FIC: Chosen Man (The Eagle, Esca/Marcus, NC-17)

[sineala]

Title: Chosen Man
Author: Sineala
Fandom: The Eagle
Pairing: Esca/Marcus
Rating: NC-17
Length: 116,551 words
Spoilers: Nothing beyond character backgrounds; you can probably read this without any knowledge of canon whatsoever. The characterizations are based on the film, though.
Disclaimer: Marcus and Esca were created by Rosemary Sutcliff; I wrote

Comments

[augustbird]

YOU POSTED IT OH MY GOD

I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT FOR YEARS

I'M NOT EVEN KIDDING

[sineala]

I POSTED IT I POSTED IT. IN RETROSPECT I HAVE BEEN BEING KIND OF SILLY. I AM GLAD THIS MAKES YOU HAPPY.

[destina]

*squeaks into fists* WHY AM I TOO BUSY TO READ RIGHT NOW WHYYYYYY

[sineala]

Aww. It will still be here when you are less busy! Hope you like it!

[stripedpetunia]

I'm so glad you posted this! This is getting kindled for certain.

[sineala]

Yay!

I almost can't remember how I read longfic before my Kindle.

[halotolerant]

I ♥ you!

Firstly, LONG SINEALA FIC = JOY (well, any length, but longer will last longer through the cold nights [yes, our cold is not as epic as the cold where you are, but it's still not warm])

Secondly, historical notes! \o/ If I am ever to be brave enough to write in Sutcliff fandom I will need resources, and reading lists make me happy! Also the historical-accuracy notes make me happy because this is what I want to write every time I do a WW2 fic (along the lines of 'no one knows 100% who was were in the North Africa retreat so this is possible if not factual!') and it's nice to know I'm not the only one who worries about this sort of thing *g*

♥

[sineala]

Aww, thank you.

I am glad you appreciate the historical notes. I feel like, well, I did the research anyway, so maybe someone else wants to see it. I enjoy reading other people's historical notes! Also I don't want people to be like DUDE THE BRIGANTES NEVER SERVED IN THE ARMY IN BRITAIN because I have proof that one guy totally actually did (I am still pretty happy about finding that) even though you would never expect it.

[moonlightmead]

Oh, excitement!

It is sitting on my Kindle so it can travel around with me. I am looking forward to this.

[sineala]

Aww, thank you. I hope you enjoy it!

[moonlightmead]

I really did, yes!

It ended up not travelling around with me: Instead sat there reading it all weekend. I would have posted earlier, but I always feel as though I am slighting something when I post mere hours after someone has posted something that clearly took weeks and months to write. It deserves more than a race to the end just to post something.

So, yes! Great stuff: plotty and lots of distinct characters. I very much enjoyed the different rivalries between the Britons (and the feast!), and I loved the thing about the barley rations. Also liked the way you avoided the more obvious "teach him to say this" jokes - especially with the "it's not anything nasty, no.."

Oh, one thing more. Nice to see the Vindolanda tablets in your notes. I grew up near there and it was the annual school trip.

[sineala]

Thank you! I had been considering spacing out the posting, but then I decided that would just be mean. I am really happy you liked it.

I am actually not sure if there would have been conflicts over the barley rations, but I know it was a military punishment because the Romans thought it wasn't fit for people, and the Britons ate it. So I can imagine there might have been trouble. :) And I did want a "make the clueless guy say something in British" joke, but at the same time I wanted him to say something, well, sweet... :)

Next time I go visit all my UK relatives (though it's been so long now that my passport's expired) I definitely want to go see all the Roman stuff. Vindolanda's definitely up there on my list. I would love to actually get to see some of the tablets, if it's a thing they have open to the public.