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myssparklesbookrants · 4 years

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FICTIONAL CHARACTERS I WISH WERE TRUE SO THAT I COULD DATE THEM or stare at them from afar

HIWow! It was hard choosing a first topic to talk about. I felt like I needed to talk about something big and glamorous to blow the brains out of… of someone. But alas, this is my best, for now..

So, I chose the first one that I had listed on the top of my head ever since I first started reading.

BOOK BOYFRIENDS!

This is a list of MEN or BOYS who tickle the romantic bone just right! (I had dreamed that there was such an organ in the human body, just near the stomach)

I selected these FICTIONAL BOYFRIENDS as potential members of my harem If I ever defy normal Filipino conceptions of marriage and take up polyandry.

The criteria I used is simple.

Choose the fictional partners that I can imagine existing in real life (not too much of an alpha and rich or good looking that borders on unbelievable). The type of characters that I can imagine talking to, who I find fascinating and can be a potential long-time partner, casual hook up or best friend.

I originally wanted to stick to 10. But as I wrote, a lot of names popped up and I can’t not put them in the list but still, I am sure after I have this article published (Char! Haha) there will be a lot of “Shoot! Why did I not put him on the list???” exclamations. So, maybe I will eventually make another continuation list???

This list is based on the BOOKS I READ so if you have a bet that I didn’t list, please don’t hesitate to give a recom. A new book to swoon over is always welcome.

Most Importantly: READ THE BOOKS WHERE THESE AMAZING CHARACTERS CAME FROM. I liked them because of their wit, their personality, how they interacted with other people, their dreams and how their love for their other half made them better people or vice versa. MEANING: THE BOOK WAS WICKED AWESOME AND THE AUTHOR WAS A GOOD STORYTELLER.

(I must apologize for the lack of female to female romantic partner mentions given my current lack of FF Romance reads, which is something I will rectify soon. But if you have recommendations, feel free to comment below and maybe add some MM ones too!)

Anyway, meet…

1. Clayton Danvers and Lucas Cortez

Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Underworld Series

Genre: Horror fiction, Paranormal romance, Urban fantasy

This series is adapted on screen called ‘Bitten’ which is available on Netflix.

Clayton Danvers is the strong, silent, and smart type. He is a professor in a university where he met Elena(his student) and a werewolf! His devotion to Elena was sweet, passionate and faithful to the point that bordered on obsessive but not off putting. The best thing about him was how un-Alpha he was. Although he was strong , his relationship with Elena was a partnership.

This is what romance needs today guys! A PARTNER not a rich and condescending daddy!

Lucas Cortez, on the other hand, is a lawyer/sorcerer, young master of a Cabal Group, who informally separates from his family's company to pursue a life as a lawyer protecting the rights of other magical beings against abusive Cabals(including his family's). Unlike Clayton, he was slender with brown eyes behind glasses. So basically, a cute, smart nerd who is the 'good' black sheep of the family.

(they are in separate books with different female romantic partners)

2. Quinn Sullivan

Penny Reid’s Neanderthal Meets Human

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Quin…*sighs*... So awesome! He was quiet, mysterious,unsmiling, rich and had an almost perfect handsome face. I love that the author imagined small flaws like almost unnoticeable crooked bottom front teeth and differing sizes of his ears with one prominent feature -his hawk-like stare. BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, he took Janie's quirkiness in stride. Asking questions, debating, protecting, annoying, kissing…. You know the drill..😉

3. Beau Winston

Penny Reid’s Beard in Mind

Genre: Contemporary Romance

On first read, Beau was a good looking, charming good boy who is looking for his path after his twin, Duane left to pursue his own.

What I loved about him was how he dealt with Shelley's(Quinn's Sister) clinically diagnosed mental illness(OCD). He researched about it and made efforts to make it easier for her and was just overall supportive.

It was awesome how much the author has put an effort in researching OCD facts to make details perfectly accurate and how it was NOT at all a hastily placed plot device to get the story going.

4.Ted Beaudine

Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ Call Me Irresistible

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Hello to my favorite romance book of all time!

I think I have read this many times already and have to put off re-reading it again for next year(2021) to give my brain some time to forget some of the plot. We need to keep the mystery going! amiright??

Anyway, Ted was the perfect genius, good boy and people pleasing guy. He is perfectly polite, straight laced and has basically carried the whole town in his muscled shoulders for years. (Did I tell you he was the Mayor?)

Meg's carefree life and struggles basically tickled his good boy bone the wrong way.

Read this novel to witness how a perfect boy and wastrel girl turned out in the end. Seriously Please Read!

5. Patrick Jason 'Pick' Ryan

Linda Kage' Be My Hero

Genre: Contemporary Romance

He was the tattoed, orphan softie on the wrong side of town who thankfully did not grow up a thug because of a vision he got when he was young from a moled witch.

One day, his tinkerbell, the star of his visions, enters the bar he works at, but PREGNANT!

Gosh! I loved this so much. This was part of the Forbidden Men Series but can read as a stand alone. Although, I advise you to read the other books also, they were all awesome!

6. Colin Bridgerton

Julia Quin’s Bridgerton Series

Genre: Historical Fiction/ Romance

Charming, green eyed and younger son, Colin was considered a catch of the ton.

He had a case of wanderlust and couldn't stay at one place without getting an itch. I can't say more without giving a major spoiler, but I loved that the author made him major insecurities.

Because secretly,too perfect is boring, right??

7. Sean Cassidy

Penny Reid and L.H Cosway's The Player and the Pixie

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Wewowewowewo. *sexy flames*

Imagine a gorgeous jerk of a jock with sexual inexperience and a rainbow haired goody goody shoes girl (whose brother is his ultimate enemy) who is willing to be the TEACHER!

But it was more than that, I liked how the authors highlighted the perils of kleptomania, the privilege of the rich and how gorgeous jerks are set straight by their women who would not suffer in a relationship with a class A insensitive jerk just because he was good looking and rich.

This was a ride! I lost count how many times I re-read this book.

8. Elend Venture

Branson Sanderson’s Mistborn Trilogy

Genre: High Fantasy

Elend was the angsty boy part of the elite class who is disgusted by his privilege and looks for ways to make the government better by reading outlawed books that spark rebellious and forward ideas. In short, he was a closet revolutionary.

Throughout the series there were some major changes in his life from a closet reader to a person who pursues ideas he just once read in books?

How do they say it? Walk the talk or in his case, Walk the read? (talking about it would mean death)

9.Archer Devereux

April White’s The Immortal Descendants Series

Genre: Time Travel Romance/ Historical Fantasy

Dumdumdumdum. Imagine a conservative college boy from the past your future self time traveled in, spends time with you, helps you in your quest, likes you secretly and is shy about it and becomes a vampire stuck in immortality waiting to meet the 'present' you.

Talk about love lasting through time! This was a great book if you love time travel stories with historically accurate and interesting facts injected heavily into the story!

10. Rupert Carsington

Loretta Chase’ Mr. Impossible

Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance

A hellion younger son of an earl who loves an adventurous carefree life who is without inhibition, just goes along the ride and has a set of surprisingly caring and dependable muscled shoulders.

Meets a beautiful tempered scholar who needs his help finding his kidnapped brother in the sands of Egypt.

This is perfect for those who love adventure romances, and topics on the papyrus, mummies and the french and British looting conflict in the African colonies.

11. Sebastian Ballister

Loretta Chase’ Lord of Scoundrels

Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance

My favorite Historical Romance book ever!! Like Ted Beaudine's book, I try to read this at least once or twice a year to forget some of the plot and keep the mystery going.

He was called the Marquess of Dain and has been raising hell since childhood and in the present day France where he meets the blue stocking Jessica. The author throughout the book continually refers to them as the Beauty and the Beast.

What makes this book SPECIAL is how intelligent, witty and funny most of their conversations were. It's funny how many books are under many sexy, funny and witty lists on goodreads but only some of those on the list are actually true! THIS BOOK IS ONE OF THEM!

Jess was not annoying or shy or too much of a fighter and Dain was not too obnoxious. It was perfect.

And if you have not read this book or others from this author or genre, I command you to start reading after you finish this article.Break some cherries!

12. Hardy Cates

Liza Kleypas’ Blue Eyed Devil

Genre: Contemporary Romance

A blue neck Town boy chasing dreams outside of town to leave the shithole of a living. He has white knight complexes but leaves the damsel in distress after the case is solved. Also, muscular and has the blunt and bluest eyes on Texas

This book I have also reread many times because it talks about dealing with domestic abuse and moving on after an abusive relationship, dealing with people who have narcissistic disorder and the life of the privileged.

13. Connor ‘Mad’ Rogan

Illona Andrews’ Hidden Legacy Series

Genre: Paranormal Romance (PNR)

Wootwootwoot. Imagine a former military but now head of the House 'Mad' Rogan successfully publicly kidnapping you in broad daylight using only wads of cloth. Talk about a powerful telekinetic!

I loved that he was once again, A partner in the relationship and not an overprotective ape despite him being awfully more powerful than Nevada.

14.Phil Tucker

Jennifer Crusie Welcome to Temptation

Genre: Contemporary Romance

This is written by an author whose ALL BOOKS WRITTEN i have read and loved.

Phil is part of a long line of male Mayors in the family and meets almost fugitive-like Sophie.

Read as they deal with each other, try to take down a production of town porn video, deal with an enemy, try to dirty Phil down to win the next election and spend time reading a romance classic.

15. Ansel Guillaume

Christina Lauren’s Sweet Filthy Boy

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Known for the many explicit sexy times that can be read throughout the book. So, if you want to stay green in the ears, skip this one till you're legal.

Ansel is a sweet, full of life French Lawyer celebrating with friends in LA and Mia with her friends also, celebrating their newly graduated from college selves.

Ansel is soft, a daydreamer, magnificent bringer of orgasms and game with all things Mia is willing to do.

They married through Elvis and decided to not divorce yet to explore the beautiful France and a possibility of a good relationship.

AND DONE!

I actually have a lot more but these are for now.

CONSIDER THIS LIST AS A BOOK RECOMMENDATION FOR AWESOME ROMANCES WITH WELL WRITTEN AND SWOON WORTHY CHARACTERS

Topic for my next blog entry:

How to Find the Next Good Book to Read:

A Guide to Good Sources of Book Recommendations

#bookaholic #penny reid #jennifer crusie #christina lauren #ilona andrews #loretta chase #lisa kleypas #susan elizabeth phillips #kelley armstrong #april white #brandon sanderson #julia quinn #book boyfriend #bookstagram #books to read #boys #men #love #romance

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imjustthemechanic · 6 years

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The Stone Knight

Part 1/? - Two Statues Part 2/? - A Curious Interview Part 3/? - John Doe Part 4/? - Escape Attempt Part 5/? - Making the News Part 6/? - Fallout Part 7/? - More Impossible Part 8/? - The Shield Thieves Part 9/? - Reality Sinks In Part 10/? - Preparing a Quest Part 11/? - The Marvelous History of Sir Stephen Part 12/? - Uninvited Guests Part 13/? - So That’s What It Does Part 14/? - The What and the Where Part 15/? - Gearing Up Part 16/? - Just Passing Through Part 17/? - Dinner with Druids Part 18/? - Kracness Henge Part 19/? - A Task Interrupted Part 20/? - The Red Death Part 21/? - Aphelion Part 22/? - The Stone Giants Part 23/? - Nat the Giant Killer Part 24/? - An Interrogation Part 25/? - Guilt Part 26/? - Rushman’s Brilliant Idea Part 27/? - Hunter in Hiding Part 28/? - Ridiculous Part 29/? - The Guy from Barton Part 30/? - Sherwood Forest Part 31/? - Buckeye’s Fall Part 32/? - Robin Hood Part 33/? - Fantasies and Consequences Part 34/? - Swords of Damocles Part 35/? - The Road to London Part 36/? - View from the Top

Some conclusions at last, and the beginnings of a plan.

The observation platform at the top of the skyscraper was creatively called the View from the Shard, and was a nice airy little place with a hardwood floor and potted plants, and a little bar that served snacks and alcohol while people looked out over the city. The view itself was certainly very impressive, with London spread out below them to the horizon on every side. Cities like this were Natasha’s natural habitat. She’d been taught to blend into the urban jungle, to know its predators and prey, anywhere on the planet. Seeing it from up here made her feel, as Robin had already noted, like a hawk on a perch, ready to swoop down on anything she liked.

Sam took up a role as unofficial tour guide for the group, pointing out landmarks like Big Ben, the London Eye, and the replica of the Globe Theatre. Nat pretended to be interested in what he was saying, just in case of watching eyes or listening ears, but her eyes stayed on the Tower. As she’d expected, from here she could see right inside the walls. The Tower grounds were full of tourists roaming around looking at the various sights and historical locations. When Nat took out a pair of binoculars, she could pick out the Yeomen in their Tudor costumes with the Queen’s initials on the front, and the black specks of the Tower ravens.

Her eye was unavoidably drawn, however, to the tallest and oldest part of the castle – the White Tower. It was currently closed to the public and surrounded by scaffolding while some sort of work was done on it. The White Tower was William the Conqueror’s original keep, although it hadn’t gained its famous name until his successor Henry the Third had it whitewashed. It was the strongest and most defensible place in the Tower of London, perfect for hiding something you didn’t want anybody else to get to. The question was, where in the White Tower would the Grail be?

Natasha had never been inside the White Tower, but she’d looked it up online the previous evening, after telling Allen to go to bed. There were four floors, each divided into three rooms. What had once been the great hall was now the Royal Armory, a museum displaying historical armor and weapons. Other rooms were now used to store the rest of the armory collection, for employees, and for equipment that maintained the air quality and helped preserve the building. The third room, in the south-east corner of the building, was St. John’s Chapel.

According to the papers Nat had read, the Chapel had not been part of the original building plan – the design had been changed to include it and its semi-circular apse only after the foundations had already been laid. That had caught her attention, and now as she stood musing on it from a thousand feet in the air, she was sure she had it right. William the Conqueror had re-hidden the Holy Grail under the floor of the chapel in his new castle.

It made sense on multiple levels. In the Christian worldview of Sir Stephen, or of William himself, the Grail was something evil and demonic. Placing a consecrated room overtop it and having regular prayers and masses there would provide spiritual energy to keep it under control, almost as if God were literally sitting on it. It was also a place nobody would dig up in the Middle Ages, because they would assume there were tombs under the floor that should not be disturbed.

In modern times, of course, things were different. People had a far more secular outlook and old bones had become something to dig up deliberately, to study and DNA test and do reconstructive portraits of. The Chapel of St. John had survived that, too, however. The Tower of London was a Grade I Listed Building as well as an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Digging it up was a Federal and International crime, and the Chapel was particularly valuable because it preserved its original Norman interior. It was even still in use, with services said in it on a semi-regular basis. If there were anywhere in England where the Grail could have sat quietly for a thousand years undetected, the basement of St. John’s Chapel was the place.

“Figuring out how to get in?” asked Sharon, coming to look over Nat’s shoulder. Allen had come up on her other side, and was also looking down into the Tower.

“Getting in will be easy,” said Nat. “Figuring out where we’re going once we’re in is the hard part, but I think I’ve got it.”

Sharon nodded. “Where is it, exactly?”

Nat shook her head. “Not here,” she reminded her. There were people all around them. The bartender was serving drinks, tourists were chatting to each other or on their phones, and a teenage girl was taking selfies right next to them. Any one of these people might be Zola in disguise. “We’ll get a hotel room, put up some ivy, and then I’ll explain.”

“Sounds good,” said Sharon. “Are we doing this tonight?”

“I hope so,” Nat said. “Faster is better. Get it out, and get out of the country.” She’d been thinking about that, too. They could stow away in the cargo section of the Chunnel train, and reach France without having to go through customs. From there they’d just have to get to Kazakhstan without being noticed. Nat had done that before in the opposite direction, so she was confident she could do it again. The trip itself would hopefully give them time to figure out how to use the Grail, and fix the problems it had caused. It wasn’t time to think about that yet, though. Sir Stephen had the right idea for now – one step at a time.

She stepped back from the window and looked around. “Where are the guys?” she asked. Sam, Sir Stephen, and Robin were no longer with them.

“I’ll bet Robin dragged them off to go on the Ferris Wheel,” said Allen. “That seems like it would catch his eye.”

Nat wouldn’t have been surprised if it were true, but as it turned out they found the others around the other side of the observation deck where the café and gift shop were. Sir Stephen was, unsurprisingly, eating – he had a slice of carrot cake, and in between mouthfuls he was telling a group of schoolchildren about the time his friend Buckeye had tried to woo a girl by shooting an apple down from a tree with an arrow.

“The apple was not properly ripe,” he explained, “so the arrow went in, but the apple did not fall. Buckeye was therefore obliged to climb up and retrieve it while the girl and her friends made fun, and worse, on his way up he broke a branch, leaving him unable to climb down again.”

“Your friend had a weak arm or a lousy bow,” said Robin Hood, who also had a slice of cake – his was chocolate. Sir Stephen was eating with a fork, but Robin was just pulling pieces off with his fingers and getting them covered with icing that was then smeared all over his coffee cup. “I don’t care if the apple was ripe or not – I could put an arrow through the stem to cut it down, and another through the apple before it hit the ground!”

“Buckeye was a knight,” sniffed Sir Stephen, “not a common archer.”

“I’m not a common archer, either,” said Robin. “I’m the best there is.”

“A knight on horseback would run you down where you stood,” said Sir Stephen.

“His horse would be dead under him before he got anywhere near me,” Robin countered.

“He’s right, you know,” said Natasha. “At the Battle of Crecy in 1346, English archers completely obliterated the French cavalry.”

Sir Stephen pretended to be shocked, as if Natasha had betrayed him. “You’d take his side?”

“It’s not a side,” said Natasha, recognizing the argument as a joke. “It’s history. Come on, guys, we have to do some shopping.”

The kids who’d been listening waved goodbye, and their teacher smiled at the two men he assumed had been telling made-up stories. Robin was chuckling as they walked out.

“Don’t mind him,” he said, pointing a thumb at Sir Stephen. “He’s just sore that they’d all heard of me but not of him.”

“I am not ‘sore’,” Sir Stephen protested. “I’m only confused why so much attention is paid to a poacher and highwayman.”

“I’m kind of confused about that myself,” Robin admitted cheerfully, “but they don’t seem to be demanding my head on a pike, so I’ll take it.”

“It’s all in your point of view,” said Nat, attempting to herd them towards the lifts. “We’re not really into quest stories nowadays – they’re seen as old-fashioned. Robin Hood was supposed to have lived during the time of King John, who is remembered as incompetent if not outright evil, and the popular legend is that he stole from the rich to give to the poor, but even if he didn’t, he’s remembered more as a rebel than a criminal, and everybody likes rebels.”

“Do they?” asked Sir Stephen. This was completely alien to his worldview, in which the King ruled by divine right and any who opposed him were opposing God.

“We’ve got to make you watch Star Wars,” said Sharon, patting Sir Stephen’s back.

Their next stop was at the Millennium Park B&Q, where they bought shovels, picks, crowbars, and tarpaulins, along with a couple more potted ivy plants. The clerk who packed it up for them cheerfully asked what kind of gardening they were going to be doing.

“No gardening,” said Nat. “Archaeology.”

“Yeah?” the clerk smiled. “What kind?”

“We’re going to dig up a Norman chapel,” said Nat. “It’s gonna be one for the history books.”

“I’ll look forward to seeing you on Time Team, then,” said the clerk.

Nat thought he was more likely to see them on Crimes that Shook Britain, but she just paid the bill, and they moved on to a room in a Safestay hostel. There, they put up ivy and horseshoes to keep unwanted visitors out, and Natasha pulled up the Google satellite map of the Tower grounds.

“You can’t see it from the bird’s eye view, of course,” she said, “but while we were driving past I noticed that the walkway beside the A400 is at almost the same height as the outer curtain wall.” She poked the place. “That’s also one of the narrowest points in the moat besides the ones that border on the Thames. That means nobody will have a good angle on what we’re doing, so we can climb up to the Develin Tower, then along the top of the wall to the workshops, where the inner wall is only a few yards away. Drop to the ground between the workshops and the hospital block, and the chapel is just around the corner.”

“How do we get in to the actual building?” asked Sharon.

“Through the doors, I’m assuming,” said Nat. “I mean, it’s a medieval castle, there’s not gonna be ducts we can climb through. The good news is that the keep is closed to the public for restoration work. The contractors are gonna need to be able to get in and out, probably during hours when the area isn’t open to the public, so they’ll have one of those keypads on the door. I can figure that out, no problem.” It was a little funny, honestly, how high tech modern security was so easy for her to break, while the walls of a castle remained as they had always been, impenetrable.

“The problem there,” she went on, “is that there’ll be guards around, and I’m sure the night guards will be much more practically dressed and lethally armed than the daytime ones. Somebody will have to stay outside the walls at a vantage point while the rest of us go in, so they can warn us if anyone’s coming.” She looked up at Allen, standing behind her to see the map over her shoulder. “That’s gonna be your job?”

“Me?” he asked in surprise.

“Yeah,” said Nat. “We’re gonna put you up on one of the bridge towers with my binoculars, where you’ll have a view of everything going on down in the grounds. If anything happens, you text me. We’ll need to know if somebody’s seen us.”

“How will I know?” asked Allen. “It could be just the contractors, or the guard changing or something.”

“Then you have to inform us of any of those things,” said Nat. “We’re gonna be in the basement, don’t forget. We’ll need to have eyes outside.”

Allen’s jaw set. “All right,” he said. He was determined not to let them down this time, and Nat felt rather pleased with herself for having found him a job he could do that would be actually helpful but still within his comfort zone.

“For the rest of us,” Nat added, “the most important thing has to be getting the job done. Everything else is secondary. No matter what happens, we have to walk out of there with the Grail so that we can get rid of it.”

“After I get my memories back,” Robin said.

“Right,” Nat agreed, although she was still having doubts about that. “Of course. What that means is that if somebody gets hurt, the rest of us have to carry on. If somebody gets arrested, or even killed, the rest of us have to carry on. We aren’t going to get a chance to come back and try again tomorrow night – I’m sure they inspect this place, basement and all, very thoroughly, and if they find we were in there they’ll step up the guard. Or worse, they’ll dig deeper to figure out what we were looking for. Do you understand?”

They nodded, but she wasn’t sure they really did understand. Except for Allen, all of Nat’s companions in this had some kind of combat training, but it wasn’t like hers. They lived in a world where lives could still be more important than missions. This was a place where it couldn’t be. Not if the alternative was the Red Death and his Nazi followers getting the Grail. This was a mission almost meant for somebody like a black widow. Maybe, in the fantasy-tinged world they found themselves in, it was Nat’s destiny as much as it was Sir Stephen’s.

#fanfic #natasha romanov #black widow #steve rogers #captain america #sam wilson #falcon #sharon carter #agent 13 #clint barton #hawkeye

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recentanimenews · 6 years

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The Wonderful World of Fantasy: Uncovering The Ancient Magus Bride and Diana Wynne Jones (Part 2)

Welcome back to the Wonderful Worlds of Fantasy! In Part One, we talked about how Diana Wynne Jones and The Ancient Magus’ Bride mangaka Kore Yamazaki are similar in the way they construct their fantasies and tie together the power of magic with themes of adolescence. Today, we’ll be discussing about how these two fantastic authors make their female protagonists work, and whether their works are low or high fantasy!

Agency, Youth, and the Female Protagonist

One of the most immediate similarities between many of Jones' works and The Ancient Magus’ Bride is how they both feature a young protagonist. For fantasy stories, this is not an uncommon element, as it’s necessary to create a stand-in character to let readers empathize with their experiences and conditions. This holds true especially in stories aimed at younger audiences. In the case of Magus’ Bride, the main protagonist is a quiet girl, Chise, introverted due to circumstances and just starting to learn more about herself and the world around her. Emotionally stunted and harassed by unnerving monsters and humans on a regular basis, she's a perfect choice for a coming of age story.

Jones' most notable work, Howl's Moving Castle, features a similar young female protagonist. Early on in the book, Sophie Hatter is cursed with appearing as an old woman after angering a witch. Lacking in self confidence and always looking down on herself, Sophie starts out as an anxious character. But as she moves on in her journey and regains confidence in herself, the magic begins to wane and Sophie appears younger and younger. By the end of the story, she's able to break the curse and regain her natural appearance. Katherine from Dogsbody is also similar, in that she has no self confidence and only gains the courage and inner strength through her journey with Sirius to overcome the bullying in her household and properly endure the grief that comes with parting with people you love. Chise falls more in line with the characters of Dogsbody – like Katherine, she too has suffered an intense dose of trauma and loneliness, to the point where she is willing to give up her own agency because she no longer has any desire to live. Her journey with Elias – of coming to terms not only with Elias' almost non-existent sense of humanity, but also her own self worth and abilities – is the underlying power behind The Ancient Magus’ Bride and its tight connection with the audience.

Why a girl like Chise though?

“When I write a book, it seems useful to extend the group to include both sexes, so that both girls and boys can enjoy it, but I do not find I can completely ignore the one-sex nature of the games in the wood. Oddly enough, this means that if I want a neutral character, not particularly girlish or boyish, I would have to use a boy. A neutral girl would strike most girl readers as a tomboy. Otherwise, it is obvious that all other characters in a fantasy ought to be very real and clear and individual, and to interact profoundly – real, colorful people, behaving as people do.” - Diana Wynne Jones, The Children in the Wood

“The Ancient Magus' Bride started out targeting the female audience more, but it has readers of all age groups and all genders.” - Kore Yamazaki, “Meet the Woman Behind Ancient Magus Bride”

Jones consistently balances the portrayal of her protagonists across her works. Some feature girls, some feature boys, but nearly all of them are young in age and at heart. Both her and Yamazaki are careful to portray characters that are a gateway into the worlds they create, but are not restrictive based on gender. Chise is a girl, but her traits and characteristics are not defined as feminine or masculine – rather, they are representative of the experiences she's faced and the result of who she is. She personally reminds me most of Polly Whittacker from Jones’ Fire and Hemlock: stubborn yet simple, and always fighting against the constant impulse to give in to self-destructive emotions as she steps closer toward acceptance and loving herself.

“I do find, myself, that the Hero, the protagonist, is the story. This is not to say that the other people in it are of no importance. Before I can write about anyone, I have to consider them as my close personal friends, even the Baddies.” - Diana Wynne Jones, Heroes

Is The Ancient Magus' Bride High Fantasy or Low Fantasy?

High fantasy is often defined as a subgenre of fantasy that contains epic elements. Some examples of this would be J.R.R Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice, or Beowulf. It includes high stakes, grand levels of political warfare, and voyaging through many landscapes, usually due to a prophecy or quest the main character has to complete. While Diana Wynne Jones studied high fantasy extensively, most of her works are what we consider to be low fantasy – where fantasy is a component of reality and not reality itself. Jones found that low fantasy better served the kind of themes and worlds she was trying to design: accessible landscapes that didn’t require intense exposition.

Yamazaki seems to do the same in The Ancient Magus’ Bride, in a subgenre known as urban fantasy. The series takes place in the modern world and in an international setting; Chise is originally from Japan, but her adventures with Elias take her as far as places like England and Iceland. In a low fantasy, it’s easier for Yamazaki to immerse us in recognizable settings, twisted or manipulated by wondrous elements beyond our imagination. But she also makes mundane the fabulous, and in doing so, the magic of the series becomes a background for the powerful and accessible decisions that drive many of the forces in the story.

Why is this so important, though? How does this create a different experience from that of Harry Potter facing dragons or evil wizards? The main difference is challenging fictional conventions. By playing upon our standard definitions of what we consider normal, both Yamazaki and Jones recontextualize “normalcy” itself. Take for example, the comfort of a home, or the warmth of a loved one. In a normal world, these are things we take for granted, but both creators twist our expectations of the standard and turn them into places of unfamiliarity and horror. What turns out to be a helping hand of a doctor turns out to be a horrible experiment gone wrong, manipulating kindness and love into something far more insidious. In Howl’s Moving Castle, what is originally presented as a whimsical castle turns out to be a far more complicated and powerful setting that hides dark secrets.

This ties in with the biggest element of low fantasy: metaphor. In Jones’ and Yamazaki’s works, the main characters are continuously introduced to the wonders of fantasy, only for them to contextualize it within their knowledge of mundanity. By preserving both sides, the creators open a gateway into their worlds, but also create accessible and relatable metaphors that both the main characters and audience can understand. Chise’s inherent traits of being a Slay Beggar stem from her birth and circumstances, but they also serve as a metaphor for her lack of self respect and will to survive.

And this is where the metaphor ends, and the journey of fantasy begins again, with us. It’s in the imaginative minds of Yamazaki and Jones, in the open-ended answers they bestow upon us, but lastly, in the audience, in ourselves – what we take away from the wonderful worlds these creators have given us. It’s been sometime since I’ve read a book, but recently I’ve picked up Philip Pullman’s A Book of Dust. I’ve found myself diving into its pages, absorbing every word and every detail with a renewed appreciation for the fantastical and the wild. Maybe after I’m done I’ll dive again into Jones’ stories, wander in her prose, get lost in her worlds. Who knows what magic I’ll find this time? It’ll be my own personal fantastical quest, filled with a scenery I’ve never seen before: the wondrous, and the mundane.

---

When not finding ways to doom all her ships, Natasha can often be found on her twitter as @illegenes, or writing more about anime on the blog Isn’t It Electrifying! Feel free to swing by and say hi.

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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sassafrasx · 7 years

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Hello my dearest yuletide author! :D

Thank you so, so much in advance for writing something for me. Please feel free to ignore all of this if none of my ideas work for you; I’m really flexible and enjoy most everything, so please go with whatever inspires you! I would never want anyone to feel forced to write something.

My requests this year are particularly queer-focused (as in they all involve canon queer characters, which \o/) and I have a lot of love for all of them; so if you get stuck on the fandom we matched on, the other two may also be up your alley as well. Both The Get Down and American Gods have only one season, and Captive Prince is a trilogy which is a fairly quick read.

Things I enjoy (in no particular order and organized in a way known only to my brain):

Humor, banter, wit, sass, dialogue, intelligence, competence

Worldbuilding, plot, action, shenanigans/ridiculousness, sense of adventure, wonder

Most genres, fluff, angst, smut, really anything but too much focus on H/C (I’ve had enough of that IRL in the past few years)

ALL the AUs, all of them, I’ve never met one I didn’t like: magic, fantasy, scifi, space, historical, modern, mundane, college/university, fairy tales, dystopia, D/s, movie/tv/book fusions, daemons, canon setting or divergence AUs, urban fantasy, magical realism, magical/mythical creatures, time travelling, coffee shop/any kind of shop/restaurant, etc (tl;dr if there’s an AU you’ve always wanted to write, I’ve definitely always wanted to read it)

Friendships, families of choice, queer themes, awesome women being awesome, equal relationships, relationships that are earned and have a long and winding road, relationships that just flow together naturally from the beginning, loyalty

As with the AUs above, I have great love for most any trope you can imagine as well: friends to lovers, enemies to friends to lovers, UST, pining, pretend relationships, ‘didn’t know they were dating’, slow burn, bets & wagers, obliviousness, road trips, travel of any kind, cats and other animal companions, epistolary, texting/messaging, case fic, clothes sharing, sharing a bed, forced proximity, quests, soul bonds/soulmates/soulmarks, a/b/o, age difference, etc

Trope subversion, particularly of the soulmate and a/b/o type tropes, or anything really that generally subverts or inverts expectations

Absolutely anything relating to mythology

The little details that speak volumes about characters even when nothing is said at all, realism, especially moments of realism grounding things in the midst of something fantastical or ridiculous or funny, and vice versa — those quiet moments of humor while everything else is going to shit

Kinks sold separately (so you may ignore more easily or zero in on them, depending on your smut-writing inclinations — I will be equally as gleeful whether I receive g-rated gen fic or the kinkiest PWP):

Rimming, comeplay, manhandling/athletic sex, switching, pegging, intercrural, oral sex, masturbation, dirty talk, all kinds of sex toys, sex magic, edging, bondage/restraints, spanking, phone/webcam sex, dubcon of the sex pollen/magic/aliens made them do it variety, crossdressing, lingerie, I could go on but I will spare you. Suffice it to say I enjoy most things of the porny variety ;)

My only DNWs: explicit noncon or major character death, as well as pregnancy, infidelity, character bashing or humiliation, animal harm/cruelty.

(Having said that, if dark fic is really your thing, I am definitely open to those sorts of themes; I’m just much more careful about what/when I read noncon and character death. But outside of that, please feel to go somewhere dubious or dark. Fics that get into morally grey areas and make you think are great. Ambiguous or open endings instead of outright unhappy ones generally preferred in this case; bittersweetness has always hit me in the gut more than complete tragedy.)

If none of the prompts below are working, please feel free to pick and choose from the top section here and write whatever inspires you! Fantasy AU fic, PWP, 1k of light-hearted domestic fluff, any weird experimental piece you’re dying to write, most anything at all, please have at it. Or ignore everything on here completely; optional details are optional and I will be unbelievably excited about anything you write for me. <3<3

I added this last year, but honestly it still applies: if recent events have you wanting to write all the dystopian AUs or dedicate queer, filthy porn to a politician of choice, I will be here with my chin in hands.

Captive Prince (Damen, Laurent)

Ahhhhh, I just have so many feelings about these two and their impossible, slow, perfect development. SO MANY. They’re the sort of pair whose relationship is just so satisfying and well-earned and who complement each other so perfectly, despite rubbing against each other in all the wrong ways through so much of their relationship. It’s the sort of thing where I could read their story in a thousand different ways through a thousand different AUs and be totally, wholly content. And I want all of those stories! All of them! So a lot of my ideas listed below here are heavily AU-centric, both canon and non-canon based.

Some ideas to throw against a wall:

Mermaids, selkies, daemons, that mysterious witch in a blue dress that people in the city keep whispering about

I know this is already a fantasy series, but I kept craving more fantasy elements while reading, so add some dragons, high fantasy, whatever have you to the canon universe and I will be pleased as punch

MYTHOLOGY - whether adding in some mythological elements to canon (there was a surprising lack of any sort of folklore or mythology in the series) or a total AU I am all here for anything with a myth-type twist

The stereotypical modern AUs: coffee shop, university, we live in the same building and your cat keeps sneaking in to steal my underwear, WHATEVER, I’m always down for meet-cutes and ridiculousness

Urban/modern fantasy, magical realism, all that jazz is my jam; my love for urban fantasy has no bounds

Non-traditional a/b/o - while I love a/b/o in general, any sort of twist or subversion is basically my ultimate iddy happy place - Damen/Laurent alpha/alpha AU anyone?? Or any other way you’d like to imagine it.

Porn. Anything from the top section, porn is always happily consumed.

Rival space pirate clans, because space pirates.

For the more canon-inclined, that’s awesome too! I realize a lot of my random ideas above are complete AUs, but I love canon fic as well. I particularly love divergence scenarios — not just major ones of the Auguste Lives type, but what if some small moment in canon happened differently, or didn’t happen at all? So much good stuff to explore there. Role reversal canon AUs, outsider POV and missing scenes are always awesome as well. Whatever sandbox you find most fun to play in really :D

As for side characters and whatnot, the more the merrier generally speaking! Nikandros, Pallas, and Lazar are particular favorites in this corner over here.

The Get Down (Dizzee)

I also requested this last year, and after the second half of the series, my request is still largely the same. One of the things I love about this show is that sense of the city in the 70s, the visceral feel of it, and how it was so well-done and it left me craving more — particularly more of Dizzee’s story.

(Confession: I am a New Yorker, which is part of why I loved this so much, but I was born about a decade after this takes place and in a different part of the country than where I now call home — so please don’t worry about me nitpicking historical details ;))

While we did get to see more of Dizzee in the second half of the series, I’m still hung up on that one scene with him from the first half of the series (the one where he goes with Thor and the other girl to the club) and that is probably completely responsible for this request. It hit me like a pound of feels straight to the chest. Queer culture in the 70s, the underground balls, the music, the voguing, drag, and everything else. GAH. And watching Dizzee navigate all that, open his mind to everything around him and recognize himself, so much love. And the way the scene fits in with the shows overall themes, how so much creativity and how new genres can come out of oppression, the way all these different groups and sounds interacted and fed off each other, which is so rarely acknowledged anymore. Anything that explores any of this will be loved forever and ever.

I didn’t specifically request Thor because Dizzee is my main interest here, but I think he’s great too! Or the girl from the club — or both! However you want to approach it, my queer heart will be excited. You could write a continuation scene (porny or not porny), Dizzee getting deeper into queer culture afterwards, some introspection, or just the scene from the show as it happens from Dizzee’s perspective, anything really. Same with the scene from the second half of the season where Thor and Dizzee paint each other. And I have no drug or alcohol triggers, so if you really just wanted to write 1k about Dizzee rolling his ass off tbh, I’d love to read that too.

Much more so than I usually request, this one really is a lot about the setting for me. Having said that, if you wanted to do it as a some sort of dystopian AU with similar themes and Dizzee as the focus, I’d read the shit out of the that. So much. (As an example — feel free to insert other AU compulsions if that’s your thing.) And I think there are a lot of awesome characters in the show, particularly the moral greyness of so many of them, but the queer themes of Dizzee’s story admittedly resonate with me on a much more personal level; please do feel free to include as many or as few of the others as you see fit!

American Gods (TV) (The Jinn, Salim)

I have been an enormous fan of the book since it originally came out and have reread it many times over the years; needless to say I am so unbelievably happy with the show so far and how they’ve chosen to expand upon and approach the original canon. Particularly, I love how they filmed the scene between these two characters, and then decided to give them a larger role in the series, which they didn’t have in the book.

For these two, I would love anything that explores their relationship, maybe what Salim was feeling or thinking when they met, how that sort of transcendent experience touched him, what his life was like afterwards as a cab driver in his new identity. Or something about his journey to find the Jinn again! How does he get there? What does he find at the end? What is their happily ever after? I’m so thrilled they’ve decided to go that route on the show, and can’t wait to see how it connects to the larger story. (As I’ve read the book, there is no need to worry about spoiling me if you would like to include details from future plots based on it; or go wild and go somewhere completely different! I’d love to read it all.)

The Jinn’s perspective would also be amazing: he’s been alive for so long, the things he’s seen, and he seems lonely when we meet him on the show? What has his experience/existence been like as a god, how has he seen history, particularly from a queer perspective, what does it mean to him when he meets Salim?

It would also be really interesting to see something that explored the mythological aspects of the show more -- or a complete myth AU! I think these two also lend themselves well to a lot of AUs and tropes in general and I’d love to read about all of them; if you wanted to raid any of the AUs or tropes above and go crazy that’d be amazing. Some kind of soulmates universe (with or without the mythology of canon), magical creatures of some kind, some sort of normal/modern AU, anything at all and anywhere you want to go, have at it!

Please feel free to include whatever canon characters you like; while I selected these two, I enjoy all of them and would be happy to see anything involving them. And while these requests lean more shippy, please make it as gen (backstory for either of the characters would be awesome) or as shippy as you’d like.

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prinzenhasserin · 7 years

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Yuletide!

Dear Yule Goat/Creator/Person I Will Love Forever,

I am very excited for anything you write for these fandoms. Please feel free to take my prompts and likes any way you wish, as long as you stick to my dislikes. Don’t feel like you have to stick to the prompts! I’m always open for other characters. Generally, I will be delighted with any rating from gen to explicit. I hope you have fun creating!

My AO3 name is Prinzenhasserin, here. If you want to browse more of my letters, here are some at my exchange letter tag.

Likes:

fake/pretend relationships, arranged marriages

loyalty

odd couples

found family, dysfunctional families that nevertheless love each other

historical stories for same-sex pairings that aren’t unhappy but that fit with the society of the time (so like, spinster ladies living together; bachelors-for-life)

cultural differences, age differences, height differences

heists, rescue missions, case fic

dragons, fairy tales, magical realism, urban fantasy

competent characters

people not realising they’re the most competent at their job/hobby

people failing their way to success

happy endings, earning your happy ending, open yet hopeful endings

cynical humour

mutual pining

suits, corsetry, fancy dresses

Identity shenanigans (secret identities, mistaken identities)

Blatant Lies

Enemies finding common ground and becoming friends/lovers; rivalry

outsider POV, 1st person narrator

epistolary, fictional non-fiction, worldbuilding, interactive fiction, poetry

orange/blue morality (that is, not entirely human morality); grey/grey morality

people not usually found in law enforcement solving crimes

non-verbal expressions of affection

contradictions: that is, I like my fantasy with the mundane (doing taxes in a mythical land of dragons, or space pirates!) and I like my mundane fiction with outrageous happenings.

Kinks:

wall sex! overcome with sudden desire! sex with clothes on!

shifting power dynamics (outside the bedroom, and inside the bedroom), actions on both sides, basically

stiff characters letting go of their iron control inside the bedroom; characters feeling guilty of their desire but not guilty enough to stop; coming to terms with the guilt

lots of foreplay, drawn out orgasms, edging

desperate sex, drunk sex, we-just-can’t-help-it!sex, sex for life-affirming; sex pollen

sex toys

Dislikes (Do-Not-Want):

rape played for laughs, or as backstory

sexuality, or gender as the focus of plot or used for drama

suicide

tragic endings (ambiguous endings are fine, though!)

RED (Movies)

(Characters: Victoria, Sarah Ross)

This movie, goddamn it. It’s so silly, and so! much! shit! explodes, but I can’t help but find it charming and adorable.

If you want to write me Victoria teaching Sarah how to handle her weapons and shoot shit up, I am absolutely here for that. I would also love secret spy shenanigans, or a situation where only the secret skills of the customer service person Sarah or the filling skills of a bored bureaucrat (also: Sarah) save the day in a spectacular manner.

Or Victoria taking Sarah under her wing and teaching her everything she knows about life, men, and how to end both. Or trying to protect her from the fucked-up shit in her life, and then maybe realising that maybe Sarah doesn’t need to be protected.

I am a fan of the age difference, too, and I do ship them together, if you rather want to write that. Give me all the fucked up femslash! Going on murderous rampages together, and having sex amid the slain corpses of their enemies, yes, that. Bedsharing because circumstances have them hiding out in the Siberian Tundra. Victoria dressing up Sarah and taking her as a trophy wife to diplomatic functions? Seducing Sarah so Victoria can rub their togetherness into Frank’s face. Taking people of guard, because the expected a toy boy, and not -- whatever Sarah is.

DNW: mommy kink

Gokusen (Manga)

(Characters: any -- Fujiyama Shizuka, Kuroda Ryuuichirou, Sawada Shin, Yamaguchi Kumiko)

How do I love this manga so much? I have no idea. I’m not even near high school age anymore, and yet the plot (and tbh, sometimes its ridiculous nature) always gets to me. I’d read more about any aspect of this canon, and if you want to bring in any other characters, and leave others out, feel entirely free to.

Post-canon would be great, but anything goes really. Focusing on just one character would be terrific. Having all of them would be great!

Kumiko has adventures with another class, or her minions! Does she continue with being a school teacher? Maybe she starts leading the Yakuza group, and still goes to school to teach her kids manners, and morals, and how to fight the system?

Shin goes to law school/Africa/some place, but gets lost on the way there! Will he come back to Yankumi? Will he eventually lead the Yakuza group?

Fujiyama Shizuka doesn’t get why she’s the one without the beautiful student toy-boy, and tries to find one herself, and instead falls in love with, idk, the new female teacher? one of Yankumi’s brothers? the new janitor? Or she watches and cackles a lot as Yankumi and Shin date, and then maybe found a Yakuza orphanage, and/or marry.

Kuroda Ryuuchiro and his quest for the rightful heir to his Yakuza group! How does he feel about his granddaughter running around with the police chief’s son — does that bother him more than the whole student thing? Does Shin really inherit the Kuroda family group? Does he become a Yakuza lawyer? Or does Yankumi make him stay away, or maybe Kuroda makes them stay away?

I ship Shin/Yankumi but gen is delightful also.

How does Shin convince Yankumi to have sex with him? Is he getting kidnapped left and right before they actually get together because all and sundry already think they’ve been doing each other for years?

If they are already in an established relationship, how does Shin deal with Yankumi’s students (especially when one of them develops a crush)?

I have no problems about depicting violence, or graphic criminal activities, but please keep the violence perpetrated by the nominated characters within the spirit of the manga? I like to root for morally ambiguous characters, but not if they are truly evil.

Roundtable Rival - Lindsey Stirling (Music Video)

(Characters: Durango Black, The Violinist (Roundtable Rival))

I love this music video! It’s so silly and fun! It is here, if you want to watch it yourself, but basically, people are fighting each other with music instruments to a jaunty tune, set in the Wild Wild West.

Basically, fighting with music! Foiling dastardly plans! I want to read more about this! And anything goes, really. If you want to focus more on one character, or want to show this from an outside perspective, either would be great.

Lowkey, I’m really a fan of rival-dynamics, and love to ship enemies, so bringing a lovestory between Durango Black and the Violinist would make my day. Or if there’s a dynamic like "You are the only one allowed to catch me"? —Perfection

Maybe they know each other from before? Maybe there’s epic discussion about different ways to fight each other with music (I’d be into reading about that!).

Would also be into PWP where the Violinist dominates Durango Black. Some Bootlicking, maybe? Or creative uses of the music instruments. Or clothing porn!

Or case fic where The Violinist tours around the country, catching criminals; or just a glimpse into how music developed its own fighting style — or performing tricks like shooting an apple out of the air, just with music instruments!

(Additional question for worldbuilding: What is that clear liquid they serve in beer humps?)

DNW: rape (dubcon is fine, though!)

British Romantic Writers RPF

Characters: John Keats (British Romantic Writers RPF), Lord Byron (British Romantic Writers RPF), Percy Shelley (British Romantic Writers RPF)

Okay, I’m not even vaguely sorry. Here’s my confession: I ship all of these with each other, as pairs, or as threesome. I’d read them writing spite!fic, or rather spite!poetry, about each other, though! Or a zombie!AU, in which they are all stumbling incompetently around the dead suddenly among the living. Or maybe they turn out to be surprisingly competent at killing/evading zombies! (I’d expect nothing less from Percy Shelley who seduced people on graveyards, tbh)

Hey — at least they knew of each other! I am into the really very dysfunctional relationships with each other, here. Who is to say they wouldn’t have been very happy with each other in various constellations? Lord Byron seemed to have detested Keats — or at least thought his poetry as "mental masturbation" — I’d dig them in a rival relationship, that suddenly develops into a sexual relationship. Maybe even romantic? (Definitely romantic in the original sense)

And I can definitely see Lord Byron condescending down on Keats for his poor upbringing, without being aware that this is what he is doing, and Keats so not having that. And Percy Shelley with his continued efforts into giving all his money to charity while having the luxury to seduce women and traipse around the continent!

How about an AU in which Keats doesn’t die and joins Percy Shelley in Pisa (and for some reason Lord Byron is there, too — I will not read this for the historical accuracy, believe me)

Basically! Literature! Orgies! Seducing people in graveyards, and skinny-dipping in French rivers, that’s all I really want. I’m not saying no if you do decide to go down the historical accurate road, but I’ll also read all sorts of wild AUs.

Or adventures in Greece during the revolution in an Everybody-Lives!AU?

Percy Shelley wrote an elegy about Keats, and said this when he invited him to Pisa: "I am aware indeed that I am nourishing a rival who will far surpass me and this is an additional motive & will be an added pleasure." Added pleasure? (He means fucking! says me) I am just very into rival relationships that turn sexual or more.

Look, I’m just here for Lord Byron and Percy Shelley seducing a reluctant Keats — and Keats maybe anchoring them a bit down to earth. Or various combinations.

I am not into the long-term effects of drug use and the suffering thereof, but if you want to mention it, that is totally fine. I wouldn’t want it glorified.

DNW: contemplation of suicide, vore

Miss Marple - Agatha Christie

Characters: Jane Marple

I am a fan of Miss Marple. I, too, have lived in a quiet town where you can see into the abysses of the human condition :D

I’d love to read something that lead her to the person we know her as, maybe when she went to the girl school in Switzerland? Maybe during her time in the cypher division, during the war — maybe the cypher division was really a cover for Miss Marple’s spy activities for the war office?

I’d also love fic about her as we know her: spending time in St. Mary Mead’s and solving crimes, quietly knitting her nephew another sweater. Holiday themed fic! Somebody keeps stealing the geese for the holiday celebrations!

Honestly, I’d also really like to read about her in a relationship, especially one that people wouldn’t expect of an elderly woman. Did she have a youthful indiscretion with the prime minister, and now that he is widowed, he visits her again, and Jane’s nephew is entirely shocked by the whole thing?

Was she maybe in love with a woman the whole time? Did she quietly retire into a cottage with her best friend, and they have a romantic relationship with each other?

(Or crossovers! It would be super interesting if Miss Marple knew a wizard from the Harry Potter universe, or maybe she’s a squib or a with herself? Or maybe she knows Phryne Fisher, or Lord Peter Wimsey!)

Island of the Aunts | Monster Mission - Eva Ibbotson

Characters: Dorothy (Island of the Aunts)

Look. This is one of my favourite books. I would read absolutely anything about every single character— I choose Dorothy, simply because she’s my most favourite, but if you want to write a story where she’s not the focus, I’d still be ecstatic.

That said, omg, Dorothy. I love her (and her wok!) and I would read countless stories on adventures she had while going off of the island in a rage to be angry at polluters, or hunters of endangered species, or both. I like that she seems to be the most competent in dealing with outsiders, even though usually she rather likes to resort to violence.

So! Pre-Canon, or Post-Canon, whatever; either would be great!

How is the work on the island? How is Dorothy dealing with her piranha farm? Maybe she decided to pursue some other, even stranger, protection against various and sundry? Does the Kraken return to the island?

How does Dorothy deal with the mermaids? Is she tolerant of their foibles, or is it a similar relationship to the one she has with her sister Betty, that is: polite bewilderment?

How does Dorothy feel to be suddenly the responsible one, who didn’t kidnap children and make them work with her? How’s her relationship with Etta, and does Dorothy milk it for all that it is worth?

Did Dorothy ever fall in love? Was it someone off the island, campaigning for more environmental protection? A mythical creature of her very own?

Who did she meet in prison? (Was Archie someone Dorothy pulled in?) How did she deal with prison in Hong-kong? Is Dorothy the reason there are now forest cities in China (— this is maybe a bit of a reach, since Hong Kong isn’t really mainland China and all, but I’d love if the Aunts have a bit of an influence on the world, even though Fabio is probably never going to be Brasilians prime minister. Though I would read a story about that.)

(Burning questions I have that aren’t relevant to Dorothy as a character: Is Herbert ever going to return? Is the younger Kraken?)

DNW: unhappy endings

If there’s something confusing, please don’t hesitate to ask! (Anon happens to be open, too.) And I hope you have a fun Yuletide!

#exchange letter #yuletide 2017

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