Dear 2010 Yuletide Santa
First, thanks so much for writing for me! I'm excited about the requests I made this year (even if thinking them up took a while), and I'd be thrilled to see any of them filled. I try to give my Yuleauthors (Yulethors?) a lot of options because I know the matching process isn't always exact. That being said, if the prompts really aren't working for you and there's another story you want to tell, feel free to ditch the prompts entirely and do your own thing -- I'll still want to read that story.
So! Things I'm drawn to in fic! The list I have over here is still valid. To summarize: I love CONFLICT and CONSEQUENCES, whatever forms they might take; I love seeing how the macro- affects the micro-; I love struggle and recovery and things that don't come easily and things that don't work out as planned and things that must be dealt with and strength that comes from unexpected places. I'm comfortable with any and all ratings and quite a few pairings, too, as long as you make me believe the sex/violence/etc. within the context of the story. I definitely like porn, and have tossed out a few porny options this year for nearly all my prompts, but porn isn't necessary if that isn't your thing.
Genrewise, I like everything from romance to horror to humor, as long as there's conflict in it somewhere. (So non-sequitur-derived humor and fluff/sap don't really do it for me.) Happy endings are fine, unhappy endings are fine, endings that are a little bit of both are fine, as long as the characters have earned them through their actions and through the consequences of those actions. I am generally not a big fan of fix-it fic, and am not interested in reading it for any of the canons I requested, with the sort-of exception of my Fairy Tales request.
The Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
So I adore Finnick, and I'd love to read more about him. A story from his Hunger Games would be great -- we know he managed to charm the pants off the sponsors (and that he's deadly with a trident), but what other tricks did he use to keep himself in the game? What did Mags teach him when she was his mentor? What did the Gamemasters spring on him? How did he finally win? I'd also love to see something about his and Annie's relationship; we know from what he said in Mockingjay that she crept up on him, but not much more than that. If you're up for it, I'd definitely read a story about Finnick and his clients, either when he realized what President Snow was asking of him or how he figured out how to turn the things he learned to his advantage. If you have other stories about Finnick in mind you'd like to tell, go wild with them -- I just want Finnick fic.
First off, I MOTHERFUCKING LOVE THESE BOOKS. This is one of the ones I'm most adamant about not seeing fix-it fic for, as my choice of character probably indicates, because I'd rather explore how fucked up the world is -- and the struggle to find love and meaning in it -- than make it all better. This isn't to say that the story has to be depressing; if you decide to write about Finnick and Annie and how they fell in love, I'd be all over that! I just don't want it to be easy. I want to see the challenges of being a victor, how what you do in the arena translates into what you do outside of it, how it changes people's relationships and perceptions of the world. I think seeing that struggle, and seeing Finnick overcome all he's been put through, makes him that much more awesome.
You can get all three books of The Hunger Games trilogy online for under thirty bucks, if you want to check them out, and libraries probably have them, too. I'd recommend reading them even if you don't plan to write for this request, because I really freaking love these books.
Goodbye Chains
If you've been keeping up with the series, you can probably guess what this request is. :D Seriously, though -- Banquo's back, sort of, and Colin has to decide what the hell to do about that. Does Banquo manage to convince Colin that he's real, and how? What does Banquo think about those words on his grave marker? Can Colin tell Banquo how he feels now that Banquo's dead, or does it hurt too much? How the heck did Banquo come back, anyway? (And how DO you negotiate intimacy with the not-quite-living? If, uh, you're into ghostsex.)
If you'd rather not speculate about events the canon is in the process of covering, I'd be perfectly thrilled to read about one of Banquo and Colin's adventures that the strip only alludes to or skips over altogether. Surely there's other places in the Wild West that the two of them hit up, and surely it all hilariously went to hell there. Alternately, stories from either Banquo's or Colin's backstories would be great: Colin at MIT, discovering Marx (and boys); Banquo traveling around with his mother; a peek into Banquo and Billy's, er, troubled relationship; Colin's misadventures out West before he met Banquo.
I think this request already has a lot of detail, so I'll keep it brief. The only thing I really don't want to see is a story where Banquo doesn't die, because I don't think that's the most interesting option out there. Pretty much anything else goes, though.
Goodbye Chains is a webcomic, and is available here; there are 350-ish strips, so getting through it before Yuletide is probably possible if you're interested in checking it out.
Oglaf
These two never fail to crack me up, and I'd love to read more about them. I love how the Xoan Ambassador is a complete fruit loop, and I love Ivan's shifts between sardonic resignation at his life and (quickly crushed) optimism that it might get better someday. I'd love to see more of the Xoan Ambassador's attempts to seduce Ivan, and -- preferably -- the ways at least some of them fall flat, either because of his own quirks or because of Ivan's refusal to put up with him for long. Considering the nature of this comic, porn wouldn't be amiss, either, in which case I'd love to see the tipping point that finally makes Ivan say, "oh, all RIGHT." (Or hey, maybe Mistress has a job for him that involves getting closer to Sandoval, if you know what I mean.) If you do go that route, though, please don't let Ivan lose his snark.
I assume you're okay with porn if you offered to write this one. *grins* Porn isn't necessary, since I find the back-and-forth between Ivan and Sandoval and Sandoval's failed attempts at seduction hysterical and probably even more fun than them actually banging, but if you can combine the fail and the sexytimes, that would be kind of amazing. I think it'd be interesting to see Ivan have to seduce Sandoval for a change, for whatever reason, mostly because seeing Ivan try to put the moves on someone and deal with Sandoval's nuttiness at the same time would pretty much be the recipe for "hijinks ensue." But I'm cool with lots of different directions for this request, as long as Ivan remains skeptical, Sandoval remains on another planet, and the story doesn't get too serious. Because, well, it's Oglaf.
Oglaf is a webcomic, and available here; you can probably make it through the archive in a day.
Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms
Pick a fairy tale. Any fairy tale. Now give me an f/f version of the story. Maybe it's the third /daughter/ who goes out to seek her fortune, either in disguise or as herself, and ends up winning the hand of the princess. Maybe the princess and the witch fall in love. I'd be happy with anything you did with this prompt, as long as it ends with two ladies living happily ever after. (No dead lesbians, please!)
I think this one explains itself. I'd like to reiterate the "no dead lesbians" clause, because oh god am I sick of that trope. This is sort of my exception to the "not fond of fluff" rule, though I think the fluff's a lot more interesting if there's conflict beforehand.
Fairy tales -- oh heck, just google the name of the story you're interested in writing, you'll probably find a version of it written up online.
Thanks so much, Yuletide Santa. I can't wait to see what you come up with!
- Puel/Aquila
.
So! Things I'm drawn to in fic! The list I have over here is still valid. To summarize: I love CONFLICT and CONSEQUENCES, whatever forms they might take; I love seeing how the macro- affects the micro-; I love struggle and recovery and things that don't come easily and things that don't work out as planned and things that must be dealt with and strength that comes from unexpected places. I'm comfortable with any and all ratings and quite a few pairings, too, as long as you make me believe the sex/violence/etc. within the context of the story. I definitely like porn, and have tossed out a few porny options this year for nearly all my prompts, but porn isn't necessary if that isn't your thing.
Genrewise, I like everything from romance to horror to humor, as long as there's conflict in it somewhere. (So non-sequitur-derived humor and fluff/sap don't really do it for me.) Happy endings are fine, unhappy endings are fine, endings that are a little bit of both are fine, as long as the characters have earned them through their actions and through the consequences of those actions. I am generally not a big fan of fix-it fic, and am not interested in reading it for any of the canons I requested, with the sort-of exception of my Fairy Tales request.
The Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
So I adore Finnick, and I'd love to read more about him. A story from his Hunger Games would be great -- we know he managed to charm the pants off the sponsors (and that he's deadly with a trident), but what other tricks did he use to keep himself in the game? What did Mags teach him when she was his mentor? What did the Gamemasters spring on him? How did he finally win? I'd also love to see something about his and Annie's relationship; we know from what he said in Mockingjay that she crept up on him, but not much more than that. If you're up for it, I'd definitely read a story about Finnick and his clients, either when he realized what President Snow was asking of him or how he figured out how to turn the things he learned to his advantage. If you have other stories about Finnick in mind you'd like to tell, go wild with them -- I just want Finnick fic.
First off, I MOTHERFUCKING LOVE THESE BOOKS. This is one of the ones I'm most adamant about not seeing fix-it fic for, as my choice of character probably indicates, because I'd rather explore how fucked up the world is -- and the struggle to find love and meaning in it -- than make it all better. This isn't to say that the story has to be depressing; if you decide to write about Finnick and Annie and how they fell in love, I'd be all over that! I just don't want it to be easy. I want to see the challenges of being a victor, how what you do in the arena translates into what you do outside of it, how it changes people's relationships and perceptions of the world. I think seeing that struggle, and seeing Finnick overcome all he's been put through, makes him that much more awesome.
You can get all three books of The Hunger Games trilogy online for under thirty bucks, if you want to check them out, and libraries probably have them, too. I'd recommend reading them even if you don't plan to write for this request, because I really freaking love these books.
Goodbye Chains
If you've been keeping up with the series, you can probably guess what this request is. :D Seriously, though -- Banquo's back, sort of, and Colin has to decide what the hell to do about that. Does Banquo manage to convince Colin that he's real, and how? What does Banquo think about those words on his grave marker? Can Colin tell Banquo how he feels now that Banquo's dead, or does it hurt too much? How the heck did Banquo come back, anyway? (And how DO you negotiate intimacy with the not-quite-living? If, uh, you're into ghostsex.)
If you'd rather not speculate about events the canon is in the process of covering, I'd be perfectly thrilled to read about one of Banquo and Colin's adventures that the strip only alludes to or skips over altogether. Surely there's other places in the Wild West that the two of them hit up, and surely it all hilariously went to hell there. Alternately, stories from either Banquo's or Colin's backstories would be great: Colin at MIT, discovering Marx (and boys); Banquo traveling around with his mother; a peek into Banquo and Billy's, er, troubled relationship; Colin's misadventures out West before he met Banquo.
I think this request already has a lot of detail, so I'll keep it brief. The only thing I really don't want to see is a story where Banquo doesn't die, because I don't think that's the most interesting option out there. Pretty much anything else goes, though.
Goodbye Chains is a webcomic, and is available here; there are 350-ish strips, so getting through it before Yuletide is probably possible if you're interested in checking it out.
Oglaf
These two never fail to crack me up, and I'd love to read more about them. I love how the Xoan Ambassador is a complete fruit loop, and I love Ivan's shifts between sardonic resignation at his life and (quickly crushed) optimism that it might get better someday. I'd love to see more of the Xoan Ambassador's attempts to seduce Ivan, and -- preferably -- the ways at least some of them fall flat, either because of his own quirks or because of Ivan's refusal to put up with him for long. Considering the nature of this comic, porn wouldn't be amiss, either, in which case I'd love to see the tipping point that finally makes Ivan say, "oh, all RIGHT." (Or hey, maybe Mistress has a job for him that involves getting closer to Sandoval, if you know what I mean.) If you do go that route, though, please don't let Ivan lose his snark.
I assume you're okay with porn if you offered to write this one. *grins* Porn isn't necessary, since I find the back-and-forth between Ivan and Sandoval and Sandoval's failed attempts at seduction hysterical and probably even more fun than them actually banging, but if you can combine the fail and the sexytimes, that would be kind of amazing. I think it'd be interesting to see Ivan have to seduce Sandoval for a change, for whatever reason, mostly because seeing Ivan try to put the moves on someone and deal with Sandoval's nuttiness at the same time would pretty much be the recipe for "hijinks ensue." But I'm cool with lots of different directions for this request, as long as Ivan remains skeptical, Sandoval remains on another planet, and the story doesn't get too serious. Because, well, it's Oglaf.
Oglaf is a webcomic, and available here; you can probably make it through the archive in a day.
Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms
Pick a fairy tale. Any fairy tale. Now give me an f/f version of the story. Maybe it's the third /daughter/ who goes out to seek her fortune, either in disguise or as herself, and ends up winning the hand of the princess. Maybe the princess and the witch fall in love. I'd be happy with anything you did with this prompt, as long as it ends with two ladies living happily ever after. (No dead lesbians, please!)
I think this one explains itself. I'd like to reiterate the "no dead lesbians" clause, because oh god am I sick of that trope. This is sort of my exception to the "not fond of fluff" rule, though I think the fluff's a lot more interesting if there's conflict beforehand.
Fairy tales -- oh heck, just google the name of the story you're interested in writing, you'll probably find a version of it written up online.
Thanks so much, Yuletide Santa. I can't wait to see what you come up with!
- Puel/Aquila
.