This is amazing, amazing stuff. I'm normally so very leery of out-of-Japan AUs, but from the first paragraph I knew I was in good hands. The dialogue was spot-on - in character and so skillfully written in the style of the period. The adjective I'm thinking of here is sparkling; there's no other way to describe the way you've written this. Everything I love about Victorian-era stories is in here - the dinner parties, the country houses, the estates and the deviant playwrights... the dialogue.
And the ending. THE ENDING. While I was reading this I was thinking to myself that I'd be heartbroken if Sho broke it off with Becky and went galloping off into the sunset with Nino, because this story is so much more than just the Sho/Nino dynamic. And when I actually read the ending it was so much better than I imagined - a little bit sad, yes, and very bittersweet, but it felt realistic for the times and the hope of all of them continuing to be friends for the rest of their lives is a very delighful one. I'm now imagining a coda in which Nino does find love elsewhere and it's funny and sweet and wonderful and just that little bit different from his time with Sho, but everyone is happy, including himself.
This is incredible - I am so enamoured of this alternate universe and your writing. ♥
no subject
This is amazing, amazing stuff. I'm normally so very leery of out-of-Japan AUs, but from the first paragraph I knew I was in good hands. The dialogue was spot-on - in character and so skillfully written in the style of the period. The adjective I'm thinking of here is sparkling; there's no other way to describe the way you've written this. Everything I love about Victorian-era stories is in here - the dinner parties, the country houses, the estates and the deviant playwrights... the dialogue.
And the ending. THE ENDING. While I was reading this I was thinking to myself that I'd be heartbroken if Sho broke it off with Becky and went galloping off into the sunset with Nino, because this story is so much more than just the Sho/Nino dynamic. And when I actually read the ending it was so much better than I imagined - a little bit sad, yes, and very bittersweet, but it felt realistic for the times and the hope of all of them continuing to be friends for the rest of their lives is a very delighful one. I'm now imagining a coda in which Nino does find love elsewhere and it's funny and sweet and wonderful and just that little bit different from his time with Sho, but everyone is happy, including himself.
This is incredible - I am so enamoured of this alternate universe and your writing. ♥