Dear Yuletide Writer
Hi! You are awesome! Thank you for signing up! I hope you'll enjoy writing your story as much as I'll love reading it!
If you already have an idea, run with it! I can't wait to read it! If more detail from me will make your life easier, then below I'll ramble a bit about stuff I like in general and about each potential fandom.
My Do-Not-Wants: I'm fortunate not to have any triggers, but I do have a couple of back-button squicks that it would be great if you could avoid: romanticized/eroticized depictions of incest or rape are deal-breakers for me. I'm also squicked by most romantic/sexual relationships between characters who have a major imbalance of power. If you'd like to go AU, I'd prefer no a/b/o 'verses. If you're moved to porn, I'd prefer nothing that kinks on pain, fear, or danger/risk of death.
[Stuff I Love & Other General Info]In general, I love: banter, found families, characters who are less hard-assed/more tenderhearted than they'd like you to believe, redemption narratives, gallows humor, women kicking literal and/or metaphorical ass, characters who own their mistakes (even if they can't seem to quit making them), double lives, and hopeful, if imperfectly happy, endings. Most of my favorite stories could be distilled down to something like broken people make a home for each other and/or ragtag band of misfits save world, one another. If you're into writing winter holiday-themed stories for Yuletide, I'm totally down for that.
If you go AU: I generally prefer the kind of AU that diverges from one event in the canon storyline (i.e. this character doesn't catch that flight out of town, or that one survives that showdown with the Big Bad, or so-and-so never recovered from that case of tropey amnesia) to the kind where everyone's a were-tamarin* who works in a cupcake shoppe, with the exception that apocalypse fic for non-apocalyptic stories will always warm my cold little geek heart.
To ship or not to ship?: I'm mostly requesting universes where I don't crave straight-up romantic fluff or get-together stories, but I often like UST or established relationships in the background of a fic that's mainly about other things. I welcome het, slash, femslash, or poly relationships, as well as stories where romantic relationships are not a factor. I don't have a lot of SRS BZNS shipping preferences; if I don't name a pairing as disliked and it doesn't rely on one of those dynamics I listed as DNWs, then I'm probably at least open to it. I welcome porn, if that's what you're excited to write, but I won't be disappointed if it's not there, so don't feel pressured to include it if it's not your thing.
Stylistically: I don't have a dog in the past tense vs. present tense fight; I read, write, and enjoy both. I will always be a sucker for any kind of unusual narration: second-person, 1st-person plural, outsider POV, unreliable narrator, epistolary fiction, omniscient narrator, etc., etc., ad infinitum. But, third-person-limited is popular for a reason -and that reason is that it works!- so please don't feel pressured to try something you wouldn't have fun with. Just know that if you were thinking about experimenting, you'd find a receptive audience in me!
To The Fandoms!
[666 Park Avenue, any - contains spoilers for season/series finale]666 Park Avenue - any
I loved this creepy show, and everyone in it, so feel free to include any character from the series; one of my favorite parts of the show were the usually-single-episode horror plots about various doomed residents finding that their debts to Gavin had come due and they were never leaving the Drake, and if you wanted to go that route, I'd welcome OCs as well.
For Jane: I'd love to read about some weird/scary/inexplicable things that happened to her pre-series, while she was living a thousand miles from the Drake. I'd also love some fix-it fic for the rushed (and crushing!) finale; something that doesn't leave her as Gavin's protege, pregnant with what is heavily implied to be the antichrist (or that at least has her doing these things to take him down from the inside?!) would be great. I shipped Jane/Det. Cooper pretty hard after he was the only one to even half-believe her about her encounter with Peter Kramer, and while I don't think they'd have lasted if the show ran longer, I like Jane/Henry, too.
For Sasha Doran: After Sasha descended the basement staircase, did she get the new life/fresh start Gavin promised? If so, what's it like? (Did she come out in Neptune? I'm mostly kidding and don't expect this crossover, though I'd certainly read it!) Alternatively, how did she spend her time between faking her death and appearing at Henry's shoulder as Laurel?
For Nona: I'd love to read more about Nona's childhood in the Drake, and/or her light fingers (i.e. when she started stealing things, or a time she almost got caught, etc.) or how life at the Drake changes for her after Jane moves in. The last time we see Nona in the show, she's in her apartment, building a Wall of Conspiracy about Gavin and sinister happenings at the Drake; what's it like to be trapped in the Drake, knowing what she knows? Does she have a plan?
For Tony DeMeo: Tony is the guy who works the Drake's front desk: I'd love fic about what he learns from the comings and goings of the residents and/or their visitors, or anything that explores how he ended up as Gavin's lackey and exactly how much he knows about his boss and the building.
[Breaking Bad, any - contains spoilers through series finale]Breaking Bad - any
It wouldn't be accurate to say that I love all the characters in this show, but it's the honest truth that I would welcome fic about any of them, so feel free to include any character from the series, whether nominated (I love how many characters made the nominations list!) or not. If you're so inclined, I'd love outsider POV from former students, low-level dealers/thugs/enforcers, workers in any of the "legitimate" business enterprises featured in the show, local law enforcement, 12-step group members, other clients of Saul's, or basically any minor character (or OC) who would have passing contact with the main cast and/or an interesting perspective on the day-to-day of the ABQ.
That's pretty broad, so let me throw out a few more specific thoughts too:
I really loved the part of the series where Mike was basically Jesse's assigned babysitter, but was also gradually seeing something more in him than pain-in-everyone's-ass-junkie-liability (and maybe helping Jesse see it, too), so something following them through a day of shady errands would be great. I would also have loved to see more of the time when Marie and Hank and Gomez and Jesse were holed up at casa Schrader (Schrader-haus?) building a trap for Walt/pretending that this is a totally normal investigation where everything isn't going straight-to-hell, so a missing scene from that period would be cool.
And, while I think the door on a happy ending for Jesse closed hard a long time ago, I also have to believe that 'where there's life there's hope', so I'd love to see a post-"Felina" story where Jesse's found a little peace and purpose, whatever that means for him now.
I find Skyler & Marie's relationship -at once close and supportive AND strained and jealous/competitive- fascinating and I'd love to see some of its roots, or how it changes after they've both become widows. Vince Gilligan has said in an interview that one abandoned season one storyline would have seen these two on a roadtrip to visit their father - an unreliable, charismatic artist they'd have liked Kris Kristoferson to play - I wish there had been time for that in the show, and I'd love to read the fic version.
I'd also love something that touches on how much Kaylee or Brock (or any of the show's child characters) understand about what's going on with the adults and what consequences the events of canon carry for their futures.
[District X, any]District X - any
The thing I love most about this book - all 14 issues of it! - is the setting and the scope of its storytelling: District X is a kind of mutant ghetto, whose residents are mostly not saving! the! world!, but just scraping by, trying to raise their families and make their connections, and just do their day-to-day. Most of the characters in this sliver of the Marvel Universe are not and will never be X-Men. Their abilities and mutations are decidedly unglamorous: useless or inconvenient or dangerous or embarrassing or isolating. The series takes place in the same universe as all manner or superheroics, but its own storylines tended to be told on a smaller scale - equal parts family dynamics, police procedural, relatively small-time crime drama. I would love fic about any character(s) from the comics (or OC) that looks at small moments of life in District X.
I've also read the Mutopia X and The 198 miniseries and (early parts of) the most recent X-Factor series that branched off from the House of M-related cancellation of my book and were set in the same neighborhood, so while it's not at all necessary to do so, feel free to include information or locations or themes from those sources as well.
I'd love a story that followed Ortega and Bishop through a day on Izzy's beat; what kind of calls do they answer? what do they observe in passing, file away for later? how do various of the citizens they encounter relate to them?
I haven't read any of Bishop's other comics appearances, though I know the broad outlines of his history, and I really enjoy seeing how he relates to the loose community of Mutant-town and to Izzy's family. I'd love to see more of him interacting with the Ortega kids and/or other children in the neighborhood.
A fic that filled in the holes of Mercator's life - the space between the childhood flashbacks we see in the first arc and his quiet life in District X - would be great. I'd also love something that explored the minor and not-so-minor miracles Mr. M performs for his neighbors.
I'd love to read about how Lara the Illusionist's abilities first emerged or about whether and when and why she uses them as she moves through an ordinary day. There's an early scene in which Lara demonstrates her abilities, and taunts Izzy by giving the illusion of herself as a wanton version of him, and given that they do later have a fairly tortured affair, their dynamic lends itself to fic that could be porny and/or character-driven in whatever measure you see fit; I'd love to read it all.
[Dwayne Johnson Got Milk? ad, any]Dwayne Johnson "Got Milk?" Ad - any
Conveniently embedded here:
I basically just want to know WHAT IS GOING ON?! in this universe, from the perspective of any living creature in the commercial. Did the alien-invasion-flavored apocalypse just begin today? Or has it been going on long enough that a new kind of normalcy has asserted itself in spite of the weird? Why commit a robbery or join a traveling circus in such a world?
Who are these girls to Dwayne Johnson's character: his daughters? girls he's rescued from various apoca-fic scenarios and somehow found himself safeguarding until their families can be found? his nanny-ing charges?
When he goes to "work" at the end, is that to a formal gig at some BPRD/SHIELD-type agency, or some kind of vigilante heroics, or something utterly mundane because this is not really the end of the world after all?
I'd love any story about the kinds of things that happen in the same world as this milk run!
[Exit Humanity, any]Exit Humanity - any
I watch a lot of fairly terrible campy zombie movies, so I was pleasantly surprised by how moving and quietly creepy and playing-its-Civil-War-era-zombies-premise-straight earnest this movie turned out to be. I really enjoyed the world of this movie, so feel free to include any additional characters.
"Eeee! Period Zombies!" is the main thing I want out of fic in this fandom, but if more specific prompts will help:
During the sequences about the scrolls, it's indicated that they'd been used to call up the dead a number of times throughout human history. If you're so inclined, I'd love to read about one of those events, using any OCs or historical figures you'd like.
It would be cool, though not necessary if it's not your bag, if fic using Edward Young as the POV character was framed as additional journal entries. I'd love a missing scene from the period where Edward, Isaac, Emma, and Eve are holed up at Eve's hovel, dodging zombies and rogue soldiers, daily life under seige from the zombies and the human villains.
If you wanted to write about any of the nominated characters individually, here are some thoughts:
Edward - we know that both he and the world will survive the zombies, so what happens after the movie ends? What does the end of the zombie apocalypse/resurgence of humanity look like?
Isaac - I'd like to hear about the time between being separated from his sister and finding Isaac, especially the time when he was the only human in that overrun town.
Emma - I'd love to read the story of Emma's discovery that she's immune to the zombies' bite.
Eve - Fic about Eve and her sister (in life and/or as one of the vengeful dead) would be awesome.
[Hart of Dixie, any]Hart of Dixie - any
Fandom-specific DNWs: Zoe/George and Zoe/Lavon! Though George is great, and I'd be cool with him appearing alone or paired with anyone else (or with fic set in the future where it was implied that they'd had a past relationship that unequivocally did not work), I'd prefer not to receive fic that ships Zoe/George. And apgeeksout thinks that Lavon Hayes is just the best, but also, that he and Zoe are just perfect in their canon dynamic as chop-busting but ultimately sympathetic BFFs.
I love this show, and all of its characters. Feel free to include any characters from the show, especially if your fic includes Bluebell-at-large getting up to some small town shenanigans. Additionally, feel free to incorporate as much or as little of s3's developments and new characters as you see fit. My favorite thing about this show is that, instead of suspenseful medical cases of the week, its tension and drama mostly come from character relationships, and that most of those relationships are not necessarily romantic in nature. While I am the same dork who just led with her shipping preferences above, I also love that friends and relatives and neighbors and business partners and rivals (and people who are a little of all these things at once!) are just as likely to be at the heart of an episode as any of the romances/love triangles.
I will love fic with any combination of the five nominated characters, but if a more specific prompt would help:
While Zoe and Lemon are not exactly (and may never be) friends, I like that canon is allowing them to me something more complicated (and interesting!) than catty romantic rivals. I'd love to see them grudgingly working together for the good of a time-honored town event or one of the many characters they both love.
Annabeth Nass is a juggler! (And person-who-nommed-her, we should be friends!) I'd love a story about her gracefully balancing sometimes-awkward relationships with Zoe and Lemon and Lavon. Alternatively, we haven't seen her interact a whole lot with Wade; seeing the two of them hang out while all about them, other Bluebellians lose their heads, would be fun.
Why did Lavon come back to Bluebell after his football career? His parents don't live there anymore, neither did Ruby, he's famous and financially set: what's so special about this little Alabama town? Initially, Zoe couldn't wait to get back to prestigious work in NYC, but that's not entirely true anymore: how did Bluebell stop being exile and start becoming home?
Wade is always described as something like "the town's resident bad-boy" - and he can definitely be roguish and irresponsible - but he's also at heart a decent, kind person, and I'd love a story about his making-amends for a less-than-shining moment or helping someone he's not crazy about out of jam, even if seeing them fail might be momentarily satisfying. Wade and Lemon's relationship, from teenaged troublemakers to business partners finding their feet together, is endlessly fascinating to me as well.
The heart of all this tl;dr: I hope I've rambled enough to make the writing portion of your Yuletide much more fun than stressful! The bottom line is that I'm going to be excited about fic in any of these universes, and wondering about/being surprised by the story you'll write for me in the end is a large part of the fun I get out of being a recipient. Thank you for writing; I can't wait to read! ♥ Happy Yuletide!
* Though, now that I've said that, all I can think is that tamarins are the cutest, and I'd probably read the hell out of of a somehow- still-in-character tamarin!AU ;)
If you already have an idea, run with it! I can't wait to read it! If more detail from me will make your life easier, then below I'll ramble a bit about stuff I like in general and about each potential fandom.
My Do-Not-Wants: I'm fortunate not to have any triggers, but I do have a couple of back-button squicks that it would be great if you could avoid: romanticized/eroticized depictions of incest or rape are deal-breakers for me. I'm also squicked by most romantic/sexual relationships between characters who have a major imbalance of power. If you'd like to go AU, I'd prefer no a/b/o 'verses. If you're moved to porn, I'd prefer nothing that kinks on pain, fear, or danger/risk of death.
[Stuff I Love & Other General Info]In general, I love: banter, found families, characters who are less hard-assed/more tenderhearted than they'd like you to believe, redemption narratives, gallows humor, women kicking literal and/or metaphorical ass, characters who own their mistakes (even if they can't seem to quit making them), double lives, and hopeful, if imperfectly happy, endings. Most of my favorite stories could be distilled down to something like broken people make a home for each other and/or ragtag band of misfits save world, one another. If you're into writing winter holiday-themed stories for Yuletide, I'm totally down for that.
If you go AU: I generally prefer the kind of AU that diverges from one event in the canon storyline (i.e. this character doesn't catch that flight out of town, or that one survives that showdown with the Big Bad, or so-and-so never recovered from that case of tropey amnesia) to the kind where everyone's a were-tamarin* who works in a cupcake shoppe, with the exception that apocalypse fic for non-apocalyptic stories will always warm my cold little geek heart.
To ship or not to ship?: I'm mostly requesting universes where I don't crave straight-up romantic fluff or get-together stories, but I often like UST or established relationships in the background of a fic that's mainly about other things. I welcome het, slash, femslash, or poly relationships, as well as stories where romantic relationships are not a factor. I don't have a lot of SRS BZNS shipping preferences; if I don't name a pairing as disliked and it doesn't rely on one of those dynamics I listed as DNWs, then I'm probably at least open to it. I welcome porn, if that's what you're excited to write, but I won't be disappointed if it's not there, so don't feel pressured to include it if it's not your thing.
Stylistically: I don't have a dog in the past tense vs. present tense fight; I read, write, and enjoy both. I will always be a sucker for any kind of unusual narration: second-person, 1st-person plural, outsider POV, unreliable narrator, epistolary fiction, omniscient narrator, etc., etc., ad infinitum. But, third-person-limited is popular for a reason -and that reason is that it works!- so please don't feel pressured to try something you wouldn't have fun with. Just know that if you were thinking about experimenting, you'd find a receptive audience in me!
To The Fandoms!
[666 Park Avenue, any - contains spoilers for season/series finale]666 Park Avenue - any
I loved this creepy show, and everyone in it, so feel free to include any character from the series; one of my favorite parts of the show were the usually-single-episode horror plots about various doomed residents finding that their debts to Gavin had come due and they were never leaving the Drake, and if you wanted to go that route, I'd welcome OCs as well.
For Jane: I'd love to read about some weird/scary/inexplicable things that happened to her pre-series, while she was living a thousand miles from the Drake. I'd also love some fix-it fic for the rushed (and crushing!) finale; something that doesn't leave her as Gavin's protege, pregnant with what is heavily implied to be the antichrist (or that at least has her doing these things to take him down from the inside?!) would be great. I shipped Jane/Det. Cooper pretty hard after he was the only one to even half-believe her about her encounter with Peter Kramer, and while I don't think they'd have lasted if the show ran longer, I like Jane/Henry, too.
For Sasha Doran: After Sasha descended the basement staircase, did she get the new life/fresh start Gavin promised? If so, what's it like? (Did she come out in Neptune? I'm mostly kidding and don't expect this crossover, though I'd certainly read it!) Alternatively, how did she spend her time between faking her death and appearing at Henry's shoulder as Laurel?
For Nona: I'd love to read more about Nona's childhood in the Drake, and/or her light fingers (i.e. when she started stealing things, or a time she almost got caught, etc.) or how life at the Drake changes for her after Jane moves in. The last time we see Nona in the show, she's in her apartment, building a Wall of Conspiracy about Gavin and sinister happenings at the Drake; what's it like to be trapped in the Drake, knowing what she knows? Does she have a plan?
For Tony DeMeo: Tony is the guy who works the Drake's front desk: I'd love fic about what he learns from the comings and goings of the residents and/or their visitors, or anything that explores how he ended up as Gavin's lackey and exactly how much he knows about his boss and the building.
[Breaking Bad, any - contains spoilers through series finale]Breaking Bad - any
It wouldn't be accurate to say that I love all the characters in this show, but it's the honest truth that I would welcome fic about any of them, so feel free to include any character from the series, whether nominated (I love how many characters made the nominations list!) or not. If you're so inclined, I'd love outsider POV from former students, low-level dealers/thugs/enforcers, workers in any of the "legitimate" business enterprises featured in the show, local law enforcement, 12-step group members, other clients of Saul's, or basically any minor character (or OC) who would have passing contact with the main cast and/or an interesting perspective on the day-to-day of the ABQ.
That's pretty broad, so let me throw out a few more specific thoughts too:
I really loved the part of the series where Mike was basically Jesse's assigned babysitter, but was also gradually seeing something more in him than pain-in-everyone's-ass-junkie-liability (and maybe helping Jesse see it, too), so something following them through a day of shady errands would be great. I would also have loved to see more of the time when Marie and Hank and Gomez and Jesse were holed up at casa Schrader (Schrader-haus?) building a trap for Walt/pretending that this is a totally normal investigation where everything isn't going straight-to-hell, so a missing scene from that period would be cool.
And, while I think the door on a happy ending for Jesse closed hard a long time ago, I also have to believe that 'where there's life there's hope', so I'd love to see a post-"Felina" story where Jesse's found a little peace and purpose, whatever that means for him now.
I find Skyler & Marie's relationship -at once close and supportive AND strained and jealous/competitive- fascinating and I'd love to see some of its roots, or how it changes after they've both become widows. Vince Gilligan has said in an interview that one abandoned season one storyline would have seen these two on a roadtrip to visit their father - an unreliable, charismatic artist they'd have liked Kris Kristoferson to play - I wish there had been time for that in the show, and I'd love to read the fic version.
I'd also love something that touches on how much Kaylee or Brock (or any of the show's child characters) understand about what's going on with the adults and what consequences the events of canon carry for their futures.
[District X, any]District X - any
The thing I love most about this book - all 14 issues of it! - is the setting and the scope of its storytelling: District X is a kind of mutant ghetto, whose residents are mostly not saving! the! world!, but just scraping by, trying to raise their families and make their connections, and just do their day-to-day. Most of the characters in this sliver of the Marvel Universe are not and will never be X-Men. Their abilities and mutations are decidedly unglamorous: useless or inconvenient or dangerous or embarrassing or isolating. The series takes place in the same universe as all manner or superheroics, but its own storylines tended to be told on a smaller scale - equal parts family dynamics, police procedural, relatively small-time crime drama. I would love fic about any character(s) from the comics (or OC) that looks at small moments of life in District X.
I've also read the Mutopia X and The 198 miniseries and (early parts of) the most recent X-Factor series that branched off from the House of M-related cancellation of my book and were set in the same neighborhood, so while it's not at all necessary to do so, feel free to include information or locations or themes from those sources as well.
I'd love a story that followed Ortega and Bishop through a day on Izzy's beat; what kind of calls do they answer? what do they observe in passing, file away for later? how do various of the citizens they encounter relate to them?
I haven't read any of Bishop's other comics appearances, though I know the broad outlines of his history, and I really enjoy seeing how he relates to the loose community of Mutant-town and to Izzy's family. I'd love to see more of him interacting with the Ortega kids and/or other children in the neighborhood.
A fic that filled in the holes of Mercator's life - the space between the childhood flashbacks we see in the first arc and his quiet life in District X - would be great. I'd also love something that explored the minor and not-so-minor miracles Mr. M performs for his neighbors.
I'd love to read about how Lara the Illusionist's abilities first emerged or about whether and when and why she uses them as she moves through an ordinary day. There's an early scene in which Lara demonstrates her abilities, and taunts Izzy by giving the illusion of herself as a wanton version of him, and given that they do later have a fairly tortured affair, their dynamic lends itself to fic that could be porny and/or character-driven in whatever measure you see fit; I'd love to read it all.
[Dwayne Johnson Got Milk? ad, any]Dwayne Johnson "Got Milk?" Ad - any
Conveniently embedded here:
Click to viewI basically just want to know WHAT IS GOING ON?! in this universe, from the perspective of any living creature in the commercial. Did the alien-invasion-flavored apocalypse just begin today? Or has it been going on long enough that a new kind of normalcy has asserted itself in spite of the weird? Why commit a robbery or join a traveling circus in such a world?
Who are these girls to Dwayne Johnson's character: his daughters? girls he's rescued from various apoca-fic scenarios and somehow found himself safeguarding until their families can be found? his nanny-ing charges?
When he goes to "work" at the end, is that to a formal gig at some BPRD/SHIELD-type agency, or some kind of vigilante heroics, or something utterly mundane because this is not really the end of the world after all?
I'd love any story about the kinds of things that happen in the same world as this milk run!
[Exit Humanity, any]Exit Humanity - any
I watch a lot of fairly terrible campy zombie movies, so I was pleasantly surprised by how moving and quietly creepy and playing-its-Civil-War-era-zombies-premise-straight earnest this movie turned out to be. I really enjoyed the world of this movie, so feel free to include any additional characters.
"Eeee! Period Zombies!" is the main thing I want out of fic in this fandom, but if more specific prompts will help:
During the sequences about the scrolls, it's indicated that they'd been used to call up the dead a number of times throughout human history. If you're so inclined, I'd love to read about one of those events, using any OCs or historical figures you'd like.
It would be cool, though not necessary if it's not your bag, if fic using Edward Young as the POV character was framed as additional journal entries. I'd love a missing scene from the period where Edward, Isaac, Emma, and Eve are holed up at Eve's hovel, dodging zombies and rogue soldiers, daily life under seige from the zombies and the human villains.
If you wanted to write about any of the nominated characters individually, here are some thoughts:
Edward - we know that both he and the world will survive the zombies, so what happens after the movie ends? What does the end of the zombie apocalypse/resurgence of humanity look like?
Isaac - I'd like to hear about the time between being separated from his sister and finding Isaac, especially the time when he was the only human in that overrun town.
Emma - I'd love to read the story of Emma's discovery that she's immune to the zombies' bite.
Eve - Fic about Eve and her sister (in life and/or as one of the vengeful dead) would be awesome.
[Hart of Dixie, any]Hart of Dixie - any
Fandom-specific DNWs: Zoe/George and Zoe/Lavon! Though George is great, and I'd be cool with him appearing alone or paired with anyone else (or with fic set in the future where it was implied that they'd had a past relationship that unequivocally did not work), I'd prefer not to receive fic that ships Zoe/George. And apgeeksout thinks that Lavon Hayes is just the best, but also, that he and Zoe are just perfect in their canon dynamic as chop-busting but ultimately sympathetic BFFs.
I love this show, and all of its characters. Feel free to include any characters from the show, especially if your fic includes Bluebell-at-large getting up to some small town shenanigans. Additionally, feel free to incorporate as much or as little of s3's developments and new characters as you see fit. My favorite thing about this show is that, instead of suspenseful medical cases of the week, its tension and drama mostly come from character relationships, and that most of those relationships are not necessarily romantic in nature. While I am the same dork who just led with her shipping preferences above, I also love that friends and relatives and neighbors and business partners and rivals (and people who are a little of all these things at once!) are just as likely to be at the heart of an episode as any of the romances/love triangles.
I will love fic with any combination of the five nominated characters, but if a more specific prompt would help:
While Zoe and Lemon are not exactly (and may never be) friends, I like that canon is allowing them to me something more complicated (and interesting!) than catty romantic rivals. I'd love to see them grudgingly working together for the good of a time-honored town event or one of the many characters they both love.
Annabeth Nass is a juggler! (And person-who-nommed-her, we should be friends!) I'd love a story about her gracefully balancing sometimes-awkward relationships with Zoe and Lemon and Lavon. Alternatively, we haven't seen her interact a whole lot with Wade; seeing the two of them hang out while all about them, other Bluebellians lose their heads, would be fun.
Why did Lavon come back to Bluebell after his football career? His parents don't live there anymore, neither did Ruby, he's famous and financially set: what's so special about this little Alabama town? Initially, Zoe couldn't wait to get back to prestigious work in NYC, but that's not entirely true anymore: how did Bluebell stop being exile and start becoming home?
Wade is always described as something like "the town's resident bad-boy" - and he can definitely be roguish and irresponsible - but he's also at heart a decent, kind person, and I'd love a story about his making-amends for a less-than-shining moment or helping someone he's not crazy about out of jam, even if seeing them fail might be momentarily satisfying. Wade and Lemon's relationship, from teenaged troublemakers to business partners finding their feet together, is endlessly fascinating to me as well.
The heart of all this tl;dr: I hope I've rambled enough to make the writing portion of your Yuletide much more fun than stressful! The bottom line is that I'm going to be excited about fic in any of these universes, and wondering about/being surprised by the story you'll write for me in the end is a large part of the fun I get out of being a recipient. Thank you for writing; I can't wait to read! ♥ Happy Yuletide!
* Though, now that I've said that, all I can think is that tamarins are the cutest, and I'd probably read the hell out of of a somehow- still-in-character tamarin!AU ;)
