it's the most wonderful time of the year (almost)!
To my dearest, beloved Yuletide writer....
So I’m going to borrow from my past Yuletide letters here, and start by saying that if you're as excited about any of these fandoms as I am, I'll love what you write me no matter what. That said, I'm a fan of giving more information in the hopes that it will give you greater freedom in your writing, and because I know I'm going to want to know as much about the person I'm writing for as possible and figure I should give what I hope to get. :D So here are some paragraphs of perhaps tl;dr-level specificity, and please feel free to ignore all of it if there's a story in any of these fandoms that you really, really want to write. I trust you.
I like slash or het or gen as long as the ship is relevant to the story and the world it's set in. Characterization is my weak spot; show me the nuances of a character I love, show me a secret side of them I've never seen before, and I'm sold. I love worldbuilding, expanding on the setting and the world as it’s described in canon. If you write sex, awesome; it’s definitely not a requirement by any means, but I certainly wouldn't say no to it. And to borrow a clarification phrase straight from someone else's letter, When I say "explicit" I mean "I have a good idea who's doing what to whom," and not so much paragraph-long descriptions of penises. I'm all about the emotions; as you'll see if you explore my pinboard, any fic that packs an emotional punch is guaranteed to win me over.
As far as genre goes, it's kind of up to you. I love action and mystery, I like ship-centered fic as much as fic where the ship is a sidebar to the plot, I like happy or serious or funny or sad. I would definitely prefer a hopeful ending to whatever you write, if an actual happy ending isn't appropriate or fitting; however if your story is leading you toward a waterfall of angst that'll end with an emotional sucker punch, go for it! Wow me with UST, show me just how evil the bad guy really is, scare the crap out of me if you want. Some of my all-time favorite fics are pieces that I would never have guessed I'd enjoy, so please surprise me!
stuff i love in fic / kinks :
slash, femmeslash, interesting het, worldbuilding / strong sense of the world, strong friendships/partnerships, snarky partnerships with lots of ust, angst with a happy ending, angst with sex and a we-don't-ever-talk-about-it ending, hurt/comfort, stories where they've been sleeping together and not talking about their feelings but they secretly love each other (♥), snarky banter, collective / ensemble badassery, fight scenes, people bandaging each other up after a battle, surprising each other with badassery, forbidden attraction, old friends and inside jokes, past history, magic, illusion spells, misunderstandings / misdirection through magic, travel, spy/undercover deception, crossovers, cross-genre AUs, pastiche AUs, college or bookstore or coffee shop AUs, basically any AUs, long plotty stories where the ship is a slow build (though definitely not expecting a long fic, just saying I do enjoy them), plot twists, long-suffering irritation (especially as a mask for growing fondness or attraction), stories where person a can't have person b so they start something up with person c to distract themselves (and either make person a jealous or actually end up falling for person c), physical altercations that highlight attraction, origin stories, flashbacks, first times, emotional first times, power play / bdsm fun, wit and snark and people being smart, flirting, drawn-out seduction, women being awesome, happy endings.
squicks : mpreg, hardcore fetishes and heavy bdsm, humiliation, rape/noncon, extreme gore.
and now onto the specific requests!
fandom : kraken (billy, dane, collingswood, wati)
details : Any, *literally* any fic from this book will make me a happy woman, but my preference is strongly for Dane/Billy or something about Collingswood. There's something about Dane and Billy that just tugs at my feels, and I would love a fic exploring their relationship while they were on the run; was there more there that the book didn't tell us about, or not? After the end of the book, how does Billy deal with Dane being gone? And of course, being a sap, I would love a fix-it fic reinterpreting Dane’s demise, or Billy using the more unconventional means now available to him to try and get Dane back. A+ for Collingswood and Wati cameos, cus I love both of them to bits. I'd also love a story about Collingswood's rise to extra-awesomeness after the kraken incident, or about one of the other cults if that's your thing. This whole world fascinates me and I'll read anything that plays around with it.
So let me repeat last year’s letter and say that if you have not read this book yet and you’re thinking of choosing it to write for me, I promise you will not regret it. This book is incredible and you should read it. The end. :D You can download it here in .epub format.
However. Let me repeat last year again and say that if we did get matched on this request, AHHHHHH, and let me translate that to mean sincerely whatever you write me, I will LOVE. The worldbuilding, this version of London, completely enthralls me, so you can feel free to explore that if you’d like. Write me a story about one of the cults if you want, about the Londonmancers, the worshippers of the Great Flood. But if you do go the dane/billy route, there is honestly no way for you to go wrong. i love the relationship between these two whether the ship is explicit or not-- the closeness and the rapport between them makes me wibble, the way they fixate on each other and are always so focused on getting back to the other, how they keep saving each other’s lives, anything. the line right as they’re going into battle at the end, “they looked something at each other”-- there’s so much unspoken between them, and i would love love love a further exploration of that. and if you do give me a fic explaining how billy goes about getting dane back i will probably cry of joy. make it as weird and twisty and angsty as you want, as sexy or angsty or sappy as you like, i promise i will love whatever you do.
fandom : the curse workers series (desi singer)
details : There are few words to properly describe my love of Desi. I love his relationship with Cassel, with his wacky daughter, with Cassel's friends, and I love the whole aging hitman trope. So basically anything that focuses around him would be awesome, but what I'd love most is backstory fic. What did Desi get up to in the fifties and especially the sixties? I am basically desperate for fic about him in a three-piece and fedora doing shifty magic for the Zacharovs.
Not much else to add here, except that I'm also really interested in what the magical mob culture was like back in that time. How did it dovetail with mainstream/pop culture and history? One of my favorite parts of this series is how it still mostly feels like our world; the way the magical parts blend into recognizable facets of our universe. So basically anything to do with Desi's past (and even how it affects his relationships with his family in the series) would be awesome.
This series would also be a pretty quick pick-up if you haven't read it yet and are thinking of writing it for me. I will also have a DL link for this up within a week or so if you're interested. They're YA novels and if you read fast (as I do) you could probably finish the whole series in a week. DL here, all in .epub format: White Cat, Red Glove, Black Heart.
fandom : gentlemen bastards (any)
details : This is another one where basically any story you want to tell me, I want to hear. There is nothing I don't love about this series; they're my favorite books, and I'm obsessed with the world and everyone in it. Mostly I would love to read fill-in-the-blank fic (as opposed to what happens post-Republic of Thieves) about the Bastards' past, about the Barsavis, about Chains, whoever. The world of Camorr is endlessly fascinating to me; the city's almost like a character itself, and anything that explores more of it as a setting would be awesome.
No exaggeration: anything in this fandom will make me happy. I'd love to read backstory of Father Chains. I'd love to read anything about Nazca, her life as the Capa's would-be heir, her relationship with the Bastards in their childhood and teens. I imagine she and Sabetha were a terrifying pair when teamed up; a story about their friendship would be really awesome. And of course anything about the Bastards themselves. Post-Republic of Thieves we obviously have a lot more canon to work with especially where Sabetha (and her relationship with Locke) is concerned-- what happened when they got back from Espara? Fill in the blanks for me in those missing teenage years if you want. But I also adore the parts of the series that talk about the Bastards' childhood. There's something so delightful about the thought of these young gangs running around this amazing city trying to one-up each other. Anyway, basically go to town on this, whatever strikes your fancy I probably will want to read. Also, it's worth noting I'm not really a Jean/Locke shipper, I prefer them just as friends, but friends-who-occasionally-screw is fine too, especially if you talk about the fact that Locke can't get it up and how they manage to have fun in spite of it. XD
I can't recommend this series highly enough, however if you haven't read it yet you should probably not try to read the whole thing before yuletide, lol. Just the first book will give you the world and the characters (though if you're interested in Sabetha you will have to read all 3, as she doesn't appear in person until then). I only have the first two (in .epub format), here and here.
fandom : philip marlowe series (any)
details : I ship Marlowe and Terry Lennox *so* hard. It'd be hard to go wrong here-- I love noir and I love everything about this pairing, and whatever you want to write me about them will make me really happy.
Just a few suggestions/guidelines if you want them; I'd love to read a fic filling in some of the blanks of their friendship in the beginning of The Long Goodbye, possibly talking about how it became more than friendship, or if it never crossed the line, how it came close. Was there unrequited lust or love, and if so, who was the one angsting and who was the oblivious one? And what happens at the end? Feel free to ignore the rest of Marlowe's canon if you want to tell me a story about how they meet up and get back together in the future. Gay detectives in Mexico (or elsewhere in the world)? But honestly, write me a story that feels like a Marlowe novel and I will eat it up with a spoon. You can download the book here in .lit format; it's not a long book and if you like noir it's a classic.
I also love, love, love crossovers, so if you want to tie any of these into any of my other fandoms (which you can find a list of here) that would rule. Put them in space, put them in a noir, put them in college, put them in a jaeger, I'll read it all.
Despite the verbosity of this, I will (again!) paraphrase my past yuletide letters and say that if we got matched on any of these fandoms, and you love any of them as much as I do, whatever you write will make my yuletide. I'm already so excited to read whatever you come up with. XD
<3 emily
This post crossposted from Dreamwidth (
comments)
So I’m going to borrow from my past Yuletide letters here, and start by saying that if you're as excited about any of these fandoms as I am, I'll love what you write me no matter what. That said, I'm a fan of giving more information in the hopes that it will give you greater freedom in your writing, and because I know I'm going to want to know as much about the person I'm writing for as possible and figure I should give what I hope to get. :D So here are some paragraphs of perhaps tl;dr-level specificity, and please feel free to ignore all of it if there's a story in any of these fandoms that you really, really want to write. I trust you.
I like slash or het or gen as long as the ship is relevant to the story and the world it's set in. Characterization is my weak spot; show me the nuances of a character I love, show me a secret side of them I've never seen before, and I'm sold. I love worldbuilding, expanding on the setting and the world as it’s described in canon. If you write sex, awesome; it’s definitely not a requirement by any means, but I certainly wouldn't say no to it. And to borrow a clarification phrase straight from someone else's letter, When I say "explicit" I mean "I have a good idea who's doing what to whom," and not so much paragraph-long descriptions of penises. I'm all about the emotions; as you'll see if you explore my pinboard, any fic that packs an emotional punch is guaranteed to win me over.
As far as genre goes, it's kind of up to you. I love action and mystery, I like ship-centered fic as much as fic where the ship is a sidebar to the plot, I like happy or serious or funny or sad. I would definitely prefer a hopeful ending to whatever you write, if an actual happy ending isn't appropriate or fitting; however if your story is leading you toward a waterfall of angst that'll end with an emotional sucker punch, go for it! Wow me with UST, show me just how evil the bad guy really is, scare the crap out of me if you want. Some of my all-time favorite fics are pieces that I would never have guessed I'd enjoy, so please surprise me!
stuff i love in fic / kinks :
slash, femmeslash, interesting het, worldbuilding / strong sense of the world, strong friendships/partnerships, snarky partnerships with lots of ust, angst with a happy ending, angst with sex and a we-don't-ever-talk-about-it ending, hurt/comfort, stories where they've been sleeping together and not talking about their feelings but they secretly love each other (♥), snarky banter, collective / ensemble badassery, fight scenes, people bandaging each other up after a battle, surprising each other with badassery, forbidden attraction, old friends and inside jokes, past history, magic, illusion spells, misunderstandings / misdirection through magic, travel, spy/undercover deception, crossovers, cross-genre AUs, pastiche AUs, college or bookstore or coffee shop AUs, basically any AUs, long plotty stories where the ship is a slow build (though definitely not expecting a long fic, just saying I do enjoy them), plot twists, long-suffering irritation (especially as a mask for growing fondness or attraction), stories where person a can't have person b so they start something up with person c to distract themselves (and either make person a jealous or actually end up falling for person c), physical altercations that highlight attraction, origin stories, flashbacks, first times, emotional first times, power play / bdsm fun, wit and snark and people being smart, flirting, drawn-out seduction, women being awesome, happy endings.
squicks : mpreg, hardcore fetishes and heavy bdsm, humiliation, rape/noncon, extreme gore.
and now onto the specific requests!
fandom : kraken (billy, dane, collingswood, wati)
details : Any, *literally* any fic from this book will make me a happy woman, but my preference is strongly for Dane/Billy or something about Collingswood. There's something about Dane and Billy that just tugs at my feels, and I would love a fic exploring their relationship while they were on the run; was there more there that the book didn't tell us about, or not? After the end of the book, how does Billy deal with Dane being gone? And of course, being a sap, I would love a fix-it fic reinterpreting Dane’s demise, or Billy using the more unconventional means now available to him to try and get Dane back. A+ for Collingswood and Wati cameos, cus I love both of them to bits. I'd also love a story about Collingswood's rise to extra-awesomeness after the kraken incident, or about one of the other cults if that's your thing. This whole world fascinates me and I'll read anything that plays around with it.
So let me repeat last year’s letter and say that if you have not read this book yet and you’re thinking of choosing it to write for me, I promise you will not regret it. This book is incredible and you should read it. The end. :D You can download it here in .epub format.
However. Let me repeat last year again and say that if we did get matched on this request, AHHHHHH, and let me translate that to mean sincerely whatever you write me, I will LOVE. The worldbuilding, this version of London, completely enthralls me, so you can feel free to explore that if you’d like. Write me a story about one of the cults if you want, about the Londonmancers, the worshippers of the Great Flood. But if you do go the dane/billy route, there is honestly no way for you to go wrong. i love the relationship between these two whether the ship is explicit or not-- the closeness and the rapport between them makes me wibble, the way they fixate on each other and are always so focused on getting back to the other, how they keep saving each other’s lives, anything. the line right as they’re going into battle at the end, “they looked something at each other”-- there’s so much unspoken between them, and i would love love love a further exploration of that. and if you do give me a fic explaining how billy goes about getting dane back i will probably cry of joy. make it as weird and twisty and angsty as you want, as sexy or angsty or sappy as you like, i promise i will love whatever you do.
fandom : the curse workers series (desi singer)
details : There are few words to properly describe my love of Desi. I love his relationship with Cassel, with his wacky daughter, with Cassel's friends, and I love the whole aging hitman trope. So basically anything that focuses around him would be awesome, but what I'd love most is backstory fic. What did Desi get up to in the fifties and especially the sixties? I am basically desperate for fic about him in a three-piece and fedora doing shifty magic for the Zacharovs.
Not much else to add here, except that I'm also really interested in what the magical mob culture was like back in that time. How did it dovetail with mainstream/pop culture and history? One of my favorite parts of this series is how it still mostly feels like our world; the way the magical parts blend into recognizable facets of our universe. So basically anything to do with Desi's past (and even how it affects his relationships with his family in the series) would be awesome.
This series would also be a pretty quick pick-up if you haven't read it yet and are thinking of writing it for me. I will also have a DL link for this up within a week or so if you're interested. They're YA novels and if you read fast (as I do) you could probably finish the whole series in a week. DL here, all in .epub format: White Cat, Red Glove, Black Heart.
fandom : gentlemen bastards (any)
details : This is another one where basically any story you want to tell me, I want to hear. There is nothing I don't love about this series; they're my favorite books, and I'm obsessed with the world and everyone in it. Mostly I would love to read fill-in-the-blank fic (as opposed to what happens post-Republic of Thieves) about the Bastards' past, about the Barsavis, about Chains, whoever. The world of Camorr is endlessly fascinating to me; the city's almost like a character itself, and anything that explores more of it as a setting would be awesome.
No exaggeration: anything in this fandom will make me happy. I'd love to read backstory of Father Chains. I'd love to read anything about Nazca, her life as the Capa's would-be heir, her relationship with the Bastards in their childhood and teens. I imagine she and Sabetha were a terrifying pair when teamed up; a story about their friendship would be really awesome. And of course anything about the Bastards themselves. Post-Republic of Thieves we obviously have a lot more canon to work with especially where Sabetha (and her relationship with Locke) is concerned-- what happened when they got back from Espara? Fill in the blanks for me in those missing teenage years if you want. But I also adore the parts of the series that talk about the Bastards' childhood. There's something so delightful about the thought of these young gangs running around this amazing city trying to one-up each other. Anyway, basically go to town on this, whatever strikes your fancy I probably will want to read. Also, it's worth noting I'm not really a Jean/Locke shipper, I prefer them just as friends, but friends-who-occasionally-screw is fine too, especially if you talk about the fact that Locke can't get it up and how they manage to have fun in spite of it. XD
I can't recommend this series highly enough, however if you haven't read it yet you should probably not try to read the whole thing before yuletide, lol. Just the first book will give you the world and the characters (though if you're interested in Sabetha you will have to read all 3, as she doesn't appear in person until then). I only have the first two (in .epub format), here and here.
fandom : philip marlowe series (any)
details : I ship Marlowe and Terry Lennox *so* hard. It'd be hard to go wrong here-- I love noir and I love everything about this pairing, and whatever you want to write me about them will make me really happy.
Just a few suggestions/guidelines if you want them; I'd love to read a fic filling in some of the blanks of their friendship in the beginning of The Long Goodbye, possibly talking about how it became more than friendship, or if it never crossed the line, how it came close. Was there unrequited lust or love, and if so, who was the one angsting and who was the oblivious one? And what happens at the end? Feel free to ignore the rest of Marlowe's canon if you want to tell me a story about how they meet up and get back together in the future. Gay detectives in Mexico (or elsewhere in the world)? But honestly, write me a story that feels like a Marlowe novel and I will eat it up with a spoon. You can download the book here in .lit format; it's not a long book and if you like noir it's a classic.
I also love, love, love crossovers, so if you want to tie any of these into any of my other fandoms (which you can find a list of here) that would rule. Put them in space, put them in a noir, put them in college, put them in a jaeger, I'll read it all.
Despite the verbosity of this, I will (again!) paraphrase my past yuletide letters and say that if we got matched on any of these fandoms, and you love any of them as much as I do, whatever you write will make my yuletide. I'm already so excited to read whatever you come up with. XD
<3 emily
This post crossposted from Dreamwidth (
comments)