2016 Yuletide Letter
Dear Yuletide Author,
First of all, and most importantly, thank you! I love that this community brings together so many authors willing to write for those small fandoms that might not otherwise get the love they deserve. I'm especially grateful that you're willing to do so for one of mine.
I've put some of the following details in my sign-up, but hopefully you want to know more about me so you've come over 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 rare pairs. Most of the time, that's because I fall in love with fandoms because of ensembles and ideas rather than a single character. Most of the time. There are 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, whether it’s sexually, via violence, or angst. That’s not to say I go looking for it, but it does work for me more often than not. 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. (In case you're not sure what that is, here's a blog post on it that might help.)
About my fandoms:
Black Sails: While I started watching this show for Tom Hopper, I stuck with it because of the ensemble. I fell head over heels for the show as a whole in season 2 when we got Flint and Miranda's backstory and I realized just how I'd been played all along. Season 3 gutted me all over again. I have no idea how season 4 (and the last one, sob!) will not manage to kill me completely.
For all my love for the ensemble, however, Billy Bones is still the heart of the show for me. I love how he's essentially a good man, sometimes doing bad things, torn up from the moral choices he's been given. This year, I'm being a little selfish with my request. In the past, I've asked for stuff with Flint, Thomas, and Miranda, but with how season 3 played out, I'm hungry for Billy stories. I only asked for him and Flint because basically, that's who I ship him with. The potential there is explosive. You could even write an AU with these guys and make me love it. It's the men who count here, and I would love to see them come together somehow.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone: I just recently finished this series and fell in love. The world-building is tremendous and helped by the incredibly vivid characters the author brought to life. While I'm not normally a fan of insta-love, Karou and Akiva hooked me in from the start with their doomed romance. Give me more of that if you can. Or tell me about Karou's childhood with Brimstone. Or write about Akiva when he thought Madrigal was dead. Or find a way to redeem Thiago (though please don't pair him with Karou if you go that route; after everything that happened in the books, I can't go there). Basically, anything you can give me for these books will be loved. I love the world she created. I love Karou and all her flaws and all her relationships. I didn't request them, because I could only nominate four characters, but if you want to throw in Mik and Zuz on the side, that would be far from awful. They're absolutely adorable and bring a necessary lightness to an otherwise bleak world. Same goes for Ziri.
Pretty in Pink: I've requested this one before, and hopefully one of these years, someone will help me see this filled.
This is one of the seminal movies from my teenaged years. PiP is the movie that made me start noticing James Spader as an actor. I think there's a hell of a lot more to Steff than we're given. When Andie comes out to her car, Steff is waiting at his, and he deliberately shoos everybody away to approach her. I think he actually genuinely likes her. Yes, his approach is slimy, and he always takes the asshole route by lashing out when he gets rejected or hurt, but I felt sorry for him. Look at the two people he likes the most. Blane, who has this vulnerability and goodness about him, and Andie, who has so much inner strength he sees it from the very start of high school. He's drawn to these people who he probably thinks are so unlike him. Deep down, he probably wants to deserve them, and when they reject him, he hurts them in ways he does best.
I'd love to see some kind of Steff/Andie fic that addresses this or even finds a way to give them an HEA. You know Blane didn't last. He wasn't nearly strong enough to handle Andie in the long run. And maybe Steff and Andie don't work out, but how much could he get himself tied up in knots trying to make it happen? Or if they did hook up, what the sex might be like? So. Many. Possibilities.
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.
Call the Midwife: This show has always made me cry. It's heartfelt without getting too sappy (I mean, c'mon, a Christmas special where the hope comes from not having a bomb explode, lol? Only the British can get away with that.), and the characters feel genuine and real. While I adore most of the ensemble, I'm mostly interested in reading about Chummy (especially since we won't get any more of her). I love her heart, her awkwardness, her determination. Maybe you want to write about her childhood and her relationship with her mother? That's wonderful. Maybe you want to write about her marriage and her own child? That's wonderful, too. The world needs more Chummy fic, no matter what form it takes.
Twin Peaks: To say I'm a fan of Twin Peaks is an understatement. I remember racing home from the video store I worked at on Saturday nights to watch the newest TP episode, then spending hours afterward dissecting it with my friends. Even when it fell into the slump in season 2 when Lynch wasn't in the thick of things, I stuck with it. I can't even begin to say how excited I am about the new TP next year.
Back in the day, I was a huge Audrey/Dale shipper. Before I even understood what shipping was all about. On a recent rewatch, my age--and the fact that I now have a teenaged daughter--had me scolding Dale during those scenes ("Dale! She is eighteen years old! You of all people should know better!"). That doesn't mean I don't think there's potential there, though, just not in the time frame of the actual show. I'd love to see a post-series fic, a few years down the road. Maybe it's a darkfic where Dale is playing Audrey in some way. Or maybe Dale is back to his good self and the two reconnect. Or maybe Audrey is part of saving Dale (in which case, I could probably be convinced not to be so uptight about her youth since that could happen close to the end of the series).
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.
First of all, and most importantly, thank you! I love that this community brings together so many authors willing to write for those small fandoms that might not otherwise get the love they deserve. I'm especially grateful that you're willing to do so for one of mine.
I've put some of the following details in my sign-up, but hopefully you want to know more about me so you've come over 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 rare pairs. Most of the time, that's because I fall in love with fandoms because of ensembles and ideas rather than a single character. Most of the time. There are 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, whether it’s sexually, via violence, or angst. That’s not to say I go looking for it, but it does work for me more often than not. 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. (In case you're not sure what that is, here's a blog post on it that might help.)
About my fandoms:
Black Sails: While I started watching this show for Tom Hopper, I stuck with it because of the ensemble. I fell head over heels for the show as a whole in season 2 when we got Flint and Miranda's backstory and I realized just how I'd been played all along. Season 3 gutted me all over again. I have no idea how season 4 (and the last one, sob!) will not manage to kill me completely.
For all my love for the ensemble, however, Billy Bones is still the heart of the show for me. I love how he's essentially a good man, sometimes doing bad things, torn up from the moral choices he's been given. This year, I'm being a little selfish with my request. In the past, I've asked for stuff with Flint, Thomas, and Miranda, but with how season 3 played out, I'm hungry for Billy stories. I only asked for him and Flint because basically, that's who I ship him with. The potential there is explosive. You could even write an AU with these guys and make me love it. It's the men who count here, and I would love to see them come together somehow.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone: I just recently finished this series and fell in love. The world-building is tremendous and helped by the incredibly vivid characters the author brought to life. While I'm not normally a fan of insta-love, Karou and Akiva hooked me in from the start with their doomed romance. Give me more of that if you can. Or tell me about Karou's childhood with Brimstone. Or write about Akiva when he thought Madrigal was dead. Or find a way to redeem Thiago (though please don't pair him with Karou if you go that route; after everything that happened in the books, I can't go there). Basically, anything you can give me for these books will be loved. I love the world she created. I love Karou and all her flaws and all her relationships. I didn't request them, because I could only nominate four characters, but if you want to throw in Mik and Zuz on the side, that would be far from awful. They're absolutely adorable and bring a necessary lightness to an otherwise bleak world. Same goes for Ziri.
Pretty in Pink: I've requested this one before, and hopefully one of these years, someone will help me see this filled.
This is one of the seminal movies from my teenaged years. PiP is the movie that made me start noticing James Spader as an actor. I think there's a hell of a lot more to Steff than we're given. When Andie comes out to her car, Steff is waiting at his, and he deliberately shoos everybody away to approach her. I think he actually genuinely likes her. Yes, his approach is slimy, and he always takes the asshole route by lashing out when he gets rejected or hurt, but I felt sorry for him. Look at the two people he likes the most. Blane, who has this vulnerability and goodness about him, and Andie, who has so much inner strength he sees it from the very start of high school. He's drawn to these people who he probably thinks are so unlike him. Deep down, he probably wants to deserve them, and when they reject him, he hurts them in ways he does best.
I'd love to see some kind of Steff/Andie fic that addresses this or even finds a way to give them an HEA. You know Blane didn't last. He wasn't nearly strong enough to handle Andie in the long run. And maybe Steff and Andie don't work out, but how much could he get himself tied up in knots trying to make it happen? Or if they did hook up, what the sex might be like? So. Many. Possibilities.
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.
Call the Midwife: This show has always made me cry. It's heartfelt without getting too sappy (I mean, c'mon, a Christmas special where the hope comes from not having a bomb explode, lol? Only the British can get away with that.), and the characters feel genuine and real. While I adore most of the ensemble, I'm mostly interested in reading about Chummy (especially since we won't get any more of her). I love her heart, her awkwardness, her determination. Maybe you want to write about her childhood and her relationship with her mother? That's wonderful. Maybe you want to write about her marriage and her own child? That's wonderful, too. The world needs more Chummy fic, no matter what form it takes.
Twin Peaks: To say I'm a fan of Twin Peaks is an understatement. I remember racing home from the video store I worked at on Saturday nights to watch the newest TP episode, then spending hours afterward dissecting it with my friends. Even when it fell into the slump in season 2 when Lynch wasn't in the thick of things, I stuck with it. I can't even begin to say how excited I am about the new TP next year.
Back in the day, I was a huge Audrey/Dale shipper. Before I even understood what shipping was all about. On a recent rewatch, my age--and the fact that I now have a teenaged daughter--had me scolding Dale during those scenes ("Dale! She is eighteen years old! You of all people should know better!"). That doesn't mean I don't think there's potential there, though, just not in the time frame of the actual show. I'd love to see a post-series fic, a few years down the road. Maybe it's a darkfic where Dale is playing Audrey in some way. Or maybe Dale is back to his good self and the two reconnect. Or maybe Audrey is part of saving Dale (in which case, I could probably be convinced not to be so uptight about her youth since that could happen close to the end of the series).
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.