Dear Yuletide Author 2020
Dear New Yulefriend,
Hi! My name is Carly, thecarlysutra on AO3. I am so glad you are here, because that means you love for at least two things that I love: Yuletide and (at least) one of these fandoms! This is my eleventh time participating in Yuletide, and my excitement has only grown every year, so I am psyched, and I hope you are, too. Because I, personally, work the best when I have more information than needed as opposed to less, I am going to tell you all about my general likes and dislikes, as well as why I adore these fandoms. I can’t wait to see what you create! Thank you, and happy Yuletide.
DNWs: Let’s get the unpleasantness out of the way first. Please no rape/noncon/dubcon, and please don’t write anything about asylums or horrible things happening to mentally ill people. Please nothing about illness, the pandemic, or the current political climate. And I really would prefer a happy story, so please no angst or sad endings.
Okay, that’s over! Now for the happy stuff. I love stories. Stories are my favorite thing. Last year, I pulled my baby book out of storage, and when I was two years old, my mother wrote that my favorite thing in the world was stories, AND IT’S STILL TRUE. I love all kinds of stories, but my favorites tend to be character driven. They have dialogue and small moments that illustrate relationships or grow characters, not just move the plot along. I love small character details. I want to know the song that gets stuck in Maverick Mitchell’s head when he’s bored. I want to know what Ray Levoi dreams about when they're not visions. I want everything. You cannot give me too much.
I love found families, and close relationships both romantic and non. I love all the different kinds of love the Greeks had that are all in Tumblr gifsets now. I love people loving each other and enjoying each other’s company. It’s so great, okay? It’s the best thing.
I love hurt/comfort (and its cousin, sexual healing) and sudden! intimacy tropes like arranged marriage, fake dating, and “there was only one bed!” I love soulmate stuff, especially soulmarks. I love humor and softness and competence and sexiness and playfulness. I love happy endings. I know I said that already, but I really love when everything turns out all right in the end.
Now for my individual prompts.
Thunderheart (1992): Ray Levoi and Walter Crow Horse
I ask for Thunderheart for Yuletide every year, because I have an endless appetite for these characters and their stories. I love them both individually, and I ship them like mad, but you can write their snarky, reluctantly fond friendship from the movie with no romantic stuff, and I’ll still be thrilled. If they’re together, I tend to prefer stories that are a little down the road, not just “what happens after Ray leaves the rez.” Ray’s going to need some time to get his shit together, so give him a few months, y’know? If you want to write about these characters individually instead, that’s okay. I’m super interested in their backstories, especially Ray’s time working deep cover. I would also adore an AU for this fandom. I'd prefer it not be a banal AU like high school or coffee shop, but try your hand at anything else and I will be delighted.
Top Gun (1986): Tom “Iceman” Kazansky and Pete “Maverick” Mitchell
I love these boys so much. I really do. And I do ship them, but it’s okay if you don’t. (I’d just prefer if you didn’t pair them with other people.) I would love to read about their friendship after they learn to trust each other. I would love to read about them flying together. It’s also okay if you just want to write about one of them; Ice is my favorite, but I love Mav, too, so take it in whatever direction you want. There are some gorgeous, gritty, super realistic stories about what happens to these boys during their time in the service; a few of them were even gifts for me for previous Yuletides. I love those stories, but this year I really need something happy, okay? But beyond that, sky’s the limit. You could write me domestic fluff about these two trying to bake something, or an AU where one of them is the bodyguard assigned to protect the other and then oops they fall in love, or a story from their formative years. Write whatever you like, just give me a happy ending, please.
A Knight's Tale (2001): William Thatcher and Jocelyn
This movie was so important to my formative years, and it really stands up twenty years later. The dialogue is so sharp, and this fierce little family! I love the whole group, of course, and I'd love to read about anyone, but William and Jocelyn are my favorites, so those are the characters I requested. What I'd really like is to see where they are in a few years' time. Is William still competing? Did they have any kids? (Are Wat and Roland babysitting constantly while William jousts? Please tell me they are.) William is a proper knight, now; how has that transition been? Please just give me love and family and everyone ride or die-ing for each other while skillfully ribbing them. I need it.
Teenage Bounty Hunters (TV): Blair Wesley, Sterling Wesley, and Bowser Simmons
This show is so fun! I was surprised by how much it took me in, but I think it's my favorite new media of 2020. Blair is my absolute favorite, but I love her relationship with Sterling and especially the relationship they have with Bowser. The bounty hunting is great, and I love how badass the girls are, but what I love most about this show is how they melted Bowser's heart and made him a family. Give me a tricky skip, give me a slow day at the yogurt hut, give me that sharp dialogue and general badassness, just give it some heart.
The Ghost and the Darkness (1996): Colonel John Henry Patterson and Helena Patterson
I love these characters. I love John and his dorky engineerness and his love for his wife and for Africa; I love how all he wants to do is build bridges and drink “I love my wife” juice. I love how he sorts things out. I love that he got to go to Africa and see the animals and learn the language, and that even the abject horribleness of the lion attacks didn’t stop him from getting to be at home in Africa, didn’t take away his smile. I love how supportive Helena is, and how badass she is to travel all that way with an infant in white clothes, and how stupid in love they are with each other.
Something else I love about the movie is this idea that the Ghost and the Darkness are not lions, that they’re something supernatural. And now we come to my prompt. What I would really like from this fandom is more stories of John and his little family going around the world, building bridges, and hunting supernatural things. There are so many myths to choose from! John could hunt vampires in Romania or help selkies in Ireland or battle rusalkas in Russia. Whatever you like; I just want him sorting things out and building bridges and loving his wife.
I think that’s it! Thank you again, Yulefriend; I can’t wait to see what you come up with! Happy Yuletide.
N.B. I am signed up for the Interactive Fiction and Wrapping Paper Yuletide challenges, and two of my requests qualify for Chromatic Yuletide.