breed.)

Thank you very much! And yes, Lucy and the unicorn, because she's so far from normal she's practically in another country. *flails*

[snacky]

Hey, you've probably found all the typos already, but just in case, these are the few I saw.

From "On A Summer Midnight":

He’s still raising his bloody axe from Susan’s skull Lucy strikes him

looks like you're missing a "when" there.

“All right, Lu?” he adds, on his feet again and going towards the door, Caspian – where had he come from? – on his heels

no period at the end.

if Peter’s left arm fails him in battle, but given the way the rest of their stay in Narnia as gone, she wouldn’t put either option aside as unlikely.

looks like it should be "was" instead of "as."

From "Of Dead Secrets":

This is why Peter keeps looking at Narnia like he wants to beat his skull in with the hilt of his sword.

probably he's looking at Caspian there?

From "In A Dark Wood":

Despite Edmund’s orders, Caspian throws himself into the hall, where he sees Edmund slam his fist into the door of the red cave, and swear fervently, “God damn it!” before crossing his arms over his chest and dig his feet into the floor, staring at the door.

seems like it should be "digging" instead of "dig."

And that's all I saw!

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

I recced this to a dear friend of mine who's starting to get interested in Narnia but is not a fan of Lewis's mindset in general.

I think she's really, really gonna like this.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Aw, thanks.

[katakokk.livejournal.com]

It is HEEEEEEEERE!

*runs off to read*

[cupiscent.livejournal.com]

OMG you posted it and I missed it. I really need to get back into the LJ-reading swing of things.

I also really need coffee before I read this. *scampers*

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

I believe you were otherwise occupied at the time. *grin*

[caramelsilver.livejournal.com]

Oh my god, this was good. So incredibly good! I read it last night and since it was so late I couldn't comment then. I went to bed and had trouble sleeping because my heart was pounding so fast!

I've read *a lot* of Narnia fanfic and I've never read something like this. It's so... real. It's raw and brutal. I forget what age they are supposed to be because you write them like the adults they really are. This comes out best in Lucy. She is so not a little girl. She actually terrified me some places. Sometimes she's just so cold. I suppose that is because she doesn't realize how strange her life has been and things that are normal to her is, just not to us and the other narnians.

Edmund I think was my favorite. You had him down really good. I really liked the conversation he had with Caspian.

Susan's part was also really good. She was perhaps the most normal of the four. (Read: less crazy.)

Caspian. Well I got a little mad at him. But then I realized that that is probably because I like the Pevensie's so much. If I were to look at it objectively his reaction is quite normal. He did act like a spoiled brat, though.

Peter, oh my god, Peter! Personally, I like my Peter a little less crazy. Sometime I shook my head and thought who is this person, other times I'm like 'omg that's him!' I like how you made him angry all the time. I mean, he comes back and finds his country invaded and in ruins, course he's gonna be angry.

This is absolutely one of the better Narnia fanfics I've ever read. It's different from the normal fics you find on ff.net. I think I have to rec this to some of my narnia friends and see what they think and if they'll like it. They normally like and write a more mellow and... fluffy? Narnia. I think I'm slowly getting seduced by this darker Narnia I find on LJ.

The best of this though, is the execution and that the royals do it themselves. Even though I've never thought about it before, it's very Narnia.

You've done a great job! (This is going in my memories!)

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much! Apparently I, uh, like my Narnia (a) crazy, and (b), bloodthirsty.

[caramelsilver.livejournal.com]

And I do not mind that at all. It was just a shock in the beginning.

I've lurked some more around your Narnia posts. You have a lot of great discussion here. And damn, you've totally corrupted me, cause now I have an insane urge to write a fic were Peter sneaks down in the kitchen in the middle of the night to steal his mothers knives. And then almost knifing his father, because Peter is a light sleeper.

Also. Narnia totally has its own language. I've been thinking about it for so long and how come no one has written it into their fics? Then I thought that it would probably be because everyone are thinking that because Narnia's first king was english, Narnians would speak english too.

Do you mind if I friend you? I would love to read more of your new stuff.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

My Narnia has, um, a lot of languages. There's High Narnian, which is what Peter and Co. are speaking during the Golden Age (why are their never any linguistical difficulties between the Pevensies/Jill&Eustace? magic. one time it makes a good excuse), and then the language goes through a lot of topsy-turvy in the next thirteen hundred years, and by the time Caspian comes around it's modern Narnian, which is really mostly Telmarine, which is in turn this weird creole of Eschmoun (the westron language, spoken in Natare, Belgarion, and Lasci), Shoushani, and Spanish. I just typed this up somewhere! Here (http://bedlamsbard.livejournal.com/287088.html?thread=1863280#t1863280). Although that's the explanation of why the Telmarines speak with an accent; the language thing is lost somewhere else on my journal.

But yeah, my Peter totally thinks in Narnian, and when he first came back, he got told off my his teachers because when he was translating, he wasn't translating from Latin or Greek or French or whatever into English, he was translating from one language or another into Narnian. And all his notes aren't just in Narnian, they're in shorthand in Narnian, so really nobody can cheat off him.

*cough*

No, go ahead and friend away! Just don't be offended if I don't friend back, but I very seldom flock anything anyway, and I don't actually use my flist for viewing purposes.

[caramelsilver.livejournal.com]

Wow! You really have it all down. I'm really impressed!

I love the picture of Peter writing in Narnian and his teachers are like, what's this?

Do the Pevensies talk Narnian to each other when they are alone in England?

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

I gave up on doing homework, so I think about Narnia instead. *facepalm*

Probably not unless they're trying to be secretive. Susan refuses to do it utterly, Lucy can't do it on cue, so if they do, it's mostly Peter and Edmund.