Dear Yuletide

[thisbluespirit]

Dear Yuletide Writer,

Firstly, thank you! You are ready to attempt to write something for me - and you share a tiny fandom with me. That makes you automatically awesome.

The fandoms I've chosen are things I really love, so you will make me happy just by writing fic in them. I've added details, further ideas etc. in case it will help you, (because 'write anything' would be my nightmare prompt, but if it's your ideal, then ignore everything except possibly my general likes/dislikes). I have a tendency to waffle about things I like, & though I will try my best not to here, I apologise if this gets a bit long.

I am fully aware of the Yuletide mantra: optional details are optional!

If you wish to engage in the time-honoured Yuletide tradition of stalking your recipient, then my LJ is fairly open. Links to my fic are on a sticky at the top; I also have a sticky for some recs posts I've made. Some things are flocked, but an awful lot of the fannish/writerly things are open. I've also recced on calufrax several times, so if you want to get details on what I enjoy in fic, you might find that helpful. (It is all Doctor Who recs, though.)

I'm fortunate enough to be able to say that I don't have any actual triggers.

General likes: humour, sarcasm, wit, plot, crossovers, fun, adventure, playing about with cliches, friendship fic, mild het, occasional fluff, and good writing generally.

General dislikes: character-bashing, PWP, a lot of angst. When it comes to shipping I'm a pathetically squeamish reader (sorry, Dear Writer, if you do pr0n beautifully, but so it is), so nothing adult-rated/graphic of any flavour, no incest, dub-con etc., & I prefer mild het to slash.

However, I'll take pre-shippiness of any sort, mild canon slash, and while I do generally prefer plot/humour to angsty fics, I don't mind having my heart broken from time to time. I don't mind AUs and quite like random pairings, although generally not taking them too seriously. My main fandom is Doctor Who (of any era, especially Classic) and it's eminently crossover-able with just about anything. (I mention that, because, well. It is.)

Importantly, don't panic. I will waive most of my dislikes in order to get the story you want to tell rather than something you feel you have to write. In three out of four of these fandoms, it was difficult coming down to one prompt, so I have provided further information, suggestions and all the escape hatches I can think of for you. Please ignore all or any of these that are not helpful.


1. The House of Eliott
Beatrice Eliott, Jack Maddox. Any fic about them would be great, whether it's fluff (early days, or a happy weekend at the cottage, I don't mind), something exploring their backstories, or their respective professional lives, but preferably less arguing than in the series, please. Bea/Jack is what I'm after, but I prefer no explicit details, please.

I think the request is fairly comprehensive. I don't mind which series you set it in, or if you want to go post-series. I really like Bea and Jack as a couple, the way they both have different but corresponding histories, that Jack gets why Bea needs her freedom, and that Bea doesn't always get that he gets it. (Did that make sense?) I love the 1920s setting, Aden and Stella's chemistry - indeed, the three leads are always fun together - so if you can write them pretty much as they are, I'll be very happy with anything. And don't break them up, please!

It has to be said, though: THERE IS NO FANFIC FOR THIS SERIES. (There is a poem I found while signing up, but there is no fic.) So if Bea/Jack isn't your thing, I am quite up for anything you want to do. You will be making fannish history, hurrah!

There is no fic, and so much potential - the setting, two women setting up a successful business, the design and art angle, historical events, the cliffhanger ending. So if you'd rather tell me what happened next, plot more rival spying shenanigans between fashion houses, vindicate Sir Desmond (seriously, what was that in S2?), write about Penelope's adventures in Africa (and why did she never come home?!), workroom drama with Tilly and Madge, Arthur Eliott in Boston, (1920s trans-Atlantic cross-cultural romantic comedy with bonus Aunt Lydia? YES PLEASE) or a crossover with other period dramas, then go for it. (Why, yes, I do watch Downton Abbey.) I have seen French & Saunders' The House of Idiot parody, so if you were desperate to write cracky stuff about that, that's fine, too. I am probably less interested in Evie's string of incredibly unsuitable suitors (although I am v happy to have the lovely Evie herself).

I really don't like Sebastian. I could never get over the possible incest. (Yes, this show is flawed: "He's your brother!" "No, wait he's not, you can go out with him!" But flaws are perfect for fanfic, right?)

Anyway, there is no fic. I'd like some very much, please. That is all. Thank you.


2. Blake's 7
Kerr Avon, Soolin. I love the way they interact in Warlord, and would like to see more - she seems to be intrigued by him, and he has more respect for her than he does for most people. Some shippiness (don't worry, not in the OTP sense; this is B7) would be lovely, but any exploration of Soolin, her backstory & reasons for staying with our dysfunctional heroes, and interactions with Avon would be great.

Again, I think the request covers everything, apart from the silly reason: after S3 I had confidently expected Avon to kiss all the girls and make them cry, but he stopped before he got to Soolin, even though he says in Rescue that Dorian has got good taste in wine and women. Anyway, more sensibly, I love the way Soolin behaves with Avon in Warlord in particular (engineering 30 hours alone with him, fake betraying him...). If even passing, mild Avon/Soolin seems wrong to you, though, I am quite happy to have any gen take on it you want. And, anyway, I never said she had to like being kissed, even if that happens. She can totally threaten to shoot him if you wish. B7 is not the land of the happy endings, after all.

If you came here by offering 'Any' (which seems highly likely) and are now regretting it, do not panic! I love Blake's 7. I love it so much that if I try to explain why, I just end up repeating that I love it in a quite pathetic way. In a way, what I am asking for here is something that's rare in fanfic for this fandom. Surprise me! I know that's an awful thing to say, so I came down to the prompt I (just about) wanted the most. So basically if that makes your hair stand on end, then anything along those lines: the female characters being awesome, random unexplored ships (romantic, or you could have spaceships, of course), the computers, the Liberator, the way that everyone interacts with everyone else so interestingly. Give me two characters who don't usually meet & see what happens. A rare ship - after Ultraworld, I badly wanted Tarrant/Dayna. (I like the way they interact - Tarrant's different with Dayna, and she seems to think 'I could kill you' is a chat-up line.) I love Servalan, and her outfits; her weird relationship/whatever with Travis and her thing with Avon in all its scary wrongness. I like the way nearly everybody we meet has a life of their own, even the guards, and the moral questionability of the whole thing. (I'm always fond of minor/neglected characters). I like the angst, the bleakness, the crack, the sf, the out-there stuff, the galaxy-building, pretty much everything.

If that's still no use to you, then my favourite character is Vila, any gen 'missing episode' type fic from any season would be amazing, and really, I am fascinated by Blake and Avon like everybody else, and if that's where your heart is, if you can explore them without any overt/explicit slash, and plenty of snark, how could I ever turn that down? Failing that, anything that acknowledges that Doctor Who and Blake's 7 take place in the same universe makes me happy.

Seriously, I love Blake's 7. I probably love things I shouldn't love in it. The only thing I can think that I don't like, aside from the misogynism in Ben Steed's scripts (which goes without saying; and even he randomly produced a Vila-Servalan comedy double act for Moloch, which was one of the Best Things Ever), is Tarrant's pink-haired princess. But I love Blake's 7. It does just about everything I don't like, and I love it. In a wibbly, don't-think-I-could-live-without-it way, .

(Now, where did I put my dignity?)

1. Sapphire and Steel
Silver. Really, anything with Silver - a missing assignment with all three, something solo, exploring specialists, working with other Elements seen or unseen, (what is the trouble he keeps causing Copper?), S/S/S OT3ishness, or interacting with humans. As long as he makes a cameo, or is at least mentioned in an interesting way, and isn't evil, I'm happy.

I watched S&S recently and it is my shiny new fandom, so don't think because I asked for Silver, that I don't adore it all, including the beautiful and mysterious Sapphire and Steel (of course) and their equally beautiful and mysterious ship. But I had to ask for Silver because I love him ridiculously and there is even less of him in canon and fic. I'd tell you why I love him so, but I don't know. Maybe because he's unpredictable and contradictory, he's flirty, a little childlike in some ways, he loves (and fixes/makes/breaks/steals) shiny things; maybe it's because he's David Collings and has amazing red hair. I don't know, but I do, quite a bit.

So, really, as long as he's in the fic at some point, or at least is mentioned in an interesting/amusing way, and (this is important) is not evil, I will love you forever. (That could be awkward, but I promise to limit signs of affection to showering your fic with nice comments. With maybe occasional stalking to see if you ever write MOAR SILVER.)

Generally, I loved the creepiness of the show, and am utterly fascinated by Elements in a way I can't explain. I ship Sapphire/Steel (well, duh), but am far more flaily about Sapphire/Silver/Steel (you've probably got that by now). When it comes to shippiness with these, I'm not sure what they would actually do, and I don't think I would want them to ever be too human. However, How They Are Together on screen is OT3ishness for me, anyway. (Someone described them as not necessarily sexual beings, but definitely sensual, and I thought that summed up my feelings about shippiness with them nicely.) I like how Sapphire/Steel is this frozen, beautiful thing, but once you throw Silver in it becomes a sort of dance. The main thing about S&S is its mystery, so any way you want to go with your story, really. Given how much of it is wide-open to fannish interpretation, I hope that my ideas and thoughts don't feel too restrictive - please, go whatever way you want to with this!

If you are wary of writing Silver, then really, a gen 'missing assignment' with S&S in which he makes a cameo (he loves an unexpected entrance, anyway!) or is mentioned would be fine. I don't want you tearing your hair out trying to write a 'difficult' character. I mean, Sapphire & Steel fic! For me! The mere thought of it gives me a thrill.

If you are into the BF audios, I have only listened to the first two with Silver so far, but hope to hear the rest. (So you can bring in a character and introduce me, that would be fine, but I would prefer not to be spoilered, if possible.)

4. Dungeons & Dragons
Hank, Sheila. Hank/Sheila, or missing episode-style gen (or both), and anything where Sheila calls Hank on his Heroic Wrongness (as in The Traitor & The Dragon's Graveyard), but anything with them generally. Any shippiness to be mild; this is my childhood love, so definitely gen-PG only, please.

Is my choice boring and obvious? I am sorry. I like everybody, but Sheila and Hank interest me; I like the way that the fundamental thing about them (especially Hank) is what goes unspoken. It means we don't know as much about them as some of the others. Also the way that they quietly subvert the tropes that they are sums up so much of what I love about this cartoon, and why I keep coming back to it. Hank's the blond hero, but he's the one who gets implied comparisons to Venger and Dekkion & winds up being the most likely to go bad (for good reasons). Also he always seems relieved when he gets the chance to stop being leader (although if he relaxes when he shouldn't, the world tends to almost end. Whoops.). When either of these things happen, he refuses to apologise. And I like that Heroic Wrongness of his. I also like that Sheila's the one who has the nerve to call him on it, even though she's ostensibly the quiet, shy, girly type. And if their weapons say something about themselves, then she's got a cloak that turns her invisible - but then again, it's also a trickster/thief thing, and she does have an impish sense of humour. I like it when she completely loses it in The Traitor, and I enjoy her friendship/girly alliance with Diana. If you can pull off one of those episodes where there's a bit more emotion, playing with any of the above, or anything else that fits either of them, that would be great. Sheila's cloak does at least give plenty of opportunities for being separated from/rescuing people, too. But running away from/fighting monsters, evil wizards and Venger is never not fun.

Hank/Sheila is pretty much canon to me - and the way that Hank, Sheila and Bobby become a family unit when the chips are down is part of the group dynamics as I see them. If you're willing to go with the ship, then I am even more squeamish about pr0n, details etc than usual (teen cartoon characters I loved when I was six! Please!) but have a much higher than usual toleration level for fluff, even to levels of flowers, candyfloss and cute unicorns. I do prefer plot, generally, but these kids don't get much time to be happy and have fun, so go with whatever you prefer. Gen is absolutely fine, of course, but what I'm saying here is, please, no overtly pairing either with anyone else, or not seriously with another main character. (Even if you know that is the true and right way of things. Be kind to me, just while Yuletide lasts.)

Having said that, this is another fandom where coming down to one prompt was tough. I love everybody (Diana! Eric! Presto!), and any gen fic that feels like a missing episode would be amazing. And I was so tempted to go for the backstory when I saw the characters on the list. Kareena, Venger and what went so horribly wrong with Dungeon Master's parenting skills and anything around that is something I'm madly curious about.

But basically, D&D, the kids, castles and magic and monsters and dragons and wisecracks in the face of danger. (There are a couple episodes where they end up in a highly surreal landscape; I love those. I love all the creepy/fairy tale castles and citadels, too.) If Hank/Sheila is too vanilla for you, really, whatever D&D tale you're dying to tell, I want to hear it! Just no actual main character deaths/hopeless angst, cynicism, explicit sex, or parodying it, please. My inner six year old is reading this, too.

***

If whichever fandom you're here for is making you panic, the easiest get-out (and none of them is - sorry, I had intended to include a single book, but it didn't quite work out) is Dungeons & Dragons, which is the shortest, the episodes are barely 20 mins each and cheaply available on DVD and some episodes are up on YT. It's a fun and sweet 1980s cartoon - not too painful! If you only want to watch enough to answer the request, try: The Valley of the Unicorns, The Quest of the Skeleton Warrior, The Treasure of Tardos, The Traitor, The Dragon's Graveyard & Citadel of Shadow. (And The Girl Who Dreamed Tomorrow, The Last Illusion and Child of the Stargazer, because they're excellent.) It's also worth noting that although a final episode (Requiem by Michael Reaves) was never made, the script for it is widely known by fans, and on the DVDs (as well as the link above).

Sapphire & Steel is the next shortest, and a couple people have the series up on YT; it's out on DVD. Also Silver is only actually in Assignments 3 and 6. The canon is tiny, but it is so very mysterious, whether you'd think it easy to write for is impossible to say.

The House of Eliott is also out on DVD and up on YouTube if you search for it. The first series is 13x 1 hr eps, and would be all you needed to answer the request.

I'd put the YouTube links, but I worry about these things, and they really are easy to find in the search box, I promise.

(Blake's 7 is the longest and most complicated of the fandoms. While I'd recommend it to people as a great show, not in this context!)

But thank you, dear Yuletide Writer. I hope that I haven't scared you away with this epic, and apologies if any of this is too much information. Please take what you need and ignore anything you don't!


Also, important note: I will be away over Christmas and I don't know what date I will be able to get to read/review your story, so please don't be worried if that happens. I'd hope it to be sooner, but it may not be until the 30th/31st if net access doesn't work out.


ETA: Dear Writer, I did not believe the requests would go out so soon and meant to have one last attempt at making this letter shorter (especially the last two). If anything I have written here causes you to panic, I am sorry. And worrying a lot (people like details, yes! But some people don't, aargh, aargh). Really, what I have here (in the above order) is a fandom where I want fic to exist like burning, one which ate my brain and my heart two years ago & won't let me go, my shiny shiny new fandom for 2011, and my dearest childhood love. Do not panic. I will love your fic. Really and truly. (And I am sorry about the essay in the last one especially. My internet was dodgy yesterday or I would have not inflicted it on you.)