Yuletide! All is revealed!
I wrote two stories this year -- one in the main collection, and a Madness ficlet.
The Crown of Hed (6397 words) by Vaznetti
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Riddle-Master Trilogy - Patricia A. McKillip
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Tristan of Hed, Morgon of Hed, Astrin Ymris, Rood of An, Lyraluthuin, Bere of Isig
Summary: When Tristan left Hed, she took her warmest cloak and her second-best dress, and the pieces of jewelry that Bere of Isig had sent to her, one each year since the end of the war.
I love this universe so much! I reread the books pretty much every year, so this story was both delightful and challenging to write. the balance of humor and tragedy is always a hard one, but I was really struck by a comment at the end of the third book, that a third of the farmers of Hed had been killed in the war -- that's a devastating loss, and other parts of the realm must have suffered as much, or even worse. So although the series ends on a peaceful note, it struck me that there was more work to be done here. And Tristan is the person for the job!
I started out with the idea that it was going to be a romance between Bere and Tristan but had to ditch that because it really didn't work for the characters, and because I started to ship Tristan and Rood almost right away. But that was also not the story I wanted to write here; in fact I didn't want Tristan to have a romance at all, although like Morgon that's the story she thinks she's in when she starts her adventure. Actually, in many ways this was a rewriting of the Riddle-Master with Tristan as the man character, and decidedly lower stakes.
One thing I really liked about writing this story, as opposed to other canons I've written for (I'm looking at you, ASOIAF), is that this is a universe with no sexual violence in canon. It made a nice change.
The Unveiling of Form (509 words) by Vaznetti
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Exiles Saga and Galactic Milieu - Julian May
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Marc Remillard | Atoning Unifex
Additional Tags: canonical genocide
Summary: Unifex stands on Molakar, and waits.
I wasn't planning to write anything beyond my main story, but this prompt grabbed me at the last minute and wouldn't let go. I had a huge crush on Marc Remillard when I was a teenager, which may explain it -- but he's also a fascinating character, and this is the moment when he does one of the worst things he does, and in completely cold blood. It must have been difficult for Unifex to stand back and allow everything to happen as it should, in hope that it was better than the alternative.
This entry has also been posted at http://vaznetti.dreamwidth.org/45610.html, where it has
comments. Please comment here or there, as you like.
The Crown of Hed (6397 words) by Vaznetti
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Riddle-Master Trilogy - Patricia A. McKillip
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Tristan of Hed, Morgon of Hed, Astrin Ymris, Rood of An, Lyraluthuin, Bere of Isig
Summary: When Tristan left Hed, she took her warmest cloak and her second-best dress, and the pieces of jewelry that Bere of Isig had sent to her, one each year since the end of the war.
I love this universe so much! I reread the books pretty much every year, so this story was both delightful and challenging to write. the balance of humor and tragedy is always a hard one, but I was really struck by a comment at the end of the third book, that a third of the farmers of Hed had been killed in the war -- that's a devastating loss, and other parts of the realm must have suffered as much, or even worse. So although the series ends on a peaceful note, it struck me that there was more work to be done here. And Tristan is the person for the job!
I started out with the idea that it was going to be a romance between Bere and Tristan but had to ditch that because it really didn't work for the characters, and because I started to ship Tristan and Rood almost right away. But that was also not the story I wanted to write here; in fact I didn't want Tristan to have a romance at all, although like Morgon that's the story she thinks she's in when she starts her adventure. Actually, in many ways this was a rewriting of the Riddle-Master with Tristan as the man character, and decidedly lower stakes.
One thing I really liked about writing this story, as opposed to other canons I've written for (I'm looking at you, ASOIAF), is that this is a universe with no sexual violence in canon. It made a nice change.
The Unveiling of Form (509 words) by Vaznetti
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Exiles Saga and Galactic Milieu - Julian May
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Marc Remillard | Atoning Unifex
Additional Tags: canonical genocide
Summary: Unifex stands on Molakar, and waits.
I wasn't planning to write anything beyond my main story, but this prompt grabbed me at the last minute and wouldn't let go. I had a huge crush on Marc Remillard when I was a teenager, which may explain it -- but he's also a fascinating character, and this is the moment when he does one of the worst things he does, and in completely cold blood. It must have been difficult for Unifex to stand back and allow everything to happen as it should, in hope that it was better than the alternative.
This entry has also been posted at http://vaznetti.dreamwidth.org/45610.html, where it has
comments. Please comment here or there, as you like.