Dear Yuletide Writer

[galadriel1010]

 

Dear Yuletide Writer,

Thank you for signing up! I’m really looking forwards to seeing what you write, and hopefully getting to know you eventually, seeing as we probably have tiny fandoms in common.

I figured it was time to pop my Yuletide cherry, after too many years of forgetting completely and then watching with wonder from the sidelines, so this is my first time.

What I like:

Casefic, adventures, mysteries, heists, etc. People working together, maybe thrown together by circumstance, to resolve problems.
Romance, hurt/comfort, angst that makes me cry with a happy ending that also makes me cry.
Older characters dealing with their shit in mature ways and occasionally grumbling about the fact that their hip can’t cope with some particularly enthusiastic sex positions or their back objects to an incautious evening on the sofa. Characters who have to plan their hangovers in advance.
Deep, nerdy research. Are you really into horology or cartography, or maybe you know everything there is to know about snakes? Indulge yourself and teach me something. Nerd out!
Crossovers. Logical sensible crossovers. I love stories set in London (and the city itself) so if you can make (for example) Peter Grant’s day go from weird to Really Weird by having him investigate a crime at Coal Hill School that turns out to be aliens rather than magic? I might cry. Or make DI Lestrade’s day really, really bad by having him deal with both of those on top of Sherlock.
Friendship! And family relationships and found families. Just people who like each other at least most of the time, even if they’re dickheads some of the time.

What I’m open to:
Most ratings, preference for up to M but I’m cool with owt.
Gen and ships. Preferably canon ships, but I have no strong DNWs.
OCs, world building and general exploration.

DNWs
Hypothermia/extreme cold etc. It’s a phobia.
Major character death.
Horror.

 

Class (TV 2016)

Watch on YouTube

What is it?
Class is the most recent and cruelly overlooked spin-off from Doctor Who. Set in Coal Hill School (now Academy, thanks to the Tories), five students and their teacher have to deal with the fact that the walls of time and space have worn thin from the Doctor’s visits over the years, and all manner of aliens are now washing up in London like they have done in Cardiff for a century. Oh, and the teacher and one of the students are both aliens, refugees from an attack that wiped out everyone else on their planet and which has followed them to earth. And they were on opposite sides of the war between their peoples before that. And one of them is a prince. There are only 8 45-minute episodes, and a couple of Big Finish series that I’ve not actually finished listening to yet. It’s a great little corner of the universe, full of blood and angst and love and all sorts of delicious

Characters: Charlie Smith (Class), Matteusz Andrzejewski Do I ship it? Have you seen them? They’re frickin’ adorable.

What do I like? I just love everything about these two navigating their suddenly complicated world. Matteusz is a gay teenager rejected by his devout Polish family because he fell in love with a buy. Charlie is an prince who gained his freedom the day he lost everything else and is having to learn who he is at the same time as learning an entirely new culture. Everything is new for both of them, from dates in the park to defeating the newest threat to the planet without losing themselves in the process.

 

My Time At Portia (Video Game)

Watch on YouTube

What is it?
My Time At Portia is a cute crafting based RPG based in the sweetest post-apocalyptic wasteland you’ve ever seen. You’re given ownership of your Pop’s abandoned workshop on the edge of the town of Portia, and over the next few in-game months and years you build your reputation as a skilled builder, make friends with the locals, help them to improve the town, and maybe even fall in love along the way.
My playtime to date: 129 hours.

 

Characters:
Any! I love most of the characters in the game, even Higgins is interesting in his stuck-up way. I’d love some lesbian love – my ‘canon’ pairing is Builder/Ginger, but I’d love to see a female builder with any of the ladies in town, or any of the ladies with each other. .

 

What I like:
Portia is a really interesting world, with great worldbuilding and plenty of space to play in it. Please explore to your heart’s content, whether that’s pushing the edges of the map we’ve been teased with, or digging into life in Portia after doors close or before we arrived, or into date nights on the hot air balloon. .

 

 

Raffles - E. W. Hornung

What is it?
Raffles is a gentleman thief, created by E.W. Hornung (AC Doyle’s brother-in-law). By day he’s a respectable cricketer, representing the MCC and England as one of the finest players of his age. By night, he’s a safe-cracking, window-breaking, smooth-talking jewel thief. Day or night, he has his faithful friend Bunny by his side. .

Characters:
A. J. Raffles (Raffles Hornung), Bunny Manders (Raffles Hornung)
Do I ship it? Like burning.

What I like:
I love cricket and I love casefic and I love desperately pining gay Victorian gentlemen. What more could I possibly want? Any combination of those will delight me.

 

Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch

What is it?
Following an unexpected encounter with a ghost, PC Peter Grant, of the London Metropolitan Police Force, becomes the first English apprentice wizard in over 70 years. Roped into the work of the Folly, the branch of the Met tasked with dealing with crimes relating to London’s magical community (the demi-monde), Peter is thrown immediately and quite literally in at the deep end.

Characters:
Any
Rivers of London has a fantastic ensemble cast of police officers, fairies, gods and goddesses, wizards and general bystanders, as is appropriate for a multicultural city like London. It’s a fabulously diverse cast, with the mix of ethnicities, religions, sexualities and gender identities that you’d expect from the capital as well. I particularly love Seawoll and Stephanopoulos, and their attempts to avoid as much Weird Bollocks as they can, and Dr Walid’s enthusiastic attempts to get as involved with the Weird Bollocks as possible.

What I like:
I’d love casefic for this fandom. If you wanted to crossover with anything else set in London (or outside, if you have a particular detective in mind whose day needs thoroughly ruining. Sherlock, Midsomer, Lewis and Shetland all have delightful potential) I’d be delighted. I’d also love general worldbuilding, too, though, especially if it’s truly geeky. I’m a massive fan of the city in general and love poking around the weird museums, so if you have a pet subject that lends itself to exploration through a Rivers lens (the London Canal Museum comes to mind, or the George in Southwark), I’m all eyes.

 

Shades of Magic - V. E. Schwab

What is it?
The Shades of Magic series is the gaslamp fantasy phenomenon from #1 New York Times bestselling author V.E. Schwab.
Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black. After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they’ll first need to stay alive.

Characters:
Alucard Emery, Delilah Bard, Kell Maresh, Rhy Maresh
Do I ship it? Luc/Rhy and Kell/Lila, absolutely.

What I like:
The worldbuilding for this series is delightful. It’s rooted in London, but not the London we know, and the magical system is fascinating. I also love the main characters, but I’m particularly interested in Rhy and Luc, and where the series has left them. That said, I’m a map and worldbuilding girl, so if you want to explore the edges of the map and fill in the gaps, please go for it. I’d be delighted.