Dear Yule Goat
Hi Yuletide person!
I am so glad you're my Yule Goat! I hope you have fun with my requests! This is my first year actually doing Yuletide, though I've been an observer and on the Pinch Hitters list since the beginning of time (or at least of the challenge, whichever came first).
First off, general stuff: I'm pretty openminded. I like gen, het, slash, femslash, poly, confusion: you name it, I'm a-ok with that. I like ratings from G to HOMG COVER CHILDREN'S EYES; in fact, I've requested both gen and explicit ratings for Yuletide. I like happy stories; I also can like pretty dark stuff (though I require it not be TOO bleak - a little bit of hope keeps Quinns from feeling all wretchededed), but I think my requests this year (aside from the Connie Willis one) are pretty crack-oriented. I love banter, I love snark, I love an edge of the absurd which is likely obvious from my selections. I'm pretty meh on AUs for all of these; I've requested them because I want more fun to do with them as-is, rather than adding "--In SPACE!" or "---As Victorian Prostitutes!" or "---As INANIMATE OBJECTS!" to them, for all that those things can be awesome. I do not want non-con which is overly focused on the trauma. I do not want kidfic. I don't really want deathfic. I don't want mpreg. I really do not want anything which is totally locked inside the characters' heads, am not really looking for vignettes, and really really prefer writing to be translucent for the story you're telling rather than murky and playing with experimental styles (I mostly mean really drug-addled-feeling/postmodern here). I like the focus to be on characters and interactions and fun; though I do like plot, my focus tends to be on the people. I mostly want a silly happy romp of whatever sort is appropriate to your chosen prompt.
Some additional likes/dislikes, if you're writing anything involving sex/sexuality: First off, if you deal with people's sexualities at all, please don't make them a hardline Kinsey 0 or 6. Preferring one gender or the other is absolutely fine, as is having to redefine one's idea of their own sexuality, but I view sexuality (and gender, for that matter) as a sliding scale between two extremes, and one which can change over the course of one's life, and don't really want to read about strict monosexuality. That said, it doesn't need to come up.
Now, onto the sex (I hope I don't TMI you, but it seems better to share than for you to go to write porn and then not be sure what I like): I am pro-sex. I am currently in a place where I'd like to read about sex involving a minimum of one woman, because I like pretty girls, but that's not actually an opposition to m/m (though I think in the context of these prompts it's not terribly likely to come up). I like reading about penetrative sex, but I really really like reading about all the ways people can have sex which AREN'T solely penis-in-vagina or penis-in-anus: frot is awesome, wanking and mutual masturbation are fantastic, oral sex is awesome. Kink is a++ great. I love consensual voyeurism and exhibitionism a lot. I love dirty talk (talking in bed, talking about desires or fantasies or scenarios or describing what is going on). Figging is awesome. Helpless begging is awesome. Public sex where no one else knows and one person is worried they'll be caught is awesome. Pegging is awesome. Power dynamics are awesome. Fantasizing is awesome. Overwhelmed-by-desire is awesome. Bondage is awesome. D/s is awesome. If you're wondering How Kinky is Too Kinky, I direct you to the things I have bookmarked on AO3 and memoried under 'fics' on LJ; I think that will rid you effectively of any concerns in that area. I don't like humiliation or slut-shaming language, though - I find calling someone names in bed to be a serious turnoff.
Now onto the request specifics:
Portal • GLaDOS • Gen
Homg fun! I am not dedicated to this being gen, just stating any other option seemed frighteningly likely to go to a scary non-con machine-porn place, and that... wasn't NECESSARY, though frankly if you really feel the desire go right ahead. Basically, whatever you do here will probably make me SO ABSURDLY HAPPY OH MAN, so just feel free to go nuts. Like GLaDOS. This can be set before, during, or after the game, because basically I am having zero luck coming up with something that would not be FREAKING AWESOME. Stories about GLaDOS being Still Alive? AWESOME! Stories about the experimental subjects who went before? Rad! (though probably not for them... their lives seem hard (if by 'hard' I mean 'brief and brutal')) Something set during the game itself? Sweet! I am all about all these options. Note that the deathfic issue is cleared for this, because as long as the tone is game-appropriate seriously anything goes.
17 Again • Mike O'Donnell, Scarlett O'Donnell • F/M • Explicit
17!Mike/grownup!Scar, please! The idea of Chandler having sex just really does not do it for me, so basically if we can just talk about magically-seventeen year old Mike/Mark only, that would be for the best. I'd love a story about them actually having sex, or a story about him wanking thinking about it, or a story about HER wanking thinking about it... or ALL OF THE ABOVE, OOO... basically I am flexible here. If you're uncomfortable with it being about sex, basically anything silly and cute and with an edge of him wanting her and following her around like a puppy and her being like "Oh my god, I want this CHILD, he is my SON'S FRIEND! Aaaaaaack!" would be a-ok by me. I tend to prefer she not know he's actually her husband. No incest, please, though I'm a lot of amused by the daughter thinking Mark is into her (or gay). If you want to include Ned's growing nerdthing with the principal in the background, I would be JUST FINE with that.
Girl Genius • Agatha Heterodyne, Gilgamesh Wulfenbach • F/M
Agatha/Gil! With or without Tarvek! With ridiculous and shenanigans! Genderfuck optional, rating optional, everything optional pretty much other than that I'd like it to be less about the ongoing Major Storyline Crises and more about the silly ridiculous that is sparks and also Agatha's love life. I adore Gil silly, and am pro-Tarvek, and basically love everyone and would be fine with just about anything as long as it has Gil being awesome and a lot of cracky fun of the sort that no Girl Genius fanfic would be complete without. Also, gadgets. Sparks being too clever for their own good is a plus. Snark is a must. Angst - real, genuine angst? - is really not what I'm looking for here. Gears and trouble and spark egos and Mad Science all the way! Gil and Tarvek scowling at one another and posturing for Agatha, except when they forget to be antagonistic and get along! I am A-O-K with them having vague (or not vague at ALL) sexual tension as well. An edge of Agatha/Gil/Tarvek? Would probably BREAK THE WORLD. And my BRAIN. But I'd rather, if you do go that way, that it not be PWP - I want to see all the redonk that would lead to that / result from it. I love the absurdity of this verse so much!
Oxford Time Travel universe - Connie Willis
I love history, so I do ask that if you choose to write a set-in-history story, you focus more on accuracy and less on handwave-y window dressing. I haven't actually finished reading Blackout yet, but I will be done with All Clear by posting time, so basically have fun with whatever. I loved To Say Nothing of the Dog in a way which is both unholy and gleeful (like, it is on my Top Books Evar list); it exemplifies the way she writes the most amazing ABSURDITY which is why she's seriously one of my very favorites. I like how even her dark stuff has a tendency to have a lovely running "Whaaaat?" tone to the inside of people's heads, because stuff moves fast and sometimes it's just baffling. There are none of her characters I do not love; I can't even decide what to ask for because all possible options are so awesome. Set it in the current time for the Oxford types; set it early in time travel development (it's so fascinating!); set it entirely in a drop with a historian interacting with contemps - whatever you like! I adore WWII up one side and down the other (seriously, I am SUCH a WWII nerd it's absurd), but I'm not sure how much more there is that can be set there, since I've not yet finished the current books but I feel like she's done it pretty thoroughly (especially since my area of interest is primarily the ETO, not the pacific). I am a war geek in the extreme. I'm ok with Mr Dunworthy as the main character (especially if you choose to do something set early in the development), but even if not he should appear in the story! (if entirely on a drop, he can just be mentioned, but he's pretty omnipresent) I love planes, and trains are interesting, and zeppelins are rad as anything, and my love for the early-to-mid 20th century is pretty huge (esp the 20s/30s/40s/50s/60s). If you want to write original characters, please populate their world with people we know and love (and if you decide to do original characters - or not original, even - and want to write a romantic plot/subplot and make it pretty girls and femslash I might love you forever (for this prompt, I'd rather if you DO do something romantic that at least one person involved be female, because GIRLS!)).
I will be happy with whatever you do (no, seriously, I will), but here's one suggestion of the sort of thing you might do, if you're a person who does better with a very specific prompt (if you're not, please feel free to disregard, because I am SERIOUS when I say this is just a suggestion):
Very ala To Say Nothing of the Dog in many ways (like tone and timey-wimeyness), FULL of absurd timey-wimeyness and flashes to the Absurdity Of The Modern Drop Room ala Doomsday Book; Historian (who can be either male or female) goes back to late 20s, hangs out with flying circus, falls for pretty barnstormer (definitely female)? Or, if the character is lucky, falls for a pretty historian hanging with barnstormers? Bonus points for period clothes, dancing, slang, and cocktails. And planes. Lots of bonus for planes.
I feel like this letter is all of the manic (ALL OF IT) and possibly a bit hysterical, but I can't help it! I'm just so excited! I hope it has been helpful for you, and I absolutely cannot wait to see what you come up with. Yuletider, you are the light of my life and I adore you. Feel appreciated!
Happy writing!!!
Quinn
I am so glad you're my Yule Goat! I hope you have fun with my requests! This is my first year actually doing Yuletide, though I've been an observer and on the Pinch Hitters list since the beginning of time (or at least of the challenge, whichever came first).
First off, general stuff: I'm pretty openminded. I like gen, het, slash, femslash, poly, confusion: you name it, I'm a-ok with that. I like ratings from G to HOMG COVER CHILDREN'S EYES; in fact, I've requested both gen and explicit ratings for Yuletide. I like happy stories; I also can like pretty dark stuff (though I require it not be TOO bleak - a little bit of hope keeps Quinns from feeling all wretchededed), but I think my requests this year (aside from the Connie Willis one) are pretty crack-oriented. I love banter, I love snark, I love an edge of the absurd which is likely obvious from my selections. I'm pretty meh on AUs for all of these; I've requested them because I want more fun to do with them as-is, rather than adding "--In SPACE!" or "---As Victorian Prostitutes!" or "---As INANIMATE OBJECTS!" to them, for all that those things can be awesome. I do not want non-con which is overly focused on the trauma. I do not want kidfic. I don't really want deathfic. I don't want mpreg. I really do not want anything which is totally locked inside the characters' heads, am not really looking for vignettes, and really really prefer writing to be translucent for the story you're telling rather than murky and playing with experimental styles (I mostly mean really drug-addled-feeling/postmodern here). I like the focus to be on characters and interactions and fun; though I do like plot, my focus tends to be on the people. I mostly want a silly happy romp of whatever sort is appropriate to your chosen prompt.
Some additional likes/dislikes, if you're writing anything involving sex/sexuality: First off, if you deal with people's sexualities at all, please don't make them a hardline Kinsey 0 or 6. Preferring one gender or the other is absolutely fine, as is having to redefine one's idea of their own sexuality, but I view sexuality (and gender, for that matter) as a sliding scale between two extremes, and one which can change over the course of one's life, and don't really want to read about strict monosexuality. That said, it doesn't need to come up.
Now, onto the sex (I hope I don't TMI you, but it seems better to share than for you to go to write porn and then not be sure what I like): I am pro-sex. I am currently in a place where I'd like to read about sex involving a minimum of one woman, because I like pretty girls, but that's not actually an opposition to m/m (though I think in the context of these prompts it's not terribly likely to come up). I like reading about penetrative sex, but I really really like reading about all the ways people can have sex which AREN'T solely penis-in-vagina or penis-in-anus: frot is awesome, wanking and mutual masturbation are fantastic, oral sex is awesome. Kink is a++ great. I love consensual voyeurism and exhibitionism a lot. I love dirty talk (talking in bed, talking about desires or fantasies or scenarios or describing what is going on). Figging is awesome. Helpless begging is awesome. Public sex where no one else knows and one person is worried they'll be caught is awesome. Pegging is awesome. Power dynamics are awesome. Fantasizing is awesome. Overwhelmed-by-desire is awesome. Bondage is awesome. D/s is awesome. If you're wondering How Kinky is Too Kinky, I direct you to the things I have bookmarked on AO3 and memoried under 'fics' on LJ; I think that will rid you effectively of any concerns in that area. I don't like humiliation or slut-shaming language, though - I find calling someone names in bed to be a serious turnoff.
Now onto the request specifics:
Portal • GLaDOS • Gen
Homg fun! I am not dedicated to this being gen, just stating any other option seemed frighteningly likely to go to a scary non-con machine-porn place, and that... wasn't NECESSARY, though frankly if you really feel the desire go right ahead. Basically, whatever you do here will probably make me SO ABSURDLY HAPPY OH MAN, so just feel free to go nuts. Like GLaDOS. This can be set before, during, or after the game, because basically I am having zero luck coming up with something that would not be FREAKING AWESOME. Stories about GLaDOS being Still Alive? AWESOME! Stories about the experimental subjects who went before? Rad! (though probably not for them... their lives seem hard (if by 'hard' I mean 'brief and brutal')) Something set during the game itself? Sweet! I am all about all these options. Note that the deathfic issue is cleared for this, because as long as the tone is game-appropriate seriously anything goes.
17 Again • Mike O'Donnell, Scarlett O'Donnell • F/M • Explicit
17!Mike/grownup!Scar, please! The idea of Chandler having sex just really does not do it for me, so basically if we can just talk about magically-seventeen year old Mike/Mark only, that would be for the best. I'd love a story about them actually having sex, or a story about him wanking thinking about it, or a story about HER wanking thinking about it... or ALL OF THE ABOVE, OOO... basically I am flexible here. If you're uncomfortable with it being about sex, basically anything silly and cute and with an edge of him wanting her and following her around like a puppy and her being like "Oh my god, I want this CHILD, he is my SON'S FRIEND! Aaaaaaack!" would be a-ok by me. I tend to prefer she not know he's actually her husband. No incest, please, though I'm a lot of amused by the daughter thinking Mark is into her (or gay). If you want to include Ned's growing nerdthing with the principal in the background, I would be JUST FINE with that.
Girl Genius • Agatha Heterodyne, Gilgamesh Wulfenbach • F/M
Agatha/Gil! With or without Tarvek! With ridiculous and shenanigans! Genderfuck optional, rating optional, everything optional pretty much other than that I'd like it to be less about the ongoing Major Storyline Crises and more about the silly ridiculous that is sparks and also Agatha's love life. I adore Gil silly, and am pro-Tarvek, and basically love everyone and would be fine with just about anything as long as it has Gil being awesome and a lot of cracky fun of the sort that no Girl Genius fanfic would be complete without. Also, gadgets. Sparks being too clever for their own good is a plus. Snark is a must. Angst - real, genuine angst? - is really not what I'm looking for here. Gears and trouble and spark egos and Mad Science all the way! Gil and Tarvek scowling at one another and posturing for Agatha, except when they forget to be antagonistic and get along! I am A-O-K with them having vague (or not vague at ALL) sexual tension as well. An edge of Agatha/Gil/Tarvek? Would probably BREAK THE WORLD. And my BRAIN. But I'd rather, if you do go that way, that it not be PWP - I want to see all the redonk that would lead to that / result from it. I love the absurdity of this verse so much!
Oxford Time Travel universe - Connie Willis
I love history, so I do ask that if you choose to write a set-in-history story, you focus more on accuracy and less on handwave-y window dressing. I haven't actually finished reading Blackout yet, but I will be done with All Clear by posting time, so basically have fun with whatever. I loved To Say Nothing of the Dog in a way which is both unholy and gleeful (like, it is on my Top Books Evar list); it exemplifies the way she writes the most amazing ABSURDITY which is why she's seriously one of my very favorites. I like how even her dark stuff has a tendency to have a lovely running "Whaaaat?" tone to the inside of people's heads, because stuff moves fast and sometimes it's just baffling. There are none of her characters I do not love; I can't even decide what to ask for because all possible options are so awesome. Set it in the current time for the Oxford types; set it early in time travel development (it's so fascinating!); set it entirely in a drop with a historian interacting with contemps - whatever you like! I adore WWII up one side and down the other (seriously, I am SUCH a WWII nerd it's absurd), but I'm not sure how much more there is that can be set there, since I've not yet finished the current books but I feel like she's done it pretty thoroughly (especially since my area of interest is primarily the ETO, not the pacific). I am a war geek in the extreme. I'm ok with Mr Dunworthy as the main character (especially if you choose to do something set early in the development), but even if not he should appear in the story! (if entirely on a drop, he can just be mentioned, but he's pretty omnipresent) I love planes, and trains are interesting, and zeppelins are rad as anything, and my love for the early-to-mid 20th century is pretty huge (esp the 20s/30s/40s/50s/60s). If you want to write original characters, please populate their world with people we know and love (and if you decide to do original characters - or not original, even - and want to write a romantic plot/subplot and make it pretty girls and femslash I might love you forever (for this prompt, I'd rather if you DO do something romantic that at least one person involved be female, because GIRLS!)).
I will be happy with whatever you do (no, seriously, I will), but here's one suggestion of the sort of thing you might do, if you're a person who does better with a very specific prompt (if you're not, please feel free to disregard, because I am SERIOUS when I say this is just a suggestion):
Very ala To Say Nothing of the Dog in many ways (like tone and timey-wimeyness), FULL of absurd timey-wimeyness and flashes to the Absurdity Of The Modern Drop Room ala Doomsday Book; Historian (who can be either male or female) goes back to late 20s, hangs out with flying circus, falls for pretty barnstormer (definitely female)? Or, if the character is lucky, falls for a pretty historian hanging with barnstormers? Bonus points for period clothes, dancing, slang, and cocktails. And planes. Lots of bonus for planes.
I feel like this letter is all of the manic (ALL OF IT) and possibly a bit hysterical, but I can't help it! I'm just so excited! I hope it has been helpful for you, and I absolutely cannot wait to see what you come up with. Yuletider, you are the light of my life and I adore you. Feel appreciated!
Happy writing!!!
Quinn