an old-fashioned futilitarian

some Shakespeare fic in Yuletide

Mon, 30 Dec 2019 14:46:37 GMT

Beginning with a gift I received, this hilarious Twelfth Night academia AU:

Cut & Caper (4458 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Twelfth Night - Shakespeare
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Sir Andrew Aguecheek/Sir Toby Belch
Characters: Sir Toby Belch (Twelfth Night), Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Twelfth Night), Maria (Twelfth Night)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Friends With Benefits, Profanity, A Life of the Mind, Academia
Summary: When Toby had broken up with Andy, he had said I want us to stay friends, because that was just a thing you said. Everyone knew that. Nobody took it literally. Nobody except little Andrew Aguecheek.

( recs for Othello, Henry IV, and bonus Slings & Arrows )

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Dear Yuletide Author

Sun, 03 Nov 2019 15:39:40 GMT

Thanks so much for writing for me, and I hope you have a great Yuletide!

I am also goosecathedral on AO3.

I like works of all ratings, from gen to explicit. As far as shipping goes, I'm generally less into cis het pairings than those where at least one person involved is LGBTQ+, but anything goes.

Violence, character deaths, rape and dubious consent don't present a problem for me, and I'm also fine with underage sex where the characters are physically mature adolescents. I don't want to read about pre-pubescent or pubescent children in sexual situations or explicit parent/child incest; uncomfortably incestuous dynamics between parents and children, on the other hand, I am fine with.

Things I like: historical and literary allusion, age difference between adult characters, older people having sex, queer culture, crossovers, AUs of all kinds, class and cultural difference.

Things I don't: sexual abuse of children, explicit parent/child incest.

Sir Patrick Spens (Any)

The thing I like best about this ballad is its simultaneous savagery and pathos: its laconic treatment of the drowning of the nobles and the sympathy it displays for Sir Patrick's impossible situation and the ladies who are widowed by royal folly.

Why does the 'eldern knicht' recommend Sir Patrick for the job? Is there some ancient score being settled?

A story from the point of view of Sir Patrick's helmsman would be superb, or something exploring their relationship, which strikes me as a close and trusting one.

Willie of Winsbury - Anaïs Mitchell (Any)

I'd love a version of this ballad in which the King decides that Willie is his now, and Willie is torn between loyalty to Jane and totally being into her dad.

How does the birth of the child affect them all?

Incestuous dynamics and uncomfortable fantasies are encouraged, but I'd wouldn't like to read a story in which the King actually has sex with his daughter.

I'd also like to read about class difference: Willie's social position is curiously undefined, leaving a lot of room for manoeuvre. Dick Gaughan's version of the ballad lays egalitarian emphasis on the refusal of a noble title and lands, while chickening out of the gay dynamic (boo!)

Twelfth Night (Any)

I love the character spread in Yuletide this year: the subplot is my favourite bit of the play. I'd love pre-canon about any character: how did Sir Toby and Sir Andrew get to know each other? I could definitely see them as being ex-boyfriends: perhaps Sir Andrew holds a torch and, not quite realising how much of a user Sir Toby is, is flattered that Sir Toby seems to want to keep him around. When did Malvolio and Feste enter Olivia's service? What did they do before? Equally, I'd enjoy post-canon fic: how does the Sir Toby/Maria relationship work out? What does Sir Andrew do next? Does Malvolio get his revenge?

I'd like to read AUs of the play in any setting historical or modern, and I'd also be interested to read about any of these characters gender-swapped.

Thanks again!

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Sandgate linkiana

Mon, 02 Jan 2017 19:22:26 GMT

Folkestone and District Historical Society newsletter 2014, with details of a talk on architecture in Sandgate.

The Mansion of Mirth: Sandgate as Seen Through the Eyes of the Alhambra Music Hall and Rex Cinema

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sauce for the gander

Mon, 02 Jan 2017 19:14:49 GMT

I received this meticulously researched and impeccably grubby Sandbaggers story:

True Partnership (3908 words) by fawatson
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Sandbaggers
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Neil Burnside, Matthew Peele, Willie Caine, Jeff Ross, Bob Cheever, Cliff Underwood
Summary:

Neil Burnside is caught in Saigon in Spring 1975.

and wrote this bit of silliness:

The enchain'd heart (3875 words) by goosecathedral
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: English and Scottish Popular Ballads - Francis James Child, 14th Century CE RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Relationships: Sweet William/King
Characters: Sweet William, The King (Child Ballads), Eleanor Rykener, Original Characters
Additional Tags: Stealth Crossover, Child Death, Murder, Canon-Typical Violence, Blood
Summary:

The True History of the Famous Flower of Serving Men, Englisht from an Antient manuscript in the Classical Tongues, & never before present'd to the publick.

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ubi sunt

Sun, 25 Sep 2016 11:06:58 GMT

From Martin Easdown, Hythe Through Time (2010)

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