Yuletide Letter - 2016! The Yuletidening
Dear Yuletide writer,
Thanks so much for writing for me!
I'm gonna list some general tropes and things I enjoy before I break it down by fandom. These are just a few of the many things I enjoy in fic, so please don't feel pressured to follow this letter to the letter! (Also I've totally cribbed from my older letters where my preferences haven't changed.)
In general:
I love canon-divergence AUs - what would happen if it went THIS way instead of THAT way. I enjoy dysfunctional relationships between characters who are morally opposed to each other and who ought to be (or are) enemies. I love "dark knights" & "paladins" (and shipping these types together.) I love characters who are morally polarized and amoral characters who blur the lines. I like it when very different characters are forced to work together and/or learn one another's ways. I also enjoy different cultures learning each others' ways as well, human and alien societies getting to know one another.
Some major kinks/tropes I enjoy: good guys turning to evil/the Dark Side/what have you; forced transformation/transformation trauma/body horror; evil twins and doppelgangers; mind control (especially if the character's conscious of it, but can't fight it); dubcon; monsters and xeno; creepy abandoned places (dark temples, etc) and dark cults; technology and posthumanism.
I love snark and characters sassing each other. I'm a fan of gen/slash/femslash/het/whatever. Anything goes. When I ship two characters, I enjoy both platonic and romantic relationships, as it's the character interaction that's the most important thing to me. I love when good triumphs over evil...but good has to go through a lot of shit to get there. I like darkfic with a happy ending...but that could be anything from the good guys winning to joining the bad guys. <---- especially this last part
DNW: I don't have many, but I'd request you ask a Yuletide hippo if you're thinking of including something you fear might be unexpected or unwanted. Please no: straight-up noncon/rapefic, AUs that remove characters from the canon setting, issuefic, A/B/O, suicide references, dismemberment, or major character death. If writing a genderswap prompt I'd like the character's gender identity to remain intact i.e. independent of their new physiology, please. Thanks!
My requests! (Random order)
Dungeon Fighter | Dungeon & Fighter (Male Slayer, Priest)
I'd love to get something here about the origin story of either one of these characters, or both! I love the little details of Arad and the Grimdark McEvil classes are my favorite. I'm really into the whole demon possession thing. For Priest I'm especially interested in Avenger, of course, or in a non-Avenger Priest who struggles with temptation.We see a little bit of the background for M. Slayer and Priest in their opening stories, so I'd love anything that explores them a little more, or follows them on their journeys as adventurers. I'm not very high level (70 ish?) but I'm having a hard time finding/following the story in this game, so spoilers are totally OK. It'd be great to hear about canonical Slayers and Priests or about your own character~! What I'd love to see is something exploring/developing the world of Arad and how these classes deal with their faith/demon issues/other struggles. Darkish is OK. I'm totally fine with you exploring one or both of these characters, gen/slash/whatever is also welcome. Weird idea: I'd even be OK with a "modern girl/guy in arad" type self-insert, complete with genderfuck if your insert character is female. Just give me all that great monstery angst, drama and adventure!
Sigma Star Saga (Ian Recker, Psyme, Commander Zelly)
I would love literally anything with these characters, in any combination. I'd love to see some xenophilia, intrigue, space politics, war stories. I think this could be a great setting for some Enemy Mine-type shenanigans, learning one anothers' culture, etc. I'd love to see, while Recker and Psyme are working together, Recker playing good, obedient soldier to Commander Zelly...smut welcome. I was also intrigued by the symbiont armor worn by the Krill and the fact that Ian has no problem wearing it - I'd love to see some insight on what that feels like. I love Recker and Psyme snarking at each other and Commander Zelly being a boss. Seeing the game come to a bad end, with worlds destroyed...what might happen then? I'd love to read an AU about their lives in exile. I'd enjoy gen, Recker/Psyme, Recker and Psyme friendship, Zelly/Recker, a threesome, all is good. Heck, if you wanted to give me a genderswapped-by-alien-science Recker f/f/f I would be totally down. Xeno, tentacles, I think a lot of things would work great here!
Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits: (Kharg, Darc)
Prompt ideas:
- Darc, Kharg, Darc/Kharg, Kharg/Darc Darc + Kharg
- Two sides of the same coin
- Kharg is the one with a more Deimos personality
- Twincest
- Role reversal - Kharg on the run, Darc in a position of responsibility (postgame?)
- Darc has to save Kharg's ass - from the humans
- Darc, Kharg or both regrow their wings. Or turn full Deimos. Awwwwyeah.
- Wingkink, flight
- Rough play or rough sex
- Kharg has fangs. Darc is amused by this.
- Deimos are...different.
I love the relationship between these two, whether platonic or slash. Great rivals. I believe Kharg has a Deimos's heart in a human body, and Darc a human heart in a Deimos one. ...Still think they'd bare teeth at each other a lot. I would love to see Kharg being forced to come to terms with his Deimos heritage, and Darc introducing him to it. I would absolutely love any kind of transformation fic here where Kharg comes to resemble the half-Deimos he is, or somehow he and/or Darc become full Deimos (seems like the big macguffin near the end of the game could cause this.) I'd also love more detail on Deimos culture and maybe Darc and Kharg having to do some traditional activity or ritual together to support the Drakyr. Please no noncon (dubcon is okay), or Kharg-bashing. He's a douche, but I love him. Wouldn't mind him getting taken down a peg though.
I hope this was helpful! Please don't hesitate to contact a Yuletide hippo if you have any questions or need clarification, if you want to include something but aren't sure if it's okay, etc.
MOST IMPORTANTLY. Have fun! Happy Yuletide.