Oh goddess it's a HUGE birthday -- no really --

[rthstewart]

I reposted this from Twitter so apologies if you see it there or on Tumblr but I'm kinda all over the place.  Very much at sixes and sevens as this monstrous birthday has me in real disarray. I’ll be in a better place for a thrilling Event later in the month!
But for now, welp, anyone follows me here knows me through fandom going back to mid-90s and especially fanfic (approx 2 mil words over 27 years)  and/or the 3 sentence ficathon. 
To mark this horrific milestone, if you’re so inclined, I’d love to hear from you, somewhere, anywhere, about something I wrote, did, said, or sponsored that you liked, remember, or that helped. I'm rthstewart everywhere. 

If you see me, you can also lie and tell me I don't look a day over 50.  Or 55.  56.  ...

Comments

[senmut]

When I stumbled into you for either something aimed at older characters or for the 3-sentence ficathon (I have a very bad memory), I remember being happy to find someone who seemed solid and older and HAPPY to be part of fandom.

And you are kind, gracious, wonderful. The 3 sentence ficathon is a highlight of my fannish year, a great counter to the winter blues.

[rthstewart]

Thanks so much. And yeah, I have a mind like a steel sieve, rather than trap. But thank you for stopping by and telling me.

[katharhino]

I'd never read Narnia fanfic before the Stone Gryphon and I still love your POVs on the Pevensies. Your ideas have really shaped the way I look at fanfic.

Happy birthday!

[rthstewart]

Thank you so much! I so appreciate you telling me.

[brokenallbroken]

Happy birthday, rth!

The Stone Gryphon got me back into Narnia fandom long after I thought I had outgrown it along with the vague cultural Christianity in which I was raised. As someone whose godbothering only includes Jesus as a swear word, I thought there was no room for me in his fursona's fandom, especially once I started to understand what Lewis was really saying and doing in TLB. Your approach to the Pevensies, their faith, their adulthood, and Everybody Lives Nobody Dies showed me I was wrong about much of that. So thank you for giving me a door back into something I had enjoyed so much as a child.

(incidentally, my grandmother's maiden name was Stewart. While I doubt we're related, it's always a nice moment of feeling "aaayyyy, I'm not the only one" when I see your name)

[rthstewart]

Good goddess, we could be related. My own grandmother's maiden name was also Stewart, on my mother's side. This is the Stewarts of Kentucky family -- Knott County-- deep Appalachia folk. Albert Stewart, the Appalachian poet, is in the family tree. I didn't know anything about them until the mid-90s. I'd assumed that side of the family spontaneously appeared in Detroit in WW2 but the Stewart family's roots are deep in that part of the US.

And thank you. I so appreciate you saying that my Narnia work was interesting and useful for you. I'm deeply grateful for your support and friendship.

[brokenallbroken]

I'm not sure how long we were in northern Wisconsin. From WWI, at least. Grandma never talked about her own grandparents. (not sure if she knew them, TBH)

I'm glad the crazies didn't drive you out of the fandom. Every new tidbit and chapter is a delight.

[ultra_fic]

I 'met' you thanks to your 3 Sentence Ficathon (which I love and look forward to participating in again) and you just came across as such a great person, I wanted to follow you around on DW, so I did/do. Always great to have just nice, happy, good people in fandom, and always amazing for me to find someone who has been kicking around in fandom/fanfiction even longer than I have! lol (I'm currently at 19.5 years and counting!) The happiest of birthdays to you :)

[rthstewart]

Thank you! You are a wonderful friend in the 3SF and I so appreciate your kindness.

[vialethe]

Oh rth, how hasn't your fic inspired me and shaped the way I see so many Narnian characters?

There's your Peter, such a solid pillar and yet unsure of his place in a world where he isn't King and can't quite fathom what to do with himself, how to best use the potential he knows he has in a world that doesn't live up to the high standards he so wishes it did. Any Peter I ever write is always at least a little bit your Peter.

There's your Caribbean Jill, such a great and logical place to take her character, a brilliant way to add some diversity to a very pale world, a much-needed new perspective. And that while retaining her essential Jill-ness, that fire and stubborn spirit and so, so much love for Eustace.

Speaking of which, EUSTACE, MAN OF SCIENCE. I honestly did not like Eustace before I read your work - I just remembered the twerpy jerk from Dawn Treader - and now he is one of my favorites. So much solid, dogged passion! His endless curiosity and quest for dragons! God, I love him. You write him so well; he inevitably makes me smile at his oblivious but sweet antics in any story you write with him.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Tebbitt, who makes me swoon to this day.

The world you've created in TSG is such a tremendous achievement. Nobody else writes Pevensies-in-England, Everybody Live Nobody Dies stories like you, with your incredible level of research and care and just love for everyone.

And you are that way in real life too. Thank you for everything, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

[rthstewart]

I love your work with the passion of burning suns. Your friendship and wisdom and humor are gifts. Also, I did not know that you joined LARM as a Tebbitt stan.
Thank you so much.

[vialethe]

While I do inevitably join Larm in most things, I have been a Tebbitt stan ever since I read TQSIT a decade ago! In fact...in honor of your birthday, here is a little unfinished rth!verse snippet I dug up from my files that's literally dated 2012. And manages to be all about Tebbitt without his ever actually making an appearance.

-
“So, brother, do we make our stand here or stage a tactical retreat to a back room?”

“Oh, I think we'll be just fine here,” Peter said, and something dangerously smug in his voice caught Lucy's ear. Dragging herself from the depths of pie-making (she'd abandoned the recipe twenty minutes ago, when its restraints had become intolerable, and was now slightly regretting it, as she suspected pie crust wasn't meant to be that color), she stuck her head through the kitchen doorway to see Edmund lounging in his favorite overstuffed leather chair while Peter stood at the window, lacking only a sword at his hip to go with his I-am-the-High-King-and-see-that-you-don’t-forget-it posture.

“What's the trouble?” she asked. “Eustace isn't on his way with more slides, is he? Reptiles are lovely, really, but they might be better appreciated in smaller quantities.”

“No,” said Edmund, as one of the bedroom doors shut and the click of Susan's heels sounded in the hallway. “Himself is on the way over, that's all.”

Susan swept into the room on a hint of perfume and the swish of silk. “He has a name, you know-”

“Several, as I recall,” Edmund muttered.

“And there's no good reason at all why you two should act like such children about him.” Only the arch of Susan's brows gave away that she'd taken any notice at all of the interruption.

“Of course there is,” Peter said, turning slightly from his post at the window. “We simply don't like him.”

Watching Ed grin, Lucy couldn't suppress a giggle, which led to Susan turning a disappointed gaze on her. “I suppose you don't care for him either, Lucy.”

“I think he's an utter rogue,” Lucy admitted cheerfully, wrapping her arms around Susan in a brief squeeze, hoping rather belatedly that she hadn't left behind cherry handprints. “But you like him, and that's what's important.”

“Since when is that what matters?”

“Since we live in a world where the pair of you are allowed to love without diplomatic constraints,” Lucy said, glaring in Peter's direction.

“Oh please, let's not start that again.”

*

“I must say, I'm very interested to meet him; anyone who arouses such ire in Peter is well worth knowing, in my opinion. Is he interested in lizards?” Mary asked, weaving her way through knee-deep piles of books, searching the library shelves. Susan was privately betting it wouldn't take five minutes before at least one pile had been knocked over.

“Tebbitt? I shouldn't think so.”

“Hmm. How about hips, then?”

“Oh yes,” said Susan, the smile curving across her face only partly having to do with the precarious teetering of the tallest stack, “I don't think there's any doubt of his interest there.”

[autumnia]

LOL I love this! ♥

[vialethe]

Thank you! I don't think I ever had any idea as to where the snippet went after that, but the bit I did have was pretty decent, at least. ❤

[rthstewart]

wait. WHAT. YOU WROTE ME FIC ALL THOSE YEARS AGO AND NEVER SHARED? You sneaky sneaky person. I LOVE Mary and Susan together, who I always thought would get on quite well. In fact, I think Susan probably liked Mary better than any of her sibs' other partners. Ahem. Why yes, I did think about this a lot.

And I adore how Peter and Edmund are going to go all GRR and ARGH to scare off Tebbitt and how Lucy is just wonderful leaving pie handprints everywhere -- I bet her pie looks like someone was murdered.
The entire sequence at the beginning is BRILLIANT -- Edmund in his favorite chair, Peter in his most high kingliness, and Lucy having abandoned the constraints of a recipe. Oh gosh I loved this so much. Thank you thank you thank you

[vialethe]

In my defense, it was a very long time ago and I didn't know you so well! Also, it obviously was not finished. But I am glad it made you smile. ❤

That makes sense about Susan and Mary - I think Susan would see through and not be bothered by a lot of Mary's...well, Mary-ness. And would be amused at how accurately and easily she skewers Peter, of course!

I imagine Lucy's pie looks like an absolute nightmare yet still somehow manages to taste good. Tebbitt probably ate three pieces, all while being fiercely glared at.

[yalumesse]

I'm sure this will be very common, but the first thing you wrote that I read was Harold & Morgan (which remains my favourite Narnia fic), and I think I just commented enough to end up mutually following each other? I can't remember anymore, I'm not even sure how long ago that was, but I'm glad of it :)

Happy Entirely Normal Once-A-Year Birthday!

[rthstewart]

So long ago. Thank you, Yalu. Some day, I'd really like to actually meet. if you're ever in the greater DC/Baltimore area, drop me a line.

[yalumesse]

You're very welcome! It would be nice to meet sometime <3 (Though I'm afraid the chances that I'm ever in the USA are pretty small.)

[kingstoken]

Happy birthday!

[rthstewart]

THANK YOU!

[wingedflight]

Ruth! It's hard to describe what an incredible impact you and your work have had on me over the years. Since the moment I first started reading TSG, I have been hooked on your stories but have also learned so much about the craft of writing as well. Like how to weave real-life facts and research into a story, and how to convincingly breathe life into characters, and so much more. The care and thought you put into your work is absolutely astounding, and I continue to treasure every word.

Just like I treasure my friendship with you! Ruth, you are absolutely one of the coolest people I know--every time I hear one of your Star Wars fandom adventure stories, I am like "how am I lucky enough to know this person????" You are so caring, so ready to lend a hand or an ear or advice, and you even helped me bake two AMAZING desserts. It is a privilege to know you, and I wish you a much calmer year than this one has been. 💖

[rthstewart]

Sniff. So proud of the people I met as high schoolers who were terrific then and have grown up to be such awesome, fun, talented, accomplished adults. Thank you. I am so lucky to know you, so appreciative of your amazing wit and versatility, and you are just a terrific person.

[autumnia]

Rth! I already tweeted you but have a wonderful birthday, no matter what the milestone is for it.

What I love about your Spare Oom stories are the amount of real, historical research you put into them. And the Rat & Sword D-Day fic actually made me really appreciate history a lot more (WW2 in general, but especially all about the Normandy landings) and seeing how all those details just make the characters and situations come to life even more vividly than words can describe.

I had never really thought much about the Pevensies as real adults and what they could accomplish based on their Narnian experiences until you published your stories.

And yes, to echo another poster, I love many of your OCs like Jalur and Tebbitt. :-)

[rthstewart]

And I never would have gotten Rat and Sword done without you. You were the best Beta ever. Thank you so much, for everything. For being with me for so long, for being so kind, and just the most amazing, talented person.

[writerkit]

I mean, the reason I'm here following you in the first place is that you wrote some of the best autism representation I have seen anywhere in any fiction, fanfic or not, with Morgan. I read every bit of the Stone Gryphon stories on the strength of that one, going "It's me!" and desperately wishing I could have a Hound following me around and helping me socially.

[rthstewart]

Wow. Thank you. I am so grateful that I created something that spoke to you. I'd written before that have a number of people in my life who are now, we now call, on the spectrum, but Morgan came into being when the aspect I was focused on was then called Asperger's -- and she shared a lot of traits with a relative, a good friend, and a long time colleague and mentor. Morgan started as the straight man to Edmund's jokes. But by the end of that story, I had something else and I didn't know, at the time, where it would end. But I tried. Really tried to give a voice to one tiny aspect of people on that particular part of the spectrum.
In the end, I was very proud of Morgan and nothing, absolutely nothing sends me round the bend than someone coming in and saying they disagree with Morgan -- why is she like that? Why is she mean to Aslan? Why can't she just... And I let them have it because Morgan isn't there for them. She's there for readers like you.
Thank you so much for sharing this with me.

[generalleia]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY FRIEND!

I love that we "met" via FF.net (I loved your Doctor Who/Star Wars crossover) and it turned out that we had a bunch of mutual friends IRL. While I do appreciate your writing, the YOU I've gotten to know over the years as one of my IRL friends has been marvelous <3

[rthstewart]

THANK YOU!

[archersangel]

i love the 3-sentence ficathon.
i don't recall how i discovered it, but am very glad that you host it every year. it helped to fill the void after the old sg1_five_things community, a.k.a the pentangular gate, on live journal folded in november 2012.

BTW you do not look a day over 40.

[waywren]

Did I ever tell you about how the Aidanfics and their prespective on love as it worked for Greek men TOTALLY got me extra credit in a college history class? because they did. XD wow this is embarassing i mistook your username for the entry below yours and read 'rth' as 'rhi' and talked about somebody else's fic entirely, sorry about that.

But I have enjoyed several of your actual fics! The Stone Gryphon gave me an entirely new perspective on Roald Dahl, for one thing. Not one I necessarily wanted, but one it was better to find from you than from random wikiwalks. Also Edmund and Susan as spies/spymasters was just SO DANG GREAT and I think about it at random.

[pru]

oh, happy birthday! mine was this week also and it was a medium big number. Hope your disarray is calmed by now. :/
I dearly love your Narnia universe and it's caused me to go down so many wikipedia and other reading ratholes. I feel like I've learned a lot of tangential things because your writing was so compelling and so real-world adjacent. <3 thank you for sharing it.

Happy birthday Rth

[mamapyjama]

I hope your big round birthday was celebrated with much cake. All good wishes for many more cake-worthy celebrations.

Your Stone Gryphon Spare Oom fics remain some of my absolute favourite things to read and reread. I live very close to Eustace’s parents in Impington and my father-in-law was reminiscing about his WWII glider tug training and flying as I was reading Rat and Sword. Your Narnia for grownups gave me back CS Lewis’ black and white world, but in vivid colour with depth and texture. Thank you is all I can offer and it seems paltry in return for the many hours of absorption you gave me.

[elementalraven]

So I'm a bit late, but I only just saw this, so I hope you don't mind :)

Obviously you know I love all of your writing, and I think it's amazing how you've created this entire universe that is adopted by so many other incredible writers and still continues to expand to this day. I don't know anyone else who has had the same impact as you and I think that really says something about you as a writer and a person.

I also want to say that I've been wanting to write fic for years but never did, and the reason that changed is for a large part because of you: because I loved our "conversations" through the comments, and because you were so welcoming and kind, and so when I saw you were hosting the 3 sentence ficathon I really wanted to be a part of that, and I thought: why not? And though I've only just started I am loving it so much, and I have you to thank for that.

So thank you so much, and a happy (belated) birthday!