All Aboard!

[rthstewart]

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.

Comments

Ruan Chun Xian

[(Anonymous)]

Well, as I said in my review, I kind of saw the Tebbitt/Susan bit coming, not to the extent you wrote it. I had an inkling that Susan might resort to something physical to motivate Tebbitt. Knowing Susan's real age, it does seem a little uncomfortable to read, and I am glad that Susan and Tebbitt are both aware of the reason for the said kissing. Tebbitt might be mad, but Susan knows what is at stake here. It speaks a lot of Susan as a character and you as a writer that there was an opening for something more but it wasn't exploited. In fanfic it's so hard to write restraint when so much of it is just romance.

I noticed you mentioned that Susan would tell Edmund a portion of it, but didn't include Peter's reaction as he reads it, becuase surely that part must come before the news of the ship sinking in the letter Peter's reading. Interesting.

As for what is happening in fandom, I kind of avoid shipping in Narnia like the plague since the majority is either Mary Sue or incest, with only a small amount that is actually well written, so I wouldn't know what exists.I suspect the Rabadash episode probably does a lot to push the Susan and sexual violence idea, though I kind of don't see why it should.

[min023.livejournal.com]

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
: )

[ilysia-039.livejournal.com]

As I said before, I thought what happened between Tebbitt and Susan was tasteful, in that we know why it happened and we know when it stopped. And that Susan was the initiator here... you do a very good job of letting us know in no uncertain terms that it was her decision, and that she did have motivation behind it.

And like Min said, you really are going to have to write Rabadash after this. I see no other way about it. Oh, just thinking of what you could do with that storyline is insane, and I find myself really looking forward to it.

Bravo!

[autumnia]

So what I didn't address in my review just now:

Loved the continuity between this story, "By Royal Decree", "The Palace Guard" and your other stories. And Jalur and Otter mentions! We can't forget those things.

Peter and Susan's reaction to the suggestion of incest -- when I first read that, Andi Horton's "Peter Bows" came to mind and very strongly. I think it's because my reaction to the thought of any incest between the two mirrors my own reaction to her story. That said, I am glad that the two older siblings understood why the Dryads would make such a suggestion though of course, the Humans and many other Narnians would never accept it for their own kind.

As for Susan and Tebbitt... I generally do not like reading romances in this fandom. There are a few well written stories though where it's Susan/Caspian that I do enjoy because either the relationship is written well, or that the romance is just one part of a much larger story and it does not take center stage in the scheme of all things. However, I must admit that I enjoyed Susan and Tebbitt here. The way you write it, it does not make it just like a typical romance story you find these days. Your Susan is an adult, a woman with much experience in such matters, a Queen, and one who knows what she's doing -- she's not made out to be a silly Queen with her head in the clouds and it's not a love at first sight type of thing.

What I just realized as well is how I love the Peter/Susan relationship here. A sister and brother trying to make the best of things and understanding each other though they are an ocean apart. They may not be able to comfort each other in person but I feel like in writing this letter, Susan was able to reach out to her older brother and he will be prepared to help her get through this when she returns.

The ending really was painful to read. You can feel the despair as one understands the significant effort the British made to procure that much needed help and then to have it disappear in a blink of an eye. I am glad you didn't shy away from revealing that though. It brings a greater sense of appreciation to those who served in defense of the Allies.

[metonomia.livejournal.com]

Okay, finally posting with my continued (and hopefully more coherent) thoughts on feminism in Narnia and Susan.

First off - by 'feminism' I do not mean let's make all our women characters super-strong and competitive and loudmouthed and, you know, men in women's bodies. I've always had an issue with that sort of abrasive view of feminism - that it needs to be all about putting women on an equal stand with men, usually by making them eschew dresses and makeup and other 'girly' things. I much prefer an idea where women can be women, can be proud to be women, and of course it would be optimal if women and men *could* be fully equal in terms of wages and opportunity and such, but I don't think that women should need to try to be more 'manly' to do that. The real feminist fight should be for a world where we embrace the fact that yes, women and men are different, but that's okay, because everyone still has worth and should be respected and celebrated for that.

I really didn't mean for this post to turn into a rant. Let's move on to your glorious story.
What I want to look at is the scene after Morgan's left, after the incest idea has been brought up and shot down, when Peter and Susan discuss her romantic life and Rabadash is brought up.
There was something that struck me very hard in the fact that, as much as he truly does respect his sister and everything she is capable of, Peter still seems to assume that to *others* she is only beauty and a marriage-prize; Lambert, too, though in a different way. With Lambert we of course know that his entire life is devoted to keeping Susan safe, and also we already know that Rabadash is His Royal Ass-ness and that Lambert's wariness of Rabadash's apparent respect for Susan's brain is well-founded. BUT. Throughout the Chronicles and Narnia fandom, there is a deeply-rooted and sometimes quite subtle view that as competent as Susan might be, her primary power and raison d'etre, as it were, is to be pretty, and to attract men. This, by the way, is not at all a critique of your portrayal - but that powerful comment of Lambert's in which he says that the very reason he so distrusts Rabadash is that Rabadash is seemingly NOT infatuated with Susan and her beauty - that is a very powerful line not just in terms of the immediate story but, for me, in terms of something much larger.