oh, that's such a bad sign, i can't even

[bedlamsbard]

The thing I'm not writing fits perfectly into the vague Four Quartets arc I've got going. No, seriously: read Little Gidding and be really creeped out.

Such a bad sign. Oh my God. I think I kind of hate all of you for MAKING ME NOT-WRITE THIS.

I...have no words. I mean, I could quote THE WHOLE POEM at you, but...this is ridiculous. Really, this is ridiculous.

Okay, I'm quoting:

This is the use of memory:
For liberation—not less of love but expanding
Of love beyond desire, and so liberation
From the future as well as the past. Thus, love of a country
Begins as attachment to our own field of action
And comes to find that action of little importance
Though never indifferent. History may be servitude,
History may be freedom. See, now they vanish,
The faces and places, with the self which, as it could, loved them,
To become renewed, transfigured, in another pattern.

Also this:

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

And, um...

It has a title now: "Dust in the Air." It's from that same poem:

Ash on and old man's sleeve
Is all the ash the burnt roses leave.
Dust in the air suspended
Marks the place where a story ended.
Dust inbreathed was a house—
The walls, the wainscot and the mouse,
The death of hope and despair,
This is the death of air.

Seriously, guys, seriously. SERIOUSLY. YOU. I BLAME YOU.

ETA: Just so we're clear on this note: YOU. I BLAME YOU. Also, holy shit, the Pevensies are scary when they're all working together like a well-oiled machine. Calormene Narnia is never going to know what hit it. Also, did I mention I blamed you guys? Because I do. I totally, totally do. Just so we're clear on that note. I BLAME YOU.

SON OF ETA: Oh, I see I occasionally forget how my brain works. I forget it goes SHINY, concept, WORLDBUILDING, concept, STORY, shiny, THEME, concept, HUGE FREAKING BACKSTORY, story, concept, PLOT. We're on the backstory part now. Perhaps we shall approach the plot at some point. Peter (in the RAF) AND Edmund (in the army) both served in Malaya. Edmund almost died, Peter almost got court-martialed. FUNNY HOW THAT WORKS. Now, if y'all will excuse me, I will go back to sulking.

Comments

[realpestilence.livejournal.com]

Blame us all you like, our shoulders are broad enough to bear it. :)


I especially like the middle quote, btw.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

*sulks* SO BITTER. YOU HAVE NO IDEA.

Oh, man, the Four Quartets fit so perfectly with the Warsverse and with Narnia in general, you have no idea. And I hadn't reread the last one in ages, and then I did, and it was a moment of, "this is what Last Battle should have been."

[lyamainu.livejournal.com]

*whistles innocently*

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

YOU. I BLAME YOU.

(It's like the Dying Times all over again.)

[lyamainu.livejournal.com]

Who... me?

*blinks with wide, innocent eyes*

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

I blame everyone.

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

Cool. Keep writing.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

*whimpers*

[lyamainu.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure the homeless man in Baku, Azerbaijan had nothing to do with it. :D

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

*ahem*

I BLAME ALL Y'ALL.

[burntcopper.livejournal.com]

:snerrrrrrrrrrrk:

oh, Calormene Narnia : so doomed. I always get the feeling that Calormen is pretty much the only other major player in the area by that time, and when you get someone like Tirian, that just gave them their excuse.

Malaya. Yep. Someone's been doing their research. (it's where I sent them) I can probably scrounge up the stuff I found through wikipedia and google if you want.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

What's really interesting about this one -- and this is even supported in Last Battle is that there are a lot of Narnian traitors that are siding with the Calormenes for whatever reason, openly and secreted among the resistance, which builds up this awesome atmosphere of secrecy and double-dealing -- and traitors.

And we know how Peter deals with traitors.

See, I remembered that you'd said that, and it was approximately ten seconds after I worked out everyone's ages. Also, Edmund was dying in Peter's arms, it was a big dramatic situation, you know. Although Peter was an officer (being a pilot) and Edmund was enlisted, and Edmund's getting out as soon as he can and going to college. I think he's going to be a lawyer. And Peter's in for life.

Oooh, if you could, that would be great. I'm pretty sure there's going to be at least one flashback. (I think about a quarter of this story is told through flashbacks and interludes.)

[burntcopper.livejournal.com]

look for 'Malaya Insurgency' for a start. This was going on for longer than Korea.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Sweet, thanks.

[burntcopper.livejournal.com]

Lawyer? that works with 'the Just'. He'll be in... 18 months, I think. Standard, you'd go straight into whatever place you had waiting at uni. But then again, Edmund would adapt to civvy street pretty well - it's Peter that frightens me. And your peter? At least mine is vaguely well-adjusted.

Um. Precisely how many heads are we talking to roll when it comes to traitors? And what's going to happen to that monkey?

:deep breath:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayan_Emergency
www.britains-smallwars.com/malaya/index.html

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Well, my Peter's career military, probably. (And my Peter is actually a lot better adjusted eight years down the line than he is in PC, and by that point he's pretty well-integrated into the military. I mean, they learned that putting him anywhere near Edmund is a bad thing, but it was sheer chance that he and Edmund were both in Malaya at the same time.)

The monkey's dead; a group of Narnians killed Shift and Puzzle both fairly early on. Not on Tirian's orders, significantly; what little control he had left started disintegrating pretty soon after that.