History Exchange

[kangeiko]

I've spent the last week in a haze of "am I really on holiday?" followed by "I am so tired and must sleep", so I haven't had a chance to post about the awesome history exchange, which went live a week ago. Authors have already been revealed. I haven't had a chance to go through all the wonderful fic, but historical fiction is my go-to happy place, so I'll be making my way through them in the coming days. But before then, a couple of recs.

So, first up is my lovely gift fic:

Light before us (555 words) by sevenofspade
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Ancient History RPF
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Livia Drusilla, Octavia Minor
Summary: Livia visits her sister-in-law.

This is such a great fic, I love it! Livia is so calculating and thoughtful in this, and I loved her slow assessment of Octavia, and their almost-truce. Beautifully done.

One other recommendation:

Reine Mère (10908 words) by Selena
Chapters: 3/3
Fandom: Historical RPF, 16th Century CE RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Catherine de' Medici & Elisabeth de Valois, Catherine de' Medici & Claude de France, Catherine de' Medici & Marguerite de Valois, Claude de France & Marguerite de Valois, Henri II de France/Catherine de' Medici, Catherine de' Medici & Diane de Poitiers, Catherine de' Medici & Francis I. of France, Henri II de France/Diane de Poitiers
Characters: Catherine de' Medici, Élisabeth de Valois | Elisabetta di Valois, Claude de France (1547-1575), Marguerite de Valois, Mary I of Scotland | Mary Queen of Scots, Diane de Poitiers, Francis I. of France, Felipe II de España | Philip II of Spain, Henri II de France, Gaspard de Coligny, Henri IV de France, Henri III de France, Clarice Strozzi de' Medici
Additional Tags: Mother-Daughter Relationship, Motherhood, Power Dynamics, Character Study, Female-Centric, Parent-Child Relationship, Parenthood, Daughters
Summary: Catherine de' Medici and her daughters: what forms a woman, a mother, a queen?

I adore Catherine de' Medici and Selena captures her perfectly here - her ambition, her ruthlessness, and her weaknesses, left tender and exposed in the shape of her children. I loved her relationship with Margot most of all.

I also wrote a fic for this exchange -

i have cut a ribbon of skin from another man's body (4333 words) by kangeiko
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Ancient History RPF, Greek and Roman Mythology
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Olympias/Zeus, Olympias/Philip II of Macedon
Characters: Olympias, Zeus, Philip II of Macedon
Summary: She meets the god four times in her life, in four different guises.

I'm really glad I managed to finish this in time. The submission turned out to coincide with my first week back from the US, so I was burning the candle at both ends, so to speak. Many thanks to rhodanum for hand-holding as well as a sterling beta job.