CHECK IN: DAY 10

[igenlode]

It's the end of the week, and the day when we have the chance to show off what we have achieved recently!
Does anyone have any excerpts/fanart/songvids etc. that they want to share?

Comments

[igenlode]

From the fic I just uploaded:

There was a tree root digging into d'Artagnan’s back, and his neck was stiff where he’d wrapped both arms around himself for warmth. High overhead, through the interlaced branches, the moon was moving painfully slowly towards the mark he had set for himself, when his watch would be over. His head began to nod forward, and he caught himself with a jerk.

It was not as if he had not sat up at night before, waiting for the old cob to throw her latest foal, or keeping guard against the fox that had come three nights running to take their best pullets. Maybe these northern woods were dank and more than a little chilly compared to the balmy dark —not, definitely not, filled with the pervasive odour of damp leaf-mould— beneath Gascon skies, but all the same the sounds around him told the same story as those in the dusty, scented thickets of home. Tiny rustlings and the shifting of leaves betrayed the unseen life of the woods all around. A screech-owl called from somewhere further away, and a vixen gave a single sharp bark. A stifled squeal marked the strike of some swift, small hunter taking yet smaller prey; stoat, perhaps, or white-tipped ermine. Snuffling breaths and a glimpse of eyes in the embers of the dying fire would be a badger trundling on his way, near-sighted and deceived by d'Artagnan’s stillness into believing himself undetected.

[athaia]

That's a lovely piece of a scene, very atmospheric and a little nostalgic.

[igenlode]

Thanks! It went down infinitely better with the fandom than the last three I'd written...

[athaia]

I finished the edits on my latest story, and am now set for drafting the next one in my series.

Here's my snippet (how did you get that quote look?):

He found himself staring across the lake again and again now, too. The later the afternoon grew, the more people gave up their act of doing business as usual. They were flocking to the rims of the outer platforms, standing together in little groups, and staring towards the opposite end of the lake — you couldn't call it a shore, as there was no dry land under the rivercane thicket there, either — just like him.

"Too early still to be impatient," someone behind him remarked. Virdon turned around and found himself eye to eye with Garris, the village's headman.

Garris nodded when he met his gaze. "This can take until sunset, or even until tomorrow," he added, although Virdon hadn't asked. "The river cow is fierce, it is not easily overcome."

"Well, I'm of no use for anything but waiting right now," Virdon apologized. "The healer says it'll take another moon cycle until my ribs are fully healed. I'd love to lend anyone a hand, if you tell me where I can help."

Garris cast a critical glance at his torso, as if he could gauge the state of his ribcage under his shirt. "Nothing that needs strong arms," he agreed. "But maybe you can show me if you're as good with a gun as your friend is. An amazing talent he has, for someone who was forbidden to touch his master's weapons."

"He's a natural," Virdon agreed. He wasn't going to confabulate explanations for their proficiency with firearms. It was none of Garris's business; if anything, it was an advantage he'd want to exploit, no questions asked — except to satisfy his curiosity. That would have to wait until hell froze over, as far as Virdon was concerned.

If Garris caught on to his thoughts, he didn't show it. The headman just pursed his lips in silent agreement with Virdon's assessment. "And you?"

"I'm decent, but I'm afraid a demonstration will have to wait until my ribs are better," Virdon hedged. "Don't care about the recoil right now."

Garris's interest in him switched off immediately. He started to turn away, then stopped and stared across the lake. A slow smile spread across his face, and when Virdon followed his gaze, he saw the reason: a small flotilla of boats was emerging from the thickets. Even from a distance, he could see the tiny figures waving their arms excitedly.

The hunters had returned, and the hunt had been a success.

[igenlode]

(how did you get that quote look?)
I'm typing raw (well, 'casual' -- minus the explicit paragraph tags!) HTML -- so I just use the BLOCKQUOTE tags for block quotes :-)
(I discovered the hard way that the horizontal rule tag apparently doesn't function in comments, though, even though it's fine in my own journal entries....)

He wasn't going to confabulate explanations for their proficiency with firearms. It was none of Garris's business; if anything, it was an advantage he'd want to exploit, no questions asked — except to satisfy his curiosity. That would have to wait until hell froze over, as far as Virdon was concerned.

If Garris caught on to his thoughts, he didn't show it. The headman just pursed his lips in silent agreement with Virdon's assessment. "And you?"

"I'm decent, but I'm afraid a demonstration will have to wait until my ribs are better," Virdon hedged. "Don't care about the recoil right now."

Garris's interest in him switched off immediately.

Some uneasy allies there :-D
Though I think Virdon maybe meant "Don't care for the recoil", i.e. I'd rather not experience the recoil, rather than "Don't care about the recoil", i.e. The recoil isn't a source of worry to me? (Unless that's just a difference in US/English usage, like "quite good" meaning "extremely good" if an American comments as versus "fairly good but a bit lacking" to us -- oops!)

At any rate the 'ouch' of the recoil was definitely my first reaction to the proposal too ;-)

[athaia]

No, you probably just caught a mistake I made (I'm ESL), so thank you for that bit of proofreading! I'm serious here, I ran that thing through a grammar check, and it didn't flag it. Sigh. Going to edit that now.

[igenlode]

I'm always happy to proofread (I'm much better at proofreading than actual constructive comment...) but a grammar check wouldn't flag that sort of thing anyhow -- it's a perfectly valid construction, just one with a subtly different implication :-(

[athaia]

Yeah, those are the worst mistakes, because they slip past any mechanical radar. I'm well aware of the difference in meaning of those two constructions, I just didn't pay attention when I was scribbling this scene, and I read over it in later edits, probably because it wasn't grammatically false.

Can't catch them all. Thank you for this one!