So.

[anghraine]

I should probably just permanently move Unpopular Opinion Day to Saturday. Anyway, I'm not doing it today because I have another, crucially important thing to spend my space on: a drabblefest!

It's actually been a year since the last one (!), but they were lots and lots of fun and I've wanted to dip back into Austen again, so. I've started another drabblefest over at my livejournal -- this time the theme is alternate pairings, which (I hope) has lots of potential for fun and crack and thinky stuff. So if you've ever wanted to read or write one but don't want to commit to a full story/face the wrath of the fandom/whatever, feel free to hop over for it.

So that's my self-promotion for the day. Oh, and look, I even have an appropriate icon.

Comments

[katharhino]

Hi - so I noticed you just added me. I meant to comment when I started following you, but um... now I can't remember if I did or not. Which is bad. Sorry about that. If I didn't: here's an introduction. Someone linked to a post you'd written, from the DWG. I think it might have been about the never ending shy!Darcy debate, or personality type, or something along those lines? Anyway, I followed you because it was well-written and I also like Star Wars although I've never been involved in the fandom. It took a while before I realized you are Elizabeth Hooton. I'm Katharine T at DWG, btw. *shakes hands*

[anghraine]

Hi! I'd meant to add you back as soon as I realized you were Katharine T (Everingham fan here!) but only got around to managing my circle last night, so, yeah. Anyway, I'm very glad you liked the meta (and awesome, another Austen + SW fan: we are few and far between, I gather). Thanks! (And ha, yes, I am Elizabeth Hooton/Elizabeth H/Anghraine/Peradan/Elizabeth B/etc.) *shakes back*

-- Elizabeth-of-the-many-pseudonyms

[katharhino]

Granting you access. My journal is lots of personal life stuff, which is why it's restricted, but I do occasionally post about writing and reading and other things you may find interesting. Am considering doing NaNo again this year so I may blather about that in the near future. (Yes, I always wait until literally the last minute before deciding to do NaNo.)

I'm very flattered you liked "Everingham"!

Don't know why we should be few and far between, since they are both clearly awesome things with awesome characters. Hmph.

(I have few pseudonyms. I am Katharhino everwhere except DWG.)

[anghraine]

Ah, thanks! Writing stuff is always interesting (and I, ah, haven't decided about Nano either, but maybe, and then there will be blathering on my side too).

I almost didn't read Everingham, because I do not like Henry Crawford at all but I adore Mary Crawford, but I'm very glad I did. It's probably the only Henry/Fanny that was (1) convincing, and (2) not super creepy. Also, it didn't have that "I know better than you, Jane Austen! nyah!" tone you get with the pairing sometimes. (Which sounds a lot like "I didn't hate your fic and this is why" but I really did enjoy it on its own!)

they are both clearly awesome things with awesome characters.

Cosigning this! Though I can only imagine the flamewars, so perhaps it is for the best.

[katharhino]

NO, that's actually the nicest compliment to receive on Everingham, since my goal in writing it was pretty much exactly "come up with a way to do Henry/Fanny that is convincing and not-creepy." And I DO very much love MP as it stands, even Edmund, so I'm glad that came through as well.

I've read your stuff in the past too, but sadly *cough* nothing finished.

[anghraine]

Oh, awesome. I love MP -- I think it's the best of the Austen novels, but so much of the fic is icky at some level. I also like Edmund; he's rather like a more nuanced Bingley to me. (Personally, I love Fanny and Mary and Sir Thomas.) Also, the mere existence of an alternate pairing fic is sort of inherently gleeful.

Ahahahahaha, um, well, yeah. I've finished maybe ... five? On the upside, I finally gave in and just made an OMG IDEA FOR A STORY doc/post for future reference, and don't start new ones unless I seriously mean to finish them. (On the downside, the Austen Plot Bunny post alone is currently at fifty-five. Gah.)

[katharhino]

Can I just take a moment and squee to someone who understands, about how complex and layered and incredibly well-written MP is?? NONE of the characters is completely likable in every way, but they're all likable in some way... well, except for Mrs. N I suppose. Love it! I think Emma may be a little more tightly plotted, but MP is just so... deep.

Interesting Edmund/Bingley comparison. I once wrote a post about how I think Fanny is the introverted version of Marianne Dashwood, but I hadn't made the connection between Edmund and Bingley. I can totally see it, though.

Also, the mere existence of an alternate pairing fic is sort of inherently gleeful. Muahaha. So not just me, then.

I'm reading First Impressions as you're posting it here, anyway. I like the way your brain works.

I was going to write about this in connection with NaNoing, but I don't have that plot bunny problem at all. I have very few plot bunnies, and they take a loooooong time to marinate in my head before I'm ready to write them.

[anghraine]

Oh man, this is amazing. So much of the time it's all about how it fails, and I'm perpetually confused because it DOESN'T FAIL. Unless you think it's supposed to be Pride and Prejudice or something, in which case, yes.

What I love about it, I think, is how difficult it is. So much of the time it seems that the attractiveness of a character's personality, once you have all the relevant information about them, is directly proportional to their moral worth. I love that in MP, the "bad guys" are drawn so sympathetically that plenty of people want them to win, the "good guys" can be self-righteous and annoying (but are still good and have plenty of moral ground to stand on, tyvm), and the most thorough character arc is probably the overbearing parent's. There's so much stuff there to think about, really.

Oh, I can definitely see Fanny as a sort of withdrawn Marianne -- they're very much what I call Muffins. They've even got the rhapsodies about nature.

Personally, she reminds me a lot of Georgiana Darcy, and the entire Henry-Fanny dynamic feels like a much, much more subtle version of Wickham's predation. But then, Georgiana is a total Muffin herself.

Ha, no, not just you. I remember writing Darcy/Mary Crawford and cackling the whole time. (Okay, and Darcy/Emma. And the only problem with that one is that I'm secretly convinced they're twins separated at birth to protect them from their natural mother, Lady Susan.)

I'm reading First Impressions as you're posting it here, anyway. I like the way your brain works.

Oh, thanks! I'd assumed you'd read stuff at the DWG, not here. So, ah, I should probably get around to finishing the posts. Oops.