Some thoughts on my NFE fic
Posted my NFE fic up to ff.net tonight so if you'd like to read it, "the girl from beyond the world's end" can be found here.
And now for some thoughts. I guess I should put a spoiler warning here? SPOILERS AHOY. Ok, we're good.
( Warning: spoilers for )
And now for some thoughts. I guess I should put a spoiler warning here? SPOILERS AHOY. Ok, we're good.
( Warning: spoilers for )
aldkjwpaoeijar now I'm trying to figure out why he would - does he have a Calormene mother, maybe? Is he just that sucky that if they offer him like, governorship or something, or even just to let him live, he'd do it?
WANT.
(also, I know I read your NFE but I don't think I actually reviewed it, so going to fix that now!)
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I think it's mostly because he just isn't very good at being king - just doesn't have the talent for it - and then the Calormenes come and say they'll make him head of the province once Narnia is theirs - basically leaving him in the same position, in his view - yet will provide a lot for the former country as well. Because Narnia would become a part of Calormene, and the Tisroc (may he live forever) provides for his empire, etc etc etc. So in Tirian's mind, this proposal means only good for the country but he also recognizes that there are plenty of Narnians who wouldn't hold the same view, hence keeping it a secret ( ... )
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Because WHY ELSE would he meet his father in Aslan's country and NOT HIS MOTHER?
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But I would just love to see the story where Tashlan is like, a thing already, in some ways - I have a hard time believing that no one ever intermarries across countries/cultures/faiths in the Narnia world, and it would be super interesting to see a Narnian king who certainly believes in and follows Aslan (as we do see Tirian very fervently doing) but has also been raised with Calormene culture, which would no doubt include references to Tash even if there was a conscious decision not to have the heir to the Narnian throne worship Tash. ESPECIALLY in a world where a variety of deities factually exists - the Calormenes think of Aslan as demon more than god, but don't deny his existence, and the Narnians mostly seem to just ignore Tash, but there he is in LB, and we do have Bacchus and others wandering around. It's a very interesting complexity and I don't think that many writers work with it!
/ramble
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So like, underground Tashlan has been a thing (if not in NAME then in practise) for generations, particularly in mixed culture areas. I feel this would include Archenland, as it's situated right between Narnia and Calormen. So it really makes sense that with the movement between countries (only natural) that the faiths have been brought along and intermingled until there have become whole communities who regularly worship both Aslan and Tash. And overtime it's become so they're not even worshiping two gods, but two aspects of the same god.
I mean, there's such a binary set out even in the books that it would be easy to interpret this way. Aslan, the creator, the "good" side of the god - receives respect out of love - prayers to Aslan are for hope and forgiveness. Tash, the dark side (not evil necessarily, but dark) - demands respect for his power - represents judgement - one would beg Tash for mercy and strength. Aslan for day, Tash for night. Aslan for hope, Tash for certainty ( ... )
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O.O
YESYESYES. Because we KNOW Calormenes have been seeping into Narnia for awhile, disguised as merchants, and there are sometimes oranges all the way up in the Chippingford market.
You. Must. WRITE. THIS. NOW.
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(Um, don't mind me, just opening LB so I can read with a notebook to jot down anything that fits the interpretation.)
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*runs off to find LB*
And there's that bit about how the Calormenes had been immigrating for awhile, and . . . and . . . Oh! Why do they have skin dye stockpiled in Lantern Waste Keep? and what was up with the outlaws?
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Now I'm wondering about where the Lion Skin came from. A sacrifice? But are lions revered due to their connection to Aslan, or shunned and exterminated?
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It would be pretty hilarious if the skin WAS a complete accident, albeit in a different way. Like, the Calormenes are getting ready for their final phase which, I guess uses a lion skin as symbolism? And then whooooops, dropped into the river, chase after it, you fool and suddenly this donkey is pulling out of the whirlpool by his teeth. And Shift is much too shrewd to just give up the lion skin - he figures it out as soon as the Calormenes "merchants" approach that this skin is valuable to him and he wants information. And then goes overboard in acting upon it, claiming to be a great prophet of Tashlan and the Calormenes decide that he's annoying but they may as well use him and just run with it ( ... )
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Hmm.
And was Tirian living in the woods to get away from the Tash-happy court? Because he wanted to restore the Narnia of old with the true worship of Aslan? Or what?
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And I was almost thinking the opposite of his motivations? Like, he is very much in favour of the Tashlan movement?
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Hmmm. But then, why IS he living out in the woods?
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