[FICATHON] When Great Ones in Their Own Particular Motion, for angevin2

[lareinenoire]

Title: When Great Ones in Their Own Particular Motion
Author: highfantastical
Play: Richard II
Recipient: angevin2
Character[s]/Pairing[s]: The Duke of Aumerle, Queen Isabel, Henry IV, Richard II.
Warnings: No warnings of a sexual nature; beyond that, the author prefers not to warn.
Rating: PG-13.
Summary: Richard is in prison. Isabel is in France. Aumerle hits on a

Comments

[angevin2]

Oh, wow. This is just beautifully chilling -- especially...well, all of it. Edward not touching Henry, and his certainty that he is about to die, and then the feeling of "wait what" when he doesn't. HOTSPUR OMG (his dad totally has it coming). LITTLE ISABEL (and Kate!) Edward telling Richard that everything will be as it was, which is...so patently not true. It is amazing and actually made me wibbly.

I think the thing that gets to me most about it is that it really underlines that no matter how the story turns out it is doomed to break my heart and then STOMP ALL OVER THE TINY PIECES. God.

(...okay, also I did smile at how much changes if Edward is willing to pretend to be heterosexual. Hee.)

[likeadeuce]

HOTSPUR OMG (his dad totally has it coming).

LOLOLOL. Though does he have it coming YET? Oh, probably.

[angevin2]

By Act V of Richard II? He totally does.

[likeadeuce]

This is a great essay question:

"At exactly what point is it clear that Northumberland is an irredeemable asshole. DISCUSS."

[highfantastical]

Thank you, so very much! I am really delighted that it worked for you. :D

[gileonnen]

This piece was piercingly lovely--simple, clean, and clear, full of frozen moments on which I'm inclined to dwell. I won't forget that image of the Percy men lying in their blood, or the comb lifting the hair from Isabel's neck, or the heavy purse in Edward's hand.

[highfantastical]

Thank you, Gil! It was a really enjoyable piece to write - I normally find fic rewarding but HARD, and this came more easily than is usual for me. I am so grateful to angevin2 for her interesting prompts, because this kind of AU isn't something I'd normally try to do. It means an awful lot to me (in a good way, of course) that people liked it.

I feel kind of guilty about Hotspur.

[angevin2]

I am just glad you didn't address the fact that some of the conspirators also wanted to kill Henry's kids.

[likeadeuce]

Oh, DAMN.

Histories: "What if some of the conspirators WEREN'T totally incompetent."

I love all of this, but especially the sense in the last section that Edward's rescue fantasies aren't entirely being fulfilled. Even though it worked, it didn't entirely work, because Richard's still Richard, and the deposition had an impact on him that he's never going to get over.

[highfantastical]

Thank you! This piece was so...unlike me, in some ways, because I've never written this type of AU before in my life - and yet so very fun to write. I was a little nervous about whether it had worked, so the lovely comments meant a great deal to me - I really do appreciate it.

Teasing out the alternative flavours of angst that that one little change could make was for me the most interesting part of the process, so I am super-pleased that last section worked for you. :D