[FICATHON] All Soul's Day, for highfantastical

[lareinenoire]

Title: All Soul's Day
Author: lareinenoire
Play: Richard II (very loosely)
Recipient: highfantastical
Characters / Pairings: Richard II, Anne of Bohemia, Robert de Vere; Richard II/Anne of Bohemia, Richard II/Robert de Vere
Warnings: Pretentiousness, horrible exam questions, academics behaving like academics, Robert de Vere's tongue
Rating: T
Summary: Richard Bordeaux sits

Comments

[highfantastical]

GENIUS. GENIUS. Oh my goodness! I am SO EXCITED that this now EXISTS, I was never truly expecting to get it! Oh, author - I adore you. Thank you so, so, so much. It is wonderful. I'm so glad I resisted the temptation to look at my prompts and see which had been written!

Oh, eeeeee, Simon! I love him so much. Of course he would not want Richard to sit. And Robbie, Robbie is so blissful. Snogging in the Codrington! :D The questions are exceptionally perfect. And I love, love, love how Anne has this much bigger, more important thing going on, and the fic just keeps the balance all the way through between being so funny and never denying how huge the politics are. IT IS SUPER. Author, I heart you immensely. I think I know who you are, and will be intrigued to see whether I am right!

Thank you, seriously - I enjoyed this to a really almost indescribable extent. <3

[lareinenoire]

Oh, I know I am the most obvious author ever, but I remember when I first saw the prompt and went ZOMG MUST WRITE THIS. I maintain there's a fair bit of catharsis involved in inflicting the All Souls exam on Richard. Of course, he's considerably more brilliant than I am and acquitted himself far better. It was really tempting to get him as far as the viva, but I have no idea how it actually works since I didn't know any of the people who were shortlisted.

I picked the date completely based on the academic calendar and the rules for the exam only to realise that the Fellowship Exam that year would have fallen about a month before gileonnen's fic, Reunification, so I had to figure out how on earth I was going to balance my academic shenanigans with a legitimate outside conflict. gileonnen did such an amazing job of capturing the central moment (when Richard proposes to Anne as the crowds begin to tear down the Berlin Wall) that I didn't want to get anywhere near it, so I sidestepped completely.

What a fun prompt, though. Oh, Richard, you are such a

[highfantastical]

I was sure it was you! It had to be an Oxonian, I thought, and it read much more you than speak_me_fair. I don't know anyone who's been shortlisted either - it worked really well, I thought, with not getting the viva, because then the Real Excitement of Anne and the Wall can reign supreme! The interweaving with Gil's fic was simply gorgeous - they work beautifully as a pair. Just - so, so, so good! You're awesome. :D

[17catherines]

Oh, this is lovely!

[lareinenoire]

Thank you so much! It was great fun to write.

[gileonnen]

Thank you for writing this. It was an excellent corrective to my own fiction, and beautifully constructed in its own right. The questions flowed neatly into the prose, each section clear and bright and never a word longer than necessary. A stunning piece of work.

[gileonnen]

I wanted to reply to this even though the reveals won't be up till later. This fic was not in any way intended to be a corrective to yours, and I apologise for having given that impression. It was not even close to my intent; any and all references to Reunification were meant, rather, as a tribute and an homage to a fic I read and loved, not as a critique.

[gileonnen]

I don't mean a corrective in a stern, rebuking sense--only that this is an update, a fleshing-out, that brings that part of canon more firmly in line with everything that we've developed since. If I'd known two years ago that this AU would still be getting contributions from fabulous writers like you, I think this fic is exactly the thing I would have hoped someone would write. I'm especially grateful that someone as talented, as thoughtful, and as creative as you took on the task.

[lareinenoire]

::hugs:: I hope all is well?

[likeadeuce]

So. . .DOES the moral character of an orgy change if you're wearing Nazi uniforms?

This is a great story, I love the characters and how fleshed out if feels.

And Oxford is weird, huh?

[lareinenoire]

Thankfully, that wasn't a question that came up when I was taking the exam; else I would probably have expired on the spot from sheer WTFery. ;)

And, yes, Oxford is deeply weird.

[angevin2]

Oh, Richard totally does have an answer to that question! He just didn't answer it for Anne's sake. But he is terribly offended that it's even a question, because the implication that it might not change the moral character of an orgy to wear Nazi uniforms is casting aspersions on the noble sport of group sex.* Which is a perfectly legitimate pastime if the participants abide by a general sexual ethic, whereas dressing up like Nazis is just a Bad Thing all around.

*I don't think he actually has any experience with group sex at the time this fic is set, but he would very much like to.