ROMANCE in Narnia - an AsCast discussion

[IrishSongBird]

Hey guys! So, AsCast is recording its first summer Minisode on June 1st, and we want to hear from a bunch of others on our discussion topic before we record! Obviously, from the title of this thread, our topic is ROMANCE IN NARNIA.

I'll read through this thread before we record and use whatever comments I find particularly interesting/insightful on the show. To keep things more organized, I've come up with some questions to help you formulate your responses. Please use them since it will make organization easier for me! If you have other things to add that don't fit with the questions, state them AFTER you've answered the questions. You don't have to answer everything...give me only as much as you feel like!

1. Why do you think romance so prevalent in Narnia fanfic when the books have zero romance?
2. Does romance belong in Narnia? Why or why not?
3. What makes a Narnian romance good? (You may use specific examples from stories that you consider to be good, but NOT stories you consider to be bad because we don't want to do any bashing.)
4. General Spare 'Oom versus NARNIA romance...thoughts? Which do you prefer and why? Which one allows for greater freedom and interesting plots or characters?
6. Slash and incest in Narnia - this is a sensitive topic, so please be respectful in your responses, but feel free to state your opinions. Just be adult about it.
5. Is romance easier or harder to write than non-romance?
6. Do you read romance outside of fanfic or do you stay away from it?
7. Do you have any recommendations of good Narnia romance?

*I'm also going to PM various Narnia authors, romance and non-romance, with some of these questions to see what they have to say, so hopefully this will be a really interesting discussion to listen to!

Have fun and chat away!

[Fierce Queen]

1. Why do you think romance so prevalent in Narnia fanfic when the books have zero romance? Because it's teenagers and adults writing it, and they want romance in Narnia.
2. Does romance belong in Narnia? Why or why not? Yes!  Because romance can be fun and interesting.  And it's fun to think about who might the canon characters fall in love with (if any).
3. What makes a Narnian romance good? (You may use specific examples from stories that you consider to be good, but NOT stories you consider to be bad because we don't want to do any bashing.)  Unique personalities, and a person who's good at writing.
4. General Spare 'Oom versus NARNIA romance...thoughts? Which do you prefer and why? Which one allows for greater freedom and interesting plots or characters? Hmmmm, good question.  I'm not sure yet, I've only read one Spare 'Oom romance with the Pevensie characters and a couple Narnia romances.  I like both.
6. Slash and incest in Narnia - this is a sensitive topic, so please be respectful in your responses, but feel free to state your opinions. Just be adult about it. I think it's disgusting.  Just...ick.  But that's me.
5. Is romance easier or harder to write than non-romance? I'm not sure, maybe romance.  'Course, I've only written one, cheesy non-romance ficlet.
6. Do you read romance outside of fanfic or do you stay away from it?  I subconciously stay away from it.  There is one series of Star Trek books that involves a romance obetween two main characters I like.
7. Do you have any recommendations of good Narnia romance? There's your, Irish and  The Fight for Love by Ewcom.

[caleon]

My answers (I love this topic, love, love, love it, BTW):

1. Why do you think romance so prevalent in Narnia fanfic when the books have zero romance?

A: There's something like a ten-year period during the Golden Age where C.S. Lewis skips right past their growing-up years.  Humans being what we are, we intrinsically seek out bonds with other humans, particularly those of the romantic kind.  I think it's a natural conclusion.  C.S. Lewis chose not to address it, but he left the gap wide open for those of us who love the idea of romance in Narnia.

2. Does romance belong in Narnia? Why or why not?

A: Yes, for the reasons given above.  It stretches the story from a children's genre to young-adult or adult, but I feel it's a natural progression.

3. What makes a Narnian romance good? (You may use specific examples from stories that you consider to be good, but NOT stories you consider to be bad because we don't want to do any bashing.)

A: Conflict is the key to all romance.  As a romance author, it's one of the first things I learned about the genre.  No conflict, no reader interest.  No reader interest, no story.  Your characters need something to overcome.  It's even better when that something is each other.

4. General Spare 'Oom versus NARNIA romance...thoughts? Which do you prefer and why? Which one allows for greater freedom and interesting plots or characters?

A: I think both have their interesting points.  I love romance, so I am all for a romantic plot or subplot.

6. Slash and incest in Narnia - this is a sensitive topic, so please be respectful in your responses, but feel free to state your opinions. Just be adult about it.

A: My personal opinion is that it has no place in Narnia, as in my opinion it's disrespectful of what Narnia stands for as originally written - but I would never presume to stifle another author's creative spark, so I try to politely let it be.  I just don't read it.

5. Is romance easier or harder to write than non-romance?

A: Both have their pluses and minuses.  It's not the genre that's hard, so much as getting a story right no matter what genre you write in.  Everything gets easier with practice.

6. Do you read romance outside of fanfic or do you stay away from it?

A: I write it.  A lot of it.    I read Susan Krinard, Susan Wiggs, Diana Gabaldon, and Julia Quinn, in romance off the top of my head, but lots and lots of non-romance too - the Dragonlance series, Harry Potter, even Sun Tsu.

7. Do you have any recommendations of good Narnia romance?

A: Where do I start?  LOL - we have lots of talent in our Narnia ficcers.  I'll read anything with a good plot and great characterization.  When I get time!  

[ElvesWizardsCentaursOhMy]

Ooohhh! I like this idea!

Okay where to begin...

1. It's the fact that the books DON'T have any romance in them. Fanfic writers feel the need to fix that with creating a romance of their own.

2. Considering that we do get a few romantic couples in the books (Aravis/Cor and Caspian/Ramandu's Daughter), yes I do think it belongs in Narnia.

3. The romance being realistic and not forced. Also, I tend to enjoy romance stories more when there are other things going on in the story other than the romance, such as a war, or a tournament, or a problem of some sort. It balances out the fluffiness and makes the story more interesting.

4. Don't really have an opinion on this one.

6. In my humble, not that important, opinion, I do believe incest could very easily happen in Narnia, especially during the early years. Think about it, during King Frank's reign, there weren't any other humans around other than his children. True his children could marry dryads and the like, but what if they didn't want to marry one of their citizens? What if they thought that was "abusing their power" so to speak? In a reality, Frank's children only, really, had two choices; marry their siblings, or one of their citizens (and there wasn't THAT many to choose from anyway, depending on when Frank's children were born), since as far as we know, no other country or place was populated then. It is possible. Plus animals don't care if they are related to another animal or not (well, as far as we know. That would be interesting to write about a Talking Animals point of view on that), and Narnia IS a land of Talking Beast so...who knows.

As for slash -- I have no problem with it. As people say, you can't choose who you fall in love with.

6. Yes I read romance outside of fanfiction. As long as the plot is interesting I'll read just about anything.

That's all I have to say!   These are merely my opinions and are not meant to upset anyone.

[Sushi]

1. Why do you think romance so prevalent in Narnia fanfic when the books have zero romance?

Because C.S. Lewis himself suggested outside of the Chronicles that that friendship between a man and a woman (or a girl and a boy, in our case) is likely to become romantic love unless either they are physically unattractive to each other, or at least one of them already loves another.  Anyway, isn't an important aspect of the books the friendships between the characters?  (Cor and Aravis, Digory and Polly, Eustace and Jill, etc.)

2. Does romance belong in Narnia? Why or why not?

I believe romance belongs in Narnia just as much as it belongs in Middle Earth, Alagaesia, or the real world.  The characters are written to be flesh and blood humans (or at least created beings), and flesh and blood humans are prone to romantic feelings.  How can four monarchs of such a vast and powerful kingdom as Narnia ignore the idea of marriage?  It's political suicide.

3. What makes a Narnian romance good? (You may use specific examples from stories that you consider to be good, but NOT stories you consider to be bad because we don't want to do any bashing.)

Reality.  The kings and queens must be kings and queens, the peasants must be peasants, the humans must be humans and the centaurs the centaurs.  The characters must be Narnian or Archenlander or Telmarine or Calormene or what have you - observe the rites, the customs, and act the way a normal human or centaur does.

6. Slash and incest in Narnia - this is a sensitive topic, so please be respectful in your responses, but feel free to state your opinions. Just be adult about it.

Absolutely not.  The argument can be made that the children were young, and had no knowledge of what was right and wrong, but I think I knew very well that my brothers were gross and entirely off-limits by the time I was 10, much less in my teens and 20s.  Honestly, I think slash and incest are perversions of Lewis's Narnia.

5. Is romance easier or harder to write than non-romance?

Easier, just because the plot comes handed to you on a silver platter.  Boy meets girl, somehow they fall in love, and they either end up together or not.  Boom.  (Besides - everyone knows romances get more reviews.)

6. Do you read romance outside of fanfic or do you stay away from it?

I stay away from it simply because I have better uses for my time.  The romances written these days are far too smutty, anyway; I would much rather stick with good ol' Jane Austen and non-romances.

7. Do you have any recommendations of good Narnia romance?

...Mine?    Just kidding.  I really don't read fandom romance, just in case I accidentally steal someone else's idea.

[rthstewart]

2. Does romance belong in Narnia? Why or why not?

I believe romance belongs in Narnia just as much as it belongs in Middle Earth, Alagaesia, or the real world.  The characters are written to be flesh and blood humans (or at least created beings), and flesh and blood humans are prone to romantic feelings.  How can four monarchs of such a vast and powerful kingdom as Narnia ignore the idea of marriage?  It's politically foolish.

Insofar as Golden Age is concerned, Elecktrum made this point in her first AsCast interview -- that the first duty of a monarch is securing of his or her line.  The Pevensies themselves were a product of the Edward VIII abdication crisis in 1936 -- Susan and Peter would be certainly older enough to recall that and its lessons.  Further, I think that the citizens of Narnia, having endured 100 years of the Witch claiming legitimacy based upon human blood would be very, very concerned with securing a human line.  I don't think they'd be that concerned that it be the Pevensie line, but I do think they would be insistent upon an orderly human succession.  Having endured all that they did, it would be the height of irresponsibility to not address it.

This is actually related to sex, reproduction, and securing of the line, not necessarily romance, of course, but I do think it's incredibly important to Golden Age politics.  Further, I assume that 4 children on the thrones would invite intrigues and seductions and conspiracies by neighboring countries looking to take advantage of naive monarchs.

On the other hand, and to play devil's advocate, the argument against romance in Narnia runs along several rails.  First, I've gotten to know a number of readers who enjoy romance plenty, but not in this 'verse.  They think it's squicky to be thinking about romance with a story they fell in love with at age 10 and what maintain that childlike (not childish) quality to their reading in this fandom.  Many read plenty of romance in other verses and fiction, but not in Narnia.  To them, it is unseemly.

This is apart from the other leg of analysis which is that Lewis did not write these novels as romance stories, but as religious allegory and/or as a form of medieval philosophical literature that extols virtues of asexuality and chastity.   Romance therefore has no place in these stories from a theological and philosophical standpoint -- it is inconsistent with the fundamental ethos of the books and with authorial intent.  I've seen authors go so far as to argue that if you do write romance with OCs, you aren't really writing Narnia fan fiction anymore.  I'm really not doing these arguments justice, but they are very, very strongly held views among some in this fandom and if someone else can put the better spin on it, please do so.

[songsmith]

1. Why do you think romance so prevalent in Narnia fanfic when the books have zero romance?

I wouldn't say the books have zero romance - we get Cor and Aravis, and Caspian and the Star's Daughter.  Even Rabadash and Susan, if you expand the definition of 'romance' a little, and I think if we're talking about the prominence of it in fanfic, the Rabadash/Susan material counts, since a fair bit of what's out there in fandom-land isn't sweetness-and-light romance.  Romance isn't the focus of the books, surely, but it isn't absent, either.   As for why it's so prevalent in fanfic, I think it has to do with fanfic being about exploring characters, and one of the key ways to do that is through their relationships, romantic and otherwise.  It's also an aspect of fandom at large -- there is very little 'gen' fic out there (by which I mean not pairing-focused) despite the fact that a lot of fic is written in universes that do not emphasize romance.  Why we fans tend to focus on pairings is a topic that could and has filled essays, but I think it boils down to a sort of shortcut to characterization -- romance provokes very strong feelings and reactions in us, so writing pairings gives authors a broader emotional canvas to work with.

2. Does romance belong in Narnia? Why or why not?

Certainly it does.   Narnia is very much in the vein of the classical romance, like the Arthurian cycle.  As well, the characters are by turns adults, in the years we don't see much of, and teenagers.  It would be stranger, I think, for adults to have no romantic experiences at all than to have them, and noticing other people romantically is a big part of being a teenager.

3. What makes a Narnian romance good? (You may use specific examples from stories that you consider to be good, but NOT stories you consider to be bad because we don't want to do any bashing.)

I would say the same things that makes any romance good - a relationship that develops naturally from where the characters involved are.  Characters with enough depth to them that a relationship is believable, and that we have an interest in them.

6. Slash and incest in Narnia - this is a sensitive topic, so please be respectful in your responses, but feel free to state your opinions. Just be adult about it.

Slash: I don't see why not.   Homosexual relations are natural and occur frequently in the animal kingdom, so when you have a country with a large population of Talking Animals, it seems perfectly logical that you would have same-sex pairings.  And then there are the fauns and satyrs, which mythologically speaking weren't precisely picky about their partners.  It doesn't seem to me that there would be one set of morals applying to certain inhabitants of Narnia and another set for other inhabitants; not if the society was going to operate harmoniously.  The Pevensies bring in 1940s English perspectives, so reluctance on their part would be natural, but they would also be influenced by the mores and customs of Narnian society, and if homosexuality isn't taboo there, the strength of the English taboo would probably fade in time.

Incest: A little trickier.   Personally I didn't read incest fic until I got into Narnia fandom.  Now it doesn't bother me so much.  Incest taboos have always been rather fluid, particularly among royalty.   In several ancient cultures, brother-sister marriage was common in royal houses.  Egypt's probably the best known of these, but there were others.  The divinity of the royal house passed through the female line, so in order to become king, the son of the king had to marry his sister.   Most of Europe's monarchs were related to one another even before Victoria's descendants spread over Europe.  And cousin-marriage taboos (particularly for degrees past first; that is, sharing only a great-grandparent or earlier) are a really recent thing, historically speaking.  So if one accepts Narnia as another culture, where such relations are not taboo, then it doesn't bother me.

6. Do you read romance outside of fanfic or do you stay away from it?

Well, I don't read romance novels.   But romance is so integral to the human experience, it's difficult to avoid it.  And I think that's a good thing; it adds realism and depth to characters.

[IrishSongBird]

Great replies here, guys, thank you so much! I've just gotten a great one from francienyc, as well, so it looks like our discussion is shaping up to be pretty interesting!

Remember to reply by June 1st, when we record the show! Thanks! 

[lunawannabe]

1. Why do you think romance so prevalent in Narnia fanfic when the books have zero romance?
Because the majority of fanfic writers are women/girls, and alot of women like romance. Also, when done well, it can be a tool used to explore a character better.

2. Does romance belong in Narnia? Why or why not?
I think it does. It would be strange if the Pevensie's never fell in love, it's a part of growing up. That being said, I normally like stories that have little romance or light romance, because a story where the romance is central just doensn't really make sense. A ruler of a country as big as Narnia couldn't just put everything on hold to be in love. They'd still have duties, obligations, visits to make etc. Stories in which the romance is everything and may mention "Oh, Peter was doing some taxes, darn, I can't smooch him like I do most of the time" once just don't make sense.

3. What makes a Narnian romance good? (You may use specific examples from stories that you consider to be good, but NOT stories you consider to be bad because we don't want to do any bashing.)
In character-ness. Ho-ly cow, I could never stress this enough. If you write them OOC, it's just another romance story. Romance can have the potential to explore a character even more, but if it's OOC it will NEVER give any insight. IC romance can not give insight, it can just be "Peter! *smooch*" but it can also be awesome.

4. General Spare 'Oom versus NARNIA romance...thoughts? Which do you prefer and why? Which one allows for greater freedom and interesting plots or characters?
I acually think Spare 'Oom would be more interesting. It would be so interesting to read about trying to tell their love that, yes, I once ruled a magical land. Would she think he was insane? Would she think that was the coolest thing ever? It could make for such an interesting character if she believed, it'd be awesome, because she could believe the impossible when it acually does exist, but also she might be the kind of person who's always seeing a Blibbering Humdinger. And it'd be such an interesting situation if she didn't, what would he do? Would he still love her? What would Lucy do? Get mad, tell him off? What about Susan? It gives such a great opprotunity to explore the character.

6. Slash and incest in Narnia - this is a sensitive topic, so please be respectful in your responses, but feel free to state your opinions. Just be adult about it.
Slash and incest takes away from the whole point of the series. Slash; Caspian was supposed to be a little boy the Pevensies were trying to install on the throne. If you make him fall in love with one of the boys, that's taking away the entire point of his character. Incest; the Chronicles were about 4 siblings who discover a magical land. Again, make Peter fall in love with Susan, you take away what the entire point of the Chronicles. You don't write Narnia fanfic anymore, you're just using slapping a Narnia label on something random and making Lewis dizzy rolling in his grave.

5. Is romance easier or harder to write than non-romance?
For me, non-romance just because I'm not mushy enough to write romance.

6. Do you read romance outside of fanfic or do you stay away from it?
Stay away from it, just because it usually bores me when books are just romance, and annoys me when an author goes away from the action to something romantic. I make acceptions, I was OK with the romance in HP, but even the romance in Hunger Games annoyed me.

[rthstewart]

1. Why do you think romance so prevalent in Narnia fanfic when the books have zero romance?
2. Does romance belong in Narnia? Why or why not?

I really wish that some of the popular Gen writers would weigh in here because so far the responses are tilting heavily in favor of Yeah Romance!  The most popular writer on the ff.net site, Elecktrum, has no romance in her stories at all.  She's hinting at romantic entanglements in her latest, but it sure isn't romance if you read between the lines.  Tonzura's recently updated PE is another example.  Lirenel.  Sentimental Star.  None, zero.  Indeed, these very, very popular authors are decisively not romantic and to the extent there are OCs, they are also non-romantic.  Others who do not draw quite the same numbers of reviews but are still very, very popular also to do not feature romance, or very, very little, including Andi Horton, Ilysia (only Caspian and the Star), and Anastigmat.

Now, of course, the response is that these are great writers and their works stand on their merits.  But, what gives?  These are the stories YOU are reading and reviewing.  They do not feature romance.  I know that some of the above authors actually take a pretty firm line against romance because it:
*It is squicky in Narnia and the author wants to hold on to that feeling she had when she was 10 and reading them for the first time.
*It is inconsistent with the medieval and/or Christian ethos of the books.
*Lewis didn't put romance in there save for a few very limited circumstances, so he must have meant for it not to be there, and any fic that explores romance is as inconsistent with authorial intent as putting slash or incest in Narnia.  

So, what gives?  I don't mean to be confrontational (or maybe I am) but really, let's examine this.

Throwing something else out there, a lot of the very popular, non-romance authors are deeply into the brother fic, sibling, warrior bonding genre -- See Thole, PE, and Letting Go as examples.  These are emotionally, very intense, but are not romance stories.  For readers, are these types of stories satisfying the Narnia fix and then the hankering for romance, if you that's your thing, is coming from other fiction?  That is something I have heard from some adult readers.  Comment?

[IrishSongBird]

1. Why do you think romance so prevalent in Narnia fanfic when the books have zero romance?
2. Does romance belong in Narnia? Why or why not?

Throwing something else out there, a lot of the very popular, non-romance authors are deeply into the brother fic, sibling, warrior bonding genre -- See Thole, PE, and Letting Go as examples.  These are emotionally, very intense, but are not romance stories.  For readers, are these types of stories satisfying the Narnia fix and then the hankering for romance, if you that's your thing, is coming from other fiction?  That is something I have heard from some adult readers.  Comment?

This is something I'll definitely mention on the show, but I wanted to briefly state it here to remind myself...sometimes that brother/sibling bonding can be borderline romantic in itself even when it's not supposed to be. It's a real-life phenomenon, extremely common up until about the second half of the nineteenth century when physical intimacy between the same sex came to be regarded as something squicky. But these "romantic friendships" (real term) were pretty common, and even though I'm hard pressed to think of anywhere else they exist in real life or MODERN literature, they're really prevalent in Narnia fanfic. Interesting. (Reminder: e-mail my grad school friend who is writing her thesis on this. haha Apparently Abe Lincoln had a speshul friend in his life, too, btw...)

[animus_wyrmis]

This is something I'll definitely mention on the show, but I wanted to briefly state it here to remind myself...sometimes that brother/sibling bonding can be borderline romantic in itself even when it's not supposed to be. It's a real-life phenomenon, extremely common up until about the second half of the nineteenth century when physical intimacy between the same sex came to be regarded as something squicky. But these "romantic friendships" (real term) were pretty common, and even though I'm hard pressed to think of anywhere else they exist in real life or MODERN literature, they're really prevalent in Narnia fanfic. Interesting. (Reminder: e-mail my grad school friend who is writing her thesis on this. haha Apparently Abe Lincoln had a speshul friend in his life, too, btw...)

Word. Anyone else remember Anne of Green Gables and Diana?

I've definitely read some sibling fics that would have made much more sense as romance, I was quite confused!

I've found that I love to write romance in Narnia--most of my stories have it--but it's not usually the focus point or the A plot. Usually I'm trying to deal with something else and romance comes up as part of that. Personally I love romance in Narnia--I think it absolutely belongs there--but I don't read straight romance very much. It's usually got other stuff going on, or is really about something else altogether.

Re slash and incest...I'll just quote what I posted in rthstewart's lj:
As always, write what you like. I have no problems with slash--I write quite a bit of femmeslash actually--and I don't care if Lewis would have disapproved; I don't let authors' bigotry stop me from queering up their texts. Incest is more difficult; it squicks me, I don't see it in the books...otoh some of the best writers in the fandom write it and I can't really stay away from the more subtle stuff. It does hit my "we're the only two who can possibly understand/remember X so we must be together for good or bad" buttons, just...it's so squicky. And I can't deal at all if it's not presented problematically.

So, yeah, idk.

[rthstewart]

Re slash and incest...I'll just quote what I posted in rthstewart's lj:

Animus, I sent the whole of your response on to Irish so she would have it for the podcast.

Re slash and incest...I'll just quote what I posted in rthstewart's lj:
As always, write what you like. I have no problems with slash--I write quite a bit of femmeslash actually--and I don't care if Lewis would have disapproved; I don't let authors' bigotry stop me from queering up their texts. Incest is more difficult; it squicks me, I don't see it in the books...otoh some of the best writers in the fandom write it

I think that you are not alone in this, Animus.  I would have never gone near it prior to entering the Narnia fandom.  It was the quality of the writing of some of the LJ stories (specifically Bedlamsbard and Lassiterfics) that got me over the squick.  I hugely admire writers whose work is so good, I can leave my filter and reservations at the pool's edge and dive in.

Which I guess leads me to a point I've made before in the problem with writing romance in Narnia.  In the absence of non-incestuous relationships, the writer can either 1) write Gen fic (possibly in the sibling bonding genre described above); or 2)create an OC and thereby run the risk of a Sue.  

[Love and Rock Music]

Throwing something else out there, a lot of the very popular, non-romance authors are deeply into the brother fic, sibling, warrior bonding genre -- See Thole, PE, and Letting Go as examples.  These are emotionally, very intense, but are not romance stories.  For readers, are these types of stories satisfying the Narnia fix and then the hankering for romance, if you that's your thing, is coming from other fiction?  That is something I have heard from some adult readers.  Comment?

That is a really terrific point. Many of the best authors don't write romance, but they do write brotherfic that can be just as heavy, emotional, and intense as any romance fic. Why might that be?

The Greeks regarded eros, passionate romantic love, as the least of the four kinds of love. Philia was elevated much higher -- it was friendship, kinsmenship, love for one's fellow man. Philia describes two people, two minds that meet equally and are loyal to one another. To the Greeks, this love transcended romantic love; Ancient Greece was basically a place where men were either discussing Important Things or performing Heroic Acts, and having a friend or companion to side with you was a beautiful thing. This closeness was more solid than the temptation and sway of romance. Men always fell victim to villainous women anyway. As rth says, pretty girls make men do stupid things.

I think fandom follows this remarkably closely. Badly written, self insert, gratification romance fic is the very bottom of the fan fiction ladder. These kinds of fics are ubiquitous throughout fandom in general and target a very specific audience. And let's face it, romance fic is easy. You can find UST anywhere if you look hard enough. Plus, many romance fics share the same template: eyes meet across the room, meet cute, flirty banter ensues. Throw in some sexy times and you've got a winner.

Meanwhile, brotherfic finds its conflict elsewhere. Brotherly bonds are not created the same way love stories are recounted from the first kismet meeting. Most often, the brotherfic is about testing the bond that already exists, and reaffirming it through various emotional trials (see: the story of Damon and Pythias). Peter and Edmund have plenty Important Things to discuss and Heroic Deeds are not in shortage in Narnia. Brotherfic more closely follows the Greek ideal, resolutions of tears, trials, and angst notwithstanding.

So. Do good writers avoid romance because it's a lesser form of (classical) love? Is romance cheap? By not writing romance, gen authors are rising above the Mary Sues and bad writing associated with romance. But do the Sues lurk there because romance is the bottom of the food chain, or is romance only at the bottom because of the Sues?

Perhaps brotherfic is just more appealing because it's a love all readers can relate to. Writing romance requires endorsing a pairing, thereby alienating readers who don't ship that pairing. A Lucian fan won't read Susan/Caspian, but we can all enjoy an action story. After all, there is a difference between a good writer and a popular writer.

[songsmith]

1. Why do you think romance so prevalent in Narnia fanfic when the books have zero romance?
2. Does romance belong in Narnia? Why or why not?

I really wish that some of the popular Gen writers would weigh in here because so far the responses are tilting heavily in favor of Yeah Romance!  ....
Now, of course, the response is that these are great writers and their works stand on their merits.  But, what gives?  These are the stories YOU are reading and reviewing.  They do not feature romance.  

I think that might be partly due to the question set.  You got me thinking, and most of the stories/authors I follow are gen writers.   But asked if romance 'belongs' in Narnia, of course it does.   That doesn't mean every story has to feature it, though.  Every fandom, even the ones that love to pair everyone with everyone (HP I'm looking at you), has its gen fics.    We're very fortunate in this fandom to have a lot of talented gen writers.