Dear Yuletide Author Letter 2017

[weakinteraction]

Yay, Yuletide! I am ridiculously excited for this year's round.

My AO3 name is weakinteraction and, since requests aren't visible at first, here is what I put in each sign up box, in its entirety:

Write me anything* -- I really mean it (you don't even have to include the requested characters, tbh). But if you want amplification on the theme of "write me anything", please see my letter.

*except the following DNWs: pregnancy/kidfic, violent non-con, breathplay, watersports, bloodplay, vore, scat, emetophilia, incest, under-16s having sex

And I really did mean it, but if you want prompts or to know more about my tastes, this is the letter in question.

Please be assured that I would be delighted with anything (that didn't include my DNWs) for any of my requested fandoms; I found it really difficult cutting my requests down to just six (even as I write this, I'm still contemplating whether to swap fandoms in and out), so everything here is something I definitely, definitely want.

General | SMAC | AoA | ST:D | Vader (Marvel) | Darkplace | LWYMMD


I mean it, write me anything (apart from my DNWs)

• "Any": I am requesting zero characters for four of these six fandoms, but to be honest you should feel free to treat the other two fandoms as "Any" requests as well. I am absolutely 100% happy with all, some or none of the nominated/requested characters appearing.
  
• Speaking of the "none" part, I love worldbuilding -- if that's what you want to write, you should absolutely feel free go for it.
  
• I multiship heavily and while I have noted particular ships that I actively ship in the prompts below where they exist, I don't really have NOTPs in any of these fandoms.
  
• I don't tend to outright hate any characters in the canons I'm fannish about, so don't worry about whether to include characters who aren't requested/in the tag set.
  
• More generally, I am fine with any point of view, tense, format, and actively enjoy reading stuff that's on the more experimental end of the spectrum.
  
• I hope it goes without saying, but none of the above should be taken to mean that I don't want to read more conventional stories. I'm just saying that if you are inclined to go in a different direction, I am willing to come along for the ride.
  

General likes

• Character/plot tropes:
  
  • characters who choose to do the right thing despite the cost to them
    
  • people with complex identity things going on (in the sense of secret identities, amnesia, etc.)
    
  • time travel (except in Star Wars, for some reason I've never been able to work out)
    
  • canon-divergent AUs (of all kinds, but I am especially fond of apocalyptic ones)
    
  • telepathy
  
  
• Relationship dynamics, if you want to go in a shippy direction:
  
  • you-and-me-against-the-universe
    
  • loyalty kink (which shades into the above, certainly)
    
  • friends-to-lovers
    
  • friends-with-benefits
    
  • enemies-to-lovers
    
  • lovers-to-enemies(-who-are-maybe-occasionally-still-lovers-against-their-better-judgement)
  
  

Yuletide Challenges I'm signing up for/planning to be involved in

• Yuleporn. My post is here. Much more information on my porn-related likes can be found here in my SmutSwap letter from earlier in the year.
  
• The IF challenge. My post is here.
  
• Wrapping Paper (as a recipient only!). My post is here.
  
• Madness Drabbles.
  
• You should also, of course, feel free to tag for Misses Clause etc. if my gift fulfils the requirements.
  

DNWs, with a bit more amplification on a few points

• pregnancy/kidfic (where characters have canonical children, I'm fine with them appearing; I just would prefer them not to be the focus -- I'm also fine with flashbacks to characters' childhoods)
  
• violent non-con (dubcon and sfnal mind control etc. type noncon are fine)
  
• The only kinks I would prefer not to receive are: breathplay, watersports, bloodplay, vore, scat, emetophilia
  
• incest
  
• under-16s having sex ("on screen", as it were; references to characters being sexually active below that age if it's canon/plausible-from-canon that that was the case are OK)
  

General | SMAC | AoA | ST:D | Vader (Marvel) | Darkplace | LWYMMD



Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

Requested characters: Corazon Santiago, Deirdre Skye

I love this game. I still get shivers every time the first fungus pops and the first interlude from the Book of Planet comes up when I start a playthrough. Anything at all about either or both of these characters getting to grips with the strangeness, difficulty but also beauty of life on a new planet would be cool, but I do ship them hard.

The "canon" story that comes out in the Datalinks quotes and wonders videos implies a war where the Gaians eventually completely overrun the Spartans with mind worms, and I would definitely be up for darkfic along those lines if the inspiration strikes you. In general, the screaming pain sphere thing that captured leaders get put in when you defeat a faction and all the "swear a pact to serve me" stuff if you let them capitulate has quite strong BDSM-y overtones to me. But each time you play a game you get a brand new history of planet, and I don't consider the "canon" version any more or less valid than any other possibility. So I'd also be up for something similar with the tables turned and Santiago winning, or a grand alliance between the Gaians and the Spartans, cemented by the union of the two leaders, or arguments in the planetary council leading to hatesex, or anything else that occurs to you.

On the other hand, if you want to go down more of a worldbuilding route, I'd be up for a citizen's eye view of life in the colony, or the musings of the Planetmind (either dreamy stuff before the arrival of the humans or after transcendence), or some more about what's really going on with the fungus and the monoliths and so on (feel free to either elaborate on or completely ignore Alien Crossfire, or anything in between).

I discovered during Trick or Treat sign ups that I request this fandom a lot, so if it helps here are the fandom sections on it from my letters for Femslash Ex (if you're interested in the Corazon/Deirdre end of things) and Worldbuilding Ex (if you're interested in the worldbuilding side).

General | SMAC | AoA | ST:D | Vader (Marvel) | Darkplace | LWYMMD



Age of Apocalypse (Comics)

Requesting Any - characters in the tag set: Dazzler, Blink, Apocalypse, Magneto, Forge, Dark Beast, Illyana, Jean Grey, Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, Weapon X, X-Man, Sinister, Storm, Colossus, Mystique, Rogue, Cyclops

Absolutely anything at all would be great here. Exploration of the time before the series kicks off, showing how things changed as a result of Xavier's death/how Apocalypse first took over. Side stories about things we didn't see in the main event. What happened next -- the event itself treats the timeline being reset as very final, but wider canon distinctly implies that annulled timelines continue to exist as their own universes.

My comment up top about being a multishipper is particularly applicable to the X-Men, and even more so in an AU setting. If you want to write shipfic of any of these characters, with each other or others not in the tag set, go for it. There are two canon ships that I particularly like, which are Magneto/Rogue (the idea that Magneto's powers can overcome Rogue's problems with being able to touch people is utter catnip to me) and Jean/Logan.

General | SMAC | AoA | ST:D | Vader (Marvel) | Darkplace | LWYMMD



Star Trek: Discovery

Requested characters: Michael Burnham, Nambue, Philippa Georgiou, Saru

Other characters in the tag set (who I would also be happy to receive): Ash Tyler, Danby Connor, Gabriel Lorca, Hugh Culber, L'Rell, Landry, Paul Stamets, Silvia Tilly

I requested the specific four characters I did because my ideas for prompts all relate to fleshing out Michael's seven years on the Shenzhou (irrespective of the specific prompts in the next paragraph, any sort of Shenzhou mission fic would be awesome), but that really does just mean that those are the ideas I have, I'd love to see other ones too.

Anyway, I'm keen to learn more about how Michael went from being the Vulcan initiate we see in the flashbacks to first officer. She clearly didn't go through the standard Academy route -- how did Georgiou get that sorted? (Or was going to the Academy not as standard yet as it seems to be later on?) Saru's species being prey rather than predators (as seems to be the default setting of most hominid species in the 'verse) is intriguing. As for Nambue, canon gives us very little to go off, so go wild.

On the worldbuilding side of things, if you want to bring in elements from other parts of Trek, you should by all means feel free. That said, I would obviously prefer it if the characters from the new series were front and centre.

General | SMAC | AoA | ST:D | Vader (Marvel) | Darkplace | LWYMMD



Star Wars: Darth Vader (Comics)

Requesting Any - characters in the tag set: Aiolin Astarte, Morit Astarte, Commander Karbin, Cylo, Queen Trios

(Aphra is also great, if you want to bring her in. Her own run was very much on my "bubbling under" list of requests. And of course Vader himself and the Emperor if you want.)

Most of the characters here are involved in one or both of the "Palpatine has other potential apprentices waiting in the wings" thing and the Shu-Torun arc. I'm equally happy with exploration of their perspective on things in those arcs, prequels to their canon appearances (missions they get sent on for the first four, what it's like growing up as royalty on Shu-Torun for Trios), or futurefic (possibly canon-divergent AU, for those that don't survive ...).

For the other I'm particularly interested in the intersections between the Force and cybernetic implants and so on (obviously this is a deliberate mirroring of Vader's situation), and very particularly in Cylo's transferring-his-consciousness thing, which pushes my weird-identity-issues buttons very strongly.

For Trios, any exploration of her rule over the subsequent years would be really interesting -- how does Shu-Torun cope with the fall of the Empire, for example? I do ship Trios with Bixene (who she promotes to Baroness towards the end) based on very, very little beyond my own headcanons, though I'm open to other relationships for her as well. Shu-Torun worldbuilding in general, with or without Trios, would also be great; there are all sorts of interesting glimpses in canon of their religion and customs to play around with.

General | SMAC | AoA | ST:D | Vader (Marvel) | Darkplace | LWYMMD



Garth Marenghi's Darkplace

Requesting Any - characters in the tag set: Liz Asher, Lucien Sanchez, Rick Dagless, Thornton Reed

While it's the behind-the-scenes characters who are nominated, I'd be absolutely fine with something set entirely in the show-within-the-show.

I would love anything at all here, gen or shippy -- on the shippy front, I could easily buy into any combination of these characters. Cracky horror in the vein of the show itself would be great, but I'd also be up for something quieter -- what happens in Darkplace hospital when there isn't an eldritch horror from beyond mankind's ability to understand on the loose? -- or a behind-the-scenes story. What happens if something (seemingly/actually) supernatural happens during filming?

Probably worth saying that this is a fandom where I'd definitely be up for a bit of formal experimentation if you are. Write in Garth's style! Or do a piece from one of those '90s cult magazines about this lost horror classic. Or something that matches the show, interleaving the story with the reminiscences of the participants in its creation.

General | SMAC | AoA | ST:D | Vader (Marvel) | Darkplace | LWYMMD



Look What You Made Me Do - Taylor Swift (Music Video)

Requesting Any - characters in the tag set: 2009 VMAs Taylor, Bathtub of Diamonds Taylor, Biker Squad Taylor, Cat Burglar Taylor, Fearless Tour Taylor, Red Tour Taylor, Snake Queen Taylor, Dominatrix Taylor, You Belong With Me Taylor, Zombie Taylor

Feel free to land anywhere you like on the spectrum between "completely made up back story for what's going on" and "elaborate celebrity gossip meta".

As for some specific prompts (I've shamelessly cut and pasted these from Trick or Treat): Something expanding on the heist elements would be fun. There's some sort of sinister cloning programme behind all this. Zombie Taylor will damned well take that call if it kills her (again). What, exactly, is the thing that she has just done that she's singing about? Selfcest orgy. Anything and everything to do with the snakes bit.

General | SMAC | AoA | ST:D | Vader (Marvel) | Darkplace | LWYMMD