love's both a joke and a serious matter
Dear Yuletide Writer,
Hi! I'm SO excited that you're going to write a story for me in one of these fandoms. I'd like to point out, as usual, that details are optional, but this is the place to be if you're looking for ideas about what I like and stories I'm especially interested in reading.
Fics that can pass for missing moments from canon are my greatest love, and there are few things I'm wilder about than strong characterization and character voices. When it comes to AUs I prefer what-ifs and other takes that have a strong canon basis; if the characters still act and sound like their canon counterparts, I will adoringly follow you every step of the way. Character studies, plot-heavy storylines: it's all good. One of my favorite tropes is the Groundhog Day loop, and if all else fails there's no way I wouldn't enjoy seeing any of my requested characters in that situation.
Things I love in fic:
complex female characters
tight friendships, especially when they come out of unlikely circumstances
banter between lovers and friends
antiheroes
shades of gray
slice-of-life stories
stories that maintain the general tone and rating of canon
Things I'm not really looking for:
non-con
incest, unless it's canon
graphic descriptions of violence
I'm not asking for anything especially smutty, but I'm okay with that as a logical step in the story. I'd also appreciate anything explicit kept between adults of legal age, although I don't think that's a big concern in these cases.
All of my requests are for stories about minor characters, which makes this year my most obscure Yuletide yet!
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
"Adults are, like, this mess of sadness and phobias."
This is my easiest canon to familiarize yourself with -- I think you can stream it through Netflix -- and whether or not you like Jim Carrey I recommend it. I love Eternal Sunshine because the concept of wiping someone from your memory is something that's probably appealed to just about everyone at some point. I love it because I don't always like the characters but I'm interested in them, in their flaws and their relationships, and I root for them to figure things out, whatever that means for them. I love the moodiness, the visuals. I love the way Joel realizes he doesn't want to forget Clementine and they run desperately through his memories together. I'm specifically asking for a story about Kirsten Dunst's character Mary because the little we get of her background -- Howard's wife's matter-of-fact "You can have him. You did." -- always hits me like a punch in the gut. So tell me Mary's story, please. Maybe you want to go on a disjointed trip through her memories. Maybe you want to explore what her life was like after she discovered the truth, left her job, and mailed all the patients their tapes. I'm so intrigued by her small storyline and would love to read anything that shines a light on it. Feel free to use whatever other characters you feel are necessary!
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
"I think I've taught you everything I know. You might even be as good as me now. Kind of scary if I think about it."
I've always said that if Bethesda and BioWare joined forces and created a game with the open-world style of recent Fallout games but in the Dragon Age world and with Dragon Age's complex characters I would probably fall off the radar for months and months at a time. Skyrim comes close to that ideal. The world-building is incredible, the world itself is visually stunning, and there's nothing quite like setting out and being able to travel wherever you want. I'm asking for a story about a very minor character named Angi who has a little house in the mountains near Falkreath. Angi's an archer, the only trainer in the game with an actual training process, and her dialogue hints that she's living in the middle of nowhere partly because she got revenge on the men who killed her family. She's obviously independent and capable, but she's not so hardened that she's incapable of being nice to the Dragonborn. I'd like Angi's story. You could give me her pre-canon backstory or tell me what she does after meeting the Dragonborn. You could show me various other characters discovering her and getting archery lessons from her. You could actually send her off on a quest of her own. Bonus points if she develops an ongoing friendship with a female Dragonborn!
Caprica
"I can't remember how I got here, and I can't remember where I was before now."
Caprica is only nineteen episodes and available for streaming on Netflix. I never did love it quite as much as I've loved Battlestar Galactica, but I can't help admiring its atmosphere and the richness of its character relationships. I thought Eric Stoltz was pretty amazing as Daniel Graystone, and let's not forget that the show was just plain gorgeous. For this request I'm asking for a story that focuses on Tamara. I'd love a fic that tells me what happens to her after the events of Caprica and maybe starts to bridge the gap between the show and BSG. I'd also love to read what exactly she was up to between forcing Joseph to derez and meeting Zoe again. If those ideas don't do it for you, I couldn't say no to Tamara bonding with her Uncle Sam. Or you could go AU by taking that Groundhog Day trope and having Tamara figure out a way to stop the maglev explosion (or something else). As with my other requests, feel free use whatever characters you feel are necessary to tell Tamara's story.
Hopefully that's enough to help you out if you're here for ideas. Have fun writing your story, and I promise I'll have fun reading it!
This entry is also posted here with
comments. Replies welcome anywhere.
Hi! I'm SO excited that you're going to write a story for me in one of these fandoms. I'd like to point out, as usual, that details are optional, but this is the place to be if you're looking for ideas about what I like and stories I'm especially interested in reading.
Fics that can pass for missing moments from canon are my greatest love, and there are few things I'm wilder about than strong characterization and character voices. When it comes to AUs I prefer what-ifs and other takes that have a strong canon basis; if the characters still act and sound like their canon counterparts, I will adoringly follow you every step of the way. Character studies, plot-heavy storylines: it's all good. One of my favorite tropes is the Groundhog Day loop, and if all else fails there's no way I wouldn't enjoy seeing any of my requested characters in that situation.
Things I love in fic:
complex female characters
tight friendships, especially when they come out of unlikely circumstances
banter between lovers and friends
antiheroes
shades of gray
slice-of-life stories
stories that maintain the general tone and rating of canon
Things I'm not really looking for:
non-con
incest, unless it's canon
graphic descriptions of violence
I'm not asking for anything especially smutty, but I'm okay with that as a logical step in the story. I'd also appreciate anything explicit kept between adults of legal age, although I don't think that's a big concern in these cases.
All of my requests are for stories about minor characters, which makes this year my most obscure Yuletide yet!
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
"Adults are, like, this mess of sadness and phobias."
This is my easiest canon to familiarize yourself with -- I think you can stream it through Netflix -- and whether or not you like Jim Carrey I recommend it. I love Eternal Sunshine because the concept of wiping someone from your memory is something that's probably appealed to just about everyone at some point. I love it because I don't always like the characters but I'm interested in them, in their flaws and their relationships, and I root for them to figure things out, whatever that means for them. I love the moodiness, the visuals. I love the way Joel realizes he doesn't want to forget Clementine and they run desperately through his memories together. I'm specifically asking for a story about Kirsten Dunst's character Mary because the little we get of her background -- Howard's wife's matter-of-fact "You can have him. You did." -- always hits me like a punch in the gut. So tell me Mary's story, please. Maybe you want to go on a disjointed trip through her memories. Maybe you want to explore what her life was like after she discovered the truth, left her job, and mailed all the patients their tapes. I'm so intrigued by her small storyline and would love to read anything that shines a light on it. Feel free to use whatever other characters you feel are necessary!
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
"I think I've taught you everything I know. You might even be as good as me now. Kind of scary if I think about it."
I've always said that if Bethesda and BioWare joined forces and created a game with the open-world style of recent Fallout games but in the Dragon Age world and with Dragon Age's complex characters I would probably fall off the radar for months and months at a time. Skyrim comes close to that ideal. The world-building is incredible, the world itself is visually stunning, and there's nothing quite like setting out and being able to travel wherever you want. I'm asking for a story about a very minor character named Angi who has a little house in the mountains near Falkreath. Angi's an archer, the only trainer in the game with an actual training process, and her dialogue hints that she's living in the middle of nowhere partly because she got revenge on the men who killed her family. She's obviously independent and capable, but she's not so hardened that she's incapable of being nice to the Dragonborn. I'd like Angi's story. You could give me her pre-canon backstory or tell me what she does after meeting the Dragonborn. You could show me various other characters discovering her and getting archery lessons from her. You could actually send her off on a quest of her own. Bonus points if she develops an ongoing friendship with a female Dragonborn!
Caprica
"I can't remember how I got here, and I can't remember where I was before now."
Caprica is only nineteen episodes and available for streaming on Netflix. I never did love it quite as much as I've loved Battlestar Galactica, but I can't help admiring its atmosphere and the richness of its character relationships. I thought Eric Stoltz was pretty amazing as Daniel Graystone, and let's not forget that the show was just plain gorgeous. For this request I'm asking for a story that focuses on Tamara. I'd love a fic that tells me what happens to her after the events of Caprica and maybe starts to bridge the gap between the show and BSG. I'd also love to read what exactly she was up to between forcing Joseph to derez and meeting Zoe again. If those ideas don't do it for you, I couldn't say no to Tamara bonding with her Uncle Sam. Or you could go AU by taking that Groundhog Day trope and having Tamara figure out a way to stop the maglev explosion (or something else). As with my other requests, feel free use whatever characters you feel are necessary to tell Tamara's story.
Hopefully that's enough to help you out if you're here for ideas. Have fun writing your story, and I promise I'll have fun reading it!
This entry is also posted here with
comments. Replies welcome anywhere.