Envoy: Discussion, Author's Notes and Feedback

[Refleckshun]

Decided to create a separate topic so the thread for the story itself isn't muddled. Link to story thread: http://www.redwallabbey.com/forum/index.php?topic=10449.new#new

Matthias, Cornflower and Basil Stag Hare are strangers in a foreign land, as Redwall Abbey's warrior and first lady – and bodyguard – are brought to a neutral vermin nation across the seas in a first, faltering attempt at diplomacy. Far from home and among creatures they are usually wary of, misadventures inevitably ensue. Set after Mattimeo.

Envoy is my first public Redwall fic. (I've been writing fan fiction for a long time, and did write bits of two Redwall stories about ten years ago, but they were top tier terrible and will never see the light of day.) Envoy is like a Primal Scream album, it doesn't really limit itself to one genre. I'd class it as an adventure-dramedy - it tries to be funny for the most part, but the seriousness keeps creeping through.
I'm not quite sure where Envoy emerged from. I remember envisioning a scene of Matthias and Cornflower getting off a ship - the story grew from there. Yes, good/neutral vermin, it's pretty standard in the Redwall fanfic community by now - but I feel like I have a few spins on the theme that will become apparent later on in the story.
There is no one main character here, but I have noticed that I'm giving Cornflower a bit more page space than the others (I can't help it, I think she's great and people don't write about her enough). Think about these characters visually however you want, but in my mind's eye, I see them as they are in the TV series, and I make references to that occasionally.
All that said, I hope you enjoy the story. I appreciate feedback.

[The Skarzs]

Oh, I'm sorry, I posted in the other topic before seeing this.

[Refleckshun]

No worries - I appreciate the kind words.

[The Grey Coincidence]

I havent read/written much Redwall, in fact I've only read four of the books... So I really am not the best judge here. But from my experience reading other fics and books:
It's good! I like the dramedy genre (I like the new word too ) a lot. It's a well-written fic and it's got some interesting ways to go, so I look forwards to moooooore!

[Lady Ashenwyte]

Very well written, I have nothing but praise! The characters aren't spoiled and you capture the essence of Redwall, which is something that's fairly hard to do when you're dealing with a work like this.

[Refleckshun]

Thank you everyone for the feedback so far. I'm glad you like my story. The next chapter is nearly finished and I hope to have it up by the new year.

In the meantime here's another author's note.

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I've started assembling a soundtrack of sorts for Envoy (work in progress). I use music as quite a bit of inspiration for my writing as scenes play out like a movie in my head. I know that Redwall, being the universe that it is, has music that is very medieval and folky in nature - so (most of) my song choices may seem very atypical and irreverent. But I've decided to embrace that and go with music that I feel fits the characters and the nature of the story, which in my mind is kind of irreverent anyway.

This will be updated as I curate new tracks. Click the spoiler below to see what I've compiled so far. Some of the songs selected may also be hints at what is to come - I won't say how or why.

Spoiler

Overall Theme – "Play It Out" by DMA's

Matthias and Cornflower's Theme – "Feeler" by Pete Murray

Hesperfell Theme – "Clasp" by Jethro Tull

Rothlin's Theme – "Get Duffy" by Primal Scream

[close]

[The Skarzs]

We artists see and feel things differently; it's all good. My writing partner has a song in mind for a story we have that I can't see how it fits, but it apparently does.

[The Grey Coincidence]

Well Redwall isn't Redwall without music, and whether or not it's irrelevant makes little difference.
Personally I don't really see how the music fits, but we're all different, right?
Anyways I look forwards to more.

[Ashleg]

I haven't read the story but I know where he's coming from about the music, here it is probably that the lyrics fit the characters rather than the type of music being played (they do have lyrics, right? I didn't listen.)

[Refleckshun]

I haven't read the story but I know where he's coming from about the music, here it is probably that the lyrics fit the characters rather than the type of music being played (they do have lyrics, right? I didn't listen.)

Yes and no. It depends on the music really. In the case of "Play it out" and "Feeler" it's the lyrics. For the others, it's the music, be it the atmosphere or the melody.

[Ashleg]

Ah.
Didn't listen, either.