aria: ([narnia] always leave it open)
valinor spider party ([personal profile] aria) wrote2010-08-24 09:28 am

it's never too early in the morning for narnia

Re: a thread on one of my recent posts, I realized that one of my favourite things in the (fannish) universe is Narnia crossovers. They don't even necessarily have to be stellar in-depth amazing well-justified crossovers, although obviously none of that hurts; I'm just fascinated by any Narnia crossover on general principle. See, Narnia is a really delicious world. It's not like, for example, Doctor Who, where you can just impose the Doctor on various worlds and easily handwave it; it's another kind of fun entirely. The text of Narnia is one that's there to be examined and argued with by other perspectives. (For instance, what about Susan? although that, by far, isn't the only direction in which to go.) It's just ... really enjoyable to poke at Lewis, you know?

Or maybe it's just that I grew up on those books. Tolkien may be my foundational text, but dammit, I believed in Aslan. And my inner six-year-old doesn't care that he's lion Jesus; that's entirely beside the point.

The point, in this particular case, is that I want to compile a recslist of Narnia crossovers.


Derail [Harry Potter]: Susan has a talk with Moaning Myrtle in a railway station toilet. This one is really, astonishingly kind to Susan; I love fandom's way of dealing with Susan generally, but in this particular instance the reading is different from most, and wonderful.

From a World More Full of Weeping [Doctor Who]: Susan, twenty-something shop girl, runs into Ten. She's not that impressed that the TARDIS is bigger on the inside. I really want there to be more of this one, because Susan and Ten are both so damaged, and I want them to help one another get better.

Holidays [Buffy]: This one is quite short, and still manages to punch me in the stomach. Buffy in Narnia, post-s5. The last line pretty much knocks me flat.

The Ivory Horn [His Dark Materials]: Susan is Will Perry's professor at Oxford. This is perhaps one of my favourite fics of all time. And, since it operates on the rules of a Philip Pullman world, it's also completely horrifying.

out of shamelessness something beautiful [Good Omens]: Peter and Adam, Lucy and War, Edmund and Pollution, Susan and herself. I'm actually mildly astonished that this one crossed over so well, but upon reflection, the Antichrist and some Horsepersons should feel right at home in Narnia.

Up in the Valley, Down on the Mountain [Highlander]: Methos meets Aslan. I now desperately want to see a much darker version of this, but I love the one that's here, too: I like the gift it gives Methos, and damn if I wasn't fully on board from the moment of the opening quotation.
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[identity profile] sophia-sol.livejournal.com 2010-08-24 03:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Om nom nom, Narnia crossovers! You've got several here I haven't seen before, and they're lovely.

I can add a few to your list!

The Made Up Things (http://fanfic.mirkat.net/viewstory.php?sid=6) [Harry Potter]: In which Lily and Petunia's mother is Susan. A sympathetic Petunia, too!

Threads That Are Golden Don't Break Easily (http://paperclipbitch.livejournal.com/99563.html) [Torchwood]: In which Susan (eventually) joins Torchwood. I know you're not into Torchwood, but this is one of the best Narnia crossovers I've seen, and one of the best answers to the Problem of Susan too.

Bredon in Narnia (http://antisoppist.livejournal.com/90754.html) [Lord Peter Wimsey]: In which Lord Peter Wimsey's son goes to Narnia and meets the White Witch and is distinctly unimpressed. (I don't know how well this one works without knowing the source text, but I think it's great)
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[personal profile] spuffyduds 2010-08-24 04:03 pm (UTC)(link)
I now very badly want to write a Torchwood crossover called "They Keep Killing Susan."
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[personal profile] luzula 2010-08-24 06:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, "The Ivory Horn" is a really cool story! It's been a while since I read it, but I seem to remember it quite vividly.
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[personal profile] skywaterblue 2010-08-24 08:23 pm (UTC)(link)
I remember first reading The Ivory Horn, and about a quarter of the way through going 'hum, something's unusual about this fic, what is it' and then BOMBSHELL.
skywaterblue: (pornjosh)

[personal profile] skywaterblue 2010-08-24 08:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, that was pretty much a brilliant move on the original Yuletide team. Perhaps they reasoned that being such an infamous fic, everyone knows the twist now?

The reason it works, too, is because there've been quite a number of 'Will goes to Oxford' fics done for Yuletide over the years, a number of which are well done, so at first I just thought it was another one.
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[personal profile] polarisnorth 2010-08-24 08:28 pm (UTC)(link)
I would kind of love to see a Narnia/SGA crossover. As far as I can tell there's only Songs in Winter, which is Narnia-influenced rather than an actual crossover.
alpheratz: (sense and sensibility and sharks)

[personal profile] alpheratz 2010-08-24 08:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow, brilliant. Of these, I've only read The Ivory Horn. I love that so many of these focus on Susan. Poor Susan. (Tangentially, I wish Susan rants didn't focus so much on the lipsticks and nylons strawman. The Ivory Horn did a good job avoiding that, as I recall.)

Speaking of Narnia, what did you think of the Dawn Treader trailer? I am kind of disappointed by how CGI-tastic it was. Not surprised, but disappointed, because I won't get the real-looking sea of lilies that I wanted so much.
alpheratz: (dw - his dancing ability has deteriorate)

[personal profile] alpheratz 2010-08-24 09:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Perhaps they haven't finished rendering it.

*sporfle* I bet that's it. And you're right, it must have been difficult decide on the look of the final few scenes, but I can't help but think that having it look like it could be real as opposed to obviously animated would've made a stronger visual statement. Grumble. Well, we'll see how it goes.

And damn, now I kind of want a HP/Narnia crossover with the White Witch instead of Voldemort and the Pevensies as Hogwarts students. I wonder how that would work. Would they all be in the same houses, for one? Hm.
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[personal profile] alpheratz 2010-08-24 10:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Hm. I suspect that all but Susan would be in Gryffindor, and Susan would be a Ravenclaw, and so alienated from her siblings. Although Edmund is more of a Ravenclaw than a Gryffindor, true. Although the cynic in me thinks the books would extol the virtues of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs and unsubtly frown upon Ravenclaws' propensity for skepticism.

Eustace would probably be the good Slytherin.
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[personal profile] theodosia21 2010-08-27 10:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Hi! You might enjoy some of my bookmarks here:

http://www.delicious.com/The_Virtual_Bookshelf/narnia+crossover