dear yuleperson, 2014 edition

[healingmirth]

As always, my previous exchange letters are filed under my dear author tag, recs are at AO3 or pinboard and pretty much anything there in terms of preference or even story ideas for other fandoms is fair game if you're looking for inspiration. My tip-of-the-iceberg preferences meander around a bit, but if I said I loved something three years ago, it's still a safe bet.

I'm pretty sure that my reading (and therefore my recs) by volume is overwhelmingly first-time slash fic, but for Yuletide fandoms I really am absolutely up for gen or any ship involving a requested character. I am perfectly happy for an appearance of Polyamory Solves Everything (v, triad, or other geometry as applicable) or nudging characters around on the gender or sexuality spectrums from how they present in canon. I've (again...) not done a great job of requesting female characters this year, but that's partly because I've chosen either "any" or a single character for most of the fandoms to open up options. I'm not a huge fan of straight up always-a-girl genderswap, but if you've got a beloved female character or a het shipper's heart for any of the characters I've requested, please do absolutely to bring any and all female characters into the story.

I like plotty things, and silly things, and sweet things, and sexy things and angsty things. Most things, actually. (I do need the dog to live.) Porn is great. Kissing is great. So is a fade-to-black. I am less about any particular kink for its own sake than I am about kink for the acceptance and the we're-in-this-togetherness, or the "I don't really get it but it's important to you," bits. On a similar note, while I'm not a huge fan of infidelity or non-con or intentionally manipulative dub-con in fic, I'm perfectly happy for a pairing to roleplay a situation containing those elements.

I am as much a fan of things that jump around (or five times... or three times... or however many times you can think of regardless of fannish convention) as I am of things that blossom slowly or ratchet up the tension. I like my crossovers and AUs (of both the fork-in-the-road and wholly alternate universe varieties) and pastiches as much as the next multifannish person, although in this case I'd prefer to keep it to other yuletide-eligible characters and settings.

So... Thank you, and happy Yuletide! I hope something I've mentioned will be helpful to you as you write, and feel free to junk it all and write the story you feel called to tell if it's not.


Colditz (2005) - Willis

I nominated this one, so I pitched in three other names to make use of the nomination. I'm really far more invested in Willis than I was in anyone else at the end of the thing, but I'm perfectly happy for any other characters, nominated or not, to show up.

There's more (spoilery) detail in a linked post at my journal, but in terms of canon compliant stories, I'd probably be most interested in Willis's backstory. If the characters catch your interest and you're not really feeling having to come up with period accuracy for something, I am totally fine with a modern (or future! or fantasy!) AU that hits the same themes. Although to be fair, I'm not likely to notice any accuracy issues as my WWII British history knowledge is pretty nonexistent.

Somewhere around the middle of watching part 2, I had the thought that Jill would be really good for Willis, but, well. Aforementioned post with my more spoilery thoughts is here. Colditz available on DVD from netflix, and the last time I checked, there was a Tom Hardy edit floating around youtube if you'd like a taste without committing.

Enlisted (TV) - Any

I just really, really enjoyed this show every week. I'd be perfectly happy with a silly assignment-of-the-week, or some trouble the boys got into growing up, or something that happened while they were apart, or that crazy thing that happened to whatever character(s) on leave, or shippy fic, canon or otherwise.

Tennis RPF - Andy Murray

I have spent a lot - a LOT - of time watching Andy Murray rant at himself during matches this year. Sometimes he also smiles! And most recently, just watched him bail out of his serve motion about twenty times in a three set match (because... I have no idea why, but its certainly fun to imagine what might be distracting him).

I'd love a gen or shippy story where Andy has a hilariously terrible day. Or a suspiciously terrific one!

I don't ship Andy with anyone in particular (and frankly don't know much about his actual girlfriend or extended family, because that's how my RPF brain rolls) but it's totally welcome if any of that is your jam.

Thoughts, thoughts... I don't think I have anything else. Andy got a haircut? Finally. (Also, I get that players frequently have their teams dressed in the gear of whoever they have a deal with, but it's getting a liiiiittle weird that Amelie is always wearing that pink shirt with the heart or whatever at matches.)

The State Within - Any

While I wouldn't say no to reading about the next multinational crisis, let's be reasonable - what can someone knock out in a thousand words?

Anything that might've happened off screen, or pre- or post-series. Something about Brydon and Sinclair and his wife? Dealing with that poor kid and Brydon's admitted separation from real feeling. Brocklehurst's occasionally blinkered devotion to Country - how'd he end up working for MI6 to begin with? What's his story with Brydon? Or what's Jane's next assignment?

Would I Lie To You? RPF - David Mitchell

I just... really love David Mitchell. I've possibly read every shippy thing in his AO3 tag and I like today's David just as much as David of five or more years ago. I like David's sharp and occasionally fragile edges rubbing up against his friends and coworkers and society in general, whether it's intentional or accidental.

How about something behind the scenes, or a segment that didnt make it to the live shows, with any guests of your choice (or of your invention). Or the subtle, hilarious horror of David finding himself with a mindreading-type soulmate, or send him and Lee on a (spectacularly underqualified...) mission to Mars and have them tell each other increasingly improbable stories to pass the time. Literally anything that strikes your fancy.

For number-of-request reasons I needed to pick whether to make my David Mitchell request under WILTY or QI RPF, so I chose pure ridiculousness over brainiosity, but I'm also happy for his story to lean in a QI direction.

Manhattan (TV) - Helen

I am, at the moment when I'm writing this, only about halfway through the season, because Helen and Charlie have just gone off to inspect that plant and I'm pretty sure the next episode is going to make me angry somehow. But! I am planning on catching up, so maybe I'll manage to get some more useful thoughts into my letter. I am pretty much here for any story about Helen, or any combination of the rest of Frank Winters' original group. IDK, or, do Helen and Liza ever have a conversation?

The actor who plays Charlie played the zealot on Terra Nova and maybe that's why I've just never been able to get into his and Abby's drama. So instead, I pinned all my narrative hopes on Frank's group and his family.

Now that I've seen the rest of the season... I did not see that coming. Like, any of it. I thought we were doing a show about (admittedly high-stakes) office politics with a side of adultery! I'll be honest, I would have been okay with about half as much plot in the last two episodes of the season.

So, yes. Helen and Helen-related things, please. I had assumed that there'd be some fallout to Helen ditching Dr. Sinclair's letter, and then I was disappointed when that thread seemed to disappear. I can see a reason (if not necessarily "the" reason) why she'd do that, and it's made me want more exploration of what she's done or gone without, or would do to secure her spot on the hill or in her larger career.

Fritz reappeared! I'm really enjoying whatever he's got going on with Jeannie. I wouldn't have said no to the group (or just Fritz, Helen and Crosley) having another drunken night out to blow off steam, but then argh. Watched a couple more episodes. The show giveth, and the show taketh away. At the time that I was doing requests, I hadn't gotten far enough into the season to see anything other than Crosley's facade. My feelings about his background and relationships changed almost by the minute.

Well. I had been thinking that I enjoy the complicated overlapping of loyalty and desire. That's... happening. That's happening a lot.