And is there Honey still for Tea?
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | And is there Honey still for Tea? |
| Author(s): | Jay Tryfanstone |
| Date(s): | 26 March 2010 |
| Length: | 19,000 words |
| Genre: | Apocafic, gen |
| Fandom: | Winnie-the-Pooh |
| External Links: | And is there Honey still for Tea? at the author's webpage (archived link) Header and info post at Apocabigbang |
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And is there Honey still for Tea? is a Winnie-the-Pooh story by Jay Tryfanstone written for the first Apocabigbang and published in 2010. It has fanart by dualbunny and a fanmix by ishie. It became well known because of the incongruity of mixing favorite childhood characters with an apocalyptic setting. It was praised for keeping the voice and tone of the original canon while exploring some dark subject matter.
The fic was published to the author's website and linked in the Apocabigbang Livejournal comm, and later posted to AO3 in 2012. As of 2022, it has close to 6,000 hits, more than 200 kudos, more than 55 comments and more than 100 bookmarks on Archive of Our Own, making it the second-most-kudosed and bookmarked Winnie-the-Pooh fic on AO3, after Sherlock-the-Pooh by thisprettywren.
The title of the story comes from the poem "The Old Vicarage, Grantchester" by Rupert Brooke.
Summary
If you happen to have read another book about Edward Bear, you may remember that he lived with his friends in a wood called the Hundred Acre Wood. It was a small wood, and small things happened, the kind of things that happen to bears in places where even if elevenses are late there is always a little something for tea.This isn't that story.
Related Works
Fanart
Dualbunny created fanart for the story as part of Apocabigbang.
The art was created in Photoshop and done in the style of E. H. Shepard's original illustrations for the books. Dualbunny also created a fic banner for the story from the art.
Jay Tryfanstone said of the art in the story's author's notes: "They're amazing - really bring it home just how very small the animals are, and how immense the world around them Beautiful images, so very much more than I had dared to hope."
The art is included inline with the story text, but since the author's website went down the images in the Archive of Our Own version of the story are broken; however, they are preserved on the Wayback Machine.
Fanmix
ishie created a fanmix[1] for the story as part of Apocabigbang.
The fanmix contains 14 tracks, the last of which is 30 minutes of crickets (Marais la nuit by Neko Case). Each of the other tracks is linked to a quote from the story. The cover art uses illustrations by E. H. Shepard and is included at the end of the story.
The mix was referenced in erinptah and melannen's "Fanmixes & Mashups" panel at CON.TXT in June 2010.[2]
Translations
The story was translated into Russian by OlgaF, but the translation is now offline.[3]
Reactions and Reviews
Hands down, for me, the literary level fanfiction I would absolutely write an English essay on and turn in: And is there Honey still for Tea? By Jay Tryfanstone. It’s apocalyptic, or at least set in full out invasion wartime, Winnie the Pooh. It made me cry. It was unforgettable and hauntingly beautiful.-- Ladykissoffs, 2020[4]
Post-Apocalyptic Winnie-the-Pooh sounds like its trying to be edgy and dark for no reason, but the author NAILED IT. This is surprisingly one of the most touching stories I've ever read. This is publishable material and the author mimics A. A. Milne's writing style and tone flawlessly. I REALLY love this fic.It's illustrated (also Milne style), but it looks like the image links are broken for now.
Even if you're not familiar with Winnie-the-Pooh, this fic is just something that needs to be read.
-- tasonjodd, 2016[5]
The characters from the Hundred Acre Woods are plunged into the real world. This is darkfic at its darkest, yet the odd thing was, I found the story even more heartwarming than the canon, because it reminded me that, no matter how bad things get, there is still great goodness in this world.-- Dusk Peterson, 2016[6]
[anon]
gorgeously written and so accurate to the tone and style of canon that it hurts to read. I only started it because the thought of Winnie the Pooh apocalypse fic was hilarious to me, which I suspect is why most people start to read it, but then it turns out to be this slow, subtle, emotionally devastating thing instead and by the time you've realised it's too late, and you're already crying brokenly about [spoilers]. It's one of my favourite fics I've ever read, and I've got nothing to do with the fandom (if Winnie the Pooh even has a fandom).
[response to anon #1]
+1,000,000
I would never have expected a fic with that premise to turn out perfectly.
[response to anon #2]
YES, THIS. It's so so good, so perfectly written and bleak and amazing.
[response to anon #3]
+3. THIS FIC. Not just the tone and style, but the themes of childhood and friendship and what it means for war to touch the Hundred Acre Wood, and for them to go find Christopher Robin... If I think about it too long I'm going to start ugly-crying. In a good way.[7]
if you are/were a Pooh fan, you really have to read it. It's apocafic, so there are distressing events, and heartbreaking parts. But it's amazing.-- raveninthewind, 2011 [8]
Fantastic, fantastic work. The childlike bewilderment and -- I hate to bring up a phrase like "loss of innocence," but to read on and on about Pooh and the rest while thinking about Christopher Robin and all the boys and girls who grew up to be like him -- well. It hurts everywhere it should and then some--newredshoes, 2010 [9]
One of the very best fics I've ever read was a Winnie the Pooh dystopian thing - fantastic.--@acafanmom, 2014 [10]
AKA, that one Winnie the Pooh fic that’s tagged “Post Apocalyptic AU”.
[...] This author seriously thought about this, and their lovely prose manages to take the tone of the books and make it just a bit haunting. They’ve incorporated actual history into the book’s canon events, and the books and the characters from those books have had a long history. The story’s not just interaction between the characters and real life tragedy, it’s examination of the real life people and places that inspired the characters, and a thoughtful consideration of their journey. The real life Christopher Robin didn’t stay a child, and the real life toys have been moved to a library in NYC. And to these characters, those events would be absolutely apocalyptic. This fic takes the emotions and adventures of silly characters very seriously, and the effect is really heartbreaking.-- melissae-astron, 2015 [11]
Winnie-the-Pooh and pals meet the apocalypse this is moving and painful, though it ends on a (mostly) hopeful note[12]
References
- ^ Originally posted at LiveJournal: [mix] and is there honey still for tea?, for tryfanstone, posted at ishieland 26 March 2010. (Archived by the Wayback Machine 04 April 2010.)
- ^ erinptah at Dreamwidth. Post-con recap time, 22 June 2010.
- ^ And is there Honey still for Tea? endnotes at Archive of Our Own, accessed 11 May 2020. Links to www.diary.ru/~OlgaF/p166131873.htm and www.diary.ru/~OlgaF/p166136055.htm (now offline, not archived).
- ^ Ladykissoffs at TV Tropes Forum. Reply to What's the most well-written fanfic you've ever read? Posted 24 March 2020.
- ^ tasonjodd at /r/FanFiction on reddit. Reply to Fav unpopular fics? Diamonds in the rough? Poster 31 August 2016.
- ^ Dusk Peterson. Bookmarks for "And is there Honey still for Tea?" at Archive of Our Own. Posted 26 September 2016.
- ^ Anon comment on fail_fandomanon, Re: Fic recs! - your favorite apocalypse fic, Feb 24, 2014
- ^ "Winnie-the-Pooh Rec: And Is There Honey Still for Tea? by Jay Tryfanstone (Not for Children), May 15, 2011 Dreamwidth post". Archived from the original on 2022-04-11.
- ^ Comment on the announcement post by newredshoes, 2010
- ^ "Oct 17, 2014 Twitter comment". Archived from the original on 2022-04-11.
- ^ fic rec:and is there honey still for tea?, a tumblr post by melissae-astron. Posted 17 July 2015.
- ^ "the time has come to say fair's fair, Dec 17, 2022 Dreamwidth post". Archived from the original on 2022-12-18.
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