this is a new low. Or high. I can't tell.
Jun. 22nd, 2009 12:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedlamsbardThe tone of Dust 18 (a.k.a. PART TWO OH MY GOD WHAT) is completely different than any of the previous chapters. Possibly because it stopped fucking raining.
Also, I realized that if I wanted to, I could actually group the sections by semi-season -- part one is early spring, when it's still mostly winter, part two is springish-spring, when...oh, shit, everyone's going to be sneezing because of pollen *cough* -- I mean, a spring-like spring where things are looking up!, and part three (OH DEAR GOD I HATE MY LIFE) could be late spring, also known as early summer.
Also, I have now committed (Golden Age) Narnian Army marching cadences. Because Dust 18 starts out with Lucy running, and apparently she sings when she runs, and none of the jodies my Googling turned up were appropriate (and apparently the British military doesn't actually use jodies and possibly mocks the American military extensively for doing so?) and therefore we now have two Narnian marching songs from the Golden Age. I am actually quite terrified of the inevitable day when I start writing Narnian sea shanties; I am positive that one of them will result in this sailor naming off all the species of saltwater Narnians that he has had sex with and their respective high points (now off the Narnian shore so bright / a selkie keeps me warm at night / at twenty miles out to sea / a finned lass it's sure to be), before at last he gets back to land and his one true love.
But, before that fateful day, there are land songs.
My home is in the far down south
My home is in the far down south
I come 'round here by word of mouth
I come 'round here by word of mouth
The High King comes and says to me
The High King comes and says to me
'How'd you like to fight for me?'
How'd you like to fight for me?
'Well, I'm a fighting man by day
Well, I'm a fighting man by day
'And money's food, so what's the pay?
And money's food, so what's the pay?
'Three suns, six moons, twelve stars 'year'
Three suns, six moons, twelve stars 'year
'Well,' I says, 'that's 'nough for beer!'
Well, I says, that's 'nough for beer
So here I am this very day
So here I am this very day
Fighting for the High King's pay!
Fighting for the High King's pay
This song actually came about later than the next one; it plays on what happened much later with the Narnian military, which started drawing heavily on foreign recruits, including a number from south of Narnia, a fairly vast stretch of the continent that included everything from Archenland to Anskettell, as well as most of the Great Eastern Ocean. The payment of "three suns, six moons, twelve stars" a year is actually probably closer to what an enlisted Narnian army or navy recruit made in two years rather than one.
Well, a hundred years on the eastern shore
Nothing but snow, ice, and more.
Now spring’s come and summer too
All that’s left is me and you.
No more ice and no more snow
Look at those spring flowers grow.
Island man come and asked us all,
What makes our trees grow so damned tall?
No more ice and no more snow
That’s what makes our tall trees grow.
Mountain man come and asked of you
What makes our rivers so damned blue?
No more ice and no more snow
That’s what makes our blue rivers flow.
Desert man come and asked of me
What makes our grass grow so damned green?
Enemy blood makes grass grow green
Hard fighting makes us lean and mean.
Strangers come and ask in awe
What the hell is summer's draw?
For a hundred years on the eastern shore
Nothing but snow, ice, and more
Ask us what summer has to show:
No more ice and no more snow!
One of the early Narnian marching songs, probably coming about shortly after the end of the Long Winter. "Island man" refers to the Eastern Islanders (Galma, Terebinthia, the Seven Isles, and the Lone Islands, as well as the islands farther to the south), "mountain man" to the Archenlanders, and "desert man" to the Calormenes. This is the song that appears in Dust 18.
Also! I have gotten my![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
cliche_bingo card! And the scary thing is I am pretty certain I have already written thirteen of the cliches on that card (though those don't count, of course), although one of them is canon. OH LEWIS. Look, I had a moment where I had a wild panic attack about not being a productive member of fandom, it was very odd; for some reason Dust doesn't count in my head. *pets*
Also, I realized that if I wanted to, I could actually group the sections by semi-season -- part one is early spring, when it's still mostly winter, part two is springish-spring, when...oh, shit, everyone's going to be sneezing because of pollen *cough* -- I mean, a spring-like spring where things are looking up!, and part three (OH DEAR GOD I HATE MY LIFE) could be late spring, also known as early summer.
Also, I have now committed (Golden Age) Narnian Army marching cadences. Because Dust 18 starts out with Lucy running, and apparently she sings when she runs, and none of the jodies my Googling turned up were appropriate (and apparently the British military doesn't actually use jodies and possibly mocks the American military extensively for doing so?) and therefore we now have two Narnian marching songs from the Golden Age. I am actually quite terrified of the inevitable day when I start writing Narnian sea shanties; I am positive that one of them will result in this sailor naming off all the species of saltwater Narnians that he has had sex with and their respective high points (now off the Narnian shore so bright / a selkie keeps me warm at night / at twenty miles out to sea / a finned lass it's sure to be), before at last he gets back to land and his one true love.
But, before that fateful day, there are land songs.
My home is in the far down south
My home is in the far down south
I come 'round here by word of mouth
I come 'round here by word of mouth
The High King comes and says to me
The High King comes and says to me
'How'd you like to fight for me?'
How'd you like to fight for me?
'Well, I'm a fighting man by day
Well, I'm a fighting man by day
'And money's food, so what's the pay?
And money's food, so what's the pay?
'Three suns, six moons, twelve stars 'year'
Three suns, six moons, twelve stars 'year
'Well,' I says, 'that's 'nough for beer!'
Well, I says, that's 'nough for beer
So here I am this very day
So here I am this very day
Fighting for the High King's pay!
Fighting for the High King's pay
This song actually came about later than the next one; it plays on what happened much later with the Narnian military, which started drawing heavily on foreign recruits, including a number from south of Narnia, a fairly vast stretch of the continent that included everything from Archenland to Anskettell, as well as most of the Great Eastern Ocean. The payment of "three suns, six moons, twelve stars" a year is actually probably closer to what an enlisted Narnian army or navy recruit made in two years rather than one.
Well, a hundred years on the eastern shore
Nothing but snow, ice, and more.
Now spring’s come and summer too
All that’s left is me and you.
No more ice and no more snow
Look at those spring flowers grow.
Island man come and asked us all,
What makes our trees grow so damned tall?
No more ice and no more snow
That’s what makes our tall trees grow.
Mountain man come and asked of you
What makes our rivers so damned blue?
No more ice and no more snow
That’s what makes our blue rivers flow.
Desert man come and asked of me
What makes our grass grow so damned green?
Enemy blood makes grass grow green
Hard fighting makes us lean and mean.
Strangers come and ask in awe
What the hell is summer's draw?
For a hundred years on the eastern shore
Nothing but snow, ice, and more
Ask us what summer has to show:
No more ice and no more snow!
One of the early Narnian marching songs, probably coming about shortly after the end of the Long Winter. "Island man" refers to the Eastern Islanders (Galma, Terebinthia, the Seven Isles, and the Lone Islands, as well as the islands farther to the south), "mountain man" to the Archenlanders, and "desert man" to the Calormenes. This is the song that appears in Dust 18.
Also! I have gotten my
cliche_bingo card! And the scary thing is I am pretty certain I have already written thirteen of the cliches on that card (though those don't count, of course), although one of them is canon. OH LEWIS. Look, I had a moment where I had a wild panic attack about not being a productive member of fandom, it was very odd; for some reason Dust doesn't count in my head. *pets*