transposable_element

Author reveal was Saturday. Here's my story, which seems to have been well-received:

Not Much Would Be Lost (3416 words) by Transposable_Element
Chapters: 5/5
Fandom: The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Ornon (Queen's Thief), Laela (Queen's Thief), Nahuseresh (Queen's Thief), Attolia (Queen's Thief), Costis (Queen's Thief), Eugenides (Queen's Thief)
Additional Tags: Intrigue, Slavery, Diplomacy, Spies & Secret Agents, Ornon is ornery, Boxing & Fisticuffs, No sheep were harmed in the making of this fic
Summary: "If you fail, there is very little protection we can give you," said Attolia.

I was worried for a while that I might have to default, because even though I settled on the basic idea and wrote an outline early on, most of the writing happened very much at the last moment. I got the bones of the story up by the deadline, and then I used the next week to tinker with it, expanding it by about 1,200 words. I'm reasonably happy with it, although as usual I had trouble with the ending.

There are a lot of good stories and fan art in the exchange. Check 'em out!

This is a gift exchange for the Queen's Thief series. Stories are up; authors will be revealed in a week.

I got TWO wonderful stories!

Bling (605 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Aristogiton (Queen's Thief), Costis (Queen's Thief)
Additional Tags: Male Friendship
Summary: Aris lends a hand with Costis’ preparations for the journey. What else are friends for?

This story made me laugh out loud. If you've read the most recent book in the series, Thick As Thieves, you will understand why Costis has to have his ear pierced, but you don't need to know that to enjoy the story.

The Apricot Tree (836 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Sophos & Ina & Eurydice
Characters: Sophos (Queen's Thief), Ina (Queen's Thief), Eurydice (Queen's Thief)
Additional Tags: Family, Pre-Canon
Summary: One perfect moment, before everything started happening.

This is a very sweet story about Sophos and his sisters, hinting at many future events and gently highlighting Sophos's chronic self-doubt.

This isn't a great pic, but I love the overlapping crescents you get when
you look at light filtered through tree leaves.

Filia and Maritus gaze awe-struck at the majestic beauty of the Olympic
Mountains

( Sol Duc Falls, Olympic National Park, WA )

( Marymere Falls, also Olympic National Park, WA )

( Multnomah Falls, Columbia River Gorge, OR )

First, thank you! I'm looking forward to this, and I hope you'll have fun writing.

As for what I like and don't like, mostly the answer is "it depends." There are very few things I would say a flat-out no to: graphic torture; prolonged graphic violence; incest; rape. But even these, if necessary for the story, character, or setting, might be okay. What I really don't like to see is deliberate cruelty normalized or justified.

My attitude about explicit sex also depends on context. In general, I prefer sex not to be the raison d'être of a story.

For this exchange, I prefer no AUs or crossovers.

Things I especially like:

backstory, for both characters and setting
underdogs
minor characters coming to the fore
outsider perspectives
characters being in character
a setting that feels rich and real
unexpected or incongruous friendships
romance that goes against gender and/or sex stereotypes
actually, anything that goes against gender and/or sex stereotypes
people working through difficult problems together
slice of life stories
endings with a sense of forward motion
things I wouldn't think of writing about myself (like what? I don't know!)

Most of all, I hope you write a story that you like and feel excited about.

As for me, I'm a middle-aged woman who likes to read children's fiction; I'm a scientist who likes to read about magic; I'm a physically inactive person who likes to read about adventures and derring-do. My interests are broad and a polite description of my education would be "eclectic."

Notes on specific prompts:

Laela: Anything about this character would be great: backstory, future fic, missing scene, etc. I'm curious about her relationship with Kamet; why he trusts her implicitly and why she betrays that trust in order to push him toward his freedom (as long as the answer is not "she's in love with him"). Given what we know of the character's history, this could get dark. Canon-typical violence is okay, but I prefer nothing graphic or extended.

Ina & Eurydice & Sophos: I'm thinking more of their childhood relationship here, but it could also be something later on, when they're all adults. Either fanart or fanfic would be great. If you feel like doing something light-hearted and cute, this would be the prompt to go with.

Aris: What has Aris been doing while the events of Conspiracy of Kings and Thick As Thieves are going on? In Thick As Thieves, Costis uses Aris's name as an alias; is there a story behind that? What does Aris think of Costis and this Kamet fellow? Be as shippy as you like, or make it gen. Prefer no explicit sex.

I haven't posted in a while, and I'm behind on answering messages, for which I apologize.

I just want to wish everybody a happy new year with this wonderful video from this morning of a hummingbird nestling taking its maiden flight. The second nestling fledged less than an hour later, but the video of that one isn't as good.

Here's my gift. It is one of only a handful of Andrew Ketterley stories in existence! Go read it. A high and lonely destiny comes at a cost.

The High and Lonely Destiny of Andrew Ketterley (1129 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Andrew Ketterley
Additional Tags: Epistolary, suggested Andrew Ketterley/MOC
Summary:

The work of a magician is solitary and full of sacrifice.

My own story, of course, I cannot talk about until reveal. I'm a little concerned because my recipient hasn't said anything yet. Sigh. Go, TE, go and do something else and DON'T WORRY. People like your story. Really, they do.

Word.

Having long, protracted, yet fundamentally silly argument with a friend of Maritus's about whether Vikings had horns on their helmets.

According to the archaeological record, contemporary paintings and sculpture, and contemporary descriptions, they did not.

For some reason, however, this friend keeps sending me pictures of Bronze Age petroglyphs (with horns!), 14th century German burial helmets (with horns!), and Medieval Russian armor (with horns!), as though this proves something. Arrgh.

That's it for the pics. I hope it's not all too spammy, I can never quite anticipate how large the individual photos are going to be on the screen.

( 1. You can walk on the Opera House. )
( 2. Maxfield Parrish sky )
( 3. Red-breasted Merganser and ducklings )

These are from museums in Oslo.

( 1. Animal head from Viking burial ship )
( 2. Stave church door frame )

A few pictures from Gudbrandstalen, the valley where much of Sigrid
Undset's novel Kristin Lavransdatter is set.
( Taken from the train. )

( 1. Old wooden buildings along the river Nidelva )
( 2. Trondheim from Kristiansten Fortress )
( 3. Nidaros cathedral's impressive western face )

The center of the town of Ålesund was completely rebuilt after a catastrophic fire in 1904, in Art Nouveau style. (Catastrophic fires are a running theme in the history of Norwegian cities.) One street is named after Kaiser Wilhelm (!), a major benefactor of the town after the fire. We had only a short time there because we had a ferry to catch.

( A few architectural details. )

( 1. Bergen from above on a misty morning )
( 2. The Bryggen, early morning )
( 3. Full service fish stall at the outdoor market )
( 4. Placard from an exhibit on medieval rune carvings at Bergen museum )

We just returned from a trip to Norway. These pics were all taken with phones, so the focus isn't perfect. I took the first two and Maritus took the last one.

( 1. Overlooking Aurlandsfjorden from a hill above the harbor at Flåm )
( 2. Storfjorden, near Barstadvika (I think) )
( 3. Leaving Geirangerfjorden )

First, thank you! I'm looking forward to this so much, and I hope you're having fun writing.

As for what I like and don't like, mostly the answer is "it depends." At the moment I'm looking for something relatively light-hearted and fun, although if you're using the Andrew Ketterly prompt I could see it going fairly dark. There are very few things I would say a flat-out no to: graphic torture; extended graphic violence; incest; rape. If you want to write about the worst impulses of human nature, then I prefer to see it leavened with loyalty, courage, and kindness. I prefer gen, but a little romance is fine.

Things I especially like:

world-building
backstory, both for characters and the world itself
underdogs
characters being in character (acknowledging that people's interpretations of the same character differ)
a world that feels rich and real
unexpected or incongruous friendships
romance that goes against gender and/or sex stereotypes
actually, anything that goes against gender and/or sex stereotypes
snappy dialog
non-sentimentalized parent-child relationships
cultural complexity
political complexity
characters working through difficult problems
mythology and folklore
slice of life stories
things I wouldn't think of myself (like what? I don't know!)

Most of all, I hope you write a story that you like and that makes you happy.

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