Five Sons Mr and Mrs Bennet Never Had, by biichan
A completely delightful romp through five possible alternative universes. What if each of the Bennet girls had been born boys? Structured as glimpses into five different moments through the (parallel) stories.
Why you should read this: It’s both hilarious and insightful, cleverly structured and entertaining. It makes you wish for more and gives closure in a neat way.
Why you might not like this: You dislike genderswap? Are disproportionately annoyed by the occasional spag error? I would suggest you give this one a chance anyway. 😉
Regency, AUs (plural!), General, Complete. @AO3.
From the obvious and almost accepted fanon (Mary marrying Collins when she is the second sister), to the unexpected but fitting (our male version of Kitty accompanying Lydia in her elopement out of brotherly devotion), to the strangely compelling (Caroline being in love with the male version of Jane), this piece’s changes are always so on target that it can’t help but marvel.
One could say that some of the characters have been allowed to be changed too little by their new circumstances — but this is also part of this fic’s charm. It is there — in their immediate recognition, in the way they mirror their canon selves with accuracy — where the author knew to find each story; to make it funny, entertaining, and a insightful comment in their canon personalities and circumstances.
The prose is easy — the decision to make most of it dialogue, both direct and indirect, was spot-on, and the lack of description is not felt. The structure is clever — where it would leave us wanting, for showing us too compelling but too short a glimpse into each story, it makes us laugh with accurate, lovely epilogues no longer than a paragraph.
The content is more than that — it plays with what-ifs and consequences and personalities, it walks us through Pride and Prejudices that never were with ease, so that we can imagine what came before and after each little scene without needless exposition, and makes us laugh at it, and gives us, in the end, a bit so lovely that it left this reader smiling for days.