(no subject)

[bedlamsbard]

You know, usually my idea of comfort fic involves me writing action, not me writing the Pevensies in the extreme youth (read: first two years) of the Golden Age. I want to be writing Dust 10 right now, not the time Susan lost her virginity to the Shoushani minstrel.

They are all so cute before all the Narnian Narnia angst kicks in, let alone before all the England Narnia angst kicks in. (Let alone by Dust, good lord. By Dust they're all so bitter.)

You know. When all they have to worry about are problems like, "Oh my God, we do not have enough food because we didn't have enough time to put the harvest in because of the flooding in the lowlands caused by the rapid melting of snow everywhere, and also there's been a huge population explosion because, well, sudden spring, and also because half these people have been stone for the past century! And they didn't have to eat then!" and also, "Must import food. Do not have trade or diplomatic relations with anyone. Or money. Don't have much of that either. OH GOD," and not, "Narnia has been conquered and occupied! The forests are being cut down! The people are being enslaved! The last of the free Narnians are hiding out in a thin fringe along the western and northern borders and living a fugitive existence! At any moment now the Calormenes could land another army and then where will we be?"

One of these problems is far worse than the others, don't you think? Or even the problems of a few years later: "The High King is missing. No one knows where he is. The giants are encroaching on the northern border, the Archenlanders are getting feisty in the south, the islands are considering revolting, and there are three nations in the west just salivating over invading, not to mention the fact that there are people right here in Narnia who think now is a great time for a riot."

So cute! So innocent! Must not write the cuteness and innocence at the moment because seriously, Dust 10 isn't going to write itself, and I'm sure there's some socio-political trauma I can put in the Susan/minstrel fic if I think about it some more. (Because there has to be a reason for Peter barging into her room and saying, "You, out. We have affairs of state to discuss," as the minstrel panics and looks for his pants. Because of course he's afraid of the High King.)

Comments

[westingturtle.livejournal.com]

Oh Peter, stop being such a jealous bastard and let Susan have her fun (You don't think that's enough of a reason right there?)

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

The funny thing is that one of the few things I know about the story is that that is not the reason: there really is some kind of immediate crisis that Peter needs Susan for. (Now, he may be holding the party in her room just out of spite, but it's Peter, what do you expect?)

Because it's not like she doesn't have enough things to hold over his head. This is only a few months after Peter started sleeping with Osumare Seaworth, after all.

[westingturtle.livejournal.com]

It's just as well, I suppose. Because if he tried to make up a reason, Susan would see through it, and there would be the ensuing family drama before she got her sneaky and underhanded revenge (in private, of course) and the whole Royal Guard would be awkward and unsure of whether they're supposed to interfere in this sort of thing.

Nope, real international crisis is definately better for everyone.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Oh, the Royal Guard figured out a long time ago that they don't get involved in the royals' private business. They figured that out very early on.

The other story I kind of want to write is Susan seducing a shepherdess somewhere on a hill, except jeez, where do I get context for that?

[westingturtle.livejournal.com]

...
.........

........that my friend, is a context I cannot explain. Except oooh! Espionage purposes? She was doing blend in sort of stuff in Be Like Water (which I am almost done with, and have notes when ever its amenable to you) to get information. Obviously she had to get practice for that somewhere.

And everyone knows a pretty shepherdess is just compensation for a job well done.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Ah, but Be Like Water is not Warsverse, and Petaverse Susan and Lucy split Warsverse Edmund's spymaster job. (Petaverse Pevensie dynamics are so different from Warsverse Pevensie dynamics. It screws with my head. As many Petaverse things are wont to do.)

I think she is doing something diplomatic in Archenland, and Archenland is rockier ground, more given to sheep and goats and that sort of thing. *considers* Also, an Archenlander is significantly less likely to recognize her as Queen Susan of Narnia, unlike if she was screwing around on some hillside with a dryad or something in Narnia.

[westingturtle.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I did notice the spymaster/mistress thing. But Edmund might put her to work occasionally anyway. Boy's too canny not to use a pretty face. Even if the dynamics are different, the base material is the same. So if she needed to do it, she could.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Oh, Warsverse Susan can certainly do that sort of thing; it's not her general gig.

[lazaefair.livejournal.com]

Hehe, if I were a minstrel faced with the High King, I'd give up my pants for lost and just get the hell out of there.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

This is, of course, before Peter gets really scary; he's still sixteen and sweet-faced, although he's already got a hell of a reputation. And the minstrel is a foreigner, he doesn't understand that sometimes it's best just to run...