This and that

[rthstewart]

So, I periodically google my old identities to see if anything pops up and found a recent rec from August in het_reccers for the very first fan fic I ever wrote -- from over 14 years ago. I don't even have an email associated with the account anymore. I bonded with my first online fandom and fen over that fic and I'll be flying off to be with some of them next week for Harry Potter. I've not written in that fandom for maybe 10 years, but it's all sort of strange to see that and realize that some people still remember it.  I deeply value the friendships I made while writing that fic but the friendships have long since outstripped the reason we came together in the first place.

I'm slogging away on Chapter 3 of AW -- 7,000 words plus. Eustace and Mary are having a very long discussion in the museum about dinosaur anatomy and Lucy, Polly and Digory are discussing baseball and the Communion of the Saints. Having accomplished what I needed to do in Chapters 1-3, my outline has the next chapter jumping back to Cambridge and the dinner with Colonel Clark and Jack. But, some readers have felt that I'm rushing the story too much? And maybe folks aren't quite ready for the story to leave Oxford? And are you are expecting a few more interactions among the characters? I have, as you gathered from Chapter 2, shipped Asim out of the picture, believing that there's enough going on that I don't want to add Lucy to that mix -- yet. But, if you have any thoughts on other things you'd expected to see in these first chapters, and did not, I'd gladly hear them.

Also, the 40 days of fic, at the narniaexchange has concluded with voting for your favorites. So, you can check out the incredible fics and other information here

Last, an anonymous reviewer, theoretica, pointed out a really critical error in TSG, Part 1.  There are no hummingbirds in Oxford.  Thank you!  She also caught something else and I'm pleased to death about that.  Thank you!  The point is, I need to figure out a way to get Peter and Richard talking about hummingbirds without actually seeing one.  It's a minor tweak, and easily done, but it's annoying that I didn't catch this sooner.  So, hey!  you all!  out there!  When you spot something that's not quite right, tell me!!!  Given the breadth of where I go in this, it's inevitable.  I do try and where I do fudge the real life for reasons of storytelling, I try to make note of it. 

Comments

[amine-eyes.livejournal.com]

The first fandom is always the deepest :) (Yes I compeltely bastardised a quote there xD)

As for AW, I honestly can't think of anything that was missed that I'd like to see (okay, more Edmund and Jalur being snarky but I can deal with that by reading Palace Guard again :D) :)

And I promise to say something! Only problem - there's only so much I know, the rest would be the power of Wikipedia which is oh so reliable ;) I trust your judgement here :D (and it may have been a hummingbird that escaped from a family's collection? Any help?)

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Thanks! the hummingbird I'm not too worried about. They could be looking at a big red flower and Richard could say something about hummingbirds and Peter's reaction to them when they saw then in the Bird Wing. I noticed another one not too long where I got the relationship between Harold and Alberta wrong vis a vis John Pevensie and his (unnamed) wife. Yes, I know the film named her Helen, but....

Also, I may be pinging you shortly about how you can best guess the university educational system worked in the 40s. The English system has completely confounded me. I just want to get the terminology right when Peter and Digory discuss what's next for Peter in Chapter 4.

[amine-eyes.livejournal.com]

That's cool, we even have boos on it in the uni library so I shall purloin borrow them and find out :) And the English system confounds me too, even though I live here! :D

[min023.livejournal.com]

Hummingbird escapee from Whipsnade, perhaps? : )

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

I think that would be a long for the poor thing to fly... Errrr... I'm just irritated. We have them in our yards and I just assumed they would be in England. Which is so dumb as I did a lot of investigating of what birds would be in Oxford when Peter is feeding them and when they see the female fly by during the Garden scene, and I knew about the otters and the beavers and made sure of the fauna that was present in Fulbourn Fen. I just got it wrong. It's an easy fix and I'll get around to it.

[autumnia]

Finally caught up on LJ!

Ahh. Old fics and old fandoms. Been there and done that too. There's a particular HP story that comes to mind in my case (my friend wrote 90% of it, I contributed the remaining 10%), and it will be 9 years old in a few days. Still gets plenty of hits (and reviews are still coming in) on FF.net, and there's more than ample results about it if you query it in Google. I still find it funny that it's an HP story since friend and I were more deep into Buffy fandom at the time.

As for Part 3... I don't think you're rushing the story yet. At least, the current chapters seem to flow fine. I may change my mind once you get the next chapter out, but so far I have no fixed expectations about what will happen next and how much time has passed. Going back to Cambridge next is fine for me, though I do wonder if the rest of Russell House will meet the mysterious Pevensies now or much later on?

I would never have noticed the hummingbird snafu, and would have just taken your word at face value. :-) And I will let you know if I catch something that seems off. However, I must tell you, every time I see pictures or hear of Otters now, I can only think about how foul the creatures are, even though they look so adorably cute.