Dear Yuletide Writer...
Dear Fantastic Giver of Yuletide Fiction Joy,
First and foremost, OMGSQUEETHANKYOU!!! A fic written especially for me is an absolutely amazing gift no matter what it is, and you're awesome for doing it.
I know I asked for slash in every single one of my requests. Do not panic if that isn't your cup of tea, either for the particular fandom you're going to write or at all. Really, don't. I love gen too! I even write a good bit of it, because the big yay for me is getting into the heads and souls of the characters, getting to see them do new things or getting to find out what was behind old things. If they're in-character and true to voice, you have absolutely nothing to worry about.
I gave a good many prompts, too, but by no means should you feel you have confine yourself to them. They're just ideas. If a prompt I did give inspires you, awesome. If not, go with whatever does!
Stuff I like: slash (graphic sex is not necessary but not at all objectionable to me-- though if it comes down to a choice I would rather have more left to the imagination in favor of other meaningful interaction); happy-ending angst (including breakup/make-up type stuff); hurt/comfort; banter (if it would make sense for the characters you've chosen); outisder-POV of friendship/relationship definitely floats my boat; if there happens to be sex my major kinks include frottage, partially-clothed-up-against-the-wall desperation, languid sleepy kissy-cuddly adoringness, or on the flipside of that, a good angry-shovey-bitey explosion of desire.
Stuff I don't like: het (there is one exception to this, and that's if in the context of a slash story one of the guys ends up jealous of a woman but prevails in the end-- you could even take this as far as to have a bit of sexy voyeurism if it happens to go that way); character death (there are certainly fics I like very much where there is death, but not for this particular thing, plz. Of course if it's a temporary Raffles-death that's fine, but even then it's not something I'd really want a fic centered around); crack!fic (it has its place in my heart, but again, not for this); characters reduced to one-dimensionality (e.g. Danny is not an idiot, Bunny is not a total bumbling wuss, etc.); and in terms of sexytimes if they happen, I do not enjoy non-orgasmic bodily fluids (bloodplay, scat, watersports), heavy BDSM, D/S, non-con, dark dub-con, humiliation, or anyone going 'unnnnngh' or similar.
As a completely separate note, crossovers are totally allowed if we happen to share more than one fandom, either from within these requests or from stuff I haven't requested. Jeeves and Wooster, Torchwood (mostly Ianto), and Sherlock Holmes are all things I adore and would be more than happy to see make an appearance. An OMGWTFTIMETRAVEL!? premise would not bother me in the slightest if that kind of thing is your cuppa. But all that is incredibly optional; I only say it just in case.
(Skip to this part if my long-windedness makes you glaze over!) The only other real direction I can give is that I am far more interested in how the requested characters interact with and feel about each other than I am in an elaborate plot. Slash or no slash, I like the them-ness of them, and if our tastes don't match up on anything else, that's the thing I want most. Anything else is just sparkly sparkly icing on the Yuletide cake. I don't want this to be some horrible chore--as long as you have a blast writing it and include some good in-character interaction between my guys, I'm happy as a truckload of clams.
Yours are my internets and everything in them,
Mercy
The full requests for your convenience and the edification of others:
Fandom 1: E W Hornung - Raffles series
Characters: A J Raffles, Bunny Manders
I would really love some slash with these two if you can manage it. If you can't, I'll still love it to bits as long as their canonical affection for each other as friends still has a presence. Some ideas: an "untold" adventure that puts them in contact with the London gay scene of the time (maybe an underground club, maybe blackmail, and I'm completely cool with the good old pretend-to-be-gay standby if they need to sort of infiltrate somewhere). Maybe a missing scene from a story where a lot of them hanging out alone together is glossed over (e.g. "The Rest Cure") with some domesticity and snarky bantering. Or something from their school days (although if Bunny is awfully young, I would prefer nothing too sexually graphic). But those are just ideas. Whatever strikes your fancy is great as long as it has Raffles and Bunny being their awesome selves together.
Fandom 2: A Bit of Fry and Laurie
Characters: Control, Tony Murchison
Slash them to your absolute heart's content if your boat happens to float that way, but I find them adorable in their stilted niceness no matter what. I would love to see something outside the office setting-- them doing Actual Spy Stuff (tm) or (and this is not very original, I know, sorry) what happens after Tony is fired, maybe an outsider POV from Valerie or Mrs Control (mother? wife? what is she?), or even a "where are they now" kind of thing. A bit of angst and/or hurt/comfort would be very welcome in the bargain. My ideas for this one aren't all that interesting and there are vast acres of possibilities beyond them I'd love to see explored.
Fandom 3: Black Books
Characters: Bernard Black, Manny Bianco, Fran Katzenjammer
I would love Bernard/Manny slash. I would love Bernard backstory. I would love Bernard being horrible and drunk and having ridiculous arguments with Manny but unable to help grudgingly liking and/or loving him. I would love any or all of the above in any combination and magnitude. Though Fran is included in the list because I do love her to bits, she is not strictly required for my enjoyment and cameo appearances would be fine. Bernard/Manny (or Bernard & Manny, if you prefer) through Fran's eyes would also be cool. Another element I'd love to see is Bernard being insanely well-read. I mean, he owns a bookshop and is shown reading something or other all the time, but I've never seen a fic where anything was done with that. Granted, it might be drunken-ranty well-read-ness, but I sort of think Manny might find it surprising and impressive (or attractive, if you're going that way). Something more on the serious/angsty side could also be delicious, but please don't spare the wacky snark!
Fandom 4: Hot Fuzz
Characters: PC Danny Butterman,Sergeant Nicholas Angel
You are certainly not surprised at this point to hear that I would love some Nicholas/Danny slash. I would also love bromance-y gen. Maybe something post-movie, or way way post-movie, a slice of life type thing or a more plotty story. I love Danny encountering people from Nicholas's London life and seeing him/being seen through their eyes. I have a special fondness too for the unnamed Met Sergeant (Martin Freeman's character, hereafter Deskjob, as HF fandom has named him), and if you're going slashy, him having A Past with Nicholas. Maybe Danny's jealous of him (even in a friend way), maybe he's jealous of Danny, maybe both. Maybe there is some new and interesting adventure for Nicholas and Danny to kick some arse on. Anything from canon-esque buddy-cop stuff to angsty-slashy-sexy-happy-ending sexual-identity drama, I am completely game for. Um, and I have a weak-in-the-knees kink for Nicholas doing stuff with guns.
P.S. -- Don't be worried/upset if I don't comment on your wonderful gift as soon as it goes live! December 25th usually sees me pulled in about ten different directions and I may not even get to see it until the next day.
First and foremost, OMGSQUEETHANKYOU!!! A fic written especially for me is an absolutely amazing gift no matter what it is, and you're awesome for doing it.
I know I asked for slash in every single one of my requests. Do not panic if that isn't your cup of tea, either for the particular fandom you're going to write or at all. Really, don't. I love gen too! I even write a good bit of it, because the big yay for me is getting into the heads and souls of the characters, getting to see them do new things or getting to find out what was behind old things. If they're in-character and true to voice, you have absolutely nothing to worry about.
I gave a good many prompts, too, but by no means should you feel you have confine yourself to them. They're just ideas. If a prompt I did give inspires you, awesome. If not, go with whatever does!
Stuff I like: slash (graphic sex is not necessary but not at all objectionable to me-- though if it comes down to a choice I would rather have more left to the imagination in favor of other meaningful interaction); happy-ending angst (including breakup/make-up type stuff); hurt/comfort; banter (if it would make sense for the characters you've chosen); outisder-POV of friendship/relationship definitely floats my boat; if there happens to be sex my major kinks include frottage, partially-clothed-up-against-the-wall desperation, languid sleepy kissy-cuddly adoringness, or on the flipside of that, a good angry-shovey-bitey explosion of desire.
Stuff I don't like: het (there is one exception to this, and that's if in the context of a slash story one of the guys ends up jealous of a woman but prevails in the end-- you could even take this as far as to have a bit of sexy voyeurism if it happens to go that way); character death (there are certainly fics I like very much where there is death, but not for this particular thing, plz. Of course if it's a temporary Raffles-death that's fine, but even then it's not something I'd really want a fic centered around); crack!fic (it has its place in my heart, but again, not for this); characters reduced to one-dimensionality (e.g. Danny is not an idiot, Bunny is not a total bumbling wuss, etc.); and in terms of sexytimes if they happen, I do not enjoy non-orgasmic bodily fluids (bloodplay, scat, watersports), heavy BDSM, D/S, non-con, dark dub-con, humiliation, or anyone going 'unnnnngh' or similar.
As a completely separate note, crossovers are totally allowed if we happen to share more than one fandom, either from within these requests or from stuff I haven't requested. Jeeves and Wooster, Torchwood (mostly Ianto), and Sherlock Holmes are all things I adore and would be more than happy to see make an appearance. An OMGWTFTIMETRAVEL!? premise would not bother me in the slightest if that kind of thing is your cuppa. But all that is incredibly optional; I only say it just in case.
(Skip to this part if my long-windedness makes you glaze over!) The only other real direction I can give is that I am far more interested in how the requested characters interact with and feel about each other than I am in an elaborate plot. Slash or no slash, I like the them-ness of them, and if our tastes don't match up on anything else, that's the thing I want most. Anything else is just sparkly sparkly icing on the Yuletide cake. I don't want this to be some horrible chore--as long as you have a blast writing it and include some good in-character interaction between my guys, I'm happy as a truckload of clams.
Yours are my internets and everything in them,
Mercy
The full requests for your convenience and the edification of others:
Fandom 1: E W Hornung - Raffles series
Characters: A J Raffles, Bunny Manders
I would really love some slash with these two if you can manage it. If you can't, I'll still love it to bits as long as their canonical affection for each other as friends still has a presence. Some ideas: an "untold" adventure that puts them in contact with the London gay scene of the time (maybe an underground club, maybe blackmail, and I'm completely cool with the good old pretend-to-be-gay standby if they need to sort of infiltrate somewhere). Maybe a missing scene from a story where a lot of them hanging out alone together is glossed over (e.g. "The Rest Cure") with some domesticity and snarky bantering. Or something from their school days (although if Bunny is awfully young, I would prefer nothing too sexually graphic). But those are just ideas. Whatever strikes your fancy is great as long as it has Raffles and Bunny being their awesome selves together.
Fandom 2: A Bit of Fry and Laurie
Characters: Control, Tony Murchison
Slash them to your absolute heart's content if your boat happens to float that way, but I find them adorable in their stilted niceness no matter what. I would love to see something outside the office setting-- them doing Actual Spy Stuff (tm) or (and this is not very original, I know, sorry) what happens after Tony is fired, maybe an outsider POV from Valerie or Mrs Control (mother? wife? what is she?), or even a "where are they now" kind of thing. A bit of angst and/or hurt/comfort would be very welcome in the bargain. My ideas for this one aren't all that interesting and there are vast acres of possibilities beyond them I'd love to see explored.
Fandom 3: Black Books
Characters: Bernard Black, Manny Bianco, Fran Katzenjammer
I would love Bernard/Manny slash. I would love Bernard backstory. I would love Bernard being horrible and drunk and having ridiculous arguments with Manny but unable to help grudgingly liking and/or loving him. I would love any or all of the above in any combination and magnitude. Though Fran is included in the list because I do love her to bits, she is not strictly required for my enjoyment and cameo appearances would be fine. Bernard/Manny (or Bernard & Manny, if you prefer) through Fran's eyes would also be cool. Another element I'd love to see is Bernard being insanely well-read. I mean, he owns a bookshop and is shown reading something or other all the time, but I've never seen a fic where anything was done with that. Granted, it might be drunken-ranty well-read-ness, but I sort of think Manny might find it surprising and impressive (or attractive, if you're going that way). Something more on the serious/angsty side could also be delicious, but please don't spare the wacky snark!
Fandom 4: Hot Fuzz
Characters: PC Danny Butterman,Sergeant Nicholas Angel
You are certainly not surprised at this point to hear that I would love some Nicholas/Danny slash. I would also love bromance-y gen. Maybe something post-movie, or way way post-movie, a slice of life type thing or a more plotty story. I love Danny encountering people from Nicholas's London life and seeing him/being seen through their eyes. I have a special fondness too for the unnamed Met Sergeant (Martin Freeman's character, hereafter Deskjob, as HF fandom has named him), and if you're going slashy, him having A Past with Nicholas. Maybe Danny's jealous of him (even in a friend way), maybe he's jealous of Danny, maybe both. Maybe there is some new and interesting adventure for Nicholas and Danny to kick some arse on. Anything from canon-esque buddy-cop stuff to angsty-slashy-sexy-happy-ending sexual-identity drama, I am completely game for. Um, and I have a weak-in-the-knees kink for Nicholas doing stuff with guns.
P.S. -- Don't be worried/upset if I don't comment on your wonderful gift as soon as it goes live! December 25th usually sees me pulled in about ten different directions and I may not even get to see it until the next day.