Fic: Eaten Up in Miserable Circumstances

[gileonnen]

Title: Eaten Up in Miserable Circumstances
Author: gileonnen
Fandom: Pre-Richard II
Characters/Pairings: Richard, Anne, Robert; mentions of Richard/Anne and Richard/Robert
Rating: PG
Warnings: Casual references to a polyamorous relationship, academic wittering on
Summary: Richard had entertained dreams of revolutionizing the field of medieval studies, once

Comments

[angevin2]

I have just said this to you in IM, but it totally stands to be said again, and I want it on the record that this is perfect -- it is perfectly them, and also EXACTLY what diss-writing is like, with the little notes to oneself everywhere and the weird anxiety dreams and the eyestrain and the sense that one is fighting a war of attrition to achieve adequacy (and then being haunted by all the stuff that doesn't get in).

And I adore all the little glimpses of their lives: Anne's bridge (OH GOD TINY CARS, WAH) and her taste in music, and Richard's languishing, and his interaction with Robbie, and what their library looks like. And the rules about where not to have sex! And Robbie and Anne's CONSPIRACY. HEE.

tl;dr I LOVE IT AND I LOVE YOU FOR WRITING IT (and just generally, but you know). &hearts

[gileonnen]

I'm glad it works for you--that's the main thing, really; it ought to work for you. :D

[gileonnen]

Writing a thesis: like going to war, in a way.

Well--then I'm glad! It's a sort of petty angst they're dealing with, compared with the sorts of subjects that angevin2's introduced with these characters--but if you want to hug them, then I've done my job.

(OH, GUILDENSTERN BEING UNIMPRESSED AT SCIENCE--MY HEART--)

[lareinenoire]

I think what really grabbed me about this fic is how incredibly well you nailed the process of writing a thesis. That is exactly what it feels like -- days and days of transcribing documents and knowing you're not actually accomplishing anything despite having hundreds of pages of notes and spending hours on end in the library because notes don't do anything on their own. Also, the brain-eating capacity of random little things that you just can't figure out.

But what's also lovely here is how the subtly drawn the relationships between Richard, Anne, and Robbie are -- how they exist outside of but are still deeply related to Richard's relationship with his work. Also, TINY CARS. ♥

[gileonnen]

I'm so glad that this came through! I was practically giving myself aneurysms over the procedural nonsense, and you know what? No one cares about the procedural nonsense. The process is where the emotional weight is, and it's a maddening process, and that's what I want to get right.

[lareinenoire]

Oh, yeah, the procedural nonsense is its own thing but you really captured the daily process and how utterly aggravating it is. You totally got it right.

(Amusingly enough, I didn't necessarily do the small scraps of paper, but I did tend to write shelfmarks in my diary, so there are literally lists of nothing but shelfmarks on certain days of the week.)

[gileonnen]

(And I write these notes in my LJ. I think this may be a generational thing. >_>;;)

[speak_me_fair]

This is just absolutely spot-on (as everyone has said, late to the party again here!) in how the basted writing of the blasted thesis feels, and as though you will neither be part of the real world again nor have accomplished anything of lasting value once you are free to try!

Anne here is just spectacular, that while Richard struggles to perfect, she is constantly immersed, a sound and delicately integral structure all her own, just like her bridge.

And Robbie with his own strange brand of praticality and comfort that is so very him and so endearingly frustrating all at once.

Also, this:

"What I wouldn't do for a pack of wolves,"

OH SO VERY YES.

This was just wonderful.