Dear Yuletide Writer
Thank you so much! I love every one of these canons, and I'm sure I'll love whatever you make for me.
I've requested some of these before, so feel free to look through my exchange letters tag for additional inspiration. I went kind of minimal on prompts this year, but if you want more guidance I have more extensive prompts in some of my previous letters, and would still love to receive any of them.
General likes: hurt/comfort (as tropey as you like; favorite kinds include head injuries, drugged/woozy/out of it, lost/stranded, being stabbed or shot, hypothermia, CPR/oh-no-don't-die-on-me scenarios), friendship, enemies/antagonists to friends, case fic, action, domesticity, found families, slice of life, quiet between-times fic like characters playing board games or otherwise hanging out together, holiday fic, missing scenes, character studies, AUs, tropey fic (e.g. bodyswap, soulmates, sex pollen, truth serum).
Holidays: I celebrate Christmas, and I am totally there for fic about Christmas or any other holiday the characters might plausibly celebrate. I am also perfectly fine with non-holiday fic. I don't really have any specific holiday-related DNWs.
DNW: Major character death, depressing/hopeless endings, references to actual politics/pandemics (similar things happening in the fictional world are fine, e.g. a character being ill with a fever), IW/Endgame canon for Marvel fandoms.
Individual fandom requests
Iron Fist (TV)
Ward Meachum
I really love this human dumpster fire a lot, and I loved watching him slowly undo his dad's damage and fumble his way toward being a halfway decent human being. I desperately wished for a season three, and I would really enjoy post-canon fic in which he bonds with Danny or rebuilds bridges with Joy or tries to be a dad. Can he settle back into life at Rand after coming back from traveling with Danny, or does he explore other options, try to get out from under the shadow of the company a bit? I also really love seeing Ward and Colleen being awkward in-laws (and maybe becoming friends), and I'm always up for a little Ward/Misty. I like AUs, if you want to explore the characters under different circumstances (what if Ward was the Iron Fist, what if time travel changed everything, what if they're IN SPACE, etc). Also, Ward dealing with mystical bullshit will never stop being fun, so you could turn him into a kitten or given him a magic sword or make him answer a series of magical riddles to save Danny, etc.
Feel free to go to town with hurt/comfort if that's your thing - if you like whumping Ward, I am there for it.
Defenders (TV)
Jessica Jones, Danny Rand, Luke Cage, Matt Murdock
Team fic would be delightful! I'd love to see these disasters dealing with a case, something weird or magical (feel free to bring in some ridiculous villain from the comics or make up your own), or something ordinary and community-based. Maybe they get into magical trouble, like bodyswap or half the team getting turned into kittens or falling through a portal into another world or something. Or they could be doing some kind of everyday bonding activity together - baking Christmas cookies, doing an event for charity (that some of them have to be dragged into), getting drunk after a case goes badly. Or maybe all of them get together to help out one of them with a problem. You can include or ignore the individual show's canons, whatever you like; you can also bring in any of the side characters that you want.
You don't have to focus equally on all members of the team; it's fine if the fic is centered around one or two of them, as long as the others aren't completely excluded or character-bashed.
Turn (TV)
Edmund Hewlett
EDMUND DESERVED BETTER. I shipped him with Anna like burning, and would love a fic in which they reunite post-canon, or an AU in which the last season isn't so rushed and they get some closure. I would also absolutely love an AU in which he stays at Whitehall (with or without Anna) rather than going back to Britain post-canon; that was actually where I thought the show was going, and I was very disappointed it didn't end up that way. Seeing him slowly integrated into the daily life of Setauket would have been so lovely.
I would also enjoy canon-compliant post-canon fic in which he's settling back into civilian life in Scotland and dealing with everything that happened during the war, or missing scenes set during canon, even pre-series fic (perhaps when he first arrives at Whitehall?). I love AUs, and while the setting is a major part of my enjoyment of this show - so I'd prefer not to have a total setting change AU - I would really enjoy something that, for example, adds werewolves or aliens: what if the American Revolution turns into a zombie apocalypse or an alien invasion, and everyone has to work together? What if Edmund is hiding that he's secretly a werewolf or a selkie, or he finds out that secret about someone else?
Another thing I would enjoy exploring is Edmund's recovery after he escaped from the prison camp, which canon glossed over, but you could go as hurt/comforty as you want there.
Alliance-Union - CJ Cherryh
Ben Pollard, Meg Kady, Sal Aboujib, Paul Dekker
The Hellburner four! There's a vast amount of post-book territory to explore, with all the years of the war and everything beyond that. (Authorial Word of God says that they survived the war, even though we don't actually see it in the books.) I would really enjoy anything from their shipboard life on the Norway, maybe in the early days when they're still getting used to each other, or late in the war when they've had decades to become comfortably entwined with each other. (I am ALL OVER the team being all up in each other's spaces, sexually or just in a totally comfortable with each other kind of way.) Exploring their lives in the postwar period would also be interesting - do they stay on the Norway? Actually settle down on a station? Volunteer to explore a newly discovered planet? Meet actual aliens?
As mentioned in other requests, I love hurt/comfort and you can go as tropey as you like. Ben being trapped somewhere horrible with minimal life support in similar circumstances to Dekker, and maybe getting a little insight into what Dekker went through, is a scenario I'd be particularly into, maybe with the rest of them racing a clock to save him.
Or you could explore holidays in space, maybe with culture clash between the Earthers and the Belters and the spacers about what constitutes a holiday and how you celebrate it. Do any of them do birthdays? Maybe only some of them?
Charles Jenkins Series - Robert Dugoni
Viktor Federov, Paulina Ponomayova
I really enjoyed these spy books and I ended up shipping these two madly. I'm fine with gen, though, and I'm also fine with a fic that only focuses on one of them. I really want to know what happened to them after the second book - how are they adjusting to their new lives? But something set earlier would also be fine, if you want to focus on backstory.
I loved the books' vivid descriptions of places, so if you want to put them somewhere interesting and colorful, I would enjoy scenery/setting porn (though of course you don't have to). The nice thing about the post-canon period is that they could be literally anywhere doing anything - Paulina doesn't have to stay in the US, and Federov is canonically off doing his own thing anyway - so you can just go wild with interesting scenarios, and have them run into each other in Paris or Brazil or at Charlie's farm or basically anywhere. I would be good with anything from a quick hookup with a bittersweet feeling, to the two of them working together briefly but amiably (maybe one or both of them is doing some work for the CIA, or Federov has fallen back into working as a Russian agent except now he's doing it overseas; maybe he's even a freelance mercenary or something), to settling into some kind of long-term partnership or relationship. Something kind of cute and domestic with Federov showing up at Charlie's place would also make me happy. (Uh, if we're talking pairings, I'm also not saying no to Federov/Paulina/Charlie.)
This entry is also posted at https://sholio.dreamwidth.org/1352911.html with
comments.
I've requested some of these before, so feel free to look through my exchange letters tag for additional inspiration. I went kind of minimal on prompts this year, but if you want more guidance I have more extensive prompts in some of my previous letters, and would still love to receive any of them.
General likes: hurt/comfort (as tropey as you like; favorite kinds include head injuries, drugged/woozy/out of it, lost/stranded, being stabbed or shot, hypothermia, CPR/oh-no-don't-die-on-me scenarios), friendship, enemies/antagonists to friends, case fic, action, domesticity, found families, slice of life, quiet between-times fic like characters playing board games or otherwise hanging out together, holiday fic, missing scenes, character studies, AUs, tropey fic (e.g. bodyswap, soulmates, sex pollen, truth serum).
Holidays: I celebrate Christmas, and I am totally there for fic about Christmas or any other holiday the characters might plausibly celebrate. I am also perfectly fine with non-holiday fic. I don't really have any specific holiday-related DNWs.
DNW: Major character death, depressing/hopeless endings, references to actual politics/pandemics (similar things happening in the fictional world are fine, e.g. a character being ill with a fever), IW/Endgame canon for Marvel fandoms.
Individual fandom requests
Iron Fist (TV)
Ward Meachum
I really love this human dumpster fire a lot, and I loved watching him slowly undo his dad's damage and fumble his way toward being a halfway decent human being. I desperately wished for a season three, and I would really enjoy post-canon fic in which he bonds with Danny or rebuilds bridges with Joy or tries to be a dad. Can he settle back into life at Rand after coming back from traveling with Danny, or does he explore other options, try to get out from under the shadow of the company a bit? I also really love seeing Ward and Colleen being awkward in-laws (and maybe becoming friends), and I'm always up for a little Ward/Misty. I like AUs, if you want to explore the characters under different circumstances (what if Ward was the Iron Fist, what if time travel changed everything, what if they're IN SPACE, etc). Also, Ward dealing with mystical bullshit will never stop being fun, so you could turn him into a kitten or given him a magic sword or make him answer a series of magical riddles to save Danny, etc.
Feel free to go to town with hurt/comfort if that's your thing - if you like whumping Ward, I am there for it.
Defenders (TV)
Jessica Jones, Danny Rand, Luke Cage, Matt Murdock
Team fic would be delightful! I'd love to see these disasters dealing with a case, something weird or magical (feel free to bring in some ridiculous villain from the comics or make up your own), or something ordinary and community-based. Maybe they get into magical trouble, like bodyswap or half the team getting turned into kittens or falling through a portal into another world or something. Or they could be doing some kind of everyday bonding activity together - baking Christmas cookies, doing an event for charity (that some of them have to be dragged into), getting drunk after a case goes badly. Or maybe all of them get together to help out one of them with a problem. You can include or ignore the individual show's canons, whatever you like; you can also bring in any of the side characters that you want.
You don't have to focus equally on all members of the team; it's fine if the fic is centered around one or two of them, as long as the others aren't completely excluded or character-bashed.
Turn (TV)
Edmund Hewlett
EDMUND DESERVED BETTER. I shipped him with Anna like burning, and would love a fic in which they reunite post-canon, or an AU in which the last season isn't so rushed and they get some closure. I would also absolutely love an AU in which he stays at Whitehall (with or without Anna) rather than going back to Britain post-canon; that was actually where I thought the show was going, and I was very disappointed it didn't end up that way. Seeing him slowly integrated into the daily life of Setauket would have been so lovely.
I would also enjoy canon-compliant post-canon fic in which he's settling back into civilian life in Scotland and dealing with everything that happened during the war, or missing scenes set during canon, even pre-series fic (perhaps when he first arrives at Whitehall?). I love AUs, and while the setting is a major part of my enjoyment of this show - so I'd prefer not to have a total setting change AU - I would really enjoy something that, for example, adds werewolves or aliens: what if the American Revolution turns into a zombie apocalypse or an alien invasion, and everyone has to work together? What if Edmund is hiding that he's secretly a werewolf or a selkie, or he finds out that secret about someone else?
Another thing I would enjoy exploring is Edmund's recovery after he escaped from the prison camp, which canon glossed over, but you could go as hurt/comforty as you want there.
Alliance-Union - CJ Cherryh
Ben Pollard, Meg Kady, Sal Aboujib, Paul Dekker
The Hellburner four! There's a vast amount of post-book territory to explore, with all the years of the war and everything beyond that. (Authorial Word of God says that they survived the war, even though we don't actually see it in the books.) I would really enjoy anything from their shipboard life on the Norway, maybe in the early days when they're still getting used to each other, or late in the war when they've had decades to become comfortably entwined with each other. (I am ALL OVER the team being all up in each other's spaces, sexually or just in a totally comfortable with each other kind of way.) Exploring their lives in the postwar period would also be interesting - do they stay on the Norway? Actually settle down on a station? Volunteer to explore a newly discovered planet? Meet actual aliens?
As mentioned in other requests, I love hurt/comfort and you can go as tropey as you like. Ben being trapped somewhere horrible with minimal life support in similar circumstances to Dekker, and maybe getting a little insight into what Dekker went through, is a scenario I'd be particularly into, maybe with the rest of them racing a clock to save him.
Or you could explore holidays in space, maybe with culture clash between the Earthers and the Belters and the spacers about what constitutes a holiday and how you celebrate it. Do any of them do birthdays? Maybe only some of them?
Charles Jenkins Series - Robert Dugoni
Viktor Federov, Paulina Ponomayova
I really enjoyed these spy books and I ended up shipping these two madly. I'm fine with gen, though, and I'm also fine with a fic that only focuses on one of them. I really want to know what happened to them after the second book - how are they adjusting to their new lives? But something set earlier would also be fine, if you want to focus on backstory.
I loved the books' vivid descriptions of places, so if you want to put them somewhere interesting and colorful, I would enjoy scenery/setting porn (though of course you don't have to). The nice thing about the post-canon period is that they could be literally anywhere doing anything - Paulina doesn't have to stay in the US, and Federov is canonically off doing his own thing anyway - so you can just go wild with interesting scenarios, and have them run into each other in Paris or Brazil or at Charlie's farm or basically anywhere. I would be good with anything from a quick hookup with a bittersweet feeling, to the two of them working together briefly but amiably (maybe one or both of them is doing some work for the CIA, or Federov has fallen back into working as a Russian agent except now he's doing it overseas; maybe he's even a freelance mercenary or something), to settling into some kind of long-term partnership or relationship. Something kind of cute and domestic with Federov showing up at Charlie's place would also make me happy. (Uh, if we're talking pairings, I'm also not saying no to Federov/Paulina/Charlie.)
This entry is also posted at https://sholio.dreamwidth.org/1352911.html with
comments.