OH MY GOD

[bedlamsbard]

One of y'all tell me not to do this terrible thing, or even think of this terrible thing, or tell my brain to SHUT UP.

Because. Well.

Last Battle AU where there is no train crash and a shed is just a shed and Aslan does not, you know, end the world, and five years later Calormen has totally taken over Narnia and the remaining true Narnians are hiding out in the woods, along with Tirian, Eustace, and Jill. And Tirian? Not popular. He's looked upon as a weak king and the Narnian outlaws have no real leader; they're just a scattered mass of rebels that aren't really succeeding in doing anything, argue a lot among themselves, and make no impact on Calormene Narnian society as a whole. The most they've succeeded in doing is killing Shift and Puzzle, and now the Calormenes aren't even making a pretense at worshipping Aslan or Tashlan; it's a big mass conversioin of Narnia to worshipping Tash. In a way it's sort of like the Telmarine situation at the time of PC, but about ten times worse, and without the thirteen hundred years of trauma beforehand.

Meanwhile, what's sprung up among the free Narnians is a kind of cult worship of the Pevensies, who had fallen out of vogue in the three hundred years between Caspian's reign and Tirian. But in such a time of deprivation, they're Back In, and so once again you start seeing charms asking for the protection of the King of Summer, or the King of Evening's vengeance, or the blessing of the Queen of Spring, or the luck of the Queen of Morning. Belief in the Pevensies is kind of muddled at this point, between the actual historical figures that are talked about in the history books -- and still, there's not much left -- and the somewhat mythical figures of legend. (There's a big debating school on whether it was really the Kings and Queens of old who showed up during Caspian's time; some believe it was just their "spirits", and in most of Narnia the Pevensies hold demigod or saint status.) Someone, somehow, gets the bright idea to summon the kings and queens back to Narnia -- maybe using earth magic, maybe using blood, maybe using need, maybe using their sacred artifacts, which have been stolen from Calormene-occupied Cair Paravel. (Which is not built on the ruins of the old Cair Paravel; the new Cair Paravel is located on the mainland, not the nameless island, or maybe it has a name now.) Well, they're summoned -- and they come. All four of them.

I think at this point Tirian, Eustace, and Jill have all been captured by the Calormenes, and Peter and the others break them out of prison; it's worth it just for the sight of Peter sticking his head in and Eustace going, "Peter?", Jill going, "Lieutenant Pevensie?", and Tirian going, "...I am so fucked," because he remembers the curse/prophecy passed down through his line back to Caspian the Seafarer himself, where it's said that the High King will only return to Narnia to enact his vengeance on Caspian's line if Narnia should be ruined.

Also, for Peter drawing Rhindon in one smooth movement and Tirian going, "NOBODY USES THAT SWORD. EVER," and Peter raising his eyebrows and going, "It's my sword."

There is no romance. There is some Susan drama where Lucy mocks her a lot and Susan finally screams at her.

Also, there is no plot; I mostly just want to play with how the Pevensies are looked at differently based on the times, and something about the demarcation between history and myth, and legend and history, and belief.

Also, there is this:

Some days, Tirian finds himself wondering if his ancestor Caspian the Seafarer lived this same kind of outlaw existence, hiding in the woods and stealing food from the towns, fleeing before Calormene soldiers and Narnian traitors.

Okay, NOW I NEED TO STUDY.

ETA: OKAY FINE. Because it's the weekend (and Homecoming weekend at that! Roll Wave, wash out Army, and so forth), and I am a crazy person, and before I lose the threads of this, are there any specific bits that y'all would want to see? Just throw out some situations here and I'll play with them. Also, do not even think about saying "the whole thing!" because seriously, no plot.

Comments

[reni-m.livejournal.com]

YES!

[elucreh.livejournal.com]

NONONONO, DON'T STUDY! WRITE THIS! IMMEEEEEDIATLY WRITE THIS!!!

Every time you ask for prompts because you are bored, I am going to ask for more of this story. You should consider yourself warned.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

NO!

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

CANNOT WRITE. MUST GO TAKE THEATRE ARTS QUIZ. (quiz my ass, a quiz is short.)

Hey, I don't mind writing bits of it, I just don't want to write, you know, the whole thing. Bits means I get to play around with it without actually writing it. And I really just want to play around with some of the concepts.

[elucreh.livejournal.com]

Your concept play is what intrigues me, to be frank. Well, that and the sibling snark. So, yes, I think bits will be more than sufficient to rock my baby socks off.

[snacky]

One of y'all tell me not to do this terrible thing, or even think of this terrible thing, or tell my brain to SHUT UP.

Oh dear, no. Please write this terrible thing. :D

[aella_irene]

Yes. Please. Do. The ve-ry thought has red-uce-d me to sin-gle syll-a-ble joy.

[reni-m.livejournal.com]

Ha, seems I am not the only one who wants to see this.
But no pressure from me. I'm content just knowing this idea may progress.

[westingturtle.livejournal.com]

Oh please. You know we're all going to tell you to go for it. And what's wrong with writing something based on those views? And I don't know how Caspian's Voyage is passed down in the whole Narnia mythos, but is there any line drawn between Eustace and the Pevensies? Because as much as he may have grown as a person, I think he'd eventually have to stop and correct someone's grand story of how the Pevensies as mini-Gods, if only for internal inconsistencies.

Also, King of Evening, Queen of Morning, squee! Lucy would so be called on for luck.

[aella_irene]

The rescue. And the Susan-Lucy argument. And the aftermath of the rescue, once they're as safe as they're going to get, and arguments all round.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

*whimpers*

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

How much are the Narnians going to believe him, though? I mean, he's just this kid who came out of nowhere and hangs out with Tirian a lot. (And Tirian, at this point? Not well-liked at all.) And for that matter, Eustace doesn't know all that much about the Golden Age, and what he does know, he doesn't really believe. And it's hard to argue with True Believers.

[burntcopper.livejournal.com]

:whistles innocently: Do I need to tell you to put it down again?

Soooo, when Peter and co get into a conversation with Eustace on how utterly *useless* Tirian is...

Also. You know how you previously said Jill only knows Peter is very very fuckign scary broken borderline alcoholic Lieutenant Pevensie, and then sees him in full High King mode? Pissed off that Narnia's got to this state. (Tirian : Narnia's Edward the Confessor) But also - he's back in Narnia.

The tales around the campfire and Eustace keeping quiet about the fact that these are his cousins because he features in the 'spirits of the Pevensies' stuff as a mysterious guider/helper/saviour in the Tale of Rilian, since the Pevensies were the guardians of King Caspian the Seafarer. C'mon, I wants the meta.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

see the eta. *facepalm*

[lyamainu.livejournal.com]

Lucy hearing someone say a prayer to her. And her being "OMG ASLAN IS THE ONE TRUE GOD!!!!" And Susan totally being cool with being a demigod.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

see the eta. *facepalm*

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

y'all know i only throw this stuff at you for the moral encouragement. *headdesk, for a change* (no, don't ask where my capital letters went; i don't know.)

[westingturtle.livejournal.com]

I just meant if the legends mentioned the whole Voyage of the Dawn Treader thing, because the great King Edmund and Queen Lucy were there, even if they didn't really do anything, along with this third guy Eustace. And since Eustace and Jill were responsible for bringing back Caspian's son, especially Caspian's son considering his life had already been so populated by legendary figures, I was wondering if Eustace, if not necessarily Jill, had made it into legend at all. It would certainly give them some kind of position in the resistence, and probably be enough to keep the Narnians from killing Tirian outright, even if the Narnians aren't sure whether or not it's true.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Oh, huh. *considers* I don't think there's all that much known about the voyage -- there weren't a lot of people there to witness it, a lot of what was brought back was dismissed as just sailors' tales, and there's no real reason to believe that the King of Evening and the Queen of Morning and their kid cousin was there; it's already unbelievable enough that Caspian sailed to the end of the world and brought back a wife. I mean, there's scholarly dissent and all that over what actually happened, but I think the general school of thought is that they weren't actually there. (From a three hundred years later viewpoint, anyway.)

Now, with Rilian's little adventure -- that's even more shrouded in the mists of time because there's about two people in Narnia who knew about it: Puddleglum and Rilian himself. And Puddleglum? Not really the person to, a, talk, or, b, be believed. And Rilian, well...there's some dissent about where his loyalties truly lay, and whether he was really "disenchanted", or if Caspian's dying as soon as he saw his son was a coincidence or not. Maybe he was rescued...or maybe not. And the political situation in Narnia, which started out rocky during Caspian's reign and eventually more or less leveled off, went back to being rocky throughout Rilian's reign. He's not really the most fondly remembered king in Narnian history. A lot of people think that the two children who "rescued" him were his attempt to play off real historical events from his father's rise to power, but that he was afraid to openly use the High King and his siblings, so he used the lesser-known cousin from Caspian's voyage and then made up another girl.

But there's enough doubt, especially given Eustace and Jill's mysterious appearance, to keep them from being killed as Calormene spies/Narnian traitors. They're not particularly well-regarded, but then again -- neither is Tirian. And some people still give him credit for being king of Narnia.

Not much credit, though.

[elucreh.livejournal.com]

I loved what you did with various race relations in the Wars 'Verse--any chance of another shot at how they've rotated again since then? Do the book race relations come into play here at all?

Also, I'm kind of dying to see your take on Eustace's relationship with the Pevensies (especially the boys) and Jill's with Lucy, especially since Eustace and Jill have spent this time in this horrible political climate.

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

What a fascinating idea!

I'd love to see Susan's reintegration into the group.

I'd love to see all of it, actually.

Do we get any cross-species Jewel/Tirian love?

[westingturtle.livejournal.com]

So the whole monarcy has been shaky for the last 300 years? It does help explain while Tirian is persona non grata but I'm impressed they lasted that long if there was such doubt about Rillian. I figured Eustace and Jill would be feted and whatnot, so that at least some other people would know about them.

I truth, this is mostly beside the point. I really want to see Susan finally snap at being back in Narnia. And I believe if I ask enough questions you will develop a plot and write the thing.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Not the entire monarchy, just Rilian's reign, and the latter half was considerably more stable than the previous half. There was just a pretty good degree of doubt about whether he really was who he said he was -- after all, he was gone a long time, and for a while there (before and after his return) Narnia had pretenders showing up claiming to be him. And he was a good king; there was just the whole legitimacy issue, which quieted down during the next three hundred years. Good kings, mostly; some bad, but not to any extent that would destroy Narnia. Probably not any tyrants.

Tirian's not unpopular because of his ancestry, although there have always been a few grumbles and conspiracy theories about Caspian pushing the High King out of the country way back when, but those are the crazy conspiracy theories. Tirian's unpopular because his country was conquered out from under him, and he never even put up a fight. Not something a true Narnian king would do, or let happen, or so say the whispers...well, at this point, they're not really whispers. They're more like shouted insults to his face.

No, but you asking me questions means I think things through! Because I hadn't thought about post-Caspian Narnia at all.

[franceica.livejournal.com]

I think you know full well what each and every one of us are going to do.

One of y'all tell me not to do this terrible thing.

Oh my god! No! Please do write it! It is such fun!

Talking about Pevensies being worshipped as semi-gods, it is interesting now you should mention it. I had a discussion with one of my friends not long after watching the movie, and we actually had this crazy idea going on that possible, one of the reasons for the Pevensies to be driven out of Narnia after their fifteen-year reign is because they garnered too much worship during that time and Aslan/or whoever that cast them out, sees a problem in this and promptly threw them out of Narnia. Of course, this is a shaky theory, and anyone adores Aslan's probably going to skin us alive. But still, it has something to do with this "Pevensie worship" we are talking about here. And it is so very interesting to set it into perspective around the time of the Last Battle, because that makes it so much more solid. *urges you on* You should definitely write! If not the whole thing, at least a lot of things that are interesting.

And yes, squeals at your ETA. And I am going to throw you a fat list. If you are interested, I would feel so awesome if you'd write more than one of them. But if you only want to write one, that's still better than nothing! So, the list.

1. The one you mentioned up there, "at this point Tirian, Eustace, and Jill have all been captured by the Calormenes, and Peter and the others break them out of prison; it's worth it just for the sight of Peter sticking his head in and Eustace going, "Peter?", Jill going, "Lieutenant Pevensie?", and Tirian going, "...I am so fucked," because he remembers the curse/prophecy passed down through his line back to Caspian the Seafarer himself, where it's said that the High King will only return to Narnia to enact his vengeance on Caspian's line if Narnia should be ruined."

2. Tirian's observation of the High King as events progress. I think he'd probably frightened of them. But I am wondering whether there's any initial disappointment like Caspian felt in PC movie or not?

3. Different Narnians' different observation/reaction about the High King and his sibling's return. Especially those that does not believe a word about the Pevensies helped Caspian win his crown? Shocked/Disbelieve/Incredulity/or whatever they will be feeling? And whether Peter and Edmund need to prove their worth all over again? (it'd probably be better than last time though, because Peter and Edmund and Susan and Lucy are actually older now. At least Peter could be fully regarded as an adult now.) And, if by any miracle deeds the Pevensies actually restore Narnia again, there will have this legend circulated that whenever Narnia has trouble, the Pevensies will come and help and restore everything! Aslan probably will not be happy. *laughs*

4. A argument between a Pevensie worshipper and one that is not? Although it's going to be a pointless argument, I bet no one can convince the other party, but still, worth seeing for it's so interesting!

5. And this one you mentioned too, I really want to see it! Also, for Peter drawing Rhindon in one smooth movement and Tirian going, "NOBODY USES THAT SWORD. EVER," and Peter raising his eyebrows and going, "It's my sword."

6. The Pevensies' kind of fed up of the need to save the day, even Peter? Or maybe especially Peter, I don't know. *wonders*

I think this list is fat enough and I am going to stop for now. *grins* But really, I so wish you would write the whole thing!

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

You have seen my Aslan conspiracy theory, haven't you? Because I kind of subscribe to the "Aslan kicked Peter and Co. out of Narnia because he couldn't control them anymore" school of thought...