Dear Yuletide Writer
Oct. 15th, 2013 10:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eleanorjaneHello, dear writer! I hope you're excited about Yuletide and that the details I provide here are useful and edifying, not terrifying. Thankyou so much for signing up to write one of the fandoms I love, and I hope the info below is useful.
And! I apologise if my signups were less than eloquent. I am currently running on extreme sleep deprivation. I hope you can find inspiration in them anyway. :)
Before we get started, I just want to say: Optional Details Are Optional. All of the below is meant to be a guide for you, not a recipe list. I will be totally happy with a story that isn't anything I mentioned in my optional details at all. :)
If you're looking to get a general idea of what pushes my buttons, check out the rest of my journal here. My LJ isladyjestyr, which is these days a mirror of this journal, but has a lot of older content as well. My (very sparse) fic output can be found at my AO3 account, ![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
eleanorjane. Also, I tweet as ![[twitter.com profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/e0caa790ec10/-/twitter.com/favicon.ico)
eleanor. Otherwise, read on!
Things I Love: banter, snark, UST, UST that gets resolved, first times, stoic pining, stoic pining that gets resolved, partnerships of equals, partners who know each other well enough not to need words, shenanigans and capers, snappy dialogue, lyrical prose, humour, happy endings, bittersweet endings, love, loyalty, lust, hot sex, a total absence of hot sex, crack, AUs, crossovers, and anything wildly improbable that works anyway.
I also have a massive kink for competence; people being assured and good at things is just hot.
Things On Which I Am Generally Not Quite So Keen: unrelenting misery, heavy kink, character bashing, humiliation, the fish-out-of-water trope, and comma splices. And I have a major embarrassment squick.
Other Points Of Note
* I love gen fic. :)
* I also love het, slash, and femslash - but I am finding, these days, that I tend to skip over explicit sex scenes in fic. That said, you're welcome to include it if you feel the story needs it, of course! But generally I'm much more interested in the relationships and the emotional payoff than the nitty-gritty of sex. :)
* I am not a fan of stories that disappear female characters - either explicitly fridging them, or just ignoring or downplaying their existence. Half of my requests are centred around female characters, and that's especially important to me in those fandoms.
* It's Yuletide, which I kind of feel is not entirely the time for really miserable angst or grinding despair - if it's going to be dark, give me some leavening touches of humour or hope, please! That said, I don't require all sweetness-and-light la la happy fun times fic either. I'm an adult, and adult conflicts and dilemmas are interesting. :) (However, if you are inspired for sweet fluff, far be it from me to say no thanks!)
* I have a huge embarrassment/humiliation squick. It often renders me unable to finish a fic (or a TV episode, or in extreme cases, a book).
* I love crossovers and fusions. You are welcome, if you are inspired by an appropriate crossover, to cross over any of my requests with any of the fandoms or canons I'm familiar with. Please don't just write a crossover for the sake of it, but if you're inspired by a crossover idea that works perfectly, and I know the canon, go for it. :)
* I love interesting formats. I'm not knowledgeable enough to get much out of poetry, but I love screenplays and epistolary fics and diaries and Texts From Cephalopods and so on.
* "Christmas" stories don't bother me (although I'm not specifically requesting them), but please bear in mind that I am and always have been Australian, so the concept of a white Christmas, or this being winter, is rather alien to me. :)
Whew! Okay, on to the specific fandoms:
Fandom: Elementary (TV Series)
Character: Joan Watson
Prompt: I love Joan Watson a lot. Like, a /lot/. So I would really, really love a Joan-centric Yuletide fic. Joan's relationship with Sherlock? Joan's relationship with Gregson and Bell? Joan's relationship with Alfredo or Miss Hudson? All gravy. I'd love anything about any of these relationships, or plotty casefic if the mood strikes you. My preferred pairing is Joan/Sherlock, but to be honest I prefer friendship and genfic in this fandom.
Extra Details: I love Joan as a character, and her relationships with the other characters of the show. She's such a strong character that I think she'd hold her own in fusions and crossovers, too. I particularly love her growing relationship with Sherlock - I am very glad about the show's insistence on a platonic relationship between the two, but in terms of romance I'm not really interested in seeing either of them partnered with anyone else. (Background casual entanglements are fine, provided they don't get in the way of Detection.)
Fandom: Agents of SHIELD (TV Series)
Character: Melinda May
Prompt: I don't love Melinda May as well as I should, yet, and I want to. Make me love her! Help crack that inscrutable facade and show me the person as well as the badass. Tell me stories about her past, her future, her self or her relationships.
As far as relationships with other characters go: I'm happy to see more about the ancillary characters of SHIELD, and I'd like to see more of May's relationship with Coulson, Hill or Fury. I like the rest of the show's team, although I'm not hugely interested in Skye and I'm actively disinterested in Ward. Instead, I'd love to know more about May and her inner life and how she fits into SHIELD as a whole. (I do love Jemma Simmons, though - I'd love it if May took Simmons under her wing the way Ward has done for Skye!)
Extra Details: Note that this prompt - and this letter! - were written after three episodes of the series, so I'm well aware that my request and your story could both easily be jossed. (Literally, since this is a Whedon show. ;)) I am all good with that. :)
I'd really love to see more of Melinda's backstory - how she got to be a SHIELD agent, the events that took her out of the field, how she was dubbed The Cavalry, whatever. On the other hand, I'd also love more of her being awesome, preferably in the company of other ladies of SHIELD - I imagine she probably has interesting relationships with people like Maria Hill and Natasha Romanoff.
I'm also happy for fusions with or mentions of the broader Marvel Cinematic Universe, I have a little comics knowledge, but not really enough to rely on (except for loving Carol Danvers, which practically goes without saying).
Fandom: Hackers (Movie)
Character: Any
Prompt: I didn't specify any characters for this, because what I'd really love here is future-fic: where do our heroes go from here? I'd love a look at any or all of them - Dade and Kate, together or apart; Joey; Phreak; Nikon; Cereal Killer - in a year's time, or five, or ten, or twenty. Whether it's plotty or a character study, I'm really interested to see their journeys. They'll be young adults (well, except Nikon) in the dot-com era, and I am so curious about how it might have played out for them.
Extra Details: This is such an interesting movie when you think about the characters' futures: they're going to be 21, plus or minus, when the dot-com boom hits. All the upheaval wrought by the internet that's in our past; that's still to come, for them.
I really would love any futurefic in this fandom; I want to see how these teenagers grow into adults, especially in a world that's suddenly going to be clamouring for their skills and attitude. (Which isn't to say I'm not interested in Lord Nikon; he was my favourite character of the movie and if you're inspired to tell me about his future - or his past - please do!)
Relationship-wise I'm not OTPish about Dade and Kate; I can see them together or apart easily enough, so I'm happy either way. I'm not particularly slashy about any of the characters in this fandom and would generally prefer gen to slash, but if you're inspired for a particular pairing please feel free!
Fandom: Human Target (TV Series)
Character: Guerrero
Prompt: I'm fascinated by Guerrero; his past, his loyalty to Chance, his (deeply-buried) humanity and empathy, his family ties, his reputation... I'd love to know more about his history and how he became the man he is, how he inspired such terror in everyone who knows his name, or his future beyond the end of the series.
In terms of relationships, I really like his grudging mentor relationship with Ames, and his relationships to the rest of the team. I'd prefer to avoid slashing him with Chance or Winston - what I'd really like is Guerrero/Ames, or some awesome tasty gen fic. :)
Extra Details: As the prompt says, Guerrero is such a mystery that I find him intriguing. I'd prefer gen fic, or het if you're inspired, as I really don't see him in a slashy light and I'm less interested in his relationships with Chance or Winston than I am in him as a character.
I'm particularly interested in his past - how he got into his former line of work, and how he became the feared man he is today. I'm also interested in the contrast between him and Baptiste, and how Guerrero has managed to come to terms with all the things that have made Baptiste so bitter. I suspect there are also some interesting stories in Guerrero's absolute refusal to countenance prison, and in his attachment to the little boy who's presumably his son. Tell me more! ;)
Thankyou, dear Yuletide Writer! I hope I've given you some ideas and inspiration, and fear not - I will be happy just to get a story in any of these fandoms.
And! I apologise if my signups were less than eloquent. I am currently running on extreme sleep deprivation. I hope you can find inspiration in them anyway. :)
Before we get started, I just want to say: Optional Details Are Optional. All of the below is meant to be a guide for you, not a recipe list. I will be totally happy with a story that isn't anything I mentioned in my optional details at all. :)
If you're looking to get a general idea of what pushes my buttons, check out the rest of my journal here. My LJ is
ladyjestyr, which is these days a mirror of this journal, but has a lot of older content as well. My (very sparse) fic output can be found at my AO3 account, Things I Love: banter, snark, UST, UST that gets resolved, first times, stoic pining, stoic pining that gets resolved, partnerships of equals, partners who know each other well enough not to need words, shenanigans and capers, snappy dialogue, lyrical prose, humour, happy endings, bittersweet endings, love, loyalty, lust, hot sex, a total absence of hot sex, crack, AUs, crossovers, and anything wildly improbable that works anyway.
I also have a massive kink for competence; people being assured and good at things is just hot.
Things On Which I Am Generally Not Quite So Keen: unrelenting misery, heavy kink, character bashing, humiliation, the fish-out-of-water trope, and comma splices. And I have a major embarrassment squick.
Other Points Of Note
* I love gen fic. :)
* I also love het, slash, and femslash - but I am finding, these days, that I tend to skip over explicit sex scenes in fic. That said, you're welcome to include it if you feel the story needs it, of course! But generally I'm much more interested in the relationships and the emotional payoff than the nitty-gritty of sex. :)
* I am not a fan of stories that disappear female characters - either explicitly fridging them, or just ignoring or downplaying their existence. Half of my requests are centred around female characters, and that's especially important to me in those fandoms.
* It's Yuletide, which I kind of feel is not entirely the time for really miserable angst or grinding despair - if it's going to be dark, give me some leavening touches of humour or hope, please! That said, I don't require all sweetness-and-light la la happy fun times fic either. I'm an adult, and adult conflicts and dilemmas are interesting. :) (However, if you are inspired for sweet fluff, far be it from me to say no thanks!)
* I have a huge embarrassment/humiliation squick. It often renders me unable to finish a fic (or a TV episode, or in extreme cases, a book).
* I love crossovers and fusions. You are welcome, if you are inspired by an appropriate crossover, to cross over any of my requests with any of the fandoms or canons I'm familiar with. Please don't just write a crossover for the sake of it, but if you're inspired by a crossover idea that works perfectly, and I know the canon, go for it. :)
* I love interesting formats. I'm not knowledgeable enough to get much out of poetry, but I love screenplays and epistolary fics and diaries and Texts From Cephalopods and so on.
* "Christmas" stories don't bother me (although I'm not specifically requesting them), but please bear in mind that I am and always have been Australian, so the concept of a white Christmas, or this being winter, is rather alien to me. :)
Whew! Okay, on to the specific fandoms:
Fandom: Elementary (TV Series)
Character: Joan Watson
Prompt: I love Joan Watson a lot. Like, a /lot/. So I would really, really love a Joan-centric Yuletide fic. Joan's relationship with Sherlock? Joan's relationship with Gregson and Bell? Joan's relationship with Alfredo or Miss Hudson? All gravy. I'd love anything about any of these relationships, or plotty casefic if the mood strikes you. My preferred pairing is Joan/Sherlock, but to be honest I prefer friendship and genfic in this fandom.
Extra Details: I love Joan as a character, and her relationships with the other characters of the show. She's such a strong character that I think she'd hold her own in fusions and crossovers, too. I particularly love her growing relationship with Sherlock - I am very glad about the show's insistence on a platonic relationship between the two, but in terms of romance I'm not really interested in seeing either of them partnered with anyone else. (Background casual entanglements are fine, provided they don't get in the way of Detection.)
Fandom: Agents of SHIELD (TV Series)
Character: Melinda May
Prompt: I don't love Melinda May as well as I should, yet, and I want to. Make me love her! Help crack that inscrutable facade and show me the person as well as the badass. Tell me stories about her past, her future, her self or her relationships.
As far as relationships with other characters go: I'm happy to see more about the ancillary characters of SHIELD, and I'd like to see more of May's relationship with Coulson, Hill or Fury. I like the rest of the show's team, although I'm not hugely interested in Skye and I'm actively disinterested in Ward. Instead, I'd love to know more about May and her inner life and how she fits into SHIELD as a whole. (I do love Jemma Simmons, though - I'd love it if May took Simmons under her wing the way Ward has done for Skye!)
Extra Details: Note that this prompt - and this letter! - were written after three episodes of the series, so I'm well aware that my request and your story could both easily be jossed. (Literally, since this is a Whedon show. ;)) I am all good with that. :)
I'd really love to see more of Melinda's backstory - how she got to be a SHIELD agent, the events that took her out of the field, how she was dubbed The Cavalry, whatever. On the other hand, I'd also love more of her being awesome, preferably in the company of other ladies of SHIELD - I imagine she probably has interesting relationships with people like Maria Hill and Natasha Romanoff.
I'm also happy for fusions with or mentions of the broader Marvel Cinematic Universe, I have a little comics knowledge, but not really enough to rely on (except for loving Carol Danvers, which practically goes without saying).
Fandom: Hackers (Movie)
Character: Any
Prompt: I didn't specify any characters for this, because what I'd really love here is future-fic: where do our heroes go from here? I'd love a look at any or all of them - Dade and Kate, together or apart; Joey; Phreak; Nikon; Cereal Killer - in a year's time, or five, or ten, or twenty. Whether it's plotty or a character study, I'm really interested to see their journeys. They'll be young adults (well, except Nikon) in the dot-com era, and I am so curious about how it might have played out for them.
Extra Details: This is such an interesting movie when you think about the characters' futures: they're going to be 21, plus or minus, when the dot-com boom hits. All the upheaval wrought by the internet that's in our past; that's still to come, for them.
I really would love any futurefic in this fandom; I want to see how these teenagers grow into adults, especially in a world that's suddenly going to be clamouring for their skills and attitude. (Which isn't to say I'm not interested in Lord Nikon; he was my favourite character of the movie and if you're inspired to tell me about his future - or his past - please do!)
Relationship-wise I'm not OTPish about Dade and Kate; I can see them together or apart easily enough, so I'm happy either way. I'm not particularly slashy about any of the characters in this fandom and would generally prefer gen to slash, but if you're inspired for a particular pairing please feel free!
Fandom: Human Target (TV Series)
Character: Guerrero
Prompt: I'm fascinated by Guerrero; his past, his loyalty to Chance, his (deeply-buried) humanity and empathy, his family ties, his reputation... I'd love to know more about his history and how he became the man he is, how he inspired such terror in everyone who knows his name, or his future beyond the end of the series.
In terms of relationships, I really like his grudging mentor relationship with Ames, and his relationships to the rest of the team. I'd prefer to avoid slashing him with Chance or Winston - what I'd really like is Guerrero/Ames, or some awesome tasty gen fic. :)
Extra Details: As the prompt says, Guerrero is such a mystery that I find him intriguing. I'd prefer gen fic, or het if you're inspired, as I really don't see him in a slashy light and I'm less interested in his relationships with Chance or Winston than I am in him as a character.
I'm particularly interested in his past - how he got into his former line of work, and how he became the feared man he is today. I'm also interested in the contrast between him and Baptiste, and how Guerrero has managed to come to terms with all the things that have made Baptiste so bitter. I suspect there are also some interesting stories in Guerrero's absolute refusal to countenance prison, and in his attachment to the little boy who's presumably his son. Tell me more! ;)
Thankyou, dear Yuletide Writer! I hope I've given you some ideas and inspiration, and fear not - I will be happy just to get a story in any of these fandoms.
