#i'm so happy with how many people have loved revolution powder

[letters-to-rosie]

so now that my fic for the secret santa is done, I've been getting back to working on chapter 35 of revolution (it's coming!!! I got busy with the second half of the semester hskhfdkshkfjfk), and to get myself back in that headspace, I was going through some older chapters and reading, and I forgot about this part:

Powder rolls her eyes as she feels her phone vibrate in her pocket. She’s not really sure what is left to say about the pizza place and its shady parking lot. They’ve gone by and scoped out the place twice and found it pretty inconspicuous. Powder is sure they could hit it if they had to; the usual precautions would need to be taken, but the tip seems good. Good isn’t enough, Scar says. Blah, Powder says back. They’re at an impasse.

from chapter 18: p/ea/ce by p/ie/ce

[pilferingapples]

I'm going to be predictable and ask for Bahorel because I love your headcanons for him, unless someone else has already asked, in that case Combeferre? :D

Sorry this took a while but you DID ask for the whole 25 questions! so OKAY here goes : 

1) Something this character is truly proud of.

His reputation! Not the  "woe a cannibal savage bouzingo romanticist" thing that certain papers (laughing at you, Figaro) go on about; he IS happy about that, but mostly that's just funny.   But the one he's earned with the circles he cares about, for being the person who Knows Everybody and who can Get Those Connections, a central hub in the radical republican network--that he’s proud of. He's built that up over years of  Going Everywhere and Talking to Everyone and honing the kind of social smarts that make that a sustainable life, and he's very satisfied about it.

cut because this is Super Long: 

2) Who they want to please the most.

...himself, honestly.  Not in a hedonistic way (though that too) but he has a fairly complicated set of internal ethical standards that are often kind of at weird angles to most of the world, and he'd consciously rather stick to that than "please" anyone else. Iiiiit's a whole Romantic Thing. 

3) Who depends on them.

 In the usual way people expect a man of his era to be Depended On? No one. His family's fine, he's not married or anything like it, no one's going to have their material security destroyed if he dies or Vanishes for Mysterious Reasons (which are Going to Prison or Fleeing the Country to avoid the prior two outcomes). 

But a whole lot of people depend on him to organize, stir up trouble, ringlead, cajole, exist distractingly and generally do what he does.

4) What they would do if they had one month to live.

Unlike some  people, who seem to think that they don’t  have limited lifespans, Bahorel is already living his Best Life and doing everything he most wants to do or thinks will mean the most for The Future After Him.  Things he hasn't done yet are things where the timeline's not up to just him. 

5) A cherished personal belongingLeaving aside the Correspondence Chest, he has an old *very* beat-up illustrated book of fairy tales.  An uncle who couldn't read picked it up way back when Bahorel was a kid, and he couldn't read either,  and he and his siblings used to make up endless stories  about the pictures before they could read. The chance to figure out what stories went with those pictures was much of what made Bahorel put up with school as a kid. ...and then they realized the damn thing wasn't in French at all, but an old beat up import, so he would have to learn another language.   Which he did, eventually;  but really he keeps it for the joke and the memory of the stories it isn't. 

6) Something they lost, but would love to have back

Various security deposits, fines for Disorderly Behavior, and so on. Fairly lost, well spent, but it would be a  nice night out to have them back nonetheless! 

...Also, you know, THEIR  **CENSORED CENSORED CENSORED** STOLEN REVOLUTION BACK. THAT WOULD BE NICE. *

7) This character’s favorite character

HOW COULD HE EVER CHOOSE, OH CRUEL FATE. The Creature from Frankenstein, Hercules, Orlando, Hans of Iceland (HE HAS A POLAR BEAR) , Puss in Boots, that’s not EVEN getting to Shakespeare... (he can go on about all of them, and will. No one asks him these sorts of questions anymore.) 

8) What kind of car they would drive.

...a Fury. 

9) What calms them when they are upset.

Calm....when upset? like calm down? How DARE you suggest such a thing, how could  you. You're clearly the sort of bloodless monster who'd douse a candle when it's almost melted away, 

10) How they deal with pain.

Minor Pain that’s Annoying but Not Obviously Fatal:  Ennnndlessss yelling and cursing and cheerfully overblown complaining, often with metaphors. No one has ever suffered so. the realm of the Physical has betrayed  him,What Sort of God Makes Such a Cruel Treacherous World With Tables Viciously Lurking At Shin Height, Like Snakes In The Forest, etc. Pain that Is Actually A Problem and Maybe Indicating Something Lethal: he’s fine this is FINE, get out of the way Combeferre, he needs to Fight Everything before the blood loss makes him pass out ok

(There is also a Third Reaction , because Intense Sensation is Intense Sensation, but he really needs to be in the right mood and the right company for that.)

(The Right Company can be a rioting crowd or The Really Good Architecture,that works) 

11) This character’s favorite piece or pieces of clothing.

 He likes his red waistcoats! The more alarmingly outgoing the lapels, the better.  And if they really worry some people, he can always take them off, and then whose idea is it that he’s naked this time? Not his,clearly, CHECK AND MATE, BOURGEOIS. 

12) How they sleep. Like someone who spent his Formative Years sharing a room and sometimes limited beds with a large and mischief-ready army of siblings, which is to say soundly, but not so soundly that he won’t be awake and punching in a heartbeat if his Prank Sense gets activated. 

13) What kind of parent they would be.

A pretty enthusiastic one!He likes kids, he doesn't mind noise and mess, he's pretty much at the point of being Ready to train the Next Generation of  revolutionary hellions  (he'd be an enthusiastic parent, and an affectionate one, and even a reasonably responsible one, but like hell he'd ever be a Respectable one.) 

14) How they did in school

It was an exercise in not just frustration but rage, for both him and most of his teachers. Not because he couldn't understand the material--he understood fine-- but because he wouldn't (couldn't) stop arguing about it. He and Combeferre have had many unusually mutual ranting sessions about what Total Garbage it is that Teachers These Days won't engage Young Minds in a Little Honest Debate, MAYBE if you can't DEFEND your stupid history lesson to an eleven year old you need to reconsider your own ideas, DID YOU EVER THINK OF THAT, MASTER DUCHEMIN? 

15) What cologne or perfume they would useProbably just the scented powders/pomades type stuff.  He goes for jasmine and lavender (he's still well in the era of men's bath goods smelling like flowers). 

16) Their sexuality

...like many other Romantics, goes a good ways beyond just Mortal Flesh and into the realms of Landscapes and The Concept of Rose Windows With The Right Lighting and *ecstatic swoon*  REALLY DARING POETIC METAPHORS AND STREETS IN REBELLION *discretionary fade to black*

17) What they’d sing at karaoke

CCR, ABBA, old school Cash-and-Haggard era country, Black Sheep, So Many Journey Songs, any showtunes, Rob Zombie...just whatever, whatever's the Mood, sung  with shameless enthusiasm

18) Special talents they have

**censored**  **censored**  **censored**  **censored**  and he can really belt out a tune! He's got a great singing voice, even when **censored**  **censored** **censored**  **censored** 

19) When they feel safest...Law School. Because it’s basically indistinguishable from being a corpse,and a corpse is quite safe; nothing more terrible can happen to it, it will never know or care if injury or outrage is done to it, and yet it makes everyone else uncomfortable with both its taunting resemblance to a living person and its remarkable smell, much like their good professors.  LIFE IS RISK, SAFETY IS DEATH, DON'T DO THIS TO HIM. 

20) Household chore they hate the most

Back home? Cleaning the Chicken Coop, and anyone who has ever cleaned a chicken coop knows why. In Paris? Dishes. CURSE THEM. 

21) Their fondest childhood memory

One time he took up some other kids on a dare to Spend The Night In The Graveyard and that ...actually got kind of boring kind of fast, and a significant portion of those buried there were his relatives anyway and he can’t be scared of family, ��geez. But when he’d been up there a few hours/ forever,geez an Actual Wolf loped through like three feet in front of him, and stopped and looked at him for a  while before moving on, and that  was awesome . 

22) How they spend their money.

Like it will give him a rash if he has it for too long. 

23) What kind of alcohol they drink

Good Alcohol?  Alcohol That Is One Fire, sometimes?  All The Kinds? any of these answers are correct! 

24) What they wish they could change about themselves

--He doesn't really have the full poetic Gift, at least not to his standards, and it's probably his only real disappointment with himself. He doesn't want to make a living with it or anything, he just wants to be able to look at things that way and doesn't quite. How exactly? If he could say *exactly* then he'd *be a poet*, obviously. 

25) What other people wish they could change about them

Even many people who love him and whose opinion he actually cares about somewhat would like it if he could maybe chill a little, ever, about anything. (He can't , it's not gonna happen, Frenetic's not a phase, Mom, it's Who He Is.)

* Some people may disagree that it was a Stolen Revolution, they may disagree to his face, he is completely prepared to discuss this topic at Epic Length. 

[freawaru2020]

Hi! Thanks to my mum, I've been obsessed with Austen since I was a child and I recently saw North And South and now I'm desperately looking for more period dramas/romances Got anymore recommendations?

OH BOY have I got a list for you!!! *cracks knuckles*

Long list is long. I got really carried away. I’m so sorry.

Books

Bleak House - Charles Dickens: Being Dickens, it’s a lot more dense and dark than Jane Austen, but quite good. Really interesting commentary on the legal system at the time, with very interesting characters, one tragic romance, and one very satisfactory one. I have linked a truly excellent reading of it.

Little Dorrit - Charles Dickens: The story is about a family whose father is in debtor’s prison, the trials, tribulations, and eventual romance of Amy Dorrit (the titular Little Dorrit) and Arthur Clennam. Of course, there’s the full complement of twists, turns, characters, and subplots necessary for any Dickensian novel.

Our Mutual Friend - Dickens: This one’s got it all. Murder, mystery, romance, mistaken identities, false accusations, society expectations, and finally, a reasonably happy ending. The river Thames is almost as much a character as the people!

The Chronicles of Barsetshire (The Warden, Barchester Towers, Doctor Thorne, Framley Parsonage, The Small House at Allington, and The Last Chronicle of Barset) - Anthony Trollope: These books are something of a combination of Dickens and Austen. Very involved like Dickens, but much lighter in tone, generally. It is about the families who live in and around the fictitious Barchester, primarily the Grantleys, the Hardings, the Proudies, Thornes, and the Stanhopes. There are very satisfying romances just about all of them (though I found The Small House at Allington less satisfactory than some of the others). (Regarding the audiobooks, some of the readings are better than others :/) Fairly religion heavy (doesn’t beat you over the head with theology or anything), simply because so many of the main characters are either in the church, or around the church.

The Belton Estate - Anthony Trollope: I really liked this one, but it’s not to everyone’s tastes, for sure, mostly because the main female character is kind of annoying at times.

Wives and Daughters - Elizabeth Gaskell: If you love North and South, you’re probably already familiar, but just in case! Centres around Molly Gibson, her father, the doctor of Hollingford, her stepmother, and her step sister Cynthia, as well as the local squire and his two sons. 

Cranford - Elizabeth Gaskell: Cranford tells the stories of various persons living in the fictitious small town of Cranford as told by Mary Smith, who used to live in Cranford, and now frequently visits it. There’s not a very strong over-arching plot, but each of the stories is still connected, both by the persons concerned, and by the locality.

Middlemarch - George Eliot: This one is kind of like the Chronicles of Barsetshire, but with some mystery and such. (Really, in a similar vein to the others recommended above.) (There IS a BBC production version of it, but I haven’t seen it, so have no idea if it’s any good. Ruffus Sewell is in it though, so that’s probably a good sign!)

The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins: I love, love, LOVED this one. It’s mystery, suspense, and romance, and is told all through letters and diary entries of the various characters. 

The Scarlet Pimpernel and it’s sequels are also delightful, if you haven’t read those. They take place in England and France during the French Revolution, where a daring English gentleman and his band snatch aristocrats from the jaws of the guillotine itself.

And then ALL the Georgette Heyer. Georgette Heyer is basically Jane Austen lite. They’re SUPER easy reads, all of them, so they’re ideal if you need some period fluff to break up some of the much, much heavier books recommended above.

My favourites are the following (not necessarily in order) (You will also discover that my favourites include nearly the whole body of Heyer’s Georgian/Regency work…):

Cotillion - Kitty Charring is an heiress - upon condition that she marry one of her guardian’s nephews. Her first choice, Jack Westruther fails to make an appearance, so she talks Freddy Standen into entering into a fake engagement so that she can see London (and avenge herself on Mr. Westruther). You know the trope. You know how this ends.

The Grand Sophie - Charles Rivenhall’s life is orderly, respectable, rigid. He’s towing his family out of debt, his fiance is everything that is respectable and decorous. Everything is going according to plan until his cousin, the dashing Sophia Stanton-Lacy sweeps in and turns EVERYTHING upside-down.

Powder and Patch - Cleone Charteris would be more than happy to marry Philip Jettan…if only he would bother bringing himself more into the mode. Instead, he won’t wear a wig, or powder, or dress in the first style of fashion. So she (and his father) send him away to acquire polish, which he does. But when he comes back, everything they professed to want him to be, they discover that perhaps they were mistaken.

These Old Shades (Book 1 of the Alastair-Audly series) - Justin Alastair, the Duke of Avon, is known to his cronies as Satanas for a reason. Both for his uncanny awareness of all the things happening in society, and for his devilish lifestyle, which includes a longstanding feud with the Comte de Saint-Vire. When the fire-haired “Leon” stumbles into his life one dark night in Paris, the key to his revenge is his. 

Devil’s Cub (Book 2 of the Alastair-Audly series) - Lord Dominic Alastair, the Marquis of Vidal is every bit as bad as his father, the Duke of Avon, and Mary Challoner has no intention of letting him run away with her sister Sophie. Her intervention does NOT go as she planned…Lots of characters from These Old Shades make appearances!

Regency Buck (Book 3 of the Alastair-Audly series) - Miss Judith Taverner and her brother Peregrine are traveling to London to obtain the permission of their (presumably) elderly guardian, the Earl of Worth, to set up house in the metropolis. Julian Audley is not at ALL what they expected, but he may end up being just who they needed…Beau Brummell makes an appearance, as do a number of members of the royal family.

An Infamous Army (Book 4of the Alastair-Audly series): This is basically the War and Peace of regency romances. Julian’s brother Charles Audley is one of the primary characters, but plenty of the other characters from the series also are important players in the events leading up to (and during) the Battle of Waterloo.

Arabella - Arabella Tallent is the daughter of a Yorkshire clergyman, and is on her way to London for her first season when her carriage breaks down near the hunting lodge of the fabulously wealthy Nonpareil Robert Beaumaris. When she overhears him assuming that she’s throwing herself at his head for the sake of his fortune, her pride leads her to make a series of rash declarations which change the entire course of her visit.

Frederica - Respectable but poor, Frederica Merriville seeks the patronage of distant relation Lord Alverstoke in hopes that he will present her ravishing younger sister Charis to fashionable London society. He does, and they are both determined that that should be the extent of his involvement in their affairs. However, what with all the misadventures that Frederica, Charis, and their three brothers fall into, Lord Alverstoke becomes far more invested than he ever meant to be.

The Nonesuch - Miss Ancilla Trent considers herself on the shelf, due both to her age, and her occupation as the chaperone of the spoiled but lovely Tiffany Wield. Sir Waldo Hawkridge is, despite being the Nonesuch, blessed with wealth and good looks, a confirmed bachelor. Throw in outings to picturesque spots, spoilt heiresses, runaways, and balls, and you’ve got yourself a rollicking romance.

The Corinthian - Penelope Creed is running away to avoid marrying her fish-like cousin. Sir Richard Wyndham, a noted Corinthian, is about to make a loveless offer of marriage to the respectable daughter of a debt-ridden but noble family. Coming home slightly drunk, he encounters Pen climbing out of her window in the dead of night, dressed as a boy, and determined to set out for her childhood home - and promised husband, . Her neck-cloth and hair will never do, so he takes her in hand, and ends up embroiled in the adventure of a lifetime. 

The Talisman Ring - murder, mystery, romance, smuggling, and a stolen ring are all ingredients in this absolutely delightful romp.

Other good ones include Venitia, Faro’s Daughter, Charity Girl, The Unknown Ajax, The Quiet Gentleman, Bath Tangle, Lady of Quality, The Foundling, and The Masqueraders.(Really, what this boils down to is that I’d recommend all of them, except perhaps Friday’s Child.)

Movies/TV Shows

Bleak House (2005) - Charles Dickens: Has an AMAZING cast, including Gillian Anderson, Carey Mulligan, Burn Gorman, Louise Brealey, and a ton of others.

Little Dorrit (2008): Matthew Macfayden and Claire Foy are the main characters.

Our Mutual Friend (1998) - Paul McGann, Steven Mackintosh, Keeley Hawes, and Anna Friel are some of the primary characters

The Barchester Chronicles (1982) - a young Alan Rickman makes an appearance!

Doctor Thorne (2016) - Beautiful costumes, great cast! Tom Hollander is Doctor Thorne!

Wives and Daughters (1999) - Really terrific cast, as I’m sure you’re starting to notice, lots of overlap in those BBC pieces…

Great Expectations (2012) - there are a LOT of good versions of Great Expectations, but this one is probably my fav. This is, of course, the Bonham Carter/Fiennes version. Holliday Grainger is Estella. 

Jane Eyre (2011) - Wasikowska/Fassbender

Lark Rise to Candleford (2008-2011)

Cranford (2007) SO many good actors in this one, including Judi Dench, Imelda Staunton, Tom Hiddleston, Michael Gambon, and quite a few others.

I hope you like at least some of them, and would be delighted to hear if you end up loving any of them (or if you find others in a similar vein that you would recommend in return)!!