PatM has a very exciting fanfiction on the market: Betrayal (Regency/MA/WIP)
Blurb: The relationship between Darcy and the rest of the fitzwilliams is quite strained after an incident at Rosings and only Lady Catherine stands with him amd sides with Darcy as he wants to marry Elizabeth Bennet. But what is the mytsery that surrounds the Fitzwilliams and lead them to betray Fitzwilliam Darcy?
Whom I especially like here is Lady Catherine, she still is the women we know from the books but she is much more likeable. Through different settings Pat creates she still is a little meddling but here it is entirely loveable and she is a little bit self-reflecting which I like a lot. Furthermore she is fiercly protective when it comes to the people she loves which I think
Oh and the Colonel is quite a bad-ass. At this point of the story we caought a lot of glimpses what he is able to do and he seems evry coldhearted (IMO)
But is driving me crazy at the moment is the fact that PatM gives us a loot of snippets what might have happened in the past but still we’re quite far from the complete picture…
Lizzy and Darcy are – at the point were we are at the moment – already married and I absolutely love it. They are so cute! (If they wouldn’t be fictional I would envy them 
)
January 10th,2010
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I had originally planned to review something more Christmassy but then I stumbled upon “A Touch of Night” (ATON) and remembered that I had always planned to review it here but I always forgot *hangs head in shame*
So, to begin with it, the blurb of ATON sounds innocent enough
A world in which neither Bennets nor Darcys are quite what they seem to be. Secrets long hidden cast long shadows.
I’ll give away what this is all about: Darcy, Bingley and Jane (and other secondary characters, too) are weres. Not in the common sense, like werewolves but rather different animals, Bingley and Jane are dogs and Darcy is an extreme rare were (how can he not be? ), he’s a were dragon. But there are other animals mentioned as well, a bear, a lion, a weasel – and yes – a wolf are those that I remember. However, English society doesn’t look favourable upon weres, they are hunted down and executed publicly. For this job there is a special “force” so to speak, the Royal Were Hunters (RWH) of which Wickham is a member. Yes, the background alone is complicated, but there is also the Lizzy-Darcy-story because of Darcy’s “affliction” there are even more misconceptions and misjudgements.
And it’s a really great fantasy story! I envy Sarah Hoyt (who is also a published author – check out her books at amazon) and Sofie of their talent and their creativity. You can make so many mistakes in a Regency-fantasy-story, but in this case it completely fits. The alternative reality with the weres and their “fate” is very elaborate and convincing. I wouldn’t say that you’d need a inclination towards fantasy novels. If you love P&P and fanfiction, you will definately also like this story 
Added to that it’s of course completely well-written. Great style, some great scenes – especially with the were dragon and Elizabeth. There was a slight gap in posting this story for over a year or so and the post before the gap ended with an enormous cliffhanger, but I was lucky enough to discover it after the long wait, where the cliffhangers were a bit more bearable. Although at certain points I wanted to pull out my hair and scream. But anyway, the story is finished now and you can read it without fear
And as an afterthought: Today would have been our beloved Jane’s 234th birthday! Congratulations, Jane!
So, I haven been planning to write something about Belén’s “When Duty Calls” ever since she started reposting the story, but in truth I did not dare, because there was so much angst in it. But after the latest chapter I can safely assume that it is safe now to read the story and that we are close to the ending now, so I finally write something about it.
I should say in advance that I have never read the first version of “When Duty Calls”, Belén’s story only came to my attention once she reposted it at Mrs. Darcy’s story site. It has a FMS (Forced Marriage Scenario): The day after the Netherfield ball Darcy and Elizabeth by chance meet in the woods between Netherfield and Longbourn and for some unfathomable reason of course they kiss. Unfortunately (or fortunately) they are seen and rumours soon spread which forces immediate action and a marriage between those two. However, while Darcy has some tender feelings for Elizabeth, she still has the opinion about him which would have led to Hunsford and which lead to a rather ugly situation in their wedding night (of all places!).
So, we are in for quite a rollercoaster until these two finally get together. It’s incredibly well-written (I heard the for example the boxing-scene wasn’t included in the first version of the story and it’s really packed with tension!) and the relationship between Darcy and Elizabeth is portrayed very well – especially the change of her feelings towards her husband. I don’t know what else to say – except that I might have mentioned that I’m a fan of Beléns work. I promise that the angst (the angst level in some chapters is really high!) won’t last and that their reconciliation is very satisfying.
So, I have to admit that I was critical towards “A Case of Some Delicacy” at first. For my taste the chapters were far too short and in the beginning I thought there was nothing extraordinary about the premise that Mr. Collins visits before Bingley begins his lease of Netherfield and at first fancies himself in love with Jane and is not warned off her by Mrs. Bennet.
But I kept on reading and I fell in love with it – I was in the middle before I knew I had begun. I totally love this story, it’s one of my favourites. The story is cute, it’s funny, it’s charming – the characters are completely lovable. I totally adore the way KC_Derby portrays the family dynamics in the Bennet family – and I think I never had so much sympathy for Lydia.
And of course: Lizzy and Darcy – awwww, they are so cute! I wouldn’t say that there’s angst between them, but their situation is way too complicated. We are at a point where both now what it is to love, but they are both afraid of admitting their feelings to each other. And there still is suspense! I cannot even guess how this story will continue. I guess there will definitely some serious bounds of jealously from Darcy now that John Lucas (who has been mentioned far too often by now) is back, but otherwise – I’m clueless
So – read this story. I adore it – you should too!
So, this blog has been relatively silent these past few months. In my case my silence is best explained with a screenshot from AHA.
(click on it to enlarge)
I simply didn’t have the time to read in the last two months, let alone to post anything here. I wrote my last test today and now I’m willing to catch up all the reading missing. In some cases (such as “A Case of Some Delicacy” or “Passages to Evil”) I tried ro read as much as I could (only the last two chapters or so are missing), in other cases (such as “Memory” or “While he was sleeping”) I missed 15 or so chapters and I secretly hoped that the authors wouldn’t update so much so that I wouldn’t have to catch up so many chapters.
So – we’ll try to keep this blog more active from now on. Stay tuned!
November 21st,2009
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So Halloween is over. Theoretically it isn’t celebrated in Germany even if many children start to adopt the American customs of go around in their neighbourhood and ask for sweets, but as usual I digress.
Angelika and I love to use this day for an excuse to create a horrible thing for our German fanfiction Archiv but this year we resisted and instead we made a new normal layout (for anybody who wants to look – > see at the right side).
And normally Halloween is a great date for fanfiction that are a little bit different. Starting this year with Forfeit (Regency/AU/T/Fished), which is a 2-chapter long Vampire-P&P story by janeitesarah that was published at AHA.
Blurb: At the Meryton Assembly Elizabeth realizes that Mr. Darcy holds a strange appeal for her and after that she doesn’t feel so well anymore because he visits her daily. But who is Mr. Darcy? And what exactly does he do to her?
Of course Mr. Darcy is a vampire and he turns Elizabeth into one too, so that he can take her home as his bride, where she has to deal with rivals and meets old friends who have changed a little bit, too.
It is quite short but immensly entertaining to see how our beloved characters act in the Vampire universe. The story has romance and adventure – the perfect mixture so to speak.
I only wonder what kind of Vampire Lady Catherine would be… but she would probably rule over her own coven quite diligently.
These kind of stories are exactly the thing why I look forward for the next Halloween (in addition to the fact that I like to torture my German Archive users with horrible colours and patterns
Once upon a time there was a beautiful blooming garden in the midst of the Austen-fanfiction community and everyone (who was old enough) enjoyed strolling in it and looking at its lovely flowers. But trouble came and a huge thunderstorm destroyed the garden and the owner’s had to close it to see if they would be able to repair the damage. Time went by and many former visitors asked: When will the garden open again?”
But sadly now it is quite certain that the Hyacinth Gardens are closed and as it seems it is forever. And even if they return their former glory will not be easy to restore.
We’ll really miss this wonderful board and we would like to express out thanks to the people who now try to rescue as much stories as possible.
For us it has always been a great source for wonderful stories.
So you see, we started this site with the thought that we could provide guidance to newcomers and maybe information to experienced reader about their next read.
But so far we – and especially I (I’m studying to become a teacher, so education is a topic for me) – neglegted the basics. Some may need it, some others don’t, but I hope it will be a helpful thing at least for some.
So I try and start with the very beginning. What is fanfiction?
Fanfiction – a definition (by Fiora): Fans of a genre (e.g. Jane Austen, Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings) write additional chapters to their favourite movie/book etc., write a sequel or a prequel. Another possibility is the of rewriting a story, when the fan thinks that a certain storyline was pretty interesting but neglected or a whole new storyline is introduced with new characters, which adds greatly to the development of the whole thing or simply adds a new dimension to the whole.
What I consider quite special about the Austen fanfition universe is the canon. Very often in fanfiction it is absolutely reversed and the hero ends up with a character that may mirror the authoress (because most authors are female) or that are extraordinary in a certain way. In Austen fanfiction, or to be more precise in the Pride & Prejudice universe the two main characters almost every time end up together. There are very few fanfiction out there where Darcy and Elizabeth do not marry…
But that are just some of my personal observations…
Last but not least, some Austen fanfiction sites. All in a nutshell…
Some of them quite popular, some very little but all of them very rewarding.
AHA (or Meryton.com) – A Happy Assembly is the board where the stories are posted and can be commented on, there is also a Reading Room, where certain authors have their finshed stories and where you do not have to register. Also a part of AHA is the pdf site where a lot of fanfictions are available for download.
DWG – Derbyshire Writers Guilt, the fanfiction section of austen.com. There are 3 parts. The Fantasy Gallery for modern stories, the Epilogue Abbey for Regency set stories and the Message board, where the unfinished stories are posted (and later put in the Fantasy Gallery or the Epilogue Abbey)
Mrs Darcy – Excellent site with many writers that contains many extras beside the fanfictions.
Pen and Ink – Small site with some very delightful fanfictions.
Austeninterlude – A collection of some very talented writers including Abigail R and Lucy (to name just two of them)
Scotch and Sirens with the forum 50 miles of good road
Firthness
Tilneys and trapdoors – Site that includes many non P&P fanfictions and some very good crossovers.
FishWilliam Works – Lucrezia’s fanfiction site
Austen Underground
General fanfiction sites:
ff.net
Foreign language:
Jane Austen Fanfiction Archiv (German!)
ff.de (General German FF Archive)
Of course, this list shows personal preferences, I would never pretend otherwise… but I hope you will not mind. An even better list can be found at the JAFFIndex. To be admitted you can ask and get the passwort by the owner Victoria.
Otherwise I hope you will find this a bit useful.
Comments are – as always – appreciated
Absolutely fair wind here in Germany
Today was a beautiful day in September and I enjoyed being in my parent’s garden very much. But enough of me, there is a wonderful fanfiction on AHA - Fair stands the wind (Regency/AU/T) by MaxineB – that I enjoy very much, too.
Elizabeth Bennet meets Captain Fitzwilliam Darcy as he visits his friend Mr. Bingley in Hertfordshire. In constant worry about her father’s health she finds a friend in the Captain and he too has a troublesome life she is able to lighten up a bit…
It is Alternate Universe and Darcy as Captain in the Navy a delightful thought, isn’t it?
It’s a good read and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
This time it’s from a short piece called The Avenging Angel written by Margaret C. Sullivan, the webmistress of Tilney’s and Trapdoors. It’s sort of a missing scene from P&P2 (the BBC-version from 1995) where Darcy has a “confrontation” with Wickham.
Wickham gasped, hunched over his writing-table, but could not resist a parting shot at his old enemy. “I will enjoy spending your money,” he said.
Darcy put on his coat, picked up his hat and gloves, and turned back to Wickham, his hand on the doorknob. He regarded the beaten, broken form of George Wickham, unable to comfortably stand but still defiant enough to manage a sneer. Darcy smiled at him, a cold smile that his future wife would never see. “It was worth every penny,” he said, and went out to the waiting carriage.
I love this portrayal of Darcy’s dark side 
Sometimes you simple have to be ungentlemanly and Wickham totally deserved this. I think I’ll blog about Margaret C. Sullivan’s most popular story “The Firstborn” later on. Until then discover Darcy’s dark side in this little ficlet.
BTW: After making keeping anonymous persons from commenting we also had to install CAPTCHA in order to keep the spam bots from posting. We have approximately 30 spam comments over night – that’s too much. Did I ever mention that I hate spam?
