EPIC ROMANCE: I finally just finished this very long scene, which is mainly politics and exposition and original characters. I think it still needs a lot of work (i.e. paring back me going over the top with 'formal' language), and I still have the lingering uncertainty that contributed to it being difficult to write - that it's not porn, that it's original characters, that it's world- and character-building (of OCs), and that that's not what people enjoy in fanfiction.

But the story is epic! It's a big political setting for a hardcore romance, okay? (And I just keep reminding myself that *I* like epic stories that have solid world-building behind them; it makes the id aspects of it all the more grounded and therefore resonant.)

So, current wordcount: 14,178
Current mood: Gwaine is a sullen little butterfly.

Anyway, ALSO TODAY I made nixwilliams watch most of the Gwaine episodes of Merlin, which he hadn't seen before. I think that was largely successful :D It was good to watch again, and I did discover that I actually need to watch it with someone else laughing and making off-colour jokes about it, lest I get preoccupied with the fail.

And very amusing to be paying more attention to my fave characters now that I have those fannish goggles on; you can wring so much more nuance out of it. Like these series of looks in "The Eye of the Phoenix":

Arthur: *says/does something brattish*
Merlin: *gives Gwaine "ISN'T ARTHUR JUST THE GREATEST?" eyes*
Gwaine: *gives Merlin "Are you for real?" eyes*

(Which just cements my belief that Gwaine's decree of Arthur being a worthy noble is him just going, "okay, I suppose this noble is tolerable enough that I can stick around for Merlin without having to storm off in a sulk".)

That whole episode is basically just one big delightful romantic misunderstanding romp, where Gwaine is clearly all hearteyes about Merlin, and Merlin is totally oblivious/preoccupied by Arthur. And Arthur is self-absorbed and brattish in general, the usual farce of his ignorance of Merlin's magic dialled up to comedic 11.

(Also, in his first episode Gwaine refers to Arthur as a thoroughbred. This amuses me.)

Anyway, that descended into a bit of a ramble. How was your weekend?