Yuletide Letter
Dear Yuletide Writer,
thank you so much for creating a story for me! I hope you'll enjoy the experience and appreciate the work you're doing - writing a story in a tiny fandom we share is absolutely lovely, and I'm guaranteed to be pleased by your gift, so don't fret. My prompts are just that, prompts, not absolutes; if you have an idea that doesn't fit with any of them, but features the characters I asked for, I'll love it with added joyful surprise.
Some general do's and don'ts:
Canon: generally I prefer stories to adher to it. Now some AUs are fascinating and great ways to examine a character further, and I love the "Five things" format both as a writer and reader, so if you're struck by an idea which necessitates a departure from canon, don't let that stop you. It's just that if the story needs a long note explaining all that is different in this AU as an introduction, it's probably too far from canon for me. After all, I feel in love with this particular fictional universe and the characters in it for a reason.
Sex: whatever works best for you when writing the story. None at all, i.e. gen, slash, het, poly, I'm good either way as a reader. If there are any pairings I absolutely don't want to read about, I'll mention them in the prompts. No A/B/O in any case, though.
Character bashing: is a strict do not want. Though let me clarify a bit, because some of the characters in the fandoms I've requested hate other characters' guts, and it would be downright ooc for them to suddenly feel fair-minded and friendly towards them. So: in such a case, if, say, the pov character is canonically full of ire towards X, I wouldn't call this character making negative statements about X either in dialogue or in thoughts bashing. Otoh, if all the characters in the story follow suit and declare how much X sucks, while X never gets a positive word out, I'd call that bashing. If you yourself loathe a character - and it happens, to me, too - who'd usually be present in the story and feel uncomfortable writing them in a non-negative manner, I'd rather you declare that character absent from canon for whatever reason works best.
Character death: if it serves the story, go for it. It wouldn't be a problem for me.
Star Trek: Discovery: With this show, I went from cautious fondness with complaints to like to love in the course of its season, and am still in the bouncing stage where new fanfiction just like new canon is bound to make me happy. With this said, some ideas:
Michael Burnham and Saru: this to me was one of the show’s most interesting relationships. Michael and Saru went such a long way with each other, from him refusing to take her (faked) orders in the pilot to him being the first to join her when standing up to Starfleet Command in the season finale. Exploring that relationship at any point, be it during their time with Georgiou on the Shenzou, on the Discovery with Lorca or in the aftermath of the reveal, with Mirror Georgiou on board, would be great. Since the show gave us Michael’s pov, Saru’s would be most welcome.
If you want to write Saru but don’t want to focus on the relationship with Michael: tell me about those six months between the battle at the Binary Stars and Michael’s arrival on the Discovery - how did Saru cope with the loss of his captain and most of his crew, with finally getting that First Officer position but with a Captain utterly different from Georgiou? What did he make of Lorca? (Especially since Lorca apparantly didn’t trigger him, which I find fascinating.)
Michael’s childhood and youth with Sarek, Amanda and Spock: I expect canon will give us more on this, but I’m impatient. Tell me your version. What did make Sarek decide to adopt this child? We know he regrets having failed Michael both by his choice and by not telling her the truth re: the Vulcan Academy’s ultimatum, but how much does Amanda know about this? When the Discovery disappeared into the Mirrorverse and was seemingly destroyed, he probably tried to find Michael via their shared katra and couldn’t, so he really must have believed she was dead until her return; how did he tell Amanda? Did Spock hear from either oft hem about it? Sarek’s parent-off with MirrorGeorgiou about their respective Michaels was priceless, but it also made me wonder how much Sarek knew Prime Georgiou; given he must have asked her, specifically, to accept Michael in the Shenzou’s crew after the disaster on Vulcan, they must have been at least very good acquaintances. Maybe tell me about the backstory there?
Sylvia Tilly: love her, love that she’s really ambitious and enjoys food and parties and is a babbler, which is a rare combination in a female character. Someone other than me did the math and found out Tilly must have been at the academy at the same time as Prime Kirk, so if you want to do something with that, feel free, but it’s not necessary. Tilly strikes me as an ideal pov character to do something like a „Day in the life“ episode with, a la „Data’s Day“ on TNG, given that in addition to her friendship with Michael, she’s working with Stamets, friendly with Culber and with Tyler/Voq. Given her Mirrorverse Alter Ego, I wonder whether she’s on Discovery because Lorca thought if she was anything like „Killy“, she might come in handy to his plans but quickly realised he was wrong. Otoh, he made no attempt to get her transfered and seems to see her as a valuable crew member, so: what was Tilly’s pov on the Captain pre reveal?
L’Rell (with and without Voq/Tyler): not a character I requested, due to the limit, and you can ignore the following if you aren't interested in her, but just in case you are: leaving aside my grudge against the new Klingon make-up, I find L’Rell a memorable character whom I’d love to see written about. What were those seven months between the Battle at the Binary Stars and episode 1.04. like for her, adrift on the ship of the dead, falling in love with Voq and getting increasingly frustrated that the other houses were ignoring T’kuvma’s legacy while continuing the war without them? Her idea for Voq to be transformed into a human in order to become a sleeper agent seems to have included Discovery specifically as the target (the whole capture of Lorca and escape routine), so she must have managed to follow the course of the war even on the Ship of the Dead. She develops respect for Cornwell once she meets her, but I didn’t have the impression she sees Tyler as anything other than a disguise for Voq, not as a separate person, at least until the last few episodes of the season, so if you want to tackle the post finale time: L’Rell has just taken control of the Klingon Empire, resentful enemies around her, with her only back-up someone whom she does and does not know , since „Tyler“ has Voqs memories as well as original Tyler’s and has ended up being basically neither (though thinking of himself more as Tyler than Voq) - how does she even sleep at night? How does she go about winning allies in the Council?
Where to get the canon: outside the US, on Netflix.
Starbridge Series by Susan Howatch: I love those novels and wrote an entire post about why here. However, there’s no denying that it’s very male centric, even the one novel written from a female pov. But that’s what fanfiction is there for! If you feel inspired to tackle any of the ladies I requested, or all of them, I’d be profoundly grateful.
Primrose: on each reread, I’m more irritated by Howatch writing her as such an easy boo-hiss figure (she’s a prude! She’s not sexy! She’s good in school and the first female among the families these novels center on to actually start a career in the Church, but of course the only thing we see her do is object to Elvis Presley and have an Electra complex), though there are hints of something more (Venetia realising the parallels between them and their respective fathers, and the ghastly Freudian aspect of her own relationship with Aysgarth, for example). So: give me Primrose as a three dimensional person. Her own pov, both on events in the various novels, and on her making the Church her profession, and not as an ornament at someone’s side. How did her friendship with Venetia and Venetia dumping her look for her? Did she ever interact with Charley Ashworth, with whom she has much in common (though Howatch is far nicer to him), or did the feud between their fathers prevent that?
Venetia: more on her relationship with Lyle, the sole female mentee-mentor relationship in this series. Her friendship with Marina. Also, I doubt Venetia spent the entirety of the 60s post-Aysgarth with self loathing sex and drinks, and in the Nick pov novel, it struck me that she’d make a good detective herself, so for Venetia, I’d love a „case fic“ - some other mysterious death in her circle she needs to find out more about.
Lyle: My favourite of the female characters, not least because of the way she’s allowed to change and grow from standard Howatch troubled young woman to sovereign and insightful middle-aged lady. There are any number of missing scenes I’d love to see; Lyle during the time when Charles is a POW, reconciling with the Jardines and her past; her attempts to maintain contact with Venetia post catastrophe, see above; her and Dido, see below. Lyle and the female circle she ended up running against the odds near the end of her life, or, conversely, young, pre-Charles Lyle in Starbridge.
Dido: in a canon where the mortality rate for first wives is 100% and even second wives die for their husband’s character growth more often than not, Dido’s indestructability is truly something to behold. What was her relationship with her stepchildren like from her pov like? What’s her take on our various narrators? How about her relationship with Lyle in Starbridge when their husbands were the Bishop and the Dean respectively; there must have been any number of social encounters at the very least.
Where to get the canon: I own all six books (and the St. Benet’s novels, but they don’t matter re: my requests), so I don’t know whether they are still in print. But your library might be a good possibility.
Class: I loved this show and am sad it got cancelled, but here you are, Yuletide writer, giving me more!
Andra'ath/Miss Quill: what was it like for her, going from being forcibly bonded to the future ruler of her enemies, to seeing both their people wiped out? (Just how much time passed between the defeat of the Quill and thus her getting enslaved via symbiont and the annihilation of both Quill and Rodians by the Shadow Kin?) What were those first few months on Earth pre-pilot of the show like? Her relationship with Charlie in this stage, as during the show and in the aftermath really intrigues me, it’s my kind of difficult, from both their povs. Evidently Charlie knows enough about the Quill to keep her alive on his lonesome for a week when she’s in a coma, which is pretty specific knowledge, so how did he learn/find out? Do their human forms correspond in any way to how they think of themselves? Even if it’s just Quill and Charlie trying to figure out more about this planet they’ve ended up on by watching tv and arguing about shows, I’d love to read it.
Tanya being the first to point out that what the Rodians did to Quill is slavery, and Tanya and Quill bonding in the season finale was great, but what happens next? Especially given Tanya has just become an orphan at age 14, doubts her only friends really like her and has to explain what the hell happened to their mother to her brothers. Martial arts lessons by Quill are undoubtedly good for rage venting (and helpful the next time villains come calling), but she needs a bit more parenting/mentoring than that, while Quill hails from a culture where offspring eat their parents. How does their relationship develop further?
April: Quill’s jibes at April in the pilot come across as crueller than her general snark to me; why does Quill have it in for April in particular at this point? Once April has (temporarily) defeated the Shadowkin and become their ruler, it practically begs for a scene with Quill and her which never happened, so give me that. Quill's feud against the Shadowkin, after all, is at this point in the show still her main raison d'etre.
Matteusz: back when the show was cancelled, most post show stories seemed to have Matteusz in the comforter role with Charlie. This to me seems to ignore that Matteusz came across as truly horrified by Charlie’s actions in the finale, no matter how dire the emergency, and that they both seemed to be aware and insistent through the season that if Charlie were ever to use the cabinet, he would lose Matteusz. And of course, there’s the „I’m afraid of you“. Now don’t get me wrong, I like them as a pair, and I’m on board with them getting back together, but I’d like some struggle first, and Matteusz given the opportunity to work through the enormity of what just happened, instead of simply supporting Charlie. If you don’t want to deal with post-finale angst, then a Matteusz-centric story giving us his pov set at any point of the season would be lovely. Ram’s taunts about sex with an alien; different or similar to his family’s reaction to his having a same sex relationship at all? And speaking of „alien“, Matteusz is Polish in an increasingly xenophobic Britain - how does this colour his everyday experience?
Where to get the canon: on dvd.
The Defenders: the greatest regret this series left me with is that we’ll never get the procedural series of my heart, with Jessica as the detective and Matt as the lawyer taking on cases together. You, dear Yulewriter, could remedy this. Give me case fic wherein the two take on the same client, and you’ll have made my Yuletide and possibly my year. Other Defenders and supporting cast from their respective shows are welcome, but not a must; use whomever you feel comfortable with. I don’t care whether the case is a „mundane“ one without any necessity for their respective superheroics, or whether it needs a combination of detective/lawyer skills and vigilantism, as long as Jessica and Matt work together and have lots of interaction. This is really my one big wish for this fandom.
Where to get the canon: on Netflix.
Roma Sub Rosa Series by Steven Saylor: I was delighted to see these books nominated. Saylor’s Catilina is definitely the most compelling version of the character I’ve ever encountered, and I really appreciate that Saylor makes him (very) seductive and charismatic but in the end never lets Gordianus find out how many of Cicero’s accusations were true. If you can manage to maintain that ambiguity, dear writer: all the kudos to you!
Because Saylor has something of a tendency to go „women are mysterious“ now and then, I was very frustrated when even the new prequel novels don’t reveal much more about Bethesda’s inner life. Of course the first person narrative by Gordianus is somewhat limiting there, I admit. So it would be wonderful if you filled that gap and provide me with a Bethesda pov. If you pick the era of „Catilina’s Riddle“, a scene between her and Catilina, whether not they talk about Gordianus (and Bethesda is not likely to have messed the way Catilina flirted with her husband!) would be very welcome. As a former slave, Bethesda has experienced powerlessness in a way neither man ever has or will. Whether or not she believes Catilina is more than someone stirring up trouble for the hell of it or to get out of his own debts: would she change Roman society, if she could?
If you want to visit other eras - Bethesda’s backstory, as indicated by the conversation between her, Clodia and her daughter which Gordianus overhears, with the new canon from the prequel novels. Again, her pov, on either the adventure with the pirates or in Ephesus. How much does she trust Gordianus at this early point? Does she have plans to become a freedwoman and/or to run away?
Or: all those gaps between novels. Bethesda goes from being Gordianus‘ slave to being his wife. By the time the novels have reached Caesar’s death, he’s become a Senator. How does this incredible social rise affect her? Does she have friends of her own from her slave days, and can she keep them? Of her new acquaintances: Did she keep up the relationship with Clodia past „Venus Throw“? Eco and Meto accepted Gordianus as their father, but do they see Bethesda as their mother? As you can see: anything Bethesda-centric would be my dream.
Where to get the canon: all the novels are still in print, as far as I know.
The Last Kingdom: I've gone from being mildly fond of to definitely loving this tv series based on Bernard Cornwell's books, and would be thrilled to receive a story set in it. The Uthred and Alfred relationship in its prickly complexity pushed all my buttons, so anything focusing on it would be most welcome. (Some of my thoughts when consumating the canon are under this tag.) As an idea: road trip at any point in canon complete with mutual snark, emotional power games and one or both having to be under cover. Canon gives us this situation for Alfred near the end of s1, but how about a trip for a three ways negotiation between Saxons, Danes and Normans where they both need to pretend to be someone else en route?
Then there are the women. One of the many things which makes me prefer tv canon over book canon is the way the tv show adds dimension to them and lets them interact with each other. Aelswith, who from Uthred's pov in the books is described in purely negative terms but on the tv show comes across as far more interesting. By the second season, her marriage to Alfred comes across as strong, with Aelswith acting as councillor as much as consort, so please, unless we’re in Uthred’s pov, no Aelswith bashing. She’s not a nominated character, so I can’t ask for her; just, if you do want to use her, I’d be delighted.
Aethelflaed, otoh, was nominated, and I’d love to read a story with her in the centre : anything that doesn't focus on her relationship with Erik. Not that I have something against it, but much of what already exists as fanfic for The Last Kingdom is Aetheflaed/Erik, and I want something different in focus. Given Aethelflaed will end up as a ruler herself; what lessons does she learn while growing up through her parents and others? How does she interact with them both as individuals and as a couple? Does she feel responsible for Wessex and Mercia? Does she want to rule, at this point of her life, is it a dream or a realistic possibility for her? If Erik and Uthred hadn't provided an alternative to the terrible "get ransomed and ruin Wessex, or get gangraped in public forever" choice, what would have been her plan? Did she consider suicide a la Odda? What does she make of the Danes (other than just Erik), and does she see Uthred as a Saxon, a Dane, or neither?
Where to get the canon: both seasons are on Netflix.
This entry was originally posted at https://selenak.dreamwidth.org/1310440.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.
thank you so much for creating a story for me! I hope you'll enjoy the experience and appreciate the work you're doing - writing a story in a tiny fandom we share is absolutely lovely, and I'm guaranteed to be pleased by your gift, so don't fret. My prompts are just that, prompts, not absolutes; if you have an idea that doesn't fit with any of them, but features the characters I asked for, I'll love it with added joyful surprise.
Some general do's and don'ts:
Canon: generally I prefer stories to adher to it. Now some AUs are fascinating and great ways to examine a character further, and I love the "Five things" format both as a writer and reader, so if you're struck by an idea which necessitates a departure from canon, don't let that stop you. It's just that if the story needs a long note explaining all that is different in this AU as an introduction, it's probably too far from canon for me. After all, I feel in love with this particular fictional universe and the characters in it for a reason.
Sex: whatever works best for you when writing the story. None at all, i.e. gen, slash, het, poly, I'm good either way as a reader. If there are any pairings I absolutely don't want to read about, I'll mention them in the prompts. No A/B/O in any case, though.
Character bashing: is a strict do not want. Though let me clarify a bit, because some of the characters in the fandoms I've requested hate other characters' guts, and it would be downright ooc for them to suddenly feel fair-minded and friendly towards them. So: in such a case, if, say, the pov character is canonically full of ire towards X, I wouldn't call this character making negative statements about X either in dialogue or in thoughts bashing. Otoh, if all the characters in the story follow suit and declare how much X sucks, while X never gets a positive word out, I'd call that bashing. If you yourself loathe a character - and it happens, to me, too - who'd usually be present in the story and feel uncomfortable writing them in a non-negative manner, I'd rather you declare that character absent from canon for whatever reason works best.
Character death: if it serves the story, go for it. It wouldn't be a problem for me.
Star Trek: Discovery: With this show, I went from cautious fondness with complaints to like to love in the course of its season, and am still in the bouncing stage where new fanfiction just like new canon is bound to make me happy. With this said, some ideas:
Michael Burnham and Saru: this to me was one of the show’s most interesting relationships. Michael and Saru went such a long way with each other, from him refusing to take her (faked) orders in the pilot to him being the first to join her when standing up to Starfleet Command in the season finale. Exploring that relationship at any point, be it during their time with Georgiou on the Shenzou, on the Discovery with Lorca or in the aftermath of the reveal, with Mirror Georgiou on board, would be great. Since the show gave us Michael’s pov, Saru’s would be most welcome.
If you want to write Saru but don’t want to focus on the relationship with Michael: tell me about those six months between the battle at the Binary Stars and Michael’s arrival on the Discovery - how did Saru cope with the loss of his captain and most of his crew, with finally getting that First Officer position but with a Captain utterly different from Georgiou? What did he make of Lorca? (Especially since Lorca apparantly didn’t trigger him, which I find fascinating.)
Michael’s childhood and youth with Sarek, Amanda and Spock: I expect canon will give us more on this, but I’m impatient. Tell me your version. What did make Sarek decide to adopt this child? We know he regrets having failed Michael both by his choice and by not telling her the truth re: the Vulcan Academy’s ultimatum, but how much does Amanda know about this? When the Discovery disappeared into the Mirrorverse and was seemingly destroyed, he probably tried to find Michael via their shared katra and couldn’t, so he really must have believed she was dead until her return; how did he tell Amanda? Did Spock hear from either oft hem about it? Sarek’s parent-off with MirrorGeorgiou about their respective Michaels was priceless, but it also made me wonder how much Sarek knew Prime Georgiou; given he must have asked her, specifically, to accept Michael in the Shenzou’s crew after the disaster on Vulcan, they must have been at least very good acquaintances. Maybe tell me about the backstory there?
Sylvia Tilly: love her, love that she’s really ambitious and enjoys food and parties and is a babbler, which is a rare combination in a female character. Someone other than me did the math and found out Tilly must have been at the academy at the same time as Prime Kirk, so if you want to do something with that, feel free, but it’s not necessary. Tilly strikes me as an ideal pov character to do something like a „Day in the life“ episode with, a la „Data’s Day“ on TNG, given that in addition to her friendship with Michael, she’s working with Stamets, friendly with Culber and with Tyler/Voq. Given her Mirrorverse Alter Ego, I wonder whether she’s on Discovery because Lorca thought if she was anything like „Killy“, she might come in handy to his plans but quickly realised he was wrong. Otoh, he made no attempt to get her transfered and seems to see her as a valuable crew member, so: what was Tilly’s pov on the Captain pre reveal?
L’Rell (with and without Voq/Tyler): not a character I requested, due to the limit, and you can ignore the following if you aren't interested in her, but just in case you are: leaving aside my grudge against the new Klingon make-up, I find L’Rell a memorable character whom I’d love to see written about. What were those seven months between the Battle at the Binary Stars and episode 1.04. like for her, adrift on the ship of the dead, falling in love with Voq and getting increasingly frustrated that the other houses were ignoring T’kuvma’s legacy while continuing the war without them? Her idea for Voq to be transformed into a human in order to become a sleeper agent seems to have included Discovery specifically as the target (the whole capture of Lorca and escape routine), so she must have managed to follow the course of the war even on the Ship of the Dead. She develops respect for Cornwell once she meets her, but I didn’t have the impression she sees Tyler as anything other than a disguise for Voq, not as a separate person, at least until the last few episodes of the season, so if you want to tackle the post finale time: L’Rell has just taken control of the Klingon Empire, resentful enemies around her, with her only back-up someone whom she does and does not know , since „Tyler“ has Voqs memories as well as original Tyler’s and has ended up being basically neither (though thinking of himself more as Tyler than Voq) - how does she even sleep at night? How does she go about winning allies in the Council?
Where to get the canon: outside the US, on Netflix.
Starbridge Series by Susan Howatch: I love those novels and wrote an entire post about why here. However, there’s no denying that it’s very male centric, even the one novel written from a female pov. But that’s what fanfiction is there for! If you feel inspired to tackle any of the ladies I requested, or all of them, I’d be profoundly grateful.
Primrose: on each reread, I’m more irritated by Howatch writing her as such an easy boo-hiss figure (she’s a prude! She’s not sexy! She’s good in school and the first female among the families these novels center on to actually start a career in the Church, but of course the only thing we see her do is object to Elvis Presley and have an Electra complex), though there are hints of something more (Venetia realising the parallels between them and their respective fathers, and the ghastly Freudian aspect of her own relationship with Aysgarth, for example). So: give me Primrose as a three dimensional person. Her own pov, both on events in the various novels, and on her making the Church her profession, and not as an ornament at someone’s side. How did her friendship with Venetia and Venetia dumping her look for her? Did she ever interact with Charley Ashworth, with whom she has much in common (though Howatch is far nicer to him), or did the feud between their fathers prevent that?
Venetia: more on her relationship with Lyle, the sole female mentee-mentor relationship in this series. Her friendship with Marina. Also, I doubt Venetia spent the entirety of the 60s post-Aysgarth with self loathing sex and drinks, and in the Nick pov novel, it struck me that she’d make a good detective herself, so for Venetia, I’d love a „case fic“ - some other mysterious death in her circle she needs to find out more about.
Lyle: My favourite of the female characters, not least because of the way she’s allowed to change and grow from standard Howatch troubled young woman to sovereign and insightful middle-aged lady. There are any number of missing scenes I’d love to see; Lyle during the time when Charles is a POW, reconciling with the Jardines and her past; her attempts to maintain contact with Venetia post catastrophe, see above; her and Dido, see below. Lyle and the female circle she ended up running against the odds near the end of her life, or, conversely, young, pre-Charles Lyle in Starbridge.
Dido: in a canon where the mortality rate for first wives is 100% and even second wives die for their husband’s character growth more often than not, Dido’s indestructability is truly something to behold. What was her relationship with her stepchildren like from her pov like? What’s her take on our various narrators? How about her relationship with Lyle in Starbridge when their husbands were the Bishop and the Dean respectively; there must have been any number of social encounters at the very least.
Where to get the canon: I own all six books (and the St. Benet’s novels, but they don’t matter re: my requests), so I don’t know whether they are still in print. But your library might be a good possibility.
Class: I loved this show and am sad it got cancelled, but here you are, Yuletide writer, giving me more!
Andra'ath/Miss Quill: what was it like for her, going from being forcibly bonded to the future ruler of her enemies, to seeing both their people wiped out? (Just how much time passed between the defeat of the Quill and thus her getting enslaved via symbiont and the annihilation of both Quill and Rodians by the Shadow Kin?) What were those first few months on Earth pre-pilot of the show like? Her relationship with Charlie in this stage, as during the show and in the aftermath really intrigues me, it’s my kind of difficult, from both their povs. Evidently Charlie knows enough about the Quill to keep her alive on his lonesome for a week when she’s in a coma, which is pretty specific knowledge, so how did he learn/find out? Do their human forms correspond in any way to how they think of themselves? Even if it’s just Quill and Charlie trying to figure out more about this planet they’ve ended up on by watching tv and arguing about shows, I’d love to read it.
Tanya being the first to point out that what the Rodians did to Quill is slavery, and Tanya and Quill bonding in the season finale was great, but what happens next? Especially given Tanya has just become an orphan at age 14, doubts her only friends really like her and has to explain what the hell happened to their mother to her brothers. Martial arts lessons by Quill are undoubtedly good for rage venting (and helpful the next time villains come calling), but she needs a bit more parenting/mentoring than that, while Quill hails from a culture where offspring eat their parents. How does their relationship develop further?
April: Quill’s jibes at April in the pilot come across as crueller than her general snark to me; why does Quill have it in for April in particular at this point? Once April has (temporarily) defeated the Shadowkin and become their ruler, it practically begs for a scene with Quill and her which never happened, so give me that. Quill's feud against the Shadowkin, after all, is at this point in the show still her main raison d'etre.
Matteusz: back when the show was cancelled, most post show stories seemed to have Matteusz in the comforter role with Charlie. This to me seems to ignore that Matteusz came across as truly horrified by Charlie’s actions in the finale, no matter how dire the emergency, and that they both seemed to be aware and insistent through the season that if Charlie were ever to use the cabinet, he would lose Matteusz. And of course, there’s the „I’m afraid of you“. Now don’t get me wrong, I like them as a pair, and I’m on board with them getting back together, but I’d like some struggle first, and Matteusz given the opportunity to work through the enormity of what just happened, instead of simply supporting Charlie. If you don’t want to deal with post-finale angst, then a Matteusz-centric story giving us his pov set at any point of the season would be lovely. Ram’s taunts about sex with an alien; different or similar to his family’s reaction to his having a same sex relationship at all? And speaking of „alien“, Matteusz is Polish in an increasingly xenophobic Britain - how does this colour his everyday experience?
Where to get the canon: on dvd.
The Defenders: the greatest regret this series left me with is that we’ll never get the procedural series of my heart, with Jessica as the detective and Matt as the lawyer taking on cases together. You, dear Yulewriter, could remedy this. Give me case fic wherein the two take on the same client, and you’ll have made my Yuletide and possibly my year. Other Defenders and supporting cast from their respective shows are welcome, but not a must; use whomever you feel comfortable with. I don’t care whether the case is a „mundane“ one without any necessity for their respective superheroics, or whether it needs a combination of detective/lawyer skills and vigilantism, as long as Jessica and Matt work together and have lots of interaction. This is really my one big wish for this fandom.
Where to get the canon: on Netflix.
Roma Sub Rosa Series by Steven Saylor: I was delighted to see these books nominated. Saylor’s Catilina is definitely the most compelling version of the character I’ve ever encountered, and I really appreciate that Saylor makes him (very) seductive and charismatic but in the end never lets Gordianus find out how many of Cicero’s accusations were true. If you can manage to maintain that ambiguity, dear writer: all the kudos to you!
Because Saylor has something of a tendency to go „women are mysterious“ now and then, I was very frustrated when even the new prequel novels don’t reveal much more about Bethesda’s inner life. Of course the first person narrative by Gordianus is somewhat limiting there, I admit. So it would be wonderful if you filled that gap and provide me with a Bethesda pov. If you pick the era of „Catilina’s Riddle“, a scene between her and Catilina, whether not they talk about Gordianus (and Bethesda is not likely to have messed the way Catilina flirted with her husband!) would be very welcome. As a former slave, Bethesda has experienced powerlessness in a way neither man ever has or will. Whether or not she believes Catilina is more than someone stirring up trouble for the hell of it or to get out of his own debts: would she change Roman society, if she could?
If you want to visit other eras - Bethesda’s backstory, as indicated by the conversation between her, Clodia and her daughter which Gordianus overhears, with the new canon from the prequel novels. Again, her pov, on either the adventure with the pirates or in Ephesus. How much does she trust Gordianus at this early point? Does she have plans to become a freedwoman and/or to run away?
Or: all those gaps between novels. Bethesda goes from being Gordianus‘ slave to being his wife. By the time the novels have reached Caesar’s death, he’s become a Senator. How does this incredible social rise affect her? Does she have friends of her own from her slave days, and can she keep them? Of her new acquaintances: Did she keep up the relationship with Clodia past „Venus Throw“? Eco and Meto accepted Gordianus as their father, but do they see Bethesda as their mother? As you can see: anything Bethesda-centric would be my dream.
Where to get the canon: all the novels are still in print, as far as I know.
The Last Kingdom: I've gone from being mildly fond of to definitely loving this tv series based on Bernard Cornwell's books, and would be thrilled to receive a story set in it. The Uthred and Alfred relationship in its prickly complexity pushed all my buttons, so anything focusing on it would be most welcome. (Some of my thoughts when consumating the canon are under this tag.) As an idea: road trip at any point in canon complete with mutual snark, emotional power games and one or both having to be under cover. Canon gives us this situation for Alfred near the end of s1, but how about a trip for a three ways negotiation between Saxons, Danes and Normans where they both need to pretend to be someone else en route?
Then there are the women. One of the many things which makes me prefer tv canon over book canon is the way the tv show adds dimension to them and lets them interact with each other. Aelswith, who from Uthred's pov in the books is described in purely negative terms but on the tv show comes across as far more interesting. By the second season, her marriage to Alfred comes across as strong, with Aelswith acting as councillor as much as consort, so please, unless we’re in Uthred’s pov, no Aelswith bashing. She’s not a nominated character, so I can’t ask for her; just, if you do want to use her, I’d be delighted.
Aethelflaed, otoh, was nominated, and I’d love to read a story with her in the centre : anything that doesn't focus on her relationship with Erik. Not that I have something against it, but much of what already exists as fanfic for The Last Kingdom is Aetheflaed/Erik, and I want something different in focus. Given Aethelflaed will end up as a ruler herself; what lessons does she learn while growing up through her parents and others? How does she interact with them both as individuals and as a couple? Does she feel responsible for Wessex and Mercia? Does she want to rule, at this point of her life, is it a dream or a realistic possibility for her? If Erik and Uthred hadn't provided an alternative to the terrible "get ransomed and ruin Wessex, or get gangraped in public forever" choice, what would have been her plan? Did she consider suicide a la Odda? What does she make of the Danes (other than just Erik), and does she see Uthred as a Saxon, a Dane, or neither?
Where to get the canon: both seasons are on Netflix.
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