Navigating by Stars for therck

[nfe_gremlin]

Title: Navigating by Stars
Author: redsnake05
Recipient: therck
Rating: G
Possible Spoilers/Warnings:
Summary: Jill tries to find her purpose as she, Eustace and Puddleglum search for Rilian. She learns to find her way by new stars, and also finds an answer to something that's been troubling her for a long time. As Puddleglum says, we are all of us between the

Comments

[autumnia]

I think you did well capturing the personalities of our heroes, especially Puddleglum! Every word out of his mouth was dreary, disheartening and so perfectly captured his character. It was good of Pole and Scrubb to learn early on to disregard all the gloominess; once they got past that, they could see how smart and wise the Marshwiggle is. It made sense that Jill would have so many insecurities here, being an outsider to the adventures, thinking over her failures and being concerned about the whereabouts of her Mum. But at least she worked through it all and not only managed to get past most of her worries to help save Rilian, but she was rewarded with a vision of her mother, and finally learning a little of why she heard nothing from her in so long.

[redsnake05]

Thanks, I had so much fun working out the different characters and how they would fit together. Puddleglum was a lot of fun!

[therck]

What a lovely bit of character development for Jill! I liked the bits of insight into Eustace and Puddleglum, too. Jill and Eustace really didn't know each other before Narnia, and it wouldn't have been easy for them to become comfortable with each other. You've shown how that might go very clearly. I liked, too, the information about Jill's family. We really get nothing about her in that way in canon.

Thanks so much!

[redsnake05]

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I have long been curious about how Jill and Eustace fitted together, and your prompt gave me an opportunity to write it.

[aurilly]

This was beautiful. Beautifully written, chockfull of evocative details, and with Puddleglum telling funny/gloomy stories! (Puddleglum is so great, and I love how he drops the pessimism when Jill really needs a boost.) Jill's insecurity was logical and real, and I liked testing the wariness between her and Eustace. I never really thought about it, but they weren't bffs when they got to Narnia, so it makes sense that they'd have some hitches at the start. Everyone's characterizations were perfect, especially Eustace, I think, who comes across as still a little bit annoying but a good kid who's always going to be working stuff out. And I adored Jill's dream and the resolution.

his thoughtful tone was the voice of a man recognising an opportunity that has passed him by, not a petulant boy
This part was particularly moving, as was Eustace's line just before it about how he would have been happy with the life his parents wanted for him, but things are different now. He isn't sad about it, but it still is true. Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous

[redsnake05]

Thank you so much, I am so glad you liked the fic. I have always seen Puddleglum as a deeply sympathetic and caring character, and I loved writing him with a positive and nurturing relationship - despite his pessimism! And I had fun with Eustace. He's not always easy to characterise, I think.

[anonymous]

Oh, a lovely character piece on Jill! Not only is this a Susan/Lune year, it must be a Jill one, too...

I like how you captured the more melancholy aspects of her character, especially when it's up against Puddleglum's pessimism which isn't near as justified as Jill's is! (Though it must have been fun to write all those woeful lines of the Wiggle!)

And this also is a really nice glimpse into the beginning stirrings of her and Eustace's friendship, too!

Thanks for the story!

[snitchnipped]

DANG IT, I keep getting logged out when trying to review!

[redsnake05]

I had to remember to log in especially every time I wanted to comment, so I understand!

I think it was a bit of a Jill year, and I'm happy to be part of that, because I think she's a fascinating character. I adored writing Puddleglum; you're right, he is so deliciously woeful.

[wingedflight21]

I focus so often on Eustace and Jill following the adventures in SC that I'm always surprised to remember that they hardly knew each other when Aslan pulled them into Narnia! This perfectly fills in the gaps of the two of them slowly learning more about each other. My heart aches for Jill and I actually had to stop at the part where she snapped at Eustace's questioning because oooooooooww that hurt (in the best of ways!).

[redsnake05]

I found that scene, where Jill snaps at Eustace, quite difficult to write. I had to go back again and again to the laying of the wood and the counterpoint of Eustace talking, so I'm happy to hear that it was effective, even though it hurt you. It hurt me too!