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Dear Yuletide Writer...
Oct. 12th, 2013 12:59 amDear Yuletide Writer,
Thank you so much for writing me a story! I'm super easy to please, I promise. Just having heard of/wanting to write one of my fandoms wins you a million points, so I'm sure I'll like whatever you write. All optional details really are optional - if none of my ideas are working for you or you already have a story you are dying to write, I'm sure I'll like that too! But here are some ideas to get you going, anyway. :)
Things I like: slash, femslash, OT3s, gen, complicated, intense, and fucked up relationships (romantic and otherwise), non-conventional romance, plotty adventures and casefic, character studies, team-as-family, dub-con, consensual hate-sex, aaaaaall the hurt/comfort
Things I don't like so much: non-con, extremely graphic violence or gore, character bashing (especially female characters), BDSM, humiliation, non-canonical deaths/deathfic
More fandom specific thoughts:
Guilded Age - Frigg
There aren't too many characters in Guilded Age I don't like an awful lot, but Frigg is absolutely, hands-down, 100% my favorite. I love how brave she is, how tough she is, how much she swears, how few fucks she gives for what other people think/do, and how she is kind of a terrible person - but also, when it comes down to it, how she clearly cares about her friends and wants to fight for/with them, even if she would rather pull her own arm off than admit it. So anything Frigg-centric would make me super happy, whether it's adventure-fic with her hitting all the things with her magic hammer, sexytimes fic where she gets to clear the dust out (any pairing is great, although I'd prefer not breaking up Syr'Nj/Byron), backstory about her time pre-comics with the Sisterhood, or backstory about her character outside the game/in the tube, because she sounded really interesting IRL too. Bonus points for Frigg+Syr'Nj awkward friendship, creative swearing, and for things being Complicated with Rachel.
Lakeside View Apartment Suites - any
Like I said in my sign-up, I really just want more of the people and the life that we see in this song - there's so much suggested but not answered of who these guys are, how they ended up as drug dealers, how they met each other, how they are going to try to keep going or get out or fail miserably. Anything that expands on the glimpses of the characters we get and their relationships would be great too. If you'd like to give me a happy ending where they all turn their lives around and become teachers and play basketball with at-risk kids I will not complain at all! But if you'd like to keep with the melancholy tone of the song and give them a long slow bad ending that is totally great too. Bonus points for setting it in interesting/unusual cities and mutually drugged-up sex.
The Bill - Craig Gilmore, Gina Gold
Not gonna lie, I started watching The Bill because I heard through the grapevine it was a cop show with a gay storyline, and then I fell head-over-heels for Craig 50 episodes before Luke even showed up. I'm really fascinated with how much he feels like he has prove himself constantly, how outspoken and confrontational he is when people try to hassle him or other gay characters, and how under the pushiness that's forced on him he really is just kind of a sweet awkward dork. So anything that looks at how Craig deals (or, uh doesn't) with other people, and with homophobia in the police force, would be pretty great. I'd also like to see more of him and Gina as friends - I love the way she sort of ends up as the person he can trust talking about his relationships to, even though they don't have that much in common on the surface. Or Gina-POV/Gina-centric fic, instead! Because competent older women who don't put up with any bullshit because they have a fucking job to be doing, thanks are kind of my catnip, and she is such a beautifully hard-ass unrepentant bitch I can't help but adore her. If you'd like to do casefic, or just canon-esque day-in-the-station-house fic, that would be super. Bonus points for Craig/Luke, and Reg Hollis being all Reg Hollis-y, because *heart*.
Cyteen - Justin, Grant, Ari II
So, I may be just a little over-invested in Grant/Justin. There's just so much there - Justin's massive trauma, Grant being an azi, Ari II's existence, the incredibly repressive atmosphere at Reseune - putting tremendous pressure on them, and they still manage to work out the healthiest unhealthy relationship they can manage with each other. My mental image of the two of them is just sitting in their apartment, clinging to each other like drowning victims in a storm. So something that explored the dynamic between them more than we see in canon would be great. Or something from an outsider POV. Or throw another source of pressure at them and see how they deal with it. Or just show one of those quiet moments of domesticity and emotional support between them. Bonus points for Justin being the one who is there emotionally for Grant. I'd also be interested in something plotty with Ari II that deals with the tension between their relationship with each other and their relationship with her (and Ari, as we all know very well, is not above manipulating that for herself). Or any of the above from Ari's POV, because the way she reads Justin and Grant (with what she knows about Ari I) is pretty fascinating to me as well. Or just something about Ari being Ari (scary-smart, dangerous, manipulative, but still trying to do more or less the right thing).
The Picture of Dorian Gray - any
So, I may have become slightly obsessed after seeing Oscar Wilde: The Opera, and reread both versions of the novel and watched every single (semi-decent) adaptation in existence and given myself a lot of feelings. But I'd really love something that looks at Dorian's character - for as much as he tries to play himself as the corrupted innocent, even in his first scenes there's still an edge of cruelty to him, of holding his feelings above everyone else's, and something that looked at what was in him that was so susceptible to Harry's influence would be really interesting. I'd also be pretty happy with any combination of Dorian/Basil, Harry, or Alan, under any circumstances - one of Basil's painting sessions, or more of how he deals with his tortured crush on Dorian, Harry's designs on Dorian's rather precarious virtue, or especially something about just what, exactly, Dorian was using to blackmail Alan with. Or, you know, just straight up porn. Bonus points for literary allusions, loss of virginity, and Victorian sexuality - whether it's 'let's all repress our boarding school homosexual experiences,' or in the school of Sins of the Cities of the Plains and Romance of Lust.
Valor Series - any
I tried really hard to narrow myself down to specific characters, but it too hard - there's just too much interesting stuff going on in this universe for me to pick. So if you have a personal favorite character, or you'd like to make up some OCs and run with the world-building, have at it! But I wouldn't say no to: slice of life from Torrin and Craig's marriage (or snarky romance with Torrin and Craig, or Torrin and Craig having adventures), The Romantic Gunslinging Adventures of Binti Mashona, Lady-Kissing Sniper, Haysole/Hollice romance fic or one-night stand fic or friendship fic, some of Haysole's choicer pranks in the station, Ressk and Werst overcoming their differences to fuck with everyone or just take over the world, and gen missionfic with Sh'Quo Company, set before Valor's Choice or any point in the novels. If you'd like to do more with the Everyone is Bi theme in the books - Torrin's ex-girlfriends? Craig's ex-boyfriends? Gender-neutral drunken spin-the-bottle on station down-time? All the gay makeouts? - that would be awesome. I know these books have a high bodycount, but I'd prefer if you kept the character death to a minimum - and if you'd like to pretend that any canonically dead characters (*cough*Haysole*cough*) made it out alive I won't tell on you. Bonus points for Torrin kicking all the ass, wild rumors about what Sh'Quo company does to the enemy/to new recruits/on leave, and sex pollen.
Thank you so much for writing me a story! I'm super easy to please, I promise. Just having heard of/wanting to write one of my fandoms wins you a million points, so I'm sure I'll like whatever you write. All optional details really are optional - if none of my ideas are working for you or you already have a story you are dying to write, I'm sure I'll like that too! But here are some ideas to get you going, anyway. :)
Things I like: slash, femslash, OT3s, gen, complicated, intense, and fucked up relationships (romantic and otherwise), non-conventional romance, plotty adventures and casefic, character studies, team-as-family, dub-con, consensual hate-sex, aaaaaall the hurt/comfort
Things I don't like so much: non-con, extremely graphic violence or gore, character bashing (especially female characters), BDSM, humiliation, non-canonical deaths/deathfic
More fandom specific thoughts:
Guilded Age - Frigg
There aren't too many characters in Guilded Age I don't like an awful lot, but Frigg is absolutely, hands-down, 100% my favorite. I love how brave she is, how tough she is, how much she swears, how few fucks she gives for what other people think/do, and how she is kind of a terrible person - but also, when it comes down to it, how she clearly cares about her friends and wants to fight for/with them, even if she would rather pull her own arm off than admit it. So anything Frigg-centric would make me super happy, whether it's adventure-fic with her hitting all the things with her magic hammer, sexytimes fic where she gets to clear the dust out (any pairing is great, although I'd prefer not breaking up Syr'Nj/Byron), backstory about her time pre-comics with the Sisterhood, or backstory about her character outside the game/in the tube, because she sounded really interesting IRL too. Bonus points for Frigg+Syr'Nj awkward friendship, creative swearing, and for things being Complicated with Rachel.
Lakeside View Apartment Suites - any
Like I said in my sign-up, I really just want more of the people and the life that we see in this song - there's so much suggested but not answered of who these guys are, how they ended up as drug dealers, how they met each other, how they are going to try to keep going or get out or fail miserably. Anything that expands on the glimpses of the characters we get and their relationships would be great too. If you'd like to give me a happy ending where they all turn their lives around and become teachers and play basketball with at-risk kids I will not complain at all! But if you'd like to keep with the melancholy tone of the song and give them a long slow bad ending that is totally great too. Bonus points for setting it in interesting/unusual cities and mutually drugged-up sex.
The Bill - Craig Gilmore, Gina Gold
Not gonna lie, I started watching The Bill because I heard through the grapevine it was a cop show with a gay storyline, and then I fell head-over-heels for Craig 50 episodes before Luke even showed up. I'm really fascinated with how much he feels like he has prove himself constantly, how outspoken and confrontational he is when people try to hassle him or other gay characters, and how under the pushiness that's forced on him he really is just kind of a sweet awkward dork. So anything that looks at how Craig deals (or, uh doesn't) with other people, and with homophobia in the police force, would be pretty great. I'd also like to see more of him and Gina as friends - I love the way she sort of ends up as the person he can trust talking about his relationships to, even though they don't have that much in common on the surface. Or Gina-POV/Gina-centric fic, instead! Because competent older women who don't put up with any bullshit because they have a fucking job to be doing, thanks are kind of my catnip, and she is such a beautifully hard-ass unrepentant bitch I can't help but adore her. If you'd like to do casefic, or just canon-esque day-in-the-station-house fic, that would be super. Bonus points for Craig/Luke, and Reg Hollis being all Reg Hollis-y, because *heart*.
Cyteen - Justin, Grant, Ari II
So, I may be just a little over-invested in Grant/Justin. There's just so much there - Justin's massive trauma, Grant being an azi, Ari II's existence, the incredibly repressive atmosphere at Reseune - putting tremendous pressure on them, and they still manage to work out the healthiest unhealthy relationship they can manage with each other. My mental image of the two of them is just sitting in their apartment, clinging to each other like drowning victims in a storm. So something that explored the dynamic between them more than we see in canon would be great. Or something from an outsider POV. Or throw another source of pressure at them and see how they deal with it. Or just show one of those quiet moments of domesticity and emotional support between them. Bonus points for Justin being the one who is there emotionally for Grant. I'd also be interested in something plotty with Ari II that deals with the tension between their relationship with each other and their relationship with her (and Ari, as we all know very well, is not above manipulating that for herself). Or any of the above from Ari's POV, because the way she reads Justin and Grant (with what she knows about Ari I) is pretty fascinating to me as well. Or just something about Ari being Ari (scary-smart, dangerous, manipulative, but still trying to do more or less the right thing).
The Picture of Dorian Gray - any
So, I may have become slightly obsessed after seeing Oscar Wilde: The Opera, and reread both versions of the novel and watched every single (semi-decent) adaptation in existence and given myself a lot of feelings. But I'd really love something that looks at Dorian's character - for as much as he tries to play himself as the corrupted innocent, even in his first scenes there's still an edge of cruelty to him, of holding his feelings above everyone else's, and something that looked at what was in him that was so susceptible to Harry's influence would be really interesting. I'd also be pretty happy with any combination of Dorian/Basil, Harry, or Alan, under any circumstances - one of Basil's painting sessions, or more of how he deals with his tortured crush on Dorian, Harry's designs on Dorian's rather precarious virtue, or especially something about just what, exactly, Dorian was using to blackmail Alan with. Or, you know, just straight up porn. Bonus points for literary allusions, loss of virginity, and Victorian sexuality - whether it's 'let's all repress our boarding school homosexual experiences,' or in the school of Sins of the Cities of the Plains and Romance of Lust.
Valor Series - any
I tried really hard to narrow myself down to specific characters, but it too hard - there's just too much interesting stuff going on in this universe for me to pick. So if you have a personal favorite character, or you'd like to make up some OCs and run with the world-building, have at it! But I wouldn't say no to: slice of life from Torrin and Craig's marriage (or snarky romance with Torrin and Craig, or Torrin and Craig having adventures), The Romantic Gunslinging Adventures of Binti Mashona, Lady-Kissing Sniper, Haysole/Hollice romance fic or one-night stand fic or friendship fic, some of Haysole's choicer pranks in the station, Ressk and Werst overcoming their differences to fuck with everyone or just take over the world, and gen missionfic with Sh'Quo Company, set before Valor's Choice or any point in the novels. If you'd like to do more with the Everyone is Bi theme in the books - Torrin's ex-girlfriends? Craig's ex-boyfriends? Gender-neutral drunken spin-the-bottle on station down-time? All the gay makeouts? - that would be awesome. I know these books have a high bodycount, but I'd prefer if you kept the character death to a minimum - and if you'd like to pretend that any canonically dead characters (*cough*Haysole*cough*) made it out alive I won't tell on you. Bonus points for Torrin kicking all the ass, wild rumors about what Sh'Quo company does to the enemy/to new recruits/on leave, and sex pollen.