#leah rewatches downton abbey

[literateleah]

sarah o’brien is SO messy and for what??? outing her only friend in that house after 10 years just to get a ginger to be first footman smh

#leah rewatches downton abbey #downton abbey #sarah o’brien #thomas barrow #alfred nugent #that was so ooc #and for what. #i ignore her in s3 #bad writing

[sobriquett]

Dear Trick or Treat Author

Dear Trick or Treat Author,

[WIP: 23:50 BST 19/09/21]

What a wonderful time of year! (Or is that Yuletime? Nearly there too!)

Hello! I am very easily pleased so please take this as a starting point if you need some ideas but otherwise write what makes you happy! I know horror tropes/genre are in my dislikes but if you want to write a scary trick, you do that, yes please! Just play within the canonical world (werewolves in Milton-Northern, vampires at Thornfield, ghosts at the White House) and I'll be a happy reader (but please still stay aware from my gore-related DNWs!).

My normal ramble about what I enjoy in fic isn't really relevant to a 300+ word exchange but you can find it in past letters, click the letter tag.

That said, things missing from my main signup include these:

Loves: exploration of power imbalances Likes: epistolary

My fandoms are in alphabetical order (ish), so here we go!

1.      16th Century CE RPF

Anne Boleyn Anne of Cleves Catherine of Aragon Catherine Parr Elizabeth I of England Henry VIII of England Margaret Pole Countess of Salisbury Robert Dudley 1st Earl of Leicester Thomas Seymour (1508 – 1549)

I've been on a bit of a Philippa Gregory kick this summer reading the Cousins' War series out of order. I'd love more stories about these figures – with some of them (Henry VIII in particular!) it's pretty easy to lean into the trick side of things, but there's treat potential too. Add more characters if you want; I've been reading histories and historical novels on this period for many, many years so if you drop in Maria de Salinas or Stephen Fisher or Kat Ashley or Thomas Cromwell or anyone I'm up for that, but I am also a laidback reader and this is a low-stress exchange, don't tie yourself in knots over accuracy. (Although I would, and I'd definitely recommend Ruth Goodman's How to be a Tudor if you haven't read it, even if you're not normally a non-fiction reader.)

What if [any utterly disastrous thing] didn't happen, or perhaps was somehow worse? Did Elizabeth and Dudley actually have some happiness in a romance, however brief? How did Anne of Cleves feel to retire as the King's beloved sister? What was Margaret Pole thinking on the morning of her execution? Is Henry VIII haunted by the ghosts of some of those he killed: friends and lovers and family? Did anything actually happen between Elizabeth I and Thomas Seymour (There's historical room for a secret pregnancy in the country…)

2.      Downton Abbey

Mary Crawley Edith Crawley Sybil Crawley Matthew Crawley­ Tom Branson Robert Crawley Cora Crawley Violet Crawley Isobel Crawley Lavinia Swire Anna Bates Evelyn Napier Freda Dudley Ward Marigold Crawley George Crawley Ship: Tom Branson/Sybil Crawley

This is like my TV comfort blanket. I rewatched it this year and I am interested in just about every main character except, oddly, Thomas – who is the favourite fic character of most writers! Give me a missing moment, a look at the future, a glance at the past, a look from the outside – whatever. Any point in, before or after canon is cool with me, except I tend to skim a lot of S4 (ugh, that rape storyline, please don’t use that).

Do ghosts walk the halls of Downton Abbey? What is life like in Ireland for Tom and Sybil? Do any of the characters ever feel a moment of true despair? What if Matthew had died in the war? What does the future hold for these characters? How did Robert, Cora and Violet get on in the 1890s? What was Carson like with Mary/Edith/Sybil as children? Does it parallel his relationship with their children?

3.      The Good Place

Eleanor Shellstrop Chidi Anagonye Tahani Al-Jamil Jason Mendoza Michael Janet

This is another show I can watch over and over and over. I think Chidi's my favourite but it's hard to be sure. I can tell you I absolutely sobbed during the S3 finale and I was a wreck for the S4 finale. Tug my heartstrings, make me laugh, make me cry, I don't care! I've studied philosophy and despised it so I'll take or leave what you include on that score, I just love the characters. Please include any or all other characters you'd like, but I definitely ship Eleanor/Chidi over Chidi/Simone! Although I'll take angst in that direction too! I don't know, I feel like a kid in a candy store writing this letter: hyper and having trouble deciding between all the possible wonders!

Existential dread? Moments from their human lives? Moments from the good place? Please tell me more about the time knife. Does Michael return to the good place when he dies? Does he reunite with Janet and/or Tahani?

4.      Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre Edward Rochester Adele Varens Ship: Jane Eyre/Edward Rochester

This is my favourite classic novel, I reread it every couple of years, most recently in 2020 for Yuletide. My reading of it changes each time, and I increasingly believe that Rochester is more bad guy than good guy and that Jane Eyre lies as a narrator and is as prejudiced and superior as those she crititcises for the same qualities. But I still love her, and that she says she got a happy ending.

Is Rochester more of a villain? How? How does Adele find school, either the one Rochester sends her to, or the one Jane moves her to? Post-canon happiness? Post-canon unhappiness? A scene from the engagement? A missing moment between the non-wedding and Jane running away? What if the wedding wasn't interrupted? (Full disclosure: I'm writing this too.) Canon divergence for, well, anything? Is Adele separated from Sophie? How does that go, how does she manage?

5.      Memoirs of a Geisha

Nitta Sayuri Mameha Nobu Toshikazu Ship: Nitta Sayuri/Nobu Toshikazu Ship: Mameha/Matsunaga Tsuneyoshi | The Baron

6.      North and South

Margaret Hale John Thornton Hannah Thornton Bessy Higgins Ship: Margaret Hale/John Thornton

7.      Stardew Valley

Female Player Sebastian Shane Harvey Robin Elliott Leah Marlon Ship: Shane/Female Player Ship: Sebastian/Female Player Ship: Lewis/Marnie

Do Sebastian and the farmer go on any more bike rides? How did Lewis and Marnie’s relationship start? Are they ever found out? Why does Lewis want to keep it secret? Why is he such an arsehole to Marnie? Tales of the purple shorts. Tell me more about Harvey’s nerdy hobbies or fear of heights? What happened with Robin and Sebastian’s dad? The horrors of the mines, or the skull cavern? Is Leah frightened by the things that go bump in the night near her home? Is Elliott? Some angst or h/c around a wounded farmer, being found/nursed? Or how about some angst/horror in which... they’re not? Fics about the war with the Gotoro Empire?

8.      Star Trek: Voyager

Kathryn Janeway Chakotay Tuvok Kes Seven of Nine Naomi Wildman

I’ve been a J/C shipper since before I knew shipping was a thing (as a kid, I had all the two-parters, S5&6, and Resolutions on video. Pre-internet, how did I even know which episode Resolutions one? Shippy magic instinct, I guess?) So apart from that ship, or canonical relationships, I would prefer genfic please. I also don’t mind the other Voyager characters so they’re welcome to make an appearance, but these are the ones that interest me.

9.      The West Wing

CJ Cregg Josh Lyman Sam Seaborn Abbey Bartlet Charlie Young Donna Moss Jed Bartlet Leo McGarry Toby Ziegler Zoey Bartlet

Happy writing!

Sobriquett

#dear author letter #16th century rpf #downton abbey #the good place #jane eyre #memoirs of a geisha #north and south #stardew valley #star trek voyager #the west wing #trick or treat exchange

[literateleah]

the parallels between thomas pretending to like daisy to spite william and jimmy doing the same thing with ivy and alfred... shut up history always repeats itself

#leah rewatches downton abbey #downton abbey #thomas barrow #daisy robinson #alfred nugent #jimmy kent #james kent #ivy stuart #william mason

[literateleah]

the fact that violet robert and thomas were all written specifically for their actors is so telling and so pleasing to me

#leah rewatches downton abbey #downton abbey #thomas barrow #robert grantham #violet crawley

[literateleah]

thomas and o’brien are mlm/wlw solidarity

#leah rewatches downton abbey #thomas barrow #sarah o’brien #best character arc noises! #besides the bates :’)

[literateleah]

michelle dockery was BORN to play mary crawley that’s all i can ever think when i meditate upon her performance

#leah rewatches downton abbey #downton abbey #mary crawley #lady mary crawley #like wow #her face structure is noble #she played her with a seasoned sharpness #and the cold focus of mary's spirit #ugh!! #so good

[literateleah]

when mary crawley looked a female model at a dress show up and down in season five and said “oh, yummy” send tweet

#leah rewatches downton abbey #lady mary crawley #mary crawley #downton abbey

[literateleah]

i forgot what happens in s5 when do mary and mabel lane fox smooch.

#leah rewatches downton abbey #downton abbey #mary crawley #mabel lane fox

[literateleah]

every single female character on the early seasons of downton abbey was like yes, i care about you enough to help you hide the body. yes, i will ruin your marriage and career prospects because i’m bored.

#leah rewatches downton abbey #downton abbey spoiler #edith crawley #mary crawley #lady mary crawley #lady edith crawley

[literateleah]

jimmy kent (emotional support himbo)

#he’s a little confused but he’s got the spirit #leah rewatches downton abbey #downton abbey #jimmy kent #james kent #he’s dumb but he’s pretty 😌

[literateleah]

something about mary sticking up for tom about the christening and tom sticking up for mary while she was trying to get rights to the estate.

#leah rewatches downton abbey #downton abbey #lady mary crawley #mary crawley #tom branson

[literateleah]

mary and lavinia are possibly the best example of pale vs dark beauty archetypes and i’m obsessed with it (read more about these here)

#leah rewatches downton abbey #downton abbey #mary crawley #lady mary crawley #lavinia swire

[literateleah]

s1 sybil and gwen?? girlfriends i think

#leah rewatches downton abbey #gwen dawson #sybil crawley #downton abbey

[literateleah]

edith crawley struggled through four seasons of middle daughter syndrome and then girl bossed her way to the top of a magazine so she’s steadily becoming one of my fave characters

#leah rewatches downton abbey #edith crawley

[literateleah]

if you’re an eldest daughter who kins mary crawley you may be entitled to financial compensation

#leah rewatches downton abbey #downton abbey #mary crawley #eldest daughter

[literateleah]

thomas dancing with daisy to make william jealous as if he isn’t limp wristed

#leah rewatches downton abbey #thomas barrow #this is so funny to watch