2014 Fic Roundup
I broke 20k words in completed, posted fanfiction this year, though only just--most of my word count was part of a MCU work still in progress, which I really do need to get around to finishing, and would have more than tripled that count.
I included Walk in the Dark in last year's roundup, though it was posted at the very beginning of 2014.
Singularities (6109 words)
Fandom: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Dr. Riva/OFC
Characters: Dr. Riva, Rebecca Galen, Anna Toscane, Miles Vorkosigan
Additional Tags: Backstory, Komarr, Physics, Citizenship, Canon-Typical Violence, Original Character Death(s), POV Second Person
Series: Part 2 of Imperial Survey
Summary: “He considered Riva’s age. She’d been in her teens at the time of the Barrayaran conquest of Komarr, in her twenties at the time of the Revolt. She’d survived, she’d endured, she’d cooperated; her years under Imperial rule had been good, including an obviously successful live of the mind, and a single marriage. She’d compared children with Vorthys, and spoken of an eldest daughter’s upcoming wedding. No Komarran terrorist, she.” What matters, on Komarr.
This was written to a Yuletide prompt from several years ago. I've posted about this story a bit already; I really, truly love this one, and it took me a long time to finish.
It was hard to pick a favorite line, but I'll go with one that encapsulates much of the fic:
In a sense, the past forty years have been a continuation of two conversations, one held over tea in a modest apartment and the other over champagne at a glittering benefit dinner. You thought, you truly thought, you had found the answer, a reply you could make to Councilwoman Galen and Sera Toscane in the same breath.
And now for my Yuletide fics! Each contains spoilers for the relevant series.
Nights of Yes or No (4477 words) for cosmic_llin
Fandom: Steerswoman Series - Rosemary Kirstein
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Bel/Rowan
Characters: Rowan (Steerswoman), Bel (Steerswoman), Henra (Steerswoman), Keridwen (Steerswoman)
Additional Tags: First Time
Summary: Rowan finds herself in waiting.
This had a much-appreciated beta read from
kate_nepveu, who reassured me that it felt true to canon. I only discovered these books this year and was both excited and intimidated to write for them. Even more pleased post-reveals, actually, now that I can talk about this series, because it is so very good, and there's so much to discuss. I kept wanting to make something plottier out of this and running into the fact that anything remotely plotty would require addressing the overall arc of the books, and one of the great joys of them is that there's so much going on that hasn't been revealed yet, and I don't feel myself quite equal to heavy speculation in this setting. So I pulled back a bit and wound up with something much quieter and character-based, though with a few nods to the overall mytharc. (I can't tell you how pleased I was at figuring out how to make the sex scene lead to a minor revelation in said mytharc!).
The final line is probably my favorite. It was one of the last things I wrote, after struggling for quite a while over how to end this, but I like both the sense and the rhythm of it:
“The world holds me, its smallest stone,” Rowan thought, was reassured, and gave herself up to sleep.
Détente (2510 words) for seimaisin
Fandom: The Memoirs of Lady Trent - Marie Brennan
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationship: Isabella (Lady Trent) & Thomas Wilker
Characters: Isabella (Lady Trent), Thomas Wilker, Natalie Oscott
Additional Tags: Missing Scene, Between Books, Developing Friendships
Summary: On the eve of the winter holiday, Isabella Camherst entertains a friend, an unexpected guest, and a peace offering.
I wrote this one as a treat, since I was so pleased to see another request for the series! The Memoirs of Lady Trent were also new to me this year, and they're sadly unrepresented on AO3 aside from a MCU fusion that contains neither dragons nor any of the canonical characters. The books feature a very interesting platonic relationship between the female narrator and a male secondary character, and I enjoyed exploring this at a point in canon when they're transitioning from reluctant allies to true colleagues but haven't quite made it to friendship.
Favorite line: "I would be glad of your assist--of your collaboration."
comments at http://pendrecarc.dreamwidth.org/178715.html. Feel free to comment wherever you prefer.
I included Walk in the Dark in last year's roundup, though it was posted at the very beginning of 2014.
Singularities (6109 words)
Fandom: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Dr. Riva/OFC
Characters: Dr. Riva, Rebecca Galen, Anna Toscane, Miles Vorkosigan
Additional Tags: Backstory, Komarr, Physics, Citizenship, Canon-Typical Violence, Original Character Death(s), POV Second Person
Series: Part 2 of Imperial Survey
Summary: “He considered Riva’s age. She’d been in her teens at the time of the Barrayaran conquest of Komarr, in her twenties at the time of the Revolt. She’d survived, she’d endured, she’d cooperated; her years under Imperial rule had been good, including an obviously successful live of the mind, and a single marriage. She’d compared children with Vorthys, and spoken of an eldest daughter’s upcoming wedding. No Komarran terrorist, she.” What matters, on Komarr.
This was written to a Yuletide prompt from several years ago. I've posted about this story a bit already; I really, truly love this one, and it took me a long time to finish.
It was hard to pick a favorite line, but I'll go with one that encapsulates much of the fic:
In a sense, the past forty years have been a continuation of two conversations, one held over tea in a modest apartment and the other over champagne at a glittering benefit dinner. You thought, you truly thought, you had found the answer, a reply you could make to Councilwoman Galen and Sera Toscane in the same breath.
And now for my Yuletide fics! Each contains spoilers for the relevant series.
Nights of Yes or No (4477 words) for cosmic_llin
Fandom: Steerswoman Series - Rosemary Kirstein
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Bel/Rowan
Characters: Rowan (Steerswoman), Bel (Steerswoman), Henra (Steerswoman), Keridwen (Steerswoman)
Additional Tags: First Time
Summary: Rowan finds herself in waiting.
This had a much-appreciated beta read from
kate_nepveu, who reassured me that it felt true to canon. I only discovered these books this year and was both excited and intimidated to write for them. Even more pleased post-reveals, actually, now that I can talk about this series, because it is so very good, and there's so much to discuss. I kept wanting to make something plottier out of this and running into the fact that anything remotely plotty would require addressing the overall arc of the books, and one of the great joys of them is that there's so much going on that hasn't been revealed yet, and I don't feel myself quite equal to heavy speculation in this setting. So I pulled back a bit and wound up with something much quieter and character-based, though with a few nods to the overall mytharc. (I can't tell you how pleased I was at figuring out how to make the sex scene lead to a minor revelation in said mytharc!).
The final line is probably my favorite. It was one of the last things I wrote, after struggling for quite a while over how to end this, but I like both the sense and the rhythm of it:
“The world holds me, its smallest stone,” Rowan thought, was reassured, and gave herself up to sleep.
Détente (2510 words) for seimaisin
Fandom: The Memoirs of Lady Trent - Marie Brennan
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationship: Isabella (Lady Trent) & Thomas Wilker
Characters: Isabella (Lady Trent), Thomas Wilker, Natalie Oscott
Additional Tags: Missing Scene, Between Books, Developing Friendships
Summary: On the eve of the winter holiday, Isabella Camherst entertains a friend, an unexpected guest, and a peace offering.
I wrote this one as a treat, since I was so pleased to see another request for the series! The Memoirs of Lady Trent were also new to me this year, and they're sadly unrepresented on AO3 aside from a MCU fusion that contains neither dragons nor any of the canonical characters. The books feature a very interesting platonic relationship between the female narrator and a male secondary character, and I enjoyed exploring this at a point in canon when they're transitioning from reluctant allies to true colleagues but haven't quite made it to friendship.
Favorite line: "I would be glad of your assist--of your collaboration."
comments at http://pendrecarc.dreamwidth.org/178715.html. Feel free to comment wherever you prefer.