Yuletide Letter 2015
Oct. 16th, 2015 01:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
abluegirlHello anon! I'm excited about Yuletide this year, and I hope that you are also.
My fic tastes are varied. Well done crackfic is one of my favorite things ever. With respect to smut and romance, the gender of the pairings doesn't matter as much to me as the characters themselves. I really enjoy smut with the right characters, and provided that there is some sort of connection between the characters (romantic love, attraction, or feelings of enmity - it doesn't have to be a connection based on positive emotions). I like fluff that feels more real instead of saccharine. While I love romance in fics, I also enjoy plotty gen. You can feel free to use any of my likes (at the bottom) instead of the prompts I've provided, if they strike your interest more.
I'm all for Yuleporn and Crueltide, so please feel free to take your fic on one of those directions, if the inspiration strikes you.
Orange Is the New Black
Why I like it: Found family, lots of interesting, complex female characters, focus on women of color, great writing and interesting storytelling.
Brooke Soso/Poussey Washington
I really loved how Soso and Poussey connected at the end of Season 3. I'd love to read a fic that charted the beginnings of a relationship between these two characters within the confines of the prison system, focusing on how they support each other, and not losing sight of the challenges that each of the characters face (i.e. Poussey's prison hooch habit, and Soso's depression and recent overdose).
If you need more prompts, here are some ideas, but don't feel you need to stick to them: 1) trapped in the Library; 2)running and hiding from the CO's; 3) discovering a shared love of literature.
Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren/Maureen Kukudio
These two were just so endearing and adorable! Like Soso and Poussey, I'd also love to read a fic that explored the start of a relationship between Suzanne and Maureen, but I'd love it to be a fluffy and adorable story exploring the fumblings of two socially awkward ladies as they become involved romantically. I just want to read Suzanne being happy, and learning to be comfortable with herself.
More specific prompts, if you need them: 1) the trials and tribulations of co-writing the Time Hump Chronicles together; 2) both Suzanne and Maureen want to do something sweet for each other for Valentine's Day and waffle too much over gifts; 3) closet fumblings; 4) Praise kink; 5) Suzanne wakes up to actually find herself in the Time Hump Chronicles universe (and maybe she thinks she had an unplanned trip to Psych?) to find Maureen is there.
For either of these two pairings, it'd be interesting to see them in the following scenarios: 1) murder in the prison! what happens after that, and how do our heroines cope? 2) zombie outbreak in the prison! 3) Celebrating Christmas with each other behind bars; 4) Litchfield is haunted; 5) MCC begins medical experimentation on the inmates (darkfic).
The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller
Why I like it: I am a sucker for stories of doomed lovers in tragic romances, especially when these stories are set in a military scenario. This novel was beautifully and lushly written and I enjoyed every word of it.
Art Credit
Patroclus (Song of Achilles)/Achilles (Song of Achilles)
I love romantic reincarnation stories. I'd love to read a story about Patroclus and Achilles being reincarnated over and over again throughout the centuries, remembering each other (hazily, gradually, completely? up to you!) and their love for one another each time.
Time periods, events and locales I'd specifically be interested in are: ancient celtic society, a war in the 1900s, american military during DADT, the golden age of Piracy in the Caribbean (1650-1720), the Wild West, legalization of same-sex marriage in the 2000s, the Future (in space?), the Stonewall Riots. That said, I'd be interested to learn about any time period that strikes your interest as well.
This is one fandom that a cross-over or fusion would work really well for me, if you are at all familiar with Battlestar Galactica (2003) or Pacific Rim. Regarding Pacific Rim, I'd like to see Achilles and Patroclus reincarnated during the events of the Kaiju war, and eventually fighting as Jaeger pilots. Regarding BSG, I think a cross-over with that fandom would work particularly well, especially when you consider that the religion of BSG draws upon ancient Greek religion and mythology. What if Patroclus and Achilles indeed existed in the past, on the Twelve Colonies, and were re-incarnated during the events as BSG as members of the Colonial Fleet, either on the Galactica or the Pegasus?
If you don't want to write a reincarnation story or a cross-over/fusion anything smutty set during the duration of the book would work great for me.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor
Why I Like it: I really enjoy the magical girl fantasy genre, and this series included so many tropes that I love: magical girl who doesn't know her own identity, hidden worlds, hero/messiah, forbidden lovers and doomed romances, fighting back against an seemingly impossible odds to defeat an enemy, secret identities, enemies coming together to fight a common foe, and saving the world.
Eliza Jones
Eliza was introduced in the last book of the series, and she ended up being one of my favorite characters. She is a woman of science who was trying to outrun her past as the child-god of a angel-worshiping cult. She became very seated in the human world in the first part of the third book, fleshed out with interesting supporting characters from her life, which was excellent because the other storyline was seated thoroughly in the angel & demon's dimension. I found the reveal of her true identity to be incredible, and it made my hair stand on end. I only wished that we had seen more of her storyline after her realization of her true identity, and the beginnings of her relationship with Scarab.
I felt that the ending of "Dreams of Gods and Monsters" was very rushed, and didn't fully address how the characters would save universe/worlds by fighting against the oncoming monsters in the adjacent worlds. I'd love to see one of two things (or both if you want) for Eliza Jones. First, if you could detail the work that she does to hold back the demons at the end of Book three, incorporating her new relationship with Scarab, that'd be fantastic. Second, I'd love to read about Eliza's return to the human world, and her encounters with her old friends, colleagues, enemies (Morgan Toth especially) and her estranged family. Does she return in her angel form or her human form? How is the world continuing to react to the news that angels and "demons" are real? How do the people she knows react when they discover that she is an angel?
Hostel (Movies)
Why I like it: I like gory torture porn horror movies. Hostel II is a particular favorite of mine, because Beth, the Final Girl in that movie, has a glorious, brutal and earned revenge. This film has a set of interesting, fully realized female characters, and I enjoyed the focus on female friendship as much as I enjoyed the gore. Finally, I enjoyed seeing the behind-the-scenes working of Elite Hunting, something that was not explored in the first movie.
Beth Salinger
I think Beth is a really intriguing character, and the moment in the torture chamber where she was able to flip the power dynamics on Stuart is magnificent. She was able to buy her way out of the death chamber, but her power lies as much in her strong, pragmatic personality that it does in her money. I would love to read a story about what happens to her after she was forced to "join" Elite Hunting at the end of the film. As a nice to have, I'd love to read about more of the inner workings of Elite Hunting (from Beth's perspective) and understand what her contract with them means to her life.
Finally, I found her friendship/flirtation with Axelle interesting, especially considering that Axelle's death was at Beth hands. I'd love to read about how Beth came to the decision to kill her. Unlike Stuart's death, which was not-premeditated and, playing by the Elite Hunting rules, was necessary to guarantee her own life, Beth planned Axelle's death, and there was no reason to kill her other than revenge. I feel that it was at that point that Beth truly became a killer. How does that change her and affect her life from here on out?
Quantico
Why I like it: This is the only new series this season I am going to commit to, and that is because it is amazing. It features a complex, intelligent female lead character who reminds me a lot of Angelina Jolie's Salt. It incorporates an intriguing double-storyline, following this character both in her days training to be an FBI agent at Quantico and in the days following a terrorist attack for which she is framed, as she tries to unravel the mystery of who framed her and why. There is a large cast of supporting characters, presenting a found family at the Quantico FBI Academy, who then either turn on or support Alex following the terrorist attack. No-one is who they seem, and everybody has secrets. Plus, it's soapy and everybody is really hot.
Alex Parrish
Only a handful of episodes have aired, and there is a great deal of mystery and not much to go on yet, but if you write about Alex and incorporate some of my likes, I'm sure to adore the story. As for ships, I find Alex/Ryan interesting, but I'm not 100% sold on it yet. I like Alex/Shelby and am enjoying their emerging competitive friendship, and would love any tropey roommate fic that would result from that. I find Nathalie/Alex intruding, and enjoy the rivalry them so if you want to write about a Alex/Ryan/Nathalie love triangle (threesome?), that'd be excellent.
More specific prompts if you need them, but don't feel you need to stick to them: 1) getting ready for the real world after graduation; 2) the best way to deal with fear and self-doubt is ____________; 3) Person A finds out a secret about Person B - is it silly or is it serious? How do they react? 4) The FBI is called in to investigate an incident that sounds inconsequential at first that turns out to be a real zombie outbreak. The trainees go along to help. 5) surprise trip to Vegas; 6) FBI trainees playing spin the bottle while at Quantico; 7) Time Travel! Somehow present (future?) Alex finds a way to travel back in time to warn FBI trainee Alex. Does she succeed? Does she get caught?
Space Vehicles
Why I like it: I would never have thought to nominate this crack fandom, but I'm glad someone did! I have a soft spot for fandoms about anthropomorphized science entities.
Sojourner (Mars Rover), Curiosity (Mars Rover), Opportunity (Mars Rover), Spirit (Mars Rover)
In reality, Sojourner and Spirit have both gone silent - but what if they didn't cease operation entirely? Did they somehow establish a rover colony on Mars, and do Curiosity and Opportunity stumble upon them? What are their feelings about Curiosity and Opportunity, who are still in contact with Earth? Or did Sojourner and Spirit, instead, come into contact with extraterrestrial intelligence? What happened, and what became of those two silent rovers?
Genres: Crackfic, darkfic + horror, plotty gen, smut, romance, hurt/comfort, science fiction, alternate canon, epistolary fic, post-apocalyptic AUs
Tropes & general things I like: found family, ground hog day AUs, reincarnation, fuck or die, fairy tales, star-crossed lovers, tragic romances, doomed romances, romances with happy endings, UST, mythological creatures, strange and magical events that affect people and the world around them, magical realism, first times, pining, sex pollen, fuck or die, bed sharing, friends to lovers, zombies, time travel, spin the bottle and other party games, friendships on the verge of becoming romances, undying loyalty, sexual tension, ladies who are badasses, redemption stories, fulfilled prophecies, competency porn, actual porn, over-simulation, bondage, orgasm control, praise kink, BDSM, mild pain play, dubcon between same-sex pairings, fic that is creepy, fic that is funny, fic that is sexy. If all else fails, a Pacific Rim AU with the characters I like as Jaeger Pilots is a great idea.
Also, as a side note, I requested Hostel, and I do enjoy horror media, and that love extends to darkfic. If you want to write some darkfic or horror, the following things are okay: torture, murder, gore, psychological horror, body horror, supernatural horror, character death & deathfic, violence, blood, knife play, brainwashing, apocalypse, conspiracy, dystopia, gaslighting, haunting, lovecraftian cosmic horrors, medical experimentation, mind control, monsters, murder, and mutilation. If it's not in my DNW's below, chances are it's okay, but ask if you are unsure.
Ratings: G to NC-17
Curtain fic, Mpreg, watersports, bestiality, overly saccharine fluff, kid fic, issue fic, identity head canons, non-canonical pronouns (space vehicles being the exception to this), mundane AUs, AUs where everyone is either a dom or a sub, 24/7 BDSM relationships, omegaverse, slut shaming, gender swap, rapefic, misogyny, gratuitous violence against women perpetrated by men and victimization of women by men. If violence against women is non-gratuitous, that's ok depending on the situation, such as Alex Parrish involved in combat/fight with FBI agents, or captured by an enemy, etc. Use your judgement. I like my action and horror to be relatively feminist, if that makes sense.
I sometimes enjoy noncon, depending on the fandom, characters and scenario, but for this exchange, it's probably best if it wasn't part of a fic gifted to me.
You can find me on tumblr (though it hasn't been updated in a while) and AO3.
Feel free to ask questions in comments if you wish - I left anon commenting on.
My fic tastes are varied. Well done crackfic is one of my favorite things ever. With respect to smut and romance, the gender of the pairings doesn't matter as much to me as the characters themselves. I really enjoy smut with the right characters, and provided that there is some sort of connection between the characters (romantic love, attraction, or feelings of enmity - it doesn't have to be a connection based on positive emotions). I like fluff that feels more real instead of saccharine. While I love romance in fics, I also enjoy plotty gen. You can feel free to use any of my likes (at the bottom) instead of the prompts I've provided, if they strike your interest more.
I'm all for Yuleporn and Crueltide, so please feel free to take your fic on one of those directions, if the inspiration strikes you.
Requests:
Orange Is the New Black
Why I like it: Found family, lots of interesting, complex female characters, focus on women of color, great writing and interesting storytelling.
Brooke Soso/Poussey Washington
I really loved how Soso and Poussey connected at the end of Season 3. I'd love to read a fic that charted the beginnings of a relationship between these two characters within the confines of the prison system, focusing on how they support each other, and not losing sight of the challenges that each of the characters face (i.e. Poussey's prison hooch habit, and Soso's depression and recent overdose).
If you need more prompts, here are some ideas, but don't feel you need to stick to them: 1) trapped in the Library; 2)running and hiding from the CO's; 3) discovering a shared love of literature.
Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren/Maureen Kukudio
These two were just so endearing and adorable! Like Soso and Poussey, I'd also love to read a fic that explored the start of a relationship between Suzanne and Maureen, but I'd love it to be a fluffy and adorable story exploring the fumblings of two socially awkward ladies as they become involved romantically. I just want to read Suzanne being happy, and learning to be comfortable with herself.
More specific prompts, if you need them: 1) the trials and tribulations of co-writing the Time Hump Chronicles together; 2) both Suzanne and Maureen want to do something sweet for each other for Valentine's Day and waffle too much over gifts; 3) closet fumblings; 4) Praise kink; 5) Suzanne wakes up to actually find herself in the Time Hump Chronicles universe (and maybe she thinks she had an unplanned trip to Psych?) to find Maureen is there.
For either of these two pairings, it'd be interesting to see them in the following scenarios: 1) murder in the prison! what happens after that, and how do our heroines cope? 2) zombie outbreak in the prison! 3) Celebrating Christmas with each other behind bars; 4) Litchfield is haunted; 5) MCC begins medical experimentation on the inmates (darkfic).
The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller
Why I like it: I am a sucker for stories of doomed lovers in tragic romances, especially when these stories are set in a military scenario. This novel was beautifully and lushly written and I enjoyed every word of it.
Art Credit
Patroclus (Song of Achilles)/Achilles (Song of Achilles)
I love romantic reincarnation stories. I'd love to read a story about Patroclus and Achilles being reincarnated over and over again throughout the centuries, remembering each other (hazily, gradually, completely? up to you!) and their love for one another each time.
Time periods, events and locales I'd specifically be interested in are: ancient celtic society, a war in the 1900s, american military during DADT, the golden age of Piracy in the Caribbean (1650-1720), the Wild West, legalization of same-sex marriage in the 2000s, the Future (in space?), the Stonewall Riots. That said, I'd be interested to learn about any time period that strikes your interest as well.
This is one fandom that a cross-over or fusion would work really well for me, if you are at all familiar with Battlestar Galactica (2003) or Pacific Rim. Regarding Pacific Rim, I'd like to see Achilles and Patroclus reincarnated during the events of the Kaiju war, and eventually fighting as Jaeger pilots. Regarding BSG, I think a cross-over with that fandom would work particularly well, especially when you consider that the religion of BSG draws upon ancient Greek religion and mythology. What if Patroclus and Achilles indeed existed in the past, on the Twelve Colonies, and were re-incarnated during the events as BSG as members of the Colonial Fleet, either on the Galactica or the Pegasus?
If you don't want to write a reincarnation story or a cross-over/fusion anything smutty set during the duration of the book would work great for me.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor
Why I Like it: I really enjoy the magical girl fantasy genre, and this series included so many tropes that I love: magical girl who doesn't know her own identity, hidden worlds, hero/messiah, forbidden lovers and doomed romances, fighting back against an seemingly impossible odds to defeat an enemy, secret identities, enemies coming together to fight a common foe, and saving the world.
Eliza Jones
Eliza was introduced in the last book of the series, and she ended up being one of my favorite characters. She is a woman of science who was trying to outrun her past as the child-god of a angel-worshiping cult. She became very seated in the human world in the first part of the third book, fleshed out with interesting supporting characters from her life, which was excellent because the other storyline was seated thoroughly in the angel & demon's dimension. I found the reveal of her true identity to be incredible, and it made my hair stand on end. I only wished that we had seen more of her storyline after her realization of her true identity, and the beginnings of her relationship with Scarab.
I felt that the ending of "Dreams of Gods and Monsters" was very rushed, and didn't fully address how the characters would save universe/worlds by fighting against the oncoming monsters in the adjacent worlds. I'd love to see one of two things (or both if you want) for Eliza Jones. First, if you could detail the work that she does to hold back the demons at the end of Book three, incorporating her new relationship with Scarab, that'd be fantastic. Second, I'd love to read about Eliza's return to the human world, and her encounters with her old friends, colleagues, enemies (Morgan Toth especially) and her estranged family. Does she return in her angel form or her human form? How is the world continuing to react to the news that angels and "demons" are real? How do the people she knows react when they discover that she is an angel?
Hostel (Movies)
Why I like it: I like gory torture porn horror movies. Hostel II is a particular favorite of mine, because Beth, the Final Girl in that movie, has a glorious, brutal and earned revenge. This film has a set of interesting, fully realized female characters, and I enjoyed the focus on female friendship as much as I enjoyed the gore. Finally, I enjoyed seeing the behind-the-scenes working of Elite Hunting, something that was not explored in the first movie.
Beth Salinger
I think Beth is a really intriguing character, and the moment in the torture chamber where she was able to flip the power dynamics on Stuart is magnificent. She was able to buy her way out of the death chamber, but her power lies as much in her strong, pragmatic personality that it does in her money. I would love to read a story about what happens to her after she was forced to "join" Elite Hunting at the end of the film. As a nice to have, I'd love to read about more of the inner workings of Elite Hunting (from Beth's perspective) and understand what her contract with them means to her life.
Finally, I found her friendship/flirtation with Axelle interesting, especially considering that Axelle's death was at Beth hands. I'd love to read about how Beth came to the decision to kill her. Unlike Stuart's death, which was not-premeditated and, playing by the Elite Hunting rules, was necessary to guarantee her own life, Beth planned Axelle's death, and there was no reason to kill her other than revenge. I feel that it was at that point that Beth truly became a killer. How does that change her and affect her life from here on out?
Quantico
Why I like it: This is the only new series this season I am going to commit to, and that is because it is amazing. It features a complex, intelligent female lead character who reminds me a lot of Angelina Jolie's Salt. It incorporates an intriguing double-storyline, following this character both in her days training to be an FBI agent at Quantico and in the days following a terrorist attack for which she is framed, as she tries to unravel the mystery of who framed her and why. There is a large cast of supporting characters, presenting a found family at the Quantico FBI Academy, who then either turn on or support Alex following the terrorist attack. No-one is who they seem, and everybody has secrets. Plus, it's soapy and everybody is really hot.
Alex Parrish
Only a handful of episodes have aired, and there is a great deal of mystery and not much to go on yet, but if you write about Alex and incorporate some of my likes, I'm sure to adore the story. As for ships, I find Alex/Ryan interesting, but I'm not 100% sold on it yet. I like Alex/Shelby and am enjoying their emerging competitive friendship, and would love any tropey roommate fic that would result from that. I find Nathalie/Alex intruding, and enjoy the rivalry them so if you want to write about a Alex/Ryan/Nathalie love triangle (threesome?), that'd be excellent.
More specific prompts if you need them, but don't feel you need to stick to them: 1) getting ready for the real world after graduation; 2) the best way to deal with fear and self-doubt is ____________; 3) Person A finds out a secret about Person B - is it silly or is it serious? How do they react? 4) The FBI is called in to investigate an incident that sounds inconsequential at first that turns out to be a real zombie outbreak. The trainees go along to help. 5) surprise trip to Vegas; 6) FBI trainees playing spin the bottle while at Quantico; 7) Time Travel! Somehow present (future?) Alex finds a way to travel back in time to warn FBI trainee Alex. Does she succeed? Does she get caught?
Space Vehicles
Why I like it: I would never have thought to nominate this crack fandom, but I'm glad someone did! I have a soft spot for fandoms about anthropomorphized science entities.
Sojourner (Mars Rover), Curiosity (Mars Rover), Opportunity (Mars Rover), Spirit (Mars Rover)
In reality, Sojourner and Spirit have both gone silent - but what if they didn't cease operation entirely? Did they somehow establish a rover colony on Mars, and do Curiosity and Opportunity stumble upon them? What are their feelings about Curiosity and Opportunity, who are still in contact with Earth? Or did Sojourner and Spirit, instead, come into contact with extraterrestrial intelligence? What happened, and what became of those two silent rovers?
Things I like:
Genres: Crackfic, darkfic + horror, plotty gen, smut, romance, hurt/comfort, science fiction, alternate canon, epistolary fic, post-apocalyptic AUs
Tropes & general things I like: found family, ground hog day AUs, reincarnation, fuck or die, fairy tales, star-crossed lovers, tragic romances, doomed romances, romances with happy endings, UST, mythological creatures, strange and magical events that affect people and the world around them, magical realism, first times, pining, sex pollen, fuck or die, bed sharing, friends to lovers, zombies, time travel, spin the bottle and other party games, friendships on the verge of becoming romances, undying loyalty, sexual tension, ladies who are badasses, redemption stories, fulfilled prophecies, competency porn, actual porn, over-simulation, bondage, orgasm control, praise kink, BDSM, mild pain play, dubcon between same-sex pairings, fic that is creepy, fic that is funny, fic that is sexy. If all else fails, a Pacific Rim AU with the characters I like as Jaeger Pilots is a great idea.
Also, as a side note, I requested Hostel, and I do enjoy horror media, and that love extends to darkfic. If you want to write some darkfic or horror, the following things are okay: torture, murder, gore, psychological horror, body horror, supernatural horror, character death & deathfic, violence, blood, knife play, brainwashing, apocalypse, conspiracy, dystopia, gaslighting, haunting, lovecraftian cosmic horrors, medical experimentation, mind control, monsters, murder, and mutilation. If it's not in my DNW's below, chances are it's okay, but ask if you are unsure.
Ratings: G to NC-17
Things I don't enjoy:
Curtain fic, Mpreg, watersports, bestiality, overly saccharine fluff, kid fic, issue fic, identity head canons, non-canonical pronouns (space vehicles being the exception to this), mundane AUs, AUs where everyone is either a dom or a sub, 24/7 BDSM relationships, omegaverse, slut shaming, gender swap, rapefic, misogyny, gratuitous violence against women perpetrated by men and victimization of women by men. If violence against women is non-gratuitous, that's ok depending on the situation, such as Alex Parrish involved in combat/fight with FBI agents, or captured by an enemy, etc. Use your judgement. I like my action and horror to be relatively feminist, if that makes sense.
I sometimes enjoy noncon, depending on the fandom, characters and scenario, but for this exchange, it's probably best if it wasn't part of a fic gifted to me.
You can find me on tumblr (though it hasn't been updated in a while) and AO3.
Feel free to ask questions in comments if you wish - I left anon commenting on.
