Happy Hanukkah, everyone, from these two jerks! I’m posting this a little early this year. Line art by the amazing Ro Stein & Ted Brandt, and colour art by @deecunniffe.
I want to point out what a technical achievement this story is on the art side. There’s a real joy to creating a whole story in eight panels, but this? This is some magic. We introduce four new characters. In panel 5, SIX PEOPLE are talking. SIX. In the world of comics, that’s almost un-doable.
Yet Ro and Ted arranged everything so the conversations flow and are sensibly grouped, all the “acting” is fantastic, and then Dee laid on top these beautiful, almost fairytale colours – look at the subtle work, the blush in Henry’s cheeks, Frank’s five o-clock shadow, the shine of the wine bottle’s glass surface, the light texturing in the backgrounds… and of course the snow! This is some first-class illustration work on an incredibly hard script. (I fear Ro and Ted always get me at my worst – my very formalist script for them in the 24 Panels anthology was no cakewalk either. (The problem is, they’re just so damn good at it… check out their work on the Image comic Crowded!)
Words: 112,551 Fandom: Captain America (Movies), Valdemar Series – Mercedes Lackey Rating: Teen And Up Audiences, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: James “Bucky” Barnes/Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson, James
“Bucky” Barnes & Sam Wilson, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov,
Steve Rogers & Original Companion Character, James “Bucky” Barnes
& Original Companion Character Characters: Steve Rogers, James “Bucky” Barnes, Sam Wilson (Marvel), Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Original Companion Character(s) Additional
Tags: Alternate Universe – Fusion, Alternate Universe – Fantasy,
Captain America Valdemar AU, Alternate Universe – Valdemar Series
Fusion, Marvel Cameos, Fluff, Captain America canon typical violence,
minor Valdemar canon non-compliance, Soulmates, Lifebonds, Additional
Warnings In Author’s Note, absolutely no Valdemar knowledge required,
Heavy Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Happy Ending
“Steve,
if there’s a time when you don’t have to worry about anything, it’s
now. I’m a Herald-Trainee, Winter’s a Companion. You’re exhausted.
Just…trust us. We’ll get you home safely.”
For a long moment, a moment in which Bucky felt gifted with sudden
insight into who Steve was, he thought it could go either way. Then
Steve smiled, this one warm and bright and just for Bucky, and it raced
through him, lodging inside him like a miniature sun. “Guess I’d be a
bit ungrateful to say no.”
Some Heralds change the world. Some Heralds save it. Some
Herald’s names are woven through the very fabric of Valdemar. But most
don’t, and most aren’t. Most Heralds simply do their duty, their
Companions by their side, their stories recorded in dusty Crown records,
not Bardic ballads.
Steve and Bucky figured they were most Heralds—no ballads required, thanks—and they were mostly right. What they didn’t account for was that no Herald was ordinary—and with two of them bound so tight together, extraordinary was sure to happen.
[Absolutely no knowledge of the Valdemar series required for this fic]
ealdor 