Taybur Drabbles

[osprey_archer]

Because the world needs more Taybur fic, because he is so completely wonderful.

If you’re curious where the heck some of these came from, the essay and the commentary that generated them are here.



Enigma!Taybur

There is hardly any Taybur left. He is: Dunevon’s guard. Dunevon’s father, older brother, and conscience. Everything else was dangerous, so now it’s gone.

The Copper Isles have eaten most of the real Taybur Sibigat. Now, he can be anyone but himself.

He’s a fool to Topabaw. An efficient, silent, loyal hireling to Imajane and Rubinyan. A nobody to the court. A clever spy among spies to Aly, who likes to think she sees the real Taybur.

He lets her believe it. He likes sharing the secret, even if false. To have even an imaginary Taybur is worth the danger.


Suicidal!Taybur

Taybur lets Aly go.

It’s not that he wants to die. Taybur Sibigat is devoted to his duty—both for his duty’s sake and for Dunevon. If Taybur dies Dunevon will die too. The boy is a mouse in a court of hawks.

Taybur may be an eagle but against a hundred hawks what good is five inches more wingspan? And he is so, so tired of flying.

Aly may turn him in or kill him as a danger; they may be caught by Topabaw. But Taybur is so tired, and Aly’s more likely to protect Dunevon than is the court.


Scheming!Tyran!Taybur

Tyra conquered the Copper Isles, and Tyra wants this wayward child back. So Taybur, wayward son of Tyra himself, arrives in Rajmuat to spy.

And oh, how he succeeds. Personal guard of tiny King Dunevon, only a child; if Imajane and Rubinyan were not in the way, Taybur might convince him to ask Tyra for help.

If Imajane and Rubinyan were out of the way…

It would be better for Dunevon, better for the kingdom, better for Tyra—but Taybur can’t overthrow them alone.

So he lets Aly go. She and her conspiracy are a gamble, but so is everything.


Scheming!LoveSick!Carthaki!Taybur

She has ideals. He’s in love.

Taybur had ideals in Carthak that made him agree to spy here for Kaddar, to train Dunevon in the way that he should go. Ideals are sweet and warm and soft, meringue that melts in the hot Copper Islands.

Taybur likes Dunevon, but training isn’t working. But being here is worth it just for this girl, who hasn’t forgotten how to spread her mind and fly.

He lets her go. Not (just) because of that. Kaddar would want Taybur on her side if she wins. And (he tells himself) an idealist won’t hurt Dunevon.


Slutty!Taybur

How to get a good job in Rajmuat: sleep with one of the Rittevons. Better: sleep with two. Whore yourself out to the whole family!

Sometimes Taybur wants to scald himself clean with salt water.

But there are benefits. His work will help the Copper Isles (and his family)—he has the only job in the palace that doesn’t destroy his integrity—he has influence on Imajane and Rubinyan.

Enough to keep Dunevon safe?

Taybur shouldn’t care. He’s here to win concessions for his family, not to feel bad for the bratty doomed king.

But he does. His brother was named Dunevon, too.



Also, I really need a TP icon. Does anyone know anywhere to look for them?

Comments

[girl-called-sun.livejournal.com]

Fantastic! Taybur fic. I'm so pleased to read these. You have made all of these so different; there are so many possibilities with Taybur, because there is only the snapshot we get of him in TQ.

I like suicidal!Taybur best. He feels doomed and trapped, scarcely keeping his head above water.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I feel so bad for suicidal!Taybur. His life is like having a calculus final that's worth fifty percent of his grade every single day.

[team-fen.livejournal.com]

They are all so much fun! I tried to pick a favourite and failed miserably.

I liked so-very-tired Suicidal!Taybur, and so-in-denial Lovesick!Taybur, and the Taybur with a brother named Dunevon, and Enigma!Taybur is still great alongside the others.

I also enjoyed the way your Taybur titles kept getting longer and longer.

TP icons: you could try here (http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=team_fen&keyword=icons&filter=all). (ahem) And I think they also post icons at tortall. --Imo

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I considered writing more, but I figured the titles would just continue growing (Magic!Lovesick!Slutty!CarthakiDoubleAgent!Taybur) so I should quit before they got longer than the fics.

If I expanded one of these, which do you think would be most interesting? I draw the line at Suicidal!Taybur, because next week is going to be depressing enough without him.

And on the icons: you are such an enabler. I spent...more time than I should have looking through them. Because I love icons. A lot.

Your icons are lovely but I would think "Dear God! I've been possessed by Imo!" every time I used it because I associate them with you.

[team-fen.livejournal.com]

Ahaha! I see what you are saying about the icons.

Hm. Now you have me thinking about icons, and the lack of source material to make icons for our fandom. Not everybody has a Sally to make awesome drawings and icons for them. tortall has icons based mostly on the various bookcovers, and m_icons has a classic cast (http://m-icons.livejournal.com/17062.html#cutid1) post. Maybe you or I could shamelessly beg the_swoop for links to icons, or for new icons. I am probably developing a reputation there for shameless begging anyway. :p Perhaps some kind person would icon the Regicide comics?

Um, I would pick Lovesick!Carthaki!Taybur as the drabble I would like to see expanded. It has to do with what you wrote, combined with a comment I made at the_swoop about Taybur having the possibility to be very scary if he decided you were his enemy and lost his temper (or didn't), and wanting Aly to be taken down a peg. Taybur is the perfect person to do it. I could go either way on the romance-- yes or no, but if yes, I would want to see Aly getting shaken up and finding her feet again first: some character growth.

I'd probably really enjoy the expanded version of the last drabble too (so wrong!). I really liked the touch about Taybur having a brother named Dunevon. --Imo

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

The Regicide comics are the ones with Roger and the finger puppets (among other things), right? Because icons from those would be awesome.

Hmmm. I can see that story for Lovesick!Carthaki!Taybur--I would need to come up with a plot--and clearly the thing would be kind of AU because it didn't happen, and he no longer seems to be in position to make it happen. Which doesn't bother me, because if it's AU I don't have to do anything with Nawat.

*snickers* Of COURSE you want the long version of Slutty!Taybur. That would actually be a blast to write (no plot! Lots of angst! I can finally figure out what kind of people Imajane and Rubinyan are!).

Working the brother into a longer version might be difficult to do without making him sappy. But hmm.

There may be a brainstorming post later on. Just so you know.

[troublems03.livejournal.com]

There is not enough Taybur fanfiction around. I've always been a Taybur/Aly shipper - they're so much better than Aly/Nawat. So, this was lovely and original to read. Nice work!

And I liked your comment: "His life is like having a calculus final that's worth fifty percent of his grade every single day."

That wouldn't be much fun, though this comment does freak me out a little as I have a Calculus final worth 80% next week. Death.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Aly/Taybur FOR THE WIN. I don't hate Aly/Nawat, but Aly/Taybur just has so much more chemistry. They seem much more like equals than Aly and Nawat do--Aly's always going to be three steps ahead of Nawat, whereas she and Taybur can keep up with each other.

And 80%--ouch. That is one sadistic teacher. Good luck with test!

Off topic, but your user info says you're interested in the Bloomsbury set--any members in particular? I ask because I absolutely love E. M. Forster's books, and he's so tragically forgotten.

And it's always nice to meet other INTJs.

[troublems03.livejournal.com]

Lessee. Aly/Taybur = supreme awesomeness if only because they'd be dancing circles around each other for ages. And I never liked Nawat...I just found him so...boring?

By the by, do you have any other Aly/Taybur fics? I wrote one ages ago to fill a void but it's more interesting to read the work of others.

As for the Bloomsbury set. Sadly, I haven't read anything by Forster - in fact, my education was pretty devoid of anything by writers of his calibre.

Oh? And I fellow INTJ are we? Lovely, lovely.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I don't have any Aly/Taybur fics at the moment, but I may write one. Summer is coming up so I'll have the time.

Nawat is boring. :( Perhaps Aly had enough excitement in the rest of her life that she wanted boring? Meh. Silly girl.

[skyscope.livejournal.com]

I don't usually read Trickster fic, but this was awesome. I think I like the first best, though.

Thanks for sharing!

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

I don't read much Trickster fic either, but I've always loved Taybur so I thought writing some was worth a shot.

[wottie.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, loved this. I love that the books gave us gaps to fill in about Taybur and you did it so perfectly. Thanks for sharing!

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :)

[carmarthen.livejournal.com]

Eeeee, Taybur! Now...I actually almost want to reread DotL. (And I shall keep all these thinky thoughts in mind if I ever write the Aly-free AU.)

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

So many Tayburs! So little time!

I actually tried to write the fic where Taybur got his job through a tawdry affair with Imajane and Rubinyan, but sadly it did not go through.

[carmarthen.livejournal.com]

WOE. I would read that.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

It's one of the WIPs that got eaten in the Great Computer Crash of 2011.

But hey! Now that I'm on an OT3 kick, it might always happen again!