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out_thereMeans and Mendacity (38784 words) by so_shhy
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Clint Barton/Phil Coulson, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Natasha Romanov
Characters: Clint Barton, Phil Coulson, Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Regency, homosexuality is accepted, Marriage of Convenience, Fluff and Angst, age difference (18 and 28), young and stupid!Clint, Virginity, there's a bit of plot in there somewhere, but it's all pretty implausible, this was disturbingly easy to write, I have probably read too many Georgette Heyer novels, i.e. all of them
Summary:
I'm not hugely familiar with Regency romance, beyond Jane Austen it's not really a genre I read a lot of. But I really enjoyed this story. I enjoyed it enough that I started reading at 9.30pm, just to see if it was worth bookmarking, and ended up staying up until midnight to finish it.
Historical and stylised AUs are hard to get right. You need to keep the sensibilities of the genre without losing what makes the characters them. You need to make a reader understand why this marriage would be convenient to both Phil and Clint, why a breach of manners would be so dreadful and the assumptions that make the characters act the way they do. But you also need the characters to be recognisable: a Clint who is a good person, despite his unsavoury background, who has trusted the wrong people and been betrayed by them; a Phil who is competant and capable but easily overlooked on first impression, who is kind and reliable and surprisingly good in a crisis.
I really liked this. I liked Steve and Natasha and Bucky. I liked Tony and Pepper. Even though I knew it would be a happy ending for Clint and Phil -- it is the genre, after all -- I didn't know *how* they'd get there, and the journey was fun.
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Clint Barton/Phil Coulson, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Natasha Romanov
Characters: Clint Barton, Phil Coulson, Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Regency, homosexuality is accepted, Marriage of Convenience, Fluff and Angst, age difference (18 and 28), young and stupid!Clint, Virginity, there's a bit of plot in there somewhere, but it's all pretty implausible, this was disturbingly easy to write, I have probably read too many Georgette Heyer novels, i.e. all of them
Summary:
When a young thief named Clint Barton saves the lives of Lord and Lady Stark he finds himself caught up in a bewildering series of events, involving an unexpected fortune, an arranged marriage, a blackmail plot, and the full spectrum of spies, lies and secrets.
An unashamedly ridiculous Regency romance.
I'm not hugely familiar with Regency romance, beyond Jane Austen it's not really a genre I read a lot of. But I really enjoyed this story. I enjoyed it enough that I started reading at 9.30pm, just to see if it was worth bookmarking, and ended up staying up until midnight to finish it.
Historical and stylised AUs are hard to get right. You need to keep the sensibilities of the genre without losing what makes the characters them. You need to make a reader understand why this marriage would be convenient to both Phil and Clint, why a breach of manners would be so dreadful and the assumptions that make the characters act the way they do. But you also need the characters to be recognisable: a Clint who is a good person, despite his unsavoury background, who has trusted the wrong people and been betrayed by them; a Phil who is competant and capable but easily overlooked on first impression, who is kind and reliable and surprisingly good in a crisis.
I really liked this. I liked Steve and Natasha and Bucky. I liked Tony and Pepper. Even though I knew it would be a happy ending for Clint and Phil -- it is the genre, after all -- I didn't know *how* they'd get there, and the journey was fun.
no subject
Date: 2014-11-11 05:39 am (UTC)I'm gonna check this rec out.
no subject
Date: 2014-11-11 09:45 am (UTC)Oh, I'd be really interested in seeing what you think. I'm not familiar enough to know if all the details were correct for the genre and I wondered what someone with a stronger background knowledge would make of it.
no subject
Date: 2014-11-12 06:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-11-12 08:07 pm (UTC)Fair enough. As ever, fic is always a YMMV type of thing - what works for one fan doesn't work for all fans.