Songs of Journey

Dear NFE letter

2016-07-22T22:56:55Z

(2017 edit: yes, this is last year's letter but as I've again tried to put the details in the prompts, all of this still applies.)

Dear NFE writer,

Thanks for writing me a story! I hope the prompts have given you some form of inspiration. I generally flail about trying to come up with specifics, as I tend to prefer types of stories rather than scenarios. If you want to take off on a tangent, you're welcome to do so.

Generalities:

I love outside POV and everything else that gives a different perspective, stories that come at canon for right angles -- or 180, if you want to write villains as protagonists. On which note, I love history as written by the victors tropes and unreliable narrators in general. I like complexity, characters with conflicting loyalties and/or motives, people doing the right thing for the wrong reasons and vice-versa, relationships that accommodate both conflict and affection, and generally three-dimensional characters.

I adore worldbuilding, particularly of the sort that treats Narnia as a real place rather than a dreamlike fairytale land. I also love details that provide a sense of place, whether created out of whole cloth or in a researched historical setting.

I prefer movieverse to bookverse, precisely because of the movies' attempt to introduce character memory and development where the books used archetypes, but I do enjoy the books and MN, HHB, and SC should all be considered fair game for setting fodder. I do not like Last Battle, for myriad reasons, and would prefer no Aslan's Country fic. Susan after the crash is ok, as are Everyone Lives (or Some People Live) AUs, and drawing on pre-crash events in LB for general inspiration is fine too.

On the scale of benevolent to selfish Aslan, I tend toward the cynical side, but I read and enjoy fics all along the spectrum. Just please not all the way at the infallible, (literal) deus ex machina, wrap-up moral delivering end.

Any rating, any type of pairing (m/m, f/f, m/f), and indeed more-than-pairings are all fine with me.

I tried to put most of my notes about the prompts IN the prompts, this year, but I am happy to answer questions. Also all my prior letters are tagged 'nfe'

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Dear NFE writer

2015-07-05T22:45:37Z

Dear NFE writer,

Thanks for writing me a story! I hope the prompts have given you some form of inspiration. I generally flail about trying to come up with specifics, as I tend to prefer types of stories rather than scenarios. If you want to take off on a tangent, you're welcome to do so.

Generalities:

I love outside POV and everything else that gives a different perspective, storeis that come at canon for right angles -- or 180, if you want to write villains as protagonists. On which note, I love history as written by the victors tropes and unreliable narrators in general. I like complexity, characters with conflicting loyalties and/or motives, people doing the right thing for the wrong reasons and vice-versa, relationships that accomodate both conflict and affection, and generally three-dimensional characters.

I adore worldbuilding, particularly of the sort that treats Narnia as a real place rather than a dreamlike fairytale land. I also love details that provide a sense of place, whether created out of whole cloth or in a researched historical setting.

I prefer movieverse to bookverse, precisely because of the movies' attempt to introduce character memory and development where the books used archetypes, but I do enjoy the books and MN, HHB, and SC should all be considered fair game for setting fodder. I do not like Last Battle, for myriad reasons, and would prefer no Aslan's Country fic. Susan after the crash is ok, as are Everyone Lives (or Some People Live) AUs, and drawing on pre-crash events in LB for general inspiration is fine too.

On the scale of benevolent to selfish Aslan, I tend toward the cycincal side, but I read and enjoy fics all along the spectrum. Just please not all the way at the infallible, (literal) deus ex machina, wrap-up moral delivering end.

Any rating, any type of pairing (m/m, f/f, m/f), and indeed more-than-pairings are all fine with me.

( Prompts )

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Narnia fandom revival?

2015-05-12T14:44:44Z

So, summer's coming, some people who'd vanished into the pits of Real Life are back on the 'net; should we try a Narnia reread again?

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Age of Ultron

2015-05-09T21:00:37Z

So I finally saw the movie, and, uhm... it’s a movie. Yup. Moving images on the screen, uh-huh.

I’m ok with shaky premise, I am. It’s a summer blockbuster, realistic is this dream we had once upon a BBQ. THAT SAID.
( Spoilers back here )

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NFE 2014

2014-09-29T03:00:11Z

I am in shock. Someone picked up my long-shot prompt -- slash, they wrote me. In this fandom! A unicorn if ever there was one... though, possibly that's a horrible choice of metaphor under the circumstances. Particularly given the lack of fade-to-black. Hee.

I am still trying to compose a coherent comment. In the meantime, go read Bacchus and Caspian/Drinian! A merry band of far-away strangers

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Dear NFE writer

2014-08-03T02:06:08Z

Writing meme

2014-05-01T22:56:06Z

Hey, we haven't done this one in a while!

Give me the title of a story I've never written, and feedback telling me what you liked best about it, and I will tell you any or all of: the first sentence, the last sentence, the thing that made me want to write it, the biggest problem I had while writing it, why it almost never got posted, the scene that hit the cutting room floor but that I wish I'd been able to salvage, and possibly a short excerpt as well.

Any fandom welcome. I thought about putting a list here; it got long.

In other news, I'm attempting to write 100 words a day minimum for the entire month of May, and may be spamming your journals and/or tumblrs with the results.

I keep forgetting to cross-post over here. It broke for a bit and I got out of the habit.

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Three Sentence Fic-a-Thon

2013-12-01T15:55:05Z

Spreading the word, especially for those who might not be reading over at LJ anymore

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Not writing it, lalalalala

2013-04-26T00:34:30Z

So I was trying to work on Shadow and out comes Edmund and Bacchus instead. IDK, gang. There isn't any real story here, just purging an insistent muse.

Takes place during Water and Wine.
( Read more... )
If I were actually writing it, I'd edit some parts (speech patterns are inconsistent, and Bacchus in the opening bit is supposed to be more oblivious, less creepy) but I'm not writing it. La la la la la. We now return you to your regularly scheduled race riots (species riots?).

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Fannish plans, and a plea

2013-04-13T14:07:53Z

I intend to try to completely forget the past week. Therefore: writing!

I've been thinking about the writing on The Epic, and come to three conclusions: 1. I need deadlines to motivate my ass, 2. I need a good beta working with me, and 3. I'd like to give it to beta in larger chunks than a chapter, because of the amount of set-up and early groundwork going into it.

In the interests of point (3), I looked back at my outline and I think I can break it into four parts that will hang together -- not complete unto themselves, actually at least two of them end with a cliffhanger, but natural beat points. I think.

In the interests of point (1), I've decided to try to get the first part done before NFE starts - or by June 30, anyway, which may overlap with the writing part a bit, depending on when signups close, but should be managable. Then break for NFE, then part 2 by I don't know when, let's see how well I hit the first deadline.

In the interests of point (2), I am now begging for a beta willing to tackle the whole damn thing. NGL, it's a loooong one; that first part will probably clock in between 50,000 and 70,000 words all told, if the rest goes as the first has. Which makes the long-term whole work total something on the order of 200-300k.

If I haven't terrified you completely (I terrify myself), and you'd be willing to read this thing, poke fingers through plotholes, knock over cardboard characters, and take a tension wrench to the loose prosey bits, would you get in touch with me? Please please please??

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Oh, what the hell [Who/Bells of St John's]

2013-03-31T16:34:18Z

I was debating whether to do a reaction post or not, cuz I don't really have a lot to say about this ep, but eh. Why not? So rambling behind the cut.

( Read more... )

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Meme time!

2013-03-19T01:08:40Z

So a conversation this afternoon reminded me of this meme:

What is your favorite scene you've never posted? Why is it your favorite, and why hasn't it been posted? Will you share it now?

Kind of a toss-up for me, but let's go with the one that has no hope of being posted ever, rather than the languishing but still hopeful WIP.

In the post-GoF hiatus, I was writing a story titled Coming of Shadow, Promise of Light. It was to be a MWPP-era 7th year (and just after) fic, setting up the whole mess to come.

And it was thoroughly jossed by the release of Phoenix.

If I'd started posting it, I would have continued; HP fandom is pretty good about grandfather clauses. But I hadn't felt up to posting it as an early WIP, so after the jossing, I shoved it in a drawer.

One of the things I liked best about the fic was writing a deeper, nuanced Peter. He was mostly (at least in the areas I was reading) being written as a completely useless, spineless tag-along and I wanted to give him an actual personality. Of course, seeing as JKR herself wrote him useless and spineless, I guess the fandom knew something I didn't. (My JKR issues, let me show you them.) This scene was one of several (most never got written) meant to set up Peter as a slightly-above average wizard who had the misfortune of being born in the same year as some of the brightest students to come through Gryffindor that generation. Had he been a year older or younger -- or possibly even in another house -- he would have been considered a solid student, better at some things, worse at others, in the upper part of the class but not without effort. In the company of the other three, though, he was doomed to be always lesser; getting reflected glory but never shining on his own. And even his friends tend to see him that way, always playing catch-up to them, because it all comes easy to them while he has to work for it. So of course he resents them, despite the friendship. Without Voldemort it probably would have come to nothing - maybe they'd have grown apart after graduation, maybe there would have been a fight, but nothing worse. Introduce an outside pressure like that, though, and - boom.

*sigh* I would really have liked to finish that story. But it wouldn't have survived being taken down to canon-compliance and rebuilt.

( The scene )

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Prompt me!

2013-02-23T23:00:17Z

I've been staring at my WIPs since I got my laptop back (safe, sound, and unaffected by idiots purporting to be techies). Nothing is happening, although I do have a writing itch.

So!

Give me a story you think I should write, and I will write you at least 200 words of it. No promises whether that's beginning, middle, or end. Or if you want a sneak peek at one of the WIPs, tell me which and I'll do 200 NEW words for you.

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Productivity

2013-02-18T04:21:06Z

I haz it not.

Instead of writing fic, I am making Wordles of finished fic. Some of which are quite nice!

Here's one of the two versions I did for "Water and Wine":

Others behind cuts!

( Wind, Sand, Stars )

( Winterfall )

( To Speak and to Keep Silent )

( In Stony Places (I'm very fond of this one) )

( Counsels of Princes (with rotation so you can read it) )

( The other 'Wine' )

Some of my fics just create a huge muddle. Here are "As I Love the Mouse" and "If You Only Walk Long Enough":
( muddles )

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Who Rant

2012-09-29T18:06:17Z

Thought I should post this before I trot off to watch this week's episode.

Does anyone else have the sense that Moffat doesn’t think things through? As I continue through this season with every episode prompting a “should I keep watching?” debate, I keep trying to pin down why Moffat’s seasons treat me to nails-on-the-blackboard-like reactions, and so far the strongest conclusion I can reach is that his work lacks coherence. Not in the sense of “WTF is going on I don’t understand” (though several episodes have plenty of that thrown in) but in the sense of pieces connecting up with one another and a unifying vision of how the world works.

( Here we go... )

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DVD Commentary: Water and Wine

2012-09-04T01:55:54Z

Meto asked for commentary on Water and Wine or Wind, Sand, Stars, and really gang, it's supposed to be a 500 word meme?

Also, what is my deal with titles and the letter W? I have Winterfall, Wind, Water, Walk... I suppose Walk technically starts with I.

( Water and Wine - commentary edition )

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Why it's going to be a long season (Who)

2012-09-04T00:34:01Z

Shortly before Doctor Who aired, I ran across a quote on ONTD which dropped my already low expectations for the season somewhere subterranean:

"We're going for big standalone stories; big movie-style stories," said Steven Moffat, the drama's showrunner. "Let's go for one blockbuster a week."

To which my immediate thought was: oh please god no.
( Theory, Daleks, Oswin, Ponds, Plotholes, Spoilers )

Oh, and one more thing. That was a cheap-ass way to get the classic hero shot and clearly only put in to provide the opportunity for same. Which means that the episode was at least partially written with marketing in mind. No wonder it has Issues.

Will I keep watching this season? Probably, I'm masochistic like that. I stuck through last season even though every other episode left me flat. Though if I have to go back for early-season therapy after every episode like I needed to after this one, perhaps not. There's only so many hours in the day.

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Meme response

2012-08-29T06:49:49Z

rthstewart answered that DVD commentary meme, and she just asked for anything about Walk Long Enough. Well. I found out why the meme specifies a 500 word segment, because this went on forever!

( DVD Commentary for Walk Long Enough )

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from around the flist

2012-08-25T01:28:36Z

Pick any passage of 500 words or less from anything I've written and paste it into a comment to this post. Then I'll flail, flounder and provide the equivalent of a DVD commentary on that snippet: what I was thinking when I wrote it, why I wrote it in the first place, what's going on in the character's heads, why I chose certain words, what this moment means in the context of the rest of the fic, and anything else that you’d expect to find on a DVD commentary track.

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Shadow in the Shade, Chapter 1

2012-08-12T17:26:04Z

*fanfare and drumroll*

Here it is at last, the whole, complete, revised (multiple times) first proper chapter of the main Nightmare-verse story, currently titled Shadow in the Shade. (I, uhm, don't promise not to change my mind about that.)

Note that this doesn't mean I'm putting Lies on hold; I've been working on the two concurrently since the actual NBB period ended. Lies goes much faster, so I anticipate putting out about 2 or 3 chapters of it for every one of Shadow... which means Lies will be done way sooner, as it'll probably clock in around 15 chapters and Shadow is 25-30.

Now, let's make this official:

Title: Shadow in the Shade
Rating: PG13
Summary: (... still working on a good one.) About a year after the end of LWW, all of the Pevensies are having terrible nightmares about Narnia.

( Prologue and Chapter 1 )

(A/N: How's the pacing? I thought it was super-long and then I looked at the actual word count, and now I'm worried it's rushed.)

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Lies Agreed Upon, Chapter 4

2012-08-01T02:47:26Z

Title: Lies Agreed Upon
Rating: PG13
Summary: Four years after the death of Caspian IX, Miraz plots to consolidate his power over those who oppose him as a tyrant. The Narnians takes sides in this struggle, remembering how another tyrant claimed Narnia for a hundred years.

"History is a set of lies agreed upon." - Napoleon

( 'Erimon, Argoz, I'm glad you came,' Baldemar greets them. 'But where's Restimar?' )

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Lies Agreed Upon, Chapter 3

2012-07-22T03:29:16Z

Title: Lies Agreed Upon
Rating: PG13
Summary: Four years after the death of Caspian IX, Miraz plots to consolidate his power over those who oppose him as a tyrant. The Narnians takes sides in this struggle, remembering how another tyrant claimed Narnia for a hundred years.

"History is a set of lies agreed upon." - Napoleon

( 'Lord Miraz?' Prunaprismia's maid Raisa repeats the name, as skeptical as Prunaprismia herself had been when her father told her. 'I thought his lordship disliked him.' )

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Fic updates

2012-07-09T01:18:17Z

So, uh, I am probably jinxing this hardcore, but I think the main Nightmare-verse story (current tenative title: Shadow in the Shade) miiiiiight be just about ready for (gulp) posting as a WIP? I mean, more than the snippets I've put up before; actual whole chapters.

It lacketh beta, however; anyone willing to sign on for that?

What I'll probably do is post chapters here for a while, until I'm confident there isn't another major reworking coming down the line, and then add in AO3 and/or ff.net posting.

Regarding Lies: I'm going to try to switch over to posting the chapters as coherent units rather than 3 parts each, though it may mean more time between postings.

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Lies Agreed Upon, Chapter 2 (part 3/3)

2012-06-25T22:41:25Z

Title: Lies Agreed Upon
Rating: PG13
Summary: Four years after the death of Caspian IX, Miraz plots to consolidate his power over those who oppose him as a tyrant. The Narnians takes sides in this struggle, remembering how another tyrant claimed Narnia for a hundred years.

"History is a set of lies agreed upon." - Napoleon

( Sigulf refuses to go near the place, and Rootminer thinks Talking Animals would be too much of a shock, so Grint has to march up to the imposing walls of the Beaversdam fortress alone. )

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Lies Agreed Upon, Chapter 2 (part 2/3)

2012-06-24T22:22:45Z

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