Dear NFE Writer!
Note: I am repurposing my stock Yuletide letter here, which is why some of the sections may seem slightly off-topic for a single fandom exchange.
Hi, and thank you in advance for writing a story for me! I'm pretty easy to please -- unless you write context-free porn, I'll be thrilled just to get a response to one of my prompts. *grin* But I realize that's not terribly helpful, so here's the (very!) long version. (I am sorry for the tl;dr, but I like to talk about things I love and I figure more details are better than fewer.)
---------------
General Information:
1. I will read anything when it comes to pairings -- het, slash, femslash, threesomes, poly, whatever, so long as you put in a bit of character development so the relationships don't seem to come out of nowhere -- but I prefer gen, and I tend to skim sex scenes because the non-sex parts of the story are almost always more interesting to me. So while you can do whatever you like with background pairings, they are not what I am most interested in.
(Please feel free to disregard this if you are writing the Lucy/Sea Girl prompt! In that particular case, I am totally okay with a sex scene, though I would definitely like some context around it to explain how they found each other again.)
2. I read all kinds of genres and moods, from schmoopy fluff to angsty deathfic, but my favorite endings are bittersweet (...okay, bittersweet leaning toward happy) and a little complicated.
3. I fall in love with worlds and themes as much as I fall in love with characters, if not more, so any world-building you can sneak in around the edges of a story or in the background details of a picture will be received with great joy. I am also totally open to OCs and/or the development of canon characters who might as well be OCs, as you may note from the structure of several prompts.
4. Stuff I really, really like: This can be boiled down to, 'Please treat characters as intelligent people who have understandable motives for their actions, please take the worlds seriously as settings, and please remember that there's more to life than sex. Also, ethics, metaphysics, and world-building are dead cool.'
The long version: I like character development; world-building; explanation of plot holes in canon; subtle humor; good spelling and grammar; a sense of wonder; writing that evokes an emotional reaction as well as telling a story; close relationships that don't necessarily involve sex (i.e., friendship, families, teachers and students, coworkers, traveling companions, soldiers in the same cause, etc.); the consequences of actions and choices; a sense of place and time; dialogue that conveys character as well as plot information; politics; ethics; people being intelligent even if they make bad choices; people trying to do the right thing even if they make bad choices; conflict because of opposing goals that both have points in their favor; a lack of simple solutions; female characters treated as people instead of plot devices; male characters treated as people instead of plot devices; ideas that make me stop and think; the nature of memory; the nature of truth; possession; soul-searching; non-gratuitous torture (...I have a kink, shut up); war and battles; hand-to-hand fighting; swordfights; peace and diplomacy; magic that's properly magical and strange or magic that's explained as a science (but not both at once); books and reading; people exploring a new country/world/city; linguistics and languages; early Industrial Revolution technology (or whatever technology is suitable to the milieu); people using logic to investigate a problem; and fires, floods, earthquakes, and other natural disasters.
5. Stuff I'm not so keen on: obvious authorial hatred for characters I like and/or find interesting (which is generally all of them); sex or romantic love with no in-story justification (unless the people in question are already a canon couple); gratuitous angst/torture/rape (i.e., bad stuff that comes out of nowhere and is not necessary to make the plot or character arc work); idiot plots (i.e., problems that could be solved in five minutes if the characters asked one or two obvious questions); and predestination, prophecies, and anything else that denies free will.
6. If you want to know more about my general approach to Narnia, all my fanfic is available on this masterlist. Some of my meta posts are also listed there, down at the bottom of the page.
The three most important things to note are as follows:
A) The books are my canon, not any of their various adaptations to film.
B) My personal stance on the Pevensies after their initial return from Narnia is that they really did become children again, in mind as well as in body. So they are children who remember being adults, but those memories are filtered through children's brains and general perspective on the world. This is only directly relevant to the Lucy/Sea Girl prompt, but I figure that since this seems to be a minority viewpoint in the fandom and I'm asking for a tailored gift, I might as well mention it.
C) I am not Christian. However, Lewis's use of Christian mythology is central to the series, which I find creates an interesting tension for many writers that doesn't occur in stories built on mythologies that aren't in widespread current use. So while I prefer stories that stick to the general canon assertions that Aslan is a god and a Christ-analogue, that he created the Narnian world, and that he is good (but not safe), I would also prefer stories that acknowledge the existence of other gods in the Narnian world, in the world of England, in Charn, and any other worlds that become relevant. I would like a recognition that good does not always equal right, ethics are complicated and often situational, and there isn't always one right answer. And I do not want to be preached at.
Thank you for your consideration!
Okay. On to specific prompts.
---------------
Aravis Meets Rabadash:
Prompt: I would like a story in which Aravis meets Rabadash prior to the events of HHB. Maybe he comes to Calavar for some reason. Maybe they attend the same party at the Lake of Mezreel. Maybe we go a little AU and Aravis tries to follow her brother off to the western rebellions, where Rabadash is leading part of the army. I would just like to see them interact in Calormen at a time when Aravis has no reason to think ill of him.
The main qualification I make to this prompt is that I don't want Rabadash to be consciously cruel to Aravis. I don't mind if he's dismissive -- in fact, that's his most likely response, since I'm sure he's not accustomed to or interested in dealing with young girls! And of course it is in-character for him to be cruel to people around her, which Aravis may or may not notice since this is before her character arc in HHB about learning to treat servants as people. I also request that Rabadash neither propose nor countenance an offer of marriage involving Aravis. Beyond that I leave the details up to you, though if you can work in Hwin somehow, in her disguise as an ordinary horse, that would be lovely. (A supporting role for Lasaraleen would also be lovely, though again, not necessary if the plot makes that awkward.)
Mostly I want to see Aravis and Rabadash in a situation I have yet to see explored in Narnia fanfic, and to get a bunch of world-building about Calormen around the edges. Also, please note that while I have some highly elaborated headcanons about Calormen, and you have my enthusiastic approval to use them, you also have my enthusiastic approval to ignore them and invent your own. I love any and all attempts to create a full and functional society from the hints and glimpses Lewis gives us. :)
---------------
Lucy/Sea Girl Femslash:
Prompt: I would like some Lucy/Sea Girl femslash, please! I have only two stipulations. First, I DON'T want this set in Aslan's Country. Second, I DO want them to meet again and have a happy ending. Beyond that, the details are up to you. (I have checked the Dimension Travel and Time Shenanigans tags because I think those are the only ways for them to meet outside of Aslan's Country... unless you go AU at the end of VDT and have Lucy stay in the Narnian world, which is, of course, also an option!)
I realize that getting these two to meet outside of Aslan's Country is tricky, and I am sorry about that. However, I find TLB infuriating on multiple levels, and I want a story where the characters are alive, not one where their reunion is a consolation prize after death. I think Dimension Travel, Time Shenanigans, or just a straight-up AU are the best ways to accomplish this, and I would love to see creative methods to make Lucy and the Sea Girl find each other again.
I definitely want a happy ending, but the emotional tone of the preceding story is up to you -- anything from angsty pining to determined adventures to fluffy schmoop is fine with me. I am likewise fine with any level of reunion. If you want to write explicit sex, that's awesome. If you want to stop at blushes and holding hands, that's awesome too, so long as it's clear that this IS a romantic relationship that will get to sex sooner or later. :)
---------------
The Telmarine Court:
Prompt: I would like a story about the Telmarine court in the years leading up to "Prince Caspian". This can be before or after Caspian's birth, and also before or after his parents' deaths. (I tried to nominate Miraz, Prunaprismia, and Caspian X's parents to better define the scope of this prompt, but alas, they seem to have gone missing when I edited my submission to include more world-building tags.) Anyway, I want to reassure you that my interest is in the setting rather than any particular set of players! Mostly I want to know how the Telmarine government and castle WORKED on a day-to-day basis -- for the royal family, for their servants, or for both. If you can work in some of the nobles mentioned in PC and VDT (the brothers of Beaversdam, the Passarids, the seven banished lords, Glozelle, Sopespian, etc.) that would be extra awesome though obviously not necessary.
(Note: This request is for book!verse rather than any of the film versions of PC.)
One caveat aside, I am open to anything you come up with. Caspian IX meeting his future wife (or Miraz meeting his future wife)? Great! Caspian's mother trying desperately to protect her infant son from her brother-in-law? Tragic, but I'd love it! Caspian's nurse and/or Doctor Cornelius navigating the murky household politics of Miraz's dictatorship? Wonderful! Any of the rulers doing foreign diplomacy, insofar as Telmarine Narnia had any foreign relations? Bring it on! I am really not picky, and there's so much fascinating stuff implicit in Lewis's offhand background narrative, you know?
And now my one caveat! I decided, a while back, that Caspian's mother was named Zarabel Passarid, and her family's desire to investigate her death was one reason Miraz went after them so determinedly. I would be very grateful if you don't contradict that headcanon.
---------------
Rilian's Everyday Life While Enchanted:
Prompt: Rilian was enchanted for about ten years. He canonically didn't spend all of them in Underworld -- we first meet him and the Lady of the Green Kirtle riding on the road from Harfang, and he himself says she takes him aboveground to accustom his eyes to sunlight, though he's not allowed to show his face or speak to anyone on those trips. He also seems to have a position of some minor authority in the Lady's city, though what exactly he uses it for is anyone's guess. I would like to see some of his day-to-day life under enchantment, and through that, some of the world he and the Lady moved in.
(Note: You can go as dark as you want in the background, for obvious reasons, but the foreground should be practical details and worldbuilding rather than angst or mindscrew, please.)
Obviously any response to this prompt should have a creepy undertone, because Rilian is not in his right mind (and if his relationship with the Lady is in any way sexual, that's rape), but as stated above, I'm more interested in everyday practical details. In other words, where did the Lady take him on those trips? What did he DO all day underground? How did the food and clothes and supplies (and horses!) get to Underworld? What kind of diplomatic relationships does the Lady have with other people who live north (and/or west) of Narnia? (Secondarily, who are those people? We know about Harfang, but a castle like that can't exist in isolation; it needs a society to support it.) There's a very medieval romance feel to the Lady, her environs, and her spells, and I'd like to see them through a more realistic lens.
I am inclined to think that Rilian didn't age while enchanted (except maybe in his one hour of freedom each night), which might make for extra background creepiness if anyone notices that aspect of the spell and the Lady either handwaves it or makes him forget.
---------------
Pure Worldbuilding
Prompt: This last request is for pure worldbuilding. Take one of the areas in the Narnian world that are only briefly mentioned or seen in passing -- the underground realms, the northern lands, the Western Wild, Calormen's other neighbors, the realm of the stars, the undersea kingdoms in the far east, etc. (alas that I didn't have enough tags to list them all!) -- and explore it! How does that country work? Who lives there and what are their everyday lives like? Have Narnians gone there and had adventures? What are the cultures and religions and food and fashions and literature of those regions like? Just, please explore some of the areas Lewis only hinted at and make them come to life.
(Note: This prompt is for the Narnian world only. Other worlds in Lewis's multiverse, fascinating though they are, need not apply.)
I believe this prompt speaks for itself, yes? :) But anyway, I promise you -- I promise -- that I will be thrilled with whatever you come up with, regardless of your chosen setting, chosen time period, chosen characters, and chosen tone.
By which I mean, if you want to write something gritty and as close to realistic as the setting itself allows? Go for it! If you want to write something straight-up mystical or allegorical? Go for it! Something cozy and cheerful? Go for it! Something dark and full of creeping fridge horror? Go for it! Something I haven't even thought of? Go for it! All of these aspects and more are supported by canon in various sections and various readings, and I love that Narnia is broad and self-contradictory enough to comfortably contain them.
So like I said: write WHATEVER YOU WANT, so long as it explores a dusty and unfamiliar corner of the Narnian world, and I will be there with bells on. :D
---------------------------------------------
And that is that.
If you want to comment on this post, you can do so over here on Dreamwidth, where there are currently (
comments)
Hi, and thank you in advance for writing a story for me! I'm pretty easy to please -- unless you write context-free porn, I'll be thrilled just to get a response to one of my prompts. *grin* But I realize that's not terribly helpful, so here's the (very!) long version. (I am sorry for the tl;dr, but I like to talk about things I love and I figure more details are better than fewer.)
---------------
General Information:
1. I will read anything when it comes to pairings -- het, slash, femslash, threesomes, poly, whatever, so long as you put in a bit of character development so the relationships don't seem to come out of nowhere -- but I prefer gen, and I tend to skim sex scenes because the non-sex parts of the story are almost always more interesting to me. So while you can do whatever you like with background pairings, they are not what I am most interested in.
(Please feel free to disregard this if you are writing the Lucy/Sea Girl prompt! In that particular case, I am totally okay with a sex scene, though I would definitely like some context around it to explain how they found each other again.)
2. I read all kinds of genres and moods, from schmoopy fluff to angsty deathfic, but my favorite endings are bittersweet (...okay, bittersweet leaning toward happy) and a little complicated.
3. I fall in love with worlds and themes as much as I fall in love with characters, if not more, so any world-building you can sneak in around the edges of a story or in the background details of a picture will be received with great joy. I am also totally open to OCs and/or the development of canon characters who might as well be OCs, as you may note from the structure of several prompts.
4. Stuff I really, really like: This can be boiled down to, 'Please treat characters as intelligent people who have understandable motives for their actions, please take the worlds seriously as settings, and please remember that there's more to life than sex. Also, ethics, metaphysics, and world-building are dead cool.'
The long version: I like character development; world-building; explanation of plot holes in canon; subtle humor; good spelling and grammar; a sense of wonder; writing that evokes an emotional reaction as well as telling a story; close relationships that don't necessarily involve sex (i.e., friendship, families, teachers and students, coworkers, traveling companions, soldiers in the same cause, etc.); the consequences of actions and choices; a sense of place and time; dialogue that conveys character as well as plot information; politics; ethics; people being intelligent even if they make bad choices; people trying to do the right thing even if they make bad choices; conflict because of opposing goals that both have points in their favor; a lack of simple solutions; female characters treated as people instead of plot devices; male characters treated as people instead of plot devices; ideas that make me stop and think; the nature of memory; the nature of truth; possession; soul-searching; non-gratuitous torture (...I have a kink, shut up); war and battles; hand-to-hand fighting; swordfights; peace and diplomacy; magic that's properly magical and strange or magic that's explained as a science (but not both at once); books and reading; people exploring a new country/world/city; linguistics and languages; early Industrial Revolution technology (or whatever technology is suitable to the milieu); people using logic to investigate a problem; and fires, floods, earthquakes, and other natural disasters.
5. Stuff I'm not so keen on: obvious authorial hatred for characters I like and/or find interesting (which is generally all of them); sex or romantic love with no in-story justification (unless the people in question are already a canon couple); gratuitous angst/torture/rape (i.e., bad stuff that comes out of nowhere and is not necessary to make the plot or character arc work); idiot plots (i.e., problems that could be solved in five minutes if the characters asked one or two obvious questions); and predestination, prophecies, and anything else that denies free will.
6. If you want to know more about my general approach to Narnia, all my fanfic is available on this masterlist. Some of my meta posts are also listed there, down at the bottom of the page.
The three most important things to note are as follows:
A) The books are my canon, not any of their various adaptations to film.
B) My personal stance on the Pevensies after their initial return from Narnia is that they really did become children again, in mind as well as in body. So they are children who remember being adults, but those memories are filtered through children's brains and general perspective on the world. This is only directly relevant to the Lucy/Sea Girl prompt, but I figure that since this seems to be a minority viewpoint in the fandom and I'm asking for a tailored gift, I might as well mention it.
C) I am not Christian. However, Lewis's use of Christian mythology is central to the series, which I find creates an interesting tension for many writers that doesn't occur in stories built on mythologies that aren't in widespread current use. So while I prefer stories that stick to the general canon assertions that Aslan is a god and a Christ-analogue, that he created the Narnian world, and that he is good (but not safe), I would also prefer stories that acknowledge the existence of other gods in the Narnian world, in the world of England, in Charn, and any other worlds that become relevant. I would like a recognition that good does not always equal right, ethics are complicated and often situational, and there isn't always one right answer. And I do not want to be preached at.
Thank you for your consideration!
Okay. On to specific prompts.
---------------
Aravis Meets Rabadash:
Prompt: I would like a story in which Aravis meets Rabadash prior to the events of HHB. Maybe he comes to Calavar for some reason. Maybe they attend the same party at the Lake of Mezreel. Maybe we go a little AU and Aravis tries to follow her brother off to the western rebellions, where Rabadash is leading part of the army. I would just like to see them interact in Calormen at a time when Aravis has no reason to think ill of him.
The main qualification I make to this prompt is that I don't want Rabadash to be consciously cruel to Aravis. I don't mind if he's dismissive -- in fact, that's his most likely response, since I'm sure he's not accustomed to or interested in dealing with young girls! And of course it is in-character for him to be cruel to people around her, which Aravis may or may not notice since this is before her character arc in HHB about learning to treat servants as people. I also request that Rabadash neither propose nor countenance an offer of marriage involving Aravis. Beyond that I leave the details up to you, though if you can work in Hwin somehow, in her disguise as an ordinary horse, that would be lovely. (A supporting role for Lasaraleen would also be lovely, though again, not necessary if the plot makes that awkward.)
Mostly I want to see Aravis and Rabadash in a situation I have yet to see explored in Narnia fanfic, and to get a bunch of world-building about Calormen around the edges. Also, please note that while I have some highly elaborated headcanons about Calormen, and you have my enthusiastic approval to use them, you also have my enthusiastic approval to ignore them and invent your own. I love any and all attempts to create a full and functional society from the hints and glimpses Lewis gives us. :)
---------------
Lucy/Sea Girl Femslash:
Prompt: I would like some Lucy/Sea Girl femslash, please! I have only two stipulations. First, I DON'T want this set in Aslan's Country. Second, I DO want them to meet again and have a happy ending. Beyond that, the details are up to you. (I have checked the Dimension Travel and Time Shenanigans tags because I think those are the only ways for them to meet outside of Aslan's Country... unless you go AU at the end of VDT and have Lucy stay in the Narnian world, which is, of course, also an option!)
I realize that getting these two to meet outside of Aslan's Country is tricky, and I am sorry about that. However, I find TLB infuriating on multiple levels, and I want a story where the characters are alive, not one where their reunion is a consolation prize after death. I think Dimension Travel, Time Shenanigans, or just a straight-up AU are the best ways to accomplish this, and I would love to see creative methods to make Lucy and the Sea Girl find each other again.
I definitely want a happy ending, but the emotional tone of the preceding story is up to you -- anything from angsty pining to determined adventures to fluffy schmoop is fine with me. I am likewise fine with any level of reunion. If you want to write explicit sex, that's awesome. If you want to stop at blushes and holding hands, that's awesome too, so long as it's clear that this IS a romantic relationship that will get to sex sooner or later. :)
---------------
The Telmarine Court:
Prompt: I would like a story about the Telmarine court in the years leading up to "Prince Caspian". This can be before or after Caspian's birth, and also before or after his parents' deaths. (I tried to nominate Miraz, Prunaprismia, and Caspian X's parents to better define the scope of this prompt, but alas, they seem to have gone missing when I edited my submission to include more world-building tags.) Anyway, I want to reassure you that my interest is in the setting rather than any particular set of players! Mostly I want to know how the Telmarine government and castle WORKED on a day-to-day basis -- for the royal family, for their servants, or for both. If you can work in some of the nobles mentioned in PC and VDT (the brothers of Beaversdam, the Passarids, the seven banished lords, Glozelle, Sopespian, etc.) that would be extra awesome though obviously not necessary.
(Note: This request is for book!verse rather than any of the film versions of PC.)
One caveat aside, I am open to anything you come up with. Caspian IX meeting his future wife (or Miraz meeting his future wife)? Great! Caspian's mother trying desperately to protect her infant son from her brother-in-law? Tragic, but I'd love it! Caspian's nurse and/or Doctor Cornelius navigating the murky household politics of Miraz's dictatorship? Wonderful! Any of the rulers doing foreign diplomacy, insofar as Telmarine Narnia had any foreign relations? Bring it on! I am really not picky, and there's so much fascinating stuff implicit in Lewis's offhand background narrative, you know?
And now my one caveat! I decided, a while back, that Caspian's mother was named Zarabel Passarid, and her family's desire to investigate her death was one reason Miraz went after them so determinedly. I would be very grateful if you don't contradict that headcanon.
---------------
Rilian's Everyday Life While Enchanted:
Prompt: Rilian was enchanted for about ten years. He canonically didn't spend all of them in Underworld -- we first meet him and the Lady of the Green Kirtle riding on the road from Harfang, and he himself says she takes him aboveground to accustom his eyes to sunlight, though he's not allowed to show his face or speak to anyone on those trips. He also seems to have a position of some minor authority in the Lady's city, though what exactly he uses it for is anyone's guess. I would like to see some of his day-to-day life under enchantment, and through that, some of the world he and the Lady moved in.
(Note: You can go as dark as you want in the background, for obvious reasons, but the foreground should be practical details and worldbuilding rather than angst or mindscrew, please.)
Obviously any response to this prompt should have a creepy undertone, because Rilian is not in his right mind (and if his relationship with the Lady is in any way sexual, that's rape), but as stated above, I'm more interested in everyday practical details. In other words, where did the Lady take him on those trips? What did he DO all day underground? How did the food and clothes and supplies (and horses!) get to Underworld? What kind of diplomatic relationships does the Lady have with other people who live north (and/or west) of Narnia? (Secondarily, who are those people? We know about Harfang, but a castle like that can't exist in isolation; it needs a society to support it.) There's a very medieval romance feel to the Lady, her environs, and her spells, and I'd like to see them through a more realistic lens.
I am inclined to think that Rilian didn't age while enchanted (except maybe in his one hour of freedom each night), which might make for extra background creepiness if anyone notices that aspect of the spell and the Lady either handwaves it or makes him forget.
---------------
Pure Worldbuilding
Prompt: This last request is for pure worldbuilding. Take one of the areas in the Narnian world that are only briefly mentioned or seen in passing -- the underground realms, the northern lands, the Western Wild, Calormen's other neighbors, the realm of the stars, the undersea kingdoms in the far east, etc. (alas that I didn't have enough tags to list them all!) -- and explore it! How does that country work? Who lives there and what are their everyday lives like? Have Narnians gone there and had adventures? What are the cultures and religions and food and fashions and literature of those regions like? Just, please explore some of the areas Lewis only hinted at and make them come to life.
(Note: This prompt is for the Narnian world only. Other worlds in Lewis's multiverse, fascinating though they are, need not apply.)
I believe this prompt speaks for itself, yes? :) But anyway, I promise you -- I promise -- that I will be thrilled with whatever you come up with, regardless of your chosen setting, chosen time period, chosen characters, and chosen tone.
By which I mean, if you want to write something gritty and as close to realistic as the setting itself allows? Go for it! If you want to write something straight-up mystical or allegorical? Go for it! Something cozy and cheerful? Go for it! Something dark and full of creeping fridge horror? Go for it! Something I haven't even thought of? Go for it! All of these aspects and more are supported by canon in various sections and various readings, and I love that Narnia is broad and self-contradictory enough to comfortably contain them.
So like I said: write WHATEVER YOU WANT, so long as it explores a dusty and unfamiliar corner of the Narnian world, and I will be there with bells on. :D
---------------------------------------------
And that is that.
If you want to comment on this post, you can do so over here on Dreamwidth, where there are currently (
comments)