Dear Yuletide Writer 2015
Hello Yuletide writer, and thank you in advance for whatever you write this year! 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 gen and het. 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, humor, etc. More specifically, 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 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 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 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!
Mad Max: Fury Road, Furiosa - I adore Furiosa and am fascinated by every aspect of her character, so you could write basically anything about her and I would be happy, whether it's a pre-canon fic about her time with the Vuvalini, or a missing scene fic filling in blanks from the movie, or a post-canon fic about what life is like after Immortan Joe. Just to name a few! What I found most intriguing in the film itself was her relationship with the Wives, and how she clearly protected and cared about them while simultaneously maintaining some emotional distance from them. Stories about women's relationships with other women are pretty much my favorite thing ever (and precisely why I loved MMFR so much), so a fic centering on the development of her relationships to any or all of the Wives--whether before, during, or after the film--would have me thrilled.
Shipping-wise, I typically prefer not to have Furiosa shipped with anyone. I'm not necessarily opposed to some hinted or background Max/Furiosa, but I would prefer for it not to be the focus of the story. I'm also aware of the basic events of the Furiosa backstory comic, though I haven't actually read it in full. If you want to incorporate elements of the comic, that's fine; if you'd rather ignore it altogether and stick to movie-canon only, that's fine too.
Star Wars: The Old Republic, Lana Beniko - I stayed stubbornly neutral on Lana throughout pretty much all of the Forged Alliances and Shadow of Revan story arcs, mostly because she was always so serene and even-keel that it was hard to get a read on her. But in Ziost and especially KOTFE, I've started to find her a lot more intriguing, and now I'm wondering what makes her tick. Why is she so different from your typical Sith Lord? We know virtually nothing about her past. I'd be interested to see a fic about what her experience has been like as someone with a mindset and bearing so radically different from most of her peers--someone who cares more about the Empire than about personal gain and power.
I think that about does it. Thank you so much in advance, again! I hope this info is helpful, and that you have happy holidays and a great Yuletide.
What I like: I'm a big fan of both gen and het. 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, humor, etc. More specifically, 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 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 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 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!
Mad Max: Fury Road, Furiosa - I adore Furiosa and am fascinated by every aspect of her character, so you could write basically anything about her and I would be happy, whether it's a pre-canon fic about her time with the Vuvalini, or a missing scene fic filling in blanks from the movie, or a post-canon fic about what life is like after Immortan Joe. Just to name a few! What I found most intriguing in the film itself was her relationship with the Wives, and how she clearly protected and cared about them while simultaneously maintaining some emotional distance from them. Stories about women's relationships with other women are pretty much my favorite thing ever (and precisely why I loved MMFR so much), so a fic centering on the development of her relationships to any or all of the Wives--whether before, during, or after the film--would have me thrilled.
Shipping-wise, I typically prefer not to have Furiosa shipped with anyone. I'm not necessarily opposed to some hinted or background Max/Furiosa, but I would prefer for it not to be the focus of the story. I'm also aware of the basic events of the Furiosa backstory comic, though I haven't actually read it in full. If you want to incorporate elements of the comic, that's fine; if you'd rather ignore it altogether and stick to movie-canon only, that's fine too.
Star Wars: The Old Republic, Lana Beniko - I stayed stubbornly neutral on Lana throughout pretty much all of the Forged Alliances and Shadow of Revan story arcs, mostly because she was always so serene and even-keel that it was hard to get a read on her. But in Ziost and especially KOTFE, I've started to find her a lot more intriguing, and now I'm wondering what makes her tick. Why is she so different from your typical Sith Lord? We know virtually nothing about her past. I'd be interested to see a fic about what her experience has been like as someone with a mindset and bearing so radically different from most of her peers--someone who cares more about the Empire than about personal gain and power.
I think that about does it. Thank you so much in advance, again! I hope this info is helpful, and that you have happy holidays and a great Yuletide.