Dear Yuletide Writer
Ahhhhhh! I can't believe it’s already Yuletide season again! Honestly, the story I most want to read is the one you most want to write. So if you already have a story you want to write, go get down with your bad self. If you seek inspiration, I’m hoping I can provide it :D
General Likes: Oh man, I like tons of stuff. All manner of gen, het, slash, and femslash, shipfic of any rating, UST, crossovers, AUs, gapfillers, backstories, character studies, worldbuilding, and probably a few dozen more I’m forgetting. I know I haven’t requested fandoms that are all puppies and rainbows this year, so if dark!fic in the tone of canon is what you’ve got your heart set on, please don’t feel like, because it's Yuletide, you have to write fluff-holiday themed or otherwise. I've got no dog in the past vs. present tense fight.
General Dislikes: Rape/non-con, necro, scat, character stereotypes, and character bashing. Mpreg is less an actual dislike, and more just isn't my thing. I prefer my characters flawed, so I dislike it when bad decisions and character failings are swept under the rug.
Requested Fandoms:
→ The Bone Key - Sarah Monette (any characters, I’d love something in the vein of canon, backstory, gapfiller, casefic, anything that explores more of the characters and their world)
This was a book I picked up because of a great fic written for last year’s Yuletide, and I completely fell in love with all these characters, how they inhabit the canon universe, and how they play off one another. I love how each of the stories is a satisfying little mystery all on its own, but taken together you get a much more interesting picture. Let me just say upfront, if you want to write casefic, I will love you forever and ever amen. Booth is such an unexpected hero, more than a little reserved, not gregarious, and yet he’s the director of his department and courageous when he needs to be. I knew I’d like Claudia Coburn from the get go, and she did not disappoint. She’s a great foil for Booth and I’d love to see fic that has them working together, whether on another mystery or something a little more mundane like an exhibition. I thought Achitophel Bates was a great side-character and was definitely the highlight of “White Charles” for me. He’s presumably the only black employee at the museum and the story only hinted at what that’s like for him. And poor Mr. Sullivan, the junior curator in "The Yellow Dressing Gown," is trying to do his job and this freaky stuff keeps happening around him. He seems to take it all in stride, but maybe he's close to throwing up his hands and quitting and enjoying a normal life.
I’d love to see backstory fics for any of these characters-how did they come to work at the Samuel Mather Parrington? Despite all the things that do happen at the museum, why do they stay? Do they have research interests? Have they curated exhibits? Or what is their life like outside the museum-is Mr. Sullivan married? Is Bates? How has being a career woman affected Miss Coburn, if at all? I think the tl;dr of this request is that I want to know all the things and read all the fic so I will seriously love anything. Canon’s in first person pov, but feel free to write in first or third person, although I’d prefer not to get fic in second person.
Kyle Murchison Booth stories available online:
→ Luther (Erin Grey, I’d love a character study or something set post-S3 that deals with the “what now?” of Erin’s life and career)
[Spoiler (click to open)]Can I just fangirl for a moment about how abso-fucking-lutely good S3 was? I mean, tear out my heart why don’t you, but gah, such a satisfying ending for the series. Loved how all these little threads from previous seasons were continually brought back up and influencing characters and their reactions to and stances on things. And I particularly liked how Erin was brought back, which is why I’m requesting her, to play this ambiguous, not-quite-so-loyal opposition to John Luther. She’s definitely gunning for him, but she’s also not unreasonable about questioning or changing her position when presented with new information.
As for fic, I’d definitely like to see something that takes place post-canon, Erin recovering in the hospital or returning work-does she stay with the “Judas squad” or transfer back to regular police work, getting her own bag man as a DCI? How does she cope with Justin’s death? Fake dating turning to real dating is one of my favorite tropes, so if you want to stick your fannish head in the sand about Justin’s death (and I will so be an enabler for this), I’d love to see it. Would a relationship even work between them? Are they better off as friends? Feel free to bring in any of the other nominated characters, but I’d like the focus to be squarely on Erin.
→ Ripper Street (Bennet Drake and Homer Jackson, Romance or bromance, but I’d like fic that centers around their relationship and they relate to each other, differences but also points of commonality)
This popped up on my Netflix suggestions and it took about 10 minutes for me to fall for this series. I thought it was really interesting that they chose to start the action after the main Jack the Ripper case has gone dormant, but it still colors the character’s actions throughout the whole season. And in this the dynamic between Drake and Jackson is one of my absolute favorites. They’ve got such different worldviews and opinions that it’s bound to create friction, and yet, there are these moments where they find themselves in agreement (whether accidentally or because they’re trying to win an argument). Drake is such a sweetheart and I think Jackson sometimes forgets because he’s a man that’s seen war. There’s totally also a playful, snarky side to Drake that is best matched against Jackson’s own sometimes cynical humor. Jackson’s good at what he does, and even if he’s a Yank, drunkard, and lothario, Drake can grudging respect his talent and knowldge. I think most of the reason I like their relationship is because they play off each other so well and usually take up opposing sides during investigations, but they do it to the benefit of the case. They dislike each other sort of on principle, but when they’re forced to work together they’re a huge asset to Reid.
I do ship these two, but I’d also be happy with gen, if not actually friends, getting there sort of fic. Fic that explores how these two actually manage to go from civil acquaintances with only Reid in common to almost brothers-in-arms, or for the shippy route, how that then translates into something more than friends. I’d love if you want to include Rose in this, either as the grease to getting them talking or the missing part of an OT3.
→ The Young Blood Chronicles (any characters, I just have so many questions I want answered with fic.)
I love self-contained universes like this and just want all the backstories and worldbuilding to go with them. Is FOB a crime syndicate that uses an awesome, successful rock band as a front? Or is it their eccentric hobby to keep them occupied between running all the parts of a vast criminal network? Who is this killer girl-gang made of beautiful women with a predilection for violence and maiming? Is it a turf war/grudge match or just sadistic violence for funsies? How is 2 Chainz involved? Who’s in the limousine? What the fuck is in that case? Why did they turn Patrick evil? What even is he now? Is the kid gang under the girl-gang’s control, or is it an uneasy alliance? Just everything about these videos makes me want to know more.
The videos themselves get fairly violent, and I’m okay with that, but I’d prefer any descriptions of gore kept to a minimum. But if you do want to go the kinky route, bloodplay, knifeplay, and powerplay are all good with me. Like way more than good. (I mean there's a canon drug-induced cannibalistic(?) orgy. I might have to cop to a few less than average kinks ;)
You're welcome to mine my lj for more info, although given that the last post I wrote was for last year's Yuletide, you might have better luck with my tumblr. There's also my AO3 page for a full listing of my own fics.
General Likes: Oh man, I like tons of stuff. All manner of gen, het, slash, and femslash, shipfic of any rating, UST, crossovers, AUs, gapfillers, backstories, character studies, worldbuilding, and probably a few dozen more I’m forgetting. I know I haven’t requested fandoms that are all puppies and rainbows this year, so if dark!fic in the tone of canon is what you’ve got your heart set on, please don’t feel like, because it's Yuletide, you have to write fluff-holiday themed or otherwise. I've got no dog in the past vs. present tense fight.
General Dislikes: Rape/non-con, necro, scat, character stereotypes, and character bashing. Mpreg is less an actual dislike, and more just isn't my thing. I prefer my characters flawed, so I dislike it when bad decisions and character failings are swept under the rug.
Requested Fandoms:
→ The Bone Key - Sarah Monette (any characters, I’d love something in the vein of canon, backstory, gapfiller, casefic, anything that explores more of the characters and their world)
This was a book I picked up because of a great fic written for last year’s Yuletide, and I completely fell in love with all these characters, how they inhabit the canon universe, and how they play off one another. I love how each of the stories is a satisfying little mystery all on its own, but taken together you get a much more interesting picture. Let me just say upfront, if you want to write casefic, I will love you forever and ever amen. Booth is such an unexpected hero, more than a little reserved, not gregarious, and yet he’s the director of his department and courageous when he needs to be. I knew I’d like Claudia Coburn from the get go, and she did not disappoint. She’s a great foil for Booth and I’d love to see fic that has them working together, whether on another mystery or something a little more mundane like an exhibition. I thought Achitophel Bates was a great side-character and was definitely the highlight of “White Charles” for me. He’s presumably the only black employee at the museum and the story only hinted at what that’s like for him. And poor Mr. Sullivan, the junior curator in "The Yellow Dressing Gown," is trying to do his job and this freaky stuff keeps happening around him. He seems to take it all in stride, but maybe he's close to throwing up his hands and quitting and enjoying a normal life.
I’d love to see backstory fics for any of these characters-how did they come to work at the Samuel Mather Parrington? Despite all the things that do happen at the museum, why do they stay? Do they have research interests? Have they curated exhibits? Or what is their life like outside the museum-is Mr. Sullivan married? Is Bates? How has being a career woman affected Miss Coburn, if at all? I think the tl;dr of this request is that I want to know all the things and read all the fic so I will seriously love anything. Canon’s in first person pov, but feel free to write in first or third person, although I’d prefer not to get fic in second person.
Kyle Murchison Booth stories available online:
→ Luther (Erin Grey, I’d love a character study or something set post-S3 that deals with the “what now?” of Erin’s life and career)
[Spoiler (click to open)]Can I just fangirl for a moment about how abso-fucking-lutely good S3 was? I mean, tear out my heart why don’t you, but gah, such a satisfying ending for the series. Loved how all these little threads from previous seasons were continually brought back up and influencing characters and their reactions to and stances on things. And I particularly liked how Erin was brought back, which is why I’m requesting her, to play this ambiguous, not-quite-so-loyal opposition to John Luther. She’s definitely gunning for him, but she’s also not unreasonable about questioning or changing her position when presented with new information.
As for fic, I’d definitely like to see something that takes place post-canon, Erin recovering in the hospital or returning work-does she stay with the “Judas squad” or transfer back to regular police work, getting her own bag man as a DCI? How does she cope with Justin’s death? Fake dating turning to real dating is one of my favorite tropes, so if you want to stick your fannish head in the sand about Justin’s death (and I will so be an enabler for this), I’d love to see it. Would a relationship even work between them? Are they better off as friends? Feel free to bring in any of the other nominated characters, but I’d like the focus to be squarely on Erin.
→ Ripper Street (Bennet Drake and Homer Jackson, Romance or bromance, but I’d like fic that centers around their relationship and they relate to each other, differences but also points of commonality)
This popped up on my Netflix suggestions and it took about 10 minutes for me to fall for this series. I thought it was really interesting that they chose to start the action after the main Jack the Ripper case has gone dormant, but it still colors the character’s actions throughout the whole season. And in this the dynamic between Drake and Jackson is one of my absolute favorites. They’ve got such different worldviews and opinions that it’s bound to create friction, and yet, there are these moments where they find themselves in agreement (whether accidentally or because they’re trying to win an argument). Drake is such a sweetheart and I think Jackson sometimes forgets because he’s a man that’s seen war. There’s totally also a playful, snarky side to Drake that is best matched against Jackson’s own sometimes cynical humor. Jackson’s good at what he does, and even if he’s a Yank, drunkard, and lothario, Drake can grudging respect his talent and knowldge. I think most of the reason I like their relationship is because they play off each other so well and usually take up opposing sides during investigations, but they do it to the benefit of the case. They dislike each other sort of on principle, but when they’re forced to work together they’re a huge asset to Reid.
I do ship these two, but I’d also be happy with gen, if not actually friends, getting there sort of fic. Fic that explores how these two actually manage to go from civil acquaintances with only Reid in common to almost brothers-in-arms, or for the shippy route, how that then translates into something more than friends. I’d love if you want to include Rose in this, either as the grease to getting them talking or the missing part of an OT3.
→ The Young Blood Chronicles (any characters, I just have so many questions I want answered with fic.)
I love self-contained universes like this and just want all the backstories and worldbuilding to go with them. Is FOB a crime syndicate that uses an awesome, successful rock band as a front? Or is it their eccentric hobby to keep them occupied between running all the parts of a vast criminal network? Who is this killer girl-gang made of beautiful women with a predilection for violence and maiming? Is it a turf war/grudge match or just sadistic violence for funsies? How is 2 Chainz involved? Who’s in the limousine? What the fuck is in that case? Why did they turn Patrick evil? What even is he now? Is the kid gang under the girl-gang’s control, or is it an uneasy alliance? Just everything about these videos makes me want to know more.
The videos themselves get fairly violent, and I’m okay with that, but I’d prefer any descriptions of gore kept to a minimum. But if you do want to go the kinky route, bloodplay, knifeplay, and powerplay are all good with me. Like way more than good. (I mean there's a canon drug-induced cannibalistic(?) orgy. I might have to cop to a few less than average kinks ;)
Click to viewYou're welcome to mine my lj for more info, although given that the last post I wrote was for last year's Yuletide, you might have better luck with my tumblr. There's also my AO3 page for a full listing of my own fics.