yuletide: dear author
Nov. 19th, 2011 06:05 pmHello! I hope you're pleased with whatever fandom we have in common and, well, if not, hopefully you'll be pleased to hear that I'm not a horribly picky person.
Generally speaking, I really enjoy banter, character-driven stories, people being good at things, happy endings when they make sense, stories that really draw me in emotionally (preferably on the way to a happy ending, but again, if it doesn't work I'd rather see a sad ending that makes sense), people being good friends to one another. I'm totally game for AUs, either of the canon-based variety or not, though I do prefer that they have some thematic parallels with the source material. I'm always a fan of stories with romance in them, but if that doesn't work for you or you'd rather write gen, I love that too. I genuinely have no het/slash/femmeslash preference if you decide to go the shippy route, and while I'll happily read smut, I don't feel that there's any obligation to put it in a story. Oh, and I'm totally game for poly fics, if that's what floats your boat. (And by "totally game for," I mean "really love.")
The list of things I don't like is pretty short. I'm not a fan of hardcore kink or incest. Infidelity bothers me a lot, though if it's addressed well in the text and not rewarded, I don't mind. I don't like it when the conflict in a story doesn't seem to arise naturally, or when it comes from characters who would normally talk to each other not communicating. Additionally, I don't like seeing characters who aren't really breakable get turned into woobies (but if the character actually is a woobie, then please, feel free to run with it), seeing female characters get sidelined or erased, or AU fics that change the interpersonal relationships between the characters so much that they feel like different people than they were in canon.
And for my specific fandoms:
An Education (Jenny Mellor)
Dollhouse (Topher Brink, Adelle DeWitt)
Doctor Who RPF (Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill)
I hope this was helpful and inspiring, without being too constraining, lovely author. Happy holidays and have a wonderful yuletide!
Generally speaking, I really enjoy banter, character-driven stories, people being good at things, happy endings when they make sense, stories that really draw me in emotionally (preferably on the way to a happy ending, but again, if it doesn't work I'd rather see a sad ending that makes sense), people being good friends to one another. I'm totally game for AUs, either of the canon-based variety or not, though I do prefer that they have some thematic parallels with the source material. I'm always a fan of stories with romance in them, but if that doesn't work for you or you'd rather write gen, I love that too. I genuinely have no het/slash/femmeslash preference if you decide to go the shippy route, and while I'll happily read smut, I don't feel that there's any obligation to put it in a story. Oh, and I'm totally game for poly fics, if that's what floats your boat. (And by "totally game for," I mean "really love.")
The list of things I don't like is pretty short. I'm not a fan of hardcore kink or incest. Infidelity bothers me a lot, though if it's addressed well in the text and not rewarded, I don't mind. I don't like it when the conflict in a story doesn't seem to arise naturally, or when it comes from characters who would normally talk to each other not communicating. Additionally, I don't like seeing characters who aren't really breakable get turned into woobies (but if the character actually is a woobie, then please, feel free to run with it), seeing female characters get sidelined or erased, or AU fics that change the interpersonal relationships between the characters so much that they feel like different people than they were in canon.
And for my specific fandoms:
An Education (Jenny Mellor)
My dream story in this fandom would be something about Jenny and Danny, because I think their relationship has a lot of potential that wasn't explored in the film, especially given how clear it is that he wanted to protect her from getting hurt by David. Something shippy about them would be amazing, maybe set after the movie or even something like a modern AU. Alternately, just an exploration of their friendship. Or, if you don't feel comfortable writing Danny (because, after all, I only requested Jenny), I would love a character study of her, or a continuation about her experiences at Oxford.
Dollhouse (Topher Brink, Adelle DeWitt)
I would really love to see an exploration of their relationship in Epitaphs 1 and 2, because it's incredibly complex and loaded. I ship them a lot and any story about them with shippy overtones would pretty much make me flail forever, but I know that a lot of people see it as a more parental relationship, so if you're squicked by or uncomfortable with the idea of writing them with romantic feelings for one another, feel free to play up the friendship aspect or just the familial, parental one! I will say that I'm not sure an AU with a completely different setting would work here, but tweaking the canon around could be really interesting. And if you happen to have an idea for a crazy AU that you think would really work without changing the dynamics of their relationship too much, go for it!
Doctor Who RPF (Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill)
Okay, so reading a story about these three in a poly relationship would be a dream, but if you're uncomfortable with that, I'm totally okay for any pairing of the two with the third as a friend. A story about them that tracks with real life—they meet filming Doctor Who, etc etc—would be awesome, but this is a setup where I think a zillion different AUs could work, too. Maybe they went to high school together! Maybe two of them dated when they were young and it ended badly, and then years later one of them accidentally starts dating their ex's friend! Maybe they're all figure skaters and ... yeah, I don't even know where I was going with that one, but if you have an idea, more power to you. Maybe Matt actually does become a professional soccer/football (delete as applicable for your side of the pond) player and ... something. Maybe they are actually in a band called Karen and the Babes. Seriously, with this prompt? Anything goes!
I hope this was helpful and inspiring, without being too constraining, lovely author. Happy holidays and have a wonderful yuletide!