Dear yuletide writer 2023,
Oct. 20th, 2023 04:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chronicbookwormThanks for writing me a story! Should you so want, I can be found at both Tumblr and AO3 also as ChronicBookworm, for any stalking purposes.
In general, I like most things. I’m a multishipper, and I read slash, het, femslash, and gen. I also like most genres: fluff, angst, adventure, case fic, humour, get-together, established relationship, character study, slice of life/domestic, you name it – or a mix of them all! I’m very fond of long, plotty fic, but don’t feel pressure, I’ll be just as happy with something short and sweet!
The prompts below are there to help, not box you in, so please feel free to write/make something different if none of my prompts below grab your imagination or inspiration strikes you in a different direction. If I request the shippy version of a relationship, I am also very happy to consume the gen version (it sometimes but not always goes the other way as well – feel free to check via the mods if you’re at all unsure). This goes even if the prompts are romantic in nature – I’m also very fond of deep platonic relationships that are the most important to the characters and relationships that straddle the line between platonic and romantic.
The length of the sections has nothing to do with how much I want the request, only with how many different ideas/questions I have for each. I want to read them all very badly, so I’m sure I’ll love whatever you write!
This got quite long – feel free to just read the parts that are relevant to you.
General likes
DNWs
Mansfield Park
Peer Gynt
Pride
Sense and Sensibility
• found families
• loyalty, both strong, reciprocated loyalty, and more complicated forms such as conflicting loyalties, loyalty to the undeserving, etc.
• ride or die friendships
• co-dependency
• “us against the world” plots and relationships (whether it’s true or just what the characters imagine)
• friends to lovers
• arranged marriages (that can either lead to love or strong friendship)
• marriages of convenience (that can either lead to love or strong friendship)
• pining
• hurt/comfort
• trauma recovery
• characters with low self-worth being loved and accepted
• characters being shown warmth and kindness when they’re expecting or used to being belittled, bullied or abused
• characters uniting forces against a common enemy
• complicated politics and shifting alliances
• partisan and resistance movements, small groups of people going up against or being pursued by large, powerful governments or organisations
• complicated and messy relationships (can be platonic, romantic or familial)
• conflicts between characters based on differences in opinions, wants, and needs (rather than misunderstandings or erroneous assumptions), conflicts between characters without easy solutions, conflicts between characters where neither side is completely right or completely wrong
• secrets (both kept and revealed)
• characters working with limited knowledge
• competent characters, characters being recognised for their competence
• women supporting other women
• canon divergence
• outsider POV
• case fic/mission fic (however that applies to the canon in question)
• time travel (both Peggy Sue style and physical time travel)
• worldbuilding
• longfic
• explicit sex (fade to black or references to sex are fine)
• changes to human anatomy or physiology (such as mpreg, omegaverse, soulmarks, etc.)
• teacher/student (shouldn't be a problem given the characters I've selected, but if you want to write relationships between characters with a teacher/student relationship, please set any romance some time after they've stopped being teacher/student)
• non-canonical incest (including between adopted or foster family members and biological family members who don’t know they’re related - cousin incest is OK for Jane Austen canons)
• adultery, infidelity or jealousy (real or imagined)
• massive age gaps in ships (the rule of “half the older character’s age plus seven” as a limit usually works quite well, although for teenagers a max of 2-year age-gap works better)
• sex involving characters under 15, setting a date when the character is considered "old enough"/"legal" for sex and fixating on that date
• modern-day terminology for sexual and gender identities in historical or fantasy canons
• characters being ostracised by their friends and loved ones
• public embarrassment, humiliation
• character or ship bashing
• hopeless endings, grimdark tone
• unrequested setting change AUs
Characters: Fanny
Fanny is probably Austen’s most divisive heroines, but I love her! I like that she’s quiet, and unassuming, and self-sacrificing to a flaw, but she still won’t budge when everyone around her is trying to persuade her into something she thinks is wrong. I like that inner strength she has, that allows her to endure both Mansfield and Portsmouth.
I’d really like a story that highlights those qualities – and I’d also really like her to be happy and valued. Maybe post-canon, and Edmund learns to not put how own wants above her needs? Or maybe a canon divergence, in which Henry actually goes to Everingham and not to London, and reforms enough to be the kind of husband she deserves? Or maybe she doesn’t get married at all? Maybe she becomes an author and writes improving tracts for young ladies? Or maybe she becomes the companion to another rich lady, one who values her and enjoys her company, and doesn’t see her as a general dogsbody? Maybe they even fall in love? Or maybe you have another idea in mind for what happens to her – I’m open to anything, as long as she’s happy! Feel free to make this a crossover with any other canon – I’m happy see her shipped with any character the Austen narrative sympathises with, or for you to create your own OCs to pair her with.
Characters: Solveig
Solveig has always fascinated me, as we get so little of her in the play – and many of her scenes are mostly there to further Peer’s narrative (e.g. the scene where he runs away, and the final scene). I’d love to see her fleshed out and given her own narrative.
What made her stay her entire life and wait for Peer? It seems like such an incomprehensible decision – what was she thinking? When did she realise he wasn’t coming back (or at least not anytime soon)? Did she ever doubt? What did she think had happened? How did she manage in the forest all alone? What did she do? How did she fill her days? Did she interact with the village at all, and how did those interactions go? The final scene shows her dressed for church, which implies she did go to the village for church at least (unless it’s merely symbolic). How did she deal with her father, the vicar?
What if she’d followed Peer on his adventures? How would that have changed events of the play?
Or what if Peer hadn’t run off? What if he hadn’t gone off with Ingrid from Hægstad, and he and Solveig could have lived in the town? Would they have been able to have a respectable life together, or would Peer’s lower status, nature and reputation have put insurmountable obstacles in the path for them? Or what if he’d stayed with Solveig after the Green-clad One came? How would things have turned out for them together in the little cabin in the forest? What would have happened to the Green-clad One’s child? Would Solveig have rejected or resented the child, or resented Peer, or would she have accepted the child, the way she accepted all of Peer’s misdeeds at the end of the play?
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Characters: Any (Dai Donovan, Cliff, Sian, Hefina)
I love this film! The warmth between the characters, the two separate communities coming together, the friendships, the support they give each other – it’s all so very heart-warming and hopeful! Of course, there are plenty of complications, too, if you want something to sink your teeth in, I’d love something dealing with the complexities and problems of the world we live in and the difficult issues these characters face.
Maybe an elaboration of what we saw in the film with Gethin and the Welsh contingent, being welcomed home, finding his way back to Wales after 16 years?
What happens to the Welsh contingent after the strike? How do they find new ways of organising the community and staying together? How long does the mine stay open, and what happens next? Who finds a new job, who doesn’t?
Maybe something about Dai, Hefina, and Sian, bonding over being official and unofficial leaders of a community that is so dependent on the doomed mine?
Or something about Dai and the miners, after the strike? There must be very complicated emotions going back to work after so long, especially knowing that they’ve been defeated and it’s only a matter of time until the mine closes. I really like Dai, how down-to-earth he is, how caring and open, how he rolls with things, and how his quiet demeanour hides an iron core. How did he and Margaret meet? How did he get involved with union politics? Had he been involved for a long time, or did he become more active during the strike? What happens after the strike? Does he find another job when the pit closes? Does he stay involved with politics, or does he fade into the background after the strike?
Or Dai and Mark sharing experiences of the importance of keeping morale up, building on the beautiful friendship they had in the film and the metaphor of the old banner with two hands clasped? Working out how to maintain the links between LGSM and Dulais even after the strike?
Or about Hefina—such a strong character? What was her history like, how did she and her husband meet? What challenges did they face in their marriage? They don’t seem to have any kids—was that by choice or did they have to grapple with unwilling childlessness? Maybe something with Hefina and the neighbourhood kids—Carl and Kevin, or Johnny and Lee? How did she come to wield such influence over the town, and was she ever challenged?
Or something about her and Cliff when they were young? How close were they? What did they get up to? How did Hefina come to realise he was gay in 1968?
Maybe something about Cliff, finding his people in the Gay Poetry and Literature Society? Bonding with Gethin about their love for the written word, and with Jonathan over their love for the spoken word? Going to plays put on by Out Loud? Performing in plays put on by Out Loud? Finding love? Does it come easily for him, or does he struggle with internalised homophobia? Does he meet someone in London or in Wales, and if it’s in London, does the distance pose problems? How is his relationship with Maureen and his nephews? How was his relationship with his brother, and how did things change when his brother died? What support could he give them when the boys were young, and did Maureen’s pride allow her to accept it, or were there tensions there? Does he come out, and does that change things? At least Johnny came around to accepting LGSM, but does that stretch to Cliff – when it’s not just some abstract gay people in London, but his uncle? Does Lee ever come around?
Or something about Sian? I love how strong and caring Sian is, and how she finds her courage and her strength during the mining crisis, how she stands up for what she believes is right, and how she gets down and does what needs to be done. Maybe something about her at university studying Welsh language? Is it a culture shock? How does she get on with the other students? Does she feel alienated as a mature student with rather different life experiences and expectations compared to the other students, or does she find a group of people to fit in with (the 80s was just after the great university expansion and before the introduction of tuition fees, so there would probably be a fair few other students with working-class backgrounds there – maybe she finds her people among them, even if they might be a bit younger than her, or with the other mature students)? Does she struggle balancing her education and her family, and how do they adjust to the change of having a breadwinner and a homemaker to two breadwinners? And how does she get started in politics? Maybe something about her first campaign to become MP? Or her early days in Westminster?
I really don’t mind if the story’s set pre-, during or post canon, I’d just love anything that explores the relationships between these characters! Again, feel free to include any other non-nominated characters if you want to – I love all of them!
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• Characters: Colonel Brandon, Elinor Dashwood, Edward Ferrars
I’m happy with any two out of three for this request, but if you want to write about all three of them in a relationship, or friendship between them, or one couple and their friend, then feel free! I like them all – how good they are, how practical, and how they put others above themselves. I like how they keep their feelings close to their chests, and how oftentimes, they express their feelings through actions, rather than words, and how you have to read the subtext to know what they are thinking and feeling.
Elinor and Edward: Edward and Elinor are of course the canon couple, and I loved the pining of the books, and how they’re both good people who would sacrifice their own happiness for others, and yet find happiness together in the end. I’d love either something set after canon, exploring their lives in the parsonage, or maybe a canon divergence. Maybe Edward wasn’t engaged to Lucy Steele, and was free to offer for Elinor earlier – which would save them from the unhappiness of being apart, but might also cause other problems, with his family’s disapproval of her, and their expectations that he’ll become a great man (I think Elinor is probably of high enough status that they’d really disapprove of the match, but wouldn’t necessarily disinherit him like they did with Lucy, but it would still be awkward).
Elinor and Brandon: Elinor and Brandon share a lot in the book – I really liked how Elinor was one of the only characters to appreciate him for a long time, and I can definitely see how they could be happy together, if Edward married Lucy and Brandon wasn’t pining over Marianne. Their friendship was really sweet, and I loved how he confided in Elinor and trusted her judgement and respected her as a friend and as a person.
Brandon and Edward: Edward and Brandon don’t interact much in the book, but that just leaves the path open for the imagination! Maybe they bond over being awkward around women, and find they both have the same reason why…Maybe they meet before canon, at school or later? Maybe an AU in which Mrs Ferrars bullies Edward into the army? (You can avoid my adultery/infidelity DNW by either having them both be unmarried, or by having their wives be fully informed and supportive of the situation – in that case I’d like the wives to be treated with respect and to also get something out of the marriage, so it doesn’t feel like they’re being used – maybe they’re more interested in women than men, or perhaps they just want the freedom of being a married woman without the constraints of having an interfering husband, or anything else you can think of).
Elinor and Edward and Brandon: I’m very fond of sensible people coming to practical solutions! Perhaps a married couple living with a very good “bachelor friend” of theirs would probably be (just) within the bounds of regency propriety. I’d love to see how they came to the arrangement, and how they live. Who is the married couple, and who is the “bachelor friend”?
Perhaps Elinor and Edward marry? Maybe Edward and Elinor marry after he’s been disinherited and Lucy’s thrown him over, and they move into the unmarried Brandon’s parsonage, just as in canon? Maybe then he manages to fall for both his good friends at the same time, and worries that he’s taking advantage of them, as their living standards to some extent depend on him (meanwhile they’re worrying that they’re taking advantage of him, as he’s being so generous towards them).
Or maybe Edward and Elinor marry before canon starts (maybe he avoids being disinherited, or maybe they have to rely on charity from their good friend Brandon), and they console and help Brandon as he’s searching for Eliza Williams, and feelings develop as they mutually support and help one another?
Or maybe Brandon and Elinor marry, instead? Elinor was among the earliest in her family to express appreciation for Brandon, so maybe the appreciation turns to love, and believing Edward to be lost to her, accepts a marriage to him instead? Except then it turns out Edward isn’t lost to her, and she has to deal with loving two men at the same time?
Perhaps Elinor and Brandon enter into a marriage of convenience for her family’s sake – and then Edward enters back into her life and feelings develop in all directions… Maybe Edward and Brandon fall in love first, and that helps Elinor also fall in love with Brandon, her husband?
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In general, I like most things. I’m a multishipper, and I read slash, het, femslash, and gen. I also like most genres: fluff, angst, adventure, case fic, humour, get-together, established relationship, character study, slice of life/domestic, you name it – or a mix of them all! I’m very fond of long, plotty fic, but don’t feel pressure, I’ll be just as happy with something short and sweet!
The prompts below are there to help, not box you in, so please feel free to write/make something different if none of my prompts below grab your imagination or inspiration strikes you in a different direction. If I request the shippy version of a relationship, I am also very happy to consume the gen version (it sometimes but not always goes the other way as well – feel free to check via the mods if you’re at all unsure). This goes even if the prompts are romantic in nature – I’m also very fond of deep platonic relationships that are the most important to the characters and relationships that straddle the line between platonic and romantic.
The length of the sections has nothing to do with how much I want the request, only with how many different ideas/questions I have for each. I want to read them all very badly, so I’m sure I’ll love whatever you write!
This got quite long – feel free to just read the parts that are relevant to you.
General likes
DNWs
Mansfield Park
Peer Gynt
Pride
Sense and Sensibility
General likes
• found families
• loyalty, both strong, reciprocated loyalty, and more complicated forms such as conflicting loyalties, loyalty to the undeserving, etc.
• ride or die friendships
• co-dependency
• “us against the world” plots and relationships (whether it’s true or just what the characters imagine)
• friends to lovers
• arranged marriages (that can either lead to love or strong friendship)
• marriages of convenience (that can either lead to love or strong friendship)
• pining
• hurt/comfort
• trauma recovery
• characters with low self-worth being loved and accepted
• characters being shown warmth and kindness when they’re expecting or used to being belittled, bullied or abused
• characters uniting forces against a common enemy
• complicated politics and shifting alliances
• partisan and resistance movements, small groups of people going up against or being pursued by large, powerful governments or organisations
• complicated and messy relationships (can be platonic, romantic or familial)
• conflicts between characters based on differences in opinions, wants, and needs (rather than misunderstandings or erroneous assumptions), conflicts between characters without easy solutions, conflicts between characters where neither side is completely right or completely wrong
• secrets (both kept and revealed)
• characters working with limited knowledge
• competent characters, characters being recognised for their competence
• women supporting other women
• canon divergence
• outsider POV
• case fic/mission fic (however that applies to the canon in question)
• time travel (both Peggy Sue style and physical time travel)
• worldbuilding
• longfic
DNWs
• explicit sex (fade to black or references to sex are fine)
• changes to human anatomy or physiology (such as mpreg, omegaverse, soulmarks, etc.)
• teacher/student (shouldn't be a problem given the characters I've selected, but if you want to write relationships between characters with a teacher/student relationship, please set any romance some time after they've stopped being teacher/student)
• non-canonical incest (including between adopted or foster family members and biological family members who don’t know they’re related - cousin incest is OK for Jane Austen canons)
• adultery, infidelity or jealousy (real or imagined)
• massive age gaps in ships (the rule of “half the older character’s age plus seven” as a limit usually works quite well, although for teenagers a max of 2-year age-gap works better)
• sex involving characters under 15, setting a date when the character is considered "old enough"/"legal" for sex and fixating on that date
• modern-day terminology for sexual and gender identities in historical or fantasy canons
• characters being ostracised by their friends and loved ones
• public embarrassment, humiliation
• character or ship bashing
• hopeless endings, grimdark tone
• unrequested setting change AUs
Mansfield Park
Characters: Fanny
Fanny is probably Austen’s most divisive heroines, but I love her! I like that she’s quiet, and unassuming, and self-sacrificing to a flaw, but she still won’t budge when everyone around her is trying to persuade her into something she thinks is wrong. I like that inner strength she has, that allows her to endure both Mansfield and Portsmouth.
I’d really like a story that highlights those qualities – and I’d also really like her to be happy and valued. Maybe post-canon, and Edmund learns to not put how own wants above her needs? Or maybe a canon divergence, in which Henry actually goes to Everingham and not to London, and reforms enough to be the kind of husband she deserves? Or maybe she doesn’t get married at all? Maybe she becomes an author and writes improving tracts for young ladies? Or maybe she becomes the companion to another rich lady, one who values her and enjoys her company, and doesn’t see her as a general dogsbody? Maybe they even fall in love? Or maybe you have another idea in mind for what happens to her – I’m open to anything, as long as she’s happy! Feel free to make this a crossover with any other canon – I’m happy see her shipped with any character the Austen narrative sympathises with, or for you to create your own OCs to pair her with.
Peer Gynt
Characters: Solveig
Solveig has always fascinated me, as we get so little of her in the play – and many of her scenes are mostly there to further Peer’s narrative (e.g. the scene where he runs away, and the final scene). I’d love to see her fleshed out and given her own narrative.
What made her stay her entire life and wait for Peer? It seems like such an incomprehensible decision – what was she thinking? When did she realise he wasn’t coming back (or at least not anytime soon)? Did she ever doubt? What did she think had happened? How did she manage in the forest all alone? What did she do? How did she fill her days? Did she interact with the village at all, and how did those interactions go? The final scene shows her dressed for church, which implies she did go to the village for church at least (unless it’s merely symbolic). How did she deal with her father, the vicar?
What if she’d followed Peer on his adventures? How would that have changed events of the play?
Or what if Peer hadn’t run off? What if he hadn’t gone off with Ingrid from Hægstad, and he and Solveig could have lived in the town? Would they have been able to have a respectable life together, or would Peer’s lower status, nature and reputation have put insurmountable obstacles in the path for them? Or what if he’d stayed with Solveig after the Green-clad One came? How would things have turned out for them together in the little cabin in the forest? What would have happened to the Green-clad One’s child? Would Solveig have rejected or resented the child, or resented Peer, or would she have accepted the child, the way she accepted all of Peer’s misdeeds at the end of the play?
return to top
Pride
Characters: Any (Dai Donovan, Cliff, Sian, Hefina)
I love this film! The warmth between the characters, the two separate communities coming together, the friendships, the support they give each other – it’s all so very heart-warming and hopeful! Of course, there are plenty of complications, too, if you want something to sink your teeth in, I’d love something dealing with the complexities and problems of the world we live in and the difficult issues these characters face.
Maybe an elaboration of what we saw in the film with Gethin and the Welsh contingent, being welcomed home, finding his way back to Wales after 16 years?
What happens to the Welsh contingent after the strike? How do they find new ways of organising the community and staying together? How long does the mine stay open, and what happens next? Who finds a new job, who doesn’t?
Maybe something about Dai, Hefina, and Sian, bonding over being official and unofficial leaders of a community that is so dependent on the doomed mine?
Or something about Dai and the miners, after the strike? There must be very complicated emotions going back to work after so long, especially knowing that they’ve been defeated and it’s only a matter of time until the mine closes. I really like Dai, how down-to-earth he is, how caring and open, how he rolls with things, and how his quiet demeanour hides an iron core. How did he and Margaret meet? How did he get involved with union politics? Had he been involved for a long time, or did he become more active during the strike? What happens after the strike? Does he find another job when the pit closes? Does he stay involved with politics, or does he fade into the background after the strike?
Or Dai and Mark sharing experiences of the importance of keeping morale up, building on the beautiful friendship they had in the film and the metaphor of the old banner with two hands clasped? Working out how to maintain the links between LGSM and Dulais even after the strike?
Or about Hefina—such a strong character? What was her history like, how did she and her husband meet? What challenges did they face in their marriage? They don’t seem to have any kids—was that by choice or did they have to grapple with unwilling childlessness? Maybe something with Hefina and the neighbourhood kids—Carl and Kevin, or Johnny and Lee? How did she come to wield such influence over the town, and was she ever challenged?
Or something about her and Cliff when they were young? How close were they? What did they get up to? How did Hefina come to realise he was gay in 1968?
Maybe something about Cliff, finding his people in the Gay Poetry and Literature Society? Bonding with Gethin about their love for the written word, and with Jonathan over their love for the spoken word? Going to plays put on by Out Loud? Performing in plays put on by Out Loud? Finding love? Does it come easily for him, or does he struggle with internalised homophobia? Does he meet someone in London or in Wales, and if it’s in London, does the distance pose problems? How is his relationship with Maureen and his nephews? How was his relationship with his brother, and how did things change when his brother died? What support could he give them when the boys were young, and did Maureen’s pride allow her to accept it, or were there tensions there? Does he come out, and does that change things? At least Johnny came around to accepting LGSM, but does that stretch to Cliff – when it’s not just some abstract gay people in London, but his uncle? Does Lee ever come around?
Or something about Sian? I love how strong and caring Sian is, and how she finds her courage and her strength during the mining crisis, how she stands up for what she believes is right, and how she gets down and does what needs to be done. Maybe something about her at university studying Welsh language? Is it a culture shock? How does she get on with the other students? Does she feel alienated as a mature student with rather different life experiences and expectations compared to the other students, or does she find a group of people to fit in with (the 80s was just after the great university expansion and before the introduction of tuition fees, so there would probably be a fair few other students with working-class backgrounds there – maybe she finds her people among them, even if they might be a bit younger than her, or with the other mature students)? Does she struggle balancing her education and her family, and how do they adjust to the change of having a breadwinner and a homemaker to two breadwinners? And how does she get started in politics? Maybe something about her first campaign to become MP? Or her early days in Westminster?
I really don’t mind if the story’s set pre-, during or post canon, I’d just love anything that explores the relationships between these characters! Again, feel free to include any other non-nominated characters if you want to – I love all of them!
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Sense and Sensibility
• Characters: Colonel Brandon, Elinor Dashwood, Edward Ferrars
I’m happy with any two out of three for this request, but if you want to write about all three of them in a relationship, or friendship between them, or one couple and their friend, then feel free! I like them all – how good they are, how practical, and how they put others above themselves. I like how they keep their feelings close to their chests, and how oftentimes, they express their feelings through actions, rather than words, and how you have to read the subtext to know what they are thinking and feeling.
Elinor and Edward: Edward and Elinor are of course the canon couple, and I loved the pining of the books, and how they’re both good people who would sacrifice their own happiness for others, and yet find happiness together in the end. I’d love either something set after canon, exploring their lives in the parsonage, or maybe a canon divergence. Maybe Edward wasn’t engaged to Lucy Steele, and was free to offer for Elinor earlier – which would save them from the unhappiness of being apart, but might also cause other problems, with his family’s disapproval of her, and their expectations that he’ll become a great man (I think Elinor is probably of high enough status that they’d really disapprove of the match, but wouldn’t necessarily disinherit him like they did with Lucy, but it would still be awkward).
Elinor and Brandon: Elinor and Brandon share a lot in the book – I really liked how Elinor was one of the only characters to appreciate him for a long time, and I can definitely see how they could be happy together, if Edward married Lucy and Brandon wasn’t pining over Marianne. Their friendship was really sweet, and I loved how he confided in Elinor and trusted her judgement and respected her as a friend and as a person.
Brandon and Edward: Edward and Brandon don’t interact much in the book, but that just leaves the path open for the imagination! Maybe they bond over being awkward around women, and find they both have the same reason why…Maybe they meet before canon, at school or later? Maybe an AU in which Mrs Ferrars bullies Edward into the army? (You can avoid my adultery/infidelity DNW by either having them both be unmarried, or by having their wives be fully informed and supportive of the situation – in that case I’d like the wives to be treated with respect and to also get something out of the marriage, so it doesn’t feel like they’re being used – maybe they’re more interested in women than men, or perhaps they just want the freedom of being a married woman without the constraints of having an interfering husband, or anything else you can think of).
Elinor and Edward and Brandon: I’m very fond of sensible people coming to practical solutions! Perhaps a married couple living with a very good “bachelor friend” of theirs would probably be (just) within the bounds of regency propriety. I’d love to see how they came to the arrangement, and how they live. Who is the married couple, and who is the “bachelor friend”?
Perhaps Elinor and Edward marry? Maybe Edward and Elinor marry after he’s been disinherited and Lucy’s thrown him over, and they move into the unmarried Brandon’s parsonage, just as in canon? Maybe then he manages to fall for both his good friends at the same time, and worries that he’s taking advantage of them, as their living standards to some extent depend on him (meanwhile they’re worrying that they’re taking advantage of him, as he’s being so generous towards them).
Or maybe Edward and Elinor marry before canon starts (maybe he avoids being disinherited, or maybe they have to rely on charity from their good friend Brandon), and they console and help Brandon as he’s searching for Eliza Williams, and feelings develop as they mutually support and help one another?
Or maybe Brandon and Elinor marry, instead? Elinor was among the earliest in her family to express appreciation for Brandon, so maybe the appreciation turns to love, and believing Edward to be lost to her, accepts a marriage to him instead? Except then it turns out Edward isn’t lost to her, and she has to deal with loving two men at the same time?
Perhaps Elinor and Brandon enter into a marriage of convenience for her family’s sake – and then Edward enters back into her life and feelings develop in all directions… Maybe Edward and Brandon fall in love first, and that helps Elinor also fall in love with Brandon, her husband?
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