yuletide | 2022 Yuletide Promo Post

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yuletide fandom promo

2022 Yuletide Promo Post

Welcome to the Fandom Promo post, everyone!

Here's where you get those eyes on your fandoms for sign-ups!

Share what makes your Yuletide fandoms the shiniest and why you love them. A big part of Yuletide is how small our fandoms can be, and this is a good way to make sure other people know what gems there are out there!

NEW: We've made a register! There is now a searchable Google spreadsheet index of the canons promoted on this post. Go ahead and add yours or any you see that are missing! We hope this helps connect people up with canons of interest to them.

Here are some areas you can cover:

Title:
Please put your fandom's title in the subject of your comment, too. This helps people find your promo again.

Media:

Approx length:

Where to find it:
(If giving links, please only link to legal sources. You may want to encourage people to contact you directly if they are having trouble finding a canon and you can give them tips)

What is it, in summary?:

What do you love about it?:

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?:

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?:

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence):
This is at your discretion and is not expected to be comprehensive

(Bonus options: What are you thinking of requesting for this? If you're thinking of nominating worldbuilding, what sort of worldbuilding topics might people explore?)

Useful tip (Not required, but helps people if they want to engage with your fandom!):

- It's best to make each fandom its own entry with its own title in the subject line! That makes it easier for people to find/see what you're promoting! Don't worry about 'spam', that is the entire point of this entry and you're using it exactly as intended.

Previous fandom promo posts can be found at this tag!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Title: Doctor Who Magazine: Eighth Doctor (Comics)

Media: Comic

Approx length: 4 volumes of 200 to 250 pages each, or 109 issues. (DWM 244-353)

Where to find it: The easiest way to read these comics would be their collected volumes. Otherwise you would have to track down individual issue of Doctor Who Magazine. There are four collected volumes: Doctor Who: Endgame, Doctor Who: The Glorious Dead, Doctor Who: Oblivion, Doctor Who: The Flood. They are all available on eBay and similar websites, but as of right now they are fairly expensive. Unfortunately, like a lot of other Wilderness-era Doctor Who expanded universe content, there are no legal avenues for purchasing digital editions of these comics. If you are having trouble tracking down a copy please contact me!

What is it, in summary?: Since its founding, Doctor Who Magazine has had an ongoing comic strip with its own storylines and sometimes even comics-only companions. The Eighth Doctor comics ran from 1999 to 2005 with new companions, adventures and both new and returning villains. There are some references to previous eras of the Doctor Who Magazine comic strips and to the 1996 TV movie where the Eighth Doctor is introduced, but neither are necessary to understand the comics. Basically, as long as you are familiar with the basic premise of Doctor Who, you should be able to enjoy these comics.

What do you love about it?: The stories are fun, the writing is strong, and there are some great characters. Their take on the Eighth Doctor is great, making the charming time traveller into a nuanced character with flaws and vulnerabilities. I also nominated three companion characters: Izzy Sinclair, a young science fiction fan from the 1990s who is also coming to terms with her own sexuality, Fey Truscott-Sade, a very cool female British spy from the 1930s, and Destrii, an outgoing, flirtatious and morally grey alien.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: I’m planning on requesting Izzy and prompting for stories about her. I would love to see something exploring her character after everything she goes through in canon. I would also love to see more adventures with the Doctor or perhaps even a romance with Fey or Destrii.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfill your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: Sure! The TARDIS Wiki shows which companions are in each story. If you’re only interesting in requesting/writing some companions and not others, then you can probably get away with only reading the stories they appear in: https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Eighth_Doctor_comic_stories#Doctor_Who_Magazine

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): There are some depictions of child abuse in an important character’s backstory, most prominently featured in “Oblivion”. There is also depictions of some depictions of racism in “Bad Blood” and “The Flood”.

Edited 2022-10-11 04:41 (UTC)

Title: Cat Paintings by Danish artist Julie Nord

Media: Paintings.

Approx length: Your perfect five minute fandom :)

Where to find it: You can visit Julie Nord's online gallery (https://www.julienord.dk/p2022.html). What is it, in summary?: Julie Nord is a contemporary Danish artist who creates imaginative drawings and paintings - some black and white sketches, some in vivid colors. The universe is very symbolic, lots of references to folk stories, fairytales, mythology. A very open and enticing universe.

What do you love about it?: I love how her paintings makes your imagination run wild. Certain characters keep appearing across her works: Cats, a young girl, a crone. Who are they? What are their relationships? A lot of the paintings almost immediately makes you want to write a backstory, like this one, 'Family Ghosts' (2020) (https://www.julienord.dk/uploads/images/Gallery/2020/Familiespoegelser.jpg), where you really want to know who the little girl is - and who the two ghosts in the background are to her.

Here are some of my favourite paintings for inspiration:
'Diamond Cat' (2021) (https://www.julienord.dk/uploads/images/Gallery/2021/Diamond%20Cat.jpg), 'Cat Lady' (2021) (https://www.julienord.dk/uploads/images/Gallery/2021/Cat%20Lady%20%28lys%291-kopi.jpg), 'Family Ghosts' (2020) (https://www.julienord.dk/uploads/images/Gallery/2020/Familiespoegelser.jpg), 'Multi-Faced Girl with White Cat' (2017) (https://www.julienord.dk/uploads/images/Gallery/2017/Multi-faced-Girl-With-White-cat.jpg), 'The Vase' (2016) (https://www.julienord.dk/uploads/images/Gallery/1/VASEN.jpg), 'Housecat' (2013) (https://www.julienord.dk/uploads/images/Gallery/Vaerker2013/Housecat.jpg), 'Visitors' (2008) (https://www.julienord.dk/uploads/images/Gallery/Vaerker2008/Visitors03.jpg).

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: I am going to ask for a family tale about the girl, the cats, the crone, the family ghosts that appear across paintings. It will be a very open prompt - I really just want to know more about these characters, and as no fan fiction about Julie Nord's works exists, almost anything goes. A bit of magic/mystery/the supernatural/psychology would go well with the universe. Oh, and I'm queer and love anything queer-ish.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: You could simply pick one painting, or three, or ten... so yeah, five minute fandom!

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): Some paintings are a bit eery - an early one has a girl with matches looking at a house as it burns down (like a grotesque reference to The Little Match Girl), but you can just ignore paintings that feel triggering to you. I definitely won't ask for rape, non-con etc.

Title: The Widow's Captive - Logan Spector

Media: Textile (scarf), art print

Approx length: However long you want to spend analyzing the image.

Where to find it: Here for the scarf, here for the print. Finer details of the background of the image are here

What is it, in summary?: This is an image of a large half-human spider tugging at the web bindings of a captive, a smaller (naked) human woman.

The creator describes it like this: "In regal shades of purple and pink, the Widow's Captive scarf illustrates the plight of a precocious noble girl who has foolishly ventured into the den of a rather fearsome beast to retrieve some bit of fabled treasure from the hoard within... only to find herself tragically captured to serve as the monster's newest plaything!"

And like this: "The Widow's Captive silk scarf illustrates the plight of a young noble woman foolish enough to venture into the den of a Giant Spider to retrieve some of the treasure in the hoard within. Tragically, she finds herself captured to serve as the Spider's newest plaything instead. Hanging in the Spider's web alongside our poor heroine, we see dripping jewels and pearls, magical artifacts, and even subtle references to other Logandria scarves."

What do you love about it?: I love the vividness of this image: the muscles on the Widow/Spider's back, the single tear falling down the cheek of the captive (contrasted with the evidence of arousal lower down), the details of all the objects that are caught in the giant web. I love that it conveys the Widow's curiosity and self-indulgence -- and the captive's regret and reluctant arousal. I love that this image begs me to imagine everything that happened leading up to this particular moment, and everything that happens after.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Honestly, I'm likely to request f/f monsterfucking about feelings. I'm here for the messiness and kinkiness of this image! I'll also likely drop a worldbuilding request and would be down for lots of character exploration: I want to know how both individuals got to this moment in time, what their expressions mean, and how they're each going to move forward.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: It's really just the one image, but you could certainly choose to focus on either character or on worldbuilding!

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): erotic imagery, nudity, binding for the purpose of captivity, implied dubcon or noncon

Title: Piranesi - Susannah Clarke
Please put your fandom's title in the subject of your comment, too. This helps people find your promo again.

Media: - Novel

Approx length: - 2-300 pages?

Where to find it: Bookshops
(If giving links, please only link to legal sources. You may want to encourage people to contact you directly if they are having trouble finding a canon and you can give them tips)

What is it, in summary?: A deeply surreal fantasy novel by the author of Johnathan Strange & Mr Norrell but absolutely nothing like that book at all. This book is very neatly plotted and contained but the main pleasure here is the first half - the aesthetic pleasure of exploring the House. It does speed up later though if you enjoy a more mystery/thriller pacing and ideas.

What do you love about it?: - The House. Piranesi's personality and observations of the world around him. The statues.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: - Worldbuilding, there's not much shipping/romance here, although of course you could do it with Piranesi/Sarah.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: - It's a pretty short book.

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): - Not that I recall.

Title: The Pasithea Powder

Media: Podcast

Approx length: Roughly 20 hours total (26 episodes of 45 minutes each); the series is ongoing

Where to find it: In your podcatcher of choice, or with transcripts at https://www.pasitheapowder.com/episodes

What is it, in summary?: A sci-fi political thriller set in the aftermath of an interplanetary war, about a government conspiracy to weaponize a memory-altering drug. The main characters are Captain Sophie Green, famous and dashing war hero for the side that just lost the war, and Dr. Jane Gonzalez, former government scientist who originally helped invent the drug in question before turning whistleblower and destroying all of her research (thereby losing them the war).

Oh and, politics aside, the third person in Jane and Sophie's long-standing love triangle recently died, and neither of them have been handling their grief well.

What do you love about it?:

The deftness with which it explores both big picture ethical questions, and how they affect individual people, their choices, and their relationships.
Jane and Sophie's wonderfully fraught relationship; how their shared history is slowly revealed, how they're forced to grapple with their grief and loss and fury with each other while working together, and how they gradually fall (back) in love over the course of the series.
All of the very fun sci-fi elements! Memory-altering drugs! Accidental mind melds! Telepathic shape-shifting aliens!

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: This year I'm requesting shipfic or found family fic focused on Jane and a scientist from the opposing side with whom she had an enemies to friends arc in season 2.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfill your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: You can skip the Q&A, Patreon Book Club, and Apollo Creator Showcase episodes in the feed.

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence):
War violence, gore, and mass death; stalking, threats, murder, and other interpersonal violence; memory alteration and mind control; medical abuse; imprisonment; PTSD; etc. Specific content warnings are included in the show notes for each episode.

Title: Power Rangers Dino Fury

Media: tv series

Approx length: 40ish episodes of 20 minutes each

Where to find it: It is available on netflix

What is it, in summary?: This is the just finished season of Power Rangers, in which two aliens who were in suspended animation for 65 million years, a skeptic who needs to learn he's not the smartest in the room, a ghost hunter who works at fake buzzfeed, a musician, and a lesbian track star have to stop a hot dude from collecting monsters that destroyed the alien's planet 65 million years ago, with the help of their cyborg dinosaur mentor.

What do you love about it?: First of all, *canon lesbian Power Ranger* who gets a girlfriend who she gets to *kiss on screen* and go to prom with and they exchange I love yous and the girlfriends were rivals to friends to lovers. Like, the writing staff came for me personally here.

Also the writing is very good, everyone on the team gets a character arc and gets to learn and grow, the team friendship/found family is great and the show itself is just very very enjoyable to watch.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Fic about the lesbians, fic about the aliens with PTSD, or worldbuilding in general.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: I mean you could just watch 6 specific episodes (ish) if you wanted to watch just for Fern and Izzy

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence):
It is Power Rangers so like, Power Rangers level of violence. They are fighting monsters after all

Title: Smokescreen (Dick Francis)

Media: Book

Approx length: Short novel length (Amazon Kindle says 276 pages)

Where to find it: Still in print, available in ebook and a variety of cheap mass-market editions, probably at most libraries as well. Francis's books are usually pretty easy to acquire from your usual book sources.

What is it, in summary?: A thriller about a British actor and stuntman who ends up in South Africa with some mysterious person or persons trying to kill him while he investigates why his godmother's racing stable has suddenly started losing races. Dick Francis is generally known for thrillers about horse racing, but in this book the racing aspect is secondary to the show biz/murder mystery plot. I wrote about the book here - spoilers in comments, but not in the body of the post.

What do you love about it?: I enjoy most of Francis's books, but this one (which I only read for the first time this fall) became an insta-fave for its twisty and nicely plotted mystery, the really likable characters, and an absolutely fantastic hurt/comfort climax. The setting is also very vivid and the book leans into it hard. If you enjoy thriller/mystery type books and want to pick up a short book fandom for Yuletide, this might be a good one to try! (For further enticement, there's a very catnippy enemies-to-friends/lovers slash pairing.)

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: You can read my requests here! I mainly just want "more book", but some of the specific things I'm asking for are hurt/comfort, more aftermath, original casefic involving the book's characters, and more of the book's slashy enemies-to-sort-of-friends(/potentially lovers) relationship.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: It's just one book, so not really.

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): The book (written in 1971) takes place in South Africa during apartheid. I felt the parts of the book that touched on the political issues were reasonably well handled, but this is coming from a white USian reader so YMMV.

Title:
Expeditions: Rome

Media:
Video Game

Approx length:
Around 20 hours to play through the plot, longer if you're a completionist like me

Where to find it:
Steam / Epic Games / GOG / where you get games if you want to play it yourself
If you want to watch someone else play, there are multiple playthroughs available on Youtubs

What is it, in summary?:
A combination light RPG and turn-based strategy game set in an alternate history in which Julius Caesar died young and YOU, the player, take on his role in history!

You play a young patrician forced to flee Rome after your father's murder. You seek refuge with your father's closest friend, who happens to be one of Rome's most successful generals. The plot follows your campaigns in parallel with your attempts to avenge your father's death, and the much larger conspiracy you unravel as you do so...

What do you love about it?:
It Gets Rome. I'm obsessed with Rome but super picky about how well it's portrayed. Because that's usually not very well. And while there are a lot of details that aren't entirely accurate, the way that the characters, plot, and mechanics interplay really wind up feeling like these people are Romans in a way that a lot of other attempts at historical fiction simply don't. Philosophy, religion, class, and gender all play into the story and characters in a way that brings the culture alive. And the historical characters are really fun to play off.

I also enjoy playing both an RPG and a turn based tactical system where I get to infiltrate enemy camps and cities with my characters.

For a bonus, you get the chance (if you choose it) to play a Roman general who's a woman. If you do, the character faces some sexism but is largely accepted for her talent, for actually workable plot reasons, which is incredibly satisfying and fun.

Most of all though, you get to explore one of the greatest what-ifs of Roman history: what if it wasn't Julius Caesar? Does the Republic still crash and burn? Can the fatal crisis be avoided? It's all up to you and what you do!

So many things change in the alternate history, and the cascading opportunities for worldbuilding are endlessly fascinating.

But it's not just about the plot. The characters and the voice acting are spectacular, with a great found family vibe and a healthy dose of feeling like the only sensible one around while all your friends are causing problems everywhere they go. And by the end you're super invested in your relationships and their growth as people, because your friends all have their own stories with outcomes decided by your actions.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: I'm here for the found family vibe so I'm likely to be asking for things that explore that! Particularly the backstories of the characters and the friendship between Caeso and Calida, and/or missing moments from the game.

I'd also be really interested in anything worldbuilding-related that explores the outcomes of the alternate history and the implications Caesar's early death has on history outside of the main plot.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?:
Yes! There are playthroughs for the character romances for Caeso and Julia Calida available on Youtube which will give you enough to understand the characters and their plots.
For Lucullus, a plot-focused playthrough of Act 1 and the content set in Rome after Act 1 would be sufficient.

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence):
Slavery is a Thing and differing reactions to it and experiences of it including very traumatic ones are depicted. There's also violence and sexism, especially if you're playing a female character.

Title: Fitchers Vogel | Fitcher’s Bird (Fairy Tale)

Media: A classic fairy tale, as told by the Brothers Grimm.

Approx length: The version I’m linking below is 1,380 words.

Where to find it: In a wide variety of collections, in print, ebooks, online, recorded, in many languages … the version I’m using as a basis for my requests is right here.

What is it, in summary?: Apparently this tale is classified as a variant of Aarne-Thompson-Uther type 311, The Heroine Rescues Herself and Her Sisters, though it’s also very close to Bluebeard (ATU 312), with the theme of the forbidden chamber and the blood that won’t come off.

In the story, a wicked sorcerer named Fitcher wanders around the countryside kidnapping girls and carrying them away with him in a sack. He tests them by giving them an egg to carry at all times, the keys to his house, and an order not to enter a forbidden chamber - which they always do, and always drop the egg in a pool of blood in their shock at what they find there. With the bloodstain as evidence of their disobedience, Fitcher punishes them by dismembering them and leaving their bodies in the forbidden chamber.

However, when he kidnaps three sisters in sequence, the youngest outwits him. She leaves the egg behind when she explores the house, so it is returned to him unstained. She’s able to revive her dead sisters, trick Fitcher into carrying them home on his back, and escape his house disguised as a bird while he goes to prepare for their wedding, leaving a skull decked in bridal veils in a high window as a decoy. Ultimately, she sends her family to set fire to his house with him and all his “wedding guests” inside.

What do you love about it?: It combines the dark, bloody mystery of Bluebeard with a story of unequivocal female agency (no vestigial brother characters riding to a last minute rescue) and positive female/sibling relationships; all things I enjoy very much. I also enjoy its array of weird details, from the youngest sister reassembling her sisters’ bodies (and bringing them back to life) to the inconsistent avian theme (the egg, the bird disguise). It’s just begging to be expanded on, explored, and adapted. The wedding guests ask the third sister, disguised with feathers, about Fitcher and his wedding.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: I’m going to request a retelling/elaboration on the story, with fleshed-out characterization and perhaps exploration of various themes. I’m interested in a take that plays up the darkness and horror vibes, or one that leans into strangeness more than fear, or any number of possibilities.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: No, but it’s an extremely short (and free, public domain) canon.

Content warnings: I mean, it’s a fairy tale; it’s both extremely violent and told in a sparse, dispassionate style. But: Violence, murder, dismemberment, kidnapping, imprisonment, misogyny, and I guess necromancy?

Edited 2022-10-15 21:34 (UTC)

Title: The Echo Wife - Sarah Gailey

Media: A stand-alone novel, available in print, ebook and audio formats.

Approx length: 256 pages. (The audio version is 8 hours, 26 minutes)

Where to find it: Bookstores, libraries, libro.fm, audible, etc.

What is it, in summary?: Evelyn Caldwell is a successful scientist at the center of a human cloning project, but her personal life is falling apart. Her husband is having an affair—with an illegal clone of her, named Martine, who he subsequently leaves her for.

When Evelyn’s ex turns up bloodily dead, she and Martine are forced to join forces to clean up the mess. A mess that gets bigger and more complicated as they dig up their dead ex’s plans and misdeeds … and struggle to relate to one another, their respective senses of self, and in Evelyn’s case, the thorny past she thought she had moved on from.

What do you love about it?: This book is a bit of a frog-boiling experience. It starts with an intriguing, if fairly obvious premise, and over the course of escalating events and parallel narrative flashbacks, widens and deepens its scope slowly until the horrors underneath start to reveal themselves. Evelyn is a fantastically unreliable narrator, and the tightly-woven narrative is spellbinding and dark right up to the end.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: I haven’t decided for sure that I’m going to request this fandom, but it’s been nominated, and I’m leaning towards it! I’m very interested in reading more from Martine’s perspective in particular; whether it’s before, during, or after the events in the book. And while I think the book’s chilling ending is just perfect, I would be interested to see how one might go in and turn things around, after a fashion … finding a way for Martine, or even Violet, to break the cycle of abuse at last.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: I’m afraid not, nope. The characters and themes are layered and revealed/developed throughout the text; you can’t really know them without reading lal of it.

Content warnings: Various forms of abuse, including domestic and child abuse; victims perpetuating the cycle of abuse; gaslighting; violating the autonomy and self-determination of another person in a wide variety of ways; violence; murder; misogyny.

Edited 2022-10-15 21:52 (UTC)

Title:
Madhouse at the End of the Earth - Julian Sancton

Media:
Nonfiction book

Approx length:
368 pages

Where to find it:
It was a NYT bestseller, so your library probably has it, in hard copy and/or ebook!

If you want to own it you can get a paperback for under $17 on Bookshop.org, or an on Kindle for $14.

What is it, in summary?:
Madhouse at the End of the Earth is a rollicking tale of Antarctic incompetence and sheer thrilling survival despite it. It is the true story of the 1897-1899 Belgian Antarctic Expedition, led by the polar obsessive trust fund kid Adrien de Gerlache, whose lifelong dream was to lead a Belgian expedition to the South Pole. Why Belgium, you ask? Why NOT Belgium, he responds! He gathers a crew, raises money, and heads south.

The crew is an international cast of capital-C Characters: a young Roald Amundsen, on his first trip to the polar regions; the fast-talking American doctor Frederick Cook, later known for his spurious claim to the North Pole; the squirrelly, strong-willed Lecointe; the loyal golden retriever of an artillery lieutenant Danco; the incompetent cook Michotte and the increasingly insane Tollefsen, among many others.

Due to reasons/iconically bad decisions based on reasons, the ship becomes locked in pack ice and becomes the first expedition to ever overwinter below the Antarctic Circle. How on earth did they survive for over a year? Read the book to find out!!

What do you love about it?:
I love the fact that it's a bunch of mildly deranged twenty-somethings trapped in pack ice for months on end, slowly going insane. The frat house/gap year gone wrong vibes are such a welcome change if you're used to the far more gloomy and orderly Navy expeditions.

I love the love story of Cook and Amundsen which bookends the narrative, and is its bedrock throughout: the way those two existed in their own little fantasy world, but also how they worked together and used their expertise for the good of everyone else.

And most importantly I love that it more or less has a happy ending, against all odds!

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?:
I'm requesting fic involving my fave Emil Racovitza, the expedition's naturalist and resident caricaturist. He is a merry prankster and an agent of chaos whom I love so dearly. Also he is hot.

His cartoons, many of which depicted his fellow scientist Henryk Arctowski as an elderly man with an enormous ass, seem so modern - they really make Raco and his fellow officers feel like Dudes I Met In College.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?:
You definitely want to read the whole book! There's a bit of supplemental material that I've read, but it's pretty damn hard to get your hands on, so the book is really all you need.

Content warnings:
There are a few crew deaths, lots of depictions of illness such as scurvy, as well as a lot of penguin/seal/bird murdering as is typical on Antarctic expeditions.

Look at these guys! They're ridiculous.

Shenanigans! Scurvy! Seconding this rec 100%!

Fandom: The New Avengers (tv)
Category: TV Shows
Comments: After the original Avengers went off the air, an effort was made to bring John Steed back to the small screen in 1976 and 1977. This time he had two companions, Purdey, played by the beautiful Joanna Lumley, and Mike Gambit, played by Gareth Hunt. The show was a little more serious than its predecessor, but that didn't stop it from having evil masterminds, killer robots, and Rodents of Unusual Size running around the sewers of London. For witty repartee, seventies fashion, spies, and adventures (despite a couple of unfortunate cases of CharlieChanChinese) this is definitely the place to go.

There's an episode guide here: https://sharetv.com/shows/the_new_avengers_uk/season_1

Amazon has a region 2 set of DVDs at a not horrible price for an 8 disc set. Unfortunately, it's not streaming anywhere I can find.

There were 26 episodes, but you can get the flavor of the show pretty quickly after a few of them. Best bets:
House of Cards
Target!
Sleeper
Dirtier by the Dozen
Hostage
with a side note on Trap, which is one of the ones with the awful Chinese caricature characters, but has good interactions between the trio I'm interested in. (Yes, I do like hurt comfort, why do you ask?)
Gnaws is also good, but more as an example of why you really don't need to worry about realistic plots...

I had a tremendous crush on Gambit, already liked Steed from the earlier series, and wanted to be Purdey when I grew up.

The Village That Slept is a children's book, originally written in French, although I read it in English.

It was published in 1965, and was set sometime between the end of World War 2 and then, although no real date is given.

In the story three children are the survivors of a plane crash somewhere high in the Alps. The older two Franz and Lydia, can not remember much more than their names. The youngest one, a baby who looks Chinese, they name Tao after the syllables he is babbling. The area where they crashed has been abandoned -- there are two small villages, but no people. Some animals are still around though, and there is a climbers hut with supplies, so with some hard work and trust in each other, they set about creating a home for themselves. Eventually there is another plane crash, but this time the pilot (who they find and rescue) has sent out a radio message and all of them are discovered by the authorities.

The book is about 200 pages long. It is available on the internet archive. https://archive.org/details/villagethatslept00peyr/page/n1/mode/2up or you might find it via interlibrary loan.

As a kid I loved stories where kids did things independent of the grown ups. I also liked survival stories, so this one was (and is) a favorite. I was drawn in originally by the illustrations by Margery Gill, who had illustrated other books I liked, but I kept rereading because I liked the way that Franz and Lydia went about solving each problem as it arose.

(Hm.. Come to think of it, this is probably why I also liked The Martian.)

The book elides over some of the time so missing scenes would be nice, or a what happens next type story. A problem solving event would also be good. This is definitely one of the times I'd like something canonish.

Title: Princess Diaries - Meg Cabot

Media: Books

Approx length: many books, but I'm promoing Royal Wedding in particular, which is a pretty quick read.

Where to find it: Bookstores, libraries, etc

What is it, in summary?: Mia, as as an adult, still dating Michael and having a really stressful period so she starts journaling again.

What do you love about it?: PD books age like fine wine, and Royal Wedding is just as good as the originals. Mia is as weird as ever, and the people around her remain as funny and weird as she is. Grandmere is still kicking, and there are two unexpected ships that had me losing it.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Epistolary-style (texting, emails, journaling, etc) for the two aformentioned ships, but one in particular. I don't want to spoil them for folks who don't want to see, but you can see a little more in my letter here: https://docs.google.com/document/u/3/d/e/2PACX-1vR8rRtCdQkT0VPYvM28-8_SSv78xAdbNaeEyhUmYaX00YsEBCvLXFFl187_ynyZHM5kNOcq_dzOYYNm/pub

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: Yes! This post is really a promo for people who read PD when they were younger but haven't read Royal Wedding. Rereading the series isn't necessary because RW does a great job of reminding you who's who, and the ship I most want is confined to this book in particular.

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): Pre-book death, stalking/anonymous threats (unrelated to the aforementioned death)

Title: リーマンズクラブ | Ryman's Club | Salaryman's Club (Anime)

Media: Anime

Approx length: 12 30-min episodes

Where to find it: Crunchyroll

What is it, in summary?: A sports anime about a corporate badminton team. The main character is a new junior employee of a beverage company who is also a badminton player and joins the company's team.

What do you love about it?: It takes a lot of the tropes associated with sports anime (rivalries, past traumas, sports injuries, having to learn to trust your teammates, etc.) and applies them to adults who have jobs. I actually enjoyed the parts of the show that focus on their work lives as much as the sports and interpersonal aspects. I didn't expect an anime to teach people how to do a SWOT analysis or why quality control is important. As well, because the characters are not all teenagers, you get storylines about balancing work and family obligations and hobbies, concerns about injuries that come with age, what happens when someone at work is trying to sabotage your career, etc. It has plenty of shippable characters, rivalries with other teams, and the usual sports drama too if you're into that!

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: The ending leaves some things open, so I'm likely to ask for stories that go further than the end of the show, or that explore issues left unresolved.

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): Although everyone are adults, the main pairing has an age gap of about 13 years.

Edited 2022-10-22 18:50 (UTC)

Title: Bastard!! (Anime 2022)

Media: Anime

Approx length: 24 30-min episodes

Where to find it: Netflix

What is it, in summary?: In a post-apocalyptic future setting with magic, the kingdom of Metallicana is threatened by evil forces. In desperation, they summon a powerful wizard named Dark Schneider, who was trapped in the body of a young boy, Lucien, to help save them. This does not go as planned, since he's (as you might guess from the title) a selfish, horny, evil bastard. However, he can be controlled by Lucien's friend Tia Noto Yoko (both in terms of her having the ability to control when he manifests, and in terms of her telling him what to do/exercising some degree of moral control over him).

What do you love about it?: This series is extremely ridiculous, and I love it! Many of the characters, monsters, spell names, etc. are like a mishmash of heavy metal artists/songs and D&D. It fully embraces the 'problematic' aspects of its canon in a way that most shows today would probably shy away from. It feels like it escaped from the 1980s, in a good way.

If you like "evil character reluctantly develops (some) morals", or "powerful man is constantly whipped by teenage girl who tells him what to do", or "equal opportunity tits and ass," I heartily recommend this show.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: More ridiculous adventures, backstory for some of the characters, comedy, smut

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): Basically all the warnings, yes! Violence, incest (father-adopted daughter, they're both into it), dubcon, non-con, underage, gratuitous levels of tits and ass and sexual innuendo. None of these things are treated particularly seriously or sensitively, in fact they're often played for humour.

Title: Hellboy (Comics)

Media: Comicbooks

Approx length: Per google: So far there has been thirteen volumes, with additional volumes for out-of-continuity stories such as the Weird Tales stories and crossovers.

Where to find it: In your local comicbook store! I buy mine from amazon kindle. All of Hellboy is currently in print. It was a goddamn lie that it would end with Hellboy in Hell.

What is it, in summary?: Hellboy is the story of a toddler from Hell that was found by magical researchers trying to thwart a nazi plot in WW2. He was the result of being summoned but due to a vision from a psychic, the forces of the allies were at the right place to receive him while the nazis were left with the belief that the ritual had failed.

Hellboy is then dubbed 'Hellboy' as he is a boy from Hell, and is raised by Professor Trevor Bruttenholm as his own son. Bruttenholm (pronounced 'Broom') is a paranormal investigator who is later hired by the government to helm the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. During his time he makes many allies and helps people of paranormal origins and abilities. Hellboy joins the BPRD around when he's in his teenage years and later grows to become a seasoned agent for it.

The series Hellboy starts with Bruttenholm returning from being missing for months, only to die in front of Hellboy from a strange attack by... frogs. From there, the overall arc of the series begins, with the apocalypse steadily approaching with the frogs as their avatars. However, that's not where Hellboy's story goes.

After the BPRD betrays the trust of another team member, Hellboy decides to cut ties with them and goes off to his own solo adventures where he faces all sorts of ghosts, goblins, and ghoulies. Eventually he will discover he's the true King of England (this was an arc I loved) and die and go to Hell - but Hell is not as he expects.

What do you love about it?: I love Hellboy's arc. It's about finding his place, in both the living world and after. I love what a good friend he is. I love his attitude to facing creatures of folklore and demonic origin. And I love the flashback stuff they've been publishing, about Bruttenholm's early work and his and Hellboy's relationship as father and son. I love that Bruttenholm genuinely loves Hellboy and that Hellboy is a genuinely good person. I love his love of pulpy comics and what a kid he was.

I love that the final breaking of Hell's hold on him was when he had pancakes as a kid and was like 'wow! Nice!'

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: The folklore stuff is my favourite parts of Hellboy's adventures. I love when he faces goblins from England, the floating head vampires from Japan, his interactions with Baba Yaga and Koschei, ALL THE GHOSTS. Stuff when he was still a greenhorn is great. Stuff when he's seasoned. Part of the BPRD, going solo, it's all good to me.

Similar stuff with Bruttenholm too. Cases, exploring, backstory, learning.

And I'd ask for father and son stuff about them and what it was like for Bruttenholm to be a single father to a supernatural creature while also dealing with being an agent of the BPRD.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?:

I would say - the first volume (Seed of Destruction) and then either the following main story volumes in order, or have fun with the Weird Tales and one-shots. I would *also* strongly recommend the flashback series Hellboy and the BPRD (insert year here).

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence):

Gore. Horror. Sometimes Nazis get up to some awful shit before they are punched.

Title: The Deer King
A movie poster for the movie The Deer King. It features all of the main cast in the center, including Van astride his pyukka and Hohsalle to his left holding a syringe full of red liquid. Below them, just above the movie title, is Yuna, her expression worried with an arm outstretched. At the bottom of the poster is a pack of wolves running toward the viewer. They are swathed in dark purple magic.

Media: Movie

Approx length:1hr, 54m

Where to find it: Google Play, Youtube (only buy option), and others

What is it, in summary?: Van, the last survivor of a group of warriors, ends up enslaved in a salt mine when it is attacked by a pack of diseased dogs. The disease kills nearly everyone in the mines, save for Van and a little girl named Yuna. However, both of them bare bite marks from the dogs. Why did they survive, and what does this mean for the future of the disease?

After that, the story becomes a mixture of a few different things: Van coming to terms with the passing of his old family and fostering a new one; a doctor's quest to finding Van in hopes of fighting back against the disease; and a secret plan from an occupied nation to use biological warfare to regain its sovereignty.

I tell you all of this because when I was watching it the first time, I got really confused as to why Aquafa was red and the Zolians were blue. So, heads-up for that. And I feel the movie makes a lot more sense if you come into it knowing there are several plots swimming around, one of which is politically motivated.

Content warnings: This movie is rated R for violence. People being shot with arrows, sword removes an arm, syringes (injecting into an arm), coughing up blood, boar death, and character is choked. Also, lots of discussion of disease and its spread, including death from said disease. The heaviest gore/bloodshed is at the beginning of the movie. So, if you are sensitive to that, I recommend skipping 3:30 through 5:20. There is also child injury and slavery at the beginning.

An alternate take on the meme, shoutout to (blank) has to be one of my favorite genders that features Hohsalle. A man is standing in the middle of a photo with his head turned to the left. All around him are different screenshots of Hohsalle. The text reads shoutout to Hohsalle, gotta be one of my favorite characters.

What do you love about it?: I love, love, Hohsalle. He's the doctor who seeks out a cure for the disease and I just think he's a very swell mister. He's smart, with a bit of snark to him and a brain to boot! Just the whole package, really. Except for his survival skills, which have much to be desired, but that just means we can put him in a bunch of hurt/comfort fics where something happens to him on the road and he needs someone to look after him 👀

I got a much deeper respect for this movie after watching it a second time and taking some notes. It's a lot to chew the first time around because the movie tries to do so much, but once you begin to understand how all the pieces slot together, it makes a lot more sense. I was stuck on the politics bit a lot, and it's sad that it took til the middle of the movie for it to start to make sense. But I adored the tie-in with Van's old life as the Broken Antler. He is a very badass character and I was cheering for him through everything.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Oh, absolutely post-canon, canon-divergent, missing scenes, that sort of thing. I want more Hohsalle! I always end up in this situation where I'm sad that a character didn't get a love interest. Though I think in Hohsalle's case, even found family would be enough to sate me.

Title: Black Magician Universe - Trudi Canavan

Media: Books

Approx length: Three books--there's a sequel trilogy featuring the requested character and a standalone prequel without any known characters, but you only need the first trilogy (Black Magician) to write the character

Where to find it: Available in print, eBook, and audiobook form at bookshops and libraries

What is it, in summary?: Black Magician, the first trilogy is about Sonea, a newly homeless teenage girl who accidentally unleashes magic while protesting getting swept out of the city dealing with the obstacles of becoming a magician in a guild that was forced to take her in, while pushing towards the dual goals of bringing healing to the slums and protecting the guild/country from black magic. There's a well-constructed mystery plot throughout the books which will have you going "oh" as you reread the pieces after hitting the payoff. The setting, somewhere between late medieval and industrial, is the city of Imardin (mostly the slums), then the Magician's Guild, with a subplot and part of the main plot taking the reader to other lands.

Traitor Spy, the second trilogy, in which Sonea remains a main character but isn't the protagonist, has her adult life as a healer, protecting the interests of the lower classes, and once more trying to protect guild and country from rogue magicians, and eventually from another country when its internal conflicts explode--as well as her son. It's set mostly in Imardin and the Guild for her parts, but there's much more of the other country from the start.

The standalone prequel, tells of a girl like Sonea but in a different time and class, during the war that would inform the events of the two trilogies six hundred years after it ended.

What do you love about it?: The characters are fun and funny, and there's a coziness to the tone at the start of the first trilogy which gets you attached to them even as that tone starts shifting throughout the books; the characters don't stop being endearing and fun. The plot twists work so well with what was established before with the characterization and worldbuilding. I enjoy how little details become a subplot and then coalesce into a big plot. There's an increase in scale which eventually turns the series as a whole into epic fantasy. The the romance doesn't hurt either. Most of all, I love Sonea and all her practicality as she adapts to her new situations, determined to reach her goals and always pushing at the boundaries put on her.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Sonea! I want more of her life between books, or after them, doing the work that fulfills her or engaging in the Guild's politics, or being with people she loves, or in what if AUs.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: Sonea is the protagonist (among multiple main characters) of the first trilogy, Black Magician (or the Sonea trilogy in some countries), and a main character in the sequel trilogy, Traitor Spy. You can read just the first trilogy and create based on that to fulfill the request. I would also be happy if you wanted to set it during or after the sequel trilogy, or if you wanted to use later material--or material found in the The Magician's Apprentice--to inform your worldbuilding and characterization within the work you create.

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): There are brief references to rape. The second book of the first trilogy has explicit depictions of bullying and harassment, both verbal and physical, from beginning to end, and there are references to homophobia, as well as a gay pov character with internalized homophobia dealt with in the text. From the third book of the first trilogy and through the rest of the later books, there are mentions and depictions of slavery and PTSD. There are some racist microaggressions in how dark-skinned characters are described in the first trilogy, and eventually darker-skinned villains, though they are not framed as the representatives of their people and the other books will give more focus and variation to their country.

Title: The Spellsong Cycle - L. E. Modesitt Jr.

Media: Books

Approx length: Five books in total, with the first three books being one complete story and the last two being another. The protagonists of each story appear in the other but are not, well, the protagonists in those.

Where to find it: Available in print, eBook, and audiobook at bookshops and libraries

What is it, in summary?: These are five books set in a fantasy world parallel to Earth--in which music can be used to do magic. The protagonist of the first three is Anna, a professor of music in her late forties who, grieving the death of her oldest daughter, wishes to be anywhere but where she is. Enter a continent on the brink of war, and people in need of a sorceress. The last two books are about her foster daughter Secca, who shoulders Anna's legacy and tries to keep things from getting worse after her death, while wrangling with who she was on a personal level.

What do you love about it?: I love Anna's grief and her struggle first to survive, then to take power so she can do something meaningful with her life in ways she couldn't back on Earth. There are discussions about getting feudal lords to pay their debts, and about creating infrastructure; there are also battles, and mighty spells. I also like the little bits of magical worldbuilding, like how in the continent Anna lands on, drums and dancing used to be a thing, but now people treat them as anything from obscene to abominable, except some of the antagonists, and Anna is so befuddled about it. And I like how there are many chapters for female characters apart from the female protagonists, and that these are from women around her age who are in power in their respective countries. Then there's Secca, processing Anna's legacy and her place in light of it, while trying to keep everything they did for their country together from being erased. I love their relationship and how Secca builds on what Anna did, earning her own renown.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Anna! Secca! Worldbuilding! I'd love anything about any of these things or all of them in the same work, just the sorceresses dealing with their lives and politics, or worldbuilding about the past, present, or future of Erde and its magic.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: The first three books are a complete story on their own, so I'd love fic pertaining only to them just as much as fic pertaining to the others/the whole series. The same goes for the last two books if you're making something about Secca specifically.

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): Assault and attempted assault, onscreen and off; sexualized murder and offscreen but implied sexual torture of minor female characters with regard to one antagonist across two of the books; lots of misogyny; one set of antagonists being likened to Hitler; another set of antagonists being likened to Islamic extremists; high body count when it comes to the wars.

Title: NOS4A2 (TV 2019)

Media: TV

Approx length: Two ten-episode seasons, episodes ranging from 44 minutes to an hour in length

Where to find it: Physically, both seasons are out on both blu-ray and DVD. Streaming-wise, both seasons can be found in the United States on Hulu, Shudder, and AMC+. (Shudder and AMC+ can be accessed through their apps or through their channels on Amazon or Apple, depending on where you subscribe.) They can also be streamed through AMC, Fubo, DirecTV, and SpectrumTV. They can be purchased digitally on Apple TV, Amazon, Google Play, and Vudu. This information has been taken from its Just Watch page here. You can change it by region to see where and if it's available in your area.

What is it, in summary?: The characters are working class Americans and the series spends time in their environment; even the supernatural elements are grounded in ordinary things, and in how the characters are informed by their world. Characters with magic, called Creatives, can psychically create other dimensions and break the walls between those dimensions, but the way they look and how they can be accessed are specific to the personal histories of the Creatives. One of these Creatives feeds off the souls of children to sustain himself and his personal dimension; the series deals with the two female characters who have to stop him, first as teenagers and then as grown women.

What do you love about it?: Messy female characters dealing with trauma from both the ordinary and the extraordinary in a horror drama series. An aspiring artist trying to get out of what she fears is a dead-end life has her efforts derailed when a supernatural child abduction happens in her neighborhood. It primarily follows Vic, a young artist and biker whose dimension is a bridge to find lost things, but also in a major role is Maggie, a librarian whose dimension is a Scrabble bag from which she can divine information. There's an assortment of secondary female characters important to these two and to the story at large; I love how they all get layers and time to shine. I love the attention the series pays to its characters' pain and family trauma; there's an empathy and a sadness to the horrors in it. It can be heartbreaking, and it can be hopeful. The protagonist/antagonist foil dynamic really pleased me with its moments of parallel narrative. And the actors are really good! I love Ashleigh Cummings as Vic and Jahkara Smith as Maggie especially, and Zachary Quinto is doing his best villaining.

The horror leans towards the psychological in that there's more focus on stress the characters are under; there's violent, but it's not that graphic usually, and there's gore, but not much.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Vic! I'd love post-canon fic, or post-season one AUs.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: For this canon, you can watch the first season or both seasons; I'd be happy with works based on either time period!

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): Attempted assault and offscreen rape, references to domestic violence, a partly successful murder/suicide one spouse commits of their spouse and child, references to homophobia in one character's backstory, PTSD, two openly misogynistic antagonists, the offscreen but heard death of a cat, some brief scenes of characters getting beaten/smashed into things that I felt on a visceral level, referenced child abuse, offscreen child sexual abuse, drugs used in abduction, serial killing, and one of the antagonists seems to have an obvious disability.

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2022 Yuletide Promo Post

Doctor Who Magazine: Eighth Doctor (Comics)

Cat Paintings by Danish artist Julie Nord - a totally open five minute fandom!

The Widow's Captive - Logan Spector

Piranesi - Susannah Clarke

The Pasithea Powder (Podcast)

Power Rangers Dino Fury

Smokescreen by Dick Francis

Expeditions: ROme

Fitchers Vogel | Fitcher’s Bird (Fairy Tale)

The Echo Wife - Sarah Gailey

Madhouse at the End of the Earth

Re: Madhouse at the End of the Earth

The New Avengers (TV 1976)

The Village That Slept - Monique P. De Ladebat

Princess Diaries - Meg Cabot

リーマンズクラブ | Ryman's Club | Salaryman's Club (Anime)

Bastard !! (Anime 2022)

Hellboy (Comics)

The Deer King (2021)

Black Magician Universe - Trudi Canavan

The Spellsong Cycle - L. E. Modesitt Jr.

NOS4A2 (TV 2019)