#hist-fic

[marcusagrippa]

we are underutilising the possibility of agrippa/maecenas yaoi

[devoutjunk]

some thoughts on story & history & the fault lines running through both (bolded emphasis mine)

[thessidy]

Happy STS! Now that you've posted an intro/masterpost I feel more comfortable asking, who are Kai and Tharra? Thinking of the "WED 5" post from a few days ago... are they humans, spirits, reincarnations?

OMG! A great question. In short, Kai and Tharra are the deuteragonists of the novel(s). As of TA2605 (the start of the first novel’s main events),

Kai is a temple child raised by the warrior slavemonks of Hachiman in Kyo. At 19 (in our years — Xian years are longer), she’s supposed the have committed and sold herself to the temple to become a proper slavemonk for almost a year, but she’s been putting it off for Trans Reasons.

Tharra is a Eutopian soldier posted at a trading town just across the border from those weird zealots. At 21 she’s worked as a translator on various fronts, but she only just arrived to Kyo and hasn’t quite gotten her footing yet. Which makes it all the more distressing when she has to betray her legion and desert, bringing the ongoing war to their little Kana valley.

As for reincarnation — well, none of that stuff is quite clear in the novel… but you can interpret what I put in the WEDs however you want ;)

(Btw what is STS? Thanks for whatever that is either way!)

[elephantlovemedleys]

the rust that grew between telephones (modern au) The night was long, and the venom running through her veins was potent. The question died on her lips as she set aside her glass of wine, and took his own glass too as they were getting closer, melting into him. She couldn’t help but cling herself to his shoulders; like they were stars that held her entire universe together.

READ ON AO3

[fkintatakae]

“𝔖𝔦𝔫𝔤, 𝔒 𝔪𝔲𝔰𝔢, 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔯𝔞𝔤𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔄𝔠𝔥𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔢𝔰, 𝔰𝔬𝔫 𝔬𝔣 𝔓𝔢𝔩𝔢𝔲𝔰, 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔟𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔱𝔩𝔢𝔰𝔰 𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔰 𝔲𝔭𝔬𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔄𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔢𝔞𝔫𝔰.”

[skyrem]

tun-tei is a little old to have a naming day but uhhh better late than never lol

detail under the cut

[the-everqueen]

haven't read fiction outside of ulysses for a hot minute, and it's starting to show in my writing...still have some duke u press books to finish but i'm open to book suggestions for the tbr [eyes emoji]

[kimjunnoodle]

THE BUTTERFLY IS REAL

[dykebeckett]

part three of aveline’s childhood bookshelf: the fifth of march

I got this audiobook from the library and unlike other ones, this one never disappeared from my ipod so I just kept it and listened to it like a dozen times. it seems like it may not have been as good as I thought it was maybe I was just very bored? anyway it was about a fictional woman who worked as a maid or whatever for john and abigail adams. I learned about the third amendment. I learned about old timey taxes and silversmithing and tea that was shipped as bricks. I don’t remember the main character’s name. The british soldier love interest was probably named edward. should I read it again

[tragicbackstoryenjoyer]

a little life update: sorry for not posting any writing recently! I just finished up ruthlessly going through my 125k manuscript with a red pen, changing everything from typos to giant pieces of plot and worldbuilding. Very fun, but unfortunately not a process that immediately produces things to be read. I'm gonna take a little break from BOG for now, but hopefully I'll be back with new excerpt from my (gasp) third draft starting mid-January.

on another note, winter break has given me plenty of time to return to my hobby of writing book reviews. would anyone be interested if I cross posted them here?

[tak-byvayet]

I just picked up a book that has Hilary Mantel blurbed on the cover saying it's for "fans of intelligent historical fiction". And admittedly I'm biased because I didn't like Wolf Hall, but am I weird in finding that description very off-putting? I read a decent amount of what I'd call "literary" historical fiction too and that still seems like such a strange and unnecessarily judgemental way to describe it

[niallsjaan]

need to read more books that are nawt about break ups

[elephantlovemedleys]

when the heart would cease, ours never knew peace

The moon was bright, the breeze of the wind breathing against the back of Robert’s neck, even from his spot in the shade. He craved to go back inside his chambers, as the sun had set and supper had been done but Elizabeth liked it out there, so he would stay. It was a comfortable silence, and he couldn’t stop staring at the way she looked so alive in nature. Her eyes were brighter, her skin warmer, her hair shinier. It was dizzying how irresistible she looked.  That’s the only way he thought to describe it. Beautiful. She was lost in her own thoughts, back resting against the trunk of the tree they were both sitting under. Robert was always wondering how even words on a page could not describe how she had made him feel, but it didn’t matter how many times he’d attempt to explain it, to properly formulate them into words, he never understood. He wished he could lose his focus on reality easily, but the only thing that ever came close was her. It felt wrong, but he could stare at Elizabeth for hours and never get bored of it. Sunlight made her stand out and moonlight made her shine; Nothing will take away your brilliance. He wanted to tell her….So badly. He wanted to say so many things—but something always stopped him. It almost tasted like fear. She’d have invaded his thoughts for days, and all he could think about was his hand brushing against hers, or the curve of her lips whenever she’d grin back at him. It was addicting. But he couldn’t tell her. Not yet. Not in the midst of chaos and despair. He would know when the moment was right.

[rwwinton]

Have a little snippet from my WIP featuring my enemies-to-lovers characters having their first meeting. (Yes, I named one Benjamin because I have no idea if I will ever get to write my Tallmadge/Andre alt history.)

Also note that this is a trimmed down snippet and some wording will be changed later.

Before he could question where his horse was to be kept - and kept he expected the steadfast gelding to be - he heard a voice behind him say, "Colonel Edmonds."

He turned Achilles toward the voice and found a well-tailored and inconveniently handsome American officer sitting on a sleek bay horse, a sword at his side. Benjamin assumed he also wore a pistol about his person, likely under his fine blue coat. Benjamin recognized by the man's cockade and epaulettes that he was an officer, but did not know his rank. That was remedied when the man spoke again.

"Major Elijah Fulton. I've been instructed to offer you the use of my home while you are here."

Benjamin didn't suppose he had a choice in the matter. "Very well," he said with a nod. "But know I will be seeing to the care of my men daily."

"Of course," Major Fulton replied. "I wouldn't trust your army to care for my men as prisoners, either." Before Benjamin could sputter out a reply to such a comment, Major Fulton continued, "Do you wish to have staff with you?"

"No, I will manage without," he replied. 

Major Fulton seemed satisfied with that. "Captain Woods," he called to the man in command of the American escorts. "I will be housing Colonel Edmonds."

"Very well, Major," Captain Woods replied, apparently unconcerned.

Major Fulton turned his horse about. "The house is this way."

[libraryleopard]

Young adult coming-of-age novel

After a graduation party goes wrong, aspiring astronomer Aria is sent to spend the summer before college with her artist grandmother in the Bay Area 

Aria starts to question her sexuality when she meets her grandmother’s gardener, Steph, and falls in with Steph’s crowd of queer friends

Character-focused slice-of-life story set in 2013, when gay marriage was legalized in California

Explores self-discovery, artistic processes, and bittersweet, messy first love

Includes some nods to Lo’s previous novel Last Night at the Telegraph Club

Biracial Chinese & white, bisexual main character, butch lesbian love interest

[goldammerchen]

shit only one proper nationverse LMAO

horse (pet play)

action crossover, au

klavier cont. (flashbacks! and the future)

another au but without crossover, no bran-pru...