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ricardienne) wrote2020-12-27 03:49 pm
ricardienne) wrote2020-12-27 03:49 pm
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Yuletide Recs
I think I won Yuletide this year. I nominated and requested A Lady of Quality, by Frances Hodgson Burnett, a very odd proto- Georgian-romance novel whose heroine is almost an antiheroine, and who is far more like the standard Regency-romance Tall Dark and Arrogant Hero Who Must Be Redeemed By The Love of a Good Woman than anything else. And someone wrote me the most wonderful fic for it!
The Manners of a Gentleman (A Lady of Quality series, 4.5k, T)
It has literally everything I could have wanted: Clorinda in all of her magnificent cold-blooded glory as avenging angel! Anne coming a little bit into her own! Cross-dressing (although not where you might expect)! A really wonderful suggestion about Clorinda's marriage that I want to make my headcanon! Style that perfectly mimics the original novel and the ethos of the period it depicts! Some amazingly purple passages that FHB just wishes she could have thought of for describing just how majestically beautiful her heroine is!
If you're a fan of earlier-setting Regencies and Georgian romances (think These Old Shades, Devil's Cub, and so on), I think you might find this an enjoyable romp even if you haven't read the novel it's based on. But if you enjoy that type of novel, I think you might enjoy A Lady of Quality as well as "The Manners of Gentleman"!
Here are some other recs, in no particular order:
First Century CE RPF
To Sleep is to Die (Pliny the Elder/Titus Flavius Vespasianus, 3k, T)
A natural philosopher and dedicated bureaucrat of the Empire faces the death he knows is coming and does his duty to the lat, while reflecting back on the emperor he's doing it for. It's an incredible success of getting into the head of a mid-century equestrian of high-rank; it's full of delightful and bizarre "facts" from Pliny's unending store of scientific investigation (FERRETS). It's the melancholy retrospective Pliny/Titus fic you've been waiting for ever since you read the preface to the NH.
Punic Wars RPF
pacem pati non potuisti (Hannibal Barca/Scipio Africanus the Elder, 3K, G)
Epistolary fic between Scipio and Hannibal from the end of the Second Punic War to the beginning of Rome's War with Antiochus. Or to put it less technically: from rivals eager to impress each other to mutual admirers to cherished rivals to friends to the only other person who understands. It's funny, and then adorable, and then poignant. You don't really need to know the history to enjoy it, but if you do know the history, you will EXTRA enjoy it.
The Zenda Novels - Anthony Hope
A Royal Duty (G, 700 words) - a short but very well done look into an alternate universe where Rudolph remains in Ruritania, until Victoria's death is the opportunity to return to England for a visit in a very different state than he left it. Carefully written, and melancholy, and very much the ending I WANTED Rupert of Hentzau to have.
Upstairs/Downstairs (1971)
All the Way Home(G, 1.5k)
A very sweet and perfectly characterized pre-canon moment about Rose, newly arrived at Eaton Place, and Elizabeth, still a child but already headstrong. Reading it is like catching part of your favorite episode the show while you have a nice cup of tea while cozily wrapped in a blanket: most of the characters pop in briefly, and its comforting, familiar, but still gives you a little bit to think about.
The Locked Tomb Trilogy - Tamsyn Muir (I haven't read nearly through all the fics, but here are a couple that I particularly loved)
None Wedding with Left Pining (T, Gideon/Harrow, 2.3k).
Extremely cute: a fake-marriage AU for Harrow and Gideon that splits off before the Lyctor trials are announced and captures all the great weird things about the Ninth and its two terrible but wonderful teenage children.
But Blow the Wind (T, Augustine/Mercymorn, 1.2k).
An Emma!AU that is just perfect in the distribution of characters and conveying the hilarity of both Emma and Harrow the Ninth in extremely efficient scenes. Possibly the best ratio of brilliant lines to length of any fic I've read so far this year. Trust me: you need to read this one.
The Manners of a Gentleman (A Lady of Quality series, 4.5k, T)
It has literally everything I could have wanted: Clorinda in all of her magnificent cold-blooded glory as avenging angel! Anne coming a little bit into her own! Cross-dressing (although not where you might expect)! A really wonderful suggestion about Clorinda's marriage that I want to make my headcanon! Style that perfectly mimics the original novel and the ethos of the period it depicts! Some amazingly purple passages that FHB just wishes she could have thought of for describing just how majestically beautiful her heroine is!
If you're a fan of earlier-setting Regencies and Georgian romances (think These Old Shades, Devil's Cub, and so on), I think you might find this an enjoyable romp even if you haven't read the novel it's based on. But if you enjoy that type of novel, I think you might enjoy A Lady of Quality as well as "The Manners of Gentleman"!
Here are some other recs, in no particular order:
First Century CE RPF
To Sleep is to Die (Pliny the Elder/Titus Flavius Vespasianus, 3k, T)
A natural philosopher and dedicated bureaucrat of the Empire faces the death he knows is coming and does his duty to the lat, while reflecting back on the emperor he's doing it for. It's an incredible success of getting into the head of a mid-century equestrian of high-rank; it's full of delightful and bizarre "facts" from Pliny's unending store of scientific investigation (FERRETS). It's the melancholy retrospective Pliny/Titus fic you've been waiting for ever since you read the preface to the NH.
Punic Wars RPF
pacem pati non potuisti (Hannibal Barca/Scipio Africanus the Elder, 3K, G)
Epistolary fic between Scipio and Hannibal from the end of the Second Punic War to the beginning of Rome's War with Antiochus. Or to put it less technically: from rivals eager to impress each other to mutual admirers to cherished rivals to friends to the only other person who understands. It's funny, and then adorable, and then poignant. You don't really need to know the history to enjoy it, but if you do know the history, you will EXTRA enjoy it.
The Zenda Novels - Anthony Hope
A Royal Duty (G, 700 words) - a short but very well done look into an alternate universe where Rudolph remains in Ruritania, until Victoria's death is the opportunity to return to England for a visit in a very different state than he left it. Carefully written, and melancholy, and very much the ending I WANTED Rupert of Hentzau to have.
Upstairs/Downstairs (1971)
All the Way Home(G, 1.5k)
A very sweet and perfectly characterized pre-canon moment about Rose, newly arrived at Eaton Place, and Elizabeth, still a child but already headstrong. Reading it is like catching part of your favorite episode the show while you have a nice cup of tea while cozily wrapped in a blanket: most of the characters pop in briefly, and its comforting, familiar, but still gives you a little bit to think about.
The Locked Tomb Trilogy - Tamsyn Muir (I haven't read nearly through all the fics, but here are a couple that I particularly loved)
None Wedding with Left Pining (T, Gideon/Harrow, 2.3k).
Extremely cute: a fake-marriage AU for Harrow and Gideon that splits off before the Lyctor trials are announced and captures all the great weird things about the Ninth and its two terrible but wonderful teenage children.
But Blow the Wind (T, Augustine/Mercymorn, 1.2k).
An Emma!AU that is just perfect in the distribution of characters and conveying the hilarity of both Emma and Harrow the Ninth in extremely efficient scenes. Possibly the best ratio of brilliant lines to length of any fic I've read so far this year. Trust me: you need to read this one.