Start and Tremble (Felicity/Pippa)

[dollsome]

Title: Start and Tremble
Pairing: Felicity/Pippa
Spoilers: post-A Great & Terrible Beauty; could fit in pretty much anywhere in Rebel Angels or The Sweet Far Thing
Word Count: 2,564
Rating: PG-13
Summary: My dust would hear her and beat, had I lain for a century dead. Felicity ponders many things, but mostly Pippa.
Author's Note: GOD, WRITING FEELS

Comments

[dollsome]

:D :D :D Yay, I'm glad you're excited!

[vega_ofthe_lyre]

My reaction when I saw this:

[dollsome]

:D :D :D Thank you, buddy!

[marketchippie]

I LOVE THIS. I love how it hits the exact chords of power and sexiness that make the series amazing. You've nailed the two of them--all of them--and there are all these lovely atmospheric lines and it's just all kinds of wonderful.

[dollsome]

Aw, thank you so much! :D I'm glad I got the vibe of the series right -- I think I've held off from doing fic so far because I always wanted to, but never quite sat down in the right headspace.

Part One

[lovestories]

HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT OH MY GOD THIS IS SO UNBELIEVABLY PERFECT AND MAGNIFICENT AND INCREDIBLE THAT I HAVE TO DO ONE OF MY HOPELESSLY LONG AND DETAILED FIC REVIEWS EVEN THOUGH I HAVE 17 (ahahahaha I am going to die) CHAPTERS OF GREAT EXPECTATIONS TO READ.

There is a part of Felicity that wants to poke fun at her because of it. ‘Come now, Ann, you take up more room than the rest of us. Claim what’s yours, won’t you?’

I can actually picture these words coming out of Felicity's mouth, that is how perfect they are. The slight is just on this side of too sharp and carries the slightly acidic sting of boredom and needless cruelty that Felicity has the market on.

Surely the guests would titter admiringly; oh, Admiral Worthington, what a clever man, how smart of him to get what use he could out of his headstrong little whore of a daughter who surely will never be good for much else, who curtseys well but would rather be wearing trousers and you can spot such oddities around the edges, and where’s the place for a woman like her in

Re: Part One

[dollsome]

Aughhhh, thank you, my girl, I love you! ♥ Your rambly feedback strikes highest joy and validation into my soul; screw you, Dickens, you are inferior to such important practices! (Yeah, that's right, who needs 'im. Hahaha, I remember that similar panic when I had to do David Copperfield last year. It was like, THIS STUFF IS NOT ACTUALLY ALL THAT COMPLEX, HOW CAN THERE STILL BE SO MANY CHAPTERS.)

I love what you had to say about the subtle difference in the characters re: how things would look from Gemma's perspective versus how they'd look from Felicity's, because I had so much fun examining that, even though I think I must have been doing it unconsciously because I didn't really realize it 'til you mentioned it here! I know that right away I found myself in Fee headspace, and it was really neat and unexpected, because I don't think I quite realized 'til now that I have this many thoughts about her character, and they were all suddenly just pouring out like a crazy thought rampage! What was weird about writing this was that I could

Part Two

[lovestories]

Even now, she keeps that sound - the quick, delicate hitch of Pippa’s breath - and wears it inside her heart. How stupid and weak to cherish one tiny memory so much. It is things like this that make her think that, for all her faults, she must be a proper woman after all.

OH FELICITY. OH PIPPA. AUGH AUGH AUGH, I LOVE AND HATE THIS TINGE OF ANGUISHED LOVE. JADKFJADFJADKJK IT'S SO PERFECT AND DELICATE AND LOVELY EVEN THROUGH THE TINGE OF SADNESS AND BITTERNESS THAT FELICITY HAS COLORED IT WITH.

This language, Felicity thinks, has no rune that means wife.

There's so many rich, powerful snatches of language in this fic but I think this one is my favorite. Whenever Felicity talks about the Realms and the Order in the books there's wonder, of course, and yearning and lust, but I think most of all, there's this bitterness that she can't have it. One of the reasons I think she resents Gemma so much is that Gemma's got this great power but she's not doing anything with it, and she refuses to share it, and Felicity thinks, You don't know

Re: Part Two

[dollsome]

I've never actually liked vermilion as a color, and the reason why is what makes the tone and narration of this fic so perfect. It's got the pounding beat of desire that comes with crimson mixed with a softer, girlish, very Victorian creamy pink that makes for the perfect tone of blood orange tinted salmon; sexuality restrained by expectations and societal stiffness.YES, EXACTLY. I went back and forth a bit on whether to actually put the word 'vermilion' in, but then I liked the direct simplicity of red better, but I think I was subconsciously trying to conjure the air that you get from 'vermilion' in the whole thing, so the fact that you picked up on that kind of makes you my favourite person EVER. And, oh, this was such a good prompt, thank you! I am so helpless at ALL PROMPTS EVER, on account of being the laziest writer in history, but that one immediately caught my eye and made my brain go 'ooh, pretty!' and immediately conjured up the fantasy scene in my brain (which, I think it switches from fantasy to dream somewhere throughout

Re: Part Two

[dollsome]

ALSO.

The other day I was thinking of doing some kind of reincarnation fic thing with your Fee/Pip one, so maybe this is a sign that I should ACTUALLY WRITE IT?

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!! I ENDORSE THIS HEARTILY.

Re: Part Two

[lovestories]

Ahahaha, I had this CRAZY DREAM where the two of them were reincarnated and met in a college sorority (...this was right after I watched Greek, if you can tell), and I was like, "THIS NEEDS TO BE WRITTEN." The reason I haven't done any AGATB fic despite loving the girls to death is that the Victorian setting and all the little details of gorgeous utterly terrify me. It's too complicated! I can't do it!

(Also, this reminds me that once I promised Sophie I would write Felicity/Morgana. I HAVE TO GET ON THAT.)