Dear Yuletide Writer (2014 Edition!)
To you, dear Yuletide Writer!
Firstly, thanks! I'm sure I'll be happy with whatever you decide to write (within reason - tentacle porn might be a stretch!), but below are a few things I like about each fandom I requested, the things I'd like to see in fic form, and what I absolutely 100% do not want to see! Hopefully it'll help, and leave me a comment (or follow the proper Yuletide protocol!) if you have any questions.
Likes
Long, plotty fic, and conversely PWP. Sex and high ratings. Wit and banter. People not saying "I love you" all the time, even if they mean it. Conflict, sometimes violence, rough sex and bruises. Humour, as long as it really is funny and isn't just a collection of pratfalls. Manly men and strong women (whatever that means!). Intelligence. Teamups and partnerships.
I read slash, het, femslash, and a bit of well-written gen. None of these will be disappointing.
Dislikes
Out-of-character fluff. Bodily fluids aside from tears or blood - mentions are fine but please please please don't make it a kink. A/B/O is not my thing at all. Humiliation and rape = no no no (dub-con fine, depending on where you're taking it and in which fandom!). Also not a fan of threesomes or genderbending (just not tropes I enjoy too frequently) and please don't talk too lengthily about kids, having kids, adopting kids, mpreg, pregnancy or anything child-related! (All apologies if you love kids, but for various reasons it'll just throw me right out of the fic - obviously canon mentions are A-OK).
So: hard kink = fine if you want to go that way. Gen character studies and ensemble pieces, characters proving their badassery, totally great. Go as dark as you want for all of these but Monkey Island (it's my happy place!).
If you want to write a crossover, I'm game. If you're not sure I'll know the fandom, feel free to ask!
FANDOM REQUESTS
The Following
The Following is like crack, I swear. It makes precious little sense but if you suspend disbelief and take it as a cross between satire and a strange sort of dark comedy, it's absolutely epic.
What I like here is that Joe's a total nutcase and Ryan's not that far off himself. Their general dynamic of hurting each other but never actually managing to kill each other is oddly intriguing, the banter's amusing and I love that Joe's just like a pantomime villain. What I really like is slash, the darker and kinkier and more problematic in terms of their screwed up relationship the better, but if that's not your thing then a case-related teamup would be joyous. Doesn't need to be hugely plotty, but character interaction here is my thing!
I do also enjoy the fact that Mike's not-so-slowly turning into Ryan, and Ryan/Mike slash is fine by me as long as it's not overly cheerful happy-ever-after fluff. Pre-, mid- or post-show setting is equally fine by me, or make it slightly AU if you like. I'd actually be fine with mundane AUs here (if you really not to go there), as long as they're still in character and it hints to Joe and Ryan's interesting proclivities.
Word of warning: I'd cheerfully slap Claire. All she does is waltz in and cause problems for all concerned when what she clearly ought to do is keep out of it. If you can rehabilitate her somehow and make her less annoying then by all means do, but in general I'd like to keep her out of the action - I do want to like her, though! I much prefer Max and Emma, if you're going to involve the ladies, and the ladies are awesome.
And yes, I've written fic in this fandom - if you want to see that for any reason, the series is here.
Monkey Island
Guybrush is my hero. Which sounds flippant but is totally true!
I love the wit and complete, unashamed daftness of the Monkey Island games. Guybrush is awesome, but I love all of the games and all of the characters in them. I usually request Guybrush and Elaine but what I really fancy is some piratey shenanigans with Guybrush and Morgan LeFlay - I enjoy Guybrush/Morgan but that's not required in any way if you're not feeling it. Go AU and keep her living if you like, but ghost!Morgan would be just as much fun.
Feel free to bring in as many of the other characters as you like in this one. My particular favourite is Murray, and Guybrush-and-Murray banter is a thing of beauty, but go for LeChuck or Wally or the merfolk of ambiguous gender and I'll be just as happy.
If you do go the romance route, I'd actually (for once) prefer fade-outs to graphic. And as much as I love Elaine, a threesome is not what I'm really looking for.
Basically: wackiness and insult swordfighting.
And, yes, again, I've written fic in this fandom (for last year's Yuletide). That's here.
Once Upon a Time in Mexico
This one is a total nostalgia kick.
I loved El Mariachi and Desperado and I knew I was going to love OUATIM. It had Antonio Banderas and Johnny Depp, what's not to love! And then I had surgery, took an absolute tonne of painkillers and wrote the most cracked-out fiction I've ever written. You can find that on LJ here, here and here.
What I love is El and Sands being snarky, partially-unwilling partners who hate each other and don't at the same time. I like post-movie fic here, that veers into slashy territory, potentially kinky (except for the caveats listed above) and utterly insane. This is not a neat, sensible fandom. It needs to be slightly loopy.
If you're not into Sands/El, teamup fic is always great. The two of them snarking at each other would make me happy, as would the inclusion of pretty much any of the other characters, any completely bizarre plotline you can think of, crossovers with Depp films, Banderas films, Rodriguez films (Machete, Sin City, From Dusk Till Dawn?)... postapocalyptic fic works, even. Really, go nuts.
Rome
The characters I've requested are Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo and I really, really want them both in this fic.
I love Rome. I love the history of it, the lush sets, the vastness of it. I love the costumes and the way the characters are all larger than life. I love that Vorenus is so unyielding and that Pullo is such a daft prat but they get on well and they have this weird life together while history's going on around them. And I do find their relationship with Marc Antony to be sort of amusing.
I do like Vorenus/Pullo slash, I have to say, and I'd like it here but it's not an absolute necessity. I'd just like Vorenus-and-Pullo-centric fic here, focusing on their relationship whether that's romantic, sexual or platonic, and I'd like it to end happily, without major character death or any of that, despite the angst we know goes on in the show. I'm not talking about out-of-character fluff, just a hopeful end. Vignettes from throughout their relationship, in the show or before it or after, that's also fine!
If you could avoid over-use of Eirene or Niobe and concentrate on Vorenus and Pullo that would be great. They're awesome, but my love is for the guys here. And if you can sell an AU and it takes your fancy, fine by me.
If you're interested in my take on Vorenus/Pullo, I wrote it for Yuletide in 2009 and it's in the archive here/37182.
Olympus Has Fallen
I apologise if you match on this one and wanted to write het or gen because I really want slash. I want it to be hot and sticky and awkward and urgent and verging on painful. I want them to take their frustrations out on each other in a post-movie setting. If you can come up with a plot then brilliant but go PWP and I won't complain for a second.
If you did match on this one wanting gen or het, please go gen! Please, please go gen. I promise I won't be disappointed with good gen (which is true for all fandoms here). I'd like to see the two of them dealing with the fallout post-movie, getting back to normality as best they can, and how this affected the country (or international politics, if you're particularly inclined!). I'd like to know how the rest of Asher's presidency turned out.
Weirdly, no fic from me for this one.
And, that's it! Hopefully this isn't too dreadful a task for you, and I'm always open to questions.
Firstly, thanks! I'm sure I'll be happy with whatever you decide to write (within reason - tentacle porn might be a stretch!), but below are a few things I like about each fandom I requested, the things I'd like to see in fic form, and what I absolutely 100% do not want to see! Hopefully it'll help, and leave me a comment (or follow the proper Yuletide protocol!) if you have any questions.
Likes
Long, plotty fic, and conversely PWP. Sex and high ratings. Wit and banter. People not saying "I love you" all the time, even if they mean it. Conflict, sometimes violence, rough sex and bruises. Humour, as long as it really is funny and isn't just a collection of pratfalls. Manly men and strong women (whatever that means!). Intelligence. Teamups and partnerships.
I read slash, het, femslash, and a bit of well-written gen. None of these will be disappointing.
Dislikes
Out-of-character fluff. Bodily fluids aside from tears or blood - mentions are fine but please please please don't make it a kink. A/B/O is not my thing at all. Humiliation and rape = no no no (dub-con fine, depending on where you're taking it and in which fandom!). Also not a fan of threesomes or genderbending (just not tropes I enjoy too frequently) and please don't talk too lengthily about kids, having kids, adopting kids, mpreg, pregnancy or anything child-related! (All apologies if you love kids, but for various reasons it'll just throw me right out of the fic - obviously canon mentions are A-OK).
So: hard kink = fine if you want to go that way. Gen character studies and ensemble pieces, characters proving their badassery, totally great. Go as dark as you want for all of these but Monkey Island (it's my happy place!).
If you want to write a crossover, I'm game. If you're not sure I'll know the fandom, feel free to ask!
FANDOM REQUESTS
The Following
The Following is like crack, I swear. It makes precious little sense but if you suspend disbelief and take it as a cross between satire and a strange sort of dark comedy, it's absolutely epic.
What I like here is that Joe's a total nutcase and Ryan's not that far off himself. Their general dynamic of hurting each other but never actually managing to kill each other is oddly intriguing, the banter's amusing and I love that Joe's just like a pantomime villain. What I really like is slash, the darker and kinkier and more problematic in terms of their screwed up relationship the better, but if that's not your thing then a case-related teamup would be joyous. Doesn't need to be hugely plotty, but character interaction here is my thing!
I do also enjoy the fact that Mike's not-so-slowly turning into Ryan, and Ryan/Mike slash is fine by me as long as it's not overly cheerful happy-ever-after fluff. Pre-, mid- or post-show setting is equally fine by me, or make it slightly AU if you like. I'd actually be fine with mundane AUs here (if you really not to go there), as long as they're still in character and it hints to Joe and Ryan's interesting proclivities.
Word of warning: I'd cheerfully slap Claire. All she does is waltz in and cause problems for all concerned when what she clearly ought to do is keep out of it. If you can rehabilitate her somehow and make her less annoying then by all means do, but in general I'd like to keep her out of the action - I do want to like her, though! I much prefer Max and Emma, if you're going to involve the ladies, and the ladies are awesome.
And yes, I've written fic in this fandom - if you want to see that for any reason, the series is here.
Monkey Island
Guybrush is my hero. Which sounds flippant but is totally true!
I love the wit and complete, unashamed daftness of the Monkey Island games. Guybrush is awesome, but I love all of the games and all of the characters in them. I usually request Guybrush and Elaine but what I really fancy is some piratey shenanigans with Guybrush and Morgan LeFlay - I enjoy Guybrush/Morgan but that's not required in any way if you're not feeling it. Go AU and keep her living if you like, but ghost!Morgan would be just as much fun.
Feel free to bring in as many of the other characters as you like in this one. My particular favourite is Murray, and Guybrush-and-Murray banter is a thing of beauty, but go for LeChuck or Wally or the merfolk of ambiguous gender and I'll be just as happy.
If you do go the romance route, I'd actually (for once) prefer fade-outs to graphic. And as much as I love Elaine, a threesome is not what I'm really looking for.
Basically: wackiness and insult swordfighting.
And, yes, again, I've written fic in this fandom (for last year's Yuletide). That's here.
Once Upon a Time in Mexico
This one is a total nostalgia kick.
I loved El Mariachi and Desperado and I knew I was going to love OUATIM. It had Antonio Banderas and Johnny Depp, what's not to love! And then I had surgery, took an absolute tonne of painkillers and wrote the most cracked-out fiction I've ever written. You can find that on LJ here, here and here.
What I love is El and Sands being snarky, partially-unwilling partners who hate each other and don't at the same time. I like post-movie fic here, that veers into slashy territory, potentially kinky (except for the caveats listed above) and utterly insane. This is not a neat, sensible fandom. It needs to be slightly loopy.
If you're not into Sands/El, teamup fic is always great. The two of them snarking at each other would make me happy, as would the inclusion of pretty much any of the other characters, any completely bizarre plotline you can think of, crossovers with Depp films, Banderas films, Rodriguez films (Machete, Sin City, From Dusk Till Dawn?)... postapocalyptic fic works, even. Really, go nuts.
Rome
The characters I've requested are Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo and I really, really want them both in this fic.
I love Rome. I love the history of it, the lush sets, the vastness of it. I love the costumes and the way the characters are all larger than life. I love that Vorenus is so unyielding and that Pullo is such a daft prat but they get on well and they have this weird life together while history's going on around them. And I do find their relationship with Marc Antony to be sort of amusing.
I do like Vorenus/Pullo slash, I have to say, and I'd like it here but it's not an absolute necessity. I'd just like Vorenus-and-Pullo-centric fic here, focusing on their relationship whether that's romantic, sexual or platonic, and I'd like it to end happily, without major character death or any of that, despite the angst we know goes on in the show. I'm not talking about out-of-character fluff, just a hopeful end. Vignettes from throughout their relationship, in the show or before it or after, that's also fine!
If you could avoid over-use of Eirene or Niobe and concentrate on Vorenus and Pullo that would be great. They're awesome, but my love is for the guys here. And if you can sell an AU and it takes your fancy, fine by me.
If you're interested in my take on Vorenus/Pullo, I wrote it for Yuletide in 2009 and it's in the archive here/37182.
Olympus Has Fallen
I apologise if you match on this one and wanted to write het or gen because I really want slash. I want it to be hot and sticky and awkward and urgent and verging on painful. I want them to take their frustrations out on each other in a post-movie setting. If you can come up with a plot then brilliant but go PWP and I won't complain for a second.
If you did match on this one wanting gen or het, please go gen! Please, please go gen. I promise I won't be disappointed with good gen (which is true for all fandoms here). I'd like to see the two of them dealing with the fallout post-movie, getting back to normality as best they can, and how this affected the country (or international politics, if you're particularly inclined!). I'd like to know how the rest of Asher's presidency turned out.
Weirdly, no fic from me for this one.
And, that's it! Hopefully this isn't too dreadful a task for you, and I'm always open to questions.