Reading Room: "Love Conquers All" by POM
Oct. 13th, 2011 10:06 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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ci5hqTitle: Love Conquers All
Author: POM
Zine info: first published 1998, see palelyloitering. Second edition by Gryphon Press (October 2010), 34 pp.
Pairing: B/D (and another - see under the cut)
What is it about Regency AUs?
Doyle turned to see elegant legs encased in tightly-fitting pantaloons and highly-polished hessians. Above these a well-cut coat covered a snow-white lawn shirt, with elegantly starched cravat and a waistcoat so tight that Doyle wondered that the wearer could draw breath. The elegance did not end at the man's shoulders, his dark cropped hair topping a face so striking familiar that Doyle could not forbear to cry out.
and this
when the following morning dawned fresh and clear it found the Earl of Lewis mounted on an excellent thoroughbred in company with Mr Raymond Doyle astride an elegant bay mare, taking a brisk canter through the lower woods…
"Love Conquers All" satisfactorily combines the Mister D'Arcy effect with all the fun of a parody:
scarcely a year after [the Reverend Aubrey Doyle] had departed for that great vestry in the sky…
and
[Bodie] sat at ease in a high-backed leather armchair and contemplated the swirl of amber liquid in his brandy glass. It was, in fact, the finest French cognac and he knew, because he was intelligent, that it was unlikely that duty had been paid on it.
A feature is the densely packed in-jokes - this AU is almost entirely populated by characters from canon:
Bodie laughed, "… I was thinking of my ward."
"Colonel Grant's daughter, the Honourable Susan?"
some more canon than others:
"Walsh," Lady Cowley addressed her maid with the easy familiarity of one born to command. "What am I to wear on my hair tonight? My useless shaver of a nephew has ruined Colin's brilliant creation…"
Favourite characters are rewarded with virtuous roles, the unpleasant and evil are brought low.
One particular favourite agent is rewarded with a sympathetic role and a pairing that is scarcely second to Bodie/Doyle - but with whom?
My only complaint is that POM is too true to the Regency style, not the modern (soft porn) romance novel. "Placing a hand on [the beloved's] shoulder" is a reflection of ardent sexual desire, and a chaste kiss is the nearest thing to shagging for our handsome beaux.
What did you think?
Author: POM
Zine info: first published 1998, see palelyloitering. Second edition by Gryphon Press (October 2010), 34 pp.
Pairing: B/D (and another - see under the cut)
What is it about Regency AUs?
Doyle turned to see elegant legs encased in tightly-fitting pantaloons and highly-polished hessians. Above these a well-cut coat covered a snow-white lawn shirt, with elegantly starched cravat and a waistcoat so tight that Doyle wondered that the wearer could draw breath. The elegance did not end at the man's shoulders, his dark cropped hair topping a face so striking familiar that Doyle could not forbear to cry out.
and this
when the following morning dawned fresh and clear it found the Earl of Lewis mounted on an excellent thoroughbred in company with Mr Raymond Doyle astride an elegant bay mare, taking a brisk canter through the lower woods…
"Love Conquers All" satisfactorily combines the Mister D'Arcy effect with all the fun of a parody:
scarcely a year after [the Reverend Aubrey Doyle] had departed for that great vestry in the sky…
and
[Bodie] sat at ease in a high-backed leather armchair and contemplated the swirl of amber liquid in his brandy glass. It was, in fact, the finest French cognac and he knew, because he was intelligent, that it was unlikely that duty had been paid on it.
A feature is the densely packed in-jokes - this AU is almost entirely populated by characters from canon:
Bodie laughed, "… I was thinking of my ward."
"Colonel Grant's daughter, the Honourable Susan?"
some more canon than others:
"Walsh," Lady Cowley addressed her maid with the easy familiarity of one born to command. "What am I to wear on my hair tonight? My useless shaver of a nephew has ruined Colin's brilliant creation…"
Favourite characters are rewarded with virtuous roles, the unpleasant and evil are brought low.
One particular favourite agent is rewarded with a sympathetic role and a pairing that is scarcely second to Bodie/Doyle - but with whom?
My only complaint is that POM is too true to the Regency style, not the modern (soft porn) romance novel. "Placing a hand on [the beloved's] shoulder" is a reflection of ardent sexual desire, and a chaste kiss is the nearest thing to shagging for our handsome beaux.
What did you think?
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no subject
Date: 2011-10-13 10:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-13 01:23 pm (UTC)I thought it was well written and amusing, and it was frolicking along so well that the lack of erotic 'pay off' was a major disappointment.