ariadnes_string

Hello! I don't seem to have posted since January 2018. Hope you all have had a good year and wishing you well in the new one!

Much to my surprise, and certainly with time I should have been spending on other things, I picked up and wrote a pinch hit for Yuletide. I had pretty much just finished reading Spinning Silver, which I loved for its combination of folktales, magic, and real life detail about Jewish life in Eastern Europe, and it was a blast to try writing fic for that amazing world.

True Masks (2144 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Spinning Silver - Naomi Novik
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Miryem Mandelstam/The Staryk Lord
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Purim, Canon Jewish Character, Jewish Holidays
Summary:

Miryem and her husband celebrate Purim

I wrote two stories for Yuletide this year--which were either a good distraction from end-of-the-year stress, or made the end of the year more stressful because they took time away from other things that needed to get done. Depends how you look at it!

Five Times Rachel Dreamt of Quinn, and One Time Quinn Woke her Up (2629 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: UnREAL (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Rachel Goldberg/Quinn King
Additional Tags: Voyeurism, Canon Jewish Character, Misses Clause Challenge
Summary:

It started on the first night of the first day Rachel worked on Everlasting.

This was my assignment, and I was happy to get it, since I've wanted to write for this fandom for a while (even though I STILL haven't watched the end of the 2nd season). I like all the parts of this fic, but I failed that basic "kill your darlings" test of writing with it. I think the last section is the best, but I only thought of the idea for it at the very last minute, and even though I knew I should rework the whole fic to be just the last section, and junk the other parts, I couldn't bear to. So it isn't as strong a story as it might have been. Sigh. #reasonstokeepmydayjob, eh?

Peven's Tower (2169 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Riddle-Master Trilogy - Patricia A. McKillip
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Raederle of An, Peven of Aum
Additional Tags: Missing Scene, Misses Clause Challenge
Summary:

After battling the shape-changers at Erlenstar Mountain, Morgon disappears. Raederle's search for him leads her to a place both unexpected and familiar.

I picked up this pinch hit in the last round of pinch hits, and again, was pleased to write it, since I've loved the books for a long time. I meant to make it more episodic, but the story of Raederle revisiting Peven grew to fit everything I wanted to say. It builds off a throwaway line in canon, about Raederle visiting Peven's Tower before Morgon wins the crown. I'm glad it got such nice responses, since I didn't want to let down the source material.

Maybe for the first time, everything I wrote for Yuletide was about, and from the POV, of women.

Oh, and I never posted the fic I wrote for trickortreatx, so here it is:

When the days have no number (1802 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Killjoys (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Johnny Jaqobis, Dutch (Killjoys), Alvis Akari, Lucy (Killjoys)
Additional Tags: Pre-Series
Summary:

Johnny thinks he's seeing things.

That makes a total of 7 fics I wrote this year, for better or worse!

Hi! We are currently in a windowless space waiting for the tornado warning to expire, so I'm catching up by posting this.

I got two delightful gifts from the chocolate_box exchange.

Vicarious Mercy (1206 words) by fadeaccompli
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Imperial Radch Series - Ann Leckie
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Justice of Toren One Esk Nineteen | Breq & Gem of Sphene, Justice of Toren One Esk Nineteen | Breq/Mercy of Kalr
Characters: Justice of Toren One Esk Nineteen | Breq, Mercy of Kalr, Gem of Sphene
Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Bureaucracy
Summary:

In which Sphene discovers a way to shorten committee meetings, and Mercy of Kalr does not disagree.

Quantifiable Effects (483 words) by Isis
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Beverley Brook/Peter Grant
Characters: Beverley Brook, Peter Grant
Additional Tags: Pegging, Bondage, Sexual Humor, PWP without Porn
Summary:

After the events of Foxglove Summer, Peter gives Beverley a gift. And vice versa.

And I wrote one gift.

Five currant buns (949 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Imperial Radch Series - Ann Leckie
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Justice of Toren One Esk Nineteen | Breq/Mercy of Kalr/Seivarden Vendaai
Characters: Justice of Toren One Esk Nineteen | Breq, Awn Elming
Summary:

There are some songs I remember but never sing.

I kind of want to sign up for smutswap but the fact that I only barely managed to write something for my recipient for this one is making me think twice.

Okay, the warning is about to expire and we seem to have survived!

I wrote two stories for Yuletide.

My main assignment was for Spy--a movie I loved, though the fic-writing was a bit out of my usual wheelhouse. Fun though!

Full Disclosure (1770 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Spy (2015)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Susan Cooper/Rick Ford, Susan Cooper/Bradley Fine/Rick Ford
Additional Tags: Misses Clause Challenge
Summary:

Fine finds out, under less than ideal conditions.

I picked up a post-deadline pinch hit in Imperial Radch--the third fic I've written for this fandom.

The Story of a Tea Set (1355 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Imperial Radch Series - Ann Leckie
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Gem of Sphene, Justice of Toren One Esk Nineteen | Breq, Minask Nenkur
Additional Tags: Pre-Series
Summary:

Sphene remembers a beautiful object given, destroyed, and remade.

As usual, the pinch hit got better response than the main assignment--which says something about my creative capacities, I'm sure.

Also as usual, due to family, family, family commitments, I have read very little in the collection aside from my three wonderful gifts. I will try to remedy that this week!

Happy New Year to everyone!

Remix going live coincided with our week long,fun but strenuous road trip/family visit, so I was entirely remiss about posting about the lovely fic I got, or reading anything else in the archive. Now everything has been revealed, but better late than never, I hope!

This was my gift:

Nestling (The Fledglings Remix) (3342 words) by opalmatrix
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Eagle | The Eagle of the Ninth - All Media Types
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Marcus Flavius Aquila/Esca Mac Cunoval
Characters: Marcus Flavius Aquila, Esca Mac Cunoval, Sassticca (Eagle of the Ninth), Stephanos (Eagle of the Ninth), Original Characters
Additional Tags: Illnesses, Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Slash
Summary:

The winter after the journey was hard on both of them.

This is Esca's POV on the events of the story, and I loved the way it fleshed out his experience, especially the crucial parts of the story that go on inside Esca's head, and that Marcus can only guess at. I haven't thought about the Eagle, or my Eagle fic for a long time, and this remix made me remember how much I love the characters and setting. So a big thank you to opalmatrix!

I wrote two remixes myself:

Though Seas Between Us Broad Have Roared (the 20x20 remix) (1632 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Peter Grant & Lesley May, Beverley Brook/Peter Grant
Characters: Peter Grant, Lesley May, Beverley Brook, Thomas Nightingale
Additional Tags: Remix, Retrospective
Summary:

After the events of Foxglove Summer, Peter remembers some of the good times with Lesley.

This was my assignment. I think templemarker and I matched on H50, but I actually remixed one of their H50 stories for a previous remix, so I went looking for something else, and was delighted to find RoL fic. Since I'm still processing the events of Foxglove Summer, I recast this lovely older Yuletide story in the light of the current story lines. It made it a bit (well, a lot) sadder, but I was glad of the chance to reflect on Peter and Lesley's relationship, which I haven't really done before.

Five Times Rust Cohle Stayed Alive (the lend your lungs to me remix) (1226 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: True Detective
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Rustin "Rust" Cohle/Martin "Marty" Hart
Characters: Rustin "Rust" Cohle, Martin "Marty" Hart, Travis Cohle
Additional Tags: Remix, Suicidal Thoughts
Summary:

The thing about the ocean is, it rises up to the meet the sky as if it doesn’t know there should be a line between them. Rust loves it, and he fears it, because it makes him forget about other lines as well.

This was a pinch hit. The original is a gorgeous story about Rust in Alaska, from Yuletide 2014, which I hadn't read before. As always when I write TD fic, I had to go back to canon to figure things out (I may never have watched any other show as many times), but, as always, canon produced new riches, and that, combined with the wonderful details of the fic, made this fun to write (though I wish I'd had a bit more time!). The script and performances in the middle episodes of TD S1 are just amazingly layered, I've found.

And that was remix, which I always enjoy! As per usual these days, the huge bulk of fic was MCU, which I don't read, but I will try to go back and find some stuff from other fandoms.

Then, I picked up these as a pinch hit. I wrote them very quickly, so they are of questionable quality, but I loved looking at the Tommy/Alfie pairings (and thinking about how Alfie might have been involved with 1920s Palestine), and of course, Tommy & Ada :)

In the Year of the British Mandate (871 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Peaky Blinders (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Tommy Shelby, Alfie Solomons
Additional Tags: Canon Jewish Character, Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, Alfie is a bit of a Zionist
Series: Part 1 of In the Year of the British Mandate
Summary:

Tommy wasn’t surprised when Alfie Solomons’ men jumped him a week after Epsom.

In the Year of the British Mandate (chapter 2) (873 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Peaky Blinders (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Tommy Shelby/Alfie Solomons
Additional Tags: Collection: Purimgifts Day 2, Guns, Alfie is a bit of a Zionist, Canon Jewish Character, Purim
Series: Part 2 of In the Year of the British Mandate
Summary:

“It’s Purim,” said Alfie, throwing out his arms expansively. “And I want to make some noise.”

The Four-Day Snowball Fight (810 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Peaky Blinders (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Ada Shelby, Tommy Shelby
Additional Tags: Collection: Purimgifts Day 3, Childhood Memories, Snow
Summary:

Tommy asks Ada for a favor.

Over a month ago, I expressed a desire to write some shameless h/c, and d_generate_girl suggested I write some for Peaky Blinders. Many weeks later, I ended up this, which is h/c of a kind, but also one of the grimmest things I've ever written. Sorry?

Many thanks to d_generate_girl, though, for beta'ing, and helping me out with it enormously!

Five Fevers (3723 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Peaky Blinders (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: May Carleton/Thomas Shelby, Grace Burgess/Tommy Shelby
Characters: Tommy Shelby, Polly Gray, John Shelby, Arthur Shelby, Ada Shelby, Freddie Thorne, May Carleton
Additional Tags: Fever, Hurt/Comfort, War
Summary:

Penicillin wasn't discovered until 1928.

The overflow of my Yuletide writing roll, I guess.

I didn't sign up for fandom_stocking, but I signed up for the call for volunteers to help fill them. I only managed to write one ficlet, though:

On Folly Bridge (1555 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch, X-Men (Movies)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Charles Xavier, Thomas Nightingale, Isis
Additional Tags: Crossover
Summary:

Oxford 1962: Late one night, Charles sees something new.

And this I really wanted to write as a Yuletide treat, but I ran out of time:

Open hand or closed fist (would be fine). (1060 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Honourable Woman
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Atika Halabi/Nessa Stein
Additional Tags: Captivity
Summary:

For a moment, Atika gives Nessa her body back.

That's probably it for the season. I have an urge to write some shameless, old-fashioned h/c, though, so if you want to enable me give me an excuse, suggests some characters/tropes in comments!

On the way back from our weekend trip to NYC, I got tagged for the come_at_once twenty-four hour porn challenge, with the prompt, "don't you touch that." It was a little touch-and-go to meet the time limit, but I posted this this morning:

Five Times Holmes told Watson not to Touch (and one time he begged him to) (1283 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sherlock Holmes (Downey films)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Additional Tags: Sex Pollen, Established Relationship
Summary:

What it says on the tin.

Huh. AO3 tells me I've posted five fics so far this month. This can only mean one thing: I have been avoiding work!

Anyway, for the record, for purimgifts this year, I wrote two Sleepy Hollow fics (my first in the fandom) and one Sherlock fic. The rules of the exchange are that the stories need to be under 1,000 words, and, in honor of the holiday, must concern either 1)a Jewish character, 2) a female character, or 3) characters defeating an Evil Vizier. I like it best when I get matched so that I can write about Jewish characters, but I enjoy writing about ladies, too, as I did this year.

Household Pests (945 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sherlock (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Mary Morstan, John Watson
Additional Tags: Collection: Purimgifts Day 1
Summary:

On Tuesday, there were three.

No Wilderness with You (970 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sleepy Hollow (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Ichabod Crane & Abbie Mills
Additional Tags: Collection: Purimgifts Day 2, Grooming, Hair Brushing
Summary:

Ichabod gets ectoplasm in his hair. Abbie helps him get it out.

Passages (343 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sleepy Hollow (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Abbie Mills & Jenny Mills
Additional Tags: Collection: Purimgifts Day 3, Character Study
Summary:

Sometimes Jenny dreams she’s on a ship.

This year, I received a fascinating XMFC story, In Which Meir Kahane Gave Magneto a Bloody Nose (with parts 2 and 3). Two of my favorite things about XMFC are its exploration of Erik's uneasy relationship to his Jewish identity/heritage, and the way it maps mutant politics onto other issues of the twentieth century: this story does both!

nb: my other two March fics are a Rivers of London story and another Sherlock story, this one Sherlock/Mary.

I am off for work travel tomorrow, and won't really be back until 3/30. See y'all next month!