Fic: Guinevere of the High Seas (Gwen/Morgana)

[ilthit]

Title: Guinevere of the High Seas
Author: Hyel
Fandom: Merlin (BBC)
Pairing(s): Gwen/Morgana
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Pirate AU, but not a very cheerful one.
Note: I meant this as a long fic for thelittlebangoriginally, but couldn't make it work, so just made a short version.
Warnings: Violence, mourning, (canonical, sort of) character death and a non-canonical

Comments

[veleda_k]

This is incredible. I have often bemoaned the lack of AUs that give Gwen anything real to do besides be Merlin's eternally supportive best friend, and this is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. It's not all that long a story, but it's so rich. I would not complain if you ever wrote more of this universe.

[ilthit]

Ooh, thanks!

Gwen makes a wonderful best friend in stories and I guess it's easy to confine her to that role, since a) most Merlin fic is Merlin-centric (fair enough, I guess) and b) because she has such a sweet personality and a supportive role in the show. But yeah. Gwen. She's fantastic and I want to see more done with her too.

:) I might write more in this ficverse and wouldn't mind if others did too - or you know, write something like it. I regret I couldn't make the long version work.

[srin]

This is awesome. The parallelism with canon fits this AU so very well, and Morgana and Gwen are both absolutely fabulous. I love that image of them, dressed in men's clothes and practising with swords in front of all these rough men.

[ilthit]

Thank you! :)

[havocthecat]

Oh. Oh, I adore this. This is beautiful writing, and Gwen gets to come into her own, as does Morgana, neither with the diminishment of the other. That's the one frustration I've had with some of the Gwen/Morgana fic out there, and you've avoided that trap in a very wonderful way.

[ilthit]

:) Thank you!

It's actually one of the problems I had when I was trying to write this out as a full fic. I had a story for Gwen and I wanted it to be about Gwen but Morgana, being the impulsive aggressive character she is, kept trying to be the central character and I just wouldn't have it. It's hard with two such characters to bring out the heroism of the quiet one. In retrospect, it might have been easier had I thought to try writing it in first person in the first place.

[havocthecat]

I can imagine. I occasionally think about how I would write fic for Gwen, and she's very, very difficult to write for. Did you ever watch BtVS? Her quiet force of personality reminds me a lot of Tara, and she was equally difficult to write for.

I think shortening this story and changing the POV was well worth it, because Morgana shines through quite well from Gwen's perspective anyway, and the setup alone has a huge emotional impact.

Do you mind if I friend you? You seem rather awesome, and I confess to fangirling your art (not just the piece you did for my thelittlebang story).

[ilthit]

I watched BtVS but I never wrote Tara. I think I could, though, she wasn't wholly supportive, though she mostly seemed to react rather than act. I guess that's the whole crux of the matter...

:) Sure! I'll friend you on my regular and creative journal.

I still need to read your final version of The Little Bang story!

[ilthit]

Thank you!

[nike_ravus]

This story is really really good! It does seem difficult to make Gwen the main character, because she's a watcher rather than an actor, and does her best to help in a situation rather than control the situation. But i think you did it perfectly, especially the image of her holding up her father's broken body, and the guilt at how what little action she has attempted turns on her, and then how she sees the pirates, not as ideas or as enemies, but as people, flawed and absurd and complicated.
She's still surprised when someone asks her opinion, but after the sword fighting and the confidence she's starting to marshal, she's set up to really take charge. It's a development she's going to need to go through in whatever universe to become a queen instead of a servant girl.

Thank you!

[ilthit]

I'd love to see her strength as something other than a supporter - although that's pretty great strength too - to come through... but then the story would have to be continued! Not sure I'm up to that.

Glad you liked it, and thanks!