Yuletide Letter!
Okay, so below I've put general stuff, then fandoms in order, copied in italics what I put in my comment box on the form, and below that are my further details, babbling, etc. It is now three a.m. for me so excuse typos, etc.
First of all, some fandoms have lots of ideas and/or lots of details; feel free to ignore. Take an idea and turn it on its head; take some details and make an entire new idea. I do not care one whit. As long as it doesn't have my uh-uhs as listed below, we're good. Great. Fantastic. And so forth.
One extra note: I had a hard time figuring out what I wanted, and then once I did, I couldn't figure out how to present it. So, what I did was, I tried to come up with one "ideal fic" for each fandom, and then I rambled some more beyond that.
Absolute no's:
Some milder dislikes:
Just to balance out a bit:
Okay, now the parts you probably actually came here for! Individual fandom-related ramblings!
Hemlock Grove
So this show is messed up on many, many levels, and it doesn't even always make sense. I like it anyway, so feel free to be completely weird or outrageous or, in a refreshing turn of events, try to make absolutely everything make sense always! I would like pretty much anything - plotty fic, world building, canon-based AUs. Please don't give me a complete AU, but if you want to change the timeline, or things during the series progression, or the ending, that's all cool! I would like some focus on Peter and Roman's relationship; shipping is great, as is friendship fic, or maybe Roman failing to see where the lines are between normal friendship and not-normal, since he has no friends. I am okay with porn, though I would prefer some sort of plot, even if it's just something of the shipping variety. Anything but straight PWP, basically.
Dislikes particular to this fandom: I will only read non-con in very special circumstances; of course, mention of it in regards to Roman's past assholery is entirely understandable. I am perfectly okay with dub-con and pretty much any other kink besides outright rape or molestation. Um, I don't have a problem with gore, but I don't delight in it; if it serves the plot, absolutely, include it. If it's just to describe, idk, werewolf transformations, preference would be to not spend three paragraphs describing the blood leaking out, tendons popping, bones grinding, skin stretching and breaking, etc. Unless it's necessary for the tone or the plot, please don't glorify in gore.
Ideal fic: This might make me a terrible person, but I was really upset that Roman turned out to be such a fuckwad. I want fic that redeems him. This can be done two ways: either with an AU where things happen differently, or with a very long and complicated fic with character regrets and growth which I wouldn't ask anyone to commit themselves to. I was also upset that Peter was so…non-committed? Inconsistent? Willing to get in with anyone (Roman, Letha) and then willing to ditch, basically. So, in short, I want a slightly-AU fic which makes Roman less of a fuckwad and keeps Peter around. I don't want a write-off where everything happens but less violently, or whatever. I would also love some world-building with the supernatural elements, so expansion upon either (or both!) Peter-as-werewolf or Roman-as-vampire.
Ideas:
My least favorite secondary characters:
Gladiator
Okay, so, shipping. Lots and lots of shipping here, for me. I would like any sort of AU or alternate ending to the movie where they both don't die! For AUs, I think a different historical setting could be fun; it might be interesting to see them as post-Roman-Empire pirates, or pre-Roman-Empire Greek love story, or anything, really. I would prefer something slightly less angsty than the movie, just because almost all of the (limited) fic for this pairing is sad. :( I would also love some sort of reincarnation fic; people always do it with Arthurian legends, so I think it would be cool to do that same sort of idea of not-quite-dying/coming back.
Dislikes particular to this fandom: None I can think of that haven't been covered? Particularly if you go with some of the ideas I offer up below, there's not much at risk I might dislike.
Ideal fic: Instead of setting up as enemies, Maximus and Commodus end up running the empire together. So, the emperor dies, but Maximus is going to work to fulfill his promise, while Commodus is going to keep Maximus on his side to use his power. So they work together while working at cross purposes, but aren't actually enemies. They end up reaching a compromise that doesn't end up with Maximus a slave/gladiator and Commodus insane, and both of them dead. Working together, lots of power and military and civic decisions, and then, since that already counts as Profit!, let's say porn! (?) I would add something about not having to have Maximus's wife and child killed, but this could be an excellent plot point, if they are killed but he decides to continue working with Maximus, or he could remain married and it could just be a non-issue, as she'd be just another of the wives left at home throughout history.
Ideas (but these should be viewed as alternate "ideal fics"):
Haven
When I was trying to think of a things to put here, this is what I said to a friend:
"My request: make Nathan less of a moron and also I bet he'd say less irritating things if his mouth was busy, if you know what I mean. Audrey and Duke are awesome but Audrey should not ever, ever be called Lexi. THREESOMES ARE WIN. Haven is cray-cray and that's fun! There are some characters I would rather see die, preferably repeatedly in a groundhog-day-esque episode than have them stick around, such as: Jordan, Jordan, and Jordan."
This should not be taken as gospel, but it sums of some of my more violent feelings! I love Audrey, Duke and Nathan! (Yes, even Nathan! He just SAYS THINGS SOMETIMES and I'm like UGH NO.) THREESOMES ARE LOVE. Um, I love all the Troubles, and the fact that you can come up with anything and it can be a Trouble. You could even write fic where someone has a Trouble with Tribbles! Yes, I went there. But no, that's not actually that high on my list of requests. I really don't like Jordan; not in a character-bashing way, I was just really disappointed in what they did with her, especially this season, so unless you're going to reform her character and make her less evil-effective and more geniune-person, I'd prefer she get left out. I love Vince and Dave! If you wanted to have a story told from their point of view, I would be 100% happy with that, too.
Dislikes particular to this fandom: Please ignore season four canon so far. I want to see how it develops, sure, but I don't really like in-season fic. Related to that, please don't give me episode codas or anything like that. This is one of the cases where impermanent character death would be fine for plotty purposes. (See idea one!)
Ideal fic: Casefic that leads to a three way? I don't know, my desires here are pretty simple. All three of them being awesome and hilarious, and porn. I would really like Duke POV, I think! With focus on Duke and Nathan's relationship, because let's face it, Audrey's relationships are way less complicated.
Ideas:
Elementary
Het fic! Shipping, I mean it. This may be the lazy route but I ship Joan/Sherlock in this iteration more than in every other Sherlock adaptation ever, and I am including Sherlock (TV) in that. I want friendship and romance and schmoop and running-arounds and h/c and porn and future!fic and canon fic and every fic ever, basically. Seriously, make it happy and focus on Joan as much as Sherlock and I am <3. It's that easy.
Dislikes particular to this fandom: Nothing focusing on drug use or relapses or anything.
Ideal fic: Marriage of convenience trope! Maybe Sherlock needs citizenship in the US? But it would involve going to Sherlock's childhood home, obviously! Maybe even meeting his father! We could get background on his mother, who never ever gets mentioned. Then convenience turns to a real relationship. They would both be very happy to get back to New York, of course.
Ideas:
Real Genius
Okay, I'm gonna be honest, I picked this movie because I needed one more fandom and it's one of my favorite movie and I've read all the fic on the archive for it.
That said, I don't know what I actually want! Shenanigans? Shipping? Future fic? Mitch and Jordan have babies and Chris is the favorite uncle? I don't know! Surprise me! I like happy things and silly things, and ridiculous fits this fandom better than any other, so if you really do want to write crack fic or fic about Tribbles, that's fair game! No, really: Tribbles on the campus of Pacific Tech would be the funniest thing ever.
I also love the character growth they all show, and I mean everyone - you can include Kent, Jerry, anyone! I adore Chris's handling of Grown Up Problems TM and his friendship with Mitch; shipping is A-okay but, as I think is evidence by all the rambling up to this point, absolutely not required. Just have fun! If it makes you laugh, it'll make me laugh, and that's just about the best thing you can get out of any fandom, ever.
Dislikes particular to this fandom: Nothing that's gonna come up, really.
Ideal fic: Chris graduates and disappears. Just disappears. At first, Mitch thinks, well, he's off discovering himself. But then weeks and months pass. Mitch has to start tracking him down. It turns into a goose chase - Chris is exploring the world, and if Mitch won't come with him, Chris will make sure he lives vicariously. When he finally gets back, Mitch is really glad to see him and also furious.
Ideas:
ETA: Annnnd posting it but making it private helps no one. Sorry, author!
First of all, some fandoms have lots of ideas and/or lots of details; feel free to ignore. Take an idea and turn it on its head; take some details and make an entire new idea. I do not care one whit. As long as it doesn't have my uh-uhs as listed below, we're good. Great. Fantastic. And so forth.
One extra note: I had a hard time figuring out what I wanted, and then once I did, I couldn't figure out how to present it. So, what I did was, I tried to come up with one "ideal fic" for each fandom, and then I rambled some more beyond that.
Absolute no's:
- No character death. Please and thank you. Reference to it, when canonical, is acceptable; killing a character in your fic is not. I understand the value of it, in certain cases, but I do not read it. Ever.
- No non-con. See above.
- Unhappy endings. I will take neutral endings if I must, but especially for a holiday challenge, I would like something that leans towards the overtly happy. (As much as possible, that is. I am aware of which fandoms I chose, after all.) Please no unhappy endings, even if it doesn't involve death or non-con.
- Kidfic! Totally opposite end of the spectrum, but kidfic has to be done so specifically for me to enjoy it that it's best to avoid. When done in a way that works for me, it's automatic re-read material, but maybe one in ten kidfics hits that, and if they don't, they make me rant, even when they're, objectively and to anyone else, perfectly wonderful fics. I'm just odd about kidfic, okay.
Some milder dislikes:
- Mpreg. I have a complicated relationship with mpreg. I will read the fic almost always, but I never enjoy it. (Seriously, two instances of enjoyment in the last…six or so years.) I don't expect it to ever come up, but better safe than sorry. On the other hand, mpreg for crackfic is almost always okay for me. Also something I don't really expect to come up, but there you go. Just in case.
- Two-character fics. I…like fics where there's more than two people. Even if it's just an OC waitress for a fic that takes place in a diner, I just really like having a little bit of extra interaction. Ideally, of course, I would like some extra inclusion of canon characters, but in some fandoms, and for some fics, that's not plausible. It's just a preference: I don't tend to like fics that are just one scene of two people talking. There you go.
- PWPs. Along the lines of the above, I'm not really into pwps, especially if it's just vanilla sex. If I want straight up porn - which I do, sometimes! - I go to kink bingo. For Yuletide, not so much; it's great to include, I just don't want it for the entirety of my fic.
Just to balance out a bit:
- Plot! I realize this is a stretch a lot of times, because the word requirements here are only 1k, but I'm putting this here because, you know what, I have read some freaking fantastic 1.5k plotty fics. Also, one can dream. So: plot. Don't care what. If you care enough about what you're writing to make it complex, I'm all in from the word go. Realistically, having to choose between a fic with plot and a fic with a lot of shippy elements, whether it's romance, porn, whatever, I'll probably like the plotty one better.
- Humor. I will read crack fic. I will read absurdist and surrealist fic. I will read anything that makes me laugh. I love everything from puns and bad jokes to satire and entire comedies of errors. If it can be describe as: witty, clever, cracky, funny, over the top, and so on, I will probably love it.
- Characters getting together.! Notice this comes below plot. I do still love it, obviously. I am not that radical a member of fandom.
- Happy endings.
Okay, now the parts you probably actually came here for! Individual fandom-related ramblings!
Hemlock Grove
So this show is messed up on many, many levels, and it doesn't even always make sense. I like it anyway, so feel free to be completely weird or outrageous or, in a refreshing turn of events, try to make absolutely everything make sense always! I would like pretty much anything - plotty fic, world building, canon-based AUs. Please don't give me a complete AU, but if you want to change the timeline, or things during the series progression, or the ending, that's all cool! I would like some focus on Peter and Roman's relationship; shipping is great, as is friendship fic, or maybe Roman failing to see where the lines are between normal friendship and not-normal, since he has no friends. I am okay with porn, though I would prefer some sort of plot, even if it's just something of the shipping variety. Anything but straight PWP, basically.
Dislikes particular to this fandom: I will only read non-con in very special circumstances; of course, mention of it in regards to Roman's past assholery is entirely understandable. I am perfectly okay with dub-con and pretty much any other kink besides outright rape or molestation. Um, I don't have a problem with gore, but I don't delight in it; if it serves the plot, absolutely, include it. If it's just to describe, idk, werewolf transformations, preference would be to not spend three paragraphs describing the blood leaking out, tendons popping, bones grinding, skin stretching and breaking, etc. Unless it's necessary for the tone or the plot, please don't glorify in gore.
Ideal fic: This might make me a terrible person, but I was really upset that Roman turned out to be such a fuckwad. I want fic that redeems him. This can be done two ways: either with an AU where things happen differently, or with a very long and complicated fic with character regrets and growth which I wouldn't ask anyone to commit themselves to. I was also upset that Peter was so…non-committed? Inconsistent? Willing to get in with anyone (Roman, Letha) and then willing to ditch, basically. So, in short, I want a slightly-AU fic which makes Roman less of a fuckwad and keeps Peter around. I don't want a write-off where everything happens but less violently, or whatever. I would also love some world-building with the supernatural elements, so expansion upon either (or both!) Peter-as-werewolf or Roman-as-vampire.
Ideas:
- Peter moves to Hemlock Grove years earlier. Everyone is younger - he and Roman become friends before Roman and Co. are all so messed up. Maybe the happenings in the town occur differently, or earlier or later; maybe you just give me a snippet of younger characters.
- An AU from any point (from pre to post season) using Roman-as-vampire as motivation; maybe he likes Peter? Maybe he hates him! Vampires vs werewolves? Werewolves as pets? Being the only two supernatural-but-really-we're-normal-honest people in their high school/town?
- An AU from any point (from pre to post season) using Peter-as-werewolf as motivation; maybe werewolf tropes like mates or coming of age ceremonies/hunts/etc; maybe Roman knows what he is still, or maybe Roman doesn't. Maybe Roman is one too!
- Or you could do a continuation of season 1, and astound me.
- Shelly!!! She glows, guys, come on. Tell me that isn't the sweetest thing. And she's the only person Roman legitimately doesn't hurt in the entire show. That's practically a miracle. I would like treatment of her as an actual character, though, closer to how we see in Roman's dream or her letters with her uncle, not as categorically-good-but-mute disabled character.
- Peter's mom! But as compared to a "normal" mom, i.e. it'd be nice to see some acknowledgement that she and Peter don't have the most traditional relationship.
My least favorite secondary characters:
- Peter's cousin. I thought her job, as variously depicted was sneezy, and I just didn't like what little we knew. She seemed like a mini-Mom for Peter, but dressed to look hot. Not interesting.
- Christina. Just no. Probably not for the reasons you're thinking, but still, no.
Gladiator
Okay, so, shipping. Lots and lots of shipping here, for me. I would like any sort of AU or alternate ending to the movie where they both don't die! For AUs, I think a different historical setting could be fun; it might be interesting to see them as post-Roman-Empire pirates, or pre-Roman-Empire Greek love story, or anything, really. I would prefer something slightly less angsty than the movie, just because almost all of the (limited) fic for this pairing is sad. :( I would also love some sort of reincarnation fic; people always do it with Arthurian legends, so I think it would be cool to do that same sort of idea of not-quite-dying/coming back.
Dislikes particular to this fandom: None I can think of that haven't been covered? Particularly if you go with some of the ideas I offer up below, there's not much at risk I might dislike.
Ideal fic: Instead of setting up as enemies, Maximus and Commodus end up running the empire together. So, the emperor dies, but Maximus is going to work to fulfill his promise, while Commodus is going to keep Maximus on his side to use his power. So they work together while working at cross purposes, but aren't actually enemies. They end up reaching a compromise that doesn't end up with Maximus a slave/gladiator and Commodus insane, and both of them dead. Working together, lots of power and military and civic decisions, and then, since that already counts as Profit!, let's say porn! (?) I would add something about not having to have Maximus's wife and child killed, but this could be an excellent plot point, if they are killed but he decides to continue working with Maximus, or he could remain married and it could just be a non-issue, as she'd be just another of the wives left at home throughout history.
Ideas (but these should be viewed as alternate "ideal fics"):
- Maximus as right hand man to the emperor, has a hand in bringing up Commodus. Might lead into something like the above, or might change everything entirely.
- Reincarnation fic. I am so serious. Maximus reincarnating throughout time to follow Commodus, sometimes into periods of disaster and sometimes into periods of boring. Whether one or both of them know this, or only eventually figure it out doesn't matter.
- Related to the above; not reincarnation, but a Five Times fic where they are in different time periods, playing different roles, maybe with different relationships. This could be the one exception to the no-character-death rule: if you wanted to write a fic where the five times are where one or both of them die, and a Plus One is a time when they both live, that would be awesome! (Remember what I said about happy endings.)
- AU that's more fantastical - Maximus as a slave his entire life, Commodus takes a liking to him OR, even more fun…
- Role reversal! Maximus as emperor and Commodus as a slave that he likes or has to take care of, maybe because he's the son to a slave that died saving Maximus' life? What would Maximus be like as emperor, and Commodus as a slave? Or maybe Commodus as a senator, instead. Anything like that.
Haven
When I was trying to think of a things to put here, this is what I said to a friend:
"My request: make Nathan less of a moron and also I bet he'd say less irritating things if his mouth was busy, if you know what I mean. Audrey and Duke are awesome but Audrey should not ever, ever be called Lexi. THREESOMES ARE WIN. Haven is cray-cray and that's fun! There are some characters I would rather see die, preferably repeatedly in a groundhog-day-esque episode than have them stick around, such as: Jordan, Jordan, and Jordan."
This should not be taken as gospel, but it sums of some of my more violent feelings! I love Audrey, Duke and Nathan! (Yes, even Nathan! He just SAYS THINGS SOMETIMES and I'm like UGH NO.) THREESOMES ARE LOVE. Um, I love all the Troubles, and the fact that you can come up with anything and it can be a Trouble. You could even write fic where someone has a Trouble with Tribbles! Yes, I went there. But no, that's not actually that high on my list of requests. I really don't like Jordan; not in a character-bashing way, I was just really disappointed in what they did with her, especially this season, so unless you're going to reform her character and make her less evil-effective and more geniune-person, I'd prefer she get left out. I love Vince and Dave! If you wanted to have a story told from their point of view, I would be 100% happy with that, too.
Dislikes particular to this fandom: Please ignore season four canon so far. I want to see how it develops, sure, but I don't really like in-season fic. Related to that, please don't give me episode codas or anything like that. This is one of the cases where impermanent character death would be fine for plotty purposes. (See idea one!)
Ideal fic: Casefic that leads to a three way? I don't know, my desires here are pretty simple. All three of them being awesome and hilarious, and porn. I would really like Duke POV, I think! With focus on Duke and Nathan's relationship, because let's face it, Audrey's relationships are way less complicated.
Ideas:
- Groundhog Day fic where any one of the three keeps dying - or maybe two of them? - and the other two/one has to deal with them dying, and then they finally stick around due to romance or something?? IDK.
- One day, someone has a trouble that changes everyone's troubles? So Duke, instead of absorbing people's abilities to kill them, maybe absorbs them and then can use them. And Nathan, instead of being unable to feel things, is suddenly psychic and/or empathic. And Audrey…I don't know!
- For a fic from Vince and Dave's perspective, if that's your cup of tea, maybe they decide they're going to do "A Day in the Life of Haven PD," and they follow Audrey and Nathan around all day! Making nuisances of themselves? Helping? Maybe they follow Duke, too. Maybe Duke helps them.
Elementary
Het fic! Shipping, I mean it. This may be the lazy route but I ship Joan/Sherlock in this iteration more than in every other Sherlock adaptation ever, and I am including Sherlock (TV) in that. I want friendship and romance and schmoop and running-arounds and h/c and porn and future!fic and canon fic and every fic ever, basically. Seriously, make it happy and focus on Joan as much as Sherlock and I am <3. It's that easy.
Dislikes particular to this fandom: Nothing focusing on drug use or relapses or anything.
Ideal fic: Marriage of convenience trope! Maybe Sherlock needs citizenship in the US? But it would involve going to Sherlock's childhood home, obviously! Maybe even meeting his father! We could get background on his mother, who never ever gets mentioned. Then convenience turns to a real relationship. They would both be very happy to get back to New York, of course.
Ideas:
- I would like to see Joan go off and work on her own. Completely on her own, I mean. Not just part of a case where Sherlock comes in, or one that he gives her, but goes off, maybe for vacation or maybe to visit her family (her brother who lives far away?) and gets caught up in a case, and solves it herself. Maybe she keeps in touch with Sherlock over the phone. There is lots of talking and being besties. Then she gets back and there is more bonding.
- AU where Joan is still working as a surgeon and she meets Sherlock - maybe her patients keeps dying, and he comes to help her. How would they get along if he'd had a different sober companion and she wasn't looking for a new career?
Real Genius
Okay, I'm gonna be honest, I picked this movie because I needed one more fandom and it's one of my favorite movie and I've read all the fic on the archive for it.
That said, I don't know what I actually want! Shenanigans? Shipping? Future fic? Mitch and Jordan have babies and Chris is the favorite uncle? I don't know! Surprise me! I like happy things and silly things, and ridiculous fits this fandom better than any other, so if you really do want to write crack fic or fic about Tribbles, that's fair game! No, really: Tribbles on the campus of Pacific Tech would be the funniest thing ever.
I also love the character growth they all show, and I mean everyone - you can include Kent, Jerry, anyone! I adore Chris's handling of Grown Up Problems TM and his friendship with Mitch; shipping is A-okay but, as I think is evidence by all the rambling up to this point, absolutely not required. Just have fun! If it makes you laugh, it'll make me laugh, and that's just about the best thing you can get out of any fandom, ever.
Dislikes particular to this fandom: Nothing that's gonna come up, really.
Ideal fic: Chris graduates and disappears. Just disappears. At first, Mitch thinks, well, he's off discovering himself. But then weeks and months pass. Mitch has to start tracking him down. It turns into a goose chase - Chris is exploring the world, and if Mitch won't come with him, Chris will make sure he lives vicariously. When he finally gets back, Mitch is really glad to see him and also furious.
Ideas:
- Slightly future fic that shows them - all of them? Jordan as well as Mitch and Chris, at least - growing up. For realz, I mean. Some more ridiculous things, but also as they all find jobs that fit them. Mitch and Chris staying really good friends until Mitch turns legal and then Chris jumps him, obviously, because he has some morals but they only go so far.
- Mitch brings Chris home for the summer/to meet his parents. Mayhem ensues.
- Tribbles! No, really, maybe they engineer Tribbles because everyone needs a Tribble. Maybe the Tribbles just show up. Whichever. But Tribbles!
ETA: Annnnd posting it but making it private helps no one. Sorry, author!