Summer Challenge 2016 Sharing Thread

[Tenethia]

Chapter 6!!

"Go Away. It's not time to get up yet~!" The three Bulgies would have missed seeing their king if they hadn't roused themselves. Even when they did finally come out, they were at a disadvantage because they were still half asleep. I wonder how much we as humans miss by not being spiritually alert. When we let our relationship with Christ go lax and we're lazy about things like praying and reading the Bible, we can see so much /less/ of God. We miss His promptings, and sometimes we miss His calling us to work for Him. When the Bulgies finally understood what was going on, they were faithful to get involved. Unfortunately, much time was wasted. Stay alert. You never know when your king might come to call.

Chapter 7!

Dear Trumpkin, celery does go really well with soup!
Love
Tenny

Also, if anyone can give me an idea about eggs and moonshine means actually that'd be great

And no matter how much I dislike Trumpkin's attitude I have always admired him for this: "But what's that got to do with it? I might as well die on a wild goose chase as die here. You are my king. I know the difference between giving advice and taking orders. You've had my advice, and now it's the time for orders." *applause*

Chapter 8!
Peter just finished telling everything why time was so different in Narnia from England, and now Ed is talking about how the horn was blown at the time when they were at the train together. So how were they thousands of years apart but that /one/ moment coincided? o.O

[hobbit_of_narnia]

Day 5:


Day 6:

[Ariel.of.Narnia]

@Ajjie and Tenny: Great thoughts!

Chapter 9:
Lucy's plea to the Trees reminds me of Aslan's "waking" the Talking Beasts at the dawn of time.
Lucy: "Oh, Trees, Trees, Trees. Oh, Trees, wake, wake, wake. Don't you remember it? Don't you remember me? Dryads and Hamadryads, come out, come out to me."
Aslan: "Narnia, Narnia, Narnia, awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees. Be talking beasts. Be divine waters."
Obviously, Lucy has the disadvantage of not having divine authority. But along the lines of what Ajjie was saying about Lucy telling the others about Aslan's instructions, sometimes we try to reach those who have "retreated deep within themselves" but can't seem to stir them. Doesn't mean we can't or shouldn't try. Just means that, once we have tried, it's up to God to awaken the sleepers, even if it is long after our own attempts, because His timing is perfect.

And I just have to say that Lu's horrible thought of wild men in our world is totally right.
But onto happier things.

Chapter 10:
Lucy's acknowledgement that the voice of Aslan sounded like the one she liked best in the world reminds me of the way the very name of Aslan was described in SC (albeit from the enemy's side of the story) as being "most dear and most dreadful". I'm not sure why, but there it is.
Aslan's calling her out of her sleep also reminds me of the Lord calling Samuel three times till Samuel finally answered, "Here am I."
I'm also noticing that their walk during the day and Lucy's nighttime visit with Aslan bear a physical similarity: the way cluttered and clogged by trees (though that was more organized and whatnot for Lucy's visit) and opening into a clearer area. The daytime's "clearer area" ended badly (with the outpost), but the nighttime ended with Aslan. And that just made me think of how, whatever our path in life and despite the obstacles and regardless of the nature of the path, God will draw us to Him so long as we are willing to go to Him.
This is already been touched on by others, but "the more further up and further in you go, the bigger everything gets."



I'm behind, I know, but it's late and I'm ready to conk out.

[Swanwhite]

Enjoying your reflections

Great insights Ajjie!

Love your artwork, Hobbit!

And all of you inputting, I enjoy that we're doing this together.


Dancing Lawn

Dancing on
In Dancing lawn
Dream-like on till dawn


Aslan's How
We searched and found
The sacred ground
In an ancient mound
of soundless stone

Now we've lit our lamps
In the dark and damp
And set up camp
To claim the throne

[Tenethia]

*gulps* So, here's a short story AU thing I wrote recently. For Chapter... 9 I think

"Down," said Peter after a long time. "I know Lucy may be right, but I can't help it. We must do one or the other." So they set off to their right along the edge, downstream

Lucy hung back, tears streaming down her cheeks as she looked from where Aslan stood to the receding backs of Trumpkin and her siblings. Reluctantly, she tore herself away to follow them. But He wanted me to follow Him! She froze midstep. "Stop," she commanded, the lioness roaring up inside of her.

The group turned to face her, waiting for her to speak. As she glanced among them, her courage began to fail her. Peter was tired; Susan was frustrated. Trumpkin was purely annoyed. But when she saw Ed looking at her quizzically and nodding encouragingly at her to speak, she pressed on.

"Oh, Peter, Susan, all of you. I hope you'll understand. But Aslan is King of High Kings... and - and - and I know he wants us to follow. You needn't go if you don't want to, but..." She inhaled deeply. "I'm going. Whether or not you are. You can come. Or not." Surprised by the boldness that was not her own, she turned and walked away, determined that nothing could be said to stop her. Aslan had called.

"Don't be a goose, Lucy. You come back here," Susan ordered.

"Bristling broomsticks, Your Majesties! Are you going to stop her?"

She didn't even glance back. She heard someone coming from behind her, and quickened her steps. When the follower did not reach to stop her, she glanced back. It was Edmund. He caught up in a couple more steps, and matched her determined strides. "Lead the way."

"Peter," Susan pouted from behind, as he too came after Lucy.

"We aren't leaving her."

But nothing from Trumpkin. Only heavy breaths as he attempted to keep up with his determined queen.

Later that Night, after Seeing Aslan

Lucy was sitting with her back to a tree, looking out into the woods. Peter sat beside her. "Waiting for the trees to talk again?"

"It will happen," she said.

"I don't doubt it," he said. "Aslan is on the move."

She smiled at him. "I miss the Beavers," she whispered.

Peter nodded, and there was a moment of silence. "You know, you left your satchel behind with me today." He pulled the strap from his shoulder and passed it to Lucy. "Didn't think you'd need it?"

"Mmm," she smiled and accepted the satchel, looking off into the trees.

Peter was very quiet for a moment. "You knew I would come, didn't you?"

"No," she murmured, and their eyes met. "But whether or not you were going to didn't matter. Whether or not I had my satchel didn't matter. Aslan wanted me to follow him."

"I'm ashamed, Lu. I should've come with you. I shouldn't have waited for you to leave before I followed."

She reached out and squeezed her brother's hands. "In the end you came, though. Let's not think about it anymore, alright?"

Peter nodded. "I'll try."

A moment passed, and Lucy giggled a little.

"What?" Peter asked.

"Trumpkin being tossed by Aslan. I'll never forget that."

Peter chuckled. "Nor will I."

[Ariel.of.Narnia]

Chapter 11:
"And so at last they got on the move. Lucy went first, biting her lip and trying not to say all the things she thought of saying to Susan. But she forgot them when she fixed her eyes on Aslan."
It can be the darkest hour before dawn. We can be surrounded by doubters (or grumpy supporters). We can be struggling through thickets. But all of it, even the things we'd like to spit out in frustration and anger, fade when we set our eyes on Christ and follow His path.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjmZ2v0niCI (YouTube is not affiliated with TLC; click at your own risk)

Anyone else wonder why Aslan stops to take a drink of water? I mean, I know he's a Beast and all, but it seems like a bit of a random thing to do in this sequence of events. The best thing I can think of is perhaps a bit of proof that he's real, not "eggs in moonshine", kinda like the way Jesus ate after His resurrection to prove He wasn't a ghost? (I suggest this because it's just after Aslan drinks that Ed sees him and Peter almost-sees him.)

Also... Susan thinks to correct her grammar when she's talking about the extent of her failings? On the one hand, I'm kinda going, "Girl, that's the least of your worries," and on the other, I'm chuckling.

Peter's humility and willingness to 'fess up to "guiding the others wrong" is admirable. I forgot that this was one of the reasons I like Peter as much as I do.

Never understood why Aslan plays with Trumpkin the way he does. "Not a tame lion" seems to be a good enough answer on the surface, but now I'm also wondering if this is a little taste of the joy and frolicking and romping and stuff that happens later?


Chapter 12:
(I just have to say that I love this chapter. I'm not even sure why.)

Nikabrik (and those who slipped away) didn't even wait 24 hours to see if the Horn would bring help. It's only just clicking now. On the one hand, "Wow, dude, chill. Things are tough, but it's not even been a full day! If help showed up at the Lamppost, it wouldn't arrive in a single day without some additional miracle, like the use of winged horses or something!" On the other, "Yikes, how many times have I done it myself...?"

Nikabrik says there are no more Beavers in Narnia. I wonder how they came to disappear, if they did....

Ed lights a match in the chamber. I wonder if he accidentally left his torch at Cair Paravel or on the way to the How! I always assumed it was after the Second Battle of Beruna that he'd lost it, but why would he strike a match if he had his torch?



And I didn't leave enough time to actually catch up. *headdesk*

[Ajnos]

I managed to get through the final chapters today (still listening to the audiobook of course) but I'm behind on reflections. It's a public holiday here tomorrow so I should be able to finish up then. For now I thought I'd comment on other people's comments

Tenny:
- I also wondered about "eggs in moonshine" so I looked it up and....well there's a recipe (http://www.foodsofengland.co.uk/eggsinmoonshine.htm). The term "moonshine" itself I think of as referring to homemade (kinda illegal) alcoholic drink but apparently with eggs it's a spiced sauce. It seems that "eggs in moonshine" is an actual saying referring to fanciful talk, and this is the apparent origin (though sometimes origins of sayings are based on legend not fact): http://wordhistories.com/2015/01/04/moonshine/ (follow links at your own risk; the sites are not affiliated with TLC).

- About the timing of when the horn was blown: I thought that was odd too but also kinda cool. It weirdly makes sense in my head that they would arrive at that particular time even though the date and years didn't match (like the "magic" was more likely to work then or something).

Ariel:
- The bit about men going wild reminds me a lot of That Hideous Strength.
- I also thought of God calling Samuel when Aslan called Lucy.
- I also wondered about Aslan stooping to drink water. I like the image but feel like it ought to have some significance I haven't understood. It reminds me a bit of the scene with Aslan and Jill at the River in SC
- The bit where Susan corrects her grammar actually seemed really odd to me. (*puts on nerdy linguist hat*): "It was him" sounds perfectly grammatical and "It was he" a bit odd to me. I know English is tricky when it comes to the case that pronouns should have because we don't have case marked anywhere else. I tried with other pronouns ("It was I" vs "It was me") and I still think that the accusative (him) sounds better than nominative (he). Logically (and according to Latin grammar, which early English grammarians often tried to follow) it should be "he", and perhaps in the history of English it might have been correct But I think we've seen a shift to where "him/me" is a more natural complement to "was" these days. The fact Lewis had Susan say "it was he" first kinda indicates that that's what naturally occurred to him and then some school grammar teacher who had tried to drill the (questionable rule) into his head suggested he should correct it. It does seem like a rather Susanly thing to do though (correcting her grammar), and perhaps she did it because she was nervous and that made her pedantic side come out.

- I also wondered about Aslan tossing Trumpkin (there's been some serious tinfoil going on in this Challenge). I guess it created the effect of giving him a fright (teaching him to fear Aslan) but at the same time showing that he would not hurt him and he was safe with him. It's almost certainly an experience Trumpkin wouldn't easily forget. It also reminded me of the scene with Jill.
"Do you eat girls?" she said
"I have swallowed up girls, boys, women and men, kings, emperors, cities and realms," said the lion.
I never quite got that passage either, but it made me think that Trumpkin had it easy

- What struck me about Nikabrik's mention of the Beavers that he says: "She stamped out the Beavers, I dare say; at least there's none of them in Narnia now." This is really odd because the Beavers were still alive at the end of LWW after Jadis was dead. Obviously it was a false story/rumour/explanation that had spread. Perhaps because the Beavers had had to flee their home and were pursued by Jadis, a mixed up version of the story had developed in which she actually caught them. Their non-existence now would have fueled that story. It just goes to show how little bits of truth can be twisted into false tales (not even intentionally) and I guess is a lesson in being wary of legends passed down over many generations.

- That's a very interesting observation about Ed's torch. Ed, Peter and Trumpkin had a flaming torch when they entered the tunnels but must have left it in the tunnel when they rushed in (maybe to free up their hands, although it would have scared the enemy more if they'd rushed in with it). At first I thought maybe Ed had his torch but wanted to save the battery. Bet then he might then have used it to start with so they could see a bit, before lighting the candle. The fact they needed a flaming torch suggests he didn't have it with him. Another possibility is that by this time the batteries were flat. I'd never thought of this before but I suppose the reason he left it behind (assuming it wasn't left all the way back in Cair Paravel) is because Susan and Peter got their school clothes and other things for going back to our world (Edmund didn't know that was the plan) and so the others might not have thought it include it with their things.

[Swanwhite]

Why such a hassle
For the king of the castle
To chase down one run away boy?
Up from the coast
They are coming. Your “ghosts”
Bringing all that you've sought to destroy.


Glasswater’s daughters
Are stirring from sleep.
Will Lantern waste wake
From a darkness this deep?

[hobbit_of_narnia]

I've noticed that in a few of the Narnia books (most obviously in PC and SC, but also in LWW, and possibly in others) C.S. Lewis slams organized school rather hard. This makes sense when you consider how dreadful his own school experiences were.
It's not a very deep thought, just a random thing I figured I might as well point out as not.

Final day:

[Ariel.of.Narnia]

Chapter 13:
Funny that Sopespian theorizes about Edmund being "a fell warrior" (and later, "alarming") even though he's definitely younger than "the boy Caspian". The air of greatness Aslan breathed on him really works wonders, I suppose.
Glozelle and Sopespian have some serious pride-appealing skills, not that it's a thing to be proud of. First, they are among those who set up Miraz as king; now, they work their opposite effect to end his reign.
I'm also noticing now that Miraz is nothing the only one with pride in this chapter. Reep has his share of it too, though it be treated much more positively.

Chapter 14:
Normally, I'd be talking about the duel, as it's my second-favourite part of PC. But I'm going to talk about the other half of the chapter instead.
The sheer rush of joy is simply contagious. The whole time, they're laughing and dancing and yodelling and all-around having a jolly good time. Of course, most of the Telmarines are frightened out of their wits and run away, but ever so often, a few would join in. The decision to follow Christ is not lightly made, but there is such a joy in doing so that the ones He calls jump right on in. May we all be reflections of this Joy as we go about life!
And now that I'm reminded that, yes, Lewis did mention that the nurse is at least part-Dwarf, I'm now suddenly wondering how our part-Dwarfs in this book have so much more faith in Aslan that the pure Dwarfs. One would think that, with the true Dwarfs in the bloodline hiding in plain sight and the influence of the Telmarine part of the line, there would be even more reason for these half-bloods to be ignorant or just as wrong in their beliefs as Trumpkin and Nikabrik (not to say that there can't be part-Dwarfs that aren't that way; this is, after all, just based on the two we know of). But then again, there's the power of the Truth living on in the midst of adversity.

Chapter 15:
I just realized that not all of the Telmarines who didn't want to stick around a Narnia where they didn't rule the roost showed up for Aslan's provision of a new home. Perhaps they went to re-populate Telmar?
And I don't really want to say anything else except that I really, really, really recommend this fic by meldahlie if you've never read it. It's a glimpse of Telmarine life in the Pacific a few years after the end of PC. (Note that the author has described Prunaprismia in her own way and in other fics and that the lady original character is also from other fics, but I'm sure you'll understand without the backdrop of the other fics.) https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12024322/1/Milk-and-Honey (FanFiction.net is not affiliated with TLC; please click at your own risk.)