my "Dear Yuletide Writer/Yule Goat" letter
Dear Yuletide Writer/Yule Goat,
You have signed up to write in one of my tiny fandoms, and I love you for that. First of all, I should probably say that I would be equally happy receiving stories from any of these four fandoms. I have more to say about some of them than others, but that is by no means an indication of my level interest. Therefore, don't worry that we may have matched on one fandom when I secretly want a different one more, because it isn't true. Also, optional details being optional, you're of course free to ignore all of this anyway. More likely than not, as long as you have fun writing your story, then I will enjoy it.
As far as my general preferences are concerned, I'll start off by repeating the first paragraph from the details of my Jekyll request, because it pretty much applies to any fandom but I felt silly including the exact same paragraph three more times. So, "just about anything would make me happy. It could be pre-series, during the series, or post-series. I like missing scenes and alternate points of view. I like explorations of backstory. I like the sort of AU where a single cannon event happening slightly differently spins the whole plot off in a new direction. I like potentially crack!crossovers treated at least semi-seriously. Plot is always appreciated but it isn't necessary if you want to make the story be a character driven piece instead. Light and happy, dark and sad, or a bittersweet mixture are all equally appealing." To that I will add that I like competent characters being competent. I like family (can be found family rather than blood ties) and friendship relationships. For pairings, in most cases, I would prefer gen over non-cannon relationships, and I'm not particularly interested in reading explicit sex scenes. My main squicks are incest and scat/watersports.
And if all else fails and you can't think of anything else to write about, have there be a zombie apocalypse and show me how the characters react. Yes, this goes for any of the four fandoms. :)
Fandom: Jekyll (TV)
Characters: Any
Optional Details Which Are Optional: Just about anything would make me happy. It could be pre-series, during the series, or post-series. I like missing scenes and alternate points of view. I like explorations of backstory. I like the sort of AU where a single cannon event happening slightly differently spins the whole plot off in a new direction. I like potentially crack!crossovers treated at least semi-seriously. Plot is always appreciated but it isn't necessary if you want to make the story be a character driven piece instead. Light and happy, dark and sad, or a bittersweet mixture are all equally appealing.
I love it when the minor characters are brought into the spotlight, but I like all of the major characters too, so write about whoever and whatever you like. For shipping in this fandom, I like Tom/Claire, Tom/Claire/Hyde, Jekyll/Alice, Min/Miranda, and Benjamin/Christopher. I also like Claire/Hyde as long as it's happening in a way that Tom is okay with instead of bringing down guilt and angst on both him and Claire. A story about Peter/"that blond from reception" could be interesting too, especially if you incorporate Freeman tracking their locations via their cell phones. If you don't want to get into any shipping, I love gen stories too. Something about Katherine, or a piece focusing on the twins, or even Freeman and Dr. Gilligan sitting around complaining about their bosses would be great. If you don't mind doing a little fictionalized historical RPF, a story about the friendship between Henry Jekyll and Robert Louis Stevenson would be wonderful. For post series stories, if you want to being Hyde back from the dead, feel free to do so, with or without an explanation of how it happened. Also, feel free to pretend that the "Kiss for mommy" scene never happened if you didn't like it. On the other hand, if you did like the "Kiss for mommy" scene, then a story that deals with its aftermath could be cool too.
More Rambling: I don't have much else to say about this one that hasn't already been said, but if you really want to read more after all of this, you can find a variation on this topic in my Yuletide letter from last year here.
If we didn't match on this fandom and you're curious about it, it's a six episode series from the BBC, which is readily available on DVD, at least in regions 1 and 2. I'm not sure about the rest of the world. Its wikipedia page is here, and its TV Tropes page is here. Do be warned though that those two sites both have some major spoilers, and Jekyll is the type of show where it's best to watch it the first time through without already knowing all of the big twists, of which there are several.
Fandom: The Good Guys (TV)
Characters: Dan Stark, Ana Ruiz
Optional Details Which Are Optional: I would really love to read something about Ruiz and Stark's time working together as partners or something set closer to present time that looks at Ruiz's problems as Dan's boss. A story about Ruiz and Stark working a case against an interesting OC villain of a similar style to the ones who appear in the show would be awesome. A random slice of life between cases would be equally awesome. Feel free to throw in Jack, Liz, Frank, or anyone else as supporting characters. Also, I marked "Gen" in the category, but if you want to explore the time(s) that Ruiz and Stark slept together, then that is fine too. If you do want to get into their physical relationship, then all I ask is that you don't write anything too explicit (R or below is fine, but please no NC-17) and please don't make it be non-con (because that would make their current professional relationship all sorts of weird and creepy, especially when Dan supposedly as a video of it) or hate!sex.
More Rambling: I am a few episodes behind on this one, with the most recent episode that I've seen being "Dan On The Run," so if my request seems to be ignoring any important information about the backstory between Ruiz and Stark which may have been revealed since that episode, now you know the reason why. However, don't worry about trying to avoid spoilers, because I plan to be all caught up well before the 2010 Yuletide collection opens for reading. Of my four requests, The Good Guys is my "happy fandom," meaning that it is the only one of the four where I would really prefer that you keep things a little bit on the lighter side of the spectrum of narrative tone. You're free to still include drama, angst, violence, and that sort of stuff, but I would prefer a happy ending without the death of any cannon characters who haven't died in cannon. If you were feeling inclined to bring back any of the more sympathetic bad guys who managed to live past the episode that they featured in, then my favorites are Perdo the second best assassin in the world from the pilot episode and Roland the food-blogging tech-bandit from "Common Enemies."
If we didn't match on this fandom and you're curious about it, its a buddy cop comedy-drama set in Dallas, TX and currently airing on the FOX network. It's too new to be on DVD yet, but if you live in the US you can watch the most recent episodes for free on Hulu. Its wikipedia page is here, and its TV Tropes page is here.
Fandom: Murphy's Law UK (TV)
Characters: Any
Optional Details Which Are Optional: Anything would be great, no matter where it falls on the sliding scale of grit and humor. It could be a case fic (it doesn't even have to have any action in it if you felt like writing a story about the most boring case Murphy ever worked and what he did to entertain himself during it, or something like that), slice of life fic, an explanation of where Carter disappeared off to after series two (undercover!Carter case fic would be amazing), Annie and McBride getting together for tea/coffee without inviting Murphy along, an angst fic where Murphy's wife shows up and officially asks for a divorce, a look at Murphy and Paul Allison working together at some point prior to series three, a tale of some of the trouble that Murphy and McBride got into as teenagers back when they were in that punk band in Belfast, an AU where Annie doesn't die while working the Ripper case, a crossover with Idris Elba's series Luther, or whatever else you think would be entertaining to write about in this fandom. Seriously, anything. For shipping, I like Murphy/Annie the best, but Murphy/his wife would be good if the story is set pre-series (I'm not really interested in them getting back together again unless you can really sell me on the idea, just because I like the idea of her finding her happily-ever-after with that snooker player). If neither of those pairings appeals to you, but you still want to write something with romance (which totally isn't necessary if you don't want to include it) then any cannon hook-ups are fair game. I also always thought that Carter had a giant crush on Annie, so exploring that could be cool too.
More Rambling: I don't have much else to say about this one that hasn't already been said, but if you really want to read more after all of this, you can find a variation on this topic in my Yuletide letter from last year here. Also, to the best of my knowledge, the grand total of fic produced for this fandom is a single story, which was written for me for Yuletide 2008 and can be found here, at least until the old Yuletide archive migrates to AO3.
If we didn't match on this fandom and you're curious about it, it's a British undercover cop drama from the BBC. So far, only the first two series are available on DVD in region 1 format, but that's all you really need to see in order to write fic, because the final three series cover a single case each, with Murphy as the only recurring character between them. All five series are available on DVD in region 2. Its wikipedia page is here and it doesn't have a TV Tropes page.
Fandom: The Omega Factor (TV)
Characters: Any
Optional Details Which Are Optional: Anything in this fandom would be great, pre-series, during the series, or post-series. I am especially interested in a story that explores the characters other than Tom (but I don't specifically have anything against Tom either, so if you want to write a story about him then that would be wonderful too), such as a look at Anne and Roy's relationship (both professional and romantic, people who snog like that are usually a whole lot more than just good friends, and Anne looked so heartbroken in one of the later episodes after Roy just kissed her on the forehead), or a look at exactly why Julia went to Andrew Scott-Erskine with what she knew of Tom's powers after being sworn to secrecy, or what Julia's view of the situation as seen from the afterlife is, or something that focuses on Michael's work with the department, or an exploration of what Morag thought about her involvement in the various things that she did.
More Rambling: This was the fandom which I ended up writing for last Yuletide. While I was rewatching the show and working on my story, I started really craving Omega Factor fic that was written by someone other than myself. I'm still craving that fic a year later, which is something of a problem because, as far as I know, the story I wrote is the only one ever produced in this fandom.
If we didn't match on this fandom and you're curious about it, it's a British supernatural/sci-fi series from 1979 (so beware of low budgets, horrible 70's fashions/hair, and the amusing fact that characters drink and smoke constantly but never seem to eat anything) with investigation/conspiracy elements similar to the X-Files. It's available on DVD in region 1 and 2. I'm not sure about its availability in the rest of the world. Most, if not all, of the series appears to have been uploaded to YouTube, with the first part of the first episode here. Its wikipedia page is here, and it doesn't have a TV Tropes page, which is weird because I could have sworn that there used to be one.
And as seems to be becoming a Yuletide tradition for me, this letter is now more than twice as long as the story which you're writing needs to be. Too bad I can't add this word count to my NaNoWriMo total. :P I really hope that all my babbling isn't too intimidating, because it really isn't meant to be. Mostly I only do it because the DYW letter is one of the only times all year when I actually need to sit down and try to put my feelings about my fandoms into words, so I'm not very good at it. If any of this is useful to you, then great. If it isn't useful, then just ignore it. Like I said before, I know that optional details are always optional, so write what makes you happy and I'll be happy too. Whatever you write will be a brand new story in one of my tiny little fandoms and would have never existed without your efforts, and I thank you for that. :)
Happy Yuletide!