That time of year again, eh comrade? Here goes! I hope this isn't too terribly painful for you:
Request 1: David Copperfield
I maaaaaaaaajorly ship David and Uriah. It's a weird pairing--I came to it via a lot of conversations with another English PhD student about how the novel works, and I totally see how it wouldn't be intuitive (it wasn't for me!) or float your boat (again, I worked my way into seeing it, and from there into needing it). But I honestly think this is an intensely critically useful and fannishly fulfilling framing. I don't want to overload you with meta you may not find interesting or useful, so instead re: what works for me about this I'd direct you to what little pairing fic exists (mostly by moi x_x ) and this epic cracktacular vague ideas list:
https://x-losfic.livejournal.com/62996.html .
It might be worth saying that I like Agnes and Dora but don't find them incredibly compelling or particularly right for David. I like Steerforth a bit, but like, he's a posh fuckboi I ultimately don't have endless amounts of sympathy for. And I do reeeeeeally like Dickens, I'm not like, here by terrible accident, so all that implies holds true. In the Late vs Early Divide, I'm a Mid-Late preference, with a side-interest in the Letters, live performances, Callow's biography and Chesterton's gorgeous crit esp., not so keen on the Tomalin&would literally slap Orwell across the face.
If you'd like to write this universe but don't wish to board this particular boat, I'd be down for some thorny and complex interaction between these two characters, or their thinking about one another, so long as it engaged with the weird currents of fascination and repulsion in the text.
Request 2: The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Unknown Friend, I shall be rly real with thee. This just needs more porn. That cannot be denied or reasoned away.
My sister brought back from Israel some months ago a log called the Slice of Paradise. It is a thick, set cylinder of molasses dusted with pistachio and studded with a variety of nuts. You cut a little bit off at a time and have it with strong coffee or tea. I love this shit. That's what this novel is like. Bring forth your nutty and ichorous log, is what I'm saying.
Look: Jasper [THIS PARAGRAPH NSFW OR FOR THOSE WHO DON'T WISH TO HEAR OVERLY-EASY FREUDIAN READINGS] wants to fuck Edwin. He wants to hate fuck him to death while strangling him, and he also wants to coo over him weirdly and idk make him wear Rosa's dresses. He also may want to fuck Rosa (like that's it that's the text), but in a weird, ungenerative 'no future' kind of way (wtf does he think their marriage would be??). AND/OR, Rosa and Helena should do some stuff. Helena and Neville, god help me, may well do some stuff. Rosa and Helena and Neville could do some stuff. I mean you could try for Jasper/Edwin/Rosa at least in Jasper's mind, but it'd be a mess, and I don't know whether it'd be a hot one.
Just. Do what you can.
See Regarding Dickens bit in last section.
Request 3: The Great Mouse Detective
Yes, they're all terrible things happening to Victoriana, but Victoriana asked for this.
Again, I'm in this one for the ship. If I can read what you write as shippy (and I am fairly willing to do the work for that one), we're good. I'm normally a Holmes/Watson sort of person, because I feel that is somehow correct and ethical and upstanding, but not for this. Come, filthy anthropomorphised mouse porn. Come, shame. Let us walk together a while.
I wrote fic for this, which might be of some assistance to you. As her glory Beyonce says, I ain't sorry.
It is probably worth saying, in case you are mid-crossover in your mind even as you read this, that I despise Sherlock with the white-hot passion of a thousand suns. See Beyonce.
***
Look, I'm sorry about all this. Please feel free to ask for additional information anon. Or to run. That's fine too. I'm also happy with Wimsey (Peter/Harriet) and North and South (Thornton/Margaret) if the above is too wacky.
Good luck! And thank you!