quiet_curiosity | Dear Yuletide Author

Hello Yuletide Author,

Happy Yuletide season!

Thank you in advance for the work you will put into the story. I hope that my letter will offer you some guidance.

General Thoughts

I'm open to all kinds of stories. I'm a sucker for angst and drama but I also appreciate humor and a light touch. Adventures and complex stories are fun but I also enjoy slice-of-life/lived-in stories that deal with seemingly mundane things.

However, one thing I'm not fond of are Tropey AUs (this spans mundane things like coffee shops to the sci-fi world building you'd find in A/B/O). They are occasionally fun, but, for the most part, they feel too divorced from the canon to me.

Potential violence and/or gore should be in line with what you'd find canon. In years past I would have a note about not liking "grimdark" style stories; that's not inherently true. Some canons are naturally dark and it would be wrong to shy away from that fact. In any case, the tone should fit the canon.

While I have a certain fondness for smut, I don't necessarily search for it or expect it in most of what I read. I'm also pretty vanilla with my smut preferences. Outright romance without sex is great. UST can be even better. And, of course, I love gen.

I'm fond of f/f, m/f, and m/m. For some fandoms, I'm very shippy (you'll see that in the prompting). For others, I"m much more open. I'd prefer the staunchly loved ships not be separated. That said, I'm not opposed to mentions of past relationships. And if I don't mention any shipping for a fandom/prompt, you should include anything you think will work for your story.

When it comes to storytelling styles, I'd say the only thing I'm not super fond of is 2nd person. Other than that: multiple narrators, epistolary, playing with structure...on and on, I'm open to it.

I don't have any major squicks nor do I have any triggers.

I want to like your story and I'm always pleased with what is waiting for me when the collection opens. I believe that I'm an easy person to write for. If you have any need for clarification, I am not opposed to questions—either through the mods or even an anonymous Tumblr ask (eleni459 on tumblr).

Fandoms and Requests

I want to offer up a background on the various fandoms, what I enjoy about them, and few possibilities for each. Yuletide rules note that "optional details are optional" and I understand if you don't use any of my suggestions. I just want to give you a few ideas in case they are needed.

Please do not take the word count for any fandoms/prompts to be an indication of my excitement to get fic from that fandom. If I requested it, I want it.

Design for Living (1933)

The Movie: Boys meet Girl. Girl takes a liking to boys and has separate flings with them. Unwilling to let the inevitable happen (boys bicker over girl, become dissatisfied with each other and, eventually, her), Girl proposes a “Gentleman’s Agreement” by which they all exist in a sexless, mutually beneficial relationship. While the initial arrangement does not work out, they all have a sinking suspicion that they can't live apart...

What I love about...: This movie is an ongoing obsession for me. It's really a case where the “love triangles are solved by threesomes” trope is true. That's, of course, the point...but I really enjoy their chemistry with one another and can buy that they are all better together than apart or sliced off into twosomes.

The Characters and Possibilities: George Curtis, Gilda Farrell, and Tom Chambers

The most obvious place to go would be future-fic. Did they ever make it back to the garret? Can they truly move past any lingering jealousy? But I also wonder about them as artists and muse. How did that work once the Gentleman's Agreement became unenforceable? Did Gilda ever want to be more than a “Mother of the Arts” and create her own thing? What does success look like once they decide they need each other more the material success? And does (or how does) their relationship cause problems in regards to that?

Strangers with Candy

The Show: Jerri Blank was "a boozer, a user, and a loser" who dropped out of high school to pursue a life of debauchery. But she wanted something more. So, Jerri returns to high school at the age of 45 to right her life. That does not happen...at all.

What I love about…: I appreciate how utterly off the wall the show is. Anything goes and nothing is sacred.

Characters and Possibilities: Chuck Noblet and Geoffrey Jellineck

I binged the series last spring and I am still overcome by Geoffrey/Chuck love. What was life like for them post-Flatpoint? How did the actually meet? What kind of hijinks were they up to that we never saw? Some folks in Flatpoint already seem suspicious; just how well do they hide their "secret affairs?"

Dark Shadows: Blood and Fire (Big Finish Audio)

The Audio: Angelique is sent back to 1767 to put an end to the Collins family before it truly starts. Once there she meets a foe that she had not expected to cross.

What I love about…: Literally—everything! Seriously, I listened to it twice the first day I had access to it. There so much to love: the origins of Laura Stockbridge, a glimpse at key members of the 1796 cast before life had left them jaded or less than reasonable, Angelique as the audience surrogate, let alone any casting surprises or scripted easter eggs.

Characters and Possibilities: Laura Murdoch Stockbridge and/or Abigail Collins

A few possibilities:
- Just Laura: I want to know more about her life pre-Collins family. What were the Murdoch's like? The few glimpses we get of her life with the Stockbridges isn't too rosy. How did she make due? And did the Phoenix ever call to her before arriving in Collinsport? She doesn't mention the similarities between the bird she sees in Collinsport to anything she had seen in the past, but that doesn't mean that there weren't any signs.
- Just Abigail: She was really a revelation to me in the audio. It was so enlightening to see her before the world basically pushed her down. It made me curious to learn more about Abigail's life. She's already a very pious young woman. We can understand why she clings to religion post-1767; that doesn't get to why she seems more pious than the others when we first meet her. I'm interested in how she lived her situation: middle child, female in a time in which that offered few options, contentious interactions with an older sibling, thwarted love, and, finally, unmarried aunt of the family. Abigail is someone where we know the, for lack of a better term, early middle and the end. What about everything else?
- The "And" Option: This involves a bit of Dark Shadows (1966) knowledge. If you aren't really up on the canon, don't feel you have to watch anything or even deal with this prompt. Anyway: We eventually learn that Jeremiah was married to a Laura in the last 1700s and Barnabas has memories of her as a child. Given that all Lauras are the same, this is the same woman who almost married Joshua. How did that happen?! I understand Jeremiah not recognizing her since he was a small child when the Blood and Fire story occurs. But did Joshua not recognize her? Or any remaining staff? I'm particularly interested in any interactions between Abigail and Laura. They are friendly from what we saw and Abigail was thankful that someone took her talk of "the witch" seriously. But how will she feel to see that face again, this time married to her youngest brother? Will she suspect something? She was certainly quick to suspect bad behavior, much less bad supernatural behavior, from Victoria in the 1790s. How will she react to this specter of the past returning? Likewise, how will Laura feel to be back with the Collins family?And how does this interlude color her interactions with future generations of the family?

The Wicked + The Divine

The Comic: Every 90-years, 12 gods return to earth. They are given supernatural power and fame; in return, they will die within 2 years. During the recurrence of the 2010s, the gods return as Pop stars. We follow Laura as she interacts with the gods and becomes firmly enmeshed in their mysteries.

What I love about…: I picked up WicDiv a little over a month ago and I loved it instantly. I love the cast—they're all very charismatic and I was sucked into their stories instantly. And I like how it, in a very strange ways, looks at both sides of the creative process: the creators (their longing to be heard and their struggles with being misunderstood, let alone the threat of a short shelf life) and fandom (which is enthralled and inspired by art but also show friction against it while at the same time really wanting to be part of that world). That second point is fading away since our key fan surrogate is now a star, but Laura's interactions with the Pantheon pre-end of Fandemonium Arc were very interesting.

Characters and Possibilities: Tara and/or Cassandra Igarashi | Urðr

A few options
- First the "and": Ananke mentions to Tara in chapter 13 that she wishes that she had talked with Urðr because "you have much in common." At first, I read this more as Ananke trying to divert from Tara's "which Tara am I?" questions, but it started making sense the more I thought about it. It's especially noticeable when you consider the issues they have with their respective audiences: Tara's audience doesn't want to hear her songs or interact with the "real" Tara while Urðr's audience is into the music but appears not to hear what she's saying. And then you factor in both of them generally keeping their distance from the rest of the Pantheon. They are not ones to follow the crowd. So...I would like to see them together. Is Ananke right—will they get along? Will they not? Will the comparative religion nerd win out over the god and make Cassandra want to answer the "which Tara" question? There are many other possibilities.
- Just Tara: So Tara, full stop, broke my heart. But that's true for so many folks. I still want to know more about Tara. She started writing her own music pre-godhood; what got her started? I wonder about her interactions with the other gods. Things look contentious at the dinner but she also readily released something to mark Inanna's death. Did they actively get along, did she admire him from afar, or was it something else? She, understandably, drew little satisfaction from her situation. I want to know what did make her happy.
- Just Cassandra | Urðr: Really love Cassandra: love her skepticism, love her inclination to speak truth to power, love her general passion for the truth. I want to know what makes her tick. I want to know how she became interested in the Recurrence. I'd like to see interactions with her former crew/fellow gods. I want to know how she's adjusting to godhood and how it has, and hasn't, changed her.

So that is pretty much it. I may make a few updates before assignments are sent out but plan to do no additions after. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask.

Again, thank you for your efforts. I'm sure your story will be great and I look forward to reading it!

quietcuriosity

Dear Yuletide Author - 2016