Hi, dear Yuletide author!
Intro: This is actually the first time I've signed up for Yuletide. I remember hearing about it the first year it ran, and I was just starting to get involved in fanfic, and I didn't feel capable of writing for anything other than the couple things I'd already written for, or writing to a prompt. Since then, I've spent some years too busy and others intimidated by how everything that comes out of Yuletide seems to be so well-done. But I've wanted to join in for a while now, and so I finally actually am!
And onward, to more info about my requests.
Fandom: Darkover
What you need to read/watch: two books: Heritage Of Hastur and Sharra's Exile (omnibus title Heritage & Exile) by Marion Zimmer Bradley
What I like and want: If we're prioritizing, this is probably the one I want most (but obviously I want them all!!!!!! or I wouldn't have requested them). I think I've wanted this fic since I was about thirteen. I really like the world of Darkover (and its ideas such as the Compact), laran is one of the things that shaped my standard conception of magic, and I always appreciate how the culture clash between Darkover and the Terran Empire is presented in such a way that both sides have their good and their bad aspects. Anyhow, Regis and Danilo are my favorite characters from the whole series. Right now I would still draw little sparkly hearts around Regis' name in my notebook and wax romantic about how he is the best king of Darkover EVER OMG and how noble he is and so on. And then there is Danilo, who is just so loyal and dedicated and I think I have a thing for people whose major trait is to stand beside someone else and support their awesomeness and be a little forgotten by the world while actually possibly being slightly even more awesome themselves. And I guess I also still always cry reading certain sections of these books, the parts about loss and sacrifice and love and duty. So I just want more, you know? More of Regis and Danilo trying to make their relationship in the cracks between the other things they are required to do and the other ways they are required to be. I will love you forever if you write me something that includes first-time telepathic sex, but I will be so happy also if you write me anything, anything else. (You can set it during the other books about them, too, but this time period is my fave. And I must admit that I am too much of a wimp to read the later what's-it-called series about Margaret Alton where Regis dies (of old age), so please please please the one thing I ask is no death fic.)
Fandom: Sky High
What you need to read/watch: one movie: Sky High
What I like and want: I watched this for the cute teens superhero spoof idea, and ended up loving it because while it is an adoring homage to the genre, it also has sly and kinky digs at it, and is smart and well-structured as it plays with cliche, and has great characters. It's good for fic because it's a nice combination of strongly established areas and open spaces full of questions. The other main characters are my favorites, but I'm still intrigued by Gwen and what it must have been like to be her, and I find Penny's power fascinating. While overall I'm not into Sky High smut, this is, um, the one exception to that. (I like clonecest.) But like the prompt says, it certainly doesn't have to be. General character exploration is great.
Fandom: Rave Macbeth
What you need to read/watch: one movie: Rave Macbeth
What I like and want: Yes, I watched this for Michael Rosenbaum. But as the tragic half of the rave Shakespeare genre (the happyfun half being A Midsummer Night's Rave), it's gorgeous and romantic and very sad. Here I would take anything from a foursome to canon het to slash or femslash to general friendship exploration, but I'd not be as into the non-canon het pairings. Just tell me more of where these people came from and what else they have done in the past. (I selected all four of Marcus/Lidia/Troy/Helena, but if you want to write about only some of them, don't feel too bound to include all four.)
Fandom: Inspector Alan Grant
What you need to read/watch: one book: The Singing Sands by Josephine Tey
What I like and want: I only read murder mysteries on summer vacation when I pick up my grandparents' old ones for light entertainment. I gave this one a whirl because it had something vaguely archaeological on the cover about a lost city. It turned out that a very large part of the plot was actually about the inspector getting through his bout of depression by wandering around alone on a barren, cold, dreary, rainy, grey, wind-swept, desolate northern isle. This reminded me a lot of my own experience of getting through my bout of depression by wandering around alone on a barren, cold, dreary, rainy, grey, wind-swept, desolate northern isle, which was far more psychological truthiness than I expected from such a book. Then there was the slash. It started with Alan Grant's over the top obsession with the dead guy on the train and continued on through the very obvious (to me) fact that Bill Kenrick and Tad Cullen were more than just BFFs. So yes, I want Bill and Tad backstory. Not smut (shocker after the last few requests, I know), and hopefully pretty happy. Anything from the epic novel-length tale of how they met and got together to a short vignette about one afternoon, whatever. Whirlwind tales of travel, the nitty-gritty of flying airplanes, lazy sitting around on the beach, crazy research, random pointless blather, nights on the town, buying curtains, is all good. If you don't see or don't like the slash I am totally cool with BFFs, friendships are awesome things too.
My general fic likes: In a way I'm wide open. I like slash and het and femslash and gen, and combinations of those or things that aren't very categorizable as such. I like both happy and sad, funny and deep (I would prefer happy here, though). But I think what I am mainly looking for in these prompts is character and relationship, although plots and action are nice as well. If you're a total stranger and don't know me at all it's better to go with the ideas you feel excited by than to try to constrain yourself to some list of my interests and squicks (and seriously, I realize that many of my interests are completely not going to fit into these stories, there is no need to have Sumer, archaeology, pirates, and intelligent giant squid shoehorned into everything). Now that I feel all confused and embarrassed by trying to explain, I will close out.
EDIT: And when I say smut or sex I don't actually mean anything super-explicit necessarily. In fact I think I might feel odd about that in many of these cases, and I like stories about sex but they don't have to include all the crude details.
Thank you so much and I hope you enjoy!
And onward, to more info about my requests.
Fandom: Darkover
What you need to read/watch: two books: Heritage Of Hastur and Sharra's Exile (omnibus title Heritage & Exile) by Marion Zimmer Bradley
What I like and want: If we're prioritizing, this is probably the one I want most (but obviously I want them all!!!!!! or I wouldn't have requested them). I think I've wanted this fic since I was about thirteen. I really like the world of Darkover (and its ideas such as the Compact), laran is one of the things that shaped my standard conception of magic, and I always appreciate how the culture clash between Darkover and the Terran Empire is presented in such a way that both sides have their good and their bad aspects. Anyhow, Regis and Danilo are my favorite characters from the whole series. Right now I would still draw little sparkly hearts around Regis' name in my notebook and wax romantic about how he is the best king of Darkover EVER OMG and how noble he is and so on. And then there is Danilo, who is just so loyal and dedicated and I think I have a thing for people whose major trait is to stand beside someone else and support their awesomeness and be a little forgotten by the world while actually possibly being slightly even more awesome themselves. And I guess I also still always cry reading certain sections of these books, the parts about loss and sacrifice and love and duty. So I just want more, you know? More of Regis and Danilo trying to make their relationship in the cracks between the other things they are required to do and the other ways they are required to be. I will love you forever if you write me something that includes first-time telepathic sex, but I will be so happy also if you write me anything, anything else. (You can set it during the other books about them, too, but this time period is my fave. And I must admit that I am too much of a wimp to read the later what's-it-called series about Margaret Alton where Regis dies (of old age), so please please please the one thing I ask is no death fic.)
Fandom: Sky High
What you need to read/watch: one movie: Sky High
What I like and want: I watched this for the cute teens superhero spoof idea, and ended up loving it because while it is an adoring homage to the genre, it also has sly and kinky digs at it, and is smart and well-structured as it plays with cliche, and has great characters. It's good for fic because it's a nice combination of strongly established areas and open spaces full of questions. The other main characters are my favorites, but I'm still intrigued by Gwen and what it must have been like to be her, and I find Penny's power fascinating. While overall I'm not into Sky High smut, this is, um, the one exception to that. (I like clonecest.) But like the prompt says, it certainly doesn't have to be. General character exploration is great.
Fandom: Rave Macbeth
What you need to read/watch: one movie: Rave Macbeth
What I like and want: Yes, I watched this for Michael Rosenbaum. But as the tragic half of the rave Shakespeare genre (the happyfun half being A Midsummer Night's Rave), it's gorgeous and romantic and very sad. Here I would take anything from a foursome to canon het to slash or femslash to general friendship exploration, but I'd not be as into the non-canon het pairings. Just tell me more of where these people came from and what else they have done in the past. (I selected all four of Marcus/Lidia/Troy/Helena, but if you want to write about only some of them, don't feel too bound to include all four.)
Fandom: Inspector Alan Grant
What you need to read/watch: one book: The Singing Sands by Josephine Tey
What I like and want: I only read murder mysteries on summer vacation when I pick up my grandparents' old ones for light entertainment. I gave this one a whirl because it had something vaguely archaeological on the cover about a lost city. It turned out that a very large part of the plot was actually about the inspector getting through his bout of depression by wandering around alone on a barren, cold, dreary, rainy, grey, wind-swept, desolate northern isle. This reminded me a lot of my own experience of getting through my bout of depression by wandering around alone on a barren, cold, dreary, rainy, grey, wind-swept, desolate northern isle, which was far more psychological truthiness than I expected from such a book. Then there was the slash. It started with Alan Grant's over the top obsession with the dead guy on the train and continued on through the very obvious (to me) fact that Bill Kenrick and Tad Cullen were more than just BFFs. So yes, I want Bill and Tad backstory. Not smut (shocker after the last few requests, I know), and hopefully pretty happy. Anything from the epic novel-length tale of how they met and got together to a short vignette about one afternoon, whatever. Whirlwind tales of travel, the nitty-gritty of flying airplanes, lazy sitting around on the beach, crazy research, random pointless blather, nights on the town, buying curtains, is all good. If you don't see or don't like the slash I am totally cool with BFFs, friendships are awesome things too.
My general fic likes: In a way I'm wide open. I like slash and het and femslash and gen, and combinations of those or things that aren't very categorizable as such. I like both happy and sad, funny and deep (I would prefer happy here, though). But I think what I am mainly looking for in these prompts is character and relationship, although plots and action are nice as well. If you're a total stranger and don't know me at all it's better to go with the ideas you feel excited by than to try to constrain yourself to some list of my interests and squicks (and seriously, I realize that many of my interests are completely not going to fit into these stories, there is no need to have Sumer, archaeology, pirates, and intelligent giant squid shoehorned into everything). Now that I feel all confused and embarrassed by trying to explain, I will close out.
EDIT: And when I say smut or sex I don't actually mean anything super-explicit necessarily. In fact I think I might feel odd about that in many of these cases, and I like stories about sex but they don't have to include all the crude details.
Thank you so much and I hope you enjoy!