Medium: Books
Fandom: Persuasion, by Jane Austen
Subject: Anne Elliott/Frederick Wentworth
Title: Antebellum
Notes: Persuasion is my favorite Jane Austen novel ever. This is my humble tribute.

( Antebellum )

I am apparently on something of an "INCOME YAY" spree, because in the last three days I have purchased the following.

1) The Sarah Jane Adventures, Season 1. I adore this show in all its Doctor-Who-FOR-KIDZ glory. Plus, you know, Sarah Jane = made of win. She just is.

2) The Aztecs. A very, very early episode of Doctor Who, featuring the Doctor accidentally getting engaged, Susan being almost nowhere to be found, Ian in a very silly eagle suit and Barbara being more awesome than you. Old!Skool companions rock my socks in general.

3) Sense and Sensibility. The Emma Thompson version, thanks. It's faithful to the book in spirit and stars most of my favorite actors, namely Emma Thompson, Mr. Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Imogen Stubbs, Imelda Staunton, Alan Rickman, and Unexpected Hugh Laurie and Laurielet (or so I am told). The only one missing is Mark Sheppard. Oh, and Hugh Grant is in it, but I can get over that.

4) Battlestar Galactica: Razor. BECAUSE I WANTED IT, THAT'S WHY. Also, it has Lee being kinda cool for once and Young!Adama. Plus, you know, more Cain.

5) The Lion in Winter. It was five bucks, guys! Five bucks for Peter O'Toole! Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn and Anthony Hopkins being somewhat subpar but hey he was short on sleep and TIMOTHY DALTON omnomnom and basically I love it. So there.

6) ALL YOUR MIDDLEMAN DVDS ARE BELONG TO ME. \m/

Bye bye, income. It was nice knowing you.

ETA: My daddy took me to the bookstore. :D :D :D And every time my daddy takes me to the bookstore, he buys me books! *is daddy's little girl and not ashamed*

7) Sex With Kings, which is a wonderfully wonderful history book about kings' mistresses through the ages. I love it so. It's very funny and brilliantly researched, and less depressing than the sequel, Sex with the Queen.

8) Ciaphis Cain: Hero of the Imperium! It's a Warhammer novel, but I've had it recommended, so I read the first few pages. I got Miles Vorkosigan vibes off it from a mile off. So, I bought it. We'll see if the Miles-vibes hold.

I finished reading a biography today, about the same time as Miss Cam sparked a new meme here after this fandom secret and this long discussion bordering on wank (randomly, I love how everyone pulled out their favorite female character icons in that thread). It was fortuitous timing, so now I'm going to tell y'all about women I admire, who may or may not be fictional. I'd stick with fictional women, but again, the biography. I do hope you'll talk about women you admire, too. I think we can't talk enough about women we admire.

( I've restrained myself, with great difficulty, to one per fandom. )

Looking back at these women, and at the ones who didn't make the list (Zoe Washburn, Inara Serra, Dana Scully, Virginia Wolff, my Doctor Who gals), I can see a couple of trends. I tend to admire smart women, who can maintain strong and loving relationships, but neither quality is a deal-breaker if it's lacking (Kaylee, Karrin Murphy). I admire women who are women, not men with breasts. I admire women who aren't afraid or ashamed of their sexuality. I admire women who are more than competant, women who hold their own and demand respect. I admire exceptional women who aren't afraid to be exceptional.

I feel like today, most women and girls are afraid to be exceptional. I don't know why this is so, or why women get boxed into subordinate roles that they aren't comfortable with or happy in. I feel like every girl should know that she can be exceptional, and I feel like these woman are a good start.

In short, I admire exceptional women, and I have every intention of being one.

What women do you respect? Why do you respect them?

ETA: Honorh talks about the same thing here, and so does selenay936.

Pff, yeah, like I could really sleep with Yuletide opening today.

OMG OMG OMG OMG YOU GUUUUUUUUUYS I GOT ARAL/CORDELIA! I GOT THREE ARAL/CORDELIA FICS! And and and and and I GOT SOPHY/ADMIRAL CROFT! Authors, if you are reading this, let me just reiterate how much I love you for writing me fluff for my favorite couples. Because I do. A lot. As if my comments of flail didn't express that enough.

OMG OMG OMG all the fics written for me were awesome and they were fluffy and they warmed the cockles of my withered black heart. I AM SO HAPPY YOU GUYS OMG. OMG. THIS DESERVES THE I LOVE THE WHOLE WORLD ICON BECAUSE I DO. OMG. THREE ARAL/CORDELIA FICS AND ADMIRAL AND SOPHY CROFT NOT WRITTEN BY ME. OMG.

Best. Ficpresent. EVAR.

With the possible exception of The Other Son, because that was just made of complete and total win.

IN CONCLUSION. I LOVE YOU ALL. MERRY CHRISTMAS. OMG.

*goes to reread and flail some more*

ETA: Links to the Fics of Awesome!

Firelight (hardcore fluff and some awesome banter: "Foul! No thinking about work!")
Alone Time (this one features Exasperating!Miles and the best quote ever)
Blundering Tactically (missing scene from ACC, features Silly!Miles and again, awesome banter)
A Letter Full of News (Admiral and Sophy Croft: nails our dear Miss Austen's voice and manages to be shippy for everyone at the same time)

Authors, ILU. Seriously. You may have my firstborn. I wil strive to have quadruplets, just for you.

OMG YOU GUYS.

ETA Part Deux: Okay, so, yeah, my authors probably think I'm crazy, because I left incoherent fangirl reviews about how awesome they are and how awesome their stories are. So. Um. I LOVE YOU ALL. And I'm really not crazy. Just high off the awesomeness and the being up too late. Because you guys are so awesome it makes me giddy.

Clearly.

Yeah, see, guys, this is why I don't drink.

1. List your top seven ships
2. Put all of them in order of your love for them; 7 to 1, 1 being your favorite.
3. Name their fandom.
4. Supply photos for said people.

( These are really in no particular order: I ship them all about equally. AKA, like burning )
And, of course, the traditional ( Super Secret Really Really Really Embarrassing Slash Ship below the cut. )

This is inspired by the Big Read meme going around that prompts people to select 'classic' books from a list that they have read. With that in mind, I'd like you to list the ten books that have had the most influence on YOU, personally. It doesn't matter whether or not they're classics, adult books or YA. This meme is not asking you to be a literary critic. These are the books that have made an impression on you, that stay in your mind, that have had an impact on your life. The books that taught you how to write, that molded your ideas about life and love. The books that you *always* have a copy of on your bookshelf, and invariably read until the binding is falling apart.

1) The Fire Rose, Mercedes Lackey
Lackey has a way with language that always strikes me, even when she's writing about certain Mary Sues I could name (Vanyel, anyone?). She's splendid with description, and even when her plots fall flat, which this one doesn't, the language carries the day. I also love Beauty and the Beast, and this reinterpretation of the legend has the benefit of being impeccably-researched historical fiction as well.

2) Persuasion, Jane Austen
Guh. Just guh. One of the best love stories ever, and a wonderful, wonderful book. Jane Austen makes some of the most memorable characters I have ever read. A pitch-perfect romance.

3) Proven Guilty, Jim Butcher
Plot! Jim Butcher teaches me about Plot! Proven Guilty has the added benefit of just being fun.

4) American Gods, Neil Gaiman
Likewise plot. Neil Gaiman weaves everything together skillfully and near-seamlessly. I will admit to having problems buying the climax, but I'm just too in love with his concept and execution that I simply can't care.

5) His Majesty's Dragon, Naomi Novik
WOW. Amazing language, great plot, a climax that never fails to make me tear up, wonderful characters, just wow. Seamlessly weaves dragons into British history. This is precisely how the Napoleonic wars would have gone had Napoleon in fact had dragons to deploy.

6) Magic and Malice, Patricia C. Wrede
See above. Wow. Also has a wonderful love story that His Majesty's Dragon doesn't. Both take place in the Regency; a coincidence? I THINK NOT. So does Persuasion. I'm terribly fond of the Regency, so having so many of my favorite novels take place there is a bonus.

7) Crown Duel, Sherwood Smith
Some of the best damned worldbuilding since Tolkein. Tolkein and I don't really get along for various wordy-related reasons, but Crown Duel is so wonderfully written and just right with the world.

8) Matilda, Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl is a master storyteller, and Matilda is my favorite story of his. A bright little girl and the people who believe her, the people who don't, and her revenge on the idiots of the world. Clearly Roald Dahl was at some point a bright little kid, because this book resonates with me so much. Hands up, who else tried to move chalk with their eyes after seeing this?

9) A Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett
I don't know. I love Sara, I love Becky, I love the coincidences, I love Miss Minchen and Amelia Minchen, I love the whole book. It's just so well done and such a childhood memory. Maybe that's it. Either way, the binding on mine is kind of dead.

10) The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara
Oh, Michael Shaara. A heartbreaking story of Gettysburg. The language is exactly right for the time. The men he's writing about are so right for their time and yes. Amazing story.