Letter to my Yuletart artist
Dear Yuletart artist,
first, thank you for drawing me a picture in one of my fandoms. I'm not set on anything specific for any of the fandoms I listed, so if you have a great idea, just go for it.
In my sign-up I specified that the highest rating I'd like to get was PG-13, mostly because visual porn almost never works for me, so I prefer non-explicit fanart. However I do like not just gen, but slash and het and femslash as well, so if you have an idea for romantic art, I'd be happy with that. I'm also okay with a higher rating due to violence/gore or other adult themes, especially in fandoms that canonically violent. That is to say, if you feel like drawing me an epic battle scene, I'd be more than happy to get something like that.
I like canon-compliant art, but I love AUs as a genre just as much in most fandoms (for fandom- specific exceptions see below), so if you have an AU idea that's fine too, as long as long as the scenario is taken seriously rather than a joke/crack, e.g. drawing characters in a Steampunk version of their universe would be really cool visual worldbuilding and awesome, randomly drawing one character as a purple unicorn not so much. As with everything there have been exceptions to that, so if you have an awesome silly idea, I am flexible.
I love drawings most that hint at a narrative or show a scene over more portrait like character pieces. I love action and adventure scenes, but quiet moments showing heroes in their downtime work just as well, but it would be awesome if the drawing felt like a glimpse into their lives and universe, showing the character or characters do something. In general I prefer art with the heroes over something that focuses on a villain or a minor character, but that is more a trend than a hard rule in my preferences, so don't feel too constrained by it.
I adore worldbuilding, but I know what a time consuming pain elaborate backgrounds can be. Still, if you want to go crazy and feel like it, I'd love you forever for including a vivid or evocative setting.
As far as dislikes go, I'm not much into very dark scenarios, and dislike character death, but overall I'm not easily squicked. Character suffering and angst are fine, though I don't like h/c scenarios centered around illness very much. (I guess it is rather unlikely that someone would decide to draw a hospital h/c scene in one of my fandoms for a holiday gift exchange, but you never know.) Like I said above, I don't mind some violence and gore, especially if it is consistent with the sources in action or battle, unless it gets truly extreme, or is gratuitous animal harm, which I dislike.
I think my main squicks are rarely an issue in fanart, because besides hating partner betrayal, I most prominently have an embarrassment squick, and either isn't much of an art issue. But anyway, I don't like situations where characters make fools of themselves, so I guess that could apply to drawings with physical humor or slapstick, but I never felt squicked by art as I do by fic, so I don't really know.
I'm also not into incest pairings, whether siblings or parent/child. So I guess you should avoid incestuous slapstick humor ending in death when looking for ideas... *g*
As for my fandom specific preferences in my requested fandoms:
Daredevil: My favorite character is Matt, with my favorite pairings being Matt/Foggy and Matt/Milla. I am not very fond of Elektra, despite my soft spot for ninjas. As for drawing ideas, Matt showing his fighting skills would be awesome, also I'm kind of fond of the religious contrast in imagery in Daredevil, i.e. Matt as a Catholic wearing a devil costume, so I kind of like the Daredevil splash panels and covers that play on that and show him in or crouching on churches and so on.
Dresden Files (books): I'd very much love to see Harry Dresden together with Carlos Ramirez (whether slash or just as friends). I'm not much into Harry/Bob as a slash pairing, as that seems more tv inspired and I've only read the books, but otherwise I'm flexible. Besides the Harry/Carlos any picture showing Harry perform magic of some kind would be awesome.
Farscape: My favorite is John Crichton, but I love Aeryn as well. I'm very much into John/Aeryn as my OTP, though I can see other pairings as possibility. I really love all the characters in Farcape, so the art doesn't have to be about Crichton. The series got very dark in places and if you have a good idea for that I'm more than okay with it, but I like the funny and quirky moments of the series just as much as the angst and torture, so when it comes to motif suggestion I'm going with something like a "slice of life" scene for any part of Moya's crew, whether Aeryn bonding with Pilot, or Rygel snatching Crichton's food, or Chiana flirting... Alternatively a funny scene showing something in Crichton's mind with Harvey would be cool too.
Lord of the Rings: My favorite character is Aragorn by far, followed by Gandalf, and in general I'm more interested in the men, elves and wizards than the hobbits in LOTR. Any art showing Aragorn, whether from his childhood at Imladris, still living it rough with the Dunedain or later as King with Arwen by his side would be awesome, but any scene set during their quest would be great as well. LOTR is however one of the fandoms where my preferences stick mostly close to canon, so I'm not all that flexible when it comes to pairings. Fic can convince me if it works on it, but I don't think art could sell me on Aragorn being really into Legolas rather than loving Arwen. Unlike much of fandom I never even thought of Frodo and Sam as an item either. I'm also not into AUs displacing the characters from Middle Earth, because the setting is very much essential for me in LOTR.
Merlin (BBC): I dislike Modern AUs in Merlin fandom, so I'd really prefer the canon setting for any art I get. The characters I'm most interested in are Merlin, Arthur and Gwen, but I like the others too. For pairings I mostly like Merlin/Arthur and Arthur/Gwen, but friendship is fine too. I'd also be happy to see a picture showing Gaius as Merlin's magical mentor (not sexually though!), Arthur with Uther and their complicated relationship (but no incest please) or a picture with Arthur and his knights.
Murdoch Mysteries: I like William and Julia's awkward romancing and mutual crush, but appreciate them in their professional setting too. But I like the other characters as well, so if you'd rather draw something that highlighted Crabtree's hero worship of Murdoch or something with Brackenreid, I'd be happy with that. I love the atmosphere of the series, so something with a period feel would be awesome, even more so if it had any of these almost steampunkish contraptions the series comes up with. (Like the airships and robots stuff.)
Stargate Atlantis: My favorite character is John Sheppard, either gen or in a pairing with Teyla, Rodney and/or Ronon (i.e. I like both slash and het combinations within the team as well as OT4 scenes). Though my true OTP is Sheppard/Atlantis or Sheppard/Ancient Tech, so any motif involving either would be awesome. I'd also love anything showing John (and maybe his team) with Pegasus cultures as long as it doesn't involve the Pegasus people being spear-wielding fanon cliches. Really in canon Pegasus seems more often early 20th century or faux-medieval, which both offer cooler design options anyway, in the way of either things like art deco or renfair chick.
Star Trek Reboot: Anything with Kirk, Spock, McCoy and/or Uhura would be great. I like other characters as well, but those are my main interest. I don't have an OTP, though I'm quite fond of Kirk/Spock/Uhura, but Kirk/Spock, Spock/Uhura, Kirk/McCoy and Kirk/Spock/McCoy are all fine too. And I always like gen. As much of fandom I have a soft spot for all things Vulcan, so any picture showing a Vulcan ritual (whether canon or imagined), or Vulcan rebuilding or anything like that would be awesome. Or you could go surreal and show the mindscape during a meld or something. I also love Ancient Vulcan scenarios, though I usually imagine them more complicated than "desert barbarians".
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: My favorite characters are Sarah, John and Derek. Anything with them being badass resistance fighters would be great, like a picture showing Sarah teaching and training John, or Derek with John either in the present or in the apocalyptic future with John as resistance leader.
White Collar: I like Neal & Mozzie friendship, Neal & Peter friendship, Neal/Peter/Elizabeth OT3, and June being awesome. As much of the fandom I like the D/s vibes between Peter and Neal with the whole anklet and such (though I do not like role reversal, so if you go in that direction I'd want Neal submissive), but like I said above, I'm not that into explicit pictures, so I'm not looking for Neal in bondage gear or anything like that. However if you have an idea for something more subtle to show this kind of dynamic in a picture, I'd love get something like that. But I'd be happy with non-romantic motifs too, like for example a drawing of Neal and Mozzie working on a con.
first, thank you for drawing me a picture in one of my fandoms. I'm not set on anything specific for any of the fandoms I listed, so if you have a great idea, just go for it.
In my sign-up I specified that the highest rating I'd like to get was PG-13, mostly because visual porn almost never works for me, so I prefer non-explicit fanart. However I do like not just gen, but slash and het and femslash as well, so if you have an idea for romantic art, I'd be happy with that. I'm also okay with a higher rating due to violence/gore or other adult themes, especially in fandoms that canonically violent. That is to say, if you feel like drawing me an epic battle scene, I'd be more than happy to get something like that.
I like canon-compliant art, but I love AUs as a genre just as much in most fandoms (for fandom- specific exceptions see below), so if you have an AU idea that's fine too, as long as long as the scenario is taken seriously rather than a joke/crack, e.g. drawing characters in a Steampunk version of their universe would be really cool visual worldbuilding and awesome, randomly drawing one character as a purple unicorn not so much. As with everything there have been exceptions to that, so if you have an awesome silly idea, I am flexible.
I love drawings most that hint at a narrative or show a scene over more portrait like character pieces. I love action and adventure scenes, but quiet moments showing heroes in their downtime work just as well, but it would be awesome if the drawing felt like a glimpse into their lives and universe, showing the character or characters do something. In general I prefer art with the heroes over something that focuses on a villain or a minor character, but that is more a trend than a hard rule in my preferences, so don't feel too constrained by it.
I adore worldbuilding, but I know what a time consuming pain elaborate backgrounds can be. Still, if you want to go crazy and feel like it, I'd love you forever for including a vivid or evocative setting.
As far as dislikes go, I'm not much into very dark scenarios, and dislike character death, but overall I'm not easily squicked. Character suffering and angst are fine, though I don't like h/c scenarios centered around illness very much. (I guess it is rather unlikely that someone would decide to draw a hospital h/c scene in one of my fandoms for a holiday gift exchange, but you never know.) Like I said above, I don't mind some violence and gore, especially if it is consistent with the sources in action or battle, unless it gets truly extreme, or is gratuitous animal harm, which I dislike.
I think my main squicks are rarely an issue in fanart, because besides hating partner betrayal, I most prominently have an embarrassment squick, and either isn't much of an art issue. But anyway, I don't like situations where characters make fools of themselves, so I guess that could apply to drawings with physical humor or slapstick, but I never felt squicked by art as I do by fic, so I don't really know.
I'm also not into incest pairings, whether siblings or parent/child. So I guess you should avoid incestuous slapstick humor ending in death when looking for ideas... *g*
As for my fandom specific preferences in my requested fandoms:
Daredevil: My favorite character is Matt, with my favorite pairings being Matt/Foggy and Matt/Milla. I am not very fond of Elektra, despite my soft spot for ninjas. As for drawing ideas, Matt showing his fighting skills would be awesome, also I'm kind of fond of the religious contrast in imagery in Daredevil, i.e. Matt as a Catholic wearing a devil costume, so I kind of like the Daredevil splash panels and covers that play on that and show him in or crouching on churches and so on.
Dresden Files (books): I'd very much love to see Harry Dresden together with Carlos Ramirez (whether slash or just as friends). I'm not much into Harry/Bob as a slash pairing, as that seems more tv inspired and I've only read the books, but otherwise I'm flexible. Besides the Harry/Carlos any picture showing Harry perform magic of some kind would be awesome.
Farscape: My favorite is John Crichton, but I love Aeryn as well. I'm very much into John/Aeryn as my OTP, though I can see other pairings as possibility. I really love all the characters in Farcape, so the art doesn't have to be about Crichton. The series got very dark in places and if you have a good idea for that I'm more than okay with it, but I like the funny and quirky moments of the series just as much as the angst and torture, so when it comes to motif suggestion I'm going with something like a "slice of life" scene for any part of Moya's crew, whether Aeryn bonding with Pilot, or Rygel snatching Crichton's food, or Chiana flirting... Alternatively a funny scene showing something in Crichton's mind with Harvey would be cool too.
Lord of the Rings: My favorite character is Aragorn by far, followed by Gandalf, and in general I'm more interested in the men, elves and wizards than the hobbits in LOTR. Any art showing Aragorn, whether from his childhood at Imladris, still living it rough with the Dunedain or later as King with Arwen by his side would be awesome, but any scene set during their quest would be great as well. LOTR is however one of the fandoms where my preferences stick mostly close to canon, so I'm not all that flexible when it comes to pairings. Fic can convince me if it works on it, but I don't think art could sell me on Aragorn being really into Legolas rather than loving Arwen. Unlike much of fandom I never even thought of Frodo and Sam as an item either. I'm also not into AUs displacing the characters from Middle Earth, because the setting is very much essential for me in LOTR.
Merlin (BBC): I dislike Modern AUs in Merlin fandom, so I'd really prefer the canon setting for any art I get. The characters I'm most interested in are Merlin, Arthur and Gwen, but I like the others too. For pairings I mostly like Merlin/Arthur and Arthur/Gwen, but friendship is fine too. I'd also be happy to see a picture showing Gaius as Merlin's magical mentor (not sexually though!), Arthur with Uther and their complicated relationship (but no incest please) or a picture with Arthur and his knights.
Murdoch Mysteries: I like William and Julia's awkward romancing and mutual crush, but appreciate them in their professional setting too. But I like the other characters as well, so if you'd rather draw something that highlighted Crabtree's hero worship of Murdoch or something with Brackenreid, I'd be happy with that. I love the atmosphere of the series, so something with a period feel would be awesome, even more so if it had any of these almost steampunkish contraptions the series comes up with. (Like the airships and robots stuff.)
Stargate Atlantis: My favorite character is John Sheppard, either gen or in a pairing with Teyla, Rodney and/or Ronon (i.e. I like both slash and het combinations within the team as well as OT4 scenes). Though my true OTP is Sheppard/Atlantis or Sheppard/Ancient Tech, so any motif involving either would be awesome. I'd also love anything showing John (and maybe his team) with Pegasus cultures as long as it doesn't involve the Pegasus people being spear-wielding fanon cliches. Really in canon Pegasus seems more often early 20th century or faux-medieval, which both offer cooler design options anyway, in the way of either things like art deco or renfair chick.
Star Trek Reboot: Anything with Kirk, Spock, McCoy and/or Uhura would be great. I like other characters as well, but those are my main interest. I don't have an OTP, though I'm quite fond of Kirk/Spock/Uhura, but Kirk/Spock, Spock/Uhura, Kirk/McCoy and Kirk/Spock/McCoy are all fine too. And I always like gen. As much of fandom I have a soft spot for all things Vulcan, so any picture showing a Vulcan ritual (whether canon or imagined), or Vulcan rebuilding or anything like that would be awesome. Or you could go surreal and show the mindscape during a meld or something. I also love Ancient Vulcan scenarios, though I usually imagine them more complicated than "desert barbarians".
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: My favorite characters are Sarah, John and Derek. Anything with them being badass resistance fighters would be great, like a picture showing Sarah teaching and training John, or Derek with John either in the present or in the apocalyptic future with John as resistance leader.
White Collar: I like Neal & Mozzie friendship, Neal & Peter friendship, Neal/Peter/Elizabeth OT3, and June being awesome. As much of the fandom I like the D/s vibes between Peter and Neal with the whole anklet and such (though I do not like role reversal, so if you go in that direction I'd want Neal submissive), but like I said above, I'm not that into explicit pictures, so I'm not looking for Neal in bondage gear or anything like that. However if you have an idea for something more subtle to show this kind of dynamic in a picture, I'd love get something like that. But I'd be happy with non-romantic motifs too, like for example a drawing of Neal and Mozzie working on a con.