the chronicles of narnia: border wars

[bedlamsbard]

This is possibly the most self-indulgent thing I have ever done, but I keep thinking about it! So perhaps if I write it up I shall stop thinking about it.

(A mock-up for a five season TV series covering the years from The Last Battle to Dust in the Air.)

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: BORDER WARS

Narnia has fallen. In the east, a Calormene governor arrives to take control of the state, while in the west, a false prophet proclaims the will of a new god. In the city of Cair Paravel, a young gangster seeks to grab power in the wake of his country's subjugation, while in Lantern Waste a deposed king and his three friends try to stay alive in a land beset by anarchy.



CAST (SEASON ONE)


Elizar Confesor (David Oakes)

The youngest member of the Long Table, Elizar Confesor is not only trying to keep his position secret from his mother, he's trying to stay alive and prosper under the Calormene rule.


May Your Life Be Long and Your Enemies Honorable (voiced by James Purefoy)

Elizar's second-in-command and friend since childhood.


Lior Confesor (Rachel Luttrell)

Elizar's mother, proprietor of a candy and tea shop in the Black Pearl district of Cair Paravel.


Beka Confesor (Maisie Williams)

Elizar's younger sister.


Tirian of Narnia (Jamie Bamber)

King of Narnia, Lord of Cair Paravel, Emperor of the Lone Islands, Heir to the High King, and so on and so forth. Currently deposed and on the run.


Eustace Scrubb (Alfie Allen)

A friend of Narnia who hasn't fulfilled his task and doesn't understand why his cousins had it so easy.


Jill Pole (Juno Temple)

Another friend of Narnia, desperately trying to stay alive.


Jewel (voiced by Simon Woods)

Tirian's oldest friend, also on the run.


Rahim Tarkaan (Shemar Moore)

The new governor of Narnia, a Calormene tarkaan and honored general.


Shift (voiced by Ralph Fiennes)

A self-proclaimed prophet who claims that the fall of Narnia is the will of the new god Tashlan.


Puzzle (voiced by Daniel Radcliffe)

The avatar of Tashlan in Narnia, or so he's told.


Vespasian of Glasswater (Jared Padalecki)

Tirian's cousin, a lord of Narnia.


Leocadia of Glasswater (Holliday Grainger)

Another of Tirian's cousins, Vespasian's ward.


Prejun of Newisle (voiced by Anthony Simcoe)

The Lord Provost of Cair Paravel.


Bencivenni Maresti (Ciaran Hinds)

One of the oldest members of the Long Table.


Onahoua Malukai (Naomie Harris)

A member of the Long Table.


Anais Pujol (Paz de la Huerta)

A member of the Long Table.


Orichan Bracken (Esai Morales)

A lord of Narnia, dying slowly of an incurable disease.


Marcia (Kingbarrow) Bracken (Kelly Reilly)

His wife, a lady of Narnia.


Crispus Kingbarrow (Robert Pattinson)

Marcia's younger brother, a knight of Narnia.

IMPORTANT EPISODES

1.01: The Lion City
Martial law is declared in the city of Cair Paravel as Rahim Tarkaan takes his place as the new governor. Meanwhile, the Long Table gambles on making a profit in the wake of the Calormene conquest and Tirian and his friends flee assassins.

1.05: Bread & Circuses
As Narnia celebrates Promise of Hope, tension between Elizar Confesor and Anais Pujol reaches a head when Anais shuts down the candy shop. Shift preaches against the false worship of the Four.

1.12: Thus Endeth The First Lesson
Vespasian of Glasswater arranges Leocadia's marriage to Prejun of Newisle, Elizar Confesor confronts Anais Pujol, and Tirian attacks a Calormene slave camp in the finale of the first season.

2.01: A Live Rat is Better than a Dead Lion
Rahim Tarkaan orders Shift's arrest, while Vespasian flees Narnia and Elizar takes his seat as both capo del'perla and capo del'strada.

2.02: Anvard
Vespasian arrives in Archenland, which has problems of its own. Tirian attempts to negotiate with the western lords.

2.12: Lord of Cair Paravel
Tirian rallies the western lords in an assault on Rahim's caravan, while Prince Seabright of Terebinthia claims the crown of Narnia.

3.01: The Eye of Tash
Prince Bahadur of Calormen arrives in Cair Paravel to take up the governorship of Narnia, while the Calormene fleet battles the Terebinthian fleet in open water.

3.07: The Last Lion
After a bungled attack, Tirian is thought dead in battle, and Eustace and Jill try desperately to find a way to return to England. Elizar attempts to take up the smuggling trade.

3.11: Golden Age
On a cold winter's night in Narnia, stories of the Golden Age of the High King and his siblings are told. (Guest-starring William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, and Georgie Henley.)

3.12: Ring Around the Roses
Plague in Archenland threatens to spread into Narnia, and Jill falls desperately ill. A riot in Cair Paravel triggers a violent response from Prince Bahadur.

4.01: Lion King
Rumors of Aslan being sighted in the High Reaches sends Tirian and Jewel north, while Eustace stays with Jill in the Western Wild. Meanwhile, riots in Cair Paravel trap Prince Bahadur inside the walls of his castle.

4.03: Rule the Waves
The pirate fleet of Casmyn Wavewalker attacks the Calormene fleet as it attempts to reenforce the beleagured forces of Prince Bahadur. In the city, an attack on his mother and sister causes Elizar to rethink his lifestyle.

4.12: The Rise and Fall of the Calormene Empire
Nature itself rebels against Prince Bahadur as the Calormene army razes its way across Narnia, slaughtering and burning as they go.

5.01: The Last Battle
Attempts to regulate the Long Table raise a violent response from Maresti, Onahoua, Elizar, and the others. Meanwhile, a group of Narnian rebels prepares to practice dark magic.

5.03: Aut Caesar Aut Nihil
Prince Bahadur challenges Tirian to single combat in order to decide the fate of Narnia. Beka Confesor attempts to follow in her brother's footsteps.

5.10: Rule Britannia
Eustace and Jill relive their last days in England. (Guest-starring William Moseley as Peter Pevensie, Skandar Keynes as Edmund Pevensie, Georgie Henley as Lucy Pevensie, Jim Broadbent as Professor Digory Kirke, and Dame Maggie Smith as Polly Plummer.)

5.11: Crossing the Rubicon
Arnau's thieves retrieve the relics of the kings and queens of summer from Cair Paravel, while Lady Marcia Bracken is given the contract for the new temple of Tash on the nameless isle.

5.12: King of Summer
An assault on a Calormene caravan turns deadly for Tirian, Jill, and Eustace, while Arnau and his followers attempt to raise the gods.

OPENING CREDITS
Calormene soldiers marching through the streets of Cair Paravel, knives in the dark, minotaurs and dwarves gambling in a pub, pages turning in a book filled with pictures of the past, the gates of Cair Paravel, a raven's eye view of Narnia, the ruin of the old Cair Paravel, a battle with flashing swords and bright banners, and the empty throne in Caspian's castle, with the shield of the High King bright on the wall above it.



*

Like I said. Most self-indulgent thing ever. And wow, this took way more time than I thought it would. Also, it's much harder to find pictures of unicorns than one might think.

ETA: Changed one picture (Prejun), added one episode (5.10, "Rule Britannia"), edited the beginning for clarity.

Comments

[autumnia]

I would totally watch this! Loyal fan right here!

A friend of Narnia who hasn't fulfilled his task and doesn't understand why his cousins had it so easy.

Hahahaha. Oh Eustace. You think your cousins had it easy during their nearly 20-year reign of Narnia? Have you ever really asked your cousins what it was like?

Juno Temple as Jill... I could see this, actually. She has that wide-eyed look I think a young Jill would have pre-Dust.

And Vespasian... he kind of looks like that in my head, but with longer hair.

Episode 3.11 could be a holiday or milestone episode. But really, all the episodes and summaries look fascinating! Hmm. Would you change the opening credits after episode 5.12 to feature the Pevensies?

... and what would be the opening and closing themes? Something from the Narnia soundtracks themselves?

[bedlamsbard]

Yeah, but the Pevensies got the job done, and fast. Which isn't happening here, and Eustace doesn't understand why.

Vespasian's also about five to ten years older. *hands* Since he's six years older than Tirian, but, eh, whatever, Jared Padalecki just has a look I really like for him.

After 5.12, it's no longer Border Wars, it's Dust! Which changes everything, including the focus of the story and its main characters. So Dust would be something else entirely, though related.

Something from the soundtrack, probably -- maybe a bit of the battle theme from LWW and PC, though on the other hand, that's really closely associated with the Pevensies. (I'll be honest, I never bought the VotDT soundtrack, so I can't remember if that theme is in there at all. Although I'm listening to clips from it now on iTunes, and I'm not hearing it -- oh, there it is. In a grossly-mistitled song. "High King and Queen" MY ASS. I have so many issues with VotDT, I will not go into them here.) Obviously Harry Gregson-Williams would have to compose.

[autumnia]

I haven't even had time to sit and watch VDT yet even though I've gotten the DVD weeks ago. Like you, my issues with VDT are neverending. The soundtrack itself is pretty unmemorable except for the Harry Gregson-Williams based tracks and one or two of Arnold's compositions.

I think definitely something from the PC soundtrack would suit very nicely for Border Wars. If you can, you should check out the PC Complete Score/Recording Sessions (tracklist here) -- three hours worth of Gregson-Williams' music! It's definitely worth a listen.

[bedlamsbard]

I haven't even bothered buying it because just watching the trailer makes me irrationally angry. *sighs* (Which is not to say that there were not parts of it I enjoyed it, like Caspian keeping Edmund's torch and Lucy fighting and Will Poulter and Edmund trying to join the army and the map in Coriakin's house. And...no, that's all I can think of off the top of my head.)

Have you heard Voyage, the song Scott Krippayne wrote for VotDT that got passed over in favor of Carrie Underwood's song? I like it much more, but it reads to me like a Eustace song for version of VotDT I carry in my head, and clearly Apted and I read different books. *rolls eyes*

Oh, man, I'd never seen that before! And now I desperately want to get my hands on it. Like, yesterday. *drools*

[autumnia]

Oh, "Voyage" is a pretty song. I feel like it's a montage song, where we see clips of their entire journey from beginning to end.

I've started to get used to Carrie Underwood's theme, but it's too "pop" to really fit. I liked how they chose indie artists like Imogen Heap and Regina Spektor for the previous two films. "Can't Take It In" and even "The Call" fit their respective films so much better. Carrie's song could have been ending theme #2, like "Wunderkind" and "This is Home" were.

And yeah, both the PC and LWW recording sessions were wonderful, though I'm surprised at long the PC one was. I wonder if there were extras for VDT that could possibly improve on what was officially released on the soundtrack.

[bedlamsbard]

It reminds me a lot of the music on the Music Inspired by the Chronicles of Narnia CD. Obviously it is too Gregson-Williams and Adamson-like for Arnold and Apted. *sniffs* (No, I'm...I'm never getting over this, apparently.) I bet it would make a good song for a Narnia vid.

From what I can gauge looking at the tracklist for VotDT, that soundtrack could only have been improved if they'd managed to compress it the way most movie soundtracks are. (If that makes sense? Instead of having a lot of one or two minute tracks the way it does.)

[snacky]

Oh, man, I'd never seen that before! And now I desperately want to get my hands on it. Like, yesterday. *drools*

Hey, I found a torrent of it, if you want a copy.

[bedlamsbard]

I actually have a copy of it now (along with the LWW one), but thank you for the offer!

[trinity_clare]

...*bats eyelashes*

[snacky]

I've got a locked post up, so if you want to friend me and comment on it, I'll link you there! :)

[lady_songsmith]

To expand on today's tweeting - only difference is my mental image of Confesar has curlier hair. I love this who 'show' and I would totally watch!

[bedlamsbard]

I assume he would also be in color. *grin* Tirian's also supposed to be a redhead and Onahoua's hair is in dreads, so Elizar could certainly have curlier hair. :)

[snacky]

I just spontaneously clapped my hands and made dolphin noises, this caused so much glee. :D

(I still have Diego Luna in my head for Elizar. :D :D :D)

[bedlamsbard]

He could also work! I just really like David Oakes, um, all the time. :)

(There are so many major characters that did not make this list, because if I did all the major characters from the rest of the series, I would still be on Google, Wikipedia, and IMDB. *twitches* Like Arnau and Lady Marcia and Prince Bahadur and Casmyn Wavewalker.)

I am actually really pleased with this because it was such a good exercise for getting some idea of what happened between LB and Dust, which is something that previously I've had next to no idea on. And now I know! Some of it, at least. (Also, for whatever reason, I am super-pleased with Eustace's casting, if I can say so myself.)

[snacky]

I was wondering about Bahadur!

Like you said, this is interesting, because it makes you think visually, and generally I am not one for casting, but then when I start thinking about it, I realize I have IDEAS. :D

Bahadur = Oded Fehr, maybe.

I like Jamie Bamber as Tirian! I was thinking of Jon Foster...

I think your Eustace casting is great, and I like Jill a lot too. Oh, and Leocadia is PERFECT.

Hehe, reading it makes me want to fic some of the eps. :D

[bedlamsbard]

Yeah, the thinking visually is very odd, because it's not generally something I do much, aside from a couple of cases. (The visual contrast between Leocadia and Prejun being one, though I'm not sure how much that comes out in the text. This pretty little blonde teenager and the hulking minotaur, you know.)

Oded Fehr or Naveen Andrews, maybe? Or, if he's younger, Elyes Gabel (Prince Djem from Borgias 1.03).

Oooh, he's an excellent visual match. Or David Wenham, too. (Maybe Wenham for King Eian of Archenland. *shrug*)

Extra bonus casting: Sean Bean as Achelous, the river god of the Great River, and Polly Walker as Cybele, the Mother of Mountains.

I have no protest if anyone wants to play around with Border Wars. :)

[snacky]

Oded Fehr or Naveen Andrews, maybe? Or, if he's younger, Elyes Gabel (Prince Djem from Borgias 1.03).

Cracking up, because those were my three choices too! :D Probably Naveen Andrews would be the top pick.

Oooh, Wenham for King Eian, yeah! He looks old enough to have a teen son.

It's got to be Sean Bean! How can you have a big old fantasy series without Bean? :D And yay, Polly Walker!

Casmyn Wavewalker looks like Caspian in my head (AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHY SINCE HE'S NEVER EVEN BEEN IN THE STORY) and Arnau, hmm. Similar to Peter Dinklage as Trumpkin, except short grey beard and long grey hair in a ponytail. Elizabeth Mitchell for Lady Marcia?

Heeh, I am considering, although after reading other people's comments about Tirian, I wonder if I am reading him wrong. :D

[bedlamsbard]

Well, I don't think Sean Bean's showed up in HP yet. :) (Actually, HP is the one major film industry I can think of that doesn't have any kind of LotR connection, but I must be missing someone.)

As far as I know, Casmyn Wavewalker looks significantly more Telmarine than Tirian does, and he claims to be descended from Caspian, so there's some kind of resemblance.

Kelly Reilly for Lady Marcia, of course! And maybe Orlando Bloom for the voice of Symeon...

Re: Tirian
How so? Now I'm curious.

[snacky]

You know, I can't think of any connection either! Sean Bean, get into HP right now! :D

Oooh, I like Kelly Reilly! And Orlando Bloom is good, although I think Symeon would sound younger, what with all the cracks about how young he is.

re: Tirian

Oh, it's just the comments about him being the worst king, and not being able to get it together. Which I think I see it more as a lot of bad things all coming together at once for Tirian, not all of them entirely his fault, more than him being an actively horrible king. But I also find his character arc one of the most emotionally affecting in Dust, and that his is a journey that in some ways parallels Peter's, as opposed to contrasting Peter's. And it feels like Tirian is an important character, and shouldn't just be written off as "bad king, here are the Pevensies to show you up" but has a redemptive path he's on - whether he makes it out alive is up in the air, but again, I may be reading more into it than is there.

It's probably because of a discussion I was having with someone else about large casts of characters, and how I like shows/books/movies with those, and how I'm interested in ALL of the characters' arcs. Whereas I run into a lot of people in fandom who find a favorite or two and only care about those characters. I think about shows like Lost where people loved, say, Sawyer, but hated Jack. And BSG where everyone loved Starbuck but hated Baltar. Which totally understandable, I get why people hate Jack and Baltar, but I loved them, because I loved the role they played in the ensemble, if that makes sense?

Like, I don't have to think every character is a good guy/hero to like them and root for them. I want to see each character fulfill their arc, you know? I guess it's like, each character needs to be the hero of their own story - Baltar was a whiny weasel, but he was written (and played) as the hero in his perspective, and that's what I found compelling about him.

And I guess I see that same kind of multi-character epic in Dust, especially with the rotating POVs. Each POV character is the hero of that chapter, and I'm interested in seeing all of them, and how they make it through the story, not just "whoo Pevensies here to show 'em how it's done, yay!"

Which, okay, got a little meta and off-topic there, heh.

[bedlamsbard]

I'm now starting to worry that there is no LotR-HP connection. I mean, there are degrees of connection, sure, but is there seriously no one who was involved with LotR (which I'm pretty sure employed half the film industry and the entire nation of New Zealand) who has something, anything! to do with HP? A MOST WORRYING MYSTERY. It is pressing on my mind.

Re: Tirian

Mmm, I agree, I think. Because a lot of what happened isn't directly his fault; he just caught the brunt of several generations of neglect. And I know I started off with the idea that TIRIAN = WORST KING EVER, but I like to think that that started to go away in the Cair Paravel arc in Part I (which I was rereading yesterday, or at least the first bit, and I got a lot of comments along the lines of, "...did Tirian just grow a spine?"). Although it's funny, because I got feedback throughout Part I that was more along the lines, "Too much on the awesomeness of the Pevensies, why are Eustace and Jill and Tirian so weak?" *hands*

Anyway, the Border Wars exercise is interesting because I've known for a while that there were things that happened between LB and Dust, attempts by Tirian to regain power, but that all of them failed for one reason or another. Which doesn't look good either to him or to anyone else, and might explain his, mmm, depressive state in the beginning of Part I.

About big multi-character shows/series, yeah, I've seen that a lot -- especially with Game of Thrones coming out, you know? I've been shying away from reviews because a lot of people who read the books are going, "I hate Catelyn/Ned/Jon/Robb/Sansa/everyone who isn't Arya/Dany/Tyrion." Which is, on the one hand, irritating because I would like to respect your opinions and sometimes find you (not you specifically, various people in general) interesting! But I have no desire to read your comments on the show when half of it is, "I HATE ALL THE STARKS. ALL THE STARKS. I HATE THEM. EXCEPT FOR ARYA." Because then I want to commit homicide. (Also, because a lot of the time I tend towards really liking the unpopular characters, it can real old real fast. Stop describing one of my favorite characters as the dull one, people!) And if you hate most of the characters, then why do you even bother watching/reading?

Er, speaking of digressions...

[snacky]

There must be like, I dunno, a best boy or a grip or SOMETHING.

Tirian:

Yeah, he definitely developed over the course of Part 1 - definitely in Cair Paravel. The moment he told Prejun off is awesome of course. But I never got the sense he didn't have a spine - even in his first POV chapters, he's pretty self-aware, and his offering his head to Peter didn't seem to be a coward's move, or giving up, but more the act of a true king - he owes this sacrifice to his country, if it's going to improve things for Narnia. And despite the fact that Narnia loves Peter best (:D), Tirian does spend a lot of time thinking about it/her, what's happened, how upsetting it is, if it can be fixed...again, a lot of parallels to Peter. Like I said, his character arc is one of the most emotionally affecting (Susan's and Peter's are the others I really like).

And yeah, the Pevensies can go into awesome-overdrive, and it does make Eustace and Jill and Tirian seem diminished, but I think that has changed over the course of the story, you know? I mean, I can give some concrit on that, if you're interested, but I think it's part of the story being a WIP.

And yeah, again to compare it to a tv show - Border Wars is kind of like the Caprica to Dust's BSG, isn't it? :D You get the backstory, which turns out to be its own compelling story, and explains how we got to where we started.

AH OMG THAT DRIVES ME CRAZY ABOUT GOT! I keep seeing the same thing - "I'm only here for Arya/Dany/Tyrion" and omg how can you miss the all the other characters! I never get it - I mean, I get why people like villains, but man, how can you only like 2 or 3 characters and still keep watching the show?

[bedlamsbard]

The other big film enterprise I can think of that does not have a LotR connection is Star Wars, either the OT or the PT. I mean, both SW and HP are only one degree of separation away from LotR, but STILL. This bothers me. (Although strangely, both of them connect directly to Narnia, though I don't think they do to each other. Wait, that's a lie, John Williams.)

I...I really need to figure out what to do with Tirian in Part II. (I know one scene, but I'm not sure if it's going to end up being in Part II or Part III, as it takes place in Cair Paravel, in Caspian's castle.)

I am always willing to accept concrit! Especially as I ponder what the hell is going to happen next. (Unusually for me, it is highly unlikely there will be a fight scene.)

It kind of is. *grins* The BSG franchise is the only thing I can really compare it to right now. (I MISS Caprica. I'm really sorry, my thoughts are really fragmented right now, so I'm not making much sense.) Hmm, I kind of want to write bits and pieces of Border Wars here and there. (Like the opening scene, which is an Elizar POV as the new governor enters Cair Paravel.)

Or reading the books, man. *sigh* Which is when I start wondering, "Okay, you can take an hour out of your life to watch an episode of a TV show, that's not too much of a sacrifice, but if you hate everyone, why are you still reading these 1000 page books?" PEOPLE MAN. I DON'T GET THEM.

[trinity_clare]

(Also Warwick Davis, who I think played an Ewok.)

Hi! *waves* In your entry, crashing your comment threads. Also I would totally watch this show if it existed.

[darklyndsea]

Hey, nothing wrong with self-indulgence, especially when it leads to awesomeness like this. :D

[bedlamsbard]

I am looking at it as a world-building exercise! As previously I knew almost nothing about what passed between LB and Dust.

[darklyndsea]

Puzzleverses are great fun, aren't they? *pokes at hers*

[bedlamsbard]

Puzzleverses? I haven't heard that term before.

[darklyndsea]

I just made it up!...So probably I should have defined it the first time; mea culpa.

Where you start out with one piece of the puzzle, or maybe the borders, and then you have to work to fill in the blank space. And occasionally you come up with a random piece that you just know is from that verse, but you just can't figure out where it fits in.

[bedlamsbard]

Aha! That makes sense, I like that term! And Dust definitely counts there. *crazyeyes* (I'm kind of impressed that I have four characters on this list that never appear in Dust -- Anais Pujol, who preceded Elizar as capo del'perla, Shift and Puzzle, who are canon, and Rahim Tarkaan, who might be contradicting something in Dust, but I don't really care too much. I KIND OF JUST WANT TO TALK ABOUT THIS FOREVER but I shall restrain myself.)

[darklyndsea]

Puzzleverses: the kind of verse you want to talk the most about.

My current puzzleverse...um. I have a gigantic backstory incorporating things such as the destruction of Brazil, the second American Civil War, Nikola Tesla as the guy who made electricity reliable around magic-users, and Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain as more of an underground author than one who's taught in English class. All of which I've pieced together after starting out with only the first 7 years and last week (the whole thing is 50-something years, except for the Tesla/Clemens part; at least 20 of them are complete unknowns)...after the end of the prologue, that world is never seen again.

Hearing other people talk about their puzzleverses tends to cheer me up. A support group of authors who are frustrated at not just getting the whole story in one big chunk (oh, how I love it when that happens...).

[bedlamsbard]

Oh, that sounds interesting!

Since Shift and Puzzle are both dead by Dust, I had forgotten about them, but they're still going to be around during those first few years, you know? I think in the first year Shift is still officially sanctioned by the Calormenes, but they grow tired of the Tashlan talk as soon as they have Narnia firmly under their thumb, and what's worse is that it's starting to sound like he actually believes what he's saying. After Rahim Tarkaan orders his arrest, he becomes a radical and a kind of itinerant preacher, though I think he's eventually captured and executed by the Calormenes, as is Puzzle. (Or he might be assassinated. I think this may have come up very briefly in Dust, but I have no desire to read back over 200K to find out.)

So there's that. And I think it makes sense that Bahadur hasn't been in Narnia since the beginning; the original governor was a much more experienced soldier and politician, although I'm not sure if Rahim screwed up or if he was killed, since it could really go either way. He was a better governor than Bahadur was, though that's not hard.

At some point I should actually give Jewel a personality, since he's important enough that he should show up in Dust more than he actually does.

[darklyndsea]

My one-sentence summary is "At the 50-year Sunnydale class of 1999 reunion, Xander sacrifices himself to stop a portal, and finds himself deaged in the Dresden Files universe, where he works for Marcone (AKA the Mob)."

That sounds like fun to figure out, and also difficult.

Personally I find original characters hard to come up with and write, although I've been told I do them well. Although, bizarrely enough, I totally have The Mayor down (he's the mayor of Cleveland from the civil war, 20+ years before any scene that will probably ever be written...somehow I don't think knowing his personality is going to help anything).

I always admire how you make it all a real world, that keeps going on even when and where the metaphorical camera isn't. *jealous*

[bedlamsbard]

Oooh, that sounds like fun. (Someday I will familiarize myself with the Dresden Files. Maybe.)

I like writing OCs. (And now, we shall have a moment of shock for the least surprising thing ever.) *hands* My biggest problem with writing OCs in Dust right now is that I keep having to backtrack and go, "Hmm, do I want this character to be male or female? Does it make a difference?" (I guess problem isn't the right word. Concern, maybe.) Sometimes I wish I'd made Elizar Confesor or Mayor female, though I'm not sure if that's because it would actually help the story or if I'm just worrying I have too many male characters.

[darklyndsea]

The Dresden Files is great fun, as you might expect of a series that has a [spoiler] in Dead Beat.

Oh, gender. I would say that it's a problem for me too with OCs, because I see people first as people, not as their gender, but when it comes down to it I can at least flip a coin for gender. Personality? Not so much. Well, I guess you could use a random number generator to generate their Big Five personality traits, but I don't think that would work well with my process. But I totally get where you're coming from; it feels weird to have the genders be too unbalanced. (And then there's the times where you go, "yeah, it'd be maybe even more interesting if that character was the opposite gender...but that is not the story I want to/must write."

[bedlamsbard]

I feel there's, mmm, a bit of pressure to have more female characters. Although it is interesting with minor characters, because the default's usually male and I end up stopping myself to go, "Wait, is this necessary? Could they be female? Will that change the story? Will it be helpful?" (The last few OCs in Dust -- Marcia and Sullycloud were both originally going to be male, and then I thought better of it.)

[brownbetty]

My one-sentence summary is "At the 50-year Sunnydale class of 1999 reunion, Xander sacrifices himself to stop a portal, and finds himself deaged in the Dresden Files universe, where he works for Marcone (AKA the Mob)."

I find your ideas intriguing and wish to subscribe to your newsletter!

[darklyndsea]

Well, I don't have a newsletter, but I do dump most of my ideas on my Other Blog (http://lyndseaswriting.blogspot.com/) in the hopes that somebody will take them off my hands. :P

Although, sadly, due to a few reasons, I'm unlikely to actually finish it. (The prologue was 12,000 words! I haven't figured out if what I want to do with part of it would be realistic, and the only person who can tell me if it is is a Chicago social worker! I have no tiiiime!)

[snacky]

Or he might be assassinated. I think this may have come up very briefly in Dust, but I have no desire to read back over 200K to find out.

I didn't see it anywhere in my reread, if that helps. ;)

[bedlamsbard]

Found it! First paragraph of Dust 11:

The last time Tirian had been in Cair Paravel, he’d been lost in the pressing crowd of Narnians gathered in the castle courtyard to see Prince Bahadur of Calormen formally given the rule of Calormen’s latest client state. That had been in the first year of Calormene occupation and the whole of Narnia had still been in shock; no one had quite realized that Aslan’s appearance had all been a clever trick to give the Calormenes passage to a land that was otherwise nearly impenetrable. Bahadur had produced the lion’s pelt after he’d risen with the thin gold circlet of regency on his brow. Tirian can still remember the way his breath caught in his throat, sick with horror. Surely not Aslan – he’d thought. Surely even the Calormenes would not dare – But dare they had, and after that there was no faith to be found in Aslan in Narnia.

I am at this point willing to contradict myself, though. :) Or change the names or dates.

[snacky]

Aw, that's an easy enough change! :D

[bedlamsbard]

And a couple other odd mentions in Part One, but there are other bits of part one that need changing as well, or that I've contradicted elsewhere. *hands*

[cofax7]

Oh, very fun. I love this kind of shit. Even if it is never to be written (and I don't think it needs to be), it's great fun to play with it nonetheless. And so what if it's self-indulgent--all fic is self-indulgent.

Also? I love Jamie Bamber as Tirian (despite the height issues) because he's good at playing a well-meaning but somewhat outclassed type. And Tirian, as we know, is the Worst King of Narnia. (Except possibly for Rilian in your Warsverse.)

[starlady]

No, I think Rilian at least had a vision and the will to carry it out. Tirian can't seem to keep both together at once--and pfft! to hair color, I think Jamie Bamber is perfect. And frankly I think the contrast between him and William Popplewell would be brought out even better by Bamber being blonde.

Though I also just wrote this, which features Rilian a la Warsverse being rather tyrannical, so my view is probably skewed.

[bedlamsbard]

And if nothing else, it's a really good exercise -- I now know things that I did not about what happened between LB and Dust! (Seriously. I knew nothing except "Time passed, Tirian did not regain his throne." And now I know more! Some of which foreshadows stuff in Dust!)

I don't know if Tirian is the worst king of Narnia; he may just be the unluckiest, since a lot of what happened is due to the choices his father made when he was king and the repercussions just happened to come after Erlian had died. On the other hand, losing one's country does not look particularly good on a resume. (And I think I like Jamie Bamber as Tirian more than I do my initial casting of Ewan McGregor.)

[starlady]

Wow, this is really interesting, and again, totally something I would watch. I'm assuming that Prince Seabright's bid failed, but it's fascinating that he made it at all.

Though you know, I was thinking about it a bit tonight, and I do think Eustace is justified to feel frustrated at his inability to carry out his task, because in TSC it was so bloody obvious what it was, and they bungled it along the way but they got it done in the end, and again, fairly quickly. And even in TLB book-canon, it's not really obvious to me what Lewis Aslan was trying to accomplish by sending Jill and Eustace to Narnia first, other than cutting Tirian off of that stupid tree, in light of his final intentions for the world.

I have to admit, I find the Jewel-Tirian relationship to be kind of creepily close, at least from the outside.

[bedlamsbard]

I think there were a couple of different tries for the throne of Narnia during the Calormene conquest -- Seabright didn't make it (I'm not sure what the repercussions were for Terebinthia), I think there might have been at least one from a Narnian noble, and there's a possibility that there was someone running around for a while claiming to be Caspian returned from the dead. (Weird times. Very weird times. He didn't last long.)

The thing that always strikes me as odd about sending Eustace and Jill in LB is that the task/mission there is so different from what Eustace and Jill have done in the past, in VotDT and SC, but it's comparably similar to what the Pevensies did in LWW and PC. So it's an odd choice of tools...

I really need to work out the relationship between Jewel and Tirian. *sighs*

[bessemerprocess]

I would be attached to my tv for every episode.

[bedlamsbard]

Heh, thanks.