2011 Fic Round-Up

[rosie_rues]

Hurrah, Yuletide reveals have happened and now I can do a (rather short) 2011 Masterlist. First off, however, my thanks to fabrisse for The Hush of Society (Swan Lake) and to highfantastical for My Heart is Like an Apple Tree (Drina series). They were both quiet and thoughtful and lovely and I am very grateful, especially as I know this went out as a fairly late pinch hit.

This has been a fairly light year for me as far as fic writing goes, but I can honestly say that I like everything I've written this year. Most of my fic has been Merlin AUs, with a couple of XM:FC pieces and the usual fun scatter from mixed fests and challenges. I'm linking the AO3 versions, just because I'm lazy and like the share button. Yuletide fics are down the bottom :)



January

Thrift (7327 words) by Rosie_Rues
Fandom: Merlin (TV)
Rating: Mature
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Merlin/Morgana (Merlin)
Characters: Morgana (Merlin), Nimueh (Merlin), Merlin (Merlin)
Summary: hagridden: adj. i) suffering from nightmares ii) suffering from overwhelming fears and anxieties iii) Obs. ridden by a hag, or witch, causing nightmares

This feels older than last year, but it was written in January as a pinch hit for a disastrous fic exchange. The prompt I got was very cool and I loved writing this, despite the organisational problems. I wanted to write about Morgana and find a way for her to be independent and to make informed moral choices without just submitting to Arthur and Camelot's expectations. I also wanted to explore the way that everyone she's loved has used her and lied to her and how in the world you find your way through that to a truth of your own. I wrote quite a bit about the thought process behind this one back in February.

Shake Your Windows and Rattle Your Walls (3032 words) by Rosie_Rues
Fandom: Merlin (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon
Characters: Merlin (Merlin), Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Summary: They're all at Oxford in the 1960s, and Arthur's infatuated.

I think I started this one as a response to a kmm prompt, which disappeared in the writing. With these characters, I do like settings that are places a little out of time, and the fun in this one was the contrast between the very magical atmosphere of Oxford in the snow and the world pressing in around them. I like taking the characters out of their original settings and trying to find parallels in other times and places and here, yet again, is an Arthur caught between change and the need to live up to the expectations of the generation before.

Were You Up for Pendragon? (2754 words) by Rosie_Rues
Fandom: Merlin (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Arthur/Merlin
Characters: Merlin (Merlin), Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Morgana (Merlin), Morgause (Merlin)
Summary: Sequel to Shake Your Windows and Rattle Your Walls. Election Night, 1997, and there's only one Tory that Merlin wants to keep his seat.

Then, of course, after ending the first one on such a sad note, I wanted to find out how the next few decades treated this iteration of the characters and if I could get them to a happy ending. Having set up Arthur's political ambitions in the first, inspiration struck and I decided he needed to be Portillo. This one is much happier, not least because it's from Merlin's pov and he doesn't torture himself with misplaced nobility in the same way.

February

A New Low (14957 words) by Rosie_Rues
Fandom: Merlin (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Arthur/ Merlin, background Gwen/Morgana
Characters: Arthur Pendragon, Merlin (Merlin), Gwen (Merlin), Morgana (Merlin)
Summary: Written for this prompt at kinkme_merlin, which asked for diabetic!Merlin stuck in a lift with Arthur. It grew from there.

Oh, god, this fic *facepalms* I was feeling glum and had lost all confidence in my writing and wanted to cheer myself up by writing a quick 2-3 comment kinkmeme fic to get some nice comments. Then I spotted this one, thought hey, I can totally write that and at least I won't fuck up the medical details. And, um, yeah, it grew and developed daleks. The temp job Merlin has here is pretty much one I did 5-6 years ago, only mine was even more mind-numbing and didn't come with bonus Pendragons. This is now my happy fic and I'm still all warm and fuzzy over how well it was received.

Close Your Eyes (4077 words) by Rosie_Rues
Fandom: Merlin (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Characters: Leon (Merlin), Morgause (Merlin)
Summary: The children of Camelot, during the Great Purge. Leon and Morgause are both old enough to remember this time, and I've wondered for a while if they knew each other.

Probably my least read fic ever. Which is understandable because it gen backstory for a minor character. I just couldn't get away from the idea that Leon and Morgause were the same age, and the questions that kept bugging me were - were they friends? What was Camelot like before the purges? Did they know the other children Uther killed? It was meant to be the first of a sequence of Leon-centric gen fics but I never found time to write the rest. Still like this one, though.

April

Abandon All Hope (the Once in a Blue Moon Remix) (771 words) by Rosie_Rues
Fandom: Supernatural
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Lucifer & Michael (Supernatural)
Characters: Lucifer (Supernatural), Michael (Supernatural)
Summary: Once in a blue moon, the damned see out of Hell. Lucifer knows it's not a blessing.

Remix is one of those fests that just doesn't work with my schedule, but I had a little time to do Remix Madness and just reversed the pov on this one. It could probably be read with no canon knowledge at all.

August

But Beauty's Self She Is (2464 words) by Rosie_Rues
Fandom: Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms
Rating: Explicit
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Beauty/Beast
Characters: Beauty, Beast (Fairy Tale)
Summary: Beauty wants more: of the Beast's voice, of his fur, of his tongue.

One of three Porn Battle fics I wrote in August. This is actually my favourite of the three and it was the hardest to write, because I couldn't get past my blushes. Whenever I read Beauty and the Beast retellings I feel a little sad for Beauty when she ends up with some pretty-boy prince who wasn't the one she fell in love with. This Beauty desires the Beast instead.

May Morning (2627 words) by Rosie_Rues
Fandom: X-Men: First Class (2011)
Rating: Explicit
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier
Characters: Charles Xavier, Erik Lehnsherr, Mystique
Summary: Erik came to Oxford looking for an expert on human mutation. He ends up shagging a drunk telepath.Slight AU, in which they meet for the first time in Oxford.

And this is the most popular thing I've ever written. Oxford again (I seem to write better when I'm drawing on places I know and love) and just happy drunken telepath sex. With Raven being snarky in the background.

Drink and Be Merry (1987 words) by Rosie_Rues
Fandom: Doctor Who, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Rating: Explicit
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: River Song/Sirius Black
Characters: River Song, Sirius Black
Summary: River Song has a weak spot for pretty boys who run towards trouble. In which River crosses paths with Sirius Black in a dodgy goblin bar in Soho...

One of those where I saw the pairing in the prompt and just had to write it. There were thousands of words worth of this in my head, where they go on a crime spree around Wizarding London and have lots and lots of reckless, semi-public sex, but this was the bit that made it onto the page. I think this pairing works for me because of the similarities between them - rebel children charming their way through heartbreak. It was central to the way I wrote this that River knows who he is and is aware of that connection, and that she seduces him anyway, deliberately and knowingly. This is the ultimate crossover pairing of my heart.

September

Wanton in the Air (8988 words) by Rosie_Rues
Fandom: X-Men: First Class (2011), The Eagle | Eagle of the Ninth (2011)
Rating: Explicit
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier
Characters: Charles Xavier, Erik Lehnsherr, Raven
Summary: In which Charles rescues a gladiator from the arena and soon becomes somewhat disconcerted by this handsome new slave and his sharksome grin.

I had such fun with this. I adore The Eagle of the Ninth, despite the way the film made everyone stupid, and slotting Charles and Erik and Raven in was surprisingly easy. I wanted to smack Charles several times in the writing of this, but that's just one of the perils of writing Charles Xavier and his privileged, complicated messed-up brain. I kind of want to try fusing The Eagle with Merlin now, just because Gaius would make such a perfect Uncle Aquila.

December

Five Bets Sergeant Glicksohn Lost in a Single Afternoon (And One He Always Wins) (2662 words) by Rosie_Rues
Fandom: Valor Series - Tanya Huff
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Torin Kerr, di'Stenjic Haysole, Mike Glicksohn, Ressk, Binti Mashona
Summary: "He'll get over it," Ressk said, clacking his teeth. "Join the Marines, see the universe, lose your faith in higher powers."

My official Yuletide fic. I didn't actually match on this fandom (I don't think anyone offered it this year), but I've seen this prompt come up at Yuletide Madness for the last few years. Every year I look and it and think, oh, if I only had time to reread the books, I'd so write that! So this year I did, and discovered in the process that there are now five books in the series and they get progressively more awesome. I think a lot of people on my flist would like this series, if they haven't read them already - space marines, with the focus on a strong, no-nonsense female protagonist, and this is military SF which isn't completely reactionary (rather the opposite). This fic is set before the start of the first book, though you probably need to have read the first one to understand this. These are books I read with little flaily noises of glee.

The Lay of Homecoming (3877 words) by Rosie_Rues
Fandom: Power of Three - Diana Wynne Jones
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Gair/Hafny
Characters: Ayna (Power of Three), Adara (Power of Three), Gest (Power of Three), Hafny (Power of Three)
Summary: Gair goes to live among the Dorig. Gest doesn't understand. Hafny does.

A Yuletide Treat because I saw your prompt and loved it.

It wouldn't be Yuletide without some Diana Wynne Jones fic. I've never written for this particular book before and I loved doing it - the twisty indirect way Dorig do things was great fun. It's very much a book about fathers and sons, so although it's Gair/Hafny slash, it's just as much about Gest and his discomfort with seeing his children grow up.

Victory at All Costs
Fandom: Harry Potter
Rating: PG
Relationships: Remus/Sirius
Summary: It's the summer of 1940 and even wizards can't ignore the way the Muggle world is closing in around them.
Notes: Written for yndigot for Small Gifts this year.

And finally, back to my first and best OTP. WW2 AU in which Remus is interned. I knew a little about internment before I started writing this and was startled (and disturbed) about how little information was online. I eventually found some information in one of histories of the war I have cluttering up my shelves (I'm developing a thing for the history of female aviators, which extends to a love of Spitfires and a growing interest in the whole context). The story was supposed to about finding some agency in a time where everything seems out of control, but the setting took over a bit - this wanted to be epic and I had neither the time nor space to let it.