historium | Reccing Thursday, er, Friday, with a few historical f/f fics

Well, this is a Friday rather than a Thursday, but I was too tired to do recs when I got home yesterday, but thought it a lovely idea to do recs, anyway. I'll do a few on a theme: historical fics with f/f romances (or hints of romance). All but one of these (the last) have been gift fics to me in fairly recent exchanges, because I've just had that much luck with my exchange gifts. They're all at least a few months old, but I've been meaning to rec them for a while, because they deserve it.

By the author of "Laura's Dilemma" (2901 words) by El Staplador
Fandom: Original Work
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Female Character, Regency Debutante/Her Sister's Governess
Characters: Original Female Character(s)
Additional Tags: Regency, Books, Gossip, Class Differences, Age Difference, Secret Identity, Reference to illness suffered by child
Summary: There was always a fire in the schoolroom grate, even when she came home long after midnight. And Miss Cole was always there. Sometimes she would be turning over the pages of a novel (Maria was almost sure it was a novel); sometimes writing a letter; sometimes she would be dozing in the high-backed chair that had been Mamma's favourite when they lived in the country; but she would always be there when Maria looked in.

And Maria always looked in.

My comment: A lovely original historical story that reads delightfully like a regency novel except that it's about the love between two women.

An Example of Benevolent Selfishness (5724 words) by Alona
Fandom: Emma - Jane Austen
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jane Fairfax/Emma Woodhouse, Jane Fairfax & Emma Woodhouse
Characters: Emma Woodhouse, Jane Fairfax
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Developing Relationship
Summary:

A chance encounter between Emma and Jane leads to a drastic change in their relationship.

My comment: An incredibly beautiful canon divergence fic where Emma and Jane Fairfax become close much earlier, and develop a strong friendship - and perhaps more.

performance (1243 words) by frausorge
Fandom: Mansfield Park - Jane Austen
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Mary Crawford/Fanny Price
Characters: Fanny Price, Mary Crawford
Summary: Fanny began going more and more often to the Parsonage.

Another case of characters becoming closer in the story than they do in the original novel, this story beautifully uses Mary's harp playing to create a connection between Fanny and Mary. While that was a suggestion from my prompt, I really liked what the author did with it, as well as how the story subtly shows more to Mary Crawford than the narration of the book would have us believe.

To Be Fond of Dancing (888 words) by penna_nomen
Fandom: Emma - Jane Austen
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jane Fairfax/Emma Woodhouse
Characters: Jane Fairfax, Emma Woodhouse
Additional Tags: Romance, Dancing
Summary:Jane’s love for Emma has gone unrequited, until they share a dance.

This is set at a dance at the girls' school, where young women partner one another, and Jane and Emma succeed in finding a common ground.