Dear Yuletide Author
Dear Yuletide Author,
First of all, and most importantly, thank you! I love this concept, I love getting fic as presents, and I'm incredibly grateful for anything I get. The fact that you are willing to write in something I love? Makes you so awesome I can't even begin to show how much I appreciate it.
While it's my second year of summoning up all my courage and signing up, I'm still terrified at writing in small fandoms I've never tried before. Especially for strangers. But this is such an excellent opportunity to share our love, so how can I resist doing it again?
Sign-ups came at a busy week for me, so there aren't any optional details there. Considering I get on a plane in less than twelve hours and will be on a plane when sign-ups are over, I figure I'm lucky to have been able to go through all the available fandoms and come up with a list at all. Hopefully, I can provide a little more insight here.
As a reader, I’m pretty open-minded about a lot of things. Even when I have a primary ship on a show, I tend to multi-ship and even do a lot of rarepairs. That tends to happen because I usually fall in love with fandoms because of ensembles and ideas rather than a single character. That’s a usually, though. There are occasional exceptions. I read all ratings and most genres, though I’ll admit, fluff tends to be a hard sell for me. I love plot, the plottier the better, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with sex, either, so no worries you can’t go in that direction if you want. Het, slash, gen…it’s all good. What draws me most into stories is strong characterization, original ideas, and solid writing. I don’t like to read the same old/same old, which is one reason why plot is always such a seduction.
I have a real soft spot for outsiders/lonely characters. They get to me almost every single time. Going dark is not a problem at all, whether it’s sexually, via violence, or angst. That’s not to say I go looking for it, but it does work for me a lot of the time. I love a great action scene, banter, and breathless kisses.
Things I dislike…number one has to be character bashing. I hate it. I don’t like vilifying characters for the sake of making others look good. It happens a lot in shippy fics, usually in trying to get rid of a canon partner or because the writer just hates the character. I’d rather the character got written out of the story completely than left in and painted in a poor light. I’m not fond of crossovers, unless I’m explicitly comfortable in the fandoms, and specific tropes like mpreg, tentacles, alpha/omega, and magic sex make me roll my eyes. Also, 95% of the time I backspace out of fics that headhop, so please don’t do that.
About my fandoms:
Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries by Julia Spencer-Fleming: I have never read a mystery series that leaves me as tied up in knots as this one does. The mysteries themselves are fine, but I devoured all eight books that are out so far because of the characters. Russ kills me. I love his loyalty, his dedication, how he always tries. But he's not perfect. He says stupid things, he's stubborn. He's indicative of a lot of the principals. He feels real.
I read the books stricken with anxiety and worry about the characters. What I'm hoping to get is something that adds some light to their lives. These are not happy reads, so maybe show something that gives them some peace or joy? My only request is that the religion aspect isn't a major thing. Yes, I understand who Clare is and that religion is a part of the differences between her and Russ, but I'm agnostic, and honestly, I almost never picked up the books in the first place because I hate feeling like religion is being forced down my throat. Of course, if you decide to write Flynn and Hadley, that's not an issue. I hated the way the most recent book ended with them, and in fact, if Hadley's backstory had never been introduced in that book, I wouldn't have complained. Feel free to ignore it or write something set previous to the last book. Or since the next book won't be out for a while, fix it fic would be WONDERFUL.
Ladyhawke: I have loved this movie since it first came out. I have seen it more times than I want to count. I love the doomed romance and adventure best of all. I would love to see how things turn out for Etienne and Isabeau. How do they learn to live together again? How well can they integrate back into society? Or if you want to go superficial, can you imagine how hot the sex is when they've been denied so long? When they know it can be gone in a flash?
Mad Men:I love how damn smart this show is and especially how fascinating all the characters are. I don’t even really like a good majority of them, but they intrigue me to such a degree that I don’t care. Everything has a meaning. Nothing is left to chance. I think about this show long after the episode has ended.
I watched Peggy’s arc from the beginning and rooted for her the entire way. The problem is, she has absolutely abysmal taste in men. She always seems to hook up with guys who don’t see or appreciate every side of her. You know who does? Stan. Sure, they started off on the wrong foot (well, he did anyway), but their friendship has really grown and developed over the years. I loved, loved, LOVED their phone calls when they worked in separate offices. If anybody gets and appreciates Peggy, it’s Stan, and since I don’t think the show is going to go there, I would love to see fic that does.
Black Sails: I'll be honest upfront. I only started watching this show because I adore Tom Hopper. I loved him as Percival on Merlin, and holy crap, I loved his Billy Bones. My knowledge of the character outside of the show is superficial as I haven't read anything about him since I was a kid, but I adored the angle they took here. A good man, sometimes doing bad things, torn up from the moral choices he's been given. I have no idea what the plans are for the second season of the show, but any fic that shows Billy surviving and what he does are wildly welcome.
Outside of Billy, I found myself continuing to tune in because of Calico Jack. Something about that character gets to me. I didn't like the actor at first, but as he fought to keep his head above water, he got more and more fascinating. I don't really ship him with anyone specific, but those sex scenes with Anne Bonny were so hot. Feel free to go that route if you want. Kink is always good. :)
The Blacklist: Aw, Red. I have loved James Spader since Pretty in Pink. He never disappoints. This show has kept me guessing from day one, and while it's over the top and sometimes not very consistent, it's must watch TV in my house. I love his relationship with Lizzie, but she has surprised me this season with all the Tom stuff. As of writing this letter, we have no idea who she is keeping locked up but I'll admit I think it's Tom. I would love to see this twisted relationship played out.
The character that surprised me the most this season was Aram, though. Who knew such a minor character would grow on me like this? His little crush on Navabi is fantastic, especially since she's such a nice darker counterpoint to his optimism and excitement.
West Side Story: I'll be honest. I have no ideas for this one. I love the show to pieces (I'm a theater geek from way back), and the music and choreography are spellbinding. Maria's a bit of a twit, and yes, it's instalove, but I like the ideal it wants to believe in, that differences shouldn't matter. Beyond that, though, I love the bromance of Riff and Tony best. Tony does the unthinkable for him. That means something. That came from somewhere. Maybe we can expand on that.
I hope all of this helps in some way. Basically, I'm a romantic at heart who knows that the world isn't always a very nice place. We are stronger because of the adversity we overcome together.