"We're all fine here, how are you?"

[rthstewart]

SIGN UPS ARE OPEN FOR THE NARNIA FIC EXCHANGE!!  GO GO GO!!!  Sign up!  WRITE!



I had really thought that having completed the last chapter, chapter 9, of H&M, that chapter 10, Conclave, and what happens at Conclave would come easily.  It's a very, very old part of the story in my head and the outline.  But, hmm, it's not.  It's quite sluggish actually.  This is bad for several reasons.  It makes me peevish.  It delays (further) getting back to AW.  And, I've gone and signed up for femgenficathon and have promised myself that I won't sign up for the fabulous Narnia Fic Exchange until I finish this chapter, 8,600 words and counting.

RL has been very, very hard lately, so that's surely part of it.  I've got so much done and it's so close and 11 will be so easy.. and..  oh well.  Thanks for the patience.  In keeping with a favorite habit of mine, the chapter begins with a look back to how Pierce and Maeve became lovers (oh gawd, OCs.  I'm writing all OCs...  Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi) and so they are hung over and in bed and it's a huge, amusing, ooops.  And Pierce is such a guy.

It was not in the Linch nature to look away from the consequences of an act. The Linch had the exact opposite instinct, in fact. Leave no stone unturned, gather every fact, obtain the clearest perspective that was possible. So, as it was in the Linch character to investigate and as this was likely to be his last opportunity anyway, Pierce carefully and quietly turned his head so he could get a better look at Maeve, in daylight without any clothes on. It had been dark last night, he reasoned. And they had been drunk. He thought Maeve’s body had been a magnificent sight, but he really was not completely certain. Trust, but verify.

It was a doomed man’s last request. There had been so few of them he was able to recall each of his prior occasions with perfect clarity.

Obviously, he needed to increase his N to get anything close to a statistically adequate sample size. Maeve was lying on her side, facing him, arm thrown over her eyes. It would have been easier – better – if she had been on her back but this would be more than adequate. He lifted up the coverlet for a better look and, oh Tash’s hell, he should not have looked.  Pierce felt a primal surge that had nothing to do with auditing.

So, that’s what insane, put your head through a wall, throw caution to the wind, lust feels like.

He wanted to yank the coverlet completely off, wake Maeve up, and repeat right now everything he thought he remembered them doing last night, but do it all sober and in broad, bright daylight, so he could see it. Because Maeve Stanleh had a body that Calormene poets would sing odes to and a Tarkaan would give up a war horse for, with an extra slave girl tossed in.

Question was, would the list of people wanting to kill him just get longer if he had sober sex with Maeve Stanleh instead of drunken sex?

 

Comments

[the_rck]

Ooh! A fic snippet! Thanks!

I definitely sympathize on the fic that isn't working. I'm having trouble with mine right now. It's nowhere near done, isn't going anywhere and has a looming deadline. So much sympathy!

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

RAWWWR to fic. I've been trying to be good and concentrate on it rather than other things, but mostly I've been revising the same 7,500 words for 3 weeks. Good luck! This is your Narnia WIP? right?

[the_rck]

Yes, it's the Narnia WIP. The problem is that I didn't really start with a definite story idea or a specific scene. I started with a general idea that there ought to be a story there. I think there is one, probably more than one. I'm just not getting very far.

Thanks for the good wishes!

[mrstater.livejournal.com]

Because I'm totally crazy and am already doing femgenficathon and most likely modding a daily drabble challenge at day_by_drabble in July, I've decided to sign up for this as well!

I should really be writing original fiction, but fanfic is so much more inspiring right now...

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

I've decided to sign up for this as well!
That is awesome. Woot! The quality of fic last year was amazing. I ant to do it -- I'm just terrified that I won't be able to finish this chapter I am working on. And..
I read your X Men fic you posted the other day and whoa. Brilliant way that you get into Mystique's development and Charles too! Oh Charles -- he is so wonderful and so clueless and so very self-justifying. It was a terrific piece.

[mrstater.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, thank you! That fic had been in my head for a few days but I made myself finish my Downton Abbey WIP because I'm so historically bad at finishing them (we shall not mention my Caspian/Liliandil fic!), and I really enjoyed writing it. So glad you like my characterization and approach. I appreciate you saying so. :) I may have to write some more X-Men fic...

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

I think writing my XMen fic is an excellent idea! Plus the Narnia Fic Exchange!

[katharhino.livejournal.com]

He thought Maeve’s body had been a magnificent sight, but he really was not completely certain. Trust, but verify.

AHAHAHAHAHAHA. *snert* Oh self justification, how I heart thee.

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Pierce is a bit of pig. He's very cute about it and all things considered, pretty respectful, but he's just a MAN and he can't help it. "Oh! Look what's in my bed! Shiny! I want to touch it!"

[autumnia]

Oh, Pierce, you are such a typical Man. And yet, I could quite see he, Edmund and Peter sitting around a campire, tankard in hand, trading stories about the necessary company of women. Possibly with leery looks on their faces.

And really, your muse at least is much better than mine. I've been trying to get back into writing (there is currently a lull in the hell work this week *touch wood*) and I'm having a hard time focusing on working on one particular story when I feel I should look at the other ones instead.

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Are you going to do the NFE? Oh please please???? it would be such fun! As for the guys sitting around with a tankard, oh yes. If I wrote how I really think that would go down, heh...

[autumnia]

I have been debating about the NFE. I'm just afraid that when it comes down to finding time to actually write something, the evil that is Work will come crashing on my head at the same time. (I have been in a week-long seminar at the office so there's been no real work done At All this week. And coworker needs everything handed in by mid-next month before his month-long vacation in August. Sigh.)

And I pity poor Eustace and Digory if they ever witnessed such a scene between the Kings and Banker(s).

[metonomia.livejournal.com]

So, I know I'm horrible at comments these days, but I *am* reading Harold and Morgan, though I think I somehow skipped a chapter or two. Anyway, I need to go back now that I have all this free time and catch up on it in full, but basically - I love it, and I love them, and your OCs continue to be amazing, and gooooooo you! *pom-poms*

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! It means a great deal to know you are still reading.

[linneasr.livejournal.com]

Oooo, a crumb, a crumb, a delicious crumb! I will wait forever for another piece of your work, rth, no worries! I hope RL softens a bit for you, though.

I'll be very, very happy to read more about the manner in which Pierce Linch and Maeve Stanleh got together. I would be happy to read more of AW, whenever it feels right to turn to that part of Not-My-Children's Narnia. It's all so darned good!

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

We are getting there. Slow but steady. Thanks so much. Something I'm playing with for Maeve is that a man finding her attractive matters waaay more than it should. She loses some of her brain functioning over "He likes me! He likes me!" It's not something that is ...hmmm... a desirable trait for women. But, since I do have so many female characters in all sorts of relationships, I can afford to play with some of this. I don't have to have one character carry the weight of the female narrative. Or something. So, I have a character become weaker in her realtionship and it's something Pierce really likes too, because he's got this whole I am CAVEMAN vibe going on.

[linneasr.livejournal.com]

Yes, having Pierce (her social equal) really like her, personally, might throw Maeve off her stride, as someone who has been brought up (as far as I understand her) to be a winner. If you are appreciated for who you are, or even more lowering, what your body looks like, then does it matter if you win or not? I suppose it's always a balanced package, eh, because if you've always been valued for how you look or who you are, maybe your ambitions and / or successes don't matter.

[amine-eyes.livejournal.com]

OH PIERCE :D

I love how he's like "Ow - oooh - check - will I die?" xD

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

He is SUCH a GUY

[elouise82.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear that RL has sucked lately. I've actually been thinking about you quite a bit - I get concerned when there aren't any ff.net OR lj updates!

Your OCs are delightful, and while some (though I don't really know who) might complain about a Narnia story that features more OCs than the original characters, I love so much seeing the world of Narnia and beyond unfold in your vision and expand. The depth you give your OCs just gives more depth to the world itself.

(Oh, and BTW, every time I read the title of this post I crack up. So thank for that!)

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

yep, silence from me is usually not a good thing. Thank you for the nice things about OCs. They are ALL OVER THE PLACE.

And pssst... do think about the Narnia Fic Exchange. There were just some lovely, lovely stories last year and it's but 1,000 words and you have until the end of July!!! I know you are trying to do your own original writing, but it would be FUN!

[(Anonymous)]

Who is this?! What's your operating number?!

Love the quote, but the next part is "boring conversation", and that is just about the least applicable phrase I can think of to describe your stories! (Okay, granted, "Mom, the meatloaf! $%&@!" might be even slightly more unklikely.)

Just wanted to say I'm still here, still LOVING H&M and all your fascinating OCs, and I have developed a worrying habit of checking your LJ daily in case you post another tantalyzing snippet.

So thanks again for feeding my procrastination and (fan)fiction-addiction. Hope RL eases up and that the Conclave doesn't cause you nearly as much headache as it must surely be causing the Evil Bankers themselves!
~Syrena

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Heh. Yes, you are quite right. BAM! "Boring conversation anyway. Luke! We got company!" I got fan-boyed at my child's grade school "graduation" ceremony yesterday with a "Mrs. Stewart, is that YOU in this book?" and so I was in a Star Wars mood.

I'm glad you are enjoying H&M. I'm in Pierce's Pov for the whole chapter. It's funny -- I did the same thing at the end of TQSiT -- wrote almost of all of it from Susan's pov and then switched to others at the end. In Part 1 of TSG, it was the opposite. I didn't do Peter's pov until the very end.

And maybe you should get an LJ account just to monitor and get notices!

[varnafinde.livejournal.com]

Love-making from a Banker's POV - "trust, but verify" - "increase his N to get anything close to a statistically adequate sample size" - and then "a primal surge that had nothing to do with auditing".
Delightful!!!

"Maeve was lying on her side, facing him, arm thrown over her eyes. It would have been easier – better – if she had been on her back but this would be more than adequate."
Easier, perhaps, but better, no. Which is what he found ...

"do it all sober and in broad, bright daylight, so he could see it"
The Banker again!!!

I think it's a good thing you don't do much visuals. My inner vision is spinning already ...

I wish for you (and for all of our sake, as well!) that you'll be able to finish the chapter soon :-)

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

DREAD VISUALS. Seriously, I've had to do some serious visuals in this chapter and I think that's a problem for me (one of the many). I have had it in my head for so long, it's just not coming on the page the way I want it. Whereas this part with Maeve and Pierce has been written for weeks.

Oh well. Carry on! Thanks!

[sedri.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry to hear the chapter isn't going well, and that Real Life hasn't been much better. I hope they both improve for you soon!

(I'd comment on the snippet, but am determined not to read ahead! I prefer not to be spoiled, see. I'm sure I'll enjoy it immensely in context, of course. Good luck!)

[min023.livejournal.com]

Ooohh! I like this even better than the snippet I saw before. Pierce has obviously got some 'oddities' in him as well, albeit different to Morgan's. Should we call it the Linch gene? Or is it just a banker gene?

Oh, and Star Wars too. To (mis)paraphrase Yoda, 'Spoiled, we are' : )