Dear Yuletide Writer 2014: Irish cops, New York cops, New York ninja girls and Russian dancers
Dear Yuletide Writer:
Thank you for having excellent taste in tiny fandoms. Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. Thank you for making a story happen, just for me! You are amazing, and Yuletide is my favorite.
More favorite things, in these fandoms and in fiction generally:
Smart characters making bad decisions. Sarcasm. Secrets. Fistfights. Hatesex. Loyalty. Characters who love their jobs too much. Characters staying up all night. Characters getting their hands dirty, crossing lines they've drawn for themselves in the sand. Strange and/or conflicting narrative points of view. Unconditional love that puts you through hell. Last-ditch efforts. Ambiguously happy endings.
Please avoid:
Rape/noncon, interspecies/xeno/furry sex, graphic child harm, incest, torture, body-fluid kinks. Those are my hard limits. For Yuletide, I'd also prefer no crossovers or AUS, and no character or pairing bashing.
Very optional (and slightly spoilery) details, and a few prompts if you want them:
Dublin Murder Squad Series - Tana French
(Frank Mackey)
Faithful Place is my favorite book in this series; I was overjoyed that The Secret Place picked up some loose threads from that story. And I'm crazy about Frank as a character; I love how ruthless he is, and how much he enjoys it, even though it comes from a dark place. The Mackey family dynamics break my heart, so it's be really great to see a story dealing with the murder trial and its aftermath, from any angle--Holly, Shay, Olivia, Frank himself.
Alternatively, it'd be equally awesome to see a younger Frank in action. I'd love to learn how he carried himself while undercover, what his cover story was, and how he kept his own demons down. I wouldn't mind seeing any of the other series detectives through Frank's eyes, either, though I'd prefer only canon pairings in this fandom.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
(Captain Ray Holt)
Captain Holt! \o/ He's so perfect: the deadpan face, the quiet streak of total badassery, that Andre Braugher voice. I would really love backstory for him--about what it was like for him coming out, how he dealt with people's bullshit, how he found allies and fought his way up the ladder to command. Or, on a sweeter and lighter note, a story about Holt falling in love with his husband would definitely be adorable. I'm imagining first-time fic and flailing right now.
If you're not feeling backstory, it would be fun to see him out in the field, working with poor worshipful Santiago, or just playing mind games with the detectives.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
(April O'Neil, Karai)
Turtles without turtles, I know it's a little strange, but if you've watched this show you must know why I adore these girls. Lady ninjas on the streets of New York! They're both smart and kickass and it's a shame, albeit an understandable one, that they don't have more scenes together.
So that's what I'd like to read! Give me a story where Karai and April have to work together, whether it's a rescue mission or fighting run-of-the-mill, non-alien street crime. Or simply show me what either girl looks like through the other's eyes. Enemies, friends, hell, if you can see it as a romantic pairing, that's cool too--although if you go that route, please age them up a little (and in any case, I'd prefer a time-frame where they're both human).
Ballets Russes RPF
(Sergei Diaghilev/Vaslav Nijinsky)
Here's to deeply fucked-up creative partnerships! I would absolutely love anything from this relationship, from seduction to shared inspiration to the confrontation over Nijinsky's marriage to their final, all-too-late meeting. Feel free to go dark or dirty with this one. I'm also obsessed with the Rite of Spring and the riot at its premiere, so anything set around that period would just be icing on the cake.
PS: "What mad Nijinksy wrote/about Diaghilev/Is true of the normal heart/For the error bred in the bone/Of each woman and each man/Craves what it cannot have/Not universal love/But to be loved alone." - W.H. Auden
Most importantly, write a story you believe in, and I'll have a wonderful time reading it.
If you have any unanswered questions and I somehow haven't rambled enough, check in with mazily or therealjae, both of whom can tell you more even than I can about what I like in fanfiction.
Merry writing! Happy Yuletide!
Thank you for having excellent taste in tiny fandoms. Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. Thank you for making a story happen, just for me! You are amazing, and Yuletide is my favorite.
More favorite things, in these fandoms and in fiction generally:
Smart characters making bad decisions. Sarcasm. Secrets. Fistfights. Hatesex. Loyalty. Characters who love their jobs too much. Characters staying up all night. Characters getting their hands dirty, crossing lines they've drawn for themselves in the sand. Strange and/or conflicting narrative points of view. Unconditional love that puts you through hell. Last-ditch efforts. Ambiguously happy endings.
Please avoid:
Rape/noncon, interspecies/xeno/furry sex, graphic child harm, incest, torture, body-fluid kinks. Those are my hard limits. For Yuletide, I'd also prefer no crossovers or AUS, and no character or pairing bashing.
Very optional (and slightly spoilery) details, and a few prompts if you want them:
Dublin Murder Squad Series - Tana French
(Frank Mackey)
Faithful Place is my favorite book in this series; I was overjoyed that The Secret Place picked up some loose threads from that story. And I'm crazy about Frank as a character; I love how ruthless he is, and how much he enjoys it, even though it comes from a dark place. The Mackey family dynamics break my heart, so it's be really great to see a story dealing with the murder trial and its aftermath, from any angle--Holly, Shay, Olivia, Frank himself.
Alternatively, it'd be equally awesome to see a younger Frank in action. I'd love to learn how he carried himself while undercover, what his cover story was, and how he kept his own demons down. I wouldn't mind seeing any of the other series detectives through Frank's eyes, either, though I'd prefer only canon pairings in this fandom.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
(Captain Ray Holt)
Captain Holt! \o/ He's so perfect: the deadpan face, the quiet streak of total badassery, that Andre Braugher voice. I would really love backstory for him--about what it was like for him coming out, how he dealt with people's bullshit, how he found allies and fought his way up the ladder to command. Or, on a sweeter and lighter note, a story about Holt falling in love with his husband would definitely be adorable. I'm imagining first-time fic and flailing right now.
If you're not feeling backstory, it would be fun to see him out in the field, working with poor worshipful Santiago, or just playing mind games with the detectives.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
(April O'Neil, Karai)
Turtles without turtles, I know it's a little strange, but if you've watched this show you must know why I adore these girls. Lady ninjas on the streets of New York! They're both smart and kickass and it's a shame, albeit an understandable one, that they don't have more scenes together.
So that's what I'd like to read! Give me a story where Karai and April have to work together, whether it's a rescue mission or fighting run-of-the-mill, non-alien street crime. Or simply show me what either girl looks like through the other's eyes. Enemies, friends, hell, if you can see it as a romantic pairing, that's cool too--although if you go that route, please age them up a little (and in any case, I'd prefer a time-frame where they're both human).
Ballets Russes RPF
(Sergei Diaghilev/Vaslav Nijinsky)
Here's to deeply fucked-up creative partnerships! I would absolutely love anything from this relationship, from seduction to shared inspiration to the confrontation over Nijinsky's marriage to their final, all-too-late meeting. Feel free to go dark or dirty with this one. I'm also obsessed with the Rite of Spring and the riot at its premiere, so anything set around that period would just be icing on the cake.
PS: "What mad Nijinksy wrote/about Diaghilev/Is true of the normal heart/For the error bred in the bone/Of each woman and each man/Craves what it cannot have/Not universal love/But to be loved alone." - W.H. Auden
Most importantly, write a story you believe in, and I'll have a wonderful time reading it.
If you have any unanswered questions and I somehow haven't rambled enough, check in with mazily or therealjae, both of whom can tell you more even than I can about what I like in fanfiction.
Merry writing! Happy Yuletide!