clach na ben (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
clachnaben) wrote2020-10-16 10:27 pm
clachnaben) wrote2020-10-16 10:27 pm
Entry tags:
Yuletide Letter 2020
Dear Yuletide Writer,
Hi! Thanks so much for signing up for yuletide and offering one of these fandoms! I hope you have a good time writing, and can find something in my letter that you will enjoy. I have tried to provide lots of details and context to give you the maximum amount of options. Don’t feel you have to do everything, or even most of what I talk about here! Find an element that speaks to you. This is structured as a brief blurb about each fandom where I talk about what drew me to the fandom and what I think I would like, and then a section at the end that is a long list of everything I like and don’t like. Please know that whatever you choose to write will be an amazing gift and I’ll be really pleased with it. Write something that you enjoy writing, and I’ll love it - my favorite fics are ones that the writers clearly had an amazing time writing, so please do what makes you happy.
Exorcism Academy
If you’re reading my letter but haven’t experienced the amazing webcomic Exorcism Academy, you should super check it out here. It’s an explicit webcomic where exorcists use demons to give them magic powers to fight demons. Ethan and Al fall in love and have lots of hot sex and the demon worldbuilding is amazing. I would super recommend it!
For fic in this fandom, I would love some explicit sexy Ethan/Al. Malki is also super welcome to join them in a threesome, if you’re inclined that way. If you want to do some worldbuilding exploring that is also fine, but if you’re in the mood to write a pwp, I’d love just Ethan and Al fucking and having a great time making each other come. I made a quick list of kinky/sexy things I like just below, but a quick note. I think the Al “one man bukkake” thing is funny, but I’m not super into come-marking, coming all over someone etc etc. It’s not that you can’t mention it or do anything with it, I’d just prefer it isn’t the one and only sex thing you’re focusing on! Not everything in this list is going to be what you want to do, so think of this as more of a buffet of options.
Sexy stuff I like in fics: manhandling, someone moving someone else around, holding someone down, choking, biting, rough sex, dirty talk, dirty talk about big dicks and being filled up by big dicks, feeling emotions while fucking (especially if it’s Al feeling emotional about the past, and maybe about all the stuff he’s keeping from Ethan?), overstimulation and feelings of being overwhelmed, being made to orgasm multiple times, crying during sex, kink discovery and exploration, bondage, painplay during sex, sensation play,
less specifically sexy things but still relevant: polyamory, group sex, more than two people participating in sex, long-distance sex,phone sex, sexting, video call sex, creepy magic, weird demon stuff, xeno and weird body stuff, demon lore.
Band Sinister
Bit of a left turn from Exorcism Academy, but I reread Band Sinister this year and I love it so much. I love how loving and careful and gentle to its characters it is, without shying away from difficult conversations about relationships or making Guy’s anxiety disappear while still giving them space to grow and love and be their true selves with others. I love Guy and Phil a lot, especially the way they’re both willing to compromise for each other. I love the conversation they have about polyamory with each other, where Phil is honest about what Corvin and John mean to him and Guy is honest about what he understands and is willing to do. I love when Guy admits that Amanda will always be more important than Phil and Phil has to, like, sit with that and work through it himself. I love love to read Phil/Guy/Corvin/John, both explicit porn and relationship negotiation, learning to be in each other's lives both romantically and not. I’m happy with explicit fic, and happy with any combination of the four of them or just in twosomes etc. If it’s negotiating platonic elements of their relationship I’m still happy. I would also love David & Amanda cameos if you want to work them in! Especially Amanda getting on with Corvin like a house on fire. I’d also love any d/s or bdsm elements you think their various configurations might have. Corvin likes having his hair pulled! What is the Phil/Corvin/John dynamic like? What’s the dynamic like with Guy in the picture?
Things I’d like: regency manners, regency details, corvin and amanda being friends, Amanda and David being happily married, Guy/Phil, Guy/Phil/Corvin/John, kink, bdsm, polyamory negotiations, characters communicating about their feelings, not always being able to perfectly fix issues in the first communication but being willing to try, Guy trying new things, Phil helping Guy try new things, Phil realising Guy is also helping him try new things.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
THE YEARNING. my god the YEARNING. the long looks!! the GAZING. the overwhelming FRENCHNESS. Anyway, I loved this movie, had a great time. Moody walking on beaches, yearning gazes, sexy sketching. Would recommend if you haven’t watched it and you want some lesbians.
The ending of the movie was very emotional and, obviously, pretty sad. I would love a post-canon au where they get to have some kind of happy ending. It doesn’t have to be like, a perfect happy ending where they go live on an island of only women or whatever, but something where Marianne can make a living off painting and Heloise can be with her? Maybe she’s married and he’s a chill husband, maybe he dies and she lives as a widow with her ~companion, maybe she never had to get married at all? Something along those lines. They can be together and be happy, in a way.
I also love how the film is about how we see each other, what it is to watch someone, to truly look at them, and what it is we see when we do that. So much of it is about Marianne watching Heloise, so if you want to play with that theme in your fic, please feel free.
Birds of Prey
I loved this movie! So fun, so uninterested in a male-gaze approach to female heroes, so many great women. For fic, I’m primarily interested in Harley and Cassie’s sort of wholesome, sort of terrifying approach to their mother-daughter relationships. I would love a post-canon fic about their consulting business and their weird relationship that no one else understands. I don’t precisely want Harley to be a good parent. She’s clearly not a good parent and not responsible and also kind of a psychopath, but I do want that to be what Cassie needs. I don’t want it be at all traumatic for Cassie. The vibe of when they hang out in the movie is that Harley is not a good person, but is what Cassie needs. So I want them to be a kinda fucked up mother daughter family who are ride or die for each other and have pet hyenas and rob people and do whatever they want while Cassie is a little bit of an asshole and Harley is kinda unstable and unreliable but they’re still there for each other and love each other in their weird way. Found family kinda fucked up gen is the vibe I’m going for here.
Imperial Radch Series - Ann Leckie
I love these books a lot, especially everything Breq does. They’re so focused and driven by their unshakable sense of morality but also tortured by their mistakes. They refuse to recognise their own weaknesses, even when they do everything possible to support others. The relationship that develops between them and Seivarden is so moving and precious to me.The way that Seivarden offers comfort to Breq, especially in the last book, is so much about the journey Seivarden has gone on and without Breq they wouldn’t have healed enough to get there. I’m happy with you including any other characters, especially Mercy of Kalr and other AI/non-human characters, but I’m really into explorations of Breq’s more intimate relationships, especially Seivarden. The way Seivarden is sent by Mercy of Kalr to cuddle Breq??? that’s the shit!! non-sexual physical comfort and cuddling, or sexual relationships Breq might develop to have are some of my interests. I’m interested in a lot of post canon, since it’s a bit hard to fit things into the canon, but if you want to explore inside the timeline of the books, please go ahead! Basically I want Breq to feel loved and comforted by all the people that love them!!
General Likes / Dislikes / Elements and Tropes I Enjoy:
I especially enjoy fics that are about a characters deep, intense feelings. I like the tropes that go well with that - pining, friends to lovers, fake dating. I’m not necessarily a huge fan of miscommunication tropes, but ones where, for reasons of their own vulnerability, or introspection, not everyone has laid everything on the table, are very good. I like themes of place and location - this doesn’t always have to be nature, though it often is, but I love stories that feel connected to the setting and place, and communicates the character’s sense of place. I love fics that have been clearly set in somewhere the writer knows well! I love polyamorous ships, especially established relationships but also new relationship negotiation/addition of new partner negotiation. The ebb and flow of loving more than one person is one of my favorite things to read about. In the same vein, I love queer fics and queer characters, talking about being queer, just being queer without needing to talk about it. Don’t feel every character needs to be waving the pride flag, but I love a diversity of queer experiences, and also queer AUs, like queer robots, and queer A/B/O and queer werewolves and everything basically! In general, stories with arcs towards hope are my jam. I’ll be real with you, I really need a happy ending. I’m okay with a fic that starts out in a grim situation and focuses on healing and then ends on an uplifting note where things are better but not perfect. To me, that’s a happy ending! I'm ok with fic of any rating, I'm an avid multishipper, and I really enjoy both Gen and shippy fic. So unless you're really unsure about something then just go for it.
I Would Prefer Not To: use of ableist slurs, use of misogynistic or homophobic or transphobic slurs
Do Not Want/Dealbreakers: mention of suicide and suicidal ideation, mention of overdose, themes of psychiatric care and medication, on-screen rape/noncon, bestiality. Character death, painful infidelity, homophobia, sad coming out stories, queer tragedy
Hi! Thanks so much for signing up for yuletide and offering one of these fandoms! I hope you have a good time writing, and can find something in my letter that you will enjoy. I have tried to provide lots of details and context to give you the maximum amount of options. Don’t feel you have to do everything, or even most of what I talk about here! Find an element that speaks to you. This is structured as a brief blurb about each fandom where I talk about what drew me to the fandom and what I think I would like, and then a section at the end that is a long list of everything I like and don’t like. Please know that whatever you choose to write will be an amazing gift and I’ll be really pleased with it. Write something that you enjoy writing, and I’ll love it - my favorite fics are ones that the writers clearly had an amazing time writing, so please do what makes you happy.
Exorcism Academy
If you’re reading my letter but haven’t experienced the amazing webcomic Exorcism Academy, you should super check it out here. It’s an explicit webcomic where exorcists use demons to give them magic powers to fight demons. Ethan and Al fall in love and have lots of hot sex and the demon worldbuilding is amazing. I would super recommend it!
For fic in this fandom, I would love some explicit sexy Ethan/Al. Malki is also super welcome to join them in a threesome, if you’re inclined that way. If you want to do some worldbuilding exploring that is also fine, but if you’re in the mood to write a pwp, I’d love just Ethan and Al fucking and having a great time making each other come. I made a quick list of kinky/sexy things I like just below, but a quick note. I think the Al “one man bukkake” thing is funny, but I’m not super into come-marking, coming all over someone etc etc. It’s not that you can’t mention it or do anything with it, I’d just prefer it isn’t the one and only sex thing you’re focusing on! Not everything in this list is going to be what you want to do, so think of this as more of a buffet of options.
Sexy stuff I like in fics: manhandling, someone moving someone else around, holding someone down, choking, biting, rough sex, dirty talk, dirty talk about big dicks and being filled up by big dicks, feeling emotions while fucking (especially if it’s Al feeling emotional about the past, and maybe about all the stuff he’s keeping from Ethan?), overstimulation and feelings of being overwhelmed, being made to orgasm multiple times, crying during sex, kink discovery and exploration, bondage, painplay during sex, sensation play,
less specifically sexy things but still relevant: polyamory, group sex, more than two people participating in sex, long-distance sex,phone sex, sexting, video call sex, creepy magic, weird demon stuff, xeno and weird body stuff, demon lore.
Band Sinister
Bit of a left turn from Exorcism Academy, but I reread Band Sinister this year and I love it so much. I love how loving and careful and gentle to its characters it is, without shying away from difficult conversations about relationships or making Guy’s anxiety disappear while still giving them space to grow and love and be their true selves with others. I love Guy and Phil a lot, especially the way they’re both willing to compromise for each other. I love the conversation they have about polyamory with each other, where Phil is honest about what Corvin and John mean to him and Guy is honest about what he understands and is willing to do. I love when Guy admits that Amanda will always be more important than Phil and Phil has to, like, sit with that and work through it himself. I love love to read Phil/Guy/Corvin/John, both explicit porn and relationship negotiation, learning to be in each other's lives both romantically and not. I’m happy with explicit fic, and happy with any combination of the four of them or just in twosomes etc. If it’s negotiating platonic elements of their relationship I’m still happy. I would also love David & Amanda cameos if you want to work them in! Especially Amanda getting on with Corvin like a house on fire. I’d also love any d/s or bdsm elements you think their various configurations might have. Corvin likes having his hair pulled! What is the Phil/Corvin/John dynamic like? What’s the dynamic like with Guy in the picture?
Things I’d like: regency manners, regency details, corvin and amanda being friends, Amanda and David being happily married, Guy/Phil, Guy/Phil/Corvin/John, kink, bdsm, polyamory negotiations, characters communicating about their feelings, not always being able to perfectly fix issues in the first communication but being willing to try, Guy trying new things, Phil helping Guy try new things, Phil realising Guy is also helping him try new things.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
THE YEARNING. my god the YEARNING. the long looks!! the GAZING. the overwhelming FRENCHNESS. Anyway, I loved this movie, had a great time. Moody walking on beaches, yearning gazes, sexy sketching. Would recommend if you haven’t watched it and you want some lesbians.
The ending of the movie was very emotional and, obviously, pretty sad. I would love a post-canon au where they get to have some kind of happy ending. It doesn’t have to be like, a perfect happy ending where they go live on an island of only women or whatever, but something where Marianne can make a living off painting and Heloise can be with her? Maybe she’s married and he’s a chill husband, maybe he dies and she lives as a widow with her ~companion, maybe she never had to get married at all? Something along those lines. They can be together and be happy, in a way.
I also love how the film is about how we see each other, what it is to watch someone, to truly look at them, and what it is we see when we do that. So much of it is about Marianne watching Heloise, so if you want to play with that theme in your fic, please feel free.
Birds of Prey
I loved this movie! So fun, so uninterested in a male-gaze approach to female heroes, so many great women. For fic, I’m primarily interested in Harley and Cassie’s sort of wholesome, sort of terrifying approach to their mother-daughter relationships. I would love a post-canon fic about their consulting business and their weird relationship that no one else understands. I don’t precisely want Harley to be a good parent. She’s clearly not a good parent and not responsible and also kind of a psychopath, but I do want that to be what Cassie needs. I don’t want it be at all traumatic for Cassie. The vibe of when they hang out in the movie is that Harley is not a good person, but is what Cassie needs. So I want them to be a kinda fucked up mother daughter family who are ride or die for each other and have pet hyenas and rob people and do whatever they want while Cassie is a little bit of an asshole and Harley is kinda unstable and unreliable but they’re still there for each other and love each other in their weird way. Found family kinda fucked up gen is the vibe I’m going for here.
Imperial Radch Series - Ann Leckie
I love these books a lot, especially everything Breq does. They’re so focused and driven by their unshakable sense of morality but also tortured by their mistakes. They refuse to recognise their own weaknesses, even when they do everything possible to support others. The relationship that develops between them and Seivarden is so moving and precious to me.The way that Seivarden offers comfort to Breq, especially in the last book, is so much about the journey Seivarden has gone on and without Breq they wouldn’t have healed enough to get there. I’m happy with you including any other characters, especially Mercy of Kalr and other AI/non-human characters, but I’m really into explorations of Breq’s more intimate relationships, especially Seivarden. The way Seivarden is sent by Mercy of Kalr to cuddle Breq??? that’s the shit!! non-sexual physical comfort and cuddling, or sexual relationships Breq might develop to have are some of my interests. I’m interested in a lot of post canon, since it’s a bit hard to fit things into the canon, but if you want to explore inside the timeline of the books, please go ahead! Basically I want Breq to feel loved and comforted by all the people that love them!!
General Likes / Dislikes / Elements and Tropes I Enjoy:
I especially enjoy fics that are about a characters deep, intense feelings. I like the tropes that go well with that - pining, friends to lovers, fake dating. I’m not necessarily a huge fan of miscommunication tropes, but ones where, for reasons of their own vulnerability, or introspection, not everyone has laid everything on the table, are very good. I like themes of place and location - this doesn’t always have to be nature, though it often is, but I love stories that feel connected to the setting and place, and communicates the character’s sense of place. I love fics that have been clearly set in somewhere the writer knows well! I love polyamorous ships, especially established relationships but also new relationship negotiation/addition of new partner negotiation. The ebb and flow of loving more than one person is one of my favorite things to read about. In the same vein, I love queer fics and queer characters, talking about being queer, just being queer without needing to talk about it. Don’t feel every character needs to be waving the pride flag, but I love a diversity of queer experiences, and also queer AUs, like queer robots, and queer A/B/O and queer werewolves and everything basically! In general, stories with arcs towards hope are my jam. I’ll be real with you, I really need a happy ending. I’m okay with a fic that starts out in a grim situation and focuses on healing and then ends on an uplifting note where things are better but not perfect. To me, that’s a happy ending! I'm ok with fic of any rating, I'm an avid multishipper, and I really enjoy both Gen and shippy fic. So unless you're really unsure about something then just go for it.
I Would Prefer Not To: use of ableist slurs, use of misogynistic or homophobic or transphobic slurs
Do Not Want/Dealbreakers: mention of suicide and suicidal ideation, mention of overdose, themes of psychiatric care and medication, on-screen rape/noncon, bestiality. Character death, painful infidelity, homophobia, sad coming out stories, queer tragedy