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Stories by RogueStar

"Always Coming Home"
Gambit finds his way back to the Mansion ... and asks for a retrial.
"Mending Fences"
Rogue and Gambit both suffer through reminders that neither of them can escape their pasts. (Unfinished.)

"Blowing in the Wind"
In honor of the Gambit Guild's "Gambit Day," RogueStar writes a story of reconciliation and hope for Rogue and Gambit.

"The Briar Patch"
A dark, thorny look at how Rogue might internally view her powers. Takes place after Rogue's emergence from the Siege Perilous.

"Cantique Noel"
A series of holiday-themed stories about personal despair and choices for the future, featuring Siryn, Rogue, Gambit and Marrow.

Christmas 1998
A series of three stories written as a gift for the mailing lists Southern Comfort and Gambit Guild.
"Frankincense" - featuring Gambit and Bebete (the green mist lady)
"Gold" - featuring Cyclops and Phoenix
"Myrrh" - featuring Rogue, Gambit and Nightcrawler

"Demain des l'aube"
Rogue mourns the death of her mother and plans to pass Raven's teachings on to her own unborn child.

"The Eighth Color of the Rainbow"
After his "death" at the end of the Magneto War, Joseph makes one last trip to Salem Center to say a very special goodbye.

"Fallen Skies"
In a pocket universe where Rogue stayed in the service of her foster mother Mystique, Rogue becomes known as the woman who killed Magneto. (Unfinished.)

"For My Daughter"
A woman in Mississippi writes a long-overdue letter to her daughter.

"Forever"
Rogue and Gambit think back to when they once decided to break up for good -- and laugh at their younger selves' naivete. Written in response to the recent X-book writing/editorial decision to break them up.

"The Happiest Night"
Just before Rogue and Remy are set to leave for their honeymoon, Rogue finally reveals the real reasons she's so uneasy about being with him. A response to Rogue and Gambit's rumored break-up in Gambit #16.

"The Horse of Another Color"
Magnus, the Mage, demands a tithe from a small town every month. This time, he wants the townspeople to deliver Rogue as his tribute, or else find for him the mythical horse of a different color. (Unfinished. In revision.)
"The Sword and the Rose"
Sabrina and Remy LeBeau settle into their new roles as husband and wife as they train and prepare to defend themselves in a world that has become even more uncertain. (Unfinished.)

"I Am"
Rogue asks Gambit to accept the real her. A response to "All's Fair..." by R.V. Bemis.

"Indian Summer"
Rogue and Gambit make their piece and decide to get back together. In response to Gambit #16.

"The Intolerable"
In a different world, Mystique had early ties to the Thieves Guild and sent Rogue to New Orleans to study the arts of thievery.

"Jazz"
Gambit offers Jean a small comfort as she grieves over Cyclops' apparent death. Inspired by UXM #386.

"Last Dance"
As Rogue lay dying, probably of the Legacy Virus, Gambit fulfills her final wish: one last dance.

"The Magician and the Butterfly"
Sabine Robbins leaves her settled life with Cody as a farmer's wife and runs away with a circus magician. Told from mulitple perspectives.

"A Matter of Pryde"
When Soldier Alpha escapes the project and joins the rebels, it is up to a Black Striper to bring her to justice. Unfinished.

"Miss American Pie"
Rogue stares at her reflection in the mirror and evaluates what she is -- and isn't. X-Men: Evolution universe.

"The Queen and the Hunter"
Barely more than a child when she married Magnus, Rogue quietly defers to her husband, then feels the urge to rebel. Age of Apocalypse.

"Return to the Rooftop"
As they settle into their new roles as leaders of the X-Men, Rogue and Gambit try to settle into another role as well: platonic friends.

"Sek, Lies and Videotape"
(with Keri Wilson)
After their wedding, Rogue and Gambit record a farewell message of sorts for Sehkmet Conoway. Sillyfic.

Sim Salem Project
An ongoing series of stories in which Rogue and Gambit are living a happy suburban life with their precocious son, Luc.
• "Confiteor"
• "The Cherry Cookie Incident"
• "The Sphinx's Question"
• "Gotta Learn Them All"
• "Happy Anniversary!"
• "Home Nursing"
• "Saturday Morning in Salem Center"
• "The Cabbage Patch"

"Smoke and Mirrors"
Centering on the relationship between Rogue and Remy and on the growing human intolerance of mutants, this story begins (in terms of "normal" continuity) just before Bishop joins the team and ends just after LegionQuest.

"Snapshot"
(With Alexis)
When Mercy LeBeau comes to deliver some news to Gambit, she falls in lust with Iceman and chaos ensues. (Unfinished.)

"Solitaire"
After coming back home to the X-Mansion, many of the X-Men, including Rogue and Colossus, try to make peace with the ghosts in their lives. (Unfinished.)

"Trials"
(With Faith Barnett)
Just after the Trial of UXM 350, the various X-Men try to get on with their lives. (Unfinished.)

"A Walk in the Woods"
Banished to the woods after her disastrous encounter with Cody, Rogue is suspicious when she meets a beautiful woman who wants to take care of her.

"A Window to Her Soul"
Colossus awakens and finds inspiration in Rogue's sleeping form.

elsewhere in Alykat's World:

"The Morning Paper"
Hank and Bobby miss seeing their favorite comic strip in the Sunday paper. A tribute to Peanuts creator Charles Schulz.
(at (un)frozen and Stars & Garters)

E-mail: brucepat@iafrica.com

Web sites: textualchemy, RogueStar's Galaxy, Caldecott, Doctor in the House

The Queen and the Hunter
by RogueStar

Author's Notes

I'm going to try and address some of these issues in public, because I had them when I was writing them. I really was in two minds about posting this, because there were parts of it that I knew would be controversial, because there were parts of it that caused me to stop and wonder whether it would happen, because there were parts of it that made me going "uh, this is going to be a problem." Just so people know, I did think this through before I posted it. :)

• The main problem is Magnus being abusive. I think he has the ... potential to be abusive. There was always a paternalistic note to his relationship with Rogue. He was the one responsible for her upbringing. That note of responsibility for her development and her behaviour could so easily extend into his marriage to her. His expectations of her could so easily be enforced through "physical discipline," as he used to see her as a daughter-figure.

• Mmm, I knew people would have a problem with Rogue abandoning Charles. I had one myself with it, and thought "oh, good lord, what am I writing? She loves Charles. She wouldn't leave him to her abusive husband." But there were multiple reasons I chose to do so. Firstly, Magneto did define her partially as Mother. You see it when they're together with Charles. He constantly refers to her as Mother, even when he's speaking directly to her. It's the first step to finding a self-definition outside of Mother and Wife. Secondly, Magnus would not leave her alone if she took their son with her. Charles is his heir in more than one sense, and he would hunt her down until he got him back. It was very cold and calculating of Rogue, yes, but she needed to be free in every sense and Charles was a link back to her old life. (Ironically, she's traded one set of chains for another, but that's another story. Probably not a sequel, however, unless I hear another Dido song. Honestly OK might do it. ;) ) Thirdly, a part of her resents Charles, genuinely does hate him, because he represents another lever Magneto had on her: "Be a good mother". "I will help you touch him, but only if you stick with me." etc...

• Did I intend Rogue to look bad? Hard to say. I didn't want to depict her as the innocent victim who escapes from the relationship as pure and as perfect as untrammelled snow, who is passive and sweet and untouched by what happened to her. I deliberately used very ugly, violent images to describe the awakening of her sense that she wanted to be free of her abusive relationship. There's nothing positive about wanting to rip and kill, about the impulses behind war and hunting. The last paragraph also has a deliberate hardness and savageness to it, if you take words like "hotly", "quick and fierce" etc...

• Personally, I don't think Gambit knew she was being abused, and I should have perhaps made comments to that effect in the story. They barely saw each other in the series, and, when they did, she was incredibly cold and bitter towards him.

• Finally, I don't think people got the irony I intended at the end, which is probably my fault as a writer. Rogue does not have a way of defining herself except in a relationship. She's seen herself as defined in relation to Magneto and his expectations for so long that she doesn't have a self-image of her own. All she's doing now is defining herself in relation to Remy, in relation to the better, healthier view he has of her. If you tie that back to the song I used, it's the same as her wanting to be a hunter, to make those decisions for herself, yet asking her abusive lover to let her go. It's a lack of self-definition in relation to self. It's seeing herself as ultimately dependant on somebody else. Also, practically, she lacks resources. It'd be seeking refuge with somebody or living on the streets. That's no choice at all in my opinion. So, I wasn't positing love with a nice man as a solution for any abusive relationship. I get irritated by the amount of them that end with knight in shining armour beating up abusive husband and saving damsel. I was positing it as an ending to Rogue's specific situation.

Au revoir,
Karen

 

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