Dear Yuletide Writer!
Hi. I am so so glad you're writing for me! These are canons I am passionately in love with - and, for the most part, they're canons with very little fic. Thus, you can basically do no wrong! I shall give you my general and specific preferences, and will blather about what I love about each of the canons. Disregard at will! I'm also leaving anon commenting on, so you can always contact me if you'd like to know somehting.
I am a big fan of love stories or strong-friendship stories. Also stories that are about how the setting/events in canon influence the lives of minor or original characters. Also porn (especially if it's kinky somehow - I like basically all kinks? As long as everyone involved is enjoying them), and fluff (particularly for characters who lead difficult lives), and banter in any situation. So you have a lot to work with! In general, I tend to care more about characterisation than plot, and more about details than overall coherence.
Some further things that please me particularly:
- physical hurt/comfort: bruises! scars! dashing rescues!
- kindness: particularly when society discourages it, particularly when it leads to unexpected/forbidden friendships or romances.
- AUs and trope-fics: particularly space opera AUs, fantasy AUs, different eras - I love the character-exploration you can do when you change the setting.
- rebels!
- kneeling: I don't care if it's incidental or formal, it always makes me happy
Some things I'd rather not read:
- unrequited love, jealousy and miscommunication
- contemporary military or prison settings. (I am okay with dungeons! Knights! Space captains! Pirates! But contemporary prisonfic and armyfic just do not do it for me.)
- characters who're supposed to like each other being unnecessarily nasty or condescending toward each other
I have no triggers, but I'd appreciate warnings for character death and non-con. It's cool if your fic gets dark, but I'd prefer happy or ambiguous endings rather than entirely hopeless ones.
Untamed - Anna Cowan: Lady Rose | Jude | Duke of Darlington, Katherine Sutherland, Lydia Sutherland
This book is just so dashing. I fell in love with it about the time Lady Rose appeared. Lady Rose is glorious, the happiest of all Jude's presentations - genuinely self-confident, and so charming that she is actually kind, and I'm pretty sure Kit would never have fallen for Jude if she hadn't seen the way Lady Rose interacts with Kit's family. Thus, if you could write me Jude being Lady Rose again after the novel is over - either as an identity thing or a kink thing- I would be overjoyed.
I also love Jude-as-Jude though! I am not a big fan of him trying to play the chilly rational nobleman, since he is so very bad at it. I like his honesty instead, and his frailness. His attention to detail. His random acts of magnanimous benevolence delight me, and so does his sense of whimsy. And wow do I love him with Kit.
Kit is fascinating to me because usually I go for characters because of their kindness but I love Kit most because she doesn't do everything for the people she loves - if she did, they'd use her, because they're all that particular kind of broken. Instead Kit trusts in her own pragmatism and makes them respect her boundaries, and that is what makes it all work. I love how brave she is, how hard it is for her to go through the necessary self-exploration. I am also made so happy by her confidence once she does solve her issues. And when she does, well, wow she's hot. I spent the entire dramatic climax of the book just really really smitten by her confidence.
Lydia is gloriously complicated. I'm not all that interested about her marriage with BenRuin - I am not sure if I enjoy their dynamics or not - but I am fascinated with her perception of herself as a public figure, with her act of defiance in cutting her hair. I'd also love to know more about her relationship with Kit and Tom or her friendship with Jude!
I absolutely don't mind reading about trauma flashbacks, but I'd prefer fic set during or after the novel, when everyone's abuser is safely dead! Or you could play around with the setting - a modern AU could be really cool (would Jude be less of a dick? More of a dick?) Or a crossover with any Heyer if that's more you're thing!
Subnormality (webcomic): Any
I love Rowntree's discreet optimism and the fact that his characters are complex and fallible but so undeniably likable. I adore the Pink-Haired Girl and the fact that she has made two very different friends and cares deeply for them both. Write me bonding fic where Ethel tells her a very scary story about buying groceries, or where the Sphynx tells her a not-that-scary story about eating people. Or write what happens when Ethel meets the Sphynx. Hell, write me Sphynx/Pink Haired Girl/Ethel fic if you're so inclined; it's not a ship I ship, but it might be fascinating and/or hilarious.
Or you can write about any of the other characters. I love Zoe Muggs; I love the adorable philosophically-inclined lesbians; I love the demon chick and her girlfriend. I love so many one-shot characters, especially Jon and Synthia and Eunice and Bruno Menderes. Or I'd enjoy reading about any of the reoccuring characters visiting No-Bullshit Emporium or trying Dating Roulette.
I feel like this is a canon better suited for short fics - despite the walls of text - so if you want to write a collection of drabbles rather than one fic, feel free to do that. Longfic is also welcome, of course!
(The somewhat-outdated wiki says the philosophically-inclined lesbians are called Marie and Anneliese. Who knew!)
Metropolis Suites - Janelle Monáe: Any
I've been fascinated by this world for a while, but Electric Lady was the album that made me fall in love forever. I love the complex themes that Janelle Monáe explores in her lyrics and clips, and the way she melds worldbuilding and emotion, plot and politics. I am fascinated by the mythology of the ArchAndroid, and Cindi's role as a folk hero and a martyr and an entertainer. I am so curious about what happened with Anthony Greendown. I'm also way curious about Mary - is Cindi falling in love with Mary? What does Mary choose? (Sally Ride is my favourite song and I was so delighted when I figured out who the title is a reference to). Is this the Mary in question? What does 'true love' means to Cindi?
So write me a big mythologically significant story, or a slice-of-life story about Cindi being on the run. (Does she gather disciples? Does she perform miracles? What would happen if she met one of her stoned college-student fanboys?)
Or write about other androids - and about humans and clones and the way this society was built and the way it will be brought down. Write me about the role of music in this world and in the way Cindi's message is spread. Write me things about DJ Crash Crash - what is his story? Why did he become a DJ? What does he want and what does he fear? Write me about love and gender and chrome shoppes - what body modifications do androids do? Is there a particular kinship between androids of the same model?
Or you can always just take one song or one line and write about that, disregarding the ArchAndroid context altogether. I would like it if you kept the original futurism setting though - Cindi is so closely intertwined with the world she wants to save.
Boy Meets World: Angela Moore, Shawn Hunter
Lately, I have been watching this compilation of clips about Shawn and Angela's relationship. Apparently they were a formative shipping influence: the scenes where Shawn does his flourishy bows, where she reduces him to a giggly flustered mess; the scenes where they slam each other against lockers and horizontal surfaces, the scene where they both call Cory 'darling' with the same inflection, and particularly the scene where Angela rescues him from being handcuffed in the basement, oh my god.
I love the way they were always just a little less dramatic and more self-contained than Cory and Topanga - they observed, they snarked, they had so many defenses but they both worked on trusting people and sometimes got hurt because of it. I loved their clothes and their body language - the way they moved like a team, shared chapsticks and possibly lipsticks. (Crossdressing Shawn holds a special place in my heart.) I loved that Vivaldi and Van Damme pretty much accurately describes them throughout the series.
So! I would like fic about either of them. Future-fic where they get back together is very welcome, and so are missing moments. So are AUs of any kind - maybe you can make use of one of those alternate universe episodes! Or whatever other setting you can think of. If you prefer, you can write character explorations of either of them - I loved their complicated relationships with their families and I ADORED their relationships with their friends, although I wish we'd been showed more about Topanga and Angela. So, really, you needn't write shippiness to make me happy.
(It's also cool if you want to ship them with other people! I will be very happy with Shawn/Cory/Topanga or Angela/Topanga or Angela/weirdly-named-European-men-and-women, as long as the focus is on Shawn or Angela. Hey, you could even write Shawn/Cory/Topanga/Angela sedoretu fic, if you are a sedoretu-fic-writing kind of person.)
Benjamin January Mysteries - Barbara Hambly: Benjamin January
I adore the complete cast of these books, but I decided to just ask for Benjamin this year, since he is my favourite character - as in, anywhere, ever. I love his wit and compassion; the way he is so honorable and so very good at lying; I love his love for his family and even his occasional blind spots and prejudices. I love his rage, his humility, his confidence. His gracefulness and patience and thirst for gossip. You can basically write me character-exploration gen about how Ben January prefers his morning tea and I will love it.
If tea isn't your main interest, you can write me about his messy relationship with Livia, his surprisingly smooth relationship with Minou. Write me about him and Olympe as kids and then as adults who finally understand each other. Or you can write about him having intimate gym sessions with Mayerlings, or body-heat-sharing sessions with Shaw, or gathering-herbs-and-experiences with Marie Laveau. You could write about him and Ayasha - although I would prefer no death-fic or immediate grief fic in this canon. You can write me about his feelings on fatherhood, on religion, on why his family seems so very fond of cats.
Or you can write me my OT3! I ship Ben with Hannibal and with Rose in equal measure and with great intensity. I love that they all have such respect for each other. They're all mature but passionate; they recognise each other's grief and suffering and are careful and respectful about it. And yet! they're also snarky as fuck. You can write them as they are in canon - married, with Hannibal their ever-present platonic best friend - or any two of them getting it on with the third's knowledge of approval. Or just all of them together, since they all fit so well.
What they do together is entirely up to you - they could have thrilling adventures with scars and dungeons and disguises, or do science or poetry readings together. Or combining any of the above with sex. If you're writing something plotty and actiony, I'd particularly be pleased if it was set after Good Man Friday - sometimes after Rose is once again ready to have adventures.
AUs are very welcome too, so long as all the main cast is present. Give them magic powers! Put them in spaaaace! Put them anywhere else in history, or in the same setting but with Ayasha still alive. (Ayasha would love Rose with a particular passion, I imagine. She would like Hannibal - everyone likes Hannibal - but Ayasha in canon seemed protective of women in particular, and Rose would win both her admiration and her (not-as-overwhelming-as-Ben's) protectiveness.)
I am a big fan of love stories or strong-friendship stories. Also stories that are about how the setting/events in canon influence the lives of minor or original characters. Also porn (especially if it's kinky somehow - I like basically all kinks? As long as everyone involved is enjoying them), and fluff (particularly for characters who lead difficult lives), and banter in any situation. So you have a lot to work with! In general, I tend to care more about characterisation than plot, and more about details than overall coherence.
Some further things that please me particularly:
- physical hurt/comfort: bruises! scars! dashing rescues!
- kindness: particularly when society discourages it, particularly when it leads to unexpected/forbidden friendships or romances.
- AUs and trope-fics: particularly space opera AUs, fantasy AUs, different eras - I love the character-exploration you can do when you change the setting.
- rebels!
- kneeling: I don't care if it's incidental or formal, it always makes me happy
Some things I'd rather not read:
- unrequited love, jealousy and miscommunication
- contemporary military or prison settings. (I am okay with dungeons! Knights! Space captains! Pirates! But contemporary prisonfic and armyfic just do not do it for me.)
- characters who're supposed to like each other being unnecessarily nasty or condescending toward each other
I have no triggers, but I'd appreciate warnings for character death and non-con. It's cool if your fic gets dark, but I'd prefer happy or ambiguous endings rather than entirely hopeless ones.
Untamed - Anna Cowan: Lady Rose | Jude | Duke of Darlington, Katherine Sutherland, Lydia Sutherland
This book is just so dashing. I fell in love with it about the time Lady Rose appeared. Lady Rose is glorious, the happiest of all Jude's presentations - genuinely self-confident, and so charming that she is actually kind, and I'm pretty sure Kit would never have fallen for Jude if she hadn't seen the way Lady Rose interacts with Kit's family. Thus, if you could write me Jude being Lady Rose again after the novel is over - either as an identity thing or a kink thing- I would be overjoyed.
I also love Jude-as-Jude though! I am not a big fan of him trying to play the chilly rational nobleman, since he is so very bad at it. I like his honesty instead, and his frailness. His attention to detail. His random acts of magnanimous benevolence delight me, and so does his sense of whimsy. And wow do I love him with Kit.
Kit is fascinating to me because usually I go for characters because of their kindness but I love Kit most because she doesn't do everything for the people she loves - if she did, they'd use her, because they're all that particular kind of broken. Instead Kit trusts in her own pragmatism and makes them respect her boundaries, and that is what makes it all work. I love how brave she is, how hard it is for her to go through the necessary self-exploration. I am also made so happy by her confidence once she does solve her issues. And when she does, well, wow she's hot. I spent the entire dramatic climax of the book just really really smitten by her confidence.
Lydia is gloriously complicated. I'm not all that interested about her marriage with BenRuin - I am not sure if I enjoy their dynamics or not - but I am fascinated with her perception of herself as a public figure, with her act of defiance in cutting her hair. I'd also love to know more about her relationship with Kit and Tom or her friendship with Jude!
I absolutely don't mind reading about trauma flashbacks, but I'd prefer fic set during or after the novel, when everyone's abuser is safely dead! Or you could play around with the setting - a modern AU could be really cool (would Jude be less of a dick? More of a dick?) Or a crossover with any Heyer if that's more you're thing!
Subnormality (webcomic): Any
I love Rowntree's discreet optimism and the fact that his characters are complex and fallible but so undeniably likable. I adore the Pink-Haired Girl and the fact that she has made two very different friends and cares deeply for them both. Write me bonding fic where Ethel tells her a very scary story about buying groceries, or where the Sphynx tells her a not-that-scary story about eating people. Or write what happens when Ethel meets the Sphynx. Hell, write me Sphynx/Pink Haired Girl/Ethel fic if you're so inclined; it's not a ship I ship, but it might be fascinating and/or hilarious.
Or you can write about any of the other characters. I love Zoe Muggs; I love the adorable philosophically-inclined lesbians; I love the demon chick and her girlfriend. I love so many one-shot characters, especially Jon and Synthia and Eunice and Bruno Menderes. Or I'd enjoy reading about any of the reoccuring characters visiting No-Bullshit Emporium or trying Dating Roulette.
I feel like this is a canon better suited for short fics - despite the walls of text - so if you want to write a collection of drabbles rather than one fic, feel free to do that. Longfic is also welcome, of course!
(The somewhat-outdated wiki says the philosophically-inclined lesbians are called Marie and Anneliese. Who knew!)
Metropolis Suites - Janelle Monáe: Any
I've been fascinated by this world for a while, but Electric Lady was the album that made me fall in love forever. I love the complex themes that Janelle Monáe explores in her lyrics and clips, and the way she melds worldbuilding and emotion, plot and politics. I am fascinated by the mythology of the ArchAndroid, and Cindi's role as a folk hero and a martyr and an entertainer. I am so curious about what happened with Anthony Greendown. I'm also way curious about Mary - is Cindi falling in love with Mary? What does Mary choose? (Sally Ride is my favourite song and I was so delighted when I figured out who the title is a reference to). Is this the Mary in question? What does 'true love' means to Cindi?
So write me a big mythologically significant story, or a slice-of-life story about Cindi being on the run. (Does she gather disciples? Does she perform miracles? What would happen if she met one of her stoned college-student fanboys?)
Or write about other androids - and about humans and clones and the way this society was built and the way it will be brought down. Write me about the role of music in this world and in the way Cindi's message is spread. Write me things about DJ Crash Crash - what is his story? Why did he become a DJ? What does he want and what does he fear? Write me about love and gender and chrome shoppes - what body modifications do androids do? Is there a particular kinship between androids of the same model?
Or you can always just take one song or one line and write about that, disregarding the ArchAndroid context altogether. I would like it if you kept the original futurism setting though - Cindi is so closely intertwined with the world she wants to save.
Boy Meets World: Angela Moore, Shawn Hunter
Lately, I have been watching this compilation of clips about Shawn and Angela's relationship. Apparently they were a formative shipping influence: the scenes where Shawn does his flourishy bows, where she reduces him to a giggly flustered mess; the scenes where they slam each other against lockers and horizontal surfaces, the scene where they both call Cory 'darling' with the same inflection, and particularly the scene where Angela rescues him from being handcuffed in the basement, oh my god.
I love the way they were always just a little less dramatic and more self-contained than Cory and Topanga - they observed, they snarked, they had so many defenses but they both worked on trusting people and sometimes got hurt because of it. I loved their clothes and their body language - the way they moved like a team, shared chapsticks and possibly lipsticks. (Crossdressing Shawn holds a special place in my heart.) I loved that Vivaldi and Van Damme pretty much accurately describes them throughout the series.
So! I would like fic about either of them. Future-fic where they get back together is very welcome, and so are missing moments. So are AUs of any kind - maybe you can make use of one of those alternate universe episodes! Or whatever other setting you can think of. If you prefer, you can write character explorations of either of them - I loved their complicated relationships with their families and I ADORED their relationships with their friends, although I wish we'd been showed more about Topanga and Angela. So, really, you needn't write shippiness to make me happy.
(It's also cool if you want to ship them with other people! I will be very happy with Shawn/Cory/Topanga or Angela/Topanga or Angela/weirdly-named-European-men-and-women, as long as the focus is on Shawn or Angela. Hey, you could even write Shawn/Cory/Topanga/Angela sedoretu fic, if you are a sedoretu-fic-writing kind of person.)
Benjamin January Mysteries - Barbara Hambly: Benjamin January
I adore the complete cast of these books, but I decided to just ask for Benjamin this year, since he is my favourite character - as in, anywhere, ever. I love his wit and compassion; the way he is so honorable and so very good at lying; I love his love for his family and even his occasional blind spots and prejudices. I love his rage, his humility, his confidence. His gracefulness and patience and thirst for gossip. You can basically write me character-exploration gen about how Ben January prefers his morning tea and I will love it.
If tea isn't your main interest, you can write me about his messy relationship with Livia, his surprisingly smooth relationship with Minou. Write me about him and Olympe as kids and then as adults who finally understand each other. Or you can write about him having intimate gym sessions with Mayerlings, or body-heat-sharing sessions with Shaw, or gathering-herbs-and-experiences with Marie Laveau. You could write about him and Ayasha - although I would prefer no death-fic or immediate grief fic in this canon. You can write me about his feelings on fatherhood, on religion, on why his family seems so very fond of cats.
Or you can write me my OT3! I ship Ben with Hannibal and with Rose in equal measure and with great intensity. I love that they all have such respect for each other. They're all mature but passionate; they recognise each other's grief and suffering and are careful and respectful about it. And yet! they're also snarky as fuck. You can write them as they are in canon - married, with Hannibal their ever-present platonic best friend - or any two of them getting it on with the third's knowledge of approval. Or just all of them together, since they all fit so well.
What they do together is entirely up to you - they could have thrilling adventures with scars and dungeons and disguises, or do science or poetry readings together. Or combining any of the above with sex. If you're writing something plotty and actiony, I'd particularly be pleased if it was set after Good Man Friday - sometimes after Rose is once again ready to have adventures.
AUs are very welcome too, so long as all the main cast is present. Give them magic powers! Put them in spaaaace! Put them anywhere else in history, or in the same setting but with Ayasha still alive. (Ayasha would love Rose with a particular passion, I imagine. She would like Hannibal - everyone likes Hannibal - but Ayasha in canon seemed protective of women in particular, and Rose would win both her admiration and her (not-as-overwhelming-as-Ben's) protectiveness.)