gorgeous fic rec: helenish

[lobelia321]

I read a minblowingly wonderful fic yesterday. It is helenish's Patience, A Steady Hand. Do you need to know the fandom or the canon or even need to care about these things? Answer: no. Because it's vikings. Arthur is a badass viking raider in the 9th century, and Eames is a scribe whose monastery gets raided by the vikings. The rest is beautiful, heartstopping, brilliantly written, full of gorgeous historical detail and atmospheric weather, and a phenomenal story.

They throw him in the hold with the rest of the-- what they stole: bags of grain and heavy wheels of cheese with the monastery seal in the wax, ale and gold and iron and cloth. There aren't any other people, he's the only-- the only slave, his mind supplies, running more quickly than he can stand.

Oh, and if you do care about such things: it's Inception fandom, but what she does with canon and fanon is twisty and subtle and really, really nice.

:-)

Comments

[msilverstar]

I read that and it was worth reading, only a couple of jarring anachronisms, including Saint Francis (born 1182). And the visuals were very fine, and the angst and the twist at the end. But I couldn't see how it connected to canon at all. Enlighten me?

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Oh, I didn't pick up on the Saint Francis!!! All I caught was the anachronism of the drawing but what the hey. But other vikinglore was lovely. Canon? Well, I saw some canon, or rather fanon: the way Arthur had the tattoos not Eames (plays on fanon's predilection of giving Eames the tattoos that Tom Hardy has); Arthur topping (given fanon's predilection of having Eames top) and then twisting it towards the end; Eames a 'forger' (i.e. handy with a quill); Arthur a badass warrior; the *wink* mentions of dreaming.... Well, I saw canon, anyway.... *g*