it's beginning to look a lot like yuletide
To my dearest, beloved Yuletide writer,
So I’m going to copy wholesale from my past Yuletide letters here, and start by saying that if you're as excited about any of these fandoms as I am, I'll love what you write me no matter what. That said, I'm a fan of giving more information in the hopes that it will give you greater freedom in your writing, and because I know I'm going to want to know as much about the person I'm writing for as possible and figure I should give what I hope to get. :D So here are some paragraphs of perhaps tl;dr-level specificity, and please feel free to ignore all of it if there's a story in any of these fandoms that you really, really want to write. I trust you.
I like slash or het or gen as long as the ship is relevant to the story and the world it's set in. Characterization is my weak spot; show me the nuances of a character I love, show me a secret side of them I've never seen before, and I'm sold. I love worldbuilding, expanding on the setting and the world as it’s described in canon. If you write sex, awesome; it’s definitely not a requirement by any means, but I certainly wouldn't say no to it. And to borrow a clarification phrase straight from someone else's letter, When I say "explicit" I mean "I have a good idea who's doing what to whom," and not so much paragraph-long descriptions of penises. I'm all about the emotions; as you'll see if you explore my pinboard, any fic that packs an emotional punch is guaranteed to win me over.
As far as genre goes, it's kind of up to you. I love action and mystery, I like ship-centered fic as much as fic where the ship is a sidebar to the plot, I like happy or serious or funny or sad. I would definitely prefer a hopeful ending to whatever you write, if an actual happy ending isn't appropriate or fitting; however if your story is leading you toward a waterfall of angst that'll end with an emotional sucker punch, go for it! Wow me with UST, show me just how evil the bad guy really is, scare the crap out of me if you want. Some of my all-time favorite fics are pieces that I would never have guessed I'd enjoy, so please surprise me!
stuff i love in fic / kinks :
slash, femmeslash, interesting het, worldbuilding / strong sense of the world, strong friendships/partnerships, snarky partnerships with lots of ust, angst with a happy ending, angst with sex and a we-don't-ever-talk-about-it ending, hurt/comfort, stories where they've been sleeping together and not talking about their feelings but they secretly love each other (♥), snarky banter, collective / ensemble badassery, women being awesome, friendships between awesome women, friendships with ust between awesome women, fight scenes, people bandaging each other up after a battle, surprising each other with badassery, forbidden attraction, old friends and inside jokes, past history, magic, illusion spells, misunderstandings / misdirection through magic, travel, spy/undercover deception, crossovers, cross-genre AUs, pastiche AUs, college or bookstore or coffee shop AUs, basically any AUs, long plotty stories where the ship is a slow build (though definitely not expecting a long fic, just saying I do enjoy them), plot twists, long-suffering irritation (especially as a mask for growing fondness or attraction), stories where person a can't have person b so they start something up with person c to distract themselves (and either make person a jealous or actually end up falling for person c), physical altercations that highlight attraction, origin stories, flashbacks, first times, emotional first times, power play / bdsm fun, wit and snark and people being smart, flirting, drawn-out seduction, happy endings.
squicks : mpreg, hardcore fetishes and heavy bdsm, daddy kink, humiliation, rape/noncon, extreme gore (though, I watch Hannibal, so I guess artful gore is OK? lol...).
and now onto the specific requests!
fandom : the expanse series (any)
details : I've just devoured the first four books of this series and am about to head into the fifth, and am ready for whatever you want to write. Backstory, futurefic, AU, whatever. Crossovers with other space fandoms would be rad. I love "getting the gang back together" kinds of stories, so if you want to bring the Roci's crew back with any of their former partners, or bring together people who've never met each other (Bobbie and Elvi spring to mind) I'd be really into that too. Basically I just love this world, I love the characters, and anything more in this universe will make me happy.
There's so much to explore in this world that I don't want to say too much in fear of restricting you, because any exploration of any of the characters in any context will make me happy. I picked the 3 non-Holden members of the Roci's crew because I want so badly to know what else is going on for them, where they've been and where they might go. (ETA: I just started book 5 and am SO PUMPED that we get POV chapters for them, but I still would love your take on any or all of them!) Ideas: more of the Bobbie-and-Avasarala team of awesome, more of Bobbie being a superhero. More of Bobbie, period; I loved the hints at attraction between her and Alex, but am open to the idea of any of them finding love in unexpected places (except Naomi, who should stay with Holden forever, else the universe would surely blow up). A crossover AU with any of my other fandoms (my list here) would be so cool-- either porting a character from another fandom into the world of the Expanse, or running into a ship/planet/race from another fandom through one of the space gates… Basically this series makes my imagination run wild, so run as wild as you want, I'll be happy to match. My one caveat is that I don't like Miller, so you can feel free to leave him out of whatever you write. XD
If you haven't read the series, it's currently five books, and they're not short, BUT they are fast reads that are so super worth it, and as long as you read the first two you'll have met all the characters I requested. I've zipped them here.
fandom : gentlemen bastards (any)
details: Literally write me anything. There is nothing I don't love about this series; they're my favorite books, and I'm obsessed with the world and everyone in it. If you want suggestions, I'd prefer fill-in-the-blank fic (as opposed to what happens post-Republic of Thieves) about the Bastards' past, about the Barsavis, about Chains, backstory for Requin and Selendri, Zamira, whoever. This fantasy world is endlessly fascinating to me; the cities are almost like characters themselves, and anything that explores more of them (especially Camorr) as a setting would be awesome.
Not a ton of elaboration here because as I said, I'll read and love anything. But if you want direction, my first thought is that I adore the parts of the series that talk about the Bastards' childhood, and am always eager for more backstory where they're concerned. There's something so delightful about the thought of these young gangs running around this amazing city trying to one-up each other, and all the antics the Bastards got up to between themselves. I would also love to read backstory of Father Chains. And the worldbuilding aspect is endlessly fascinating-- all the gods, the cities, the flavor and character of the different cultures-- make up a holiday or a weird festival that the Bastards have to participate in, a time they have to go undercover in a wacky place to pull off a job, anything like that. Also, it's worth noting I'm not really a Jean/Locke shipper, I prefer them just as friends-- but friends-who-occasionally-screw is fine too.
If you haven't read these books, I cannot speak more highly of them. The way I usually describe them to newbies is "Imagine if Ocean's Eleven took place in Renaissance-era Venice, with magic." They're fucking fantastic and such a great time. If you have already read them, I would also strongly encourage you to read A Year and A Day in Old Theradane, linked below, as another piece of canon that could eventually cross over into the GB series proper.
fandom : a year and a day in old theradane (any)
details: Like everything Scott Lynch writes, this story sucked me in immediately. I want to know everything-- what happened before, what's going to happen next, what happened in the span of the story that we didn't see? Flesh out one of the crimes that made Amarelle and her crew infamous-- show me a missing scene during the story-- what happens now that they're unretired? Also, I'm dying to read the love story of Sophara and Brandwin, as I'm sure it's suitably full of sexy snark and one-upmanship and taunting.
All I need to add to the above is that since reading the story earlier this year I've been obsessed with Amarelle and her crew, and the wild hope that at some point in the series they will meet up with Locke and his crew. So if your brain, like mine, immediately turned to the inevitable clash of the titans-- the Thorn of Camorr versus the Duchess Unseen!-- and the potential for Jean Tannen and Amarelle to soothe their heartaches in each other's arms (with a similar amount of sexy snark and one-upmanship and taunting that I imagine characterized Sophara and Brandwin's courtship) then you are speaking my language. But similar to my feelings about the GB series proper, basically whatever you want to write, I want to read.
This is the easiest of my fandoms to pick up by far-- it's one short story, available here, and a riot of a good time start to finish.
fandom : miss fisher's murder mysteries (phryne)
details: I'd either like a Jack/Phryne story or a badass lady friendships story, with as much murder and intrigue and dancing and fashion as you can pack in. I am weak for Phryne and Jack's UST, and the inevitability of its resolution. But if shippy isn't your thing, I'm equally fascinated by Phryne's feminism and her fierce friendships with the women around her, her protectiveness of women and her willingness to go out of her way to help them.
My perfect storm here would be a case fic in which Phryne teams up with other badass ladies to save the day, during the course of which she and Jack have tons of ust and exasperation at each other's frivolous disregard for their own safety, and finally decide to Get Their Shit Together and screw each other's lights out. But really, there's so much to love about this series, anything that keeps the tone of it will delight me.
If you do decide to do Phryne/Jack, feel free to get as silly or as angsty as you like (they swing so beautifully both ways…) as long as it ends happy, or sexy, or both. I've been musing on a headcanon that after the end of S3, something happens to keep Jack from following Phryne to London, and she has to go after him instead-- but feel free to ignore the end of S3 if it suits you. Trope me to death if you like-- fake married, undercover in a place of ill repute, locked in together, stranded, hurt/comfort, whatever you like-- I have yet to tire of stories of how the two of them finally figure their shit out. With the badass lady friendships, I'm most interested in the characters and how they're important to each other, with a side order of kicking butt at crimesolving. Show me Phryne and Mac showing up men who think they know better, Phryne and Dot helping each other feel more secure and safe, Phryne saving the day or being saved by another lady badass. Crossovers here would be amazing, too-- pull another awesome woman into Phryne's world and make them interact. 1920s Elementary!Sherlock and Watson springs to mind (Phryne and Joan = unstoppable, Sherlock and Jack = hilarious train wreck) or Santiago and Diaz from Brooklyn Nine Nine… the sky's the limit.
For the record, I also love, love, love AUs and crossovers, so if you want to tie any of these into any of my other fandoms (which you can find a list of here) that would rule. Put them in space, put them in a noir, put them in college, put them in a jaeger, I'll read it all.
Despite the verbosity of this, I will (again!) paraphrase my past yuletide letters and say that if we got matched on any of these fandoms, and you love any of them as much as I do, whatever you write will make my yuletide. I'm already so excited to read whatever you come up with. XD
<3 emily
So I’m going to copy wholesale from my past Yuletide letters here, and start by saying that if you're as excited about any of these fandoms as I am, I'll love what you write me no matter what. That said, I'm a fan of giving more information in the hopes that it will give you greater freedom in your writing, and because I know I'm going to want to know as much about the person I'm writing for as possible and figure I should give what I hope to get. :D So here are some paragraphs of perhaps tl;dr-level specificity, and please feel free to ignore all of it if there's a story in any of these fandoms that you really, really want to write. I trust you.
I like slash or het or gen as long as the ship is relevant to the story and the world it's set in. Characterization is my weak spot; show me the nuances of a character I love, show me a secret side of them I've never seen before, and I'm sold. I love worldbuilding, expanding on the setting and the world as it’s described in canon. If you write sex, awesome; it’s definitely not a requirement by any means, but I certainly wouldn't say no to it. And to borrow a clarification phrase straight from someone else's letter, When I say "explicit" I mean "I have a good idea who's doing what to whom," and not so much paragraph-long descriptions of penises. I'm all about the emotions; as you'll see if you explore my pinboard, any fic that packs an emotional punch is guaranteed to win me over.
As far as genre goes, it's kind of up to you. I love action and mystery, I like ship-centered fic as much as fic where the ship is a sidebar to the plot, I like happy or serious or funny or sad. I would definitely prefer a hopeful ending to whatever you write, if an actual happy ending isn't appropriate or fitting; however if your story is leading you toward a waterfall of angst that'll end with an emotional sucker punch, go for it! Wow me with UST, show me just how evil the bad guy really is, scare the crap out of me if you want. Some of my all-time favorite fics are pieces that I would never have guessed I'd enjoy, so please surprise me!
stuff i love in fic / kinks :
slash, femmeslash, interesting het, worldbuilding / strong sense of the world, strong friendships/partnerships, snarky partnerships with lots of ust, angst with a happy ending, angst with sex and a we-don't-ever-talk-about-it ending, hurt/comfort, stories where they've been sleeping together and not talking about their feelings but they secretly love each other (♥), snarky banter, collective / ensemble badassery, women being awesome, friendships between awesome women, friendships with ust between awesome women, fight scenes, people bandaging each other up after a battle, surprising each other with badassery, forbidden attraction, old friends and inside jokes, past history, magic, illusion spells, misunderstandings / misdirection through magic, travel, spy/undercover deception, crossovers, cross-genre AUs, pastiche AUs, college or bookstore or coffee shop AUs, basically any AUs, long plotty stories where the ship is a slow build (though definitely not expecting a long fic, just saying I do enjoy them), plot twists, long-suffering irritation (especially as a mask for growing fondness or attraction), stories where person a can't have person b so they start something up with person c to distract themselves (and either make person a jealous or actually end up falling for person c), physical altercations that highlight attraction, origin stories, flashbacks, first times, emotional first times, power play / bdsm fun, wit and snark and people being smart, flirting, drawn-out seduction, happy endings.
squicks : mpreg, hardcore fetishes and heavy bdsm, daddy kink, humiliation, rape/noncon, extreme gore (though, I watch Hannibal, so I guess artful gore is OK? lol...).
and now onto the specific requests!
fandom : the expanse series (any)
details : I've just devoured the first four books of this series and am about to head into the fifth, and am ready for whatever you want to write. Backstory, futurefic, AU, whatever. Crossovers with other space fandoms would be rad. I love "getting the gang back together" kinds of stories, so if you want to bring the Roci's crew back with any of their former partners, or bring together people who've never met each other (Bobbie and Elvi spring to mind) I'd be really into that too. Basically I just love this world, I love the characters, and anything more in this universe will make me happy.
There's so much to explore in this world that I don't want to say too much in fear of restricting you, because any exploration of any of the characters in any context will make me happy. I picked the 3 non-Holden members of the Roci's crew because I want so badly to know what else is going on for them, where they've been and where they might go. (ETA: I just started book 5 and am SO PUMPED that we get POV chapters for them, but I still would love your take on any or all of them!) Ideas: more of the Bobbie-and-Avasarala team of awesome, more of Bobbie being a superhero. More of Bobbie, period; I loved the hints at attraction between her and Alex, but am open to the idea of any of them finding love in unexpected places (except Naomi, who should stay with Holden forever, else the universe would surely blow up). A crossover AU with any of my other fandoms (my list here) would be so cool-- either porting a character from another fandom into the world of the Expanse, or running into a ship/planet/race from another fandom through one of the space gates… Basically this series makes my imagination run wild, so run as wild as you want, I'll be happy to match. My one caveat is that I don't like Miller, so you can feel free to leave him out of whatever you write. XD
If you haven't read the series, it's currently five books, and they're not short, BUT they are fast reads that are so super worth it, and as long as you read the first two you'll have met all the characters I requested. I've zipped them here.
fandom : gentlemen bastards (any)
details: Literally write me anything. There is nothing I don't love about this series; they're my favorite books, and I'm obsessed with the world and everyone in it. If you want suggestions, I'd prefer fill-in-the-blank fic (as opposed to what happens post-Republic of Thieves) about the Bastards' past, about the Barsavis, about Chains, backstory for Requin and Selendri, Zamira, whoever. This fantasy world is endlessly fascinating to me; the cities are almost like characters themselves, and anything that explores more of them (especially Camorr) as a setting would be awesome.
Not a ton of elaboration here because as I said, I'll read and love anything. But if you want direction, my first thought is that I adore the parts of the series that talk about the Bastards' childhood, and am always eager for more backstory where they're concerned. There's something so delightful about the thought of these young gangs running around this amazing city trying to one-up each other, and all the antics the Bastards got up to between themselves. I would also love to read backstory of Father Chains. And the worldbuilding aspect is endlessly fascinating-- all the gods, the cities, the flavor and character of the different cultures-- make up a holiday or a weird festival that the Bastards have to participate in, a time they have to go undercover in a wacky place to pull off a job, anything like that. Also, it's worth noting I'm not really a Jean/Locke shipper, I prefer them just as friends-- but friends-who-occasionally-screw is fine too.
If you haven't read these books, I cannot speak more highly of them. The way I usually describe them to newbies is "Imagine if Ocean's Eleven took place in Renaissance-era Venice, with magic." They're fucking fantastic and such a great time. If you have already read them, I would also strongly encourage you to read A Year and A Day in Old Theradane, linked below, as another piece of canon that could eventually cross over into the GB series proper.
fandom : a year and a day in old theradane (any)
details: Like everything Scott Lynch writes, this story sucked me in immediately. I want to know everything-- what happened before, what's going to happen next, what happened in the span of the story that we didn't see? Flesh out one of the crimes that made Amarelle and her crew infamous-- show me a missing scene during the story-- what happens now that they're unretired? Also, I'm dying to read the love story of Sophara and Brandwin, as I'm sure it's suitably full of sexy snark and one-upmanship and taunting.
All I need to add to the above is that since reading the story earlier this year I've been obsessed with Amarelle and her crew, and the wild hope that at some point in the series they will meet up with Locke and his crew. So if your brain, like mine, immediately turned to the inevitable clash of the titans-- the Thorn of Camorr versus the Duchess Unseen!-- and the potential for Jean Tannen and Amarelle to soothe their heartaches in each other's arms (with a similar amount of sexy snark and one-upmanship and taunting that I imagine characterized Sophara and Brandwin's courtship) then you are speaking my language. But similar to my feelings about the GB series proper, basically whatever you want to write, I want to read.
This is the easiest of my fandoms to pick up by far-- it's one short story, available here, and a riot of a good time start to finish.
fandom : miss fisher's murder mysteries (phryne)
details: I'd either like a Jack/Phryne story or a badass lady friendships story, with as much murder and intrigue and dancing and fashion as you can pack in. I am weak for Phryne and Jack's UST, and the inevitability of its resolution. But if shippy isn't your thing, I'm equally fascinated by Phryne's feminism and her fierce friendships with the women around her, her protectiveness of women and her willingness to go out of her way to help them.
My perfect storm here would be a case fic in which Phryne teams up with other badass ladies to save the day, during the course of which she and Jack have tons of ust and exasperation at each other's frivolous disregard for their own safety, and finally decide to Get Their Shit Together and screw each other's lights out. But really, there's so much to love about this series, anything that keeps the tone of it will delight me.
If you do decide to do Phryne/Jack, feel free to get as silly or as angsty as you like (they swing so beautifully both ways…) as long as it ends happy, or sexy, or both. I've been musing on a headcanon that after the end of S3, something happens to keep Jack from following Phryne to London, and she has to go after him instead-- but feel free to ignore the end of S3 if it suits you. Trope me to death if you like-- fake married, undercover in a place of ill repute, locked in together, stranded, hurt/comfort, whatever you like-- I have yet to tire of stories of how the two of them finally figure their shit out. With the badass lady friendships, I'm most interested in the characters and how they're important to each other, with a side order of kicking butt at crimesolving. Show me Phryne and Mac showing up men who think they know better, Phryne and Dot helping each other feel more secure and safe, Phryne saving the day or being saved by another lady badass. Crossovers here would be amazing, too-- pull another awesome woman into Phryne's world and make them interact. 1920s Elementary!Sherlock and Watson springs to mind (Phryne and Joan = unstoppable, Sherlock and Jack = hilarious train wreck) or Santiago and Diaz from Brooklyn Nine Nine… the sky's the limit.
For the record, I also love, love, love AUs and crossovers, so if you want to tie any of these into any of my other fandoms (which you can find a list of here) that would rule. Put them in space, put them in a noir, put them in college, put them in a jaeger, I'll read it all.
Despite the verbosity of this, I will (again!) paraphrase my past yuletide letters and say that if we got matched on any of these fandoms, and you love any of them as much as I do, whatever you write will make my yuletide. I'm already so excited to read whatever you come up with. XD
<3 emily