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Dear Yuletide Writer 2018
Oct. 5th, 2018 05:03 pmDear Yuletide Writer,
writing Yuletide letters is such an autumn-y activity in my mind, and it always makes me feel great. It's like yellowing leaves and spicy hot chocolate. This autumn I'm in an especially good mood, and I hope I can share a little of that good mood with you.
My general likes and dislikes haven't changed much over the years, so I will make some minor amendments to my 2017 summary of them and paste the result here.
My AO3 handle is plumedy, and I'm here for intense platonic relationships between characters of any gender ^-^ I'm not necessarily allergic to romance, but I'm not keen on it being the centre of attention. The general rule of thumb is that you may include romantic subplots (any gender combinations are welcome) as long as the main plot revolves around a platonic relationship. I do enjoy identity exploration and characters affirming each other's identities (including sexual, gender, ethnic, and cultural identities), so feel free to e.g. make character A gay and center the story around B supporting them and helping them feel good about that.
I love fluff and angst, and hurt/comfort (either emotional or physical) makes me fall to the floor and roll around. I love it when characters try not to be obvious about their feelings for each other but fail!! I have such a thing for stiff upper lip (that eventually results in an epic breakdown or ten). All my canons are full of people who desperately need to hug each other but are prevented from doing so by social conventions, hierarchy, or straight up shame 8_8 And the resulting angst is so delicious.
I don't have any particular DNWs except for porn - gore, violence, descriptions of abuse and other trauma etc. are fine - and I welcome fanfic of any length. Don't feel like you have to write a story over or under a certain wordcount.
My misc interests include music (classical, but I also like other kinds), historical fashion, art, horror, human anatomy (this being my degree path), botany and zoology, and a bunch of other things. Generally, if you'd like to include something nerdy, artsy, or sciencey into your work, do not hesitate :D But it is by no means a requirement.
AUs of any kind are grand. Fantasy, historical, canon divergence, magical realism, daemons - go to town. Elements of supernatural are perfectly welcome! I mentioned horror as my general interest above; that means that I will also enjoy horror tropes in fic even if the original canon doesn't belong to the genre. That goes double for canons that do actually have horror tropes in them (such as Murder Rooms and Planescape: Torment).
My specific requests are as follows:
1. The Fugitive (1993). Requested characters: Richard Kimble and Samuel Gerard.
Generally, I will absolutely love anything that explores a forming friendship between Kimble and Gerard. If you want to write a daemon AU horror set in the 1890s, knock yourself out.
But in case you're interested in a more specific prompt, a friend of mine and I came up with the headcanon that post-canon, Kimble eventually comes to join Gerard's department as a consulting specialist. Does he have forensic pathology training? Or maybe some other forensics-related educational background? Does he get a new speciality specifically for the purpose of working in forensics? I'll leave the decision to you.
Criticisms of the USMS and the American justice and prison system are very welcome (especially since that's also a big part of the movie's narrative). I feel like Gerard may definitely have doubts about his work after what happened, maybe even to the point of considering resigning from his position. In fact, if you can't see Kimble working with Gerard, feel free to write about Gerard resigning and forming a civilian kind of friendship with Kimble instead (I personally enjoy the idea of these two scenarios equally; I do think that in-universe, the USMS is definitely not irredeemable and Kimble may well feel like he could do a bit of good there, but I'd also be very happy to see Gerard having a personal crisis and changing his life while becoming friends with Kimble).
Kimble having PTSD and Gerard feeling guilty/weird about that would be great. And Gerard awkwardly doing his best to comfort Kimble/make him feel safe!
If they start working together, write about them actually coming to know each other. Imagine the sense of disconnect they experience! It must be weird for both of them to find out how similar or different the other is from the images they formed of each other during the chase.
On a fluffier note, I think Gerard's sense of style is superb and I want all his clothes for myself. OTOH, Kimble clearly can't dress (or make good facial hair choices) to save his life. So I feel like they'd have some interactions where Gerard tries to gently steer Kimble in the correct direction re:fashion :D
2. Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes. Requested characters: Joseph Bell and Arthur Conan Doyle. Optional characters: Innes Doyle, Daniel Blaney, basically anyone else from the series. I love all of them.
This is another canon you may write more or less anything for. I just love it that much. If you decided to write a story about a singular cobblestone from a street in Victorian Edinburgh, I'd be happy.
Otherwise, I'm a huge (no, HUGE) fan of the Bell&Doyle friendship. It's the exact perfect mixture of angst and fluff I love. They make me feel all warm on the inside.
In terms of specific requests, I decided that this year I'd go for a bunch of different AU tropes. Wingfic? Daemons (I headcanon Doyle's daemon as a fox named Martha and Bell's as a magpie named Violet, but any other headcanons will also delight me)? Platonic soulmates, perhaps? Any of these would be great. If you do decide to write platonic soulmate fic, I'd love it if the bond didn't force them together and they could choose whether to submit to it or not. I want their decision to be soulmates to be one made freely, just because they love each other so much. Although I greatly welcome any exploration of insecurities resulting from the soulmate bond ("is he with me because he wants to be or because we're bonded?" >:D).
With these two, I enjoy extreme expressions of love (whether in their inner monologues or openly to each other). You may choose to use the more healthy ones (e.g. about how much they mean to each other and the fact that they're each other's adoptive family) or the less healthy ones (e.g. that they're pretty much willing to literally murder or die for each other). Both are great!
If you want to write an emotional arc, it can also be either on the healthier side (e.g.: they may start off as slightly codependent, but eventually they realize that they're friends not because they <i>need</i> to be but because they choose to be) or not (e.g.: they realize just how much fucked up shit they would do for each other's sake).
Casefic welcome but by no means a requirement!
When I was writing the bit in my general likes that pertains to sexual orientations, it also occurred to me that I'd actually be pleased to read something like this about Rooms. I mean, I think Bell hasn't been attracted to anyone else since he'd met Edith, but Doyle could well be bi and I feel like that would be a cool idea to explore. Him feeling anxious about that, what with this being the Victorian era, and Bell being supportive ^--^ If you choose to do this, though, please don't make it too depressing, because Doyle deserves some happiness romantic relationships-wise.
3. Planescape: Torment. Requested characters: The Nameless One and Morte. Optional characters: pretty much anyone else because they're all superb, although I'm personally quite indifferent towards Ignus.
Anything about TNO and Morte! I'd like TNO to be in one of his more compassionate, kind, non-fucked up incarnations, and I'd like them to have a friendship that's complicated but ultimately healthy rather than not. Morte's guilt is definitely still a factor, but not the only reason he's with TNO.
Specific prompts: a canon wrap-up, maybe? Does Morte go looking for TNO? What happens when they find each other? Does TNO die forever eventually? Maybe after his contract in the Blood War is up but before he dies for good, he gets to have one more incarnation in which his life is actually good and non-fucked up. And he knows that he'll die and he's at peace with that, finally. Maybe he understands now why his first incarnation wanted immortality but he doesn't want that.
For that matter, does Morte die? Maybe now that TNO can die, so can he - without going back to the Pillar. And they have a kind of moment of peace and friendship together before being able to let go of this world for good. And in the end, Morte doesn't have to feel guilty anymore!
Feel free to have Morte muck about with other characters before finding TNO - I had someone suggest to me that he'd go to Grace, and I approve of that idea. I feel they have a lot they could talk about.
I only played this game a few months ago, but I love it a lot. It's unlike anything else. I'm just very attracted to this concept of a being who's committed a lot of really horrible things but who's currently not the same person they were when they did that. And I really want peace and just a little bit of happiness for TNO before the end.
writing Yuletide letters is such an autumn-y activity in my mind, and it always makes me feel great. It's like yellowing leaves and spicy hot chocolate. This autumn I'm in an especially good mood, and I hope I can share a little of that good mood with you.
My general likes and dislikes haven't changed much over the years, so I will make some minor amendments to my 2017 summary of them and paste the result here.
My AO3 handle is plumedy, and I'm here for intense platonic relationships between characters of any gender ^-^ I'm not necessarily allergic to romance, but I'm not keen on it being the centre of attention. The general rule of thumb is that you may include romantic subplots (any gender combinations are welcome) as long as the main plot revolves around a platonic relationship. I do enjoy identity exploration and characters affirming each other's identities (including sexual, gender, ethnic, and cultural identities), so feel free to e.g. make character A gay and center the story around B supporting them and helping them feel good about that.
I love fluff and angst, and hurt/comfort (either emotional or physical) makes me fall to the floor and roll around. I love it when characters try not to be obvious about their feelings for each other but fail!! I have such a thing for stiff upper lip (that eventually results in an epic breakdown or ten). All my canons are full of people who desperately need to hug each other but are prevented from doing so by social conventions, hierarchy, or straight up shame 8_8 And the resulting angst is so delicious.
I don't have any particular DNWs except for porn - gore, violence, descriptions of abuse and other trauma etc. are fine - and I welcome fanfic of any length. Don't feel like you have to write a story over or under a certain wordcount.
My misc interests include music (classical, but I also like other kinds), historical fashion, art, horror, human anatomy (this being my degree path), botany and zoology, and a bunch of other things. Generally, if you'd like to include something nerdy, artsy, or sciencey into your work, do not hesitate :D But it is by no means a requirement.
AUs of any kind are grand. Fantasy, historical, canon divergence, magical realism, daemons - go to town. Elements of supernatural are perfectly welcome! I mentioned horror as my general interest above; that means that I will also enjoy horror tropes in fic even if the original canon doesn't belong to the genre. That goes double for canons that do actually have horror tropes in them (such as Murder Rooms and Planescape: Torment).
My specific requests are as follows:
1. The Fugitive (1993). Requested characters: Richard Kimble and Samuel Gerard.
Generally, I will absolutely love anything that explores a forming friendship between Kimble and Gerard. If you want to write a daemon AU horror set in the 1890s, knock yourself out.
But in case you're interested in a more specific prompt, a friend of mine and I came up with the headcanon that post-canon, Kimble eventually comes to join Gerard's department as a consulting specialist. Does he have forensic pathology training? Or maybe some other forensics-related educational background? Does he get a new speciality specifically for the purpose of working in forensics? I'll leave the decision to you.
Criticisms of the USMS and the American justice and prison system are very welcome (especially since that's also a big part of the movie's narrative). I feel like Gerard may definitely have doubts about his work after what happened, maybe even to the point of considering resigning from his position. In fact, if you can't see Kimble working with Gerard, feel free to write about Gerard resigning and forming a civilian kind of friendship with Kimble instead (I personally enjoy the idea of these two scenarios equally; I do think that in-universe, the USMS is definitely not irredeemable and Kimble may well feel like he could do a bit of good there, but I'd also be very happy to see Gerard having a personal crisis and changing his life while becoming friends with Kimble).
Kimble having PTSD and Gerard feeling guilty/weird about that would be great. And Gerard awkwardly doing his best to comfort Kimble/make him feel safe!
If they start working together, write about them actually coming to know each other. Imagine the sense of disconnect they experience! It must be weird for both of them to find out how similar or different the other is from the images they formed of each other during the chase.
On a fluffier note, I think Gerard's sense of style is superb and I want all his clothes for myself. OTOH, Kimble clearly can't dress (or make good facial hair choices) to save his life. So I feel like they'd have some interactions where Gerard tries to gently steer Kimble in the correct direction re:fashion :D
2. Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes. Requested characters: Joseph Bell and Arthur Conan Doyle. Optional characters: Innes Doyle, Daniel Blaney, basically anyone else from the series. I love all of them.
This is another canon you may write more or less anything for. I just love it that much. If you decided to write a story about a singular cobblestone from a street in Victorian Edinburgh, I'd be happy.
Otherwise, I'm a huge (no, HUGE) fan of the Bell&Doyle friendship. It's the exact perfect mixture of angst and fluff I love. They make me feel all warm on the inside.
In terms of specific requests, I decided that this year I'd go for a bunch of different AU tropes. Wingfic? Daemons (I headcanon Doyle's daemon as a fox named Martha and Bell's as a magpie named Violet, but any other headcanons will also delight me)? Platonic soulmates, perhaps? Any of these would be great. If you do decide to write platonic soulmate fic, I'd love it if the bond didn't force them together and they could choose whether to submit to it or not. I want their decision to be soulmates to be one made freely, just because they love each other so much. Although I greatly welcome any exploration of insecurities resulting from the soulmate bond ("is he with me because he wants to be or because we're bonded?" >:D).
With these two, I enjoy extreme expressions of love (whether in their inner monologues or openly to each other). You may choose to use the more healthy ones (e.g. about how much they mean to each other and the fact that they're each other's adoptive family) or the less healthy ones (e.g. that they're pretty much willing to literally murder or die for each other). Both are great!
If you want to write an emotional arc, it can also be either on the healthier side (e.g.: they may start off as slightly codependent, but eventually they realize that they're friends not because they <i>need</i> to be but because they choose to be) or not (e.g.: they realize just how much fucked up shit they would do for each other's sake).
Casefic welcome but by no means a requirement!
When I was writing the bit in my general likes that pertains to sexual orientations, it also occurred to me that I'd actually be pleased to read something like this about Rooms. I mean, I think Bell hasn't been attracted to anyone else since he'd met Edith, but Doyle could well be bi and I feel like that would be a cool idea to explore. Him feeling anxious about that, what with this being the Victorian era, and Bell being supportive ^--^ If you choose to do this, though, please don't make it too depressing, because Doyle deserves some happiness romantic relationships-wise.
3. Planescape: Torment. Requested characters: The Nameless One and Morte. Optional characters: pretty much anyone else because they're all superb, although I'm personally quite indifferent towards Ignus.
Anything about TNO and Morte! I'd like TNO to be in one of his more compassionate, kind, non-fucked up incarnations, and I'd like them to have a friendship that's complicated but ultimately healthy rather than not. Morte's guilt is definitely still a factor, but not the only reason he's with TNO.
Specific prompts: a canon wrap-up, maybe? Does Morte go looking for TNO? What happens when they find each other? Does TNO die forever eventually? Maybe after his contract in the Blood War is up but before he dies for good, he gets to have one more incarnation in which his life is actually good and non-fucked up. And he knows that he'll die and he's at peace with that, finally. Maybe he understands now why his first incarnation wanted immortality but he doesn't want that.
For that matter, does Morte die? Maybe now that TNO can die, so can he - without going back to the Pillar. And they have a kind of moment of peace and friendship together before being able to let go of this world for good. And in the end, Morte doesn't have to feel guilty anymore!
Feel free to have Morte muck about with other characters before finding TNO - I had someone suggest to me that he'd go to Grace, and I approve of that idea. I feel they have a lot they could talk about.
I only played this game a few months ago, but I love it a lot. It's unlike anything else. I'm just very attracted to this concept of a being who's committed a lot of really horrible things but who's currently not the same person they were when they did that. And I really want peace and just a little bit of happiness for TNO before the end.
