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dear yuletide writer 2017
It's that time again! Yay! I am really excited that we matched on one of these fandoms and I can't wait to see what you write. I always feel like I'm not the greatest at actual prompts but I do like to ramble about things that grab me about these canons, so please feel free to run in any direction that grabs you.
AO3: jouissant
Some general likes: any tense, any rating, any POV, banter, darkfic, bittersweet endings, messed up relationships and/or obsessive relationships, slice of life, canon divergence AUs, historical AUs, noir AUs, magical realism/magical elements, creepiness, angst, humor, loyalty kink, hurt/comfort, (esp physical hurt).
DNWs: coffeeshop or high school AUs, curtainfic, fusions or crossovers with other fandoms unless specified
Fandoms:
The Americans
Elizabeth Jennings
I adore this show and I love Elizabeth the most, in all her sometimes prickly, sometimes icy, sometimes (always!!) hot glory. What consistently gets me with her is the theme of identity, of the irony of somebody with such a strong sense of political and national identity dealing with both the necessity of subsuming it in 90% of her daily life (in terms of their cover as the Jenningses and her various undercover operations) and with the shifting identities of her children and of Philip. I loved the hand gesture/ritual she taught Paige and how it showed the, like, machinery and reinforcement of her identity construction. I'd love to see more moments like that, of Elizabeth's sense of herself, if she exists to herself outside of the mission and what that means.
Motherhood as a challenge to personal identity is always fascinating to me too, so seeing where the decision to have children (obviously mandated by the Center) fit in earlier in their mission could be interesting to explore. I'm here for some darkness here; I love the anecdote from Gregory early on where he tells Philip about Elizabeth showing up on his doorstep right before Paige was born--how did she imagine things playing out with their children, how did she feel about having Philip's kids specifically?
I adore her relationship with Philip (even when the love between them is on the ebb side of its ebb and flow) and any interaction you included between them would be great. I love missionfic, honeypot scenarios, their ridiculous disguises, the way Elizabeth uses her sexuality and how things differ in the field vs. in their own bed--like the night she wanted to sleep with "Clark" and the mess that was. Their bedroom as this almost sacred space the kids aren't allowed in, all the interactions we see there, how often we see Elizabeth in the bathroom, taking off makeup, shedding the day. When does she think she's the most herself and how does Philip fit into that after all these years?
Star Trek: Discovery
Michael Burnham
I was tentatively looking forward to this as a bigtime Trekkie and holy shit it has not disappointed so far, although of course at this point we're only 3 episodes in and my ship has been sunk in fine style. But Michael is absolutely My Kind of Character and I was in love from the very first scene, and I cannot wait to see where the rest of the season takes her. With that said please don't worry about getting jossed and feel free to incorporate evolving canon as you see fit.
At this point her backstory has been sketched in broad strokes, but I see a ton of room for filling out the little details: her struggles on Vulcan, her relationships with Sarek and Amanda (!!) the decision to join Starfleet and her evolving relationship with Philippa (because holy shit they Loved Each Other). How does Michael get from the pseudo-Vulcan recruit we see in that flashback of her initial entry onto the ship to the XO bantering with her captain in the very first shot of the series? Again, missionfic is amazing here, as are Michael's relationships with her crewmates, especially Philippa and Saru. I absolutely ship her with Philippa and I'm really into the power differential/mentor-mentee dynamic there, so if you wanted to play that up in a sexual and/or romantic context I would be totally here for it.
Following our timeskip into the present, I'm interested in the Discovery's project and its attendant horrors, and Michael's juggling her emerging knowledge of that with getting along on board on a daily basis- I love Silvia Tilly and their nascent bonding and the tension of her relationship with Saru, especially now that he outranks her (in her old position as first officer!). I know this is all over the place but anything that gets Michael interacting with another character and showing me a little more of what makes her tick would thrill me. I loved the last scene of ep 3 with the old school book- what are some other little things that bring Michael comfort and small moments of pleasure after the events on the Shenzhou? Does she have difficulty allowing herself those things again? Does she really believe her sentence is deserved?
Also I can't hear someone refer to someone else as their "ward" and not be all eyes emoji about it, and like...Sarek telling Michael to behave? I'm fine. Honestly write me a messed up pseudo-incestuous hookup or ongoing relationship between them and I will eat it up with a spoon. Does Amanda know about it? Is Amanda into it? Does it have something to do with pon farr??? Infidelity is also my jam so however you want to handle that is fine with me.
I would prefer characters from other iterations of Trek not appear here unless they also have a role in Discovery. Easter eggs or passing mentions are fine but I really don't want a story revolving around, say, Michael babysitting young Spock.
Life (TV)
Charlie Crews, Dani Reese
love this show a whole lot and I wanted so many more seasons of these two. I love both Charlie and Dani, their various personal struggles and coping mechanisms, some more successful than others. I love the dark streak that's there in both of them: Dani's addiction, Charlie's past and his complicated relationship with violence. I think they both have something of a self-destructive impulse they're both fighting much of the time. And of course their odd couple/unlikely partners thing, Dani as the straight man/foil to Charlie's damaged weirdo and the moments when she's perfectly self-aware about that dynamic and plays with it.
I love casefic, but let's be real, the best thing about partners in a police procedural is all the forced proximity and mortal peril. Stakeouts, shared motel rooms, being stuck out in the middle of nowhere for reasons...it's all gold. Any trope that fits well here is fair game: Undercover as a couple! Undercover pretending to be enemies. Being forced to hurt your partner/forced to watch someone else hurt your partner. Hurt/comfort. Patching each other up physically or emotionally etc. etc. Shootouts. Charlie beating the shit out of a suspect Pelican Bay-style. Charlie rambling philosophically at said suspect.
If you don't ship it romantically, that's totally cool, and I think any of these scenarios with a platonic spin would make me just as happy. I love this show best when these two are bouncing off each other, so any way you accomplish that is awesome.
AO3: jouissant
Some general likes: any tense, any rating, any POV, banter, darkfic, bittersweet endings, messed up relationships and/or obsessive relationships, slice of life, canon divergence AUs, historical AUs, noir AUs, magical realism/magical elements, creepiness, angst, humor, loyalty kink, hurt/comfort, (esp physical hurt).
DNWs: coffeeshop or high school AUs, curtainfic, fusions or crossovers with other fandoms unless specified
Fandoms:
The Americans
Elizabeth Jennings
I adore this show and I love Elizabeth the most, in all her sometimes prickly, sometimes icy, sometimes (always!!) hot glory. What consistently gets me with her is the theme of identity, of the irony of somebody with such a strong sense of political and national identity dealing with both the necessity of subsuming it in 90% of her daily life (in terms of their cover as the Jenningses and her various undercover operations) and with the shifting identities of her children and of Philip. I loved the hand gesture/ritual she taught Paige and how it showed the, like, machinery and reinforcement of her identity construction. I'd love to see more moments like that, of Elizabeth's sense of herself, if she exists to herself outside of the mission and what that means.
Motherhood as a challenge to personal identity is always fascinating to me too, so seeing where the decision to have children (obviously mandated by the Center) fit in earlier in their mission could be interesting to explore. I'm here for some darkness here; I love the anecdote from Gregory early on where he tells Philip about Elizabeth showing up on his doorstep right before Paige was born--how did she imagine things playing out with their children, how did she feel about having Philip's kids specifically?
I adore her relationship with Philip (even when the love between them is on the ebb side of its ebb and flow) and any interaction you included between them would be great. I love missionfic, honeypot scenarios, their ridiculous disguises, the way Elizabeth uses her sexuality and how things differ in the field vs. in their own bed--like the night she wanted to sleep with "Clark" and the mess that was. Their bedroom as this almost sacred space the kids aren't allowed in, all the interactions we see there, how often we see Elizabeth in the bathroom, taking off makeup, shedding the day. When does she think she's the most herself and how does Philip fit into that after all these years?
Star Trek: Discovery
Michael Burnham
I was tentatively looking forward to this as a bigtime Trekkie and holy shit it has not disappointed so far, although of course at this point we're only 3 episodes in and my ship has been sunk in fine style. But Michael is absolutely My Kind of Character and I was in love from the very first scene, and I cannot wait to see where the rest of the season takes her. With that said please don't worry about getting jossed and feel free to incorporate evolving canon as you see fit.
At this point her backstory has been sketched in broad strokes, but I see a ton of room for filling out the little details: her struggles on Vulcan, her relationships with Sarek and Amanda (!!) the decision to join Starfleet and her evolving relationship with Philippa (because holy shit they Loved Each Other). How does Michael get from the pseudo-Vulcan recruit we see in that flashback of her initial entry onto the ship to the XO bantering with her captain in the very first shot of the series? Again, missionfic is amazing here, as are Michael's relationships with her crewmates, especially Philippa and Saru. I absolutely ship her with Philippa and I'm really into the power differential/mentor-mentee dynamic there, so if you wanted to play that up in a sexual and/or romantic context I would be totally here for it.
Following our timeskip into the present, I'm interested in the Discovery's project and its attendant horrors, and Michael's juggling her emerging knowledge of that with getting along on board on a daily basis- I love Silvia Tilly and their nascent bonding and the tension of her relationship with Saru, especially now that he outranks her (in her old position as first officer!). I know this is all over the place but anything that gets Michael interacting with another character and showing me a little more of what makes her tick would thrill me. I loved the last scene of ep 3 with the old school book- what are some other little things that bring Michael comfort and small moments of pleasure after the events on the Shenzhou? Does she have difficulty allowing herself those things again? Does she really believe her sentence is deserved?
Also I can't hear someone refer to someone else as their "ward" and not be all eyes emoji about it, and like...Sarek telling Michael to behave? I'm fine. Honestly write me a messed up pseudo-incestuous hookup or ongoing relationship between them and I will eat it up with a spoon. Does Amanda know about it? Is Amanda into it? Does it have something to do with pon farr??? Infidelity is also my jam so however you want to handle that is fine with me.
I would prefer characters from other iterations of Trek not appear here unless they also have a role in Discovery. Easter eggs or passing mentions are fine but I really don't want a story revolving around, say, Michael babysitting young Spock.
Life (TV)
Charlie Crews, Dani Reese
love this show a whole lot and I wanted so many more seasons of these two. I love both Charlie and Dani, their various personal struggles and coping mechanisms, some more successful than others. I love the dark streak that's there in both of them: Dani's addiction, Charlie's past and his complicated relationship with violence. I think they both have something of a self-destructive impulse they're both fighting much of the time. And of course their odd couple/unlikely partners thing, Dani as the straight man/foil to Charlie's damaged weirdo and the moments when she's perfectly self-aware about that dynamic and plays with it.
I love casefic, but let's be real, the best thing about partners in a police procedural is all the forced proximity and mortal peril. Stakeouts, shared motel rooms, being stuck out in the middle of nowhere for reasons...it's all gold. Any trope that fits well here is fair game: Undercover as a couple! Undercover pretending to be enemies. Being forced to hurt your partner/forced to watch someone else hurt your partner. Hurt/comfort. Patching each other up physically or emotionally etc. etc. Shootouts. Charlie beating the shit out of a suspect Pelican Bay-style. Charlie rambling philosophically at said suspect.
If you don't ship it romantically, that's totally cool, and I think any of these scenarios with a platonic spin would make me just as happy. I love this show best when these two are bouncing off each other, so any way you accomplish that is awesome.