Dear Yuletide Writer 2014
Hi! First of all, my profuse apologies for taking so long to get this letter posted. My work situation/schedule has been unusually crazy lately, and it's been throwing me off my game a little. I hope I didn't cause too much unnecessary panic!
Here's a bit of general information about my fic preferences that I hope will prove helpful.
What I like: I'm a big fan of both het and gen. Genre-wise, pretty much anything goes! I would say most of what I read falls under the general categories of drama or romance, but I'm also fond of angst, fluff, crack, humor, etc. Moving into somewhat more specific territory, I love fics that dig into characters' heads--what they're thinking and feeling, what drives them, how they interact and react to the world around them, and so on. The same is true of relationships--what makes this pairing tick? Why are they together? And so on. That's not to say that I need pages and pages of pondering and introspection, but even just a smattering of details that really help set the scene and make me feel like I'm right there in the middle of it with the characters will make me a happy reader. I also love love love awesome female characters being awesome. That doesn't necessarily have to equate to being physically kickass, either--it could be anything from a witty line of banter to a thoughtful conversation to a creative problem-solving method, just to scratch the surface.
What I'm not so into: Rape/non-con is my biggest squick. Slash and femslash are also not particularly my thing, and I would prefer for character death to be avoided if at all possible (unless the story deals with the ramifications of a canonical character death, of course). While I'm fine with an angsty story, I tend to stay away from extremely dark, punch-to-the-gut angst. I like my endings happy, or at least bittersweet and/or hopeful.
A few fandom-specific notes:
Alpha Protocol, Mike Thorton and Mina Tang - Every year I nominate and request this, ever hopeful! Whenever I play Alpha Protocol, my Mike always ends up with Mina. I know there are a billion different options for everything in this game, but this is one that I can never bring myself to change. She's the one person who interacts with Mike and helps him out almost constantly throughout the game, and I'm a bit of a sucker for the "good friends and/or colleagues become lovers" trope. I think the number one thing I would like to see would be a fic exploring exactly what happens after the game ends (assuming that they took down Halbech and rode off on the boat together into the sunset). How do they transition from all the recent craziness into a more "normal" existence? Or do they just give normal a miss altogether and carry on with the secret spy business? The possibilities for a post-endgame fic are pretty limitless. But really, when it comes to specific details, I'm not picky--there's virtually no AP fic out there at all, so I would be happy to read just about anything!
No One Lives, Driver - I'm not usually into gory horror movies, but I watched this last year on a post-Hobbit Luke Evans kick, and found myself surprisingly intrigued by the Driver and his own (extremely) twisted sort of moral code. I always want to know what makes bad guys tick, especially when the canon itself gives little to no information about them--not even his name, in this case. So I'd love a pre-canon story exploring his origins and what, if anything, made him the way he is. I couldn't officially request Betty since she wasn't nominated, but I found their relationship to be the most interesting part of the film, so if you felt like including her that would be awesome. I'd also be up for a post-canon story about what he does after he strolls out of the hospital. Does he look for a new victim? Does he keep tabs on Emma? There's all sorts of possibilities and I'd be happy to read about any of them!
Star Wars: The Old Republic, Kaliyo Djannis - I know Kaliyo's a bit of a polarizing character, but she's one of my favorites in the whole game, because I have a big soft spot for ladies who go after what they want without letting anything stand in their way. I find her past especially intriguing because it's so varied--she seems like the type of person who could potentially be found anywhere across the galaxy in virtually any kind of situation--but at the same time it's so mysterious, because we know she's a pathological liar. So I'd love to see a "what actually happened" fic about Kaliyo's backstory. It doesn't have to cover her entire life story, of course (unless you want to!). I'd be happy to read a fic about any one of her many exploits.
Also, I requested only Kaliyo because I figured I had a better chance at matching on her than on one of the other, more rare SWTOR ladies nominated. But I'm also extremely fond of badass Sith ladies Thana Vesh and Darth Zash, so if you wanted to write a fic about one of them instead of Kaliyo, I'd be thrilled with that as well.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Asajj Ventress and Savage Opress - Continuing with the "morally convoluted kickass bald gray ladies" theme, I adore Asajj. I also had a soft spot for Savage, and I was always really intrigued by the power imbalance and dom/sub dynamic between the two of them (let's just say I'm a sucker for dominant women/submissive men). So I was pretty disappointed that they never met up again after the Monster/Nightsisters arc. I felt like that was a relationship that needed some kind of resolution before Savage went off and got himself killed, so I would love to see a fic providing some closure for that storyline, whether it's a missing-scene type of story or a full-fledged AU. Of course, that's just one optional suggestion--if you'd prefer to write a more canon-centered fic about them set during the Nightsisters arc, I'd be happy with that, too!
I think that about does it. Thank you so much in advance for whatever you wind up writing! I hope this info is helpful, and that you have happy holidays and a great Yuletide.
Here's a bit of general information about my fic preferences that I hope will prove helpful.
What I like: I'm a big fan of both het and gen. Genre-wise, pretty much anything goes! I would say most of what I read falls under the general categories of drama or romance, but I'm also fond of angst, fluff, crack, humor, etc. Moving into somewhat more specific territory, I love fics that dig into characters' heads--what they're thinking and feeling, what drives them, how they interact and react to the world around them, and so on. The same is true of relationships--what makes this pairing tick? Why are they together? And so on. That's not to say that I need pages and pages of pondering and introspection, but even just a smattering of details that really help set the scene and make me feel like I'm right there in the middle of it with the characters will make me a happy reader. I also love love love awesome female characters being awesome. That doesn't necessarily have to equate to being physically kickass, either--it could be anything from a witty line of banter to a thoughtful conversation to a creative problem-solving method, just to scratch the surface.
What I'm not so into: Rape/non-con is my biggest squick. Slash and femslash are also not particularly my thing, and I would prefer for character death to be avoided if at all possible (unless the story deals with the ramifications of a canonical character death, of course). While I'm fine with an angsty story, I tend to stay away from extremely dark, punch-to-the-gut angst. I like my endings happy, or at least bittersweet and/or hopeful.
A few fandom-specific notes:
Alpha Protocol, Mike Thorton and Mina Tang - Every year I nominate and request this, ever hopeful! Whenever I play Alpha Protocol, my Mike always ends up with Mina. I know there are a billion different options for everything in this game, but this is one that I can never bring myself to change. She's the one person who interacts with Mike and helps him out almost constantly throughout the game, and I'm a bit of a sucker for the "good friends and/or colleagues become lovers" trope. I think the number one thing I would like to see would be a fic exploring exactly what happens after the game ends (assuming that they took down Halbech and rode off on the boat together into the sunset). How do they transition from all the recent craziness into a more "normal" existence? Or do they just give normal a miss altogether and carry on with the secret spy business? The possibilities for a post-endgame fic are pretty limitless. But really, when it comes to specific details, I'm not picky--there's virtually no AP fic out there at all, so I would be happy to read just about anything!
No One Lives, Driver - I'm not usually into gory horror movies, but I watched this last year on a post-Hobbit Luke Evans kick, and found myself surprisingly intrigued by the Driver and his own (extremely) twisted sort of moral code. I always want to know what makes bad guys tick, especially when the canon itself gives little to no information about them--not even his name, in this case. So I'd love a pre-canon story exploring his origins and what, if anything, made him the way he is. I couldn't officially request Betty since she wasn't nominated, but I found their relationship to be the most interesting part of the film, so if you felt like including her that would be awesome. I'd also be up for a post-canon story about what he does after he strolls out of the hospital. Does he look for a new victim? Does he keep tabs on Emma? There's all sorts of possibilities and I'd be happy to read about any of them!
Star Wars: The Old Republic, Kaliyo Djannis - I know Kaliyo's a bit of a polarizing character, but she's one of my favorites in the whole game, because I have a big soft spot for ladies who go after what they want without letting anything stand in their way. I find her past especially intriguing because it's so varied--she seems like the type of person who could potentially be found anywhere across the galaxy in virtually any kind of situation--but at the same time it's so mysterious, because we know she's a pathological liar. So I'd love to see a "what actually happened" fic about Kaliyo's backstory. It doesn't have to cover her entire life story, of course (unless you want to!). I'd be happy to read a fic about any one of her many exploits.
Also, I requested only Kaliyo because I figured I had a better chance at matching on her than on one of the other, more rare SWTOR ladies nominated. But I'm also extremely fond of badass Sith ladies Thana Vesh and Darth Zash, so if you wanted to write a fic about one of them instead of Kaliyo, I'd be thrilled with that as well.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Asajj Ventress and Savage Opress - Continuing with the "morally convoluted kickass bald gray ladies" theme, I adore Asajj. I also had a soft spot for Savage, and I was always really intrigued by the power imbalance and dom/sub dynamic between the two of them (let's just say I'm a sucker for dominant women/submissive men). So I was pretty disappointed that they never met up again after the Monster/Nightsisters arc. I felt like that was a relationship that needed some kind of resolution before Savage went off and got himself killed, so I would love to see a fic providing some closure for that storyline, whether it's a missing-scene type of story or a full-fledged AU. Of course, that's just one optional suggestion--if you'd prefer to write a more canon-centered fic about them set during the Nightsisters arc, I'd be happy with that, too!
I think that about does it. Thank you so much in advance for whatever you wind up writing! I hope this info is helpful, and that you have happy holidays and a great Yuletide.