The Grand Tour by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer

Set shortly after Sorcery and Cecelia, The Grand Tour features cousins Cecelia and Kate, along with their new husbands, James and Thomas, going on the famed Grand Tour of the continent for their wedding journeys.  Naturally, things don't go as peacefully as planned, and the two couples soon find themselves caught up in strange events connected to intruders leaving behind slippers,  conveniently running into the same people at many of their stops, strange women, and what appears to be a burgeoning international incident.

The full title is The Grand Tour, or The Purloined Coronation Regalia, being a revelation of matters of High Confidentiality and Greatest Importance, including extracts from the intimate diary of a Noblewoman and the sworn testominy of a Lady of Quality.  That should give you something of an idea of what you're in for with it.  While the first book is told in the form of letters Kate and Cecelia exchange while Kate is enduring her (really her sister's) Season and Cecelia is stuck out in the country, this one tells Cecy's story through her official recounting of the events, and Kate's through her diary.

Unfortunately, not only does this remove the gossipy quality of the writing, but it also gets a bit confusing at times, as both sides are written in first person, and the cousins are together through most of the book.  Their voices also aren't as distinct as they were before, and somehow, the "Jane Austen with magic" loses a bit of its zing.  I think that removing it from the country/city settings, and the almost inherent nostalgia and making it a travel story (where the authors are clearly delighting in getting to "visit" all these places) also contributes.  The book is still great fun on every level, it just isn't as delightful as Sorcery and Cecelia.

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My way of coping with realizing my Terminator DVDs appearing to be nowhere in the apartment.  Now to pick one.

   

My iconmaking skills are getting rusty.  I can tell I haven't made more than one at a time in a few months.

Gothic Shoujo Crack

So, I've been thinking about the whole "Gothic Shoujo Crack" thing some of these mangaka have going for them. Kaori Yuki, Higuri You, Matsuri Hino(though her brand and I just don't quite get along) and, I'm told, a number of Clamp things, though I've only seen it so far in Tsubasa starting in the Tokyo arc. (The first clue was the amnesiac princess, but once there were fraternal vampire twins with potententially interesting complexes there was just no going back.  It was Gothic Shoujo Crack masquerading as shounen action.)

Anyway, I know exactly what's in my head when I think of them, but it's not as easy for me to spell it out (as I tried to do to a little while ago.)  Off the top of my head, there's:

1.  The whole "strange, mysterious world" bit.  Even though most so far take place in a "normal" setting, present or past, the renditions make them seem completely different in the "huge, mysterious mansion" way.
2.  Darker supernatural elements.  (vampires, demons, fallen angels-in that world, that aren't of the demon variety-dark fae, etc.)
3.  Forbidden love in a messy way (vampires again, incest-fake and real-death, concerning age differences, living in other worlds, master/subordinate, etc.)
4.  Most I've read seem to involve some sort of epic quest/journey/world hopping for said love.  Mostly, the romance is OMG EPIC, even if one or both may do Non-Subtextual Important Staring And Declaring to another(but you never actually go "oh, triangle!" with them.)
5. ZOMG EVERY IMAGINABLE PAIRING IS ARGUABLY CANON WTF!
6.  Sometimes, you just have no idea what's going on, but the pretty and the angst didstract you from that.
7.  There's some sort of crazy crack in the form of a mad scientist or sadist or a machivellian sorcerer or some such.
8.  It makes my normal manga-reading standards completely disappear.
9.  Often, there's some sort of strange gender-bending involved.  (I mean, seriously...Sara/Setsuna/Kira:  Is that het romance with unrealized slash, or well-disguised femslash romance with unrealized het?  Half rhetorical.  No spoilers past vol 4, please, though I plan to catch up with what I have od Angel Sanctuary this week.)

Is there some sort of official definition or guide for the subgenre?  Anyone have other examples?  Because we all know that I have pitifully few titles to read, and always need more.

Spoiler code, in case anyone thinks they might need it:  <span style="color: #333333;background-color: #333333">Spoilers here.</span> 

Angel Sanctuary Vol 5

This volume needed more Kurai, Kira and Sara. 

( spoilers )

 
No spoilers for future volumes without the spoilercode, please.  I suspect it's going to get harder and harder to make many comments without spoilers from this point on. 

<span style="color: #333333;background-color: #333333">Spoilers here.</span>