Sullying Heyer

[resonant]

I feel funny reading Georgette Heyer books with my slash glasses on, since the hero and the heroine usually suit one another better than either of them suits anybody else in the book. (In fact, they often seem to be the only two sane people in the book's universe.)

Having said that, I just finished re-reading The Unknown Ajax, and it's hard to avoid having my mind filled with scenes like this:

"Oh, my," breathed Vincent.

"Nay, lad," Hugo expostulated. "'Tis only proportional!"

Comments

[carolyn_claire]

*snort* What was the context for that? I don't remember it, and you'd think I would.

Now I want to do a slash-goggles reread of The Masqueraders. Heh. (Or would that be too easy?)

[resonant]

That, alas, only happened in my head. Canon only gives you lovely declarations of esteem like:

"Nay, there's no hope of that," said Hugo despondently. "I'll never be able to take the shine out of you, for I'm not top-sawyer, and I'm sick every time I go to sea."

Vincent laughed, but a faint flush stained his cheeks, and he said sharply: "Good God, do you think I care? Not the snap of my fingers!"

not to mention Vincent asking, "What unnatural antics must we next perform?"

I've actually seen a couple of Masqueraders stories (on Yuletide, I think) -- one Robin/Anthony and one Prudencestuous threesome. None of them did that much for me, but I'm sure it can be done.

[belmanoir]

I ship Devil Belmanoir/Frank Fortescue HARD. Of course, neither of them is the hero, so that helps...

[resonant]

I don't think I've read that one. I take it it's the source of your name?

[belmanoir]

It's in The Black Moth, it's the degenerate proto-Goth villain and his disapproving yet loyal friend, and they are SO CUTE. I've requested them in Yuletide three years in the row with no luck. And yes, it's where my name came from. :)

[constance]

What you say about Heyer is true, and that her heroes and heroines are so often perfectly suited to each other is one of the reasons I love her so, but sometimes it's fun to imagine other scenarios. Luckily, her books also have some rich and beautifully realized m/m relationships, both friendly and adversarial, to work with as well.

[resonant]

They do, don't they? One could wish she did the same for women, but while they have three-dimensional relationships, it's usually only with their sisters or mothers. I suppose that's true to the times.

[pollyanna]

There is at least one Unknown Ajax slash story, if you're interested: http://grondfic.livejournal.com/45116.html

[resonant]

I read that one! Decently proud Vincent. I think if I were going to write explicit sex in a Heyer universe, I'd find the slang very intimidating, because if you get it wrong, it sounds so anachronistic. (Or sometimes even if you get it right; the word 'fart' is older than Chaucer, but it doesn't sound very historical.)

[temaris]

The Quiet Gentleman, and The Foundling are the two easiest to slash, once you ignore the Alastairs ::g:: Fun isn't it? There's a fabulous Hugh/Justin story on Yuletide somewhere, iirc, though I'm still waiting to find Leonie/Fanny :).

[resonant]

I haven't read The Foundling, but I remember being struck by how very slashy The Quiet Gentleman was.

[minnaway]

So so true.

I found myself slashing the male characters in The Foundling quite a bit.

[resonant]

Well, you're the second to mention the slashiness of it, so I suppose I must put it on my list!

[stranger]

In Venetia, it's always seemed to me that Damerel was as interested in Venetia's brother Aubrey, as in Venetia. That one of their shared interests was Classic studies didn't lessen the effect.

[resonant]

That rings true to me, too. And actually there was some zing between Hugo and Richmond in The Unknown Ajax, too. It's complicated when you have these young men who are eighteen, nineteen, twenty, but because they're still living at home and haven't yet gotten seriously romantically involved with any women, the story treats them as if they were in middle school.

[maire]

There are several slash stories for 'The Foundling' out there, of course, and others for Hugh Davenant and the Duke of Avon.

I can see how someone might be able to write slash for the fiancee's brother and the hero in 'The Corinthian', or even for the heroine and her childhood friend's new wife, set after the book. It would require the heroine (I've forgotten all their names, sorry) to be somewhat less innocent, so I imagine it would have to happen after they'd both been married for a bit. One would have to come up with a really good reason why it wouldn't be dishonorable or cheating, though -- that heroine is seriously not likely to cheat on anyone, ever, I think.

Judith and Barbara from 'An Infamous Army' would work well, too.

Actually, a lot of the characters would work well in cross-book pairings. I seriously can't see how the heroine of 'Lady of Quality', if widowed, would be able to resist forming a threesome with the couple from 'Black Sheep'. After all, the guy is practically the same one she married.

[resonant]

I haven't read any of the books you mention except These Old Shades (which is obviously begging for Davenant/Avon) and An Infamous Army (which didn't seem slashy to me as I read it, but maybe I would have enjoyed it more if it had; it makes me feel shallow to admit it, but the war stuff bored me) -- but now I see that I'll have to! I like the idea of cross-book threesomes, and of course widowhood was sadly, tragically frequent back then ...

[maire]

Judith spends the first part of 'An Infamous Army' convinced that Barbara is a shallow bitch, but when the battle comes, they go out into the streets together and Judith is deeply moved by how strong, noble, and caring Barbara is. Barbara wishes she were more like Judith (unconventional but able to fit in with society, rather than unconventional and unable to do so) and looks up to her, but is terribly scared of Judith finding out that she does so, because it's part of her image that she doesn't care what people think.

I can also see an older, widowed Anthea from 'An Unknown Ajax' finding comfort with an older, wiser version of her troublemaking cousin, who was in unrequited love with her now-deceased husband for twenty-odd years.

[maire]

'The Corinthian' is one of the really light, frothy fun ones. The heiress heroine runs away from her dreary family (she's heading for the childhood best friend she promised to marry when she was about 13) by climbing out a window and landing in the arms of the hero, who has just gotten very, very drunk to 'celebrate' getting engaged to a woman he dislikes. He decides she needs an escort and they head off on a stagecoach.

'Black Sheep' and 'Lady of Quality' are similar enough that I get them confused. The beautiful and independent heroine comes from a particularly stuffy family who are unnerved by how intellectual she is. She is in charge of a teenage girl who is being wooed by a really nasty fortune-hunting rake. The girl's relationship with the rake throws the heroine into contact with the hero, who has an extremely shady reputation himself, but is really just completely uninterested in conforming. All good fun. There's little slash potential within the books, because all the characters except the hero and heroine are completely unsuitable for them. There could be femme-slash future-fic about the heroine meeting the hero's ex-lover for 'Black Sheep'.

[maire]

I also find 'An Infamous Army' rather boring, I have to say. It's not her best work. She went overboard with presenting the results of her research and kept losing track of the plot. It's a good plot, but it's like reading 'Les Miserables', because the plot keeps getting lost amidst historical discursions.

'Cotillion' has good slash potential. All those cousins! I can see unrequited Freddy and Dolph (Dolph with a crush on Freddy would be rather sweet, really, but sad), Freddy and Jack, Jack and Camille (with Jack trying to divert Camille's attention away from either Olivia or Kitty), or Jack and the parson cousin whose name I've forgotten (I can see him being secretly seriously kinky, somehow).