Dear Yuletide Author
Dear Yuletide Author,
Hi! I'm your recipient and the first thing I want to say is thank you for writing my story. Second don't stress, this is supposed to be fun :) I love all of the fandoms I've chosen and I'm assuming you do as well, so let's get down to business or rather fun. Businessy fun? Funny business? You know what I mean. I've listed my general likes and dislikes. Also under each fandom I give a brief description of what I like particularly about that fandom or pairing. Of course optional details are optional so you know if my prompts don't work for you, don't worry. I know you're an awesome writer and you've got this. Some of this is re-posted from previous Yuletide letters because my basic likes and dislikes don't change very often.
Things I like in fanfic (general)
I love to know why, they do it. I live to peep inside the minds of my favorite characters, to dig deep into their fractured psyches. It's the why that makes it sexy. I will never turn down sex or sensuality in a story. I love dirty talk so if you can do it, yes please. I also love power dynamics sexual or otherwise so feel free to explore. My reading taste run to the mature aka explicit, dirty, wrong, but I can fall in love with a brilliant character study as well.
I like the edge of sanity, pleasure, madness, danger, pain. If most people would think you've gone too far with the dark, dirty, violence of something, I'll probably think you've got it just right. If you've ever wanted to unleash your deepest, darkest versions of these characters, go for it. Trust me when I say there is very little danger of offending me. Bret Easton Ellis is my favorite writer and I have requested The Following fic. I think that tells you how far you can go right there :) Now having said all that if this isn't who you are as a writer, that's okay. Be you and give your vision of these beautiful broken people to me.
Things I don't like (general)
Mpreg, unless it's Alien Nation or Enemy Mine, then it doesn't work for me. Character bashing, just because you can. Nothing wrong with AU's but for me the world the characters exist in is an essential part of them, so no AU's please. Slight canon divergence is fine. I'm not particularly into future fics either. No woobies, characters can be vulnerable and strong. Watersports are on my no list. Non-con/rape is pretty much a no for me, but I am fine with dubious consent and grey area scenarios where they fit the context.
Okay the general business is done now onto the fun stuff. Pairings and fandom are listed in no particular order. I will be happy with ANY of these.
Link to my yuleporn comment http://yuletide.livejournal.com/1169285.html?thread=17358469#t17358469
Geico Commercial
Poppin' Fresh (Pillsbury Dough-boy)- I have a burning need to know why Poppin' Fresh was so happy to go to that baking convention. Is he a judge? Does he bake? Is he just excited to spend time with Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines? Does Mr. Fresh get special treatment on the plane? Does he fly first class? How does he handle the seat belt? Do people ask him for autographs? Clearly I have spent too much time wondering what goes in the life of Poppin' Fresh. I would love something about his adventures at the baking convention or his adventures getting there. I'm open to anything but since there is a Mrs. Fresh (yes I know this for a fact) I would prefer if Poppin' didn't have any affairs with Betty Crocker. Please, please no squishing or killing of Poppin' Fresh that would just make me sad.
Prompt: How sweet it is.
Revenge
I love this show, nothing like a crazy over the top drama to make me all kinds of happy. There is so much I like about this show and little that I don't. Emily is hard and not entirely likeable I get that. Nolan is devoted to her and I get that too. (My love for Nolan Ross cannot be overstated.) Jack is a dreamer and a romantic and he should never have gotten caught up in this machine. I dig the unbearable lightness of their being. Everything and nothing matters. I think there is a limit on the happiness they can have. No amount of revenge would ever be enough, yet it's already too much. None of them ever imagined it would be like this. When it's over they won't be at peace. So yes I pretty much think they're doomed and it looks good on them.
Fics that capture the doomed fucked up nature that is essential to any of these characters, and the ultimate futility of their machinations even if they're successful would rock my world.
Pairings
Emily Thorne/Nolan Ross- I don't even know where to start. Emily is Batman and Nolan is Nightwing, never Robin. He follows her not blindly but with eyes wide open, not because he thinks she's right but because in the end he wants revenge too. Sex between them would be all about intimacy, power, leverage, control, the physical, the psychological. I feel it could be all those things and yet as cold as it is hot. If your so inclined D/s between these too would be lovely with Emily as the domme and Nolan as the sub. Her dominance can show that she cares and his submission shows his trust. Nolan is her equal and she knows it, what it means when he gives in to her. Alternately sex, born out of their rage and frustration with the world around them works too.
Prompt: I never tried to be yours to take care of/You never said you were mine to beware of
Jack Porter/Nolan Ross- There's been a certain tension between them from day one, but it's more than that they care for each other. They've come to a dangerous place. At this point there is no going back for Jack, he's a different man now. Nolan has tried to protect Jack, tried to comfort him. They are friends. Maybe they could be more. Maybe sex is just comfort. Maybe it's just something they do, maybe they're both just pissed at Emily, maybe they love each other.
Prompt: I got nobody on my side, and surely that ain't right
Emily Thorne/Jack Porter/Nolan Ross-Guilt, passion, love, hate, desire, almost obsession, these three would be a mess of emotion and tension. I can't imagine it would end well, because honestly none of this is going to end well. Maybe they find a moment of peace if they come together. Maybe Emily and Nolan just want to give something to Jack after everything that's happened. Maybe they all need each other. Would love that in this threesome they discover things they didn't know about themselves and each other.
Prompt:My love's an iron ball/ Wrapped around your ankles
The Following
This show, it's not for everybody but I enjoyed the hell out of it. Yes there were things that they didn't do well, but they succeeded at creating a show that raised some interesting questions about sexuality and attraction and was sexy at the same time. This show found the sex in violence, and the violence in sex. It ticked all the right boxes for me. Feel free to be as dark and violent as you like. As we were limited to choosing four characters I chose Ryan, Mike Charlie, and Joe and it was pretty much an arbitrary decision on my part because I love so many characters on this show. The only reason I didn't select all is because there was one particular character on the list that I just did not want to read about at all. So with that in mind if we were matched because you offered any, and you would rather write something with Paul, Jacob, Emma or Claire I would love that too. If you aren't in the mood to write something shippy a character study of Mike, Charlie or Emma would be great. I think all three of them have fascinating inner lives and the show only had time to scratch the surface.
Pairings
Ryan Hardy/Mike Weston- Mike hero-worships Ryan, but it’s more than that. He wants to save Ryan from himself. Ryan doesn’t want to be saved and he doesn’t want to lose anybody else. They both have dark sides and I would welcome an exploration of that, especially since Mike is in an angrier place after the beating. Clearly they both can play mind games with the best of them, maybe they use that to get what they want? Hurt/comfort, pain kink, UST, power dynamics I don’t expect or need a happy ending. The fic can be set during the Carroll investigation or post-season depending on how you think that will play out.
Prompt: I'm the high you can't sustain
Joe Carroll/Ryan Hardy- Ryan and Joe are far too wrapped up in each other. I’m not even sure they hate each other. It’s clear that feelings are there, and they are dark, deep and twisted. How did it end? How did it begin? When did Ryan know?
Prompt: I wrote this novel just for you. That's why it's vulgar.
Joe Carroll/Charlie Mead- Charlie's death scene, that is all. I think that scene sums everything about these two. Anything exploring the power dynamic between those two in bed or out, would make me smile. If you’re comfortable with kink: D/s, Joe testing Charlie’s limits, denial, strict protocol, blood-play, sadism, knife-play, discipline.
Prompt: Strike me down. Give me everything you've got. Strike me down. Take it any way you want.
Paul Torres/Jacob Wells- Their fake life was more real than their real lives ever were. Their false selves were everything they thought they could never be. No doubt they got a thrill pretending to be nice and normal and sweet but knowing what they were. Perhaps a glimpse into their fake real lives, I'm sure a normal day for them has a subtle touch of madness. There is so much to explore with these two first times, angry sex, consensual violence, violence as sex. They are a carnival of kinks so anything where their indulgence of each others kinks is a show of love would be aces.
Prompt: Drag my teeth across your chest to taste your beating heart/You are the moon that breaks the night for which I have to howl
Paul Torres/Emma Hill- Everything about the two of them together gets me. It's all about the thrill of the kill with these two. I don't think Paul and Emma could ever like each other just hate each other less. For both of them sex is a weapon. What would have happened if Jacob hadn't come in?
Prompt:I will break you with my desire
Emma Hill/Joe Carroll- If Joe weren't so hopelessly arrogant, and self-centered he would have been afraid of Emma. She's not the sort of girl you can ignore. I think given the proper motivation she would end him. He was clearly using her obsession with him, but he was playing a dangerous game. I would like anything about their previous encounters, or an exploration of what happened between them at the house. Maybe he has a moment of realization that Emma is dangerous. Maybe the power shifts during sex and Emma is in control.
Prompt: If we can't burn together I'll burn alone.
Claire Matthews/Emma Hill-So much anger here and rightly so. Emma is too young and silly to truly understand what Claire will do to her. I think Claire is a strong woman but I feel like she has been pushed to a very dark place and well we all go a little mad sometimes. Right? A continuation of their fight at the house or maybe Claire goes after Emma post season. Maybe she wants Emma to suffer the way she did. I realize it's canon divergent, but I don't mind if you don't.
Prompt: I'll pick the bones of you/fuck up your little world
Claire Matthews/Joe Carroll- I don't think Joe is capable of love but he thinks he loves Claire, she loved him once. More importantly she knows Joe better than anyone even Ryan, and she knows how to hurt him. She doesn't feel anything but contempt for him now, and I love the way she can take him down so easily with just her words. Anything where Claire is playing Joe, just verbally ruining him would make me happy.
Prompt:Her tongue is her favorite weapon of attack.
The Killing
I've only seen season three of this show so I know nothing about the Rosie Larson case though I do intend to watch season 1 and 2 at some point, I'd like something set during season 3. The mood of this show and the fascinating layered characters kept me on the edge of my seat every Sunday. Wonderful acting and writing that's better than a lot of shows. I'm sad we won't see more of this show.
Pairings
Rachel “Bullet” Olmstead- How did Bullet come to be on the streets. I don't think her story is what you'd expect. I remember reading something in an interview that stated that Bullet didn't have to be on the streets. I would like a fic where her life was her choice. Maybe she ran away and wasn't kicked out. Maybe she felt she belonged in the world of the street. Her home life doesn't have to be horrible for this to be true. I'd like stories about her life on the street, or her life at boarding school or her thoughts on Holder, and Linden. (Note: If you write about Bullet's life on the street during the show, please no graphic depictions of her rape. It's okay to talk about how she copes and how it effected her, but graphic descriptions of rape are an absolute no for me. I'd also prefer we not graphically live the last awful moments of her life.)
Prompt: I'm a poster girl with no poster.
Sarah Linden/Stephen Holder-They have an amazing friendship, they understand each others damage. They would never let each other down. When they didn't kiss it was love. I fully believe their friendship would grow into something more because I don't think anyone else would get them, the way they get each other. I would like something set after the end of the season. I hate the idea of them forever stuck in those woods. Maybe they run? Maybe it all gets quietly sorted out. Maybe Linden is put on leave. I don't think she'll ever regret her decision, or that she can ever stop seeking justice. Perhaps Linden quits the force and become a private investigator and searches for the bodies of the other girls. Whatever she does next I would like Holder to be part of her life and I would like to see the the physical intimacy of their relationship mirror the emotional intimacy they already share.
Prompt: I stand before you now/faulty but not broken
The Brotherhood 2: Young Warlocks
I don't even know where to start with this. It's so bad it's almost good. There isn't much in the way of plot. If you're offering to write this fandom you know the deal.
Pairings
Luc/Jon van Owen/Marcus Ratner/Trini- First things first while she does drink some wine I do not interpret anything that happens with Trini to be non-consensual. A continuation of the dorm scene with Trini enthusiastically enjoying all three of her lovers (it's fine if Matt is there as well to make it four), and getting to watch the boys enjoy each other. I would really like it if the story is told from Trini or Jon's perspective.
Prompt:He takes off her dress now/Let me go/Cause I just can't look it killing me/And taking control
Other Boleyn Girl - Phillipa Gregory
Pairings
Anne Boleyn/George Boleyn
This is historical fiction, heavy on the fiction. Let's indulge in all of Gregory's dark implications. I adore Anne's reckless ambition. I love George for his quiet brokenness. Nothing gets me more than the love the Boleyn siblings have for each other. Particularly Anne and George. They've both sacrificed their true loves to their family's ambition. I think they understand each other in a way that Mary can't. I would love to read dark, romantic, twisted Anne/George.
Prompt: This love becomes my torture/This love my only crime.