rthstewart | All Aboard!

Chapter 15 of TQSiT, Folly, is up.

We have, in no particular order:

The return of Evil Banker Morgan and Jina
A refutation of the incest stories (which I sort of felt I needed to do in order to write a Peter & Susan relationship without the Peter/Susan connotation.
A build out of the ideas of Ilysia on Susan and Rabadash
And, in the Spare Oom part, kissing.

A word about that last one, but frankly, I'm more interested in what you thought. Susan is kissing someone who is not Caspian, Peter, or Rabadash. Further, it is consensual and her consent is not ambiguous, in fact, she is the initiator. Susan and sexual violence seem to show up a fair bit in fandom and that is obviously not something I want perpetuate at all. Fandom needs those story lines the way I need more dog hair in my shoes.

Further, there is, admittedly, a "squick" factor because of her apparent age, of which Tebbitt is ignorant and Guy knows full well. So, I go there, but only so far, which makes her initiation and control of the situation even more important. This is not Susan's first time in this situation, I wanted to assure an equality of power, i wanted "no" to mean "no," and I wanted her to really desire this and still have the wisdom and intellect to stop. So yes, a total fantasy, I suppose. This is one I've been thinking about a whole lot and am really curious to see what folks think.

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Well, I don't know about the squee factor here, when it's all somewhat calculated, but the attraction is obviously quite mutual, and there's nothing cold about it, so yeah, I can go with it. Certainly, Susan's control is formidable, so I think you've managed to achieve what you set out to do very well (fantasy or no).

I'm wondering whether it's merely the lure of the unobtainable for Tebbitt, his habitual behaviour with women, or whether there's something a bit more behind it (a la Gladys/Lowrey, albeit still in its infancy). I'm also wondering whether anything that may have been forming has been killed stone dead by this encounter, and if there's anything left to be salvaged. Does Tebbitt have a broody monster or a quick-flash-and-then-it's-over kind of temper. He seems the impulsive, quick-flash type, but I'm curious about how you see it.

Re Ruan Chun Xian's comment about the absence of Peter's reaction, I'm wondering whether that's going to come later when Susan gets home (assuming we see some of those conversations, at any rate).

You really are going to have to write the whole Rabadash thing, you realise? After the set-up in this chapter, and the bits with the Trickster in Chapter 14, you aren't going to be able to avoid it - we'll pester you to death until you add it to your plot bunny list (although I think it's gone rather beyond a plot bunny already).

Oh dear, what else did I like. Your flashback had a lot of little bits that I just loved. The Suspian explanation, the set-up for Peter and Susan without being Peter/Susan (if you know what I mean), the "knighting" thing (nice one-liner there), the Glasswater set-up for BRD, the re-appearance of the splints and the Rule of Threes... (etc, etc).

BTW, I certainly wasn't complaining about the density of Chapter 14. I enjoyed it a lot, even though it wasn't an easy (meaning lightweight) read. It's set the foundations for a lot of what's coming, and I really like the way you twist a whole lot of seemingly unrelated stuff together, and voila - there's a whole new take on Narnia (and yes, I do know that it's Not That Simple). Be reassured, your hard work is appreciated.

Cheers
: )

Thanks for the comments on the last chapter. As you've undoubtedly noticed, I read everything people write and do try to adjust accordingly. The Tebbitt/Susan snogging was one of those scenes that has been in my head for a very, very long time. I knew I wanted to do it, I wasn't sure how. There are a few that are like that -- the train platform scene with Peter, Asim, and Mary is another one.

As I as driving home today, talking aloud, I thought about how Tebbitt and Susan would resolve this, other than, oh let me comfort you while your drunk, let's go to bed together, which would be the fan fic convention. I like your observation that he is quicker to anger and quick to forgive. There's also going to be a sort of stiff reserve between them, but that's OK, because Edmund and Peter are reading on or around August 22 or so (a few days after Dieppe) and Susan has just written of events on July 16. There's not that much more of a time span to cover for Susan and Tebbitt and they will have plenty to do in the meantime.

I really do not feel I have anything meaningful to add to Rabadash and Susan. Fandom is full of so many of those. The Trickster on the other hand... well, yes. I just love the idea that he's pounding on Pan's forest glade, yelling, "You stupid drunken lout! I need to plant an idea in one of your Faun's heads and he won't let me in!"

As for the Peter/Susan interaction, it is going to have to be in person, not in letter and I don't see Peter really discussing it with Edmund. But, I think the reunion of the siblings will frame the beginning of Part 3 in the way that Peter's reunion framed the beginning of Part 2. I have a lot of plotting to do for Part 3, most especially because all my carefully set out timeline when Kaboom! I was just thinking this evening about the fact that I'm going to have to deal with whether Peter ends up in service, and if so, what.

It's possible that the Trickster story will come after Part 2 while I'm plotting out Part 3. I'm starting to wonder about a Valentine's Day set of vignettes as well, though Peter's a bit of a problem there.

Oh, you asked about Fooh and Beehn. Palace Guard with Dahlia and the cubs is Year 7-8, or thereabouts, and BRD is year 10. I might be a bit off there, but the cubs are young in BRD. Dahlia and the Cubs' Christmas story is set sometime before or right after BRD. This flashback is some 2+ years after BRD, so Morgan has been around a while and the Fooh at least has grown up a bit. They are, when the timeline is examined closely, probably portrayed a bit younger than Cheetah's actually would be in BRD if they were really 2-3 years old. But, we'll just say they were slow to mature because Dalia was over protective.

Like Morgan, Tebbitt's role grew in the telling, btw. I'd never intended to kill him off, but I'd not intended for him to have much to do after Susan leaves America. Now, some readers Metogator and Love_and_Rock_Music, are really hoping for more Tebbitt in Part 3 and I've actually written some silliness. (Definitely not for the children's Narnia). I'm in the same boat with Morgan -- if I'd intended to keep the character around, I would have done some things differently. I'll see where it goes, I think.

I just love the idea that he's pounding on Pan's forest glade, yelling, "You stupid drunken lout! I need to plant an idea in one of your Faun's heads and he won't let me in!"

Oh, Lord. Please. Just... please. My life may not be complete until this is available for my perusal.

Oh yeah - now that I've just got to read. Please? And as for Rabadash/Susan, yeah sure, there's plenty of it, but no-one except you and Ilysia have gone in this direction, so yes, I do think you've got something worth adding. That said, I don't have to write it, so... : )

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