Yuletide Letter 2014
Dear writer,
I'm sorry this is so late - I wasn't expecting assignments to be out until yesterday/today, and then they were out early. I hope it didn't frustrate your writing plans too much, and if you have already started and are on a roll, then please don't let this stop you.
However, if you're looking for more guidance than I gave in the requests, then I hope this helps. And I'm sure I'll love whatever you write.
I like gen, slash, femslash and het. I like friendships, UST, pairings and polyfic. And I like all of these requests equally (despite any disparity in the length of prompts), so please don't feel like there is one particular fic I am looking for here: a story in any of these fandoms with these characters will make me squeeful :)
If you would like to write a holiday story, for whatever holiday is fandom-appropriate, I like those but it is no way obligatory.
I love AUs and crossovers if that's where the muse takes you, although for Yuletide I would prefer the focus to be on small fandoms, ideally those I know! (If you know two of these fandoms and would like to cross them with each other, please have at it.)
Things I love:
- character-heavy fic
- snark, communication difficulties, working through communication difficulties, communicating in character-specific ways
- competence, finding competence attractive
- kickass women
- found families, making home where you find yourself, earning your happy ending
- putting yourself back together, hurt-comfort where the hurt is still there and acknowledged but the comfort gives strength to keep moving
- shows of trust, declarations
- inverted tropes, or spins on tropes, taking the crack trope seriously
- Porn-wise (and porn is also in no way obligatory - whatever rating you want to write is fine): blindfolds, restraint, writing on the body, talking, genderplay
Other things:
- I have an embarassment squick, particularly as relates to social humiliation
- With the exception of the canonical, I am not into infidelity, love-triangles, jealousy
- Again, with the exception of the canonical, I would rather not have character-death for Yuletide, and if possible would prefer a fic which is not unremittingly bleak, though I'm fine with bittersweet or ambiguous endings.
Alphas - Gary Bell
(A lot of this is borrowed from last year, because I'd still like to see this!)
Gary is awesome. I love how sure of himself he is, and how he articulates what's going on with him when the people around him just don't get it. I would love to see something with him thinking through or discussing his Alpha identity alongside his autism, if that's the kind of thing that interests you. Or the adventures of Gary and the teammate of your choice, solving a case with their own skillset? Or, indeed, future-fic if you feel like tackling the cliffhanger?
I really do love Gary, alongside any of the other characters. One of the things that interested me as the show went on is the way the opening voiceover has Rosen say "I call them Alphas", that Anna says "the neurodiverse need to be there for each other" and Gary's growing sense that he and the other Alphas are different from Rosen, and that maybe Red Flag have a point about some of it. (Note: I like Rosen a lot, and I love the interactions between him and Gary, but there is room for him to be wrong.) I would love to see something around that, around the twitter feed Gary sets up, or futurefic with Gary taking a more active role in shaping the direction of the movement. This isn't to say I am only interested in something long or political! I would also love hijinks with Gary and team (Kat, maybe, because I think we get less of them together? But I love his interactions with everyone. I love Cameron killing the sound with the baseball; I'd like to see Gary and Bill driving, if that's another place where Gary would start to mimic him; I love the understanding he and Rachel have and the hints of how familiar they are with each other in ways we don't always get onscreen; I love the way Gary's relationship with Nina is different because she can't push him and the way he cuts through her obfuscation while also happily taking her free stuff and occasionally accepting her hugs). Or something dealing with the final cliffhanger, or Gary solving a case? Just anything with Gary being himself would make me happy.
The Chronicles of Chrestomanci - Diana Wynne Jones - Cat Chant, Christopher Chant, Conrad Tesdinic, Millie | Millie Chant
This is a 'you do not have to write about all four of them' prompt. I really liked Conrad as a point of view character on Christopher and on Millie, and how Millie and Conrad had a pretty fast understanding with each other on what it's like to be around Christopher. Anything with the three of them, between Conrad's Fate and Christopher becoming Chrestomanci, or maybe something after he becomes Chrestomanci and is resenting it a little, would be fab. Alternatively, I'd love to see Conrad and Cat meet up, because I think they would get along - they seem like they might have a similar outlook, and maybe grown!Conrad could offer Cat some advice.
I think I've wanted Christopher/Millie/Conrad or Christopher&Millie&Conrad since I finished the book - there's this gap where Conrad is raised with them, and then he disappears back to Series Seven. I'd love to see something in that gap, with the three of them fighting and learning together and rubbing the edges off each other a little. Or maybe just after Christopher and Millie are married, when Christopher's getting ready to be Chrestomanci and not sure about it. Alternatively, I'd love to see Conrad visiting after all of that, when Christopher is 'Chrestomanci' to everyone but Millie, Conrad is amused by the idea of Christopher trying to keep all of these children in line, and he and Millie gang up a little. Otherwise otherwise, like I said I'd love to see Conrad and Cat together - they both have that slightly detached viewpoint, and they were both used by someone else despite being powerful in their own right, so I'd love to see Conrad, when he's grown up, trying to help Cat.
Hark! A Vagrant - Lois Lane (Hark! A Vagrant), Wonder Woman (Hark! A Vagrant)
Mostly, I appreciate how done with everything this Lois and Wonder Woman are. I love how Lois continues to try and do her job regardless, and how Wonder Woman is pissed off about the way she's represented. Anything you want to write would be great - if you'd like to do something meta-ish about the two of them on/soon-to-be-on film, or just them grabbing coffee and complaining about their days and the superheroes in their lives.
(This would be the easiest canon to absorb if you've blanked on the request you matched on - you can search here for either Wonder Woman or Lois Lane.
I love Hark!Diana. I think she's hilarious, and I'd love anything with her and Hark!Lois bonding over being pissed off. Maybe Diana gets Lois somewhere she needs to be, around the interruptions caused by Superman? Or Lois tries to get a story with Diana after a battle, when Diana was forced to go back to her roots and take on some Nazis? Diana has beef with her lack of representation on film or concerns about how the new film will go? Lois wants a spotlight of her own as well, so she can get her own work done? Or, like I said, coffee and mockery. Mostly, I'd like to see them being the kind of women who get things done, even if the world around them doesn't really get it.
Homeward Bounders - Diana Wynne Jones - Helen Haras-Uquara, Jamie Hamilton (Homeward Bounders)
Mostly I think I would like a moment or two of consolation for how sad the ending of this book is, although not necessarily a fix-it. Maybe just a visit from Jamie on his wanderings, where Helen and he have a moment together, to give him something to make the rest of it worthwhile. Alternatively if you'd like to find a solution to his problem, or send them wandering together, that's all good too.
This book kind of broke me? I'm not sure I want a happy ending for it, but the ending made me sad, and I'd like something marginally less sad? Jamie is one of my favourite kind of protaganists, who makes the sacrifice because there's no one else to do it, and because someone has to. And Helen is the other, just mad at the world for these being the choices. If you would like to write them a happier ending, then please do have at it. Helen tries to get him out of the ending, or tries to come with him? Otherwise, maybe five people Jamie meets on his wanderings, or five stories he comes back to tell Helen? The first time he comes back to see her, and she reminds him why he's doing this? The world building here is really interesting, and the way it weaves in different narratives, so anything like that would also be great.
Orange is the New Black - Piper Chapman, Nicky Nichols, Alex Vause, Janae Watson
This is a 'you do not have to write about all four of them' prompt. Any one, or any combination of the four, or any of them with someone else, is all good. I love Nicky, and her incredulous eyebrow when Piper says something ridiculous, and I love her and Alex needling Piper, I love Piper coming into her own and working her things out. I love Watson and the ways she refuses to compromise now because she let it happen once and this is where it got her. I love the prison politics, and the game playing, and the support-networks the women have formed for themselves in there.
Obviously OitNB has canonical infidelity and jealousy, and indeed character death. I'm absolutely fine with referring to those things, and to anything in the tone of the show. I would rather the focus not be on angst over infidelity, but there's no problem with the pairing being one which necessarily involves that. Speaking of: seriously, any character is fine, I don't need all four. I mostly just picked four characters I'm interested in, but I'm interested in all of the inmates, so if you would like to write about one of these four with someone else, go ahead. I love the politics in the prison, and the little negotiations and the long-games going on. I love Piper finding her way, even as she realises that she's not a good person, isn't sure how to be good and strong at the same time. I love the scenes with her and Nicky just chatting while they're fixing electrics. I love Nicky in general, how sharp she is, and how she's there for other people but tries not to be vulnerable herself. I would be interested in what a Nicky/Piper relationship would look like. I'd also be interested in what a more functional Piper/Alex relationship would look like, if they decided to combine their best and worst traits and take on other people instead of screwing each over other. I want to know all of the other things about Janae, as her backstory completely broke my heart - I'd like to see more from her perspective, more about the choices she made on the way and how she makes choices now, after the one that got her into prison. Seeing her with someone else would be nice, since her success on the outside isolated her - I'd love to see more about the way she gets along with the other women inside.
The Thick of It (TV) - Ollie Reeder, Malcolm Tucker
Anything exploring how complicated and messed-up the two of them are would make me very happy, particularly if it acknowledges the ways Malcolm shaped the direction Ollie ended up going in.
Sometimes I really enjoy fucked-up relationships where no one pretends they aren't fucked up? If you wanted to write slash here, I would be all over that. I'd love to see something towards the end of the series or post-series, where Ollie and Malcolm have a slightly more equal relationship, and they're both playing games with each other a little bit. I'm interested in the way Malcolm is not at all nice, but does see his work as important in the long-run, and isn't especially bothered whether anyone likes him as long as he can get the job done. Ollie does seem to care whether people like him, at least initially, and I'd be interested in seeing how he develops from that moment where he lets Malcolm be hung out to dry and starts to take power himself. I'm interested in how much of that was always there and how much was Malcolm raising him up in his image. And I'm interested in knowing more of what goes on in Malcolm's head because we never got very much of his personal life. Other things, because there are plenty of non-pairing things I'd be interested in with the two of them: Malcolm's return, Ollie having to ask Malcolm for help post-series, the two of them team up to tackle an indomitable foe, the Scottish referendum, UKIP, Europe, the fraying coalition and the upcoming election. (Also, I like the women in this canon, particularly Nicola, so if there has been a screw-up, I'd rather it be one of the men!)
Thank you for writing for me! And again, tell me a story you love, and I'm sure I'll love it too :)
This entry was originally posted at Dreamwidth: http://blackeyedgirl.dreamwidth.org/176146.html |
comments. Please comment there using OpenID or signed anon.
I'm sorry this is so late - I wasn't expecting assignments to be out until yesterday/today, and then they were out early. I hope it didn't frustrate your writing plans too much, and if you have already started and are on a roll, then please don't let this stop you.
However, if you're looking for more guidance than I gave in the requests, then I hope this helps. And I'm sure I'll love whatever you write.
I like gen, slash, femslash and het. I like friendships, UST, pairings and polyfic. And I like all of these requests equally (despite any disparity in the length of prompts), so please don't feel like there is one particular fic I am looking for here: a story in any of these fandoms with these characters will make me squeeful :)
If you would like to write a holiday story, for whatever holiday is fandom-appropriate, I like those but it is no way obligatory.
I love AUs and crossovers if that's where the muse takes you, although for Yuletide I would prefer the focus to be on small fandoms, ideally those I know! (If you know two of these fandoms and would like to cross them with each other, please have at it.)
Things I love:
- character-heavy fic
- snark, communication difficulties, working through communication difficulties, communicating in character-specific ways
- competence, finding competence attractive
- kickass women
- found families, making home where you find yourself, earning your happy ending
- putting yourself back together, hurt-comfort where the hurt is still there and acknowledged but the comfort gives strength to keep moving
- shows of trust, declarations
- inverted tropes, or spins on tropes, taking the crack trope seriously
- Porn-wise (and porn is also in no way obligatory - whatever rating you want to write is fine): blindfolds, restraint, writing on the body, talking, genderplay
Other things:
- I have an embarassment squick, particularly as relates to social humiliation
- With the exception of the canonical, I am not into infidelity, love-triangles, jealousy
- Again, with the exception of the canonical, I would rather not have character-death for Yuletide, and if possible would prefer a fic which is not unremittingly bleak, though I'm fine with bittersweet or ambiguous endings.
Alphas - Gary Bell
(A lot of this is borrowed from last year, because I'd still like to see this!)
Gary is awesome. I love how sure of himself he is, and how he articulates what's going on with him when the people around him just don't get it. I would love to see something with him thinking through or discussing his Alpha identity alongside his autism, if that's the kind of thing that interests you. Or the adventures of Gary and the teammate of your choice, solving a case with their own skillset? Or, indeed, future-fic if you feel like tackling the cliffhanger?
I really do love Gary, alongside any of the other characters. One of the things that interested me as the show went on is the way the opening voiceover has Rosen say "I call them Alphas", that Anna says "the neurodiverse need to be there for each other" and Gary's growing sense that he and the other Alphas are different from Rosen, and that maybe Red Flag have a point about some of it. (Note: I like Rosen a lot, and I love the interactions between him and Gary, but there is room for him to be wrong.) I would love to see something around that, around the twitter feed Gary sets up, or futurefic with Gary taking a more active role in shaping the direction of the movement. This isn't to say I am only interested in something long or political! I would also love hijinks with Gary and team (Kat, maybe, because I think we get less of them together? But I love his interactions with everyone. I love Cameron killing the sound with the baseball; I'd like to see Gary and Bill driving, if that's another place where Gary would start to mimic him; I love the understanding he and Rachel have and the hints of how familiar they are with each other in ways we don't always get onscreen; I love the way Gary's relationship with Nina is different because she can't push him and the way he cuts through her obfuscation while also happily taking her free stuff and occasionally accepting her hugs). Or something dealing with the final cliffhanger, or Gary solving a case? Just anything with Gary being himself would make me happy.
The Chronicles of Chrestomanci - Diana Wynne Jones - Cat Chant, Christopher Chant, Conrad Tesdinic, Millie | Millie Chant
This is a 'you do not have to write about all four of them' prompt. I really liked Conrad as a point of view character on Christopher and on Millie, and how Millie and Conrad had a pretty fast understanding with each other on what it's like to be around Christopher. Anything with the three of them, between Conrad's Fate and Christopher becoming Chrestomanci, or maybe something after he becomes Chrestomanci and is resenting it a little, would be fab. Alternatively, I'd love to see Conrad and Cat meet up, because I think they would get along - they seem like they might have a similar outlook, and maybe grown!Conrad could offer Cat some advice.
I think I've wanted Christopher/Millie/Conrad or Christopher&Millie&Conrad since I finished the book - there's this gap where Conrad is raised with them, and then he disappears back to Series Seven. I'd love to see something in that gap, with the three of them fighting and learning together and rubbing the edges off each other a little. Or maybe just after Christopher and Millie are married, when Christopher's getting ready to be Chrestomanci and not sure about it. Alternatively, I'd love to see Conrad visiting after all of that, when Christopher is 'Chrestomanci' to everyone but Millie, Conrad is amused by the idea of Christopher trying to keep all of these children in line, and he and Millie gang up a little. Otherwise otherwise, like I said I'd love to see Conrad and Cat together - they both have that slightly detached viewpoint, and they were both used by someone else despite being powerful in their own right, so I'd love to see Conrad, when he's grown up, trying to help Cat.
Hark! A Vagrant - Lois Lane (Hark! A Vagrant), Wonder Woman (Hark! A Vagrant)
Mostly, I appreciate how done with everything this Lois and Wonder Woman are. I love how Lois continues to try and do her job regardless, and how Wonder Woman is pissed off about the way she's represented. Anything you want to write would be great - if you'd like to do something meta-ish about the two of them on/soon-to-be-on film, or just them grabbing coffee and complaining about their days and the superheroes in their lives.
(This would be the easiest canon to absorb if you've blanked on the request you matched on - you can search here for either Wonder Woman or Lois Lane.
I love Hark!Diana. I think she's hilarious, and I'd love anything with her and Hark!Lois bonding over being pissed off. Maybe Diana gets Lois somewhere she needs to be, around the interruptions caused by Superman? Or Lois tries to get a story with Diana after a battle, when Diana was forced to go back to her roots and take on some Nazis? Diana has beef with her lack of representation on film or concerns about how the new film will go? Lois wants a spotlight of her own as well, so she can get her own work done? Or, like I said, coffee and mockery. Mostly, I'd like to see them being the kind of women who get things done, even if the world around them doesn't really get it.
Homeward Bounders - Diana Wynne Jones - Helen Haras-Uquara, Jamie Hamilton (Homeward Bounders)
Mostly I think I would like a moment or two of consolation for how sad the ending of this book is, although not necessarily a fix-it. Maybe just a visit from Jamie on his wanderings, where Helen and he have a moment together, to give him something to make the rest of it worthwhile. Alternatively if you'd like to find a solution to his problem, or send them wandering together, that's all good too.
This book kind of broke me? I'm not sure I want a happy ending for it, but the ending made me sad, and I'd like something marginally less sad? Jamie is one of my favourite kind of protaganists, who makes the sacrifice because there's no one else to do it, and because someone has to. And Helen is the other, just mad at the world for these being the choices. If you would like to write them a happier ending, then please do have at it. Helen tries to get him out of the ending, or tries to come with him? Otherwise, maybe five people Jamie meets on his wanderings, or five stories he comes back to tell Helen? The first time he comes back to see her, and she reminds him why he's doing this? The world building here is really interesting, and the way it weaves in different narratives, so anything like that would also be great.
Orange is the New Black - Piper Chapman, Nicky Nichols, Alex Vause, Janae Watson
This is a 'you do not have to write about all four of them' prompt. Any one, or any combination of the four, or any of them with someone else, is all good. I love Nicky, and her incredulous eyebrow when Piper says something ridiculous, and I love her and Alex needling Piper, I love Piper coming into her own and working her things out. I love Watson and the ways she refuses to compromise now because she let it happen once and this is where it got her. I love the prison politics, and the game playing, and the support-networks the women have formed for themselves in there.
Obviously OitNB has canonical infidelity and jealousy, and indeed character death. I'm absolutely fine with referring to those things, and to anything in the tone of the show. I would rather the focus not be on angst over infidelity, but there's no problem with the pairing being one which necessarily involves that. Speaking of: seriously, any character is fine, I don't need all four. I mostly just picked four characters I'm interested in, but I'm interested in all of the inmates, so if you would like to write about one of these four with someone else, go ahead. I love the politics in the prison, and the little negotiations and the long-games going on. I love Piper finding her way, even as she realises that she's not a good person, isn't sure how to be good and strong at the same time. I love the scenes with her and Nicky just chatting while they're fixing electrics. I love Nicky in general, how sharp she is, and how she's there for other people but tries not to be vulnerable herself. I would be interested in what a Nicky/Piper relationship would look like. I'd also be interested in what a more functional Piper/Alex relationship would look like, if they decided to combine their best and worst traits and take on other people instead of screwing each over other. I want to know all of the other things about Janae, as her backstory completely broke my heart - I'd like to see more from her perspective, more about the choices she made on the way and how she makes choices now, after the one that got her into prison. Seeing her with someone else would be nice, since her success on the outside isolated her - I'd love to see more about the way she gets along with the other women inside.
The Thick of It (TV) - Ollie Reeder, Malcolm Tucker
Anything exploring how complicated and messed-up the two of them are would make me very happy, particularly if it acknowledges the ways Malcolm shaped the direction Ollie ended up going in.
Sometimes I really enjoy fucked-up relationships where no one pretends they aren't fucked up? If you wanted to write slash here, I would be all over that. I'd love to see something towards the end of the series or post-series, where Ollie and Malcolm have a slightly more equal relationship, and they're both playing games with each other a little bit. I'm interested in the way Malcolm is not at all nice, but does see his work as important in the long-run, and isn't especially bothered whether anyone likes him as long as he can get the job done. Ollie does seem to care whether people like him, at least initially, and I'd be interested in seeing how he develops from that moment where he lets Malcolm be hung out to dry and starts to take power himself. I'm interested in how much of that was always there and how much was Malcolm raising him up in his image. And I'm interested in knowing more of what goes on in Malcolm's head because we never got very much of his personal life. Other things, because there are plenty of non-pairing things I'd be interested in with the two of them: Malcolm's return, Ollie having to ask Malcolm for help post-series, the two of them team up to tackle an indomitable foe, the Scottish referendum, UKIP, Europe, the fraying coalition and the upcoming election. (Also, I like the women in this canon, particularly Nicola, so if there has been a screw-up, I'd rather it be one of the men!)
Thank you for writing for me! And again, tell me a story you love, and I'm sure I'll love it too :)
This entry was originally posted at Dreamwidth: http://blackeyedgirl.dreamwidth.org/176146.html |
comments. Please comment there using OpenID or signed anon.