Otter's Rock

FFFX authors have revealed! I wrote a Persuasion AU wherein Anne's mother, Lady Elliot, did not die in childbirth when Anne was a teenager. This, then has changes when Anne meets Wentworth for the first time. The problem I had was twofold. One, the story kept trying to turn into Lady Elliot's story, rather than Anne and Wentworth's story. And two, I wanted to bring the Crofts in, both because my recip requested them and because it would be a nice counterpoint to Lady Elliot, but I couldn't think of anything for them to do besides one conversation towards the end.

Title: Faithfulness and Fortune
Author: Beatrice_Otter
Fandom: Persuasion
Characters: Anne Elliot/Fredrick Wentworth, Lady Elliot
Written for: fiona15351 in FFFX 2024
Betaed by: olive2read
Summary: In a world where Lady Elliot survived, Anne and Frederick's courtship goes a little differently.

AN: Thank you to the members of the Little Details and Age of Sail communities on Dreamwidth for help with Naval details. I also found a helpful paper on Academia.edu, "Golden Harvest: The British Naval Prize System, 1793-1815" by Daniel K. Benjamin.

The song Anne sings for the boys to dance to is Miss Cooper's Fancy. (This website has notations on how to dance it.)

On AO3. On Squidgeworld. On tumblr. On Pillowfort.


***

The marriage between Sir Walter and Lady Elliott had been, at the time of its consummation, a love match; to be sure, both were from ancient families of wealth and rank, and it was an entirely suitable connection in which both sides equally bestowed honor and fortune upon the other. But that suitability had merely encouraged the match, not created it. They had become acquainted at a series of balls, while visiting in the same neighborhood; both were young, she was a noted beauty and he was remarkably handsome. He was active, and she was accomplished. That, combined with the encouragement of all others concerned, was enough to bring them to the wedding breakfast in the full flush of infatuation of which young people are capable.

( The depths of his vanity and the limitations of his intellect had not been revealed over the course of their courtship, for balls and card parties and picnics do not encourage deep conversation )

The third yuletide fic I wrote was a treat for a pinch-hitter, which was an excuse to write Wimsey fic. Now, I love the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, but I have only once been brave enough to write Peter himself--and that was only for a few scenes in a crossover. I minored in English, but that is simply not enough to give one the depth of knowledge of pre-20th-century British literature that one needs to be able to write Peter, who drops allusions and quotes like nobody's business. I spent so much time doing keyword searches through poetry archives, it was ridiculous. So instead, I wrote about Harriet and Mary, who I think would get along well together.

But in the course of doing canon review, I looked for a timeline, and discovered that Mary is much older than I thought she was--she's only five years younger than Peter! He, the Dowager Duchess, and the narrative all treat Mary like she's some silly young girl in Clouds of Witness, and she's actually 28! She and Parker don't marry until she's 35! She's older than Harriet! She served as a nurse in WWI, and she was old enough that she might have served in France itself! (Younger women were only allowed to nurse in British hospitals.) That changed a lot about how I saw her and interpreted the few scenes she's in, and also changed how I saw her and Parker's relationship. I now headcanon that the reason it took so long for Mary and Parker to marry is that at first he was hoping she'd grow out of her radicalism, and she wasn't willing to marry him on that basis, and also had to work out if she was okay with someone as socially conservative as Parker is. Which left them with some things to work out.

Title: Tea for Two
Fandom: Lord Peter Wimsey - Dorothy L. Sayers
Characters: Harriet Vane, Mary Wimsey
Author: Beatrice_Otter
Written for: tucuxi in Yuletide 2024
Rating: Gen

Harriet regarded the invitation with some suspicion. She had resolved to put Lord Peter—and all the tangle of gratitude, resentment, and admiration he provoked in her—out of her mind, at least for now. He was out of town, on a case, and Harriet had rather been hoping to use the time to settle her mind a bit.

She was beginning to plot out the next Templeton novel, and it was going as well as it ever did at this stage—meaning she was wondering why on earth she'd ever thought detective novels should be her passion, as she poked holes in every possible complication she dreamed up, and the ones she couldn't poke holes in would require ever so much research. But it would come; it always did. When she could focus; Lord Peter was not always conducive to that.

And here, as Lord Peter (and all his distractions) was safely out of the way, came a note from his sister, Lady Mary—or, as she styled herself, Mrs. Charles Parker, with an invitation to tea. Not at the Parker residence, but at a restaurant. There would be little danger of seeing the detective, and thus being unpleasantly reminded of her recent sojourn as a target of the judicial system. The restaurant was a respectable one, well within her budget, and easy to get to.

(  Much as she was grateful that Lord Peter was out of town for the moment, she was curious about him; what had made him, and why he was so interested in her. Lady Mary might answer some of her curiosity, without having to deal with the confounding man directly. )

With yuletide fics revealed, I can post the three fics that I wrote!

I was assigned to przed and we matched on Enola Holmes, with a request for Eudoria and Edith. Now, I'm actually more interested in Edith and Sherlock, but anything with Edith is great and of course writing her adventures with Eudoria would be fun (though I'd much rather someone else wrote them so I could read them--I find writing action very difficult). In reviewing the canon, the interesting thing I found was that although I remembered quite well how Edith took Sherlock down a peg, and her adventures with Eudoria, I'd forgotten or downplayed how kind and gentle she was with Enola when Enola was looking for her mother. There's a softer side to her character that I had forgotten all about. I don't know that it necessarily affected this story--it's about Edith and Eudoria, not Edith and Enola--but I was certainly conscious of it while writing.

Title: Women's Will
Author: beatrice_otter 
Fandom: Enola Holmes (movies)
Characters: Edith Grayston, Eudoria Vernet Holmes
Rating: Gen
Length: 2046 words
Written for: przed in yuletide 2024
Betaed by: kurushi

At AO3. At Squidgeworld. On tumblr. On Pillowfort.


'Mrs. Treven' was not the first wealthy woman gone slumming with radicals in search of adventure. They were not terribly common, given the sort of social consequences polite society would heap upon them if it became known, to say nothing of the other sort of consequences their male relations might dole out.

But they did happen. Edith cast a cool eye over the newcomer; unlike most such tourists, at least she had the sense to wear sensible clothing that was unremarkable in color, cut, and style. There were no distinctive marks visible, nothing to catch the eye … except for her manners, which spoke loudly of being more accustomed to giving orders to servants than of sitting down with them. And the accent, of course. And the hands, which were softer than any other woman's here.

( Read more... )

I really enjoyed classicfilmex because I love old movies. This was actually not my first thought for this assignment; originally, I was going to do something with Maria and the kids (which sinkauli also requested). I had the skeleton of what it was going to be, and Maria's side all plotted out in my head. It was her figuring out how to handle it when one of the kids genuinely does something wrong. I had all the details, but the kids' voices just didn't come through, and so I switched to this, instead.

The song "Something Good" has always bugged me, because it's a beautiful song. Neither character has ever mentioned their childhoods, neither character has ever mentioned that anything in their life before the movie was anything but perfect (except for the death of the Captain's first wife). Now all of a sudden we get a whole song about how miserable they were as kids but it can't have been all bad because now they're here? WTF?

The reason it comes out of nowhere, btw, is that it was written for the film adaptation. The stage version has some notable differences. First, the Baroness and Max keep trying to convince the Captain to come to an accommodation with the Nazis (like they have), and second, there's a song about how rich people can't ever truly fall in love because life is too easy for them. So the love song between the Captain and Maria is all about how they're just an ordinary couple in love. It's not as good a song as "Something Good," and also, it's not true! Neither the Captain nor Maria are ordinary people! He's a war hero about to defy the new government, and she's an iconoclastic nun! It's even more of a WTF moment than Something Good, and it's not as good a song. (Though I do like the subplot about the Baroness and Max trying to convince the Captain to go along with the Nazis; it ties together the two halves of the story better than the film version does.)

Anyway, this fic goes the direction that it does to explain the song "Something Good" and what was going on in their childhoods that made them miserable. I headcanon Maria as having ADD/ADHD, and wrote her from that perspective.

Title: A Moment Of Truth
Author: beatrice_otter
Fandom: The Sound of Music
Characters: Maria/Georg
Rating: Gen
Length: 2,152 words
Written For: sinkauli in Classic Movie Exchange 2024

At AO3. On Squidgeworld. On Dreamwidth. On tumblr. On Pillowfort.

The terrace looking over the lake and the mountains beyond was the only part of the core estate where she truly felt at home; the rest of it was too grand for Maria to feel like she belonged in it.

Or at least, that was how it had felt when she'd first arrived. She had a place here, now, and the respect of the children and the household. Even the Captain—severe and angry as he'd been at first—had come around. She still felt like she might accidentally break some vase or chair that cost more than the house she'd grown up in, but even that was fading.

Maria still loved looking at the mountains more than at any part of the manicured, perfect grounds. But she didn't feel homesick for them in the way she'd expected to.

( Read more... )

fandom5k authors have revealed! So I can reveal what I wrote. First of all, thank you to my recip violet_pencil for having some great prompts, that was lovely. It's such a help to get an idea that inspires me, but which I also know my recip will also like. The relationship and pairing sent me in a direction I'd never considered before, and also I think in the process I figured out a bit more of why the Prophets are the way they are and why Sisko is important to them.


Title: Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Author: Beatrice_otter
Fandom: Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Characters: James T. Kirk, Benjamin Sisko
Written For: violet_pencil in Fandom 5k 2024
Rating: Gen
Length: 5,787 words
Betaed by: Greenygal

On AO3. On Squidgeworld. On Ad Astra. Rebloggable on Pillowfort. Rebloggable on tumblr.

Benjamin Sisko was watching the heat death of the universe. Benjamin Sisko was helping the Bantaca Spire be erected in B'Hala. Benjamin Sisko was trying to comfort Kasidy over his entering the Celestial Temple, and failing because he could not collect enough of himself in one time and one place to give her the attention and care she needed. Benjamin Sisko was watching Cardassian soldiers use tractor beams and force-fields to remove the Orb of Harmony from the ruins of the monastery at Choddosh. Benjamin Sisko was in the Celestial Temple, teaching the Prophets about linearity for the first time using baseball as a metaphor. Benjamin Sisko was watching Kai Kira direct the Vedek Assembly to begin considering her successor, because she was going to retire to the monastery of Basyo Ume in nine weeks. Benjamin Sisko was watching the star that would one day be named B'hava'el coalesce and begin to burn.

( Benjamin Sisko was no longer corporeal, but he had a headache anyway. )

I suppose I should probably actually post my worldbuilding_exchange fic here. Wouldn't want to be too quick off the mark, it's only been a month since it was revealed 🤣.

I wrote a BSG fic, which gave me a lovely excuse to write a fic about a headcanon I've had since I first watched the show. (What the headcanon is, you'll have to read the fic to find out ...)

Title: Fertile Ground
Author: Beatrice_Otter
Fandom: Battlestar Galactica
Characters: Original Four
Length: 5383 words
Written for: redrikki in Worldbuilding Exchange 2024

Summary: Simon only bothered to continue the fertility experiments because the others demanded it. Things are different on New Caprica.

AO3. Squidgeworld. Rebloggable on tumblr. Pillowfort.

Simon sat at his lab bench, waiting for his samples to finish processing—as well as they could, given the abysmal shortages of everything on New Caprica—and contemplated whether it would be worth it to take his turn as the Four representative at consensus meetings. The Ones were dead set against shipping in medical supplies from the Colonies. The Sixes and Eights should be pushing for it—if they truly wanted to build a relationship with the humans, helping them stay alive should be high on their priority list—but Fours were the only Cylons who really understood the fragility of the human body.

There was a knock at the door. Nurse Sashon popped her head in. "There's a human who's actually willing to have you treat her."

"Really?" Simon stripped off his gloves and tossed them in the laundry basket. Medical staff had been dramatically under-represented in the refugee fleet, and several years of trauma and poor healthcare and worse food hadn't been helped by the living conditions on New Caprica. But people would rather wait for Doc Cottle or one of the others, than be treated by a Cylon. "What's wrong with her?"

( Read more... )

sedoretuex has revealed, and I can now reveal that I wrote TWO stories! (I have not yet had time to read any stories but my own--I have been really busy this January--but I am planning on making my way through the collection soon.)

( Sedoretu explanation )

My second story for this exchange was a pinch hit for tielan that I had been eyeing for treat purposes since the beginning, because our tastes are very similar and every one of her ideas was amazing and absolutely a story I wanted to exist. But there was a problem! Each one of those stories, my feeling was "I want that to exist, but I don't know if I can do justice to it."

Here were my main options:

1) Relationship and prompt I have written for tielan before (MCU, Steve/Maria/Natasha/Bucky, the previous fic being Look Clear and Calm)

2) Really interesting relationship and prompt from a TV show I've only seen sporadic episodes of (Simon Basset/Anthony Bridgerton/Daphne Bridgerton/Kate Sharma (Bridgerton TV), The oldest son and oldest daughter of the Bridgerton family finding and settling on a sedoretu husband and wife for their familial quartet. In the middle of the season. With the ton looking on.)

3) Relationship I requested myself and would really like to se done, but I requested it because I'm not sure of my ability to write it and the canon is a TV show I haven't watched in almost 2 decades. (BSG, Lee/Kara/Sam/Dee)

4) Relationship I already wrote for this ficathon for my original assignment. (Star Wars Legends, Luke/Mara/Leia/Han, the other fic being Dawning Understanding)

And these were just the top four. There were 13 requested quartets and I could have written 10 of them! I was spoiled for choice! Honestly, it was a little bit paralyzing.

But in the end, I went with BSG, and decided that Wikipedia would have to be enough canon review. And it really did write itself; everything poured out. As always, for me, Dee was going to have a major role and survive; I love her and she was done so dirty by canon. Her death was the first time I got incandescently angry about a fridging because I could see it for what it was. And of the relationships in this foursome, Lee/Kara is my least favorite. (I am glad that in Kara we got to have a female character who was fucked up and messy and not punished for it or considered 'whiny,' but at the same time, there were a lot of other fucked up and messy female characters on that show, and a lot of the other character arcs interested me more than 'cosmic destiny + will she and Lee ever get their act together.' But I know that Lee/Kara is tielan's favorite! So as I was plotting out each section I had to restrain myself: how much Dee was too much? What could I find to say about the other three? Because if I was writing it for myself, the balance would have been very different. (But I think it would have been a weaker story, less balanced.)


Title: Six Things That Changed Because They Were In A Sedoretu, and One Thing That Didn't
Fandom: Battlestar Galactica
Relationship: Lee "Apollo" Adama/Sam Anders/Anastasia "Dee" Dualla/Kara "Starbuck" Thrace
Rating: T
Length: 7930 words
Author: Beatrice_Otter
Written For: tielan in Sedoretu Exchange
Betaed by: iberiandoctor

On AO3. On Squidgeworld. Rebloggable on tumblr and pillowfort.


One.
Collaborators

Sam was waiting for Lee when he came off the flight deck after his flight. It had been a routine combat air patrol, relaxing, not even a hint of a ghost of a problem, and Lee was feeling pretty good.

"Hey, Sam," he said, giving him a peck on the lips. "How's it going?"

Sam smiled, but his eyes were stormy. "I know our room's supposed to be mine and Kara's tonight, but that's not happening. Would you like to join me?" The room they shared was tiny, barely room for a bed, and they were lucky to get it. And the bed could only fit all four of them if they got really close. They had a rotation for who got it, and the rest of the time they slept in their individual racks.

Lee stopped himself from asking what had happened. Sam and Kara were a lot less volatile than he'd ever imagined a relationship with Kara could be, so it wasn't anything petty. But Lee appreciated that Sam didn't try to interfere with Lee and Kara's fights, and he tried to return the favor. "Sure," he said. A (slightly) bigger bed than his rack and a handsome man to fill it—of course he was interested.

***

( Dinner was no worse than usual, the sex was excellent, and afterwards Lee was looking forward to cuddling with Sam in a way neither Kara nor Dee tended to prefer. But Sam turned away and curled up on his side as soon as they were done. )

And here is the other yuletide fic I wrote! This one was for Quasar, a pinch-hitter who was not signed up and so wouldn't receive anything without treats. They were the only one of the pinch hitters I could write for. This was my only treat this year; other writing projects got in the way. (Including my late pinch hit for sedoretuex which was fun but did take a lot of time). I knew I wasn't going to have much time for treating given how much stuff I signed up for this year.

This was quick to write but I enjoyed it; and it's always fun to use bits of history trivia I already know. In this case, "spending a lot of time at a particular noble's house to force them to entertain the entire Royal Court (and thus spend a shitton of money) so they won't have the funds to cause future trouble, but also can't complain about their impoverishment" was a common tactic of late medieval/early modern royalty in England. And also, in the medieval period, if someone is abruptly a major player in politics and neither they nor their parents had that kind of power/position/money before, and it's not a case of "the monarch just happened to love this person," and you wonder how come they're such an important/rich person all of a sudden? The answer is usually "tax fraud," which was a booming industry in late medieval England at all social levels.

Title: Planning a Peaceful Campaign
Author: Beatrice_Otter
Fandom: Curse of Chalion
Length: 1424 words
Rating: Gen
Written for: quasar  in yuletide  2023

At AO3. On Squidgeworld. On tumblr. On Pillowfort.


It was a good thing, Iselle reflected as she watched her Chancellor and his wife lay out their luncheon, that all four of them were known as excellent riders with a love of speed and the skill to accomplish it safely. Days like this, when they'd managed to outride the rest of the court and find a place to picnic by themselves, were the only truly private speech they'd had for months.

"You know, this isn't going to work for too much longer," Bergon said. It was his turn to walk the horses to cool them down, and Iselle turned to watch him. The light sheen of sweat from exercise on a warm summer day gave him a very appealing glow, pleasantly reminding her of other things they might be doing to work up a sweat. "We're giving them too much practice, and I know for a fact that dy Garnez has sent for his younger brother, who I'm told is one of the best horsemen in Almesca, to attend us."

"There are other ways of slipping off alone," Iselle said.

(   )

auexchange 2023 has finally revealed, which means I can tell you what I wrote! Those of you who guessed "Chenelo Zhasanai" are correct! I thought it was an easy guess because it was very on-brand for me: a longer-than-average fic about an underloved character (particularly a woman) which sticks close to canon even for an AU.


Title: Chenelo Zhasanai
Author: beatrice_otter 
Fandom: The Goblin Emperor
Length: 13,593 words
Rating: General Audiences
Written for: Gammarad in AU Exchange 2023
Betaed by: Irina

On AO3. On Squidgeworld. On tumblr. On Pillowfort.


On good days, Chenelo did not take a sedative before bed, and her sleep was light and restless. She would spend the next day tired, but clear-headed.

Chenelo would later give many prayers to Csaivo that the day her former husband—and his elvish sons—died had been a good day.

( So it was that when Othallo Neälu shook her gently in the middle of the night with the news that a courier had come on an airship, and Maia had read the message and called for her, Chenelo's mind was fogged with sleep but not with opazhin. )