Smallish fill to encourage someone to write this (2/2)teacandlesSeptember 30 2011, 16:24:16 UTC
“Erik?” Charles’s hand groped forward and caught in the folds of his regulation jacket, his shaking fingers twisting hard in the rough fabric. “It’s so quiet, Erik. I wasn’t sure you were coming back.”
“I’m here now. And you’re freezing.” He shuffled over to his bag and grabbed one of his remaining lights. He only had four left. If the rain kept up, he’d have to see if he could get a couple more from the higher-ups. He worried that the match wouldn’t light in the damp, but he lucked out. The dilapidated tent was suddenly filled with light, the heavy shadows fleeing into the night. Erik could see Charles’s pallor now, and when he drew the other man to his chest, he could feel him shaking. He wouldn’t last long. Not out here. Not like this.
“It’s so quiet,” Charles mumbled into his sleeve, and Erik felt something twist in his gut at the slurred English. Charles’s accent was growing heavier, and it took Erik a moment to decipher what he was saying. “I don’t like the quiet, Erik.”
Erik leaned over and dragged his canvas bag to him, afraid to loosen his grip on Charles lest he fall. The eagle had almost worn off the bag’s surface, and Erik found it strangely fitting. A German soldier and a deserter living together in the mud. It was like a bad joke, one whose punch line Erik had long forgotten.
Charles had been carrying a book in his pocket when he’d gone down. A little thing, but he’d been holding it like a lifeline when Erik had dared venture out to find the body of the man he’d shot. The words had seemed to bring Charles comfort these past few days, and Erik was loathe to deny him that. Not when the man was dying in his arms.
He fingered through the pages, smudged and crumpled and damaged from the rain. Still legible, though.
“Out of the night that covers me,” he began, stumbling a bit over the words. It was still strange to be reading English after all this time. Charles’s soft voice joined him after a time, hoarse and scratchy, but firm. Charles had carved these poems into his heart.
“It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.”
---
Tempting? Anyone? I'm not that great with WWI history (or European history in general after 700 CE as Europe is not my area of study), but I'd love to see someone take this on with an actual fill. I have a huge soft spot for this particular war but little chance to actually study it, so any inaccuracy here is my fault.
Poem is Invictus from The Oxford Book of English Verse.
Re: Smallish fill to encourage someone to write this (2/2)teacandlesOctober 3 2011, 05:17:02 UTC
Thanks, darling. ♥ I really, really want a full story for this because this prompt, it is love. I'm unfortunately swamped with stuff right now (both school-related and not), so I can't write it myself, but I might just do it later since I've already done up some research for it, and I want this so freaking bad, it's insane.
Re: Smallish fill to encourage someone to write this (2/2)blueteakOctober 3 2011, 05:32:31 UTC
This is absolutely gorgeous. You've packed so much into this and I love the details, like the eagle worn off the bag. Really hope that you can come back to it at some point!
Re: Smallish fill to encourage someone to write this (2/2)teacandlesOctober 3 2011, 05:39:03 UTC
Thank you! ♥ I think that once my midterms (D:) are over I'll come back to this. Maybe even before then as a stress reliever, I don't know. I just really, really want this story to happen.
Re: Smallish fill to encourage someone to write this (2/2)teacandlesOctober 3 2011, 19:09:57 UTC
Oh no, please do! I'm still probably going to do a longer fill for this, but I'd love to read whatever you come up with should you decide to write something. ♥ You wouldn't be stepping on my toes at all.
And thank you so much for the praise. ♥♥♥ I went looking for books that British soldiers might have carried with them into the trenches, and The Oxford Book of English Verse seemed to be popular (you can find most, if not all of the poems here if you want to take a look; there's some really good stuff in there).
Re: Smallish fill to encourage someone to write this (2/2)teacandlesOctober 4 2011, 14:49:21 UTC
Yay! I'm excited to read it. :) I haven't read through all of them yet, either (there's almost 900 of them D:), but here are a couple that I liked when I was browsing through them:
There's also a bunch of stuff from Shakespeare starting at 123 if you want to use anything of his. Beware of some of the ones under 50. From the couple of those I browsed through, their language is fairly antiquated. Good luck, and I really look forward to see what you come up with. ♥
A wild OP appears!teacandlesOctober 4 2011, 08:20:55 UTC
Oh good God. My heart. I don't think I have ever been reduced to tears so quickly. This is... I am speechless.
Honestly I hadn't even expected anyone to take interest in this, but now there is a FILL (a mini-fill, but still), and it is it BEAUTIFUL. The way you wrote Erik and Charles was spot on with what I had imagined, and the atmosphere, and the emotion, and even Erik's makeshift tent, and agdfaisj. I never knew so much emotion and character and description could be packed into such a short fill. I am reduced to incoherence in the presence of this. It is too wonderful.
If you ever wanted to continue this I would be absolutely thrilled, but if not, thank you so so so much for this beautiful fill. <3
Re: A wild OP appears!teacandlesOctober 4 2011, 14:58:29 UTC
Thank you. ♥♥♥
I was going through some of the prompts (I think I was looking for something in particular, but I don't remember) and I found this. As I mentioned before, I have such a soft spot for WWI, though as of yet I've had very few opportunities to study it (hopefully this coming semester), so I kind of fell in love despite the (oh dear lord) six open WIPs I have going right now. I plan to do something longer for this because it's such a wonderful prompt, and I'm almost done with one of my WIPs, so you can expect that sometime soon. ♥
Re: A wild OP appears!teacandlesOctober 4 2011, 18:39:26 UTC
It is such a fascinating war. <3 Depressing, but fascinating. Hopefully you do get time to study it soon. If you have time to read, I definitely recommend All Quiet on the Western Front if you haven't already read it. It's fiction and 300 pages, but it does a beautiful job of describing what it was like for soldier in WWI.
Six WIPs? How do you have time to eat? Or sleep? ... Or do you do either of those things? Also, why am I not reading them? Anyway, the fact that you want to do something longer makes want to throw some kind of party. Or at least bake you something. <3 I shall be eagerly awaiting this! That being said, don't feel rushed or pressured or anything. Take your time. <3
Re: A wild OP appears!teacandlesOctober 4 2011, 18:49:37 UTC
I actually think I may have read it before, but it's been many years if I have. I may pick it up from the library over Thanksgiving break (coming soon, thankfully, but not soon enough for me) for something to read in my downtime.
Ha ha, sleep? What is this thing called sleep? I'll warn you right now that only two of my current WIPs are for this fandom, so they might not be your cup of tea if you're not a Glee fan. :P
Re: A wild OP appears!theladylokiOctober 5 2011, 08:02:25 UTC
(De-anoning because I finally remembered that I have a livejournal account.)
It wouldn't surprise me if you had. I know a lot of people that had to read it in high school and I just had to read it for my German history class. It's definitely worthy of rereading, though. (And hopefully your Thanksgiving break comes sooner than you think!)
I'm an on and off Glee fan, so who knows? I will definitely check them out when I'm not swamped with school work, though. Every time I've seen you fill something so far it's been incredible.
“I’m here now. And you’re freezing.” He shuffled over to his bag and grabbed one of his remaining lights. He only had four left. If the rain kept up, he’d have to see if he could get a couple more from the higher-ups. He worried that the match wouldn’t light in the damp, but he lucked out. The dilapidated tent was suddenly filled with light, the heavy shadows fleeing into the night. Erik could see Charles’s pallor now, and when he drew the other man to his chest, he could feel him shaking. He wouldn’t last long. Not out here. Not like this.
“It’s so quiet,” Charles mumbled into his sleeve, and Erik felt something twist in his gut at the slurred English. Charles’s accent was growing heavier, and it took Erik a moment to decipher what he was saying. “I don’t like the quiet, Erik.”
Erik leaned over and dragged his canvas bag to him, afraid to loosen his grip on Charles lest he fall. The eagle had almost worn off the bag’s surface, and Erik found it strangely fitting. A German soldier and a deserter living together in the mud. It was like a bad joke, one whose punch line Erik had long forgotten.
Charles had been carrying a book in his pocket when he’d gone down. A little thing, but he’d been holding it like a lifeline when Erik had dared venture out to find the body of the man he’d shot. The words had seemed to bring Charles comfort these past few days, and Erik was loathe to deny him that. Not when the man was dying in his arms.
He fingered through the pages, smudged and crumpled and damaged from the rain. Still legible, though.
“Out of the night that covers me,” he began, stumbling a bit over the words. It was still strange to be reading English after all this time. Charles’s soft voice joined him after a time, hoarse and scratchy, but firm. Charles had carved these poems into his heart.
“It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.”
---
Tempting? Anyone? I'm not that great with WWI history (or European history in general after 700 CE as Europe is not my area of study), but I'd love to see someone take this on with an actual fill. I have a huge soft spot for this particular war but little chance to actually study it, so any inaccuracy here is my fault.
Poem is Invictus from The Oxford Book of English Verse.
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I would write it as well but I'm also swamped with school and other fills.
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And thank you so much for the praise. ♥♥♥ I went looking for books that British soldiers might have carried with them into the trenches, and The Oxford Book of English Verse seemed to be popular (you can find most, if not all of the poems here if you want to take a look; there's some really good stuff in there).
Reply
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A Farewell to Arms (#102)
A Farewell to the World (#190)
A White Rose (#831)
Dawn (#235)
Discipline (#283)
Love is a Sickness" (#111)
Old Age (#306)
Tears (#65)
The Great Misgiving" (#854)
The Night is Near Gone (#48)
The Unfading Beauty (#292)
Why (#857)
There's also a bunch of stuff from Shakespeare starting at 123 if you want to use anything of his. Beware of some of the ones under 50. From the couple of those I browsed through, their language is fairly antiquated. Good luck, and I really look forward to see what you come up with. ♥
Reply
Honestly I hadn't even expected anyone to take interest in this, but now there is a FILL (a mini-fill, but still), and it is it BEAUTIFUL. The way you wrote Erik and Charles was spot on with what I had imagined, and the atmosphere, and the emotion, and even Erik's makeshift tent, and agdfaisj. I never knew so much emotion and character and description could be packed into such a short fill. I am reduced to incoherence in the presence of this. It is too wonderful.
If you ever wanted to continue this I would be absolutely thrilled, but if not, thank you so so so much for this beautiful fill. <3
Reply
I was going through some of the prompts (I think I was looking for something in particular, but I don't remember) and I found this. As I mentioned before, I have such a soft spot for WWI, though as of yet I've had very few opportunities to study it (hopefully this coming semester), so I kind of fell in love despite the (oh dear lord) six open WIPs I have going right now. I plan to do something longer for this because it's such a wonderful prompt, and I'm almost done with one of my WIPs, so you can expect that sometime soon. ♥
Reply
Six WIPs? How do you have time to eat? Or sleep? ... Or do you do either of those things? Also, why am I not reading them?
Anyway, the fact that you want to do something longer makes want to throw some kind of party. Or at least bake you something. <3 I shall be eagerly awaiting this! That being said, don't feel rushed or pressured or anything. Take your time. <3
Reply
Ha ha, sleep? What is this thing called sleep? I'll warn you right now that only two of my current WIPs are for this fandom, so they might not be your cup of tea if you're not a Glee fan. :P
I wouldn't refuse baked goods. >.>
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It wouldn't surprise me if you had. I know a lot of people that had to read it in high school and I just had to read it for my German history class. It's definitely worthy of rereading, though. (And hopefully your Thanksgiving break comes sooner than you think!)
I'm an on and off Glee fan, so who knows? I will definitely check them out when I'm not swamped with school work, though. Every time I've seen you fill something so far it's been incredible.
Then I may just have to make you baked goods...
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