Food For Thought - for venilia

[nfe-gremlin.livejournal.com]

Title: Food For Thought
Author: rthstewart as told by jess_in_time
Recipient: venilia
Rating: T for some adolescent language
Possible Spoilers/Warnings: For all of Chronicles of Narnia, especially The Last Battle.
Summary: OMG. I could be pulling drinks a *bucks and going to the Chicago Blues Fest. Instead, I'm so stuck in Fordwich, Kent, UK for the whole &*%#!! summer going through my Gran Su's wardrobe. IKR? Pity me, back up vocals of the Flist. This Sucks

Notes: Go to http://jess-in-time.livejournal.com/737.html and read the first entry and each entry thereafter.

Food For Thought

---

Original Prompt that we sent you:

What I want: For me Narnia has this sense of childhood wonder, like Christmas. What I want is for Narnia to keep that sense of wonder and magic and adventure.

Prompt words/objects/quotes/whatever:
Ok, two prompts. The first is the darling of my heart, and it is a crossover with The Magic City by E Nesbit: I want the two Lucys to meet. Lucy Graham would be years older than Lucy Pevensie of course, but I have this wonderful picture of the two of them laughing together. If you think this is possible, The Magic City is available over on Project Gutenberg.

However, I understand if this is something you can't do. In lieu of the above, my second prompt is this: I want Polly taking one or both of the Pevensie girls on a little holiday. Whether this is a day trip or a month long journey is up to you. Jill can come along too. Just make it full of awesome ladies being awesome and remembering Narnia together. Extra cookies if you throw in something historical because I am a history geek like that.

What I definitely don't want in my fic: Peter/Edmund, Susan/Lucy, White Witch/anybody, or anything where Narnia feels Dystopian or the Pevensies feel cheated and used. I hate that Narnia ends for them as much as the next fan, but so does childhood. Sadness and grieving ok, angst and despair not ok.

Comments

[be-themoon.livejournal.com]

I am sort of on a tight schedule as regards internet time, but I wanted to say that I sped through this and probably missed loads but it was still absolutely fantastic and I am SO looking forward to reading it more thoroughly at a later date. This is just gorgeous. The insights into their lives in England - stunning. I adored the format.

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. I really enjoyed writing the mixed media fic and trying to channel the voice of a 16 year old, with the journal entries. I am so glad you enjoyed it!

[anachronisma.livejournal.com]

I really, really liked this. I was confused at first, when I looked it over, but I really love the way you've decided to tell this story. I loved the use of the photographs and the huge amount of historical content. I loved, also, your explanation for Susan's refusal to board the train -- your vision of Susan, in general, is one I find compelling.

There were so many details I loved, I can barely begin to pick them out. But Susan the Deaconess struck me as very awesome. And was that an implication that Polly contributed to the Eastern front or women's battalions post-WWI in the USSR? THAT'S a story I want to see told.

Well done! Very well done.

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for reading Jess_it_Time's fake journal! The mixed media story was a lot of fun. The whole Soviet-era picture, by the way, could be a lot of things. That's what was fun about it -- to put it in the perspective of someone looking back, not knowing the full story and in some cases the reader knows, and in some cases, we sit as the narrator does. Thank you so much!

[anastigmatfic.livejournal.com]

OMG indeed. Land Girls! Pentathlons! Picfic! Journal entries! The big orange cat that keeps coming back!

I really like how we get to meet (or remeet?) Our Heroines through the eyes of a modern girl. Puts a lot of things in perspective: sports, the war, voting, the austerity during and after the war. It's easy to fall into the trap of "that's how it was then" and just take these things for granted; I like seeing the contrast, sometimes shocking, between then and now. But normal really does depend, doesn't it?

PS: I love, LOVE, that Jill is from Jamaica!

PPS: So... who was working with the Soviets, hmmm?

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

I have no idea who was infiltrating the soviets and in what era!!! Susan? Polly? Jill from Jamaica and a person of color is something I'm doing in AW and I just can't bring myself to turn from these things! Thank you so much for reviewing!!

[cofax7]

As I posted over on "Jess"'s journal--LOVE THIS. It's so creative and fun! Marvelous look at all the girls, and I do wonder if you've been reading RthStewart, because she also has a fun idea about Jill being of African or Caribbean descent, which I like a lot.

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Thank you again for reading Jess_in_time's journal and for reccing it. I really appreciate it and I'm glad you enjoyed the story.

[wingedflight21.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, this is absolutely fantastic! What a creative style and story. Love the way of looking back over Susan's life through the eyes of her grandchild and seeing that even though there was tragedy, she made something of it and was absolutely fantastic. And camping! Bananas! Jamaican Jill! The star's story! The pictures! And the orange cat! BRILLIANT.

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much, Winged. I really appreciate it. It was fun to write as a 16 year old. She's a bit irritating, and it was fun to do some of it where we sit as ignorant as Jess and in other cases, we know more than she does. I really appreciate you taking the time to review.

[metonomia.livejournal.com]

I haven't felt this much about a Narnia fic in a long, long time, so thank you, mystery writer; this wasn't just a gift for venilia, but an amazing, beautiful, emotional gift for me and, I would think, a lot of the people participating in the NFE.

The format, first of all - it's FUN, and remarkably well done and tied together, but way more than that, I love how much it celebrates, pokes fun at, and validates fandom (or, LJ-community). Jess is as much a character as Susan and Polly and Lucy and Jill, here, and without ever describing her! I cannot express how much I adore the way you've taken the tired trope of girl-falls-into-Narnia and turned it into something not only readable, but astonishingly three-dimensional and real. It feels - despite the cliche - like Jess really is one of us, and that is amazing.

AND THE STORY. THE UTTER AMAZINGNESS THAT IS SUSAN AND POLLY AND LUCY AND JILL. CAMPING AND OLYMPICS AND SPORTS AND A MARMALADE CAT <333333 I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE WORK WITH THE PICTURES AND RESEARCH MATERIAL, THE FEMINISM, THE KICK-ASSNESS, THE COMPASSION AND EMOTION AND EVERY LAST LITTLE TINY THING.

JILL THE CARIBBEAN-ENGLISH GIRL. BANANAS. <33333333333333333333333

I'm really feeling very emotional over this. I am going to read it over and over, because I expect that each time I will find more of your amazing detail and beautiful ideas and lessons and references to cling to.

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for reading and reviewing Jess' journal. I had really not thought, until you posted, that the story was very much a send up the modern girl goes through the wardrobe with the Pevensies. It is a trope/cliche, and that never occurred to me how I was using that trope to tell the story. I am so glad you liked it and the affirmation fo the fandom was fun too. Thank you again.

[snacky]

So very well-done! And so creative and clever, to use LJ to tell this story, of a modern girl discovering, in her own way, Narnia. The photos and video and ephemera really added to this 21st century girl, learning about the past.

Fantastic.

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much, as always for the support and beta and help and hand holding.

[katakokk.livejournal.com]

I absolutely ADORED this. I was so confused at first, especially because of the summary, but then I saw some of the gushing about it around the Internet, and I had to read it.

And afsjlj;klsdjf IT IS SO GREAT. Mystery author, you are awesome. Seriously. I love that you took this trope of modern POV on Narnia and twisted it into something so real and alive. Jess is a wonderful character, and I love her perspective on Susan's life.

AND SUSAN. AND JILL AND POLLY AND LUCY. OH MY GOODNESS. Going camping, telling stories about Narnia, working with the Land Girls, getting into politics, setting up pentathlons, and just being all around awesome ladies. Jess's discoveries are ours as well, especially with this whole world you built of all the things Susan did with her life. And all of it is entrenched in a glorious amount of historical context.

AND THEN YOU AFFIRM FANDOM.asdfjl;sdjf IT COULD NOT GET ANY BETTER. <333

Seriously, mystery author, you're the best.

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! It is a little confusing to figure out how to get inside it, but I'm glad you tried it out! I really had not realized that it was very much a play on the trope of modern girl falls through the wardrobe into Narnia. But that is in fact exactly what it is. I had a great prompt and it was fun to do. I like using history to tell the story and while I usually avoid visuals, it was fun to do here. And yes, then I affirm the fandom as well. thank you so much for reviewing. I hugely appreciate it.

[(Anonymous)]

Wonderful! And a wonderfully creative way to structure it! (and disguise your normal writing voice :-)

So many things that I could comment on, most have already been covered by others. I particularly like this Susan's view of what happened leading up to the train wreck. You can so clearly see her point here- the use of the rings always felt like a plan for cheating to me. Previously, they gave Narnia the White Witch, and I never got the impression that was part of Aslan's intended plan. But on the other hand, you can argue Peter's side by saying that the Lion expects initiative rather than passively waiting. Why did they see Tirian as a vision if not to act? But perhaps not to act with the rings? Such a very well constructed argument, that demonizes neither side.

-H

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Thanks, H. Over in my LJ you pegged precisely the conflict -- who is right, Susan for having faith that Aslan would have the power, or Peter, who had faith but also felt they could not wait for the rescue, but had to act in the meantime. Reasonable minds can indeed differ and I've always thought Peter was the difficult reaction to address in TLB. I prefer the AU. Thank you so much for weighing in!

[snitchnipped.livejournal.com]

Ahhh! Thank you for thinking outside of the box with the presentation of this marvelous story. I love mixed-media storytelling! And thank you especially for giving Susan's life purpose and meaning -- it's so depressing when she's left behind and forgotten about. Clearly not this time! Fantastic and thanks again!

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much! I had a lot of fun with Jess_in_Time and (trying) to write a young point of view and resurrecting Susan as someone who is not apologetic. Thanks again.

[animus-wyrmis.livejournal.com]

Oh my goodness I loved this! Jess was so real to me, and the historical details, and the way it all unfolded, and the secrets still kept and the ones revealed, and Susan's reason for missing the train which is MY MOST FAVORITE REASON FOR IT, because THEY WERE SPECIFICALLY TOLD NOT TO USE THOSE RINGS OMFG, and Suuuuuusan and Polly POLLY PLUMMER SAKDJAKLSJDSD.

I also loved Aslan's appearances, and the way the Naomi storyline unfolded. Brilliant all around!!

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much! I really enjoy writing history and mixing it with the story and trying to channel the point of view of a 16 year old was really challenging. Thank you again! I really think that there are other ways of dealing with the Problem of Susan and I did not want her to be apologetic.

[angel-in-tears.livejournal.com]

I love this!!! It's super creative and you've put in so much work and it's just PERFECT!!! :D Awesome, awesome work! :D

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

thank you so much! I really appreciate that you reviewed Jess_in_time's fake journal!!!

[lady_songsmith]

There are no words. I mean, seriously. This is just -- here, have an internet. Have two!

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I really appreciate you reading and reviewing!~