Yuletide Letter
Dear Yuletide Writer,
Thanks for offering whichever one of these fandoms you matched on with me! They are all awesome and I will love anything that you write for them. I'm happy to read slash, femslash, gen or het, and I'm equally happy to read explicit fic or gen fic (or anything in between). Any story you'd like to tell with these characters is one that I would like to read. I've tried to give a feel for what I like about the canons - any minor discrepancies in length is mostly down to the different canon lengths - I love all of these equally.
As per sign up my DNWS are: non-con, set top/bottom dynamics, pregnancy/kidfic of any kind and D/s (exceptions are listed below)
Hilary Tamar Mysteries. Requested Characters: Selena, Hilary and Julia
This and Top Gun have been requested before so the below is mostly taken from previous letters. The only difference is that I forgot to tag Hilary as a wanted character this year /o\. However that is covered down below.
I don't really have words to describe how much I flat out enjoy this canon. I love everything about it - I love the attention to detail, I love the beautifully over the top nature of it, Hilary's narratory voice and Julia's letters are what I want buried with me as a Viking grave good, I enjoy the casual approach to sex, and the way letters (and telexes) get used. I've requested Selena and Julia not because I don't love Hilary, Cantrip and Ragwort (I do!) but because I had to narrow it down somehow when it came to describing all the things that I like. This is blanket permission for you to include anybody you'd like, in any combo you like, including focus away from the requested characters (as long as it stays within the main group). So if what you really want to write is Cantrip cheerfully attempting to seduce people while somehow accidentally solving a case and telling the others about it, you are completely covered.
For this particular canon, I'm absolutely fine with crossovers, especially with people who are hanging about at the same time (or who can wander in from other detective canons regardless of time - Harriet Vane on Hilary Tamar action? H2 could be the ship name). On the AU front, I'd rather it stayed within the book world, but I'm also very prepared to enjoy the story where the world's only 4-person Jaeger saves the world, with instructions from Marshal Hilary Tamar.
As regards Hilary's gender if they are included within the story, I really prefer the gender-neutral narration of the books and how that's maintained throughout, but if you'd particularly like to gender them, then my slight preference is towards being a woman.
As above, feel free to include Cantrip, Hilary and Ragwort in whatever capacity you like, including Julia's hopeless passion for Ragwort's face. Shipping wise, I'm particularly fond of Julia/Selena if you can work it as a foreground relationship, and Hilary/academia (or rather, Hilary/avoiding academia), but this is not a canon where ships are essential in the least - I will happily read any background relationships involving the main 5, though I would rather the same tone was kept as the series - sex/relationships as something lighthearted and fun, rather than something serious and angsty.
I really will be happy with anything you write - I've included some prompts below, but these are only for if you'd rather something to be prompted with - they're in no way essential at all.
- Mystery fic, of any scale that you like at all - from a full on mystery to the mystery of who drank the last bottle of Nierstein.
- Canonically, Selena's idea of cutting loose and indulging all her deepest held desires, is to read Pride and Prejudice at an orgy. Is there anything Julia can do to tempt her away from that paperback? Perhaps telling her she's got a new copy of Persuasion back at her place? Alternatively, the other way round...what will Julia do to save her Finance Act?
- Holiday fic, canon style! One person away from the group, sending a letter back (in fact epistolary fic of any kind would be awesome)
- Anything that features reactions to Julia's truly incredible scattiness. You cannot beat a joke too hard into the ground with this canon. A story about Julia tracking a lost comb through the wild streets of London? Interrupting a drug deal gone bad?
- Consider the terrifying thought of Selena losing her voice to an awful cold.
- I cannot tell a lie, the Cambridge jokes in canon give me a great deal of pleasure. Maybe any one of the crew has to set foot there, whether for a mystery or for any other reason, just how does that go down?
- any codas to any of the books, involving any requested character (or all of them) enjoying the pleasures of the Corkscrew.
Top Gun: Requested Characters: Maverick and Iceman
Quick additional note regarding the new canon: I've seen the trailer but haven't read any spoilers/seen the film, though I'm sure I will when it is released. So feel free to completely ignore it (or to use bits if you want to).
Rarely has a canon achieved ultimate nostalgia status for me, but this is one of them! I enjoy the flat out ridiculousness of this film, the way it's been crafted to be an (un)intentionally homoerotic masterpiece, standing alone by itself (with maybe the Lost Boys for company). I actually enjoy a lot of things about this film even apart from that chemistry between Maverick and Iceman, I like the detached feel of the small world of the base, the inherent tensions and sliding loyalties in the group, the friendships that make up a lot of the backbone of the film, I like the planes, and the feel of time and place that lingers, especially the Americana feel of those motorcycle rides, and anything that touches on the flying aspect of canon would be particularly amazing. I enjoy the extremely not subtle push and pull of Iceman and Maverick, the sense of something electric, that spurs each of them on in different ways, and I absolutely ship them. That said, if you find yourself drawn to Maverick/Charlie or to writing gen fic about either/both of them, that's awesome as well, but I would ask that you don't ship Iceman with anyone who isn't Maverick.
As regards crossovers, I know plenty of '80s action films, so if that works for you, I'm more than happy to read it. AUs are also fine - what would it be like to shift them from one potential war to another? What would an updated canon look like? Please no AUs that remove the airforce/flying element though - AUs where they're actually piloting small spacecraft in a war are excellent, AUs where they're 18th century bandits or working in a coffee shop are not so much my thing.
I really will be happy with anything you write - I've included some prompts below, but these are only for if you'd rather something to be prompted with - they're in no way essential at all.
- Anything with Maverick/Iceman would be fantastic. During the film, post film, ten years later, flying side by side, a one night stand that scared them both to pieces but left them wanting more. Anything that maybe deals with how flying might always be the number one thing in their life (or how maybe gradually that changes). Them on holiday, free from the strictures of their job, or wrestling with the guilt of their decisions. Meeting each other in a civilian setting and the different structure that gives to their interaction. Any of these things.
- Iceman's relationships with people on/off the base. He's not quite a loner in canon, but he gives off an air of immense self sufficiency. Does he have friends or just people he trust and works with, but has nothing in common with? What does he want to do post-canon? Is there a backstory for him and who he is? How does he handle not just being a great flier, but potentially being a leader?
- Maverick in any capacity - does the thing with Charlie last? Does he (or she) want it to? Anything that deals with him post-Goose or healing from that a little - perhaps engaging with Goose's family?
- I'd find it really fascinating if his decision at the end of the film got poked at a little bit. Does he still have doubts about his capacity to lead, and his capacity to make the right calls?
The Favourite (2018) - Sarah Churchill Duchess of Marlborough, Anne Stuart Queen of the United Kingdom and Abigail Hill Masham (The Favourite 2018)
This was the film of the year for me. I didn't see any other film to touch it. I love how nasty and complicated and nuanced all three of the main characters are. I love the seediness and grubbiness contrasted with the high state and ceremony of the queenship. I loved Sarah in particular and her coats, guns and tender twisted love for Anne and Anne's power. I love all the themes that pervade it, of misery, illness, death and at the same time vital sparks, the will to remain alive, to be powerful, to be self-determined. For that last one I like in particular how interwound being free in at least some sense (money, power, respect) with the need to constantly compromise self-respect and to still bow to a greater power than yourself - it's especially amazing when that runs both ways - Anne's power as queen contrasted with Abigail's youth/beauty/manipulation. I mentioned in my sign-up that my DNWs are slightly different for this fandom than the other ones mentioned. D/s in particular is at least partially built into the film's fabric not as formalized D/s but as inherent power differentials that are fluid and change all the time. So I'm absolutely fine with that being used in any capacity and between any of the three characters, but please don't make it ritualized or remove that sense of tension between the characters. Fluff is not what I'm looking for for this canon. Equally although I generally blanket DNW kidfic or pregnancy, the pregnancy one is lifted for this canon since it's such a large part of the background to Anne's character in particular - her stillbirths, miscarriages, pregnancies are pretty major. Just please no kidfic, and especially no children actively in the picture for Sarah.
I love all three characters in very different ways, and I am happy for any story that touches on any of them. You do not need to include all three, you can choose to focus the story around two of the characters or just one even, and encompass any time of canon including pre and post. I am also fine with any of the three being written as together. I would be particularly interested in Sarah/Abigail as the missing link, and I am not squicked by incest or however down and dirty you want any sex to get. The only combo I wouldn't be super into (though I will still happily read it if you want to write it) is Anne/Abigail/Sarah. Equally for relationships outside the triangle, any canon relationships are fine as well, and for Abigail in particular if you want to give her other lovers that's cool with me.
I really will be happy with anything you write - I've included some prompts below, but these are only for if you'd rather something to be prompted with - they're in no way essential at all.
- Pushpull between Abigail/Sarah at any point in the canon. Their messed up relationship is the cornerstone of the film to me, both of them fighting superficially for Anne's love, but essentially for Anne's power. Does that turn sexual at any point - especially after Abigail first becomes the Queen's lover? I would love that antagonism and nastiness between them to spill out some more. I would also love anything that plays up their similarities.
- Anne's POV post film, her grief and rage, and maybe how she has to hold onto Abigail as she's sacrificed so much for her already (sunk cost!) Something really interesting could be the tenderness that still exists, compared to Anne as Queen and her helplessness and anger.
- If you'd rather touch on something happier, maybe earlier pre-film scenarios when Anne and Sarah first loved each other, something happier from that time
- Divergent AUs where Sarah and Abigail come to more of a compromise and continue backstabbing and playing each other some more post the film events. Maybe even something where they need to team up against the politicians for a reason or use their differing allies to work together.
Withnail & I (1986): Withnail (Withnail & I) Marwood (Withnail & I)
If The Favourite was my film of 2018, Withnail and I is my film of a lifetime. I love this canon so much, from the insouciance of Withnail, the despair of Marwood, to each and every one of the grimy details of the background. Atmosphere plays such a huge part of the film that it could almost be counted as a character itself (the egg dripping in the early scene, the cramped little pub, the horrific sink) and I love every scrap of it. I like the end of an era vibe, and the way it feels that even though Marwood is moving onwards to bigger and better things, that he still losing something to get there. The keystone of the film for me is Marwood and Withnail and they're mostly what I'm interested in (although please feel totally free to throw Monty into the mix at any even time, and Danny as well, if he rocks up from a drug binge). That said, I am more than happy for fic to focus on just Marwood or just Withnail if that's where the feeling takes you. The humour of the film is also a huge draw, but I know it's difficult to replicate, so I will be delighted to get literally anything for this canon - humorous, serious or somewhere inbetween. In terms of character sexualities and ships, I'm open to anything. I ship Withnail and Marwood, but it doesn't have to be happy, longterm or sober. Feel free to go as sordid and grubby as you like, these are not nice characters or clean ones.
Pretty much the only thing I'm not really interested in is extreme fluff for this film, or a magical fix it for Withnail's issues (i.e. him quitting drinking). That said if you want to take the ending to a happier place (Withnail gets a part and at least partially manages to hold it together to be a success in a small way) I would be more than happy with that. Equally anything that continues with the canon vibe of cold terrible lodgings and weirdo frienship between the two is also a winner in my book. One tiny note (and one I'm happy to read even so) is that I know the Monty = older Withnail is a very popular take on the film, but I'm not a big fan of that take, I prefer their similarities to come from their family and their background rather than being a 1-1 parallel.
I really will be happy with anything you write - I've included some prompts below, but these are only for if you'd rather something to be prompted with - they're in no way essential at all.
- Something from pre-film, shenanigans together under the influence of drink/drugs. Withnail is obviously the more unusual one, but Marwood has willingly fallen in with him and I would adore something that explores that.
- They have sex, there's misunderstanding about whether this is a relationship or Withnail's idea that having sex entitles him to two thirds of the bottle rather than half under lover privileges.
- They try to clean the flat, it goes terribly wrong.
- Marwood gets his shit together and moves out of the flat for his new job. His new flatmates are normal human beings who clean, make rotas and who look at him as though he is something they scraped off the floor when he does any of the things that used to be normal in his old place. That's when he realises that while Withnail was really strange, that he's pretty odd as well and not much more capable of independent living.
- Withnail gets a part, and while he's still terrible at managing his own life, is capable of holding it down during the day at least. Trouble is, Marwood's in the same play.
Again, anything you write for me is loved. The stuff above is to help with inspiration if you need it!
Happy Yuletide and thanks for writing for me
Stripy