Dear Yuletide Writer
Oct. 17th, 2015 01:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rabidsamfanIt's that time of year again, and I've written so much in the optional details I'm not sure this isn't gilding the lily. But the possibility of treats is too much to ignore, so please, dear writer, be patient with my excessive burbling. Truth is, I love all of these characters, and I'll be happy with anything that gets the people pretty much right, but please take a gander at my DNWs at the bottom of this letter.
1. The New Avengers (TV). Steed, Purdey, and Gambit. A nice smutty threesome. I ask every year, and every year ...well... last year someone wrote a nice hurt/comfort story for Gambit, but it wasn't for me, and it wasn't smut, so I decided to toss this one back into the ring. Although if you check out my previous yuletide letters via the "dyw letter" tag, you'll see that I'm good with gen, too. Gambit's my favorite, but I like all three of them, and I like all three of them together being bantery and competent best. Slice of life, missing scene, Purdey getting tipsy and looking at the two of them with a considering eye... I'm not likely to enjoy AUs of the coffeshop/high school variety, but alternate endings are fun. I'm open to crossovers, too.
2. Spy (2015). Aldo (Spy 2015), Elaine Crocker, Nancy B. Artingstall, Susan Cooper (Spy 2015)
Loved the movie, hated the easter egg at the end. (Really not a fan of dubcon, and that smacked of it to me.) But I'd love to see Aldo again, now that we know a bit more about what's behind the facade, and I enjoyed the ladies of the CIA tremendously. Perhaps there's another mission where Susan needs to work with Aldo while Elaine and Nancy watch from afar? A missing scene from the film? Events from Aldo's point of view -- does he see Susan's competence differently than the people who've known her primarily from her work behind the scenes? Elaine's reaction to realizing that she's aided and abetted the "submarining" of a good female agent? Go cracky, go serious, go crossover with Man from Uncle or something even more wildly unlikely (Agents of Shield? Men in Black?) I wouldn't minds seeing Aldo and Susan get together, but I'd like it to be out of mutual respect. She deserves that!
3. Mission Impossible (1966). Any. When I was a kid, I couldn’t decide whether I liked Barney, Jim, or Rollin best. As a grownup I can say “yay, fictional characters, I don’t have to choose!” In any case, if one of your favorite episodes was the one where Jim stumbled onto a nest of spies and got dosed and paralyzed with curare by Grandpa Walton, this is probably a good sign. Get Barney or Rollin in that kind of deep trouble and bring the rest of the team in to rescue them and I will be a happy camper. You don’t even have to show me the trouble if you can show the rescue part. Love hurt comfort with lots of comfort and displays of something which would be called affection in anyone who was actually comfortable showing affection. No one else is ever going to come to rescue these folks, after all, so they have to rescue each other. Similarly, I would be happy with an elaborate plan ala the series, a cracky crossover (Jim Phelps is actually Race Bannon from Jonny Quest!), missing scenes, or outside observers/different points of view for part of canon or some new adventure. Have Cinnamon take on all three of them if what you like is smut, or have her privately assessing the possibilities. (Do look at my general comments on fic, though.) Other members of the team aren’t on the tagset, but I like them too.
4. The Wild Wild West. (Artemus Gordon, James West) Loved this show when I was young, had a crush on Arty, and thought Jim was pretty. I've still got some paper zines with stories in them, too. I'd love a gen story here, especially one which dips into the sometimes mystical elements of the universe. Hurt/comfort is always good, too. I don't really slash the two of them, except in a "hey, you're convenient and I'm horny" kind of way, but I do see them as being the kind of partners who don't have to make sure that the other one is covering their back. (And also the kind of partners who will avenge each other without hesitation or mercy.) You can go for angst if you like, or crack, or even fluff. Does Arty come up with a disguise which fools Jim for most of a conversation? Do the two of them have a routine they've worked out for making sure nothing has gotten shaken loose whenever the train stops? If you do go here, please try to stay to canon typical levels of violence and smut.
5. Lord Peter Wimsey (Katherine Climpson, Peter Wimsey, Charles Parker)
When I saw the character list for Lord Peter, I suddenly began to wonder who Charles Parker and Miss Climpson interact. They didn't meet before "Strong Poison", apparently, but sooner or later there must have been some kind of interaction. How does Charles see her? Does he respect her detective insights? How does Peter deal with both the professional and the lady he pays to do the work? Go serious or have fun. Drop the pair of them in a car going up to meet Peter and then strand them in some tiny hotel while a storm howls overhead, perhaps? Have Peter tell one of them about the other -- even as a eulogy. Heck, go for kid fic and have Miss Climpson babysit for Charles and Mary sometime!
6. Minions (Scarlet Overkill)
Ah, Scarlet. Here's a chance to go for outrageous, if that is what you like. Write up her bio for Villaincon's guest book. Give me newspaper reports of some of her greatest heists. Tell me about the romance in her life. Even an obituary, as long as she died in the overheightened manner in which she clearly lives in the movie. Just don't take it serious, and keep the rating G or PG please. For Scarlet, I want to laugh my head off!
For all the fandoms I'm generally good with kidfic, gen, sex or violence up to PG levels, hurt/comfort (heavy on the comfort), fluff, crack taken seriously, crack taken to the extreme, happy endings, slice of life, alternate viewpoint of canon, missing scenes, alternate universes of the "diverging from canon" kind, and stories similar to what canon provides.
When I've asked for sex between canon characters I am wanting safe, sane, and consensual. Awkward is good. First times are fun (especially if it's only 'first time with these partner(s)' rather than losing virginity.) Safe words are a must if you go for bondage situations, please, (because trust is hot) but you'd have to work harder than its worth to convince me that the characters in any of the fandoms listed here are seriously into D/s. That said, if you want to write a story where the bad guys have done something awful, (or the Mission: Impossible team is failing to inform someone of what they're up to) you can reference it: but go light on the details, please? I want to be enthusiastic about my response to you.
My DNWs are a combination of things which fail to float my boat, things which bore me, and things which I will only venture to read in the hands of authors whose skills have given me reason to trust.
I will never like hatesex, pederasty/chan/underage, incest, slavery kinks, slavery AUs, humiliation kinks, and things like bloodplay or scat. You can mention body fluids, because messy sex is messy, but body fluids do not excite me. Nor do any kinds of kinks involving piercing, amputation or other body alterations.
I am bored at best (and offended at worst) by mpreg and omegaverse and tropes where biology or legal structures determine sexual relationships. I am fussy about genderbending and soulbonding, and you're probably safer not going there.
But my biggest squick is probably good characters turning out to be evil. Don't take a character darker than canon unless you really know them and the canon well. (And even then, be careful not to make them thoroughly bad.) I have read stories with dubcon and noncon I've liked, but so rarely as to make it not worth your odds. If the bad guys are doing that sort of thing "offscreen" and the story is about healing from it, yeah, I like healing/comfort fics. But stay away from my chosen characters being rotten, please.
Also, anything I forgot to mention here, but did in previous DYW letters is probably still valid. Thanks for reading the gigantic essay. Honestly though, don't worry. I'll probably love what you write.
1. The New Avengers (TV). Steed, Purdey, and Gambit. A nice smutty threesome. I ask every year, and every year ...well... last year someone wrote a nice hurt/comfort story for Gambit, but it wasn't for me, and it wasn't smut, so I decided to toss this one back into the ring. Although if you check out my previous yuletide letters via the "dyw letter" tag, you'll see that I'm good with gen, too. Gambit's my favorite, but I like all three of them, and I like all three of them together being bantery and competent best. Slice of life, missing scene, Purdey getting tipsy and looking at the two of them with a considering eye... I'm not likely to enjoy AUs of the coffeshop/high school variety, but alternate endings are fun. I'm open to crossovers, too.
2. Spy (2015). Aldo (Spy 2015), Elaine Crocker, Nancy B. Artingstall, Susan Cooper (Spy 2015)
Loved the movie, hated the easter egg at the end. (Really not a fan of dubcon, and that smacked of it to me.) But I'd love to see Aldo again, now that we know a bit more about what's behind the facade, and I enjoyed the ladies of the CIA tremendously. Perhaps there's another mission where Susan needs to work with Aldo while Elaine and Nancy watch from afar? A missing scene from the film? Events from Aldo's point of view -- does he see Susan's competence differently than the people who've known her primarily from her work behind the scenes? Elaine's reaction to realizing that she's aided and abetted the "submarining" of a good female agent? Go cracky, go serious, go crossover with Man from Uncle or something even more wildly unlikely (Agents of Shield? Men in Black?) I wouldn't minds seeing Aldo and Susan get together, but I'd like it to be out of mutual respect. She deserves that!
3. Mission Impossible (1966). Any. When I was a kid, I couldn’t decide whether I liked Barney, Jim, or Rollin best. As a grownup I can say “yay, fictional characters, I don’t have to choose!” In any case, if one of your favorite episodes was the one where Jim stumbled onto a nest of spies and got dosed and paralyzed with curare by Grandpa Walton, this is probably a good sign. Get Barney or Rollin in that kind of deep trouble and bring the rest of the team in to rescue them and I will be a happy camper. You don’t even have to show me the trouble if you can show the rescue part. Love hurt comfort with lots of comfort and displays of something which would be called affection in anyone who was actually comfortable showing affection. No one else is ever going to come to rescue these folks, after all, so they have to rescue each other. Similarly, I would be happy with an elaborate plan ala the series, a cracky crossover (Jim Phelps is actually Race Bannon from Jonny Quest!), missing scenes, or outside observers/different points of view for part of canon or some new adventure. Have Cinnamon take on all three of them if what you like is smut, or have her privately assessing the possibilities. (Do look at my general comments on fic, though.) Other members of the team aren’t on the tagset, but I like them too.
4. The Wild Wild West. (Artemus Gordon, James West) Loved this show when I was young, had a crush on Arty, and thought Jim was pretty. I've still got some paper zines with stories in them, too. I'd love a gen story here, especially one which dips into the sometimes mystical elements of the universe. Hurt/comfort is always good, too. I don't really slash the two of them, except in a "hey, you're convenient and I'm horny" kind of way, but I do see them as being the kind of partners who don't have to make sure that the other one is covering their back. (And also the kind of partners who will avenge each other without hesitation or mercy.) You can go for angst if you like, or crack, or even fluff. Does Arty come up with a disguise which fools Jim for most of a conversation? Do the two of them have a routine they've worked out for making sure nothing has gotten shaken loose whenever the train stops? If you do go here, please try to stay to canon typical levels of violence and smut.
5. Lord Peter Wimsey (Katherine Climpson, Peter Wimsey, Charles Parker)
When I saw the character list for Lord Peter, I suddenly began to wonder who Charles Parker and Miss Climpson interact. They didn't meet before "Strong Poison", apparently, but sooner or later there must have been some kind of interaction. How does Charles see her? Does he respect her detective insights? How does Peter deal with both the professional and the lady he pays to do the work? Go serious or have fun. Drop the pair of them in a car going up to meet Peter and then strand them in some tiny hotel while a storm howls overhead, perhaps? Have Peter tell one of them about the other -- even as a eulogy. Heck, go for kid fic and have Miss Climpson babysit for Charles and Mary sometime!
6. Minions (Scarlet Overkill)
Ah, Scarlet. Here's a chance to go for outrageous, if that is what you like. Write up her bio for Villaincon's guest book. Give me newspaper reports of some of her greatest heists. Tell me about the romance in her life. Even an obituary, as long as she died in the overheightened manner in which she clearly lives in the movie. Just don't take it serious, and keep the rating G or PG please. For Scarlet, I want to laugh my head off!
For all the fandoms I'm generally good with kidfic, gen, sex or violence up to PG levels, hurt/comfort (heavy on the comfort), fluff, crack taken seriously, crack taken to the extreme, happy endings, slice of life, alternate viewpoint of canon, missing scenes, alternate universes of the "diverging from canon" kind, and stories similar to what canon provides.
When I've asked for sex between canon characters I am wanting safe, sane, and consensual. Awkward is good. First times are fun (especially if it's only 'first time with these partner(s)' rather than losing virginity.) Safe words are a must if you go for bondage situations, please, (because trust is hot) but you'd have to work harder than its worth to convince me that the characters in any of the fandoms listed here are seriously into D/s. That said, if you want to write a story where the bad guys have done something awful, (or the Mission: Impossible team is failing to inform someone of what they're up to) you can reference it: but go light on the details, please? I want to be enthusiastic about my response to you.
My DNWs are a combination of things which fail to float my boat, things which bore me, and things which I will only venture to read in the hands of authors whose skills have given me reason to trust.
I will never like hatesex, pederasty/chan/underage, incest, slavery kinks, slavery AUs, humiliation kinks, and things like bloodplay or scat. You can mention body fluids, because messy sex is messy, but body fluids do not excite me. Nor do any kinds of kinks involving piercing, amputation or other body alterations.
I am bored at best (and offended at worst) by mpreg and omegaverse and tropes where biology or legal structures determine sexual relationships. I am fussy about genderbending and soulbonding, and you're probably safer not going there.
But my biggest squick is probably good characters turning out to be evil. Don't take a character darker than canon unless you really know them and the canon well. (And even then, be careful not to make them thoroughly bad.) I have read stories with dubcon and noncon I've liked, but so rarely as to make it not worth your odds. If the bad guys are doing that sort of thing "offscreen" and the story is about healing from it, yeah, I like healing/comfort fics. But stay away from my chosen characters being rotten, please.
Also, anything I forgot to mention here, but did in previous DYW letters is probably still valid. Thanks for reading the gigantic essay. Honestly though, don't worry. I'll probably love what you write.
