2018 Yuletide Dear Author Letter

[speakingwosound]

Hello Dear Author Anon!

Thank you so much for participating in Yuletide 2018. It's my favorite challenge of the year and I'm so glad we've matched. This letter is long, but please, please, please don't get intimidated. You love my small, underserved fandoms as much as I do so, honestly, I'm going to love anything you write!

I'm going to start with some general likes and dislikes, and then dig deeper into each fandom. Everything in this letter is, of course, optional. But, when I write these challenges I love having as much detail as possible, so I'm going to try to give you as much of that as I can.

Finally, I only use LJ for DA letters these days, so please check me out on AO3 and tumblr.

General Likes: I love romance (first time or established relationships, doesn’t matter), especially with an earned happy ending. I adore coming out fics, fics about people (friends, family, press) finding out, outsider POV stories, future fic, h/c, fake dating, and found families. The more people involved (family, found families, coworkers) the better. I’m always down with world-building tropes that twist the world a bit but don't change it entirely, like soulbonds, name-on-wrists, and touch/emotional telepathy. I particularly enjoy fics that deal with overcoming societal expectations of gender and sexuality and characters struggling to deal with insecurities while trying to fit in with fame and what's expected from 'jock'/political/entertainment culture.

General Dislikes: I really love slash (femslash included), so gen fics aren’t my cup of tea. Not a big fan of BDSM, unequal power dynamics, break-ups or infidelity, unhappy endings (although I'm definitely onboard with unhappy beginnings), or hate sex. First or second-person POV.

Re: real-life partners: I’m fine with pretending the partner doesn’t/never has existed. I’m also good with fics where the partner is a best friend/beard, or where they dated but now no longer date. I'm also fine with post-divorce fic (although I'd rather that be way in the past and not have characters dwelling on it all fic). Any of those are cool!

Re: AUs: I love alternate histories and AUs that play within the same story world. I do not, however, like mundane AUs (coffee shop AU, high school AU, college AU).

Re: Ratings: Pure smut isn’t my favorite, but other than that write what you’re comfortable with/wherever the story takes you!

Also, I've left my tumblr anon open if you have any questions throughout the exchange!



Crooked Media RPF - Jon Lovett, Jon Favreau



I've only asked for Jon and Lovett, but I'd be as happy with OT3 (Jon/Tommy/Lovett) or OT4 (Dan/Jon/Tommy/Lovett) as well.  I'm going to list a bunch of prompts but, honestly, I want anything with these two in it.  Last year I mostly asked for canon fic, and while I am very fond of their Crooked family, if you can fit that into an AU I am extremely here for it.

First, some prompts I'd love to see for any pairing:

• Anything about Lovett's short hospital stay in Texas
• Anything around the Kennedy Center Q&A
• Reality TV AU (some ideas here, here, and here)
• Scenes from Lovett's 2028 Iowa Caucus or Tommy’s Senate office or Jon’s Gubernatorial campaign (any and all permutations of political campaigns/office)
• Accidental Marriage/Fake Relationship (I'd love any and all versions of this trope for this fandom)
• A sci-fi AU of any kind (apocalypse, an asteroid is falling to Earth, alien invasion, a Stargate AU of any verse, same with Star Trek, a PSA as the new popular podcast about Babylon 5 political news AU, I will read literally any and all of these)

Some pairing-specific prompts:

• OT3 or OT4: Pod Tours America jetlagged, adrenaline-filled fic (HBO-specific would work as well, anything exploring how incredibly proud and scared they are)
• OT3: In a world where your soulmate’s name is tattooed on your wrist, Tommy has two names.  That might be okay in liberal places, like Oregon or Colorado, but it is definitely not okay in the wasp-y suburbs of Boston.  OR, in a world where your soulmate’s name is tattooed on your wrist, Lovett’s wrists are bare
• JonJon: canvassing date
• JonJon: anything set during the lost years, when they were both struggling to write and learning to love living in LA
• JonJon: Jon is putting himself through law school as a part-time bartender at secret elite parties.  Lovett is a high-class escort who is a frequent guest at those parties.  

I recently put together lists of my Top JONJON Moments, Top OT4 Moments, and Top Dan Moments.  Also, honestly if a Danlo, Davs, Dommy, or Vietreau prompt grabs your interest, please write that!  Honestly, I'm so excited for anything you write in this fandom!

Gimlet Media RPF - Alex Goldman, PJ Vogt





This has become a bit more of a Reply All request than a general Gimlet request. But, as much as I'd love an Alex/PJ shippy fic I'd also love a fic that places their relationship in the larger Gimlet world. I really love Alex and PJ's relationship - they seem like such an odd couple who really love and understand each other. I love how smart Alex is and I love how funny PJ finds him. I love Alex's frustrations with the world and how endearing PJ finds it. I love how prickly Alex thinks he is and how PJ knows better. I love how PJ is actually the softer of the two. Some specific prompts:

• Any fic dealing with the early days of Gimlet, when Reply All was their second show and it was pretty much Alex Blumberg, Matt Lieber, PJ and Alex running the place. There were a lot of late nights, a lot of pressure on Reply All to succeed. This episode of Start Up explores how stressful this time was. I'd love any fic where all this stress brings Alex and PJ together. Or fic where Matt and Alex Blumberg are so stressed out/focused on making Gimlet a successful company that when they find out about Alex and PJ's relationship, they react badly at first.
• In this episode, PJ takes low-dose LSD at work for a week. Alex didn't know. I'd love a fic that deals with that week - a super sappy, loving PJ and a very confused Alex - either as established relationship for leading to a first time. There's also some implications in that episode that while it was PJ's first time, Alex has extensive experience with drugs. Anything exploring that past would be really fascinating.
• In Today's the Day, PJ and Alex explore the city and record the whole thing. There are so many great possible moments here: karaoke with Alex Blumberg, waking Matt up in the middle of the night, sneaking into an abandoned building (and PJ freaking out during the whole thing). Again, established relationship and first time would both work great here.
• In Long Distance Parts I and II, Alex goes to India to explore a scamming company. PJ seems honestly worried about him throughout the episode, and I'd love a fic where PJ realizes how important Alex is to him while he's worrying away in NY.
• In this ep, Alex lets PJ hack his phone for an entire week. There are so many possibilities here. Maybe PJ was too worried about what Alex would find about himself, so refuses to do it, but Alex has no problem letting PJ find out exactly how much he means to Alex. Maybe Alex spends the whole week hiding his secrets from PJ, but slips up. Maybe something comes up on Alex's phone that really pisses PJ off. Maybe Alex hopes that this will jump start a relationship, and gets frustrated when PJ doesn't get the clue. So many possibilities.
• In Hello, Alex and PJ spent 48 hours straight answering listener phone calls. A little surprisingly (although it probably shouldn't have been), PJ has a really, really hard time and Alex is mostly okay. I think this fic would be best as first time fic, but would also be a really cute established relationship fic.

Ink Master (TV) - Chris Nuñez, Oliver Peck

I've been wanting Chris/Oliver shippy fic for the 9 seasons I've been watching the show. The looks they share, and the way they say each others' name . . . Although they're sometimes at odds, they really just care about good art and good tattooing. I do, however, love the contrast between them. Just look at Oli being loud and weird and wonderful, and Chris being equally respectful and quiet:





Because there are literally no fics for these two, I'd love any fic for them. However, here are some specific prompts:

• Oli is always incredibly awkward at live shows. This could either go sweet - Chris worried about him - or super sexy - Chris helps Oli relax in the best way he knows how. Or, you could go the 'Chris controls the plug in Oli's ass during live shows' route
• Oli and Chris are both always upset when the contestants mess up on their specialty days (American Traditional, Japanese). Commiseration/cheering up would be awesome.
• They are both sort of elder statesman of tattooing and seem to really care about the future of tattooing. Anything exploring their identity in that way and the found-family-ness of that would be totally up my alley.
• Although I don't normally love straight PWPs, I think that could work for this pairing. Especially if Chris spends an absurd amount of time exploring Oli's tattoos . . .