[FICATHON] Unmasked, for gehayi

[angevin2]

Title: Unmasked
Author: gileonnen
Play: Richard II/1 Henry IV
Recipient: gehayi
Characters / Pairings: Falstaff, Hal, Poins, Francis, Mistress Quickly, Richard II, Henry IV
Warnings: Profanity, drunkenness, fat-shaming language, mentions of the Vietnam War, alternate universe/alternate reality with superheroes
Rating: T
Summary: Falstaff wants to be a superhero.

Comments

[likeadeuce]

Oh my God, Shakespearean superheroes. I have been craving histories superheroes for so long, and this is just the perfect angle on Falstaff. The whole thing is funny but bittersweet, and the view of Falstaff's self-delusion is dead-on. I love the mental games he plays with the discarded metal (of COURSE his real role in the war was in recruitment) and this last sentence sums Falstaff up as well as anything I've read:

"He can imagine adulation far better than any he's likely to get."

With such a glorious self-concept, why let yourself be bogged down by mundane reality?

[gehayi]

i love this.

This is absolutely awesome. I love Richard being a supervillain who thinks he's a superhero and that his powers involve manipulating his reflections; I love that one of the Percys works for CNN; I love that Henry doesn't want to even look at the staged photo of himself exposing Richard (and how perfect is it that it had to be staged?); that Hal has all the super-strength and powers that Falstaff covets; that Ned knows all about how and where to purchase magenta Spandex suits; and that Mistress Quickly assumes that talk of magenta Spandex has something to do with the Pride Parade. It's very, very funny, and yet somehow a bit sad--because Jack Falstaff so obviously wants to be what he isn't so that he can take on another identity that will bring him adulation without effort. And yet he does want to be a hero...perhaps because he knows so well that he isn't.

I would love to read more in this universe. Thank you for writing this.

[highfantastical]

Oh wow, this is a blissfully intelligent and well-thought-out AU. Every word is just perfect - so funny but full of subtlety and understanding as well.

[speak_me_fair]

This is so fantastically thought out, and the humour in it just makes it more tragic.

And I so agree with everyone about the joys of the spandex and Ned and online shopping and Falstaff with his credit-card fraud, but I admit this stood out the most for me:

"The nights when Jack turns the questions back on him are the worst, because Hal's never sure if that means he's fishing or if that means he knows."

An aware Hal is my favourite flavour :-) and this is wonderfully put together to give a world where his suspicions about playacting and masks and survival are more than justified!

[angevin2]

This is so great. I love how Falstaff is both hilarious and heartbreaking, and Ned's desire for a magenta bodysuit, and Hal's determination to continue not giving a shit. And I totally want to read about the backstory, because RII AND SUPERHEROES. ALL THE WIN.

(...man, this is where I wish I still had my super-Shakespeare icon!)