#thinking about bella and georgiana again—i had a lot of fun with the fic where they fell into the river

[anghraine]

The fuller Darcy next-gen headcanon, while I'm at it:

Elizabeth Jane (Lizzy) Darcy. She's quiet, withdrawn, dutiful, and intense. Strong eldest daughter vibes. She's very handsome and expected (not by her parents so much as their wider social circle) to be charming and witty to go with it, like her mother, and is neither; she low-grade resents her while also idolizing her. Gets on well with her father and most of her aunts, but rarely confides in anyone.

Edward Darcy (named for Mr Gardiner and Lord —). He's sensible, down-to-earth, loyal, earnest, and easy-going. Very much wants to live up to his strong sense of responsibility as The Heir. Most people like him well enough without having a strong impression of his feelings or personality. Gets along well with both parents, but is slightly intimidated by his father's sterling reputation and force of presence.

Christopher Darcy (Kit, named after Darcy's father in my headcanons). He's high-spirited, clever, friendly, and very content in his own skin, more so than any of his siblings. Like Edward, he's easy-going and practical, but more energetic. He can be a bit careless and outspoken, even impertinent, while also able to pull on a touch of hauteur when annoyed. His spirits and confidence can make him exasperating at times, but also endearing to pretty much everyone around him, including both parents.

Georgiana Darcy. She has quite a bit in common with her brother Kit; she's not quite as comfortable with herself, but she's at least as fearless and impulsive (Voted Child Most Likely To Give Her Caretakers Headaches). She's quick-witted and can get carried away with her own ideas, but is also gregarious and kind, and readily befriended the family's shy charity case, her cousin Fanny Price Bella Wickham.

Honorable mention next-gen characters: Bess Wickham, the most driven, intelligent, and calculating of the Wickham children; George Wickham, her closest sibling, less ambitious but more careless; Martha Bingley, a bubbly, inquisitive, matchmaking middle Bingley child; and Sarah Gardiner, born a few months after P&P ends, thoughtful, pragmatic, and courteous.

#anghraine babbles #austen blogging #anghraine's headcanon #elizabeth jane darcy #edward darcy #christopher darcy #georgiana darcy (ii) #et al. #long post #long enough to put under a cut anyway! #thinking about bella and georgiana again—i had a lot of fun with the fic where they fell into the river #during a scrape that bella followed along with against her better judgment #and normally darcy is not the main disciplinarian but now and then he'll be 'i am very disappointed' and it's a Dreadful Prospect #it was one of those occasions but for bella the idea that she's allowed and expected to stand up to georgiana was ?????? #i'm also really fond of bess wickham (who is terrible in many ways but fun) #she does want the best for bella and george and the others. but mostly for herself and she goes for it with subtlety but no brakes. #meanwhile edward is in the kind of weird position of being the heir but also overshadowed by his siblings #even lizzy (who is quiet but in a way that's hard to ignore) #but he's reliable and forthright and has a vaguely soothing personality #so i have a soft spot for him too!

[anghraine]

Hello, you have been identified as An Awesome Writer™. Congrats, you rock! So that all of your readers can shower you with some extra love today, please tell us your favourite five (or as many as you want) stories of yours and why you like them and then send this to another five fic authors you think deserve this title! ♥

Thank you, dear! I’m writing a (challenging) Austen paper right now, so I’ll jump back to that fandom for this one. Also, it’s not an authoritative list, just the ones that satisfy me most at the moment. 

1. tolerably well acquainted (AO3)

A canon-compliant expansion of Elizabeth at Pemberley, and specifically on her epiphanies and developing feelings up to the point that Darcy himself appears. This sounds pretentious, but it’s mostly about Elizabeth finally realizing that she finds him really, really hot.

He fell silent for several moments. Just as Elizabeth realized with some horror that she had left him—Mr Darcy—to carry the conversation on his own, he apologized for keeping her and strode away towards his house. She let out a shaking breath.

But, of course, the respite was brief. Her aunt and uncle immediately hurried forward the last few feet to stand on either side of her.

“A fine figure of a man,” Mr Gardiner remarked.

Elizabeth stared after Darcy’s retreating form, trying with all her strength not to have an opinion on that point.

I always like digging into Elizabeth’s thought process during the Pemberley scenes, and I had a lot of fun really doing that in such a trivial context. Weirdly, I think it’s some of my best P&P writing.

2. epiphany (AO3)

Canon-compliant again, though written much earlier. Elizabeth’s realization that she’s in love with Darcy is actually spelled out pretty explicitly in P&P, but offscreen in the general chaos of Lydiagate. So this one is a very slight expansion of that, and … not Austenian, exactly, but I like how terse and self-contained it is.

She looked down at his letter, and not at the oft-pored over adieu.

I feel no doubt of your secrecy.

No, of course he did not—no more than she had, confiding everything without a moment’s hesitation. Why had she done that?

Why did he?

“Oh, God,” said Elizabeth, and heartily wished that Mr Bingley had never been born.

3. the letters of elizabeth darcy, 1796-1798 (AO3)

I probably don’t need to explain again why I’m fond of this one!

In other matters, my husband has been prevailed upon to write to his aunt. I am afraid that I can no longer see her merely as a source of amusement; for all their disagreements and flaws, the Fitzwilliams are a devoted family—pride, as well as affection, allows nothing less!—and there has never been the slightest estrangement between them. I know it seems incredible to us, but so it is. Lady Catherine adored her sister and doted on my husband and though the quarrel is not my fault, nor anyone’s but hers, I am sorry to be cause of it. Certainly I do not wish my child to be born into such a state of affairs.

As for the matter you wrote to me of—Jane, truly, you need not worry. You have been married but seven months and I am sure Mr Bingley could not want for any greater happiness. Never mind his sisters, they are in no position to hint after nephews and nieces.

4. all the genuine frankness of her character (AO3)

This takes place within the same continuity as #3, and is essentially an interquel elaborating on the above:

She would not lower herself to seek a reconciliation. On this point, she expressed herself with some bitterness to her brother.

By chance or otherwise, a month later Mr Darcy wrote to Lady Catherine. (It was not chance. Lord Ravenshaw had been favourably impressed by Mrs Darcy in London, and more favourably impressed by her ability to turn Darcy’s implacable reserve and conviction to advantage.)

Lady Catherine received it with something very like relief. It was very short for Darcy, cold, proud—but if she understood anything, it was Fitzwilliam pride.

5. all the things that i refused to see (pt 16) (AO3)

The title just encompasses the AO3 “fic” that’s actually all my prompted Austen fic from Tumblr; the sixteenth is futurefic about the MP-inspired scenario where one of Lydia and Wickham’s younger daughters is taken in by the Darcys. However, it’s deliberately somewhat inverted, where the older Darcy children are reserved and squeaky-clean, the wild daughter is tomboyish rather than selfish and amoral, and the shy charity case niece is treated respectfully and affectionately from the beginning.

“I am disappointed,” said Mr Darcy.

That was all. But Georgiana and Bella started to cry. And ten years later, when Bella’s childish misdeeds and their consequences all blurred together, and her parents receded into dim impressions of unhappiness and shouting, that moment stood out bright and clear in her memory. Her magnificent uncle and aunt were disappointed in her.

And they had thought Georgiana, bright fearless Georgiana, their own daughter, might learn from Bella.

#ladytharen #respuestas #fic talk #lol #not only are they all canon-compliant #i'm pretty sure they're /all/ in the same continuity #and some are just more closely linked than others #nice things people say to me #austen blogging #comforts and consequences