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2%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
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7[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cover_s.png]]
8 [[caption-width-right:350:"It was... something at first sight."]]
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10''[[http://handsheld.quinlancircle.com Hands Held in the Snow]]'' is a YuriGenre[=/=]YoungAdult WebSerialNovel written by [=Thedude3445=], author of ''Literature/ATLStoriesFromTheRetrofuture'', with art and illustrations by Mikayla Buan, character designer for ''WebAnimation/TheAcornPrincess.''
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12The story's about a girl who meets a girl and the romance that [[LoveAtFirstSight forms between them.]] Beatrice Ragnell is an [[CuteBookworm ace student]] who is studying to become a priest and help save the world. Emi L'Hime is a wealthy bureaucrat's daughter who [[BrattyTeenageDaughter resents her family]] for keeping her in an engagement to a noblewoman she's never even met. The two meet at the library, bond over books... and that's where their story begins. At the same time, though, their home city of Balarand has been conquered by TheEmpire, and there's a lot of tension rising. That's not going to stop them from falling deeply in love with each other, though.
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14It's a SliceOfLife QueerRomance story filled with ComingOfAge drama and some serious issues about a military occupation by a [[ForeignRulingClass foreign government,]] but it is also an adorable, SugarWiki/{{WAFF}}y SliceOfLife story about two young women having a great time together.
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16The story's posted on [[http://handsheld.quinlancircle.com its own site]] and on Website/RoyalRoad ([[https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/28970/hands-held-in-the-snow here]]) too. It updates two times a week.
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18----
19!! This series provides examples of:
20* AloofDarkHairedGirl: Subverted by Emi L'Hime. She comes across as cold, stoic, and princessly to strangers, but the moment you peel past that, it turns out it was all a cover for her intense social awkwardness.
21* {{Animesque}}: The entire web novel is styled after Japanese LightNovels, all the way down to featuring in-story black-and-white illustrations.
22* ArrangedMarriage: Emi L'Hime is engaged against her will to a noblewoman named Lady Khara, marking an extremely rare case of same-sex arranged marriage in fiction. [[spoiler:Near the end of the novel, Emi is married to Novella, as shown in Chapter 70 that Emi's surname is now Emi Khara.]]
23* BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine: Beatrice and Emi make half their relationship out of Emi being silly and Beatrice setting her straight. They really should be a ComedyDuo, shouldn't they?
24* CastFullOfGay: Almost every character who isn't a parent is some form of LGBT.
25* CanonCharacterAllAlong: [[spoiler:The Grandma turns out to be Novella in the epilogue chapter, which takes place 57 years later.[[note]]In actuality, the epilogue ''is'' the chapter in the present-day while the ''whole'' novel is a flashback story about Emi.[[/note]]]]
26* ChekhovsGunman: Lady Khara, who is simply a mentioned character, is fundamental to the plot of the story especially with Emi [[spoiler:up until her first physical appearance as her full name Novella Khara which makes her UnseenNoMore.]]
27 * DanceOfRomance:
28** At the end of Chapter 24 and later in Chapter 25, the blooming couple Beatrice and Emi dance altogether during the winter party within the L'Hime residence.
29** [[spoiler:Both Emi and Novella at the end of Chapter 68 are both seen dancing together, which signifies their eventual relationship as a married couple. It also counts as a major CharacterDevelopment for Emi as she is no longer resenting her engagement with her, starkly contrasting as to how she was resentful of her family for the same thing during the first half of the story.]]
30* TheEmpire: The city of Balarand has been under occupation by the Empire of Dannark since before the start of the story. They aren't turning the whole place into a dystopian nightmare, so they aren't ObviouslyEvil, but there does appear to be a lot of [[LaResistance protests and resentment]] towards them.
31* FantasyCounterpartReligion: The Church is very much a FantasyPantheon variation on the Catholic Church. They are a large semi-political organization that almost everyone follows, and priests take a VowOfCelibacy.
32%% * FirstLove: It appears that way for Emi and Beatrice. Or, at least for Emi.
33* FramingDevice: The story begins with the framing device of a grandmother telling a story to a grandchild. The narrator usually disappears into the story, but sometimes makes side comments. [[spoiler:Said [[TwoAliasesOneCharacter Grandma]] is revealed to be Novella in the future!]]
34%% * GoGetterGirl: Beatrice!
35%% * HoldingHands: It's in the title, and on the cover, and whaddya know, it's in the story plenty too.
36%% * IntertwinedFingers: Probably the ultimate symbol of the entire story.
37%% * LoveAtFirstSight:
38%% * ->"Whatever Emi and Beatrice felt by meeting each other’s looks, it was no fleeting moment. Was it love at first sight? I wouldn’t say so. But… It was… something at first sight."
39%% * MoeCouplet: Two cute characters get together. RomanceEnsues. Then... they get even cuter when they share a scene.
40* OneHeadTaller: Beatrice is almost exactly one head shorter than Emi.
41* ThePowerOfLove: [[DiscussedTrope discussed]] by Beatrice and Bodhi in Chapter 23, where Bodhi wonders if humans could gain better magical abilities with stronger emotional connections. Sadly for him, Beatrice shoots the idea down as impossible.
42* TwoAliasesOneCharacter: The Grandma in the first page who is narrating is eventually revealed to be [[spoiler:Novella Khara]] in the final chapter. It counts as a big twist and a LateArrivalSpoiler for newcomers as [[spoiler:Emi gets married to Novella as seen in Chapter 70 with Emi taking up the latter's surname.]]
43%% * PrimAndProperBun: Ms. Khami, and boy does she fit the character type.
44%% * ProperLady: Emi L'Hime subverts every notion of properness, probably on account of being a socially awkward brat half the time.
45* ShowWithinAShow: All sorts of fake book titles show up, including a book series called ''The Elf Cycle'' that Emi and Beatrice's dad are fans of.
46%% * SickeninglySweethearts: Every interaction the main couple has is this.
47* SnowMeansLove: It's a romance between two lesbians in the winter.
48* UnseenNoMore: [[spoiler:[[WhamEpisode Chapter 66]] marks the full appearance of Lady Novella Khara, who started off as TheGhost despite being central to the story in terms of Emi's unwarranted [[ArrangedMarriage engagement]] that was done by her parents.]]
49* WalkingSpoiler: [[spoiler:It is hard to discuss about the Grandma in the first chapter and in the epilogue without mentioning the fact that she is Novella, a fact that recontextualizes everything about the story.]]
50* WholesomeCrossdresser: Tia Knoll, the very rich and [[TheGadfly very sly]] nobleman, crossdresses in almost every appearance so far, but nobody comments on it much beyond curiosity.

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