I apologize in advance to all of anyone who will bother themselves with reading this, my past, and future posts. I am a very talkative person (I like to say a lot of things at once, a lot of different ways, and quickly), but the problem is that doesn't translate very well to writing because I can only say it as fast as the recipient can read. If I had the patience, skill, and dedication to write a novel, I would probably be one of those authors who is very long-winded, going off on tangents whenever possible and often using vague and flowery writing. Even now I am making this foreword much too long for what it is, so I'll wrap it up. Sorry for being, well... writative . It's really very difficult for me to not write a lot, but (so as not to be impolite) I'll put short answers as well for those who prefer to avoid torturous activities. Just choose one or the other of my answers when you come to it because they'll both basically say the same thing.

1. Name (please avoid your real full name):

I'm Jack (short for Jacklinne), but, as my username is rainyweather, that (or any variation of that) goes as well (e.g. rain, rainy, R.W., etc.)- I am very much a nicknames person.   

2. King or Queen of Narnia (guy or girl):

In honor of Reepicheep, my role model in life, (lady) knight .

3. Family (single/married/kids):

Single

4. Occupation: 

Student (though I must say- as much as I love learning- I despise school :P)

5. How you learned about NarniaWeb:

Short Answer:

I don't remember exactly because I have a bad memory. I think I was looking into Netflix Narnia adaptations and I found good information here. Then I looked at other headlines, began checking regularly for new ones and listening to the podcast, and eventually joined the community. And I say, I'm glad I did! I feel very at home here with my fellow Narnians :).

Torturous and Unnecessarily Long Answer:

I wish I remembered lol. I haven't gotten tested, but I am fairly certain (like 98% sure) I have ADHD, the predominantly inattentive type, so I am very much a forgetful person and a daydreamer  (alas, I am not a medical professional, so I can't self-diagnose). Anyways, I think I found it when looking up Narnia stuff (maybe memes, fan art, or information) and I saw an article about the Netflix adaptations or something or another and was interested. I know after I found it I browsed headlines for a while and read a bunch of old and new articles. I began checking the site regularly for new news. Then I started listening to the podcast- which is super enjoyable and constantly cracks me up (then again, most things in life make me laugh lol). Finally, I was fully converted into a NarniaWebber when I joined the forum a few days ago. And I say, I'm glad I did! I feel very at home here with my fellow Narnians :).

6. How old were you when you first read the Chronicles:

Short Answer:

I read LWW in 5th Grade. I liked it and started MN, but ended up returning it unfinished (I can't remember why). In 9th Grade I read the whole series through for the first time and absolutely fell in love with it. It brought pure, wholesome joy and light into my life as I sailed through my own Dark Island. I am a better, happier person today because of Narnia. It continues to affect me, sharpening my conscience and encouraging me to endure and improve myself. It literally changed- and still changes- my life. Funny just how powerful "children's books" can be. Anywho, I still am unable to cure myself of my obsession with the Chronicles of Narnia, and thus find myself here on NarniaWeb .

Torturous and Unnecessarily Long Answer:

I read LWW for an English class in 5th Grade, and though I quite liked it, most of the important things went over my head. Nevertheless, it got me interested enough that I looked into the series and from what I could gather it appeared they had made us read the second book in a series without having read the first (not knowing a bit about the infamous reading order debate, I was quite shocked )! I resolved to correct this mistake and acquired MN from the school library. For some reason or another (spotty memory strikes again!) I ended up returning MN unfinished. I read quite a lot and became preoccupied with other books and things, all but a vague recollection of LWW (mostly thanks to seeing the movie adaptation) fading from my mind. Years down the road (in 9th grade), my family went through a phase of nonstop movie marathons. Eventually, they did a marathon of the Walden Media movies. I knew about both the LWW and PC adaptations, had seen them several times, and had liked them. But when they came to VDT I was confused- I hadn't known there was a third Narnia movie. I thought it was a bit cheesy (even without having read VDT), but it got me thinking about the Narnia series again. I began to recall that there was a whole series that I had neglected to finish. I did some research on the books (to see if it was worth my time, as I had many other books on my reading list), and my interest was piqued. One Tuesday morning, during my dreaded my weekly piano lesson (dreaded because I never practiced ), my piano teacher (an avid reader, like myself) and I got talking about books and traded recommendations. She asked me if I read Chronicles of Narnia, and told me that they were one of her favorite series of all time and that she read them every summer as a kid. With that, I was sold. I read the whole Chronicles through in chronological order (because I wanted to get to VDT as fast as possible to see the real story ). I was going through a hard time, battling depression, anxiety, and lots of doubt, as well as dealing with my Nana's (great grandma) death (the first death of family member I experienced). Narnia brought pure, wholesome joy and light into my life as I sailed through my own Dark Island. I am a better, happier person today because of Narnia. It continues to affect me, sharpening my conscience and encouraging me to endure and try my best to be and to do good. It literally changed- and still changes- my life. Funny just how powerful "children's books" can be. Anywho, I still am unable to cure myself of my obsession, and thus find myself here on NarniaWeb .

7. How many times have you read the Chronicles:

I constantly reread random parts of each of the books, but I don't often reread a whole book through. I've read LWW twice through, almost three times (I'm in the middle of it now). PC twice, as I reread it for the 70th anniversary recently. VDT once, but I revisit different parts of this book quite a lot. SC once, but I also listened to an audiobook of it. HHB once, though I also listened to the FotF audio drama once. MN once, almost twice, plus the FotF audio drama. LB once.

8. Favorite of the Chronicles:

It's changed a few times and probably will change again, but for now it's VDT. VDT was my original favorite after I read the whole series. During reading the series (before VDT, that is), it was HHB. I think it changed back to HHB at some point. Most recently- before going back to VDT- it was SC.

9. Hobbies and/or interesting things about you:

• I'm a proud Gryffindor through and through ! (I've got nothing against Slytherin house, though :))
• My Myers-Briggs type is ENFP. I'm a heart over head, emotional (sometimes moody), spontaneous person .
• I love to laugh and I have a childish sense of humor and a big imagination, but at the same time I tend to worry and (over)think a lot.
• I'm infamously bad at dancing and known to be absent-minded and clumsy (but I love to laugh at myself ).
• As a student, I procrastinate like there's no today (no today- rather than no tomorrow- because I always say "I'll do it tomorrow ).
• I love art! My favorite medium (pretty much the only medium I use) is sketching and I draw characters from books and shows (most often Narnia characters :)). I doodle on any paper or notebook I'm given .
• I love reading! I'll read almost anything as long as it's wholesome/appropriate, but fantasy and classics are my favorites- like Narnia ! I inherited a love of fairy tales from my grandma (and her collections of fairy tales I read all night instead of sleeping when I stayed at her house ).
• I'm not a serious writer, but I have modest skill. Mostly, I write for academic purposes. I also secretly enjoy and dabble in poetry.
• I love music! I cycle through genres, but I've got a soft spot for rock: classic rock, punk rock, pop rock, alternative, indie, etc.... you name it! I also like punk pop, folk/acoustic, broadway/musicals (including Les Mis, Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, and many, many more), and sometimes opera .
• Favorite animals: foxes, owls, frogs, and mice (because Reepicheep, yes :)).
• Favorite colors: mainly maroon and teal, but also emerald and olive green and any shade of blue.
• I chose the username rainyweather because I love the rain, puddles, frogs, clouds, the smell of rain, thunder... all of it!

Sorry again for how ridiculously long this is (I'm an all-or-nothing type person ).

Also sorry for overusing the animated emojis (they're just so fun ).

Anywho (which is not a real word but I use it all the time and I'm not stopping now), nice to meet you all !

@rainyweather welcome! I think you would be a great companion during rainy or any other unpleasant weather that drove people indoors to sit and chat over cups of tea, and I'm looking forward to reading your posts.

Posted by: @rainyweather

I read LWW in 5th Grade. I liked it and started MN, but ended up returning it unfinished (I can't remember why). In 9th Grade I read the whole series through for the first time and absolutely fell in love with it. It brought pure, wholesome joy and light into my life as I sailed through my own Dark Island. I am a better, happier person today because of Narnia. It continues to affect me, sharpening my conscience and encouraging me to endure and improve myself. It literally changed- and still changes- my life. Funny just how powerful "children's books" can be.

Oh, I love this! I could say much the same thing about the Chronicles for myself — well, I discovered them as a young girl (between the ages of 4 and 7) and then lost sight of that "pure, wholesome joy and light", as you so perfectly describe it, during my teens. But it came back again. I would still describe C.S. Lewis quite simply as "the man who first introduced me to God" — through Aslan, that is.

Anyway, welcome, rainyweather, and I hope you keep enjoying the forum discussions! And hey, no worries about using the animated smileys... I'm more than a little addicted to them myself.  

1. Name (please avoid your real full name): Katie

2. King or Queen of Narnia (guy or girl): Queen ~

3. Family (single/married/kids): Single

4. Occupation: 

5. How you learned about NarniaWeb: I saw it cited in a video from Into the Wardrobe, and thought a site about all things Narnia news sounded like a cool place to check out!

6. How old were you when you first read the Chronicles: I can't remember my exact age, but I know it was when I was a kid back in the early 2000s, I may have been around 11-ish I think. I remember one day when my brother and I came from visiting our lola (grandma) my mom said she had a surprise for us, which was the entire Narnia series in hardback. I wasn't sure how to react, not having heard of the books before. So Dad, who had read them multiple times over when he was a kid, took "The Magician's Nephew" at that moment and read it aloud to us. I still remember that feeling of excitement just from hearing the title of the first chapter alone, "The Wrong Door". We were pulled in immediately! Later, by the time getting to book 2 (chronologically) I suddenly realized I HAD known of Narnia earlier via seeing even earlier when I was little the cartoon adaption, as I vaguely remembered a girl getting into another world via wardrobe and the faun friend she made there turned to stone. That was exciting finally knowing where those fragments of memory came from, since I had recalled liking that old cartoon but not remembering what exactly it was.

7. How many times have you read the Chronicles: All the way through, only once. And then the individual books, it varies. I recently finished re-reading LWW and have started a re-read of SC (I know, random haha). 

8. Favorite of the Chronicles: That's a really tough one! Usually I say "The Last Battle", but I also really, really love "The Magician's Nephew" so it's between those two. I just really love all the interesting things about MN, such as The Wood Between the Worlds, Charn, the creation of Narnia, etc. but the final book, whilst very dark at times, is also just so beautifully hopeful at the end that.... ah... I love it, so yeah, it's between those two... the beginning and the end of Narnia. 

9. Hobbies and/or interesting things about you: I like to make free, voice acted visual novels and RPG Maker games. (For 10 years now this month, on the 20th, woo! It's been that long?!). I like to voice act as well. I also like to draw manga style art, recently started drawing again. I love VOCALOID music, as well as UTAU (I have even recorded my own voice bank, in fact my avatar is one in my twin set, drawn by my friend as a gift). Video editing is also a passion of mine, a lot of work, but super fun! Writing is my ultimate passion.

I of course love to read, I even made a new year's resolution to start reading more! And by that, I mean novels (and some non-fiction too), as I've probably admittedly read more manga than I have regular books. 

Fun fact! The Narnia books (and oddly enough, internet forums lol) helped me become a good reader. As a pre-teen, I kind of a hit a period where I had a lot of trouble reading and was fallen behind. By the time getting to book 2, which started out as my dad reading it to me and my brother, for some reason many days were skipped 'cause he got busy and so I just ended up picking it up and finishing it myself.... and then read the rest of the books from there haha. Dad was impressed! The book I read the fastest was "The Last Battle", which I practically finished in one day because I was THAT invested!

@kokoro-hane It's great to read your posts and get to know you a little — welcome and I'm glad you're enjoying the discussions!  

I'm just wondering about your user name, as I learned Japanese at school (back in Australia) but haven't spoken it for a long time. "Kokoro" is "heart", but can you jog my memory as to what "Hane" means? It sounds familiar, but I can't quite remember...

Posted by: @courtenay

@kokoro-hane It's great to read your posts and get to know you a little — welcome and I'm glad you're enjoying the discussions!  

I'm just wondering about your user name, as I learned Japanese at school (back in Australia) but haven't spoken it for a long time. "Kokoro" is "heart", but can you jog my memory as to what "Hane" means? It sounds familiar, but I can't quite remember...

Thanks for the welcome!

"Hane" actually means "feather". I came up with "Kokoro Hane" (heart feather) because my favorite manga series by CLAMP is Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, and the plot of that is in order to save the princess they have to collect fragments of her heart on other worlds, which are in the form of feathers. 

1. Name (please avoid your real full name): Mike

2. King or Queen of Narnia (guy or girl): King

3. Family (single/married/kids): married with 5 kids

4. Occupation: Cytotechnologist

5. How you learned about NarniaWeb: Can't remember, probably Google. I've stopped by to read news about Narnia films for years, finally decided to join the forum.

6. How old were you when you first read the Chronicles: I was aware of the books and the BBC adaptations as a kid, and read an excerpt once in school, but I didn't read the actual books until my late 20's when my wife's uncle gave us a set of paperbacks he had.

7. How many times have you read the Chronicles: The whole series at least a couple of times, my favorites in the series multiple times

8. Favorite of the Chronicles: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

9. Hobbies and/or interesting things about you: Gardening, collecting and listening to music, telling bad jokes to my kids, watching TV and movies, reading, writing (I'm a self-published wannabe novelist with two books) home audio recording (I recorded my own audiobooks)

@princecapsicum Welcome! It's always nice to see people with families joining us (welcome to your wife and children too, if they are keen on Narnia).  And writers are most welcome - we have one or two others here.

Ditto to what coracle wrote, @princecapsicum! Welcome to NarniaWeb. Does the rest of your family treasure Narnia as you do? I had to look up 'Cytotechnologist' ... sounds like a very interesting vocation!

Posted by: @princecapsicum

telling bad jokes to my kids

Lovingly known as "Dad jokes".  

Wonderful that you are a writer, and have recorded your own audiobooks! That must have been a very fulfilling experience. Of all your interests, we have a topic for most right here in the Spare Oom.  

Enjoy the discussions here!

Thanks for the welcome everyone! My son, who is 14, really loves the Narnia books and films. He memorizes a lot of tiny facts about the characters and their rankings on the wiki from pure good to pure evil, etc. He's autistic so he does this to the point of being annoying, and I have to explain to him over and over that I didn't memorize the books in the same way he did, so he can't expect me to remember things the way he does. Maybe he'll join the forum in a couple of years, we'll see what happens.

@princecapsicum he'll be welcome - we have had members of all situations and needs here.

And I've finally clicked what your username is based on!!  Has it been a joke in the past?  I've actually never heard it before - but I love it! Puns forever!

@coracle I'm glad you liked my username! It's actually a character in one of my novels. One or two other people have made the same play on words in the past (I googled it while I was writing) but their ideas weren't exactly the same as mine, so I went ahead and used it in my book. And if anyone's wondering, yes I do like spicy food.

1. Name: Janna (however, my nickname is Jay)

2. King or Queen of Narnia (guy or girl): 100% bonified Queen

3. Family (single/married/kids): Single, no kids. I do help take care of my nephew though.

4. Occupation: Currently assisting in the care of my nephew while trying to write books.

5. How you learned about NarniaWeb: Just happened to stumble across it. It was late at night and I've been longing for a Christian group to enjoy beautiful works of fiction with.

6. How old were you when you first read the Chronicles: I suppose I was 11 years old. I hated reading but somehow the first book captivated me.

7. How many times have you read the Chronicles: Sadly, I have not finished reading them through but I do plan on it. I have read the first two books.

8. Favorite of the Chronicles: Magician's Nephew for sure.

9. Hobbies and/or interesting things about you: I love creating character art. I can easily manufacture stories and character backgrounds, though I have been a bit out of practice with it due to my "occupation". I wish to create graphic novels that have messages of Biblical truths that point people to Jesus.

@rainyweather That was exciting to read! (I'll be honest and say I did skim a bit in the long parts) but I appreciate your talents and it seems we have a lot in common! Though, if we go by Myers Briggs scale, I'm a mix of INFP and a ISFP. Generalizing this though, ENFPs are enduring and fun! I could go on about the types (I used the Myers Briggs to help vary my characters some.) A lot of what you put down seemed thoroughly thought out, I can respect that!

Anywho, nice to meet you, Jack!

@blue-jay, a big welcome to NarniaWeb. It is good to see you posting in various topics. I find it especially interesting and exciting that you are reading through the Chronicles for the first time, and am eager to read your thoughts as you progress. I am so glad that first book captivated you! It sounds like you have a passion for writing. All the best as you pursue this.

Enjoy the community and discussions here.  

1. Name (please avoid your real full name): Raymond

2. King or Queen of Narnia (guy or girl): King

3. Family (single/married/kids): Married, two stepchild, three grandchildren 

4. Occupation: Computer Scientist 

5. How you learned about NarniaWeb: Google Search

6. How old were you when you first read the Chronicles: early 20s

7. How many times have you read the Chronicles: 5 times, I think.  I try to read at least a chapter each day.

8. Favorite of the Chronicles: The Last Battle

9. Hobbies and/or interesting things about you: I play several musical instruments.  I enjoy building things, especially with wood. I enjoy traveling, especially to see natural wonders.  I enjoy watching some sports, primarily American baseball, golf, and English football.  I like TV shows, movies, and music from the 60s and 70s.