Hi! I like to post pictures of pretty things and pretty people and pretty places. I write a ton of fanfic - mostly the BBC’s Musketeers and some Merlin, and some ancient Band of Brothers stories way back in the day - over on Ao3 as Cunien.
Some of my longer form AU Musketeers fics:
WW1 soldiers/ex-soldiers turned gardeners, healing their trauma whilst tending the earth. Angst, humour, hurt/comfort, shellshock, PTSD. Mature/Explicit.
Sons Of Mine I Hear You Thrilling - the WW1 section
Standing So Quiet And Patient On Their Shelves - post-war
Everyone Was A Bird - gardeners on a country estate, 1920s
*
WW2 French Resistance AU. Angst, humour, hurt/comfort, PTSD, blowing shit up, Nazis, torture, interrogation and Stockholm Sydrome. Mature/Explicit
Chanson d’Automne - main multi-chapter, in the months leading up to D-Day
“Ici Londres! Les Français parlent aux Français!" - a little prequel snippet
Les Gens, Les Gens Ne S’Arrétent Pas - Athos/Ninon post D-Day
*
Spooky Divergence AU - Horror, angst, trauma, hurt/comfort, madness, supernatural elements, SA - Mature/Explicit
The Dying Of The Light - Spring, the Inseperables come up against a demon.
And Death Shall Have No Dominion - Summer in Paris, and the wolves are coming.
On The Madhouse Boards Worn Thin - Aramis and d’Artagnan spend the Autumn in the countryside recovering. Shit gets spooky.
I Would Not Fear The Apple Nor The Flood - Autumn, Porthos and Athos are in Paris, and a succubus has its sights on Athos.
By Night’s Ancient Fear - Winter in the hunting lodge at Versailles, packed with ghosts. And Milady.
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“It’s easy to see medieval people as characters rather than humans,” Professor Smith is saying as he points up to a slide with Charles Ernest Butler’s painting of King Arthur.
“See here: Arthur has holy light shining down on him. His features are sharp, the crown seems made for him…this moment depicts the fulfilment of destiny. But King Arthur was a man like any other.”
“But Professor,” a boy interrupts, hand half-raised in the universal position of douchebagery, “King Arthur was, quite literally, a character. Are you certain he’s the best example of medieval humanity?”
“He’s also a king,” a girl pipes up. “So he’s not a man like any other. We should be focusing on his subjects to find medieval humanity.”
Professor Smith smiles. He runs his hand through his black hair and steps out from behind the lecturing podium.
“Both excellent points,” he says. “King Arthur, real or not—“
Some confused muttering from the class—
“—is not an accurate representation of the average medieval peasant’s life. At the same time, it is important to consider why he may have been out of touch with his people, and in what ways. TH White implied that what made Arthur a better king was his mistreatment as a child by the name of Wart. He engaged in Arthur as a human being in a way Sir Thomas Mallory, perhaps, did not—at least by modern standards. Now.”
Professor Smith gestures to himself.
“I’m Irish.”
Scattered laughter.
“‘I rarely, if ever, have interest in sympathising with an English king—and I certainly didn’t back then.”
The laughter takes on a puzzled note.
“But.” Professor Smith holds up a finger. “If we don’t humanise our oppressors, we run the risk of treating their actions like Doctor Doom’s attack of the week—rather than something they actively choose to inflict on others. Do you understand my point?”
Around the lecture hall, students hum and nod in agreement.
“At the same time, one cannot forget that a king is a king. Arthur was obligated to execute Gwen—er, Guinevere—or else run the risk of showing weakness and shaming himself in front of his people. Yes, he knew Lancelot would save her. It was a decision informed by trust in his friend and his position in power. Arthur was a man with a job to do; an obligation to his people and his predecessors. And with those duties come human emotion: fear of letting down his country and his father, of disrespecting Camelot’s history. Gwen and Lancelot stuck by him despite that fear, because they believed in him and they knew he would be a great king.”
Professor Smith sighs and clasps his hands behind his back.
“But destiny did not come to pass in the way they expected it. Perhaps they wished they had listened to other perspectives. Perhaps they wished they had taken the chance to live freely together. They wished they had not put so much faith in one man and done themselves and their people a disservice in the process.”
There’s a long silence.
Students look fearfully at each other, passing discreet notes—for the professor looks like he may cry.
“But they were human too,” the girl from earlier pipes up. “We talk a lot about Guinevere and Lancelot’s love for Arthur and the way their relationship is depicted as almost ethically non-monogamous, by modern standards. Yes, they may have made a mistake by not living for themselves, but they were living for the love and hope they had in Arthur. It’s, like, proper Shakespearean, when you think about it.”
“And,” the boy adds, “Arthur became a symbol we can all look up to. He’s still very much relevant in the cultural consciousness—otherwise we wouldn’t be here. Yes, he died prematurely, but he is still the greatest king Albion has ever seen, if only because he has remained a constant ideal which we can look up to. Arthuriana gave TH White comfort after the events of World War II, after all. We cannot underestimate his importance as a symbol.”
“True, especially when we can’t rely on current politicians,” the girl agrees. “Rebellions are built on hope.”
“A Star Wars reference is fairly gauche in this context, do you not think?” The boy sneers.
“I don’t think something has to be highbrow to have academic relevance, Charles, no,” she hisses back.
“I never said anything about it not being highbrow, I just don’t believe Star Wars to be a worthwhile comparison—“
“Really? Really? Luke Skywalker, the Jedi Knight training to save the galaxy from his evil father? You think that has no relevance, you prat?”
Merlin smiles and steps behind the podium, dabbing at his eyes with the cuff of his corduroy blazer.
**New update in the Rainjoy Exorcist Musketeers AU fic klaxon!**
Here.
Once more, a CRIMINALLY UNDERRATED Musketeers AU. It’s not on AO3 so I think it gets missed, but my God, this and the other big AU by the writer (Affinity Verse) are just phenomenally written, wonderful adventures, sexy and funny and clever and angsty and brilliant. They also feature my favourite kind of Aramis, the kind who is all boneless but also a total BAMF and lives in the moment and loves fiercely and knows himself intimately and is always, always up for sex.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
I've gone back to rewatch A Show that a very much enjoy but cannot name here. The Show has the guy who plays Athos in the BBC Musketeers in it. I don't want to name him or the Show because when I have done this in the past some fans of this Show have come over to interact in a way that I don't find comfortable.
You see, the person who wrote the original material this Show is based on has some preeeetty awful ideas about, let's say, the inside feelings we individually have about who we are and whether or not they align with the bodies that we've been born into. If you get my drift. (I have to be vague here, else they'll find me).
Anyway, I think you might know who I'm talking about.
(Slight digression: I was once at a premiere of a film based on original material created by This Person because I am friends with an actor who was in this film. My friend and the other big names there spent the whole evening interacting graciously with other party-goers and the catering and waiting staff. This Person sat alone on a velvet couch behind a silk rope flanked by security guards looking bitter. I was a fan of This Person at the time - they had yet to express the views that they are now famous for, and their work meant a lot to me as a kid - and I couldn't help but think how weird and sad and lonely the whole situation was even then.)
Anyway.
I wish I could talk about this show! It's...kind of weirdly cosy. The plots are CONVOLUTED and I lose the thread of them a lot, and are littered with weird names that This Person seems to really enjoy filling their material with, but the two leads give incredible performances. Sigh. I wish I could talk about it.
NOTE: I completely respect anyone's opinions on consuming or not consuming media and material created by objectionable people. I have a line and it bends and wavers a little depending on the situation. I no longer want to buy the books or anything related to the books written by This Person - which is a fucking shame because I really did love them and would love to share them with my kids, but I now can't read them without thinking of the hate spewed by This Person and it makes me feel horrible - but I don't mind watching This Show because it's on the BBC and I've paid my license fee, and it's made by a lot of amazing people that aren't This Person, including the two lead actors who are so good I would literally pay to watch them watch paint dry.
FINAL NOTE: I know that some people might read this and feel like I'm hiding from reality or not engaging or being a good ally. I get that. For a long time I was active on Twitter before it became the hellsite X, in its dying days when it was pretty horrendous. I found myself getting involved in a lot of fights about the Inside Feeling/Outside Body debate and in the end all I was consuming was hatred that was being retweeted and refuted by people whose views I shared. Still, I was reading all the awful stuff even if I got the clever clapbacks by allies. I didn't have all that many followers so it wasn't like my involvement was doing much good. I was pregnant at the time and all I could think was that I was just consuming hate after hate after hate and I began to feel genuinely unwell with it all. (It was a rough pregnancy too)
In the end I decided to leave Twitter/X and mute those words on social media for a bit, because for little-old-me with nary a platform to be had the best I can actually do is be nice to people in my life no matter how they identify, donate to charities, and invest my energy into raising my kids not to be total arseholes.
FINAL FINAL NOTE: look, if you disagree with the vague opinion on the vague subject I've mentioned vaguely here, can you just not come at me today, please? Just, leave it. You're not going to change me, I'm not going to change you - not like this. There is a lot of nuance to this debate for sure, but I don't think This Person is in any way nuanced with their view, and I don't wanna have ANY debate on this blog which is dedicated to dumb fic and pretty boys and art. Okay? Okay? Right.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
A gen doodle today. I saw this couple on their bike on my way to work one morning and thought they looked very cool indeed. (BTW he is wearing a camo poncho)
