Title: Gaping Chest Wounds
Author: Lucia de’Medici
Fandom: X-Men: Evolution
Summary: Practical advice on healing old hurts: a story about homecoming.
Pairing: Rogue/Gambit, mentions of Rogue/Pyro, Piotr/Kitty
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2,600 words
Prompt: Pain, written for marvel_drabbles
Author's Note: It seems like I'm going to do this subject to death before I'm good and happy with it.

( Gaping Chest Wounds )

Title: Love Spell no. 32
Author: Lucia de’Medici
Universe: X-Men: Evolution (Marvel Animated Series)
Character/Pairing/Series/Group: Rogue/Gambit
Rating: PG
Prompt: Haunted
Author Note: Set well after “Cajun Spice”.

( Love Spell no. 32 )

Title: Ride Into the Sunset
Author: Lucia de’Medici
Universe: X-Men: Evolution (Marvel Animated Series)
Character/Pairing/Series/Group: Rogue/Gambit
Rating: PG
Prompt: Monster
Author Note: Inspired by My Chemical Romance’s “Hang ‘Em High”. An alternative ending to “Dark Horizon II”.

( Ride Into the Sunset )

Title: They Always Said (Remy LeBeau was something of a stalker)
Author: Lucia de’Medici
Universe: X-Men: Evolution (Marvel Animated Series)
Character/Pairing/Series/Group: Rogue/Gambit
Rating: PG
Prompt: Psycho
Author Note: The immortal words of “Cajun Spice” that have shaped this pairing in this universe for me has always been: “I’ve been watching you for weeks, Rogue.” Creepy? Yes.

( They Always Said (That Remy LeBeau was something of a stalker) )

Just a little too much "drinky drinky" last night in pre-Canada Day celebration. (It was St. Jean Baptiste last week, which means absolutely nothing to me since I worked that day, the fireworks kept my dog up, which in turn kept me up, and people were just generally obnoxious in displaying their Quebecois-ness... this happens in equal proportion to those of us in Quebec who demonstrate our Canadian-ness today. Fortuneately for greater Montreal society, I'm too hungover to do much by way of flaunting the red n' white.)

Anyway.

There was a point to this post:

I crave beignets and cafe au lait.

Instead of beignets and cafe au lait, I found New Orleans based-ROMY darkfic. (Somewhere nearby, Julie Andrews is singing, "These are a few of my favourite things.") It compensates for the lack of fried things covered in powdered sugar, trust me. (And you all know how I get with my cravings, right? I covet enthusiastically.)

Never Say Die by Secondhand Ragdoll
Summary: The finer things in life are free. Everything else costs dearly.
Pairing: Rogue/Gambit
Verse: XME

P.S. Wall-E is the shit, but more important than Wall-E were the Pixar previews. Can I just say that The Tale of Despereaux looks awesome? OMG. Daredevil Mouse with Big Ears. I'm totally sold already.

P.P.S. Ten days. (Hint: The Right Hand of Doom is > you.)

Title: Louche
Author: Lucia de’Medici
Fandom: Ironside/Tithe/Valiant (Blackverse Faerie)
Pairing: Corny/Luis
Prompt: “Feeling This” by Blink 182 written for lithiumlaughter
Rating: PG
Warnings: Language
Word Count: 1,177 words
Notes: I love this song. (It, ironically, defines the Rogue/Gambit pairing for me, but here it works equally well.) I had to slash ‘em. Corny’s great on his own, but I was immensely happy at the end of “Ironside” when Corny/Luis became canon.

( Louche )

Title: Quartz-Controlled Metronome
Author: Lucia de’Medici
Fandom: Runaways
Pairing: Molly/Victor (if you squint)
Prompt: “Do it for me now” by Angels & Airwaves for fullmetal_cute
Word Count: 461 words

( Quartz-Controlled Metronome )

Title: Unified Fronts
Author: Lucia de’Medici
Fandom: Gossip Girl
Pairing: It rhymes with f*ck.
Prompt: “Enjoy the Silence” by Depeche Mode, Remixed by Timo Maas for qwertyspeaks
Word Count: 358 words

( Unified Fronts )

I will preface this by saying I'm miserable at completing drabble prompt requests, so keep your expectations low, pleeskthx. (It's just too good to pass up, so I'll take a crack at it - no more than 250 words per.)

Gaked from nokomis305:

Give me a pairing or a character and a number between 1 - 5962, and I will write you a drabble using the corresponding song from my playlist (which I'll upload for you) as a prompt. (Exceptions being anything downloaded from iTunes which is unrippable/unplayable on any other account other than my own. ALSO, bonus points for requests involving my other fandoms: Gossip Girl, Twilight, the Study Series, Hollowmere, The Umbrella Academy, Holly Blackverse (excepting Spiderwick), The Succubus series, Harry Potter, The Hollows, Runaways, Teen Titans/Young Justice, Y: The Last Man, Wormwood, 30 Days of Night, Hellboy, The Dark Tower, The Sandman & supporting stories, the Morganville Vamps, The L Word, Good Omens, Neverwhere, American Gods (though I'm a bit rusty), and Gemma Doyle-verse. X-Men always welcome, and I will gladly take a crack at bandfic: MCR & FOB.

Title: This Twilight
Author: Lucia de’Medici
Fandom: X-Men, Marvel 616
Summary: The voice of Rogue’s conscious sounds surprisingly like mom.
Pairing: Rogue/Gambit
Rating: PG
Notes: Written for thefireisblack, and set just after the events of "Messiah Complex". (Mystique just wasn’t feeling chatty tonight, so its not exactly what I’d call “to specification.” I sowwy.)

( This Twilight )

i. Fanart: Top of the list, because you know I love being able to gloat when someone gifts me with wonderful pieces of art. (I mean, seriously, who doesn’t dig on fanart? You know? Geez.) I should say, however, this wasn’t sent to me, but rather to carminelacroix, which really makes no difference whatsoever unless juggling two pen names for the same person confuses you. Suffice to say, Southern Gothic got its first dose of sexy, sexy artwork from a very kind gentleman at the Pit: Southern Gothic’s Rogue by Technical Difficulty.

( Art! )

ii. I have found the two applications that are going to make my fanwriting life reams easier. Granted, this is Mac software, but I’ve got to tell you, I spent the better part of last night loading in “The Ante” with all the notes and relevant links that I’ve kept scattered everywhere on my hard disk, and it’s fantabulous. Anal-retentive organizational people who like knowing where their characters are and where their plot’s going? You’re going to love this: StoryMill for novel writing, and DEVONthink for all forms of supporting research.

At first I looked at both of these applications, and I went, “Well, what the hell is Word for, then?” I was so wrong. So wrong. I have things broken down by chapter and scene with notes in a second frame, and a timeline going so I know exactly what happened when and what’s coming up in the next three chapters so there won’t be any resulting holes from being hasty. Moreover, every scrap of my research for Bats and for Southern Gothic (images, web links, PDF documents, notes, timelines, everything) is in DEVONthink and tagged and grouped for easy access. Photos, character bios... Seriously. H-e-a-v-e-n. I’m so in love right now... and all this is coming out of the need to switch up from Mac to Windows. (I decided I won’t be running Bootcamp or Parallels. No more Windows for me, pretty much. Please note my utter lack of remorse when typing that.)

iii. Finally, Happy Beltane, dear, sweet, Neopagan friends. (Is it just me, or is this holiday perfectly suited for writing porn? Well, I am. Snarky, dirty, vulgar, voyeuristic fun. Whoever said corrupting a kids’ show wasn’t terribly amusing?)

Title: Southern Gothic
Act I: Blood - Scene II
Fandom: X-Men: Evolution
Author: Carmine LaCroix
Summary: A love story.
Rating: Teen
Pairing: Rogue/Remy
Warnings: AU, History!fic, gore
Notes: Yes, well. Suffice to say I ought to make mention that this is an (ahem) “no powers but powers” elseworld setting. Just so we’re clear. (Clear as the Mississippi River herself.) Carry on, then.

( Act I: Blood - Scene II )

Title: Southern Gothic
Act I: Blood - Scene I
Fandom: X-Men: Evolution
Author: carminelacroix
Summary: A love story.
Rating: Teen/Mature
Pairing: Rogue/Remy
Warnings: AU, History!fic

( Act I: Blood - Scene I )

( Back to the Beginning )

Title: Nothing Special
Fandom: X-Men: Evolution
Author: Lucia de’Medici
Pairing: Wanda/Lance
Summary: In which Wanda loses the big “it.” You know which.
Rating: Mature
Word Count: 549 words
Warnings: Profanity, vulgarity, sexual themes
Notes: Inspired by dorksidefiker’s recent meme responses.

Title: Southern Gothic
A Prelude by Mam’zelle Mattie Baptiste
Fandom: X-Men: Evolution
Author: carminelacroix
Summary: A love story.
Rating: Teen/Mature
Pairing: Rogue/Remy
Warnings: AU, History!fic

( Southern Gothic: A Prelude by Mam’zelle Mattie Baptiste )

...Because this week, I am Queen of Flist Spam. Bask in my cross-posting glory!

*ducks flying garbage*

Title: Bleeding Hearts Are Fatal
Fandom: Fray
Author: Lucia de’Medici
Pairing: Melaka/Harth
Rating: PG
Word Count: 334 Words
Warnings: ‘Cest.
Notes: Fut the whuck, dude. Seriously. (No, I really don’t know where this came from. Why, hello thar, left field!) Follows the Mel/Harth smooch that takes place in issue #8 of Whedon’s Fray. This is not my fandom. In fact, I've never written in any Jossverse prior to this little scrap of I-don't-know-what. All I know is that Mel Fray is making her debut in an upcoming issue of Buffy, and I had to know what we were dealing with in terms of slayer-from-the-future. So I read what there is on Fray last night (in a bit of a frenzy) and a rabid plot bunnicula took a hunk out of my left leg... and this is the result.

( Bleeding Hearts Are Fatal )

i. ( S.O. FAL! )

ii. ( Dee-sign and compulsive buying habits. )

iii. ( Shopping: Twilight Alchemy Lab )

iv. ( More Shopping: Coventry Creations Candles )

v. The Important Part: A question to those reading "The Ante": Given the opportunity to put up part one of "The Really Big Chapter of D00m" this weekend, and knowing that in doing so it might be a couple of weeks before part two of the same chapter is released, would you want it out and available for consumption immediately?

Poll #1138708 The Ante: Chapter 28 "Mistigris" - Read in Parts?
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 27

Knowing that the first part of the next chapter of "The Ante" will be available this weekend, would you want it posted, knowing that the next two or three parts might be delayed by a couple of weeks?

Gratuitous clicky finger?

i. A Question: What, pray tell, is the difference between the chain of a pocket watch, and a pocket watch fob?

ii. An Update on Writing: Genard Alouette, Claude Poitier, Zoe Ichihara. *facepalm* Sometimes, you know... I just... *facepalm* Hit page thirty three on chapter twenty eight last night. Still nowhere near done. Chugging along at a reasonable, if not horribly nitpicky pace. Hence the... Genard, Claude, Zoe *facepalm*... if you follow me.

iii. A Recommendation: I started reading the first part in an Evo trilogy last night, by a person by the name of Beaubier. To be perfectly honest, I was trying to find something to satisfy a random Wanda/Pietro craving, and I wound up with the Beaubier twins being injected into X-Men: Evolution post-Apocalypse. Dude. I've experienced varying degrees of good characterization and great characterization before, but never have I seen all the X-Men handled with this kind of care. (And I do mean everyone. It's a multi-perspective fic, and the transitions are so crisp in regards to character voice and effected with such a small sampling of words that I really don't know how else to describe my shifting delight, amusement, angst and fear. Total empathy for the characters. I don't think I've ever actually been made to feel fear before by a fanwriter until now - at least, I've never seen Sinister handled like this, and while I've sort of snickered at him as a villain, I've never actually been convinced that, as a character, he's ever been deserving of that sort of emotional response.) Anyway, I heartily recommend the first installment in the trilogy: Relativity by Beaubier, XME, genfic underscored by slash, Northstar/Quicksilver and ensemble.

iv. Regarding that Wanda/Pietro craving... found this a couple of nights ago. (C'est tellement cute. Never Been Kissed by callmecrazyloo.) ;)

Title: Sandcastles
Author: Lucia de’Medici
Fandom: Marvel 616
Pairing: Gambit/Rogue, Gambit/Mystique
Summary: Define for yourself the limits of your own self-delusion, and then surpass them once you can bear ignoring the line diving right and wrong.
Rating: R
Word Count: 1,512 words
Warnings: Suggestive content.
Notes: For inimicallyours, who requested that the abuse of Milligan in BLT be put to use porntastically. References X-Treme X-Men, the Vargas-shish-ke-mutant incident, and the recovery at Valle Soleada. (Kicking it old school... and slowly but surely catching up on my fic prompts.)

( Sandcastles )