Dear Yuletide Author 2015
Dear Yuletide Author,
Thank you so much for writing for me! I'm really looking forward to seeing what you write!
So first of all, optional details are definitely optional. If you have a great idea for a story about these characters, please go ahead and write it, and don't worry about my specific prompts. I want to read the story you want to read. (Although if you can try to avoid my "do not wants," I'd appreciate that.)
Second, I'm flexible on both genre and rating. Action, plot, character studies, slice of life, gen, romance...it's all good, and so is anything from G to NC-17. Whatever the story calls for.
If you want more info:
Things I Like: Competence (so much love for characters being competent!), friendship, understated romance, equal partnerships in romantic relationships, secrets being revealed, first times of all kinds, stories that draw on the characters' pasts (e.g., past events coming up, family or old friends making an appearance, etc.), brief moments of vulnerability from otherwise stoic characters, stories that pick up dropped plot threads, and characters doing the right thing even when it costs them. Happy fic is good, and so is mild to moderate angst with a happy or hopeful or bittersweet ending. I also enjoy a good trope story. (Some of my favourite tropes can be found here, if you're interested.)
Things I'd Rather Not Read: Dom/sub, A/B/O, genderswap, long and detailed descriptions of recoveries from traumatic events, and crack. I'd also rather avoid complete AUs (coffee shop AUs, high school AUs, etc.). The one exception to this is noir detective AUs. I'm always up for a good hardboiled detective story.
Other Things: I have squicks but no triggers. I'm good with character death if that's where the story takes you, including main and requested characters. Background non-con is fine if it's helpful for the story, but I'd rather it not be the primary focus of the story. I'm always good with canon pairings showing up. Holiday fic is lovely if that's what you're in the mood to write. I enjoy angst sometimes as long as the ending is happy or hopeful or bittersweet. I'm equally fine with present or past tense fic.
And finally, I'm skieswideopen on AO3 as well.
Battle Creek
Requested Character: Milt Chamberlain
Original Prompt: This was my favourite cancelled show of 2015, and Milt, with his relentless helpfulness and hyper-competence and incredible luck, was a big part of the reason I fell for the show.
The show ended by giving us one big piece of information about Milt, but that still left us with plenty of unanswered questions that I would loved to see explored through fic. What's up with the international childhood? Why has he had twelve assistants? Why won't his mother speak to him? Who did he try to save who didn't want to be saved? When was he in love, and with whom? Why doesn't he seem to be looking for love now? Was there more to him being sent to Battle Creek besides the story he gave Russ? Does Milt even know the real reason he was sent to Battle Creek? I'd love to see any of those explored. I'd also love to just see more of Milt being his helpful, competent self.
Other characters are welcome too, of course! Milt's partnership with Russ is at the heart of the show, so anything about the two of them as partners and maybe eventually friends would be great. (Milt/Russ is fine too, if that's how you roll.) More about Milt's relationships with other people, especially Guziewicz or Holly or Font, would also be interesting. Really, I'd be happy to read just about anything that features Milt being his competent, helpful, occasionally snarky self.
I'm fascinated by the way Milt has chosen to remake himself, and I'd be interested in an exploration of the tension between who he was and who he wants to be and the differences between the two selves. It clearly costs him to conform to this new self, but he also seems to have decided that it's worth the cost. And while it may be a form of penance, I don't think it's a form of self-punishment. Apart from that one specific incident--in which he clearly says that he wants to live, but also believes Casey's father had a right to kill him--Milt seems to be pretty good at standing up for himself. I'd also be interested in reading something that addresses how he constructed this new identity. Why cufflinks? Why jam making? Why change everything about his life rather than just how he did his job? Or was that actually what his life looked like before too?
As I said in my initial prompt, I'd also be delighted to read anything that draws on Milt's past. His childhood in Monaco and Iran (which was never explained or used in the show) and his subsequent language skills, or his earlier assignments as an FBI agent, or maybe bring in someone from his past.
Or again, anything where Milt gets to be his awesome self is welcome. Case fic. Trope fic. Slice of life fic. Milt and Russ snarking at each other and maybe slowly moving toward friendship. (Milt's expression when Russ called Milt his partner and said he wasn't going anywhere broke my heart a little.) Milt assisting with an emergency in Battle Creek. A road trip. A day when Russ is away from work and someone else winds up partnered with Milt. Etc.
If you want to write ship fic, Milt/Russ is the obvious way to go and I'll definitely read that. However, I love Russ/Holly, so if you want to keep them together and keep Milt single (or bring in an OC--male or female--for him), that's great too. I'm all about tropes in ship fic: undercover as a couple or forced proximity or truths forced out by alcohol or circumstance for friends to lovers. I also like first times and slow burns and gradual seductions.
If a story about Milt isn't working for you for whatever reason, I'd also be happy to read something that focuses on Kim Guziewicz or Holly Dale with Milt playing more of a supporting role. Maybe something about Holly's take on her relationship with Russ, or her friendships with other people in the department, or what she does in her free time, or how she ended up working for the BCPD in the first place, or her life after she leaves for law school. Or something about Guziewicz and the challenges of being the police commander, or what happens with her son, or her relationship with Russ either back when they were partners, or after she became the commander.
The Collector
Requested Characters: Morgan Pym, Maya Kandinski
Original Prompt: I'd love to see a story that explores Morgan and Maya's relationship after Maya finds out the truth about who Morgan is and what he does. Something that answers some of the questions left unanswered at the end of the show would be lovely, or something addressing the UST, or just a client of the week case where Maya knowing the truth enables her to help Morgan in some way. Gen, UST, and full-out ship fic would all be awesome.
My perpetual Yuletide request! This was a tiny Canadian show that I don't think too many people outside of Canada saw. I enjoyed it for the historical flashbacks, for the interesting and sometimes troubling worldbuilding (how on earth is it fair that someone can be sent to hell strictly because of what someone else did?), and because Morgan didn't always succeed. Sometimes he saved his client, sometimes he didn't, and you never knew which you were going to get.
Morgan can be a difficult character at times, overly secretive even when he doesn't need to be and angry in situations where a lighter touch might be more effective, but I really admire his persistence in trying to save others despite having no hope that he'll ever achieve salvation himself, and I love that he's managed to hold onto some sort of optimism and hope and faith in people despite everything he's seen.
Maya's great. I love her stubborn efforts to rebuild her life, I love that she's trying hard not to waste the second chance she's been given, and I really admire her courage in being willing to go to hell early to save someone else. I'd like to see her succeed at creating the life she wants.
I love that the show found a way for Maya to find out what Morgan does and stick around afterward, and I'd love to see more follow-up on what happens after Maya learns the the truth: seeing her learn more about what collectors do, or hearing stories about Morgan's past, or just making use of the fact that Maya is the only person Morgan sees regularly who knows the truth. What does it mean for Morgan to have someone he can talk to? What does it mean for Maya to know what's going on and have to live with it? How much does Morgan tell her about his past? Does Maya ever meet any of the other people Morgan has saved? Etc.
From a ship perspective, Maya and Morgan's relationship seems to run hot and cold, largely due to Morgan pulling away at key moments and confessing his love at the most inconvenient times (like just before pushing the button to send Maya to hell). I'd enjoy seeing something that addresses that. Is it Morgan's attempt to protect Maya from the devil? From himself? Is he not used to the idea yet that he can talk to her without sending her to hell? Is there something else going on? Can they achieve an equal relationship given the way things started? Even if they don't end up together, it would be interesting to see them talk about their relationship.
If you want to go in a completely different direction, something about Maya's job or her friendship with Taylor would be awesome. I'd also enjoy something about Morgan's hobby as a medical researcher--how does he do it, what other discoveries came from him, etc. Or maybe just something about how Morgan fills his time apart from the work he does. If you're going this route, I'm okay with only including one of the two characters in the story.
If you're feeling particularly ambitious, I'd adore seeing someone address one of the many plotlines left dangling after cancellation. Why did the devil choose Morgan (and create collectors) in the first place? Why did the devil agreed to let Morgan try to save people? (Morgan keeps insisting to people that the devil always wins; is the devil somehow winning here too?) What role is heaven is playing in all of this? Will Morgan ever achieve any sort of salvation? Why did the devil want Morgan to take Maya to Europe? What's Gabriel's role in all of this? Again, I'm okay with leaving Maya out of this kind of story if the plot doesn't lend itself to her presence.
Intelligence (US)
Requested Character: Gabriel Vaughn
Original Prompt: If Battle Creek was my favourite cancelled show of 2015, Intelligence was my favourite cancelled show of 2014. It ended way too soon, and I mostly just want to read more about the things the show didn't have time to do..
I requested Gabriel because he's central to the basic premise of the show, but I love all of the characters and would be happy to see any of them show up. I'm always up for reading about Gabriel and Riley's partnership, on or off the job. (Ship fic is great too, if you want to go there.) I also really enjoyed Gabriel's dynamic with both Lillian and Shen Cassidy, and would happily read more about that. Something pre-series, or him being caught with one of them in some challenging situation, or even just a heart-to-heart conversation of some sort. Or more about Gabriel's family or his friendship with Norris, or him tackling some unexpected emergency alone, trying to keep people safe without revealing his secret. Or if you'd like to pick up from where the show ended, and show them tracking down the remaining Tigers or figuring out who the sleeper candidate is or finding out what Leland Strand was up to or figuring out what really happened to Amelia, that would be great too.
I've been lucky enough to receive Intelligence fic in a couple of previous exchanges, so I feel like I should start with a disclaimer to say that I love every Intelligence story I've received so far. I'm not asking for it again because I was disappointed or because I'm in search of One Perfect Story - it's just that there isn't nearly enough fic for the show and I'm greedy and want more.
If you want to write about Gabriel and Riley's partnership, gen and ship fic are equally welcome. I love that Gabriel and Riley both super-competent and both regularly get moments to shine. I love how protective they are of each other. I love the snark. I love that Riley is willing to protect Gabriel, but refuses to be the one to keep him in line--that she decides early on that he has the right to look for his wife, and she's not going to stop him. I also love that she pushes everyone, including him, to remember that he's human. I love that they both do what they think is right, rather than what they're ordered to do. And I love how much they respect and trust each other.
As far as specific ideas go, mission fic is always great, especially if it involves new and creative uses for the chip. Tropes like drunken confessions and undercover as a couple and minor hurt/comfort (especially if Gabriel is doing the comforting) could be fun. I'd also totally read more about Gabriel's mother. Or an OC family member. Or Riley's family--her younger brother, or her complicated relationships with her parents. If you want to send them to some event--a wedding, a funeral, a high school reunion--to arrange the family interaction, that could be fun, with or without additional complications.
Gabriel with other people is good too, if you want to go that way. I'll happily read about him with Lillian or Shen or Jameson, either pre- or post-series. I'd also love to read something that focuses primarily on Lillian or Riley, with Gabriel there to back them up. Something with Riley's family, maybe? Or Lillian facing a professional challenge and using Gabriel's abilities to help navigate it? Whatever you can come up with.
Anything that picks up threads from the show would also be great. More about the Athens list, or finding the sleeper agent whom the Flood was hoping would be elected president, or maybe tracking down some of the other Tigers from the photo, or finding out what Leland was up to with Mei Chen, or looking at whether Amelia really turned (and why she warned Gabriel about the hospital). Or have Norris or another of Gabriel's old comrades or one of the people Gabriel and Riley helped turn up again and deal with all the questions they might have. Or just more about how Cyber Command goes about rebuilding the intelligence community after stopping the initial rise of the Flood.
Or stay away from the Cyber Com stuff and write more about Gabriel's daily life. His hobbies. His neighbours. How he uses the chip when he's not at work. Why he joined the army and why he joined Delta Force. How he found out about his brother's death. His mother's implied breakdown, and how he dealt with her alcohol problems. Why she tried to keep him out of the army. Whatever you like.
Final Notes
If somehow what I have above isn't enough, there's a little more on the things I like and don't like here. Please don't feel you have to read that, though. It's just there in case you're pulling out your hair and really, really want more information.
Thank you again for writing for me!
This entry was originally posted at http://skieswideopen.dreamwidth.org/186858.html, where it has
comments. Comments are equally welcome on either entry.
Thank you so much for writing for me! I'm really looking forward to seeing what you write!
So first of all, optional details are definitely optional. If you have a great idea for a story about these characters, please go ahead and write it, and don't worry about my specific prompts. I want to read the story you want to read. (Although if you can try to avoid my "do not wants," I'd appreciate that.)
Second, I'm flexible on both genre and rating. Action, plot, character studies, slice of life, gen, romance...it's all good, and so is anything from G to NC-17. Whatever the story calls for.
If you want more info:
Things I Like: Competence (so much love for characters being competent!), friendship, understated romance, equal partnerships in romantic relationships, secrets being revealed, first times of all kinds, stories that draw on the characters' pasts (e.g., past events coming up, family or old friends making an appearance, etc.), brief moments of vulnerability from otherwise stoic characters, stories that pick up dropped plot threads, and characters doing the right thing even when it costs them. Happy fic is good, and so is mild to moderate angst with a happy or hopeful or bittersweet ending. I also enjoy a good trope story. (Some of my favourite tropes can be found here, if you're interested.)
Things I'd Rather Not Read: Dom/sub, A/B/O, genderswap, long and detailed descriptions of recoveries from traumatic events, and crack. I'd also rather avoid complete AUs (coffee shop AUs, high school AUs, etc.). The one exception to this is noir detective AUs. I'm always up for a good hardboiled detective story.
Other Things: I have squicks but no triggers. I'm good with character death if that's where the story takes you, including main and requested characters. Background non-con is fine if it's helpful for the story, but I'd rather it not be the primary focus of the story. I'm always good with canon pairings showing up. Holiday fic is lovely if that's what you're in the mood to write. I enjoy angst sometimes as long as the ending is happy or hopeful or bittersweet. I'm equally fine with present or past tense fic.
And finally, I'm skieswideopen on AO3 as well.
Battle Creek
Requested Character: Milt Chamberlain
Original Prompt: This was my favourite cancelled show of 2015, and Milt, with his relentless helpfulness and hyper-competence and incredible luck, was a big part of the reason I fell for the show.
The show ended by giving us one big piece of information about Milt, but that still left us with plenty of unanswered questions that I would loved to see explored through fic. What's up with the international childhood? Why has he had twelve assistants? Why won't his mother speak to him? Who did he try to save who didn't want to be saved? When was he in love, and with whom? Why doesn't he seem to be looking for love now? Was there more to him being sent to Battle Creek besides the story he gave Russ? Does Milt even know the real reason he was sent to Battle Creek? I'd love to see any of those explored. I'd also love to just see more of Milt being his helpful, competent self.
Other characters are welcome too, of course! Milt's partnership with Russ is at the heart of the show, so anything about the two of them as partners and maybe eventually friends would be great. (Milt/Russ is fine too, if that's how you roll.) More about Milt's relationships with other people, especially Guziewicz or Holly or Font, would also be interesting. Really, I'd be happy to read just about anything that features Milt being his competent, helpful, occasionally snarky self.
I'm fascinated by the way Milt has chosen to remake himself, and I'd be interested in an exploration of the tension between who he was and who he wants to be and the differences between the two selves. It clearly costs him to conform to this new self, but he also seems to have decided that it's worth the cost. And while it may be a form of penance, I don't think it's a form of self-punishment. Apart from that one specific incident--in which he clearly says that he wants to live, but also believes Casey's father had a right to kill him--Milt seems to be pretty good at standing up for himself. I'd also be interested in reading something that addresses how he constructed this new identity. Why cufflinks? Why jam making? Why change everything about his life rather than just how he did his job? Or was that actually what his life looked like before too?
As I said in my initial prompt, I'd also be delighted to read anything that draws on Milt's past. His childhood in Monaco and Iran (which was never explained or used in the show) and his subsequent language skills, or his earlier assignments as an FBI agent, or maybe bring in someone from his past.
Or again, anything where Milt gets to be his awesome self is welcome. Case fic. Trope fic. Slice of life fic. Milt and Russ snarking at each other and maybe slowly moving toward friendship. (Milt's expression when Russ called Milt his partner and said he wasn't going anywhere broke my heart a little.) Milt assisting with an emergency in Battle Creek. A road trip. A day when Russ is away from work and someone else winds up partnered with Milt. Etc.
If you want to write ship fic, Milt/Russ is the obvious way to go and I'll definitely read that. However, I love Russ/Holly, so if you want to keep them together and keep Milt single (or bring in an OC--male or female--for him), that's great too. I'm all about tropes in ship fic: undercover as a couple or forced proximity or truths forced out by alcohol or circumstance for friends to lovers. I also like first times and slow burns and gradual seductions.
If a story about Milt isn't working for you for whatever reason, I'd also be happy to read something that focuses on Kim Guziewicz or Holly Dale with Milt playing more of a supporting role. Maybe something about Holly's take on her relationship with Russ, or her friendships with other people in the department, or what she does in her free time, or how she ended up working for the BCPD in the first place, or her life after she leaves for law school. Or something about Guziewicz and the challenges of being the police commander, or what happens with her son, or her relationship with Russ either back when they were partners, or after she became the commander.
The Collector
Requested Characters: Morgan Pym, Maya Kandinski
Original Prompt: I'd love to see a story that explores Morgan and Maya's relationship after Maya finds out the truth about who Morgan is and what he does. Something that answers some of the questions left unanswered at the end of the show would be lovely, or something addressing the UST, or just a client of the week case where Maya knowing the truth enables her to help Morgan in some way. Gen, UST, and full-out ship fic would all be awesome.
My perpetual Yuletide request! This was a tiny Canadian show that I don't think too many people outside of Canada saw. I enjoyed it for the historical flashbacks, for the interesting and sometimes troubling worldbuilding (how on earth is it fair that someone can be sent to hell strictly because of what someone else did?), and because Morgan didn't always succeed. Sometimes he saved his client, sometimes he didn't, and you never knew which you were going to get.
Morgan can be a difficult character at times, overly secretive even when he doesn't need to be and angry in situations where a lighter touch might be more effective, but I really admire his persistence in trying to save others despite having no hope that he'll ever achieve salvation himself, and I love that he's managed to hold onto some sort of optimism and hope and faith in people despite everything he's seen.
Maya's great. I love her stubborn efforts to rebuild her life, I love that she's trying hard not to waste the second chance she's been given, and I really admire her courage in being willing to go to hell early to save someone else. I'd like to see her succeed at creating the life she wants.
I love that the show found a way for Maya to find out what Morgan does and stick around afterward, and I'd love to see more follow-up on what happens after Maya learns the the truth: seeing her learn more about what collectors do, or hearing stories about Morgan's past, or just making use of the fact that Maya is the only person Morgan sees regularly who knows the truth. What does it mean for Morgan to have someone he can talk to? What does it mean for Maya to know what's going on and have to live with it? How much does Morgan tell her about his past? Does Maya ever meet any of the other people Morgan has saved? Etc.
From a ship perspective, Maya and Morgan's relationship seems to run hot and cold, largely due to Morgan pulling away at key moments and confessing his love at the most inconvenient times (like just before pushing the button to send Maya to hell). I'd enjoy seeing something that addresses that. Is it Morgan's attempt to protect Maya from the devil? From himself? Is he not used to the idea yet that he can talk to her without sending her to hell? Is there something else going on? Can they achieve an equal relationship given the way things started? Even if they don't end up together, it would be interesting to see them talk about their relationship.
If you want to go in a completely different direction, something about Maya's job or her friendship with Taylor would be awesome. I'd also enjoy something about Morgan's hobby as a medical researcher--how does he do it, what other discoveries came from him, etc. Or maybe just something about how Morgan fills his time apart from the work he does. If you're going this route, I'm okay with only including one of the two characters in the story.
If you're feeling particularly ambitious, I'd adore seeing someone address one of the many plotlines left dangling after cancellation. Why did the devil choose Morgan (and create collectors) in the first place? Why did the devil agreed to let Morgan try to save people? (Morgan keeps insisting to people that the devil always wins; is the devil somehow winning here too?) What role is heaven is playing in all of this? Will Morgan ever achieve any sort of salvation? Why did the devil want Morgan to take Maya to Europe? What's Gabriel's role in all of this? Again, I'm okay with leaving Maya out of this kind of story if the plot doesn't lend itself to her presence.
Intelligence (US)
Requested Character: Gabriel Vaughn
Original Prompt: If Battle Creek was my favourite cancelled show of 2015, Intelligence was my favourite cancelled show of 2014. It ended way too soon, and I mostly just want to read more about the things the show didn't have time to do..
I requested Gabriel because he's central to the basic premise of the show, but I love all of the characters and would be happy to see any of them show up. I'm always up for reading about Gabriel and Riley's partnership, on or off the job. (Ship fic is great too, if you want to go there.) I also really enjoyed Gabriel's dynamic with both Lillian and Shen Cassidy, and would happily read more about that. Something pre-series, or him being caught with one of them in some challenging situation, or even just a heart-to-heart conversation of some sort. Or more about Gabriel's family or his friendship with Norris, or him tackling some unexpected emergency alone, trying to keep people safe without revealing his secret. Or if you'd like to pick up from where the show ended, and show them tracking down the remaining Tigers or figuring out who the sleeper candidate is or finding out what Leland Strand was up to or figuring out what really happened to Amelia, that would be great too.
I've been lucky enough to receive Intelligence fic in a couple of previous exchanges, so I feel like I should start with a disclaimer to say that I love every Intelligence story I've received so far. I'm not asking for it again because I was disappointed or because I'm in search of One Perfect Story - it's just that there isn't nearly enough fic for the show and I'm greedy and want more.
If you want to write about Gabriel and Riley's partnership, gen and ship fic are equally welcome. I love that Gabriel and Riley both super-competent and both regularly get moments to shine. I love how protective they are of each other. I love the snark. I love that Riley is willing to protect Gabriel, but refuses to be the one to keep him in line--that she decides early on that he has the right to look for his wife, and she's not going to stop him. I also love that she pushes everyone, including him, to remember that he's human. I love that they both do what they think is right, rather than what they're ordered to do. And I love how much they respect and trust each other.
As far as specific ideas go, mission fic is always great, especially if it involves new and creative uses for the chip. Tropes like drunken confessions and undercover as a couple and minor hurt/comfort (especially if Gabriel is doing the comforting) could be fun. I'd also totally read more about Gabriel's mother. Or an OC family member. Or Riley's family--her younger brother, or her complicated relationships with her parents. If you want to send them to some event--a wedding, a funeral, a high school reunion--to arrange the family interaction, that could be fun, with or without additional complications.
Gabriel with other people is good too, if you want to go that way. I'll happily read about him with Lillian or Shen or Jameson, either pre- or post-series. I'd also love to read something that focuses primarily on Lillian or Riley, with Gabriel there to back them up. Something with Riley's family, maybe? Or Lillian facing a professional challenge and using Gabriel's abilities to help navigate it? Whatever you can come up with.
Anything that picks up threads from the show would also be great. More about the Athens list, or finding the sleeper agent whom the Flood was hoping would be elected president, or maybe tracking down some of the other Tigers from the photo, or finding out what Leland was up to with Mei Chen, or looking at whether Amelia really turned (and why she warned Gabriel about the hospital). Or have Norris or another of Gabriel's old comrades or one of the people Gabriel and Riley helped turn up again and deal with all the questions they might have. Or just more about how Cyber Command goes about rebuilding the intelligence community after stopping the initial rise of the Flood.
Or stay away from the Cyber Com stuff and write more about Gabriel's daily life. His hobbies. His neighbours. How he uses the chip when he's not at work. Why he joined the army and why he joined Delta Force. How he found out about his brother's death. His mother's implied breakdown, and how he dealt with her alcohol problems. Why she tried to keep him out of the army. Whatever you like.
Final Notes
If somehow what I have above isn't enough, there's a little more on the things I like and don't like here. Please don't feel you have to read that, though. It's just there in case you're pulling out your hair and really, really want more information.
Thank you again for writing for me!
This entry was originally posted at http://skieswideopen.dreamwidth.org/186858.html, where it has
comments. Comments are equally welcome on either entry.