NFE REVEALS

[rthstewart]

So, as previously stated, I got two stories in the Narnia Fic Exchange and authors are now revealed. 
The Polly Plummer character study, Draw the Patterns Out was by the lovely LittleRaven.

Rack n Roll was by the incomparablesyrena_of_the_lake .

Do go and check out the whole exchange here!

I had three stories. 
My main gift, A Wolf in King's Clothing is per the requests of my recipient, Hydrangea, an AU, steampunk, urban fantasy mild Lucy/Caspian with Spare Oom as magical and Narnia as the "mundane." And added werewolves.
You read that right. Yes, that really weird story was MINE.  I WROTE LUCIAN.  WITH ADDED RINGS.  Because way back when, we were all joking on Twitter about were-Caspian and I had no idea it was a thing.  And then Hydrangea's prompt presented itself, and so here we are.  I really struggled at the end but am very happy with how it turned out.  The story hasn't gotten much love but if you're willing to try something that really pushes the bounds of Narnia fic and is definitely way further out there than anything I've done before, I hope you'll give it a go.

And then we have the small and silly written in a day Cocktail Hour, in which Fooh continues to show himself to be a remarkable Guard as he helps Peter navigate a cocktail hour in the Seven Isles.  Cocktail Hour harkens back to my NFE of last year, Father Goose.  Snacky dearly loves Fooh and had views on Edmund's poor treatment of Princess Peony AKA Even More Dim, in By Royal Decree and so here is a bit of her revenge, presenting an idea I've had for a long time.

And last, we have Black, White and the Gray Wolf In Between.  I need to jigger Apstolic Way somehow but readers should assume that this is the next chapter in The Stone Gryphon. In other words, I updated Apostolic Way.   One way to think on it is that chapters 16 and 17 of AW are really chapters 1 and 2 of a new book, Heart and Crow Make the Peace.  Black, White and the Gray Wolf In Between is chapter 3 of this new book Heart and Crow Make The Peace, which will tell Lucy and Edmund's story and bring us to the end of the war.   Elements of this story were hinted at in the first chapter of Father Goose.  And, it begins to tell the tale of the Traitor Noll and the Mole Spies, a story that had its origin 10 years ago in a post on the old NFFR boards and has been referenced many times across multiple stories.  It's been a long time in coming and I'm really happy to be able to share it with you. 

Phew.  Got that? 

Comments

[autumnia]

Arrgh, I still haven't finished going through the NFE before the reveals happened but now I get the benefit of knowing the authors. I LOVED Cocktail Hour and B/W/Gray, and am looking forward to finally hearing more about Noll and mole spies.

[rthstewart]

Thanks so much! There's a deleted scene that I couldn't fit in that segues into the spies and Noll. I've got to figure out where to put it and so far no one has raised it but... how did Armejy know that Briony would be on that road?

[autumnia]

... how did Armejy know that Briony would be on that road?

That's a good question that may have occurred to me as I was reading it but I figured it was just a coincidence (if there's such a thing in Narnia). :-) But then again, there are eyes and ears everywhere in Narnia... so does this mean Armejy know about the spies in Cair Paravel?

I still need to read your steampunk fic. It's on my to-do list but I need to find time where I can read it in peace and quiet. Was going to do so at work during my previously ample down time but there's been far too many distractions. But sometime this week, hopefully!

[psyche29]

Rth. I-. I haven't gone to read any of it yet, I'm still marveling over the update notifications.

I am slow at everything lately - fatigue is real and a bitch and a half, among other side effects. But I am going to get to these gifts as soon as I can stay awake long enough after work.

You’re amazing and wonderful and everything good for me right now. The works are just icing. I love you, and I hope life is being good to you!

[rthstewart]

OMG. hugs and kisses and I'm so glad the fic might help make you feel better. Drop a line if you get a chance and are up to it, or send a text. And yeah, that fatigue and the rest of it are just a BITCH. I'm so sorry and I hope you are seeing better results.

[vialethe]

Your output is amazing - not only do you write so many stories, but they're all so different (well, I haven't gotten to Black, White, and the Gray Wolf In Between yet, but I assume it's different from the others)! I'm sorry your steampunk were-adventure hasn't gotten much love yet - this year felt a little more sparse comments & kudos-wise in general to me. Regardless, I enjoyed it very much, and meant what I said over at AO3 - it's difficult to find anything truly fresh and unique in Narnia fic after so many years, but you've done it!

[rthstewart]

I agree that this year was sparser in terms of comments and kudos. The steampunk story was definitely surprising. The longer stories don't tend to get much love, which I noticed with your big one especially. I'm not sure why. Thanks so much for commenting and OMG I loved what you did this year. I cannot BELIEVE you wrote a 26K GOT xover story for Snacky. That was UNBELIEVABLE. And so good. You're siren story was amazing as well. you knocked it out of the park this year. I loved both of your stories so much.

[vialethe]

Believe me when I say it was NOT intentional! But I discovered pretty quickly that you can't write an AU for GoT from S2 onwards, even a very bare-bones one, in just a few thousand words - especially not if you also want to include a lot of angst and some guilt-ridden smut (and what is even the point otherwise)!

Longer stories require more of an investment, I suppose; it's just easier to read the shorter ones. I know I left the longer pieces until last myself.

Your comments are always so sweet and encouraging - you're too kind! Thank you.

[hydrangea]

Hah I thought it was you even though the pairing threw me a bit - thank for giving it a shot! I did really love the story - I loved that you seemed to throw yourself into the concept head first and go with it. All the little details - the doubts about Tumnus, Susan's no. 1 fan, were lore and so on builds a really interesting world. I love reading this kind of story so consider yourself an A+ author this round. :)

I haven't had the mind space to read all the stories this year but I jumped on your Helen story and loved it as well, even though commenting was a bit beyond me (some days writing in my second language is just...not happening).

Thank you for all the fun reading this year and your lovely comment on my story (Eustace murder mystery; I don't know how well it shows when I'm the author so might as well specify).

[rthstewart]

And I figured relatively late that you had written's Larm's story, Valiant and Just. I had thought it was Starbrow but learned she didn't write Lucian this year. And then, as I ticked off the boxes, I figured, based on your past work, it was likely you. So, we're even. I loved it, as my comment indicated and Larm was rendered incoherent by it.

Thanks so much. I was worried Wolf in King's Clothing didn't work for you. I wondered if maybe the werewolf was too far out there -- some people don't like it, but Caspian does get bit, so there's apparently a whole sub-genre of Were-Caspian and your prompts included urban fantasy, steampunk Lucian and Spare Oom as magical/Narnia as mundane. I wondered too if the hint that Lucy might have been in love with Tumnus was an issue -- you were specific about that in the request but I did try to be clear that it was admiration and friendship and maybe she got a little confused.
Anyway, thank you for commenting!

[oracne]

Ooh. Thank you for the links.

[rthstewart]

You are welcome!

[writerkit]

An update to Apostolic Way! And then there was much squeeing. (And I'm getting ever more curious about exactly what went on with Noll.)

[rthstewart]

It's a little confusing. I'll need to actually update AW to explain that it offiical ends at Chapter 15, Stepping Stones, and then we move to the next novel. I need to smooth some of it out, but it flows pretty well. Thank you so much for reading!