Dear Yuletide Writer

[inmyriadbits]

This is a placeholder post! But it will not always be a placeholder.... SORRY FOR THE WAIT. Now it's a real letter. :D?

Dear Yuletide Author,

Yay Yuletide! It's just the best. :)

I am so excited that you are interested in writing for a fandom and character(s) that I love! If you have reached the panicky oh-god-what-have-I-signed-up-for stage of affairs, NEVER FEAR. I will be thrilled to have fic in any of these fandoms, so write whatever your heart desires.

If you care for more details, I will blather further under the cut:

I generally prefer a more cheerful tone and a happy ending for Yuletide. That said, I once got a totally creepy horror story one year and it was delightful (once I managed to sleep again...), so, you know, not a deal-breaker.

Specific Dislikes:
- character bashing
- major character death
- incest
- public humiliation
- infidelity, affairs, and lying in connection with either of those

Specific Likes:
- wacky shenanigans
- con artistry and heists
- banter and clever dialogue
- competence! I have such a competence kink, it's not even funny.
- friendship/partnership; friends/partners slowly building into something more
- strength in adversity
- hurt/comfort
- pining
- respect and admiration in romance
- epistolary fic
- worldbuilding
- AUs and crossovers (caveat: if you do decide to rock a crossover, please keep to the Yuletide spirit and choose another small fandom! I love Marvel and Doctor Who as much as the next fangirl, but they get plenty of attention year-round.)

On to the requests!

Edward Gorey's PBS Mystery Intro
Characters: Dog With Letter, Woman With Changing Fan, Veiled Woman At Grave
I nominated this fandom from scratch! My sister and I have watched Mystery! since the nineties (Diana Rigg-era), and I've always loved the intro, but it wasn't until this year that I realized that these tiny little video clips could totally be a Yuletide fandom. I put together an evidence post for it here, which has some video links to the different versions if you want them. I just love the Edward Gorey mix of weirdness/eeriness and oddball charm; I really have no expectations from this other than wanting to see what people come up with. So go crazy! I tried to under-request characters, but if you want to throw in any others besides those I requested, have at it!

Banlieue 13
Characters: Leïto, Damien Tomaso
THESE MOVIES. Slightly terrible, but completely excellent! I only requested Damien and Leïto, but if you want to bring Lola back, that would be loads of fun. Or Tao! She's great. If you want to play with worldbuilding, I think there's a lot of potential there. But what I really adore is the dynamic between these two characters. I would love anything with Damien and Leïto together -- fighting bad guys, sparring with each other, working in B13, watching movies, playing chess, wandering/parkour-ing around Paris -- whatever you can think of! (If "having hot sex" is on that list for you, that definitely works for me, but no worries if not.) These two hit my competence kink like whoa, so I would love to see anything in that line -- i.e., them being the awesome, competent characters that they are. Because seriously, is there anything more fun than Damien and Leïto ? They kick ass, leap around rooftops/moving cars/stairways/people/skyscrapers/ANYTHING THEY FEEL LIKE, and then they start debating democratic ideals and urban renewal and socioeconomic discrimination in France, when they're not bantering about how best to kick the asses of the next bunch of bad guys. It's so delightful. I love that they trust each other despite all the things that should make them enemies. I love Damien's bullheaded pursuit of justice and Leito's beleaguered idealism. I love that they've found kindred spirits in each other. Basically, I have a lot of feelings about these ridiculous action movies.

The Goblin Emperor
Characters: Maia Drazhar, Csevet Aisava, Csethiro Ceredin
MAIA. OMG MAIA. I have SO MANY FEELINGS about this character. Just...*flails expressively* I tried to not request all the characters, but all the characters are great. I kept it to these three because 1) Maia is the BEST (see above), for so many reasons; 2) I love Csevet's unrelenting competence and intelligence, the work ethic that helped him evade earning a living on his back (paraphrasing the book) and earned him the post as emperor's personal secretary, and his clear fondness for Maia; and 3) I adore Csethiro's fierceness, her feminist stance in a society that seriously undervalues its women, and the evolution of her respect for/fondness of Maia. She's going to make a kickass empress. :) So yes, anything with these three! You could write Csevet's view on events in the book; you could play with Csethiro navigating the treacherous currents of court intrigue (and rocking it, naturally); you could seriously just have everyone give Maia hugs. Any of that would be cool, or anything else you can come up with! :)

Rivers of London
Characters: Peter Grant, Thomas Nightingale
I once again tried not to request all the characters, which is so hard when you have an ensemble as stellar as these books, so you can feel free to bring in other characters. But for me, these two are the heart of the series, and therefore must-haves. God, I would take anything for this request -- you could do a casefile with thrills and weirdness, or utterly plotless fic about everyone being all domestic and endearing at the Folly, and I would be equally delighted with either. This fandom would likely be good for Christmas fic, if you're feeling that. If you want to write Thomas and Peter making out, I would support you in that endeavor. If you want to write a fic entirely about Molly giving people expressive judge-y looks, I would support you in that, too! Basically, just have fun, because this is a super fun fandom.

The Martian (book and/or movie)
Characters: Mark Watney
MARK WATNEY. BEST BOTANIST IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM. So, I requested both the book and movie; I don't know which you matched on, but I'm pretty easy. Weirdly, this is probably one of the only book adaptations I've ever seen where I fully support all the choices the movie made, so feel free to pick and choose your favorite canon! I mean, the book has a ton more material on the Ares crew and the science and shit, but then the movie did such great stuff with showing what Mark was actually going through behind the breezy journal entries (see the wound-stitching scene, for example), that I really just can throw my hands up and say either! both! whatever! and be happy. Anyway, I would love post-canon fic especially. I'm open to ideas! I heart team-fic, and the Ares crew presents excellent opportunities in that direction. Mark versus the internet could be hilarious. Mark meeting Mindy Park from SatCom could be fun. Mark having an athletic nerd threesome with Johannsen and Beck would be awesome (Mark seriously deserves to get laid, am I right?). Beck and the crew providing piles of comfort after the hurt of the movie/book. Hugs galore! These are a few of my favorite things....

(I do have one specific request -- if you decide to go shippy, please no infidelity, breaking up the marrieds, or breaking up Beck/Johannsen. All the established couples are adorable, breaking them up would be sad! If you want to negotiate some polyamory, go for it, but infidelity is a major turn-off for me; I really can't handle affairs and lying.)

I hope this helps! If you are interested in asking any questions about my requests/preferences, you can message my twin sister spatz, who would be thrilled to help you and collude with you on keeping the secret from me. :)

Have fun with your Yuletide, and happy holidays!

Cheers,
Lindsey