Dear Yuletide Author!
Nov. 20th, 2011 03:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
okayawesome...I'm sorry that I totally did not write this letter before you got matched with me! But it's here now. LOOK, HERE IT IS.
So first of all, thank you in advance for writing me a Yuletide fic! I say this every year, and every year it's true, that I will probably be happy with just about anything you write, as long as you're happy with it. More than anything else, I want you to enjoy this challenge and write something you like.
That said, there are totally a few things I like more than other things. I DO love: humor (potentially black humor, if called for), unusual pair-ups (this can be in a smutty/romantic sense, or in a gen shenanigans sense!), and stories that are true to canon -- what if's, flashbacks, futurefic, casefic, etc. I prefer tone-matching, but if you can make a slapstick Revenge fic or a hardcore angst Sirens fic work, go for it.
I DON'T love: intense gore or violence, (ESPECIALLY things like dismemberment, stuff with eyes or ears/hearing, etc. -- although referencing Harry's fingers is okay, if you go for KKBB), noncon, May/December romances, most incest, or any of the Big Squicks (scat, necro, watersports, bestiality). Not really into hardcore BDSM stuff, either.
With all three of these fandoms, I am totally cool with smutfic or romance of all flavors, and I am also totally cool with gen.
Sirens: I would honestly just die for some decent Ashley/Rachid fic. If that's not doable, gen is totally fine (including Stuart as well), but Ash/Rachid would be amazing. I'd really like to see how they'd get together, or what kind of relationship they'd have, with the barriers set out by canon: Rachid is potentially closeted/questioning/curious, nosy as hell, and wants to settle down, while Ashley is out, fanatically private, and doesn't (or acts like he doesn't) want to be attached.
But like I said, gen with the two of them, or trio gen (or gen with Maxine!) is totally cool, too. If gen, I'd just love the further antics of the crew.
So this is not to bag on Sirens fandom, but one of my great disappointments is that A: there is basically no Ash/Rachid fic and B: what little there is is largely curtainficcy and already has them in a relationship. If these two guys get into a relationship, I want to know how the hell that happened! I want fic that deals with Ash's maddening issues, with Rachid's being nosy and annoying, with the ridiculous immaturity on both counts, and so on.
But what I love about the show is, of course, the dynamics between the characters, and the interplay between them; how Ashley+Rachid are totally different from Stuart+Ashley are totally different from Stuart+Rachid, how Maxine interacts with all of them, even their relationships with Kirsty and Ryan. I love the humor of the show, but I think for six episodes it did an amazing job of wringing out some real human drama as well. I normally love comedy, but I actually found myself responding a lot more to things like Rachid's panic attacks, Ashley's anger at his friends' intrusions into his life, Stuart's conflict over his father. I love the fact that everyone feels like a real person with real issues. If you can work that sense of reality into a fic, I'll love it whether it's got pairings or not.
My one caveat is that I would really prefer not to get Stuart/Ashley. I know it's quite popular, but I really prefer them as friends. Stuart/Maxine is okay, but I'd prefer it not be the central conceit of the fic.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang: I ask for KKBB every year, and every year Yuletide produces awesome KKBB fic, and I always want more. I'm cool with whatever you want to throw out there, really. Het, slash, gen, threesomes, OCs, whatever you want to throw out there. My two great requests are: 1) CASEFIC and 2) Harry getting beaten up a lot, because, really, that's just canon.
Okay, I may have said threesomes because I desperately want threesome fic for this fandom and never get any. However, that is SUPER OPTIONAL, because I don't want to scare you away from writing this. My biggest desire is definitely casefic and HARRY HURT/COMFORT, PILE ON THE HURT. The comfort part, I'll leave up to you.
For the rest, I am literally going to C&P from my request last year: as I said, my biggest thing is tone, and KKBB is a canon with a whole lot of it. I love Harry's narration, I love the random interjections, I love the backtracking and side-tracking and tangents. I also adore the way the three main characters interact with each other. I think that even with the constant insults, the casual homophobia, the cutting off of extremities, the way they talk to one another actually shows a wonderful kind of ease and comfort with each other right off the bat.
Revenge: I would read all the fic about Team Revenge, especially either flashback fic (is Amanda/Emily really as cold towards her allies as she seems? how did she win them over to her side?) or future fic (Do they win? Do they lose? What happens when it's over?). Again, gen or any combination of pairings is pretty much cool with me here.
THIS SHOW. IS. KILLING ME. Unf. I love the drama. I love Team Revenge. I love watching Amanda/Emily and Nolan scheme together (and Tyler wasn't listed, but Nolan's ongoing dealings with him are killing me). I love watching Amanda and Emily flashbacks. I love trying to piece together how Amanda got Warden Stiles and now Mr. Takeda involved in this whole thing. And so on.
I'd especially love the issue of Amanda/Emily's coldness towards the rest of the team to be explored, if possible. Is she really as much of a sociopath as she seems? If she is, how has she inspired such fanatical loyalty? This can be from anyone's perspective -- Amanda's thoughts as she knits her little web, Nolan or Emily's thoughts on Amanda, Warden Stiles's, whoever.
I am suuuuper open to the idea of pairings for this show. Amanda/Nolan as a deadly power couple has piqued my interest, as has Amanda/Emily. I'd read all about Nolan's little side adventures with boys, too. I find Jack pretty dull, but a few people have been floating the theory that Nolan acts the way he does towards him because he has a crush on him, and I would not be at all averse to that. But, again, all gen is welcome here.
And I think that's it! If you DESPERATELY need a question answered, author, you can ask it here: I'll leave anon commenting on and IP logging off.
Thanks again! I can't wait to read what you'll write for me.
<3
ncc_gqmf
So first of all, thank you in advance for writing me a Yuletide fic! I say this every year, and every year it's true, that I will probably be happy with just about anything you write, as long as you're happy with it. More than anything else, I want you to enjoy this challenge and write something you like.
That said, there are totally a few things I like more than other things. I DO love: humor (potentially black humor, if called for), unusual pair-ups (this can be in a smutty/romantic sense, or in a gen shenanigans sense!), and stories that are true to canon -- what if's, flashbacks, futurefic, casefic, etc. I prefer tone-matching, but if you can make a slapstick Revenge fic or a hardcore angst Sirens fic work, go for it.
I DON'T love: intense gore or violence, (ESPECIALLY things like dismemberment, stuff with eyes or ears/hearing, etc. -- although referencing Harry's fingers is okay, if you go for KKBB), noncon, May/December romances, most incest, or any of the Big Squicks (scat, necro, watersports, bestiality). Not really into hardcore BDSM stuff, either.
With all three of these fandoms, I am totally cool with smutfic or romance of all flavors, and I am also totally cool with gen.
Sirens: I would honestly just die for some decent Ashley/Rachid fic. If that's not doable, gen is totally fine (including Stuart as well), but Ash/Rachid would be amazing. I'd really like to see how they'd get together, or what kind of relationship they'd have, with the barriers set out by canon: Rachid is potentially closeted/questioning/curious, nosy as hell, and wants to settle down, while Ashley is out, fanatically private, and doesn't (or acts like he doesn't) want to be attached.
But like I said, gen with the two of them, or trio gen (or gen with Maxine!) is totally cool, too. If gen, I'd just love the further antics of the crew.
So this is not to bag on Sirens fandom, but one of my great disappointments is that A: there is basically no Ash/Rachid fic and B: what little there is is largely curtainficcy and already has them in a relationship. If these two guys get into a relationship, I want to know how the hell that happened! I want fic that deals with Ash's maddening issues, with Rachid's being nosy and annoying, with the ridiculous immaturity on both counts, and so on.
But what I love about the show is, of course, the dynamics between the characters, and the interplay between them; how Ashley+Rachid are totally different from Stuart+Ashley are totally different from Stuart+Rachid, how Maxine interacts with all of them, even their relationships with Kirsty and Ryan. I love the humor of the show, but I think for six episodes it did an amazing job of wringing out some real human drama as well. I normally love comedy, but I actually found myself responding a lot more to things like Rachid's panic attacks, Ashley's anger at his friends' intrusions into his life, Stuart's conflict over his father. I love the fact that everyone feels like a real person with real issues. If you can work that sense of reality into a fic, I'll love it whether it's got pairings or not.
My one caveat is that I would really prefer not to get Stuart/Ashley. I know it's quite popular, but I really prefer them as friends. Stuart/Maxine is okay, but I'd prefer it not be the central conceit of the fic.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang: I ask for KKBB every year, and every year Yuletide produces awesome KKBB fic, and I always want more. I'm cool with whatever you want to throw out there, really. Het, slash, gen, threesomes, OCs, whatever you want to throw out there. My two great requests are: 1) CASEFIC and 2) Harry getting beaten up a lot, because, really, that's just canon.
Okay, I may have said threesomes because I desperately want threesome fic for this fandom and never get any. However, that is SUPER OPTIONAL, because I don't want to scare you away from writing this. My biggest desire is definitely casefic and HARRY HURT/COMFORT, PILE ON THE HURT. The comfort part, I'll leave up to you.
For the rest, I am literally going to C&P from my request last year: as I said, my biggest thing is tone, and KKBB is a canon with a whole lot of it. I love Harry's narration, I love the random interjections, I love the backtracking and side-tracking and tangents. I also adore the way the three main characters interact with each other. I think that even with the constant insults, the casual homophobia, the cutting off of extremities, the way they talk to one another actually shows a wonderful kind of ease and comfort with each other right off the bat.
Revenge: I would read all the fic about Team Revenge, especially either flashback fic (is Amanda/Emily really as cold towards her allies as she seems? how did she win them over to her side?) or future fic (Do they win? Do they lose? What happens when it's over?). Again, gen or any combination of pairings is pretty much cool with me here.
THIS SHOW. IS. KILLING ME. Unf. I love the drama. I love Team Revenge. I love watching Amanda/Emily and Nolan scheme together (and Tyler wasn't listed, but Nolan's ongoing dealings with him are killing me). I love watching Amanda and Emily flashbacks. I love trying to piece together how Amanda got Warden Stiles and now Mr. Takeda involved in this whole thing. And so on.
I'd especially love the issue of Amanda/Emily's coldness towards the rest of the team to be explored, if possible. Is she really as much of a sociopath as she seems? If she is, how has she inspired such fanatical loyalty? This can be from anyone's perspective -- Amanda's thoughts as she knits her little web, Nolan or Emily's thoughts on Amanda, Warden Stiles's, whoever.
I am suuuuper open to the idea of pairings for this show. Amanda/Nolan as a deadly power couple has piqued my interest, as has Amanda/Emily. I'd read all about Nolan's little side adventures with boys, too. I find Jack pretty dull, but a few people have been floating the theory that Nolan acts the way he does towards him because he has a crush on him, and I would not be at all averse to that. But, again, all gen is welcome here.
And I think that's it! If you DESPERATELY need a question answered, author, you can ask it here: I'll leave anon commenting on and IP logging off.
Thanks again! I can't wait to read what you'll write for me.
<3
ncc_gqmf