Anghraine

I am pretty sure I stole this from meridian_rose! I do love me a fic meme :D

Rules: go to your AO3 account and find the following:

1. What rating do you write most of your fics under?

Overwhelmingly general, at 165 out of 222 fics. This isn't that surprising—maybe a bit more than I expected, but I can be a bit skittish about romance for someone who likes it a lot.

2. What are your top three fandoms?

In a totally shocking twist: Star Wars, Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen, and Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien. The gap between the first two (tied at 67 fics each) and LOTR (27) is pretty vast, and the "real" #3 was the fandom tag for the SW original trilogy specifically. I know I often feel uncomfortable writing Tolkien fic, much more than Austen or SW, despite writing so much meta about Middle-earth, so again, this isn't a big surprise.

3. What is the top character you write about?

I am extremely sure this one is going to be Darcy!

Yup, it was! He's tagged in 53 fics to Elizabeth's 43, with Luke and Leia following closely at 39 and 34.

4. What are the top three pairings you write about?

The first is, of course, Darcy/Elizabeth, the unbeatable victor of all such contests when it comes to me. It has twenty more fics than the runner-up, which of course is Jyn/Cassian (a big gap, though Darcy/Elizabeth has the advantage of very considerable seniority; I wrote my first D/E fic in 2005, while Jyn and Cassian didn't even exist until 2016). The third most-common romantic pairing in my fics is ... honestly, I think it's got to be Cesare/Lucrezia from The Borgias. I know, I know! And yup, it's got 11 fics, trailing behind platonic Luke and Leia fics (12), Jyn/Cassian (19), and Darcy/Elizabeth (39).

5. What are the top three additional tags?

I wondered if the "always a different sex" tag would hit the top three, but let's see ... actually, no! It's only at #4, following from three rather boring winners. My most common additional tag is "Canon Compliant" (71), "One Shot" (66), and "Drabble" (39). I'm guessing there is quite a lot of overlap between these. The only specific premises or subjects to appear in any of the top ten are the genderbending tags (these days I typically use "Always A Different Sex" but I used to use the vaguer "Gender Changes" tag) and the "Brother-Sister Relationships" tag. If there isn't overlap between the two genderbending tags, together they would actually beat out "Drabble" (the usual tag has 37 fics and the old one 14).

6. Did any of this surprise you?

LOL, not really. I am what I am.

Tagging: croclock, alias_sqbr, sixbeforelunch, elperian, brynnmclean, heckofabecca, incognitajones, and lizbee, if any of you want to do it!

kungfunurse said:

Hiya! So I’m re-reading S&S (as one does) and I’ve got a couple of questions. 1) Do you think Mr. Palmer is on the autistic spectrum? The way he misses most social cues and whatnot - idk. And 2) Would it have been normal at the time for Marianne to go months without hearing from Willoughby and still not suspect that he’s lost interest, or was this another example of her being lost in fantasy? Thanks!!

I replied:

1) I honestly don’t know. I haven’t read S&S in a long time, so it’s hard to say. I’ll keep an eye out next time, though!

2) Willoughby couldn’t write openly to Marianne without raising very serious general expectations, so that’s probably how she justifies his silence to herself.

As a sidenote, this is why Darcy hand-delivers his letter to Elizabeth—it would be exceptionally awkward for her if he sent a letter. It’s also significant that the Gardiners wonder if he’s going to send a letter/note after Elizabeth when they leave Pemberley—they’re guessing that Elizabeth and Darcy’s relationship has advanced much further than it really has.

I'm taking a brief break from my dissertation to ... uh, amuse myself by figuring out my readers' ranking of my genderbending fics on AO3.

Rules I'm applying: 1) I'm only including fic verses that are collectively at least 2000 words long because, well, I do have to go back to the diss, 2) verses comprised of multiple fics are ranked according to either the popularity of the series as a whole or the most popular individual fic (depending on which is higher; not combining them because there's a lot of overlap), 3) I'm considering both bookmarks and kudos in my judgment—we'll see if it makes a difference, and 4) I'm ignoring everything with less than 30 kudos and 5 bookmarks.

1. First Impressions | 215 bookmarks | 876 kudos | genderbent characters: Elizabeth Bennet (-> Henry Bennet) and Fitzwilliam Darcy (-> Catherine Darcy)

This is a genderswapped retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in its original period (not really a true "what if"). All stats are specifically for the original (completed) 36k fic. It individually beats out every possible stat for every other fic in the series as well as the series as a whole. (Note: The overall series is 44k words long.)

2. Lucy Skywalker series | 163 bookmarks | 406 kudos (The Jedi and the Sith Lord) | genderbent characters: Luke Skywalker (-> Lucy Skywalker)

This is a genderbent AU that mostly, but not completely, sticks to the rails of canon until the end of the ESB timeline, at which point it swerves into the "real" AU. The Jedi and the Sith Lord is the sequel to The Imperial Menace/the ESB plot, and the third fic in the main series, focusing on the consequences of Vader capturing Lucy. It's technically completed at 70k, but only in the sense that it explores what happens to/with Lucy and Vader until the nature of her captivity fundamentally changes, and everything after that will be a separate fic but hasn't been written yet. Although none of the individual fics have as many bookmarks as the series as a whole, my #2, #3, and #4 most bookmarked genderbent fics are all for the Lucyverse. (Note: the overall series is 129k words long.)

3. Love, Pride & Delicacy | 25 bookmarks | 163 kudos | genderbent characters: Fitzwilliam Darcy (-> Catherine Darcy, for convenience)

This is an actual Elizabeth/f!Darcy "what if" femslash AU rather than a retelling, though a slow one—it's still early in the overall story at 25k. It's also placed in the original P&P setting. There is no wider series.

4. The Lady of Gondor | 25 bookmarks | 119 kudos (we also are daughters of the great) | genderbent characters: Faramir (-> Fíriel)

This is a deeply self-indulgent Aragorn/f!Faramir/Éowyn AU, though it's not only a WIP but split into different vaguely related fics (some of which are also WIPs!) about some aspect of the verse in relation to Fíriel. I think the norms of Gondor and Middle-earth make the gender change particularly significant (in some ways more than any other verse), so actual plot and relationship changes tend to be the focus. The kudos are for the specific linked fic, which is a WIP at nearly 5k and the most Éowyn-centric of them. (Note: the overall series is about 9.5k words long.)

5. The Edge of Darkness | 17 bookmarks | 106 kudos | genderbent characters: Tarrlok (-> Taraka)

This is a genderbent f!Tarrlok AU, though told entirely from Noatak/Amon's perspective, and to some extent more about the impact on him than on Taraka herself (though she's extremely important to the fic). Even more than that, the linked fic is focused on the effect of the change on their family dynamics as children, until teenage Noatak leaves her behind per canon. The fic can look like a retelling à la First Impressions, since the basic plot points don't change, but the larger series is on course to swerve into full "what if" territory as well. However, like First Impressions, these stats are all for the completed opening fic (18k) and not the longer WIP series (32k), which is temporarily paused at the point where 37-year-old Taraka openly identifies Amon as Noatak. CW: child abuse.

6. Blood and Fire | 16 bookmarks | 67 kudos | genderbent characters: Tarrlok (-> Taraka) and Noatak (-> Nataka)

This is a dark(er) AU of The Edge of Darkness in which Noatak/Amon is also genderbent, and the bloodbending siblings never separated. Taraka fled home with Nataka back in the day, they only grew closer (...too close), and although Taraka still ended up on the Republic City council, her true loyalty is to Amon. She promptly turns Korra over when Amon shows up, which is where the fic begins; it's told entirely through Korra's attempts to navigate her circumstances as a prisoner of the Equalists. CW: incest, complicated F/F/F dubcon??? emotional bonding kink with occasional violence yet little overt romance and no sex. I am what I am. The stats are for the completed (though deliberately ambiguous) main fic, which is 10k, and not the side fics or the series as a whole (13k).

7. The Queer Rogue One AU | 12 bookmarks | 57 kudos (the words we've both fallen under) | genderbent characters: Cassian Andor (-> Cassia Andor)

This is, on one level, a relatively straightforward genderbent!Cassian AU that is more or less complete at 13k. The underlying concepts are: a) what if my male fave was a hot lesbian and my ship was f/f and b) what if we headcanon every single member of the main team as queer in some capacity :D and c) the SW universe is so blatantly patriarchal in the films that it's a particularly interesting setting for exploring the effects of the gender change on someone like Cassia, a female revolutionary and spy :D :D. It's a little challenging to properly evaluate where it sits wrt stats because I revised the scattered, vaguely connected scraps of the universe into a single fic through both sentence-level revisions and significant additions, but that revision is only on Tumblr (where the link currently goes to, sorry) and my GoogleDrive, not AO3. It's not even a series in my heart! But it is on AO3. Evaluate as you will, but when I finally get around to converting the AO3 version to the correct format this may or may not change. For now this is where it goes by AO3 stats.

8. Daughters of Númenor series | 5 bookmarks | 33 kudos (the voices of the sea) | genderbent characters: all Númenórean throwbacks in LOTR, but specifically Aragorn (-> Aranor), Faramir (-> Míriel), Denethor (-> Andreth), and Imrahil (-> Imraphel)

As might be guessed, this is an AU where every Númenórean throwback mentioned in LOTR is genderbent (in the backstory, this also includes Ivriniel and Finduilas of Dol Amroth, who become Túrin, Prince of Dol Amroth, and Gwindor of Dol Amroth). It's Aranor/Míriel and definitely focused on them despite the broader change (where Arwen is a non-factor for the OT3 in The Lady of Gondor because she went to Valinor with Celebrían, she actually is present in Middle-earth in this series, though unfortunately very straight). While Fíriel in The Lady of Gondor was never expected to be a warrior and gets on reasonably well with Denethor, this AU is more about the broader effects—so even though we rarely see f!Denethor/Andreth, it's significant that she was a trailblazer as a female warrior, loremaster, and ultimately the first female ruler of Gondor, inadvertently laying a foundation that Aranor could build on later (which would have horrified Andreth herself!). The specific fic with the most kudos in the series, linked above, is a nearly 2k fic about the effect of Faramir's canonical visions on Míriel. (Note: the overall series is currently 3k words long.)

I have a longer post in drafts about it, but … one of the things I really enjoy about Austen is that she doesn’t hold back judgment of her characters or even altogether deny them agency (though her fandom sometimes does!), but she also frequently goes out of her way to highlight the experiences that have influenced their development into who they are.

Especially (though not exclusively) when it comes to her main characters, her good people aren’t good because they just had the innate moral fortitude to shrug off their upbringings or the things that have happened to them, which seems to be a lot of people’s idea of goodness. Austen main characters are good people and they’re impacted by their experiences and have qualities (often flaws) that clearly arise more out of upbringing than any essential underlying characteristic. Goodness isn’t just about super-resilience, but neither is experience wholly defining.

It’s not at all restricted to Austen, of course, but even now (…particularly now), it’s so refreshing.

Tagged: #i'm so tired of the resilience narrative or blank slate narrative #and i was thinking of how elizabeth/darcy is one of comparatively few ships i'm really into where the characters #are just about squeaky clean—and i think part of it (aside of their general magnificence lol) is it's not a magic resilience thing at all #she is extremely clear about the ways in which they have been influenced—mostly for the worse—by their experiences #they're allowed to be good AND to be affected by their lives in natural ways #shouldn't be as refreshing as it is but it's one of the things i keep going back for

[ETA 4/30/2024: I was also thinking about Mr Collins, of all people—Austen doesn't justify him in any way, obviously, but also doesn't try to pretend that his upbringing and history aren't what made him who he is. The effects of education, upbringing, and general history on people's characters and morals are a constant preoccupation of her books, IMO.]

An anon asked:

Do you think Darcy's shy? I see a lot on tumblr about it but I've never been completely convinced. I don't see him as being particularly shy or embarrassed until after Elizabeth has rejected him. I'd love to know your thoughts

I replied:

I don’t think Austen’s Darcy is shy as such (though the reading goes back a long ways), but I do think he is quite genuinely uncomfortable in a broad range of social situations.

I don’t think he’s manufacturing or exaggerating his discomfort and difficulties with people when he discusses them at Rosings, say. And I think we see it pretty early on when (as one instance) he has to come up with an intermediary step to work himself up to talking to Elizabeth when he’s only just become interested in her.

And while it’s later, I think the efforts that Elizabeth goes to during their engagement to shield him from situations he finds difficult make a lot more sense (and are much more satisfying, character-wise) if there’s a real inherent discomfort she’s trying to ameliorate. IMO the dynamic there at the end is an “answer” of sorts to the discussion at Rosings, when Darcy didn’t see the need to put in any effort, and Elizabeth was completely dismissive of his difficulties; in the end, Darcy puts in effort and Elizabeth tries to help him.

That all said, discomfort is not the same as shyness—I don’t think he’s at all insecure or timid the way that some people suggest, or the way Georgiana is. He’s introverted, but he’s also straightforward and confident. He just has some people issues.

beatrice_otter responded to this post:

Elizabeth is very sheltered, young, and relatively privileged compared to 99% of the people in England. She’s probably never really thought about power, that much, or how easily it is abused. Well, she’s probably seen abusive husbands and definitely seen neglectful/rude husbands (her dad), but there’s a gap between “this specific relationship can be Bad” and “there are a variety of relationships that can be Bad because there is a common factor (power) and how a person treats people in X circumstance is a pretty good indicator of how they’ll treat people in Y circumstance.”

And then she goes to Pemberly, and meets Mrs. Reynolds, and Mrs. Gardiner points out obliquely why Mrs. Reynolds’ report is worth considering, and Elizabeth puts all the pieces together. She’s smart, just sheltered.

“Oh, yeah! A guy who has power over a lot of people and takes care to treat them well, will probably treat other people in his power well. A guy who treats his servants and his sister/ward in such a way that they love and respect him would probably also treat his wife in such a way that she could love and respect him.”

It’s an important point.

I replied:

I sort of agree (though I don’t think Elizabeth’s epiphany here actually owes anything to Mrs Gardiner beyond what she generally owes the Gardiners; she gets there on her own). But I would disagree a bit about the significance that she sees in the extent of his power and how he uses it.

I don’t think his treatment of the vulnerable people within the range of his power—his underage sister, his housekeeper, his other servants, his tenants, the local poor—operates purely (or perhaps even primarily) as an index for how he’d treat his wife, even for Elizabeth. I’d argue that what strikes Elizabeth here is that how Darcy treats those people—people whose welfares she’s never really thought about before—matters enormously in its own right and thus, says a great deal about his general character. That’s certainly relevant to how he might act as a husband and I think she’s aware of it, but her overall thought process here is not particularly self-centered IMO.

An anon said (in clear response to this rant):

A big part of the reason that I don't read Forced Marriage P&P fic is because of the almost universal assumption that a pre-Hunsford Darcy would tyrannize Elizabeth, when it's pretty clear from the text that we're supposed to see his relationship with Georgiana (where his affection is always emphasised) and Mrs Reynold's glowing commendation (sweetest-tempered, never had a cross word, etc.) as proof that he's literally the opposite of a tyrant in how he interacts with people.

I replied:

Yes, exactly!

Fans and academics both tend to focus overwhelmingly on what the Pemberley scenes reveal about how Darcy has changed, but Austen dedicates a significant amount of time and space to revealing that Darcy was already different than Elizabeth thought.

Tagged: #tyrannical alpha male darcy is the worst

[ETA 4/2/2024: you can probably guess this, but if you're not particularly familiar with P&P fandom, my anon was referring to a fic trope common to P&P fics called FMS or "Forced Marriage Scenario." This is a fairly specific and formalized genre of P&P fanfic where Elizabeth and Darcy (usually before either has had their character development) are forced into marriage for reasons and they have to learn and grow and fall in love in that context. The reason why they're forced to marry can vary from something relatively believable to comically ludicrous, but it's pretty much always a fairly thin pretext to get them married off before they have matured. At least back when I still read these, FMS fics tended to depict Darcy as much more domineering and "alpha" and generally awful than canon Darcy—most often he is entirely unrecognizable in pretty much the exact way this anon was describing, yet still somehow framed as the only one for Elizabeth.

There are, or were, gentler FMS-adjacent tropes where the appeal is similar, but the author tries to sand down the problematic aspects of it, like AUs where Elizabeth accepts Darcy at Hunsford or shortly thereafter because of [pretext] and you still get the "getting to know each other in the context of engagement/marriage" aspect, but it's voluntary. I do get the appeal of the FMS and its various sister tropes—as a kid, I actually thought it was what was going to happen in P&P itself and was shocked!!!! that they got together in such a different way. But in practice, it's really difficult to manage this trope with P&P in a way that a) makes sense for Elizabeth, b) doesn't make Darcy a monster, c) doesn't fall into weird gender essentialist heteronormative shit, and d) doesn't completely lose the edge. Back in 2006, I was attempting a take on this with Such Terms of Cordiality that completely got rid of the consent issues by having Darcy and Elizabeth meet on much better terms, fall into a sort of calf love that would lead them to voluntarily marrying before they'd had their character arcs, and meant to focus on their clashes and growth within their marriage—but tbh I got distracted by subplots and wandered off.]

I’m a grown adult in my 30s, so obviously my thoughts periodically just wander off into “what if there was some AU with like, idk, combination transformations like Steven Universe, but kind of crossed with She-Ra, that create these ultra-superpowered combo/alternate selves, but only very few people are compatible enough to make it work … and obviously those people are my OTPs …”

Tagged: #i unironically amuse myself by imagining how i'd make it work for my peak otp #like there's this stealth magical society but nobody knows for sure unless they actually see someone performing magic #a lot of people genuinely don't know about it and a lot of magic folk assume the people they meet aren't magic #but they don't know #i'm thinking that the bingleys are quite genuinely non-magical and oblivious to the whole hidden magical society #some of the bennets are magical and most of them are in on it and they assume the whole netherfield party is oblivious #darcy of course is actually a mage on a par with elizabeth #but ultra-careful about not revealing it right until a major force shows up to fuck with the bennets #and bingley is incidentally injured and darcy is just like... hell with this and starts freezing people to trees #bingley: wait you're...???? #elizabeth: wait i was...wrong? #darcy: 'okay apparently i'm going to just... publicly do this... my family is NOT going to be happy #okay regrets later giant ice spikes now' #and anyway there's all this magical energy going on and elizabeth and darcy bump into each other on accident #and people have even actively tried to magically meld into a magic superbeing but they just can't #cue MAGICAL TRANSFORMATION SEQUENCE. lots of sparkles and swirly lights and glowy eyes #and when it settles there's like... this incredibly tall and attractive person who runs at maximum 'FIGHT ME' at all times #like she's ... part of the joy of imagining elizabeth+darcy is just imagining how incredibly arrogant their combo self would be lol #but genuinely brilliant and powerful and charismatic! just ridiculously proud though #bonus scenario: they don't know how to revert back and jane is like ... this is ... um... my cousin. miss ... dar...net. darnet. yes. #jane: it will look strange if you do not attend the ball but you do not need to be afraid! i will talk if you are uncomfortable and- #miss darnet: i fear nothing #i don't even know how to tag this organizationally

One of the things I love about Darcy canonically having to work himself up to talking to Elizabeth when he first gets interested in her is that … honestly, it’s not that his feelings for her at that point are all that strong.

I mean, it takes him time to get there! He’ll later say that falling in love with her happened gradually. He’s just kind of reluctantly intrigued when he has the genius idea that maybe listening to her talk to other people will make it easier to talk to her himself. A great passion for Elizabeth isn’t making him like that; his own personality is.

There are also later events and conversations that suggest he is genuinely awkward and uneasy around people he doesn’t know well or isn’t comfortable with, and a few occasions when he talks about jarring people in general. Those aside, though, his “what if … I just listened to her talk …?” lightbulb moment always has a special awkward turtleduck charm for me.

And it’s all the more delightful because he is otherwise a stubborn, straightforward, frequently arrogant human being. But when he’s out of his depth, he’s really out of his depth, even when he’s trying harder. And even then, Austen is insistent on this as a character detail alongside his ultra-competence in so many other ways and … what a fave!! <3

Tagged: #have i mentioned lately that i love book!darcy a LOT??? (she says after having monologued about him for 15 years) #and it's always kind of amazing that he's been so influential and there are so many characters like him but also ... they aren't really? #the blend of assurance and awkwardness is just really hard to carry off imo and she does it /so/ well #where i think a lot of derivative and adaptational versions end up skewing strongly one way or the other #anghraine's meta #sorta #since i don't have a tag for just throwing squee at the page :P #ALSO this is why elizabeth going from 'maybe you should just try :) harder :)))' to trying to shield him is always so dear to me #like #if he's not really awkward and uncomfortable Deep Down then it makes that part of her arc really odd and disconcerting #but if he needs to actually put some effort into social things AND they're genuinely difficult and draining for him #then it becomes this sweet mutuality thing and one of my top fave things about the whole ship #:)

An anon said:

I just reread Subsequent Connections on AO3, and was wondering in that universe, what the Fitzwilliam family reaction would be to a Darcy/Elizabeth relationship? If they had any ambitions for Darcy's marriage, I guess there would be some disappointment with Elizabeth, but at the same time she is family, and the coming back from the dead thing makes it hard to begrudge her I guess! And I'm curious about Lady Catherine's reaction to her daughter being jilted for her favourite niece this time...

I replied:

Yeah, that’s pretty spot-on, I think. One of Lady Catherine’s objections to canon Elizabeth is that she’s unallied to the family at large, which wouldn’t be an issue here, even while they certainly had higher ambitions for Darcy than a quasi-poor relation. But SC!Elizabeth is still a Fitzwilliam and they already love her, so it’s easier.

Also, I imagine that some of the Fitzwilliams would guess what was going on before Elizabeth did herself, lol. Eleanor, certainly James, and oddly enough, probably Milton. Cecily would like to see it but can’t quite associate Darcy with romance. Lord Ancaster is completely oblivious, as is (in a sadder way) Lady Ancaster. And Lady Catherine, of course.

It would definitely be hardest for Lady Catherine, both because of her plans for Anne and Darcy, and because she’s genuinely fond of Elizabeth and has planned for her advancement. I think she’d be less angry, but more upset, if that makes sense (there would still be a Scene) but come around much more quickly when the usurper is an actual Fitzwilliam.