Yuletide Letter!
Dear Yuleperson,
First of all, I'm sorry this letter has been delayed a few days! I'm in the northeast and Sandy has messed with my access and senses. But all is well now, and I'm super-happy to start thinking about Yuletide. I hope you like your assignment even half as much as I like mine!
I'm going to copy and paste my general notes from last year, because they still apply:
I firmly believe that Yuletide is a writer's game. We all get thousands of stories to read, but we only get one to write (usually). Write what makes YOU happy, first and foremost, and that will make ME happy.
If you clicked on this post, though, chances are you want some idea of what I'm interested in, so I'll provide a few details. I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to fiction. I'm primarily a boyslasher, but I also love genfic and het and femslash and OT3s and all sorts of things. I love well-researched fics with a lot of attention to historical or geographical detail, though that isn't always necessary. I love slash that delves into the nitty-gritty day-to-day experiences of being LGBT, especially in past historical periods. I like angst and fluff about equally, and though I don't read much classic hurt-comfort, I like both hurt and comfort when they service a story. I love, love, love character studies, or studies of a relationship (romantic, platonic, or familial) between two or three characters (you may notice this is a particularly strong theme in this year's requests). I love futurefic and pastfic and fill-in-the-blanks fic within the confines of a story. I love unrequited love and irrational devotion and sacrifice and complicated love quadrangles. I love personal revelations and coming-of-age stories and musings on identity. I love kidfic (both characters-having-kids and stories about characters when they were kids). I don't write plotty epics, but I respect the hell out of people who can pull them off. I can enjoy fic from G to NC-17 -- porn is fine and can be great but isn't necessary. For a better idea of my tastes, feel free to check out my fic, though I've never written in these fandoms.
A few things I don't like include humiliation and dramatic irony (wacky misunderstandings and the like), sexual relationships with huge power differentials (teacher/student, parent/child, big age gaps where the characters first met when one was a child and the other a teen/adult, any mentor/mentee dynamic), and racism, sexism, and homophobia (unless they're a product of a historical era or interrogated within the text). I'm also not a huge fan of AUs -- I like the "what if?" variety, but "they're all space pirates!" isn't usually my cup of tea. But if that's what you desperately want to write, I won't complain -- I've certainly seen it done well, and I trust your writerly instincts!
For request-specific stuff, we'll take this below a cut:
Downton Abbey -- Matthew Crawley
It seems like we know almost nothing about Matthew's life before Downton, and I'd love to explore that. For one thing, what made him decide to become a lawyer when his father and grandfather were doctors? I really love Isobel, too, so anything focusing on his relationship with her would be great. Really, anything about Matthew pre-series would make me very happy.
I think I put most of my thoughts into the signup for this one. Matthew is my favorite character on Downton Abbey, and I would love to learn more about him. I'm interested in pre-series stuff particularly because I feel like we get a pretty good sense of what the past was like for the people who have always lived in the house, but the people who were outsiders have more nebulous histories. I love Mary and all the other characters, but I'd rather see something about Matthew in a different environment -- maybe one where he's not so much a fish-out-of-water. Also, if Isobel had been nominated, I absolutely would have requested her, too, because I think she's awesome. If you're not a fan, it's totally ok if you'd rather not focus on her, but I'd prefer no outright bashing, since it's clear Matthew loves his mom.
Revenge -- Jack Porter
Jack is easily my favorite character on Revenge, and I'd love to know more about him, especially in the years between his childhood friendship with Amanda and the time the show starts. I find myself wondering what was it like for him, growing up lower middle class surrounded by the absurdly wealthy. But I'll take any fic about Jack -- his relationship with either/both of the Amandas, his friendship with Nolan (which I ADORE), his attempt to be a guardian/caretaker to Declan, odd couple team-up shenanigans with Daniel (why doesn't the show do this more??)... it's hard to go wrong, here.
What it says on the tin. If I had to marry any character on a currently-airing television show, it would be Jack Porter. I think he's awesome, even when he's slightly dumb, and I love his dedication to being a stand-up guy, even when everyone around him is a horrible human being. He has interesting interactions with a lot of different characters, and I'd be happy to see any of them explored, or simply gen fic about him that involves OCs or no other characters whatsoever. I read Jack as pretty straight, but if you want to go to a shippy place with Nolan, that's ok, too, and I'm fine with his relationship with any ladies on the show. (No incest though, please.) Also, I'm totally a Daniel fan, and while I understand if you don't like him and don't want to write the two of them interacting, I'd prefer no outright bashing of his character (beyond the canonical jealousy).
Mad Men -- Sally Draper
I'd love to see something about Sally as an adult. Given her age, and the fact that we canonically see her rather, ah, positive reaction to The Man from U.N.C.L.E., it might be fascinating to see her become part of the first wave of slash and 'zine-based fandom. But mostly I just want to see what this little girl will be when she's an adult and no longer controlled by her terrible parents.
The sky's the limit with this one. I find Sally Draper fascinating, particularly as a character with very distinct personality that has grown and formed as the show's progressed and she's gotten older. She's never just been "the kid," like so many TV children are. So I'd love to see what that personality ultimately becomes when she's an adult. The "Sally is in early fandom" idea is one I've had for awhile and would love to see someone tackle, but if that doesn't interest you, that's totally cool. I'd just love to see anything about her as a grown up -- her job, her love life, her relationship with her parents and brothers, her hobbies, anything. The only thing I request is that you not include any kind of child sexual abuse -- the show goes to almost-squicky places with Sally a little too often for my liking, and while the physical abuse from Betty is canon, I wouldn't want to read about anything beyond that.
Hamm and Buble
This is possibly my favorite SNL sketch EVER, and anything you do with it would make my day. Fic about how the restaurant came to be, fic set after the sketch itself, Buble's escape plans, how Hamm descended into madness... whatever you want to do, it'll be awesome.
I always try to include a request with an easily-digestible canon that my fic writer could conceivably fill if the request we matched on is not something they feel they can write. So if you matched on another one of my fandoms and are looking at it with horror, you can check out this source in its entirety here, as it's just one short SNL sketch in which Jon Hamm and Michael Buble open a restaurant that sells only pork and champagne. It's insane, and I would literally read anything about it, from pure crack ("and then they opened a new location ON THE MOON!") to, like, BDSM porn. And if we DID match on this fandom, I don't think I have to tell you to go to town, since you're already a fan. Have fun with it. The idea of Hamm and Buble fic existing in the world, in whatever form, fills me with glee.
First of all, I'm sorry this letter has been delayed a few days! I'm in the northeast and Sandy has messed with my access and senses. But all is well now, and I'm super-happy to start thinking about Yuletide. I hope you like your assignment even half as much as I like mine!
I'm going to copy and paste my general notes from last year, because they still apply:
I firmly believe that Yuletide is a writer's game. We all get thousands of stories to read, but we only get one to write (usually). Write what makes YOU happy, first and foremost, and that will make ME happy.
If you clicked on this post, though, chances are you want some idea of what I'm interested in, so I'll provide a few details. I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to fiction. I'm primarily a boyslasher, but I also love genfic and het and femslash and OT3s and all sorts of things. I love well-researched fics with a lot of attention to historical or geographical detail, though that isn't always necessary. I love slash that delves into the nitty-gritty day-to-day experiences of being LGBT, especially in past historical periods. I like angst and fluff about equally, and though I don't read much classic hurt-comfort, I like both hurt and comfort when they service a story. I love, love, love character studies, or studies of a relationship (romantic, platonic, or familial) between two or three characters (you may notice this is a particularly strong theme in this year's requests). I love futurefic and pastfic and fill-in-the-blanks fic within the confines of a story. I love unrequited love and irrational devotion and sacrifice and complicated love quadrangles. I love personal revelations and coming-of-age stories and musings on identity. I love kidfic (both characters-having-kids and stories about characters when they were kids). I don't write plotty epics, but I respect the hell out of people who can pull them off. I can enjoy fic from G to NC-17 -- porn is fine and can be great but isn't necessary. For a better idea of my tastes, feel free to check out my fic, though I've never written in these fandoms.
A few things I don't like include humiliation and dramatic irony (wacky misunderstandings and the like), sexual relationships with huge power differentials (teacher/student, parent/child, big age gaps where the characters first met when one was a child and the other a teen/adult, any mentor/mentee dynamic), and racism, sexism, and homophobia (unless they're a product of a historical era or interrogated within the text). I'm also not a huge fan of AUs -- I like the "what if?" variety, but "they're all space pirates!" isn't usually my cup of tea. But if that's what you desperately want to write, I won't complain -- I've certainly seen it done well, and I trust your writerly instincts!
For request-specific stuff, we'll take this below a cut:
Downton Abbey -- Matthew Crawley
It seems like we know almost nothing about Matthew's life before Downton, and I'd love to explore that. For one thing, what made him decide to become a lawyer when his father and grandfather were doctors? I really love Isobel, too, so anything focusing on his relationship with her would be great. Really, anything about Matthew pre-series would make me very happy.
I think I put most of my thoughts into the signup for this one. Matthew is my favorite character on Downton Abbey, and I would love to learn more about him. I'm interested in pre-series stuff particularly because I feel like we get a pretty good sense of what the past was like for the people who have always lived in the house, but the people who were outsiders have more nebulous histories. I love Mary and all the other characters, but I'd rather see something about Matthew in a different environment -- maybe one where he's not so much a fish-out-of-water. Also, if Isobel had been nominated, I absolutely would have requested her, too, because I think she's awesome. If you're not a fan, it's totally ok if you'd rather not focus on her, but I'd prefer no outright bashing, since it's clear Matthew loves his mom.
Revenge -- Jack Porter
Jack is easily my favorite character on Revenge, and I'd love to know more about him, especially in the years between his childhood friendship with Amanda and the time the show starts. I find myself wondering what was it like for him, growing up lower middle class surrounded by the absurdly wealthy. But I'll take any fic about Jack -- his relationship with either/both of the Amandas, his friendship with Nolan (which I ADORE), his attempt to be a guardian/caretaker to Declan, odd couple team-up shenanigans with Daniel (why doesn't the show do this more??)... it's hard to go wrong, here.
What it says on the tin. If I had to marry any character on a currently-airing television show, it would be Jack Porter. I think he's awesome, even when he's slightly dumb, and I love his dedication to being a stand-up guy, even when everyone around him is a horrible human being. He has interesting interactions with a lot of different characters, and I'd be happy to see any of them explored, or simply gen fic about him that involves OCs or no other characters whatsoever. I read Jack as pretty straight, but if you want to go to a shippy place with Nolan, that's ok, too, and I'm fine with his relationship with any ladies on the show. (No incest though, please.) Also, I'm totally a Daniel fan, and while I understand if you don't like him and don't want to write the two of them interacting, I'd prefer no outright bashing of his character (beyond the canonical jealousy).
Mad Men -- Sally Draper
I'd love to see something about Sally as an adult. Given her age, and the fact that we canonically see her rather, ah, positive reaction to The Man from U.N.C.L.E., it might be fascinating to see her become part of the first wave of slash and 'zine-based fandom. But mostly I just want to see what this little girl will be when she's an adult and no longer controlled by her terrible parents.
The sky's the limit with this one. I find Sally Draper fascinating, particularly as a character with very distinct personality that has grown and formed as the show's progressed and she's gotten older. She's never just been "the kid," like so many TV children are. So I'd love to see what that personality ultimately becomes when she's an adult. The "Sally is in early fandom" idea is one I've had for awhile and would love to see someone tackle, but if that doesn't interest you, that's totally cool. I'd just love to see anything about her as a grown up -- her job, her love life, her relationship with her parents and brothers, her hobbies, anything. The only thing I request is that you not include any kind of child sexual abuse -- the show goes to almost-squicky places with Sally a little too often for my liking, and while the physical abuse from Betty is canon, I wouldn't want to read about anything beyond that.
Hamm and Buble
This is possibly my favorite SNL sketch EVER, and anything you do with it would make my day. Fic about how the restaurant came to be, fic set after the sketch itself, Buble's escape plans, how Hamm descended into madness... whatever you want to do, it'll be awesome.
I always try to include a request with an easily-digestible canon that my fic writer could conceivably fill if the request we matched on is not something they feel they can write. So if you matched on another one of my fandoms and are looking at it with horror, you can check out this source in its entirety here, as it's just one short SNL sketch in which Jon Hamm and Michael Buble open a restaurant that sells only pork and champagne. It's insane, and I would literally read anything about it, from pure crack ("and then they opened a new location ON THE MOON!") to, like, BDSM porn. And if we DID match on this fandom, I don't think I have to tell you to go to town, since you're already a fan. Have fun with it. The idea of Hamm and Buble fic existing in the world, in whatever form, fills me with glee.