hey are we still posting queer narnia headcanons. these have been floating in my notes half-finished for ages; I figured now was as good a day to post them as any
when the Pevensies are ruling in LWW "these two Kings and two Queens governed Narnia well…And they made good laws and kept the peace…and generally stopped busybodies and interferers and encouraged ordinary people who wanted to live and let live" (ch 17, emphasis mine). Add to this that Narnia is a very natural land, and nature is diverse af. Like. I'm thinking about how many plants aren't split by gender and thinking about bigender and intersex dryads. Agender naiads because what gender does water have? Genderqueer stars. Those fish that change gender sometimes and the possibilities of trans and genderfluid merfolk. All sorts of queer talking animal relationships. Basically Narnia is so full of different orientations and genderfuckery and letting people live their own lives that no one bats an eye if a satyr is ace or a naiad decides they want a gender.
the pevensies are a bit shocked by it all when they first arrive, the older ones more so, but is it really so much stranger—or any less wondrous—than talking animals or trees? They're busy running a kingdom (and only ~8-13; they're not thinking about romance much yet); they've got more important things to worry about than that boy dwarf wearing dresses. Between the tunics and robes and cotes and surcotes, they're all basically wearing dresses themselves. Mr. Tumnus and the Beavers aren't wearing anything. Yeah, those two lady-fauns kissing would be unheard of back home (and is making Susan's stomach feel funny), but can someone tell them the proper form of address for this letter they're writing? Is a Tisroc an excellency or a majesty or something else? How do you even spell Tisroc?
the pevensies grow up surrounded by variety (helped by their memories of England fading), and learning about themselves along the way. soon they don't think queer relationships or genders are any stranger than the narnians do
Peter
pan. He'll fall for anyone and he'll fall hard. He's very friendly and open, and probably the most prone to flirting at festivals and the like, but I think he'd have relatively few serious relationships. He's High King, and a small part of him always wonders if this person is interested in him, or just his status. Also he flirts easily but is hilariously shy about taking a relationship from flirting to actually dating because he's worried about accidentally pressuring someone with his power. His type is someone who can match him, intellectually and/or physically and isn't put off by his status, but he's a Soft Boy underneath all his charm, and he gets adorably flustered when someone is seriously courting him.
secretly assumes he will be the one to marry for politics. He'd prefer not, and he's aware that, as High King, his marriage is a powerful tool not to be treated lightly, but if Narnia ever has to have a political marriage for some reason, he's not going to let any of his siblings be forced into anything. (I don't headcanon this ever actually happening. But Peter would have done it)
Susan
bisexual and demiromantic. She feels attraction, sure, but nothing like the fireworks and butterflies her siblings describe. Partly because of this, and partly because she's a queen and she's Susan, she's always had a rather practical idea of marriage. A potential spouse is someone she can imagine building a good long term relationship and life with, with obvious bonus points if she finds them physically attractive. Also assumes she is The Sibling Who Will Have a Political Marriage (no she and Peter have not discussed this with each other)
this is part of why Rabadash threw her for such a loop. He was handsome? He seemed charming? Maybe this is what falling for someone feels like? She wanted it to be what falling for someone felt like; it would be a good alliance. And then she saw him without all his fake charm and he was awful. It took a long time for Susan to trust her ideas of attraction to people again
years after Liliandil has come to stay in Cair Paravel, Susan is thrown for a loop again when she realizes her feelings for this one friend out of all her friends are…intense? Different? She doesn't know? She throws herself into work and internally panics and feels sick to her stomach and eventually confides in Lucy. And Lucy tells her "Susan, I think you're in love." (Susan: ???)
Edmund
baby bi bi bi
careful with his heart, though (hello, Jadis-related trust and self-esteem issues :3 ) Good at being friendly and teasing and bantering riiight on the line of "this could be flirting, if you were interested. (and if you're not then nope nope nothing to see here)". He nearly drives Caspian insane in the period between Caspian realizing he fancies Edmund and them getting together
but once Edmund's in, he's all in. Flirting lines (his crown is silver and so is his tongue), showing off when sparring/in tourneys, leaving gifts in Caspian's room when he's out or slipping them into his pockets and then denying any knowledge (no he can't just give them to Caspian; he needs to be a little mischevious and also a little shy about it. black cat energy)
Lucy
lesbian. In the Golden Age she was always running around in the woods and streams with nymphs and naiads and dryads and the lines between friendship and romance and romantic friendship got very blurred sometimes
"what about post Golden Age?" congrats you've activated my trap card it's rare pair time
(I say as if I didn't just casually drop in Susandil)
in the VDT book Lucy does a spell to see what your friends really think about you from Coriakin's book, and eavesdrops on a conversation between two girls from Lucy's school. Anne Featherstone asks if Marjorie Preston is "still going to be all taken up with Lucy Pevensie", as Marjorie was "crazy about her last term". Marjorie denies it and acts like Lucy is nobody to her and honestly a bit tiresome. Lucy, who "did all sorts of things for her last term, and…stuck to her when not many other girls would", gets so upset she yells at the book before remembering it's just a book and Marjorie can't actually hear her, and also cries a bit. Later Aslan shows up and tells Lucy "you have misjudged your friend. She is weak, but she loves you. She was afraid of the older girl and said what she does not mean."
so basically Marjorie shows up for like two pages, in a picture in a book and not even really there, and Lucy's entire relationship with her may be ruined now anyway, and none of this made it into the movie or bbc miniseries—but it's too late; i'm going down with this ship anyway. and by ship i mean the raft i cobbled together out of spare boards and bubblegum
Caspian
disaster bi. help everyone's hot. swoons over all the kings and queens of old to varying degrees, though he settles after spending more time with them and they become his friends/found family rather than legends
then somewhere along the way he realizes he's swooning over Edmund all over again
when he's down, he's down bad. Courtship and romance and chivalry to the MAX.
Eustace
gay
during VDT he is a tiny confused baby gay who does not yet realize he is a baby gay and in like five years he's going to have a crisis about it
Eustace, talking to Edmund about how glad he is to be himself again after changing back from a dragon: "You'd think me simply phony if I told you how I felt about my own arms. I know they've no muscle and are pretty mouldy compared with Caspian's, but I was so glad to see them." (VDT chapter 7)
Edmund, who has been a full adult and already gone through his gay crisis and watched his siblings going through theirs and fully clocked that comment about Caspian's arms: …yeah I think my baby cousin has gone through enough for one week. I'll gently bring up that he likes guys some other time.
Mr. Tumnus
I was reading over one of my wips, a flower-based soulmate au, and Mr. Tumnus has blooming flowers even though he's not with anyone, which I think would mean he's aromantic? I have no memory of writing that but sure, headcanon accepted?
actually, thinking about it a bit more, "Nymphs and Their Ways" does sound like the title of a book a poor confused aro would have on his bookshelf, trying to understand what all his friends are going on about. Also when the Pevensies start growing up and having feelings, or noticing others having feelings, they go to him for advice, and he thinks he gives such good advice and they do too and none of them know he has no clue what he's talking about. Please imagine Susan and Mr. Tumnus having tea together and trying to figure out why Peter is unable to think every time that new knight is in the room. (Peter doesn't know either. He's just 16 and confused and wildly horny.)
Misc
Liliandil's sexuality is [untranslatable] and her gender is [different untranslatable]. I have a folder in my head labeled "Lili's gender" and right now the only things in it are that pride flag made out of nasa pics and a meme of marge simpson holding a rock labeled "she/her pronouns" saying "I just think think they're neat". Also maybe some gifs of Janice from The Good Place (feminine but not in a female way. not a robot human, not a girl).
unsure about Jill but she's not straight and she and Eustace are wlw/mlm hostility
there's a line in MN about how Polly could never see anything especially beautiful about Jadis, even though she's constantly described as being stunningly gorgeous, so Polly may be our token straight. Or ace. I do lowkey ship her with Digory, though. Maybe seven-foot-tall sorceresses just aren't her type.
Reepicheep seems aroace to me. He'd die defending the honor of a lady but he doesn't wanna marry one. While we were being allosexual he was studying the blade
✨ DESIGNING CHARACTERS IN NARNIA: The Magician's Nephew✨ (scroll for a breakdown of the design)
I bet there's going to be a bunch of people who'd hate me if I reveal who the face claim was, but I'd love 'till the end of time whoever guesses it.
One of my headcanons in Narnia is that Polly Plummer's family is rich. She was described to be living in a terrace house in London and for some reason, I've associated that with being rich (maybe because of Annie in The Parent Trap). And that was the design that I aimed for in this one.
Here's the complete breakdown of Polly's design. It contains the explanation to some of the changes I did to her book design.
And to everyone who's been wondering how the exam went: IT WENT WELL! I PASSED THE EXAM! I am now a licensed architect and I want to thank you all for helping me pay for the review. You were all a part of this journey! ❤
“But he said girls shouldn’t fight in battles—" No, actually. What he said was “Battles are ugly when women fight.” Which literally translates to “in a war where women are required to fight to help win it, it means the war itself is really bad.” And this literally just means that the war has gotten so bad that women have to fight, not that women shouldn’t fight. Just that they shouldn’t be forced to. Anyway, remember Lucy?? Lucy who rode to battle in The Horse and His Boy?? Lucy who fought as an archer?? “But Susan didn’t—" Yeah. Because she didn’t want to. No one was forcing her not to fight. She had free will to fight or to not fight, and she chose not to because she didn’t want to, not because a man made her stay home.
“He punished Susan for growing up—" S i g h. This is the one I see the most often. “He did Susan dirty” “he made her suffer because she liked lipstick” “etc etc blah blah blah” First of all Narnia is a children’s book series. For CS Lewis to delve into why Susan forgot Narnia, talk about her dealing with the death of her entire family, discuss her grief, and write about her eventual return to Narnia (more on that in a second), it would’ve made for a pretty dark and heavy children’s book, and Lewis said that he didn’t think that was something he wanted to write. But he also encouraged people to finish Susan’s story themselves, and said she might eventually make her own way back to Narnia. Not only this, but Susan’s name means lily, and the waters around Aslan’s country are covered in lilies. Coincidence? I think not. I think it symbolizes she was going to go back. (Especially considering I think Lewis was very careful in choosing each of the Pevensie’s names, since they all relate to their character).
Also, Lewis did not condemn Susan simply for growing up and liking makeup and clothing and boys. If so why would he have written about Aravis and Shasta/Cor, or Caspian and Liliandil? Why would he have written about Susan and Lucy being beautiful and having many suitors? So no, he wasn’t condemning her for that, and in fact he wasn’t condemning her at all. It’s extremely probable that her family’s death would have brought Susan back to her senses. Because here’s the thing: she forgot. She threw herself so much into the world and approval and convinced herself that her life as a queen and her acquaintance with Aslan was all a silly game they played as children, that it wasn’t real. But, she very well could remember again, and I 1000% believe she did.
“All his female characters were weak and did nothing—" My friend. Lucy Pevensie was a female. She discovered Narnia. It was because of her. Her siblings would never have found it without her. Lucy is one of THE most important characters in the entire series. And her title? The Valiant. Lucy’s very title as queen denoted her bravery and fortitude without one even knowing her. As for Susan, she was not any weaker for being “The Gentle.” I would say gentleness is honestly one of the strongest traits a person can have, because it takes a lot to live and be gentle. Also remember Aravis? A major character in The Horse and His Boy and future wife of Shasta, Aravis literally nearly killed herself to escape an arranged marriage. She was not someone to be dictated to; she made her own choices and escaped rather than submitting. And in the end, she’s still fiery, just a little more humble and with less of a chip on her shoulder. Then there’s Polly, who is the more logical person in The Magician’s Nephew and tries to stop Digory from ringing the bell that wakes the White Witch. A boy causes her to awaken, not a girl. It was Digory’s fault she woke up, not Polly’s!!
Also, Peter and Edmund do not ignore their sisters because they’re girls. They listen to what they have to say and speak to them as equals. They don’t forbid them from fighting; Susan chooses not to, but Lucy goes straight into the heart of the battle with them! So don’t even say Lewis made his female characters weak. They were the backbone of much of the series and without them much of the plot would never have happened!!
So don’t you ever say to me that CS Lewis was misogynistic because it’s the furthest thing from the truth
Lucy sleeps in the bottom of the wardrobe every night, eyes scrubbed red with small hands; Edmund turns sullen and hostile, lashing out in ways he hasn't for years; Susan withdraws, all silent and pale and haunted dark eyes. They are not Gentle, not Just, not Valiant, they are children grieving a loss too great to comprehend. Peter is not Magnificent and it's all he can do to keep them together, to keep himself together. His back bows under a weight meant for adult shoulders, stolen from him with a single, mis-taken step.
Fancasting some of Narnia characters throughout the series
I know some of them are too old for the characters corresponding ages in the novels but they’re the closest to who my mind conjures while I read! Ideally any casting for the kids would be “new/never been in anything before” actors.
The Magicians Nephew-
Digory Kirked: played by Harry Collett
Polly: played by Connie Jenkins Grieg
Jadis The Queen: played by Kate Fleetwood
Uncle Andrew: played by Bob Odenkirk (he plays pathetic men so well)
The Horse and His Boy
Shasta: played by Walker Scobell
Bree: voiced by Jack O'Connell
Aravis: played by Varada Sethu
Hwin: voiced by Madeline Madden
Prince Rabadash: played by Mahesh Jadu
King Lune: played by Graham McTavish
Voyage of the Dawn Treader-
Lord Drinian aka THE MAN WE ALL DESERVE TO HAVE IN OUR CORNER: Andreas Pietschmann
Lilliandil: played by Nanna Blondell
Ramandu: played by Kevin Grevioux
The Magician Coriakin: played by Anthony Head
Silver Chair-
Jill Pole: played by Abbie Hern
The Lady of the Green Kirtle aka the Green Witch: played by Ruth Wilson
Puddleglum: played by Dylan Smith
Prince Rillian: played by Ismael Cruz Cordova
The Last Battle-
King Tirian: played by Tom Hopper
Jewel the Unicorn: voiced by Sean Bean
Shift the Ape: voiced by Charles Dance
Puzzle the Donkey: voiced by Billy Boyd
One line I adore from the Magicians nephew is when Digory is arguing with Polly about something (I don’t have the energy to find it exactly. I do remember Polly is in the right and the narrator makes a point that digory isn’t.)
And at one point Digory dismisses her by going “oh you just think that because you’re a girl and girls don’t care about anything other than gossip and dresses and etc.” and his rage bait doesn’t even work on her.
Polly just goes “you looked exactly like your uncle when you said that.😐” And Digory is PISSED.
C.S. Lewis wasn’t perfect and definitely could be misogynistic at times but I love how he wrote his female characters and how in multiple instances the sexist characters are mocked by the story. INCLUDING when it’s the protagonist falling into misogynistic tendencies.
