Author Appreciation Post
I was tagged by @towanda-is-writing to post 5 of my favorite fics out of the 35 that I've written!
Anyway, here goes...
The Minstrel, the Maiden, and the Knights of Hellfire (Hellcheer)
England, 1139: the civil war between King Stephen and Empress Maud looms large, threatening to tear the country in half. For Ed and his band of traveling minstrels, however, the more pressing matter is how to survive the upcoming winter, now that they were tossed out by their latest patron. When they stumble upon a naïve pageboy looking for warriors to escort the Lady Christiana to safe haven in Wales, Ed comes up with a daring plan - pose as knights, take the job, and collect the reward. After all, how hard can it be? What Ed doesn't count on is endless battles, treacherous roads, marauding bandits, Lady Christiana's pompous fiancé, and his own growing attraction to the fair maiden herself.
My medieval AU for Hellcheer, my longest fic to date (92k!), and one of my favorites to research (I love everything medieval, so I've read a bunch of books on it before I even started the fic.)
Fallen Empires (Emperor Geta x OFC)
Having done the unthinkable to secure his throne, Emperor Geta rules with ruthlessness and paranoia. Now, after escaping an assassination attempt, a badly injured Geta is saved by Daphne, a young widow, who takes him back to her remote village without knowing his true identity. As Daphne nurses the former emperor back to health, attraction blooms between them, and Geta discovers a soft side he didn't know he possessed. But can their love survive his thirst for revenge and his desire to reclaim power?
God, this one was stressful to write. I started it before the movie came out, back when it was reported that Joe was playing Caracalla and Barry Keoghan was playing Geta. Then Barry had to drop out, and the roles switched, so I had to come up with a whole alternate history to explain why Geta is still alive here. But all in all, I'm super happy with how the fic turned out!
As the Sun Will Rise (Grunauer x OFC)
After losing most of his unit in a disastrous D-Day mission, Derwin Grunauer returns to his hometown near Miami, body riddled with scars and heart heavy with guilt, only to find his neighbors shunning him due to his German name. He retreats into his family mansion and remains there, unwilling to rejoin the living, until the day Alba Reyes turns up at his door with a basket full of warm bread. As the daughter of a Cuban immigrant, Alba knows something of being an outsider, and when she offers to work for Derwin as his housekeeper, it is not only to pay off her father's debt to the Grunauers, but also because she feels some connection to the reclusive young man. When that connection develops into something more, they must overcome both the town's prejudice and their own doubts to find happiness.
Considering that Grunauer has about 2 minutes of screentime and 2 lines of dialogue in the movie, I'm stoked that I was able to get a 82k fic out of him! Plus the post WWII setting is fun to write.
The Hollow Heart (Hellcheer)
To escape her mother's control and the stifling society of Gilded Age New York, heiress Christabel Cunningham impulsively marries Henry Creel, a charming and seductive stranger, and accompanies him to his remote mansion on the West Coast. There, as Henry grows cold and cruel, Christabel must uncover her husband's sinister secret before it's too late. But can she trust Kas, her husband's enigmatic assistant, who seems to be her only ally in this strange place, or is Kas's loyalty to his master stronger than his attraction to Christabel?
My Gothic/Gilded Age AU for Hellcheer. I'm very pleased with the plot of this one, which is more complex than what I usually write, and I don't often write historical AUs set in the US either, so that was fun to research. Another thing I'm proud of: the fic titles and the chapter titles are all quotes from the poem "Christabel" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The poem doesn't have anything to do with the fic, but it's a fun Easter egg I put in there for myself :))
Through the World's Far Ends (Leonard Bast x Helen Schlegel)
Several years after his ill-fated affair with Helen, Leonard enlists to fight in World War I, hoping it would put an end to his miserable life. However, when he runs into Helen again in the trenches of Passchendaele, Leonard discovers that life may still be worth living after all.
I prefer to write long/multi-chapter fics, but sometimes a solid one-shot is all you need, and this one, which gives poor Leonard (my favorite JQ character) the happy/hopeful ending he deserves, is just that.
Special mention (told you I can't choose): Love in the Mist (Hellcheer)
Christine Conyngham, a young debutante whose marital prospects are less than ideal, believes her happiness is secure when she falls in love with Joshua Craven, the handsome future Duke of Hauxwell. However, after her lack of a fortune prevents her and Joshua from marrying, Christine impulsively accepts the proposal of Edward Munson, the eccentric Baron Hurstfield, who is in need of a wife to obtain an inheritance. But with her heart still pining after Joshua, can Christine learn to love her husband and build a life with him?
My first ever Hellcheer fic and my first historical AU (Regency). Looking back, there are several things I would do differently (that's why I don't look back. As Edna Mode says, "It distracts from the now"), but it still has a special place in my heart.
Tagging @waterfallsilverberrywrites, @wheels-of-despair, @jo-harrington, @writrsblock, and anyone else who wants to play!
