Playing With Other People's Toys

Fanfiction: A Thousand Dreams

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:40:40 -0500

These visions are driving me mad, Merlin. I see so many things, so many contradictory things. They never stop. Sometimes, I can’t tell which is the reality and which are the dreams. I can’t remember who I (the real I) am supposed to hate and who I’m supposed to love. Is the real world the one where you poisoned me, or the one where I bore you children? Do I know how Gwen looks in death because I killed her, or simply because I have dreamed it so many times?

[…]

I am a seer, even in my madness. I see other worlds, things that never were. Some are ugly, some are torturous, and even the sweetest merely tantalize. They all start with one little change…

Follow link in title for more.

60+ AUs in 3200 words. Far too many ships: Lots and lots of MerlinxMorgana, loads of ArthurxGwen, a MerlinxGwen, a MerlinxFreya, an ArthurxMorgana, semi-accidental MerlinxArthur, ArthurxElena, ArthurxMithian, MorganaxLeon, and probably a couple I forgot.

Endings both happy and sad, character death, Insane!Morgana, and lots of dark implications (though nothing explicit). PG-13. Spoilers for everything ever.

Day 24 of my fic-a-day New Year’s Project.

A Dream Deferred, Chapter 1

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:34:45 -0500

A Dream Deferred, Chapter 1:

“Oi! Spaceman! Can you hear me?” Her eyes are closed, and her face and body are as slack as a sleeping child’s, but her voice is confident and very much awake.

Donna’s memories are suppressed…at least, in her conscious mind. When she sleeps, things become more complicated. Post-Journey’s-End, spoilers through The End of Time. G/PG, eventual Shaun/Donna, not exactly a fixfic but not exactly not. Part 1/4, follow link in title for more.

Day 19 of my fic-a-day New Year’s Project.

Words Both True and Kind

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:19:39 -0500

Words Both True and Kind:

Follow the link in the title for yet another Merlin Season 2 fix-fic. :D Yeah, I know, everyone writes these. This one was necessary as background to a planned oneshot series (two parts of which already exist if you’re interested). Possibly unusual in that things are not instantly easy the moment he tells her the truth? I hope so. And Morgana saves the day in the end, which I enjoyed writing.

Merlin/Morgana friendship/pre-romance, G/PG, big spoilers for season 2.

Day 18 of my fic-a-day New Year’s Project.

The Ood Still Remember

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:18:00 -0500

The Ood Still Remember:

Donna, Noble Donna, do you hear us in your dreams?
Does your heart cry out against a world as empty as it seems?
Oh Donna, Noble Donna, she who came to right our wrong,
We’re still singing in your honor, though you cannot hear our song!

Doctor-Donna came to help us when our spirit had run dry.
Doctor-Donna wept our tears when we’d forgotten how to cry.
Her bright fire burns in legend with the Doctor by her side,
Brilliant, valiant Doctor-Donna whose good heart restored our minds.

Follow link in title for the rest.

I’m not sure that the songs the Ood sing about Donna Noble sound quite like this (they are probably better poets than I), but this was my attempt at duplicating one of them. Spoilers through 4x13.

Day 17 of my fic-a-day New Year’s Project.

Our Secret

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:53:00 -0500

Our Secret:

We say it’s for the thrills and chills,
For handsome faces, stunning eyes,
To see whom this week’s monster kills…
But deep inside we know we lie.

The motive’s simpler than we knew,
More childish than we dared to say:
We hope that box of purest blue
Will land in our backyard someday

Click link in title for more.

The REAL reason we watch Doctor Who, in 28 lines of rhyming iambic tetrameter. No spoilers, no warnings, no pairings, just love. :D The slightly belated day 16 of my fic-a-day New Year’s Project. BTW, this is officially the halfway point, and I’m still not failing hugely.

The Centurion's Vigil

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 08:50:18 -0500

The Centurion's Vigil:

He finds that he rather enjoys being a mystical guardian. People don’t normally take Rory Williams very seriously, but the Knights Templar are very superstitious and the antiquity of his Latin is actually a help in intimidating them. He hears them whispering at night (plastic must resonate better than flesh, he notes, and files that fact away for future reference); they aren’t sure whether he’s a saint, or an angel, or a demon, but a man who never eats and never sleeps must be one of the three. They cross themselves when he passes and they take great, great care with the box. He quite enjoys it. He waits.

After about a millennium, the pain goes away. He isn’t guilty or sad or even really lonely. He knows that he wants to see her again, but even the resilience of plastic can only keep up passion for so long. He’s simply waiting now. He knows that he loves her, that he will protect her with everything he is, that he’ll die for her without hesitation if necessary, but that’s not a feeling in his chest, it’s a certainty in his will. It’s enough. He waits.

Rory waited for 1894 years, trying unsuccessfully to stay out of trouble. This is an attempt to fill in some small fraction of the detail. Rory/Amy, PG/PG-13 for bodily harm and misunderstood intentions. Follow link in title for more.

Day 15 of my fic-a-day New Year’s Project

Appalling Arthur

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 23:59:56 -0500

Appalling Arthur:

Arthur opens the door and pokes his head inside.

“It never ceases to amaze me how long women can take to fuss with clothing. I was expecting you half an hour ago.”

“Worth the delay, though?” Gwen asks, pushing her handiwork towards her husband. He lays his hands on his sister’s shoulders and looks her up and down, shaking his head in feigned disbelief. “You may be dangerously insane…and a witch…and deeply irritating…and have bizarre taste in men…but you do clean up remarkably well.”

“Thanks, dear brother. From you, that’s a sonnet.” She kisses his cheek. “Now, am I getting married today, or are you going to go on griping until poor Merlin concludes that I’ve eloped with Bayard?”

The story of a wedding. Good!Morgana AU, Merlin/Morgana, PG/PG-13 because of Morgana’s sense of humor. Family, fluff, laughter. Follow link in title for the rest.

Day 14 of my fic-a-day New Year’s Project.

'Till He Returns

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:05:04 -0500

'Till He Returns:

“No.” Not death. Not death with defeat and regret. Not for Arthur, the king who was once young and golden-haired and gave all of himself to his people.

Freya understands, and her voice is kind.

“This is his destiny, Merlin. He will sleep in peace, caught between the world of the dead and the world of the living. While he sleeps, time will stop for him. Albion will need him again, someday, and he’ll awaken when that day comes.”

“And what about me?” His voice is dull. “Do I just…lay down and die?” Does he really want to live, if Camelot and Arthur are gone?

She smiles at him, almost teasing, like a girl whose sweetheart plays the fool to make her laugh.

“No, Merlin. After all these years, don’t you know that your destiny is bound to Arthur’s?”

“Then…I sleep as well?” Sleep might be very welcome. The years since Merlin was a bright-eyed boy have been long, long and weary.

“Not quite. Hush, Merlin. They’re coming.”

At the end of everything, Merlin meets Freya again. Darkness, character death, and a happy ending of sorts. Merlin/Freya, based on the legend, G/PG. Follow link in title for the rest.

Day 14 of my fic-a-day New Year’s Project.

Keeping Watch, Keeping Faith

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:41:00 -0500

Keeping Watch, Keeping Faith:

We keep the faith
In little cottages on mountaintops
Set apart from the kingdoms that we serve.
We look down from lonely heights
On Rohan’s plains and Gondor’s glories.
We watch the people pass below
Specks small with distance
But precious to us.
No lore-master sings a lay of the keepers of the beacons
Of how we wait through long years, ever watchful.
But we are proud to serve,
Sensible of the honor it is to be the keepers of these flames.

Click the link in the title for the rest.

I still remember watching RotK in theaters and spotting those little figures and being awestruck by their loyalty and devotion. Inevitable that that would eventually find its way into a poem of some kind, I suppose.

Day 12 of my New Year’s fic-a-day project.

Like Sand Through an Hourglass

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:48:24 -0500

Like Sand Through an Hourglass:

He always knows that he’ll outlive everyone he loves. Just this once, though, he knows and he doesn’t have to pretend to deny it. He’s seen her die, watched the life leave her body before he ever really met her. And, because he’s seen her death, he can share her life without reservations. He can treasure every moment, and measure out the days with River like sand through an hourglass, every grain precious because he knows exactly how little he has left. No wondering, no doubts, no regrets. “You watch us run,” she told him, and he’s counting every step.

11/River. Not quite angst, not quite fluff. G/PG. Part of my New Year’s fic-a-day project. Click link in title for more.

Always the Doctor

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:15:42 -0500

Always the Doctor:

One day he’s a geezer who goes on the run

The next he’s a midget who yoyos for fun

Then maybe a dandy with cape and cravat

He’s been all these things but he’s never forgot

To be always the Doctor, the man in the box

With the interesting hair and unusual togs

He’s always been brave and he’s always been clever

And the universe hopes he’ll be like this forever

11 Doctors in 40 lines of rhymed anapestic tetrameter. Click link in title for more. Day 10 of my fic-a-day New Year’s Project.

It Feels Like Death

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 01:22:23 -0500

It Feels Like Death:

It’s a funny old thing, regeneration. Normally, when humans ask about it, he tells them that, after all, they become more than one person during their life, too. It’s called growing up, and all well-adjusted species do it. The only difference is that the Time Lords do it a little more abruptly than most, and that their bodies change a little more drastically. And, generally speaking, he believes that. But…he doesn’t want to go.

Angst, rambliness, my take on why 10 didn’t want to regenerate. 10/Rose. G/PG, spoilers through and including The End of Time.

Day 9 of my fic-a-day New Year’s Project. Click link in title for the rest.

The Most Important Thing

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 20:50:00 -0500

The Most Important Thing:

She smiles weakly and asks the question she knows he’s looking for:

“What is the most important part, Arthur?”

“The most important part,” he says gently, blue eyes tender, “Is trust. Do you trust me, Guinevere Pendragon?”

It’s a fair question, after the events of the past few months. There’s some part of her that still can’t believe that he’s really taken her back, that he won’t reconsider and send her back to Ealdor as soon as he realizes his mistake. There’s some part of her that believes that he’d be right if he did. She takes a deep breath and adjusts her left hand where it lies on his shoulder, shaping her palm around the muscle. Her fingertips come to rest in the little valley below his collarbone, as naturally as if they were made to fit there. He’s still watching her, and she realizes that she can feel his pulse under her fingers, steady and strong.

“Don’t worry about them,” he says softly, “You’re not dancing with them. Do you trust me?”

Arthur/Gwen fluffiness with waltzing and renewal of trust. G/PG rating, takes place about…mmmm…4 hours after the end of 4x13.

Day 8 of my New Year’s fic-a-day project. Click the link in the title to read the rest.

Legends of a Madman

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 22:26:00 -0500

Legends of a Madman:

“When all was dark and full of fear,
He fell out of a stormy sky.
He saved us all and staunched our tears
And never stopped to say goodbye.”

The Doctor seems to inspire legends on a daily basis. This is my attempt to reproduce a selection of them. No spoilers, no particular warnings, a bit angsty in places.

Day 7 of my New Year’s fic-a-day project. Click link in title for the rest of the poem.

Never Forgotten

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 21:20:00 -0500

Never Forgotten:

“Sometimes, just for a moment, you feel a connection to someone which shocks you by its depth –that’s not to say that such a connection must be permanent or even mutual. When Morgana looks at Merlin and tells him that maybe magic is something that chooses you, he feels for a dizzying moment that they are the same, that she’s putting words around everything in his heart and meaning it as truly as he does. That doesn’t mean that he goes on feeling that. Later, she chooses a path which sets her against everything that he is, and he defines their relationship by their differences. He calls her the darkness to his light and the enemy of the prince he loves more than life, and he’s speaking the truth.

But, still, in that moment, he knows that they are the same, and his heart is so nakedly in his eyes that she feels it, too, without knowing why. She asks him what he means by staring, and he shakes himself and pretends that he wasn’t, but they both know. A connection like that can be renounced, but never erased.”

Because Morgana has been many things to Merlin, and his enemy is only the most recent.
Onesided Merlin/Morgana, spoilers through 4x6, darkness, character death.

Follow link in title for the rest of the oneshot.

New Year's Project: January 5th

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:00:17 -0500

New Year's Project: January 5th:

The Way to Wisdom

So few reach Dictionopolis

Where letters grow on trees

And stimulating breezes blow

From Wisdom’s bracing seas

But someone showed me, long ago

The precious, hidden way

To lose myself in twisting words

And linger there all day

——-

An ode to Norton Juster’s The Phantom Tollbooth. Follow the link in the title for the rest.

The First Rule of Pilotin'

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:38:00 -0500

The First Rule of Pilotin':

“He became a pilot to begin with because he’s always been a mite too fond of powerful things. He gets a little bit tipsy on the way engines purr to life at his touch. He loves knowin’ that a hamfisted pilot would give her too much fuel and let her burn too hot or a nervy one would be too shy and leave her cold, but his fingers dance. He has a kind of horse sense for just where and when to feed her flame or rein her in. He can sweet-talk her, ask her nicely, and all that gorgeous, shiny power goes where he wants.”

Why Wash couldn’t help but love Zoe, and why she couldn’t help but give in and love him too.

Wash/Zoe, G/PG rating, romance. Follow link in the title for more.

New Year's Project: January 3rd

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:22:00 -0500

New Year's Project: January 3rd:

An Eternal Choice

“The child by his side will try to pull him away, wanting him to look at the shinier, newer ships, but I will catch his eye and hold it. Of course I did. I know the moment I sense him that we were, are, will be a space-time event unlike anything the universe has seen, can see, will ever see.”

The Tardis reflects on her Doctor. Normal verb conjugation gives up and goes home. G-rated Doctor/Tardis. Follow link in title for the rest.

New Year's Project: January 2nd

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:32:00 -0500

New Year's Project: January 2nd:

Fantastic Rose

“I met you in my normal way

I grabbed your hand and told you “run!”

I thought I’d only spend the day

You wanted to know more. You won.”

If the Ninth Doctor were inclined to write poetry (doubtful), this might be what he’d say about Rose Tyler.

Warm and cheerful, G-rated, rhyming, Rose/9 friendship, spoilers through 1x13. Click link in title for the rest.

New Year's Project: January 1st

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:40:00 -0500

New Year's Project: January 1st:

The Commendable Institution

“You should try being married sometime, Merlin,” Arthur observes, lazily folding his arms behind his head and settling deeper into his pillow with a satisfied smirk.

“Oh?” Merlin busies himself with picking the King’s trousers off the floor. The Queen, always more naturally industrious than her husband, is already up and performing her morning inspection of the castle and the town.

“I commend matrimony highly as an institution.”

“Yes, Sire. Ermmm…”

“What?”

“Shirt?”

“Oh,” Arthur squints at the ceiling for a moment, trying to recall, “…behind the chair. I think.”

Arthur enjoys married life, and Merlin reflects on the chances that he will ever be able to do the same.

Merlin (BBC), PG rating, Merlin/Freya angst, implied Gwen/Arthur happiness.

Follow link in title for more.