Dear Yuletide writer
Thank you so much for participating in this exchange and for offering one or more of my requested fandoms! A few important things I wanted to tell you:
* Optional details are optional. I've offered some possible hooks for a story in each of my requests because that's how I like to write for exchanges, but if your creativity is sparked in other ways, or if you just don't like any of my suggestions, then feel free to ignore them and write a different story for those characters.
* Yuletide tends to be a high-pressure exchange for a lot of people, and while I'm not trying to invalidate your feelings if you're one of them, I do want to encourage you to not worry too much. Three of my fandoms are tiny even by Yuletide standards, and the fourth fandom has a heavy preponderance of self-insert fic. (Not that there's anything wrong with that! It's just not what I'm looking for in fanfic.) So there's very little you could write that I wouldn't be delighted by, just for the fact of its existence.
* I'm chattier about some of my requests than others this year. Please don't think that this indicates a preference on my part for one fandom over another. I promise, I'd be equally thrilled to receive a story in any of these fandoms.
As I said, I tend to prefer more info rather than less when writing for exchanges. If you feel the same, then please check out my general fic kinks and squicks post and/or continue reading:
Holes -- Louis Sachar
Stanley Yelnats/Hector Zeroni
I thought that the way Stanley's and Hector's journey was written in the book was incredibly romantic, and I'd love to see their relationship developed further. If you can't write slash for these characters, then Hector's my favorite and I'd really like to see more of his life: perhaps backstory before he was sent to Camp Green Lake (no need to include Stanley in the fic, if you go that route) or future fic about his adjusting to life after the traumatic experiences he's had.
Upon rereading the book recently, I realized that Hector's backstory is more fleshed-out than I'd remembered it being when I wrote this prompt. But that doesn't mean there isn't room for yet more backstory, if that's what you're interested in! And everything else in my prompt absolutely continues to apply, as well.
Iskryne Series -- Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette
Isolfr/Skjaldwulf/Vethulf
Threesome fic, please! I liked how The Tempering of Men developed Skjaldwulf's and Vethulf's side of the triangle, but I think that all three men have a long way to go before they're entirely settled in their relationship, and I'd love to see some of that process. Romance and porn are both great (though I'd prefer to not receive a PWP), as are explorations of the sociopolitical aspects of their relationships with each other and with the wolfheall.
My love for this series is overwhelming and not quite rational. Vikings! (Well, sort of.) Trolls! Pairbonding with wolves in a way that's not kitschy but actually cool and a little bit frightening! Men forced into what are essentially marriages of convenience with other men! People doing what they must to survive in a cold, harsh land! Roman incursions into occupied land and the clash of disparate cultures! So many of my favorite things; I adore it. If you're not interested in writing romance for this threesome, then just use my requested characters to explore some of the other things I enthuse about in this paragraph, and I'll be sure to love it. Please don't break the three of them up, though, even if your story doesn't focus closely on the romantic/sexual part of their relationship.
Le Corsaire (ballet)
Ali
Ali's my favorite character, but he functions mostly as a foil for the other characters in the ballet. I'd love to see more about his life from his perspective. A few possibilities: how did he originally come to be Conrad's slave? Does he suffer from Stockholm Syndrome, or is there a more complex or devious reason for the assistance he gives Conrad? Does he become friends with Medora and/or Gulnare? What happens to him after the shipwreck? (A happy ending would be fantastic!)
Gen or shipfic are both welcome. I don't ship Ali/Gulnare on its own, but other than that I'm open to pretty much any het, slash, or poly relationship you could come up with, including Ali/Conrad, Ali/Medora, Ali/Birbanto (non-con, presumably), Ali/Conrad/Medora, Ali/Gulnare/Medora, Ali/OMC, and Ali/OFC.
One piece of head canon that you might find relevant: It seems pretty obvious to me that one of Ali's main duties on the pirate ship is to be available for the pirates' sexual use/abuse. I'm open to reading other interpretations of his role, though!
Smooth Criminal (2Cellos Music Video)
"Luka" (Smooth Criminal)/"Stjepan" (Smooth Criminal)/Woman (Smooth Criminal)
There are a few ways that the action of the music video could be read; please explore your favorite in fic! A happy, poly ending in which the men work out their jealousy and anger and the woman stops being disgusted with the two of them would be especially awesome, but you can leave it angsty if that's your preference.
Source: Smooth Criminal music video
The names Luka and Stjepan are in quotation marks because those are the musicians' names rather than the characters, but I'm fine with the characters being called Stjepan and Luka. I couldn't find the actress's name, but pretty much any female Croatian name will work for that character.
This entry also posted at: http://jain.dreamwidth.org/126587.html.
people have commented there.
* Optional details are optional. I've offered some possible hooks for a story in each of my requests because that's how I like to write for exchanges, but if your creativity is sparked in other ways, or if you just don't like any of my suggestions, then feel free to ignore them and write a different story for those characters.
* Yuletide tends to be a high-pressure exchange for a lot of people, and while I'm not trying to invalidate your feelings if you're one of them, I do want to encourage you to not worry too much. Three of my fandoms are tiny even by Yuletide standards, and the fourth fandom has a heavy preponderance of self-insert fic. (Not that there's anything wrong with that! It's just not what I'm looking for in fanfic.) So there's very little you could write that I wouldn't be delighted by, just for the fact of its existence.
* I'm chattier about some of my requests than others this year. Please don't think that this indicates a preference on my part for one fandom over another. I promise, I'd be equally thrilled to receive a story in any of these fandoms.
As I said, I tend to prefer more info rather than less when writing for exchanges. If you feel the same, then please check out my general fic kinks and squicks post and/or continue reading:
Holes -- Louis Sachar
Stanley Yelnats/Hector Zeroni
I thought that the way Stanley's and Hector's journey was written in the book was incredibly romantic, and I'd love to see their relationship developed further. If you can't write slash for these characters, then Hector's my favorite and I'd really like to see more of his life: perhaps backstory before he was sent to Camp Green Lake (no need to include Stanley in the fic, if you go that route) or future fic about his adjusting to life after the traumatic experiences he's had.
Upon rereading the book recently, I realized that Hector's backstory is more fleshed-out than I'd remembered it being when I wrote this prompt. But that doesn't mean there isn't room for yet more backstory, if that's what you're interested in! And everything else in my prompt absolutely continues to apply, as well.
Iskryne Series -- Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette
Isolfr/Skjaldwulf/Vethulf
Threesome fic, please! I liked how The Tempering of Men developed Skjaldwulf's and Vethulf's side of the triangle, but I think that all three men have a long way to go before they're entirely settled in their relationship, and I'd love to see some of that process. Romance and porn are both great (though I'd prefer to not receive a PWP), as are explorations of the sociopolitical aspects of their relationships with each other and with the wolfheall.
My love for this series is overwhelming and not quite rational. Vikings! (Well, sort of.) Trolls! Pairbonding with wolves in a way that's not kitschy but actually cool and a little bit frightening! Men forced into what are essentially marriages of convenience with other men! People doing what they must to survive in a cold, harsh land! Roman incursions into occupied land and the clash of disparate cultures! So many of my favorite things; I adore it. If you're not interested in writing romance for this threesome, then just use my requested characters to explore some of the other things I enthuse about in this paragraph, and I'll be sure to love it. Please don't break the three of them up, though, even if your story doesn't focus closely on the romantic/sexual part of their relationship.
Le Corsaire (ballet)
Ali
Ali's my favorite character, but he functions mostly as a foil for the other characters in the ballet. I'd love to see more about his life from his perspective. A few possibilities: how did he originally come to be Conrad's slave? Does he suffer from Stockholm Syndrome, or is there a more complex or devious reason for the assistance he gives Conrad? Does he become friends with Medora and/or Gulnare? What happens to him after the shipwreck? (A happy ending would be fantastic!)
Gen or shipfic are both welcome. I don't ship Ali/Gulnare on its own, but other than that I'm open to pretty much any het, slash, or poly relationship you could come up with, including Ali/Conrad, Ali/Medora, Ali/Birbanto (non-con, presumably), Ali/Conrad/Medora, Ali/Gulnare/Medora, Ali/OMC, and Ali/OFC.
One piece of head canon that you might find relevant: It seems pretty obvious to me that one of Ali's main duties on the pirate ship is to be available for the pirates' sexual use/abuse. I'm open to reading other interpretations of his role, though!
Smooth Criminal (2Cellos Music Video)
"Luka" (Smooth Criminal)/"Stjepan" (Smooth Criminal)/Woman (Smooth Criminal)
There are a few ways that the action of the music video could be read; please explore your favorite in fic! A happy, poly ending in which the men work out their jealousy and anger and the woman stops being disgusted with the two of them would be especially awesome, but you can leave it angsty if that's your preference.
Source: Smooth Criminal music video
The names Luka and Stjepan are in quotation marks because those are the musicians' names rather than the characters, but I'm fine with the characters being called Stjepan and Luka. I couldn't find the actress's name, but pretty much any female Croatian name will work for that character.
This entry also posted at: http://jain.dreamwidth.org/126587.html.
people have commented there.