Yuletide Letter
Dear Yuletide Writer,
we share at least one fandom, which is great, and I'm really grateful you take the time and trouble to write a story for me. All the prompts are just suggestions; if you have very different ideas featuring the same central characters, go for them. Also, I enjoy a broad range from fluff to angst, so whatever suits you best works fine with me.
DNW:
- bashing of canon pairings or characters in general. By which I don't mean the characters have to like each and everyone - a great number of those I've nominated can be described as prickly jerks, among other things, and it would be entirely ic for them to say something negative about people they canonically can't stand - but there's a difference between that and the narrative giving me the impression to go along with said opinions.
- Alpha/Beta/Omega scenarios, watersports, infantilisation. Really not my thing, sorry.
Likes:
- competence, competent people appreciating each other
- deep loyalty and not blindly accepting orders
- flirting/seduction via wordplay and banter (if it works for you with the characters in question)
- for the darker push/pull dynamics: moments of tenderness and understanding in between the fighting/one upman shipping (without abandoning the anger)
- for the pairings, both romantic and non-romantic, that are gentler and harmonious by nature: making it clear each has their own life and agenda as well
- some humor amidst the angst (especially if the character in question displays it in canon)
The question of AUs: depends. "What if this key canon event did not happen?" can lead to great character and dynamics exploration, some of which made it into my specific prompts, but I do want to recognize the characters. Half of those I nominated are from historical canons, and the history is part of the fascination the canon has for me. ) However, if you feel inspired to, say, write Henry of Prussia, space captain, and manage to do it in a way that gives me gripping analogues to the historical situations: be my guest!
How much or how little sex: I'm cool with anything you feel comfortable with, from detailed sex to the proverbial fade out after a kiss. Or no sex at all (case in point: several of the non-romantic relationships I prompted), as long as the story explores the emotional dynamics in an intense way.
Foundation (TV)
My listing of the characters here doesn't mean you have to put them all in the same story, though if you are inspired to a plot featuring Demerzel, Gaal and Hari Seldon, by all means! Still, I'd be happy with either Demerzel on the one hand, or Gaal & Hari and the other.
One year on to marathoning it, I still love this show. Demerezel is the character I'm most interested in, but the second season also gave me powerful feelings about the relationship between Gaal and Salvor, and both of them and Hari Seldon. Gaal starting out with hero worship moving on to powerful and well founded resentment and then ending up (for now) with understanding and a strong alliance when it comes to Hari, who in turn changes his attitude towards Gaal (if we count Hari-with-Gaal-and-Salvor as the same entity as the Hari Seldon who dies in episode 1.03) from somewhat condescending mentor/protegé (though with some honest delight at her gifts) to stunned (when she's there instead of Reych to half out of his mind resentful (after a few decades locked in the Prime Radiant while conscious) to trust and support - it's fascinating to me, and any story focused on the Gaal and Hari relationship would be more than welcome.
As for Demerezel, her long, long life of course offers a multitude of backstory speculation. (Yes, I know who she is meant to be if the show follows the books. No, you don't have to cling to that if you don't want to, especially if you haven't read any of the Asimov stories in quesiton, though of course if you do want to, by all means!) I expect later seasons will reveal some of what she did and who she was before getting imprisoned and literally cut into pieces for five thousand years, other than becoming a Luminarian, but the bits and pieces from the last six hundred years, i.e. from Cleon I. onwards, are tantalizing enough. What was it like for her when Cleon I. died? Did she hope until this point his reprogamming of her might not outlive him or that his death would allow her to find a loophole, or on the contrary, was she glad (after five thousand years in solitude) that whatever else it was, the Genetic Dynasty set up and her reprogramming ensured she would never be alone again for the foreseeable future (i.e. for as long as the Genetic Dynasty was maintained, which she's programmed to ensure it will be)? As of the end of s2, she's lived with eighteen versions of Cleon (plus unknown number of replacement clones if and when a Dawn, Day or Dusk had to be replaced for his time), literally going with them from birth to death, and seeing both the repeating patterns and the differences. What's that like to her? Does she see them all as individuals or does she see them as aspects of the dead Cleon I? What is her relationship like with the other people working at the palace - the Shadow Masters, the Concubines, the guards, the doctors? Do any of them guess or know her robotic nature? I'm intrigued by Demerezel specifically picking Bel Riose, whom she knew was bound to clash with Cleon XVII again sooner or later, to get out of imprisonment and back as the main general again, and by their brief exchange when Day decides to go Terminus, when he wants to know whether Day sounding reasonable makes her as nervous as it does him, and Demerezel telling him there is a reason why she chose him (Bel Riose). Sounds to me as if these two had a history before Bel Riose's imprisonment at least on a good working basis. We know Demerezel can't act against the Genetic Dynasty due to her programming, but she can prioritize the Dynasty as a whole over an individual Cleon if she thinks this particular clone is damaging to the entire Dynasty. Could it be she thought this Day was getting near this point and thus Bel Riose, the one general capable of resisting efficiently if push came to shove and still loyal to Empire in a way that would prevent him from going for the outright Revolution option, should be a position to act against him? Going back to season 1, here the last thing we see of Demerezel is - after she killed Dawn - literally clawing her face off and screaming in the privacy of her quarters. Evidently, she put herself together again later, she had to. Not least since Day was simultanously losing it on Cleon I's corpse. How does she cope?
The Bearkeeper's Daughter - Gilllian Bradshaw
One of my favourite Bradshaw novels, and one of my favourite fictional takes on Theodora, full stop, precisely because manages to keep her sympathetic and morally ambiguos at the same time. As it's set towards the end of her life, there is a lot of backstory to explore, based both on the bits and pieces John hears from other people and history. How did these versions of Theodora and Justinian meet? Given this is just after her experience with Diodorus, who brings up the idea of marriage first? How does she deal with being Empress - and being Empress in a way that doesn't just mean representation but active government involvement - in the first few years? In the novel, she has a good working relationship with Narses - how did it start?
As most other fictionalisations of this era I have encountered pick Belisarius when it comes to one of the major generals and officials, I found Bradshaw picking Narses and describing him as the ultimate competent (and enigmatic) administrator instead refreshing, not to mention very much against the "evil Eunuch" cliché, and I only wish she'd also given us an entire Narses novel. Failing this, a short story from his pov would do nicely. :) Like Theodora - and indeed Justinian, the quondam Petrus from the provinces - his is a from rags to riches story, but in his case, he starts out even lower on the Byzantine social hierarchy than Theodora - as an enslaved person. Presumably this is where he learned to keep his cool and present an impenetrable facade no matter who insults him, and the novel gives us a good sense of how he interacts with those more powerful or of equal rank in the present, or with administrative subordinates like John or petitioners like Euphemia - but how does he treat his own servants? What does he truly think about his rivalry with Belisarius? Does he see the danger of overextension which was to prove to damaging a legacy of the Justinian era, or has he no idea?
Tudor Courtiers RPF
As much interested in the Boleyns as I am, I'm also getting more and more intrigued by the Seymours - specifically in Elizabeth, who never rose as high as her sister and brothers (though high enough, especially as Cromwell's daughter-in-law, to live dangerously) but unlike them managed to survive various marriages and shifts in allegiance to die wealthy and safe in another age. We know little enough about her but what we do know is intriguing - unlike Jane, who appears to have been loyal to Katherine of Aragon throughout, she seems to have thrown in with the reformers early on, so were there tensions between the sisters? (It's noticable Mary (Tudor), not Elizabeth Seymour, was chief mourner at Jane's funeral, despite Elizabeth being around and available.) She was ruthless and clearsighted enough to throw her father-in-law under the bus during Cromwell's fall despite being friendly with him earlier, yet that might very well have saved his son's life, status and riches, so I guess he'd have approved. And what did she make of her brothers, with Thomas fucking up spectacularly (to put it mildly) after Henry's death and Edward losing the support for his Protectorate as well?
Whether you focus on any one era of Elizabeth's life or go for several, I would love to have a story focused on her and her relationship with her siblings.
18th Century Fredericians
All the characters are in an "or" position, i.e. you don't have to include the lot of them, though of course some of my prompts ask for combinations; they're just that, prompts, and if your own idea is quite different, go for it.
Heinrich/Henry and Frederick II: still the fraternal hateship of my heart. Anything focused on their mixture of resentment, understanding each other all too well and reluctant support in a crisis would be welcome. And there are so many possible scenarios to explore. For example: Young Heinrich, fresh from the Marwitz affair and thus presumably seething being dragged along with Friedrich does one of peace time spa visits at Bad Pyrmont; Friedrich forced by the very nature of a spa to observe other people's rules and socialize. (On an earlier Bad Pyrmont visit, we know that Fredersdorf was along for the ride and completely bamboozled wannabe spies about Friedrich's intention re: starting the Second Silesian War; if you like, you can combine these visits.)
- Fredersdorf: his pov on the bonkers Glasow affair that went down during his last year(s) of life. What did he make of Glasow initially rising to favour? Was he jealous, as Lehndorff speculates? Did he on the contrary see Glasow as simply another handsome distraction? Once he knew he was dying, and Glasow started to get actual responsibilities, was he worried or did he tell himself not to be, not to be biased by some resentment? And once the big news broke about Glasow's betrayal broke and everyone involved with the clean-up operation wrote to him asking for advice while Fredersdorf had only months to live and the 7 Years War was hittng the first year mark, complete with first big defeat for Frederick, how did he cope with that?
Those About To Die
Cala was hands down my favourite character in this series, so anything focused on her would be more than welcome. Not solely, but definitely also something focused on her relationship with Tenax. Equally, a day in the life of Cala managing the tavern and the bets, trying to make useful connections in order to free her children, and her pov on Rome would be great.
If Cala was a standout, Berenice to me was a frustration because not only has the historical Berenice intrigued me for a while but the show's version was teased at being interesting, yet also felt severely underwritten and underexplored. So what was her take on her relationship with Titus? Did she have a political goal in mind, or was she just improvising? How did she cope with being increasingnly seen as a traitor by her own people, while being looked down on and/or suspected by the Romans with their Cleopatra complex?
If you can manage Cala and Berenice in the same story, all the better, but it is not a must.
we share at least one fandom, which is great, and I'm really grateful you take the time and trouble to write a story for me. All the prompts are just suggestions; if you have very different ideas featuring the same central characters, go for them. Also, I enjoy a broad range from fluff to angst, so whatever suits you best works fine with me.
DNW:
- bashing of canon pairings or characters in general. By which I don't mean the characters have to like each and everyone - a great number of those I've nominated can be described as prickly jerks, among other things, and it would be entirely ic for them to say something negative about people they canonically can't stand - but there's a difference between that and the narrative giving me the impression to go along with said opinions.
- Alpha/Beta/Omega scenarios, watersports, infantilisation. Really not my thing, sorry.
Likes:
- competence, competent people appreciating each other
- deep loyalty and not blindly accepting orders
- flirting/seduction via wordplay and banter (if it works for you with the characters in question)
- for the darker push/pull dynamics: moments of tenderness and understanding in between the fighting/one upman shipping (without abandoning the anger)
- for the pairings, both romantic and non-romantic, that are gentler and harmonious by nature: making it clear each has their own life and agenda as well
- some humor amidst the angst (especially if the character in question displays it in canon)
The question of AUs: depends. "What if this key canon event did not happen?" can lead to great character and dynamics exploration, some of which made it into my specific prompts, but I do want to recognize the characters. Half of those I nominated are from historical canons, and the history is part of the fascination the canon has for me. ) However, if you feel inspired to, say, write Henry of Prussia, space captain, and manage to do it in a way that gives me gripping analogues to the historical situations: be my guest!
How much or how little sex: I'm cool with anything you feel comfortable with, from detailed sex to the proverbial fade out after a kiss. Or no sex at all (case in point: several of the non-romantic relationships I prompted), as long as the story explores the emotional dynamics in an intense way.
Foundation (TV)
My listing of the characters here doesn't mean you have to put them all in the same story, though if you are inspired to a plot featuring Demerzel, Gaal and Hari Seldon, by all means! Still, I'd be happy with either Demerzel on the one hand, or Gaal & Hari and the other.
One year on to marathoning it, I still love this show. Demerezel is the character I'm most interested in, but the second season also gave me powerful feelings about the relationship between Gaal and Salvor, and both of them and Hari Seldon. Gaal starting out with hero worship moving on to powerful and well founded resentment and then ending up (for now) with understanding and a strong alliance when it comes to Hari, who in turn changes his attitude towards Gaal (if we count Hari-with-Gaal-and-Salvor as the same entity as the Hari Seldon who dies in episode 1.03) from somewhat condescending mentor/protegé (though with some honest delight at her gifts) to stunned (when she's there instead of Reych to half out of his mind resentful (after a few decades locked in the Prime Radiant while conscious) to trust and support - it's fascinating to me, and any story focused on the Gaal and Hari relationship would be more than welcome.
As for Demerezel, her long, long life of course offers a multitude of backstory speculation. (Yes, I know who she is meant to be if the show follows the books. No, you don't have to cling to that if you don't want to, especially if you haven't read any of the Asimov stories in quesiton, though of course if you do want to, by all means!) I expect later seasons will reveal some of what she did and who she was before getting imprisoned and literally cut into pieces for five thousand years, other than becoming a Luminarian, but the bits and pieces from the last six hundred years, i.e. from Cleon I. onwards, are tantalizing enough. What was it like for her when Cleon I. died? Did she hope until this point his reprogamming of her might not outlive him or that his death would allow her to find a loophole, or on the contrary, was she glad (after five thousand years in solitude) that whatever else it was, the Genetic Dynasty set up and her reprogramming ensured she would never be alone again for the foreseeable future (i.e. for as long as the Genetic Dynasty was maintained, which she's programmed to ensure it will be)? As of the end of s2, she's lived with eighteen versions of Cleon (plus unknown number of replacement clones if and when a Dawn, Day or Dusk had to be replaced for his time), literally going with them from birth to death, and seeing both the repeating patterns and the differences. What's that like to her? Does she see them all as individuals or does she see them as aspects of the dead Cleon I? What is her relationship like with the other people working at the palace - the Shadow Masters, the Concubines, the guards, the doctors? Do any of them guess or know her robotic nature? I'm intrigued by Demerezel specifically picking Bel Riose, whom she knew was bound to clash with Cleon XVII again sooner or later, to get out of imprisonment and back as the main general again, and by their brief exchange when Day decides to go Terminus, when he wants to know whether Day sounding reasonable makes her as nervous as it does him, and Demerezel telling him there is a reason why she chose him (Bel Riose). Sounds to me as if these two had a history before Bel Riose's imprisonment at least on a good working basis. We know Demerezel can't act against the Genetic Dynasty due to her programming, but she can prioritize the Dynasty as a whole over an individual Cleon if she thinks this particular clone is damaging to the entire Dynasty. Could it be she thought this Day was getting near this point and thus Bel Riose, the one general capable of resisting efficiently if push came to shove and still loyal to Empire in a way that would prevent him from going for the outright Revolution option, should be a position to act against him? Going back to season 1, here the last thing we see of Demerezel is - after she killed Dawn - literally clawing her face off and screaming in the privacy of her quarters. Evidently, she put herself together again later, she had to. Not least since Day was simultanously losing it on Cleon I's corpse. How does she cope?
The Bearkeeper's Daughter - Gilllian Bradshaw
One of my favourite Bradshaw novels, and one of my favourite fictional takes on Theodora, full stop, precisely because manages to keep her sympathetic and morally ambiguos at the same time. As it's set towards the end of her life, there is a lot of backstory to explore, based both on the bits and pieces John hears from other people and history. How did these versions of Theodora and Justinian meet? Given this is just after her experience with Diodorus, who brings up the idea of marriage first? How does she deal with being Empress - and being Empress in a way that doesn't just mean representation but active government involvement - in the first few years? In the novel, she has a good working relationship with Narses - how did it start?
As most other fictionalisations of this era I have encountered pick Belisarius when it comes to one of the major generals and officials, I found Bradshaw picking Narses and describing him as the ultimate competent (and enigmatic) administrator instead refreshing, not to mention very much against the "evil Eunuch" cliché, and I only wish she'd also given us an entire Narses novel. Failing this, a short story from his pov would do nicely. :) Like Theodora - and indeed Justinian, the quondam Petrus from the provinces - his is a from rags to riches story, but in his case, he starts out even lower on the Byzantine social hierarchy than Theodora - as an enslaved person. Presumably this is where he learned to keep his cool and present an impenetrable facade no matter who insults him, and the novel gives us a good sense of how he interacts with those more powerful or of equal rank in the present, or with administrative subordinates like John or petitioners like Euphemia - but how does he treat his own servants? What does he truly think about his rivalry with Belisarius? Does he see the danger of overextension which was to prove to damaging a legacy of the Justinian era, or has he no idea?
Tudor Courtiers RPF
As much interested in the Boleyns as I am, I'm also getting more and more intrigued by the Seymours - specifically in Elizabeth, who never rose as high as her sister and brothers (though high enough, especially as Cromwell's daughter-in-law, to live dangerously) but unlike them managed to survive various marriages and shifts in allegiance to die wealthy and safe in another age. We know little enough about her but what we do know is intriguing - unlike Jane, who appears to have been loyal to Katherine of Aragon throughout, she seems to have thrown in with the reformers early on, so were there tensions between the sisters? (It's noticable Mary (Tudor), not Elizabeth Seymour, was chief mourner at Jane's funeral, despite Elizabeth being around and available.) She was ruthless and clearsighted enough to throw her father-in-law under the bus during Cromwell's fall despite being friendly with him earlier, yet that might very well have saved his son's life, status and riches, so I guess he'd have approved. And what did she make of her brothers, with Thomas fucking up spectacularly (to put it mildly) after Henry's death and Edward losing the support for his Protectorate as well?
Whether you focus on any one era of Elizabeth's life or go for several, I would love to have a story focused on her and her relationship with her siblings.
18th Century Fredericians
All the characters are in an "or" position, i.e. you don't have to include the lot of them, though of course some of my prompts ask for combinations; they're just that, prompts, and if your own idea is quite different, go for it.
Heinrich/Henry and Frederick II: still the fraternal hateship of my heart. Anything focused on their mixture of resentment, understanding each other all too well and reluctant support in a crisis would be welcome. And there are so many possible scenarios to explore. For example: Young Heinrich, fresh from the Marwitz affair and thus presumably seething being dragged along with Friedrich does one of peace time spa visits at Bad Pyrmont; Friedrich forced by the very nature of a spa to observe other people's rules and socialize. (On an earlier Bad Pyrmont visit, we know that Fredersdorf was along for the ride and completely bamboozled wannabe spies about Friedrich's intention re: starting the Second Silesian War; if you like, you can combine these visits.)
- Fredersdorf: his pov on the bonkers Glasow affair that went down during his last year(s) of life. What did he make of Glasow initially rising to favour? Was he jealous, as Lehndorff speculates? Did he on the contrary see Glasow as simply another handsome distraction? Once he knew he was dying, and Glasow started to get actual responsibilities, was he worried or did he tell himself not to be, not to be biased by some resentment? And once the big news broke about Glasow's betrayal broke and everyone involved with the clean-up operation wrote to him asking for advice while Fredersdorf had only months to live and the 7 Years War was hittng the first year mark, complete with first big defeat for Frederick, how did he cope with that?
Those About To Die
Cala was hands down my favourite character in this series, so anything focused on her would be more than welcome. Not solely, but definitely also something focused on her relationship with Tenax. Equally, a day in the life of Cala managing the tavern and the bets, trying to make useful connections in order to free her children, and her pov on Rome would be great.
If Cala was a standout, Berenice to me was a frustration because not only has the historical Berenice intrigued me for a while but the show's version was teased at being interesting, yet also felt severely underwritten and underexplored. So what was her take on her relationship with Titus? Did she have a political goal in mind, or was she just improvising? How did she cope with being increasingnly seen as a traitor by her own people, while being looked down on and/or suspected by the Romans with their Cleopatra complex?
If you can manage Cala and Berenice in the same story, all the better, but it is not a must.