regshoe

Dear Yuletide Writer,

Thank you for writing me a fic in one of these lovely small fandoms! I'm

regshoe on AO3. I've said a little bit below about why I love each of the fandoms I've requested, and given a few prompts, but if you have a completely different idea you'd love to write then go ahead—I'll look forward to seeing whatever you come up with!

Some general likes:
—Places: a strong sense of place, and relationships between characters and places
—Descriptions of nature, especially birds
—Historical detail; exploration of historical societies and events and how the characters fit into them
—Religion and its meaning in characters' lives, especially the place of religion in society and how that interacts with characters' places in society
—Loyalty: characters who are unfailingly loyal to each other; characters facing conflicting loyalties, or struggling to choose between their existing loyalties and their feelings for another character
—Characters finding comfort and a sense of rest in each other, especially amidst a hostile world or plot-related struggles; a sense that the characters in a ship are 'each other's people'
—Quietly significant physical intimacy: handholding, long hugs, cuddling, hair-stroking, and so on
—Characters who are emotionally closed-off, defensively cynical after getting hurt in the past, a little too self-reliant, etc., opening up emotionally as they slowly come to trust another character. Learning to love, and learning to be loved
—Hurt/comfort! Characters seeing the person they love get hurt and realising how much they care about them, or revealing their feelings in their reaction; characters receiving comfort and realising how much they're loved
—Magic and the supernatural, especially otherworldly fairy-folklorish stuff

Do Not Wants: Graphic violence or body horror; explicit sex (implied/fade-to-black is fine); rape; AUs that place the characters in a different setting (canon divergence is fine, as is adding supernatural/fantasy elements to a mundane canon setting)
—and a few fandom-specific DNWs in the fandom sections below.

I have gifts enabled and am open to treats.

A Glass of Blessings - Barbara Pym
Piers Longridge

This is my favourite of Barbara Pym's novels. I love the social detail, the moments of whimsical humour, Wilmet's self-absorbed yet charming narration, the emotional subtlety—but most of all I love Piers. I love the quiet sense of humour and the 'something vaguely unsatisfactory' that Wilmet fails to understand for most of the book, and how much Pym manages to convey of its significance despite her narrator, though I think it was the car number plates that really endeared him to me. I would like very much to know more about him!

You might explore his backstory, for instance. Wilmet's war backstory is such an important part of her character, but the little summary of what she knows about Piers's history doesn't mention the war. If I calculate correctly he'd have been a very young man when war broke out—perhaps the mentioned studies at Oxford or Cambridge were interrupted—and I can imagine that, wherever he was, it was a dramatic time to be figuring himself out and perhaps coming to terms with his sexuality, besides everything else going on. So what did he do?

For something a bit lighter, I'd love anything developing Piers's relationship with Keith! This article from the Barbara Pym society sums them up: '‘Poor Piers’ has found a steady anchor in his life, and Keith a purpose.' —I think that's true and very sweet, and I'd love to know more about it. An exploration of their meeting at Piers's French class? A conversation between them after the scene where Wilmet first meets Keith? Keith trying to find some of Piers's number plates for him? Piers's remark that he likes Keith because he's so different from him in social background and personality—"It's much more agreeable to come home to some different remarks from the ones one's been hearing all day"—is interesting. Does Keith feel the same way about Piers's conversation and their class difference/cultural non-overlap?

I'd enjoy an exploration of Piers's relationship with religion and church. He clearly knows a bit about church in general, and, given that, he's certainly in a position to have an interesting perspective on it. I'm intrigued by his statement that he goes 'where it suits me, and when' in London—I imagine him going round to all sorts of different churches and comparing the worship styles, congregations, sermons and so on. So where else does he go, besides St Luke's, and what does he make of it all? The book makes so many intriguing links between 'different worlds', as Wilmet reflects in chapter 18—La Cenerentola, the coffee house, the retreat garden, the Church—what does Piers make of her view that 'the Church should be the place where all worlds could meet... if people remained outside it was our—even my—duty to bring them in.'?

The Flight of the Heron - D. K. Broster
Ewen Cameron, Keith Windham, Worldbuilding

I love this book, for the beautiful slashy enemies-to-friends relationship between Keith and Ewen, and for the gorgeous and intriguing descriptions of the story's world. I'd love to receive a story exploring that world in more detail, either in the context of a Ewen/Keith shipfic or in a gen story including their friendship. Here are some ideas for what that might involve:

The supernatural elements of the story are full of possibility. Loch na h-Iolaire is 'like a fairy pool come upon in dreams'—what if that wasn't just a simile? Perhaps Ewen introduces Keith to the fairy inhabitants of the Highlands, or perhaps they discover them together—and there's surely potential there for them to get into a shippy hurt/comfort scenario... Then there's the book's use of fate, and the heron as a significant messenger: does the heron know what message it's bringing, and what does it think of Keith and Ewen's destined meetings? Perhaps there's some kind of supernatural connection between the multiple herons of the book (the one Lachlan shoots in the prologue, the one that startles Keith's horse and the one Ewen sees over the loch near the end). As their relationship develops—possibly in a fix-it where the original fated ending is averted—what do Keith and Ewen learn about the heron(s), and vice versa?

Or how about a fusion with a more definitely supernatural canon—Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, with all its English history and politics, could make an especially good combination with a story about English and Scottish enemies. What might Ewen and Keith's relationship look like if Keith came from the magic-laden England of John Uskglass, and Ewen from a Scotland with its own magic? What does the Magician of Athodel make of the '45, and what do Johannites and Jacobites think of each other? (I can imagine Keith being as little impressed with the one as he already is with the other!).

Or you could explore the invented history which Broster blends with the real events of the '45. I love a good cosy fireside story—I can just see Ewen and Keith, happily together in an AU future, curled up together at Ardroy on some dark winter's evening while Ewen tells Keith some stories from the history of the 'cadet branch of Cameron of Ardroy'. Who built the house of Ardroy, and what famed deeds did they do in the history of the Camerons? What's on that coat of arms obscured by whitewash, and what does it represent? Or perhaps it's Aunt Margaret telling the story—I love what little we get of her and Keith interacting in canon, and this could be a lovely way to develop their relationship further. Perhaps the story is about some brave Cameron lady of a past generation whom she particularly admires!

Fandom-specific DNWs: More than background mentions of Ewen/Alison; either Ewen or Keith in any non-canon pairing apart from with each other

Jill - E. A. Dillwyn
Gilbertina "Jill" Trecastle

This book is so much fun, and Jill—selfish, outrageous, bold—such a great narrator. I like how, while generally light-hearted and a bit silly, the book touches on more serious issues like medical abuse and the troubles of domestic servants; and I love how Jill's relationships with the proud and nobly principled Kitty and with the serious and devoted Sister Helena introduce a deeper emotional aspect to her own character. I'd love a story about Jill on her own or with either or both of Kitty and Helena, and here are some ideas...

How about something exploring Jill's life post-canon? Her new position as a responsible landowner at Castle Manor presents interesting possibilities, and I think it'd be a good place to build on the way the book touches on social issues and look—perhaps a bit more seriously than canon does—at the Victorian class system. How does Jill's time as a servant inform how she goes about 'looking after the interests—both physical and moral—of my tenants and poorer neighbours'? And what about the tenants' and poorer neighbours' perspective? I can't imagine they weren't aware of the whole 'daughter of the house runs away, disappears and then reappears several years later' situation—what they think of it, and what they make of the way Jill goes about running her estate, could make for a really interesting outsider POV story.

Jill and Kitty's relationship could have gone in a femslashy direction at various points. What might overturn Jill's resolve to 'put a check upon the inclination to be fascinated by her' and lead her to act on that 'sentimental, impractical folly' after all? Perhaps Kitty doesn't learn about Jill's faked reference and they go on travelling together, getting into further adventures... Then there are the post-canon possibilities—those ambivalent final lines about Kitty deserve some more development. Perhaps Kitty, widowed a few years later, meets Jill again, the true story of her erstwhile travelling-maid comes out and Kitty discovers that 'romance' can 'come to life again' after all...

Then there's Jill and Sister Helena, whom I also ship! I'd love to see an AU where Helena lives and she and Jill get to develop their relationship further. I'm interested in the meaning of religion for characters and their relationships, and I especially like how Jill's relationship with Sister Helena isn't a conventional 'bad character finds religion and undergoes a complete moral transformation' plot: Helena introduces Jill to more serious moral ideas and she regretfully decides that tormenting her stepmother is wrong after all, but she's still very much herself, independent and self-willed. And Helena is independent too, in her own way, with her career in nursing. I'd love anything exploring her backstory and personality, as well as her feelings for Jill. Perhaps they remain friends after Jill leaves the hospital, and snatch a few more private moments in the time allowed by Helena's busy professional schedule and Jill's continuing adventures.

And, if Helena did survive, what might happen if Jill introduced her and Kitty to each other? With them both having strong moral principles but very different characters, places in the world and views of Society, I can imagine things being a bit unpredictable, especially with Jill's decided personality in the mix, but they might end up liking each other very much. I'd absolutely be up for an OT3 here if you want to take things in that direction!

Fandom-specific DNW: Jill paired with any male character

Kidnapped - Robert Louis Stevenson
David Balfour, Alan Breck Stewart

I love this book—for the historical setting and the colourful detail Stevenson brings to it, for the exciting adventure-novel drama, but most of all for Alan and Davie. The banter, the culture/political clashes, the deliberately annoying folk songs, the terribly serious eighteenth-century gentlemanly honour, the twelve-inch height difference, the deep and heartfelt care for each other underneath all the silliness, the derailing an argument through tactically provoking hurt/comfort instead... They are hilarious and adorable, and I'd love a story exploring their relationship further, whether as slash or as a friendship.

There are lots of opportunities for missing scenes during the 'flight in the heather', especially at Corrynakiegh (and what a lovely setting it is...!). Perhaps Alan sings David some of his Gaelic folk songs to while away the time while they're hiding at Corrynakiegh; or you could write about their fishing and sword-fighting lessons (David observes that 'as I had sometimes the upper-hand of him in the fishing, he was not sorry to turn to an exercise where he had so much the upper-hand of me'—I'd love to see that in more detail!); or perhaps their 'there was only one coat' sleeping arrangements provide an opportunity for a development in their relationship...

Or you could explore what happens post-canon. I'm interested by David's presumable future as a respectable Whig proprietor at Shaws. How do his canon adventures and his relationship with Alan affect his future choices? And what does Alan, who will surely come back to visit him in secret, make of it all? If one sees this fun, dramatic slashy adventure novel in its serious literary aspect as an allegory about the historical development and cultural identity of the nation of Scotland, there's a lot of interesting potential there—I can see David, with his Lowland Whig upbringing and his appreciation for the worthwhile things in Alan's strange Highland Jacobite ways, finding some way to reconcile the two sides and bring something of both into his future life (with Alan...?).

Look at this lovely poem about the Braes of Balquhidder! (I learnt of it via the also lovely folk song variant usually called 'Wild Mountain Thyme'). The Balquhidder interlude, with David recovering from his illness in the aftermath of the quarrel, is a brilliant opportunity for hurt/comfort, emotional heart-to-heart conversations and generally a bit of quiet relationship development in between the exciting plot drama before and after. I'd love anything set there, and I'm sure there's potential for an absolutely adorable Alan/Davie fic using the poem as a prompt (the poem itself is too recent for 1751, though strict historical accuracy didn't stop Stevenson...!).

Fandom-specific DNW: Alan or David in any pairing apart from with each other

Return to Night - Mary Renault
Hilary Mansel, Lisa Clare

Return to Night is a lovely and a very weird book, and I think the way the different elements of it fit together is one of the loveliest and weirdest things about it. There's darkness and emotional complexity, and an element of sort of wryly ironic farce, in the main plot and Hilary's relationship with Julian (and Lisa's with Rupert)—and fitting into the midst of it all is Hilary and Lisa's relationship: a sweet domestic oasis, yet still complicated in its own way. I think I shipped them from the coffee flask onwards; and I'd love a story about their relationship, whether developing it into a romance or exploring their canon friendship.

What else might have happened that fateful night in chapter 12 when Rupert comes back? Perhaps in a version of events where he and Lisa are no longer together at this point (and they could so easily have decided it wasn't going to work out—I think that's an interesting possibility in itself), Hilary gets back from Cheltenham with her 'one clear wish, to spend the evening talking to Lisa'—and finds Lisa there. What happens—perhaps something a bit more emotionally dramatic than the uneventful domestic evening Hilary was envisaging?

Those lines near the end of the book about Lisa and Rupert's death, giving a glimpse into what's otherwise a very uncertain future, are intriguing—but things might have gone differently. How about an AU where Lisa survives, and later on she and Hilary raise her daughter together? I think they'd make good parents! How do they get on together, and what is the daughter like? And what does Hilary do during the war—I'm sure there'll be plenty of important work for her—and how does it affect their relationship?

I've got lots of femslash ideas here, but I like Hilary/Julian too, and I'd enjoy a story exploring Hilary and Lisa's friendship in the context of canon events. What does Lisa think about Hilary and Julian's developing relationship? (they decide to stop hiding their relationship because of the rumour that it's Lisa Julian is going to see—what does Lisa make of that?). Whether or not Lisa's canon death happens, what place does she have in Hilary's life in the couple of years after the end of the book, when Hilary is dealing with the new complexities of her relationship with Julian amidst the outbreak of war?

I'd also love any of kind of small, quiet scene with them together, enjoying some cosy domesticity that perhaps develops into something more. Lisa takes such good care of Hilary, with that coffee flask and everything—perhaps one day Hilary decides to do something special for her in return? Or a quiet evening curled up by the fire, gossiping, listening to the radio, perhaps talking about their pasts, 'sleep[ing] well'?