Dear Yuletide
Nov. 1st, 2019 09:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jamjarDear Yuletide,
Everything below is because it helps me when I have some idea of who I'm writing for, but really, the main thing is just to have fun writing it. That said, and beacuse it's helpful for me when I have a bit more to work with...
Gen, het, slash/femslash-- it's all good. In general, I like specific characters (and the pairings/moresomes that involve them) rather than being a solid OTP-er. It doesn't have to always be love or forever, but I want even the bad-idea relationships to be bad-idea-but-what-I-need-right-now.
Good gen is always a joy as well. I like tropefic, especially fic that takes a fresh look on tropes, crack taken seriously and speculative fanfiction in general (genderswitch! huddle-together-for-warmth! inappropriate mythical beings! aliens! sudden telepathy!), people taking care of people and affection that's read in actions rather than heard with words.
I don't necessarily go for pure fluff (I like the endings to feel deserved), but I definitely prefer a happy ending-- or at least, an ending that's no darker than canon. I don't like AUs that are less interesting than canon and something set in space is always going to be more interesting to me than something set in starbucks. An AU where someone is so different as to be utterly OoC doesn't work for me at all-- at that point, it's just someone else with the same name. Not a fan of dystopias or grimdark worlds.
Also not a fan of misogyny, transphobia and racism - what I said about not liking dystopias? That applies to reality.
I'm also not a fan of biology-is-destiny. I have read some good fic that uses some of those tropes (ABO, BDSM aus, etc.), but I've read a lot that made me back-button so fast... and I can't switch off the part of my brain that says, "what kind of advantage, in both the cultural and evolutionary sense, does that have, that it would still exist." or "Why are there two separate sex-differentions, ABO and M/F, in the same species? Why are Omega males, males?" Which, you can definitely worldbuild to answer that, but ... yeah, I need something. Similiarly, soulbond stuff can really work for me, but soulmates (by which I mean one OTP for everyone in the world that trumps all other relationships and without any choice or change in it at all), as concept, I find... well, dystopic. That said, I do like speculating on how [trope] has cultural variations, how even if you're going to have a universal effect, it's not going to be the same for everyone.
MarsCorp (podcast)
I love this series so much! You've seen my character requests, so you can probably guess that I love Hob, Hayley, Dawn and David. Love Hob's competence, so if you can work that in there... and I'd happy with anything, but especially something where they get... well, something good (epsecially Hob and David, but also Marscorp in general) Hayley and Dawn are both fun characters, in very different ways, and I like how they all are when they interact with each other. One of the things I love about the series is just how much Hob disrupts all of the employees in different ways, just by virtue of not having grown up in the cargocult of MarsCorp. I'd be happy with gen, het, femslash, slash, whatever. This is one of those shows where sure, I like Hob/David and Hob/Dawn and Hayley/Ambition, but what I really ship is, you know, Character/Things getting better.
I do have a DNW for this fandom. David Knight/Colin in an ongoing sense. Like, as part of the background, and one of the many fucked-up and damaging things that made David the fucked-up and damaged man he is today? Sure. But Colin was That Older Guy when David was a teenager, and the writers are so good at showing just what a stealth-abusive-arsehole he was while getting away with it. I 'd just like David to have, you know, something better.
Wooden Overcoats
I love the strange lot of them! I love how Funn Funeral Home is proof that family (of birth and also of choice) doesn't actually mean functional, just means mostly better with, than without. And I love that Eric, despite all he has in his life, can't quite stop spending time with the three people on the whole of Piffling that don't think he's he best thing since sliced bread*. He takes them on his yacht! He goes there for Christmas! He's just as odd in his own way as Rudyard or Antigone, but from entirely the other direction.
Antigone-centric would be great (femslash, het, gen, or any combinations of the above.) Happy, pairingwise, with Antigone/Georgie, and/or Antigone/Eric (Or Antigone anyone, as long as it works for her. Also happy with any flavour of non-traditional relationship. I just think she should get a win, whatever that looks like.
My only big thing is: Rudyard is canonically ace- like, it's explicitly stated that he doesn't think about sex (or express himself creatively) and, as the Reverend says, "and that's fine", so... yeah, if you can keep that aspect of him canonical, that would be good.
*Yes, Antigone would have him on a slice of toast, and she doesn't have the same levels of not-entirely-rational dislike as Georgie and Rudyard, but that is not the same thing.
Sapphic Girls Stereotypes Alignment Chart
Opposites attract! And then sometimes actually work together! Much to mutual shock!
There's obviously a lot of freedom to play with when the canon is so small. I dunno, I just like the idea of them getting together and then, to mutual surprise, that it keeps happening. I'm happy with them being any flavour of sapphic- bi, pan, exclusively into women*, "not gay as in happy, but queer as in fuck you," etc.
Samurai Champloo
Gen or OT3 by preference. It's that found-family/rag-tag band of misfits thing, that they are connected to each other, in a way that they were alone before. Something post-show, maybe, with them falling back into each other's orbit? Figuring out how they'll work next (not least with Fuu being the only one with experience of regular, people-not-trying-to-kill-you-but-still-getting-paid work looks like). I love when they're a team, that they do have different strengths, but can help each other.
The Marvelous Mrs Maisel
I really liked Benjamin, and I thought he and Midge worked well together - like, he seems genuinely supportive, and they actually seem to have compatible levels of liking-to-be-around-each-other/independence. They like sharing their lives with each other, but also... like, they have a good, full life when they're apart, and I think that's lovely.
Also, I liked the version of Lenny Bruce you see in the show, and I'd be happy with Benjamin/Midge, Midge/Lenny or OT3. hey, there are worse things for a comedian, or a pair of comedians, to have than a doctor-boyfriend back home with a good job, steady paycheck and a nice appartment with no parents in the room down the hall.
Everything below is because it helps me when I have some idea of who I'm writing for, but really, the main thing is just to have fun writing it. That said, and beacuse it's helpful for me when I have a bit more to work with...
Gen, het, slash/femslash-- it's all good. In general, I like specific characters (and the pairings/moresomes that involve them) rather than being a solid OTP-er. It doesn't have to always be love or forever, but I want even the bad-idea relationships to be bad-idea-but-what-I-need-right-now.
Good gen is always a joy as well. I like tropefic, especially fic that takes a fresh look on tropes, crack taken seriously and speculative fanfiction in general (genderswitch! huddle-together-for-warmth! inappropriate mythical beings! aliens! sudden telepathy!), people taking care of people and affection that's read in actions rather than heard with words.
I don't necessarily go for pure fluff (I like the endings to feel deserved), but I definitely prefer a happy ending-- or at least, an ending that's no darker than canon. I don't like AUs that are less interesting than canon and something set in space is always going to be more interesting to me than something set in starbucks. An AU where someone is so different as to be utterly OoC doesn't work for me at all-- at that point, it's just someone else with the same name. Not a fan of dystopias or grimdark worlds.
Also not a fan of misogyny, transphobia and racism - what I said about not liking dystopias? That applies to reality.
I'm also not a fan of biology-is-destiny. I have read some good fic that uses some of those tropes (ABO, BDSM aus, etc.), but I've read a lot that made me back-button so fast... and I can't switch off the part of my brain that says, "what kind of advantage, in both the cultural and evolutionary sense, does that have, that it would still exist." or "Why are there two separate sex-differentions, ABO and M/F, in the same species? Why are Omega males, males?" Which, you can definitely worldbuild to answer that, but ... yeah, I need something. Similiarly, soulbond stuff can really work for me, but soulmates (by which I mean one OTP for everyone in the world that trumps all other relationships and without any choice or change in it at all), as concept, I find... well, dystopic. That said, I do like speculating on how [trope] has cultural variations, how even if you're going to have a universal effect, it's not going to be the same for everyone.
MarsCorp (podcast)
I love this series so much! You've seen my character requests, so you can probably guess that I love Hob, Hayley, Dawn and David. Love Hob's competence, so if you can work that in there... and I'd happy with anything, but especially something where they get... well, something good (epsecially Hob and David, but also Marscorp in general) Hayley and Dawn are both fun characters, in very different ways, and I like how they all are when they interact with each other. One of the things I love about the series is just how much Hob disrupts all of the employees in different ways, just by virtue of not having grown up in the cargocult of MarsCorp. I'd be happy with gen, het, femslash, slash, whatever. This is one of those shows where sure, I like Hob/David and Hob/Dawn and Hayley/Ambition, but what I really ship is, you know, Character/Things getting better.
I do have a DNW for this fandom. David Knight/Colin in an ongoing sense. Like, as part of the background, and one of the many fucked-up and damaging things that made David the fucked-up and damaged man he is today? Sure. But Colin was That Older Guy when David was a teenager, and the writers are so good at showing just what a stealth-abusive-arsehole he was while getting away with it. I 'd just like David to have, you know, something better.
Wooden Overcoats
I love the strange lot of them! I love how Funn Funeral Home is proof that family (of birth and also of choice) doesn't actually mean functional, just means mostly better with, than without. And I love that Eric, despite all he has in his life, can't quite stop spending time with the three people on the whole of Piffling that don't think he's he best thing since sliced bread*. He takes them on his yacht! He goes there for Christmas! He's just as odd in his own way as Rudyard or Antigone, but from entirely the other direction.
Antigone-centric would be great (femslash, het, gen, or any combinations of the above.) Happy, pairingwise, with Antigone/Georgie, and/or Antigone/Eric (Or Antigone anyone, as long as it works for her. Also happy with any flavour of non-traditional relationship. I just think she should get a win, whatever that looks like.
My only big thing is: Rudyard is canonically ace- like, it's explicitly stated that he doesn't think about sex (or express himself creatively) and, as the Reverend says, "and that's fine", so... yeah, if you can keep that aspect of him canonical, that would be good.
*Yes, Antigone would have him on a slice of toast, and she doesn't have the same levels of not-entirely-rational dislike as Georgie and Rudyard, but that is not the same thing.
Sapphic Girls Stereotypes Alignment Chart
Opposites attract! And then sometimes actually work together! Much to mutual shock!
There's obviously a lot of freedom to play with when the canon is so small. I dunno, I just like the idea of them getting together and then, to mutual surprise, that it keeps happening. I'm happy with them being any flavour of sapphic- bi, pan, exclusively into women*, "not gay as in happy, but queer as in fuck you," etc.
Samurai Champloo
Gen or OT3 by preference. It's that found-family/rag-tag band of misfits thing, that they are connected to each other, in a way that they were alone before. Something post-show, maybe, with them falling back into each other's orbit? Figuring out how they'll work next (not least with Fuu being the only one with experience of regular, people-not-trying-to-kill-you-but-still-getting-paid work looks like). I love when they're a team, that they do have different strengths, but can help each other.
The Marvelous Mrs Maisel
I really liked Benjamin, and I thought he and Midge worked well together - like, he seems genuinely supportive, and they actually seem to have compatible levels of liking-to-be-around-each-other/independence. They like sharing their lives with each other, but also... like, they have a good, full life when they're apart, and I think that's lovely.
Also, I liked the version of Lenny Bruce you see in the show, and I'd be happy with Benjamin/Midge, Midge/Lenny or OT3. hey, there are worse things for a comedian, or a pair of comedians, to have than a doctor-boyfriend back home with a good job, steady paycheck and a nice appartment with no parents in the room down the hall.
